To cut or not to cut, the question no one seems to question..

Infant penis after circumcision

Intact infant penis

Kelly's Story..


When we had our son we really didn’t put any thought into whether to get him circumcised. I left that decision up to my husband really. . We knew that there was no medical need for one. And our religion doesn’t make us do it. We thought that our son would have questions later in life about why he didn’t look like the other boys like that, or look like his daddy. To us it was just one of the things you just do with out any real thought. If it was good enough for me(my husband) then it is good for him.

Sarah's Story..

Once again, I am not attacking anyone or their beliefs, everyone has the right to choose what they think is best for their family.  I may say some things that may offend some people, I just want to emphasize that this is not my intention, I am only saying what I feel, and I happen to feel a great deal for this topic, having a beautiful baby boy myself.  I am going to touch on quite a few facts and myths about circumcision and will try to keep it short.  But something tells me that it may fail me.  But I will also include a selection of websites that I get my information from (other than just my personal beliefs) so you can check them out yourself in greater detail.

After I found out that  I was pregnant with a boy the first thing that came into my mind was that I was going to have to make the decision whether or not I was going to have my son circumcised.  I hadn't done any research about it at this time, but I didn't feel right with it.  Something about it just didn't sit right with me.  Like most mothers, I wanted to make sure that my son was happy when he grew older and was afraid of the idea of him being made fun of simply because his penis looked different from someone else's, not to mention that he would look different from his father.  But the more I thought about it, I began to question whether or not it was worth putting my son through something so incredibly painful just because he MIGHT get made fun of.  But  I just put the thought to my side and told my husband that he is the one who is going to make the decision because I myself don't have a penis, so I didn't know if I was capable of making a decision that would have such an important impact in my sons life (not to mention that I just didn't want to feel guilty for the pain he was sure to feel).  Thankfully, one day my sister Emily asked me if I was going to circumcise my son or not, and wondering why I chose what I did.  When I told her that I was leaving it up to my husband she decided to send me a little bit of information on the whole process, and I couldn't have been more thankful to her.  I, like most people, didn't think to research the pros and cons about it, I was just too focused on the taboo of uncircumcised men to think any further, and once I actually started to look at the facts, I was absolutely shocked at what I found.  

When people find out that I left my son intact, the first thing they ask is "why?".  To me, this is a little weird cause I have plenty of reasons, but answer me this, why did you get him circumcised?  Most will give the whole it's cleaner, healthier, and better looking talk and I will just nod my head and say because what's done is done, so me saying anything wont change anything, it may only just start an argument.  There are so many myths surrounding the uncircumcised, or intact, penis, I just don't know where to start.  So bare with me as I try to write them all out, and please keep an open mind.

Myth #1- I'm pretty sure that one of the first things that come to your mind is that an uncircumcised penis is that it is dirty, nasy, and smelly.  So I ask you this, if you are female, does your vagina smell?  No?  Probably because you clean it everytime you bathe, as you should.  And your vagina hasn't been ciricumcised, but yet with the proper care and hygene, you remain smell free and probably don't think of yourself as dirty or nasty. Right about now you are probably thinking "But the vagina and foreskin of a male penis have nothing in common", but I beg to differ.  Look un the dictionary under foreskin and tell me what you see.  It says; Noun, the prepuce of the penis.  Now go look up prepuce.  What do you find?  It says; Noun. 1 the fold of skin that covers the head of the penis; foreskin. 2 a similar covering of the clitorus.  That says enough for me.  It serves the same function on a female as it does a male, but you would never think about circumcising your little baby girl, would you? (which is a good thing seeing as how it is illegal in the US). When an intact male pees, the urine will flush out foreign microbes that may have gotten inside the foreskin.  And in healthy people, urine is actually sterile and has a disinfectant quality, so when the urine passes through, it is actually cleaning itself.  But even though pee passes through the foreskin every day, it is pretty much free of urea.  Research has shown that the secretions of semial vecicles, prostate, and urethral mucous glads keep the foreskin clear and clean.  It's the same concept as tears being the self-cleaning agent of your eye.  So a penis left intact is naturally clean, and the view of the uncircumcised penis being dirty is compleletly unscientific.  The American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP) says "Good personal hygiene would offer all the advantages of routine circumcision without the attendant surgical risk."

