They scalped one side of his head! My little indian brave...
He is so perfect :)
Thursday, June 26, 2008
Hold You
Ezra "Jube" (as murv calls him) is doing much much better! He is down to 22% oxygen, eating from a bottle, pooping plenty, burping loud and has a nice loud cry. I finally got to hold him! And I got to start trying to nurse him this afternoon. (Notice Murv's reading material :) 
They scalped one side of his head! My little indian brave...
He is so perfect :)
They scalped one side of his head! My little indian brave...He is so perfect :)
Sunday, June 22, 2008
Ezra Jubal Thornton
was born at 3:07 am on Thursday June 19th just as the full moon was exactly overhead! He was born on his cousin Hadley's birthday, the full moon, and the beginning of summer solstice. He weighed 8.48 pounds and was 54cm long.Ezra has some respritory complications and has to be in the NICU in Austin for awhile--we don't know when he will get to come home but he is doing really well and slowly being weaned from the machines that are helping him. We are staying at the Ronald McDonald house nearby and spending time with him whenever we can. Murv is already reading books and the paper to him...We can't wait to get to hold him! Keep him in your prayers...
thank you for all your support!
look at that big strapping chest! He is beautiful!Thursday, June 12, 2008
Any day now
well...it could be any day. my midwife says probably within the next 10. why does that sound so long? probably because its been over 100 degrees every day for the last two weeks--if you thought you were my best friend you've been replaced by this fan...
and this bowling ball bean is getting pretty heavy!
and this bowling ball bean is getting pretty heavy!
it's really not that bad most of the time but i am getting pretty ready :)
Friday, June 6, 2008
Go local!
My sister Heather was inspired to create a group and issue a challenge--I signed up and wanted to invite my friends to participate too-- It's basically a challenge that we all create one meal per week made of only local ingredients (with a few freebie exceptions like salt and pepper and spices)-- we catalogue what we made and send in pictures-- you don't have to have a blog to play with us, and you don't even have to do it every week, it could be once a month or whatever fits your schedule. If you think you might like to join in click here and look at the Tuesday June 3rd 2008 entry titled "Joining In." It's going to be really fun-- Join us and make a difference! It would be really cool to get people from other countries (hint Ana :)).
Tuesday, June 3, 2008
Community
This weekend was a great weekend! Our sustainability group-- newly named SOLSTICE (Seeds Of Love Sustainable Tribe & Intentional Community Evolution) did a work party at our place and it was awesome! We got a lot done. I now have: the beginning of a solar composting toilet made of handmade padobes done by Murv right on our property, electricity INSIDE my house, an outdoor shower with cold water hooked up (hot water is next on the list), two really nice paths, a small herb garden, and new safe front steps that are big enough to sit on! Even at 100 degrees outside we had a great time and I got very excited to see some progress! (Hence all the exclamation marks). 
Murv and Lucky making mortar
Lucky is a stonemason from Italy and he made me a beautiful stome floor and bench for my shower
(sorry about the shadows)
So this is a pretty big toilet... Murv says its going to be really cool when its done-- I'm slightly skeptical but if I hate it I guess I can grow bamboo around it-- Its really hard to explain how it works but the good news it the blocks are really user friendly and its a good practice structure...
Murv and Lucky making mortar
Lucky is a stonemason from Italy and he made me a beautiful stome floor and bench for my shower
(sorry about the shadows)
So this is a pretty big toilet... Murv says its going to be really cool when its done-- I'm slightly skeptical but if I hate it I guess I can grow bamboo around it-- Its really hard to explain how it works but the good news it the blocks are really user friendly and its a good practice structure...In addition to our super work party on Sunday afternoon we had a Blessing Way in the grove of trees across from our house (which I call the park). It was an amazing experience for me. I felt totally overwhelmed with love and good intentions from neighbors and friends. If you are unfamiliar with a blessing way--here is a brief explanation...
A Blessing Way is one of the traditional healing ceremonies of the Navajo. It is an important part of the spiritual practices for those in the traditional 'religion' or worldview. A Blessing Way is one of the most sacred ceremonies associated with pregnancy. Traditionally a Blessing Way is a women only ceremony, however many women choose to include men. A Blessing Way is performed late in the pregnancy and is to give the mother to be strength for the deeply spiritual rite of passage she is about to encounter during her birth.
A Blessing Way, much to the chagrin of the Navajo, has recently become associated with pagan rituals, yet a Blessing Way can be adapted to any religion or none at all, it's the celebration of the woman about to give birth that is of importance.
Although society seems to have trivialized birth so that baby showers are often commercially bent without much reference to the sacredness of the birth experience, we can choose to gather with women (and men) to honour the work of the mother and the father and recognize birth as the transforming experience it is. The intention is always to create an atmosphere of reverence and love. We gather to create a space that is sacred but not serious. And since Blessing Ways are part of the creative process which is birth - anything can happen, Blessing Ways are joyful celebrations!
