May, 2010 | The Angel Forever

Monthly Archives May 2010

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Denial of the 3 year old kind

Posted on May 4, 2010 8:44 am by TheAngelForever

In less than two week, I will once again be the mother of a three year old. My baby is going to be three and it is hitting me hard. When I turned thirty, there was too much going on in my life. A pregnancy scare distracted me from the realization of the milestone. Now, as my youngest turns three and our household is getting ready to leave being two year olds for good, I find myself sad.

Sure, for three years we have known that our family was complete, but I guess it never really hit until recently. It has just hit hard as we weed through baby clothing/toys and things to give away. In addition to this, JSL is signed up for nursery school next year. We took the plunge since both TechyDad and I believe it is important for his developmental and social growth. As much as I have looked forward to some time alone where I can go to NHL’s school and volunteer without my toddler, I am going to miss my little adventure buddy. I think it really is true, you do not appreciate what you have until it is gone or almost over. I have told myself to stop, enjoy and cherish these moments, but have I? I am not too sure about that really.

So excuse me for a little while. My two year old is grabbing my arm to head outside into the beautiful spring day that awaits us. I must make the most of these last few days with my two year old before he continues to three and many more milestones ahead of him.

First, I will wipe my eyes, give him a big hug and be so very thankful that I have had these almost three wonderful years at home being his Mommy.

Categories:
birthday jsl looking back me moments milestone photos sahm vent

The real life Twitter Block button

Posted on May 3, 2010 3:07 pm by TheAngelForever

If you are on Twitter, no doubt you have had a few (or many hundred) sketchy people follow you. Of course, you click over to check and see who your new follower is. Then you see it is a spammer, or worse. . . a person with a rather revealing photo for an avatar. Yikes! Kids look away from the Twitter please. . . nobody needs to see that.

The other night, I was talking with my friend Kristine McCormick (@KristineBrite) on Twitter. She mentioned that she was being bothered by people telling her not to be so serious with her Tweets. Hello, it is her Tweets! If you do not like something, then do not follow. Nobody tells you who to follow and you have the freedom to pick and choose your Twitter family/friends as you wish.

When I saw my friend’s Tweet about the people pestering her, I was angry. These people have no clue. They are not only rude, but tacky given the events in her life. You see Kristine’s precious daughter Cora died at just five days old – just four months ago. Kristine has done so much with her angel Cora and Twitter has been a vital part of that campaign to let people know about CHD.Back in February, Kristine also did a guest post called My angel forever – Cora’s Story in honor of congenital heart disease awareness week. It is am absolutely beautiful piece, please read it if you are new. You can also read more about Cora’s Story and what Kristine is working on by clicking the button below.

To try to make her smile, I asked if it was therapeutic to push the block button and get rid of those people from her Twitter world. She said it was and I told her I had done the same with spammers/trolls. Of course, this lead us into a completely different direction. I mentioned how nice it would be if there was a real life Twitter Block button. We both joked back and forth about some people that would be on our list. Of course, the nice part of this dream was we could just as easily unblock anyone that we wanted to after a break from them. Ah, if only it was that easy – right?

So fess up. . . who would be on your list for the real life Twitter block button?

Do not dare to say nobody, I know there has to be someone. Whether it be your boss, in-laws, best friend or spouse – everyone has someone that would be on that list. Leave a comment here, it will be therapeutic and I won’t charge you for a visit!

Categories:
bloggy friends interesting me moments

Lullaby Renditions of Journey

Posted on May 2, 2010 4:56 pm by TheAngelForever

It’s no secret that many babies, older children and even adults like to fall asleep listening to music. My oldest son, NHL, has gotten used to this. Music in his room at night helps to relax him and get him to sleep faster. TechyDad and I have no problem with this. The only issue that we had was the same CD getting "old" after 365+ playings.

Several months ago, this stale bedtime music routine changed. I was contacted by Rockabye Baby! to do a review of a few of their lullaby rendition CD. At that time, I had reviewed lullyby renditions of Guns n’ Roses along with lullby renditions of Aerosmith. To read more about those CDs and our thoughts head over to my review.

NHL has a great appreciation for music. He loved listening to new artists and enjoys singing along. When Rockabye Baby! contacted me again about their lullby renditions of Journey that was released in February, I immediately agreed. This was a nice chance to introduce both of our boys to another popular music icon in a unique way.

More about Rockabye Baby! lullaby renditions of Journey:

( Los Angeles ) "Who’s Crying Now?" If those sobs are coming from the nursery, help is on the way when Rockabye Baby releases its latest album of rock songs turned into gentle instrumentals on February 9.

Lullaby Renditions of Journey features 12 songs from the classic group that has sold over 75 million albums worldwide. Thanks to the sweet and tender sounds of glockenspiel, vibraphone, Mellotron, harps and bells, tunes from the group with 18 Top 40 singles and six Top 10 hits extend "Open Arms" to infants. It¹s not "Only the Young" who enjoy Rockabye Baby albums. Parents who "Faithfully" follow the music of Journey will savor this album as it helps them to share the songs of their favorite band with the next generation. Moms and Dads who are "Stone In Love" with their little cradle rockers will also love lullabies that help ease their babies to sleep at naptime or bedtime with timeless tunes like "Don’t Stop Believin" the top selling catalog track on iTunes.

Rockabye Baby has fostered an ongoing revolution in children’s music by creating albums adults enjoy as much as children. Rockabye Baby’s CDs have become the must-have baby shower gift, while rocker parents and grandparents such as Sheryl Crow, Kirk Hammet of Metallica and Steven Tyler of Aerosmith have sung their praises.

The rock lullaby line has been heralded in the media and won top parenting product awards with its albums of songs by The Beatles, Queen, Bob Marley, U2, Led Zeppelin, Coldplay, Nirvana, Pink Floyd, The Rolling Stones, Green Day, The Ramones, Metallica, Radiohead, AC/DC, The Cure, and many more.

The label’s most recent release, Lullaby Renditions of Guns N’ Roses was named one of the 10 Best Books and CD Gifts for Kids in Entertainment Weekly¹s recent 2009 holiday gift guide, and the Aerosmith lullaby CD issued last September included liner notes by the band’s lead singer Steven Tyler.

The Rockabye Baby blog is updated daily with info about the coolest products and music for babies, coloring pages, rock star facts, recipes and much more to serve as a vital resource for parents. Fans of the albums can vote for the artists whose music they want to hear in future releases.

Find more information, song samples, the Rockabye Baby! blog and more at www.rockabyebabymusic.com.

Lullaby Renditions of Journey track listing:
1. Open Arms
2. Any Way You Want It
3. Wheel In the Sky
4. Faithfully
5. Separate Ways (Worlds Apart)
6. Who’s Crying Now
7. Lovin’, Touchin’, Squeezin’
8. Send Her My Love
9. Stone in Love
10. Only the Young
11. Lights
12. Don’t Stop Believin‘

What we thought:

Once again, the boys were quite anxious to try the new CD that we received. They both wanted to know the names of the songs as they played. They were also quite curious to see what would come next on the track list. NHL took the CD cover and read off as each song played. Like with the other Rockabye Baby! music that we have, it was nice to use not only when the boys go to sleep, but also for quiet play time.

As I listened to the CD, memories came to me from hearing these songs during my lifetime. It was nice listening to my boys react to the songs. NHL would ask me questions about them. Thanks to the Rockabye Baby! lullaby renditions of Journey, NHL has asked to hear the original Journey songs and we have done this so he can see the difference. My favorite songs on the CD are Open Arms, Don’t Stop Believin’, and Any Way You Want It. The songs on this CD are calming, soothing and perfect for background music when reading, having quiet play or trying to soothe a child to sleep.

I know that the next baby shower I go to, part of the gift will be a Rockabye Baby! CD with the songs of the parents favorite artist. With the wide variety now available, there will likely be several to pick from.

Disclosure: I received the Lullaby Renditions of Journey CD complimentary of Rockabye Baby! in order to facilitate this review. No other compensations was given. The opinions expressed in the review are my own feelings about the product that my family tried.

Categories:
Music Product review Web business

Making Planters at Home Depot

Posted on May 1, 2010 6:21 pm by TheAngelForever

Dear NHL and JSL,

It has been a while since we all went to Home Depot for their free Kids Workshop. We thought it would be a nice treat for the two of you to go and make something. Today, they had picket fence planters for kids to make and take with them. Papa met us there to watch and keep us company.

Today was a special day for you JSL. Even though you are probably too little, we decided to let you "build" one with Daddy. You had a lot of fun banging with the hammer. Of course, I think your favorite part may have been wearing your Home Depot apron and goggles that we brought with us. When we were done with the project and shopping around the store, you refused to take everything off and rode around just like that.

NHL, you really liked this project as well. You wanted to do things on your own, but I tried to help you out. Of course, I messed up on something when I was trying to take photos at the same time. Daddy and I quickly told you it was so we could tell your planter apart from JSL’s. . . which technically is true.

When it was time to get your plants, the always friendly Melissa allowed NHL to pick out the flowers. You picked purple and asked for a pink one for JSL. In the end, we had a wonderful time.

Next week, they are doing something new and we will try to go again. If not, I hope we can go next month to make the soccer game. It has been so much fun watching both of you build things together.

Love,

Mommy