Questions from the Internet: Part 3

The next round of questions that came from the Six Questions interview all have to do with 'advice.' And more specifically parenting advice. Popular topic!


What is the best and the worst piece of parenting advice you've received? -Amy B.

What are the best words of wisdom you've ever gotten/read? Advice, comfort, what's stuck with you the most? -aligibbs24

Hi, Julia, what advice would you go back and give to yourself pre-baby or to someone thinking of having kids? Thank you! -rees_bk

I just recently posted about one of my favorite quotes of all times:

(hand lettering by seances)

I believe good old Abraham Lincoln is credited with this quote and I really could not agree more. I guess this isn't advice as much as it's considered my 'words of wisdom'. Choose happiness. Find the positive in a situation. Enjoy life and be happy. Sounds simple enough, right?

When I was pregnant with Truman, I was *that* first time mom who read all of the books. I researched, I prepared, I was determined to be a great mom. If I could go back to my pre-baby self to impart all of my hard-earned mommy wisdom, I would just say this: go easy on yourself. You have no idea the incredible amount of joy this thing called motherhood will bring you, and yet it will be the hardest role in the world, too. Read all of the books you'd like, dear friend, but nobody can be totally 'ready' for their own baby. All babies are different, all families are different, and if you decide to make decisions from your gut based on what you feel is right for your child you will be golden. Push all of the other outside pressures or expectations or dare I say it, mommy wars aside. 

I feel like living in a time of social media is both really cool and really unfortunate. We just know too much about each other's lives these days. Do you think moms of our grandmothers' generation really cared if so-and-so down the block breastfed or bottle fed their baby? If they co-slept or not? How they parented? Were there mommy wars back then? Competition? Or was it just a simpler time with different priorities? I've thought about having my grandma (Memaw!) write a bit for the Moms Make it Work series because I know her perspective as an octogenarian is so incredibly interesting compared to what we are accustomed to today. One thing she emailed to me after a MMIW post was that the concept of 'me time' was nonexistent back then. They just didn't think much about carving out time for themselves as mom and probably just got the job done without spreading themselves too thin to 'keep up' with all of the other moms out there. I don't know. I mean, I CRAVE my beloved 'me time' and can't imagine that not idea not being in my head. She also doesn't understand the big deal about 'mommy guilt' and thinks the moms of our generation are way too hard on ourselves. Just do the best you can and move on---simple enough, right? I love hearing Memaw's opinion on parenting especially because she says her transition from two to three beautiful baby girls was not all that difficult;) Perhaps I will get her to write something for us on this old blog---to breathe new life into this modern day mommy blog from an old school professional author.

What I'm saying is that moms-to-be can go a long way if they do their best to follow their gut and ignore all of the noise out there regarding the 'best' choice for their child. I guess that is what I'd say to my pre-baby self or any other girl getting ready to become a mom. It's more amazing than you could ever imagine and also more challenging. The highest of highs, the lowest of lows. And totally worth it, 100%.

As far as the best and worst parenting advice I've ever received? Hmmmm. I guess the best would be to follow your instincts. Enjoy the moment. Look at the big picture. Be present. You know, all of those really EASY things to do as moms;) And the worst advice would be something about how newborn babies are smart enough to manipulate you into wussy parents. As in, your baby must be crying to get attention and if you don't put your foot down and show them who is boss, they will always 'own' you or something dumb like that. I don't think babies need to be held 24/7 or that you have to run to their side with every whimper (as if that is even possible, especially with more than one child). But anyone who claims that a baby (and I'm talking LITTLE, like less than 6 months) is trying to manipulate you does not remember what it's like to have a tiny, fussy, human baby. Sometimes they just cry for no good reason. You might make yourself certifiably insane trying to figure out the cause of their crying but I truly do not agree with the notion of a baby trying to 'manipulate' a parent. They are babies, and therefore not the smartest. They have other great qualities of course (adorableness, innocence, amazing smell, squishiness) but they aren't that smart. Again, just follow your gut and if you think your baby needs you then go to him. There will be plenty of time in your parenting career to 'put your foot down' and show your child who is boss (i.e. ages 2 through forever?). 

I have heard the 'don't let her manipulate you' type comments before when CC was really little. I won't say who told me things like, 'Oh look, she totally has you wrapped around her finger' but it took a lot of self-restraint to avoid rolling my eyes at that one. Now that Cecelia is almost two? Sure. She probably tries to test my limits and see if I'll follow through with what I promise. I still don't think she wants to 'manipulate' me when she is being naughty. She is almost two and needs me to teach her the rules and limits while also proving my love and earning her trust. She is also completely different than her big brother when it comes to pushing the boundaries so I'm sort of learning this whole 'guiding a two year old' thing all over again. Gotta love how these babies keep us on our toes!

