Fairy Tales and Dirt

I've seen this quote around but never really given it much thought until recently

After dinner, we had quite a bit of sunlight left so I decided to fill up the kiddie pool and let Little Bear play outside for a while. 

Mr.Darcy decided to take advantage of the daylight and cooler temperatures and he came out to cut the grass.

It was still warm as it usually is in August in Florida, and  mosquitos and other creepy crawly flying things were out in mass numbers. 

While I was watching Little Bear play and Mr. Darcy mow, I had a sharp realization that the happily ever after I had envisioned had come true. 

I am right in the middle of my fairy tale. 

Little Bear was playing,digging in the dirt, finding sticks,getting absolutely filthy and having the time of his life.

Watching him I remembered when I was pregnant, convincing myself that I was going to have a girl. I was afraid of not knowing what to do with a little boy, I had 2 younger sisters, most of my cousins were girls, I had more experience with girls. 

I didn't know the difference between a front-end loader and a backhoe, between a stegosaurus and ankylosaurus or any of the other trains' names on Thomas and Friends (or that there are roughly 92 named trains) and I really had no idea how to teach a little boy to use the bathroom.

I heard a 'horror story' of how a little boy went outside and played in the mud and tracked it all through the house and I dreaded the puddle splashing, dirt digging, sweating and other grossness typical of a boy.

I watch him now in the backyard and I realize how much I've come to love the dirt,the sweat,the hours of hard playing. 

Maybe it's not the dirt that I love but what it represents, the absolute pure joy of a little boy that I love more than life itself.

 In the backyard as I lean in to try to get a picture of this joy, he accidentally flings a shovel full of dirt into my face and, surprisingly, I don't really care that much. 

Because love and seeing that joy on his face trumps sweat and dirt any day.

And I can put a very happy,very tired little boy in the tub (with the popsicle I used to bribe him to get in) and clean him up so that we can snuggle and read books before bedtime.

Encouraged

I've been reading Lisa-Jo Baker's Blog 

She talks about being a mother and a wife and the challenges both of those titles bring. 

It is inspiring. It gives me hope.

Here are a few of my favorites so far

On being a wife: 

When You Think Your Love Story Is Boring

How To Fall In Love Again

How Not To Treat The Husband

If You Want Your Man To Help Out, Then Don't Do This

Prince Charming's Not A Fairytale, He's A Myth

On being a mom:

The Tired Mother's Creed

When You Don't Feel Like A Hero Let Alone A Good Mom

For The Ordinary Days

No Such Thing As 'Just' A Mom

When They Ask What You Did Today

A Day In The Life Of A Superhero

I really hope that maybe a few years from now a young mom, new to being a wife and mother, will stumble upon my blog and be encouraged.

That she'll read my heart's ramblings and relate and realize that she's not alone.

Maybe discover that if she stays up just a little bit later, despite her exhaustion from a busy day, she'll find and enjoy the contented feeling of having her husband and her child sleeping peacefully beside her.

Bedtime Blues

I've been very lucky with my little bear.

He never had any issues sleeping, didn't have a hard time getting rid of his pacifier, didn't have a hard time getting rid of the bottle or transferring from crib to 'big boy bed'.

I was very proud that he had always slept in his own bed, waking only one or two times in the night.

Then, I hurt my knee.

This past April I fell and dislocated my kneecap. very very painful. right up there with giving birth or various other horrible high pain situations.

I had to stay off of it and use a crutch up until about June.

During this time dealing with the middle of the night wakings fell to Mr.Darcy.

Now I really can't blame him for what happened as when I hurt myself, he went to work as usual but then also took over all of my normal responsibilities, cleaning, cooking, laundry and taking care of little bear. He was amazing. He's my hero. (and he's handsome too!)

But he was rightfully tired. So when little bear woke in the middle of the night, he got into bed with us.

And he's been sleeping there ever since. 

Now, this wouldn't be so bad if we had a king or even a queen sized bed BUT financial situations being what they are, we have a full size bed. It's barely big enough for Mr.Darcy and I.

This past week or so I've had some kind of cold from hell so I really needed sleep more than I usually do. Between my body waging war within itself and the 6 inches of space I had to sleep in, I wasn't sleeping at all.

Last night I gave up and let the boys have the 'big' bed and I took my sleep deprived self to little bears bed and finally got some sleep.

It was wonderful.

So I've decided to tackle the inevitably difficult task of transitioning little bear back to his bed.

I've read several articles on the subject and decided to try a few of the tips to see where they get me.

I'll try to post a little on my experience with each tip.

The two I'll be trying this evening is implementing the use of a homemade 'sleepytime book' as suggested here and putting him on the old crib mattress on our floor as suggested here. 

