OH HOW I LOVE MY BOYS...

My last post (the one I wrote - about feeling guilty about working in the ER, not seeing my boys enough - see 2 posts back) was really kind of a sad post. The comments and emails I received were great and I really appreciated all of the encouragement and reassurance that I received from so many of you.

So - I decided to try to lighten things up a bit tonight by sharing some of my fun moments that I have had so far with my boys - some more recent than others.

For those of you who may be new to our blog - let me give you a brief intro to my boys - just to set the scene for you.

Son #1 - Maxwell (AKA Max, Wudgie, Professor Max) ~ My 4 year old (5 in February but really going on 30) - very serious, speaks in full sentences and loves to use huge words like "actually, confession, apparently, futuristic." Bright red hair, pale with some freckles (don't worry - we put him in Tae Kwon Do and we're getting him guitar lessons - hoping he'll be the interesting tall kid- rather than the geeky kid who gets his ass kicked on a weekly basis). Max takes about an hour to get himself ready for preschool - coordinates clothing and puts gel in his hair daily. My guess on his profession: Artist, Scientist, Doctor, Fabulously Gay something or other...

Son #2 - Keirnan (AKA Keir, Keir-Keir, Señor Littles, Beast) ~ My 2 1/2 year old son who is totally a frat boy - complete with sticking his cute little naked butt in the air and farting- belly out and belching - and already has the whole Jeff Spicoli (Fast Times at Ridgemont High for those of you young 'uns) laugh down. Anticipated profession: Plumber, Athlete, Politician (he's a very smooth talker already), Weed Dealer. We'll see.

So - now that you've been introduced I'll share with you a few of my fun stories:

Keir - age 2 - days after his second birthday. Me - "Keirnan, did you fart?" After gigantic, loud baby fart. "No, Mommy - that was fireworks coming out of my butt." OK - not so cool that a 2 year old says butt - but pretty funny and pretty clever. This is about when we started to figure out that Keirnan was definitely not like his brother, Max.

Max - age 2 - changing diaper after day of preschool - Max has baby powder in diaper: Me - "Max, what happened here?" Max - "Ms. Rita put sugar on my junk." Hee, hee... Oh - in case you didn't know - in our home 'Junk' = boy parts - all of them.

Keir - last week - (Target is his favorite place to go - even better than Disneyland for Keir) - As I am tucking him in before leaving to work: "Goodnight, Keirnan. What are you going to dream about tonight? Target?" Keirnan - mischievous little grin on his face, "Target and you, Mommy." He so has the charming thing down already...

Max age 3 - visiting Daddy at work (he's an ER doc also - we took him dinner one night when I was actually not working). "Well, apparently they built me my own ER already." "I think I need to see the CT machine so I'll know how it works." Don't be too impressed here - I am sure he overheard us talking about work - "CT" is probably a very common word thrown around at our house. We try not to - but we do end up talking shop from time to time.

Keir - yesterday - "I like your bumps, Mommy." Then a few seconds later, "I like the big moles on your bumps too." Again, same mischievous grim, head down, eyes peeking up from under long lashes... Oh - in case you are not too quick: 'Bumps' is the term Keirnan has created for my breasts - you can figure the rest out on your own..

So today before I left for work - I had just a little bit of time with my boys. Max was running around in his PJ's - all excited to do Yoga on our Wii Fit. Too cute- I really must post pics of this! Keirnan was playing with his train set - trying to ensure that the train would crash and fall off the tracks. Keirnan hit Max on the head and was sent to time out. Max came over and said, "I am OK, Mommy. It really hurts but I think I should go give Keirnan a hug." Keirnan of course, is sitting in time out mumbling to himself - running commentary - as always, "You do not put Keirnan in time out...I am a good boy."

So - as I sit here in the ER missing my boys - I am laughing at these little images that I happily share with you. And don't worry - I have had tons of kids tonight to keep me occupied. None too sick - it is just the time of year for colds and sniffles. Hope you all have a great night and that I don't have to meet any of you, or your little ones in my ER. Oh - and if any of you are wondering where the beautiful black and white pic of Keirnan came from - here you go: Kimberlee West Photography - http://kimberleewestblog.com/. Kimee was our former nanny - now highly sought after photog. She still takes pics of Ooh La La Mama models for us and she's our family photog - when we can get her, that is!

