Feelin' fine at 9

My Sweetest Monkey-faced Munchkin,

You are 9 months old today. I honestly think this has been the fastest 9 months of my life. You change and grow so much everyday. You are such a sweet boy and I love getting to spend so much time with you.

You love to be outside. Anytime I open the front door you get so excited. You love to sit on the grass and watch everything going on around you. You also love dogs. In fact, "dog" is your new favorite word to say. The other night I was getting you ready for bed and you heard the dogs next door barking. You looked at me, smiled, and in your sweet little voice said, "Dah." (That's Tommy-speak for dog).

You love to eat, especially from Mom and Dads' plates. You still prefer fruits to vegetables, but you're a pretty big fan of broccoli and asparagus. Just last night you discovered how much you like turkey.

You still love to read stories, too. Your favorite right now is "Dear Zoo". You like to open up the flaps to see the animals. You also like "The Little Mouse, the Red Ripe Strawberry, and the Big Hungry Bear".

Just this week you showed off that you actually do know how to crawl. You only do it when you think no one is watching and when there's something you really want to reach. You don't like to be held too much, but you love to play on the floor where you can see people around you.

I love you more and more each day, my sweet little man. You are such a sweet and smart boy and I love watching you grow, explore, and learn each day.

XOXO,

Mama

Please

Dear Moms of the World,

I have a plea for all of you. Can we please stop with the "mommy wars"? Can we please stop judging each other for our differences? It's our differences in parenting that make all of our children so unique and wonderful.

Sincerely,

A Fed Up Mama

I've been pondering on this post for a long time. I've been trying to figure out how to write this without offending somebody, or everybody. And then I realized that doesn't matter. Someone will always be offended, somebody will always judge, and somebody will always be upset by my opinion. But the good news is that this is my blog. And I can say what I want. And if you don't like it, stop reading. Anyway, back to my post.

My first item of business is the whole breastfeeding thing. I know I've talked about this many times, but it's still nagging a bit. I've done a lot of reading about breastfeeding issues, what research says is best for babies, etc. One theme that is constant through all of this is that everyone thinks their way is the right way. I'm here to tell you that the "right" way is whatever works for you and produces a healthy, happy baby. I recently read a blog post from a woman who discussed her struggles with breastfeeding. Instead of uplifting comments, a lot of what I saw were things like, "Thanks so much for perpetuating the myth that breastfeeding is hard." A) If it actually is hard for someone, that means it's not a myth. B) Whatever happened to the lesson we learned as children, "If you can't say something nice, don't say anything at all."

Secondly is the whole working mom thing. I know I've talked about this before, too, but it really strikes a nerve with me. I have nothing against stay at home moms. In fact, I admire them for their ability to do this incredibly challenging thing. However, Curious George and I have made the choice for me to work to keep us out of debt. And really, I'm a better mom because I go to work. I don't have the patience or the serenity to stay at home with the Sharkbaby all the time. I would be grumpy, short-tempered, and it would probably make my boys not want to be around me at all.

The third thing I'd like to discuss is the flat out judgement. Why do we insist on comparing our children to each other? Why would we try and bring another mom down just because our baby hit a milestone before her's? Raising children is hard enough without worrying about how they compare to everyone else's child. Does it really affect our lives if a family chooses to co-sleep, cry-it-out, swaddle, breastfeed, bottle feed, discipline, let their children watch tv, or whatever? Not really.

So, I vote that we put a cease and desist order on the Mommy Wars. Let us come together in this crazy, difficult, trying, wonderful, heartbreaking, heartwarming experience called Motherhood. Let's not worry so much about comparing and contrasting our children as we do about raising a generation of kind, tolerant, and non-judgmental children.

As the primary song says, "Jesus said love everyone." Our job as mothers is the nurturing and righteous education of our children. How can we expect our children to learn tolerance and meaningful relationships unless we first put it these things into practice in our own lives?

Fall Favorites

Guess what... I just blogged for 30 days straight! In celebration I'd like to share with you a few of my favorite things right now.

First and foremost, this little guy:

How can you not love that face? Oh man, this kid lights up my world. He is definitely my favorite right now.

Next is this album:

I am incredibly, disproportionately, excited for the new muppet movie (I can't help it, I love Jason Segel). Anyway, I figured I'd check out the album and I am o-b-s-e-s-s-e-d. I listen to it every time I'm in the car.

Next up are a couple of websites:

Trust me, if you haven't discovered these yet, go!! (If you need a pinterest invite, let me know, I've got some!) And polyvore lets me build outfits from clothing/shoes/jewelry I find all over the web. Awesome.

