Archive | Motherhood RSS feed for this archive
Image

The Clumsy Hat: Toy Malfunction

My hair got stuck in an airplane today. Let me explain. There Kelsey and I were, at the cash register of Target. We had made it through the entire store without buying (too many) toys for her.

All of the sudden, she spots that dang end-cap where they feature all of the toys, candy and magazines that you don’t need – exactly at kid eye level. And what does Kelsey see, but a little toy airplane that she has to have.

Her face lights up and she is so excited about this toy. It has a little button on it that you press and the airplane’s propellers spin really fast. It’s only $3.99 so I say, what the heck, and put it on the conveyor belt. We check out and she is glowing. I totally made her day.

We arrive at the car and I put her in her car seat. She’s still holding and spinning her new airplane toy. She loves it. I lean over to buckle her car seat and my hair gets caught in her airplane propellers. Yep. My hair gets wrapped and wrapped and wrapped around this annoying $3.99 toy that I never wanted in the first place.

It hurts. And Kelsey is not understanding why I won’t give her the toy back. Someone walks by and does a double take at me, as if to say, “Does that lady have an airplane dangling from her hair”. So what if I do. This can’t be a parenting first.

Anyway. I jump into the driver seat and start our drive home. One hand on the wheel. One hand on this toy that has such a tight grip on my hair. I run inside and ask Ryan to get me outta this thing! ”What is that thing in your hair?”, he asks. Understandable, but I’m kind of annoyed at this point. It’s an airplane!!!!

Kelsey waits in the background as Ryan passes Colton off to me and (ever so seriously) gets me out of this contraption. How much hair did I lose? Is what the vanity in me is thinking. “Your hair is all out. No damage was done.” Phew.

I hand Kelsey back her airplane toy and dodge her like a bullet every time she gets near me with this thing. Dang marketers, keep those $3.99 toys far, far, far away from us girls with long locks.

airplane toy

photoskids

Read More

The Parenting Hat: Hand, Foot and You Guessed It. Mouth.

This sounds like a made up virus; but it’s real. Oh, so real. We’ve got hand, foot and mouth over here (again) – this time it’s Colton who has the virus. This virus is a real pain because a) there is nothing you can do about it b) it hurts him. bad. c) he can’t […]

Read More
Image

The Family Hat: Picnic with my Crew

These are the moments that make the world go round, and the special moments when you think all is right in this world. Wouldn’t you agree?

kids

kids

Read More
Image

The Family Hat: Little Boy and his Dog

The second child always gets hand me downs. They are just born this way. Even when those hand me downs are pink and your second child is a boy. Sorry, kid. But you wear it well!

Here is Colton at nearly 14 weeks old, enjoying some fresh spring air, when Logan (our chocolate lab) scooted his ball next to his pink Bumbo chair. Logan thinks Colton can pick it up and throw it to him. One day, Logan … one day.

bumbolab puppybumbo boy and his dog

boy and his dog

Read More
Image

The Mommy Hat: Desert Girl

She’s such a desert girl. Here is my little bug (who is getting so big, by the way) before we arrived at her best friend’s birthday party this weekend. And yes, I do feel like weekends are now reserved for kid birthday parties. And surprisingly, I’m okay with that.

kelsey c kelsey c2
*That hair is out of control. But so was she in the morning, so I let that one slide.

Read More
Quote

The Mommy Hat: Parenting Confession #10

This about sums up the last 12 weeks of our lives. Well, I take that back. The last 3 years and 12 weeks of our lives. I’m sure you can relate.

Parenting Confession 10

Image

Guest Blogger: Meet a Magnificent Mom

Kristen Shroyer is a Magnificent Mom that you have to meet. She is Vice President of Sales and one of the Co-Founders of ONEHOPE, a company that gives half of its proceeds to select charities. That’s right. 50% of their wine sales help to support breast cancer research, the fight against autism, clean water projects and much more.

kristen shroyer one hope wine vineyard

She’s also the mom to a beautiful baby girl named Jessica. As a new mom and a busy business owner, Kristen knows what it’s like to wear many hats. She travels a lot for work (about 3x per month), as part of her job is to manage sales and distributors of ONEHOPE in the Southwest.

