Mother & Date Night and #FROZENFUN

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We saw Disney's FROZEN the movie over the holidays with my Mom and Ava's cousins. We loved it! It's such a great story about love and family. I wasn't sure how I would like it, usually I don't know about some of these animated movies. I don't like when they have adult humor in them and are marketed towards kids, but FROZEN was a great movie. Really heart warming, and I loved that it was about two sisters and their love for each other.

Paired with a really funny snowman (Olaf) and cute reindeer (Sven) and the best soundtrack ever! If you haven't gone to see the movie yet, take your kiddos this weekend. You'll all love it, I promise!

This week I took Ava on a Mommy & Me date! I love doing this with her, it's good to get away with her and give her some special one on one time with me. We went to Subway and had dinner, they have special FROZEN Fresh Fit Kids meal with a FROZEN themed toyed inside. 

After dinner we headed to Wal-Mart, Ava wanted to pick up a "FROZEN" dress like the one from the movie. While we were there we checked out all the other FROZEN themed toys they had to offer. Ava decided on the set that included Sven, Olaf toy, Anna toy and Elsa toy dolls. She's been playing with them non stop. 

Did I mention that the soundtrack is awesome?! Well, it is. Ava was singing "Let it Go" on our way out the theatre and she's been singing it ever since. We have been watching clips on Youtube of Elsa performing it and Ava has been singing along with it. She's got the whole thing memorized it's the cutest thing. 

It reminds me of me when I was a little girl. I remember when The Little Mermaid came out, I had the tape soundtrack. You better believe I wore that tape out listening and singing all those songs.

We love FROZEN and I can't wait already till it's out on DVD so we can watch it again and again. In the mean time Ava is having a lot of fun acting out scenes from the movie with her toys and singing along. 

Have you seen FROZEN yet? Did you love the movie too? What's your favorite character? 

4 Simple Tips To Help Your Children Sleep Well

*Disclaimer; I'm not an expert. I am just one parent sharing what I've learned and what's worked for me in hopes you can learn something as well. 

How do you like that title? Well, it's true.

Let's talk about sleep for a second, shall we? If you're like me you want more of it. Love your bed and wish that your kids would sleep longer and past 6:30 am, can I get an AMEN! But, alas my kiddos do not and they always have me up way to early (in my opinion) wanting me to get them dressed and fed or something. I kid.

Let's back up for a second and understand where I'm coming from on this. Both my kids have had very different sleep patterns from the time of infancy till now. Ava was my dream baby, she slept through the night at 3 months old, she took two naps a day lasting for two, sometimes three hours. I was very blessed and thought it was amazing that she always slept so great. Now that she's three her sleeping has been all over the place. We went through a phase where she didn't want to nap at all. She isn't always the best bedtime sleeper either, she doesn't like bed time shall I say.

Zane, he's my wild child and unpredictable. He still does not sleep through the night, and he's well over a year old. Let me repeat that, he does not sleep through the night. He has become a good naper during the day though. Taking two naps a day. We're still working on getting him to sleep through the night, he's not perfect and our house is not perfect either but this is what we're working on. 

Both kids are up by 6:30 am EVERY. DAY. It's a miracle if I can get them to sleep past 7 am! Sometimes on the weekends they sleep past 7 am! I'll take what I can get at this point, and just add heaping amounts of coffee.

SO this is where I'm coming from my friends, these are some tips and tricks that have worked for me in trying to get my kiddos to sleep well and sleep better.

*Creating a routine.
One of the things that I really took away from the book Baby Wise, was about creating an eat, sleep, awake routine. Ava took really well to this routine and loved her schedule. Zane not so much as first. Even though he didn't thrive on routine I tried as much as possible to keep the routine and now at 11 months he's just now starting to really fall into a nice routine which is nice. Creating a bed time routine (bath time, stories, rocking and singing) is also helpful and I think gets kids in the mind frame of bed time and helps them wind down a bit and ready for bed.

