Oolala!

This Mam was about to loose it seriously. I have been nonstop with the little guys, add in a trip to a road trip to NY - me and them for a month, and normal (ok an extraordinary amount of stress) and I was destroyed. Heart flutters. A lot of saying, "yes, I am fine - oh just ignore my eye twitching uncontrollably!"
I was coming undone. But I decided to take charge and went to the Korean Spa. If you don't know about them, I will sum it up in 3 ( ok 7) words - Cheap, Awesome, You Can Take A Nap.
Every Mom's Fantasy.
There is a lot of guilt that came with the decision to go, however sometimes we need to take care of ourselves. That means you Mama!
You lucky NYC'ers have the ultra amazing Spa Castle.  But Jeju is just as good.
Run. Don't walk. Remember - we can nurture, if we don't nurture ourselves!

Trying to be everything to everyone.

Wow. Today I was ready for the day to come to a close and my children to go to sleep.
My older son is fighting sleep - so I actually gave up trying to get him to sleep and left him to his own devices (the next room.) Since he was an infant he has had sleep issues and if we don't parent him to sleep the more likely he is to wake up. But our little one is teething and I need some me time!

We just started homeschooling after our month long trip - 2 weeks in NYC, and two weeks in transit.

It was mainly just me and the kids! What a learning experience. I have been home with them for a year now - making work a much lower priority, and there we were back in the city, needing to put work first.
It felt completely out of sync. I enjoy a healthy work life, but where will my path take me next?

Since we are homeschooling there isn't a whole lot of time for anything else.

Waldorf kindergarten is focused on rhythm, and it is my utmost goal to get it together. It is definitely a big challenge for us. We do have a rhythm - but schedule is a whole other can of worms. Not to mention my husband's work schedule is complicated! And that throws a wrench in.

Looking forward to looking back two months from now!

Babies.

I just returned from an adventure with my two boys (more on that later.) But today my heart is thinking babies. A gentle heartstring tug. I feel pretty complete - but as I looked at Facebook, I saw a friend's page. And I thought of the intense pain ( I had a homebirth) and the intense beauty. For me the fear and memory is only just beginning to fade, but isn't it amazing how it does. And you hold on to just the beauty. It is truly a miracle. It is also ridiculous that there are places that are illegal to have a homebirth. Like Georgia. Really?
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HFLzxdZG30Q&feature=share

I won! I won!

Lucky me! I actually won a ticket to the Holistic Moms Natural Living Conference. Now I just need to get there! I have until Saturday October 1st to make it to Irvine or maybe this ticket will be gifted along.
I am thrilled!

Washed Away...

Today I send my thoughts to friends - known and unknown, living in Vermont and elsewhere who as of now have lost everything. I hold space for you to rebuild. I send love and strength and I send support as you travel through this mourning process.

Wooden Toy Bonanza!

Okay - maybe not a bonanza, but how about big discounts? Magic Cabin is offering 20% off their wooden toys. Wooden toys are expensive but definitely worth it. They offer a lot of great stuff, but what I am most excited about is the set of Tegu Blocks. I had the pleasure of playing with them while visiting friends. They truly combine two of my favorite play items - magnets and wood. The sale also includes the extremely popular Skuut Bike  and Plan City toys (we love the crane!) And the list goes on. Check out the sight, you really you can't go wrong.  Enter code MCNAT2.

Tree Fort - Love it - Endless hours of play!

Thumbs Up - Ouch!

So on Thursday, I woke up with a toe the size of a golf ball. I definitely felt off, to say the least. I quickly went through my head of what natural remedy was my best option. After several minutes - I came to the conclusion that I needed to go to the doctor. What you say? Hey - that's what I said too! But this thing seemed super angry. Hmm doctor. Well where do I find one? Do I call the pediatrician who we rarely see? We are new to the state, but even in NY - did I have a doctor? Hmm. I had a chiropractor, acupuncturist/cranial sacral therapist, classical homeopath, reiki master, homebirth midwife, and gynecological physical therapist. I did have an anthroposophical extended medical doctor and technically he is a doctor, but he prescribes homeopathic remedies - there have definitely been no antibiotics in my system since 2001.
So I called the only integrative Doctor I have heard of in the area. Voicemail. Waiting list (3-4 years!) Well that isn't going to work! Meanwhile toe is getting large, which is of course an invitation for both my children to continuously step on it. So a friend of a friend recommended Highland Urgent Care - and it was great! Office is shared with an acupuncturist (open minded) and I was in and out within 45 minutes. They also thought my kids were cute, even though my little one poured water all over the floor as he made "ice cream" from the water cooler.
I left with not one but two prescription antibiotics (really???), and my toe is finally starting to shrink. However, my NY self is totally secretly judging my new Southern self for actually going to a doctor. This Thursday I go back to have part of the nail removed. This should be interesting! At least I will be too busy focusing on my kids climbing the walls to notice the pain!
Next week will also be our trip to the doctor for the kids. Here I am a super health radical, in NY I was so not. True many people here choose not toy vaccinate for religious reason, but the pressure is great. I wish I just had a doctor I could call and trust and wouldn't think I was crazy. If I was in CA, I would run to the Holistic Mom's Natural Living Conference on Octobe 1st, 2011 at the Irvine Marriott 18000 Von Karman Avenue Irvine, CA 92512 to hear Lauren Feder, the pediatrician AND homeopath speak about vaccinations and making an informed choice.With the close of Mothering magazine, our access to healthy and holistic parenting information is limited. The exhibit hall should be pretty great as well. So if you are I'm CA or plan to be take the time and go to the conference for me! Saturday, October 1st, 2011. You can find more information here. Bring on the online Auction! Woohoo!
 
Things I am thinking about today - buying Stockmar Watercolors for our Waldorf homeschool. Organizing! And woolies -ahh so warm. Is that a weird thought when it is blisteringly hot outside?

By the way...Aren't you glad I posted this cute picture of my kid, instead of an ugly picture of my toe!