November Giveaway Winners

Today is the day I announce the winners of my November Giveaway... thank you to everyone who participated!  If you don't win, don't worry, I plan on having a few more giveaways in the coming months.  If you're still interested in Katie's work, please visit her Etsy page here.  I think her work is beautiful and very reasonably priced.

A huge thank you to Katie for generously hosting this giveaway with TWO prizes!  

And now, without further ado, winners of the November Giveaway hosted by Katie Berggren are:  Drum roll please.........

 Callie Nicole said...

I tweeted about the giveaway! @CallieNicole7

November 2, 2011 10:39 AM

True Random Number GeneratorMin: Max: Result:15Powered by RANDOM.ORG

And

Ana said...

I posted the giveaway on my blog

http://bana1124.blogspot.com/2011/11/giveaway.html

November 1, 2011 8:00 PM

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Excuses, Excuses

As a mom, you soon discover that your little angel babies are born disobedient creatures.  I think the whole, "you are born a sinner" doesn't truly set in until you see your own baby actually sinning.  It's stunning... and shocking.  It's innate... it's in each of us.  But, inevitably there comes the day when your baby, probably less than 1 year old, decides to deliberately disobey you.  "Don't touch that", and they go for it anyway.  And you KNOW they know what you told them.

Well, as they age, it only gets worse.  And I've only got a taste of it... I can't even imagine how it'll be when I've got 2 teenage boys on my hands.  Oy.  Right now I have an extremely strong willed 2 year old on my hands.  He knows what he wants and he will manipulate however he can to get his way.  It's amazing to me that they don't need to be taught how to do these things... they just know.

Marco loves to give me excuses for everything I ask him to do... from the simplest to the most complex request, he has an excuse as to why he can not or rather, WILL not do it.  The problem is, in his 2 year old mind, he can only hold 2 excuses and they don't always make sense given the situation.  His go-to excuses are:
"It's too hot" or "It's too hard".  And "hard" as in texture, not difficulty.

Some of our conversations go like this:
"Marco, take off your pull up and go pee pee in the toilet"
"No, Mama, it's too hot".
"Marco, it's not hot in the toilet".

"Marco, eat your sandwich"
"But it's too hot".
"It's peanut butter... it's not hot!"

"Marco, wanna listen to music?"
"No, it's too hard".
"I won't put it loud".
"NO".

"Sit down"
"No, it's too hoooooootttt".
"It's too hot to sit down?"
"Yes"
"No, do it!"

What?!  None of this even makes sense... ok, only the one about music makes sense... but still.  It's shocking that I have to deal with excuses from a 2 year old!  Excuses, excuses.

And it's hard not to laugh, because he still has that whole cute factor going on.  Little stinker gets away with things for being cute!

For the record, that is not a headband... it's one of those sweat bands to complete his "sporty look".  FYI

Seriously?! Thursday

Here I am linking up with From Mrs to Mama for the most awesomest Seriously?! Thursday.  Don't you look forward to this post ALL week?  I know I do.  It's my opportunity to vent or chat about the little things... the things too small to need it's own post about.  So here you have it... what made me say "Seriously?!"

Seriously?!  What is it with people... IRL and in the blogisphere saying, "It's Christmas season"?  Ummm, no it's not.  "Christmas season" should not last 2 months long... it's not a REAL season, just a holiday.  And, what happened to Thanksgiving... why is it a reject holiday?!  I seriously LOVE Thanksgiving... you can stuff your face and there's NO pressure to exceeds people's preconceived expectations.  But Christmas... eh.  Honestly, I was driving on November 1 and already saw like 5 billboards advertising Christmas.  Seriously?!  The commercialism, greed and materialism associated with Christmas has turned my stomach towards this holiday.  No, I'm not the grinch... but I may (or may not) work for him.  This sign via Pintrest from Nordstrom has found a way into my heart... and I love it.  Now Nordstrom, you may have my business this Christmas season, just for being so sassy.

Seriously?!  Today is a landmark day for me.  November 3, 2008 was a big day for me... one of the biggest days of my life actually.  It was the day I got a + sign and found out I was going to be a Mommy!  Later, at the end of June, I had my beautiful baby Marco in my arms and my life was changed forever.  Seriously, one of the best feelings EVER!

