A picture perfect mother

A few days ago I ran to Target at 9:00 after having gotten Jake off to school successfully.  I needed to pick up a couple of things for the house and for dinner that night.  I wasn't planning on being there long and had not really considered the fact that the extent of my beauty regimen that morning had been to brush my teeth. 

And there she was, the seemingly perfect mother.  Her hair curled, makeup applied, clothes ironed, pushing her very precious son in the cart.  I must admit that I felt less than adequate in my faded yoga pants and old high school t-shirt.  That's right, I was wearing a shirt that was over 12 years old.  A shirt for the cross-country team.  The only time I ran in high school was in an attempt to get to 1st period before the 2nd period bell rang.  I have no idea how I came to own such a shirt.   

Sometimes I wish I was more like that woman.  I wish that I took the time to blow dry my hair everyday instead of pulling it up in a ponytail after a quick rub with a towel.  I wish I was embarrassed to go outside without my makeup on.  I cannot remember a single time that my own mom has ever looked less than perfect when out in public.  I am sure my husband would appreciate it if I spent a few more minutes on myself although he is far too sweet to ever admit that to me.

So this is my resolution for the year.  I will take the time to make sure I look presentable when I leave the house.  My kids will not have to be embarrassed to be seen with me, well at least not because of the way I am dressed.  Joel will no longer come home to a wife that looks the exact same as she did when he left her that morning.  Of course this really only means that my yoga pants will no longer be faded.  That woman was crazy in her heels at 9 am.

I am just glad no one could see that Blake was still in his PJ's... 

Family, Ferber and a Damn Good Dog

Happy Thanksgiving from the Nelson-Wilson Clan!



I have decided that after 5 months of waking all night long to tend to my precious little one, it's time to starting sleeping through the night, or at least for more than 2 hours at a time!  The Ferber method seems to be the most effective solution and I have decided the longer you wait to start, the easier it is to listen to the fussing.  The circle under my eyes have reached a new shade of darkness and the self-soothing is my light at the end of the tunnel.  I remembered this as I lay awake last night talking myself out of picking him up.  I am praying this will not take more than a few days.  

I took the boys to Savannah a couple of weeks ago and Blake felt sand between his toes for the first time.  I was able to get some great pictures of my guys on the beach.

I added this photo because of Jake's sweatshirt.  He is the only child I know that considers Harvard to be his "back-up plan".    

Our Thanksgiving was wonderful at both the Wilsons' and then later at the Nelsons'.  We tried our best to get a picture of Granny with some of her great-grandchildren.  This is our best attempt.

I think we need to only use one camera at a time so everyone will be looking in the same direction. 

We took the kids to tailgate at the UGA/GT game and then decided to go ahead and take all 3 of them to game at 8:00 at night.  In the 41 degree weather.  Totally unprepared.  Not my best idea but we had a great time!  We didn't make it back to my parents' lake house until 2 am but it was definitely worth it.  We had our picture taken with UGA VIII and Madison was able to see her first game between the hedges.  Hopefully she will be out there cheering on the Dawgs in a few years!

We have a packed weekend starting with Maddy cheering in a parade tomorrow and finished off by Jake presenting the colors at the Gladiators' Game on Sunday.  Now I am off to finish painting the kitchen and den since I had the brilliant idea to do this before putting up my Christmas tree. 

Have a great weekend everyone!

Frozen squash cubes and meat muffins

On Monday I tried my hand at homemade baby food.  I am already seeing the benefit.  I bought 1 butternut squash for $1.19 and after mixing it with water to thin it down for Blake it filled 2 ice cube trays.  I have over a weeks worth of baby food for the price of a day.  Definitely worth the 10 minutes it took me to make it. (Minus the baking time).  I have not fed it to him yet but it is on the schedule for tomorrow. 


Jake is an unually picky eater.  Now I know most kids have their quirks about what they will and will not eat, but Jake is ridiculous.  He literally gags at the taste of leftover mac & cheese, will only eat chicken seasoned with salt & pepper, and thanks to Joel, will not touch an onion.  This tends to make cooking for a family something of a challenge.  Since everyone in my family likes meatloaf but everyone likes it a different way, I took the advice of my mother and now make individual meatloaves in a muffin tin.  This way I can make everyone their own exactly the way they like it. 

Jake's explanation of it all, "So we have frozen squash cubes to go along with our meat muffins?? Really??" I wonder how he is going to react to the green beans I'm going to puree tomorrow.

Brand new blogger

I have spent many months contemplating starting this blog with my first thought being, "who am I to think others would actually care about anything I would have to say." I have decided that whether anyone would care or actually read this is of no consequence.  I think we (my family) will appreciate being able to look back at this time in our lives and remember fondly how we stumbled along our way from infant to adult. 

(our "awkward family photo" submission, courtesy of my brother's photography direction)

Being a parent to an infant is proving to be much easier this time around.  I believe the following factors are the reason:

I am happily married

I am 30, not 19

I have done this before

I work from home and the baby is not in daycare, therefore he is not constantly sick

I have great help from my older 2 and my husband

I am not the sole, or even primary, monetary provider

My friends have children now and understand

 Now I am off to get ready for our camping trip this weekend.  I hope you all have a great day!