Category Archives: mommyhood

mommyhood, My Big Jesus, parenting fails, random thoughts

Questions You Ask As the Parent of Small Children

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This post also appeared on My Big Jesus!

  When I was a kid (and even now) it seemed to me my mom knew everything. If I was sick, she knew exactly what I needed to feel better. If I had lost something, she knew where it was. Even when I was a teen, she knew the fastest way to get anywhere and the best place to buy anything. Now that I’m the mom, I’m constantly confronted with questions that I’m asking my mom, my other mom friends, or even Google. (“Thank goodness for Google!” said all the millennial parents.) Here are just a few of the questions I feel like I’m constantly wondering:

Why won’t she eat banana anymore?

How much Tylenol do you give to a one year old?

What color poop should the baby have?

What day is it?

Will my kid ever get all his teeth?

Will I ever sleep again?

Where is the other sippy cup?

When will my kid just put his own clothes on?

How do I get up this many times in a night, and not die?

When did I last shower?

What does a concussion look like in a toddler?

How do I get that stain out?

Do I really have to wash my coffee mug every day?

How can it possibly still be two hours until bedtime?

Weren’t we just at the doctor’s office?

Does the baby have any clean pajamas?

Why does my daughter outgrow her clothes so quickly?

What’s the liquid on the floor?

Why is formula so expensive?

Is potty training this hard for everyone?

Do the grocery store people know me by name?

When will my kids be able to buckle themselves into the car?

What would I be doing right now if I didn’t have all these kids?

How fast do toddlers run?

How do we go through diapers so quickly?

Where’d that come from?

How am I out of clean underwear again already?

What sound does a zebra make? (Okay, I didn’t wonder that one, but I did have to Google it for my daughter.)

If you’ve ever asked Google or your own mom any of these things, then we could be friends. Just be careful when deciding if it’s poop or chocolate.

faith, food, holidays, home, mommyhood, siblings

Currently

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Happy Monday! This week I’m linking up with Becky at Choose Happy and our other friends to bring you another Currently! I hope you’ll comment or link up with us and let us know what you’re up to right now!IMG_0614

Recovering || from the stomach bug. I guess it’s going around, and I had it on Saturday. I was supposed to be going to a wedding that night and was in no shape to do so! All things considered, it could’ve been much worse, but who likes the stomach bug anyway? Basically, I drank a lot of ginger ale.

Celebrating || St. Patrick’s Day! Normally we have a big weekend event we go to, where Hubby’s Irish band plays, but it didn’t happen this year. So we have a small thing we are doing on Thursday after I get the kids from school. I’m excited to keep celebrating, even if it isn’t the normal thing. Good news: Hubby is still playing!

This is when we were at the pub a couple of weeks ago… D was already wearing his swag!

Loving || having the windows open! Specifically, this window in my bedroom. The tree outside is covered in blooms! I know it’s a short-lived thing, but I love it. And I’m not allergic to it, so it’s even better!

  
Watching || my boys interact. They’re so funny, and they love each other. J can’t wait for D to be a little more rough and tumble… I have to pull him off of D a lot, haha. But D tries to follow him around, and it’s adorable.  And just this morning, D tried to pull up on the couch and it almost worked – so it won’t be long!

D is now a professional crawler.

Photographing || meals. EK keeps asking me to take a picture while she’s eating, or pictures of the boys taking bites, so I have a camera roll full of eating. Ha!




 

This one is my favorite.

This Currently reminds me that it’s often possible to take immense pleasure in simple things, like brother love and only one person in your family getting the stomach bug. What a wonderful life I am blessed with, and what a generous God has provided and entrusted this family to me!

holidays, home, mommyhood, My Big Jesus, random thoughts

What a Bad Idea!

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This post also appeared on My Big Jesus! 

 We can all sense it… Spring is coming. Here in NC, the weather is warmer, and flowers are beginning to bloom. All over, the sun is showing itself earlier in the morning and later in the evening. Children are losing their cool indoors and begging to go out and catch the rays of sun for which they’ve been longing. But there’s just one, tiny, little, baby hiccup about the coming of spring…

Daylight Savings Time. 

Whoever came up with this idea clearly didn’t have a toddler. I used to appreciate a good “fall back” in November. But now that I’m a parent, we all know that falling back just isn’t going to happen. And springing forward? That just sounds like every morning of my life. 

Let me just walk you through what this looks like for us…

Our first year as parents, everyone said, “Oh, it’s not so bad if you ease their bedtime up by 10 minutes the week before. Then they’re pretty much on schedule.” I don’t know if this has truly worked for people, but my daughter, who was almost one at the time, basically laughed in my face. Every year after that, we just sorta started bedtime earlier the night before and hoped for the best. (Side note: It didn’t really work.)

Recently we’ve had some trouble getting our kids to sleep if it’s light, regardless of the time (i.e. nap time or bedtime). We’ve gotten sound machines to drown out daytime noises. We’ve put up black-out shades in their rooms. We’ve streamlined routines, given baths, loveys, snuggles and stories, and come to one conclusion: those kids are gonna sleep when they’re tired. Enter my next task…

Wear. Those. Crazy. Kids. Out. This is tough. On days we don’t have school, it means parks and the children’s museum. It means play dates and picnic lunches. It means that my exhaustion counts for nothing, and I have to muster up the energy to play hard, and crash hard when it’s done. Naps must be taken, because over-tiredness leads to poor nights’ sleep. If I want them to go to bed early, we play extra hard. If I want them to take good naps, I pay attention to their “sleepy” cues, and have a bed available at that moment, instead of still being at the park when the meltdown hits. 

Bottom line? Daylight Savings Time sucks. People with young children should just move to Arizona and be done with it. No one is saving anything, but everyone is losing their sanity. 

food, home, mommyhood, random thoughts, women

Currently

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A little late update is better than no update at all, right?! I hope you’ve had a good week so far, and want to join our link up! I’m joining Becky at Choose Happy, and we’d love to hear from you, too! Here’s what I’m up to currently!IMG_0614

Enjoying || catching up on some tv! We’ve been far behind due to busyness and lack of sleep, so I’m glad to say we’re almost caught up on our shows! By the way, are there any Grimm watchers out there? This season has me going nuts. 

Wearing || my retainer. Gross, right? Well it’s actually working. Being totally raw with y’all, and it’s a little embarrassing for me, but I’ve not worn it regularly in years… 

 and now I’m rambling about my retainer. Gross. I’m wearing it. That’s it. 

Eating || really healthy this week. My goal is no sugar, low carb, and less alcohol. I typically stick to very little sugar (I’m not a sweets craver usually), so hopefully I can cut it out completely. I’ve got a fun dress I borrowed from a friend to wear to a wedding this weekend, and I want to feel good in it!

Listening to || my Hubby play some music tonight! His band should be Bering up, and I’m out past 10pm! It’s a miracle. 

mommyhood, things toddlers say

Things Toddlers Say

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Happy Tuesday, everyone! Aaaand that’s enough chat for me this morning! Here goes nothin’… 

For the record, I came downstairs and this was already happening.
 J, arms wide: Jump me! (He means “Catch me.”)

EK spent one whole morning singing about “sinner ash”. I’m still unsure what she actually meant.

J, running around: I’m crunchy! I’m crunchy! (He was pretending to be a shark.)

In other news, no one would own up to standing Buzz up on their dinner date.

One morning while we were having breakfast, EK asked me to take a selfie of her and me. After I did, J ended up with my phone, and then this happened… 

It was the cutest thing, watching him discover it was him he could see on there, playing a little peekaboo with himself, and trying to show everyone else he was on there. Adorable.

During playtime together, EK likes to order J around. This might include putting him in time out, having him make dinner, “saving” the baby from him, telling him he can’t have juice, or pretending he is anyone but who he is.

EK: Josie’s hands are bigger than my hands.
Me: Okay…

Me: I’m making strawberry pancakes for breakfast!
EK: I don’t like strawberry pancakes. Unless they’re good. Then I might eat them.

Andrea: Who are you gonna marry?
EK: Nobody! Just myself!

After hearing me talk about going to T.J. Maxx…
EK: Mom, can I go to tea bags max with you?
Me: ……

J: I can’t find my chicken!
Me: Your chicken is in the sauce.
J: But I can’t find it!
EK: But you like chicken in sauce!

