Friday Smiday---Bad Mom and 5QF

I interrupt the regularly scheduled Flashback Friday post to bring to you a late breaking news report...

Shopping Spree Snafu---When shopping turns ugly!

Yesterday, during a girls' afternoon out shopping, I started to try a pair of corduroys on Gillian Grace, only while attempting to pull them up, I inadvertently catapulted her forward, causing her to plop face first on the store's floor. Thank goodness my mom was with us and tended to a bleeding and hysterical GG, while I ran with the sweet store clerk to the back for paper towels and ice.  Judging from the amount of blood present upon my return, I was almost certain that our next stop would be the hospital. Fortunately, after a few minutes the bleeding subsided and Gillian Grace, bless her heart, began to calm down.

Floor 1, Gillybean 0

Now, my precious girl looks like she just auditioned for a role as Rocky's next sparring partner and I'm no longer in the running for World's Greatest Mom!


Warning: Icky, yucky, and yes there's blood!

Thankfully, the blood was worse than the actual fat lip!

Five Question Friday

1. What is the first nightmare you remember?

For the most part, my dreams are a peaceful, yet wonky, synopsis of my day. But, I can recall several sleepless nights tossing and turning after seeing bits and pieces of Stephen King's Children of the Corn as a kid. And now that I'm older, I have a reoccurring nightmare involving my mouth, where all my teeth turn to mush and fall out.

Penny for your thoughts on that one!

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2. Even if you're not a sports fan, what's your favorite sport to play/watch?

This is an easy answer, college football is my favorite sport to watch, hands down.
Go Gators! Fingers crossed that we bring our A game to ol' Rocky Top this weekend!

Image: Tim Casey/gatorcountry.com

3. If you could pull off one piece of trendy fashion, what would you want it to be?

Being a short stack at only 5'4 (and a half), I'd love to be able to pull off a pair of knee high boots. But I'm not only a little vertically challenged, I also have pretty stumpy athletic legs and most of the boots are simply not made for gams like mine.

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4. Did you make good grades in school?

Not to toot my own horn (Toot! Toot!), but I was a great student for most of my academic career. I earned my first C in Intro to Financial Accounting during my sophomore year of college; and have avoided anything higher than third grade math ever since. Needless to say, I leave the bill paying and account balancing to my husband.

 

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5. What magazines do you subscribe to?

I love magazines! I subscribe to US Magazine (my favorite), Real Simple, Rachael Ray, and Coastal Living. And though I don't technically have a subscription, mom sends along all her Southern Living magazines after she's read them. Only problem is, I wish I could find more time to actually read!

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What do you have planned this weekend? Make it a great one, y'all!

{Yay for 5QF fun hosted by Mama M.! If you'd like to participate head on over to My Little Life and link up.}

Finding a balance

If anyone would've told me that I'd be busier as a stay-at-home mom and have less time for myself than I did when I was teaching full time, I would've politely laughed and let the unsolicited advice go in one ear and out the other.

But now, one year and several months later, that once silly sounding quip couldn't ring more true.

There are some days that despite busying myself with tasks from the time my feet touch the ground in the morning until my head hits the pillow at night,  I feel unproductive and lost, like I'm drowning in a sea of responsibilities. I check a dozen things off my list of to dos, only to add what feels like a couple hundred more.

There's always laundry to be done, a house to be cleaned, menus to plan, groceries to purchase, errands to run, and let's not forget, one very adorable toddler to care for.  There are days when all the must-dos of life leave little time for the want-tos---running, exercising, resting, reading, and blogging. And trying to find time for those couple extra little projects, not to mention my own goals and personal aspirations, leaves me sometimes feeling overwhelmed, like there's an elephant sitting on my chest.

Then there's the ever present guilt. Guilt for wanting time by myself after Bret gets home from work. Guilt for blogging when I should've been ironing and guilt for cleaning when I could've been working on a post.  There's exercise guilt when I skip a day to catch a few extra minutes of shut eye, and guilt when I go because that's time spent away from my family. And the list goes on and on.

Every day, I am constantly reminded of just how fortunate I am to be able to stay home with Gillian Grace and for a husband that works doubly hard to provide for our family. Watching GG grow and change from one day to the next is simply a blessing that trumps any paycheck, no matter the size, and makes any work load seem worthwhile. And, many years from now when Gillybean is sixteen and ignoring my wave goodbye as she jumps into a car with her friends, I'll think back on my days at home with her and remember our moments together fondly.

And though I enjoy being a stay-at-home-mom immensely, I do wonder if I'll ever get the hang of it. Just when I think I have it figured out, something new gets thrown in the mix and I'm back where I started, just trying to figure it all out. How do so many women make motherhood look so effortless? How do I learn to balance my roles as wife and mother without losing myself in the process? If I'm able to get everyone else on routines and schedules, it shouldn't be impossible to find one that works for me, right?!

Have you found just the right balance that works for you and your family? Or are you like me, the Mary Lou Retton of motherhood, and sometimes find yourself teetering on the unbalanced beam of life?

Tell me, how do you make it work?

Daily Dose of Gillian Grace

Sniffles and all, our lil' Gator loves college football Saturdays! But we sure do miss #15 (Tim Tebow)!  And congratulations to Lindsay, winner of the Baby Britches team spirit twirl skirt!

There is a "me" in time

27,216,000 seconds

453,600 minutes

7,560 hours

10 months 11 days

315 days

Have passed since Gillian Grace was born.

And it's been that long since I've had a moment to myself.

Being a mom is hard, and no one can ever prepare you for the journey. It's trial by fire, sink or swim. Motherhood is a double scoop of chocolate ice cream; a sticky frequently messy, meant to be savored, always satisfying treat. And just like you feel watching helplessly as your scoop of sweet goodness tumbles from your cone to the sidewalk below, motherhood can be full of its own share of equally exasperating moments.

Yesterday, was my melting ice cream on the sidewalk moment. After another failed attempt to get Gillian Grace to eat {food has not been our friend since the hospitalization}, I put myself in my first ever mommy time out.

When life hands me lemons, I put on my running shoes and hit the road. After a good run with nothing but the relentless sound of my shoes landing hard on the pavement, I returned home with a new found clarity and more positive outlook.

She'll eat when she's hungry, I'm doing the best I can.

And for now, my best will just have to be good enough.

*Just ask anyone, I'm no mathematician. To come up with the correct numbers for this post, I used a date calculator I found after a Google search. Want to try it for yourself? Click here.