Real Mom Confession - Birthdays

I'm usually the kind of mom that plans super elaborate birthdays on Pinterest, and then when the time comes, I go the simple, easy and cheap route. Elaborate is great, but it is time consuming and it is A LOT harder than Pinterest makes it look!!

This week, we had a small get together for LT's birthday with her Godparents and her Nama. (Since her Birthday is on Thanksgiving, we will be seeing just about everyone else then).

I knew I wanted to surprise her with a Dinosaur themed party, but I didn't want to go over the top because we were having so few people over. I got dino plates, napkins, a table cloth, temporary tattoos and balloons, all dino themed. 

The menu was simple: Dino Chicken Nuggets, Grilled Cheese, Baby Trees and Dinosaur Eggs.  I had a super fabulous idea for the cake... that I was hoping would totally make the party! And it was!!!

This may be the first time I have ever gone overboard on a cake, but it probably will not be the last. In fact, I already have a super idea for Thanksgiving cupcakes!! Stay tuned to see how those turn out. 

As for me, I am super busy planning a Disneyland trip on Wednesday!!! LT can't wait, and to be honest, neither can I!!!

XOXO,

Mac

24 Signs YOU are a Mom!!

I know I have been AWOL (absent without leave) for a while. I didn't forget about you guys, I promise. In fact, I have been thinking a lot about what to post since the Holiday's are approaching fast. I have just been super busy. LT's birthday is on Thanksgiving, so we are having some festivities this week, and next week, and of course on her actual birthday. I have been doing a lot of planning!! 

I'm so sorry I have neglected this page for a week or so. It will not happen again!!!

Back to business as usual. 

Here is a little humor for your day. One of my friends posted this link on Facebook and I immediately knew that it was something that I wanted to share with you, my lovely, beautiful reader!

You know you are a mom when:

1. Instead of running from projectile vomit, you run towards it.

Real Mom Confession - Uncertainty

Do you ever question your abilities as a mother? Of course you do. We all do. It's part of being a parent. We want to do the best we can for our children. 

That being said, let me pose a question:

How would you describe yourself as a Mother? Do you doubt yourself? Do you struggle? What are your wishes?

Real mom Confession - Breakfast

LT just asked for breakfast. It's 11:30am, and she just asked for breakfast! She didn't want the cereal or muffins I offered her so she stormed off to her room, huffing and puffing. 

When she came out a few minutes later, she asked for macaroni and cheese with hotdogs. I was tempted to say no... But it is almost lunch time. 

I just gave my three year old, leftover Mac and Cheese with hotdogs for Breakfast!

Pumpkin Pie Liqueur

I've written about my love for all things Pumpkin during this time of year. If the label says Pumpkin Spice, Pumpkin Pie, or even, Crap imitating pumpkin... I'm willing to give it try, at least once.

That my friends is how I came across this newest, delicious addition to my Fall Addiction! I came across this picture on Pinterest and just HAD to follow the link to see if such a thing existed...

And it does!!! Pumpkin Pie Cream Liqueur.

Happy Hump Day!

Fair warning, this post might be considered inappropriate by some of you. If you are offended easily, please turn back now. If you don't want to read a funny blog post that mentions sex or orgasms, turn back now. 

Are you still with me? Did I get your attention at sex? Pervert! Just kidding. I'm glad you are still reading this! 

I was browsing the wonderfully addictive, super huge time-wasting site known as Pinterest last night for food pictures to avoid going to my fridge and eating out of boredom, when I came across a recipe for "Better than Sex Cake".  Here's the image I found. Looks decent right?

Parenting Problems

We've all been there. You are minding your own business, probably wearing yoga pants, doing house hold work like laundry, washing the dishes, or cooking dinner. Suddenly someone approaches from behind and pinches your derriere. You turn around and it commences into an all out attack! 

In any other work environment, this would classify as sexual harassment and would be grounds for immediate termination as well as a possible lawsuit. But at home, under your own roof, it simply counts as affection.

Parenting Problem #1 - My Spouse Sexually Harasses me!

Real Mom Confession - Yoga Pants Take 2!

