Labor Day Weekend

This was one of those super jam packed weekends that resulted in the need to clear out and make room for a soon to be family of 4. 

 

A 3 day weekend in pictures.

 

Toys were moved to the red room/guest room/new toy room.
 

Our second pile of giveaway stuff for the weekend.

More of the red/guest/toy room

Reading nook

Fall mantle with random stuff from around the house.

 

G and I going through ALL the clothes we still had stored in the house. 
I am pretty sure there are still more in storage.
Pants are always optional in this house :)

 

Garrett's closet became a G and little brother closet. 
Short sleeves on the right from little to big.



Long sleeves on the left from little to big.
Blankets hung up on hangers. 
Too many to store, so I decided to hang.

Shoes, shorts and pants from little to big.
Did you know they don't make pant hangers for little clothes that you can buy.
Well, they might, but I didn't search for very long
I made my own with clothes pins and hangers. 

3 giant boxes of wipes. 
Mark is my overstocker.

4 boxes of size 5 diapers.
G only wears a size 4.
Did I mention my husband, the overstocker?

This house isn't perfect, but all 4 bedrooms have a walk in closet
and that is pretty darn close to perfection if you ask me.

Daddy said it was time for G to give up his beloved high chair and be a big boy at the table.
 

And this is where G decided he would be happier this morning for breakfast. 

Our 11th anniversary. 
We are sitting on the leather seats for Mark's F150 that arrived that day.
Nothing says Happy Anniversary dear wife like 2 giant boxes of leather seats that need to be installed.

Going in for a kiss, because even though he is crazy
he is my crazy and I love him.

While his mommy and daddy were kising in the entry way and having a
little anniversary alone time, G spent the day with his Great Aunt Lisa, Great Uncle
Bruce and cousin Cydney.  Want to know how to get a teenage girl to the top of
the Chickfila play structure?  Show your slide loving toddler the indoor playground!
He also got to feed ducks at the park.  What a fun day for him :)

Bad advice

What is the worst advice you ever received?

 

This is Saturday's prompt and I thought it was fitting for this page since the majority of bad advice is regarding pregnancies and parenting. 

 

In my world the worst advice usually is the unsolicited advice.  Everyone and their brother has an opinion on how your pregnancy is going, what you are having and how early you will go into labor.  If I ask for your thoughts, I am open to all the possibilities that may come out of your mouth, but it is just the unsolicited advice that drives me crazy. 

As far as parenting goes, the worst advice I have had was to bite my kid back every time he bit someone.  No thanks.  I think I will find another way.  Turns out it was a stage and he grew out of it fast.  Now if only some of the other kids would grow out of it at daycare that would help. 

 

What is the worst pregnancy/parenting advice you have received?

 

 

 



Naming Babies

Only 1 of these names is a contender. 
All names were pulled from nameberry.com as predictions for 2019 LOL
 

Was your husband super opionated when you were picking out baby names? I never thought it would be something a man would care about. Yep, I realize that is sexist. When I was pregnant with Garrett I realized how wrong I was. He not only had an opinion, he was passionate about it. I have always kept lists and at some point I must have made a baby name list on my computer. I don't even remember this list, so it must have been quite old. We had been married 8 years before we got pregnant with Garrett, so I had plenty of time to gather names. Mark wanted all sorts of crazy names I did not approve of so one day he found this list I supposedly wrote and found the name Garrett on it. He said he liked it and since I had already written it down, surely that meant that I liked it so in his mind we were in agreement. Men! But yes, I do love his name. It is unique and manly without being too futuristic or cute and I even love the middle name Mark gave him, Sky.

So, insert baby #2. We do not know the gender yet, but it is never too early to start thinking and planning. We have the boy name pretty much nailed down. I actually am getting more and more excited about that one. I wasn't thrilled with it at first as I have a name I love that Mark just does not understand. I have a girl name I love too, that he will not even consider. So for girl names, he thinks we have that nailed down too, but I only somewhat love the first name and hate his middle name choice. I mean HATE. Yep, super strong dislike. Yesterday I decided on a new girl name that I think I am in love with. It is unique and girly and perfect for our family. Still working on convincing him.

