first ride in a canoe

This past weekend we worked hard to forget our packing and moving stress and headed up to Sandpoint, ID for one last camping trip this summer with our wonderful friends Laura & Carter and their pooch Hailey (i know...i sort of have had enough camping...).  And well we decided to take one of our landlords' canoes along with us for some boating fun.  Isabelle of course had to get a new life vest - and of course she would only wear the one with pink and purple (which just so happened to be the most expensive one...hmph).

isabelle sat comfortably in her hippo chair

and off they go!

This little canoe trip has excited both Aaron and Isabelle about the lake that we will be living on for the next 9 months in NH (Mascoma Lake).  And well for me.... it just gives me anxiety - I could barely watch as they paddled away in that canoe...

This is officially my last day of work and Isabelle's last day of daycare and since we are having some temporary issues with internet at our house I'm not sure when the next post will come.  Will try to get in a few but unfortunately it is "game face" time.  The next month will be filled with packing, flying, driving, and unpacking....  I can't believe I am saying this (when September is generally my favorite time of year) but...I can't wait for October!

Dates:

Moving truck comes: Sept. 7th

Mom comes: Sept 9th

Moving truck leaves: Sept 12th

28 week Midwife appointment: Sept 12th

Mom, Isabelle, me and the cats fly out: Sept 14th 

Aaron & Joel drive east: Sept 15th

I drive up to NH: Sept 20th (ish)

Moving truck arrives in NH: Sept 22nd (ish)

The chaos starts: NOW!!!!!!!

Yikes.  Please send positive thoughts our way.

transverse at 25 weeks

i know i am reusing a photo from a previous post....so shoot me...

As confirmed by the ultrasound and a little palpating from my midwife baby is lounging sideways (or a slightly angled sideways with its feet usually poking at my lower right stomach area and punching my upper left ribs) instead of head down - which is totally fine for now but my midwife told me to start thinking "head down baby" and doing some extra pelvic tilts during the day to coax the babes into position.  I know it is quirky but I really believe in the power of the mind and mind and body connection - and when she said "thinking - head down baby", I really appreciated and could grasp that.

All other ultrasound results were great - the baby has two arms, two legs, a head, a heart, growing organs, etc.  The ultrasound also predicted my due date to be December 10th, 5 days after my original due date was estimated at 12 weeks.  I am not surprised, I think I just tend to carry a smaller baby according to averages (Isabelle has always been in the 5th-25th percentile and that is A-OK)- so I suppose we will be expecting a baby anytime after December 5th - only time will tell. 

I also had a dream a few nights ago that I had a baby girl.  Upon deeper thinking about the actual events of the dream I think it was more me having anxiety about my previous hospital birth.  In my dream I gave birth to this beautiful baby girl and then she was quickly snatched from my arms for doctors to look her over and then she was gone (as if the hospital swallowed her up).  Now, ok, this totally did not happen and while they did wisk her away promptly after birth I got Isabelle back in a jiff - but I suppose I just am now a little more sensitive and a little more adamant about how our babies first minutes, hours, and days are spent with us.  I'm so looking forward to snuggling up with our new little baby in our own bed and not feeling so sterile.  

I know and appreciate our desire to have a homebirth is not the norm but am truly excited for the experience - that being said, having Isabelle in a hospital was wonderful (other the induction, pitocin, and epidural) - the moment she entered our world everything changed and it was one of the most powerful events of my life.

getting ready to go home 3 years ago

but then again, the dream could mean that we should expect another little lady in our life...now wouldn't that be something...

Vacation ~ Part 3 ~ Olympic Peninsula continued & Mt. Rainier

And well here are the last few bits and pieces of our vacation - enjoy!

a silly lady enjoying the water in her undies

forget the undies...lets just run around nudy booty

Hoa rainforest

hoa rainforest

big cedar!

a tree bridge

one of my favorite photos, isabelle just before sunset on Rialto Beach

momma & isabelle @ Rialto Beach

running off any last bits of energy

an amazing sunset (i must admit i had to be dragged to - thank you aaron)

World Largest Yellow Cedar (i think)

Mt. Rainier (took my breath away)

aaron went on a (well deserved) solo hike up Mt. Rainier (I think Mt. Hood is in the background)

marmot! i guess aaron almost stepped on one!

wildflowers along the way

fields of glacier lillies

As mentioned previously we are up to our ears in packing and planning for the big move.  I have to say I am honestly not ready to leave Moscow and it is going to be a sad goodbye.  Every time I think of leaving this place and people I get a bit choked up - Moscow has been really good to us.  (Don't get me wrong I am so so happy to be moving closer to our families and east coast friends - just that moscow has really special place in my heart).

