Thankfully

Thankfully, I have a great life. I have an amazing family and husband who I cherish more than I can ever express. I am so blessed and lucky, but I often let petty worries get in the way of joy. I worry about my weight and how my body looks and if my muffin top is showing. I worry about getting the laundry done and the house vacuumed and making my own baby food. I worry if I am a good enough mother or wife. I get frustrated easily instead of being patient. I have road rage. I dislike people who act ignorant. I complain about silly little things instead of laughing at them – like spilling food all over the floor or forgetting to defrost the chicken for dinner (again).

This week I am going to focus on letting those little worries go and enjoying my life and all the things I am thankful for. I am reconnecting with a few friends I haven’t seen in a while. I am taking the plunge to let the daycare staff at my gym watch JB while I work out this morning (I am TERRIFIED for some crazy reason). I am not tackling the turkey this year and letting Brothers BBQ give us a delicious smoked one instead.

I am going to be kissing these two men more than usual this week:

Flashback Friday

Sometimes I cannot believe that I was ever 8 years old! When I think back to my outlook on life then I laugh out loud!

Back when everything was so simple – friends were just friends, calories didn’t exist, and boys were smelly and weird.

Today I am so over myself that these pictures make me feel better. I went to the dentist this morning to get a filling re-done and it was so not fun. I hate the dentist more than any other doctor and usually I get laughing gas when I go because it causes me great anxiety. They didn’t give it to me today because it was so quick. I also hate the whole day after I get dental work done because my head hurts, I can’t eat anything and I am just a mean hungry lady.

Whatever, I’m looking forward to a good weekend and some delicious sushi tonight!

Tuesday Ten -Thanksgiving Menu Preview

I am so excited for Thanksgiving! It’s only a little more than a week away and I sat down today to start planning the menu. I’m hosting at my house this year and am very excited to share Jackson’s first holiday season with those big blue eyes of his.

Normally, I would link-up with Miss Mommy, but she is on vacay this week! I’m too excited to wait a week :)

Here’s what I’ve got planned so far:

1. Deviled Eggs – I usually wing this recipe because I’ve made them countless times, but am thinking I may take a cue from Paula Deen.

2. Brie en Croute – I love any dish that has oozy cheese.

Courtesy of Paula Deen

 

3. Artichoke and Spinach Dip – another holiday staple of mine. I use Knorr Vegetable Dip and take it from there. I deviate a little and use extra cream cheese and white cheddar cheese. Sometimes I like to make it spicy as well!

4. Turkey – I am thinking about trying to make a recipe from Southern Living for a sweet-and-spicy glazed turkey. Wish me luck because it will be the first year that I roast a turkey. I am not looking forward to sticking my hands in any sort of cavity and the word giblets makes me gag, but I will do it for my family.

5. Scalloped Sweet Potatoes – via Bobby Flay. Yum!

6. Green Bean Casserole – I have made this recipe for a few years now from Claire Robinson and I am in love. It never disappoints and the use of fresh green beans instead of canned adds such a great crunch.

7. Mac-n-Cheese Bake with Broccoli – Recipe found here. I am adding the broccoli on my own volition to get more veggies in my tummy!

8. Roasted Cauliflower – Recipe via Stephanie Izard. I make this once every other week or so and I can’t get enough.

9. Brownie Ganache Bites – Recipe is from my Southern Living Cookbook. I can’t find it online, so I will post it separately after I make them (assuming they are yummy). I will most likely add a little cinnamon and spice to the recipe to give it a holiday kick.

10. Mulled Red Wine Sangria – via Bobby Flay

Don’t worry guys – my mother-in-law is taking care of the soup, salad, bread, various apps, stuffing, and pumpkin pie so we will still have all the staples!

What are you making for Thanksgiving?

Give a Dog a Bone

I had one of those moments today – the ones where you feel like you are living a lifetime of moments and all these thoughts are flashing through your head even though in reality it’s only been about 5 seconds.

I have this beast dog Kesler. He hates people and other dogs. He lives for his family and will do anything to protect and watch over us. A few years ago we had to invest in a shock collar system for both of our dogs because they were jumping our fence and we were worried the small one would get run over and the big one would kill something.

So far, it’s worked pretty well. Until today. I let the out when I returned home from the store and returned to putting away groceries. I heard them barking, which is normal when they see another dog and usually I just call them in so they shut up. When I went outside, Kesler was in the “no zone” with the shock collar going crazy. He could have cared less that he was getting shocked at the highest level. And as I’m inching toward him to usher him in the house, he goes and jumps the fence. Bastard. Then the little one decides he should jump too.