*EDIT* He liked the little book and it seemed to help him a little and the mattress on our floor was a major life saver, I actually slept wonderfully!

If you have any experience with this and have any tips or stories, please share!

DISCLAIMER:

Kids do not come with a manual. Everyone has different parenting styles,methods and opinions. Don't bash mine, I won't bash yours. Please keep any negative, condescending, pessimistic, sarcastic, rude or otherwise unnecessary comments to yourself. Thanks!

Hair! Long Beautiful Hair!

Ever since I could remember until I was about 18, I hated my hair.

I could never do anything with it unless I left it down and put a TON of product in it.

It was frizzy, unruly, thick and curly.

Then I learned how to take care of it, style it and straighten it.

Now I love my hair. I actually consider it to be one of my better assets.

So today I'm going to share products and routines I use help me keep loving my hair.

Straight Hair

I normally straighten my hair, not because I hate it curly but because I find that (especially with a 3 year old to run around after) it's lower maintenance than when I have it curly.

First, I wash it every other day with my current favorite shampoo and conditioner. Which right now happens to be this dynamic duo

I change my shampoo and conditioner with the seasons but, this is what I'm using for the summer right now, come fall or winter I might use something else.

After I wash my hair, towel dry it, and brush it out, I add my new favorite holy grail of hair products.

I am in love with this stuff.

I was afraid that it would make my hair greasy and nasty and gross.

It does not.

It makes my hair soft and shiny and smelling G-O-O-D GOOD.

It's amazing.

So I comb this lovely stuff through my hair with my fingers and let my hair dry naturally.

If I'm in a hurry I blow dry it but I rarely do that.

After it dries I take to my trusty straightener.

It's older and looks dirty and I need a new one but, it works.

 (maybe Santa will bring me a new one *wink wink*)

It takes me between 15 and 20 minutes to get the job done.

Then if it's extra humid outside (Just kidding, it's always humid, I live in Florida)

I put less than a pea size amount of this stuff in my palm and rub it all over my hands then through my hair.

Now I bought this at a hair salon probably 6 or 7 years ago and I probably should have thrown it out by now but it was expensive and I only use a tiny bit at a time so it has lasted that long.

Alas, I will run out soon and will be finding a replacement.

After that I run a brush through my hair and I'm done! And my straightened hair lasts about 2 days and all I do in the mornings is brush it. Much less hassle than everyday curly hair.

Curly Hair

My hair is and always has been naturally curly. Any amount of moisture hits my hair and it curls right up.

When I do decide to leave my hair curly and I actually plan on going out in public, my hair routine gets a few extra steps.

After I wash it, towel dry it, brush it out and add that lovely wonderful leave-in conditioning cream, I blow dry it just a little bit, not til it's completely dry though.

Then I decide whether or not I want to add some of this 

Then, with or without the mousse, I twist it and then gather all of my hair into my hand and clip it on top of my head with my favorite multi use clip.

I let it sit there until I'm ready to leave the house.

Then I take it down and shake it out and let gravity and mother nature do the rest!

NEVER NEVER NEVER BRUSH YOUR CURLS AFTER THEY DRY!

No joke, you will look like this:

So those are my hair secrets!

What about you? Do you have any tried and true routines, methods or products you love? Share with me in the comments!

Addiction Confession #1

I'm a shameless Pinterest addict.

What is Pinterest? (for those who don't already know)

I love pinterest, I can always find good ideas for food

 crafts to do with little bear

 things to organize and decorate our home

things for me to daydream about

things that inspire me

and things to make me laugh

But it IS a giant time waster!

If you want to follow me, Here's Mine!

But watch that clock when pinning and every now and then actually try the things you see! Some of them are really worthwhile!

Mr. Darcy

I love Jane Austen's books.

Her words wholeheartedly and perfectly explain how I feel sometimes.

Like this: 

But the one that has stuck with me is this :

And this is true for me.

I like to refer to my husband as 'Mr.Darcy'

I do this not just because he's the 'dream man' in a book but because my husband actually has the same personality as Mr. Darcy

Mr Darcy is depicted as cold and aloof, prideful, arrogant, distant,and apparently contemptuous of those around him  But , Darcy's seemingly arrogant character masks a sincerely generous and upright nature, having taken on the responsibilities of the family and caring for his younger sister at such a young age, Mr. Darcy is revealed to actually be very caring and thoughtful. Mr. Darcy falls for Elizabeth Bennet and while seems uncomfortable with his own emotions,unsure how to show her and tell her of his affections, he loves her with everything he is. 

So when I refer to him as Mr.Darcy it is a statement as to his aloofness but also to his loving kindness and unselfishness.