Wish, Wait, Hope, Pray

I will be the first to admit that recently I’ve been low on blogging mojo. I am trying very hard to remain in the moments of motherhood with my daughter so by the end of the day blogging about it (even if I’ve been mentally composing said post all day) is just that one step too far.

I’ve also deleted a bunch of blogs from my reader – I really don’t care for people who whine about how hard motherhood is when they have a full time nanny and spend the majority of their time away from their kids, ditto for people who refuse to ask for help and for pregnant people who complain about noisy kids at their local restaurants (although I might revisit their blogs a few months after their due – just for the fun of it!) So not only is has my blogging mojo been at an all time low, I’ve been lacking in inspiration as well.

Then the other day I realized one of my favourite bloggers ev.ah – Tara from What She Really Wants has been tweeting links to some of her “regularly read” blogs and I loved them and started to feel rejuvenated. I instantly tweeted her that I wanted her to post a list of some of her favourite blogs that I might not read because she’d been batting a thousand so far. Then I thought, “Well other people may not have heard of some of my regular reads so maybe I should post the same” AND THEN I thought “Well what if a whole bunch of us did it and used Mr Linky to track it then maybe everyone could find some new blogs to read and inspire them.”

So that’s what I’ve done – here are a list of 10 blogs I read* that you might be interested in checking out. When you’re done checking it out, I want to know who YOU’RE reading that you think I, and others like me, should be reading too – and hook us all up with Mr Linky (below) so we can keep track and keep up. Sound good?

1.  What She Really Wants

Obviously I need to start with Tara. Go read her blog – she has exquisite taste, is eco-friendly, rolls with everything and anything that falls in her path, has an adorable baby boy only a few months older than Little Miss and a fighter pilot for a husband. Oh and she’s resolved (resoluted?) to bring us 365 eco-finds this year – how amazing is that for a new mom?

2.  Donna Reed In Blue Jeans (aka Monkey Toe Momma)

Monkey Toe and I found each other through the fabulous, and now sadly dormant, That Cool Broad. Connecting in that way you do when you find yourself constantly nodding and “amen”-ing to each other’s comments our bloggy friendship hit the ground running. Its hard to believe this beautiful, youthful, hilarious woman has FOUR kids ranging from teenage to toddler and including twins. We share a love of books, all things Edward and she has a fabulous way of looking at things that has, on numerous occasions, lifted my heavy spirits. I’ve even dreamt about meeting her a couple of times – talk about a connection!

3.  Fell Down The Rabbit Hole (Currently called – You Can Call Me Charlie)

I’m not a huuuuuge fan of celebrity blogs or tweets but I am a very big fan of Glee so when I stumbled across this blog by Dianna Agron who plays preggo Quinn Fabray I was intrigued. I love the beautiful exuberance she has for life, her gorgeous photos and the sneak peak into a life on the edge of breaking out – the sort of life that I very much had hoped to be living at one time. I also like that the blog doesn’t have comments so she’s not seeking approval, encouragement or fake love. I also love that she posts things specifically for her mom.

4.  The Modern Gal

I can’t quite pinpoint what exactly I love best about the Modern Gal – maybe its her charm, her ability to handle even life’s harshest downs with grace or perhaps its the fact that she posted a video of her boyfriend, now known as the Modern Love Machine, punting a football, practically naked, in the snow. Full of helpful links, funny videos and a defiant modern aplomb she is definitely one to read!

5.  The Hairy Farmer Family

I hate to say it, and please don’t let this scare you away, but I think I know more about Anne’s uterus than I do about my own. Despite this (or maybe because of it?) I love reading about the Hairy Wifey’s adventures in the country. Whether she is making extraordinary cakes, stalking her doctors or pleading to the mothering gods for some insight into her son’s development her (truly British) ability to take the piss out of herself has cracked me up and brought me to tears in equal measures.

6.  Tarable

If you’re wondering just who’s going to be buying Totally Styling Tattoo Barbie then you need to check out Tarable. This tough chick with a heart of gold blogs honestly and openly about the reality of motherhood (and now about being pregnant when you have a one year old) and what it does to us. Plus she’s got moxie galore, her daughter’s a sweetie and she’s always up for a beer (when she can!)

