This is Motherhood.

And it is so much fun!!!!

:)

Homeschoolin' Mama!

The learning has officially begun for the year - we started early because we are big info sucking dorks and actually like to "do school" as my little guy puts it.

It's fun - it's eclectic - sorta Waldorf - definitely child centered and led.

We love to learn.

Am I for real??



Really??



3 days before the birth of my baby...was I really posting stupid "my porn name is..." posts??



Well I will certainly blame that on crazy sleepless "when is this baby coming out" nights and extreme boredom! and even though I very much want to delete it - I'm going to leave it there to be reminded that careless posting can lead to embarrassing blog moments.



Ha. Let that be a lesson to me.



So yes. The baby DID FINALLY COME OUT!! Not the way I thought either - I ended up having a C-section!! Crazy nuts eh?



But she's beautiful.



Elaine Grace ~

How to Make a Belly Cast!

First, find a positive helper who's excited to take on the challenge!

Then, make him read the directions while you scarf down something chocolately.

After you cut the pieces of casting material, dip them in hopefully warm water - mine was NOT - just look at my miserable face!

And plaster those babies right onto the big belly.

Try to have fun :)

Miss Toilet Scrubber.

Oh yes. I do believe the nesting has begun.

We've been cartooned!

La familia is doing great. I'm getting super huge - the cartoon really is not exaggerating!



Ayden's been filling up his 4 year old schedule with dance class, swimming lessons, play dates and homeschool field trips.



Today we toured the Postal Headquarters in DuBois - which I should really put on his blog along with hundreds of other pictures.



Honestly, there really is way too much shit on my 2-do list!!



Much love!

4 year olds are so much fun!

One of Ayden's favorite things to do is go wild with the digital camera.
He loves taking pictures of all his toys, crafts and even movies he digs.

Look! He even digs his mama!!

and his square German crayons that cost a fortune

(Thanks for sponsoring that Mama B!)

More of Ayden's fantastic 4 year old photography is featured on his blog: http://preschoolathome.blogspot.com/

I want some Sadie Puffs!!!

How come you never see cool cereals like these in the grocery store?

How Much is That Doggie in the Window?

Well it didn't happen like that but we are officially dog owners!



Meet Tubbie! When I rescued him he was nothing but a ball of fluffy hair infested with fleas, ear mites and no concept of house breaking. The cute little shit-zu looking thing was a peeing machine ALL over my floor.

Hey I DID want to start cleaning more....

Now a week and over 200 dollars later, Tubbie is doing great and looks a lot different. He got a very short haircut from Doggie Styles in DuBois to get rid of the fleas. I let her use flea shampoo and then do another wash with regular.

Ahh...this dog has totally screwed up A LOT of the Natural Me Stuff I'm going for - He used un-natural products, got a vaccination for rabies so we could get him licensed, took a wormer, got chemicals in his ears and let me tell you, he does not eat like a vegetarian.

I will try my best to get him on the path to being a *natural me doggie*!!



Tubbie is making leaps 'n bounds in his house training - I take him outside a lot especially after he naps, eats or has an exciting playtime and when we get outside, I tell him to "Get Busy" and that's his cue to pee or poo.

Hey, doing that along with using a crate at night and when I leave are working super fast in hopefully someday bringing back my living room rug! It'll be a long time before we have that trust but we are definitely enjoying the little guy who I guess is a mix between and Labrador Retriever and a Lhasa Apso. Yes, it's an interesting mix isn't it!?!

So I'm not getting ANYTHING else done but we're having fun! If you want to hang out with The Tubernator ~ Look him up on Dogster.com

Stop in the Name of Love!!

Before you break my heart.....


Wow! Look at that hair.
Look at that skin tone.
Oh - so - not - very -
um... Natural Me!!

Apparently, these pictures were taken long before I became the editor of the Natural Me Fun Note Ezine. Check out the Halloween issue!!



Oh my god ~ these pictures are so funny to me! I was dressing up to go work at a smokey lung clogging bar and I remember running late because I didn't realize how long it would take to get the brown makeup all over my face, chest, back, arms and even my hands! My permanently intoxicated boss was so impressed with my "Diana Ross" get-up that she didn't even mind that I was late and that I didn't wash any dishes all night in fear that my hands would come off!




You know even though I was covered in phthalates, I was still looking so incredibly HOT that night that I even got an Amish guy to hook up with me!!

Whoo hooo!
Happy Halloween!

Loving My Sister!!

Betsy!

Today my little sister & I finally got to hang out!

We chilled at her house and did a little Feng Shui Rearrange at her house. It was the longest amount of time we've spent together in a long time ~ the boys played nice and so did we.... Amazing!

That picture was taken when I was pregnant at our grandparents 50th Anniversary Party!

My Grandpa Tony passed away just a few months later.

Missing You Chico!

What a beautiful day to discover a measuring tape. It's been a great week for independent play ~ sometimes we get too busy running errands and participating in playgroups that Ayden doesn't get enough down time to get a chance for creative play to kick in.
When we are at the Natural Me Play group or at a friend's house, there is so much stimulation that it's just a wild *fun* time and sometimes the craziness turns Ayden into a wild boy who gets a little too rough and doesn't listen to his momma.

My son does well with lots of quiet playtime, educational activities and structure. I need to get us back into our routine so that he can blossom & be sweet and start listening to me! I'm going to try to do all the errands after our Natural Me Playgroup on wednesdays ~ which will now be known as WILD WEDNESDAYS. I think we will do better and get more accomplished to have one all out crazy day than to do over stimulating errands & playdates everyday which throws off the entire day & thus the entire week!

The breastfeeding "keg stand".....it's really great to breastfeed your little one past a year. You know the added health benefits and all that's cool but it's totally entertaining as well! Ayden has a new thing I like to call the "ninny stand". I hope I don't have to worry that this means he's going to be a frat boy and be the king of keg stands but he seems to enjoy trying to drink upside down. I'm so thankful that he still nurses & we co-sleep. on these DRY DRy dry winter nights, mama's milk helps keep the nasty cough at bay.

Natural mama went to the un-natural doctor....yes, I felt like I had to. I was reading about conjuctivitis online and how it could spread to the surrounding tissues with a worse infection and I got a little scared when Ayden eye started to get puffy so we went to the doctors... (lucked out and got a nice lady instead of Dr. Jerk) (but she still was a bit neurotic about insisting on a tetnas vaccine) (not for the eye but for future living). We got some drops even though she wanted to give him an oral antibiotic too ?? I said we'd start with the drops because I know he would (and has) respond well to them.

Ayden's 17 months old and never had an oral antibiotic yet! He is also still breastfeeding! He is such a rebel. GO AYDEN!! Mama loves you!!