*Make the bed only for sleeping.
This is especially helpful for babies when you're trying to sleep train them and create a routine. I learned this lesson that hard way with Zane. In our old home it was one level so it was easy to sit Ava in an exercauser or bouncer while I ran to the bathroom or did some other things for a few minutes. In our new home it's two levels and many times I would put Zane in his crib while I was upstairs doing laundry and trying to get some things done. He'd cry and scream the whole time till I was done doing whatever I was doing. Then when I'd actually want him to sleep or nap he'd cry some more eventually not sleeping because he was confused about what his crib was actually for. If you want your child to sleep better establish early on that the crib is only for sleeping and don't put your child in his/her crib unless you want them to sleep. Since doing this he's actually taken to nap time a lot better, and goes to sleep at night right away. 

*Be willing to change up sleeping times 
When I first started trying to sleep train Zane I was laying him down too early in the morning and he wasn't sleeping at all. Adjusting his nap time by an hour later allowed him to lay down at a time when he was ready and tired. Sometimes it's ok to adjust times and figure out what works for you and your child. 

*Adjust your expectations
Ava slept for two to three hours at a time during naps. I expected Zane to do the same once I started sleep training him & getting him a routine. He never slept that long, ever. For a long time it was frustrating, but then I realized that he was never going to nap for three hours like Ava did. If he napped for 45 minutes to an hour I needed to be happy with it. Some babies are just not long nappers and that's ok too. Like I said he also doesn't sleep through the night, yet. At around six months this was pretty insane to me, but I've learned to just make progress with this and keep trying. 

How Our October Is Shaping Up.

Holy Smokes! It's the end of October, seriously where did the month go? You already know October is my favorite month for a variety of reasons. Our month has been filled with the usual dance class, church activities, family nights as well as the day to day shananigans that happen round here. With some fun extras thrown in because, well... it's Fall now and the start of holiday season. 

So here's goes, what our October looked like. 

First of all these crazy, love able, keep me on my toes kids have been waking up at 6 am on the average day. Naptime seems oh so far away when this happens. But we make it through, because they sure are cute. 

We carved, painted, mod poged, and glittered some pumpkins this year. Oh yes! An assortment we did, they are all sitting on our front porch. 

 She's excited. 

I turned 31 this month. My husband got a baby sitter, and we ran as quickly as we could out for my birthday dinner. Ahh.. I love date night. It was extra special to spend the evening together for my birthday. 

Every year my husband's work throws a huge Harvest Festival bash on the campus for the entire community. We've gone the last few years and let Ava play games and collect candy. This year she really loved it. 

She told me to call her "Princess Sofia" for the rest of the night. I almost died! 

We made our way to the Pumpkin Patch this past weekend. We've gone to the same one for the last couple years. It was hot, it was sunny and this was the best family picture we got. I'll just go with it. 

Ava & Zane on a hay bail, priceless. Ava being loud and singing, while Zane just stares, totally typical for them. 

As October comes to a close, I'm looking forward to November for so many reasons. My parents and Grandparents will all be here this year for Thanksgiving. I'm so looking forward to it. My husband's birthday is also in November too, so more fun just around the corner. 

How was your October? What fun things did you do?

Does the Second Kid Get the Shaft?

I bought Zane a new high chair a couple weeks back, it was a simple high chair this one from Ikea. It was $25, some of the best money I've spent. When I was face timing with my mom I showed it to her, her response jokingly;

"Second kid gets the shaft."

The high chair we had for Ava was a Graco brand, it reclined, it had two different trays and covers. It adjusted to several different table heights and had two layers of padding. It was fancy in my opinion. It also go food stuck in every little nook an cranny. It was annoying to chisel out food from every area. Constantly spending time cleaning it was so annoying. 

So, I sold it. On Craigslist. 

And when it came time to get another high chair I wanted something, Um.. a little more easy to clean. It was cheap compared to the Graco one. 

My mom's comment was harmless, I didn't take offense but it got me thinking.

Does the second kid get the shaft?

