PLANS AND RESOLUTIONS FOR 2009

The time has come, yes, once again to make that list.  You - know the dreaded list of resolutions and plans for the year to come.   Gotta right 'em down though.

I'll keep it short because it is late and I have some BIG LOVE to go watch.  But, in short - here are the few things I would like to accomplish next year:

1) Be a better friend-mother-wife-daughter.  Not that I totally suck at these things but there is always room for improvement.  I would like to spend more time with those I love.  And really, more importantly, I would like to be able to relax and really enjoy those moments that I am lucky enough to have with my kids, my hubby, my parents, my sis and my friends.  For those of you who have followed my blog - you know I said goodbye to a close friend just over a month ago.  Saying goodbye was tough but it has really made me look at things a little (no - a lot) more carefully.  I will slow down and cherish all that I've got.  Thank you Paula for teaching me this.  You were a much better friend than I ever could have been.  I miss you.

2) Get my butt into the gym 3 times a week (or at least run on treadmill at home or around block or something to get my heart rate up for at least 30 minutes).  Yes - I know - we've all got this one written down.  Nothing new here - move along...

3)  Publish SOMETHING.  Any book, poeme (OK, not that - totally suck at writing poetry), even a boring medical article - anything...  Always dreamt of writing a book - who of us bloggers has not? I would like to say that I accomplished this by the end of 2009.  OK - maybe not PUBLISH something but how 'bout just write something worthy and try to get it published? 

4)  Do something HUGE for someone else.  Felt pretty great to help out the families we adopted for Christmas.  But - we really should be doing more.  I will get to work on this sooner and maybe with the help of all of our OLLM friends we can get some huge event going and really make a difference.

5)  Last, but not least - I am going to make a promise to myself to abstain from Starbucks and Fast Food for all of 2009.  Sorry - Starbucks, I really, really love you.  I know you'll miss me and I am absolutely sure that one of your stores will have to close without my daily business.  But, I really feel that my daily addiction is affecting my wallet and my ass in the most negative ways (my butt gets bigger but my wallet gets smaller - not so good...)  

I was going to abstain from wine and beer and champagne but really - why set completely ridiculous goals that I just know I cannot keep? Hubby bought us tix to Mardi Gras as my Christmas gift - without the kids! Can you believe it? Really - no possible way that I could go to New Orleans and not drink bellinis (peach, champagne blended drink for all of you who haven't had the pleasure) - waaay to yummy!

So -  looking back on 2008 I must say it has been a great year.  Except for saying goodbye to Paula and for our never-ending battle with our home builder (lawsuit continues into 2009) it has been a fantastic year.  We had a few personal victories - I got a new job at a brand new hospital - very coveted job so I am feeling pretty proud about this still and hubby had some great accomplishments of his own and I am head over heels in love with him still (we're on year 7) so I am super lucky! 

Yuma lost 100 lbs (GO YUMA!) - one of Scott's best friends and Felicia had a beautiful baby boy - Baby Draven (yes, very cool name but we just know he'll be goth - gotta buy him a trenchcoat and eyeliner now!).  What else? Dear sis Wendy is pregnant and Chris (partner in crime at Ooh La La Mama) is FINALLY, FINALLY, FINALLY engaged! Yippeee!  

So - for all of you out there who think they've got a plan for 2009 - please share your best ideas with us.  Email or comment below.  Ya never know what we'll be giving out for 2009! Good luck to all.  

Wishing all of you a wonderful, happy, healthy and successful 2009.  Hoping all of our wildest dreams come true!

Yours truly,

Cindy Parker

Ooh La La Mama

WANNA WIN FREE $$$?

Congrats to our winners!

Both of these lucky ladies win $100 gift cards to go shopping at Target!

Congrats to Winner #1: Twitter name that you might all know her by: @BarelyDomestic - Visit her awesome & amazing blog - she does cool giveaways and stuff too: http://barelydomesticmama.blogspot.com/

Check out our awesome Winner #2 - @YoungMommy twitter name - check out her most impressive blog also! Totally ROCKS! http://www.fromdatestodiapers.com/

Still waiting on update to publish name of our 3rd and luckiest winner - we'll just call her NATASHA (Ok, that's her real name - just holding back on last name and website until we know she's cool). Natasha wins our random drawing for $500 VISA CASH CARD. How stoked will she be when she reads her emails tomorrow?

