Mom Confessions :: A Peek into Real Life

Social media can be intimidating and frustrating because everyone puts a false façade on their lives. NOBODY has it all together so I like when people post real-life photos and tell stories of imperfection and grace. There’s nothing as encouraging as someone coming along side and saying, “Me too.”

That’s why I’ve loved Anna Rendell’s “Mom Confessions” on Facebook and now her blog. I’ve used #reallife some on Instagram myself. Mommas, let’s be in this life together and not competing for who can look like we have it all together.

In no particular, some recent mom confessions ::

1. Ben cheered – literally – when I tossed a package of bologna in the grocery cart at his request. Best $1 I’ve spent in a long time. That evening my kids ate bologna sandwiches for dinner at 4:30 today because they were "starving."

2. I assumed my kids could wear their soccer cleats from last year. Um, no way. Their feet have grown exponentially. So the day of the first practice, I bought them new cleats while they were at school. All was good – except I bought Cate baseball cleats. I knew they didn’t look right, but they were her size so I just scooped them up. And then returned them and bought the right ones the next day.

3. Ben doesn’t nap much anymore, but recently I needed him to nap for my own well-being and because we had plans that would keep us out later than usual that night. Hello, March Madness. So I bribed Ben with the promise of ice cream if he napped. He did. He got ice cream. And I might do it again.

4. With the bus service that exists now, I only pick up Cate at school on Fridays. But two Fridays in a row I had trouble remembering this. One week I didn’t remember until it was time to be there. It’s 15 minutes away. So I called a friend to ask her to tell the teacher at the door that I was coming, eventually. My friend Julie volunteered to bring Cate toward me because she had some errands to run. So I picked up my daughter in the Walmart parking lot. 

The next week, Ben was sick so I made him a doctor’s appointment. I made it with my favorite nurse practitioner, but then I realized I wouldn’t have time to get Cate from school on time. So I called Julie. She rescued me again – although she had more warning this time. I now have timers set on my phone to remind me when and where to pick up Cate.

Of course, I haven't forgotten where to be since I set up the timers, but, you know, better safe than sorry!

5. Hello, Spring! I used baby wipes to wash off my 5-year-old son, who is allergic to trees, grass and weeds. He'd been outside for hours playing that day and we let him stay up late while we watched basketball. No time for a shower.

6. I pulled into my kids' school that is 12 miles away recently and realized my gas light was on. Their school is in a tiny neighboring town with no gas station. I had no idea if I would make it back without running out of gas. I did, thankfully. 

7. Each Christmas I get out the bin with the GeoTrax Santa Train and Little People Nativity. They kids are always excited for these toys to come back out. Since December, my 5-year-old Ben and his friends who are often at our house have loved building and playing with it so much that these seasonal toys are still in my living room. Perhaps they’ve found a semi-permanent home there. The Christmas train is now connected with the Cars GeoTrax.

Fellow mommas, let’s share the ordinary in a real way. Let’s encourage one another. Let’s laugh together. And let’s remind one another we are not alone. {Tweet that.}

{And, yes, feel free to share your own mom confessions in the comments.}
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I'm linking up with Anna Rendell at Girl With Blog, who encourages real-life mom confessions, and Soli Deo Gloria Sisterhood's weekly gathering, where women are encouraged to come as they are. 

Want more insights? "Peace in the Process: How Adoption Built My Faith & My Family" is available on Amazon. Like me on Facebook, follow me on Twitter, peek into my life on Instagram, follow 152 Insights at Bloglovin', or subscribe to receive "Insights in Your Inbox."

8 Things I Learned in September

I sound like a broken record here, but, seriously, where is this year going? How is September already over? Goodness.

But, hello, fall. Please stay a while. A long while. Like so long winter doesn't even happen. And, shh, nobody tell me how meterologists are predicted a no-good, terrible winter. I thought last year was bad ...

