Extra! Extra! Read All About It! Our Vegan Pregnancy Finally Updates Blog, Is Featured In Time Magazine!

Well, that last blog post sure was a long time ago!

 

"What's the deal?" you ask. "Where have you been?" you inquire. "Did you throw all logic and reason out the window and go Paleo and are now raising Astral and Defy as little anti-vegan cave persons?" you anxiously wonder to yourself...

 

Nah, we're still out here in the San Francisco Bay Area and we're still, and always, vegan. Astral and Defy are over five and a half years old now! I'm still their "stay-at-home", homeschooling Daddy and Mama still brings home the Phoney Baloney's coconut bacon. The boys and I do our lessons, read a shit-ton of library books, skateboard and bike together, attend homeschool meet ups and "field trips", go to karate and explore public parks during the weekdays. Mama's a "Silicon Valley" PR pro, and because she is a badass "level-5" vegan superstar, she also works on external communications for the directors of the ground-breaking documentary film, Cowspiracy.  

We still have a low digital media household. The weather out here allows us to be outside year-round, so on weekends and days off we hit up the beaches, redwood groves, mountains, national parks, museums, etc. as a family. We currently run the Bay Area Vegan Family meetup on Meetup.com, and although we have not been very active on there as of late, we plan to be in the near future and have thus far met some wonderful vegan families.

Astral and Defy continue to thrive as vegan kids. They still eat a mostly whole foods diet, but they do enjoy (mostly healthy) vegan sweets and treats as well. They are witty, adorable, strong, creative, and compassionate little critical thinkers who amaze us every day with their growing knowledge, artistic talent and ability to navigate their world. We are just so incredibly proud of them.



 

This week, we were featured in the cover story of the latest issue of Time magazine about millennial parenting. You can check it out here.

 

Thanks to Katy Steinmetz for interviewing us, taking us out to a vegan dinner on Time's dime, and for not shying away from dropping the "V-word" in her article!

 

Until next time...

Making Moves...

Hello everyone! We're still here! Well, sort of...

Six months ago, Our Vegan Pregnancy HQ packed up and moved from the DC Metro area of Northern Virginia all the way across the United States to "Silicon Valley" in Northern California. We have been so busy with the move and adjusting to life out here that we just haven't had much time to blog.

Relocating across the country is no small feat. Before the move, Lucas and I were a little (okay, A LOT) concerned with how 3 year old rowdy twin rabble rousers and two silly dogs would handle several consecutive days sitting in a car with two predictably grumped-out and exhausted parents. To our surprise, Astral, Defy, Star, and Sunny all handled the trip very well (probably much better than mommy and daddy, in fact).

Fortunately, Lucas's side of the fam lives in Southern Illinois, and we didn't have to go very far out of our way to stop there for a few days before proceeding westward. It was a nice break after the first 12 hours of driving. We were able to relax a little, visit with loved ones, enjoy some of grandma's delicious vegan food and mentally prepare ourselves for the next leg of the journey: 3 more days of driving in a cramped automobile!

As many of our long-time readers already know, the Our Vegan Pregnancy crew doesn't eat "fast food" on road trips, mostly because food joints alongside the interstate in the U.S. are not exactly known for their vegan-friendliness. As usual, we packed a lot of dry goods, fresh fruit and a cooler with other essentials. We were lucky enough to consistently find natural food stores right off of our route, so we could replenish our food supply.

 

Astral and Defy were super good on the road. They played games, played with toys, sang songs, "read" books, drew plenty of pictures and slept to pass the time. They thoroughly enjoyed staying in hotel rooms three nights in a row, as each was a new adventure for them. They also enjoyed stopping at the Grand Canyon and seeing it for like 2 minutes before they proved far too dangerous to be right at the edge of an enormous hole in the Earth...

 

To cut a long story short, we made it to CA, our new home! Astral and Defy are happy with the weather, the scenery, the libraries, and all the fantastic parks. Lucas is still their "at-home" dad, teaching them their daily lessons and exploring all the wonderful public services with them during the day.

 

Roasting pretend vegan marshmallows over a fake fire...

 

 

 

Northern California has a lot to offer vegan families. There are vegan family play groups, tons of vegan restaurants, and the most ridiculously beautiful weather for playing outside, adventuring, and observing free-living nonhuman animals. We are thankful to have had the opportunity to make the move, and we are excited to raise Astral and Defy out here in the stunningly beautiful Bay Area.

 

 

Props to The Veggie Grill in San Jose!

  

We will try to post again soon, specifically about what the vegan twin superstars of this blog are up to. We just wanted to put out a post to keep everyone updated on our transition westward, and to let you all know that we're still making moves...

  

"Aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaahhhhhhhhhh!!!!!"

"Respect Animals. Go Vegan!"

So Far, So Good...

Teamwork...

I won’t even bother to make excuses for not posting, because there isn't a good one.  

So Astral Defiance and Defy Aster are 3 years and nearly 4 months old, folks! From the outset Lucas and I knew we would be scrutinized more than other parents because we are vegan, anti-consumerist, and very nontraditional. No, my kids don’t watch Sesame Street, eat goldfish crackers, or visit zoos or circuses, but they are happy (for moody, tantrum-throwing 3 year olds) and thriving, and it is undeniable.  Astral and Defy are STRONG and powered completely by plants. They have respect for all sentient beings, are super happy to be vegan and will question anything they consider to be unjust or unfair in a heartbeat.

The highlight of their big 3 year old appointment in March was peeing in a cup for the first time, and they did it expertly.  Astral weighed in at 37 lbs and Defy at 35.5lbs and almost 40 inches tall for both.  I am sure they are well over 40 inches and maybe even 40 lbs by now.  Astral has almost always been slightly bigger than Defy, and he has always eaten more. They both still drink their kale smoothies and eat well, although they now also enjoy the occasional sweet treat.

"Cows' Milk: Double Yuk!" -vegan kids say the darndest things...

freestylin'

I just love how stoked Daddy gets when he scores against a 3 year old in air hockey...

Daddy has been conducting his own version of pre-school by homeschooling the kids for as long as I can remember, and you can really see the results.  Recently, they have started learning how to read some 3 letter words and do some basic addition and subtraction. They also seem to have a better grasp on logic than some adults we know. I could go on to tell you how creative, articulate, smart, funny and super handsome these guys are, but I’ll spare you the bragging. We are just so proud of them.  Yes, these dudes are special, but daddy and I feel that every single being is special in their own way, and that’s something we will always try to impart to Astral and Defy. 

We continue on our quest to raise compassionate, critically thinking people who question everything and everyone. So far, so good…

In March the boys were finally able to build a snowman after waiting all season. Meet Hunter S(nowman) Thompson...