The Spirit of Christmas

Having kids helps to keep Christmas so magical. And those moms who are pregnant- what a great way to identify with Mary! Or swaddling a baby! It's so special. Life is busy and crazy and exhausting. It's usually the middle of the night, when I sit and think, "Am I doing this right?" The speakers at today's meeting were very reassuring. Fr. Tom and Perrin kicked it off. I love how real they were. Messing up and showing forgiveness is such an important lesson for our kids. They talked about incorporating Christ into our family lives. Great tips, books to read and lessons to follow. But really, keep Christ as the center, you and your spouse first, then the kids. Lead by example. I loved the answer to my question about not pushing them too much, by giving them choices. "You have to go to church on Sunday and youth group, but you can pick which one." Love that!

Fr. Tom giving us words of wisdom

MOPS pal, Tammy spoke next. She echoed much of what Fr. Tom and Perrin said but added to it. She gave great tips on getting God time to yourself, at the YMCA or in the carpool line. Fun bible books for kids, work books, bible studies during the week to reinforce what you hear in church on Sunday. She highly recommends "10 Gifts of Wisdom". We're so blessed to have her in our group. Please contact her if you'd like more resources.

Great versus to help us!

Happy Birthday to these hot mamas! So much to celebrate this month!

Our cookie decorating play date turned out so well! It was chaotic and a little like Lord of the Flies. But, I think all the kids had a blast- and the moms, too!

Frosting!!!

We have a few more fun things coming up! Stay tuned to the Facebook page and the google calendar on the right! Remember the spirit of the season, we're here for you!

"Do not neglect to show hospitality to strangers, for thereby some have entertained angels unawares." Hebrews 13:2

I just hosted Thanksgiving and am hosting a few Christmas parties coming soon (to save on babysitting costs). So, this bible phrase hit home for me, right at the perfect time! Christina Spencer, former MOPS mom and owner and founder of Riverside Redesign gave an awesome talk on interior design. I loved how her first step was to get a journal and sit and think and write about what you'd like for your home. It's all about you and your needs. Pray about it. Christina believes "your home should be a reflection of you and can be both beautiful and comfortable." Maybe it's not your home that's cluttered and disorganized, but your heart. Good stuff. The next step is to make a mood board on Pinterest. Pin what you like. Maybe what you think you like, may not be what you keep pinning. She had lots of tips on making that favorite art piece or passed-down furniture work in your space. Also, about getting creative and finding ways to make your space work for your family. With kids, your stuff is getting destroyed and toys are everywhere. Christina had great ideas for hiding toys and "fixing" that favorite sofa. She closed with this bible verse: "Do not neglect to show hospitality to strangers, for thereby some have entertained angels unawares." Hebrews 13:2 Make your home a place where you feel comfortable to entertain. 'Tis the season!

Don't worry guys, Anne took copious notes. Ask her for details!

I had to take a pic of this amazing mom nursing her twins like a champ!

Awesome speaker, Christina! Wyatt was more interested in what I was eating.

And then you've got Super Laurie. This chick shows up right out of the hospital having some intestinal surgery like it was no big deal. But hey, a kid-free morning is no joke!

We had a full week of play dates, too! Monday was Rebounderz. Tuesday was the zoo. Wednesday was turkey painting at Vanessa's! Jessica also hosted an unofficial craft play date then we took the crafts to the residents at an assisted living facility. This group will keep you busy, if you're up for that! Gobble! Gobble!

I have fun at play dates, too. This is a foam pit at Rebounderz

They even set up Thanksgiving crafts and snacks for us at Rebounderz

Sign of a good play date- leaving without pants!

Back yard fun at Vanessa's

So Thankful!

This month seems to have come and gone and now we're already planning for Christmas! Our amazing mentor mom, Jan is so good at making us pause. Take. A. Moment. (goes with this year's theme, too). We are just so thankful for this group of amazing women! Babies in hospitals, loss, post-partum, MIA husbands- we have it all- and we have each other's backs. These are some prayer warriors! And so much to smile about- baby Grace is here! Laughing with mom pals, play dates and worn out kids! Our leadership meeting was first this month. Getting organized for the next month, brain-storming and working together. What a great team!

