Owner: A Mommy Story URL:http://amommystory.blogspot.com Join Date: Wed, 24 Jan 2007 16:14:46 -0600 Rating:0 Site Description: One toddler warrior princess. One more on the way. And one mom trying to balance parenting, work, marriage, and create a little time for herself as well. Site statistics:Click here
There's No Such Thing As Cosmic Balance 2007-06-15 08:56:00 A good friend just had her baby on June 1. We were amazed when we found out we were both pregnant and due close to the same time. She called the other day to catch up and we compared notes on our new little girls.Her first born was what we called "the floor model", meaning he was the child that would make other people say, "Oh, having a baby wouldn't be bad at all - let's do it!" (We also called him the "bait and switch" child.) He was, and still is for the most part, the easiest baby in the world. He slept a lot, sat quietly awake, rarely cried, slept through the night, etc. My friend and her husband were actually scared to have another baby, thinking that if they already had an angel of a baby, the next would be a devil.Cordy, on the other hand, was an unhappy baby that could have scared others away from having children. With reflux, colic, and a general pissed off attitude at the world, she didn't become pleasant to be with until she was close to four months old. I'm not trying Read more:Thing
, Balance
First Day 2007-06-20 18:41:00 I haven't mentioned it much here, but a few weeks ago we enrolled Cordy in a daycare/preschool program for the summer. It'll be good for her, and I need the time with only one child around. Today was her first day of school.Cordy needed this, too. While she is an intelligent little girl, perhaps even advanced for her age, she is lacking in social skills and emotional maturity. I put some of the blame on myself for not taking more initiative in getting her out to play with other kids more often. But it's more than that - she's always been a loner, interested in her own world more than getting to know others.I have actually considered having Cordy evaluated for developmental delays, but haven't been able to fully commit to that decision. Every time I start to think she may have something wrong, she will suddenly prove me wrong. At the very least, she needs to improve in a few areas. She has trouble following another child's suggestion of play. She lacks some basic skills, like usin Read more:First
, First Day
Sleepless Nights (Not The Baby) 2007-06-18 18:30:00 While Mira does seem to have colic, at least she's sleeping her long stretches at night. She generally gives us a three or four hour stretch starting at midnight, and then wake again a couple of hours later and nurse on and off in bed until 8am. (The good news - I seem to have enough milk for her now.)This makes me very happy, because I've never been one to handle sleep deprivation well. If I'm ever interrogated by the government or terrorists, they will be able to break me after one night of no sleep. While Aaron often lives on only five hours of sleep a night, I prefer eight hours to function at peak performance. Of course, I have a newborn, so I'm lucky to get five or six hours, but that's generally enough to keep me upright, if a little fuzzy headed.So you can imagine how I feel when I tell you that last night I got about an hour of sleep all night. And that wasn't a consecutive hour, either. Baby crying? Nope. Toddler with nightmares? Nope. Loud block party? Nope.It was the Read more:Sleepless Nights
Being A Big Kid Is Too Hard 2007-06-23 09:33:00 I think she's done with this "big kid" stuff and ready to go back to being a baby. It's too bad she doesn't exactly fit in the baby car seat anymore.(And please excuse the disaster behind her in the picture.)
Just Another Day 2007-06-21 14:48:00 I woke up this morning with a baby attached to my breast, asleep next to me in bed, just like every morning this week. I slowly got up, trying not to wake her, got dressed, then carefully carried her downstairs."Happy birthday," Aaron said to me as I walked into the living room.Then it hit me. "Oh yeah, it is my birthday, isn't it?""Did you forget?""Yeah."I guess after you hit 30, birthdays don't register as much anymore. Or maybe it's because I have a newborn, and therefore every day feels like the same day over again right now.So yeah, today is my birthday. I'm 31. Feels a lot like 30.
I Need Help From The Blog World 2007-06-26 14:41:00 First, go here and read my current problem with Pampers diapers.After that, I would love your suggestions for a new diaper brand to try. We need something cut wide, that works well for a large toddler who likes to drink a lot of juice. Because Pampers now suck and we need new diapers.Either drop a comment here or on my reviews blog and tell me what diapers you recommend. Much thanks in advance!
