Friday Confessions

It’s that time again! Hopefully these won’t be as lame as last weeks.

1. Today I’m headed to Orlando to have a mommy retreat with some ladies from my mom’s group and our special guest speaker, Kearsie.

2. The above may just sound like a plain ol’ statement unless you know me. If you do, you know I totally freak about traveling and get all nervous. I’ll be taking an extra prozac just for the trip.

3. Don’t mock the insane.

4. Last Friday, we (the fam, minus the two little girls) went to what I lovingly call the “Space Place” which is really just the Kennedy Space Center. That’s where the second disaster happened.

5. The first disaster was the day before. Thursday. When I was cleaning like a mad woman. I apparently squirted toilet cleaner on my FAVORITE pink Auburn shirt. Turns out that stuff is powerful and will ruin a good shirt.

6. Back to my second disaster. We are standing in the play area (Space Place) while T runs around having a good time. Anthony says to me, “You have grey hair.” Ummmm….excuse me??? No. No I don’t. So we bring Chad over to confirm. Still NOT a believer. Hubs takes a pic and shows me. I almost vomited. I AM 25 YEARS OLD!!!!!!!!!!!!! There was a whole big ol’ blob of grey in my hair!!!!! Rachel said she didn’t tell me because she thought I knew. Please. I would have ripped my hair out.

7. Turns out I did have *some* grey strands of hair. I also had a section of my hair that wasn’t fully grey. Turns out I got toilet cleaner in my hair. Toilet cleaner bleaches hair…just in case you didn’t know that.

8. At least my disaster had a positive outlook. I told Hubs that the grey was the last straw. I was getting my hair fixed. Highlighted. Colored. Whatever it took. He agreed.

9. I KNEW God wanted me to have highlighted hair.

10. Rachel saved the day and did it (the highlighting) for me…for free! I just had to buy the stuff. Now I’m a hot momma once again. Ok…maybe just my head. Oh well. That’ll do donkey…that’ll do.

11. By the way, the Space Place is not worth the price you pay for it. I mean…it’s cool and all but seriously? $40 a person? Let’s be real. I could have gone to Disney for that price and then paraded around all day like a princess. A princess with grey hair.

12. Lately I’ve really been wondering something about motherhood. I know that when man sinned, God said he would greatly increase our pain in childbirth. I can read. I understand that. What I don’t get is why we have to suffer through pregnancy, childbirth, sleepless nights, and then still, even a year and a half later, still be reminded we birthed a child each time we look in the mirror. I didn’t forget I had her!!! I see her everyday. Why do I have to carry around physical reminders such as the “hula hoop” around the waist, stretch marks in place you don’t want to know about, hips that don’t quite look the same, etc.? WHY?????

13. Also, why doesn’t my husband have these reminders? Oh wait. He didn’t carry her, puke because of her, spend 48 hours in labor, and then deliver her. Men get the fun part. Durn it.

14. I made the decision this week to become one of those crazy exercise freaks that runs 7 times a day and watches tv doing sit-ups. I figure if I spend every day like that, I won’t continue to be reminded of pregnancy and child birth.

15. That decision lasted all of about one day. I ran. Around my house. To the tune of The Backyardigans.

16. I’m pretty sure had someone else been in our house, Ansleigh would have been ashamed and embarrassed by her momma for the first time in her life.

Have an awesome weekend ya’ll! Leave me lots of comments while I’m gone. Wait. Let’s be real. Hardly ever does someone comment. You must all secretly hate me. BOOO. Still, have a good weekend.

I lurve you all for putting up with me.

An Opinion...MY Opinion

When my Buggy was a tiny little tot and was eating 796 times a day (or really 8), I remember sitting in the living room feeding her in the middle of the night. I had the tv on and somehow it ended up on TLC.

Yep, you guessed it. I was watching Jon & Kate: Plus 8. I didn't know anything about it. It was just something that was on in the middle of the night that wasn't an infomercial. Several episodes were on and I kept watching. I was intrigued.

You see...Ansleigh had colic.

Wait. That's an understatement not many people REALLY understand. My child screamed pretty much 24 hours a day and my husband was on second shift building something to go into space. My life was a blur of tiredness. Then all of a sudden, here's this woman who has 8 kids. Little kids. EIGHT OF THEM.

I guess I kind of identified. I mean...no matter how much Ansleigh screamed, at least there weren't six of them doing it at one time! I mean...seriously.

