Mama Guilt Mondays

I'm heading back to work today after being home for SIX DAYS straight!

And you know what???

I'm kinda, sorta, maybe a little bit....looking forward to it.

*GASP*

I know, I KNOW! I feel so guilty. I love my little guys dearly, but I tell ya, after spending the past six days being cooped up with two sick little boys (who are much better now, thank goodness), I need some sanity.

I am actually looking forward to my desk, my pile of cases I'm sure are waiting for me, but most of all, I'm looking forward to a moderately quiet (as quiet as Police Headquarters can be) office with working adults. Is that bad? Does that make me a bad mommy? Oh please don't hate me, I'm just being honest.

So, do YOU have anything you feel guilty about come Monday mornings? Are you a SAHM who has to focus on the tasks at hand? A WAHM who has to make time to get some work done? A work outside the home mama? Please do share/vent/get it off your chest in the comments section.

Images of Christmas

Sprout's little hands

and Cubbie's fine baby hair


and this man whose strong arms hold our first born


as we gather around the tree once again. Thank you Jesus.

Doin' the Baby Wearing Thing

A Blog post on Thanksgiving?

Yep. You wanna know why?

Both my little guys have fevers and I'm home lovin' em up. My DH ran the Roasted Cauliflower dish and buns over to my sister in law's. He just called, he's having PIE and COFFEE! Thanks a lot babe.

As I write this, Sprout's watching "Chicken Little" while Cubbie refuses to leave my arms, so I'm doin' the baby wearing thing.

Thank goodness for the Ergo!

Bye Bye Breastpump

(TMI Warning - Scroll Down at Your Own Risk :-)

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I'm Free!

Cubbie is officially weaned! I finally brought the breast pump home from work on Monday. What an awesome feeling.

For the first time in FOUR years, I'm not either trying to get pregnant, pregnant, or breastfeeding. My body is finally getting back to normal (minus the extra five pounds I'm still trying to shake.)

Don't get me wrong, I loved nursing my baby boys. Knowing they were getting wonderful antibodies from their "Mama Milk" made me feel like the supplier of natural super powers. Sprout nursed until he was one, and now Cubbie actually went until one and a half.

So, here's the top ten things I'm going to do now that I'm FREE:

1. Die my hair - seriously, I'm only 36, where ARE these gray hairs coming from???

2. Whiten my teeth - can you say coffee addict?

3. Drink a glass of wine without feeling guilty.

4. Go for a run without having to wear TWO sport bras!

5. Not have a baby attached to my chest at all hours of the day and night.

6. Be able to actually take cold medicine when I'm sick.

7. Not have to watch our pastor's message at church while sitting in the "Happy Room."

8. No more attempting to be descreet in public while a raging mad baby is riping off my clothes.

9. Be able to wear my normal tops again.

10. Throw away those slingshot contraptions they call nursing bras!

To all the moms out there...did you breastfeed? If so, how long? Please share in the comments section. Thanks!

Need a New Blog Template?

Blogger, I love ya, but I need a new template.

So thanks to my new blogging friend Kim over at Mom Tried It, I discovered Designer Blogs.

I sent in my request over the weekend, and what do you know? They are having a sale!

Check out all the fun kits and creative ideas. They do both traditional and contemporary designs. Plus, you can't beat their prices.

Don't forget to stop back here to see what my new tricked out blog looks like!

(Oh, by the way, they gave me a discounted price for mentioning their sale.)

Good Morning

The early frost

coats and crunches

with each step

Oh so bright

and cheery

in the cold morning

crisp

as winter arrives.

Cop Chronicles

As a Sergeant, it is my responsibility to read over police reports. I came across this one today:

An officer saw an individual acting somewhat suspicious. As the officer approached the man, he saw this person quickly put something in his front pants pocket. The officer decided to pat search the individual to make sure it was not a weapon. As the officer was patting down the front pocket of the man's pants, he felt a small, hard object consistent with a package of narcotics.

The officer asked the man, “What’s this?”

The man replied, "It's not mine, I'm just holding it for a friend. These aren't even my pants."

Oh, by the way, HUGE thanks to Jenney over at TheDraysToday. She gave my little blog a shout out on her wonderful blog this week. So kind, I do appreciate it.

Can You Believe It?

I can't believe it, I won a giveaway!

Not just any giveaway, no sir, but A BLOG GIVEAWAY over at We Are THAT Family!

Woo Hoo! Can you tell I'm doing a happy dance? (No, it's not pretty.)

I won (or I should say Sprout won) a Poloppo Kids Art T-shirt kit giveaway.

My winning comment was: "My 3 year old is all about drawing circles!" Ok, not the most ingenious, I know, I think I was stirring dinner and filling a sippy cup at the time.

The Poloppo T-Shirt kit comes with everything you need for your little one to design a shirt. I'll do an updated post once Sprout gets his hands on the kit and creates his little masterpiece.

So, I'm curious. Have YOU have ever won anything? Please do tell in the comments section.

A Free Cup of Coffee!

I'm all about a rich, creamy White Chocolate Mocha or a yummy Iced Carmel Latte from my favorite coffee shop.

But dropping almost $4 a drink, not so much.

Then, I discovered this in the grocery store:

Look closer at the side of the bag:

Yes, a Free Cup of Coffee!

Just buy a pound of Starbucks Coffee at the grocery store, then bring the empty bag in to any Starbucks and get a free Tall brewed coffee.