Read more:World
This Wasn't Exactly What I Was Asking For 2007-06-25 12:25:00 When Cordy was a newborn, she was a royal pain. She cried all the time from colic and reflux. She slept poorly. She didn't seem to like being held unless in the sling. She refused to breastfeed, forcing us to give up and go to formula exclusively.As we got to know her personality, we realized that Cordy was an independent soul. She liked being left alone, and loved her bouncy seat as long as we kept the entertainment going (music, lights, vibration). She hated co-sleeping - in fact, the first night we put her in her crib, she slept most of the night without waking. It was the longest she had ever slept. Apparently we were bothering her sleep by being in bed with her.I firmly believe she was such an unhappy baby because she was pissed that she couldn't do what she wanted. As a newborn, she couldn't control her head or limbs, and that pissed her off. When she learned to hold her head up, she was little happier. Then when she could sit up on her own, she was again a little more pleasan
Sometimes I Hate People 2007-06-24 21:39:00 Over the weekend, I was saddened, but not terribly surprised, to hear that the body of Jessie Davis was found. Here in Ohio, we had been following the news reports of her disappearance from the very beginning. When they first reported it, I had a bad feeling, and knew that she was most likely dead. I'm so sad for her family, for her son, and for the little girl who was so close to being born but never got the chance.Do you know the top cause of death for pregnant women? You'd think it would be some medical condition, but the truth is homicide is the #1 cause of death. Most often it's the father of the baby who is the killer, too. Scary, isn't it?I only hope the police have enough evidence to make this a slam-dunk case and get the justice that Jessie and her child deserve. If the father of the baby killed her, he deserves everything the courts can throw at him.***************In other news, I then found this website today. WTF? These people are supposedly trying to get donations to p Read more:Sometimes
My Toddler and Her Diapers 2007-06-29 12:05:00 Thank you all for your advice on my last post. I've got several new brands to try now, and hopefully one will work.Some of you asked why Cordy is not potty trained yet, or why we aren't actively trying to potty train her if she's wetting through diapers. I can't tell you how many times I get variations of those questions from friends, family, and complete strangers based on her age and her size. (Let's forget for a moment that I have a newborn, making it nearly impossible to give her the attention she needs for potty training.)I jokingly tell people she's just stubborn, or that she likes having servants clean up after her. She's a real go-getter who doesn't have time to stop for a potty break. She hopes to be an astronaut and wear those astronaut diapers all the time.But the real truth is she simply isn't physically ready yet. Yes, she'll be three years old in September, and everyone I talk to has a story of how their kids were potty trained by two. Even I was potty trained b
Sick Day Post 2007-07-02 12:55:00 It's been a downright poop-tastic few days here. We're trying the diapers many of you recommended, and I can tell you that none of them can hold up to a massive stomach bug. At first I thought it was the result of too much fun (read about our weekend at Cirque du Mommy), but with the addition of a high fever this afternoon, I'm thinking it's more likely the result of being around other kids and her new found love of licking her hands.So instead of one coherent post, you get a post of me rambling about a few little things. Like my sick child, and my hope that she doesn't pass it on to Mira. I will say, though, that even when she's sick, she's still polite. As I handed her a sippy cup of Pedialyte while she was laying (lying?) on the couch, she looked up at me with half opened eyes and said, "Thank you, mommy." Awwww...***********For those of you with little ones, FlipFlop Mamma turned me on to this contest. You can win a Moby wrap from SuperMomz. I'm a big fan of baby carriers r Read more:Sick Day
Hate Cleaning the Bathroom? 2007-07-08 15:17:00 When it comes down to household chores, bathroom cleaning ranks at the very bottom for me. I would rather scoop litterboxes and soak poop-stained toddler clothing than clean the bathroom.There's something about cleaning in and around the toilet that grosses me out (maybe it's the guy factor, with all of the drips on the rim?), and being forced to chip off dried toothpaste from the sink gives me chills. And let's not forget the harsh fumes from cleaners that burn my lungs and make my eyes water. That's why I usually leave the bathroom cleaning up to my husband.But then Parent Bloggers sent me two new products to try: the Kaboom Neverscrub! Continuous Toilet Cleaning
System and the Kaboom Shower, Tub, and Tile spray cleaner.Click here to read the review...
