Fall Fashion Week - Saturday

Welp, I've followed this for years but never actually done it...

So I figured, WHY THE HECK NOT?!
SURELY I can come up with one week's worth of decent outfits. Here's outift #1 fit for Texas Fall.

Bow: Made
Shirt: Gifted
Shorts: Old Navy
Belt: Thrifted
Shoes: Should be thrown away Target

JUST BETWEEN FRIENDS is today! I get to go buy my lady babies lots of pretty new clothes for Fall/Winter.

Uh...

I was writing about how exhausted I am...but I'm seriously too exhausted.
Back on FB, already regretting it.

This is what Norah is up to now.

You can see more of "Norah Grows" series here.

I've got shoots and baby girls clothes shopping this weekend, what about you?

TGIF
Mae

Our Weekend in Pictures: Summer's winding down

Friday:
Holy smokes people, we saw The Lion King.
I was extremely excited to take Lily to see it. It was the first movie I ever saw in theaters, I was thrilled that it came back out :]

After the movie was over we walked outside to an amazing downpour. We were supposed to make pizza, but we decided to go to Freebird's instead. How can you go wrong with The Lion King and burritos? [Lily's been roaring all weekend, hilarity.]

Saturday:

While I was getting ready for a friend's birthday brunch, Lily decided to get all dressed up too ;]

Later that evening, Eamon had a [long ass] business call which left me trying to get the girls to stay quiet for THREE HOURS. So...while I was supposed to be making pizza for dinner, Eamon said we should go out. So to Southlake we went for Central Market!

Sunday:
I actually took the girls out all by myself to the grocery store, it went so smoothly! Thank you, Jesus.
I got lots of editing done, made some FANTASTIC golden chicken broth and then made pizza for dinner :]

Right as we were getting Lily ready for bed, it started pouring outside again :] Lily and Eamon went out on the stairs and watched. Gah, I love them.

I hope you all had a fantastic weekend!
Happy Monday,
Mae

Blogher? I hardly know her!

So...

Looks like I'm going to be a part of the Blogher publishing network. Cool HUH?
I've been super busy editing this week but wanted to let you know that this little ol' blog's gonna get a makeover soon :]

First up will be the addition of  a "Norah Grows" page :]
Go check her out, she's frikkin adorable.

Our Weekend in Pictures: Fall is Here...Almost

Friday I started working out again. It's freakin tough, especially living upstairs and having to haul this thing up and down the stairs every day, but we'll see. Having thighs that don't touch might be worth it ;]

I let Lily listen to Eamon's iPod to keep her busy.

Saturday I had TWO shoots at the ass crack of dawn and when I got back Eamon went to Wichita Falls for the day. So there are no pictures to share, lol. It was long, tiring, and aggravating ;] My computer had ZERO memory on it left so I had to wait to get an external hard drive for it. Who knew my pictures were taking up 75 gigs...lalalala.

Sunday was the tenth anniversary of September 11th. My mind had been reeling all night thinking about that day, about the way my world has changed since then, what I think about the "never forget" mentality, the "us versus them" mentality...all of it. Well anyway. We got in the car to head to Central Market, as our usual weekend schedule dictates. NPR and mostly everyone else was playing different coverage of memorial services. [Go check out this week's broadcast of This American Life] So we get to Central Market and get in line at the cafe for lunch. We see the cashier standing where she usually does. Every time we come in she lights up and totally falls for Lily. She's always so nice and gives Lily special treatment :]
I noticed immediately she was having a rough day. Her eyes were puffy, her hair was kinda messy, she looked really distracted. And she wasn't wearing her Hijab.
I almost started crying for her. She almost always has it on, especially on Sunday's, but because of everyone's heightened ethnic/racial sensitivity yesterday, she wasn't allowed to keep her modesty. My heart broke for her. I thought "Would her employers make her take her scarf off if she were Jewish on Good Friday?" We ordered our food, sat down and ate. I asked Eamon if he noticed and he even said that it looked like she was having a rough day. I couldn't get her off of my mind.


















