S'mores Life

Dear Second Child, I'm not sorry that I'm just now completing the photo book from the year I was pregnant with you, and haven't even begun your baby photo book. You turn five in less than four months. I'm not sorry that your older sister had her newborn pictures professionally printed within two weeks of her birth, and I just now ordered pictures to fill your "Baby every month" frame. I'm not sorry that in your sister's baby book, I marked the date for every new tooth, and she has a special compartment for hair from her first haircut. All I have for you is the statement I told the dentist "I don't know, she was a late teether because I remember being glad I only worried about being bit while nursing for a few months. I think she 11 months when she got her first tooth?" And I found a baggie with hair I'd saved from when I trimmed your bangs for the first time recently, but when I reached in and my hand unexpectedly came into cont...

Names have been changed to protect the innocent...and the not-so-innocent. ********************************************************************************* "Mommy, I have a HUGE crush on David." Where did she learn that word? "What makes you have a crush on him?" I inquired. "Because he's so handsome and he likes to play with me." He's good looking. He likes me. "Is he kind to you? Is he kind to other people? Does he make you laugh?" "Yes, he's nice to me and he's nice to my friends. He makes the silliest faces and that makes me laugh!" She answered. "I'm glad you have a good friend in David. Those are good reasons to like somebody." ********************************************************************************* "You should ask Daddy for help because he's a good worker. And you're a good cooker." Don't ask for his help. Show her you can do it on your own....

Here's a sign that you aren't regularly discussing your body: You have to google "leg muscle above knee" before you write a blog post about self-care,  self-love and your body. Part of my job is running the social media accounts for my employer. I enjoy it and it's great because I post at least 75% of what is posted which means I get to screen almost every picture of me before it goes up. Which means a lot of pictures of me do NOT go up. Another part of this job means people send me pictures from events I may not be at or may be unable to have my phone with me. A few weeks ago someone sent me a bunch of great photos. And one photo of me. I was in front of a crowd, speaking, and holding one of my kids. And I immediately started shaming myself. You look disgusting. You look pregnant. Your hair is so frizzy. Your face is so red. You're gross. Then came the rationalizing... Well your phone is in your pocket. That's why your butt looks huge. Those pan...

On this Mother's Day, I am grateful. I am grateful for my mom, who spent countless volunteer hours in my classrooms, driving on field trips, as a Sunday School teacher, and a Birchwood counselor. I am thankful that through difficult financial times, she was there when we got home from school even when she wondered if she should be out working instead. I am grateful that she understands that not all women have that choice, or choose differently. I am thankful that when our relationship was at its peak of turmoil and anger, she still reminded me I could take a day off school to go shopping and get my nails done with her, if I wanted...even though my type A personality would never allow myself to take a day off school "for no good reason." I am thankful for my grandmother, who raised two boys and relished having a granddaughter and a girl to sew for, for the first time. She now has another granddaughter and three great-granddaughters and I don't believe would ever ha...

If you haven't unfollowed me on social media by now, you're probably aware that I'm well into the 365 Grateful project right now. 324 days in, to be exact. I take a picture a day of something I'm grateful for. I post daily to instagram, and anywhere from 1-10 photos at a time to Facebook. And I'm done. You're likely wondering why. I'm SO close. It's a cool thing, to look back on a picture from every day of this year, and if I kept it up I could make a whole photo book of our year. Even as I type this, I'm wondering if I'm making a mistake. I started this project after a really, really rough 2015 . I thought it would give me something positive to focus on, remember small things to be grateful for, and try and be a glass half full kinda gal. The thing that I've learned is, there are a lot of things that I do struggle with, but being grateful is not one of them. I'm grateful for so many things. Even after the last few difficult years, ...

I've been having lots of these mom moments lately. Not the cutesy ones with the perfect memories with my kids. I actually have been having lots of those lately too, which is nice because it makes the crazy mom moments not as hard. It's a lot more difficult to be mad at my 2 year old when she poops on my hand when its after she's made me laugh hysterically rather than after she's stayed awake and hyper on a cross country flight. But those moments where you wonder if this is all you are anymore...a mom. And when I say it like that, it sounds bad, right? Because being a parent is THE most important job in the world, and incredible, and a gift...which makes you then feel guilty (MOM GUILT IS THE MOST REAL THING EVER IN LIFE, EVER) for questioning it. But.  The other day I was folding laundry and I realized the nicest and sexiest underwear I own are my new Thinx PERIOD PANTIES. Period fucking panties. I mean yeah, there's lace on them and they're black. They do...

MOPS (Mothers of Preschoolers) has come to my church! I am so excited. A friend of mine who is expecting her second baby boy, is starting it up for us. She had us over for the kick-off dinner last night and it was so fun (plus she's an amazing cook who is as addicted to Pinterest as I am) to eat and fellowship with other moms. I had never heard of MOPS before, but from what I know now I am very excited to be a part of it. It was started by a handful of mothers who went on play dates and prayed together. It has grown to an international program sponsored by churches all over the world. You can read more about it on the MOPS website that I linked...we will have educators, pastors, other moms, etc. come and speak to us and we'll also get together w/ the babies every once in awhile too! ;) I am looking forward to spending time with moms who have the same priorities as I do and getting out. I am so excited about it that I actually looked up to see if there was one in Anchorage, if...