~ 22 weeks

Time has been flying and it is hard to believe that I am already 22 weeks (40 weeks in a normal pregnancy - and yes I am using weeks... get over it).  Baby is moving a lot and particularly likes to kick around my waist band area - just to really remind me that even though I relieved myself 5 minutes before I could still go again.  I think by now this baby is around 7 inches and almost a whole pound.  I have not yet had my 20 week ultrasound - due to some scheduling issues but we are hoping to do so soon.  We are also in midwife limbo right now with the move and are hoping we can find a midwife in NH or VT that will meet our needs - unfortunately until we know where we are living (which state) we can't hire a midwife - which tends to make me a bit uneasy - but I know everything will work out...

belly at work- post pant exchange...

And well you know you are pregnant when you get to work and a half an hour later you decide you can't wear your jeans a minute longer... yes I drove straight home to change this morning.  Never a good thing when your pregnancy pants are starting to feel tight...especially at 22 weeks....

pickles!

Sorry for the delayed post!  We had a nice relaxing weekend - filled with me catching up on sleep all day Saturday (Isabelle has been waking up every night and taking her precious time getting back to sleep), going to the farmers market, working in the yard, and going to a super bbq at our friends Carter & Laura's. And the best part about the whole weekend: pickles.

At the market I spotted (for the first time this season) my beloved pickling cucumbers (the ones in my garden will be ready in about a week or two).  I grabbed about 20 cuces and happily went home with a mission.

And with a little bit of racking my brain (trying my hardest to remember Linda Turano's garlic dill pickle recipe) and improvising in the kitchen I made my first batch of summer pickles for summer 2011 - hip hip hooray!

it went a little like this:

20 pickling cucumbers sliced into quarters

~3 cups of cider vinegar

~4 cups water

~cup sugar

~4 - 5 tbs salt

hand ful of dill seeds, yellow mustard seeds, and black pepper corn

and a ton of fresh dill, garlic & garlic scapes

Cut cucumbers and shove them into your jars (I used three of varying sizes) - don't over stuff but you want them to stand up on their own.  Shove in a bunch of dill, garlic and or garlic scapes...Mix the vinegar, water, sugar, and spices until dissolved and then poor over your pickles and refrigerate -and PRESTO - pickles...well they are best to wait at least a day... and that is about as long as I can possibly hold out until ate my first 4 (or 10)- they really start getting delicious after a week or two...but they never last that long...

(mind you as I sit here typing this I am finishing off the first jar...a jar much smaller than the one shown...really!)

even Isabelle can't get enough of them..

so delicious they make her want to sleep better ...(not)

Other signs of summer to relish in include the gentle humming of bees, so much lettuce we don't know what to do with it, monday night ice cream, the signs of raspberries ripening, and lots of fires in the backyard.

honey bees on lavender

sid love and recently enjoyed food

sid love

Most of you have had the pleasure of meeting our big orange "meat head" of a cat Sid and today I wanted to share a few pictures (new and old) of him and Isabelle - who from Isabelle's birth has been her best friend.  Sid takes the rough love with a purr, will occasionally put her in her place - she tends to squeeze him... but all in all is a great cat looking for some love where ever he can get it.

Love at first site - Isabelle's first day home from the hospital

he even joins us on neighborhood strolls

We have also been enjoying some food and company this week (our friend Carole will be staying with us for about a week).  Yesterday I made banana pecan muffins, which are my new ultimate favorite.  The original recipe is from the Bread Bible but I add chocolate chips and replace the white flour and white sugar with whole wheat pastry flour and raw can sugar.  They are delicious and perfect for getting rid of the surplus of black bananas recently found in the freezer.  And for dinner we enjoyed grilled pizza and fresh garden salad - we made balsamic glazed fig and blue cheese w/ caramelized onions and a pesto, olives and tomato pizza - and oooo they were soooo good.

muffin and decaf iced coffee (and bunches of kale in the back)

grilled pizza

I  have also been thoroughly enjoying my new Instagram app on my iphone - all of todays posted pictures (other than the old one of sid, isabelle, and aaron) were taken and manipulated using it....not bad for a phone!

