Baby Girl! Oh, the sweetness to come!

Our Baby Girl!

I am so excited to announce that our ultrasound came out perfectly with everything normal and healthy and it looks like we are going to have a baby girl!

The second picture is a view of the belly
and head. You can see the dark spots of the location of the eyes and a nose with nostrils in the middle. The brightest part is the lips and chin.

The Happy Parents to be!

More details to come soon!

19 Weeks! I Feel Movement!

Fabulous flutters! It has been a big week for me and the baby! I am really progressing into being pregnant! I started to feel the baby begin to wiggle and squirm this week!!! They say the baby is the size of a Mango and funny that I ate a fresh mango tonight! My belly has grown quite a bit these past 2 weeks, in fact it has been getting in the way a bit more! I bumped into it with the car door as I closed it! Didn't realize it was sticking out so far.

River is coming home tomorrow! He has had an awesome time in Indiana visiting his mom and many other family members. I look forward to seeing his pictures and hearing the stories of his experiences there. I will be catching an early ferry tomorrow to head to Seattle. After River gets in we will get dinner at Pabla, a vegetarian Indian restaurant near the airport. It is my favorite spot to

hit whenever I am around that area.

The photo on the left was taken at 18 weeks and the photo on the right was tonight at 19 weeks.

On Tuesday, the day after I pick River up, we are going to visit my midwife Cynthia again. We will be heading over to the hospital to get our first ultrasound! This is also the time when they can tell whether it is a boy or a girl! So in my next post I should have that exciting bit of news. We are very excited to find out and to share! I have been thinking of names lately but nothing really stands out as a certain choice. River and I bounce ideas off of each other but nothing has quite the right fit yet.

I am planning to have a baby registry on Amazon.com, but at the same time we hope to get many of the items we need gently used and/or passed down to us. My friends are gifting us with a very nice car seat! Thanks Joern and Tiffany! I am looking into this high chair right now: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ohnizuQBfUg . The brand is Svan and it is made in Sweden. It is made of wood and doesn't take up much space, which is important. It is adjustable to grow with the baby all the way into the teen years! This also means it has a sturdy construction and it's long-lasting life means it won't end up in a landfill any time soon!

More on all of this when I return from my trip to the mainland! I'll leave you now with one more belly shot! Now that's a belly full of baby!

May is upon us!

Last Saturday I went out to a party some friend's were throwing in celebration of various birthdays which all fall in Taurus. It was a small quirky group and we enjoyed the various dress-up party favors the hosts provided, such as many colorful wigs and accessories! It felt really funny to leave the house at 9:30pm to go to a party on the other side of the island (a time I am usually cozy in bed these days!) But I am so glad I went and danced and had a great time with friends. There were plenty of organic strawberries to feast upon, some even covered in chocolate!
This is my friend Susie in the photo with me. She's an artist, belly dancer, and has a huge wolf-like dog named Max.

Yesterday I took River to the airport and had to say goodbye for 10 days apart. He went back to Indiana to visit with his family. His dad has cancer so he wanted to spend some time visiting with him. Today I talked to him while he was walking in Foster Park with his mom and brother Ryan amongst tulips flowering and trees in bloom. He arrived perfectly to spend Mother's Day with his mama! Another weird synchronicity happened to River on his way. He was in the super busy O'Hare airport in Chicago changing planes and he ran into his cousin Dave Augenstein! He was one of his cousins that came to our wedding but they haven't kept in touch very well and Dave had no idea River was coming to Indiana. It was really random and they even ended up on the same flight together to Fort Wayne! It was even weirder to Marlene and Ryan who awaited River at the baggage claim to see another relative walking up with him! So strange the way the world can bring people together. Sometimes the chaos all makes sense.

My 17 week belly

Lately I have been more moody, hopefully not too crabby! I have been a little more emotional than the earlier months and that is a welcome relief. It felt strange to not have a good cry when I felt like I was supposed to all overwhelmed by pregnancy hormones. Touching moments in movies really get me these days! I've been napping more too. About an hour a day really gives me a boost. The night before River left he made a wonderful salmon dinner with wild rice and asparagus with a salad. It was nice to get the fish in my diet. Still have a little left over so maybe I'll make some nori rolls with it, like a California roll but with salmon!


Only 1 week and a couple of days until we have the ultrasound and hopefully find out what our baby's sex is! I don't have the camera (River took it to Indiana) to take 18 week pics which is what I am today. I actually have a 2nd camera that was a recent gift so maybe I'll fire it up and give it a test run! I definitely think I have grown, as has the baby, in the last week. I hope everyone has a lovely Mother's Day!

Food, Feathers and Fun!

Tonight I was able to take part in a dinner hosted by Christina Orchid who ran a very well know restaurant on Orcas Island for nearly 30 years. The restaurant was called "Christina's" and it was still in business when we moved to the island but she has sold it and now holds demo cooking classes at her farm. I went with a group from Doe Bay and we sat at a long table and observed while Christina taught us how to make various dishes, not hands on, but still interesting and enjoyable. We had lovage soup (it's like celery but more herby tasting), vegetable stuffed eggplant with greens, black eyed peas and drizzled with a chutney-like sauce. For dessert she mad an angel food cake (which seemed so simple as long as you can get the egg whites whipped!) with rhubarb sauce and rosemary infused lemon ice cream all made during the demo. I don't have any pictures, but trust me it was yummy and I definitely ate for two!

I think the belly has had a growth spurt in the last week. No new belly shots though. I am 16 weeks and 3 days along and I have been very hungry and extra thirsty. We get a tart cherry juice by the case and I LOVE it! It has a lot of antioxidants too. I am eating more fish lately to keep up the protein intake and lots of greens from vitamins and minerals (and besides I love kale, collards and spinach!) We are going to start our own garden plot very soon. It is so important to us to grow at least some of our own food.