When I was pregnant with Zane I heard a lot of people say that the second one doesn't get all the photographs, doesn't get all the attention like your first pregnancy, etc. I'm sure you've heard some of this too if you have more than one child. 

And for some of those things they might be true for different cases. But, I tend to think that I second kid gets the benefit of all your wisdom that you learned the first time. 

In this case, I wasn't going to waste my time and money on another high chair that I hated and was hard to clean. No, sir. I wanted something that was simple. I think the second time around I'm wanting to simplify as much of this mom thing as I can. 

I'm fine tuning what worked and didn't work for me the first time around and implementing that into being a mom of two now. The second kid does not get the shaft. No, the second kid gets the much calmer, easy going me. The mom who is more confident in who she is as a mother, and what kind of mother she wants to be. 

That seems pretty darn good, don't you think?! 

What things have you done better the second time around? Tell me in the comments below. 

Who said you could grow up?

I don't know what it is, but it seems like Zane is growing so fast. Oh wait, yes I do. Could it be the fact he's teething 4 teeth all at the same time? Or the fact that he's hit just about every milestone earlier than Ava ever did?

He's about to turn 8 months old in just a couple days and my head is spinning at how fast he's been growing. And if I'm being honest it's making my mama heart a little sad. It has me humming Taylor Swift's 'Don't you ever grow up" in my head all day long. 

He started crawling at six months.

Sat up on his own at seven months and within a a few days of that, next thing I knew he was pulling himself up all on his own. Now, he just crawls over to something he wants to pull himself up on. He's hardly crawling at all just pulling himself up onto things.

There are moments when I just want time to slow down a bit so that I can enjoy his babyhood a little bit longer.

The days are long but the years are short. 

Oh how this is ringing so true for my season of life right now. When I'm waking up 2-3 times in the night still I try to remind myself of this simple yet true statement.

When I feel like my time is so divided by these two little ones who need different things all at the same time, I try to remind myself that they won't be like this forever.

Babies grow and change so fast, Zane is no exception. It makes me just a teeny bit sad. Especially when I think about weather or not we'll have any more children. If not, and he's my last baby it starts to make me really sad. And then I need to remind myself even more to enjoy and live in the moment that we have now. 

When you have only one child to attend to and think about I think you don't feel as rushed. Now that we have two children that are at vastly different stages in life it's so hard, I feel like time is wizzing by me. Ava is three and so full of life, energy and spunk. Zane is experiencing everything for the first time and I want to soak in and linger on those moments too. 

When the sun sets and the day is done, I try to remind myself of these small moments that we had during the day. The moments that won't happen again. Things that were said won't be said again. Cute things Ava said through out the day, I write them down in my journal and tuck them away in my heart. 

When I'm rocking Zane at 11 pm and then again at 3 in the morning I'm remembering that these moments won't last long, even though while in the midst it seems as if they will never end. 

They will grow up. They are growing. 

Even though they don't listen to me when I tell them not to. ;)

Becoming a Mom Times Two.

This time last year I was pregnant with Zane, house hunting, and trying not to lose my ever loving mind trying to potty train Ava. My pregnancy with Zane went by in the blink of an eye, I had all the grand plans of documenting every month in pictures with Ava by my side and doing all sorts of things but in the craziness that was our lives last Fall a lot of those things fell to the way side and sleep and trying to make sure things were in order in our lives took priority.

I remember blogging about my different pregnancies. It shouldn't have come as any surprise to me that these two kiddos of mine would be different after having such a different pregnancy experience. Even my birthing experience with baby #2 was so different.

(just hours after giving birth)

I didn't know how this new baby would change me, I didn't even know that it would change my mothering but it has. On one hand a lot of the things that gave me anxiety as a first time mom didn't the second time around. There was a bit of confidence in my step knowing that some of these emotions, milestones and situations I'd already been through and knew exactly what to do and how I felt about it.

And then without warning baby Zane became a much different baby that Ava was. And all those things "I knew how to do" got thrown out the window for middle of the night crying out to whom ever would listen saying "I have no clue what I'm doing."

