Old Fashioned Mama

One of the things I am pretty committed to with this baby is cloth diapers. This has gotten a fairly unanimous response of: "You're crazy!"

The cloth diapers of today are NOT your mothers diapers! Pins are unnecessary; the waterproof covers have Velcro, don't leak, and are even cute! But most importantly, it is better for your family, your baby, and the environment.

The resources used to make disposable diapers are detrimental to our earth; we are cutting down trees for the paper, which is then bleached with potentially carcinogenic chemicals- these chemicals leave residues that will be touching your baby's most sensitive areas! The inside of the diaper is filled with an absorbent gel which can raise the temp inside- which can be detrimental to the health of a boys genitalia if used in the long term! All these diapers are disposed of ... in landfills. They can take years to breakdown, and a single child, from birth to potty training will contribute TWO TONS of this waste alone! In a household with a child in diapers, disposables account for 50% of the household waste, and disposables account for roughly 4% of waste in general. That's a lot of unnecessary waste.

Cloth diapers can save you money (between $1500-$2000 per child!), they're reusable (a big PLUS for multi-kid families), and kids who are cloth diapered tend to potty train earlier! Why? Without all that super-absorbent gel they can actually feel the discomfort of a wet diaper - and I can't think of a better motivation to get out of the diapers and onto the potty chair!

This little video says it much better than I can.

For more cloth diapering info, check out the following links!

~ The Real Diaper Association - Informing the public about the benefits of cloth diapering.
~ Bummie's Simple Washing Method - Tips on washing. This is probably the hardest part of cloth diapering, but you know what? So worth it!
~ Baby Belle Bottoms - Excellent cloth diaper retailer in Ventura Co. (one of the only ones in my local area). They offer free workshops! (We totally registered here!)

On the Road Again

For our Honeymoon/Babymoon/Valentines weekend, Sam and I took a trip slightly up north to San Luis Obispo, home of the famous Madonna Inn! This is a trip we had delayed again and again due to timing, finances, etc; but we realized we needed to get away and an extended weekend was just the ticket.

We left Saturday morning, and after a leisurely brunch in Camarillo with Sam's sister and her family we hit the road. Sam and I think that most of the fun of a road trip is on the road, so we had a couple of pit stops in mind before we even left. We took the 101 into Santa Barbara, and then took a slightly shorter and very scenic turn up the CA 154- this goes up and over the mountains behind Santa Barbara - what a view!! It also brings you slightly inland past Lake Cachuma, where I had camped when I was younger. We then took a turn on the CA 264 and drove through the Danish town of Solvang (good for antiques and aebleskivers), and stopped in Buellton for some famous Andersen's Pea Soup. If you have never had a bowl of Andersen's, you're really missing out! We finally made it into SLO by 5pm, and checked into our room.

For those who don't know, the Madonna Inn is famous for it's unique rooms - every room has an individual theme and no two rooms are alike! We'd already seen a pic of our room online, the Old English. It was very big, with two bedrooms, and a nice big bathroom (unfortunately, no bathtub. I do love a bath!). We had dinner reservations at 7:30 so we spent some time relaxing and getting ready. Dinner was an experience. The restaurant was really backed up (Valentine's weekend, of course!), so we had a lot of time to walk around and check things out. Everything at the Madonna Inn is PINK and heart shaped! It's the perfect Valentines place to be, if you can learn to embrace the tackiness and leave your good design taste at home. It was built in the late 1950's and it's spectacular! You have to see to believe; my pictures don't do it justice. After dinner we met our friends Wendy and Lance; Lance is going to Cal Poly and Wendy happened to be driving through to Monterey so we had a cozy drink (mocktails for me of course) and went "home".

Sunday was Valentines, and this was our big day. We started with room-service breakfast, then I went off to the spa for a massage. This is what I was most looking forward to, but there was a slight confusion about my appointment- I thought I had booked a 90 min, but no one there confirmed the treatment time, so I was rather surprised that the massage was only 60 min! I was kind of disappointed, but it wasn't a bad massage and it was nice to be on the receiving end for a change! My therapist used pure cocoa butter which smells so chocolately and good! After the massage we set off to Hearst Castle, built in the 1920's by William Randolph Hearst, newspaper magnate. This is an impressive residence, very high on a hill above San Simeon with wonderful views of the Pacific Ocean and surrounding areas. The houses (main residence and guesthouses) are full of rare art and furniture from Europe and the rest of the world; there was an Egyptian statue that was over 3500 years old! We left and drove through Cambria since Sam had never been, and I was on the hunt for a shop I'd gone to in the past. Just as I was about to give up the search I found it! Heart's Ease, located in an old Victorian farmhouse, down a little side street. I just love the ambiance of this shop, and they have a lovely garden in the back. From there we went to Morro Bay and walked around the harbor at sunset. We managed to get dinner at a little seaside steakhouse and then headed back to the Inn for the night.

Sadly, Monday was the end of our fun trip! After brunch at the hotel, we checked out and headed to the Apple Farm, a resaurant and hotel, with a fake little apple mill store. They sell the BEST natural, unfiltered cider I have ever tasted! Everything is frozen too, so it will survive the trip home without starting to ferment. After that, we hit the road. The only big stop we made was to see the Painted Cave on the mountains above Santa Barbara. The Painted Cave is an old Chumash site with some of the oldest and best preserved cave paintings, thought to date to the mid-late 1600's! Travelers can view and take photo's behind the safety of a heavy duty metal gate to keep vandals out. This is a site I've been wanting to see for a good long while, and I noticed the turn off when we headed up on our trip, so I convinced Sam it was worth stopping for. After three miles of scaryily steep and winding roads, we saw the cave. The view from the top of that hill was amazing! It was clear enough to see all of the Channel Islands as well. I'll let the photo's below speak for themselves! After an hour in Santa Barbara traffic, we stopped at my favorite beach town, Carpinteria, to have some dinner, then we were finally home! It was a great trip, and I'm sure it will be a while before we can take another one!!

