From the monthly archives:

April 2010

I’m on the Funsherpa Blog!

by selfmademom on April 30, 2010 · 1 comment

I rarely get asked for my opinion on anything, so when the folks behind the funsherpa blog asked if I’d be interviewed for their site, I figured, why not… my interview can be found on the site here along with Shari from Two Times the Fun who I actually got to meet in person not too long ago! (And you may just get a sneak peek of the baby!)

Plus, if you’re feeling “fun,” I have a discount code for you to use on the site- selfmade-fun2010. It’s a pretty cool site with lots of tips of what to do around town.

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Milestones, Schmilestones

by selfmademom on April 27, 2010 · 5 comments

The baby burrito will be 6 months next week and I’m kind of starting to remember that he should be starting to do things now. Like moving a little, kvetching a little, grabbing a little, you know, milestone-ing a little.

I freaking hate milestones.

But I can’t help paying attention to them.

So maybe my baby isn’t rolling over yet. Or eating baby food. I mean, the dude’s still enamored with his activity mat. One of my friends even said the other day, “he’s NOT sitting up yet?”

No, ‘fraid not.

My other friend said that someone told her her 18-month old should have 50 words by now. Where do people come up with these things?

When I was pregnant, at least the second third time around, I canceled my subscription to those Babycenter updates. Now your baby is as big as a kumquat! At first, the novelty that my young being had sprouted fingernails excited me, but after I experienced the joy of the firstborn’s sprouting of hair in the womb, I kind of stopped caring if the little guy’s skin was still translucent.

Truth is, all the kids do things differently and that’s what I keep reminding myself. It’s hard not to constantly compare my two kids, both boys. By now, the older one was eating baby food, rolled over and playing Mozart on the grand piano.

Baby burrito is content just flopping around on the floor, watching his big bro and scooting around the crib on his back. He’s smiley, happy, guzzles a bottle like a champ and is, well, happy. Some of us (and I’m known to check in once in awhile) will continue to check on their kid’s progress via books, friends, websites, and doctors.

But I’m just going to try to sit back, relax, and enjoy my munchkin because mostly, I’m pretty sure he’ll catch up eventually on his own terms.

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Brands will bring us together

by selfmademom on April 21, 2010 · 1 comment

It’s not often that I can escape my bubble of SAHM-land and get together with my IRL blog friends, but occasionally it happens, and when it does, it’s great.

Last week, my old friend MJ invited me to be a part of a roundtable and brand “expo” at the Hard Rock Hotel all part of an SV Moms/ Chicago Moms Blog initative. I was really flattered to be invited because even though I helped to launch the CMB back in the day, I have the tendency to be a lame “slow blogger,” as Alma says, who hasn’t written over there in quite some time.

But that aside, it was great to see old friends like Jill, Kim and Caitlin, and to meet up again with new ones such as Meredith, Melissa, Beth and Lisa. I’ll always feel a connection to the CMB community even if I’m not online with them every day, and for that, I’m grateful!

I’d be remiss, though, if I didn’t mention the brands that attended the event. MJ brought a variety of companies into the room, and I thought while they were all eager to connect and chat with us, it never felt sales-y or pushy. I think the brands like Peapod, Energizer, Garrett Popcorn and The Oprah Store were as excited to be there as we were. It also helped that Peapod had read my recent post and tweets about saving my Passover and that the awesome Liz was on hand from Oprah to make it more personal, however, their genuine interest and social media savvy was impressive.

I couldn’t finish this post, though, without mentioning that the highlight of the event for sure was that I was one of 10 or so winners of Chevrolet’s #ChevyMissions. By winner, I mean that I get use of a Chevy vehicle for an entire weekend. I’m looking forward to my drive in the Chevy Tahoe on an upcoming trip to Michigan. I’m planning on utilizing all the cargo space that car offers as compared with my smaller SUV.

I always feel re-energized to become a “faster” blogger when I attend these get togethers and I am hopeful that as the Chicago blogging community continues to grow, we’ll all still get together in these smallish sessions.

