Do you ever find yourself doing something that you never thought you’d do? Or maybe you just never thought you’d be old enough to do something?

When I push my kids through the grocery store in the buggy and buy formula, diapers, and endless bags of string cheese for Hudson, I think, “who am I?”

How did I get here? I mean, I totally love it. But just seven years ago I was finishing college and didn’t have a plan in the world. So I went to grad school. And now here I am. I met my husband and instantly knew he was the one. We got married almost almost three years later, had two babies and now I’m here shopping for formula and diapers. I’m cooking casseroles and trying to make sure they’re toddler-friendly.

I think it’s truly remarkable how our lives can change.

I lie awake at night worrying about things I never imagined worrying about. You get pregnant and as you’re preparing to have your baby, you don’t think much past how to feed them and how to get them to sleep through the night. But what about the worries of how they’re doing in school? Or how they’re progressing developmentally or whether or not they’ve eaten enough fruits and vegetables?

The obvious answer here is that I’m a mother. But is the girl from seven years ago still there somewhere?

Sometimes I don’t know. When you have kids, your heart and your mind are consumed with your kids. You’re changed. You’re softened and in some ways you’re hardened. You want them to be healthy, safe, happy, kind, caring and if you’re like me, you’re praying that you are helping to work in their heart to bring them to Jesus. It’s heavy stuff and it’s a lot of responsibility. Obviously. You think of them first.

But you also can turn on the “mama bear” so quickly and come to their defense and rescue. How crazy is it to think that I am my kids’ advocate? I speak for them. I look out for their best interest. Me!

There was a time in my life when my only responsibility was to get up and go to work every day. I could sleep in on Saturdays, stay out as late as I wanted and zip off out of town for the weekend. Most of us had a time like that in our lives.

But I truly don’t miss those things. Now I clip formula coupons and send Hudson to his room when he misbehaves. But I also snuggle and sing songs. And somehow, over the past two years, I’ve grown up. People have said to me on this blog (mothers that were wiser than I was) that this time would come. I’d stop worrying about what people thought of me. I’d stop focusing on silly things and appearances. It’s just too exhausting to try to keep up and to waste time with insecurity. (Trust me, I still have plenty of insecurities, but they’re much better than they were.)

At the end of the day, it takes me a pretty long while to turn off the mom mode and get to a place where I can clear my mind, completely unwind and let go. Maybe that will change with time. If I’m with a fun group of girls or my husband and I are out by ourselves, I can find that silly spirit of mine that has been slightly stifled by responsibility and overwhelming love.

But that responsibility and the overwhelming love are the reasons I get out of bed in the morning. I can look back sometimes with nostalgia at that girl I used to be while I thank God for where I am right now.

This has been such a crazy week for us. It’s Hudson’s first full week of school. I have had either a Junior League meeting, children’s choir, a party for friends or something else going on every night this week. TC has a busy weekend coming up. I’ve had Hudson’s “homework” and been responsible for taking snacks to school for his class. We can’t take our eyes off of our sweet, self-destructive dog. It’s just more busy than what I’m used to.

When life gets crazy busy like this for me and I’m running around with no time to stop, I find myself stumped for blog content. I should have tons of content, right?

I have long to-do lists. I have a full Life Planner. I have a home organization notebook getting used more than ever. I have more pressure to stay up on top of chores because I’m not home quite as often.

But life isn’t quiet enough right now for me to be thinking and listening.

At the end of weeks like this I always feel ragged and exhausted. I feel like I spent all of my time working on stuff for other people and didn’t have those sweet silent moments with my family.

It was just kind of a coincidence that so much fell on my plate this week. I looked through my planner and wasn’t able to see another week with this much going on for a long while.

Because blogging is my outlet, it really bothers me when I feel so stumped. And here I am blogging about not having any blog content. Seems like a stretch to me.

I need a little more silence in my life. I need fewer voices telling me what to do, where to be, how to do it and whatever else. I often feel an overwhelming need to be on top of the latest things- especially TV shows! But this week, during TV premiere week, I don’t really much of an idea about what’s coming on. I don’t have any plans to watch anything. I am a TV addict. What has happened here?

Life has just gotten so busy that I feel a greater pull toward reading or sitting down to write just because it’s a little more quiet. Maybe once I find that comfortable quiet place, things will start to feel a little more regulated.

Now, excuse me while I just let out a big sigh. Siiiigh.

I couldn’t think of a great title for this ordinary brain dump post (with a picture dump included) so I titled it the first movie quote that came to my mind. Ferris Bueller’s Day Off happens to be one of my favorite movies of all time. Isn’t that movie on everyone’s “favorite movies of all time” list?