Moving on, September was lovely, even if it sped by so fast I could barely keep up. We spent many evenings and late mornings at the soccer field. We enjoyed the lovely weather. We lived our life in many small moments meshed together. We learned and loved and laughed. And, yes, we witnessed that lovely sunset while on Kentucky Lake.

In no particular order, here are some things I learned in my everyday life this month:

1. I can have household products delivered to my door step. I loved that when I ordered diapers from Diapers.com or Amazon. Now, thanks to ePantry, hand soap, laundry detergent, sponges, and trash bags will show up a few days after I place an order ... and at good prices. I received my first shipment this month and I believe I'm in love with this service.

2. I love life in my 30s, but sometimes I feel old ... and old-fashioned! For instance, I invited a college girl I've gotten to know through Bible study over for a home-cooked meal and realized I'm twice her age. She hasn't turned 18 yet, so she's only a decade older than my second-grader. Y'all my own college days don't seem that long ago.

More proof by the questions I ask myself: What's with all these movies that are rated PG-13 being promoted to kids? Like "Guardians of the Galaxy" and "Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles." Why do restaurants have TVs everywhere? Gathering to watch a sporting event is one thing, but I otherwise prefer no television while we're trying to eat dinner together.

3. My personality makes me like Snow White. We're both ESFJ. Find out here which Disney princess shares your personality. I'm OK with my assessment, but, really, Snow White likes animals much more than I do.

4. I could be the only person who doesn't care anything about pumpkin candles, desserts, coffee, or, well ... anything. Yes, I'm a summer girl, but I do love the transition to fall. Just bring on the apples, specifically Honeycrisp, and candy corn. You can keep your pumpkin spiced latte. Or whatever other hot beverage you're drinking.

Funny story: A delicious-smelling apple pie candle showed up in the mail for me from Amazon. I didn't know who sent it until my friend Jen texted me. She loves pumpkin spice candles but chose an apple one for me. God's in the details, I tell you. Apples over pumpkin any day, especially fall days, y'all.

{After I posted this on Facebook, I learned I'm not actually alone, but there are so many pumpkin fans out there.}

5. I don't like homework. I don't remember disliking homework when I was a kid, when it was required of me, personally. But, seriously, I could do without homework now that I'm a mom. My girl is a good student, but she's done with school when she gets home. That time between school and dinner is already a rocky time. That's not just true at my house, right?! So to add homework seems cruel. We're in year three of homework and I'm still not a fan. I'm guess if I didn't like it in kindergarten and first-grade and I'm still not liking it in second-grade, then hope is pretty much lost for me for her remaining decade of school, right? Plus I'll have those 13 years of school for my son, who, I'm guessing, will be even less into homework than his sister. {She's cute though.}

6. Little People toys are for little kids, which apparently I don't have anymore. That's according to my 4-year-old son. So we donated most of the Little People to his preschool. Yes, I'm curious if he's going to play with them there, unlike he did here.

7. The Blacklist is addicting. Hello, James Spader. Goodness gracious, he's good in that show. Greg and I just started watching it last week, but we're well into the first season. I know, I'm not sure what took me so long either.

8. Scrapbooking is still a hobby of mine, even if it doesn't happen often. Like riding a bike, I didn't forget how to document life with actual printed photos, Sharpies, cute paper, and page protectors. I managed to spend much of one weekday at my craft table. We didn't have anywhere to be and Ben was playing alone so well. I was out of my usual adhesive, so I broke out the Rubber Cement. I loved it so much I bought more next time I was at the store.
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I'm linking up this monthly post with Emily Freeman at Chatting at the Sky.  Here are previous month's recaps from 2013: June. July. August. September. October. November. And from 2014: January. February. March. April. May. June. July. August.

I'm also linking up with the weekly Soli Deo Gloria Sisterhood Gathering.

Want more stories? Like me on Facebook, follow me on Twitter, peek into my life on Instagram, follow 152 Insights at Bloglovin', or subscribe to receive "Insights in Your Inbox." This post contains affiliate links for products & services I love. 

wanting to be big

This is Ben.

