15 Months!

Mornings are one of my favorite times of the day with Makenzie!  I love love LOVE walking into her room when she’s first waking up.  Sometimes she’s babbling as if to tell us all about her dreams… sometimes she’s still snuggled under her blanket while grinning behind her binky… and sometimes she’s being silly and running from one side of her crib to the other while giggling.

This past Saturday morning I walked into the room of a cutie pie 15-month old.  Fifteen months!!  HOW is that possible?!?

15 months

Here’s what she’s been up to:

::  Talking, talking and more talking  ::

It’s so fun to hear Makenzie’s cute little voice.  Her favorites are Mama, Daddy, Ducky, Hiiii, Moo (when we look at her farm books), Ho Ho (for Santa), Sissy (referring to Lexi kitty) and lots of others.

::  Being the mayor of Rolly Pollies  ::

Makenzie is about halfway done with her session as a bumblebee at the local kid’s gym, and she’s loving it.  She was once shy but those days are long gone!  She has no fear climbing in the bounce house, the obstacle course or the tumble track.

1 20131207_084004-1

Running away with part of the obstacle course… perhaps we still need to work on following instructions.

1 20131123_084643-1

Foam pit fun!

::  Lots of kisses  ::

Kenzie has figured out how to kiss (kind of).  She loves to show affection with a her cute, sloppy, open-mouthed kisses.  They’re awesome!!

::  1st Haircut  ::

Makenzie was unfortunately mistaken for Carol Brady, so we decided we had to take action against the baby mullet.

mullet

Yowza!

She did really well and she left the salon cuter than ever!  Also now that her mullet is gone, we’ve stopped receiving Nascar mailers.  It’s a win/win.

1 20131214_100412

“A little more in the back, please Miss Jessica”

::  Listening to Music  ::

Kenzie loves dance parties!  And it’s really fun to see her develop an interest in music.  Her favorite things to watch on the iPad are YouTube videos of Sofia Grace and Rosie, and songs by Jimmy Fallon and the Roots (which makes her officially cooler than we are)!

::  Helping around the house!  ::

Makenzie really likes to be helpful.  She knows that empty sippy cups go in the sink, and she knows that paper and tissues go in the trash.  She has also been helpful by putting shoes in the front closet.   I couldn’t be more thrilled that 2/3 of our household (without naming names) now puts their shoes away!!

Kenz also loves checking out the fridge.  She will take our hand and pull us to the fridge just so she can open all the drawers and check out lunch options.

1 20131222_132337

“Snack time Mom!”

………………………………………

We go for her 15-month check-up at the end of the month.  We’ll let you know how our little munchkin compares to the rest of the 15 months olds in the world.  My guess is that she’ll be in the one hundredth percentile of cuteness.  Stay tuned…

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Be in the top one percentile of coolness

by Liking Mommy McBlog on Facebook!

Mommy McBlog

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Merry Christmas Baby!

(We’ve been relaxing and enjoying the holidays, hence the blog slacking.  I promise I’ll go back to my regular Thursday morning posting schedule next week.  Until then, pass the chocolate Santas!)

Dear Makenzie,

Christmas has come and gone in the blink of an eye.  It’s almost impossible to believe that we just celebrated our second Christmas with you… wasn’t it just a few weeks ago that we put you in your teeny tiny 1st Christmas outfit to meet Santa?

12_1 Kenzie with Santa 1

December 2012 – Our little Christmas baby meeting Santa for the first time

Christmas 2013 has been a wonderful!  Your dad and I are still on vacation, and all this extra time with you has been awesome – lots of sleeping in (if you count 7:30 as sleeping in), playing, reading and giggling .  You make life so much fun!

In case you don’t remember this Christmas I figured I’d write this post for you with some of the best parts of the holiday season.

:: Decorating ::

1 20131207_105646

You were really helpful this year in Decking the Halls!  Thanks Kenz! (Right after you helped hang these ornaments, you took most of them down and piled them in your wagon, but either way it was very cute.)

