J and I first arrived in Portland in 2008 at the tail end of summer. The weather was gorgeous and the farmers markets were exploding with fruits and veggies. As soon as we settled in, I immediately started looking into local community supported agriculture (CSA) programs and was surprised to find quite a few. After doing a bit more research, I decided to go with the 47th Avenue Farm because their summer share season was by far the longest -- May through September. Also, given that they're an urban farm here in Portland, our food literally only travels a few miles to reach our table. The farm grows at a couple of sites in Portland, with the biggest plot out on 117th Avenue and another in Lake Oswego, which is about 10 miles south of the city. All of the crops are grown sustainably using cover crops between vegetable rotations, certified organic fertilizers, beneficial insects, drip irrigation, and conservation tillage techniques.
One downside of getting your CSA share from a local urban farm is that there is limited space, which leads to a very long waiting list! When I got the exciting email in April to notify us that we'd made it to the top, it had been a little over a year since we first signed up. I gladly sent in my check for a half-share of vegetables and a full share of fresh eggs. Every week, we drive over to SE 47th Avenue and pick up our veggies along with a dozen eggs. The eggs are unlike any I've seen, with such golden yolks that when scrambled they look almost curried without having any spice at all. Until last week, our share consisted mostly of early spring veggies like garlic and onion scapes, leeks, spring onions, green garlic, and a small amount of mixed field greens.
This week, however, I feel like were just starting to get a taste of summer! We had a mixture of fresh lettuce, radishes, baby bok choy, the last of the scapes, spring onions, and fresh cilantro. In order to enjoy our nice fresh greens to the fullest, J and I made a simple salad and topped it with marinated beef and a perfectly ripe avocado from the grocery store. I love summer!
Since the World Cup started two weeks ago, J and I have tried to keep up with the many matches in group rounds. We mostly stream the games on our computers while hovering around J's work desk or in our living room (hey the car seat is proving useful even before the baby arrives). As you can imagine, watching all of the games with internet streaming quality on a 14" screen isn't exactly ideal. So, we've visited several venues over the past couple of weeks to catch some of the more exciting games. When J's parents were in town, we rolled out of bed to watch the 7am Argentina vs. Nigeria game. Later that day, we stopped in at the Mission Theater (one of our favorite second-run movie houses) to see the USA vs. England game, which was really fun and exciting.
As dedicated fans, yesterday morning we set the alarm for 6am and shuffled over to a local divey sports bar to see the USA vs. Algeria and the England vs. Slovenia games. Bars all over town have been opening early (some even open for the 4am games) to cater to the crowds of Portland soccer fans. Most even throw together some sort of special breakfast menu, you know, to help soak up the pitchers of beer they're pouring just after sunrise. This bar was no different. J and I ponied up to the bar right in front of one of probably two dozen flat screen TVs, ordered two Vuvuzela specials and two coffees. The kitchen started slinging eggs, bacon, and sausage right away and waitresses spent the morning carrying armfuls of breakfast plates, delicious looking bloody marys, and pitchers and pints of beer. It was awesome.
One of the announcers during the USA game said that "Americans must be dying a thousand deaths over and over," which pretty much summed up the feeling during the nail-bitingly close match. When Donovan scored that goal in the first minute of stoppage time, the bar erupted with cheers, bar stools fell over, beer splashed in the air, and everyone started chanting USA! USA! USA! J and I walked home excited, yet exhausted.
Later that afternoon, I was thinking about how quite a few of my pregnancy books have stressed that the baby can hear noises. Certain familiar sounds that he hears in utero might be soothing once he's born, like my voice, J's voice, or certain beats from music. One even went so far to suggest that babies who are read to in the womb might even show preference to those books once born. If that truly is the case, then we're going to have to purchase a vuvuzela track (or a swarm of angry bees) as white noise, since that is probably the most consistent external noise he'll hear for most of June and July.
This morning as Jesse and I slept in until 9am, which in our house is nothing short of miraculous. Neither of us were quite ready to face the day, so we pulled out our laptops to check out World Cup updates from the two games we missed this morning. As we were watching soccer highlights, Baby G woke up, rolled around, and Jesse got to play with his little feet that that poked and prodded around my ribs. It feels so great to have Jesse home again and share a perfectly relaxing Saturday morning.
