tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-195836932012-01-29T22:13:59.418-08:00Hub-D and I, outnumbered by Chebbles, Gigi, and Birdy...Shaken Mamahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02917897064970938887noreply@blogger.comBlogger14601100tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19583693.post-81339071256945225632012-01-29T22:13:00.000-08:002012-01-29T22:13:59.437-08:00

Chebbles' first-grade teacher is so nice, and pretty and young, with a natural way with the children who vie for her attention and approval. But I'm pretty sure she thinks I'm a nutcase. I'm pretty sure that every time she interacts with me, she has to race home and sit on her couch like Alice in the opening sequence of her show, when Tommy would pour hot water into a bowl for her to soak her

Shaken Mamahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02917897064970938887noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19583693.post-7878400210914783842012-01-18T19:15:00.000-08:002012-01-18T19:17:01.120-08:00

If you never met my child, or weren't paying much attention to her while she silently finished reading a book behind you, you would think I was a crazy Tiger Mom. Harp lessons? Homeschooling? Extra science AND math lessons? But let me tell you what life with Chebbles is like: It is being that guy who is charge of heaping coal from the tender into the engine of, let's say, Gordon. And you

Shaken Mamahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02917897064970938887noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19583693.post-12829851900215023162011-09-29T14:25:00.000-07:002011-09-29T14:25:54.413-07:00

I had a third miscarriage last week. This one died on the same day of gestation that my last miscarriage did: 8W6D. Her heart stopped beating that morning. I went for my 9 week ultrasound, and instead of the thrumming little chest I'd enjoyed in the ultrasounds in the previous weeks, there was just a floating body. It looked perfect, other than having no heartbeat. The little head and arms and

Shaken Mamahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02917897064970938887noreply@blogger.com6tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19583693.post-88642033356704668102011-08-27T06:45:00.000-07:002011-08-27T06:48:15.685-07:00

I would have been flying all day -- first from Boston, then later from San Francisco, and the sky would be lit up with sunset when my plane finally began circling, dipping through the clouds, landing at that miniature airport. Oma would be wearing her red coat. Oma was very particular as to which months I should come visit her. She forbade visits during the hottest months, so most of the summer

Shaken Mamahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02917897064970938887noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19583693.post-51877798825875966522011-07-19T15:29:00.000-07:002011-07-19T15:29:19.169-07:00

I had a dream in which I was among my SUUSI friends, sitting in a building at Radford College, inspecting a ring. There was a contraption on the underside of the ring that I couldn't understand. So I called my friend K. (You might recall that I sometimes dream her memories.) Lo and behold, she is at SUUSI, that scene happened the day before, and the clever ring doubles a bottle opener. I am

Shaken Mamahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02917897064970938887noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19583693.post-65183714220958553032011-05-10T22:51:00.000-07:002011-05-10T22:51:12.746-07:00

Am I the only one who regularly thinks, "I just want to live with my OWN KIND," as though there were a planet out there of people just like me? In my case this ecosystem would be populated with folks who are irreverent to the point of rudeness and everyone still thinks it's funny. Am I describing Brooklyn? In the meantime, I'll content myself with raising three children who make unguarded

Shaken Mamahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02917897064970938887noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19583693.post-70927390178346737582011-04-07T21:32:00.000-07:002011-04-07T21:33:14.333-07:00

I have been so excited that Chebbles has been accepted by the gifted institute*, that I've waited with bated breath to learn about other kids in our area who might be like her. You know, talk about the Peter Pan prequel and the mating habits of worms? Because I think that being gifted can be lonely. I felt like such a turd when I was labeled "gifted" -- then was relegated to a distant corner of

Shaken Mamahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02917897064970938887noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19583693.post-42737937929410726472011-03-10T21:44:00.000-08:002011-03-10T21:49:45.739-08:00

Chebbles has gained admittance to an institute that promotes services for the profoundly gifted. But what if she wants to be a cosmetologist? Would she feel horrible pursuing that dream because she was in that institute, and people from that institute go to Stanford at age 16 and commit to extensive PhD research projects by the age of 20? I spend my afternoons teaching her to innovate in math

Shaken Mamahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02917897064970938887noreply@blogger.com7tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19583693.post-22304806947670252842011-02-08T23:05:00.001-08:002011-02-08T23:05:49.321-08:00

Every color of marker and crayon tends to get a fair shake around our house with one exception: yellow. Everywhere in the craft cabinet I find pristine yellow crayons and markers. I suppose it's the least satisfying color with which to draw. I'm just feeling a little sorry for yellow. Over and out.

Shaken Mamahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02917897064970938887noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19583693.post-12320333968331450262011-01-25T21:08:00.001-08:002011-01-25T21:08:54.201-08:00

Nevertheless, she is here. She is very, very here. I am in LOVE with you, Birdy. And tomorrow you shall wake up and be 20 months old.

Shaken Mamahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02917897064970938887noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19583693.post-76911788818039203402011-01-21T20:04:00.000-08:002011-01-21T20:04:32.249-08:00

Amy Chua is more than willing to criticize her children, to look down her nose at their lamer accomplishments, and insult young children in order to spur them to greatness. I think she's onto something. The heart of the controversy surrounding her memoir is, I believe, the act of criticizing one's children. Somehow it fell out of fashion for Western parents to critique their children honestly.

Shaken Mamahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02917897064970938887noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19583693.post-30546310329630225202011-01-16T22:28:00.000-08:002011-01-16T22:30:10.643-08:00

In the homeschooling universe, boys with long hair are not as well behaved as boys with short hair. Certainly there are polite young gentleman with ponytails and hellions with crew cuts, but in general, if I -- right now -- had to choose a husband for a daughter based only on their hair length, I'd go with the very shortest haircut. My hypothesis is that some boys' long hair goes along with a

Shaken Mamahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02917897064970938887noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19583693.post-72924693711920075142011-01-07T20:25:00.000-08:002011-01-07T20:25:12.753-08:00

Recently I've had a fit of wistfulness. When I talk with my friends whose children started kindergarten this year, who drop off their children in the morning in idyllic settings, with built-in child exercise and entertainment --  and then spend the day pursuing their own interests -- I feel a little jealous. And when I see little boys at the park wearing superhero costumes and making swords

Shaken Mamahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02917897064970938887noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19583693.post-32698892735902657002010-12-21T10:06:00.000-08:002010-12-21T10:06:27.009-08:00

I just read, on a forum, about another homeschooling mom who desperately misses her job. She had gone back to work the day after her children were born (?) and reluctantly quit to homeschool her kids. Now she's resentful, feels like she's living the life her mom did, and is a bad example to her kids because she's not earning as much money as her husband anymore. I'm completely stumped by this

Shaken Mamahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02917897064970938887noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19583693.post-79292499296126439232010-12-19T00:01:00.000-08:002010-12-19T00:01:21.262-08:00

One advantage of homeschooling is that you are not required to hang out with a bunch of other random parents. Unfortunately, this means that no one has to hang out with YOU either. (It's a little pathetic that I considered sending Gigi to preschool, just so I could talk to other moms in the pick-up line.) In the new year, I'm going to be DILIGENT about attending the homeschool park days -- I

Shaken Mamahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02917897064970938887noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19583693.post-2616737444736434742010-12-02T15:17:00.000-08:002010-12-02T15:17:24.653-08:00

Teaching Chebbles is an honor, but why can't she just go off and learn by herself some days while I do FlyLady missions? I've tried just working "near" her and giving her prompts, and it's an utter, silly disaster. Unless I'm sitting right next to her, doing the work along with her, it doesn't work. But I already KNOW how to write in cursive! And the dining room blinds are dusty.

Shaken Mamahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02917897064970938887noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19583693.post-35455956785106972062010-11-23T13:58:00.000-08:002010-11-23T13:58:59.869-08:00

Another friend of mine is pregnant with a GIRL! This is cause for celebration -- more gals for our growing tribe. But this has provided me with the nudge, well, yet another nudge, I needed to get started with a project I've been mulling since Kate recommended it to me this summer: How to Raise Girls. There are so many things I've learned, just in the last five years of raising these three girls

Shaken Mamahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02917897064970938887noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19583693.post-84148343602055319332010-11-11T22:46:00.000-08:002010-11-11T22:46:17.547-08:00

I have been going through our attic piece by piece, dismantling these little shrines that I'd erected since I first became literate... file folders with stories and piles of photographs, ribbons for awards I didn't relish winning and notes from friends whose faces I've forgotten. About 90% of it I'm throwing away -- to highlight the things that I AM keeping -- the good things, the happy memories

Shaken Mamahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02917897064970938887noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19583693.post-46767298120221453282010-11-03T21:56:00.000-07:002010-11-03T22:00:24.606-07:00

* Me, I'm perpetually dehydrated. * I administer Children's Tylenol willy nilly to crying children. * I am in the process of decluttering the house, with eight more boxes of Sturm und Drang from my early twenties recovered from the attic today. * The cat Otto bites me, out of love. * The sippy cups keep releasing their valves insidiously in the middle of the night, soaking young daughters.

Shaken Mamahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02917897064970938887noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19583693.post-48574810743046943612010-10-28T22:24:00.000-07:002010-10-28T22:24:07.884-07:00

I've been FLYing a lot lately, which is satisfying, but time-consuming in the beginning (decluttering) stages. I miss writing about our doings on a daily basis, particularly because no one (not even my fantastic and otherwise perfect husband) thinks that my daily life with the girls is so utterly fascinating as I do. Therefore, if I don't have a writing outlet to discuss the 1,000 tiny

Shaken Mamahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02917897064970938887noreply@blogger.com10tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19583693.post-35418725658225639572010-06-09T21:38:00.000-07:002010-06-09T21:41:32.480-07:00

My dear Shaken Mama readers... I'm planning to slow down the frequency of my posts for a time. Now that I'm starting homeschooling (school's in session starting next Monday!), I won't have as much time to devote to blogging. I've also rethought my notion of using this forum as a way to keep in touch with friends and family. I'd rather connect with people personally, and keep a private, paper

Shaken Mamahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02917897064970938887noreply@blogger.com11tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19583693.post-6937956362447294082010-06-08T22:10:00.000-07:002010-06-08T22:10:57.589-07:00

I had an allergy test this week, an exercise I've never before undertaken. It hurt, being scratched all over my forearms and having blobs of allergens inserted under my skin of my upper arm. I learned I'm allergic to bermuda grass (hello, whole backyard), birch pollen, and a bunch of other "seasonal allergy" culprits. That was interesting. I'm also allergic to dust mites, which is no big

Shaken Mamahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02917897064970938887noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19583693.post-45103282507469175632010-06-04T22:53:00.000-07:002010-06-04T22:53:15.090-07:00

Our flights are booked for New York, we are so excited about our summertime adventure. There are multiple events at the Metropolitan Museum of Art during our visit, and I had a good time highlighting them and fantasizing about all of the culture we'll soak up while we're there. In the meantime, I'm starting Chebbles' homeschooling next week -- rather than tossing a bucket of cold water over her

Shaken Mamahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02917897064970938887noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19583693.post-20454259057320422622010-06-03T12:39:00.001-07:002010-06-03T12:39:47.982-07:00

Lai is pro-cake.

