nesting

It feels good to be taking steps forward:

• We have a lot of what we need, but not every single thing.
• I've started sorting baby clothing by size and saving what we really love. The rest is going to ebay, thredup, clothing swaps, freecycle.
• Today Audrey's coming over, and we're going to rework the house into something we can all live in for a few months perinatally. We all get along with no fuss at all, but Casey and Audrey are both far more introverted than I am (I'm not a total extravert, but am a bit of a switch) and we all like our private space. But this is a two-bedroom house, so we're going to divide the large living room for awhile to make a screened, private corner with a guest bed.

And now, because more people have been coming by here whom I don't already know from elsewhere, and who don't realize what we're doing with this family, I shall write a new intro.

Welcome!

This journal started as more of a family-making diary so friends and family could follow the progress of this stage for us, Audrey's pregnancy, and how we're getting ready for the baby, but since then, there are more general readers who didn't know us before, and I figure I'll write a quickie introduction. I'll relink it now and then, if needed.

Hi there!
I'm Mary, middle-aged, happy. Casey is my husband. We raise rescued dogs and a few chickens on a tiny bit of property in the San Francisco bay area. Audrey is Casey's other partner. Casey and I have never had a monogamous relationship in the decade and a half we've been together, and that works very well for us. He and Audrey are very close, and I'm delighted with how happy they make each other.

A couple of years ago, the three of us got talking about family-making. It's now a time in which we are all at the same time ready and able to have a family, only I can't conceive, and Audrey isn't ready to be a primary parent. I'm ready to be a primary parent, and Audrey can conceive -- and did, last summer. So now we have a baby on the way, due in March. We are all three parents, but I'm going to be the one with the child-raising experience, the willingness, and the time to do most of the direct caregiving.

Please feel free to cruise through my past posts -- there aren't too many -- and ask any questions you like. I'll answer whatever I can as well as I can. (If I feel like they're too personal I might be vague or let you know what I can't answer, and I go out of my way to respect Audrey and Casey's personal boundaries here, so what's not TMI for Mary usually might be TMI here. They also have the password to this account and might either write something themselves one day, or simply answer your questions here, or you might not get an answer.)

If you're one of the readers I don't already know well or personally, feel free to introduce yourself, perhaps telling us what your interest in our family is, or tell us where you know me (or one of us) from elsewhere, or even just say hi.

If you do not have a dreamwidth account, feel free to use OpenID. And though some people comment on the livejournal feed and I don't mind, I would prefer that people also paste those comments into comments here, so I am notified about them.


- Mary