Blacksmith Bistro and Grill

{via}

After a day of errands {including finding out the sex of our baby}, Daniel and I decided to grab dinner before we went our separate ways for the weekend.

We decided on the Blacksmith Bistro and Grill in St. Elmo. We have been wanting to go here for a while, but never managed to get around to it.

Thankfully it wasn't too busy when we arrived. The hostess told us to go to the bar and order. The bar tender proceeded to tell us all of the drink specials – after which Daniel told me that I must not look that pregnant to be getting the scoop on drinks. 

Daniel decided on a grilled Salmon Burger topped with a Fried Green Tomato and a side of Onion Rings. It boggles my mind that Daniel HATES tomatoes but for some reason really likes fried green tomatoes... I decided on the 'Shroom Burger, topped with Hickory Smoked Bacon and a side of Fries.

Daniel's salmon burger was good, but he said the fried green tomato could have been better. The onion rings were delish {we split them}. My 'shroom burger was to die for. The bacon melted in my mouth and the mushrooms were out of this world. On the other hand, my fries were cold. The prices were a bit steep, but the food was decent and our server kept our water glasses full.

If it had been just a little cooler, we would have enjoyed sitting outside. Instead, we sat inside enjoying the AC and contemplated the news about our baby's gender and started the name discussion... we have some good contenders and I don't think it will be too painful to come to an agreement.

Overall we enjoyed our Blacksmith Bistro experience.

The Big Questions???

The big questions are…

“Is our baby healthy?”
“Are we having a boy or girl?”

Lucky for us, today is the day that both of these questions get answered.

Up until now Daniel and I haven’t spent a lot of time being anxious about either of these questions. I mean there is nothing you can do but wait. And regarding gender, it’s not like a puppy that we get to pick out.

Sure Daniel wouldn’t mind a little boy that will love to play with legos in a few years {really this would just be an excuse for Daniel to explore his inner child}, but there is nothing to say that a little girl wouldn’t love legos just as much…

  
And maybe there is a small part of me that dreams of a little girl that would be a little mini me like I see with my sister and her daughter, Izzy. But having a mini Daniel would be just as good…

 

In all reality we could end up with a girly girl that we are clueless about or a boy who hates legos

So, without further ado…

The answer to question #1:
Baby Moore is healthy, weighing in at 1 pound and 1 ounce with a strong heartbeat of 142 beats per minute. Heart and brain and spine all look good and there are two arms and hands and two legs and feet with five toes each.

The answer to question #2:
We are having a BOY!!!!!

A little Daniel will be making his appearance in November.

Other Priorities and Things We Should Probably Discuss SOON

Besides outdoor life, here are the other things on our mind prior to having our first born...


Diapers

We have also discussed whether we plan to use cloth or disposable diapers. This conversation stemmed from blog posts by Young House Love, Bower Power and The Organ Family. Mostly we agreed that our frugal selves are all for cloth diapers. Reality suggests we will use both – i.e. we aren't going to drop our kid off at a church nursery or with a baby sitter and insist they use cloth.

*Update: We used cloth diapers for the first 1.5 years ago) and it was one of the best decisions we made.

Things we have yet to discuss:

Baby Names – we are waiting to find out the gender before we put a lot of energy into this...

*Update: We eventually decided on a name – Jack Grayson

The Nursery – besides agreeing which room will be used, we haven't put any thought into this since gender is an important factor.

Registering for Baby Crap Stuff – not really on our radar. I don't think either of us are ready for our house to be taken over by baby things.

I feel like baby web sites and books have all of these lists of things you are supposed to be planning for and thinking about. We just aren't there. We have until November, there is no huge hurry to jump into this parenting thing. We are enjoying our life as it is right now. Yeah, we talk about stuff but we aren't making concrete plans or worrying about the future. We are taking life in stride. We will get around to the important things like finding the right car seat soon enough.

Getting Our Priorities Straight...

Things we have discussed regarding our baby:
With our first child due in four months, we have had a few things on our minds...

