I'm sorry and a gross story.

So I wrote a post yesterday that was portrayed ugly.  It started out as an "I don't understand this"/ "please stop judging us momma's" into a judgemental post.  I feel like resently that God has been stripping me of this shell that I have had.  A shell full of ugliness, judgement and maybe even a little bitterness.  It has been painful.  It has been emotional.  It has been really hard.  Hard to know who I can talk to when things upset me that use to not bother me, like who can I trust to ugly cry to?   Not the lady at the grocery store- awkward.  A friend, maybe.  But which one?  I don't want all my dirty laundry out there.

All of this to say; if you read that post, it was not kind and I'm sorry.  

Now, as a result, one my friends told me that I should tell you the most horrific story EVER to make up for my ugliness.  Here is goes:

Do you have a toddler?  Well, if you do or spend a 1/2 of a second with one, you know that they LOVE to feed you, right?  Well, I had just cut up some strawberries for my perfect and does no wrong toddler AB who is totally into this "mommy" thing.  She feeds anything with a mouth (stitched on or not), will wipe anything with legs (Dallas included), give a bottle to anything with a mouth and puts EVERYTHING to bed!
I had just finished changing EK's diaper (poop- think rabbit poop!) and went to sit down on the couch to post on intragram the cutest picture, AB is playing with her dolls and feeding them the said strawberries.  She comes over and reaches up to give me, what I think is a strawberry so I open my mouth and instantly knew it wasn't a strawberry....
I immediately take it out of my mouth and look at it and instantly know that it was one of those little poops that must have fallen out!  I rush to the bathroom all while screaming and yelling and trying not to gag.  Frank is on the phone during the whole commotion.  I scrub my tongue like no ones business.  The whole time Annabelle is running around too mimicing everything that I"m saying and doing.  Frank finally gets off the phone and is trying to figure out what the heck just happened.  I finally get it out that I ate poop!  After hysterically laughing he asks where it is, in the course of said events, I didn't know what I did with it.  Did I throw is away, flush is, throw it... nobody knows!
Now, the term "Eat Sh*t" has taken on a whole new meaning in this house.  It really is the grossed think to say to someone and it really does taste as gross as you think.

Have a happy weekend!

Wordless Wednesday

Mom, look how much fun this is!!!  They make SOOO much noise!

A21 benefit

Best buds

She's teething

"make a silly face"

Playing fetch, literally.

Noise.

Sometime, you just got to cool off.

What if I carried my babes like that?

friends.

dressed up and finally some place to go.

friends.

Our awesome sitter/friend texted me this, she couldn't keep EK from slipping!

love.

Happy Wednesday!

Hard stuff

Sometimes we can not always tell funny stories and paint a rainbow.  And today it is that.

I remember in high school, there was a group of students that would like to "remind us white people" all the time of how our ancestors forced their people to come to America as slaves.  How oppressed they still are and how the white man "rules" the world.  I sat there, I took it, I felt voiceless, awkward and uncomfortable.  Why are they trying to make me feel guilty or hold me accountable for something that happened generations ago and did not effect my life or theirs directly?  If only I could go back.  If only I ran into those people what I would tell them.

Did you know that there are more slaves today than ever before?  Did you know that the sex trade industry is the fastest growing organized crime?  Did you know that there are an estimated 27 million slaves world wide?  Did you know that it has NOTHING to do with the color of your skin?

Did you know that there is still forced labor slavery?  That people are taken and forced to be organ donors?  Not just adults, but children and babies.  Did you know that most of the time if a women who is trafficked become pregnant, she is either forced to have an abortion or the baby is used for an organ donor?

So who are these women AND children (yes children, as young as 4!!!!  The ones that are suppose to be learning colors and how to spell their name and getting ready for kindergarten are victims to the sex trade industry!)?  First, they are victims to corruption and betrail.  We heard about one family that was so desperate for money, the mom heard about an opportunity, from her sister, in Greece to go and take care of the elderly.  She left behind her husband and 3 small children.  When she arrived in Greece, she found out her sister had sold her to traffickers.  After being raped and beaten over and over, her trafficker fell asleep, she stole his keys and got to safety.  She was a lucky one.  Secondly, they might have been kidnapped.  Literally kidnapped.  These people are in desperate need of help, to be rescued, rehabilitated and taught to live on their own.  Most of the time, they are taken to different countries, their identification is taken and they do not speak the language.

