The weather this April was really odd. Random days of showers that were followed by days of warm sunshine and then the misplaced overcast days tossed in between. This month has come with joy in a new baby in my circle of friends and the celebration of birthdays. April is also a great month because of Earth Day and Arbor Day! Since I finally have a small yard(oh how I have missed having a place for the children to play outside) this year we are going to be planing a garden. Some beautiful flowers that Annaleah picked out will be planted, as well as a few edible additions will be added to the garden. Now I would never classify myself as a green thumb, but I think this will be a new adventure worth giving a try(mainly because I am tired of looking at dirt).
I have always recycled as much as I can all year round because I believe Earth Day should be celebrated year round. I do as much as I can to 'reduce, reuse, and recycle' and the best way to teach children is to lead by example. Tommy and Annaleah love to take in cans, bottles and paper with me. They also like to donate and pass around toys and clothes that they do not need or use. This not only helps keep the house orderly, but also helps out others that can benefit from items that are no longer in use. Doing our part will go a long way for keeping our world clean and beautiful!
Arbor Day is a separate day in April and is a different holiday than Earth Day, it is a day to plant and care for trees. Arbor Day is a day to celebrate nature and all of its wonder! To be outside and to listen to the birds, and feel the breeze, and to be close to our world. I think it is a holiday that is easily overlooked and often combined with Earth Day. If you have the ability plant a tree this year and help it grow.
Enjoy the last week of April and welcome color, fragrance, and nature in May.
Sunday, April 22, 2012
Wednesday, April 11, 2012
As Mom's, We Have Been There
While catching up on world, local and celebrity news on msn.com, a page caught my attention. "Confessions of a Scary Mommy" An Honest and Irreverent Look at Motherhood The Good The Bad and The Scary. By Jill Smokler
I just thought I would share, because we have all been there(or will be)....
"There are a million ironies in motherhood: The day you decide to change the sheets will inevitably be the night your child wets the bed. With a million toys in the house, your baby will without a doubt prefer to play with pots and pans from the kitchen cabinet than with any expensive learning game, and your kids will always fall asleep early for the sitter who gets paid by the hour to entertain them. It’s unfair, uncool, and unjust, but, unfortunately, it’s the way it is. Perhaps, though, the biggest irony out there is that despite never actually being alone (can you remember the last time you peed in peace?), as a mother you can feel totally isolated.
"A few years ago, I was a stay-at-home mom to three kids, ranging in age from a newborn to a four-year-old. I was living in a new house, in a new town, among unfamiliar neighbors. It was lonely and overwhelming and I was bordering on miserable. A fellow mom from down the street stopped by our house to introduce herself and ask how my days were going. Half joking, I responded, “The baby is a bit of an asshole, but he’ll grow out of it. We’ll survive.” The look on her face was enough to let me know not only that I had offended her, but that we would not be spending our afternoons commiserating together. She had three young kids, as well—was she not going slowly insane, too? "Did she not long for an afternoon without kids wiping snot on her jeans and a baby spitting up constantly? Did she not lock herself in the bathroom, ignoring the whining on the other side of the door? Apparently not. Or she faked it a hell of a lot better than I was able to.
We like to paint motherhood as a picture-perfect experience, filled with idyllic children and beaming mothers. A perfect newborn peacefully resting on his mother’s chest. A toddler taking tentative first steps into the loving arms of his mother, who is smiling proudly and wiping tears of joy from her cheeks. A mother’s long, blond hair trailing in the wind as she holds hands with and runs alongside her beautiful, impeccably dressed children. A mother and daughter sipping tea and painting each other’s nails, telling each other their deepest secrets and dreams. A mother leading Girl Scout troops and chairing PTA events and fluffing her daughter’s prom dress before her nervous date knocks on the front door.
"Those moments of motherhood are indeed miraculous and joyful; they can also be few and far between. What if that baby never latches properly and breast-feeding becomes a nightmare that results in both baby and mother sobbing for hours on end? What if instead of happily reading together with her child for hours, the mother of a tough toddler wonders, just for an instant, whether there is something more to life than puzzles and ABCs? What if a mother, once her teenage child leaves the door, breathes a sigh of relief that the drama is temporarily on hold and drinks a glass of wine alone in the bathtub?