7.  The Fashion Police

Oh come on – tell me you haven’t fantasized about pulling out a Fashion Police badge and making a citizen’s arrest every now and again? A great combination of trend spotting, celeb grading, bargain hunting and personal shopping all wrapped up with a good dose of tongue-in-cheek snarkiness this is a great site to wile away some of that not-so-free time!

8.  The Happiest Mom

I had been following Meagan on Twitter for a while (one of those Follow Friday pickups) before I really started reading her blog now I’m hooked. There is so much food for thought here on how we define ourselves, what makes us the best moms we can be but most importantly what makes us happy. Thankfully Meagan’s not a rosy-bespectacled Polyanna but a realist and her insight and musings are a must read. This is the grown-up blog I save for when I know I can really give it my attention and even if my reading is sporadic the writing is not.

9.  Babyccino Kids

This is a newer one for me but I adore it because its along the lines of what I want Spilt Milk Moms to become. Stylish, charming and full of helpful hints this blog reveals a new gem at nearly every visit. I love that the contributors are slightly scattered around the globe and have different backgrounds which leads to a variety of recommendations and tips. If you’re on the look out for products, lifestyles or activities that are slightly different than your own I highly recommend them.

10.  Spilt Milk Moms

Oh, speaking of Spilt Milk Moms I’m going to give us a shameless plug. If you haven’t checked us out, please do! Right now we have a giveaway on for the fabulous Restickables and a promo code for Raspberry Kids and for the next couple of months we have a promo or a giveaway every week.

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I haven’t been feeling overly Christmas-y this year but this meme definitely made me smile. I’m not going to add to anyone’s Christmas to-do list by tagging anyone so if you like it too please do it – and then let me know so I can check out your answers!

1. Egg Nog or Hot Chocolate? EGG NOG. I need a 12 step group I love it so much. (Although I do reduced fat.) I was just saying that its now one of the only things that is available only one time of the year (you can buy Easter mini-eggs year round now for some stupid reason) so I tend to fill up on it. Egg Nog in my coffee is the perfect way to start my day and with rum never fails. I even made egg nog cheese cake and egg nog french toast over the last few weeks!

2. Does Santa wrap presents or just sit them under the tree? I didn’t know that Santa wrapped gifts for some kids until I was an adult. Santa doesn’t leave them under the tree either – he stuffs those stockings by the fireplace (with unwrapped goodies – I can’t imagine how much waste there is with santa wrap!) and leaves them bulging with surprises. One year he forgot to wipe his boots and there were ash boot prints all over mum & dad’s sheepskin rug – boy were they mad!

3. Colored lights on tree/house or white? White, white, white. I love the clean, simple look of it.

4. Do you hang mistletoe? I have in the past but its poisonous to dogs and kids so we tend to avoid it – maybe I’ll try and find some good plastic mistletoe.

5. When do you put your decorations up? Usually the first or second weekend in December. Growing up my sister’s birthday was Dec 2nd and my dad’s is Dec 5th so we weren’t allowed to do anything Christmas-y until after their birthdays so now I stick to early December. November is just for keeners (and Christmas Eve – when my husband thinks the tree should go up is WAY too late!)

6. What is your favorite holiday dish? Christmas pudding – a secret recipe husbando & I came up that came about after he worked on a show with a bunch of top chefs and we incorporated a lot of their ideas.

7. Favorite Holiday memory as a child? Cabbage Patch kid year. It was the year of mom riots and store shortages and my parents had done the whole “christmas is about giving not receiving” speech. I was SUPER unpopular at school and this was my first year at a new school. When Santa hadn’t brought it I was devastated. I even had a nap and cried thinking I was never going to get one and my sister (2 years younger) came in and told me that if I didn’t get a cabbage patch she’d still love me even if no one liked me – LOL! My parents had wrapped it in a box twice the size of the Cabbage Patch to disguise it and when I opened it I just burst into tears. Makes me tear up now just thinking about it. I was so surprised.

8. When and how did you learn the truth about Santa? My dad slipped to my younger sister and either she told me or the parents told us after the slip up. I think I was 9.

9. Do you open a gift on Christmas Eve? Yup – and its always pyjamas LOL! I don’t know how old I was when I realized that despite my parents pretending to pick at random it was always the pjs!

10. How do you decorate your Christmas tree? Our tree has a lot of sparkly silver ornaments, some cute tin ornaments and then a collection of ornaments from our travels – a handstitched dove from Swaziland, wooden reindeer from Brussels, a Haida design, some wooden hearts and a star from the UK and a fabulous ‘Father Christmas’ made by my friend Chris that looks like him. Its sounds haphazard but it comes together very well!