So you think, on this is a European or Asian or African problem.  I live here in the land of the free.  WRONG!  New York, Miami, here is Charleston, Atlanta, Cities in CA, and so many more are big hubs for traffickers.  This is a world problem!

So last night, we got dresses up in our fancy clothes and shoes and headed downtown to have a fundraiser and raise awareness.  The organization is called A21.  Abolish slavery in the 21 century.  Cristine Cane spoke and it rocked my world.  She told this story of when she was younger, she went to visit a concentration camp from WW2.  When she got into the ovens where the Nazi's killed millions, she thought to herself, "where was the church?" and she swore that if she found out about something like this again, this inhumane she would fight it.  9 months later, she was flying home and was in a Greece airport, she saw poster after poster of missing women and small children.  They all had similar things in common and were all THOUGHT to have been victims of human trafficking.  She knew some honest lawyers in Greece (its huge there) and they went to work.  Last night was about fundraising.

It cost a lot money in court fees to get traffickers in jail.  It cost money to pass legislation to make this illegal.  It cost money to rescue girls.  They said last night that a lot of times the girls have so much medical work that needs to be done; dentures, facial reconstruction, treatment for diseases.  It cost money to get houses up and running with supplies that they need and staff and keep the lights on.  They are setting up education campaigns for schools to education young people about the industry and what to look for so that they don't fall prey.  They just launched a huge pilot campaign in Georgia to see how it goes and if it goes well, then it will spread all over the east coast.  And the list of needs goes on and on and on.

What is so sickening is that we live in a world where whales and trees and cattle and dogs have more rights than humans.  We are more concerned with animals being homeless or circus animals being mistreated than we are with our fellow humans being used as organ donors or sex slaves.

So what's next?  They need your money, time and prayers.  A21 just won award from the state department for their work that they have done.  But awards don't save people or get them off the streets.  It cost money.  Go check out their website so that you can get more information!

Just sayin'

My friend Bonnie and I are starting a series on Friday called "just sayin".  It is space to say what is on your mind.  It's room to say the blunt things that maybe you hold back because they maybe a little outspoken, or crass or just make one a little nervous.  So here we go:

This is something that has been on my mind- a lot lately and it's madening to me.  It blows my mind and if I'm completely honest, it makes my blood boil.  It's car seat safety.  Are you serious Abbey?  Really??  You are doing a link up and a series and you want to talk about it?  YES!

Let me back up, when Frank and I were dating, he worked at the North Charleston Fire Department.  He responded to a horrific accident that involved a grandma, mom and two small children.  Annabelle and Emma Kate's age, maybe a little older, maybe.  Long story short, the babes were not in carseats.  Like, they were in the carseat but the carseat was not installed to the car and the children were not fastened in.  They were projected out of the car and onto the interstate.  It was VERY VERY messy.   I won't go into the details because we keep it PG around here.  Between the dad showing up to the scene and the fire department restraining him and Frank driving the ambulance to MUSC and then recieved counceling over what he saw, touched and cried over.  I mean ugly cry, on my bed, on my couch, in my arms, for days, weeks, months.  This is not something to be taken lightly.

Proper strap placement.

I see my friends posting pictures on facebook of their babes, their toddlers, their joy, the prized beings.  And they are not in there properly.  One accident and they would be out of there!!  Friends, buckle your children in correctly!  The straps need to be on their shoulders, not slouching off, not twisted, not loose so that they are "comfortable".  That top buckle is just as important as the one between their legs.  It needs to be up on their chest.  I don't care if your babe scream and pitches a fit- spank them.  This is a non-negotiable.

I actually took this picture on purpose to show improper strap placement.  AB was wiggley when we buckled her in and we didn't realize it was so loose.  She was mad when I reached back there to mess with her!

Infant seating is so important.  Don't disregard them just because they are turned around!  They need snug straps as well as proper reclining.  

If you did not marry a firefighter who knows how to install a carseat or are concerned that you have not installed your carseat properly, please make sure that you read the directions!  They are not that difficult, or you can "youtube" your installing directions and watch a short clip.  I know, it's like you need an engineering degree for all this baby gear, but it's worth making sure that your babe is safe and you can have a peace of mind, I'm just sayin!!

