{SuperMom}

I have seen a lot of comments on Facebook or on blogs saying “Wow – you are really a SUPERMOM” or “HOW do you do it all” and it has had me thinking lately…

The way I look at it – if you are a mom, you ARE a supermom. The days that I get Zane up, get her dressed and either cook or clean or complete a project, those are usually the days that Zane didn’t wake up five times the night before. And trust me – if you could see my hair today, you know KNOW that last night wasn’t one of those nights.

We do this to ourselves all the time – we look at everyone else’s highlight reel, and compare it to our outtakes/behind the scenes. And things like social media and PINTEREST make it that much easier for us to do this. Don’t get me wrong, I LOVE social media and how connected it can make us, but was I am talking about when we get into comparing. I have such admiration for moms in general. I have an appreciation for moms that I feel you only can have once you BECOME a mom. Lets face it – being a mom is one of the MOST rewarding things in life. But it is also CONSTANT hard work. Sometimes we hit the nail right on  the head – everyone had a nutritious dinner, had matching clothes that fit and went to sleep without a hitch. And then then there are the times that we are throwing french fries to the back seat hoping the kids get a few as you race to get to somewhere, only to realize your child only has one shoe on, and the shirt they put on is two sizes too small.

I say all of this to say – Take a breath, grab that Grande Latte {or maybe a Venti!} and face each day knowing that you are going to do YOUR BEST – it isn’t always perfect, it isn’t always pretty but who said that being a mom would be! Give yourself some grace, say a prayer and know that you are a SUPERMOM!!

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{It’s in the Water}

I found out some FANTASTIC news this week… my good friend Jen from Life Lives Here is Pregnant! Ah, I love this season of life.

With Baby Burton right around the corner, this is proving to be a very exciting time for all of us!

Corianne has one of the best blogs, Band of Burtons,  including a lot of writing about her pregnancy, how she feels about becoming a mom. She is a brilliant writer and of course ONE OF THOSE preggos that was barely ever sick and generally feels fantastic all the time. Yes, I know. Sometimes you want to just kick her in the shin. But you can’t kick a pregnant lady. SO I just hug her and hope that some of that rubs off on me if I ever have another one.

Jen is also proving to be the same way. Maybe some of it will rub off on me. Have you seen the movie “What to Expect when you’re Expecting”? Well, at this point, I feel like I was the blond who owned the shop and had a HECK of a time, meanwhile my friends are walking around in bikini’s and stilettos and they sneeze and the baby comes out (I am actually praying for this for them! LOL).

Ok – slight exaggeration. All kidding aside I am TRULY happy that they don’t have to go through some of the really crappy stuff that makes you re-think if you want to go through it again – maybe it is because they are meant to have so many children???  (ha ha – I know, I know – let you get through this one first. Ok I will.)

All this to say – On this day, November 13, 2012 I am very happy. I love that our circle of friends is just getting bigger and adding more kids to the mix. Kids are what makes life WORTH IT sometimes. And I can’t wait for them to experience motherhood.

I am so excited for you BOTH!

And to the rest of us….. be careful – it seems to be in the water….

{Happy Birthday Katie!!}

One of my longest and best friends has her birthday today!!! We met when we were 12 and became fast friends. The rest is history! We have been through a lot – growing up, meeting MEN (we even dated the same guy once!), marriage,being pastor’s wives, the birth of our daughters and NOW getting OLDER together!

Happy Birthday Katie! I am So excited to be celebrating 31 with you tonight….er… I mean 29!!! I hope you have a fantastic day and get spoiled by your hubby and little munchkins! Looking forward to celebrating tonight with you!

{A visit, a First Birthday and I won!}

This is a Hodge podge of the last few weeks of my life. I am catching you up, if you will 🙂

My parents came out to visit for a week and celebrate my mom’s 60th birthday. I am resolving to take more pictures in my life, HOWEVER I failed miserably at that while they were here. The nice thing is we did LOTS of relaxing and hanging out, and TONS of laughing. I did manage to snap this picture right before they left – my daughter in this picture just kills me. Zane is a hoot every day. We have so much fun.

Last Friday evening, one of my best friends proved to be much more crafty and creative than she likes to let on 🙂 Above is Katie pictured with her sweet daughter Kenzie – Kenzie turned 1!! Katie threw her a Technicolor dream party! It was AWESOME! Particularly the rainbow cake she made. It was incredible to say the least!It was super sweet, but was perfect for a sweet treat to celebrate a first birthday!I think Kenzie liked all the colors! She is an early to bed kind of baby, but she did really great and was a very hospitable host for her party 🙂For the party, I made Kenzie a Rainbow shirt to help her celebrate, and YES I was totally that mom and made my daughter one too so they could be matching. WHAT?!?!?!? We can only do that for so long before they start to roll their eyes at me!! I am going to make some of these shirts for the holiday bazaar I am involved with middle of November. Should be fun! Now taking custom orders!

Lastly – I WON A BLOG GIVEAWAY!!! It is the first time I have ever won one! It was from one of my new blog friends Janean from Umbrella By the Sea. The box came in the mail today, and I was so excited! There is some great bakers twine, little snack cups, just a whole bunch of cute random stuff {including Jelly Belly’s – HELLO!!}. I am looking forward to finding things to do with everything! There is a three piece chalk board I am thinking about using to advertise at the holiday bazaar. We will just have to see. All of this winning a give-away has me thinking I need to set up a give away soon!!! It is so much fun!!

