Reznet

There is a disease plaguing Native communities and it’s becoming more prevalent as young people begin having children. Although diabetes, high blood pressure and heart disease afflict our people, it’s none of these that make it hard for some parents just to make it to the next day. The affliction is the deadbeat parent syndrome.

We are 56 days away from welcoming our newest addition to the world and to our family. I'm very excited and can't wait to meet the little man who's been living in my stomach for the past nearly eight months.

As adults we all have a choice in what we bring into our new relationships. Whether those are relationships with friends or new love interests, people carry around an awful lot of baggage. Some choose to check that baggage at the door and never think about it again, while others try but still hang onto just the 'small bags' and a few who who't leave anything behind. They carry it ALL into new relationships.

When I first became a mother more than six years ago, I dreamed of what kind of mom I wanted to be. I wanted to be like my parents -- cool, yet firm and able to talk to their kids. But I wanted to be that and more. I was thrilled when I found out Jake and I were having twins, and doubly thrilled when I found out one of them was a girl. I couldn't wait to dress her up, fix her hair and paint her fingernails. But now I realize that was a 19-year-old mother's way of thinking. Now, at nearly 27 years-old, I realize that that phase of her life passed fairly quickly.

So I've been married for nearly three weeks. We had a small wedding ceremony with just our families but it was beautiful. I wore a white and lace sleeveless dress with a turquoise and white sash above my ever-expanding belly (kind of like an empire waist).  Jake wore black slacks, black dress shoes, a white button-up dress shirt and a turquoise and blue tie. Our kids were dressed up and actually were able to stay that way through the entire 15-minute ceremony.

I can’t believe it’s been nine years for my fiancé and I. Well, nearly nine years. It’s actually been eight years and 11 months.

We’ve been talking about it since 2001, but we’re finally taking the plunge and are getting married next week. Nothing huge or even elaborate.  Just us, our three kids, a preacher and our parents and siblings.

It's so hard to be a parent who wants to make sure their kids have a good balance of their favorite video games and enough sunshine and outdoor activities.

And it's even harder when the parents themselves love those video games. We bought an Xbox 360 earlier this year and bought Guitar Hero III (including two GH guitar controllers). We became slightly obsessed with the game after playing it at an aunt's house and thought it was a good way for us to all be able to do something together. 

I'm going to be delivering my fourth child in late September. I'm excited to be able to take off 10 weeks from work to stay home with my two youngest. Logan, who is almost 17 months, will stay home from daycare while I'm home with the baby. As of this moment, I'm excited. Yet, come October, I'll probably be ready to pull my hair out while tending to a newborn, trying to breastfeed, take care of the house and chase an almost-2-year-old. 

As the education reporter for the Cherokee Phoenix newspaper in Oklahoma, I had the privilege of covering Sequoyah High School’s graduation ceremony a couple of weeks ago.

I remember being in kindergarten and wondering why I had to make an ‘Indian’ costume out of a paper grocery sack.

“We don’t dress like this,” I thought to myself as I stared down at my tiny mock-buckskin dress, which was made from an upside down paper sack with three holes in the top of the paper sack for my head and arms. The bottom was cut with scissors to look like fringe.