so there are a few births that i think people should get excited about.

the birth of baby jesus, the birth of your own child (i guess), and the birth of bridge's baby.

oh, bridge...remember when we like didn't know each other and we'd like timidly comment on each other's blogs?? look how far we've come. i feel like i should be cutting the cord or something.

anyways, i'm super excited for this baby to come out. and since the woman of the hour asked me to talk about babies...i should probably get going.

so i have two babies. they are like 4 and 2 which means they aren't really babies. but they used to be babies, so i know a thing or two about babies. and what i know... is that i don't know anything. motherhood is the weirdest thing in the world. it's like incredibly.... (just add any adjective you want at the end).

the first thought that came into my head when i held my first born in my arms, was...."wow, i thought he'd be blacker." and then it hit me...i was this kid's mother. i had no idea what i was doing, but somehow this little guy was totally dependent on me. magically, and i say magically, cause otherwise i don't know how it happened, i turned into this caring, loving person. a person whose life was now devoted to making sure this perfect creamy angel was fed, kissed and cream and powder was put on his bum after every diaper change.

since that time, i stopped using cream and powder on bums. there are a lot of times that i forget to feed my children. but i sure do love the crap out of them. and i'm pretty sure they know it, which is pretty much all you can do.

love 'em and hold on.

----
a note from bridget: kera didn't leave a link to her blog in her post which is just a darn shame because ya'll are gonna need to get to know more of this beauty.  thus, i give it to you: running mommy.

hi everybody!

first things first, thank you all sooooo much for all of your congratulatory comments yesterday.  they have made steve's and my day... really.  i feel like little parker's arrival is celebrated here, there, and everywhere.  he's feeling the love too.  and his momma is seriously needing it right now as the little man is working on his tan back at the hospital under the photo-therapy lights.  stupid bilirubin levels are a little on the high side.  and, even though he thinks he's chillaxin' on the beach right now, if he can't be in my arms, i'm pretty much in tears.  so, i write this from a close by room because i'm much too overemotional to leave his side (and my uterus aches if i get anywhere further than 10 feet from him... and i thought the contractions were over once he was out!  think again!).  so, please think of us as he chills in the "sun."  let's get these levels down!

now, moving on... the bump is clearly no longer a bump (except for all the excess skin which is probably hanging around--ooh, sexy!) but is out in the world almost ready to start his meet-and-greet.  thus, i have a few fabulous friends (alliteration!) here to take the blog-reigns while i'm off doing the whole getting peed on thing (he's a he!  give him a break!).  i do declare you're in for a treat as these ladies are some of my very favorite on the web... and all have one thing in common: they're moms.  they won't get too theme-y on you (and hopefully the non-moms out there aren't like, "lame.  remind me to take it's a hunt life off my google reader for the next week or so.) but just a smidgen theme-y... k?  so, please welcome my friends and check out their blogs if you haven't already.

i'll be back soon.

love to all,
bridget, steve, & parker

p.s. i guest posted on aron and ashley's fabulous blog yesterday.  check it out and don't forget to congratulate them on the newest member of their family... little hudson!

and we are so in love.

(some action in the beginning and at the end...
and i'm really gonna miss it.)

saw this on drea's blog.  had to follow suit.

the violet is back!

not that it went anywhere... but issue 2 is here!

read it, folks.  it's lovely (not just because i'm in it.).

i'm here talking about some of my faves... like chocolate häagen dazs ice cream.

and here talking rules for visiting a new mom (which you may have seen before).

(and a big congrats to blair on her new babe!)

and check out my hair wrap from my newest sponsor, little penelope lane!  it does the trick for my humidity-crazed summer hair... love it.  thanks girl.