So I started watching it whenever "nothing" was on. Then I started recording it. And Hubs started watching with me. I don't care who you are....6 partially Asian toddlers are dang cute.

I really enjoyed hearing the little ones say things like "aldergator" and "Hannah pooped. In Hannah's underwears."

Yes, Kate is somewhat....abrasive. But let's just be honest here....if you had that many kids and at that point in time were struggling to make ends meet, you'd be abrasive too.

It is true too that she's tough on Jon, not really the model of a Proverbs 31 wife. Let me just say this....SHE IS HUMAN and she makes mistakes. I am by no means her bff. I don't know her. What I do know is that she does her best to do what is right for her family and is openly raising her children to know about who God is. She tries her best (or at least she did) to keep God in the front of her mind so she didn't lose her mind.

So here it is...I've outed myself. I like to watch the show.

Now...unless you have moved off of planet Earth, you know at least something about the drama going on with them . There are rumors that Jon has been cheating on Kate. Rumors that Kate is too affectionate with her bodyguard. Rumors about divorce. But you see...that's the thing. Unless you are Jon or Kate, that's all they are....rumors.

I'm not an idiot. I know there is trouble in paradise. I know that there are people rooting for them to work it out and a whole lot more people waiting to see it all become one big disaster. There are people who absolutely adore the Gosslin family and people who can't stand them. I sort of straddle the fence, leaning over towards the side of loving them.

I think Kate shouldn't scream at and boss her husband. I think Jon should grow up and realize that he is a celebrity regardless of if he wanted to be or not and he can't act like he's 22. I think they should have beaten Mady's little butt often when she was being so sassy and throwing fits. I think a lot of things but it doesn't matter what I think. It matters what God thinks.

Cut these people some slack. If things work out, great! If they don't, it will be heartbreaking for all of them. The fame that has come with their show and changed their lifestyle has made an impact on their family. You don't see Kate's Bible verses plastered all over the house anymore. They both admitted on camera that they are putting on a happy face for the kids. Satan is attacking them from EVERY angle. Why? Because they are popular and because they have admitted they are christians. It is so easy to get caught up in the latest gossip. I'm horrible about being so interested in trashy celebrity gossip. But the more we read about Jon and Kate and the more people obsess over it, the more their lives are going to be plastered all over tabloids.

Love them. Hate them. I don't care.

All I'm saying is that when you know your brothers and sisters in Christ are suffering, shouldn't you be praying for them? They need strength and wisdom. They need honesty and real love. They don't need us tearing them down and talking about how we hate them and Kate is so mean and blah, blah, blah.

I'm not trying to be a TLC advocate by any means. It kind of bugs me that they still get everything free (Gymboree clothing for 8, free trips, etc.) when they are financially doing quite well but you know what? Whatevs. It isn't any of my business what people give them out of the goodness of their hearts (or a business plug).

God tells us that we are supposed to love our neighbors as ourselves. Better yet. Love your neighbors the way you love your family and friends. If your bestie was going through a situation where she had 8 kids and her husband may be messing around on her, and her life seemed to be falling apart, you'd have her on the prayer list EVERY week in Sunday school. You'd be sending her verses of encouragment. You would be genuine in your efforts to help break Satan's hold on her life.

So do it. Not because she's your best friend, but because she is your sister in Christ and God commanded us to.

I mean...that's all I'm sayin.

Early

Chad, Rachel, T, and AC are on their way here as I type so I'm doing my confessions a day early.

• Sunday I went to church with a wicked bad migraine. I figured it was either suffer at home and take care of child, or suffer with God, childless for two hours.
  
• I have earned my domestic goddess crown this week. Today alone I have cleaned both bathrooms (nooks and crannies included), mopped, swept, vacuumed, dusted, washed a sink full of dishes, baked, washed another sink full of dishes, cleaned the kitchen, picked up the house, made the beds, and prepared for our guests. I've also cooked our dinner EVERY night this week.
  
• After all the domestic loveliness....I'm pooped.
• That means Hubs is picking up pizza on the way home. :)
  
• My child and I have been in a head-to-head battle all week. She thinks it is acceptable to scream "NO!" to me. I don't believe it is.
  
• I WILL WIN. Mark my words.
  
• Last night, when I was trying to go to sleep, I had a whole long list of these to post. Some of them were even clever. Dang it!
  
• It has rained here. All week. Like...every minute of every day. I was starting to wonder if Hubs needed to go buy some lumber and we needed to start working on our Ark.
  
• Turns out. We don't need to.
  