For those of you who did not win ~ Please do not worry or give up or fire me as your friend or as your doctor. I picked up A TON of new gift cards, yes - to Target, to Nordies, for iTunes and more! So stay tuned for more fun contests to come. Happy 2009 and stay safe tonight!

Best Wishes,
Cindy

P.S. You totally know 2009 is totally going to KICK ASS! Ok - sorry if you are offended but I gave away a ton of money tonight so I get to say whatever I want right now ;)


NEW CONTEST! Who doesn't LOVE Target?

Just follow our little blog and be entered to win $100 Target gift card! Drawing will take place tomorrow at 9 pm so you've got lots of time. Extra entries for adding your picture, retweets (DM me when you do) or for any cool mentions on facebook, my space, twitter, our blog ~ you pick! Just DM me or email me extra mentions so that we get 'em all counted.

Thanks and good luck!

Cindy@oohlalamama.com

UPDATE! We are NOW giving away TWO giftcards to Target! Thanks to all of you and the overwhelming response and participation from all of you - we added a second card! So thank you all and we'll update with contest winner's tonight at 9 pm - California time. Good luck and happy day to you all!

CHRISTMAS GIVING

So - here we are on December 29th, 2008. Christmas is finally behind us.

It was really a great Christmas though. I am feeling very fortunate and blessed for all that we have. My family is solid - everyone is healthy and happy. Sure - my house is falling apart and our entire slab is leaking and we are going to enter into our 3rd year of our pending lawsuit with our builder and sure business could have gone better. But, really - these are all small things. My kids, my hubby and our parents are all healthy. My best friend (my sis) is 24 weeks pregnant and is happy and healthy. I am feeling very blessed.

Would like to take this time to thank our friends and family members who were so generous and giving this season. We got a ton of help and ended up adopting 6 families who needed our help. This was truly the best part of this holiday for our family. My hubby and I spent days shopping for these needy families. In total we provided gifts for 4 single moms, a married couple and a total of 24 kids! Each family had 4 kids! Crazy...

Here are a few pics of the madness that ensued at our house in the week prior to Christmas:

We would like to thank Lisa Johnston - our artist - who donated her time - an entire day to help sort and wrap presents. Please visit her at http://www.lisaharpjohnston.com/ to see more of her awesome art! We would also like to thank Ruth - owner of our local Contours Express in Corona as well as the Montessori School that our sons Max and Keirnan attend. Lots of parents donated gifts and we could not have done this without the assistance of our friends. So a big THANK YOU to all of you who helped! Thank you also to all of our individual friends and family members who donated.

Many people are asking us if we got the opportunity to meet the families. We opted not to. We felt that the families might be more comfortable just picking up the gifts (we did this through our local community center - through the city - if any of you would like more details just email me). But we were told that the families were thrilled with everything. Here are the pics from the community center:

So - Happy Holidays to all of you and thank you all again for your help! Feels really good helping other people and we will be planning a much bigger event next year since this was so much fun!

Oh - quick update about who we are: We manufacture baby onezies (gotta be careful now that Gerber contacted us), dresses, rompers and super cute bloomer sets with all over prints that are super soft and yummy. Please visit our main site: http://www.oohlalamama.com/ for fun, funky, sweet and sassy apparel for your little one. Also - our products are kind of on the higher end - shop now for 75% off - makes a fantastic baby shower gift, birthday gift for that special rockstar prince or princess in your life. Our clothing is sized 0-3m up to size 6 and all pieces wash and wear really well.

Support us and help us continue with supporting those in need! As business continues to grow we'll be doing more and more of this fun charity stuff so you can feel good about your purchase!

Thank you again for all of your help!

Cindy Parker

Owner

Ooh La La Mama, LLC

75% OFF OOH LA LA MAMA!

It's our After Christmas Sale!

Get up to 75% off selected items at Ooh La La Mama, starting December 26th until the end of the year.

Shop at http://www.oohlalamama.com and feel free to leave us a comment and let us know what your favorites are!

