Thursday, March 28, 2013

spring? please?

Hey remember when it was warm for like a few days?

That was nice.
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Remember a couple of weeks ago when it was warm enough to go outside and play after school/work? When those dirt piles in our backyard weren't piles of mud because it rained for days and days and days??
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*squee! baby plumber's crack! ;) *


This weather is putting me in a mood. A serious funk. I've found the older I get the more closely my mood correlates with the weather. And this weather? makes it not so pretty.
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I am so ready for summer and all the fun that warm weather brings.

I'm also ready to not be posting about the weather. Winter makes me dull.
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Monday, March 25, 2013

words.

This week started off with an epic bang. I'm sort of riding a weird high right now. Basically I got a huge promotion at work. And it kind of rocks. And even though it's taking me down a completely different path than I ever saw my life going down, it's good. Really good actually.

I've been kind of treading water per se these days. I have a whole post about this in the works but I've been dealing a lot with feeling "left behind" as I watch so many people make huge life decisions while I feel stuck. A conversation with my pal Whitney, gave me a bit of clarity on some big things and I feel much better. The moment I took a step back, put forward a bit more faith, and let go of the reins a little... a promotion fell in my lap. Somebody has a sense of humor.

Speaking of that Somebody, lately I've been feeling more and more that I'm missing a big calling in my life. So I finally signed up to volunteer with the youth at our church. Middle school age kids/early high school have my heart. Especially young girls. I just hope for so much for them and I just want such great things for them and my heart is burdened over the difficulties they face daily. However, having a heart for them isn't worth anything if you aren't ministering to them. So I signed up. Now I just wait to hear about my position.

It was warm for a few days a couple of weeks ago. Oh, and it stopped raining for half a second. This has been the longest, coldest, wettest winter ever. I am SO over it. Of course the second the sun decided to come out for a few minutes, we headed outside. Unfortunately the warm weather only lasted about two days and then the rain came back and the temperatures dropped. It was in the 40's here today. The week before Easter. And while I know other places are even colder, the 40's in South Carolina this late in the game is bizarre. WHERE IS MY WARM WEATHER?!?
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My sweet tiny baby girl will be three a week from tomorrow. Hold me.

I'm beyond in denial over that. I have done nothing for her party. Nothing. Oh wait, I got the invites out. Today. Nothing like waiting til the last minute.

Things are good over here. We're just hanging out, doing life, and trying to survive toddlerhood. Which is harder that it should be. Truth.

Oh, and a reminder, this blog like most others out there is making the switch to Bloglovin' so be sure and follow along. I imported all of mine from Google Reader and then decided to do a big clean out which felt amazing. I never could figure out how to do that on Reader. One point in Bloglovin's favor from this girl.
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Tuesday, March 19, 2013

st. patrick's day 2013

Photo overload to commence now. You've been warned.

I have written about my love for St. Patrick's Day more than once on this here blog. I could easily shout from the rooftops the joy the day brings me, but I won't. Instead I will overwhelm you with lots of pictures of lots of green and tons of fun.

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This was the first year Mr. P was able to go down to Savannah with the little and I. I warned him time and time again "now you know we leave by 7, so we're getting up at 5:30 am right?!" and over and over again he told me he was up for it. He's the far more laid back of the two of us and this kind of thing isn't usually his scene so I was worried he would absolutely hate it.

I should have known better. How could one hate St. Patrick's Day in Savannah?!
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Just as I promised, we were up before the sun (well I was, I did have to drag him and BG out of bed). We packed up and headed to our best friends' house where we were met with our Bailey's and coffee (tradition duh) before we all loaded up to head downtown.
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One of our crew had ended up camping out the night before to reserve our spots and they were the exact same ones we've had for three years in a row now. Absolute prime "real estate". In no time we had all the foods and drinks set up and everyone made themselves right at home with breakfast sliders, muffins, and yes, beer. So what if it wasn't yet 8 am?!
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I took Mr. P and the little on a little walk to check out the sites as well as speak to a few other friends. I think he was genuinely surprised at how calm and laid back it was. There is no way to describe this day. Savannah is the perfect host city and the day is perfection. Seriously, favorite day of the year.
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Eventually the parade began and the kiddos sidled up with my bff's mother in law to watch the festivities. Overpriced trumpets quickly added to their joy (and the noise) as they squeaked and squawked at everyone that walked by. BG quickly made friends with KP's sister in law and the newest baby to join our crew and spent half the parade oohing and ahhing over him. Girl loves her a baby.
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Other than a two mile jaunt across town, through the crazy college section, ending at a location where the person we were to meet was no longer at, I have zero complaints on the day. My child even got to pee in Pinkie Master's Lounge, a Savannah legend, while also spending a quick second dancing on the bar with a NYC cop in a kilt. Can you say day made?!