• Yet.
• I FINALLY got pro status on Wii Bowling after months of playing that blasted thing.
  
• I vowed to never play again as to not lose the pro status.
• Then I played again anyway...now the pro status is gone. BOO.
  

Well that's enough boring you for this week. Have an amazing long weekend! :)

MUCH LOVE!

Friday Confessions

1. I have a phobia of running out of toilet paper. Seriously.
2. I got it from her:
3. Her bathroom had what was basically a toiletry closet without a door and the whole thing was always full of toilet paper.
   
4. You must not get it yet. From ceiling to floor and about 4 feet wide. ALL FULL OF TOILET PAPER.
   
5. She was the most awesome old lady you'd ever meet. Hattie Lee--my great grandma.
   
6. She sewed my great grandfather up in the sheets one time. She also shot him in the stomach. She was a boot-legger out of necessity. She used to watch for the mail man using binoculars. I'm pretty sure she wore a sweatshirt almost every day of my life. She used to "dance a jig" for me. She was a cat racist--she hated the black ones. I could go on forever. She was so cool.
   
7. Back to my phobia, I keep at least 12 rolls of toilet paper in each bathroom at all times. Somehow, this week, I noticed that we were running low in our bathroom.
8. I never made it to the store.
   
9. Then, yesterday, I almost had a panic attack because we got down to two rolls--one on the holder and one in the basket.
   
10. This morning I bought (with coupons!!!!) a twelve pack at Publix and breathed a sigh of relief.
11. I think the phobia set in during my childhood when there was always only one roll of toilet paper being passed back and forth from the two bathrooms. I could never remember which bathroom had the toilet paper. Somehow, I always picked the one that didn't have any and would then have to scream for 5 minutes for someone to bring me some.
12. I blame my parents.
    
13. They totally should have moved always having toilet paper up higher on the priority list.
    
14. I vowed that would NEVER happen in my house.
    
15. I also have a phobia of running out of feminine products. We won't discuss this further.
    
16. Not long after we got married, I got attacked by a spider.
    
17. This is what resulted from that spider bite:
18. It's pretty, huh?
19. In less than a week, the Awesomes will be at our house. Be jealous.
    
20. I used to be really skinny. You know...when I was in high school. Here's proof:
21. I sure do miss those days.
    
22. On Facebook, people keep posting those "5 things....blah, blah, blah."
23. Yes, I know I'm one of them. MOVING ON....there is one that is the top 5 things other people seem to love that you hate. I could totally do this one.
    
24. American Idol. Reese's cups. Coffee. Sienfeld.
25. Hmmm....so many other's to choose from. I can't decide what to choose for my fifth one.
    
26. That's why I posted it here and not on Facebook. Haha.

Happy Friday, Y'all!!!!

chirp chirp tweet tweet

So it's official. I finally joined Twitter.

But probably not why you'd think. Yes, Anthony is on there. But that isn't why I joined it. Yes, it is the newest technology craze. But that isn't why either. Let me tell you the story.

Once upon a time (yesterday), in a far away land (Florida) PrincessMommy (me) got an email invite. It said, Dear PrincessMommy, Random Person wants to invite you to Twitter.

I didn't know who Random Person was. So I clicked the link. It took me straight to sign up. I was about to click away when I decided that it was really bothering me that I didn't know who Random Person was. So I joined. And it showed me who Random Person was. It told me that I was now following Random Person.

Now. I'm not following Random Person. Weirdo. But I am on Twitter so you can send me some tweets or whatever they call it.



By the way, Random Person really does have a name but I didn't think it would be sweet of me to call them out and then call them a weirdo. ;)

My name is....and I have a problem.

This is Ansleigh's hairbow holder. Minus one or two bows....and minus any that grew legs and ran away.

I just recently cleaned it out and gave a bag full of bows to my sweet friend for her little Lily.

So Bugs has a bow. Or two. Or 57.

And this one is on its way to my house.

So is this one.

And I really would like to get this one, this one, this one in different colors, pretty much all of her big ol' bows. Oh and this one...in fact I'd take several of the ones she makes.

And these for Buggy's Crocs.




Hi. My name is Carrie and I have a problem. I'm addicted to bows.

P.S.

Happy Birthday, Edward Cullen/Rob Pattinson. :)

I Wish...

• I wish the laundry took care of itself. More specifically, I wish the clothes would wash themselves, dry themselves, fold and iron themselves, and then neatly put themselves away.
  
• I wish dinner would cook itself and the dishes would then follow suit and wash themselves.
  
