Thursday, November 29, 2007

"i've got my sweater buttoned, hat and bootlaces tied"

"hurry, before the sun goes down, let's take a walk outside."

"whirling and twirling
the leaves are calling
come pay with us,
come play."

from Autumn Walk by Ann Burg, which ez memorized in about a week after we read it to her every night. we were so surprised when she started saying the words before we did.
We try to take an autumn walk as often as possible, even if it's just through our backyard.

Tuesday, November 27, 2007

Happy ThanksVeganing

making vegan pumpkin pie in the morning
the kid's table. ez and her boyfriend sat next to each other with bas across from them.
the kids got so hungry waiting for food that we made them eat air.
green bean casserole, stuffing, mashed potatoes, cranberry relish
the celebration roast and mushroom gravy
maple syruped acorn squash that andy baked up for us.

Wednesday, November 21, 2007

her birthday day

started the day by playing with the farm and opening gifts from richmond granny. two really thoughtful gifts, thanks, again, mom!
birthday playdate at the park
"can it get any better than a fun playday with my friends?"
taking a water break with two of her best friends.
holding the babe we so longed to hold! welcome to the world, you precious creation. bless your face (and your soul and all your other parts, too)!
eating dinner burritos with richmond.
reading "goodnight, gear bear" to her new best friend, richmond the penguin who needed pajamas just like her.

Tuesday, November 20, 2007

back in north cack

our first picture back in north cack!
i never finished updating you all on our actual return to north carolina. i just jumped ahead to life here. well, it wasn't really that big of a deal, i guess to drive on into the dirty d once we hit nc. after a wonderfully inspiring time in nashvegas with timmy and skippy's family, we drove to asheville. we had a fabulous time up in black mountain where our friends were throwing a party. we got to see a few other familiar faces and meet some mutual friends of friends that we've been hearing about for years in addition to just brand new ones. we went out to breakfast the next morning at a bustling sunny cafe. we got to catch up with some friends who are working hard at making life livable. we were so glad to know how they are doing and look forward to many more times together.
on solid ground, again!
after breakfast, our plan was to hit up a nature reserve back in asheville. as we settled into the van, a said, "want to just drive on home?" he was really ready to be back in his own space and wanted to get there before dark. so, i agreed. we drove straight on through to our house. that's pretty much it. we've tried to recover from the shock of our overgrown yards and all the dead flies on the window sills inside. after a few nights of crying our selves to sleep and a ten days of cleaning with bleach and fire, things are looking up for the gunts.
oh, the rolling hills.
we're really glad to be back home. we love where we live b/c it is so full of beauty. from our house to our friends to the fresh whole food to the parks, this is such a great place to live. maybe tomorrow i will make my top 10 reasons that my town is so fabulous. it would be almost as hard as listing merely ten reasons why i love ashlove.
welcome home.

Saturday, November 17, 2007

Easy Saturday

This morning, we got a late start but we're off to the farmer's market and a bead sidewalk sale. We made vegan pancakes from scratch for the first time. Yummy!

Friday, November 16, 2007

Happy Birthday, Ashlove!