A Blessing Way, much to the chagrin of the Navajo, has recently become associated with pagan rituals, yet a Blessing Way can be adapted to any religion or none at all, it's the celebration of the woman about to give birth that is of importance.
Although society seems to have trivialized birth so that baby showers are often commercially bent without much reference to the sacredness of the birth experience, we can choose to gather with women (and men) to honour the work of the mother and the father and recognize birth as the transforming experience it is. The intention is always to create an atmosphere of reverence and love. We gather to create a space that is sacred but not serious. And since Blessing Ways are part of the creative process which is birth - anything can happen, Blessing Ways are joyful celebrations!
And our ceremony was really inspiring-- I felt like it was a really important emotional experience that helped me connect more with our baby and prepare for birth and becoming a mother and a family unit. My friends Celena and Jamie brought flowers and blankets and pillows and we gathered under the trees and each person in the circle shared belssing for both me and Murv and for the baby. Some of the prayers that were offered included blessing us and the baby with gifts like resourcefulness, tolerance, awe, bliss, humility, harmony, joy, lots of laughter, honesty and clear intent, forgiveness, compassion and courage.
The men amd women took turns talking about their own experiences with birth, we had drumming, singing, opening of gifts, and then we each tied a string around our wrist which we will wear until the baby is born which is to remind each of us to continue to send the good energy and blessings to the baby each time we look at the bracelet-- and then we ate delicious savory and sweet pies and the women braided my hair and massaged my legs, hands, feet, head and back, fed me fruit and pampered me while the men went off and chatted and did their own thing for awhile. It was a good opportunity to recieve and be in community and to honor the sacredness of parenthood, birth, life, family. I feel so grateful for so many blessings this weekend... I am in awe.
That's Vanessa-- she made the delicious pies-- her baby will be born in September!
And Michael one of the elders in our group made this cradle by hand with no nails out of 40 year old pine that came from the shelves of a book store that was being redone-- what good energy for the bean!
Friday, May 23, 2008
Local Farms
Some of you may be getting tired of my social/political entries... but its heavy on my mind lately... I can't help it.
This week Murv was able to do a workshop on our land for a high school economics class which may turn into a teaching position for him at an alternative high school doing a greenbuilding class next year-- very cool! It was really great to have enthusiastic kids come to our place and see what we are trying to do. One of the things he talked to the students about was that he does not want to encourage a "sky is falling" mentality or a critical attitude toward where we are today as a society, but that we would like to do all we can to give be more conscientious citizens of the planet and give future generations alternatives and solutions to some of the messes we are handing them. Hence the reason he is so passionate about using products generated from the waste stream in our own communities to put back into the community in useful ways that are healthy, as well as making less of a carbon footprint and harnessing energy sources that are limitless, etc...
I have seen three or four articles in the paper lately that are food for thought... This morning I read in the paper that an 18 wheeler diesel truck currently costs $1300 to fill up and gets between 4.5-6.5 MPG. Are you wondering why food prices are going up? Then I saw this awesome article about a FARM charter school in Austin that is teaching kids math, science, art etc.. by growing preparing and selling food! They also have a strict policy about making healthy eating choices at school. The teachers say since they have implemented this vision in their school they have seen the students be able to pay attention, learn more, have more energy and stay focused! Imagine that... cut out cheetos and coke and you can actually pay attention and learn better... ? Really? And teach them those habits while they are still young so its not so hard to give all the crap up. Give kids hands on opportunities to learn and give them lifelong skills of being able to grow their own food. How intelligent is that?
Last week my friend Jamie and I went to Farmer's markets and talked to local farmers and producers about supplying our food buying group with their products. They were very excited (like hungry animals almost) about the prospects of being able to supply what they grow to larger groups without having to travel to 5-10 farmers markets every week and constantly losing profit because of rising fuel costs. I looked into their eyes. They are a dying breed. They work so hard and can barely stay alive. If they get too much rain, or not enough, or some pest that wipes them out they could literally lose their livelihood. If some dumb kids decide to set off fireworks in their orchards, it could take them three years to recover (true story told to me by a peach farmer). They live by the sweat of their brow, and are largely unknown and unthought about. I promised myself I will buy their food whenever I can instead of opting for the grocery store convenience of hormone and pesticide ridden food grown hundreds to thousands of miles away and shipped across the country. TRY TO BUY LOCAL if at all possible-- we all win! That's my spiel for the day... and with it a tribute to Arnosky Family Farms-- they are about 15 miles down the road from me and along with growing exquisite flowers, they provide goat cheese, herbs and fresh vegetables-- and they have an inspiringly beautiful happy barn which came to be through an old fashioned community barn raising!
