Motherhood, or something like it.

Oh, these children.  These children of mine, I love them so much.  And I wanted them so much.  I don’t remember not wanting them.

And if someone would have told me, when I was a starry-eyed tween dreaming of a family one day, of a cute baby who’d adore the crap out of me, that I’d be hiding from my own spawn in the kitchen sucking down a Mountain Dew and freebasing cookie dough to deal with the STRESS they’d be causing me, well, I’d have said “that sounds like crazy talk”.

But, as it turns out, it’s like, very realistic talk.

No one tells you, when you’re pregnant, or trying to get that way, that although your baby will surely adore you, there will quickly come a time when they adore themselves so much more.  And this time is acutally a long stretch of years when the natural selfishness of a child takes over and they kind of treat you like crap.  When they can’t see that mommy is exhausted, depleted, or for goodness’ sake BUSY because really, their IMMEDIATE EMERGENCY need for fruit snacks is pretty much all-consuming.

I know I was like this as a child.  We all were. And now I am an adoring daughter and my mom and I enjoy a wonderful relationship, so clearly at some point I stopped being a selfish little leach.

So that’s good.  There’s a light at the end of the tunnel.  Maybe in about 2o years my children will see me as more than a means to an end.

A mom can dream.

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Things I Love Thursday – New stuff from Lands’ End

I love Lands’ End!

I know, you’re shocked. It’s not like I’ve never mentioned that fact before. But I’ve tried a few things from their new summer line, and I had to share my latest favorites.

First of all… dresses. I have a *thing* about dresses. I don’t know why, really – I don’t even wear them that often (hello, they require shaved legs) but loooove them. I particularly love my two newest ones from Lands’ End!

This is the Women’s Regular Sleeveless Cotton Shift Dress (originally $89.50 but on sale right now for $69.99!). It’s cotton (and machine washable), with textured material that has a very nice feel. I like that the dress is cut so that it has a nice curvy shape – that, combined with the darts and the belt make it very flattering. It’s fully lined, and I love the right-above-the-knee length.

When I picked this dress out, I originally asked to try it in red (because red dresses take my dress obsession to a whole new level), but they didn’t have it in my size so they sent me white. And I love it. The white makes it so versatile – I can change it up with jewelry, shoes, scarves, cardigans – whatever! It could go from a daytime/office look to a date night look very easily.

I also got this, the Women’s Regular Sleeveless Chambray Shirtdress.

This dress is perfect for a hot summer day. The soft cotton material looks great and will keep you cool. Like the shift dress, this one is cut and darted in a way that is quite flattering, and it’s also machine washable. A fun surprise to this dress is that it has pockets, which gives it a modern feel (and comes in handy, too). I just love the whole shirtdress look. I have it in khaki (my favorite color, because I am exciting like that), but it also comes in dusty jade and vintage chambray (blue). It will easily carry you into fall as well, with the addition of a jean jacket or cardigan. Very cute!

Land’s End is my go-to place for clothes, but until recently I had never tried anything from their home line. I had been eying their bedding for months, so when they asked if I’d like to review some of it, I was thrilled. However, I loved it all so much that I couldn’t decide which set I wanted to try. So, I told our old buddy @LandsEndPRMolly to surprise me! There was seriously not a set I didn’t like, and I knew I’d be happy with whatever she picked (and also, I know she has great taste!). Of course, I was not disappointed when this bedding set arrived on my doorstep:

The Shelby Linen Border Duvet Cover and shams really brighten up our bedroom and are so soft and cool – perfect for summer. The yarn-dyed border provides a fun pop of color without being overwhelming.

This accent pillow completes the set.

But let’s not forget the most important part of a bed set – the sheets. Really, I don’t think there’s anything that feels better than slipping into a bed with a clean set of sheets – and these are by far the nicest sheets I’ve ever had.

The Organic Print Sheet Sets are 100% organic cotton and 300-thread count. They are soft, cool, and feel so good. I love them.

My husband and I both love the new look of our room, which is important because the last time we shopped for bedding, it took forever (and a ton of different stores) for us to find something we could agree on. From now on, I’ll just head straight to Lands’ End, because the entire bedding line is lovely, without being too feminine for Andy to be on board!

BTW, I was serious when I said I couldn’t pick from all their options – here are a couple others I love.

To see the complete line, click here. And for more Things I Love Thursday posts, visit Jill at The Diaper Diaries.

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Just call me killer.

It was a Wednesday, much like today.  Two weeks ago today, in fact.  It was Joshua’s first full day of summer break, and we were headed to the crazy pool to celebrate.  We had my niece Murrin, who is 13, with us, so that she could help me with the kids, because as I have mentioned, the pool is CRAZY.

But anyhoo, it was REALLY hot.  And my new van wasn’t shifting right.  It’s an automatic transmission, and it was having a lot of trouble shifting. This wasn’t too surprising, because it had been giving me a wee bit of trouble previously, but my hubby the mechanic did a transmission flush and ran some conditioner through it or some crap like that, and it had been a bit better. (Though not totally.)

We went to the pool, Murrin was a huge help, we went home, and then we took Murrin home.  She lives about 20 minutes away, and the van actually ran a bit better on the way to her house.

But on the way home? It hardly ran at all.  I barely made it.  I had to put my flashers on a couple times.  Every time I hit a stoplight, I was afraid it wouldn’t go again when the light turned green.  The last block to my house, the transmission was making both a really loud revving “I won’t shift” noise and a terrible high-pitched squeal. AND it smelled AWFUL.

Did I mention this was the FIRST DAY of summer break?  And I had been dying to get a van before summer break?  And was so excited that I got it 8 weeks before? Plenty of time!

Oh, the irony. (Makes me want to slit my wrists.)

Luckily, we still had my old car, so I was able to get the kids to meet my mother-in-law for dinner before Sophie’s gymnastics class.  Bobby met us also, and was going to drive his mom and the boys over to watch Sophie – she and I planned to leave a few minutes early while they finished up dinner.

So, Sophie and I headed out to get in my old car.  Which I had just driven there.

Which WOULD NOT EVEN TURN OVER when I put the key in.

Clearly, I am the problem.  I killed two cars in one day! One that we’d only had for 8 weeks and one that I’d happily driven for 8 years.

It’s a good thing I’m married to a mechanic!  Maybe not so good for him, though!

The problem with my old car was merely the battery, sadly my van needs a new transmission – which is on order.  I’ve been hauling the kids around in Bobby’s station wagon for our two weeks of summer, and I haven’t killed it yet!  We’ll see what I can accomplish before I get my van back next week.  Watch out, Camry Station Wagon!  I’m a KILLA!

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