World Vegan Day

I just found out that today is World Vegan Day. I'm not exactly sure what a vegan is supposed to do on this day, but I thought I'd put a link to this silly talking pig who makes some good points about veganism in a fun and silly way.
Happy World Vegan Day, now go eat an apple and have a glass of soy milk.

Mt. Talbert

Mt. Talbert is an extinct volcano of the Cascades. It's about a mile from our house and has really great hiking trails all over it. We just recently discovered it. It's going to be a great place to go to get outdoors, without the drive. Halen likes to collect leaves and rocks. We need to do some sort of art project with them. I've got quite the pile on the counter.

Ball Bellies

Halen likes giving kisses to his baby brother.

Green State #2

Check This
The score card says Oregon tied Vermont for first. For some reason, they gave that number one spot to Vermont though. Oh well. I'm pretty proud.
Halen and I played at the mall today. Dan's REI is located here, so after we dropped him off for work, we went and played at the indoor playground that has an outdoor theme. How funny is that? The whole enclosed area is padded and comfy to roam around on. There's a tent, a tree slide, two log tunnels, a turtle, and some other fun stuff. It's all on top of a padded carpet that has a river, a path, rocks, a lake with fish and grass printed on it. While there, I observed the nearby shops. One of them was a hot dog place. They have veggie corn dogs! Unfortunately, they are not vegan. The hot dog place is a worker-owned franchise operation from California though. Now if I can just get them to switch their veggie dogs to a vegan version, we'll be all set. This same mall has a noodle place that serves up local fresh veggies and grilled tofu in their bowls. The Panera is opening soon! It's the most veg friendly mall I've ever been to. The mall fountain is real pretty too. It's got all these natural rocks and plants surrounding it instead of concrete. There are coi fish swimming in it. For some reason, people still throw there money in there. Isn't this bad for the fish? Why are there not signs asking people not to do this? While we where watching the fish, a custodial woman came over to tell me to make sure and keep a hold on Halen (I was already) because a little girl had fallen in the week before.
Well, Halen is waking up. Gotta go.

Arrrggghhhh, Happy Halloween

Look at this pumpkin Halen carved, all by himself! I just gave him a really sharp knife and let him go at it. Of course, he'd do a pirate. What a talented young artist.

Some People Have Too Much Money

These cute indoor kid's skateboards go for $550 a piece!

Latourell Falls

7.5 months pregnant and I'm still up for the hikes. I like to go a little slower and my breaths are a little shorter, but I find the time spent walking through these Northwestern woods with my family to be some of the best in my life. This hike had two amazing waterfalls. The weather was perfect, sunny and cool. Even the drives to these places we hike are beautiful and interesting. I love Oregon.
this seemed like it could be a secret passage to the ewok village







Whoe Belly!
Nobody told me to make that silly face. Don't Dan and Halen really look alike here?

Growth Spurt

I think the little one is going through a growth spurt, he's starving me! I can't get enough to eat. I get full fast though, due to the lack of room for my stomach! I could really use some chocolate right now, but there is none here and Dan has the car at work. I guess it's for the best, it gives me heartburn anyway.

Farewell House

Our first home, our happy little abode for two years, is officially sold! I am feeling a little nostalgic, but very glad to have it over with. It's too bad that each realtor made 3 times the amount of money we did!

Pumpkin Pie From Scratch

Halen and I cut up our little pumpkin and made a pie tonight. He is quite the helper in the kitchen. Making a pumpkin pie from scratch, instead of the can, is a long process, but fun and yummy in the end. We listened to Smashing Pumpkins throughout the process, dancing in the kitchen during the wait times. I had to really tweak the heck out of the non-vegan recipe, but it worked. I still need to experiment one more time before I call it a perfect recipe and share it with you guys.

Pumpkin Patch

Today we went to Liepold Farms and had a hootin good time.
We took a hayride around the farm and learned about how pumpkins grow. I'm almost 30 and this was my first hay ride. I was pretty excited. We got lost (not really) in the 5.5 acre Wizard of Oz themed corn maze. We played with a fuzzy caterpillar. We said hi to a cute cow named Betsy, some goats, and a pony. Halen trekked through the mini haystack maze, castle, and corn-filled sand box. Dan catapulted apples at a target, trying to win a free pumpkin. He got so close, but in the end, we had to pay for our pumpkins. Halen loved the pumpkin patch. He stood amongst all those pumpkins, waving, and saying 'hi pumpkins.' I can't wait to carve a jack-o-lantern. I also got a small pumpkin for making a pie. I've always used a can of pumpkin for my pies, but this year I'm going to venture into making my own pumpkin goop.

Digging for bones in the corn. Ooooohhhhh.


I'm not trying to smuggle pumpkins under my shirt, I swear it!

This is Halen's Baby Gap Pumpkins photo.




As if walking through a corn maze, having watched Children of The Corn one too many times wasn't enough, they put an ax in the tin man's hand. I thought for sure it was going to come alive with a scary red-headed kid named Malacky inside, and hack us up.

Week 31

From my weekly pregnancy updates:
Hello, Christy!

This week, your baby measures about 16 inches long. He weighs a little over 3 pounds and is heading into a growth spurt. He can turn his head from side to side, and his arms, legs, and body are beginning to plump out as needed fat accumulates underneath his skin. He's probably moving a lot, too, so you may have trouble sleeping because your baby's kicks and somersaults keep you up. Take comfort: All this moving is a sign that your baby is active and healthy.


