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Aug 13, 2007

Bits & Pieces

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Mamamichelesbabies tagged me to reveal eight random things about me. I think I did this one recently, but that doesn’t mean I’m going to ignore her tag. Instead, I’ll modify it slightly to share some of my thoughts and updates that simply aren’t long enough for an entire post.

1. Cordy had her transition from the county to city school district early intervention today. Not one, not two, but three women showed up at our door to discuss where we’re going next. That’s three people to clean the house for, so I was up early trying to de-clutter as much as possible. The school district representative had to do a preliminary screening as a formality before the evaluation on September 5.

2. Can you guess how she behaved during this screening today? Yeah, like a perfectly normal, practically angelic two year old. Figures. I was half expecting her to offer them something to drink while she put away all her toys and made her bed. Still, they are going forward with the evaluation based on past screenings and my description of some of her behaviors. After they left, she had a big meltdown over a banana.

3. The onesie has now undergone three laundry treatments, and the stain has yet to relinquish its hold on the white cotton garment (although I do chip away at it a little each time). I’m going for the last-chance treatment: the bleach pen. Pray I don’t bleach myself and anything nearby in the process.

4. As an only child, I have to say I don’t know how second-born children ever get any sleep with a crazy older sibling around. Seriously, Mira doesn’t get a single good nap when Cordy is home. She can be in a deep sleep, and Cordy will run screaming past her, or accidentally kick her ball into the bouncer, or have a tantrum loud enough to wake her upstairs in her crib. My sympathies to all of you who were second born or later. You need a nap.

5. According to another neighbor, our next door neighbors (yes…them) will only be there through the end of September at the latest. They’ve already filed for bankruptcy, the house is included, but there is a state loophole that lets them live in the house another 60 days if they put it up for sale. So efforts to sell the house are all so they can live 60 days longer with no housing bill. I doubt they’re even doing much to stage the house. That would explain why the average visit by a potential buyer has been around two minutes. I don’t think they make it past the threshold of the front door.

6. How have I become such a bad bill payer? I used to pay every bill well ahead of time before kids. After Cordy, I still got everything paid by the deadline. Now? Unless it’s a bill I pay online, I’m lucky to remember to send the bill in before we get a second notice. Sigh. Must work on that.

7. But speaking of bills and money, I’m glad I took the time to look through all the bills from Mira’s birth. Turns out the stupid insurance forced me to overpay my doctor’s office by $500. The doctor’s office never bothered to tell me about the mistake, even after they noticed it. I called the doctor’s office last week to tell them I had found out about the overpayment, and I’d like a refund. I’ll get it in about 3-4 weeks. Had I never checked it out and called, they would have happily kept that $500. Check your insurance payments and bills carefully, readers. It could save you a lot of money. That money will help cover the other hospital bills.

8. I just realized that Mira is 11 weeks old. Next week marks the end of my federally granted 12 weeks of maternity leave from work. More on that tomorrow.

Filed Under: being a mom, Cordy, meme time, Mira ·


Aug 7, 2007

Can’t Take The Heat Anymore

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Summer in Ohio is much like winter in Ohio: the weather is so unbearable that you only go outside if you have to.

It seems that while I was away in Chicago for BlogHer, a heatwave snuck into Ohio and sat its big hot ass down on the state (and most of the Midwest) for a long stay. Highs in the mid-90’s, with a heat index well over 100. Sure, those of you from the West might remind me that 90’s are nothing, but unlike you, we don’t have dry heat. We have soupy thick, air quality alert, hurts to breathe, humid air – a sauna that can only be escaped by finding air conditioning.

So just like those cold days of winter, I’ve been biding my time indoors for over a week. And much like those dark January days, I’m slowly going insane trapped in my own little summer version of the Overlook Hotel.

Enter my mother and grandmother – ever the outdoors-women – who swooped in today, told me “oh please, it’s not that bad in the shade,” and insisted we use the water toys sitting in our backyard.

So Cordy put on her “babee-suit” and took Mira’s “sun-gun-asses” and outside we went. And you know what?

It was fun.

Filed Under: Cordy, family time, Mira ·


Jul 28, 2007

BlogHer 07 So Far

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OK, so I know I’m not updating as much as I did at last year’s BlogHer conference. But when you have an eight week old baby with you in a sling all day long, you don’t have a lot of time for blogging. Not to mention that her supplies took up so much space in my laptop bag that there wasn’t room for my laptop.