I asked Eamon to get Lily started shopping while I went to the restroom, when I came out, I went back to the ordering line. When she had a minute I pulled her close and hugged her. I whispered in her I was sorry that she wasn't allowed to wear her hijab, and that I was looking forward to seeing her pretty scarves. I told her I was praying for her [safety and peace] for the day and that she was loved. She choked back tears and said "No, it's ok, I'm ok...I'll be ok. Thank you." and she went back to her station.
I know she get's looks every time we're in there and she's wearing her pretty scarves, and I know every year must be hard for her, but I can't begin to imagine what she [and other Muslims] went through yesterday. It's hard to say you wouldn't look at them or treat them differently. I mean, I DID!

At the beginning of this year, one of my goals was to be a kinder, more loving person. When I was sitting on the toilet at Central Market, I felt Jesus tell me to hug my sister, regardless of how awkward it seemed, because if He was there with me, it wouldn't be. He was right.

[Lily. Hates pictures.]

I hope you all had a lovely weekend, can you feel Autumn in the air?! It's coming soon!

Happy Monday,
Mae

Coconut, Chamomile & Lavender Soothing Scrub

This is Norah. She's adorable.

And has eczema.

Many people are of the belief that eczema has undetermined origins, and that it is uncurable without the aid of a perscription. Through LOTS of research and elimination dieting, we have learned that Norah's rash comes from eggs and dairy. This particular breakout was from almost two weeks ago when I had Indian food and took a unknowing abso-freakin-lutely damn good bite of paneer cheese. Symptoms can take up to a week to show up and up to three weeks to calm down.
In the meantime, Norah's left with red, cracked, pusing, sometimes bloody, scabby, easily infected sores on her face :[ I've been cleaning her face with colloidal silver to prevent or cure infection, and coconut oil to sooth/moisturize. But, it just isn't enough of a soother as I'd like. Norah often is kept up at night by scratching her itchy face, so I found out that chamomile and lavender are both natural soothers. Any good quality essential oils that I've found are just too expensive so I'd given up. UNTIL I had a brilliant idea-TEA!! So last night I started experimenting after buying some tea from central market. Here's my recipe for an amazing lotion/scrub/smelly good concoction to sooth, lightly exfoliate, reduce redness and reduce swelling for your little one's rash.
Note ***I ain't got my medical degree. Or any degree as a matter of fact. Don't ever put anything on your child's skin that they have an allergy to [I do know some babies who are allergic to coconut oil], and always consult your family health care provider before making any changes in your baby's health :]

What you'll need:

• Extra Virgin Organic Coconut Oil
• Organic Chamomile & Lavender tea from Traditional Medicinal
• spoon & bowl to stir ingredients together
• container to keep your finished product in

I cleaned out an old Burt's Bees hand creme jar, but I'm sure a baby food jar or even tupperware container would work great :] Just make sure to clean it out REALLY well!

I found that for every tea bag you use, four teaspoons of cold coconut oil are needed. Sidenote- DON'T microwave or otherwise heat up your coconut oil to "get it out of the jar." Just spoon it out! Every time it heats up, it's nutritional value goes down. Coconut oil is ideal to use because of how lotion-like it already is. It will melt some while you are using it, then when it cools down in the jar it becomes solid and doesn't separate from the tea :]

Pour in your tea over your oil [I used two tea bags and 8 teaspoons of oil to fill my jar]

Stir well until there aren't any lumps in the oil and the tea looks evenly incorporated :]

Spoon into your container

 Now apply to your cute little baby's cheeks and let them play. They don't have to be naked, but it's preferable for cute pictures.

Leave on...well, I just left it on her all night last night, but for this I left it on for 30 mins or so. I could tell immediately that the swelling went down, all of the dead skin was gently exfoliated, and Norah was much more settled :] I think this well be a great addition to our bedtime routine!

So try it out and let me know how it works for your baby!

Happy Monday friends! Hope you had a great weekend :]
Mae

Why Are YOU Giving Parenting Advice?!

I've been meaning to write this post for a while but didn't want to step on anyone's toes or be awarded Bitchy Mom of the Year Award, and I still might, but I feel someone gotsta say it.

