So I'm a part of this moms group on facebook.   Its kind of awesome for the most part. People vent about thir kids, life, husbands.They ask for advice, give advice, share little antedotes.    I enjoy it.

Today someone said that 3 of her sisters struggle with weight, they work out but eat a lot, and she feels that her 9 year old will struggle with weight as well. She goes on and asks, "how do i teach my daughter portion control without offendig her.its something she needs to know"

It seemed like a legitimate question so I gave her my input.   this is what i said:
     
My daughter is almost 1 and a big eater. She favors my husbands side of the family- his brother is a big guy, of his 7 sisters about half of them have had weight problems, and his moter was a big woman until she got bypass surgry- so odds are, Amelia may be a chunky girl too.  My parents are telling me I need to watch what she eats so she wont be huge. Yes,I dont waant to set her up to be a BIG gir, but if shes on the bigger side so be it. I refuse to have a girl who feels like she HAS to watch what she eats. People are made in all shapes and sizs, just because someone is thinner doesn mean they are healthier. With that being said, we do try to eat relatively healthy in my house- fresh fruits & veggies, I try to avoid frozen meals, and we hardly ever buy sugary drinks.  I think the best bet is to teach kids how to live a healthy lifestyle- eat rigt, exercise a bit, and its ok to indulge every once in a while. Girls are going to have issues with their body no matter what- big or small- its just human nature. I feel that teaching kids portion control or calorie countig is going to cause them to worry more about how much is going in than the quality & that adds another sress to it and opens up a whole new can of worms...

I've obviously thought about this alot. I hope I am successful with this when Amelia gets oldr and she doesnt feel the need to be soo concerned about her weight like some are....

So in typical Kristin fashion, i took the liberty to facebook stalk the mom who postd the question.  I half expected to see a woman on the 'thicker side' & fully expected to see that her daughter was chunky/slightly overweight. I was apalled at wht i saw. the mom looked to bbe about my sisters size- shes not a bg person at all- & her daughter wasnt chunky at all! she looked like a 9 yr old should look! This woman just peeved me off! so much so that its over 12 hours later and i'm still heated about it.  Shes complaining that her kid is eating ptato chips and multiple smores on a camping trip & concerned that shes going to be BIG whenshes just the right size! Its just a camping trip for gods sake- let your kid be a kid!

Ay.... its just ridiculous. Theres always so much fuss about body image in girls. More and more young girls worying about what they eat, more turning to eating disorders and whatot.  They like to blame the media, models, movies stars, and Barbie.. Well id hate to break it to ya, but its not their fault. Its because of moms like that and its just straight ridiclous. i know i already said that , but its true. All people are made different, embrace your dfferences. Thin does not mean happy or make your better/prettier. I know that that could sound weird coming from me since im a 'little person' but being smaller isnt always what its crcked up to be.   I sometimes shop in the kids dept for shirts cuz its cheaper- a 4yr at Jake's babysitter's pointed out that shes got the same shirt.   I'm 29 with the same shirt as a 4yr- embarassing (thoughim not gonna lie, i dig the shrt- its little mermaid & its still nt gonna stop me from shoppin in that section. still feel lke a weirdo when i do it).   I went to an urgent care place when I was about 14 weeks pregnant w Amelia & my arm was so small that they had to use a children's blood pressure cuff on me. embarassing. .Just be healthy, more mportantly be happy.   theres no reason we should be puttng so much pressure on young girls to be thin!

arg.....  end rant...... thank you for listening...

So Joshys been out of town for work since the end of April. I thought it would suck biz-alls,, like the last 2 times he left when Jake was a baby but it actually hasnt been too bad!  The house is much more disorganized but clothes are getting washed and more importantly the kids and i are still alive and in 1 piece.   =P   One of the hardest parts was lack of computer. And not because of facebook..  i knnow, shocker..  but because of pinterest!   We've only got  computer and he pays the bills so he took it.   All of my rcipes are saved on pinterest and none of my gotos are in paperform so i was lefft hangin when I wanted to bake or ry a new recipe..   no fun!!!

Lucky for me, joshy found a deal on groupon for a tablet so im back and reconncted to the world and my recipes!   its probably not the greatest thing out there but it suits my needs so i have nno complaints.   i can fb, pinterest, downloadbook, pndora....And it came witha shnazzy keyboard so its like havn a lil laptop.   =P   Jacob ws real excited when he saw me tke it out of te box. that was until i told himnetflix wasnt on it....  homeslce took ovr the kindle before it died because of netflix so im holdin off for as long as i can!

