one thing

and then I am done thinking about it:

I hate fair-weathered fans. I am sure glad my parents never said "I refuse to love you and support you during your teenage years when you sucked". Unconditional love - we all need it.


Not our best year, but I don't know about you, but this hasn't been my best year either.


With that said, I have on maroon. Jones has on maroon. Trey even has on maroon. And we are going to the game tonight ready to watch our boys play.

In the NIT.

Hail State.

Keepin' it real Friday

Happy Friday to you! I don't know about you but I, for one, am glad to see this day come. Onward to the weekend!

Today I want to keep it real by sharing some things with all you bloggers.

Before I was a mom, I had plenty of "I will never...", "my child will or will not..." blah, blah, blah.

Guess what? I am eating my words. Everyday. And that is ok. Jones is happy and healthy, and that is the most important thing, no?

Here are a few of my pre-mom crimes I have committed just in the past week:

1) My child will never ride in one of those disgusting cars/carts at the grocery store.
FALSE. My child will. And will love it. And I will be able to get in and out of the store without Jones having a giant-size toddler meltdown or me having to chase a very active boy around the store. Or both.



2) I will never. EVER. bribe my child. What parent would do that?

Pa-lease. This parent would. Just yesterday I used a juice box to coaxed Jones into getting in the stroller after work so I could go for a mini-jog. Worked like a charm and we were both happy. Win-win.

3)My child will love all vegetables and will happily eat whatever I lovingly prepare for the family.
What fantasy was I living in? First of all, I have yet to conquer this preparing a meal for our family gig. Now that I work, we are lucky to have a cooked meal two times a week. Secondly, my child hates all vegetables and meat. So guess what? He eats cheese, fruit and yogurt at almost every meal.

4)TV? Whatever. Not until he is at least 2, and even then no more than 15 minutes a day.
Trey leaves for work around 6:30. Which means I am left alone in the morning with Jones to get both of us ready for school and work. (Props to all of you single parents out there. You are my hero). We both need to be somewhat presentable and without tears (noticeable tears, at least) and out the door by 7:25. The TV has saved me many a times. I can either chase him around the house, scoop shoes and toys out of the toilet, come into the kitchen to find the pantry items covering the floor all while trying to clean my teeth OR I can put on a DVD and brush my teeth in peace.



5) I am not buying into all that cartoon character memorablia crap.
Jones has discovered Elmo. And there is no turning back. Give him his plush Elmo or give him death.

I read an article this week about pre-mom judging. I am guilty. I even was a stay-at-home mom judger (yes, it is a word. On this blog, at least) of working moms. Why would you put your kid in daycare?! Make sacrifices for the sake of your kids, people!! Sorry, moms out there. I was wrong.

We are all just doing our best in this scary thing. Nobody has it all together and we all feel like we totally suck at mothering at times. Good days/bad days. We all have them.

No judgement here, people. Do what works for you and let's all just be happy.

That's me keepin' it real today.

Check out the great article here: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/kara-gebhart-uhl/mom-judgments_b_1319775.html

Here is a picture of us from last weekend. We went on a date! First to the symphony, then out for drinks and appetizers. Cute boy. I like him.

I-phone picture dump

ready or not.

Yesterday was day 1 of potty training at Jones' school. He is the youngest by about 4 months and I just don't think he is ready, but his teacher assured me she would not force it, she would just give him the opportunity.

Well, wouldn't you know it. My child went #2 yesterday in the big boy potty. His precious teacher called me right after and told me the thrilling news. We were both laughing at the thought. We are pretty sure it was a fluke and she caught him at just the right time, but she said he said "yay! yay!" over and over. He likes words of affirmation, so I am sure the clapping and cheering his teacher did was enough for him to keep trying.

Yesterday was also the first day of Jones' speech therapy. Big day for the little man! We had him evaluated a month ago for his speech and he qualified for a speech teacher to go to his class 60 minutes a week to work with him one-on-one. He was not what they call "significantly delayed", which would be a 25% speech delay, but he was at about a 17% delay. They did a full evaluation on him. There were no surprises - he was at 30 months for gross and fine motor skills. I could have told you this. He has been using a fork like a man since he was 12 months and can throw a football longer, straighter and harder than I can. He was also above average on cognitive skills. The kid loves a puzzle! But his speech is a bit lacking. He wasn't even trying to say words. He knew about 8 words at 12 months - and he pretty much still says just those 8 words.

