It Happens in Threes

This past weekend was anything but uneventful, and not particularly in the way that I had hoped!

We went to visit some friends in the DC area for a birthday party, but on the way back, it began to snow, and (long, long, long story short) we ended up completely turned around in downtown DC, in the snow, for almost 2 hours. I had assumed the GPS was in the car somewhere, and hadn't checked before we left earlier that morning. Ugh, total fail on my part! Mad props to my sister-in-law Amanda for not whining (too much anyway) about seeing the Washington Monument from just about every angle...twice.

The next morning, bright and early, my beloved almost-one-year-old (yikes!) smacked me in the eye with an iPod touch. My first child induced black eye. Thanks, kid! I tried to cover it up with makeup, but it just ended up brown/blue..and sparkly.

Next, we discovered around 5pm that our keys had been stolen earlier in the day. Yet another very long story short, we were unable to retrieve them, although we were/are fairly certain we know where they are. Thankfully, we have family that is willing to step up and take us in on short notice for a couple of days while we wait for our replacement vehicle key and for the locks to be changed on our house. Sigh.

The main purpose to this post is this: Have you ever heard of the saying that bad things happen in threes? I heard it maybe a year ago, and since then, I have had several rounds of "3" fall into my lap. My question is, do I notice that things happen in threes because I heard that phrase, or do things really happen in threes? Hmmm...food for thought.

A Tiny Challenge

I may have alluded to this before, or you may have met and observed this about Molly in person...or maybe you don't know at all, but I have a daughter with a very strong will! She is not laid back, she throws temper tantrums that 2 year old children would be envious of, and she is sassy as can be.

I would not have her any other way!

I knew pretty early on that she was going to be a Tiny Challenge. She picks up on things very quickly, and was mobile at a very young age. She is the child that scopes out where all the plug sockets are in a room within 10 seconds of entering.

This type of personality is a blessing and a curse, just like any. Yes, she is mobile and tends to go straight for the "No no" items in a room, throws royal fits (complete with head flinging and body limping -- speaking of which, I might have a black eye in the morning), smacks me right in my face when I tell her "no", and all out SCREAMS if I am not doing something quickly enough for her liking...but....

She is also extremely loving. She gives kisses and hugs and pat/scratches my back. She tries to wipe my nose with tissues and feed me some of her snacks. She is a very good communicator and between pointing and gesturing and making little noises (sometimes almost words!), I usually know exactly what it is that she would like to be doing.

I am learning to choose my battles early. Yes, lovey girl, we must put pants on...society and Mommy declare that it is necessary, and no amount of fit-throwing will change that fact. But ripping up the tissue into a thousand pieces and handing it to me (saying, "Here") while I write this blog? I'm not gonna fight that one today. :-)

My "Tiny Challenge":

Resolutions

I could probably count on one hand the amount of New Years Resolutions that I have made, and even fewer that I have kept. Part of the reason that I don't actually make the traditional January 1st resolutions is because I know that I will have trouble keeping them, then will feel guilty every time that I think about it...but not guilty enough to do anything about it.

So when Patrick asked me yesterday what my resolutions were going to be this year, I jokingly said, "Move into a house!" He says that is not a resolution, but rather it is a goal. I guess I always pictured them as being the same, but it made me think (we have a lot of time to think, driving 45 minutes each way every day).

I could probably list a bunch of goals that every woman in America could relate to:

- Exercise more frequently
- Cook healthier meals
- Keep my house tidy
- Spend less money

BUT, the fact is, in a few weeks, I probably will have (mostly) forgotten about these goals as I step back into the daily crazy balance of my life with Molly.

Those, of course, are excuses - because I know that if I made time to exercise, I could. And if I really wanted to spend less money, I probably could.

So instead, this year, I am purposing to be honest with myself about the time that I have and be more wise with how I use it. It is amazing how many things one can accomplish during nap time...or not accomplish.

Severely Lacking

I could write about how busy I've been, how we've hardly had time to breathe in the last month, or how my 9 1/2 month old child is WALKING, which also tends to keep me on my toes...but the truth is, I've been severely lacking in motivation to blog. I'm not really all that sure why. I have cute stories to tell, and fun pictures to share...just no motivation to actually sit down and do it. Lame!

So, here it is. The catch-all post. The update on our lives, photo drop, random post. The hurry up and write because I have five minutes before the munchkin decides to take a flying leap over the side of the couch.

Molly is walking. It happened around 9 months, but then she wouldn't duplicate it for anyone - not even Daddy. Then, about 2 days ago, she decided to try it out again - but this time for real. Just about everyone has seen her do it now, so they know I'm not making it up.