11. Snow! Love it or Dread it? Love it! Never feels like Christmas without snow.

12. Can you ice skate? Yes but it takes me a while to warm up but then I can do cutovers. I usually end up with a bruised tailbone though.

13. Do you remember your favorite gift? See Cabbage Patch above – my husband has had a couple of winners with a pair of diamond earrings and a gorgeous Indian jewellery box.

14. What’s the most important thing about the Holidays for you? Joy, my husband, food and – this year my daughter.

15. What is your favorite Holiday Dessert? See #6.

16. What is your favorite holiday tradition? Christmas Eve Curry – we have curry (and usually Champagne) every Christmas Eve and I love it – so different before the turkey feast!

17. What tops your tree? A star, which we had to buy the year the movers lost the paper angel that was made for me with my face photoshopped on!

18. Which do you prefer giving or Receiving? I LOVE shopping for presents for other people but I also love getting good gifts (like the green shoes I’ve been obsessing over that Husbando bought me but I’ve not been allowed to see!)

19. Candy Canes: Yuck or Yum? I never usually have them around but my mum bought them this year for my nephew to put on our tree – I can live without them, I hardly need something else to eat this time of year.

20 Favorite Christmas Show? Guys & Dolls – I know its not a traditional but I always end up watching it over Christmas!

21. Saddest Christmas Song? I was thinking that there are no really sad Christmas songs but the words to “Last Christmas’ are actually pretty sad.

22. What is your favorite Christmas Song? Baby Its Cold Outside – the cheesiness just rocks and you have to know Husbando and I duet it together whilst tipsy.

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Well after a morning of about as much productivity as you can get from a roly-poly pregnant lady in the heat Husbando has taken Pascoe to the dog park leaving me with a wee bit of time and no feeling of responsibility to clean up – so I’m going to update you on my shower and, as requested by Stella, tell you what I got!

First off I have to say that my fellow Spilt Milk Moms throw one mean shower. It exceeded even my incredibly high expectations! The ladies handmade the invitations and brought together an adorable rubber duckie theme with the colours of Little Miss’ nursery – spring green and pink.

Check out the nibbles table with all my favourites:

The take home party favours:

And @Baby2009 ’s sister made the most amazing Scandinavian cake (a vanilla sponge cake, with raspberry jam, smothered in whipping cream and then topped with maripan fondant). I’ve never had it before but OMG was it amazingly delicious.

The Cake:

Check out our little family made of marzipan! Pascoe even has a ‘P’ on his collar!!!

There were also other amazing details – the most delicate pink peonies (my favourite flower in the whole world), a yummy fruity champagne punch and poor-man’s non-alcoholic mojitos. All of the gifts were incredibly wrapped as well but I have to confess that we were having such a good time that after the initial photo taking we just enjoyed ourselves and our wonderful friends (I know, I know, what kind of blogger am I?)

So, now to answer Stella’s question – We were spoiled!

We were given Little Twig body wash and body milk (I adore their gorgeous line of products because they are natural based and they list each and every ingredient on their website and I can pronounce them all!), some adorable clothes (including the cutest ruffly knickers from Emily of If This Works) and The Happiest Baby on the Block book from Tara. I’ve already finished the book and I have to say out of all of the books I’ve read so far it seems to be the one that makes the most sense. As we were told by other friends – even if you don’t necessarily agree with his methods, his theory is really interesting and makes sense. Plus he never asks you to do anything that goes against a natural parental instinct, which to me is paramount. There is no way to learn how to do this parenting gig aside from just doing it and any book that asks parents to go against their natural instincts (i.e. let their child cry for hours) is only undermining the parents confidence in my opinion.

