the loo

After work today, I ventured out sans kiddos to one of my favorite stores- Home Goods. {I had the utmost intention of going in and out quickly, picking up only what I needed to make Chris's anniversary present} But what's a trip to Home Goods without a quick look through all the goodies?! I kicked myself for already spending all of my carefully-saved house decor money (granted, it's been gone for a year now!), wishing instead that I'd saved some of it for today's awesome finds! I've never seen such a good selection of high-quality, designer-style merchandise, especially for the bathroom. Haha, I just laughed writing that sentence. I shall try to act my age for the rest of this blog.

One room in our house that I'm constantly thinking of ways to update is our master bath. I love a peaceful, rustic, elegant bathroom. Ours is pretty plain but has so much potential-empty white walls, floor space, dark wood. I searched for a few seconds on pinterest and found some gorgeous inspiration...

all pics can be found on my pinterest account

Since I couldn't partake of the goodness that the store was offering, I thought I'd share some look-a-likes, in case you want to grab some green and head on down to your neighborhood HG.

I am a huge Restoration Hardware fan. The clean lines, rustic and elegant design, balance between industrial and vintage, I could go on and on. :) You have to be careful to not monopolize your design with RH though, or you might accidentally realize your house looks likes an over-sanitized hospital from the 20's.

I saw so many pieces of furniture, baskets, trays, and accessories that looked like someone had plucked them right from Restoration's own shelves. My phone died before I was able to take pics, but here are some similar pieces you can run to Home Goods for, and probably spend a tenth of the cost! My favorite piece of decorating advice for a bathroom- use plush white towels. They won't bleach from face washes or meds, and they have a hotel/spa feel to them.

all pics found on the RH website

I'm proud to say I resisted spending $757 on above items and instead snagged this cute little $6 woven tray to store my bath stuff on.

PS. Please, if you are going to go redecorate your bathroom, make sure to incorporate this into the design somehow. Nothing like a little clean humor on the pot to get your day started right!

Topic-al Tuesday

Today's topic: paid maternity leave

via

Notice above that our highly developed country (of which I am VERY grateful to live in for many reasons), is the ONLY country on the chart without a national paid maternity leave policy. This is not to say that some private companies don’t offer paid leave. We also have FMLA, which requires employers to provide 12 weeks of unpaid leave with job security (however-to qualify for FMLA, you have to have been an employee for a year or more). All in all, IMO, it's just an embarrassment to our country.

I’ll leave personal stories about my maternity leaves out, for the sake of all parties involved.

Most teachers, and yes, I am a teacher, do not get paid leave. Most women I know do not get paid leave. The ones that do are generally very lucky and work for a generous employer. You can go through an ungodly amount of red tape to get what’s called “disability” pay, which only kicks in after 2 weeks of unpaid leave. So if you’re allowed to take 6 weeks, you could technically get 60% of your pay for 4 full weeks. That’s if disability is even an option in your state/company/etc.

It can get sticky when throwing out ideas for universal paid maternity leave. Who gets it? How much? For how long? Will giving it to ALL women, despite job history, make the birth rate sky rocket? Will it make tax payers angry to know they are paying for maternity leave for women who weren’t working before the baby and paying into the fund itself? Will people have babies just to get money? (snickering over here..thinking about the people who think babies are a walk in the park, just to get a few extra bucks..I can think of a few things I’d do to make money before getting knocked up- something called WORKING?!?) Should it be for all working women? Ok, so how about giving it to working women who make under a certain amount per year? Like I said, sticky with a heap of honey. Good grief.

You know what I’d like? 50% of my salary for 6 months. Seems fair and square. Going back to work after 6 weeks (even 12 weeks) off is a laugh-out-loud joke. At 6 weeks, a new mom’s hormones are barely getting back to normal, possibly not even on the normal scale yet. Nursing is JUST getting easier. Sleep is STILL non-existent. And employers expect to get a full day’s quality work out of that mom? My guess is that the main thing on mom’s mind is BABY. Not to mention all the breaks to pump (if she wants to continue producing milk). Then there are the complications about what to do with tiny 6-week old baby. Talk about a headache. Poor mom. Poor employer. Poor baby. All around stinky situation.

6 months would be a semi-adequate time to bond with baby, catch up on sleep, let the hormone roller coaster come to a halt, and establish and succeed at breastfeeding. *Note- all doctors recommend breastfeeding for at least SIX months, so this makes so much sense! IF mom has to return to work, at least she got to do what the doctors say to do- nurse for 6 months- then she can return to work feeling good about herself and her baby’s health. But WAIT! What about the poor formula companies? My guess is they would be donating millions to whatever political candidate DOESN’T support a paid maternity leave! 

