Carly

Mom to Lucy, 3.5, Alice, 1 year, and Spencer Dog, 10-ish. Wife to Eric, a former engineer turned project manager.

Journalist and entrepreneur. Lover of Golden Girls, Archie Comics, stand-up comedy and ketchup. Hater of mornings. Proudly living in the Boonies of north Durham Region.

Durham Region Baby

A blog and free resource site for parents, including local business, product and website reviews, a frequent newsletter and regular contests. As of November, 2009, it is published by Sweet World Media with my business partner and fellow mom, Kirsty Kernohan.

The story

In 2006, as a young, internet-savvy new Mom — part of what I feel is a new generation of parents who seek advice and connection online — I found it frustrating trying to find local information on the web.

Having my first daughter changed my life. Suddenly, I had less time, but more and different needs than ever before. I wanted to learn everything about this strange, wailing, pooping being: where to go, who to talk to, what to buy, when and how to do it all.

My doctor and family were incredibly supportive, but only so much help. The real gems of information lay with the other parents I met, and I found connecting with them through my blog and email incredibly rewarding.

So, here we are.

My goal: a funky, fun, personal local resource for this new breed of parents. With some reviews of products I love and love to hate, along with neat websites and community events such as baby shows. This is a continuation of the Pregnancy Adventures (while pregnant) and Life with Lucy (our first year together) blog I started in September, 2005 as a reporter with the local community newspapers.
What started off as moaning about my favourite boots hardly fitting and getting caught snarfing Timbits has morphed into a weekly mom’s night out, sponsors, product reviews, Durham business profiles and even attending mompreneur shows. I also publish a frequent newsletter.

Four years since I started, I’ve moved into my forever home, and given birth to my second and final baby. I have met the most wonderful women here. It is ingrained in my life in ways I never imagined, and the comments from other parents make my heart sing. It’s worth every second.

100 64 a bunch of things

1. Despite seeing them as a little narcisisstic, I love reading these silly lists on other people’s blogs, so here you go
2. I adore small utensils
3. My sense of smell is the strongest of all five
4. Lucy was born on February 27, 2006.
5. When I got her her own library card, I gave the wrong birthdate.
6. Alice was born on October 31, 2008
7. She was a week late, and born on the one day I did not want to give birth — I wanted to take Lucy trick-or-treating
8. We call Lucy Lucy Goose, and Alice Pumpkin Pie. Because we like cliches.
9. The smell of vanilla makes me nauseous — a 24-hour flu in high school while wearing vanilla perfume sealed that
10. I’ve been a journalist since I was 16
11. My first published news story, in the Uxbridge Times-Journal, was a profile of a woman with Celiac disease
12. But my first “article” (My Two Dogs, about Daisy and Jake) was published when I was 9, in the Toronto Sun’s Young Sun section that used to appear in the comics. I got a red cardboard bank shaped like a Sun newspaper box. The famous photo of Wayne Gretzky holding the Stanley Cup over his head was on the front
13. A tattoo of a fedora with a press ticket in the brim is on my lower back
14. I want a funky, stylized goose and pumpkin next  (see #8)
15. I work from home. So far it is perfect for this stage of life
16. Durham Region Baby’s sister site is called Durham Region Daycare: www.durhamregiondaycare.com
17. I’m also the managing editor of my own community magazine called Uxbridge Town Talk, launched November 2009: www.uxbridgetowntalk.com
18. And I’m co-owner of media company specializing in helping small businesses, called Sweet World Media: www.sweetworldmedia.com
19. Reading is my absolute favourite hobby, and I can read a book in one day if you just leave me alone
20. Unloading the dishwasher is my least favourite house cleaning duty
21. But I love washing dishes by hand
22. I married an engineer who is great at computers and assembling things
23. I own hundreds of Archie comic books. They are my comfort food equivalent in written form
24. Grilled cheese and tomato soup, and my mom’s maccaroni and cheese are comfort foods
25. When I was 4, my father started me 5-pin bowling. Twenty-four years later and I’m still at it, although not near as often as I’d like. My parents met in a bowling league. Apparently it’s in my blood. And possibly my daughters’, as my father is constantly whipping her arm in a bowling swing
26. Not a big fan of cats (especially ones whose owners let outside, and then destroy my gardens with their feces) but absolutely adore dogs
27. Spencer Dog, our Jack Russell Terrier, hates Lucy & Alice. Lucy & Alice love Spencer Dog. Obviously we have a problem
28. My parents own a neurotic JRT named Buddy, and a JRT-Shitzu cross named Barney who very much looks like an old man
29. My sister has a cat named Daniel who likes to stalk pigeons
30. I gave up coffee when I quit smoking in 2003. Now I drink a pot of tea every morning
31. Food: Indian, Thai, Middle Eastern (shwarma), Italian
32. Red wine, please
33. Durham Mom’s Night Out was one of the best things I’ve ever co-created. It is sanity packaged into 2.5 hours on a Wednesday night
34. Yes, we’re done having babies. My husband had a vasectomy in September 2009