Getting in and out of a car will take at least 30 minutes and you will always forget something… always.
If you can, space them out age wise accordingly, do so. Having a little Boss that can’t talk yet and tell me how he is feeling about a new baby Blakely is tricky. He is getting there now it just takes a whole lot of one on one and cuddling.
Diapers. So many diapers. I take down at least 6 diapers after one nights sleep.
Date nights will be non existent for a bit and thats ok. Just appreciate the time alone you do have together and remind yourself that one day you will have built in babysitters.
Consignment stores are everything especially when you are trying to match 7 people all the time.
Costco is your best friend.
Set a reminder on your Alexa to clip the 100 toenails and fingernails once a week.
Moms have a gift of prioritizing every second of every day so while running up stairs to wipe someones bum grab a few things to take up with you so you don’t have to go up and down an extra five times out of the six hundred you will.
Kids are helpful. They want to help if you explain that you need it and why. At five I have Dakota helping with dishes, Jax is taking care of trash and the three oldest are cleaning up toys when I ask. Don’t be scared to ask them to use those cute little hands.
You will always have throw up or poop in, on and around you. Get used to it and have perfume in every diaper bag.
Being in public will feel overwhelming but on lookers will either laugh or offer help. Take the help. Let the guy behind you in line at Target pick up the shoe that your kid kicked off.
Don’t ever order your own meal at a restaurant because you will have six to-go boxes if you do. They never finish their food. Order the margarita instead of the meal.
Sleep isn’t a thing right now so don’t expect it just have really great coffee on deck.
Surround yourself with friends that encourage the chaos and enjoy your time together. Someone is bound to pull down their pants and pee in the front yard, spill a drink, get crumbs in a couch etc. True friends who invite you over with that many humans know the drill.
Train the olders well and the littles will follow.
Laundry is life. Have a glass of wine while you do it. Make it fun!
You will be exhausted and you will blame your spouse for said exhaustion. The only way to fix this is by making that time for the “special special” but don’t have too much “special special” because then you may get another surprise bundle of joy.
They will all look exactly like your husband. Don’t take offense you are in their personality somewhere.
Time to yourself will seem non existent because it is but if you can take the bath or shower alone, if you can play a game of Candy Krush on the potty, if you can tan for two minutes without another being on top of you, remember to appreciate those moments.
LOVE HARD ON THEM NOW. This is a season and it is flying by so through the tears, the lack of sleep, the fight over green beans, the gallon of Gatorade spilt on the floor by your eager toddler… love it all. Write it all down. Don’t ever forget that you dreamt of these moments all your life. The good, the bad and the goofy.
Last night I took babe out for the big 40th birthday to the Fairlane Hotel and ate at Ellington’s Midway Bar and Grill. For our Nashvillian friends…Best. Food. Ever. Being from the west coast I’m always apprehensive about eating seafood in the middle of the country but their scallops were a gift from heaven. We started with the tastiest truffle fries, fried pork strips with Alabama white sauce (this is slowly becoming my favorite condiment), baked cauliflower drizzled in ponzu, then a wedge salad that could have fed Craig’s whole band, bread (there’s nothing more to say than “bread” because bread is my best friend) and ended with the sexy scallops. At the beginning of this binge feast we came in confident and ready to conquer the entire menu. By the end of the appetizers we called off an entree and dessert. Amazing food, incredible view and ambience (anyone that plays smooth jazz and Brian McKnight in Nashville is a friend of mine) and the sweetest waitress of all time named Kathryn. She was the one that really made the night. Well, her and the two Manhattan’s I drank.
Kathryn was truly the sweetest waitress of all time. She was professional, informative and all around a cool person. She is from Brooklyn so we got to chat about my knowledge of New York and Long Island being that my dad and stepmom live out there, and she also lived in California which is where I’m from. She was a big fan of The Voice and told Craig “You were probably the last season I watched because I figured after you there wasn’t much better”. Apparently the entire staff googled him and watched his blind audition on The Voice before we got there because she knew his name from the reservation. (A. I love that she told us that B. If you ever see someone you love in person go say hi and take the picture. If they get upset they shouldn’t have chose entertainment as a career) It was special that she knew who he was and was a fan because Craig’s order of loves goes GOD, Family and friends/fans… oh and the Cowboys.
Annnddd this is where my post probably should have started before I shamelessly promoted an incredible restaurant and gave a shout out to an awesome friend we made… my husband. His heart is his most attractive quality. I will never make fun of him but I will let you in on jokes I have that I’ve told him to his face so here’s one. He’s like living with a super hot Grandma. He loves fancy dishes, cooking, flower arrangements and matching BUT he also cheers on the Cowboys every Sunday (Yay Sports!!!), works on cars, loves a fine whiskey and eats steak like a caveman. So really I’ve got the best of everything.
40 is a big birthday and last night was a beautiful night of reflection. As we sat chatting with Kathryn about his career and experiences it really hit me just how incredible his life and now our life is. He went from scraping money to pay for diapers and cans of tuna (he still eats canned tuna weekly but by choice now) to playing a residency at The Hard Rock with Rascal Flatts in a years span. You can tell in his humble and soft spoken personality where he came from but when he’s on stage he becomes CWB. Guitar in hand he commands everything around him like the pro he is. And his voice…. I know I’m bias but it’s just the best.
Baby, you are a force to be reckoned with. Own 40 like you do everything else and I’m just so very proud of you. Thank you for the perfect dinner, thank you for always getting up on stage when I ask you to on our date nights, and mostly thank you for loving me and our kiddos with all your might. Oh, and NO thank you for my pounding headache today. Topshelf baby topshelf.
BoydsRUs 