New year, new post

So looking back at my posting history, I have averaged one a year for 4 years, time to post again! We are once again on the precipice of change. . . .  And as I process that I have been thinking it would be good to catch up on the adventures and things I have learned in the last few years living aboard a boat. It would have been great to have kept a journal through it all but having two kids under 4 and a foggy sleep deprived brain, it didn't happen. So moving forward we shall see what I can remember! And hope to post on in the future.  Cheers! 

Pie lady

I love pie! It's a great dessert, it has fruit and sweet, it can be tart and you can have it for breakfast! I would pick pie over almost any other kind of dessert, ice cream is the only thing that can contend. When pie and ice cream go great together and my life is complete. I have very great memories of helping my grandma make pie, or sitting at the table and watching her do it. My mother as well has carried on the tradition.  She once even mailed me an apple pie at college for my birthday one year, found the perfect size box and everything. She also enjoys gifting pies as thank yous, I remember a time when the workers at the mechanic that fixed our car called her the pie lady, because she had brought them a pie for some reason or other. But I remember thinking that is a good label because it is delicious and she is great at it. I love to make pie, and gift people with delicious goodness baked with love. I would not say that my baking is classy and georgeous and display worthy but it is home cooked farm kitchen style and Betty Crocker esque and not all about presentation. I have friends that can create beautiful pastries and things, but I'll leave that up to them. Living on the boat for over a year has seriously slowed my baking down but every once in a while I find the space, reason, energy or determination to make time for it. 

Tonight's creation was inspired by some beautiful rhubarb I got from a co-op and the fact that it is Zander's 18 month birthday tomorrow. Hence the Z slashed in the top. It also has strawberries from the local farm stand. We might eat it for breakfast with our bacon or maybe I'll make them all wait until lunch ;) 

Thanks

Love Kate

New things always!

In life: we are most always up to try new things and take the risk. We have a had quite a few new things happen recently. Zander was born, we moved from Ojai to Ventura onto the boat and most recently Ariela has turned 2. We are also in the market for a new car but that one hasn't happened yet.

Zander-man as we affectionately call him is awesome! He is a good happy easy baby and still different than Ariela was. He is chubby as Buddha and love to laugh. He has wide peering eyes that he soaks in the world with all the time. He gained 4 lbs his first month,3 the second, and 2 the third, I'm just saying he is a good eater/grower. Ariela loves him and is good to him most of the time. We love him too are so glad for the gift he is.

We lived in Ojai for almost 2 full years, which was the longest we had lived anywhere since we got married. It was nice and a great experience to be on a farm and have more land than we will ever be able to afford in SoCal.

Living on the boat has been a dream for a while and we have been working toward it amidst opposition and trials. As of thanksgiving weekend we have become live aboards. Some things are still getting settled and there is a constant rotation of things onto and off of the boat. BUT for the most part it has become home really fast, and great fully so. It is our cozy little boat home. We moved aboard knowing that we will try it and if it doesn't work then we will move off again but giving it a reasonable trial period first, but it has not been nearly as long as I thought I needed and it is already going great. There are sleep deprived days and sick child days and unhappy baby days that make me think living on land would be great, but those moments pass and things feel good again.

Ariela is 2! We are so proud of the things she has accomplished and it is amazing to see how her brain has developed and is changing everyday. Her vocabulary is huge. She has acquired the attitude that comes with it, she dares me to tell her not to do something and everyday getting her to sleep has been a fight. She has such an independent streak, and it arrived over night.

As for cars, suburban? Older land cruiser? Mini van? Any thoughts?...

The Gift of Life

A little over a year ago Ariela Cadence was born, she is a wonderful gift to us. We feel so blessed everyday by her presence. Around this time a good friend of mine was having trouble feeding her son who was born 3 months prior to Ariela. (Joe was born the day before my birthday to be specific) So my friend Jill emailed Darren's mom about getting goat milk to make her own homemade formula. 

Baby Joe was allergic to the formula he was on and Jill did not want to use soy because of the high levels of estrogen in it among other things. For those of you that don't know Jill and I have this crazy lucky past where we help each other out and God orchestrates both our lives to be to the others advantage. And as things went it happened again. Martha (Darren's mom) was more than happy to share her goat milk but suggested that Jill approach me about pumping extra human milk for Joe, because it is truly the best thing for him. Martha warned me and it took a few days for Jill to ask but I was totally willing! Jill and Joey are family and so it was an easy decision. Our concerns were that Ariela get everything that she needs first from me and that it be convenient and not burdensome. So as Ariela's 1 month birthday approached I started pumping. I never new whether I would be able to fully supply Joey, but the human body is amazing and I had convinced mine I was feeding twins. So as Joey started eating solid foods and was drinking one less bottle a day I had upped my supply enough to feed him. 

As the gift of life goes it is amazing to be able to create a life. And then have the supply to continue to feed it is even more mind boggling. Then to be able to also help another is truly a blessing! Jill called me after Joey had his first bottle of my milk, she had tears in her voice. "Katie, he is so happy, he is sitting there so mellow and content, You milk is magical" Joey had been experiencing a handful of health problems due to the formula and was not always a happy boy. Then as the weeks went on he and Ariela were gaining weight at exactly the same rate. Ariela was continuously in the 90%s at her appointments and Joey was climbing the charts to. My milk got labeled "Mammas Magical Milk" As a bonus we got to visit once a week when we did milk drop-off. 

The whole situation is a succession of gift after gift. The pump I had was given to me by my a wonderful family I nannied for in Philadelphia  and whose daughter I started watching at 12 weeks old. She was my practice for Ariela and the reason I was so excited to find out I was having a girl of my own. 

Along the way people found out what I was doing and had questions or sent articles about women doing the same. The restaurant in NYC selling human milk cheese on a salad was at little strange. There are milk banks at hospitals and organizations where you can donate excess milk to help orphans in 3rd world countries. I think doctors should suggest finding a supply of human milk proir to suggesting formula. I found many friends and friends of friends that had so much they didn't know what to do with it. If there we some way to connect a friend with surplus to another in need. I don't know about hiring a random person to be a wet nurse but the way I did it was a total success and Jill knew I was free from disease and ate well and took care of my health. I was a good milk donor! There are screening processes and disease checks, and hippie ladies that do it w/o reservation. I never tired to let Joey latch on but it would have been funny to say the least. 

read these articles I would love to hear what you have to say. the-return-of-wet-nursing and Liquid Gold

On my birthday this year we went as a family down to the Long Beach Aquarium and on the wall I read this Blue whales: new borns can weigh up to 5,962 lbs and drink up to 100 gallons of their mother's milk each day, and they nurse for 7-8 months. The milk fat content is 50% and they can gain up to 200 lbs  per day while nursing.  So interesting since I could now identify closely with this. I am definitely glad I don't have to feed a whale or carry one around. 

Alright to finally today I took the time to sit and total what I had logged as milk I gave to Baby Joe. I pumped and froze some for Ariela before I stopped pumping altogether in November. There was a few weeks I must have been busy because I didn't write it down but I figured out the number based on the average I was pumping. As a routine I had it worked out I would pump both sides in the morning after Ariela went down for nap and then both sides again after she went to bed. This way I knew she would not need to eat again for a while. They it would go in to storage bags in the freezer in 8oz portions. Breastmilk storage bags come in 50 packs. Drum roll please:

milk shared: 6,309 ounces = 49.2 gallons = 186.5 liters

milk bags used: 788

I decided I would get Joey to a year since that was a healthy long time. Jill never put any pressure on me, she always said I can stop when ever I am done. I pumped from February 1st to October 1st and was getting mostly 32oz from Mid march on. 

While I was lucky to get paid, it definitely helped the grocery bill, and the babies sucked all the fat off my body so I got my body back fast, the benefit for Joe and Jill and the heart warming goodness far out weighs it all!

I am so very blessed to have this gift, and to have had the experience to share the gift of life with others!

1 year

So it has been a year, since I have written anything. Thank goodness for computers saving passwords since I'm sure I would not have remembered it. So many times I wanted to write about the amazing things that have happened and the adventures we have had this year raising a child, moving, vacationing and living life to the fullest, but I never found the time. Maybe someday I will find the time to recap and write some short vignettes.
So it is December 14th and I am sitting here pondering all the things going on. I have an almost one year old baby girl, who is the sweetest most awesome thing ever! We have almost lived in our apartment/half house for 1 year. Which is the longest we have lived anywhere since we got married, so that is pretty impressive. Especially since this was not my first choice for a long long time. We almost bought a boat recently. We did get to go to spain, through Erik and God's good grace. I took Ariela back east in May. We are most of the way through a years curriculum of sailing lessons. We are licensed on boats up to 50 feet and can charter from anywhere in the world. I rearranged our little house several times. Ariela now has kicked us out of the bedroom and is enjoying it herself. We bought a new car, sold our old truck, and now are contemplating selling the new car for a bigger one. The Jetta has 226,000 miles on it and is still kicking, I'm so proud of her. I lost all the baby weight enough to fit back in my wedding dress, which was a goal. I pumped milk for another baby for 9 months. I'll post the total when I find time to count up all the ounces. We have bettered some friendships and struggled with others, but learned tons. All of the baby developmental milestones are being reached. She was 95% and up for a long time. rolled over, crawled, smiled, is starting to talk, and walk. Went from the itty bitty smitty to such an amazing big girl with a great personality. But I guess you could have figured that. Feel free to let me know what I forgot, sleep deprivation will do that!
WOW!
thanks for indulging my recap!

finished baby bedding

I decided I would undertake the project of making the babies crib bedding myself since I could not find much for sale that I liked. Not thinking about my minor sewing skills it was a pretty big task, but I finished and Im proud of it and I got some Skype sewing lessons from my mom along the way.  Plus it is super cute and I made it myself which is my lovely gift to the baby. So crib skirt, crib sheet, quilt, and bumper pads are done!

a few holiday picture

the first is from thanksgiving,

the other 2 are christmas

recap 2010

Since last christmas we have

1. worked in a group home
2. came to Ca for vacation got stuck for 3 extra days because of snow and made the decision to move back
3. gave 2 months notice at the group home job
4. got pregnant
5. packed all our stuff and moved it to Ca via Darren and Will and a moving truck towing our truck
6. were apart for a month while Kate stayed in Pa and worked and was house hopping homeless
7. Lived with Martha (Darren's mom) for 3 months with our stuff still in boxes
8. Found the perfect apartment for what we were looking for and moved in
9. Darren has worked in Carpinteria, Santa Barbara, Ventura and Camarillo and had 60+ hour weeks for most of it
10. Kate has had 3 jobs, 1 where her boss got arrested, the second job never calls her, #3 is good.
11. Found out the baby is a girl
12. have been harassed by neighbors over our sweet vintage truck, so much that we are moving again.
13. have taken the Jetta through the 210,000 mile mark and its still going.

For all of the outside crazy, it has really been a smooth pregnancy!
We have now rearranged our priorities for the future, and are moving swiftly forward to this Christmas and New Years and Baby's Arrival!!


Thank You, God for being with us through it all. Thank you families for being supportive as we go on this roller coaster of life.

nesting?

So i have a lot of time to hangout and spend alone, since work for me is slow and Darren's is busy. Two weeks ago was baking and cooking week, this has been sewing week, I am making the babies crib bedding. But we also had some wood around so I built a shelf and a night stand the other evening. Not the most quality, but not bad for a pregnant lady with no real carpentry skills and an ikea saw. Yes one leg on the nightstand is crooked, I'm not sure why? but it doesn't tip over.

thunder and lightening

I love a good thunder storm!

Partly because I am not afraid of them and have not been since I was a little kid. My parents used to have us 3 kids get out the fischer price band kit and parade around the house trying to make more noise than the storm. 

I remember in the summers in Altamont it being sooooo hot a humid and the air feeling thick like a cloud. I would just lay in bed and wait for the storm to start. I was really to hot to sleep but it was also very exciting with all the electricity in the air. 

Or I would lay on mom and dads bed and watch the backyard light up with each flash, and the kiddie pool we had played in earlier would be overflowing from the rain, and the swing set seemed so far away.

On the east coast thunder and lightening storms can last over an hour and tonight ours in Ventura was maybe 20 minutes, but it is still is fun.

The power flickers, the roof sounds loud and people get all excited about looking out their windows and watching the magic in the sky. 

I have camped in the rain, and gotten stuck in the rain walking or hiking more than I can remember. It is tough when the whole world is grey for a long time but it is so fresh and renewing!

Thank you God for the rain!!!

Its a Girl!! and a funny morning

So the results of the ultrasound are GIRL!! whoohooo!

So sunday was Darren's last day at Trader Joes on Milpas, he is now an employee of the Ventura Trader Joes, and therefore drove the truck to work last night.
If anyone has met our wonderful old bad ass truck you know it is a little loud and rowdy, so if we come home later in the evening, we have been cutting the engine and rolling in to the carport so as not to rattle the neighbors who are sleeping above it. BUT apparently last night when Darren cut the engine he forgot to put it in park after he stopped. It was a little ghetto rigged so you can start it in any gear, so this morning when I went out to start it and drive to work, I turned it on and it revved and jumped about 3 feet forward before I caught it with the break. All this happened in a split second, and sometimes I don't always start it with my foot on the break because you need to feather the gas some too. But today I was just only pushing the break about half way. I am SOOOOOOOOO glad I caught the break and we didn't run into the wall! I am also glad i had the presence of mind to react fast, since sometimes this prego brain fails me. It could have happened to either of us, but I got a really good chuckle out of it for about an hour this morning.

todays ultrasound day

we have the ultrasound today, i am up at 715 got out of bed just before 8, nervous and excited. Im not sure what I'm nervous about, but I feel ansy, ill probably clean the whole house before we leave, (its that kind of energy) YIKES, but the house needs cleaning so maybe it is not a bad thing.


Really it doesn't matter what were having, it means more exciting planning to do, and I just want a healthy baby. I feel like it is a boy, but I think it is because I wanted a girl and more people lately have guessed boy so I have been getting my mind set and ready for that too. I have no idea though! 

Prego pants

I bought my first pair of maternity jeans today, my only pair that fit comfortably from non-pregnant life are in the laundry, and it is tough only having one pair of jeans, so I got the ok from Darren.
BUT I have been wearing them for about 2 hours and I am not excited, they keep sliding down and falling off and then i get that saggy butt look. I had the belly cover part folded down, but now it is up over my belly and still the same problem.
Do any of you experienced moms have tips? do they fit better as I get bigger? do they need to be washed and shrunk? am I doomed to sag for the next 4 months or more?
there are no belt loops so i cant help it that way.
hmmm,  this is a whole funny and strange adventure!!!!!

Creative cooking August30th

I was in the mood to cook tonight, and here is the results.

Sausage and pepper pasta-
             the recipe is simple you cook the sausage, then take them out to cool on a cutting board. cook the peppers and garlic in the sausage juices with a little more oil added. Then after I cut the sausage in to bites I put it back in the pan to warm and brown for a few minutes. Stir with pasta of choice, and enjoy. I used trader joe's chicken and spinach, fontina, garlic sausage and the spinach chive pasta. YUMMY!

Ratatouille- i had found the authentic recipe from the movie on this website, but when it seemed involved I looked for another from this easy blog.
-----I had forgotten to buy eggplant so I skipped that, but layered it and put in red and yellow peppers on the bottom underneath the zucchini, squash, and tomato, since they would not have fit as well size wise.

*** my new kitchen tool is the mandolin slicer, it was awesome, so fast and easy and neat!!! and it does juliene cuts and grates, it feels very fancy for $10 and being plastic, can't wait to use it again!

Morning Muffins 9/6/2010

So at 5:20 this morning after laying in bed for half an hour and not being able to go back to sleep, I decided to get up and bake some muffins. I have been enjoying our new kitchen lately and my kitchen tools that have been in a box for a year. Today I made lemon-blueberry muffins, I hope Darren enjoys them! He has been working long hours with not much break. I thought it would be a nice smell to wake up to. Here is a picture of them finished!

20 Week Belly

This is my belly, the baby is around 10inches long and weighs almost a pound, according to the stats. I took this picture later in the evening and the belly is usually bigger at the end of the day, but not much.

The story of stuff

Darren had me watch this after his boys watched it earlier at camp. Pretty interesting to think about all the steps of the process. It is worth thinking about.
www.thestoryofstuff.com

The baby counter

this week

In the midst of recovering from the last few weeks of extreme stress and trying to get through the tired getting sick week this week here are some events that are memorable.
These flowers are at a house on my drive to bring Brody to school and they are so pretty and part of why I like the east coast and will miss this wonderful part of spring.

On monday morning right in the middle of my drive to work my car hit the 190,000 miles mark. Happy Mile Birthday little Jetta!!! good job my nice red car. How can you not love a VW when they take you so far?  7 years and moving across the country and back again, 122,000 miles this car and I have been together. I hope we have a many thousand more to go.

wondering what it would take?

We recently gave notice to leave the house parent job. Currently our last day is May 23rd, but our supervisor asked what it would take for us to stay until June 15th. We could see some kids graduate and it would give some closure to the end of the school year, also they would have a chance to move the kids that don't leave to other houses. It helps then because the enrollment is lower in the summer and they could close our house down until more parents could be found. The benefits for us could be to get to move together instead of in phases, and we could spend more time together.

On the flip side there is the huge relief of being done and right now our brains are focused on the end of May, and being able to have free time to spend with the people who live here that we will miss. Darren will be in california looking for a job and hopefully making more money than if we stay, and we can have time to workout and take care of our bodies and do the things we are currently longing to do.

So what would it take? If it is money, then how much? and if time off, how much? what is the limit or the quantity of our time? How much is our time worth?