I'm Going Places

I would like to thank Ms Baby Plan for giving YUMMommy the You're Going Places Award!

She writes a very touching blog documenting her journey to becoming a mother called The Baby Plan.  I was introduced to her blog by Future Mama's blog.  And I have to say that she is so open and honest with her readers.  Her posts don't come off forced or phony, but intimate and sincere.

I really appreciate the fact that she thought of my blog to pass this award to.  I am deeply honored and gladly accept it.  This is my Second award for YUMMommy!!! Part of accepting this award requires that I tell you guys where I hope/plan/want/will be ten years from now.  So without further ado....

In ten years, I see myself as an established, multi-award winning, best selling author.  I will be the mom of a very busy 11.5 year old. (Moo is 1.5 now.)  And I'm sure you guys will be laughing uncontrollably about all of my adventures with her preteen issues that are guaranteed to follow.  I hope to be happily married.  Still on the fence about baby number 2.  However, I'm sure we'll have a cute little Yorkie with nice exotic name.

I want to be more involved with the community and see myself sponsoring charity balls, volunteering and mentoring other young women.  I see Young Urban Modern Mommies as a global foundation that will not only serve as an outreach to American moms, but those in under developed countries as well.  I see my fashion and jewelry line being a huge success.  I see my family and I living in our dream home.

Most importantly, I see myself stronger and more rooted in my relationship with God.  I hope that in ten years I will have met a few of you in person and created wonderful friendships where we send each other Christmas cards and dinner party invitations.

Now, I would like to pass this award to a few special blogs and people that I have had the pleasure of reading and connecting with.  I truly think that these people are going places to say the least.

Kenya Mack: She is certainly going places.  She's a published author who has mad skills.

She is also a soon to be 1st time mommy!!  I hope to meet her in person one day because

we have had a blast connecting through our blogs and via Facebook.

Mommy Glow:  What can I say? Alex is an amazing young mom who shares about her 

experience of having been a teen mom, not having a stable support system and co-parenting among other things.  This is a must read blog for other young moms out there.  I'm certainly looking forward to meeting her and bonding in person.

The Soul Mom:  Another wonderful blog, I've had the pleasure of stumbling across.  She certainly has soul and passion!!  I even used one of her quotes as my Quote of the Day.  (Check out the top box in the left sidebar.)

The Savvy Sista:  I enjoy reading this blog throughout the day because I get my fix about what's going on in the Black community.  I mean she blogs about everything from entertainment to real life news and more.

Haute Travels:  This is the Vogue of travel blogs!!!  Never has traveling been made so appealing.  I truly recommend this blog to all fashionistas and travel lovers out there.  I was actually inspired by Haute Travels to start doing a little bit more traveling of my own. The world is this big canvas waiting for me to make my brush stroke.

Baby Makin{g} Machine:  I can't really remember how I stumbled across this blog, but it was the very 1st blog I subscribed to on here!!!  I mean from the first post I read, I was hooked.  I admired the fact that Future Mama put so much of herself out there for readers to get to know.  She is much more than a blog/Twitter/Facebook personality.  She is an amazing person.  And I'm glad that I've gotten the opportunity to bond with her through her blog and Facebook as well as Twitter.  I truly hope to meet her in person.  I see so much of myself in her that it's crazy.

In closing, I hope that all of you check out the blogs I mentioned. I think that you will find that these ladies each have a story to tell.  And while they might be similar, they are oh so unique and inspiring.

My Weekend WrapUp

My Moo has been officially dedicated to GOD!!!!!!!!!!!!  I'm so excited and happy.  Oh, this weekend was awesome, a little bit stressful and amazing all in one.  As you all know, Saturday was the BIG Day!  I was happy that my brother was able to make it.  This is his senior year of college and we don't get to see as often.  However, he came him Friday afternoon and we had a blast.

Saturday morning got off to an early start thanks to Moo.  She is an early riser for some reason.  I wish she would sleep in more.  Of course, I wasn't really planning on sleeping in too late Saturday because we still had to make Moo's gown. Yes, totally last minute, but not my fault.  Her gown was suppose to be made two days prior to this event. However, somebody (who shall remain nameless) decided to procrastinate and wait until the day of.

And of course, that's where my stress came in.  That and the fact that Jay and I had gotten into a rather unpleasant dispute the day before and he had said that he wasn't going to come to her baptism.  So, I was on pins and needles waiting for him to show up.  In the back of my mind, I kept telling myself that he wouldn't dare miss his child's baptism ceremony.  Then again, I wasn't too sure.

So, here we are sewing, ironing clothes and curling hair.  Meanwhile, time is just flying by and before we know it it's time to go.  Actually, it was past time to go.  We were late to venue and had to rush to set up.  However, we managed to get everything sat up on time.  And her father did show up.  I was thankful.  I want so much for him to win back my family's good graces.  And I knew for sure that if he missed this event, his chances would be even more shot to hell.

I'm a family person and it's very important that we all get along.  He's done some stuff in the past that has made my family a little bit cold towards him, but I feel like he's trying to seriously turn over a new leaf, but only time will tell.  I've given the matter to God.  Whatever happens from here on out is in His hands.  Anyways, the ceremony was beautiful.  The gown turned out amazing.

As you can see, we did not go with your traditional white gown.  No, I wanted something unique and something that paid tribute to her African heritage. Excuse the back pic.  She was having a diva moment and refused to be still.  Had to catch her at whatever angle we could. LOL.

Anyways, I loved the gown and she did too.  In fact everybody loved it.  I can't say enough about how happy I am to know that Moo is officially welcomed as one of God's children.  My faith has always kept me grounded and gotten me  through hard times.  I very eager to help Moo establish an equally wonderful relationship with the Lord.

Sunday went well, but could have been better.  I'm learning to not let everything affect me on such a personal level.   Hope you all had a great weekend.

Adventures in Potty Training: The Beginning

Well, I think that I mentioned a few posts back that I was going to try to have my adorable Moo potty trained by the end of the Summer.  And I have to admit that at first I didn't put much effort into it.  I know Boo me, but in my defense, I was just tired.  I had a lot on my plate. (Not really unusual.)  And of course, let's  just face it, I was just lazy when it really came to the task at hand.

However, I am happy to report that I have since recovered from my laziness.  I can't say that I've taken some of the things that were on my plate off.  If anything it's been quite the opposite.  I've actually put more things to my plate, but I will save all that for a later post.  The important thing is that we are finally on the journey to leaving behind diapers and saying Hello to big girl panties!  Now that I have taken the plunge, I'm truly excited.

It sounds crazy but I am genuinely excited about Moo soon being able to go potty.  For starters, my diaper bag will be lighter.  I won't have to carry a stack of diapers, ointment and all that other stuff.  I can just keep a few pull-ups in the car and I always keep wipes.  Second, I'm excited about taking her shopping to get her first set of panties!!!  That will be a milestone to write about in her baby journal.

Every time, I go to Super WalMart or The Children's Place or whatever shop I'm at, I can't help but glance at the little girl underwear and wonder when my Moo will have a collection of her own.  My mom always says that nice underwear helps you to feel sexier and better about yourself.  Of course, Moo is too young to feel sexy, but at least she will feel good about herself.  She'll like the big girl she tries so hard to be.

This morning, we sat on the toilet using the Sesame toilet seat my mother got.  She did a little tinkle.  And then later on this afternoon at the office, she tried taking a poo on the toilet!!  That might be TMI, but I can't help it.  I'm motivated and fully committed to helping her progress.  I'm learning that motherhood is what you make it.  And I choose to make my journey fantastic.

I can either complain like I see so many of the other moms doing, but at the end of the day Moo didn't ask to be here.  So, instead of viewing this process as a messy one, I'm keeping my eyes focused on the prize.  I'm also trying hard to let this be a positive experience for Moo as well.  If my attitude towards potty training her is negative or ill then she won't feel motivated to let me know when she has to use the bathroom.  Instead she'll be more content to urinate in her diaper and not have to bother me.

So, I'm already on the hunt for a cute frog potty that we can decorate with her name and maybe some more frog stickers.  I'd also like to get one to go in the car.  That way I can get her used to going to the bathroom on the go.  Not to mention, I won't have to put out a boatload of sanitizer and Lysol just make the public restrooms clean enough to go in. I can just lift up the trunk of our minivan and sit her on the potty. (I have privacy screens that can go around her potty of course.)

I can't wait to see how this adventure progresses.  Wish us luck!!!

Father's Day Reflections

I just want to say Happy Father's Day to all the amazing dads out there who are doing an amazing job at trying to be in their children's lives and handle their responsibility.  And even to the dad's that are expecting but still being supportive on their wives or significant other, Happy Father's Day to you too!  I have to admit that for me and my siblings, Father's Day is always a bit bittersweet.  While others are out celebrating with their dads, we are left with a void and broken hearts over the distance and lack of involvement our father has with us.

And trust me, it's not because we haven't tried to reach out to him because we have.  It's just that somewhere over the expansive length of my parent's marriage my father fell out of love with the Family Life.  Having been a teenage parent, I guess he always felt the yearning to reclaim his youth.  And I'm sure the fact that his mother died when he was 12 and leaving them with an abusive father didn't help matters either.  In fact, I'm pretty sure the latter had a lot to do with it.  I was always led to believe that all my grandparents were deceased as a child. 

It wasn't until I came home after a breakup with the love of my life  that I found out my father's father died when I was four.  And all those years, I walked around not knowing.  I was helping my mom clean out some old papers and stumbled across the his obituary.  At first, I didn't know it was him.  I saw the same last night and thought it was one of my great uncles, but when I opened and started reading "He leaves behind to mourn his death..." and saw my father's name, I felt a rush of emotion.  I felt hurt, sad, betrayed and angry.  Then remembering how my father told me of some the horrors they lived with their father, understanding sunk in.