Today is my best friend's birthday. Instead of being at a rockin' concert with her right now, I am under an afghan coughing my eyeballs out of their sockets. But, enough about me. Let me tell you 10 reasons why i love ashlove.
1. She is a dear friend, the best friend i have ever had. BFF
2. She cares deeply for not only me but my whole family from sewing dresses for them to spending hours baking them birthday cakes. Even after she baked all night, carved and iced a cake in teh shape of a penguin and then dropped the extra cake as she tripped on the step, she still woke up early the next morning to bake another cake from scratch so we would have enough for our guests! thanks for being her mamatwo!
wait, that's not your kid! we've got a few more years to go before we can officially arrange the marriage. but let's definitely have these pics posted at their wedding.
3. She loves and cares for her own family in ways that make me want to be a more involved and committed mama to my own family.
she took the family to get matching tattoos.
this is what happens when she leaves them at my house though.
4. She inspires me with her artsy creative ways from beading to sewing to pottery to painting to crocheting to photography to gardening to collages and paper crafts. Yeah, she does it all!
here is my girl getting all excited about dirt. yes, folks, dirt.
5. Her passion for attending women in their childbearing year is so strong and yet she is wise and modest. In my mind, she is a midwife yet would never call herself that b/c she's humble enough to work as a nurse and be in a master's program when she could be catching two babies at once with her hands behind her back.
she even taught her sons how to breastfeed their babies.
6. She has great taste in music and food and clothes.
where ryan's ringtones are tested for your hearing pleasure.
7. She doesn't just eat a vegan diet, she fully lives a vegan lifestyle full of tolerance for people who don't share her wisdom. She gets all credit for converting my husband to being vegetarian over two years ago before we were even friends.
doing what we can to support the vegan cookie makers.
8. She has courage and boldness to pursue truth, goodness and fairness. She compassionately teaches other out of her desire for these things to be known. She is gracious to people like me who are still learning.
we don't serve lil bitches in matching pink shirts with boobies on them.
finally getting our noses pierced was a bit of a blur for us, too as i drank false courage in the parking lot and she bled all over the place, as usual.
9. She is not afraid to put the needs of her babes before her own comfort yet she's no pushover.
taking care of bizness.
10. She makes the best damn chocolate coffee cake with peanut butter icing and sorbet and a mean rum and rosa.
here is the best camping spot on the east coast, hands down! jsow was making the drinks that night.
I could go on; it was too easy to think of those 10 and there are so many other fun things that i am leaving out. I am so honored to have her as my friend, confident and fellow mama. I wouldn't want anyone else to be my labor attendant at the birth of this babe. I anxiously await the day i get to return the favor. And, even more exciting are the days ahead where we're catching babes together left and right with ryan playing his gentle songs in the background (if the mamas will let us)! I love you fully, ash. Thank you for being my friend!
what a fun wine tour that was!

Wednesday, November 14, 2007

Headcold and Early Fetascope Practice

Last night, I took over my husband's cold for him. We, sacrificial wives do things like that. Except that this cold may unfortunately ruin two out of town trips we had in store starting today. We were supposed to head up to Richmond to see my mom and sister but I struggled to sleep last night as I coughed myself awake for hours. I did not feel any better this morning. Tomorrow, we were supposed to go with my mom up to Ikea but it doesn't look like we'll make that happen, as of now. Friday is my best friend's birthday which is being celebrated at a concert in Suffolk, Virginia. Not sure that we can make it there, either. Nothing like missing out on your best friend's birthday party!

I have spent too much time online today browsing toys for ez and the baby-on-the-way, reading up on MDC and sending procrastinated e-mails. I was excited to find out a bead shop just opened down the street from me! Hopefully, I will feel better by tomorrow and we'll be off to Richmond!

Below are some pics taken at a friend's house in Nashville. I got to doula for the family's second child. Both of the parents and my hubby tried to hear the babe's heart rate and then handed the fetascope over to the real expert...

My toddler is really happy doing this! Do we see a future midwife?
She is trying to get it lined up just right.
Now, she leans her head into the fetascope to hear her sibling's heart beat. She loved getting to do what she has seen the midwives do.

Tuesday, November 13, 2007

If it's locally grown, It's Carrboro!

My fellow mamas at Weaver Street.
This is my second week of attending a pre-natal yoga class. While in Bali, we lived around the corer from a yoga center. When I told the owner that i was pregnant, she said her husband (who teaches) would prefer me to wait until i was about 4 months along before starting a class. I have attended yoga classes off and on for about four years and did pre-natal yoga when preggo with ez. I was sort of surprised to hear this and mainly disappointed that i could not take a class. When we got back to the states, one of my priorities was to find a pre-natal yoga class to join throughout my pregnancy.

The Carrbororo Yoga Comapny offers an ongoing
pre-natal yoga drop-in class
two days a week. It's been fun meeting fellow preggos and getting all stretched out. The instructor is a fellow doula and a childbirth educator. I have woken up a bit sore the next day after both times. One other thing that i love about going is just being able to visit carrboro. The town even has it's own rap song! It's such a great town that we have often talked about living there. After yoga, i can walk to the bead shop just downstairs for lots of inspiration and then grab vegan chili and a carrboro bar at weaver street market or head over for sesame tofu at jade palace where ez likes to watch the fish. Then, we walk down to the PTA thrift store to browse their books. On the loop back to our car, we stop by the Red Hen which carries all kinds of great baby stuff from consignment clothes and shoes to cloth diapers to baby carriers and toys.

