Pink Coyote

Roots

Since my stomach bug of two weeks ago, all I want is ginger. My friend told me over the weekend that ginger is served with sushi because it kills bacteria and parasites. I love that my body told me what to consume in order to heal. I've tried every ginger beer and ginger brew I can get my hands on and this is one made with agave instead of cane sugar, but it wasn't as pungent as my favorite, made by maine root. Now I'm addicted. I want it instead of coffee, which I've only had once since that fateful week, and other than water, it's been just about the only fluid I've taken in since.

And aren't our intestines so much like roots? They are located at the bottom of our trunks, winding round and round, and having the ability to ground us when they are being nourished properly.

When you're out of alignment with your roots, don't you "feel it in your gut"?

Bottoms up.

 

Blissed Out

 

While I anxiously ride out the ten day period in which all dairy is supposed to leave my system, I am loading up on THIS which, if you are, or have ever been vegan, is your new best organic friend. 

I'm one handed tonite, gotta keep it brief.  Go try this yumminess at once!!!! More tie-dyed Oregonians revolutionizing my tastebuds.

I'm Just Sittin' Here 12 Days Old

 

Life with Ivy is good. She is a very easy baby-the only complaints she has are about gas and burping. Seems she can suck in quite a bit of air-perhaps her latch could use some work.  Easier said than done in the dark in the wee hours when it's just she and I tapping out the soft rhythms of the new mama/new baby dance when the world is silent and sleepy. I actually had to go online to try to find some new burping positions and to be reminded that it takes some time.  I love how tiny the details of life get when a baby is born...

I gave her her first bath tonite. She kicked her little froggy legs back and forth and I told her stories of swaying jellyfish and songster dolphins and she fell asleep as I poured cups of water on her back. She's a total goddess and I love it. I love treating babies like the sacred little buddhas they are-it makes me feel so honored to be one of their guides. It's odd to think of how babies come to us, in their own perfect time, not to be possessed, nor as our property-but to be guided gently into their individuality so that they can be healthy people in the world.

We chose her name, Ivy, because it symbolized climbing, a certain verdant growth-far beyond us -and because it had the feeling of a cool and magical forest where moss grows on all of the tree trunks and rocks, and little streams trickle through.

I keep finding myself saying to Miles over and again, "I'm so happy to be yours and Ivy's mommy!", and I'm sure he thinks I'm perfectly insane.

 

These are some little legwarmers I knitted for the babette yesterday-super easy, using organic cotton yarn that is beyond soft for as cheapo as it is.  I cast on 16 stitches and split them somewhat evenly over three 10.5 double-pointed needles, knitted 8 rounds then knit two together on stitches 1&2 then 8&9, then knitted 22 more rounds.  (I did knit two more together just two rounds before I bound off, but then I undid it because it wasn't easy enough to get them over her feet.) They're totally no-frills.  Might have been lovely with some stripes in other colors and the yarn does come in green and an earthy tone that actually grows that way. These things keep her little stems toasty, yet I don't have to wrestle every time she blows out her diaper-which is often.

And the most magical, proud magnadoodlerific moment of the week was this:

 

"Mawma, this is your big fat TB from when the baby was inside. And these are your stretch marks. And this is your VAGINA."

Can I hear an "Amen" ?

Some Kind of Balance

 

all the leaves areALL THE LEAVES ARE BROWN! andthesky is greyAND THE SKY IS GREY...

Have I ever shared here that it was our good friend Joe who made the infamous ham sandwich for Mama Cass? He was singing backup on her comeback tour and was staying in her flat (because in Joe style, he thought they were playing the Hollywood Palladium instead of the London Palladium and needed last minute accomodations...oops).  Did I also mention that he cooks often for us? 

I'm headed out to the market for cucumbers, steel cut oats and celery for a juicy clean out.  I think I ate too much sugar this weekend or something, my insides just don't feel right at all.  It was probably the dark chocolate covered toffee rolled in pistachios that did me in, oh, and the coconut chocolate chip cookies.  It was kiwi, fresh squeezed apple juice and dry toast for breakfast today and I'll do some more juicing and soup this afternoon to keep it clean.  Baby girl needs something heavier, though, so I may do a bottle of plain kefir before I leave.

I wanted to give a plug to another amazing women-owned and operated company, Holy Lamb Organics in Olympia, WA.  They made a custom-fitted wool and organic cotton pad to fit our baby cradle and they did a mindblowing job.  The pad sent with the Cariboo cradle gifted us (THANK YOU!) was a horrible thin latex pad, fire retardant (meaning: soaked in chemicals) and the search for something totally non-chemical was quite a task. Our wool pad is gorgeous!  I am really paranoid about chemicals around the babes and because we live in the most air-polluted region in the country, it gives me some sort of comfort to know that when she's not sleeping in bed with us, she'll won't be inhaling invisible fumes into her tiny lungs (infant asthma is very common here). 

 

I was one step away from buying materials and making my own, but when I found HLO, I was glad to not have to add one more lofty ambition to my list of To Dos.  If you go there to replace your chemical pillow with a pure wool one, tell them I sent you :).  Oh, and no sheep are killed to make their wool products, they strictly shear. Plus they're a zero-waste company and that makes me so giddy.

The To Dos are piling up, so I made a list on the opposite page of To Bes, just to make sure I am creating equal room for things less do-ey and aligned with pure joy.  Otherwise I've been trying to stuff every moment with "important" tasks.  I have to remind myself that stringing beads with no purpose, reading for fun, choosing great music, and taking naps are balancing to me and deserve to be given more time.  If only I could remember this when I'm not pregnant!! Seriously, every book I own is a how-to!  I need help.

Off we go on a beeauu-full (M speak) sunny CA day, to market, to market, jiggety jig.