Saturday, December 31, 2011

This year...

Happy New Year!

Almost 2012. I remember celebrating with friends when 1999 turned into 2000. Dick Clark was still looking freakishly young and had not suffered his stroke. Remember Y2K? The computer bug that was set to destroy the world?

Now it is 2012. I am a bona fide grown up. A wife! A mom! A mom to a preschooler. You blink a couple times, and time really does fly right past.

This year, I will see my baby girl turn four.

We also will take our last September family beach trip - the following year, she will be in Kindergarten and won't be allowed to miss school. We will have to battle for sand space in the busy July or August months instead.

This year, I will have been married for nine years.

This year, I turn 33 years old.

What are you looking towards in 2012?
I wish health, happiness, and plentiful hugs for all of you.


(I will return to regular blogging on January 8th. Happy 2012!)

Sunday, December 25, 2011

Friday, December 23, 2011

Christmases Past

Baby's first Christmas seems so long ago. It is our baby's fourth Christmas this year!

Christmas 2010

Christmas 2009

Christmas 2008

Christmas 2007
(not yet a family of three!)

Wednesday, December 21, 2011

Gift wrap HQ

Our upstairs guest room is transformed the few weeks prior to Christmas.

First, it is cluttered with shopping bags and purchases.

Next, it becomes bright and cheerful, with festively-wrapped gifts all over the bed. The joyful paper and bows detract from the giant a pile of bags, paper scraps, and packaging cluttered on the floor.

Finally, a day or so before Christmas, the room clears out. Gifts are placed downstairs under the glittering tree or packaged carefully in boxes ready for travel. The trash is gathered and hauled to the garage. The room is silent once again. Weeks later, I may find a shimmering surprise under the bed, when a toe brushes a bow left behind.

Right now, this room is in all its chaotic holiday glory.

I like it this way.




- - - -
iPhone Photo Phun

Monday, December 19, 2011

A thank you & a visitor

Busy weeks coming up!

Two quick posts for today:

(1) First, I want to thank everyone for the fantastic and kind comments from my SITS Day! I continue to get new comments coming in, and I am humbled and happy to meet so many of you. Because I use the Blogger platform, I cannot easily respond to everyone. If your comment came with an email address, I tried to email you a quick reply. If you don't have your email linked, I am not able to personally reply to you. But please know I appreciate EVERYONE. I hope several of you come back again. I will be working on blog visits over the next few weeks myself - so glad to meet you all!

(2) Second, we have a visitor at our house. This little guy showed up early last week in a box on our doorstep. He's a happy little fella. Not too mischievous yet, but a pretty sneaky hider! I think Amelia will be sad when he flies away on Christmas Eve.

Sunday, December 18, 2011

A special little guy

Have I ever introduced you to Leland?


Leland is my beloved Ritz Carlton bellhop lion. He sports a sateen blue and gold uniform with a sharp little cap, cocked to the side over one ear.

He still has a tag hanging from his ear, which reads:

"When you first arrive
At the Ritz Carlton hotel,
This lion named Leland,
Will make sure all is well"

I welcomed Leland into my life on March 18, 2002. The evening prior, I was asked to become a wife. My now husband proposed on a beach in Florida, with a message in a bottle (which turned out to be a poem he wrote himself on a parchment scroll) and a diamond that had been in his family for nearly 100 years. And if I wasn't thrilled enough, he later surprised me by pulling into the Ritz Carlton Amelia Island - I thought we were on our way home!

As Leland grinned at me through the gift shop window, I knew I had to take him home. These days, as my home is overrun with stuffed animals and preschool toys, Leland still remains safely on my bedroom dresser. His sweet brown eyes make me smile regularly, and remind me of a simpler time. A time with less pressure, less stress, less exhaustion. A time that pointed me to the right path.

Yes... no matter how worn down I may be, I know this is the best life for me.

Friday, December 16, 2011

Making new friends!

