Exploring New Options
For Nikoll Livaccari, parenthood was also health transforming. “During my childhood and early adult years, I most- ly ate foods like fried porch chops and boxed macaroni and cheese, and my husband James grew up on a southern fried diet,” she says. After losing every- thing to Hurricane Katrina, their move to Florida provided a fresh, healthy start and a pregnancy. Livaccari attended prenatal yoga classes at the Naples Healthcare System Wellness Center, and she delivered her daughter Kaya, now 15 months old, with the help of a midwife at the Naples Birthing Center. Kaya is being allowed to wean herself from breastfeeding while eating lots of blended raw foods, and the Livaccaris are expecting their second child. In addition to a jumpstart on home schooling with the Your Baby Can Read system, Livaccari takes her daughter to Outside the Box-Studio for a Baby Explore class. The ecological version of Mommy and Me includes exercises, art and music, while giving mothers of children 2 years old and younger time to network and exchange information about parenting. “Kaya loves the multicultural dancing and playing with drums,” says Livaccari, who adds that the family has recently begun planting a garden.
Moving Towards Urban Homesteading
Kristina Isenberg and her husband have also been diligently working towards their ideal, holistic lifestyle. Until recently, Isenberg was involved with promoting clotheslines and Florida’s status as a “right to dry” state, which
The Isenberg children
The Isenberg’s youngest
she became aware of when cloth dia- pering her last child. She consults with other moms that are intimidated about switching or venturing into cloth dia- pers through the
GoBabyGoShop.com website, where she also sells them. A personal setback stalled progress, rear- ranged family priorities and put some goals on a backburner. “I was helping my mom learn how to use raw foods to heal her cancer when she died in De- cember,” says Isenberg, who, like many others in transition from one lifestyle to another, sometimes takes two steps forward and one temporary step back. Her enthusiasm slightly dampened from dealing with life’s circumstances, Isenberg continues to shop for organic produce at Food & Thought and local farmers’ markets. “We intend to prac- tice urban homesteading with container gardening, to offset the cost of food,” says this mother of four, whose atten- tion is frequently pulled in the direc- tion of baby-led potty training for her 18-month-old daughter, and Hebrew school for her 10-year-old. On week- ends, the entire family enjoys outdoor playtime with other families who have
children in the same age groups. On hold, but still on Isenberg’s list of goals, is a diesel engine Chevy Suburban, which is capable of accommodating the entire fam- ily. “We want a veggie-run car, and only diesels can be converted,” she says. “When we have our car and are urban homesteading, we’ll feel a little more in control of our destiny.” The Thornburgs, Uzupes, Marbles, Livacarris and Isenbergs are only some of Southwest Florida’s change agents who are preparing themselves with self- education and a different set of values for the future they want to see. These are parents who realize that if the world is going to change, it starts at home, with them and their children.
Thornburg Pediatrics, 6017 Pine Ridge Rd., Ste. 148, Naples. Call 239-348- 7338 or visit
ThornburgPediatrics.com.
America Marble, 239-692-2127, Or-
ganicSuperBaby.com. Marble will offer a free lecture, Healthy and Inexpensive Ways to Increase Your Child’s Nutrition Organically, at 6:30 p.m., May 31, at Food & Thought 100% Organic Farm Market & Cafe, 2132 Tamiami Trail N., Naples.
The Naples Really Really Free Market is held from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m., the first Saturday of the month, at Fleischmann Park, 1600 Fleischmann Blvd., Naples.
NaplesReallyReallyFree.wikispaces.com.
For information on Lulu Carter’s new House of Gaia, Outside the Box-Studio programs, call 239-272-6152.
natural awakenings May 2011
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