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Theta Mom®

Redefining Motherhood

The Launch of Bellflower Books

Bellflower Books  is a company that was started by two best friends, Heather Smith and Kerry Wellstein. The idea to start this business actually derived from the difficulty they both found when trying to come up with meaningful, personal gifts for some big events that were happening in their lives – such as Kerry’s Father’s Retirement and Heather’s Mother’s 50th Birthday. After some brainstorming and soul searching, these ladies recognized that the gifts we give, receive and treasure the most are the ones that come from the heart; the kind of gifts shared with those we love. Heather and Kerry knew that combining the ability to get in touch with family and friends to share photos and ideas seamlessly would be the answer to creating a personal, affordable and meaningful gift that would last a lifetime. Hence, Bellflower Books was born.

I have to tell you that the major difference that clearly separates Bellflower Books from your typical Kodak or Snapfish platform can be found in the software that Heather and Kerry developed. The online tools at Bellflower Books give you the opportunity to make family and friends an integral part of your project with just a click and the addition of some email address. They also have tons of professional, hard covered designs available that really can’t be matched by their competitors.

Here is a photo of the Bellflower Book I received to give you a better idea:

You can also check out a sample completed you book with the ability to turn the pages online and they even offer you an Idea Center to get inspired! Bellflower Books make the perfect gift for any occasion, such as baby and bridal showers, retirements, birthdays, anniversaries – and the list goes on! The possibilities of the kind of book to make are endless…

For example, I am a blogger who takes photos when I attend a blog conference and I always find myself searching through Facebook pages and Flickr accounts to gather some great photos of my bloggy friends. Bellflower Books would have saved me so much time since the tools are available on the website (and by simply adding the email addresses other bloggers, this would give them to opportunity to upload their OWN photos and share their own text to the SAME conference that we all attended). Wouldn’t that be a fabulous way to remember an incredible event – and sharing this process with those that matter most? If you attended a blog conference recently or plan on attending some this spring/summer, Bellflower Books is a great way to preserve those fabulous memories in ONE beautiful book!

How It Works:

You begin by creating a free account, only using your name and email address (and choosing a password). Easy peasy! Then, you choose your favorite book style (so many fabulous colors/designs to choose from with some examples are here) and collect the email addresses of those who you would like some photos and/or text from to complete your book. The Bellflower Books web tools take care of the rest! When you are ready, you have the ability to preview the book online and make any necessary edits before you place your order!

But wait, there’s more. You know that I only feature women-owned businesses in The Marketplace that I trust and that make sense to this website as well as my readership. Bellflower Books certainly fills that criteria; I love the way that they are a real organic company, two best friends that had an incredible idea who designed an authentic product that touches the lives of others. I was not only inspired by their start-up story, but by their company’s mission and goals. They are truly two women I am so proud to partner with.

Therefore, you will find me tweeting for Bellflower Books, generating some great buzz as well as developing a fabulous community for the brand. I’ve come on board to help them kick-start a social media presence so I hope you join me in welcoming Bellflower Books to the social media space; they are certainly a brand you should get to know as well as one to watch!

Theta Mom® abides by word of mouth marketing standards and believes in honesty of relationship, opinion and identity. Bellflower Books is a proud sponsor of Theta Mom and I was compensated for this post and provided sample materials. However, all opinions expressed are purely my own and the content of this post was not influenced in any way.

The Milestone

There are times when we stand tall and proud as mothers, like when we watch our babies take those first steps or hear the sounds of those first spoken words. Each child reaches milestones at his/her own pace and as parents, we are always ready to applaud them as soon as they get there.

But when our children struggle through this process of reaching some of those milestones (that perhaps we’ve seen others reach with such ease) somehow, the reward is even sweeter for us when they finally do get there.

And that sweet reward arrived for me yesterday.

I never fully discussed the long road that my daughter and I have traveled this past year, a road that we are still traveling. At the time, I just wasn’t ready to share it all nor could I find the right words.

And perhaps I still can’t.

I only blogged about it once and it was one of the HARDEST blog posts I’d ever written. Partly because I had no idea of the journey we were about to embark on.

Well, this may not sound like that much to you, but let me tell you, our entire world just changed.

For the first time in nearly three years, my daughter picked up a book ON HER OWN, sat down at the kitchen counter and OPENED it. This particular piece of literature kept her ENGAGED. She may not understand one word on those pages nor does she recognize some of the pictures in that book, but what she just proved to me and herself is that she is showing INTEREST and EXCITEMENT about literacy, something she has never shown before.

Her eyes gleamed with delight as she independently flipped each page, carefully pointing to the colorful pictures and the babbling continued to flow from her lips.

