My Mom Uniform
Do you wear a uniform? I do.
My uniform right now is jeans or khakis and long-sleeve t-shirts. When the weather really starts warming up, my uniform is shorts and short-sleeve t-shirts.
And I’m cool with this… But I’m wondering, ‘Is this a mom thing?’
‘Or is it just me?’
Continue reading this at DC Metro Moms…
When My Husband Didn’t Propose…
I was reading a terrific blogger buddy of mine the other day who also writes for one of DC Metro Moms sister sites, Philly Moms, and lol laughed out loud. She was talking about telling her husband exactly what to get her for her birthday, and if he didn’t have time to get it, she would get it- just let her know. I do the same thing. I never say, ‘surprise me’…
But maybe I come by this honestly… since that fateful birthday I thought I was getting a ring… and got a corner cabinet instead.
Yeah, you heard me right. Not that the cabinet wasn’t nice, but what began as an honest, nice, birthday evening planned by now-husband, got caught up and tangled in miscommunication and misinterpreted cues and then misled expectations.
It all started when he said he had a special surprise planned for my birthday, and that it was something that I had really been wanting… Oh, and that he had to go by my parents’ house before he could give it to me…
Click Here to Continue Reading the debacle at DC Metro Moms… it’s worth it…
My Ectopic Pregnancy Gone Horribly Wrong
It was President’s Day Weekend…
I was pregnant! We were thrilled… But my HCG levels were low, so something wasn’t quite right.
I didn’t miscarry, as my doctor said I might, so I was hopeful that my pregnancy would get better. Then, Sunday evening I was cramping up so much that I wanted to call the doctor… but didn’t, at first…
I survived another medical trauma at the start of my 20s, so I think of myself as tough.
Then a started to get a sharp pain under my right breast… so I called the doctor. I have since learned that this is, to quote reference books, ‘an ominous sign’ as it means blood is tracking up the abdominal cavity…
The on-call doctor called me back and immediately apologized for being happily distracted- his sister was in labor at the hospital. I told him about the pain, and he quickly suggested I send my husband out for Pepto-Bismol, and to wink, wink, ‘toughen up’.
So I did. And my husband did. And I took the Pepto-Bismol…
That night pain kept waking me up… and at about 6 in the morning my husband was jolted awake by a thud on the floor of our bathroom. He looked around and didn’t see me. He ran into the bathroom and I lay unconscious on the floor.
He called the doctor and got me to the nearest hospital. I was quickly wheeled into the sonogram room and after numerous attempts to find a baby, a doctor was called in and he said, and I quote,
“All I can see is blood.”
Everything went quickly then. Orderlies were running with my stretcher. I was prepped in a hallway awaiting surgery, all the while, nurses covering me with heated blankets, because I was shivering so much from the loss of blood… 1,2,3,4,5 blankets were covering me and still I shook.
Ectopic means “out of place.” In an ectopic pregnancy, a fertilized egg has implanted outside the uterus. The egg settles in the fallopian tubes in more than 95% of ectopic pregnancies, as was my case. The fallopian tube does not have space or nurturing tissue as a uterus does, for a pregnancy. As the fetus grows, it will eventually burst the tube, which causes internal bleeding and eventually, if not treated, death. A classical ectopic pregnancy cannot develop into a live birth.
So there I was, bleeding internally, being wheeled into the OR. My husband had tears in his eyes and said only 3 words,
“DON’T LEAVE ME.”
I didn’t want to, but I was SO TIRED… not the kind of tired you feel when you need a good night’s sleep; I was exhausted. I felt like all the systems in my body were slowing down,
slowly, slowing down…
And then I had a moment of clarity and it hit me, ‘This is BAD. I’m bleeding to death.’
They put me on the operating table, I remember HOW COLD I was. The nurse looked down at me and told me they would help me; she had beautiful blue eyes and the light was coming down around her face and I thought she looked like Mary. And I was comforted.
The anesthesiologist told me to count backward from 100, and I almost did. Then I stopped myself for only a moment, took all the strength I had left, and screamed inside my head,
“Please God, do not let me go out this way. I have fought too hard for life. Please, not this way.”
