Photo Booths

So, tonight as we were cleaning out what was going to be the baby room, I came upon all our old pictures. It was so fun going through 9 years of pictures. I found some really cute and some very embarrassing ones of course.Every year at the San Diego fair Chris and I take pictures in the photo booths (except this year). We never plan it, but if you look at the pictures they are mostly of the same poses :) Here they are:


I also found this picture, which I love because it's very candid.

OLD

I feel like I look OLD.
Pre-Lenin photo at Yosemite this past December:



Post-loosing Lenin this past July:


Could it just be because I'm on a make-up strike or have I aged as much as I feel?

Virgin Skin...no more

So, ever since we lost Lenin I knew I wanted to do something permanent to memorialize him. I've always wanted a tattoo, but nothing meant enough to me to have stamped on my body for the rest of my life...until now. Chris and I finally took the plunge two Sundays ago. My mom and hilary got little hearts on their legs this past Sunday as well.

Here are a few pics of the process:






And here they are 9 days later. Still a little itchy, but pretty much healed.

Chris

Erica

Chris described it as feeling like someone scratching a really bad sunburn...um not even. It felt exactly like it is...many many needles piercing your skin over and over and over!

is it just me??

So, since I've been back at work I have experienced what I can only assume to be either stupidity or ignorance...there's a certain girl at work who is pregnant-just shy of where I should be today. Anyways, she continually talks about her pregnancy either in front of me or directly to me. today she asked me if I'd ever heard that babies have gills while inutero because that's what she saw on TV...Seriously? Is it just me or does that seem like a dumb thing to ask someone who just lost their baby?? Also-is it just me or wouldn't you try not to talk about your due date and other specifics right next to that person?? Maybe I'm being too sensitive but it seems like pretty common sense to me... my day will be going great (which is a feat nowadays) and she'll say something like how badly her ankles are swelling and will just go on and on. Of course this ruins my day and I have to take a break and go cry to Chris (poor guy). Then I'm grumpy and quiet for the rest of the day :( So, is it just me?

Beach

July 3rd Beach day! It was great until some weirdos camped out right next to us despite the fact that there was plenty of empty spaces on the beach...tourists...








We love the beach!!

Lenin Emery Baker

I finally finished Lenin's memorial box. I think it took me so long to finish it because in my brain I thought that finishing it would mean an end to Lenin-like I was trivializing him.I keep getting angry and think that I should have been decorating a nursery this whole time...not a memorial box. Inside are a few tokens-some foot prints, a tiny blanket my mom made for Lenin, all his ultrasound pictures, my positive pregnancy tests, and my hospital bracelet. It seems like so little, but it's all I got to have of him.
Thank you to everyone who has supported me-especially Chris, our parents and my sister.