Shaken Mamahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02917897064970938887noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19583693.post-36828520367004723322010-06-03T12:35:00.000-07:002010-06-03T12:35:41.789-07:00

OK, first, the new link to my new Health.com article. It's about the perils and pleasures of perimenopause! Second, homeschooling! We're officially signed up with a charter school that specializes in homeschooling here, and I was blown away by our meeting with the counselor, who completely embraced Chebbles' trajectory as an advanced student. When I blithely mentioned the notion that she could

Shaken Mamahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02917897064970938887noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19583693.post-32566482181328670762010-05-27T19:45:00.000-07:002010-05-27T19:45:17.065-07:00

One thing I love about my gig for Health.com (thanks again, Kate!) is that whenever I have a question about my own health, I can talk with everyone about it. Not only do I get to chat with peers at length about it, but then I can ask specialists around the nation to talk with me about the weird things about my own body. It's a fantasy come true for a neo-hypochondriac like me. Now I'm writing a

Shaken Mamahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02917897064970938887noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19583693.post-71586227192461986552010-05-25T22:19:00.000-07:002010-05-25T22:19:39.722-07:00

On this night last year, I had to stop eating and drinking at midnight, to prepare for my scheduled C-section the next morning. I couldn't wait. I was so excited to meet this little person who had been kicking and growing impressively over the last nine months. This was a person who we thought we'd lost in early pregnancy, only to demonstrate a marvelous, tear-inducing heartbeat two weeks later

Shaken Mamahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02917897064970938887noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19583693.post-22851565431777408142010-05-22T21:33:00.000-07:002010-05-22T21:33:13.044-07:00

I'm trolling around looking for quotes about uteruses! (uteri?) Anyway... The new Health.com article about older mothers is up!

Shaken Mamahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02917897064970938887noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19583693.post-46683127833223257102010-05-21T20:26:00.000-07:002010-05-21T20:26:27.268-07:00

Did you ever read the V.C. Andrews book "Audrey Rose?" It's about a well-meaning but ultimately misguided father who switches around the clocks in his house in order to trick his daughter into believing that she had an older sister who died. And I like to glean as many parenting tips from V.C. Andrews as possible [ballet lessons (check), powdered donuts (check), convoluted family (check)], so I

Shaken Mamahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02917897064970938887noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19583693.post-56176046603823364392010-05-21T20:12:00.000-07:002010-05-21T20:12:51.928-07:00

"How do you do it with three kids?" Oh, yes, well, it could be that I'm just a really hard worker, with naturally well-behaved children, to whom I provide superior nutritional and educational opportunities. But REALLY, I'm just a lucky slob whose SISTER moved to town for cripe's sake! This woman! This WOMAN! She will, for example, put my kids in a wagon and walk away with all of them while I

Shaken Mamahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02917897064970938887noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19583693.post-65857087274549898012010-05-21T20:01:00.000-07:002010-05-21T20:01:16.525-07:00

We're so excited -- we're headed to New York City for a spell, with a sublet to call our own. It's not right away, but we're so happy to have finalized the "deal" on a great place. Chebbles and the art museums!?? Gigi and the social scene!?? Lailai and the food!?? And I keep imagining that Hub-D and I will have "Date Night"-esque adventures that will result in our making out on the front

Shaken Mamahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02917897064970938887noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19583693.post-72546473846876258642010-05-20T22:16:00.001-07:002010-05-20T22:16:04.991-07:00

Maybe the pacifier was keeping her upright?

Shaken Mamahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02917897064970938887noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19583693.post-13528357991367762292010-05-15T13:28:00.000-07:002010-05-15T13:28:41.673-07:00

Life is normal now. No staged house. No one is sick. The weather is not extreme. Lai's tooth has cut through her top gum, and her diaper rash/pressure sore (from too much time in the backpack!) is on the mend. And there is so much joy here! So much sweetness. Hugging and kissing and reading and general hilarity. The recession didn't kill our company, and Health.com wants me to keep writing for

Shaken Mamahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02917897064970938887noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19583693.post-68266719376123224632010-05-12T19:00:00.000-07:002010-05-12T19:00:04.016-07:00

Hey, wow, Chebs, thanks for this beautiful note, I love it! I like the smiley face in the "O" especially, and hey, what does this say? Does this say that you're tough? Well, you are tough, Cheb, this is a really nice drawing ((hug)) ((kiss)) and thank you for making it for me. (Sniff) Oh, that's funny... (Noticing brown smudges on the lower left quadrant.) (Turning over paper and gagging.)

Shaken Mamahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02917897064970938887noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19583693.post-72827969295954070452010-05-10T19:37:00.000-07:002010-05-10T19:38:28.269-07:00

I am a cat person, mostly because dogs annoy me with their slavish affection. They are unpredictable and you have to handle their poop all the time. There have been a few dogs that I have truly loved. Of course there was Geronimo, the incredibly intelligent Collie mix we had growing up, and then Crosby, the largely ignored black lab that belonged to one of the fraternities in college. But

Shaken Mamahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02917897064970938887noreply@blogger.com6tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19583693.post-7210180312443652772010-05-09T18:59:00.000-07:002010-05-09T18:59:59.260-07:00

My one request of The Universe for Mother's Day was balmy weather, so I might avoid the "you have to wear a jacket" conversation with Gigi. This was not granted. And that sucks! It really ruins Gigi's whole day to have to wear a jacket. A little jacket-wearing in the morning sets her off for additional pissiness throughout the day. Hours after the jacket incident, when I told her she needed a

Shaken Mamahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02917897064970938887noreply@blogger.com8tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19583693.post-53371324250960124112010-05-07T20:21:00.000-07:002010-05-07T20:21:33.223-07:00

"Good thing you're not taking her to the pediatrician today," my friend said this morning. "Because they might worry about your parenting." What was she talking about? Would it be the black eye of mysterious origins? (I wish I could truthfully say how it happened, but I sadly have no idea...) Or could it be the diaper rash on her bum that is so bad that she has blisters? Or perhaps the

Shaken Mamahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02917897064970938887noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19583693.post-72799005188001859332010-05-06T11:13:00.000-07:002010-05-06T11:13:20.052-07:00

The new Health.com article is up and ready for your opinions! It was a super juicy article to research -- so in case anyone criticizes me for breastfeeding my massive one-year-old, I can just tell them I'm protecting her from leukemia.

