Drop it like it's hot.

I have been such a slacker!! It is funny what things become important when you are 39 weeks pregnant and for some reason, blogging isn't one of them.  Of course, we had the Grand Opening of our new restaurant on Monday so that kind of trumped me being pregnant.  We had a ribbon cutting with the chamber of commerce as well as a friends & family night that was tons of fun.  We have great supporters in our families as well as community which makes all of the difference in the world.  We opened our very own franchise of Salsarita's!

  It went off without a hitch which is more than I can say for the rest of this week but all in all it is going great.  I am trying to stay clear of the place because being there makes me want to work. (and eat the cookies)  Working requires me to walk around a lot and I have been told that a lot of people walk around to get labor started.  Well folks unlike some people, I AM NOT ready to have this baby yet!  Oops, I know, but I am just not.  I don't feel like I have gotten everything done.  Even though I can't think of anything else to do (like pack my hospital bag) I just don't feel ready.  I realize this is not really up to me though, she will come when she is ready.  Speaking of her coming, she has dropped down like a load of bricks these past few days.  I had this underboob thing going on that was like a fat roll or something and it is now gone.  Also I can breathe while laying on my back which I haven't been able to do in quite sometime!  Check her out!

 

Ha!  I can't help but laugh!  So really I should probably get ready to have a baby huh?  I feel like I was more ready 4 weeks ago than I am now.  Oh well!  My sister will be coming here to help (thank god) me through labor so hopefully I can hold out until a Friday so she can be here all weekend!! I will have her post for me when this HUGE event finally takes place but for now I am done!  Hope you guys have a great week!

My very First!

Thats right folks I won an award!  My very first blog award, as a matter of fact, I think this may be my very first award ever!  Unless you count the swim team ribbons I used to win but I think we all got those no matter what we placed.  Sad I know, but I'm sure I will be receiving my Super Mom award soon. (Ha yeah right!)  Sister @ The Edwards Edition passed this award on to me and I didn't even wait on her comment to type this up because I got so excited about it!  Once again this is my first time so if I do this wrong... get over it.

THE SUNSHINE AWARD

If you are one of the chosen ones you must do the following!

1. Put the logo on your blog within a post

2. Pass the award on to 12 bloggers

3. Link to the nominees within your post

4. Let them know they received this award by commenting on their blog

5. Share the love and link to the person from whom you received this award

The 12 people I chose make me feel "sunny" when I read their blogs so here goes!

~ Katie @ Bower Power

~ Kelle @ Enjoying the Small Things

~ LG @ Groovin With The Grizas

~ Jess @ The Macs

~ Patrice @ Williams Family Blog

~ Kelsey @ The Seattle Smith's

~ Beth @ The Hornsby Herd

~ Megan @ In this wonderful life

~ Taylor @ The Undomestic Momma

~ H.I.T @ A Suburban Housewife in Training

~ MckMama @ MckMama

~ Sarah @ Spoonful

Enjoy ladies!  Thanks Sister for my award!

I think so too!

Sitting at home on my weekend alone I keep checking my google reader... MckMama has a most wonderful blog and man did she turn my boring night a little bit around!  Her post is about home schooling her oldest son.  Whether I agree or disagree is irrelevant, she just had a lot of GREAT things to say along with Jen Klein whom I had not heard of until now.  You can read her CNN article if you click on her name!  Now I will be the first to admit that I judge other moms and I am not even a mom yet.  I hear myself saying or thinking these things about other parents  (not just moms) and this just really made me think, why do I do it?  I am never going to be a "perfect" mom and things I may do could certainly have you talking but I think what this really did was make me STOP and think.  It is not up to me how you parent, it does not matter to me how you parent, I should not care if you do it "this" or "that: way so thats it.  I'm gonna go ahead and opt out of this "mommy mafia" because to be honest, it is your child!!  DO WHAT YOU WANT!!  And with that I will share!!




As Jen Klein writes in her recent article onCNN.com, "When we have any kind of insecurity about our own parenting decisions, pointing fingers at the choices and parenting decisions of others is the easiest thing to do."
"C'mon, you've done it. You judged another mom on her choices, maybe even a close friend. You likely felt a little guilty about it -- but the judgment was still there. The way moms -- well, women in general but especially moms -- judge one another is one of those dirty little secrets of mommy social structure, and it's not so secret.

Being a mom is incredibly hard work, and there's no way to be absolutely sure you are doing it right. Kids don't come with instruction manuals and checklists. There is no annual performance review with incentive awards for successes and improvement plans for less-than-successes.

For many of us, it will be decades before we have a real sense of how we did as a mom.

Amid that incredible level of uncertainty in this oh-so-vital job, it's no wonder we look to other moms for support, reassurance -- and maybe some smug self-satisfaction.

Insecurity about our own efforts combined with the appearance (good or less-than-good) of others' efforts makes conditions ripe for judgment and lashing out. Even among close friends, it's easy to slide into this not-at-all productive dynamic -- whether we want to admit it or not. Best friends or worst enemies -- or both -- the social dynamic among moms is a complicated, two-faced beast. It's the "mommy mafia."

