The Johnston's: August 2014

I Haven't been on here in a while, & honestly, it feels so foreign to be writing up a blog post right now. But it's a short one, so i think i can manage ;)

A friend shared an article on Facebook & i just had to reshare it

It's perfect & simple.

These past 9 months have been trying to say the least & i promise to do an update post very soon, i just can't find the time or the right words to talk about the last few months. {I know i know i sound like a broken record.. but really it will come}

If you're my family, friend or Facebook/instagram friend you know what has gone on, & you also know that i am an over sharer of pictures of my kids & everything mama related.

Recently, someone made a comment about how i post too much about my kids or about being a mom. It's happened before & i just ignored it, but this time it really bothered me. It bothered me because, as i state below, what else am i supposed to post about? So when i reposted this article on my Facebook, i took the opportunity to explain why i "Over share" about the joys & trials of motherhood & a lot of my mama friends chimed in saying their lives are so so similar! So i thought i would share it with you all & hopefully encourage another mama or two out there :)
By the way, i'm not angry! So please don't think that or read this post in an angry tone. That's not my point AT ALL. It's playful & honest, that's all

Here's the link to the article by the way
& here's a link to her most recent post that just made me laugh
I wish i was that funny

This is what i wrote:

"ok before you roll your eyes & say "there goes ashley posting about motherhood again.." I know I post a lot of mama stuff but hear me out, ....this is my life. I read everyone's posts about family, friends, parties, vacations, school, work etc & I smile & enjoy reading about your life. Really I do! If you don't enjoy reading about mine, frankly, i don't care. I have nothing else to talk about but my kids & my daily laughs & struggles. (Or my struggles that I pretend to laugh at) I post lots of pictures of my kids. I know. But this is my life, in all it's glory. My life is interesting, fun & beautiful, but in a different way. Instead of everything everyone else does, I breastfeed a 20 pound squirmy monster that has 2 new teeth (ya, ouch!) 6+ times a day while somehow trying to keep a toddler content. I am then up 4 or more times a night feeding & rocking said monster boy back to sleep.. I clean up poop & pee & vomit & I sweep random food/items off the floor atleast 10 times every day because kids are messy, in case you didn't know. I talk to a 2 year old and an infant all day about a wide range of topics.. Nothing I find particularly interesting, but I'm teaching them about life. I potty train, do homeschool activities, play games, make cookies, fight to get them both down for atleast one nap at the same time, snuggle them, make breakfast lunch & dinner. I clean up the same messes multiple times a day because somehow they manage to completely demolish the living room while I'm cleaning the dining room & vice versa. I clean ALL DAY & it's as if it never happened. I try to make them happy so I can hear their sweet laughs, I make silly faces & dance around & throw them in the air, & crawl around on the floor pretending to be a dinosaur or a horse, all while trying to do the dishes & laundry & vacuum. I do all of this every day, while i stay locked inside my house for fear of everyone seeing my unlost baby weight, uncombed hair, 2 day old makeup, & giant bags under my eyes from 3 years of 2-3 hours of sleep a night, at most. (2 bad sleepers will do that to you) I struggle daily to just keep myself together, And that's ok. Being a mama is hard!! & i only have 2 of these monsters! And also being a wife, daughter, sister, cousin, niece, grand daughter fried etc is hard. Life is crazy, it's hard to find that balance. But I love every minute & every person in my life. My point in posting all this mama stuff I post is not to bug anyone, it's to remind the mamas or soon to be mamas that are in the same situation as I am that it's ok if you haven't showered in 5 days, & your laundry is piled up. We're all here for each other, we know the truth, & we will get through this lol if anything, I hope my posts give the seasoned mamas a good laugh as they reminisce"

We are moms.
This our life
We post about our kids because
1) We're proud of them
2) They are all that we think about day & night
3) Everything we do is FOR THEM, wether we stay home or work out of the home,
it's all for them
4) We love them so much it hurts!
5) they are our new (&only) hobby

by the way, if you were to ask me a few years ago what my hobbies were, it would be an impressive list of fun, creative, & active things.
Now?
My hobbies include
* Singing every word to every song on the frozen soundtrack multiple times a day
*Watching peppa pig while the kids nap because i am too tired to realize the kids are in bed & i can now watch whatever i want
* Talking in crazy voices and pretending to be a monster while chasing my kids around the house
* Trying on my pre pregnancy clothes & crying because i can't get them past my thighs
* Putting carrots under my top lip & pretending to be a walrus because it makes G laugh hysterically EVERY. TIME.
*Sitting in the dark downstairs by myself speed watching Greys anatomy while everyone is sleeping so i can have some alone time & not have to think
* Pretending to have clean hair when really i haven't washed it in a week & have just dry shampood the crap out of it
*Re washing the same load of laundry 4 times because i keep forgetting it's in the washer
*and many other super embarrassing things that i'll save for another post