Mommin' It Up!

November 6, 2008November 6, 2008

My Baby’s Almost Two! What’s a Mom to Do?

Sophia Diane will be two in just ten days. TEN DAYS!?! How is that possible? When she was a crazy baby, Bobby would always say, “I can’t wait til she’s 2! Then she’ll be so much easier to deal with.” Hmm…sort of. Since that statement, and all our parenting assumptions in general were based on our experience with Joshua, the World’s Easiest Baby/Toddler, that hasn’t *exactly* panned out. But she is finally talking more, FINALLY weaned, and she has been sleeping really well through the night for almost a year now.
So she is getting to be more like a little person, and she is as SWEET as can be, my friends. Sweet as sugar. (Except for when she’s screaming her head off in a chicken costume while we’re trying to get ready for trick-or-treat. Then she’s just SCARY. See?)

Not that any of this matters. What REALLY matters, mah peeps, is WHAT THE HECK KIND OF CAKE AM I GOING TO MAKE HER FOR HER BIRTHDAY!?!?!?

Yes, it’s time for my yearly Birthday Cake Freak Out!

Because, as we all know:

The amount of time and effort you put into the birthday cake = how much you love your child.

Right, Emily?

So HALP ME, Peeps! What kind of cake should I make?

November 3, 2008

Child Safety Scares Me…How About You?

As a parent, I can barely bring myself to acknowledge and think about the fact that there are people out there in this world that would hurt my children. But the fact is true, and it is cruel, and it must be reckoned with. I know that talking to my son Joshua, who is almost five, about safety and “stranger danger” is extremely important. One day I started to broach the subject with him and before getting very far into it at all, I could see that he was becoming frightened. He is very, very innocent and also tends to be fearful in general. So how do I talk to him about child safety without scaring the poor kid to death?

Luckily for me, tomorrow I am going to be on a conference call with an expert, and I am going to ask her just that. Her name is Nancy McBride, and she is the Safety Director of the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children. The NCMEC has teamed up with Duracell for the third year to offer the Power of Parents child safety program.

The Power of Parents exists to achieve the goal of helping parents prepare, protect and empower their children by providing useful safety tools and information for families. The Power of Parents program web site contains a variety of important FREE safety tools for families to download, including the new Child Safety Handbook. Before I talk to Nancy tomorrow, I am going to head over to the Power of Parents site and download the Child Safety Handbook, a storybook to read with Joshua, and their age-specific “Teachable Moments Guide.” I suggest you all head on over there and do the same!

I’m excited to ask my question of Nancy McBride tomorrow – and I’ll ask YOURS for you too! Leave me a comment with YOUR child safety question and I will ask it for you! Then I’ll report back on what I’ve learned later in the week and let you know how she answered.

This issue is too important for me to ignore any longer, and I believe the same is true for many of you. So head over to the Power of Parents, check it out, and leave me a comment with your question for Nancy. Let’s teach our children what they need to know to protect themselves!

November 2, 2008

Weekly (Hallo)Winners Oct. 26-Nov. 1

I’m finally back after weeks of photo-slackin’! Here are some more photos I took of Emily’s and my kiddos trick-or-treating. I hope you enjoy! All my photos were taken with my Sony Alpha 300k DSLR.

Joshua, half-boy, half-hulk: