Names and Numbers

Babycakes and I have always loved the name Iyla and had it in our 'future baby' repertoire for years. I can't remember how we arrived at it, save for it fit BC's request for an alliterative name (starting with or containing the letter "L").

The traditional way of spelling Iyla is "ISLA." We went back and forth a lot about which way to spell her name... and the pros and cons went like this:

ISLA (Scottish- means "an island")
Pros:
*Looks beautiful and feminine
Cons:
*More common
*Might be mispronounced "IS-la"
*Don't love the meaning

IYLA (Indian, Sanskrit for "moonlight")
Pros:
*More phonetic & easier to pronounce
*Sentimental meaning, as she was conceived on a full moon and BC and I have a longstanding joke that I am the sunshine & he is my moonshine

The ironic thing is that so many people are getting her name wrong, despite the spelling we thought would be easiest. We had not anticipated the challenges of computer font... which more times than not makes the capital "I" look like an "L." We keep having people think her name is LY-la. C'est la vie. I do still love the way "Isla" looks, but the meaning & uniqueness of "Iyla" definitely tipped the scales.

Don't you call me Lyla! And why is this sleep sack so huge?

For as long as I can remember, 8 and 12 have always been my 'lucky' numbers. 8 had an easy explanation- it was my birth date AND it was infinity. Now 12? Couldn't explain it, it just was.

Allow me for a moment to go into my frou-frou ways. Right before I got pregnant the first time (that ended in a miscarriage)- I had a really strong sense that the 8 and 12 would have some kind of meaning for our little one. Sure enough, the first pregnancy due date was around August 12th, 2012 (8-12-12). And then Ms. Iyla Grace decided to arrive ahead of schedule, and chose 11-12-12 as her birth date, born at 8:44pm. That stuff does not go unnoticed in my world! Also? I was married in 2008, and became a mother in 2012... two extremely huge life transitions.

Oddly enough the numerology of our current home (as well as our last home together) is the number 8. You arrive at it by adding up all of the numbers of your home address... so 2213 is 2+2+1+3 = 8. The 8 is known to hold the vibration of wealth & success. Upon first viewing our current home I noticed the "money" corner of the Bagua Map was missing- and indeed the builder was already losing money on it! Upon moving in we quickly purchased a stone water fountain to symbolically fill in that space & generate life (lots of birds and squirrels!) and energy (flowing water). You better bet I'm keeping that fountain filled!

Sam and Iyla looking out the back french doors toward our fountain. 

How can I not look at these guys and feel completely full of abundance? 

Fall Nesting

Two years ago this month, Babycakes and I were fortunate enough to purchase what we consider to be our dream home in East Austin.  Located just 1.5 miles from downtown and literally steps from the hike and bike trail (leading to the Colorado River- which is only a few blocks away!)- we feel lucky every single day we're here:

Being a Realtor definitely has its advantages. I had seen that this beautiful 2008 built 5-star green Craftsman style home had been sitting on the market for awhile, and brought BC kicking and screaming to see it (his response was 'WHY would he want to go see a house when we weren't looking to move and buy something?' I retorted 'for FUN!' And he bought it (pun intended)).

We immediately fell in love with the house, but thought it was a bit out of our budget.  We ended up meeting directly with the builder, who proved to be a kindred spirit (a fellow Ashtanga yogi!). We then went on about a 6 month tangent, deciding to design and build another house specifically for us (long story having to do with the fact that the builder would lose money selling the "dream house" to us, and we decided we'd be just as happy building something a bit smaller). 

As you know by now, I am a huge believer in things happening for a reason. The building process got shut down several months in (due to appraisal issues)- and the builder came back and re-offered us the home we had initially fallen in love with- to which we answered 'YES!' without hesitation (even BC!!). And from there things FLOWED amazingly smoothly, and we closed on our new home in November of 2009.  

                                 Even Sam and Mr. Otis love this house!

And nothing sings to my soul more than nesting in our beautiful home. We spent last weekend buying out shopping at World Market, finding many gorgeous furniture and light pieces to add to our home.

I am very passionate about Feng Shui, and am acutely aware of the Bagua Map's layout in our home. So much so that when we initially saw our current home, the first thing I exclaimed was that the Money/Prosperity corner was missing! And being the freak I am, it made me hesitate on wanting to move forward at all (the builder was already losing money on the house-- and upon realizing this I declared to BC 'It's already happening!') 

So immediately after moving into our home, the FIRST purchase we made was a water fountain to symbolically fill in the missing Money/Prosperity corner. A happy bonus surprise was seeing it double as a bird bath!

                                           Keeping the chi flowing

Our weekend treasures included this mosaic glass candle holder, which fit perfectly into an empty corner of our bedroom (the MONEY corner of the bedroom, no less- I fully expect a financial windfall in 2012! ; )  )

BC's favorite purchase was an array of white flowers, to supplement the willow lights we already had in this vase:

               Little did he know, this is the 'family' area of the Bagua- now in bloom!

I love this console table which fit perfectly against an empty living room wall:

I also went on a huge de-cluttering/cleaning binge yesterday. I organized my office closet (a HUGE task- it was so incredibly cluttered and unsightly, and also was the "Money" section of my office space. As I said- 2012 WINDFALL please!). I organized drawers, cabinets, & filled up a huge garbage bag with unneeded trash. It felt so good to be nurturing our home and clearing out the junk! 

I am definitely in nesting mode. We did have another IUI performed last Friday morning, so you never know! Maybe there is a reason I have been psychotically cleaning & organizing. 

I turn 36 tomorrow and would love nothing more for my birthday than getting some 'positive' news this cycle.  In the past year I have definitely learned to take life one day at a time,  better appreciating the 'now' and trusting that things unfold exactly how they should.  I'm ready to start another year of living & learning, and can't wait to see what my 36th year has in store (hint: babies please!)