Chit Chat Mom» Thoughts

Video Review of Tommee Tippee Bottle and Sippy Cup.

Chit Chat Mom — Fri, 19 Feb 2010 00:39:19 +0000

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.

A Mom’s Blogging Map for the Year

Chit Chat Mom — Thu, 11 Feb 2010 19:20:32 +0000

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.
No Worries
Thinking
Be Creative
Love That!
Discover What You’re Missing
I am Beautiful on the Inside
The Long Way Home
Success
Thanks for Our Future!
Living on a Budget
University of Oregon
Curiosity Never Retires
Giving
Because There is Always More to Learn
Big Return from a Small Investment
Get More
Stop at Nothing
Sleep
Sunny Outlook
Giggle
More Outdoor Life
I Will Win
Joy
Lily Growing
Peace. Peace.
Family

Just Because It’s Your Policy, It Doesn’t Make it Right

Chit Chat Mom — Fri, 29 Jan 2010 00:47:33 +0000

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.

All I Want for Christmas is for David Goldman to Get His Son Back

Chit Chat Mom — Tue, 22 Dec 2009 02:24:22 +0000

Christmas is just around the corner and I am relieved to know that I don’t have any packages left to wrap, any last minute trips to the mall to find the right gift, no late night online shopping left to do. It’s not because I’ve already done those things, rather it’s because for the second year in a row my husband and I and are families are not exchanging Christmas gifts. Nope… we’re not a bunch of Scrooges. We’re just a bunch of adults that have decided that for us Christmas is not about gift giving and receiving, it’s about being together. The hubby and I have 13 children not including “L” that we buy Christmas gifts for and we continue to buy and give those gifts… and we love it. We love giving gifts to our god children, our nieces and to the other little people that make our life so wonderful. But when it comes to the adults in our life, we kind of all agree that we’ve got enough stuff!

So this year I can honestly say that all I want for Christmas is for David Goldman to get his son Sean back. Hopefully the Brazilian courts will agree.

Can’t Imagine Not “Connecting” with My Baby

Chit Chat Mom — Fri, 09 Oct 2009 15:20:06 +0000

When I woke up at 6am this morning to feed “L” and watch last night’s Private Practice on my DVR, I didn’t imagine it would become the subject of my post today. SPOILER ALERT! Don’t read this post if last night’s PP episode is on your DVR and you want to be surprised. For all you other mamas… help me to understand.

I have been blessed with a wonderful husband who was a tremendous support system before our daughter arrived and has kicked it up several notches since her birth. I haven’t experienced even a moment of the baby blues and I know how lucky I am. Seeing Violet’s character not be able to connect with her baby was so sad for me. I feel a tremendous connection to “L” and I have since the very first time I saw her, which was in a very groggy state after my c-section. I know that many many women experience postpartum depression and that many are not able to connect with their little ones. Now that I’m a mom I know that I will be much more conscious when my girlfriends have babies and will do what I can to help be part of their support system.

I don’t think it’s Violet’s fault that she couldn’t connect to Lucas, she’d been through a terribly traumatic experience. But did Violet do the right thing taking the baby to Pete and leaving him there? She said she wanted to be a good mom and this was how she could do it… was she right?

How Do I Get My Baby to Take a Nap?

Chit Chat Mom — Tue, 06 Oct 2009 14:39:19 +0000

Okay mamas, I need your help. How do I get my eight week old baby to take a nap? ”L” sleeps great at night. For about a month now she’s been sleeping a solid six hours, waking up for a bottle and then going back to sleep for another two and a half to three hours before waking up again. So night times aren’t too bad. I am breastfeeding, so I’m awake every few hours to pump, but for the most part both the hubby and I are getting decent sleep at night. It’s during the day that things get a little rocky.

All “L” wants to take during the day are a handful of teeny tiny cat naps. Maybe 20 minutes at the most. It’s long enough for me to take a shower or start a load of laundry or empty and refill the dishwasher. What it isn’t long enough for is much of anything else. Now I realize at eight weeks we aren’t really going to have a “rhythm” down yet… but is there anything I can do to encourage her to sleep longer? If she could get in a two hour nap at some point I think she would do better in the evenings. We tend to have an all out baby melt-down some time between 4:30p and 7:00p. She becomes inconsolable and it takes 20 minutes plus to get her to relax enough to even eat.

I would love any advice that you mamas out there in cyber-mommy-space are able to share.

If Kate Wants To Spank Her Kids… Doesn’t She Have the Right?