So, I still haven't found time to decorate for Halloween. It actually makes me kind of sad, because I really love Halloween a lot. But between work, school, and being a wife and mommy it's a little low on the priority list. I don't know how some women do it all...

I am looking forward to Witches Night at Gardner Village next weekend. My costume is going to be pretty legen-waitforit-dary. The Sharkbaby isn't actually going to be a shark... he's going to be a bat. Pictures will be coming soon!

Day 30: Favorite book of all time

Oh, wow, this is a big idea. I have to choose one favorite book? I don't know if I can actually do that. I've read hundreds, possibly thousands, of books in my lifetime. I love to read. I always have. I need books like I need food, water, and air. I've spent many nights in my life choosing to devour a good book instead of catching some much needed sleep. When the Sharkbaby was born everyone told me to sleep while he slept. I was never able to do this. Instead I sat in the rocking chair next to my sleeping baby and filled myself with a story outside of my own.

Some of my earliest memories are of reading with, and being read to by, my dad. We had an old blue rocking chair where he would read me the newspaper, Dr. Seuss' ABC's, Ira Sleeps Over, and many others. I would often choose to read a book instead of playing outside with my siblings. I would pretend I was the characters in my books. Part of me wanted to be Laura Ingles Wilder, Anne of Green Gables, or Nancy Drew.

And now? Now I love to read to my baby. My favorite time of day is when we sit in the rocking chair at bedtime and read stories. He loves The Goodnight Book; The Little Mouse, the Red Ripe Strawberry, and the Big Hungry Bear; Dear Zoo; and Guess How Much I Love You.

So, you see, my love affair with books has gone on for so long that I couldn't possible choose one favorite. But if you ever need a recommendation for a book I love, you know where to find me.

Day 29: A book everyone hated but you liked

Ok, so technically a national bestseller can't really be a book that everyone hates. However, that being said, I've talked to a lot of people that really disliked this book.

Maybe it's the stream-of-consciousness, "Catcher in the Rye"-esque way it's told. Maybe it's the fact that it's written from the point of view of a boy with autism/Asperger's (the debate is still out on which it actually is). Really, I can't help but like this book. I like that the chapters are numbered in prime number numerical order. I like that there are pictures, charts, and diagrams. And I really enjoy the analytical look at the things the rest of us don't really think about at all.

Anyway, when all is said and done, I really liked this book, despite the poor reviews I've read.

Day 28: Favorite title

I've been thinking about this one a lot this week. A title is what first grabs you for a book, and I've read a lot of books with great titles: Bossypants, The Scandalous Summer of Sissy LeBlanc, and many more. But the one that sticks out in my mind is:

Doesn't that just have a ring to it. It just sort of rolls out of your mouth. The book itself, on the other hand, is kind of different. It's about prostitution in Victorian era England. So, if that sort of thing offends you I wouldn't recommend it, but it is an interesting commentary on the societal norms and expectations of the era. Even if you don't want to read the book, say the title a few more times. The Crimson Petal and the White... The Crimson Petal and the White... I love it, what can I say?

Day 27: The most surprising plot twist or ending

I'm pretty tough to surprise. Not a lot shocks me. It's really tough to twist a plot so far that I don't see something coming. So, I'm going to choose a book who's ending mildly surprised, but immensely delighted, me:

In order to avoid any spoilers I'm going not going to tell you how the book ends. Trust me, though, this is one you'll definitely want to read.

Day 26: A book that changed your opinion about something

I am a woman of many opinions... many unchangeable opinions. Once I decide to hold an opinion on a matter I generally stand pretty firm. So, this wasn't so much an opinion change as it was my letting go of a stereotype. The book I chose for this topic is:

I read this book *before* it was made into a movie. I saw it on the shelf at B&N and thought, "What the hey... why not."

As a healthcare professional I tend to hold a lot of opinions, many of these centering on the mental health side of things. This book did a lot to dispel some of my opinions and believed stereotypes about psychiatric units in the hospital, and the patients they house.

If you're offended by sex, drugs, or language you might want to look elsewhere, but if you can look past those things I recommend checking this one out.

Day 25: The character you relate to the most

Huh. I'm not even sure where to begin on this one. I have such a vast array of characters stashed away in my brain that sifting through them to find the *one* I relate to might take some serious thought. I think I'm going with:


I first read this book maybe 2 years ago. My mom brought it back for me from a reading conference, knowing I have a soft spot for autographed books. This one is extra special, though, because it was autographed by the author AND the illustrator.

Anyway, on to Clementine. Clementine is just sort of her own little person. She has some funny ideas about things, but she's not afraid to march to her own beat. I like to think that I'm like that on some level.

Anyway, this is an early-reader chapter book. It is, however, and adorable story that I think everyone should read. You could even read it with, or too, your kids...