Skip N' Whistle Giveaway

Raglan c/o Skip N' Whistle  Skinnies: Gap  Wedges: Calvin Klein Watch: Brina's Box

Brecken// Birthday Shirt c/o Skip N' Whistle Jeans: Gap High Tops: H&M

Today's giveaway is from  Skip N' Whistle. It's a hip and quirky kind of shop. And boy-oh-boy are their shirts soft--it's really turning into quite the love affair with this raglan! Moving on, up for grabs is your choice of either the Indian Chief raglan or a child's birthday tee (color and number of your choice, of course). 

To enter simply visit Skip N' Whistle and tell me which item is your favorite.

For extra entries follow Skip N' Whistle on Facebook. Twitter. Pinterest. Instagram. or Tumblr. (one entry for each).

Winner will be announced on Monday, May 27th. 

Happy Birthday Baby Girl!

I pulled Addy into bed with me extra early this morning. John had gone fishing and Brecken was still sleeping so I took a few quiet moments to nurse her alone. She contently laid there as I scratched her little face all the while silently giggly at the slightest touch. Restlessness soon set in and she started to use my head as her personal pogo stick. Totally normal, right? Once Brecken woke up we puttered around the kitchen and finally ended up eating left over Chinese takeout for breakfast (mother of the year?) Brecken didn't complain and Addy was more then content to throw sticky rice around the dining room. I tried to take in each moment while letting them completely immerse themselves in each other, Brecken laughed hysterically as he made faces, Addy squealed because Brecken stayed just far enough out of reach so she couldn't grab him, and each of them trying with fumble-like fingers to feed the other. It was a simple moment even more than that it was a happy birthday moment. 

The happy-go-lucky atmosphere didn't last long. go figure. Toys snatched out of each other's hands, a favorite sippy cup went MIA, and no sleep the night before all culminated in a very emotionally drained (and tired) baby girl by 9 a.m. I've been silently singing "It's my party and I'll cry if I want to..." for a good portion of the morning. Oh the birthday drama. It's totally a girl thing I assume and it only made me appreciate even more the differences in temperament between my two babies. 

Happy Birthday Addy Mae. You are loved. You are dramatic. You are our baby girl. 

Instagram+Three Things

Oh Hump Day, you've been rather good to us. I mean really good. Two visits to the park, one was blasted hot and a bit humid and for a place that is bone dry the five percent humidity that we encountered was kind of like the end of the world to two mommas pushing strollers. And then good ole' Mother Nature decided to shake it up for our second park visit of the day (we really like the park if you can't tell) where we were graced with blustery clouds itching to pour rain down, which didn't happen, but it would have been nice because we so need the rain. Like bad! We also kicked Wednesday is the butt  by having one of my all time besties come over for one of those nice long girl talks. You know what I mean? So we decided to have celebratory root beer floats, because when you don't drink wine you have to substitute with root beer floats, it's only natural. And can we all have a little party celebrating the blossoms on the trees? I've seen picture after picture of blossoms for the last two months and our little area of the world has finally caught up! YAY!

And what better way to end the night then with a few good laughs. I can't really decide which one is my favorite. You be the judge!

Enjoy.

The last video, well, I about peed my pants. It was worth it.

Bullying

At some point during this crazy journey called parenting I knew I would have to address the issue of bullying with my children. I didn't however imagine that it would be an issue that I would have to address with my three-year-old child. You can imagine my surprise when it happened in it's most natural form at the park yesterday evening. The park was bustling with parents watching their children play league coach pitch while the children crowded around the playground equipment like lemmings itching to go down the slide. Brecken was in his element--running amok and befriending everyone in site. He was really quite the spectacle to watch, laughing and giggling, holding hands with complete strangers, calling everyone friend. At one point, a boy a few years older than him honed in on Brecken's charismatic energy and slowly began to test his boundaries with my son--a push here, a jab there, which then led into full blown shoves all the while calling him names and growing thirsty for the tears to appear in my little boy's eyes. 

After each attempt to fluster my son, Brecken would pick himself up and continue playing. Bless his heart, he was oblivious to the notion that anyone could ever truly be mean to him for no apparent reason, so he kept playing as if the jabs, pokes, and pinches were in some way a game. I was taken aback by the situation and every God-given motherly instinct in my body was on fire and near the cusp of boiling over into a full-blown mother bear frenzy. My heart was aching and I struggled to know when it would be appropriate for me to step in and take control of the situation. Do I jump in and defend my little boy? Do I let him fend for himself and learn about the hard knocks of life? Do I go all crazy-like on the other kid? Do I find his Mother and point out her inadequacy on raising a polite boy? (I'm sure she would have been mortified to say the least).

Once curbing in my own emotions I decided that if tears didn't appear I would let Brecken fight his own battle. Nothing about the experience was easy and it was one of those times where I wish I had a user's manual with step-by-step directions on how to approach the situation. In the end the boy grew bored with Brecken's friendliness and I imagine he was annoyed that he couldn't dampen his spirit so he moved on.

The feeling of inadequacy as a parent was very prevalent during the experience. Knowing that I couldn't intervene and allowing my child to get hurt to only understand that he was strong enough to defend himself was a hard concept to swallow for this Momma. At that moment I felt like I should have prepared him more for situations such as these and by not doing so I wasn't doing justice as a parent. Despite everything that happened I learn a valuable lesson that day--no matter where I may fall short as a parent he has learned (hopefully from John and I) to pick himself and keep moving no matter what obstacle may stand in his way. His true nature permeated the playground that day, bringing in light and laughter and not letting the vindictiveness of another individual dampen his glow.

Now let's all pray I don't run into his Mom on a bad day...

Creamy Tomato and Jalapeno Soup

I didn't make it very far in the Post a Day in May series. Go figure. In my defense it's been warm here, so warm in fact that we've spent our days playing in the dirt and running in the park, while our nights have involved scrubbing off the fun. And when warm days seem few and far between we have to enjoy them while we have them. Here, here, for summertime, friends!

On that same note it, snowed last week (our weather is so fickle, I can't make this stuff up). So I whipped up this spicy dish using my leftover jalapenos. It's a tasty one, I promise!

Creamy Tomato and Jalapeno Soup

5 pureed jalapenos (remove seeds)

1 pureed medium yellow onion

5 purred garlic gloves

1 can petite diced tomatoes 

1 TBS olive oil

1 8 oz. can chicken broth

2 cups half and half

2 tsp cumin

1/4 cup chopped cilantro

dash of crushed red peppers

1 TBS lime zest

Tortilla chips

cheese

Puree jalapenos, onion, and garlic clothes. Place pureed mixture in soup pot with olive oil. Slowly saute until  smell is flavorful. Mix in diced tomatoes, chicken both, cumin, cilantro, and red peppers simmer for half-an-hour. Mix in half-and-half and lime zest, simmer for an additional ten minutes. 

Garnish with tortilla chips and cheese.

Enjoy!