Miss Priss:






Mister Too Big for his Britches (going back to my Southern roots for that term!):





Love them so. Hope this post was somewhat insightful about 'advice'. One more installment of these Internet Questions to go!

Questions from the Internets: Part 2

There were a lot of questions about blogging when I did the Six Questions interview. I've never really blogged about blogging, but here it goes!

When did your blog change from a 'side blog' that a few people read, to a blog that garnered lots of followers? When did product testing come into play? Do you think you would ever want to become a full-time blogger? -Marta, long time reader

To be honest, I'm baffled when I look at my page view stats. It's not like I regularly get 50 comments per post or anything, but I suppose the number of comments doesn't always correlate with the number of readers one has as a blogger? I've thought a lot about this and either my readers prefer to just read a post and move on, without actually interacting with me as a blogger (very possible) or there is something else going on here. Perhaps blogs are not as popular in general anymore because it takes a lot more effort to click multiple places, enter in passwords, and make comments as a reader---it's so much easier to just read a post and move on. Or 'like' a picture on Instagram or some of the other more 'user friendly/EASY' social media forms. Commenting on blogs is hard and time consuming, this I know. #FirstWorldProblems

That said, yes---I do have a fairly large following according to my Blogger stats and Feedly stats. I don't really know when that changed, but I'm guessing it was just a gradual thing over time. I have been blogging here at this exact same domain for over six years now so it makes sense that more people read this blog now than they did in 2007. It definitely wasn't anything sudden but there was a jump in readership with each baby being born around these parts, too---perhaps people just like to look at pictures of babies and read mommy blogs that stick around for a few years.

I will say that I never made a dime off my blog until fairly recently, and joining BlogHer in October of 2012 was/is my biggest source of any revenue. It's not a ton but it's something, which is a lot more than what I made on this blog a few years ago. I don't post a ton for them right now, but when Target asked me to be a 'social influencer' about a year ago, that was pretty big, too. 'Pretty big' as in a gift card here and there but never anything that will allow me to quit my day job;) I've done a few other giveaways for companies which usually means I get something out of it, too. I certainly cannot complain with any of this and feel grateful that there are opportunities to make a chunk of change through this platform.

Which brings up your last point: would I ever want to do this full time? In reality, probably not. For a lot of reasons, mostly because if this became a job with actual income for my family, it would lose the aspect of 'fun' for me. Too much pressure or something. It wouldn't be the same, since I truly blog mostly for myself (selfish!) and want to keep it that way. Well, I blog for myself but I also blog because of the connections it provides, the support, the relationships I've gained. There are lots of reasons I blog, really but deep down I want it to come from my heart and be for me/my family with a public following that enjoys reading along.

Whenever Nate asks me, 'Why don't you just make your blog huge and rake in the cash?' (not his exact question, but probably something along those lines) I always tell him the same thing: I'm a wuss. I don't want to take the risk. Meaning, I am incredibly fortunate to avoid negative, hateful comments right now. I feel like the bigger a blogger gets the more she is opening herself up to criticism. Maybe I should just toughen up and grow a pair but I kind of like being in my own little bubble over here, happily pecking away at the keys and feeling mostly liked by my readers. I'm a people pleaser and want people to like me. If I started to make bank on this blog (not that I could just snap my fingers and make that happen, anyway) I know I'd probably gain a few haters along the way. Not really worth it to me, although I'm fully aware I probably have some people who dislike me already without being 'big time'. Again, I prefer to be blissfully unaware right now.

I guess I'd see myself as a 'sell out' if I tried to make a run at blogging for real. I mean, even applying for BlogHer took a lot of pep talks from my inner self. I just felt like I held out so long and part of my 'thing' was NOT going the way of ads and money making with this blog. But in the end, I realize it can't hurt to continue writing from my heart, mostly for myself, and having a small bit of money come in along with that. I try to stay true to myself and don't agree to every giveaway because I do want this blog to stay true to my roots. But evolving a bit and focusing a little more on the 'business' side of blogging is also a good thing. Change is good. Having some gulit-free 'me' money to spend on a Starbucks treat, or a few new maternity clothes is also really awesome. I don't think many of my readers would fault me for that.

As a 'mommy blogger' and working mom, how do you balance your time between your life and blogging? What advice would you give other bloggers? -Lindsey R.

