2nd Annual Santa Pictures Event!

We had a great time at our Pictures with Santa event today! About 25 Families (and that means lots of kids) came out to chat with Santa and get their pictures takes. There was many smiles, a few tears, and yes a bunch of screamers who didn't realize what an ally Santa will be someday to them.

The pictures will be passed out to the mommies in a week. Thanks to the mommies who worked so hard to make this event happen! We thank Santa for taking time from this busy toy making season to spend time with us too!

We will post some pictures here as soon as we get them.

Santa is coming to Frederick this Saturday!

If you would like to skip the line at the mall to get your childs pictures taken with Santa, please contact us. All of the information is listed below on our flier.

We're going to the movies

Yes, that's right! A group of FM'ers will be heading out to the midnight showing of New Moon. So tomorrow if you see a group of mommas (at the bus stop, preschool, store, etc) with bags under her eyes, coffee in hand and still sporting her jammies, then she was probably one of the ladies seeing New Moon! :)

Committee Scavenger Hunt

Huge thanks to the managers that planned the Committee Scavenger Hunt. We broke down into 3 teams of 4. Each team had to find various items (FM magnet, flier, bandaid, take out menu, empty 20 oz diet coke bottle, McDonald cup, Maryland quarter, headstone rubbing, etc). Thanks again to Hillary, Sam and Brandi for putting this together!

Team 3 won, which consisted of Becky, Melinda, Nichole and Shannon. Here are the pictures.

Team 1

Team 2

Team 3

Elizabeth listening to the directions

Nichole and Melinda comparing flashlight sizes (size does matter ladies)!

Melinda getting the headstone rubbing

Melinda celebrating her win

Nichole celebrating her win

Becky celebrating victory over Elizabeth! :P

Vernelle and "the" toolbox

The loot

Sam checking everything out

Stephanie cheesin'

A little hazing between teams

Team 1 holing up their trophy for their honerable mention by capturing Ms. Bling

Leadership Appreciation Night at Alexanders!

Last Monday we had our Leadership Team Appreciation Night. We had such a great night and the location couldn't have been better. Their new facility is BEAUTIFUL. It's nestled in the small town of Buckeystown and it has such a quaint feel to it. Elizabeth and I were so happy to be in a place that we were able to take the Leadership Team out for a fun night and give them a little something to show them how appreciative we are for them and their hard work. We gave each member of the leadership team a cute tote bag that we had created.

Here are a few pictures from that night.

Miscarriage is not a news item

There must be something wrong with me this week *feels forehead*

First, I feel sorry for Kourtney Kardashian, and now I feel sorry for Celine Dion.

For those of you that aren't with it, Celine announced her second pregnancy a few weeks ago after many years of unsuccessful IVF cycles. Turns out she has had a miscarriage, which for non-famous women is bad enough, but when you're famous and you already jumped the gun and did the big tell-all, the whole backtracking and justifying can make a terrible situation even worse. What makes me enraged is that 1) Celine Dion's miscarriage has become a 'news' item and 2) all of the headlines (544 of them to be exact) in the last two days are referring to her 'failed' pregnancy with a good dose of underlying moralising given that she is in her 40s and her husband, well, he's much older.

In case everyone in the world has forgotten, miscarriage is a natural part of reproduction. It happens and even though I will never forgive Celine for bringing 'My Heart Will Go On' into the world, give the woman a damn break. After all, this exact situation is what supposedly drove Lily Allen into a serious depression following the media explosion surrounding her miscarriage last year.

Birth in the TMFI generation

Um, overshare much? Minnesota gal, Lynsee (is that a postmodern spelling of Lindsey?) and her partner Anders decided to livestream the birth of their child, Solveig. Sorry, but I don't really see the point. Why on earth would you have any desire to potentially show off your lady purse to a bunch of strangers?

"We wanted to share this experience," Lynsee said. "If I were in a classroom, I'd be teaching about development. It was a way for me to teach… A way for me to use myself as a textbook."

Again, thanks but birth isn't the 9pm news.

Weight gain is a sisterly affair

Oh how quickly things change. It was only 4 days ago that Kourtney Kardashian was blabbing about how much she loved being pregnant, how gaining weight was totally natural and how excited she was about becoming a mother.

Well, the honeymoon is over and Kourt has had it with the pregnancy pounds. "I gained three pounds since yesterday!" she complained to E! News. "I weigh myself every day," she explained. Her pregnancy total as of Monday night: 26 pounds.

I wonder if it has anything to do with the fact that her sisters, Kim and Khloe are both dieting with Quick Trim and have been for the past few months? Kim thinks so:

"She is anxious to get on the same plan as us. She sees a definite difference in weight loss from us. I feel like I am in the best shape of my life right now."

The research on body image states unequivocally that sisters are the extremely important when it comes to female body image. Most women compare their bodies to their sisters and eating disorders are known to run in families, particularly in households where teenage girls are competing to be the best and the most beautiful. It doesn't surprise me that Kourtney is having a hard time gaining weight. How horrible would it be to listen to all of the praise heaped on to your sisters for their weight losses and you continue to pack on the weight?

Maybe, for the first time ever, I actually feel a bit sorry for old Kourt.

Kourtney Kardashian: Motherhood is totally hard

For someone who is famous only for having a marginally famous father, Kourtney Kardashian has sure been making the tabloid rounds blabbing about how much she loves being pregnant.

"I'm totally excited to gain weight, and I'm embracing it," she tells Life & Style. "I run around naked all day at home! I like that my body is changing. It's a beautiful thing." I suppose that I should be happy that Kourt is 'embracing' her preggo bod but nothing about her seems particularly genuine and it seems like this baby is more of a publicity grab than anything.

This is my favourite part of the article:

"Scott (her partner) and I have been going to different parenting classes," Kourtney tells Life & Style. "They made me nervous at first, putting all kinds of information into my head, but they're helpful. They're a fun thing for Scott and me to do together."

God forbid information gets into your pretty little head, Kourt.

Birth: Live

Lynsee, a 23-year-old teacher in Minneapolis, is expecting her first child any day now. And she's decided to share the whole experience with the world through a web cast from the the Twin Cities’ Moms Like Me website, which will broadcast the birth from the hospital as it happens. Only Moms Like Me members will be able to leave comments during the event, though anyone with an internet connection will be able to watch the live feed.

“We wanted to document the pregnancy and create a one-of-a-kind memento for our baby to have forever,” Lynsee told the website's partner KARE-TV 11, which is also following her pregnancy (she requested that I not publish her last name, for privacy reasons). "You'll be at some of the doctor's appointments... You'll be there in the delivery room, tastefully, but you will be there.’’

Apparently, Moms Like Me reps claim that this is also about trying to direct more traffic to their website in the spirit of TLC reality programmes.

Would you broadcast your birth? It's not like you can log off in the middle of a contraction. And seriously, why on earth would you want to share your lady purse with the rest of the world.

Sounds a little too much like Balloon Boy and his attention-seeking parents.