Open Mic

I met Laura through her husband Aaron. Aaron and I used to be coworkers. When I first heard that Laura and Aaron were expecting, I was excited for them, but also for myself too. Sweet, I’ll have another Dad friend, and when Laura is on maternity leave, I’ll possibly have another mall-walking friend! Laura and Aaron rwelcomed their first child, Zoe, in October. But it wasn’t an easy ride for them. Here is Laura to share their story. (Click here to see Laura’s own blog)

WHAT A DIFFERENCE A YEAR CAN MAKE

I met my husband in high school.  The extent of our friendship consisted of sharing a homeroom which meant we really didn’t spend much time together.  We ran into each other junior year of college at a mutual friend’s twenty first birthday, and shortly thereafter, Aaron made the phone call that would bring our separate paths together forever.  My best friend and roommate answered the phone and just smiled at me when she said it was for me.  In true girl fashion, I got off the phone and immediately ran to here room beaming from ear to ear. I gave her a quick recap of the conversation, “Yes, it was Aaron.  And he wanted to go out on a date.”  Considering he went to school in Detroit, two and a half hours from Mt. Pleasant, this was big.  She just looked at me and said, “This is the guy you are going to marry.”  Now, we have been best friends since kindergarten so she knows me better than anyone, but I told her she was crazy, it was just a date.  Well, one date turned into two and before I knew it we were together, engaged, and married over the next several years.  And my best friend, also my maid of honor, made sure to mention her prediction in her toast 🙂

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My dad had the opportunity to share his experience of being a grandpa, and my mom shared her trip to Chicago to be on the Oprah show, but she hasn’t had the chance to share her grandma experiences yet. Now she’s able to do just that. Needless to say, I think she looooves being a grandma. I was lucky to have her as my mom, and now Ellie and Chloe are lucky to have her as their grandma.

THE JOYS OF GRANDMAHOOD

Grandma!  Ellie shouts as she comes through the door with a big hug and kiss.  It’s music to my ears and pulls at my heartstrings.

Friends and family who had grandchildren told me how wonderful it was to be a grandparent.  “It’s much different and better than being a parent”, they would say.  They were so right!  I LOVE being a grandma.

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I’ve heard before that being a parent helps you become less selfish and more self-less. Well, I think Tammi is a perfect example of that. Parenting is challenging enough, but when raising a child with special needs, “challenging” has a new meaning. Tammi is a good friend of Aya’s and I’ve asked her to share her story about raising her daughter Jada who has cerebral palsy. One of the inspiring things about Tammi is that she accepts her life as it is and does everything in her power to provide for her daughter and her family. She is one of the hardest working people I know and Jada is one lucky girl to have Tammi as her mom.

JADA’S STORY

December 4, 2004 my husband and I were blessed with a beautiful baby girl. Unfortunately, our baby girl came way too early. Jada was born at 30 weeks gestation, 2 lbs., and 8 oz. Jada was alive and that’s all that mattered to us. She spent over a month in NICU, growing, and thriving giving no indication that she would suffer any long term affects from being premature.

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Meggan and I both majored in Interior Design in college, both worked our first internship at the same place, stayed in contact as we entered the professional world, and now, we are both stay at home moms. I mean parents. We are both stay at home parents. Well, Meggan is here to share the story of her son’s name and why they chose it. Some people choose names because of how they sound, or from a family name, and some pick them because they have a lot of meaning to them.

RIVERO JAMES: A NAME STORY

When my husband Jim and I were in Paris a couple of years ago we met two people who would change our lives forever.  D. Rivero and Inma.  We had no idea that a few short hours of talking to those two amazing people would result in such a shift in our thinking.

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Adam is another fellow hardworking stay-at-home dad. He writes about his experiences with his son Isaac over at HangingwithDad.com. It can be difficult for me to find other dads to really relate to. So it’s always good to see other dads out there in the same position as me doing this work confidently and doing it well. Adam is one of those dads. Trying to keep this segment balanced and diverse as possible, I felt it was time to hear from another dad. Here is Adam to share his take on cooking.

COOKING AND THE KITCHEN

When Matt asked me to do a guest post for him I knew there was really only one topic that I could possibly write about that would truly fit what he does here, and that’s cooking. True it’s not my strongest suit, but we have had some fun in my household with it. I’m nowhere near the chef he seems to be, and I mostly stick to grilling or not veering from a recipe in any way, shape or form. Things work out best that way. (For the record, I wrote this while my wife watched Worst Cooks in America on Hulu)

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