Business

Yesterday afternoon Caroline and I went over to hang out with Gulley and her boys. When we got there I walked into her house and noticed immediately that her kitchen was a mess and I was all like, “WHAT UP with the kitchen?”

She explained that she had spent the entire morning and half of the afternoon preparing food to take to one of her husband’s co-workers who just had a baby. And let me tell y’all something, when Gulley brings a meal she doesn’t just show up with some sad-looking tater tot casserole. She goes ALL OUT. I’m talking creamy pork tenderloin, fresh green beans, homemade cinnamon cake AND pigs in a blanket for BREAKFAST the next day.

I would seriously consider having another child just for Gulley’s food.

Anyway, we sat and visited while she cleaned up the kitchen. I asked how the new mama was doing and Gulley said, “She’s just in that raw state of new motherhood”. If you’ve been there, you know exactly what she meant by that. Nothing prepares you for how much you’re going to love that little person, how worried you’re going to be that you’ll do something wrong, and how little sleep you can live on for endless weeks.

It’s RAW.

I remember many a night where I rocked Caroline endlessly while bargaining with God to just please make her go to sleep and please don’t let her have an explosion in her diaper the minute she finally drifts off. There was one especially bad day in those early weeks when my friend Jamie called me and I think I burst into tears. She said, “I know it’s hard to believe right now, but there will come a day when you will be able to go to put her to bed at 8:00 and she will sleep until the next morning.”

I’m still waiting for that day.

Oh, it’s a joke. Kind of.

But that simple statement was like a life preserver at that moment. I just needed to hear something from someone who had been there and lived to tell about it. I needed someone to tell me what Gulley told that new mama yesterday, which was, “You can’t screw them up at this stage. Just love them to pieces and they’ll be fine.”

Anyway, the point is that as we go through different stages of life, it helps to hear encouragement and practical advice. Sometimes you just need to know that what you’re feeling is normal and no one is about to cart you off in a white jacket. (Insert “Saturday Night Fever” joke here.)

Last summer at the She Speaks Conference, I got to (briefly!) meet Marla Taviano. She is a witty, practical, eloquent wife and mother of three girls who has taken the time to share what she has learned about marriage, sex, impending motherhood, and being a mama in four incredible books.

Her most recent book is called “Expecting” and it’s a beautiful devotional book that guides you through 40 weeks of praying for your baby as he/she/they develop.

You can go read more about her books and even some sample chapters by visiting her blog and looking on the right sidebar where it says “Books by Marla”.

And here’s the best part. Marla has agreed to let three lucky winners pick their choice of one of her books plus some gift card action to Target. Mossimo goods and a new book. Who can say they aren’t interested in winning that?

So here’s what you need to do.

1. Go visit Marla’s blog and check out all her books.

2. Come back here and leave a comment letting me know which one you’d like to have and maybe if you thought about leaving your husband with your newborn baby and finding the nearest hotel to get a good night’s sleep.

3. I will pick the three winners using Random.org on Sunday, February 1st.

1st place: Choice of one book and a $25.00 Target gift card
2nd place: Choice of one book and a $10.00 Target gift card
3rd place: Choice of one book

4. If you can’t wait or even if you don’t win, you can purchase Marla’s first three books for the stunningly low price of $20.00 on her site.

Y’all have fun and I’ll see you tomorrow with a brand-new Fashion Friday unless some unforeseen circumstances arise.

How’s that for hedging my bets?

Thanks to all of you who participated in the Engraved Euniques Giveaway. The response was huge and was confirmation that I need to figure out why my comments want to crash after the magic number of 943.

How random is that?

942=okay. 943=system down, system down!

Seriously, does anyone know how I can fix that?

The good news is that all the comments remain stored in my main comment section on my dashboard so, even though you can’t see them, I still can. I’m so glad they don’t just vaporize into the vast world wide web.

The problem is they don’t show up in a handy numbered format, so I actually have to count. Like as in 1-2-3.

