quick & easy teacher gifts

I might as well throw it out there: I am anything but crafty. I always have grand plans of things I will make that end up half-finished and look nothing like what I've dreamed up in my head or what the instructions looked like. My six-year-old nephew's drawing skills have already surpassed mine. I'm sure my three-year-old is not far behind him. I have a tote of a half-finished ornament wreath (thanks Pinterest) sitting in my basement that I keep saying I'll finish by next Christmas.

BUT! Tonight, I came up with an idea for a unique gift for Shepherd's teachers, all on my own. I may have left to get the supplies at 8:30, but nevertheless--I dreamed it, and I followed through with success!

So, without further ado, I present The Easiest Teacher Gift Ever:

I had to sit them on the floor to take pictures because we have zero counter space, but here are the details: 

1) Polka dot pots...$2.99 each at Michael's (special)

2) Geraniums...$5.99 each at Home Depot

3) Small bag of potting soil....$3.97 at Home Depot

4) Ribbon & cardstock...already at my house

See how cheap it was!? The 3's class that Shepherd is in is called "Little Sprouts," so I thought this was especially appropriate for the end of the year gift. First, I sprinkled a little potting soil in the pretty pots and transplanted the geraniums over. Then, I wrote the note on a piece of cardstock cut to fit the stick that came with the plants and glued it over, then glued the bow on and stuck it in the soil. It literally took 20 minutes, and the hardest parts were opening packages.

I love to give clutter-free gifts, and this fits the bill. I hope his teachers enjoy it, and I really hope they know how much we appreciate them!

i wonder if one day they'll ask me...

"Mom, why did you take so many pictures of the back of our heads?"

I don't know if I'll have an answer, to be honest. There's just something about those little heads.

there's only one reason i did this

One hundred and two tags. Some of those are multiple pieces of clothing on the same hanger, so I'd say 150 items. All packed up and ready to sell.

Why, you ask?

TO MAKE ROOM FOR MORE STUFF!!!

No really. JBF is a great organization, and all of my things that don't sell are getting donated to Focus on Renewal in McKees Rocks. So, everybody wins. I can't wait to drop this stuff off tonight AND head to the volunteer presale event tomorrow. Thanks for letting me be a part of this, Michelle & Kristin.

a VERY personal milestone.

Four and a half years ago, I was a naive newlywed, strolling the aisles of Sam's Club in Roswell, NM. This was a special trip, you see, because it was an hour drive from our new home in Carlsbad. What would we get on our special trip to Sam's?

For me, it was a giant box of tampons. I made a promise to my husband that he'd never have to run out and buy them for me if, God forbid, I ever ran out. That is a promise I kept for four and a half years.

Two weeks after I bought that 85-pack of Tampax Pearls, three days after Christmas, on December 28, 2007, I found out I was pregnant with Shepherd. And they just ran out. 

If you ever wondered if buying in bulk is worth it... Yes. Yes it is.



P.S. If you're in Pittsburgh, why haven't you entered the Just Between Friends giveaway yet?!

If you're male, a member of my family, squeamish, or all three, sorry you didn't X-out before this!

Just Between Friends Consignment Presale Passes Up for Grabs!

Last year was my first year consigning and shopping with Just Between Friends. And I have a confession--bargaining is ADDICTIVE! There is just something about the feeling of success you get when you walk away with a $100 North Face fleece for $10. And $50 Nikes for $8. Those are just some of the bargains I got for Shepherd last year. And I could swear the consignors who sold them were either insanely good at cleaning their items or their kids never wore them. They looked brand new!

This year, I am excited to announce that I have three passes to the presale on Thursday, May 17 from 4-9 pm. The general public isn't even allowed in until 9 am on Friday. Early access means more chances for you to find those Crocs you're looking for, or the jogging stroller you need to go running in the park this summer. Need a trike or a wagon for summer birthdays? Pounce on that at the presale!

Want to win? I'll be picking three winners, and here's how:

1) Mandatory: Comment below telling me what you hope to find at the JBF Spring/Summer Sale
2) Optional Bonus Entry: Like Laughing Through Motherhood on Facebook
3) Optional Bonus Entry: Like JBF Pittsburgh North on Facbook

The contest starts NOW and ends at midnight on Monday, May 14, when I will contact 3 winners. Good luck!


a Rafflecopter giveaway



This contest is open to readers in Pittsburgh and surrounding areas only. I have not been compensated in any way. I am a volunteer for the Just Between Friends local franchise, and am offered the same benefits as all other volunteers. All opinions are mine--all mine.

i survived postpartum depression

I've mentioned in previous posts, including my very first post on this blog, that I used to blog somewhere else. Three years ago. And I hate to repeat myself, but I started fresh, with a new blog title and no connections to the old blog for a lot of reasons. And I hate to revisit the past, but I think in order to make peace with things, it has to be put out there.

The things I used to write about made people uncomfortable: to hear, to read, to talk about, anything. That's one of the main reasons I quit writing. I used to receive a lot of comments (that I never approved, because they hurt so bad) that consisted of the following: "What if your daughter grows up and reads this? What if your son reads this? The internet is forever. Your kids will hate you if they find out you ever felt this way. I feel so sorry for them. I want to adopt them. You are so lucky to be pregnant when there are so many infertile couples who would kill for a baby."

