Stuck on B

Bianca's been practicing "writing" on her own for awhile now
(sometimes she'll ask for a pen and paper the minute she wakes up) and she's actually making some very clear letters. She'll ask me "what's that?" and I'll pretend that I can't tell, and she'll say "No Mommy, it's an N!" So far her favorite letters to write are N, M, A, P, W, and "B for Bianca!"--and she loves 1s, 7s, and 2s as well. You can see an A, N, M, Y, V, and 7 here--she pointed them all out to me. I'm so proud of her.

After her writing today, she had some fun with stickers--and she proudly wore then out to the store and to get ice cream. They had a very specific layout. I don't understand the one-leg thing, but I guess I'm a mom--I'm not supposed to get it!

Owens Beach

We had a blast at Owens Beach today--what gorgeous weather! B did some wave jumping and we ended up having to borrow a swimsuit from a friend. I'd brought two bags full of sand-digging toys but I thought the water was too cold for swimming. Not for my little adventurer!

Cool beans

On Saturday we had a treat--we picked up our first "box" (actually, a very full bag) of fresh produce from our summer share in Left Foot Organics farm. We got two heads of lettuce (baby butter and red romaine), red Swiss chard, fava beans, green onions, fresh cilantro, and fresh basil. As the summer heats up and the produce really takes off, our boxes will be full to overflowing, but this is a pretty good haul for June.

Both fava beans and Swiss chard are new to me and I had no idea how to cook either. After peeling the beans (I felt very old-fashioned and southern, standing in my kitchen peelin' beans) I heated some fresh garlic in organic ev olive oil, added about 3/4 cup organic chicken stock, and simmered the beans for around 10 mins. They were delicious--Steve gobbled them up before I even sat down. I'm coming to the conclusion that folks who don't like veggies have never had them fresh, or properly cooked. A little olive oil, garlic, and sea salt can work wonders! Next on the list is Swiss chard in salad, and sauteed in an omelet. I'll probably attempt some fresh pesto this week as well.

I love LFO's business model of hiring people with developmental disabilities, and that the food they offer is truly LOCAL and grown on their own farm. There are many "CSAs" and produce delivery services offering boxes that aren't local. While it's a nice convenient one-stop shop for produce, it's not CSA. The C stands for "community"--LOCAL produce supports your OWN community and doesn't travel hundreds or thousands of miles to arrive at your door.

Eating more locally is becoming more important to me, and it's quite a shift in thinking, because it also means eating seasonally. That's a big change when you're used to getting anything you want, any time of year. The key word for me is MORE locally. We need our bananas, and I don't think I can make it through the winter without a salad, or an orange. All the more reason to buy local produce now, while it's here.

Even if I hated every morsel of produce I received (not likely!), the summer share would still be money well-spent for me. We vote with our dollars, after all. :)

Deuce

Lookit our baby!

There's a significance to my last post date of March 1: a few days later I learned I was pregnant with number two, and I was about to embark on a roller-coaster ride of exhaustion and nausea. I was lucky to shower, let alone update the blog. Now that I'm halfway through the pregnancy and feeling better, it's time to dust off my blogging skills again!

On Friday, Steve and I took Bianca to daycare for the morning and had our "big" ultrasound. The baby was very wiggly (we had deja vu--the ultrasound tech at our old OB office always commented on how active B was during her scans) and we didn't get many good pics.

Since I'd like to be surprised by the sex at birth and Steve wants to find out (and I support his right to know just as much as I support my right not to!), I had to hide my eyes for a good portion of the scan. Baby was doing some fancy footwork and the tech had to work fast, but he did manage to discover the gender and printed out a picture for Steve, who opened the envelope and looked as soon as we were out of the office. So now he knows, and I don't. I thought it might feel strange, but it doesn't--life goes on. :) I'm excited for him to know, and he's excited for the baby to hurry up and get here so I can find out. The envelope is now hidden in some deep, dark location. When it comes to all presents and surprises, Steve treats me like a five-year-old (rightfully so!) and doesn't trust me not to look.

Right afterward, we had my VBAC consult with my OB. I signed my consent form and as long as the rest of the pregnancy goes to plan, I'm good to go! Printed right on the consent form were a few interesting facts: a VBAC delivery is actually less risky than a repeat C-section with lower risks for bleeding, infection, and other complications (so why all the fuss--and why don't more people know this???) and Tacoma General Hospital has a 91% success rate for VBAC deliveries. Good news all around! I plan on going to a few ICAN Seattle (International Cesarean Awareness Network) support group meetings later this summer in an effort to surround myself with VBAC success stories and support.

Steve and I both commented that it was nice to spend an entire morning focused on Deuce, as we've been calling this one--a slang word of Steve's that means "two" (I don't like calling the baby "it"). We're so wrapped up in caring for B that weeks go by with barely any discussion of the pregnancy. I'm feeling more and more pregnant, with more and more kicking, so at least my days of forgetting that I'm even pregnant are probably over!

One of the feet that's kicking me.