The Things Everett Says.

My child is talking up a STORM. He is the chattiest person in our house, and that's saying a lot - because I live there, too. It is an incredibly wild ride watching him grow from the baby he was to the talkative, vivacious toddler that he is. Yes, it's pretty cool that he can tell me what he wants and communicate so clearly, but I must say that there is a bit of a caveat to his verbal nature - it is accompanied by outbursts of all kinds, including the screaming, yelping rude public outbursts that always come at the most inconvenient of times. So although it's amazing that he is chatty and funny and all that - this development of his isn't without its own parenting challenges for me. The next time you see a child roaring like a lion, slamming his body to the ground and proclaiming "No no no no no!!!" on the floor of a restaurant/grocery store/any store with the vigor of a hungry hyena, please try to remember that that child's mother is trying, so desperately, to keep composed while simultaneously disciplining AND nurturing that child. Please have a bit of grace. And please say hello, because it could very well, be me with my kid :)

I thought I would share some of the funnier things Everett has been externally processing lately, because, well, I think they're just funny. And they keep me laughing even when I'm exhausted from this thing called motherhood.

"I want fa-pa!"
(I want pasta.)

"Watoo ew-wa-whooo!"
(Water everywhere. From the fountain. Or the bath tub. Or the cup he purposely spilled over so he could say "water everywhere!")

"Mommy es prrrretty."
(He says, as he rubs my painted nails. He notices every time I paint my nails a new color, and he always compliments them. Yes, it kind of makes me melt inside.)

"Vaminos!"
(Stevie's been speaking some Spanish words to him, and this one is his favorite.)

"Pa-pa-perrr eh bath in tees."
(The woodpecker needs a bath in the trees. Back story - I yell at a wood pecker every morning that tries to feast on our house. Everett is fascinated by the wood pecker and is very concerned that he doesn't take enough baths. All the live long day, he talks about the wood pecker and how he needs a bath up in those trees.)

"Fossee Mommy."
(Sorry Mommy. I laugh every time, because please say the word "fossee" out loud. It just sounds SO FUNNY.)

"Ma'am, ma'am"
(His way of saying "yes ma'am", which is usually accompanied with the above, "fossee, mommy".)

"Daddy home!"
(This is pretty straightforward, but he says it every time his dad comes home. From a work trip, or just work, he yelps with glee and jumps into his arms. If I were Stevie I would feel like a rock star every single time. Because that's how gleeful my child gets about daddy coming home.)

"Helping, helping."
(Goodness, he tries to "help" with everything. It's so hilarious especially when its totally not helpful. But he's super cute and tries to help with everything lately! He tries to put groceries on the conveyor belt at the store, throw his own trash away and bring things up the stairs.)

My little boy is growing faster than I can record. I want to remember every quirky, wonderfully raw moment with him, because I swear that I will blink my eyes and he will suddenly be a senior in high school. The time is going so fast, friends. *Cue the ugliest of all mommy cries.*

The Motherload.

I woke up on Mother's Day with a bad attitude.

I just had a bad attitude. Just because. I don't really, actually know why. Well I do, but it was like a million little mundane things that were making me crazed. Nothing of real substance. And I just about chewed Stevie's head off before I even rose from the bed, and as soon as the flurry of emotional words escaped my lips, I wished I could scoop them out of the air and cup them back into my mouth, swallowing their poisonous power.

But I couldn't.

That's the thing about words - they are absolutely forever. I have learned to bite my tongue over the years, holding back my venom when it won't serve a positive purpose (because really, when does venom serve a positive purpose??) Sometimes I fall short, though, and resort to my childhood, childish ways. I have quite a knack for hurting with my words. I'm good at it. And I hate that I'm good at it.

Stevie and I reconciled, dealt with the reasons why I was feeling frustrated about, you know, everything, but my outburst had me thinking the rest of the day about my immature behavior.

Happy Mother's Day to me. Womp womp.

Being a mom has illuminated so many truths. But this thing of attitude affecting action - it's something that I watch my son emulate every day. My words are so powerful in his little life. And based on what I say, and therefore do, is exactly what that little guy will say and do. For example, when he burps, he says, "Excuse you!", because he's heard me say it to him so often. He doesn't say, "Excuse me", he says "excuse you". Because that's what he heard me say. It's kind of funny, but it's also really interesting. My words remain with him - the big and the very small.

