Featured Blog Posts – April 2011 Archive (16)

this morning tommy woke up with the alarm for some reason. he sleeps through it as soundly as i do most mornings. but this morning was special. as he fussed around the bed alternating between nursing, dozing and fussing because he wasn't sure if he wanted to be awake or asleep, i laid still and played sleep, hoping he would catch on and fall into a sound sleep.

instead he turned and started crawling to the foot end of the bed. roundabouts my knee, he stopped moving. fearing a…

Continue

I really thought my eyes were playing tricks on me. Nope, I did see a woman holding a baby in the front seat of a minivan while approaching the toll booth to go over the George Washington Bridge. There was tons of traffic. People switching lanes everywhere, horns beeping, hand gestures flying. In the middle of all…

Continue

I knew better. I mean, I'd heard so many horror stories and had been given so many words of advice. Yet here I am, confessing the lesson I learned the very hard...very messy...very hard way.

 

I had to go to Walmart. Chris was out of deoderant and he is a man who NEEDS DEODERANT. I wanted to pick up a few things to make for dinner anyway. I knew my almost 8 month old would be hungry in an hour so I wanted to do it quick and get home before her incessant whines began. I threw…

Continue

The milky magic known as breastfeeding is such an irresistible topic even celebrity moms want to weigh in. Here's what some of Hollywood's biggest stars had to say about life on the boob.

 

Tori Spelling

“Yes. It’s hard, but I love it. That’s our time together, and…

Continue

 Okay, I'm coming clean. I became so mesmerized with the "Your Baby Can Read" commercial that I actually ordered the reading system that promises to help your child learn to read. But, it wasn't just the commercial that made me run to jot down the number and grab my phone and MasterCard. During my daughter's last well visit, the pediatrician asked how many words were in her vocabulary. My husband and I looked at each other, trying not to laugh. Vocabulary? Um, she was 15 months at the time. She… Continue

i'm on the phone with my cousin that used to watch tommy. tommys grunting and his face is turning red and his eyes are popping out of his head. i get it. he's tryin to force one out. i hear nothing and i smell nothing so i continue with the conversation. and tommy's meal. half an hour goes by. i consider getting ready for bath time but decide on waiting a while out of sheer laziness. completely forgetting about the red face and grunting, i let tommy loose on my bedroom floor.

about…

Continue

photo via bettmann/corbis

The darling adorable tot that you see in the above photo would later grow up to become our 32nd president, Franklin Delano Roosevelt. Back in 1884, when this picture was taken, it was…

Continue

Me Ra Koh loves cameras, kids, and parents, and spends her life bringing them together. Her work and photo recipes have been featured on The Oprah Winfrey Show, The Nate Berkus Show, and Lifetime Television. You can find her at…

Continue

  Every expectant mother hears it..."just wait until that baby comes, your life is going to change, forget about having any time for yourself." Yes, your life does change. Yes, your free time is severely restricted, but does it mean you have absolutely NO time for yourself and your previous passions in life? It doesn't have to, but a lot of times it ends up that way. You just have to learn how to put the "me" back in mommy.

   First let's clarify.."Me" time is not doing the dishes or…

Continue

     Everyone has heard in the news about obesity being a growing epidemic. Poor nutrition and overall health is a major concern in this country. Why wouldn't it be? In a high paced, convenience centered, fast food driven society, that's an obvious result. Fast food is a subject that has already been covered intensely by the media, so I needn't bother.…

Continue

I realized something recently that my life has become too complicated and I need to get back to the basics. 

God, Family, Friends.

My God, I have put to the wayside because life was to demanding of my time.  I now understand, again, that by doing this I have made my life complicated.  Instead of quieting myself and hearing what God has to say, I busy myself with day to day activities.  When one of my day to day activities should be meditating on God's Word.

My Family, is…

Continue

Meet Heather Hopp-Bruce, our new favorite mom blogger. Heather writes draws about the funny side of parenting challenges - from breastfeeding to diapering - in her blog The Baby Sucks. Heather is the mother of three girls under age 4 - and she still has a sense of humor. Read our Q&A  with her below your moment of comic relief, then…

Continue

To enter to win a copy of The Rain Train signed by Elena de Roo, in the comment box below tell us about your baby's favorite rhythms. We'll randomly select a winner on April 20

.

The Rain Train (Candlewick, $15.99) by Elena de Roo, illustrated by Brian Lovelock

 …

Continue

much like babies get fussy and and don't sleep well when they're hitting milestones, i think i hit one myself. negative nancy took over and i've been glum and complainy for quite a while now. didn't i used to appreciate things?? aside from the fact that i am not happy about where i am in life, i hate my job, it's a struggle to either cook and eat, clean or shower, my house looks like a bomb blew up in it, my room mate moved out(well, that's def a good thing), i still don't have daycare…

Continue

I love to take baths for relaxation. But I just got out of the bathtub after an hour long bath and I am really super upset. I sat there with a hot wash cloth on my breast for an hour, massaged my breast for an hour, expressed milk for an hour.. and what do I have to show for it? Not too much! My clogs are still there. This is the 4th time in 7 1/2 months that I've had clogs in my breast, the 2nd time that those clogs have caused an infection. I was just telling this lady the other day on here… Continue

   Merriam-Webster defines guilt as a feeling of culpability for offenses. This week I define guilt as a quivering lip and watery eyes of a sick child you leave as you head out the door to work as well as the utterly crappy feeling you have as you sit at your desk. At the first sniffle or cough, I will be the first one to call out sick and take care of my daughter. Unfortunately, the year got off to a rough start for my family health-wise, so I've used the majority of my sick time within just… Continue