Healthcare Costs and Crazy Mommy (In All Seriousness Though)

OK, so you already know how much I love our pediatrician.  As a frantic first-time (and now soon to be frantic second-time) parent, he is the perfect doctor for us.  We've certainly been to the office several more times than just our usual "well" visits, fortunately for reasons related more to Mommy's anxiety-over-being-a-bad-parent-and-overlooking-something than serious illness.  But with healthcare costs being what they are, I wonder if we would be able to visit him so often if it weren't for the fact we have amazing health insurance through my husbands job at a large hospital system.  

Here is a great blog post he has written about the healthcare system.   The Problem With Being Told What To Do. It really is something to ponder. Please go read it!

Amazing Youtube Makeup Video- DiamondsandHeels14

I am so impressed with this young lady.  Cassandra Bankson has shown the world her makeup techniques that successfully cover severe acne as well as baring her makeup free face.

I am so impressed with how brave she has been to show the world her skin without makeup.  How often do you see a model strip of her makeup and show you that she is really not perfect!  I'm sure it gives a lot of people hope!  While I have never had such severe acne, each time I have been pregnant my skin goes completely nuts.  I always just resigned myself to the fact that when my skin was bad, no amount of makeup could adequately cover it up.  From watching her videos, I have been able to use her techniques for applying makeup and it lasts all day long!  I thought I knew what I was doing, but before using  Cassandra Bankson's techniques my makeup would be gone after a few hours and I never really got any blemishes covered up.

I must sound like an infomercial or something, but I am just so impressed and pleased!  It is VERY important as a mom (or dad!) to feel good about yourself and the way you look.  I had really not been putting much effort into my appearance lately.  I had been so tired! After watching this and some of her other videos I have  been trying to make a really effort into looking nice, putting on some makeup, and wearing comfortable yet nice clothes.  I have to say- I do feel better about my appearance and myself!


Check out her blog as well http://diamondsandheels14.blogspot.com/

Mysterious Disappearing Tree Ornaments

Notice the empty spots on the front of the tree?  Okay, not so mysterious. One guess who is taking them?

I learned my lesson about 4 years ago when Munchkin thought the beautiful ornaments were balls. Needless to say the ornament I bought the first year my husband and I started dating did not survive. Mr L tried to piece it back together for me, but it was beyond saving. He did manage to save the other ornament that a friend had given me. A lot of patience, crazy glue, and probably some cursing was involved.

This year I took no chances.  While Munchkin has no interest in removing ornaments from the tree, Pumpkin seems to have inherited some "hoarding" tendencies?  I keep finding him with six or seven ornaments clutched in his little hands.  After a while he figured out he could hold onto more if he strung them on his fingers.  I made sure  My lovely sister-in-law made sure that only the unbreakable ones were within Pumpkin's reach and all of my special glass or breakables were at the top of the tree.

I actually don't mind because he is counting them and sorting them by color-  I'll take this as an educational opportunity.  Or maybe I'm just too tired (lazy) to try and keep him from pulling them down.    Not to worry, I did make sure that the tree was securely anchored to the wall!  Despite the fact that there are "bare" spots on the tree, I actually prefer this to gating the tree off.  I did that one year and I thought it kind of took away from that Christmas-y feeling.

By the way, please excuse our crooked tree topper.  I kind of just tossed it up there and told myself I would get a step stool and fix it right away.  A week later...yeah it might still be crooked at Christmas!  But doesn't that make it  all the more special  ;)

A Little Thanksgiving Humor

A lovely sentiment..... ;) 




May your stuffing be tasty
May your turkey plump,
May your potatoes and gravy
Have never a lump.
May your yams be delicious
And your pies take the prize,
And may your Thanksgiving dinner
Stay off your thighs!




(Author Unknown)

Keep Those Kiddies busy on Thanksgiving!

South Shore Mamas have put together a list of links for printable Thanksgiving themed activity sheets and placemats. What a great idea for keeping the little ones busy while you are!
You can see them all here!
http://southshoremamas.com/?p=10593

Happy Turkey Day Everyone!

The impossible "Perfect" baby name.

First of all, the mommies want to apologize for the lack of posting lately. We promise to get it together and share more of our hilarious and ridiculous day to day lives.

I have this problem where I feel that I must come up with THE perfect name.

I don't want anything too trendy, too strange, too common, made up, etc. Rather not use a celebrity baby name either. Something traditional yet not overused. There must be the perfect combination of syllables. Our last name is only one syllable, so I feel that it must be 2 syllables or more!

To make matters worse, my husband and I seem to have very differing taste in names. The names I liked 5 years ago are not necessarily the same names that I like today. While I'm fairly certain that Mr L's favorite girls names are still the same. With Munchkin, Mr. L was dead set on a certain name and basically anything else I suggested was nixed. With Pumpkin, I suggested one name and Luckily Mr L agreed and then that was it. With Baby #3 on the way, (Yes, #3- we're very excited!) I just haven't found anything that I like. At the moment, we don't know the gender so I'm not going to stress TOO much just yet but I foresee much stressing in my near future!

How did all you mommies and daddies out there come up with names?? Did you both agree or did someone "win?" Was it as stressful for you as it is for me? Feel free to comment with suggestions. I need all the help I can get or this baby is going to end up being named Hurricane or Batman.

Toca Boca Doctor game

Free for the next few days only. Get it for iphone or ipad. It keeps my almost 2 year old and 5 year old busy (and I like it too!)

http://itunes.apple.com/us/app/toca-doctor/id424209938?mt=8

Winner of the Kelly Wels Diaper Giveaway

Just a quick announcement the winner of a Rumparooz and temporary tattoo was April G.
Congratulations!!!! We are so happy that you won and hope you continue to enjoy Mommies Being Mommies!!

Review And Giveaway: Changing Diapers by Kelly Wels

If you or someone you know has been toying with the idea of cloth diapering, the new book by Kelly Wels called Changing Diapers The Hip Mom's Guide to Modern Cloth Diapering would be a great addition to your library. In fact it would be a lovely gift, along with a diaper or two, to any pregnant or new mom that has an interest in cloth diapering.

