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 This week’s featured Mama of the week is Erica from the blog Mommy’s Fabulous. Erica is the busy mom to a toddler and an infant. She feels blessed to have a girl and a boy and remarked that they are done! Eric is works at home full time currently. She said, “Before last summer, I worked outside of the home full time. I am a writer/marketer/social media manager. I wear a lot of hats, but I primarily work in health care. Before I had my own company, I used to think, “Wow, my job would be so awesome if I could just hang out and talk to my friends all day.” And, with all the social media work I do, I feel like I am doing my dream job. I am really passionate about health care communications, social media and blogging. I love it all.”
Erica’s business is called Fabulous Communications. She was blogging at Mommy’s Fabulous prior to starting her business and wanted to tie in her business to her blog. On her website, www.fabulouscommunications.com, you’ll find information about her marketing and writing consultations that specializes in digital and print media marketing, social media management and content strategy for businesses and health care.
In discussing social media, Erica explained the following:
Way back in the day before “social media” there was this thing called “word of mouth.” It’s how you learned about businesses, brands, products and services. Today, we post questions on our walls, search resumes on LinkedIn and interact with brands on Twitter. It’s different, but it’s the same. Social media has helped small businesses find their voices, and has allowed customers and potential customers to explore a brand before they try – or maintain a relationship once they are connected. For me, social media has let me do what I do best- interact and promote with other people via conversations. That’s what I enjoy the most. My husband and I met online in 2004 – before the explosion of social media, but I would surmise we would have connected on Facebook if we met today.
Parenting presents many joys and challenges. Erica enjoys teaching her children new things, and watching them interact with one another. She mentioned that her “absolute favorite thing about being a parent is never being able to go to the bathroom alone. Who knew I spent 32 years not knowing the joy of having company while I go to the bathroom?” This is something that many moms seem to discover! A challenge for Erica is having patience with her children. She wants to encourage her daughter to do things for herself, but at times it is hard to not do them for her. Her advice to new parents is to encourage them to develop patience, as each stage of parenting presents different tests of patience. Whether it’s dealing with an infant that cannot communicate with you besides crying or a toddler who takes forever to complete minor tasks or a teen who needs to learn from their own mistakes, patience is a characteristic of parenting that repeats throughout the ages of development.
The best advice about parenting Erica was given was about sleep schedules. She said, “I had no idea how important sleep was, and while sleep training was difficult in the beginning, the payoff is SO worth the trouble. “
Erica enjoys taking her kids out on the weekends. As a family they visit Sesame Place, the Please Touch Museum, and the Philadelphia Zoo. They also really enjoy visiting the boardwalk. Erica and her daughter are also fans of crafts and Play Doh! Erica said, “my toddler loves driving us crazy, playing with dog food, and running away from us in parking lots. Oh yes, this is a fun stage  My 4-month-old currently enjoys sleeping through the night, smiling and batting at toys on his playmat. Obviously, he is the easier of the two.”
Erica mentioned that she “hates cooking but it is a necessary evil… or is it? Here is my favorite recipe.” Erica has a great sense of humor! To relax Erica enjoys editing home movies, as she is a video editor by trade. “I haven’t had time to do it in a while, but I love editing them to music, and creating non-traditional “home movies” that we all like to watch. I also love to exercise – and to just zone with music and sweat in a Spinning class or running in the park.”
You can catch up with Erica on her website, on her Facebook page, or on Twitter!
Thanks so much Erica for being a featured mama of the week!
 This week’s Featured Mama of the Week is Jessica Mudrick, a Realtor, owner of the blog Delaware County Moms, and mom to two amazing kids, Olivia, 8 and Ryan, 4. Jessica’s kids both enjoy to doing arts and crafts, gymnastics, and playing baseball, by their own rules! Jessica said, “Olivia loves to read and is into fashion and Ryan is into cars, dinos & digging in the dirt.” Watching her kids become their own people with their own opinions is Jessica’s favorite thing about being a parent. She finds her kids to be very funny, keeping the family laughing all the time. The challenges she faces as a parent are similar to most parents, dealing with keeping the kids’ rooms clean and talking back to mom and dad. As parents, they set clear consequences for not following the house rules, but they also accept that they really do have great kids and having a messy room isn’t all that bad! Jessica also mentioned Respect is a big thing our home. We want our kids to respect us, teachers, each other and themselves. Respect is hard to teach, but we often ask how they would feel if we said or did X to them…we also try to respect them & let them have options and choices when possible.
