Baby's 1st Birthday | Happy Birthday Max

Baby's 1st Birthday ... Walking, Dancing, Singing, Hugging, Kissing

My elders always explained that time moves faster when we are older. I did not understand until this month ... a whole year has passed and it feels like it was a whirl ... now, it is our baby's 1st first birthday. WOW!

This feels like the fastest year of my life ... REALLY! As I put together the items for our baby's birthday party, I think about all that our baby can do now. He is walking, singing and dancing. He gives us kisses and hugs. He is trying to talk and finally grew some hair. He no longer nurses, though still enjoys laying in bed with us. He has 8 teeth (4 at the top and 4 at the bottom) and is starting to refuse his baby food. He grew 2 pant sizes in the past month ... I am now answering to "Mama Baba" with a fresh milk bottle each time. The thoughts of mortality overcomes me; It feels bittersweet to hand him a bottle when he was nursing a few weeks ago and will eventually trade in the bottle for a sippy cup.

As I watch my two older boys playing basketball, melancholy hits me. It's our baby's 1st birthday today ... I wish this could be the only birthday he'll ever have, but that's not how it works ... Happy Birthday Max. You are our beautiful, loving, smart, sweet, baby boy :)


In Motherly Love,
Mother Baby Child

Wordless Wednesday | Baby Loves Sitting Outside & Taking Long Walks In Stroller

Baby is the plants blowing in the breeze ...

Baby is checking out his stroller ...

Baby is watching the birds ...

Baby is watching the cars and trucks ...

Baby is checking out the neighbor's dog ...

Baby is saying hello to the trucks and cars ...

Happy Wordless Wednesday :) How Is Your Week Going?

We are fortunate that our baby loves being outside as much as we do ... In fact, he loves being outside so much that we can put him in his stroller when he is upset; he will immediately stop crying and watch the cars, birds and trees blowing in the wind. It is always an endearing moment :)

Do you love blog hopping and meeting Mom bloggers as much as I do? Browse this list of daily blog hops and add your hop to the list.

In Motherly Love,
Mother Baby Child

Google + Blog Hop (Ongoing Networking Hop)

This Google + Hop is for mom bloggers and has easy rules ...

1) Add my Google + Page to your circle of Moms on Google +

2) Follow the Google + members on the list below

3) Comment below if you want us to know that you are participating.

This is an on going blog hop, so bookmark this page and check back for new G+ers :) It would be great if you would join Google Friend Connect (lower right hand side of the page), so that we can keep in touch. You can use this code to share this Google + hop on your blog, too :)

Time to build your Google + community :)

Like blog hopping as much as we do? Here are some of my favorite blog hops sorted by days ... BLOG HOPS LIST ... Join us!


In Motherly Love,
Mother Baby Child

Wordless Wednesday | Fat Green Caterpillar

Check out our new friend .. We named him "Willow":)

This big fat green caterpillar just dropped down beside me while I was sitting on my porch. They aren't kidding when they say that bugs are bigger in the south :)

Blog Hopping is such a fun way to get to know one another, therefore I added a page with a list of blogs; some host Wordless Wednesdays and others have Daily Blog Hops. Hope to see you there!


In Motherly Love,
Mother Baby Child

Send Video Christmas Greetings From Santa

Make Christmas A Little More Fun ... Children & Adults Will Like

I don't know if you've seen this, but it is really cute ... Portable North Pole has done their due justice with this video greeting service. You can send children or adults a video message from Santa. It says their name, shows their picture and causes a little bit of nervous excitement while you are waiting for Santa's elves to ...

I'm not going to tell you the rest; I'll let it be a surprise. Here is the link http://www.portablenorthpole.tv to the website. It is just good old fashioned Christmas entertainment. Enjoy!

* I am not receiving any incentives for sharing this resource.


In Motherly Love,
Mother Baby Child

Mariah Carey’s Jenny Craig Ad - 70 Pounds

MOMS, THE MARIAH CAREY JENNY CRAIG VIDEO MIGHT BE A LITTLE TO SEXY OR SCARY FOR IMPRESSIONABLE LITTLE EYES, BUT IS NOT OBSCENE. YOU DECIDE WHETHER TO CLICK THAT PLAY BUTTON RIGHT NOW OR LATER; IT WILL BE ON TV.

I guess Jennifer Hudson has done all that she can do with and for Weight Watchers; she is now a size 0 (lost all of her baby weight for sure) and I am in shock. She did not look like a petite woman in Dream Girls, did she? On the other hand, Jenny Craig has found their own diva to take their weight loss program to the next level. Jenny Craig has launched the follow advertisement with Mariah Carey (not even 1 year after having her twin babies, Roc & Roe). I read the People magazine article in the check out line at the store, Mariah Carey lost 40 lbs of water weight and 30 lbs with the help of the Jenny Craig.



It is amazing that a woman - that was so big - can get back down to her pre-pregnancy weight in such a short amount of time. As a mommy trying to get back to my pre-pregnancy size, I am inspired and wondering whether I should do Jenny Craig. I am also wondering what she did to take of 40 lbs of water weight ... aren't you?

What do you think?

Have you tried Jenny Craig and had the same results?

My inquiring mind ... wants to know :)


In Motherly Love,
Mother Baby Child

Why Mom Bloggers Need To Use Google +

PLEASE MAKE SURE TO CLICK THE FOLLOWING BUTTON TO FOLLOW
MY GOOGLE + PAGE BEFORE READING THIS DETAILED BLOG POST!



I warn you now ... this is a long blog post about the marketing technicalities of Google Plus and why you should be happy to use it! You might want to use the bathroom or get a cup of tea before getting started :) Your feedback and 1+, Digg, Tweet, Stumble, etc is appreciated! I have set up Viral Marketing Mom page to reciprocate the 1+, Tweet, etc of family friendly sites and mom blogs.

Why Do Mom Bloggers Need To Use Google Plus?

Mom Bloggers, this is not my first run in with Google Plus ... I was there when it launched as Caffeine back in 2008 and then did the Google Buzz thing for a while, therefore I joined and played around with Google + when it launched 6 months ago (from an old profile), but preferred to use Facebook until the day Mashable.com posted the information on the new Google + Pages. This blog post will explain WHY Mom Bloggers should be happy about the GFC changes ... Why Mom Bloggers need to use Google Plus!

It is Google after all ... Why wouldn't you want to use it?

First of all, we have to give credit where credit is due, Google + is made by Google.com. It is actually an extension of their Google Search Engine and has been in the works since 2008 (Caffeine, Buzz, etc). No other search engine or directory has more of the market share than Google. They have set the standards and raised the bar for what anyone can do to obtain search engine rankings and additional exposure from a search engine.

I have studied and used Google for years (as have many Mom bloggers). If they have not created a program that can compete or take over a competitors market share, they will take the best of what they see working on their websites and create it as their own; only better.

If Google creates a program that is not successful, they just improve it and launch a new program as the replacement. If they cannot legally accomplish either, they will do their best and most often succeed at buying out the service they want to provide or replace.

