Midweek Confessions - I'm BAACCKKK!

Goodness, lets not even talk about how long it has been since I blogged! What I've been up to is probably the same as you... mountains of laundry, piles of dishes, long list of sewing orders, refereeing toddler arguments, grocery store runs, trips to Target, hours at the pool, shuttling Parker to and from summer day camp at school... you know the busy summer routine! BUT I'm back to do a little confessing! .... mostly of the inappropriate embarrassing sort... the kind my kids will resent me for later.... so basically... the good stuff!

Linking up with E from E, Myself and I today!

#1... Tonight while giving Parker a bath I got the question every mom of a boy dreads.... "Mommy, how do I make my pee pee bigger?" Followed by "I like it bigger. I think I need medicine." Y'all... we don't have cable so I have NO idea where he gathered he needs medicine to fix this "problem" but I thought it was HIL-ARIOUS! I told him to "ask his dad because mommy is a girl and doesn't have a pee pee but I thought it was fine just the size it is." (Score one for mom). Daddy is smarter than I give him credit for and told him he just had to "Get older and eat fruits and vegetables!"  Oh boys and their pee pees!

#2.... It took Parker 4 months to poop in the potty. For 4 VERY long months he has pooped in his underwear EVERY SINGLE DAY usually between the hours of 4-5 or whenever I put a swim diaper on him for the pool (We don't use pull ups). It took buying him a $40 Buzz Lightyear and the threat of having it taken away to do it... best $40 I ever spent.

#3... Like E's son, Avery has become a MAJOR biter! She pretty much only bites me and Parker. She got me SO badly recently that she clogged a milk duct by biting it shut and piercing the skin. I was expressing pink milk.  It got infected and it HURT. So much so that I considered going to the ER.... and then I noticed a pair of tweezers... and did the unthinkable. Yes... me+tweezers+glass of wine= 30 minutes of unclogging it myself. It was so gross I took a picture and texted it to my BFF and mother. Is taking a picture of your boob in that condition considering sexting? I think not. She bites Parker as a defense mechanism and 90% of the time he deserves it but she still gets in trouble. Oh the beginning of refereeing sibling quarrels!

#4.... Avery is STILL nursing at 14 months but I'm working on weening her. We're down to 4 times a day which if you know Avery is a small miracle. She literally slid my spaghetti strap dress to the side in the middle of the grocery store sub line on Friday and self served. Between the biting and self serving in public... I'm done. She is not so much. Any advice other than wearing a turtleneck... it's like 100 degrees!

#5... I love the show America Ninja Warrior.... no one made it to Mt Midoriyama in the finale and I was genuinely upset! I also enjoy other non major network shows like Swamp People, Pretty Little Liars and Army Wives. We don't have cable but I go out of my way to find it online!

#6... I have a chalkboard wall in my kitchen that I was so excited about and do seriously love having but I only ever change the writing on it for holidays or special events so even though "poker night" was over a month ago, up until last week, it was still decorated for poker night. It now says "We'll miss you Anna" for Anna's going away party that happened last week. I would guess it will say that until Labor Day or until my mom reads this and changes it for me. ;) Thanks in advance mom.

#7.... Sometimes confessing that I'm behind on laundry, ironing, dishes or needing a date night on my blog magically leads to my mother showing up out of the "blue" to help. I don't use this blog as a way to manipulate that aid at all. wink wink

OK friends, your turn!!!!

Sidewalk Graffiti Welcome

Sweet Ashley over at The Pollock Potluck has started a list of things she wants to do before the summer is over. I've decided to have only 2 goals to increase my chances of success.....

1. Potty Train Parker for real.... finally.... so he can go to preschool again this fall.
2. Feeding my family healthier. More Organic. Grains. Veggies. Fruits. Less Processed Crap.

