Well, Hell's Bells, Mel!!

That is in reference to a dear friend of ours, Melanie. I have all kinds of phrases and voices I use with her when we talk, and this one seemed fitting for the title.

Melanie and I were suite mates in college, and her husband Ben and Ryan are BFF's (how sweet - i'm just messin.' i love their man-friendship). Ben was Ryan's bestman, they were in a band together for a long time, and our two families seem to do a lot the same. It's a bit weird sometimes.

Here's a general rundown. We all went to Truett-McConnell. Ben and Ryan went to Belmont together (roomies). Finished with college...both got studio engineering jobs. AND they both left that business around the same time for technology jobs. We bought our 1st houses at the same time...in the same neighborhood. Our dogs were even boyfriend/girlfriend for a while until things went sour at one of their spend the night parties. Well, the list could go on. Since we've moved back into town, we've still managed to keep the friendship very special. However, I do miss the days when we would drag our plastic-wheeled grill down the street to cook out. I can still hear the ruckus of it scraping the sidewalk. Good Times!

These people are more like family than anything else, so that's why the intro because I feel completely ok to share this story.

Moving On...this blog is about how Melanie blew us all away, especially me, a little over a week ago. Melanie was pregnant with their second daughter, Adalyn Ruth. One evening when I was still pregnant, and Mel was pretty early on in hers, they asked us some questions about our decisions to give birth - naturally, away from the hospital. Didn't think much about it. We got that a lot.

Melanie started to have warm up surges a few days before Baby Addie decided to show up here, and she would call me and we would talk about some ideas and things she could do to move things along. She called me Tuesday eve, the 26th, and she thought she was having real labor contractions this time. I was on my way to teach a childbirth class to a couple, and Mel and I talked over the phone. I went over some breathing techniques and gave her and Ben a quick to do list...eat, drink, rest, shower, pee every hour....and told her I would call her after my class was over.

Well, Mel called during class, so rude of me or not, I answered it. We talked a few minutes about things she could do or when she might need to go to the hospital. I started answering like I would for a woman going naturally. So, I stopped myself. Mel never said anything about wanting a natural birth, so I dropped part of what I was saying and apologized. I called after class, and they were headed to the hospital. We had several phone conversations over the course of the evening about breathing, updating, and encouragement, I hope. When she was in active labor, I offered to come to the hospital if she wanted. River was asleep for the night, and I was free to help. We got cut off a couple of times because of some contractions. So, I was about to retire for the evening, and I called to check in. Keep in mind - it was 11:52 p.m. at this point.

(paraphrased)
Kari: I'm about to lay down, so if you want me to come, just let me know.
Mel: I don't know if you'd make it.
Kari: Call me and let me know at any time if you want me to come down there. Remember to keep breathing like you're blowing out a candle.
Mel: Maybe you could come...I don't know. Here's Ben.
Ben: Kari, I don't really know what you could do at this point or if you'd make it.

I believe last time Mel was checked she was at a 6. In dilation, you need to get to a 10 to be complete. From what I understand later, she was thinking about the epidural, and the nurse said "Let's give you 15 more minutes and check you. It's never too late."

I got a text from Ben at 12:11 a.m. that said....She did it.

She did it. She did what????? Of course, I start texting...Did what? Is she here? What? We spoke on the phone, and I'll be.......if that wild woman, Melanie Sams, didn't just go into that hospital with an "open mind" to see what would happen, and flat out give birth NATURALLY!!! I was so amazed! A lot of women spend their entire pregnancy thinking about and planning to give birth with little or no interventions. Mel just told her doctor a day or so before that she was going to be open to see what happens and gave us all a run for our money. Now, that's a Birth Warrior!!!

It truly is so amazing what birth can be (hard work and painful -yes!), but without drugs and expectations...our bodies just do the work. No resisting, some privacy, and an open heart and mind to the experience, and you come out with a healthy baby and a totally empowered and accomplished mama.

