LOOKING AT MOTHERHOOD TOGETHER

So let's explore this journey of motherhood together. How's about a little Q & A Time? Hope you're up for it! Just 10 questions & a little inventory with friends.

(From http://theblessingsofmoderndomestication.blogspot.com/ thanks Rebecca!)

Ok if you want to participate... here's how this works:
1. Blog your answers (cut & paste the questions below with YOUR answers to the questions)

2. Link back here by mentioning http://aecmurphy.blogspot.com/ and link back to me.

3. If you want, you can grab the Linky BlogHop code and paste it into your blog HTML, so others can join.

4. Enter the link for your post into the Linky.



1.) What is one thing you wish someone had told you about being a mom?
First, that it's insanely difficult and you basically lose your freedom and sanity... second, that it gets better. :-)

2. What is the most embarrassing thing you’ve experienced as a mother?
Cole acting out in new bigger, badder ways now that he's 2. Where did my mildly naughty infant go??

3. What's been your lowest point?
The initial postpartum depression was really hard because I didn't recognize it, though Cole locking me out of the house one day was probably my biggest scare.

4. What's been the most rewarding?
I get these brief moments where Cole just looks at me and smiles- those are worth anything!

5. Describe a mommy moment that transformed you so much so, you will never forget it nor are you the same since?
Feeling that slippery, wiggly thing come out and meeting my son... crying tears of joy with my husband... that moment was indescribably beautiful.

6. Are you more relaxed or paranoid since becoming a mother?
I got more paranoid with big fears, but Cole is patiently teaching me to let go and go with the flow.

7. Did you plan on becoming a mother or were you taken by surprise?
We planned it.

8. Were [or are] you close with your mom?
Yes, though being so close physically with her down the road has it's ups and downs!

9. What family tradition do you want to pass down?
Praying before leaving for school is a big one, along with rocking music on birthday/holiday mornings. (Alleluia Chorus on Easter morning was awesome!)

10. If you could start over, what would you do differently?
I think Cole and I are getting closer and closer now that he can do more and express himself, we're both less frustrated and learning each other. I just wish it had started out that way.


Comments always welcome but I hope you'll link up :-)
Linky will be open for the rest of the week so you can link up anytime this week!

All about Adam

So let me take a moment to explain what a fantastic husband I have, and what is going on re him at the moment. First of all, we met country line dancing, he had a Jeep and an English mastiff and was the coolest guy I'd ever met. We hit it off talking and have basically been incredibly nerdy together ever since. He's amazing- he's patient when I'm ready to lose it, he's surprisingly sensitive, he's so smart and handy with just about anything he comes up against (including me.) He makes me laugh out loud multiple times a day and is the best father I've ever seen. So that's my Adam.
He's a PE teacher, which is great because we get extra time together and he gets to touch the lives of kids, but not so great in that he's bored with his job needs a bigger challenge and a corresponding bigger paycheck. He's in talks with a friend's boss about interviewing for a sales job which could mean working from home and a larger salary. (Any salary is a step up from teaching.) So prayers would be great for God's direction, though I'm pretty sure He'll send us where He wants us.

Cole is 2!

In honor of no longer having a baby, here are some things I absolutely love about my toddler :-)
~ He has one freckle behind his ear, and just got 2 on his hand
~ He hides things behind his back, asks you where it went, shows you one empty hand, then shows the hidden toy, all with a big "this is the best trick ever" smile on his face
~ Things' names are their noises- Baa Baa, Neigh, Woo hoo (train), Dub Dub (bird, his version of tweat tweat... I once said, "Cole, say BIRD." And he looked at me and perfectly enunciated "DUB.")
~ As he is falling asleep in the backseat of the car, I ask him if he wants to go take his nap, and he sleepily answers "No." The other day, same scenario, I asked him if he wanted some goldfish and without even opening his eyes, he said "Yeah," then started snoring.