While at one of my Many Mommy Monthly Meetings I saw two moms that I've gotten to know in the distance talking. They both have happy, well adjusted, easy tempered kids and are pretty cool moms. I then heard one say to the other "Yeah, s/he likes it, but I've got to get him/her to stop. I was reading on 'I'm a Way Better Mom Than You' blog that s/he could end up with stunted growth" [or something ridiculous] "if s/he doesn't stop by two years." And all I could think was "...are you freakin kidding me?!? Have you SEEN her kids!?!"
It struck a chord in my heart, it irritated me deeply, nearly enraged me.
It made me flash back to Lily's pregnancy when I was listening to arguments for/against co-sleeping in the office that I worked at. Two moms were getting into it, they seemed passionate about their opposite stance, and weren't going to back down. I happened to agree with the pro co-sleeping mom and silently took her side [that's a whole 'nuther bowl of cheerios]. Not long after that she confessed to me that she used her baby to keep her husband away from her when she was too tired to have sex. WHAT?!? She was just on this tangent about what a great frikkin mom she was, for being so in tune with her family's need, but then comes back and jokes with me about "how bad" she is because she LITERALLY put her child between her and her husband. I hadn't made but a few pregnancy related parenting choices but I still asked "Why are YOU giving parenting advice?" in my head.
Fastforward to my first months of being a SAHM. I was glued to these blogs. Suddenly, I didn't know how to be a mom, but these ladies [some that I'd never even met] who have 1,000+ "blog followers" and facebook fans MUST have it figured out. It didn't matter to me that these women only had one or two kids [or that some of them were just PREGNANT, hadn't even given BIRTH!] or that their salvation was questionable at best. Suddenly, I denied my own intuition, I disregarded my gut, and forgot to bring all of my questions to God instead of leaving them in a comment form in hopes that an [often] complete stranger would answer.
It wasn't until recently that I started asking, "Why aren't the well seasoned vets with 5+ kids blogging as much? I want THEIR advice." And it hit me. Because most of them ARE PARENTING. They aren't sitting down for hours at a time every day writing about what an awesome mom they are while their kids are coloring on the walls, making pipe bombs in the bathroom, or lassoing the cat in the backyard. They know that only the important things are worth sitting down and sharing with the world.
Since this realization, I've been very intentional about who I go to with my "OH MY GOSH, IS MY BABY GOING TO DIE?!" inquiries. I have one mom with kids nearly the exact same age as my kids because if my girls are going through something, chances are, her kids have been there recently too. I also know that there are things that she is better than me at, by evidence of her kids! There's another mom who is a "newer" mom than I am. She only has one baby, a few months older than Norah, but she offers me a fresh perspective on things that I may have not thought of. Another mom I go to has SIX kiddos. They are well adjusted, spirit filled, fun kids. Their mama has obviously been doing something right! All of these mamas are God seeking, health conscience, minimal medical intervention women. I know I can go to them without questioning glares, whack medical advice, or blasphemous theories. I know that if they question me, it's to grow me, and that they have my children's well being in mind, not their ego. I also ask my mama from time to time, after all, she does know me like no one else :]

I guess what I'm getting at is this: if you are a mommy blogger, find what you're supposed to be blogging about. For about a year my blog went through an identity crisis. Am I a food blog? Am I a craft blog? Am I a parenting blog? No. I'm not. I'm supposed to be sharing what God is doing in my life in an often hilarious, sometimes tear jerking fashion. I deeply feel that if you're going to tackle something so personal and convicting as how to raise your children, you should be called by Our Father to do it. Our words are to encourage and lift one another up, not to cause your brother to sin. Worry is sin.

So long story short, this is my parenting advice on why to not listen to parenting advice ;]

Hope you're having a great week and have an awesome weekend.

I took this video of Norah last night.
There's Sesame Street in the background, dirty dishes in the sink, Lily comes in and says "FOOOOCK!" [#awesomeparenting] and Eamon share's his excitement over our daughter's poop. Just a typical night in the life ;]


Norah's Sink Bath from Mae Burke on Vimeo.


Oh, and today is day two of my Facebook detox. Only mild bouts of dry heaving and convulsions so far, but I'm doing good. Trying to not find OTHER distractions on the internet to replace facebook :]