Shaken Mamahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02917897064970938887noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19583693.post-69444349148973005392010-05-05T22:40:00.000-07:002010-05-06T11:15:27.440-07:00

Start at 2:45 for pure comic gold from Lailai.

Shaken Mamahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02917897064970938887noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19583693.post-21051140681058732672010-05-04T13:16:00.000-07:002010-05-04T13:16:24.156-07:00

You know that part of "The Boxer" by Simon & Garfunkel, where Paul Simon breaks down in a long "Laida-LAI!! Laida-lai lai lai lai lai Laida - LAI!!! etc. etc. etc." That is the mantra around here, Lailai's theme song. We sing it to her several dozen times a day, particularly when she has a cute scab on her nose. And before you object to the notion that my infant daughter is being repeatedly

Shaken Mamahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02917897064970938887noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19583693.post-82673244363663918072010-05-01T21:42:00.000-07:002010-05-01T21:42:07.867-07:00

I'm stymied sometimes when I introduce my children to a new person. What should they call that person? I always default to the last name... "This is Mrs. (Mom-Of-Your-Friend)." But sometimes I don't know the last name, and saying, "This is Miss Julia" sounds somehow patronizing, somehow like a servant/employer-type relationship, so I don't want to go with that. Sometimes Chebbles will take it

Shaken Mamahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02917897064970938887noreply@blogger.com13tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19583693.post-68295729653344377942010-04-29T21:21:00.000-07:002010-04-29T21:23:14.821-07:00

I am surprised at how nursing has gone differently this time than with Chebbles and Gigi. Now that Lailai is approaching her first birthday, I find that we are both unwilling to stop this relationship. So when she wakes up in the morning, goes down for her nap, and goes to bed at night, we nurse. And sometimes this evolves into a late afternoon nursing session, followed by a bottle of homemade

Shaken Mamahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02917897064970938887noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19583693.post-70134750207478385462010-04-27T23:17:00.000-07:002010-04-27T23:17:29.479-07:00

Lailai's first word? Same as everyone else's. "DADDY." And as soon as she hears his voice, or any small thing reminds her of him, she's off to the races! "DADDY DADDY DADDY DADDY DADDY." Coming in close second, after my husband is any canine that walks down the street: "DOGGY DOGGY DOGGY." I comfort myself, regarding the fact she hasn't even begun to murmur "Mama," by thinking this: I'm

Shaken Mamahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02917897064970938887noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19583693.post-73290539693712047082010-04-26T21:28:00.000-07:002010-04-26T21:58:33.173-07:00

After we rode the merry-go-round at the zoo today, all three kids enjoyed tromping around in the wildflowers outside the ride area, and I struck up a conversation with another mom who sat nearby. She is going through a divorce. Six months ago, the papers were filed and this woman is shell-shocked. She discovered that her husband was having an affair with a fellow student, and he, after some

Shaken Mamahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02917897064970938887noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19583693.post-85217745821962851062010-04-26T19:37:00.000-07:002010-04-26T19:37:06.895-07:00

As a mother to girls, I appreciate the books that aren't simpering, that pull no punches, and are actually entertaining (no thanks, Dora! and Barbie begone!). To that end, we were delighted to discover a book called Unicorns, by Lucille Recht Penner. Lucille, if I may be so bold as to call you that, you ROCK! You talk about all kinds of unicorns, including the awesome Persian unicorn who just

Shaken Mamahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02917897064970938887noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19583693.post-37116155984978597732010-04-25T21:38:00.000-07:002010-04-25T21:41:13.349-07:00

"It makes her less juicy," my sister observed as Gigi pitched her third fit of the morning, this time because she wanted to put her jacket on herself, and yet did not want to have a jacket on. "She's definitely going through something," Hub-D said as she devolved into a cavalcade of "Wadybugs HURT ME!"... which is her way of reminiscing about an incident several days ago in which some ants bit

Shaken Mamahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02917897064970938887noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19583693.post-27192134747431851082010-04-24T13:03:00.000-07:002010-04-24T13:03:13.271-07:00

"It's all good, ma'am, I'll take care of this garbage for you..."

Shaken Mamahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02917897064970938887noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19583693.post-32818174955262622402010-04-21T22:55:00.000-07:002010-04-21T22:55:55.732-07:00

My breastfeeding while pregnant story has just posted. It was really interesting learning about the pros and cons, and how incredibly painful it is for some people. Crazy.

Shaken Mamahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02917897064970938887noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19583693.post-36702375269919919842010-04-21T16:20:00.000-07:002010-04-21T16:20:14.568-07:00

...But not quiiiiiite sure. She'll let go of our hands, contemplate her intended flight path, wobble forward for a moment... Then sink gracefully down in a lovely plie.

Shaken Mamahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02917897064970938887noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19583693.post-18940400958530141802010-04-21T14:04:00.000-07:002010-04-21T14:04:17.398-07:00

There is no better way to describe our entire household right now. Sometimes I feel foolish for buying a gross of Kleenex boxes at Costco. Then we have weeks like this. Chebbles has an ear infection that spread to her eye (ew!) and everyone else is just basically boogery. And California, now that we're staying, is back to its old ways. It's cold and rainy here. See, when we were deciding

Shaken Mamahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02917897064970938887noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19583693.post-48321644315975054572010-04-17T22:43:00.001-07:002010-04-17T23:28:10.278-07:00

As of this moment, I'm the top story!

