Out of order, but most importantly, our little angel Noa Violet arrived September 29th at 9:03am (9.29.09 at 9, whoooo), weighing 7lbs 10oz and just over 21 inches long. A fantastic and magical birth. Our dear friend Noa Abend had arrived on September 25, the day after my due date, and was there for the whole experience--the birth and the month following. Without her, we would have been lost and completely overwhelmed in the weeks following Noa Violet's birth. She was a dream, providing much love, massages, laughs, and also cooking every meal and keeping the place clean. She is an amazing friend and we're so happy to name our daughter after her.Everything has seemed to work out ideally. Now, it might not seem that moving back to Tulsa is an ideal situation. But in our case, it might be. During the four months we were interning at Spikenard, it got increasingly worse. We didn't blog about it at the time, but there was an insane amount of drama there. Gunther and Vivian didn't seem to understand what it took day to day to run a farm and were indignant that the other 5 people--all in our late 20s/early 30s--didn't see their roles as being there on the farm to serve them. Of course we did learn an awful lot about gardening and about ourselves, as those situations tend to make you more self-aware, and we made some great friends. Emily left about 3 weeks after we did, and is now doing a Waldorf teacher training up in NY as well as working on a farm getting good at seedsaving and caretaking for a woman with special needs. Bobbi and Alex had their gorgeous (!) baby boy, Rowan, in early August and are now the sole farmers out there. We know they're going to be successful. Check them out in few months--Live Springs Farm is their new name. They're gonna rock it.
If we hadn't have left the farm, we'd now be out of work
with a newborn, who knows where. Now, we're back home surrounded by my side of the family who are getting pretty proficient at doting on the little one and supporting the new parents (not to mention doing their laundry!). We work for an amazing organization--Global Gardens. Bhads is at Eugene Field Elementary School, teaching gardening and peace education, loving it, and is adored by his students and fellow teachers. And I was doing their admin work and teaching one day a week at a satellite school up until the birth. I'm not sure what I want to do at this point, although I do know that I just can't leave this baby of mine. So in love. And the gals at GG (5 other girls, all in our mid-20s to 30s, likeminded and incredibly lovely people) have been so supportive. Three of us had babies within a month of each other, so they definitely know what it's like. We both feel so lucky to be involved with GG and to have such amazing people to work with (and to have as friends).About a month after Noa was born, we decided to split across town. Our apartment was nice, in a great neighborhood, within walking distance to the farmers market in summer and the Irish pub, very sunny and bright, and most significantly for me: it was where Noa was born.
Yep, we had a very successful homebirth...or apartmentbirth. I labored for 8 hours in our one bedroom apartment, with Bhads, Friend Noa, Molly, Mom, and our wonderful midwife Ruth and her hard-working assistant Dana. It was a full house...apartment. There were some strong emotional ties to the place and it was hard to move. But when faced with sentimentality and possible explosions from the upstairs potential meth-lab, we figured it was an easy one. Our neighbors had been shady from the beginning--about 8 or 10 people cycling in and out throughout the day and mostly throughout the night. When our friend Noa stayed with us, she had to sleep on the bed in the living room, and had to try to sleep through strange banging and what sounded like heavy furniture being dragged back and forth. And seriously at all hours and constantly. We had a friend do a background check on the guy and as it turns out he'd just gotten out of jail and had a long list of charges against him. So we moved.It was uncanny timing, but we are now renting a 1929 gingerbread style duplex just a mile up the street. It has two rooms, a front porch and a tiny back yard we're going to intensively garden here in the Spring. It's pretty sweet. And our landlady is this adorable 80 year old who used to live here when she was first married, her sister on the other side, something I'm trying to get my own sister to consider--if I could just get the lady next door (who is lovely and I feel bad writing this although it's so obviously tongue and cheek) to move out and my sister to move back to Tulsa with her boyfriend Ryan. I'm not sure which would be harder. Yes I am.
In a way, it's a strange reality to now be so grounded. Back in Tulsa. Renting a home. Driving our own car. With a baby. We've been on the road for so long, I never really thought we'd settle down. I never really wanted to until now.
It's so cliche, and people always told me this (to my annoyance), but with the baby we really just want to be settled and near family. I always wondered if and hoped that my restlessness would be quelled when Noa came, that I wouldn't feel the deep longing to be somewhere else--back in Poland or Ireland or somewhere completely new. I'm so happy to say that it worked. All I want now is to have my baby in my arms and my husband and pup at my side...just a totally ordinary life.And it feels so nice.
