Dear Family: Please leave me alone....

....is how I felt this weekend.

Oh, I know, I am a terrible wife, mother, person, blah, blah, blah!

But it has just been one of those weeks.

You know how it is. Everything keeps piling up and up and up. The laundry, the paperwork, the housework, the phone calls and appointments you don't have time to make, the meetings you have to postpone, the house you are trying to build.

Everything in my life felt like it just hit the pooper this week! And I was done. DONE, done!

First of all I get the whole intervention chat LAST weekend. Then we hit some MAJOR snafus and delays with the building of our new house (more on that in a later post). My two-year old fell down the stairs a week and a half ago and just started walking again this past Thursday (I love babywearing people and didn't mind carrying her around, but the whole drama queen thing going along with it was getting on my last nerves). Professionally I feel like I have hit a crossroads and I need to make some decisions, but I don't feel that I have the time to devote to doing that, which leaves me feeling very frustrated and at a stand-still.

And then to top it all off, on Saturday, on our way to IKEA, Natural Urban Dad does his usual passenger seat driver schtick, which mostly involves telling me how to drive, where to drive, when a fucking light turns green and grabbing the god-damn dashboard every time I apply the brakes and I tell you, I just HAD IT!

We of course proceeded to have  the most dumb-ass fight a discussion in the car and parking lot and I instigated the 'DO NOT FUCKING TALK TO ME WHILE I AM DRIVING' rule! And then we continued on with our day and into the evening and night, my family completely oblivious to my frustrations and need for solitude. (Granted I never said anything and they can't read my mind, but still!)

Today, I was very excited. I got to go to work! Which meant a whole FOUR hours away from the lot of them. It was great! I was at the Urban Infant Magazine Red Carpet Launch Party and I was in my element, teaching and showing families how to babywear and use baby carriers, and this always puts me in a good place.

And it was just what I needed. Just enough time for me to have that was about me, and also just enough time for me to miss them just a little bit. Plus there where cupcakes, amazing, little tasty cupcakes from Whimsical Cake Studio!

The laundry still needs doing (hello, I was not here for most of the day), I still have a to-do list that is as long as my hairy lower leg (yes, yes, an appointment for some waxing is on that list!), the house issues are not completely resolved and I still have some big decisions to make about my career.

But whatever, tomorrow is another day and I will attack all of the above with renewed gusto!

Because today, I got a little break from my family and my life and you know what? THAT is not a bad thing to want or to get.

Sincerely and slightly more sane now than I was yesterday,

Natasha~

30 Days of Truth: Day 12 - Something I never get compliments on.

This is going to be a short one. (I am having a rough day-not sure why exactly, but I will still get a post up!!) I never get compliments on my PUNCTUALITY!

Probably because I don't seem to have any!

Seriously, I can not be on time for anything!

And I do try, really I do!!

I start getting the kids and I ready LONG before we need to be anywhere and yet somehow, 97.8% of the time, we are always LATE!

It is a good thing I have kids though--at least I can blame them for some of my tardiness. As in, "Really kid? Boots and coat on and NOW you have to poo!!"

Just this past week alone I was late not once but twice at my hair salon. First for my own appointment and then on Friday for my daughter's appointment, which we had to reschedule. Try to explain THAT to a two-year old who has been asking all week about going to get her hair cut!

So, it is no wonder that I don't get compliments on my punctuality!

I am working on it, I swear!

Goodnight all. Tomorrow is another day and I have to be somewhere....ON TIME!!

Natasha~

The Fine Print

There is a lot about motherhood that no one tells you before you start this gig. Of course there is all the usual stuff. You'll never sleep, kids will poop and/or puke at the most inopportune times and life as you know it is never going to be the same. Just remember that you did sign up for this mommy thing!

For those of you who have been at this for a while you may have figured all of this out, but for anyone new to this, here are a few things that you may have missed in the fine print.

