A little bit of this...and that

Dear Olivia, You don't this yet (and I'm glad you don't) but there was a big election yesterday and today lots of people are posting on social media.  They aren't holding space for each other, being forgiving or loving (for the most part) they are hurting and passing that hurt onto others that might see things differently.  I wish it was different but it isn't.   The outcome of the election is done and now we have the amazing opportunity to come together as a country and heal.  To do great things but it all starts with us, me and you.  You told me you loved me for the first time yesterday and there is no greater gift to me than that. I will always remember how I felt, where we were and what your face looked like when you said "wuv you".   To me, sweet Olivia, that is what matters.  On a day filled with so much hate, hurt and downright rude behavior we found love.  I hope that one moment between us creates a lot of light and space for mo...

Happy day this and thatters!  I cannot believe Halloween is over and we are rolling into the holiday season.  I have to tell you that my brain is already thinking about Christmas!!  Normally I don't buy any gifts or even think about Christmas until December.  I know this is shocking given my type A personality but honestly time just gets away from me.   This year I am taking a different approach to Christmas.  I have to tell you I normally feel all this pressure to give my kids a picture, perfect holiday season.  The truth is they are so young right now that I need to give myself a break.  At this time in their lives they are as excited about the empty box and wrapping paper as they are about the actual gift.   So this year I set a budget and I stuck to it.  I already bought all the girls Christmas gifts and all I have to do is wrap them.  Luckily in our family we only buy gifts for the kiddos so that cuts my shopping way d...

It's Friday people!!  I am so excited for the weekend.  I only wish the weather would get a tad bit cooler so it actually felt like fall!  I hope you enjoy the confessional.   xoxo 1.  Matt and I are headed out of town this weekend to enjoy some couple time and I couldn't be more excited!  It's an early anniversary trip and I am so ready for a full weekend of couple time.  We haven't been away since our vacation in May and I can't wait for this time together. 2.  I always get anxiety before I go out of town and leave the girls.  I do better if Matt is with them and I go solo.  Us going together kicks my intensity and anxiety into overdrive.  It's better than it's ever been but my mind goes on the what if hamster wheel and I have to kindly tell it to STOP!  I think all moms do this, right?! ;) 3.  I have felt kinda blah this week.  Not happy, not sad just kind of neutral.  I don't know if I'm...

I just want to say a big heartfelt thank you to all of you!  Your responses to the shame game post were so beautiful, real and touching that I am overwhelmed.  I feel so blessed that so many of you texted, emailed, commented and felt safe to share with me.  I feel so incredibly humbled and proud that I was able to hold that space for some of you. I got a lot of questions about books I read, resources etc.  I am posting these here because it's easier to reach all of you that way.  These are just what I like and what work for me I highly encourage everyone to follow their own path in life and in parenting.  These resources helped me carve out time and space for myself.   I AM NOT AN EXPERT IN ANYTHING!!  I AM JUST TRYING TO WADE THROUGH PARENTING LIKE EVERYONE ELSE AND I HAVE A BIG MOUTH.  I felt like that needed to be said in shouty caps for people that may think I have got this thing all figured out and then ...

Happy Tuesday peeps!!  I hope you and yours are doing well.  I have to tell you I've been thinking a lot about shame lately and specifically how, we as parents, play the shame game.  I wish I could sit here and tell you that I've never done it, that I've never criticized or put down how someone else parents but I have and I fear I probably will again in the future.   Parenting is such a big, often scary, overwhelming, beautiful, brave, awesome experience for us that I think sometimes we crack!  I saw an instagram post yesterday that honestly inspired this blog post.  An amazing mom posted a video of her son sleeping in his own bed.  Maybe to you or to me that's "normal" or something we take for granted  but it wasn't for her.  She wrote deeply touching words about accepting (for her own sanity) that her son didn't sleep the way other kids did.  She talked about releasing the judgement of other parents, so calle...

Happy Friday peeps!  I hope you're ready for a great weekend and I hope you enjoy this edition of the confessional.  xoxo I don't know if it's the cooler weather or what but I've been reading like a mad woman.  I really need to do a what's on my nightstand post because it would be a good one...note to self. I'm trying to loose the last bit of weight after having Olivia (yes she's a year old in a week). After baby #2 it's a bit harder, for me anyway!  I've been taking it slow and I'm close but not there just yet.  I'm hoping that sweater weather and being able to cover up doesn't throw me off track. How is Olivia almost 1 by the way?  I feel like I just had her.  Matt and I were talking about how time is flying and how it's almost scary how quick the weeks go by.   We are working with a decorator to redo our dining room and I am so excited.  It has been such a fun project and I absolutely love working with someone who g...

That's a crazy title for a blogpost isn't it?  Ha, ha!  Well if you have been reading for a while you know that I am not afraid of crazy.  While fear resonates with me, pain might be more accurate for what you are experiencing.  I sometimes use those words interchangeably.   To be honest I've been thinking a lot about fear for a long time now.  See I grew up afraid of everything!  Afraid my parents would get divorced or die, afraid I had some incurable disease and mostly afraid to grow up.  Afraid to say the speech in English class, write the term paper, say yes to the boy and on and on.   One of the best examples I have of how afraid I was of everything was seeing a picture of myself the day I was born.  It was in the delivery room and in the background you would see a tray of instruments and the smallest amount of blood.  That image was all I saw.  Not my mother looking utterly in love or how cute...