The babbling continued to flow from her lips.

My eyes welled up with water as I reached for my camera, trying to capture this beautiful moment – a milestone that has taken SO much hard work to reach – one that I was so damn proud to witness.

Finding and Establishing Your Voice

My guest post today contains important insight from Cheryl, author of the blog Mommy Pants. Cheryl also happens to be the brain child behind The Red Dress Club, an amazing community of writers. So if there is any blogging ‘expert’ to write a post about finding your voice, it’s definitely her.

I was beyond excited. My editor had just told me he wanted me to write a column off a game I was covering.

This was big stuff. A column. With my picture next to it in the paper. And I got to write from my perspective. Put my own spin on what I saw.

Then he said, “Make sure your voice is really strong.”

Wha? I mean, I write. So aren’t I using my voice? Isn’t it coming through?

Not necessarily.

One of the most elusive concepts in writing is voice. It’s tough to define, to explain.

As I got more confident and more experienced, my true voice emerged.

Yours can, too.

Think of it this way: you’re upstairs and you hear your kids talking – arguing, playing, whatever – downstairs. You can’t see them, but you know exactly who’s saying what.

By their voice.

It’s the same with writing.

You can read someone and know who it is without looking at who the author or blogger is. If she or he has a distinctive voice, that is.

Consider these two examples from very well-known bloggers:

“And there it was: my nail bed. Bare, naked and alone in the wilderness of this cold, cruel world. I wrapped it in the comfort of four flexible BandAids, and the tip of my middle finger has been throbbing ever since.

I understand if your hiney is cringing right now. Mine is cringing, too.

Hold me.”

And..

“If you missed it, I’ll just sum up by saying that if you ask twitter if it’s legal to carry a smallish sort of taxidermied alligator onto a plane with you, most people will say ‘Um, no.  You aren’t even allowed to bring breast milk on a plane.’  Then you’ll point out that the alligator is at least 50 years old, is wearing clothes and is missing a hand and some of them will change their mind but most will still insist he’ll be considered a weapon.  Then you’ll say ‘I can’t imagine anyone seriously thinking I’d try to take over a plane using only a tiny, clothed alligator as a weapon’ and everyone on twitter will like “Really? Have you even met you?  Because that sounds exactly like something you’d do.’ ”

Two completely different writers who are both very distinct in their voice. The first example is from Ree Drummond, aka The Pioneer Woman. She’s homey and comforting and seems like just one of the girls. And the second is from Jenny Lawson, aka The Bloggess, who is silly and pointed at the same time.

But how do you get there? How do you find YOUR voice?

The most important first step is to read a ton of blogs, books, magazines, newspapers – anything. What writers speak to you? Why?

Then try on different voices. Write like Ree or Jenny or any other blogger or writer you admire – but don’t hit publish, please!

Does it feel kinda weird to write like someone else? It should. Because it’s not you.

It’s not YOU.

That’s what voice is. It’s the unique way you put words together. It’s how you think, how you feel, how you sound.

Why is it so hard, then?

It takes time for all those thoughts in your head and in your heart to translate into writing. It does. It takes practice. It takes trying new things.

It can mean stepping out of your comfort zone. Taking a risk. Pushing yourself.

Here are some ideas for how you can find your voice:

Write about stuff that matters to you. Be passionate. If you’re interested and feel strongly about what you’re writing, it’ll shine through.

Consider your audience. For most of us, our readers are other moms. You don’t want your writing to be like a tech manual. Not because mothers are not smart, but because we want to relate to you. We want to connect. We want to know you.

Write like you speak. Pretend you’re telling your story to your friend. Write the same way. Then read it aloud. Does it still sound like you?

Experiment. Use descriptive language, or shorter sentences. Really think about each word.

Be confident in you. Don’t try to be someone else because it won’t seem authentic. Your readers are coming to your blog because of you and what you have to say.

Most important, remember there is no one else like you. Bring THAT to your pages and everyone will know who you are – without even looking at your name.

They’ll simply recognize your voice.

A Warrior Mom

There are many moments throughout motherhood that I think to myself, “Gee. This isn’t exactly what I signed up for.” Like when you travel with your two year-old through the airport.

Waiting in the baggage line with my daughter was a nightmare.

Passing through security was also nightmare.

Simply walking through the airport to reach our gate was a nightmare.

And then finding out our flight was delayed for at least two hours – another utter nightmare.

The problem is, my daughter doesn’t want to go in the stroller anymore nor does she want to hold my hand. She simply is at that stage where she wants to be nothing but be Miss Independent, especially in one of the busiest terminals in the country.