And today is Friday.....phew....have a great weekend!

hold the meat please...

So after my meat binge (that sounds gross just writing it) on the 4th of July weekend my body decided to revolt against meat & poultry....I'm even grossed out by eggs (by themselves) lately.  Not sure what it is, but I think the baby prefers a vegetarian momma because every time I look at meat/poultry/raw eggs my stomach turns.  So in the past few weeks I have been eating lots of beans, soy products, and nuts - and I haven't (thankfully) had any problem with dairy (other than a run in with a self-serve soft serve machine that ruined my life for an evening).  And due to the nature of the diet shift I have been way more conscientious about my protein intake (I'm suppose to consume the upwards of 70 g a day)....and well I have to say on this non animal protein "diet" I seem to reaching those my protein intake with no problems.  Not that I thought I really would...but I just wanted to make sure.  I love tofu, tempeh, beans, and nuts so life is good.  Aaron, semi-skeptically, has been along for the ride -with a few alterations here and there to his plate if he feels like arranging it.  He even cooked up some of his home cured bacon this past weekend and it made me nauseous...something may seriously be wrong with me...

mayple syrup & soy sauce marinated & baked tofu, veganaise, sprouts & tomato sammy w/ mexican brown rice & cherries (of course)

This week I also got my "sprouting" on - for co-op kids, I did a demo with the kiddos on how to make sprouts - we did mung beans, alfalfa, clover, radish, and even chickpea & lentils.  They were delicious.  Isabelle eats the sprouts out of the jar like they are candy!

(from left to right) alfalfa sprouts, and then several jars of soaking seeds & beans

I mainly use the instructions found at sproutpeople.org - a great resource for anyone interested in how to make sprouts - super easy, cheap, nutritious, and delicious!!!

And on the moving front...we have set an Idaho leave date of September 14th.  My mom will fly out a few days earlier and help with distracting Isabelle while we pack and then we (my mom, me, isabelle and the two cats) will all fly back to RI.  Aaron's bff, Joel, will fly out from ME to drive cross country with him to NH - they did the same thing on the way out - good man time I suppose.  We still don't have a place to live, a U-Pack moving quote, or a midwife - which gets sticky because it really depends on where we live (VT or NH - because most don't have licenses in both states) - but I know it will all fall into place...eventually.

the weekend

We decided to avoid our my fears (moving, rentals, etc.) and escape for a one night camping trip about an hour north of us in St. Maries, Id.  It was ... in someways... just what we needed.  Saturday afternoon we loaded up the car with an unreasonable amount of equipment and set off to the woods.  We had a nice little camping spot in Heyburn State Park and were very pleased we decided to bring the insect screen canopy to put over the picnic table - the mosquitoes have nothing on the east coast... but there managed to be several hungry buggers that thought Isabelle tasted lovely...

We managed a little nature walk Saturday evening and on our drive back to our campsite we spotted a moose gulping some water on the lakes' edge.  Sunday we woke up -  practiced some team building skills... our tent is massive and easy to put up...but taking down and packing takes patience...especially when someone forgets to take the car keys out of the inside pocket......Isabelle even gets in on the "team building" by laying on the tent to get rid of the huge air pockets.

our campsite

isabelle getting all the air out of the tent

After the car was packed we spent the rest of the morning and early afternoon at a little sandy beach on the lake.  Isabelle loved playing in the water, throwing rocks, and splashing cold lake water on mama.

Back to reality: moving quotes, rentals outside our budget, and work....bleh.

eastward bound

I know many of you have been patiently waiting to hear our latest and greatest news....

View Larger Map

if you click on the view larger map you can see exactly where we are headed!

That's right folks, we're hitting the road again!  Yikes!  There are so many emotions running through our brains - excitement, fear of packing & finding a new place to live, sad to leave our amazing Moscow friends family, but mostly a lot of excitement that we will be closer to our families.  Approximately 4 hours to my parents and 3 hours to Aaron's makes for a perfect place to call home (for 20 months anyways...).

