My Timeline in Pictures

If I can only remember to have this picture taken every single year, it will be the most precious gift I can give to myself. Its almost surreal to look at both pictures and realize that not only have my kids grown so much, but another has been added to the scene! (and we have a different couch! *g*)
Unreal...

Just a few pictures I took over the last week. Ivy and I first thing in the morning. She looks cute. I, however.. do not. Mental note to self: no pictures before my coffee. Ever again.

Sierra's 8th Birthday Party

Here is the awesome cake the girls and I made for Sierra's 8th birthday party! It will go down in history as the most messed up, falling apart cake EVER. Sierra giggled the whole time. Our guests said it tasted good though. LOL

I decided that if we couldn't have the party we wanted to have, due to most everyone not showing up... then we'd have a backwards party where Sierra helped me with all the arrangements including the making of the cake. She did her own decorations too. I think it worked out well. It took a few minutes to get over the looks of judgement from out guests, but they were kind. The girls had fun doing it, which was the point. Here's a close up of the "falling apart" portion of the cake. No one took a bite out of it, it just looks that way. LOL
I have found out in all of this, that my true calling is not a baker.

Our group photo shot of most of the people at the party.

The birthday girl! She made out pretty well with clothes, not too much *stuff* but thats okay because we don't need extra stuff. We did an arts and crafts project with all the kids, they made bookmarks with foam and shells, feathers, felt, markers, glitter, etc.. all that messy stuff they enjoy! She seemed happy and that was the ultimate goal of any birthday party. I just wish they weren't so stressful!

Fighting for Breastfeeding in Public

Its a rather old post now, but for a week or so Myspace was full of people against breastfeeding in public. I spent hours educating ignorant people about what breasts are really there for. Below are some of my happy replies..
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Breasts are not sexual. They are food for babies. A penis is sexual. A vulva is sexual. Urinating is not the same as feeding your baby. "Do unto others as you would have them do unto you"? I would absolutly welcome any mother into my home who breastfeeds, even if she does so in public. =) I commend mothers who nurish their children when they need to, and don't cater to other peoples ignorant feelings. Other countries don't have this issue. America has sexualized breasts. Nursing mothers are reclaiming them for what they are made for. You're right. It is beautiful and sacred. And I can cherish that moment as much as I want to, no matter where it is.

What you deem a private thing, is obviously not for everyone. Breastfeeding is legal and an inherant right of women. So is covering up. Are there laws against people wearing bikini's on the beach or thongs hanging out the back of pants? Why not? They offend me. I don't like them. In life there will ALWAYS be things that you dont like. Turn away and dont look then.

Seriously. I don't mean to be rude, and I apologise if it comes off that way.. but I really am tired of people telling nursing mothers that they are not considering other peoples feelings, or being descrete. Its an opinion! Some women don't think women should wear pants either. Or wear their hair down. Or shave. Or work outside the home. etc etc. They are breasts. They are nipples. WE ALL HAVE THEM! Why are men allowed to not wear a shirt, and yet women have to? Why are their nipples allowed to see the sun, but ours must be covered up? Because of the unneeded sexualization this country has done. Nothing more.


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If a child asked why the ladys shirt was up, the mother could always say, "She's feeding her baby breastmilk." ???!!! OMG! Ever consider the truth? Why do people feel the need to shelter and hide it? THAT is what prepetuates this stupid sexualization! We need MORE public feeding, not less!

Not all children can drink from a bottle. And not all mothers can pump their breastmilk. And some of us can pump, but we choose not to. Remember that? CHOICE.

I choose to breastfeed. I choose to breastfeed my 3 year old and my 4 month old. I choose to breastfeed them in public. I choose to not cover up when I do so. I choose to not pump. Most mothers I know pump only because they need to be away from their baby, not because they are in public. And really.. why should they go through all the extra effort (and it is!) to pump their breastmilk, just so some stranger won't be offended.?! Also, switching between breastfeeding and bottlefeeding CAN have a negative effect on the child. Many children wean far too early because of it, and I'm sure I don't have to tell you why breastfeeding is so important and desired. Obviously if the mother has chosen to breastfeed, then she doesn't want to do anything to impact that relationship... but you'll expect her to pump and possibly lessen her supply, cause discomfort or pain, more time wasted, maybe more money spent for a better breastpump and even cause nipple confusion and early weaning, all for strangers comfort??

I don't think so.

