Lowell Farms

I was able to tour a rice farm in Lavaca County last week while in Edna, Texas for a Regional Water Planning Group meeting. L.G. Raun (one of the planning group members) gave me a full tour of his operation including the fields, pumps houses and irrigation canals. Then I got to ride on a state of the art combine. It was so serene in the combine as it rumbled over the fields at about 1.5 mph. These birds are waiting for the grasshoppers in the rice as it is being harvested. L.G. told me that the harvest this year was a record breaker. The lack of rain and abundant sunshine meant the rice was healthy, happy and pest free. Of course, they irrigate the fields with water brought up by huge well pumps. I gained a lot of respect for the work that farmers do and think it is a shame that they operate with such small profit margins. The trip also made me think about how important spending that extra dollar or two is to ensure that organic agriculture continues to grow and thrive.

Seeing a Movie

My sister Audrey, nephew Gibreel and I went to see the latest Harry Potter movie last night at the IMAX theater in the Texas State History Museum. The previews and first 12 minutes of the movie were in 3D. It was so much fun. We even shared a bag of freshly popped popcorn and junior mints that they let us bring in from home. In our case, it was from the 7-Eleven down the street that I ran to after we learned they didn't have any concessions. I made it back just in time to squeeze back in line and enter the theater. I am realizing how precious time spent like that is and I thoroughly enjoyed it.

Oliver - 34 weeks

From Family

Not only is he crawling on all fours now, he is pulling himself up to standing. We have lots of baby proofing to do.

King

We're going to upgrade the size of our bed soon so Oliver has more space to hog. Really, I'm not getting enough quality sleep because I'm balancing myself right on the edge of the bed most of the night. That boy likes to sleep spread eagled. The added benefit is enough room for the entire family (including Rigby and our future puppy) to pile on while enjoying a lazy weekend morning or an evening of reading books together.

After lots of research, we decided to go with a Keetsa mattress. I first saw them on Blu Dot's website. A local shop downtown that carries Blu Dot furniture will have floor models to test by the time we plan to buy one. The whole concept is really cool, plus they are reasonably priced. We also don't want to spend a lot of money on a bedframe right now, so we're either going with an IKEA Malm bedframe, something from Overstock, or perhaps we'll brave the furniture outlets in San Marcos.

I'd love it if we could recreate the look of this bed, from here. I posted the source of the bedding here. Beautiful, but expensive - I think I'll be doing some sewing.

I even love the wall color - it's so cheerful. Painting is next on our list.

Sunday Snacking

On the weekends we are usually too busy to sit down and have a meal unless we go out to eat. So we keep lots of munchies on the counter to graze on during the day. In the past that has included some unhealthy goodies. Lately, I have been trying to be more aware of what and how we eat. So, I've started to keep the house stocked with more healthy options for all of us.

Last week I picked up an order of fresh fruits and veggies from the local Sustainable Food Center farm to work program. Sunday morning we had it all out to munch on. Even the chips were healthy with organic soy and flax seeds and some homemade hummus.

(Rigby in the background wishes he could have some - he's a shameless beggar)

To Do List

You know those things that you want to be doing, but slip your mind most days? With Oliver, that is teaching him signs to communicate. I have other things like eating more veggies, remembering to take the stairs, picking up Jay's shoes from the repair place, etc.. etc...

I just found this website, Baby Signs, and want to remember to pick up a copy of the book.

Following them on Twitter might be a good way to help me to remember. Now how do I remind myself to get my car registered?

Oliver is 8 months old!

Here he is in his new convertible car seat. He took a few tentative forward crawling steps last night. Two little bottom teeth appeared last month and in the last week a top tooth poked through. He is a very happy, giggly and still mellow little guy.