Adalyn Ruth is a beauty, and Karis is going to be such a great big sister. And they have a Mama to be so proud of!!

River!!! 4 Months

We have been so busy lately that we haven't been able to update the blog, so we are doing a bunch of them tonight, and last but not least is a picture update of our little man River.

The Nerd Crew

As most everyone knows, I left William Morris back in April to become a Park Ranger. We'll I wasn't too upset about leaving the field of Information Technology, but I was not looking forward to leaving the friends I had made there at Willy Moe.
My last day as an IT professional was April 24th. A bunch of my fellow employees went out to lunch with me to celebrate and commemorate. Well, I didn't know the fun was just beginning.
Kari told me she wanted to take me out to dinner that night to celebrate the transition. We had been talking about it for a couple of weeks. The day before I had been thinking about where to go and thought we could go to Waffle House! Why not? Cheap and easy! Just how I like my food!
Well, little did I know Kari had other plans. When I told her about Waffle House she suggested that we go to Gojo, our favorite restaurant. So I said that was great.
So that afternoon I get home and Kari meddles around a little in the house and we gather River and his things and head out he door. When we pull up to Gojo, I notice a car that looked like our friends 'Logan's car. I said, "hey, that looks like Logan's car!" Kari then fessed up and said that she had invited Logan. I said "cool!"
I opened the door to the restaurant and SURPRISE! Well, they didn't yell it like at a surprise birthday party, but it was deffinitley a surprise. There were a bunch of friends there from William Morris. The gang we lovingly called the "Nerd Crew". We would all get together during lunch at Willie Mo and watch funny tv shows like Flight of the Conchords.
We all sat around and talked and remenised and told jokes and ate ethiopian food. It was wonderful. I really felt special and thought it was amazing that my friends thought that much of me. Everyone should feel like the man of honor at some point!

Left to right: Ryan Jenkins, Stephanie Haymes, Jonathan Insogna, Elizabeth Young, Abi Baxendale, and John Gimenez.

Us with Logan, one of River's Devil-parents

River's God-parents, Choyer and Jim

Our Farm Visit

The horse we named Slim Shady during the workshop last summer.
He's always there to greet us!

We had our 6 week check up when River was 3 months old. Oops! Pamela, our midwife, said she actually liked it better that way anyway. It gave us more time to get adjusted. So, we took a day trip down to The Farm where River was born. We ate at The Farm Store (yummy...homemade vegetarian chili and pomegranete yogurt), hung out at the clinic, and spent time with Pamela and Jen. They checked River out and said he was perfect, and they checked me out and said I was doing well too. River = Perfect. Mama = Doing Well. She said I was still a little tender and healing. Then, we sat and talked about our postpartum period. Of course, she sat with us for a couple of hours and we felt loved and cared for like always.

The Farm Store. Yummy Food and Great People.

Bowl of Spicy Veggie Chili

Delectable Yogurt!

The Farm Clinic where we go for prenatal/postnatal care

Pamela, our midwife, lovin' on Mama and River J!

Our Birthing Cabin in the Spring

River had a long day!

SOLD!

Upon Request, this one's for you, Layne.

We have been so extremely busy I don't even know where to start. Blogging hasn't been the biggest priority...even though, I've taken pictures with the full intention of blogging. There just hasn't been enough hours in the day. And even now as I type, I feel like I should be doing at least a million other things while River naps. So, maybe I will unleash a blogging fury over the next few days.

Ryan blogged about his Park Ranger job, and I am so proud of him! One big thing that came with the job was that we need to move. Awesome! Radnor Lake, here we come. But first, we must sell our house...in this economy. Blak! I think I vomited in my throat. The stress.

We (mostly, Ryan, to be honest) worked real hard on packing up the house for a couple of weeks...moving things into storage to make our house presentable for viewers and a potential buyer. It's so amazing all the stuff you accumulate, and it's only been nearly 6 years of marriage and 1 baby. I'm going to love minimizing. All this junk gets under my skin. Taking care of Little Man River is a 24/7 job literally, so Ryan would give me tasks when River napped. But Ryan working 2 jobs at the time would come home and pack things up and take them to storage.