• Set all your clocks 1/2 hour ahead of the actual time. Otherwise you will never again be on time for anything in your life (add 15 minutes per child).
• Learn to love your body hair. Time for personal grooming (and even showering) may be very hard to come by!
• Doors lose all of their function when you are a mother. Especially bathroom doors.
• Be prepared to walk out of the grocery store and leave a full cart of food at some point in your toddler's life. AKA-The Mother of all Tantrums!
• Poop comes in all the colors of the rainbow. Don't panic-think about what went in first!
• If you spend 3 hours prepping and then cooking a great meal for your family, understand that A) NO ONE will acknowledge your efforts and B) invariably someone will refuse to eat it!
• Breastfeeding is a fabulous way to lose weight, but understand that "those last 10 pounds" are not going to go until you STOP breastfeeding. So stop beating yourself up about it, understand this and for god's sake keep breastfeeding!
• No matter how many times you and your spouse talk about it, he/she is just NEVER GOING TO UNDERSTAND what being a stay at home parent is like all day, everyday. Learn to accept this (both of you)!
• Sex. Think of it as a grown-up play date and get it in the household schedule. And give it at least as much (preferably more) significance as the swimming lessons, art classes and all the mommy and me programs you have signed up for!
• Know that we are all in this together. When you are having what you think is possibly THE worst day ever because the baby has reflux and has puked on your last clean anything and the toddler just flushed Batman AND Superman down the toilet, just remember that somewhere, some how, another mother is probably having an even worse day. If you happen to know this mama, Email, call, FB message or tweet her and let her know you GET it!
• Deep breathes and counting to ten are essential MOTHERING SKILLS!

All in all it is a pretty darn good gig even with all of the above fine print. And for me at least, it is the moments like this that balance out all the crazies!!

I for one would not trade my life for anything else.

How about you?

Natasha~

P.S. Please feel free to add to the list of items in "The Fine Print"!

What I believe...

I believe that in order to be a star, you have to shine your light on others. I believe that what you put out to the world comes back to you three-fold (good and bad).

I believe that we all have a purpose. Some of us are better than others at uncovering what exactly that is.

I believe that like attracts like, on a very DEEP level.

I believe in the power of connections through word of mouth and personal experiences.

I believe in being passionate about life, love and work.

I believe in giving people the benefit of the doubt, even if I do end up getting burned.

I believe in collaboration and cooperation, not competition. (Although I do like a well-deserved WIN!)

I believe that ALL things in our lives happen for a reason. (Not the first time I have said this.)

I believe in taking a leap of faith, making the first move and going for it. (Even though I always think I am going to totally pee my pants right before I actually DO anything!)

And every time I look at THIS picture of myself,

I feel incredible and BELIEVE that I can DO anything!

This photo is my professional head shot. It was taken last summer, by the ever so talented Linda Patterson of Timeless Edge Photography.

Linda has a gift. She also believes passionately in her purpose as a photographer and story-teller.  And she gets goosebumps when she takes the perfect shot.  And quite frankly people, if she can make one dawg-tired mama look this good, it is a seriously awesome gift!

This picture of me is EVERYWHERE. My website, my facebook page, twitter, here on the blog, you name it!

It is my mark, my signature, my way of saying 'Hey there, this is ME!' to everyone in the ever-expanding world of Social Media. And it is very important to have an image like this that truly reflects who YOU are in this online world.

To that end, Linda is offering a fabulous deal to local Edmonton men and women who NEED to get a really good or a new and updated head shot/avatar/Gravatar/profile picture. Trust me people, it does make a difference!

It was not until I changed my profile picture on 'the tweeter' to the above picture of myself, that the venerable and oh, so awesome @unmarketing, Mr. Scott Stratten himself, started following me!

So, take the leap and go for it. Get your head shots done with Linda this month and trust me, you won't be disappointed.

And who knows what kind of increased and fabulous following you will soon be enjoying!!!

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I also believe in the power of Social Media!!

Night all,

Natasha~

Drug Mama to Natural Mama

Once upon a time I used to do crack.... .

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Okay, NO I did not really do crack.

I was a Pharmaceutical Sales Representative.

So I just SOLD the crack!

And by crack, I mean antidepressants, diabetes medications and shhhhh, (whisper) vaccines. I worked for one of the biggest Pharma companies in the world and I was DAMN good at my job (like 6 figures good)!

Selling drugs definitely had its perks. A new car every couple of years, trips to exotic locales for "business meetings", and a nice fat bonus if I sold A LOT of drugs.

Man, sometimes I really miss those days.....le sigh....

I was forced to quite that life in the Fall of 2006. FORCED (for medical reasons).

And was reborn on December 11, 2006.

Actually, I birthed a whole new person on that day and HE changed me.

Every teeny, tiny bit of me.

And he may never know how much I needed that change.

He made me the Natural {urban} Mama that I am and then his sister arrived and further added to that process.

So, here I am today.

Off the crack and ON so much more of a natural HIGH!!

Loving my {drug-free} life,

Natasha~

Intervention

It is 10 PM and I have 2 hours to get this post published! This post is about Natural Urban Dad. More specifically about the two of us. And Social Media. And how it all fits together. Sort of. I tend to throw myself into everything I do whole-heartedly. Social Media is no exception. I love connecting with my followers and those I follow both on Facebook and on Twitter. I have met some amazing people through these sites and have some great relationships with these folks both online and in real life.

