when did you stop? I am not much into labels so I don't think I completely "qualify" as "attachment parenting" but we do co-sleep with all of our kids until they decided to sleep on their own. I feed babies on demand not a schedule. I rocked all my babies to sleep. And I have worn or carried all of my children. Baby girl just turned 1 year old and she seems to want to be carried still all the time even though she can walk (started at 10 months). I don't have a problem with it and neither does her ahma (who also wears or carries her most of the day) and she is so small for her age that she isn't that heavy. Sooooo...my mom thinks we have "spoiled" her and that we should not still be wearing/carrying her at age 1. She is such a small thing, only about 16 pounds, it's no trouble. She is also my most "cuddly" child...loves to cuddle! But my mom insists it is "time" to stop. What says the baby-wearing hive members?

That just sucks. I am so sorry!

How exciting!

Just to clarify...I absolutely believe my brother should take control of his life and make better choices regardless of the mistakes he has made in the past and I tell him so all the time (especially as he now has full custody of his 5yo boy). But he has this "too far gone" mindset. It makes me wonder how some of you who went awry as a teen were able to pull yourselves out of it and become productive citizens while my brother seems unable to? Actually, it's more like he is unwilling to... sigh... We had the SAME parents...how did we turn out so differently? I do have another brother who also did not go down a bad path...just the youngest did. But it is amazing to me how one bad decision does lead to another bad decision and another... my brother's choice of friends, then his decision to join a band, then to start drinking and doing drugs, then the sleeping around, then the "even worse inlfuence" girlfriend that he met at a bar while he was drunk and playing a gig, that lead to marrying her that lead to their mutual alcohol and drug abuse, that lead to cheating, that lead to divorce, that lead to........ Do you see where I am coming from? So while I agree that one decision may not necessarily destroy our lives, one bad decision CAN lead to a string of bad decisions until you are so far down a road it seems impossible to turn around and go back. And my heart hurts for my brother tonight. All I can do is pray. This is something only God can change I think.

Well if by "cook" you mean: the kids can make their own bowls of cereal, lunch is a sandwich or soup, etc., and then I cook dinner...then it's not that bad. :D

I don't know. What I know is that one club gig lead to two which lead to three and so on. One drink at a club gig while hanging out with people far older than him lead to two drinks which lead to three and then to his first joint and then to his first hit of acid and so on. And all these things took place at the bars or after hours when the gig was over, etc. If a 15yo had never been playing in a bar til 2am to begin with maybe....????

Define "awry" however you wish... and this may be a tough question but...if you have a teen or young adult child who has gone "awry" ... and hindsight being 20/20 as they say... can you point to a "pivotal" moment when things started to go wrong for that child? If you could go back in time and change one thing that might send their life in a different direction, could you pick out that moment? Personal example: my youngest brother (who is now 35 yo) is a raging alcoholic, drug-user, cheated on his wife constantly, can't hold down a job, been arrested several times for drunk driving, drunk and disorderly, domestic violence, etc. He is an absolute anomaly in my family. The proverbial black sheep and it breaks my heart. When I look back at his life and when things started to go awry I can pick at least one big decision my parents made that they would change if they could (and they have said so). My brother is an amazingly talented singer and musician. At 15yo he and his friends put together a "garage band" and entered a battle of the bands contest. They won. They got a small recording contract and the next thing you know this group of 15 and 16 yo kids were playing in bars and other concert venues all over the place every weekend. Well you can imagine the type of people he spent his time with and the lifestyle it lead to. You can't let a 15yo hang out in a bar til all hours every weekend and think nothing bad is going to happen. :glare: The drinking, the drugs, the girls...it's been all downhill since then. He now qualifies as a "has-been" who has squandered his talent and reduced himself to a cliche. And my mom says if she could change ONE thing she would never have let him enter that world (at least while she still had a say in his life as a young teen). It scares me...the idea that as parents we can make one error, one crucial mistake and our children's lives can spiral down a path we never intended. It's not so much about self-condemnation as it is being more discerning and taking even seemingly small decisions seriously. I know we can't predict everything. But I look at my 3 kids and think how important every little decision is and am I making the right ones? Or maybe I am just upset because I talked to him last night and he is still a mess. :confused:

It's a day later and I appreciated all your supportive comments. I am going to get rid of it and I am NOT going to let it ruin the "baby girl high" I've been on this whole week. :D Whether it is a racist thing or a working mom things or whatever, I am choosing to pray for this person and that somehow she will see how happy and healthy and WELL-LOVED my baby is and it will change her views. Thanks ladies. :grouphug:

I recommend "Church History in Plain Language" http://www.amazon.com/Church-History-Plain-Language-3rd/dp/0718025539/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1293584316&sr=8-1

Because they wrote in it AT the shower and ONLY women were at the shower. And only staff members. So I know it was a woman and a staff member. I do not know which one or if she has kids.