Ah, another 'balance' question but related to the act of blogging and not just life in general. I make the time to blog in the evenings after the kids go to bed. Sometimes if I have a break in my work day and I'm at home, I will work on the blog a bit then, too. I will read comments on my phone during the day but don't sit down to actually approve those comments until I'm at home on the computer. So I guess I have a system of how I can work blogging into my schedule and it's working well for the time being. I've definitely had phases when I cannot put the blog at the top of my priority list (i.e. newborn phases that turn into the entire first year of my kids' lives as they have been horrible sleepers). That time in the evenings seems to get a little tighter and blogging just doesn't fit into the day with little babies. I figure that it's totally normal to go through 'dry spells' on the blog and it makes it that much more fun when inspiration and the time to blog both align again.

My best advice to any blogger trying to find time to post and balance life? Make sure it's fun and that you don't mind carving out time into your day for the blog. You'll find a way if it's worth it to you even if you need to take a major break on regular posting. If it seems too stressful and not fun anymore, then take that break. Maybe you'll find your mojo again someday.


What do you like the best about blogging? What do you like the least?-Babytakesmanhattan

I love the sense of community, getting feedback and support, and ultimately I love the 'friends' I've made through this blog. Three of my closest real life friends in Milwaukee I have because of this blog. I think starting this blog right after I got married and moved to a brand new state was key--I needed new friends and found them through this form of social networking. Fist pound to the internet for that one. There are so many other girls whom I have an 'email relationship' with (not to sound creepy) all across the USA and beyond, and I sure do love email as a primary form of communication with friends;) Getting a comment on a post that says 'I can relate to this!' or 'Thank you for sharing this part of yourself, I needed to hear this today,' makes it worth every second spent behind this computer screen. So yes, the sense of community and connecting and forming relationships with other women who would never be in my life otherwise is the best part of blogging.

What do I like the least? I guess the vulnerability of putting it all out there for the world to see. But obviously that doesn't bother me *too* much if I'm still blogging publicly, right? I could also say that I really despise html and all of the technical stuff that comes with having a blog but whatever---I try not to confuse myself too often with all of that.

In your opinion, what are the top qualities to make a successful blogger? -Eric C.

My favorite bloggers have that amazing combination of honesty, sarcasm, and a bit of quirk that makes me excited to read what they have to say. Pretty photos of adorable kids never hurt, either. I think successful bloggers have to be relatable and down-to-earth, along with being great writers and story tellers. They take risks and aren't afraid to be sellouts if they are truly successful in the monetary sense ;)

Do you ever go back and edit or delete a previous post? -rgeddy

No, not unless I publish a post and later remember additional information (ramblings) that I wanted to include. But I've never dug through my archives and deleted any of the cringe-worthy, ancient posts from another time in my life. I figure those old posts are there and they are what they are, showing how much my life has changed over time in the past six years. What was I saying about change being good?

What would you recommend to someone who is trying to make their blog more 'successful' in terms of visits? -Sylvia Y. 

Probably the biggest thing is reaching out and connecting to other bloggers. Comment on other blogs frequently. Eventually those bloggers will probably do the same for you. Keep writing, find inspiration, and then don't worry too much about the stats after that.

Do you find yourself seeing the world in a different light since blogging? For example, do you tend to notice the little things more? -bucketomonkeys

It's hard to say since I barely remember what life was like before blogging---simply because it was so long ago. I suppose I do think about events differently, as in 'this would make an excellent blog post' or 'crap, Cecelia is almost 20 months old so I better start mentally composing her monthly post.' But I don't know that I notice the little things as a blogger. I probably just think more like a blogger if that makes sense.

And now for pictures that do not make sense in this post, except that I usually blog about my kids and here they are! Can't write a post without pictures and this little photo series was almost too much cuteness for my heart to handle. Truman wanted to get in the crib with CC after her nap on Thursday. I obliged.

Plus, I'm going to miss Cecelia's pink crib and pink lanterns and nursery in general (assuming she is going to keep the crib in Truman's room, or if the baby is a boy I would considering painting it a more masculine color and moving her to a big bed). Must commemorate this nursery before it changes.




Hugs for brother.


Only a few bumps and bruises with two in the crib.


She just loves this kid.


Look-a-likes


Her big brother is pretty awesome.


Two more parts to the 'Internet Questions' await!

Questions from the internet: Part 1

I have fifteen questions that remain unanswered from the Six Questions experience. Nothing like a little 'ask me anything' to produce a ton fuel to the blog post fire  (aren't you lucky?). I will break these up into lots of parts because apparently I like to ramble when answering questions. Or I could just call it 'being thorough' but yeah, this got pretty lengthy. Whoops.

