Under the Mommy Microscope

Sometimes the most well meaning people can make a new mom feel like she is under a microscope. The other day I arrived at a shoot and the lady I was photographing looked at me and said "OH my goodness girl! Didn't you just have a baby?" I smiled kind of sheepishly and answered "Well yeah." Then she gave me that supportive exuberant "WOW. You look fantastic." that every mother wants to hear. I modestly explained "She is 3 months old now". Then her face changed and she said "OH", the kind of oh that implied that she was revoking the previous comment. She went on to say something like "You had a baby 3 months ago. That makes sense then."

I know the whole conversation was ridiculous and I shouldn't put any weight on it (no pun intended). However, it made me feel like it should be expected that I would snap back into shape by this time and that's high expectations for any woman.

You think having a baby might take all eyes and hands off of your previously pregnant body, but on the contrary people actually examine you more in some ways. Sometimes it's people looking you up, down, and behind to tell you how you are coming along. Other times it's people analysing your every feature to compare to your baby. For example:

"She does look like you! I can see the resemblance all throughout this area (pointing to the nose region). You know how your nose points down? Her earlobes hang down too (grabbing on to your ear lobes and squinting at you from an uncomfortable distance). Your eyes are little smaller though. Hmmm, I think she's got her daddy's big eyes and lips (looking back at the baby). Look at that smooth dark skin. That is just gorgeous. Now neither of you have dark skin. Huh? Where did she get that beautiful complexion? My my, what a doll. She looks just like grandma."

By the end of the day you find yourself examining your own features in the mirror and wondering "does my nose really point down that much?"

Don't get me wrong, I don't want everyone feeling like they can never say anything about me or my kids and who they look like because it's usually really sweet. However, sometimes it's a little extreme and you can't help but feel like an item being evaluated at the antique roadshow. Has anyone else experienced this?

Pictures and Words

As a photographer, I definitely feel like a picture is worth a thousand words, but I will try and keep this post a little shorter than that. I entered some of my photographs in a contest which ended yesterday. There were over 700 entries and I had submitted 3 of my own. One of which was the flower photo from SJ's room.


When I was pregnant with Z I spotted this retro Taxi cab parked in Dallas and I pulled over to hop out and take some photos. I chose my favorite photo, made the background black and white and enlarged it to hang in Z's room.

I entered it in the photo contest and it won first place in it's category.

When I was pregnant with SJ I knew I wanted to have a special print made for her, but this time wasn't quite as simple. I looked everywhere for a bright pink gerber daisy, but as my due date drew closer and my search was unsuccessful I started to worry. That's when my mom got out the phone book and started calling up flower shops. She ended up buying a whole boquet in order for me to get that one flower (it was red and not pink, but that's another story involving a mix up between "bright" and "light"). I knew I could technically go into labor at any time, so I grabbed my camera and the flower and headed down town to find an urban setting for my subject. I spotted an old building with some distressed brick. The problem was I couldn't get the angle I needed without laying on the ground. Picture me, 38 weeks pregnant laying on my side in a gravel parking lot in front of an abandoned building. I am sured it looked like a crime scene. I was just hoping that there wouldn't be any onlookers calling the cops to report a dead pregnant woman. I repeatedly got up and down to rearrange the composition and by the time I was done I was beyond exhausted. I walked in the door, dropped my stuff, and shouted "WHAT WAS I THINKING?!" In the end it was all worth it though.

Yesterday I was suprized to go to the photo expo and find that the little flower had won 3rd place in it's category. So now, both kids have their own award winning print photographed by mom. And that is the story behind the photo in only 399 words.



Here are some snapshots from the 3 years that I have particpated in the Midlothian Photo Expo
2007- Here I am 7 months pregnant with Z

2008- Little man proudly displaying our ribbon

2010- Me and SJ with the flower photo

Birthday Note To Self

Note To Self: Do not use your birthday month as an excuse to pig out.

Last year was my "golden birthday." I turned 27 on the 27th and to celebrate I ate chocolate everyday for the 27 days leading up to my birthday. Then on my birthday J got me a box of chocolate even though by that time I was all chocolated out!

