Two Mothers Day

Because of the proximity of Mother's Day and my birthday (tomorrow!), and because my wife and I are both mothers and find it difficult to both pamper each other and be pampered at the same time, we aren't big into celebrating Mother's Day around here. We haven't ever played it up with the kids or had them make things for us. And I was surprised, when I picked them up from school on Friday, to learn that they had made things for us in their classrooms. I had no idea that Mother's Day was a school-recognized celebration.

Luke's teacher handed me a bag (with a small potted plant in it) and a card and said, apologetically, "I suggested that Lukas make a gift for each of his moms, but he decided he'd rather just make one for you to share. "

"Yeah," Luke chimed in. "I could have made two, but I decided to just write an 's' on the end of 'Dear Mom' instead."

I opened up the card. Dear Moms, Happy Mother's Day! Love, Lukas. It made me smile.

Jaz eagerly handed me the card that he had made to go with his plant gift, "Look at the card I made for Mama!"

"You just made one, just for Mama?" I asked, feigning upset.

"Well, I didn't really want to make two?" Jaz explained, "and I just figured that Luke could make one for you, and I could make one for Mama."

"Except I didn't," interjected Luke, "I made one for both of them. That's what you should have done."

"It's all fine," I said, "the cards are beautiful." Apparently, making two cards for your two moms is just as difficult as celebrating your wife on Mother's Day, when you too are a mother, deserving of celebration.

We actually did get to go out on a date on Saturday night, an event so rare that I can't even remember the last time it happened. We went to a silent auction (I am a bit of a silent auction junkie, especially regarding the type of silent auction that includes beautiful, handmade offerings) to benefit the very sweet little school that Elijah and Aryeh (the sons of our friends, Katie and Aaron) attend. Lena's little brother, "Uncle Will" came to baby-sit and was surprisingly successful in getting all three of our children to sleep, an event so rare that I'm certain it's never happened before (seriously, bedtime is a two-person affair in our house and generally requires one set of lactating breasts). So when we got home, at 10:30 p.m., with our arms overflowing with lovely handmade goodness, and our hearts full of love for Katie and Aaron, and our minds rested from a night out, we did not have to put our three over-tired children to bed. Because they were already asleep. It was the best Mother's Day gift we could have gotten (thank you, thank you, thank you, Will!).

And then today, when Lena went to the store for strawberries and whipped cream (to top the waffles we planned to share with Katie and Aaron, not having gotten our fill of our beloveds the night before), she also surprised me and brought home roses. In her favorite color. Which also just happens to be my favorite color. Sometimes you can pamper your wife and yourself simultaneously.

Flowers from My Love

I was thinking, earlier today while painting with Luke, Jaz and Araela (my sister was taking her Mother's Day nap with Ezra, and my wife was taking her Mother's Day nap with Zeben), that it would be cool if we could turn Mother's Day into "Two Mothers Day" in our house. You know, just take a day to really celebrate all that is wonderful about being a part of a two-mom family. Like having the option of just adding an 's' to the name of one of your parents, and thus instantly be addressing both of your parents. Or being able to borrow your wife's bella band when yours is in the wash. Or letting one of your moms take a nap, but still having another mom available to do a painting project with you. And being able to buy your wife her favorite color of roses, and have them be your favorite color of roses too. In all seriousness, there is lots to celebrate, and while we all certainly feel glad about this being the family we're in on a daily basis, I do think we could use a once-a-year-reminder about just how lucky we are.

Maybe this beautiful new book by Patricia Polacco could become the "T'was the Night Before Christmas" of our new Two Mothers Day holiday:

Next year! Spread the word! Join the "Two Mothers Day" revolution!

Asparagus Pie

On Monday we got six eggs from our six hens for the first time (a glorious new trend that has continued all week), and Luke and Jaz discovered some volunteer/wild asparagus growing in the pasture. I wasted no time in deciding what to make for our potluck that night: clearly an asparagus quiche was in order! Someday soon we can use goat milk and goat cheese as ingredients as well and then it will really be a homegrown affair. But for now, just using our own eggs and asparagus was exciting enough.

ingredients

for the crust:
1.5 cups flour (whatever kind you prefer)
10 tablespoons butter, cold, cut into bits
1/4 cup ice cold water
1/2 teaspoon salt

for the filling:
4 eggs
1.5 cups cheese (whatever kind you prefer)
1.5 cups milk
salt and pepper to taste
6 stalks asparagus, grilled and cut into pieces
salsa (optional)

The first step is to make the crust, a process which I find hugely enjoyable so long as my children are either happily helping me or engaged elsewhere. Combine the flour, salt and butter in the food processor.

