Today I celebrate my 33rd birthday. Thirty-three years of laughter, tears, joy, sorrow, learning, growing, evolving, loving, living.

For some reason, this number - 33 - has been hard for me. Perhaps because I’m nearly one-third of a century (gah) old now. Perhaps because the days, weeks, months and years seem to be going by faster and faster than ever before. Perhaps because I’ve been taking a mental inventory of my life and haven’t been particularly happy with some of my discoveries. Perhaps a combination of these things.

Don’t get me wrong, I have a wonderful life, a charmed life. But I’ve recently had to be honest with myself about how much I can realistically commit to doing and still feel good about the kind of parent I am. I want to do it all. All of us moms do. We want to juggle all of the balls and keep them all up in the air, and, if we drop one (because invariably we will), we don’t want anyone to see it.

I’ve been getting more and more comments lately from people saying they don’t know how I keep it all together or how I do so much. I tend to answer the same way, telling them that it’s hard and I’m still working on finding that perfect balance, but the truth is when someone seems to be doing it all and have all of their sh*t together, you can rest assured that they are falling behind in at least one area (probably more) of their life. I know it was happening to me.

And so I’ve chosen to cut back on some commitments (though it was very hard to) and not take on new ones (even though they were appealing) in an effort to focus more time on the things that really matter - my children and my husband.

Jody and I had a parent-teacher conference with Ava’s Waldorf preschool teacher last night and she raved about what a delight Ava is. Ava is “fiery” (no surprise to us to hear that word), but a real joy. I love hearing about how well she is doing in school and how much her teacher appreciates her. It’s sometimes easier for me to focus on the bad and overlook the good and this was a good reminder for me that she really is an amazing kid.

Julian strung together his first two-word phrase last night. “Hol’ me.” (Hold me.) He said it first to Jody, but later to me as well. He’s been talking more and more the past couple of weeks, but this in particular was oh. so. very. sweet.

I don’t have any special plans for today, and that’s OK with me. I intend on spending some good quality time with the kids and enlisting Ava’s help in baking my cake. I think we’ll go with carrot cake and cream cheese frosting made from scratch. Mmmm. Perhaps we’ll play outside for a bit. Perhaps we’ll read some books. Perhaps I’ll focus on just how amazing these first 33 years of my life have been, how blessed I am, and make a wish for more of the same in my next 33.

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On Saturday we packed up the kids, met up with my sister and her beau, and took a trip to our local farm.

We saw…

little piggies,

horses,

and cows.

And then we learned to moo like them.

Ava brushed a horse and went for a ride on a pony. Both kiddos fed the goats. Ava took a turn on the tire swing and played in the tree fort, while Julian took a turn on the horse swing.

We also saw chickens, llamas, rabbits, a turtle, ducks, a donkey,

a beautiful view,

and this pretty calf (my BSM).

It was a very fun afternoon. :)

Head on over to Mother May I to see what everyone else has in store for their Best Shot Monday posts.

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They say a picture is worth a thousand words, but right now in the Mother’s Day Giveaway at 5 Minutes for Mom, your picture could be worth a thousand dollars. There’s a photo contest going on, the theme is Motherhood and the winner is going to receive a $1,000 AmEx gift card!

This picture says motherhood to me:

It is me with Ava and Julian, one month and one day before he was born.

I know this isn’t exactly wordless, but since it’s for a good cause - actually 1,000 good causes - I hope you’ll forgive me. ;)

Check out some more:
The original Wordless Wednesday
and
Wordless Wednesday at 5 Minutes for Mom

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I had the privilege of observing this conversation at the dinner table this week.

Ava wasn’t very motivated to eat dinner, so I enthusiastically pointed out the different foods on her plate in hopes of encouraging her to eat something. After saying the name of each thing, Ava added “poop” to the list of foods.

Jody piped in, “We don’t eat poop, our food turns into poop.” And then gave a fast lesson on digestion about how when we eat food it goes into our tummies, turns into energy and helps us grow, and then we poop out what’s left.

Ava had an incredulous look on her face and said, “Nuh-uh, that’s not what happens.”

Jody said, “What happens to food when we eat it?”

Ava explained that when we eat food “it goes into a pile and then little bits go out to your body” and give you lots of “energy and energy and energy!” At which point she got very animated in demonstrating the energy.

She then turned to me to ask, “Is that right, Mommy?”

Me: “Yes, that’s pretty close to what happens.”

Jody (to Ava): “So then where does poop come from?”

Ava (pausing to think for a second): “Your butt.”

Cue peals of laughter from Jody and me.

Yep, Ava, you definitely know what you’re talking about. :)

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I had a wonderful weekend. The weather was amazing. Hooray for spring!

