Speechless Saturday: Paige in Boots

I'm not ashamed to admit it - I am totally turning Paige into a Mini-Me! Yesterday Daniel and I stopped by Old Navy so he could get a new pair of jeans and I couldn't help but make a beeline to the children's section. See, ever since I purchased my slouchy brown boots, I've been on the lookout for identical ones for Paige. Don't judge - you know every girl needs a perfect pair of slouchy brown boots for Fall! So I spotted a great pair and as I searched for Paige's size,  Daniel walked up behind me. Here is the conversation that followed:

Daniel: What are you doing?

Me: Ummm... what? Nothing. Nothing. I'm just looking for something.

Daniel: Paige doesn't need shoes. She isn't even walking.

Me: She does. She desperately needs brown slouchy boots.

Daniel: What? Why? What 8-month-old needs brown boots?

Me (trying to distract him): Don't worry about it. Are you going to try on those jeans or what?

Daniel: Yeah. But are you seriously going to get Paige these boots?

And then it happened. These words literally came out of my mouth as naturally as if I was saying my name and phone number.

Me (in an exasperated, unnecessarily loud voice): YES! I planned Paige's ENTIRE Fall/Winter wardrobe around these boots. We NEED the brown slouchy boots!

Needless to say, we got the boots. Mama always wins : )
 

"I Hate to Break it to You Babe, But I'm Not Drowning..."

At the moment, I am 100% obsessed with the new Sara Bareilles song "King of Anything." Love it. Love it. LOVE! IT! It totally reminds me of the phase of life that mommyhood spurs... the phase where you stop giving a hoot about everyone else's opinions and start trusting and relying on yourself and your gut instincts.

I feel like when you find out your prego, you quickly get your priorities in check and figure out what really matters. Then, when the baby arrives, the initial exhaustion and fear of the unknown leads to a vacuum of self-doubt. Am I doing this right? Will I be a good mom? How on earth am I going to take care of this little tiny baby? You ask everyone's opinions and forget about your own maternal instinct. And then finally - after you've heard all the opinions of how everyone else would do it if they were you - you realize that YOU are the one in control. You are the mama... the one who carried this tiny being for 9 months and gave birth to him or her. You are the one who is with the baby 24/7 - who sees the good and the not-so-good. And you start taking everyone's advice with a grain of salt. We may be new mamas, but we're not drowning. We don't need saving. God blessed us with the gift of maternal instincts... and no matter what crazy advice or opinions people throw our way, we know what's best for our individual babies. As the song says, "Who cares if you disagree? You are not me. Who made you King of Anything?"

Keep drinking coffee, stare me down across the table
While I look outside
So many things I’d say if only I were able
But I just keep quiet and count the cars that pass by

You’ve got opinions, man
We’re all entitled to ‘em, but I never asked
So let me thank you for your time, and try not to waste anymore of mine
And get out of here fast

I hate to break it to you babe, but I’m not drowning
There’s no one here to save

Who cares if you disagree?
You are not me
Who made you king of anything?
So you dare tell me who to be?
Who died and made you king of anything?

You sound so innocent, all full of good intent
Swear you know best
But you expect me to jump up on board with you
And ride off into your delusional sunset

I’m not the one who’s lost with no direction
But you’ll never see

You’re so busy making maps with my name on them in all caps
You got the talking down, just not the listening

And who cares if you disagree?
You are not me
Who made you king of anything?
So you dare tell me who to be?
Who died and made you king of anything?

All my life I’ve tried to make everybody happy
While I just hurt and hide
Waiting for someone to tell me it’s my turn to decide

Who cares if you disagree?
You are not me
Who made you king of anything?
So you dare tell me who to be?
Who died and made you king of anything?

Who cares if you disagree?
You are not me
Who made you king of anything?
So you dare tell me who to be?
Who died and made you king of anything?

Let me hold your crown, babe.

Schmying to Schmoncieve

Schmying to Schmoncieve... that is my code word for what has been going on lately : ) Yup - that's right... we're trying for baby #2! We've actually been trying for a few months now without any luck. You all know that the first time around was a real surprise (read this for a refresher: 4 Pregnancy Tests Don't Lie ). And because of that, I figured whenever we would try for number 2, it would be a total breeze. WRONG! This baby-making thing is hard work! : ) When we started out, we figured we should try and track when I'm ovulating. So what's a techno-phile family to do? We downloaded an iPhone app called "P Tracker". You enter in your past few periods, and then it takes the average and figures out when you might be ovulating. Well - no dice on that one. So then I decided I would track mucus... yes, totally gross. But if you've ever been in the phase of Schmying to Schmoncieve you know exactly what I'm talking about. Who knew there was actually a change with all that throughout the month? So fingers crossed the "raw egg white" stage does the trick. If not, my next step is to buy one of those "ovulation prediction tests." Aye-yi-yi! It's amazing to think about how blessed we were with Paige. And we're trying hard not to get discouraged! We know it will happen when it's the right time... but it sure is hard to wait : )