keepin it real: i baby my baby

i baby my baby.

and by that i mean a number of things.

things i'm not ashamed of, just things i don't share openly because...

i don't really give a hoot what anyone thinks and don't wanna hear it.

let's see.

his bedroom is empty...because his crib is in our room.

he co-slept with us till about 8 months old. the only reason we even started using the crib is because he sleeps like a freaking bed hogging ninja. he started to not sleep as well. so, we were like, guess he's telling us he wants his crib! tear. not really though; it's nice. although, about 3 nights a week, he wakes up in the middle of the night and we bring him into bed with us. happily :)

he still takes a bottle. 

about 3 times a day.

and, i still put some formula in it. 

SHOCKING!

he also still nurses to go to sleep. 

this one is tricky. you get the moms that didn't nurse or the moms who weaned after 1 year, and they get all weird and uncomfortable and you  just know they're ready to go home and talk S about you that night with their husband. then you have the granola moms who are like aaaand?

i can't figure out where i fit in, but hey story of my life. 

anyway. my baby needs some boob and cuddling before he goes to sleep.

if i wanna spend the time doing it, then i sure as hell will. 

my rule of thumb since becoming a mom is to follow my instincts and follow ben's cues. 

to hell with anyone else's views or timelines. 

to hell with them i say!

embrace the camera: jan 26

before i get to the photo, something just occurred to me. you'll frequently hear parents saying how people without kids "just don't get it". i've even said this myself--without really knowing why. it seriously just came to me. it's totally true. people without kids do NOT get it. you know why? there is a level of emotion that you experience when you are a parent that is beyond any other emotion a person could EVER feel in life. it's cheesily, ridiculously deep and indescribable. it takes literally every single thing about your existence and gives it a new meaning. feeling that type of emotion...on a daily basis...well, it changes you. i'm sure i may get eye rolls from some who don't have children yet, and that's okay, because once they DO have children, they'll totally get it :)

now onto embracing the camera.
i tried to have a moment with my precious monster.
you can see how well that went.

want to embrace the camera too??
please visit emily's site to get the details...and to see how cute her blog is!

the day i talked about deleting facebook and gluten

i'm feeling pretty deep today. i'm a real thinker. 

it seems ridiculous to be that person who talks about deleting their facebook...because you know it's never gonna happen. 

but i'm talkin about it. yes i am. 

lately, the reason is sheer boredom combined with irritation over ignorant and un-researched political posts, and the fact that it's a total time and attention suck. i spend more time getting annoyed by things people post than being entertained. and seriously, what's more entertaining than my family? i could be paying attention to them instead of life-bragging (and life-stalking, if i'm being honest) on facebook all the time.

ps. ben has slapped the keyboard like 5 times since i've started writing. finally, i snapped to life and realized what was going on. do you ever do that? unintentionally permit a bad behavior because you're not paying attention? maybe it happens when you're on facebook....! 

so. i'm not claiming that i'm deleting my facebook. i'm just thinking and talking about it. i don't want to be dramatic about it. i just wanna consider it and if i decide to give it the axe, just do it quietly. the cool way. see, even deleting facebook is about being cool. ugh-noyying. 

part two of this is me talking about going gluten free. i've been doing a lot of research lately, and everything i read is telling me that we need to stop eating it. i can say we because my husband and i have the same exact issues, and i think our little doot doot may be lucky as well. 

it seems like SUCH a big PITA. 

pita stands for pain in the ass. 

just in case you were wondering. 

but it does. however, if we really are sensitive to it, then the benefits of removing it from our diets will SO be worth it. i'm in the "what the eff would we eat?" stage right now. i guess i'll start planning an actual grocery list and check out some foods so that i can get an idea of what the reality would be like. my MIL recently started eating gluten free, and she is all about it. she's also like super healthy...she has more energy than me and she's like 3 times my age (kidding Debbie, kidding). 

i am also secretly hoping that it'll help with weight loss. 

i'm currently quite the beast. to the point where i'm like, ugh, daylight?

maybe combining weight watchers (which i'm on) with eating gluten free will produce magical results. 

we shall see. that's all for today folks. the whole two folks who read this blog ;)

keepin' it real: towels

welcome to my first keepin' it real post, y'all.

i'm allowed to say y'all because mr. sherman is from texas.

i often notice that us mommy-bloggers post our best, brightest, and most entertaining moments.

but sometimes, it's nice to tell it like it is.

i have decided to post something brutally honest about myself or my life, once a week.

i know, i know, it will shatter the perfect illusion that i have created, but the world will go on.

i'm gonna start this off with an easy one.

it's something i'm a little ashamed of. it's kinda nasty.

i only wash our bath towels when they start to stink.

i know, i know! you're supposed to wash them every few days.

i know it's gross. i know about bacteria!

i have no idea why i let it go that long.

it'll get to the point where i go to dry off my face and i'm like, wtf, my face smells like A.

