What's Better Than a Birthday?

Two birthdays, that's what!

I have just arrived back from a fabulous vacation to Florida, and I am feeling so refreshed and ready to take on the next set of Indiana Step Mama challenges.
Today, anyway. Ask me again tomorrow, Hehe.

Callie turns 7 today! Crazy, madness, insanity I tell you.

I know all moms are all "Oh Em Gee, they were 2 literally yesterday...blah blah blah."
But it's true! I met sweet little Callie when she was just 5 years old, and to look back at photos and videos of that, I am shocked! She has changed so much.

Her sister is turning 2 on Valentine's Day, which means we have some fabulous celebrations coming up.

I love planning parties. I always have, and I probably always will.
I feel so lucky that this year, we haven't had to put up any fights on when/where parties will be and I am so thankful for that. (Silent thank you to birth mother.)

Callie is the best. She loves all things girly- makeup, pop music, dresses, Frozen, mermaids, etc. But she also totally loves digging around in the dirt, getting messy, making potions and playing with Ninja Turtles. Donatello is the best, BTW. She also recently starting talking boyfriends, but that's for a whole other post, y'all...

So, her wish was for a Ninja Turtle cake, which is currently in the works. I 100% am not trying to be supermom...full disclosure...someone else can take 5 hours to make that, cause this lady is NOT.
We are going straight to the Kingdom of Hell, AKA Chuck E Cheese, where my beautiful doll child can tear around lawlessly, covered in pepperoni pizza grease, ninja turtle mask and lipstick with a couple other equally terrifying children. I am so over the moon about the whole thing.

I got party favor bags to make, and tonight we are making Ninja Turtle cookies (wait for the photos!) and also turning small, wooden circles into awesome Ninja Turtle disks. OH EM GEE.
And, after that, we can play Princess and fling Donatello through the air on his new zipline (Best. Gift. Ever.)

In other news, I realized that this is what being a mom/step-mom/pseudo-mom/part-time mom is all about. I feel so *duh* why has it taken me this long to realize small people with small opinions don't get to decide how I love my child?

I am beyond lucky.
I will keep y'all updated with photos of Ninja Turtle shenanigans...

(Ninja Turtle cousin twins, Aunt Alex on the left with son Jackson, and Callie in her winter coat and Donatello gear! Halloween 2014)

An Introduction...

My name is Chelsea.
I'm a 22-year-old multitasker who loves to read, write and consume coffee.
I'm currently employed at 4 locations, but my main full-time job is as an editorial writer for my local newspaper.
My passion is people. My days just aren't complete if I'm not interacting with new people, reaching out and helping someone. Sometimes a kind word or smile is all it takes.

But what I'm really here to talk about is my life as a mom.
But I'm not a real mom. At least, that's what complete strangers, family and friends like to point out.
I'm a pseudo-mom.
I don't have children of my own, but I do have children.

I am in a relationship with a man who isn't my husband (GASP)
and we have partial custody of his two beautiful children.

There are many reasons, I feel, that the pseudo-mom is underappreciated.
The list includes:  Ex-Wives, Birth Moms, Birth Grandparents and Family friends that feel entitled.

The great news about children is that nobody TRULY owns them. Children are a beautiful, special form of life that is fleeting and rare in its rawest form.
And because they are such beautiful beings, it leads to a tug-of-war of hearts, emotions tangling all in the quest to call them "MINE."

I'm here to tell you that I will never own these children.
These children own me.

They are my decision to stay home when I want to go out with friends.
They are the whisper that tells me to find a steady job, one that will allow time at home.
They are the broken toys, the paint on the floor, the crayons in my dog's mouth and the spirit in the home.

But these children will never be mine.
And I'm on the quest to find my place in a society that values possession over true, raw, self-sacrificing, unconditional love.

With this blog, I hope to find an outlet for my tears, fears and dreams. I hope that I can share experiences that are powerful and raw and that you will judge me. But, I also hope that many of you will find comfort in a shared experience.

Because, at the end of the day, we are all beings made up, collectively of smaller things that are shared on this Earth. I hope my stories can entertain you, and I hope these tales find you well.

Please watch for more posts, as I will update you on when, where, what I will be posting.

And if you have any suggestions, I'm open for that, too!

"Do what you want and say what you feel, because those who mind don't matter, and those who matter won't mind." <3