Piczies

At our house most everything has to be called by it's cutesy name. 

My husband, Ben, started it. I think he got it from our friend's parents house, but he uses it for everything. 

It's not sweet cereal, it's sweetsy cereal. It's not a penny, it's a pennzy. And things like that. Most of them don't even make sense in their cutesy name, and I have no idea what he's talking about, but it's fun. 

So, I made a poster-meme-pinterest pin-whatever you wanna call it, and these things need their own name. Instead of: poster-meme-pinterest pin-picture-whatever you wanna call it. ;)

So, I present the very first "Piczie" on this blog:

Feel free to pin it or share it!

~Crystal

Cherish

Precious (aka: Bright Eyes) when she was almost 1 year old

A long while ago I was reading a friend's blog and she mentioned that her word for the year was going to be: Cherish.

At the time Precious was about 1 year old and I was trying to figure out just how to be a Mom. What could I do to entertain this child all day?? My fellow Mama's will know what I mean. I was getting stressed out adjusting to being a stay at home Mom. (It is a major adjustment!) That's when I read about my friend's new word for the year. Cherish.

I decided to put into practice cherishing all the small moments, when I could remember to. So, the moment Precious woke up from her nap and cried out "Mama, 'wake!" I went in and pulled her out of her crib and held her for an extra moment. I specifically chose to cherish that one moment. Cherish the small baby she was; cherish the happy way she woke up; cherish the trust she had in me as her Mother, and cherish that one moment that I could never have back again. Then we went into the kitchen and had lunch. That night I'm sure she probably got mad when I tried to feed her, or woke me up extra early the next morning. It's definitely hard (if not near impossible) to cherish some of those moments, but I feel that the JOY of life is to value and cherish the small, good moments in our lives. Pick a few everyday. Try and make it a habit and way of thinking.

Some recent moments that I have cherished are:
When Precious or Punkin have said, "I love you, Mama."
When Punkin looked at me and gave me a smile with peanut butter all around her mouth.
When Precious (3 years old) all by herself got a bowl of cereal ready for her sister (1 year old) without being asked or anything. (this morning's proud moment!) :)

|But I also want to add one more thing. Some parents feel pressured to "enjoy the ride" or "enjoy each of these fleeting moments with your children" and you know what, it's just not possible to enjoy EVERY moment of parenthood (imho). Being a parent is the H.A.R.D.E.S.T. thing I have ever done. And it is not all candy and cupcakes. Some days naptime and bedtime cannot come soon enough! Some days end in tears, for Mama and kiddos. I know that I constantly battle feeling inferior to my task of being a good Mother. And you know there are just some days that just aren't good days. That happens, and I accept it. Tomorrow is a fresh day with no mistakes in it. Tomorrow we try again. So, for myself I try to make sure not to put the pressure on myself of trying to make each day perfect. If it's a screaming battle kind of morning, then I strap on my "Mommy's in charge" boots and work through it. Afterwards I'm not going to beat myself up over not cherishing the hug I got after a looooong time out. Sometimes we just have to go through the motions and keep our routines. Cherished moments or not. That doesn't make us bad parents. That doesn't make us ungrateful. What makes us good parents is that we try again every day; keeping our children in our hearts.

From my home to yours,

~Crystal

Who's Red and Who's Brown?

Welcome! 
I created Red Brown and Cute (RBC) to share my parenting insights. I am NOT an expert...I am a Mother. 
There are always parenting insights and epiphanies that parents have while raising their children and I thought it would be good to record some of mine and share them! :D
Also, if I have them jotted down I can go back and refresh myself on the ones I forgot later on. Mommy-brain...you understand. 

Our family so far has two red heads and two brunettes. Daddy and Precious (daughter #1) have red hair and look exactly alike! Mommy and Punkin (daughter #2) both have brown hair. And both Precious and Punkin are CUTE as can be! Thus Red Brown and Cute is born. :)

I hope this blog will be helpful to any other parents or future parents out there. I have learned sooooo much from other parents, and I want to share what has worked for us and help others in their journey. Parenting is definitely stressful and of course most definitely worth it! But I think it's best to network together so we can help each other out because, let's face it, we really don't know what we're doing. ;)

From my family to yours, have a wonderful day!

~Crystal

"Good Moms have sticky floors, messy kitchens, laundry piles, dirty ovens, and happy kids."

*In case you're wondering, the girls have pseudonym names.