At a "Vista Point" to take a walking break. Cachuma Lake in background.

Pea Soup! Way better tasting than it looks, I promise!

The Steakhouse at the Inn. The pink booths are permanent, the hearts were for Valentines.

Me and Sam at the famous Neptune Pool at Hearst Castle. I'd love to swim in this pool!!

Very Old Egyptian Art.

Roman Mosaic at the entrance of La Casa Grande, Hearst Castle.

Sam found something for the Baby in Cambria!

The famous rock at Morro Bay

Morro Bay Sunset

The Apple Farm

View of Santa Barbara and the Channel Islands.
Sadly, you can't see the islands very well in this photo, the sun was too glaring.

El Nino, Part 2!

My next news is big news ....

IT'S A BOY!

Yes, we had the ultrasound yesterday, and the doctor said it's 100% a boy.

I admit, I was kind of shocked at first, because I really thought it would be a girl, but we are of course happy with a healthy baby of any gender. To celebrate, Sam and I went to Babies-R-Us and bought him his "home from the hospital" outfit.

El Nino!

I live in Southern California; every so often we get what's called the El Nino, torrential rains that are brought on by some strange and predictable weather pattern- and I think it makes the ocean warm up a bit too. In any case, Los Angeles is one of the least rainiest cities in the USA (our average is less than 15 inches/year) and while it must look silly to the rest of the country that we panic over "a bit of rain", you have to keep in mind one fundamental problem: DRAINAGE! We don't get rain, so when we DO get it, there is no where for the water to go. We flood. We have accidents. Our roads are not designed for heavy rain. Try to imagine resurfacing the 405 fwy- which has more daily traffic than any other freeway in the US ... impossible. They've been doing construction near my off-ramp for THREE YEARS and still haven't finished because of the sheer number of cars on the road. We also have ridiculous wild fires that burn up hundreds of acres of land, which are now extremely dangerous places to be with crazy rain like this. Mudslides. Flooding. It sucks.

As I was driving home Monday along PCH (beautiful road!), the ocean was amazing! It was between storms, the clouds had temporarily parted, and it looked as if the sea was boiling. Then earlier today, as I was coming home from a lunch date, I saw this egret in the new pond that had formed under my favorite oak trees. Enjoy!

After the Storm

El Nino Panorama

Rainbird

Pluses and Minuses

Things I love about being Pregnant:

~ My baby belly. It's still small, but it's obviously not just chicken nuggets anymore!
~ Super smell! For the most part, this has been a good thing.
~ My family consistently telling me I look beautiful and glowing.
~ Freedom to nap without guilt!
~ Being repulsed by food I used to love, mostly fried food. This is a good thing. I have been eating much more healthily.
~ Experiencing the awesomeness of my body growing another human. It's really, really cool.

Things I dislike about being Pregnant:
~ Having to pee way more than I used to (which was already a lot)!
~ Not being able to lie on my stomach, mostly as it pertains to getting a massage.
~ Weird sinus headaches and pressure a lot of the time.
~ Transient nausea.
~ Crying at the littlest things (and the big things).
~ Missing out on half of my Techniques class- I have to do all the techniques, but am not able to get most of them done to me. Too much stimulation.

Still, the good outweighs the bad by far! I'm almost at the point where I should be able to feel it moving soon; sometimes, when I'm at rest and concentrating on that area of my body I feel something but I'm not sure if it's Baby or not.

We're finding out the gender in two weeks! What do you think it is? (I think it's a girl. I have a very strong inclination to feel that way.)

Solstice Musings

Today is the first day of winter, traditionally a time of death. Not death in the sense of an end for all eternity, but the death of the old, making way for the birth of the new. Look at nature- the leaves have faded their crimson and gold, fallen to preserve the life of the tree, only to be born again in spring. So it is with us- we experience little deaths and changes throughout our lives only to make way for the new experiences and opportunities that await us.

I've had a busy season of change these past few months. My relationship with Sam changed, my long term "boyfriend" is now (finally!) my husband. I have gotten my kitten (and apologies to all the dog people out there, but nothing is quite as satisfying as a wee feline beasty to keep your lap warm while you type out your musings), and it's a nice change to have something living to keep you company during the lonely daytime hours. I have left my job, for many reasons, not the least of which are new scheduling procedures that would render me as an "on call" therapist and therefore not really a master of my own schedule. My body is rejoicing, as it was hard work, but part of my soul will miss doing massage on a regular basis. Still, I know that this was the right decision. We are moving soon, and while it is a relief to think about it, it's always stressful to move anywhere, even if it means Sam and I will officially have a home together again. And finally, the biggest change of all, is really yet to come, when we have our baby in June. I'm content to focus on growing a good one, and I can't wait to meet him or her!!

It's a lot to process! I think we're doing admirably well, even if we are kind of stressed out at times.

I for one am happy with what's happeneing. I know in my heart that this is all right- I feel it. I'm excited. I'm ready to face my new challanges.

First comes Love, then comes Marriage ... then comes a BABY!

Whew, Sam and I are really rushing through these adult milestones.

We fell in love (that was a while ago)

We got married (that was in November!)

And now we're gonna have a baby! That will be happening in June! Well, it's technically happening right now, but you won't see the end result until June (EDD: June 19, 2010).

We wanted to wait until I was past the 13 week mark, and I finally am- 13wks and 6days.

Apologies to any who we didn't get to tell in person, we have a lot of lovely people in our lives and I just couldn't wait any longer to make this big announcement!! :)

And we couldn't be happier!