Bet you never even noticed, did ya! Oh, and Target has it on sale this week for $6.89.

So, that's what works for me. Feel free to check other great "Works for Me Wednesday" tips at

We are THAT Family.

(BTW, I'm not being paid whatsoever for this post. Just thought you might like know.)

Mama Guilt Mondays

Yesterday, I cleaned out Sprout's preschool backpack and found this:

and here's the inside:




and a close up of the date of the party:




Yes, it is for a birthday party from A WEEK AGO!

Talk about major Mama Guilt! Ugh!

All Better

Peek a Boo!

Yes, my little Cubbie is all better.

And back to his normal monkey business.

Oops, gotta go!

Can I Share a Secret?

Pajama bottoms.

That is all we wear when we get home.

ALL of us, including the baby.

(Ok, I know, he's not a baby, he's 1 1/2, but whatever.)

But really, if you were to stop by our house any given night, we are all in

Pajama Bottoms!

Oh, yeh, comfy tops too.

That's our secret.

I can only hope my MIL or my best friend or my husband's best buddy call before they stop by or else they will see us in our

Pajama Bottoms!

Cough, Cough, Cough

I gently rested my cheek

against Cubbie's fine, wispy baby hair
while I rocked him as he
Cough, Cough, Cough
all night long.

Now, I have to go to work and actually form sentences
when I would rather stay home and

wrap my baby in my arms.
Thank goodness DH is off on Thursdays,
so he can love up Cubbie for me.

So I'll send up a little prayer for

my little guy's body
to quickly fight off whatever

little virus

this is.

Yes, That's Me

Budget.

I hate that word. I think we all do. But somehow, I HAD to come up with a way to reign in our grocery bill.

Well, I finally managed to do it. How, you ask? With this:

A Calculator? Yes, a calculator. See I actually BRING IT WITH to the grocery store! Shocking, yes, I know. And yes, that's me, dutifully adding up every single item I put in my cart.

But you know what? It has worked for me. I went from grocery bills creeping towards $200 every week, down to near $110 now. That's including diapers, wipes, and baby food.

Oh, another secret, I use this too:
I actually use CASH!

Seriously though, when you have to hand over 5 or 6 twenty dollar bills of your hard earned money, it makes you think twice about buying that bag of Doritos that you just have to have.

So, that's what works for me. Feel free to check other great "Works for Me Wednesday" tips at: http://www.wearethatfamily.com/

Sprout-isms

The other day while washing dishes, Sprout came up to me with a perplexed look on his face. While rubbing the back of his neck, he said, "Mama, is my head on right?"

Huh?

I said, "Yeh baby, you're head's on right."

"Oh, Okay then," and he walked away.

Yesterday, as I was pulling into the garage, he said, "Mama, I think you pulled in too far."

Oh really, Mr. Three and a half year old.

Sure enough, he was right. Little stinker.

Mama Guilt Mondays

As I was driving in to work today, instead of feeling my normal Monday morning mama guilt, all I could think about was little Stellan. I'm sure you all know who I'm talking about. His mama's blog is http://www.mycharmingkids.net/ All I can say is that I just pray his ablation goes well. Please keep him and his whole family in your prayers.

Smile

Today, the message at church was that there are a lot of lonely people in the world and sometimes simple things like smiling at others or saying "Hi" can make a difference.

I know between commuting and day care and being a mommy and a wife, I am guilty of being too caught up in my own crazy world to care about the strangers around me. This is just an excuse, though. Jesus calls us to be Christ like to others at all times, which of course, we all fall short of. However, this message was a good reminder for me. I need to make more of an effort to notice those around me, say "Hi" or even just smile.

Good Deals

I needed a new dress coat for work. I found a black Anne Klein pea coat with hood (normally $210) for $101! Herbergers is having a sale this weekend. I combined that with a coupon I printed off of their website. The sale continues through Sunday.

I've always wanted to get a Huffy toddler scooter for Sprout, but I could only ever find the pink Princess one. Well, Target has a sale right now and they had the Cars version in stock for only $19.99 with the toy catalog coupon. We received our catalog in the mail, but it was available in the store too. Now I just have to figure out where to hide it until Christmas!

T.G.I.F.

This thing

Is OFF

for the Weekend!
(sorry boss)

Finally

Finally, I am feeling better. It only took three weeks and the consumption of antibiotics (which I am normally against, but whatever.) I toughed it out as long as I could but when I finally went in to see our awesome family practice female doc (who has treated both boys since they were born), I shamelessly told her, "I'm done." See, normally I am reluctant to take anything and, as my health and wellness husband has relentlessly reminded me over the years, my body can naturally fight things off. But after three weeks, like I told Dr. P, I was done.

(Cough, cough...clear the throat) Okay, maybe not totally done, but almost.

The North Shore

This is my favorite place on Earth. Yes, even over the beaches of Mexico or the mountains of Colorado. We spent a long weekend on the North Shore relaxing and enjoying being away from civilization (kind of, Two Harbors.) On Friday, the wind was strong and the waves were amazing. Sprout threw rocks with daddy while Cubbie just tried to keep from blowing away. Mama, of course, took dozens of photos while attempting to keep the camera (and the boys) dry. It was a lovely, peaceful vacation that was overdue.

The rates at the resorts this time of year are very reasonable. Many of the resorts had a Gales of November type discount where you stay two nights and get the third night free.