I BET MINE IS ABOUT 19 INCHES LONG AND WEIGHS 6 POUNDS! Lucky me. I've been nothing but excited about this next birth until last night. I just started thinking about how incredibly hard and long the process can be. I can't quite get it out of my head. I'm still excited to be preparing for the home birth that I really want, but the realization that it aint gona be easy is creeping in.

We went to a pumpkin farm today. It was super fun. I'll post more about it later, with some great pics.

Getting Closer

I had a midwife appointment yesterday. The little guy is getting big and moving down. He's now positioned himself head down. I feel more pressure in my pelvis and lower back these days (not to mention the joyous rhoids). The midwife helped me to feel my belly and distinguish body parts. It was pretty cool. I weight 171. I weighed 180 when Halen was born. A pound or two less would be nice this time, but I'm not sure it'll happen. I do share most of my food with Halen though, and all of my food with the baby. I certainly don't want him to be any bigger though. I'd rather me lose that weight than push it out of my you know what. I've been watching birth videos, amping myself up. Halen watches them too. He gets real excited when he sees the babies. All of the births I have on dvd are attended by older siblings too. He'll be there for the birth, if it's not the middle of the night or something. I want him to welcome his little brother into the world. My midwife appointments are now only 2 weeks apart. After the next two, the midwife will start coming to my house. I am so ready to have this baby. He just kicked me in the ribs. He's ready too.
Christy

Cut The Rug

Not to be confused with cuttin the cheese, although that happens around here too.

I've tried to upload video before. It hasn't worked. I'm giving it another shot. Our dance parties are some serious good times. I thought I'd try to share Halen's extreme talents. Look at that one-footed super spin!

Hail and a Rainbow

It hailed like crazy today, then the brightest and fullest rainbow I've ever seen filled the sky. It was a full arch, with a shadow rainbow not quite as bright. Halen saw it too. It was pretty cool. The clouds and sky are almost always beautiful and extra dramatic here. Even on a clear sunny day, the sky somehow manages to be incredible. I sure do love it here. I wish some of my homies would come to visit, so I can talk you into moving here!

Week 30

Your baby's a bit more than 15 1/2 inches long now, and she weighs almost 3 pounds. A pint and a half of amniotic fluid surrounds her, but that volume will decrease as she gets bigger and takes up more room in your uterus. Her eyesight continues to develop, though it's not very keen; even after she's born, she'll keep her eyes closed for a good part of the day. When she does open them, she'll respond to changes in light but will have 20/400 vision — which means she can only make out objects a few inches from her face. (Normal adult vision is 20/20.)

Bikes, Vegan Food, And The Beaches

If I lived in Atlanta still, I would go to Pensacola for this.

Vegan Bento

I read an article in the paper yesterday about Japanese bento boxes. http://mdn.mainichi-msn.co.jp/features/archive/news/
I'm totally into it!!! I started googling bentos and then vegan bento. I found a college kid who makes her own vegan bentos at veganbento.blogspot.com. Most of my vegan friends are already familiar with veganlunchbox.blogspot.com, she sometimes does bento inspired vegan lunches as well. Since Halen isn't in school yet, I think I'll start practicing making school and work bentos for Dan. He's going to be so excited!!! Haha.
Christy

Mirror Lake

We did a really great hike on Saturday. It was a 3 mile round trip up to Mirror Lake. Usually, you can see amazing views of Mt. Hood from here, with it's peak reflected down into the lake. We went on a day that was a little foggy and cloudy (not to mention cold, fall has reached the northwest), so we couldn't see the Hood. We will definitely go back. It was a good hike for Halen. He's getting so good at hiking. He knows to watch out for the roots and rocks. He runs up to them, steps up on them, and jumps forward. He can trek up a mountain for a really long time. He gets tuckered out sometimes and takes a break on one of our shoulders. He gets his energy back quick and wants to do his own hiking. We saw a neat little lizard that Halen thought was really cool. The lake also had crawdads as big as your hand. Halen was into those too. Dan tried balancing on some rocks over the water, hovering down to catch one for him to get a closer look. He almost got pinched a couple times and almost fell in the water a few more times. He never caught one. I guess he's not quite one with nature, like Kevin Bacon in White Water Summer. If you know Dan at all, you know that if he had fallen in the water, that the day, week, month, and year would have been ruined. The boy has an aversion to water, unless it's hot and running from a faucet. I'm an evil person because I still think it would have been funny as shit if he had fallen in the water. This has been a major point of contention in our relationship, when bad things happen to Dan, I laugh like hell. I am laughing at the thought of it now. I even try not to because I know how sad he is when he gets wet (or whatever). I try to be sympathetic, but the giggles just start coming. I have no control over it. Luckily, he still loves me, even though I can sometimes be terrible in this way.
On another note, my belly is big and heavy. I am on my way out the door to buy one of those pregnant belly support bands. My ab muscles at the top of the baby ball already feel like they are being worked and stretched to full capacity. I never got one when I was pregnant with Halen, but I am being a bigger baby this time. I just want to be comfortable.
I saw a sale on travelocity, tickets from ATL to PDX are $265. Come on fools, visit us!
oh yeah, Dan starts school today. He has his first day of training at REI tomorrow. Next weekend, if weather permits, we're going camping. Whoopi!
Christy

Pirates!

http://www.portlandpiratefestival.com/
this is going on here this weekend. Looks kinda fun. We might have to go!