Parenting

This shop has been compensated by Collective Bias, Inc. and its advertiser. All opinions are mine alone. #SunsOutSpoonsOut #CollectiveBias

It’s no secret that summer is, by far, my favorite season. I love everything about it. Yes, even the heat. I love the way it feels on my skin. I love sundresses and tank tops and flip flops. I love the smell of sunscreen, freshly cut grass and burgers on the grill. I love 9:00 p.m. sunsets, running through the sprinkler and picnics in the park. I love catching lightening bugs with my kids and flying kites.

I’ve mentioned I drive a minivan before, yes? But have I mentioned I drive a 2005 Toyota minivan with 120,000 miles on it? Probably not. Because I’m not into details. At least, not when it comes to cars.

But there’s one thing I do know about cars – you have to get the oil changed. Not just once. But like, lots of times while you own it. If you choose not to, you will eventually wind up stalled out, smoke billowing out of the hood of your car while blocking rush hour traffic on a speedramp. I speak from experience here, people. That was not a fun day.

Brigham turned five at the beginning of May! He is one whole hand!

I think part of the reason I haven’t written about him is because Brigham’s personality is SO BIG I often struggle to put this boy into words. There’s not one word that would really provide an accurate or fair description of who he is or who he is becoming.

He is kinda like a sweet and sour gummy bear. So sweet at times he makes my heart swell up 1,000 times the size it should be.

I haven’t felt like myself in a long time. Or maybe I haven’t ever felt like myself because I never figured it out in the first place.

All I know is lately I just feel . . . different. And I think going to Arkansas was the catalyst for all these NEW and BIG feelings I’m having.

I’ve always questioned what it is I should be doing. Because honestly – who made up the “shoulds” anyway? Who made up the version of “success” that truthfully, is making us all sick and unhappy?

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I can be honest with you guys, right? When I found out Sawyer was a girl, I was so so so very thrilled! But I was also really really scared about having a daughter.

I remember my teenage years. It was a challenge to navigate the world as a young girl coming into her own. There were television shows and magazines showing me what beautiful should look like. And I wasn’t any of those things. During my teenage years I was made fun of for a few different reasons.

Today I’m going to discuss a hot topic in the blog world – sponsored posts.

Last month I conducted a reader survey. The last time I asked for my readers’ thoughts and opinions was in 2011. So I thought it was time I figured out who is reading my blog. I also wanted to find out why you are reading and what you might like to see more or less of in this space.

Slish, slosh. Slish, slosh.

The dish water splashes back and forth in the sink as I hurriedly place dirty bowls and plates and silverware in the dishwasher. After a few days of ignoring the growing pile, it was the strange stench that finally convinced me to do them.

Dear God. How long has this been in here!? I say to myself as I open a sippy cup to find spoiled milk. Ahhh, yes. This must be the source.

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This shop has been compensated by Collective Bias, Inc. and its advertiser. All opinions are mine alone. #OpticSmiles #CollectiveBias

I have shared with you before my hatred of winter. So I guess it’s no surprise I have a countdown to spring then, right? Do you wanna know how many more days we have until the first day of spring? Put down the snow shovel because OF COURSE YOU DO!

23 days, guys. Only 23 more days until spring.

Can I get an amen?!

It is hard to believe that my husband and I have been together for thirteen years and married for eight of those years. It honestly doesn’t seem like that long ago we were in our twenties, newly engaged and just beginning to dream about what our life would look like together.

At the time of our wedding we didn’t have any big responsibilities besides our jobs. There was no mortgage payment to make because we rented. There were no kids running into our bedroom after having nightmares.

In the nearly seven years I’ve been a mom, I’ve come to believe that parenting is just a long series of hellos and goodbyes.

In the delivery room – hello.

The first day of school – goodbye.

When they wake up each morning – hello.

When they go to sleep each night – goodbye.

But it goes even deeper than that, doesn’t it? Especially if you’re a sentimental mama like me.

I’ve said hello to tiny newborn clothes and goodbye to cribs and hello to bikes and goodbye to training wheels. And it will go on like this my whole life because I will always always be their mom. The only constant is change.

Last year one of my blogging goals was to grow my facebook page to 1,000 fans by the end of 2014. And to my surprise – I met that goal! I told my fans I was going to offer an awesome giveaway when I hit that number and here it is! You can enter to win one of two $500 paypal cash prizes or $450 paypal cash prize! Who couldn’t use a bit of extra cash after the holidays, right? Thank you for following on Facebook and good luck!