Choosing The "No Pain" Route
In my last post here, I wrote about how, like most women, I feared the pains of labor. My attempt at humor must have not gone over very well because out of the very few comments I did receive, one of them was extremely negative, and I'd like to address that very craptastic comment from the "born-again crazy". Even though my post was supposed to be funny (apparently I'm not good at humor) it's still a very accurate depiction of how I currently feel. During the birth of both of my boys, I openly asked for an epidural as soon as I could get one. I'm definitely not on the drug-free childbirth bandwagon. Sure, I'm happy for those women who want to do the natural thing but I'm not one of them. Instead, I chose the "no-pain" route. With that being said, I'd really like to hear from each of my readers. Did you opt for an epidural or other drugs during the birth of your child? If so, do you feel less of a Mother for doing so? Because, honestly, feeling like we're not good Mothers because we chose to use an epidural is absurd. In fact, it's downright ridiculous! Choosing to use drugs or no drugs during the birth of your child has absolutely nothing to do with what kind of Mother you are going to be. Labels: drug free childbirth, epidural during labor, motherhood
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Update: Day #2,156 of Renovation
Hello Dear Readers , We're still at the in-laws. Sheesh, it's a good thing we get along except for those so-called hot issues like gun control, presidential candidates, religion, education, and so on. ;) I just try to keep my mouth shut considering the in-laws are feeding and housing us for the next few days. My iPod has been my one saving grace these past few weeks. That and TV. Speaking of TV, Did you watch Lost and Grey's Anatomy last night? It gets better yet more confusing every week. Yes, I know I promised beautiful wildlife pictures on my next post. However, if you've been reading for a while you know that I'm not good at keeping promises. But, hey, I've got lots of contests going on at ContestForMoms for Mother's Day where  you can win free stuff like oh, a $300 Target gift card in our Jig-A-loo contest. Who couldn't use a $300 Target gift card or some free Jig-A-loo for that matter? I know I could use both right about now with all these home projects and stuff but one of you are going to win instead! You can also win an LTD Chix t-shirt on our NEW Baby Contest Buzz blog. Check IT out And, as if that isn't enough, if you think your baby is the cutest enter our free baby photo contest for your chance to win a prize package from Your Baby Can Read during the month of May. I'm going to go renovate now. ;) Keep up with my latest complaints/projects/life on twitter. You are twittering, aren't you? Labels: mom contests, motherhood, renovating home
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Our New (Kinda) Home
We are moving to a very small rural town in the next week or so. It's the place where my husband grew up and where his parents currently live. We are at a point in our lives where we want to be closer to family even if it means being a part of a backwards community that is stuck 30 years in the past. Seriously, we are lucky we have access to DSL but that's about it. The nearest Wal-mart, McDonalds and other necessary stores are around an hour away. I guess we'd better stock up now. ;) Hello, UPS man. I'm sure he will get tired of seeing me every day. Our house is on the same property as Hot Daddy's parents so I've half-jokingly said to the in-laws in the past few weeks that our boys can just move in with them while Hot Daddy and I live the child-less life again. ;) Realistically, though, moving back home will allow us to focus more on our online businesses/education because we do have access to family & friends helping out throughout the week. And, speaking of friends, we will actually be able to go out again which is something we haven't done much of in the past 2 years. It's a good thing that our boys adore their grandparents. Who doesn't love people that are at your every "beck and call"? They have their very own concierge. LOL. Here is a photo to show you just how rural we are. We are literally in between two hills. It's beautiful where we are moving to but Hot Daddy and I always said we'd never move back home. That is, until we had kids and saw how much they love it here. They don't even care that we are in the middle of nowhere. All they see is the beauty of the trees, mountains, and dirt!  You wanna know the hard part in all of this?Explaining to the community and our family what we do for a living. They don't quite get making a living from websites/blogging. Sometimes I think they think I'm into some crazy stuff when I tell them I work from home and make money online. Maybe I should start talking to them about Twitter? I'm thinking the people that follow me on Twitter outnumber the people that live in our tiny town. I'm also thinking that no one where we are moving to has even heard of Twitter. Sad or Safe? I've also been thinking a lot about how living in an even smaller town where people know me will make blogging awkward. Will I change how and what I write about? If you are small town blogger I'd love to hear about how you deal with it. Labels: motherhood, moving, rural town
