There’s a reason that the tagline of my blog is “writing and photographing the family side of fire life.” I am not blogging the fire life. I write and share photos about our family, which involves being part of the fire department. There are very specific boundaries that spouses and partners need to remember when they are sharing things with the blogosphere.

Things I Do Share:

• Photos I take from trips to the fire department.
• Struggles and benefits we encounter with fire scheduling.
• What it’s like to miss our firefighter when he’s gone for days at a time.
• The fear I experience as a fire wife.
• Jokes, funny tidbits and other things that do not name specific people or would not otherwise get people in trouble.
• My reaction to big local fires, big national fires and the like.
• Stories that embarrass me, not my husband.

And of course, I write about the fire stuff I find — books, clothes, bedding, toys. And I write about the boys. And I write about me, which is a whole other post that I’m working on for sometime in the near future.

Things I Never Share:

• Specifics about a local fire unless I’m sharing that tips are needed to aid in the investigation.
• Inner workings of the fire department.
• Arguments between firefighters, whether that involves management or not.
• Beefs with city government.
• Specifics about rescue calls. (HIPAA, anyone?)

I do tweet when I know they’re going out on a fire. I find that my online fire family will sit up with me for awhile — as it’s always in the middle of the night, isn’t it? — to help calm my fears and remind me to go back to bed. I tweeted when there was the mayday call with our men last year, but I did not share the specifics of what came about department wise afterward.

And I won’t.

The truth is that my words can be used against my husband. If he tells me something in confidence, and I blab it to the whole Interwebz, he could lose his job. If I share a funny story that may embarrass another firefighter on his shift, that firefighter may get angry with my husband, causing unnecessary tension which can be deadly during a fire. If I trash talk our city government on this blog — the very city government who pays my husband — I’m putting his job security at risk. If I’m sitting here whining about how mean fellow firefighters are to my husband because he’s new, he’s only going to get razzed more. (He’s not; that’s an example. They have a new guy to razz now.)

There’s a balance in fire life blogging. I try to focus on us, as a family, more than my husband, as a firefighter. And I never, ever put words in his mouth. He has chosen not to blog publicly anymore because of his career, though other firefighters do it and do it well. He is content to read their blogs, read my blog, read fire spouse blogs, read some of his other favorites and send me “inappropriate” someecards.

By respecting the boundaries of what I can and cannot share, I respect not just the local fire department and the integrity of firefighting as a career, but I also respect my husband. This is his dream job. If I wrote something that caused him to lose that dream? I’d never forgive myself. He deserves the respect. And so does your firefighter.

Dee of Life in Our Shoes messaged me shortly after I pressed the activate button and said, “I love your header! The characters look so much like you guys!” Then she proceeded to ask where I found a family that looked so much like me, FireDad, BigBrother and LittleBrother. I then explained that I found an amazing artist, Adina of Adina Illustrations. She hand draws her images. Let me reiterate that, folks: that’s a hand-drawn caricature of my family up there, you guys. It’s us. But cooler. And maybe less noisy. Awesome.

Working with Adina was a wonderful experience. I followed her on twitter, sent her an email of my many (many) desires for a header and crossed my fingers that she would be able to do it all. And she did it all. And more. I mean, we look like us. I’m even wearing green! FireDad’s turnout gear is yellow. My eyes even look like my eyes. It took about two weeks. She sent me the file. I paid her. And then I went about remodeling the blog using the new (and popular) WordPress theme Suffusion. By the way, Adina only charges $55 for her header work. You might want to get in on that before she realizes she’s under-charging and hikes that price.

I’m glad to have a new look to the blog, especially one that so fits us as a family. If you see any kinks in the next few days, please either let me know (via the contact form or Twitter) or ignore them. As an example, my No-Ad pages (for compensated reviews or giveaways per the BlogHer Ad Network agreement) are currently without a sidebar at all. I’m using the Single Post Template plugin but it’s giving me fits with this WordPress theme. I also need to do a little work on my sidebars. If you also have any functionality ideas (move the RSS button, remove/add/change something), please feel free to let me know!

Let me know what you think of the new look. Unless you hate it. Then take it up with the designers of the header or theme. Okay? Swell!

Heather (@mamaspohr) from The Spohrs are Multiplying (blog currently being re-hosted) had a string of normal tweets yesterday. Followed by some in the hospital as Maddie was being treated for RSV. And then a quick tweet that she was being intubated. And then the awful, unexpected news that Maddie had passed away.