Introducing Our Kiddo to the Great Outdoors 

Thanks to Outside Magazine's June issue with a focus on raising active kids, we got some answers to questions we had been discussing {read Outside Magazine's questions/answers in green}.

How soon can we take our baby hiking/backpacking?

Photo of Daniel and I on the summit of Mount Washington in New Hampshire (2011)

You can pretty much march out of the delivery room and onto the trail if you are so inclined. Just realize that the logistics are greater the younger the child.

*Update: First hiking trip. Jack was 5 months old.
*Update: First camping trip. Jack was 18 months old.

*Update: First hiking trip with two kids. Isaac was 3 months old. Jack was 4.5 years old.  

*Update: First camping trip with two kids. Isaac was 13 months. Jack was 4.5 years old.

How soon until we can go on bike rides?

Photo of Daniel after we biked the Virginia Creeper Trail in Damascus, Virginia (2007)

With tots under 35 pounds, Outside Magazine recommends iBert's Safe-T-Seat. While the Burley's D'Lite trailer is great for hauling bigger toddlers {and dogs} behind you.

Mountain Biking: Eight is a good age to start; nine-year-olds can really crank. By ten, experienced kids will be wanting to tackle technical singletrack and launch off rocks.
 
Road Biking: At eight most kids will have long enough legs to ride a bigger bike with a bigger pedal crank to enable them to keep up with the big kids {you}.

*Update: First bike ride (10 miles on a combination of paved greenway and wooded, dirt trails). Jack was 18.5 months old.
*Update: First bike ride with two kids (neighborhood ride, about 1.5 miles, one kid riding in trailer, one on bike with training wheels). Isaac was 5 months old. Jack was 4.5 years old.
*Update: Jack learns to ride a bike without training wheels, age 4.5; rides 11 miles on a trail-a-bike.
*Update: Jack rides at the Pump Track and first short mountain bike ride at Stringers Ridge, age 5.5.
*Update: Jack's first real mountain bike ride was 9 miles to Edwards Point, age 5.5.

When will our baby be big enough to take on a paddling trip?

Photo of Daniel and I paddling the Nantahala River (2007)

If they are old enough to ride in a car, they are old enough to canoe.

Sea Kayaking: You won't get any real paddling help until age 13. Younger kids can be ferried in a cockpit hole or a double.
 

White Water Rafting: Five is the minimum for most guides; for Class III, seven is best; for Class IV, 12. Class V and up is too dangerous for kids.

*Update: First time canoeing. Jack was 11.5 months old.
*Update: First real canoe trip. Jack was 2.5 years old.
*Update: First paddling trip with two kids. Jack was 4.5 and Isaac was 1.
*Update: Jack tests out his own kayak, age 5.5.

What about climbing/rappelling?

Photo of me rappelling Aussie style at Bee Rock outside of Cookeville, Tennessee (2003)

Some four-year-olds can climb like geckos but panic at the top. By eight most kids are ready to tackle easier routes.

*Update: First time climbing (bouldering in our front yard). Jack was 2.5 years old.
*Update: Jack regularly finds and climbs new vertical routes on the rock face in our front yard, age 5.5

52 Books: Book 31

Even though I have been slacking on writing my book posts, it has not been for a lack of reading. I was actually reading three books at once over the last couple of weeks and book 31 is over 600 pages!

Book #31 on my list is Ahab's Wife by Sena Jeter Naslund. First I must confess that I have never read Moby Dick and since reading Ahab's Wife, I decided it would be prudent to read the American classic by Herman Melville as well {it is currently on my night stand}.

Since I had not read Moby Dick I had no idea of what to expect from this novel. Having read the overview on Goodreads, I have to admit that some of the meanings and connections to the original novel were lost on me. Having now read the first three chapters of Moby Dick, I can say that the new narrative blends perfectly into the old {so far}.

This novel introduces us to Una when she is a girl. Written from her perspective, it weaves a story of a girl growing up in unusual circumstances who eventually finds herself running away to sea as a cabin boy. Along the way she meets Captain Ahab and several other characters from the original book. We get a glimpse into what it might have been like had Ahab found love, but the love is not enough to overcome his madness to hunt the great white whale.

