In the Interest....

....of full disclosure:

Photo Editing - I don't do it. Well, I do crop photos....but, I do not edit any aspect of the photograph. I talked about this a little bit in my Wordless Wednesday post last week. Like I said, here, if I do manage to figure out my Elements software I will always let you know how/why I edited the photograph.

Attachment Parenting - I am about as attached as a parent can get. My children rarely spend any time without me nearby. I do take 30-60 minutes a day for myself (Hubs watches them at this time) to just relax, tan, blog, or run errands. Other than those 30-60 minutes they are with me.

I should add that twice a month I do run to the grocery store. This usually takes me 2 hours (we don't have any grocery stores near by, it is a half hour drive each way), but Hubs is ALWAYS home with them during this time.

To give you a little perspective of just how much time my children spend away from Hubs or I: Jack has spent maybe 75 hours (all with my Mom) and Ady has spent maybe 8 hours (with Grandma as well) in their entire lives. And the only reason Jack's number is so high is because I was in the hospital giving birth to Ms. Ady.

Breast Feeding - I would have loved to have breast fed my children. However, if just wasn't possible for me.

Jack: He was born with jaundice, so from the start we were constantly supplementing breast milk with formula to flush his system. Being a first time Mom I didn't realize how crucial it is to build up your milk supply in the beginning. I missed out on this opportunity. Two weeks after his birth he was finally jaundice free and I tried to just exclusively breast feed. I was pumping constantly (pumping every hour for 10-15 minutes, even throughout the night), but I could never get my milk supply up to support his nutritional needs. So, after two months of "part-time" breast feeding we stopped.

Ady: During the third trimester of my pregnancy with Ady I was diagnosed with rheumatoid arthritis. After giving birth to Ady, I was encouraged to get on a medication to alleviate some of the pain I was experiencing with my RA. Once I was one the medicine (which you can not take while breast feeding) I realized just how much pain I was dealing with every. single. day. I had told myself that if I didn't notice a difference, I would stop using the medication and begin breast feeding again. Well, the difference is definitely noticeable (huge, in fact)...and I really think we made the best decision for our family. Ady has been happily bottle feeding most of her life, and I am a better Mom for my children because I am able to get on the floor and roll around with them....I wasn't able to (without pain) before.

Television - We watch t.v. (in fact we have a 60 in' t.v., thanks to my husband. Yes, it is too big...but, he owned the t.v. before I even knew him). My children aren't really interested in it, but it is almost always on. I hate the quiet...so, some sort of sound needs to be going all the time. For the most part, it the on Fox News....and isn't being watched, even by me. I am most definitely not one of those parents who allows t.v. to baby-sit their children, and I would never even consider doing this.

Baby Slings/Wraps - I don't use them. I have tried, but I have yet to find one I really enjoy wearing. I should point out that I am cheap, very cheap...and I can't justify spending $50 or more on a baby sling/wrap. I just can't justify it. I have no problem spending that on a diaper bag, but a sling/wrap, no. I am weird I know....I have a slight obsession with diaper bags.

Co-Sleeping - I don't see the benefit. There are so many more negatives than positives. Both of my children have never slept with us (even if we want Jackson to cuddle up with us, he just isn't comfortable). Jackson has been in his own bed (and room) since two weeks old, and Ady has been in her own bed since birth...however she is still in our room since she gets up in the middle of the night. (Seriously folks, I don't want two babies up in the middle of the night.)

What are the positives? I really can't think of any. Yes, I can kind of understand it if you had adopted a child and were trying to have that child become attached to you...but, otherwise they are already attached to you. They lived, inside you, for 9 (really it's 10, most of the time) months. How much more attached can you get?

The negatives: suffocation, unable to sleep without you, not enough sleep because of other peoples tossing and turning, etc etc etc.

Home schooling - This is something Hubs and I have yet to fully deal with. We are debating. I love the idea of controlling what my children learn (specifically regarding "controversial" issues), however I have some reservations. There are areas of school which I am just not good at. I don't get science, first of all it bores me and secondly I have never done well in my science classes. Another reservation we have is the social aspect. Ugh, we are still debating this one (for our family)...but, as a rule I love the idea of homeschooling and give huge props to women (and men) who home school their children.

Cloth Diapers - All for them. In this season of our lives it just isn't feasible, however. We live in an apartment, with an outrageously expensive washer and dryer....so, we do all our laundry, once a week, at my parents. This is not really conducive with cloth diapering. That being said, we don't do it.

Sharing Household Duties - My husband and I split most of the household duties. My "job" is to stay home with our children: play with them, educate them, nurture them, etc. His job is working for APX Alarm. So, since we both have "jobs" we equally (most of the time) share the household duties. For example, laundry: he washes and drys, I fold, then I put away my stuff...plus the kids, and he puts away his stuff (sometimes, hehe). It works for us. But I know that each and every family is different.

Organic Eating - I don't make purchasing organic foods a priority. I probably should, but I don't. I buy tons of fruits and vegetables...we eat mostly chicken...and I generally cook a very balanced meal. But, organic or not...I just don't care.

I will admit that I haven't done much research into the differences between organic vs. traditional foods, but I just don't visibly see the difference between the two (other than the price tag!). We do purchase locally, when we can, but most of the year it is store bought fruits and veggies instead of our local farmers market.

Vaccinations - My children follow the traditional time-line for receiving vaccinations.

Circumcision - My son is circumcised.

Abortion - 100% pro-life. Life begins at conception.

Politics - Less government control is the name of my game. I am a registered republican, with some libertarian tendencies.

I am sorry if this offends anyone, I don't mean too. I respect other peoples opinions, and I hope that you will respect mine.

Wow, I really enjoyed writing this post...and getting everything out in the open (although some of you probably already know my stance on several of these issues).

Is there anything I missed? Anything that you would like to know? I am an open book. Feel free to send me an e-mail or leave a comment and I will either update the post, or write another one!