She didn't sign her name of course...COWARD. :glare:

Last year my staff threw me a baby shower just a few days after I got my baby girl (they whipped this shower together in 4 days!). It was amazing. One of the things they did was get me this keepsake book and they asked each guest to write down their favorite bits of "baby advice" and favorite scriptures. I admit it. Things were such a whirlwind that I never sat down and read every page of the book. Well today, a year later, I was cleaning out my bookshelves and I came across it and sat down and read the whole thing. Well, 99.9% of it was wonderful! Until I came across one page where a woman had writtenfor her baby advice: "Well I sure wouldn't be leaving her home all day with an ahma! That's for sure!" It felt like someone stabbed me. Now I could go on a rant right now about all the reasons that I work outside the home and I have lots of good reasons. But I am so OVER defending myself as a woman or a mother (being 40 DOES have advantages!). Not to mention this was a staff member who knows FULL WELL that I am on contract and could NOT stop working even if I WANTED to!!! Think what you want about working moms...we are evil, responsible for all of societies ills, the anti-christ...you name it... But for goodness sake, do NOT write your opinions in a "KEEPSAKE BOOK" that I was hoping to show my daughter one day. That is just MEAN. Off to cuddle my poor, neglected baby who is stuck with her ahma all day... :glare:

I might need to change my vote. I just finished "Little Bee" and...wow...just wow.

1. EVERYTHING YOU DO ON FB IS PERMANENT 2. Schools, colleges, employers CAN and DO look up your FB account. The high school principal at my school regularly checks the FB pages of problem students (and others he is tipped off to) and kids get busted ALL THE TIME because they post EVERYTHING on FB.... "The SAT was so easy since I sat next to _____ and totally copied his answers!"... yeah, that kid got expelled from our school. College admission boards check the pages of applicants. Employees are fired all the time for the junk they put on FB. It is not your "private" space. Nothing on the internet is private.

I have a one year old so this is fresh in my mind.... - skip the bassinet (we co-sleep) - skip the crib (see above) - skip the playpen (all 3 of my kids hated it) - skip the swing - skip the changing table (we change the baby wherever we happen to be) - skip the diaper genie (what a waste of money) - skip the bottle sanitizer - baby food grinder (use your food processor or a blender) MUST haves for my 3 kids... - bouncy seat - good stroller - good car seat - good diaper bag - wipe warmer

Well, in Malaysia you get the death penalty if you are caught selling drugs. It is in BIG RED LETTERS on the customs form you sign when you come into the country. That might be a deterrent? Just kidding. Sort of.

My go-to meal is lasagna! Add a nice salad, some garlic bread and a dessert of your choice... It is always a hit.

Well all I can tell you is what I have chosen to do...I am selling all of my paper scrapping stuff and going completely digital. With my lifestyle, moving around, etc. it just makes more sense. I really enjoy digital scrapping, I no longer have the space for paper scrapping or the time. DIgi-scrapping is easy and fast and convenient and the results are fantastic. But to justify it in my own brain I have decided to sell the paper stuff.

My kids are going to be so excited for some of these new recipes!!!

Thanks ladies! I am off to the store....

Thank you all so much for supporting me through this crazy journey. I can't wait to tell her of her magical story and all the women around the world who prayed for her and cheered from afar. She will grow up knowing that she is living proof that God answers prayer!

NO WAY JOSE!! It was sunny and 85 and we went SWIMMING! :D

What an awesome day! The weather was sunny and about 85. We had a local indian restaurant cater it and the food was amazing. A local baker did the cake and it was big and pink and surrounded by cupcakes that spelled out her name and it was DE-LISH! There were pink balloons EVERYWHERE. There were tons of people and presents and everyone just lavished attention on my little princess. Even the extended family of Natalie's ahma came! Natalie looked beautiful in her new pink outfit and she had so much fun. Before we ate I gave a testimony to the group...sort of an abbreviated version of how I wished and prayed for her two years ago on christmas and how God answered the prayer exactly one year later...and this lead to a quiet conversation with one of my friends who has been secretly praying for the chance to adopt a boy. She told me that my story gives her hope and it was so awesome to be able to give God the glory for this day and for my daughter! It was everything I dreamed my baby girl's first birthday would be and so much more! I feel like the luckiest person alive right now.

Part 2... So groceries here are brutally expensive. About the only "proteins" we can afford are ground beef and chicken. Everything else is so expensive that it really has to be a special occasion kind of thing (any kind of pork product is too expensive and steak? yeah, right). So I buy a lot of ground beef and chicken but I am running out of ideas for meals.... I need your favorite chicken recipes... Please? Pretty please? My kids will eat anything...not picky at all so bring it. :D

So groceries here are brutally expensive. About the only "proteins" we can afford are ground beef and chicken. Everything else is so expensive that it really has to be a special occasion kind of thing (any kind of pork product is too expensive and steak? yeah, right). So I buy a lot of ground beef and chicken but I am running out of ideas for meals.... I need your favorite ground beef recipes (later I will do one for chicken :tongue_smilie:). Please? Pretty please? My kids will eat anything...not picky at all so bring it. :D