• Really, I just wish our appliance, the dishwasher worked, and I no longer had to be said dishwasher.
  
• I wish there was no need for sweeping, mopping, dusting, and vacuuming.
  
• I wish our crispy brown grass would water itself.
• Or better yet, I wish it would rain.
  
• I wish Ansleigh could change her own diaper. :) Yes...that would be lovely.
  
• I wish 99% of commercials did not exist.
  
• I wish those stupid "Jump Arounds" did not exist. If you are a Noggin Momma, you know what I'm talking about and you know you wish the same thing.
  
• I wish that when they aren't being played with, the toys would come to life and clean themselves up.
  
• Although I usually enjoy it, right now I wish my coupons would clip and organize themselves. All the expired ones would then take a dive into my garbage.
• I wish my house would magically cool itself off so we wouldn't have to run the air 24/7 and run up our power bill.
  
• I wish I had an Oscar Myer wiener. No. No, I don't.
  
• I wish more people dressed their kids in smocked clothes
• I wish more people REALLY understood the importance of a girl wearing a hair bow :)
• I wish the sensor for the "low coolant" in my car would stop being a liar and telling me that the coolant is low when it is quite far from it (it is full for crying out loud!).
  
• I wish babysitters were free. All the time. Wouldn't it be awesome if people just volunteered to come keep your child while you and hubs galavant around the town?
• I wish it was naptime. Wait. I think it might be. G'night y'all!
  

What it is About

I'm drowning in a sea of congestion.

It is 5:30 and Bugs and I are STILL in our pj's.

She just fed me teddy grahams. Teddy grahams that she found in her leap frog learning table.

When did she put them there?

mmmm...stale teddy grahams.

But she's so happy to be sharing with mommy, who could deny her the pleasure?

Oh and my daddy bought her a softball (a real one) this weekend and she threw it at me. I'm 25% sure she broke my finger as she was about 6 inches from me when she threw it.

That's a lie. It isn't broken, but it still hurts. Real bad.

She's been trying to blow her nose all day because mommy is.

Even when I'm not at the top of my game, she still melts my heart.

That's what being a mommy is about :) That and some big fat slobbery tongue kisses.

It's That Time Again....

It is Friday. You know what that means :)

1. I really don't have that much to confess this week. Hmm...
2. I decided I want to get a tattoo.
   
3. No seriously.
4. I want it to say "Holy to the Lord." I want it in white ink on the inside of my wrist. Just for me as a reminder that no matter what a screw up I can be, I am still holy in the sight of the Lord, thanks be to my sweet Jesus.
   
5. I seriously doubt I will actually get the tattoo...but I want it. Real bad.
   
6. I watched part of Sweet Home Alabama the other night.
   
7. I think just watching part of it I regained some of my southernness.
   
8. I understand how she (Reese) feels when she says that "When I'm in New York, that's home. But this feels right too." Or something like that. Alabama is home, but this feels right too. :)
9. Ansleigh got put in "time out" this week at child care (while I was in Bible study) for being mean to sweet little Gabe. When I found out, I laughed.
   
10. My momma and daddy are on their way to come visit and I could not be happier. Seriously. I'm sittin' here peein' in my pants with excitement just thinkin' about it.
11. You couldn't hear it, but there was a whole lotta "southern" in that last sentence.
    
12. Last year was my first Mother's Day and honestly it didn't feel like much of a big deal to me.
    
13. This year, I am overwhelmed with love. I'll have my momma here and my BugBug. Three generations here celebrating together.
    
14. I'm learning a lot about marriage. I guess God is trying to teach me how to have the best marriage possible.
    
15. The end.
    

Is it Normal?

• is it normal that I never make my child eat in her highchair, usually let her eat off her plate that sits on the floor, and let her eat off our plates?
• is it normal that because of this my child thinks all food is community food?
• is it normal that I bought a pair of Ugg boots and paid WAY too much money for them, knowing that I live in Central Florida and will only be able to really wear them a month out of the year?
• is it normal that it is 3:12 and I'm still in the same shirt I slept in and soffee shorts?
• is it normal that I get *almost* as excited as my little Buggy-boo when Yo Gabba Gabba comes on?
• is it normal that I bought fresh green beans yesterday so that I could cook the handful of mine that I picked?
• is it normal that I paid a babysitter so I could go to the grocery store alone yesterday?
• is it normal that the majority of my friends are not even remotely close to my age?
• is it normal that my child has so many hairbows that her hairbow holder is completely full and bows are now clipped to other bows?
• is it normal that I'm still buying her bows?
  
