My name is Allison, I am 28 years old and the mother of two wonderful boys. I will soon be celebrating my 5^th wedding anniversary to an amazing man. Jake (4years old) is the big brother. He has a great sense of humor and makes me laugh constantly. He was recently diagnosed with type one diabetes and will be dependant on insulin for life. Little brother Brody is 7 months old and in awe of Jake! He was born with a cleft lip and has already had one surgery to repair it. My goal as a mother is to raise my boys to be confident and happy (and total mama’s boys of course!).

My name is Sarah (like most of the western world) and mama to my first, Baby J. I am 28 years old and in 2004 married my husband and graduated college with a Bachelor’s in personal responsibility and conflict resolution (got to love roommates!). We live about a half a mile from the beach in a small coastal town in northern California. Just to clarify…no, I am not tall. No, I do not surf. (I am blonde, though, and you can catch me saying “totally” here and there). I am a pastor-turned-personal fitness trainer with an emphasis in sarcasm and dry wit. After giving birth to baby J and having a hard time losing the baby weight (and remembering what it was like to love fitness, pre-pregnancy), I decided to focus my attention on helping others with weight loss and healthy living, especially mamas.

I love good rock and roll. Even in the womb, baby J experienced his first concert (Ben Folds, at the Warfield at 23 weeks). I love a song with a strong melody laced in sardonic lyrics. And if my child didn’t need to sleep at night, we would be out at shows weekly. (But let’s be honest, who wants to deal with a cranky baby in the morning? Not I.) Most nights now, you’ll find me with a glass of wine or beer (or both) and a baby or fitness book.

Most of my entries here will focus on music, life on the coast, healthy living strategies and maybe recipe here and there. Oh, and of course-motherhood. I’d say my parenting style is one part attachment, one part by the seat of my pants, one part holy-crap-what-did-i-do, one part intentionality. Mostly, I love my kid and I am doing the best I can.

When I am not blogging or spending time with the family, you can catch me drinking coffee with friends, visiting social networking sites, cringing at American Idol, exercising on the beach or trying to organize my house after 3 years of neglect.

I was a cynic.

I truly believed that people who had children were really miserable on the inside. I believed that moms would talk about their babies, oogling over baby products, making crafts after storytime because they were delusional. They needed to tell themselves that they loved motherhood because they were committed to loving and raising a child for 18-24 years (or longer, if they are still living in the basement, mooching off mom and dad into their 30’s). Why not make the best of it? I was a jaded cynic.

Then it happened to me.

March 2009 marks the end of my cynicism. Here I was, hugely pregnant, wanting nothing more than my sciatic pain to go away and this baby to pop out. And after 2 days of contractions, 11 hours in the hospital and a vacuum extraction, baby J was born. He was beautiful. 7 pounds, 5 ounces of baby goodness. Each month, I fall more in love with this little human being. I want to talk about him all the time. I want to hold him, tickle him, hear his cute little squeal. I want him to have the best I can give him. I want to make crafts with him after storytime.

I am one of them. (But I still make sarcastic jokes, will never buy from Land’s End and hate to clean and bake.)

Laughing uncontrollably, downing drinks to encourage the loudest burp and more laughs. Yelling, more laughing, bumping into one another, more laughing, falling, more laughing, more drinking… it was a night that would make a college frat party look tame. What am I mixed up in, it was out of control – I had lost the upper hand. How could this happen?  What was the culprit that sent my kids into college party mode?

Caffeine. Yep, caffeine – not a big doobie or a keg stand. Although with the way they were laughing, it would have been a hard sell to convince outsiders that wasn’t the case.  We only gave them a few sips (I swear) and yet, “I love you Maaaan” and hugs were abound. They were running around our kitchen island like it was a race track dedicated to tiny humans without the ability to slow down, the brakes were drained.

How I long to have that energy, that belly laughing ability, and without the aid of doobies or alcohol to have the best laughs at the simplest things. *sigh*.

Oh well, since those days are gone…where’s my stash of vodka?

I love you maaan!

I can fly!

The room is spinning...

Youthful Joy

I remember back in my younger days discussing the “invention” of milk.  We’d always ask, “What person thought, ‘I think I’ll go suck on that part of a cow and drink whatever comes out!’?”  then giggle hysterically at the notion.

Years later, breast have become the strangest obsession for me.  Why did no one tell me that’s how you fed your young? Why did it have to come as such a surprise when I was pregnant with Baby J?  I’d stand in the shower, 38 weeks pregnant, trying to figure out just exactly how milk would come out.  It saddens me that breastfeeding is so foreign to our society that I had to learn about the natural way to feed my son.  Or maybe I’m just a moron who had no idea while everyone else knew (that thought saddens me too though).

