A Website for Moms
Guest Post by Kristin Noble: Recently I attended a baby shower where someone videoed little advice tidbits for the expecting couple. It was fun to hear all the advice that was passed around the room. At first I wasn’t overly interested in chiming in, after all, I don’t consider myself mom of the year material. Besides, my son is grown now and things have changed. But you know what? I thought about how my son has turned out and realize I did have something to say! [Read more...]
I’m not sure if my daughter’s new dolly is named after Nemo the fish or the remote control for the tv. Either way, her baby is saddled with an unconventional name; Nemote. While her name might be odd, she is an absolutely beautiful Chinese baby doll that I got from Precious Baby Dolls.
We gave her to our daughter for her second birthday, and I love this picture of her seeing the doll for the first time. It was love at first sight.
Being an adoptive parent in a multi-cultural family means searching for toys and gifts that have anything but blue eyes and blond hair. I’m sure other adoptive parents can relate. It’s very difficult to find a variety of dolls with authentic features that are high quality and value. The reason I am writing this is two-fold.
First, I want to help out another mom I connected with online. She started her own doll company, and for those of you who know me well, motherhood and small business are two of my greatest passions. The backbone of this country is family and small business; therefore, I love what Mary Beth is trying to do. Plus, she has an awesome name.
The other reason I am writing this article is to pass along how impressed I am with little Nemote. (It just doesn’t have a pretty ring to it, does it?!) She is well made, soft in the body, and durable in the head, arms, and legs. Her eyes and even her hair resemble my daughter, who absolutely loves her. She even wanted to share her glass of water with her, and proceeded to dump a glass of water on poor baby Nemote. Luckily, it didn’t hurt her one bit. We dried her face and the little red outfit didn’t even bleed.
For those of you who shopped for silk doll clothes in China, I have to say this dress is well made and even lined. None of the clothes we bought in China for dolls and barbies were lined.
If your family is multi-cultural like ours, there are many nationities of dolls to select from, and all are made with love. You can see the entire doll collection at http://www.preciousbabydolls.com/ You can follow Mary Beth on Twitter at Twitter.com/adoptedbabies
They also have a cute clip on YouTube:
I’m a different kind of mom, and the adventures I’ve been through have changed me. I didn’t realize I wanted to be a mom so badly, until I couldn’t get pregnant. Then, being a mom was all I could think about. For five years I cried myself to sleep, cursed my body, prayed, and longed to hold a baby in my arms. Do you know that feeling? It’s not something that can be truly understood by anyone who has not experienced it.
I’ll admit I was bitter. I was angry and resentful of all the pregnant people around me. I couldn’t rejoice in the babies of friends and relatives. I wish I knew then what a blessing it all was and how special the experience would become.
You see, I am now able to look back and remember the pain in my heart when I talk to someone who is trying to get pregnant and can’t. I can relate on a different level to someone telling her heart-breaking story of infertility. I can rejoice with profound energy and enthusiasm with mothers who have overcome too many obstacles to become mothers. I cry for first time parents finally experiencing their joy.
All of these feelings I have now and the outlook I am able to have is only possible from what I’ve been through. I am a firm believer that when things happen we must grow and find one thing each day to be joyful about. That’s my personal motto: Finding joy everyday. If you know me, I’m a different kind of mom. All three of my girls have a very unique story of landing in my arms. Each took a very long time to get here, but that’s ok. I’m fine with being different.
By now we know that most family/home/kid purchases are made by Mom. Mom’s run errands, buy groceries, choose gifts, and watch out for great money saving opportunities. Some moms, like me, are really frugal. It is no surprise that many moms work hard to keep a tight budget. With all that is going on in our economy, keeping our homes affordable is important. If you are like me, understanding all the home buying, refinancing, and other related programs is overwhelming. I don’t have the time that it takes to understand what the various home affordability programs mean for the average family and home buyer. First time home buyer’s or previous owners who have not owned a home in the last 3 years have the opportunity to receive an $8000.00 credit and the time is running out for this program (deadline is Nov. 30th) Don’t fit into this category? There may be other great options too.
Luckily, one mom, who actually lives across the street for me volunteered to help explain some of this to moms in terms we can understand and answer your questions via email. Maybe these home affordability programs are an option for you, maybe not. Maybe you know someone who’s asked about this, but could really use another mom to explain it. I talked to Melissa Roterdam who is willing to help if you need it. She is a mom, realtor, and Minnesotan with some great connections. Please feel free to email her if you would like some assistance you can trust (mnm@teamroterdam.com ) I know she works closely with Ian McDonald (author of the podcasts mentioned below), whom I also know. He works very hard to make home financing work for the average person. Together, they will help you figure out if you have better, more affordable home options.
Melissa states, “I love to work with first time home buyers educating them on the home buying process and helping them put a team together on their behalf, with help from local professionals. My young clients have said to me “once a mom, always a mom”, because I look out for them like I would my own kids.”
There are quite a few programs for Rural Development and one is limited to Minnesotans.
According to Melissa, ” I have had clients whom have used this program and it made a world of difference for them in terms of what they could afford and amount of money needed down. It’s a great opportunity if you qualify.”
What’s the harm in finding out? Rural Development programs offer benefits like no down payment, no monthly mortgage insurance and more!
For more information, you can visit Melissa’s website here. You can also chat with Melissa on Twitter here http://twitter.com/MplsRealtorX2 Melissa recommends these great podcasts that explain the programs and processes located here.
I'm Beth Gasser, also known as "Confessions of a Mom" and "ConfessionsMom". This is my playground for what I love; blogging, saving money, having fun, parenting, cooking up fun recipes, and writing about everything under the sun. My daytime fun is at Vivid Image, Inc. where I'm a Social Media Consultant and small business brand advocate for our clients.