He desperately wants to be part of whatever the big kids are doing. So we let him sit at the picnic table the other night for dinner with Cate, Luke and Norah. Ben, who will be 18 months old in a week, did surprisingly well. He didn't dump the plate of food on the ground, although he did have to be reminded to sit back down. We considered it success for his first time eating alone while not restricted.

He likes to climb too. While this isn't a high destination, he still had to work to get himself into the cabinet shelf. First order of business was removing the toys that are usually stored inside.

Ben was all smiles at the jumpy place. He likes to jump. And he was thrilled his daddy was jumping with him.

Here first-cousin-once-removed Quinnen helped Ben dunk. Any game with a ball is good with Ben.

See what I mean? He's into balls. That makes his daddy proud.

towering with fun

They were proud of their tower. And I'm pretty sure Ben was ready to knock it down.

sunshiny days

We are happy for several lovely, sunshiny days.

Ben likes to swing.

Cate likes to be involved.
In this case, she helped her daddy sprinkle grass seed.
And this is how Cate cleaned up the riding toys*.
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* It should be noted two of these riding toys don't belong to us and one stroller is for a baby doll.

colors

Crayons are known as "colors" around our house, thanks to Cate's word choice. Ben doesn't really care what they're called; he was just glad to finally get his hands on them at dinner Saturday at Rafferty's in Clarksville. And he did well, meaning he didn't eat them.

And, yes, he was cheesin' it up for the camera. That's his new cheese face, and it's prompted by the presence of the camera. The "Say cheese!" command isn't even required.

around here

We are Racer fans.
We enjoy each other.
We like to laugh.
We make our own fun.

1, actually

On Ben's actual birthday, we celebrated by having the Tompkinses over for taco soup. We took the kids out for ice cream and then game home, put the birthday boy to bed and let the others play while us adults played Settlers of Catan. It was a good evening for everyone, especially because their Thanksgiving travel plans kept them from coming to the party to celebrate with us then.

Isn't that tool box adorable? Thanks to the Tompkinses for a cute toy and a fun night.

snippets of my life

After learning I have diabetes, a woman I recently met asked me how my pregnancies were. She had gestational diabetes, so she said she was curious, which I totally understand. So I kindly said, "Actually, both of my kids are adopted."

I always hesitate.

Not because I'm ashamed. Truthfully, I'd tell anyone who wants to listen. I love their stories. I love how God heard the desires of my heart and led us to have a family in a way that has been better than I could have ever imagined.

But I know it catches people off guard.
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After getting dressed for the day, Cate said, "Cool shoes, Mommy."

Cool is her new description of many things. So I thanked her and went on with what I was doing. I didn't get very far before I hear her critique of my outfit continue.

"Why you wearin' that shirt?"

Um. Several answers go through my head. Because I like it. Because it's nice outside and it seemed to be a good day to wear it. Just because.

But instead I answered her question with a question, something I hate other people to do. "Do you not like it?"

"No," she said simply.
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Cate, Ben and I were all playing separately in the playroom [appropriate, huh?] yesterday when I decided Ben was ready for a nap. So I got up from my scrapbooking table and told Cate I'd be right back, leaving her to her own crafts.

When I returned and told her we'd need to start cleaning up so she could take her nap, I noticed some strands of her hair on the floor.

"Is this your hair?"

She confirmed, and then went back to coloring her picture of Diego.

"Who cut it?"I wasn't done with the conversation.

"Me." Exactly what I was afraid of.

"And why did you cut your hair?" I try not to ask my 3 1/2-year-old why because it's not really a good information-gathering question for that age, but I couldn't think of anything else to say.

"Because it was in my eyes."

Lovely. So I have a problem-solver who takes matters into her own hands. And I actually trusted her with scissors. I always put them up when her friends come over to play, but I thought she played well with them.