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Time Flies No Matter What
 Tomorrow we will be celebrating our oldest son's 7th birthday. Future Bam actually turned 7 on the 20th but we usually celebrate on Saturdays so that all of our family can join us. It's hard to believe that my little baby boy is 7. I know, we all say " I can't believe such and such". We can't believe it but yet it's true. The moment is right there in front of us and passes so quickly. Doesn't 7 seems so much older than 5 or 6? I really don't know what I'm trying to say here. Is it about me, the passing of time, or my son getting older? Or a combination of all 3? Right now my life feels like it is going by exponentially fast. So much faster than when I was a child. I wish I could have the childhood perception of time when one week seemed like a year and one day of waiting "took forever". Maybe then I'd feel like I was able to fully experience all that my children say and do. Maybe I wouldn't feel like I have missed some of these precious 7 years. I wonder if this is something we all go through? This feeling of time flying by and never having enough time to just breathe, be in the moment, and really truly experience everything to the fullest. Labels: 7th birthday, motherhood, perception of time
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Reminding Myself
Sometimes I forget how wonderful my life is amongst the day to day chaos. I need to remind myself more often of how easy and enjoyable my life really is RIGHT NOW. Yes, there I said it, my life is indeed easy. At least easy to me. Being away for a few days made me appreciate this very fact. I get to be the Mom to 2 extraordinary young boys. The are delightful, fun, spirited, and always full of life! I'm so glad to be home and with my boys again. Our trip was fun but I can honestly say I would have enjoyed it more had our boys been with us. Photos forthcoming. :) Labels: motherhood
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Without The Kids
On Wednesday Hot Daddy and I are leaving on a trip to Atlanta without the kids. It may not seem like such a big deal to many of you but it is to us simply because we've never went on a trip without our kids. Our two boys have always traveled with us but this time Hot Daddy has a professional conference to attend, and bringing the kids along is just not a good idea. In other words, having two kids holed up in a hotel with nothing to do for 5 days would be a disaster for us and for them. Besides the MIL has gladly accepted the challenge of taking care of them both while we go on our trip. She's practically pushing us out the door. We are almost packed with more bags of toys than clothes and the hard part has yet to come. Leaving is the hard part. I'm not really worried about our oldest who is 6 because he's spent many nights with his grandparents. It's our youngest that I am worried about. This will only be his second time away from us. It was hard then and we were only away for 24 hours. I guess I'm more concerned about our 3 yr. old because of his food allergies. It doesn't help that in the past few weeks he has thrown up and had more choking episodes than usual. I know some parents jump at the chance to get away from their kids but we just don't. We are a close knit family who does everything together. I guess you could say we are a bit dysfunctional but in a good way. It's our way. It's how we choose to live. I just want to go and have a good time with my husband without feeling guilty or without feeling worried the whole time. I don't actually think it's possible to not feel guilty and be a Mom at the same time. Anyway, most of my time will be spent in the hotel as Hot Daddy attends workshops during the day so my laptop will be my best friend. Yes, I'll be blogging and taking photos. I may even do my taxes. I know that as we leave on Wednesday morning I'll be an emotional mess but after an hour or so on the road (yes, we're driving) I'll be fine. If we get to the hotel and I see children with their parents at the conference I'll feel guilty and sad so if your gonna be in a conference in Atlanta this week for my sanity's sake DO NOT bring your children. :) All in all, how do you feel when going on trips without your kids? Labels: motherhood, trips without your kids
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What I've Learned In The Past Couple Of Weeks