This year I've just been splurging a little here a little there, but it's slowly escalated up to the point where I was eating cookies for breakfast. I have been telling myself "after your birthday this has got to stop." I am bloated, broken out, and have the overall blah feeling. The problem is because everyone knows how much I love sweets it tends to be a popular gift item which leaves me with a pantry and freezer full of foods that are only going to make me feel worse. Hopefully I can use restraint when it comes to these delectable treats. I would like to thank my dad for the 20 kit kats, my friend Mels for the homemade batch of my all time favorite cookies, and my husband for the frozen yogurt covered in things that would cancel out any chance of having a healthy dessert. It's been a fabulous binge session, but it's time to get serious. My birthday is official over. All I can do now is work hard to reverse the damage that's already been done and hope that maybe next year I can keep the celebratory junk food ritual down to a one day event.

Toy Story Tears

The first Toy Story premiered in 1995. Think back 15 years. I was only 12, a scrawny little middle school kid that had just moved from Kentucky to the Atlanta suburbs. I saw Toy Story in the theater 3 times. I loved it so much that when it came out on VHS I had to own it. The 2nd Toy Story premiered 4 years later. Do you remember what you were doing in 1999? I was a busy, wild, but not too wild 16 year old living in the Dallas suburbs. When I saw Toy Story 2 I was with my family and my future husband. Of course we were just friends back then, in fact the second time I went to see Toy Story 2 I was on a date with another guy. I just checked my journal to verify this, because I would not have remembered it otherwise. Now here we are 15 years later in 2010 and I am about to be 28. I just saw Toy Story 3 for the first time yesterday with my parents, husband, and two children.

It was Z's first movie theater experience and it was a good one. Throughout the film the whole audience would simultaneously erupt with laughter, gasp at the suspense, and even fight to hold back tears. Some could argue that the movie itself wasn't terribly dramatic, but it evoked a lot emotion in me. I've got history with these toys. The beloved characters that taught me so much. In the first movie I learned about being true to myself and realizing my calling. The second Toy Story taught me about loyalty and this last movie was really a lesson in growing up and letting go.

From being a kid myself and experiencing computer animation for the first time, to watching my kid light up at the sight of the toys on the big screen for the first time, the Toy Story movies will always be a special to me or I guess you could say to infinite and beyond.

A Smashing Father's Day

"I wish everyone a relaxing father's day with the men that you love."

This was the last sentence of my latest blog post. Unfortunately relaxing was the last word I would use to describe my Sunday.

I was on duty in the church nursery. The toddler room. That's pretty much how the day began.
After church J had to clear the stage and help set up the backdrops for VBS.
Then we went to an outdoor mall where they have fountains that the kids can play in. When we left Z threw a level 10 temper tantrum.

Still not much relaxing, but we were doing okay.

As we were driving toward the exit of the mall someone in a Hummer was pulling out of their parking spot coming right at us. They were parked backwards, so they weren't even backing up, they were just driving right into us. I screamed, J honked and the massive tank slowly crunched the front of the passenger side of my car!

J got out and so did the boy with the baggy pants and all out grill on his teeth. I watched as he grabbed his wallet and tried to pay off my husband with a couple twenty dollar bills. I've been jipped by wreckless drivers before, so in the heat of the moment I jumped out waving my arms saying "No way. We need insurance. I want to see some insurance. I am not going to get screwed on this one!" The boy started saying how it wasn't his car, and he didn't have insurance OR a lincense! So I am getting ready to call the cops when he calls the owner of the car (so at least it wasn't stolen). The owner of the vehicle was a young lady that was in a nearby restaurant. While waiting for her the kid looks at me, seeming to be somewhat oblivious to the world around him and he says "Miss, don't be frustrated at me".

My Thoughts:
Oh I'm sorry. You just rammed into a car that has my entire family in it with a $60,000, 7,000 lb gargantuan hunk of metal when we were in plain sight honking at you! Excuse me for being frustrated.

When the girl showed up, I am guessing both of them were in their early twenties but she was definitely the more mature one, she got out her full coverage insurance and we took it from there. All insurance parties have been contacted and the adjuster is supposed to come out this week. It's just a fender bender, but it's still a hassle to deal with all of this.


In reference to that first quote, I wouldn't call it the most relaxing father's day, but I was with the man I love.

A Father's Day Flick

It always amazes me how movies for little kids can often pack such a big message. The movie Cloudy With A Chance of Meatballs in short is just another computer animated slapstick comedy, but it's not just about an inventor that makes food fall from the sky, it's a story abut being yourself and the importance of an affectionate loving father.
We went to see this movie last night when they had a free outdoor showing downtown and I think it was just a coincidence, but the film was a perfect pick for father's day weekend.

