Moments Meant for Us

So I have to take a break from my normal earth-friendly posting to talk about the incredible experience Doc and I shared last night. Doc finally got to feel the baby moving. I have felt movement for several weeks, but our little one has stopped moving the second its dad touched my stomach. Not last night. Our little Ninja finally showed off all of the amazing karate moves it has been practicing for its daddy. Laying there last night, knowing that every tiny but powerful movement could be felt by both of us was like watching a meteor shower. You never know when something beautiful will dart across the sky, but knowing that someone else saw it to makes the experience incredible. You know that those fleeting moments were meant for the two of you alone and will never be exactly the same for anyone else. I don't know that I've ever felt so peaceful and in love.

I Feel Great!!!!

So since my tea party kick off, I have been on my healthy eating kick. Lots of raw fruits and veggies, yogurts, soy milk, cheeses and yum! I will say that I feel really healthy. Pregnancy takes it's toll on your body sure, but between the meditating and healthy eating I'm already really glad that I have began these changes. The weather has been too icky the last few days for me to do laundry or be outside much and has put a delay on some of my other projects, but don't worry, there will be more posting soon!!

AND...just incase you are wondering how great I feel....
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Co5DZl50OeQ

Early Friendly Tea Party

So yesterday was the big organic/fair-trade/locally grown if possible tea party.

Mission: Host a tea party using only fair-trade, organic, or locally grown products.

Mission Status: Relatively Accomplished!

Food:

Organic carrots and celery (not in season here yet, so not possible to get locally grown)

Organic and locally grown cucumbers

Whole wheat bread (non-processed)

Organic yogurt (used to make veggie dip by adding spices)

Non-processed cheese

Non-processed whole grain crackers

Beverages:

Organic fair-trade berry tea

Black tea, curtesy of Tazo (I added peach juice to flavor it from locally grown Porter Peachers).

Review: The bread was my biggest let down. I should have planned better about getting a hold of it. I will say though, the food tasted wonderful! Especially the veggies! Everything tasted fresh and full of flavor and I didn't end up spending more than I would have had I taken a junk food or non-organic approach! So I found it a great way to kick off my new life approach to eating well and supporting my local economy and farmers.

Looking Forward To: Meat. Where do I find local deli meat? What about thinks like summer sausage? Can I find an alternative?

Road Blocks and Detours

Money, money, money. It's all about the $$. "Going green" is often the more expensive option. I noticed this with laundry detergent. I'm almost out, went to buy more, and was once again amazed that the "green" option was more expensive by a lot, especially when you compared the amount of loads the detergent did. So....thanks to my friend Kendra, I was referred to the Duggar Family Website. You might know them from the TLC show "18 and Counting". Their website has recipes for laundry detergent and fabric softner, and all of the ingredients are eco-friendly! I'm having some trouble finding Borax...which suprised me, but next week I will definitely try making it. The Duggar's website predicts a $2 cost for 5 gallons of liquid detergent, so I'm excited to try this out!

Coming Up....

Tomorrow:
Tea Party with my friends, all organic and fair-trade teas, fresh local grown fruits, veggies, and other earthy snacks!

Sunday (hopefully):
Laundry Soap Making Day!

Monday:
Paint Baby Room!

New Life Adjustments

There is nothing better than a new life coming to your family to motivate you to change your ways. It is much easier to start with a brand new life and follow a new lifestyle than to try to modify an existing one. We've thought a lot about what kind of a life we want our child to grow up in and what habits we want to be second nature for our children. Doc and I have been slowly developing a more "earth friendly" lifestyle. We recycle, and don't buy things that come in containers that can't be recycled. About two years ago, when we first got married, I bought cloth bags and decorated them so we don't use plastic grocery bags. So we feel like our waste consumption is getting under control now and we're moving on to the bigger overhauls. Here are my remaining goals to achieve before Ninja baby gets here.

NEW LIFE ADJUSTMENTS - TO BE COMPLETED BY DECEMBER

1. Eat organic, local grown, preservative free foods only. No more processed foods or shipped meats. There are plenty of farmers markets and meat markets in Tulsa as well as whole food stores to make this possible, it just requires some more planning.

2. Nothing for baby that is made by babies! We want to start researching where we buy goods from such as clothing and try to buy from places that do not use sweat shops, starting with baby goods. This is going to be more challenging.

3. Add more outdoor activity to our lives. I would like for us to make park visits, wildlife reserves, nature museums, and other such places that encourage appreciation for life around us a normal part of family activity. Exercising indoors is great, but I would like for us to do more bike rides, hikes, and picnics with games when the weather permits.

Lingerie on the Line

I did it! Success! Behold my overly offensive and yet...daringly adorable Sunday Morning Clothesline!!!! ...beware future brides...this may appear as your lingerie shower invitation, MWAH HA HA!

But seriously, my older neighbor who is in his 80s, Jim, was doing yardwork, saw me hanging up the line, and looked a bit confused, then went right back to work. He didn't even go get his wife to show her or anything. Oh well, cute picture at least :)

Can I Get a Lightswitch in my Uterus Please?

Dear Ninja Fetus, whom I love:

Please stop kicking the hell out of me when I am trying to sleep! I realize that there is no window into your womb to tell you that the sun went to bed and so should you, but dear lord child! Do you have to train for the olympics at 2 AM? If my OBGYN could install a lightswitch to tell you it is sleepytime...I would. So here's the deal. I'm gonna poke the shit out of you all day to keep you awake so you sleep well tonight. Mommy can be annoying too....

LOVE YOU!
Your Mum

Underwear on the Line...

So I'm doing laundry this morning and as I'm hanging up some of my panties on the line, I remember my 9 year old sister's giggling remarks about how embarassing hanging up your underwear must be. Not because there is anything wrong with my underwear. No. Because the neighbors might see over the backyard fence! Or someone might walk around my house while they are walking their dog and see! I've never really understood the fear of people seeing clothing you wear. Don't they normally wear underwear too? Maybe they will be jealous of how cute my "unmentionables" are.

You'd think it would be affirming for them, in case they worried that maybe you free-birded too often or didn't wear a bra. For those terrified neighbors, they could count my undies for each day since laundry to make sure I'd been properly concealed for the last week and feel safer.

So now I've decided to do something that is sure to make neighbors uncomfortable, just to see if any of them peak. I'm going to hang all of my lingerie out on the line this coming Sunday. That's right church goers, I'm targeting you :) We will see if anyone comments.

Pick Up the Pace

It's summer. Doc works 12 hours everyday. And until the fall, I have an open schedule. So it's time to stop sitting around all day doing a few chores and complaining about how I have nothing to do. It's time to pick up the pace! So, for the rest of today: make a list of things that need to be done before school starts, clean house. Tomorrow, I start picking up the pace.