Martha Metzler.com

Now before you think I’m roaming the streets of Myrtle Beach in my short shorts that say Myrtle Beach on each butt cheek… you’re wrong. (By the way, everytime I walk behind someone with writing on their shorts I always end up just narrating their walk with each step: ‘myrtle.beach.myrtle.beach.myrtle.beach.’… you get the idea)

I’ll be at the Isle of Palms this week with my whole family minus Sam obvi. I’m so excited to hear the ocean and read and have late night dance parties in the living room with my brother… it happens kinda often.

I’m posting some previously schedule posts because are you ready for this… I AM NOT TAKING MY LAPTOP!!! I’m going computer-commando for the week and it is going to feel amazing.

In the mean time, here are some hilarious pictures of a typical meal time in our house. Thanks for clean up duty Roy.

Sweet Bud,

You are such a little ham. You squeal and clap for yourself anytime you do something good…. or even when you do something bad like throwing your sippy cup off your highchair 20 times in a row. You are a wiggle worm and no longer are content to just sit in one spot and play. You want to be ALL OVER! I love it. I’m pretty sure you’re a genius because you have figured out how to really play with your toys. You put the lego man in his spot in the dump truck and you have started putting puzzles together. You turn pages in your books and point at your favorite things on the pages. You are amazing little man.

You still love to giggle and play outside. It has gotten hot here so you love splashing in the pool. You’re my little water bug.

You’re probably close to 20 pounds now and look so healthy. I’m so grateful for your health.

You are becoming a picky eater when it comes to eating food with your hands. You’ll eat about anything pureed but Mama is trying to get you to eat big people food so it’s easier to take you out on the town but alas, you make dang sure I know when you don’t like something. You squish up your face and spit it out. So we’re still purreeing food like crazy but you’ll eat pancakes, cheese toast, cheese, crackers, any kind of fruit, and eggs. We’ve been trying to get creative but you always figure it out when I’m trying to hide a piece of turkey in your bread.

The big news this month is that YOU CRAWLED!! YAAYY!!!!  I love seeing you becoming so mobile and curious.

I can’t believe you are going to be ONE in a few weeks. *sigh*

I love you to moon and back little dude,

Your Mama

I want to share with you something that happened to me in the shower the other day. (Don’t get crazy on me, I’m not going down that road.)

Peace happened.

Maybe it was because it was the only time that day that I’d had some alone time but I was a bit frazzled and honestly, just in need of some peace from the Lord. And He delivered. I had been heading down a rabbithole of self-loathing/comparison/binge-eating-Sprees because I was trying to figure out what kind of mother I was supposed to be. Bud has been developing quite the strong will (his father’s fault gift) and so I’ve been trying to discern what kind of discipline and consequences I was going to employ. Yah… I said employ. I had talked to several mom friends that I love and trust, read some books, scoured some blogs, etc. And had tried a few things that I thought were the answer but nothing felt right.

So I was standing in the shower not shaving my legs and praying that God would give me the wisdom and discernment I needed. Then it happened. The Peace happened. It washed over me just as my $1.89 Suave shampoo did.

I have made you to be the kind of mother Bud needs. You. Not anyone else. You. You don’t need to emulate anyone else except Me. I will give you the wisdom and discernment you need, but I have equipped you with everything you need to be the kind of mother you should be. Humorous, sarcastic at times, and patient. Find peace my child in using the attributes that I have given you, that I created in you so that you can be just the kind of mother your children need. 

WHHAA!??!!? I stepped out of that shower in awe and feeling like I’d just spent a full day at the spa. I don’t need to follow anyone else’s parenting plan or try and emulate someone else’s discipline tactics. I need to embrace the fact that the God who made beautiful and breath-taking creations like the Grand Canyon and Chick-Fil-A made me with the same hands. He wants me to be ME when I parent. Not someone else.

So I wish that for you too. Whatever it is, whether its being a parent or your job or a hobby… do it with the flair that only you have. He’s created you for that fill in the blank, stop trying to do it like someone else.

Last week my hottie Mama turned 63… yeah, I said it. She is the best mom and lives a completely selfless life. She gives herself fully to her family without caution. She also has been an incredible example of what it means to really love your friends well, she loves her girlfriends! And on top of that, she gives back to the community like nobody’s business. She’s been an incredible example of balance to me growing up and I’m so blessed to have her as a mom.

So for her birthday, I decided to put together a special gift to show her how amazing she is to the people in her life. I got in touch with all 800 of her friends and had them send in little memories of Mom and what they love about her. I had a great response and it was really sweet to read all these letters from her friends about what she means to them.

I found an old letterbox from the 1950s at an antique shop so I cleaned it up a bit and then filled it with all 63 letters from her friends and family. I pasted each letter on scrapbook paper to give it a little spice.

She loved it. She got to read all the encouragement from her friends and family. And what a testimony to who she is that I could easily fill a box of 63 notes of all the wonderful things her loved ones think about her. Plus, she cried so being the emotionally mature one, I high-fived my Dad and said, “NAILED IT! SHE’S CRYING!”

So, I never do anything to my hair. Like… ever. My hair repertoire includes: high bun, half-way back, and ponytail. If you see me and I’ve curled my hair, you should feel pretty damn special.

So I got crazy this past week and tried a little hairdo with braids. I wanted it off my neck and it turned out kinda cute and pretty easy. I just braided 4 big strands of my hair and then pinned each strand back. Use clear rubberbands and a buttload of bobby pins. Oh yeah, and spray that junk like you’re about to take the stage at the Grand Old Opry.