I mentioned in a previous post that I had a long overdue play date with a wonderful mom and her sweet daughter. The girls had fun. Us moms talked and caught up on each others lives. We may have even gossiped a little!

What I didn't mention is that I showed up to this play date in yoga pants. I don't think that needed mentioning, since it is my daily wardrobe, but I want to point it out now because of a comment this wonderful mom made that day. For the sake of this post, let's call her JS.

About halfway into our play date, JS asked when I was going to post again since it had clearly been a while and I "can't get everyone addicted and then not post for a while." Ok, point taken. zI'll get right on it!

Then she made another comment about an e-card that she saw that totally reminded her of me. I'm pretty sure it was this one:

Real Mom Confession - Time

Sorry I haven't posted anything for a week or so. I haven't been extra busy or anything. I just haven't been able to find time to sit down at the computer without my daughter climbing on my lap with her toys and pounding all over the keyboard. 

Just a little Tuesday afternoon reminder

Does anyone else have little ones who always know when you need to get something done, and do everything they can to get attention? 

I did find time today to have a long overdue play date with an awesome woman and her beautiful daughter. Yes, my blog had to wait a bit. But that's okay because the most important things in life are the things that make our children smile. And I saw a lot of smiles today. 

Can't wait for the next play date. Who's in?!

Real Mom Confession - Workouts!

After a long but productive month, I'm finally ready to publicly announce... Are you ready for it?....

I have started working out again, after more than 5 years of complacency and pain.

 I have a million reasons why... none that you care about, I'm sure. (And besides, they are probably totally different then the reasons why any one of you works out, or doesn't workout.) But this is a major milestone for me and I want to share a bit of my journey (and reasons) with you guys. 

Real Mom Confession - Periods

Let's talk about periods. Not punctuation, that's a subject for another day. I'm talking about the monthly visit from Mother Nature. Those 5 pesky days where sneezing could ruin your day (and your favorite pair of panties). The time of the month that you are relieved to see and angry that it is has come yet again.

If you don't want to know or hear about periods, leave now. I will not be offended. Seriously, just close the page and come by for a few laughs on another day.

I HATE periods. I LOATHE periods. I cringe when my body starts to alert me of the unavoidable. It is seriously the worst week ever. My body changes. My mood changes. My face looks like a teenager going through puberty. Fortunately for me, instead of going through all these awful changes once a month, I arranged to instead receive the following text. Mother Nature was very understanding and accommodating in this request.

The scent of Fall

It's no secret. Fall is my favorite season. Maybe it's the return of football. It could be the sweater and tea weather. Or, more likely, it could be the return of pumpkin everything! 

Yes, that's most likely. I love pumpkin spice lattes, pumpkin purée and just about anything that even remotely smells like pumpkin. I'm going to make pumpkin donuts next week and probably gain a few extra pounds. Oh, I'm not fooling anyone... I'm going to gain a lot of extra pounds and bake a ton of deliciously wonderful pumpkin treats!

I know I'm not alone on this. Who else indulges this season!? Come on, let's hear it! 

I'm on my way to get a pumpkin spice latte, anyone care to join me? 

Yoga Pants... A necessity of Motherhood.

Before I had my daughter, I wore mostly jeans with the occasional skirt or dress thrown in for variety. I made a habit of giving myself an hour to get ready before I had to go anywhere. My hair was always blow-dried and I wouldn't be caught dead in public without mascara.

My wardrobe now consists mostly of everyone's favorite, Yoga Pants! I owed yoga pants before I entered the mommy club, but I only wore them at home, on lazy days watching football. I NEVER wore them out in public. It's amazing how much things change in a few short years, mostly because, as a mom, I try so hard to take care of everyone else and make sure that they get out of the house decent and on time, that having a few extra minutes for myself doesn't happen very often and I am not going to squander those precious moments on squeezing into jeans and putting on makeup. I'd much rather have an extra cup of coffee or give myself a fresh manicure.

If you came over to my house right now, you would find me in yoga pants and a t-shirt. My hair would be up in a ponytail with a headband to keep those pesky strays back. My hairstylist would be disappointed with my hair, truth be told.