Brainstorming at the November Leadership Meeting

That night was our girls night out. We went to DESC and bagged rice and sorted bras. Then, we got a tour of their wonderful facility. We brought all the toiletry items we've collected. Theresa is on their board and set this whole thing up. She's offered to take any items to them. Let her know if you're purging your closets. They could always use mens clothes and shoes.

Mae's double-checking bra sizes for sorting

Drinks and dinner at Burrito Gallery afterwards

Our meeting this month was on Education Options. Vanessa set up a great panel of moms. Eleana Simmons is a home school mom of 2. Gina Faramand is a private school mom of 6. Amy Grant has done both private and public school with her 3 children. Caroline Tatum is a public school mom of 3. We also had Kelli Chunn, the Director of Admissions at St. Marks and Kristi Kincaid the Assistant Principal of R.L. Brown Gifted and Talented Academy. This meeting stressed me out- and I already made my school choice, for now. There's just so much information for whichever route you choose to do. They all agreed that you need to stay involved with your children. I also liked hearing that you can always change your mind, it's okay to switch schools if it doesn't work for your child or family. Keep talking to other families and administrators to stay in the loop. Whew! It was a lot! I told you about Jan's mentor moment- prepping for Thanksgiving. It's getting busy, but we need to stop and just say thank-you. 

School Choice Wisdom Panel

Happy Fall, Y'all!

We had a very productive leadership meeting at the beginning of the month. We had a crazy pizza lunch with kids after. Monday chaos is always fun!
Thanks to Hurricane Matthew, we had to cancel a MOPS meeting this month. We hope everyone is recovering well from the storm and getting back into a routine. Evacuation and/or no power is not always fun when you have babies to care for! Tracy & Jessica will be in touch with a way to sneak in that missing meeting- marriage panel. Congratulations to co-coordinator, Jessica on baby Penelope! Such a smart baby to wait until after the Hurricane to bless us with her presence!
Play dates have still been happening, though! There was a last minute meet-up at the new Boone park and a trip to Conner's Amazing Acres. (I think I was the only one to attempt Sykes and Coopers corn maze in the rain, the day before the Hurricane.) Anna's group had a movie night girls night last week. Wine plus Hocus Pocus plus mom pals = A fabulous break!

Beautiful day at Conners Amazing Acres!

Kelly Paterno from the Riverside Children's Art Center was our speaker this morning. She emphasized open-ended art projects, where it's more about the experience than the end product. This goes along so well with our starry-eyed theme. Try to relax and enjoy the experience with your children. Kelly mentioned her daughter loving to see faces in every day things- making a smiley face out of fruit :-) She suggested the Artkive app to keep your child's precious artwork. ($4.99 in the app store). I loved the idea of donating art work to nursing homes and hospitals! Ask questions about your child's artwork. The most important thing is how the artwork makes them feel. Add Dawn to make paint more washable. I might actually do the taped bag of hair gel. That sounds like a fun thing for restaurants as we wait for our food to come. My Vossy boy would love that!

Kelly Paterno with her artsy words of wisdom

So many great ideas! Cloud dough is 8 cups flower & 1 cup baby or coconut oil. The gel packs are the pics in the middle.

The questions from moms were really good. Try not to draw for your kids. "Mom, can you draw Elsa's castle for me?" Let them make their own creations. I'm going to find a Boogie Board at Costco to keep my grafiti artist from re-decorating our walls! Violent drawings? That's a family decision on how to handle. Do they know the difference between fantasy and reality? Are they withdrawn in other areas or are they just expressing themselves? We even got a chance to try out art projects. Don't you just love a MOPS Monday?!

Tiffany and Vanessa using brushes to make monster stamps.