Mompact: Review and Giveaway of Bee-Stractors Emergency Entertainment



Mompact: Review and Giveaway of Bee-Stractors Emergency Entertainment








I hate getting shots, blood drawn, or really anything involving needles.   When I was a child they would call in an extra nurse to help hold me down for my vaccines. Unfortunately it seems my daughter shares this dislike as well.  When I got a bit older my dentist told me to wiggle my fingers in order while he was injecting novacaine into my gums. For some reason this has been the only thing that has helped me deal with my fear of needles (and yes I still do it to this day!)  I am willing to bet that if  this product had existed back then, I would still be carrying them with me to all my appointments!

My Two-Year-Old Just Threw Me Under the Bus!

So in a rare moment of house keeping productivenes (if you can call it that), I was browsing through our local Target with my Mommy L and our respective children, on a mission to find glass jars with sealing lids that would protect our pantry items from the onslaught of tiny moths that I can't seem to get rid of.   (PLEASE if anyone has any suggestions on this, they are driving me crazy!!) Mommy L had gone off to look for something and I turned my cart into the aisle with the glass storage containers.

There was a fantastic, huge, cylindrical jar with a screw-on metal top. Perfect for what I needed - but would the top close tight enought to keep out the moths? Well, no better way to find out than to test the lid. I reached for the jar and picked it up - only to immediately drop it on the ground! 

SMASH!!!!

 In  response towhat I can only describe as an mass-attention getting sound, three target employees and Mommy L come running into the aisle to see what had happened. And there I stand, sheepishly and beet red surrounded by a million shards of glass.

"Mommy dropped it! Mommy, YOU broke it!"   Thank you darling, I think they figured that out already.  Ugh.

On the bright side I did find some perfect jars that fit very well in my pantry.

Hurricane!

So supposedly, :) there is going to be a hurricane on the east coast on Sunday.  I have yet to prepare anything.  Good thing Mr L. stocks up on food when there is a great sale.  I think we can live on spaghetti and jarred sauce for a few weeks if we need to and then move on to Ramen noodles and Lipton side dishes.  A lot of the stocked food is not the healthiest but at least it will hold us over if disaster really strikes us.  We have at least 3 cases of juice boxes and possibly a few cases of bottled water.  Perhaps I should check!

Mommy J is off on a family vacation and is supposed to arrive home on Sunday... maybe they should come home a day early!

If you need help getting ready, here is a great hurricane supply kit list and how to make a family disaster plan. It looks like I need to get started!

Toca Boca Hair Salon App

Our pediatricians office posted a link to this in incredibly fun iPad/iPhone app.
Toca Boca hair salon. You (I mean, your kid, of course) can cut, blow dry, regrow, and color the hair of different people and pets. It is Much more fun than I can describe it. Go get it while it's free until Tuesday 8/23/2011.


http://tocaboca.com/games/#toca-hair-salon

Car seat mistakes on "A Year with Mom and Dad"

http://networkedblogs.com/lPHQW

This blogger has given some great tips on car seat mistakes you might be making that you haven't even thought of yet.

I'd like to add a few:

The Chest clip-  is just what it's called it's not called a belly button clip or a neck clip!  Put it at chest/armpit level.

The Straps should be tight- but not so tight that they hurt.  If you can slip just your finger underneath that should do it

Check out  http://www.car-safety.org/faq.html for some great tips.

Be extremely cautious when using a "used/yard sale" car seat.  Only use it if you are confident that it has a clean "record".  Or better yet, just don't!  You never know whether it's been in an accident or abused somehow.  I've even heard of someone who bought a seat on craigslist and the seller had altered the date of manufacture from a 2003 to a 2008!  The buyer only found out the seat was expired when they went to register the serial number.  Even if it isn't malicious, people have different ideas of what counts as an "accident".  Check your car seat manufacturer's website to see when they require a seat to be replaced. (The only used car seat I would allow my children to ride in is Mommy J's because I know if she got into an accident I'd probably be one of the first people she'd tell and I know when all of her car seats expire anyway.)

Most car seats have a 6 year expiration (a few have 7-9 years).  Plastics do degrade.  Okay so maybe they won't biodegrade but if you have ever left plastic patio furniture out for 6 years in the elements it gets brittle.  Car seats are subjected to drastic temperature changes in the car- freezing to super hot.

Try not to check car seats at the Airplane.  It's best if you can purchase a seat for your child and use the car seat on the airplane.  Some car seat manufacturers even consider them to be "crashed" if they have been checked on an airplane.  There are some shocking youtube videos that portray the rough handling they are subjected to not to mention shifting around with heavy luggage.

Finally- If you find out you've been making a car seat mistake all along, don't beat yourself up.  Fix it.  Learn from it and move on.

Magic beans in Wellesly, MA is hosting a Car Seat Check August 28th 2011 from 2-5pm.  There's limited space so sign up! 

or you can try to find a local event at http://www.safekids.org

Mommy J is on the rampage!! CONTINUED?!?!?!

Seriously? Another case of a mother punching her child in public?  What is going on?  And this evil excuse for a parent, did it in DisneyWorld, the "Happiest Place on Earth!"  COME ON!

http://www.cfnews13.com/article/news/2011/july/284281/Mother-arrested-for-beating-child-at-Disney-World

The Monsters are Coming!!

This morning my darling (and previously fearless) little girl woke up crying and calling for me.  I went upstairs as I do every morning to get her and she jumped -no dove into my arms. "Mommy Dinosaurs!! Big Dinosaur! In-a closet!"

Mommy J is on the rampage!!

Daddy J likes to say that he can always tell which posts are written by me: The angry ranting ones.  Well, I am going to prove him right in today's post.

I came across this article the other day.

I'm Listing This One As A Daddy Moment!

So, I'm throwing Daddy J under the bus on this one.  Yesterday, we were sitting around having a lazy Saturday Morning and Daddy J was flipping through the stations, stopping here and there on various movies until I would ask " is this really something SHE should be watching?" Nothing too bad, but war movies and other "grown up topics" are something that Honeybee could probably wait on.