Seriously?!  I can't believe how difficult it's been to get people to enter my giveaway!  Oh, you didn't know I was having a giveaway?!  Well, here's the Link.  I don't know if people don't know that it's not a scam... maybe they think they'll get a bunch of junk mail?  But seriously, I can't believe it's because they don't dig the giveaway prize... it's stinkin' awesome.  For realz.  And, since it's "Christmas season", it'd be a great gift too!

Seriously?!  Marco does not let Jonas breathe.  It's the most frustrating thing ever.  He is always tackling him, knocking him over, picking him up, shoving his face into the floor, grabbing his arms, etc.  And I know that he just wants him to be able to play at his level... it's not that he's being mean.  But seriously? Come on already!

Seriously?!  Remember how I had a major car accident at the end of September?  If not, check it out here. Well, finally the insurance companies made their decisions... and it was to do nothing.  Nothing.  The guy who I crashed with claimed that he was not backing up, but rather stopped to allow a pedestrian to cross... a blatant lie.  And, even though the police report states that he was in fact backing up, the insurance company is backing him up.  So I let the lady have it... I told her that she and I both knew that I was getting screwed here and if there wasn't some sort of compromise I was going to have to call my attorney.  I don't even have an attorney.  This is a huge pain in the @ss!  And, to top it all off, they delivered my destroyed car to my driveway, so now Marco has a constant reminder of what happened.  He can't peel his eyes away from the damage.  He's traumatized.  I seriously hope this all gets resolved quickly.

That's all for today!  What made you say "Seriously?!" this week?


   

Patience is a Virtue

Yesterday at MOPS we discussed having patience as a mom.  It definitely hit home with me and was something that I KNOW I have to work on.  Although I love my kids with every fiber of my being, I can sometimes have a short fuse with them or not give them the time they deserve.  I expect things to be done quickly and efficiently, when I know that they are not yet capable of doing that.

The worst time of the day for me (and many mothers, I'm sure) is the morning when trying to get out of the house.  On the days we don't have a set appointment, like we're just going to the mall or the park, there's no problem.  But on the days I have scheduled something for us, like MOPS, a bible study, church, play date, or a doctors appointment, all hell seems to break loose.  It's like Murphy's law... everything goes wrong.

It starts with getting dressed.  Jonas is easy, he has no opinion.  But Marco is quite a challenge.  Even being a boy, he has his opinion on his clothing.  He ONLY wants to wear shirts with beloved characters on it... Cars, Toy Story, Mickey.  Everything else is tantrum worthy.  But I don't have an entire wardrobe filled with these specialty shirts, so eventually he's gotta wear something else.  Then the socks... they have to be on just right and they have to either be Cars or soccer socks... plain ones just will not do.

Then brushing of the teeth... again, Jonas lets me get off easy on this one... for now.  But Marco is all, "Marco do it".  He wants to put the paste on by himself and he wants to brush by himself.  This all takes precious time... tick tock... because I still have to go over what he's done and redo it the right way.

By the time we get to the kitchen for breakfast, I can physically feel my temper rising.  I am about to boil over.  I prepare Jonas' milk and give it to him... but then he throws it all up (well, he did today), so then I have to clean up.  While I'm cleaning him up, I see him grunt and poop... so then I have to clean him up.  When I finally make it back and prepare breakfast, I have to deal with Marco not wanting to feed himself and Jonas shaking his head "no" at the food.  If I make oatmeal, Marco wants a yogurt... if I give him yogurt, he wants a waffle... you see?  It's enough to drive anyone nuts.

As we're entering the car I have officially HAD it and I do boil over.  Many times with yells of "GET IN THE CAR AND CLICK!" or "IF YOU DON'T CLICK IN 3 SECONDS, YOU'RE GONNA BE IN BIG TROUBLE".  (I put caps, because obviously I'm screaming).  And I know I've lost it.  And I know I shouldn't.

For some of you new Mama's maybe it's that 3am feeding that makes you boil over.  I used to want to cry when Jonas wouldn't go back to sleep.  Or if, in my sleepy daze, I'd snap the pj's incorrectly and then have to start all over... I would want to punch a wall.  I know... I know.

I do know that wherever we are on this journey of motherhood, we WILL lose our patience... and we will boil over.  But we must remember to gather ourselves, however we can, and offer GRACE to our children.  After all, doesn't our heavenly Father have an ABUNDANCE of patience for us?  How many times can we make Him want to boil over... but instead of lashing out, He offers us his grace and mercy and love.