And I started counting- 100, 99, 98… fade to black.
A few days later, a few more little scares, and I was feeling pretty good- believe it or not.
I was at home and relaxing, because I couldn’t do much else… and I was so grateful to be okay!
A couple more days went by and just for a moment I thought back to that ultrasound…
‘All I can see is blood’. And I started crying.
Then I wept. And I wept… for my baby, for my baby that never got a chance…
Almost 2 years later I delivered my healthy and happy son. He gives us such joy and he makes me laugh,
and sometimes I’m amazed by how wise he is beyond his years…
And on those occasions, I allow myself to believe that he is blessed with an extra little angel who is always looking out for him.
* Trust your instincts. If you think something is wrong, consult a doctor.
* Sometimes women don’t even know they have miscarried… A miscarriage should not be extremely painful. If you do experience extreme pain and/or a sharp pain, please seek immediate medical help.
* Ectopic pregnancy is the leading cause of death for a mother in her first trimester of pregnancy.
An abbreviated version of this can be read at DC Metro Moms.
My Unexpected Shopping Afternoon!
I just found myself in a situation I haven’t been in for 5 years, since my son was born. I had an afternoon to myself, and was basically told, in a nice way by my sick husband- not to come home.
Our Little Man had just left for my parents for a ‘Pajama Party’; yep, we have both sets of grandparents in-town: so we get sleepovers! Yey… fun for our Little Guy and fun for us!
My Big Guy had to go into work for a little while and I had my list of ‘things-to-do’ done (don’t freak out, we have 1 child, I’m organized, but not SuperMommy), so I grabbed gift cards that I got for Christmas and set out for the mall…
Continue reading this at DC Metro Moms…
DC Metro Moms: The UN-ELECTION PARTY
What do you get when you bring together SUPER COOL MOMS,
a plethora of great food and drink,
no kids,
and even a ride home?
You get the DC METRO MOMS BLOG UN-ELECTION PARTY!
…of course.
What I love about being a DC Metro Mom contributor is exactly why I loved this party-
all us women are totally different,
have different takes on everything,
but yet, we are all concerned mothers, trying our best to do what is right,
learning every day how to be a better mom, while not scarring our children in the process 
Our party was at Clyde’s of Tyson’s Corner.
We had fantastic appetizers, great entrees of pasta dishes and cheeses and a delectable dessert selection toward the end of the evening.
The people at Clyde’s couldn’t have been nicer and made the planning of this party…easy.
What was even easier was working with Chevy, the sponsor of this party.
Chevy picked up DC Metro Moms for the party and then ALSO drove us all back to our cars and homes in Chevy Traverses.
I think the candidates and their political parties should…THROW A PARTY, get some wine mixed in,
and see what happens.
I think the result would be wonderful!
Cool moms, cool place, cool transportation, cool conversation:
I can’t wait until the next cool event for DC Metro Moms Blog!
‘Mad Housewife’ Wine Party!
Thanks to the wonderful people at MAD HOUSEWIFE CELLARS–
my home was transformed Saturday evening into a wine tasting venue with tons of wine, food, prizes, and most of all, cool DC Metro Mom Contributors and cool readers!
Here are some of the DC Metro Mom Bloggers who came and imbibed. It was awesome to see familiar faces of some well-known bloggers like Toddler Planet, StimeyLand, Monkey Business, Tech Savvy Mama, Surely You Nest and ‘Where’s My Cape?’.
We had fun welcoming a few new contributors too! It was a pleasure to meet Caffeinated, My Party of Six and Crunchy-Chewy Mama!
As the evening wore on, smiling and laughter increased. I had to include this picture, however, because of the funny face that StimeyLand is making behind the bar.
NOTE TO READERS: I don’t normally have a bar in my living room. There is normally a big chair in that corner. But I move it out when we entertain…
The scary reflection on me about this, is that NOBODY questioned the fact that there was a bar in my living room… No one.
People had a great time. There were spatulas and nail files, courtesy of Mad Housewife. And Toddler Planet won the door prize!
Good talk, good women, good times, good wine- What could be better?