I dripped tears into my coffee as I thought about how I started my morning today. Maddie was only thirteen days older than our LittleBrother. I couldn’t take back the Grumpypants from the past few days. I couldn’t magically make my headache disappear. But I could hug those two little boys (and send love across the miles to a Munchkin). I could change my Grumpypants today and give thanks for all that we have in our home, in our family and in our lives. And I could say a prayer for Heather and Mike at this horrible time.

The FireFamily will be donating to March of Dimes in honor of Maddie as the family has requested in lieu of flowers. They have also requested that people wear purple (which BigBrother happens to own) for the services. A PayPal account has also been set up for donations for the upcoming expenses. You can donate to formaddie@hotmomreviews.com via PayPal. More information can be found via Meghan’s blog while the Spohr’s site is being relocated.

In the meantime, please go follow @PrincessJenn on twitter as she is the loving, awesome person who took over when Bluehost refused to put the Spohr’s site back online due to bandwidth issues. I spoke to them on the phone and am appalled at their lack of compassion. Send @PrincessJenn a tweet of thanks for certain. Right now, watching the mom blogging community pull together for one of their own, I am reminded why I love this place, this blogosphere, so very much. Kudos to all those who pulled together and who will continue to support this family in their time of need.

The FireFamily sends our condolences, our prayers and our grief to the Spohr Family.

Edited to Add: Mirror site is now live. Please visit Remember Maddie.

[Comments here are closed. Please visit Meghan's blog to comment and/or learn how to donate until the Spohr's blog is live again.]

A lot happened blog-wise in 2008. We’ve hosted many a giveaway. We’ve reviewed a lot of things. We’ve passed on many safety tips. We’ve shared bits and pieces of our life; sometimes specific to fire life and sometimes just about living life as a family in general. We have met some amazing people over the past year: firefighters, paramedics, other fire families, other niche bloggers and other bloggers in general. It has been amazing. We have learned a lot from others this past year.

Personally, some of my 2008 resolutions panned out. I planned on reading 50 books. And I finished another one last night, coming in at 56 books for the year. I didn’t, however, keep my Goodreads list updated. So, I’ll add that into my reading goal this year. I did very well with Project365 until the day of my grandfather’s funeral. That day, I took no pictures. And I just never got back on the wagon from that point on. As for the weight loss? Well, I did lose the pre-pregnancy weight. But did not achieve the pre-pregnancy size. And so, after I hit that initial goal, I set a new 10 pound goal. I’ve lost two of that and, so, doing math, I apparently have eight pounds left to lose.

All that said, my 2009 goals?

1. Read 60 books and keep my 2009 Goodreads book list updated so that others can follow along with me. 60 books in one year means reading five books per month. I can totally do that, folks. I’m going to need book suggestions along the way. And, no, I’m not counting kids’ books because I’d be well over 60 by the end of the week. But, speaking of children’s books.

1a. Introduce 50 new books to the boys’ own library. (I say introduce because I first wrote “buy” but some of the books will be given to us for review but will still be added to the library. So, we’re going with “introduce” as the word.) As important as books are to me, I want my boys to continue to grow in their love of books. While we are huge library-goers, I also want to make sure they have their own books. (Not that they don’t. Remind me to photograph our books sometime soon.) This number should be no problem thanks to preschool and Scholastic book orders. I will keep track of what books are introduced via a Goodreads book shelf on my account. (Also, pass on suggestions, if you will!)

2. Participate in Project365 even if it turns in to Project312 or some other variation. I was pretty upset when I missed a photograph on the day of my grandfather’s funeral. And though I probably took a picture almost everyday since that September day, I just couldn’t somehow forgive myself for missing a day. A good friend has encouraged me this year to keep at it even if/when I miss a day. And, so, I’m going to. I feel very happy about it! (For those unfamiliar: Project365 is a challenge to take one picture, everyday, for a year. Or, you know, at least one picture per day.)

3. Lose those pesky eight pounds. They’ve been pretty stubborn. I don’t quite know how to go about it right now. I’ve gotten back to the YMCA since my foot injury and the general ick that BigBrother brought home from preschool twice over. I’ve joined another fitness class set to start in a week. I’ve decided that when I actually schedule my gym time at the beginning of the week, I am much better at sticking to it. But my guess is that I need to reevaluate what I am eating. I honestly have no clue how to go about that in a healthy manner. Time to do some research. I am, however, employing the site First 30 Days for some positive reinforcement in sticking with my goals. I encourage you to do the same!