They go after the dog, and here’s where that moment happened. As he was lunging for this poor innocent animal I was waiting for my dog to kill the other one. And then we would have had to put him down. His owner probably would have beat me up, with good reasoning. Then she would have sued us for killing the dog. We would have been stoned out of the neighborhood and probably would have felt immense amounts of guilt the rest of our lives.

Fortunately, my dog decided he just wanted to show this other dog who the boss was and then sniff his ass. I jumped the fence (yes, we have a gate, but it was SO fast!) and grabbed that asshole dog of ours and promptly marched him inside. Jackson was in the house the whole time and I had to grab him to bring him out and track down Tanner – also known as the runner. I was pretty sure he would die today as well, but thankfully this woman stuck around so my dog could love her dog.

Now we have to let the big dog out on a leash. Like we live in apartments or something. What a hassle, but much better than the alternative.

Man I wish we had a 6-foot fence and this stupid HOA would allow it. Also, though I didn’t hit my dogs I am pretty sure I used more expletives in a five-minute span than I have this entire year. I was so pissed that I scared the baby.

The dogs will be hanging in the basement today until I can get a grip and I lose the urge to drop-kick them. 

They look so peaceful here:

Mommy Instincts

I officially have a sick baby. This is new ground for this momma and I am not liking the way it makes me feel – so helpless and like a failure. I have been doing lots of cuddling with Jackson today, and paying close attention to him, but he is definitely not himself. He has been extra fussy and the poor guy is really congested. I am headed to the pharmacy in a bit to pick up ear drops his pediatrician called in as well as antihistamine to clear his passages a bit.

What a bummer – I thought it was rough to be sick myself and take care of him but this is almost worse because I don’t know exactly what is wrong and how to fix it. I wish I could just buy him a toy and give him some soup to take his mind off of this. And I probably need a big bottle of wine.

And, I just found out my grandma is in the hospital. It doesn’t sound too serious, but they always dumb it down to me. What a great start to the weekend, right??

On a brighter note, JB has started saying the ma-ma sound. I pretend like he knows it’s for me, but I don’t think he has totally put it together yet.

Tuesday Ten– Randomness

This past week has been a blur – I can hardly believe I haven’t posted since last Tuesday, but at the same time I feel like I am going, going, going. I had a big competition with both my JV and Varsity teams last weekend and we spent most of last week preparing and getting everything ready. I feel like I haven’t really been in the mood to do anything productive when I have down time.

And the time change really messed me up. JB’s sleep schedule hasn’t totally adjusted yet and he woke up last night at 3am and decided to just be awake for a while. Little stinker!

So I haven’t prepared anything grand or theme-like for this week’s link-up with Miss Mommy. I’m just going to wing it.

10 Random Things About Me/My Life at the Moment

1. I’m obsessed with lists. I love to make lists and thankfully it has ended up being a good quirk since I’ve been a mom and have no brain.

2. I sometimes regret that I didn’t go back to the south for college. I know that it was for the best because I wouldn’t have met Trevor, but I regret not taking a leap and trying something different when I had the mobility. We are seriously stuck in Colorado for the next 40 years. Thank goodness I like it here!

3. I eat weird things – like I love the taste of pickles dipped in orange juice (eww, right?). I love potato chips smothered with frosting, but I seriously dislike pork chops. Won’t touch them.

4. I played clarinet for 3 years in middle school, until I decided I was “too cool” for band. I sometimes think I should have stuck with it because it could have turned into something, but my love of dance quickly overshadowed other hobbies.

5. I wish I had curly hair – all my life I have tried to imitate natural curls with perms, curling irons, special curlers, etc. and they never work. My hair is so straight that I usually don’t have to flat iron it unless I want it to be shiny. I once had three at-home perms done in two days with zero success – not even a wave!! I’m so jealous of you curly/wavy-haired girls out there.

6. I make snap-judgments on everything – big or small. I decided that Trevor and I were going to make it after about a month of us being together. Yikes! So glad that worked out. I also do this with my hair. I will go into the salon and say “cut it off”. I love it for a day and then I regret it. All the way until it’s grown out again, which takes forever and by that point I want a change so I cut it. Vicious cycle. Silly me!!

7. I have been wanting to start my own Etsy shop with the bags I make and I’ve been too afraid :(. I also can’t seem to find any extra time to sew, but I think I’m just making an excuse about that. One of my goals is to get it together and at least have 5 bags on my site to sell!

8. I really want a little girl, but I am terrified of how terrible our relationship could be during her tween and teen years. I know so many girls that have had issues with their moms during this time and I used on be on their side, until I became a mom and now I see both angles.