:: Meeting Santa! ::

1 20131208_131106

This December marked your second visit to Santa! You did great and you even waved to your Daddy and me as you told Santa what you wanted. You definitely made the Nice list. Way to go baby girl!

:: Enjoying the lights ::

1 20131215_182832

Here you are at the door checking out the neighborhood Christmas lights! I’m shocked by how grown up you have become.

Then our family holiday fun began on Christmas Eve with a drive to Ohio.  I’ll let the pictures tell the rest…

1 20131224_145756

You were snug as a bug as we cruised along route 90 to Ohio.

1 20131224_184809

You tolerated a few pictures as we dressed you up as Kenzie Claus. Daddy sure loves you!

1 20131224_205618

Here you are getting ready for a Christmas Eve sleep as Nana reads you and Ryan a bedtime story.

1 20131225_073548

Visions of sugarplums dancing in your head…

And finally, it was Christmas morning!!!

1 20131225_081501

Ryan found the first gift of the year, his new train! All Aboard!

1 20131225_083347

The morning was a blur of wrapping paper. You, and your cousins Ryan and Jack must have been good this year.  Santa brought you lots of cool toys.

1 20131225_090503

Jack Jack enjoyed his 1st Christmas along with Auntie Melissa!

1 20131225_104040

Your new trike and matching helmet (in your reindeer-footie jammies).  You melt our hearts. 🙂

After a few days we headed to Pittsburgh for a very McGee Christmas!

1 20131226_120825

Cousin Connor was excited to see you!

1 20131226_123228

Auntie Meg checked out the 2014 calendar with you.

1 20131226_153542

Your Mamaw and Pappap bought you your very FIRST car this Christmas! It’s a super cute VW Beetle. We can’t wait to see you cruise down the street in it!

1 20131226_192204

Your friend Charlotte loved your car too!

1 20131226_181341

And there was more bedtime story fun waiting for you!

1 20131226_183223

And it wouldn’t be a Christmas without the official cousin shot. It turned out very cute this year!

Another great Christmas in the books!

Makenzie, you make the holidays SO much fun.  Your Dad and I count our lucky stars every day for healthy, happy you!!  Merry Christmas Baby, you’re the best gift ever.   We can’t wait to see what 2014 brings!

Love you to the moon and back,

Mom

xoxo

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Join the Mommy McBlog Fun on Facebook!

Mommy McBlog

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

One of those amazing melt-your-mom-heart Moments

Call me a rebel because it’s not a Wednesday night, but I feel the urge to blog a little.  It’s honestly a selfish reason… I don’t want to ever forget today.

Today in the middle of cleaning, in the middle of wrapping, in the middle of life, I had one of the amazing Melt-your-Mom-heart Moments.  Those are the moments that make all the hard parts of parenting worthwhile.

It started simple enough… one of our wonderful neighbors/friends brought Makenzie an awesome (and incredibly generous) Christmas gift: the super adorable Disney Princess Klip Klop Stable.   It’s so cute!  She was napping when they dropped it off, but Denny and I were so excited to see her reaction that we woke her up early (after we played with it ourselves of course).  Kenz came into the room and let out a shriek to see the awesome gift.   The picture below highlights her joy.  She just stood there with her little hands moving, and she had a huge smile on her face.  It melted my heart into a million billion pieces.

image

Excited!

Kenzie played with it for a long time and didn’t even notice when I left the room briefly…  When I came back it was as if I watched her transform from our baby to a little girl.  Denny and I both snuck in the doorway and watched her picking up the little people and moving them around and babbling to them telling the ponies all about the storyline she was creating.  It was the first time we ever saw her play like such a big girl.

So cute, and so amazing!  There were tears in my eyes and there was a feeling of immense appreciation in my heart for what we have.  Our little pumpkin is turning into a big girl one klip klop at a time.

For all the stress and the anxiety I’ve been feeling as I try to make Christmas “perfect” I was reminded tonight that it has nothing to do with perfection,  It’s really about those super cool moments we get to spend with the little (and big) ones in our life we love the most.

Here’s to finding more of those moments in your holiday season!

Cheers,

Erin

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

It will melt my heart if you Like

Mommy McBlog on Facebook!