LinkedIn, Twitter and Facebook cannot compete with Google + unless they partner with Yahoo/Bing ... there opportunity for taking Google's market share is slight. There are already more people using Google Plus than Facebook. In fact, Google + grew to 50 million users by September 2011 (Experian Hitwise) and was projected to add 2 million users a day from that point. Now that they have launched Google + Pages, the sky is the limit for every business, non-profit, mom blogger and social user. This is mind blowing considering that Google + only launched 6 months ago. Why wouldn't a mom blogger want a piece of this pie?


Google + Currently Uses Do Follow / SEO Friendly Links

It does not matter whether you are a new mom blogger or UP - UP - UP there in the mommy world, we all have the same opportunity here. Take heed and be wise (especially Review, PR Friendly, Social Media, Mom Marketing bloggers ... and those who are not doing this for a hobby, but intend to make some money online) ... preserve your 1+ activity, but you need a lot of 1+ to your content in order to "make the cut". This is not Twitter, LinkedIn and Facebook. There is a SEO rumor / prediction that our Google + usage will have a direct effect on our search engine rankings and popularity within this realm (some of us have seen this already).

* BTW, I say that Google + currently uses DoDollow because Facebook pages and groups once had SEO friendly links, too. If we are lucky, Google will force them to reinstate them :)

What does my 1+ advice mean ... "preserve your 1+ activity"?

It means that you should feel comfortable using Google + as you would another business network; go ahead and comment; share posts that you think are worthy of displaying on your Google + (Under the Post section of your personal profile and pages), but remember that not only are you sharing content with your followers, friends or the public, you are passing ranking from your Google + because our profile links are programmed as DoFollow links; instead of rel="nofollow" or rel="extrenal nofollow". The only links that do not apply are your profile links when you comment on a post.

What does this "DoFollow" mean?

When you post a link on a website, you share some of your page rank and Google search engine rank with the link that you have posted. The same for Yahoo / Bing search engine rankings. When you post to your Google + account or Google + Page, the same thing happens. A link is not dofollow if you add rel="nofollow" or rel="external nofollow".

Here is the trick (again, this is a SEO rumor / prediction based on what they are seeing) ... These Google + DoFollow privileges are rewarded based on your popularity and activity, so now we are ALL going to be Mommy SEOs and fight to save our blog / website popularity for months to come, or pay someone to do it for us.

What do I mean by "we're all going to be SEOs"?

Well ... Google has been telling us that they are becoming a social search engine since Matt Cutts excitedly announced Google Caffeine in 2008. You might remember seeing Twitter feeds in the Google search engine results about a year ago and news links showing at the top and the bottom of the search engine pages. Well, they kept the news, updated how maps displayed, launched Google Buzz, changed how the profiles worked and started forcing people with duplicate accounts into one Google account by encouraging them to use their Gmail in these Google programs. There were many more changes, but this was all in preparation for Google + and what we will experience from it. You now have everything that you need (between the Social Search Engine and all of the Google programs available to you) to do your own branding, SEO and Internet Marketing for your Mom Blog.

Voila ... If you want your piece of the Google market share, then you will use all of the popular Google services and keep your networking efforts very close to home ... meaning at Google +.


Google + Pages

Some of us started using Google + when it first launched. I had a different account before I got married, so don't look at my information and take it like I am a Newbie. I just preferred to use Facebook while Google + was developing, though I have friends that dropped Facebook and went gung ho at Google +. At that time, we could register with any name and use it, so I used keywords and added as much search engine friendly content as I could to my clients About pages. This worked for a while and helped with clients' websites. Google eventually placed a restriction on the name fields and told us to start using our real names. This makes sense now that they have launched the Google + pages. There is no need to try to name our profile pages the name of our Mom Blog or Mom Business. That is what the Google + pages are for ...

When I noticed Mashable and a few other "authority sites" posting information about Google + Pages, I though they had just removed the name field restriction and people were creating multiple user accounts. Well, we all see now that they have taken this social site to the next level with this feature. Your Google + page currently has the potential to be more search engine friendly than any other network, blog or website that you create.


Google + Profile

Go ahead and set that up like a regular social network profile. A picture with your face and your real name is the best, but you can get creative (use a pen name) if you have privacy issues. The point here is that the profiles are for the networking to your Mom Business / Mom Blog page. This is a standard, proven to work, social media marketing process ... mom in direct marketing might have heard this same concept explained as "it is you that sells your business" ... the same is true in this case. Use your personal profile to build rapport and connections; use your page as your brand and the two shall meet by how you set up the About pages and links on the About pages.


Google + features that you may have overlooked:

1. That plus one button (1+) can help your websites get better ranks
   (remember what I said about this above ... scroll up to read the red text)
   
   
2. Animated graphics (.gif) work on Google Plus.
   
   
3. Hangouts are not like Meetups.com; they are video hangouts.
   
   
4. Mobile integration and usage.
   
   
5. We follow other users / friends by putting them in circles that we can organize by categories / subjects and share w/ others.
   
   
6. You have the same privacy settings like the new Facebook
   (can send posts to select circles).
   
   
7. There is a "real time" stream that is similar to the new feed on Facebook
   (you can see what others have posted).
   
   
8. The pictures from our Blogger blogs and what we upload to Google + all store in our accounts on Picasa Images (Google's image service that you automatically have). You can copyright, choose whether you want them private from that service or Google + friends or not.
   
   
9. There are games and the downloadable ones store right in our Google Chrome browsers (for those who are using it). I have not tried on Firefox or Internet Explorer, therefore Chrome is integrated.

I could go on and on about the networking and marketing capabilities of Google + but I will stop writing because I am sure that you get the point by now ... Mom Bloggers need to use Google + whether your using a Blogger blog w/ Google Friend Connect or not. I understand that the newsletter feature saves money and time, but the reality is that you should be using a different service for that - like Feedburner - more than one if you are using Feedburner to capture your stats and subscribers email addresses.

I hope this blog post is helpful to you. Please do not hesitate to ask questions or provide information that you want to share about the benefits and why Mom Bloggers should use Google + for branding, networking and marketing.

While you're here, join us at the Google + Hop for Mom Bloggers :)


In Motherly Love,
Mother Baby Child

Tired | Isaiah 40:29-31

I am so glad that she posted the Five Minute Friday word early because I am up very late and extremely tired, though looking forward to it :) Ironically, the word we're writing about is ... TIRED.

December has crept up on me this year and no wonder. This has been a REALLY busy year. Last December, we moved into our "temporary" house (long story) just days before Christmas and having the baby. My family arrived, from out of town, just in time to open presents, eat an amazing Christmas dinner, clean up and take me to the hospital to have our baby.

We moved again just a few months after I had the baby and it has taken all of these months to settle into our new home and community while nursing baby, homeschooling, unpacking, entertaining, cooking, cleaning and working my behind off (wish it was literally) on client and personal projects. It has been a busy year and I am tired.

Not nearly as tired as before ...

Not as tired as when I moved to Florida and started all over.

Not as tired as when I was as a single mother trying to do it all alone.

Not as tired as when I was of fighting and crying over a rebellious son.

Not as tired as when I was when I worked two jobs as a mother and in school.

Not as tired as when I was pleading for special support classes for my son.