If you have something to say, link up here or over at Bonnbonnboutique!

Coffee Date

Hey friends!  Happy Thursday~

I always wonder who is reading my blog.  I know people are and apparently they like it- the numbers are climbing and I'm excited that ya'll like me but terrified of what ya'll think of me.  Anyways, I wonder what season you are in, what your home life like, do you sit down as a family and eat?  Are you single?  Do you have children?  Are you married and totally in love or could ring your hubby's neck- maybe somewhere in between?  If I could have you to my house for a coffee date, or a play date this is what we could maybe talk about:

What are your kids up to?  Are they sleeping well (you should know by now that I am a HUGE advocate for sleep training!)?  I would ask you a few questions to see how you have handled your 2 year old when they all of the sudden "turned 2".  And by that it's drama city in our kitchen over sippy cups or what container a snack goes into.  I would ask you, if you are married, how you met your spouse and when you know he was the one.  I would ask you about your wedding day and your honeymoon.  I would ask you about your favorite part of being his help-mate and if he makes you laugh.  I'd ask you if you want my dog, we're friends now, right?

I'd ask you how you balance your life so well and I would then start taking notes.  I would ask you what your dreams are and what you hope for in the future.  I would ask you if you have traveled and the hilarious stories that happen in foreign lands that are just ridiculous.  I would then tell you about the story when Frank and I were in the Nicaragua airport and got stopped by armed military to check all our bags.  We were there with a huge team and had HUGE checked luggage with supplies for the locals.  We all had bag claims, but everyone was just pushing luggage (it was a huge mess!).  Frank left his bag claim sticker on the plane and didn't know which were his bags (the church provided the luggage and we packed it and then just put names on it at the airport).  It was such a mess.  We were freaking out.  He ended up slipping through without innocent and he wasn't questioned... phew!

I would ask you about what the Lord is teaching you right now.  I'm sure by then it would be lunch time or time for you to go.  Hopefully you would ask me some questions?  But what?  What would you ask me?  Happy Thursday!

Wordless Wednesday

Oh sweet baby, your big blue eyes take my breath away!  I pray that you are a mighty world changer with that voice of yours.  I know your little sense of humor will get your far... you sure have a big one for being so little.  I love you Emma Kate!

a give away!

Hey friends, sorry for the long absense.  I have been so tired lately and there has been a lot going on.  No I'm not pregnant, but I did go to a retreat last weekend and it was amazing.  Lots of learning, lots of growing and stretching and trying to becme a better wife and momma.  It was painful and beautiful all at the same time.  I will share about it in the next few days, I just need to still proccess and rgroup.

On the super lighter side, my friend Tiffany is hosting a giveaway!  Here is a lot of goodies to be won over there!  So hop on over and check out the loot!  While you are there, check out her sponsers.  They are some sweet women!

Cooking.

Hey friends!  My sister and I started a cooking blog- random I know!  We are so excited about this little project!  You see, she called me one day and after the "normal" questions, you know, how was your day, what did you do, how's work, how are my nieces..." it quickly turned to, I'm going to the store right now, what are you making?  Ahh, we do this all the time, picking each other's brains for new ideas.  My friends and I always have the same questions for each other, what's for dinner?


My husband always tells me to look in the cookbooks that we have.  I roll me eyes and laugh to myself, thinking, yeah right!  They are so complicated and have so many steps.  Not to mention the 100 ingredients that we DON"T have.  It will make our grocery bill through the roof and I would just rather spend the money and eat out.  Amen?  I thought so.

So we made a little space on the internet for us to blog about and share different recipes, some made up, some given to us, some family recipes and hopefully some of you will email us with your super easy, super simple, super budget friendly recipes!

Here's the email:

stuckingacookingrut at gmail dot com

Here's the link:

http://nomorecookingruts.blogspot.com/

I hope that you ladies will get some use out of this.  We are working on some series to do and hopefully can build a good resource for you!!

Wordless Wednesday

Happy Tuesday!