First, I enjoyed a night out with my friends including dinner at a very tasty Japanese restaurant on Saturday night. Three and a half hours of good food, good company and good conversation. Oh, moms’ night out - how I need you more often! ;)

Then Sunday Jody and I celebrated our 7th wedding anniversary. It’s amazing how much our lives have changed in seven years, though definitely in a good way. We took the kids out to The Cheesecake Factory for dinner. Things got a little chaotic between the appetizer and main course (let’s just say you could tell Julian hasn’t been out to eat much), so I took the kids outside to listen to a street busker play the saxophone (which Julian was enrapt by) until our food arrived. That did the trick. Jody called me on my cell phone when the waiter brought our meals and the kids were ready to dig in. Trying to head off any further restlessness, we rushed through dinner, which was delicious, then got a couple of pieces of cheesecake to go. (So much for the Buy Nothing challenge this weekend. Oy.)

I have a couple pictures of Julian to share from this week, one just being cute and then one enjoying his hummus.

And then this one of Ava and Julian is my Best Shot for the week. Of course I wish they were both looking at the camera, but I also love the far off look in Julian’s eyes, while Ava looks cute as a button.

Head on over to Mother May I to see what everyone else has in store for their Best Shot Monday posts.

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My daughter Ava has slept in the same bedroom as me every night for the last nearly four years now. As a newborn she started out in an Arm’s Reach Cosleeper next to Jody’s and my bed, then transitioned into our bed around four months old. When she was two years old, we bought her her own bed, which we put next to our’s to expand our family bed in preparation for the birth of Julian and adding another person to our cosleeping arrangement.

For the most part, cosleeping (or sharing sleep) has been a great experience for our family. I’ve always loved the secure feeling of knowing my children are close by and safe. If they ever cry out or are sick in the middle of the night, I’ve been right there to comfort them. Mornings full of kisses and snuggles and goofing around in the bed are times I cherish.

For the past few weeks, Ava has been saying she’d like to move into her own bedroom. I admit I was rather surprised to hear it coming from her. We’ve talked before about her getting her own room once we move into a larger house (someday), but never pushed the issue in this house. I figure if it ain’t broke, don’t fix it.

After she mentioned it a few times, weeks apart, I thought we should take this request seriously and respect it. So last Friday we moved her mattress (not her whole bed) from our “family bedroom” to the “kids’ room,” which has always just been a room to store things - dresser of their clothes, a glider, diapering paraphernalia and some toys.

Ava was very excited to be moving into her own room. She declared that she was going to go to sleep all by herself and “no mama milk tonight!,” something she’s said more than once lately, but has yet to follow through on. ;) (I’m gently encouraging her to wean by her fourth birthday in June.) I thought that was a little much to try to tackle all in one night, but since it was at her urging I figured we’d give it a try and see how it went. She soon acquiesced and asked for mama milk and for me to lay with her while she fell asleep (which is our usual bedtime ritual). Before she went to sleep, Jody and I reassured her that we were there if she needed us in the night, and Jody put down a sleeping bag on the floor next to her mattress just in case. We slept with both bedroom doors open so if she woke up, she could easily wander into our room.

After she had some mama milk, we talked for a bit and she fell asleep. I took my time getting up that night. It was a little hard for me to think that my baby girl was growing up and taking the first of many steps towards independence. I laid in bed with her and whispered that I loved her. I gave her three extra kisses before I got up and left her sleeping contentedly in her very own room. It was bittersweet. I snuck back in there a little while later to snap a picture (had to) and cover her back up.

Around 2 a.m. we awoke to Ava yelling “Mommy” and she came running down the hall towards our room. Jody met her in the hallway and carried her into our room, where she said, “I don’t want to move back in here.” So Jody took her back to her room and slept next to her on the floor.

We made a big deal about her first night in her own room the next day and told her how proud we were of her.

That night, not wanting her to feel like she had to stay in her own room if she didn’t want to, I told her we could move her mattress back into our room if she wanted, but she was adamant that she wanted to sleep in her own room again.

She’s been sleeping in her own room now for the past week. She tends to wake up and call out for one of us around 3 or 4 a.m. most nights at which point Jody goes in and sleeps next to her on a second twin mattress that we got off Freecycle this week. Other than that, the transition has gone really well. She is happy to be sleeping by herself and has no plans to move back in with us. Gulp.

I am very proud of my little girl. While this transition was a little harder on me than I think it was on her, I know that we’re doing the right thing. I feel lucky that we had such a great co-sleeping relationship for the first 3 3/4 years of her life and that she was able to move on to her own room when she was ready.

It’s hard to watch your children decide they no longer need you with this or that, but at the same time it’s also rewarding. We give them wings so they can fly.