My son is now almost 8 months old and he's still not sleeping through the night. I just started "sleep training" him last week. I've shed more tears in the last few months than I think I have in a couple years.

I feel tired ALL THE TIME.

Most days I don't feel like I have it together.

Sometimes I feel like I'm going to lose my mind. There are days when I run to the bathroom and just close the door for a few seconds just to collect myself and say a prayer before coming out to re join my kiddos.

My son is different than Ava in so many ways, and because of that I find myself dealing with and parenting him differently.

And sometimes I wish they were the same, you know? Cause that would be so much easier than the current season I'm in.

A season where a lot of grace is needed when the house isn't as clean as I'd like it to be, or when I haven't accomplished most of what was on my "to-do" list for the day. This transition from one to two has been really hard on me, and now almost 8 months later I feel like we're kinda starting to catch our groove.

Last weekend I was at a birthday party for my friend's son and two other moms and I were sitting there chatting and they asked me what the transition was like going from one to two? I took a deep breath and asked them again if they wanted my honest answer and then began to share my heart.

It has been hard, there have been lots of tears shed. There has been moments of frustration and pure exhaustion. But, there have also been sweet moments that I know I'll never get back.

Moments when Ava looks at Zane and tells my how much she loves him. And I love how she calls him "her baby." 

And when I'm sitting there in the middle of the night in the dark rocking my son and trying to calm him down I remind myself that this hard thing I'm going through is just a season.

A season that will be gone all too quickly.

I say many, many prayers and ask God for wisdom and for him to fill me with super natural strength because I can not get through my days without HIM. I remember what a precious gift it is to be their parents, and that I get to raise them.

My encouragement is that I know this will not last forever (I tell myself this daily too). Sure, it's very hard right now but it will not be forever. So in these moments I try to keep my perspective on this. And let myself off the hook a little bit and know that I'm still trying to find my way and that's ok.

spoiled the first time around.

When Ava was a newborn we had the typical days vs. nights confusion that most newborns have. I remember this one awful night we had with her at just a few days old. She was having a screaming crying fit in the middle of the night.

I fed her, check.

She was changed, check.

So why oh why was she still screaming?!

{Ava just a few weeks old}

But she was still crying and screaming like bloody murder, like the kinda crying that makes you feel like you're absolutely going to go crazy. The kinda crying that makes you want to cry too because you're so exhausted yourself. I remember during this crying fit my mom slowly coming in our room and offering to take her and try to calm her so we could get some sleep.

Thank God for Grandmas, right?! My mom was able to calm her down in a couple of minutes and stayed and slept with Ava for a few good hours so we could get some sleep. I was forever grateful for those hours of sleep and for my mom knowing just what to do and that we needed help.

I endured many nights of little to no sleep, late night feedings and lots of crying as most mothers do. Then around three months old Ava did something amazing, she started sleeping for about 8 hours straight at night. I remember the first time she did this, I was waking up all through the night checking on her and making sure she was still breathing. I just couldn't believe she was sleeping still, and sleeping so well.

 {Zane just one day old}

At first you kinda think it's a fluke or something. Like surely this is to good to be true, right? After a couple of weeks of her sleeping so well it was time to declare her a champion sleeper in my first time mothering account.

Around the same time I began sleep training Ava and she was starting to get into a nice little routine of napping twice a day for 2-3 hours. I remember it being so glorious, finally I was able to take a shower, get laundry done and feel somewhat human and on top of my household. Those first couple months seemed like a blur as result of being overly tired, not sleeping and trying to make sense of this new mom thing and this new life as parents. At times we felt like we were in a constant fog, the newborn haze I liked to call it.

But once we got a rythm it was good, oh so good. I remember blogging about he sleep habits and other moms telling me how lucky I was. Ava was always a very chill, very content little baby. She always played really well by herself, napped well too. She hardly ever cried except for when she needed something like to eat. She was like my dream baby.

