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Big News! Grand Finale is expected on Thanksgiving Day!

A Traintastic 2nd Birthday Party!

You know what is absolutely ridiculous? The fact that it has taken me 2.5 weeks to post photos from Jack’s 2nd birthday party.  Inexcusable, really! The theme for the party this year was trains.  Kid loves a good choo choo train. I want to keep the photos of the details to a minimum and overload you with photos of the kids, because, really, who doesn’t like to see cute kiddos?!

I used a lot of blue ticking fabric for the details of the party, to give it a real vintage conductor feel. I made the special hats (which i mom failed and forgot to even put on Jackson for his cupcake :(), and used red and white accents for a color scheme.  The table had a fabric runner with some flowers, balloons, and stars. Simple & Easy. 

My friend and cake baker extraordinaire, Megan, made the most fantastic train cake (like her page)!!!. The tracks around the bottom and the smoke coming from the train were fantastic details, AND there was a number two on the back of the locomotive :). I also purchased chevron paper straws for some added flair.  I made the banner using my trusty cricut (seriously – a cricut turns a 2 hour job into a 10 minute job. get one), and some scrapbooking paper.  The bottom right photo shows the dessert/favor table. My sister made amazing cupcakes, and I displayed Jackson’s Year I and Year II Photobooks.  Also, I used a vintage traincase to hold the favor bags which included: Conductor hats, train whistles, bubbles, and other fun kid-friendly things! 

The main activity for the littles was to paint wooden trains to take with them as a keepsake. It was messy, but so cute.  

Here are some photos of my favorite little man and his buddies enjoying the festivities! 

Playing football with Jesse 🙂

Hi Alex!

Lovely Miss PBT ❤

Vaughn in all of his two week old glory!!!! I will be stealing him very soon! 

Ben gives dirty looks 😉

Hi Diego! 

Ben & his mama Emily 🙂

This is 8 month old Caleb, he is a flirt and soooo cute! 

Presents! 

Cupcakes! 

At least someone got some use out of the party hats!

I still can’t believe my crazy, sweet, awkward smiling, trailer loving boy is 2 already! 

how to work from home with a toddler

My work situation is interesting in that i work from home two full days each week. Because of the large amount of time spent working at home, I often get the question “how do you get any work from home done with a toddler to take care of?” The answer for me is simple.

Jackson has always been fantastic at I dependent play. I simply make the “office” into a place that he actually wants to spend time. Of course, he is spoiled so its now more of a playroom, but the point is that I can get a ton of work done while he keeps himself entertained with access to all of his tractors, trains, books, and puzzles. It’s better for us than having him staring at the TV all day, and I am able to join him whenever I feel like it ;).

I also try to log as few hours in the times that he is most active as possible. I can bank on him napping for a solid 2-3 hours in the afternoon, so I always use that time to make calls and really get the things that require extra concentration taken care of.

I am also happy to push 2-3 hours of work each day to 6 or 7 pm. Daddy has come home so Jackson is more interested in him at that particular moment and then I take a break to put him to bed and finish up by 8 or 9 pm.

Things work really well for us this way because I get to maximize my time spent with Jackson – we can still have play dates, park time, swim lessons, and hours outdoors. But the key is that I still have a workspace where he can be happily occupied for HOURS if I absolutely can’t push the work stuff off to nap or bedtime.

Its not a competition.

On the way to work this morning I was listening to a popular radio show when a stay at home mom called in.  I missed the first part of the call, but the gist of it is that she has 3 children and has a hard time finding a moment of peace and solitude.  I think we can all relate to that as parents of young children.  Sometimes you just want to go to the bathroom by yourself or take a longer shower than normal.  I don’t think its too much to ask, and neither did any of the DJs on the show.  You can imagine my shock, then, when another stay at home mom called in and actually passed judgment on this lady for asking for a few moments away from her children. 

What is it with women these days making every. single. facet. of parenthood a freaking competition?! Why is it that because you don’t wish for a few minutes alone and feel fulfilled with your life as a stay at home mom that you would think you are better than someone who has a completely different experience with a completely different set of children who you don’t know and frankly, know nothing about? Look, we all love our kids, and we all know that time is so very fleeting, and that this time when they are little is so precious…but we also know that parenting is hard. It is the toughest job I have ever been entrusted with. I don’t need the opinions of others and judgments and competitions of who is a better mother because they don’t want 5 minutes to pee alone, or breastfed longer, or cloth diapers the best to make it that much harder on me. Give it a rest already. 

I love this post by Glennon over at Momastery about how you don’t have to carpe the whole effing diem, but rather celebrate the most precious moments.  Let’s face it – we all have our days, and I really think the judgy caller this morning had to be lying. Nobody’s that perfect, and let me tell you, I love every minute that I have with my one kid, but there are days that I am counting down the minutes to bedtime. Kids are challenging. They are supposed to be challenging. Its not always rainbows and butterflies in the world of parenting, but I can definitively say that it is mostly rainbows and butterflies. To all my WAHM’s, SAHM’s, Working Mom’s, and especially  you single mamas out there – if you need some me time to be a better parent – TAKE IT.  You are doing a great job, and I commend you for recognizing that you need time for yourself to be good. And if you miss out on a few moments with your little ones, its okay. I will never judge you for trying your best.