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I become aroused when someone touches the back of my neck too. Or when I get a back rub. There are many erogenous zones across the body. My nipples also become erect when I'm cold, or the wind blows. It doesn't make them, my neck, back, or nipples, sexual objects. By your thinking, that would mean that mens nipples are sexual objects as well, becaue they do get erect with stimulation as well. Why then, are they allowed to have them exposed?

If a male got an erection on the bus, I'm quite sure no one would know it! You don't think it happens all the time?? LOL Please! Penis's and Vulvas are sexual parts. You put them together to have intercourse to make babies. Mkay? Breasts are there to FEED the baby that you make. You can't even compare them so stop trying.

If everyone ran around naked, I'd be perfectly fine with that. At the very least, legalization that made it legal for women to be shirtless like men would make me happier.

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And in almost every single state, except a few.. breastfeeding is EXEMPT from those laws. The states that don't say it, simply don't have any laws protecting it. There are no laws that say its illegal in the US. And in fact, its a constitutional god given right and also protected Federally on federal property.
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If you don't want to see other women breastfeeding, or you don't want your child to view it, I suggest you stay inside your home, or build a nice little Anti-public breastfeeding commune for yourself. =)

peace.

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And in the summer? It gets HOT under a blanket! I wouldn't put my baby through that no matter who it made happier. After a few months my children wouldn't stand a blanket over their heads either. And all it does is call attention to the breastfeeding woman next to you. Seriously people.. open your eyes! I'll bet there have been women breastfeeding right next to you and you didn't even know. Because most mamas are able to do it descreetly anyway without blankets or things.

How many of us do you really think WANT to show the world their breasts? Personally, I don't even wear a bikini at the beach. When my daughter was born I used to sit in the car to nurse. I used to go to bathrooms and straddle toilets. And guess what? I missed out on so much. One shopping trip took hours because I had to keep going back to the car. Babies are not always predictible. They go through grow spurts and times where they eat every 5 minutes. Its simply not practical to sit in a car every time they're hungry. Early motherhood is hard enough... don't make it harder by secluding yourself because you feel you have no choice.

I got myself a decent sling, and I nurse her everywhere no matter what I'm doing. (the exception is driving. I don't ever take her out of her carseat while the car is moving.)

Its odd with all these arguments against public breastfeeding lately, or people demanding others to "cover up." I've been breastfeeding for 3 years straight now. I am currently tandem nursing a 3 year old, and a 4 month old. Not ONCE, has anyone ever said anything to me. No one has even looked at me sideways. And in the beginning, during those times I would nurse in the car.. I did it because I was scared of other peoples reactions. I did it because I was ashamed of accidentally showing anything to strangers. I had never seen anyone else nursing. Ever. I couldn't feel comfortable with my choice, because I had no one around me to normalize it.

After a while of hiding, I decided I couldn't do it anymore. It took awhile for me to really FEEL comfortable nursing in public.. but after I mastered it. Its very liberating and freeing. No one else controls how I think, or act. Why should they control where I feed my baby? And like I said, I have never even heard one remark or comment. No one has ever stared at me or made feel ashamed. So where are all of these people who think its rude? I certainly didn't see any in the smiling faces that walked past me, or the mothers who gave a wink.

I now make sure that I breastfeed wherever and whenever I need to. I don't flash my breast around by all means, but I'm no longer worried if I accidentally show a tiny piece of white skin.

I'm feeding my baby. Nothing more. And yet, it IS doing something much more. Its making it normal for others around me. Its giving other people an alternative. Its showing little girls who walk past me, that THAT is what breasts where made for. Its teaching little boys the ultimate respect for women. And most importantly....
Its supporting the other nursing mother who might be too ashamed to sit down with her crying baby and feed him because she's in a public place. And perhaps my confidence will give her the confidence to let her fears of offending people go, and do what comes naturally... nurture her baby.

My Baby Cuz is All Grown Up

Today I went to Andrews high school graduation. Where have the years gone? Seriously. Everyone says it, but until you live and look back it doesn't really seem important.

Andrew is the second one of us kids to graduate, me being the first. Anyone who knows anything about our family, knows this is a huge accomplishment! So, I love ya Andrew and I am so very proud of you. I know no matter what you do in life you will be great!


The speakers at the graduation however were pretty boring. My ex-husband was also on police detail there, and his MIL as well, so they were patrolling in front of me the entire time. I was with my uncle, and his ex-wife (my aunt whom I don't speak to much either) was also there. It was the day of the ex's! So we stuck together.


I took pictures of Piper during the boring parts to keep myself occupied! Even though my aunt snuck up behind me and punched my arm hard enough to bruise, my ex was there, and my other cousin came to the celebratory dinner with us..acted friendly, then talked a ton of shit behind my back later... it was a good day. I am glad I had the chance to go.


