Welcome Baby Girl Argyle

Emerson Elizabeth is Here

On May 28th, after 23 hours of labor, I experienced what I like to call, "the most painful, but best day of my life!" Our baby girl was born at UCLA Santa Monica Hospital. She was a healthy baby - seven pounds and 20 inches long. Since her birth, we have been enjoying our newborn baby girl! Here are a few of the early photos!

Wildflowers

On Mother's Day, we drove to my parent's house. I was nearing my due date and still looking for wildflowers since our poppy reserve attempt was a flop (see post below). After a day with the family, we pulled off the 101 freeway and took these pregnancy photos. Spring in full bloom!

Poppy Reserve

Josh and I drove to the California Poppy Reserve in hopes of taking some funny and some serious pregnancy photos. When we arrived at the reserve, there were about three poppies on the entire reserve. After a modest picnic, I had Josh take a few photos of me sporting my "camera shelf."

Note: When Josh and I drove across the country from New York to Los Angeles, we couldn't help but notice that men of a certain age had a built in "camera shelf." Most of them work tan shorts, a patterned shirt and hat. Hope you enjoy our rendition...

These pots and pans are a-clankin' ...

Pots and pans are a-clankin' through the streets in Canada. This week, Josh and I noticed that KCRW, our station for news, gave several mentions to the winner of "American Idol." We found it disappointing that American Idol was given mention, but there was not a word muttered about the evolutions going on, not only in US cities, but also in Spain, and Canada.

As noted in the Huffington Post article, Canada is calling out for change. They have taken to the streets with pots and pans. The most striking thing about this video is that it is beautiful, and that all types of people have taken to the streets. It's amazing to see how protest can simultaneously embody beauty, unity, peace, and power.

This year, all ready, we have seen people all over the world call for the type of change that will benefit the people who live and work so hard each day. These people live in countries where their politicians have fallen prey to their personal lust  for power and wealth - sadly, so many of our political leaders have a thready pulse (if any) on humanity, compassion, and freedom for the people who live within the borders they represent.

This week also marked Bob Dylan's birthday. It's only appropriate that I add a bit of a pun to his song "the times they are a-changin'" from 1964, which summed up for many, the political and social climate of the 1960s. Happy Birthday, Bob, and Congrats, Canada. Thanks for the inspiration!

As of Lately...

If I Should Have a Daughter...

This is a belated entry - a tribute to Mother's Day. This year I was given some "mother-to-be" cards, as well as a bouquet of flowers and somehow-quite-fitting watermelon  from Josh, of course.

This Mother's Day, especially, I gave closer reflection to the mothers of friends and dear family members who are no longer with us, but whose spirits continue to work and love through their children. What a mother instills in her child is part of her legacy and is truly a gift to those that are touched by her offspring. Just two days before, I became fully aware of  how much the soul of a mother is eternal. Once a mother, always a mother - even when her physical body has passed on. 

Many of my closest friends are mothers, but they are also professionals, wives, volunteers, daughters, sisters, girlfriends, homemakers, protectors, and educators. Being a mother is only a facet of a complex individual. This year, I looked at the women I work with in the hospital, and I was astonished at how many of them work so hard on the labor and delivery unit, assisting other women in the final part of their journey to motherhood. Some of these nurses are mothers and some are not, but regardless, they are "mothering the mother" into a transformation.

Last year, on the way to New York to celebrate Annabelle's first birthday, Josh showed me a TED TALK that featured Sarah Kay. She is a slam poet "that inspired two standing ovations at TED2011. She tells the story of her metamorphosis -- from a wide-eyed teenager soaking in verse at New York's Bowery Poetry Club to a teacher connecting kids with the power of self-expression through Project V.O.I.C.E. -- and gives two breathtaking performances of "B" and "Hiroshima."

As I watched Kay's performance on the plane, I was moved by the fact that her words were coming from a hypothetical place - she begins by saying,  "if I should have a daughter." The first time I listened to this poem  I was not pregnant nor did I know that by the same time, the very next year, I would have a daughter of my own. I loved the performance by Kay last year, but now, with a daughter on the way, her words mean even more.

Happy Mother's Day -  to all mothers - the hypothetical, the expecting, the mothers who are "in the midst of it all," and to those who watch us dearly from a more soulful place.