Kristen Duke Photography E-Book Giveaway Winners

Congrats to the two lucky winners

of the fabulous E-Book from Kristen Duke Photography!

 

Carrie

Comment #187

Becky

Comment #237

Winners, email me to claim your E-Book.

Also, be sure to check out Kristen's travel schedule. 

She may have an incredible workshop coming to a city near you!

This girl takes some crazy awesome pictures!

See for yourself here.

High Waisted: A Girl's Best Friend

Shirt: TJ Maxx, Skirt: La Vie Petite, Shoes: Forever 21

I once heard a rumor that Mariah Carey had her two bottom ribs removed so that she could fit into clothes better...or was it Janet Jackson? On either account, I fit into that category of girls with an extra large rib cage.  Put it this way, in middle school my ribs protruded further than my tatas--and it was cause for some major juvenile teasing. Which may be why I am totally stoked that high waisted skirts are back in. They give me some semblance of a waist and they totally hide the post baby pooch that every old man at church mistakes for a preggo bump, not cool.

Visit La Vie Petite if you want your very own handmade, mustard yellow, pooch-hiding, high waisted, glorious skirt.

I will be linking this outfit up to to:

 

A Bit of My Story

The best blogging advice I ever received:
Only tell your story.
It's not my place to tell someone else's story for them,
to pretend I understand their choices,
their reasoning,
or their path in life.
The only story I know for sure
is my own.

Which is why I am sometimes conflicted on how to respond
to your emails and comments asking about my parents...
More specifically,
my single mom
and my dad.

And then I read Ree Drummond's book,
Black Heels to Tractor Wheels,
where she talked about her parent's divorce
as it related to her
without all the intimate details of their relationship.
And I thought to myself,
that is the story I want to tell.

High school sweet hearts,
married young,
divorced soon
with one healthy baby girl
to show for their short time together.
That is where our story begins.

I have no doubts that they were in love,
and I have no doubts that I brought them both great joy.
But eventually, real life and hardships dissolved their young love
and ultimately their marriage.

I was one year old when they divorced.

Growing up I never questioned why they weren't still together,
I just questioned why he was never around.

A handful of visits a year,
and a few special occasions
I would see him.

We always had fun,
we always giggled,
ate good food,
watched basketball,
talked about the Dodgers,
and played horse in the driveway.

But then he left,
and I was back to not having a Dad.

I remember practicing throwing the perfect spiral
and swishing my three point shot
just so I could impress him the next time we were together.
Maybe then he would visit more.

I invited him to my soccer games,
my awards banquets,
my back to school nights
and all those things parents go to
to support their kids.

But my Aunt was always sitting in his place.
Then one day when I was 15, he showed up.

It was my club soccer game.
I had been playing for 6 years,
and this was one of the first games he had made it to.
I scored three goals,which is kinda a big deal.

I'll never forget how proud he was.
The look on his face,
the enthusiasm and power behind his high five,
and the way he introduced himself to the other parents as
my Dad.

I had over 50 more soccer games in my high school career,
and after that day, my Dad never missed a single one.

If it wasn't about sports,
my Dad was generally a man of few words.
But over the next few years he began to open up.
We started having weekly dinners,
went on afternoon runs,
and shared talks about life and the past.

It might have been too late for the typical father/daughter relationship
so we worked on creating a friendship.

Sure, there were days when I was hurt.
But I was never angry with him,
never lashed out,
never expected more than I knew he was capable of giving.
I just hoped that one day he could give me more.

Instead, I developed this image in my mind
of the type of father my kids would have.
The type of Father who always showed up.
The type of Father who would fight for his kids,
who's heart would ache if he had to be away from them for even one day,
who tucked them in with bedtime stories and butterfly kisses every night.

And then I took that image,
I found that guy,
and I married him.

Today my Dad is one of my best friends.
He shows up for everything important to Baby W.
He takes him to the park,
helps him down the slide,
teaches him to throw a ball
and smothers him with kisses.

Today, he is the Grandpa who shows up,
the Grandpa who get's choked up when Baby W skins his knee,
the Grandpa who loves,
the Grandpa who gives butterfly kisses,
the Grandpa Baby W can count on.
And that's just the type of Father I need right now.

Mommy's Little Monster {giveaway and discount}

Mommy's Little Monster

 This Little Monster gives Mommy a kiss before he is about to do something bad.

This Little Monster regurgitates his food to let Mommy know he is done eating a meal.

This Little Monster thinks all of Mommy's cooking utensils are his toys,

rips books that have real pages,

points to Mommy's zits and says Ouchy {in public},

and dumps out all the toy buckets

just seconds after Mommy has finished picking them up.

But being a Little Monster means more than getting into trouble.

Little Monsters are curious and inquisitive,

interested and intrigued,

sensitive and compassionate,

love learning and creating

and they have a belly laugh that will make

even the grouchiest person smile from ear to ear.

