March's Mid-Month Confessions

Elizabeth and I are teaming up today to share our confessions will y'all!

You can check out her post here (and if it's not up yet, it will be later today!)

Here goes:

1-
I've said this before, but outside of writing this blog and understanding the very basics of HTML, I'm not tech-savvy whatsoever. I'm always the last to update my phone, I still listen to CDs, I've never listened to a podcast (and even though my car has bluetooth, I'm not actually sure how to even play a podcast, much less through my car), we still own a VHS player and I kind of miss going to Blockbuster to rent a movie.

So I'm not sure how or why this is happening, but for quite some time now, my phone has been giving me "parked car updates" when MATT'S car arrives at his office every morning. It is the funniest thing and I don't think I've ever even remembered to tell him it's happening, but I feel like such a stalker wife tracking my husband's moves throughout the day. Now I've kind of gotten used to it and actually like knowing he's made it there safely, but it's still so funny to me that MY phone is tracking where his car goes and when it arrives.

2-
Last month, Matt and I went out to dinner about a week before Valentine's Day and had to swing by the store afterward to pick up milk for the morning. While we were there, Hallmark cards were BOGO, so we stood there together in the card aisle and picked out each other's cards, going through a stack of different options saying things like, "Oh this is a good one, check this one out." Hah- such an example of this stage of life- but I couldn't pass up a deal on cards since they're nearly TEN dollars now- what?! Seriously, the card Matt got me was $8.99. Crazy! And side note on that, we've always been big on writing long notes in each other's cards for birthdays, anniversaries, Valentine's Day, etc. and I've saved every card we've give each other for the last 15+ years. I love having those cards to look back on- especially the ones that are super cheesy from our early dating (okay most of our dating and maybe even early marriage) days. One day our kids will find them and surely cringe. ;)

3-
Two days ago, I was cleaning off Ryan's bottom after a big poopy, and he was standing up to make it easier for me. Natalie crawled over and tried reaching up for his penis and Ryan said, "No, Nonni, there's poopy on there." I scooted Natalie out of the way, finished cleaning Ryan, and as I was about to put his undies back on, he turned his hips toward Natalie, leaned them forward and said, "Okay Nonni, now you can touch it." Dy-ing laughing on the inside, I said, "Oh buddy, that's so kind (KIND?!) of you, but in general, you don't really want other people touching your penis, even your sister.

Oh the things you say out loud as a parent.

4-
I have been in need of new glasses for a LONG time- ever since Ryan accidentally broke my last pair before Natalie was even born. So rather than figuring out a time to go to the eye doctor and spending all of that money on the appointment and the new glasses, I ordered a pair off of an online site, literally paid $14.83 for them, and received them in the mail a week later.

Y'all. They are hilariously huge. Like not cute huge. Just huge. So I was wearing them the other morning when I went to get Ryan in the morning and he said, "Why are you wearing those glasses? I think I want you to take those off." And when I asked why, he said, "They just don't look normal."

Haha, true in fact. Out of the mouths of babes.

5-
I've been taking Barre classes this month for the first time and they are HARD! I also go to the early morning class that starts at 6:00 and am usually one of 5 people in the class, so the instructor is extra attentive. Wah wah. Never before have I been so glad I signed up for the 5 package deal instead of the 10-class option. And never before have I been so thankful that I have to do modifications on some moves for pregnancy. Bless that growing belly of mine for getting me out of some of those holds!


That is all for this month! You can check out my other confession posts here.

Later today we'll be heading to my parents' house to visit for a couple of days while Matt goes on a fun work trip. We haven't stayed at their house in quite a while, so I'm looking forward to it!

Have a great rest of your week!
And  don't forget to check out Elizabeth's post here.

January Confessions

These are a little late this month, but better late than never, right?!

1.

I get more excited about taking DOWN Christmas decorations than putting them up. Is this awful?! Am I a scrooge?! I love them for a month and then want to gone. There's just something so great about feeling like the house is clean and just a little emptier. It's the same feeling I get when I purge and make my Goodwill runs. Am I the only one?!