• I have another movie list called “The Guaranteed to Make Me Cry Movie List.” The movies on that list include Steel Magnolias, My Best Friend’s Wedding, Beaches, Father of the Bride (part 1 and part 2) and Stepmom. There are others, I’m sure. Oh yeah. Up Close and Personal! Totally a tear-jerker.
• Do you ever smell perfume on someone in passing and it reminds you of something, someone or somewhere. I always smell this perfume that reminds me of my kindergarten teacher. I always want to stop who ever is wearing it and ask them the name of the perfume. Not that I’d go by a bottle and spray it on my pillow or anything, but I’m just always so curious. It’s amazing the memories that come back just from your sense of smell.
• I had a couple of cute Hayes pictures on my iPhone that I wanted to share. I just can’t help it. His sweet smile melts my heart. And what’s cuter than a baby in a beach hat?

• I had a rough day yesterday. Hayes cried a whole lot. He’s not a crier, so I was just confused and couldn’t figure out what to do for him. He napped when he was supposed to and ate when he was supposed to, but when he was awake, he wasn’t happy. I’m assuming it’s teething because of all the drooling, but I don’t feel a little tooth yet. Poor guy.
• The day was even more tough because I had the headache from you know where. I unintentionally gave up Diet Coke yesterday. I didn’t realize I was giving it up until it dawned on me that I had a horrible headache and hadn’t yet consumed a Diet Coke. The crying amplified the headache.
• Our dog, Boudreaux, needs to be medicated for anxiety. My friend suggested the Thunder Shirt. Maybe we’ll try that! He has Acral Lick Granuloma and it’s just so sad. I hate for him to be on anti-depressants because they do change his personality, but I prefer that to watching him hurt himself. We have been dealing with this since he was a puppy. We’ve changed his diet and are now on a holistic, very pricey dog food. But it all comes down to a psychological disorder, not allergies or skin issues. Hopefully we can help him manage it and help him be comfortable, even if he is a little sluggish.
• Look at funny little Hayes in his little hideaway at the beach last week. He just had it made in the shade, y’all. He had his own little private tent and little fan. Lucky kiddo.

• Hudson’s Sunday school teachers were telling me how smart they thought he was because he was talking about “stegasauruses” and “raptors” and “rhinoceroses” in Sunday school. I thanked them. But I know the truth. He watches too much Team Umizoomi and they had an episode about dinosaurs. I’ll just let people continue to think that my kiddo is brilliant without the help of terrible Nickelodeon cartoons!

• Can y’all believe that Friends is on Nick at Night? How is that possible? How old does that make you feel?

I wanted to let you all know that my sweet friends at Sweet Birdie’s Nest are offering a discount code to all Blue-Eyed Bride readers for this month.

Just enter the code “BEB15” to receive 15% off your next Sweet Birdie’s Nest order. They’re currently helping me with lots of great stuff for a baby shower and I know they could help you with your next party or stationery need, too! Visit their Etsy store!

One of my blogging friends, Laura from iGriza, is quite the accomplished entrepreneur! I couldn’t wait to share this with all of you. As a mom who is slightly entrepreneurial, I have a huge soft spot in my heart for other moms who are creative, have great ideas and are working hard to put those ideas into play.

Laura is obsessed with all Mac products. She is the iPhone guru. And I guess now she is also the iPad guru. She also knows everything there is to know about all Baby Jogger products. (You may recall that our double stroller is the Baby Jogger City Select.)

Laura has created the iLatch for iPad 1 and iPad 2. This is an amazing necessity (yes I said necessity) for all of you iPad-using, stroller-pushing moms! It’s also great for hooking up your iPad so your little one can watch his or her movies in the grocery cart, in the pack ‘n play or in the car. The iLatch clips on to so many different places… the head rest or restaurant chair to name a couple more. Just take a look for yourself.

But, first, here’s the thing. Laura needs your help! If this is something you believe in and you want to see it succeed, she has to reach $7,000 in donations before September 26.  With a little over $2,000 to go in 13 days, I want to help her!

To read more about the iLatch and to donate to help Laura, click here… The iLatch iPad case for iPad 1 and iPad 2. All you have to donate is $1.00.

The iLatch will be available in late fall and right now they are accepting pre-orders if you go here and pledge $25, you will get the iLatch in the mail. The regular-priced iLatch will be $50, so you’d be getting a great discount!

Photos of the iLatch in use!