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.

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.

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.

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!

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!

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.

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!

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.

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.

lasanga and pumpkin pie

her hair gets in her eyes b/c it's so long now. my mom always called it a whale spout but ez likes to say, "pig tails!". she's a fan of pig tails, thankfully.

The lasagna we made together last night while ez slept turned out to be delicious! it was full of fresh spinach, eggplant, chunky tomatoes and yummy sauce. we made ricotta from mixing an italian herbed tofu, soy mozzarella, nutritional yeast and a host of different italian herbs all in the food processor. a was in charge of this and his blending skills were just right. we soaked the eggplant in water yesterday afternoon and popped it in the oven while putting the rest of the lasagna together so it got nice ans soft. i usually sautée it but wasn't up for that business last night. i never cook my noodles beforehand but just keep it nice and moist so they cook in the oven. i add a little sauce to the bottom of the pan to prevent the noodles from sticking and help them cook. it always works well.

ez ate an entire bowl full of it, which amounted to about one portion! a and i each ate probably two or three portions like good lil piggie parents should. we had not tasted lasagna in over four months as vegan lasagna was never on the menu in any of our international dinners.

ez woke up as i was preparing the pumpkin pie so she helped with the mixing. then, she helped me pour it into the pie pan and licked the spatula like all good little girls should when they are learning the ways of the kitchen. good girl, ez. ruf.

the pie was yummy. we gave into the 7 taunting containers of organic soy ice cream that are in our freezer. vegan dulce de leche? uh, bring it!

thanks, again!

we had such a fun day yesterday. i feel so full from it all and so loved. thank you all.

we're getting ready to make lasagna for dinner. i was stoked to find locally grown organic eggplant at the grocery store today. love us some vegan eggplant lasagna!

Two Today

That's right, folks! The little blondie that you all love and learn so much from is officially two years old today. Just wanted to say thanks for bearing with us as we have traveled the road of parenting fumbling all the way. We love having friends like you to process every single detail with of parenting. Her life is so much richer b/c of her friends both little and adult. Thanks!

This morning she woke up extra early, even if we figure in the whole daylight savings time thingy! She opened up the gifts from her grannie jenny, which were a huge penguin almost as tall as her and certainly as wide plus a plush globe pillow! We identified the countries she has lived in recently after she stopped squealing with delight about the penguin! She currently loves penguins. She held this one's hand and said, "come on, penguin" as she walked around the house with it. She jumped on it and hugged it and said, "i love it!" Way to go, grannie! Beyond the mere gifting is the fabulousness of my own mom knowing what my kids wants and granting her with it. I love that my mom is such an involved and loving mom and grannie. When I opened the box yesterday just to peek, I literally sat down and wept with overwhelming joy at the thoughtfulness of my mother. It blesses me beyond what i ever expected of my mom. I love you, mom. Thank you beyond words.

We called our friends back in indonesia who were like family to us. They were so stoked to wish ez a happy birthday! We laughed at all our old inside jokes, talked about how life is for them and us these days, shared parenting stories and told each other we missed one another like fifteen times. It was so great to catch up with them and be right on the same note as when we left a month ago. Their daughter was already asleep so we didn't get to hear her voice. We promised to call earlier next time.

When she wakes up, we are going to read through every last blessing that was written for our family at my mother's blessing over two years ago! And, we'll make a necklace with beads leftover from the original. We'll feel your love all over, again.

Happy birthday to Ez! Happy parent anniversary to us!

vanagon across the usa

It's been a while since the last blog. So, let's spend some time catching up, my friends. We left Singapore after about a week of staying in a hostel there. It's a city-city, if I can make that term up. Full of concrete and wonderfully efficient public transportation. The bird park and science museum are world class. And, it's all got a hefty price tag attached. We could not afford to stay there much longer. Additionally, my stomach did not respond well and revolted on me a few times or just put me flat out to rest when the babe got a bit too active. By then, we really knew it was time to move on.
A quick re-cap: we flew to Seattle, WA, USA and bought a VW Vanagon. The van is a 1984 Westfalia with full on mini-kitchen and sleeping room for four or five people. It's in excellent condition complete with a new forward facign car seat for toddler ez. She likes the van and all the sites she can see from her vantage point. We spent time in Seattle with our fave west coast aunt and uncle and their pups. We got to hang with our dearest friend, unca jussy who just moved out to get his master's degree in some religious crap or something. We had the best talks ever although we are disappointed by some of the things he shared with us about life back in our fave nc. We're still trying to make sense of it all but hey, that's what we've been doing with jussy for a while now. We'll look forward to processing it all with our friends once we're back in town. We hope to be gracious and loving. We camped at Mt/ Ranier and enjoyed the beauty of this national forest. Next, we drove up to Bellingham, WA where we stayed with great old friends from nc (okay, one is really from canada but we got to know each other back in nc). Since we last saw each other, we've each grown our families and have lil girls only a few months apart who became fast friends. They shared shoes, bathed together and taught each other things. Ez likes drinking soy milk now and is brushing her teeth every night!!! That is so fabulous; i was so worried and struggling so much to make that happen for her! Her bellingham buddy has taken a renewed interest in using the potty. Ez fell in love with pushing babies in strollers. Hopefully, Glammy can find a nice wooden one for her upcoming birthday (it's in 8 days, folks)! I was tremendously encouraged in my pursuit of mothering and rekindled a precious friendship.

Next on, we drove across the country camping out and staying in hotels, wal-mart parking lots and rest stops. The van is great to sleep in, even at five months preggo with a toddler still latched on at night. That's saying a lot. I doubt that we're the first to do it though.

We finally got to Nashville, TN where once again, our gracious hosts blessed out butts off. I got to to doula for them after we had been friends for a couple of years and it's one of my best birth memories. Our toddlers have grown up a bit since we hung out last so watching them bounce of the bed naked together and share toys and books and dance together was hugely fun. The newest one who i saw being born is certainly a happy fellow full of smiles and laughter. He's super cute, too and looks way more like his mom than his older brother does. We had the best talks about family life and being mamas who put their kids first and who need work and stimulation and life-giving goodness outside of mothering. We brainstormed and were inspired together from other families who are making it happen. We shared our love for jesus and for soulemama. We also got to see a another friend (their brother) and a dear mutual friend who both sort of introduced us in the first place. Our friend just finished another smashing album that we got a copy of to take listen to the whole drive back to NC.

This blog is getting long so i will let you hang on to the edge of your seat as you wait for the much anticipated story of our actual return to the greatest state of north carolina.