Being Everett's mom (and Stevie's wife!) has taught me so much about the flaws in my character, the places where I am below measure in grace, patience, and selflessness. But days like Mother's Day really puts it in perspective for me - it raises the questions. What am I building in my family? What kind of mother do I want to be remembered as? One with a sharp, critical tongue? Or one with a calm, generous, listening heart. ( <-- that one.) One who doesn't jump to conclusions. One who loves loves loves and then loves some more. And then even more.

And then MORE.

My little boy is getting unbelievably big. He is smothered by my love, but I wonder what else he is soaking up by spending time with me. Those little behaviors that I don't realize I say or do, that he is keenly aware of and emulating day by day. Because even though he looks like a little Stevie Mini-Me (I know, I know), he actually talks and acts a lot like me. I hope that I'm doing a good job with him, helping mold him into the best version of himself. (This isn't a self-deprecating thing, I know he is learning positive things from me.) But what I mean is the little things, the ones that could slip through the cracks in case I catch them and fix them. I hope that next Mother's Day, I can say with some confidence that I've grown up a little bit and learned to keep my cool and extend my heart a bit more kindly. To all the boys in my life. It's such an honor to be Everett's mom. I am the luckiest.

I hope your Mother's Day was restful and fun and full of love and celebration. Ours was wonderful (after my wrong side of the bed wake up call), and we spent time lounging around my parents pool and eating take out. No clean up! Thanks to my sis Rachel for taking pictures. Much love to all of you :)

P.S. - My thoughts about my glorious mom last year on Mother's Day and the year before, too.

Right now is my favorite.

I can't tell you the number of times I hear from people, "Enjoy every moment, it will be over in the blink of an eye!" I'm sure you've heard it, too. I hear it all the time when I'm chasing after my toddler, and passersby (who are already beyond the raising-toddlers-phase of their life) always seem to ooh and ahh over the wonder of raising young babes. Half the time I want to roll my eyes at them, because I'm usually working with exhaustion, a smattering of stains across my clothes ("Mommy, mud!!! Wheeeeee!"), and dealing with the defiantly fun word "NOOOOOO" that cannot be contained on my child's lips. When I see someone nod knowingly in my direction and prod with obnoxious tenderness, "Treasure every moment", as if the experience is an angelic and precious excursion into the Heavens above, I usually have to hold my tongue from being like, "treasure WHAT?"

But you know what. Those annoying people are right.

I went into Everett's bedroom last night to take a peek at him before I got into bed myself. He looked so big. I don't know what it is about when he sleeps, but he always looks older and somehow wiser to me from the slumbering position. He's got a protruding belly and socks on his feet and is surrounding by a zillion stuff animal (his "babies"), and somehow this is always the moment I can see into the future on his behalf. I see him in high school playing sports, I see him graduating and going off to college, I can see him becoming a man and being a gracious, thoughtful adult. I can see him as a father and a husband and he's so good at it and it just makes me want to cry. I know, heavy moment for just peeking in on his crib slumber with a crowd of stuffed animals. But I promise I can see and feel that his future is big and bright.

I think God lets us mamas have glimpses into the future like this because he knows it gives us the ammo to keep going. On the day-to-day basis, I can't always see the trajectory of how my being a good parent is really helping shape him. I don't know if the way I'm disciplining really works, I don't know if he's learning enough from me, I don't know if he's absorbing the gratitude for this gift of life enough from watching my experience. I don't if what I'm doing is enough! But when I think about what I do know about my son, and I'm reminded of the big, beautiful person he is becoming and that his future is brighter than the sun and he can accomplish anything in his heart, I am able to regroup. It gives me a serene sense of focus and ability.

I'm so lucky to have Everett. It's such a privilege to be fostering his precious soul and teaching him all the good things I know in life. But you know what? He's teaching me so much too. He is hilarious and good-hearted and sensitive and yet still so strong. And his opinions are so big now, I am daily laughing out loud at his strong convictions.