Um, wow. I am incredibly honored to have a SITS Day* today!
(What the heck is a SITS day? See footnote below)

It came at the perfect time.
About three weeks ago, fresh off a brief blog hiatus, I changed my blog’s name. Launched originally as 3MomsIn1.com in January 2010, I blogged about my successes, failures, worries, and joys as a first-time mom. Trying to be the “perfect” mom (well… trying to follow the rules), a working mom, and a happy mom. Over the past year, I have come to define myself – and my blog – in different ways. Like all mothers in the world, I am a lot more than just “three” moms in one. I play a gazillion different roles. And while I don’t think I will ever be 100% balanced, I will always be balancING. Always striving for my best. Muddling through to the best of my ability. Searching for the oh-so-elusive "me" time.  Cheering on my precocious little princess as she navigates the roads of life.... and much, much more. I have always been @BalancingMama on Twitter, and now can also be found at (drum roll, please...)
http://www.balancingmama.com/.

Thank you so much for your visit today. If you are new, please say hi if you get a chance. I will never promise perfection here, but I do promise a voice that is 100% genuine. I am a real person, flaws and all. And I would love to meet more of you. The best part of blogging is interaction.

Come to think of it… maybe you can teach me a thing or two!

- - -
Visit About Me for some personal background

If you like cute kid photos, here are some photo posts 

Why Do I Blog?

- - -
Women Online
*SITS, The Secret to Success is Support, is a supportive, informative community of 10,000+ women bloggers. They showcase a feature blogger each day. The SITS girls are also the brilliant force behind Bloggy Bootcamp, which I attended in October.

Tuesday, December 13, 2011

Know your audience

In my advertising life, I spend hour after hour searching for the best places to reach the most relevant audiences. Every client, every product has a target audience. You don't speak the same way, or to the same people, for every brand out there. I have come to realize, especially with the power of social media, that we are all our own brand. We all have a "unique selling proposition". We all have an audience.

If you are reading this post, you are part of my audience. You came here because you and I have something in common. Maybe I tweeted something that peaked your interest. My family, friends, other online moms, and coworkers are also part of my audience. I say what I say and write what I write with my all-encompassing audience in mind.

This morning, I was reading a book to my little sweetie. It is more than just an adorably-illustrated children's book. I think it has a very useful life (and business) lesson:
know your audience.

"Thank You Bear", written by Greg Foley

Little Bear finds a little box.


He immediately thinks, "my friend Mouse would love this!". He excitedly begins to walk, looking for his little mouse friend. Along the way, Bear sees many other animals. They are not excited about the little box.


Bear begins to doubt himself. Perhaps, this little box is not so special after all?


Until finally, mouse comes along.
And do you know what? Mouse thinks the box is the greatest thing ever!


Bear let the other animals get to him. He allowed doubt to creep in, and a sadness followed. But he had a target audience all along. He knew what mouse would like. He knew his true friend.

You also know, deep in your heart, your true audience. The audience that will support you through thick and thin. Don't let others on the outside cause you doubt. Because in the end, your audience, your loved ones, are the people who will never let you down. They truly understand your greatest thing ever.

Saturday, December 10, 2011

Another preschool craft: homemade bread dough ornaments!

The holiday season puts me in a crafty mood. Despite having extra work pressures, multiple social engagements, and seemingly never-ending shopping lists, I find myself wanting to add crafts to my busy days. That is especially the case with Amelia around. I think she loves art even more than toys. Crafting provides us some special quiet togetherness time. It is a good way to slow down. (See our other preschool art project: fun with toilet paper rolls!)

The Christmas season also puts us in a giving mood. Amelia loves to create artistic masterpieces to give as gifts to her family. It is our way of saying thanks for all the presents they love to shower on her. This year, we decided to make homemade ornaments. I looked online for a dough idea that would be easy enough for both of us. I decided on Bread Dough Ornaments. I selected bread dough over salt dough because there was no baking required. I wasn't keen on the idea of baking something for over 2 hours.