We'll let it slide that I had a two year old in a bar.
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We ended the day out on Tybee Island at mine and Mr. P's favorite seafood restaurant, The Crab Shack, where we ate our little hearts out and soaked in the last few hours of the day. The girls were spent so they spent most of dinner checking out the gators with RP which left the rest of us to enjoy a dinner with lots of conversation and laughs far less interrupted than our usual dinners with our toddlers.
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It's not often that I'm homesick for Savannah these days, but I have to admit, returning home after this day is a bit hard on my heart strings. I love my people. I love my hometown. And this day with some of my favorite people is one of my most looked forward to days of the year. I honestly can't even explain it. I just freaking love it.
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I'm already so ready for next year.

Monday, March 18, 2013

the croods: a giveaway

BG is finally starting to get to the age where occasionally sit still for half a second and watch a movie. She won't do it for long, but she's getting better. So I love when I see new movies coming out that I think she'll be interested in.

This spring, The Croods will be one of those movies on our must watch list.

The Croods is a 3D adventure that follows the first modern family as they are forced to leave the security of their cave home and venture out into the world. The following family "road trip" is full of adventure and hiccups along the way.
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The Croods boasts an all-star cast including two of my favorites, Ryan Reynolds and Emma Stone. The fact that Nicolas Cage voices the Dad may even get my husband to tag along with us to see this one.
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In anticipation of the movies release, I've teamed with Dreamworks for a little giveaway! Enter below to receive your copy of the movie poster as well as a plush Belt toy (Belt is the loyal sloth who accompanies Guy, the nomadic caveboy played by Ryan Reynolds). Fun right?! BG received this and immediately fell in love with Belt. We'll probably see the movie just for him alone!

To enter:
a Rafflecopter giveaway


Legal blah:
*The giveaway is open only to US residents. I received a copy of the movie poster and a stuffed Belt toy for this review. All else is my own opinion and thoughts.*

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Tuesday, March 12, 2013

mom guilt.

Mom guilt. Yuck.

Every single one of us Mothers have felt it. Guilty. Over something.

Are we teaching them enough? Are we hugging them enough? Do I laugh with her enough? Do I sing to her enough?

Honestly, it freaking sucks. But I have a feeling it's not going anywhere.

Working Mom guilt is the pits. Some of us work and love it, some of us work because we have too. Doesn't matter the circumstance, there is going to come a time when work makes you feel the "Mom guilt".

You miss a pre-school play or you can't bake cookies for the class party. Or you're on a work trip and you miss Valentine's Day (yep, still not over it).

Stay at home Moms aren't immune either. There's the ever present "am I teaching them enough? Are they being socialized enough? Am I enough?!" questions that plague them.

I've been both. The guilt is everywhere.

Then you get posts like this and rebuttals like this that fly like wildfire all over the world wide web. One week we're all gung ho over the first one and vowing to focus all of our attention on our kiddos, then in a few weeks, that gets old and the second one comes out. Just in time too, because we need something else to get fired up about.

I have to say, I agreed with both of those posts. They both had extremely valid points.

I like the first one because I have been that Mom. I've searched my Instagram while my kid begged for my attention because it was a habit or because I felt out of the loop or because, well, just because. I've been know to tell her to "shhh" and "go watch her show" while I look at Facebook and catch up on my Reader.

That first post didn't make me feel guilty though. That writer can't do that. That post did make me more aware of my time though. And for that I give the lady props.

I really liked the second post too. It makes sense. In a world as technology driven as this one, our whole entire world is on our phone.

Yesterday I watched BG play in the backyard for 30 minutes while I dabbled on my phone. To the passerby, I would be the Mom ignoring her kid for the phone.

In reality, I was watching her. And cheering her on. But I was also answering a few work emails. I was filling out the paperwork for her specialist appointment coming up, I was scheduling in doctor's appointments and I was paying a bill.

When I was done, I was tempted to hop on Instagram and just look a bit. But she wanted to play soccer, so I set my phone down and we played soccer.

There has to be a balance. I think people expect us as Moms to be on all the time. And if that's the case, well, I know I fail every single day.

I adore my kid. But I also know my limits and I know that if I don't take a break for some me time every now and then, then I can't parent her to the best of my ability. I tend to snap more, lose patience faster, and shut her out more if I'm drained. I tend to be more drained when I don't take care of me.

I think it's okay to occasionally sit your kid down with a puzzle or something while you flip through your Facebook feed. I think it's okay to let your kid play in their room alone for a few moments while you decompress on the couch. I think it's okay to occasionally let them watch one extra cartoon while you finish an email to an old friend or wrap up a phone call.

I sometimes think we're doing things the wrong way. When I read posts that say that when a kid is awake, they should have your undivided attention, I'm like "say what?!". I remember when I was growing up, I heard "kids should be seen and not heard" and now it's the total opposite. Since when did the children take over?

All this to say that I get it. To both posts. And I think they're both right. And wrong. I think it's okay to occasionally let other things grab your focus but I also think it's really important to focus on what really matters. I think it's really important to manage your time well. To manage your homes well. To manage your family well. I also think that figuring out how to get all that done, is different for every single Mama. Only each of us can figure out if we're doing all of the above to the best we can.

Wednesday, March 6, 2013

ww: an afternoon with my best girls

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I absolutely love living close enough to family to have these sort of moments. I hope these two are always the best of friends.

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