Shaken Mamahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02917897064970938887noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19583693.post-18608004213906099622010-04-16T21:54:00.000-07:002010-04-16T21:55:22.168-07:00

Every so often, you just have to screw the idea of a proper bedtime, and ignore the fact that BART is filled with commuters on Friday afternoons and just take your children to downtown San Francisco and stick them on a merry-go-round. Gigi wouldn't nap today, and Lai took a nap that can best be described as "weird" -- 10:30am-1:00pm. So I just jammed a smelly mom-bag with leftover Easter treats

Shaken Mamahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02917897064970938887noreply@blogger.com7tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19583693.post-51815759339644291722010-04-13T22:10:00.000-07:002010-04-13T22:10:56.584-07:00

I have to wait until tomorrow for abc.com to broadcast it. It really isn't healthy for a mother of three young children to be this obsessed with a television program. But I came by this obsession honestly. When I was newly pregnant with Gigi, it was an awful drama, as you may recall. The bleeding, the nausea, the fatigue... agony! Luckily, I had two main allies, one was my friend A., who would

Shaken Mamahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02917897064970938887noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19583693.post-36868379131096294442010-04-10T20:49:00.000-07:002010-04-10T20:49:30.987-07:00

We're having such a marvelous time nowadays. First, I'm not pregnant, so there isn't this barfy hormonal worry hanging over my head. And now that spring has sprung, we're hurtling out of the house with so much pent-up energy, leotards and swimsuits at the ready... And everyone is getting along beautifully. Today, when 10-month-old Lailai expressed distraught envy at the sight of 2-year-old

Shaken Mamahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02917897064970938887noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19583693.post-53450389787424454112010-04-08T20:32:00.000-07:002010-04-08T20:32:32.795-07:00

Hub-D finally got tired of me sitting at his computer, leaving apple cores strewn on the desk and fingerprints on his monitor. So he nicely recommended I get a laptop. Once I learned of the MacBook's wipe-off keyboard, I knew we had a winner. So here I am in my living room, typing on an Apple product instead of the many dusty Dells that have come through our lives in the last decade. And after

Shaken Mamahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02917897064970938887noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19583693.post-72981853737826998692010-04-07T22:13:00.000-07:002010-04-07T22:13:20.849-07:00

Despite the fact everyone I know has gotten pregnant while breastfeeding, it's technically not possible, especially not if the baby is under six months and not on solids yet. I found it fascinating writing this article for Health.com, and I think it will interest you guys as well -- more mysteries of the female body! It's really a wonder that we are able to hold conversations or get out of bed

Shaken Mamahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02917897064970938887noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19583693.post-46984184082474542602010-04-05T20:12:00.000-07:002010-04-05T20:12:20.335-07:00

Whoozyermama snapped these photos at her house recently. You can see Bobojeege's daily outfit -- always the leotard and the flower in one's hair. And the baby sister in the background. And the second picture nicely illustrates the tongue situation in our house, which is everyone has one and uses it with wild abandon. And Lai loves dogs, oh yes she do. NB: Dr. M. gave Lai's ears the all-clear

Shaken Mamahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02917897064970938887noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19583693.post-67977293633497008992010-04-04T21:21:00.000-07:002010-04-04T21:21:38.173-07:00

I continue to be amazed by all of the secret inner workings of the female body. I wonder how many people enter medical school as atheists and leave feeling much more religious? How else could you stand the barrage of fantastic enigmas taking place within our own bodies other than chalking it up to a God of some variety, one who has a much better understanding of prolactin on ovarian function

Shaken Mamahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02917897064970938887noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19583693.post-90756648648840736272010-04-02T19:36:00.000-07:002010-04-02T19:36:32.057-07:00

One reason I love writing for Health.com is I keep coming across these fascinating medical mysteries. A LOT about our bodies remains unexplained. Forget about space travel, there are many universes of uncharted territories within our own skin. Specifically, this week I'm researching the effects prolactin on ovulation and conception. What I'm learning is that although it's certainly possible to

Shaken Mamahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02917897064970938887noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19583693.post-59127592936280821842010-03-31T11:44:00.000-07:002010-03-31T11:44:51.386-07:00

Stay-at-home moms sometimes don't have much to quantify their work. I remember Rosanne Barr's line: "If, at the end of the day, the children are alive, I've done my job." That pretty much sums it up around here. But in the last few weeks, as we've battled persistent ear infections, we've had occasion to weigh all three girls. So now I can tell you that my children weigh a combined 93 lbs, 6

Shaken Mamahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02917897064970938887noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19583693.post-39997153836060369462010-03-30T17:10:00.000-07:002010-03-30T17:10:27.729-07:00

If we're staying here, the idea of homeschooling is gaining momentum. I am confident that I would be able to educate and socialize my kids with myriad resources, but the question remains: would they be dorks? If my kids aren't exposed to the everyday slang and authority-questioning of a pack of peers, will they be incurable nerds? And this leads to my next question: would that be such an awful

Shaken Mamahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02917897064970938887noreply@blogger.com8tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19583693.post-49145020104212133972010-03-29T14:39:00.000-07:002010-03-29T14:40:22.783-07:00

In 2003, I pitched a potential client in the Washington, D.C. area. I flew in on my own dime to meet with Mark, the president of the company. This company had recently parted ways with their public relations agency, and they were flapping in the breeze, publicity-wise. They had a great product, but their PR had ground to a halt. I was quickly ushered into a conference room with one of the

Shaken Mamahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02917897064970938887noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19583693.post-74606273960879788712010-03-26T14:39:00.000-07:002010-03-26T14:39:49.550-07:00

Yup. That'd be our Lailai. You'd never call THIS kid a baby, would you? No, you wouldn't. You'd go ahead and call her Lailai. And you'd have proper respect for her full 23lbs.6oz. self, for her loooooong legs, which caused her father to have to cut out the feet in her pajamas, just so she could stretch out at night. She is a grand little soul, currently experiencing an ear infection, but you

Shaken Mamahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02917897064970938887noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19583693.post-38535843800439016882010-03-24T21:15:00.000-07:002010-03-24T21:16:25.331-07:00

I hauled myself all the way out to the boondocks and scrambled around in the grass... for this...?