I Didn't Think We Lived That Far From Civilization 2007-07-07 19:21:00 We live in a subdivision with trees behind us, but it's still in the city. Which is why I'm always amazed when we have visitors like this in our backyard:(Can you see the head peeking up behind the fence?) She didn't seem to be too bothered by me looking out the window and taking her picture. Guess she has acclimated to having humans for neighbors. I first saw just a bit of her ears out of the corner of my eye, and wondered who was sneaking around behind our fence. Never expected it to be a deer!Cordy is still sick, and after her fever returned with a vengeance on Thursday night, we took her to the doctor on Friday morning. As expected, she freaked out at the doctor's office, refusing to do anything other than scream and fight. When checking out, the receptionist asked the doctor what the diagnosis was, and he quickly replied, "An extreme case of anger."The real diagnosis? She somehow picked up a respiratory infection AND a stubborn stomach bug at the same time. It's no wonder she Read more:Civilization
Why not cut that baby out and get it over with? 2007-07-06 14:24:00 *Reposted for the Parent Bloggers Network and Body, Soul, & Baby Blog Blast. We were asked to share our most annoying preggo or new mom question that someone asked us. This one still makes me shake my head.*While in line at the cafe at work today:Woman: Wow, look at you - you're ready to pop! When are you due?Me: Yesterday.Woman: Oh, that must be awful to be past due! Are you in a lot of pain?Me: (trying to avoid this conversation) I'm a little sore, but it's not bad.Woman: Well, what are you waiting for? Why not cut that baby out and get it over with?Me: *blink blink*Possible responses that flash by in my head:Gee, I'm not so fond of major abdominal surgery.Yeah, damn that little brat for being one day past the arbitrary date set by a calendar! I'll show her who's in charge!My doctor has advised me not to take advice from idiot strangers with no medical background.Huh, why didn't I think of that? Got a knife?Tried that once - not for me.It's a baby, not a tumor to be cut out a
Full Of Impish Spirit 2007-07-12 22:05:00 My new favorite picture of Cordelia:I still see my firstborn baby, but now I also see a beautiful girl child, discovering her own interests and beginning to find her place in the world.
Today, By The Numbers 2007-07-10 21:08:00 6 - Hours spent at the Children's Hospital emergency room24 - Number of examining rooms, most filled with screaming children at some point3 - Doctors that examined Mira2 - Band-aids covering two punctures1,000,000 - Germs that were probably floating through that place, making me keep a blanket over Mira while in the hallway9 - Number of times I retold Mira's list of symptoms to some medical professional walking into the room5 - Number of times I told someone, "It's a girl - don't let the blue blanket fool you"1 - Crazy volunteer woman who came in to keep me company, telling me why French men make great lovers and how unfair it is that the Mexicans aren't forced to learn English when all the other immigrants were in the past1 - IV port, urinary catheter, and lumbar puncture on MiraThe results? She has a cold.It seems Mira has picked up the respiratory infection that Cordy is recovering from. I noticed yesterday that she was a little congested, so I took her to the doctor today when Read more:Today
, Numbers
What To Really Expect When You're Expecting 2007-07-10 07:52:00 The first time I was pregnant, I bought a ton of books so that I could be as educated as possible. However, I think the popular books scared me more than educated me. They covered all of the exotic, strange things that could go wrong while pregnant, making me feel that anything out of the ordinary was leading to a miscarriage, when in reality it was nothing to worry about.The one thing I wasn't prepared for with pregnancy was the emotional toll it would have on me. I was thrilled to be pregnant - we had planned this, after all - but at the same time I felt scared, a little lonely, overwhelmed, and a little sad at the life I was leaving behind. Did the books tell me how to deal with this emotional overload? Nope, and it took me well into my second trimester to finally seek out help for the depression these emotions were causing.I wish now that I had the book Body, Soul, and Baby back then. Parent Bloggers asked me to take a look at this book, and now that I've read it I think it might Read more:Expect
