Mommin' It Up!

June 9, 2009June 11, 2009

LIVE with Kelly and Emily (and Ovaries)!

So something crazy happened to me today… I skyped with Kelly Ripa! (If you’re my Facebook friend, you’ll note that my status update says the exact same thing – but I just like saying it, it makes me feel cool). It was so fun, and she’s just as friendly and approachable as she seems on TV. She also has a very important message she wants to share with all of our readers.

Kelly Ripa and Electrolux appliances have teamed up to support the Ovarian Cancer Research Foundation (OCRF), whose mission it is to fund research to find a method of early detection and ultimately a cure for ovarian cancer. They’re going back to basics in terms of raising money and encouraging everyone to have a lemonade stand… but with an up-to-date twist – it’s all online. For every virtual lemonade stand created here, Electrolux will donate $1 to OCRF, and after you create your stand, you can raise even more money by selling your own virtual glasses of lemonade. Oh – and you’ll also be entered to win an amazing French Door Refrigerator from Electrolux!

This is a hugely important cause, and not one we often hear about. But believe it or not, ovarian cancer is the leading cause of death from gynecologic cancers in the United States and is the fifth leading cause of cancer death among U.S. women. It’s often called the “silent killer” because they symptoms are often vague and by the time it’s diagnosed, it’s often in an advanced stage. There is no effective screening test for ovarian cancer, but there are tests that can detect it when patients are at high risk or have early symptoms. The most effective way women can protect themselves against ovarian cancer is to learn the signs and symptoms – the OCRF website is a wealth of information, and I encourage you all to go there and learn more.

I would have been happy to Skype with Kelly Ripa and spread the word about any important cause, but this one hits particularly close to home. My mom died of ovarian cancer at 36. And people? That shouldn’t happen to anyone.

So please, go to ElectroluxAppliances.com and open your own virtual lemonade stand. It’s easy and fun, and they have all the tools you need to share your stand and the message of ovarian cancer awareness with your friends via Facebook, Twitter, or email. Click here to see the stand I made (you can even buy a glass if you want!).

Remember when I said I Skyped with Kelly Ripa? Here’s the video. Please take a minute to hear Kelly’s important message about her involvement with OCRF

Is that cool or what? A huge thanks to Kelly Ripa and Electrolux appliances for speaking with me and supporting such an important cause, and to Maria Bailey and BSM Media for thinking of Mommin’ It Up.

June 8, 2009

It’s Like the Xanax of Cupcakes

This weekend the kids and Bobby and I (along with Emily & her kids and lots of other cool bloggy peeps) had the privilege of attending a birthday party for Amy’s daughter, P. The party was held at Pump It Up, one of those “bouncy places” as Joshua calls them, and let me just say a GREAT time was had by all! After an hour or so of bouncing, we went into a room where the (very awesome) Pump It Up staff served the children chips, juice boxes, and cupcakes. Glorious, glorious cupcakes. Cupcakes that not only looked and tasted delicious, but also seemed to have a mysterious tranquilizing quality. After just one bite, all the crazy kiddos seemed to instantly calm down. Witness:

Shannan’s three-year-old, Brady:

Erin’s little guy:

And finally, my little Sophie, who was completely transformed into a Zen-like state:

Maybe it was the hour of furiously bouncing, climbing, and sliding that that made the kids so docile, but after a taste of that icing, I’m thinking someone slipped a little somethin’-somethin’ into the cupcakes.

And yo, I could really use that recipe!

June 5, 2009June 4, 2009

I Get So Emotional, Baby

You are welcome, enjoy having that song in your head for the rest of the day!

But seriously. I’ve always been a cry baby, which is why I ascribe to putting a daily coat of waterproof mascara on top of my regular mascara. Because sadly, you never know when I am just gonna burst into tears.

As you may imagine, over the past few months with hormones and trying to get medication figured out, my tendency to weep at the drop of the hat has been a *little* exacerbated. Like, the other night, at the Yanni Voices concert, for some odd reason I started thinking about when Joshua and Kate were infants, and a couple of times I babysat Kate soon after Em went back to work. Having two infants that were 8 weeks apart all day was a little nuts but I really LOVED spending that time with both of them. I remembered when Joshua was napping how I’d enjoyed getting to know Baby Kate, laying her on my tummy and cooing at her. And in that moment, in an arena with thousands of people, with some Venezuelan guy in tight, shiny pants singing his heart out, I got a little teary. About spending time with my baby cousin. FIVE YEARS AGO.

Just about anything will make me tear up these days – someone being kind, someone being mean, a book, a song, a prayer and geez I can hardly read all the great blog posts that some people are writing these days for fear of DROWNING myself. And I do not watch television commercials. That’s like walking through an emotional mine field for crying out loud!

So anyways, I’m still an emotional basket case, but in a much less crazy way than I was {pauses to blow nose and wipe away a tear}. But tell me I’m not alone. What sends your tear ducts into a tizzy?