Free Range Family

We had a pretty uneventful first weekend of January. It was so cold and snowy out that we couldn't do hardly anything. With temperature below zero, there was no way I was going to take the kids outside to play, even though I really wanted to pull them around on the sled with their new snow pants. Instead, we went to the mall play area for some fun. We may start going there more often if the winter is a below zero one this year lol! The kids had fun and we met up with Grandma Melanie, Aunt April and Uncle Kalvin. We walked all over the mall with them while they spent their gift cards from Christmas. Saw Aunt Ariel and her friends, plus one of Alan's friends from school! Uncle Kalvin even bought the kids a stuffed animal from Build-A-Bear! He bought Alan an Angry Bird that yells when it hits something lol and bought Anna a Valentine's heart puppy. So sweet, thanks Uncle Kalvin! We spent some time with Lon too, watched Despicable Me 2 for the first time (just as cute as the fi...

I found this on my Facebook breastfeeding group the other morning. How funny is it? I think some of them look a little sexual but you can tell that it was made in Japan. But its to go with the co-sleeping meme (I will have to find and post that one later). I think its cute. :) Between both of my children, I have done around twenty of these positions. How many of these positions have you done? Which one is your favorite? I enjoy nursing while laying down with Anna the best but my favorite one on here is the tribal one! Too cute!

I just love to wear my babies. When Alan was little, he didn't like it too much unless he was tired. Then he would let me wear him all over lol. But he was too big for the wrap we had by the time he was only four months old. As for Anna, she loves to be worn. I wear her all the time at home and have worn her several public places. I just love how calm she gets when worn and how close I feel to her. I also love that I am hands free and can get stuff done around the house or play with Alan but she is still near me and happy. We use the Moby Wrap but I would love to explore and try other wraps! I have been looking at the Ergo Wrap because its for over thirty pound children. This would have been perfect for Alan, in fact he probably could still fit in one! :) Baby wearing is such a wonderful, empowering thing for a mother to do. And it is everywhere. Baby wearing has existed since the beginning of time and even animals technically baby wear. Here are some pictures of beautiful mother...

Being a hippie and a mother, I have been told several times that I must follow AP or Attachment Parenting to a tee. This may come as some surprise to you readers, but I don't like to think of myself as a follower of Attacthment Parenting. Though I follow some of their principles, I like to think of myself more as a Natural Parent because I think about how a human child would be raised in nature and try to replicate it to the best of my ability. I will share with you today the differences and similiarities between an Attachment Parent and myself. Here are the eight principles of Attachment Parenting: Prepare for Pregnancy, Birth and Parenting This principle I followed. They ask that you research, research, research the best options of care for your child- breast vs. bottle, to circumcise vs not circumcise, you get the idea. I did do this to the extreme with Alan and not so much with Anna but that was really only because I already had all the knowledge from my other pr...