Mommy McBlog

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

An (Honest) Mom’s Letter to Santa

Dear Santa,

Hey big guy!  It’s me, Erin.  You’ll be here in a few days and I have yet to send you a letter.  This is partly because I’ve been busy, but more so because I’m afraid I don’t have a spot on the ‘Nice’ list.  Last year at this time I just had a baby and I was full of crazy hormones, but I’m not sure my excuse this year… Sleepless nights?…Working mom craziness?…  Do those count?

The past few weeks paint a pretty vivid snapshot of the year so I’ll be honest and tell you what I’ve been doing (and what I haven’t been doing).

……………….

Here goes:

  • Our family went four days in a row without eating vegetables at dinner – Not nice
  • I failed to make our bed… for the past 51 weeks  – Not Nice
  •  Makenzie ate a chicken nugget out of the trash can while I was in charge of her.  – Gross and Very Not Nice
  • I missed my Grandpa’s Birthday – Definitely Not Nice
  • I bought Denny chocolate as stocking stuffers and then ate them all within 2 hours. (Sorry honey) – Slightly Naughty
  • I went through a yellowish light, crap! – Very naughty
  • I snapped at Denny because I was feeling stressed. – Not nice at all.
  • I said curse words when my Roomba stopped working. –  Naughty.
  • I said another curse word when I woke up late. – Naughty, naughty.
  • I said curse words when I went through a yellowish (red) light, but I was not with my daughter if that makes up for it. –  Naughty, naughty, naughty.
  • I forgot to give the cat breakfast. – Meow, not nice.

And

  • I lied about my weight when signing up for life insurance. – Not nice but who tells the truth anyway?

I think that’s it (oh wait, I have a dentist appointment Monday morning and I’ll likely lie about flossing regularly).

……………….

Phew.  Okay, that’s really it.  I’ve officially come clean with my Not Nice-ness.  It’s not  pretty but it’s the truth.  Now, it’s your call as to what list I’m on.  If 2013 is the year I end up on the Naughty List, I can accept it, and I’ll definitely try harder next year.  If I can squeak by on the Nice list, awesome!  And if that’s the case, I would like to request a 12-hour night sleep and perhaps a pedicure.   Otherwise, I’m good to go and I have everything a girl could want.

I’m looking forward to a really fun Christmas!  Thanks for all your hard work and keep me posted on your answer.  I’ll be eagerly waiting and hoping to unwrap a full night’s sleep under the tree.

Love,

Erin

naughty nice

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

You’ll be on the Naughty List if you don’t like

Mommy McBlog on Facebook!

Mommy McBlog

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

My Favorite Things

Raindrops on roses and whiskers on kittens
Bright copper kettles and warm woolen mittens
Brown paper packages tied up with strings
These are a few of my favorite things

Perhaps it’s the holiday season or perhaps it was the recent Live version of the Sound of Music… who doesn’t LOVE that movie (although we all know Carrie Underwood paled in comparison to Julie Andrews but that’s not the point), Either way it got me thinking about My Favorite Things.

favorite things

Last year I devoted 12 consecutive days to listing items that any new Mom could use (check it out here – Mommy McBlog 12 Days of Giftmas).  It was fun to work on every day, but since I’m not on maternity leave anymore, this year’s post will be the abridged version.   And go!!

Mommy McBlog – My Favorite Things

(in no particular order)

~~~~~~~

Binkies on a String

If Denny and I were Hansel & Gretel, we could trace our last 14 months by finding binkies along the way.   They’ve been tossed/dropped over balconies, down toilets, in pools, around beds, the list goes on and on.  Then about 12 months into being parents we gained some common sense and purchased a few of these bad boys.

Hello Binkies on a String, I think I love you!!!

binkies on a string

~~~~~~~

Mary Kay Peach Satin Hands Pampering Set

Perfect for those busy moms who need a spa trip but don’t have time.  Renew, smooth and pamper those hands!  You’ll be glad you did and your hands won’t feel a day over 25.

~~~~~~~

Snapfish.com

I love everything Snapfish… photo books, ornaments, calendars, you name it!  They also have rockin’ 60% off promo codes.  Heck yeah!!

snapfish

~~~~~~~

Roomba

Wowza, Amazing, Fabulous!!

