But I meant for this to be a post about pre-baby stuff and here I am rambling in my scattered post-partum mind.
Okay, we’ll keep it simple:

Pregnanacy
The Pregnancy Book by Dr. Sears. I read this a lot while pregnant. It was on the nightstand. I found it very reassuring and educational. And not fear-based. I felt that I needed to be reminded constantly that labor is Normal and Natural part of life. It Is life.

Ina May’s Guide to Childbirth
Yes, it’s more crunchy in the simple fact that this woman started a commune. She also played a big part in bringing the power of birthing choices back to the mother. The first half of the book is positive labor stories and the second half is a what to expect and how your body works in labor and I found the whole thing wonderfully empowering. After almost 30 years of being exposed to the media’s adrenaline, fear-induced portrayal of having a baby, it was hard to read positive birth stories and think they were real and not just reserved for the extreme hippies of the world. But there are also plenty of positive birth stories online, I enjoy Progressive Pioneer’s spotlight on birth stories she did last year. And documentaries like the Business of Being Born really drive home the message that your Body knows what to do and you can trust in it. I find it amazing that 98% of births are normal and natural and do not need interventions yet C-section rates in hospitals in the US is insane. This country has some of the worst statistics regarding labor and birth compared to other developed countries. (And the worse maternity leave. Oh, Germany, it’s Not fair that your new moms get one year paid leave) After 12 weeks a baby is Still so dependent on mommy; I hate that most moms have to separate from their babies so early. I can’t be away from mine more than an hour still. But that’s my choice.

Birthing from Within
Also full of encouraging information to remind you that birth is normal and instinctual. She does a lot of art projects which help you face fears and be able to separate your mind from your body. I feel like it’s really easy to just get caught up in the intellectual not the physical aspect of labor, which can make it really hard to let go and let your body do what it was designed to do. I have read a lot of stories where your mind is caught up in a fear cycle, which affects your body’s ability to release all those natural hormones and painkillers and for your cervix to dilate. It always amazes me what the power of the mind can do, both good and bad.

I read other books like the Bradley Method and took out a bunch from the library but these two books above really were all that I needed.
I wish I had read the Womanly Art of Breastfeeding before having Geneveve as well.
I’m intrigued by Hypnobabies due to how many moms I’ve met that used it and swore by it. But I don’t know if I’m sold yet.

This past winter we signed up with Friends of Trees, a wonderful non-profit organization. They offer trees at a great price (subsidized if you plant them on sidewalk strips) and have a big planting party where you actually plant your trees alongside your neighbors and the FOT coordinators, who know what they are doing. We were able to meet some new neighbors, which is wonderful since we haven’t met too many people in our neighborhood. They all live pretty close to us so it’s fun to check on their trees when we are walking in the neighborhood. We decided upon two tri-color beeches for the front strip and along the side of the house we planted a strawberry marina tree (beautiful bark) and a Japanese snowbell (both wildlife/bird attractants). I look forward to watching these trees grow and provide a little shade. The next step when I have the energy (and when it stops raining) is to kill the grass on the strips around the trees and plant ground covers. I want to have a mat of vinca under the beech and the side strip is still in progress. Hooray for less mowing!

I haven’t blogged much because we’re busy having fun. Not sorry! This spring and summer our free time has been spent taking the dog hiking and we’ve been able to explore a lot of new areas, mostly around Mount Hood. The picture is from a hike by Ramona Falls, where we had a heat wave of 85 degree days in the city and we decided to head to the hills. Somehow on the trail there was a few feet of snow remaining, making for cold toes but still a beautiful hike. Luckily the river crossing was safe and Ubu is much more confident crossing bridges, logs and rivers. She’s still not into swimming but we’re working on that. She’s been great about carrying her own water, food and poo, which is awesome because I don’t want to carry more than I have to.

We finally fanagled our schedules to do an overnight with the dog (Ubu’s first camping trip!) to Opal Creek Wilderness where it’s all water and waterfall and old growth forest. This place is so beautiful I wish it wasn’t so popular. The water was too cold to jump in but it was nice to look at. It was crystal clear you could see all the way to the bottom. The hike was pleasant and sleeping in the tent with Ubu was better than expected. I was worried she’d be all licky and antsy but she just curled up in a ball and went to sleep. She was a little cold (no body fat!) so we had to nestle her in the sleeping bags. My next knitting project will be a wool sweater for her so she doesn’t shiver at night. Hopefully as wedding season approaches we’ll still be able to make more time for hiking.

