Take care of yourself.

If I could go back in time and write a letter to myself at 17, I would say...

The best years of your life are yet to be lived. Don't spend so much time/energy/money trying to fit in during High School. Once you graduate, most of the people you were friends with will become memories. Very few stick around. But the ones who do, hold on to tightly. Those are the friends who count.

The prom dress is a GREAT choice. You will not regret it many years later when you look back at old pictures.

Learn to forgive. Life is too short to carry all that hurt around with you. It won't make you any less of a person to forgive and move on.

Change the oil in your car ever 3 months.

Wear sunscreen. Even if you don't "burn", and even if you are slightly embarassed to be seen putting it on. And don't go tanning.

Do not buy the 100 year old fixer-upper house. The housing market will crash and you'll lose all of they money you put into it.

Wear a bikini as much as you can. Soon you will have stretch marks covering half of your body and YOU  won't want to. (But, you won't regret the stretch marks either because they are the battle scars.)

Take care of yourself. Guard your heart. Nourish your spirit. Eat well. Exercise.

Yellow is not your best color. Neither is orange.

Listen to your elders.

Stay home on Halloween unless you are taking a child trick-or-treating.

Save as much money as you can and work hard.

He's not worth it. None of the "He's" will be worth it until you meet Mr B. In which case, he IS worth it.

DO NOT HIKE IN PLATFORM SHOES. Ever. Trust me on this one.

Appreciate your family more. You'll need them.

It is not ok to eat an entire carton of icecream or an entire box of oreos while pregnant. It is not easy to lose 54+ lbs. (Oh, and you'll tell everyone it's just water weight.....)

You will have a life that will end up more amazing than you can imagine right now. Happily ever after is right around the corner, just sit back and enjoy the ride. Stop searching and let it happen.

xoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxo

Be careful what you wish for....

... because it just might come true!

For most women pregnancy is 40 weeks long. For me, it was 41.5 weeks... but, hey, who's counting right? 41.5 weeks of cravings, heat flashes, swelling, nausea, weird dreams, and Coke flavored Icees. I knew I wanted to find out the sex of baby as soon as possible. My first thought after "Holy Bejesus, I AM pregnant!" was "Boy or girl? Oh, BOY for sure!" I had a feeling it would be a boy. Boy name? Easy! Boy nursery? Easy! Girl name? Uhhhh... Girl Nursery? Help please!

I love manicures, shopping, and stilletos just as much as the next person girl, but I always saw myself being a boy mom. I imagined a life filled with muddy kisses, Tonka trucks, and frogs. That is, until.............

My 19 week ultrasound. I was SO excited to find out the gender. So excited, in fact, that the first words out of mouth upon entering the exam room were "YES WE WANT TO KNOW THE GENDER. PLEASE TELL US TODAY". Mr B and I held hands as we watched our amazing little one move. When the ultrasound wand passed over that oh-so-important spot, we sat still. We watched. We waited. IT'S A GIRL!

What? A girl! We were having a girl! WOO-HOO! Pink. Lace. Ruffle butt pants. Ok, I could do this. I could be a girl mom. Wait.... I wanted to make sure. I asked how sure the ultrasound tech was. 95%. Those are really good odds. Girl!

I spent the next 12 or so weeks preparing a princess wonderland nursery. Butterflies, pink, daisies... white lace. We filled the room with pink toys, and pink dresses. A baby girl can never have too much pink! I made it my goal to have the nursery completely ready before our 3D ultrasound at 31 weeks. The only thing I had left to do was put her precious 3D picture in the frame on the nightstand... and then wait. Wait for the day our little Carly would join us.

I made a joke in the car on the way to the 3D ultrasound that "It would be really funny if we end up having a boy" Because you know, we had everything finished... and my shower was SIX days away... and I apparently like having heart attacks. Those 12 words would come back to bite me when we did, in fact, find out I was a card carrying member of Team Blue. I had always wanted a boy, so this was good. Right?

No better way to find out than in a room with an ultrasound tech, my husband, my grandma, and a webcam with our out-of-town relatives watching. What do you say? What do you do? I laughed. Out loud. It was either cry, or laugh and I chose to laugh.

I would be lying if I said I never cried but now, in this moment, I can't imagine being "Mom" to anyone other than my beautiful blue eyed boy.

So, be careful what you wish for because it just might come true! & When it does, it just might be nothing short of perfect. I can't wait for muddy kisses from the sweet boy who stole my heart on July 22, 2009. Being a boy mom really is as amazing as I imagined.

Dear customer service lady at Wal-Mart

Dear customer service lady at Wal-Mart who stared at her nails the entire time I was talking,

Otherwise known as "Patsy", or so your name tag with smiley face said.

I realize that you think I am slightly ridiculous for wanting to exchange infant formula this afternoon. Yes, I know, to you "Natural cultures" & "Protect plus" are the same thing. But, they actually are not. If they were, Good Start would save the money and just make one label instead of the two separate ones. I did not appreciate your condescending voice when you stated that "Wal-Mart does not do returns or exchanges on baby formula".

Uhm, Your manager seemed to believe other wise. I would not have had to get your manager involved if you would have stepped down off of your power trip for 2 seconds and made the exchange yourself. You see, I was serious when I said "Your answer doesn't work for me. Please find someone who will have the answer I want. Which is, YES."

I see your eye roll and death glare & I raise you a hair flip.

Love,
Mrs B