Jessica is able to balance being a Realtor and a website owner around her children’s and husband’s schedules. She is able to schedule office time during the day while her kids are at school and schedules appointments to show houses and meet clients in the evening or weekend when her husband is home. She also is able to rely upon her neighbor or brother (who lives down the street) for childcare, in addition to friends and her in-laws. Jessica’s website, Delaware County Moms, is a resource for parents in and around Delaware County to find fun activities, family deals and some awesome local giveaways. She recently co-hosted an annual Philadelphia Costume Swap with Trina O’Boyle from O’boy Organic last Friday, which is a great event to check out next year to find and recycle Halloween Costumes! Using Social Media tools, like Facebook, help stay connected!
To stay in touch with friends, or to connect with new clients, Jessica uses social media to help. Facebook has been the most helpful for her, and she is starting to use Twitter more now that she knows other to connect with there. Jessica mentioned that she finds she is most effective making connections on Facebook out of all the social media platforms. It helps her share photos, view friends’ photos and remember birthdays easily. She also is able to post new house listings on her Facebook page, which is a big help with her business too. The downfall of Facebook is how much time one spends on it without realizing it. Jessica said, “But I really have to watch how much time I spend on it…because I can sit there for an hour and not realize it, so I am now very aware!”
Parenting is a fun and rewarding job for Jessica and she enjoys spending time exploring the world with her kids. They visit the arboretum in their neighborhood where exploring the outdoors is fun for all. They also live in a neighborhood filled with kids so there are always lots of playmates around to run around with or ride bikes. Jessica works on instilling in her kids kindness and charity for others by setting examples of volunteering for Cradles to Crayons and Philabundance. She likes to show her kids how to help others in the community, since there are so many struggling. She said, “I feel that even I only help one person, that is one person whose life has been made easier and that makes me feel so great!”
Jessica shared a family favorite recipe with Mama’s Little Helper readers. She said, “This is my Grandma’s recipe and she makes it every year for Christmas breakfast and if we can’t make it back to my home state of Ohio, I make it Christmas morning for my family. It is also a great go to dinner because you make it the night before.”
Ham & Cheese Strada
- Sliced Italian Bread (you can use any bread but heartier bread holds up better)
- Ham
- American cheese
Grease a pan and make sandwiches with bread, ham & cheese. Mix 1 egg, ½ cup of milk per sandwich and add 1 tsp. of mustard (add more if you like mustard J) Take egg mixture and pour over sandwiches cover for at least 1 hour or overnight. Cook @ 350 for 45 minutes to an hour.
We like to eat ours with fresh sliced tomato.
Thank you Jessica, for being a feature mama of the week on Mama’s Little Helper!
 Jessica Mudrick, from DelcoPAMoms
This week’s Featured Mama of the Week is Barb Hoyer, blogger at A Life in Balance and mom to five kids! She has four sons, ages 15, 7, 5, and 3 and one daughter, age 4. Her kids love to play with Legos and most days you’ll find their basement floor covered in those little bricks. Barb loves to see the creative side come out of her kids and she encourages them to express themselves in creativity and through play. Her oldest son has developed into a wonderful writer and she is encouraging him to explore his talents in high school. Barb herself has always needed a creative outlet, whether it be writing, photography, drawing, painting or knitting.
Family meetings held weekly are a great way to connect with the family!
Being the parent of five and running a household of seven people takes a lot of organization and comes with challenges. Managing all of those people in one house, with all of the noise and mess, is difficult. Barb mentioned that during this school year she plans to implement some changes at home to make life go more smoothly, especially with all of the activities the school year brings. Barb and her husband are planning to hold weekly family meetings during their Sunday night dinners when they know the family will all be together. This is such a great idea for any size family!