Yesterday was an adventure, as we made the six hour drive to Chicago. Thanks to the magic of our newly purchased portable DVD player, the drive was a relatively peaceful one, although I never want to hear the theme song to Little Einsteins ever again. We’re going on a trip, in our favorite rocketship…

Cordy also found other ways to amuse herself on the drive up:


Once here, we checked into the hotel and settled into our room. Due to making my reservations one day too late, the W hotel was sold out, so we’re staying at the Chicago City Centre hotel. Having now seen both hotels, I wish we could pay the extra $20 or whatever a night to get the better hotel. The W Lakeshore is swanky; the Chicago City Centre is your standard cheap bedding, 80’s decor, what is that stain in the bathtub?, don’t-sit-on-the-comforter-naked hotel.

Last night there was a welcome party in the bar of the W. The party quickly overwhelmed the small bar. I must be getting old, because all I could think of was, “Great party, but it’s too dark in here and the music is too loud.” One of the highlights of the evening was watching skeevy businessmen trying to hit on mommybloggers. Sorry guys – they do look hot, but they’re nearly all married with kids.


This morning Cordy woke us up bright and early at 4:50am. This was her first night sleeping in a room with another person, so I think she did pretty well. I tried to sleep a little more while Aaron got up with Cordy, pulling out our new favorite friend – the DVD player – for another episode of Little Einsteins.

While in line at registration, I began seeing so many familiar faces. Lauren, my editor from Family.com, also found me and I joined her for breakfast after saying goodbye to Aaron and Cordy. (Aaron took Cordy to childcare.) After breakfast, there was an attempt at a “speed dating” session to get to know some new bloggers. However, we’re just too chatty a bunch, and there were several snags when people didn’t want to quit talking when time was up.

Once again, the schwag did not disappoint. A very nice Blogher satchel, a laptop bag provided by AOL, a jump drive, nice bath & body products, t-shirts, etc. In the exhibitor’s hallway, there was even more free stuff to be had, as well as great conversations with some interesting sponsors.

How were today’s sessions? I have to admit, I only went to one and a half. Mira was fussy during the first session, so I had to step out to feed her. The second and third sessions were spent running back to the hotel to relive myself of the weight of all the free stuff, then talking to others I ran into in the hallway. It’s so exciting to meet the bloggers you “know” in person, finally putting a face to a name, or laughing your ass off because they’re just as smart and funny in person. Honestly, I care more about getting to talk to the other bloggers here than I do about the sessions. The sessions are still important, but it’s the one on one and small group conversations that make this conference special.

I did manage to sit through the entire panel on mommyblogging. It’s funny – last year’s panel on this subject focused more on getting past the mommyblogger label and the dealing with hate from some non-mommy bloggers. This year, while the issue of the mommyblogger label is still prominent, some of the negativity towards mommy blogs has switched from the “clique-ish nature” of who we are to the debate on the monitization of mommy blogs.

There were many opinions expressed on the topic of making money from a mommy blog, all with very valid reasons for and against running ads, doing product reviews, and participating in other forms of paid advertising. Several marketing and PR professionals attended the panel, and they were given the advice to please take the time to read a mom’s blog before e-mailing her to offer her the chance to try out a product. The issue of PayPerPost was also brought up, with some expressing their dislike for the company.

After the mommyblogging panel, it was time for the first cocktail party on the roof of the Navy Pier. The view of the lake was beautiful, and the alcohol was plentiful. Aaron, having spent the day shopping and sight-seeing, picked Cordy up from childcare and joined Mira and I. Cordy was in a grumpy mood, partially because the childcare service lost her sippy cup (and she’ll only drink from one kind of sippy cup), and partially because we left her with strangers for the day and she did not approve at all. Due to her grumpy mood, which couldn’t even be improved by the adorable Juniper handing Cordy her puppy every time she threw it in frustration, Aaron took her back to the hotel early. I followed about an hour later, after eating my fill of sushi, beef tenderloin, and other delicious morsels passing by me on trays.

