'Tis the Season

  It's cold, wet, windy and dark with a chance of horrific driving conditions. That's right, winter time! I honestly don't mind winter. The snow makes everything look clean and on those days when I wake up to the sun shining on winter-kissed trees it makes my heart smile. However, on those days when you just need to get out of the house, even to go to the post office, you wake up to ice everywhere and you'd be crazy to brave the roads. My least favorite things about winter, and I'm sure most will concur, are the viruses that run rampant during this time.

   Honestly, getting a cold isn't so bad: a little coughing, a little snot, some sneezes (which are apparently a first cousin to the orgasm), it's all kind of cleansing. It's over in a week or two and you've likely even been forced into a nap or two. It's almost like we are meant to get them so that we can slow down a little and focus on us. I wish it were the same for my kids. Every cough sounds excruciating, the snot is nearly impossible to contain and the sneezes, well they aren't too bad, except for the part where they spread the virus! The toughest part is not knowing for sure what's bothering the kids. With the exception of my oldest, no one can put into words what exactly needs dealing with. I shouldn't complain because some families inevitably end up in the hospital because their child gets so sick so fast. We are very lucky! Our middle boy is one of those kids that truly suffers when he gets sick, even when its a minor cold. His immune system just isn't as well equipped as the rest of us. So needless to say he gets more immediate attention when he comes down with the latest bug. I'm not much for medicating, so for the most part everyone has to suffer through the symptoms. I do try to alleviate them in some more natural ways rather than covering them up.

   A friend of mine, and Master Herbalist, Susan Jikeli owns Sundari Day Spa in Westport is always a great person to call up when illness strikes the house. She has great advice for herbal remedies and tricks to help us all feel better. This time when I called her and told her how the kids were feeling she gave me a great list of things to try. I thought I'd share them with you!

First was an inhalation:

put the following in a large stainless steel pot and cover with boiling water

4 bags of Chamomile tea,

4 bags of peppermint tea,

4 drops of tea tree oil 

1 tsp of salt

(and a tsp. of horseradish if you have it)

Sit above it breathing in the steam and you can put a towel over your head to get an even more concentrated sniff. Just don't get too close.

Second was a foot massage: This was great to get the kids to just relax!

   Rub peppermint oil on the pads of the feet between the toes and the arch.                                            Third was a homemade cough syrup:
   Boil a couple onions in water and add honey to sweeten

We also enlisted the help of my Helios Homeopathy Kit. It is worth its weight in gold! Aconite, drosera, spongia, and pulsatilla have all been integral in the kids' treatment. One of my midwife-friends is a homeopathic practitioner, Heather Brechin, and she is my go-to when I have questions about our health and how to go about helping us feel better.

  The most important weapon at home is a healthy lifestyle: Get loads of fresh air, exercise, fresh fruits, veggies and drink lots of water. When you live healthy you are healthy! These germs essentially make us stronger and remind us how important it is to look after ourselves. So until next time, wash your hands frequently and cough into your elbow!

Who's Hungry?

   It's that time of day again! Why oh why do I not just figure out what to eat for supper the night before or even that morning?! Would it not be easier to prep what needs prepping and then just throw it all together when I need it? Apparently not. Every day at the same time (usually right about now, 3pm) it dawns on me that I have to figure out what we are going to eat... Worse yet, what I am going to make! The freezer is usually full of meat of some sort and there's pasta in there too, but I've yet to get into the the groove of making and freezing meals to have on hand. I've thought about it a lot but have yet to find the list and ambition to make it all happen. I've been stalking Once A Month Mom and I'm getting closer to getting organized...

   My oldest is very keen to help, and I love his help. He is very hip to the cooking lingo since he LOVES cooking shows and prefers watching them to any children's shows. He makes it fun. I look forward to it in fact. That being said, however, he lacks in the ideas department for dinners and that's the part I hate about getting dinner ready at night. I like to make most meals from scratch (or close to it) because it just costs less and is better for us. I enjoy the act of cooking. My creativity is lackin-in-the-crackin and it's frustrating!