, Expecting
She's So Emo (and not even three yet) 2007-07-09 13:37:00 I always knew I had a weird child. Cordy has never gone with the flow, but the weekend confirmed that she's an odd one.First, on Saturday, she was playing near an old fan, and somehow managed to cut three of her fingers. Nothing too deep, but they did bleed a lot. Was she bothered by this? No. Did she try to finger paint with her new source of red paint? Yes. There was blood everywhere. The thing that upset her the most was when Aaron's parents tried to clean off her fingers and take away her source of fun.Later in the evening, I caught her trying to pick off the scabs to bring back the fun blood paint. Forget the fact that it clearly hurt. Sigh.Then yesterday we went to Toys R Us. We needed to buy something for Mira, but agreed to let Cordy pick out a toy, too. She got cranky near the end of the shopping trip, but she did decide on a toy. You know how some parents say that their kid tires of a toy the second they buy it? As soon as our stroller passed through the electronic doors to
She's Just Different 2007-07-16 18:46:00 Cordy has been in daycare, two days a week, for four weeks now. Every day after the first has been met with screaming "No school!" followed by one of her teachers having to pry her off of whichever of my limbs she has tried to melt into while I make my getaway.The day doesn't remain that bad, thank goodness. Usually at the end of the day we return to find her playing with a toy with a smile on her face. But it's clear she missed us, too, as she sees us and yells, "Mommy! Daddy! You saved me!"But all is not perfect at school, either. Any transition between activities is met with a full out tantrum and tears. One day she had to be removed from an assembly because she wouldn't calm down and it was bothering everyone. She refuses to feed herself most items, and as a result she won't eat much. (The teachers do make sure she eats something during the day, however.) We have to send one of her sippy cups or she'll go the entire day without drinking anything, too. She spends most of the da
Bloggers Give Back: Something You May Not Know About Me 2007-07-20 00:01:00 It was July 30, 1975 - 32 years ago next week. My mother was seven months pregnant, due September 29 with her first child. Until this point, the pregnancy had been easy, healthy, uncomplicated. But then she woke up early this morning and knew something was wrong.She got out of bed, feeling strong cramps in her lower back, and immediately felt the gush. But this wasn't amniotic fluid - it was blood. She called the hospital and described her symptoms. "How fast can you get here?" they asked. She arrived at the hospital ten minutes later.The nurses began to give her information about an emergency c-section while they checked to see if she was dilated. Surprisingly, they discovered she was already at ten centimeters, and so the c-section was forgotten as they instructed her to push. Right now. As hard as she could. For the life of her baby.A rather heavy nurse laid herself on my mother's abdomen, applying as much pressure as she could to help push the baby out quickly. The doctor ran int
We're Heading Towards "Officially" Different 2007-07-18 16:53:00 I nearly skipped out on the screening today. Cordy was having a great morning - she didn't even fight getting into the car, and when we arrived she calmly walked up the steps - so I figured they'd shoo us away quickly and tell us to stop wasting their time when there are kids with real issues who need their help.And then I opened the door. She took one step inside, saw the large hallway looming ahead of her, and promptly threw herself down on the floor and refused to move. The receptionist told me what room to go into, and after a few minutes of trying to get Cordy to stand up, I scooped her up against her will. I must have been quite a sight walking into the room - an infant car seat hooked on one arm and a shrieking, thrashing toddler under the other arm.While Cordy wailed and tried to run out the door, I gave the two evaluators our names and signed the necessary paperwork to give them permission to attempt contact with my unwilling participant.After a few minutes, Cordy calmed dow Read more:Heading