The first installment of these internet questions? My hair, and the concept of 'doing it all.' Love a good variety of topics in one post!

Do you still like your haircut? I know you were experimenting with different ways to style it. Favorite? Default style? -Sarah D.


Yes, I really do love it short. I'm a person that likes to be extreme with my hair so I'm used to growing it out, then cutting it off, having bangs then NOT having bangs, etc. I haven't colored my hair since my wedding in 2007 (and that was just subtle highlights) so that isn't really my 'thing' for curing my need for change. But since I went super short last August I haven't even felt the urge to do something different with it.

Actually, that isn't entirely true. As soon as I found out I was pregnant I started to considering growing it back out to a stacked bob. Not because I'm sick of it being short but because I'm scared that as I gain weight (and double my chins) I won't be able to pull this off quite as well. Also my hair grows really quickly when pregnant so it's sort of annoying to get it cut every 6 weeks when I was used to going 3 months or more before this. But I think the short style is here to stay unless I gain more than 2 chins. 2 chins = acceptable, but 3+ means I probably need to distract people with longer hair. Time will tell.

After the initial first cut, I have gotten two other short haircuts. One I loved, the last one not as much. I guess I have to learn what shape I like when it comes to the sides and the top and back. Very different than asking for 'just a trim' since my hair is already so short! I don't really wear it wavy anymore because it's too short to look right, but if I let it grow a bit I can attempt letting it air dry with some wave. I get very nervous about allowing curl with this shorter hair because my greatest fear is looking like a 1980s mom with a horrible short hair cut, a bad perm, and really weird bangs/sideburns. Do you know what I'm talking about? Bueller?

Usually, I will blow it dry in literally 3 minutes and then run the flat iron through the bangs and back in another 2 minutes. It's SO freaking easy! I do not miss my wet pony tail and headband at all. For real. I feel much more put together with a 'style' that isn't really even a style--more like a good cut that styles itself. I think my hair is 100x healthier when it's this short and I'm not sick of it yet!

(This was from the fall and I like the shape/length a lot like this! It's more flat now and I think I like it fluffier like this)



(see, this is now. Not quite the same as the above pic but it will do. And CC is super cute here.)




How do you find the time to work, clean, blog and find time to be with the kids? -smarley2
(and similarly)
How do you manage to find balance in your life with kids, a husband, work, exercising, blogging...do you sleep? How do you get it all done? -Brittany A.

Oh, sleep. I do sleep now but haven't done a ton of it in the past four years. Mostly because I have two fairly terrible sleepers who just recently figured out the glory of a full night's rest AND WE ARE LOVING IT. Because seriously, Truman's first 2+ years of his life included multiple night time wake ups and then 5 am start times to our days. Sometimes he will still call out for us at night needing a special tuck in after a bad dream. Cecelia didn't sleep through the night until 11 months and was pretty inconsistent after that until very recently. And let's get real, she will still wake every day around 4-5 am because she drops the pacifier and needs my help to find it (another story entirely, want to burn those nuks right now). Luckily she will usually whine herself back to sleep for a bit after that, but it's still semi-broken sleep for us. So yes, I do sleep from approximately 10:30-6:00 most nights. Hallelujah. It won't last much longer.

But that isn't your real question, I suppose. You want to know how I juggle all of the roles in my life. The golden question of 'balance'. Honestly, I do not want to make it seem like I have my stuff together at all times on this blog. I SO do not. I have my days/moments/weeks when I feel like a failure to all of the above mentioned tasks. Are you ready for me to keep it real here? At the risk of sounding like a whiny baby, here it is: sometimes it feels like I'm doing a lot of stuff but none of it well---like I can't give 100% of myself to anything since I'm doing so many different things. I don't think I'm alone in this and I'm willing to be a lot of women out there, and especially moms feel this way. It's hard to do it all and in reality, NOBODY can do it all, right?? The older I get (ahem, more seasoned?) the more I am willing to let go of the concept of doing it all.

I admit to being a perfectionist, Type A, first born, over-achiever and I can be pretty hard on myself at times. I feel guilty for losing my cool with the kids, for making a mistake at work, or for snapping at Nate. Luckily I realize that I'm not perfect and everyone has rough days. Those rough days make the awesome and 'mediocre' days a lot sweeter and I'm happy that the tough ones don't happen too often. Thankfully my family and friends still love me even at my worst. And thankfully I have a sense of humor, a husband who makes me lighten the heck up, friends who support me and my neuroses, and a bit of a laid back personality deep inside of me, too.