2.

Conversation with Matt:

Me: "Did you ever used to watch Carmen San Diego?" (followed by singing of the theme song)

Matt: (pause) "I'm not sure, but I wish I knew you in elementary school."

Me: "I'm not sure you would have married me. (pause) ....since I was clearly so much cooler in high school." 😂

Chokers are coming back, right?!

3.

Our last Mops meeting was the morning after Clemson won the National Championship game, so I was pretty giddy about the game and Ryan and I were all decked out in our orange walking into the nursery. So when a mom came up to me and said, "Congratulations!" I immediately started talking about the game and how I still couldn't believe it and how it literally came down to the last second (insert Charlie Brown voice here) and then she said, "Oh I was talking about the baby, but the game was exciting too!"

😂🙈😂 

Poor third child- I completely forgot that I had announced our pregnancy in between meetings.

4.

Matt and I met Andrea and her family at Fickle Pickle in downtown Roswell one Friday night for a 5:00 dinner and as we watched all four of our kids "do their things" at dinner, we laughed saying, "When did we get here?!" ...not to mention that we were eating dinner at 5:00 on a Friday night. So then we went into the little dessert area to pick out a cookie and out of nowhere, poor Ryan threw up all over the floor and glass that covered the desserts. Thankfully he was okay, and thankfully no one else was eating their dessert at 5:45, but the night ended with me mopping the floor and Matt wiping the glass cases, so a picture felt appropriate. Because this is life right now.

5.

We had our first girls' weekend away since kids, and we made big plans to go out to a fancy restaurant one of the nights and then opted for pizza and pjs and mud masks. Who needs fancy when you can have this?! 😜 So glad we're friends.

That's it for January! Hope you guys have a great weekend. We'll be getting outside as much as possible since Georgia has decided it's already Spring. I'll take it!

You can check out other confessions posts here.

December's Mid-Month Confessions

It's mid-month confessions time!

I'm going to call this edition: December makes me tired, and parenting is humbling.

Here goes:

1.

Ryan and Natalie and I were playing on the floor while we were waiting for Matt to get home. I was laying on my back and lifting Natalie over my head like an airplane when she timed her spit up perfectly with being directly over my face. Warm, wet and sour all over my face and hair. And then Ryan said, "Nonni! Don't spit up on mommy's face!" I couldn't help but laugh (and then showered as soon as Matt got home).

2.

Ryan is a passionate nose picker these days. I've tried to tell him to only pick when we're at the house and not in public, but there are only so many suggestions/rules that stick in a two-year-olds mind. So one day we were out and Ryan announced quite proudly, "I got a big boogie!" And then he held it up towards me and said, "Cheers!" (Naturally I did not have my own boogie to cheers back with, but that's another concept he hasn't entirely grasped quite yet.)

3.

Have y'all seen The Big Short?! I'm pretty sure Matt and I have watched two movies in the last year, both of which we've seen in the last two months. Anyway, the first one we saw was The Big Short and it was SO good and so interesting! But it took us a good 3 hours to get through because we both watched it like it was a college class- pausing and talking through whatever was just explained about the stock market or inflated loans that were passed out leading up to the crash of '07. We totally got into it. #nerds

Also, side note, the other movie we watched in the middle of the day on our anniversary weekend (because nothing says you are kid-free like a last-minute decision to watch a movie in bed in the middle of the day) was Spotlight. I think it actually won Best Picture? Such a good movie!

4.

One night this week, I was coughing in the middle of the night and grabbed my water that I keep on the side of the bed. But instead of setting it back down on the nightstand, I apparently set it on the bed right next to where I was laying and immediately fell back asleep. And I'm sure seconds later (but what felt like hours later) I woke back up to ice cold water pouring all over my back and the sheets around me. I was so confused and annoyed about what the heck was happening (Why is someone pouring cold water on me in the middle of the night?! Surely this is not my fault.) ;) but managed to grab some towels to sleep on before passing back out again. Mama is TIRED!

