Mama Bears, Pooptastrophes and Nascar.. OH MY!

Well, I'm back. Can't say it's going to be a daily thing, BUT, now that we are out of the hospital and back to a semi normal schedule, the posts should be more frequent.

Couple of things:

1. Ellie is doing AMAZINGLY. Thank you all for the prayers, good thoughts, good energy, best wishes and LOVE you all sent the last few weeks. We knew we were blessed with amazing friends and family but we were BLOWN AWAY by the support you all have shown us.

2. We are back at home, out of the hospital and pretty much acting like she never had a surgery! It amazes me how resilient and tough little kids are. Sometimes, I think it's mom or dad that may need the hand holding or coddling more than the kid.

3. We are 107 days away from our vacation to Walt Disney World. (WDW moving forward) As a Proctoid and Disney Addict, I will use a lot of abbreviations. Learn it, live it, love it. I am hoping to transition the blog to a more proactive approach and guide on how to really REALLY enjoy Disney. It breaks my heart to hear so many people say they hated their experience or didn't have a wonderful time. There are lots of reasons for that, but there will be plenty of blog posts to talk it!

4. NASCAR. I am officially converted. Not as a fan, mind you. I don't think I could EVER EVER EVER sit down and spend 4-6 hours watching cars make left hand turns willingly on tv. I do think it's a great experience and would absolutely jump at the chance to visit another race. I ate a huge piece of humble pie after my trip and hope I can share the fun times with my family in the future.

Alright.. that's it for today. Ok, I lied. One more thing: Please visit my friends Facebook sites for headbands and other great hand made items. 3C Creations can be found here:

https://www.facebook.com/3CCreations?fref=ts

Please support her and her foray into small business!



I hope everyone has a great day! Love, trust & Pixie Dust.
Marie

I'm sorry it's been so long, but I promise it's for a good reason!

Greetings friends! I am so sorry it's been at least 10 days since my last entry, and I do apologize. (because we all KNOW that your entire existence is based solely on reading my posts.. right? RIGHT?!?!)

Now, I have a very good reason why I have not posted in a bit. As some of you may or may not know, our beautiful and spunky Ellie has had some, shall we say, poopy issues since she was born. Even in her infancy, pooping was quite an issue and we have struggled with it and it's created some havoc for her AND us. After some searching and doctor's visits, we came to find out she had an anorectal malformation. Basically, her poophole was in the wrong place. Now, she had one, thankfully, it was just misaligned. We originally thought her plumbing was at least 50% in the right place and we just recently found out it was, in fact, only 20% correctly aimed. That's a lot of poop not getting out! While not a life threatening condition, we made the decision to finally go ahead with the surgery last Tuesday. (That little journey ALONE is an entirely different blog post!) Basically, we've been at the hospital non stop since early Monday and we hopefully will get discharged tomorrow!

SO, there you have it. I haven't been ignoring you or been lazy. I simply need to make sure my kid stays healthy. :-) More blog posts to come, promise. I have lots to tell you: Mama Bear sightings, What courage, beauty and strength really look like and wait for it.... NASCAR.

Ok folks, have a great day!!! Blog to you soon!



Marie

This is why I had twin daughters!

While I may not outwardly appear to be a super duper girly girl woman, I secretly harbor an unrequited desire to be a Disney Princess. You know, the whole ballgown, tiara, magic wand kind of dream princess. I think it all stems from not having a lot of those kinds of things growing up. Now, do NOT get me wrong. I had an awesome and happy childhood; I was just not given the super princessy kind of toys and dress up clothes that I so desperately wanted.

With twin girls, I think I am living vicariously through them. I am reliving my childhood. I hope it doesn't come across as spoiling or indulging, but there is something so sweet and fun about playing dress up. I want their imaginations to run wild. All too often, our kids (generalization coming up) are spoon fed the scenario or told what to think. I am happy to simply provide the props necessary to get those little brains rolling. I love seeing their eyes light up putting on the jewlery (we'll get to properly accessoring before middle school) but for now, by all means, look like an American Gypsy and their bling! Pile on the bracelets! Put on the fun light up shoes! Push that "baby" in your play stroller. Imagination is so important to childhood development and I am a huge fan for providing whatever they need! Here are some fun pictures from today's session of "My Big Fat Gypsy Princess Dress Up" (in case you haven't noticed, I am obseessed wtih that show!)