"Do these things make motherhood any less perfect? Of course not: they make motherhood real.
Motherhood isn’t a chain of wondrous little moments strung together in one perfectly orchestrated slide show. It’s dirty and scary and beautiful and hard and miraculous and exhausting and thankless and joyful and frustrating all at once. It’s everything. Anyone who claims that motherhood is only the good stuff is simply in denial (or she’s on some serious drugs). Admitting that this job isn’t always easy doesn’t make somebody a bad mother. At least, it shouldn’t.
"We’re all on this ride together. We are not the first ones to ever accidentally tell our children to shut up, or wonder — just for a moment — what it would be like if we’d never had children. We aren’t the first mothers to feel overwhelmed and challenged and not entirely fulfilled by motherhood. And we certainly won’t be the last.
"Nothing can be lost by admitting our weaknesses and imperfections to one another. In fact, quite the opposite is true. We will be better mothers, better wives, and better women if we are able to finally drop the act and get real. Who are we pretending for, anyway? It is my hope that no other mother feels as alone as I felt those first few months of motherhood. There are millions of us mothers, all feeling the same way, all across the globe. All we need to do is find one another.
Scary Mommies of the world, unite!
The Scary Mommy Manifesto
Please solemnly recite the following before proceeding:
I shall maintain a sense of humor about all things motherhood, for without it, I recognize that I may end up institutionalized. Or, at the very least, completely miserable.
I shall not judge the mother in the grocery store who, upon entering, hits the candy aisle and doles out M&M’s to her screaming toddler. It is simply a survival mechanism.
I shall not compete with the mother who effortlessly bakes from scratch, purees her own baby food, or fashions breathtaking costumes from tissue paper. Motherhood is not a competition. The only ones who lose are the ones who race the fastest.
I shall shoot the parents of the screaming newborn on the airplane looks of compassion rather than resentment. I am fortunate to be able to ditch the kid upon landing. They, however, are not.
I shall never ask any woman whether she is, in fact, expecting. Ever.
I shall not question the mother who is wearing the same yoga pants, flip-flops, and T-shirt she wore to school pickup the day before. She has good reason.
I shall never claim to know everything about children other than my own (who still remain a mystery to me).
I shall hold the new babies belonging to friends and family, so they may shower and nap, which is all any new mother really wants.
I shall strive to pass down a healthy body image to my daughter. She deserves a mother who loves and respects herself; stretch marks, dimples, cellulite, and all.
I shall not preach the benefits of breast-feeding or circumcision or homeschooling or organic food or co-sleeping or crying it out to a fellow mother who has not asked my opinion. It’s none of my damn business.
I shall try my hardest to never say never, for I just may end up with a loud mouthed, bikini-clad, water gun–shooting toddler of my very own.
I shall remember that no mother is perfect and that my children will thrive because of, and sometimes even in spite of me.
From Confessions of a Scary Mommy: An Honest and Irreverent Look at Motherhood — The Good, The Bad, and The Scary by Jill Smokler. Copyright © 2012 Jill Smokler. Published by Gallery Books.
I just thought I would share, because we have all been there(or will be)....
"There are a million ironies in motherhood: The day you decide to change the sheets will inevitably be the night your child wets the bed. With a million toys in the house, your baby will without a doubt prefer to play with pots and pans from the kitchen cabinet than with any expensive learning game, and your kids will always fall asleep early for the sitter who gets paid by the hour to entertain them. It’s unfair, uncool, and unjust, but, unfortunately, it’s the way it is. Perhaps, though, the biggest irony out there is that despite never actually being alone (can you remember the last time you peed in peace?), as a mother you can feel totally isolated.
