Henry

I haven't been posting because I had a baby. :-)



Henry was born last Sunday, just after sunrise. Since then, I haven't had much of an urge to touch my computer. He seems to eat constantly and Elizabeth has been a little over-eager to help and hold him, so I've had my hands full. (And I don't mind one bit.)





Forgive him his Yoda feet here. I swear it's just the pants.

Now, back to mothering and pondering plot for my WIP.

Remembering New Zealand

I think labor may be starting now, and I'm trying to distract myself by looking at old pictures of dreamy, inspiring New Zealand. We went there in October of 2007 to do research for my first book. (I was going to post pictures of St. Petersburg, but I can't find them.)

Here's the golden coastline of Chatham Island, where my novel ROHANA takes place.


One of the carved kopi trees. Each carving is done on a live tree, and most represent the spirits of Moriori ancestors. Unfortunately, many trees were cut down, the carving peeled off, and taken "home" to England and elsewhere to be put on display. The peeled carvings don't have the breath of life in them that the living ones do. Sadly, the trees are dying out (even though protected) and no one remembers exactly how to carve new dendroglyphs.


I don't remember the name of these falls, but the hike to them was amazing and the roaring was awe-inspiring. It's in the southeastern part of the South Island.


This is a snapshot of Lord of the Rings country, in the center of the South Island. The water is freezing cold and deep blue due to the mineral deposits from the mountains. Unreal, really.


One of the last days of our trip (as you can tell by Jim's beard). This was at a campground just north of Auckland, on the North Island. The trip is etched in my memory as one of wonder, excitement, and family bonding and bliss.


Anyone else been to New Zealand or somewhere equally beautiful? Share and link pics on your blog if you have!

Waiting

Nothing is going on in my life worth reporting, which is why I haven't posted anything. Just some never-ending pre-labor/early-labor. The baby will come soon, but "soon" is a little ambiguous. It's kind of like having a Baby Bomb in my belly with the timer set to "random."

Last night I made the mistake of thinking I was in real labor and went to the hospital. I will never do that again. It was awful. If I could re-do my prenatal care and planning, I would have set up a homebirth. It would be so much more relaxing to labor here, away from monitors and un-comfy beds and not-so-nice nurses and their hourly cervical checks.

So far, the first pregnancy was so much easier than this one.

America

Today I feel about America as I did when I was in second grade, or thereabouts. It's a grand, hopeful, challenging, wonderful nation with an optimistic path to the future.

And I can sigh in relief.