I truly enjoy hearing other women’s horror embarrassing stories about those moments where their whole-hearted love for their children was able to show through.  So I thought I’d share mine.  To this day, it has remained one of the most humbling and embarrassing mommy moments I have had.

A couple years ago, a few months after our first son Liam was born,  the hubby surprised me with a 4 day anniversary trip to Hawaii!  The only problem was that I was nursing still and didn’t plan on stopping anytime soon. Knowing that Liam would be in good hands, I left enough milk supply for him to make it through the next few days (my freezer looked a Costco Milk aisle).  But, this also meant that I would be bringing along my trusty breast pump so that I wouldn’t run dry…nothing says “sexy” better than a breast pump next to your bikini.

Since we had missed our first flight, we had a small layover….that did not bode well for my pumping schedule!

Knowing I wouldn’t make it through the flight and to our hotel, I grabbed my bag and headed for the nearest airport bathroom.   Walking into a nearly deserted ladies room, I frantically searched for a plug (as I forgot batteries and had to use the electric cord) that was near a stall, allowing me to hide.  No such luck.

You’ve got to be kidding me.

Okay, fine.  My love for my son was greater than my pride.  Right?

By now the bathroom was completely empty, so I threw my bag onto the sink counter, plugged in and bared all, determined to keep my head high and the pump session quick.  I thought this couldn’t go any worse.  Wrong.  Right in the middle of pumping, a flight must have come in because about 30 women stormed the bathroom!  I tried to look nonchalant, and even attempted to read a book that was in my bag, but even above the roar of bathroom commotion, you could clearly hear the pulsating vacuum sound of my pump.

Oh, the horror.

I tried to become one with the paper towel dispenser and melt into the wall, but that didn’t keep the strange looks and a few sympathetic smiles from coming my way.  I made matters even more awkward by giving a woman who was blatantly staring at me a good ol’ fashion head nod. What?! Who does that?!

As quickly as I was able, I unplugged, dumped, dashed, and returned completely humbled and red in the face.

Oh, the things we mom’s go through for our children.  There have been other moments like this and I know that they are far from over, and I’m sure tomorrow will bring on a whole new adventure.  Good times.

Now that I have shared mine, you should share yours!

I’ve decided to take a break from blogging for awhile.  Now, I’m not going to stop cold turkey, that’s just silly, but I will be blogging a whole lot less; I need to let go of some of my spinning plates, because they are starting to wobble terribly.  The wind of change (cheesy I know) will be starting to blow around the Hill house and I need to make sure all my eggs are in order….lol man, I think I need to go to bed.  I will continue my personal journey through Proverbs 31, but will be journaling it instead of posting on my blog.

This mama just needs a break and to be completely honest, blogging has started feeling like a chore lately….and I hate that.  I really do love blogging, but when I get in these writing ruts, it’s time to step back, take a break and remember why I started blogging in the first place.

So here’s to a much needed break and a time to get inspired and back to blogging…..plus, when I get back, I will probably have some exciting news to share!

Tomorrow morning we head out on a trip to Ventura to see family; it’s a 5 hour car ride and one we are very familiar with! But like most car trips with toddlers, there can be those blessed stressful moments where even the all entertaining ipad won’t calm the savage beasts! So it’s nice to be prepared with a few new items and activites.

I found this lil’ DIY gem of course on Pinterest The great idea originally came from the blog Testy Yet Trying and she called it a Matching Pole!

Simply using any empty paper towel or toilet paper roll, dot stickers and markers, this game can help teach letters, numbers, and shapes (really anything you can fit on a dot sticker) while at the same time teaching matching skills and fine motor skills!  The idea is that the child matches the dot stickers from the page onto the corresponding dot sticker on the pole. I used Liam’s name letters, some shapes, numbers, directions and even a few facial expressions to mix it up!

Liam caught a glance of it while I was making it, and asked very excitedly what it was and if he could play with it! Score! I think it will be a big hit on the road and it only took me 5 minutes to make!

Usually I love decorating my mantel with each change of the season or holiday, but I was having a hard time motivating myself to do anything with the bare brick slab.  I could leave it empty and call it Modern, or maybe Simplistic?

So of course I immediately typed in “decorating your mantel” into Pinterest and of course it gave me hundreds of ideas and inspirations! Most of which were for Christmas, but there were a lot of other wonderful ones to.  Then I stumbled across this awe inspiring post that was the know-all for decorating your mantel for any season!  Perfect!  It was exactly what my tired and idealess brain needed…..

So I set about collecting items from around my home that resembled those in the picture.  I actually matched it up pretty well and I finally got to use the beautiful painting I’ve had hiding in my room!  The only purchase I had to make was for the two blue candles to the left, as I was currently out.

Now that my mantel is finally decorated, I can go back to sleeping at night and the world may continue spinning….