"A few years ago, I was a stay-at-home mom to three kids, ranging in age from a newborn to a four-year-old. I was living in a new house, in a new town, among unfamiliar neighbors. It was lonely and overwhelming and I was bordering on miserable. A fellow mom from down the street stopped by our house to introduce herself and ask how my days were going. Half joking, I responded, “The baby is a bit of an asshole, but he’ll grow out of it. We’ll survive.” The look on her face was enough to let me know not only that I had offended her, but that we would not be spending our afternoons commiserating together. She had three young kids, as well—was she not going slowly insane, too? "Did she not long for an afternoon without kids wiping snot on her jeans and a baby spitting up constantly? Did she not lock herself in the bathroom, ignoring the whining on the other side of the door? Apparently not. Or she faked it a hell of a lot better than I was able to.
We like to paint motherhood as a picture-perfect experience, filled with idyllic children and beaming mothers. A perfect newborn peacefully resting on his mother’s chest. A toddler taking tentative first steps into the loving arms of his mother, who is smiling proudly and wiping tears of joy from her cheeks. A mother’s long, blond hair trailing in the wind as she holds hands with and runs alongside her beautiful, impeccably dressed children. A mother and daughter sipping tea and painting each other’s nails, telling each other their deepest secrets and dreams. A mother leading Girl Scout troops and chairing PTA events and fluffing her daughter’s prom dress before her nervous date knocks on the front door.
"Those moments of motherhood are indeed miraculous and joyful; they can also be few and far between. What if that baby never latches properly and breast-feeding becomes a nightmare that results in both baby and mother sobbing for hours on end? What if instead of happily reading together with her child for hours, the mother of a tough toddler wonders, just for an instant, whether there is something more to life than puzzles and ABCs? What if a mother, once her teenage child leaves the door, breathes a sigh of relief that the drama is temporarily on hold and drinks a glass of wine alone in the bathtub?
"Do these things make motherhood any less perfect? Of course not: they make motherhood real.
Motherhood isn’t a chain of wondrous little moments strung together in one perfectly orchestrated slide show. It’s dirty and scary and beautiful and hard and miraculous and exhausting and thankless and joyful and frustrating all at once. It’s everything. Anyone who claims that motherhood is only the good stuff is simply in denial (or she’s on some serious drugs). Admitting that this job isn’t always easy doesn’t make somebody a bad mother. At least, it shouldn’t.
"We’re all on this ride together. We are not the first ones to ever accidentally tell our children to shut up, or wonder — just for a moment — what it would be like if we’d never had children. We aren’t the first mothers to feel overwhelmed and challenged and not entirely fulfilled by motherhood. And we certainly won’t be the last.
"Nothing can be lost by admitting our weaknesses and imperfections to one another. In fact, quite the opposite is true. We will be better mothers, better wives, and better women if we are able to finally drop the act and get real. Who are we pretending for, anyway? It is my hope that no other mother feels as alone as I felt those first few months of motherhood. There are millions of us mothers, all feeling the same way, all across the globe. All we need to do is find one another.
Scary Mommies of the world, unite!
The Scary Mommy Manifesto
Please solemnly recite the following before proceeding:
I shall maintain a sense of humor about all things motherhood, for without it, I recognize that I may end up institutionalized. Or, at the very least, completely miserable.
I shall not judge the mother in the grocery store who, upon entering, hits the candy aisle and doles out M&M’s to her screaming toddler. It is simply a survival mechanism.
I shall not compete with the mother who effortlessly bakes from scratch, purees her own baby food, or fashions breathtaking costumes from tissue paper. Motherhood is not a competition. The only ones who lose are the ones who race the fastest.
I shall shoot the parents of the screaming newborn on the airplane looks of compassion rather than resentment. I am fortunate to be able to ditch the kid upon landing. They, however, are not.
I shall never ask any woman whether she is, in fact, expecting. Ever.
I shall not question the mother who is wearing the same yoga pants, flip-flops, and T-shirt she wore to school pickup the day before. She has good reason.
I shall never claim to know everything about children other than my own (who still remain a mystery to me).
I shall hold the new babies belonging to friends and family, so they may shower and nap, which is all any new mother really wants.
I shall strive to pass down a healthy body image to my daughter. She deserves a mother who loves and respects herself; stretch marks, dimples, cellulite, and all.
I shall not preach the benefits of breast-feeding or circumcision or homeschooling or organic food or co-sleeping or crying it out to a fellow mother who has not asked my opinion. It’s none of my damn business.