Because even though my Type A tendencies/perfectionism can be too much and therefore bad, other times those characteristics can be really helpful. I am usually good at multi-tasking (again, aren't all moms?). I don't actually mind making a phone call for work while fixing Cecelia a snack and whispering to Truman that he needs to search for Monkey on his own...and contemplating what I'm going to make for dinner. I like to be on the go and have trouble sitting still without being 'productive' in some way...even if that is just returning emails while lounging on the couch. I cannot stand to have flagged 'need to respond' emails sitting in my in box for longer than a day. It's a sickness, really. I hate to procrastinate and cannot deal with being even a few minutes late to an appointment. Again, these could all be seen as negative qualities or really helpful ones---depending on the day.

Now for a big one: I live and die by my To-Do list and thoroughly enjoy checking items off each day. This is how I accomplish blogging ideas, cleaning the house, exercising, and paperwork for my job all within the elusive 'free time' hours of the occasional dual nap and post-bedtime. I make the most of the time I have because one of my strongest qualities has always been time management. I'm a pretty organized person and like to keep tasks compartmentalized. I remember my high school teachers saying that I manage my time well on report cards or something, and I feel like this probably stemmed from high school sports. I HAD to prioritize my time after basketball and volleyball practices, games/tournaments on the weekends, camps, etc. Because I was also a perfectionist and needed a 4.0 along with extracurriculars (nerd alert). So yes, I like to take charge and get things done, which is greatly beneficial to our family and all of my pans in the fire (if you will).

But this question brings up a good point, and it's something I've been pondering for a bit now: Life is really good right now, so are we totally asking for chaos by adding to our family?

Right now, at this time in our lives with our oldest approaching four years old, and our littlest just over one-and-a-half I really do feel a sense of calm (before the storm?). It's like we are really hitting our stride with two kids, schedules, and work/life balance. On top of the ball. Owning this parenting thing (for the most part) compared to feeling like we were being owned by it all. Settled phases like this come and go and right now we are in a great phase. It won't always feel this way, obviously, which of course worries me. Will I ever feel like we are settled again with three kids, the school years, so many CHANGES ahead? Will I ever feel like I'm in control of anything--my body, our routine, my numerous children? I think if I can let my inner zen/laid back self come to the surface and push back against my tendencies to over-plan and control we will be just fine. Actually, I know we will be just fine but it's a matter of changing our definition of 'fine,' I think.

I need to grant myself some grace (inspiration from Kate's recent post) while we adjust to being a family of five and sacrifices will need to happen. Maybe I won't be able to blog as much, sleep as much, respond to emails as quickly, mask our house as 'clean', or knock out a to do list on my days at home. We will be in survival mode for a bit---just focusing on the basics (i.e. keeping everyone fed and clothed and loved) and not worrying about the 'extras'. Priorities will shift again. I feel like if I go into the newborn phase with somewhat low expectations for myself then I will be less frustrated by the changes that will surely occur. I mean, we've done this before---twice before. Which means we should know what we're doing but having three is going to be a different ballgame. This I know.

Because honestly, I am beyond grateful for this gift of pregnancy and welcoming another child into our lives. It's going to be so much fun. Hard as heck, expensive, chaotic, and different for sure. Transitioning to being a mother of three will be quite the ride and part of the beauty is that I can't predict how our story will go. Maybe we will get an awesome sleeper this time (hahahahahaha)! Maybe we will get the neediest of all babies and Nate really will get a vasectomy before we come home from the hospital. I'm excited for this change, I'm ready (well not YET, but in a few more months!), and I can't wait to share all about it. Whenever I make the time to blog, that is, and I'm not making any promises. ;) Back to the basics (ie iPhone pictures without captions, one post per week at best). Hopefully someday life will settle down again, there will be a teensy bit of free time again, and we will be in another 'great phase.'

But for now, we are soaking these two stinkers in as much as possible. Such fun stages! Yep, had to use this post as an excuse to show some cute T and C pics;)







Up next? Lots of specific questions about blogging, so I will be blogging about blogging. Stay tuned!

Six Questions: results

Well, the results are in at the Six Questions site. There were 20 total questions submitted and over 100 votes on those questions, which is pretty cool! I answered six questions through video and all together the entire interview is 12 minutes long. I like to talk, you know.

Six Questions broke up my lengthy video into separate questions, thankfully. So each video is my response to a question and about 2 minutes long. I know you are dying to know my thoughts on these burning questions!

Notable: the still shots of me at the beginning of each video are hilarious. Apparently I am very animated when I talk. But the whole experience was a fun one, and the questions weren't too difficult/scary to answer at all. Thank you for that, dear readers!