I hope you enjoy the pictures from today. I had a blast and am happy to have this blog to preserve this precious memory of my girls!!

This just makes my blood boil (and humanity keeps losing cool points)

I just found an article that competlely made me lose it. Like straight up crazy, rabid, incensed kind of lose it. I don't know what about the article set me off, but ultimately, I think it's just fundamentally a CRAPTASTIC thing to do. For perspective (there's the proctoid coming out) here is a link to the article that got me all riled up.

http://www.nypost.com/p/news/local/manhattan/disney_world_srich_kid_outrage_zTBA0xrvZRkIVc1zItXGDP

Now, where to begin. This is all kinds of messed up. As you have probably deduced, I am OBSESSED with Disney. I love it. I love the happy, warm gooey center of happiness it gives me when I walk down Main Street USA. I love the cherished memories with family that I created there. I love the sense of magic, wonder and hope that it gives. Cheesy, yes, but that's ok. In this world of hate, dispair and seediness, I will take pixie dust and imagination any day.

Abuse of power through means of wealth, position and connections is nothing new. What I think bothers me the most is that Disney is ultimately an equal opportunity environment. (at least for now) Yes, there are different classes of hotels, etc you can stay in, but the experience that is Disney is universally attainable. Advanced dining reservations are first come, first served, Yes, you could hire people to do that, but you don't need money to be able to snag reservations to Be Our Guest if you are 180 days out. Fast Passes? Yes, you could hire a VIP guide to help cut down on lines, but a little planning on your part and voila: fast pass! It doesn't matter if you paid 10,000 dollars for your trip or $2,000, you essentially are afforded the same opportunities and abilities to make the most of your Disney Experience. The only thing that money can afford you is the ability to stay at a better hotel and more options. (hello Bibiddi Bobbity Boutique and BackStage Tours) These aren't necessary to have a great time, but simply enhancements to make it even better. Disney is not cheap, and not everyone has had the blessing to go, but for those that can, I hope you will and do agree. (PS: if you need help with planning, come to me! I LOVELOVELOVELOVELOVE planning trips to Disney. It gives me disgusting amounts of joy!)

Now, what these woman are doing is reprehensible. I can not even IMAGINE what kind of entitled, self important brats they are raising. Can you even begin to imagine the EXPECTATIONS these kids will have in their lives? I mean if they do this for a trip to Disney (which, I admit, is a big deal) what will they do for their kids to get into their dream college? Their sweet sixteen? Their wedding? It has become a competition amongst the moms on who can give them the "most". Well, how about "giving" them the lesson of humility? The lesson of failure? The lesson of hard work? The lesson of NO ENTITLEMENTS. The lesson of trying your hardest. The lesson of you won't always be first. The lesson of life isn't always fair. These are the lessons that as moms, we NEED to be teaching them. YES, we want to give our children the world, and yes, we think they deserve them. But at what point are we doing them a disservice? At what point is our "helping" becoming a hinderance? All I wish for my children is to become happy, healthy, functioning adults. Now, with me as a mother, highly doubtful, but luckily they have their amazing father. Now, it is inherent in my nature to want to give them every toy, outfit, opportunity possible, but I know this will do more harm than good. Millennials are showing us what overindulging and instant gratification can do and is QUICKLY rearing its ugly head in the work force. There is no patience any more. No more work hard and you will be rewarded. We are giving our children so much, they want or need for NOTHING. That desire is what sets us apart. That spirit of never giving up, knowing what defeat tastes like: that's what separates the men (or women) from the boys (or girls). We need to stop treating our children like fine china, for display and pride purposes only, and start treating them like Fiesta Ware. You know, colorful, bright, tough but still breakable. Children are not status symbols or pets to be pampered. We need to understand, that as parents, EVERY action, every decision, every judgment call will have repercussions. So in the wise words of the knight in Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade: CHOOSE WISELY.

