Swagger Wagaon- Monday Laugh

Stacking My Blocks

It has truly been entirely too long since I have sat down an written anything. By now my readers have changed and moved on to other things, as a mom's world never stops. I can honestly say that I have found a new and exciting challenge in being the mother of two beautiful daughters. Some one once told me that adjusting from one to two children is the hardest but once you have two you can have six. Well I don't know about the six but I have felt like I haven't "stacked my blocks" some days. Remember when you first learned how to build things with blocks, you were always taught to put the larger pieces on the bottom to make a foundation for the other pieces. If you didn't follow this rule, you quickly learned the rule of gravity and found yourself starting all over again (and if you are like my three year old some tears were probably shed).

Adjusting to two has been like this for me, but while it has been challenging I have enjoyed every minute....even the tear shedding. My youngest is 9 months (I can't believe it) and it has taken me this long to figure out what the big pieces are and to lay that foundation first. But like most mom's I have neglected Lori..........so I am recommitting to my blog and me time. Even if it is two or three entries a week. I want something that my girls can look at later and say..."Wow look what mommy did." Blogging for me created an outlet for me to connect with other moms and hear their survival tips.....and I have greatly missed it.

Tonight I am full with emotions as I prepare to for the arrival of my second daughter. I go in tomorrow for my pre-op procedures as my c-section is scheduled for Wednesday. I have feelings of excitement as I anticipate her arrival. I wonder who she will look like this time and how my 3 year old will adjust to the new addition, but surprisingly I am not nervous or worried. I have a certain peace....or maybe I am just tired of being pregnant :)

In touring the hospital yesterday, I reflected on the difference between having your first and second child. It is funny how the first time around you question yourself more and look to others for direction. The second time you have a stronger sense of security as this is a road you have traveled before. You know to sleep when the baby sleeps or to get help from others. I will keep everyone posted on my progress....but don't expect a post before the week is out......I'm not that good.

Thanks to all my readers for your continued encouraging words and prays........keep us in mind this week.

Support Mompreneur-Partylite

Momma Momma is always ready to support other mothers and their various businesses. Many of you may be familiar with Partylite, but my friend just started selling the line and I wanted to give her my support. They have some wonderful holiday pieces for Thanksgiving and Christmas. Check out her site at www.partylite.biz/amooreambiance
Feel free to contact about purchasing products, fundraisers and even income opportunities.

These pieces will add a special touch to any home.......

How to look great on no sleep

As a follow up to my sleepless in Dallas post....I found this great article that gives helpful hints from makeup artist Bobbi Brown on ways to look rested even when you have had little or not sleep.

Her are a few of her suggestions:

1. If your complexion seems flat you can brighten it with a sheer pink gloss and blush.

2. Puffy eyes the problem....turn used (cold and squeezed out) black teabags into puff-reducing compresses....she also recommends Juara Sweet Black Tea Eye Cream that retails for $37.....think I'll try the teabags first.

3. Dark circles she suggest using your fingertips to blend a creamy, flesh toned concealer into undereye circles.....Bobbi Brown has a Face Touch up Stick for $22.

4. Her last suggestion is to dab shimmer at the inner corner of your eyes to look more alert when you have tired eyes....

These are simple suggestions that we can all follow that will make us feel/look rejuvenated even after a bad night of sleep.

NFL Brings Breast Cancer Awareness to the Field

As we kick off breast cancer awareness month, I was amazed to see the NFL getting involved with promoting awareness and research. Watching Monday night football there was everything from pink cleats to pink Gatorade towels and coaches in pink baseball caps. The campaign, "A Crucial Catch", a partnership with the American Cancer Society, is focused on the importance of annual screenings, especially for women who are over the age of 40. The official site includes a list of ways to help fight breast cancer as well as steps to reduce risk.

According to the NFL, "This is an issue that has directly touched the lives of so many in the NFL family, and we are committed to helping make a difference in breast-cancer prevention".

This in one time we can allow our husbands/significant others to watch football and know that they will still be thinking about an issue that relates to us.

Check out NFL.com and click on the pink to get further information about screening and other related issues.

Fit Mom

I apologize for my lack of blogging lately, but the allergy bug went through our house and we finally recovered..........

I wanted to give my readers an update on my one of the new year resolutions we commented to doing together. Some of you may remember me mentioning wanted to be come more physically fit and I found a gym in my area that allows me to have time for myself and wonderful child care at the same time. I recently joined Life Time Fitness and have loved every minute of it. I am not your typical gym membership kind of gal and am, like most of you, very particular who I leave my daughter with, however this gym is different. It is very family oriented and affordable. In addition to my membership, I am given 2 hours a day of child care for as little as $6 a month. It is not your normal, sit in a room and watch t.v. type of gym child care either. My daughter is able to work on computers, interact with other children, have pretend time in a kitchen and even play basketball and climb in an indoor sliding system. They have swim lesson and a list of other classes for the kids to choose from.

The ratio is 12:1 and depending on the time of day, I have dropped her off when the ratio is more like 6:1. Can you imagine the relief of knowing that she is some where she enjoys and in the hands of certified, background checked adults whom she had bonded with.

