Here we go again....

Contractions started a few hours ago. We're getting the house cleaned, Dorothy down for bed, and then perhaps heading to the hospital! Hopefully we'll have pictures of our beautiful little Lucy to share soon!

Inspiration

On some of these final days of pregnancy where I am feeling tired, worn down, and not at all patient, a message like this one from Stephanie Nielson is just what I need.

I hope you enjoy her story.

My New Life

The 3 Little Burritos

This just made me laugh.

Can you guess whose is whose?

1. homemade tortillas--worth the effort!
2. green Tabasco sauce
3. eating dinner together as a family

A few things I should probably mention...

So as it turns out,
I managed to turn 26 and
Marty and I managed to celebrate 2 years of marriage
without any documentation.
This is the closest thing we have:

One of the few pictures we took over April vacation.
Hot, sweaty, working outside.
Yup. That about sums it up.

We really did have a great anniversary
and birthday celebration this year.
We just kept everything very low key.
At this point in the pregnancy,
I really don't have energy for much but low key.

Our anniversary was back on April 19th,
and we just took the whole day to be together as a family.
We had a nice big breakfast together,
went out to lunch at our favorite local sandwich place,
visited the farm (where we had our first date),
and really just tried to relax.

My birthday was on the 27th, and I loved every minute!
Marty took the day off work
and we were able to get all the final things done before Lucy
that have just been getting put on the back shelf.
I finally feel like I can go into labor and leave the house
without leaving chaos in my wake.
Marty's mom watched Dorothy that night
so that we could sneak out for a dinner together.
I'm guessing that we'll find it tough to get out on too many dates
for at least a few months after Lucy is born.
Just a hunch when you have a newborn and a 14 month old...

I can't believe that we are
only a few days away from adding another birthday
to our spring of celebrating!
We'll be keeping you all posted!

1. already being dilated to a 2
(hopefully this means Lucy will come more quickly than Dot!)
2. the return of the sunshine
3. all the frozen meals in the freezer--
bring on Lucy!

Isn't she lovely?

With April vacation last week,
Marty had the chance to go look at some pianos.
By Friday afternoon we welcomed
this pretty little baby into our music room.

She's from the 1950s,
definitely worn
but with a sweet sound.
I love having music in our home!

1. a husband that plays beautifully
2. craig's list
3. a week with the hubby home

Buy Fresh. Buy Local.

Every spring as the garden begins to send up its first asparagus and the rhubarb takes shape, I find myself opening this book once again. I love it, and I love what Barbara Kingsolver asks her readers to consider: the price beyond the price tag of supermarket food (i.e. fuel costs, ingredients we may or may not know about, how CAFOs treat their animals, etc.). She asks her readers to think about turning to more local food sources and to attempt gardening to the degree one is able. And the best part is that she has practiced what she is preaching. Her family up and moved to their farm in Virginia to embark on a "year of local eating" project, chronicled in this book.

Luckily, Marty and I live in an area that has an ever-growing affection for local food. In fact a common bumper sticker to see on any given day reads, "Buy Fresh. Buy Local." This year, more than ever, I want to support our local farms and feed my family with as many fresh and organic ingredients as possible. I have been doing some research and found a farm a few miles away that raises free-range chickens. We'll be buying a handful to deep freeze for the winter. Our brother and sister-in-law raise grass-fed hogs and beef cattle on their farm 20 minutes away that will also help us fill our freezer chest with steaks, ground beef, roasts, sausages, bacon, etc. We have a few farms and farmer's markets that will begin selling fresh produce in June. My plan is to supplement what we get out of our own garden and can or freeze as much as we are able. A trip to the local orchards should also help us put up some fruits for the winter months.

Will we be able to fully sustain ourselves on locally grown foods? No. And that is not necessarily my objective nor is it what Kingsolver is asking. She is merely asking for people to really think about the origins of our food and to make what changes we are able. I've been thinking. We, as a family, have made some decisions. Our honey, eggs, milk, meats, some cheeses, and vegetables and fruits in season will be bought locally. I'll start baking more breads from scratch. All of these little changes will start to add up in the health of our family and our local economy. I'm fully looking forward to this new adventure.

I'm sure that in the end some of the changes will stick and some will not, but I truly am excited to see where this takes us. Humans ate what they could find locally for thousands of years--hence the food cultures so ingrained in most cultures. I think it is time for me to find out what the south-east corner of Massachusetts has to offer. I think I will be pleasantly surprised.

1. local food
2. farmers
3. a new goal for our family

A perfect day.

Oh, today was wonderful--
perhaps even perfect.

Dorothy "helped" me try my hand
at homemade bulky rolls for part of our dinner tomorrow.

We got a whole heck of a lot of fresh air and sunshine.
Dorothy played with a whole lot of rocks.

Seriously,
why do we buy toys when it is this simple?

We took a walk down the road to the head of Westport.

And enjoyed some massive treats once we got there.

It's a good thing I had Dot to help me take down my cookiewich.

And to top it all off,
our first asparagus of the year was ready to eat!
Isn't it beautiful?

There's nothing like eating fresh veggies in the springtime.
(It sure helps balance out cookiewich snacks:)

1. the first offerings of the garden
2. hometown country stores
3. making some great memories as a family of 3
while looking forward to becoming a family of 4