Whatever Mom!

My husband took this picture of The Captain the other day while they were out "snake hunting".

Pretty cute isn't it?

That's what I thought - until I realized that The Captain is actually talking to me on that cell phone he's holding. I was probably telling him to be careful and to listen to his daddy and to wash his hands before he eats his snack and to make sure he put more sunscreen on.

I think his face says it all. I can only imagine what he'll be like when he's 16.

Short and Sweet

One of my favorite bloggers, Linda of All & Sundry, wrote about her holiday weekend in 46 words or less which I thought was just brilliant. So brilliant in fact that I just might start writing all of my posts this way....starting with this one.

My Memorial Day weekend in 46 words or less....

Two cookouts, watermelon covered kids, homemade Marionberry cobbler with vanilla ice cream, delicious cheeseburgers, time spent with great friends, farmers market, swimming lessons, sunshine, gardening, riding bikes, trips to the park, one really great nap, popsicles, laughter, fun, two exhausted little boys on Monday night.

And you?

Toy Envy

When I was a kid growing up some thirty odd years ago, I played with sticks and rocks and made mud pies in my back yard. I wore checkered and striped polyester, and I didn't even ride in a car seat - hell, I didn't even wear a seat belt.

Times sure have changed. My boys ride in car seats and wear helmets and blah, blah, blah, and they have way cooler clothes than I do and their toys - well, let's just say that just might have a slight case of toy envy.

There are soooo many cool toys on the market now - things that I would have never imagined when I was a kid. But all of that selection and the overwhelming coolness of everything can honestly be a little overwhelming sometimes. But that's where ebeanstalk can help because they have already done the work for me. Visit ebeanstalk.com and see for yourself. And since times are tight but birthdays still roll around anyway, all of my readers will get 15% off their first purchase - just enter the code TGS345 at the shopping cart. Happy shopping!

Ebeanstalk is dedicated to a baby's development. And we select the best baby toys matched to a baby's development. To see great information on how a baby grows up, check out the info on our baby toys page.

Picking toys for a baby is not as simple as it sounds. Here are some quick baby facts:

• Toys for a newborn baby: A newborn baby is briefly looking at objects and attempting to imitate facial expressions. They can follow objects with their eyes and usually quiet down, when they are picked up.


• Toys for a three month old: They will enjoy ‘frolic play', reaching for objects and will repeat enjoyable activities. Believe it or not, they will respond to ‘no' (about half the time) and will start babbling.


• Toys for a six month old: They'll search for hidden objects (object permanence). They'll reach for themselves in the mirror, play peekaboo, crumple paper, roll from their stomach to their back and even respond to their name.


• Toys for a nine month old: They are pushing toy cars, playing pat-a-cake and looking for hidden sounds. The baby toys they are playing with are also getting more fun.

Only One Complaint

I have to say that this was one of the best Mother's Day weekends I have had so far. My only complaint is that that it went by too quickly. We spent the weekend on the coast in a quaint little beach house tucked away in what is easily a little slice of heaven on earth. My husband's second cousin owns the place and they rent it out to family and friends. This was our first time staying there, but I can guarantee we will be back...often. Here's some pictures from the weekend.

This is the front of the beach house.

This is the view from the deck. Not too shabby!

We enjoyed lunch with a view from the kitchen window

We flew kites

We played peek-a-boo

We climbed rocks

We discovered fantastical creatures on the beach

And we played with wet, sandy beach dogs

It was truly a wonderful weekend

If you give a Mom a Muffin.......

My friend Heidi sent this to me on Facebook and I just had to share. It is too true! Now, I've got to get the laundry going..


We are fans of the "If You Give..." books by Laura Numeroff in our house so this definitely struck my funny bone:

If you give a mom a muffin, she'll want a cup of coffee to go with it.

She'll make herself some.

Her three year old will spill the coffee;

She'll wipe it up.

While wiping the floor, she'll find dirty socks.

She'll remember she has to do laundry.

When she puts the laundry in the washer, she'll trip over boots and bump into the box of Goodwill items.

Bumping into the Goodwill items will remind her that she has to get these boxes out of her basement and into the car.

When she puts the boxes in the car, she'll find a bag of groceries;

This will remind her she has to cook dinner.

She will get out the chicken defrosting in the fridge.

She'll look for her cookbook, "101 Things to do with Chicken."

The cookbook will be sitting under a pile of mail.

She will see the NetFlix movie she meant to send back and the phone bill, which is due tomorrow.

The checkbook will be in her purse that is being dumped out by her one year old.

As she bends down to rescue her purse, she'll smell something funny.

She'll change the baby's diaper.

While she is throwing the diaper away and searching for the hand sanitizer, the phone will ring.

Her three year old will answer and hang up.

She'll remember she wants to call a friend - not for coffee, but for a very strong drink.

