Oh no, I'm turning into that oversharing mother on Facebook!!!!

When I was pregnant with Ryan, I vowed that I would never become one of those moms that posts pictures online of every little thing there kid does, cute or otherwise. I just found it to be tacky and a sort of bragalicious if you will. (And yes, I just made up a word, it’s a combination of bragging and abnoxious, which equals, bragalicious!) Anyway, the vow I made about a year ago did no good because after looking over my old Facebook, Twitter and Instagram posts, I’ve discovered that I’ve turned into that mom anyway! Insert sigh here right here. :(

It's so hard not to post pictures of this little guy all the time,
just look at that smile! I love him soooooo much!

I really don’t know how it happened though since when the little man was first born, I was pretty good about not posting that many photos of him. Once and awhile I would put something on Facebook, yet that was it. Now I’ve found that I’m posting photos of him every day and I think it’s turning into a bit of an addiction. I mean, he’s adorable and all don’t get me wrong :), but I really don’t need to be posting photos of him all of the time doing cute stuff (like stuffing both his fists in his mouth or hammering things with his toy hammer) since I’m pretty sure that not everyone cares about what he’s doing on a daily basis as much as I do!

I think the reason why my posting has gotten a tad out of control is due to the fact that I don’t have a job right now. If I don’t have any freelance writing work to do, then I find myself being really bored during the day, which provides me with a bunch of time to screw around on Facebook and take a bunch of photos of Ryan doing fun baby stuff. Needless to say, I have a large photo library of him growing up over the last few months, something that is cool since when he gets older we’ll be able to look back and smile at everything he’s done. Lately though, I’m sharing those photos with everyone else more than usual and there really is no reason to share everything with the world like I have been.

So, I’m going to recommit to my vow that I made about a year ago now, and I believe it was in front of my then co-worker Kim A., that I’m not going to be one of those moms that posts way too many pictures of their kid online. And no, I’m not going to stop posting all together, just the frequency of how often I post. It’s simply not necessary to let everyone know exactly what he’s doing all the time no matter how cute and fun it might be. Hopefully, I can hold true to my vow this time around, we’ll see though given that sometimes, what he does makes me laugh so much that I want all of you to be able laugh along with me! :)

Until next time, it’s Carla the new mom, and tomboy, signing off!

Not sure what I would've done if I had a girl...

Okay, I’m going to admit this right now, I’m not sure what the hell I would have done if I would’ve popped out a girl instead of a boy. Sure, I may be a woman, but I sure don’t act like it, not in the least. I like basketball, dressing in sweats, and burping! LOL I’m guessing that if I did have a girl, she probably would’ve become a tomboy just like me since I’m not into frilly dresses, the color pink, flowers or any of that girly girl stuff.

I’m not saying that I wouldn’t have tried to get her all glamified because I would’ve given it a shot. I would’ve dressed her up in frilly girly clothes and have her do girly things, yet, I’m sure in the end, it probably wouldn’t have worked out given that I don’t know what I’m doing at all when it comes to that kind of stuff. Like, I’ve painted my nails once in my life at that was a disaster not to mention the time I tried to style my hair and how I ended up looking like a rooster. Imagining trying to do girly things with my little girl and show her the ropes would’ve been comical, but borderline sad with a lot of tears streaming down both of our faces. Ugh, I can just imagine the fights and the headaches!!!!!

Heck yeah, check out my new
Nike sweatsuit!

So again, I’m pretty blessed to have had a boy so I don’t have to deal with the girly stuff. Thus far, it’s been pretty awesome raising our little man Ryan beginning with how I can shop for cool boy clothes for him, which is something I’ve pretty much done my whole life since I don’t remember a time where I ever shopped in the girls or women’s section. Well, there was this one time, I bought like a sweater and black pants. And, I'm not counting the times I had to go maternity clothes shopping given that, that wasn't by choice, but out of necessity.

What’s pretty sweet is all the clothes I can browse and buy. I mean, there are Nike shoes to buy him and a plethora of sweat suits, awesome stocking caps and hats to look at, t-shirts with sports logos to splurge on, and it’s even been fun to get him crib sheets with different sports themes on them! I can’t wait until he’s a bit older and we can head to the sporting goods store together! A new basketball hoop with a basketball; a set of golf clubs; a baseball bat, mitt, ball, and jersey; maybe a tennis racket and a tennis ball; a real football; a little toddler bike; and a bunch of other sport related purchases I'm sure are definitely on the horizon! I can’t wait to get him all kinds of stuff, it's going to be so much fun. Ooh, I should probably get him a fishing pole too!

