Can I Get An Order of Alone Time Please?
Seriously. What is the deal lately? I can't get 5 minutes to myself NOT even in the shower. When I announce I'm going to take a shower it's like a race to see who can get naked the quickest to get in the tub with me, husband included. My only "alone" time is early mornings when I do most of my work or atleast attempt to catch up on some of my work. Realistically, if I want to increase my income (which I do at the moment) then I need an additional 3 hours per day of focused time to make it work but that ain't happenin' anytime soon so let's just throw that idea out the window. I could stay up later at nights but I'm not much of a late-nighter anymore. I could give up my one measly hour of entertainment per night... But what I really want is a break...a mutual understanding that mommy needs a few extra (or atleast one extra hour) per day of pure quiet time to just breathe... Is that too much to ask? Do I even get the option here? Labels: alone time, mommy, motherhood, work at home
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Is At Home Motherhood Isolating?
Why is it that I am just now realizing that being a stay at home mom/work at home mom is both isolating and sometimes monotonous? While I simply LOVE being able to work from home I don't have the interaction with adults that I did when I worked out of the home. And, while I wouldn't trade working from home I sure could use some more adult interaction during my day. I've found that online friendships are good especially for one's sanity when you are at home day in and day out with two kids but real life human interaction cannot be replaced. And, to be honest I never felt isolated until we moved away from family and friends. So maybe it's not so much that motherhood is specifically making me feel isolated but the fact that I still havent made one single new friend here that has stuck. I've met moms but real friendships have not blossomed. So tell me, what works for you if you are a stay at home mom? Labels: motherhood, online friendships, SAHM, stay at home mom, WAHM
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Midnight Photo Shoot
Here's what we've been up to... We've resorted to bathroom photo shoots when all else fails PURELY for entertainment...   Why, you ask, is his face all red? It's either from the steriods he's taking to combat the food allergies or from ingesting one of the many bad foods he's not really supposed to be eating but sometimes he gets it either from the sneaky labeling of food companies or because we just give in... Take your pick. *Are you looking to work from home? We've put together a new list of at home telecommuting jobs for you to browse through if you are interested over at Jobs For Stay at home momsAnd, if you are in need of your daily American Idol fix then visit me over at Blogging American Idol. Please take a moment and comment on something. You know you want to. Labels: 2 year old photo shoot food allergies
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Trying Out A New Template...
Ok, so I'm really bored of the old template and I wanted a cute girly look and I got this one from Miss Zoot until I decide on a paid design (if I get to that anytime soon). I like it. It suits me except that I don't have red hair nor do I have a dog (and don't want one...I'm a cat person) but I will have a new laptop next week...like I can really afford to be spending money on a new laptop but I really need a new computer and I figured I'd go with a new laptop this time...ok enough with the whole life story in quotes about how money-less we are...seriously... Comments? Feedback? Hello? Labels: blog template
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Christmas Contest Winners
I'd like to announce the winners of our 2006 Christmas Giveaway Contest. Here they are... Cortney P. from Plattsburgh, NY Cheryl from Rio Rancho, NM Linda from North Versailles, PA Nadine from Lindsay, OK Valerie M from Marion, OH If you are one of the above winners please contact me from the email address that you submitted in your entry. Winners receive Choose Your Own Adventure's Abominable Snowman DVD's by R.A. Montgomery. If you didn't win you can purchase a DVD here
Labels: christmas, contest, winners
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When Will This Sickness End?
Last Thursday while out shopping Baby Picasso wasn't feeling well and fell asleep in the car. The next day both boys were sick. Add another day, and both the hubs and I were sick. It's been a whole week of coughing, sneezing, fevers, snotting, puking, and cleaning up puke. Luckily, I didn't get the whole pukey thing. I just can't stop sneezing. Sigh... I'm happy to report that I'm feeling much better today though. We have survived by eating fast food from Wendy's and Dominos...possibly making us sicker than we were to begin with. It's at times like this that I wish we had family close by to help out. Come over. Cook for us. Baby us all. Whatever it takes to get better. And, we finally got about an inch of snow yesterday but were too sick to play in it. Future Bam played in it about 15 minutes but came in announcing that it was too cold and snot was going everywhere. We are getting snow today too and it's beautiful even if it isn't much but I don't know if we will venture outside or not. The weekend is near and I think we are taking a much needed break to the in-laws...