Chit Chat Mom — Thu, 18 Jun 2009 14:46:48 +0000

The circus that has become Jon and Kate Gosselin’s life has taken another twist with In Touch Magazine publishing photos of Kate hitting (or what really looked to me like spanking) one of the sextuplets (Leah) at home earlier this month. The story made the cover of the mag with the headline, “Caught Hitting Her Daughter”. To me it looked like Kate was attempting a spanking, clearly going for the behind of little Leah. Now I’m not a big proponent of spanking as a form of discipline… but I don’t have kids yet. The hubby and I don’t plan on spanking our children, but we do plan on disciplining. That’s our job as parents. Unfortunately for Kate, the microscope she’s now living under has caused every move she makes to be open to criticism from the general public and the parental population.

Kate defended her actions to Life & Style saying that as a mother it’s her job to discipline her children how she sees fit.

So what do you think… does Kate have the right to spank her kids? Is spanking a form of child abuse or is it a discipline tool that from time to time some parents choose to use? Leave ChitChatMom a comment and let me know what you think?

Breastfeeding vs. Bottle Feeding Debate Ramps Up on MomLogic.com

Chit Chat Mom — Wed, 17 Jun 2009 15:26:26 +0000

If you’re a mom or like ChitChatMom you’re about to become one for the first time you’ve certainly had to weigh the pros and cons of breastfeeding vs. bottle feeding. While research shows that breastfeeding is ultimately the best in terms of nutrition for your child it’s not always the right choice for every mom and baby. I’m planning to breastfeed, but I’m also being realistic that it might not work out. I’m willing to make every effort and work with a lactation consultant if necessary, but I’m also promising myself not to get too upset if we end up having to go the way of the bottle. I was adopted and was bottle fed and I turned out just fine (or so I think).

The debate about the two options (and really there is a third, you can do a combo of both) has really heated up over on MomLogic where freelance publicist Christina Montoya Fiedler admitted that breastfeeding was not for her and then got a smattering of both positive and negative responses from moms. One breastfeeding proponent mom went so far as to tell Christina that she was “selfish” and didn’t care about what was best for her baby. Hey ladies… perhaps breast isn’t always best?! Just because something works for you doesn’t mean that it’s going to work for everyone.

Be sure to check out Christina’s update on MomLogic and see what other moms had to say in response to her original blog post, “Breastfeeding Is Not for Me.”

Did You Keep a Pregnancy Journal?

Chit Chat Mom — Fri, 05 Jun 2009 13:54:31 +0000

A girlfriend of mine gave me a really great pregnancy journal for my birthday this year back in March and I was so excited to get it. I immediately started answering the questions and adding pictures to it. Only problem is, I haven’t opened it in three months. Now every time I walk in the nursery and see it on the shelf I feel guilty. It’s like an extra credit summer assignment that’s sitting there saying to me “you know you want to do this”. I do. I really do want to complete it. I just don’t know where to find the time. Between work and all of the to-do list items at home the pregnancy journal gets pushed to the end of the line. My girlfriend told me that she kept one and her son who is now six loves to look at it and read about the time when he was in mommy’s tummy. Now I feel like a terrible mother. I already have parental guilt. She hasn’t even taken her first breath and I’m letting my little bug down. With only ten or so weeks left to go before the baby girl makes her arrival into the world I’m thinking I’ve got to be able to find an evening here somewhere to at least make a dent in all those empty pages. Scary thing is, this is just the pregnancy journal that I’m concerned about. I haven’t even started her a baby book yet!

Did you keep a pregnancy journal or are you feeling the guilt of not completing one?

I’ve Had Just About Enough Jon & Kate Drama

Chit Chat Mom — Thu, 04 Jun 2009 14:46:47 +0000

ChitChatMom is on the way out the door for a Dr.’s appointment, but before I go, I’ve got to say something about all the Jon & Kate drama. Seriously people… when is it gonna end? Their lives have been splashed all across the covers and pages of People and US Weekly and I’m starting to get sick of it. I admit I have been a fan of the show since it’s beginning. I got hooked watching re-runs on TLC and even told my husband around the time that we decided we were ready to start a family that “if she can handle eight I can certainly manage one.”

Now the drama around this TV mama has just exploded into a major media frenzy and I’m turned off by it. I can’t even begin to imagine being in her shoes with eight kids and a husband that doesn’t seem that interested in his family any more. I’m not saying that Kate is a saint. But certainly neither is Jon. I don’t know many husbands that would think it’s okay to go snowboarding on the other side of the country and miss your wife’s birthday. If my husband did that… may all the saints in heaven help him.

I haven’t even bothered to watch the season premier yet, and to be honest I don’t know that I will. There’s something profoundly sad and disturbing about the whole thing that I think won’t mix well with my 29 weeks prego body full of hormones. I cried yesterday over frozen yogurt… I think that’s an indication that I’m not ready for something as heavy as an episode of Jon & Kate.

So what do all you mamas think? Have you had enough of America’s favorite super-sized family? (Sorry Duggar family… but it’s true).