Here is the problem. My relationship with my one TRUE fan is suffering. And it all came to a head this past weekend.

We have not had the most fabulous 2011 so far. I have been laid up twice since January with injury or surgery and our household routine was basically thrown out the window because of this. And not to mention that recovering from two consecutive leg injuries does not make it easy to be uhm....sexy.... with your husband, so there is that too.

I have also made a big effort updating my website and my blog this year (what else was I supposed to do when I was all laid up!!) and that takes time (especially the damn SEO part)!

So, here is what a typical day has looked like for a while around here.

Mama gets woken up at 6 AM every day by a toddler looking for a boob wakes up.

Make breakfast for the kids, get everyone dressed, check email/Facebook/Twitter while kids are eating.

Forget to eat MY breakfast.

Take C to school.

Come home or head to Cafe O'Play for 1.5 hours so L can play and I can blog/update SEO/add website content.

Pick up C from school.

Home for lunch and some playtime.

Naptime for the kids (yes, they both still nap)!!

Back ONLINE to check Twitter/Facebook and answer messages and emails.

Kids get up, more playtime.

Get dinner ready.

Natural Urban Dad comes home and kids attack him and then go crazy for an hour!! (Does this happen to everyone's kids at this witching hour?)

Cajole and bribe 4 year old and 2 year old to Eat Dinner.

Bathtime and bedtime routine.

Kids try to stay up and find every excuse possible not to go to sleep.

Natural Urban Dad walks the dog.

I grab my computer and engage and check in with my Facebook and Twitter community for chats and the rush hour(s) of online traffic.

Or we watch TV and I have my iPhone beside me to stay 'connected' to everyone online so I don't 'miss' anything.

Natural Urban Dad goes to bed.

I do not, for at least another hour. I work and write and tweet and I like to watch Jon Stewart on The Daily Show at midnight.

And then I go to bed.

AND....repeat.

So, as you can clearly see, I need to do better here. I need to realize who and what my priorities are and be present for my family and for my husband FIRST.

Here is part of the problem as I see it. Natural Urban Dad does not GET social media. Yes, he has a Facebook account, but he checks it maybe once a month. He does not get that what I am doing on Twitter and on Facebook is working, he hears me laughing at a tweet or watching a YouTube video that someone posted and to him it looks like I am just having fun (with everyone else but him).

Social Media is about making connections, building relationships and growing your brand. It truly is networking gold for small business owners, especially those not afraid to JUMP right in!

But here it is...

You need to use it RIGHT! I personally need to start setting limits for myself and sticking to them. You can read a whole slew of other great tips here for managing your time online. Natural Urban Dad and I had a big LONG intervention talk about all of this the other night and we have some new grown-up rules that we are going to be applying around here (dedicated US time every night, a strict bedtime together and a ban on anyone being online during family time).

I leave you now with this video. It is bloody hilarious and hit a little too close to home for me this week.

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HQ8AUBn-4DY]

And it is now bedtime, so I bid you all a very good night.

Now, after you read this of course....turn of your computer/iPad/iPhone/BB and GO to bed and hug your spouse/partner/kid/dog!

XO,

Natasha~

Natasha's Pick of the Week: Ring Slings!

I love my ring slings!! The first baby carrier I ever bought was a ring sling and I still have it and still use it.

Ring slings are one of the three kinds of baby carriers that I think all parents should own (the other two being a wrap carrier and a soft-structured carrier).

And here are the reasons why I love ring slings:

1. You can use a ring sling from day one of your baby's life! And because it is a one-size fits most kind of baby carrier, you do not have to get a specific size for either you or your child. (I carried my 4 lb premature son in ours almost everyday at home!)
2. Kind of repeating myself here, but ring slings are adjustable. And that means that they can easily work for a 5' 2" Mama as well as the corresponding 6' 2" Daddy, as well as all sizes of babies!
3. When babies start to move around more, ie, rolling, crawling, walking, they are usually in a constant state of what I call "the ups and downs". As in, please pick me up for a bit....Okay, now I want down....AND now I want up again....and down.... and I think you get the picture. A ring sling can be the perfect solution in this situation-it is easy to slip baby in and out of the sling to suit their ever-changing little minds!
4. A ring sling is the perfect 'leave in the car' carrier. And this is where at least one of mine is at all times. I use it for when I have those days of multiple quick errands to run and I have to be in and out of the car. It is an easy carrier to use and get baby in and out of and in my opinion is a better alternative to carrying around the bulky and often very heavy baby + car seat.
5. You can use a ring sling for your toddler. My daughter is two and a half years old and weighs about 30 pounds. Last weekend she fell down one step and twisted her ankle and has refused to walk on it now for about a week. And I don't know what I would have done with out my ring slings for both at home and when we have had to go out. I am also finding that at this age and weight, of all of my carriers (and I have over 20 of them) the ring slings and my woven wraps are proving to be the most comfortable to use with her.

