Its been a looooong month since posting. I think many deep thoughts these days but have been neglecting the old bloggo a bit. Ben has just returned from New Orleans and the American Library Association conference. The girls and I had some adventures in his absence including meeting a cool family who is living in an old Civil War era Barn they are fixing up.
Between Birth Circle, the creek, La Leche Leauge, the Summer Reading program, the pool, and the river, we are having a busy summer and I am spending most of my free moments enjoying Ronia and her smallness and sweetness. Aunt Josepha came for a visit and brought lots of cheese too!

I also finally caved and put two bumper stickers on my car, which has been devoid of soundbites until now. I put a "Buy fresh, Buy Local" sticker and a "Ten Moons Midwifery" one. A good start. But we will leave it at that until Dan Nichols makes his Wedell Berry one.

Beautiful gowns. . .

Yes, yes, shameless newborn adoration. These days are so brief and so special with a new one. Ronia seems like she has always been part of the household here and now Nonna has come to help me out post-partum, I feel enormously spoiled and blessed to have round the clock help until I am a month post-partum.

Also a mighty hurrah for lemon balm "the gladdening herb" really enjoying it with lavender thanks to my midwives. It is so relaxing to drink in the evenings.

I keep meaning to post Ronia's birth story but I am too tired in the evenings. . . . another night perhaps.

this one's for Josepha

Here we are with our little eyes open.

Look it's John Bertolini's grumpy face!

She is here!

welcome little Ronia Francesca Hatke.

Born at home 2:17 a.m. Feb. 24 7 lbs even. Another beautiful little girl!

We are all so busy. . . . .

A last hurrah

My friend Marina recently had her fifth and called her last big prenatal outing her last hurrah. I decided yesterday that in spite of my large girth and looming due date (one week) I really wanted to accompany my husband to his very first book signing in Washington DC, and bring our daughters along with us. So yesterday we had our last hurrah. It couldn't have been better.

I met up with a dear old childhood friend of mine (wondrous pilgrim) who lives in the city and the day was sunny and in the upper sixties. The folks at the bookstore (Politics and Prose) were very kind and so helpful and down in their lowere level is the best kept secret in coffee in d.c. I haven't had such a good lattè since the leaving Italy. And the pastry were worthy of the coffee too, to put it mildly.

It was such a joy to see Ben give his talk on comics to a group of school age children and while he signed copies of his book the girls and I perused the children's section and bought a book or two of our own. After the booksigning we parted ways with my friend and we headed to Chinatown for dumplings. Zita (who is gluten intolerant ) and I went to a food truck (wow. . . . foodtrucks. . . . .) and ate our food on the steps of the portrait museum, watching the washingtonians enjoying the fine weather on their lunch breaks and Ben and the others went for dumplings. Afterward we visited the museum and headed home on the metro.

One cannot put a price tag on a days outing in February with the sunshine and birdsong of April. Oh. . . . and the vienna metro sure has a lot of buskers now. Whenever we give them money I laugh and think about how all the starving artists are just passing the same money around to one another.