I also have some goals for this blog as per a discussion over at Mom Bloggers Club. Basically? I want to bring you more fire related stuff this year. More safety tips. More fire videos. More fire related giveaways (books, toys, movies, safety gear). More inclusion from other fire wives/moms, husbands/dads, families and firefighters themselves. Just more general Stop, Drop & Bloggy type stuff in addition to the stuff that happens on the family side of fire life. I’m excited to see where that goes this year.

Goals aside, I hope that 2009 is a safe and happy year for you and yours. Sending our best from the Fire Family!

No, I’m not going. Yes, I’m a bit grumpy about it. I’ve wanted to go for two years now but if the dates stay what they are, well, I’ll never be able to go. As you know from yesterday’s post, I’m in the process of packing for camp. It’s a yearly event. Same dates, every year. It’s also an integral part of my faith and, as such, “ditching it” isn’t something that I’m willing to do. And so, I unplug for eleven days while my peers all plan to get together and be super-plugged-in. I’m trying not to be salty. I’m trying to remind myself that my faith and my family are more important than any conference, no matter how awesome.

And it’s true. Camp was always a highlight of my summers while growing up. I made friends as a young child that are now all grown up and attending with their children. Our children are becoming friends. And the cycle is renewing itself. It is my dream that my sons will attend with their children in tow, watching them grow in faith and love with their friends’ children.

This year is set to be even more exciting and special. For the past twenty-seven years of my life, I have been staying in the cottage that my Great-Grandfather built. My Great-Grandmother, still alive and healthier than the lot of us, is the reason the family began attending. The cottage was built in the 60′s and is a huge part of my childhood summer memories. But this year, we bought our own cottage with my parents. Our family has outgrown the old cottage. And so, we’re expanding! It’s a lovely cottage that, albeit, needs some work when camp ends this year. But it’s just perfect. We already went to test it out (Mom and Dad have been getting it ready for this year as I’ve been very busy) and BigBrother approves of the big, screened in porch. It’s also right near the playground. An added bonus.

Faith-wise, many people don’t understand. And that’s okay. While I have a strong faith, it is such a blessing to be able to spend ten days each year concentrating on the relationship I have with my God. (And, you know, parenting and eating yummy food and doing a little relaxing as well.) But it’s the main reason that I won’t just “ditch” the last weekend and fly off to mingle with people that I consider some of my best friends. I’ll think of you all. I’ll miss your comments and e-mails and posts and general awesomeness. And I’ll probably feel a little bit jealous.

But I know I’m choosing the right path for myself and my family. And I’ll continue to do so. So, someone have a blast for me. I look forward to reading your posts when everyone gets home (which is the same time that I get home!).

1. Do tattoos stop you from being a paramedic? Well, let me look at FireDad’s back and chest. The easy answer would be, “Nope! He’s got three and is a Paramedic.” The complicated answer would be, “But his three are all covered by a shirt. And he doesn’t often go to work shirtless. At least, I don’t think he goes to work shirtless…” A quick search of FireHouse.com found an archived discussion on the topic. The final answer: it’s hit or miss. If you’re already a Paramedic working for a company, ask them before you tattoo “KISS THIS” across your knuckles.

2. Mint chocolate zoo. (Other variations included “mint chocolate zoo knit” and “mint chocloate zoo tee.”) Ah, so you’re a Goodmama fan, too? Yes, I do own the print. Yes, we love it (though not as much as electrolyte). I’ve never actually found the fabric itself to purchase. The Goodmama herself did sell some GoodTreats on Hyenacart with MCZ included. However, I didn’t get that one so I don’t have it available to trade. That said, keep an eye on Spots’ Corner on Hyenacart as I recently saw a T-shirt/Wool combo with the MCZ print! Coming soon: Goodmama stalking tips. (Pfft. This coming from a woman who hasn’t even seen the new prints stock in the past two weeks. I think I’ve lost my mojo.)

3. Angry loud mom at kids ball parks. Of course, I’m sure you happened in because of this rant about a recent experience at PNC Park. (Which, I forgot to mention, scored us four free tickets to a game of our choosing!) As for angry loud moms at a kids’ ball game… well… I haven’t quite reached that stage of parenting yet. I do hope not to be the angry loud mom at my kids’ hypothetical ball games. Any moms of ball players wanna field this one? Because all I can come up with is: don’t hit her with a bat. Assault and battery charges aren’t worth it!

