LA Moms Blog

A New Year's Present

I am happy to bid farewell to 2009. It was a crazy year with lots of ups and downs and now I am looking forward to a fresh start. Most of all I was happy to receive the best new year's present I could ever ask for.

We rang in the new year with some dear friends, the Chambers family, in , CA. We love spending time with them because our daughter Isabella also gets to spend time with their three kids. On our drive up, we discovered that our daughter had developed car sickness. Not fun. She also had a cold so she was not in the best of spirits. Despite her illness, she still took part in all the fun. She played with all the smaller kids and observed the older kids, mentally taking note of what they did so that when she was bigger she could do the same. 

During this trip my daughter also experienced night terrors. I know they advise that you let them sleep through it but that is not so easy when you are a guest at someone else's home. Needless to say, my husband and I got very little rest.

Thanksgiving Tradition

When my family and I arrived in this country we had to learn a LOT about tradition. I remember opening the door on our first Halloween and wondering what people wanted. The following year I got the opportunity to experience trick or treating and I remember thinking, "Wow, you just knock on peoples' doors and they GIVE you candy??? America is awesome!!!" 

My mom tried her best to make it possible so that we could experience these traditions, Thanksgiving being one of them. She worked at a small mom and pop printing company while my dad stayed in the Philippines to help support us. Only now, can I "really" appreciate all her efforts to take care of four girls, by herself, in a new country. I knew it was hard work but now I have a deeper understanding since I've become a mother.

My mom found out from her co-workers that for Thanksgiving you had to bake a turkey, make stuffing, and have pumpkin pie. Therefore, she went out and bought all the ingredients so that we could celebrate with the rest of America the next day. They left out one little detail, the fact that most people enjoy this meal later in the day or even closer to evening time.

Healthy Habits

I gained 38 lbs. while I was pregnant with my baby. After she was born, I lost 19 lbs. by my 6 week check-up. "This is going to be a cinch to lose!",...so I thought. I breastfed and heard of all the encouraging stories of women who lost their baby weight all because of breastfeeding. This was certainly not the case for me.

I gave myself a break. A very good friend of mine said, "It took 9 months to put on so it should take 9 months to take off." Amen to that!!! So I have 9 whole months?! This is going to be a piece of cake. In the famous words of Rob Schneider in every Adam Sandler movie "Yu kin doo eeet!" Unfortunately, 9 months came and went. Hello 19 lbs. So then I gave myself an extension. Okay, by her 1st birthday...Still there. So then I gave myself ANOTHER extension. Okay, by MY birthday! I learned very quickly that the worst kind of promises to break, are the ones we make to ourselves. I felt very defeated.

Kelsey's Purpose

I’m an actor, stand-up comedian but most importantly, I’m a MOTHER. I type that word in all capital letters because I feel that it is the most important role that I play.

The story of Kelsey Briggs has recently been brought to my attention through, of all places, Facebook. I was “horrified” by this story. Being a mother, I instantly think of what I would do if that was to ever happen to my own child. After calming down, I visited more web-sites about this horrific event and tried to see if there was anything that I could do to prevent this child’s death from happening in vain.

I stumbled on to Kelsey's Purpose and decided to write letters to whoever would listen to help change laws and prevent this from happening to another innocent and helpless child.

Kelsey Briggs lived with her mother and mother’s boyfriend (who eventually became her husband) when she was experiencing this abuse. In April 2005, she broke both of her legs and was taken away from this abusive household and custody was given to her paternal grandmother. For one reason or another, she was returned to her mother’s custody in June of 2005. Four months later  Kelsey Shelton Smith-Briggs died on October 11, 2005 at the home of her mother, Raye Dawn Smith, and her stepfather, Michael Lee Porter in Meeker, Oklahoma. Her death was ruled as a homicide from blunt force trauma to the abdomen.

The Sound of Music

I have always wanted to master the art of music. My family had a karaoke machine before it became a trendy outing with friends. I took voice classes in college and rehearsed every night.  When it came time for my evaluation my teacher advised me to go into dance instead.

I once let my guard down and belted out a tune while I was with a girlfriend and she said, “It’s so great to hear you sing because you’re SO bad, it’s funny.” (She said this while I was 6 months pregnant which makes it worse). I get it. I’m not the most musical person in the world.

Like other mothers, you want your child to have a chance to be good at everything. I listened to classical music while I was pregnant in hopes that this will have a positive impact on my future child. Sure enough, it did. My daughter loves anything musical. I mean ANYTHING! If a toy is accompanied with music she will play with it. If Faryl Smith is singing opera on the “Ellen” show she will stop in her tracks to listen. I am convinced she has learned the lyrics to the Black Eyed Peas song “Boom Boom Pow”. The Backyardigans, who’s cute little songs has gotten us through some long road trips, is one of her favorites!  When she hears music she will start bopping and dancing to the beat, not only to the beat but ON beat.

Don't put off until tomorrow what you can do for today

While I was growing up I constantly heard the phrase, “Don’t put off until tomorrow what you can do for today.” Only it was said with a very thick Filipino accent, “Duhnt poot opp unteel toomoroe wat yu ken doo por tudai.” It was said on a regular basis by my mother. I always figured that I was wise at prioritizing so if it was THAT important then it would get done. This phrase has never been more significant to me until recently.

It was 8 o’clock and I just finished giving my 8 month old daughter Isabella a nice bath before bedtime. She was still pretty energetic so I figured I would let her play for a little bit, which could also give me an opportunity to check an email or two. As I was closing the computer, I looked at her and it seemed as if she was chewing on something. I immediately opened her mouth and did a quick sweep to make sure she wasn’t eating anything she wasn’t supposed to. She seemed fine so I decided to go ahead with our bedtime routine and make her a bottle. I was still holding her as I grabbed one of her bottles and I suddenly felt something warm. I looked down and she puked all over my leg and on the floor. I comforted her and asked if she felt okay and she merely played with her hands as if nothing was out of the ordinary.