Tuesday, November 23, 2010

A Sweeter Halloween for St. Jude's Hospital

I can't believe a month has almost passed since Halloween! Families everywhere are preparing for Thanksgiving. I love turkey day but I don't cook so tend to just show up for this event, which is very unlike me. Maybe I was trying to make up for this at Halloween. Actually, this post may seem a bit late, but it's an important time of year to think about giving, and how we are going to teach our children to do that. And so a bit late, but here's the story of our Halloween...

See, we decided to host a "small" party. The idea came to me as I was over-thinking my son's costume. Was I really going to prepare for a month so that I could walk my 11 month-old down the street for 5 minutes? NAH!

I figured my friends would want to show off their kids just as much and I was right.We had over fifteen kids under the age of 2 in an apartment! And you can multiply that by two for the rest of the guest list! It was very cute and not as hectic as you'd expect. It was a perfect age. If many of the kids had been much older it would probably have been nuts!

To make the showing off even better, I distributed a flier in our neighborhood and promised a very cute Little Monsters Halloween Parade! I also asked our neighbors to make Halloween even sweeter by donating $1.00 (or whatever they could) to my son''s Trick-or-Treat bag on behalf of St. Jude's Children's Hospital. We asked party attendees to do the same.

We had a blast and raised money for a good cause. We did the same at Lucas' baptism, and will make a small personal donation in honor of his first birthday. See, I consider it our responsibility to teach Lucas to do as much as he can for others in need. I hope that makes him appreciate how lucky he is in so many ways. If we make this a normal part of his celebrations, he'll never ask "why" but hopefully wonder "why not".

We choose St. Jude's because being a parent is the best thing I'll ever be, and having a child has been life's biggest blessing. I don't dare imagine having to fight for the life of a child. St. Jude's does amazing things for their families. We have also had our own battle with a family member's cancer (an adult), and we want Lucas to always honor that person and his bravery.

Monday, November 22, 2010

The Mommy Kit - Car Accident Safety Tip

As a mom, do you keep a 'mommy kit' in your trunk in case of an emergency with your vehicle?

My corporate site, Accidents.com, posted an article called "Auto Accident Advice That Saves Pain Later", which provides a quick list for you to read BEFORE an accident. Well a fellow mom posted a great comment that I want to share with you...

Shane said "I also keep extra baby Formula, water bottles, one extra baby bottle and non-perishable snacks for my older kids in my trunk in case we have car problems. I call it the "mommy kit"."

Read more: http://www.accidents.com/top-auto-accident-advice-tips.html#ixzz160iM0EwO

I think that is great advice - and plan to create my own mommy kit asap. I plan to add diapers and wipes to that list.

In case you aren't aware: my company operates the site Accidents.com, which focuses on accident safety, distracted driving solutions and connects consumers with attorneys, chiropractors, and other pain management specialists.

Helping the Picky Eater | Parent Earth | Videos about Food for Families

Great article alert: Helping the Picky Eater | Parent Earth | Videos about Food for Families
From Parent Earth. What can you do to help your child enjoy and try new foods? In this video, family doctor and childhood feeding specialist, Katja Rowell MD reviews tips to help your picky eater learn to like new foods.

Wednesday, November 17, 2010

Journal Dedication Page: Happy Birthday Lucas


Today is our son's First Birthday. I am sharing my dedication page to his journal because I know there are moms out there that will appreciate this. I'm not a poet and don't consider myself a strong writer... but here goes.


Dear Lucas,

Happy first birthday 'mi vida' (my life). This journal started as a part of my own when I was just starting to dream about you. I’ve been trying to write this opening birthday entry for months, but finally realized that nothing I put down here will be able to express what your life means to us. Your first heart beat answered years of prayers, and your first breath defined who I would become - your mom above all else - for the rest of my life. You may not understand what I am about to say until you have your own family – but from the very moment you existed as a little life inside me, your life became my own, and the reason for everything daddy and I do. On that day we started to share in our life's journey together as a family, and all of our hopes and dreams for you began...