Not as tired as I was when I finally got tired of taking the bus, in the snow, with my son, and begging people to help me get my drivers license at 25.

Not as tired as I was as a new mommy on welfare trying to make ends meet.

Not as tired as when I left home as a teenager.

Not as tired as when I used to lay in bed and wonder about my mom.

Now that I think about it, I am not nearly as tired as I thought that I was ...

How could I not praise the Lord for such a difference?

"He gives strength to the weary and increases the power of the weak. Even youths grow tired and weary, and young men stumble and fall; but those who hope in the LORD will renew their strength. They will soar on wings like eagles; they will run and not grow weary, they will walk and not be faint." ~ Isaiah 40:29-31 (NIV)

In Motherly Love,
Mother Baby Child


This blog post was inspired by
Five Minute Friday: Grateful

Wordless Wednesday | Join Google + Page

Mother Baby Child Google + Page - Please Meet Me There!
https://plus.google.com/109396481259136779796/posts

OK, I have to get a little wordy this Wordless Wednesday ...

You might have heard a rumor that Google is getting rid of their Google Friend Connect. This is partially true, but here is the deal. Google Friend Connect will work on Blogger.com / Blogspot.com blogs, but will no longer integrate on non-Blogger blogs after March 2011. On the other hand, Google has extended their uber popular Google + (Google Plus) service to include PAGES ... just like we have on Facebook. This is the link to the Mother Baby Child Google + page and I invite you to join me there by ADDING THIS PAGE TO YOUR CIRCLES; circles is how we add and organize friends on this service.

Google + pages is going to be a DEFINITE PLUS for your mom business / mom blog marketing. You should set one up immediately and add that badge to your blog sidebar, so that other moms can start connecting with you.

Want to know why you should use Google + anyways? 1) Moms are joining and setting up pages like crazy since they heard about the Google Friend Connect changes and 2) there are some Internet Marketing advantages that we all have access to.

Visit my other blog post Why Mom Bloggers Need To Use Google + as soon as possible, so that you can better understand how great Google Plus is for you!

Build your network at the Google + Hop for Mom Bloggers!


In Motherly Love,
Mother Baby Child

Cyber Monday & 2011 Christmas Shopping | Need Help Marketing Your Mom Business?

It's all about sales and service from Cyber Monday to New Years Day ... Is your Mom Business positioned in places where Christmas Holiday shoppers can find you on the Internet? If not, I can help!

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Want to skip the blog post and get info on how you can get help marketing your mom business online? Go to the Mom Business Marketing page. ELSE, read this page to learn more about 2011 Holiday Season stats & get to know me!

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With Occupy protesters taking their stance just before the holiday season, retail stores still managed to gain a 20% increase in offline sales and 24.3% increase in online sales on Black Friday. These increased rates are in comparison to last year's shopping percentages, therefore considered a success. Prior to Black Friday, IBM Coremetrics Benchmark shared that Thanksgiving online shopping grew by 39.3% and Small Business Saturday made a soft approach while gaining the support of Dun & Bradstreet Credibility Corp.

They have jump started the 2011 Christmas Holiday Shopping Season; the Black Friday stats indicate that the masses are ready to "shop til they drop" for Cyber Monday. In fact, it is projected that we are in store for a projected 35% increase on Cyber Monday sales, too. It feels like there should be a crowd cheering in the background because all we have heard about is the doom and gloom of the economy for the past 3 years.

WHY AM I GOING OVER BLACK FRIDAY SHOPPING STATS ON THIS MOM BLOG?

Well, I was an online marketing consultant for 7 years prior to having our baby and becoming "mommy blogger" again (I have been online for 13 years). I transitioned my professional focus during my pregnancy, though retained personal clients even after our baby was born. This was around the time that I launched this Mother Baby Child Blogspot with hopes that Google would update this service to compete with Wordpress. My thinking was that since they were going gung ho with Google + (after their Buzz failure), and since Blogger is such an integral part of their suite of programs (most come to learn and grown here; including Google Ads), that Google would finally make this blogging platform a more search engine friendly and competitive service ... Regardless, this has nothing to do with marketing your mom business for Christmas EXCEPT that is how you are reading this information and how I can help with some of your online marketing needs.

Need help Internet marketing your mom business for Christmas?

If you have a website or blog that is set up to help moms market their products / services - OR - if you are a mom that is trying to do this on your own and want help marketing your blog, website, social networks, videos, etc. Just let me know!

I am positioned all over the Internet to assist you. Some of the services offered to Mom business owners include Twitter Marketing, Facebook Marketing, LinkedIn Marketing, YouTube Marketing, MySpace Marketing, Website / Blog Design, Website / Blog Content Development, Press Releases / Article Marketing, etc.

Starting with Cyber Monday and throughout Christmas, ending on January 2nd, I will extend these Mom Marketing services that are FAR LESS than hiring a Virtual Assistant, though as competitive as offshore outsourcing EXCEPT work is done here in the USA :) This will give you better results than trying to do everything on your own. Those who use my services now can retain these rates for any time they need my help in the future.

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I have posted Cyber Monday / Christmas Marketing Specials on this Mom Business Marketing page. You are welcome to contact me at any time for a personalized quote for your marketing need or technical virtual assistant needs.

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In Motherly Love,
Mother Baby Child

Sources:
http://mashable.com/2011/11/26/black-friday-sales-report/
http://www-03.ibm.com/press/us/en/pressrelease/36100.wss
http://www.forbes.com/sites/erikamorphy/2011/11/27/if-you-thought-black-friday-rocked-wait-for-cyber-monday/

Netflix For Baby Clothes? Do You Buy It?

Check out this cute video and tell me what you think!

* Please note that I am not a customer nor receive payment for sharing information on Plum Gear. I just think it is a nice resource for parents and have read good reviews.

Plum Gear is a new business that is quickly creating a buzz as the "Netflix for Baby Clothes" for children ages 0 to 2 years old. The offer a cute selection of organically laundered boy and girls clothes for monthly rental ranging from $16 a month for 2 baby outfits and up to $49 a month for 7 baby outfits. They offer "boutique baby clothes" from Egg Baby, Petit Bateau, Kate Quinn Organics and Tea Collection. I was not familiar with these brands until now, but I checked out their website (very easy to use) and the clothes are really cute!

The concept is that you can borrow the baby clothes for as long as you like (just like with Netflix videos). You chose baby outfits depending on what you need and keep them for how long you want to use them (up to 30 days or more). So long as your account is active, you have no restocking fees. They provide free round trip shipping, so you order the outfits you want online, the company ships them the baby clothes to you and then you ship them back to Plum Gear when you are finished with them.

Aside of the convenience, what I like about this service is that moms don't have to worry if the baby clothes get's these clothes stained or damaged. In that case, Plum Gear will repair the item of clothing and then donated to foster care, or send badly damaged to a clothing recycle facility.

You would have to do the math on whether this is more cost effective for your budget, but for someone that likes these baby clothes brands and would like to add variety to their baby's wardrobe, renting baby clothes might be a desirable option.

Would you use this baby clothes rental service?