Anyway, rather than just flipping to the cartoon channels, Daddy J keeps flipping through the stations occationally stopping for a few seconds to see what comes up.

OF COURSE when he stops we are met with a loud and angry "SHUT THE F*CK UP!"  before he is able to continue changing the station

And of course what is the next thing we hear?

"Mommy! Shut UP the f*ck!"  Nice....Real nice.

I'm just hoping that this does not become part of her regular vocabulary.  I know that someday soon she will let something loose in public that wil make me cringe and I will be horribly embarrased and feel the need to defned my parenting everyone within earshot, but I just hope it's not this!

My Baby Has Better Shoes than I Do!

Even if my sense of fashion has turned to t-shirts jeans and flipflops everyday, I try to keep my daughter dressed stylishly. (At least when we are in public!) When she was a baby, we were given a gorgeous pair of Primigi crib shoes.

Renaming my Baby...

Pumpkin, soon to be known as "Chompy," has learned a new word since yesterday:  "Naughty!"You may remember my post on pinching. Well... he's not really pinching that much anymore.  It's worse.

We had a friend over yesterday whose son got bitten twice by "Chompy."  I don't know what to do with this boy.   I wouldn't have blamed my friend if she grabbed her little boy and ran out of my house but she was amazingly cool about it. 

Hot Cars + Children = Very bad things!

It's  hot as, well, you know where today. When I went out to my car I was reminded of just HOW hot it was. It also reminded me of  one particular summer day last year when I came out of the local Babies R Us with my little Honeybee. It was actually 103 degrees (which is not a typical summer day here in the New England.)  So I had turned on the car and was blasting the air conditioner to cool the car down a bit before we got it.  After loading Honeybee into her car seat I turned around and noticed there was a child in the back seat of the car next to us.  I knew he hadn't been there long as the other passengers had left the car as I was getting to mine, but it doesn't take long for a car to heat up in the summer sun.

According to Jan Null, CCM from the Department of Geosciences, SFSU there are on average 38 deaths per year due to children being left or trapped inside hot cars. While this seems like a small number this is a very avoidable death. According to this study, within 10 minutes the temperature in the car rose almost 20 degrees, and by 60 minutes the temperature rose 43 degrees.  "Cracking" the windows had little effect. Add that to a 90 degree day...not a good scenario.


In many cases these deaths have occurred not because of negligent parenting but by sheer accident. As families get busier and busier, we need to remember to take a minute to make sure that our precious children are not left in the car when we leave it.  There are many ways to remind ourselves  such as putting a toy in the front seat to remind us when a child is in the car. There are window stickers you can get to remind you too. 


Here are some safety recommendations courtesy of Null's Study

• NEVER LEAVE A CHILD UNATTENDED IN A VEHICLE.  NOT EVEN FOR A MINUTE !
• IF YOU SEE A CHILD UNATTENDED IN A HOT VEHICLE CALL 9-1-1.
• Be sure that all occupants leave the vehicle when unloading. Don't overlook sleeping babies.
• Always lock your car and ensure children do not have access to keys or remote entry devices.  IF A CHILD IS MISSING, ALWAYS CHECK THE POOL FIRST, AND THEN THE CAR, INCLUDING THE TRUNK. Teach your children that vehicles are never to be used as a play area. 
• Keep a stuffed animal in the carseat and when the child is put in the seat place the animal in the front with the driver.
• Or place your purse or briefcase in the back seat as a reminder that you have your child in the car.
• Make "look before you leave" a routine whenever you get out of the car.
• Have a plan that your childcare provider will call you if your child does not show up for school.

Bottom line. NEVER leave your child in the car even for a moment as it only takes minutes for a tragedy to occur


ps: in case you were wondering how my story ends: After trying all the doors on the car (which were locked)I ended up unpacking honeybee from the car and going back into the store and reporting this to the woman at the customer service desk. They called 911 and were able to quickly locate the parents so tragedy in this case was averted.

Baby Hugo Naturals Diaper Cream

photo courtesy of   http://www.hugonaturals.com/

My older son got diaper rash probably 2 times in his all of the 2 years and 10 months he was in diapers.  Pumpkin, on the other hand, went through a phase where he just kept getting diaper rash regardless of what I tried.

Happy 4th of July!!

To those of you Celebrating today- Have a wonderful Independance Day!  I plan to spend it with my Family and  one of my bestest of friends that is visiting from Canada this month.  Shut the computer down today and go outside and enjoy!

Oh My Baby... My Funny, Funny Baby

So Honeybee wakes up yesterday morning and calls me "Maaaaameeeeee!"
So I go upstairs and she flashes me a big smile and says "Um,  How 'bout chocolate milk and coffee cake?"

"You want chocolate milk and coffee cake?" I ask.

"Ummmm, Yeah!" (said as if I suggested it. ) "Come on Mama. Let's get in car!" She says as she climbs out of bed and heads for the stairs.

Where did I get such an adorably funny child?  I realize I  am biased because she is mine, but she manages to say something that makes me laugh every single day.

I can't wait to see what she has in store for me today...

Happy Father's Day!

To all you Daddies and Papas, and Dads: Happy Father's Day.
Thank you for all you do and teach us.

Mommy L with Papa

Mommy J with Papa

Papa, Mommy J and Little Brother A

Daddy J & Honeybee

Graduation Day!

Munchkin is graduating. Preschool, that is.  I know that everyone says this, but I just can't believe how fast the time has gone.

Ah, Sigh... Mommy Moment

So not my usual Mommy Moment for today. This one is a feel-good one. Sorry no humor today.

Oh My Freakin' Ears.

Honeybee has picked a word for the day: "Loud". At irregular intervals all day long, she has been yelling out "BAH!"at varying levels of  fortissimo. Following each "BAH!", she has exclaimed to me with a seemingly sincere surprise "Mommy, that's loud!"  In addition, she has discovered that her play-kitchen  pots and pans are loud too.  She has been, for the past hour, alternating between banging the pots and pans and Bah!-ing.  A moment ago she was clanging the pans together (curse me for thinking that stainless steel toy pots and pans were a good idea):

"FASTER!!!!" bang,bang,bang,bang,bang,bang,bang,bang,bang,bang,bang!
"SLOWER!!!!" baaaannggg, baaannngggg, baaaangggg!