A as in ASS.

and then i'm like, i need to wash these friggin towels.

but i probably forget...and then another couple of days goes by.

and then my husband complains.

it takes a lot for him to complain.

so yeah.

i mean, i wash the hand towels and guest towels. i don't expect others to deal with my disgusting procrastination issues. but as far as our bathroom goes, that's the down and dirty (literally) truth.

maybe not that it's out there on the internets, i'll do something about it!

lazy sunday

today was super weird. i woke up in the WORST MOOD EVER. i was stank and sour. only my little doot doot got to see my nice side. finally, i ended up taking a nap with him in the middle of the day and i woke up feeling better. it's a good thing too, because i was about to cut someone.

we topped this day off by taking the babes to the beach to run off some energy. it was am-ah-zing.

check out this picture...straight off my iphone:

tutorial: cupcake garland

every once in a while, i attempt to get my craft on. it usually turns out cute enough that i don't crumble it up and violently throw it in the trash. sometimes that does happen though...those are not my finest moments. 

my family is having a little birthday party for my niece maddie (who loves to bake cupcakes), and i made this little cupcake garland to up the festivity levels. i am a little addicted to garland. i make it for almost every occasion. mostly because it's cheap and easy and i usually don't have to deal with going to joanns (craft hell). because I am such a giving person i decided to create a little tutorial, in case you want to make one too! i mean, it's pretty self explanatory...but whatever. i'm just pumped to be doing a tutorial, if we're being honest. check out my skillz.

step one: draw and cut out a the cupcake top and bottom on stiff paper to use as your template...if i were more advanced, this would be a printable. alas, i am not, so it is not. 

step two: marvel at the way i photographed it with a ruler so that you could see the dimensions

step three: prevent your 15 month old from grabbing ahold of the scissors. also, marvel at the cleanliness of my desk. 

step four: trace and cut out all of your pieces

step five: use the bottom of a K cup to trace and cut out felt circles (those will top the cupcakes)

step six: mix up some homemade glitter glue paint (it's just mod podge and glitter folks)

and the rest, which i did not photograph:

glue or tape your cupcakes together (glue dots or mod podge is great)

glue on the cherry toppers, brush some glitter glue on 'em

draw random lines on the cupcake bottoms with marker, trace with glitter glue

hole punch two holes along the tops (at first i did the middle, but they didn't hang right)

string yarn through the holes

cut some strips of leftover fabric or ribbon and tie the pieces in between the cupcakes

boom. you're done.

if you want to include a name on your banner, go for it. i just don't have the patience to explain that right now. i'm sure you'll figure it out ;)

embrace the camera: january 19th

this is my first embrace the camera post. emily anderson over at the anderson crew started it, and it's neato. i honestly never say neato...i don't know why i just did. did it make me seem cool? hopefully.

embrace the camera is about us moms getting in front of the camera with our kids, instead of always being the one behind the camera. we have to have proof that we were here, right?? our kids will want to see pictures of them with their mama! so i'm gettin on it.

disclaimer: i wore makeup specifically because i knew i'd be taking a picture today. i'm just keepin it real. however, it sort of backfired because i look 80's. and now my eyes itch.

this is me and my little doot doot, "playing" in the back yard this morning. i say "playing" because it was more like me sweating and trying to get him in a photo before he got soaked, i messed up my makeup, and before my camera battery died. which it did. but i'm moving on.

watch how he barely tolerates me. he's like mom, i don't know why you're wearing lipstick, and also, you know i don't sit still for any period of time...obviously.

What in the Blogger app!

What in tarnation! I can blog from my phone now.

And who cares if I can't make it look all tricked out. I'm keepin it real! How easy will it be to blog when it works for me, instead of when I can steal some computer time??

See...these are the shenanigans that occur when Mama tries to get on the computer:

Phew.

This is probably like, my 19th blog. The rest have all been abandoned. I'd try to be witty, crafty, smart...perfect. Basically all things I'm really not. I mean, yeah, I can be witty, and yeah, I have a little crafty bone. However, when things didn't look perfect or I didn't have something jaw dropping to post, I'd avoid it. My blogs became a chore.


I'm really really gonna try NOT doing that this time.

Because if there is one thing life has taught me the past few years, it's that nobody is perfect. Sure, lots of other women may seem perfect, but we're only getting their highlight reel. What if we were to see the full, unedited version? It'd probably look a lot less intimidating and a heck of a lot more normal. Maybe even comforting...to know that there are other total wieners like us.

Jami Nato, the author of this blog, often talks about how us Moms need to blog. To preserve the day to day memories. To document the little things we do for our kids and our family...so that one day, they can look back and know how much we cared; how much effort and love went into building the lives we all live.

I think that is so important. Toats important, as my friend Crystal and I would say (even though we know it's obnoxious).

So, a-blogging-I-go, yet again. Except this time, I'm going to make a real effort to quit the I'm Perfect charade. My family is quite perfect because of the loads of imperfection going on up in here.