Barb is currently a stay at home mom (SAHM) although she was also a working mom for a while in the past. She said, “I’m a SAHM, though I did spend a year working on a Shaklee business. I became a SAHM when my oldest was about 4, and we decided I would homeschool him. When I was working, I worked in the fundraising offices of several nonprofits. My last gig was an Office Manager/Special Events Coordinator at the University of Pennsylvania Library Development Office, my favorite job. My boss was fabulous and being a dad himself, very flexible about my working from home at times. I love being a SAHM because my skills in running an office have translated to the home though it’s taken me awhile and 5 children to realize this.”
Barb’s blog, A Life in Balance is all about how she is working to keep balance in her and her family’s life. She mentioned regarding her blog, “No one has exactly the same situation as me, but they can identify with the issues I deal with whether it’s replacing an appliance or feeding a family while watching the grocery prices continue to rise and rise. I also want to discuss as a mom how to have a healthy balance in our lives and what that looks like. I want my readers to take what they like and leave the rest.” Barb is an avid gardener too, and shares a great deal about gardening on her blog. Barb shared her favorite family recipe with Mama’s Little Helper readers too: Chicken Parmesan.
Social media has become a resourceful tool for Barb, especially when talking on the phone can be challenging with five kids interrupting! “I use Facebook and Twitter a lot for my blogging, and Facebook for connecting with my family and my husband’s family. I love both as social media tools and yet, I am mindful that they are tools. I think face time is just as important, and I also like to pick up the phone to chat with distant relatives from time to time. I tend to rely more on Facebook and Twitter right now because my kids have phone radar and always want my attention when I’m on the phone. I usually have to retreat into the bathroom (my Gibbs-style office) to have a conversation. Interruptions from the kids are not interruptions when I’m using social media.”
Teaching respect in a family of seven is very important, especially in regards to other’s toys, possessions and space. With four kids sharing a bedroom, Barb found that using a combination of boundary setting with locking cabinets and gates, along with reinforcement of rules repeatedly helps. She mentioned that one of the first topics to be covered during family meetings will be formulating a written list of rules for the family and posting them publicly.
Having five kids means Barb’s received lots of tips and advice from others over the years regarding parenting. She said “the best piece of advice was to pay attention to what might be affecting my kids when they misbehave. I can tell when they’re tired, and I will often suggest that they spend a little time by themselves until they’re ready to be with us again. For the really young ones, I make sure that they get the much needed nap to be their happy, bright selves again. Barb’s advice to a new parent is “a baby can never be held too much. I used a Bjorn to carry my four young ones, and my oldest spent a lot of time in car seats or strollers. I think that level of touching between a mom and baby has made a huge difference in my children’s lives. If I could raise my oldest again, I would carry him a lot, have a family bed, and breastfeed him.”
Barb likes to spend her “alone time” walking. She used to be a longer distance runner before being a parent and loved to run five miles at a time. Currently her best walks are up to an hour long. Pounding the pavement really helps her walk out things and de-stress. She uses her cell phone and sends herself emails while walking if she thinks of things to do, that way she doesn’t risk forgetting a thought before she gets home. Then she can move on to the nest issue. What a great way to wind down!
 Barb Hoyer from A Life in Balance Thank you Barb, for being a featured mama of the week on Mama’s Little Helper!
This author of Spit That Out! loves raising her family in Philadelphia
This week’s featured Mama of the week is Paige Wolf, mother of one cute two year old son and owner of Paige Wolf Media & Public Relations, which she has had for 10 years. Paige said, ”in the past few years I have been fortunate enough to work with green and sustainable clientele. Paige Wolf Media & Public Relations offers communications services to clients who contribute to a sustainable world and positive change. My clients range from national green beauty companies to local nonprofits to large community events. In addition to that, I am the author of Spit That Out: The Overly Informed Parent’s Guide to Raising Children in the Age of Environmental Guilt and I blog at www.spitthatoutthebook.com about making green living more practical, manageable, and affordable.”
Paige utilizes social media. She said, “I am addicted to Facebook and Twitter. Someone once said, “Facebook is about who you know and Twitter is about who you want to know.” I think that’s very true and why both mediums are equally important.”
Regarding childcare, Paige shared that her son is now in preschool five days a week, which he loves. He started at 14 months going 3 days a week. Prior to that he was cared for by a part time nanny. Paige said that her husband is able to work from home some days as well, so they’ve managed to balance their time!