So, some details.... Aaron has accepted a joint USDA postdoc at Dartmouth College in Hanover, NH.  He will be 'investigating climatic effects on regional forest insect outbreak dynamics' with a gentlemen by the name of Matt Ayres- he is pretty excited as it seems the competition for the job was pretty stiff!  Aaron will plan to start at the end of September, which means we have approximately 2 months to get there.  It is all a bit overwhelming at the moment but we are so excited to be making this move.  Oh right and remember I'm pregnant...oh these travels will be interesting...

And I suppose I can't stress enough the bittersweet emotions we are all experiencing - tearing up while we tell our Moscow friends and smiling so hard it hurts my face to tell my parents we will be moving "home" - the next few months will be interesting to say the least...

Isabelle & Maggie

We have already talked about maggie quite a bit, she is a lovely little lady that Isabelle and I met (along with her momma) at co-op kids a few months ago.  The two of them are two peas in a pod and are wonderful friends.  Yesterday, Maggie came over for a little play date (sans momma - Melissa has a new baby at home Mr. River).  For the most part I let the two girls play at whim until I heard a little uproar over a special toy or marker - nothing a timer couldn't help!  The two girls made beaded necklaces, played dolls & kitchen, snacked on my new favorite muffin (wholewheat banana pecan chocolate chip - recipe to come soon) and played outside.

making fancy jewelry

Isabelle's adorable dress was a gift (hand-me down) from maggie - she decided she didn't like halter top dresses and will not wear them anymore.  In turn we gave one of Isabelle's brand new dresses she refuses to wear.  

Two peas in a pod.

And in recent developments we have some very exciting news to share...but I am going to make you wait - we still have a few people we need to make sure hear the news from us first...I just want to tease you all with the prospect of exciting news to come.

market and more...

This weekend was pretty quiet - which was great!  We woke up early Saturday morning and went for a 8-9 mile bike ride along the Palouse and got back in time to head straight to the farmer's market.  There we stocked up on fruit & veggies we are not producing in are garden: asparagus, green beans, zucchini, cucumbers, apricots, blueberries....and of course cherries.

walking with some serious determination...

cherries

We also get to take some time to enjoy local baked goods while listening to some live music and watching the chaos of Friendship Square - lots of kids in a small place... Isabelle is content just sitting back and observing while she eats a cinnamon bun.

yum

lentil kofte w/ yogurt sacue

                           

music & playground madness

And me, well I just love me some cherries...I think more than once this weekend I have given myself a stomach ache by binging on the juicy little fruits....I see some bing cherry ice cream in my near future...

Sunday we made some blueberry pancakes (not as good as my dad's...almost there...) and went to Spring Valley Reservoir for a little walk around the water.  We saw osprey, turtles, fish, geese, and a momma duck and ducklings - Isabelle had a little run in with a rock...but other than that it was quite nice.

Spring Valley

for dinner we had some delicious fish tacos with all the fixings...yum yum yum

And that was our weekend in a nutshell, 5 more days until the next one... can't wait.

want...

I don't normally fish on line for things I can't afford...but I happen to stumble on this one and can't help but share its awesomeness.  Aaron would be so jealous.

anthropologie

poolside

It has been hot hot hot in Moscow these past few days and we have been either retreating to the cool basement, hanging in the shade, eating tons of watermelon, guzzling water....or at the pool.  Moscow has a "nice" pool - in parentheses because I don't know what a nice pool is since I never did that as a kid (the joys of living minutes from the beach...).  Isabelle is still getting re-aquainted with the sunny, loud, and overstimulating poolside - but all in all we both enjoyed dipping our feet and cooling off.

snacking on a pesto roll

Last night even though it was really hot I was craving chili and cornbread.  I made a vegetable & bean chili with wheat bulgar (sans meat - even Aaron approved), buttermilk cornbread, and some fresh squeezed lemonade...and man did it make me sweat even more...but it was sooooo worth it.  It is 9 a.m. here and I am already eye balling my leftovers...  I am personally super excited it is Friday and looking very much forward to weekend fun.  We haven't been to the farmer's market in two weeks and I hear the cherries are in - and man I never understood how good a cherry could be until living out here.  I'm sorry east coast but the cherries they ship to you just do it justice.  