Well, Maybe a T-Shirt… lots of people asked me how to get the Mad Housewife T-Shirt I was wearing.
I love this wine!
Thanks to my dad for providing the beautiful Dahlia arrangements that were all over the house.
If you look at the top picture in this post, the Dahlia to the right of the Mad Housewife sign is from the same plant (that my dad grew) that won Best in Show a few weeks ago at the National Dahlia Show, as in, the whole country.
THANKS AGAIN TO THE GREAT PEOPLE AT MAD HOUSEWIFE CELLARS!
If you see this wine, pick up a bottle, it’s very good! Give it a try!
Our Favorite-Stuffed-Animal Crisis
After a perfect evening celebrating our wedding anniversary last Saturday night, my husband and I drove out to my parents’ home on Sunday morning, 35 minutes away, to pick up our Little Man.
My son loves his ‘pajama parties’ at my folks and always brings a few essentials besides clothes and pjs: his favorite blanket, his favorite pillow and most importantly, his favorite stuffed animal: Winnie-the-Pooh.
He has been sleeping with this Poohbear since he can remember. Well, not actually… we have replaced ‘this Pooh’ many times due to vomit, bits of food, mucus (ugh, I hate even typing that word), saliva. I tried to wash him one time in the washing machine, that went okay, but then I put him in the dryer and he came out smelling burnt: don’t try this at home.
But his current Pooh, which he thinks he’s been sleeping with since the day he was born, is always around and frankly, has reached the status of a good friend.
That said, we had a wonderful Sunday, played outside and were busy with games til bedtime. Ahh, a great weekend.
We were putting our Little Man to bed when he asked,
“Where’s Pooh?”
“I’ll find Pooh,” and I went downstairs, scanned the living room, the playroom, the kitchen, his bathroom. ‘He must be downstairs in the basement’ I thought, and I quickly trotted downstairs to the basement playroom, which is ALWAYS where things are when I can’t find them.
I looked around… No Pooh.
My throat started to feel tight. No Pooh.
“Pooh must be in the car.” I yelled up. He had to be. He had to be. Please be in the car. Please be in the car.
My husband ran out to the car, came back in and our eyes met, “Pooh’s not there; we left him out at your parents.”
My heart was up in my throat by this time, all the while I’m thinking,
“We couldn’t have left the most important stuff animal in the world at my parents. That would be such a rookie mistake, laughable even.”
But no one was in a laughing mood. We ran upstairs to my son’s hopeful eyes. Even he was thinking, “We couldn’t have left Pooh at Nanny and Pop’s.”
I called my parents. They hadn’t seen Pooh. Then my mom’s voice broke,
“Oh no, we left him in my car; that’s why we haven’t seen him and it didn’t occur to any of us that he’d been left.”
In the next 5 minutes there was crying, not tantrum crying or ‘I’m just making a point and I’ll get over this crying’; it was ‘I am so incredibly sad’ crying. My son has never been without his Pooh to sleep. A phone call later and my husband was in the car, my dad was rushing, with Pooh in hand, in his car; they would meet halfway.
So I rocked my 4-year-old son and sang to him as he calmed down, knowing that Pooh was on his way. I hadn’t stopped mentally banging my head against the wall with thoughts of ,”Idiot! Rookie mistake!” until we got the call about 20 minutes later that the exchange had been made. My husband and dad pulled their cars along side each other, Pooh was handed out one car window to the other outstretched arm.
Little Man said he was tired and climbed into bed. He insisted I stay with him until Pooh came home, so I got a pillow, laid on the floor beside his bed and we talked.
He stopped talking and looked over at me to make sure I was there and his eyes started to get heavy, fluttered a little and he fell asleep. I just looked at him. It’s beautiful to watch your son fall asleep (ah, in more ways than one). Man, he made it look easy, even after so much turmoil.
I heard the front door open and went to the top of the stairs. “Shhhhh,” my husband handed me Pooh without a word. I tiptoed back into my son’s room, leaned down, nudged him a little and said, “Here’s Pooh, he’s home.” Little Man opened his eyes just long enough to smile and exclaim in a whisper, “Pooh!” He snuggled up to the worn, aged, silly-old-bear, and went immediately back to sleep.