I am also finishing up at work over the next few days, which ultimately means I am turning in my computer (which i use to do most of my blogging from).  So until we have something else set up at home posts may not be as frequent or as photo heavy - don't fret though... I'll figure something out eventually.

Vacation ~ Part 2 ~ Olympic Peninsula

Ok, as promised... more pictures.  From Seattle we drove a few more hours west to visit the Olympic Peninsula.  Home of Olympic National Park - mountains, beaches, and rainforest.  Also home of those Twilight series - the small town in which the books are set, Forks, and yes I have read the books and well if you are feeling like a teenage vampire guilty pleasure then go for it - but I have to say I'm pretty embarrassed I read them (and saw all the movies...so far).  Ok anyways back to the more important stuff - pictures:

hurricane ridge - olympic national park

Bailey Range - olympic national park

deer in meadow - flowers - broad leaf lupines

We spent one night camping at the base of Hurricane Ridge in Olympic National Park, even though we had initial hopes of sleeping by the water our first night.  The park was great and we had amazing views of the mountains..

on the road again..driving further west

made it to the Pacific- beach littered with huge trees

isabelle navigating the beach

Yikes there are a lot of pictures from this Pacific Northwest tour...more to be posted later.  In the mean time we are up to our ears in bubble wrap, boxes, and packing tape - packing is not fun.

vacation ~ Part 1 ~ Seattle

So as mentioned in the previous post we set out last Thursday on a little (big) adventure.  One week - two nights in a hotel and 5 nights camping - and well all I can say is it is good to be back in Moscow.  We had a great time (accept I managed to get a cold the second day and hurt my foot from walking on pavement in cheap flip flops), ate lots of good food, and experienced some inspiring scenery.  Since I took lots and lots of pictures and we did so much I figured it would only be appropriate to dedicate a few posts to this vacation.  It may take me a while but I will get all the pictures and events posted (eventually).  Mind you we now have our "game faces on" as far as packing goes - and yes we finally found a place to live (for 9 months anyways...)!

baby weed # 2

Our adventure started early Thursday morning.  I had my 20 week ultrasound appointment (even though I was 23 weeks) in Spokane and so our trip started with getting a cute view of a cute baby!  Isabelle got to see her new little sister or brother for the first time and I think she was rather pleased that it didn't look anything like a baby - I think she might be in denial.  We do have ultrasound equipment in Idaho...some of you may be thinking why we ventured an hour and a half for the appointment.... doctors here do not want to be associated with patients choosing home births...

After our appointment we headed west to Seattle- a city both Aaron and I wanted to visit for a little gastronomical indulgence.  The night we got into town I looked up the best Vietnamese place in search for some delicious Pho - something I have been craving for far too long now.  We ended up in the International District of Seattle and were pleased to find a little hole in the wall that had some stellar pho (I still think Boston is better - but I only visited one place).

yum...want more...

The next day we went into the city to visit the aquarium, stroll the famous Pike's Place Market (where they throw the fish), and well yes eat...eat....and eat more.

isabelle on the train heading into Seattle

at the aquarium

bravely touching the starfish

Pike's Place Market

Seattle

a little finger food from La Pichet

We also made our way to Salumi - Mario Batali's fathers salumi shop and grabbed some capicola & soupy.  And well, yes I did try everything - even though I have not eaten meat since June.  The dry cured pork products were yummy but I can't say I was a huge fan of the pates (i know i know...what is wrong with me?!).  And well... I think in general I will continue to stay away from meat/poultry for the rest of this pregnancy or until I start liking it again.  

so there is a little of our vacation to "chew" on....more to come later

the gem state

That's right - Idaho's nickname is the gem state (also known as "more than just potatoes") due to its abundance of rare minerals - and the state gem in these parts is the star garnet.  On my newly formed "Idaho bucket list" was to go mining for the dark black purplish gems at a nearby open mining facility close to Clarkia (about an hour & half away) called Emerald Creek Garnet Area.  Don't ask why it is called Emerald Creek and not Garnet Creek...

