sandpiper

this sandpiper fabric has me debating whether to make a beach quilt out of the whole lovely bunch.  i know... in ALL my spare time... a girl can dream.

i know... he's freaking cute.  maybe i just buy some of him and find my own other fabrics.

artichoke dip and wendell berry

catchy video matt showed me last night.  i realize plastic is a really hard thing to avoid, but what we buy really does send a message and if we try to avoid it when we can then it will (hopefully) become less readily available.  you can find tons of aluminum water bottles(got mine for 80 cents!) and reusable canvas shopping bags at the thrift store(much cheaper than the grocery store bags).  making your own is another cute option(or search etsy for some that someone else made!). 

ironically, i realize this is made of plastic, but considering it saves you from wasting a million breastmilk baggies, i'm intrigued.

on another note, that heidi swanson sure does know how to make a delicious artichoke dip that's pretty good for ya(no mayo, easy on the cheese)!  i highly recommend it!  although, if you are pregnant, you may not want to smell artichokes for a while afterward(similar experience with leeks making these).

on yet another note, two weeks ago adam and i made a valiant effort to go see wendell berry speak in arlington.  we didn't get there early enough as the Central Library auditorium was completely full and the lobby overflowing with people huddled around a tv screen that we couldn't get anywhere close to.  it was so sad to have tried so hard and looked forward to seeing him in person for so long(one of my top things to do before i die... and hopefully before he dies... the man is pushing 80) only to not make it in the door.  one of the librarians was yelling over the crowd that a video of his speech would be available in a few days on their website, so we resigned ourselves(after walking around the building to try to break in the back way) to watching it online and went on a date. 

Manifesto: The Mad Farmer Liberation Front

by Wendell Berry

Love the quick profit, the annual raise,

vacation with pay.  Want more

of everything ready-made.  Be afraid

 to know your neighbors and to die.

And you will have a window in your head.

Not even your future will be a mystery

anymore.  Your mind will be punched in a card

and shut away in a little drawer.

When they want you to buy something

they will call you. When they want you 

to die for profit they will let you know.

So, friends, every day do something

that won't compute.  Love the Lord.

Love the world. Work for nothing.

Take all that you have and be poor.

Love someone who does not deserve it.

Denounce the government and embrace

the flag. Hope to live in that free

republic for which it stands.

Give your approval to all you cannot

understand.  Praise ignorance, for what man

has not encountered he has not destroyed.

Ask the questions that have no answers.

Invest in the millenium. Plant sequoias.

Say that your main crop is the forest

that you did not plant,

that you will not live to harvest.

Say that the leaves are harvested 

when they have rotted into the mold.

Call that profit. Prophesy such returns.

Put your faith in the two inches of humus

that will build under the trees

every thousand years.

Listen to carrion-- put your ear

close, and hear the faint chattering

of the songs that are to come.

Expect the end of the world. Laugh.

Laughter is immeasurable. Be joyful

though you have considered all the facts.

So long as women do not go cheap

for power, please women more than men.

Ask yourself: Will this satisfy

a woman satisfied to bear a child?

Will this disturb the sleep 

of a woman near to giving birth?

Go with your love to the fields.

Lie easy in the shade. Rest your head

in her lap. Swear allegiance

to what is nighest your thoughts.

As soon as the generals and the politicos

can predict the motions of your mind,

lose it. Leave it as a sign

to mark the false trail, the way

you didn't go. Be like the fox

who makes more tracks than necessary,

some in the wrong direction.

Practice resurrection.

wanna win some yarn?

just wanted to pass along that shivaya naturals is having a giveaway!  

she's a lovely one of my daily reads!

happy friday!

animal

nest

so i know it's early, but my mind is already racing with the things i need to get ready to welcome another papoose into the house.  so many things have changed... I have changed so much as a mother from where i was when i started(incidentally not that long ago) so i guess that means i have learned a lot. maybe. so in lieu of feeling really tired today and not really wanting to go out and do anything, i am making up a personal list of things i need to gather.  i'm not even going to think about the fact that we will eventually(not necessarily soon... thanks housing market) be moving into another space(ugh). 

we bought our crib from the thrift store before isaac was born for $40 and with a new coat of paint and the replacement and/or refurbishing of some of its hardware, it has done us proud through 2 babes.  ezra, in his samson-like way has now ripped one of the rails completely off(i'm talking wood stripping and the whole nine yards).  that kid is a beast.  the question remains: do i want to fix an easily-20-year-old crib again? that wooould be the green thing to do i suppose.