Bottom line? She drives me absolutely crazy. She steals my patience, my sanity and my salvation at every turn and corner, making me wonder why the hell I go anywhere with her in the first place and that day in the airport, I was done.

My brain was fried, every ounce of patience was gone and entertaining my little firecracker was virtually impossible. I exhausted all of the snack tricks, coloring book tactics and the like. We still had hours on the watch before we would board the plane and I thought it was a hopeless feat.

And then, something happened – something that I believe I was supposed to witness.

A mother and father were pushing their daughter in a wheelchair and parked near us, placing their belongings on the empty row of seats in front of us. It was hard to determine exactly how old the woman in the wheelchair was considering her head hung down low. At first I thought her head was low because she was sleeping – but when she tried to lift her head and barely raised her hands to motion to her mother in a very loud repeated groan, I knew this was her only means of communication.

Her mother immediately rushed to her side, trying to figure out what her daughter wanted, who appeared to have the developmental ability of a 10 month-old baby.

I continued to watch out of the corner of my eye as this brave mother attended to her daughter with such ease and grace. She gave her something to drink and some bracelets from her suitcase that she could touch. This mother kept her composure at all times, never letting the fierce groaning from her daughter or the strong stares from others fluster her, nor did she grow impatient with her child.

As this was going on, I sunk into my chair and peered over at my own child who was not sitting in a wheelchair but one who walks with her own two feet. She was exploring her environment and seeking independence; a child with a brain that is able to process and check for understanding, a child that is able to speak and communicate with me, a child that will have so many more opportunities than that woman will see in her entire lifetime.

I slowly turned back around and sat in a puddle of guilt.

What I witnessed that day was a warrior mom who reminded me to count my blessings.

Every single damn one of them.

As mothers, we are ALL faced with some kind of adversity but somehow, someway – we get through it.

SHE is a warrior mom.

SHE is a true inspiration to the rest of us.

SHE is a reminder of the strength we demonstrate when we’re faced with a difficult hand.

Thank you, warrior mom – whose name I don’t even know – for putting me in my place. I didn’t have the pleasure of formally meeting you, but you are certainly a mom who will be etched in my mind for a lifetime.

Featured TMC Blogger: The Fordeville Diaries

TMC welcomes Kim from The Fordeville Diaries. Kim still considers herself a new blogger since she’s been blogging for less than a year, but after reading one of her posts, you would think she’s been doing this for years. Her content is always spot on and her personality and humor are always infused perfectly in every post. And she is recently sporting a fabulous new blog design! She is also a fellow Jersey girl, so of course that makes her rock even more in my book! Here is how she describes her blog in her own words:

“I’m so excited to be today’s Featured Blogger on Theta Mom!  Since you’re here, I don’t have to tell all of you what a great community this is. But I will tell you that as a relatively new blogger, I’m really grateful for everything I’ve learned right here on this site. It has been a tremendous resource.

As for my blog, I’m only seven months into this brave new world and really loving every moment. The site focuses a lot on my family, but not exclusively. You can also read about my sometimes bumpy transition to the suburbs after 16 years in Manhattan as well as our related attempts to renovate our 100 year-old house. And some other very important matters:

The ongoing battle to purge the basement of my husband’s clutter when he’s not looking. Sometimes he catches me, my unpopular aversion to arts and crafts. Please don’t back me into a corner with a glue gun – it’s not pretty.

Managing my son’s relentless fixation with Thomas the Train. I’m considering a train exorcism, or perhaps driving Percy, James and a few other residents of Sodor off of a cliff.

My obsessions with music and movies, including 23 years of trying to meet Bono in ways that don’t technically meet the criminal definition of stalking…and let’s not forget the snoring pug named Señor.

So you’ll find a lot of day-to-day musings because honestly, isn’t real life often stranger than fiction?  For me, it’s all about taking the ordinary things of the day and turning them into the memorable. That’s what strings together a family, a history, a lifetime.

And the biggest thing to point out is the crazy timing of this Featured Blogger post to coincide with a huge change in my life — my official last day of work.  Today!  Yes, today I hang up my corporate pen after many years, and I start reporting full time to two children under the age of four. 

So come on over to my blog and watch the chaos of my transition to SAHM unfold before your eyes.  This is the next chapter of my life.  It will be humbling. And fraught with domestic disasters. And so much fun.

That covers the basics. I hope you’ll find time to stop by – looking forward to meeting more Theta Moms!”

Be sure to check out the blog and follow her on Twitter! New to TMC? Join us! We LOVE new members!

*To be considered as a future Featured TMC Blogger, be sure to comment on this week’s feature! Have a great weekend ladies!