Thinking of drinking will remind her that she was going to have a cup of coffee in order to stay awake for the rest of the day.

And chances are...

If she finds her cup of coffee (which she has to reheat by now),

Her children will have eaten the muffin that goes with it.

Now - what I would like to know is what other tasks/simple activities of daily living do you attempt to accomplish with your children around? Do you have any luck getting them done, or do you always wind up getting sidelined?

The Wind from my Sails

I think I am finally feeling a little better -at least I'm not breaking down in tears during my morning runs. I swear - the passing of little Maddie really did a number on me. I still think of her and Heather and Mike every day yet I haven't been able to bring myself to mail the card I have for them. I will do it today though - it's been long enough.

On a completely different note, something happened the other day that really caught me off guard. You see, I really like Facebook and I spend a little bit of time on it almost everyday. Not a lot of time, but time nonetheless. And I usually do it while I'm at work. Well, the other day I'm checking email and low and behold there's a friend request from none other than my boss. I stared at it for a couple of seconds and then I actually looked around my office - like maybe he somewhere nearby, spying on me. I work alone folks and I actually looked around my office. What a dork.

Anyway, I wasn't really surprised to see his friend request waiting in my inbox. After all, I've heard the man snore before, I've even seen him in his jammies. Yeah, you read that right - but it's not what you think. His wife is one of my best friends, their son is The Captain's best buddy, and outside of the office we're all good friends. We know more about the other person than is probably appropriate for a professional relationship - but then again, this isn't your typical boss/employee relationship. They hired me for the position because I was a friend and they wanted someone they could trust, someone they didn't have to worry about. I fit the bill I guess so for that last three years I have worked for my best friend and her husband.

So anyway, after a couple of seconds I clicked "accept" and he joined the ranks of my "friends", most of which I know from elementary school, high school, college, and grad school. Now I have my boss on there too, and I'm not sure how I feel about it. My Facebook page was the one thing, besides this blog, that my immediate circle of friends didn't know about - until now it seems. I'm not sure what I'm more bummed about - that I am going to have to stop updating my Facebook during work hours or what.

In any event - I would love to hear about your Facebook stories. Have you "friended" someone you didn't want to? Have you "unfriended" anyone? Do you have any ex's on your page? Just curious.

Can you help?

Okay - I know I'm probably acting a lot like the cousin or relative who never calls or writes or visits and who always forgets your kid's birthday and I'm really sorry if that's how it seems because those people are definitely annoying. But I wouldn't be giving 100% toward my cause if I left this stone unturned so here goes.

I'm raising money for the March of Dimes March for Babies this year and I need your help. As you probably already know, the March of Dimes' mission is to improve the health of babies by preventing birth defects, premature birth and infant mortality. Every year in the United States, a staggering 525,000 babies are born to soon - some of them are no bigger than a deck of cards. No one knows the causes of nearly half of all premature births and no one is working harder than the March of Dimes to find the answer.

I gave birth to two healthy, full term babies and for that blessing I am eternally grateful. But I have friends who lost their babies. Some gave birth to medically fragile babies and could only stand by and watch helplessly as their baby fought for its' life. I can only imagine the heartache and suffering they endured.

I support the March of Dimes because I want to support my friends. I support the March of Dimes because I believe ALL babies deserve a healthy start in life. I support the March of Dimes because I don't want my sons to experience the loss of a child. I support the March of Dimes because no mother should ever have to go home without her baby.

For more information on the March of Dimes, visit www.marchofdimes.com. You can make a donation on their homepage or by clicking the widget on my page. Thank you in advance!

UPDATE ON 4/21/09

I've been away from blogging for a while. Keeping up with work, the kids and all the extras just left little time for me to write on my own blog, let along catch up on reading some of my favorites. So it was a complete and utter shock to discover that one of my favorite blogging couples recently lost their beautiful baby girl, Maddie. I still can't wrap my mind around the whole thing and I still can't stop crying. My husband doesn't blog and so consequently, he just doesn't "get it". He keeps asking how I can be so upset about the passing of a little girl that I never even knew. But I did "know" her and I did "know" her parents, Heather and Mike. When you read someones blog for almost a year and they share their life's ups and downs with you and you SEE into their world.....well, it is like you "know" them. You realize that they are cool as hell and you start to care about them, start to root for them. And when something like this happens, your heart breaks into a million pieces.

Maddie was born a little over 11 weeks early and spent 68 days in the NICU. To say she had a rough start to me is an understatement. But she pulled through it all and was the absolute light of her parents' lives. Little angels like Maddie are why I support the March of Dimes. If she had been born healthy and full-term she would still be here -she wouldn't have had the struggles she did. So please click on The Spohrs are Multiplying in my blogroll section, or visit remembermaddie.com and make a donation to the March of Dimes in her memory.