While lounging, I decided to change up the blog a bit. Blogger just rolled out new design features that make it very easy to switch things up (and look really really talented in the process). I think it took about 20 minutes, most of which was spent agonizing over what color to make the borders around my photos. Details, people. It's all in the details.
Updating the website really put me into a spring/summer cleaning mood, so I think I'm going to tackle a few organization projects. We're going to get our living room back in order, hang a few photos, and maybe even tackle a closet. I'm ready to have my life back in order again!
As you can tell, I've had babies on the brain lately. Only 10 weeks to go and I feel like there's so much left to do before Baby G arrives! Now that I am finished with classes for a while, I can really start to focus tackling a few of the less fun projects like cleaning out our closets figuring out exactly where the crib is going to live.
My mom was recently in town to help out with some of the preparation. She and I shopped until near collapse to find just the right fabric for the baby's crib sheets, changing cover, and a window shade for the guest bedroom. We also jumped right in and went out to Babies R Us and came home with a carload of necessities including a car seat and pack 'n play. (Don't worry Katie, the baby will not have to sleep in our laundry basket). While I was at work and finishing up my final paper, my mom slaved over the sewing machine with barely a break for meals. I don't think I could have ever gotten so much done without her! I will definitely post photos of all that we accomplished, but not until the back bedroom is a little more in order (so you'll just have to wait).
However, I won't leave you without a little something to help you through Monday morning. As part of our preparation for Baby G, both J and I asked our parents to bring along our baby books and a few baby photos during their recent visits. It was pretty fun to look through our milestones and of course laugh and coo over our photos as babies. It's funny how even at such a young age we already had quite a bit of personality.
J immediately recognized my "morning face" that I have apparently been cultivating since week 1.
J could barely even hold up his own head and was already exercising the mischievous eyebrows that I now recognize as a precursor to some sort of trouble.
We're both pretty excited to find out what traits our little guy will inherit. From his pokes and kicks lately, I'm thinking he definitely has his dad's energy level and soccer legs.
I'll be 30 weeks on Monday, so with only ten weeks to go it's a good thing we attended our first birthing class last night. Due to J's travel schedule, we had to sign up for a class at a different hospital than the one where I'll actually deliver, but from what I can tell it was a good choice.
The class is taught by a midwife who practices here in Portland, so even though we'll go over all the possible scenarios (medications, interventions, etc.) that could occur, her focus is on the natural birthing process and being prepared. Since I've already done a good bit of reading, most of the things we covered in class were a review. However, I think J was really happy to learn about the mechanics and stages of the whole process. At one point during class he turned to me and said "this is pretty amazing." I'd never really thought about it before, but it is pretty amazing that my body and the baby know exactly what to do when the time comes.
We both also learned a little something about each other last night. Each of us had not given the other nearly enough credit when thinking about how we'd deal with pregnancy and birth. J was nervous that pregnancy for me would be a horrendous experience; that I would be grumpy for nine straight months. We both agree that the opposite is the case. My pregnancy has been pretty relaxed and actually kind of fun (after the whole morning sickness bit).
I on the other hand have been nervous from day one about how J will handle the birthing process, which made me really really anxious when the midwife turned on the birthing videos last night. Once again, we were proven wrong. Instead of inducing anxiety and fear, the videos actually made him feel a lot more empowered after seeing dads that were very much a part of the labor and childbirth process. Finally, something he can relate to in a world of womanly unknowns -- being a good support person, literally a pillar.
This morning he asked me to highlight a few chapters in the books I've been reading and we're both looking forward to going to the next classes. By the time Baby G decides to make an appearance, I think we're going to be as prepared as one can be for all of the unknown possibilities!
I'm turning in my final paper for class tomorrow morning and my mom has been in town, so life has been super busy lately! I'll have lots of updates on friends, projects, and of course Baby G as soon as I have time to breathe this weekend.
For now, a photo from Memorial Day Weekend will have to suffice.
This week, however, I feel like were just starting to get a taste of summer! We had a mixture of fresh lettuce, radishes, baby bok choy, the last of the scapes, spring onions, and fresh cilantro. In order to enjoy our nice fresh greens to the fullest, J and I made a simple salad and topped it with marinated beef and a perfectly ripe avocado from the grocery store. I love summer!
