Mommin' It Up!

June 26, 2012June 26, 2012

Skype ya later

This is me and my friend Gina, circa 1999.

We improved with age, I promise.

Anyway, Gina and I met on the first day of college. We lived across the hall from each other. For the three years after that, we always lived within about 10 yards from one another. That was 14 years ago.

For the last 11 years, though, we haven’t lived in the same state. Right now, we live about 6 hours apart.

Fortunately, we’ve never been closer.

We’re always texting, emailing or skyping. It’s the only way I’ve seen her son! It’s sad but true – he’s six months old and I’ve yet to see him in person. I feel close to him, though, because I can see him on Skype.

I’ve been using Skype for a while, but I recently upgraded to a premium account. One of the coolest things about the upgrade is the ability to have group video chat. That way, Gina and I can keep in touch not just with each other, but with ~~both~~ all of our college friends.

It definitely beats the AIM we used to use back in our college days.

Gina and I had one conversation on Skype that I’ll never forget. It was on Inauguration Day in 2009. I was home sick from work (really, I was sick, I swear!) and she was somewhere she couldn’t watch Barack Obama being sworn in as president… so, we Skyped, and I held the computer up to my television screen, so she could see it. It was a historic day, and I’m glad we got to share it – even from a few states away!

Plus, the headset makes me feel super cool.

How many embarrassing pictures of myself can I put in one post?

How do YOU use Skype to build deeper connections with your friends and families?

It’s time to say more and stay human. It’s time for Skype.

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Disclosure: Compensation was provided by Skype via Glam Media. The opinions expressed herein are those of the author and are not indicative of the opinions or positions of Skype.

June 25, 2012

It’s cake, mixed with frosting, dipped in chocolate. ON A STICK!!

You guys, this is my BFF, Luanne Storer. She’s made this blog a few hundred times!

She is a totally amazing friend, and as I’ve told you before, she’s also a very talented confectioner! Her confection of choice: the cake lollie. It’s cake. Mixed with frosting. Rolled into a ball. Dipped in chocolate. ON A STICK! Lulee’s Lollies are TO DIE FOR! Look at all the amazing creations she can put together:

Lollie Collage — The top right is a NATIVITY SCENE! A baby Jesus cake lollie!! Fer realz.

This weekend, at the party Emily and I threw for Tide Coldwater, Luanne invented especially for us, a total game-changer: the Ice Cream Lollie. It’s a cake pop on top, ice cream underneath, decorated to look like an adorable cone. AMAZING!!

Untitled — Hello, I am ADORABLE and DELICIOUS!!

Joshua Lollie — Joshua loved his ice cream lollie!

Luanne has big plans for Lulee’s Lollies, but to accomplish them she needs YOUR HELP! That’s right my readers, I am begging for your help for my friend. Luanne has applied for a $250,000 small business grant, but in order to even get her application considered she has to get 250 votes on the grant’s Facebook app. She just found out about the contest today and it is over June 30. So she has less than 4 days to get 250 votes. So, I know there are about 1,300 people that subscribe to this blog daily. I need ALL of y’all to go vote to Luanne! It will only take you about 30 seconds and it’s EASY! Here’s how:

1) Click on this link

2) Choose “Log in & Support” (you log in thru Facebook. No email or password required.)

3) Search for “Lulee’s Lollies”

4) Click “Vote” when “Lulee’s Lollies” come up.

THAT’S ALL you have to do!! But if you take it one step further and share with your friends, we would all be SO grateful.

Please take half a minute to vote for my BFF!! I will keep you posted on her progress. Let’s make this a win for the Mommin’ It Up community! THANK YOU!!!

June 25, 2012

Help me get it right.

Before you read this post, go read this one by my new friend Jeannett. It’s about her daughter Jill, and it’s the inspiration for what I’m about to say.

Ok, are you back? Did you need to go get a tissue? (Or don’t you have a soul!?)

One thing that my whole experience with Sophie’s developmental delays has brought to my life is a sensitivity for people with disabilities, and their families. Especially their moms. Seeing your kid looked at as “different” is hard. Sophie only got weird looks because of sometimes-crazy behavior, as she is phyiscally “normal”. And that was bad enough. To watch the gawking or ignoring that kids and adults with obvious physical disabilities endure is very unsettling. To be a parent or loved one having to watch your kid get gawked at? I truly cannot imagine.

Because Sophie used to see kids with all kinds of disabilities at her therapy clinics or at her school, she treats a kid in a wheelchair or walker, or a child with Down Syndrome the same as all her other friends. It’s awesome to watch. There was a girl at school and a boy at OT that she especially like to keep tabs on. I can only hope she doesn’t lose that as she continues on to “regular” kindergarten. I know, as an adult, that I KNOW BETTER, and I know that I need to teach my children early to KNOW BETTER and to DO BETTER. Sophie’s got it, but I need to teach my boys. To be the one that treats everyone with kindness and respect. To look someone in the eye. To smile. To hold a door, or a conversation, whether that person is in a wheelchair, on a walker, has a mental disability, or whatever.

I love my kids. I love them just the way they are. They are mine. And you know what? If Sophie’s delays hadn’t been temporary, she would still be my amazing, wonderful, rock-star daughter. I never wanted her to be anything different than what God made her to be. And I wouldn’t want to be treated as if either a) she didn’t exist or b) she should be avoided like the plague or c) I should be pitied because of my poor, disabled child.

Would you ?

Tell me, if you have a disability, or your child or loved one does, or you’ve worked with people with disabilities, what do you want us “typicals” out there to know and do? Help us get it right. Let’s learn together how to love one another better.