Been a Long Time, Been a Long Time....

Blogging now at a new location: www.katrinagray.com. Come join me!

In Case You're Wondering Where I'll Be On Wednesday, May 13th 2009 at 5:30pm....

I'll be headbangin' and mosh-pitting at Nashville Birth Network's Your Best Birth Event!

*****************

Vanderbilt School of Nursing and 9 Months & Beyond, LLC invite the community to a FREE evening event featuring:

Live Webcast Q & A with Ricki Lake and Abbi Epstein, producers of the groundbreaking documentary The Business of Being Born and authors of the new book Your Best Birth.

Where do we go from here? A panel featuring local experts in childbirth and healthy pregnancy including doctors, midwives, childbirth educators, doulas and childbearing parents. Come with your comments and questions and be a part of the conversation!

A non-profit resource fair - Tables with information on how you can get support for things like a healthy and holisitic pregnancy, breastfeeding, Cesearean avoidance and support, choices in childbirth and more.

And best of all, we will have the brand spankin’ new book, YOUR BEST BIRTH available for purchase. All profits will go to support the local chapter of Birth Network National - The Nashville Birth Network. Purchase a book for your own personal library, to give to your local library or give to a pregnant woman you love!

The mission of the Nashville Birth Network is to promote the awareness and availability of Mother-friendly maternity care.

Doors open at 5:30pm
Live Nationwide Webcast featuring YOUR questions begins at 6pm
Followed by panel of Local Childbirth Experts and Non-profit support group resource fair. Come learn about groups like ICAN, Holistic Moms, the Nashville Birth Network, La Leche League, Tennessee Midwives association and more!

Location: Vanderbilt School of Nursing Annex Room 155
For more information please email info@ninemonthsandbeyond.com or call 1-877-365-6262.

May I Help You?

Clearly, John and I are sources of endless amusement for Jack. Here he is making fun of us. (Or, "modeling," as it's called in Waldorf circles.) This is his first (okay, second--Dad had to run get the camera) faux-phone conversation. His comb never runs out of minutes and never needs charging. He's a practical guy.

Your Best Birth

It's a book! 

Congratulations to Abby Epstein and Ricki Lake for the birth of their new book, Your Best Birth: Know All Your Options, Discover the Natural Choices, and Take Back the Birth Experience. I got my copy on Saturday, and I finished it last night. 

It's officially my new favorite book to recommend to expectant parents. The information is extremely accessible, it's dead-honest, and it is conversational enough to not be preachy. The birth stories of Cindy Crawford, Laila Ali, Melissa Joan Hart, and others are added bonuses. There are many, many mentions of Ina May Gaskin, which is great to see because she is full of knowledge that the world needs to know. 

Now...on to book club plans for the Nashville Birth Network. This will be our first selection!

p.s.--Check out the Facebook-ish site that Abby and Ricki created created for mothers, birth professionals, birth junkies, etc., and go ahead and join My Best Birth if you're so inclined. I'm loving it!

Heeey, Good Lookin'!

Whaaatcha got cookin'?

Howzabout cookin' somethin' up with meee?

Placenta Pizza

Here in our freezer--beneath the various Trader Joe's frozen items and beside the ice--resides my placenta. Technically, it's Jack's placenta, but let's not get into semantics. 

Here's a closer look...

The placenta was born almost a year ago, and I have not done with it what most homebirthers do: no encapsulation, no burial, no bonfire, no stew (yes, some eat it like meat--the only meat, by the way, that does not require killing an animal). So, what to do? And why have I held on to it?

I didn't want to bury it under a tree in our yard because I hope we move soon, and I wouldn't want to leave behind such an intimate piece of my DNA at a house that I'm not completely connected to. It's too late to dehydrate it and put it into capsules. And I'm not sure what its expiration date is, as far as eating it goes. Plus it's probably freezer-burned. And I was too busy raising a baby this past year to think of other options. So there are my reasons for hanging on--or at least the surface ones. 

It goes deeper, I think. This placenta was Jack's constant companion for 39 weeks. It fed him; it cushioned him. And it was my link to him before I got to touch his face and hold his little body. This placenta is so heavy with deep meaning that I can't seem to part with it. But I will, and there will be a ceremony, prayers, and sage-burning. Maybe some candles and moondancing. It will be honored. More honored than it is sharing the same space as Kashi GoLean waffles.