FAB FREEBIES

Last week Ooh La La Mama was featured in the "Daily Dish" at http://www.seekingdesigners.com/ - a fashion and style directory for fresh and fabulous designers!

This week, SeekingDesigners.com and Ooh La La Mama have partnered up to bring you a
FAB FREEBIE!

WIN A $200 OOH LA LA MAMA GIFT CERTIFICATE

There's no catch, just awesome free stuff! All you have to do is

Register HERE to be eligible to win.

Deadline: Register by 11:59pm, Friday January 16th, 2009.

For more Ooh La La Mama products and info visit our store: http://www.oohlalamama.com/

REFLECTIONS OF A WORKING MOM

Yesterday my Max called me Grandma. Max is 4 and he is the oldest of my two little men - Keir is 2. This is not the first time that my sons have called me Grandma. Not sure why - but yesterday this seemed to kind of make me stop and catch my breath. Max stopped himself and laughed and said, "I meant, Mommy - I am just pretending you are Grandma." Not sure which is worse - Max so naturally saying Grandma - when looking for some help, some love, some encouragement or him 'just pretending' that I am Grandma.

Why has this happened? Many of you may think this is proof that I am a bad mother - that I am obviously not available enough to my kids or maybe you may think that they are not my top priority. Don't worry - these are all questions I have had to ask myself.

Here is what I say. I am me. Plain and simply ~ I am a mother, a wife, a physician and owner of two kids clothing lines - which also makes me a partner and a boss. I have thought long and hard about what this all means for me and for my family. I have sacrificed time away from my family so that I can provide them with certain luxuries - a nice home, stability, college savings plans.

I went to school for just about a million years to become an ER doctor. I am proud of my role as a doctor. My patients seem to like me and I feel that I am a caring, compassionate doctor. I only hope that my nights kissing my boys goodnight as I walk out the door will someday be regarded with pride by my boys as well.

I hope that someday they will realise that this has not been easy for me - as I know that this has not been easy for them. I am sorry, Max, for missing your Christmas production 2 years ago. I regret not being there for Keirnan's first step. It is hard every single time I have to kiss you goodnight to go to work. Even if Grandma has trained you to cutely say, "double glove, mom and save lots of lives." Keirnan has learned to say - "How was your work? Are you here now? Did you give lots of shots?" And this is in the morning - as I come home from work and he is just waking up. All at the age of 2 - he is already aware that I am not always home. I am sorry boys for this. I know I am not always the best mom.

I am tremendously, incredibly blessed and lucky that I have a wonderful husband and mother in law to play mom (or I should say 'Grandma' when I am not around to do so). I have justified not being home by saying - at least my kids get this time with their grandma - at least they will have these great special memories of their time with her. This is how I justify my actions, my selfishness with my time - my time to work in the ER and to work on Ooh La La Mama and of course to twitter, to blog and to answer emails.

I feel fortunate that my husband supports me in my various jobs and positions. No - he is not a SAHM - he is my business partner in Ooh La La Mama and also is a full time ER doctor. But, I am sure, he does not worry about his absence from home. He is the man. I love him madly but I know this is still the way of the world. We are fortunate that 'Grandma' (my hubby's mom - who is totally awesome by the way) is young enough and fit enough to juggle to young boys and to be the second mom, or substitute mom maybe? - while I am away at work.

So - not sure where I stand on all this. A bit bummed about being called 'Grandma' but still proud of who I am. Envious of my SAHM friends - who have managed to figure it all out. My hat is off to all of them and all of you who are SAHM and whose children call them "Mom." You guys are my heroines and I am madly jealous of the times you have with your little ones and all of the "firsts" that I am missing.

Max and Keirnan - I love you both insanely and with every single breath I take.

That's it for now. Off to shower and get ready for another crazy night of ER fun. So I am off to start my usual routine: coffee, shower, throw scrubs on and kiss my little munchkin's goodnight while they cuddle up with grandma and to "cozy time" and watch Wow Wow Wubsy and The Goodnight Show. This is the saddest part of my day - but there are really patients that depend on me and who knows - maybe even lives to be saved tonight. But really - I am just hoping for some cute little babies with minor colds. And for all of you moms who take your cute little ones into the ER - just know that when the crazy ER doctor stops and asks your little munchkin for a hug - and you might think that he or she is hugging just a bit too long - or if you think you catch a bit of sadness in their smile - just know - that you are right and that they might just be wishing that this was their little one and please just smile back.