Paige’s son, Sam, loves to play outside in their tiny city garden, color, and generally make a mess. She said she views her son as “a little mini version of yourself and your spouse that you created and how funny, smart, and adorable they are!” Her current challenge as a parent is dealing with the terrible twos. She said that she relies on other moms for advice and tries whatever works! Paige and her family live in Philadelphia and love their neighborhood. She said, “love having Seger Playground across the street! Also right by Whole Foods and my son’s preschool – it’s a regular loop around the neighborhood filled with familiar faces and wonderful city scenery mixed with plenty of green spaces! We love the park, going to festivals and outdoor activities – there is always something to do in the city and it’s usually walking distance!”
In regards to feeding her family Paige mentioned “we get a CSA (community shared agriculture) share from a local farm delivered to the city. I love that it challenges us to try new and healthy things, and finding ways to incorporate all these fruits and veggies into our meals! Sometimes we do get stuck with something we hate – like beets – so we share them with the neighbors!”
Paige’s book, Spit That Out: The Overly Informed Parent’s Guide to Raising Children in the Age of Environmental Guilt, covers a wide range of parenting tips. To sum it up, Paige’s advice to new parents is that just because your feel you can’t do everything does not mean that you should do nothing. This applies not just to green living but various aspects of parenting including activities, quality time and so on.
Thank you, Paige for sharing a bit of your life with Mama’s Little Helper readers!
 Paige Wolf, author of Spit That Out! If you know a mom who you would like to see featured here, please email Diane@mamaslittlehelper.org.
This week’s featured Mama of the week is Amy Benninger. Amy is the owner of the website Lehigh Valley Little Ones/Lehigh Valley Family Fun, a great resource website for parents of kids in the Lehigh Valley Area. Her website has an activities calendar, information about area parks, a community bulletin board, birthday party ideas, and seasonal activities, just to name a few. Not only is it a great resource for families living in the Lehigh Valley, but it’s also a good place for Bucks County, Montgomery County, and Philadelphia families to research ideas for day trips to the Lehigh Valley.
Family comes first to this Lehigh Valley Mama!
Besides authoring and managing her website, Amy is the mom to two kids, ages 7 and 4. Her children love to swim and “just be kids!” Amy enjoys being there for her kids accomplishments and supporting them when they fall. One of her parenting challenges is staying focused and remaining calm. She feels that she is “still a work in progress, but learning every day not to stress the small stuff in life.” She focuses on remembering to prioritize what is important now and moving on from there. A favorite place to pass the time is hanging out in the back yard watching her kids on the swing set. Amy works hard at teaching her kids to respect the Golden Rule She said, “we speak often about the “Golden Rule” Do unto others as you would have them do unto you. If you don’t want some to do it to you…don’t do it to them. I have them repeat it all the time.”
Family time is very important to Amy. Her advice to new parents is to put the computer and phone away during times with your kids. She said, “I, myself, forget this rule all of the time. And my youngest reminds me frequently. They are so impressionable and they notice everything. Now is the time to show them you listen, care, understand.” She also mentioned that the best parenting advice she ever received was to listen to other people’s advice and then do what you want!
Amy is a stay at home mom (SAHM) and has been since the winter of 2005. She mentioned that she left her full time job because she couldn’t handle leaving her daughter at daycare anymore and she knew she wanted to be with her full time. ”Prior to having children I was an Account Manager in the Direct Mail Industry. I am now the owner of a website resource – Lehigh Valley Little Ones.com. It is a FREE website resource for Parents, Grandparents, Caregivers or WHOMEVER to find stuff for their kids to do in the Lehigh Valley, PA & surrounding areas.”
Amy founded her website because in 2008 she was trying to sign her daughter up for ballet lessons and having trouble. She said, “after being frustrated, I realized how awesome it would be if there was a centralized location of kids information for the Lehigh Valley area. That is how Lehigh Valley Little Ones came into being. I love being my own boss and I love spreading the word about great programs for our LV kids! There are tons of great things out in the Lehigh Valley…I just want to help spread the word.”
Social Media helps Amy stay connected to her audience.