The. Best. Purchase. Ever!   I can never say “I don’t have time to sweep/vacuum the floors” again!   It takes a few minutes to pick up loose toys and items but then I hit Go and the Roomba sweeps up the entire downstairs.  It’s awesome!!   Go get one if you don’t have one yet.  Your life will be changed forever.

~~~~~~~

Tim Hortons K-Cups …  

This is even better than sliced bread because the last time I checked you couldn’t put Schwebel’s in your Keurig every morning to make your day amazing!

keurig  = erin 2

(I swear I look this happy every morning after I get my Tim Ho’s coffee)

~~~~~~~

And last but certainly not least…

Friday Night Date Nights

Well, sort of a date night.  Every Friday night Denny and I put Makenzie to bed, and then we get a little crazy…  We order up a hot Picasso’s pizza for the two of us to share and we hang out on the couch, we catch up with each other, we catch up on some DVR and we get a little bit food drunk.  Talk about hot and steamy nights!  I highly recommend it.

~~~~~~~

Those are some of my favorite things.  Hopefully they inspired some ideas for those of you with last-minute shopping (I’m part of this group)!  May your days leading up to Christmas be merry and bright (and if they aren’t all perfectly merry, bright and stress-free, then Congratulations, you’re normal!)

Thanks for stopping by!

Love,

Erin the blog elf

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

What gifts Jingle Your Bells?

Join the Mommy McBlog fun on Facebook and let us know!

Mommy McBlog

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Christmas came in like a wrecking ball

It’s now official… Miley Cyrus and her inappropriate twerking have even impacted Santa Claus.  We’ve all known for years that jolly old man likes Ho Ho Ho’s, but now the perhaps biggest Ho Ho Ho of 2013 has changed the course of the holiday season as we know it…

How, you ask?  Well because Christmas has come in like a Wrecking ball!

I have a feeling she’s not on the Nice list.

What’s up with this very short time frame between Turkey Day and Christmas?

It’s a mere 26 days… that comes down to only 8 weekend days aka 16 hours of baby naptime in which to finish all the gifting, baking, decorating, writing, addressing, wrapping and prepping… it seems like there is too much to do and not enough time to do it!

Mom holiday meltdown, tis the season!

And I’m wondering if I’m the only one feeling way behind right now.  According to my Facebook and Instagram feeds, I’m the only Mom in America who hasn’t done all of the following:

  • Cut down a tree in from the whirly-twirley forest of fun
  • Decorated the inside and outside of the house with LED twinkle lights
  • Hung the specially embroidered stockings by the chimney with care
  • Made and frosted organic gingerbread cookies
  • Designed a wreath out of candy canes and scrabble pieces (oh boy, don’t get me started with Pinterest)
  • Made a scrapbook of the elf’s journey around the shelf, the house and the continent of Europe
candy cane wreath pinterest

Seriously, what’s up with my overachieving friends and family?!?  You’re killing me people!

Perhaps the holidays seem extra busy because now we have a little elf running around the house making it challenging to get anything done beside dance to the Hot Dog song (incredibly fun but not productive)… Perhaps the short time frame truly is adding to the stress… Or perhaps I’m just being a whiny Mom who will end up on the naughty list if I don’t change my attitude.

So if you’re out there and you feel my pain, please let me know.  As for everyone else, please lower your expectations of my holiday festiveness this year.  We’re definitely going to enjoy the holidays but there is a strong possibility we’ll be doing it with a bale of hay on our front porch (still from Halloween) and a cookie jar full of store-bought cookies!  Cheers to that!

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Is that a candy cane in your pocket, or are you just happy to see me?

Follow the (semi-inappropriate) holiday fun on Facebook

Mommy McBlog

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

A funny hubby, a cute baby and the Target Cartwheel app

Thankful?  Yep, I’m absolutely thankful!

I have a funny hubby, cute baby and the Target Cartwheel app… what else could a girl need (seriously I think those 3 things make up the ‘basic’ level on the Maslow’s Hierarchy of needs)?

I think we all try to be extra aware of the good stuff around us at this time of the year (at least until we wake up at 2 am the day after being thankful to arm wrestle people for hot deals on laptops, but whatever).   I could write about all the obvious things in my life that I love, but who’s got time for that… there’s food to be eaten!  So I thought I’d go a different route and think about all the little itty-bitty things that make life sweet.

……………………

::  A day in the life of a Thankful mom  ::

5:30 am – Alarm, snooze, snooze, hear baby girl, slip out of bed to get sweet sleepy baby… and the thankfulness begins…

…Thankful for flannel sheets (even if I don’t want to get out of them), thankful for Kenzie’s adorable bed head, thankful for extra absorbent diapers, thankful for morning snuggles…

20131023_064159

Little pumpkin bed head… melts my heart!

6:21 am

…Thankful for hot showers, thankful for tights so I don’t have to shave my legs, thankful for a husband who did laundry the night before (true story, Denny does all the laundry)…

7:05 am

…Thankful (SO THANKFUL) for Tim Ho’s K-cups, thankful for morning playtime with Kenz, thankful for the Today Show, thankful for binkies on a string, thankful for Cheerios…

tim hos k cup

Mornings haven’t been this amazing since the days of kegs & eggs in college!

7:32 am

…Incredibly thankful for a wonderful caregiver, thankful for a baby that (usually) doesn’t cry at drop-off, thankful for a commute that gives me just enough time to catch up with a few loved ones…

7:55 am

…Thankful for Pandora, thankful for cute baby pics to look at while I’m in the office, thankful for a system to prioritize e-mails, thankful for my OU mouse pad…

11_22 TUrkey 2

Speaking of pictures on my desk, here’s Thanksgiving 2012. Our little turkey was about 7 weeks old.

8:45 am

…Thankful for a job that I really truly enjoy, thankful for a cool view of medical campus out office window, thankful for funny co-workers…

11:45 am

…Thankful for flat shoes to run errands, thankful for $5 foot longs, thankful for texting to send a note to a friend I haven’t talked to lately…

flat shoes

3:10 pm

…Thankful for a husband who likes to check-in during the day, thankful for leftover Subway cookies from lunch…

4:35 pm

…Thankful for flex time, thankful for blue tooth in my car, thankful for a husband who does pick-up duty…

5:40 pm

…Thankful for fun mail, thankful for Digiorno pizzas, thankful for sweat pants, thankful for sippy cups…

7:40 pm

…Thankful for adorable bare baby bums, thankful for baby shampoo that doesn’t burn if it goes in eyes, thankful for the smell of a clean baby…

8:20 pm

Thankful for a chance to just sit, thankful for baby video monitors, thankful for ice cream, thankful for DVR…

9:40 pm

…Thankful for a few minutes to share my thoughts on the blog, thankful for YOU for stopping by to read it…

And at the end of the day (every day)

…I’m thankful for all the countless blessings we have, and I’m thankful the people in my world (both with us and the ones we carry in our hearts) for the impact they leave in my life…

(Speaking of, this is one of my favorite pictures of when Aunt Lorraine met Makenzie last Thanksgiving.  Tomorrow (Thanksgiving) would have been my Aunt Lorraine and Uncle Jim’s 50th wedding anniversary.   She’ll be in our thoughts all day)

11_19 Aunt Lorraine and Kenzie

What I would give to go back to last year for just a little more time with Aunt Lorraine…

Wishing you and your families an awesome, turkey-filled holiday as you celebrate with all the people who make you thankful!

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Like Mommy McBlog on Facebook

I’ll be even more thankful!

Mommy McBlog

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Fall-la-la-la-la

There’s no doubt that we are already knee-deep in the holiday season (who else is feeling the pressure?).   BUT before we dive into the land of Fa-la-la-la-la-la-la-la-la, I’m blogging once more about fall-fall-fall-fall-fall-fall-fall-fall-fall.

It’s been a fun few weeks since Kenzie’s Birthday party.  Our little baby has quickly turned into  a toddler (sobs!) and she’s ready to take on the world!

Here’s a peek into her busy little schedule…

::  Saturday Morning gymnastics class!  ::

Kenz-o falls under the Bumblebee category at a local kid’s gym center and she’s doing great!  Can we say Nadia McGee?

