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Theta Mom®

Redefining Motherhood

Transition Time

I have a strange feeling that many of you will appreciate this post. Hubby and I recently had a conversation that went something like this:

Hubby: You know, I’ve been thinking lately…

Theta Mom: About?

Hubby: Well, you know…I work really hard, I’m up so early every morning, I put in really long days…and long weeks at work…

Theta Mom: Uh, yeah…

Hubby: Well, I need some ‘me’ time.

[SILENCE]

Theta Mom: Did you say me time?

Hubby: Yeah, like, you know…transition time.

[MORE SILENCE]

Theta Mom: Transition time???

Hubby: Yeah, like time just for me away from the kids…I need to unwind and make the transition to coming home from work and stuff…So, I’ve decided that I’m gonna take my bike out more often.

[ABOUT TO BREAK THE SILENCE]

Theta Mom: Ok, let me get this straight. You need to take “joy rides” on your motorcycle more often so that you can have time to yourself between your job and home, and this is what you are calling your “transition time?”

Hubby: Yup.

So Theta Moms, when Hubby is out riding his motorcycle, feeling the wind on his face and the freedom of the open road, he’ll be enjoying peaceful trips alone on his bike. His transition time is a total escape…

…and my transition time looks something like this:

Need I say more?

My New Blog Design!!!

So, I have only one question…

How much are you LOVING my new look for Theta Mom?

I am beyond excited at how this site turned out!

I have to give a huge thank you to Lindsey over at Sour Apple Studio. She turned my vision of what I wanted this blog to be into a reality. She took the ideas from my head and translated them into code. It certainly is a beautiful thing.

This totally represents me, my mission, and the essence of Theta Mom!

So ladies, grab my button (is it not the cutest EVER) and let’s get this party started!

Blog It Forward

So, it’s official.

I’ve been in the blogosphere for a month now and the connections I’ve made with so many bloggy friends have been nothing short of incredible. This experience has been far more rewarding than I could have ever imagined and it is due in part to the amazing women I’ve met along the way.

I am truly honored that my fellow bloggers have recently given me the following awards. It makes me feel that what I write matters, that my voice is being heard somewhere in cyberspace, and that I have made an impact in some small way on the blogosphere. That in itself makes this all worth the ride!

So, I decided to blog these awards forward in one long post. Although there are so many blogs I love and visit daily, I thought I wouldn’t disappoint if I just chose five blogs for each award to pass on. If you’ve been awarded, please be sure to scroll down to see which award you’ve received!

Alright Theta Moms, here we go…


INSPIRATIONAL BLOG AWARD:

Karie from The Five Fish awarded me the Inspirational Blog Award. I’m so flattered because she’s such an inspiration to me! She always writes with true compassion and conviction…she continues to make me want to be a better blogger.

Blog it Forward

Here are the rules with this award:
• Blog about this award linking to the person who awarded it to you.
• Share the award with other bloggers who inspire you.
• Comment on their blog directing them here: http://tiny.cc/BlogItForward541 so that they may blog it forward and grab the code for the button.

Here are some blogs that inspire me:

You Don’t Know…
A Nut in a Nut Shell
The Confused Homemaker
How to Survive Life in the Suburbs
Mommie Daze

ADORABLE BLOG AWARD:

Stacie from Supermommy to the Rescue awarded me TWO awards! The Adorable Blog Award and It’s a Major Award. Stacie’s blog is always a fun read and she’s definitely one of my favorites!

Rules for The Adorable Blog Award:

1. Include the award logo in your blog or post.
2. Nominate as many blogs as you like.
3. Be sure to link to your nominees within your post.
4. Let them know that they have received this award by commenting on their blog.
5. Share the love and link to this post and to the person from whom you received your award.

Here are the blogs I am passing The Adorable Blog Award on to:

Conversations With Moms
Living in France
Pink Nothings
Southern Domestic Goddess
It’s a Beauty Filled Life


IT’S A MAJOR AWARD:

Again, given to me by Stacie, the rules for It’s a Major Award are:

This award is for anyone who likes to smile and/or laugh, and just generally spreads that along in the blogging world we all travel in.

Here are some blogs that make me laugh and/or smile:

More Than Words
Luscious Deals
Hip Mama’s Place
Hands, House and Heart Full
Kiddies Corner Deals


MEME AWARD:

This award came to me from fellow blogger, Momma Such from Raising My 4 Sons. I had the pleasure of finding her blog recently and I always enjoy my visits there!

Here are the rules for this award:
*Acknowledge the person who gave you the award.
*List 7 Personality Traits about yourself.
*Pass the award on to 7 other blogs that deserve recognition for the personalities that they share with the blogging world.

