Quote for the day

Am I Mom Enough

This post has been many days in the making, and was a result of the Time Life cover Are You Mom Enough, it struck a cord with me and many other Mothers I am sure!

First let me say I am not opposed to extended nursing nor do I have anything against so called Attachment Parenting. What I am opposed to is labels, judgement and criticism, I feel the title of that article just sets us up to feel unless meet some stereotype we aren't Mom enough. Like the mother that after seeing me for I don't how many weeks at Story Time finally talked to me and confessed she felt like a bad mother because she couldn't give her 3 yr old the attention that he was used to getting before his brother came along, does that mean she isn't Mom enough or what about my friend who had to stop nursing her baby at only a few months old because she wasn't getting any support and sacrificing her own health to continue or myself who when my Son was only 3 weeks old crying in my kitchen because I was having to supplement him with formula because I wasn't producing enough breast milk to meet the requirements set out by his Dr at birth or am I less of a Mom because I have been unable to conceive another child even with the help of the Doctors,  does that mean my friend who nursed her daughter till well over 4 and much to the dismay of her partner does that mean she is a better Mom then all the rest of us?
Who and what determines how good of a Mom we are, in my opinion it is our children! Are they happy? Are they healthy? Are they growing? Are they meeting their milestones? But most importantly are we happy, do we feel Mom enough? The best piece advice ever given to me is that any decision has to reflect the best interest of the child but also the Mother. If we aren't happy then the child will not be either.
 I think as a society we are setting the bar so high for today's Mother to be this picture perfect Pinterest board, magazine ad Mom and that is not the reality. The reality is Mother hood is hard, it is messy and it isn't glamorous in any way!
I have been following this wonderful blog called Finding Joy she reminds me to enjoy the little things to let the mess happen because that is part of being little, to put one foot in front of the other and make time for one task off my list a day so I can feel like I accomplished something other than caring for a multitude of children ( I have 4 - 6 children in my care on any given day plus my Son)  and feeding my husband. She reminds me that I am "Mom Enough" even if I did not nurse my Son past 11mths or haven't birthed multiple children that I am "Mom Enough" just the way I am with all my flaws. So take some time today read her post Dear Over Worked Mom and realize that you are the perfect Mom for your child just the way you are even if your house is a mess and your baby is bottle fed!

What have we been up to?

It has been awhile again since I posted life is keeping us busy as both my husband I are continuing to work on our recoveries. Slowly but surely we can see a light at the end of the tunnel! Our Son turned 6 in March can you believe it, I can't! This year we hosted a Star Wars themed Birthday Party and it was fun, crazy but fun! I purchased a wonderful party kit on Etsy from Delightfulprints it was wonderful and made it so easy!

Shown are just a few of the items included in the kit! We also made for the party a pinata replica of the Death Star from the a soccer ball pinata thanks to pinterest! We also did pretzel light sabers and Star Wars sugar cookies, all and all it was good fun!

After the Birthday I have gotten myself busy crafting here are a few of my latest creations!

So as you can see from the many pictures I have kept myself really busy which has been good for me in many ways. It has helped to keep my mind occupied while we wait for our adoption to move onto the homestudy part of the process we are still waiting for our application to be approved for homestudy. This process is very long and at times feels very frustrating. We have recently come to the conclusion that in 3 years when our mortgage is up for renewal we will see where we are in the process and if we haven't progressed at all then we will pack up and go travel for a year at least! Also once we return from our mini vacation I plan to start a 30 day Hot Yoga challenge and will blog through that for all of you to read. I have a friend who completed one in January and she has Lupus and says it made a huge positive impact on her health. I am hoping to kick off our traveling by taking a one month Yoga Teacher training through Rainbow Kids International at least that is my plan at the moment.
As for the next little while well we are working on putting in our garden soon I have it planned out now we must gather our supplies we plan to build a raised bed garden this year making the containers out of pallet would, find our inspiration here on Pinterest of course! I will post finished photos for all of you once it is complete and planted. After that we are going to start a partial reno of our kitchen, this will be the first time in any of the houses we have owned that we will have done a kitchen and I am really excited. In this house with my daycare and my lifestyle the kitchen is the one room I spend the most time in. I am planning on doing it in mustard yellow with plum, white and black accents. See this color combo on Pinterest it is one of the ones I am considering for the plum and yellow. We are also going to doing our own farmhouse table and benches as well as wood counter tops! So as you can tell from this list we will continue to be busy, I will try and take some before pictures for you all and post our progress as I can. Looking forward to a busy spring and summer!