I've doubled the recipe,
hence the overwhelming amount of butter!

Pulse briefly, until the mixture loosely resembles cornmeal.

Transfer the dough to a bowl and drizzle ice cold water on top. Gather the dough into a ball, flatten it into a disc and pop it in the freezer for 10 minutes. Then turn it out onto a floured surface and roll it flat.

I flip the pie plate upside down on top of the rolled dough to make sure that I've rolled it out big enough. Then I fold the dough into quarters and gently place it in the pie plate before unfolding it.

Trim the excess dough using kitchen scissors (the excess can be saved and turned into a mini pie or frozen to be used as decoration in the future). I usually leave about 1/2 inch extra all around the rim of the pie plate. Next, fold the outer 1/2 inch of dough under (between the dough and the pie plate).

Now for the pretty part: press the dough down on to the top rim of the plate using a fork.

The crust needs to be chilled in the freezer for 10 minutes. Meanwhile, preheat the oven to 425°. When the crust is sufficiently chilled, take it out of the freezer and prick it all over with a fork. Grease a piece of tinfoil and put it over the crust, and then put a heavy pot on top to weight the crust in place (of course, you could use traditional pie weights instead, if you have them). Bake for 15 minutes.

While the crust is pre-baking, the filling can be prepared. Combine the eggs, cheese, milk, salt and pepper in a mixing bowl.

I like to drizzle the asparagus with olive oil, and cook it on the grill.


When the pie crust is ready, pour the egg mixture in, and sprinkle it with chopped asparagus (I also like to add a few spoonfuls of salsa, though my wife prefers I leave the salsa out).

Bake at 375° for about 40 minutes, or until the filling is mostly firm, but maybe a little bit jiggly right in the center of the pie.

On Monday I also discovered what may be the very best thing about living next door to my mom: I can borrow her fabulous pie basket (which originally belonged to my great-grandmother, "Ma-bo") whenever I need to! It is the best way to transport a pie (or two!).

I hope everyone else is enjoying asparagus season as much as we are!

Kids and Kids

We are settling into our new routine as the keepers of FOUR goats, and everyone is enjoying the chance to witness such extreme cuteness on a daily basis.

Chive's doeling (girl) has officially been named "Lou Lou Unicorn." Lukas really wanted to name one of the baby goats "Lou Lou" after the first goat he ever fell in love with, at age 2 (a goat who belongs to friends of ours), and Araela really wanted to name one of the baby goats "Unicorn" because she just loves unicorns. So we combined the two names for our beautiful little doe (who, purely by coincidence, is all brown except for one white spot, right where her unicorn horn would be!).

Lou Lou Unicorn, 2 days old

The little buckling (boy) has been named "Harvey Milk" because we wanted to think of something PRIDE-related (since the goats' birth kept us from the local Queer Pride Celebration), and Harvey Milk seemed especially fitting since we are raising dairy goats (plus, "Milk" was one of the very few movies Lena and I went to see this past year, and we both loved it). Little Harvey looks a lot like a mini-Chive, with a bit of Petah thrown in (the white band on his side).

Harvey Milk, 2 days old

It is no surprise to me that we (as humans) have chosen to refer to our children by the same name used to refer to young goats: kids. Both types of offspring are curious, energetic, mischievous, adorable and snuggly. And for me, as a mother of twin human kids, the similarities between my own early post-partum days and the first 48 hours with the new goat babies were rather striking.

Witnessing the sibling bond between any two-of-a-kind living creature definitely does increase the sweetness component.

Sleepy Newborns: Lou Lou and Harvey

Sleepy Newborns: Luke and Jaz

That said, doubling the number of babies who need to be fed almost certainly increases the level of nursing difficulty.

A cheerful Lena helps a glaringly grouchy me
to latch babies onto my engorged breasts.

I held Chive still in hopes that she would let her babies
latch on to HER engorged teats.

Eventually, both Chive and I figured it out and nursing became an enjoyable experience.



Because I help many new human mothers who are struggling with breastfeeding their babies, it was actually somewhat of a relief to me to see that other non-human mammals can also have difficulty figuring things out in the beginning. That said, I had to wonder if the fact that Chive comes from a line of bottle-fed goat babies contributed to her initial resistance to nursing, the same way that human mothers who come from families where formula-feeding is the norm sometimes have a harder time at first. I always wonder about how much of breastfeeding should be instinctual, and how much was meant to be learned. Perhaps the same is true for goat nursing.