If there is one thing that parenthood has made me realize more than ever Lucas, is that life passes us by way too fast. I can’t believe you are already a year old! Life, and the people that make it wonderful and sometimes difficult (and these are mostly all the same people by the way!), is hard to appreciate as you are living it. One of my hopes is that these pages always remind you that everything you’ve done, big and small, makes us proud and fills us with wonder. That's something that will hold true to papa and me no matter how old you might be!

I also hope we can teach you that loving honestly and deeply makes you a happier person, because you’ll get so much of that in return. And that it all starts with family, because we don't get through life alone. As you read this you’ll see that you have been blessed with love from a diverse ‘family’. Your great-grandparents and many, many grandparents have already loved you so much! Your tias, tios and cousins from the US and Colombia are also a big part of who you'll become. And it’s not just blood relatives either. The friends we choose to call family over time can sometimes turn into the most special people in our lives – that’s how your dad and I came to be after all! So this journal may seemingly be about your individual life, but we are bound together by blood, love, marriage, friendships and the memories of all those things combined.

As time passes I know you will teach us many things. You already have. The hardest lesson will come when you are ready to live independently from us. A tough day, and a proud day, for any mom I am sure. But remember that a child and his parents are tied by this life's journey together; no matter how far you may go, we are and will always be a part of you.

Until then, I hope we can find precious time to keep filling these pages together. It's our proud job, gift and privilege to guide you through it. It is your job, gift and privilege to go live it fully. Remember to look back and cherish your past. Learn from it. Most importantly though, remember to smile each night because you are about to be blessed with a new tomorrow. New chances to live, learn, love yourself, give back to others and start fresh. Remember that every second you have is a gift dad and I wanted more than anything else. Our favorite gift to love in our entire world. Love that gift and take really, really good care if it.

Happy 1st Birthday 'mi vida'. Love, Mama

Journals: The Gift of Memories and Stories


I finished the dedication page in my son's first journal last night. I wanted to "give" it to him today, for his first birthday.

I have always kept a journal. When I was a teenager it was a diary full of drama, and if life was accurately chronicled, a very sad, tortured young life. That of course isn't true, and I laugh about it now. If I wrote something I didn't want mom to know about, I would staple the pages shut and circle the staples with red ink so that I could tell if mom or brother tampered with the evidence! As I grew up I wrote here and there, but not consistently. So there are gaps that memories and pictures help fill. I started to write again after September 11th, and as life would have it I met my husband about a year later.

When we couldn't get pregnant writing was a necessity. I carried around a little red notebook and chronicled every doctor's appointment, new medical terms I had to repeat, every phone call, every disappointing result, dates and more appointments. Side notes mentioned how I felt. If I didn't have the notebook I would email myself with the subject line "Journal", and kept a folder. I have five sentence emails from myself in the recovery room after our IVF transfer, I called that entry "Maybe Baby".

So when we got pregnant, I decided that our "Maybe Baby" would continue to get the same type of attention that I sporadically gave myself, and that I obsessively gave our infertility treatments. I made it a habit to write notes about our pregnancy on my commute, and continued to email them to myself as our "maybe baby" became our baby with his first heart beat. I kept copies of my emails in Google docs to make sure I had back-ups.

When Lucas was 3 months I ordered a handmade leather journal from Etsy. I transcribed our pregnancy stories from my electronic journal and have been writing for Lucas during my commute ever since. I use a combination of Evernote, LilGrams and email to accomplish this. I transcribe the longer stories once a week (most of the time), in my handwriting, into his journal. All the milestones and emails from family are automatically and easily kept using LilGrams (more on that in another post). Last week Lucas started to "color" in his journal. Amazing. I hope we learns to write his name in this same journal.

My husband says he feels a little bad because if we had a girl, she might appreciate all of this much more later in life than a boy. I like to think he'll appreciate it just enough, and I like to dream that his wife children will love it.

Happy 1st Birthday my little man!

Journal pictures kindly taken by Daniel Fiori of SweetDanib. Thanks Dani!

