Teach Me How to Mommy

Ok, well  maybe just don't... Last Thursday I woke up to a snow day (yeaaa) and the stomach bug (booo).  Jerry went off to work and even though I am NEVER like this I was resigned to have a really chill day with the kids.  I let them watch an extra show in the morning and instead of moving from one activity to the next I tried to kind of stay put in one area and have the kids play around me.  Heck I was 39 weeks pregnant, right?  You can't really go outside when the snow is coming in sideways, right?  Everyone deserves a day to just not be "super", right? Well that day was here.  I still made the kids their meals, we ended up doing a fort and we did eventually venture outside and walk to the neighbor's house, but I was working at about a 25% capability level. The only problem is, when it came to 3:30 and my regular one cup of coffee a day ritual, I couldn't stomach it.  I tried three times to sip it and it wouldn't go down.  I knew my ...

It didn't dawn on me until this morning that perhaps every member of my family is adjusting differently to the news that there is a baby on his or her way.   I've been so focused on keeping up with the two I have (and a new position at work) that thinking about what happens after the baby actually gets here has not been high on the priority list. Yet I am fresh off a rough week with my youngest and all of a sudden thinking about the future is all I can think about. Sure it's been a tiring week (aren't we all feeling it).  He's also three, which has revealed its own challenges - ones that I am not accustomed to when he was two. But he's also about to be a big brother.  He's been my baby for three years and in less than two months that's going to change - permanently.  I'm a middle child - I know! So last night when he woke up at 2am, crying and moaning I pulled him close to me and placed him gently right in my bed.  He put his arms around me...

I found out I was pregnant on a Sunday afternoon in May.  Instead of screaming from the rooftops that I was carrying my third child I kept it to myself.  It took two weeks to even tell my husband,  here's why: 1. Having your first is so exciting, having your second is expected - the third?  Who has three kids these days? 2.  Is it ever the right time?  I was nervous my husband wouldn't think so... 3.  I didn't want to overshadow other pregnancies (specifically my brother and sister in-law who will be having their FIRST baby two weeks before us - wooo-hooo)! 4.  I had a co-worker tell me (while I was pregnant, but he didn't know) that the world was not set up for families of five (cars, restaurants, vacations, college tuition).  He has a point, woops! 5.  By saying it out loud I often admit (through nervous laughter, strange sentences and awkward eye movement) that I am so, so nervous about this one. Yet, I know by putting it here...

Guest Post:  Alicia is a friend from high school who is a full-time working mom of one adorable boy, Cooper.  She's also building a make-up empire and blowing up Facebook with wildly entertaining videos and tutorials.  She makes everything look easy, which is why this blog is just that much more important.  Thanks for sharing Alicia. I was asked to write something MONTHS ago, and I promise, the commitment to put my thoughts on paper has never left my mind.  I’m embarrassed it took me this long.  But to be honest, I couldn’t get myself to write down my story, because if I did, it would somehow make my failures more real.  (Sure, I know we’re always the hardest on ourselves, and I know I’m not a failure, but the thoughts, “could I have done better…can I DO better?” constantly run through my mind.) Let me step back for a second.  It took my husband and I well over a year to get pregnant with Cooper.  Two heartbreaking miscarriages, lo...

My sister, Laura, has written a few times before .  She is just weeks (perhaps days) away from welcoming my second niece into this world.  I am oozing with excitement, but her recent sentiments have brought me back to the days before I welcomed John into this world.  Those days are riddled with both excitement, fear and dare I say  - doubt.  Anyone who's been through this can relate and those waiting like her well you already know.  Her raw words say it better than I can... I’m now 3 weeks away from my due date with baby number 2.  The anxiety is starting to really set in.  I’ve been really anxious about things my whole pregnancy because I’m not sure I’m really prepared to have a toddler and a newborn (but who is?!) but now that it’s really getting down to the end, my anxiety is higher.  When you are trying to prepare for baby number 2, the anxieties are different than the first time around.  I’m prepared for taking care of a n...