EK, discussing foods she likes: and you know what else I like to eat?!
Me: What?
EK: Baby Davis! Chomp! I ate him!
I think we’ve nom nom nommed the baby too many times.

What are you kiddos saying these days? Anyone else like to chomp the baby?

faith, home, mommyhood, random thoughts, travel

Currently – Spring Is Coming!

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I can’t believe we are already here… It’s March, it’s been -dare I say it?- warm here in NC, and Easter is more than on its way. It feels like just two weeks ago, we were playing in the snow! Oh wait. We were. Anyway, here’s this week’s edition of Currently! Since it’s a new month, I linking up with Becky at Choose Happy, as well as Jenna at Gold and Bloom and Anne in Residence. Join us!

IMG_0614
Wearing || my Chacos! It’s the first ring that happens when the weather wants up… Lose the close-toed shoes. My feet like to be free, y’all. I’d post a cute picture, but my toes are woefully I need of a pedicure, and my Chacos are mud-caked from working in the garden yesterday. I can’t believe it’s already gardening time!

Craving || some quiet time. I’ve tried to build it into my schedule, and it seems the more I try, the less my children sleep, and the less I’m able to actually get up and make it happen. The desire is there for quiet time with the Lord, but I’m having trouble dragging my tired self out of bed in the mornings, because D is still getting up around 4-5. And that’s a little too early for me to start my day.

Going || to DisneyWorld! Hubby and I are taking our biggest two babes to Disney for EK’s birthday in April. We’re just going for two days, but we’ve got fast passes all set up, and we’re staying in the park to save time. We cannot WAIT to introduce the magic to EK and J!!

image from disney.wikia.com
Learning || how to garden with three babes. J still likes to run around the neighborhood when unattended (ha!), D is getting used to hanging in the pack-n-play outside (or sometimes the stroller so we can move him around the yard), and EK is still her short-attention-span-gardener self. She loves to help, but only for a few minutes. We’ve had two full afternoons of gorgeous weather, productivity, and back-breaking work. Hopefully soon we will plant, and then soon after that it will yield good fruit (vegetable)! 

   
Planning || Our spring schedule. We’ve got weddings galore, fun trips planned, and still our regular lives to attend to. Can we do all the things and have fun, too? Only time will tell.

Well, that’s about it for my family. What are you up to currently?

faith, mommyhood, My Big Jesus, women

The Boy I Loved. 

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This post also appeared on My Big Jesus!  
Not that long ago, I was a silly, young girl, head over heels for a boy I had just met. Not long ago, that boy was a breath of fresh air to a girl who’d sworn off dating for a while. Not long after that, the boy and girl decided they’d get married. And buy a house. And have kids. And never sleep again. 

Really, 8 1/2 years -since we met- isn’t long in the grand scheme of things. But it feels like an eternity sometimes, when I think of what’s happened since then. When I think of places we’ve traveled, jobs we’ve had, people we’ve grown closer to or drifted apart from, it feels like a lifetime already lived. There’s so much water under that bridge we’ll have to raise it if anything else happens. 

But every now and then, there are glimpses of the silly, young girl and the boy who was a breath of fresh air. For instance, last week, Hubby and I had a lovely date night planned, going to a nice restaurant in the neighboring city where Hubby attended college before seeing a concert. Long (frustrating) story short, dinner at the nice restaurant didn’t work out, and we were a little too pressed for time to try making new plans. We ended up at a pizza and beer joint where we ordered dinner by the slice at a counter, and ate in a dirty booth. Not that I had anything against pizza and beer (I love it! Promise!), it just wasn’t what we’d had in mind. We were dressed up and ready for a fancy meal. But you know what? We had a great time. We’d gone to that pizza joint a hundred times while we were dating, with and without friends, and it was a fun little throwback to our younger, freer selves.

You know what else? After a couple of hours of music and dancing, before we headed back home to responsibilities and a babysitter to pay, we went to the location of our first “hang out.” (I’m hesitant to even call it a date.) We ended up right there in another dirty booth, eating gargantuans at the Jimmy John’s on the edge of his college campus. We giggled and flirted and touched our feet under the table with butterflies in our tummies, remembering who we had been 8 1/2 years ago. We reminisced about those old times, and talked about how we love where we are right now, even when it’s hard. 