Cheers and Happy Shopping,

The Ooh La La Mama Team

Track Santa and his Reindeer

Santa and his reindeer are airborne! Track him on http://www.cnn.com/ live!!! Hope you all have a happy holiday and a magical Christmas morning.

-Warmest wishes from the Ooh La La Mama Team

Baby's First Christmas Onesie!

Here it is people...Ooh La La Mama's "Baby's First Xmas" Onesie on my baby girl! Of course the first thing my hubby said when I brought it home was "Ooooh it's so soft." followed by, "This is cool. I like it." (That's amazing! Usually when I bring home things he says, "Oh Mommy went shopping again, how much did she save me today?" and "Huh.")

Notice cool details on the sleeves

It says "PEACE" on the shoulders. :)

The colors are soft and cool - something different than your usual red

"LOVE" wrapping around the side...

The back side - a sparkly Christmas tree


How cute will this be on Christmas morning? Get your Christmas onesie today! Click HERE. Save 20% when you enter in the code "Jackie20." Happy Holidays!!!

Contest Winner

Congratulations to Andreah who shared with us the

best "caught in the act" story!

Andreah writes:
My kids walked in on us once and we told them that Daddy was giving Mommy a back rub. My oldest (he's 6) didn't believe us at all. He asked, "Why was Daddy's peepee in your butt?" It wasn't exactly in my butt if you know what I mean. I about died!!!


As the winner of our contest, Andreah got to choose not one, but TWO Ooh La La Mama peices! She decided on our Polkadotted Paisley Dress and Transcendic Butterfly Dress. Click on the pictures to get yours today!








Also, check out Andreah's site http://www.mylifesahoot.blogspot.com/ where she's hosting a $50 Ooh La La Mama Gift Certificate giveaway! Tomorrow, Saturday Dec. 20th is the last day to enter, so hurry and check it out! Thanks to everyone who participated. Come back often for more contests and fun!

MY LITTLE MAX

We really thought, for the first 3 years of Max's life, that he would be gay. Scotty and I would look at eachother and say, "Hmmm, well... maybe it's just his creative side? Maybe he'll be an artist?" You see, Max is left handed and very, very creative. He definitely has the artistic thing down. But, there were also little things - like running directly to the sparkly Dorothy (from the Wizard of Oz) shoes and saying, "Oh, Mommy, look at these shoes! They are fantastic!" And - this was at age 2! But Scotty and I are both patient and we said, let's wait and see. But, we have saved some really great photos that we assumed we'd use either as evidence or as blackmail in the future.

Max will be 5 in February. He has matured a ton and is growing into quite the gentleman. He's starting to pay attention to differences between girls and boys. He is starting to prefer Star Wars over Cinderella - a big change for all of us here at chez nous.

Last week Max announced that he had to take a rose to school for Zoe. He said that it was their "secret anniversary" and that he could not give me any more information - "that's why it is our SECRET anniversary, Mom. I cannot tell you!" So - off we went with a wilting rose wrapped in tin foil. Zoe was not there yet - so unfortunately I missed this precious moment.

Yesterday Max announced that he had to buy a Christmas present for Zoe. So - off we went to Target and we bought a little gift for Zoe - just a little stationary princess set - the kind the old Max would have insisted that we buy for him.

It's such a small thing but I watched Max wrap this little gift - so carefully - with tongue hanging out the corner of his mouth, eyebrows all scrunched together, so patiently... I helped him with the ribbon but he wrote out the entire card.

MERRY CHRISTMAS ZOE

MAX LOVES ZOE

Max took this gift to school today. And today, Zoe was there. I did not even know who Zoe was until today. How is this possible? Max is in the pre-K class and Zoe, the older woman, is of course in kindergarten. But - Max walked into her classroom and there was Zoe - sitting at a table with 5 other girls. Zoe has her back to Max. She hears some commotion and turns slowly, long brown hair in slow motion flinging over her left shoulder as she looks towards Max. As soon as she sees him - her face totally lights up! My heart is a flutter - this is crazy! She jumps up and runs to him - looking happy and excited. He gives her the present and what does Max do? He turns and starts doing this really lame, bouncy walk away from her saying, "OK, bye!"

I have to stop him there - and I say, "Max, let her open the present, she might want to thank you." It was the sweetest little moment and totally made my day. She hugged him and thanked him and Max went back to join his classroom.

