We launched the monthly nods in February of 2008 and by golly wouldn’t you know that we’ve given out 99 of them!  So that brings us to June and our 100th Nod winner!!  Here is the nod we chose…

Full Circle: A Note to My Birth Mother

This post was Karen Hartzell’s pick and here is what Karen said about her touching choice:

Melissa’a blog is inspiring for anyone that has been adopted or hopes to adopt via a fostering program. Her emotional writing is truthful and sometimes heartbreaking, but always leaves me wanting to read more. Her recent post of a letter to her birth mom on her own 40th birthday was a beautiful tribute of understanding and appreciation. I wish strength to Melissa in her quest for motherhood in the direction she chose willingly.

Congratulations on being Graco’s 100th Nod Melissa!

Mommy and Baby are happy and healthy! Proud Daddy says based on some of Little Whip’s early expressions it seems he is already in deep thought planning a future business review. Congratulations to all!!
 
Every Wednesday we’ll be sharing a photo showing off a little bit of wonder in the lives of our extended Graco family of customers.

Take our survey and be entered to win!

With this pregnancy, everything has been “normal.” I haven’t had many ultrasounds (one at 6 weeks to check viability and another one at 20 weeks). Because I think I was having ultrasound withdraw (and I wanted to do something special to document this pregnancy), I had the 3D/4D ultrasound at 28 weeks.

Also with this pregnancy, I was really sick from weeks 5-10 but felt completely fine after that. Compared to my first pregnancy, this one is a “breeze.” Which made me think to myself, will this be the last time that I carry a child??? My husband thinks it is, but I have my doubts (don’t tell him I said that).

But, talk to me after labor and delivery and in 3 years when I am refereeing fights between my two girls….

Take our survey and be entered to win!

Already we have been welcomed with a Home & Family Breakfast this morning by our sister company, Calphalon, and later today an Ice Cream Social hosted by another sister company, Goody. Many of us can’t lose sight of the many boxes awaiting our return at home and a small part of us hopes some will miraculously disappear. A move is exciting, a little scary but together, we are excited about what the future holds. We are believers that change is the door to opportunity. And today, we walk through that door.

Obviously this move comes with incredibly mixed emotions as Pennsylvania is the birthplace of our brand and as many of you see on this blog, our people are an important aspect of “who” we are as a company.  Though saying goodbye to some of the folks that have made us who we are has been very difficult, we fully believe that this move to Atlanta will make us better equipped to realize our vision of enriching every family’s journey and every child’s development.

Most importantly, especially for our consumers, we make a promise to stay true to our guiding principles that were the birth of our company and continue to guide our business decisions today.

Graco is:
• Born out of a love for tinkering
• Built in a village based on trust
• Embodied with a passion for being the best
• Committed to doing the right thing
• Dedicated to taking time for the little things

A great quote for our day today – “There is an abundance of hope which lies between yesterday and tomorrow.”  We are excited to be here!

Sooo…that brings me to this survey– Click here to take the survey

We would love for you to take 4.25 minutes to take this survey for us (I had my husband take it and I timed him just to give you an idea). And don’t just do it because you feel bad and want me to stop groveling, do it because you might win something!  We will be putting together a Newell Rubbermaid prize pack with lots of fun stuff from our sister companies like Goody, Calphalon, Sharpie, and of course, from us.  It’s definitely worth 260 seconds of your time!

Thanks in advance everyone!

Since Jed is only 5 months old, I am pretty sure he will adjust easily. If I keep his belly full and his pants dry, he’s a happy boy. Baby on the other hand is four and a half. I have no experience in relocating, especially with a child old enough to know we are moving! Would she understand what was happening? Would she be upset about leaving her current preschool and friends? Everything she knew would soon be changing and I was wading into unknown waters on how to prepare her for it.

I thought back to how Baby reacted when DH and I first went to Atlanta for three days last year. It was the first time we left her alone with the grandparents for three whole days. We made a huge mistake of not explaining (in three year old language) that Mommy and Daddy were going away for a short trip and would be back. BACK being the optimal word here of course. We took for granted she would just be occupied enough not to miss us and be her normal happy self. We were wrong. Baby had a very rough three days missing “the red house” and asked repeatedly to go home. She wanted Mommy and Daddy and we weren’t there. It broke my heart to learn of the level of anxiety my first born had while we were gone. How would she ever deal with the relocation process?

I created a plan to introduce Baby to moving one step at a time. First we worked back up to staying overnight at the grandparents houses again. She regressed after the Atlanta trip and wouldn’t stay anywhere without us. We even had an issue on vacation when she did not want to sleep in the house we rented for the week at the beach. Oy!