Myth #2- Many people have their infants circumcised, so it must be remcomended highly by medical officails.  Think again.  Circumcision actually isn't recomended by ANY national medical association in the entire world.  Several medical associations have done many studies and found no evidence to support the practice.  And when it comes to having newborns and infants circumcised, it is actually a recomendation to NOT have it done routinely, saying it is non-therapeutic.

Myth #3-  People think that the foreskin doesn't serve any important function to the penis and that it's just a bit of "extra skin".  Unfortunatly that isn't the case.  The forskin contains about 10,000 highly specialized nerve endings and several feet of blood vessels, making it more sensative than fingertips, the head of the penis, or even the lips of the mouth.  It is an important sourse of erotogenic, orgasim inducing sensations.  Intact males are more sensative to the slightest touches, whereas the circumcised male has to work a bit harder to feel sensations, making circumcised males LESS likely to wear a condom during sex because it inhibits pleasure.  The foreskin also acts a a self-lubracant during mastubation and sex, causing less vaginal dryness and taking out the need for using lube.

Myth #4- Preventing urinary tract infections?  Not so much.  Sure there are rumors, but now the AAP knows that any benfits to circumcision in prevention to UTI's is very small, and only for the first 6 months of life.  UTI's are actually more common in wome, there's about a 900x greater likelihood.(yet we still don't approve of circumcising our little girls)

Myth #5- Contrary to popular belief, no, not every boy is circumcised.  Only 15% of males world wide have a circumcised penis, and in America it's about 60% but it's decreasing every year.  And who cares if he doesn't look the everyone else?  SInce when have we approved of getting a cosmetic procedure done for our kids just so they will "fit in"?  Don't get me wrong, I dread the day that my son comes home from school sad because someone made fun of him, but that doesn't mean that I am going to rush off and get him a procedure to fix it.  I empathize, but I am not going to send the message that it's ok to get an unnecessary and risky surgery just because of peer pressure.  I wouldn't give him a nose job, and if I had a girl I wouldn't get her a boob job, I would teach them how to respect their bodies to the best of my ability.  People need to realized that circumcised or not, your kid will be picked on for some reason, that's just how kids are.  It's an unfortunate part of society.  And for the whole thing about women preferring a circumcised penis, I'm sure that's true, for SOME women.  Not everyone has the same preferences.  And if a person is shallow enough to break up with a guy just because he isn't circumcised, well that's not really much of a loss on his end is it?  Some people will ask if I feel bad at all at the potential of my son getting teased...well sure I do.  But I don't feel half as bad for that, as I do for the 200-300 baby boys who will die each year due to circumcision complications.

Myth #6-  People think that if their baby gets a local anesthetic(which most babies don't) that the procedure doesn't hurt the baby.  Which I'm sure it's true, party.  You forget that the actual injection itself hurts the baby, and that the anesthetic wears off very shortly after, and postoperative pain last for days.  Not to mention the pain of constantly rubbing up against a diaper full of pee and poo. Studies indicate that those babies who appear to sleep through a circumcision have most likely slipped into a semicomatose state, and a slew of recent studies on newborns, traumatic experience and sensory perception support this hypothesis.  And for the people who say that it's ok because he won't remember it...um..so are you telling me that it would be ok if your child got hit by a car because he or she wont remember it??  Regardless of the memory, they are still going to go through the pain, and nothing about that is ok.  At least not to me. How many women who get their sons circumcised actually sit in there with their little babies?  I find it shocking how many don't because they "can't take it", well imagine how he feels.  Just being born and learning how to trust and then strapped down to a table and has a chunk or highly sensitive skin cut off.  The procedure can be so traumatic for some babies that it disrupts feeding habits and interferes with the mother-baby bonding process.