We also got this:

And some adorable homemade burp cloths and blanket, and an organic crinkle toy (which is her first real toy!) and a coffee grinder for husbando (which is kind’ve a silly story but has made me a full on coffee bean convert!) @Barbaroni and family gave us the FAB Chicco Hippo chair which attaches to the table (or in our case it will be attaching the the breakfast bar on our island) but its fully portable which makes going out and about very easy:

And this guy arrived just after we got home:

And just check out the bum on this adorable (and teeny tiny) onesie from @mama_jo and family:

But hands down my favourite present has to be this guy:

See I met “C” (@barbaroni’s husband) during our first semester at college. We became friends really quickly when we both auditioned for (and got cast in) a production of The Tempest and by the end of the year there was a small group of us that were pretty inseparable. We used to do stupid things that only college students do like drive to Whistler (3.5+ hours) at 11pm just to have a snowball fight or drive to Taco Bell in the US for burritos in the middle of the night and laugh as the customs agents tried to figure out if we were crazy or smugglers!  One day during one of our “roadtrips” I found Ernie in a secondhand store and he kinda became our mascot – always joining us on adventures.

After college “C” and I lived together for a couple years and one Christmas we decided that it would be the FUNNIEST THING EVER if we sent out one of those “family portrait” Christmas cards. So we made an appointment at the local Sears photo studio and I wore this vintage 1950’s dress and “C” a shirt and tie and we had a family portrait taken with Ernie as our “child”. (I’ll never forget how confused the photographer was!) And then sent them to everyone we knew. I have no idea how they went down but I don’t think it matters because even now when I think about it I can’t help but laugh my ass off. Anyways… it was while we were living together that I decided to move to the UK and so I packed what I could and threw the rest away and just always figured that Ernie had been lost somewhere between the intercontinental move and all the little moves that followed. Until I was handed a gift bag last week with a special gift in it for Little Miss just from Uncle C.

I couldn’t believe it when I saw it – it literally brought tears to my eyes. I don’t know whether it was because he’d secretly kept it all these years with a view to giving it back to me when I had kids or just seeing such a brilliant reminder of such happiness and fun or whether the whole thing – Ernie himself and being given back to me – made me wish and hope that Little Miss be blessed with friends as wonderful as the ones I have. As we all age and grow it can be hard to treasure those friendships and dynamics do change – I now spend more time with my male friends’ wives as I do with them but Ernie was a gorgeous reminder, on a day where our wonderful friends gathered together to celebrate the transition Husbando and I are about to make, that these are the ties that bind our hearts and make our lives worth living.

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Damn its hot around here! Despite the heat keeping me from sleeping last night I am actually feeling more positive about things at the moment. Two days ago I was getting ready to write about about the pre-baby blues but I’m starting to feel more positive and more excited about everything. At some point in the next 5 weeks our daughter will be with us and I cannot wait to meet this little creature who we’re about to embark on a life long partnership with.

I have so many posts flying around my head at the moment and I’m hoping I’ll have a chance on Sunday to put them down in type but until then…

Over at Spilt Milk Moms I’m not only reviewing the the adorable 3 Sprouts organic storage bins but we are giving away a FABULOUS Moukisac prize pack. I actually have been using Moukisacs for over 18 months and aside from their obviously green credentials I’ve been amazed at how much longer vegetables last in the mesh bags – like 2 – 3 times longer than normal! So head over there and enter, enter, enter!

Remember a while ago when I mentioned I was dying of itchiness? Well Anna recommended checking out a lotion by Aveeno and it seriously saved my sanity – I’m singing it (and therefore Anna’s) praises at Chic Critique today!

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I’m still sick.

So no real brain power to write anything but… please head over to Milk Bank where I’m pondering if its possible to parent without guilt, I’d love to know what you think.

Also please go and send a huge Congratulations to Ryan, Cole and the Littlest Buddy for the arrival of little Tessa at Pacing the Panic Room and best wishes to A Brown Eyed Girl who’s currently in labour!

Till later! xoxo

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We’re back from a lovely trip away and I intend to write a proper city break review of Portland (Oregon!) but it will have to wait as we are dealing with a family crisis that may see us jumping on a plane to the UK later this week.

Baby, Husbando and I are all fine but I’m anxious and trying to get things sorted/ready in case we have to go.

So I’m trying to keep up on my blog reading (although commenting will be at a minimum) and will try to update you when I can.

Em

PS – Although I have no problem discussing my life and vajayjay in detail here I want to honour others’ privacy so won’t be posting about the situation hence the keeping mum.

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The title is how I’m feeling today. Very, very sorry for myself.

