First of all, Please don't forget about the Live Chat I'm doing tonight from 8-7pm!!!

We'll have a really good time and just talk about... well, whatever you want to!!

If it were up to me, we'd discuss the season finale of the Vampire Diaries..!!! What Happened????

Let's start with the fact that my TV watching has dwindled down to Two shows that are now over for the season. Justified. And. The Vampire Diaries.

I DVR a bunch of other shows, but those are the only ones I don't have a million episodes waiting for me.

So before I say anything that will get me into trouble, I should tell you that I LOVE the Vampire Diaries. Love it.

Damen.

Yes please.

But.

Why couldn't Stephan just unbuckle Elena and let her swim to the top???? OR. Why couldn't he carry them both??? He's a vampire. With super strength. For goodness sakes....

Plus, with all that time spent arguing underwater, I really felt like unbuckling the both of them, grabbing them each by the collar of their shirt and forcing them upwards really would have solved a WHOLE bunch of problems.

Plus. Jeremy says that if Rick is dead than Elena also must be.... But. Really. It's like one of those geometry questions.... (My mom is a geomotry teacher...) Rick could have died without Elena dying. Wasn't that the whole plan??? But if Elena would have shown up as a ghost than Jeremy could have said. Then Rick must be dead too.

Right???

I know I know I know. We're talking television drama here... It's not rocket science and I am really, really trying to let it go.

But it irks. me.

And Rick's death made me cry.

Although there aren't a lot of things these days that don't make me cry.... Third trimester is officially two weeks away.

But I think I've hit my stride a little bit early this time around.....

Mainly because I am so tired and exhausted this HAS to be the third, or we are going to be in seriously trouble if it actually gets worse.

Like as in, my liscense should probably be taken away until after the baby is born. And bedtime has just moved up to 7:30PM if we're lucky.

Sorry kidlets, you'll be putting yourselves to bed for the next three months, mommy has slipped into a pregnancy coma....

Speaking of the kiddos. Mother's Day was a fantastic day yesterday.

We spent the majority of the day just hanging out around the house and getting ready for our Mother's Day Dinner.

I got to spend time with each of the kiddos individually, which sometimes it feels like I never get one on one time with them.

But last week we bought a curling iron(I've never needed on before....) for Recital, so we practiced Recital Hair and I got each girl alone and still for a good forty minutes. It was really sweet.

Plus. They LOVED their hair.

It helps that the Hairspray I have now is AMAZING. (Thanks Lindsay!!!)

Zach spent the day grilling ribs and changing poopy diapers. And Then in the afternoon his family and my mom and our dearest friend and adopted... I don't know what to call her. She's more than an aunt, but not old enough to be a grandma!!! So our adopted... Katie came over and we celebrated being a mother.

Which really means that you do all the stuff mothers are supposed to do. Mother's Day is NOT a day off of being a mother. It's a day filled with extra motherhood...

There were still fights to break up. A house to pick up. Dinner to serve. Children to scold. Hug. And cuddle. There were still diapers to change(Although, I really did call a day off from the stinky ones!! :) There were teeth to brush and boo boos to kiss. And even dishes to do.

Although... The boys really did try to do the dishes. They gave it their best effort.

It's just that.... To be frank. My Dishwasher is not connected to a garbage disposal... Entire plates full of food just will NOT get clean unless you rinse them... And. There is a definite, concrete order to putting a dishwasher together! You can't just throw the dishes in there all willy nilly. I need order!!!

Ok...

Sorry....

I've been called somewhat of a Dishwasher Nazi.

Zach is usually afraid to go near the thing.

And I can't blame him....

Anyway, it was still a great day to remember the best things about being a mother, even with the worst things mixed in.

There was this incident... I'm calling it a "Drive-By-Scratching" and if Scarlett's forehead looks like she just crawled out of a Lion's Den on Picture Day for Recital this week... Stella might have to answer again for her transgressions...

:)

Just kidding.

We'll just make-up her face like we're trying out for Toddlers and Tiaras.

No worries.

If a spray tan is in order. So be it.

Haha!!! Just kidding!!!!!! Again....

Although to be fair, I do not judge the spray tan. Spray tan away.

Just don't take your child into a tanning bed with you.

That's where I draw the line!!!!

Except even then I feel bad saying something, just because of this whole Mommy Wars debate.. I think it's awful!!!

Between the Stay At Home Mom Vs. Working Mom Debate. To the Attachment Parenting Controversy on the cover of Time Magazine, I just hate it for moms everywhere!!!

Since when does the media get to pin mom against mom????

Aren't we all in this together??? Isn't there this universal understanding that being a mom is the absolute hardest job in the world and if we don't support each other, if we don't give one another the knowing eye across the grocery checkout lane and the sympathetic smile when it's not our child throwing an Oscar-worthy temper tantrum but some other poor mom in arms???

Debates wage on for the best way to raise your child. And sure, we all have our own opinions. We might even look down on other moms for their tactics and techniques, but at the end of the day, we give each other the benefit of the doubt because we are all doing the best that we can.

Save for those moms that make the headlines, sending us cringing to our children's bedsides where we wrap them up in our arms and promise to NEVER cook them in a microwave or drive them off a cliff... or whatever other craziness is out there.

The key to motherhood is doing the best job you can for your children. Whether that is working outside your home, devoting your life to raising your children in your home, or trying to manage both and working inside your home.

A friend of mine recently gave me this insight and I ADORE it. She said, "God has equipped each parent with the tools they need to raise their child. It is our responsibility to follow our instincts and raise our children with the best of intentions."

Isn't that encouraging???

I love that.

I love knowing that I already have the tools. I have access to the insight to do what's best already.

For me, I need to send my children to private school, I want my girls in dance because they adore it, I won't give them canned veggies and hormone-free-milk is our newest investment.

I know my decisions don't make sense to a LOT of people.

But they're my decisions.

And they're my children.

And the great part about being a mommy is that you don't have to do things identically with another mom to have an instant connection and lift each other up.

I have my five year old on a traveling competition team. I'm a stay at home mom and hire help. I seriously considered homeschool for a LOT of years. I am on my FOURTH kidlet.

None of those things could be true for you.

You probably, most likely, in all honesty think my dance world is craziness. Especially if you watch the reality shows... You might thing I'm awful for hiring help and not doing my job. Homeschooling might sound like torture to you when public school is more than fine. And four kids might sound like the seventh circle of hell.

But we are still moms. We still get up way to early and stumble around the kitchen in search of a semi-healthy breakfast. We still put up with temper tantrums and tears of plenty. We stay up for hours worrying about our children's futures and struggles and day to day problems. There are still countless teeth to brush, stains to scrub out, boo boos to kiss and fruits and veggies to push.

We really are in this together. And who's to say what is the best way to do it other than doing what's best for our kids???

Mommy Wars is disgusting to me. And shame on the media for giving it credence.

And shame on Time Magazine for making a nursing mother blush....

:)

PS. If you're wondering, I TOTALLY look that fabulous when I nurse. I mean, what woman doesn't????

Anyway, in light of Mother's Day and ALL of the hard work each and every one of us puts in, I say congratulations for making it this far, even if your baby is a day old. It's an accomplishment ladies. And know that you alone are your harshest critique. The rest of us are in this fight with you. And even if you get the stink eye across the restaurant, our tempter-tantrum time will come and we will be right along side you just doing the best job we can.