Happy Valentine's Day

Better late than never. We went on our second road trip with Rowan this weekend to see Moms and Pops and for a reunion party with many of our college friends in Austin, which is why this post is late. This picture captures most of us. It was really nice to see and for Rowan to meet all of these people.


Rowan's mobile is up and twirling above his changing table. He loves it and it does a fantastic job of keeping him occupied while I put clothes on him since he would rather I let him go naked.
So this is a picture of the mobile from his point of view.


And here he is looking at it.



Until next time...

Living on Less

One good thing about global warming is that I can hang Rowan's diapers on the clotheslines that Esten hung in winter and not have them freeze, but dry. For those of you who don't know we are successfully using cloth diapers. These are not your mom's cloth diapers though, they are much more advanced. We use BumGenius 3.0 diapers. They are a pocket diaper that adjusts to fit an 8lb baby to a 35lb toddler. We actually used the old fashioned prefolds and covers when Rowan was a newborn because the BumGenius diapers were just too big. Those took a little more skill to keep the leaks at bay, but we survived. Now Rowan is 1o weeks old now and we have spent zero dollars on diapers and $8 on wipes. We also use reusable wipes. They are hanging on the top line in the picture to the right. They look and feel similar to a baby washcloth, except they are made of bamboo. We are grateful that we are not having to spend money on diapers and wipes, especially since we are currently living on a graduate student's salary.
And since I have way too much time on my hands(joke!), I've started to make our cleaning supplies. I'm not big on chemicals, except for the occasional bleach, and since we are living on the cheap I decided that this would be one way to save a little money. As we run out of what we have I'm replacing it with something I make. So far we have a kitchen counter spray/disinfectant (1/2 vinegar, 1/2 water, 25 drops tea tree oil.) The tea tree really covers most of the vinegar smell and I actually LOVE vinegar so it doesn't bother me. Also I made dishwasher detergent (1c washing soda, 1c baking soda, 10 drops of lemon oil.) No complaints yet, all of our glasses are coming out just as clean as they were before. I probably spent $6 on supplies (I had the essential oils) and they should last for quite a while.
In addition to making cleaning supplies I've also started making our bread. It is a very easy recipe and I read an article on motherearthnews.com about how making your own bread can save hundreds of dollars a year on your grocery bill. It seems true since we buy a loaf every time we go and it costs $4. The only problem with making our bread is that it's so yummy that we eat it by Wednesday (I make it Monday.) And then we are out until the next week. Maybe I'll start making two loaves at time.
Leave me home any longer and I may start making our clothes. Hmmm. That sounds like fun. I'll be posting some pictures of Rowan's Valentine from his Mom and Dad later this week. We, mostly I, are working on a mobile for him. He is so in love with the one he has that I thought we should put one above the changing table too. More later on that. And for the record I really don't think that there is anything good about global warming.

Owls

I grew up in the country, but never saw an owl in the wild. Owls are interesting animals. They move in complete silence hunting at night, have binocular vision, and can rotate their heads 135 degrees in either direction. They also have their place in folklore and symbolism, representing everything from wisdom and knowledge to illness and psychic power. There is also Moloch, the owl god of the bohemian grove, worshiped by many of our former presidents.

A few years ago I decided that the moment I saw an owl for the first time would signal a turning point in my life. Not necessarily that I would have to make a choice, but that it would have meaning as to where my life was headed. I wish I could say I saw my first owl hiking in the Appalachian mountains on a spiritual journey, but that wasn't the case. Instead, I saw my first owl in the front yard of my friends John and Jessica's house, perched in a tall oak tree. An unlikely place for an owl, I suppose, but like pretty much every other animal, owls have been forced by human intervention to carve out a new habitat. I guess an old, historical part of town with plenty of tall old trees is as good a place as any. I spotted him before I had gotten out of the car. I stared in amazement through my drivers side window at what I am 90% sure was a barred owl, immediately thinking about what I had said about the turning-point in my life. He didn't give me very long, disappearing shortly after I stepped out of the car. Why on that night did I decide to look out the window up into the same tree I would normally just walk by? Fate I guess, a signal of change.

Owls have actually become a routine part of mine and Shannon's life recently. We have an owl blanket, an owl on Rowan's mobile, an origami owl for the O in Rowan, a Leia Bell print of a mother and owlet titled "Momma's Boy", amongst other things. Turns out that not only are owls fascinating animals, meaningful in folklore, and worshiped by our political leaders, they are also a popular baby character. Before today, I had actually forgotten about my encounter with the owl, not really thinking about what change had come about as a result of our meeting. However, when Shannon called me today to tell me that Rowan's Native American Animal is the owl, it all came full circle.

Lick Creek Park

We woke up Saturday morning to beautiful weather, 70ish and not a cloud in the sky. These type of days have seemed few and far between since Rowan was born. The clouds have lingered around here producing absolutely no rain but dreary days instead. So needless to say we enjoyed this day outside. Lick Creek park is a leash free park (except for mean chihuahuas) and it is probably the least developed park in the BCS area with not much more than equestrian and hiking trails. We called our forever faithful friends, John and Jess (and Malcolm, their dog) to come along. Rowan loved our walk. He started out in the sling but got hot and wanted out, indicating this with his grunts that he does so well. We learned that pale babies need sunscreen and shades even in January. No sunburn or anything just the most sun he has had since he made his appearance into this big world. We all had our turn carrying him as he took it all in. He was awake most of the time and talked into our ears as we strolled along. He was a sweetie as usual.

By the way our 2 month appointment went well. He weighed 13lbs, 13ozs and I think it was 23 inches, but I could be wrong. I'll have to ask Esten and get back. He got both the DTap and Rotavirus vaccines. And I'm debating now whether to fully or selectively vaccinate him. Either way he's not getting all of them at once and will have to go in once a month to get a vaccine. It costs more and he has to get shots once a month but I (along with others who wrote all of the books, blogs, etc.. that I've been researching with) feel like his immune system will be better able to handle the vaccines this way and if he did have a reaction to one of them it would be easier to pinpoint which one.