So why do most insist our breasts are a sexual commodity?  Because they’re not.  They’re not a carnal part of a woman that only lovers and medical professionals should see. They’re the “tit of life” as I like to call it.  They nurture and comfort, they are organic nutrients, and mostly they are.. well.. NOT unnatural!

I have no problem with formula feeding.  In fact, I’m a part-time formula feeder.  So no, I will not be participating on the debate between breast is best and formula forever.

What I will say is this: society is obsessed with breasts for all the wrong reasons.  They are beautiful and amazing and can assist in sustaining life!  And for that, I will obsess.

P.S.  If Bear Grylls was a breastfeeding mother, would he drink his own milk when lost in the wilderness?

Hello blog world. I am one of the “older” moms of the group. I have been married to my husband for 7 years, and we have been together for 14 years. We live in Nor. Cal.  We just had our first baby on April 1, 2009. The perfect boy, by the name of Jacob. No Fooling.

My parenting style is evolving. I had all these notions of doing things a certain way in the beginning. Now, I have thrown that all out the window and just go with the flow. I had to learn that pretty quick with a kid! In my younger years, I was a very controlling person. I wanted things to go my way. In my later years, I am more laid back and go with the flow. I do have my opinions that I will flash once and a while, but for the most part, I try to sit back and let things happen as they may.

Legwarmers. I mean seriously. Ok, so I do have a bit of a biased opinion of them having been born in the 70’s and doing most of my growing up in the 80’s, but still. They are fantastic. I have about 8 pairs for Miss Lucy. She’s got pink ones that go with her brother’s hand-me-down boy outfits, she’s got brown and blue ones that go with her WAYYYY too girly outfits (that I certainly didn’t buy her) and she’s even got pirate ones for her rrrrrrrrowdy days. Now, I know they’re cute, but in my humble opinion, legwarmers perform on may more levels. We live in Denver. In the fall, it’s perfectly normal to wake up to 30 degree weather and then watch as the temp soars into the 70’s during the day. Most outfits don’t accommodate this type of fluctuation. But legwarmers! Well, legwarmers do just as they promise and keep her little tootsies and legs warm and cozy all the way up to her squishy little thighs. And when it gets to warm, you simply pull them off (the slower and bouncier the better…maximizes the giggling that way) and let those cute little turkey legs breathe. But, you say, what about when their dimply little legs are too large for the baby legwarmers? Ah, that’s when they pull double duty as arm warmers. No need to layer a thick long sleeved shirt under a light weight tee in anticipation of a toasty afternoon. No! You just let them walk around with adorable pink pirates on their sleeves. I challenge you to find a more versatile piece of clothing for your wee ones. Try as you may, I doubt you will find anything that rivals…the legwarmer.

I’m the eldest of the group: 40. Three children and a busy career have either kept me young or aged me prematurely (depends upon the day). My youngest is 7 months, and I am remembering that when they’re this little, treading water is just fine. I will organize my life, simplify, begin a regimen of muscle strengthening exercises, and get a makeover next year (yeah right).

Hey all it’s Mandy. Ok, Intros?? I’m 30 (damn that feels old. I actually saw it written for the first time TODAY (your age…30) on my registration form for the marathon relay team I’m doing this weekend). I’ve been married for 7 years and have two fan-freakin’-tastic kiddos. Sullivan is 3. He’s a crazy ginger kid (hence the screen name) with a heart of gold. He kills me everyday with the new and amazing things that come out of his mouth. And then we have our new babe. Lucinda (Lucy) is almost 8 months. She’s beautiful and the best baby ever. Seriously. Girlfriend popped her first tooth and I had no idea. Eat and sleeps like a champ. She’s going to be a HORRIBLE teenager. I can feel it already. As for me, I’m an art teacher at a high school and moving towards becoming a career potter. Although I need my master’s degree and to win the powerball first. We all live in our little bungalow in Denver and I wouldn’t change a thing about my life and where we are together.

I’ll get the basics out of the way.

I’m Toyah, but you can call me Toy.

I’m 22 and a mother of 3.

Trenton is 5, Melayna is 3, and Bryson is 7 months.

My other half is John, sometimes he’s the better half and sometimes he’s not.

I live for the simple things in life. The smiles i wake up to in the mornin are what makes me get out of bed.
The hugs and kisses i get at night are what helps me fall asleep.

I like the funny things and can usually find humor in any situation.

Everything happens for a reason… those are words i live by…