And one could argue she is resourceful. But I can't count the number of times I've said, "Only cut your paper." I've stopped saying that. I guess I'll begin again, when her personal scissor ban is over.

Thankfully, she only snipped a few strands the side of her head. It looks like her bangs extend way too far over. And when her hair is down, it's hard to notice.

Of course, I notice, though. That's what moms do.
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Ben received his first birthday present in the mail. His first meaning, the first one. But, yes, it's for his first birthday. My dad sent it. My dad is a good gift giver to my kids, and I'm always surprised too.

Anyway, he got a Lightning McQueen Power Wheel that his sister is really excited about. I was adding the steering wheel and charging the battery [Hooray for minimal assembly!] this afternoon because, really, who wants the box with the new toy just sitting there teasing everyone. Certainly not Cate.

So she was sitting in it, even though I explained it would be tomorrow after preschool when the battery would be ready [18 hours, really?]. Ben wanted in, and she told him she was riding in it. I suggest she give him a turn to sit in the toddler automobile that had no juice, and she said, "Ben needs to share."

Well, yes. That is one part of sharing.

But the other side is you, my oldest child, need to share with Ben. After all, it is his birthday present.
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a boy and his toys

Now that Ben is a professional crawler, he's completely on the move, which means he's into things and putting other things in his mouth. See that basket of toys? Yeah, he can drag it across the floor and then empties it one toy at a time, taste testing each one. In the last few days, I have pulled out of his mouth a plastic string from a pom-pom, a pink bead from a bracelet that broke months ago, a plastic hair rubberband and a soggy Cheerio. Then yesterday we were unsuccessful in rescuing something [Greg suspects it was a string.] from his drooling mouth.

silly?

When I first heard about "silly bands," I had no idea why people would care about shaped, rubber bracelets. Of course, who knows why slap bracelets were ever cool. But then I realized if you [the general you, not you, specific reader ...] had a green silly band in the shape of a duck that no longer looked like a duck when it was on your wrist, then it would look like a duck once again when you took it off your wrist.

Somehow that's neat to me.

Apparently my 3-year-old girl think it's cool too. Of course, she thinks my hairbands make good bracelets too. Or even just rubber bands. She's been into accessories for quite some time now.

But sometimes she doesn't wear all 30-something silly bands she owns. Somehow, apparently, it can be entertaining to just play with them and sort them and jumble them together in a fist.

Right now they are all -- animals, farm animals and sea creatures that came in packages of 12 for $1 at Walmart -- sitting in the cup holder of the double stroller because that's where she put them when she decided wearing 32 [Yes, she should have 36, but a couple snapped and I saw those two green ducks sitting on the kitchen table recently ...] bracelets was a bit much in 96-degree weather.

Thing is, she'll remember exactly where they are. Both the pile and the two green ducks.

Creating Masterpieces

And the subtitle should read: Who needs to finger paint when you have entire hands to use?

Cate had been wanting to finger paint since it was the craft of the week at story time several weeks ago. Then she forgot about it, so we never bought finger paint. Then, randomly, yesterday I told her we were going to the yellow store (aka "Walmart") before we went to the blue store (aka "Kroger") and she said, "We have to look for paint." Um, sure, I suppose. Mostly I was wondering what prompted the forgotten wish.

After lunch today, we broke out the finger paint, which, really, should be renamed hand paint. Regardless, I highly recommend Crayola's Washable Fingerpaints. They are in tubes and truly easy to wash off little hands and the kitchen table.

When she finished one of the six masterpieces she said, "See, Mom, it's beautiful. Want to take it so someone can buy it?"

Who needs toys?

For the second time recently, I've taken a picture of Ben and soon after thought of a similar picture of Cate. First, the similarites involved Diet Dr Pepper bottles, and, now, straws ...

That's 7-month-old Ben earlier this week. And here is Cate when she 6 months old ...