So - do I still think he is maybe going to grow up gay? No - not at all. But - I will say this - should he decide to be gay, or run for office, or should he choose to have a different view from me regarding religion or life in general? I will still love him and support him and he will always, always be my little Max.

I love him so.

SCOTTY'S CHRISTMAS GIFT

So - here I sit again. Only 2 weeks until Christmas and no idea what I am getting anyone. Every year I say that I will be better prepared! That I will not be shopping on Christmas Eve. That I will not be buying a bunch of random crap just so that I have enough stuff to give. That I will not worry about buying the same number of gifts for my mom and my sis so that they will not feel left out somehow. And yet, here I sit, again, with no gifts and no ideas.

I should clarify though - we have been buying gifts for our adopted families. That has been really great. It is so fun to buy for people who have so little. But - what do you buy for someone who already has so much?

Example - problem number 1: My husband. He has given me a list of what he would like this year. Here is his list:

1) Montague Bike

2) Reverend Guitar (model not included, sorry Scotty)

3) Junker Jacket

4) BMW motorcycle

5) Personal trainer

6) Good bottle of expensive Scotch

7) New airplane (no, a real one - in addition to the one he bought himself last year)

So - for sure the BMW is out. Sorry hubby - you fly small airplanes and scuba dive and that is all the risk you get to take for now. I just cannot get him a bike. Traffic is too crazy and I love him too much.

The guitar - good idea, but he's got a few guitars already and does not have much time to play them. Junker jacket - they totally ROCK - unique one of kind - on the pricey side and this was last years present already. But - you really should check it out http://www.junkerdesigns.com/. These jackets are really rock and roll cool and worn by celebs and rockstars like Dave Navarro and Criss Angel.

Airplane - well really? Get serious. Way too much money and we're waaaay too much broke right now.

Montague bike - This is a really cool folding bike http://www.montegueco.com/ - cool but costs around $700. For those of you who have not personally met my husband - well, he's not really the mountain biking type. So - I am kind of confused as to where this random request came from. Maybe he just ran out of ideas and threw this one in. Not sure.

So - that leaves us with personal trainer and a good bottle of scotch. Both feasible gifts - boring but might work. They don't really go well together but it's his list.

I think I have come up with my own idea for Scotty. I think I will buy him a cow.

No - really - at http://www.heifer.org/ you can purchase a heifer for $500 or a share of a

heifer for $50. A good dairy cow can produce 4 gallons of milk for a needy family in Africa or one of the many countries that Heifer.org works with. The surplus milk from this cow can provide a way for these families to generate income to pay for more food, medicine, school fees and clothing and improvements to their homes. The offspring of this cow will continue to be a source of income for this family. What an absolutely perfect gift.

So - I encourage all of you out there who are stuck with finding the perfect gift for the person who has everything to please check out http://www.heifer.org/ and give a great gift that will not be left on a shelf - or re-gifted next Christmas.

So - if you do know my husband - please keep this hush hush. He doesn't usually read my blog - unless I make him so I am thinking that we're safe for now. If he's really, really good between now and Christmas I may also get him a really good bottle of scotch too. Or maybe, a really fun book of coupons - you know ;) something for him to open once everyone else has gone to bed. He has been a really, really good boy this year...

Last Minute Christmas Discount Codes!

"Jackie20" for 20% off anything Ooh La La Mama! Any purchase enters you to win a $500 Visa gift card!

"Holiday30" for 30% off all bedding at Serena and Lily. I LOVE their stuff. Marisa currently has the Lulu crib bedding in her nursery.

"Fun20" for 20% off al toys at Babystyle. We received this little red Schoenhut piano from Marisa's crazy Aunt Lisa. Can't wait to see her little fingers tapping away.

Gimme Jimmies!

So you're in the car and all of a sudden your three year old is singing "My humps, my humps, my lovely lady lumps." That's SO not right. But you're sick of listening to the CD's of Raffi - so what do you do? Go get The Jimmies!!!

The Jimmies play fun power pop, rock, swing and dance with cute, funny, and refreshing kid-friendly lyrics that will make you smile. They were a 2007 Parents' Choice Award winner and we're a big fan! Check them out and listen to their new album at http://www.gimmejimmies.com/.

