Hug Your Dad Today

Today was a sad day I went to the funeral for my best friend's father. He was sick, battling the big "C" and yet it all seemed so sudden. Sudden or not sudden, how can we ever prepare to loose a parent? I sat at the funeral listening to all his kids speak about their father.

One son, the sport's fan, spoke about how he won't know what to do with himself every weekend during football -- who would be call to discuss the plays. One daughter spoke about how it is her dad that always encouraged her to be a better person.

It was painful to listen too, and it made me think of my own dad, and my husband, who is now a father too. It made me think about the important and invaluable roles days play in our lives. My dad is amazing -- he is so supportive, positive and loving. I have learned two of the most important lessons in life from my dad -- 1) to life each day to its fullest, and 2) treat everyone they way you expert to be treated in return. I am 36, and still learn from my dad everyday.

I left the funeral and called my dad to tell him I loved him.

I encourage you all to do the same.

Love you Dad!

WHAT PREGNANT???

Sorry I have been MIA, but it has been a crazy few weeks after finding out that I am in deed pregnant with baby #2. As of today I am 16 weeks pregnant, and it is just starting to sink in. It was a total surprise and a happy one at that.

Given that my first pregnancy with Livie took 2 years in the making which included: a MC, an Ectopic pregnancy, months and months of negative pregnancy tests, followed by 3 failed IUI, lots of stress and finally IVF which worked and gave us a beautiful girl. So you can imagine that I wasn't exactly thinking that getting pregnant was going to be this easy for me. You read it in the books, and hear it from friends, but how does one go from being an infertility headcase, to a one-time-bamm-thank-you-mamm pregnant girl? And if you ask me I think it has a lot to do with pure luck and less stress.

As many of us learn the hard way, there are certain things in life that are out of our control (as much as we hate to admit). Pregnancy is one of them. I think that is one of the biggest lessons I have learned through my whole pregnancy trials and tribulations -- we have to learn to let go and let mother nature take charge, but I know that is easier said than done. But if we have to control something, let is be our level of stress.

Lots of stress led me to IVF, and no stress got me pregnant.

Week 16 and counting!

Baby Butts in Skinny Jeans

Today's Wall Street Journal featured a fun read, "Do These Jeans Make My Diaper Look Big?, about the trend of skinny jeans for babies. Everyone from the Gap, Old Navy and American Eagle Outfitters Inc's 77Kids and Little77 are selling them and they are flying off the shelves. While I totally agree that they are so cute for kids, the Gap has them for babies in sizes 0-3 months and 3-6 months, which is just silly.

While I love the style of skinny jeans for kids, I think it is more important that kids can move around easily and feel comfortable. Livie is crawling, creeping and starting to walk and I want her to be able to move freely, so I opted for these denim leggings. They are stylish, trendy and comfortable. Now I just need to find them in my size too.

Am I a bad Wednesday Mom?

Yesterday was Wednesday, my day home with Livie, and the day that Livie falls not just once, but TWICE. Yes, on my watch!

Fall #1 -- A bang and a scream. Livie is flat on her face after falling over her toy. YIKES. Some ice cubes and a few distractions later, she seems fine. Wednesday mom lesson of the day: Stay out of the kitchen.

Fall #2 -- Wet and slippery out of the bathtub and Livie decides this is a great time to poop. While grabbing a towel to catch whatever next was going to happen, Livie slips out of my arms (Don't panic, I was sitting on the floor) and falls and hits her head. YIKES. more screams, more ice and a huge welt on her head. Double YIKES. Wednesday mom lesson #2 of the day: baby first, poop second.

After feeling so guilty for being a bad mom today, I decided that lesson #3 of the day is: thank goodness today is Thursday and mom needs to go back to work.

The word of the day is....

Nothing is more exciting than watching our little ones hit their milestones and Livie, now 13 months, is starting to use her words to communicate. But like any baby girl her age, her vocabulary is building exactly in the right order. Her first words were "mama" and "dada,"followed by "hi," "bye,"... and of course her fifth word is "SHOES." A girl after her mom's heart. OK so it comes out sounding more like "SHHHHH," but her obsession with shoes is undeniable. She points at everyone's shoes. When I come home from work, the first thing she does is point at my shoes waiting for me to take them off and she then picks them up and gives them back to me to put on. Now you tell me, does this girl have her priorities right or what?

On our agenda for next Wednesday? shoe shopping for Livie!

We are Family

Every summer beckons a family beach vacation...and a time to unplug! This week we went to The Bungalow Hotel in Long Branch, NJ (as seen on "9 By Design for all your Bravo addicts).


The weather was hot and it was perfect week for beach and pool time. And our rule for the week -- no blackberries or cell phones during the day! How liberating. It was nice to be playing with Olivia and not have my mind elsewhere, or have one hand reading emails while pretending to be playing with her. It was 100 percent family time, guilt free and FUN. It made me realize now important it is to unplug and focus on our family. You never get those moments back, so when you can, unplug and enjoy them.

The New Ice Breaker...KIDS!

We drove down to Haddonfield, New Jersey yesterday for my friend Melanie's engagement party. Congrats to Mel and Chris! Of course we didn't know anyone there except for the couple and Melanie's parents. But one thing I have learned about being a mom, is kids are the best ice breakers at a party! Let's be honest, without kids, you show up at the party and you don't know a soul and it is always a little awkward to start conversations. It would usually sound something like, "so how do you know Melanie and Chris?" and you get the facts out of the way and decide if this person is worth talking to or not. I feel awkward and dorky just writing it!

But I highly recommend bringing a child with you to your next shindig. I promise they are the best ice-breakers. Even when people don't have kids, they want to come and talk to the child, play with the child and naturally you end up engaging with them in conversation. It is just so more natural and less forced! Then there are other moms with kids at parties. A magnet for conversation. Usually the kids find one another and then the parents connect. Yesterday there happened to be a few kids there, so us moms hit it off and before we knew it, we were sharing pregnancy stories (because everyone has one), discussing kid allergies and work/life balance. It turned out to be a fun party. Olivia had fun playing with the kids, eating guacamole and pasta, and I enjoyed talking to other moms and learning from them. As we all know, every mom has good tips to share!

So the moral of the blog is, when in doubt bring your child or someone else's child to the next party. I promise they wont disappoint.