Joys, Fears, Goals and Obsessions

Hi! I'm starting to get a bit more comfy with this whole blogging thing, though I still feel like I'm stalking people when I read their blogs. Anyway, I saw this in another gal's blog and thought it was kind of cool! The challenge is to list 3 joys, fears, goals, and obsessions. I can never do these things lightly, maybe its the English minor in me, sorry for the seriousness, lol. Here goes!
JOYS:
1.) Cute things Cole says/does
2.) Snuggling my hubby
3.) Working in a job helping others
FEARS:
1.)Having Cole stolen away, or put through a situation where he is afraid and I can't comfort him.
2.)Yeah, I can't really think of anything other than that.
3.) Okay, I'm pretty freaked out by snakes and spiders.
GOALS:
1.)Create and maintain a happy, healthy family in a relatively clean house
2.)Become the kind of woman who helps out others, bakes dinners for new moms, does church nursery and bible studies, and throws showers... things other women do all the time!
3.)Get my marriage and family therapy license and someday run a retreat center with Adam combining ropes courses/trust building exercises with counseling.
OBSESSIONS:
1.) I have a new minor obsession with the Imagination Movers that Adam likes to tease me about
2.) Lip balms, glosses, flavored chap sticks, etc.
3.) Games like Sequence, Ticket to Ride, Alaska, if I don't win we're playing another round!

Confectioner Sugar Snow

I've been "hired" to make a cake this week! I put it in quotes because it's still through friends of the family, and I still feel like they're doing me the favor. Kind of like how Cole "helps" rake the leaves by standing with his 4ft plastic rake and babbling. But in any event, I'm getting $ to make a yummy 2 tiered 21st bday cake, and I'm totally anxious about it. The last tiered cake I made got all squished down and lopsided, so this time I'm going to try to use dowels to support it. Also, the very most recent cake I made started falling apart before it made it to its destination. It's also supposed to be a martini glass theme, and I can't draw a good looking martini glass to save my life. (They all look like something out of a geometry or astrology lesson.)
So, I'm a bit nervous. It's not like if I mess up I can just make another one, because between making my own frosting and baking each cake separately, I have to really budget my time. (Cole doesn't like not being paid attention to, either, so I have to do this between the TV babysitter, nap time, and alone time with hubby.) I'm excited by the picture I have of it in my mind, but I'm curious what the real image will be. Plus, the woman is picking it up and I'm so afraid of getting a call, "The ______ fell off the cake/fell over/smushed!" Maybe I will make 2, just in case, and have the girls over for a martini girl's night in...

 

Broken Dreams

I just wanted to share an awesome project that I am blessed enough to be a part of. It's for work, and I love my job, and that's pretty neat. ;-) South Windsor Youth and Family Services and the South Windsor Alliance for Families puts on this program called Broken Dreams at the high school every 2 years for Juniors and Seniors. (Sorry for the run-on, my grammar senses are tingling!) There's a lot involved in it, including kids being pulled from class by an officer who reads an obituary that their parents wrote for them- they represent the kids around the nation killed in drunk driving crashes. They return to class but can't talk for the rest of the day.
A bigger part of Broken Dreams, though, is a video that a select group of kids write and make. Well, we hire a filmmaker so it rocks, but they write the script, act it and plan most of it out themselves. then the other juniors and seniors watch it in an assembly. Usually it involves some high schoolers making bad decisions and the consequences of those decisions. I got to watch the filming of the crash scene a few weeks ago and my goodness, it was amazing! There were professional make up artists who made the kids look all banged up, with glass shards and bones protruding, black and blue marks, and lots and lots of blood. Then the PD actually found some smashed up cars and shut down an entire road in town to set up the "crash." Finally, 3 ambulances, fire trucks, and more police cars were on the scene to film their response to the crash. Sirens, jaws-of-life, gurneys, the works.
Not only did the kids do an incredible job acting, (I was crying at one point until a cop made a joke next to me and I pulled myself together.) I was amazed by how willing all those departments were to make this happen! If we can save one life, either this year during prom/graduation season, or later down the road with one of the kids who sees the video stopping from making a bad decision, then it's so worth it!