"FASTER!!!!" bang,bang,bang,bang,bang,bang,bang,bang,bang,bang,bang!

"SLOWER!!!!" baaaannggg, baaannngggg, baaaangggg!

At least she has a good sense of tempo. 

"WOW Mommy! That's LOOOOOUUUUUUD!!!"

"Yes baby, now how about quiet?"

"NO LOUD!!!" BANG BANG BANG "BAH!! BAH!! BAHH!!!!"

As a musician, I should really be encouraging all this musical exploration right?  Letting her find her voice? 

Oh for Pete's sake! 

Photo Courtesy of
http://www.purdue.edu/convos
/evitaimages.shtml 

   

Now she is on top of the coffee table, arms up like Evita and "singing".

Is this what she thinks I sound like when I sing Disney songs to her in the car?

Darling baby, could you have picked a day when I don't feel sick to do this? No of course not. 

You are my child.

PS. Honeybee, just looks over my shoulder and points to the picture and says " HAHA! Mommy funny!"

Losing Weight for Me? Yeah Right!

They say that if you want to lose weight, get in shape, get healthy, etc. you have to do it for yourself and not for someone else. Well, I've been trying to do this for me for years and it's just not working.  At my healthiest and skinniest, I was working out 5-6 days a week and running about 3 to 5 miles a day.  What was my motivation? My sister and I were going to the gym together. We'd hop on adjacent treadmills or elliptical machines and start going. Neither of us wanted to be the one to "give up" so when one of is asked the other, "You want to keep going?" The answer was "Of course I do. Why,  YOU want to quit?"  or in our best attempt to not sound tired "I'm fine."

Morning Mommy Moment

Where the heck is my coffee pot?!?! 















It was just here a minute ago.











Ahhh! There it is!

Mommy Moment

I just managed to trip over my laptop cord causing it to pull from the wall,  whip up and around my cup of coffee and flinging it across the living room and spilling coffee all over my to do list rendering it completely unreadable. I think I should take this as a sign that the universe wants me to abandon the list and do nothing all day. :)

Photo courtesy of www.stockvault.com

The Couponing Craze

In a rare moment of being able to watch something on TV this is not 1.Animated or 2.Made by Nickelodeon, PBS or Disney, I was flipping around the stations looking for something to watch. I came upon a show called "Extreme Couponing", which I'm sure you may have already heard of.

Now at first this seemed like a good idea. Who wouldn't want to get 90% of their groceries for free? Being a SAHM, who is responsible for the grocery shopping but not being the one supplying the income, saving money where I can is always good thing.

But as I watched this show, I started to cringe. This particular episode, the couponer got 20 of each flavor powerade, 150 king-size butterfingers candybars, I dont know how many bags of cookies. She ended up with Nine carts - NINE!! I myself have only ever completely filled up ONE cart a handful of times in my life!

There are a Zillion different Sleep Methods...

I just googled "sleep baby" and got 161,000,000 hits.  To anyone that has had kids you know that getting your kid to sleep is a constant topic of discussion/debate.  I read the Ferber book, the Baby Whisperer, The No Cry Sleep Solution, and scoured the internet.  A mommy needs rest in order to be a nice mommy!

Ouch!

I have a confession:  As much as I'd like to say my children are well behaved angels, Pumpkin has started pinching.

My Picky Eater

My 2 year old is a picky eater. Now before you tell me "Well Duh! All toddlers are picky eaters", let me explain what I mean.

At 4 months old, we excitedly mixed up some rice cereal for Honeybee. Her first taste of solid food! A moment that every new parent gets excited about. I spooned some of the greyish-beigh sludge into her mouth and the face that I got was a "Mommy what is this crap you are trying to poison me with" look. We tried several more times but to no We move on to babyfood in the form of strained peas, carrots, sweet potatoes and apples. Again, no luck. Honeybee would fight and spit out any bit of food we gave her.

Rear Facing until Age 2!!

It has been over a month since the American Academy of Pediatrics revised their guidelines on car seat safety and I just wanted to urge my friends and loved ones take a second look at carseat safety. 


http://www.aap.org/advocacy/releases/carseat2011.htm


"In a new policy published in the April 2011 issue of Pediatrics (published online March 21), the AAP advises parents to keep their toddlers in rear-facing car seats until age 2, or until they reach the maximum height and weight for their seat."


The bare minimum recommendation used to be 1 year and 20 pounds to turn your child forward facing.  Now the AAP is finally getting their guidelines up to date with the minimums that car seat technicians have been recommending for years.  These days, combination car seats can rear face somewhere between 33-45 pounds.  They also recommend that when rear-facing is outgrown,

Who Needs to be Taught Manners?

A few days ago, I was out shopping with Honeybee. As I was looking for what I needed, an older woman came over and said to Honeybee "You are such a sweet and beautiful girl!"  To which I replied " Honeybee, "You say "thank you" when someone says something nice to you - say thank you." Of course Honeybee chooses this moment to get shy. The woman looks at me and says: "Oh, don't force her to say thank you, you shouldn't push it."  in a very reprimanding tone with a disapproving the look on her face.  "No, Mummy, shouldn't force you to do anything, you little dear!" Now, I didn't think I was "forcing it". I certainly wasn't twisting her arm or being mean or even that strong about it.  I was simply using it as a "teachable moment".

Happy Mother's Day!

Happy Mother's Day to all the Mommies out there!

I've had this post draft for a week now as an empty page with a title, trying to figure out what this post would become.  So here I am on the Morning of Mother Day, trying to figure it out - with my family still asleep. Isn't this the one day I am supposed to sleep in? Apparently my internal sleep clock has a mean sense of humor.

Sippy Cup vs Dishwasher (plus a mini review on the Foogo)

The dishwasher won.  It ate 2 of the lids to my relatively expensive Thermos Foogo brand sippy cups.  One was the older style, so I won't mourn it's loss too long but the other was rather new.  I was so distraught (well not really) that I didn't even get a picture of the melted lids to show off here.

A little something for the Daddies! (Mommies you can read it too!)

It's no secret that there are a lot of mommy blogs out there. But as my husband found out there is not that much out there for the Daddies. Or at least not much that resonated with him.  So he decided to write his own blog in the hopes that he could help other new daddies.
Go check it out and feel free to leave him comments there (or here and we will pass them along to him) about what you think.

Click the link below to read:
Wrapped Around Her Finger - A New Dad’s Journal of Adventures and Acceptance

Melanoma Research Fundraiser Extended For Mommies Being Mommies Readers!

Good morning everyone!


Kelly Levy has extended her Melanoma Research Fundraiser until May 10, 2011

If you hadn't read the previous post here it is: Melanoma Fundraiser

EEK! This pic makes me
want to hide it the shade!

If you order $24 or more in Avon products with at least 1 item that has SPF in it, she will donate 30% of it to the Melanoma Research fund.   As an added bonus,  if you purchase $30 worth of products online you can get free shipping too.  


This fundraiser also includes Avon's Tiny Tillia website.  If you go to www.tinytillia.com, find a representative, put in my last name "Levy" and state: Massachusetts, then choose Kelly Levy and start shopping for baby and mommy must haves. They have some really adorable stuff! 

Remember as pretty as it is, you still
need protection from the sun!

You can contact her directly at kellscrafts [at] gmail [dot] com. Orders can either go directly through Kelly via email or you can order from her websitewww.youravon.com/klevy and the the proceeds will go to the Melanoma Research Fund. (And don't forget to mention that you you came from Mommies Being Mommies!)

This is a cause that is of special significance to Kelly as well, as her aunt has stage 4 Melanoma!

Lets help out Kelly in such a worthy cause!

Blog Hop!

 We've joined up with VoiceBoks.com for a Blog Hop.

Find yourself a Mommy Mentor!

Being a mommy is something I've only been doing for 4 and a half years.  Maybe we can even round up to 5 years if we count being pregnant.  Even though some of my "brand new to being a mommy" friends seem to think I'm an old pro at this, (who knows why but thanks for the vote of confidence!)  I still feel like I'm muddling my way through everything.

Many of the people I work with have older children (yet still young enough that their parenting advice is more or less up to date) and I absolutely cherish their advice on parenting.

Mini Crisis Averted!

Ok, so I found the file. It was cut and paste after a blog post draft I was writing.  So we're back to the old look for now, but I still will be working on a new look for the sight so stay tuned!

Mommy J

AARRRRHHGGGGGG!!!!!

Note to self: Do not "try out" blog templates  unless you remember where you saved your previous blog code and you have had a full night of sleep!  Especially when you do not have time to piece it back together when you make a mess of it.

(NOT me obviously)

We'll let me know what you think of this design. On the bright side I had wanted to clean up the blog and make it look better so now I have to.

Mommy J

photo by graur razvan ionut

Balancing Acts

Now that Munchkin is getting older it seems that our days are getting filled with activities.  I want him to experience everything he wants to, yet I am afraid of over scheduling my little boy.  I don't want to be dragging him from practice to practice and have him end up hating something that should otherwise be a wonderful, fun, experience.

Baby Signing Time!

When Munchkin was about 5 months old, I found the Baby Signing Time DVDs. At first I thought, "Wow, If this really works, I am going to have a pretty awesome parlor trick on my hands!  I  bought the Baby Signing Time 2 disc DVD/ 2 CD set from www.Mom4life.com.  These DVD's were created by Rachel Coleman for hearing children to learn signing in a fun way.

We started watching them and the first sign I tried to teach him was the sign for milk.  Every time I nursed Munchkin, I would take his hand and help him make the sign.  Much to my surprise, after 2 or 3 months he actually started signing.  We ended having success with many signs including milk, more, please, and hurt.  Hurt was particularly useful when Munchkin had an ear infection and he was able to tell me that his ear hurt!

Now with Pumpkin, we've had even more success.  He knows the signs for more, milk, drink, eat, and please.   In fact there have been times where he has given me this angry look and forcefully brought his hand to his mouth in the sign for eat.  (Pretty much telling me- "Hey you!  I'm Hungry!!")

Baby Signing Time has helped us avoid frustration and I even think it may have helped my boys to learn how to talk.
http://www.signingtime.com  Check them out.  They often send out coupons codes in their newsletters and I've seen some signing time music videos on nickjr.

Disclaimer: I am not affiliated with Baby Signing Time or Mom4life.com.  These products were purchased by me for my own use.  These are simply my opinions on a product that has been very useful to me.

The Carousel of DOOM!!!

A few days ago. We took Honeybee to a carnival. It was one of those traveling ones that spends a few days in this town or that and you always see signs plastered on telephone poles and in shop windows for. Normally, this is not something that we would have gone to but having just come back from Disney World, last month, I think we may have been suffering from amusement park withdrawal. We thought that Honeybee would like the lights and the carousel if nothing else.

When we got there we beelined for the Carousel. This had been Honeybee's favorite ride in Disney so we thought she would love it. The ride was 2 tickets so we bought 4 thinking that she would want to go on it a couple of times- once with Mommy and once with Daddy.

 We couldn't get on the carousel fast enough. We were the only ones on for this ride (I think I know why now!) We picked a "horsey" and got ready to ride.   It all went downhill from there!

The Great Cloth Diaper Change!

Sorry, we've been lacking on the posts lately and this one is a short one, but better than nothing right?

So today, The Mommies took part in the Great Cloth Diaper Change. Which was hosted locally by Cutie Booties, an online (but locally based) cloth diapering shop.  Mommy L has been having some success with cloth diapers recently.  My attempt at them when Honeybee was a little baby was grossly unsuccessful - and I do stress GROSSLY.

Mommy L called me up a few weeks back: "I signed you up for a cloth diapering workshop-y thing. That ok?"
"Sure" I said. Honestly I was only half paying attention at this point. It wasn't until the next day that I asked her what it was that I had committed to.