And one last sleeping story from Matt, who has a long list of crazy sleeping stories that have cooled some the longer we've been married. But one night recently, again in the middle of the night, he leaned over and tapped me and said, "Do you mind if I rub your back?" hahah, I think I said, "uh, no... but I think you're sleeping." and sure enough he rolled back over and fell back asleep.

That is all for December!
You can check out other confessions posts here.

Tonight we have Matt's Christmas party which starts around the time that I'm usually thinking about crawling into bed ;) so I'm thinking an afternoon cup of coffee is in the works for this mama today!

Have a good one!

November's Mid-Month Confessions

Good morning!

Elizabeth and I are teaming up today to bring you our best from the past month. If you're new to our confession's post, you can check out our past posts here!

Today, I decided I'd take a slightly different approach and share some of my quirks and phobias.

This was prompted by a group text yesterday, actually. 

1.

Big Crowds

Friends of ours invited us to a Christmas parade this year, and I said that I'd have to think about that one since I have this whole irrational fear of big crowds. At which point, my friend Steph pointed out that we should probably hold off on a Disney trip any time soon. To which I stated, "Disney is completely different in my head than a parade-style crowd." Apparently I picture parade-style crowds as narrow, and tight, and having high potential for losing a toddler. But DISNEY?! Well, Disney is obviously way more spread out with wide streets to walk on, and has very low probability for toddler-losing. It is the happiest place on earth, after all. 

(see? irrational, but it's what's in my head)

2.

Small Spaces

I've learned over the years that I am absolutely, 100% claustrophobic. This was confirmed on two different occasions. The first was when I got stuck in an elevator at the school where I used to teach. 

NIGHT. MARE.

I immediately felt the urge to A. strip, B. lay in the corner of the elevator in the fetal position, and C. ration my breath so that I didn't die of suffocation.

Luckily, I convinced myself to keep my clothes on and semi-hold it together, because the county fire department was called in to get me out. Gah that would have made for a really awkward news headline (Naked teacher rescued from jammed elevator... to which everyone reading would have to ask themselves, "Wait, why was she naked?"), not to mention super embarrassing moment for Mrs. Nelsen (that's me) and all of her students.

The second instance where my claustrophobia was confirmed was when I had to get an MRI for a ski injury a few years back (which happens to be a pretty hilarious story if you feel like laughing this morning- story here).

I figured since the injury was on my KNEE, surely there was no way they would tell me to slide my entire self into that darn tunnel.

Well wouldn't you know that's exactly what they did?

So I did what made the most sense and reminded them that the injury was on my KNEE... and that I didn't where the right clothes for a full-on, stick-my-entire-body-in-a-very-small-space moment. Why the right clothes, you ask? Well, because if you remember from the elevator story, small spaces make me immediately feel the need to be naked. So the winter-wear I had chosen that morning was not going to work.

We came to an agreement that my head could stay out- Praise the Lord- and I figured out a way to remove some layers without making a scene. But Lord help me if I ever have to get in one of those things completely. There will surely be lots of praying and possibly a few tears.

3.

Too Many Clothes

This was a given after my first two stories, right?! If I get hot, or start to feel claustrophobic in what I'm wearing, it needs to come off immediately. The place where this freaks me out the most is in the car.

Have you ever been wearing a jacket while driving and suddenly feel like you are way too tight and hot and more air just isn't go to get the job done, but you can't get out of your jacket with one hand on the wheel, so you frantically try to wiggle it off until you can break free completely?

No? Just me?

I love the look of winter layers, but live for flip flops and shorts and a good 'ole tee. 

4.