I taught her to say, "Santa!" last week. However, the way that I got her to say it was by semi-yelling, "SANTA!" every five seconds. So now she yells, "ANTA!", angrily. Oops.

When you ask her where the "pretties" are, she frantically searches both of your ears to check and see if you have earrings on. I love this, but she won't do it on command - only when the mood strikes her.

We are going through some really interesting changes in our lives/jobs right now, hopefully ones that will lead to us (finally!) being settled down in a house of our own in the next year.

And....on to our pictures! Just a few from our family pictures with Amanda Grace Photography a few weeks ago. They turned out even better than I imagined!!!

A "Pinterest Minute"

Don't even try and pretend you don't know what I'm talking about here, ladies. You think to yourself-  "hey, I'll just get on Pinterest reaaaaaal fast...for just a minute...and then I'll do [insert productive activity here]."

No. Just no. It doesn't happen. Unless I can somehow program my computer to turn off and be unable to be revived after a "minute" is up, it will probably never happen that I will just hop on Pinterest for a "minute". 

I wish I did other things like I do Pinterest - "hey, I'll just do laundry for a "minute". WHOA! How'd all the laundry get done in just a "minute"??!!"

"I think I'll bake something for a "minute"....what?!?! My time's up?! I baked us out of house and home and it was only a "minute"!!!"

I say this jokingly, but there is truth behind it. 

I have recently begun to use Pinterest as a sort of reward (call it like it is...BRIBE) for tasks that I don't particularly enjoy doing. 

Example: Do XYZ. When that is COMPLETED, you get five minutes on Pinterest. 

The problem is that I still have trouble ONLY browsing for 5 minutes! In my head, I feel like I'm talking to (myself) a 4 year old! "Okay, Mackenzee...three more scrolls and then you will click the X and go back to being productive."

Pray for me as I try to enforce my own rules with myself and become a more productive wife/mother/human being...

Never Say Never

No, I'm not referring to a song by The Biebs...although, I will unashamedly admit my adoration for that particular tune. ;-)

You know the things that you say before you're pregnant/have a baby? The ones judging other mothers' parenting choices? The ones that are start off with, "I will never ever ever ever do _________" Yeah, that kind.

Never say never.

You will eat your words...daily. And it will be such a humbling experience. 

I'm not talking about judging others for things that may harm their children's safety. If you see somebody feed their baby a bottle of orange Fanta, while screaming curse words, then driving away with the baby in their lap in the Walmart parking lot? BY ALL MEANS, JUDGE AWAY. (and then pray for them!)

I'm talking about these:

I will never ever ever go to the store at 9pm wearing yoga pants.

I will never ever ever let my baby sleep in bed with me. all night.

I will never ever ever pacify my child with food to make them stop crying.

Even as I write this blog post, I'm thinking of examples and banishing them from this post with the thought - "But, I really would never do that! "

I've done all of the above. And she's only been here for 8 1/2 months. Granted, the yoga pants were post-partum, and I was tired of maternity pants!

Anyway, I write this as an encouragement. It's okay to do (some of) the things you vowed you'd never do.

(But for the record, my child will never ever ever play in the play-place in the Mall.)

(No, really. Never ever.)

White After Labor Day

There are some things in life that I have a really hard time with. Wearing white after Labor Day and wearing brown and black together are just two of the "biggies" that I've been struggling with recently.

These are not euphemisms. This is for real, you guys. These are real problems that I'm really facing. We're getting down to the nitty gritty now. 

In all seriousness, I was raised that you wore your white shoes for the first time on Palm Sunday - and put them away before Labor Day. It doesn't matter how hot it was after Labor Day - you wear your black or brown dress shoes, because the time for white dress shoes has passed. 

Well, recently, I read in a magazine somewhere that that's no longer the case. So this year, I branched out and wore my white dress shoes whenever it was too warm for dressy boots. Which ended up being up until about 2 weeks ago. It was very freeing, and the 90's fashion police didn't even slay me when I left the house.

So that brings me to my newest fashion hurdle: black and brown together. It's killing me. I am trying my hardest to get over it. Yesterday, I wore a black cami with a brown shirt. And a grey sweater. And brown boots. But I felt like a sinner all day long because of it. I ended up tucking the black cami into my jeans so that it had less of a chance of showing. I THINK I HAVE A PROBLEM.

So today I'm taking a break from black and brown, and branching out to black and navy blue...something I conquered long, long ago....