Myth #7- Sure some studies show a slight difference in STDs and AIDS in circumcised and uncircumcised males, but other studies show an opposite effect, or one so insignificant that it really doesn't matter.  "The US has the highest rate of medically unnecessary, non-therapeutic infant circumcision in the world - and yet the HIV infection rate in North America is twice the rate in Europe, where circumcision rates are low." (The Truth About Circumcision and HIV by Gussie Fauntleroy) What it comes down to is wearing a condom, practicing safe sex.  NOT circumcision status.

Myth #8 I'm sure you've heard that circumcision prevents a form of penile cancer, but according to a letter from the American Cancer Society (National Home Office) to the American Academy of Pediatrics on Feb 16th 1996, "The American Cancer Society does not consider routine circumcision to be a valid or effective measure to prevent such cancers... Penile cancer is an extremely rare condition, affecting one in 200,000 men... Perpetrating the mistaken belief that circumcision prevents cancer is inappropriate".  "Men have a higher chance of getting BREAST CANCER (0.7% likelihood) than they do of getting penile cancer (0.09%). To argue that circumcision decreases the rate of penile cancer is like arguing that if we keep kids locked inside their bedroom their whole life they won't get struck by lightening outside. It is absurd. Yes, if you cut an organ off your body, you will not ever get cancer in that organ. Cut off the breasts, we will not get breast cancer. Skin a person, and we won't see melanoma. Maybe we should severe all organs & limbs & live as vegetables." (http://www.drmomma.org/2009/10/dads-view-of-circumcision.html)

Myth #9- Most people think that non-religious circumcisions are based on disease prevention, but that's not the case.  Non-ritual circumcision evolved from a misunderstanding of bodily function by physicians of the late-19th century.  Many doctors of that era believed that a normal foreskin could cause disease and lead to increased incidence of “self-abuse.”  John Harvey Kellogg, of cereal fame, was a proponent of genital cutting as a cure for this “horrible practice.”  He recommended performing circumcision “without administering an anesthetic, as the pain attending the operation will have a salutary [health-giving] effect upon the mind, especially if connected with the idea of punishment.”   (from Gollaher D. Circumcision: A History of the World’s Most Controversial Surgery, New York, Basic Books, 2000)

Myth #10- You shouldn't think of circumcision as a way to prevent it later in life.  The truth of the matter is that medically necessary circumcisions are extremly rare.  Any problem with the foreskin can almost always be treated using more conservative treatments.

If you stick to your belief that it is medically necessary, then by using this logic you should also believe in female circumcision.  We use the same medical reasons to circumcise our sons that people over in Africa use to circumcise their daughters, yet the practice of female circumcision is illegal in America. Saying that it is healthier, more hygienic, and is more aesthetically pleasing. Even claiming that it also reduces the risk of getting HIV. I'm finding it hard to see why people have such a double standard to this. 

"We either choose to acknowledge the right of bodily integrity, or we do not. If this is accepted as a basic human right, then it automatically applies equally to all humans, regardless of sex, religion, [age], or cultural background. If denied as a right to one group, it is not a right for all, but a special privilege guaranteed only to a protected class." ~ Evan Saveron

There are many reasons why I chose not to circumcise my son, but the biggest reason was it's simply just not my choice.  It is HIS body, not mine.  The procedure is being done on the only person who cannot consent to it.  In no other practice would this be accepted. If we were to do this same procedure to a dog, cat, or any other mammal we would be charged with animal cruelty. Just because I think that you need liposuction, doesn't mean I have the right to make you get it.  If he wants a circumcision when he is older, than I fully support his choice.  And at least when he is older he will be able to be put under for the procedure and receive pain medication for afterwards.  Circumcision is permanent, whereas if he isn't circumcised he can change that in the future.  I would rather my son hate me for a moment (even though I highly doubt that he will if he is fully informed) and be able to change the choice I made for him than to hate me for a lifetime for making a choice that he is now stuck with forever.