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Disfigured Woody The Cowboy
 Can you guess who disfigured innocent little Woody The Cowboy? I'll give you one hint. He's usually called Picasso, and he draws on mommy's other things too as evidenced here and here(well, I guess that's 2 hints). Ok.
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Caution: Only Parents Should Use...
If you are here and are not a parent or parent to be(=mom or dad of a child. Parent of a pet does not count.sorry.), a friend(real life or online) or a family member then chances are this here blog is not really meant for you. So do me a favor and click on the little X on the top of your screen UNLESS you seriously just enjoy reading about my life... Then by all means stick around but let me just say thats kind of scary. And, if you do read my blog but aren't a parent leave me a comment or an email if you are private like that and tell me. I'd be thrilled or um, terrified...
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The Complete Book of Baby Names Review
 One of the perks of having a baby is being able to name your baby. Well, that's a given but it's also one of the more fun parts of your pregnancy. When I was pregnant I loved looking through baby naming books. I carefully chose my boys names and I didn't want either of them to have a popular nor an every-day-normal name. I was recently sent "The Complete Book of Baby Names" by Leslie Bolton, and I'm thrilled to be able to share it with all of you. At first glance, it looks like your typical baby naming book but it is not. It's actually a very comprehensive book of baby names. It has 100,001 of th best baby names. The author talks about the most popular names, middle names, name meanings, as well as what NOT to name your baby, Kermit Dermit being one example. I give this book two thumbs up! It's the perfect baby naming book. And, it's only $12.95 from sourcebooks. Pick one up today here. Overall, this book almost makes me want to be pregnant right now. :) But, I'm not and I think we will stop at 2.
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American Idol Blogger Roundup Weekly. Wanna Join?
Do you blog about American Idol on an AI dedicated blog or even on your own personal blog? If you do then we want to link to you and your AI related post/rant on our weekly roundup on Thursdays. Anyone or any kind of blog can participate. Join Our American Idol Bloggers Weekly Roundup Here: Instructions: All you need to do is grab our button below, put it on your site with our link of course, or just add us to your blogroll with the text "Blogging American Idol 6"...whichever is best for you! Then notify us when your post about american idol is up as well as where we can find it. We will post your link here and your traffic will soar! Yippee! Our button: please link to http://bloggingamericanidol.blogspot.com  right click & save to your computer. Do not link from here.
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Apparently, I suck...
We interrupt this blogging session to bring you this random thought or is it question? Do I smell? Seriously, I must suck... I'm a big girl, I can take it. ;) Sucking isn't so bad I guess unless you are being judged on American Idol and 35 million people are watching you sound craptastic (yeah, I stole it from AI, so what...) at the same time. Read more at Blogging American Idol. Somebody at Blender Magazine thinks that myself and a few more AI bloggers are special enough to be on an AI panel on their site. You can go there and see me now. I'm using my real name over there. Am I bragging? And if you dont know who Blender Magazine is (hello? The same people that own Maxim and a few more) then I guess I just introduced you to a cool new music site, huh?
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Figuring Out Homeschool & Food Allergies
 Day 3 of "unofficial" homeschooling is going quite well...much better than the first day. Its good to try different things out to see what works and what doesn't. I made a good decision when I let him choose what subject he wanted to work on. He chose sea creatures and from there I have incorporated reading (books on sea creatures), writing (writing & tracing sentences like "I can see one turtle" or "I like purple sharks" with pictures that he can color. We've done an ocean scene craft. It's on the refrigerator and he's so proud of it. We identified what he's really good at, math. He caught on really quickly and he likes it. He's more along the lines of first grade math level rather than kindergarten so I'll give him things that interest him rather than things that are repetitive. Overall, I want to keep it fun for him. I want him to look forward to homeschool and so far he does. Most of the stuff we are doing, we did before anyway but not with as much structure, routine & practice. I just don't want him to feel like he is stuck with a certain schedule and that if he wants to not do worksheets or math or whatever for the day then thats fine. We'll do something else. That's one great advantage to homeschooling. Now on to other things, does anyone know a recipe for gluten free/corn free/dairy free bread, pancakes mixes,etc? I am in desperate need of one here. I found a mix online but you have to buy it in bulk and I dont know how long this stuff lasts stored away. Attention Cyberspace/blogosphere: I need help!
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It's Not Too Early To Think About Valentines Day
...and I also wish there was more than 24 hours in a day but thats beside the actual point of this post... I think??? It's been a looooonnngggg day... I've been working on a few new sections of the site, Valentines Ideas For Moms, Mommy Blogs Directory, Work At Home Based Business Moms, and Recipes For Moms. Nothing's complete and its a work in progress as usual and if there were more than 24 hours in a day then maybe I'd actually get something accomplished on time...Maybe I should put that on my wish list? The more than 24 hours in a day thing I mean, either that, or for sleep to be less necessary... Edited To Add: AS usual we are always accepting relevant articles and mom bloggers for these sections.
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First Day of Homeschooling
I got up early this morning and prepared some worksheets and activities for my son to do on his first day of REAL yet "unofficial" homeschool. After reading and searching, I still had no idea where to start but after today's experience I think I now have an idea of how I want to approach this based on how my son learns and my original thought/plans of child led learning. Obviously a child will not be interested in learning so much if he is coerced into doing it especially at 9am in the morning when he or she would rather (what my 5 year old son normally does) be watching cartoons. At first when I introduced a packet of worksheets about starting school/personal life/favorites,etc. our son was excited. He even got up early as well as ate breakfast early. By the time we got to the 4th worksheet and an hour later, he wasn't so enthusiastic anymore. I think it was the subject that we were dealing with. I realized that if I force worksheets upon him that he is not interested in then he is going to be bored quickly. That is exactly what happened. He kept asking when he was going to be done. Of course he completed all that was asked of him and we also read 2 books within the two hour time frame I had set up for us to start with. But that's not really the road I want go down... I want him to truly enjoy what he is doing and learn when he doesn't even think he's learning. I know this isn't going to be true at all times but I want it to be the best experience it can be. I read a quote on another homeschooling mom's blog that I came across this morning while searching for some information and support and I think it sums up our morning experience perfectly. "Learning can only happen when a child is interested. If he’s not interested it’s like throwing marshmallows at his head and calling it eating.” –Anonymous Since I dont know where the quote came from originally I want to give credit to the blog I got it from here, Throwing Marshmallows. Anyway, I'm just glad my original thoughts on child-led learning have been reinforced and that is where I want to go with homeschooling. My son is currently very interested in the body/anatomy, sea creatures, food, Spongebob, planets, and all things Arthur so we are going to start with one of those subjects and incorporate all necessary subjects into that topic. I've found some great resources online but I'd like to see a better sea creatures homeschool lesson plan for kindergarten age children. If anyone knows of any plans or sites for free, I'd love to hear about them. I've seen some good looking plans but they are, in my opinion, expensive& too strict, especially for kindergarten age children. I guess I should learn to create the plans on my own so we can do whatever we want anytime we want. Does anyone else do that? Again, from my last post, I'd also like to hear from other homeschooling moms on what works for you.
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Homeschooling and Working At Home?
Am I crazy? We've finally made the decision to homeschool. We are actually starting "unofficial" home school tomorow...kind of a trial run to see how well it goes with our soon to be 6 year old son. He understands what homeschool means and tells us that is what he wants but I dont think he understands that he can't continue to play xbox all day long like he has done for the past month. The xbox craze started about 1 month ago and he wants to beat every game he sees without moving for 5 hours straight and he's only 5 years old. Maybe I should buy that Playstation Nation book? Whaddya think? Anyone read it? Opinions about their focus or research? If anyone has any tips on homeschooling or what style has worked for you/your kids especially if you are also a WAHM, I would love to hear from you. Actually, I'd love to hear from any homeschooling moms. I'm kind of torn on the whole unschooling idea. That is the style I have leaned toward but I'm afraid if I don't choose some kind of curriculum in reading that my son will be a late reader. Any thoughts on this? Enlighten me, please. Just give me something to think about... * I'm working on a Valentines Ideas For Mom section. Got anything you want to add? A product or an article?
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Rolling Around In The Mud Isn't So Fun Anymore If You Have To Bath Afterwards
 Last night my 5 year old son and I were watching $40 a day with Rachel Ray (yes the food channel as usual) and a commercial came on where two little boys were playing in the mud. I think it was a new laundry detergent commercial. Anyway... My son said, "Eeeew! They're all muddy!". Sensing that he thought that looked fun even after he said Eeeew, I said, "You can do that when it gets warmer outside". He turned to me and said, "I don't want to get dirty because then I'll have to take a REAL bath". As if he doesn't already take real baths. hmmmm... Had the two year old been awake, he would have loved the offer of rolling in the mud.
