Sleepy time picture

I would pay good money to have eyelashes like my child.
Where did he get those things?

Keeping it Real Friday

Did you miss me last Friday?

I was keeping it real, just not on the blog.

Here is a real picture taken last week, moments before I was late for work. Consider this last week's installment of KIRF.

For this week's keeping it real, I want to talk about the recent comment made towards Ann Romney by Hilary Rosen.


Don't worry, this has nothing to do with politics.


But I do have comments on her comment suggesting that being a full-time mom is not work at all. Although she apologized for her poorly chosen words, it was far too late to prevent lighting a fire in the ongoing faux battle between stay-at-home moms vs. working moms on this here Internet.

For what it's worth, here are my two cents:




I have been both. One was a decision made by choice, the other was a decision made out of necessity.




When I was pregnant, Trey and I weighed both options heavily before we decided that we would be able to make the necessary financial sacrifices in order for me to stay home with Jones from the beginning. He knew how important it was to me and, still to this day, I can't thank him enough for believing with me in that importance.

But let me state this first keeping it real fact: it was, indeed, a financial sacrifice. I don't care how much money you make or how much your spouse makes, eliminating one salary plus adding another (small and expensive) human into the equation requires some changes, be it big or small. We cut out unnecessary expenses and learned to live on less. Does this mean we went without? No. We were comfortable, happy and blessed. But it does mean that we didn't always have the latest and greatest thing and I became comfortable wearing last years trends. And I have since learned how to clip coupons.




But let's put finances aside, because let's be honest: that's not what her statement implied. I seriously doubt the Romney family sacrificed much in terms of finances. Sure, they would have been making even more money if she chose to work outside the home, but come on: he is a presidential candidate. Regardless of which side of the political fence you sit, if you are running, you have money. Lots of it.

I digress...

Being a full-time mom is hard. Very, very hard.

Leaving your child with someone else to work 8 hours outside of the home all while still being a mother is hard. Very, very hard.

In the beginning, when I was nursing all day, I thought I would surely die before I got the chance to shower again. I was scared to leave him alone for fear that, of course, he would not be able to go on living without me right beside him. So naturally I found myself more times than I would like to admit on the toilet while nursing an infant.

Keeping it real, people.

You are tired. There are no sick days. No vacation days. And there were days that I was jealous of Trey's lone car ride to work. He could sit in silence! No crying baby! No swollen breast from needing to nurse! And he gets to stop at a red light for more than two seconds without having a sleeping baby wake up screaming due to sudden lack of movement? The sheer luxury!

Then I would feel guilty for even thinking those things.

Which brings me to the next point: Guilt.

Mommy guilt is the real deal. I can't speak for other moms, but for this one: it is legit.

Being a full-time mom, I sometimes had guilt that I was not working. Working full-time now and I have guilt that I am not home. Guilt for thinking you need to work. Guilt for working. Guilt for wanting things. Guilt for not bringing in money. Guilt for letting your infant cry in the crib while you are face down crying from pure exhaustion. Guilt for not spending time with your husband. Guilt for not making time for your friends. Guilt for not sewing. Guilt for not cooking. Guilt for having to leave your child while you travel for work. Guilt for missing his party at school because of a work meeting. Guilt for sending your somewhat sick child to school because you have no leave time.

GUILT. GUILT. GUILT.

It is nasty.

I have been a full-time mommy and I have been a mom who works outside of the home full-time trying to also be a full-time mom. How can I ever say that I am not a full-time mom? No, I don't stay home with him anymore, but he is still my first and most important job and he is never far from my mind.

They are both hard. They both have their gives and takes. They both have their good days and they both have their days where I want to go to bed and never do this again. They both require a great deal of balance.

And this is coming from a mom with only one child.

Yet, I love it. I love being a mom. And, even though I still vaguely remember those sleepless nights the first few days (months...), I want to one day do it all over again. And I know, that if blessed with another, I may have to leave my next child earlier this time.

Someone who has never left their job and salary by choice to stay home with their child shouldn't be allowed to judge or even pretend to know what it is like to do so. It is hard work.

And someone who has had the privilege to stay home and never had to leave their child in the care of another shouldn't be allowed to judge or even pretend to know what that is like. It is hard work.

Both are wonderful at times. Both suck at times.

And I have never had to leave an infant with a caregiver, Jones was 18 months before I went back to work. So I must never pretend I know how hard that must be.

So let's please don't judge. Or make assumptions. Or feel guilty that we are not doing something right.

I don't know what the next mom's life is like and, although I keep it pretty real, you don't know everything about mine.

But I would like to think that all of us moms are just trying to do our best with what has been given to us. Make the best of what's around, you know?

And, finally, Happy Friday.



Hip Hip for the weekend!!

Picture dump Thursday

Our life lately in few iPhone pictures:

words.

Jones' speech is improving every day and never ceases to amaze both me and Trey. There has been a drastic change in his speech since he first began speech therapy a few months ago.

He will be two on Tuesday, the 17th.

That's a whole different post. (Where did my baby go?)