Hope you all have a great weekend!

Selway River

This past weekend we went on a 3 night camping trip along the Selway River (approximately 2.5 hours from Moscow) with our good friends the Ingwells & their "sometimes" friendly pooch, Hailey.  Aaron, Carter, and Hailey drove out early Friday to secure a campsite and Laura, Isabelle, and I headed out a little after.  The weather was beautiful and the drive was great - driving along highway 12 toward Montana is one of the most scenic drives you may ever take.  Upon arrival we were very impressed with our isolated little campsite right on the river (even equipped with an out house!).

Our campsite

Saturday we went on a really nice 4 hour hike (no one was on the trail - I think most people coming to the area were fishing, rafting or 4-wheeling) and returned to take a plunge into the icy river water - it felt so so good!

Isabelle giving momma some love & Hailey

our little family, baby bump and all..

Our camping trips have taken drastic changes in the past few years.  We have put away our light weight gear and moved on to a really big (heavy tent), a big camp stove, and yes...an air mattress.  And I have to say, for this time of our lives car camping is just perfect.  I hope someday to come full circle - break out our "out of date" gear and tent camp again some day with our family - but for now car camping is lovely.    One of the major perks being all the delicious food we ate!  Ribs, chicken kabobs, breakfast sandwiches,  hash browns and ohh the pudgy pies...delicious sandwiches grilled in cast iron mold.

We also discovered Isabelle is in more than one way like her mom.  When I was young anytime I did something a bit out of the norm (like camping) I puked.  And well between all the fun Isabelle was having and the heat (it was in the high 80's-90's) she threw up twice.  Once at night - that was not fun - and once in the morning during breakfast.  She was such a trooper though, as soon as it happened she felt so much better, brushed her teeth, and moved on.  We think she was also slightly dehydrated, the heat and sun really drained me, and I can only imagine what its effect was on her body.  In the future we now know to really push the fluids and try to keep her out of the sun and relaxed as much as possible.  

lounging by the beach at our campsite

enjoying the scenery

Sunday we did another small hike along another small river and then just took the rest of the afternoon to relax at the campsite.  Monday morning, after a delicious breakfast, we loaded up and drove home.  All in all a blissful weekend on the river.

Hope you all had a great long weekend!

lentil crazy

So I have to admit, when Aaron travels I tend to only eat vegetarian....I'm not sure why but it just ends up being that way.  I stock up and binge on beans, tofu and tempeh.  The likely story behind this is that those around me suffer my fumes... and as much as Aaron might disagree, I do try keep my gas to myself.  Plus eating veg is just easier, cheaper, and well...I just plain like it.  Don't get me wrong I do enjoy eating meat/poultry (a lot) and choose to eat meat/poultry that is humanely raised and local most of the time but when he is gone I just crave the beans (and yes I do "know" what humanely means...I have two degrees in animal science and did a huge portion of my master's within a slaughter house - but I diverge).

And as such I made lentil burgers and Indian Mango Dahl all in one day...and it was amazing and stinky.

I used this recipe with a few tweaks...added toasted sunflower seeds and an egg

so good (and they make me think of my dear friend lila)

In addition, it is finally summer here - which means lots of silliness and a garden that is just going nuts.  This week we harvested tons of lettuce, spinach, kale, radishes, broccoli, and cabbage!

                                     
                                     

a silly photo series by the pool

aaron's pride & joy

armful(s) of kale!

Today I am working a half a day and then we are hitting the road for a long 3-day weekend of camping, hiking, swimming, and fishing on the Selway River (which is a tributary of the Clearwater River).  Lots of pictures I promise!