Here's a few more pictures from the day...

This is the infamous family. Andrew of course, then the cousin that hates me Matthew, my aunt Barbara, and my grandfather. I was hoping I'd make it out without contact. As you can see... that didn't happen. Eh. The sacrifices I make for Andrew..

...he owes me..

Learning Through Playing

Here's a few pictures of the things we've been doing lately. Ivy has been painting every single day. She's really into it right now. She uses big brushes, little brushes, sponges, stamps, fingers. You name it! Sometimes we only put out one or two colors, and other times we put them all out.

I'm so impressed by how much she has grown these past six months. She can count to 20 with only one or two extra numbers thrown in for good measure. She can sing her ABC's and to my amazement, she knows them all. I was blown away. I owe that one to Sierra and her endless singing that she does loudly and offkey, despite my pleading with her to lower her voice just a tad. My bleeding ears were not in vain however, because now Ivy knows her ABC's!

Stringing beads is another activity that Ivy likes to do. While Mama makes hemp necklaces, Ivy makes her own too with jumbo wooden beads. She calls them her snakes. ;-)

She likes to sit down right next to my chair and make her snakes.

Oh! I also picked up a bunch of wooden food for her to play with, and she absolutely loves it! I have decided that I'm going to slowly start to weed out her electronic plastic toys, and replace them with wooden ones. Her imagination has soared since I've bought the few things I have.

Since we will be Unschooling the girls, I'd love to be able to get any many learning/exploring things as we can in the next few years. For Ivy's birthday next month we'll be getting her a wooden kitchen set. I really wish I could afford the solid pine handmade ones, but wow! They are $$$. If I had the money to spare I really would get them though. And the Haba website is a dream to shop at! I love looking at all the realistic wooden foods. I'll be getting her some more of those soon too.

Blessed be!

Ohmygosh

Ya, so its been a little while since I posted. I was lured to Myspace for awhile and started a page there. Its alright, but I much rather use this format for blogging. Feel free to check it out though! I will be moving my blog entries over to here because profiles get taken down all the time on Myspace. Heh. If you don't know what I mean, read my entry about the breastfeeding photos.

So, I haven't written here in a long time! THIS is our new addition! And the only baby that really looks like me. Piper really is a wonderful baby. I have absolutly no complaints. I'm not even losing any sleep! She sleeps at night almost straight through. She nurses like a champ and is, as of last week at her 4 month appointment on the 23rd, 15 lbs 8 oz. and 25 1/2" long. Head circumfrence is 42 cm. Yup. I'd say she's growing well. She's already in 6-9 month clothes as well. She's just sooo long.

These pictures were taken Memorial Day weekend at Rotery Park. The girls had the first swim of the season and were so thrilled! It was mighty cold, but the mud was so alluring at the waters edge that they played for hours. All that flooding we got in New England the past few weeks made the normally hard packed bankings of the river a real fun slip and slide for the kids here. Course, it smelled like dog doo, but who cares?! They didn't.

Things with the girls have been going extreemly well. Sierra is level 4 in her competitive gymnastics team now. (she just moved up!) She's doing well in school, but I have a feeling she's really looking forward to summer. Ivy has really matured in the past few months. She's gone from talking in some sentences, to.. well, there is no stopping her now! She knows her alphabet, she can count to 10, and sorta to 20 with some funny mistakes. lol She knows her colors but reverses a few occassionally. Overall her listening and comprehension has improved tenfold. She'll be three in 2 months so I'm glad to see this progression, but it really does come out of the blue doesn't it?! Potty-wise she is slowly learning to pee on it. She gets stickers when she does and a huge gianormous fanfare of dancing, singing, and clapping. Even Daddy gets involved! Pooping on the potty is still soemthing she wants NO part in. She prefers to put a pull up on and hide behind the bedroom door. lol Eventually she'll see the allure of the toilet but for now, she brings me a pull up and asks to be changed when she's done. Hey, its progress.

Medically both Chris and I have been plauged with a host of different ailments. I just had surgery for kidney stones about a month ago, and I'm awaiting to have a few of my teeth removed because they are causing me some immense pain. Chris has been battling unknown hip pain thats really been slowing him down. I know he is a bit scared as to what it could be. Xrays showed nothing abnormal so they're sending him to a specialist soon.

Soooo.. I hope to be back around these parts a bit more! I apologise for neglecting it, but ya know.. stuff comes up and whooops! I'm off to put Piper to sleep.
Later.