Once Baby was comfortable with overnight visits again, we presented the idea of Mommy and Daddy taking a trip for a few days. We talked about where we were going and when we would be back. This time we also arranged for the grandparents to stay at our house with the kids. Baby was more secure in her own surroundings and the house hunting trip for DH and I went off without a hitch.

As the months passed, the more DH and I talked about Georgia, the more Baby came to understand about eventually moving. We made sure to stress we ALL were moving to Georgia as a family. Baby would list our immediate family members so we all knew who was going to Georgia. Always followed by the adorable question…”Is Jed moving too?” We showed her pictures of the new house. We talked about the big truck coming to move our belongings. Baby was also able to decide what small toys she wanted to take in the car versus what would go in the big truck. She was even thoughtful enough to make sure Jed’s favorite blanket bear was on the car list. Baby spoke tirelessly of painting her new bedroom pink and of planting tomato plants in our new backyard. Focusing on small details on how Baby’s life would change, but also stay the same, made the transition easier for all of us. Hearing Baby repeatedly excitedly ask if we were moving to Georgia tomorrow every day for about a week before the actual move, was enough to reassure me that we had prepared her well for the family adventure. If you have any tips to share on how you prepared your child for a big transition, I would love to hear them. I am pretty sure this family has a lot more adventures ahead, and I could use all the help I can get.

Every Wednesday we’ll be sharing a photo showing off a little bit of wonder in the lives of our extended Graco family of customers.

My first reaction is to let her name me. Shouldn’t that be one of the benefits of being a first-born? That’s what I got to do – I named my Grandmother “Mamie” because I was first-born and that was my early attempt at saying “Grandmom”, so it stuck. Do I really have to pick my own name and then tell everyone that’s what I want to be called? It feels strange to me. Is this how it is usually done?

If I go with the first approach, I won’t have a name until she begins to talk. When R&B let me hold her, I don’t want them to say “Here, BGT - go to that lady who shall remain nameless until you come up with something cute and original”. I think I would like to be called something unique like my Mamie was (but not off the wall). I can’t be called “Mamie” – she was one of a kind. My other grandmother was called “Nana”, which has a nice ring to it. My mom is “Mom-Mom”. Should I be “Mom-Mom-Mom”? – no that’s just silly. “Grandma” is so, I don’t know…. regular. “Grammy” feels old, but it is kind of cute. “Me-Mom”? — probably not, because it naturally evokes “Pee-Pop” for Hubby. He’s already calling him self P-Daddy, so that will probably stick. Why is he having fun with this, but I seem to be mired in angst?

One of my brothers-in law is called Papa` (accent on the last syllable) by his grandchildren and I just love that. Mama’, however, reminds me of the Addams Family, so that’s out. I’ve got a few months to figure this out, but I’d love to hear some stories of how you and yours have named the grandparents in your world and get some suggestions.

I am happy to have added these fabulous ladies to my list of “IRL” friends:
Colleen from Classy Mommy
Whitney from Mommies with Style
Jo-Lynn from Musings of a Housewife
Beth from Total Mom Haircut
Sarah from Genesis Moments
Melissa from Girly Mama
Shannon from You Ott 2 Know
Amy from Occupation: Mom
Teresa from Elebelly
Cecily from Uppercase Woman
Leslie aka Lollie Peep
Mary Fran from Everyday Adventures
Sue from 1 Year Apart
Julie as herself
Lynette also as herself
Kristie from Mommy’s High Heel Shoes
Shannon and Anna Maria at PBS Kids Sprout (our hosts for our wonderful evening)

Here’s a great video from Sarah of the event (I think her mad editing skilz kept me from looking too stupid!)

One of the best things of the evening was a scavenger hunt we did. We found out some very interesting tidbits about each other.  For instance, we found out that not one of the Philly Mom bloggers (or at least of those present) was a vegetarian. I bet that’s a stark contrast from our sister sites on the west coast! It was a great way to get people up and mingling and checking each other for tattoos that might be hiding in undisclosed locations

We were excited to feature the My Ride 65 and give away lots of other goodies.

And of course the entire evening went off without a hitch because I showed up Erin did everything! (thank you Erin!!) 

I think this night certainly helped stave off a bout of seasonal affective disorder (it’s been quite gloomy here for weeks!) and helped bring an online group closer together. Thanks to everyone that came- I’m sure these ladies will be getting back together again soon!