We had a sad day the other day when one of our chickens was killed in the night. The coop door was accidentally left open overnight by those who care for them and a raccoon got in. This chicken was getting over an illness and was not yet roosting up high with the rest of them which made her an easy target. She was unnamed when we brought her from Indralaya and the Doe Bay garden crew had named her Beyonce. We are now down to 7 chickens.

Here's a picture of Ruby from a year ago, she is very much alive and thriving!

Another shot of some of the chickens... I realized I never updated the blog on the subject of chickens after I posted their arrival! They are now 2 years old, but these pics are from last summer.


I recently revisited Indralaya (to get my mail and say hello!) and the new (returned) managers asked to take my picture to post on the Indralaya blog that they started. Here is the link to check it out:

http://thisweekatindralaya.blogspot.com/

I would like to share a few more pictures now that are from my trip to California this winter.

River and I with the positive results of the pregnancy test! We found out while visiting our friends in Morro Bay who have a baby that was 9 months old when we were there, so they bestowed hand-me-down gifts such as the lovely baby wrap carrier that River is wearing here!

Here we are celebrating our
12 year wedding anniversary!
This was days before we found out I was pregnant! We were at a quaint Inn right on Morro Bay where they lend you bicycles for the day!

Here I am at Disneyland in front of Thunder Mountain. Always been one of my favorites! We had a great day full of fun and time spent with family. It was both River and Thomas Jay's first visit! Here's River standing near a dolphin topiary at It's a Small World.

Thomas Jay turned 3 years old while we were visiting which was the reason behind the Disneyland trip. Here he is enjoying his birthday dessert at the Rainforest Cafe. He is such a handsome boy!

I'll leave you now with this awesome picture of Minke birdwatching. He actually just likes to sit in my lap and watch the cursor move around the screen! Today he did catch a shrew though, so he is becoming a hunter. He is the best cat ever!

Baby's Heartbeat!

My Baby's Heartbeat! It was so exciting to hear the quick, little, rhythmic beats! Of course I knew I was pregnant but now it is so much more real! Here's the video I took while my midwife Cynthia used the "Doppler" on my belly. It was taken almost 2 weeks ago. We will have the ultrasound in another 3 weeks. So stay tuned for more baby news!



We finally had a sunny spring day that was a bit warm! Tomorrow is looking to be even warmer with a big ol' high of 57 degrees! Never thought that the high 50's would feel warm to me, but it does. I sat in the sun today for a bit and soaked it in.

I'll leave you for now with this photo of me taken yesterday (yes, those are Christmas PJs). My belly grows by the day, little by little. I am 4 months along now! 16 weeks! Lately I have been craving artichoke hearts... yum.

April showers bring May flowers!

Spring is starting to bloom around here! We are really feeling anxious to start to feel the warmth of the sun and see more light green leaves on the trees! At least I do live where there are evergreen trees such a firs and hemlock and they do brighten the winter landscape so I am thankful for that. The midwife did say however that I am a little low on my Vitamin D levels (lack of sun, of course!)

I will visit my midwife, Cynthia Jaffe, again this Tuesday and this time I will get to hear the baby's heartbeat! I will see if it is possible to video it and post it on the blog here. The ultrasound is 5 weeks away and I can't wait to find out if the baby is a boy or a girl! Seems so crazy that they can tell at that stage since they are still so small. Right now my baby is said to be the size of a peach. I haven't felt any movements yet but the normal time frame for that is 16-20 weeks. Can't wait to feel those "butterfly flutters"! I have 2 friends on the island who are pregnant with a similar due date. It is nice to have pregnant friends and I was afraid I wouldn't since I live on an island. It will be cool to trade stories and experiences with each other.

I hope that this blog will help me stay more connected to all of you that I don't get to see very often and that the pictures and videos will help soften the distance. Here is a photo of me along Cascade Creek in the state park where we took a walk the day before yesterday. We saw a lot of amphibian eggs in a small pond and some very small fresh water crustaceans, kind of like shrimp or sand fleas that swim. The frogs have been very active in the ponds near our house and I enjoy leaving the window open a bit to hear their night sounds.

Thursday nights are open mic night at Doe Bay and this week River went up there twice with two different ensembles! For his first act he was able to just be the front man because there were 2 other guitar players, a drummer and a bass player. They did Doors covers and River pulled off a great Jim Morrison! The next time he went up and played guitar and did a couple of his own songs and a improvised blues song with a backing band. Here are some shots from that memorable night!

He's my Superstar! XOX

New Excitment in our lives!

A new chapter in our lives is about to begin! In many ways it has already begun! River and I are going to have a baby! Can you believe it? We found out while on vacation in California in early February which was great because I was so thrilled to be able to share the news with my friends and family in person! What a celebration we had at the ranch with a fine evening meal and a great time the next day when my mom, Dan and Thomas Jay came up to visit. A time when some awesome memories were made!

I am now 14 weeks along and my belly is growing little by little. The picture above is from when I was 11 weeks. The next one was taken tonight, at 14 weeks.

I had an incredible 1st trimester. No morning sickness or nausea at all! I've been eating really well and still getting plenty of exercise. River and I took walks in the state park on our two days off. I get breathy quicker than I used to and usually want a nap when I come home! Getting into nature has been essential though since I just went to full time at work.
It's starting to get really exciting thinking about being a part of Doe Bay for the summer. It's a happening spot and I love that I get to live and work here. We are very happy here. This link will take you to a Doe Bay Fest video that is really well made: http://vimeo.com/21494959 It's a 3 day music fest in August (I will be in my 8th month!) Hope you enjoy the video!