Archive for 'Life With Ladybug' Category

Life with Ladybug: What I read at the “Listen to Your Mother” Show

By nwamamas - Last updated: Thursday, May 17, 2012

By Shannon Magsam I look down at my exposed chest and think, wow, porn star. At the end of each overinflated balloon, the nipples are covered in red, angry lacerations. The idea of anything touching them, even my thin cotton night shirt, is inconceivable. I pick up my newborn baby girl and cradle her in [...]

Life with Ladybug: Y’all, she found my blog

By nwamamas - Last updated: Thursday, April 26, 2012

Well, it finally happened. I’d been a little worried about it through the years. Busted. The lady in “Ladybug” stumbled across nwaMotherlode, and of course she clicked on the blog title she knew was about her. I know I’ve left some things out of posts, this concern evident just around the edges of my words, [...]



Life with Ladybug: A slave to pets

By nwamamas - Last updated: Thursday, March 29, 2012

By Shannon Magsam, Ladybug’s mama and pet parent I’m back home after dropping my daughter off at school in the morning and I walk over to my computer. I’m itching to get to work. I have stories to write, clients to call and social media to appreciate. As soon as my butt hits the office [...]

Life with Ladybug: A BLISS-ful experience

By nwamamas - Last updated: Thursday, March 1, 2012

BlissDom ’12 – Opening Video from Blissful Media Group on Vimeo. By Shannon Magsam I earned the name Captain Quirk at the blogger conference, Blissdom, last week. Gwen gave it to me after I admitted I’m a little high maintenance. She said nah, I might just call you Captain Quirk. (She’s so good at naming [...]



Life with Ladybug: Ten years later

By nwamamas - Last updated: Thursday, February 2, 2012

By Shannon Magsam Have you ever heard of the 10-year rule? It’s the theory that it takes at least 10 years to be considered an expert in a given field. I was reminded of that rule today because it’s the 10-year anniversary of my most important job. So naturally, I was thinking to myself, “Does [...]

Life with Ladybug: Never stop learning

By nwamamas - Last updated: Thursday, January 19, 2012

By Shannon Magsam I don’t really like the word resolutions. So at the beginning of a new year, I prefer to set “goals” instead. Instead of a bunch of random ideas, I plan one or two goals for each area of my life: family, friends, spiritual, financial, business and health. My overall goal in 2012 [...]

Life with Ladybug: Horsin’ around

By nwamamas - Last updated: Thursday, January 5, 2012

By Shannon Magsam, Ladybug’s mama  I got a horse! I got a horse! I mean, my daughter got a horse. My parents actually went out and bought the grandkids a horse. Unfortunately, they live 2 ½ hours away. And I think this might be a ploy to get us to move closer. But still! A [...]

Life with Ladybug: Letter to the principal

By nwamamas - Last updated: Friday, December 23, 2011

By Shannon Magsam So, apparently in the Fayetteville School District you have to fill out an absence form if you’re going to pull your kid out of school for, say, a family vacation. Or, in our case, to spend extra time with grandparents the full week before Christmas. You not only have to jot down [...]

Life with Ladybug: Elf on the Shelf (and lots of other places)!

By nwamamas - Last updated: Thursday, December 15, 2011

By Shannon Magsam, Elf-sized since 5th grade So I know many of you have an Elf on your shelf, too. We named ours Elfis (he has some crazy hip action when he sings Blue Christmas) and he is so mischievous. Not only has he done some funny things around the house, one day he stowed [...]

Life with Ladybug: “Mom, is santa really real?”

By nwamamas - Last updated: Thursday, November 17, 2011

By Shannon Magsam I had been dreading this day since our daughter’s first Christmas in 2002. For nearly 10 years we’d side-stepped questions about  Kris Kringle’s existence with vague answers like, “What do you think?” and “Who said that?” if a classmate mentioned that they didn’t believe anymore. Well, we’d really only had redirect the [...]

Life with Ladybug: Top of the Muffin To You!