Thanks for submitting your votes! I will do a blog post to answer the fourteen questions (in writing, without facial expressions) over here someday, too. ;)

Miscellany

I have a lot of really random thoughts floating around in my head at any given time. It's been awhile since I shared that type of post with you all, so it's time.

-I had a very vivid /awesome dream the other night about Matt Saracen and I crawling through plastic tunnels (a la McDonald's playhouse) together. What do you think this means, besides the fact that I have a dangerous celebrity crush in my life? If he shows up in my dreams anymore I might burst. Mega.Crush. Cannot help it. Still can't get over his real name being Zach (because he is such a Matt) but I will forgive him in honor of these pictures. Are you dying? Dead. 

(Source: Alexi Lubomirski)

-Probably dreamt about him (again) because I'm watching Friday Night Lights (again). I know. I'm a loser who just binged on all 5 seasons and now I'm starting over with season one. I realize there are other really great shows out there but we haven't settled on one yet. I figured I could just watch a few of the first episodes to see how different it is now, knowing how the characters change over time. I doubt I will re-watch the ENTIRE show or anything but I wouldn't put it past me, either. I love it so much. I could easily write one really long rambling post about the show but I will refrain. But Coach and Tami are the best, Julie does not deserve Matt, Tyra wins for 'most changed' character, and Grandma Saracen is heartbreaking/hilarious/my favorite. There you have my in-depth review.

-Onto the real-life man of my dreams (Hi, husband!)….Nate is planning to teach at a local PT school this semester. It will probably 'only' be an additional four hours each week but even having him working 44 hours plus a longish commute feels like a lot to me. He will be a great adjunct professor (TA?) and it's something he has wanted to do for awhile now, so I'm supportive of this decision. But we sure will miss our four 'family time' hours and will just have to make up for that on the weekends somehow. 

-I didn't include this in my Moms Make It Work post, but it fits here: because I work 3 days per week (roughly 20 hours) and Nate works 5 days (and 40 hours soon to be 44), I definitely do more of the housework/kid stuff/meals. That's part of our set up: I work part time to be at home with the kids more often, so I also get more of the 'household' duties on my plate. I don't mind at all except that I truly dislike cooking dinner with both kids alone. Nate doesn't get home until 7:30ish on Mondays and Wednesdays and it's usually not until 6pm on Fridays. That means we eat dinner without him for those three nights and I will prepare dinner as fast as humanly possible, usually while holding Cecelia or placing her strategically on the counter to 'help'. We meal plan and it's fine but life is just so much better in those evening hours when Nate is home...which is Tuesday and Thursday, when he gets home around 4:30 at the latest. I guess with his teaching gig he is going to try and maintain these two 'early' evenings to be home for dinner with us (thank god). He will be leaving for work at 6:45am now instead of his usual 7:15am and although I'm not a huge fan of getting both kids ready before work alone, I'd still do that 500 times over than deal with the crankiness of evening hours alone. Mostly it's the worst on MWF after daycare, when the kids are tired and I'm tired from working and dinner must be made. So anyway, yay for keeping our two weeknights at the family dinner table. Boo for the other nights when I wing it solo. But we make it work;)

(On a Thursday night when we are both home to be a team in the kitchen/child duty? We can rock out an amazing meal like this. Bacon-wrapped pork, garlic broccoli, couscous with butter and feta, and Ceasar salad. All that is missing is a beer...)

-My 20 week anatomy scan ultrasound is on the books. Tuesday, February 18th is the big day…at 20 weeks on the dot, 9 am in the morning and Nate plans to take off the whole day. Cannot wait! Talking to Andrea about a gender reveal photoshoot immediately after the scan, at her new studio. The possibilities are endless.

-Lots of great questions on the Six Questions site! Polls close on Saturday, and I will answer the top six on video. Might have to do a blog post to hit the others since a lot of them have the same thing (i.e. how do you get it all done? Spoiler alert: I don't.).

-Nate and I have been doing some of the p90x yoga DVD and it feels awesome. Well, it's hard as hell and we never get close to the full 90 minutes because that is just insane. But I definitely need to work on my posture and strength so this is a great trade off from my usual 'favorite' cardiovascular routine of running. I will just steer clear of too many planks since they make my uterus feel funny and there is no need to work on abdominal strengthening right now.