In college, I had to take Eng400:Senior Sem. Each professor taught it differently- Bagby taught it the best-hers was more applicable to real life. Another prof had you write a proposal/grant and that just straight sucked. Stinson (I took it a couple of times-a little sad, I know) required you to come up with a community project and implement it.  When hearing of this, I was actually kind of excited about it. I knew just what I was going to do. I wanted to raise ADD/ADHD awareness in the area and start a CHADD (Children & Adults with ADHD) chapter. At the time, the closest chapter was in Richmond- and I thought it would be beneficial for people in the surrounding counties.  Virginia Beach didnt even have a chapter and I really wanted to be a part of CHADD- as one with ADD and a future educator. ADHD generally has a negative connotation (sp?) and I wanted adults and parents alike to know that it wasnt a bad thing and be able to help eachother out and whatnot. Since I was diagnosed with ADD not long before, was a Special Education major, and planned on staying in the area (Farmville, VA/Prince Edward County) it was right up my ballbark. I was really excited about it and acquired all of the information in order to do so right away.   I presented my AWESOME idea to my professor and she totally downed it. She did not see how it helped the community at all.  I had to come up with something else- since I was so set on my idea, my project ended up being ehh....  

                                         ~~~Fast forward 6 or 7 years~~~

I stopped taking my adderall since it was the summer, got pregnant and was breastfeeding so couldnt take it, wasnt working so decided i didnt need it. the same time i went back to work, i found out i was pregnant again so I couldnt go on it- also had it in my head that I wouldnt ever go back on it. And to make a potentially longish story short, I recently decided that I REALLY need to get in check.  When I'm at work, I feel like I'm ok- things are really busy there. But when I get home, my mind is a jumble- Im off focus and often feel like theres like a haze preventing me from staying on task, I get easily frustrated with Jake and Josh over relatively minor things, and organization? Lets not go there....  I'm realizing that I just may need to go back on my medication and I need to find dif stratgeties to help me with organization and life in general.  

I asked for advice on a mom's group that I'm a part of on facebook and looked up some stuff on CHADD and turns out they formed a chapter in the area a few years ago.  They meet once a month (I missed this months meeting), on top of that - one of the organizers has a lecture series once a month, and then people meet up for informal CHADD meetings at Panera once a month- apparently they have guest speakers and then get into groups to discuss and hang out I spose.   I went to the lecture series meeting last Tuesday- it was on relationships, the speaker breezed through that and we ended up discussing a couple of dif strategies that may help us in day to day life (like putting an alarm on my phone to remind me to switch the laundry over- its so simple, yet i never wouldve thought of it), and just talked.   Including the speaker, it was only 5 of us in that room.  I went there to try to get dif strategies, but you wouldnt believe the amount of weight I felt lifted off of my shoulders just knowing that there are other people out there with the same problems as you, that a lot of people dont really understand.  I came home feeling sooo much better....  I plan on attending the CHADD meetings, lectures, and 'meet ups' regularly.

I found attending just 1 meeting to be beneficial, I'd imagine attending more would be even more beneficial.

So this post was written to pretty much say SUCK IT STINSON! You were WRONG!    =P

There are lots of things jumblin in my head for me to write about. But they are jumbly, my head is frequently a 'clusterfuck; (for a lack of better and more appropropriate word) of thoughts and ideas- very disorganized, sometimes 'chaotic'. Might be why it took me so long to write the simplest of papers in school.. Hmm....  

So instead, I present to you a survey- cuz who doesnt love reading and participating in these things?  The one thing I miss about myspace.   =P    Does anyone actively use their myspace pages these days anyways?   I tried to get onto mine not too long ago, but I couldnt remember my password or the email address I used for it...

   What is the last thing you watched on TV? The latest episode of New Girl

When did you last step outside? What were you doing? When we go home from date nite. Joshy took me to see the Hurrah Player's Little Mermaid then we got some Mexican.

What is on the walls of the room you are in? Nothing- our house is still a work in progress. We've been here nearly two years and I'm still waiting for Joshy to paint this kitchen so I can put some stuff up.

If you became a multi-millionaire overnight, what would you buy? I''d pay off those ghastly student loans. Then we'd probably by a house in a better school district- I'd want it to have a bigger kitchen for my baking, a craft space, possibly room for dance for me & Meels, and then joshy a man space for whatever men do in garages.   And more property- I'd like to have chickens and some critters.    =P

Tell me something about you that most people don’t know. Umm.....I don't mind snakes, but I dont like bugs....

Who made the last incoming call on your phone? Probably Josh

What was the last book you read? I couldnt tell ya. Its been a while since I've read a book...  between tv, kids, and browsing the interwebs I havent had much time...

If you could change something about your home, without worry about expense or mess, what would you do? GET THIS KITCHEN PAINTED!  And Joshy would like to add a small bathroom upstairs somehow and push up the roof some. He's even talked about pushin up the garage so thered be more storage space..

What was the last thing you bought? Hardees. Joshy and Jacob wanted hamgurgers friday night. And of course Jacob fell asleep while in the drive thru line, then when he woke up he only had a few bites of the burger before throwing it on the floor (terrible twos/threes are not fun)

If you could eat lunch with one famous person, who would it be? I have no clue....

Which store would you choose to max out your credit card? Its not that I would choose to, but it would probably be at Target. Its the store I frequent the most, besides Walmart.