And I remember friends telling us that we couldn't get this lucky twice, that the next one would totally be different. At the time we smiled and laughed having no idea what to expect the next time around but were completely enjoying this new rythm we'd found with our baby. She made parenting easy for us. She was an easy baby.

When you're a new mom all you know is your first baby. What you did with your first baby, how they acted, how they slept, what you did to make them happy and content is all based on the first time account you've had with baby #1. Then you have baby number two, and even though you thought you knew what you were doing all of a sudden everything you knew to do now had to change because baby #2 is oh so very different.

Everyone tells you that each baby is so different, I've heard that a million times. I didn't realize how different they would be till we brought Zane home. I'm slowly trying to figure this whole mom of two thing out.

see I was spoiled by my first.

I'm still trying to figure out #2.

Did you have a similar experience with your children? Tell me about it in the comments below.

Better Nights with Good Nights

This shop is part of a social shopper marketing insight campaign with Pollinate Media Group™ and GoodNites, but all my opinions are my own. #pmedia #BetterNights  http://cmp.ly/3/8vNxcO.

I posted this picture on my Instagram this week with a caption that read:

"Keeping it real; saving my sanity and putting and end to the bed time madness with these."

Ava has been potty trained for the most part except for having accidents at night, and I remember right before the baby was born a lot of my friends mentioned that she might regress in her potty training once the baby was born. I was hoping that she wouldn't but open minded that she might and decided we'd take it as it came. 

Well, she regressed. She started wetting the bed during both nap time and bed time. We've tried a lot of things, like cutting her liquid intake off two hours before bed time, waking her up at night so she could use the bathroom just to name a few. Nothing was working. And I was waking up in the middle of the night to my toddler who was wet, and washing sheets daily because of this wetting. I knew something had to give.

It wasn't until I met up with some girl friends and we started talking about our kids that I mentioned the issues we were having. I also realized that my daughter is a heavy sleeper and doesn't wake herself up when she needs to go, she's also a sleep walker which has added some interesting things to the mix. 

One of my girlfriends told me that if it helped to save my sanity and make things easier that we should just put her in a pull up at night. Eventually she will learn and grow out of it, and if it saves my sanity in the mean time it was all worth it. 

This thought resonated with me ever since, and I think as parents we tend to get caught up on a lot of things when it comes to our kids and their development, especially when we always want them to be moving forward and learning new things.

Once I posted that pic on Instagram I got a ton of messages from other friends letting me know their kids had similar issues that they eventually out grew. It really helped to know there was a community of moms and other parents who had been through similar things and came out on the other side.

It reminds me as a parent that we each make the best decisions for our children no matter what everyone else is doing, but it's always night to hear that you're not alone either.

So we put Ava in Good Nights Bed time Underwear, and we haven't looked back! They are keeping her dry at night when she doesn't wake to use the bathroom. They are saving my sanity and helping me during the day.

I love that they come in a wide range of sizes, they have fun prints on them to help them not look so much like a diaper to your toddler and more like undies. They absorb really well, we've had issues with others that are similar and they've either leaked or not absorbed well at all, these do both of those jobs well.

Ava also has really sensitive skin and I'm happy to say that she hasn't had any issues with rashes with this brand. She's really taken to them well, and hasn't had any issues.

So I encourage you moms out there that may be struggling with the same issue, I would say to you; It's ok if this is the route you choose to go. You're a good mom, and eventually your child will grow out of this. Do yourself a favor and save your sanity now.

Plus Good Nights wants to offer you a special coupon so you can save even more, click here to get your exclusive coupon from Target.

Ok, so I'm intrigued to know; what are your potty training stories? What helpful tips have saved your parenting sanity? I'm convinced the more we're willing to share as mothers about what we're going through builds a community of encouragement.

Let's share & encourage each other.