Similarities aside, there is no question about the fun energy created when human kids and goat kids come together. There is much prancing about, squealing, nibbling and smiling going on at our place these days as these two curious breeds of young ones get to know each other.

Birthy News

When we woke up this morning, it was clear that Chive would give birth today. She was staying inside the barn, pawing the ground, lying down frequently, and not eating. It was hard to know for sure how much longer it would be, but I guessed it wouldn't be more than a couple of hours. I didn't leave Chive's side from about 10 a.m. on, and the birth ended up taking place around 11:30 a.m. Lena and Jaz were off at baseball practice, but I was joined by several other human spectators (my friend Katie and her sons, my sister Jes and brother-in-law, Chris, and Araela, Ezra, Lukas and Zeben). Here is what we saw:

Chive is lying down, having a contraction
At this point she was still standing up ocassionally
30 minutes before the birth

Another contraction
Chive's yoni is beginning to open
Chive was no longer standing up at all
We knew that things were really happening

We started to see the sac bulging,
and Jes ran to get Araela and Lukas
The first glimpse of the baby,
one little white hoof inside a bubble

Now we can see that the baby is positioned wonderfully:
two hooves and a nose, all presenting together
I put a towel down so that the baby would land on
a nice, clean, dry surface

The head is born!

The rest of the body slips out
Chive started suckling her own teat!
We assume this is to stimulate more contractions
(and to get the milk flowing?)
We think this skill is very cool

Chive greets her baby

The baby is gorgeous
We all love the brown ears
I check and see that it's a girl!

Suddenly, another sac bubble appears!
Chive is having twins! Hooray!
She sucks at her teats again

The second baby is bigger, but is born more quickly
I move baby #1 to a dry towel to make room, and out slides #2
The second baby takes a little while longer than the first to get started,
but eventually he fills his lungs with air, and lets out a good cry
He sounds just like a human baby (and he's a boy!)

Two fresh, wet goat babies
About 10 minutes after the birth

And just like that, our little herd of goats has doubled in size
(and gotten much, much cuter).

The birth went incredibly smoothly, but unfortunately the post-partum experience hasn't been quite as textbook. We ended up having a rather harrowing afternoon spent trying to get the babies to nurse. It was kind of familiar territory for me since I've helped many new human moms and babies learn to breastfeed, but I'd never had to deal with a mom kicking her babies out of the way before. That was tricky. Oh, and Lena got a flat tire on the way to baseball practice, Jaz was bitten by a snake, Petah was freaking out about being separated from Chive, and all of the many human children were quarreling about who had a better view of the action. And due to all of the chaos, we missed the PRIDE celebration, which was disappointing since I love to get a dose of over-the-top-queer at least once a year. But tonight, everything feels much calmer and the nursing situation is much improved. The goat babies are really a little too adorable, and are nearly named. Can't wait to have a much less eventful day tomorrow!

Labor Watch

While Lena's belly certainly gets a lot of attention around our house these days, Leo isn't the only baby we're waiting for.

Jaz, hoping to catch sight of his baby brother moving
Lena at 32 weeks

Today was actually the due date for Chive (the goat), and I spent a good chunk of time just sitting in the goat yard, observing her. This morning her udder had expanded to a new, tight form, and her flanks looked a bit hollowed out. I can tell that the birth is near, I'd guess within the next 48 hours.

Chive's very full udder

And just as we've been making some preparations inside the house in anticipation of Leo's arrival, we've been working on the barn to prepare for Chive's baby (or babies--we don't really know how many kids she'll have). The biggest thing--that was only just completed yesterday--is that we finally got a real fence up to enclose the goat yard. We'd been using a solar-powered electric net fence temporarily while we waited on Lena's friend (and fence builder) to be available to help us out with something more permanent. I was really hoping that the new fence would be in place in time for the first kidding, and I'm so glad that it is.

the barn, the garden (in raised beds), the river

I love looking out at our little backyard farm now that the structural components are complete. The only other things we've done to prepare for Chive's birth is to put fresh bedding down in the barn, and collect a few things for the goat "birth kit."


We've got latex gloves and mineral oil (a lubricant), for the rare instance in which I would need to help a kid be born, iodine for the umbilical cord(s), and some towels for drying the kid(s) if Mama Chive isn't up to it. I can't wait for a sign that labor has begun. We're all so curious to see how many kids Chive will have and what flavor (bucks or does) they'll be. I'm hoping that the birth will take place during the day tomorrow, either before or after--but ideally not during--the local annual queer pride celebration. One way or the other, I will have birthy news to share here soon!