Perfectly Imperfect Mom

Me, Bimbo on a Stick and Kist

Some of my closest girl friends and I have weird nicknames for each other. Shout out to Bimbo, Kist AkA Dirty Hippie, and Prison. 
I live in my cut off shorts.
I could wear tank tops and flip flops year round.
My husband and I met online while looking for roommates in college. Awkward.
I got engaged on Honeymoon Island.
My son is named after my Grandpa who didn't love his name and went by Don.
I was pissed when Channing Tatum named his baby Everly because I totally had the name first. 
Everyone on my Dad's side looks really similar. It's kind of creepy. 
I heart cardigans.
My favorite music to listen to is Country. 
I sometimes drive with the windows down, AC blasting and music up loud and pretend it's Fall. 
My engagement ring is an Aquamarine instead of a Diamond. I couldn't find an engagement ring unique enough and decided to go for a different stone instead. 
I dream of living in a small beach town.   All of my kids have two middle names, each name is after someone special. 
Just for my cousin Mike… "Mike is the best cousin in the world I don't know what I would do without him." 

I saw Emily over at Live a Charmed Life do this and thought it was a cute idea.
I am…Brenna.  A wife and stay at home mom to 3 beautiful children, blogger, and wanna be social worker.

I want…to be able to juggle being a Mom of 3 better. Sometimes I feel like I am missing out on things with my older two.

I have…the most incredible husband husband. He helps me so much with our children, cleans, cooks and can fix anything. I am so blessed.

I wish...I had a better milk supply for Everly. Breastfeeding has been a struggle.

I hate…that Everly has a sensitive stomach like Ace. You can tell when it bothers her and I just hate seeing her uncomfortable.

I fear…not living fully. I always want to embrace life and be positive and a good person. I am not always successful at it but I do try.

I hear…sports on the TV, Ace talking to Branden and him scooting a chair.

I search…for ways to up my milk supply, ha! 

I wonder...what my kids will be when they get older, what kind of relationship they will all have and what kind of fun Branden and I will be getting into when we are empty nesters! 

I regret…somethings about my Mom's death. It's too hard to explain but I tried my best to always be honest with her and I was there every day with her when she was in the hospital and dying but there is one regret I have about it all.
I love…Branden, Ace, Ashlyn, Everly, and our life together. I also love my family and friends. I really do have incredible relationships with people and they have become so much stronger since my parents passed away and having my girls. 

I ache…for one more day with each of my parents. Just to say a few more things to them.

I always…look forward to some alone time to clear my head and destress at the end of the day. 

I usually…take a bath to relax and read gossip magazines.

I am not…the best at being a housewife, I think my husband would be way better at it. Sure I am good with the kids be he takes the cake when it comes to household chores, keeping up with the outside and cooking.

I dance…like a true white girl but I love it.

I sing…like a hot mess, especially when my husband is in the car and I turn on music he does not want to listen to.

I never…want to have regrets with my children.

I sometimes…drive with the windows down, AC up, music way up and a little bit fast when I need to get out of the house alone. 

I am not always…the best Mom. I get overwhelmed, stressed and frustrated but I try my best.

I lose...my phone all.the.time. No one ever expects me to have it near me.

I am confused…a lot. 

I need…for Everly to grow out of this colicky phase. It sucks and I hate seeing her miserable.

I should…go get some fro-yo with Ace tonight!

When we made our BIG announcement we had a lot of questions. Here are some answers to the questions we got.


1. What made you decide to adopt?

Ever since I was a little girl I have believed adoption is an amazing thing. I remember when I was in middle school seeing a 20/20 type show talking about all the children in Florida who were up for adoption. It shocked me. These kids were my age, some younger, some older but not one of them had parents. I begged my parents to adopt a child but at that point in there life they were done adding more children to the family. I don't blame them. It is something as my friend Kelly put it so perfectly that is truly just put on your heart and not everyone has it in their heart and that is ok.

When Branden and I were dating and talked about children I told him I really wanted to adopt a child. He said he was definitely open to it. When getting pregnant didn't come easily for us it was even more clear that it was something we wanted to do. We were open to adopt an older child but little Ashlyn came along and was meant to be ours!

2. Where are you adopting from?

Ashlyn will be born in California. We will be flying out there when she is born and will stay there till the paperwork between California and Florida is finalized and then we will bring her home. This can take an average of 10 days to two weeks.

3. Did you plan it this way so they would be so close in age?

No, we hadn't started the adoption process yet since I had just found out I was pregnant. We then found out someone we know was expecting and it all fell into place.

4. Is it expensive to adopt?

I have gotten this question a lot. I have a few friends who are interested in adoption and this is a very important question when trying to decide if you can even afford an adoption. In short, yes adoption is expensive but thankfully because of our situation it won't be as expensive as it would be for someone going through an agency. Here is a link with some information on the costs of adopting.

5. Are you going through an agency?

No, we are doing a private adoption and only need an agency for our Home Study, the ICPC (to make it legally ok for us to come back to Fl. with Ashlyn) and post adoption visits. We have an attorney who is handling everything else.

6. Did you know the birth Mom?

Yes, we do know her.

7. Will the adoption be open or closed?

We will be having an open adoption. We all think this is the best route to go.

These have been the most common questions I have gotten since our announcement. If you have anymore feel free to ask. 

Don't forget to check out our GIVEAWAY we have going on to celebrate the new additions to our family! 

Check out the shortness1

I always forget where my phone is.

Because I misplace my phone all.the.time I always miss phone calls and then forget to return them.

I am obviously forgetful.

I am only 5'1 but will tell people I am 5'2.

My sister and I were mistaken for twins almost our entire lives.

I think messy beach waves are the best hairstyle ever.

I ate horribly when I was pregnant and only gained 22lbs and lost it all and some 3 weeks after having my son, I was that Mom. Then I gained it all back after I stopped breastfeeding. You can all stop being jealous now.

I love my besties!

I like dressing my son like a little metro boy and I love it.

I hate clothes that are super baby-ish or have animals on them unless they don't look too cartoonish.

We are always a hot mess with pictures

My dream is to open a brick and mortar boutique but not in S. Fl.

My son is my world. He that he is silly, outgoing and friendly. It's a bonus that he is his Daddy's clone.

I am obsessed with my husband and son's joker smiles. It has to be my favorite thing about both of them next to their dimple they each have.

It takes me forever to get a picture with my eyes open when there is a flash, I am a hot mess.


Thanking Little Miss Momma for the idea!

1. I seriously need more sleep. I stay up and think about my parents every.single.night. It's slowly getting easier but I am tired!   {source} 2. I am conflicted on having another baby. Some days I really want another one and then other days I think how fortunate I am to have such a healthy, happy, easy little guy and don't want to take any time away from him. I just love our family of three and how easy it is to do things together. 3. I am totally in a blogging slump. Sorry about that! 4. I am totally obsessed with all those monthly surprise boxes like Glossy Box and Citrus Lane (use code TAKEHALF for half off till 1/8/13). I can not wait to get my first Glossy Box!  Glossy Box for Mommy! 5. I really miss my parents and catch myself wanting to call or text them something and realize I can't. Losing your parents is the weirdest thing to experience.

 
Follow @love_bren

Check out the current Giveaway!

I am so incredibly shocked at the growth my little blog has made the past couple of months. Because of this I would first like to say Welcome to all my new followers. I am extremely grateful you decided to follow my blog.
I also would like to give you a little look back on the past couple of years to catch you up to now.

2 years ago, before baby!

I first began blogging when my husband, Branden, and I were trying to get pregnant with our first baby. We had suffered a miscarriage and struggling to get pregnant on our own. I had found comfort in others who blogged about similar issues. I decided to start blogging and it became quite therapeutic for me. I never thought my blog would have turned into what it is today.


After a couple of months of blogging and over a year of TTC we got pregnant with our son, Ace! To say we were thrilled is an understatement. All our dreams were coming true. I chronicled my pregnancy and began to really connect with my readers. I received so much love and support throughout my pregnancy. I remember waiting to find out if we were having a boy or girl and getting so many wonderful comments when I posted about our Gender Reveal Party. I then gave birth to my son and found this blog helped me stay on top of his milestones and growth through monthly posts. I can look back on his first year and see when he first sat up or crawled. I can see sweet pictures of my son sleeping with his Daddy and his first trip to Disney.

Once I started noticing more followers were interested in my blog I decided to have guest posters come and blog here for the day. I picked women I admired and knew my followers would also enjoy reading about. I can't thank these women enough for doing this.


Now here I am with a beautiful little boy, a blog I love and a shop I enjoy stocking full of Mommy and Baby items! I hope you all stick around because I have much more to come.

From the bottom of my heart, THANK YOU! Don't forget to enter the two giveaways I am hosting and co-hosting. Black, White and Red all Over & The Great October Giveaway!


Follow @love_bren

Check out the current Giveaway!

When are you guys going to have baby # 2?
This is a tough one for me. When Ace was first born I said I was done. That was it. When he was a few months old and probably the easiest baby in the world I thought I wanted another one right away so they would be super close in age. Now that he is a toddler and we can go do things easily and he has time with his friends I want to really cherish this time. I enjoy being able to have one on one time and I love that it is easy for us to go on a family trip just the 3 of us. I do want him to have a sibling but I also want him to be able to have this time of just us for himself. Then when he starts daycare or preschool and I can dedicate time to a newborn and have one on one time for that baby too I think we will have another one. 
How many children do you want to have?
I think two is the magic number for us. With my family we had three children but my brother was so much older that a lot of times it ended up being just my parents, sister and I. It seemed to be good that each parent was able to have a child for a ride at a park or a hand to hold. My brother usually had my cousin to ride rides with or hang out with so it worked out perfectly because he was so much older. I think that if we had two that are decently close then we might consider another one or two down the road but I think if I had three really young ones all together it would be difficult. 
Do you have names already picked out for the rest of your kids?
We sure do! We will not share our girl name because it is very uncommon right now and I would be so bummed if I shared it and found out someone else loved it and wanted to use it. So if someone else loves it and uses it then I know it won't have been me who gave it up, ha! Our boy name is Dominic Scott-Patrick. Dominic is a family name on my side and was Branden's confirmation name. Scott is Branden and Ace's middle name and Patrick is my Dad's name. Ace also is named after family so I like having that tradition. The girl's name we love would also be after someone but not in a traditional sense. 

Ace and my Dad

Don't forget to check out the custom canvas giveaway going on now!


Follow @love_bren
Check out the current Giveaway!

1. Pancakes or waffles?

1. You're at Target or Walmart, what's the first department you hit?

First of all I am a Target girl all the way. Walmart, I can't! Don't even ask.

Anyway, I always hit up the dollar section. My husband will actually park on the grocery side so we don't go past it when we walk in because I drive him nuts with searching the dollar section for something new. If not the dollar section then the baby or clothes sections. I also lurve Starbucks so if its early in the morning I will get me a Caramel Mocha Frappuccino! 

{via}

2. What are 3 items you always have stocked in your home, fridge or pantry?

Other then the necessities I have US weekly always on hand, Hersey's Almond Bars, and Diet Coke. Those are normal things right?

3. Do you prefer shopping alone or with others? Why?

Depends, I usually like shopping with my bestie Maggie because for some reason we always are able to find stuff that looks good on the other person. I am not a fan of really shopping with anyone else as much so I prefer to shop alone so I can concentrate on what I am looking for. 

4. What's the biggest splurge you've ever made?

Hmmm...I would have to say out Jeep. 

5. What's the best deal you've ever snagged?

I got my UGGs for a huge discount because the inside colors were slightly different. It was so unnoticeable but I wasn't going to argue. 

Follow @love_bren

Check out the current Giveaway!