Shaken Mamahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02917897064970938887noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19583693.post-63500641656924678782010-03-20T11:54:00.000-07:002010-03-20T11:54:04.840-07:00

It's nice to celebrate all the Easter events without being either massively pregnant or in a postpartum haze. Speaking of which, I think the Easter Bunny might actually come to our house this year. As I explained to Chebbles, the Easter Bunny doesn't come when a Mama is pregnant or there is a newborn for fear of disturbing a family in transition. Someday she's going to be pissed about that.

Shaken Mamahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02917897064970938887noreply@blogger.com8tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19583693.post-3339598709054531992010-03-18T19:58:00.000-07:002010-03-18T19:58:54.042-07:00

The notion of homeschooling Chebbles is gaining appeal in our house. The more I think about it, the more it seems like a great idea to try it next year. Why next year? Because Chebbles is a little too young to go into kindergarten, but she is working on at least a public school kindergarten level academically -- so why not try one year? I can find a kindergarten curriculum that floats our boat

Shaken Mamahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02917897064970938887noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19583693.post-59519581850010234022010-03-16T11:47:00.000-07:002010-03-16T11:47:55.217-07:00

Health.com has created a nice index of my postpartum articles. So if you're looking to learn about Vitamin D, cracked nipples, flabby bellies, flu paranoia, or scrota, I'm your gal!

Shaken Mamahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02917897064970938887noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19583693.post-83262241618238383062010-03-16T11:44:00.000-07:002010-03-16T11:44:37.567-07:00

Hey pals -- I was thinking of expanding my online writing horizons, either with my own (less personal than Shaken Mama) venture, or by connecting with an existing publication. I would like to write more health-related articles, but I just don't get out enough to know what's "hot" -- would it be something I create myself, or is there some clearinghouse of amazingness that I should link into?

Shaken Mamahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02917897064970938887noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19583693.post-22095593984962116212010-03-15T21:28:00.000-07:002010-03-15T21:28:18.038-07:00

I'm inclined to believe that there really is some sort of "Garfield Effect," whereby Mondays are imbued with some magical properties of disturbance. Take Darren, for example. I had a great plan today. I was to jog across town in order to buy a sweet pair of used Pedipeds for Baby C. I felt like a total genius. I was in my running clothes, my eldest was in school, Baby C was napping and Gigi

Shaken Mamahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02917897064970938887noreply@blogger.com8tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19583693.post-49238403723721416212010-03-14T22:00:00.000-07:002010-03-14T22:00:21.853-07:00

Color us fascinated with the concept of homeschooling. Blame Whoozyermama if you want. She forwarded us this Business Week article about the new trend of secular, non-hippie homeschooling for academic success. Juu-uu-uuicy. I also came across this "Bitter Homeschooler's Wish List" which cracked me up, and was also somewhat educational.

Shaken Mamahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02917897064970938887noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19583693.post-32884685705996884272010-03-14T13:13:00.000-07:002010-03-14T13:13:59.305-07:00

Hub-D is splashing in the hot tub with Gigi and Chebbles, and Baby C is finally down for her morning snooze. I'm racing around getting the house staged for another person (mopping, lighting candles, hiding all signs of life). My neighbor just told me she had to stage her house for 5.5 months. NO THANK YOU, although it's fun living in a place that looks like a hotel room, it's kind of ridiculous

Shaken Mamahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02917897064970938887noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19583693.post-67030931357485248612010-03-12T20:10:00.000-08:002010-03-12T20:10:37.543-08:00

Writing this new article for Health.com was a blast. OK, nothing tops my survey of the male anatomy and all that sperm killer craziness, but it came close. What I found most fascinating was that acupuncture is a real, kinda-proven substitute for antidepressants during pregnancy. Enjoy!

Shaken Mamahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02917897064970938887noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19583693.post-67605286596787400172010-03-12T09:19:00.000-08:002010-03-12T09:19:46.251-08:00

I'm not saying that David Letterman is a saint. It's morally wrong to hook up with your employees. But I reject the notion that the women he had sex with were simply victims. There is no evidence he forced anyone to do anything -- I bet they were kind of psyched to have the attention of such a famous figure. All of these women were of age, and they are also culpable for betraying Letterman's

Shaken Mamahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02917897064970938887noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19583693.post-21415077090349304202010-03-10T22:18:00.000-08:002010-03-10T22:18:18.631-08:00

It's not as though I'm bored. I have a nine-month-old who craves extended eye contact and body contact, and must be smooched directly on her belly at least every fifteen minutes she is awake. I have a two-year-old who needs help assembling elaborate outfits including leotards, tutus, shiny shoes, necklaces, bracelets, headbands (at least two), plus she needs a hairdo to keep her ridiculous mane

Shaken Mamahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02917897064970938887noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19583693.post-76634258316519142262010-03-09T20:11:00.000-08:002010-03-09T20:11:36.016-08:00

A lot of people came through our house today, wondering if it could potentially be their home. They stared at things and tromped around and peeked around corners. It felt much less invasive than I thought it would. I just kept thinking, "Come on.... come on... You know you want it..." The house is somewhat hilariously staged, with votive candles flickering on surfaces that were once dedicated

Shaken Mamahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02917897064970938887noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19583693.post-69413878939637326412010-03-08T20:27:00.000-08:002010-03-08T20:27:07.467-08:00

This is so weird. I've never lived in a house that was for sale before. Is the house mad at me? I wonder what adventures lie before us -- we fell in love with this house when we saw it 5.5 years ago, and we have put so much love into it -- all of our babies came home here! Now the question is -- where will Chebbles start kindergarten? And will she need a miniature pink ten-gallon hat?