The main character Flint is desperately seeking approval from his dad who he has little in common with. Meanwhile the person that exemplifies an outwardly loving and caring dad

is also a bull headed cop that makes life very difficult for Flint.

I don't want to spoil the movie for anyone, but each one of these characters (plus many others) have some very important lessons to learn. I give it two thumbs up whether you have kids or not, although be forewarned some of the humor is just plain gross.

Here is a snapshot from last night of my favorite father son duo.

I love the fact that they are watching a movie about food while sharing a chocolate shake and bag of popcorn. Needless to say we had a great time, and he is a great dad. I wish everyone a relaxing father's day with the men that you love.

Breastfeeding

BREAST. There I said it, not nursing and not just feeding. I am actually becoming a little more comfortable with people knowing that I do in fact have breasts and I do use them to nurture my baby. I remember meeting some friends at a restaurant as a first time mom and when we got there I told my husband "I need to feed the baby, but you go on ahead. If they ask where I am tell them I am nursing. DON'T say breastfeeding!" It actually came up in conversation with the group later and ended up being a funny topic that we could all laugh about.

I wondered how my son would handle the whole thing with me breastfeeding his baby sister. He is a very observant little two year old and I almost feared what kind of questions he would come up with. It's been three months now and he has adapted to the whole process quite well. A lot better than his mother who has possibly become jaded by a culture that looks at the female anatomy as a strictly sexual commodity. The funny thing is he gets the words "eat" and "feed" mixed up so he always says "Oh No mama! She's cwying. You need to eat her." or "are you eating my sister?" One time he actually tried to nurse a baby doll. He said that the baby was hungry and then lifted up his shirt, but after wrestling with the position he dropped the baby and said "he's too heavy". Thankfully I don't ever have to worry about him taking on that responsibility in real life!

I have a friend that has 8 kids and one day she was in the nursery and when doing a head count asked one of her children "where is Seth" and the child responded "mom your feeding him". Yeah, true story. I am not THAT comfortable with the whole process yet. I don't want to give off the impression that I go around pulling out my boob everywhere, and yes I still say nursing when I feel it's more appropriate. In the end though it's nothing to be ashamed of. Here I am thinking it's some bazaar behavior that will freak out my son and he just looks at it as a part of life, like it's natural, and he's right.

10 Things I am Looking Forward To This Summer

This is my first time participating in OH AMANDA's Top Ten Tuesday.



It's been a bit stressful here at the messy mom headquarters, but I can keep my chin up because there are plenty of good times on the horizon. These are the top 10 things I am looking forward to this summer.


1. Playing Games with Friends
Last night we played Buzz Word and Scattagories. I love board games and I am looking forward to doing stuff like this more often!

2. The End Of Potty Training
This may be wishful thinking, but it's very realistic that my two year old will be accident free by the end of the summer. He is already wearing big boy underwear and finally started choosing to poop in the toilet.

3. Pale Yellow Bow
I have a friend that makes bows and the latest assignment I had for her was this outfit. When SJ was born in March all of the clothes she had were for spring and summer and it was still too cold, but now I get to pull out all the fun summer dresses and other girlie things for my little baby doll. I am really looking forward to this.


4. Toy Story 3
Next week my parents are flying in from Kentucky and we are going to see Toy Story 3. I am a huge fan of the first two and it will be Z's first theater movie. Woo Hoo!

5. 4th Of July
One of my FAVORITE holidays. Family + Food + Fireworks= FUN. God bless America.

6. Fitting into my clothes again
This time last year I did a "thrift store summer fashion show" on this blog and then RIGHT after that I got pregnant, which is great, but I still have a little work left to do if I want to see those clothes on me again.

7. Wipe Out
Lost is over and Wipe Out is back so our Tuesday nights will be shifting from drama and suspense to a laugh out loud reality show that requires no brain power whatsoever. Looking forward to this guilty pleasure starting June 22nd on ABC.

8. VBS
I won't be helping out at VBS this year, which means that I should be able to thoroughly enjoy it.

9. Community Events
There are lots of free little activities for families going on this summer. Last week we got to see a boaconstrictor, penguin, and all kinds of animals at the Library. Then this Friday night the "summer moonlight movie" is Cloudy With A Chance of Meatballs. Flint Lock Wood here we come.