I wanted to feature Kristen as a Magificent Mom because I am inspired by her passion for work, philanthropy and family. I asked her a few questions about life as a busy working mom, and here is what she had to say.

onehopewine

What is your favorite part of working at ONEHOPE Wine?

The people, the culture & the social impact we are making on a daily basis. Having a great product to drink after a long day doesn’t hurt either!

What is the most challenging part of your job?

Trying to build a brand, in one of the most competitive industries, during a challenging economy – all while working with an extremely minimal budget since we donate half of our profits to partner nonprofits. Luckily, there is no other product in the wine industry quite like ONEHOPE! The traveling and time spent away from my family is also challenging.

You have a beautiful baby girl, as well as a full-time job. What is your favorite part about being a new mommy?

Jessica just turned 3 months old! Time has flown by so quickly. My favorite part about being a new mommy is just the amount of love I have for her!  It’s such a special kind of love, too.

golden retriever, baby photo idea

Do you find it difficult to have a work/ life balance? 

Yes, and I’m still learning how to do this day by day. I need to be better about turning off the cell phone and closing the laptop when the workday is over.

What is it like having to travel for your job? Do you find it hard to be away from Jessica?

Traveling has definitely been difficult; I miss her so much when I’m gone. Thankfully we have an incredible nanny, grandparents close by and my husband is extremely helpful, so I always know she is in excellent hands. My husband synced her baby monitor with my iPhone so I can watch her sleep when I’m away, I love that!

What is the best part about motherhood?

All of the little moments: the cute little grins she gives me, the way she cuddles in my arms, how she breaths loud when she sleeps, the silly faces she makes when I give her a bath – it just keeps getting better and better!

mom blog

What do you like to do in your down time?

Since I’m always on the go for work, I just love to relax and watch my bad reality television shows (Real Housewives, The Bachelor – you name it!). We have two other children, four-legged ones that is, that I really enjoy taking on walks. Jessica loves to join us in the Baby Bjorn! I also play the acoustic guitar and like writing my own music.

Do you have any tips for working moms, just like you? 

I’m a big fan of making lists and goals for myself – always making sure to display them in a place I see everyday. Organizing my thoughts, goals and to-dos really helps – and I love the accomplished feeling I get when crossing each item off! Another silly tip – if you don’t have a crock-pot, buy one! I use my crock-pot probably twice as much as I use my oven.

*If you know a Magnificent Mom and you want to share her story here, just send me a note.

Read More

The Photography Hat: Simple Snapshots

Life around here has been busy. Great, but busy. Ryan and I are getting this two-kid thing down. Or, at least we think we are. And that’s probably because I’ve been off of work for 10 weeks. Here’s just a few snapshots from the past week. It’s truly amazing the kind of time you have when you […]

Read More
Image

The Family Hat: Girls just wanna have fun

Kelsey and I went on a date the other night. No boys were allowed. Just mom and Kelsey. It was so much fun! We shopped, we ate pizza and mac n’ cheese (her choice) and we drove around singing Adele’s “Rumor has it” – her favorite song!

photo shop 3She took this shirt and said, “No thanks” and put it back on the rack. photo shop 5After finding a hot pink headband and “Tinkerbell shoes” she found the sunglasses. Why sunglasses are priced at $11 in winter beats me.

photo shop

After she found a pair that she loved, she turned to me and said, “Mom. Let’s go find a mirror”. So, we did. Note to dad: Watch out. This girl knows what she’s doing.

Read More

The Parenting Hat: Things that Make My Three Year Old Throw a Fit

Life with Kelsey has been a bit rough lately. She is two weeks shy of turning three and boy, are we feeling it. The terrible twos never really hit in our household, so I think she is making up for lost time. Here are some things that make my three-year old throw a fit. We […]

Read More
Follow

Get every new post delivered to your Inbox.

Join 173 other followers

%d bloggers like this: