S'mores Life

I have been seeing a lot of and discussion on my message boards and things on pinterest recently about starting family traditions for the holidays (whichever ones your family celebrates) and with Christmas being my FAVORITE time of year, I have decided to blog about what our family traditions are. Some have carried on from our families of origin and some Ian and I have started together, or plan to start this year. I know this is early but 1) I start listening to Christmas music in October and 2) we always try to complete most of our Christmas "errands" before Thanksgiving/December so we can really enjoy the Advent season . That is the main reason, but it's also financial - if we buy a gift or two a month starting in April, our bank account takes less of a hit. Current/Ongoing Family Traditions: Black Friday - On the day after Thanksgiving, my little sister comes over. We decorate the tree, the house, watch Christmas movies, do Christmas crafts and eat leftovers from...

I have been listening to Christmas music for two weeks. It feels really weird to be listening to Christmas music while surrounded by pumpkins, but instead of this making me think I could possibly  be listening to "Breath of Heaven" a bit too early...I am considering taking down the pumpkins and putting up the Christmas Tree a bit earlier. ;) I know people are just trying to make conversation, but it really pisses me off when random strangers give me advice or make negative comments about my parenting/my kid. I know, welcome to the rest of my life. But seriously...no, she does not need her ears pierced just so you can tell she's a girl. No, she does not need sunscreen during Hurricane Sandy. Yesterday in the  Safeway parking lot, it was 60 degrees with a slight breeze. I'm trying to force winter so I was wearing a fleece and sweating to death. Clara and I were walking from the store to our car, so about 30 feet, and her hood wasn't on. She had on a warm outfit a...

You know those moments that make you stop and think, "Holy $*&#! I'm really a mom?" (Yes, my thoughts are that eloquent...) Yes, some of these happen right away, when you see the clock read 2:00 a.m. and it's not because you're out partying...Or while you're doing something only a mom can do, like nursing your baby. But there are more "real" moments than even that, and I have a feeling it's only going to continue that way... When you're going pee and look around to realize that you didn't shut the door. Your baby is asleep...no need for you to pee with the door open, but you just can't remember the last time you peed alone. Aw, crap, this isn't your house.  It takes you 30 minutes to get the dirty laundry from upstairs, to downstairs in the washer...because you have a child tugging on your leg bringing your pants to the ground the entire time. It's the tugging on the shirt...pants...body parts...that makes me stop and ...

I can't be the only mom who thinks "If I only knew then, what I knew now..." and I know that's what all of our mothers and grandmothers are thinking as they are watching us raise these little ones. Which is probably why 75% (that's a conservative guess-timate) of them spout out unsolicited advice about whiskey on the gums and rice cereal in bottles at four weeks and other "good tips". But seriously, even just a year in, I think about what I wish I could tell myself before Clara turned one, before she was born, before I even got pregnant...what would I tell myself? What do I try to remind myself of now? What would I tell other women who aren't yet mothers? Heck, I already do tell them plenty - pretty sure if the population drops off it will be my fault (credit?!) because of all my talk about vag tears and placentas and breastfeeding horror stories. YOU'RE WELCOME, WORLD! Everything negative is a phase. Everything. It might be two days or two we...

Not only am I proud of the multitude of crafts I made (AKA two crafts, but whatever) for Clara's birthday, I had some amazing vendors and purchases that helped make her birthday party extra special. Maybe this will give you some ideas for your little one's next party. Recipes/food will be coming in an upcoming post. Also, we're insane and planned to do a huge 1st birthday bash, with mostly adults in attendance...Her second birthday party is going to be a frozen pizza and maybe some diluted juice for the three of us. WHOOP WHOOP. Photography - We had Clara's 1st birthday pictures taken a couple weeks prior by Tracy Marshall Photography . If you are in Anne Arundel Country, contact her! She has taken our family pictures before and is not only incredibly talented but is also a dear friend. By looking at the pictures, you would have never known Clara was NOT in the mood to have her pictures taken, Tracy's three year old was not in the mood to have his mommy pay ...

First, I want to apologize to my 6.3 readers for not blogging hardly at all this summer. It has seriously been the craziest summer and probably won't slow down for another month. And then we have the holidays (!!!!!! CHRISTMAS MUSIC!!!!!!) but I am trying to get back into the swing of things and get my priorities in check...you know, like putting blogging and chocolate and cheese back at the top of the list. I also plan to do the following posts coming up: Clara's 1st Birthday Party - Food Clara's 1st Birthday Party - Crafts/Decor Summer 2012 Weddings and Showers and Crafts and Recipes and Stuff My BFF Soulmate But before I do all that, here is my latest mushy and gushy blog post. I probably should have come back into the blogosphere (it's a word) with something witty and/or about food, but oh well. So, one of the things at Clara's party was a station for guests to write her a birthday message to open on her 18th birthday. They are sealed and despite my lack ...

