We’re having a baby shower
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If you follow my blog, you know two things about me: 1) I’m a struggling single mom and 2) I am about to become a grandmother for the first time.
I took her out on Saturday to register for baby gifts, to get some maternity clothes (from Goodwill…why pay full price for clothes you’re only going to wear for a few months?), and to see a movie.
The registry thing started out a mess. I drove all the way out to pick her up from work and take her to Target, got all the way through the process only to get to the end, clicked “submit” and the thing didn’t go through. I asked one of the clerks about, she had someone come over and that person told us “Yeah, our system is down. Someone else had the same problem earlier and we couldn’t get it to work. Sorry”.
So we left and headed to Babies R Us who treated us a lot better than Target did. But after reading about Toys R Us and their definition of a grandparent, which apparently only includes people over 50, I’m debating if I want to give Babies R Us our business too.
Anyway, I decided that since I’m the only family she has around here - the rest of our family is in the South - its up to me to support her through this and make sure she and the baby have everything they need. That’s why I’m throwing her this virtual shower.
I’m hoping that all of the generous companies, crafters, and business owners who have provided their products to be reviewed by bloggers will do the same for us. I love doing reviews, I appreciate those opportunities, and I’d like to have a few more opportunities to do some more.
By donating or sponsoring the baby shower, we’ll post your product, a link to your website, and a review (if applicable), on a page dedicated completely to this event.
If you’re interested, please email me at ThatCrazyMom@gmail.com and let me know what you would be able to contribute. And I can tell you now, every little bit will be appreciated from the bottom of our hearts.
If you’d like to promote Sissy’s Virtual Baby Shower, please feel free to grab this button by just copying the code in the box and placing it on your blog:
I need a girlfriend
No, not that kind of girlfriend, although based on my experiences with dating lately it does sound like a better alternative.
I mean a girlfriend, like the kind you can tell anything to, the kind that will tell you yes those jeans DO make your butt look big, the kind who will rush over with a bottle of Absolut pint of Ben & Jerry’s when you find out the jerk is cheating on you.
That’s what Mary has. Actually, she has a few of them. See, Mary is really Meg Ryan and her girlfriends are Annette Bening, Debra Messing and Jada Pinkett Smith. And they’re all in a movie called ‘The Women‘.
‘The Women’ is a remake of a 1939 movie by the same name that takes a comical look at women and the ties that bind them. When ‘the women’ find out that Mary’s husband is having an affair - with Eva Mendes of all people who I absolutely adore but really want to choke in this movie - her friends come to her rescue. But its more than just a story about cheating spouses, its about loyalty, betrayal, gossip, careers, and friendships.
The amazing thing about ‘The Women‘ is what went on behind the scenes. If you visit Dove.com, you can watch a short film about “The Women Behind The Women” to learn, first-hand, how Hollywood creates the images we see on screen, highlighting the work and people involved in making a major motion picture come to life.
The short film encourages women to challenge today’s beauty stereotypes, celebrates the opportunities for women to empower one another and explores the diverse definitions of beauty, shared through interviews with some of the cast and crew of The Women. The Women Behind “The Women” is available exclusively on Dove.com.
Here’s what you’ll find at Dove.com:
- View exclusive behind-the-scenes footage of The Women & The Women Behind “The Women”
- Read the Director’s Diary, written by Diane English
- Go Behind-the-Scenes with Dove teen journalist Cammy Nelson
- Download self-esteem building tools for girls, moms and mentors
- Enter for a chance to win a trip for you and a friend to the LA film premiere of The Women on September 4 (Sweepstakes ends 8/20. No purchase necessary. Void where prohibited.).
- Enter for a chance to win one of 100 pairs of movie tickets each day between 9/3 and 9/19 (No purchase necessary. Void where prohibited.).
Its all tied in with Dove’s Campaign for Real Beauty which is just awesome. Its been around for a few years and already it has made such a difference. Remember how shocking and controversial it was a few years ago when Dove ran ads showing women of all sizes, shapes, colors and ages (some of them in their skivvies!)? Now we don’t even bat a well-curved and mascara’d eyelash. Yay Dove!!
Anyway…I get to do something this weekend that I haven’t done in a long time. I get to go relax and enjoy a movie all by myself. No potty breaks during the good scenes, no trips to the concession stand because someone’s root beer is all gone.
I’ll let you know how it goes.
Its ok, baby
It took me several days to post this and I still can’t do it without turning into a blubbering fool.
Friday, September 5th, 2008 was one of those days where I realized my baby wasn’t so much a “baby” anymore. See, I didn’t get to have the typical “first day of kindergarten” experiences that most mothers have and that I had with my other two children. I didn’t get to stand there clutching her tiny little hand in mine, heart breaking, smile on my face and tears in my eyes, telling her it’ll all be ok and not knowing who needs convincing more - me or her. Having that moment taken away from me because of a stupid, selfish stunt the Sperm Donor pulled in an attempt to gain some leverage in a custody battle, that’s something I don’t think I can ever forgive. I will never have that day etched in my memory. There’s an empty place in my heart where the First Day of Kindergarten should be.
So Friday September 5th, several days into First Grade, is the closest I will come to it.