image

Bounce, bouncin on the ball!

image

Climbing on the obstacle course.

::  Driveway dismounts  ::

Speaking of tumble, our little gymnast tried to run down the driveway but unfortunately didn’t get a perfect 10.   She took a big Fall-la-la-la-la.  We went to urgent care who sent us to the ER.  Scary stuff, but luckily the ER told us the best news — we didn’t need to be there and she would be just fine!  We spent 12 hours monitoring her and she’s A-Okay!   We are thanking our lucky stars!

image

A few days after the fall and she’s feeling great!

image

Tweeting about her trip to the ER on her iPad. Such a modern-day babe.

:: Eating chili, the lunch of champions  ::

We’ve been taking advantage of the crisp fall weather to enjoy football Sundays.

image

Yum!

::  And getting Holiday ready  ::

We can’t deny it.  Christmas is a-coming!  This weekend we did a quick trip to Ohio to see some friends & family.  We got some holiday photos and had a great visit.

image

Kenz & Keene… best buds and future bride & groom, perhaps the year 2042?

image

Still hard to believe Melissa and I have our own kids. Seems like just yesterday we were playing with our Cabbage Patch babies!

image

Our little girl looking very grown up and ready for the holidays. She makes us smile 🙂

There’s a lot more to do before Santa arrives and the next few weeks should be full of fun.
Thanks for taking time to visit the good ol’ blog!
Until next Thursday…
fa la la

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Like Mommy McBlog on Facebook

It’s hotter than door busters on Black Friday!

Mommy McBlog

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

One Tense Mama

My 2014 planner arrived this week, woo hoo!  There’s nothing I love more than having a fresh planner to mark birthdays, work events and vacation dates.  Totally lame but life’s all about the little things, right?

But before I could even flip to February I started thinking about my New Years resolutions.  I’m serious about this… 2014 WILL be the year I make and stick with my resolution.  I’ve known my resolution for a while so it’s time to get moving on it… and there’s not better way to hold myself accountable than to announce my resolution to all my millions thousands hundreds-ish readers on the blog (Hi Mom!). 

So without further adieu.

My 2014 resolution is…. (drumroll please)….

To be one tense Mom.

No, not tense as in uptight.  Tense as in present tense.

And here’s why…

Lately I’ve been thinking about how Moms are master multi-taskers.   Even when we’re with our babes we’re sometimes not with our babes.  Life pulls us in lots of directions and Moms, more than anyone, have a lot on their minds.   And I’ve come to the conclusion that even when you are with your kids, you may not be present with them, hence the Three Tenses of Mommy-ing.

Present Tense Mama – The present-tense Mom is with her kiddos and having fun. This is the Mom that’s fully engaged and paying 100% attention.  The present-tense Mom makes memories and lives in the moment.  She rocks!  This is my goal!!

Future Tense Mom – This is the Mom that’s spending time with her kiddos but rather than engaging she’s thinking about life 20 minutes from now, 4 hours from now and 3 days from now.  This mom’s packing sippy cups for the afternoon trip to the park…. while thawing meat for tonight’s dinner…. while making a shopping list for Sunday’s grocery (no doubt we’ve all done this).   She’s 10 steps ahead of the rest of the world.  Watch out world!

Past Tense Mom –  This Mom is spending times with her kids too, but rather than playing she’s caught up with the memories of the past.  This past tense mom is too busy to have fun because she’s taking pictures, making calendars and sending photo books to the grandmas.  Aside from carrying the baby, this mom carries passwords to all the accounts – Instagram, Shutterfly, and Snapfish.

………………………………………………….

It’s not a bad thing to be a past tense or a future tense Mom.  In fact it unavoidable at times, but my NY resolution is to focus on being a present-tense Mama with Makenzie as much as possible, and here’s a few tricks I’ve learned to achieve this….

  • Night-time prep – the more I can do while she sleeps, the less I have to do while she’s awake.  Nighttime = full-on prep mode.  Set out clothes, K-cups, keys, bags, bottles, binkies… you name it!   Granted mornings still get crazy at times, but once in awhile all the prep will give me some free time before work and Kenzie and I get to play, play play.