   Thankfully none of us are picky - hubby dislikes peas and DS1 isn't keen on mushrooms - so theoretically the possibilities are endless, right? Well endless in the sense that we can eat whatever we have in the house. What will it be tonight? I made some cabbage soup and cornbread today for lunch... Leftovers? Pasta? Hot sandwiches? Steak? Fish? Salads? Gift Certificates!! We have gift certificates for one of our favorite family-run restaurants in town - The Cove - and I've just remembered that we have a free meal that I think we'll take advantage of! Yay!

Wow! Who knew blogging was going to be a problem-solving tool? I'm glad I decided to rant about my dinnertime woes. Happy supper-making!

It's Hard. Really, Really Hard!

   Get your mind out of the gutter! Chances are good that if you immediately thought of something dirty you know me pretty well. But this time there's nothing dirty about the title of this, my second, post. Over the last few days I've been struggling with a blocked milk duct. "Ugh" I think I just heard someone say? Yeah. It's a bit painful but mostly time consuming. I've tried a whole list of remedies that seem to be helping a little bit but nothing is making it go away. I've tried hot compresses, cabbage and potato compresses (separately), massage, vibrating massage, hot showers with massage, more fluids, different fluids, nursing more (constant), pumping (constant), position changes and more rest. All of those things are very very doable... except for one of them. Any guesses? Here's a hint: I have three kids under four and my hubby runs his own business. Yup, rest.

   If I were to get more rest the children would either starve or burn down the house cooking, diapers would runneth over, toys and household items would overrun the furniture and the laundry might just up and run away in hopes it would escape the smell of festering cloth diapers (what few I have to wash thanks to our most amazing diaper service Sweet Peach (check it out) ). It would mean I'd have to (eek!) ask for help. Nope, not gonna happen. I can do this. Centuries have gone by while mothers did all of these things all while looking good and seeming to enjoy it and I'm not about to change that (except for the looking good part, where I prefer to just be clean and clothed). And then yesterday hubby had a slow day in the shop and he hung with us and cleaned, folded laundry, washed dishes and cooked cabbage leaves. He did all of this while I sat around nursing and pumping simultaneously, massaged my tender boob and put hot compresses and cabbage leaves on it. A day of rest.

   Although the blockage isn't gone, its smaller... so there you have it, rest does help. Thankfully I didn't have to injure my pride by asking for help! Today I was wandering around aimlessly while two littles slept and one played outside and I realised what had happened! I had nothing to do, this was my time to rest. So instead I sat down to some therapeutic me time - writing down what was indeed so hard for me to do, admitting to myself (and my three followers) that it's OK to need help, to want help, to ask for help. But for those of you who are desperate to help, don't expect me to ask you for it; just go ahead and do it! Besides it's always nice to have a visit with you!

A New Passion or Just One More Thing?

   As I tossed and turned last night while balancing a baby on my chest the thought crossed my mind that maybe a blog is just one more thing to worry about in my life. I'm a perfectionist by nature and the thought of composing blog posts on a semi-regular basis is a bit daunting. When will I find time? What will I post about? Who cares? And then the opposite crossed my mind. Maybe I'd look back at my blog posts after my kids are bigger and be glad that I wrote some of my life down...
  
   So here goes! although most of my potential "followers" will be my close friends and family, a quick introduction must be in order in the event that a stranger happens upon my blog. A mommy to three fabulous little boys, DS1 is 3 1/2, DS2 is 2 and DS3 is 7wks, and a wife to a most amazing man. I love just being with my guys while crafting, making music, cooking, reading and all of the other things we stumble across. We live in the most glorious of places in Eastern Ontario, surrounded by trees, lakes and wide open spaces. I couldn't ask for more in my life - except maybe one or two more kids and the ability to organize my life just a LITTLE oh and an extra million bucks wouldn't hurt either! I'm passionate about my kids, as most moms are. I'm also passionate about childbirth and informed decision-making which is why I'm a birth Doula, but I'll likely delve into that later on in my blogging adventure.

  I'll fill your mind with my thoughts on life, crafting, cooking, pregnancy, childbirth, breastfeeding, babywearing (a slight addiction), cloth diapering, natural living and many, many more topics near and dear to my heart. You may not always like what I have to say, so please feel free to bugger off! No but seriously I look forward to this (I think) and look forward to hearing from you, my new followers and possibly even friends.