1.) Homeschooling is time consuming. WOW. I'm super busy these days. Basically, I'm non-existent. Maybe you've noticed?? ;) 2.) Hardees will kill you LITERALLY. I'm never eating a Hardees Bacon Cheeseburger Melt ever again. Do you know how much fat and calories are in one of those? DON'T ASK!!! Your better off not knowing. 3.) Youtube.com is the new automatic homeschooler! 4.) Nothing ever goes as planned BUT everything will eventually be OK. 5.) That it's possible to find exercise equipment that you can enjoy! We bought a bike and I've biked anywhere from 3-5 miles per day for over a week! Let me tell you it becomes addictive plus I'm competitive, and I have to beat Hot Daddy NO MATTER WHAT. 6.) That 6 boxes of cereal is NOT ENOUGH for 1 week. Maybe we eat too much cereal. Labels: motherhood
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This Is What's Up
 So I know I've been a little weird (maybe that isn't the right word) here lately and wrote that I was going to use another format, spend less time here, be less personal, yada, yada, etcetera, etc... The thing is I can't commit to anything right now. Initially I thought I could but it's just not going to happen since we are in the midst of some big changes. In addition to working full time from home, we are now officially homeschoolers!! We withdrew our our son from public school this week after much consideration & discussion. Homeschooling is something we should have done since the beginning but I wanted to give our son the chance to try out public school. We did it. It wasn't for him. End of story. We started "classes" today and I'm excited to report that it's going great so far amongst the chaos. Want a peek into our chaos? For starters, the 3 yr. old decided he'd get into his brother's supplies and pour an entire bottle of glue on to the carpet and draw all over his face with the "good" markers among other things. Let's just say he was quite interested in all of his brother's new things lying around. The wonderful thing in all of this chaos was that our 3 yr old drew all 8 planets (What? You didn't know Pluto wasn't a planet anymore?) right along with his 6 1/2 year old brother. And, Future Bam's zest for learning is back. He is overjoyed to say the least. Anyway, seriously, we completed more than a full day's worth of work in less than half the time it takes in regular school. How is that you ask? Homeschool and you will find out. We are going to be doing a mix of worksheets and child led learning for now. I'm not sure I could classify our style at this point but we're leaning towards a mix of these 3: child-led, parts of the Moore Formula ( thanks to Quiet Mom & Fussy via Twitter. See Twitter can be good), and text book methods. I'm sure we will change as we go along to see what works best for everyone. So now that this big change is taking place I want to be able to have the chance to talk about it here (or another new blog) as we go along on this homeschooling journey. Finally, I want to say that I will still be blogging here but not on a schedule and it will be when I really have something to say or share. It won't be just to blog and get something up. I also want to try and do the Friday Linky Love post I talked about earlier but I may not always get to it on time so don't hold me to any standards. If you've learned anything on this blog it's that I change my mind a lot. Soooo... bring on the organization/scheduling/recordkeeping tips homeschooling mommies & daddys!!!! Labels: homeschool, homeschooling, motherhood
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Overheard In The Mom Blog Household Yesterday
Random banter overheard in the mom blog household yesterday... Ah, the sweet smell of Mexico! Your face looks like shit. Your body parts too. If we live in a cabin the serial killers will surely get us! Only hillbillies homeschool. Who knew?  (Yes, I'm throwing in a new photo I took of Baby Picasso w/ the Nikon D40. We're havin' fun!) If you are fan of the Veggie Tales enter the New Veggie Tales Movie Contest for your chance to win Movie Swag here. If you don't like the Veggie Tales (I understand, really I do) then don't click on the link. Easy enough, right? Labels: contest, giveaways, motherhood
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Where I'm Going In 2008
