Wouldn't it figure...

I can't remember the last time I rocked my child to sleep... It has been a rough few nights... She fell asleep earlier but woke up screaming and crying in a way I have never heard before. It sounded like what I imagine a coyote caught in a foothold trap would sound like. It was HORRIBLE! It would figure that right when two year molars enter into the picture the only teething relief we have ever found for Ashlyn would be recalled. I honestly can't imagine what life would have been like without Hyland's teething tablets when Ashlyn was teething before... and if tonight was any indication of what two year molars will be like, I don't know if we will survive the next 4 teeth coming in. Please pray for us... it's going to be another rough night...

Finishing things!

If you remember my very first blog post told you about my inability to finish projects. I have closets of materials for projects I was so excited about but never started/finished. This weekend I decided to start tackling some of them...at least the things that are still relevant (as excited as I was about the zoo animals I was going to paint they no longer fit in her room since Princesses are whats cool these days). So this weekend I caught up on some scrapbooking and started making hairbows ...well attempting to make hairbows... I have a long way to go and if anyone has any suggestions I'd love to make fancier ones. Here are some of my finished products! I feel so productive!


kit is Apple-licious by Just So Scrappy






another Just so Scrappy kit... Happy Fall Ya'll (she is the best designer and her kits are only 1.50!!! Check her out at her blog )

Teen Mom...

Ok so I am a little behind and am just now starting to watch Season 1 of Teen Mom. This show makes my heart so heavy and I can't watch it without crying at least a little.
I feel so bad for these girls, their families, and their children. I think about being a teenager and it was HARD. I would NEVER want to do it again. I think about being a mom and it is HARD but it is amazing and miraculous and life changing and I'd do it over in a heartbeat. My daughter makes me happier than anything in the world. I have never said the words "This is just one more thing I will have to give up because I'm a mom or because of Ashlyn." Anything that I no longer do is worth it 100 times over because I have this little person in my life. Yet I hear this phrase over and over on the show.
I think of where I was when I was their age... I think of what my life would have been like if I were in their shoes... I think it would be similiar to or worse than all 4 of those girls. At that time I didn't have the relationship I do now with my parents. Not that my parents were different, but I wasn't at a point to realize all that they do for me every day. I look at the relationship I was in and holy cow would it have been worse... I look at all the dreams that would have been put on hold...

Now I look at where I was when I got pregnant... my mother lived right down the street and would come over at the drop of a hat... and now that I live across the country all I have to do is tell her I need her and she books a plane ticket (OK it has to be more serious than we are out of milk but still). My husband... what can I say about him except I couldn't do it without him... and the majority of my dreams had been realized or at least started by the time my daughter came.
I can't help but grieve for these girls and boys who are dealing with one of the most important yet hardest jobs any of us will ever have. I grieve for them because they are not getting the experience of parenthood I have. I grieve for them because they are learning so many lessons all at once that most people learn over many years... I grieve for them because they feel that everything they can no longer do is "just one more thing I HAVE to give up because I'm a teen parent." It just makes me so sad.

Not sweating the small stuff...

My child will not die from eating ketchup (and only ketchup) for dinner...
My child won't be the stinky kid just for wearing the same jammies 2...ok, maybe 3 nights in a row...
My child will not go to high school with a pacifier...
My child's college roommates will not have to hold her down to get her to brush her teeth...
My child will not eat with her fingers at her wedding reception...

Clearly you can tell what some of my irrational mom fears are :o) I am really trying to just enjoy this fun stage Ashlyn is in because I know it will pass us by too quickly. I listen to her talking in toddler sentences... telling me what she likes and doesn't like... insisting on wearing what she wants to wear when she wants to wear it and I realize I already have a mini-teenager... I started singing a song I didn't think she had ever heard and she started doing the motions and singing along... I am no longer the one that gives her all her information about the world... She is taking it all in everywhere she is... her teachers at school teach her new songs that are now her favorite. I didn't realize I would already be letting go little pieces of my baby so soon. She just cried and screamed to go with my sister back to the city with no mommy... She is already such a big independent girl!
At least at night as she sleeps she is still my little baby...
Even if she is a little stinky...

We don't have to be perfect...