Our Summer Bucket List

Summer is upon us! We're so ready for it! This year I wanted to help keep up focused, give us something to look forward to this summer and have A LOT of fun! Here's our summer 2013 bucket list:

*See the fireworks at Tempe Town Lakes

*Have a water balloon fight

*Take the kids (mostly Ava) to see $1 summer movies

*Go on a picnic

*Evening family walks

*Host a BBQ

*Visit the farmers market

*Splash Pad Saturdays

*Go antique shopping

*Go on a family vacation

*Clean up the backyard

*Take lots of pictures

What's on your summer list? 

brother & sister.

these two, they have my heart. 

i love that ava calls zane her baby. 

i love that when he smiles at her, she says "he loves me."

my prayer, is that they grown to love each other and have a special relationship.

i have two brothers, they are quite a bit younger than me (6 and 8 years) but still we have a special relationship.

i love watching these two play together, and i'm starting to see that relationship. 

morning snuggles.

morning laughter.

sharing of the toys and making sure "the baby" is ok during the day are some of my faves that she's expressing these days.

these two, man! those smiles, these faces.

i just love them to bits.

1 2 3 Months!

Can you believe that my baby is three months old already?! The time has gone by fast and I find myself wanting time to slow down and even stop for a bit. I guess that's what happens when you have a baby 9 day before Christmas, have family in town for almost a month, celebrate your first born's three years of life and have more family in town.

Time just goes.

There's so many emotions and feelings that have come with adding another child to our mix, and the best possible way to describe it is the feeling that our family is now complete with Zane.

I felt this same feeling just a few short moments after he was born, I didn't want to say it out loud yet because you know he was just born. But now three months later I am still feeling that same way.

He brings so much joy to our life. He's changed the way I mother. And I love my two babies oh so much. 

A little update on Zane; he's wearing size 2 diapers. He's currently sporting size 3 month clothing sometimes even 3-6 month clothing. He weighs just a little over 12 pounds.

He's quite the cat napper taking several 45 minute naps through out the day. Sleeping 4-5 hours at night and waking up to nurse. 

There are so many differences between Ava and Zane as babies. Ava always slept really well from the beginning and Zane he's all over the place with sleep. His needs are so different than her's seemed to be as a baby, therefore I find myself parenting them completely different. 

He's teaching me to slow down, and throw away everything I knew about parenting a baby in order to give him what he needs. It's crazy to me how different they are and have been. 

His nursery is still not completely finished I'm hoping to have it done by the time he's 5 months old. There's just a few more things that I want to complete before I call it done. The process has been really fun this time around making a space for a little boy. 

He is really starting to smile a ton, be more alert, coo and he's laughing which is so fun to listen to. He's already rolling over from his stomach to his back and has been for a while now. The first time he did that he was just over a month old. I couldn't believe it. 

Ava is already anxious for him to start running around with her. Asking me all the time when he's going to walk with her. She loves him so and I love seeing their relationship already. I can tell they are going to be great buddies and I hope they will be great playmates for each other. 

I am reminding myself daily to soak in these moments.

********************************

Ok friends, Google Reader will be no more come this July! I know bummer. 

So, I've been on the hunt for a new reader and I've been using Bloglovin' for the 

last couple weeks. It's super simple and easy to use. I'd love it if you joined be there.

Easy Breast Milk Storage Idea

Hi Friends! Today, I want to share with you an easy peasy way to store your expressed breast milk. When I breast fed Ava my milk storage was all over the place anywhere it would fit in the freezer, this is a simple idea and a way to keep it all together stored in the same place. And the best part, this idea will take you all of 5 minutes to make.



Here's how to do it:
- grab a gift bag you're not using make sure it's the length of your milk storage bags.
- using your scissors cut a hole length wise of your bags.
- lay your milk bags flat in the bag and place in the freezer.



Make sure you're placing your milk in there oldest first, you'll want to be pulling the oldest expressed milk first. When you pull out one bag the next one will drop into place through the slot.

See so easy. And cute.

Don't forget to go enter the $20 Target gift card giveaway, enter here.

Welcome to the World Baby Zane!