Shaken Mamahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02917897064970938887noreply@blogger.com7tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19583693.post-91297306973503809672010-03-07T22:10:00.001-08:002010-03-07T22:10:40.419-08:00

We feel amazing. Getting rid of all this stuff is just AWESOME feng shui.

Shaken Mamahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02917897064970938887noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19583693.post-69342106423140710252010-03-06T10:46:00.000-08:002010-03-06T10:46:28.602-08:00

National Marrow Donor Program - Be The Match Marrow RegistryThanks for the tip, Fringes. I've swabbed the deck and sent it in.

Shaken Mamahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02917897064970938887noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19583693.post-25144807746058890422010-03-04T21:09:00.000-08:002010-03-04T21:09:49.303-08:00

A long time ago, I ordered the BBC language program from Early Advantage, called "Muzzy," the German edition. Then I stashed the DVD's and utterly forgot about it until I started cleaning out our shelves. What the hey, I thought, and popped in the first Muzzy DVD to entertain the kids while we had a meeting with our realtors. And wouldn't you know it, that Muzzy DVD has changed our life

Shaken Mamahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02917897064970938887noreply@blogger.com6tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19583693.post-24728050082536619822010-03-03T22:27:00.000-08:002010-03-03T22:31:28.992-08:00

Gigi has developed a new hilarious habit of enthusiastically agreeing with our directions and criticisms. Sure, she's 2, so she has tantrums and druthers and she wants to wear a leotard and tutu every waking minute, but I have been blessed with a toddler who doesn't say, "No," all the time. Instead, she says, "OKAY!" with merry enthusiasm. "Gigi! Get off the counter and put down the knife!" "

Shaken Mamahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02917897064970938887noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19583693.post-49031519797645549532010-03-02T20:39:00.000-08:002010-03-02T20:41:06.759-08:00

When we moved here, our neighborhood was positively vibrant. We were invited to a rollicking Fourth of July BBQ, organized on a nearby cul-de-sac, and instantly made a bunch of friends. There was also a neighborhood Halloween party -- a few of the families had been doing it for years, and it was a perfect potlucky way to kick off trick-or-treating. I love that kind of stuff, so I got into

Shaken Mamahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02917897064970938887noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19583693.post-55771840834548164052010-03-01T16:17:00.000-08:002010-03-01T16:17:20.313-08:00

I'm reading a hilariously good book now, Mennonite in a Little Black Dress. Because I love swearing, farts, and fundamentalist religions, it ranks up there with A Girl Named Zippy as one of my favorite memoirs of all time. There was a really great quote in there, by Ms. Janzen's sister... something to the degree of, "You can love him, but you can't live with his damage anymore." Today I took a

Shaken Mamahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02917897064970938887noreply@blogger.com18tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19583693.post-603807901894010732010-02-27T21:53:00.001-08:002010-02-27T21:53:54.328-08:00

I had such a good time writing my Sperm Killers article for Health.com. This is the sequel, just posted...

Shaken Mamahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02917897064970938887noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19583693.post-23857284416811978532010-02-27T21:42:00.000-08:002010-02-27T21:42:43.551-08:00

My dad just left. It was so nice having him here for Gigi's birthday.Just to give you a taste of the hilarity that is my dad, he stopped about 1/3 of the way into this book ("Go, Dog, Go!") and exclaimed that the book was simply becoming too preposterous to be believed. I love that it took a relatively long time -- dogs driving cars, green dogs, etc. etc. before he reached that point of

Shaken Mamahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02917897064970938887noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19583693.post-43666920531367145892010-02-26T21:48:00.000-08:002010-02-26T21:48:44.406-08:00

Can you believe our little lady is no longer a baby?We stopped staging the house for two hours today to fill it with pink helium balloons and much merriment to celebrate her second birthday.HUZZAH for the BOBES! We love you very much!

Shaken Mamahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02917897064970938887noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19583693.post-56516268175453431522010-02-25T19:47:00.000-08:002010-02-25T19:47:55.747-08:00

I recently read Steven Covey's "Seven Habits for Highly Effective Families" and he had something really interesting in there about "course corrections." Basically, he said that airplanes are flying off course most of the time, and the pilot's job is to enact course corrections throughout the flight in order to make sure they get to their destination. So basically, any journey should entail many,

Shaken Mamahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02917897064970938887noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19583693.post-15924907009131426662010-02-23T20:00:00.000-08:002010-02-23T20:00:39.500-08:00

As I was putting Baby C to bed tonight (she's still wailing as I write this, just angry that the day is over, after my nursing her twice and doing a curtain call... ma'am! sleep!), I felt a stab of sadness. I miss Christmas. I miss our home. Sure, we still live at the same address as we did when our Christmas tree was up, but now we're in the process of stripping it down into a house. It needs

Shaken Mamahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02917897064970938887noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19583693.post-16656119415153334032010-02-22T21:21:00.000-08:002010-02-22T21:21:52.669-08:00

Hub-D and Chebbles were away for the weekend, at Disneyland, a trip promised to Chebbles once she stopped sucking her thumb -- so she deserved it! But having these two players out of the house for the weekend was a little sad for all of us. Chebbles arrived back, riding triumphantly from the airport on BART, wearing a Minnie Mouse hat with a tiara and veil. I promptly dumped her into a bathtub

Shaken Mamahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02917897064970938887noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19583693.post-6559956003722118492010-02-21T21:10:00.000-08:002010-02-21T21:10:18.161-08:00

But am I really expected to keep a straight face when I'm told there is a deformity of the testicular veins that is actually called "Nutcracker Syndrome?" That's just totally unfair.

