Back in another time, another universe, my husband and I dreamed of starting a family. Being very much into the guidance offered by astrology, we took the time to figure out when to conceive to create certain Sun Signs. For a while I was excited to have three daughters ~ Avena Lea the Cancer, Nettle the Scorpio and Violet the Pisces.

Well, as things worked out we didn't have three daughters, we had two instead. And at the (kind of) last second decided to have a Capricorn. My hubby and I are both Capricorns and we like each other so we figured, "hey, this could work out well and it will be an interesting experiment." Then when we were planning for a second baby we decided not to rock the boat and had another Capricorn. It has worked out great! It is really fun to see how alike and different we all are. Of course the only part of our charts that are the same is the Sun Sign, everything else is unique. Occasionally we will have some stubborn goaty times in our house with everyone emotionally banging heads but usually we do great together with a kind of under current of respect and understanding. The hard part comes at this time of year, at least for me it is hard because not only is it the holidays, it is also "birthday season". It is January now and we have had not only the holidays which are often stressful in themselves; we have also had three birthdays (four if you include our dog who was born on the cusp of Sagittarius and Capricorn) with a sleepover this past weekend, my husband's birthday this coming Friday and one more "friend" birthday party for my seven year old coming up. (We delayed her party with her friends for a few weeks this year.) Well, it really is fun in a lot of ways and I do my best to make each birthday as special as possible for everyone. Even for our dog who got a special outing on her big day.

But let's face it, all this partying makes for a tired mama. It has been a long month. In general I am bad at taking care of myself. Oh sure, I have my moments here and there. I do eat as healthy as I can and try to exercise yet as far as really taking care of myself in an authentic way, I typically fall way short. I have found this to be typical behavior for most moms. You know what I am talking about... mom takes care of everyone else and doesn't look after herself. I had heard of this phenomenon going into the whole adventure of motherhood although I really didn't have a clue what it meant. Eleven years later and I still fall short of really caring for myself. 2012 was a year of showing me what I am missing when it comes to self-care. I learned about how by caring for myself, I am really caring for my whole family. About how caring for myself is truly a way to give thanks for this life I have been given. Yet, I am still figuring out what it really means to take care of me in a deep way. And these crazy fun past few weeks have rocked the fragile foundation I had so carefully been building.

Nourishing Mama Mission

I am continuing my journey of self-care, of mama care and I would love for you to join me. Every two weeks I plan to introduce a habit, idea or even creation to help me take care of me and you too! I figure two weeks will be enough time to really try something out, to give it a chance while not being overwhelming. The goal here is to nourish, uplift and inspire not to overwhelm and create more "shoulds" or "coulds". Join me in as many of these activities as you want. I would love to hear any ideas you have. How do you take care of you? What are some of the ways you would like to care for yourself?

Look forward to my first post on this adventure later this week or early next week. I am so excited to get started and hope you will find some nourishment and inspiration here!

Capricorn (December 22nd to January 19th-20th ) Generally responsible, serious and organized. They like to hang out with older people and like old things. Goal/project oriented with everything being a potential business. Filled with inner determination and a desire to be good at something. Capricorns need to cultivate flexibility and gratitude for the present moment.