Any of you Murrayans knows the setting for these photos? In Ben's pictures, you'll have to use the background as a clue; in Cate's, you'll have to use the straw itself.

side by side in a rice box

Cate and Ethne had a fun time playing in this "rice box," which is what Cate called it when she was talking about it tonight. "Remember I played with Ethne in rice box?" Yes, we remember. And Angela even took this darling picture that I made black and white so we can remember for a long time.

Oh, what's a rice box? It's a box of rice, noodles and beans that Elijah once used for therapy but now works well as an indoor sandbox type toy. Those two girls were in there for at least an hour. As you can see, they barely fit in there side by side.

M-I-C-K-E-YM-O-U-S-E ...

... and his and friends came to Murray yesterday. And I took Cate to see the show. Admittedly, I was really excited to take her. Is that weird? [Probably no weirder than me saying 2 as been my favorite age ... so far.]

When I bought the tickets last fall, she was just getting into the Playhouse Disney shows. Since then, she has learned "Imagination Movers" come on after "Handy Manny." Say what you will about kids watching TV, but I am proud to say I have showered every morning since Ben has been born, thanks to Mickey Mouse and his friends.

Yes, she's a fan of Handy Manny. She chose this light as her one toy. The light-up toys sure have become more sophisticated since I was a kid going to the circus ...

Handy Manny, yet again. The cotton candy [her one food treat] came with this hat. And don't forget the self-portrait to document Cate's first live performance ...

The transition to two kids was much harder on me than Cate. [I'm telling you, though, once we got to 3 months, I felt like I entered a whole new life.] I'm thankful for that and all the ways she has just gone with the flow of sharing her parents and her house with Benjamin. [She almost always calls him Benjamin.] All of this to say, I was happy to have a couple hours to give Cate my undivided attention in an environment I knew she'd love.

a new view

Ben had a new view of his world today ...

... from a little higher up ...

... with new sites and noises.

No, his feet do not touch the ground ...

... but he liked it anyway.

Cate @ almost 34 months

I don't really like counting her age in months anymore. I usually think of her as being 2 1/2, but she turns 3 in two months and a week or so. [Not that I'm keeping count ...] So, there you have it, almost 34 months. I guess I could have said 2 5/6 years.

Independent and stubborn, Cate reminds me a lot of myself. She has a plan of how she wants something done and gets frustrated when it doesn't work how she sees it in her mind. But she's sweet and funny too. She thanks me washing her clothes "in the circle" and randomly will say, "I love you so much," with "so much" said with a strung-out emphasis ... s ... o ... m ... u ... c ... h ... She [usually] hugs and kisses her friends when we part ways.

And, you know, she cracks me up. I've been keeping track of some of the funny things she says. She calls toilet paper and Kleenex "white paper." Hearts are "harps," and she's a tad obsessed with the shape itself right now. She likes Laffy Taffy, which she calls "Happy." Hey, it makes me happy too. When I'm putting on her shoes, we'll talk about her right foot and her left foot, but she usually says, "wrong foot." I've learned words that have multiple meanings are harder for toddlers to grasp, but I love the way she thinks!

She's been into Play-Doh these days. Sometimes she makes worms. The day I took this picture she was making a cup.

We discovered indoor entertainment this week with these bouncy things. As you can see, she likes it. Of course, remember, too, that she likes to jump around.

Also this week, we had swim lessons ...

She did well most of the days. She even went under water a couple of times with no real opposition. Her favorite part is kicking around while holding onto the noodle.

Ben's new friend

This is Ben with his comfort The Taggie, who seems to be doing a decent job replacing The Pacifier.

He likes The Taggie to be close to his face ...

This is actually the back-up Taggie. The favorite one was hand-made by Emily, who also made the beautiful blanket for Ben.

These days ...

... Ben enjoys looking at his mobile and his fist.

... Cate still likes accessories. [This picture is courtesy Greg's iPhone.]