I'm not sure that I've still completely accepted my parents reasoning for leading us to believe that all of grandparents were dead, but at least I know why they did it.  They didn't want us to be disappointed.  My grandfather wasn't much of a father to his children and stepchildren and probably wouldn't have proved to be much of a grandfather to his grandchildren.  From what I understand, he didn't come to any of his children's weddings, school activities or graduations.  He never tried to make peace with his jaded past until he was on his deathbed.  And even then he wasn't very apologetic about the hell he'd put them through or the fact that he probably contributed to the cancer that killed my grandmother.

But still here we are years later and still we ended up disappointed of sorts.  I'm not going to sit here and say that my father has never been there for me, because he has and if I truly needed him again he probably would try his best.  However, what I am disappointed at is that he doesn't make an effort to call.  My Moo barely recognizes her own grandfather.  She's seen a total of maybe 6 times since her birth.  And it took my father months to remember her name (the sad part I gave her his mother's name for her middle name).  For months, I heard my aunts and uncles telling me how they saw my dad and asked about the baby and he couldn't even recall her name.

I cried the first time I heard that.  It hurt down to my very core.  I never felt so unimportant in my father's life than at that moment.  I mean I spent almost three weeks of my pregnancy living at his house!  We watched kung fu movies together.  There was the night he went out and got us a 100 piece bucket of chicken nuggets from McDonald's because I was craving them and my fiance had gone to work.  He gave up his room for me to sleep in and moved to the couch.  (My fiance slept in the other bedroom down the hall because my parents did not raise me to be disrespectful to their house rules even if I was grown and with child.)

And I was pretty sure that in those almost three weeks, I had surely mentioned the name I was decided on and he seemed to recall it every time he rubbed my belly and cooed to his unborn granddaughter.  Thank heavens that Moo came out a girl because we had chosen not to find out the sex, but common sense told me that my mother had five girls, my grandmother had nine girls and her mother had mostly girls and I too would 99.5% most likely be having a girl.  Her dad and everybody else swore she was coming out a boy.  LOL.  Imagine the shock when she came out a girl.  

I can only hope that Moo's baptism will bring about a much needed change.  During her service I plan to pay tribute to my deceased grandparents and even insert a little reading about the importance of raising children and being their for them even when they become adults.  I hope that my father will get the message.  I know that he has done somethings to us that will never be forgotten, but at least we can all move forward to a place of healing.  I don't want to have to lie to my daughter the way my parents did to me about not having a grandfather.  I pray that God hears this and throws us a miracle.

The Value of Christian Marriage

This past Friday, I read something that made me wonder if we as Christians truly value marriage?  I mean seriously, if you label yourself as a believer of God whether you're Baptist, Catholic or Methodist, etc, and you get married you are charged by God to keep your union holy and pure according to His standards.  So, why then do I see so many couples practicing things within their marriage that disgraces the sacred union they entered? 

For example, I read on a certain blog that I subscribe to that the author went to strip clubs with her husband on a few occasions and doesn't mind him going to those kinds of places. Now my logic is this: if you still feel the need to oogle some other chicks naked booty and breasts then why are you with me?  When you take your wedding vows, you vow to honor the other person and to love them.  Well, honor means to show the purest of respect.  And while love can't really be defined, I can say that if my husband is still going to strip clubs he can't love me enough.

I can't help but feel like more and more we as Christians are selling out to the world's standards.  I feel like I'm becoming a minority when it comes to doing the marriage thing God's way.  Seriously, if my future husband ever asked me to go to a strip club, I would:

1. Ask if he was crazy.
2. Remind him that he's married and has a wife who has the same goods as those girls at the club.
3. Hit him divorce papers if I found out he was making strip club visits on the regular!

Yea, some of you might say number 3 is a little bit harsh, but I take my faith seriously.  And having come from a family where all my aunts and a most of my uncles are divorced due to adultery, I have learned that marriage is not something you enter in lightly.  I'm not holier than thou either because I sin, but I don't make the conscious effort to do so or cosign on my mate sinning and disrespecting our marriage.  I'm pretty sure that Lust is one of the Seven Deadly sins.  Also, we can find quite a few stories in the Bible that warn against coveting others who are not your spouse.

So, why then are some women and men content to let their spouses out to places like that without a word?  More important why get married if you're going to keep up behavior similar to living a single lifestyle?  Let's be frank, you're traveling a path to Hell anyway, so not just move in together and skip the marriage vows?  If it's having legal rights to a person's property when they die or whatever they make wills and last wishes that could take care of that.

Maybe, because I'm getting married in the near future I'm getting heated about this.  Or maybe it's my fear of wondering what kind of marriage my daughter will have that scares me.  Seriously, if people of my generation and even those twice my age are settling for this, what will my Moo have to settle for?  And why is it so hard for us to live by God's standards instead of the world's?  I am forever puzzled by this complex issue and can never seem to come up with an answer.

My only hope is that wholesome marriages like the Huxables portrayed on The Cosby Show will come back in style.  I for one will be doing everything in my power when I tie the knot to uphold my vows and the marriage commandments outlined in the Good Book!!

