It turns out my parents really weren’t that bad
We choose our best and happiest pictures to populate our photo albums. Flipping through my baby scrapbook, you will witness my father’s disgruntled smile and my mother’s listless eyes. Most memories I have of my childhood resemble an under-developed Polaroid, with faded smiles and red eyes, in which no one is saying cheese. Mum and dad were raised in devout Catholic families. They met young and quickly vowed their eternal love to God and each other, and like good Catholic progeny, attempted to raise as many kids as they could. My parents were not well suited for matrimony, nor for procreation, at least not the way I remembered them before I became a parent.
OMG YOU GUYS it’s a DIY My Little Pony plushie tutorial
When I asked my brother if there was anything I could make for my niece for the holidays, I was a little overwhelmed when he suggested a My Little Pony — Friendship is Magic plushie of Pinkie Pie. I’d never sewn a stuffed animal before, and I’d be a pony newbie creating something to give to a pony expert!
A Southern engagement/family session for two moms and their kiddos
The family chose to shoot near a lake they call “Turtle Lake” (they recently set a turtle free there). Everyone showed up in matching bow ties and Toms and, according to Schellie, ROCKED their photos.
Bridging the gap with my children’s interests: Why one geeky dad is learning to love cartwheels
I’m beginning to have an understanding of what my father felt when he came home after working all day, grabbed our baseball mitts, and stepped into my room to ask if I wanted to play catch. He would usually find me on the floor of my room, in the midst of a galactic battle between good and evil, Empire and Rebellion. Now that I’m a father, I find myself with two young daughters who have the same view of their father as their grandfather once held.
I never planned to breastfeed a toddler, and now I do all the time
I don’t know how it is in other countries and cultures, but breastfeeding brings out a lot of emotions in this country, mainly of discomfort. The idea that breasts, the symbol of female sexuality, should provide the ultimate nourishment to babies, the symbol of innocence, just seems, so, well, unnatural. Before I had children, I thought I was OK with nursing babies, but the idea of a toddler nursing was, if not obscene, at least weird — a kid being able to ask to nurse! I vowed to be discreet, not to make anyone else uncomfortable. I still remember my cousin feeding her baby during a wedding reception when I was a kid. While she was talking to my father! I wouldn’t do that in front of any of my uncles.
Where can I find children’s books about LGBT adoptive families?
My wife and I are currently in the middle of adopting! I keep on looking for adoption books to collect and share with our future wee ones, but all of the adoption kid’s books I find always have a mommy and daddy on them. Where oh where can I find the unicorns that are two-mom adoption books?
Family photo fun time with an international blended family of six
This set of photos from Maine-based Justine Johnson Photography celebrates a blended family of AWESOME: Manya and Brian live in Kenya with their four kiddos. These two were both divorced when they met, and happily joined her two daughters and his two sons together. When the six of them were altogether visiting grandparents in Maine last summer they decided to round up the gang for photos — and here’s what they came away with.
Why we’ve never waited twelve weeks to tell people we’re pregnant
My partner and I just can not keep a secret. The excitement for new things is just too much to hold in and inevitably leads to early Christmas gifts and disclosing information possibly too prematurely. We have never waited to tell our friends and family we are expecting. Our children know within days of a positive pregnancy test and share in our excitement and wonderment the entire pregnancy. It was no different when we found out that we were expecting our fifth child on my birthday in 2011. Our family celebrated welcoming a brother or sister while I blew out my candles.