So what it actually was, was an event to break a Guinness World Record for most cloth diapers changed at the same time. This was and event taking place all over the world! For our location, Cutie Booties, held a workshop for those of us new to cloth diapering, which was fabulous! The owner of Cutie Booties was fantastic. In 20 minutes I learned exactly why my I was so unsuccessful with my first attempts with the cloth diapers. (Mainly because I wasn't using a waterproof cover!!)

We were also give a free a reusable shopping tote, a cloth diaper, cloth wipes and some cloth diaper friendly detergent . I had no idea that I couldn't use just anything for detergent.  I had my fingers crossed that I'd win the huge starter box that was raffled off but, no such luck.

So I had Honeybee cloth diapered all day. No leaks. Maybe I can do this. Of course she saved up the fun stuff for when we were out at dinner (and I learned that there are no changing stations in the bathroom of our favorite sushi restaurant.)

So we'll see if I can keep this up. Mommy L seems a lot better at it than me. Right now I have a washing machine full of  2 whole diapers! Ok, so its actually 2 diapers and 2 covers.  So much for saving resources. But I can't take the thought of a waiting a few days (and having diapers going ripe)  before washing them. Not to mention I only own 2 cloth diapers.

Earth Day!

Friday April 22nd is Earth Day.  Many people are celebrating the entire week as Earth Week.  Mommy J and I have been doing many things lately to try to boost our environmental friendliness.

I Just Keep Reminding Myself: I'm a Good Mommy (Even If I Don't Always Feel That Way)

One of the worst feelings in the world is the helplessness you feel when your child is sick and there is nothing you can do about it.  Today was a miserable day three of what the doctor diagnosed as a croup-like virus.  My poor Honeybee has had a gurgly, painful sounding cough, she sounds like she's losing her voice,  her nose is running like a faucet and while the thermometer claims she does not have a fever, she feels like a furnace.

I Heart Our Pediatrician - Part 2

OK, so you know I love our pediatrician. I think I made that clear in Part 1.  Here are some of the actual reasons why I think he is a great doctor (Aside from the vast medical knowledge.)

1. He has a fantastically caring personality.
2. He doesn't rush in and out of the appointment's. He takes time for each patient and their crazy parents.
3. He is not judgmental about whatever style or method of parenting you have chosen and makes you feel good about your choices. I can go in there feeling like a parenting failure and by the time I leave confident that I am doing the right things.
4. He will do whatever it takes to make you and your child comfortable and safe. (Doctors visits can be scary to a child!)

It is this last point that leads me to today's story: Honeybee's 2 year check-up.

Help fight Melanoma! UPDATED!

Greeting All, 

The Mommies' good friend, fellow mommy, and our favorite Avon Representative -Yes that's right, I said Avon. I know what you're thinking, but it's not just for your Grandma anymore. They have fabulous products for us young ladies and the kiddies as well!  Anyway, getting back to the point, Avon Rep  Kelly Levy is personally holding a fundraiser to benefit the Melanoma Research Foundation.

I Heart Our Pediatrician - Part 1

I absolutely adore our pediatrician!
Yes, I will shout it from the rooftops!


We're lucky, I know. I hear so many stories from friends about not completely liking their pediatricians, and family doctors. The problem is, at least around here that many doctors are maxed out on patients and cannot take anymore, making it that much harder to find a good one.  Now, I suppose I should be clearer in saying a "good" doctor.  It's not that we actually have a lack of competent doctors around here, in fact quite the opposite - we are fortunate enough to live in a medical hub so to speak.  What I mean by "Good" is simply a doctor that agrees with your parenting style and doesn't make you feel like a failure of a parent (we have enough of those moments as it is!). And most of all, someone who you feel comfortable allowing them to make decisions about your child's health.

I am not a doctor. Even though I come from a science based family, the closest I get to science is planting flowers in the backyard! (And yes, it is probably best to keep it that way.) It's for this reason that I needed to have a good pediatrician.

When I was 7 months pregnant, I was finally reading the paperwork from the hospital that stated "If your pediatrician cannot examen  your baby at the hospital, we will provide one during your stay."

My Pediatrician? Oh CRAP! I didn't even think of that! (Cut me some slack here, I had violent morning-noon-and-night sickness for almost my entire pregnancy. I could hardly manage getting myself across a room let alone anything else- but that's another blog post for another day.)

I frantically called my- not my pending baby's-but MY pediatrician's office from when I was a child.  He was really the only pediatrician I knew of.

" Hi, I'm having a baby in a few months and guess I need to find a pediatrician?"
" I'm sorry, Dr. Awesome is not taking any new patients at this time"
"Oh, um, ah, er" at this point I burst into a flood of babbling and tears (thanks preggo hormones!)

"Do you know anyone else I can call? Because Dr. Awesome was MY pediatrician and I absolutely loved him, and I don't know anyone else and I was hoping my daughter would have the same doctor I did and my sister was also his patient, and now brings her kids to him, so I can't ask her who she goes to because it's him and if he's not taking patients I DON'T KNOW WHAT TO DO!!" ( I think there may have been more but at this point I can't remember - you get the idea though.)

The poor girl who answered the phone must have thought I was nuts.
"Hold on please. She said calmly.
"Ok, so I just talked to Dr. Awesome, and he said of course we can take your daughter since you were his patient too. We're just not taking new patients, just former patients children and siblings."

Thank goodness too, because at the time I really knew NO ONE except for Mommy L and one other mommy who also brought her kid to Dr. Awesome. Apparently Dr. Awsome still remembered me even though it had been years since I'd seen him!

So I made an appointment for Honeybee's first check up sighed a huge sigh of relief. Crisis averted!

(Stay tuned for part 2!)

Mommy Moment...April 11, 2011

So Daddy J took Honeybee out for the afternoon yesterday, so that I could have some mommytime and get some things done.  So,  I took the opportunity to get out and run some errands. It was great to be able to stroll through Staples. (Is that sad? Just wait...) After my leisurely office product shopping spree, I headed out to the car, and

Tax day special discount at Mama Bargains!