Facial Therapy

Good afternoon.  So, I was telling you guys that the lovely people over at Hachette Book Group sent Babushka's Beauty Secrets and of course I was so pleased with how well their soaking treatment for my feet went that I decided to try a few more treatments from the book.  Let me be the first tell you all that I have severe dry skin.  And my recent stress eating has not been helping out either. I have been binging on sweet foods and sodas.

Needless to say my skin, especially my face has had to suffer.  So, I decided to try one of the face souffles and an all natural serum for my lips.  I tried the Date Souffle which is a mixture of egg (whites for oily skin, yolk for dry skin), sour cream and vitamin E.  You apply the mix to your face, let sit for 10-15 minutes and rinse with lukewarm tap water. Personally, I think you get a more even application if you use a makeup sponge or a cotton face pad instead of your hands.

I put mine on using a circular motion to make sure it really got into every pore.  And you can certainly feel it working once it dries.  Let me just say that when I rinsed off the souffle my skin looked wonderful and this morning it looked even better.  Seriously, I had a lovely glow.  I had to take a double glance in the mirror. Also, let me mention that since I was not going on a date, I decided to follow up the souffle with a nice helping of baby vaseline as moisturizer.   My skin feels so soft and my break out is already showing signs of remission!!

Now for the lips, I chose the Forget Flaky Lips serum.  I don't know how many of you are familiar with LL Cool J and his lip licking, but I'm a frequent lip licker as well.  Mainly because I'm horrible at keeping up with Chapstick and lip glosses. They end getting washed in my pants pockets ruining my clothes.  So, I settle to lick my lips which are chronically dry as well.  All that saliva coating has made my lips a little flaky and while I used use a medium bristle toothbrush to scrub them, it got old buying a separate toothbrush just to scrub my teeth with. It can get pretty expensive because I like to change mine every month because of germs and dead skin getting caught in the bristles.

So, I when I came across the serum I was like what the heck.  It's a mixture of olive oil (I used veggie oil), honey, sugar and a squeeze of lemon juice.  You let the serum sit on your lips for 20 minutes if you can do so without licking it off. LOL.  I did manage to resist the urge to lick my lips I must brag.  You wash off with lukewarm water and apply Chapstick, gloss or whatever it is that usually use.  Oh, when I washed mine off, my lips felt so soft.

The dead skin was melted away.  And surprisingly it wasn't that hard getting all the sugar and honey off.  I guess the acid in the lemon juice helps with that and the dead skin.  I am learning a lot from this book.  In addition, to these treatments and serums they give you tips.  For example, eating lots of cucumbers help to prevent your body from retaining a lot water.  I never knew that!  I'm learning something new everyday as I read and flip through this wonderful book.

Pampering Our Feet

So, Hachette Book Group was nice enough to send me a copy of 'Babushka's Beauty Secrets: Old World Tips For a Glamorous New You' by Raisa Ruder and Susan Campos. This book couldn't have come at a better time.  Those of you who are friends with me on Facebook know that Moo has been suffering from a bad ear infection since Saturday.  And I have to admit that since embarking on my Single Mom Journey, I have kind of let somethings go.   Not to mention, the fact that I've just really started dropping the reminder of my baby weight.  So, I've been trying to revamp my wardrobe and my beauty.

Let me tell you that as a child we tried our share of natural beauty tips from Seventeen Magazine and beauty books targeted for teens.  More often than not, the serums and scrubs did not work.  So, I was a little apprehensive about trying some of the treatments from this book.  However, the fact that Raisa is a licensed esthetician to some of Hollywood's greatest and brightest stars kind of nudged me to try a few.    She promises, "Babushka's Beauty Secrets creates glowing skin for under $5."

With Summer weather officially here, it is time to pull out the flip flops and open toed sandals.  And as women we know the first rule of wearing any kind of shoe showing off your feet is 'Get a good pedicure.'  Well, it just so happens that Babushka's Beauty Secrets has a hands and feet section.  Since I'm on my feet a lot I don't have to tell you that calluses are the things to watch out for.  Therefore, I decided to try their Clear Away Calluses treatment. 

Reading the ingredients I was a little uncertain that it would work-1/2 cup baking soda and 1/2 cup of kosher salt added to warm water.  The instructions said to soak for twenty minutes and then scrub with a loofah or foot scrub.  Simple enough and I had all the needed items in my kitchen.  I decided that I would enlist my baby sister and my mother to try in this with me to make sure that it really works.  And Moo decided that she was feeling well enough to join in too.

So, we filled up our foot tubs and mixed in our baking soda and salt and got down to soaking.  Now, when you first put your feet in this mixture you will feel a slight tingling sensation.  (My mother claims she didn't feel the tingling, but me and my sister did.)  It should stop after about two minutes.  It's not painful or unbearable.  While we waited out a our twenty minute soak we watched a little Cupcake Wars on Food Network.