I shall try my hardest to never say never, for I just may end up with a loud mouthed, bikini-clad, water gun–shooting toddler of my very own.
I shall remember that no mother is perfect and that my children will thrive because of, and sometimes even in spite of me.
From Confessions of a Scary Mommy: An Honest and Irreverent Look at Motherhood — The Good, The Bad, and The Scary by Jill Smokler. Copyright © 2012 Jill Smokler. Published by Gallery Books.
Saturday, April 7, 2012
29 Weeks and Still Flat as a Pancake
Many people are shocked that I am as far along as I am, they give me a confused look and ask "first baby?" I reply "third". I have sometimes received disgusted looks, or the occasional "I hate you!" from other mothers and once a woman told me about the show "I didn't know I was pregnant" and how she didn't think that was possible, but after meeting me she was amazed that some people like myself just don't show.
Every women I have ever met who was expecting have beautiful pregnant curvy bodies, or at least they look pregnant. I get the same feelings as all of those expecting mothers- fatigue, soreness, aches and pains, plus I feel all of the kicks and squirms of my little bundle, I just experience it in my size 3 jeans for the whole 9 months. I do laugh at people who think I must be WAY skinnier before pregnancy, nope I am the same size. Some people think I deliver really tiny babies, but each of my babies have been tall, and healthy. I just carry them in a fashion where they hide. I did wish for a while this pregnancy would be twins, then I would actually look pregnant. But there is just one little bundle in there.
Some of the perks of being really tiny during pregnancy are delivering a baby and automatically having a flat tummy, and working off very little extra weight and being back to my normal self in no time. Sure genetics play a huge part in how I carry a baby and heal after delivery, and I am so grateful for great genes! I just wish other women who are beautifully curvy during pregnancy would be more understanding we are all in the same boat, and going through similar changes and moods. We all want to be healthy during pregnancy, we all are working towards the ultimate goal a happy healthy baby.
Every women I have ever met who was expecting have beautiful pregnant curvy bodies, or at least they look pregnant. I get the same feelings as all of those expecting mothers- fatigue, soreness, aches and pains, plus I feel all of the kicks and squirms of my little bundle, I just experience it in my size 3 jeans for the whole 9 months. I do laugh at people who think I must be WAY skinnier before pregnancy, nope I am the same size. Some people think I deliver really tiny babies, but each of my babies have been tall, and healthy. I just carry them in a fashion where they hide. I did wish for a while this pregnancy would be twins, then I would actually look pregnant. But there is just one little bundle in there.
Some of the perks of being really tiny during pregnancy are delivering a baby and automatically having a flat tummy, and working off very little extra weight and being back to my normal self in no time. Sure genetics play a huge part in how I carry a baby and heal after delivery, and I am so grateful for great genes! I just wish other women who are beautifully curvy during pregnancy would be more understanding we are all in the same boat, and going through similar changes and moods. We all want to be healthy during pregnancy, we all are working towards the ultimate goal a happy healthy baby.
Tuesday, April 3, 2012
Heaven is...
Heaven is here on earth, it is the magical feeling or special place where the feeling of "I've been here before" takes over you. Its the little things that make us smile when the everything seems to be in turmoil. Heaven is the faith, hope and love that keeps you going even when you feel like you have hit rock bottom. It is the "wow" moments, the special people that come into your life, and the memories you have left behind. Heaven is all around us, all of the time.
Heaven is moments like the few I have listed below...
Having a lady bug land on your little girl, and watching her squeal with joy. Then she gently places the little red gem on green leaves nearby and recite "he wanted me to put him down so he can feed his family lunch." The great outdoors and being closer to nature whether it is a picnic and play date at the park, a nature hike, a camping trip or so much more... this is one of the many sides of heaven.
Making cupcakes for the soccer team is a fun task, but not nearly as fun alone as it is with your best friend. Whipping up a rich chocolate batter, adding in a cup of chocolate chips(and snacking on some as you go along), laughing, having a grand ol' time just chatting about kids, husbands, and all other nonsense. Best friends are special, and I believe no place can be heaven without a best friend... now, who gets to lick the spoon??