So I have never been so grateful that they handy Random.org number generator chose the number 80 as opposed to 864. It’s like I am one with the Random Generator.

Random Integer Generator

Here are your random numbers:

80
Timestamp: 2009-01-25 12:26:21 UTC

#80 is Michelle at Completely His.

Congratulations, Michelle. Email me at [email protected] and I will put you in touch with Engraved Euniques.

Okay, I don’t know what is up with my comments shutting down after a certain number (and HELP! if you know what the problem is and how to fix it!), but several of y’all have emailed and can’t leave comments anymore on the giveaway post.

If you want to enter the Engraved Euniques giveaway and haven’t already entered in the other post, please leave a comment here!

Thanks!

I have always been a big fan of anything monogrammed or personalized. In fact, I believe it was fourth grade when I became aware of an invention that changed my life called the paint pen and promptly used it to write my name on anything that stood still long enough, although the ink didn’t really adhere that well to the surface of my cat.

And I’m sure if we dig deep enough there might be a reason why I need to mark all my belongings with my name, but let’s not really go there because I am frightened at what we might discover.

Anyway, since Caroline was born I’ve been able to fulfill my need for monogramming and such through her wardrobe. However, the day is drawing nigh when she will refuse to wear cute sundresses with a big “C” on the front because she has no appreciation for carrying on the legacy of Laverne DeFazio. Also, all she wants to wear these days are jeans with a Tinkerbell t-shirt that says “High Maintenance”.

You know what they say, if the shirt fits….

My point in all this rambling is that I was thrilled when Kaye from Engraved Euniques emailed me and asked me if I would be interested in doing a giveaway on the blog for one of her custom-made plaques and even more thrilled when she made one for me because did I mention I’m a fan of personalized things?

Kaye makes the cutest stuff and you should definitely go check it out. They would make a great gift for just about anyone or you could get one for yourself. They look a lot nicer than paint pen on a piece of construction paper is what I’m saying.

To enter the giveaway, here’s what you need to do.

1. Click over to Engraved Euniques and look at all the great stuff Kaye makes.

2. Come back here and leave a comment about which one you like the best. It is just that easy.

3. Please leave just one comment per person.

4. I’ll pick the winner using Random.org and announce it on Sunday, January 25th.

Y’all have fun!

Thank you so much for participating in the KEEN giveaway. I loved looking at all your choices and found a few things that I now feel like I can’t live without.

I used Random.org to select a random number from the comments

Random Integer Generator

Here are your random numbers:

11
Timestamp: 2008-12-14 18:29:44 UTC

Comment #11 is Lora at By the Lamplight.

Congratulations, Lora! Email me at [email protected] and I’ll pass your information on to KEEN.

I really don’t do many giveaways, except the ones that are for products and things that I love. Which is why I jumped at the chance to give y’all the chance to win free merchandise from KEEN.

KEEN shoes and bags are some of my very favorite things. They even make me think about doing things like taking up hiking or perhaps spelunking.

Or perhaps I should just go with a hobby that’s more my speed, like shopping in comfortable shoes while carrying a cute bag.

But this isn’t about me.

It’s about you because today could be your lucky day. One of you will get the chance to pick one free item of your choice from the new KEEN site. It can be a great pair of shoes. It can be shoes for your kids. It can be a bag that will make you cry with joy.

Just look at these cute options.

Here’s how to enter:

1. Go visit the KEEN website.

2. Look at all the great stuff and come back and tell me about your favorite item.

3. I’ll announce the winner one week from today, which will be Sunday, December 14th.

If you are the oh-so-fortunate winner, then the people at KEEN will email you a coupon code that will allow you to select your FREE item and have it shipped straight to your house. Or even your Aunt Jane’s house if you’re feeling generous.

In the meantime, if you see something you can’t live without on the KEEN site, you can place an order and use the code BIGMAMA when you checkout to get free shipping until December 14th.

So, have fun looking and don’t forget to come back here and tell me what you found on KEEN!