Everett loves wearing tank tops and that baseball cap, will ONLY wear that one pair of Nike tennis shoes (I have to keep cleaning mud off them daily), and refuses to eat vegetables if he can see them. Pizza is good in his book. He loves coloring and watching Elmo and dancing with Mommy around the kitchen while I fumble the tune to "Once Upon a Dream". He loves "making" me waffles in his playhouse outside, he hates it when his pants ride up, and needs to play ball everyday. It doesn't matter what kind of ball, he doesn't discriminate. But he has to throw a football, kick a soccer ball or make mommy play basketball (because he can't shoot high enough to actually make a basket, I've got to get him a little rim of his own!) every single day. He is ALL boy. He naps so well (finally!) loves the color green and is the chattiest person in our family. The other night he woke up in the middle of the night, and just had to tell me about the woodpecker outside. He really wanted me to set up a bath outside, near the trees, so that woodpecker could get a bath just like Everett. He was so upset, he HAD to let me know this information, at 1:45am. Side note - we have a woodpecker that I yell at every day to get off my house, and Everett has become fascinated by him. And he says woodpecker like "pa-pep-perrr", it's the funniest thing to hear.

This child. He's a handful of energy and fun and thought and hilariousness. The people are right - treasuring every moment is what I need to be doing. Because right now, he is what I'm doing. And right now with him is my favorite.

You're Still You (Guest Post with Lauren from Blissful Happenings!)

Today I have a special treat for you. I'm sharing a guest post, courtesy of Lauren from Blissful Happenings, a blog about motherhood and fashion. She is a fellow mama and blogger, the big sis of my best friend from from my middle school days, and has recently relocated back to the East Coast from sunny Southern California. She has a little rugrat around Everett's age, and today we are taking over each others blogs, sharing some thoughts about the same subject - motherhood and identity! Be sure to show her some love and leave a comment below, letting her know what you think about her post!

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There have been a few times in my life when I wasn’t sure who I was, wistfully floating from thing to thing unsure of my purpose or meaning. I’ve always been concerned with what I was “supposed to be doing”... my calling, if you will. Deep, I know. 

Being young is not all that it’s cracked up to be. I was never more unsure of myself than when I was younger. Luckily, maturity and time fixed that. In my early 20’s I moved away from the vast majority of my friends and family and I was left in a place so distracted and lost I barely recognized myself. In my case, new friendships, passions, and renewed faith ignited a confidence that helped squish the voices in my head that told me I wasn’t worthy of happiness. After years spent gaining said confidence, I worked towards a daily goal of being happy in the moment with who I was and where I was... and then I had a baby. 

As someone who would’ve never in a million years thought they’d identify as a stay at home mom, it’s easy to feel isolated after having a baby, to feel like you’re the only person going through this crap... literally, there are days you are covered in crap. You feel like your eye cream has taken a vacation because even your bags have bags. More likely, you’ve just forgot to order more or it’s possible you’ve never even opened the last bottle you ordered because you’re so tired you don’t remember the last time you washed your face.  Ahhh yes, I see you nodding in agreement. You get it. How does one stay true to who they are when they have put themselves last? Oh, you want me to answer now? Is that how this works? I guess in my limited knowledge of raising a tiny human I would say I’ve learned a few things about keeping my identity whole and mostly intact, do with it what you will. 

You do you boo boo. That hasn’t changed. You MUST do the things you love. Read, write, sing, create, dream! Why in the world should a kid stop you!? If anything, having a baby has opened my eyes to more amazing things than I could have ever imagined! How can you make, carry, and birth a baby and not believe in dreams? Now, this might be a good time to discuss managing expectations. It’s not all your time anymore! Can I get an AMEN!? But it’s about what you do with the time you do have! 

Be social. Get out and have lunch or breakfast or coffee, find whatever mealtime your nugget[s] are the most behaved and generally the least difficult and plan the heck out of them! Go on walks, plan play dates, do things that have you hanging around other ah-mazing mothers who get it! Loneliness is a killer of happiness, my friends, so isolation is NEVER the answer. 