He now tries to repeat most things we say. It is pretty hilarious, and I don't want to forget a thing.

We are not sure where this child came from - Germany? China? England? His accent is hysterical.

He can put several words together now. We can understand him, but I am not sure others can.

Some of my favorites:

"Heee Ma!"
Here, mama. Or Da. He does this when he hands us something.

"Tantu, Ma!" "Tantu, Da!"
Thank you, Mama! Thank you, Daddy! He says this for everything and is always unprompted. Sweet!

"Wheres Russ?"

Ever since our friend, Russell, came to visit a couple of weeks ago, he will randomly look at us and ask where's Russ? He says it perfectly, but does have a precious lisp.

He also recently started asking "wheres Ray?" I found out that the little man that cleans his school his named Ray. Every time we see Mr. Ray, Jones lights up and says HEY RAY. My friendly child.

"E-E how" (china?)
Henry's house. He says this a lot. It's his favorite place to be.

And just the other day he said his longest sentence:

"where E-E go, da?"
Where did Henry go, Daddy?

He adores Henry so much. Talks about him all the time. He calls Henry "E-E" and Noelle Adams "Baa-bee".

Jones can also say the following colors:

Boooo (blue) yeeeoooo (yellow), pink, geen (green), white, black, red, and brown. He tries orange, and it is funny. I am not sure I can even attempt to spell it.

When asked what color something is, he more times than not answers with BOOO. But if you ask him to point to yellow, blue, etc. he usually gets it right.

He can pronounce most letters. This week the letter at school is C. I should record him trying to say C C C C over and over. Again, not sure where this kid is from. It's for sure not Mississippi.

He likes to count with Elmo, but just says Teeee (for three) over and over.

He still refuses to call Sophie by name. Only "dog". He will call Laura and Kristen's dog by name, but not Sophie. I think he does this on purpose, out of spite. They do have a love/hate relationship.

He also calls all dogs "BUULLDOOGS", which I love.

His favorite thing: DA. Or DAAA-DEEEE!

New York, New York

Will you be in NYC on April 28?

Let me tell you why I ask.

Check out my dear friend's blog: http://luckysoandso.com/

I wish I could be there and I think if you are around the city at that time, you should definitely be there.

Side note: she is the same dear family friend that wrote this priceless number in memory of my Nana.

Wish there were more Jessi's in this world. What a colorful world that would be!

Easter Morning

I do love a baby in a bonnet. Sweet Noelle Adams looked like a baby doll on Easter morning!
Our best picture after about a million attempts of getting a good of of the grandparents with the kids. Wild, I tell you!

Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ! In his great mercy he has given us new birth into a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead
1 Peter 1:3Trey and I were both able to get individual pictures with Jones at our house before church. No smile from the little man, but documented at least!

We had a wonderful Easter!

Although Trey declared this the year Jones refuses to be still for a picture, we were able to at least get a couple of half way decent shots. Most of the pictures we have include him running away, climbing a tree, fighting to be let down, picking the flowers at the church, digging in the dirt, or trying to tackle Henry. I gave up on trying to get a group picture! He is one wild child.

He was delighted to see the Easter bunny came by that morning. He carefully examined each little gift with a WOW! before placing them all in a perfect line on the couch. Funny man.

My parents are remodeling their home, but their kitchen was declared "cookable" so my mom cooked an Easter feast for us after church. The dining room is still under construction, but we were happy to sit outside to eat - thankful for gorgeous weather! After dinner, the boys hunted eggs. I laughed at Jones' basket. Not only did he find eggs, but also sticks, grass, and dirt!

Easter weekend

After traveling for work some last week, I was more than excited to have a long three-day weekend with both of my boys. The weather was gorgeous, so outside we stayed! Jones had his first snow cone, which, naturally, he devoured. We grilled out with the family, went on long jogs, dyed Easter eggs, and played hard! And sweet Noelle Adams was right there along the ride for everything. During one of our many outdoor festivities, she was missing her sun hat, so I went in and retrieved one of Jones' baby sun hats. She is already a trooper putting up with so many boy things!
It was a wonderful weekend that somehow, even though it was longer than most, went by at record speed.

School pictures

I present to you Jones' spring 2012 school pictures.

I don't know why these make me laugh like they do.

Jones' 2nd Season Basebabll Birthday Party!

I am traveling for work right now and am without my camera and connector, but wanted to go ahead and share a few iPhone pictures of the decorations and food at Jones' birthday party last Saturday. It was so much fun and Jones ate himself sick....literally. I think that is a sign of a good time, right?

Pictures of the sweet, wild birthday boy and his friends coming soon!
The ball and glove in the above picture belonged to my grandfather, who played professional baseball before he was drafted to fight in WWII. After the war, he continued to play minor league. So special. He would have loved this baseball party.

Three cheers for daddy!

He doesn't do social media, so I can safely brag on my daddy without the risk of him seeing it.

My daddy was named Starkville's 2012 man of the year. Hip hip for daddy!

I am always so proud to be his daughter.