In Motherly Love,
Mother Baby Child

My Husband Wants Me Fat

OK, I'm airing my dirty laundry AGAIN and I am curious to know if anyone else can relate? This is starting to become a real issue ...

Aside of looking over to my right and seeing his dirty socks on the floor ... AGAIN (read my previous Dirty Laundry blog post), I am having a problem. I think that my husband wants me fat and is trying to keep me fat to make himself feel better ... REALLY!!! He is offering me junk all of the time, so that he can justify his junk binges during his weight loss. I guess he does not know that men lose weight faster? It is really frustrating!

No, I am not being silly ... I am serious!

I really do think that my husband wants me fat and is intentionally trying to sabotage my weight loss when he is eating A LOT of junk and notices that I am not. When he is in junk-mode, he offers me "bad foods" to the point that I am super tempted to give in.

It is like a co-dependency thing! Despite my repeating that "I am not eating sugar", "I am not eating bad carbs", "I am watching what I eat" and so on, he just keeps pushing and pushing. For example, we have a ton of pie left over from Thanksgiving. He bought a little pie before the holiday and I bought BOGO pies - per my son's request - for Thanksgiving dinner. I had one piece of pie on Thanksgiving and was done with it. I even let him know that I was done with the pie as he was trying to push it on me while cutting his own piece of pie. That was my first indication that he does not like eating pie alone!

His pie pushing did not end at that sitting ...

Would you believe that when I said that I was hungry, he told me to go eat pie??? In fact, over the past 2 days, he has told me to go eat pie - like 6 times - even when I did not say that I was hungry. He watched me making a salad this afternoon and he still offered me pie!!! I swear he keeps pushing pie on me because he does not want the guilt of eating it all alone.

Mind you that this pie eating is following his recent purchase and eating of all of the Twinkies and Oatmeal Cookies. He blames it on the kids!

The crazy thing is that he pretends to support my weight loss. Just yesterday, he explained how he can tell how much weight I've lost. Apparently he has been using his arms as a measuring tape these past few months (no wonder I've been getting so many hugs) and has just announced that I have lost more weight because of how tight his arms wrapped this time. One part of me was like "WOO HOO! You go girl!!!" and then my mind quickly shifted to "then why do you keep offering me that STUPID pie!", but I held my tongue.

Let me set the record straight before I go any further ...

My husband is extremely competitive with me. If one of my websites is doing well, he will work like crazy to make his ONE website produce a little bit and then repeat the progress over and over and over again until I am like sick of praising him on his good work. He was doing the same about his belly starting to go down (he just picked up a manual job that keeps him from gorging his face with sweets all day), but has recently stopped bragging about that because he has been binging :) Meanwhile, he is completely oblivious to the fact that THIS IS NOT how to motivate someone like me.

Also, I do not buy sweets unless it is a special occasion, someone has a special request when I go grocery shopping or we have a special craving. In that case, we can drive to get one thing and be done with it. My hubby is the opposite and that is why he loves to do the grocery shopping or insists on going to the grocery store with me. As I am putting veges in the cart, he has already slipped in the Twinkies, Oatmeal Cookies, Ice Cream, Donuts, etc. He has been refusing to eat vegetables saying that I burnt him out on them. The reality is that I wish that was the case ... we would be slim again!!!

Here's the real deal ... We both put on weight during my pregnancy.

Weight gain wasn't that big of a deal, to my husband, because he did not realize that he was putting on weight until he announced that his pants were too tight in my 2nd trimester; even his new "fat pants" were too tight. In fact, there is a hilarious story of his accidentally wearing a pair of my maternity jeans after showering one day (they were made like real jeans not maternity jeans with the stretchy belly). Anyways, he came out of the shower telling me how great he felt and "by the way, when did we get these? These jeans fit great!" ... LOL. I almost fell out of my hair from laughing so hard. He never wore them again :)

On the other hand, I am really sad about my pregnancy weight gain because I had just gotten myself down to a size 8 pants before I got pregnant. I was a fat pregnant woman with my first 2 boys, so I tried to be extra careful this time around (being almost 40 and all), but the ice cream and fast food cravings took over. Meanwhile, 1/2 of those junk food craving weren't even mine until he brought the food in the door. If it were up to my hubby we would still eat that way!

Here's what broke the straw on the camel's back ...

I asked him to get me some sugar free / fat free hard candy when he went to the store today. I just wanted a piece of hard candy to take the pie off my mind. He comes back with a regular chocolate candy bar and gummy bears. Not only were they the wrong things, they were like SUPER SIZED. It was a huge chocolate bar (600 calories of sugar and fat) and a big bag of gummy bears (100 calories per ounce, so 500 calories of sugar). He did not buy these candies for the household to share because he bought himself an 8 pack of peanut butter cups (640 calories) and my son had sunflower seeds (my good boy). I wanted to lose it on him, but I sent him back to the store instead. I feel sorry now because, although I did not rip and ramp nor say everything on my mind, I did raise my voice and made him rush back to the store before he had to go to work. He did come back with sugar free / fat free candy. If that was there, why on earth would he bring me 1000 calories of sugar / fat candy the first time around???
This is why I think ... My husband Wants Me Fat

I really do not understand his not wanting to get himself back in a healthy flow. I know that he does not like having a belly as much as I do not like having one. Plus, we should be examples to the children. The reality is that men lose faster than women, therefore he should not be in competition with me and also want to support me by not trying to feed me junk all of the time.

Can anyone relate to what I'm saying?

DIRTY LAUNDRY ...
Kick 'em when they're up
Kick 'em when they're down
Kick 'em when they're stiff
Kick 'em all around

Oh well, let me go walk on my treadmill before he gets home :)


In Motherly Love,
Mother Baby Child

Grateful For The Good, The Bad & The Ugly

"Grateful" is the word for this Five Minute Friday and so appropriate for the day after Thanksgiving :) I am grateful for the good, the bady and the ugly :)

I am a grateful person by nature, but I am feeling even more gratitude for all of the blessings in my life. I am grateful for my beautiful family; this includes the new family members my husband and I have acquired through marriage. It really has extended the value of "family" for all of us; especially for my baby and 12 year old. We are all now related; Moms, Dads, Brothers, Sisters, Cousins, Aunts, Uncles, Parents and Grandparents shared where they were missing before in someone's line. This is not uncommon for my husband and me as our families were extended this way during childhood, but this is a special blessing to my tween son that gets all excited when we hear from the Uncle Bob or Cousin Rachel that he did not have a few years ago. Cousin Rachel had a baby a few days after Max was born, so he has a cousin to grow up with and they live close to us. It is so endearing and I am grateful for all of their loving spirits.

I used to be a hard head ... I am grateful for God's grace and lessons.

Although my life has had SO MANY challenges, the Lord has always and continues to provide abundantly; especially in love, compassion and necessities. Difficult times have been drowned out with contentment and understanding that situations ARE how they ARE because of God's will and not mine. My spiritual walk has included knee dropping times where I used to "freak out", though have learned to embrace with a humble spirit. I am grateful to have had those experiences, too, because they have made me the woman, mother, friend, associate ... that I have grown and continue to become to others in my life. Not always easy, but times of learning and change; not to freak out and lose hope, but to pray and be grateful that my Father in heaven loves me enough to take me through and see me through to the end.