And don't forget, fashion and rock go hand in hand. Cool kids with cool clothes listen to cool music. We recommend these for your little one to rock out in:

*Click on the pictures to buy now, or browse for more at http://www.oohlalamama.com. Shown here are Punk Rock Diva and Let it Rock oneseis. Punk Rock Diva also comes as a Long Sleeved Onesie, Dress, and Tee! Check it out in our New Arrivals!

Scared of Santa

Heheee, this is really funny and cute. The Chicago Tribune asked readers to send in their "Scared of Santa" pics and got so many they made a book. Read more about it and see pics here. I wonder if Marisa will be scared. So far she smiles at everyone.

Side note: Yes, I plan on taking her for Santa pics. But I finally went to go buy her little red dress, and it was sold out. Ugh, I may have to go to the boutique where it is more expensive for the same thing. I can't help it! It's her first Christmas...and she would look so cute in a little red dress.

DISCOUNTS AND CONTESTS!!!!

Hi Everyone! Some quick updates:

Use Discount code "Jackie20" now when you check out at http://www.oohlalamama.com and get 20% off your purchase! Also don't forget, now ANY purchase enters you to win a $500 Visa gift card.

"Mommy, were you and Daddy wrestling" One hour left to tell us how you explained what you were doing when the kids caught you in the act! Check out the post below.

We're still collecting gifts for 2 families that lost everything in the So Cal fires. Please see the post "Christmas Charity Needed"

Thanks and Happy Shopping!

FUN STORIES IN THE ER, MY REAL LIFE JOB

Today started like a regular day for me. Woke up 10 minutes late (ignored the alarm) - hopped in the shower and threw on my scrubs. Read a few pages of the last Twilight series book while blowdrying my hair (what will happen to Bella and Edward?) and then kissed hubby goodbye and hopped in the car.

Traffic was super light today so even had time to stop at Starbucks - venti, sugar-free vanilla Brevee latte (my current fave) and got to work actually on time.

Here is the kicker - arrived to the ER at 0830 and not a soul waiting to be seen and only 2 people currently in the ER! This is insane.

So - thought I would spare everyone more details about our awesome kids' line (http://www.oohlalamama.com/) and hop on and share some of my favorite ER stories today.

These are some of my best stories of personal patients from over the past 10 years in no particular order. (please don't figure out how old that makes me - let's just say I was a child prodigy and went to med school at age 10).

*If you are squeamish - maybe don't read on. If this is you - if you were my patient - then sorry if you feel violated - no names or hospitals will be mentioned...

1) 38 year old male who was upset with his insurance company. They would not pay for a circumcision - they said it was cosmetic (that's what the patient said anyway) - so he decided to do it himself. Note - if you are trying to perform your own surgery, at least google how it is actually done first. No details here, but I will share that a circumcision does not involve removing all of the skin... This was a very interesting patient and multiple specialties were involved in helping this man (plastics, general surgery and urology). DO NOT TRY THIS AT HOME, Kids.

2) 23 year old male - who said that he did "too much cocaine" and got a glass shot glass stuck somewhere quite unpleasant. This - by itself - is not too big of a problem - however, friend of this patient decided to try to help him out. Pliers were used, glass broke and patient bought himself a ticket to the OR where I happened to be on duty for my geneal surgey rotation. What did we find? A broken shot glass, an orange, a small shampoo bottle and yes, an olive (maybe it was in the shot glass?) So - purchased a colostomy bag as well. Happy trip to the hospital. Hope the cocaine was worth it.

3) Baby 7 months old - brought in by mom with complaint of "multiple seizures." Baby was not breathing and lost his heart beat upon arrival to the ER. This was during my moonlighting in the middle of nowhere. Very, very small ER and I am the only doctor in the whole hospital. We put the baby on a ventilator, start an IV - doing CPR, giving meds and we get a heartbeat back.

OK - baby on ventilator, pseudo-stable, and doing better and I am calling on portable phone to the closest pediatric ER/ICU. Obviously this baby needs to get to a center - FAST. Helicopter cannot fly, weather too bad. We call 911 and I hop in the ambulance with the baby (don't worry, we called in a backup physician to take over the ER). Lights and sirens - scariest 20 minutes of my medical life - this little person depending on me to keep him alive. Upon arrival to other ER baby has a lethal arrhythmia, so now we are shocking baby and this is like the real thing - just like you see on ER (the TV show - I mean).

Baby is having seizures and we don't know why. Mom told me that all of her kids "have epilepsy" but still - something is not right. Baby has no fever so not meningitis and tox screen is pending... Could it be shaken baby? No other signs of trauma and too unstable to go to CT scanner. We keep guessing and trying to figure out what is wrong.

Turns out - baby has been given a tricyclic medication - overdosed by MOM! These drugs are often prescribed as sleep aids- in overdose they cause seizures. Official diagnosis: Tricyclic overdose, seizures and Mom gets a diagnosis of Munchausen by Proxy.
Definition by wikipedia: Munchausen syndrome by proxy (MSbP), are insidious disorders in which injury is deliberately and gradually inflicted upon a person usually for gaining attention[1] or some other benefit.

This baby and all of the mom's other kids are taken away through the court system. This baby did fine (from a medical standpoint) - recovered completely with no brain injury or obvious problems so far. As far as how this baby, and the rest of the children from this family fared - well I just hope that they were placed with a loving family and that they will all be kept together. I cannot help every problem. But on this day - I do feel like I maybe made a difference, that I kind of saved a life - just basic training that every ER doctor has but I will never forget this little one or the crazy fear I felt trying to save this little one...

So - that's it for this morning. Hoping the rest of my day in the ER continues to be calm - I am truly loving it. It is so rare to have a day where I can answer emails and maybe even write a bit.
Someone recently asked me how my job in the ER relates to my job as owner of Ooh La La Mama - kids' apparel line http://www.oohlalamama.com/. Well - it really doesn't. Most days my ER job has nothing to do with making onesies. But - I must say that it helps keep things in perspective. When an order is late or a customer gets upset with us for something that maybe did not go just perfectly - I still get stressed but I can sit back and take a deep breath and say to myself: Well at least no one died today...

The Cutest Sock Monkeys Ever

Last year, while on vacation in Kauai, I visited this beautiful little boutique called Nest. It had precious little treasures in every corner. (If you're ever there, you MUST go find it!) I was five months pregnant at the time and wouldn't let myself buy anything for the baby yet, and I regretted it! One of the things that I wanted most were these adorable sock monkeys I saw in the store. I went online and found them! http://www.staceyjean.com/

I've been following the store for a while and they just make the cutest monkeys I've ever seen. These are not your regular sock monkeys, people! Stacey Jean combines stripes, dots, stars, prints, and has gorgeous color combinations. To top it all off, each monkey has a heart on their chest so you can tell it's made with love. Her Etsy shop only currently has four monkeys left! She used to offer DIY kits where she would send you the sock colors you wanted and everything you needed to put it together, but I don't see them right now. You can also request custom made items to go along with a nursery theme or your child's favorite colors. Hopefully she has more after the new year. I've been so indecisive about what color to get, I still haven't gotten one! I kind of want to just start a collection and get one for every holiday! See her flickr album for past monkeys. You'll want them all.

Happy 6 Months Baby!

My baby girl is six months old today! I can't believe how fast it's gone by. Marisa smiles all the time, loves to blow razzies, can roll over both ways - but doesn't do it too often yet, can sit up "tripod" style for a few minutes and loves to stand on Mommy and Daddy's lap. I'll be starting her on rice cereal tonight! We've got the video camera ready to go and eveything.

Last night I thought to myself, I've got to create a book or journal of some sort and write down all the cute things she's already growing out of that I will miss. Like how she rubs her foot up and down my arm when she's nursing, raises her arm like a ballerina and tries to suck her arm when she's half asleep, used to need a little help pushing those toots out!, used to have what my husband called "meow meow ears" because she had little hairs on her ears like a cat, and just how tiny she was. I love you, baby girl!

WHAT'S WRONG WITH MY MIRROR?

Have you ever woken up and looked in the mirror and thought to yourself, "WHAT THE HELL?" Today was one of those days. I always imagined that I would be one of those super hot, sexy wives - a total MILF and soccer mom. I think I went to bed last night feeling like this picture of Brittany Murphy. I mean after all, I did just lose 10 lbs and that puts me only 15 pounds over my wedding weight but still - what the hell happened between last night and this morning?







Here's what I think happened: First, Keirnan (our lovely 2 year old son who has already become our resident frat boy - fart jokes, burping included) woke up at 5am. This is soooo not fair! Second - dear hubby has started snoring like a train and this for sure interferes with my dare-I-say-it, dang-do-I-ever-need-it - beauty sleep. Especially because I could only find one ear plug and had to keep moving it from one ear to the next depending on which ear was on the pillow. Third - I spent the last 4 nights prior running around the ER like a mad woman. Which brings me to another thought: When I went to med school I always pictured that I would be the HOT DOCTOR - you know - that I would wear high heels, tight skirts and my hair would always be smartly pulled back in some super full pony tail or bun. Not such a great idea after I ruined several really expensive skirts on my OB and Trauma rotations - but I'll spare y'all the details (throw back from my residency days in Texas!)



So - here I find myself this morning. Walking around in my robe, hair sticking out in all directions, snotty/crying baby on my hip, 4 year old Max (our resident romantic one - yes - he even took a rose to school for Zoe last week, for their "secret anniversary") asking over and over why the TV won't turn on and if E.T. might be on right now. Only things missing at this point are the cigarette hanging out of my mouth and rollers in my hair...

This was truly a Calgon - take me away moment.

Just then though - hubby Scott walks down the stairs and sits down beside me. Max curls up with his "lovey" (blankie for all of you traditionalists) and Keirnan goes and lays next to Max on the floor. Max rolls over, kisses Keirnan and Keir looks at Max and says (in his oh-so-cute little 2 year old voice) "I love you a million." Hubby kisses me on the cheek and it all seems OK.

My messy hair and drooping behind all seem so very unimportant - at least for that moment. Luckily my other job, my "real" job - as an ER doctor - help keep me grounded. It takes a lot to shake me up in the ER these days. I think now I only cry maybe once or twice a week after work. Not bad when you think of where I work. But - funny how these little moments at home can do it in a second. Nothing like hearing your kids tell you they love you - or that they love each other.

That's all I've got for today - off to the gym to get this sorry butt of mine in shape! So - for a few moments I am fine to be the crazy cat lady from the Simpson's but I will be getting those last 15 pounds off - I will be the hot housewife soon! Y'all watch out for me - ya hear?

"Mommy, were you and Daddy Wrestling?"

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Christmas Onesie is here!!!

How cute is this!? Ooh La La Mama's new Baby's 1st Xmas Onesie is here! Get it here NOW in time for those pictures with Santa!

Special thanks to designer Lisa Johnston. Lisa grew up in Southern California and is a very talented and gifted artist and has been working with Ooh La La Mama for the past year designing really awesome, bright, unique prints for Ooh La La Mama. We feel very fortunate to have her as part of our team.

You can read more about Lisa Johnston and see more images of her awesome art on her website http://www.lisaharpjohnston.com/.

What do your kids call their... umm...

Best, most creative answer wins free stuff from www.oohlalamama.com! Answer in comments or by email - Cindy@oohlalamama.com.  

Just laughing about what my kids call their "stuff." 

What is the correct term for a 4 and 2  year old?

Here's the story: 

Max (our awesome 4 year old son) was teaching Keirnan (son #2, equally awesome) about their, ummm... parts.  

So - both boys in the bath while I am running around naked trying to hustle to get ready for work.  

Keir points to Max and says: "You have a junk and I have a junk and Mommy has a junk and Daddy has a junk."  Here's the kicker though: Max actually says "Mommy has only 1/2 a junk!"  

OK brakes on!  Being late for work just totally flies out of my head at this point.

I quickly respond, "No, Max - Mommy's junk is not 1/2 - it's just different." What do you say?

OK - yes, I am an ER doc and I say the word penis of course about 10 times a day - but this is all medical and as the doc I cannot really say to a kidney stone patient - "so, does the pain radiate down into your junk?" 

Lovin' my kids but the "JUNK" I am afraid, is here to stay!

What are you calling your kids "JUNK?"  Email your answers to Cindy@oohlalamama.com.  We'll post our favorite answers tomorrow.  Thanks!