WELCOME TO MY BLOG. 

A chronicle of our family life and adventures.  I am Carrie - MOUNTAIN MAMA. I share my life with best friend and hubby Dave and two sons Iko and Asha. Oh, and there is also the kitty, Darkstar.
We make our home in Rossland, a small mountain town in British Columbia.

I am a retired civil engineer/stay at home mama. Actually, I like to say that I am on my "eternity leave"!

We try to live our life mindfully and parent our children in a gentle and respectful manner. My pregnancies were natural and free of dopplers and ultrasounds. Our babes were born naturally at home (Iko) and in Nelson (Ash) with our midwife Ilene to assist. We believe strongly in exclusive and extended breastfeeding, babywearing, co-sleeping, elimination communication, cloth diapering, non-punitive learning and life learning for all of us. We also believe in protecting our beautiful planet.

This blog will serve as our scrapbook and diary and a method to connect with family, friends and others who are distant in geography but close at heart.

Please feel free to share your thoughts. Comments and questions are always welcome. Answers are never guaranteed :-).

A little bit more about us...

Dave

is our hard working money maker.  He is a portfolio manager and I do believe he loves his job (except for some economic climates of course).  You can learn more about his work at www.davidcox.ca

When he is home he is mostly daddying (heh, he's got two little bugs to love).  But he also spends time reading and listening to music which are his fave ways to relax. 

In summer he tries to get out on his bike as much as possible.  Dave is really into riding the most advanced trails in Rossland and of course he attempts almost every crazy stunt there is.  Yes, this makes me nervous.  He also loves hiking with all of us and usually carries the heavy backpack up and down the mountain.

In winter he really gets active (as do we all).  Downhill skiing and hockey are his main pursuits but this year he plans to go cross country skiing at four o'clock in the morning before work.....hmmm.... we'll see.

Iko

was born on April 11, 2004 in Rossland.  He was born at home in front of the fire.  He loves to hear the story about how he came into our world and we love to tell it.

Iko is a sweet and loving child.  He always seems to know what to say to make me feel happy.  His favourite pursuit is playing and he takes it very seriously.  Pretty much every indoor "game" involves fantasy and imaginative play.  Often little objects are part of his pretend game.  Little pieces of cut-up paper, cars, books, dishes, blocks, blankets and clothes are the usual playthings.  It really is cute to hear him make up stories and hear him talking for all the characters.  Many of his friends play this way with him too.

Lately Iko is really interested in colouring and crafts.  He is full of ideas for creating, in his words, "a beautiful thing".  And, he has Dave and I testing our imaginitive limits everyday with the stories he requests.

Ash

came into our world one week early on June 8, 2007.  He is our "little sweety" (so cute to hear Iko call him that).  He was born with his amniotic sac intact (in the caul).  Our midwife told us that is an auspicious sign and I believe her.  Our little Asha is a special soul.

At his young and tender age everything changes so fast.  He is currently preoccupied mainly with two things:  his mama and water.  I am not exaggerating, he will have an apparent panic attack if he wants either of these things and doesn't receive them immediately.

Asha fills his days with following his brother around.  They play together all the time and it is generally peaceful.  He will listen to stories for hours and has about 6 favourite books.  One thing we have noticed is his keen interest in music (primarily drumming right now) and lately also in colouring and painting.  Ash is like Iko in that he has a large attention span and will play independently in his explorations.

Carrie

(that's me) is the stay at home mama and the family glue.  A highly valued position in this family (lucky me).  I have an abundance of options and opportunities every day and I choose to spend almost all my time with Iko and Ash and (when he is home) Dave.  We fill our days with forest adventures, storytelling, tea drinking, art, knitting, sewing, baking, gardening and doing puzzles by the fire.