Baby goats and one of my favorite beaches. I should have titled this post "Beach Babes".

A few days ago, my goat delivered her babies.  Actually, I should clarify: it was ME who delivered the babies.

The twins were trying to get born at the same time, on top of each other, and the poor Mama goat kept pushing and pushing and getting tired.

All three would have probably died if I hadn't intervened.

So as my husband and one of our friends held her down, I was up to my elbow in the screaming goat's uterus, trying to sort out the tangled-up babies, pushing one back and pulling the other one out.

It turned out great.  All three are doing dandy, as you can see by our smiling faces (goat baby included).

Before all this happened, my whole family was burning a huge brush pile. I checked to see if the goats were doing okay because the brush pile consisted of bamboo, and if you have ever burnt bamboo, you know it sounds like gunshots, since the hollow chambers explode and create a machine-gun sound track.

When I walked in, I saw amber birthing fluid dripping from my goat Dandelion.  It was a shocking surprise, because her due date was four days later, and my goats have never been early.

I rushed around to gather everything for my birthing kit, then settled in to help in case my midwiving services would be needed.  My excited daughter and  seasoned birthing assistant Eva grabbed a seat in the straw as well.

In my 12 years of raising goats, I have never missed a single birth.  I like to be there in case things go wrong, which is rare.  My goats seem to like me there, and sometimes they try to sit on my lap when they are in labor.

As I tried to reassure Mama goat, I realized she was in trouble.  I will spare you the attractive pictures of me lubricating and washing my arms and hands and sorting out the babies internally.  Things were so intense that nobody had time to take pictures anyway.

First, I pulled out a girl, then soon after a boy.

The second part of this post happened a few days before the goat birth, when the sun came out, halleluja, and I took Eva, Luke and the dogs to one of our local creeks with a nice beach.  Kai was at a sleepover, so he missed out.

I've been working so hard on my new website and coaching business that I messed up my back, hunching over the computer or phone for hours.  I decided that enough was enough, and headed to the creek to unplug for a few hours.

Can you see why this place is perfect for that?

While I sat on the sand, happily staring into the water and just generally spacing out, the kids played and got wet and ran around as they always do, and slowly, slowly life adjusted itself to put me back into my center, my power spot.

As I preach over at my new blog for mothers, you gotta re-fill your own tank.  You gotta.  It's not selfish.  It's necessary.  If you run on empty, you have nothing to give to anyone, so go refill.  My topping-the-tank is fresh air and nature, so here I am! 

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Sending much love to everyone out there.  Spring is coming!  Yippie!