Cry and eat Thin Mints. I recently read this article that was talking about how all these “honest” mommy posts popping up on the internet were killing the American family... Yeah. Seriously. And yes, it was written by a man. I was ready to do some face punching. Because let’s face it, being a mom is hard!!!! Raising a kid is freaking hard! And I won’t let anyone tell me that I need to censor that! I don’t ever want anyone, especially a new mom, thinking it’s possible to have it all figured out. No mom, no matter how together she seems, knows it all. She cries in her closet with Thin Mints and a glass of wine too.

Your life is irrevocably changed after you have a baby and that is okay. Accept it. Just remember at the end of the day, you are doing an amazing job! And if all you can muster is Netflix and yoga pants then you allow yourself that, but remember being a mom doesn’t make you any less you. You’re still you, just different...

Photos via Lisa Riley Photography

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Many thanks to Lauren for sharing her heart and encouragement about motherhood. Be sure to check out Lauren's blog, Blissful Happenings, and today you can see a post from yours truly about the same subject! Tons of love to you, friends!

An Afternoon in Cozey7 + Giveaway! (CLOSED)

I've got my hands full these days. My 19-month-old son Everett is busy. Busier than ever. He's exclamatory, opinionated, hilarious, and recently - he's slightly frenzied about the next time we're going outside. He always, always, always wants to play outside. With the polarizing weather that's come to our little town this winter, it's been an interesting experience, teetering between making my son happy and staying comfortable. Because I don't necessarily always want to be outside. It's been cold! But he always wants to be outside - playing on his swing set, running around the yard with his football and especially his new favorite - making mommy play basketball. Because he can't dunk (yet). My game has actually gotten pretty good.

This new season of frolicking outside for hours a day has left me with the curious task of attempting to properly dress Everett to keep him warm enough for all the 40-degree weather play. When Cozey7 reached out to me about trying out the Trailhopper, I pretty much looked to Heaven and gave thanks. After browsing the Cozey7 site for just a few minutes, I had a dumbfounding feeling that this product was the answer to so many of the problems that we have encountered with our little guy. For example, when he was a baby, he would gladly sit cozy in his stroller with a blanket wrapped snug around him while I jogged (okay, walked) outside to get some fresh air. However, as he has grown into the toddler stage, his signature move is to strip off the blankets (and hats, mittens, even shoes!) in his stroller. One day I felt like passersby were looking at me like, "What a bad mom, taking her son outside and so under dressed!" That may or may not have been true - but he has been under dressed all too often. Because he's getting opinionated about what he wants to wear and not wear.

Until now, that is. The Cozey7 Trailhopper has been the answer to our cold-weather problems. Not only does Everett love putting it on (because he knows it means he gets to play outside!) but it's extremely thick and durable, so he can be as rough and tumble as he likes and I don't have to worry about his clothing. It's made of a performance-grade Polartec fleece, and the feet fold up and down to adjust the size, allowing him to wear it for as long as possible before switching to the next size. Surprisingly enough, I did a little research and there is almost nothing like this on the market - unless you want to dress your kid in a full-on snow suit. I love that my son can wear this as a final layer over his normal clothes and enjoy the toddler life most abundantly - he's worn it camping, during the Snowpocalypse, and even riding around on the golf cart (because in our town, there is more golf cart path mileage than actual road mileage). We've been testing this product for months now, and I must say - I'm a believer. I wouldn't share this with you if I weren't. If you're an outdoorsy family (or if you aspire to be!), this outwear layer will be just as important as shoes and a hat. Check out a few pics of our little guy in his Trailhopper - and scroll below for a promo code and to enter a giveaway to win one for your kiddo!

Everett is wearing the Trailhopper, C/O Cozey7 in frost blue.

Check out the Cozey7 site to learn more about the mission to educate parents on getting outside with their children, browse the product line and economical subscription box options, and learn more about the amazing mother-son duo that run this Colorado-based startup. When placing an order, make sure to use the code oykristen to get $5 off! And follow the instructions below to enter to win a Trailhopper in your choice of size/color for your little one! The giveaway will run for a week and the winner will be notified via email on Tuesday, March 8, 2016. Good luck, friends! And happy adventures to you :)

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Many thanks to Cozey7 for hosting the giveaway. Other than being gifted this product to try/use, I was not compensated for this review. The opinions represented are entirely my own. See my Advertising Disclosure for more information on my product collaboration policy.