My 7 Personality Traits:

1. Creative: I love anything creative. As an elementary school teacher for ten years, I’ve learned some great tools of the trade. I try to do fun creative projects with my own kids. I think this is another reason why I love blogging so much…you get to show your creative side!
2. Worrier: I am one of those people who worry… a lot. Sometimes, it’s over the silliest things. I really have to work on that!
3. Friendly: I love to meet new people, which is why this whole blogging thing is so addictive!
4. Intelligent: I am very proud of the fact that I have an Ivy League education. I worked extremely hard for that degree.
5. Funny: Or at least, I think I am! :)
6. Organized: I am ridiculously organized. I love a clean home and an organized life. My kids will probably grow up the same exact way because their momma is a neat freak!
7. Stubborn: Although I don’t like to admit this one, I am. When I want something, especially a certain way, it’s just got to be that way…

Here are the blogs that have earned the Meme Award:

Living Life on Little Sugar Creek
Escape to My Thoughts
Capital Mom
Too Many Hats
Hearts and Hands


I LOVE THIS BLOG AWARD:

Baba from Babas Farm Life graciously gave me this award, so go check her out.

The rules for this award are:
1) Grab the Award and link love the person whom you got the award from.
2) Pass the award to different bloggers whom you think are deserving of this award.
3) Write a post about the award and there you’ll link the person who gave the award to you and those people who you’d like to pass the award.
4) Continue your passion in writing because your hard work will always be appreciated.

I’m passing this award on to:

Coming Clean: Confessions of an Imperfect Parent
Domestically Challenged
Wee Shenanigans
Our Nifty Notebook
Teresa’s Treasures

HUMANE AWARD:

Meg from Meg’s a Mommy awarded me the Humane award. Be sure to check out her blog!

The Humane Award honors bloggers that are kindhearted individuals. They regularly take part in my blog and always leave the sweetest comments. If it wasn’t for them, my site would just be an ordinary blog.

Their blogs are also amazing and are tastefully done on a daily basis. I thank them and look forward to our growing friendships through the blog world.

Link back to the person who gifted you with the award and share the love with other bloggers.

A Woman’s Life Stages
Guessing All the Way….
Simply Blessed
3 Little Ones
My Take on Mommyhood

Once again, thank you for all of the bloggy love and support over this past month! You’ve made my entrance into the blogosphere such an amazing experience! I look forward to building these relationships, making more connections and continuing this journey together.

We are all Theta Moms, redefining the role of motherhood…one mom at a time.

Theta Mom Thursday

So Theta Moms, my planned time for this past week actually has been planned since the beginning of the summer. My husband and I reserved two nights down in Atlantic City, NJ.

The master plan was to drop the kids at my parents’ house since they live within an hour of AC (so in the event of an emergency, this would be an adequate driving distance). My husband and I needed this getaway more than ever before. You know the deal…when you need to re-group, re-energize and just get some quality alone time. Staying at a posh hotel with a pool was certainly an added bonus! So here’s what we encountered as we embarked on this magical journey…

We were running so late. Trying to pack for a couple of nights for two children (one of whom is a baby) is like packing for 5 weeks for 5 children. Seriously! I needed two gates, the bouncy, the portable high chair, the stroller, the entire crib ensemble, diapers, formula, bottles, and the list goes on and on…As we finally packed the car, we buckled the kids in and we were off. And yes, that’s just about the exact time when the rain began to fall. It was beyond ridiculous how hard it was raining.

My parents’ home is about an hour away from ours, and although we were already 45 minutes into the trip, we were nowhere near their house. The traffic that evening on the Garden Sate Parkway was horrendous. This typical one hour drive was about to easily turn into three…

And then it happened.

My little baby girl, all comfy in her car seat (still facing backwards)…vomited.

Everywhere.

More than once.

Her entire lunch of sweet potatoes and green beans now decorated her shirt and piles of it could be found from her neck down to her toes.

We immediately pulled over to the side of the highway. Frantically, I opened the door to make sure she was alright. In doing so, I was instantly soaked from the heavy rain that was falling. She appeared to be ok, but was obviously shaken and upset. I ran to the trunk to find some wipes or anything that I could find to try and clean her up. My feet were surrounded in puddles of water and at this point, I was completely drenched. Aside from the rain hitting the car, the only other sound I could hear was coming from the harsh cries of my daughter.

I finally found some wipes through the mountains of baggage shoved in the back and I did the best job I could to clean her up under those lovely conditions. As I was wiping her down, cars were slowly driving past and the rain continued to beat down my neck and back. This was the moment that I thought, even when you have a “perfect” plan, children seem to have another plan for you…

Needless to say, we eventually made it to my parents’ house, but I wasn’t comfortable leaving my baby girl. I had to be sure the vomiting incident was just a moment of car sickness and not something more….So, we ended up forgoing our first night of paradise.

We were so disappointed.

But I knew if we had gone, I wouldn’t have enjoyed myself because I would have been preoccupied and worried about her…so what fun would that be?

Luckily, she slept through the night and she woke up happy as a clam, looking just perfect! My husband and I quickly packed up shop and darted out the door, knowing everything was a-ok.

Upon arrival to Atlantic City right down to the time we left, we soaked it all in and had the BEST time. We spent quality time together away from the kids. It felt like we were back on our honeymoon, it was that good…So, aside from the hiccup we experienced the day before, the time spent away together was totally worth it!

So, how did you spend your ONE hour? If you didn’t get to it this week, what do you plan to do for next week? If that’s too much to think about, have you ever experienced this craziness with your own kids when you’ve tried to plan a fun night out?