Need a new carseat?

I thought there may be a couple of you interested in this sale from Land of Nod. The sale is $50 dollars of Britax Frontier, Boulevard, and Marathon, PLUS free shipping. Good deal!! Let us know if you use it!

Land of Nod Sale

You've Got GUM

Subscribe via email and receive an email with each new GUM post.

I know that a number of you don't check the blog regularly, but do want the info provided in each little mommy moment blogpost. So I finally sat down today and researched and investigated how to have the blog broad-casted to email subscribers. It didn't take too long, though I did have to consult wikipedia for some definitions in order to figure it out.

So, drum roll please, you mail now subscribe to the blog and receive email updates in your desired inbox! I hope this helps keep everyone in the loop.

On the right hand side, scroll all the way down and you'll find a "Subscribe Here Via Email" with a box to enter your email address. After entering your address you'll have to activate your subscription by opening the email they send in your inbox (check junkmail if you don't find it right away). Then from now on GUM will be delivered right to your inbox.

Hope this makes it easier to enjoy the Growing Up Mom content here on the blog.

Christmas in July or Just a Fun Activity

Need something to entertain the kiddos these days? Why not make an indoor hopscotch for them. The directions are here @NickJr.

Emma and I saw this when on vacation last week, and I immediately looked up the link and bookmarked it for later. I'm hoping she's forgotten about it already actually as I'd like to make it for her as a handmade christmas gift. I might even forgo the Backyardigan prints and make my own more traditional as shown in the picture - haven't really decided yet. Either way it looks fun and includes easy clean up for indoor play - two stars from me! I know its July, but Christmas is only 6 months away!

Protecting your Blog from Picture Theft

To all of you who have a blog:

I've recently come across several blogs whose photos of their children were stollen using right click. Now they were stollen by a woman in Canada running a in home daycare, but that's really besides the point. She ended up shutting down several sites and listings under her business name as a result of the outrage when it was discovered. At least that's what we all hope. The possibilities are quite stomache-turning if you begin to entertain them.

Because of all this discussion, I have 'right-click disabled' this blog. Which means if you right click on a photo to copy and save it, you'll get an error message. This will not completely prevent someone from lifting your photos if they are determined to do so, but it will certainly give them pause to look somewhere else.

Here are directions on how to disable right click in a Blogger blog. I'd be happy to discuss this more with anyone who has questions.

Parents Night Out

CALLING ALL COD PARENTS! Do you need a night out without the kids? Or do you have some errands you'd like to get done child-free? COD Youth to the rescue!

The COD Youth Group is hosting four Parents Night Off in July. By providing babysitting for church families, the high school kids will be raising money for camp. Although there will be adults present, the high school kids will be doing all the work - playing with your kids!

Babysitting Rates: $5/hour for each child, Max of $30 for a family
Ages: Infants to 10 years old

Dates:
Friday July 10th, 5:30pm-9:30pm
Saturday July 11th, 9am-12pm

Friday July 24th, 5:30pm-9:30pm
Saturday July 25th, 9am-12pm

RSVP to Angela Collett in the church office at 626-914-4646.
Or Via Email at angelacollett@verizon.net
Please bring your children already fed! They will not have meals.

Please forward this information to other parents.

Happy Independence Day!!

Here's a craft we threw together this morning from things on hand: Sparkler Wands!

Twist some red, white and blue chenille pipes together. If you have some star gift wire add that too. We used a pipe cleaner and a straw for the handle.

Super fun, festive and easy! Enjoy!

Transition to Mommy-hood

I had a friend recently ask me about my transition from full-time work to full-time mom. And I had to stop and pause and think back to almost five years ago. Doing so has created this post and I hope you enjoy it!

My transition was pretty easy. See ever since junior high I've known I was going to be a stay-at-home mom. I vividly remember going to my friends Sarah's house one day after school to work on a project. Both my parents work to send me to private christian schools (an education I am extremely grateful for), so I spent lots of time in after school care until my parents or my older siblings could pick me up when they were done with sports or drama practise or whatever else.

So on this particular day I remember being picked up right after school got out and getting into her moms car as she came through the pick up line. We hopped right in and shared about our days and chatted about this and the other as we drove to her home. When we arrived we went in and (no lie!) had fresh homemade cookies from scratch that were still cooling having been removed from the oven on the way out the door to pick us up. And as I sat right there eating cookies and milk it hit me. I was missing out. I was smart enough at the time to still understand the sacrifice my parents were making for me, but I was missing out! And I decided right then, I would be a stay-at-home mom. Years before the desire to have children had already been growing, but this was new, this was a cognitive decision to make sure that with my best efforts I would stay at home. And then I began praying it. Not regularly mind you, but every so often as another event arrived and I was reminded of what I was missing, I prayed, Lord let me stay home.

This was such a huge issue to me, it was one of the first things Jon and I talked about early on our relationship. By then I knew I need a spouse who felt the same way. I remember bringing the subject up without sharing my heart, and sighing with relief when DH shared, timidly, that he knew he wanted the mother of his children to stay home with them.

By the time I was pregnant and about to hit maternity leave I was working in a fabulous job with great friends and bosses who created a family friendly work environment and hoped I would return to work with baby in tow. And DH and I considered it! It would be the best of both worlds! But somehow, neither of us could go through with it, and we finally notified my employer I wouldn't be returning. It was sad, because I loved the people and the work, but I was easily cheered by some snuggles with my newborn.

So the literal transition from full-time work to 24/7 stay-at-home work was easy so to speak. As easy as sleepless nights, feeding and poop, rinse and repeat can be anyway. But a few more months done the road, was DD1 (Dear Daughter 1) grew into a little person, and the routine became familiar, I remember thinking: what in the world are we going to do all day?

And that's when I got going! I volunteered at church more because I had the time to coordinate, plan and serve during the week. I joined children's classes to find interaction for me and DD1 and to get out of the house. I spent a lot of time looking for free and not-so-free activities for in and out of the home (I'm quite the source should you need some help!). A friend invited me to a moms group and we attended regularly. We fell into a routine and every so often as life happens the routine would jumble and we'd settle back down again someplace new.

Early on I realized I was not super-mom. I needed help, and since I know you're like me to, I'm mostly not worried about admitting it. I needed childcare here and there, I needed advice and encouragement from other moms young and old(er). I needed some alone time, a lot of adult time, and some date time with DH. I realized that even if my kiddos were going crazy at home and driving me nuts, a trip out of the house usually produced better behavior and longer naps! I discovered timing can be everything. A half hour late for nap could be disastrous, and a week late on time with DH makes two cranky parents!

In some ways I'm still adjusting to parent-hood, I don't think you ever really stop, we just keep growing up! But I'm pretty sure it didn't take me long to transition from full-time career to full-time mom. I'm lucky, and I thank the Lord often for allowing me to stay home.

Tell me about your transition: Was it hard, was it easy? What helped? What didn't? Were you a full time working mom when you transitioned to be a stay at home mom? Or where you new to motherhood when you transitioned? Either way, I'm glad we're in it, growing up together!!