This week Murv was able to do a workshop on our land for a high school economics class which may turn into a teaching position for him at an alternative high school doing a greenbuilding class next year-- very cool! It was really great to have enthusiastic kids come to our place and see what we are trying to do. One of the things he talked to the students about was that he does not want to encourage a "sky is falling" mentality or a critical attitude toward where we are today as a society, but that we would like to do all we can to give be more conscientious citizens of the planet and give future generations alternatives and solutions to some of the messes we are handing them. Hence the reason he is so passionate about using products generated from the waste stream in our own communities to put back into the community in useful ways that are healthy, as well as making less of a carbon footprint and harnessing energy sources that are limitless, etc...
I have seen three or four articles in the paper lately that are food for thought... This morning I read in the paper that an 18 wheeler diesel truck currently costs $1300 to fill up and gets between 4.5-6.5 MPG. Are you wondering why food prices are going up? Then I saw this awesome article about a FARM charter school in Austin that is teaching kids math, science, art etc.. by growing preparing and selling food! They also have a strict policy about making healthy eating choices at school. The teachers say since they have implemented this vision in their school they have seen the students be able to pay attention, learn more, have more energy and stay focused! Imagine that... cut out cheetos and coke and you can actually pay attention and learn better... ? Really? And teach them those habits while they are still young so its not so hard to give all the crap up. Give kids hands on opportunities to learn and give them lifelong skills of being able to grow their own food. How intelligent is that?
Last week my friend Jamie and I went to Farmer's markets and talked to local farmers and producers about supplying our food buying group with their products. They were very excited (like hungry animals almost) about the prospects of being able to supply what they grow to larger groups without having to travel to 5-10 farmers markets every week and constantly losing profit because of rising fuel costs. I looked into their eyes. They are a dying breed. They work so hard and can barely stay alive. If they get too much rain, or not enough, or some pest that wipes them out they could literally lose their livelihood. If some dumb kids decide to set off fireworks in their orchards, it could take them three years to recover (true story told to me by a peach farmer). They live by the sweat of their brow, and are largely unknown and unthought about. I promised myself I will buy their food whenever I can instead of opting for the grocery store convenience of hormone and pesticide ridden food grown hundreds to thousands of miles away and shipped across the country. TRY TO BUY LOCAL if at all possible-- we all win! That's my spiel for the day... and with it a tribute to Arnosky Family Farms-- they are about 15 miles down the road from me and along with growing exquisite flowers, they provide goat cheese, herbs and fresh vegetables-- and they have an inspiringly beautiful happy barn which came to be through an old fashioned community barn raising!
Wednesday, May 21, 2008
Laughing is good
Ok- so Im' not sure if this will be as funny to you as it was to me but I laughed so hard I actually ALMOST peed my pants...
Yetserday Murv and i took a trip to see my midwife. As we were driving home he decided to stop by the Blanco River and wash his feet in the river and put on some new shoes-- He has been wearing his boots (with shorts) because he hasn't been able to find any shoes that are compatible with his very sensitive skin on his feet. Anyway he finally found a pair that he is going to try out and decided to get his feet nice and clean so he could put his new ones on. I happened to have some soap in my bag in the car (always ready if a shower opportunity presents itself) so I got it out for him. He was sitting on this steep incline washing his feet and all the sudden I heard a muffled "aaugh" sound and looked over just in time to see him slide all the way down the incline and up to his chest in water. I so wish I had before and during pictures of this moment. I have to say this is one thing I love about Murv too-- I would have been so mad-- he just started laughing and didn't mind that I was laughing too. Anyway the only dry clothing options in the car happened to be a pair of MY swimming shorts. They are like those soft felty board shorts and they happen to be pregnant size, and pretty girly colors. As he was putting them on he exclaimed, these are really nice! You might have to know Murv for this to be as funny as it was but, watching him wearing my shorts was on my top five funiest things this year...
A picture is worth a thousand words
Yetserday Murv and i took a trip to see my midwife. As we were driving home he decided to stop by the Blanco River and wash his feet in the river and put on some new shoes-- He has been wearing his boots (with shorts) because he hasn't been able to find any shoes that are compatible with his very sensitive skin on his feet. Anyway he finally found a pair that he is going to try out and decided to get his feet nice and clean so he could put his new ones on. I happened to have some soap in my bag in the car (always ready if a shower opportunity presents itself) so I got it out for him. He was sitting on this steep incline washing his feet and all the sudden I heard a muffled "aaugh" sound and looked over just in time to see him slide all the way down the incline and up to his chest in water. I so wish I had before and during pictures of this moment. I have to say this is one thing I love about Murv too-- I would have been so mad-- he just started laughing and didn't mind that I was laughing too. Anyway the only dry clothing options in the car happened to be a pair of MY swimming shorts. They are like those soft felty board shorts and they happen to be pregnant size, and pretty girly colors. As he was putting them on he exclaimed, these are really nice! You might have to know Murv for this to be as funny as it was but, watching him wearing my shorts was on my top five funiest things this year...
A picture is worth a thousand words
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