Tuesday, November 16, 2010

Holy Super Deal Batman! Borders Coupons

Here is a quick suggestion on how to use these great deals from Borders. I think this will provide great savings, especially if there are a lot of kids or book worms in your family. I love giving books and music as gifts to kids!

* You can buy yourself a $50 gift card from Borders and you get a $10 bonus coupon or $5 Gift Card. I don't plan to give them away, but instead use them myself to get more out of my money by using more coupons!

* 33% Off Borders Coupon

* 40% off CD's

If you used these and it worked out, tell us about it! More coupon tips coming soon!

Sunday, November 14, 2010

1st Birthday Cake Drama - Did You Just Ask Me That?


That's Right. My husband went to pick up our son's FIRST BIRTHDAY CAKE and the bakery simply said it 'aint here'. Here is a quick transcript of one of those moments that you know is going to be funny LATER. Thirty minutes before the official start time of our meticulously planned party? Not so funny. I spent HOURS making lists, creating slide shows, movies and wall collages... and THIS is what I ended up having to deal with?! Of course!

Husband: Mar, they can't find our cake. Are you sure you ordered it here?

Wife: Did you JUST ASK ME THAT? Did I order our son's first birthday cake from the same place we've been getting cakes for years? #$%&% YES.

Wife: Are you at the right place; Or is this your hangover at work?
.....Insiders note: husband decided late night (very late night) at Dave Matthew's Concert the night before our party was 'just fine'.

Husband: Well don't freak, but well, they said they 'aint got it'. Now what?

Wife: I will call.

After 6 minutes and 42 seconds on hold and then being 'accidentally' disconnected, twice!:
Wife: Hi, my son's first birthday party starts in 45 minutes and.... (told them story)

Baker: Are you trying to order a cake or pick up a cake?

Wife: Okay, I will repeat the story (slower).

Baker: So if you already know we can't find your cake, why are you calling?

Wife (trying not to yell, knowing that if situation got nasty, there would be no cake at all):
Did you just ask me that? Look, I am trying to stay calm, but you need to understand that my baby's first birthday party starts shortly and I need a cake. I ordered a plain, white cake - whipped cream, strawberries. Nothing written on it, no decorations. I just need any cake (mentally, I said %#%&$ cake... but you knew that already).

Baker: oh, so you want us to make you another one? Not sure we can, let me check.

Wife: I don't care if you have to take a shoebox and put whipped cream on it - I need a white, plain sheet cake for my son's first birthday. I am having it decorated at the house, and I need it here very soon.

....... Insiders Note: Fact is that I am lucky enough to have an expert stylist that lives in my building. Sweet Dani B can make dirt look like art work. So I figured that worst case scenario, she could take her design idea for the cake and put it on a shoebox. Not kidding. That was my back up plan. I had already called her to warn her about our 'situation'.
Baker: Looks like we have a cake available. Send your husband back in 10 minutes. We are so sorry we misplaced your order, we won't charge you for it.

Wife: You can charge me what you want, or not charge me at all. Just get me something that looks like a cake, soon.

Baker: What would you like written on it?

Wife: (Deeeep breath) I need a PLAIN, WHITE CAKE. Now. Pretty please (clenched teeth).

Long story short - the cake was practically still frozen when it arrived, but they came through. We had no idea what it was made of, but as you can see from our amazing picture, our dear friend and amazing designer Dani B (www.sweetdanib.com) did her magic as planned, and Lucas had an amazing first birthday cake. Husband did a great job of talking me off the ledge.

Lesson: make sure the cake is the FIRST thing you pick up just in case a shoebox with whipped cream is the only cake your baby's going to get! Would I really have done that? Really - did you just ask me that? ;-) More about the party soon!

Wednesday, November 10, 2010

Amazing Photography Print Deal - 20x30 Prints for $9.99!

Folks: don't pass this up. Adorama prints the most beautiful pictures. I am an avid hobbyist and my prints always get printed there. I can't wait to see how they do with my baby's pictures!

20x30 Prints for $9.99!