Yep ... Grateful!

P.S. On a lighter note, I am grateful that I am not Black Friday shopping today ... LOL. I've been watching the nation go crazy while I sit back and plan how to help another mom make this a successful 2011 holiday season or 2012 business year ... this is exciting to me. I am very grateful that I work from home and can do this while being there for my children.

In Motherly Love,
Mother Baby Child


This blog post was inspired by
Five Minute Friday: Grateful

Happy Thanksgiving Day | Memories & Tips

From My Home To Yours ... I Am Even More Thankful This Day Because of You

Thanksgiving Day always brings back the fondest memories of my step-mother. She made every holiday special, but Thanksgiving was one that we were sure to spend at home with family and she always cooked a gourmet galore. She was pleasant about it, too :)

It must have been difficult for her because both sides of the family ate A LOT of food and she cooked everything on her own. I peeled the onions and did little tasks that she requested, but I mostly watched. I watched as her petite arms flipped the almost 30 pound turkey upside down, so that it could cook properly in a paper bag, "it keeps the breast moist" she said. I watched as she flipped it right side up to brown the skin perfectly for our enjoyment. From homemade pies for dessert to cream cheese stuffed celery appetizers and creative cranberry recipes, she gave her all to make it a Thanksgiving dinner to remember. I had a rough childhood, therefore I am extremely thankful for these Thanksgiving memories and can only pray that I have given my children wonderful Thanksgiving memories of their own.

Happy Thanksgiving to all of my blogging and blog reading friends. I am thankful for your friendships and all of the memories that you have shared with me over the past few months. Thank you for helping my blog grow. Enjoy this special day!

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Thanksgiving Turkey Preparation Tip

• Clean your turkey in cold water. Some people like to soak the turkey in salt water, but this is only necessary if it is very bloody. Most store bought turkeys do not require soaking in salt water. Make sure to check for feathers that need plucked out out. Pull some of the excess fat from around the nexk and inside of the turkey (don't rip the skin).  


• Rub your turkey down with olive oil or butter (do it well as if you are applying sun screen). This seals in the juices (clogs those pores) and will keep it from sticking to the roaster, paper bag or other pan that you are using.  


• Peal a few fresh garlic cloves.  


• Poke small slits near the area where the wings and legs touch the breast / body and maybe top / bottom of breast if you love garlic flavor.  


• Put garlic cloves in those slits. This will add incredible flavor to the meat and require just light spicing to the skin.  


• Stuff the turkey in the body and neck area. This also helps flavor the meat.  


• Lightly spice the breast with garlic powder, onion powder, season salt.  


• Flip the breast face down in the turkey roaster. This will help make your turkey breast juicy. By cooking the turkey with the breast down, the juices from the dark meat cook into it, thus keeping your turkey breast from drying out and adding more flavor.  


• Lightly spice the bottom (now face up) garlic powder, onion powder, season salt.  


• Cook the turkey breast down until the last 1/2 hour.  


• Flip the turkey breast upwards for the last 1/2 hour to brown. Since it was cooked upside down, the risk of drying while it is browning has been reduced.  

* You do not have to flip the turkey breast downwards. You could just cover with the roaster lid or use tin foil to cover it (some prefer a tin foil roof). My step mother used to cook the turkey in a paper bag. It was easier to flip this way and then she would rip the bag open to brown the top for the last few minutes.

* You can put an onion in the turkey if you are not going to stuff it and the onion flavor will cook into the meat. Some cooks stuff their turkeys with an onion, celery and carrots - OR - apples and onions.




In Motherly Love,
Mother Baby Child

Wordless Wednesday | Resourceful Baby

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Watching Our Resourceful Baby Playing In The Tent

Our little baby is always carrying toys, bottles or bowls in his mouth, so that he can crawl freely and still have his play things at hand. This was his first time in a tent and he really enjoyed it; almost as much as Elmo and "Super Why". We liked watching him do his "resourceful baby" thing!

Blog Hopping is such a fun way to get to know one another, therefore I added a page with a list of blogs that host Wordless Wednesday and other Daily Blog Hops. Hope to see you there!


In Motherly Love,
Mother Baby Child

Black Friday Blues & Mom Business Marketing

Got The Black Friday Blues ... Is Your Mom Business Ready?

Black Friday is a day that I try to avoid, but it is virtually impossible with all of the sales flyers, television and Internet advertisement overwhelming my family with so called "Black Friday Deals" on stuff we do not need. My husband has been window shopping online all day. My tween keeps adding "stuff" to his Christmas list. I even noticed my baby going all goo goo eyed and talking to the television, yesterday, because of all of the new toys they keep advertising on Sprout and Nick Jr (meanwhile his favorite commercial used to be the Baby Bullet). Stuff! Stuff! Stuff! Stuff! Stuff! This all puts the B-L-A-C-K in Black Friday for me and makes me emphasize the CHRIST in Christmas for their brainwashed minds.

Just the name itself is a drag. "BLACK" usually represents gloom or evil opposed to the intended meaning of "Black Friday" which is when companies anticipate getting out of the red and into the black to kick off their holiday shopping / sales season. Meanwhile, I wonder if the major retail stores will do as well as they expect this year? They sure make things more difficult for small business owners that are trying to stay abreast in this economy.

ON THE OTHER HAND ... I am all for Mom Business Owners and Mompreneurs that are trying to increase sales during Black Friday, Cyber Monday and throughout the 2011 Holiday Season.

If this is you (a mom with Black Friday discounts, Cyber Monday specials or general Christmas deals) and you would like a little help marketing your blog, website, videos, etc. Just let me know! I have several Mom Marketing packages that are affordable and can help you pick up web traffic and sales while you are handling the more important details of your business.

The goal is to make shopping much more convenient for your customers and help brand your Mom Business for months / years to come. Starting with Cyber Monday and ending on January 2nd, I will extend these Mom Marketing packages at the lowest possible rates for my time; which calculates to less than if you were paying an offshore outsource company and FAR LESS than a Virtual Assistant. This will give you far better results. Those who lock in now can retain these rates for any time they need my help.

Have the Black Friday Blues? Fortunately, there is still time to perk up for Cyber Monday and the 2011 Holiday Season. I will post Mom Marketing Packages on Cyber Monday. This will include some Marketing Case Studies / Internet Marketing Examples. Do not hesitate to contact me at any time for a personal quote for your mom business marketing or virtual support needs.


In Motherly Love,
Mother Baby Child

Watching Him Grow

The Five Minute Friday word of today is "Grow" and many memories come to mind ...

The most profound is when my oldest son was just a few weeks old. My step-father, mother and I had just finished dinner. My parents got up from the dinner table and headed into the living room where my son was sleeping as sweetly as the newborn baby that he was at the time. I cleared the dishes from the table and was ready to help my mother clean the kitchen, so that I could get back to my baby. My mother never made it back into the kitchen, so I ventured on out to the living room to see what she was doing.

