HeartMommy is my name and my company.
We are now HeartMommy International too!
As an adoptive mom, I have been given the honor of being a mother. My son, Garrett is six years old. He is an amazing angel on earth. He is the most important person in the world to me. I adore and love him endlessly. His birthmother, Kim, asked that I be called his HeartMommy and the she be called his TummyMommy.
And so it is, I am Garrett's HeartMommy.
We have an open adoption and have contact and visits with both his birthmother and birthfather's families. Our family tree is in fact a Banyan Tree, with one trunk and many branches, vines and new growth at all times.
HeartMommy, the company, was started quite by accident and has grown into a 'baby' business. We are growing and it has been a wonderful experience seeing the joy when someone receives a piece of HeartMommy jewelry.
Jewels That Dance and designer Paula Dawkins of Asheville, NC took my doodle and created something so simple, elegant and beautiful. As well, they carry my line in their store and promote HeartMommy with their clients.
It was with sheer delight that I received a call and email from Marlene at Jewels That Dance letting me know that a client had come in looking for something special for a friend in London. She shared that her friend was trying to conceive a child with infertility treatments. After showing her a HeartMommy piece of jewelry, she knew it was the perfect gift for her friend.
And so it is; the baby business based in Asheville, NC is HeartMommy International!
I am overjoyed when someone receives these small gifts of love and knowing that the one will travel across the ocean to be worn by a "Woman of Grace" makes me very happy. As we grow and expand our product lines; including a HeartDaddy line, I will continue to blog here and on my website.
Visit us at the HeartMommy website. Become a Fan on Facebook and Twitter. Please contact me directly at nancy@heartmommy.com or call me at 828-329-7047.
Yeah for HeartMommy!! We crossed the ocean blue to warm the heart of someone who wishes to have the honor of being a mother.
HeartMommy- "a person who loves with their whole heart"
Cheerio!
Nancy McCullough
HeartMommy to Garrett
Founder of HeartMommy
Showing posts with label moms. Show all posts
Showing posts with label moms. Show all posts
Friday, August 21, 2009
Tuesday, May 5, 2009
True Love- My Son and His TummyMommy
BirthMother's Day-May 9th
In the midst of many life altering experiences, I have had the opportunity to stop and relish in all that is my life. There are so many things to be grateful for and yet there is only one True Love.
In the midst of many life altering experiences, I have had the opportunity to stop and relish in all that is my life. There are so many things to be grateful for and yet there is only one True Love.
My True Love is my son.
And in turn, my True Love comes from his TummyMommy.
Without the grace and courage of Kim, my son, my True Love, would not be part of my life.
He is part of the fabric of me. It cannot be explained in words how much I love him. Putting words to it would limit it; adding boundaries on my feelings that do not exist.
On Saturay, May 9th, I honor and graciously thank his TummyMommy, Kim. It will be Birthmother's Day.
On December 26, 2002, Kim gave birth to my son. She held him, stayed with him in the hospital for four days, took in all of his features, sketched him while he slept, and then on December 29, 2002, she bravely handed him to me. She said "Thank you."
How do you answer? I had no words and hugged her for as long as I could. My True Love was with me and his TummyMommy was going back to her life. Pure love and surrender on her part.
My son is now six years old. He is smart, funny, artistic, and he is my True Love. Life without him, it seems impossible. For that, I am truly grateful.
To all Birthmothers, I am humbled. In their surrender, they completed a family; created the experience of being a Mom.
Friday, March 13, 2009
On Being a Mom and All That It Implies
Being a Mom. Being a Mom. Being a Parent.
When we are chosen or chose to become a mother, it changes life is ways that are never known until we are experiencing them. It is like riding a roller coaster for the first time. We know it will be scary, exhilarating, intense, perhaps painful, rough, bumpy, up and down. We know it in our brain but the actual experience is something quite different. Being a Mom, it changes who we are to our core. Never again do we exist only for ourselves, there is always and will always be someone who depends on us. We are a we and not a me. We are teachers, guidance counselors, healers, comforters, disciplinarians, protectors, and promoters.
We must choose to be the Dreamweaver and not the Dreamsquasher.
We must choose to put ourselves first but at a very small margin, which often turns to second or third. We must learn to hold on and let go. We must have love that rejuvenates everyday and grows in ample supply to store for a rainy day.
