Granola

So, I'm starting to become kinda... Granola (Wikipedia: "Granola" ...a slang term describing a person who is hippie-like, a modern bohemian, environmentalist, or leftist in outlook). I've started reading Mothering magazine (Thanks Gin!), and tons of things that I have heard about in the past are hitting home. I am not a totally sold out naturalist by any means, but I am reconsidering some things that I have accepted simply because it is "how my mother did it." That is NOT to bash my mother! We all use what we know to raise our kids. I also have the wonderful influence of my sister Mary to thank. She calls raw cows milk the "nectar of the gods," and home-schools her daughters. Home-schooling is something that I have tossed around in my head for quite awhile. I will now clarify that I would not home-school for religious reasons, but for political and ethical reasons. I'm not sure that I like what public schools teach. I have more research to do in this area before I come to any definitive conclusions. I am also contemplating cutting dairy out of our diet for awhile, esp. for Calvin's sake. He has "pooping" problems and some behavioral tendencies that I have read can sometimes be linked to dairy. My homeopath also asks me EVERY time I see her if I have ever considered cutting dairy from Calvin's diet (that might be a hint). Really it will be a decision that Shane and I make together. Shane has a harder time accepting my crazy beliefs. He calls homeopathy voodoo (he is so cute). But he tolerates it because it has worked for me. Three years ago I was taking three anti-depressants and at least three allergy medications (I've been on a LOT of different ones). Now I take no antidepressants and rarely have to take anything for my allergies. From a practical standpoint homeopathy is a lot less expensive than my prescription co-pays were, and I fell better than any prescription ever made me feel!

Carrera is so much fun. She adores me right now. It is a little frustrating for Shane when she cries the whole time I am away from home, but it is really fun when she giggles and is so happy to see me. I get to spend so much more one-on-one time with her than I did with Colton and Calvin when they were babies. She is a little over four months old and is HUGE! We had to start feeding her rice cereal because she was not getting full on my milk alone. She is wearing 12 month clothes (and not swimming in them)!

Calvin and Colton have been really fun this week. After the stress of the holidays I have been calming down a little (not to mention I just got a new remedy from my homeopath). I am very excited for every new day and I am enjoying my daycare business a ton! It is causing me to want to have more kids, although we are officially done. I am so excited to be a mom of a little girl. I hope that I am there when she gets her first tattoo! AND her first motorcycle! Calvin wants a red motorcycle like daddy's. Colton wants to fly like the avatar. It is so much fun listening to them talk about who they want to be. I have two little super heros in the making.