-Now that coffee tastes like heaven again, I'm having a hard time sticking to just one cup of the black gold. I don't even bother with any on mornings I work because it's not worth it to rush through the comforts of my beloved coffee. But on mornings I'm home? It's painful to stop at one cup. I find this interesting since for my other pregnancies, I was pretty hard core and had NONE with an occasional decaff thrown in there after the first trimester. Not that I was super strict about things with CC, but this third time around I'm a lot more lax (i.e. yummy deli turkey sandwiches, caffeine, soft cheeses). Anyway, coffee rules again.

-I washed all of my maternity clothes and have them in my closet already. Wearing my maternity leggings showed me that even though my bump isn't huge yet it's still SO comfortable to wear maternity pants. Still not sure the tops will look right on this 14 week belly but we will see. I'm ready for my last journey with my (somewhat pathetic) maternity wardrobe.


-Henry hasn't been groomed since July. He is the shaggiest he's ever been but somehow I just can't get his hair cut because it seems so cold without that furry mess. However, I did have an unfortunate incident involving cutting out unmentionable products from his backside today. And then I had to wash every sheet in our whole house which was also highly annoying and time consuming. Perhaps it is time to cut that mane after all.



(note the first pair of real skinny jeans, plus a rather odd tunic top. Love the jeans but the top seems too small around the bottom to me. Cecelia agrees)


-Have you ever heard of using a little bit of mayonnaise instead of butter for grilled cheese sandwiches? Our butter is always so hard and difficult to spread (even the tub stuff) but mayo? Genius! It tastes just as good and grills up so nicely. You are welcome.

-Cecelia calls any speck of dirt 'poop' now. For instance, our dish towel had some smeared peanut butter on it and she pointed to it with a worried look, saying: 'poop'. Any fuzz ball from our rug/dark socks? Poop. A freckle on my neck? Poop. I don't know but the way she says it is hilarious.

-She is also obsessed with brushing her teeth and will run to either bathroom to get the toothbrush NUMEROUS times per day. In fact, we have started to shut the bathroom doors because she is getting so out of control with her dental hygiene. That in itself would be fine, of course, but then I caught her licking the side of the toothpaste. Nasty. She also worries me in the bathroom alone because she likes to flush the toilet and you never know what will be leaving this world with that flush.

-Truman has been super helpful and really fun lately. It always goes in phases but right now he is a ton of fun. My big guy.


-Let's end this post on another Matt....er, Zach note. Um, this is Julie (Aimee Teegarden)??? YES. Although she still doesn't deserve him, her brown hair and absence of bangs RIGHT in her eyes at all times makes her adorable here.

(source: ace show biz)

And his real-life bride is even more beautiful, and their wedding was stunning. For some reason wedding photos weird me out with copyright stuff, so I won't post any here but do yourself a favor and google their wedding. You will not be disappointed. Note: he cried watching her walk down the aisle. Can't even handle it.

Things I've Been Meaning to Blog

aka 'Miscellany'

-Did I forget to tell you that my iPhone 4 catapulted out of my sweater pocket one night, directly into the toilet? I screamed, grabbed my baby phone from that putrid water, and ran to the kitchen to find rice. Since Nate likes to pretend he is in charge of the kitchen, I did not know where he hid the rice. Yelling to him frantically only made him chuckle, which in turn made me dangerously angry. First my beloved phone might have just committed suicide, and now my husband thinks it's funny? Well, we did find the rice. And everything seemed totally fine with my phone. Until I realized that the speaker didn't work for videos I would take of the kids, and Nate couldn't hear us talking when we put him on speaker phone during calls. Not cool. And so? I got an iPhone 5 and it's glorious. Siri is my new best friend. And I'm in love with the camera, of course. Somewhat shocked that Nate didn't upgrade at the same time, since we were both due for a two year contract. But I guess he is holding out for the next model or something--and in the meantime he loves giving me hell about dropping my phone in the toilet. I'm so glad I can entertain him daily.



-I don't even want to post about this, fearing the blog gods will seek their revenge on me with a curse. But Cecelia has slept through the night TWICE this week. Pretty sure that has never happened in the history of her short life. She was averaging a stellar night once every 3-4 weeks and now she has me foaming at the mouth for more of this lovely thing called sleep. We've done nothing different so I have no clue what 'worked'---probably just time. And let's get real: it's not like the sleep woes are over or anything, but maybe we are finally on the road to REAL rest? Please keep it up, darling. Sleep is the most amazing gift in the entire world.



