Glamour Moms Unite!

I don't know how glamorous tank tops are, but they're hard to wear when you're a nursing mom and need to wear a ghastly nursing bra underneath them. So a very smart nursing mom came up with the idea of a built-in support nursing bra concealed within a hot, little tank top. Not only are they great for summer, but they're perfect for layering during colder months and for wearing to bed. I bought two recently and I wear them ALL the time. Except in the shower.

Visit Glamourmom and shop for yourself or a nursing mom you know who could use one. I could use one more, maybe in blue, if anyone's interested. Hee hee. No, I'm just kidding.

(size medium is fine.)

Pinky And The Brain

It occured to me today that I've been letting my personal appearance slack just a bit this past winter. I thought about it some before heading out for the playgroup the other day. I got all concerned about my hair and what I was going to wear and I don't have much cause to worry about that kind of stuff anymore. So I'm looking at my hair thinking that it could use a cut or some color or something, so a couple nights ago I went to the drugstore and picked up some haircolor, you know, just to kick things up a notch or two. I thought "intense, true red" sounded really promising, so that's what I got.

Now, the box would have been more accurate had it said "bright, pink-tinged red that will only color half your hair".

David said it best after I showed him the results upon finishing blowdrying my hair.

"OH, what did you do to your hair mommy?? Is it red??"
"Yes, David. It's red. And pink. But only some of it. I didn't have enough color to do all my hair."
"Oh." Long pause.
I smiled weakly. "So do you like it, David?"
He looked really hard at my hair again and kind of grit his teeth a bit. "Hmm. I do."

I'm not sure how to feel about my little boy already telling white lies just to make his mommy feel better, but it was a good effort.

When Ernesto saw it for the first time after getting home from work the other day he said, "Whoah, that is RED!" Now I could be wearing a diamond tiara and it would take him at least fifteen minutes to notice, so I knew that something had to be done. I showed him how I was only able to color the top layer of my hair and the rest was still the same as before. Being the stand up guy that he is, Ernie offered to go out and get me some more of the haircolor so I could finish the job and at least have consistently bright, pink/red hair.

Now that I've finished the dye job and have lived with it a little while, I'm getting used to my new look. I know that the intensity of the color will lessen with shampooings, so I shouldn't look like Kelly Osbourne for too much longer.

Today while I was putting on my makeup in the bathroom, David wandered in and took his usual seat on the lid of the toilet tank, watching me. His gaze went from my face to my hair and I asked him how my hair looked now that it was done.

He tilted his head, smiled and said, "Pretty. Like a very pretty flower."

If you haven't guessed yet, I'm Pinky- He's the Brain.

I had a SAHM first this week, and surprising that it should have taken so long for this "first" to come about. David, Sofia and I embarked on our first playgroup session. As a mom of a 2 and 1/2 year old and nearly 10 month old, you'd think I would have made it to at least one of these by now, but nope. Not formally, anyway. We've gotten together with other small groups of moms and their kids, but nothing quite so organized as this. I found myself looking forward to it and then immediately thought, "oh how sad that this is exciting for me." But then I reminded myself I'm pretty new to the area and don't really know anyone, let alone any other full-time moms, so I should be eager to meet some people I can really relate with.

And that's the key. There was a time in my life when sizing up a potential friend meant making certain that our musical tastes were in sync and that we could talk for hours on the phone and still have plenty to say the next day at school. That we liked the same kinds of books, movies and liked to shop at all the same stores...that we had similar goals, ambitions and desires for the future...

...Now I just want to know if she has kids around the same age as mine.

I'm only half joking about this. When you are kind of in the middle of nowhere and alone most of the day in a farm house with your two young children and the snow is piled up to your windows outside and usually the only trek you take is to the mailbox or to break up the ice dam in your gutters with the "snow rake" left to you by the previous owner (I knew I should have been more suspicious) and your property is frequented by deer more often than people- well, you just aren't so picky about who you hang out with.

Now I love being at home with my kids. Let me just be very clear about that. They really are my world and I wouldn't give up what I do for all the friends and sunny beaches in the world. But seeing some other moms and giving my children an opportunity to get out and play with some other kids is really important, especially this time of year. So this past week we made our way to a group over at St. Augustine's in Montpelier that meets every Wednesday morning.

We recently began attending St. Augustine's and while it's a little harder for us to make it there on time Sunday mornings (who am I kidding- we were rarely on time when the church was 4 minutes away) we have found it very welcoming and there are lots of young families that attend there. Masses can be difficult when Sofia is loudly squawking and David is army crawling under the pew in front of us, trying to make a break for it, so it was a relief to hear lots of other squirming, squawking kids last Sunday at Mass and then to be invited for doughnuts and coffee down in the rec room. Now David is usually the first one bolting for the door after Mass, but upon hearing that there were doughnuts downstairs, David suddenly found church a little more appealing. Ernie reminded me that a playgroup meets there weekly and that I should try and make it this week and upon seeing the spacious rec room and all the toys they had for the kids I thought, heck, why not?

And I'm glad I went. David had a smashing good time, playing with all kinds of new toys, riding tricycles, eating snacks and drinking from juice boxes. Sofia who is usually so shy and timid around strangers had a grand old time crawling around the floor, checking out all the infant toys (and some of the infant boys as well) and while I spent most of the time watching David and Sofia play, I did get to chat with some of the moms and found that a lot of them were transplants like myself. One mom with 1 year old twin boys was from California and had lived in Barre for a year now. I asked her what she thought of this weather and she visibly shuddered and said, "It's kind of... well, it's..." and then she kind of laughed as her eyes glazed over. She didn't need to say any more. I knew how she felt. She wore her wool scarf the whole time we were inside.

The time came and passed, and I got to meet quite a few of the moms there, who all seemed to know each other already. Didn't make any great new friends just yet, but I got to see that there were a lot of women probably not too different from me, wanting the same things for their kids and for themselves, as I do.

We all bundled up our kids at the end of the hour. Sofia kept crawling away from me and David was dancing on the steps to the exit repeating "What's shakin', bakin'?" to anyone who'd listen. He was a little wired from all the stimulation, I guess. I heard one mom exclaiming, "Oh, I just can't wait until winter is over. This whole dressing and undressing routine is getting so old." She was patiently trying to get her young son to put on his boots and coat.

I smiled over to her in exasperated agreement as I tried stuffing Sofia into her already too small snowsuit. The woman looked back at me, shaking her head and laughing.

I bet she totally shops at the same stores as I do.