The New Definition of Ladies' Night...

There are all different types of ladies' nights:

- The first one you experience in middle school.  This involved a sleepover with movies, a game of truth or dare, boy talk, and usually someone ending up in tears.

- The next one you experience in high school.  This involved prank calls, "drive bys", caffeine, MTV, and boy talk. 


- Next comes ladies' night in college.  This usually involved hours of primping in front of the mirror, drink specials, lots of dancing more boy talk, and Taco Bell.

- The next one comes after you get married.  This involves dinner, wine-wine-and more wine, hours of catching up, husband talk, and us at the end of the night saying, "why don't we do this more often?"


- This weekend I experienced a different kind of ladies' night...a night all alone with my lil' ladies, Zoe, Roxie, and later my lil' sis, Ashley.  It was the first time I realized this was happening and how special it was.  A night full of baking, singing, dancing and giggling.  This quite possibly could be my favorite kind of ladies' night.  

Zoe and I in our matching aprons!

Zoe trying to keep Roxie busy.

Zoe mixing.

Flour nose.

She loved it.

Loving the rolling pin.

Cutting out our pumpkin cookies.

Time to frost.

 

Our spooktacular goodies.

No matter what type of ladies' night you are having, it always creates wonderful memories. 

Dear Mr. President.....

How many times have you sat on your couch yelling at the television, or spent some time complaining to a co-worker as to what you would do differently if you were in charge of your city, county, state or country? Probably at least a hundred times. Well, today I decided to do something about it, as I always say - you shouldn't complain unless you are willing to do something to change the situation.

Today on my day off I decided to write a letter to our president. Crazy, I know. I heard a while back that he reads ten letters each day. Now, I am skeptical that this really happens, but in my perfect world this is true.

The purpose of my letter was not to complain or place blame, but to paint a picture of an average, working, middle class American family. I have heard our president say that sometimes he feels he lives in a bubble. Well, today I decided to expand his bubble and share my family's story. Not to criticize him - as I feel so far he is doing good things, and there is only so much one person can do when parties won't come together - but just to share some of my family's thoughts and feelings.

I often complain about the state of our economy - no explanation needed here; our health care system - how it is sucking my family's will to live; and the quality of my child's eduction - lazy teachers should be let go, tenured or not, and great ones should be honored. So today, instead of keeping it inside I decided to write it down, place it in an envelope and mailed it to The White House.

Although I am sure my letter won't be one of the fifty selected next week, at least I feel I tried. I tried to share my thoughts. I tried offering some suggestions. I tried the best I could to help push/promote some positive change for us all.

If you feel the same way, below is the address. Share your feelings. Write a letter. Do something. Yes We Can!

President Barack Obama
The White House
1600 Pennsylvania Avenue NW
Washington, DC 20500

Me with my letter. Moment of insanity? Only time will tell.

Dumb Things Stupid People Say.....

I am always amazed by the dumb things people say. Some people really don't think before they speak....or do they just not care what comes out of their mouth? Maybe they just don't care. Maybe that is a better way to live - just say what you think with no filter. I don't know, judge for yourself. These are three actual conversations I have had in the past three days - they are not altered in any way.

Saturday at Party City (while picking out Zoe's Halloween costume, which is entirely a different entry)
Stranger at store: OH, what a sweet little baby. How old?
Me: Almost four months.
Stranger at store: Four months? That baby sure is small for four months. Are you sure t is just four months?
Me: Yup, I am her mom.
Stranger at store: Oh, well, that baby sure is beautiful. BUT I cannot tell if it is a boy or girl.
Me: It's a girl.
Stranger at store: Oh. (then she walks away without another word).

*Okay. Even if I didn't know if a baby was a boy or girl, I probably just wouldn't say anything. Now to the women's defense, she was wearing a orange and red outfit, BUT she was wearing a HUGE flower hat. An to question if I really know how old my child it? For real...who asks that?


Saturday at Walgreens
Clerk: WOW, is all this candy you are buying for you?
Me: No, it's not.
Clerk: Who is it for?
Me: My daughter. We have a countdown calendar to Halloween that you put treats in. Then she gets to open one door to the calendar each day.
Clerk: Oh, I was thinking - wow she is going to eat all that?!
Me: Nope.
Clerk: Still. This is a lot of candy.

*Really clerk at Walgreens?!?! Just ring up my purchases. And what if I was going to eat all this candy by myself? Who says that?

