Ingenue Mom

Since having Isis & recently starting her on solid foods, we have really done some research on food. It's such a basic part of all of our lives & you'd think we'd be interested in it already, but it has really changed for us since we became responsible for another life. We feel like we have just a few years to really provide her with a great nutritional start in life & we want to do the best we can. This had led to several conclusions for us. We've done a lot of research & had a lot of discussion. This is something every parent has to do on their own & they may come to different conclusions than we have. I personally don't believe that the conclusions are the important part with this topic. I think it's the research & the interest in providing what you feel is best for your child. Here are our conclusions: We want Isis to eat organic as much as is within our power to provide this for her. We will not be feeding her red meat for several y...

Seriously....BEST.THING.EVER.

Wow I got an email about this last night & I freaked out!! Apparently one of you lovely readers nominated me for a BlogLuxe award! THANK YOU!! Now if you don't mind, please go VOTE for for Best Eye Candy !!

1. PostSecret  I don't have nearly as much to say about any of the others, so that's why this one is first. I wrote about why I liked it one time & this is what I said (Feb. 14, 2008): I love people. I love their hope, their pain, their strengths and weaknesses, their love and joy, their despair and sorrow. I think that the stronger the depth of emotion, the more vulnerable and open someone has allowed themselves to be to the world. I think there is no great love without great loss, or at least the possibility of it. I think there is no great achievement without a certain amount of failure. I think our turbulent past opens the door to a future that is bright and open because we have learned the lowest we can go and we've decided to keep moving forward. I think every loss is an opportunity to appreciate and grow. I think every joy is a blessing that you can carry with you through those moments when life is not a joy. I think we beat each other down for...

I'm not sure if you've noticed lately, but I've been linking a lot to The Blogger's Concierge . It's a new blog started by the writers of Kludgy Mom & Miel et Lait . I love their blog tips!! They're a great resource for bloggers! They are currently on the hunt for A-listers ! They've asked for bloggers to write a post sharing why they should be on the A-list! I apologize for all the posts today, but I wanted to jump in on this at The Blogger's Concierge & it closes today! So here goes: I am unique & not afraid to admit that I'm super dorky . I have learned to be myself & have brought these aspects of my personality into my mothering & into my blogging. I value community & I value thoughtful, intelligent discussion. My blog is a place where I come to vent, to have an outlet, to be creative, to share & to learn. I believe this places me on an A-list because I believe there are plenty of moms - & bloggers in general ...

I am a newbie to mom blogging, but I am not a newbie to blogging in general. I started blogging in January 2007, so right now I'm at about 3 1/2 years of blogging. The ins & outs of mom blogging does tend to be a little different than just general blogging. It's more of a specific niche kind of group - understandably. And I actually just started regularly posting & marketing this blog about a month ago when I got my new design! But when Adriel at The Mommyhood Memos posted this on her blog today, I got really excited because I actually do have advice or experience for all of her questions! She may not use all my advice (or any of it), but it's still my experience & what has worked for me! I thought it was at least worth a share - especially since she asked! So I started posting it as a comment, but I tend to be rather long-winded when I'm writing about something I am passionate about - & I am passionate about blogging! I decided it might be less overwh...

I am SO happy that my post on How to Efficiently Read Blogs was helpful to a lot of you!! I have gotten several questions & emails about how to actually do the folders. There is a post on The Blogger's Concierge about one way to do it, so definitely check that out! But I do it a different way, so I thought I would share. I hope this helps even more! Also, please stop over at The Mommyhood Memos if you have questions about blogging or have some answers for newbie bloggers! She has asked some great questions & could use some tips!! First, you have to subscribe to the blog. Most of you probably know how to do this, but just in case I find their RSS button on their page or some subscription link. (If there isn't one of these, this video on YouTube is a great, short intro to Google Reader & will tell you how to manually add them just using the blog address.) When you click their RSS button, a page like this should show up (I'm going to add Rage Against the Miniv...

I’ve been following Heather over at Theta Mom for a while now. I love her willingness to share the ups & downs of motherhood & her sincere desire to build a community of moms who are sharing & learning from each other. Her blog is turning One this week & to share in that celebration, she asked her readers to draft a post about their experience as a mom - their reasoning behind why they are what she calls a “ Theta ” - the true, authentic mom.  As I started diving back into my memories over the past year or so that I’ve known I was going to be & then became a mom, I found several reasons why I think I’m a true, authentic mom. For one, anyone who knows me in real life knows that I tend to make my own way. I’m not like anybody I know & it took  me years to realize that & be okay with it. I used to spend a lot of time trying to fit in with the crowd. In high school, I was lucky to finally find a group of friends who were very authe...

