My New Blog Design is Live!

I'm so excited to finally share the new design with you!

I've been dreaming in html because of this project. ;)

I have loved seeing how my blog has become a community of women and mothers!

I feel like I'm sharing our life, all the ups and downs, with a big group of girlfriends.

Since starting my blog..I have loved seeing how it has evolved and I've found my place.

I really wanted my new design to show my personality and make it easy for my readers, new and old, to discover posts they'll love!

There are different features to make discovering new posts easier!

A featured slider on the main page will showcase different

posts of mine, new and old, that I'm excited about and "want you to check out!!!"

a long with our "We like to Party!" page..where I showcase

all of the parties(big and small) that I have thrown.

The video at the top right is there to welcome any newbies to our community here

and to let everyone know who I am and what I desire for this space!

The drop down menu bar is now loaded with a bunch of different topics

for you to choose from and see related posts.

I also updated my media kit!
You can view my full media kit HERE.

I updated my stats..and realized that the months I throw

parties..I get over 144,000 more page loads! WOWZER.

This past month, with the move, no parties are happening..

But I'm excited for some fun play dates I'm planning..

and SUMMER TIME means it's the girls' birthday soon! :)

And I'm totally guilty of already thinking of micah's

first birthday in november.. a BOY birthday!

I'm also excited to be decorating our new place..and sharing the spaces as

they come together. This summer is gonna be loaded with fun posts!

 

I really wanted to include in my media kit WHO I blog for... there is an underlying mission in my mind when I post. To celebrate motherhood! Even when posting about a crazy day.

I want to be a positive creative place women can go to feel uplifted, encouraged or inspired!

Even if that is at the cost of putting it all out there..failures and successes!

I want this to be a place for moms..whether they are feeling overwhelmed with life...

and need ideas or a break from the busy...

Or for those moms feeling underwhelmed

and wanting to DO something creative and fun and bust out of the routine.

 I recently asked my readers, via my facebook page, to let me know if my blog has helped them or if they are a fan by leaving their name and where they are from.

I was BLOWN AWAY by all of the amazing places people

are coming from and reading my blog!

Mamas and women all over the world!

I listed a handful of the hundreds of comments I got in my updated media kit.

I blog for you guys!! And in return I have been blessed so much.. the support kindness and love has been amazing these years. ESPECIALLY this past year though.

Again, You can see my complete media kit HERE.

Have a look around and maybe you'll discover some posts to love!

Please share my blog with your friends if you are a fan...

And let me know if you like the new site!

I'm still as giddy as the first days of blogging when I get a comment!

I remember calling my mom and being like woohoo nancy from west virginia left me a comment! ;) Blogging is so fun how it brings us together.

2 Years Since Losing Shannon

Today  marks 2 years since my best friend Shannon was

killed through an act of Domestic Violence.

and an amazing beautiful person was taken from so many people who loved her..

As a whole..each year seems to get easier.

But certain days are easier than others.

I flew into atlanta for a quick 1.5 day trip a couple weeks ago.

And even though I never said it out loud...

that night in the hotel I had a dream...

I was sobbing.

and was wishing I could go down the street to see Shannon.

Deep down I felt like a trip back home to atlanta

wasn't complete without seeing her.

Sometimes I watch the video I made below...just to hear her voice in the first clip.

The last voice mail she left me..that didn't show up till she was already gone.

Some days I just can't watch much further.

While other days I cling to those memories because it was my last moments with 'her'...

The funeral.

What Happened.

The day I walked into her house for the first time since I

walked through that door WITH her...was a hard day.

But also a beautiful one because I was able to see her sweet babies happy and growing.

I look back..and remember how when it first happened.. I just remember this incredible weight I felt. sadness. anger. I felt like I could just tilt and fall right over.

I remember asking my mom if I would ever not feel this way.

But over time I found strength.. and motivation to be a good mom and wife and friend.

