I'm no quitter.

Okay, well I am. I've decided to quit Facebook. Even though there seems to be no real explanation or apology, or even an acknowledgment of the privacy breach going on there. I'm done. There are so many reasons, but the latest is the final straw for me. (They are denying the whole thing.)
I won't bore you with detail, just now I know that I need to upkeep this blog much better. No longer a side project, more effort needs to be involved.

Facebook has been a crazy time warp for me, getting lost in the webs of other people lives. It's nice to keep up with peoples lives, but unfortunately, it also takes away from my own. I think removing myself from it for a number of reasons, is a good thing, especially the privacy issues. I often wonder how many people have a love-hate relationship with it, like I do. Maybe even with social media in general.

Good Bye Facebook, It's been too long.
 

Thorns in the morning.

There is seriously nothing like picking your own berries and sitting in the backyard, enjoying every bite with your kids. Seeing them appreciate the time it takes to grow things, harvest them, and then eat them. It's a life lesson worth learning :)
We found this tiny little bush on the side of our house when we moved in last year,  thought it was a poor little rose bush. Even contemplated pulling it out, because we really want a producing yard. Flowers can sit under the magnolia among it's roots, but other then that, we want food!
So we decided to leave the poor little twig of a bush, to see if it would do anything come spring. Well boy did it surprise us. Came up huge, green, and full of life! Not to mention much more distinguished leaves. That helped us determine that we had a 'raspberry bush', then came all the tiny little white blossoms. When the green berries started appearing on every part of the bush I was ecstatic, I couldn't believe such a small bush could produce so many berries. (yes, I get WAY too excited about these things)
The morning the first berries ripened my son pointed out the 'rotten raspberries', that is when finally got the proper label for this poor bush, we had a blackberry bush.
It has given us a ton of berries, and still is. We couldn't be happier with our decision to leave the tiny dying bush alone last year :)

Early morning yard.

I apologize for the lack of quality in these images, but I thought it would be a nice thing to post. Odin and I are outside every morning (rain or shine) to weed the gardens, pick flowers on the lawn, or just sit outside. I love this time with my oldest, while my younger son naps. It's lovely :)

Propaganda at its best.

I'm sure you are well aware of Times latest magazine cover; the well posed, young beautiful mother breastfeeding a toddler in the most awkward position. With the infuriating title "Are you mom enough?".
I thought and thought about this cover. Why did I want to defend it? why did it make me so angry?, what was the purpose of making such a huge group of people upset?
The part that got me was I honestly felt that the cover did not really match the inside article. The article wasn't that bad, not something I would personally use for any sort of research when it comes to parenting, but not a bad read. Most sensational writing should be taken with a grain of salt, I feel this way about a lot of things you read in magazines. They are not books.
I found it kind of sad that this cover is forever going to be a label of attachment patenting. I don't feel it represents any of it, with the exception being extended breastfeeding.
I practice a lot of attachment parenting methods, not because I feel the need to be labeled as one thing or another, but because I simply enjoy them for my family. It's what works for me, for my family. What works for one family does not work for the next and so on. We all need to support each other during this trying journey as parents, not knock each other down. It's not a race, there should be no competition.
The Time cover does show a woman breastfeeding, that's great! Unfortunately it does it in a way that makes women who do not breastfeed, or women who do not breastfeed to a specific age feel inferior. This is not what the breastfeeding community should be doing. Period. Not to mention the position in which she is breastfeeding...
The positives of this cover are that it gets people talking, thinking, perhaps even strengthening their own ideals. That, to me is a good thing. I also do believe that our society needs to be more exposed to breastfeeding, and less upset about seeing a boob. The negatives of this cover, sadly, are too many to list.
The whole point of my post today is to Mom's everywhere, you are more then mom enough, you need not pay any attention to a sensational magazine cover; they just want your money.

Baby's on the move.

It is amazing how fast time flies when you are a Mom, even more amazing how fast your children seem to grow up while you aren't looking. I can't believe that my mat leave is almost over and my baby is crawling! Seems to have mastered it overnight. Nothing is safe! The nice part is he is able to go play with his brother without much effort. Good for him, yes, but it remains to be seen how long Odin will politely tolerate the crashing of his Lego houses.
Today I am preparing the beautiful hummingbird feeder Dave gave me. It is glass and will hopefully not attract the wasps. We shall see how good I am at up keeping all the feeders and gardens this year :) At least I have a very handy partner, as well as a great little side kick while the baby naps.
On a side note, I made my mothers amazing scone recipe for the millionth time. I still can't get them light and fluffy like my mom makes them. Never.

The rain

We've finally been hit by our April showers this year. The last two weeks have been a lot of rain. The good part is we've installed our big vegetable garden bed and taken care of some major yard work. So as soon as the rain stops, we'll be planting all the seeds and seedlings :) I'm very excited to grow our own vegetables and herbs!

The transition of moving the boys together went fairly smoothly once we finally did it! Took a few nights of some tears, with later bedtimes then usual. They both sleep well now, although they both do stay awake chatting at each other for at least and extra half hour to an hour every night. Small price though!

Lately we have been wondering about the idea of a family of 5. It's been a roller coaster of emotions for me. What if I'm not good enough?, what if I loose all my hair?, what if it's wonderful?, what if I have a girl?
Seems we are actually thinking about one more. Who knew this woman here would be contemplating more children! Strangely enough, it just feels right. I really do love being a mom. As stressful as it can be, it has been the most rewarding ride :)

Women are awesome day!

I haven't been as diligent as I had planned, keeping up with my blog. We just got over the flu, all of us had it at pretty much the same time, so that is my main excuse for being MIA.
Today is international women's day! We've come a long way baby! But we also have a long way to go, wages are still not equal, women are still not as common in trades and jobs thought to be for men, and sexual harassment is still running rampant. That's not to say that some of this doesn't apply to men as well, but we all know it is not the same.
Either way, all the women you know, give them a hug, a note, a kiss, for being so awesome :)
Last time I posted I was in the middle of a major transition, kicking the babe into his own crib, and then into the room with his older brother. This was delayed by many different problems, but will be started again within the month! It's a hard move for both of us, I'm hoping for a smooth transition. So I am doing small things everyday, in hopes of making it easy on him, as well as us.
It is beautiful out today, I am hoping to get these little ones out! Come on spring!