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!

Two peas in a pod, right?

As of right now I feel like the only Mom who has ever had to make the transition of putting a baby in with a toddler to share a room. Now this is so obviously not the case, but I cant help but worry about every potential problem. Will the baby wake the boy? What if the boy decides to climb in with the poor defenseless baby? What if the boy decides he doesn't want to sleep at any normal hours every again, because he has a roommate? Will the boy wake the baby? and so on, and so on.
I know all these problems will turn out to be a weeks worth of little sleep, and then a normal routine. Still I can't help but have a mother's worry.
To ease myself (note myself, not the boys) into this transition I have been letting the boys play together in the room while I am an onlooker, only intervening when needed, and making the room more of what I want it to be. Considering we have been homeowners for a short 7 months, this leaves me with pretty much a blank slate and very tiny amounts of money!
So I made the munchkin a mobile! Here's hoping it will keep him entertained enough to want to stay in his crib longer.

I will post more about this transition as it happens, first we need to get the munchkin sleeping better through the night!

picking up where I left off.

This is my old blog that I no longer have access to; coffeeandsimplicity.blogspot.com

Here's to a new year and a new blog that I can keep up with. My aim is to blog about being a parent to two lovely boys under 3. I am sure there will be a lot more along the way, but that is my main focus. I named this blog knowing my doom; I am positive that I will die tripping over a dinky car. I have already gone skating on a train.

To start, this is my to do list for this year. My new year's resolutions if you will.

• eat healthy
• get out more with the kids
• read more
• start on my path to becoming a doula

 Here's to a new blog!