Welcome

Welcome to Gaining Mommy-mentum! We are so glad you found us. We are two mommas (and so much more!) trying to keep up with life. Join us as we chronicle our shenanigans, mishaps, and triumphs in the kitchen, our homes, and with our families.

We love and value your input! Mandy and I welcome your ideas, comments, questions, and anything else you want to share with us via post comments, emails, twitter, and facebook! We hope to create an interactive community where everyone–whether you’re a mom or not!!–feels comfortable contributing to the discussion.

Email Lauren at Lauren.Mommymentum {at} gmail {dot} com

Email Mandy at Mandy.Mommymentum {at} gmail {dot} com

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Who’s That Girl? Mandy!

Yes, that’s a reference to my favorite 80’s movie starring Madonna. Hi! I’m Mandy. Like the Queen of Pop, I’ve changed my image quite a bit over the years. Some of my past roles include Pokémon expert at FAO Schwartz, playwright, Second City student, and fashion junkie. Currently, I’m starring in the thrilling production of Working Mom (I teach elementary students as well as a graduate class). My supporting cast includes Daddysaurus, The Bear (2), and Bay bay (1). Those numbers refer to ages- my kiddos are 23 months apart.

Right now I’m in the midst of trying to figure out what it means to “have it all.” Some days I’m crushing it and some days I’m in a corner rocking in the fetal position. My number one goal in life is to raise intelligent, thoughtful, creative little beings. I spend as much time as I can devoted to the nourishment of their minds and bodies. We try as often as we can to eat low-sodium meals and keep processed foods to a minimum. That being said, last night we ordered pizza. We try.

I strive to keep up with pop culture trends, make cool stuff from Pinterest, spend quality time with my family, and improve our life through nutrition, education, and experience. About a year ago we moved out of the city to…yes…I’ll say it…the country! For the first time in my life I’m commuting. I’m very fortunate to be married to the handiest of handymen so we are making lots of changes and improvements to our new home. And when I say “we” I mostly pick colors and fixtures. Daddysaurus does the dirty work. Well, that’s not entirely true because I’m changing diapers while he’s running the chainsaw!

Being a wife and mother has definitely changed my entire outlook on life, but there is still a lot of ME I want to keep in play. I love magazines, modern design, and a good beat. My mom and I have season tickets to the Fox Theater and my BFF and I see a few great concerts every year. My husband and I love to nerd out to architecture documentaries and Battlestar Galactica. And I’m kind of a snob when it comes to my hair. If I had to use one word to describe myself, I think I’d pick spaz. I mean it in a very positive way. As my mom has always said about me, “You are the most content when you have too much to do.” Of course, she said it before I became a mother of 2 in diapers!

I hope you enjoy reading about my meals, projects, favorite things, and goals. Sharing ideas with others has always inspired me. Getting connected to those who can introduce me to new ideas is really exciting…especially when I can do it with a toddler in my flip- flops!

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They Call Me…Lauren!

Well hello there, and welcome to Gaining Mommymentum! Lauren here…whether you are reading this post the day it goes up or years later (a girl can dream right?) there are some things you might want to know about me (if you don’t already know me) that may help make the things I post make a little more sense. 🙂

First, a little about me. As this blog is getting ready to roll out I’m a full-time mom and wife and I couldn’t be happier in that role! I’m a former full-time teacher who still subs pretty regularly and this summer I even decided to scoop up my own class for a little while and teach summer school/ESY.

I’m a goofball. I am frequently told I am being too loud. I love to go shopping and you can usually find me scouring the clearance racks. Natural disasters terrify me (just ask my co-workers…they will also tell you flying rodents bring me to tears in a matter of seconds…shudder.) I typically crave salty snacks but when my sweet tooth kicks in you better not be standing in the way of that piece of chocolate cake. Mmmmm…chocolate cake. 🙂 I love to cook. I love to bake. I love to eat. I like to think I’m a lot craftier than I really am. I’m obsessed with Pinterest (over 3000 things pinned and counting…I have a problem.) I’m always looking for a way to do/cook/make things in an easier or faster way while maintaining, or improving, quality.

Back to being a mom and wife…I’ve been married over 6 years to the “Mister” and we welcomed “Buddy” to our family just over 2 years ago. Within the past year, we found out Buddy has food allergies. Life-threatening food allergies. Multiple life-threatening food allergies. To date, we know he is allergic to peanuts, tree nuts, eggs, banana, green beans, peas (we avoid all legumes now since there are 3 on his list already), & coconut…since we last had him tested he has also reacted to carrot, kiwi, peach, & plum so we now avoid those as well and plan to have them tested when we go back to see the allergist later this year.

It’s important for me to share this with you because it’s a BIG part of my life and who I am. I’ve always been a big food person, even when I was an extremely picky eater as a child, but now I’m a big food person in a completely different way. We no longer keep anything in our house that Buddy is allergic to. This means reading every single label, every single time I go to the grocery store to make sure none of these foods are in the ingredients AND that the food wasn’t processed in a facility with them either. It was frustrating at first as I realized the days of grabbing any item off the shelf and making quick grocery trips were gone. Not to mention I was a novice “couponer” at the time and allergies have almost made that obsolete as far as food goes. I buy what he can eat, not what is on sale/what I have a coupon for. Now grocery shopping is just slow. I’ve gotten used to it and it’s just part of life at this point. If you happen to be someone who is new to the food allergy “scene,” I promise, it gets easier. 🙂

It’s also important for me to share this because you will see it reflected in many of my recipes! I’ve flopped several recipes in the last 8 months while testing substitutes so I have plenty of experience in that department…ha! I’m no allergist, and I definitely don’t have all the answers, but if you ever need help with recipe substitutions regarding allergies don’t hesitate to ask! I’d be happy to brainstorm with you and use any resources I’ve found to help out. And boy oh boy have I found some excellent resources. I can’t wait to share them with you!

Other than managing food allergies, we’re a pretty regular family. We love spending time outside, visiting new places, exploring with arts and crafts, Cardinal baseball, being silly, and so so so much more. I can’t wait for you to get to know me and for me to get to know you. Welcome!