if it's a girl, i might break down and make her some girly bedding(probably just a thin bumper, quilt, decorative pillow, and maaaybe a dust ruffle) just because.  i'm crazy.  i will also start stalking thrift stores for girl clothes i like(which i have a very hard time finding).  i'm also thinking about knitting more than a few things(it doesn't help that organic cotton yarn is on sale this week at joann's and that the purl bee just moved right around the corner from my aunt's apartment in nyc which i WILL visit next time we're up there) and possibly dying some muslin to make my own version of these.

our cloth diapers are looking a bit ratty these days and i would like to buy a few yards of hemp fleece to repair them(and make them significantly more absorbant) although i need to do the math and see if i should just stock up on babykicks.  if i buy the fleece i intend to make some washable nursing pads out of whatever i have left(i might also knit some wool circles that i can lanolize like diaper covers so i don't have leakage). i don't know how i feel about milk savers(they look like a good idea, but i like to limit the plastic in my life).  we could use some new wetbags(the octopi is my favorite... heather ross you torture me).  we also need to stock up on lanolin and eucalan and diaper ointment and hyland's teething tablets.

we have had several people offer us an infant carseat, but they all are either going to expire too soon or they are planning on having another baby before ours would be a year old and no longer need it.  we gave ours to a woman from church who needed one back when we thought we wouldn't be having any more kiddos.  i hate shopping for carseats.  and IS IT JUST ME OR HAVE INFANT CARSEATS GOTTEN RIDICULOUSLY EXPENSIVE IN THE PAST 4 YEARS??!?  we bought our first one(graco) for like $70(which we thought was expensive at the time), and now they're at least $100.  i also need to go on that crash test website. oh, so many things to do and so little time.  

for the fun of it, and especially if we have a girl, i would love to find an affordable amber necklace and a sophie the giraffe.  i've also had my eye on a belly chime(which i would actually like to copy and make my own) and this adorable necklace my friend sarah sent me a link to(hopefully a hospital gift... hint hint adam... perhaps with 3 eggs on it?).  i've also had my eye on Buddhism for Mothers of Young Children: Becoming a Mindful Parent and The Continuum Concept: In Search Of Happiness Lost (Classics in Human Development) just out of curiosity and the continued desire to slow down and focus on my kids.  okay enough.  i think i've successfully dumped all of my stressful thoughts out on you.

you're welcome.

another bun

may i introduce the newest little bun in our oven...

yesterday i finally had my first obgyn appointment(my favorite doctor was worth the wait).  apparently i'm measuring 10 weeks and 6 days along(5 days further along than i thought i was, which means we probably got pregnant the first time we decided to start trying again... whacky).  he or she was wiggling around during the sonogram and shaking his or her booty as isaac so frequently does(quite endearing coming from either).

in the giant packet of stuff they gave me to fill out, there was a copy of The Bump  in which i found this chinese gender chart.  it's supposed to be 90% accurate.  you go by what age you were when you conceived and what month you conceived in and it predicts your baby's gender.  i know it's weird, but it works for my first two(21/January and 22/August)... we'll see if in works for the third(25/March in case you're wondering)...

mother's day

hoping all of the wonderful mothers in my life had a wonderful weekend with a little bit of self-nurturing.  we baked bread, made a trip to Calvert Cliffs(in our never-ending quest for shark's teeth big enough for an ezra necklace), made good food(baked fish, zucchini pasta, and vanilla cake from Apples for Jam: A Colorful Cookbook; all of which hit the spot), and did some napping.  i got Artisan Bread in Five Minutes a Day: The Discovery That Revolutionizes Home Bakingafter some requesting and can't wait to jump in! 

isaac definitely filled this perfect stranger's shoes with rocks

ezra thought he would build a sandcastle without tools

isaac ran around pretty much the whole time in his underwear like a lunatic in love with the sea

flora from our hike.  i don't know what these are, but they go from buds to barnacles to satellite dishes and intrigued me.

sesame street.

isaac and i had and intense discussion this week about how long sesame street has been on.  i remember watching very little as a kid, but i do remember Gabby being a baby at some point and now she's definitely in or recently out of college.  i remember one of my mom's friends telling me she remembered when Maria and Luis got married(which i thought was so cool).  so in my youtube browsing of sesame street(isaac has to get his Feist fix) clips, we ran across this treasure that you might enjoy.