Heaven is moments like the few I have listed below...
Having a lady bug land on your little girl, and watching her squeal with joy. Then she gently places the little red gem on green leaves nearby and recite "he wanted me to put him down so he can feed his family lunch." The great outdoors and being closer to nature whether it is a picnic and play date at the park, a nature hike, a camping trip or so much more... this is one of the many sides of heaven.
I believe everyday is a talent show in Heaven, everybody has something they are great at, and everybody has something they enjoy doing. Each day a stage is presented to us, a place for us to preform our daily tasks and do our best. Some of us find talent when we are younger, and some bloom later in life. The challenge is to find what you are great at and embrace it! If it is more than one or two things, accept the challenge and juggle all of your talents. You will find that you are not alone, many share similar talents as you, and this will help your bonds with your friends(even if they are related to you) grow stronger.
Respecting the classics helps you to slow down in this fast and changing world of technology. Sure, technology is amazing, and it seems there is a new phone, faster network, better television set every week. Bigger is not always better! Rewinding and reviewing how things are made, or what the "big hit" was before the DVD is a treat we can share with our children. And watching their eyes light up when we present the VHS player, a record, or a roll of film that is a great feeling. Teaching history is not only important for the future, but also for appreciation. Appreciate the little things like real sugar instead of processed foods with all the 'extras', or the time it takes to develop a roll of film in a dark room, and when you slow down you will notice a fast moving world that you are now educated about. So pull out the walk-man and "walk" down the street, bring out the hula-hoop, grab the side walk chalk and play hop scotch, or just jump rope. Aaaahhhhh the classics!
Family meal time is precious for busy schedules. The "face" time you get with those around the table is time you can never replace. The time to put work, school, and extra activities aside and connect with those you hold most dear. A delicious Sunday breakfast, a well balanced dinner, it is amazing how food brings people together either cooking in the kitchen, or eating what has been prepared. It is a special time when we turn off our phones, shut down to the rest of the world and open conversation, laughter, and create a tradition of enjoying something so amazing... family.
Heaven is where love grows, watching my amazing children grow everyday from the day they were helpless infants to big, smart, and oh so stubborn but amazing children they have so far become is a wonderful journey. I love watching my big boy discover the world we live in through cub scouts, expand his knowledge and education at school, and develop his coordination and team skills with soccer. I adore watching my little lady dance as if no one is watching in ballet, and cannot wait for her to start school and her first season of soccer this fall. They change and grow so much in such a short period of time. I cannot wait to watch them grow with more extracurricular activities through out the next few years and watch them metamorphose into young adults and soon have families of their own... This is truly heaven!
Continuing on with my amazing children... One more bit of heaven is feeling every kick, squirm, flip, and push of a new little stud muffin forming in my abdomen. I cannot wait to meet him. The miracle of life is proof heaven exists here on earth. Yes, sometimes he causes indigestion, sore ribs, and achy muscles, but those are growing pains I wouldn't trade for the world. He will be amazing, just like his Big Brother and Big Sister!
My family is a healthy size- my parents, my 9 siblings, my six going on seven nieces/nephews( and that is just the beginning), my grandparents, my husband, my children. They make heaven sweet. I am impressed by my grandparents, they never skip a beat and remember my children's(and my sisters children's) birthday's. My parents are the best, they love spending time with their grand kids, they record all of my favorite shows, they give awesome Christmas presents(like the soft serve ice cream maker or the "Yonana's" healthy ice cream maker... Ice cream is an amazing treat, but to make different types of 'healthy' ice cream is just phenomenal!). My sisters are each unique, and fabulous people, they are great to get nails done, or go to lunch, borrow clothing, you name it... I love spending time with them. My brothers are interesting characters, and unless you are related to them you wouldn't be able to fully understand them. They can be intimidating, but they are marshmallows on the inside, and I love them anyway.
If there was a place where you can be yourself showing off your personality, interests, and silly creatures that bring tremendous joy, where people love you regardless of your habits and shortcomings, this is Heaven.
Memories, feelings, thoughts. Life is full of so much emotion, I know Heaven exists here on earth. What does your Heaven look like?
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