Here are some helpful sites to check out if you are more interested.

http://www.nocircpa.org/4642.html

http://www.naturalchildbirth.org/natural/resources/newborn/newborn03.htm

http://www.drmomma.org/2009/09/functions-of-foreskin-purposes-of.html

http://www.drmomma.org/2010/01/are-you-fully-informed.html

http://www.askdrsears.com/html/1/t012000.asp

http://circumcisiondecisionmaker.com/watch-circumcision-video/

Through pregnancy, labor, delivery and a little post partum

Kelly's story:


It was a tough road for us to have Kairi. 3 years and 2 miscarrages to be exact.  I had the 1st miscarrage when our son was 6 months old, which was over Christmas of 2007. Needless to say that Christmas sucked. So after that miscarrage I got but on birth control to help with getting my cycles regular again and to help me get over the miscarrage. That miscarrage was rough. I went into a semi depression after. Thank God for my husband. He was very supportive and didn’t let me sink to far just far enough to wollow in it then made me snap out. And I had our son Aiden to take care of so I had to stay strong for him. I had my birth control taken out in November of 2008 and we started trying again. I got pregnant again July of 2009 and miscarried it in August of 2009 over my birthday. Yeah my 22nd birthday sucked just like that Christmas did. Unlike the last time I got a lot more depressed. And it ended up in very drunken night that only made me feel way worse which pulled me out of it. It has taken me a while to realize that the miscarriages were not my fault but it is still hard to talk about. And this is the first time I have spoken openly about them to anyone outside of our family.

On November 11th 2009 (Veteran’s Day) we found out that we were expecting our little girl. We didn’t tell anyone we were pregnant right away. It took us till our 1st ultrasound before we told anyone.  Seeing her little heartbeat was the most amazing thing! I was sick a great deal the first half of my pregnancy. I could not stand the smell of food or the taste of food. I lost like 7 pounds in the first 4 months. I had a tough time putting the weight on. I started out at 153 and ended up at 170.  It took constantly making myself eat the last 4-5 months to put on the weight. The last half of my pregnancy besides making myself eat was a breeze. I started going in to premature labor at 34 weeks they gave me a shot to stop the contractions and medicine to keep the contractions stopped. It sucked! The shot hurt like hell and the medicine tasted like crap. At 36 weeks they took me of the medicine. They said I would probably go into labor quickly after I got it all out of my system. Boy they were wrong. The last 2 weeks of my pregnancy were heck. I was having contractions out the butt but no progress. My due date I wound up walking around Hollywood Blvd., trying to get the contractions going, with my in-laws and my hubby. But no baby. On the 23rd of July the midwife stripped my membranes at 4:30ish. The pain was horrible when she stripped them. And it was pretty much instantaneous to get the contractions started for me. By 7:00 I was in the hospital hoping to be admitted. But alas no luck. I was 3 cm and 50% effaced. They told me to go walk around for 2 hours and they would check me again. I walked and walked in pain the entire time. When I went back I was 3 ½ cm and still 50% effaced. So I went home and labored in bed till 11:30 that night. I had my in-laws there to help with our son which was great J. So we went to the hospital and the checked me and I was between 3-4  cm and 75% effaced. They admitted me thankfully. They asked me if I wanted an epidural and I said yes I had had enough pain. Yes I am a weenie I admit it. They had to do blood work to see if I could get it and that took like 45 minutes. So they gave me a shot of something I can’t remember the name of lol. It made the world go loopy but it was a good kind . I knew what was going on but the world was a little spiny and fuzzy. I still felt the contractions So I finally got my epidural and I was in heaven. I went to sleep and they work me up at like 1:30 am on the 24th to break my water and I was 5-6 cm. So I went back to sleep at 3 am they gave me poticin cause my contractions weren’t progressing. I have no relocation of them giving me poticin I was that fast asleep. So at 7:00 I got woke up to be checked and I was ready to go J. They had me to practice pushes to see if I was too numb. I wasn’t thankfully. So I did a few pushes and I had to stop. I didn’t know it at the time but she was already coming out. That was after 3 pushes. So the doctor came in and with another 2 pushes Kairi was born at 7:37am. About 37 minutes of actively pushing and we had are beautiful baby girl.