I found this to be a very intriguing story and I can't wait to get further into Moby Dick. If you have read the classic before, I would definitely recommend this prequel. If you have not read the classic, I would recommend that you pick up both books and read them together as I am doing.

July 4th is...

eating good food.

 spending time with family.

 doing something fun.

watching fireworks.

 playing in the water.

We don't always get to spend every holiday with family, but now that we are closer, it is getting easier. My sister, her husband and my niece came down to spend the holiday weekend with us.

Saturday we took Izzy to the Splash Pad in Scottsboro and then came home and I threw BBQ chicken, corn on the cob and zucchini slices on the grill. I also whipped up a Blueberry Strawberry Trifle that was delish.

Sunday we got up and went to Chattanooga. We had lunch at Mellow Mushroom and then headed over to the Tennessee Aquarium. It was my first visit to an aquarium {#98 on my life list} and I enjoyed all of the exhibits. We probably walked about 3 miles and Izzy was pretty worn out by the time we got to the second half. But she was a trooper. My favorite exhibit was the penguins. I think Izzy was enamored with the touch tanks. After the aquarium we stopped at Ben & Jerrys for some ice cream to cool off {we tried the Bonaroo buzz flavor and LOVED it}.

That night we threw burgers on the grill and then spent some time drawing with chalk on the driveway. Since Izzy took a late nap, she got to stay up to see fireworks for the first time. Daniel and Robert set off some smaller ones. I think they mostly scared Izzy. Sophie cowered in the house.

I love living in the country. Almost every other house on our street was shooting off their own fireworks and one house had a humongous display of fireworks that rivaled some of the shows I have watched growing up.

Monday morning we went back to the Splash Pad – Izzy was a bit braver this time. Then finished up with lunch at Sonic. 

Angela, Robert and Izzy left after lunch and Daniel and I enjoyed a lazy afternoon. We considered heading into town to watch fireworks, but it rained, so we were content to lay in our hammock and enjoy the rain and cooler air.

Easy Mode. Panic Mode.

Sophie sporting her life jacket. The first time we put it on her 

she seemed embarrassed to have to wear such a contraption.

Saturday morning we took our canoe out at Mud Creek {about a mile from our house}. I think that we are going to enjoy having water access so close. Our goal was actually to paddle out of the inlet and into the main channel of the Tennessee River. Our secondary goal was that Daniel wanted to jump out of the canoe and get Sophie in the deep water with him so that she could learn to trust her life jacket.

After about 30 minutes of paddling, we still had not reached the actual river channel and the sun was getting warm so we decided to proceed with our second goal. Daniel jumped in the water {while I prayed that he didn't tip the boat... the mental image of a pregnant me trying to haul myself back into a canoe is not a pretty one}. Then we coaxed dumped Sophie overboard with the help of the handle on the back of her life jacket.

Sophie immediately panicked and started paddling like she was drowning. She somehow managed to hold her head about 8 inches out of the water while furiously flailing her extremities about {almost to the point of being vertical in the water}. She was kicking Daniel in the face and shoulders before I grabbed her handle and held her close the boat and told her to calm down. For some reason this worked and she immediately relaxed and floated next to the canoe. I then helped her to climb back in the boat.

Once she was safe in the canoe again, she seemed interested in the water again. She kept climbing up on the seats and looked like she would jump, but she never quite found the courage. We decided to try again and I coaxed tossed her overboard into Daniel's arms. After the initial panicked paddling she only calmed down when Daniel had her in his arms and she could cling to him for dear life. I tossed in our life jackets for extra support and she seemed happier floating with the extra buoyancy.

I'm not sure that she will ever become a fan of the water, but considering that two years ago she was terrified to even step in a puddle, I say that we have made tremendous progress.

Once she was safely in the boat again, Daniel hauled himself over the side while I managed to counter balance the boat to keep us all from flipping over. We never did reach the main channel of the Tennessee River, but enjoyed an hour out on the water.

 

Our route from Mud Creek – we paddled about 2 miles with Daniel 

jumping out at the 1 mile mark to float/swim with Sophie in the river.