Do you love your kid's first and middle names? I am never going to like the middle name Mark has for a girl, but not sure it is worth fighting over. How do I explain to my potential future daughter that I love her and hate her middle name? Would that be weird? I'm not sure I have ever even asked my parents how they came up with my name. Do you know where your name originated? So, maybe it doesn't even matter. Am I overthinking this?

Gender Reveals: Yes or No?

cute invite from Zazzle
see it here

I am planning to have photos taken when we find out what we are having but I want to do it in a fun way. I don't have any pictures of our sonogram with my family from when we found out we were having our first child, a son. I loved sharing that experience with them, but I wish I had that look on their face captured forever or at least a picture that shows we were all there together.

So as I'm making plans and googling ideas I have come across some hate filled blogs on the subject of gender reveal parties. I have read things like self absorbed, self indulgent, continues our me, me, me society, just another boring party for your friends and family to make time for, children have been born forever why get all excited now, and the list of negativity goes on.

At first I thought, well, maybe they are right. Being a culture of social media our society has maybe become a bit oversharing. But, you know what? I think it is okay to share our excitement with those we love and if they love us back then they should be just as excited as we are. I waited a long time to have kids. Long after my friends had finished that part of life, but I was still excited for them. Why wouldn't you be excited for your family or friend as she starts this new adventure in life?

We are not planning a party, but instead a gender reveal photoshoot so that me, my husband and our toddler son can find out in a fun way what we are having and have the looks on our faces captured. Sure I could have just had the memory of the sonographer telling me, do you see that extra leg right there? Well, it isn't an extra leg. It's a boy. Yes, that is great, but there is nothing wrong with making a celebration out of it and having fun pictures to look at forever. Sure, I will post a collage of these pics and maybe a sample of the video I am hoping to have made at the same time on social media, but the intent is to capture this for our joy and memories and for those that love us, to be able to share in our joy no matter how far away they may live.

So if you are out there annoyed and horrified by these so called self indulgent parties and photos, just remember, someone shared in your joy too. Even if you thought no one cared that you had gotten pregnant like billions of women past, someone did care and was excited for you. I bet you even counted down the days until your sonogram so you could find out if your house was going to be filled with pink or blue onesies. Why pretend this is not a joyous occasion? I can't imagine such a boring world where no one celebrated or found joy in simple things such as the gender of your child. Life is worth celebrating, so party it up!

If you don't mind sharing in our joy, please come back later in August when our pics are up.

Tell me your thoughts?

Perfection

I'm not perfect.  There I said it.  Guess what?  I don't need to be and neither do you. 

Perfection or at least the concept has been the topic of conversation all around me lately.  It comes up in marriage, parenting and just as often in fitness. 



This is been on my mind for a long time.  Probably since I became a mom, but lately it has really weighed heavily.  I think it is the Facebook curse...too many mom groups...too many tired parents trying to fit in to a mold that doesn't exist..too many posts of how do I's? and why won't my child?, etc.  It is heart breaking to read these mom's posts.  They are doing what is best for them and their child and in addition to the questions and comments from random people, these moms scrutinize every choice they make.

So I say stop attempting to be perfect.  Don't be average either.  Be unique.  Parent in a way that is unique to your child, unique to your family.  Research typical behavior, growth and milestones, but then be prepared that your child may not follow those charts to a T and that is okay!!!  Do you hear me?  I am saying that is okay.  You and your child are unique.  That is what is so loveable about you.  You are not the same as me.  Sure, we can relate to being a mom, maybe our love for fitness, and a ridiculous obsession with avocados, but what is great is that we are learning and growing each day and we are different.  We don't have everything figured out and sometimes we wing it. 

In some ways I spent most of G's 1st year wondering why all "those other moms" were able to keep their house spotless, get their baby to sleep all night in their own crib, and fit in some super workout.  I never was able to accomplish any of those before he turned 1.  He was a breastfed baby and he loved mommy all of the time, day and night.  Then I figured it out.  It was all a show. Sure, sometimes the stars lined up and they had a "perfect" day, but they did not get things perfect all of the time.

I guess what I hope is that my children will grow up experiencing life, the good, the bad and even the mistakes.  I want them to own every experience and not ever feel like they are unworthy because they are not fitting a mold that is either unattainable or not meant for their purpose in life.

My house will never be 100% clean (at least not all the rooms at the same time) and we may eat out more than we should, but we have this amazing love for one another and the patience to be who we are now.

~Rachel