New Beginnings

When I started this blog, I was looking for an outlet. I'd always been a writer and, more importantly, a voracious reader. One of the best ways I process information is by writing my thoughts out. So it is only natural that after many years of neglecting this side of myself that I really NEEDED to return to writing. Not professional writing, but cathartic writing. THAT is what I loved doing in the past. Writing to work out and analyze literature, but also writing to work out my own thoughts on my life.

Monkey's pregnancy and birth really took an emotional toll on me, opening my eyes up to a new world that I was not aware of before in many different aspects of my life. I had never fathomed attempting an unmedicated birth, breastfeeding for longer than 6 months, babywearing, delayed vaccinations, cloth diapering, etc. NONE of these things were even on my radar. So the entire experience not only opened my eyes, it changed my entire frame of reference, giving me a new perspective on life in general.

Shhhh...I've Been In Hiding

Hello All! I know I have been MIA for a while now. And I have a really good excuse.

I have entered the Wit-Sec program. Yep. Inspector Mary Shannon is my new BFF.

I also wax poetic with Marshall.

Yep. So that's been me. REALLY busy. Being snarky with Mary and clever with Marshall.

Ok, not really. I mean, I have been busy, but not hanging with Mary & Marshall.

I WISH. ~le sigh~

In all reality, I have been slammed. I had Mother's Day stuff, then end of school year stuff, then OMG I'M GOING TO THE BEACH stuff, then I had a workshop, and now I still have to fully unpack from the beach.

I have officially become one of those bloggers that have MILLIONS of ideas for blog posts, but just don't have the time to sit down and bring them to life. So I figure that the best thing to do is check in and let you guys know what I have in the works.

Coming Attractions

Mother's Day- Yes, I know that I'm over a month late to post about it. So what?

School Supply Cakes- I totally got my craft on and did school supply cakes for Sassy and Diva's teachers. Because I rock.

Beach- I had never been to the beach. My children had never been to the beach. So I have LOTS to tell you about the beach. These posts may take a bit, considering that I still haven't fully unpacked. Like, my trunk is still half-full. And I haven't even posted my pics to my FB. So...be patient.

Birthdays- There have been a few birthdays recently, so I will update you on who is older.

Workshop- I have a few ideas burning in my mind related to the baby food workshop that was last weekend. Not sure how they will play out, but just throwing that out there.

Father's Day- I feel obligated to do a post on this, since I will be doing a post about Mother's Day. Not that Hubby reads my blog, but I would feel guilty. Stupid Mommy Guilt is spilling over into Marital Guilt. What the crap?!

Boobies, Vaginas, and Babies- Yep, pretty sure I'll post at least a little about that.

So now that we are caught up at least a little, I'm going to check out again. Mostly because I have finished eating my lunch and need to get back to working since I am at work.

Oh, final thought. Tomorrow is West Virginia Day. I have tons of clients nationwide that I deal with through work and they always ask me what West Virginia Day is. So I will do my little part to educate the masses.

Here's a link to learn more about West Virginia Day. Consider yourself, as my father-in-law would say, Edu-ma-cated.

10 Parenting Principles I Wish I'd Known: Episode Five

5) Family Time is Important. And Necessary. And Intimidating. But It Shouldn't Be.

Some families have great traditions from early on. Family Game Night. Pizza Night. Movie Night. Lots of things that the family does together that strengthens the bond they share.

Those families are lucky.

Then you have families that struggle to find that family time. Families that get lost in the daily grind of work, school, etc. Families who spend a lot of their "down time" reading and watching TV in separate rooms. Not really the best way to strengthen family bonds.

Many of the families that fall into Category B want to find more meaningful family time, but it can be intimidating.

In today's world, we are flooded with images of "perfect" families. Don't get me wrong, we also see dysfunctional families and lots of other things. But how many times have you been watching TV and run across a show that shows some family spending time together, looking so happy, usually after resolving some big drama much more easily than you ever could in real life. Or seen the same thing in a movie. Or ran across a book or magazine with a magic list of fun things to do with your family. And searching for "fun things to do with my family" yields over 308 million hits on Google.

So many people get stuck trying to figure out the best way to spend time with their family.

Go to the park? Go to a ball game? Go camping? Amusement park? Gardening? Trip out of town? Cooking? Swimming? Scavenger hunt? Game Night? Movies? Zoo? Bowling? Laser Tag? Scrapbook? Play Barbies? Bakugan? Build a fort? Talent Show? Fly a kite?

Feeling overwhelmed yet?

So many people get so caught up in trying to figure out what to DO for family time that they get overwhelmed and end up not doing anything that they feel is "special" family time. Sure, you still spend time together as a family, but you are not doing the activities that make you FEEL like you are getting that special bonding time.

I had always thought that I would be "that mom." You know, the one that bakes cookies with her kids weekly, has family game night once a week, plans a new activity each weekend, etc. We'd go camping one weekend, bowling the next, day trips to the zoo, etc.

Then I had kids. And it can be EXHAUSTING just getting through the daily grind, let alone planning and executing special family time.

Hubby and I both have full-time jobs. He is very involved in several fraternal organizations. I am involved in several things of my own. Sassy and Diva have school. And Monkey is a toddler. 'Nuff said. We have some responsibility or activity almost every weekend. Out of the next 6 weekends, each one has at least 1 major event except one. Evenings during the week involve coming home from work/school, dinner, homework, and bedtime routine. Not a lot of space for additional family activities other than our usually already packed weekends.