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Mommy Blog Directory
and I'm posting again today... I've put together a blog directory for all moms who want to be included over at our main site, ContestForMoms.com hereTo be included, all you have to do is place our link (ContestForMoms.com) somewhere on your blog or add us to your blogroll then email us your information. It's quick and easy. The great part is that its totally free and means more exposure for your blog. We have several different categories for you to choose from. You can be included in more than 1 category too. The information we need from you to be included is: 20-40 words max about you and your blog. What is it about? Who are you? You can also include your blog logo if its smaller than 125x125 or a photo of you. Make sure you include your state or country and the links to your blogs as well. We are accepting personal blogs as well as professional/business blogs.
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2006 In Photos
I found this fun idea over at the SilentK and I wanted to jump in and do it too as a reminder of 2006. There is a photo for every month of 2006 in order. Enjoy! 
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It's Been A Crazy Week
When I don't update I feel like I'm letting my readers (and google) down even if my blog posts aren't all that terrific. Anyway, I figured I'd atleast blog an update today. Let's see, where should I start? We've been out of town for 2 days of this week for our 2 year old's allergy appointments and testing. Can you guess how disturbing and downright tormenting that was for us and our little guy? Yesterday, back at home, I spent the day researching what foods our son actually could eat on the elimination diet. Where can I get egg-free, milk-free, wheat-free, soy-free, and corn free pancakes? Luckily he is only on this for 3 weeks to see what his reactions are. We know there are some foods he can never eat again, and since he tested positive for several others, we have to eliminate them as well for the elimination diet and then reintroduce the foods to record his reactions. It's going to be a long 3 weeks plus some since we have to start reintroducing foods at that time for 3 days then take it away again and there are 13 types of foods on the list. We've decided to park our butts at home for the entire time. And, today, I'm catching up on a little work since I havent done any since, let's see, last Saturday. I also wanted to do an update on my running motivation post but to tell you the truth, I have nothing to update about. I ran/walked one time this past week. If the rain stops here anytime soon, I might actually be able to do this but I think my daily goal was too much to start considering I can't seem to get out of the house. Have a Happy Weekend...
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Yes, College Is Important!!!
Last night I was playing Spongebob Life with my 5 year old and we got to the part where you choose a career. He picked two cards and was supposed to be able to choose from both of them, however, he did not choose the college path early on in the game so he had to take the groundskeeper job. An opportunity was presented for me to talk about the importance of going to college (yeah, I know he's five but the sooner he understands the better,right?). He seemed to understand quite well and was quite excited about it too. He then said, "You mean you can be ANYTHING if you go to college?" I said,"Yes!". Then he said he wanted to play again so that he can go to college this time around. I hope that enthusiam for college continues for the next 12 years. I know we will do all we can to make sure he understands just how important college really is and that it's not just about the good paying job but being educated and informed as well. We want him to feel like he can be anything! Have you talked to your young kids about college yet? What age do you think is appropriate or not appropriate? **I'd also like to share that Leslie of MyMommysplace.com interviewed me and the interview is up over at her site. Thanks Leslie!
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American Idol Fan Like Me?
If you are an American Idol Fan then you are in luck, I've just started up an American Idol Blog with my 5 year old son. American Idol season 6 starts on January 16th. Will you be watching? In other exciting news I was featured on Babble.com yesterday! Thanks to CrankMama.
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BabyProofing Your Marriage: A Review
All of our lives change dramatically after having children, and if you say yours did not then you are truly in a league of your own. BUT no one really tells you how much having a baby changes your marriage. You don't even think about it. Of course giving birth changes you but this one (the part about our relationships) is hard to deal with. A couple of months ago, amidst chaos in our home, my husband turns to me and says, "Nobody else lives like this! Our lives are a freaking circus!". And, I said to him, "Yes. They. Do. You don't know how everyone else lives.", even if I didn't half believe what I had said myself. We've been dealing with these so-called issues for nearly 6 years. We couldn't place what it was exactly but something was there causing it. In the beginning it wasn't so bad. But after baby #2 came along, lets just say "ALL HELL BROKE LOSE". Our lives, specifically our marital relationship, was flipped upside down. We seemed to argue over the littlest and dumbest of things. My husband always complained and told me that whatever he did was never enough. He said that no matter what he was always the bad guy. And that's where " Babyproofing Your Marriage" comes in. This book gives so many stories that both husbands and wives can relate to. We are all goingh through this crap. It feels good to know that we are not the only crazies out there. As I was reading through this bookI laughed out loud so many timesand I kept saying to myself and to my husband, "This is us! They are talking about us! You have to read it to understand". It was nice to know the way I felt was completely normal. Ultimately, the book aims to help us deal with these issues in our marriage and to come to terms with the things we simply cannot change, to work on the things we can change, and to keep our marriage happy/healthy. This book is definitely a must read for every couple with children, and couples who want to have children. It's a real look into their lives. This book says what most of us need to hear even if we don't want to hear it (sometimes). This enthralling book could not have come at a better time. Overall, I'm grateful that I was given a chance to review it. I honestly couldn't put it down once I picked it up. I became Temporarily absorbed with finding how many things I could identify with in the book. Take a peek at the authors new website and tell me what you think. You can preorder the book here now.