Tabitha, Jamie and Laurie making paper mache with contact paper

October is Pregnancy & Infant Loss Awareness month. Laurie gave an awesome prayer & care moment in honor of our angels. Tracy reminded the group that there is a lot of fun and laughter in MOPS, but we are also here to cry together and support each other. We are here for you! Mentor Mom, Ruth gave us some fantastic words of wisdom on caring for our marriages.

Happy Birthday to our October hot mammas!

Take a break while you can, Kim! Baby girl is coming!

Happy Fall, Y'all!

MomCon 2016

A terrific trio from our group flew to Milwaukee for MomCon this past weekend! This is what Amy Lupo had to say about it,

"MomCon was everything I expected it to be and more. I enjoyed companionship with two other Mops moms from our group, our coordinator, Tracy and one of our mentor moms, Jan. Our time together was fabulous and our relationship with each other grew as we attended workshops, worship and main sessions, and as we gathered for lunches and dinners while exploring the city restaurants.
The workshops were tuned in to our needs as mothers, wives and woman. Many workshops geared toward every aspect of life in which I wanted to grow- raising girls, grace in parenting, the big picture of kids, the way our children's brain functions, and the ripple effects of sex (plus much more! These are just five of the twenty workshops I was able to attend)- who wouldn't want to learn about these things...all the while having time to learn, grow and have restoration and fun with other women.
I was also very pleased with our worship band called I Am They. The main group sessions had phenomenal worship experiences and speakers- all geared toward us as women and our relationship with Jesus Christ. I can't wait to go again next year! ~ Amy Lupo"

Plan for September 2017 in Kansas City for the next one. It's an amazing experience. You deserve it!

Flying to MI and meeting the group, I Am They

Jan, Tracy and Amy had a ball!

Kicking off the Starry Eyed Year!

MOPS has begun! We had an Open House where new moms could come and see the lay of the land. It was nice to meet new moms, see where the nurseries will be and have our first leadership meeting! We had our kick-off party at Burrito Gallery on the rooftop. It's always nice getting the guys together, although some of them snuck away for a kick-off shot at the bar. Our first meeting was a success! It was a lot of 'nuts and bolts' and introductions. The room was packed! We've had some neat play dates, too! Vanessa has had a few back-yard pool parties in her awesome new house. We went to the zoo and Lauren had us over for a pool party in St. Simon Island!

Say "Popsicle"! Vanessa's pool party

Enjoying the tigers (and ac!) at the zoo

Our second meeting was on Conscious Discipline. Our speaker was Patti Moody from Melrose Avenue Preschool and Kindergarten. It was pretty interesting to hear her explain the method. Although, I'm not so sure about having the time to actually do this. My favorite take-away is choices. Give your child two good choices. "You can play with the car or the jeep, but you have to give back the truck." I also totally agree with the distraction technique. If you can spin your child's "mini crisis" into something positive, that's a guaranteed win. The example Patti gave was the child tantruming on the ground in the entry way to the school. She got him to come upstairs by asking him to come fish. We talked a lot about the "safe place" instead of time out. It's a spot to learn to breathe and get into a state of mind to make good choices. It has comfy pillows or blankets. Maybe a rug and photo album. I was rolling my eyes until Patti said, "It's a gift to learn to self-sooth, not a reward. You shouldn't reward negative behavior with negative attention." Good stuff! She mentioned the book, I Love Rituals and making connections with eye contact, touch and presence. "Your face is telling me you are angry". It's important for children as they get older to be able to stand up for themselves. "Stop! I don't like it when you throw sand at me." We've definitely had some great follow up conversations from this meeting!

Patti giving Jessica a sweet example of connecting and calming down using a hand game.

It's Been a Hot Summer!

Are we ready to rock the new MOPS theme?

The leadership team has been working hard this summer to prepare for this MOPS year. We even did this neat 28 day challenge. Get ready! It's going to be good! I'm Lucy and I will be your blogger. Feel free to send me pics or let me know if there's something I missed. I'd love to hear from a guest blogger! 

