Lady Bird Johnson – 94 years of a wonderful life
Jul 14 2007

Since we live in Austin, Texas we have probably experienced the great touch of Lady Bird more so than any other city.  She brought the Wildflower Center to life and helped manage the construction of the LBJ Presidential Library among other things.  Many well known political figures including the Clintons, the Carters, Laura & Barbara Bush, and Nancy Reagan are here today at Riverbend Church to pay their respects.  She was the first First Lady to have a press secretary and used her role as First Lady to actively help others.  I never had the honor of meeting Lady Bird, but I did have the honor of meeting her former well-known press secretary, Liz Carpenter.

I hope I’m able to make as significant a difference in the world as she has.

Aruni

MomFacts.com – For Mother’s of Kids: Pregnancy to Toddler
Jul 5 2007

I recently received a blind email from MomFacts.com.  The email encouraged me to submit our website and blog for inclusion in their site and newsletters.  I checked them out and it seems like their primary business is selling funny t-shirts surrounding pregnancy and kids.  So I joined and submitted our blog and company websites…we’ll see what happens.  I feel kind of odd submitting for sites like this on a blind email, but if it helps more people find us, then I suppose it’s a good thing to do.  Right?  I guess time will tell.

Aruni

Mom-To-Be Depot Launched June 26, 2007
Jun 28 2007

Mom-To-Be Depot just went LIVE this week.  I wish they were around when I was expecting.  What a great resource for expecting moms!  Mom-To-Be is Your one-stop-shoppe for everything you need when you’re expecting – “must-have” products, expert advice and more!  See below for their review (4th one down) of Baby Manager!

We LOVE This product!!
Baby has arrived – how do you track feeding, pumping, medicine, etc.?
BabbleSoft keeps you right on track.  They created “Baby Manager” – a web and mobile software that helps you track all the important things – from diaper changes, to feeding times, and more. You can take notes, upload photos, allow your healthcare professionals access to this.  It’s so cool because now you finally don’t have to write everything down and keep things organized in a notebook.  Join the 21st century and have it all tracked for you. We think this is a pretty cool tool.  When the doctor asked me how often the baby ate, when I was nursing, how long on each side, etc. – I hadn’t a clue.  I guessed – and was probably way off.  When you’re at the pediatricians office and they ask how many ounces does the baby drink in a day – I hadn’t a clue.  Some quick math made me guess way beyond what the real number actually was.  Now, I can give accurate information – and know what’s going on.  Why do you need to know all this?  Because babies develop patterns and cues to ensure their health and happiness.  This tool helps you accomplish that.  Go to www.babymanager.com for a free trial!

I don’t know about you but when looking at the review above ours for My Lacy’s panties, I wondered if the woman who is modeling the underwear has ever been pregnant. I know my tummy doesn’t look like that after having had 2 kids.  😕

Aruni

Multi-tasking men, women arriving at the same place
Jun 13 2007

According to an editorial written in the Austin American Statesman on June 12, 2007 called Multi-tasking men, women arriving at the same place, “The roles that American men and women assume have been seriously battered the past few decades, enough that men and women are beginning to resemble one another. In attitudes anyway.”  It goes on further to say: “A recent compilation of the research, interviews and studies about gender roles found men and women growing more alike in their views, especially about parenting. Long gone are the days when males did the work, brought home the paycheck and had little to do with the children. Just as gone are the days when women stayed home with the kids, cooked and cleaned. ”

I have certainly seen the increased involvement from fathers in child rearing within my peer group, but I wouldn’t say those days are “long gone” because I know several moms who do pretty much all the (non-paid) work at home whose husbands do all the (paid) work outside the home.

I believe we are in the midst of an interesting shift in American/Western society.

A Song for Memorial Day Weekend – The Anchor
May 27 2007

A friend recently introduced me to the sounds of Lisa Lynne Mathis.  What a voice!  Her music and lyrics are obviously inspired from deep within her.  My favorite song on her new CD Hancock Place is called The Anchor.  I didn’t realize until I read her reason for writing the song that it was inspired by a friend of hers who survived the tsunami in Sri Lanka.  Since I was born in Sri Lanka, I now understand why that song resonates so much with me.  Another song on that CD is Comfort Zone, her muscial interpretation of what having children (two daughters) has meant to her…the raw, pure feelings that are a part of being a parent…and how our kids often pull us out of our comfort zone.

So on this Memorial Weekend in between parties, BBQs, and get togethers with friends & family, let’s remember our soldiers in Iraq and all over the world.  We wish them a safe return to their families, children, and friends.  Whether you agree with the war or not our soldiers are there fighting for what they have been told to fight for…fighting for what they believe is right to fight for.  Let’s make sure we do not ignore them “when the cameras are off” and that we are available to serve as their Anchor when and if they return.

Aruni

Have you been Mommy Track’d?
May 16 2007

Are you on the mommy track?  If so, you should check out Mommy Track’d: The working mother’s guide to managed chaos.  Their mission is to provide a helpful and entertaining resource for all the time-crunched moms managing the daily tug of war between work and family.  I know we can all use some entertainment to get us through the day sometimes!  If you are a multi-tasker like I tend to be (or sometimes have no choice but to be) this site is for you. 