I was up and walking around by that night. Just around my room to the bathroom and to the window. But I was up. The next day I wanted to walk around to a vending machine. The nurse said I was the first mom since he started there over a year ago to want to walk the day after. I told him I’d  done it before. He said I was still the first. That made me feel good. I did attempt to breastfeed. But I know that breast feeding is not always best for some people. I did do it for almost 2 weeks, mixing breast feeding, pumping and formula. But I finally settled on formula and we are doing great on it. I feel no guilt at giving up on breast feeding but if I have another I will attempt it again.  Now it is 8 weeks later and we are doing good. 


Sarah's Story

I remember when I first found out that I was pregnant; talk about shock! Since my husband and I weren't exactly doing anything to prevent pregnancy, but not actively trying either, I would take a pregnancy test about once a month or just if I thought my period was late. A part of me actually thought that I couldn't get pregnant because we have had accidents before and no baby yet. Not to mention the "oops" I have had with previous boyfriends. So I guess deep down inside a part of me would actually get a little sad every time a test would turn up negative. But I told myself that whatever happens happens, and to stop worrying about whether or not I could have a baby and just be happy that I have an amazing husband. November of 2009 was when I found out. I had no idea I was pregnant. I didn't have one single sign or symptom, unless you count be a little extra gassy lol. I honestly didn't think I was pregnant and for the first time, it didn't bother me. I didn't even want to take a pregnancy test because I just knew that it would be negative. I was a little crampy so I was positive that my period was just a few days away. But my husband wanted me to check anyways, just in case. So I just bought a cheap Wal-Mart brand test and took it. My husband actually watched this time and when the little test line came up and no other line I said, "See, I told you I'm not pregnant." So he left the bathroom and I cleaned up, got up to wash my hands, picked up the test to throw it away and I'll be damned if it didn't have another little pink line there. If I wasn't so shocked, I may have cried. So I yelled out and in came my husband, wondering what was wrong. He just laughed when I showed him the test and then took me to get two more.
I can honestly say I had a really good pregnancy. I was only sick for two weeks the entire pregnancy. For the first three months I just wanted to sleep, and boy did I. I think I got on average of 14-16 hours a day. The second trimester I got my energy back and was able to start working out again. A friend and I would go to the gym sometimes twice a day. I never overworked myself, just small workouts here and there, and plenty of yoga. Since my husband was gone from month 4 to 7 for a deployment, I had plenty of time to do whatever I wanted to take care of myself. By the time he got home in the 7th month, I didn't have as much time to work out because he would take the car to work. He and I would still go for walks and things to keep me active. Not once did I get heart burn or headaches, and my back hurt only two nights the whole time. I only gained 15 lbs and only got one stretch mark(this coming from a woman who is 5'5 130 lbs and has stretch marks all over hips, thighs, and butt. and my knee caps, but I'm not too sure how that happened lol). And when it came time for the delivery of my wonderful son, it couldn't have gone better. My water broke on its own at 6:30 a.m., and five hours later at 11:27 a.m. I had my 6 lb 2 oz baby boy after only 10 minutes of pushing. The first 4 hours of my labor were managed through different positioning, walking, a birthing ball, and a warm bath.  I think I even bit the bed once, too lol. Those first hours were a piece of cake, but that last hour was determined to kick my butt! My body wanted the baby OUT, but the midwives were saying I wasn't fully dilated yet and to try not to push, and for anyone who has gone through labor, fighting against your body is the worst thing you can do because it only makes the pain worse. And I had no medications. I wanted an all natural, un-medicated birth. And thankfully, I was able to do exactly that. Once he was out he was immediately put onto my chest and we waited until the cord had stopped pulsing until we clamped and cut it. Waiting assures that your baby gets all the blood supply he was meant to get, boosting his iron, reducing the chances of anemia, and increases the baby's blood volume up to 30 %. The only drawback they found was that is caused some babies to get too much red blood cells and they developed jaundice, but my baby didn't. And I know a lot of babies that had their cord cut right away and they had jaundice, so for me that is a risk worth taking.