Our Weekend Outdoors, Complete With Screaming 2007-07-22 21:32:00 So after the stress of last week, we had a full weekend outdoors where I tried hard to forget about anything involving the word "evaluation". But it kept coming back at me.Saturday we spent the day at a picnic with several good friends, many of whom we haven't seen in months. One couple has a son who had many of the same issues that Cordy does now (he's two years older), and it was nice to sit and discuss solutions they have come across to help him. At one point my friend remarked that it was like we had twins born two years apart. But her son has made incredible progress in the past two years, giving me a lot of hope that Cordy will, too.Cordy had a wonderful time running in the large open backyard. She spent most of the time on her own, but she did join the two (older) boys in a quick ball game. Actually, she chased them, shouting "Ball! Cordy kick the ball!" and occasionally they'd stop and let her kick the ball.Running with the big boysFuture soccer star - just look at that form Read more:Weekend
, Outdoors
Welcome To Our House. Don't Mind The Blood. 2007-07-24 20:54:00 We had a first today. Laura brought her twins over for a playdate, along with McD's breakfast and coffee. (I love any playdate who brings food and coffee!)That wasn't the first. Well, I mean, it was Laura's first time over here, and hopefully after today it won't be the last.No, the first was this: Cordy had her first head wound as a result of a meltdown.The morning was going really well. Cordy was running around the backyard with Grant and Stella, having a blast picking "flowers" (weeds) and playing with the sand table. But when it was time to come back inside, Cordy had a meltdown because I wouldn't let her bring a rock inside with her.Yes, it's a minor thing, but I have to stand firm with her on things like that, or we'd have a house full of rocks, weeds, and cups of sand dumped on the carpet. And sand is a bitch to get out of carpet.This meltdown started like any other: the high-pitched whining that turned into sobs, throwing herself down on the floor, screaming, etc. Then s Read more:Welcome
, House
, Blood
My 10 Second Introduction 2007-07-23 08:17:00 OK, enough moping, and on to something fun. So MochaMom is asking everyone to introduce themselves before BlogHer so we have a little bit of an idea who we're meeting. But this year she's asking for a 10 second intro. So who am I?I am:- 31- have a B.A. in History- starting nursing school in the fall as a career change- a fan of sci-fi and historical costume drama movies- somewhat socially awkward- someone who rarely wears makeup or spends a ton of time on her hair- fashion challenged (but I did remember to buy my Spanx to hold in the postpartum tummy!)Time's up? But there is so much more! Guess you'll just have to talk with me to find out the secret about that time in the whisky museum in Scotland...Even though I went to BlogHer last year, I'm literally twitching with nervous excitement this week. There are women I met last year that I am looking forward to seeing again, and there are several I can't wait to meet for the first time.A tip for when you meet me: I can get overwhelme Read more:Second
, Introduction
BlogHer 07 So Far 2007-07-27 21:19:00 OK, so I know I'm not updating as much as I did at last year's BlogHer conference. But when you have an eight week old baby with you in a sling all day long, you don't have a lot of time for blogging. Not to mention that her supplies took up so much space in my laptop bag that there wasn't room for my laptop.Yesterday was an adventure, as we made the six hour drive to Chicago. Thanks to the magic of our newly purchased portable DVD player, the drive was a relatively peaceful one, although I never want to hear the theme song to Little Einsteins ever again. We're going on a trip, in our favorite rocketship...Cordy also found other ways to amuse herself on the drive up:Once here, we checked into the hotel and settled into our room. Due to making my reservations one day too late, the W hotel was sold out, so we're staying at the Chicago City Centre hotel. Having now seen both hotels, I wish we could pay the extra $20 or whatever a night to get the better hotel. The W Lakeshore is swa
I Must Be Insane 2007-07-25 22:59:00 T-minus 9 hours until Aaron and I pile in the car, with toddler and infant, and begin the drive to Chicago.6+ hours in a car, half of our house packed into the back, and one hotel room for the four of us, one of which is a toddler who doesn't like to sleep in the same room as anyone else.God have mercy on us.