Guess what? Fuck that. You know what a depressed woman in the deepest, loneliest hole of her life needs? Support. Love. Understanding. You know what I got? None of that. You know where I found it? Other people's blogs. That's why I'm back, and I'm ready to talk about it. I want to get this out of my system, and if someone out there going through the same thing finds this, I want her to know she's not alone. Because loneliness is the worst feeling ever.

When I found out I was pregnant, even though I had a Paragard (copper) IUD in place, it was both the worst and most memorable day of my life. It's supposed to be memorable, but it's never supposed to be terrible. I was still in the throes of severe postpartum depression. My 7-month old son had just started crawling THAT DAY. My husband was at a golf tournament all day, and I called him as I sob-screamed, "I'M PREGNANT!"  I'm not exaggerating when I say I called my OB's office and yelled a string of expletives at the receptionist, the nurse, and him. At my early dating ultrasound the next day, I didn't look at the screen once. I told the midwife, "I don't want it." When she took out the IUD and told me there was a 50% I would miscarry overnight, I said, "Good."

I don't know who I was back then. I love babies. I love pregnancy. This is the severity of depression. It takes over your soul. Hopelessness and helplessness become who you are. The morning sickness that left my son to play with toys in the bathtub while I puked up water didn't help either. I began and ended every day sobbing. "I could never love anyone more than Shepherd. What if I have more seizures and this one has a worse birth defect? We only wanted one kid!" The list of anxieties was a mile long--and growing by the day.

There were highs. There were lows. There were times I wanted to get in my car and drive the neverending roads of New Mexico until I never saw another person again. I wanted to dig a hole for myself and never come out. I curled up in the fetal position in the shower until the water went cold, in the fetal position on the couch until my baby needed something, and even then, I just stared off in space. These are not normal ways of dealing with pregnancy. (Or anything ever.) I don't ever want to feel that way again. I don't want another person to EVER feel like that.

Yes, I was on Prozac. It wasn't enough--we switched to Zoloft and counseling. To try to shorten an already long story, we obviously chose to continue with the pregnancy. My midwife made a comment that I will never forget: "I'm so happy that you decided to stay pregnant." Me too. Because I have high risk pregnancies, I had over 10 ultrasounds with each pregnancy, including 3D, fetal echocardiograms, and over 30 NSTs. Because of my birth experience with Shepherd (I promise I'll tell this story one day), I felt like I didn't know him despite all of this. When Brandon walked her over to me at the operating table, I touched her face, and I said, "SHE IS BEAUTIFUL! Don't you think she's beautiful? Look at how beautiful she is! I love her so much!" I felt like every time I said something like that with Shepherd in the first month or so, it was a lie. It pained me to write Facebook statuses, emails, texts, and know I was lying.

touching her beautiful face after my c-section

New motherhood is hard. Postpartum depression makes it harder. Live over a thousand miles away from everyone you know and have your birth control fail when it is supposed to be 99.6% effective? Your feelings are too "real" or "harsh" for people to talk about? LIFE SUCKS.

I'm here to say I've dug myself out of the hole, but not without help. A husband who slept on an air mattress in the baby's room so I could take Ambien and get a full 8 hours. A husband who knows when I'm stressed past my limit and sends me out of the house just to get a breather. Bloggers who have gone through similar situations and weren't afraid to talk about it, despite their critics (here, here, and here). Family who took us in when we had to move across the country when I was 8 months pregnant, and a mom who woke up with my newborn at night so I could sleep. To them, I say: Thank you!

It's important to know that those were some of the darkest months of my life, and although I did experience some postpartum anxiety after Zoey was born, I dug myself out of the hole by the time I was over halfway through my pregnancy. I was excited to name her. To meet her. But I was always nervous--as most new moms are. And I want her to know that her life has a purpose, and God put her here for a reason. She is not an accident. And nobody's perfect--not even Mommy.

She is the <1%.

we love the dentist!

Shepherd had his first official dental visit yesterday. I say "official" because he had a run-in with Grandma's bathtub Christmas 2010 that required an emergency visit and resulted in his cute little chipped tooth, but this was the real deal.

And he took it like a champ! Being the scatterbrain that I am, I lost the "Going to the Dentist" book that my mom bought for him, so I just did my best to psych him up at bedtime the night before. We talked about the fun chair, how they would count his teeth (he guessed he would have 100!), and how he would get a special prize and a new toothbrush. Not to tooth my own horn or anything, but...Toot toot! He waltzed right in there, climbed up in the chair, and said, "May I have a red toothbrush please?" Ha!

I was seriously impressed with how well they worked with him though. They did their best to make him comfortable--they let him touch all the tools, let him feel how the spinny toothbrush would feel on his hands before they put it in his mouth, even showed him the water tool & the sucky thing (what is that called?!) and named it "Mr. Thirsty." He kept asking, "Again! Again!"

He did much better than his Mommy, who has crap for teeth, thanks to pregnancy and a church camp injury. We're proud to say:

No Cavities!

(And he made it out of there with a red toothbrush.)