Check out the video above for my review of the Tommee Tippee Closer to Nature 90z Bottle ($7.99 per bottle) and the Tommee Tippee Explora Truly Spill Proof Sippy Cup ($7.99 for a pack of two). Both of these products (as well as a package of 2 Closet to Nature BPA FREE bottle nipples) were sent to me from Tommee Tippee at no cost in exchange for my review of their product.
You can purchase these products (as well as other Tommee Tippee products) exclusively at Babies R Us and www.babiesrus.com. You can also enter yourself into a drawing to win a Babies R Us Gift card by becoming a Tommee Tippee Facebook Fan. Click here for the entry link.
For more information about Tommee Tippee products visit Tommee Tippee online at TommeeTippee.com.
One of my favorite annual activities involves glue sticks, old magazines, poster board and my girlfriends. While it might sound like a kindergarten craft project it is actually an opportunity to put the past away and create a path into the future. Every year we gather at a home with our buckets, bags and boxes of craft supplies to spend several hours creating “Treasure Maps” for our coming year. Using words and photos from the magazines we hoard all year long for this very day, we create poster boards covered in examples of achievements, dreams, hopes and wants that we have for ourselves. Last year when I created my poster board I was almost through my first trimester of pregnancy with Lily and my Treasure Map was covered with phrases like “healthy pregnancy”, “find better sleep”, “live a more creative life” and “family matters”. When it was time to gather together my supplies (and I have a lot of them) for this year’s Treasure Mapping extravaganza I stopped to take a critical look at my 2009 poster. Every single thing on my poster had come true. Okay, maybe “get more organized” hadn’t exactly come to fruition… but everything else had! Last year I had hung my Treasure Map in my closet and every day I had looked at it… and it had come true. It was an incredible realization that the power of positive suggestion really can make a difference. So when I sat down this year to create my 2010 Treasure Map I was anxious to fill it with hopes and goals that I really wanted for myself… and even a few things that might seem a little out-of-reach.
This year I hung my Treasure Map on the wall by my desk in my home office. Then just the other day it hit me like a ton of bricks! I have been struggling to write on my blog on a daily basis… as you may have seen, I’ve found the true reality of motherhood to be messy and all consuming. Which is probably why I was still sitting at my computer at 1 a.m. this morning working. So the realization that hit me as I sat and reflected on my Treasure Mapping masterpiece was that my map could help me write my blog this year. Every little phrase provides the jumping off point for a great post topic. Of course I won’t only write about what’s on my Treasure Map… but maybe when I’m stuck and need to get those creative juices flowing (in between cleaning up the apple juice that is flowing down my desk thanks to curious little hands) I can use my Treasure Map to prompt ideas.
There are 46 weeks left in 2010 and 74 topics on my list… so if I can manage to do one and a half posts every week from here on it I will make it through my list. I don’t plan to write them in order… but I plan to write at least something about every single one.
So here are the phrases from my 2010 Treasure Map… I hope it inspires you to create a map of your own!
2010, A Very Good Year
Live with Less
I Heart It!
Stay fit. Be Rewarded.
Get Your Pre-Pregnancy Body Back!
Eat Right
Take More Pics
Women Who Shape the World
Health
Just Be
Should You Eat That?
Life’s On… Tune In
Get Girl Time Back
The Many Women Who Shape My World
Pure and Simple
Life Made Easy
Let Your Imagination Run Our…
Purpose
Imagine That
Ranch Cowgirl
It’s a Pretty Great Place
Kids
Oprah Talks to Elizabeth
Relax
Summer… Be Outdoors More
Lifetime Learning Begins
Stroller Strides
It’s Not Fitness. It’s Life.
Stroller Power
Connecting Mom to Mom
Life is Measured in Moments
Make Every Moment Count
New Parents
Baby & Me
The Next Chapter
It’s About Your Kids!
Family Matters
Parenting
More Choices for A Life Well Spent
Nature and Nuture
Get More Ideas
Summer… the Best Time of Your Life
Fly Easy…
Find a Better Summer
The Ability to Master Fresh Challenges is Your New Job Security
It’s All About Focus
Play. Laugh. Grow.
Life is Short, but Childhood is Shorter. Teach them Well.
So this won’t come as a surprise to any of the mommies out there, but it might to those of you that haven’t yet experienced parenthood… motherhood is messy. Not messy in the “I constantly have an unknown substance on my right shoulder” way, although that’s true too. It’s messy in the “I can’t find anything because it’s buried under this mess” way. I used to consider myself a fairly organized person. Nine months of pregnancy and six months of motherhood have changed all that. Now my desk looks like it was abandoned years ago (you can see the evidence in the picture below) and the thought of organizing it can quite literally bring tears to my eyes.
