Why being a mom is the best...

~~ONE~~

Sure, 9+ months of being pregnant can really take its toll.  Your body changes, you have mood swings, you crave the weirdest concoctions, your face looks like you are going through puberty, your ankles resemble tree stumps, etc.  But knowing that you are growing a human being…A REAL LIVE HUMAN…in your belly is pretty amazing.  Plus, you get to feel every kick, roll, and hiccup from your little one while they’re in there. 

~~TWO~~

Speaking of being pregnant, BIRTH is a whole new story.  You can read about mine here.  Yes, it’s the most horrendous pain I have ever felt in my life, but I survived it and feel like a goddamn champion because of it.  For real.  And even better?  That can be your excuse for everything.  For example: “Hey babe, can you do the laundry?  No, you can’t?  You realize I birthed a human, right?”  Works like a charm.

~~THREE~~

You can set records for weight loss.  I lost about 20 pounds in one day after giving birth.  Sounds like a miracle to me.

~~FOUR~~

You get dibs on cuddle time.  I love cuddling with KB - it’s my most favorite thing ever.  I try to take advantage as much as I can because I know it won’t last forever.  Soon enough he will be stiff arming me when I go in for a hug and looking the other way when I talk to him in public.  This leads me to my next point…

~~FIVE~~

When those little babies grow up to be teens, or tweens, or whatever they are called these days, they may go through that phase of not wanting anything to do with you.  Whatever.  Just wait until I embarrass the shit out of them in public.  Don’t mess with your mom…she knows EVERYTHING about you.  Keep that in mind.

~~SIX~~

You get to be the one that they go to for comfort.  When they are having a bad day, fall down and scrape their knee - you are the one that they go to.  Being the one to make them feel better might be one of the best feelings ever.  And when just your little kiss can cure them from their pain?  Pretty cool.  You are basically a superhero.

~~SEVEN~~

It’s rewarding.  You made it through pregnancy, birth, and you are keeping your kids alive on the daily.  You’ve done your research, you are doing what you think is best for your kids, and holy crap its working!  Don’t get me wrong, every day is a constant challenge and a constant battle of what is right and wrong.  But at the end of the day, when you have done everything you could to provide meals on the table, a bed to sleep in, a roof over their head, you can sit back and relax and be thankful.  You can also drink wine….lots of wine. J

~~EIGHT~~

You can live vicariously through your kids.  Do you ever think back to your childhood and wish you could relive certain memories?  Like being so excited to open presents at Christmas?  Or, when you first learned how to ride a bike?  Or how about when you had your first sleepover with a friend?  Sure, I won’t be the one living out those memories this time around, but watching your kids get to do it seems like it would be pretty cool.  Plus, you can be the one to help plan these memories for your kids and make them even better than the memories you have to look back on.

~~NINE~~

You finally have an excuse to buy kid’s cereal like Cap’n Crunch and Lucky Charms.  Enough said.

~~TEN~~

Speaking of having excuses, you can also watch all the Disney movies and cartoons you want without being judged.

~~ELEVEN~~

You are the mom.  You love them, you adore them, and you put them before yourself in every aspect of your life.  All of that seems worth it with every smile you get, every cuddle on your shoulder, and every sparkle in their eye.  You love your kids to no end and they love you back.  It’s the most genuine love you can ever have.  And that right there is enough for a million lifetimes.  

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

I think my list could go on for a while, but I hope you see my point.  Being a mom is by far the best thing I have ever done.  And this list isn’t just limited to moms - of course, dads can relate too. (Just not to #1, #2, and #3….I hope.)

Being a parent is awesome on so many levels and the journey of watching your kid grow brings so much love, humor, craziness, drama, etc.  I hope the parents out there can relate to this list a little.  If you are not a parent, I hope this makes you excited to be one someday.  And if you hate kids altogether, then go hug your cat. 

TGIF!  Have a great weekend! J 



Biker Baby

I got done with work early yesterday because I had to go in early for a call.  As I was driving to work I thought to myself, “Self, that extra 30 minutes at the end of today is going to be so nice because you won’t have to rush everywhere,”…..WRONG!  Seriously, one day, ONE DAY!!, I will be able to happily go about my way without being on a timeframe.  Sounds glorious.   Anyway, rant over. 

I left work and stopped at Walgreens because I was dead set on buying some facial paint crayons make-up (?) for Kamden’s costume.  A girl I work with was so awesome and let me borrow a Harley Davidson jacket and matching pants for Kamden to be a “biker baby.”  So I obviously thought drawing a goatee and tattoos on my son would be appropriate.  Well, by the time I got home from going to Walgreens, stopping at the post office, and picking up Kamden - I had about 10 minutes to get his goatee on his face, tattoos on his arms and fingers, and get him dressed to go pick up my husband.  (I had to pick him up because we FINALLY sold the Cougar yesterday…..HOLLA!!!)  This was my inspiration for KB’s costume:

I found this on Pinterest

I had to strap Kamden in his highchair because there was no way he was sitting still for his goatee.  I got out the little face-paint-crayon-thingy and started drawing his mustache.  Enter Kamden’s tongue.  Every brush of paint I would make on his upper lip, he would lick it off.  At first it was funny, but with any struggle, I started to sweat and that makes me angry and annoyed, ha.  As I would try to move the crayon to make my next mark he would then try to eat the crayon.  There was no winning this battle.  So I decided to just give up on the goatee and draw the word “MILK” across his knuckles.  He was not having that either.  At this point I looked at the clock and it was already the time I was supposed to be at my husband’s work to pick him up. Fail.  So, I just wiped off Kamden’s face and got him dressed.  I put a bandana on his head and he immediately ripped that off. Seriously KB.  I put it back on somehow and he left it….until he got into the car.  The entire ride to pick up my husband he was grunting and trying to pull off the bandana.  He grunted for 10 minutes straight (not gonna lie, I was laughing the entire car ride).  We picked up Bud and made our way to see my mom at work.

I love this picture so much

He looks like such a big boy here!

Then we went to my mother-in-law’s house for pizza and to see my nephews in their costumes.  After pizza, we made our last stop at my father-in-law’s house to see him and his fiancé.  By the time we got home it was after 8pm and Kamden desperately needed a bath.  So we bathed him.  You know how when dogs get a bath and then afterwards they run frantically all over the place to dry off?  Well that is my son.  It’s like someone laced his spaghetti -o’s with pixie sticks.  So after we calmed him down, we got him dressed, gave him his bottle, and put him to bed.  Normally he goes right down without a peep, but he must have still been riled up, because we could hear him talking for a while afterwards.  His jibber jabber is hilarious.   

And since yesterday was Halloween, we sold the Cougar, and football was on, we decided to have a couple drinks.  We also stayed up too late because we watched American Horror Story that we had recorded from earlier this week.  I seriously cannot get enough of that show!

I am looking forward to a relaxing weekend with no set plans other than a possible lunch or dinner on Saturday with family.  I am trying to convince my husband to paint the living room on Saturday night so we will see how that goes.  He said he never wants to hear the word “paint” again so I told him all we need to do is freaking paint this weekend and we can move on then!!!!  TGIF!

Peace out!