Last Sunday we welcomed our little baby boy into the world! Baby Zane is here!

Zane Everett Worley

Born Sunday December 16, 2012

7 pounds 13 ounces

20 and a half inches long

We're all doing well, I can't wait to share more with you soon. But first I'm going to enjoy our new family of four, and having family in town for Christmas!

Happy Sunday friends!

Baby's Hospital Bag Must Haves

With just a little bit of a week till my due date is here, we're busy getting some last minute things together with life. It's been a busy couple of weeks for us. The first time I went to the hospital I packed my baby's hospital bag by some Bump.com check list. The check list was great, but I quickly realized that baby's don't "need" a lot of stuff. They need just a few things, and most of it they already provide to you while you're staying at the hospital.

So, the second time around I packed completely different. Here's what's in my hospital bag for baby.

Baby's Hospital Bag Must Haves by worleyhouse on Polyvore

A few swaddle blankets are a must, I like to have my own in my bag. I like these soft ones, and I have a few other ones from Carters that I love too.

I also like to have a few outfits besides the "going home" outfit of coarse. I really like these gowns that are open on the bottom. Quick and easy for changing.

The going home outfit is always a must have, I choose a simple heather grey one from Carters with a sweet little hat.

And even though they have all this at the hospital already I like to pack a few diapers and wipes of my own. As well as burp cloths and some pacifiers. The Avent ones are my fave. 

What are you baby bag must haves? I'd love to hear them, leave them in the comments below.

the time she cried through the grocery store.

so a couple weekends ago my husband was out of town for the weekend. it was the first time I'd ever been alone with Ava for an extended period of time. i wasn't worried or scared at all, i knew we'd be fine. i knew he was going to have a great time too.

we loaded him up on a plane, gave kisses and said our good-byes.

there's just some things still as a mom that i kinda dread doing solo with my child. going to the grocery store always seems to be one of them.

so i don't. most of the time, 99% of the time i go by myself to the grocery store. get my things and get home. and in some sorta weird probably mommy way going to the grocery store or target becomes like a mini retreat.

moms, are you with me?

suddenly a lackluster trip to the grocery store can be all that you needed for that day to feel re grouped and refreshed.

this particular weekend i needed to make that trip to the grocery store. so with Ava in toe, i made the tripped. scoured the parking lot till i found the grocery cart with the red car attached to her {her fave, i blame her father for starting that.}

we were all set to go, cruising  the aisles, eating our samples of crackers and apples. {thank you grocery store man for the distraction.}

when it happened.

the dreaded melt down over not wanting to ride in the red car anymore. we've been trying out some different discipline techniques with her, a few different approaches as well to how we deal and speak to her. and the limits that we set on things for her. it was like those techniques were starring me in the face saying; "how are you going to handle this?"

no mom wants to be that mom, who's kid is throwing a tantrum and fit right?

we don't want people to stare, or comment on the situation or give us that look. you know the one where they feel so sorry for you.

we don't want people to make silly comments to us and make us feel worse right?

it was like a moment of truth for me in the grocery store when she was screaming and crying to stand firm and consistent in my decision and choice of discipline.

it was a moment of bravery on this mama right here.

to know that even though she was crying, people we starring, and they were probably embarrassed for me.

to know that i was making the right decision for her and for our family.

I'm constantly in a state of reminding myself that every parent, every child and every household is so different. Instead of judging each other I long for a community of mothers who will lift each other up, encourage each other, and hopefully we'll all feel less judgement about who we are as wives, mothers and parents.

so here's my challenge for you today, the next time you see a Mom struggling in that store with her kid, or if they are crying don't stare, don't feel sorry for them. Smile at them, say a prayer for them, and if you feel brave enough tell them it's ok and that they are a good mother.

after all every kid cries, and every Mother needs to hear she's doing a good job.

My challenge for you for the rest of the week is to find 1 Mother, maybe it's your close friend or maybe it's a complete stranger at Target and tell her that's she's doing a good job. Tell her she's an awesome mother!

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