It's a new year and with each new year, for me, comes resolutions or at least some sort of plan to do things better than the previous year. So let's get straight to it, shall we? In 2008, I want to be more focused and committed in my online business. I've been doing this for over 4 years and I'm convinced that this is my year. Hey, it's good to be optimistic right? My goal is to grow my businesses enough to where I can hire someone part time to help me. I can only do so much as one person. In fact, I really need a team in place if I plan to get anywhere. Keeping up with around 10 sites (give or take a few) is just not realistic for one person. We shall see how that goes. Baby steps...baby steps... that's how I have to think. Selling some of my business in 2008 is not out of the question either. It is an idea that I have been throwing around but nothing is official. Not even close. Now on to the personal/family goals... I've often wrote on this blog how much I want to homeschool but that didn't work out as planned in 2007. Instead I sent my 6 yr. old on to public school in August against my own wishes (due to family pressure- basically I let them talk me out of it) which has been a source of stress and general uneasiness for me since that time. I just feel like something is not "right" when I send FB off to public school. We are sending him to a place that totally does not go with our lifestyle and beliefs. The truth is homeschooling fits us and I feel like a hypocrite every morning for sending him off to some place I myself do not like for the sake of satisfying the need of pleasing our extended family. If you think about it, it's completely ridiculous! The reason our son is not being homeschooled is because I am letting my family and my husband's family influence our decisions. But all of that ends starting now... I am currently revisiting our choice to homeschool. Right now I am working on going through the proper channels to see what I need to do if I decide to withdraw our son from school and start homeschooling in the next month. It is not a decision I have committed 100% to just yet because I have other things on my mind. But I will be making a life changing decision very soon. And this is where you my dear homeschooling ( or not ) readers come in. I understand that homeschooling is a very personal decision and we all do it for varying reasons. But I'd love to hear why you ultimately chose to homeschool. What made you take that final step? That is something I need to hear today. I have other personal goals but since I spent so much time on this post talking about homeschooling (wow, maybe a bit much) I'll revisit this subject later. Labels: homeschooling, motherhood, new year goals, start homeschool
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A Not So Seasonal January Day
With temperatures in the low 60's today, the boys and I headed outside to enjoy the warmth while it lasted. This was the first day we have been outside to really play in what seems like forever. And of course I had to test out the new D40 because what would a day be without pictures? I'm hoping to regain some sort of a schedule tomorrow and get back on track...   Labels: d40 sample photos, January day, motherhood, nikon d40
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I Promise I Let Them Play With Toys
So apparently my home isn't a disaster like I thought it was according to the commenters in my last post. I'm actually quite relieved that we are all in this together (or some of us anyway because I have seen houses with small kids that are completely clean and you wouldn't think anyone lives there). I do have to confess that I kind of cheated and took the picture in the last post when things didn't look too bad. So don't go thinking that our old house is all organized and clean, or that I am a horrible Mother who doesn't let her children play with their toys. LOL. In case you all are wondering I do let my kids play with their toys all through the house ALL DAY LONG. That is, when I don't have them locked up in a cage *. But see, there's toys in there!!!! Yippee!!!  *I don't really lock my kids up in cages but you knew that already. This disclaimer is for the crazies and trolls that come around.Labels: motherhood, playing with toys
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The Terrible, Horrible, No Good, Very Bad Day
Here are the ingredients you need to have a terrible, horrible, no good, very bad day: 1.) Have 3 yr. old wake up up with a 105 F temperature 2.) Give tylenol 3.) Have 3 yr. old wake 2 hours later with a temp back up to 105.4 F 4.) Call pediatrician after dropping 6 yr. old off at school. 5.) Pediatrician is out for the week 6.) We are told to go to the ER 7.) Go to ER 8.) Get to ER crowded with people wanting pain medicine. Is your wrist hurting really an emergency? I don't think so. Grrrrr..... 9.) 3 yr. old gets put into a room near several patients infested with lice. OMG. Freakin out. 10.) People wanting drugs on the other side. Total nightmare. 11.) 3 yr. old has ear infection. Yes, we already suspected that. We just need antibiotics. 12.) Get home, give medicine. 13.) 3 yr. old pukes medicine. He is allergic to it. 14.) Call ER for new medicine. They don't seem to comprehend our son's allergies & condition. This does not surprise me! 15.) Call pharmacy. No new medicine to pick up. 16.) Pharmacy ready to close, call ER again about new medicine. 17.) Finally get new medicine a few minutes before pharmacy closes. 18.)Takes meds, all is well until temp spikes back up! 19.)Temp down, goes to sleep 20. The terrible, horrible, no good, very bad day is OVER. Thankfully the antibiotics have kicked in and our son is doing better today. Labels: 3 year old son, corn allergy, Eosinophilic Esophagitis, food allergies, motherhood, ramblings, sick kids