I remember finding it so hard to want to socialize with other moms...feeling like a best friend was taken and how could I ever have that connection with anyone else...

 but then suddenly it turned into a desire to be with other moms to take advantage of the time we have..the moments we have of interacting with people, to make them happy..to invest time into friendships because you never know when you will lose that person.

I started to realize that God puts people in your life for a reason.

Don't take advantage of the time that you have... and the people in your life.

I remember the first e-mail I got from a reader telling me how shannon's story changed their life and gave them strength to act when in a domestic violence situation.

I remember thinking THIS.... this is why I started this blog so long ago.

If my words on this blog can help ONE person..then YESSSS... it is worth it.

It is very easy to be angry over losing shannon.

I have gone through many stages of grief.. numbness, disbelief, sadness, and I'm definitely JUST leaving anger... I'm trying to shake that.. to not focus on the details of how she was taken...and WHO took her...but how we had shannon for those years.

I never want to forget the good memories..

the goofing off..

the time we were extras for a movie in atlanta.

goofing off on the set and having fun.

(bobby jones: stroke of genius)

going to dances!

getting all dressed up... cassie's mom doing our hair.. ;)

feeling pretty and dancing the night away!

the bridal shower the girls threw me...

when they blindfolded me and took me to a restaurant.

(I just found, during the move, the little notebook that they

all wrote in the pages and gave to me. I re-read shannon's page more than once.)

and having her there next to me the day

I was getting married.. getting our hair done.

I'm trying to hold onto those good memories.

I will always miss you shannon...but happy to have had you in my life.

blessed actually.

blessed to have had you in my life.

To read all posts related to Shannon you can click here.
Please share her story..donate if you can.
If you have been touched by her story and would like to 
visit her Memorial Page you can visit here. 

Please Pray for peace in our world 
and for all those affected by Domestic Violence.

Tips to running errands with kids without losing ALL of your sanity -just a little-

disclosure: taking small children out in public will cause a minor loss of sanity.

they are children.

Lately I have been reevaluating how I run errands with the kids.

Some days it just HAS to happen.

1. Because we need something

2. Because I NEED to get out of the house.

3. Because sometimes they are angels for me when

we are actually out n' about DOING something.

I've had bad trips and good trips while taking out my little crew.

I am learning as I go how to handle 3 out in public.

One thing I know for a fact...

Going out with 1, 2 or 3...as you have your kids it gets harder

and you will look back and say oh man that was so easy back then...

when you did NOT feel that way when you were living in it.

So I'm trying to remind myself that one day (if we are blessed with more kids)

I will look back fondly on these eassyyyy days ;) ;)

my future self is annoying me right now.

because right now is super hard sometimes.

Some of my readers and and social media followers have

asked me "how do you take them all out?" haha...

Which makes me laugh because just yesterday someone asked me

at church how I handle 3 little kids.. and I replied,

"I'm not gonna lie. it's hard sometimes.

you will call your mom crying.

but it's so AWESOME."

MY TIPS:

1. When you go out in public people will stare at you.

If you have one child..

you will get lots of oh my goodness so cute!

MOST People won't open doors for you while you hold a giant car seat though.

That pampering ended as soon as you gave birth to that child! 

If you have two children...

People will look at you like you are running a daycare..

even though you only have TWO children.

You will get comments on how cute your kids are...

and possibly an old lady or two telling your child

not to stand up in the shopping cart.

If you have three children...

people will, with a smile, say "wow you have your hands full!!"

To which your daughter will reply....

"Mom why does everyone keep saying you have your hands full?"

You will probably hear this statement a handful of times and want to snap.

but don't.

that would be bad.

they don't realize they are the 4th person to say that to

you since you entered Old Navy.

(photo: sophie being a little mommy wanted to push sienna around. I'm all about containing that 2 yr old.)

2.When you are out... Be Realistic with your time.

You will not be able to run into target and grab the 2 items you need super fast.

