Mom in the Spotlight

Our first one! Thank you, Angee, for being such a willing guinea pig :).

Name: Angee

Husband’s name: Stephen

Child(ren)’s names and ages: Madison (3) Brayden (9 mo.)

Birthday: June 1

Anniversary: July 17

Hobbies: Gardening, exercising

Favorite color: Blue

What kind of pets did you have growing up? Now?
Dogs and Dogs now; toy poodle and choc. lab

How do you celebrate special days, such as birthdays, good grades, etc.? Birthdays have not been too special until the kids were born. We usually just have a cake and invite our large extended family over to celebrate. Brayden's birthdays will be extra special since it is also my husband's birthday. All other holidays are spent going from one family to the other trying to quickly enjoy spending time with everyone while franticaly opening gifts.

What toy has given you the most entertainment in the past year? For me the most entertaining recently has been watching Brayden walk around pushing anything in front of him from chairs to boxes and even our bar stools. But I'd have to say the most fun has been watching Brayden and Madison play together by chasing and attacking.

What did you do before becoming a mom? So many things...but most of my time was spent working for Youthville as a Clinician. I mostly worked with families that were reintegrating their children back into their home after SRS had removed them for child abuse or neglect.

What are your favorite movies/TV shows? My favorite tv show is The Office. That is the only show I look forward to watching every week.

If you were to finish the sentence “The best thing about being a parent is…”, what would you say? How can I pick one? Right now what is coming to mind is hearing the laughter; pure hearted belly laughing that only children can do and knowing it is coming from my happy little one.

What possessions do you feel are most worth keeping, in addition to pictures? I have journals that I keep of the children as well as my prayer journal and bibles that would be worth keeping.

What is one thing that you have learned the most from your parent? Which parent? Both of my parents got down on the floor and played with us when we were little. We had fun and laughed often. I think I learned that it is important to get on the children's level and engage with them or at least be present where they are and willing to be engaged by them.

What is one piece of advice you would give to another mom? Spend time each day watching your kids closely. Soak up their little face, actions, laughter and smiles. Then as they grow and your memory fades, don't place guilt on yourself for the fuzzy memory of those special times. Even if you can't remember those moments very well, you were there and love never fails.

What is one “mommy myth” that you have found to be untrue? Cereal, or any food in general, helps them sleep longer.

What do you like to do together as a family? We love going to Grand Lake and just spending time by the water together.

What is something that you have learned as a mom that you could not have learned any other way? How much I could love my children.

What is the last book that you read for yourself? What did you read last night? I read The Shack for myself about one year ago; last night I read the first page of the paper.