Ch.Ch.Checking in.

Am I the only mama struggling to believe it's just Wednesday?
I mean, for real? How is it not Friday already?!

Ahem, no glass half-full business today.

In case you were wondering, we're still drowning in Terrible Two tantrums.

Dear mamas who've survived to tell about this season of life: does it last all year? 

Lord, I hope not.

My insane self will be packing up this unruly toddler, my handy husband, both dogs and half our house for our first family trip to Edisto in two days. Just!Two!More!Sleeps!

I'm vowing not to stress.
I'm praying for toddler happiness.
And I'm making sure there is a babysitter and a fresh drink ready upon arrival.

What are your Memorial Day plans? Getting away for the long weekend?

One last thing on this mishmash of a Wednesday....

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Linking up with Shannon for So What Wednesday

Toddlerhood Will Tear You Down

Flailing himself around the room post-nap, it resembled a scene from the exorcist. But no, just our toddler raging from what was clearly a far too early wake-up from nap-time.

Our attempts to tame the beast went unsuccessful time and time again. Tension began to run high as both parents held only a small threshold of patience due to the toddler's enraged attitude for five days straight. Five. Days. Straight. Even a night with Sulli (Grandma) hadn't helped. 

The emotions in our home fluctuate more frequently than those of a full-term mama-to-be. And the effects of Jackson's emotions have reached into the minds of both mom and dad. 

Man your battle stations, people. 

Stock the caffeine, creamer and sauvignon blanc. 

We are officially at a state of war in the 510 residence. 

I believe this war is typically referenced as The Terrible Two's. 

Well, news flash: we are in the trenches.

I'm trying my best to keep calm, carry on and all that bull-nanny. But really?

I've had to physically wrestle my child out of his pj's, into a diaper, a new shirt, shorts and shoes each day. I've had to pin him down to brush his teeth in fear they're getting cavities due to his ongoing refusal to brush. I've repeated 'no, sweety not everything is yours' and 'we're going to share' more times than I can mentally handle in this moment. 

I have researched. I have prayed. And I have broken down. 

Unfortunately, we're no where near seeing the light.

Jackson is determined, independent and searches for the technicalities in every action. All qualities he's pulled from his mom and dad. In the throws of toddlerhood, I'm desperate to mold these characteristsics into shining qualities rather than potential faults. 

There will be days his attitude will win though, but that's just the battle. That's one single day amongst a sea of others. We will win this war. 

Toddlerhood may tear us down, but we will not be defeated. And years from now, I hope to look back on this salted season seeing the toddler he was and the gentleman he's become.

Don't forget to send the wine.

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Spicy Baked Ziti

The original pin read: Olive Garden's Baked Ziti Copycat Recipe. 

Clearly, no more persuasions were needed to send this recipe straight to the top of my menu plan! After a few rounds through our weekly plans, we decided the recipe was missing something though. 

So enters spicy sausage. And now? This is one our our family favorites! Toddler approved. Husband Approved. And with just a handful of ingredients, Mom approved. 

Spicy Baked Ziti

Ingredients:

1 lb spicy sausage

1 box Penne pasta

1 (24 oz) jar marinara sauce 

1 (15 oz) jar alfredo sauce

2 cups shredded mozzarella cheese

1 cup shredded parmesan cheese

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. 

2. Boil pasta, set aside. Then brown the sausage and drain. 

3. Mix together the pasta, sausage, marinara sauce, alfredo sauce and mozzarella cheese. Pour into 9x13 inch baking dish and Bake for 20-25 minutes. 

4. Remove from oven and top with parmesan cheese; return to oven for 5 minutes.  

Recipe adapted from Pearls, Handcuffs and Happy Hour

Linking up with Tatertots and Jello, Buns in my Oven, A Night Owl Blog, The 36th Avenue

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May 15. Eight Years

My fingers tapped away at the keyboard working away on my latest recipe post. That is until photoshop presented me with this old photo of me with my G-Pa and a cousin.

This is one of the few remaining baby photos of me after our house burned down a few years ago. Thankful to find this gem from family on Facebook {of all places}. And while I've had this photo hanging on my desktop for a few weeks now as I debated where its home should be, last night was different. Something struck a chord with my heart.

I realized in that moment, it's May. The month he passed. And wouldn't you know, today marks eight years since our family lost a great man.

Eight years.

My Dad told me he'd passed as I was leaving the house to meet friends one afternoon. It was eight days before my high school graduation. I briskly walked to my car breathing deeper in every step. Thankful for sunglasses. I made it 6 of the 12 minute drive before losing the dam of tears. I had in fact just driven by my best friends who were hanging out the windows honking and waving to me. All that joy they had! It released my sadness.

Tears drowned the last six minutes of the drive to my friends house to which I got out of the car and collapsed in her driveway. His loss was the first I'd ever known so personally. Seventeen years old, eight days before high school graduation. I will always be indebted to that friend for her support that day. And even more so to the handful of amazing friends who appeared at his memorial mass later that week.

I'm thankful each day that I've not lost the memory of him, the way I remember him. He taught me to play Majong and Shanghai. He had a little medal we played "hide the medal" with for years. At one point that medal even fell off its spindle it'd passed through so many grandchildren (or one of us broke it, whatever). He loved Braves baseball and earned a Purple Heart in the Battle of the Bulge. He had eight children, 14 grandchildren and was happily married for 57 years.

He's always been a bit of a hero to me. Always will be. Today and fifty years from today.

Motherhood is Messy

It's been clear to me that Jackson needs more structured activities during the weekend. So, I've taken to my Pinterest boards to actually use some of the items I've pinned.

Seeing as Mother's Day was approaching and my go-to gift for Grandparents has been a handprint craft, I knew exactly what we'd do. My nerves run wild when talking myself into letting Jackson purposefully plant his hands into puddles of paint. But? He loves it. Every. Single. Time. 

So?

We crafted. 

At this point we've pretty much perfected the Grandparents line-up. And as the holidays pass, each Grandparent expands their collection of Jackson prints. Ok, so maybe I do these crafts just a little bit for my collection too :)

Printable via The Crafting Chicks

Mother's Day this year was a bit different. We spent the day driving back home from our weekend visiting family in Middle Tennessee. To say that the weekend presented many challenges would be an understatement. 

Many times over the last 72 hours I caught myself whining over, well, a plethora of unimportant things. Jackson's lack of sleep, our lack of schedule, the overall lack of intelligent drivers on the road. This was supposed to be Mother's Day weekend for goodness sake?! I should've been walking on rainbows while tossing glitter or something as equally cheery.

That was not the reality of {most} of my Mother's Day weekend. 

But as we mothers know, motherhood is not all rainbows. In fact, many days are scattered with showers. It's those moments of sunshine though that keep up moving in motherhood. 

For these moments I am grateful. 

Motherhood may be messy, but it's worth every rainbow and every shower. 

linking up for Wordless Wednesday here: That Suburban Momma, My Organized Chaos

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