I was up walking around about an hour after giving birth (after skin to skin contact, pictures, and breastfeeding for the first time). After a few hours in the delivery room we were transferred to the mother and baby ward where were to stay for 48 hours (first time mother mandatory time frame). I didn't get any sleep for the first 38 hours after having the baby because nurses were coming in and out of the room and me having to feed the baby. And being a new mom, every little peep he made I was up checking him. But he didn't cry all night (and still doesn't cry to this day unless I just don't give him my breast fast enough...little piggy); all he wanted was to sleep. I wasn't in any pain after having him other than the uterine cramps from my uterus retracting to its normal size. All the nurses kept asking if I needed any pain meds to which my answer was always no. One of them actually told me that in all her years there, I am the only person to deny the pain meds after having a baby. I wasn't trying to prove a point or anything, I just didn't need them. After we left the hospital, my healing went great. My pelvic and lower back bones only hurt for about 4 days after I had the baby, and after that all the pain was gone. I felt good enough to start working out two weeks after coming home, but each time I would work out I would start to bleed a little, which they said was a sign I was pushing myself too hard. One week after delivery (maybe sooner, I don't own a scale so I had to weigh myself at my sister’s house) I had lost all my baby weight and was back to my normal size and back into all my old clothes. Of course my skin was just a tiny bit looser than before, but I didn't expect that to go away so soon. I didn't get any depression, and my "baby blues" were considerably less noticeable than a normal bout of PMS. I was happy, my husband was happy, and we were stress free. We had a happy, healthy baby boy who didn't keep us up all night and never cried. We didn't argue for at least 6 weeks after he was born. Everything went better than I could have imagined.

I contribute my good pregnancy and labor mostly to my diet. I eat a very natural, organic diet. Not to mention that I am a vegetarian, and about 75% vegan (I can't fully commit because I have a severe cheese addiction.) About 90% of the time I don't eat anything if its ingredients weren't what the product actually was. No artificial this, or natural flavor that. If I ate peanut butter, that's exactly what it was. Organic Peanuts with a little sea salt added. Spaghetti sauce is just fresh, organic herbs, spices and tomatoes. I'll admit, it is a very frustrating task trying to fulfill a pregnant woman’s cravings with a diet so strict (which led to me taking it out on my husband a lot of the time lol. Sorry dear =)) but to me, it was all for the baby. I wanted him to have the best start in life and for me that meant keeping my diet as natural as possible. (Note that I ate like this even before I got pregnant. It's the lifestyle that my husband and I live). Some people will say that eating organic isn't much healthier or different than eating non-organic, but I beg to differ. If I am thinking healthy food an ingredient that’s sole purpose is to kill doesn't come to mind. But that's not the only reason why. This may be a little lengthy, but here are the main reasons why I eat organic:
1) It tastes better. It just makes sense that something in its natural, fresh state would taste better than something altered. If you don't believe me, try it yourself with a blind taste test.
2) It is healthier. Organic food tends to contain higher levels of vitamin C, cancer fighting antioxidants, and essential minerals such as calcium, magnesium, iron and chromium. Scientists have proven in over 100 studies that organic food choices have far superior nutritional quality than conventional food choices.
3) No nasty additives. Organic food doesn't contain food additives that can cause health problems like heart disease, osteoporosis, headaches and/or migraines and hyperactivity.
4) No genetic modification. Organic standards do not allow crops and ingredients that have been genetically altered. For more info on GMO check here http://organic.lovetoknow.com/Why_GMOs_Are_Bad
5) New studies actually show that some pesticides actually inhibit weight loss and can cause weight gain. Organic foods avoid pesticides. There are more than 400 chemical pesticides routinely used in conventional farming of non-organic food. A lot of people choose to not buy or eat organic foods because of how much it cost. I admit it can be pricey. My husband and I spend about $800 a month in groceries for the two of us. But when you eat food that may contain poisons the cost is far higher than simply the price tag. When thinking of the cost, you shouldn't just be thinking about the money but also include the impact that this food choice has upon your body and the world. Studies have proven that pesticides, herbicides, insecticides, and other poisons accumulate in the body and lead to illness, disease, and death for humans and animals. With choosing organic you will dramatically reduce the amount of pesticide residue you ingest on a daily basis. Pesticides ingested by pregnant women may be linked to pregnancy issues, miscarriages, birth defects and health issues (this alone is enough for me to avoid non organic products). Pesticide is designed to kill and it's very good at it. Unfortunately, it does not know when to stop killing. This is all that it does. As Hippocrates said, "Let food be your medicine and your medicine be your food". Eat an apple, and you eat just that: vitamins, minerals, water, and more. But if you at pesticides you fill your body with poisons. The toxins in the pesticides build up in your fat tissues and muscles, and most of them are almost impossible to remove from your body even if you live to be 100 years old. Breast feeding mothers are a perfect example of potential dangers, because poisons are passed to the baby through the breast milk. (Yikes!)
7) It is much better for the environment. And if the environment is healthier that leads to plants being healthier, soil, water, birds, insects, animals, plants, air, and in the end, a healthier you.
Yes, you may get a little sticker shock when buying organic, but you just have to remember: You can either pay now for delicious, healing food or pay later for medical bills, sickness, and possible years of suffering to you and your body. You get what you pay for.
I am not saying that you are damning yourself and those around you if you do not eat organic, I am just simply stating the reasons why I choose to eat and live the way that I do. I know that each person is different and there are people who just get lucky, but I truly believe had my lifestyle been different, so would my experience.