Leave It to Grammy....

Yesterday was a pleasant, loungy Easter. Jack and I woke to beautiful church bells chiming down the street. He tried to bob his head in some kind of groove, but eventually settled on listening intently, squinting his eyes and leaning his ear in, as if he were a music producer listening for "it." You know, it. That quality that you know when you hear it. Some otherworldly something that speaks to the soul of the masses.

Mom came over to watch Jack while John and I went to the Todd Rundgren concert at The Belcourt, which is what everyone does on Easter, right? This, of course, gave Mom the perfect opportunity for another one of her photo shoots. She has the uncanny ability to capture Jack's inherent Jack-ness, or his it.

They're Here!

Jack's Waldorf playstands and play kitchen are here! I added his wooden and wool veggies, and he immediately got cooking. See? (Never mind the wooden potato and egg in the sink;)
Then I organized his other goodies, and voila! A playspace! Note the silkscape I made with Hillary a couple of months ago....
Jack loves his new space. It's a reading nook, an imaginarium, a house, a storefront, a puppet show stand, a hideaway...whatever he wants it to be. I've discovered that he likes things to be organized so he can mess them up. There's not really any fun in messing up what is already messy, now is there?

Attached at the Heart

This past Saturday, John, Mom, Jack, and I all went to Davis-Kidd Booksellers for a booksigning event. Barbara Nicholson and Lysa Parker--cofounders of Attachment Parenting International--signed Attached at the Heart: 8 Proven Parenting Strategies For Raising Connected and Compassionate Children. AP moms (and singer/songwriters) Carolyn Dawn Johnson, Kim Carnes, Ashley Cleveland, Oddessa Settles, and Jonell Mosser sang "Baby of Mine" before Barbara and Lysa spoke about their 15-year journey of researching and writing the book.
Meanwhile, Hillary and I were thinking the same thing: "I'll bet there's a book hiding in me somewhere." Jack just wanted to know why the music stopped.
Afterward, we hit the children's section, and we couldn't resist buying Jack this supercool Melissa and Doug stacking train. We played with it as soon as we got home. 
My guys aren't just attached to my heart: they be all up in it. Aiiight? Peace.

Ewwww....Gimme Some More!

Tonight, Jack had strawberries and blackberries for dinner. He exhibited his usual fruit behavior: eating, shivering with a sourpuss look on his face, then smiling. He's initially disgusted, but eventually delighted.

Being the generous soul he is, he shared with me, and cracked up when I made my own sourpuss face. Then I ate his hand. Clearly, I crossed a line.

But then he cracked up again. And again and again and again. That kid has the best laugh on the planet.

Well, Jack, it appears that fruit has taught you a little something about contradictions. Things aren't always black and white, and there's usually something good in things that may seem icky at first. And it's okay if you can't make up your mind about something right away. You can always change it back, too, and you can give stuff a second chance. Take the journey, even if you don't arrive anywhere. Life is as complicated as sweet-and-sour fruit, but it's also that delicious.

Mmmm...Eat it up!

Driveway-Trippin'

Some of you are already familiar with the mutual crush shared by Henry and Jack. Out of all five of our dogs, Jack is most lovey-dovey with Henry. And Henry is the only furry guy who doesn't get lost when Jack pets him with force. Like, lots of force.

Henry likes to go on rides, too. He'll howl for a ride. Well, my sister Victoria got Jack a Radio Flyer wagon for Christmas, and she just mailed it last week. So it's here, and it's put together, and it's getting a workout. Which is a total score for Henry.

Today we went driveway-trippin'--just the three of us. As you can see, Jack brought his kazoo for some tunes, though he just holds it at arm's length and blows air through his pursed lips, which does not create the sound of a kazoo, but the sound of air blowing through his pursed lips. No matter.

We had fun on this chillysunnyspringy day. I still can't believe I have son. Now I can't believe I have a son who's old enough to cart around in a wagon. We are going to have so much fun. And yes, Henry: by "we," I mean you too, you big silly.