I think as moms we all feel like we have to be perfect. There are so many pressures on us... breastfeed for a year... make your own baby food (and with organic ingredients as well)... buy all natural toys and make sure NOTHING is from China... search all the labels of every product for parabens, BPA, lead, etc... run to Gymboree... make your own Halloween costumes... make sure your child is learning every second... keep yourself presentable... be a good wife... be a good daughter/sister/aunt/mom/etc... Something has to give! Just remember when you look at the other Superwomen around you something has given in their lives... So if they constantly have beautiful scrapbook pages and pictures on facebook of all their adventures and you hear of all the wonderful things their child is doing... I guarantee you that family had Taco Bell for dinner and god forbid the toddler went to bed without her teeth brushed... AGAIN... I know so many supermoms that are all awesome at different things and let me tell you I have to take a deep breath and remind myself that I rock too...
So to my friend that bakes her own bread, makes her own baby food, works a full time job educating our youth, and goes to grad school... I admire you...
To my friend that is a mother to two (an infant and a just 1 year old), who owns her own amazing photography business, and writes a daily blog, all while being super rad... I admire you...
To my friend who is a preachers wife... who home-schooled 2 kids with a toddler running around... who is dancing again (and teaching dance) after having the before mentioned 3 children and taking a "few" years off... who has dealt with more stress and sadness in the last few years than anyone should have to... who shares these things on her blog with an honesty that has allowed me to get closer to her and relate to her despite the miles and differences in our lives... I admire you...
To my friend who has 2 under 2 (or close)... who had both of those babies during graduate school... who is doing a full time internship with so many challenges... who has an awesome husband who is in medical school so she is often on her own...who is raising little genius babies, who despite everything on her plate does things like organize meals for weeks when you just had a baby (I will never forget this!)... I admire you...
I could go on and on... Every mother I know is amazing... I wish I could take pieces of each of you and create the ultimate mom for Ashlyn... but just knowing you all and being your friend is enough! So next time you are getting down on yourself really look at all the amazing things you are doing... if you can't come up with enough to bring you out of a funk... call me... facebook me... email me... I will tell you all the things I love about you!

Sale on Tag and Tag Jr. Books

Wanted to let everyone know about another great deal on Tag and Tag Jr. Books. Target has them on sale for $10 dollars until the 23rd. Here is a link for $4 off any Tag book over $10. This makes the books $6 each. Not AS great as the Toys R Us deal from a few weeks ago but still a good deal! Makes each book cost the same as any other children's book and these are interactive and fun! I can't wait to give my daughter the books I've stocked up on for Christmas! Hope this helps someone else with their Christmas shopping!

How to get rid of the pacifier without even trying!

As I'm sure you know, we have been battling the pacifier for a while now... Trying out different ways to get rid of it... While I know the best thing to do is to pick one method and really commit to it, I revealed on my first first blog post that I never stick to ANYTHING! So not only does my child still have a "pah pah" (as they are called in my house) but she now wants to walk around with two at all times. If you don't believe me check out the picture I took on the way home yesterday...


A couple of weeks ago we decided to start snipping the tips of her pacifiers. She was NOT happy about this and would just throw them at us and scream. I don't know if it is just a coincidence but the TERRIBLE TWO's emerged on the very same day I made the first snip and have not disappeared. My father-in-law just left today and I really wanted him to enjoy his time with his youngest grandchild. None of my husband's family has seen her since her first birthday 10 months ago and I didn't want him to go back to Florida and tell them we are raising the spawn of Satan. So we gave in and let her have a normal pacifier back. That turned into Poppy going on a shopping trip to buy her even more pacifiers, and now she has an entire arsenal again.
You can imagine how surprised I was when it was bedtime tonight and I asked her if she wanted her "pah pah" and she said "NO!" I was about to jump for joy and announce to the whole world that my darling angel had given up her pacifier all on her own... when her finger went straight up her nose and then into her mouth. Yep for all of you mothers who want to break their children of the pacifier just let them spend the day with a nose-picker/booger-eater... It works like magic...
Now I'm off to research how to stop nose picking! Any suggestions?

P.S. She is really going to hate me for this one someday :o)