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I Want To Be A Runner...
I'm probably smaller than most people. However, you can be skinny and out of shape which basically means I'm unhealthy and the fat is probably stored up inside my arteries instead of on the outside. That doesn't sound too good does it? I haven't really exercised/worked out regularly in over 3+ years. I guess because I've always been skinny and for me, the weight just evaporated after I had my two children. I didnt have to work at it. But now as I'm heading into my 30s I feel like I need to get healthier. I can tell I'm out of shape and my body is not tone. I look at myself in the mirror and see so many problem areas. I feel tired, sluggish, and cranky too. Since it's the new year, I guess this is the best time to start. I want to start running atleast once a day preferrably early morning so I dont have to take my boys with me. I'd like to also add that I have never been a runner and have never even attempted it so this will be tough to get used to. I'm hoping that writing about it will motivate me and help me to stick to this resolution. Anyone care to join me in helping each other stick to a resolution/goal for the new year? It does not have to be a health related goal. It can be anything. I will write about my progress here atleast once per week and I will link to whoever else tracks their progress on their blogs atleast once per week. To Participate Along With Me: All you have to do is leave a comment with your weekly progress on my weekly progress blog post. Feel free to put this button on your blog too so that others can see you are participating in the " Petite Mom Blog's 2007 Goal Tracker"  Save this image to your computer then link it back to my site. I hope this will be a good motivator for me as well as each of you and together we can achieve our goals. Let me know if you already want to be a participant.
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Free HOT MOMS!!!
2007 is here and how about starting it off with a controversial HOT topic? A topic that has made its rounds through the blogosphere in the last month or so, specifically here and here. Last night while browsing through my site stats, "hot moms" and "free hot moms" were one of the frequent key phrases I found and so I thought, yeah, somebody (several somebodys in fact, hopefully somebodys that look like Clive Owen or Bratt Pitt otherwise its sort of creepy) likes hot moms. So, as it seems, hot moms or dare I say, MILFs( if you still don't know what this acronym means then please click here), are a big deal these days. Who would have thought? In all realness here, if anyone said they didn't want to be considered "hot" "attractive" or insert your word of choice here by their husband, significant other, or a random stranger, I'd have to believe that they were lying. Lying, why? I don't know. Seriously what's wrong with being considered a "hot mom". Sure, its hard to feel sexy sometimes as a mother and especially while pregnant, at least in my own experiences. And, sure sexiness sort of goes out the window with motherhood. I mean, seriously, on most days how could we possibly feel sexy/hot/MILF-y? BUT there are times when we get to be all of that and more and it feels good. Who cares what anyone else thinks, if I want to feel hot or like being called a MILF, what does it matter to you and really, who is it hurting? There are so many more important things to be discussing or worrying about. Remember Diane Lane in Unfaithful? Holy Crap. That has to be one of the sexiest movies ever and she played a stay at home mom, right? In her specific sexual scenes, did we think of her as a mom or as a woman? I'm venturing to guess that "mom" was not in anyone's thoughts. People need to realize that we have an identity outside of being a mom. Would it be better if WILF (woman) was used or GILF(girl)? Is the problem specifically when the word mom is used along with the other words? What is it really? Because I don't get it. Who doesn't want to be HOT? Who doesn't want to feel good about themselves? Oh, and for those of you not in the know, I started a Hot Mom Contest on my main website, ContestForMoms.com in March 2005 and I blogged about it here, 2005 Hot mom contest. We received lots of entries in the beginning but not a whole lot of sponsorships so it was temporarily put on hold. It will be brought back this year. I hope you will enter. Tomorrow, if I can get him to participate, the hubs will be guest posting on this very topic. Stay tuned...
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