Some weekend stuff:

Saturday night, we got together with some friends.  My babe was napping and AB was with my parents in Charlotte getting spoiled out of her little mind enjoying some quality time with them and her aunts.  So I was setting up the table, getting drinks, etc.  Long story short, I stubbed my toe and this is what it looked like Sunday night!!  OUCH!!  Of course I heard it from Frank because I wasn't wearing shoes.  I never wear shoes.  He made me promise to wear shoes all the time until it heals.  Boo.  Please laugh at the flip flop tan that there all year around just showed up.

She's back!!!!

My mother is law has started to clean out their house to get ready to sell it.  And she has found the draw with all the pictures and has been texting all of us these hysterical pictures of Frank, that if I posted would take YEARS of marital conciling to get us over the violation of privacy!!  But there was this sweet picture that she sent me of Frank and his dad.  I cropped it though so you can see that when I tell you that Emma Kate looks like him, I'm not kidding.  How did this come out of me???  Precious??  I know!!

So my step mom has a love affair with wings.  She loves coconut joes wings and the restaurant looks out over the Isle of Palms.  We went there and had the WORST service, ever.  I didn't want to tip the server it was so bad.  And if you know me, you know I'm a generous tipper.  I know that my server makes $2.13 an hour, just to pay taxes.  But I did.  I called and talked to the manager and told her about the growth opportunies she could teach our server from said night.  She apologized and asked Frank and I to come back and let them redeem themselves, on the house.  Yes, please!  In the mean time, one of my friends had called and ASKED if she could watch EK for us so we could have a date night.  Free child care and free dinner... thank you Lord, you knew how bad we needed it!!

Happy Tuesday!

Mary Kay Monday

Happy Monday!  

I hope that you are refreshed and ready to tackle this week.  

I know I am.  My dad and step mom came to visit last Tuesday and stayed until Thursday.  They offered to take Annabelle and we took them up on it.  We got her back this afternoon and this momma was ready to have her people back in the same house.  But I will say, I got a lot done and slept until 9:30 the mornings that AB was gone.  EK is a weirdo that will sleep late and this momma isn't complaining {grin}.  

So let's get a move on!!  This week, I wanted to feature a new line of product.  It was launched this spring and I have got to tell you, I love this stuff!!  The Botanicals line is amazing.  Don't believe me, ask my husband who "loves his Mary Kay".  I'm not kidding, he gets made when I take it out of the shower and I don't put it back for him.

Back to the product!  The botanicals is made from all natural products.  While it's not organic, it does have natural ingredients.  It is fragrance free, dye free,  non-comedogenic and dermatologist- tested.

When they were designing this line, they kept those in mind that had clinically sensitive skin (not like me with self diagnosed sensitive eyes) and allergies.   

So who wants to use this line:

One who just want to cleanse and moisturize and are not too concerned with the signs of aging.

Younger women (or men)

One who has sensitive skin

One who is prone to break outs.

So what do we have here?

There is the cleanser- it cleans your face.

The mask- it exfoliates your face.

The toner- It gets the itty bitty dirt out in the tiny pores that the cleanser didn't get.

The moisturizer- heaven.

After you do the different steps, it truly feels like your face took a deep breath of fresh air and can finally breath!  

Cost:  Cleanser- $14

Mask- $14

Toner- $14

Moisturizer- $16

Total: $58

Now, while that may seem like a lot up front 

(which it is), 

it will last you between 2-4 months 

(depending on how much you use).  

If you think that this is something that you are interested in, you can email me at

 abbeyalden (at) gmail dot com.

If you live in my area, I can totally come to your house and do a skin care class with you and some girl friends.  Or we can do some makeovers.  I promise, you won't be disappointed!!

I'm also running a special!!  If you host a class at your home, I will be give you a eye shadow (of your choice) in addition to the awesome hostess package that Mary Kay suggests!!  

Happy Monday!  Now, get to your list and knock it out before lunch!

An update

Happy 9 months Emma Kate!

Oh Emma Kate, you are becoming more and more precious each day!  I am so sorry that I don't do monthly updates on you like I did Annabelle.  I'm just sorry.  It's just so crazy and I feel like time is literally flying by us.  I feel like when I pick you up at the nursery or even wake you up for a nap you mysteriously grew in just a short time that i left you.  You turned 9 months just 2 days ago and here is what you are up to:

• You are rocking on all 4's, trying to get the courage to go!
• You crawl backwards and are really good at rolling to get to where you need to go.  But the backwards thing gets you stuck, a lot.

