Bwildered

Choosing children's furniture is an essential process for parents. Such furniture should combine practicality, environmental friendliness, durability. These factors depend on the material from which the furniture is assembled. With all responsibility, you need to approach the choice of material from which the furniture for the nursery is made. It is better to opt for natural materials that are not covered with adhesives, paints, and varnishes.

I love swaps!  I've done a few that I have found online over the last couple of years but it has been a long time.  So this year when my cousin posted about A Cuppa Kim's Mug Swap I knew I had to sign up!  I am SO glad I did!  It was so much fun to put the package together for my mug swap partner and I waited on pins and needles for my happy mail to come!  And I was not disappointed!  Jennifer (@jen_beautyinbloom) did an amazing job putting my mug package together.


 I loved everything about it!  From the pretty yellow polka dot mug, the flower coaster made by Jennifer and the adorable camera pendant by Life Through This Lens (check out her Etsy shop here!).  Thank you so much Jennifer for your thoughtful gift! I hope that my swap partner loves her gifts as much as I loved mine!

 

I love to organize.  LOVE.  And sometimes I really good at it.  But I find myself little pockets of space in my life that are complete disasters.  For instance, my office/craft/I-don't-know-what-to-do-with-this-throw-it-in-there-and-close-the-door room.  Awful.  It's a complete embarrassment.  So one of my goals for 2013 is to be more organized.  Like ridiculously, annoyingly organized.  I'm finding lots of good ideas on Pinterest and I'm slowly but surely making lists and implementing ideas.  Here's two I'm starting with.

Cleaning Schedule
The first idea I started with I found on Pinterest.  I actually created my own list and started using it in November of 2012.  And then Christmas and 3 weeks of sickness hit and I stopped doing it.  But the weeks I did do it I really loved it.

Here's why it works:  I felt like I was accomplishing something important every day and my house looked better and I just felt better!  Also, with the swing day I was tackling one big thing that really did need to be done at least once a month but I never seemed to find the time for it.


Challenges:  Make sure you have what you need for your cleaning.  And for the daily chores it might take you a few days to figure out the best way to tackle them.  For me, I enlisted the help of Jackson for bed making (starting him early!) and then tried to tackle the dishes and counters while he was eating breakfast.  I found that the chore of the day I usually had to wait until my hubby got home.  And I didn't even think about doing the night chores until everyone else was in bed.

30 Bags in 30 Days
I've seen a version of this on Pinterest but decided to definitely go for it when I saw Bekah over at Country Mouse tales posting pictures of her bags on Instagram!  Such a great idea and really quite easy!  I referenced Bekah's list and then set about creating my own.  My list will start today and runs for 30 days, so that puts me at February 5th, which is PERFECT because The Boy's 3rd birthday party is just a few days after that!

I love being a mom.  I love having this little bundle of non-stop energy that just wants to run and play all day. I love seeing the world through his eyes and rediscovering it all again.  I love the little phrases that he suddenly comes up with.  I love that when he is tired or hurt he wants to "hold you me."  That when he wants me to rock him he asks me to dance.  That without fail, every single morning, he crawls into bed with me to snuggle up against me and go back to sleep.  I love it all but one single part.  The Guilt.

That's right, I capitalized Guilt. Because seriously it is like no other thing I have experienced.  And I feel like as a mom you feel guilty over so many things.  Was I too hard on him or not hard enough?  Do I push him or let him figure it out?  Why did I have to lose my temper?  Why DIDN'T I get mad?  On and on and on.

Today was a particularly hard day of Mommy Guilt because when I drop the Boy off at his preschool he was sobbing.  He didn't want to go.  He wouldn't tell me why.  He was just clinging to me and refusing to let go.  So as I drove away good 'ol Mommy Guilt reared her head and started in. Maybe I should have left him, maybe I should have left quicker, what if something is really wrong, what if I'm not pushing him enough.  UGH.   The farther I got from him the worse I felt.  So by the time I actually got to work I was in full tears.  Just the way I like to start my day.

But then I started getting mad.  Because really no one is doing this to me but myself.  I know I'm not a bad mom.  I'm not perfect but I try really hard.  He is a happy, healthy boy who has many good people in his life and feels the love of them all.  He goes to bed with a full belly and wakes up knowing momma will be there.  While being a working mom has definitely made things a bit harder at times, in my opinion it has made me better.  Being fulfilled in all aspects of my life makes me well rounded as a person and as a mom.  I appreciate the days of fun that we have knowing that I will have to be away from him the next day.  And despite today's sobbing I know it is good for him too.  While I would love for him to forever be my baby I know that isn't possible.  I know that this is just the beginning of his stretching and growing.  I know he won't look back on these days and think what a crappy mom I was.

So here's the lesson I'm teaching myself in hopes that one day I can pass it along to my son.  Give yourself a break.  Do your very best.  Put your best foot forward.  Know some days you will fail and others you will thrive.  But most of all, let go of the guilt.  Or at least try to.

Thanks to my awesome business partner at Life's Little Blessings for this amazing photos!  I love them so much Nicole!!












 

From a Distance
So this is my interpretation.  Because we are MOVING.  And these boxes?  They are GOING THE DISTANCE.  Of 25 miles. :-)

Close Up
Can you guess what this is?  It's the wreath I had my sister make out of balloons for the Boy's birthday!!

Something I Made
Earring by Bwildered!