Here's what the Bible say's about patience (one of the many things):
Therefore, as God’s chosen people, holy and dearly loved, clothe yourselves with compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness and patience. Colossians 3:12


I was really convicted by this discussion yesterday because it dawned on me... If we are called to be patient and loving towards everyone, how much more towards our very children!  They are learning from our every move.  They are learning what a Christian household looks like.  They are learning what a mother and wife looks like.  They are learning about who Jesus is from us!  If we are not exemplifying Jesus' characteristics, are they in fact learning about Him?

You do not need to travel to Africa to have a mission field.  God has placed a mission field in your own house... with your own children.  We are the ones that need to show them Jesus daily... through our compassion, our kindness, our humility, our gentleness, our patience and our love.  God's given me HIS children... I need to be sure I care for them well.

I need help practicing my patience.  What works for you?  Do you internally count to 10?  Maybe to 100?  Do you walk away?  Do you pray?  I need tips!  And, more than that, I need prayer.  I'll pray that God gives you patience in dealing with His children and you do the same for me.  Thanks!

November Giveaway!

The season of giving is finally here!  And with that, I offer an amazing giveaway from the studio of Katie M. Berggren.  See her Etsy shop HERE.  Momma's, you are gonna wanna get in on this, for sure!

When I first came across Katie's work, I was stunned.  I had never seen such tender, honest and beautiful mother-child pieces before.  Really, they're amazing.  Most mother-child pieces seem cartoonish or childish, but Katie's pieces are whimsical and sophisticated.  You can add a piece to your living room that is contemporary and beautiful, while paying a tribute to your darlings.

Here are some pictures of the piece I chose, called "Happy Hour" to represent me and my boys:

When I received my package, I was giddy!  I tore it open and looked at all the contents that came spilling out!

Katie includes a plain card in each package... perfect for an upcoming baby shower!  And it's beautiful... frame worthy, even.

Each piece is a print of an original.  It is printed on super high quality thick paper with a matte finish.  

What I love, love, LOVE about Katie's work is that there is someone for EVERYONE along this beautiful journey of motherhood.  You've only got one baby?  She's got stuff for you.  You've got 2 like me?  Yep, lots of options.  You've got 3 (you busy lady)?  You'll find something you love.  4 kids, You've got FOUR (or more)?  You'll leave her shop satisfied.  No kids yet, but you're pregnant?  You're not left out!  How about have one and pregnant with #2?  You can preserve this moment forever.  I could go on, but you get it, right?

And if you'd prefer to have a piece specifically commissioned to fit your needs, an original that won't be duplicated?  You can do that too by contacting Katie directly.

Ok, ok, I know you're all eager to know how you can get your hands on one of these beauties.  But first, here's the good news.  Katie is great.  She's so sweet and super generous and has offered to giveaway not one, but TWO 8x10 prints to 2 lucky winners.  Just like that, you've doubled your chances!  Check out the details below:

Giveaway runs from 1:00am on November 1st till 11:59pm on November 8th.  

Please leave me a new comment with each individual entry.

Mandatory Entry:

1. Visit Katie's Etsy Shop and leave me a comment telling me which piece you'd want, if you won.

Additional Entries:
2.  Be or become a "public" follower of my blog.  (Just press the little blue button to the left side of your screen that says "Join this Site" and follow the prompts... easy peasy).

3.  "Like" Katie's Facebook page: www.facebook.com/kmberggrenfanpage

4.  Blog about this giveaway on your personal blog.  This will give you THREE entries.  (Please post 3 individual comments and leave me a link.)

Daily Entries:  You may enter each one, once daily.
5.  Post a Facebook status update directing your friends to the giveaway.  (Be sure to tag Katie's page and add a link to the giveaway).

6.  Tweet about the giveaway.  (You must tag both me and Katie). You can copy this example:
"Check out this awesome giveaway at http://tableforfour-nicole.blogspot.com/.  @NicoleTableFor4 @kmberggren"

This giveaway is open Worldwide!  

The winners will be chosen the morning of November 9th using Random.org.

I have been giddy with excitement over this giveaway and I'm so thrilled to be able to offer it to you!

Ready...
Set...
GOOOOO!