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When There's Too Much To Say
My blogging here has become sporadic. I've noticed (you've noticed too) that I have been posting at best two times a week. I remember once upon a time when I used to love to come here and share my thoughts with whoever happened to stay long enough to read. I could come here today and say that I have nothing to blog about but actually I have lots to blog about... I could talk about my 6 year old son's pneumonia and the fact that he has been home from school for a week and that I really don't want to send him back next week just to get sick all over again. I could tell you that my husband has an acute (and I don't mean a "cute") obsession with Justin Timberlake. I've lost count on how many time we've listened to this and watched this. Go ahead. Click it. It's HOT!! He's going to kill me for telling the world about this because if I remember correctly he asked me not to tell anyone. Sorry hubz. I could talk about the fact that I'm so busy with work, life, sick kids, and the holidays that I'm possibly on the verge of a nervous breakdown as my husband so honestly stated to me today while I nearly cried over spilled milk during dinner. Yes, it's clear I'm going crazy... I don't know what it is really...this thing that is holding me back here lately. Maybe it's in part due to me being literary challenged and partly due to my need to keep up with my other billion blogs and sites. And, more importantly, the other ones don't require a good story teller - just relevant content. Hey, and did I mention that we have giveaways going on over here with more in the upcoming weeks, new contests listed here, Christmas Themed Toys here (because we all need toys before Xmas, right?, and A Way To Make Some Extra Money For Christmas over here. Yeah, I'm THAT busy. Thanks to my Senseo and supportive husband. They make all this possible. Well,and our 2 boys. This really wouldn't be possible without them. Because you don't have a mommy blog if your not a Mommy. Um, scratch that.I think I've come across mommy blogs not written my moms but that's another topic for another time... Labels: motherhood
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My 3yr. Old Saw Me Cry Yesterday
So today I've got nothing better than to tell you about how I bit my tongue yesterday while eating a sandwich. I bit it so hard that I started crying in front of my 3 year old. What kind of adult bites their tongue and cries over it? Furthermore, what kind of person bites their tongue, cries over it then blogs about it to the world? Me, apparently. So as to not scare Baby Picasso, I quit crying and shook uncontrollably instead. That didn't go over so well either. And if you must know, it' still hurts like a $%*&^# today! Go ahead and laugh! So have you ever cried in front of your child? How did they react? Labels: bit tongue, motherhood
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October Vacation
Here are a few pictures of our trip. With each vacation that we embark upon and each set of pictures that accompany them, I am reminded of how fast time goes by and of how much our boys have grown. I am so lucky to be able to have this time with the three men (hubs& our 2 boys) in my life that I love the most. Last week at this time we were sitting on our little sandy island on the beach collecting crabs and shells. This week we are thrown back into our everyday routine where we quickly go through the motions and our time is not as focused on each other as it is on vacations. Spending time with those you love the most on vacations have the wonderful effect of clearing your mind and of helping you push forward with goals and dreams. They are my inspiration! Who or what is yours? The boys enjoying the sun rise!  The FAM ( all of us together in 1 photo-it's a miracle!)  The babe (er, 3 yr. old) & Me!  Feeding The Seagulls 
Thanks to everyone who has entered our 2 contests going on right now. We have over 97 entries on one contest alone! You still have time to enter both of them, Amy Grant's book Mosaic & the Comfy Toddler PC. We have many new contests coming your way over the next few weeks and months so don't forget to stop by. We also have our annual just for fun Halloween Baby Photo Costume Contest going on. Labels: motherhood, vacation, vacation photo
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A Different Mommy