I now officially have no excuse for working out.....the gym even has a spa/salon area if I want to get a massage while I'm there.

There are currently 85 locations in 19 states. Check out the site to see if there is one in your area. It is money well spent.

New Year Resolutions- Momma Momma Style

As you can see from my lack of posting, I really relaxed and enjoyed my holiday. I allowed myself time to reflect over the year and what activities I found rewarding and those that I felt took away from my year. When I first started this blog in August, I wanted to provide mothers with an outlet, a place to vent and recharge for their day. That being said, I thought it would be good to create a list of resolutions for my readers and myself to further support our efforts to decrease stress and find mommy time. So here are a few of the goals that I set for the new year and if you want to join me in committing to these this year, simply leave a comment:

1. This year I am committing to letting God do the heavy work. The things that our out of my control as it relates to my husband, my child and household I am turning over.

2. I know we all make that yearly resolution to eat better and exercise more, but this year I am committing to caring for my body in a different way. I am committing to setting aside time monthly for pampering myself. This could mean a spa day, getting my nails done, or whatever I can do to ensure that I stay in tune with my total body (mind, body and soul).

3. I am going to water my life. This simply means to use drinking water as a way to increase my energy, curve my appetite and all the other good stuff it does for me.

4. This year I am committing to monthly date nights with my husband. When I was in L.A. over the break, my husband and I sat down with another couple for dinner and realized that when the children come we often neglect our marriage. However it is important to maintain to continue dating for you marriage and your sanity....we all need adult conversations sometimes. So if you aren't married it could be committing to dating period or even girls night out.

5. I am committing to finding other activities to do with my daughter that we both will enjoy (and that I can share with other moms). Whether it is yoga or swimming classes, we are going to do a better job this year of getting out and enjoying ourselves more.

6. I am setting side time in my weekly schedule to work on accomplishing one mommy goal this year. Your mommy goal could be anything from writing that book you always wanted to write ( a page a day, you'll be finished in no time) or going back school or starting business. Whatever you goal, set aside that time for yourself each week and stick to it.

7. I am removing negative people from my close circle. Have you ever heard that saying that everyone can't be in your front row, some people in you life have to sit in the balcony. This year I am going to do a better job of putting negative people a little further back. Some relationships we can't avoid, co-worker, family, neighbors, but we can control what positions we give these people in our lives.

I think if we each accomplish one of these goals this year, we will truly see the rewards. I'll check back in frequently to see where we all are and report tips to help us meet these goals.

Holiday time for Momma

With all the crowded malls, list to Santa, planning a holiday meal and changes in the economy, finding time for ourselves this season maybe a little harder. I came across a beauty college in Los Angeles, called Marinello where the students provided massages at a discounted rate. They are working towards their license hours but provide wonderful treatments at less than half the price. This way we can take 30 to 60 minutes out while the kids are at school or with daddy and enjoy a relaxing massage. Some of these schools even offer hair and nail treatments but I know that as women we tend to be a little more select when it comes to letting others do our hair (or maybe that's just me).


Here are some links that can help you find locations in your area or try a google search of massage schools in your area:

www.atlantaschoolofmassage.com
www.avalonmassageschool.com
www.SpaBeautySchools.com



Enjoy the time to your self

If that were my child I would........

How many times have you heard this before? This probably should have been one of my first post. This evening I attended a school play with my two year old. Like most small children, after a day at church, in dress shoes all day, and an abbreviated nap, it became obvious after an hour and a half that she was cranky. Like most mothers who have had two year old, I was not surprised when it became evident that my daughter was ready to go at intermission and I had come prepared to make an early departure. I did all the typical toddler mom things, brought snacks, sat in the back and on an aisle seat. What I was not prepared for was the rudest of this other "mother." As my daughter began to toss and turn more and we made our exist (keep in mind that it was intermission and she was not disturbing the play) another woman yelled out, "I don't care if she is two and tired, I would whoop her tail!!"

Now, regardless of the different opinions about using spanking as a option of discipline (she said whoop her tail.....not spank) I was irritated that she felt the need to give her expert advise on Child Rearing 101. Why do other mothers always forget what their children were like or feel the need to tell you what they would have done? This doesn't apply to mommy support groups or blog such as this, where we seek the advice and opinion of others......I am referring to the random opinions and advice that strangers seem to give. Why is it that when you are at church, eating in a family restaurant or in public period, and your little one says out loud " Mommy look at that," or laughs because she finds something funny, people (usually other mothers) turn and look at you funny, with their noses in the air and shake their heads? How soon we forget.

Is it just me or have you had a similar experience? So from here on I refuse to call it the terrible 2's, I like the teachable 2's or the trainable 2's or even together time 2's.

Mommy Breaks- House of Payne

How many of you watched the premier of Tyler Perry's House of Payne last night? In case you missed it one of the lead characters had twins and it addressed the issue of feeling overwhelmed after child birth, feeling alone and not getting help from the father and other family members. It also dealt with other signs and symptoms of postpartum depression. I thought it gave a inside look as to how mothers often feel after child birth and how those around the mother sometimes don't fully understand all of the physical and emotional aspects that are involved with this new bundle of joy.