4. How can you tell if you’re allergic to cinnamon? Oh, you poor, poor searching individual. I’m sure you landed here either because your tongue swelled so big that your teeth left imprints. Or, even worse, your child’s tongue swelled in a similar fashion. That was our first clue that I had a cinnamon allergy: my tongue was swelling. And it hurt. And my teeth were leaving indentations because my tongue no longer fit in my tongue parking spot. If your breathing becomes labored, as it might if you have a true allergy, dial 911 immediately or get to the emergency room as quickly as possible. Consider downing a Benadryl if you know where it is as you’re on the way out the door. For future reference, cinnamon is in a lot of random things: tons and tons of breakfast foods, most every dessert ever (especially things containing apple and a lot of graham cracker crusts), Skyline chili (and other brands/non-brands), lots of cookies, Zwieback toast (a recent whoops of mine), barbeque sauces, the apple flavor of YoBaby yogurt (on the bottom) and other random foods. A tip, if I may: if it simply says “spices,” avoid it like the plague. You’ll thank me later. (For more on cinnamon allergies, read this blogger’s account of her tongue swelling and this page about some other symptoms.)

5. How to keep stray cats from bothering my outdoor cat. Simple. TAKE YOUR FLIPPING CAT INSIDE. Because? If your “outdoor cat” poops in my mulch ONE MORE TIME, oh, I promise… PROMISE!… I am going to catch that little bugger and take him straight to the Humane Society. He’s a pet! Take him inside! Problem solved!

And those are the top five recent searches that made me laugh out loud. Okay. Except for that last one. I wasn’t laughing. I was kind of riled up, no? Okay, and the cinnamon one just made me kind of sad because I miss things with cinnamon. And, really, the Mint Chocolate Zoo one made me kind of bummed as I haven’t been able to score one of the new prints yet. (Hi? Woodland Splendor? Or Cocoa Nouveau? And don’t you think LittleBrother could rock Charm School? Pink and green together are masculine, right?) So, really, I didn’t laugh at all of these searchers.

Come back tomorrow where I discuss something else that’s been bringing Googlers in: Wii Fit. We’ve had it just shy of a month and I would say that’s a fine amount of time to give you a good and thorough opinion. And a complaint or two. Complete with pictures. Dig it.

Blame aside, I’ve just been busy. But next week, I’ve got it all lined up. I know. New, right? Coming up next week:

1. Baseball. That’s right. I said baseball! And not just on Wii; REAL Baseball!

2. A book giveaway! Wee!

3. The update for May’s Goals. Oh, it’s not good.

4. A Big, Bad Book Review. I say “Big” and “Bad” because it’s a dual book review (hence the big) and actually (politely) demolishes one of the two (hence the bad). Curious?

5. More on Wii Fit. And other exercises. And some food. And, oh, the importance of sleep.

And so, come back next week. The fun starts on Monday. Now? We’re headed back to The Farm this weekend. Why? My best friend and her husband are baptizing their son this weekend and we wouldn’t miss it for the world. Plus, another weekend on The Farm will do my soul some good. (I get so homesick…)

Also, because I’m researching a topic for the following week, if you ever have a fire safety related question for your home and family, please don’t hesitate to ask. I was contacted (via our contact form) to cover a certain topic and will be doing so the following week. Don’t be shy. Ask away! FireDad is full of knowledge and sometimes he shares enough that I know things, too! And if I don’t know, I’ll bribe it out of him with some home cooked meals.

Enjoy your weekend! We will! (I mean, it would have to be better than last weekend, right?)

In the midst of everything, I got an e-mail reminding me of the invitation to Johnson’s Camp Baby. (Apparently my first e-mail came during a sleepless phase and I missed it completely.) It was a three day, all-expenses-paid trip. Considering “Baby” was in the title and I have an almost four month old infant, I e-mailed my contact back asking one simple question: Was my infant invited as well?

You see, I had no problem leaving BigBrother with one Grandma or the other. He loves spending time at either house and, quite frankly, I love for him to have that bonding experience. My Grandparents were hugely important in how I grew up. But LittleBrother is exclusively breastfed. As I said, it took me a few weeks to get enough milk to leave the child for less than twenty-four hours. And I respond well to the pump.