Why does painting with white walls scare me so (and have me so intrigued)?  It looks so dang good everytime I see it!  Like here for instance... and that striped rug!  And those candlesticks!  Color looks so great when backed with white.  Which is precisely how I feel about food.  Food never looks better then when it's on a white plate.  But, I gotta say, I don't carry that philosophy into my home.  We've got a lot of color happenin' here.  My next house?  WHITE.  White, I tell you!  Anyway, enjoy.

damn you, bridget.  damn you, i say!  such little foresight into the summer... and now it's too late!

what am i talking about?  a bored william.  for the second week in a row, most of his buds are in camps. lax camps, survival camps, how to be a millionaire camps (i think only the first is true)... camps, nevertheless!  and when there is a bored william in the house everybody knows it.  why didn't i sign him up for a camp myself?  good question.  who does he expect his play pal to be all week?  ME (lindsey is here too, mind you, but she is not play pal material for william.  just his parents.  score!).  

but this is what today will look like unless i get off my very pregnant butt and make fun for him or take him somewhere (which i do!  not all the time, but i do!): he will walk in circles around the kitchen island.  he can do this for give or take 10 minutes.  then he'll ask me a question.  something like, "can i google yachts and see if i can sell enough legos to buy one?"  to which i'll say no.  then he'll say, "whyyyy?" and my eyes will bug out of my head because it'll have been the 16th time i've answered the question why.  then he will come and lay down on the computer room rug and lurch around, his body almost convulsing.  bored seizures?  i google it.  they don't exist.  i let him continue lurching.  this goes on for about 7 minutes.  then he'll ask, "can we have lunch?"  we just had lunch.  then, "can i call anthony?"  only to get anthony's answering machine because, like all his other friends, he is at camp.  he does this with about five more friends and gets all voice mails only confirming his boredom.  he'll say, "i am soooo bored."  this will happen give or take 43 times today.  

do you get where i'm going with this?

i love you william.  but you are not so good at independent play.

AND, if you haven't had enough of me, i'm over at alex's blog today too.  check it out!  she's pretty cool.  and funny.  so go.

Guys.  I've been a little lazy when it comes to cooking these days.  I'm already lazy in the summertime with dinners in general so add to that my current state and what do you get?  Four hungry kids.  

Don't worry.  We still feed them.  But sometimes some TJ's chicken drumettes and a salad is all that's on the menu.  Last night, however, I decided to actually cook dinner and I'm so glad I did.  I had picked up some veggies at our local farm and doing that always inspires me to do something delicious with the fresh finds.  So here it is.  Add or subtract as you like... it isn't a strict follow-the-recipe sort of recipe.

Pasta with Summer Vegetables

(serves 6-8)

1 1/2 lbs. linguine fini (or another thick-like pasta to hold the sauce)

1/2 cup or so of extra virgin olive oil--be liberal

6-8 cloves of garlic, chopped--more or less as you see fit

2 zucchini, halved and chopped

2 summer squash, halved and chopped

1/2 cup to a cup of cherry tomatoes, halved

a large handful of fresh basil

sea salt

pecorino romano cheese, freshly grated

1. Heat your oil on medium.  Add the garlic and sautee for about five minutes until the oil is good and flavored.  Careful not to burn the garlic.

2. Add your squash and sautee on medium to medium low heat for ten minutes or so.

3. Add the cherry tomatoes for the last few minutes.  They'll get all wrinkly and release their juices.

4. Add freshly ground sea salt--be liberal here as it's pretty much the only seasoning.

5. Remove from heat and add your chopped basil.

6. Meanwhile, you should have your linguine cooking.  Once it's done, throw it all together.  Hopefully you used enough olive oil & garlic to really coat the pasta.

7. Add freshly grated pecorino romano cheese (more of a kick then parm) or Locatelli as you like.

Voila.  You've got yourself a summer meal.

Here's another delicious variation if you like as well!

It was soooo good.  My house still smells like garlic and I kind of want to make it again.  Right now.