So I understand how overwhelming it can be to make time for quality family time. I get it.

But do you know what I have realized?

We don't NEED to plan and execute special family time to HAVE special family time.

It has taken me some time to learn this lesson, mostly because I had all these grand ideas of what quality family time should be. Like when you are in the kitchen and you envision yourself as Julia Child, Anthony Bourdain, or Rachel Ray. And really you are burning grilled cheese and overcooking your pasta.

Let me give you an example. A few weekends ago, we had events and meetings on Saturday. On Sunday, we spent some time at my MIL's in the morning, then had a birthday part early in the afternoon. Afterwards, we had a few hours free until dinnertime. So we decided to get the family out to enjoy the spring weather. Just spur of the moment, we decided to head for a local park.

Nothing fancy.
No big activities.
Just a small playground and a scenic overlook of our city.

We let the kids play on the playground

Monkey monkeyed around with Hubby's help

Sassy struck a pose on one of the cannons

Diva struck a pose on top of the playground

I even tried to get a family photo of all 3 kids. And failed. Monkey looks most unhappy. And slightly constipated.

But it was still a great time. We were there for a little over an hour at a small park less than 10 minutes from our home. It just goes to show you that some of the most special quality family time you will spend is unscripted and spontaneous instead of orchestrated and meticulously planned.

You don't have to make big plans to spend time with your family.

Just DO it and memories will happen.

10 Parenting Principles I Wish I'd Known: Episode Three

3) You Will Feel a Wide Range of Emotions. At The Same Time.

Before I had children, I had felt a wide range of emotions. I had felt love. Anger. I had been proud of my loved ones. Astonished at their actions. Shocked by their audacity. Frustrated. Flabbergasted and speechless at times. But rarely were these emotions felt concurrently.

Then I had children.

Weight Loss Wednesday: Week 8

Ok, Ok. I know that I am 2 days late for my post. This has been a very busy week again. I was not sleeping well at the beginning of the week, so Wednesday evening I was exhausted. Hubby had a meeting, leaving me alone with the kids. As soon as we finished dinner, Monkey nursed and went to bed, then the girls went to their room to watch a show before bedtime. I decided that I deserved a night off since everyone was in their rooms by 7:30, so I settled in with a cup of pomegranate and blueberry tea and caught up on some shows that have been sitting on my DVR. It was amazing to have an entire evening of downtime, just laying around, all curled up in a blanket. Then last night we were at my MILs for dinner, so I decided to wait and post tonight.

This last week I did lose a little weight:

Weight Loss Wednesday: Week 7

This last week has been crazy in my house! Sick kids, a killer stomach virus, etc. I'll be honest, I did a LOT of slipping up this past week. I went to the gym more than normal, but I did not eat as healthy as I could have. There were LOTS of cookies last week. In my defense, I am a stress eater. Kids passing around a stomach virus and some other things going on in my life really made me crave sweets. It is also why I haven't been posting much the last week. I have several topics I would like to write about and have some rough drafts in my head, but just haven't had the time to sit and write yet. Hopefully I can knock all of the ideas I have jumbled in my head out soon. Now, let's get down to business:

Yep. That's right. Still the same. No gain, no loss. I did go to the gym 3 times last week, but after the weekend of the stomach virus at my house, I haven't been back until tonight. I was able to stay under my calorie goals for the week, although I did go over 2 days:

All those cookies also really helped my carb and fat percentages rise, as you can see.

Hopefully this weekend I can take the steps I need to get back on track. I need to work on some menu planning. I need to do a "spring cleaning" on my pantry. I need to pack my lunch for the week. This will be helped with my office being closed Monday for President's Day. Hopefully I can get back in the swing of things and start seeing the scale slowly go back down.

Sorry so short tonight, but I also think that I've come down with a bit of the stomach virus my kids had over the weekend. Off to bed I go!

No Regrets, Only Experience

Yesterday, I was finally using a gift certificate to a salon from my birthday and started making small talk with a stranger. She asked why it had taken me so long to use the gift certificate and I explained that it had been a very busy year since Monkey was born and that I had just not made the time to schedule an appointment.

As many conversations go when children are mentioned, we started talking about my children and that while the stranger did not have any children yet, she shared some details about her nephew. She mentioned how difficult it was sometimes for her sister to have a night out because she was nursing her young baby, which led to me mentioning the monthly Breastfeeding Cafe that I attend and how much it has helped me to have the support and education that it offers.

Weight Loss Wednesday- Week 4

This past week was rough. We were preparing for Monkey's birthday party, which caused some rushing around and stress, which then led to poor food choices. But I was still able to stay below my daily calorie goal each day.

Weight Loss Wednesday- Week 3

Another week and another pound lost!

We've had some issues this last week at home. Our furnace was not working properly last Friday, causing an impromptu sleepover at Mom's and Mike from Grogg's Heating & Air Conditioning, Inc. to grace us with his presence early Saturday morning. But, Mike did an awesome job and we were back home Saturday after the house warmed back up.

New Resolutions for the New Me

Yep, I've been sucked in. I've decided to do a stereotypical list of my New Year Resolutions. I figure that the best way to commit to some new changes is to put them on the Internet, cursing them to live there forever.

Many of my resolutions are related to this crunchy layer that is slowly creeping further and further into my life. Others are the typical resolutions that most people make. So, here's a countdown of what I want to work on in 2012 and some of the tools that I plan to utilize.