As I walked into the room, I could see that my step-father was watching Jeopardy. I looked towards my mother and she was squashed into the corner of her huge sectional. I walked a bit forward to see that she had my newborn baby in her arms. I said "Mom, what are you doing? Don't you want to clean the kitchen?"

She looked up slowly and said "I AM WATCHING HIM GROW" ...

I was a very immature 21 at the time and really didn't understand what she meant. I thought that she was being smart with me because my mother is on the cynical / sarcastic side at times. I was REALLY upset the whole time that I was cleaning HER kitchen while she was holding MY baby ... LOL :)

5 1/2 years later, I gave birth to my second son. I had matured a bit, though the "watching him grow" experience hit home a little bit when my 2nd son was a newborn. Now that I think back, I was very selfish about the time that anyone spent holding him because I was trying to "watch him grow" as I had seen my mother doing that day. In fact, I tried to carefully watch my first and second sons growing up, but I find that I forget a lot of the stuff my 2nd son asks me about when he was a baby "what time was I born?" ... "what was my favorite baby food" ... etc.

As a single mother of two boys, it is not always easy to watch your children "grow" in the same way that a happy nuclear family or grandparent can see because there are obstacles; many that others overlook and do not understand. They can distract a watching mother at times.

Regardless, as I sit writing this Five Minute Friday blog post (where we write freely for 5 minutes based on one word), I am overwhelmed with the opposite emotions that I felt 18 years ago when my mother said, "I am watching him grow". My 3rd child is almost 11 months old and I am just a few years shy of the age that my mother was when I gave birth to my first son. As I watch this little baby grow, I am flooded with love, joy, sadness, pride, hurt ... a potpourri of emotions that I possess for all 3 of my sons and how it felt watching them grow, but that oldest son is a young man that has moved off on his own.

It is hard to remember that we do not raise our children for ourselves; we raise them for God. Our reward is that we get to "watch them grow" spiritually, emotionally, physically and then they are off on their own with God to continue to watch over them.



In Motherly Love,
Mother Baby Child


This blog post was inspired by
Five Minute Friday: Grow

Wordless Wednesday | Look Who's Fishing

My Husband Had A Little Friend Fishing w/ Him That Day

Please leave a comment if you have been so kind as to follow via GFC, Twitter and / or Facebook. I am trying to increase my Alexa ranks, so please take a few minutes to browse a few of the other posts / pages and leave me a review. I do return the luv at your blog :) Check out the Blog Hops for more Wordless Wednesday and Daily favorites :)


In Motherly Love,
Mother Baby Child

Unexpected Love

"Unexpected" Is The Five Minute Topic This Week

As a single mother, I never would have expected that God would bless me with another child and a loving husband that would make the package complete. I laugh as I sit and remember how my sons were trying to set me up with Adam Sandler. They decided that he and I were most compatible, and that he would make the perfect Dad because of how cool he was in the movie 'Click'. Yes, they wanted me to marry Adam Sandler :) I tried to laugh that one off, but my one son was much younger at that time and was VERY serious about it. My older son was just worried that I would be alone when his brother and he moved out of the house. Little did we all know that God would step in and answer their prayers; although it was not Adam Sandler and they were pleased with the unexpected match that God made for us.

I really did not and do not mind being alone, because God has always been there for me, but it's so much nicer to have a husband that loves me. A man that thought it was important to be a father and role model to my sons. A partner in every respect. This was very unexpected ...

My Aunt would always explain that God promises a spouse (Isaiah 54), but I did not care like she did. I couldn't understand why she was so worried about it. Her marriage did not work out with my Uncle, so I kept telling her to just move on in life and be happy with being alone. Like me! One of my close friends said that I was her inspiration because she always felt hurt that her marriage did not work out and that she was a single mom. She really struggled with being alone. She said that I was a rock that she wanted to be.

That was unexpected ... I didn't realize that I had become so stone cold and had made myself not want something that I grew up dreaming about. I now realize that I had just lost faith in that one thing to the point that I did not turn to God about it at all.

In my heart, I figured that I had just messed up too much for God or had blown off the nice guys he sent my way, and this is why I was a single mother and not married again. I had totally set my mind that I was fine being a single mother. I told my older son not to worry about me; that I would be just fine if I was alone later in life. By the time I met my husband, I was all business at work and business at home. I was totally uninterested in being in a long term relationship or married (had been like that for years).

My life took such an unexpected turn ... I am glad and thank God for loving me enough to show me that I am worthy of this type of love, too :)

In Motherly Love,
Mother Baby Child


This blog post was inspired by
Five Minute Friday: Unexpected

Exhausted Baby | Wordless Wednesday

Exhausted Baby Sleeping On Boppy Pillow

OK, I know this is Wordless Wednesday and a picture should say it all, but I have to share just a few words ... "I conquered" ... "I defeated" ... "I wore the baby out to the point that he put himself to sleep" - WOO HOO!!! I am so excited to share this picture because he has NOT been sleeping as much as I think that he should (two short naps and maybe up at night one time). Our baby was on a fantastic schedule, but teething has taken over ... again. We have tried everything; even the pacifier is in his pack n play. He hasn't taken a pacifier since he was about 3 months, but likes gumming on this one sometimes. Now, if I could get him to put himself to sleep at night ... :)

Anywhoo ...Please make sure to introduce yourself in the comment area below if you have been so kind as to follow via GFC, Twitter and / or Facebook. I am trying to increase my Alexa ranks, so please take a few minutes to browse a few of the other posts / pages. I do return the luv at your blog :) Check out the Blog Hops for more Wordless Wednesday and Daily favorites :)


In Motherly Love,
Mother Baby Child

Remember Love Your Brother Unconditionally As God Wants You To Do | Five Minute Friday

"Be devoted to one another in love. Honor one another above yourselves." Romans 12:10

I have a lot of pictures of my children (as most moms do), but these are some of the most recent and favorite pictures on my computer. I love looking at them because they make me remember that my children do love one another. This is not so much of a concern between my two younger boys, but my oldest and middle son have had a "bitter-sweet" relationship through the years. It has gotten better, but I still pray that they remember to love one another unconditionally as God has instructed. It is an important change for all of us.

My oldest son will turn 18 this month. He has already graduated High School (I am so proud of him) and is transitioning out on his own (which has been his dream since he was in middle school). We've had some troubles over the past few years, but he has "shaped up" so nicely thus far with help from a program that worked with him. I have "shaped up" from the experience and hurt. Anyways, he was 5 1/2 when I had my second son, and although he was proud to be a big brother, he took it hard and started to resent having a brother. He felt as though he needed to compete for my attention (well both of them did), although he did not need to. They were such different children and still are; like oil and vinegar some would say. My second son loved the oldest son unconditionally. He used to say, "I want to be Nate". Nate would say that he wanted to be "an only child" and do things that would hurt him. Regardless, they had a lot of great times through the years and do love one another. It just took and still takes a lot of reminding.

Things are different now that Baby Max is a part of our family. He makes us remember that there is a 3rd brother that loves everyone unconditionally and that is a beautiful bond from the start. Regardless, as I look through these 4 pictures that make me remember 4 things:

Picture #1
No matter how much you fight and get jealous of one another, REMEMBER that you are brothers. I will always remember the day we took this picture because this was one of the only times that you did not give me a hard time about taking pictures and you got along. You were genuinely happy to participate in this family photo session. Your innocence and happiness shown through this day.