Last year, I always pulled up in the school’s driveway to pick her up and drop her off. In the morning, I’d take her into Kid’s Club before school then rush home to log on to the computer in time for my shift on my day job. And in the afternoon I’d get there early enough to snag a parking spot right up front where I could see her and she could see me as soon as she walked out of the building.
This year our schedule has changed - no more day job so no more Kid’s Club - and the school’s policies have changed - no more primo spots in front of the school entrance. So we park at the bottom of the hill in the parking lot, early enough in the morning for her to sit in the car with me until its time to go in and early enough in the afternoon where I can park instead of having to circle around and wait for a spot.
For the first few days, I walked up to the building and stood in line with her. She’s got some attachment issues that I don’t really talk about much openly but its bad enough to where she wants me to just stay at school with her all day. After those first few days, I thought maybe it was too hard on both of us if I stayed in line with her so I suggested one morning that she walk up the hill herself. At first, she didn’t hesitate.
“Hey, sweetie, you wanna walk up to the school by yourself like a big girl?”
“Okay!”
“You can wait in the car with me until its time to go in if you want.”
“Okay!”
So there we sat having our standard morning chatter about Topics of Importance to a 5 Year Old like the Jonas Brothers and what kind of backpacks her friends have.
After a few false starts, she decided she was ready to go. (Brace yourself, Mom. Smile. Tell her she’s a big girl. Tell her she’ll be fine.)
She got out of the car. She took a few steps, stopped, and turned around to see if I was still there. She took a few more quick steps, got a little further away, found some friends to walk with, and off she went in a Big Girl moment.
Then she stopped again. I waved her on, mouthing the words “Its okay, baby, go ahead” to her, thankful she was too far away to see me crying.
She hid behind a tree, peeking out to see if I was still there. I waited in the parking lot, planning to stay until I knew for sure that she was safe and happy in her classroom. I waited…and waited….and then I saw this:
That’s my baby. Inching out from behind the tree like a baseball player trying to steal third base.
She stood there for what felt like a half hour but was really only about two minutes.
I tried waving her on again but instead of taking a few brave steps towards the school, she ran towards the car. I wiped my eyes before she got to my window so I could tell her again that it really is going to be ok and I gave her a kiss and sent her back on her way.
She managed to make it back to that tree again, dragging her feet and her Hannah Montana backpack. Finally, some sweet little boy, probably a 5th grader, recognized her and said hi, told his chattering group of 5th grade friends to hold on, took her under his proverbial wing and walked her the rest of the way.
Whispering to myself “It’ll be okay…”, I pulled out of the parking lot and drove away.
It’s a….
That’s my grandbaby. It took a while to figure it out because she was being stubborn (that’s a given in our family) and keeping her legs closed pretty tight. Let’s just hope she’s still like that 16 years from now.
She’s measuring 11 inches, 1.5 ounces and her heartrate was 136 beats per minute.
P.S. Since we don’t have any family out here and I’m all my daughter has, I’m thinking about having a virtual baby shower for her. My friends did it for me when I was pregnant with Princess and it was a blast! I’d love to do the same for her. Any thoughts? Yay? Nay?
Almost forgot!
I have giveaway winners and awards to post, both of which fall under the “These Put Me In a Good Mood” category. So now that I have totally bummed everyone out, which I really hate doing, here’s some good news.
Winner of the Yoplait Kids yogurt prize pack:
Jessica at http://momforhim.blogspot.com/
Congrats, Jessica! Keep an eye out for an email from me so you can send me your mailing address.
Winners for the Cocoa Puffs Combos cereal coupons (good for one free box)…I have a surprise for this one. Since there were only 7 entries and one of those entries won the Yoplait Kids prize pack, that left 6 other entries. I only had 4 coupons to give away BUT…because the people from Cocoa Puffs Combos (specifically Amanda from their PR firm) are so awesome, they’re throwing in 2 more coupons. So that means that everyone who didn’t win the Yoplait prize pack gets a free box of Cocoa Puffs Combos! (Be ready to buy another box. The kids and I were practically fighting over who got the last bowl.)
So congrats to Mariana, Jessica, Janet F, Mary, Karin, and “Fruitbearer”. And thanks to Amanda and Cocoa Puffs Combos!
I’ll be sending emails to all of you to get your mailing address but if you see this before I get around to it, feel free to just send it to me at ThatCrazyMom at Gmail dot com.
Now for the awards…
First from Apple Blossom Designs who passed the Brillante Blog Award on to me
And from Lydia at On The Verge, an award I’ve hoped to get for a really long time because I think its totally cute
Another one from one of my favorite bloggers, MammaDawg
I always have a tough time picking people to pass these on to so I’m going to try something a little different. I want to pass these on to everyone who subscribes to my blog, either by email or feed, because you are “brillante” and you do rock! So I want all of my subscribers to grab these awards, post them on your own blog (or save them on your computer in case you ever do start a blog since I know some of you don’t have one yet) and leave me a comment with a link to your blog.
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Sissy's Virtual Baby Shower
November 1st, 2008 Sponsorships, Advertisements, Donations Appreciated!
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