You will have to deal with an I want an icee and popcorn at 9 am melt down as soon as you enter the building. it will be sooo fun. You might get the urge to turn around and go home...stay strong! you are in charge.............

I have found that the times I don't stress about how long it takes us to do things is when I actually am not the most stressed!!

3. Don't stress about what you weren't

able to get done and all that you have to do.

Psh.. This last tip is easier said than done. I know. But I read something yesterday and I loved it..."Do not worry about tomorrow. Jesus is already there."

(photo: I'm not above donut bribery.)

4. Wear a baby if you can.

My K'tan savessss me. I wear it every day- at some point.

I've even gone to the bathroom wearing a baby! tmi. but you do what you gotta do.

5. Change a baby in your lap.

I don't care if this offends people... When you have a crew sometimes when you are in the corner of the mall on a bench it is easier to change that baby in your lap then to drag the little crew about to commit mutiny into a mall bathroom. ick.

I have learned how to do the diaper hold---- Put the clean diaper under your armpit and then swap with the dirty when changing...dirty diaper doesn't touch anything..and it's super fast. I've gotten pretty speedy. I realized this when a fellow mommy cheered me after.

6. Have fun!

The other day when we were out... we were zooming through the store..I jumped on the back of the cart full of giggling babies. I'm pretty sure some store employees would frown upon this type of silliness...but Sometimes some toddler giggles make everything better...

and your kids are soaking up everything you say and do..

so let them see you laugh! (not just the cranky mama moments because you are exhausted and feel like you say "don't eat that. don't sit on your brother" wayy too often...)

I try to work in fun stops a long the way if I know we are going to be doing a few errands.

Like the library or getting free cheese or kid cookies at the grocery store.

And take breaks... my girls love to sit on benches. so if we see one.. we chill for a minute or two. sometimes I have to remind myself that my little ones have little feet. :)

7. Pack for the end of the world.

The day you don't bring a change of clothes for baby..is the day you will have a poopy explosion of your nightmares. it will be bad. and you will learn your lesson.

I pack extra diapers/wipes/drinks/and usually a snack to pull out when I need to stop the sisterly leg pinching in the back seat.

If you got anything from this post..I hope it's that you are not alone

and you are BLESSED.

"No, You cannot marry your cousin."

We recently packed up our crew and traveled to Indiana for my cousin's wedding!

It was one of those trips where, during the 5 hour drive, I had to keep

reminding myself that we were going to have some good family time!

**"stop being crabby we're having fun family time!!" might have come out of my mouth at one point.**

Before we lost shannon, I was blessed by a random "stranger" with

an airplane ticket to fly down to atlanta to visit everyone.

Little did I know that would be the last time I got to see Shannon.

It's experiences like that that make me so much more determined to make the effort, however challenging it may be with little ones, to visit friends and family. Life is too short to stay in the house doing a routine nap time! pshhh.. lets live a little and lose some marbles.

I'm so glad we made the effort to go.

Family is important.

The girls had fun, but are now stuck on finding their

prince after seeing all the love in the air! ;)

SOPHIE: mom who is going to be my prince? how about jude?

ME: honey you can't marry your cousin. and you'll find your prince one day!

SOPHIE: how about micah? ME: you can't marry your brother either.

SOPHIE: why? ME: because micah is gonna marry another girl.

SOPHIE: I'm a girl. he can marry me.

(I didn't bring my camera..but had my iPhone to snap away!)

car trip tips:

1. BUY and PACK scooby doo graham crackers snacks.

Looks like dog bones... immediately awesome to toddlers.

2. pick up bribery dorito bag at gas station.

3. do NOT share your water bottle with the toddler who just ate the doritos.

My girls have a lot of cousins nearby..

but they don't get to see their atlanta cousins as often.

So I was happy they had the weekend to catch

fish together, eat ice cream and force them to slow dance with. good times.

My cousin's wedding was BEAUTIFUL!!