Tonight on my walk
I see a man approaching me on the opposite side of the street. He is walking, with what I am guessing, is his four kids (one being age one in a stroller). He is wearing a LOT of bling around his neck and a watch so big that I am sure it was adding to his workout.
Random man: How you doin'?
Me: Fine, thanks (still walking).
Random man: You got a fresh baby in there?
Me: Yup (no eye contact and walking faster).
Random man: Walking off that baby weight?
Me: You could say that (almost running).
Random man: You keep workin' it out gurl, you lookin' fine.
Me: (running)

*Okay random man with four kids already. No I will not bed you and give you a fifth child to "walk". Really? Who falls for this crap? What did he think I would say/do? Stop and continue the conversation about my "fresh" baby, weight and lookin' "fine"? What plays through guys minds? Why do I even ask that question?

Although there are a LOT of stupid people in this world, who say a lot of dumb things, there are also a lot of smart, witty, sweet people in this world.

Tonight After My Walk
I come home to see I have a flat tire. Creepy bling walk man probably slashed it ;) My neighbors came to my rescue - carrying over a light, tire iron and jack. Knowing that Paul was out of town they just went right to work and didn't even let me say no. They made all the right jokes, said all the right things, all just to make me smile.

I guess this shows us, with the good we have to sometimes take the bad. At least in this case, the "bad" is at least amusing to me.

Lesson of the week, people.....think before you speak.

Actual outfit/hat Roxie was wearing on Saturday. She obviously looks like a 1 week old boy.

90 Days of Pure Love...

How often do parents get 90 days to reflect on how much they love their children? The answer probably lies in the number of children they have. Today marks the last day of my maternity leave...the last day of parental paradise.

I have enjoy every moment of my twelve weeks off (I am so glad I made that selfish choice) and there are so many things I will miss. The thing I will miss the most is the abundance of time I had to spend with both of my girls and my husband. Working parents are always so rushed and really miss out on the small moments which are the icing on our cake: the little smiles, stories, tons of cuddle time and giggles. I have loved getting up every morning and laying with both of my girls in one arm...now this will be reserved for weekends. I will miss Zoe's constant stories throughout the day and Roxie's constant babbling and gummy grins (trying to keep up with her big sis already). Just sitting back and watching them do their own thing while I observe has been a daily favorite.

Some of my other guilty pleasures were: sleeping in or taking a nap, watching the Today Show with my favorite cup of coffee, eating three meals a day with Zoe, the Wendy Williams show (she is ridiculous ya'll) while hearing Zoe imitate her "how you doin' - whoop whoop) in the background, exercising everyday, taking many walks with my girls, getting to spend a ton of time a day with my grandparents - I got to be the granddaughter I wish I could always be, having my mom and sis stop by randomly during the afternoons and fun outings that I usually don't have time to indulge in.

During the past 90 days I also had the time for reflection...which I honestly don't think I have ever had extensive time for. I think I was born with a schedule and a to-do list. My stress is always HIGH and returning to work after having another child will not make it lower anytime soon. I need to work on living in the moment, taking one day at a time, having a positive outlook, choosing my battles and not taking on more than I can handle. This will be a hard thing to work on, but so important.

I wish everyone could at least have one consecutive month off to breath, reflect and have the time to love/play to the fullest extent. Thank you to my co-workers and family who encouraged me to take this time and to my sweet, sweet Izzy girls for making this one of the best summers of my life...mommy will miss you SO much tomorrow.

*An extra special thanks to my mother who continues to give me the best gift any mother could give...daycare for my children. Although I miss them like crazy cakes when I am at work, at least I know they are in the best hands possible and are receiving a day full of hugs and kisses.

Here we go!

Ladies....Why Can't We Just Love Each Other?!?!

Over the past 11 months I have observed something very interesting. I think the only time in my life when ALL females have been "nice" to me was when I was pregnant or when I have Roxie in my arms. I find this REALLY interesting. Never in my life had I walked down the street to have another female, whom I didn't know, randomly smile at me or say hello. When I was pregnant I got smiles and hellos everyday from random females of all ages. An now when I go out in public with Roxie I get the same reaction. I have to say I have enjoyed this, as females usually look each other up and down (judging) and would never think of flashing you a friendly smile when you pass her on the street. At what "Roxie's age" will this stop? I remember this with Zoe too...I think it stopped around age two.

Why is this? Why are females so mean to each other? This starts at such a young age, as I have noticed this behavior even in Zoe's kindergarten class. Women have a hard enough time just being women...why do we make life harder on each other? Wouldn't it be nice if we STOPPED judging - eye rolling - ignoring and STARTED smiling - helping - acknowledging? We really don't know what others are going through...especially those females who look really crabby, they need this the most.

SO let's start a movement. Hold the door open for another gal. If you see someone drop something, help her pick it up. If you like someone's outfit, tell her. Say hello. Smile.
Love all women: strangers, neighbors, coworkers, family and friends. We are strong, powerful, smart, funny, beautiful and need to join together rather than push each other away. I'll try it....will you join me?

Here is a smile for you, girl, pass it on.