Motherhood has also made a mess of my wardrobe, hair and makeup. Sometimes walking by a mirror will cause me to stop and do a double take… not because I look so good, but because sometimes I don’t even recognize myself anymore. I can’t remember the last time I actually made a full effort at putting on makeup. My daily wardrobe resembles that of a glorified ragamuffin and I made the mistake of opting for a “mommy friendly” hair cut when Lily was just a month or so old. I sure wish I could go back to that day and stop my hairdresser about half way through my daring pixie cut. The cut I ended up with looks a little more boyish than I was hoping for. But at least when Lily grabs it there’s less of it to grab onto!
I could go on and on about the other “messes” that come with motherhood. Here are just a few that I’ve encountered; mind-messiness (walking in to a room and not remembering what you went in there for, forgetting names, dates and places you’ve known forever, leaving food in the microwave for hours, leaving clothes in the wash machine for days), car-messiness, home-messiness (it’s practically impossible to contain the explosion of toys, clothes, diapering accessories and food that come with babies) and general appearance messiness.
Now don’t get me wrong… I love motherhood. I can’t imagine a more rewarding experience… and my little one is just six months old. The messiness of motherhood on the other-hand is a whole different story.
I received an email from BCBSAZ this week regarding my appeals. They wanted to let me know that after an in-depth review of my case, “Unfortunately, we are unable to provide coverage in this case, as our contracts for individual policies exclude maternity coverage except in very specific circumstances.”
Just because it’s your policy, it doesn’t make it right.
Interestingly enough, it seems that if I’d needed a cesarean section prior to October 1, 2008 it would have been covered. The revision to Blue Cross Blue Shield of Arizona’s definition of “complication of pregnancy” to no longer include cesarean sections “during labor” seems to be a decision driven by the bottom line, not what is best for their patients. If Lily hadn’t been delivered via cesarean it’s a definite possibility that BCBSAZ could be paying for Lily to have physical therapy right now. Hmm… which is better for the patient, a cesarean section to avoid future complications or physical therapy for an infant?
BCBSAZ has offered me a meeting with their Medical Director. That should be interesting.
So there I was sitting in my office hard at work when I heard a screech of happiness from the kitchen. Shrieks of joy and loud laughter are a common sound in our house these days. Lily has found her voice and is determined to use it. She especially loves to release high pitched squeals while in restaurants… but that’s another post. A few moments after hearing the screech of happiness from the kitchen I heard the phrase “this is what happens when daddy is left in charge” fly from my hubby’s mouth. Uh oh. I wonder what in the world is going on in there. I walked in to find that my husband had decided to let Lily have a little snack using a teething feeder. (A teething feeder if you’re not familiar is this great little invention that allows you to put food inside a little net pouch that baby can then suck on and only get very small amounts of food out of.)
What had caused the screech and the follow up “when daddy is left in charge” came from the fact that Lily was covered in avocado. Instead of putting a more substantial type of food like banana in the teething feeder, my husband had decided to put avocado. Lily loves avocado… I just don’t think it’s the right food for the teething feeder.
The end result was a very happy very messy baby that got a bed time bath from head to foot.
I can only imagine the shenanigans that these two will get in as Lily gets older.
This year I hung my Treasure Map on the wall by my desk in my home office. Then just the other day it hit me like a ton of bricks! I have been struggling to write on my blog on a daily basis… as you may have seen, I’ve found the true reality of motherhood to be messy and all consuming. Which is probably why I was still sitting at my computer at 1 a.m. this morning working. So the realization that hit me as I sat and reflected on my Treasure Mapping masterpiece was that my map could help me write my blog this year. Every little phrase provides the jumping off point for a great post topic. Of course I won’t only write about what’s on my Treasure Map… but maybe when I’m stuck and need to get those creative juices flowing (in between cleaning up the apple juice that is flowing down my desk thanks to curious little hands) I can use my Treasure Map to prompt ideas.
Motherhood has also made a mess of my wardrobe, hair and makeup. Sometimes walking by a mirror will cause me to stop and do a double take… not because I look so good, but because sometimes I don’t even recognize myself anymore. I can’t remember the last time I actually made a full effort at putting on makeup. My daily wardrobe resembles that of a glorified ragamuffin and I made the mistake of opting for a “mommy friendly” hair cut when Lily was just a month or so old. I sure wish I could go back to that day and stop my hairdresser about half way through my daring pixie cut. The cut I ended up with looks a little more boyish than I was hoping for. But at least when Lily grabs it there’s less of it to grab onto!
I received an email from BCBSAZ this week regarding my appeals. They wanted to let me know that after an in-depth review of my case, “Unfortunately, we are unable to provide coverage in this case, as our contracts for individual policies exclude maternity coverage except in very specific circumstances.” 
What had caused the screech and the follow up “when daddy is left in charge” came from the fact that Lily was covered in avocado. Instead of putting a more substantial type of food like banana in the teething feeder, my husband had decided to put avocado. Lily loves avocado… I just don’t think it’s the right food for the teething feeder.
