Happenings...

Happy Memorial Day! Thank you for all of those who are serving, have served and those who have paid the ultimate price. May we all take a moment to pray for these individuals and their families as I know first hand the sacrifices that they make for their country. Thank you especially to my Dad (23 years retired Navy and my husband (6 years and medically discharged in the Army).

We are enjoying a nice relaxing weekend. I need to get better about taking pictures because I have been seriously slacking. I took the day off on Friday and gave myself a 4 day weekend. I got some serious cleaning done around the house which was so nice. Sunday, Cory got up with Sydney and let me sleep in. I didnt wake up until 10:15!!! WOW. We also went to Mt Trashmore and let Sydney play in the Kid's Cove. She LOVED it. She even ran about 3/4 of the way up the side of Mt Trashmore before she was exhausted and begging for me to pick her up. We had a great time. That night Cory and I had a date night and went to get drinks and a movie. Thank goodness for the drinks, ha ha. The movie was HORRIBLE. I was being a team player and picked out a movie that I know Cory wanted to see, The Dictator. Obviously I didn't want to see this movie which was why we went for drinks before. Even Cory thought it was HORRIBLE!! That is saying something! Now today I am forced to finish the laundry and get ready for the next week ahead. It is beginning to look like its going to be a dreary day so maybe I wont feel like we are missing out on too much. Have a great week!

What I have learned

This week we have had some tough learnings here in the Mitchell households. On Wednesday morning, a co-worker of mine passed away. It was unexpected on all aspects. The harder thing about it was that she was pregnant (days away from being 36 weeks and considered full term) and the baby had passed away on Saturday morning. Just to keep it brief, she had what I would call a perfect storm of pregnancy complications that caused the baby to pass away and then caused her to pass away as well. Heartbreaking. This has slapped all of us in the face at work. Her service was on Saturday and it was beautiful. The reason why I am sharing this though is to reiterate that you really have no idea when your last days on this Earth are going to be. Maya had truly no idea that this was anywhere even close to her future. Our last conversation on Wednesday was a happy conversation about how good she looked and how excited she was to be on maternity leave during the summer. She was excited about dressing her baby in basic shorts and onesies all summer and drinking kool-aid in pitchers. One of her complications was gestational diabetes and she could not have the sugar. But the whole situation shocks you and makes you remember that the next day, or even the rest of today is never guaranteed. You really just have to take each day on its own and forget all of the BS and appreciate what you have. So that's what I will be doing from now on!

Enough...

I have had enough already. Today, while running on the treadmill and watching hockey, I caught a commercial for "Anderson." This commercial was highlighting another media fixture doing an entire show devoted to "attachment parenting." And I am officially OVER.IT. Seriously people?! Parenting isn't hard enough on its own and now you want to KEEP GOING with your shoving ideas down everyone else's throats? This is getting a little out of hand and I really felt that it was necessary to take to my own emotional release and express how much I wish that these moms would just SHUT. YOUR. MOUTHS. NOW. IMMEDIATELY. Not later, not tomorrow, not next week...NOW.

I just read (literally 2 minutes ago) that Alanis Morissette says that she will breastfeed her child until he wants to stop. FINE. I can respect that if that is your decision. But this is where she begins to get offensive... She continues by saying that her child is going to need less therapy because of this. REALLY?!?! really? What about the kid on the cover of Time? How much therapy do you think that he is going to need when he is an adult (or a teenager--bless his heart) and people find out that he is "this" kid? And who the heck are you to insinuate that my child is going to need therapy because she didnt breastfeed until she was leaving for college. I also fully admit that part of my sensitivity to the breastfeeding part of this debate is because I had trouble with my own breastfeeding journey. My maternal instincts ache because I was not able to breastfeed naturally. I judge myself for having to pump exclusively for Sydney. It is like these people do not remember how hard it truly is to breastfeed. Who are they to judge? At the end of the day, Sydney is healthy. Sydney is emotionally developed. We have the same connection now that we would have had if she had been able to latch on properly. She is also just as physically developed as if she had breastfed past 10 weeks. I took my body and my mind to its brink in order to provide for her as long as I could. And then we switched over to formula and guess what? SYDNEY.IS.HEALTHY. And happy. And adorable. Screw you for judging me on my parenting abilities. I am a wonderful mother.

And co-sleeping? Where are all of the doctors and nurses at right now that should be screaming from the rooftops on this one? My theory is that the media is controlling the message on this one and they are not being provided with the forum to speak. Co-sleeping (when improperly done) is DANGEROUS! Go to any pediatrician and ask him how he feels about it? I am sure that he has a million stories of co-sleeping gone wrong. Sydney has never slept with us. Out of fear for her safety, she has always slept on her own. At first it was right beside us in her basinet. Then at about 2 months it was on the other side of our room. Then at about 3 months it was in her crib and she has been there ever since. This has been amazing for everyone involved. Sydney grows to be independent by sleeping in her own bed and having her own space. She is self-comforting in the middle of the night and she goes down amazingly. She has slept through the night since 3 months. We also just recently converted her to a toddler bed. Guess what? She hasn't gotten out of bed in the middle of the night a single time. *probably just jinxed that* But she knows that she sleeps in her own bed. I have even tried to sleep with her at some points and she thinks that means its playtime. I take that as a sign that I have done my job as a parent and created an independent sleeper. If you want to safely co-sleep with your child...Fine. But please, keep your judgmental comments to yourself. There is nothing wrong with way I have raised my child and as long as you being safe, there is nothing wrong with your method either. I know that I am a wonderful mother.