Railings

When it comes to parenting, I am pretty laid back when it comes to letting Ryan try new things and take some risks- say with climbing on things at the playground, or jumping off of steps or low walls, or getting far enough away from me at the park where he might think he's by himself but I can still see him. But put that boy on a deck with railings, and I lose all sense of rationale. I am convinced that whatever railing he leans on to peek through will most surely come lose, and well, the rest cannot even be typed out. Railings freak.me.out. Irrational or not, it happens to be the way I feel and I'm not sure how to un-think those crazy thoughts.

So there you have it folks, a look into my crazy.

If any of y'all wanted to comment on how you totally relate to all four of these quirks/phobias of mine, I wouldn't hate it. But if the comments section is like crickets, I get it. ;)

Happy Wednesday, y'all!

Oh, and if you missed yesterday's post, I shared a Beef Wellington recipe I made last week. You can check it out here!

And don't forget to read Elizabeth's confessions here.
(Her post will be live later this morning!)

October's Mid-Month Confessions

It's confessions time!

These posts are one of my favorites to write, mainly because the material comes so naturally throughout the month, hah. Literally, now when I'm caught doing something ridiculous or having a mom-brain moment, I just laugh and say, "Add it to my list for the month."

So here goes, y'all- a little taste of my awesomeness from the last 30 days:

1.

I was shopping for office chairs at Homegoods with Matt's mom when we both spotted this chair that looked like it would add the right amount of color and flair to the otherwise darker-toned, wood-paneled, library-looking office. So spaz me decides to give the chair a try and, almost immediately, I fall backwards (still in the chair) and right off the lovely raised display.

It was not graceful.

Or quiet.

But it was hilarious.

And thankfully I didn't die or take any expensive items I was not interested in purchasing down with me.

So we did what any other logical person would do and we cracked up and took a picture so I could share this moment of awesomeness with y'all.

Also, office chair update:

I bought the chair and brought it home for Matt to see, and his response was: he could sit in that chair when he was on the phone with his female clients... hahaha- so yeah, we'll probably be returning that one and finding something with a little less pizazz, but it made for a good story. ;)

2.

I have this long-sleeved, cotton dress sleeper (nightgown? nitey? we'll go with sleeper) from Victoria Secret that I put on the other night before reading stories with Ryan before bed. When I walked into his room, he was sitting on Matt's lap starting a story, and he looked up at me and said, "You look beautiful, mommy."

This moment equally melted my heart and made me realize that I should attempt to wear real clothes more frequently throughout the week if my cotton nightgown made my 2-year-old stop and and tell me I looked beautiful. But sweet buddy!

3.

We went to the pumpkin patch last weekend with Andrea and Steph and their families, and later that night, Steph texted me and Andrea this picture:

I died. 

The funniest part might be that Matt is standing behind me like what I am doing is completely normal. Which maybe means that this sprawled-out-in-the-middle-of-a-public-place-to-get-the-shot look is my normal.

4.

The day before heading to the pumpkin patch, I was texting with Andrea and Steph and telling them how bummed I was that there was 100% chance of rain and that they were welcome to come spend the morning at our house instead since it looked like the pumpkin patch wasn't going to happen. 

That's when Steph responded and said her weather forecast was showing sunny with 10% chance of rain in the afternoon.

And that's when I looked at my weather app and realized I was in Hilton Head, SC (so basically in the middle of Hurricane Matthew) from our trip there in MAY. 

It appears I don't check the weather much.

That's it for this month!

Later today, we are heading up to Clemson for homecoming!!! We are renting a house with three of my college roommates (Andrea, Steph, and Meagan) and their husbands and kids, and we're going to try to make the two days we're together last as long as possible. 

I. am. giddy.

Have a wonderful weekend, friends!

August's Mid-Month Confessions

Hello there friends! It's the middle of another month- one month closer to Fall I might add- so Elizabeth and I are linking up to share our confessions with you! You can check out Elizabeth's confessions here and feel free to share your own in the comment section below. :)

And speaking of Elizabeth, she just released her first ebook called Maternity Leave 101: A Free e-Course for the Pregnant Teacher. You can it out here!

1.