A true balancing act that requires grace, patience, energy and true love.
Being a Mom and all that it implies...
And in this time, being a Mom does not exclusively mean being a woman.
The definition of a parent: One who begets, gives birth to, or nurtures and raises a child; a father or mother.
And as a Mom, I am in awe of other parents. How do they do what they do? How do they accomplish all the things they do in one day? How do they keep their schedules, their friends, their relationships, there lives, themselves? It is a miracle that continues to astound me.
Before being a Mom, I was me. A career woman, traveling five days a week to climb the corporate ladder, to earn more money, to have more things, to be bigger, better, and prove to myself and others that I was just as driven, focused, ambitious, just as any other who was on my path.
After becoming a Mom, I was a we. Still a career woman, not traveling, climbing slower, earning less, taking less to give more, and yet, being bigger, better, proving to myself and others that I was just as driven, focused, and ambitious, as before, just on a different path.
The balancing act of being and seeing what is and all that it implies; being a parent.
Part Two of this post, 3/17/2009.
When I wrote this post last Friday, I was set on the idea of it being about Moms, but knowing that there are a lot of fantastic Dads out there doing it all too. Even in the best of relationships and marriages, there are often certain things one or the other parent is good at and they take on the majority of that responsibility. And as I wrote, it turned into another thought process, the idea of being a single Mom or Dad and how even the slightest change in our lives creates an even bigger change in the lives of our child. A small ripple, spreading and growing, energy that changes everything for them. The choices we make, the focus we have, the intensity in which we have decided to dedicate to keeping those ripples small, for their sake.
I am the first to admit, I am no perfect parent or person. My life has had many changes that have created ripples so huge that there is no way to know if they are rolling into a Tsunami that will come crashing at some later date. I hope not. I pray everyday for the strength and knowledge to get it now, so it makes life more fun for my son later.
I want to be his Dreamweaver! I want to be an inspiration to him. I want him to be a great man; loving, kind, generous and always exploring; and all that this implies.
When we are chosen or chose to become a mother, it changes life is ways that are never known until we are experiencing them. It is like riding a roller coaster for the first time. We know it will be scary, exhilarating, intense, perhaps painful, rough, bumpy, up and down. We know it in our brain but the actual experience is something quite different. Being a Mom, it changes who we are to our core. Never again do we exist only for ourselves, there is always and will always be someone who depends on us. We are a we and not a me. We are teachers, guidance counselors, healers, comforters, disciplinarians, protectors, and promoters.
We must choose to be the Dreamweaver and not the Dreamsquasher.
We must choose to put ourselves first but at a very small margin, which often turns to second or third. We must learn to hold on and let go. We must have love that rejuvenates everyday and grows in ample supply to store for a rainy day.
A true balancing act that requires grace, patience, energy and true love.
Being a Mom and all that it implies...
And in this time, being a Mom does not exclusively mean being a woman.
The definition of a parent: One who begets, gives birth to, or nurtures and raises a child; a father or mother.
And as a Mom, I am in awe of other parents. How do they do what they do? How do they accomplish all the things they do in one day? How do they keep their schedules, their friends, their relationships, there lives, themselves? It is a miracle that continues to astound me.
Before being a Mom, I was me. A career woman, traveling five days a week to climb the corporate ladder, to earn more money, to have more things, to be bigger, better, and prove to myself and others that I was just as driven, focused, ambitious, just as any other who was on my path.
After becoming a Mom, I was a we. Still a career woman, not traveling, climbing slower, earning less, taking less to give more, and yet, being bigger, better, proving to myself and others that I was just as driven, focused, and ambitious, as before, just on a different path.
The balancing act of being and seeing what is and all that it implies; being a parent.
Part Two of this post, 3/17/2009.
When I wrote this post last Friday, I was set on the idea of it being about Moms, but knowing that there are a lot of fantastic Dads out there doing it all too. Even in the best of relationships and marriages, there are often certain things one or the other parent is good at and they take on the majority of that responsibility. And as I wrote, it turned into another thought process, the idea of being a single Mom or Dad and how even the slightest change in our lives creates an even bigger change in the lives of our child. A small ripple, spreading and growing, energy that changes everything for them. The choices we make, the focus we have, the intensity in which we have decided to dedicate to keeping those ripples small, for their sake.