The Leadership team planning the year at the retreat in August. Thank you for noticing I am not in this picture. I was sad to miss the retreat this summer :( At least I was the only one.

So, this summer has been SO HOT! I'm so thankful for my MOPS family to keep me cool! The play dates are one of my favorite aspects of this group. Since we don't have meetings over the summer, this is a great way to keep up with MOPS pals, make new friends and entertain your children. In addition to all the pop-up play dates we toss on our Facebook page, there are scheduled "official" ones. We went to Amelia Island for a beach play date back in May. That was amazing! We did lunch at the Bearded Pig, an art class at Michaels and bowling in June. In July, we did a Gyminators class and the library. This month we went to the Shipwreck Island water park for toddler time. 

Beach Playdate- and this wasn't even the whole group!

I don't usually miss girls nights. We have one every month, except when we have MOPS & POPS parties- which is pretty much like a girls night, except you can bring your spouse, if you'd like. We went to Trinity Fitness back in June (I know what you're thinking but keep reading) then hit Kickbacls to drink & eat back our calories. Sweat it out, sister! In July we did a dessert pool party at Tracy's house. I can't think of a better way to spend a July GNO then swimming without my kids and drinking a cold beer! Yes! In August there was a bowling GNO, too!

Post work-out at Trinity Fitness

We also did a few things to help give back to St. Marks. The church does a wonderful job supporting this fabulous ministry. We made and served breakfast one Sunday. We also participated in the Rally Day this past weekend. 

Check out the google calendar on the right for upcoming events. See the tabs at the top. The Member Info tab has lots of great stuff, especially the babysitter list (so you can stop asking me to send it to you) and the directory. Both of those are password protected so creepers reading this can't get in. Hopefully this fall will cool me off. I can't wait for MOPS to start again! 

The struggle is real!

Maybe I am a bit predjudice because our speaker today was a friend but I thought it was such a great and uplifting meeting. Not only was or speaker, Maria Chrissovergis fantastic, our mentor mom moment was beautiful. Thank you Jan for having us pair up and give each other some words of affirmation. I had a very sweet conversation with Lauren Hogan and left with my head held high. For those of you who were not there here are a few things that really stuck out for me from both our mentor moment and our talk with Maria.

- Notice goodness in your husband, children, and people you may take for granted and tell them what you notice. Words of affirmation can really go far. 

- Don't compare relationships, find out what works in your family unit, your marriage, and each individual relationship. 

- Look at the abundance in your life, don't focus on the bad.

- Try to be in the moment 

- Everyday is a different struggle 

- Pray for peace and not patience 

- Take time for yourself, even if just 15 minutes a day. 

- Do not focus on obtaining the perfect balance in your life just take it day by day.

- At the end of the day give it to God because the struggle is real!

I can't believe we only have ONE meeting left! This group is truely one of my favorite things about being a mother. How crazy is that!? I love you ladies and feel so blessed to have your love and support. 

Signing off as this years blogger,

Jessica 

Staying Alive!

Today's meeting was on CPR and safety. Our in house Doctor Thivierge gave an excellent talk on how to keep our babies safer. Here is a little overview of what we learned today. 

CPR:

- Good CPR saves lives

- 1st thing to do if a child is unresponsive, call for help or have someone else call for help. 

- for an infant (less than 1) push jaw open to see if there is anything in their mouth. If not, start compressions. Press both thumbs in their chest (between the nipples) to the beat of Staying Alive (100 beats per minute). 30 beats, then two breathes. If there are two people do 15 beats and then 2 breathes. 

- over 1 year old to puberty, lay them on the ground on their backs and start compressions, use one hand (the palm of your hand). You should be going into the chest about 2 inches. Same count for compressions. 

- after puberty or for a large child use two hands. 

- hold the nose when breathing into mouth. Try to get the chest to rise. For infants you may have to put your mouth over the nose and mouth. 

Chocking: 

- whole grapes are a big No No! Cut longways. 