10. Blogging about it
Another thing I will be doing this summer is blogging all the way through it and then ending the summer with my two year blogiversary.
Go Bloggers!

Sj's Itty Bitty Living Space

It's not so much that SJ has an "itty bitty living space" (to quote the genie from Aladdin), because her house is 1800 square feet, and that's livable. The thing is, out of that entire house there is just one little corner dedicated to her. I've heard people say "don't bother with things like a nursery, shoes before a child is walking, or a first birthday party because they aren't necessary and the child doesn't care", but you will not find me in that camp. So even though her stuff is in her brother's room and she sleeps in our room I still had to decorate. The colors in Z's room before were red, yellow, green, and blue. My job was to incorporate pink in a way that would not clash with the preexisting primary colors and thanks to Ikea and my mom's craftiness we were able to pull it off with our small budget.
We swapped out some of the blue in the room with updated stuff like a green rug from Ikea and valence made by my mom.

We had a hand-me-down travel bassinet with Z that I loved so much I blogged about it. It wasn't all that cute though so....

we covered it. That's my mom's mad sewing skills right there.

My mom also covered this old glider with red corduroy when I had Z. I added the quilt from Target and one of my best friends made the matching pillow.

We already owned this green table from Ikea and J found the chairs at a used furniture store. He ended up getting them free because the church was buying a ton of other stuff for the coffee shop. Talk about a steal :)

Z had a street sign and clothes hamper with his name on it, along with a poster of a taxi cab photo that I took when I was pregnant with him and planning his room. Naturally I evened it out by giving SJ ALL the same little customized things on her side of the room.


There is actually more, but that's enough details for one blog post even for an HGTV lover like myself. I know her space will grow as she does, but for now I think she likes it.

WFMW: Toddler Haircut

I have been cutting my son's hair his entire life, all two and a half years of it. This time I decided to change things up and instead of the bowl cut that hangs straight down I would take on the challenge of an actual hair style. So I went to beautyandthebath.com found this picture

and voila we have the perfect summer do for this handsome young man.

Here is what it looked like right before I cut it.


You can do your tots locks too. All you need is:

A pair of hair cutting shears, nothing fancy, just small scissors.
Spray bottle to wet down the hair
Highchair, the kind that can recline is preferable that way the back of the chair does not get in the way.
Video to keep them entertained. I use my laptop that way I can cut his hair anywhere in the house. I also reward him with a
lollipop.

I use my fingers as a guide when snipping and from there I just eye ball it to get the hair even and the length I want. I share this as more of an encouragement than a "how to article". I have no training whatsoever and a very squirmy, high energy toddler, so if I can do it anyone can. Although, I have friends that swear they could never cut their kids hair and so maybe it's not for everyone, but it works for me. That's why this post is a part of the Works For Me Wednesday blog carnival over at wearethatfamily.com Check it out to find more "works for me".

Horses, Toilets, and Hair Cuts

I know it's been all about little sis here lately, so I figure it's about time big brother had his own special blog update. He has had a lot going on lately and is more active and cuter than ever! Here a couple still frames of him taken from my flip video camera.

These first shots are of Z with his cousin and one of their horses. She is involved in 4H horse riding competitions and Z was with them for the last one she did so my mother in law took the liberty of signing Z up for some. I don't have any photos of that, but basically he just sat on the horse and was lead around a barrel course. He got 3rd place for his age group and at just 2 years old he is already addicted to the sport. Yee Haw!


He's also been excelling at potty training which is really a sport of it's own. Last week he only had 2 accidents (it's always poop), but that's progress. This is including a trip to the zoo and a 3 hour funeral. Pretty soon he'll be in big boy underwear 24/7.




Last but not least Z got his first hair style. Ever since his first hair cut on his 2nd birthday he's always had the shaggy bowl cut shown above. I wanted to give him something cooler for the summer, but I just can't bring myself to buzz it. So today I gave him a new do and even got him his own bottle of gel (daddy won't share his hair products). We cut off about 3 inches. I had no idea how much hair that boy had until I swept it all up into a pile. I will have pictures later this week. I guess that's all for now though. Hope everyone is having a great summer!

The Messy Mom Swimsuit Edition

A month ago I took on the challenge to find a new swimsuit. I wanted to find something that I felt comfortable wearing after just having a baby and I needed to find it in time for memorial day. Well, thanks to some great leads from facebook friends on where to look and a shopping trip with my mom I can say mission accomplished!

