S'mores Life

I'm guilty of it to some extent. You're probably guilty of it too. Our families, church folk, teachers, friends, and Lord knows the ladies at the grocery store are guilty of it too. Everyone means well, but can we just stop and think about the load of crap  parenting advice that we dole out? It starts the moment you announce your pregnancy and ends...well, probably never. If you find out the sex of the baby you'll be able to plan, prepare any older siblings, and it's still a surprise no matter what! There's nothing like that moment when you've given birth and the doctor or your partner announces the sex! Don't find out! (Side note: Totally guilty of this advice. There really isn't anything like that moment!!) Get the 1st tri screening done. It will help prepare you emotionally if there's something wrong, and if not, then you'll be able to relax some. Are you going to terminate the pregnancy if something's wrong? Then what's the poi...

Ok so I took a brief hiatus from blogging. Or a not so brief one. But do you know what happens with you start blogging when your baby is just learning to sit up? Nothing. That's right...you can type while your baby chews on your toes or plays with a teether or even type one handed while you feed your baby. Do you know what happens with you try to blog with a toddler? Lots of things. Most of them unsafe and involving calling poison control or unclogging whatever has made it's way down the toilet, that does not belong there. Yeah, we have a toddler now. She's two. TWO. She spelled it out for you in case I wasn't clear. (Laura Reeve Photography)  I cry a lot about this. Not because I'm so emotional that she's two (although yes, I have had those moments also) but mostly because she makes me cry - have you heard the phrase terrible twos? Yeah, we are in the throes of them. Last week I had a meltdown and she stopped what she was doing (beating me) and ran into...

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 ...

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...