- hot dogs must be cut in half (long ways) not into rounds or give them a whole one to chew on

- popcorn is another one to watch close

- don't touch a child that is coughing and choking, don't put your finger in their mouth, just encourage them to keep coughing it up

- if they stop making noise or turn blue or are infants, then you may act

- children less than 1, hold them by their chin facing down to the ground, torso higher than their head, hit their backs 5 times. Turn them over, look in their mouth, if you see something remove it from their mouth. Do not do a blind finger sweep. Do that over and over until the object comes out or until they become unconscious. If they become unresponsive start CPR.

- in an older child (1ish) kneel behind them and wrap your arms around them palms of your hands in their belly to start thrusts.

- If a child swallows a button battery, magnet, or anything sharp don't let it pass through. Go to the ER right away. 

- Be careful with balloons. If they pop pick up all the pieces immediately. 

Extra safety tips: 

- #1 death of infants is suffocation. Do not put anything in a crib with baby. Always place them on their back to sleep. 

- always keep a close eye on a child around water. Even advanced swimmers can get tired and drown. 

- always make your child wear a helmet when bike riding, skating, etc. 

Concussions:

- If a child falls on their frontal scalp and immediately starts crying they are usually ok. As long as they are not vomiting, did not loose consciousness, all is good. Just monitor them for 24 hours. Falling on the back, top, or sides of their head at more than 4 feet is dangerous and likely to cause a concussion. 

- the danger with a concussion is to get another head injury within two weeks of the first concussion. 

- do not go into the ER asking for a head CT. Only get one if the Doctor recommends it for your child. CTs will expose your child to radiation. So, if the doctor does not feel it is needed, trust their judgement. 

Thanks again Kim for the awesome Talk! 

Also, happiest of birthdays to these lovely ladies!

Now I have to go tie up all the blind cords in my house! 

Sending you all safe vibes,

Jessica 

Let's Talk About Sex Baby!

Sex for couples with young children can be complicated. So, it was with great pleasure we welcomed clinical sexologist, Dr. Noelle Pomeroy to come speak to our group. 

It isn't strange or uncommon for couples of young children to rarely have sex. In fact the hormones in our bodies keep our sex drive low after having a baby. Before birth control, this is what kept people from having babies too close together. So, it is completely normal to not be ready to jump back in bed when your doctor gives you the ok at 6 weeks.

However, after the babies grow into toddlers and the breast feeding stops, some of us still don't regain that lust we had in our early twenties. So, Dr. Pomeroy gave us some tips on ramping up our sex lives. 

- Give yourself an hour or so before having sex to spend one on one time with your partner without technology. This will help you to unwind, reconnect and relax. Unlike most men, most women need time to clear their mind and let go of their busy day to be able to get in the mood for sex. 

- Try to identify the things that stress you out or weigh heavy on you. Sometimes our lack of interest in sex has nothing to do with sex or our partner, but outside circumstances that are effecting our mood. 

- If you don't think it is an outside factor and you are worried it is something physical have your doctor check your hormone levels. There is the possibility you have low testosterone levels and a small tweek can change your love life. 

- Create a flirty game with your partner. You could have a jar and assign a color marble to yourself and another color to your partner. On days you are in the mood put your marble in the jar. 

- Invest in toys. The Magic Wand came highly recommended from Dr. Pomeroy as a tool to help women become aroused.  

- Don't count out that your husband also may need a little help with his sex drive. Try to have an open dialogue about what he wants and what he may struggle with. 

- If sex is painful after childbirth, see a professional. There are things that can be done to help. 

- Go to mojoupgrade.com. This is a site that will allow you and your husband to both take a quiz about what things you may want to try in the bedroom. Once you both complete it only the things you both chose will show up in the results. 

There are lots of options and resources if you feel like your sex life is in a rut. And if you can't figure it out on your own, it is a great idea to go talk to someone. Whether it be Dr. Pomeroy or a marriage counselor, it can't hurt to talk to a third party.

I hope you all have a very romantic Valentine's Day! 

Xoxo,

Jessica