So, imagine my surprise when my contact e-mailed me back saying that children were not welcome, citing something about legal issues and insurance costs. (While another mother was told that it was meant to be a child-free getaway for Moms… so, which is it?) My contact then told me to forward her e-mails of any blogging mothers who might like to go. I didn’t reply. I didn’t tell other mothers. And over the past week, I’ve gotten even more miffed.

LittleBrother is exclusively breastfed. No formula. None. Due to the short notice, I don’t even think it’s humanly possible to pump enough milk for him to be away from me for three days unless I just sat attached to the pump and didn’t feed him anything between now and then. Apparently Johnson’s is not a breastfeeding friendly company. I didn’t ask to bring my loud, active, bouncing two year old along. I asked to bring along the kid who thinks that my breast is his permanent location. I asked to bring along the kid that uses me as his only source of sustenance at this point in time. Heck, the only time LittleBrother cries is when he’s hungry… which would be the point of bringing him along so crying should have been minimal.

I’m not quite sure why it’s named “Camp Baby” if babies are not welcome. Perhaps a better name would have been “Camp Mom.” Other mothers have been dis-invited as well, though that one is for a different reason. See this blog for another experience exactly like mine. I find it ridiculous, insulting and a blatant indication how our country doesn’t support breastfeeding mothers. We’re harassed in public if we try to feed our children. We’re told to cover up. We’re told to feed our kids in dirty bathroom stalls. And then a company that makes products specifically for my child’s age range doesn’t want to accommodate my breastfeeding infant?

That’s okay. I won’t use my money to accommodate your business. No problem there.

It might behoove the company to a) research the bloggers you are inviting, b) come up with the same answer when replying to people who are wont to write about anything because now you look like a bunch of liars who can’t keep your story straight, c) you know, cater to the people who actually buy your products instead of ostracizing them. Apparently logic is so yesterday.

Blogging experience? While on a mini-vacation? Yep. Blogging experience.

We checked into our swanky hotel, which I mentioned by link in the previous post, after spending some time laughing at the drunkards in Market Square. (More on that later. Ugh!) I took pictures of the room this time since I always forget to do so and end up with pictures of crumpled bed linens as we go to check out. We went down to The Tap Room and split the biggest darn club sandwich before returning to our beautiful room. Then we both took a shower in the swanky, sophisticated shower of love. I critiqued the tiling on the floor and we ascertained that I watch entirely too much HGTV. Then? Oh my gosh, people, we both took a much needed nap. For about three and a half hours. It was heavenly!

We woke up disoriented since it was dark outside. I sat down to check the Wii Tracker for FireDad as he’s still having no luck finding one. Next to the computer sat a box. Now, I hadn’t seen the box earlier. So I have no idea when it arrived in our room. I can only guess that it came either when we went down to eat our dinner or when we were zonked out for our nap. Who knows! On top of the box is a card. I opened and read:

FireMom,

I didn’t want to intrude on your weekend away but I hope it’s been the well-deserved break you needed. I figured you could use a little taste of the Burgh once you’re back home.

Travel Safe,

BurghBaby(.com)

Shut up! I immediately got on Twitter and sent her a “thank you tweet.” Then I gushed to my Husband who was impressed with the cookie selection. The cookies were from Bethel Bakery. And they were the epitome of yum. And did I mention that they were gorgeous? Of course, my favorite cookie has not yet been consumed. I mean, how could you? It’s a Terrible Towel! I can’t eat it! Plus, it says “Myron Cope” on it and that makes me sad in the wake of his loss.

But this? These are the reasons I blog. No, not for the free cookies. (But man, free cookies are awesome!) I’ve made some amazing friends via blogging. I’ve learned a lot about parenting, adulthood, cooking, adoption, marriage and life in general from other bloggers. As a Work-at-Home Mom, it’s not always easy to get out and “meet” new people. It’s even harder still to find like-minded individuals who don’t think my cloth diapering is crazy along with other bits of my parenting. I treasure the friendships that I’ve made via blogging. Those not involved in internet life or, more specifically, blogging, might not understand how close people can become via the sharing of their personal lives and commenting back and forth. But if any of my close blogging friends decided to up and quit blogging, I’d feel a huge loss in my life. And then stalk them via e-mail on a daily basis so I knew what was going on in their awesome lives.

Anyway, I need to return to reality for a little bit. I’ll be uploading pictures of our weekend along with videos when I get a chance. Until then, go tell BurghBaby that she’s awesome.