it’s either this, or sell internal organs

Posted on | February 8, 2010 | 18 Comments

nce upon a time, there was a girl (well, she was more like a woman in her late 20′s but whatever). one day, this woman started blogging to journal her journey through the early months of her newborn daughters life. next thing she knew, she had more than just her family reading her ramblings, and was enjoying her new found little corner of the internet. free range to say whatever she wanted about motherhood, relationships, share photos and really silly stories. she found herself with a plethora of new friends, mamas and not mamas, daddies, and just plain amazing people.

she’d tell her husband all about her adventures on the internet, and although she always prefaced it with “you probably think i’m crazy, but…”, he always supported her and even if he did think she was batpoop crazy, never said so. even the day when she got a wild idea with her friend Mae to try and travel to New York City for a blogging conference. she blabbered on and on about how much she’d learn, how fun it would be, and how she’d get to meet some of her favorite bloggers, like this one, and this one and this one, and learn tons and tons about how to be a better blogger.

the only problem? blogging conferences aren’t free. so instead of do something drastic, like try to find someone who needs a kidney, she decided to turn to the place she’d be going for in the first place: her blog. most importantly, her readers. “after all! if everyone donated a dollar, i could totally go!” she said to her kind of skeptical/totally-supportive-of-crazyness husband.  “you’re right”, he said and before he could finish, she was off researching everything she’d need to go to BlogHer ’10 in august.

[end scene. this is the part where i transition from super awkward storytelling voice telling a story about myself as if i'm not and over into my regular voice. see? totally bananas over here.]

never in a million years did i see myself getting to a point in blogging where i’d want to fly across the country (have i mentioned i need sedatives to fly? terrified) and meet other bloggers. but here i am. i want to go. badly. not only would i be meeting Mae (remember her super awesome guest post?), but hundreds of other bloggers. you guys? i need your help. i’m not gonna sit here and beg, i’m just throwing it out here that i will be accepting donations to help make my nerdy/super amazing bloggy dreams come true. think of your dollar as a “thank you” for the following:

• informing you of anderson cooper’s gayness (kind of)
• making you think you should have another baby
• sharing with you how dumb i was
• giving you marriage advice
• um, this
• sharing photos of a cute lil’ nugget (too many to link, duh)

in return for your dollar, i will make you all proud by getting on a plane (this is huge, you don’t understand), flying to NYC and having an amazing time, thanking each and every one of you all the way, and of course, blogging my entire experience. because that is why i’m here, is it not?

just saying, a t-shirt of epic proportions with everyone’s name who donated would probably need to be made/worn.

hugs and smootches,

mandy

to donate to my BlogHer ’10 Conference fund o’ dreams, click here:

things i love thursday :: baggino

Posted on | February 4, 2010 | 11 Comments

mom confession: i can’t stand it when Harper gets food all over her clothes. i know, clothes can be washed and all that. i know.  but i just cringe when food is falling into her lap, making little mushy homes on her pants or shirt, and no matter how high i roll up her sleeves, the food still manages to get on them. i know, get over it right? well, no. i’m not gonna. instead? i’m going to use my new Baggino bib pretty much forever and ever. so there.

the baggino learner bibs? awesome. the bib is made of soft cotton terry and has long sleeves and the front is extra long. think food-catching snuggie for babies. it velcros in the back and has elastic on the cuffs so food can’t sneak in. when H is done eating, i just remove it, dump the dropped food in the sink and toss in the washing machine. super plus? it’s cute!

it doubles as an art smock, so as soon as i get over my fear of Harper eating art supplies, and she gets over her desire to do it, we will use it for that, too.

Baggino has other great products, including a convertible diaper bag that you can clip on like a belt during changings in say, a target bathroom or nordies lounge. watch the demo, it looks amazing. i would probably do some sort of wild west reenactment with one of these bad boys. seriously, want.

and this, i love. right now, through the end of february, Baggino is donating 50% of their sales to the relief efforts in Haiti. just because it is on the news less and less doesn’t mean they don’t still need our help. if you’re in the market for new bibs, a diaper bag, even an insulated bottle bag, please consider buying them through Baggino.  help Haiti and get great products. win win in my opinion.

Baggino sent me this bib at no charge in exchange for review. no monetary compensation was received for this review.

stats and stuff.

Posted on | February 1, 2010 | 20 Comments

f i haven’t mentioned this before, i have 3 baby books for Harper. each of them have a few things filled out, because i like certain things about one and certain things about another. one actually has a page devoted to your baby’s first night of life. it has spaces for each and every time it woke up and what you did. ha. haha. HAHAHAHAHA. yeah, ok. ’cause that was gonna happen. don’t think H needs to fondly look back on how much percocet i took or number of times i made myself a giant maxi-pad/icepack/tucks/dermaplast diaper (or how many her dad made for me, for that matter).

so anywho, in order to have something to look at to someday complete said baby book(s), all of Harper’s stats go here each dr. visit. today we went to see dr. lavender. she was very impressed with Harper’s vocabulary and social skillz. she exclaimed when she came in that it just couldn’t be Harper’s 15 month appointment yet, it felt like she was just born. i know, right? le sigh.

here be the stats:

weight :: 20 lb 8 oz. – 10th %

height :: 29 inches – 10th%

noggin ::  18.75 inches – 90th %

in other words, she’s a contender for her own TLC show, but has a ginormous brain.  i was SO relieved to hear she gained some weight and grew taller because she didn’t grow at all between 9 and 12 months.

here is what H is up to these days:

• wearing size 3 diapers and size 9 – 12 month clothes.
• walking like a champ, and tries to run sometimes. this is not at all terrifying.
• eating all sorts of food. her finickiness has gotten so much better. her faves are garden burgers, cheese, bananas, whole wheat pancakes, peaches, annie’s mac&cheese, carrots and carrot juice.
• is completely drinking whole milk. no more formula.
• says a ton of words. says “hi” to everyone, answers “yeah” to questions, “alright!” when she’s excited, “dadee” to Scot (still doesn’t call me anything, but whatevs), “uh oh” when she drops something, and can still count to two but has seemed to have forgotten three.
• knows what things are. if you ask her to bring you a certain toy, she knows which it is, usually. also loves to share.
• gives awesome kisses and high-fives.
• sleeps like a mad woman. 7:30pm to usually 8am, though she has been known to sleep until 9:30 at times.
• is generally awesomesauce.

since she had to get shots today, the rest of the afternoon will be spent cuddling. although i will admit, she was over it waaaay sooner than i was.