Little Monsters have wild hair that Mommy's love to ruffle with their fingers,

they furrow their brows when they focus,

and if you are lucky enough to catch them just after a nap,

they will nestle their cheek into the warmest part of your neck

and sit still for nearly 15 minutes--and those will be the most sacred 15 minutes of your day.

Today, I want to give a big thank you to Megan and Gregg, of Mod Tots,

for the most adorable reminder of this "stage" in Baby W's life.

Gregg and Megan are the husband/wife owners of Modern Bird Studios, who gave me my very first and most favorite piece of real artwork. 

And they recently launched a second super fab business designed for kiddos--Mod Tots. 

Each of these designs is HAND PAINTED!

Animals, robots, monsters, dinosaurs, pastries and more.

These designs are Adorable with a capital A.

You pick the character and then pick

your favorite background color to match your decor.

You want a dozen of them don't you?

Yeah, me too.

Today, Mod Tot's will be giving away a whopping

$100 gift certificate

to one lucky LMM reader.

And for those of you ready to place an order now,

Mod Tot's is giving

10% OFF

code: LITTLEMISSMOMMA

{good through a week after the giveaway}

Here's how you ENTER to WIN:

{leave a separate comment for each entry completed}

1. Visit the Mod Tot's website and tell me the names of the characters you would order.

2. Like Mod Tot's on Facebook and leave a comment on their wall saying you stopped by from LMM.

3. Follow Mod Tots on Twitter.

4. Follow the Little Miss Momma blog.

5. Blog, facebook, and/or tweet about this giveaway and leave a link.

{up to 3 entries}

**Giveaway open to US and Canada only.**

Winner will be announced Friday, June 3rd, 2011.

Ski Ball, Baby W Style

These pictures are merely one of a million reasons

why you never turn your back on your kid for one.single.second

while enduring a trip to Chucke Cheese.

She-Ra Warrior Princess

Have I ever mentioned that I have a hard time getting rid of stuff?

Especially if it is even the least bit sentimental.

So today my Momma came over to give me the smack down.

It's time Ashley. I'm bringing trash bags.

But I wasn't worried.

I knew she would take one look at the memories inside my bins

and she wouldn't have the heart to make me get rid of a thing.

And I was right.

My She-Ra doll.

Whenever I would visit my Dad, we would go to the LA Zoo. We never left before I got one of these plastic guerrillas.  I would walk around the Zoo smelling the plastic scent {yeah, I was a weird kid}.

And then I stumbled upon the extent of my "rebelliousness" as a kid.

Hidden within my Chucke Cheese mini backpack, fireworks--that I was always too scared to light, but felt like a rebel because I had them hidden in my room for years.

A picture of my Dad that reminds me of Baby W.

A letter my Aunt wrote to be just before she passed away.

My first glamour shot.

One of the rare pictures taken of me with black hair. Back in the dating days.

A few of my favorites from my childhood knife collection.

I told you I was weird.

Brad Pitts tickets to the Academy Awards that he left in his Limo.

My first cassette tapes. Wow, that makes me feel old.

My Homecoming crown.

So to make space for all my memories we busted out the Space Savers.

Is it weird that these make me giddy?

They might just be the greatest invention of all times.

Here is my Momma loading massive amounts of blankets in the Space Saver.

BEFORE: 

DURING:: 

And AFTER:

Woah, right?!

What memories have you been holding onto for years?

S.O.S.

If you have been reading Little Miss Momma for a while
then you may remember the Secret Week I hosted back in November.
An entire week dedicated to revealing your deepest darkest secrets.
It was an emotional week to say the least.
At the end of that 7 days
my inbox continued to be flooded with secrets.
Confessions you had never told anyone before.
I was overwhemled.
And inspired.
I started another blog,
Sisterhood of Secrets.
And while I haven't been as good about updating it as I should,
I try to reveal secrets as often as I can.

Tonight three new ones went up,
and these sisters need our support.
Head over to S.O.S.
If you feel so inspired,
share a comment
and offer your support.

I Get Brown in the Summer and Drink Salsa Like It's Diet Cherry Pepsi

I'm Mexican.

Well not completely.

You see, my Dad is half Mexican {although he looks 100%},

so I guess that makes me a quarter.

Which is why I get brown in the summer, 

have hot salsa running through my veins,

and will forever have a soft spot in my heart and in my tummy

for my Grandma's crunchy chicken tacos and albondigas soup.

So when the Padre came over for dinner tonight,

I decided to cook up some Mexican goodness.

{that's a Kobe Bryant Lakers shirt, in case you were wondering}.

And Baby W wanted to help.

  

While I was busy cutting up this...

for this...

and prepping these...

{Pioneer Woman Enchilladas}

Baby W was helping in his own way.

And because he has a little brown in him too (1/8th to be exact),

he enjoyed his spicy Pioneer Woman salsa

without batting an eye.

That's my boy!

What did you eat for dinner, and who did you eat it with?