Shaken Mamahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02917897064970938887noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19583693.post-40010965756937587542010-02-21T17:23:00.000-08:002010-02-21T17:23:49.532-08:00

Baby C looks a lot like her Daddy, with his delightful curly brown hair and clear eyes, those mighty muscles and general cuteness -- but every so often, she and I share something special, something just for us. This week, it's the Streptococcus Pyogenes bacteria, which lurks at the back of both our throats. After suffering a tough night last night, I hauled us both to the Emergency Baby Vet

Shaken Mamahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02917897064970938887noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19583693.post-12135458522483031332010-02-20T21:42:00.000-08:002010-02-20T21:42:04.902-08:00

The yard sale was today, and it was GRAND FUN. It felt like our wedding, except Hub-D wasn't there so I didn't have to share all the adulation. Really, it wasn't too different -- hundreds of people streaming into our yard, conversing with me in quick succession, dancing off with party favors and handing me money. There were so many fabulous moments. There was the man who bought Oma's clip-on

Shaken Mamahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02917897064970938887noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19583693.post-67333555259674351302010-02-18T21:33:00.000-08:002010-02-18T21:33:22.091-08:00

Preparing for a moving sale, staging the house, looking at our options in a new town... all of this is squeezing my brain somehow. I'm having a hard time figuring out what's important, or how to sort out all of this new information, so I'm racing around just putting out the little fires that crop up in my relatively unattended daily life. I think of who I was two weeks ago, before we came to the

Shaken Mamahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02917897064970938887noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19583693.post-2110561878473154572010-02-17T14:17:00.000-08:002010-02-17T14:17:10.245-08:00

(Snort snurf hee hee hee) My latest Health.com article shows how many sperm killers are lurking around, trying to prevent us from reproducing.... Check out the picture of the guy using his laptop on the fifth slide, he slays me. He is probably researching kilts in his clan plaid, I guess. But he's just so concerned about his sperm count.

Shaken Mamahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02917897064970938887noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19583693.post-8566430479382135362010-02-15T19:29:00.000-08:002010-02-15T19:29:26.625-08:00

All of the yard sale stuff is piled throughout the family room. I have a strong temptation to push it all into the backyard with some kind of construction equipment, and light fire to it. It would be an art piece called Burning Mom. But already things are selling! I posted some "coming soon..." ads and I've already made $110 on two never-used Le Creuset pans, and someone has claimed our Jumparoo

Shaken Mamahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02917897064970938887noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19583693.post-63496022181772854592010-02-14T16:55:00.000-08:002010-02-14T16:55:08.874-08:00

I'm covered with dust and completely overwhelmed. Letters from Oma, Chef Alekka, letters to myself, photos from years of summer camp... And clothes! So many kid clothes I want to just dump them in the front yard and start over. And files! And yearbooks! Halloween decorations, Easter perephenalia, I'm going to lose my mind.

Shaken Mamahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02917897064970938887noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19583693.post-74337544010402527122010-02-13T19:54:00.000-08:002010-02-13T20:57:15.871-08:00

My GOD what a collector I have been. It seems that, for several years, I cured everything by online shopping. What? The baby won't potty train? Buy more potty seats and five books on the subject from Amazon.com. What? My husband wants a different kind of sausage than the kids? Buy a large grill attachment for the stove in order to make them all simultaneously. So. Much. Crap. An air purifier.

Shaken Mamahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02917897064970938887noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19583693.post-65898470563773714602010-02-11T20:05:00.000-08:002010-02-13T20:52:24.788-08:00

* Hub-D snapped this picture of Chebbles on the Yerba Buena merry-go-round this weekend, when he took her downtown for an adventure. I love the expression on her face. Very Chebbley.* I learned that Health.com is planning to syndicate my latest article, the one about sperm. (Heehee! Spermatazoa!... I'm so immature...) But I'm so excited! They are fact-checking it to within an inch of its life, so

Shaken Mamahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02917897064970938887noreply@blogger.com7tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19583693.post-71159438431283260182010-02-10T13:07:00.000-08:002010-02-10T13:10:37.904-08:00

...This paddle game, this chair...So you know, this is what we contend with any time we want to leave the house. Three knapsacks, a straw basket, a size 8-10 leotard, two additional tutus and the sparkliest shoes she can find (regardless of whether or not they actually fit).Yep, she's a girl.

Shaken Mamahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02917897064970938887noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19583693.post-26057153574176765092010-02-07T16:00:00.001-08:002010-02-07T16:04:35.166-08:00

I'm not sure why, but all of a sudden I'm getting requests from others -- they would like to return to my "Blogs I Read" blogroll.Some of those people had switched around their URL's or stopped posting for awhile, and thus became victims of my latest efforts to cull the section.So I've designed a method for those people to pay penance and get back on my blogroll.All you need to do is leave a

Shaken Mamahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02917897064970938887noreply@blogger.com11tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19583693.post-55048555106391672082010-02-07T10:24:00.000-08:002010-02-07T10:27:01.169-08:00

spermatidsseminiferous tubulesspermatigoniumepididymis!epididymis!epididymis!"During spermiogenesis, the spermatids begin to grow a tail, and develop a thickened mid-piece, where the mitochondria gather and form an axoneme."BWA HAHAHAHAHAHAHA!!!!Am I the only one who thinks the reproductive process is so darn funny?

Shaken Mamahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02917897064970938887noreply@blogger.com2