Here are the instructions based on our experience with bread dough ornaments:
  • Take 6-9 slices of bread, remove the crusts (simply for color), and place them in a food processor. Process until you have fine crumbs.
  • Pour all the crumbs in a large bowl and add white or clear craft glue. About 1-2 tablespoons to start.
  • Knead the crumbs and glue together, adding more glue if moisture is needed, until you have a firm dough. (This part requires some hand strength, so parents probably need to do it)

  • Roll out the sticky dough with a plastic Play-Doh roller (plastic is better than a wooden rolling pin because the dough is so sticky), and use cookie cutters to create holiday shapes.

Friday, December 9, 2011

Pink Pig Pottery-Pallooza

On Wednesday, Amelia and I met up with a fantastic group of Georgia bloggers and their kiddos for what I have dubbed the "Pink Pig Pottery-Pallooza". We met on a drizzly afternoon at Macy's department store in the Lenox Mall, with giddy children anticipating their annual Pink Pig rides.

I wrote about our Pink Pig adventure last year also. It is definitely the best Atlanta family tradition - and it has been around for more than five generations. We had a blast again. And this year? Amelia got the cutest photo with Priscilla the pig herself! (I actually prefer it over her photo with, you know, that big guy in red.)



With giggles in our cars, we drove to All Fired Up, a paint-your-own pottery studio at Emory Village. There, our fine hosts treated the kids to pottery painting, letter writing to Santa, cupcakes, and drinks. Even a Starbucks run for the parents! Amelia painted a unique rainbow duck. I can't wait to see how it looks once fired (or "when it gets all sparkly", in Amelia's words).

Thursday, December 8, 2011

To the big guy in the red suit

Dear Santa,

I know I'm a grown-up now. A thirty-three year old wife and mother. Am I still allowed to write you a letter? May I please cling to a Christmas wish?

I wish for the innocence of the past. I wish for sunny days where children play alone in their backyards, not fearing for their safety, not having to be hovered over every minute of the afternoon. I wish for anxiety-free giggles during unsupervised neighborhood bike rides.

I wish for something, anything, to bring a tiny bit of peace to the Georgia family who lost their little girl last Friday. I followed her story since I first heard she was missing. I shed tears when I learned of the horrific end to her life. I found myself smugly satisfied when a suspect was detained. And then I got angry. Furious that a child was tortured and robbed of her life. She was playing at the playground in her own apartment complex. How many people can comfortably call that home now? I wish for justice. For many hearts to heal.

How do you explain murder to the friends of this 7-year old girl? Or to her two younger sisters?

My wish? Cannot be wrapped in a box with a bow.

I wish for my childhood dreams to come back again. I wish for safety and love for every child on this earth.

Merry Christmas, Santa.
I'll keep one eye open for you on Christmas Eve.



- - - 
Here is a link to this awful news story: Jorelys Riviera. Hug your loved ones tight today. And keep your eyes on them... always. My prayers and condolences to this family and all Jorelys' friends.

Wednesday, December 7, 2011

Follow me to 3Ps

Popcorn, Pugs, Peonies

Follow me over to my friend Erin's blog, Popcorn, Pugs, and Peonies. I'm guest posting there today! Erin is a relatively new blogger with a really fun blog (and the cutest blog button you'll ever see, right?!?).

Erin asked me to write some of my thoughts about blogging and share them with her readers today. So what'cha waiting for? Click on over!

My post: So You Think You Can Blog?

Sunday, December 4, 2011

Thursday, December 1, 2011

One lucky girl

My daughter is one lucky girl. I am not just talking about her comfortable home, masses of toys, never-ending attention, or her incredibly fabulous parents. She has all that and more.

She also has…

Gorgeous hair.

Her locks are the color of golden wheat, darkened by the sun’s warmth. It is soft like down with a shine as bright as gold. And the waves! Oh, those soft, flowing waves full of bounce… they seem to have a life all their own. Dancing, twirling, joyful.

We went through a fanatical period of crazy hair. It took a few sessions at the salon with much pleading and hoping, but we finally learned how to tame those tresses.
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