  • Committing to activities – It’s true that the swim class and baby gym class benefit Kenzie but the other perk is that committing to a regular activity requires me to be a present-tense Mom as we splash, tumble and make memories.

And lastly, the key to being a present-tense Mama is…

  • Dance parties – We love these!!  We stop everything and turn on 80’s station on Pandora to dance and get silly.  There’s no time to stress about planning for the future or snapping photos, there’s only time to get crazy and dance your cute little 13-month old heart out.  Awesome!!!

………………………………………………….

Now Bring it on 2014!

I’m challenging myself to be more tuned in as a Mom.

Will it work???  I hope!

I’ve got a goal.   I’ve got clear steps to achieve the goal.   So now let’s see if I can be less tense and more present tense.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Join the 80’s dance parties with Mommy McBlog on Facebook!

Mommy McBlog

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

50 Shades of (every color but) Gray

This post is long overdue, but I haven’t forgotten about it.   Way back when, Denny and I committed to a few items on our To Do list.

They were List Items #81, #82, #83 & #85.

  • Commit to re-painting front room. 
  • Select color. 
  • Buy paint.  Paint.
  • Buy fluffy area rug.

Surprisingly, we did them.  But let me start at the beginning…

Over the past few years our front room has been experiencing an identity crisis – rightfully so – but I think we’ve finally figured out its purpose in life: a relaxing family room and play room.   Check it the experience to get there.

Feb 2009 – Purchase house, yeah!  At time of purchase, front room is bright blue color and used as a sitting room.

Sold!! (But not sold on the color inside)

Photos from final walk through of house (that’s not even our stuff in this picture)

Another final walk through photo of the front room

Feb 2009 – Decide we like sitting room concept but decide we need to repaint it.

March 2009 – Do nothing except change mind of what we want to do.

April 2009 – Decide room should be a dining room – add crown molding and chair rail and paint top half of room red.  No, burgundy.   No, brown.  Yes, brown.  We finally decided on a chocolate brown color.   Move small table into room with non-matching chairs.  Hmmm, we don’t love it.

Sometime in late 2009 – Finally replace non-matching table set with my grandparents beautiful dining set!   Better.

Holidays! (Blurry picture apparently taken after wine consumption)

2010 & 2011 –  Put down hardwood flooring on the main level.    But despite new floors, dining room didn’t get used for anything except  storage.  Maybe a dining room might not be a good way to go?  We decide we’re not dining room people.

2012 – Decide a sitting room is the way to go.  (I wonder if the former owners did this journey too?)  Move out dining room table and add dark rug and couch.  Hmm, not loving it, but functionality has improved.

20130727_201205

Getting there, but too dark and too serious.

May 2013 – Commit to function of room in a new color.  Beige?  Gray?  Yellow?  Green?  Ahh, yes, let’s pretend we’re not beige-aholics and try green.

August 2013 – Buy paint samples.  Test paint samples.  Commit to a color.  Change mind.  Commit to another color.  See if parents can visit and keep busy baby away from wet paint.  Make it happen.  Yay!    “Painting with a very busy baby is fun!” – said no one ever

Sept 2013 –   Celebrate completion but wonder if we should have gone with beige.  Darn!

October 2013 – Realize we like lazy weekends more than we like to repaint.  Commit to green and take pictures.

fron room 1

Cozy couch view (end table still needed)

front room 2

Full room view, The wall above the brown chair will eventually become our family picture wall.

Nov 2013 – Finish this post.

Dec 2013 (maybe, possibly, hopefully) – Finish off room with a picture wall

I know we’re not exactly the team at Young House Love, but we’re pretty happy with the change.

What do you think?

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Home is where the projects are.

Facebook is where Mommy McBlog fans are.

Mommy McBlog

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~