Monday Message

I saw this and I just had to post it here!!

Let's Be Real

I am so proud to see more and more women not falling victim to the "mommy wars." I love that I have real mommy friends in my life. Since becoming a mommy, I have grown closer with my sister because I have this new level of respect for her and everything she works toward raising my two nephews, who are awesome by the way. She will be one of the first to tell you, it doesn't matter if you do things exactly the same...they don't turn out the same. My youngest nephew is a spit fire and you honestly never know what might come out of that mouth, but that is what makes it fun. They are both their own individuals and they are deeply loved. It truly saddens me that there are mothers out there that aim to make others look or feel bad for not making one choice over another. I love that I have positive mommy's in my life. The positivity in my life helps me refuse to feel guilty about other things.

I refuse to feel guilty that for the first month of my son's life, he didn't want to sleep anywhere but in my arms. I stressed so much about this at the beginning, but to be honest- however he would sleep was fine...because that is how I got to sleep. It clearly did not do any lasting damage to his sleep needs because for the past two mornings he has taken a nap just like this. He also now goes down at night awake and falls asleep with very little fuss before 9:00 p.m. and is up by 6:00 a.m. But if he still needed me to cuddle him...I would not feel guilty!

I refuse to feel guilty that breast feeding didn't work out the way I wanted it to. I was able to breast feed my sweet boy for a short month before I was not able to give him what he needed. It was not my original plan to do formula but a lot of things aren't planned and end up just fine! I agree that breast is best, but I am so thankful for formula and being able to keep this boy healthy! 

I refuse to feel guilty that I have not lost my pregnancy weight. Do I want to? Yes, duh! I went running with this angel for the first time the other night. Honestly, I had this vision of being able to exercise often after Ian came along. Haha! How funny! Being a single mom does not leave much room for that kind of stuff and I simply refuse to lose more time with my son that I already do. So him tagging along is the only option right now and frankly, there is just not enough time for exercise some days. I refuse to feel guilty that my walk with God and my son are more important. I do feel guilty when I think about the television time I waste though! Oops!

I refuse to feel guilty that I can't stay at home with my baby boy. Of course, I would love to be at home with him whenever I can. When sick days or weekends roll around...I absolutely love it!! But if I am ever going to be able to get back on my feet and support myself one day...I have to be working and I know that one day my son will admire me for that!

Lastly, I refuse to feel guilty about taking me time, especially when me time involves watching the Dawgs beat LSU in an awesome game!!! My little boy is the light of my life and I would never trade being a mommy to him for anything, but I still have to be just me sometimes. Plus, I know he will share my passion for the red and black when he gets older because he makes one super cute Georgia fan!!

Wordless Wednesday

I haven't uploaded any actual camera photos in a while, so here are some recent (well fairly recent) fun times with the family.

Who You Are

Someone shared this video with me today and I thought it was definitely worth sharing with you! Please take the time to watch it!

Snapshots

I didn't really have any great words of wisdom, wait- do I ever? ;) Anyhow, I just thought instead I would just share a couple pictures of my hangout time with my favorite little boy last night. We were practicing sitting up. He can sit up on his own, but only for a little while, before he gets too mobile with his feet and throws himself off balance. Haha. He also decided he wanted to stand up with support. No I had my hand by him the whole time but he was using his arms to support himself most of the time. Little bugger is strong!

It's Official...I am a Hero!!

I know there might have been some misplaced doubt prior to today but fear not, it can now be made official that I am a hero...with a badly bruised elbow! My morning started very similar to every other morning. My sweet boy woke up around 6:00 am, which he has made a habit of doing for the past week or so. I am beginning to think that this may be the routine for a while. My days of him making it to almost 7 are in the rear view mirror. Anyhow, we did our cereal and milk thing and then he plays while I get ready, for a little while anyways.

It always start out really great like this! He is happy as can be for at least a solid 20-30 minutes. Just enough time for me to get my quick shower and some essential grooming done. Then he realizes that he got up at 6:00 and that was awful early, so he should go back to sleep for just a little while. The past couple mornings I have stuck him in his car seat and let him snooze away. This morning, I had a little extra time after getting ready quickly so I chose to snuggle with my boy and let him nap that way, plus I needed a chance to trim his nails a little bit and it seemed like the best option. So after he took his little power nap, I finished getting ready and we headed downstairs to change his clothes and officially start our day.

This is where my heroic act comes in, so imagine some awesome theme music playing! I went to close the door at the top of the stairs before heading down and somehow lost my footing...I know a graceful hero! Anyhow, holding my sweet boy tight- my only option was to break my fall with my elbow and try to stop myself with my feet. I slid about halfway down before being able to stop. End result: freaked out Ian, floor burn on my left arm, badly bruised right elbow, and a sore knee. So, needless to say- my day started with this purchase at the golden pantry.

My elbow is already feeling a little better but every now and then, I forget and go to support myself or my arm on it and am quickly brought back to that painful place. I am glad I didn't scare Ian too badly. He cried a little but calmed down pretty quickly as I tried to sooth him while secretly wanting to cry myself. So the morning has been anything short of dull for us!

Happy Birthday Daddy!

First and foremost happy birthday to the greatest man I know...my daddy! He is a rock and I am so blessed beyond measure to have him in my life. I don't know what I would do without him in my life! He is a stronghold in my life and has always been there when I needed him!! I love you daddy!

Second of all, I promised an update on my sweet boy's doctor appointment yesterday. Well, shots were involved and as you may have guessed- that was the least fun thing for this momma. I hate having to hold his arms and see him scream and cry when he gets pricked. It is heart breaking and they should have heartless people do that for you. Seriously, hire some people with thick skin to come in and do that part. Let us mommies be the ones who come in and rescue and cuddle with them afterwards so that we get to be the heroes!!

My little man is a champ though, so even though his doctor visit wore him out- he went on about his business the rest of the day. He is still measuring on the smaller side of the scales. His weight is up to 16 pounds and 2 ounces, which is in the 25%. His height is up to 26 inches, which is in the 35%. I laughed though and told the nurse that just means he can wear his outfits longer! Although, I do not understand how he is so low in percentage when he is right where he needs to be in clothing size. Maybe everybody else just has big babies, who knows! Either way, my little angel is healthy, happy, and wiggling away every chance he gets. He does this new twist thing that I will have to get on video because it is hilarious!! Look forward to it!