9. I am a Twilight fiend. I am seriously so excited to see Breaking Dawn next weekend that I am going to buy tickets in advance. My husband graciously joins me for my tween fix (Twilight, Harry Potter, etc) so he will be my date in a theater full of 14-year-old girls. Heaven!!

10. I love my “job”. Seriously – I love staying home with Jackson. I am reminded of this daily because I have moments where I think going back to work would be a good choice and then many more moments where I am so thankful to hang with him all day. Sure, some days are rough, but they are an exception.

 

Thanks for reading! Go check out Miss Mommy’s Tuesday Ten and have a great day!

Tuesday Ten–Mommy Changes

So I haven’t changed who I am at the core, but there have been several adjustments to my life so I am dedicating this Tuesday Ten to all of those.

Linking up with Miss Mommy’s Tuesday Ten:

1. I am no longer grossed out by spit-up, shooting pee or baby poo that somehow makes it’s way onto the weirdest areas (fireplace hearth, anyone??). I am, however, incredibly disgusted by my dog’s drool and fur and paw marks on my wood floor because I’m worried about all the germs my baby is crawling around in.

2. Instead of having popular radio songs stuck in my head, I seem to only have the Little Einsteins and Mickey mouse Clubhouse theme songs running on repeat when I am trying to sleep. “It’s the Mickey Mouse Clubhouse – come inside, it’s fun inside.” Not as fun inside my head.

3. I can eat an entire meal in less than five minutes with only one free hand. Now THAT”S talent. I swear that I never seem to have time to eat, but I still seem to eat a lot of crap during the day. Probably because it’s a lot easier to grab a handful of chips than it is to make a salad and healthy sandwich. I used to be a really slow eater and almost never finished my meal before my husband, and now I scarf it down like there’s no tomorrow.

4. Shower time has become my time to relax – I never used to see showers as all that relaxing because there is so much to do: wash my hair, condition my hair, shave, scrub my face, use body wash, etc. Now it’s this ten-minute window of warm, steamy heaven that I get to enjoy without dogs whining or babies crying. Ahhh… I’m contemplating leaving this post until later so I can go shower now!

5. Late, crazy nights have gone from 3am Taco Bell Runs to 11pm movie nights with 2 or 3 glasses of wine. I still go out once in a while, but I honestly would rather sit in my pj’s drinking pinot than go compete for space to dance with 21-year-old hussies whose asses are hanging out of their dresses. Is it so hard to find a dress that covers your lady parts? Or at least wear underwear that does? This is a sign that I am getting old…

6. Instead of perusing Perez Hilton, I hit up Mommy Blogs like they hold the biggest gossip ever. I think I know some of you all better than most people know Beyonce’s or Britney’s dirt. And I love it – would SO rather see pictures of your adorable children and funny stories about your lives than another disgusting mugshot of Lindsay Lohan. Though I will admit my ears still perk up at certain celebrity news – 72 days of marriage and it’s over, Kim Kardashian?! Scoff.

7. I used to worry so much more about the way I looked when I was out in public. I didn’t need Texas hair (although I love big hair – L.O.V.E. it), but I still needed make-up and non-pjs to leave my house, even when I was sick. Now I  am much more lenient about the way I look and pay more attention to how cute the nugget looks. I think I need to revert back to my old self a little on this one though because I’m only two more sweatpants purchases away from being nominated for What Not to Wear.

8. Family seems less crazy – you know that weird aunt or silly cousin or overbearing grandma you swore you would never become? I feel more and more accepting of those people in my family and understand them better as I progress on my mommyhood journey. It’s especially cool how babies can bring families together.

9. Judgment and Acceptance – I have to admit that before I was a mom I judged other moms and people way more than I do now. For instance, I used to get so annoyed I when I was shopping at Target and there was a mom with a load of unruly kids. Or I would look at a mom who was really overweight and think that they were setting a bad example for their kids and should be more healthy. I now understand that you can’t always control your kids, and also that moms give everything to their families and often don’t take time for their own health. I still think that it’s important to teach your kids a healthy lifestyle, but I also get how hard it is to lose weight after having a baby. Don’t get me wrong, if you are a smoker and you smoke around your kids – f-you. You really suck.

10. My love for life – I complain a lot less about things than I did before, and Jackson has taught me how precious every day is. I know it sounds so incredibly cheesy, but my husband, baby and doggies are my everything. I am such a lucky girl to live the life I do and I recognize that – every. single. day.

And now for some adorable baby bathtime photos:

What has changed you since you took on a new role – mommy, wife, job, etc.?

Happy Tuesday!

, Tabitha