I love the Red Hen! There are local artists works on the wall and burp cloths made by my friend on the shelves. Last time, we got a pair of boots for ez and wooden stacking blocks with shapes and numbers on the sides. They have a big selection of maternity and nursing clothes and books for parents! I have a special fondness in my heart for the Red Hen for a couple of reasons. One is that for a while, i worked on creating a store similar to it with a really fabulous local woman. Issue and issue came up that seemed to tell us we needed to wait. She went on to sell her online babywearing store and found a babywearing non-profit and I consider her the queen of babywearing. Secondly, right before we left for our time abroad, three other mama friends and i went to the red hen so i could buy an ergo for my trip. The store was closed but when i explained to them how much i needed an ergo and that we were leaving very soon, they let me come in and buy one!!! Then, later when I saw the owner around town, she remembered me and asked how the ergo was working out for us! Wouldn't it be great if all stores we owned by such caring individuals? She and I are not pregnant and due around the same time so our babes will get to grow up together in this area.

Two seconds after buying it, lil e was nursing away content and comfy in the new Ergo baby carrier!

A loves to spend the hour or so i am in yoga at the bike shop. We still have not gotten bikes but we are on our way there, just looking around right now for the right ones. We're also trying to find a car seat and mounting rack for ez to ride along with us. Eventually, we will need a baby trailer for this next babe. Ez loved riding in her seat so much when we were in bali that we hate to not have one right now. It would be so fun to ride!

Monday, November 12, 2007

the playground

Before we left our wonderful town, we were anxiously awaiting the opening of a park on our street. It never officially opened though. We heard there were sewer issues. The parking lots was paved, the playground equipment was all in place, the fields were growing grass, etc so it all seemed ready to open. We took it upon ourselves to get a sneak peak. With our daring co-family, we got burritos where kids eat free on monday nights and snuck on into the park. The kids had fun playing on the playgrounds as we stuffed our bellies at the picnic table. Upon our return, we were delighted to see that the park is legally open to the public now. Although the name reminds us of ole hellish herndon up in the country of northern virginia, we try not to read the sign so we can remain happy at the park's debut. We have visited only twice since returning to our street. But, if you saw our house and yard, you, too would understand why it's hard to get out much. ugh. Toddler E definitely enjoys the slides and swings. With some assistance, she likes climbing the little rock wall, the widely spaced stairs, and swinging on the monkey bars.

i am standing guard to give a helping hand if needed. can you see that lovely belly in the background? she'll be a big sister come feb or march next year. woo hoo!
the climbing wall is really a "mountain".
it's fun to hold her hand and go down the slide right next to her. but, this time i was just chillin by the side.
getting ready to go down the tunnel slide. woo hoo!
going down a big slide is so much fun for her.
on the monkey bars. why are they called that, anyway?

In less fun news, i read this article that a mdc friend told me about. This blog has a list of safe plastic sippy cups and lots of other great info. We are trying to rid our house of as many toxins as we can. Thus, many of the plastic toys and dish ware are being tossed. The risks are just not worth having a few more toys or bowls around the house.

Sunday, November 11, 2007

the vw vanagon

open road from the front window
another one from the side window view
When we arrived in Seattle, WA, we were on a mission to find a VW Van that we could comfortable drive across the country sleeping in and eating in along the way. We were surprised to quickly find one that fit our needs so perfectly. We'll give the higher power credit for really taking care of us. It is a burnt oragne sienna color. It drives great and is in excellent condition except for a gash in the wall panel. looks like a wrestling match on the floor got a bit out of hand. oh, well. enjoy some pics of it from our trip across the country and since we've been back in north cackalack.
having morning oatmeal after sleeping at a rest stop somewhere out west.
so classic. no shoes and dress pants.
great book to read while pregnant and traveling in a van.
i am happy to ride along talking to my favorite people as the van rolls on.
she is happy to sooze to the sound of the engine just behind her seat.
hanging out in a storage compartment while her parents chat with friends after breakfast in Asheville nc.
yes, he is taller than the van and has to stoop over inside. I can ALMOST just stand up inside.