Alright.. enough of this rant for now. I think you all see where I'm going with this. Here's to a happy day filled with Pixie Dust, love and just enough disappointment that makes you longing to work hard at tomorrow.

Being a working mom makes me a BETTER mom....

First of all, let's get one thing straight: I can not stand the term working mom. ALL mothers are working mothers. Their location of said work is really the only difference. Some mom's just stay at home versus others that outsource their talents. Now, in yesterday's post, I mentioned that being a "working" mom made me a better mother to my children. How is that possible? How can I even be a good mom if I am not with them all the time. I'll tell you how: It's called QUALITY verus QUANTITY. Now, before I go off, these are only my personal opinions and mirror my life and circumstances. I do not speak for mother's every where, but I do hope that I can speak for those that may not be able to wordsmith their feelings onto paper. Or in this case, screen. Now, I love my children. They are my moon, earth and stars, but i also love myself just as much. Yes, I said it. I love ME, too. I think that when we become mothers, our love for ourselves quickly becomes secondary to the needs of our children. Our time is even more precious and valuable, and we have to make some hard choices. I never, ever wanted to be a stay at home mom, let alone a mother. My children were a happy "accidental blessing" and I can not imagine my life without them. I salute the mom's that make the decision to stay home. Sometimes it's a necessity, and others deem staying home important to the upbringing of their children. I could never do that. Now, I know what you are thinking: Oh Marie, you are so silly, of course you could. NO, really, I couldn't. I cherish my alone ADULT time. Being alone with my children all day, every day would seriously be TORTURE for me. Besides, I have the coolest job in the world at one of the best companies in the world. That helps TREMENDOUSLY, I'm sure. But even if my working conditions were not so ideal, there is something to be said about being able to leave to have quality adult conversations that don't revolve around Dora and that damn monkey. Or asking someone to "crazy shake" and repeat primary numbers repetitively. I travel for work as well, and those are delicious mommy moments. Now, that's not to say I do not miss my chidlren. Please do not misinterpret this as lack of love. I am a better mother because when I come back to my children, whether from a business trip or the office, I WANT to see them. I WANT to play with them, WANT to read them a book and cherish the time I am actually with them. If I had to be around them all day, every day, they woudl eventually feel the gradual resentment or disconnection from me. I can not begin to tell you how many times I have heard other moms say "I just need a 15 minute break." Unfortunately, Stay At Home Mom's (SAHM from now on) aren't afforded that luxury. Their children are there morning, noon and night. These brave moms are referees, theater goers, lego police, art critics, movie attendants, personal cooks, chauffeurs and many other things: TO THE SAME PEOPLE. Every day. Can you imagine? At least at work, I am offered variety, conversations, different environments. NOw, I am not saying my situation is better or worse than that of the SAHM, but for me, it's what works. My children can tell that I am genuinely happy to greet them after a long day in the office. If there is one thing kids are amazing at spotting, it's if you are being GENUINE. They know when you aren't fully engaged. Kids crave your full attention. That's ultimately what they want from you. And funny enough, they would rather have 10 minutes of fully engaged, unadulterated and undivided attention that three hours of half listening or head nodding. Just like adults, they can tell when you are not listening. So moms, regardless of your situation, ask yourself this: am I giving ALL of myself to my kids at least 10 minutes of my day? Do they have my complete attention? One of my main hopes for this blog is to get conversations going (along with a cathartic release of my inner thoughts) so feel free to leave me a comment, thought or suggestion. Just be nice. Ok.. that's enough of that.. my attention is now going to the TV. Have a wonderful Friday night!

This needs to be a mommy judgement free zone, people.

