Mama Speaks

(Phenomenal Mom Fridays will return once my moms have submitted their blogs to me.  You can't rush a Mom's story, so I will continue to post the stories I've chosen as I receive them...) When I was a baby, my mom purchased me a beautiful pink blanket.  The texture was that almost of a thermal blanket, but softer and covered in fuzz.  The edges were silky with zoo or circus animals.  The edges eventually unraveled and disappeared.  The soft fuzz covering the blanket also faded to nothing.  This left behind a beautifully faded, ragged pink blanket, affectionately named "Pinky." Pinky has been with me through everything.  When I was having fun playing, Pinky was my dress up outfit, my cape, or the blanket to my babies as I played with them.  When I've been sad or suffered with years of illness, Pinky caught my tears and brought me comfort.  When we lost a beloved family pet, I cut a piece from Pinky to be buried with my pets.  I gave a...

Happy Sunday!  This morning I am prolonging the inevitable chore of getting dressed for my fun, busy day ahead.  My Aunt Kari is in town, so her, my mom, and I are going to go see John Edward (psychic medium) in Orlando.  Luckily, my bridesmaid dresses came in for my girls this same week, so we are picking them up for my 2 girls (sister and future sis-in-law, who will be getting married 5 months and 2 days after us).  It wouldn't be an Orlando trip without an IKEA stop, so we'll be going there.  (My aunt has never been!  Eep!) Then, after our show, we will be going to Ming Court for some Chinese/sushi.  Sadly, it will be farewell to my aunt (her name Kari means "pure of heart"-so fitting), as she will be returning home to Iowa. We've spent a ton of time together this weekend, and we've all especially enjoyed Ayla's antics. Ayla's Antics   Ayla loves all shoes, but these were some of her favs at Payless. Putting on everyone's shoes and walkin...

My Mother's day involved a very cranky, no-nap-taken almost two-year-old.  Oy vey! She felt it would be more fun to run around the pool than to go swimming in it.  However, she was very well-behaved for our much-too-long wait at IHOP, for less than amazing food.  The family at the table next to us, who yelled at the kids and threatened them for doing very typical kid things while bored and waiting (horsing around at the table, very mild horsing mind you), pointed her out to the 5-year-old saying how well-behaved she was being.  Of course, that prompted her to start throwing things on the floor and demanding to be held. Anyway, my mother's day was mostly good, although getting into a fight with my mom is on the bottom of my list of things I hoped to have happen today.  I got to sleep in yesterday, and I really slept.  I mean, I went to bed Friday night at midnight, and I didn't get up until 4:00 pm on Saturday.  That is SIXTEEN hours of sleep.  W...

Life can be separated into two phases: before baby and after baby. When I became a mom, I feel like I started a whole new life... Before baby...I slept in on weekends.  I napped often. After baby...sleeping in consists of that extra hour A sleeps compared to the work week (during which we have to wake her up). Before baby...I loved buying myself cute new shoes, just for fun. After baby...my feet grew 1/2 a size, rendering my cute shoe collection useless.  (By the way, aside from the crocs I bought several months back, I just bought my first pair of cute sandals since having A.  That is a LONG time to go without wearing cute shoes...) Before baby...I loved going out all the time with my friends. After baby...I feel lucky to get to talk to my friends and see them once every couple of months. Before baby...I enjoyed going to the gym and working out for hours on end. After baby...I wish I could figure out how to afford the gym and how to find the time for it...

I'm THAT mom. That's right, I said it. I'm the mom who agonized over breastfeeding, trying everything in her power to make it work.  I'm the mom who cried when she fed her precious newborn the last of her mother's milk. But I'm also the mom that fed her sweet baby formula when there was no choice left. I'm the mom who posts every article and video on the importance of rear-facing and extended rear-facing babies in car seats.  I'm the mom who agonizes over the number of moms who choose not to follow these recommendations, even when they have read the cold hard facts.  That it is 500% safer for all babies in a collision.  It actually makes me nauseous because I know the devastation that can be caused by a collision.  It stole my grandparents away from me, away from my mom and her siblings at such a young age. But I'm also the mom that didn't know better until a friend (not a pediatrician, shockingly, who still gives wrong recommendations...

I sometimes wonder how some parents keep that fresh, youthful, energized look about them.  I, unfortunately, do not.  I wear every tired moment of motherhood on my face, in my posture, and in between my eyebrows. So, as some of you may remember, Ayla had gotten into the bad habit of hitting, kicking, slapping, and even an incident where she once clapped my face. Lucky for us, that bad habit has been taken down a notch.  I'm by no means saying that she is a flower-wearing, peace-loving hippie these days.  I'm just saying she picks and chooses the moments to show that lovely side of herself. Out with the old, in with the new.  Ayla has recently become very verbal (read: screaming) when she doesn't get her way.  Additionally, when she has something she should (most likely breakable or dangerous), she decides that rather than give it to us upon request, she instead would much prefer to launch it at the nearest hard surface.  This is why I can't have...