Australia has only had their national paid maternity leave policy for about a year. Maybe the US will be right behind them. I hope so. I’d like to see something. My ears start steaming when I think about tax payer money going towards prisoners in our country who receive free health care, internet access, weight rooms, etc; doesn’t it make sense for some of that money to go toward working women who can’t work due to having a baby? I don’t think we DESERVE it. We don’t deserve anything. And yes, I think a wise woman/couple should save up and have a plan, not rely on the government to “save” them.

The problem lies in reality. What if the wife is the sole breadwinner? What if both working parents make just enough to sustain their family? What if someone has just had a life emergency and their savings has been drained? There are a thousand and one possible scenarios in which a family could really use a paid maternity leave policy. As far as government programs go, I think this one would be an asset to the economy. Let women fully recover before going back to work. Let babies get a chance to get the most healthful option for milk. Let employers get the best work out of their employees. Seems like a win-win-win.

Here and here are some pretty decent articles about paid mat leave in the US. 

How’s that for a Tuesday morning topic, eh? What do you think?

unintentional science project

We took Asher to go get ice cream as a treat for going poo poo in the potty. Little did we know the unintentional science project we were in for... He didn't quite make it to the potty the next time, and his diaper held quite a surprise. Blue Bell Krazy Kolors is definitely nixed from the treat list. 

nap time

Notice what picture is missing? 

before there was Pinterest...

The anniversary of our marriage vows is coming up soon. It's got me thinking about all sorts of stuff, like how we met, what my hair looked like back then (what has happened to all that natural wave?!), where our first kiss was, our wedding...

It's only been 4 short years, but since then, a little something called Pinterest has invaded the computer of almost every girl/teen/woman I know.

Since creating my own Pinterest account, I have to admit, many dazzling and adorable wedding pictures have caught my eye. Twinkle lights hanging from mason jars hanging from tree branches, vintage photo booths with mustaches on sticks, ornately framed chalkboards telling guests to "choose a seat, not a side." Ombre wedding cakes topped with twine-wrapped initials. Ice cold root beer bottles floating in antique bathtubs. Let's not forget sending guests home with mini herb gardens stuffed inside mason jars, labeled with chalkboard stickers.

I must admit, wedding planning was stressful. Senior year of college, surrounded by all my best friends-  dating and single, struggling between pretending like I wasn't engaged/tiptoeing around the fact that I was getting married vs. being excited about my upcoming nuptials... it was just an all around exhausting adventure. Adding Pinterest to that mix would have just sent me over the top. The pressure of making my "pins" come to life would have overtaken my thoughts and life.

There's something about wanting your wedding to be perfect, to look like it was carefully planned and prepared, wanting to impress your guests, to dazzle the world with the outward appearance of perfection and bliss. And that was 4 years ago, before the days of mason jars and chalkboards!

Although I'd like to think I would have used Pinterest as merely a "tool" to organize my thoughts and ideas, I'm man enough to admit it would have been a quick way to balloon my budget, add to my list of impossible wishes, and drain my energy and time.

Being a Pinterest-era bride must make for some interesting wedding planning. It's the on-crack version of looking through bridal magazines, then cutting and printing out our favorites to glue into our dream wedding scrapbook. Whether it's today or was 20 years ago, the wedding craze somehow manages to make us think we have "control" over this momentous day, that we can custom-build our perfect event, that what we provide in person and in pictures of that day is somehow an extension of who we are...

I can't count the number of times I've heard women say, "If only I had done this..." or "If I could go back and change..." in reference to their wedding day. I've been tempted to agree with them or continue the conversation with my own, "I wish I had know about... {insert a chalkboard reference here}"

The reality is, even if I was able to do my wedding all over again, Pinterest-style, it would still be full of imperfections. But, it would still have the same end-result: my marriage!

Which brings me back to my upcoming 4-year anniversary. I am ever grateful for the wonderful man God blessed me with. I am constantly learning more about myself through him. I am challenged by him. I am a parent with him. I am pursued by him. I am loved by him. I am safe with him. I can cry with him. I can fight with him. Better yet, I can make up with him. ;)

Our wedding is a sweet sweet memory of the day we made our life-long covenant. I don't remember what the centerpieces looked like, and I don't really care what colors the bridesmaid dresses were. What  I do remember are the tears in Chris's eyes as he said his vows, the support and love of our family and friends, and the feeling of joy as we hit the road as a married couple. Our wedding did not a marriage make. The lack of spectacular decor may reflect a low budget, but it does not reflect a lack of anything in our marriage.