Hi friends! Sorry for the radio silence the last 48 hours, but it's been a busy few days. (typical) Today's post is going to touch on how hard mommies judge each other and how we just need to stop. Like seriously, STOP IT. There will never be a "perfect" mom. There is no magic formula that turns you into a June Cleaver, Marge Simpson or in some cases, Lucille Bluth. Here's a small confession about me: I was never going to have children. Yup, you read that right. In the words of my absolutely eloquent 27 year old self: "Ain't nothing comin out of my hoo-haw" Yes, I actually said that and now have 3 examples of how God has a sense of humor. I never thought of myself as particularly maternal or being v nurturing. Could you imagine me, Marie, as a stay at home mom? I value and respect EVERY woman that makes this choice, but that is not what I want to do. It's not in my "wheelhouse". In fact, I think being a working mom actually makes me a better mom. (more on that in a later post!) So, what spurned this blog post and it's title? I'll tell you: A mom apologized to me yesterday for not being prepared. SERIOUSLY. We were at the doctors office with Vivi and Ellie for some speech testing, and while in the waiting room, a mom actually felt the COMPELLING NEED to apologize to me because she gave her kid a receipt to play with while I gave Vivi a Leap Pad. Now, I know what your thinking. Yes, I came prepared, but you know what, I lucked out. Half the time, our diaper bag is depleted of toys, crayons and yes, even freaking diapers. The fact that I had something to occupy Vivi was probably proper planning on my husband's part and sheer dumb luck. What struck me was that this was a woman who had THREE kids with her in the waiting room, clearly had a lot on her plate and her instinct was to APOLOGIZE TO ME for giving her kid a receipt to play with. Which, I should add, kept him totally occupied and happy. That's a win in my book, sister. What kind of judgmental and competitive mommy culture are we creating here? It certainly doesn't feel nurturing or supportive. With the invention of Pinterest (a personal obsession) mommy one upping has gone to incredible heights. Women pin on boards unattainable images of parties, organizing tips, crafts and menus that in reality, barely make it on the pages of Martha Stewart, they are so ridiculously prim and proper. I mean, really? You are single handledly going to hand make 27 PICTURE valentines with lollipops for your PRESCHOOLERS class? Really? Yeah, they are totally going to sit there and say, hey mom, look at this amazing picture of Charlie and how incredibly creative it is. Child please, those heathens are gonna tear into that card and go for the lollipop. They can give two poops about the insane amount of man hours and time you spent crafting this card. And PLEASE, for the love of all things holy, do not sit there and falsely say, oh it was nothing. It didn't take me that long. Liar. That took you 15 hours and doesn't even count driving time to and from Michael's and Target. But anyway, I digress from the original story (surprise). Basically, I just felt a sudden pang of sympathy and sadness for that mom. She has four kids and was able to bring them BY HERSELF to the doctors office. ALIVE. That's a win in my book. We moms need to stop trying to attain perfection and realize we have the to be the BEST VERSIONS OF OURSELVES for our kids. We need to stop comparing and judging and gloating and being competitive. Yes, being judgmental is part of human nature and I am not saying I haven't done it myself. (You dressed your kid in that????!!!! is usually my thought, but whatevs) Being a parent is not easy, and adding this UNNECESSARY level of complexity and competitiveness is downright silly. Care about what should really matter. You know, like, is my kid getting enough of my attention. Am I being the best mom or dad I can be to them. Am I really making time for them? Am I providing the safest and most nurturing environment I can provide for them? The list of questions is endless, but what needs to matter is what kind of mom YOU want to be. Not what Pinterest says you should. (now Pin that, mofo's!)

Dear Disney, you're killing me! (in a good way!)

Disney is one of my many obsessions. I have kept it a secret for quite a while, but now that I have my minions, I can let my Disney freak flag fly proudly (and just blame them). I am catching up on Once Upon A Time (from now on will be acronymed OUAT to save time) and saw a clever commercial. Regina, the evil queen in the show, takes a tour of the new Fantasyland. Talk about seamlessly integrating a show, website, concept and activation all in one pretty little 30 second spot. Clever and inventive, it instantly made me go to the website and what do they have? A GAME. Oh you saucy temptress and seductive vixen, you. Disney, you have got my number and you push it multiple times. I can't wait to play it and will share my thoughts on it. For now, here is the link! http://disneyworld.disney.go.com/new-fantasyland/ Enjoy! PS: Disney does Social right. Granted, it helps to have a bazillion beloved characters and movies.