Beautiful Kids

I think my kids are the cutest kids there are. Yes this is biased but really... they are!

Pictures are from our trip to Moab in May and silly pictures of the kids at home over the past few months.

Disclaimers about me

Just so you have been warned before deciding to read my blog regularly, here are a few things you ought to know about me (in no particular order):

• I breastfeed my children (yes, both of them) and believe in child-lead weaning 
• I am a member of La Leche League 
• I am the secratary of our local chapter of ICAN (International Cesarean Awareness Network)
• I believe in natural childbirth and in allowing women to make educated decisions about how and where they birth their babies. I am strongly opposed to anything that limits these choices.
• My son was born via emergency C-section due to cord prolapse after a wonderful natural labor attended by my husband and midwifes at the hospital (birth story to come) 
• My daughter was born at home after an extremely difficult labor attended by mostly my husband with my midwife standing by. Eeva is my little VBAC baby (Vaginal Birth After Cesarean) - birth story also to come
• I practice attachment parenting. My children are attached to me and I think that is the point.
• I co-sleep with my children on purpose and I enjoy it.
• I love baby wearing 
• I try to use gentle discipline and say yes more then no.
• We use cloth diapers
• I believe in taking good care of the earth that we live in and being good stewards of the land
• I am a fan of simple living. I try to simplify things do stuff myself, rather then paying some one else to do it (or make it).... now if only I had more time. I like life simple but in reality it gets pretty crazy somedays. 
• While I try to be a good mother and wife, I am often very moody and grumpy. I yell and say mean things. It is something that I am constantly working on.
• I like to consider myself to be a feminist, an environmentalist, and a hippy (Ben doesn't agree with these labels but he has different definitions of the words then I do...So I guess it is debatable)
• I can't spell and I don't like to proof read (a very bad combination when writing)
• My house is almost always a mess and there are always dirty dishes in the sink.
• I love to cook. I especially enjoy making things that you would usually buy - replacing them with healthy home made versions that only have ingredients that I can pronounce. Some items I make regularly and others I have just tried a few times (more on this later). This contributes to the point above.
• I am pretty sensitive. Please be kind and respectful when commenting on my blog, especially when you don't agree with me

There!... now you know.

The beginning

Well... here we go. I have started a blog. It is a bit scary to me because when I write my thoughts it is a personal thing. To share that with whoever might read my blog and especially my family (who is probably all that will read this) is scary. I have been thinking about starting a blog for so long and I haven't for many reason but I think that the main reason is that I am afraid of the judgment of others. I don't think I have the most eloquent writing but more then that is that I have different opinions then people I know. Ridiculous! I know. We all have different opinions with every single person we know. At the same time it is liberating to share those thoughts and opinions. So ... here I go. The next problem I have with starting a blog is what do I write about: family happenings, crafting, food, my thoughts on birthing, breastfeeding, and parenting, .... my reasons for wanting to start a blog include writing about all of these things. I have considered creating different blogs but  I don't think I would post enough or be able to keep up with that. So this blog will probably have a little bit of everything.

I am somewhat concerned about privacy issues but I love to read other peoples blogs and love that they are willing to share some of their life and thoughts with others. I think for now I will keep the blog open and just be careful about putting any specifics in here. At the same time I want to be open and honest about my thoughts and opinions on things that are important to me and with who I am. It will be interesting to see where this goes.... Probably no where but here it goes any way... ok.... I'm going to hit publish now...After I put in a picture of my beautiful family

Picture: by Jen at Arches National Park May 2010