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Purging

by selfmademom on April 18, 2010 · 0 comments

In the grand tradition of cleaning out my pantry and going through old maternity clothes, I’m on a spring cleaning, getting ready for a small kitchen remodel project tirade. The tirade mainly involves me gasping in horror over all the random things I saved over the years (read: electronic gadget manuals from the ’90s) and my husband yelling at me for not throwing such items out years ago.

So after a few weekends of this back and forth I did what I had to do to get things really in order around here: I went on craigslist.

And in a matter of 48 hours had purged two honking large and annoying items from my house.

Purge-able item #1: The Burley bike trailer

Not only did the bike trailer take up, like, half of my garage, but my prediction of it being a complete waste of money came true. We only used it once in 2 years. But, It had the makings for a sweet craigslist deal. And it was for the sweet couple who came by this morning and picked it up. For half the price of what we paid and no tax, they walked away with a fun Sunday afternoon activity and I got to actually back up my car into the garage without hitting something.

Purge-able item #2: The grossly-oversized and sharp-cornered coffee table

This table really was a good idea 10 years ago when my husband purchased it for his old bachelor pad downtown. I suffered through it with son #1 even though it was an ear-slice ready to happen and really didn’t fit our lower level family room. So when push came to literal shove (I could just see son #1 shoving son #2 into the ear-slice corner) I posted it and had it up and out of the basement the next day. Watching it leave yesterday on the back of a young man’s jeep was a bittersweet moment for everyone except me.

Thus, I purged, have a little extra cash in my pocket, and it feels great.

(For the record, I really wanted to use ebay classifieds, but I got no hits. Tips on that are welcome.)

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Launching SMM Steals and Deals

by selfmademom on April 16, 2010 · 0 comments

I’ve struggled in the past with review blogging, putting giveaways on my main blog and being altogether hokey with promotions (oh, and complying with a certain organization called the FTC.) But I love deals and giveaways and promotions, so I decided to create a special space on my blog for all these things: SMM Steals and Deals. Check back often for my hand-picked special steals and deals from local folks and people I know!

My first giveaway is a copy of the book, P.S. I Hate It Here, a compilation of hilarious letters from kids’ at camp by North Shore author Diane Falanga. Details of the contest can be found here.

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Give me some hair, ungreasy, non stringy hair

by selfmademom on April 13, 2010 · 2 comments

My least favorite part of post-pregnancy aftermath is definitely the loss of hair. You know, the clumps that gather in the shower drain, the strands that fall out like crazy when blow-drying and brushing. And, the worst culprits: those little bang thingys that grow in to replace the strands that have fallen out like crazy when blow-drying and brushing.

I knew things were getting bad for my hair, but I didn’t realize how bad until I visited my beloved hairdresser, Manolis (he’s so cool he goes by one name), and he was like, “OMG your hair looks really weird.” I took weird for looking like [insert expletive here], but was grateful he used the word “weird” instead.

I mean, I had to agree. My pregnancy ‘do of soft layers around the face with longer layers in back just looked stringy now that everything but the gray hairs had fallen out.

Yes, post-partum is that glamorous.

However, because he is a hairdresser g-d and I’m a willing subject, we came up with a plan of attack. Chop it off. I’ve done this before, as some of you know. I’m not scared of a good haircut. So, we cut off what I thought was at least 6 inches, but what everyone else and their mother assured me was way less than that. The result?

Me, circa stringy hair day.

Me, in my post-partum glory.

I say, when in doubt, remove all evidence of your formerly luxurious pregnancy locks. What say you?

Cross-posted at Second City Baby

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Green Guilt

April 6, 2010

You all know I’ve been trying to live more “green,” but my efforts are just resulting in another big G: Guilt. Every time I’m not being green I feel guilty. Green Guilt - it’s almost as bad as the Jewish or mommy kind. Trust me on this one. I can’t use a plastic bag without wondering where it will go [...]

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