When asked about her use of social media, Amy replied that using social media has been a huge benefit for her website. She said, “we have begun holding contests on our site – featuring prizes from local, Lehigh Valley companies. Without social media, we would rely heavily on search engines. But social media has allowed us to talk to our Viewers and get their feedback. We have found that Facebook & Twitter have been our best outlets.” You can find Lehigh Valley Little Ones on Facebook and Twitter, where parents can stay up to date with the weekly events and activities occurring in the Lehigh Valley.
So if you live in the Lehigh Valley area or are planning a visit, be sure to check out Lehigh Valley Little Ones and Lehigh Valley Family Fun!
 Amy Benninger from Lehigh Valley Little Ones Thank you Amy for being a Featured Mama of the Week on Mama’s Little Helper!
If you would like to nominate a mom to be featured here, please email Diane@mamaslittlehelper.org!
Lawyers, Money, Disease, Drugs, Friends, Depression!
This year I decided to head to TypeA despite my health not doing so well. The break from my somewhat emotionally challenging life along with the fun times I was sure to have with my comupter freinds that I would now be seeing In Real Life would be like a retreat for my soul. I was certain I would walk away from TypeA with a new lease on life and ready to take on all things going on in my personal life and beyond. Well, there were other plans for me because I ended up leaving #TypeAConference early via an emergency flight home to Philly on Friday after spending all day Thursday in bed, b/c my RA & Fibro were flaring up in addition to uncontrollable sobbing that I was experiencing. Latter I find out that was depression. Homeward bound to seek medical treatment from my doctors and TLC from my family, I left TypeA defeated and confused with lots questions for my doctors and lots of of decisions to think about for myself on the plane ride home, ahem make that rides…I had a layover in Charlette (which I must say, one of the most beautiful airports, I’m actually glad I got to experience. Since my daughter was born, I’ve been torn whether or not to go back on my RA drugs, they are hard core, they are toxic and my feelings are that some of them will run through my body doing more damage than they are able to cure. Of course my doctors warned me flare ups of this nature were in my future if I elected to not go back on the drugs. I’m already in chronic pain and unable to live a normal life without a flare up. A flare up just makes my life even worse. The RA docs urged me to start Remicade right away after my daughter was born and I was so scared to go on this hardcore drug at the age of 36, but I really do think it’s one of my last resorts along with a major diet adjustment. I need to try eliminating certain foods in my diet to see if I can’t bring my body some pain relief. I’m looking to remove gluten, carbs and lots of the sugars. I have a feeling, it won’t be an end all b/c after all, I do have an auto immune disease that’s causing my chronic pain. However, I do think things such as the food I eat and the stress I’m under exacerbate my condition. Just this week I realized oatmeal in its most procesesd form is causing me such inflamation, redness, heat and I’m down sleeping for hours after I eat it. I would normally blame such an episode on my RA, however, I’ve noticed this has happed the last 4 times I’ve eaten oatmeal, so it’s the damn oatmeal causing me to feel like garbage this paticular time. And, how many other food are out thre that I’m sensitive to? How many will I find out that make me sick like this and I’m slowly killing myself eating them and finding myself in the bed in pain, never puttint two and two together. Hey, I was told I have chronic pain from RA & Fibro….who was I to go poking around looking for any other reasons to be causing my pain? Well, I’m poking and I’ll be poking a lot people, so you may want to steer clear of Mama right now as she pokes her way back to health for crying out loud! Jeez Louis….what’s a girl got to do to get a doctor to do some poking around so we kind find a diagnoses already instead of giving me lame answers such as RA & Fibro. Sure, I belive I have them both, but come one….tell me about the poking that can be done, tell me about the food mood connection. Enlighten me, is that not your jobs?
TypeAParent Conference and MamasLittleHelper.org
I made it to one session and could barely keep my head up during it, I felt like I was going to pass out from the pain I was in. Sarah Phinx and Amanda Jenson did a wonderful job discussing the transition from blogger to social media consultant. This is one of my dreams when my disability gets out of my way. I feel like I fight so hard to have a normal life, a pain free life…a life that I can just get out of bed and go do what normal people do. One where I don’t need to worry if I have all my pain medication with me, one where I don’t need to worry if I can make it through a whole day of Sesame Place with my 3 year old, one where I can work at least part time after my daughter is in bed or while she is with her father. I want my life back!!