 As I was dressing Natalie one morning, I was thinking how much tiny buttons in the back of baby clothes are a pain- they're so much easier to button when they're in the front. So later that day, I was trying to figure out how Natalie got an ink mark (that almost looked like a stamp) on the top, front part of her shirt. Turns out as I looked closer that it was the tag that's printed on the clothes, which meant I had put her shirt on backwards and those tiny buttons were made for the front after all. But the best part of all of this is that I did the same thing with the exact same shirt two weeks later and didn't notice it (again) until we were out and about for the day. Sweet thing- fashion is not her mama's strength. :)

2.

Sometimes I feel like I could pass out myself when I get Ryan and Natalie down for nap or bed, but then I can't help but stare at their little sleeping selves and wish I could go right back in and crawl in their cribs and snuggle.

3.

Earlier this week, Ryan had to nap in our bed while his room was being painted. It was the first time he had slept outside of a crib or pack 'n play, so I wanted to make sure he felt comfortable and would do okay in a big bed. Well I guess I read one too many stories and attempted to sing one too many songs because the sweet buddy looked at me and said, "Mommy, I just want to close my eyes." --Right. Got it. No need to continue then.

4.

When Ryan was first talking, he would say "oopie daisy" when he dropped something. So we adopted the phrase and still say it when we're with him and something falls. So last week, when I was at Bed, Bath and Beyond (it's worth mentioning I was at the store by myself- no kids in tow), a worker was helping me find a wedding gift and accidentally dropped a box from the top shelf. And as it hit the floor I said kind of loudly, "Oopie daisy!" and then just didn't even know how to explain it so I just let it sit like it was a completely normal thing to say.

That's it for this month! Feel free to share your own confessions below and don't forget to check out Elizabeth's here!

July's Mid-Month Confessions

It's Friday! 

And for our little family of four, it's also VACATION DAY!!!!!

We are off to the airport in just a few short hours and heading on our first vacation as a family of four. We can't wait to experience MAINE! If you missed my post about how we chose this location, you can find it here.

I'll share pictures from our trip when we get back, but if you'd like to follow along on Instagram, you can find us here.

Okay, onto the confessions! Here are just a few of the embarrassing moments that happened this month with a few fun facts sprinkled in:

1.

Matt took Ryan to Target to buy his first board game and I snuck this pic of the two of them playing it together when they got home. But then I decided to post the picture on Instagram with the hashtag #candyland

As you might imagine, that hashtag does not pull up pictures of other almost-two-year olds playing the board game with their daddies. Whoops.

2.
Riding in the car about a week ago, Matt mentioned something about me turning 32 this year, and I literally stopped in my tracks and was speechless for a solid minute. Like I really couldn't wrap my brain around that number being associated with me. As if it's not the number that comes after 31, and as if it is much, much older than just an extra year.

When did I get closer to 40 than 20?!
Okay when I turned 31, but apparently it's just now hitting me.

3.
I have let a lot of my over-the-top organizational idiosyncrasies go since becoming a mom, but I still love walking into my closet and seeing all of the clothes organized by color and style (tank tops first, then short sleeve, then long sleeve). And if my mom or Matt are helping with laundry and hang a shirt on a hanger facing the wrong direction, I just. can't. let. it. go.

4.
On the fourth of July, I sent a group text to a few of my girlfriends that started like this: "I love America, but I hate fireworks."

That's because this was my view at the time as I was trying to sleep. #OhTal

5.
I tried to unlock the back door of our house with the remote on my car keys. Three times. And each time I heard the "unlock" sound from my car, I couldn't figure out why the darn door wouldn't open. Once I got inside, I made another cup of coffee.

6.
Whenever we pass a Starbucks, Ryan says, "Mommy's coffee!" I can't decide how I feel about this one yet- impressed that he's made the connection? Or convicted that my coffee addiction is obvious to my almost two year old. I think I'll go with the first one. ;)

If you have any confessions you'd like to share, you can leave a comment below the post!
Have a great weekend friends!