Title is pretty self-explanatory, right? ;) Here is a link to the first part of this "series" - The First Six Months: Baby Gear I Could Not Have Lived Without . I am not doing to do a "gear I COULD have live without" for 6-12 months, because I think parents are a lot more likely to buy gear they may not use the first six months (at least I was.) The Ergo Carrier - Yes, again. This is so carrier is so fabulous that it makes both lists. It's good for newborns (needs a newborn insert or do the cheap solution I wish I had done, roll up a blanket until they are big enough to go without it) and older babies. It's good for hiking. Traveling. Chores around the house. Comfortable  for the adult and safe and comfortable  for the baby, unlike a lot of the crotch danglers you see around. I have the ergo sport because I am really athletic, if you haven't already gotten that vibe from my blog. Jokes, I have the ergo sport because it's made of a lighter weight...

One of my favorite cloth diaper vendors had a facebook status of "You should never say ____ to a pregnant woman." the other day. I easily typed out eight  things off the top of my head, all of which were said to me more than once  while pregnant. And I easily continued to think of more but didn't want to turn BumGenuis' facebook into my blog, so I ran here to vent about it. Don't get me wrong, I loved loved loved being pregnant. I loved the anticipation and wondering if the baby was a boy or a girl. I loved feeling her move, and watching my stomach roll like ocean waves. I loved her hiccups, even though when I first found out babies did that in utero it freaked me the F out. I loved the thick, long hair pregnancy gave me and the crazy cravings. I also loved having swollen ankles and swass. Ok, I didn't love those things but now that it's been almost a year (!!!) since I was pregnant I can look at pregnancy through rose-colored glasses. Which is what it s...

This is how I looked after 12 hours of traveling - including at 4:00 a.m. wake up, an hour drive, two flights totaling over eight hours and taking care of an almost toddler: What you can't really see in the picture are two additional bags - a duffel and a diaper bag. We don't travel light (anymore). But you know what? Despite how attractive I look in the picture, ;) it honestly wasn't that bad. This wasn't Clara's first time on a plane. We flew to Pensacola, Fl about two months prior. That was that bad. But there were a few things that contributed to that... 1) We made it a weekend trip. This is my first piece of advice - the second that baby comes outta ya, there are no more weekend trips. Weekend trips are for hip, young, childless couples who are able to be spontaneous and cool and what not. We weren't even like that before we had a baby, so how we thought we could make it work after a baby is beyond me. By the time we had recovered from our flights...

Last week I posted another "day in the life of..." story and I have been regretting it ever since. Why oh why did I pick a day that we had no play-dates/events that altered routine/Clara went down for longer than normal naps easily/Ian wasn't working OT/I didn't almost pee my pants/I wore clothes that were more than 50% free of food/etc?! Because ever since then Clara and God and life have been making me pay for it. That was the last day that she slept in until 6:45 a.m. Apparently 5:15 a.m. is the new wake up time. In Maryland, at 5:15 a.m., it is still dark out!  Not ok. Also, her longest nap since then has been 40 minutes. FORTY MINUTES, PEOPLE. SHE IS 10 MONTHS OLD!   And yes, I was able to semi enjoy a Starbucks frap that day but it wasn't a day that it was my lunch, the only thing I ate besides stealing goldfish off of my kid's tray (I have no shame) between the hours of 8am and 4pm. It was a day I was able to cook dinner...granted, there was a baby w...

Most of you who know me IRL (in real life...I like acronyms. AKA ILA. Figure that one out.) know that I am not crafty...I know how to get down with a glue gun and I love glitter (who doesn't?) but my future sister in law can attest that I am not a painter or artistic - just ask her about the Pic n' Paint plate disaster of 2009. Some of my close friends in Alaska can also tell you about the time (the first occurrence was in 2000) they tried to teach me to crochet and I asked if this is how you made string, and if I could just laminate my project together. If you don't believe me, check out some of the infant crafts I have done with Clara on this blog...in particular, t he Easter one where I may have given a bird a beak...and a mouth. Twice. No big deal. So anyways, while my pinterest followers may think that I am the next Martha Stewart based off of my pins, but really I am just an optimist and like to think one day I will be able to DIY it all. We all know we only do abo...

A few months back, my August moms group did a "day in the life of ___" theme for all of the mom bloggers out there to try. I enjoyed reading about their days and seeing how ours were the same and differed. But that post was written nearly five months ago and Clara has changed significantly and so has our routine! I decided to do this again mostly because I know all of my loyal fans are fascinated by the minute details of our day (ha) but also because I enjoy looking back and seeing how much Clara has grown and changed. It helps me appreciate the day to day. I chose today as the day to follow for two reasons - Ian has been working 12 hour shifts so he hasn't been seeing Clara at all M-F (read: mommy gets no break) and also because we have been having a lot more play dates in the past few months but did not today. I love our play dates and they have become a regular part of our week, but sometimes it does alter Clara's routine so I thought it'd be better to choose ...