I made the mistake of quietly whispering in sophia's ear "He is about to say you may now kiss the bride!".... because she then responded with "Daddy says you don't kiss boys!"

loud enough for everyone in the rows around us to hear.

only to follow it up with "Are they going to have a baby now?"........... :::head in hands:::

I love the first dance at a wedding reception. love love it.

But my cousin and her "prince", as the girls call him, 

had the most AMAZING first dance.

It was like straight out of a movie. so romantic!

Sophie: "Mom.. the prince is handsome. he has nice hair."

 

Hope you all had a wonderful Memorial Day!

So thankful for all of the men and women who serve our country and

those who have given their lives!

God Bless America.

Hope you got to soak up a lot of family time over the long weekend!

I was that crazy lady in Walmart today +Free Gifting Printable

I was going to write this blog post...

about my crazy day.

About how I took a trip to walmart because we had NO diapers.. and NO Toilet Paper.

It was a must trip. So I loaded up all three kiddos by myself and headed there.

only to end up being a shoppers' attraction with both girls in the cart, micah strapped to me, racing through the aisles to the bathroom because

sophie was screaming in pain from her stomach hurting and dry heaving

(she is super sensitive and was gagging from her tummy hurting. insane. I know)

I thought she wasn't going to make it and throw up all over the walmart floor...

so we ran for one of those recycle box/trash can things. yup. classy.

when I thought she looked better and wasn't going to throw up,

we made our dash to the bathroom....alllllll while the

LONG line of people for returns stared on horrified.

 LOVE hanging out in a public bathroom with 3 kids. it's super fun and not gross at all.

Plus loud automatic toilets are known to be LOVED by small babies.........not.

Poor thing though.. as soon as I got sophie to feel a little better we grabbed the toilet paper/diapers and she started sobbing again.. race to the bathroom!! AGAIN.

We finally ended up checking out. and if one more person told me I

had my hands full I was going to flip. flip or cry. one or the other. haha.

And what do you do when you have new toilet paper in the house....

Play with it of course!!

Later came across this and realized a certain toddler

was trying to cover her tracks..... ::cough:: sienna ::cough::

I was going to write this blog post about how some days

I feel like I'm running in circles..

Sophia came up to me wanting me to check out her hair

"I'm making it not crazy"..................

She thought it was my hair product that I put in my hair to smooth it out.

nope.

my face wash.

Oh and Micah was rocking a hand me down christmas outfit because it

was the first thing I saw that he fit in. grabbed it. he didn't leave the house like this..

I don't want to look tooooo crazy out in public.

But tonight, while snuggling with sienna before bed,

I started thinking how I don't want to post just about how hard my day was.

Of course I want moms to see that we all have hard days...

I want my readers to leave my blog relating to me..but also feeling uplifted!

I kept thinking about when someone dropped off this gift basket for us when we moved in..how I seriously wanted to cry I was so thankful for their kindness.

I feel a connection with you as my readers...

and I wish so badly we could all just do one big play date! ;)

That we could drop off meals for each other when we knew someone was having a hard day.

I kept thinking how important community is as moms.

It made me want to reach out more to my mom friends...

to not just think about my hard days, but to think about them and lift them up!

If you feel like me... and want to celebrate motherhood

and lift up your fellow mamas...

I just made up this printable for you to download and use when dropping

off something to show you care!

I asked on my blog's facebook page:

"If a fellow mama did something to show she cared,

by dropping something off,..what would you be SO HAPPY to receive?"

(click here to read the facebook status,

read what other mamas said and leave your choice!)

FREE "CELEBRATE MOTHERHOOD- LIFT UP YOUR

MOM FRIENDS" - PRINTABLE DOWNLOAD

I'm also offering, by request of a blog reader via facebook, the same design but
with my blog and 'celebrate motherhood' tiny at the bottom of each tag!
Would love for you to share our little community with other moms.
Maybe it'll be the connection that mom needs to feel a boost!
DOWNLOAD that version HERE

AND, since a lot of my readers say Mum instead of Mom..
I made up a british version as well. :)
Download the MUM Printable HERE.
and the MUM Printable with my Blog HERE.

