What the?!?

What the?!? My five year olds new favorite phrase. His response to everything... Looking at a picture, pointing out a book, reading a street sign, all elicits "what the?!?". I'm not sure where he picked up this phrase. It might be me. It might be kindergarten. I'm just glad there is no inappropriate finish to the sentence. I'm learning a lot with a newly minted kindergartener. He has all of these new ideas of independence and what is acceptable. I'm navigating worrying about his academics, his new social structure, and our new position of parenthood with his new classmates. All that comes to mind is the Dirty Dancing line: "lots of new changes, Max. Lots of changes." 

School, friends, teachers, social structure, academics... These are all of the things plaguing my brain these days. Not to mention a full time job and a toddler that I feel like I'm neglecting since her older brother had 100% of my attention at this age. 

Please just let my kid like school. Please just let my kid have a friend. Please just let the teacher see all of his positives in spite of his challenges. 

This is my daily motto to all of the crazy that parenthood has shown me. What the?!?! Vaccines, bf'ing, reading early, cloth diapering, tv time, how much should my kid do by what at age... I'm throwing up my hands and saying "what the?!?"

Love your kids. Do your best. Get through another day. 

Struggles and successes of a working mom

I totally had this breaking point last night while making a list of everything I need to do today. Between preschool drop off, baby feedings, diaper changes, and nap times I need to get at least 8 hours of work (and it's a busy week at work for me so really more than that needs to get done), then there's the end of the night with dinner to cook, bath times, bed times, dishes to wash, toys to pick up. And I end up wondering by the end of the day "did I get enough work done today?" "Did I even have a single conversation with my toddler today?" "Did I hold the girls enough?" Then the realization hits me that I am not the first person to do it all. My mom has always worked full time while raising my brother and I. The problem is she always made it look easy. I don't remember growing up feeling neglected, our house was always clean, meals were home made the majority of the time besides a Friday night pizza every once in a while. I sometimes feel like I'm failing at something that comes so easy to others... But maybe it wasn't as easy as she made it look. She worked her butt off ( and still does to this day). In a perfect world I wouldn't have to work. But financially that just isn't possible, and probably never will be. So for now, my goal is going to be to try to make this whole working mom of 3 thing look as easy as I can while trying to enjoy the little things I sometimes miss in every day life. 

Howdy!

       I am a 25 year old South Texas mama with one beautiful daughter and a hard working husband. My baby girl is 2 1/2. Yes, I still call her my baby because she is an only child and that is the way we want things to stay. (For now at least) I am a career driven mother with my family's needs on my mind at all times. I only want the best for them. My husband is loving and the funniest person I know. 

      This year has been an tumultuous with plenty of highs and too many lows. I recently lost my mother to cancer and in the same week closed on our first house. We moved out of my parents house where we had been living for a year and started on the journey of home ownership. I quit my stable job that I was very good at as a retail manager and took an new entry level job in banking so I could spend more time at home. 

      I look forward to sharing more of myself with you as I continue on this roller coaster we call life. My hope is that through my writing I am able to reach someone and can give them the encouragement that I have been given by my amazing friends I met online.

Banana Bread-Harvest Style

Fall is officially here! That means rain, snuggles, sweaters, warm drinks, pumpkin scents, spice flavors, and baking! Today my Little Jedi helped me make banana bread and this time I jazzed it up with my favorite doterro oil blend: OnGuard! Hope you enjoy!

Prep time: 20 minutes. Bake time: 70 minutes. Total time: 90 minutes

You will need:
-9x5x3 loaf pan
-3 (over) ripe bananas
-8 tbs butter (room temperature)
-2 eggs
-1 cup sugar
-2 cups all purpose flour
-1 tsp baking soda
-1 tsp baking powder
-1 tsp ground cinnamon
-1 tbs milk
-1 tsp salt
-3-10 drops OnGuard doterra oil blend (depends on how strong you want the spice flavor to be)
-1 tbs chia seeds
- 1/2 cup chopped walnuts

Directions:
-Preheat over to 325 degrees, lightly grease loaf pan.
-Cream together sugar and butter, add one egg at a time, beating well.
-In a separate large bowl mash bananas and add the baking soda, baking powder, cinnamon, milk, salt, chia seeds, and OnGuard oil- mix together well.
-Add sugar/butter to banana mixture and fold together.
-Add flour one cup at a time and mix well between the two cups.
-Pour batter into loaf pan, top with chopped walnuts.
-Bake at 325 for 1 hour and 10 minutes. You will know that the bread is done when you poke it with a toothpick and it comes out clean.
-Let cool in pan 30-60 minutes then gently remove and slice to serve!

Hello Y'all

Hello ya'll!  I am a 34 year old mom of 2 wonderful children.  Peanut is my beautiful and caring 6 1/2 year old Princess.  She is in the 1st grade and enjoys school, well except the homework part of it. Boo is my handsome and sweet 2 1/2 year old little boy.  He spends his days hanging out with me and our 2 cats at home. I have been married for 11 years to my best friend. We meet back in college 14 years ago this December. To say our relationship has been typical is an understatement.  DH (dear husband) has been in the military for 19 years and plans to be in for about 15 more years.  So far during this time we have spent a lot of time apart, including a 16 month deployment to Iraq back in 2005-2006.   The time we spend apart really makes us appreciate each other more when we are together. Since DH is gone a lot with work I am so glad that I found this wonderful group of ladies that I can talk to and share parenting tips with. I am looking forward to sharing with you the good, the bad, and the ugly of parenting with a spouse in the military.

<3 Mrs. Major <3

Mom of one soon to be two

I am a 26 year old stay at home mom to the most wonderful yet difficult little boy. We are also expecting our second, due March 19, 2015. I recently ended my long journey through school getting my bachelors in Economics at the University of Kansas, Rock Chalk! Right after graduation I moved away from family and friends to just outside of DC in Maryland. I have been getting settled in my new life and trying to adjust with being home all day with just my son. I decided to join this blog with my friends because I have a difficult child and know I can't be the only one struggling with it. I want to share my story as I learn how to parent my 2.5 year old and our adjustment with life as a parent of two.

Stop it "negative Nancy"!

I was recently talking with a soon-to-be first time mom who was upset about a recent conversation she had with a friend. This friend apparently did nothing but try and point out every negative she may encounter once her baby is born.
I will never understand is telling a soon-to-be moms negative things about her soon-to-be earth side baby and parenting journey. Why do it? Because misery loves company? What good does it do? It doesn't help you to feel better or fix a problem, and it definitely does not help the already nervous pregnant mother.
She will find out soon enough that her sleep will suffer from middle of the night feedings and diaper changes. That finding time to take a shower longer than 5 minutes will be difficult because she will be rushed for worry of her baby crying. That her relationship (marriage) will be different too. Tell her the positive things you have found, give her something good to think about and look forward to!

• Don't scare her and tell you about some labor horror story that you experienced or heard from a friend of a friend. Tell her how it's one of the most raw and empowering things she will ever experience, how she will find truly amazing strength that she didn't know was in her all for the love of this tiny person growing in her. Tell her to do what she can to cherish the last bit of her pregnancy even though she is tired, and stretched to the max because she will find herself missing her big belly and those kicks and hiccups. Missing the time where it was really just she and her baby sharing a unique-beautiful bond that nobody else will understand or be able to describe.

• Don't tell her about how she will never sleep again. Tell her about how she will, will herself to stay up just a few minutes longer because she can't pull her eyes away from the sweet beautiful sleeping babe that she brought into this world. That each smile and giggle will make her forget her tiredness and feel full of life like nothing else.

• Don't tell her about how her relationship (marriage) will suffer. Tell her about how she will find herself falling in love all over again and in a deeper different way than the first time because there is truly something magical about seeing the man you love, fall in love and care for your child(ren). That those moments make your relationship strong and different than it was before.

• Don't tell her that she won't have a life after baby arrives. Tell that yes, her life will change and be different from anything she has known or experienced before she became a mother but that it is so worth it. That she won't remember life before her baby or want to go back to it because this new life is so amazing and rewarding. 

• Tell her that she will learn so much about herself and find beauty in the small things looking through the eyes of her child. 
• Tell her that she is not in this alone! That there are a million other mothers out there questioning on if they are doing this right and that she does have support when she needs it!

Photo Credit: Birth by Sassafras Photography PDX