• is it normal that I somehow always seem to miss my mouth when I'm eating and spill food or drink on myself?
• is it normal that my mood went from completely blah to totally excited just because a friend of my SIL (Rach) reads this blog and thinks I'm funny.
  
• is SHE normal for thinking I'm funny? :)
• is it normal that I decided to go sit out on the porch because I was freezing, but then came right back inside because I was sweating outside?
• is it normal that I'm completely head-over-heals in LURVE with my niece and nephew?
• is it normal that I'm already buying my niece/nephew-to-be stuff even though we don't know what shim is yet?

Okay, enough with the randomness. I will leave you with this lovely story:

Sunday evening we were at the church beach picnic and while we were eating, our Pastor was talking to Anthony and me. He was asking me different questions and we were talking about me coaching and then he says, "Can they understand you?"

Seriously. The pastor of our church asked me if people can understand me. Not because I'm fluent in Spanish either. Because I am apparently THAT southern. Wow. :)

**Side note: he was just kidding, but still....wow.

Afternoon Thoughts...

Most people don't live in the same place their whole lives. Most people don't even live in the same county their whole lives. Some do. But most don't.

Where I come from, they do.

I grew up in Smalltown, Alabama. Population: who knows?

My parents lived there. My grandparents (both sets) lived there. My great-grandmother lived next door to me. Great aunts and uncles live there. Cousins. Regular aunts and uncles.

Most of the people I went to school with had the same type of situation.

My parents graduated from the same high school that my sister and I graduated from. In fact, my great aunt was in the first graduating class there.

In Smalltown, Alabama, most people don't even leave for college. They go to the local college, the local community college, or a combination of both. RARE is a person who leaves for college and even rarer is a person who leaves and doesn't return to build their life there.

The majority of my life, I never really gave much thought to what my life would be like and more specifically, where I would live. I mean, I assumed the "normal" husband, babies, house, etc. But there was never really a location involved. I guess in the back of my mind I thought it would be there in my hometown.

As I entered high school and really started being serious about college, it was ALWAYS Auburn. I wanted to go to Auburn. The closer graduation approached, even with a scholarship offer from the local college, it was STILL Auburn. In fact, I was bound and determined I was going to be different than everyone else in my hometown. Out of the 120 people in my graduating class, MAYBE 10 of us left for another college. I was the only one who went to Auburn.

I got adjusted to living away from home. I met Anthony and fell in love. After a year of being "undecided" I declared a major and worked toward a graduation date. Anthony steadily approached a graduation date. We got engaged. We got married. I finished my one class I needed (along with a few that I didn't need). I interned. I graduated. I got a job while he was in grad school.

It really wasn't until then that "location" started popping up in my head. Where will he get a job? Where will we live? I started looking into the possibilities, but NEVER did I picture even really living outside of Alabama. My hometown was not an option and frankly, I didn't really want it to be. As the job offer locations expanded, I began grasping. I wanted whatever was closest.

And then...he interviewed in sunny, Central Florida. My heart stopped. NO. NO. NO. NO. NO. NO. Then...he loved it. Apparently he did not hear my NO's. Then, he got some job offers and the others didn't even compare to the one in sunny, Central Florida. I had no choice. We had to go. God wanted us to. It was what was best for us. Ugh.

So I toughed it out and began trying to form some type of a life here. When we moved I was pregnant. We had our Bug and life has taken on normalcy for us. This is our home. I like it here. I love our house. I love our church. I love our friends.

But sometimes...I wonder what our life would be like if we were in Smalltown, Alabama. Where generations of family are.

I look at facebook, at all my "friends" from there. They all still live there. Two of my friends teach at the elementary school we grew up in. Several go to the church I grew up at. Lots of people I know are having babies at the same hospital we were born in.

I never thought about those options because well...I didn't have them.

It is something I can appreciate now though. The people I know that live there take those things for granted. Even if they realize the niceness of it, it probably won't mean as much to them as it could to me. They don't know just how nice it is to have Grandma & Grandpa down the street to babysit at any given moment. They can't appreciate the niceness of passing down school traditions. They can't possibly understand the easiness of being able to make it to all the family holiday functions in one day. They really don't even understand the convienence and comfort in knowing where everything thing is and where the best places for dance class and t-ball are.

I do not regret my life or my location. I praise God for my husband and my child. I have been blessed abundantly.

But sometimes...

it'd be nice to have that stuff.