Pics of the day:

Mira and Catherine in coordinating pink skulls:


Mira and Sage meet up at lunch:


Drew joins in to check out the ladies. He clearly likes the younger women:

Filed Under: BlogHer07, Mira, mom blogs ·


Jul 11, 2007

Today, By The Numbers

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6 – Hours spent at the Children’s Hospital emergency room

24 – Number of examining rooms, most filled with screaming children at some point

3 – Doctors that examined Mira

2 – Band-aids covering two punctures

1,000,000 – Germs that were probably floating through that place, making me keep a blanket over Mira while in the hallway

9 – Number of times I retold Mira’s list of symptoms to some medical professional walking into the room

5 – Number of times I told someone, “It’s a girl – don’t let the blue blanket fool you”

1 – Crazy volunteer woman who came in to keep me company, telling me why French men make great lovers and how unfair it is that the Mexicans aren’t forced to learn English when all the other immigrants were in the past

1 – IV port, urinary catheter, and lumbar puncture on Mira

The results? She has a cold.

It seems Mira has picked up the respiratory infection that Cordy is recovering from. I noticed yesterday that she was a little congested, so I took her to the doctor today when she seemed to have a low fever. Turns out she did have a fever, but since she is under two months old, the pediatrician insisted we go to the hospital for a sepsis workup to make sure everything was OK. It’s routine for any baby under two months.

I grudgingly agreed and took her to the hospital, where they put an IV port into her little hand to take blood and then give her fluids. After that, they inserted a catheter to get a urine sample. And finally they did a lumbar puncture (spinal tap) to check for meningitis. I protested the lumbar puncture, and so they brought in another doctor to convince me it was necessary. I probably wouldn’t have been so worried had I not heard the attending doctor instructing the resident on how to do a lumbar puncture. Nothing like being the first, right?

Poor Mira did amazingly well through all of it. She fought the lumbar puncture with all the strength she had, and cried a lot for the other procedures. But once they were done, she drifted back to sleep. The doctors kept saying what a good baby she was – I told them that’s how I knew she was sick. If it’s daytime and she’s not crying, there’s clearly something wrong.

In the end, it was ruled a simple viral respiratory infection. Infant Tylenol, rest, and lots of breastmilk and she should be fine. I was pretty sure that’s what it was to begin with, but they insisted on all of these tests to make sure. And being a mom, I was worried about her and so I went along with all of it. Seeing your child choking and gagging from post-nasal drip is scary.

Now I just hope this tiny, angry baby will forgive us for putting her through all of that to diagnose a common cold. And I hope she’ll get well soon.

Filed Under: Mira · Tagged:


Jul 2, 2007

Sick Day Post

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It’s been a downright poop-tastic few days here. We’re trying the diapers many of you recommended, and I can tell you that none of them can hold up to a massive stomach bug. At first I thought it was the result of too much fun (read about our weekend at Cirque du Mommy), but with the addition of a high fever this afternoon, I’m thinking it’s more likely the result of being around other kids and her new found love of licking her hands.

So instead of one coherent post, you get a post of me rambling about a few little things. Like my sick child, and my hope that she doesn’t pass it on to Mira. I will say, though, that even when she’s sick, she’s still polite. As I handed her a sippy cup of Pedialyte while she was laying (lying?) on the couch, she looked up at me with half opened eyes and said, “Thank you, mommy.” Awwww…

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For those of you with little ones, FlipFlop Mamma turned me on to this contest. You can win a Moby wrap from SuperMomz. I’m a big fan of baby carriers right now, since I have the World’s Most Unhappy Baby who insists on never being put down. If you want to enter the contest as well, be sure to click here for details.

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Speaking of cranky babies – it seems The New Girl is having her own problems with her fussy baby, and is encouraging others to show off their babies in the height of a screaming session. We know all about fussy here. Sadly I have no advice because none of the tricks work regularly for us, so we must wait until she grows out of it. And it’s tough. Just last week we had a moment where everyone in the house was crying at the same time.

Getting a pic of Mira screaming is easier than getting a pic of her looking peaceful. Here’s just a few from today:




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Another contest to tell you about! Have you seen all the crazy prizes that 5 Minutes For Mom is giving away? Go there and enter before July 4 for a chance to win an ice cream maker, mommy business cards, a baby wrap, t-shirts, a fabulous vacation, and more!

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We have our BlogHer reservations in place, but I’m wondering: is anyone else staying at the Chicago City Centre? I wanted to stay at the W, but missed getting my reservation there by one stupid procrastinating day. I’m just curious if everyone will be at the W, or if there might be a few folks with us at the City Centre? Will we be cut off from the cool crowd?

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Filed Under: Cordy, Mira · Tagged: