





















I wish I had been blogging regularly when I was pregnant with Angelica to have a record of all this in real time, but I just didn’t feel well enough to really keep up with anything. But I want to preserve these memories, so here are her first ultrasound pictures and the pictures from when we found out she was a girl.












I just want to mention that although these early ultrasounds name Commonwealth Women’s Health, they were actually terrible and I ended up delivering with Dr. Lackore, who was wonderful. I would definitely recommend him.
It makes me sad that I’ll never again get to go for a gender reveal ultrasound, but it is for the best and I’ve made my peace with it. I think.
Well this morning I almost made my goal for not sleeping in, but I woke up before my alarm and thought I could go back to sleep until my alarm went off. Then I slept past my alarm. I should have just stayed up. Next time I will. I’m determined that tomorrow will be better.
Weekend one with the bunny has gone well. So far he has not peed outside his litterbox once. He has pooped outside it, but it has stayed at a manageable level. He’s still sweet, cuddly, and calm. Yesterday he took an apple from Angelica and started munching on it. Simply adorable. He also took on a little stuffed alligator and was playing with it. Parsnip hasn’t chewed on any wires yet, thank goodness.
One ear is kind of lopped over and he can’t seem to pick it up very much, so I think he might be a mixed breed with lop. The other ear stands at attention. The result is a bunny who looks like he’s trying to get TV reception.
He watched Real Housewives of New York with me for awhile. Real Housewives is my concession to reality tv. I think it is fun to watch, and great to watch when you’re tired because it doesn’t take a lot of thought. I was really tired yesterday. So tired in fact that I went to bed with baby at 8:30, rather than staying up a little later like I usually do when I’m by myself. But by 8:30 I was ready to pass out.










Look up water.
See what books,
so fearful of the subject,
refuse to stay.
Flowers gasp to stay afloat.
His desires spirit him away.
His desire to finger the piano,
her
with or without her face.
The touch of her mind on the water
regal red.
Life and I do not care who we have.
He is
crunched afterbirth.
The quality predictions
are grainy.
My name used to be July.
My clothes want butterflies.
I was born to rise.
The sky,
jealous,
buried me in his mire.
So for awhile now I’ve missed having a bunny. I miss Jack, the bunny I was closest to who died. And in general I’ve just missed having a furry companion. I had a cat that didn’t work out (although now looking back I think maybe I should have kept the cat as an outdoor kitty), but I still miss having a furry friend. I used to have bunnies, but Jack died and the others I gave up. I was going to be moving to my inlaws for deployment and it would have been a logistical nightmare to keep them all, not to mention the damage they were doing to my house with their territorial spraying. The problem was they pair bonded, but not as a whole group, so some of them were always at odds with others and marking territory and refusing to litter train. I wanted to keep at least one, but since they all bonded to at least one other bunny (there were five) it was impossible to keep just one without breaking up a bonded group. So I felt like I was between a rock and a hard place, and I gave them up, but I kept them together in their bonded groups. But I miss them and I think about them and hope they’re doing well.
Bunnies have been on my mind, and I finally decided to take the plunge and try having a bunny one more time. I used to really enjoy having bunnies before I took on too many to handle, and I’m wondering if it won’t be a lot easier to litter train and manage one bunny as opposed to multiples. I also wonder if all bunnies are as destructive as some of the ones I had before (Jack wasn’t destructive, just old and incontinent) and if I might have lucked out with a less destructive, equally cuddly bunny at the much more manageable (hopefully!) number of one.
So here is our new bunny, tentatively named Parsnip. He’s been chilling on the sofa with me this evening and has even been patient with the Angelica’s high energy and exuberance. Thus far I like him. He has a sweet disposition, and he is as calm and relaxed as he is playful and fun. At 7 weeks old, he’s still a baby and quite small. Because of this it may be too early to know his nature, but what I see at this point is really quite encouraging. He’s patient, kind, and companionable.
Talk about adorable:

































Angelica was so good for her photo shoot the other week, and the photographer, Kierstyn Peterson https://www.facebook.com/KierstynPetersonPhotography/ did a great job.







Photography by Kierstyn Peterson Photography https://www.facebook.com/KierstynPetersonPhotography/
Yesterday I went over to my parents’ house and I spent ended up spending the night. Angelica slept on the sofa and I slept in the twin bed in the guest room. We had a great time. I went with Dad to Home Depot to get parts for the garbage disposal he was replacing, and then I hung out with Mom. Mom made her signature gourmet macaroni and cheese bake with bread crumbs. Divine. It was so good I had more for lunch today.
Last night we rented Moana and watched it together. I’d never let Angelica watch it before because of the demigod in it, but after going over some Christian reviews with my Mom I decided to let her try it. It was a great little movie. Good graphics and good music. Moana was a sweet, strong character.
Craig and I had a good conversation. He called at about 10. It feels so good to hear his voice. It almost makes him feel a little less far away. One week down on this mini deployment.
After the movie we went to bed and I slept like a rock. I didn’t wake up til 11:20! My mom and dad took care of Angelica and let me sleep, even taking her to Target for new clothes. When I woke up, and after they got home, I went back out to Target with my Mom and then I came home and hung out for a little while. I’ve since headed home and here I am taking a break from house cleaning. Angelica is with my parents to spend the night again. She was so happy to be staying with them. Angelica adores spending time with my parents.
My parents are so good to Angelica and love spending time with her. They always do a lot for her and she looks forward to seeing them, begging me to take her over there on the days we are staying home just the two of us. She misses them when we go home.
I love spending time with my parents too. I’m reconnecting with them. I would have stayed another night, but I needed to go home and take my day meds and also I wanted a little time to myself to dream and create and clean. I’m someone who likes a lot of down time at home, and it is nice that to know Angelica is having a fabulous time with my parents while I’m getting that alone time. My parents and Angelica have become so close. I really love my parents, and so does Angelica, and I regret the time lost with them.