The Monday Real

 

Things I've learned as a mom...

- I am my baby's best advocate.


- Never underestimate the "Momma Bear" instinct... I just about drop-kicked a 5 year old at Monkey Joe's the other day. Noah was headed towards a slide, and she (out of nowhere) tackled him and wouldn't let go.

- Doctor's don't always know everything. Trust that mom instinct, even if it doesn't make sense to anyone else.

- McDonalds french fries, every once in a while, will not completely ruin my boy's eating habits.

- Time is more important to him than a clean house.

- Investing in some Shout is investing in my own sanity.

- Don't introduce markers before crayons. Noah doesn't like crayons as much, because the colors aren't as vibrant. Thank goodness they're washable.

- Find at least one good group of mom friends.

-  Thank my husband often for working at a cool place like Target, so that my favorite quick getaway spot also comes with a little discount. :)

- Enjoy it, even the baby stage where he doesn't sleep. It goes by way too fast and before you know it, he's too busy (and strong) to stick around for lots of kisses.

Monday Real

Wanna know what's "real"?
Writer's block.
I hate it. I have like 5 different posts just hanging out, half way completed. I sit down to type, and? Nothing. Nada. Totally blank.

***

It's 40 out today. It's what I get for bragging about our sunny and 80 afternoons last week.

***

I don't like budgeting.
In all actuality, I'm pretty good at it. I paid for our honeymoon, without any help from Brad. I've never over drafted my account, and I always paid my bills. That was back when I worked, and the majority of my money was just for me. Now that I have to share? Such a buzz kill. I keep looking at all these adorable sun hats and sandals and springy dresses... all perfect for our Kiawah trip. And then I remember that we need dog food. And nice shoes for Noah (because going to church or out to eat in mud covered shoes is just not cool). I'm ready for the economy to resuscitate itself.

***

Anybody else ever get these great crafty/educational/play ideas for your kid, only for them to be totally unimpressed?

***

Noah has picked up the word "Yum" from somewhere. I've made countless attempts at teaching him, "Mmmmm!! That's yummy!" or something like that. But last night, he tasted a muffin I made for him and kept walking around saying, "UM". I thought maybe it was just a fluke. Then he randomly started saying, "UM" again, then went and grabbed the bag of chocolate chips. Little man knows exactly what he's talking about. :)

***

I'm going to try potty training this week.
I'm scared.

***

In case this post wasn't quite entertaining enough, I do have another one over here. I'm officially a regular contributor now and will be posting recipes and food related type things. Funny enough, writer's block doesn't seem to apply to food for me. That's kind of sad.

The Monday Real

Some days I really, really, really want to do the whole "I told you so!" thing. Or the "Why didn't you listen to me in the beginning?" thing. Of course, I don't think I'm right all of the time. Nobody's perfect, right? ;)... But in some situations, there's an obvious, understood-by-the-majority-of-humanity, right and wrong. When I make my position clear on the *right* decision and others disagree, only to turn around and eventually do the *right* thing? I so want to do the "I told you so" dance. But I don't. And won't. Because sometimes I try to be a better person than that. Geez, being nice is so not fun sometimes. Anyone else feel like this?

***

There seems to be a general confusion over the South's reaction to snow. Some of us love it, some of us hate it, and most are stuck somewhere in between. Our obsession with milk and bread sandwiches baffles people (no, I'm not serious. But we do flood the stores to buy milk and bread every time it snows. Why? Those are the first two food items to expire when snowed in) . Our neighbors up north and out west enjoy teasing us at our 2 inches of "Winter APOCALYPSE 2012!!". Schools close, businesses shut down, and basically the local economy crashes at the sight of snow flurries. Personally? I love it. I can genuinely say there's nowhere else in our country that you can get this kind of entertainment. And I'm pretty sure there's nowhere else in our country where it's 70 degrees one day, then ice the next, then back to sunshine and shorts.
Anyway, to sum it up... here's an example of what happens here when it snows:

via

***

Wanna know what I got for Valentine's Day?

A dehumidifier.

Nothing says, "I love you so much I don't want mold to grow in our crawlspace" like a dehumidifier. My man is so dang romantic.

Happy Monday! :)



when the sickies hit

Most of Friday, Noah was pretty pitiful.
Before I say what I'm about to say (and make you think I'm a horrible mom), I do need to preface this by stating how much I hate seeing my boy sick. He's so so sweet natured, even when he's not feeling well.

However.
I kind of enjoyed spending the day cuddling on the couch with him, doing nothing but watching tv (I would've preferred a good little chick flick, but he insisted on Thomas and Curious George), a puzzle or two, and making him some peanut butter cookies. The days that I get to just relax and have a day to myself are few and far between... like maybe two or three times a year. I almost needed to take a day and just chill out. Not stress about how I'm going to keep Noah entertained, get him to eat his peas, or help him learn a new word/sign.
I got to spend a day rebooting in a sense. I've been running on empty, creatively, lately. I finally got some inspiration and motivation back. All while loving on my little boy.

Saturday morning, he woke up with a 102 fever, but by the afternoon, it was gone and never came back. In fact, he felt so great, he begged to go outside (even though it was fa-REEZING). After enough pleading, I bundled him up and let him out for about 15 minutes, just enough to pacify him.

I had to get a little creative to keep him indoors for the majority of the day, though.

Maybe y'all have seen this idea floating around Pinterest.

(there's no source listed)

Well, once I saw it, I knew Noah would love it.
Luckily, I grabbed a pack of glow sticks (bracelets) in the Dollar Spot section at Target a couple of days before, planning to do this very thing. After his fever had been gone long enough Saturday, I went ahead and gave it a whirl. Total hit.

 We also did a little baking. Noah mostly just watches and waits. Sometimes I'll let him help me pour in the ingredients, but since he'd been sick, I figured it was a good idea to skip it.

(whether or not our recipe includes pumpkin is irrelevant. if the boy is willing to eat it and think it's a treat? I'm serving it.)

While the cookies were baking, Noah decided to do a little baking of his own. However, his technique is a little different.

***

I ended up catching his cold yesterday, which kind of stinks.

The biggest issue with me getting sick is that I reeeeally don't care what the house looks like. The last thing I feel like doing is laundry and vacuuming (both of which I actually did today). So for now, I've got random tissues lying around, and all I want to do is cuddle up under a blanket and watch mindless tv.

Be back tomorrow with, hopefully, a better put-together post.