Mama's Starting Over

2011 has been a year of many firsts for me. The last 8 weeks have been really hard for me and so I have spent a lot of time thinking about all the wonderful blessings LG and I have been given.  One day I sat down and made a list of all the "firsts" that happened this year.  Here are a few of the best..... Business trip -- Teachers don't get to take business trips so when I landed my new job and went to Nashville for Blissdom it was the first time I had ever gone somewhere purely for business.   Leaving LG for more than 3 days -- Nashville was also the first time I had left LG for such a long time. It was much tougher on me than I thought it would be.   Running a clients Facebook page --Not only did I run all aspects of the page but I watched it grow from 10,000 to over 300,000 fans Hatemail --Running the Facebook page as well as choosing what bloggers were selected for a program I was running, brought my first hatemail. I struggled a lot with this but after ...

Every year I struggle with what to do for Christmas cards.  I know that I always want to have a photo of LG but often getting that photo is so hard!  The past few years I have been lucky enough to have photographer friends take photos for us and this year is no different.  I have been trying to decide what type of a card to do this year. Tiny Prints is a go to site for me every year.  I love them!  I often find the card that I really like and then plan what LG is going to wear for the photo shoot so that it goes with the card.  I love the idea of these cards that turn into ornaments, but would I ever really hang a photo of a friends family on my tree?  Probably not so I think we will skip those this year. I love simple cards where the photo is the best part so I am in love with these two which you can find here and here . The other one that I really like this year is this one .  If you have more than one child or you can't decide on just ...

Dear LG, I am not sure why but I feel compelled to write you a letter today.  In 3 days, you will start the first grade.  First grade!  I can't believe it.  In the past year you have grown into the best partner in crime a mommy could ask for. Last year on your first day of school I cried.  My tears were a mix of excitement for your first day of "real school" and sadness as daddy and I were walking you in.  Daddy and I were in the midst of our divorce and it was nothing like I imagined your first day looking.  I had always envisioned us all walking in together hand in hand.  Instead I walked a little bit behind the two of you with him holding your hand and me taking it all in.  I loved watching you look up at him listening to him tell you how much fun you were going to have.  I watched you cry when it was time for me to leave even though you had been going to preschool without me for 3 years. Over the year I watched you blossom into ...

Earlier in the week I found out that a fellow Yahoo! Motherboard member lost her husband suddenly on Sunday.  She asked that people make his favorite pie   today and share it with their loved ones. I made a pie and took it to work to share.  It was a big hit and I was really glad that I had participated. The news of her loss hit me pretty hard which is odd since I didn't know Mike.  I used to think that divorce was a lot like losing someone to death but I realized that I am totally wrong.  Jennifer will never get to have total closure with her husband, that is something I can't even fathom.  Through all of this I started really thinking about myself and what I am doing to take care of me. My mental health is always a work in progress.  My depression is in check and I feel great but I continue to see a therapist here and there to help me work through stuff.  Sometimes I just need that sounding board even though I have some pretty amazing wom...

This year BlogHer was wwwaaaayyyyyy more relaxing than ever before.  I am not sure if it was because I am in such a different place in my life or if I just didn't care.  I was really nervous about Thursday night because I had 5 places to be at one time.  While getting ready I decided to say "Screw it, I will get to what I get to and I refuse to kill myself doing it."  I made it to 2 things.  Evidentally, there were a few feelings hurt that I didn't make it to their events but I just apologized and said I did my best.  It was good enough for me! Enough about that.  Here are my loves and dislikes for this year.... LOVES Robyn and Kimberly I seriously couldn't ask for better girl friends.  On Thursday night we....nearly died in a pedicab, laughed so hard I was crying all my make-up off and almost pee'd my pants in a cab on the way home....that was just night 1!  The weekend was filled with snarky comments and some of the most hilarious s...

Thank you to Yahoo! Mail for sponsoring this post about staying connected. I was selected for this sponsorship by the Clever Girls Collective , which endorses Blog With Integrity , as I do. I was racking my brain to come up with my last post for Yahoo! when I got the best email EVER from a client! Let me give you a little bit of back info.  I work for a client who is TOUGH.  No matter what I do, he never makes me feel like it is enough.  I grew their Facebook fan # from 10,000 to over 300,000 in just 6 months.  The 200,00 fan mark was huge as we beat another brand within the same company.  I was so excited and when I called with the news not only did he not say "Good Job" he actually said, "Next goal 250,000.  Go get'em!" I just had to laugh.  It is like a parental relationship......an A- in Spanish isn't good enough....."Why didn't you get an A?"  It kills me.  It happens all the time though so I am now use to it and just roll my...

Thank you to Yahoo! Mail for sponsoring this post about staying connected. I was selected for this sponsorship by the Clever Girls Collective , which endorses Blog With Integrity , as I do. Do you remember the first time you ever sent an email?  I actually don't remember the first email I sent but I can remember vividly some of the most important emails of my life. An email sent to friends and family to let them know that we would be having a baby..... Husband and I are so excited to let you all know that we are expecting a little bundle of joy.  Baby Freitas will be joining our family in March and we are so excited! Love, Lia and Husband There was the email I sent a few days after LG was born.... Two weeks early but as perfect as you can be.....we are happy to announce the arrival of LG who weighed in at 6.4lbs and 19 inches! We are all doing well and hope to see you all soon. Love, Husband, Lia and LG  The email I sent to family with a photo video to celebrat...