• You have started "talking"... baba, lala and other super cute noises.
• You yell, a lot.

• You think that AB is so funny and we find you belly laughing at her doing nothing but standing there
• You are so ticklish
• You have a serious love affair with your johnny jumper and you make the thing swing.  True story.

• We often have to move your johnny jumper to a new door jam because you swing it so high.  I'm not kidding.  You have great form while jumping by the way.
• You eat 4 6oz bottle at 8am, noon, 4pm and 7:30ish.  You eat solids at every meal and are sorta picky.  
• When you are full, you do this gagging, head shaking, eye closed, grossed out thing and it makes me laugh, a lot.
• You love to be held.

• You are so in love with your daddy.
• You started waiving just last week.
• I swear you said "emma" the other day just clear as day, your daddy heard it too.
• You have the longest, pointiest tongue that i have ever seen in a baby and it's always sticking out!!
• You got your 2 bottom teeth a few weeks back and you are a biter!!  stop it!

I love you sugar and am so excited to see you grow and become the woman that you are meant to be.  

Love,

momma

A texas kind of week

Ya'll know how my love for Texas has been an ongoing love affair.  The first time I set foot on Texas soil and saw all those rhinestones, I knew that my alter ego was destined for the lone star!

You see, I have a weird style going on.  I'm in this weird stage right now that I'm ready to settle.  I don't know what "style" I have right now.  I've been stuck in the mercy of maternity clothes for almost 2 years straight and not a rock star budget to keep my look going.  Now I have small children, I'm 15 pounds away from my goal and I don't need to wear professional clothes anymore.  So am I a gap style, bohemian, classic?  I don't want to box myself in like that... why can't I wear hippy and rhinestones?  Why do I care?  Does it matter at the end of the day if I wore my pearls to wash dishes and do laundry and try to raise some God fearing children?  YES.  I need it, it makes me feel like a woman.  I'm not going to lie, it makes me feel really pretty and if I'm completely honest, I would wear my fancy designer high heels to fold laundry and vaccuum- if they still fit (thank you AB and EK, I now have  even larger feet and my hard earned investment on shoes was a waste!).

So back to Texas, I love going there because it's my week to wear tons of makeup, tons of rhinestones and shower everyday!  I mean, you need to keep up with your mother in law, right?  Oh, that's not you?  Well, its mine!  And I love it.  She gave me a dress while I was there!  I think she did it for 1 of 2 reasons.  1, she let me borrow it because the outfit that I packed was a flop, I didn't try it on before we left- stupid.  And maybe she was worried that I stretched it out?  I tried real hard to not wiggle a lot in it, I'm not kidding.  Or 2, I freaked out when I put it on and it looked awesome and it was a size 4!!!!!!!!!  OMG, you don't even understand!  I haven't been that small in YEARS!!!  I had it on the washing machine to wash it and hang it back up.  I told her that so she wouldn't think that I was being irresponsible with her dress. I found it in our bag already washed.  I'm grateful.

We went there for Olivia and Jarrett's wedding.  Frank preformed the ceremony and I was the matron of honor.  It was so pretty, low key, sweet and HOT!  We all got a little sun burned, i didn't even think to put some sun screen on.  But here are some photo's of the ceremony!

Fish fry... Oh. My. Word.

Sunset.

Rehearsal.  Emma Kate just couldn't take it and Grandma Cindy came to the rescue.

Cake, made by the groom's brother.  Wow.  And Please note the details!!

Yes, it was as amazing at it looks.  Those strawberries, heaven.

This is a texan home for ya!

Dancing and the photographer got in the way!!

Papa George and Olivia.

Country Sunset.

Emma Kate loved her some Nanna time!

"Anna , ook, ook" translation:  Nanna, a book a book

MY HAIR GOT TEESED IN TEXAS!!!

"take me for a ride on my big green tractor"

"We can go for a ride..."

Aunts.

I love these women.  

 Now, if you really want to get this family dancing, and ALL of them dancing... just put on some Celine Dion or some Josh Groban (and maybe a little Vanilla Ice- haha!).  I'm not kidding!

Of course it was awesome being there.  We were ready to come home only because AB wasn't sleeping well, AT ALL.  We were in our usual funk when we came home and AB kept asking where "anna" and papa were.  She calls nana "anna".