However, I can already see an improvement in his speech since he has been at his new school. The kids in his class all talk and it seems to be helping. Jones talks a lot more, even if it is in his own language.

Sweet Jones will be 2 next month. So hard to believe. Lots of changes going on for the little man!

Keeping it Real Friday

Wednesday night was not our best night. Which led to Thursday not being our best morning. By the time I got to work, I was about 1.5 seconds from breaking down. Like, ugly tears breaking down.

Jones' teacher called around 9:30 and said that he just wasn't acting like himself. She said she didn't think he was sick, but wanted me to know that he wasn't playing or smiling.

We needed a day.

So I walked into my boss' office and told him I needed a personal day and, thankfully, he told me to go home and have a wonderful day. I have the perfect job.

I went home, changed clothes, went for a jog, then went to get my baby. Jones and I went straight to the park and played for two hours.

By nap time, we both felt like new people.

So, yeah, I skipped work to play with my child. It was both unexpected and totally necessary.

our daily bread.

Life's blessings come in such surprising and unpredictable ways. Needs are met by the grace of God, support of family and love of friends.

One day I will write more on this. A lot more. And I pray one day I will be able to pay it forward in more ways than one. And one day - hopefully every day - my life will glorify God through everything.

February Recipe Club - Mardi Gras party!

One of my oldest and dearest friend (and one of my most favorite people in the whole world) moved back to Starkville around the same time that I did this past fall. We both grew up here and after graduation moved off. Crazy circumstances brought us back to Starkville at the same time. Amazing how God works, isn't it?

We decided to form a recipe club for other girls that are somewhat new (or new again) to Starkville. Some of these girls have been here for a year or more but it is fun to get together once a month and form friendships with other locals! Friendships are more important than ever to me and I am excited about getting to know these girls.

A few weeks ago, 9 of us had our first recipe club dinner. I am already looking forward to next month. It was so much fun - and the food was great! Several girls couldn't make it in February (one had a baby that day!) so it will be fun in March to meet more girls. We will be turning all of our recipes into a book at the end of the year.

I find it is harder than ever to be spontaneous (maybe impossible!) so having a set time to enjoy the company of friends - new and old - is so important and refreshing! I love my boys, but I do love time with girls. How do you enjoy girl time? I would love to hear ideas!

Fort

Keepin' it real Friday

My cute friend, Jenni at www.mattandjennimurray.blogspot.com, likes to keep it real on her blog on Fridays.

I like it, so I am copying.

I like to think I keep it real on here all the time, but just in case anybody out there thinks I have it all together, I am here to prove you wrong. There are many snapshots of my life I could have taken for today's installment of Keepin' it Real Fridays, but I narrowed it down to two.

Here is a picture of what my kitchen looked like when I finally woke up this morning after pressing the snooze button for thirty minutes:

Few things of note:
- The dishwasher is full and clean. And has been since yesterday morning. I just haven't unloaded it yet.
- There is a towel under said dishwasher because it leaks. We haven't really looked into the problem, we just put down a towel.
- There is half of a glass of wine next to a sippy cup. I think that is self-explanatory. Except, why did leave wine? Also notice a BOX of wine on the counter. Keepin' it classy in '12.
- You can't see it, but the sink is full of dirty dishes.

This is exactly how it looked last night when I intentionally ignored it and went to bed.

On to the next keepin' it real picture:

Me. At 5:45 this morning in Jones' bathroom.

Let's all notice how swollen my eyes are.

Yesterday was not a good day. We all have bad days, and for me, yesterday was one of those. Luckily, today is Friday. Also lucky for me, I cried like a baby last night and felt much better afterwards. My eyes, however, are suffering this morning.

I am happy to report that after a shower, three cups of coffee, some mascara and lots of concealer, I look somewhat better.

Happy Friday to you!

Saturday morning fun