After soaking twenty minutes, we removed our feet one at a time and got to scrubbing.  Boy did the dead skin peel right off.  I mean we didn't even have to scrub hard either.  My mom was able to rub hers off with a towel and then switched to the loofah for a deeper scrub.  I was kind of excited and have made up my mind to try more treatments from this book and post my experience with them on here.  I'm looking forward to regaining my fashionista attitude without having to break the bank.

Tonight, we're trying step two of the Date Souffle.

My Weekend WrapUp

Well, let me just say that I for one was very much looking forward to this weekend.  For the last ten days, I had been watching my niece and younger sister for mom while she was away on business.  That was a total of three kids(including my Moo)-two of which were very busy and while the other is slightly boy crazed at the moment.  Add the fact that none of them can get a long for more than five minutes and you can tell that I had a very trying ten days.

Saturday, I came up with the grand idea to whip my mom's house into shape. She is somewhat of a hoarder but refuses to admit it.  I keep telling her the first step to getting help is admitting you have a problem.  However, in her mind her excessive need to buy or pick up stuff off the curb when she doesn't really need it or have space it is not a problem. LOL.  So, anyways, I thought it would be a good idea to get rid of small stuff that she wouldn't notice.

We started with socks. Yes, socks!  She had this huge green clothes basket full of every kind of sock you could imagine.  I'm talking about white socks, black socks, blue socks, green socks, Santa socks, Dora socks, etc.  Well, I thought we were making could progress on matching up the socks, throwing away the ones with holes or that were too worn to wash back white.  Out of nowhere my younger sister decides that only after 30 minutes of matching she's ready to take a break for Facebook.

I was like you haven't even matched a good five pairs of socks.  Her 30 minutes of matching was mostly spent complaining and texting.  I tell you the kids today are not looking very promising on the domestic front.  I could not convince her to keep matching socks.  I could have put my foot down, but it was not worth it. I finished matching the socks in less than 15 minutes more and bagged up the rest.  Then it was on the kitchen and so on.  We end up getting rid of a total of three trashbags worth of stuff that I'm sure my mom will not notice is gone.

Also, this weekend it was extremely hot, but that did not stop us from grilling out Saturday when Moo's father dropped by for his bi-weekly visit.  It was kind of fun until he started turning into the annoying five year old that he can sometimes be.  Like seriously, he knows that I can stand to be poked in my side, pinched or tickled along with a few other things that get under my skin.  Finally, I had had enough and he left.  I was a little sad that for all the progress and change he talks about having made, ditching his five year old alter ego is not one of them.

Sunday morning when I woke I had an extra pep in my step.  I was just hours away from being freed from babysitting duty.  Thank you Lord! I did some final cleaning that got so good that I completely lost track of time and was late to airport to pick up my mom.  Thankfully, it wasn't entirely my fault. We would have been kinda on time had her plane not landed a whole 30 minutes early.  But she got a surprise when my younger brother joined us.

We decided that to welcome her back home we would head out to eat. Now, having spoken to my brother earlier that day we had decided that we were going to eat at CiCi's.  So, I was a little shocked when he asked my mom where wanted to eat as if we hadn't already agreed on a place.  It wasn't that we didn't want our mom to have a choice, but him being a college student and my being a single mom put us on a tight budget.  And my mom does not have tight budget taste.  And sure enough she picked one of the most expensive buffet restaurants to eat at on a Sunday afternoon-The Thunderbird.

When I was younger we used to eat there at least once a month until money got really tight.  And they weren't super expensive and the food was actually good. But Sunday our dining experience there was a HOT mess to say the least.  Let's start with the fact that they charge you almost $5 for kids under 3 to eat.  I'm not saying that my child isn't worth $5 but let's be real she's not going to eat $5 worth of food and she was sick.  So, we tried to explain to the lady running the register that Moo wasn't eating and she got an attitude saying that they have to charge for anyone who comes through the door.  WTH?!!

Then on top of that it was $9.22 for adults to eat.  Let me tell that this place is no Golden Carrel by a long shot.  They have one tiny little hot bar and a salad bar the size of a water well. This was strike two and should have been our cue to flee but we knew she was looking forward to eating there again and we wanted oblige her. Not to mention it was a good 98 degrees outside.  So, heading back out into the heat in search of another place to eat was not an option with a sick child.  Yes, we forked out $50 bucks to eat! 

My wallet is still in shell shock.  Strike three was when we had to search high and low for a clean table to eat at. Like really you're charging almost $10 to eat here and you can even clean your tables in a timely manner so that incoming customers have a place to seat?  After being passed by several hostess, one lady was nice enough to point us to a big and CLEAN table in the back. 

The fourth strike came when we learned that only sweet tea and water came with our meals.  You had to be pay extra for soda.  At that point  I was just fed up.  Now you're putting restrictions on my drink choices I thought quietly.  Strike number five was when we realized that we were being watched like a hawk by our serving staff.  Seriously, they assigned people to stand over the tables and watch you eat. I guess they want to make sure that people don't sneak food out, but watching me like you're an overseer and I'm a slave is not the way to do it. 

The restaurant was cramped and strike six was that the air didn't work.  So, I paid almost $10 for some food that was loaded in grease and butter and pretty much flavorless only to not be able to enjoy out because one I'm being stared down and two I can't eat well when I'm hot.  Our experience was horrible!!!  So, horrible that we ended up cutting our meal short and leaving but not before we got my money back for Moo. She did not eat and I was not going to let somebody keep my hard earned money.

You would think that my Sunday would have ended there. Nope, a visit to the emergency room with Moo was on the menu too.  She was past by sick.  Her fever was up to 103 and she wouldn't eat or drink.  Not to mention she was feeling a little sluggish. I was very worried and had her father meet us at the ER.  The diagnosis was that she had a middle ear infection.  My poor baby.  She had been suffering for who knows how long.

I can certainly say this weekend was not the best.  It had its share of ups but mostly downs.  Here's to hoping this week will be better.

YUMMommy Receives Trendy Blog Award!!!

I am proud to announce that Mommy Glow has bestowed YUMMommy with the Trendy Blog Award!! 

This is our very 1st blog award.  I feel so honored and humbled that anybody would think of my blog as trendy.  I always thought of my blog as being different or unique. Now it's great to be able to officially add trendy to my description.  As I accept this award, I just want to thank God first of all for giving me the courage and strength to put myself out here the way that I do.  I want to thank my mom because without her, I wouldn't be here. 

And I have to thank my lovely daughter, Moo.  She has been the topic of many of my posts already and I'm sure that she will continue to be going forward.  Thank you to all my supporters and friends who keep me encouraged and motivated.  Thank you to all the silent stalkers who come by and read my posts but can't bring themselves to comment.  Your presence is still greatly appreciated.

And finally, I would like to nominate the 8 (well 9 because I'm going to renominate Mommy Glow) Trendy blogs listed below for a Trendy Blog Award of their own:

Mommy Glow 

{{In Her Own Words}}

Baby Makin{g}  Machine

Cutie Booty Cakes

Baby Dickey

The Single Mama

Theta Mom

Silver Lips Beauty

Haute Travels™

 

To receive this award,you must share this with 8 other blogs that you think are Trendy!

1. Post about your award in your blog.

2. Share with your fellow bloggers.

3. Ask recipients to give this award out to 8 as well

 

Be blessed guys!!

Ebay, a Baptism & a Logo

So, a few weeks ago I ordered a new charger for my Palm Treo 800.  Yes, I know that there are newer phones out, but I love my treo and can't seem to part with it.  Anyways, I ordered it from this guy on Ebay. I checked his ratings of course before I placed my bid and they seemed pretty decent. He wasn't huge seller on Ebay, but his feedback as a buyer was great.  So, I placed my bid with hopes of having a new charger to get my treo back up and running.

Well, the product was suppose to ship from NY.  I'm pretty familiar with mailing things up state. My BFF lives in Philly and I send her stuff all the time. And the longest it's ever taken her to get a package from me was three days.  So, after three days of waiting for my package to arrive, I got worried and checked the status of my order. Of course, I was disappointed when I found out it hadn't been shipped.  Now, patience is not really my strong point.  Therefore, I wait two more days and then I contact the seller.

He says that my item was shipped via United States Postal Service, but he didn't purchase tracking.  Okay, I feel a red flag go off in my mind. Who doesn't purchase tracking when mailing an electronic device?  So, I give him the benefit of doubt. I've purchased stuff from Ebay before with no problems.  Well, a week goes by and no charger. Then a few more days go by and still no charger. At this point, I'm a little pissed.

First of all he mailed my item late.  I feel like I paid on time. Therefore, I want my merchandise on time.  So, I decided to contact Ebay.  They offer Ebay Protection to their buyers now.  They send the seller a note that I haven't received my item. Do you know this nut case has the audacity to come at me crazy talking about how I was probably trying to rip him off and that it takes two weeks for mail to get from NY to SC.  Like really. I had to check him. I was going to keep it professional, but to insult my intelligence and talk down to me like he knew me I couldn't stand for.

So, we engage in a two day battle of words. Finally, he realizes that he can't play me and refunds me my money.  I decided to thank him by leaving a negative feedback rating on his profile. I mean times are hard and I can't afford to be getting ripped off online. I need money just like he does. Hello????? Single mom here.

Anyways, I'm glad that I've moved on from dwelling on that drama because I have finally set a date for Moo's baptism!!!  I know I waited a long time, but hey better later than never right?  I'm super excited because my faith is very important to me. I would describe my relationship with God as an awesome one.  He is certainly guiding me through some things and has always had my back.

So, it was never a question of if I was going to dedicate her to Him, but when.  And the timing seems perfect. Her father and I are in a good place. My family is coming around to forgiving him for walking out on us. Well, some of them are and some of them still wish he would just fall off a cliff.  And being the planner that I am, I want to go all out for this event. I mean I got invitations, I did a gift registry and am designing a program.