 This morning as Future Bam was putting on his clothes and getting ready for school he told me that kids in his class thought I was his sister. He then asked me a question I knew he would eventually ask since being around other people forced him to notice that, yes, I am different than most of the other moms. . If you, dear readers, are wondering just exactly how different I am then his next question will answer that. He asked me why I was so much smaller than the other moms. He said a few things that I thought were funny too. He said, "Didn't you eat much when you were growing up?" "Is that why you couldn't grow taller?". He also said something that many people may not think of as nice but coming out of the mouth of a 6 year old it's all he knows and all he has to compare me to. He asked why all the mommies looked like grandmas. Before school he would have never realized this or even thought of me as different and now he sees me as so different than all the other moms and he wonders why I'm not like them. This is something I have had to deal with my entire life so it's easy for me to shrug it off even though I still deal with it almost everyday. I've also talked about it at length here on this blog. It's also why I named the blog Petite Mommy. I talked to FB about how everybody is different and we all come in different shapes in sizes. And that although there may not be other mommies that he knows who is as small as me at his school there are mommies like me out there. Have any of you out there experienced anything similar? Did your children think you were different than the other mamas? Labels: different mommy, motherhood
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Kindergarten = Sick
Apparently Future Bam wasn't tormented by enough germs and illnesses when he was younger so he's paying for it all now in kindergarten. I guess this is what happens when your child has never attended daycare or preschool. Today makes the 3rd day that FB has missed school this month due to some kind of sickness. We've went from upper respiratory infection to a rash(the verdict is out on whether it was truly poison ivy or excema but it was BAD) to a fever & swollen tonsils in a 3 week period. Maybe FB needs a bubble??? I'm off to invest in some vitamin C and echinacea before the flu season starts otherwise we really might run into some trouble. If you have a child in kindergarten have they gotten sick yet? Is echinacea a wonder herb? Help, I don't want another sick Monday. Labels: kindergarten, motherhood, sick
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What I Get To Hear All Day
Our 3 year old has recently taken up saying three phrases quite often. First of all he has some sort of obsession with curse (bad) words so he goes around saying all day, "Is that a bad word?" while saying words that are very similar to bad words but not actually saying the "bad" words. I get to hear this about a bajillion times in one day. Aren't I so lucky? Up next is , "NO never!" except that instead of saying never he says "nevah". And, he likes to point at you or whoever is the one being told no! It's quite funny actually. Well, it's funny to Hot Daddy and I. I realize it's not that funny to everyone else. And his latest thing is saying, "It's lookin' saucy". WTF? I actually have no idea where that came from but who cares it's funny right? My life is a constant comedy, I know. Umm, OK, I lied... Labels: 3 year old son, motherhood
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Today is Friday And It's My Day To Do What I Want
Oh how I wish! Today is Friday and I've got a sick little boy with the croop! BTW, the lyrics in the title belong to my 3 year old's current favorite song. We are listening to the song as I type. Can anyone guess what the song is? Anyone???? So, while we are on the subject, if hypothetically you could do anything you wanted today what would it be? Me, I'd want to be sitting on a warm beach with my toes in the sand making sand castles with my boys! And, I'd make sure someone was there to cater to our every want and need. Yeah, I'm gettin' a little selfish but a girl can dream right? Labels: Friday, motherhood
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This Happens Every Soccer Season
Every Soccer season we go through the same routine of meeting new coaches, new kids and new parents...And, every year after we go through all of this Hot Daddy and I contemplate moving out of town. Here's a post from last year around Soccer time. I don't know if we are crazy or what. Is it the town or is it the people? Maybe I should say normal parents. Wait, do normal and parent even belong in the same freakin' sentence? Is there such a place where there are so-called normal people? I think not. Heck, I'm not even really sure I know what normal is anymore? I'm just tired of all the if-you-don't-agree-with-everything-that-I-do-then-I-don't-like-you shit? Geez, we're grown ups! We are not supposed to be acting like this. Why not try being "good" for a change? Labels: crazy parents, motherhood
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