bountifulplate

  Get ready, I am hopping on my soapbox, BIG TIME!!! When I found out Dominic had Autism, I took just about every single book out of the library that had to do with Autism and related disorders. One of the very first books I read was a book by Jenny McCarthy (the actress).  She also has a son with Autism and I was curious about how she came to terms with accepting the diagnosis.  I used to like her until she started the charge against vaccinations and  how harmful and full of toxins they were. She claims there is a "link" between Autism and vaccinations, even though studies show that is not the case.  When she was with Jim Carrey (the actor) she seemed to be everywhere.  Now that she's not  riding around on his coattails anymore, do you really even hear too much out of her???  Whenever she would be on television she always seemed to be carting around an enormous amount of attitude.  Jenny McCarthy claims your child can "recover" from Autis...

Lauren was 8 when Dominic was born.  She was used to being the "princess" of our household.  I think me getting pregnant and then giving birth to Dominic kind of rocked her world.   The February before Dominic was born, I lost my 101-year old grandmother.  Then, shortly after the holidays of 2004, my father-in-law got ill and my hubby traveled back to Cleveland every weekend, except one, for three months.   After his dad passed, we traveled frequently to Cleveland to visit his mom and then moved her closer to us in 2006. To say Lauren didn't get enough attention during this time frame would be an understatement.   Dominic was very fussy, he rarely slept and between him crying, me nursing him and trying to support my husband with all that he had going on with his parents, it didn't leave a lot of time for Lauren.  I think back to those times and wished I could have spent more time with her.  Dominic required so much of me that Lau...

Just when I thought I'd heard and seen it all, I heard about a mom accused and then arrested for supposedly taking her young daughter into a tanning bed!!  This chick has been in the news more than a few times in the last couple of weeks. She has the nickname, the "Tanning Mom."  I heard a newscaster comment that they thought the woman had been burned in a fire.  If you haven't heard of her, Google "tanning mom" and you'll find her :)  I was thinking that the woman has a lot more problems than just tanning.  The Today Show interviewed her recently to get her side of the story.  The mom herself visited the tanning salon 20 times over the course of a month.  I would qualify that as excessive.  She keeps saying she didn't take her daughter into the salon and/or the tanning bed and the salon denies the charge too.  She claims her daughter got burned by being outside.  That's a possibility,  I guess.  I was thinking if the salon and...

During dinnertime, we usually have the television on in the background.  A few weeks ago during dinner, a commercial came on.  Let's just say, it was for men with certain private "issues."  It was about 7 p.m., which I consider to be prime family time.  Lauren  and Dominic were there with us at the dinner table.  They didn't really notice the commercial, but I did and I kind of went off about it.   My family is used to me getting up on my soapbox :)  It seemed pretty inappropriate considering the time it was on. I don't think a little kid like Dominic's age (7) should have to be asking their parents what Viagra is!!   I can remember when certain feminine hygiene product commercials were considered to be pretty taboo.  Those commercials are all over the place now, on at all different times.  I understand that advertisers need to make money, but having those type of commercials on during the time frame of 7 - 10 p.m. seems kind of tac...

This Mother's Day will be the 22nd that I have known my stepson.  When he was little he used to sit on my lap and snuggle with me. Hard to believe, but in about a year and half he will be 30.  When his dad and I got married in 1995, he was a junior usher at our wedding.  We have a mutual understanding and respect for each other and I am very proud of all that he has accomplished in his life.  When he got accepted into two graduate schools, he asked me which one he should choose.  They both were excellent schools.  One was about an hour away from us, the other was a couple thousand miles away. We would have really loved it if he picked the one closest to us, but I told him that it would have to be his decision. He ended up picking the one a couple thousand miles away :)  I have tried not to tell him what to do, but rather help guide him towards making good decisions.  He has grown from a little kid into a man.  I have never tried to take the p...

I have been super blessed to have had "other" moms throughout my life that have helped mold and form me into the woman I am today. You know these women, they are the ones not related to you by "blood" but rather related by love!  One of those "moms" was actually my own mom's best friend.   Her name was Mary Ann.  She was never able to have children of her own and she kind of "adopted" my brother, sister and I.  Mary Ann and her husband, Harold, lived right next door to my family growing up and I spent quite a bit of time at their house.  I love to bake (as I've mentioned many times in my blog) and so did Mary Ann.  She was known for her amazing, "Mary Ann's Chocolate Cake."  She also made the most incredible cookies with cream cheese.  I am lucky enough to have both recipes in my recipe collection. When she and her hubby moved to Iowa, I visited her a handful of times. Sadly, both Mary Ann and her husband have both passed on...

All the fuss surrounding what Hilary Rosen said about working moms vs. stay-at-home moms made me think of another "debate" that seems to stir up a lot of emotions between moms.   Breastfeeding vs. bottle feeding your baby. This is a subject that I can truly say I have been on both sides of.  When I was pregnant with Lauren, one of the things I thought about a lot was that I wanted to breastfeed her.  Since this was the first time I was pregnant, I really had no clue what it involved.  I thought your baby just put their mouth on and started sucking away.  When Lauren was born after a very long labor, I was exhausted.  The nurses (to their credit), really tried hard to show me what to do. After we brought Lauren home from the hospital, I kept trying, but it really hurt and I was incredibly frustrated!! I gave up after a couple more days. Once Lauren got on formula,  she and I were much happier with each other.  Dominic, on the other hand, took ...

When you see an ambulance with its lights flashing whizzing past you, do you ever wonder what emergency they are going to/from or who's inside?  Well, I have been in an ambulance, not once, not twice, but three times!  The first time was back in 1997, when I thought I was having a heart attack.  The paramedics came and took me out of our house on a stretcher.  On the way to the hospital, I remember asking them if they thought I was having a heart attack, they said, "we don't think so Mrs. B!"  After some tests, it was concluded that I hadn't had a heart attack, but instead had a gallbladder attack.  I had surgery shortly after that and was matron of honor at my sister's wedding about 10 days later.  The pain was worse than giving birth (which in Lauren's case was 32 hours of back labor)!! The second time I had to call an ambulance, it was because Dominic hit his head at school and I brought him home to let him rest.  As soon as I got him in the...

My husband likes to go grocery shopping and so do I.   We both go to our favorite grocery stores every week and we both like to use a list and coupons.  I like Kroger and he likes Meijer.   He likes to go into the grocery store and only go to the aisles where he needs to go.  I like to go up and down every aisle, just to make sure I didn't miss anything that I forgot to put on my list.  I don't spend hours and hours clipping and sorting coupons like the people on the TLC show "Extreme Couponing", but I do like to see how much I can save at the store.  I probably spend about 1-2 hours a week clipping, sorting and filing my coupons.  I have a store loyalty card for Kroger and I get special discounts for using it. On my shopping trip to Kroger this week, I saved $45.46 using digital coupons, paper coupons and my store loyalty card.  I bought a six pound  "Perdue Oven Ready Seasoned Roaster" that was originally $11.99, marked down to $7.99 a...