Happy Birth Day my little gurl!

Today my little gurl turned six years old!!! I am in awe of this fact, but even more than that I am in awe of her. When I was pregnant and my belly was big and round and full of life I sat many times dreaming about this child. Would the baby be a gurl or boy, strong-willed or meek and quiet, look like me or Greg, so many questions. And of course your baby is born and as the days, months and years quickly pass by you start to see the answers to all of those questions you once had asked yourself unfold.



I watch this kid of mine, because she is now a kid...no more diapers, teething rings or baby necessities, no more toddler or little childish toys, books and sayings...she is a full-blown kid equipped with the missing teeth, the nose buried in a book and the attitude and confidence the size of the state we live in! She is 100% Taurus and as we like to say in our house, "You mess with the bull, you get the horns!" And that is the truth. And I love it! Now, don't get me wrong, not all of the time; most days it gets very exhausting and frustrating having to try to negotiate and lay down the law with her since she seems to think she knows more about anything and everything than I do, but at the end of the day I remind myself...this will serve her well. I wanted a fiery, independent, strong-willed, no taking shit daughter and that is EXACTLY what I got!

Last year she was miserable on her birthday dealing with some serious sinus and allergy issues and I am happy to report that this year she sailed through the day feeling great and looking absolutely beautiful. She had a day full of love from her family and friends and received many amazing and unique gifts including 5 homemade outfits- 3 from grandma and 2 from me. And of course the cake of her choice which was a Tres Leche Cake this year, which I decided last minute to do as a Quatro Leche Cake and it was DELICIOUS!!!!!!!!!!! Happy Birthday K.N.S.!

All in a week!

I decided to post this picture from my boy's third birthday because I love it! I love the look on his face, love the candles in the dark and LOVED the carrot ginger cake w/cream cheese frosting! Happy Birthday little man. Can't believe it has been 3 years already!

SO much going on this last week and everything that I want to write about, well, just don't have the energy or the time. Here is a condensed version and I hope to write more at a later point about alla this!

• the Barbie went "away"


• the boy turned three


• all of the remants of last years beauty in the garden have been removed


• the garden has received a healthy dose of compost


• the peas, sweet pea flowers, spinach, persian cress and garbanzo beans have been planted.


• started the tomato, eggplant & basil seeds


• finally sewed an apron for myself and some yoga bags


• and I received word that I have been accepted to a WGST graduate program and offered a graduate assistant position for fall of 2010.

My head is spinning from the overload of information that I have gained this week-primarily on food issues and gardening. I hope to post some about that this weekend, but I have a very sick boy to take care of and cuddles and lovin' are on the top of the list!

She's Five

Yesterday my little gurl turned five. There is something about the age five. The realization that you have a kid now, not a baby, or a toddler, but a kid. I watched her every move yesterday and I hung on every word, soaking her in like the sun. I wanted to remember this day for the rest of my life just like I remember the day that she was born. I am guessing she will remember it because she wasn't feeling well and spent most of the day on the couch resting. Presents were even uneventful, which was so heartbreaking to watch. My little gurl has a difficult time dealing with her allergies to mold and dust as well as some intense sinus issues for a little kid. The issues seem to have gotten worse this year and we have been trying as many natural remedies as possible to help her, but she still struggles when mold is high, which it was on her birthday. It breaks my heart to see her deal with all of this as such a young age. No one every wants to see their child sick. I watch how she struggles with these issues and wonder how it will affect her as she gets older.

It also makes me angry that to take care of her the way that we feel best, which is naturally, that we have to pay for it all out of our pockets because insurance refuses to cover it. The only "natural" practice that it does cover is our chiropractic and they are trying to find a way where they don't have to cover that either. Don't even get me started on the fact that we pay over $200 a month in copays for pretty much nothing! So...I will do what I can with the herbs and tinctures that we use and continue chiropractic and start her on cranio-sacral therapy sessions in hopes that I don't have to put her on some poison that will help her allergies, but damage her kidneys and liver in the process.

The highlight of the day was when I presented her with her very own birthday crown. Her face lit up and it was the only part of the day when I saw a real smile on her face. We finished her special day by reading her new books, The Paperbag Princess, The Whole Green World and Ladybug Girl and with her dessert request: popsicles.

As I ended my day writing in her journal I also looked at her birth pictures to remind myself of this beautiful journey that this little one and I have begun.

The boy is 2!

I can't believe that as I sit here and watch this little dude run around this morning that he was born two years ago! I can still remember the details of his early and extremely fast birth (woke up at 3:20 a.m. because my water broke as I rolled over in bed; he was born on the bathroom floor at 4:59 a.m.). The call to the midwife; the anxiety about the pace of the birth; the sun rising as we took our first bath; the excitement of his sister and his dad as they held him for the first time; the beautiful, little details of this boy that were now physically present: tiny fingers and toes, a head full of dark hair, big eyes, tiny perfect pink lips. Now he is two and I am just as in awe of him today as I was then. How time flies, eh?

Yesterday was an interesting day. It didn't go as I had hoped or planned, but he did not seem to mind. He was very happy and content with the events of the day even if I was not. His sister has been having a very hard time this last week and yesterday definitely was the day that the rest of the week was building up to for one HUGE day of meltdowns. Wednesday night was a full moon and we are well aware that when the moon is full it has some type of pull on this child. She is usually really squirrely or really emotional; but yesterday she was not only emotional and squirrely, but also mean and whiny which made the day emotionally exhausting for me.

While the kids napped I finished sewing up Keegan's birthday crown and was going to make his honey cake until I realized I didn't have enough eggs. So I scrapped that idea and I will make the cake today and we will have two days of celebrating. Here is a picture of the crown. It wasn't as easy as the blog made it out to be, but I think it was worth it. I am pleased with the way it looks and so is he. This morning he has been riding around his "horse" with his crown and it is simply adorable!


I also stole some time to myself while they napped and looked through birth photos and wrote in his special journal that I started the day he was born. I am so amazed that these two little people were in my belly at one point and now are such amazing and beautiful little people with such STRONG personalities. Every time I look at the photos of my children's "birth day" I get so weepy. Today was no different, but due to the emotional aspects of the morning I didn't just cry; I sobbed. It was at that point that I knew I needed a nap as well; so I crashed on the couch and 30 minutes later the kids were up and ready to play and we all felt much better.

The birthday evening ended with the boy's favorite meal; pasta with homemade pesto, a salad (which he surprised us by actually eating) and then more presents and yogurt covered pretzels for dessert.