Just don’t fly too far yet, honey, k? :)

*Alternate title: “Proof that AP kids really will sleep in their own beds someday” ;)

Cosleeping Resources
Kellymom: The Family Bed
Attachment Parenting International: Engage in Nighttime Parenting
The Natural Child Project: Cosleeping
Berkeley Parents Network: Co-sleeping: The Family Bed
Mothering: Sleep articles
The Natural Child Project: Articles on Sleeping

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As many of you know, I’m a big advocate of attachment parenting. I’ve seen the benefits of raising my children according to AP principles such as breastfeeding (feeding with love), baby wearing, responsive nighttime parenting, gentle discipline, etc. My husband Jody and I didn’t start out the road to parenting set on AP, it just kind of happened. For us it just feels natural, like we are trusting our instincts.

We’ve seen the way that Ava has blossomed into an almost 4-year-old who is secure, loving, friendly, healthy, imaginative and independent, and we attribute this largely to the way that we raised her. Julian is only 16 months old, but he too is a very happy, healthy, well-adjusted little person. I believe that by meeting our children’s needs when they are little, they have come to learn that they can depend on us and trust us for the long haul. It’s certainly not all been easy nor a bed of roses, but anyone who thinks parenting is convenient is surely mistaken. It is my hope that by building a solid foundation with them when they are young, we are creating a lasting, trust-based relationship that will endure throughout their adolescent years and into adulthood.

I feel fortunate that I have found a support network of like-minded parents here locally through Attachment Parenting International.

Attachment Parenting International (API), a non-profit organization that promotes parenting practices that create strong, healthy emotional bonds between children and their parents, has several exciting changes they would like to announce, including:

• A newly redesigned web site and new logo at Attachment Parenting.org (Check out the photos on the home page - at least one might look familiar to you. It’s Jody and Ava on the right and I also took the first picture in that grouping. A few more of my pictures are scattered around the site. My little claim to fame. hehe.);
• Attachment parenting worldwide support forums;
• Parent Education Program - a comprehensive series of classes for every stage and age of child development from infancy through adulthood;
• A new book based on API’s Eight Principles of Attachment Parenting by API co-founders Lysa Parker and Barbara Nicholson which is expected to be available this summer;
• A series of podcasts, webinars, chats, and forums with API Advisory Board members and other supporters of AP. Future events are scheduled with Dr. Bob Sears, Dr. James McKenna, and Kathleen Kendall Tacket. Check out the events page for more information.

These are just a few of many exciting things going on at API. I hope you’ll stop by the website and check it out for yourself. Perhaps you’ll find something that resonates with you. :)

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Saturday was a gorgeous day, sunny and warm with just enough wind for flying a kite. Jody bought a kite for Ava several weeks ago and she’d been excited to give it a try. Her excitement grew after she received the Mary Poppins DVD for Easter. So on Saturday we went to the park and flew that kite, up to the highest height. ;) It was a good thing we took advantage of the nice spring-like weather on Saturday, because we woke up to snow on Sunday!

Here are a few pics of Ava, the kite-flyer. :)

As for my “best shot,” I’m having a hard time choosing between these two. Which do you prefer?

Head on over to Mother May I to see what everyone else has in store for their Best Shot Monday posts.

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That’s egg-citing, not to be confused with egg sighting, though I guess either would work in this case. ;)

On Saturday we dyed a crapton of 26 eggs using natural dyes made from things like tumeric, chili powder, beets, blueberries, and red cabbage. We did 14 during the day with the kids and my sister (Aunt Carrie), and then because I wanted to experiment some more, Jody and I did another dozen after the kids went to bed. We now have enough boiled eggs to feed a small village.

I will do a post with the details of the natural egg dyeing, including what worked well and what didn’t work so well and pictures of the process, later in the week. For today, however, I’m just sharing some pictures of the egg-dyeing egg-stravaganza, our indoor egg hunt (due to snow) and then my best shot of all of our eggs in one basket (I know, I know, they say not to do that) is at the end. ;)

Most of the pics were taken with the point and shoot, and a few with my SLR. Mouse over the pics for a description.

Our natural egg-dyeing egg-stravaganza was on Saturday. Julian enjoyed eating leftover blueberries (from the dyeing process) while the rest of us dyed the eggs.

Our Easter egg hunt on Sunday was inside (since our snow from the night before hadn’t melted yet). Ava had a blast finding all of the eggs, while Julian enjoyed smacking eggs together and throwing them around the house.

And lastly, here’s my best shot. All 26 of our naturally dyed eggs (in one basket). :)

Head on over to May Papers to see what everyone else has in store for their Best Shot Monday posts.

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The weekend was sunny and semi-warm, at least warm enough for some good outside play time which is what the kids have been craving these days.

On Sunday we went to the park for a while. The kids did some swinging, went down the slide, demolished the sand cakes Jody and I made, and even got in a bit of hang time. Since I didn’t take very many pics this week, these are going to have to do for my best shots. :) They were both all giggles while upside down and Julian gave new meaning to the term “hanging out.”

You can see more “best shots” over at:

Stumble it!