Are My Health Challenges Related to My Hormones?
I know some of you will think I’m nuts, but I have good reason and proof to sway your mind otherwise, so read on.
Sometimes I wonder if my health challenges aren’t related to my hormones, such as adrenal fatigue. Seriously, I know when I was going through my infertility treatments (Yes 4 years ttc, 6IUI’S,1IVf/ICSI (great cycle), some of my hormones were replaced and I got different levels of energy back as doctors switched me from hormone to hormone with the hopes of that helping me to conceive, which it did! It worked, their master plan, intense as it was, worked. Side effects were less pain for me during the ttc phase from the hormone replacements and less RA pain while I was pregnant from my own body’s natural ability to produce a hormone to take away my pain. It was great. I’ve also tried hormone replacement drugs as a way to reduce my pain and inflamation with my RA. There is something to be said about giving the hormone replacement significant research to relieving chronic pain. I hope doctors are doing what they can to connect the two and for now we as consumers can do our own research and trial and error. As I stated above since my return from the conference I’ve been under my doctor’s care for depression. With all my health challenges, my divorce with custody issues, the loss of good friends and others just doing me wrong as they use me to make their way to the top….I caved to the thoughts of sadness. Since I’ve been seeing my seeing my doctor, I feel more like myself each and every day, but I’m not going to kid you…its rough. I still cry. I still feel sad. I’m going to talk more about this in my column in the August issue of Parents Express Magazine. If others can not make the mistake that I made, which was not seeking help when I started feeling down originally especially when my family started noticing the changes and begging me to see the doctor, then I’ll feel like I’ve done my part in educating parents that we, the strongest of them all are susesptable to feeling of depression, so seek help as soon as you notice a change in yourself, even if you think you are fine. Thank you @GMNortheast for the sweet TahoeHybrid to drive to and from TypeA in NC. What an amazing truck. I want one bad. It was great on gas! I can’t wait to exeperience more vehicles like this in your class. I’m thinking hybrid in my futrue. Thanks
We have a #BucksTweetUp Taking Place On April 11th!
Started with table for 2, then 4, then 5, 6, 7, 8……………………..
I (@MamasLtlHelper) have been trying to go out to lunch with @PinkeandBrowne for a few months now, then we decided to invite @NewtownPAPatch so we were trying to organize our schedules and said lets wait to April. We reconvened scheduling last week and added another Tweeter to lunch with us, @artemidiastudio. Then, @ChaddyD from @nhcelebrates wanted to join us. So there we were, the 4 of us scheduled for our lunch to meet our online community friends (Twitter) in an offline setting, to chat about what we do, to share our best practices, and whatever else came to our minds during our meals. In my mind I imagined, a little networking group of sorts, but fate had something else in mind for us….
As the hours went on after the official yes, all 4 of us we will meet at The Pineville Tavern on April 11th at 12:15pm for lunch, more and more people were being added to our lunch date. Ok, very cool…the more the merrier. Well, one thing led to another and now we have a huge #BucksTweetUp that started with a twosome lunch and I thought I should let my online community friends know in case you can make it. The tweetup appears to be around 30 attendees right now and it’s growing very quickly. Hope to meet you there…as @ChaddyD and I have been saying…this is going to be Legendary!
Be sure and use #BucksTweetUp to jump in on the chatter and let everyone know you will be there. @PinkeandBrowne and @MamasLtlHelper (me) had originally started the lunch, but there is nothing official as far as a list going on right now (not yet, but you can imagine my mind is spinning with future ideas for this).
Most of you know, Mama loves planning blogger parties for businesses and brands. It’s something I and many others think I have a knack for. I must admit, it’s a passion and I really enjoy it. However, this was a pure accidental TweetUp. I do consider @MamasLtlHelper (myself), @PinkeandBrowne, @NewtownPAPatch, @artemidiastudio, & @ChaddyD all responsible for this event, because we were chatting about it on Twitter and telling everyone because we were excited to be meeting our social media friends IRL. I just wanted to be in full disclosure here.
Hope to see you there!
Happy Tweeting
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