She has a long list of cute things like get ice cream from the truck, eat outside.... etc. One of the things on her list that I immediately knew I HAD to do was welcome our new, next door neighbors with some side walk chalk graffiti. They just moved to Charlotte, NC from Costa Rica so I thought this would be fun. Avery and I had a great time doing it! We couldn't decide whether or not to do it in English or Spanish but went with English in case they were actually Americans who had been living in Costa Rica or something like that. Come to find out, they are from Costa Rica, they speak very fluent English.... and the chalk I used was like spray paint. WHOOPS. 3 hard rains and 1 sighting of the new resident trying to hose it off the sidewalk later... the remnants are still faintly there! Thankfully, we aren't facebook friends yet and since I did it while they were out experiencing Carowinds for the day, they don't know I did it. 

Confession.... I googled the word "neighborhood" while writing this because I thought the "neigh" part looked weird.

You can't see it really well but I did it so that when they walked out of the house, it was facing them. I was sure I did it centered to the porch but I was WAY off. It's the thought that counts, right?!

I definitely think Avery and I will be the new welcome wagon committee with our stellar sidewalk chalk graffiti but I might have to do some research on what brand to use. The hot pink seriously has stained the concrete. WHOOPS! Great idea, Ashley! So fun!

Give Me Faith

Ladies and gentlemen, I am still, in fact, alive despite my total lack of blogging. If you're my FB friend I have; however, been instagramming it up. Its currently just a quicker way of documenting the kid's lives... and meals.... and each bath.... and everything else I'm now embarrassed I've posted. I would probably unfriend me on facebook.... I'm obnoxious when it comes to posting pictures of my kids doing things only a mother would find precious. I digress....

Let me explain my absence.... life has been busy, probably just like yours. Avery is teething molars and is up 3-6 times a night, Parker is still unsuccessfully potty training after 3 months, 3 good friends moved/are moving to Texas, my sister (and 3rd child) moved to NYC and my heart is just in pieces about it. I'm tired.... physically, emotionally and spiritually. I've invested a lot of my time and heart into my friendships with these girls and especially with my sister and I literally physically ache as if parts of myself are moving along with them. Each night I have a laundry list of things to accomplish after the kids go to bed and to be honest, by 8pm I am totally worthless. Mary Sunshine, my happy face, has been to a few play dates lately and some I've just had to skip all together. SO UNLIKE ME... and I hate it.

I know the potty training and molars are a small season of life and will pass despite feeling like unmovable mountains some days. I've felt weak as a mom. I feel frustrated. I'm worn out. I'm tired of the check out lady at Harris Teeter smiling at me each time I buy a new can of spot shot carpet cleaner because she knows its to clean up MORE pee on my new, pretty... now not so clean carpets. I miss my happy baby who doesn't fuss all day... and I feel disappointed in myself for being frustrated with a 13 months old who is teething nasty molars and pooping all day. It obviously isn't her fault! I am blessed BEYOND measure and I know that full well, please don't misunderstand me. I am just in a season of life of change, loss and whines.... 3 things I'm not super found of, or if I'm being honest, dealing with well.

The other day a sweet family friend posted on facebook that her mother whom I'm been praying for during her battle with cancer and rejoicing in her cure now has a brain tumor. It was sobering as a cancer survivor myself but immediately God gave me the song "Give Me Faith" by Elevation Worship. I posted it for her to listen to but couldn't get it out of my own head. It wasn't until I truly listened to some lyrics I'd previously passed over did I understand that God gave me this song not just for our friend but for myself as well.

Take a listen:

"Give me faith to trust what you say. That you're good and your love is great. I'm broken inside. I give you my life. I may be weak but your Spirit's strong in me. My flesh may fail but my God you never will...."

I found such peace in this affirmation because God led each of my friends to Texas and orchestrated Kelly's move to NYC by opening doors and closing them as well. I may not understand it and I may be absolutely heart broken about it but I've got to give it to God and trust the He's got "it" covered. I may feel weak and worthless by 8pm... and some days 8am if I'm being honest... but my God isn't. He's equipped me with the abilities and strength I need to raise my children, wipe "one more" poopy hiney, clean up "one more" accident, and get up "again" and "again" and "again" in the middle of the night.

God speaks to me a lot through song and my heart is thankful to have been given this song and to finally be at peace today for the first time in a while. I hope you find the affirmation of God's faithfulness and peace that I've found today and am resting in.