I am the first to admit, I am no perfect parent or person. My life has had many changes that have created ripples so huge that there is no way to know if they are rolling into a Tsunami that will come crashing at some later date. I hope not. I pray everyday for the strength and knowledge to get it now, so it makes life more fun for my son later.
I want to be his Dreamweaver! I want to be an inspiration to him. I want him to be a great man; loving, kind, generous and always exploring; and all that this implies.
Monday, January 26, 2009
The Pearl-Beautiful Pain
Some of you may know and others not, that I am a SINGLE mom.
This was not the plan when I got married in 1996. Right after graduating with my Masters Degree and weeks after turning 30 years old, I was married in a wonderful ceremony in Tallahassee, Florida.
Part of the vows, in addition to the norm, was a line that said this. "I promise to be your best friend and to make you laugh for the rest of your life." As with any person getting married, it is that feeling of love, a sense of we, a start to a beginning of a life of dreams, hopes and goals.
Friends still say, "It was the most beautiful wedding I have ever attended." And it was beautiful.
Outside on the deep green grass of an October day in Florida. A string quartet playing as I rode up the long drive of a garden home in a horse drawn carriage, with large magnolias and the long moss of the deep South making natural decoration.
The wedding went off perfectly...the marriage; not so much.
We know that, with any relationship, it takes deep faith to work through impossible times and it takes growth, compassion, compromise; and did I say intense growth? Growth in the same direction. Growth that involves sharing everything, good, bad and beautiful to create and build that promised friendship and laughter.
It takes more than two people to make a marriage flourish. Mathematically speaking, the equation looks like this: 1+1=infinity
I believe that the combination of two or more things can create something so much more powerful than if done with only one. The combination of two people who are fully aware, committed and ready to have intense growth will have amazing results.
If there are any other ingredients added or removed from the relationship recipe, the beautiful recipe will fail. The sweetest intent cannot make the dessert be sweet. The sweetest notes, flowers, gifts, and other tokens will not make the friendship flourish.
For me, it has been the creation of a pearl. Dare I say, a string of pearls.
The lesson of the pearl is something I learned just recently. Not that I had not heard it before, but I really learned it, understood it, and put it in perspective. Becoming a pearl is beautiful pain. Becoming a pearl is intensity of the highest level.
A small grain of sand gets inside of an oyster, who by nature is relatively still. It filters water, small food sources and the inevitable sand to nourish it, keep it alive and growing. At times the sand gets stuck; it becomes an irritant. To stay alive, the oyster builds a little shell around the sand to make it less painful. Over time, the oyster creates layers upon layers of protectant around that one small grain of sand; a pearl is born.
The pearl, a beautiful, iridescent, perfect, coveted jewel that we string together and wear as adornment. And yet, each of those one pearls was created by one small grain of very painful sand. Strung together those grains of sand become something bigger than one or even two oysters can handle; they will eventually die.
Just as in any relationship, a friendship or marriage, there can be that one small grain of sand; the painful irritant that can become a beautiful pearl or the death of the relationship.
A trusted friend said this. "Every day, give thanks for the pearl. Painful, and yet you are more beautiful for having had it in your life."
Thank you, pearl. You have taught me that the most intense growth comes over years of one small irritant, one small diversion from the relationship recipe, leaving out the"laugh for the rest of your life", and a slight deviation from the mathematical equation of infinity.
Thank you for allowing me the painful growth I needed to become more me.
This was not the plan when I got married in 1996. Right after graduating with my Masters Degree and weeks after turning 30 years old, I was married in a wonderful ceremony in Tallahassee, Florida.
Part of the vows, in addition to the norm, was a line that said this. "I promise to be your best friend and to make you laugh for the rest of your life." As with any person getting married, it is that feeling of love, a sense of we, a start to a beginning of a life of dreams, hopes and goals.
Friends still say, "It was the most beautiful wedding I have ever attended." And it was beautiful.
Outside on the deep green grass of an October day in Florida. A string quartet playing as I rode up the long drive of a garden home in a horse drawn carriage, with large magnolias and the long moss of the deep South making natural decoration.
The wedding went off perfectly...the marriage; not so much.
We know that, with any relationship, it takes deep faith to work through impossible times and it takes growth, compassion, compromise; and did I say intense growth? Growth in the same direction. Growth that involves sharing everything, good, bad and beautiful to create and build that promised friendship and laughter.