My 4 1/2 year old son has been sick the last couple of days so I’m trying to get as much done while he takes a nap and watches the TV shows he never gets to see during the day such as Go Diego Go, Handy Manny, Little Einsteins, and the Backyardigans.  Yesterday he felt pretty bad so he mostly wanted me to sit with him while he watched the shows.  So I, too, got my Playhouse Disney and Nick Jr. fix!  He is much better today and has been bouncing off of the walls most of the time.  He’s taking a nap right now so I have a chance to work on this blog post without being interrupted every 30 seconds.  Earlier today he told me his head hurt when he talks so I told him not to talk.  He laughed and then said ‘not really, I’m kidding.’ For him ‘not talking’ is equivalent to ‘not breathing.’ 😀

I recently signed up for Mommy Track’d’s email newsletter and am looking forward to getting some entertaining ideas on what to do when one of our kids is home sick in the future.  It’s free to sign up for the email newsletter, you get valuable information, and if you are so overextended that you can’t even read straight you can unsubscribe easily and re-subscribe when it works for you.  At any rate, you should at least check out thier Hot Topics page and browse through their Message Boards.

The reason for the birth of Mommy Track’d : “While there are countless general parenting resources available today, we think working moms need a place to call their own. These juggling, struggling women have careers, families and friends. Some might even say they have a version of “it all.” What they didn’t have until now is an informative, fun website that speaks just to them. Now they do.”  Oh so true!  As they say, ‘it takes a village’ and us moms (whether working for pay or not – all moms work hard!) should always try to support each other so we can help make the world a better place!

Project Cuddle on Oprah
May 14 2007

I’ve decided that I need to start watching more Oprah.   I usually don’t have the opportunity to watch her show often, but on many occasions I hear about a show that I wished I had seen.  So now I’m recording them.  On Friday night I was able to watch two shows from last week.  One was called A Mother’s Day Special where Maria Shriver interviewed Demi Moore and Vanessa Williams on their motherhood experiences.  The other was a show Oprah called Cheers to You where she visited people at their place of work and then brought them on the show to experience the applause that she experiences almost every day.  On that show, she brought in a woman, Debbe Magnusen, who founded a program called Project Cuddle.  What an amazing program!!  Debbe helps pregnant women either become better equipped to mother their own kids or helps them find an adoptive family for her baby.  So far she has helped 570 babies and their families.  Pregnant women call her and she helps arrange prenatal care for them immediately.  She then helps identify the ‘perfect’ adoptive family.

Debbe happens to be friends with John Stamos’ mother and John has used his celebrity status to help promote Project Cuddle.  What a great thing to do!  I definitely agree with Oprah:  Cheers to YOU Debbe!

 Aruni

Happy Mother’s Day!
May 13 2007

Happy Mother’s Day from Babble Soft!  Our Mother’s Day special is still available through the end of May 2007.   I hope every mother is being treated like royalty this weekend.  On Saturday I took my son to his swim class, we went to a birthday party, I took a nap, then went to the mall (by myself!), and then my husband planned a date night for us.  It was nice going to the mall and having time to think about the things I wanted to buy, instead of having to make decisions in 5 seconds because one of the kids wants to be carried or is about to run off somewhere. 🙂  I went to Victoria’s Secret and bought some of my usual items (some on sale), bought some sunglasses from the $10/first pair, $5/second pair sunglass kiosk, and got some things for the kids at The Disney Store.  The Disney Store had beach towels (Nemo and Micky Mouse) for $9.99 each , and flip flops for $4 a pair!  I was feeling so good about my accomplishments, that I didn’t realize what time it was.  I had arrived at the mall around 5:00 pm and thought I had plenty of time…until my husband called to ask where I was.  I said “I’ll be home by 6:00 pm” and he said “it is 6:00 pm!”  I was surprised because I thought it was only 5:30 pm.  The girl at the Disney Store checkout laughed with me and helped me get out the door in a hurry!

After dinner at a nice local restaurant called Shoreline Grill, my husband got out his Blackberry and looked for jazz clubs.   We don’t get out much so we aren’t up to speed on the downtown club scene.  The place we went to is called The Elephant Room and it had a nice ambiance.  We got there around 9:00 pm, they said the band, Gnappy, would start at 9:30 pm, but they didn’t start until around 9:50 pm.  We had to leave at 10:00 so our baby sitters could go home.  We liked what we heard the 10 or so minutes we were there!  Maybe next time.

Today, we went with some friends for a nice brunch at Chez Zee.  They had balloon animals and face painting for the kids.  We came home and my husband took the kids across the street to play with the grand kids of one of our neighbors, and I was able to call my mom and have a nice mother’s day chat with her.  Both kids are napping now so I thought I’d take the opportunity to blog a little.

Happy Mother’s Day everyone!

Aruni