Erin Akin Carroll

1. We have a date night tonight! We’re going out to eat and then going to see Dark Knight Rises. I’m so excited!

2. We watched the Olympic Opening Ceremonies last night. I am obsessed with the Olympics and the athletes and their stories. I specifically love gymnastics, beach volleyball, swimming, diving, and track and field. I just get so excited about everything. And I love reminiscing about past great Olympic moments. I can remember in 1992 and 1996 thinking that the Olympic gymnasts were just the greatest girls in the world!

I loved the opening ceremonies. I thought they did a great job of showing the British history and traditions with so much personality and heart. The musical montage was so much fun!

3. Having a potty-trained child is just the best thing in the world. I am so proud of him. Except we’ve struggled with naps because he is now potty-trained. I’m not sure if he’s not napping because he needs to go or what, but I think potty training killed nap time. Kind of like the way video killed the radio star.

4. We had the Skinny Taste zucchini boats for supper last night. Yum! I used half sausage and half organic beef because Todd doesn’t love the taste of sausage. I also added oregano and more garlic than it called for to make sure it had plenty of flavor. These were just delicious!

5. I have to confess that I have been such an exercise slacker since we went to my parents’ house. I haven’t set foot in the gym since we left to visit my parents on June 28. I feel like mush. Gross and bloated and gross. I got a text from my trainer today asking if I was ready to get back on schedule. I quickly replied with a big, “YES!” I’m ready. So starting Monday it’s on like Donkey Kong.

6. We still have one vacation left this summer and it’s a beach trip with my parents, my brother and his girlfriend. We’re all really excited to get away and have some good time together. And Hudson told me he’s excited about the lazy river!

7. Also- can we talk about the cuteness that’s happening with Mini Boden and their London-inspired shirts for boys?

So what about you? Have you seen Dark Knight Rises? Are you excited for the Olympics? Did you watch the Opening Ceremonies? What’s your favorite event? Feel free to send any gym motivation my way!

Once upon a time we had a house showing. And then in the next three days we showed the house to the same people again. These people were scheduled to see our house for a fourth showing.

Time to put on the charm.

So I cleaned the house spotless. I lit candles in a few different rooms. I baked cookies and put them out on the counter with cute little cocktail napkins.

And I made a playlist for the iPod. It was a playlist of some nice, relaxing piano music. Hymns, really. I figured if the couple recognized the hymns they’d appreciate them. And if they didn’t recognize the hymns they wouldn’t know the difference. But hymns were the nice, relaxing piano music I had on the iPod.

I removed every other song from the playlist so the hymns could shuffle at a low volume.

The boys and I left the spotless house with soft music playing, we loaded up in the car, and we drove around.

The potential home owners came and looked. Forty-five minutes later they left.

When I came back in the house with the boys, some of the lights had been turned off, the candles had been extinguished and the iPod was turned off on the dock.

I thought it would be nice to turn on the music while I folded laundry, so I went to the iPod and hit “play.”

And I didn’t hear piano music. It was a podcast from our good friend and our wedding minister. And he was just giving a nice sermon right there on our iPod.

It was about then that I covered my mouth and started laughing. And I’m pretty sure I was blushing even though no one could see me.

The podcast was in the mix with my nice, relaxing piano music and I just died to think of the couple looking at our house and being surprised by the sound of a man’s voice coming from the iPod dock!

I have no idea how much of it they heard. Or if they realtor just turned it off. But my imagination is running wild and I just can’t help but laugh!

I told Todd that if we didn’t get an offer on our house we could at least hope for profession of faith!

In case you were wondering, when you want to empty out your iPod, you need to delete the podcasts separately. Just letting y’all know.

Still no official news on the house front, but we’re hopeful. And if this isn’t it there will be another one.

I don’t know about you, but I feel like those pesky mommy wars just don’t seem to be going away. And maybe they are actually going away, but people keep bringing up everyone’s differences and getting everyone’s panties in a wad.

The other night I was sorting through my Spam folder in my email account. All of my Baby Center emails go to my Spam folder. These are the ones that generally have me freaked out that Hayes isn’t saying any words and make me wonder if I should have made my boys’ baby food after all. You know, just a little stab of regret.

So those emails go to Spam. But I found them that night and the one for my 3 year old “preschooler”…. first of all, who has a preschooler? Not this girl! I have a sweet little baby toddler named Hudson. No preschoolers live here. Anyway. It was the Baby Center email for Hudson. And one of the links directed me here.

“How can we stay friends with people who have different parenting styles?”

This was for a message board/forum thing. And I won’t even tell you what the question said because I thought it was kind of judgmental and just petty. But, in general, I have considered this before.

With all of the formula/breast feeding, sleep training/no sleep training, co-sleeping/crib sleeping, homeschooling/public school/private school, attachment parenting/non-attachment parenting…. gosh the list just goes on and on. We are constantly reminded how other moms do it differently than we do.

And I’ve found myself in conversations with friends and realized that because we make different parenting decisions I can’t give advice when she’s asking for it. Because I just don’t completely know her situation. And I don’t want my response to sound judgmental.

But maybe all I need to do is listen. Isn’t that all I ever want from my friends? As long as there’s not an agenda or guilt trip involved, it’s nice to learn from other people.

When Hudson was born, I’m confident that I had a “my way or the highway” attitude and could get really defensive if “my way” was questioned. But just like each baby is different, I think as moms we change a bit with each child.

So unless I see a friend who is hurting her child, I absolutely think I can and should stay friends with people who have different parenting styles? Otherwise, how else can I learn?

I may not ever make my own baby food and I may never nurse a child past the six week mark. I’ll probably always have a baby sleeping in a crib from the day they come home from the hospital and I’ll swaddle and do all those things that I do.

Or maybe I won’t. Maybe I’ll learn some incredibly valuable information from someone else who does it differently and is perfectly happy.

One thing is for sure. When you become a parent you truly see how different you and your friends are just based on your parenting choices alone. Babies can change everything. But I don’t want them to change my friendships. Because the good Lord knows I need my friends.

I don’t expect my kids to have friends that are all exactly like they are, so I shouldn’t expect the same thing for myself.

How about you? Have you found it difficult to stay friends with people who have different parenting styles?