This is pretty much why I don't really like girls. We are so damn hard on each other! It is bad enough that if we are the slightest bit imperfect, we are judged. Overweight? Judged for that big time. Eccentric? Oh, you bet you are judged for that. Rebel? Judged. Religious? Judged. No matter what you do---women cannot just be happy for each other and continue to live their lives. It is so RIDICULOUS!!! So judge me all you want. I know that I am a wonderful mother.

Part of being a wonderful mother is having a warm personality. It is also not being judgmental. I like to believe that all mothers are pretty much on this same journey together. That is a bond that mothers should have with each other. I like to look at it this way...I help you to celebrate your happiness and success, even if I am not physically there. I also send positive messages and prayers your way when you struggle, even if I am not physically there. I love to be that way because I love children. It is physically engrained in my DNA to be a mother and I just want children to be loved and happy and provided for. The method in which that is done is NONE of my business. Why can't other Moms be that way? I just don't understand it...its pure MADNESS!!

So I think you get my message here....let's all take a second and CHILL OUT. Honestly, when I was in high school there were judgmental girls all over the place and I was like "whew! I will be done with this once I leave." Then I went to college and joined a sorority and thought, well here are a group of girls that are my sisters and will stick by me through thick and thin....yup wrong there too by a long shot. So I was happy to leave that behind. And now here I am at 26 and dealing with the entire country judging my parenting choices. Over it. Please join me. I just want us all to be happy for other mothers and supportive of all that they do...regardless of what "that" is.

Happy Weekend! (I have to end on an upswing)

It does not get any better than this...

Only have a few minutes to let you in on some quick updates :)

~Sydney had her first picture day at school today...They said she just looked at them blankly like "Why are you people making faces at me like I am some idiot?" So we will see how they turned out.

~Bestie got her wedding pictures back this week...sooooo beautiful! Literally not a single bad one in the bunch... here are just a couple....Thanks to Charlie Gunther Photography...

This weekend I am hoping to get in some relaxation (Yeah Right)!! I guess we will see. We have a hockey game Saturday at 8pm (BE THERE AT SCOPE!) for Game 2 of the Eastern Conference Finals. We are playing so well and I hope it keeps up. And tomorrow morning Sydney and I are going to the Chesapeake Jubilee bright and early to get some outside time in. I am pretty excited. We are also hopefully meeting a friend there that we haven't seen in a while.

Secret time...I have been doing very well working out in the evenings. I havent seen too much (if any) weight loss on the scale but I have actually been doing some pretty good work on the treadmill. Wednesday and Thursday I did a mile in 15 minutes!!! It felt so good. I know 15 minutes is like forever in real people time, but for inactive overweight people, that is doing pretty good. And I never thought I would say this but I actually am starting to enjoy running!!! I am riding this wave as far as I can. I have signed up for a race in October and I have a goal that I would like to obtain for it so I am working hard to get there and preparing in more than enough time (I hope).

And lastly... how can you ever be sad in life when this is your entertainment?? I am so blessed....

Mother's Day

Happy Mother's Day to all of the Mommies out there!!! Yesterday, we spent a fantastic day with my Mom and it was a great time for us girls to get to spend the day together.

Today was an interesting Mother's Day. I intended to get on here tonight and blog about the irony in my Mother's Day. Because it was very "motherly". I spent the day doing my normal Sunday activities, womp womp womp. Grocery shopping, laundry, cleaning, etc. And it was just me and my girl. Cory spent the day at my Mom's house working and my Dad was actually at work. So obviously not just a relaxing day. So I was going to be ironic and joke around about the normality of the day....

But then my normal bedtime routine with Sydney happened. And so while we rocked, which is our normal nightly routine, I thanked her for my presents that they made at school this week. Because I really do love everything that they made and I can't wait to take it to put up at work. But then I just started talking to her about how much I love her. It was quiet and she was just laying there listening to me...and then my emotions got the best of me. She is just so truly amazing and being her "Mama" is the best thing that I could ever be. Forget every title that I have ever had or ever will have. "Mommy" is the best job that I could ever have. It just blows my mind. I just told her how amazing she is, how smart she is, how beautiful she is, how special she is. How much I absolutely love being her Mommy and how proud I am of her and how great she is. She really does blow my mind. So that part of my day won over. I had the best Mother's Day ever. Because not only was it a day for Sydney and Cory to thank me for what I do for them, but it was a day for me to sit back and look at how amazingly lucky I am to be a mother. So I hope you mommies got the chance to sit back and do the same....and may every day be Mother's Day for us all :)

Lost it...

I may have lost my marbles....literally. We have been talking about converting Sydney's bed to her toddler bed for quite some time now. We haven't had any accidents yet, but knowing my curious little angel, we knew that it might be time soon. And I would like to avoid the middle of the night crashing to the floor which would surely take us to our local emergency room. And one morning when I was in there about to get her out of the crib she looked at me with these questioning eyes, stuck one foot up on the bar, both hands at the top of the rail and said "Climb?" No, little one. we should not be climbing anywhere. Unless it is on our local jungle gym and nothing inside these four walls signify jungle gyms. But we still thought, surely we have time before we take this HUGE step. Until my usual Sunday morning CRAZY decision making. And within twenty minutes, we set this up and immediately after...we are left with this....

And yes I was crazy enough to go into her room and take these pictures while she was sleeping... and yes, in case you are wondering...we are aware that this rail is NO BUENO when it comes to making sure that Mommy is not a giant nutso worrying about her falling out...hence this for this nap time while Daddy is out getting a more substantial safety rail...

Oh and while I am here and don't need a full blog for it...check out her new sweet art board for all of her fun projects from school...

and her new book storage. The old book shelf I thought was A. getting old (I got it while I was in college) and B. too dangerous for a little one. It was also quite difficult for her to stack everything to aid in cleaning up so we went to something more Sydney appropriate.