Baby Manicure

I'm going to invent the Baby Nail Salon. Can't you just picture it? A bright nail salon full of hot pink and orange high chairs. The Jimmies playing in the background. Posh babies in every chair holding out their delicate fingers on one hand while holding a teething ring in the other. What's the latest babble? Did you hear Ashlee Simpson named her baby Bronx Mowgli? Can I offer you some fresh organic sweet potato puree? Would you like milk with that? And don't worry, I'm Vietnamese but I don't speak it that well, so it'll be English all the way. No talking about you in front of you. It would be totally fantastic. All the celebrity moms and babies would come to me and then I'd come out with my own line of baby safe chemical free nail polish. Moms would never have to worry about accidentally nipping the skin and hurting baby...no more scratches on the face, no more jagged little nails and hangnails. No more feelings of dread. Aaah, wouldn't it be nice?

Okay, back to reality. I'm on my third pair of nail clippers and still not happy. One had a light to clip at night while she's asleep - I'm too tired when she actually falls asleep and I forget and the clipper is dull and ends up ripping her nails. Then I got the little baby nail scissors. These seem to cut well, but the problem is cutting so they don't actually leave a jagged, even sharper nail. Then I got ones with the magnifying glass. The magnifying glass made me go cross eyed and the first time I used them I thought - these are the best ever. Second time, they wouldn't cut - totally lost their edge. How does that happen!? Ugh. Back to the scissors and tiny emery board. I think that's about as good as it's going to get.

ADDICTED TO TARGET? WE CAN HELP!

So are you a slave to Target? 

Do you have sleepless nights tossing and turning and wishing that Target was open at 2 am so you could just shop? And you have to wake up and touch wood 10 times and turn the lights on and off and on and off over and - oh wait, that's my crazy obsession.

But if you are like us - you may have a dangerous addiction to Target.  Step one is admitting that you have a problem.  We want you to know that you are not alone. There is even a medical diagnosis for this: TARGETOMANIA (trust me, I am a doctor - and no, I did not stay in a Holiday Inn last night).  

Actually - Wikipedia does have a medical term:

"Oniomania is a medical term (from Greek onios="for sale," mania=insanity) for the compulsive desire to shop.  

Ooh La La Mama is here for you! In support of all of our new followers who are helping us with our new blog - we are doing another giveaway today at 4pm! All you have to do is follow our blog and be entered to win a $50 gift card to Target.  Additional entries can easily be earned by commenting on our blog, tweeting about our blog on Twitter, Facebook, your blog.  If you blog about us we'll add that as an additional entry.   

So - thank you all and good luck! If you do not win today - please check back.  We'll be giving more stuff away almost weekly! 

Cindy

Fashionista Fantasy

A new post by Jackie - our newest addition to Ooh La La Mama! Say hello everyone!

I've started watching The Hills spin-off show The City with Whitney Port. It's her new begining in New York city as a PR assistant for Diane Von Furstenburg. I'm loving it. It reminds me of Sex in the City and the Devil Wears Prada with drama from the Hills. Ah to be rich, thin, and running around New York city...

I'm in my late twenties and while I've had fun, I never fulfilled my fantasy of being ultra glamorous, hip, and put together while taking on new big adventures. Of course there's still plenty of time to do this, but it's going to be a little while with the new baby. (It's tough wearing 4 inch heels and lugging a baby in a car seat.) 

I did have a job that made me feel EXACTLY like the girl in Devil Wears Prada, but without all of the glamour. Although I did meet some cool people and celebrities, it was more a jeans and flip flops culture than a Chanel boots and Prada bag kind of place. 

But like all little girls - I of course love fashion and even dreamed of working in PR when I first started college.  But pregnancy of course has made it tougher to fit into my size 4 skinny jeans that made my butt look totally fantastic.  Aahhh, memories...

But just because I am a mom does not mean that I am giving up! No!  I am a new mom and it's a new year.  I'm gonna be hot! I'm just gonna work on my body and then get myself back into shape!  And, I have promised myself that by the time I am 30 I'm going to be outrageous and buy myself a pair of black peep toe Christian Louboutins with the famous red sole - to go with my new, smokin-hot bod!  Won't my hubby go nuts? (Not for the shoe purchase, silly! He'll go crazy over the new me!)

For now, I will stick to enjoying The City and The Devil Wears Prada (which is currently playing on F/X as I type). What's your fantasy?