Mile High Mamas will be on a brief hiatus to spend time with our families during the holidays. We will return on January 2nd with loads of fun and giveaways to help ease you back into the daily grind. And we promise to be grinding right along with you.

Oh wait. Poor choice of words. You get the point. :-)

Happy Holidays from our family to yours….

In just 24 hours, many of us will be whisked away in the joys of giving and receiving!

At Mile High Mamas, we are givers and want to keep you (our receivers) connected with the very latest and coolest products.

Starting on January 2nd, we have a fantastic lineup of bi-weekly giveaways that include Caroline Ritzer’s gorgeous Pink Lemonade Boutique Bags, darling baby wipe containers from Made by Angie, luxury children’s clothing by Elephantito, Kerry MacLean’s book collection including Pigs Over Colorado, the award-winning and practical Myself Belts, a family four-pack to the Butterfly Pavilion, hilarious balms from Least Likely to Breed, whimsical jewelry from Pampering Beki, a humorous “Living the Dream” shirt from LTDChix, Dr. Sears’ newest release The Vaccine Book, fashionable smocks from Bella Tunno, custom boutique bracelets from Our 2 Peas in a Pod, the innovative hands-free bottle holder Baby Butler, Tea Collection’s modern and stylish clothes, a gift pack from Proctor and Gamble, fun and flirty dresses for mama by Shabby Appple, Wee Gallery’s unique bedroom artwork, uproarious cards from Motherhood with Attitude, Random House’s hottest new mommy release Happy Baby, Healthy Mom Pregnancy Journal, Monkey Toes’ adorable baby shoes, Fresh Baby’s award-winning food kit, Learning Hands Learning Company’s activity kit for your preschooler, a family four-pack of tickets to the Denver Zoo, and a six-month membership to Colorado Mountain Mamas, the hottest mama’s hiking group around.

Just to name a few. :-)

Stay tuned!

We are thrilled to announce that Mile High Mamas is one of three finalists in the coveted Digital Edge Awards.

Founded in 1996, the Digital Edge Awards (also known as “The Edgies”) recognize the most innovative and cutting-edge news, advertising and interactive Web sites each year. Put on by the Newspaper Association of America’s New Media Federation, entries vie for the winner’s circle in nine categories.

Our nomination fell under the Most Innovative Visitor Participation category (circ. more than 250,000).

Next year?

We are vying for the Hottest Mommy Bloggers category.

Think we stand a chance? :-)

Thank you thank you thank you for your continued support!

Like so much in life, maybe you don’t pick your Christmas tree — it picks you.

I’m not sure why our evergreen reached out and grabbed us during our tree-cutting excursion in Park County a couple of weeks ago.

At the time, I was certain of the answer. My husband and I were standing just outside the truck, buttoning, zipping and tying up our kids, when that first slap of icy wind stung our faces. Sometimes, just going to the neighborhood market with a 3-year-old and 2-year-old is enough to induce aisle-rattling meltdowns.

It should have been apparent to us, then, that taking them out in a ground blizzard could spark some sort of toddler angst. Read on …

“You look crazy.” People used to say that a lot in my family. I think they feared appearing crazy almost as much as they feared appearing poor. When I was a kid, I had this habit of saying the alphabet over and over and over and over… via sign language. In retrospect, it was obviously a compulsion. I thought that the Earth might spin off its axis if I stopped. And so I did it in the background of my life. My right hand was busy signing while my left hand ate dinner. Or my left hand was doing homework while my right hand was saying the alphabet.

If I was good at anything at all ever, it was signing the alphabet. I would actually race myself, trying to get faster and faster and faster like there was a cash prize awaiting me if I signed all 26 letters in less than 15 seconds. And, by the way, I didn’t know a single person who was deaf. Knowing the ABCs in American Sign Language was not a necessity. Or a class project, for that matter. I’d found this new alphabet in a set of encyclopedias at my grandmother’s house one unusually boring day and taught it to myself out of sheer determination. I LOVED that I knew a kind of language that nobody else around me knew. I LOVED that I could say, “Bite Me!” to Mrs. Allen and she’d never hear a sound. Read on …

My older sisters were full of advice about sex. Some helpful, some practical, and some was just to test my gullibility. They had gone through it before and wanted to help make my transition from vestal virgin to sex kitten a smooth one, as well as get a few laughs in for themselves.

Their advice was three-fold: 1) Get on the pill three months before your wedding. 2) Spend your wedding night in your own home. And 3) whatever you do, don’t fall off the goat!

As per their advice I made an appointment at the community health clinic Read on …

Congratulations to our recipe swap winners: Shannon’s snow-capped gingersnaps, Carol’s wassail, Liz’s Grandy’s Christmas candy and Kristen’s candy cane fudge. Checkout The Denver Post today for all their recipes. Kudos also goes to Jennifer who won our prize package.

Thanks to all who contributed to our Holiday Recipes. I threw a Christmas party last weekend and made many of the recipes including the wassail, shortcut almond rocha, cream cheese cutout cookies and the holiday bacon appetizers. My guests thank you as well. :-)