We put our house on the market, and we had 17 lookers in 22 days. It was wild! When we would have to leave Chaco, we would put her in her kennel and ask her to "Please, be nice, and sell our house." But most of the time, we would attempt to take her with us. We've spent hours driving around and sitting in random parking lots and backyards of friends.

The funniest one I can recall is when I had to take Chaco and River by myself. Not sure how Ryan got to work that day. I forgot but maybe he borrowed Jim and Choyer's car or I took him at 4:30 a.m. I packed us up and headed to Publix. I parked the car, ate a donut, and climbed in the back of the Element to breastfeed. Breastfeeding has proved difficult in the Element when you're by yourself. It's those crazy doors. Sounds great for camping or putting big things in the car, but when you have to maneuver with a baby...climbing into the front seat and back seat to get in and out...not a good selling point for the vehicle. Add a hyper-anxious traveling dog in the mix, and it gets even funnier. Not sure how long I sat in the parking lot with them....opening windows, then switching to A/C and back and forth. So, we've definitely had our share of adventures selling the house lately.

But the point is...we sold it!! In 22 days!!! We feel very fortunate to have done that. We're Steelers Fans and are mentality in that regards is believe it when it happens. Our closing date is June 15th, so we're crossing our fingers, holding our breath, and if our Terrible Towels weren't packed up I'm sure we'd be waving those too.

In fact, I just incidentally or accidentally just met the lovely girl who bought our house. The contractor is coming out today to fix the things the Home Inspector and the buyer decided on. I thought it was him, so I let Chaco out on the deck. Well, it turns out, it was her and her friends. She wanted to show them the yard. Well, thinking it was the contractor, I went out on the deck to let him know Chaco was out on the deck and I would meet him out front. Instead, it was Tiffany. I'm sure she got a nice greeting....Chaco and me - complete in my Flight of The Conchords T-shirt and Virginia Tech Pajama pants....fresh out of the bed. And all of the commotion woke up Little Man River, so I must go.

So much for getting house stuff done. Oh well! I'm hoping there will be another nap in his near future. I should probably cross my fingers and wave a Terrible Towel for that too.

v

My Green Lunch

I wasn't planning on blogging about my lunch today, but as I kept putting it all on my plate...it just kept getting prettier and prettier and greener and greener. And I had to take a picture.

I got the basic Kale with Aduki Beans Recipe from Alison@wholesomegoodness.net, and I altered a bit for me. I'll try and rehash how I made it.

I used the coconut oil at first about 2 Tbsp and heated it in the pan and sauteed 2 chopped leeks (the white and light green parts) and I added a couple of cloves of crushed garlic (Mmmmm...I love garlic). Then, I needed more oil so I used olive oil because I was trying to be quick during River's nap. No more time trying to dig out the solid coconut oil. I only had a few moments to make my fine dining lunch. Then, I added a can of drained and rinsed Aduki Beans and the stems from a "bunch of Kale." I think the recipe says 6 cups, but I just chopped it all up. Once that was heated, I added about 1/4 cup of water...I spilled some on the way to the pan, so who knows really. But then I added the chopped Kale and put the lid on for a couple of minutes. I love my Kale a little crunchy and crisp still. I added some pepper and doused it with Bragg's Amino Acid (sort of like a soy sauce, but much better).

Before I began, I started a pot of Quinoa. I did the basic recipe. 2 cups water, bring to boil, add 1 cup of rinsed Quinoa, turn down to a simmer or med-low and cover for 12-15 minutes...until the Quinoa creates those spirals. It makes about 4 cups of Quinoa.

So, bed of Quinoa and put the Kale and Aduki Beans on TOP. DELISH!!!!

Then, I sliced a Granny Smith Apple and sprinkled it with salt. My in-laws taught me that last time they were here. Yummy! It takes the kick out.

