Our Angel

I'm a guest blogger today for Carrie.  To read Parker's story, click on her blog at:

http://www.thefrugalfoodiemama.com/2012/10/on-wings-of-angel-parkers-story.html?showComment=1349444710611#c8190084582890871708

Forget It Friday

I'm linking up with Sharee again from MomFittingitallin for Forget It Friday.   There are definitely a few things I want to forget this week.

• I want to forget that Paxton refused to eat anything on his first day at the feeding clinic.  Seeing his little lip poked out when he was pouting broke my heart. 
• I want to forget that I could not pay off my credit card this month and had to borrow from our savings account.
• I want to forget that I have 5 more weeks of driving 1 1/2 hours to Baltimore everyday for Paxton's feeding clinic. 
• I want to forget that I have a presentation to give today to 90 employees and I have not even written my talking points.  The presentation is in a couple of hours and I still have a ton of other work to do first.  Guess I'll be winging it.

This weekend can't get here soon enough....  Link up with Sharee and tell us what you want to forget about this week. 

Judgy Judgertons

I will admit...before I had kids, I was quick to judge those mothers with the loud kids in restaurants or the mom who's overweight kid was eating a bag of chips and drinking a soda in the middle of Target.  I thought..."I'll never do that.  My kid will be quiet and well behaved.  My kid will eat healthy. blah blah blah".  I realize now, how wrong I was.  Now, I am the mother being judged and it sucks. 

I'd love to sit here and tell you that my kids are perfect, but the fact is....they are not.  They are kids.  They are loud.  They want to have their way.  They are subborn at times and they throw tantrums...often in public.  I can't count the number of times Paxton has laid on the floor in a restaurant or store, kicking and screaming. 

I have found myself doing things I thought I would NEVER EVER do as a mother.  Stuff I would have definitely judged others for.  For example, I have let my 2 year old son sip my coke.  I know, I know....It's wrong.  It's terrible, but he screams and mama just wants a little peace and quiet when trying to eat my dinner (while it is still hot).  I also let my kids watch cartoons--granted, I still don't allow them to watch Sponge Bob, but they do watch Disney Jr and Nick Jr.  I could go on and on here, but the fact is...I'm not perfect.  I'm not the Joan Clever or Clair Huxtable mom that I thought I would be.  Now that the roles are reversed, I see how hard it can be.  I get it now.  I think as mom's we should take a step back and try to help and support one another before we are so quick to judge.  Just my opinion. 

So What Wednesday

I'm linking up with Shannon again for So What Wednesday.  This week, I'm saying so what if...

I'm using my 10 minute quota time on blogger to write this post.  Apparently, the hospital Paxton is going to for his feeding clinic doesn't like bloggers??  So annoying.

We have to leave 10 minutes early every morning so I can make a Dunkin Donuts run.  I love my chocolate frosted donuts.

I have a presentation tomorrow for 90 people and I have not even finished my talking points.  I can wing it, right? 

I'm trying to think of something else before my 10 minutes run out.  Have I mentioned how annoying that is? 

It's only 10:45am and I'm already hungry for lunch.  Did I mention I just ate 4 oreos?  Yup, still hungry.  So much for my diet. 

What are you saying so what to this week?

The Pumpkin Patch

Sunday, on our anniversary, we took the kids to the pumpkin patch.  It is by far, my favorite fall activity.  We had so much fun.  Councill Farms (in Queenstown, MD) is a great place for kids! 

We rode bikes

played in the corn

Jumped on the big pillow

and did an obstacle course

Pax did it too!

  

The even had tractor rides! 

After, we made our way to the pumpkin patch

Mia was looking for the perfect pumpkin

We all found one!  One the way out, we did a few more activities

Mia and I tried to lasso a fake bull.  Needless to say, I was not successful

Pax and Chris tried too. 

We measured our heights. 

Pax didn't quite get the concept.

Still trying...

We finally had to hold his head.  He was laughing here, but you can't tell.

It was a fun day.  Happy 6th Anniversary to the love of my life, Chris. 

Show and Tell: All my Favorites

Tell us about your 5 favorite memories in your life.

These are not in any particular order
1.  Feeling my babies move for the first time when I was pregnant.  It was such an amazing feeling and definitely made all of my morning sickness worth it!
2.  Seeing my babies for the first time.  I could never have imagined feeling so much love for any one person before.
3.  Seeing Chris at the end of the aisle waiting for me.  After the morning we both had (see September 30th's post), I was so happy to see him!
4.  Roller skating with my mom when I was a kid.  I loved that she was so involved in every activity that I showed interest in. 
5.  My Dad surprising me with my car when I was 25.  Ok, I was more shocked then surprised.  It is definitely one of my best memories.



Show us 3 of your favorite beauty products.

1.  La Bella Donna Foundation (color Nicoletta).  It is totally worth every penny.  I love the coverage and it feels like you are not even wearing make up. 

2.  Per-fekt Lash Perfection Gel.  This stuff is amazing.  I found it thanks to Birchbox and now I'm hooked.

3.  MAC eye Shadow.  Nothing beats it...



Tell us what your favorite TV shows are to watch.

Oh my gosh...there are too many to list.  Right now, I love:
Impractical Jokers...definitely my favorite!
The Voice
Breaking Amish
Guilianna and Bill (starting again next week)
Grey's Anatomy

Show us 2 of your favorite pictures.
This one is so easy....

While I love all pictures of my kids, I think these are my favorite.  This was taken before Paxton's heart surgery at 4 weeks old.  Mia was 2. 

This is my favorite picture.  It is us holding Parker's feet.  I just love this picture. 
5. Tell us your favorite things to do during "me time."

Some of my favorite things to do during "me time" are SLEEPING, eating a hot meal, reading, watching tv, and shopping. 

Book Review- What Alice Forgot

I'm linking up again with Lindsay and Sharee for the blog friends book club.  The book this month was What Alice Forgot.  I really loved this book.  Such a good choice and one I probably would not have chosen on my own.  So, here we go with the questions....

Did you like the younger Alice best? Or did you relate more to the older Alice?

I definitely liked younger Alice more, but I sort of relate to older Alice.  The "busy" Alice sounds a lot like me at times.  Between work, commuting to and from work, soccer, Paxton's therapy, etc., life can get hectic. 

What would your younger self of ten years ago think of the person you are today?

I think I'd be happy with who I have become.  10 years ago, I had no idea what I wanted to do with my life.  I was single, out clubbing, no direction, and had just started a semi-decent job.  I wanted to be married and have kids, but just had no idea when or how that would ever happen. 

 What would surprise your younger self most about the life you're currently leading? What would disappoint you?

Not really.  I knew that once I got married, I would settle down and have a family.  I knew that I wanted to be active in a church and volunteer.  Those were all on my "to do" list.  I think I'd be really happy to know that I ended up with Chris.  I had always had a thing for him since we met in 2000. 

Do you think it was realistic that Alice ended up back with Nick? Were you happy with that ending? Do you think they would have ended up together if she hadn't lost her memory?

I think it was definitely realistic that they got back together.  I was very happy with the ending.  I'm not sure if that would  have happened if it weren't for her accident though.  The accident made her take a step back and look at her life and remember what she once had. 

If you were to write a letter to your future self to be opened in ten years, what would you say?

I'd have to say-
-Don't worry about the little things...
-Try to have patience.  Life is short.  Enjoy the little things
-Enjoy every minute with your kids.  They grow up so fast.