Have a GREAT day today! Happy Halloween – don’t eat too much candy!!

{My Village}

I am writing this post as I sit and think about all of the friends and family that I have in my life right now that have helped me through the ever-changing season that is parenting a child.

I have some AMAZING friends who I can really be myself around, and we can chat about anything.

On Friday, I sat around with a few very close mommy friends, and as we all began to share, one thing became very clear. Most of us moms think we are going to go crazy, feel insecure about one thing or another in our parenting capabilities, and just generally can feel alone in how we feel. And the amazing thing is that WE ALL feel this way at one point or another. It is when you get together and talk things out you realize that no, you are not alone. No, you are not the ONLY one that feels this way. And NO, you are NOT weird for feeling like you just might go crazy.

Here is the deal. All of us moms – We are already all crazy. You don’t need to worry any more about “going crazy”. If you have a child, you are already there 🙂 It is all about building a community around you so that you are not alone.

It was SO refreshing to sit and gab with my friends about what Zane was doing right now, and how I felt lost when it comes to discipline at this age (effective discipline). It was so nice to chat with ladies who have already been where I am so that they could help light the way for me. And, let’s be honest.  Sometimes, you are just wanting to hear that you are not alone, and that someone else has totally been through that before. (and bonus, they survived!)

I also love being able to talk to friends who are just starting out in this crazy ride called parenting, and bring them along side for the ride. We can all learn from each others experience. I don’t know where I would be if it wasn’t for my friends that I have met at church. People going the same direction I am going, with the same goal in mind.

It takes a village to raise a child – this is what they are talking about. You need your “people”. They are with you thick and thin and encourage you every step of the way.

So who is in your village?

{Back on the Horse}

Well friends, I took a week of blogging off. At first it was unintentional but then I decided to just take the break.

So I am back “on the horse” again today (Ha ha) and happy to be back!

So I started selling Stella and Dot jewelry and tonight is my first trunk show at my house! I set it all up last night, and I am very excited!! I will let you know how it goes later this week.

I still need to figure out what my daughter will be for Halloween. What is your favorite costume that your kids have worn? (Maybe I can steal an idea)

Happy Monday!! Enjoy these last few days of October!

{Rain boots and Polka Dots}

Zane wanted to play outside SO BAD this evening when I got home from work – she was being quite hysterical. So Mimi and I gave in, grabbed her rain-boots and jacket, and let her run around a little bit. {It is so hard to get a picture of her in focus because all she does is run!}

This next picture is when I told her to hold still and give me a smile…..Basically the best I can get.

The boots are a little bit big, which proved problematic for a running toddler.All in all a fun evening, and I think we will be spending many evenings playing in the rain! I love my little outdoor girl!

{Creme Brûlée Consignment Sale}

Have you ever sold any of your kids clothes consignment? This weekend is the Creme Brûlée Kids consignment sale in Kent – it will be the 2nd year that I have both been a consignor and a shopper! I am excited to see what kinds of treasures I will find this year!

I spend some time this weekend filling out all of my info for what I am going to consign this year, and I will apply the tags Wednesday. It isn’t too late for you to get in on this sale if you live around this area! The sale runs Friday-Saturday, but if you are a consignor, then you get to shop Thursday night before it is open to the general public. My friend Maggie {her blog here} and I are going to go together.

If you are interested in becoming a consignor, OR you just want to participate in the sale, you can find all the info {HERE}. Make sure to put me as the referral if you sign up to consign – I will get a little bonus shopping money!! Let me know if you are going to be there to shop this weekend – maybe I will see you there!

{A park & a pumpkin patch}

The weather has been AMAZING here in seattle, so we decided to take advantage and spend it OUTDOORS this weekend!

Saturday morning consisted of a family walk to the park – and then we chased this little one around…Then Sunday we decided to head to the pumpkin patch to choose out pumpkins for carving! Uncle Scott and his girlfriend Ari came down from Seattle for what turned out to be what felt like a holiday with pumpkin patch fun, and then home for soups, pumpkin carving and special desserts hand-made by Mimi.Our other “family members”, The Deuth’s came with us as well, because it seriously wouldn’t have been a family holiday without them!We were all laughing in the picture because Kenzie was pulling Zane’s hair! Once we put them into the wheelbarrow, they didn’t want to get out!Literally, we had to lug them around everywhere in them!The Three Amigos!

This picture just GETS ME…. I know she is my daughter, but seriously – HOW CUTE IS SHE! 🙂We knew that Uncle Scott and Ari we up to something when they HAD TO get a green pumpkin….Zane will kill me someday for this. We DO think she looks like Yoda sometimes 🙂

The final product!

Mimi made two soups (Chicken Tortilla & Quinoa Chili) along with Rice Krispie Surprise (complete with m&m’s on the bottom) AND homemade Carmel corn. This is quickly becoming one of my favorite traditions we do with the family!

Hope you had a great weekend!

{Pumpkin Patch 2011}

We are headed to the Pumpkin Patch this weekend – and I just had to share a few pictures from last year – LOTS of things change in a year! This is one of my favorite pictures I have ever taken – this was just days before Kenzie was born… Katie was such a good sport! Looking forward to making memories again this weekend! I am also looking into throwing a pretty pumpkin painting party…. stay tuned.