I had half an Avocado left, so I spooned a little salsa where the pit used to be.

Yummy lunch! And for those of you wondering how I did that and took care of sweet River...I'm no SuperMom. I cut up the kale and leeks the day before and ended up enjoying my meal over River's cry and then he slept on my chest while I dropped Quinoa and Kale all over his back. He fell asleep and didn't mind, so I would just pick it off of him and eat it. No Wasting such a Good Lunch!

*If I remember, I'll try and post my Sweet Potato Salad with Apple and Avocado that I made for dinner the other night. It was quite tasty too.

He's A Growin' Boy!!

I know. I know. He's only going to get bigger, but he's rounding the corner and coming up on 3 months so fast. When we look at his sweet feet or play with his hands, we are blown away by how big he is getting.

Funny Story...When my mom came for a visit, she suggested putting him in a bigger size. Well, he's not 3 months yet, and if you pull on his leg, it can straighten out in his clothes. Just try it was her recommendation. And one well given because poor guy's clothes were too small. Never done this before, but now I know. He was in 3 - 6 months when he was a little over 2 months. Oops. Just trying to follow the instructions on the label. Guess they don't always match up.


Here are some more pics of River....

His first shot. Made him cranky for days. He got lots of extra cuddling.

River keeping his "magic wand" close by.

River babysits the daddy.

Grammy comes for a visit. I got so many kisses.

"Well, I do believe the economy is making a turn around, Grammy."

Getting some exercise.

Now, This Is Living!!!

About to head to Radnor Lake for an Art Show.



More Faces of River!!!

Hello Mr. Park Ranger!

Well, it's been over a year now of hard work. 7 days a week for most of that time. 6 days a week after River joined us. No vacation as of yet (except for a day or two here and there). Some have worked harder for the job, but most agreed I had worked hard enough for it.
As of May the 3rd I will officially be a Park Ranger!

More than 3 years ago, after Kari and I lost the baby, and after I had taken a job as an IT Administrator to support our family, I realized I had headed in the wrong direction with my career choices from an early stage. Not to say I regret them, because they have all given me both experience and perspective, but they were not where my heart was. So after 3 years of contemplation, understanding, research, self-education, training, and hard work, I have reached another beginning. And like all of mine and Kari's escapades, it is going to be an adventure. I will be a Park Ranger with the Tennessee State Parks system at a protected natural area called Radnor Lake.

We are in the process of putting our home on the market so we can move into a house inside the park. I will be working opening shifts (5am to 1:30pm) until they send me to the law enforcement academy. That will hopefully be the end of this summer. The opening shifts are actually what I prefer because I have the afternoons to do things and I can take care of River while Kari goes to work.

My last day of work at William Morris Agency will be this Friday the 24th. Not that I am excited about leaving my friends there, because I will miss them, but I am excited to not be sitting in a florescent office with no windows and a computer staring back at me all day. That's not how I wanted to spend the rest of my life, so I made the choice and changed.

I really cannot express through a blog how elated I am about this! To spend every day outside, working with my hands, teaching people about the outdoors and protecting the environment like I was taught growing up, working with animals, protecting the thing that I love. To me, that is the way to spend a lifetime. That is the start to making a difference in this world.
The park I will be working at gets on average a million visitors a year. I will probably run into a quarter of those visitors throughout that time. So I have the opportunity to teach 250000 people about the outdoors, about the animals and plants around them, and to bring them into a greater understanding of the environment. When people understand something, they take an ownership of it. They feel more responsible for it. They help take care of it. That is what I am looking forward to. That is why I am excited about it.

After May the 3rd, come out to the park (if you live in town) and look out for me. I'll be around, mulching trails, fixing something, doing educational programs with our hawks, owls, and snakes, directing traffic, or out looking for people breaking the rules. Once I am there for a while I will blog about my experiences.

Thank you to anyone out there who supported me during this whole thing. I know some people thought it was a dumb idea to take a pay cut to do something like this. But on the whole I had alot of support from family and friends.