Hi Mommies!

Here is a special deal from one of the Mommies favorite deal of the day sites: Mama Bargains.

Please use this link (so we get credit for sending you) Thanks!


Take a Deduction! Celebrate Tax Day with an Additional 10% off at MamaBargains.com. Enter Code 597183e9*. *Valid April 18, 2011, 12:01 am-11:59 pm. Coupon Code: 597183e9

Babies everywhere!

It's no secret that I want more kids.  If it is up to me I'd like one NOW but Logic tells me that I should wait a bit before having more.  The thing is- My kids are so amazingly awesome that I am just itching to have more. (Of course, they have their moments but all kids and mommies do!)

It's just like anytime I have gotten a new car.  I got a Subaru and saw Subarus everywhere. I got a CRV and suddenly everyone on the road is driving a CRV.  I had two kids and suddenly everyone, everywhere, is having adorable tiny new babies.  I am so incredibly  happy for all of my friends that are (or are about to be) new mommies and daddies.  It just makes me want more!

In Over My Head...In Soap Suds!

I like doing laundry. It seems to be the one "chore" that neither Daddy L nor I dislike. I do not however enjoy folding the laundry and Daddy L has a very particular laundry folding style that I just cannot live up to. When we first started doing laundry together I used to sneak into his dresser drawers (creepy girlfriend?) and unfold certain articles of clothing so that I could study exactly how they were folded and try to replicate it with his freshly washed clothing. I would proudly hand over the basket of carefully folded laundry only to catch him refolding his laundry when I wasn't looking. So over time, laundry became his thing to do.

Apparently I really missed doing laundry because I have created more for myself. I decided to try attempt number 3 at cloth diapering.

Losing the Princess Battle

Like many little girls, I wanted to be a princess. I wanted to wear a pointy crown and pretty ball gown dresses.  I wanted to wear white gloves to tea and banquets.  I wanted to find prince charming and live happily ever after in a castle.

As I got older and the Princess Epidemic began to take root, I grew to hate princesses, specifically those of the Disney variety.   When I had my daughter, I vowed not to let her fall victim to the same princesses I grew up watching on tv. After spending a week in Disneyworld, I realize It was not so much the princess movies that I objected to, as much as the mind frame that many of today’s little girls have regarding being a princess.  It is the selfish, self centered, lazy,diva attitude that many little girls are developing, the very UN-princess-like behavior  that drove me away from the princesses that I once loved.

Things I've picked up along the way.

I realized, while getting ready for bed, that there are some odd things that I do. 
For example, I never wear my socks to bed. Do you know why? Well, obviously because I've been walking around my house all day picking up filth on them and I would never want to put that into my bed! It is for the same reason that I can never wear the clothing, that I wore out of the house, to bed. You wouldn't want the same pair of pants that you rode the subway in, no matter how comfy, to climb into your bed, right?

Slow Week

Sorry dear readers. It's a slow week. Between all the germs at Mommy L's house and Mommy J, Daddy J and Honeybee being on vacation, we'll be a little light on the posts. But I promise you all that there will be LOTS that will be written about next week. (Especially with all the lovely displays of FABULOUS parenting here at Disney World!)

Mommy J

Is it Monday yet?

Mommy L's house has been an little crazy lately.

It's Daddy L's long Thurs-Sun work "weekend" and he won't have any time off until Monday. Meanwhile, I picked up some additional shifts at work and had to scramble to find sitters since our schedules overlapped.

We (Mommy L, Munchkin, and Pumpkin) have dealt with our 2nd round of strep throat -. Still wondering how Daddy L avoided it and fingers crossed that we didn't share it with anybody at Mommy J's house!

Today Pumpkin seems to have some sort of Stomach bug. Unfortunately for my brother, he is the one babysitting today. He has been puked on no less than 4 times today. He's taking it like a champ. To quote him " don't worry about it, the puke has become less smelly and gross as the day has gone on haha". My wonderful brother even gave the baby a bath.

I am really thankful that I have such great family to help us out and I can't even begin to imagine how single mothers do it all by themselves. I have SO MUCH respect for all of you single mommies (and single daddies too!)

I am just counting the minutes until Monday...

Mommy J's Rant

So the other day I'm sitting there in the nail salon and there are two other customers who are having a conversation - across the room from each other. That, I'm ok with, although I would prefer to be sitting in my massage chair  getting my pedicure with less noise, it is not the fact they are talking that is bothering me. It is the content of their conversation that is irritating me to no end.  


Let me describe the scene first. Customer A looks like a 50-something year old Snookie wannabe complete with big poofy bump hair, oversized sunglasses and day-glo orange spray tan. Customer B, well, lets just say Tammy Faye Baker comes to mind.

My baby is growing up...

My baby is growing up!  She's become so independent. Today, she did something I thought would not happen for several more years, you know, not until she was like 30.

Mommy J's Random thought for the day....March 21, 2011

I won a contest! I'm so excited! I never win anything!!!

Is it completely sad that I won a book on organizing and I am this excited....  Yeah probably.

Have a happy Monday everyone.

Mommy J

Mommy Time

I love spending time with Honeybee. She's a great child. But every once and a while mommies need to get out for some much needed pampering time. And by this I don't necessarily mean a day at the spa but some time spent without 25 pounds of wiggley toddler climbing all over you.

A Sad Sunday

Dear Mommies and Daddies,

Hug your children tonight and every night and don't forget to tell them how much you love them.

My heart goes out to three different families who have lost their babies today.  

Mommy J

The Mommies are Fighting!

Today, Mommy J and I were talking on the phone. Somehow I ended up, semi-jokingly, asking her "I'm not socially awkward, am I?" the response I get was:

"Of all the things I'd call you, Awkward is not one of them. Anxious- yes, nervous- yes, crazy- yes, paranoid- sometimes, but awkward- no."

Thanks Mommy J! Now I know what you really think of me! This is WAR!

Ok fine, I can't stay mad at my sister for longer than 30 seconds and all those things she said are (probably?) true. The Mommies aren't really fighting. But we sure had a good laugh this afternoon.