It turns out an overwhelming number of my friends were shopping at Land's End for their swimwear, and now I know why. Although I wouldn't usually think of myself as a "Land's End Girl" they offer the one thing that I've had the hardest time finding and that is swimsuits for real women. The Land's End swimsuits seems to carry a variety of styles to accommodate all different body types and they are DUR-A-BLE. They conceal, tuck, and push up like no other. You will find that they tend to snap into place like a good pair of spanks which makes the price tag worth every penny.

The top I chose is called the Valletta Print Bandeau Twist Tunic Tankini and the bottoms are Valletta Solid Shirred Mini. Together they are $93.00, which was over my budget even with the 30% off sale Sears was having that day. So my mom bought me the suit as an early birthday present and I am so grateful because I know it's one that's going to last.

I am not the only with a new suit though. SJ got her ensemble as baby gifts.



Z's trunks were from a local consignment shop and I used store credit to buy them, so I didn't have to pay a thing. It looks like I got off easy for swimwear this year and just in time for the triple digit weather too. WHOO!

Letters to SJ

I have decided along with the update of SJ milestones I want to write her letters every 3 months while she is still a baby. Like words of love written over her and frozen in time. Perhaps somethings that she might be interested in when she is all grown up. The reason I am making it a part of the blog is because I have found that things are far less likely to disappear when they are on the internet. Thus the reason for not posting questionable material, although that's a lesson for a later date.

Dear Sedona Jean,

You have been a part of our lives for 3 months now and in that time you have completely captured our hearts.

You have the sweetest personality. You love to smile. You love to listen to your brother talk (something I am sure you will tire of eventually, but for now it makes you laugh). No swaddling or sling wraps for you, because you just love to sprawl out and it's been that way since you got here. However, the most unique attribute you have shown us so far is that you absolutely LOVE dangling your head upside down. It's the first thing everyone notices about you. You are truly one of a kind!

The night you came into our lives is a night I will never forget, it was beautiful. No experience can compare. You are a gift from God showing us His love through you daily. I am honored to be your mother and I look forward to all the talks, chick flicks, shopping, and the icecream that is ahead for the two of us. Or maybe you won't like all of those things, and that's okay. Icecream, though, you've got to love icecream. Seriously, it's amazing stuff, but you can't try any until your one. Only 9 months to go girlie!

Love you a bushel and a peck and a hug around the neck,

Mom

The Creatures At The Zoo

Yesterday was half price admission at the Fort Worth zoo and the kids are both free so it made for some economic family fun. The animals were quite entertaining, but in my opinion it was the spectators that were the real spectacle. Here are the different types of human species I observed at the zoo.
Families-
Obviously there are going to be lots of kids at the zoo along with the adults that brought them there. I saw one curly headed drama queen that was so hot she was just certain she was going to die and her parents encouraged her to suck it up. I saw another perky young lady several feet ahead of her family shouting back behind her "Press on troops. We are just a few steps away from the Texas Wild! COME ON! COME ON!" I looked back at what she referred to as the troops including grandparents who looked like they were about to collapse. Then there was one little boy who would rip away from his mom dart down the dirt path, run underneath a rope blockade, not to look at an exhibit, but to check out the m&m vending machine. That one I had to chase after, because he was mine.

Eye Catching Dressers-
There were some Muslim women that were covered head to toe with only the eyes showing. One of them had a baby in a front carrier similar to mine (shown below). Then at the opposite extreme there were woman in bikini tops and teeny tiny shorts. I don't know if they were so hot they couldn't wear normal clothing or if it was mating season and they were trying to attract wild life.

The love birds-
I never knew how high on the charts the zoo would be for the dating scene. I observed many couples walking hand in hand past all the animals. There was one couple in front of us most of the time we were there. The girl had on a sundress and super high wedge heels. She had long blond hair which she wore down of course and everything she saw was SOOOO CUTE.

The Middle age-
This group is in danger of extinction in the zoo world. They are the ones that aren't really a part of the dating scene, their kids are too old for the zoo, but not yet old enough for grand children. People in their 40's and 50's (give or take) are the only ones who are not at the zoo.

Those were my observations. It's not exactly scientific research, but it's the best I could do for one hot summer day. So, what species are you?