I looked right across the table and into the eyes of the boy I loved. And I was thrilled to see that my husband looked just like him. 

mommyhood, siblings, things toddlers say

Things Toddlers Say

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Y’all. I was talking with my friend Andrea last night, and we decided that pretty much every single thing that comes out of EK’s mouth is a hilarious one-liner. In five minutes, she said enough hilariously random things to fill up an entire post. But catching (and recording) every single thing she says is impossible, so alas… I’ve only got the highlights. SO. Here they are!

EK, unprompted: When I was a baby, I pooped, and it was YUCKY!

EK: I had yummy snack at school today, but I only ate the cupcake. I didn’t eat the chicka chicka boom boom popcorn.
An hour later, I realized she meant Boom Chicka Pop.

At dinner one night:
EK: Mom, make sure you eat all your steak and drink all your wine.
Me: Noted.

Showing me this picture:

Me: I like that rainbow on the side! And is that a cabana on the beach?
EK: No, it’s a toot.
Me: A tutu?
EK: Nope, a toot. On the beach!

The same night…
Me: How many layers of lip gloss did you just put on?!?!
EK: 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6! I just wanted to be really sparkly.

Important conversations with our friends…
EK: Drew, do you love your mom and dad?
Drew: Yes, I do.
EK: Does Lauren love her mom and dad?
Drew: Yes, she does.
EK: Well I love myself. And even, you can love yourself or your neighbor!

The problem with choosing your outfits…
EK: I want to wear my new dress!
Me: Okay, but when we go to he playground, we should probably wear something else.
EK: I don’t want to go to the playground.
Me: Well, we made plans for everyone to go to the playground, and we’ve already told them all.
EK: I want someone to come sitter me while you go to the playground.

J’s new thing: “Go away.”  It’s used as a response to being asked to do something, being told it’s time to go/go to bed, when his sister appears, or when he is unhappy about anything else.

J, swirling his blanket around and growling: Did you saw that?!

J’s word for trash can: crash chan

EK stalling bedtime in an unprecedented stream of consciousness: Can you pray to Jesus while you sleep? You two (Hubby and me), you pray to Jesus while you sleep and I will and then J will. And D when he watches us do it will do it too. And he will get big like you and you and pick me up, because he’s pretty small yet. Wait! I have something to tell you. I want special drinks in the morning… (whispering) hot chocolate… And a giant cupcape. To eat.

EK on breakfast: I need to drink my smoothie so I’ll be big like you. If I don’t, I’ll turn small like D.

EK on growing up: I want to be a mommy like you! And J can be the daddy, and D will be our baby!

EK’s term for “That’s interesting!” is “That’s entering!” She’s used it at least a hundred times in the past two days.

What hilarious things do your kids say? What phrases are they stuck on?

home, mommyhood, My Big Jesus, siblings

When My Family of Five Leaves the House (It Takes 60 Simple Steps)

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This post also appeared on My Big Jesus!

Getting ready to go anywhere is a big job for my family. With three kids under four, including an infant, there is a long list of things we need to do before we go, and things we need to bring with us – no matter where we’re going. This is a little glimpse into the process of getting the family ready to go somewhere. Maybe you can relate! 

 1. Announce that it’s time to get ready to go. 

2. Ask threenager to get her clothes on. 

3. Snatch toddler up from running away, and take him to get his clothes on. 

4. As I’m walking away, ask Hubby to change baby’s diaper. 

5. Remind threenager to get dressed. 

6. Get toddler into clean diaper and clothes, amid shouts of protest and attempts to jump off the changing table. 

7. Suggest to threenager that she should dress appropriately for the weather (aka it’s cold, so no, she may not wear that sundress and sandals).

