Picture Perfect Mess

Can I just be real for a minute.... (hopefully without offending anyone... too much).

I recently started following some other mommy bloggers on instagram in an effort to see what others were doing and how I could promote my blog.  I now have this constant stream of perfect mommy pictures featuring flawless make-up,  perfectly tousled hair in super adorable outfit out on some adventure to a farm, zoo, beach, etc.  Now I don't know these people- maybe this is their everyday life and I guess wow- that's amazing- you sound like you are leading a life close to the Rich Kids of Beverly Hills.  (Thanks E!  for that gem of a show) That's a great life, if they are happy- then I'm happy for them. Unfortunately, that's not my life, nor do I want it to be.  I have to believe that I'm not the only one who leads a life that's filled with just a bit more chaos and mess.

This is my life...  My dog should not be trusted when left alone! 

This is how I look 90% of my life.

When my son was first born I was gross, like all the time! I'd have maybe five minutes a day without spit-up, snot, drool or some other bodily fluid on me.  I was on maternity leave- yoga pants and a t-shirt were my uniform. I didn't have time or energy to pose for a picture edit and share it with a world. Even now my son is almost one  I'm still pretty much a mess most of the time- I go work and then come home and if I'm not in comfy clothes in like five minutes- it's kind of a bad day (haha).

My husband and I both work full-time jobs with varying schedules we see each other sometimes for five minutes a day and usually I'm half a sleep when it happens.  When we do have a day off together half the time it involves household chores. I spend at least one or two nights a week at home alone with my son, trying to fit in walking the dog, making dinner and cleaning up dinner, doing a load of laundry, showering while entertaining my son and keeping the dog from eating the bathroom rugs, giving my son a bath and getting him in his jammies all before the MELTDOWN hits!

I'm not complaining.  I'm pretty sure this is just the life of a mom.  I know I'm not alone. Maybe I'm just following the wrong moms but I don't care about your cute new tunic sweater, I don't care about this great new mascara- if you have time to spend writing a product review on mascara- you are not my crowd. Guess how I buy my mascara- I go to the store look at all the brands and say well these are all too expensive- I guess I'll buy the cheapest one. I'm certainly not researching them on blogs before I go pick one out.

None of that is helpful to my everyday life.  Tell me where I can save money on a family activity, a easy quick recipe, tell me a story when everything just fell apart and all you could do was laugh at the insanity.  That's whats helpful to me, make me laugh, tell me I'm not the only one who's husband just can't manage to get the dishes all the way to the dishwasher.

This is my life. I coupon, groupon, and sign-up for anything that will send me a birthday or anniversary deal! I live on crockpots and casseroles. I multi-task with laundry, dinner and cleaning the house in the hour my son takes a nap.

If your life is a little closer to mine, I hope you will subscribe and follow my blog.  I promise I won't only share the perfect times in my life.  I'll hopefully be helpful with recipes, deals, and kid crafts and honest when it comes to the messes and struggles of a working mom's life.

J.S.