Yep, his hammer has become
his most favorite toy!

The shopping though isn’t the only thing that’s been fun about raising a boy. Another thing that I’ve enjoyed is the neat boy things we can do together. For example, we can play our version of catch as much and as long as we want without having to take a break and do something else like with play with dolls or something. We also enjoy taking his toy hammer and hitting random things with it, throwing his teething key rings across the room (and yes, I’m aware that a baby of any gender can do this, LOL), and wrestling with his toy bear. Well, I call it wrestling. What it probably really is though, is him just laying on top of it for a bit because he’s stuck or something, but whatever! It looks like wrestling to me!

We also like to read the sports section of the Green Bay Press-Gazette, anything on ESPN.com, and to introduce him to things that are not all stereotypical boy, we check out the entertainment section of Yahoo.com and read up on what’s happening with all the teen moms from Teen Mom and Teen Mom 2. Needless to say, that can be some interesting reading. Listening to music is a fun way we pass the time as well, sometimes it’s nursery rhymes, other times Mumford & Sons, and we also get in some country just to make Dave happy! ;) So like I said in another post I wrote, I try not to do all sports related things with him, which is why we get in the reading and the listening to music. At some point, we'd like him to play a musical instrument, maybe the guitar or piano. That would be cool.

Basically, things are working out pretty well right now and I’m enjoying my time with my little boy. It’s been seven months now since he’s been born and I can’t believe how fast time is flying by. My goal to is take it all in, love every moment, and not take anything for granted! I love you little Ryan, thanks for being your awesome little self! :) And until next time, it’s Carla the new mom, and tomboy, signing off!

Wow, almost like Instagram!

The other day, I was a bit bummed that some of the pictures I took on my regular digital camera when Ryan was born looked a bit boring. We didn’t get professional pictures done at the time since we didn’t have all that much extra income to pay for them. And to be honest, I never even thought about it because of the whole baby delivery thing. Looking back, I wish we would have had professional pictures taken. However, the past is in the past. :(

So, I decided to search online to find some kind of software to make the look a bit more modern and fun. I came across a website called Photogramio (http://photogramio.com/photofilters) and was instantly hooked. It’s completely easy to use and changes up the photos just like Instagram does. I’ve been able to re-work a few of his pictures to improve their overall appearance.

Here’s one:  There's not a huge change to it, but I was able to add a neat border to make it look more interesting.

Before

After

And another. Again, nothing special, but it made the photo have a little more character.

Before

After

 This one is probably my favorite, just cause he's so cute! :) 

Before

After

We do plan on going the professional route when the little man turns a year old. If anyone has any suggestions on what photographer we should go with, please let us know! And if you want an easy way to change up the photos you take, head to http://photogramio.com/photofilters, I've been impressed with the site from the moment I started using it!

Here comes date night!

Our last date night around the New Year!
It would be great to replicate the fun!

Since Ryan has been born around seven months ago now, Dave and I have only been out on “date night” maybe three or four times. The last time was probably right around the New Year when we went bowling and needless to say, we really, really need some alone, non-parenting time together. So tonight, we’ve secured our first ever babysitter who is not family and we’re going to go out!

I’m both excited and nervous because it’s going to be weird to leave him with someone in our house we’re not related to for an extended period of time. Sure, we take him to day care during the week at KinderCare, but that’s a bit different from having someone come into our home. I think the babysitter we chose it totally capable, especially since she’s watched him before at the YMCA when we drop him off at Kid’s Corner. Everyone there does a great job and whenever we pick him up, he’s always smiling and happy. Plus, they always are sad to see him go when we pick him up after working out and I’m assuming that must mean he’s easy to take care of, right? Well, I'm hoping anyway!

I know that I’m being a bit overprotective at this point, yet, that’s what mommies do and I just want to make sure that he’s well happy and well taken care of. I think what’ s going to help me get through it is knowing that the person we hired is very excited to babysit for us, loves kids, and has a good personality. On top of that, I can always call or text and check up on how he’s doing. If things aren’t going well, then we can always call it a night and head home. 

If all goes well though, then there is a good possibility that more nights out on the town are in our future! We’ve been promising some friends, you know who you are and we haven’t forgotten :0), for a while now that we’re going to get-together and I’m totally looking forward to that too just like having an evening kid-free with my husband. It would be really great that it all’s going to work out and that all of us, Dave, Ryan, myself, and the babysitter, will have a good time! My fingers are crossed that it does!