I received another award!! I really can’t believe it!! This one is really cool, in my opinion, and it’s called A Blog With Substance . This one was given to me by NYC Island Gal . Make sure to go check out her blog ! She just started a new Blog Hop on Fridays that you can link up to & find some new blogging friends!! For this award, you are supposed to write your blog philosophy. This is the first award I’ve gotten that I’ve really taken some serious time to sit down & think about how to accept it - how to write my blog philosophy & what bloggers to pass it to! The simplest way to explain my blog philosophy is to say that I really have a desire for community. As soon as I became a mom, I found that I was surrounded by moms who had been right where I was & were willing to help when I had questions. Through blogging, I’ve even expanded this group of moms who are such a valuable source of conversation, advice & connection. There are several ways I plan...

Have you ever been just completely overwhelmed by the sheer volume of blogs out there you can read? I have. Wow. So many fabulous people I'm interested in reading about! I love the stories, the humor, the pictures, the tips, the giveaways, the links, I just love it all! So I've found myself having to streamline my blog reading in order to better manage my time & make sure I hit the "must-reads" for me. Here's how I've done it: First of all, if you leave a comment on my blog or if you follow my blog, I will go to your blog & at the very least I will follow you on Google Friend Connect . This way the blog shows up on my blogger dashboard when I log in. I always look over the new posts that are there when I log in each day, but if you've looked at my Google Friend Connect page lately, you'll see that I follow a lot of people's blogs! So I had to come up with a more specific approach in addition to the blogger dashboard. This is where my Goog...

I am so excited about this second blogger award - The Versatile Blogger! I'm also really excited to pass it along to 5 other bloggers who are new to my blog! Lisa at 1 Wasabi Mommy awarded me this time! We met through the Mommy's Piggy Tales group we are in together! Stop by & check out her blog when you get a chance!! First, I'm supposed to share 7 things about myself. I feel like I'm running out of things to share, so I'm going to share 7 of my favorite books! These are not in order & may not even be my top 7, just 7 of my many favorites! 1. Pride & Prejudice by Jane Austen 2. Twilight books by Stephenie Meyer (all 4 of them) 3. Harry Potter books by J.K. Rowling (all 7 of them) 4. The Count of Monte Cristo by Alexandre Dumas 5. Blue Like Jazz by Donald Miller 6. The Notebook by Nicholas Sparks 7. Something Borrowed by Emily Giffin And the 5 new followers of my blog I'd like to pass this to are: Mangiabella Nurse's Notes Skinny on a...

Did you experience any not-so-fun post-partum hormones? Adriel at The Mommyhood Memos would totally understand. I REALLY need to read Life After Yes by Aidan at Ivy League Insecurities . Heather at Theta Mom is doing a giveaway of the book right now! Hanan at Lilac City Momma posted some great summer snacks for on-the-go!! I really want some baby Chuck Taylors for Isis! She has a pair for when she's a little older, but I want these baby ones like Everly at Dear Baby ! And since her blog is my absolute favorite, check out this beautiful letter to Everly from her mama Melissa at Dear Baby ! I feel the exact same way, but she says it so much better!! Looking for an awesome food blog?? Whitney has a Blogtastic Blog that you'll love!! Interested in history or local landmarks? I love this blog by Peter at Kaintuckeean ! He posts about different historical landmarks or important locations in Kentucky! I'd love to find more blogs like this for other states! Go stop by...

I love these things because you can find great new blogs to follow & great new followers!! If you're new here, check out my Best Posts !

Age 6 or First Grade My first grade teacher was Mrs. Crouch. She was a friend of my mom’s. My mom is also a teacher. She taught for 27 years & just retired a few weeks ago. The majority of that time, she taught Kindergarten. Mrs. Crouch’s daughter, Emily, actually babysat for me later in my life. Now Emily is also a teacher & has a daughter of her own. Mrs. Crouch also has a son named Layne & I remember thinking he was really cute. Too funny. I remember liking first grade. I made several friends that year that I kept through the rest of elementary school. There were two in particular named Janie & Laura. Janie’s mom was a teacher’s assistant at the school and Laura’s dad was the county judge. I have a really clear memory of Janie & I getting in trouble for singing a Popeye the Sailor Man song. Do you remember this one? Popeye the Sailor Man He lived in a garbage can He turned on the heater And burned off his wiener Popeye the Sailor Man Cl...

