My Kids = My Way.

I get tired of negative comments about parenting. They aren't always directed to me..but hearing someone complain about how someone else parent's their children or an issue that they feel strongly about or whatever really gets to me sometimes.
NO PARENT IS PERFECT. Most are just trying their best in their own way to raise their child however they feel is appropriate. Which while I may not agree with some issues, I can totally understand and hear every side of the issue. WITHOUT JUDGING. I may disagree for MY children with your way, but that's not judging. And I don't EVER do it outloud.
However, I NEVER judge how a parent handles issues and parents their own children. I hate the way people make me feel like I need to defend my parenting. Because honestly, I don't need to. I am doing the best I can for my children and I don't judge you.
But here it is...and I honestly could care less if you agree or disagree or support or hate me for it...They are MY kids :-)

-I did NOT get an epidural with Tucker and I don't plan to this time either. Its a personal decision and as long as its not having a negative effect, its what I am doing. I believe its best for MY children. I totally respect and understand others for getting them, but its not what I am doing.
-I AM breastfeeding Rylie. I believe its the best thing you can do for your child IF you can do it. However..
-I tried breastfeeding Tucker and ended up quitting. He was a formula fed baby after the first week and he is and always has been PERFECTLY healthy. NOTHING wrong with formula.
-I start rice cereal at 4 months.
-I give my child juice starting at 6 months.
-I use disposable diapers. First of all...I LOVE them. NEVER have had a problem and Tucker has NEVER had a rash with them. I understand your carbon foot print issues and all that...but its not what is best for MY family. Don't even try to tell me that you've done a million hours of research and everywhere you read says cloth is best and disposables cause rashes and blah blah blah. Its BS. Plus...I refuse to deal with poop more times than I have to. Disposables all the way here.
-I do NOT do organic. If something is on sale and it happens to be organic, then that is what we get. I refuse to spend an extra 25-100% more just for the "organic" label. Nothing wrong with things that aren't organic.
-I don't use hand sanitizer or wash my hands religiously. Therefore, I don't and won't ever make my kids do it like crazy either. Their immune systems need to get some germs to grow and be strong.
-That being said, if my kid is sick, I do NOT take him to interact with other children. That is rude, mean and purposely spreading diseases and such. Its gross enough for your own kid to walk around with snot dripping down his face...My kid won't be "that kid" wiping his snot on other's toys and clothing. Gross.
-I do sanitize bottles, breast pump parts, etc....once a week. Its ridiculous to me to do it more often. A simple wash with hot water and soap is plenty.
-Tucker uses a blanket as his comfort item.
-Rylie can pick her own comfort item..whether thats a blanket, a paci, thumb, stuffed animal, etc...she can pick.
-After 8 months, Tucker was off a bottle and only used sippy cups. A little earlier than I planned, but I was thrilled. None of my kids will ever you a bottle or a paci past 12 months.
-Tucker has and will continue and Rylie will get ALLLLLLLL their vaccinations. ALL of them.
-I refuse to push potty training. When they are ready, then we'll proceed and never look back. Until then, I refuse to push it.
-I let my kid drink sweet tea. He likes it. Scratch that, he LOVES it.
-Public schools all the way.
-My kids will NOT be raised in a church. We'll teach them about the bible and they'll know all the stories and such. But I will NEVER force religion on them. I will NEVER force them to believe one point of view is the best and only right way to see things. When they are old enough, they can decide if they would like to attend church or any other religious activities they wish.
-I won't let Tucker wear his pants so that you can see his entire butt. I won't let Rylie wear short shorts, belly shirts, shirts you can see her boobs, etc... My children will dress modest.
-Tucker sits in time out, gets his hand popped and occasionally even gets a spanking when he misbehaves. Rylie will too.
-I will NOT allow my children to drink before they are legal or to do drugs.
-My children will NOT smoke ciggerattes.
-I won't ever force my children to or make them feel like they HAVE to go to college.
-I let my kids get dirty, splash in puddles, etc. They're only kids once.
-I will use both homemade food and jar baby food for Rylie. I did with Tucker too.
-I let Tucker cry it out. Rylie will too.
-I will NOT co-sleep with my children.
-I am a baby wearer.
-I will NOT breastfeed Rylie past 2 years old. I do NOT want her remembering that.
-My children will NOT have cell phones when they are ten. Probably not even until they are in high school.
-My children will NOT go to day care or preschool. I am a SAHM.
-Tucker bites his nails. His father and I do too. Its not a great habit by any means, but there's nothing wrong with it. I will NEVER dip his hand in any kind of liquid or chemical or pepper to prevent him from continuing this.
-I do NOT leave my kids with sitters. I have occasionally left Tucker with my mother but I didn't become a mother for other's to do my job.
-I will let my kids drink juice, soda, etc (in moderation).
-I won't allow my children to use language like "balls, dick, tits, etc" or swear until they are well over the understanding age and at least in HS.
-I am a young mother. And I LOVE that I have children so young.
-Tucker plays with trucks, cars, etc. If Rylie would rather play with those over barbies and babies, she is welcome to.
-I refuse to buy "My Baby Can Read" or Baby Einstein, etc...My child can and will learn at their own pace.
-I feed on demand until 12ish months. Then a pretty regular 3 meals a day with snacks.
-My children will NEVER be homeschooled.
-My children will never need anything but their every want will NOT be met.
-I don't know how I feel about medication for children for ADD, etc. IF we ever come to that hump, I will make the decision I feel is best for MY child.
-I will NEVER have a planned home birth. I would do a birthing center if there was one available though.
-Tucker is circumsized. So glad he is.
-My children aren't allowed near certain family without me. I don't care if they are family or not..some people will NEVER be allowed near my children alone.
-I won't force my children to play sports, join clubs, etc.
-My children will NOT be racist.
-My children will be taught to see other lifestyles with an open mind (same sex partners, etc)