Motherhood is hard...

and so very beautiful.

Sisters.

Please Pin, Tweet and Share the printable!

We all need to bless our fellow mamas more.

We know how some days are hard..and we aren't alone in

feeling 'happily' exhausted while taking care of our sweet babies.

So let's reach out and love on each other a little more!

I would seriously cry if someone dropped off a case of diet dr. pepper at my door.

That's all it would take! haha.

sophie update: she feels better! an hour after we got home she was back

to her normal self. must have been gas bubbles. poor little thing.

Mommy Confessions

If you want to feel better about your parenting skills...keep on reading.

I love being a mom.

LOVEEEE it.

It is one of the hardest but most rewarding things I've ever done in my life.

 -- I have cried while getting dressed.

1. because everything had baby spit up on it

2. because I don't know what fits or what doesn't fit at this point.

3. because I look in the mirror some days and only see a tired mommy

and not the young fresh faced girl I feel like I used to be.

-- Sometimes I feel like I say....

 no. stop. don't do that. time out. slow down. don't put that in your mouth. don't fight. get out of the cupboard. don't lick that. no your brother isn't a motorcycle. talk quieter. get out of the bathroom. don't pull her hair. go to sleep. put your clothes back on. go to bed please.......

 WAY too many times a day.

It makes me want to go bonkers. seriously bonkers.

--I have felt overwhelmed.

--I have felt incapable

--I have felt like a failure

--I have felt like my brain was going to burst from the noise in this house.

--My laundry room has a mountain of dirty laundry.

--My bedroom has a mountain of clean laundry.

--at one point this week every single room had laundry in it.

--Many mornings I choose keeping the kids alive and the

house from burning down instead of showering.

--I have texted my husband,

while he is at work, that I was losing my mind.

the text sometimes starting with "blah sdhfjkhsjdkfdhjs"

this happens more often then I want to admit.

--Sometimes I don't have time to wash my hair for a couple days.

thank goodness for dry shampoo.

--I'm TIRED. a lot.

I always wanted to be a mom. since I was a little girl!

One thing no one ever told me...was how TIRED you will be as a parent.

Think cramming for finals times a million......haha.

But the crazy thing about "parenting exhaustion"...

is that it can suddenly be easy to handle in one sweet moment with your child.

a hug.. a giggle.. a reach for you.. it makes you forget how worn you feel...

and gives you the biggest feeling of peace.

Just knowing you are everything to that child. and this is what God is wanting from you.

 

THREE KIDS.

Sometimes it's easier to stay home... sometimes it's easier to take them out!

I just have to prepare myself mentally before I go.

I will be slower than I WANT to be.

I will probably think at one point I wish I didn't make this decision. haha.

BUT... I have gotten better at taking the whole gang out.

We once went to target. I didn't have my k'tan wrap... So I was carrying micah on my hip and the girls were in the cart. we got a lot of stares. and a lot of "you are brave!" "you have your hands full!" "do you need help?".... my reply was "oh they are being angels right now! this is a good trip." ;) which they were. I think silly straw bribery worked.

I have learned how to juggle them better.

Micah goes in the wrap. each girl gets a hand.

We have our system down, even though sometimes things get a little crazy and I'll be holding a melting down sienna while micah is in the wrap.

And that is when I get chuckles and stares from passerby's. soo fun!

Cure to any hard day... baby giggles.

You can't help but be happy when you hear them and see a jolly face.

I am learning to accept and not be so hard on myself.

But many days I wish that I could have been a better mommy...a better wife..

Sometimes I wish I trusted in God more.

Every day I pray for more patience.

I have the peace of knowing this is exactly where God wants me to be...

Now I just need to be realistic in my expectations that I set for myself.

I can do this. with HIS help. and maybe a case of diet dr pepper.