Last night I got to go out with some of the girls from my Bible Study in high school. We get together a couple of times a year now that we've all moved various places & have gotten busy with families & jobs, etc. It's a wonderful group of women who I feel blessed to call my friends. We started the group when I was a sophomore in high school. Sara, our leader, is the woman in the picture above with the purple scarf. That's just a few of us at my baby shower last year. There were a lot more of us through the years. It's now been more than a decade since we started. These girls saw me through some of the hardest experiences of my life, but have also been there through the best ones. We've now had several marriages, a birth (yay Isis!), a current engagement (congrats to Angie above in the white shirt & scarf), a current pregnancy (congrats to Emily in the black dress) & we have even had to struggle through the death of one of our members a couple of year...

This is technically a 10 on Tuesday , but the idea is from Mama Kat's Writer's Workshop ! 10 of My Worst Pet Peeves 1. People who don't wash their hands - especially after going to the bathroom. Ewwwww 2. The smell of burps - or just being able to smell a burp. 3. People who interrupt when others are talking. 4. Scratching people with my bare fingernails 5. Gristle in chicken 6. When people sing the harmony part with a song on the radio 7. People who are trying to turn in a non-turn lane - or people who wait until the last second to get in the turn lane 8. People who speak excessively loud in normal conversation 9. Picky eaters 10. Drivers who change lanes every 4 seconds What are your 10 Pet Peeves? Read more of my 10 on Tuesdays

I have been reading the Mama's Losin' It blog & I love her Writer's Workshop ! She has a huge list of writing prompts she's come up with & I keep them in mind for the days I just can't think of anything to say. Today is one of those days. My first bloggy friend is named Jessica. She contacted me when she found another blog I used to write more on. It's sort-of a life blog about a bunch of different stuff. I also posted a lot about celebrities & movies & TV or various media that I thought was interesting. Jessica writes a lot about celebrities. We bonded over our love of Buffy! I even sent her a Buffy Valentine's card one year (because I do that) & she sent me a Christmas card! We still keep in touch because we are friends on Facebook. I actually talked to her about blog designs just the other day! Jessica had been blogging for longer than me & was more familiar with all kinds of blog tips that I didn't know. She's actually ...

I found this recipe on the $5 Dinners blog! I love that blog! I've found so many great recipes that are cheap! Lewis loves this one in particular. We add sour cream & salsa on top of it sometimes. It's yummy!! Mexican Rice Casserole **Note: go to the link for the $5 Dinners recipe. I've put my modified version below** Ingredients 1 package ground beef (or ground turkey) 1 package taco seasoning 1 8 oz can tomato sauce 2 cups rice 1 cup frozen corn 1 can kidney beans 2 cups shredded cheddar cheese Directions 1. Cook 2 cups rice with 4 3/4 cup water. Bring water to boil, add rice, bring to boil, reduce heat and simmer 20 minutes. 2. Brown ground beef. Drain. Return to skillet, add 3/4 cup water, taco seasoning, tomato sauce, corn & beans. Stir through. 3. Add ground beef to rice. Put into 9×13 baking dish. Top with shredded cheese. Bake at 350 for 10-15 minutes until cheese melts. Check out more of my favorite recipes !

Isis sat on her own in a high chair for a little while yesterday!! It's the first time she's done that!! She started sitting a little bit earlier this week, but was for maybe 1 to 2 seconds at a time. Since then she's gotten a little better. It looks more like this & it lasts a little longer... But when she didn't want to be in her carrier yesterday at the restaurant, I decided to try out the high chair & she did great - with the exception of some attempts to put her mouth all over the thing. Time to break down & purchase that shopping cart & high chair cover !! Either way, I prefer to believe this is a milestone reached. She's definitely sitting on her own for a little bit at a time now & that's definitely a milestone. Party!!!

Ralph Lauren dress

Dear Isis, Today is your first Father's Day. Technically you were with us last Father's Day, but you were held in my belly, not in my arms. So today I'd like to talk to you about your daddy because I can. The most important thing you need to know is that he loves you so perfectly and so unconditionally. One day you'll get to see the way his eyes light up when he sees you, but watching it these first few months has been an absolute joy. I hope you find joy knowing that you have brought it to him. Your dad will teach you so many things throughout your life, whether through words or through actions. I could not have picked a more perfect man to introduce you to the world. He will protect you and affirm you and encourage you every step of your journey. I know from him you will learn courage because he is truly courageous. He will help you learn to live with integrity because he has learned to live with this conviction throughout his life. He will teach you to investigate, ...