done it before, i'll do it again

Archaic Torso of Apollo
by Rainer Maria Rilke
translated by Stephen Mitchell

We cannot know his legendary head
with eyes like ripening fruit. And yet his torso
is still suffused with brilliance from inside,
like a lamp, in which his gaze, now turned to low,

gleams in all its power. Otherwise
the curved breast could not dazzle you so, nor could
a smile run through the placid hips and thighs
to that dark center where procreation flared.

Otherwise this stone would seem defaced
beneath the translucent cascade of the shoulders
and would not glisten like a wild beast's fur:

would not, from all the borders of itself,
burst like a star: for here there is no place
that does not see you. You must change your life.

Happy Birthday Krista!

Join me in wishing Sherry Carpet a happy birthday. I owe her big time! I am currently in Virginia for a big patent trial and will be here for the next few weeks. I am sad that I cannot spend the day with her. Luckily, her father is in town to celebrate with her and help out with Little. We did have a little birthday celebration on December 28, when her brother and sister and their families were still in town for Christmas. Lauren and Eric made a delicious dinner and cake. Thanks! And we did go out to eat at a nice restaurant on December 27.

Happy Birthday Krista! And happy new year everyone!

omigosh

they're coming! tomorrow! nearly* all of my hopes and dreams have come true!

let it begin.

*though bitterly missing fofee, miss kitti & daisy spots

first aid for kids

don't mind me. i'm posting this so i will remember how to access it in a hurry. just in case.

CPR for infants & children

i'm always printing it and losing it. so here it is. now i just need to keep The Beans out of trouble so i never need it.

buddha on the nest: the prego diaries

for megan h, who asked for proof.

(this post is alternately titled, the white whale redux)

i did plan on documenting this pregnancy...it just went so fast. and for some reason no one seems to want to immortalize my pregnant image on film. maybe i was less grotesque (or, shall we say, "more glowy") the first time around? not as i--or hubs--remember it. anyway, here is what i have. (for some reference, the above picture was taken at 32 weeks).

obviously i'm only including the most flattering, least revealy ones (my litmus test: would byu administration allow this photo to be displayed on campus as part of an art exhibit?). i think we can all say YES! probably.

maybe. except for this one, which demonstrates an appalling lack of dignity:

and now, for posterity, below is some documentation of Little's time in the oven.

(this is the part where you all write in to tell me how great i look and that, it's strange, but i actually seem to be growing smaller as the days go by.... but don't really. it would just be embarrassing to all of us.)

holy crap, that's a lot of pictures of me gestating. i'm all done here.

lately

happy birfday, Little

ignore the darth vader breathing in the background. operating a camera is physically taxing for me. also i don't usually get up this early.

thanks for the fun birthday mail, fam! Little loved opening the card from J, K and Grace--over and over again. the stickers were a big hit. also, she's got a sucker in her mouth (grandma N).

here's last year's birthday video.

and the year before (no action shots of that one):