I wish all problems were that easy to solve…
My husband and I looked at each other downstairs: 45 minutes of crisis mode, tears, mentally bashing our lack of awareness- UGH. I still can’t believe WE ALL FORGOT POOH!
But: watching my Little Man fall asleep, laughing while comparing ourselves to Meg and Hamilton Swan in ‘Best In Show’ (“Where is Busy Bee? We have to find Busy Bee!”)-
to our son and all little ones having the ability to fall into a restful sleep almost instantly… priceless.
An abbreviated version of this can be read over at DC Metro Moms Blog.
CHECK THIS OUT-
Today I’m over at DC Metro Moms admitting that I’m a Wipe-A-holic.
Check it out… there are worse addictions.
BEING COOL
This blog article can be also be read at DC Metro Moms Blog. It’s a great site!
It’s 2008. We aren’t children anymore. We are turning another year older in 2008. Are we cool…? Does it matter…? What does it mean to be cool?…
My New Year’s resolution is to be cool. I’m not giving anything up in 2008. I am being cool this year. Easier said than done? Maybe not…
I read an article awhile back that discussed coolness. George Clooney was mentioned. He definitely seems cool. But why? The sly grin… the clothes… the trappings of stardom? I don’t think so. George Clooney seems to be ‘cool’ because he’s comfortable. He’s comfortable with himself, he’s comfortable with his life. Yes, one could say, ‘How could George Clooney not be comfortable?’ But money and especially fame, do not make you cool. What is cool, then?
Going back to that article– it was interesting… and long. Out of that whole article, 5 sentences stood out to me as a mother.
“Coolness is relaxation.” That may seem hard at first. But being relaxed doesn’t mean you aren’t busy. Being relaxed is merely taking things in stride. And moms are the best at this.
“Coolness is courage.” Coolness is taking a deep breathe and your son’s hand on the first day of preschool and telling him how much fun he’s going to have. Coolness is smiling at everyone on your way out, even though you already miss him a little.
“Coolness is knowing what’s going on.” Or coolness is at least knowing how to change a diaper, get little people dressed and fed, while trying to figure out what is going on.
“Coolness acknowledges the limits of life while affirming that life is worth living.” No one can be a parent and not be reminded everyday that life is worth living. And no one can be a parent and not be reminded everyday, especially during flu season and potty training that there are limits to life.
“Coolness is the freedom to be yourself.” How cool is it that we are older now… There is no cookie cutter for the perfect mom (trust me, I’ve looked). We are tall and short and blond and brunette. We laugh and cry and sometimes hit our heads against the wall (when no one is looking).
Coolness isn’t clothes. It doesn’t matter how much a pair of jeans cost, they’re really just jeans.
Coolness isn’t a purse or a particular diaper bag.
Coolness is being a mom, and trying your best and being your best for your kids and yourself.
Coolness is understanding that you aren’t perfect and your kids aren’t perfect…and when you’re tired at the end of the day and thinking, ‘What else do I have to do, what am I forgetting?’ you pick up your child and give them a hug.
That’s cool.
Moms are cool.
T-SHIRTS AND THE GOLDEN GLOBES
Looking for a pick-me-up or a cool present? Look no further.
I met tons of cool moms at the launch party for DC Metro Moms blog last week. One of them not only blogs, but sells cool mom t-shirts, maternity t-shirts, baby stuff and even shirts for dads.
Kristen, who blogs at MommyNeedsaCocktail gave all us contributors our shirt of choice. My choice is shown here, ‘Mommy Needs a Glass of Wine’.
I hope she is enjoying a cocktail now because she is just getting home from the Golden Globes. She was giving away complimentary t-shirts, etc. in the Boom Boom Room at the Globes which is the party for kids and parents, as well as a swag event for sponsors.
So check her stuff out at BabyBrewing…
and you may be seeing one of your favorite stars sporting one of her shirts.
YEY! MOM POWER!
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I Was In The 2012 Show !
Check Out …
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Nicole’s Book
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