It's a Bird... It's a Plane... Oh Geez it's My Kid!

My 4 year old just came over and requested I put some "sticky stuff" on his hands. Upon further inquiry he revealed to me that he would like me to put sticky stuff on his hands so that he could climb the wall and crawl across the ceiling.

Then he asks me. "would you be scared?" I would be terrified, but really because of that horrific scene in the awful movie "Legion" where the Granny turns into a demon and crawls across the ceiling. Thanks for the imagery, Munchkin!

This got me thinking about what little high energy daredevils I have on my hands. The two of them fly across the family room, jumping from sofa to love seat, and even my 16 month old is figuring out somersaults on his own. They slide down the tallest slide at the playground without a fear. The next thing I know, I will have the fire department here pulling them down from the roof!

I wonder if it is a "boy" thing, or just my boys. Other parents keep telling me that it's just in their nature to be so energetic and fearless. I think there is some truth to it. When we have playdates with little girls I am amazed at the difference. Even Mommy J has told me that if they have another kid, and it is a boy, she won't be able to keep up!

Then again, the last time Mommy J's daughter was here, she was climbing up the outside of the stairs, holding onto the spindles. Maybe if I have a girls someday, she will be the one hanging from the chandelier.

Mommy J's Random thought for the day.... March 18, 2011

Dear Roomba,

I love you. I do! You make my life so much easier! While it is great that you can get all the dust bunnies under the furniture, do you think maybe, just maybe, you could get the middle of the floors once in a while?

Also, I realize it's not fun to stare at the corner of the room all day, when you're not supercleaning my floors. But what if I gave you a window view, would it be too much to ask that you dock yourself, like you're supposed to be able to do?

Thanks!

Mommy J


Disclosure: I have no affiliation with IRobot/ Roomba and have received no compensation or other incentive to write about this product.  Daddy J bought me one for my birthday.

Housework Hooky

Today was too nice a day to do chores!  It's been a long winter- bitter cold, 15 foot snow drifts - you get the picture. Out of nowhere, today was a balmy 68 degrees and sunny!  I made the executive decision that the best place for Honeybee and I was outdoors: so we spent the entire day playing outside.   Of course waiting patiently inside for me were piles of dishes, mountains of laundry, floors in need of sweeping  and toys EVERYWHERE. Oh well. The chores can wait. My house may be a mess but Honeybee had a great day!  And I think sometimes that's what matters most.

(Sorry that's all you get today - writing also took the backseat!)

You named it... What??

No, not the baby, but Bugaboo named their new double stroller:

The Donkey!

Yes, this may be old news. Stroller fanatics have known of the Donkey's impending arrival for months, but an email invite to the Donkey Launch Party from a local baby store has stirred up these horrified and intrigued emotions once again.

Children May Say the Darndest Things - But Grown-Ups Say the Stupidest

I came across this article the other day. http://www.boston.com/community/moms/gallery/shocking_parenting_comments/

Although these were hysterically funny, (and I highly recommend you read them) it hit a nerve with me for a few reasons.

First, I was raised to be polite and have impeccable manners. (Thank you Mom and Dad)  Now, I have been known to put my foot in my mouth on occasion, but I DO try to make sure I think about what I say before I say it. 

Second, this has happened to me, Mommy L, our mother and so many other moms we know on so many occasions.   I don’t know whether people just don’t think before they talk or if they really just are ignorant and stupid, but the things people say to a parent are downright astounding.

Today we’ll share some of our favorites:

Ugly Sweater= Cute Baby Pants

Usually I start a project and get about 60% finished and then abandon it. I don't actually know much about sewing and frankly patterns scare me. The finality of cutting out the pieces is just terrifying.

Even so, the other day I decided I was going to make recycled wool pants for the baby. I found plenty of patterns for wool soakers and wool longies online, but not exactly what I was looking for.

Mommy J's Random thought for the day....March 14, 2011

Sometimes I wonder why I bother to sweep the floor at all, because inevitably I turn around and there are a goldfish cracker crumbs everywhere. 

Oh yes, now I remember!

No Matter How I Try....

I am not an organized person. I strive to be. I try really hard- I do! But I inevitably end up failing miserable at it.  yesterday, for instance, I was  doing great. Honeybee was invited to a birthday party. Now, I'm usually the one flying out the door with my coat half off, bag on my shoulder, other necessities tucked under one arm and a child under the other. If I'm Lucky, Honeybee has 2 shoes on - or at least 2 shoes come with us. For birthdays our usual routine is leave early and scramble to pick up a birthday present, gift bag and tissue paper, and wrap the present in the car before we enter the party.

Teething Bling: A Must Have for Mommies

I don't know how many of you lost the ability to wear jewelry when your first child was born. It took about 3 or 4 months until I could actually fit my wedding ring on my finger. Then I was terrified to wear it anyway for fear of scratching my tiny Munchkin's face. As Munchkin got older I found that anything dangling was going to be pulled off, or ripped out (ouch!) by some sneaky little hands.

Bad Mommy Moment

Ok, so here is my bad mommy moment for the day.

I was sitting and grading papers this morning and my almost 2 year old Honeybee starts calling  from the next room "Mommy, mommy, mommy, mommy" as she has been for the past few days.  

Mommy? 

Yes dear. (Still grading.)

Mommy of the Year!

So I've been feeling pretty awesome about my parenting skills lately. There are times when I really start to think I've finally figured things out and then reality smacks me in the face- I will never have it all figured out. I think I will be lucky if I get things done "just good enough" and hopefully without causing any permanent psychological damage to my two boys.

This past week for example:

What are we getting ourselves into?

Welcome to Mommies Being Mommies: The good, the bad and everything else we have learned along the way. We are two sisters and friends raising our kids in the suburbs and being mediocre parents.  Ok, so maybe we are doing better than mediocre, but it doesn't always feel that way.  We've had our share of victories and failures, moments of brilliance and moments of idiocy (otherwise known as Mommy Brain). We've felt like Supermom at times and Mom-trocity at other times.

In our quest to become the perfect parents we have more than likely