Ah, yes, the mommy mafia. Enforcers of local social structures and norms and judgers of all who dare to do things differently. The mommy mafia can be brutal.

There's a little bit of the mommy mafia in each of us. Throw in one or a dozen of the hot-button issues in parenting today, and it's a potentially combustible situation -- the makings of a mommy mafia turf war!

Working-outside-the-home or stay-at-home, breast or bottle, cloth diapers or disposable, organic or processed, public school or home school, or any one of a myriad of topics from pregnancy to adulthood.

You make your decisions and hope you got them right, but a friend or a "frenemy" makes a comment or gives you the stink-eye and you doubt your decisions all over again -- or you're the one making the comments or giving the eye to a mom who dared to do it differently from you.

When we have any kind of insecurity about our own parenting decisions, pointing fingers at the choices and parenting decisions of others is the easiest thing to do. It deflects attention from issues in our own parenting situation that might rightly need more personal thought and attention. Whether we are convinced that one way is the right way -- or we are still trying to convince ourselves that our decision is the right one -- it's base insecurity that drives this lashing out, this mommy mafia on display.

The mommy mafia, however, is more about perception than anything else. The enforcers are real, but the basis on which we enforce is myth: the myth of the perfect mom, something none of us will attain.

Here's the thing: We're all figuring it out as we go along. Every last one of us. There is no single right way to parent and we all parent differently by necessity -- and none of us are perfect. We all have a different set of circumstances, different strengths and weaknesses, and a different set of lenses through which we make decisions for ourselves and on behalf of our families. From the ones you have judged to the ones who have judged you, we're all doing the best we can, imperfections and all.

And if we all did parent exactly the same way? Sure, the noise around parenting issues would be much quieter, but it would also be a much more boring world. But those differences don't have to slide into mommy mafia turf, either. Learning to accept that we're all different and imperfect as parents is hard, however, especially when we want so much to do a great job.

It starts with accepting ourselves and the choices we have made. We each make a set of choices based on our life, knowledge, resources, and the information before us. No two sets of circumstances are exactly the same either, even within the same family -- and when you are making decisions for your family, the response of the local mommy mafia should be the last thing on your mind.

Once we get to personal acceptance, it's a short hop to real support of one another as moms. Banish the mommy mafia and reject the turf wars. Be the best mom you can be, but accept your imperfections and just keep working at it. You'll likely find you are more resilient and have less need to lash out -- and that's just plain good parenting."


Everything Hi-lighted is taken from MckMama @ www.mycharmingkids.net/


I'm gonna go back to blog stalking now so as some idiot on t.v. said "Do You!"  Don't judge!

No news is good news

Let me start by saying, sorry this has slowly become the boring, once weekly, baby blog but lets be honest, I am 37 weeks pregnant.  What the hell else do I have to talk about?  Right... NOTHING!  It is all a waiting game from here on out.  The room is done, my bag is packed, the car seat is in.  We are only missing one thing, and that is the baby.  I had my 37 week check-up today.  Blood pressure is fine and babys heartbeat is great.  The nurse asked me if had been having contractions.  "Well as a matter of fact nurse I had them ALL night last night, why do you ask?"  She then tells me to take off my pants.  I said "dang it, so if I had not been having them I could stay dressed?"  She said, "yup but too late now, you already said you were"... Me and my big mouth!  Doctor checked me and said I am still closed but I am soft, whatever that means.  He then proceeded to poke and say, "feel that?"  (Here is where that inner monologue kicks on in my head)  Well yeah I feel that, your hand is inside me Doc.  "That is her head."  I'm sorry what?  And he poked it a few times.  WEIRD.  I mean doesn't  he know she has a soft spot?  So anyway, that was the extent of it.  John got the o.k. to go to the BBQ competition and I got the o.k. to sit on my rear ALL weekend!  Even though I miss John the minute he walks out the door I can't help but be excited about a full Saturday of lifetime movies, Gilmore Girls, and junk food!  On another note, I know alot of you are Menu Monday, Weight Watchin', Vegetarians and although I am not any of those I made an awesome salad tonight to go along with our grilled chicken and leftover twice baked potato!  It was simple and oh so good!  All I did was roast 2 ears of corn (in a grill pan) then cut it off the cob.  I halved some cherry tomatoes and diced a bit of white onion very small and put all of this in a bowl.  In a blender I put some rice wine vinegar, salt, pepper, a small bunch of basil, a squirt of dijon mustard and some olive oil then blended until it was...blended.  I tasted it and had to add a bit more mustard and oil, I got carried away with the vinegar.  According to John it should be 1 part vinegar to 3 parts oil.  Good to know!  So I blended again and tasted and then poured a little over the salad.  I did not mix it until right before we ate it and be sure not to put a whole bunch, you don't want it swimming in the dressing. So here it is before dressing.

And here on the plate with some yummy chicken and the leftover potato!

Hope everyone has a GREAT Friday!