dear nathaniel, jordan, william, and lindsey (and gracie too),

remember this picture?  just last summer.  it was a sunny day, a good day.  we were all fresh and clean and looking our sunday best for some family pictures.  some of you might've thought the whole thing was a little silly but you went along with it for my sake.  thanks.  i'm sooo glad we have these pictures.  i'd really like pictures like this every other month but i don't think i can talk you guys into getting them that often, ha.  anyway, only a few months later, your dad and i found out we'd be adding to our family and now we are a mere weeks from meeting this new addition.  it's crazy how fast time goes.  i just wanted to say a few things before i forget them... before i'm neck-deep in the breastfeeding and diapering world that a newborn baby quickly brings.  i love you guys.  i really love you guys.  i can be bad at showing it and a part of me fears that when i'm really tired and cranky from a sleepless night, i will be even worse at showing it.  you guys have been so good at showing me you love me since your dad and i married almost five years ago.  you welcomed me into your family effortlessly even though there was probably a part of you that was afraid my presence would diminish the memory of your mom.  has it?  i hope not.  she was a really special woman and i hope you know that i could never take her place nor would i want to.  i think you know this.  and what i find so remarkable is that you never made me feel second best to her.  you never made me feel like i didn't belong.  if i ever felt i didn't belong, it was my own doing.  i'm glad to be beyond that stage.  for a long time now, it's just felt comfortable.  like we're the six hunts and we all belong in this yellow house of ours eating dinner together, listening to music, and playing cards.  we're going to be seven hunts soon and i don't ever want to make you feel second best.  if i do, please tell me.  cause you're not, you'll never be.  they say a mother's love has an ability to grow bigger with each child they have.  that's what i think will happen.  this baby, your baby brother, will be loved lots.  but so will you.  every day, every minute.  even when i'm tired or sleeping or feeding the baby, i'll still be loving you too. don't forget that.

love always,
mom / bridget

i feel the need to document our remaining dates since they'll be on a (brief!) hiatus in a few weeks.

but i didn't do a very good job as you'll see above.

two parking lot pictures and some of me being vain in the bathroom (trip #3)?  

hardly, bridge, hardly.

so i'll tell you what we did.

we went to cheesecake factory... yum.

i had the fried zucchini.  

anything good about it was probably cancelled out by the fried part but man were they good.

steve had a margherita pizzette and we split a salad.

then we killed time walking around the mall until jordan was done at the movie theatre 

and needed to be picked up.

supah.

that was our night.

the goods on zulily this morning.

When I said I bought the babe a brown onesie, it was a KickyPants onesie because their stuff is awesome.  It's soft as can be (made of bamboo) and will undoubtedly be one of my favorite things to have next to his soft, new skin.  Well, Zulily did right by me this morning and KickyPants is on a big sale.  Thus, I wanted to share.  Go check it out.  The bottom row of pictures is an organic line called Two Owls that was just too cute not to share too (and priced right).  As a gal who doesn't like spending full price for much, I'm liking it.  Hear hear!  

Join Zulily.  If you want.

| gracie, hot & bored | some positive  (and crunchy) reading to prep me for birth | lindsey, waiting to go to the pool | a 37.5 week baby bump | the little man's owl stuffed animal | his clothes, all washed and ready to go | a refreshing summer beverage | william's lego city set-up | and finally, some music we're listening to lately

We went to Garrison Keillor's Prairie Home Companion show at Tanglewood in the Berkshires.  It's a blast.  Especially when you watch from on stage.  The guests this year were Steele sisters and Chris Thiele and Sara Watkins from Nickel Creek.  Chris's mandolin-playing was especially amazing.  He played this song and had me feeling utterly talentless.  The show was great.  Hurrah!

Me & my shadow enjoyed a full day on the beach too.  Watermelon, sandwiches, crackers and cheese, orange Izzes, cherries... Steve made sure we were fully stocked for a long day and the weather was just right.  The kids are sun-soaked and water-logged and their cheeks are pink with the slightest sunburn.  It's been a good summer to us so far.

today brings a great giveaway from maddynbella jewelry collections!

the pieces in this shop are so unique and fun 

and add a little something to any outfit!

check out the necklaces, earrings, and bracelets

(i have the bottom right one myself and love it!).

you're entering to win a

$25 gift certificate to the shop!

to enter:

{u.s. residents only}

+ leave a comment below (with your e-mail address)

additional entries:

{seperate comments please!}

+ tell me which piece you'd spend your money on

+ favorite maddynbella on etsy

+ follow maddynbella on twitter

+ like maddynbella on facebook

+ blog and/or tweet about the giveaway and provide URL

good luck!

giveaway is closed.

kaycie is the winner!  congrats!

the brown shirt again... girlfriend knows what she likes during pregnancy.

and i'm guest posting over at jora's lovely blog today...

and some of you said i should just be brave and bare a bikini shot.

so i did.

aren't you sorry?