I felt all Pinterest-y and cute but in reality, this probably won’t happen often because my arms got tired and I kept getting distracted and pulling my braids across my face trying to make a mustache.

Please notice the look of concentration in my face in the mirror.... eye of the tiger baby

We had a pretty great weekend around these parts. Nothing too big happened, just good times, good weather, and good downtime.

Friday night was Daddy-Daughter night at our house. My mom had gone shopping in Charlotte and didn’t get home until pretty late so after Bud went to bed, Dad and I poured us some beers and sat on the back porch. We threw some chicken, corn on the cob, and fresh veggies from the garden all on the grill. It was so simple but we rarely get times with just the two of us to chat and make not-so-Mom friendly jokes (aka inappropriate or sarcastic jokes. The woman does not like sarcasm). It was nice and then once Mom got home, we all just sat with our cocktails on the back porch until the lightening bugs became our drinking buddies and we called it a night. I’m so grateful for parents who are becoming more and more like friends to me as the years go on.

Saturday started off with pancakes that I tried to decorate like Mr. Bill…. jk. (Lauren, you get me)

Then it was errand day and we ran a bunch of errands for his big birthday coming up. Mom and I went to this massive kids consignment shop in Cornelius, NC and scored some sweet clothes and some big presents for the Bud-man. He found a rocket that he fell in love with and so of course it came home with us. It was hysterical though b/c he got on it and started blowing out of his mouth and rocking back and forth like he was trying to make it go faster…. this kid is hilarious.

Saturday night after he went to bed, I went out with my cousin and some of her girlfriends. She is moving to CA next week so it was a fun farewell supper. I gotz all kindza dressed up with a fun summer dress and my vintage white cowboy boots. It got real. And by real, I mean I was in bed by 11pm.

Sunday was…. tiring. The past two Sundays Bud has had MAJOR meltdowns in the nursery. As soon as I walk away, he screams bloody murder and doesn’t really let up. They are AMAZING with him and can usually calm him down but this past Sunday when I went to get him after the service, he.was.PISSED! He was so mad at me for leaving and just stared these crazy eyes into my forehead and cried for a solid ten minutes. So…. separation anxiety? What the heck do yall do about that!? He has a good amount of independent playtime during the day and I can leave him with my parents just fine. But holy crap, I need a game plan. Any wisdom would be much appreciated!

However, the day ended great because my whole family went out to the farm and had a Father’s Day cook out. My cousin Meg is the Baby Whisperer and Bud is completely smitten with her. He kept scooting over to her and climbing all over her. Thank you Meg for loving my Bud-man!

Hope yall had a fantastic weekend!

Have a great weekend yall! Bud and I are gonna be havin’ a dance party up in this piece KITTY CAT STYLEZZZZ!! WOOT WOOT!

Sam and I are so grateful that we are close with our families. We are also beyond grateful that we have friends who we consider family as well. Some of those friends have come to visit recently and Bud has been loving the company! We had Kate from CA, Ashley from WY, and Alyson (aka Poodle) and Neely! We really love our friends and are so blessed!

My friend Kate came to visit and we miss her SOOO much!

College roomies unite! Poodle & Henry and Neely & Thompson loved playing with Bud! And oh my lord, can you just squeeze little Thompson!? I miss having a baby that'll just sleep in your arms.... oh the days before my son turned into a wiggle worm.

My college roomie Ashley came to visit from WY and oh my gosh, I've missed that girl!

This will be a simple post because my jaw is still on the floor from being snapped into gear by my friend Jamie plus…. I have a date with some sunshine and diet green tea.

This is Jamie… she looks sweet and gentle doesn’t she? Don’t let her fool you! She can give you a swift kick in the arse when you need it… and make you think you could pull off bangs like she can (trust me, you can’t).  

She watched me feed Bud lunch and I’m entering into the discipline/teaching stage with him (SO FUN….if today were opposite day). He kept whining for his food while I was fixing it and I’m a big believer in explaining my expectations to him and speaking peace over him in those times so I told him, “Bud, we want to walk in a spirit of patience so lets try that ok?”

Fast forward 10 minutes…We were sitting in my backyard today and we were talking about how Bud isn’t crawling or walking yet and I asked her (she’s a ped nurse) if there were any good exercises I could do with him to encourage mobility. And she told me that he’d do it when he’s ready and since my eye rolls are pretty hard to ignore, she laughed and said, “What’s that you told your son earlier? Walk in a spirit of patience?”

Touche Jamie… touche. I swear having kids is like watching my sin being mirrored. We want to walk in a spirit of patience MARTHA…. lets try that ok?

Even though I feel like I tried to learn this lesson over and over through my life, I feel it  so deeply now as a SAHM. I have to choose to make time to do the things that keep me healthy, keep me sane, and ultimately make me a better wife, mama and friend.  

Sometimes I feel like this:

At the end of the day, I have to make decisions NOW for the life I want later.

Sure, it’ll always be easier to just stare at my iphone while my son plays, but for the love of God, I need to be interacting with him and teaching him language, teaching him how to use his imagination, and at least showing him that his mama isn’t too busy to play with him.

It’ll always be easier to get caught up in the million tasks to be done rather than take care of my body and “start running Monday”. But that’s not making wise decisions for my health and God willing allowing me to stick around a long time for my baby daddy and sweet little boy.

And, I can always find an excuse not to take a little time to sit on the back porch and sip coffee while reading Scripture and praying to the God that gave me every single blessing from my healthy family to the way the gardenias smell in the morning.

We can fill up our day with our to-do list but we have to CHOOSE to take steps towards our health – physically, spiritually, and emotionally. We can CHOOSE to act on the life we want not just today, but for the next day, and for the 20 years.