I went for a walk on Saturday before the BlogHer event and felt great – went to the opening of the new Golden Ears Bridge (with like 40,000 of my closest friends) and a little ways across the bridge my hip did something bad. Something that by the end of the night stopped me from sitting, standing, lying, breathing comfortably. And it hasn’t gone away. And then today I found out that they’ve switched some of our prenatal classes around and we decided to go to Portland this week so we wouldn’t miss the breastfeeding class and guess what class they’ve switched to this week? And I have more anxiety about breastfeeding than I do about labour. Which says a hell of a lot. (Updated: they’ve now offered us a private session to catch up because I slightly freaked about missing it! So all’s well that ends well I suppose.)

Anyway – the only good thing about being forced into bed early last night (despite not sleeping) is that I got to finish this fab book of birth stories. Y’all know how freaked out I’ve been with other birth story books but this one rocked. If you’re in your third trimester and starting to think about the reality of this baby having to come out of you I highly recommend it.

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… take a holiday from the neighbourhood.’

I’m dreaming of a weeking away with Husbando. <Sigh>

Oh and, um? I’m 60 days away from my due date. Eeeeek!

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Its been a very busy few days so I thought it would be good to ‘ketchup’.

On Friday we had our second 3D ultrasound – it was nice not being as anxious as we were the first time round but it also didn’t have that edge of excitement either. In the beginning it was pretty scary because it looked like there was something wrong with her face. The images looked like she either had some sort of deformity in her nose area or a cleft palate but then they were able to adjust the images and everything is fine. I honestly was terrified that something had happened in the last 8 weeks and was wracking my brain to see if I had done something or there had been some sort of sign or symptom. I never want to feel that way again – it was truly horrible.

We did get a couple of cute photos and it was so sweet to see how much she’s filled out since last time (talk about chub-chub cheeks!) She spent the entire ultrasound with her nose squished up against my uterus (she’s turned back from being head down) and with either the umbilical cord or her feet in her mouth.

I can’t believe we’re already at 32 weeks! Only 8 weeks to go!

Friday night we hosted a dinner party for some of Husbando’s friends (and both women in the couples are expecting as well). I made sure when we created the menu that a good half of it could be made in advance and I was so glad that was the case!  We served Piedmont Peppers, Roasted Tomato Salad, olives and Tuscan bread to start and then followed by grilled roast pork, green beans with olive shallot butter, asparagus in white wine and potato brioches. For dessert I made my favourite Summer Pudding (delicious and ridiculously easy) with Vanilla cream. Dinner was fantastic but it was kinda funny that all the women were sober and the men got slightly drunk. When Husbando offered another round of beers at 12:30 and I saw one of the women’s face fall I decided that I needed to do something so played the pregnant card and made a show of needing to turn in. Both women were visibly relieved and they all headed out 15 minutes later. It makes me wonder how many times I haven’t been able to read those signals when I’ve been drunk!

Saturday morning I hosted this month’s Spilt Milk Mom’s meeting so whipped up some homemade muesli I served with vanilla yoghurt and some peach and raspberry muffins. After the meeting we were throwing a luncheon for our friend K who is having her daughter by c-section tomorrow. It was a lovely lunch (I made a goats cheese salad with homemade pesto dressing) but slightly marred for K by sadness. On Friday she got a call that a friend of hers’ wife had died 3 weeks after giving birth to their 3rd son. Apparently some of the placenta was left inside her and it got infected and her body went into shock and she died. Unbelievable that it can happen in this day and age! And so incredibly tragic. And after that phone call K had lunch with a friend who lost her baby at 38 weeks – not exactly what you want to be dealing with 48 hours before you head into hospital to have a c-section because the baby is breech. I tried to make it a simple lunch and I know she appreciated it but it must bring so many concerns to the forefront when you can’t stop thinking about such sadness.

The rest of the weekend was spent playing catch up but then yesterday – just hours after K’s daughter was born we headed to the hospital and I got to hold her at 3.5 hours old. Such an incredible feeling. She’s an adorable little girl and so healthy. I get so excited about my friends’ kids births that its kinda silly. I have to admit I was kinda blindsided when K said “So Em, your next huh?” Um? Next for what? Eeeeek! This baby is really coming isn’t it?

Wow!

So after the shower on the weekend and planning for my shower I want to know what you think about co-ed showers and showers for the 2nd (and subsequent) children!

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I know I owe you all a post or two but my life seems to have busted open some busy-ness and I’m dying here! I’m hoping to get caught up this weekend!

In the meantime I have discovered an incredibly cool website to help with baby showers and registering and I can’t stop talking about it over at Milk Bank. You def want to check it out!

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