-In a similar vein, Cecelia is still nursing like a champ. In fact, she is nursing for longer sessions and more frequently than she has in many weeks. She seems happy, satisfied, and I can tell she is actually gulping down milk for most of the time she is latched so I'm trying my hardest not to worry about the pump. Which, I've decided to only torture myself with pumping once during a work day now instead of the three times I was doing previously. It makes my work day about a hundred times easier to just pump around lunch time and not deal with it first and last thing of the day on top of that. At first I was getting about six ounces in that one session and now I'm down to about four ounces, but whatever. I have started to add an ounce or two of whole milk to her breastmilk bottles at daycare and I will just use a frozen bag to cover the second bottle she gets there. When we are together she nurses great. When we are apart my pump just doesn't seem to be as effective anymore. And I'm going into this long weekend of travel feeling like she will nurse just fine. Hopefully ;) Very happy that I only work three days per week this time around, so bottles are needed less often than we can nurse.



-I was going to do a whole Easter post but then I didn't really feel like it. So here are a few pictures instead. Easter happened and it was awesome. The End.





















-Half marathon training is coming right along and we are up to 8 miles as our longest. I've been feeling pretty good during each run, but I will admit that I just feel OLD this time around. I turn 32 in a few weeks, folks. This is no joke anymore. But I still love running and therefore being guilt-free when I eat enough to fill a 400 pound man. Seriously, my appetite is ridiculous. And I'm not complaining.

(Me, pounding coffee before our 8 mile run. Because I had a decent amount of wine the night before and I'm almost 32 years old, so I'm feeling it here).


-I started packing for our Missouri trip already. CC and I fly out on Friday night and I'm already picking outfits and putting them in a pile because packing seems to make me more anxious each time I do it. Also, apparently it's actually spring-like in Missouri (in the 70's?!) and it's a balmy 36 degrees here as I type this. How do I even dress us for warmth? I do not know. But also, I hope I can handle my child alone in the airport and on the plane. Other than that minor detail I'm really excited!

(a day when it was above 40 degrees for a change)


-Brandy Old Fashioneds are the best drink ever. I did not know about them until recently and now I'm hooked. It's a classic Wisconsin drink which means I'm officially a local now.



-My baby girl is going to be ONE soon, you guys. Soon enough that I'm planning her first birthday party and beginning some crafts already, stalking Pinterest nightly. I have a theme in my head and a huge list of things I want to make for the party because it's her FIRST birthday party and I kind of want to go all out. Also, I have realized that I truly enjoy crafting projects---they aren't a burden and don't feel like work to me, so when I make a huge list of ideas I want to complete it doesn't feel all that stressful. Trips to Michaels and Home Depot are right up my alley;) We will see if I get everything done but for now I'm enjoying the planning stage. Here is a sneak peek of something I'm painting--spray paint is my new best friend, btw.



And here is her birthday dress I ordered from Etsy seller Charlie & Mills. To say that I'm obsessed is an understatement.

-Things about Cecelia: she is into everything now, like for real this time. No kitchen cupboard is safe, no stair left unturned. I'm not sure this old house has seen baby-proofing in 40 years but it makes me all sentimental to think about how the previous owner raised her kids here (literally 40 years ago) and now here we are, thinking about putting latches on our newly updated cabinets.









And she is all up in Truman's biz, which is both hilarious and exhausting.


-Our neighbor is going to move in the next year because she is retiring. So she is cleaning out her house and we were gifted a set of AMAZING handmade wooden blocks, and a vintage wooden highchair. The blocks are a favorite of the kids right now and I'm totally going to spray paint the highchair hot pink and use it for Cecelia's cake smash at her party. Both gifts are awesome.



-I'm back to watching Breaking Bad with Nate again and have only witnessed about three gruesome murders in the last week. Eesh. But I finished all of Downton Abbey and OMG, I can't even. I knew something bad was going to happen and I had two options in my head. Neither of which were correct and the way it ended? More heartbreaking than I could have imagined! Gah!! Loved it and cannot wait to watch it in real time for season 4. Also, I don't hate Thomas anymore and feel bad that I said that earlier. He was just really annoying and mean and horrible early on and now my heart has warmed up to him. Seriously. That show!

-We've been having some hilarious and amazing bathtimes lately. First there was Cecelia giving Truman tons of open mouthed kisses.


Then we decided to ditch the Bumbo and it only caused me to have two heart attacks, when her big brother knocked her over with his giant waves. It's sort of hard to actually wash them when my hands are hovering around her body the whole time so I think I'm going to get an anti-slip mat. Because they both loved it and she didn't seem to mind getting tossed around. Something about two kids sitting in our tub that gets me every time.






And you know what? How could I not end this post with two of the most adorable butts on earth? I can't help it. Sorry, you two! You can tell me I'm an annoying mom someday but for now I can't stop laughing at these cheeks.