By nwamamas - Last updated: Thursday, November 3, 2011

By Shannon Magsam Several months ago, I promised Jennifer Irwin and Gwen that I would try Spanx. They were both shocked that I’d never shimmied into a form-slimming shapewear garment. I had always pictured a tube of GoGurt being squeezed from the bottom up. Or a muffin top spilling over the paper wrapper. They assured [...]

Life with Ladybug: Hair and makeup. Poof!

By nwamamas - Last updated: Thursday, March 15, 2012

By Shannon Magsam If I had magical powers today, I’d use them for something so boring I wouldn’t be worthy of magical powers. I’d snap my fingers and be completely ready with hair and makeup. I wouldn’t wish to transform into a woodland sprite. Just me, on a good hair and makeup day. Every day, [...]

Life with Ladybug: Bridges over untroubled waters

By nwamamas - Last updated: Thursday, October 6, 2011

By Shannon Magsam, Ladybug’s mama So many times we want to change people. We marry our husbands and expect to just “tweak” them a little as we go along. We have kids and we try to mold them into civilized human beings, with is good and part of our job description. But sometimes we ignore [...]

Life with Ladybug: Growth Spurt

By nwamamas - Last updated: Thursday, September 15, 2011

By Shannon Magsam Ladybug went for a well-child checkup on Friday (only six months late since she’s 9 ½ now) and I found out she’s only FOUR inches shorter than me. As in, I’m only FOUR inches taller than her. Of course, I realize I’m only 4’11” but STILL. Girl is getting tall! The pediatrician [...]

Life with Ladybug: Dream a little dream

By nwamamas - Last updated: Thursday, September 1, 2011

By Shannon Magsam Somebody pinch me. “It’s like a little miracle every night,” I told my husband on Wednesday. My daughter has gone to sleep within 15 minutes of getting into her bed for the PAST TWENTY-ONE NIGHTS. In a ROW. For those of you who know about my 9-year-old’s struggles with sleep, you’ll know [...]

Life with Ladybug: My new best friend

By nwamamas - Last updated: Thursday, August 4, 2011

By Shannon Magsam Gwen and many, many other friends (and family) have teased me for several years now about my stupid phone. I mean, the thing couldn’t even take pictures. And I also didn’t text, never added contacts (never bothered to learn plus I just remembered people’s phone numbers, shock!) and there were definitely no [...]

Life with Ladybug: New Orleans ladies

By nwamamas - Last updated: Thursday, July 21, 2011

By Shannon Magsam My husband put together the perfect road trip playlist for our drive to New Orleans. I had completely forgotten about the song, New Orleans Ladies by Louisiana’s LeRoux, but suddenly my husband and I were singing along full voice while we cruised along the highway. “They sashay byyyyy, they sashayyy byyyy.” As [...]

Life with Ladybug: This mama’s must-haves from The Mustache

By nwamamas - Last updated: Thursday, July 14, 2011

By Shannon Magsam, mama to Ladybug and wife to John I put out on our Motherlode Facebook page recently that I really love the new store, The Mustache, which is near KNWA on the Fayetteville Square. It has so many fun gift ideas, even baby stuff! So I thought I’d share a few of the [...]

Life with Ladybug: First state blogging conference for chicks

By nwamamas - Last updated: Thursday, June 30, 2011

By Shannon Magsam As Gwen and I drove over the rocky, slowly narrowing, dirt road in separate vehicles, we chatted non-stop on our cell phones. We had wanted to ride together, but Gwen had to head back that evening and I was spending a night in the Hunstsville woods. Her husband’s red Pilot was about [...]

Life with Ladybug: Now is the summer of our discontent

By nwamamas - Last updated: Thursday, June 2, 2011

By Shannon Magsam I have never created a summer schedule before. Schedules kinda make my left eye twitch. The fact that I hate routine is a joke amongst me and my friends (Dawn? Cara? Gwen?) But I guess this is my year to grow up because I’m getting organized! Making schedules! Using coupons! Bleh. Anyway, [...]