Our Loving Nest

Cuddling with my parents a long time ago...

There is a loving picture that I reflect upon of my parents cuddling with me in bed as a newborn baby and now Juan Carlos and I now do the same with our beloved daughters. I think about the nest that my parents created for me as a child and the one that my children have now. I look around our home, our nest, and it is quite cozy, safe and beautiful. Every object in our nest has a story that goes along with it. Based on love, hard work, time, creativity, adventure, sacrifice, travel, family, sharing, representing where we have been and where we want to be. Our home is our little sanctuary where we love each other, rest, create, learn, are nourished, cleansed, recharged, and a place where we welcome our family and friends and celebrate the joys of life together.

In my early childhood nest there were two cats that lived in our home, one black and the other one black and white, and my parents say that the cats would take naps beside me on the bed or the sofa during the day. My mom states that since I slept in the bed with her and my dad, the cats would sleep on the crib. My cats rarely take naps beside the girls. However, my daughters get to share the same joy of having wonderful furry sibling companions at home. We have two cats, and by coincidence one is black and the other one is black and white, also two energetic puppy dogs, huge fish and a pink frog. Emma states that the cats and dogs are her older brothers and sisters, which is true because they are all my children too. I teach my girls to love and respect all beings, by talking to them about it and modeling a peaceful compassionate behavior towards our animals and that way there is harmony in the home and in our hearts.

Emma as a baby with one of her brothers

At this moment, I look around our nest, and I absorb as much of the warmth, beauty, love and peace that I am witnessing and experiencing in our space. In the middle of the living room, I placed an array of colorful blankets on the light bamboo floor and made a fortress around it with various pillows from the sofa. It is a nest inside our nest, perfect for Alexandra to happily play and explore on it with a few of her favorite toys. We snuggled in our nest and I nursed her as she slowly fell asleep with our kitty cat roaming and purring around us. He settled right beside her, and now there is a sweet calmness as he watches over her. He loves to hang out with us and he is especially enjoying the perfect warm cozy spot he is nesting in. I glance over at both them as I type this and they have drifted of to sleep. I wonder what they are dreaming. Are they dreaming about each other? do they meet up in their dreams? what makes them happy? I used to be able to place my cat in my front overalls pocket when he was a kitten and he brought much healing and joy to me and he still does except that he is much bigger now.

Reflecting on our loving nest, I realize that it really is not about all the beautiful comfortable things that we have around each other, it is more made out of our love for each other and the experiences that we have together and that will continue on. Our nest could be anywhere, what matters is our love, our shared experiences and being in the present acknowledging each other and how important we are to each other. My heart overflows with love and I surrender to the nostalgic feeling of who we were, are and what we are becoming. The love that my parents gave to me as a child in the nest they created, is still with me as the love I give to my children, and the love will continue on.

Baptism Cakes

This past weekend we celebrated Alexandra's Baptism. Celebrating our love and a new beginning with our beloved family and friends. Emma and I made Alexandra's cake together. She shares my love of baking and decorating and we had a blast making it. It's amazing how time goes by so quickly and just a few years back Emma had the same festivity. It is a blessing to celebrate them, they bring so much love, joy and meaning to our lives. They are my forever treasures and I pray that I may do my best everyday to take care of them, love them and to be present in the moment with them. 

Honeymoon Pad

Alexandra is six months now and to celebrate we decided to go hiking to one of our favorite trails in the mountains. On our way there, Alexandra wanted to nurse right away and we had to make an emergency stop since I was not sitting in the back seat with her and her sister Emma. It was perfect timing because we knew just the place to stop. It was our old home. Seeing the pictures now, I like to call it our honeymoon pad. This is were Juan Carlos and I lived our early years of marriage. There are a few homes around a blissful tranquil lake. Life was simple, no worries, just the two of us, ready for the adventure of our life together. As the years have gone by it seems like our lives have gotten busier, but we are still happy, especially with our two sweethearts. We never planned on going back to that magical place with our daughters. However, Alexandra had it planned otherwise. Emma was so excited when we got out of the car that she wanted to jump right away into the lake. Juan Carlos was a bit hesitant, but I said to him: "just let her have fun! we used to jump in this lake all the time. Remember the time when we took a dip in the cold water with our friend Tara & Chris in the middle of winter? We had so much fun!" He said: "Yeah, they were all into that cold water therapy from their Russian friend Natasha." So he smiled remembering those fun days and let Emma take a dip while she could hardly control her excitement. I nursed Alexandra, took her clothes off since it was rather hot and also let her dip her toes in the water. Happy six months my love!

Collage

Amish Nursery

We are lucky enough to live by the most beautiful, calming, bountiful Amish nursery. I started going there ever since I was pregnant with Emma. The owners have seen her grow and now they were happy to see her little baby sister too. This was Alexandra's first official visit to the nursery outside of my womb.

A very loving, peaceful, full of smiles and kind words family owns the nursery. They have always been so gracious to me, especially when I was pregnant. They would immediately and joyously offer to carry the produce and plants to the car for me. Always helpful and at ease, I am amazed and inspired by their being. There is so much to learn from them.

The owner of the nursery and mama of the family mentioned how big Alexandra was for her age. My husband Juan Carlos told her proudly that she was born at home. I thought to myself: "oh no! I can't believe he just did that! she probably had ten kids at home and it's not a big deal... they all have their kids at home." So I immediately asked her: "How many kids did you have at home?" and she graciously answered: "Nine and that's the best place to have them!" and we all agreed.

Emma was so happy to pick out flowers for the garden, as so was I. We already planted some marigold seeds at home, but I love marigolds so much that I had to get some that were already in full bloom. Marigolds remind me of India, of the peaceful rush of life, of temples and garlands, of women working in the flower fields and selling flowers in baskets. Having those precious flowers at home just takes me back to joyous times I was blessed enough to have in India.

I am glad that my daughters share my love of flowers and gardening. Emma loves to get into the dirt, plant seeds, water plants, smell the flowers, and pick whatever edible leaves she can get her hands on. For now Alexandra enjoys observing all the gardening activity and taking in the beauty of it all.