Happy Blogversary….and Two NEW CHALLENGES!

Hello Everyone! Can you believe that this Momma missed her  Two Year Blogsversary! I can’t even believe it, one day I was typing about starting my site then at my One Year Blogsversary I revamped my site and then all of a sudden I looked at the calendar and realized October had come and gone!!! Ah!!! Well Happy Two Years to this Momma! Remember this logo? It makes me realize just how far I’ve come, and how I need to revamp the new site again LOL, I’m only about making it prettier, easier to navigate and better for all of you!!

I just can’t thank my wonderful family, amazing friends and faithful followers enough because without you believing in me I wouldn’t have this beautiful tribute to give to my children some day. My goal is to just keep cooking delicious healthy meals (and some not so healthy!) writing and venting about motherhood as I trudge through the toughest but the best years of my life. I started writing to my children Madison and Drew about a year into writing because it means so much to me for them to see how their childhood was like growing up. I’m so lucky and blessed to be able to be home with them during these years and I want them to see just how we spend these days. I may not always be able to be home with my children and I’ve slowly discovered that though there are some days I’d rather be working than wiping bums and dealing with tantrums I realize that as a mother it’s just one of the examples of how we make sacrifices for our children. When I lost my dad 13 years ago I don’t know why but I often used to think that that wasn’t the “only”  hard time in my life I was going to experience, as we get older we are forever experiencing losses and life changes and this is just one of them for me. I would love to work everyday, pee when I want to pee, shower daily and have adult conversation at noon everyday for lunch, but I’d sacrifice that and all of the things we give up financially If it means I can and will stay home to raise my children. These are the years they need me, these are the years I will never get back again, this is what I tell myself on the days where I’d rather be drinking a bottle of wine!! So with that said, let’s raise that glass (or bottle) of wine and toast this Momma on two very happy and successful years of blogging! I’ve let go of the idea and prospect of making money from my writing right now, I just don’t have the time with two kiddo’s now, however I will not give up because when my kids go to school I’m making it my top priority and hopefully by then I’ll have more under my belt (and a new kitchen ughhhm……hubby….) My children need me so for now this is my happy place when I can steel some time during nap or in between cooking and cleaning! I will continue to build my recipes (still have at least 30 to share) I’ll even vow to start branching out and trying my own ideas and maybe building a little more confidence in the kitchen.

Let’s talk about how I have plenty of events happening in the next few months. A few weeks ago I was selected to take part in cooking for a sponsored event by American Family Insurance. I was honored and it was my first paying gig! 🙂 Not bad! Later next month I’ll have the chance to work with another sponsored event by Gallo Family Vineyards, I’m super excited about this one guys! I get to cook with wine! I’m booked through January for Featured Friday’s and the topics to write about are whirling through my mind!!

Now let’s talk about my next struggle.

It has been a real hard since Drew was born I know it’s a phase and completely normal with a new sibling but had no clue it would be so hard for me lol! Yesterday was the first day that I really concentrated on how I answered every little thing she did and said. Then when I felt my anger rising I would go into another room and tell her Mommy needed a break then when I came back a few min later I explained why I was angry. I also started with explaining to her first thing in the morning that Mommy was done yelling and that I was really going to try and that she needed to equally try and not whine and cry when she didn’t get her way. It did help big time. Going in for nap and bed time seem to be the worst times. Then at 4 am I lost my shit when she woke and wouldn’t go back to sleep I don’t care if she wakes but don’t wake us lol! I begged my husband to not go in her room, she was fine, she was just asking to “Talk about her day”. This is what we do when we go to bed at night so when she woke, she wanted to talk about her damn day at 4 am. When I say I lost my shit, I mean I lost my shit on my husband because he chose to go in there even though I asked him not to, however she heard every word of my tantrum. Oh and I also started taking away her choices I think I was giving way too many! So here we go……first day and I didn’t even make it 24 hours.  So if you don’t know me personally, or actually even if you do, I have to make an awful confession, a confession that is crazy embarrassing however I’m hoping by admitting it to you all it will help me change my ways. Hi my name is Tammi and I’m a yeller. Yup, I may have some really great days however I have a temper, not in a dangerous way but it’s my anger that builds over some stupid things sometimes. Other times I take it out on my children, “Don’t jump on the couch!!” “Madison give your brother space!!!” sometimes even “Why can’t you be more careful” after the 3rd time the juice is spilt. Though I know this approach is wrong, though I know they can have damaging consequences on my children, I still do it. Then lay in bed feeling guilty about it. I’m confessing and coming clean as part of a challenge I’m putting on plate. I’m being honest because I know I’m not alone. Then as if it was a sign of god……….A friend of mine posted this article a few days ago on Facebook, 10 things I learnt when I stopped yelling at my kids. When I read it………I balled. I cried knowing that this is my breaking point, if this Mom can do it I can do it. So that is one challenge I’m on board with!

The second is from a friend I never actually met but came across her site Madison’s first summer, wow can you believe she was that small! Crazy how time flies, anywho…….I was stuck in a rut that summer, it’s when I realized that I was starting to enjoy cooking. When I was faced with this challenge it made me realize that I loved writing. I loved documenting our days and knowing my daughter could some day read these articles it made me invent Momma’s Meals!! Tova’s 30 Day Challenge is about finding the happiness (AKA Muchness) within yourself. Whether you’ve lost someone you loved or if your just struggling with finding what makes you happy. I took this challenge with the theme of my daughter. I documented something each day that she did or that we did that day, this in return taught me to see that she is what makes me happy. Those precious moments made me really appreciate just what I had in life. Unfortunatly Tova had something horrible happen to her site and my 30 Day Challenge was lost, I’m the bad bad girl that didn’t back it up when she told me too so now I’ll never have those words back again but I’m thankful that this challenge made Momma’s Meals be born! So read up on what Tova’s Challenge is all about, she is also in the middle of publishing a Muchness workbook. I just purchased one to be delivered as soon as it’s ready, I cant wait to receive this beautiful glittery workbook! So that brings me to my next challenge, through the holidays we all try to be a little more thankful for what we have, Tova has the 10 Day Challenge going on and I plan on taking part of that from now through the new year, I can’t commit to doing it 10 days in a row because well you just read all that I have going on, plus the holidays however I will be completitng it wihtin a month or two and I’ll be sharing just how easy it’s going to be for me!! (besides the time of course!!)

Told you I had a lot going on!! I wasn’t lieing! So Happy Blogsversary to this Momma!