Introducing US!

Kelly's Intro:


I’m Kelly, I’m 23 and I have 2 beautiful children. Aiden is 3, born in April of 2007. Kairi is almost 2 months old, born on July 24 2010. I am married to my best friend, Tony. We have been together 6 years, married for 5. He is in the Marines and we are stationed in California. I met my blogging partner in crime over 7 or 8 years ago when I worked with her sister, Julie, in my tiny hometown. Now Julie is our blog manager, lol, and is going to try to keep us on track (hopefully). The 3 of us are scattered all over the world so this is going to be a fun project. This will give you a glance at the differences in parenting styles that Sarah and I use: All Natural and Traditional


Sarah’s Intro:

My name is Sarah and I am living the life I have always dreamed of. I have an amazing husband named Blake and just had a beautiful baby boy by the name of Alexander Achilles on July 11th, 2010. My husband is in the Marine Corps and we are currently stationed in Hawaii, which is where me met and got married in August of 2009. I met Kelly through my sisters when I used to live in Tennessee. I haven't talked to her in years, but thanks to the wonderful world of facebook, for the last few months we have been able to keep in touch. Being pregnant around the same time and having our due dates within weeks of each other, it was nice having someone to talk to about all the baby mumbo jumbo that my husband was tired of hearing 24/7 =)



Our Goal:

Being a new mom and a second time mom, we have found that the hardest part is everyone telling YOU how to be a parent. Which is what brings us to this blog. There are many different ways to live your life and raise your children, and everyone has a different outlook on life. Kelly is a more traditionalist, raising her kids by societies "norms", whereas Sarah is more of a naturalist, going against the grain if you will. Even though we have two completely different parenting styles, we get along great simply because we understand that we are both doing what we think is best for our families. This blog isn't to debate about who's life is better, or who is right and who is wrong, it is just to just give a little insight into two different worlds lived by friends. Feel free to follow and comment if you like, but please keep all negative comments to yourself. You wouldn't like if someone tried to tell you how to live your life or raise your kids so give us the same courtesy to us, and let us do what we think is best. It's hard enough to raise a family without everyone telling you you're wrong.