Our garden this year has been interesting. We had a cold and rainy spring, so I didn’t rush to put anything in the ground except the peas and favas. I’m trying to grow a lot of different plants this year but I’m learning a little too late where the best spots are for everything. I purchased a blueberry bush and i think it’s in a good spot with plenty of sun. My biggest success so far are my fava beans. I can’t wait to eat them! My peas are sluggish and my chiogga beets aren’t really making an above ground appearance.

Yummy Favas!

My bok choy sprouted but something ate all the leaves off the plants. The kale is coming up but it has a bunch of holes in the leaves as well. My friend Rachael gifted us with a motherload of leeks and they transplanted well. I have salad greens growing in the bathtub and they look great. I moved my rhubarb plant yesterday, I think it wasn’t getting much sun in the corner of the fenceline. My amaranth is being wimpy and my ground cherries are disappointing me. I think I’m neglecting the garden this year and it’s showing. I vow to be a better gardener. Beans, cukes and squash are going in the ground this week!

Our dog has been having some chewing bouts which was successfully solved by some more toys in her life. She basically lost or destroyed all of her toys except her Kong and was obviously bored. We got her a special rope that she can play tug with, which is very exciting for her. We didn’t allow any tug play the first 3 months and she’s loving having something that is tug-able. She got some non-destructable balls which she enjoys watching them bounce. She doesn’t usually fetch them, that will take more practice. But one thing she destroyed in her rebellion to us was her bed. I think she was angry that it wasn’t as cozy as her cedar bed in the living room. I think it was just a cheap bed that all the filling flattened out. Regardless, she ripped out all the filling and I realized she should have a nicer bed. But it’s a racket what they charge for basically an oversized pillow. I got some fabric (cotton on one side, flannel on the other) and made a pillow and a pillowcase (so we have something to wash if need be) and I’m really happy with how it came out.  Luckily it was pretty basic and easy.   I haven’t sewed for years and shortly after moving into the house I bought a basic sewing machine and made a long list of projects that I’m not making time to do. But today I made her bed and I’m happy she doesn’t have to sleep on the hard ground anymore.

This winter found us busy with training the dog, working and house projects. Matt learned how to install a toilet and we ended up replacing 2 toilets in our house for free (not counting labor), which is pretty exciting. Our upstairs toilet was ancient, it must have been a 5 gallon or more flush capacity and the city has a rebate deal where you can get up to $100 off an efficient toilet. Our toilet cost right around $100, from Home Depot. Glacier Bay, 1.28 gallon flush, flapperless. It’s neat that the whole tank doesn’t fill up, just a little reservoir that when you press the handle the reservoir dumps and it flushes like normal.

Flapperless flush

It’s been a few months now and I don’t notice anything bad about the new toilet. It doesn’t leak. It doesn’t take a day and a half to fill up. It’s set a little lower to the ground than the average toilet but I’m not a tall girl, it’s fine. We also replaced the toilet in the basement because it’s better to assume that our tenant will be wasteful. The city also gave us a whole bunch of cfl’s and some flood lights for the recessed lights in the house. Those things are expensive! Most of them went in the basement but the weird thing about them is that they get really bright but are dim to start until they warm up. I had to go back and put it a traditional light at the bottom of the stairs because I found I was squinting as I went down to do laundry. I don’t need a tenant having trouble navigating our blue shag rug carpeting we’ve got down there.

Successful Disconnection

My productive house time has been with learning how to disconnect downspouts. The city also has a rebate for this! I get $53 for each downspout I disconnect (to code) and we get a discount on our water bill. Currently there are 3 spouts connected to the sewer. The first two were pretty straightforward disconnections. There’s a plan to build a rain garden for one of the front ones but I have other pressing projects before I get all landscapey. The third downspout is in a weird place in the back of our house and the city man told me my only option was to install a rain barrel. I found a guy on craigslist who’s making them as a kit and they are much more attractive than most white or blue rain barrels out there. His pricing seemed fair and he was really helpful when we picked it up at his house. His whole front yard is landscaped with native vegetation and it looks so beautiful. Maybe he can come help me figure out how to turn our grassy yard into something pretty to look at and less maintenance. I have yet to install the rain barrel. I’ll update with a picture when it happens. Once the barrel is installed I need to run a hose well away from the house (and basement) so the overflow can go straight into the garden.