Is the glass half empty or half full? full

Name something that took you by surprise. I was totally surprised when Joshy took it upon himself to buy us tickets to see the little mermaid this weekend.  

Name one TV show you will watch every time it's on - We dont have cable- we do Hulu, Netflix, & Amazon Prime so its not like I watch whats on, I choose whats on.....I still enjoy Bones, I watch Parenthood, I'm on season three of cupcake wars.  I've still got some dance moms to catch up on...

Name a movie you will watch no matter how many times you've seen it. Little Mermaid- Am I too old for that to still be one of my favorite movies? Time to Kill is pretty good too, and Center Stage

What's your favorite musical? Les Miserables

What’s the farthest-away place you’ve been? LA

What’s under your bed? I havent looked recently, but I'm sure theres some dirty/clean laundry hiding..

What is your favorite time of the day? I'm not a morning person & these days, in my old age, I'm generally asleep by 9ish so I guess mid day?  I dunno....

What Inspires You?  I feel like this is a trick question.  Not just one thing inspires me. You've got the arts- dance & music (I'm totally going to be one of those moms that pushes the arts onto her kids), people around me (familiy, friends, heck the kids I work with at school can be pretty inspriational too)

So The Little Mermaid has pretty much ALWAYS been one of my favorite movies.   I had the soundtrack when I was little and it got lost so in high school my mother bought me a new one- a cassette tape from Burlington; its pretty much worn out  =(.     I never really went out seeking little mermaid products in my older age before, but now that I've got Amelia I have no shame and now find myself looking for it.   Good thing disney princesses are popular!

A while back, my sister got me an Ariel shirt.  For christmas she got amelia a little mermaid stocking AND an ariel fleece blanket. I got myself an Ariel mug for Valentines when I saw that it was the last one at Target last month. And now I find myself looking for more ariel shirts...   I found one a couple of months ago at target that i liked and then ended up passing it up..  =(.      Today, I went shopping for a friends' daughters bday and found 3 Little Mermaid shirts in the kids section (the benefit to being little myself). Two of them were on sale, for like $4 each so I ended up getting both because I couldnt decide and I had both kids with me so it wouldve been a pain in the butt to try them on.  I figured I could always return them if I didnt like how they fit.  

The lady at the register probably thought I was a little weird.  Here I am, a grown adult with 2 small kids, buying 2 Little Mermaid shirts while wearing a little mermaid shirt... But I promise, I'm not weird... well not THAT weird....

If you're ever at a loss at what to get Amelia, or myself for that matter, feel free to go the route of little mermaid.   =P   Until then, I'll just ogle all the stuff I see on etsy & wish I was talented enough to create those things on my own.   =P

Mommy Wars

So I came across this link on a mom forum that I'm a part of on facebook and appreciated it...

http://ctworkingmoms.com/2013/06/11/end-the-mommy-wars-special-photo-edition/

When talking about how you'll do things with your babies/kids some people get totally nazi about it and its just straight up ridiculous.

I've got a friend who at one time (I'm not sure if she still feels this way), went on a rant about how horrible of a mother you are if you choose not to breastfeed. Does it really matter that much on whether you choose to breastfeed or not? All that really matters is that you feed your child and theyre being taken care of.     Yeah, I breastfeed but the main reason behind that is that its free.  And if my sister didnt buy me a nice pump, I probably never would have stuck with it when Jacob was born.  We had latching problems and it hurt like a champ in the beginning....

People just seem to be judgy about everything. Breastfeeding, diapering, cosleeping, the list goes on.....   One of my cousins has two and cosleeps with them and my mom was QUICK to say that was bad. When I stepped to her defense and said that we've done it from time to time, she was once again quick to say that that was bad..    Who's to say that its good or bad? Theres evidence out there that supports both.   We coslept with Jacob for a little bit because it was easier. We chose not to do it with Amelia. As Jacob got older, he made it harder to sleep- he'd want to play in bed, he;d take up all the space, insist on sleeping on top of us, etc...   So when we decided to move him to his own bed officially, it was just a pain in the arse so to avoid that we opted not to cosleep with Amelia. Though I won't lie, I sometimes bring her to bed or fall asleep on the couch with her so I can get my snuggles in...     PLUS when you cosleep its much harder to get intimate time in with the hubs, its hard enough when you've got kids to begin with!

Point being...   As a parent, you do whats best for you. It may not be the same for everyone else. It may not be popular, but you do what works for you and your family.  

 Parenting is def a learning curve- trial by error, you learn from your mistakes kind of thing.  And all kids are different, so some things may not work for one like it did the other.   Heck, Joshy just called me out the other day on how differently I am with Amelia than I was with Jacob as an itty bitty. I didnt even realize it!   Guess its the whole food thing, if she shows an interest in it I'm gonna let her try it- even if its ice cream, which I totally frowned upon with Jacob until he was one.  

The new year just started and Im too excited not too share... This girl is finally gonna get back into taking some ballet classes... whoop whoop!!!!   Looks like I'm gonna be sore for the next couple of weeks...   =P