This is a very important milestone in her life and I want it to be grand.  Moo is by far the most spoiled and pampered one year old I've ever met.  I don't know where I'd be without her in my life. She has made me a better person and caused me to rethink certain aspects of my life.  So, much of who I am right now is because of that little girl.  I love her to pieces.  And even though this menu and decoration choices are driving me nuts, she's worth it.

And finally, I got word that YUMM might be getting a new logo!!  I'm super excited about that as well. A few months ago, I asked one of my very talented friends to create one and she had her hands full with work, being a single mom to a very charming young boy with medical needs and school to name a few.  Well, I got a message from her the other day and she is making progress on it. She hadn't forgotten and with school out, she started sketching and is bringing something to life for me.  Can't wait to see the finished product.

Good night out there.

Me Time Monday

I'm sure some of you read my Oh So Emotional post from last week.  Well, today I decided to take Kenya's advice and enjoy a little Me Time.  Kenya is the author of {{In My Own Words}}, an absolutely amazing and keep it real blog that I am falling in love with!!  I invite you guys to check it out. I'm having a blast reading some of her older posts.  Oh and she's the an author in real life. She wrote "This Too Shall Pass."  I'm in the process of ordering a copy to read.

I'm always down for supporting my fellow blogger friends.  But back to Kenya's advice, I took a little time to pamper myself today and it felt wonderful.  Right after I wrote about my hitting the wall with my current single/co-parenting situation, I called Moo's dad and told him that I needed him to be more active in her life other than what was outlined in our court ordered visitation agreement and he agreed that he would start picking her up to free my afternoons on his days off.  Well, today I was trying to iron some clothes and what not but as usual I couldn't because Moo made up her mind that she wanted Mommy to hold her for almost an hour.

I was just about to get frustrated, but I took a deep breath and told myself that ironing could wait.  And since school is out, I don't have to hire a sitter. My baby sister babysat for free while I got my hair relaxed, cut and curled.  I feel like a new woman!!!  Let me first say, I had been going natural for over two years until about 6 months ago when I tried to put a relaxer in my hair.  Guess what, it didn't take. 

I have super curly hair that I prefer straight and it has a mind of it's own at times.  Now, I know that some girls say they would kill to have the hair that I have, but quite seriously I was tired of firing up the hot comb and the fishing out the pressing grease.  Not to mention, I still haven't found a product that will tame my frizz when it's wet or humid out. And as an up and coming business woman bad hair days have to be a thing of the past.

I came home refreshed and relaxed. I was so relaxed that I didn't even get upset when Moo stole my Ranch burger only to play with it and throw it on the floor.  I didn't yell when she smashed cheese puffs all in her play pin. I'm learning on this journey of motherhood to pick my battles and to use the help that God sends me even if it's not the person I want it to be.

Yes, it would have been nice if her father hadn't bailed out saying he was going to work overtime to pay for some new apartment he wants to move into.  However, I know that she was in good hands with my sister and had blast running around at my aunt's house.  New pics coming soon. Good night out there.

My Weekend WrapUp

Although the weekend might be coming to a close, I'm sad to see it go.  I don't have to go into the office tomorrow. Therefore, I will be sleeping in for as long as Moo will allow me to.  Another reason I'm not sad to see the weekend go is because my Mommy will be back from her ten day conference training session.

I have to admit that I didn't think I was going to miss her, but I do.  I even got her a 'Welcome Home' gift.  I'll post pics in my next Weekend WrapUp.  This weekend has been kind of long. Saturday was graduation. Unfortunately, I couldn't make it to any of my little cousin's graduations because of work. Ugghhhh.. Frustrating but what can you do?  Bills have to get paid and diapers have be bought.

However, I did make it to the cookout and got a chance to hang out with family. Some people I hadn't seen in ages.  I tell you I'm glad that school is out because I have heard promises of more family cookouts to come.  And I'm proud to announce that I will be starting off the family cookouts with Moo's Baptism Celebration and Memorial Cookout in a few weeks!!!

My mind is running a mile a minute planning out menus, decorations and everything.  I want this event to be perfect or as close to perfect as it can get.  Looking forward to creating an atmosphere in which the younger generation will get to know the older generation.  Cookouts are the perfect setting for telling stories and teaching youngsters their history.

And today was wonderful.  We made it to church just in time for the offering.  And yes, I was THAT mom again this week. Moo was quite talkative and had a bad case of Ants in the Pants.  I think that her terrible twos came early.  At least we didn't have any more Bible tearing accidents.  So, that is an upgrade. I sent up a special prayer that God will continue to shape her and smooth out her rough edges.

I did enjoy a nice dinner with my immediate family today as we gathered for a surprise 49th birthday party for one of my uncles. He was genuinely happy to see that we had thought enough to surprise him.  With all the death in our family lately, we have learned to give each other our roses while we still have life.  Nothing will remind you what's most important like death will.

I'm looking forward to many more birthday celebrations to come.  Well, I am officially still stuffed from my dinner. I will certainly have to work out double time to get this off. Planning a little Mommy and Me retreat to the beach and I want to look super cute in my new bathing suit. 

So, how was everyone else's weekend?