Picture #2

You don't look much older, but years have gone by. Remember how much fun you had together this day (hunting alligators, spending quality time together and sleep deprived because of your new baby brother). Remember that you are not just 2 brothers anymore; you are 3 brothers now (3 amigos) and that if I should meet my maker tomorrow ... remember that you will always have one another.

"Anyone who claims to be in the light but hates a brother or sister is still in the darkness. 10 Anyone who loves their brother and sister lives in the light, and there is nothing in them to make them stumble. 11 But anyone who hates a brother or sister is in the darkness and walks around in the darkness. They do not know where they are going, because the darkness has blinded them." ~ 1 John 2:9-11

Picture #3

Now you get to be the big brother. You get to be an example and share the unconditional love that you receive. The same love that you have tried to share with your brother over the years ... it is now yours back and it is beautiful to watch. I will try to remember that - to you - this is all of our baby and that you enjoy having a little responsibility during the process, but you need time to be the tween that you are and the teen that you will become in the next few months.

Picture #4

You cut the umbilical cord when this little brother came into this world. Although you are 17 years apart, there will always be a bond between oldest brother and baby brother; this has strengthened the bond between Jonny and you, but remember that Jonny still needs you and looks up to you. Fortunately, he no longer wants to be you and is happy being himself, but he still looks to you for the unconditional love that he gives Max and will always need from you.

I sit and remember the love, hurt, excitement, disappointment, struggles, blessings ... I remember teaching them to turn the other cheek; that God loves us unconditionally; that God wants us to love our neighbor as he loves us; you must love your brother ... As I sit and I remember that God has blessed me with 3 remarkable little boys at stages in my life where I needed to learn and remember his unconditional love. The same unconditional love that he has for us and had for us when he gave his only son, Jesus, to save us from our sins. Thank you for answering my prayers dear Lord. I now understand and will always remember.

It is really hard to sum this all up in 5 minutes, so I will end with a reminder that I can only pray that my sons will love one another unconditionally as God loves us and instructs us to do.

"This is my commandment, That ye love one another, as I have loved you." ~ John 15:12


In Motherly Love,
Mother Baby Child


This blog post was inspired by
Five Minute Friday: Remember

88 Year Old Grandfather and Great Great Grandfather Video | Wordless Wednesday

This week's Wordless Wednesday is a video of my Grandfather :)

This is my 88 year old Grandfather speaking on behalf of his friend that was honored last week: African-American photographer Charles "Teenie" Harris, who was born in 1908 and died in 1998. Both very accomplished men through the generations. I think that he did a great job!











In Motherly Love,
Mother Baby Child

10 Month Old Baby Milestones

1) If he is really tired, he will fall asleep on his own at nap time.

2) If his TV shows are not on and his brother is playing a game or it is quiet, he will sit and play with his toys for hours. He talks to them (says "Hi", babbles, sings).

3) So long as we are in sight view, He will play in his matted play yard for hours.

4) He started saying brother more clearly.

5) Fine motor skills are much more developed. He is picking things up more quickly when using just his pointer and thumb; he is not dropping an 8 ounce bottle or cup as much as he used to fumble them; he can grab my jewelry and hair much more easier than in previous months :)

6) Non verbal communication has become more clear as well. He is shaking his head yes and no; making faces when frustrated instead of blank crying; he does not look as confused in general

9 Months Old | Baby On The Go

9 months old is such an incredible age. I am praising God for blessing me
with 3 sons and for not having to be a single mother this time around.

Nine month old babies are so active and personable that you would think they are toddlers, but they are not. At 9 months old, these babies are still infants with developmental needs that keep them our sweet, cuddly, little babies for months longer. I thank God because it is so hard to watch them grow up so quickly. We so enjoyed our baby's 8th month, but this blog post is to share some of the developmental milestones that our baby had during his 9th month; I am posting this information for other moms to use as a guide, as well as in comparison to the 9 month baby milestones that the baby experts give us. I have included our daily schedule in hope this will be helpful.

See that you do not despise one of these little ones. For I tell you that their angels in heaven always see the face of my Father in heaven. ~ Matthew 18:10

Max did Yoga with Nina (Sprout's Goodnight Show)
The highlight of this 9th month occurred on October 5th, 2011 when our 9 month old baby lifted his arms for the yoga stretch with Nina (on Sprout's Goodnight Show). He did it twice when she instructed and we could not believe it! I made such a "whoop-ti-do" that our baby crawled to me, right afterwards, and excitedly stood up so that I could put him in my lap. I think that he was proud of himself, too, but maybe he was proud of me for noticing - LOL. It is so exciting to know that he understands what to do when he watches that stretching / yoga segment. I really struggle with his watching TV, but know that it helps with certain things as well.


Babbling / Repeating / Talking

• Would you believe that our 9 month old baby started talking to me this month He tugged his ear and said eeeeaaaaaaah a few times. My heart melted while realizing that he was talking to me. It took a few second before I realized that he was on a roll. He clumbsily touched his face and said "eyes" and "nose". It was mushy but I knew this was what he was saying because the exaggerated tone was just like when I teach him these things, therefore I touched his nose and said "Noooose" and touched my eye and said "Eye" ... He got extremely excited and kissed me as if he was rewarding me for understanding what he was talking about.


• On October 14th, our 9 month old baby said "hello" on prompt at the harvest fest at our church. It was so cute because he looked down shyly and said it just once. He is not much on saying "hello" or "hi" when we ask him to; just when he wants, therefore this was a big deal for us.


• Our baby starting singing to himself at 9 months and it was the sweetest sound that I've ever heard in my life because I love to sing (my other two boys did not do this) ... Max has a very raspy / horse voice. He sang "OOOOOOOOOOOOOh, AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAh". It had different tones. He made facial expressions and sometimes rocked his body back and forth as he sang. Sometimes, he shoke his head and started laughing while singing. It was almost as if he was laughing as he caught himself singing because he would stop after the head shaking part. It was so innocent and instinctive that I would stop doing anything that I was doing to watch him sing and dance.

Watching / Noticing More Things & Sense Of Humor

• Our baby found his belly button on 9/9/2011. The funny thing is that he found mine a few days earlier while we were laying in bed (we had just finished nursing). He giggled both times (probably because of my reaction). It was too cute :)


• He laughs and growls at his own fart (we call them toots).


• He loves Moose and Zee puzzles / matching games on Nick Jr. He has certain shows that he watches and likes a lot. This 9th month, he started getting cranky (sometimes growling) if we talked during his shows.


• We had to child proof a few months ago, but this month he started going for things like dirt in a crack on the ground, we patched a piece of the wall for painting and he noticed (I caught him standing at the wall picking it with his finger) and if I forgot to sweep the tile, he would spot /try to pick up anything. He swooped quickly as if he were playing Jacks.

Physical Development

• Max stood for the first time - without holding on to anything - on October 16. He is walking with the aid of furniture, legs and his walker, but has not starting walking yet (as of 10/31/2011). It looks like it will be soon.