We have a few different brands of ring slings at Natural Urban Mamas and I have used them all and personally think they are all fantastic. You really can't go wrong with any one of these great baby slings:

• The gurumama Ring Slings are very nice because they have that little bit of designer fabric pizzazz on the 'tail' part of the sling, as well as a built-in zippered pocket.
• The Ollie Golightly 100% Linen Ring Slings are at this point a very limited item. We only have three more of these and once they are gone, that is it (the creator of these has moved on to other career endeavors). I love these because the hand screen printed images on the tail part of the slings are gorgeous and the different colored bias ribbon to help with tightening makes these very user-friendly.
• NEW Waterbaby Ring Slings from Babyette just arrived last week and this is the perfect carrier for your beach holiday, summer time at the splash park or pool or even just taking a shower with baby at home. They are made with a breathable, fast-drying, super-soft mesh material and they come in four different colors.
• NEW 100% Cotton Batik Rings Slings from Babyette also arrived last week and we are so excited about these. The patterns were chosen specifically for Natural Urban Mamas, which makes these an exclusive item to us! Babyette Ring Slings are nice wide ring slings (read-plenty of fabric to support the shoulders of any size baby) and they have the most gorgeous and comfortable pleated shoulder detailing on them.

So go ahead Mamas, get yourself a ring sling and enjoy all there is about them and your babywearing time with your little baby!

And if you are local to the Greater Edmonton Area and need more information or hands-on instruction, be sure to check out our upcoming Basics of Babywearing Workshops and/or book a Private Babywearing Consultation with me.

Happy Babywearing Everyone!

Natasha~

P.S. Remember that proper positioning applies to all baby carriers, ring slings included and I do not recommend a cradle position or forward facing out position in these or any baby carrier.

30 Days of Truth. Day 11: Something people compliment me on all the time.

These posts where I have to talk about myself are hard for me. I don't want to come across like I am bragging or like I am totally awesome, but this time I totally AM. People CONSTANTLY compliment me on my children.

Yup, I have perfect kids!

In all seriousness, it is true, complete strangers come up to me all the time in restaurants, at the grocery store, at the coffee shop etc... and tell me either that my children are gorgeous (why, yes, yes they are!) and/or that they are so well-behaved.

I think the reason my kids are so well-behaved all the time (okay, let's just be realistic and say it is about 92.7% of the time) is because they have always come with us everywhere. We went our for dinner when C was about 5 weeks old and since then we have simply always taken our kids with us wherever we went.

I don't think it was a conscious decision that we made, it just was how it had to be. We did not want to leave our kids with anyone else or we could not leave them because someone was always nursing. So, they came with us everywhere.

I also think this is important for kids. They need to go to the grocery store, to restaurants, to weddings, on planes and anywhere else you go. They learn from each and every one of these experiences. They learn proper behaviour and these daily life experiences can provide you with incredible teaching moments as well.

I am sure people must think I am a crazy woman when I go grocery shopping with the kids. Even when they were babies I would talk to them the whole time, going through the store and our list and rattling off all the names of every fruit and vegetable and box we passed.

At restaurants it is the same thing. We bring the kids some activities, we let them choose their meals and we show them by example how to behave in public. And invariably, wherever we are, someone will always come up to us as we are leaving and tell us how well-behaved and beautiful our kids are.

The best compliment we got was in Maui last year. We were eating dinner at the fabulous Mama's Fish House in Paia and little did we know, but the Mama herself, the matriarch of the founding Christenson family was sitting just a table away from us.  She stopped by our table after she had finished her meal and told us that in the 30 years that she has been in the restaurant business she has never seen two more well-behaved young children!! It was the highlight of an already amazing night and meal! (You really have to eat there if you ever get to Maui!)

Babywearing has been a big part of how easy it is to take my kids with me everywhere we go. That and breastfeeding. And babywearing and breastfeeding at the same time. I can't count how many times I have been walking around the mall with a baby in a carrier and on the boob at the same time and no one was the wiser!

Don't be afraid to get out with your babies. Teach them about their world, expose them to different situations and provide them with the example they need to know how to behave. And having a good baby carrier while you are doing all of this is not a bad idea either!!

So yeah, I am bragging a bit. I have me some good kids. And I know this because everyone keeps telling me so!!

Thank you!

Natasha~