Honestly...It is none of anyone's business how I choose to raise my children. Judge me all you want..but keep it to yourself. I don't care how you feel about any of these topics/issues. They're MY kids.

But most importantly...no matter what, I will love them.

Time Flies

I never believed that saying "kids grow up too fast" or "don't blink they grow so fast" or any others along those lines...

Until the day I gave birth to Tucker.

I can NOT BELIEVE that was over two years ago...still seems like just yesterday.

My quiet helpless beautiful baby has grown so fast into a talking, walking, running sweetheart boy.

20ish weeks..

hours old..

Always so happy

Plays so hard he passes out..

Sitting at 3.5-4 months

Crawling by 6 months

Sweet smiles for everyone

Not so sure about the beach..

ALWAYS happy

Beautiful blues

Best taste tester ever!

snoozing

"Dunno" what? face

LOVE that smile!

sweetheart.

Never a dull moment.

Too big too fast

best little helper ever!

Its so crazy how fast Tucker has grown..

From a tiny little 7 lb 14 oz 22 3/4 in bundle of joy...

...into a 26+ lb 37+in boy full of joy.

Time has flown too fast.

But mommy has enjoyed EVERY. second. of it.

Every stage, every part, every moment...

I love you sweet beautiful boy <3

 

Surprise Baby Shower!!

I have awesome friends and family. Thats all I gotta say.

Very special thanks to Jennifer, Kayla and my parents :)

I thought my parents were just cooking dinner for my birthday and having one or two people over for dinner Saturday night.

Boy was I wrong!!

I got back for Charlotte's second birthday party and the living room was decorated for a baby shower and there was tons of little food and punch!

Jennifer and Kayla brought "It's a GIRL!" balloons and had invited several girls over to help me celebrate.

It was an awesome surprise!!

Miss Rylie is so lucky!! She's already loved by so many people :)

Cute cake!

<3

I had the best present opener helper!!

And the cutest helper ever :)

So thankful for my friends and family. Thank you guys so much.

Rylie got a ton of loot! She's one lucky little girl!!

Less than ten weeks now!!!

My ideal labor and birth...

We all know that baby decides when and how and everything else when it comes to labor and delivery…but its nice to know how you’d ideally like everything to happen…just in case. Its nice to know how you’d like it so that when it comes, if you get to decide, you can have it YOUR way and make the choices that’d make it an awesome experience to remember.