8. Ask threenager to stop wailing and please put on socks and shoes. 

9. Catch an escaping toddler, and cram his pudgy feet into socks and shoes. 

10. Succumb to toddlers request for boots instead. 

11. Let him put his boots on by himself. 

12. Calm him down when he gets frustrated at not being able to do it himself. 

13. Help him get his boots on. 

14. Ask threenager to please wear a jacket. 

15. Check to see if Hubby changed the baby’s diaper. 

16. Usher threenager and toddler of the door. 

17. Put threenager into car seat, because it’s better to have her locked in somewhere. 

18. Retrieve toddler from neighbor’s yard. 

19. Put toddler into car. 

20. Retrieve threenager’s doll she dropped in the floorboard. 

21. Retrieve toddler from driver’s seat. (He is fast.)

22. Put toddler into car seat, finally securing that he isn’t running away. 

23. Close the car door. 

24. Breathe. 

25. Listen for screaming inside the car. 

26. No screaming? Go inside and check on the status of Hubby and baby. 

27. Change baby from his brother’s pants to his own that fit him. 

28. Put baby into car seat. 

29. Take car-approved snacks to toddler and threenager, who are now screaming. 

30. Go back inside and fill sippy cups.

31. Make a bottle for the baby. 

32. Put in your own shoes. 

33. Grab your tube of mascara for when you’re stopped at a red light. 

34. Locate a bag (any bag) to put diapers, cups, and a bottle in. 

35. Go outside. 

36. Remember the wipes. 

37. Go inside to grab wipes.  

38. See your coffee cup, and grab it. 

39. Go outside. 

40. Remember you were grabbing wipes, not coffee. 

41. Go inside to grab wipes. 

42. See your baby’s favorite chew toy, and grab it. 

43. Put your hand on the doorknob, and remember the wipes. 

44. Grab wipes. 

45. Go outside. 

46. Realize that you haven’t seen Hubby in a while.

47. Go back inside to find Hubby in the bathroom. 

48. Go outside to wait on Hubby. 

49. Threenager has finished her snack and wants more. 

50. Since Hubby isn’t outside yet, go get more snack. 

51. See your purse by the door, and thank the Lord you had to go back to get it.

52. Grab the purse and the snack, and go back outside. 

53. Give the threenager more snack. 

54. Give the toddler more snack, because he is now angry that the threenager got more snack and he didn’t. 

55. See Hubby walk out the door. 

56. Praise Jesus that everyone is outside the house. 

57. Get in the car. 

58. Crank it up, and turn on some preemptive Taylor Swift. 

59. Pull out of the driveway. 

60. Hope for the best. 

So if you’re ever wondering why didn’t attend your event, or why I said we couldn’t go to a play date that was only for an hour… know you know why. I love you, but this is why. 

holidays, home, mommyhood, random thoughts

Currently – and a Fun Family Day!

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Happy Monday! This one is definitely overdue, since I missed last week! This will be a nice little update for the pat couple of weeks. Link up or comment and let me know what’s going on in your life currently!IMG_0614

Celebrating || Valentine’s Day and birthdays! We never really do much for Valentine’s Day, but I can’t let it slip by without acknowledgement. Because it was a Sunday, we went to church as usual (wearing red, obviously) but Hubby got EK and me some flowers in the afternoon, followed by a friend’s birthday celebration; Hubby’s long-time best friend turned 30, so naturally we grilled steaks, let our kids stay up way too late, and enjoyed a little snowfall!

Listening || to Taylor Swift in honor of her Grammy. You go, T-Swift. I love you and my kids do, too!

Wishing || for warmer weather! We were at the park a couple of times this week and it was still a little chilly, even though it was sunny and beautiful. Saturday was lovely and comparatively warm, but I’m ready for shorts, tank tops, and flip flops!

Enjoying || our local “dinosaur park”! J is digging dinosaurs at the moment so even though we’ve been before, it was special for him. The playground equipment has dinosaurs incorporated throughout, and you can climb on them and everything! My bigs love it.

  

Loving || yet another cool spot in our awesome town. There’s a new park-type place in our downtown called “Artivity”. It is a modern art/architecture combo, and you can climb on it, sit on it, walk underneath it, and see it light up at night. It’s actually quite cool, and it’s on top of what used to be a pretty yucky parking area.  Hubby and I visited it one evening while we were out downtown, and took the kids the other day after the dinosaur park. 

Our super fun adventures on Wednesday got me thinking… do any of you have a family day? Even Hubby (the ultimate homebody) said he had a great time getting out of the house earlier than usual, and trekking around with the kiddos. It made me want to designate Wednesday (the morning that no one is in school or working) as our family morning to romp around and explore. AND everyone was super tired and napped well after it. BONUS! What would you do on your family day?