Oh So Emotional

Greetings out there.  So, I think that I'm finally hitting the wall where I'm about to give out from being overwhelmed.  I've been doing so well with this single/co-parenting thing until recently. I have to admit that having Moo pretty much 24/7 is stressful at times. Not that it's her fault or anything. But it's hard to get work done and do my bookkeeping when you have a busy one year old crying in the background because her favorite toy is out of reach.

 Hell, I can't even go to the bathroom without hearing the patter of little feet trailing behind me.  Don't get me wrong, I like the fact that she is my number one fan and finds it cute to see what Mommy does every second.  However, I am in need of some alone time.  I feel like my life is at a crossroad of sorts and I need some peace and quiet to figure it out.  I pointed out to Moo's father that he could be more helpful.

I suggested that instead of sticking to his court ordered every other weekend visits, it would be nice if he stepped up to the plate and volunteered to keep her on his days off as well.  Even though she wouldn't be staying overnight, I could do a lot of work with an entire afternoon free from Mommy Duty.  I think that it's time for this SuperMom to hang up her cape for a few hours.

My Weekend WrapUp

Well, the three day weekend is officially over and it was back to business as usual. For me that included a day at the office, collecting some stuff from my sponsors (giveaway coming soon), Mommy Duty, and running other miscellaneous errands.  Anyways, I hope that everyone had an enjoyable weekend.  I certainly did. I felt so refreshed this morning that I rolled out of bed before 7AM.

And as my family can tell you, I'm not much of a morning person.  Although, I've been trying to change that.  I think that I'm improving. I'm a lot less grouchy for sure.  But back to my weekend...  It was totally awesome from beginning to end.

Saturday, I enjoyed nice social outing that was great for me and Moo.  We went to birthday party for my friend's son.  He turned a big, fat 1!!!!!   The theme was Curious George/Pool Party.  Moo did not enjoy the pool however.  I got her the cutest little bathing suit with pink Hawaiian.  She was content to just stand on the sideline and look pretty.  She did have fun playing basketball with her daddy and riding the tricycle.

We looked at our potential new home. Yes, we're moving hopefully the end of July!!!  I'm keeping my fingers crossed. However, I wouldn't mind waiting October or later. Most leases end in the winter.  Plus, I'm hoping to find a house and not an apartment. I'm really ready to move into a place that I can call my own and actually make my own decoration wise.  I'm the creative type who likes to put up curtains, paint the walls, hang photos and mirrors, update the lighting fixtures, etc.

I've found a few other nice places online Sunday and can't wait to see them in person.  Sunday was bittersweet.  Our beloved pastor is going into retirement the end of this month. :( Although, I haven't known him for all that long because I was in college when he came to our parish, the almost two years that I have been back home and getting to know him has been wonderful.  He's done so much and improved the church for the better.

He's done an exceptionally great job at starting programs to keep our youth involved.  As a parent and young adult, I appreciate that.  The way he takes time and stands up for them is amazing.  And to see that some of those kids and teenagers have a better relationship with him than their own parents is mind blowing.  He has truly made a lasting impression that will not fade anytime soon.  So, we put together a surprise Appreciation/Farewell Service for him on Sunday.

There wasn't a dry eye in the building.  The most touching part of the service was when the young girl's mime team presented him with a cute card that said he will missed and that it's not goodbye but farewell. It even had a check inside.  He went to pieces crying in front of all of us. Whoever says that strong men don't cry never met this man.  He is stronger than most men will ever be.

This man has the courage and boldness to say things to our congregation that many pastors wouldn't dare. However, we are still able to take the chastisement in love and not be angry with him.  So, it would be an understatement to say that he will missed.  He has agreed to keep in touch and come back for visits.  I'm going to make sure that he visits at least once as he will be performing my wedding ceremony when the time comes.

Memorial Day, we gave honor to all our family and friends who are serving or have served in the military. I have to say that it takes a brave and courageous soul to fight for the freedom of millions of strangers.  I am not that brave or courageous.  So, my hat is certainly off to those men and women who leave their families behind to put themselves in harm's way so that we can have freedom and an equal chance at living.  I thank God daily for making this nation.

I hope that you all took the time out to thank all the military personnel that you know.  You'd be amazed at how much they appreciate just a word of thanks and acknowledgment.  I also grilled out. Yes, Mother Nature thought she was going to rain on our cook out, but thank God for covered porches and silicon cooking utensils too!!!  We moved the grill on the porch and kept the flame blazing.

It felt wonderful to have just about all the family under one crowded roof.  We laughed, argued and ate.  But most of all we loved.  My family is very dear to me and any chance we have to get together, we do it.  They're not a lot of the older generation left. So, each year that we make it through without a lost is a blessing.  It's scary when you see family members from your parents generation dying off. It just hits home that much harder that death is unpredictable and that you truly have cherish the time you have.

That is part of the reason I write this blog. I want to cherish my life and share what I can with as many as I can.  Like I said in my very post on here, if I can inspire or touch just one person then I'm happy.  I truly love to write and believe that words can have power....