Tucker’s labor and delivery and all that, happened in a way that I wouldn’t of expected…but I still got the things that I wanted for the most part. For example, all natural, no separation (except for his circumcision) and lots of immediate contact.
Less than ten weeks till Rylie’s due date…so all of things I want and the way I would ideally want things to go has been on my mind a lot lately.
If I had my way, I would go to a birthing center. But since the closest one to us is in Chapel Hill (1 ½ hours away) and Tucker ended up coming in around 2 hours, there is no way for that to happen. But everything the birthing centers offer, is what I want.
One of my midwives already told me that she thinks this will be a fast labor, faster than Tucker‘s. And that sounds perfect, right? Yes in a way..
I keep going back and forth on how would be perfect. One second I think it’d be perfect for everything to happen super fast but the next I want everything to still be fast but slow enough so my mom has time to get here to watch Tucker.
Plan A…My mom gets here in time to watch Tucker for the majority of labor and everything hospital wise.
Plan B…A friend of ours watches Tucker until my mom can get here.
Plan C…Tucker goes with us and stays with me until my mom can get here.
Plan D…?? 911??? AHHH! NO thanks!!
Tucker came so fast that we were moved from a regular room to the delivery room without time to call anyone, grab our cameras or anything. Not complaining!! With no pain meds, the faster he popped out, the better! However, since the midwives all predict she will come fast and since statistics say most second babies come faster, makes me a little nervous as to how FAST she may really come and which plan we may have to take.
Don’t get me wrong, having Tucker attend wouldn’t be a bad thing. But I think it would be much less stressful on Zeke and especially myself if my mom were here with him and we didn’t have to worry about him at all. He’s a curious little thing and with all the things I ideally WANT, Zeke would have to focus most of his attention on Tucker and not be the support that I need for everything to work out. But like I said, if it happens that way and he is present, it won’t be a bad thing.
I hope to labor at home for as long as possible before going to the hospital.
I want to go ALL NATURAL. By that I mean, NO pain medicine (including but not limited to epidural), NO induction, NO medical intervention, NO help…ALL NATURAL.
I want to move around during labor.
I want to walk, use the birthing ball, change positions to however is most comfortable…
I do NOT want to be constantly monitored. Occasionally to make sure Rylie isn’t stressed is fine, just not constantly. That would make moving around and the rest of it pretty hard to do.
I want to use the shower and tub. I do NOT want to ever have a water birth (they weird me out) but I do want to labor in the shower and the tub. (This is assuming I am in labor long enough to need this. However, a short labor where this isn’t wanted or needed would be AWESOME!!)
I want to eat and drink whenever I feel like it. Especially drink…I love my water.
I want Zeke to be able to support me however I want at the time.
Massages, holding me up, supporting me verbally or physically, holding my legs to push,
supporting me while I use the birthing bar, etc…
I want a mirror so we can both watch her being born.
I do NOT want an episiotomy. I would rather tear.
I want to push WITH contractions. Not against them.
I want the option to push in different positions.
I do NOT want to push on my back. I want to try the birthing bar, use Zeke as support, squat…whatever feels best, that’s what I want to be doing.
I want to hold her AS SOON as she comes out.
I want Zeke to cut the cord again.
I want all newborn care to be done in my room or in my presence.
I want complete room-in.
We were told during our tour that they give mom and baby an hour or two after birth then take baby to the nursery for I infant care, bath, etc. Excuse me, but NO. All that can be done in my room or wait until I can go with her to the nursery. My midwives assured me they would respect this wish and we would not be separated.
I want NO separation of myself and Rylie. NONE.
I want to breastfeed ASAP. And ONLY breastfeed. No supplementing or bottles or anything of that sort.
I want to go home as soon as possible after birth.
I want little visitors until we‘re home. We’ve already asked most family to wait and everyone definitely agreed with us. We want Tucker to visit ASAP after she is born (granted he is not there for the birth.)
See…I want a LOT of things to happen in an ideal and perfect way. Its crazy that no one ever knows for sure (unless it’s a scheduled c-section or something of that sort) when or how baby will come. Wouldn’t it be awesome if all babies were born perfect, pain free and on their due dates?
This is how I really want it to happen. Any way that she comes will be perfect as long as she is healthy (and me too) but if I had MY way, that’s how it would go. Short, easy labor but long enough for mom to get here (it‘ll take her 3 hours to get here), all those things I listed above and a perfectly healthy baby girl and mama.

But like I said…Rylie is the one deciding everything…this is just how I would imagine my perfect labor and birth with her.

I'm already so very much in love with her!

Can't wait to meet my daughter!!

I love my little family and can't wait for Rylie to get here and meet her.

I can't wait for Tucker to meet his baby sister.

He's going to be an awesome big brother!



Belly Pics #1

Monthly..



Belly Pics #2

These pictures are all on facebook...but for those that emailed me and asked to see belly updates since you don't have a facebook...

About the time we started trying/found out..

16 weeks

18 weeks

20 weeks..

22 weeks

24 weeks

26 weeks

27 weeks

27 again

28 weeks

29 weeks

And I'll keep updating this one until the end :)

Great Success!!

Today was an excellent day! I LOVE spending time with BOTH my boys.

I love to tell Tucker that Daddy is home just to see him fly down the sidewalk to his daddy screaming "DADDY!! DADDY! DADDY!!" and jump into Daddy's arms.

Days like today make me realize how incredibly blessed I am.

Tucker says you know your day is starting out right when you get a large sweet tea and a hashbrown for breakfast.

His FAVORITE breakfast EVER!

(Yeah, I let my kid have sweet tea. And candy. I don't care if you don't even let your kid have juice. Shut it.)

Tucker was a real trooper for FOUR straight hours as we trooped from store to store, getting pretty much everything else we needed for Miss Rylie, Daddy, Mommy's birthday, the house and Charlotte's birthday party.

Now pretty much everything is bought and ready for Miss Rylie. Just gotta wait for her crib, swing, high chair, etc to arrive and we are SET!! (Thanks to our AMAZING friends!)

After a much need nap/rest for all of us, the afternoon was spent at the park and burgers at Fincastle.

EXCELLENT day!!

I love my boys sooooo incredibly much. Can't wait for Rylie to get here!

Days like today really prove to me how blessed I am!

Marble Kids Museum

Marble Kids Museum in Raliegh was AWESOME.

Tucker had an amazing time!!!

Yelling about the animals in the barn.

Playing with the tree house fort.

In the science room!

He LOVES fish! "Ish!! Ishie!! Ish!"

Look at his air!! Those bouncing things were awesome!

Playing in the water tanks :)

"Mon' Buddy! Buddy!"

Ball room! This place was so neat. He hated when the "Piggggggggy!" emptied on him tho!

Going up the tunnel thing to the slides!

"TRUCK!"

Driving the money truck :)

This place was awesome and definitely one that I recommend!! Tucker had the most amazing time!!