I Met My Inner New Yorker Yesterday 2007-07-30 12:10:00 As we were checking out of our hotel yesterday morning, we hit a snag in saying goodbye to the Windy City. While I waited with our luggage cart and Mira, asleep in her carseat, Aaron took Cordy to go get the car, which was parked in a garage across the street. However, he soon returned without the car."I can't get to the car. They won't let anyone cross the street."Sure enough, the street was blocked off by Chicago police, with a few construction workers wandering the deserted street. They were moving steel beams by helicopter, and although I could hear the helicopter, never once did I see it pass over the street.We waited patiently at first, hoping it would only take a few minutes. During that time, I got to say goodbye to several bloggers as they passed through the lobby, as well as chat with Lisa Stone about the need for a BlogHer Mommy conference (seriously, we need one!). Cordy ran around the lobby, tripping up men in business suits and closing off the revolving door by laying i Read more:Yorker
, Yesterday
Make Money From Blogging - But How Much? 2007-07-31 12:59:00 No one likes to talk money. It's impolite to imply you need or want money, right? Fortunately, I've never been a faithful follower of Emily Post, so let's discuss it.Clearly many of us want more money. (And if you don't, that's OK, too!) One of the hot topics of this year's BlogHer was the monetization of blogs. Many wanted to learn how to make a little cash off of this massively time consuming hobby we have. But the issue of money and blogging brought up several sub-topics of conversation:Are ads OK on mommyblogs, and if not, why are they then considered more OK on blogs about politics, technology, or cats with bad spelling?What about product reviews? Are we selling our souls in return for a free Swiffer? And how do we get PR reps to realize we do more than clean and bake when it comes to free stuff? (For the record, a few of the PR reps I know clearly understand us better. Just see the iPod review I did, and check out David's blog. He's one of the good guys.)What about paid w Read more:Money
, Blogging
BlogHer 07 Musings 2007-07-31 11:54:00 I still can't quite put together fully coherent posts yet about BlogHer. It was a great trip, and I'm already missing everyone and wish it could have been a week long, although my liver would prefer to keep it at two days. So until a few longer, well-thought-out posts can find their way out of my head and through my fingers to the keyboard, let's just go with bullets, OK?This being my sophomore year of BlogHer, I attended fewer sessions than the year before. It wasn't that I was disinterested in the topics - I was actually sorry to miss some of them. But there were so many fabulous women to see, and so little time to do it. Some of these women I saw last year, and really wanted to reconnect. Others were attending for the first time, and I could barely contain my excitement to meet them and put a face to the person I've been reading about for so long. I'd link them all here, but every word would be a link.One of the best schwag items: the jump drive from AOL (and it's a 128, not Read more:Musings
Fisher Price Recall 2007-08-04 12:12:00 You've probably seen news about the Fisher
-Price recall by now, but I feel the need to post about it to continue to get the word out. 1.5 million toys are being recalled due to high levels of lead in the paint, including many Dora and Sesame Street toys. And just like many of the recalls in the past year (Thomas toys, pet food...), these toys were made in China.Now, I have nothing against China itself. My in-laws have been there many times and the pictures are stunning. My almost sister-in-law (you two are getting married at some point, right?) is Chinese. My cousin adopted a beautiful little girl from China. I love Chinese food.My problem lies in China's manufacturing methods of cutting corners in production and their lax safety concerns. Mattel claims that the paint used was not approved by them, and they don't know why the Chinese manufacturer chose to use this paint without notifying them. My guess would be it kept costs down. What's a little more lead, right?Probably 70% of to
But She Really Is Smart 2007-08-02 20:16:00 I was a bundle of nerves this morning, with Cordy's evaluation looming in the distance of the afternoon. The house needed cleaning, so as to fool our visitor into thinking we're actually a normal family who has time to keep the house clean and orderly. I spent way too much time picking out the right outfit for Cordy to wear - did I really think her outfit would make a difference?However, little was accomplished in the morning, mostly because of a certain nine week old who has her second cold (two colds! nine weeks old!) and only wanted to be held by mommy all day long. I started to panic as I sat surrounded by heaps of clutter: DVDs haphazardly strewn around the TV, puzzle pieces perfectly lined up in a row, but blocking the hallway, Mickey Mouse Clubhouse figures stacked carefully in the back of a toy dump truck on some sort of construction sight-seeing tour. Whenever I'd scoop up a small handful of toys, Cordy would follow behind me, pulling out more. She's good at that.My mother Read more:Smart
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