This is me, right now. 

Tips for a Worn Out Mom

I think we all know a mom who is tired, either perpetually tired or just having one of those days. Maybe you are her. Maybe she is your best friend, yoga instructor, or child's teacher. 

I am one of those moms. I am always tired. My daughter wears me out. My dog doesn't know how to behave even a little bit when hubby is gone. My kitchen doesn't clean it's self and my laundry pile never goes away.

Do I look tired? I am. Trust me.

Real Mom Confession- Online Shopping

Do you shop online? I LOVE shopping online. The fact that I don't have to go to the store (or get dressed) is appealing. And I LOVE getting packages in the mail. Its like Christmas... only better because it comes more than once a year!

I recently found a new family of websites; diapers.com, soap.com, wag.com and my favorite, casa.com. There are more but these are the ones that I have ordered from. Imagine Walmart or Target, but totally online. Plus you can shop in your pajamas (some of us do that at Walmart anyway) and drink your coffee. Another plus is not having to waste gas, round up and dress your kids, and then tell them "no" to every tempting item at their eye level

Real Mom Vent - Doctors

About two weeks ago, I had an appointment with a doctor that I have never seen before. I was kind of in a hurry and left the house without my medical records. I know better than this. Having an illness that doesn't show on the outside taught me long ago that I need to have hard copies of all my records and labs anytime I see any new doctor. I forgot. Silly me.

Real Mom Confession - Homemade Spaghetti-o's

I'll be the first to admit it... part of me would rather buy a can of Spaghetti-o's over making them. It's fast and it's easy. There is something so comforting about sitting down with a mug full of ready made (probably fake) pasta when you are feeling down. Spaghetti-o's bring me back to my childhood. They remind me of being at home and not having any worries. Those were the days, weren't they?

Real Mom Confession 9/7

I'm cranky today.

 And not the kind of cranky that goes away with chocolate and is entirely the fault of my monthly visitor.

 I'm cranky because my workout go cut short, I have three loads of laundry to do and it's college football Saturday.

I love football! I just wish I didn't have to watch it I between switching laundry, folding laundry and doing general house-wifey things. Why can't I just sit around with a beer and some chips and enjoy the game?

My dryer doesn't even have a buzzer. It's not like I can just get up when I hear it buzz... I have to actively listen for the darn thing to stop... Oh, so many first world problems!

Anyways, back to laundry and with luck, maybe ill get everything done before 7pm when USC plays!  Go Trojans!!

Real Mom Confession - Halloween Costumes, the Hard Way

Whew, it's been a weird and busy week. And I have written down a bunch of ideas for posts, but haven't actually made it to the computer to post any of them. Any time I try to sit at the computer, LT tries to climb in my lap and color, which seriously does NOT work for me. And since she doesn't take naps on a regular basis anymore, I find it very hard to find time for myself. Don't tell anyone, but a few of the previous posts were written within the confines of my locked bathroom, on my iPad! Anyways, enough of that... although, I do think that counts as a confession! You are in luck then, it's a two for one day!
Since Halloween is fast approaching, I wanted to touch a bit on LT's costume from last year. She wanted to be a Tiger, "like Muppet and Baby." Hubby and I took her to Walmart and Target (I think) to look for costumes. We found plenty of Tiger costumes, but mostly for babies up to 18 months. Those were a no go.

Real Mom Confession 8/30

After spending a half hour before dinner cleaning up explosive diarrhea, renting a carpet cleaner to clean the rest, and then cleaning the kitchen.... This mommy is laying in bed reading a (super) boring history book. Wait, is there any other kind?

Confession 8/29

I'm a real mom. I forget birthdays that aren't for members of my immediate family. I pay most of our bills on time. I cook dinner most nights. And pick up some take out the other nights. I haven't actually brushed my hair in more than 12 hours. My daughters health is more important than mine. Baseball season is my second favorite season. Pumpkin spice season comes first. I don't need coffee in the mornings, but it does make me a nicer person. I have more cookbooks than I have actually cooked from. I have an addiction to Coach purses.