So yesterday after co-op kids, my faithful side kick Rebekka (co-op kids creator) her two kiddos (Bella & Jack), Isabelle, and I loaded up on snacks, sandwiches, and lots of water and headed North.  Not knowing quite what to expect we were pleasantly surprised by the dirty (very dirty), hot, and excitement of garnet mining.

first you find a spot to dig

then you dig (Bella)

then you check out to see where other people dig (Jack)

then you sift (or stand and look pretty)

then you sleuth (wash your rocks with water)

or stand and watch

then you pick out your gems (Rebekka)

voila - a handful of garnets!

It was lots of fun!  We only did the whole process a handful of times each - you can tell some people are there from morning till dusk.  But we were all excited to show off our gems and think about what we might do with them.  I plan to go into town to our local gem shop and see what they charge to tumble and possibly make beads out of a few we found to make some special Idaho keepsakes.

After mining we headed to Laird Park, which was about half way home, for some much needed cleaning and relaxing by the Palouse River.  

tired momma & isabelle

Tonight we will be packing for our trip west - and planning - yes we haven't exactly figured out all the details but we know it will include Seattle and the Olympic Peninsula - that is a good enough start right?!

a little hectic

Things are slightly hectic (in a good way) around here and apologize up front for the lack of posts.  We had our good friends Melissa, Maggie, and River stay with us for a night (they are in a bit of home transition) and the girls had a blast.  They helped prepare dinner, picked raspberries, took a bath together, and played a lot!  Aaron and Zach headed to the Gorge for a Phish show and well I think they must of had a good time - they came back appropriately groggy and hoarse.

Isabelle's first bath with a friend - she actually wanted to get in...perfect!

playing with homemade play silks

lots of dancing and twirling

Overall a really great weekend and we are getting (i think) close to choosing a place to live back east- which hopefully will settle my anxiety and increase the amount of sleep I am currently getting.  

We have lots in store for this week (and hopefully lots of pictures to show for it).  Today Isabelle and I will be heading up to Clarkia with some friends to dig for garnets (one of two places in the world you can do this...Idaho & China...) and Thursday we will head to Spokane for an ultrasound and from there we head to Seattle and the Olympic Peninsula for some much needed vacation.

And in fruit updates the peaches are in...and ohh they are sink worthy (i.e. must be eaten over the sink to avoid your upper half being covered in juice).

i am seriously going to miss the fruit out here

a new friend and potatoes

Saturday morning Isabelle received a package from the mail man - "he brought me a present?"  she squealed.  "No, not the mailman, I think this one is from grammy & grampa", I say after noticing that familiar natural nova tape wrapped around the box.  Isabelle bounced as she unwrapped her (belated) birthday gift from her grandparents and instantly hugged her new friend.

isabelle and her new friend allison

And what a sweet new friend she is.  She is a fare trade doll made by hand from a small group of women in Peru, "...the women clean, card, and spin the wool, hand-dye all of the materials, and bring each component together into a beautiful, lovable doll".  And well, some may think I drank the juice on this one, but I have to say she is a very lovable doll.  Isabelle is practicing taking on and off her clothes (again and again), usually gently telling baby not to cry.  Feeding baby, taking her on a stroll, and making sure she gets plenty of sleep.  And then we both get to talk about the new baby that will be coming in December and Isabelle assures me she and Allison will be ready for her new baby sister or brother.

In other news we harvested one of three rows of potatoes!  And they were delicious!  Isabelle had so much fun watching as Aaron dug and the little potatoes would show their dirty red faces - "there's a chunker one" she would yell with big ones...and "ohhh there's a little baby one" she would coo with the small ones and she would dart in and grab them out of the dirt.

                                  
                                            

And after a quick toss with olive oil, rosemary, a little s & p and roasted for about 25 minutes they made for a lovely side to go with our local clear water caught salmon and coleslaw (cabbage & carrots a la garden).  What a lovely and scrumptious Sunday.

yum