I loved how in the end the rest oft the family was able to really see how overwhelming the whole process was and step in to help. This isn't always what happen,s as I am sure many of you know. I have had friends who were afraid to ask others for help after child birth because they didn't want to be viewed as weak. I personally can remember people saying how easy it all looked and that I should hurry up and have another (people still say this).

I put together a list of sites that can help with postpartum depression symptoms and places where help can be sought (cut and paste into you browser). What were your experiences? Maybe you had a wonderful team of support and maybe you didn't. What advice would you give expecting or new moms? They would love the advice. My words of wisdom are this, when others offer you help, don't be afraid to accept it, you may need them to tend to your little one but they can wash dishes, cook meals or other things around the house you have put on hold.

http://www.womensmentalhealth.org/specialty-clinics/postpartum-psychiatric-disorders/?gclid=COCM9L-qp5cCFQ8Qagod7yF7jg

http://www.mayoclinic.com/health/postpartum-depression/DS00546

http://www.psycom.net/depression.central.post-partum.html

Guilt-Free Motherhood

I am not sure when it happened, but at some point being a playmate was added to the mommy-to-do list. Some days between cooking, cleaning and/or working outside the home, we don't feel like another Dora Song or episode of Hanna Montana. All moms have those times when they just don't feel like playing with their children. When we do take the time to get in the floor and play, our minds on all the other things we have to get done.

First we have to learn to give ourselves a break. No one expects us, including our children, to be their only form of entertainment 24/7. They need down time just like we do. When we do take time to play with our children, focus only playing. Giving that time our undivided attention, that way when we are ready to move on to something else we don't feel guilty. Who knows we may even have fun!!!!

Procrastination Power

Why is it as mothers when we hear the word procrastination we cringe? We often become embarrassed if we have once again waited to the last minute to wash our child's uniform or we didn't remember to go by the store on the way home. I don't know about you, but I don't remember being handed a superwoman cape when I left the hospital with my child. So why don't we give ourselves the same breaks that we give other people?

Here are three solutions I have come up with and you may have some of your own you'd like to share. First when we are faced with procrastination and feel overwhelmed let's agree to JUST GET IT DONE. So what if it has taken you longer than you originally thought it would. Take control and get it done, you didn't finish the laundry yesterday, give yourself some slack and don't focus on mistakes.

Second, when it comes to other areas we have procrastinated in, we have to learn to GET OVER IT. We aren't going to always get everything right and done on time, but it is not the end of the world. Tomorrow will bring new challenges, responsibilities and hope.

Lastly we need to learn to TURN IT OVER. This simply means turning it over to someone else. Often this means giving it over to God but we also have to give some of the mom-to-do list to our spouses, extended family or even someone who can just give a helping hand. The most important part of this solution is when you release it, don't pick it back up. If you prayed about it don't worry about it. If you gave to someone else to do, don't feel you have to supervise them (I do that all the time). We have to learn to completely turn it over.

Finding time for you...

We often find ourselves throughout our day feeling that we are in themiddle of a tornado. We have been pulled every which direction from our husbands, our work both inside and outside of the home and the day to day demands of answering to "Momma Momma..." When do we find time to stop and take a breath. When do we find time to sleep in late, eat cereal all day and not worry about feeding others or have time to just be. If you work outside of the home, it is hard sometimes to switch hats from career woman to mother. If you are a stay-at-home mom, it's hard to find those breaks in your day where you wind down. Motherhood is a 24-hour/7 day a week job, that doesn't usually have sick days, vacation time or half-days.


However, it has been shown that when we, the mommas, are happy, relaxed and well rested, our children and families are happier. Think about it, those of you with older children, remember the first night that newborn slept through the night. That was the best sleep. Remember how much more focused you were the next day. We as women have to set aside time for ourselves so that we aren't mad at the world. I know this is hard because we by nature are nurturers but we have to start some where to reduce our stress.

Try these out:

Read a good fiction book...one of my girlfriends always says you need fiction in your lives

Take a long bath, with candles, music and bath salts.....make sure the kids are safe even if you have to do it after they are asleep.

Exercise or at least go for a walk, Google stroller stride in your area if you can't find a sitter. There are groups on babyzone.com for your local area that get together to exercise with smaller children. If you have older children join the YMCA or YWCA, they can take a class while you exercise.

Write a letter to a friend....not an email, sit down and physically write a letter

Go get your hair done something about having someone else wash and style you hair is so relaxing, like washing stress down the drain. On a budget, get a mani or pedicure.

Schedule down time or your own time out, if it is locking your office door at work or sitting on your porch, turn off the phones and sit for 10 minutes. If you can't sit with yourself for 10 minutes imagine what other people think about being around you for that long.

What are some ways you find time for yourself?

Hopefully this blog will help reduce the stress too. Our children are blessings from God and we can give them what they need if we don't first take care of ourselves so that we can be our best.