Working With Style #2

I know this is sorely late, but I am linking up with Liberating the Working Mom for Working with Style.  I love what this website has done to make me feel a little more normal as a mother of 2 working full time outside of the house. 
It seems these photos are getting more embarrassing, if that's even possible.  I only managed to get 2 taken last week.  I am hoping these posts give me a little kickstart in the wardrobe department.  What I have learned from loking at these few pictures is that I need mroe color in my life!  I look down as I sit at my desk and I (again) have a black t-shirt and jeans on.  I get it from my mother, I buy basics that will all go together.  Prudent shopper, yes, boring wardrobe, YES!

Casual Day

Jeans: Lucky Brand

Long Sleeve Tee: Old Navy

Black Puffer Vest: ? Brand - Costco 

Curly Hair Day

Jeans: Trouser Jean - Gap

Long Sleeve Tee: Old Navy

Sweater (vest?): American Eagle Outfitter

This week I am trying a bit harder to be on the ball and get posted on Satuday.  I had a day full of work meeting today, so I was dressed professionally.  I guess my real issue is I need to add a few more versatile items to my wardrobe on little to no money.  Sounds easy, right?!?



I Don't Want To Get Out of Bed

6:58 am I'm all ready to head down stairs and there is no peep out of either kids bedroom.  I take a deep breath and head into W's room.  Brown hair is barely visible as the blankets are pulled all the way up.  His room is the absolute coldest in the house.  He has 3 windows and his room is above the garage, no matter what we do, his room is 10 degrees colder than the rest of the upstairs.  I'm sure he is more the warm and snuggly under his blankets.  I gently rub his back and say "good morning buddy, time to start waking up".  Quickly I get a sneer and the covers get pulled over his head.  "I don't want to get out of bed".  I tell him I am going to go make lunches and he can take a few minutes to wake up

7:05 am Head back upstairs to see what progress has been made....nothing.  "W, we really need to get moving, it is getting late" He begins to get upset and starts throwing a fit.  "I don't want to get up.  I can never do it right.  I am going to make us late".  Still not moving to get ready "W, just take a deep breath, get out of bed and put your shirt on"......more blotchy red-faced crying.  I take a deep breath and tell him when he is ready, to come downstairs.

7:15 am W appears in the doorway of the kitchen clutching his blanket.  "I'm sorry for screaming Momma"  I let him know we need to leave and I've gotten him a bag of cereal to take with him in the car.  He starts to get upset again because he wanted a bowl of cereal and to watch a show.  I hug him and let him know we have to leave.

7:28 am I ask W if he wants to call Dad and say hello.  I dial the phone and he talks to his Dad for the minute car ride to school.  Dad asks him if he is having a rough morning, the answer is a sniffly "yes".  A bike ride is promised tonight, I love yous are said and we pull into the school parking lot.  He shuffles his way across campus to the before school program.  I sign him in and he hugs on my leg.  In the next 2 minutes I am standing there, he hugs me 3 more times and gives me the sad eyes.  I hug him tight, tell him to have a good day with his friends and walk out the door.  He is still standing by the cubbies when I walk out, a little apprehensive still to go join the boys already elbow deep in the lego tubs.   

We have had a lot of difficult morning like these lately.  He is almost 6 years old and I don't understand why our morning have to be so hard.  I have been battling the morning routine with him since he was able to put up a fight.  I've tried waking him earlier so he has time to adjust to the idea of getting up.  I've tried talking about our morning plan the night before.  Nothing seems to change the outcome.  My Momma heart hurts leaving him when he is still upset. The guilt of worrying about being late to work when he is so upset that his face is turning red.  It wears on me day after day.  By the time I drop A off at daycare and get to work, I miss him already and hope his mood has changed.

Linking up with Heather at EO's "Just Write"


  

Wordless Wednesday 2: Family

Family Picture - Seattle July 2011 

But Your Hair Is Wet Mommy

It's still cold and dark outside, yet my skin is still red and warm from recent steamy shower.  The only light in the house is from my little bathroom and the news on the TV in the bedroom.  I am almost completely ready for the day.  Make-up done, hair done, clothes picked out in my mind. I decide to try a new style with my hair this morning and am not all that pleased with it.
I hear a door close down the hall.  That means little Miss A will soon appear in my doorway.  A minute later I see a bleary eyed toddler, wincing at the bright bathroom light and covering her eyes with her lovey.  She stumbles across the cold tile and leans in on my legs until I pick her up.  She quickly snuggles in, pulls her legs up and puts her head on my shoulder. I stand quietly for a minute, letting her wake up.  I say 'Good Morning' and whisper that I love her.  She perks up a bit and I set her on the counter while I finish getting dressed. 
Once I am done, ready to go downstairs and start the day I walk over to talk to her at her perch on the counter.  We are eye to eye and her little arms reach to go around my neck once again.  She loosens her grasp a bit and pulls back.  She looks me in the eye and pauses, ten soft little fingers on my cheeks.  Her fingers move to my hair, recently cut shorter and styled curly today as opposed to blown dry straight.  She gently touches the crunchy curls and moves her fingers through exploring.  All the while her eyes are on mine, slightly green, almost grey, always inquisitive.  I pause and am caught in the beauty of the moment.  The little girl who is usually running after a big brother, shreeking to be heard is so still and loving.  I can't believe she is already almost 3 and most likely my last baby.  I ask her if she is ready to get dressed and go start our day.  She replys "but Mommy, yours hairs is still wet"..........


I am linking up to "Just Write" with Heather at The Extraordinary Ordinary.    

Working With Style

So here's my first "Working with Style" post.  I recently found the goodness that is Liberating Working Moms.  As long as I've been a Mom, I've been a working Mom.  I work full-time outside of the house.  It is a constant challenge to balance my job and my children.  As my kids get older, the challenges change, but they are certainly still there.  The morning are by far hold the most uncertainty.  A morning can go well and it can, not go well.  We do the same things every morning.  I am generally showered before the kids wake up (hopefully).  This makes things a bit easier.  If a kid gets up early before I am mostly ready, we are off already.  Then it is how the kids wake up.  If I wake them up, bad news, it takes time to get going.  If they wake on their own, things are a bit better.  I am sure this is the same in houses everywhere.  All this to say that my clothes are generally the last thing I think about.  I have never really been one to get into fashion.  In high school, I generally wore jeans (Wrangler, cowboy cut at that) and men's cut t-shirts with the sleeves rolled up.  I have really been trying harder recently when it comes to my clothes.  But then, there is the budget, blah blah blah.       
My job has a casual atmosphere.  I could wear jeans and a t-shirt every day if I felt so inclined.  I like to feel a little bit more professional most days.  I also feel like the more "put together" I look everyday, people notice.  I came from the banking world 3 years ago where it was business dress every day.  I guess old habits die hard.  This should explain the variety of ensembles I wear in a week.   

Top: TJ Maxx

Open Cardigan: Costco

Bottom: Trouser Jean - Gap

Shoes: Target

Top: Ross

Sweater: Gap Outlet

Pants: Grey Slacks - Old Navy

Shoes: Black Pumps - TJ Maxx

So, there you have it.  That's all I've got.  What it really tells me now that I type it all out, is that I don't spend a lot of money on clothes.  Thanks to Liberating Working Moms for the link up.  I am hoping to glean inspiration and fashion tips from you loverly ladies. 



FlashBack Friday

OK, so I am a day late, but here goes.

This is Christmas Eve 2008.  Little tiny baby A is not quite 2 weeks old.  As you can see she is not too pleased about it being Christmas.  I am still in my "comfy, not leaving the house" clothes.  But they aren't maternity, so there's that.  W is super excited about the pile of presents behind me.  Our "Charlie Brown" Christmas tree is D's solution to saving money on buying a tree.  A friend of a friend went to Oregon and brought back a few trees.  D gave him $20 and brought it home, extremely pleased with himself.  Once it got in the house, it was very evident that it was a bit sparse (to say the least).  We made the best of it, added lights and ornaments and called it Christmas.  I might have been sleep deprived and a new Mother to 2, but I never want to forget our first Christmas as a family of four.

Maybe I Overreact

So today I leave work just as a storm is brewing.  A long day, with an out of office meeting  (read: real, grown-up, office clothes) after a trying morning with a sassy 2 year old.  Ya know, another day as a working Mom.  I pick up A from daycare and we are on our way home.  We drive the 10 minutes or so and turn into our neighborhood.  We live right around the corner from a small park.  This park is used by many people everyday.  Tonight there was a soccer team playing in the drizzle of the impending storm.  As I turned the corner to go around the park, there were 3 large SUVs lined across the road as if talking to each other.  I slowed down to a stop expecting the right most vehicle to move forward so I could pull through and get on my way.  I sat there for a bit and nobody moved.  I rolled forward and still, nobody moved.  I sighed heavily, revved my engine a bit and squeezed by (almost on the sidewalk of the wrong side of the street), very frustrated.  I got home, took a deep breath and went about my night.
Now, it is 5 hours later and it is still on my mind.  Those 3 moms were sitting in their cars while there daughters' were playing soccer.  I get that it was drizzling outside, not the most appealing to sit out in your chair, watching soccer.  That isn't what frustrates me.  It is the lack of common courtesy extended to each other.  They saw that I was there and they didn't move to let me by.  What kind of example is that setting?  It extends to many parts of our everyday lives.  There is the man that walks in front of you into a store and doesn't hold the door.  The innocent smile I give a stranger on the street and the scowl I get in return.  I guess it all comes back to the Golden Rule.  Just treat others the way you would like to be treated. 
This really has me thinking about my children as well.  How do I go about teaching them this important life lesson on a daily basis?  My husband and I do our very best to convey common (and not so common) courtesies each day.  I saw a compelling list on Pinterest today listing 25 "rules" to teach children.  Many of them are the very things I am talking about, pleases and thank yous, asking how others are, offering help to adults, cover your mouth when you sneeze, do not curse, etc.  These are the abstract ideas that I find most challenging as a parent.  To convey these mannerisms to a 2 and 5 year old is difficult.  The thought I have put into it has brought me to realize we just need to live these ideals daily.   
So I guess I might have taken this small incident and gotten a little too upset about it.  I may have overreacted a tad bit.  The line of thought it has brought me to tonight has been worth it.  I hope to raise a young man that opens opens and holds doors for anyone behind him.  I also hope to raise a young lady that says please and thank you at every occasion.   

Wordless Wednesday 1: Grumpy Princess



Ali wasn't really into the Halloween Parade at brother's school......

NaBloPoMo

So, here we go.  I am on the West Coast, so I still have a few hours left on November 1st.  What I am talking about is the BlogHer initiative National Blog Post Month - NaBloPoMo.  It is a challenge to write a blog post every day for 30 days.  There are all sorts of resources and prompts, blog rolls and support.  Each day you can follow the twitter stream and blog rolls and read along with a multitude of other bloggers.  I vaguely remember seeing all the letters flying around last year during November.  There is also NaNoWriMo, an even larger and (in my opinion much) more difficult task of writing a novel in 30 days.

So this year I am challenging myself to participate in the challenge.  I even went and signed up on BlogHer.  I might try my hand at adding the badge to my blog.  I'll not hold my breath on that one, the back-end blogging stuff still has me all sorts of confused.   

Now, this may seem a bit crazy.  I am only one month and 4 posts into this whole blogging world.  Well, the writing part of the blog world.  I have been part of the reading/commenting side for a few years now.  It is the writing part that makes me nervous.  I have never been a huge writer.  In college, writing was one of the few things that really kept me up at night stressing over.  I would read and re-read every line of every paper I had to compose.  I never understood the nuances of a story line and creating characters.  I could scarcely grasp the sentence and paragraph structure, much less presenting it all in an interesting enough tone to capture my professor. 

So here I am, basically writing as if I am talking to a girlfriend.  I hope to not bore too many of you (whoever "you" happen to be).  My goal in participating is to strain my creative side and hopefully make this a space to be proud of.  A place to share my life as it is in this moment, with my husband, children, work and friends.  A place to hopefully share in this wonderful community of mothers, women and friends I have long been admiring from afar.


 Sarah