Brothers

I love that these two little guys have each other. There's nothing as impermeable as the bond between brothers. It's so good for them to learn about this kind of love. There are times when they get on each other's last nerve, but for the most part they are best buddies. It's comforting to know that they'll always have each other. And honestly I'm honored that I have gotten to witness this bond form and strengthen in the past two years. It's amazing and leaves me literally speechless.

When Liam has to get shots, Weston cries too. It's so reassuring to see him have this type of empathy. He feels his pain and wants to make it stop. It makes me feel like I must be doing something right. Wes likes to be the one to hand Liam his warm chocolate milk in the morning. He loves to watch the smile on his face and the comfort in his eyes. I understand, it's why I started the chocolate milk tradition with Wes in the first place.

In the afternoons, Liam stands at the front window and waits for Weston to get off the school bus. When he sees him, he can hardly contain his excitement. He starts jumping up and down shouting, "fuffen!" fuffen!" (that's how he pronounces Weston). He's truly thrilled just in his brother's sheer presence alone, and I am so thrilled, and blessed, to have the two of them and their love in this house every day.

Lactivist Hear Me ROAR!!!

A law was just recently passed in Wisconsin that states that a woman has a right to breastfeed anywhere that she has a right to be. The law includes a 200$ fine to anyone who tries to interfere with that right. Well, it's about dang time!!.....and when is Minnesota going to get on the train and pass a similar law?



Just having the law in support of breastfeeding mothers is going to make a huge difference. I actually think it may help to increase the number of women who breastfeed and may extend the time woman choose to feed their children. Having the law on our side may help reduce some of the stigma of breastfeeding. I have known several woman who have stopped breastfeeding because of the uncomfortable stares that have gotten while feeding in public.



No, the law will not stop the stares not right away. But it will make people realize that breastfeeding is a right and that you can't discriminate against people who breastfeed, just as you can't discriminate against people who are diabetic or disabled, and that you have to make accommodations to help them.



A law was passed a few years ago in Minnesota that requires employers to allow breastfeeding mothers additional break time to pump and they have to provide a private area for pumping and that area cannot be the bathroom. This was another remarkable step in the right direction.



Seeing these changes makes me feel so empowered. Woman speaking out CAN make a difference for their families and their children. And these laws will help not only them, but also other woman and families in the future.



I am SO going to go put on my pink lactivist T-shirt right now!







"It's not about my right to breastfeed, it's about my child's right to eat!" So true!

Is your spouse your soul mate?

It's been brought up lately in the media and amongst friends.... this notion of "soul mates". Many of us seem unsure what the words even mean, but are surely hesitant to say our spouses do not fit this unclear obscure term.





To me "soul mate" is the one person in this universe and across all time and space continuum who is a perfect match to my immortal soul. If that's really the definition how likely is it that someone would find, and let alone actually marry, their "soul mate"?

So, just on the odds of probability, I'm going to say (for argument sake) that my husband Nate is not my soul mate. Surely that can be argued, and in some of the earlier days of our marriage I would have been certain of it.

You see, for years I couldn't help but focus on faults, his faults, my faults, the faults in our relationship and in the way we communicate. There were (and still are) a lot of faults to be found. It wasn't until just recently that I've settled on the idea that...

I am not perfect, Nate is not perfect, our relationship certainly is not perfect. We may not be "soul mates" but we sure care about each other a lot, and we have a lot of core values that line up in a way that makes us content. We can make each other laugh until our eyes water and we get so angry at each other sometimes our words come out like spit. So in the way we compliment and contrast each other, and in the way we work together, we are perfect.

Nate is an Engineer. He's Mr. Logical. Give him a problem and he'll solve it. Everything is black and white in his linear world. I think he might even dream in mathematical equations. I, on the other hand, am a flowery blob of emotional goo and sort of a Freudian hedonistic brat (but I mean that in the best possible way).

Like an elaborate quilt the contrast makes it possible to see the pattern and there may be flaws, but nothing that one could see from a galloping horse. So if I relax and focus on the positive I see the beauty of our marriage.

Our union works despite not being "soul mates" because when we work together, when I wander to the side of the logical and am forced to turn off the technicolor and he crosses into the emotional and begins to notice the subtle hues of rose, lavender, and honeydew.... fantastic things happen. Our life is balanced.

I've started to see my faults and his, and the faults of our relationship, not as faults but as pieces that make up the beautiful quilt that is our lives. Some are tattered, some are torn, some bright and colorful prints, some a solid subtle hue. They all come together to make something so unique, so spectacular, and so totally ours.