Awaiting the barrel

My next projects are: curtains for the windows, hanging a door to the basement (it’s just an archway right now) and framing some photos for our walls. It’s weird to have so much space to decorate and no roommates to depend on for decorations and furniture! We ended up with a great couch for our living room (and a great deal) and it’s nice to see the house come together. I know with some photos on the wall it will make a big difference.

We had a special NRME guest visit us last weekend, for one day only, during our crazy heat wave. We enjoyed all the best that Portland has to offer (Powells, breweries, Saturday market) and a bunch of special events were happening all over the city. We went up the extinct volcano Mt Tabor to see part of the adult soapbox derby which was fun. Crazy costumes and contraptions going down the volcano at human-powered speeds. From there, we headed to the Hawthorne Street Fair where a lot of the trendy shops had sale racks on the sidewalks and there was live music and additional vendors (crafty stuff and food-we had blueberry cinnamon soup!) in parking lots. It was fun and our friend’s wife wanted to shop around, so we ducked into Bridgeport Brewery for a beer sampler. I have to say their beer is alright, nothing amazing. So far I like Rogue the best of Portland beers.

Tour de Fat

That afternoon we headed to the classic Saturday market and saw lots of handicrafts and ate Mexican food. I’ve noticed an increase in the art/screen printed t-shirts at the market. There were some really beautiful shirts for sale, but at $20 each, I’ll wait until another time. Matt and I headed to the Tour de Fat for an hour to take in the crazy circusy bike party hosted by New Belgian Beer every year. We got there just in time to ride some insane custom-built bikes, have a beer and dance to music by March Forth, a really fun live band with people on stilts and some acrobats. We’ve seen them perform in Seattle before and they are a great time. I recognized one of the stilt walkers as someone from our neighborhood who had a tag sale the first week we moved to Portland. It’s already become a small town! It was such a hot day that we played in the fountain to cool off and met back up with our guests at Powell‘s. I like visiting Powell’s City of Books but it overwhelms me. There are SO many books that I feel like I should go to every section and walk down every aisle that I end up just grabbing a book and sitting down and reading. It is an impressive place.

Bike bonanza

For dinner we were going to get Lebanese or Ethiopian food but one of the group had an upset stomach so we got Chinese. (Silly Vermonters, going all the way to Portland to have Chinese food…that’s all there is to eat in VT except pizza). We went to Vegetarian House on 4th ave and I had my usual, General Tso’s fake chicken. This place is currently my favorite Chinese restaurant (but I won’t allow myself to compare it with China Pan, the ultimate in Buddhist Chinese food). Oh, and the night before we went to the Pied Cow to have a drink and it was our first time there. It’s an old Victorian house converted into a restaurant/bar/lounge/hookah patio and they have a great outside area where you feel like you’re in someones backyard. So, all in all, it was a hot, exhausting, busy day but lots of fun.

I look forward to more visitors as we learn the city better and can take you to our favorite places.

Matt bought the board game Puerto Rico when we returned from S.A. and we were so daunted by all the pieces and rulebook that we avoided playing it because with a game that complicated, it could get exhausting and boring before we even understand the game.

Luckily, we have boardgame friends in Portland and one night we sat down to make sense of it all.  And it’s not that complicated, once you understand how it goes.  And it’s fun!  Probably because Matt and I learned at the same time, so we are both still clueless.  It’s feels similar to Settlers of Catan in some ways but it is very unique and a really good group game.  I like that there isn’t just one way to play and win, there a different ways to acquire enough victory points to win that it keeps it a fun challenge. And I am proud to announce that I have finally won, at the current high score of 50 points. So far we each have one game…

Teal escort, my friend
We’ve been down many great roads
Here’s to your new path

I’m out of poetry practice. Hopefully my car performs well for it’s new owner and I can move forward gracefully, remembering how loyal a car she has been. I have outgrown her living in a major city, especially since we moved so close to school and downtown. I’m in a car maybe twice a week for circus class and occasionally work. It wasn’t practical to pay insurance and struggle to find a parking spot and move the car every few days to avoid a ticket. Now she’s got somewhere more exciting to go than just sitting in a parking spot collecting pollen. Can you tell I’m trying to rationalize selling my car? My only car? For 46% of my life I have relied on her to get me out and about.

Let’s all have a moment of silence as I release my attachment to Baby.
We are one step closer to Peru now.