The goal of wanting people to "remember" a wedding and feel like they are at a celebrity party is just a recipe for discontentment and a twisted version of reality. I'd like to think of a wedding as a party to celebrate God and all his goodness, the gift of marriage he has given us, the incredible representation of his love that is embodied in the vows~"For better or worse. Richer or poorer. In sickness and in health." There is no Pinterest pin that can truly capture what a wedding is really about. What a marriage is really about. And if you know that, your wedding will truly be a blast, because your ultimate focus will be on the end result, not the pinning or the planning.

And the sermon to myself is over. :) Yes, we all, myself included, need a good reminder of this every once in a while. Nothing like perusing through old wedding pictures to spark a blog like this!

here's to the rest of our lives, baby!

Back to normal

It's Father's Day, and all is well in the Layton household. My hubby came home today from a 9-day trip to Colorado. 

Our family of 4 is happily enjoying our quiet, chocolate-cake filled evening at home. 

I guess I should clarify..the card is an inside thing. He's my only baby daddy :)

Everything is as it should be. 

p.s..... the 300 ab workout has just about done me in, and it's only day 4. If by day 30 I don't have washboards J-Lo would be jealous of, I'm gonna cry.

baby belly

So here it goes....

I suffer from am blessed with post-baby belly. And apparently I'm not alone, because I stumbled upon this inspiring blog chronicling a mom's journey to ab-tonage. She was even brave enough to share a before and after picture.

At exactly 10:27 tonight, I decided to take her up on the "300 Ab Challenge." Don't ask me why. I'm sure I'll regret it in the morning. I snapped a few "before" pics, then got down to business. I could barely get through the first set of 25, much less the next 10 sets. But I did it. Only had to take two potty breaks (something about giving birth 3 months ago makes it hard to hold in sometimes.. tmi?)

The workout lasts for 30 days. (It's pretty much the P90X ab ribber x, which I did, sort of, after my first baby). We'll see how long I last.

If I can make it, I promise to post a before and after picture on this here blog.  What fun. I'm almost hoping I don't make it, so I can spare myself the embarrassment and horror of actually sharing what a 3 month out of shape post-baby belly looks like. I don't know why it's so hard for women to admit we're not superheroes- unless we're lucky enough to have a live-in chef and personal plastic surgeon, it takes a while to look "normal" again. And by no means do I think "normal" is a size 4 with no stretch marks. I just mean back to the way you felt when you could fit into your non-maternity clothes and bend over without looking like a lovely dimpled cream puff.

So check back here in 30 days if you want the "Real Housewives of Forney" version of post-baby belly. :)

Let's get real...this is me most days, just not the next 30!

***I feel the need to add that it IS more important to focus on inner beauty and not get caught up in things like the ridiculous need to be beautiful according to the media and mainstream culture.***

see ya, i'm getting some ice cream!

Mommyhood brings so much out in the open. My patience, or lack thereof, is apparent in the way I treat my kids and my husband. My emotions become pretty hard to keep under wraps throughout the day. My exhaustion brings out the worst in me.

It can get really hard. I recently read a blog about "pouring into yourself" so you have enough to pour into others, first and foremost your family.

What exactly does that mean?

Well...for me, it means letting go of what I feel is selfish, unimportant, or too time-consuming and allowing myself to have a little fun. 

For me, it means buying some new nail polish, giving myself a pedi, and catching up on Grey's Anatomy. Can you believe that finale!?!

my new fav brand- I can almost justify the $8 price tag since it literally never chips!

For me, it means letting go of all the "to-do" lists and finally taking a nap.

For me, it means getting up a little early, making a nice cup of coffee, and reading a few chapters in a new book.

For me, it means spending 30 uninterrupted minutes perusing pinterest, then running to Walmart to pick up ingredients to make whatever yummy scrumptious unhealthy dessert recipe looked the prettiest. Today it was this! Totally worth it.

For me, it means ditching my diet, jumping in the car and heading for a double dip ice cream cone. Blue Bell Butter Crunch, oh my gosh.

For me, it means treating myself to a little window shopping, (or if I'm not as frugal as I want to be, using my teacher discount on a new cute dress at Loft).

these dresses are the BEST for nursing...my closet is quickly becoming very maxi-friendly

For me, it means grabbing my running shoes and going out for a jog in the cool evening air. All by myself.

For me, it means treasuring that hour on the phone with my best friend, then taking the time to call again the next day.

For me, it means memorizing a Bible verse. This week's is~

For me, it means sitting at the kitchen table with a pretty pad of stationary and mapping out my day. I'm not exactly what I called well-organized, so putting pen to paper every now and then helps me feel less all over the place. 

For me, it means occasionally thrusting the baby and toddler in my husband's arms and just going. Who knows where, it doesn't really matter, as long as it's somewhere else.

And for me, sometimes it means doing absolutely nothing.

Because sometimes, when I do one of these things, I feel energized, refreshed, special, and ready to face the rest of the day, or night, in the case of a nursing newborn.