• In addition to lifting his arms during Yoga time, he will sometimes lift his arms for "UP" when he wants us to pick him up from the high chair, crib or play area. We are trying to teach him to do this w/out fussing / crying, too.


• He waved "Hi" on prompt, but ignores us about this too. (I think we got on his nerves).
  
  
• On October 17, he started clapping on his own (without us telling him to) - saying "glaaa glaaa" (clap clap) - when he does it.


• He loves to sing and dance (rock back and forth on his own). All 3 of us (mom, dad, brother) clapped and danced with Maxwell. It was great. While dancing, he clapped when we clapped and bounced his bottom on the floor and rocked to the music. Unlike saying "hello", he will clap upon request sometimes because he loves music and dancing so much.
  
  
• At 9 months, he spends even longer periods of time in his walker and has excellent back up, side and forward control. He has an awesome 3 point turn at this age :)
  
  
• He fought us each time we changed his diaper. He has actually been doing this for months, but we started giving him his tooth brush so that he does not take off like before. He started grabbing his private area every time I changed his diaper. I was as non challant as possible but he would growl and / or laugh when I asked him to move his hand so I could close the diaper. This was not a lot of fun when he had a poopy diaper :(
  
  
• He sat nicely in his playpen / pack n play and matted play area. Every once in a while, he throws a fit to get out, but can lay alone for over an hour sometimes.

Food / Eating / Drinking

Our 9 month baby has stopped eating green beans (he even refused them even when mixed with some chopped up french cut green beans). That is one baby food down. On the contrary, he has developed a HUGE appetite for spaghetti, crackers, water in a sippy cup and just about everything he can get his hands on around the house. He tried to use his spoon at 9 months, though still preferred that we feed him. He does still nurse (mostly first thing in the morning, if he wakes at night and once or twice a day if he gets really cranky and digs my shirt), but he likes Soy formula and drinks water in his sippy cup.


Daytime Schedule / Night time Schedule

Since he finally started sleeping through the night, a decent schedule was developed by 9 months. He sometimes gets up for a bottle or to nurse around 4 or 5:00 a.m. but could sleep through the night until around 7:00am if I put him to bed around 10:00 or 11:00 p.m.

Our typical daily schedule:

• Get up between 6:30 and 8:00 (typically around 7:00 a.m.).
  
  
• He likes to watch Baby Einstein (Disney Channel) or The Sunny Side Up Show on the Channel. He likes Barney if we start later. He sometimes wants a bottle at this time if he did not want to nurse as soon as he woke up; other times he just wants to relax alone and watch this show.
  
  
• After this time he is ready to eat and start playing. He has usually pooped just before or right after breakfast). He plays hard for hours. He plays well alone and with us. He is extremely physical during this time, therefore he uses the walker, crawls out of his pack and play or matted play area, walks along furniture and I sometimes walk him outside.
  
  
• He is ready for a nap between 11:00 a.m and 12:00pm (usually after Sesame Street on PBS and / or Sprout). He typically wants rocked to sleep.
  
  
• He gets up between 1:00pm and 2:00pm, and is very pleasant.
  
  
• He likes to play or watch TV again before he eats. This is not long because he is usually ready to eat lunch soon after waking up.
  
  
• After lunch, we will play for hours. He reads with me for short periods of time, he is very physical, so he uses his walker and likes crawling, walking along furniture and sitting to play with electronic toys. Max enjoys walks in his stroller or just sitting outside and watching cars.
  
  
• He usually naps again between 3:45 p.m. and 5:30pm. This is usually not a long nap (about an hour; sometimes two hours). Diaper change again.
  
  
• He is ready to eat and play again. I keep him up until 10:00pm - 11:00pm (sometimes 9:30pm), so that we have a better possibility that he will sleep through the night. I found that it helps if I take a bottle to bed. He will sometimes take that instead of wanting to nurse again (anywhere between 3:35 and 5:00pm). He will go back to sleep and is up for the day around 7:00 a.m.

OK, so there you have it. This was what our baby did at 9 months old.

At 9 months old, our baby was an energetic bundle of joy that kept us busy daily. Although my husband and I work from home, my husband picked up a temporary job to supplement our income, so that I was not stressed about the holidays and needing to increase work. With our 9 month baby being so active, I was not able to take on any more clients these past few months; just retain and maintain the accounts that I had. This was great for my existing clients because they got all of my extra work time. I knew that it would be like this because I've had children before, therefore I did eliminate some inconsistent accounts a few months ago. Yet, I really appreciate that my husband wanted to make sure that we would not struggle during Christmas, New Year and Tax season because we will travel to see family / friends during these times. It is likely they will visit us, too. I never had this type of support or potential for a "cushion" when I was a single mother, therefore I work my business diligently during the times that Max is napping and / or playing well alone, as well as when my husband is home from work.

I praise God for making all things possible that I never could have imagined nor believed that I wanted in life (a husband, another baby, living in a new state, homeschooling, etc). I hope that you enjoyed this blog post and that it is helpful to moms that are looking forward to their 9 months baby milestones. Please feel free to share your experiences and comment below :)

In Motherly Love,
Mother Baby Child

Boating & Swimming With The Manatee | Central Florida | Wordless Wednesday

In Motherly Love,
Mother Baby Child

Pictures of Mariah Carey Babies | Baby Twins Roc & Roe | Abc News 20/20 Interview and www.DemBabies.com - #dembabies

All I can say is "Thank you, Barbara Walters" for the awesome interview with Mariah Carey and Nick Cannon. It's about time! Alyssa Milano, Tori Spelling, Christina Applegate and other Over 35 celebrity moms did not wait this long to let us see their little angels ... I know that celebrity moms are just as protective of their children as we are (probably more), but #DemBabies are 6 months now and, aside of my beautiful Baby Max (big smile), the Carey-Cannon twins) are some of the cutest babies I've seen this year. I am thinking that Mariah probably wanted to take off some of the baby weight first because this is exactly what I would want to do, too. Anyways, here's the 20/20 interview with Mariah Carey, Nick Cannon, Roc, Roe and Barbara Walters. Mariah Carey shares how difficult it was to lose their first baby by miscarriage and then the challenges of getting pregnant through fertility hormone therapy and then staying pregnant with twins because it was hard on her body. Lets face it, pregnant with twins at 41 years old is not the norm nor easy on a body, but the Lord continues to bless Mariah Carey abundantly; this time with a boy and girl baby twins. Praise God!!! It is just incredible and so exciting to see how the celebrity couple are enjoying their twin babies:



Wait! It gets better ... Nich Cannon and Mariah Carey launched a website of the babies - http://www.dembabies.com and it has a ton of adorable pictures of Mariah Carey's twins. Check it out! I could not put on this site because the publish rights are for sale and funds contributed to Fresh Air Fund's Camp Mariah that helps inner city kids explore career / educational options while in a fun filled camp environment. It looks like a really nice program.

Congrats again to Mariah Carey and Nick Cannon on #dembabies. Your twins are adorable. I look forward to watching how they develop and what talents they will share with the world.


In Motherly Love,
Mother Baby Child