Comments issue

I am having issues with comments publishing. Some people are able to, but most of you haven't been able to publish comments. I assure you that I am doing my best to fix this problem as soon as possible.

In the meantime, you may use the contact form to send me comments and I will post them for you either anonymously or not. Please bear with me. I do appreciate the time that you are all taking to read my blog and try to comment.

Xoxo
Mac

Real Mom confession - Bribery

Last night, LT was having a ROUGH time going to sleep. (Did you notice the emphasis on rough?) Im talking fussing, coming out of her room with random excuses and other general night-time avoidance behaviour. (Yes, I did just spell that with an english accent!)

Uh oh! Real mom confession 8/27

Real moms forget to post daily confessions! I didn't forget about you guys!

Writing one right now to add to the bottom of this post. I'm sitting in the doctors waiting room, which does not do anything to get the guilt side of my brain thinking... Just the anxious side! Stay tuned.

Confession of the Day - Getting Dressed

Thanks everyone for sticking with me during the first week of The Real Mom Crusade. I hope you have been enjoying my posts and I am thankful for each minute that you spend on my blog. Please continue to check back during the week for new confessions and blog posts. And don't forget to share with your friends via facebook, twitter and pinterest!

I will not (usually) be posting on weekends. I want to leave that time strictly to my family and I think you all can understand that.

Enough of the business, here's my confession for today... and it applies to EVERYDAY!

Confession of the day - Lost Toys

As many of you may have noticed, I do not refer to my daughter by her name on this blog. Partly from a paranoid mother stand point and partly because to me, she has always been a Little Tiger.

She isn't into "girly" things like princesses and glitter, although she cannot resist the urge to get her nails painted whenever and wherever she sees nail polish.

Confession of the day - Lazy

I took a nap today. A wonderful, warm and drool inducing nap. Little Tiger even cooperated and took a nap too!

Real Mom Confession of the Day - Breakfast of Champions

What do you give your kids for breakfast? I'm assuming that most of us give our kids cereal, pancakes, juice or even bacon most days for breakfast. It is the most important meal of the day, right?

So what did you have for breakfast? Did you sit down with your kid and eat with them? Maybe you made a cup of coffee and toast while you read the paper. My guess is that most of us moms don't think much about ourselves in the mornings beyond a cup of coffee and a hair tie to pull back to tangled mane that you don't have time to deal with right now.

Scary Mommy Manifesto

Have you heard of "Scary Mommy"? Have you read her books? If you haven't, then you should. If you have, congrats, now go read them again. Im serious. Scary Mommy and I have just about the same agenda; Ending the Mommy Wars and getting moms to start respecting each other. 

I wanted to share a bit of Scary Mommy knowledge with you guys. It's called "The Scary Mommy Manifesto" and its brilliant.

Chicken with Balsamic "Cream" sauce

I'm a big fan of pasta, carbs and Italian food. If you know anything about me, this shouldn't come as a surprise. Seriously. I also love anything creamy or cheesy, or both! Again, not a surprise. My husband is not. He fought super hard and long to lose about 30 pounds and now sticks to a pretty strict diet. Anything High carb is out of the question.

Real Mom Confession of the Day - Chores

Do you know how long it has been since I have vacuumed the couch, yet alone the creases of our couch? If you do, please let me know. Because I don't know, seriously.

Vacuuming isn't one of my strong suits. I don't find joy in pushing around a 5 pound machine every few days, even if it is a nice one that cost more than I care to admit. I'd rather leave it to my dog to pick up any crumbs and deal with the remaining mess later. 

It's been so long since I have vacuumed that while I was cooking dinner last night, Hubby was caught doing it himself.

This is Real

I know firsthand that, as moms, we can feel like a failure if our house isn't perfectly clean with everything in it's place and not a single speck of dirt anywhere.

You're a great mom, even with a sink full of dishes, a dirty child's bedroom and dog hair on your floor.

Dear Moms,

We are all in this together.

Thin moms, Fat moms. Single moms, Married moms. Moms of many, Moms of one. Working moms, Stay at home moms. Fit moms. Moms who cook, Moms who can't. Moms who think they are doing a bad job, but are really doing just fine.