Confessional

Helloooooo my tiny little narcissistic corner of the internet universe!  My brain won't shut off tonight, and I can't sleep, and I have so much going on inside of my head... so instead of snoozin', I'm bloggin' -- and here are some random confessions for the evening...  

Sit back, relax, and don't judge me.

*I recently reached out and sent a message to Jen Hatmaker.  Y'all know I am obsessed with her, her writing style, her humor, her honesty -- Because of her I have a freaking cat named Moxie.  Anyway.  I have dreams of becoming a published author one day, which seems so unrealistic and unattainable.  BUT, I felt the pull to send her a quick message recently - ahhh!  I was so nervous typing it out.  I'm sure she won't message back, but it was worth a shot?!

*We pretty much only use paper plates around these parts nowadays... and I wrote all about it on this site.  Maybe one day I'll be back to using dinnerware you don't throw away at the end of a meal.

*Y'all know Brooks just had a birthday.  Well, one of the best parts of the entire birthday was CK's excitement for him.  She even found numerous "gifts" in her room to "wrap" and give to him, and ohmyheart:

 "Happy Birthday Brooks. Yay! You're two! I can't wait to celebrate your birthday.  Love, Sissy.  Look on the back!  PS Guess what's in the package"

 "Turn me over"

 "Use the pen to see the words better" (She wrote in her invisible light up ink pen)

And because she's currently obsessed with jokes: "Why did Brooks cross the road? Because he was turning TWO his birthday party."

*Totally random, but I cannot sleep at night without putting chapstick on and having water beside my bed.  This is nonnegotiable.

*I love cereal, you guys.  So much.  But I rarely let myself eat it, because have you ever looked at the serving size on the side?  Who can really stop at 1/4 a cup of cereal?!  It takes me consuming like two bowls of what I consider a good serving size, and then the box is empty.  And then I've basically eaten a day's worth of calories in one bowl!  But man do I love pretty much any and all kinds of cereal, any hour of any day.

*Speaking of cereal... Yesterday, my kids had Lucky Charms for lunch and ice cream for dinner.  I barely survived the past week and waved the white flag yesterday on so many things.  And speaking of ice cream, I'm not a huge fan of ice cream.  SHOCKER, because I have the biggest sweet tooth ever.  But I really only want to eat ice cream if it's loaded with "stuff" -- cookies, sprinkles, cookie dough, chunks of anything really.  And then it's more about the "stuff" than the actual ice cream, so I should probably just eat a cookie instead.

*And if you're wondering why I barely survived this past week -- that's because it was HOCO2018!  It was SO fun, but whew, it made for a cRaZy week.  Homecoming is a big big BIG deal in the Carrollton community, with dress-up days and parades and pep rallies, etc...

I was pretty much dead-to-the-world-asleep by 9:00ish on Friday night as a result of all of the festivities... and probably also because I was still trying to catch up from my trip to...

*VEGAS!  I confess that I went to Vegas last weekend, and I am officially a Vegas fan.  I went ten years ago, and really had no desire to go back.  But, just as we celebrated my brother's milestone birthday a decade ago, we were back to celebrate his 40th this past weekend and it was amazing.  And I left there with so many things I wanted to do and didn't get to do, so I'm already making a mental list for when we return for his 50th. :)

 Alllllll the heart eyes for this guy right here. <3 More details on this to come, (hopefully) some day...

*I think Everette would live life naked if I'd let him.

*I admit that I've been watching Teen Mom for like a decade and I'm not sure I'll ever stop.  Total guilty pleasure tv, and embarrassing, but Idon'tevencare.

*I usually only bake brownies so that I can leave too much batter behind and lick the bowl.  I don't even really care about the brownies themselves.

*CK recently asked for a cheerleading uniform.  And then all so many of my mama dreams came true.  Y'all, I have been trying to get her even the slightest bit interested in cheerleading for years, with no luck.  Until all of a sudden she decided she's interested!!!  And then our sweet, sweet friends had this made for her, and she asked if she can wear it to school tomorrow. <3

*I pretty much think Walmart's order-online, curbside-grocery-pick-up is the best thing ever invented ever ever ever.  And I'm honestly not sure I could survive single mom life without it.

*I don't know how I'm going to get through this fall season of extra-curricular sports.  Actually, scratch that, I don't know how I'll ever survive when all three kids are participating in extracurriculars.  I absolutely love the concept of my kids playing sports, but Lord help me survive the back and forth and the late nights and the kid shuffling and the gear/equipment and the extra laundry and the nonstop of it all.

*Speaking of fall season -- even though it's still about a billion degrees here in Georgia, I am pumped that it's finally officially fall!  I <3 allllll things fall, and spent this morning getting our house in the fall spirit.  Fingers crossed a pumpkin-spiced latte, pumpkin muffin, pumpkin-flavored-anything is in my near future.

And on that note.... I hope you have a not-so-hot, pumpkin-flavor-filled, great first week of Fall!!

To my TWO-year-old!

You are the rays of sun peeking through a cloudy sky,
and a big, tight squeezy hug around my neck.

You are a scoop of ice cream on a hot, summer day,
and a warm blanket right out of the dryer...

You are smooches and giggles,
and like the extra sprinkles on top of a cupcake.

You are a dance party in the kitchen,
and the perfectly arched rainbow after a storm.

You are a smile first thing in the morning,
and a belly laugh as I tickle you before you drift off to sleep.

You are a reminder of happiness and joy, always,
and you are one of the reasons I chose to keep going, even when it felt too hard.

You are the warm sun, the first signs of a fall breeze,
the peace in the air during a falling snow...

You are God's promise.

You are my reason to be brave.

You, Brooks, are my TWO-year-old caboose!!  And you've been singing "Happy Birthday!" to yourself for days. :)

You are a two-year-old who literally leaves splashes of sunshine everywhere you go.  You are boundless energy and giggles and silliness.  You are wild and rough-and-tumble, yet full of compassion and sensitivity.

You love your big sister so very much, which is good because she truly thinks she's your second little mama.

You love your big brother, too, but you guys mostly wrestle and fight and push and shove and chase and climb and bite and I am learning that from now until forevermore that is just going to be the love language between the two of you.

You will tell anyone and everyone "I hungee" all.day.long.  In fact, the other day, on the way to school, you were yelling "I HUNGEEEEE!" while double-fisting donut holes.

You think it's hilarious to put food down your shirt and giggle, to put raspberries and olives on the tips of your fingers, to put your lollipops in your hair, to throw food across the table when you "No like it!"

You walk with a swagger like I have never seen in a toddler, and it makes everyone laugh.

You incessantly say HOLD YOU! with your arms up in the air... I think if it were up to you, you quite possibly may prefer to be in my arms all day long. (With a snack, of course.)

You like to arrange your friends in your crib perfectly before you will lie down and go to sleep, and you still usually snooze with your bottom way high up in the air.

You are full-of-life and easy-going and brave and fearless -- well, except for your fear of cotton candy. (?!?!)

You are the perfect ending punctuation mark on my trio of children, but also an ellipses to remind me to keep on writing and hoping and living out my story...

You, Brooks Evan, are so clearly a well-planned, perfectly-timed, incredible gift from God and I will forever be grateful for the way He put you into my life so intentionally.

Thank you for being my ray of sunshine, my boundless joy, my extra sprinkles, my smiles and giggles.

Happy, happy TWO, Caboose.

I love you enough.  I love you SO big...

~Mama

"Every good and perfect gift is from above..." James 1:17