It takes more than two people to make a marriage flourish. Mathematically speaking, the equation looks like this: 1+1=infinity
I believe that the combination of two or more things can create something so much more powerful than if done with only one. The combination of two people who are fully aware, committed and ready to have intense growth will have amazing results.
If there are any other ingredients added or removed from the relationship recipe, the beautiful recipe will fail. The sweetest intent cannot make the dessert be sweet. The sweetest notes, flowers, gifts, and other tokens will not make the friendship flourish.
For me, it has been the creation of a pearl. Dare I say, a string of pearls.
The lesson of the pearl is something I learned just recently. Not that I had not heard it before, but I really learned it, understood it, and put it in perspective. Becoming a pearl is beautiful pain. Becoming a pearl is intensity of the highest level.
A small grain of sand gets inside of an oyster, who by nature is relatively still. It filters water, small food sources and the inevitable sand to nourish it, keep it alive and growing. At times the sand gets stuck; it becomes an irritant. To stay alive, the oyster builds a little shell around the sand to make it less painful. Over time, the oyster creates layers upon layers of protectant around that one small grain of sand; a pearl is born.
The pearl, a beautiful, iridescent, perfect, coveted jewel that we string together and wear as adornment. And yet, each of those one pearls was created by one small grain of very painful sand. Strung together those grains of sand become something bigger than one or even two oysters can handle; they will eventually die.
Just as in any relationship, a friendship or marriage, there can be that one small grain of sand; the painful irritant that can become a beautiful pearl or the death of the relationship.
A trusted friend said this. "Every day, give thanks for the pearl. Painful, and yet you are more beautiful for having had it in your life."
Thank you, pearl. You have taught me that the most intense growth comes over years of one small irritant, one small diversion from the relationship recipe, leaving out the"laugh for the rest of your life", and a slight deviation from the mathematical equation of infinity.
Thank you for allowing me the painful growth I needed to become more me.
Friday, January 2, 2009
HeartDaddy- the Answer in 2009
The Sky knows no limits.As HeartMommy gets a bit of exposure, I am asked on a regular basis about the idea of HeartDaddy. And here is the answer...
In May of 2008 my son came to me and said, we must have "HeartDaddy" too for all the Dads in the world. Of course, we must, I agreed.
On that day Garrett and I sat down for our first business meeting. Across our makeshift desk we shared; Garrett exlpained the finer points of his idea, business plan, and drew the HeartDaddy logo for me. It is lovely indeed.
After the meeting ajorned I purchased the domain name- www.heartdaddy.com and put all the important documentation in the newly labeled file for HeartDaddy.
Isn't fun to know that my son loves HeartMommy handing out my business cards more than I do, and that he has the smarts to come up with the idea, the branding, and all the details for HeartDaddy too.
My ideas are small in comparison to his imagination and fearlessness. Garrett knows only what is possible.
And with that, I give you, HeartDaddy. Created in May 2008 by Garrett Cushman for all the Dads of the world.
All the great ideas I get from Garrett, friends, family, customers, Dads and Moms are noted, reviewed, and are 'in development' for the next phase of business.
With HeartMommy just out of the incubator, HeartDaddy is being carefully cared for as we grow.
In 2009 we are expecting amazing growth and expansion of HeartMommy and the launch of HeartDaddy!
Please send me any and all thoughts, ideas, wishlist items and I will add them to the executive meeting agenda for next week. Garrett and I hold our meetings at our now makeshift desk in the kitchen, where most great ideas and stories are shared.
I am sending an email to my web designer to add a new link on HeartMommy.
Look often and spread the word about HeartMommy and HeartDaddy so we will continue to grow as 2009 becomes our banner year!
Thank you to all the amazing people who have and continue to support us.
We are the Little Engine That Could and Will!
Nancy
HeartMommy on behalf of HeartDaddy 2009
Friday, December 5, 2008
And Then Life Throws A Curve Ball
Today is Friday and it is early; everyone still sleeping.
As I write this my brain is relieved as my Mom is also with me and my sisters, sleeping peacefully at home.
But, on Tuesday afternoon life spun as fast as lightening. My Mom, 68 years old and very much the active Nana, was rushed from her doctors office by ambulance to the hospital; blood pressure off the charts and having a 'cardiac incident'.
Luckily, I had arrived to be at her appointment, but I never expected to see my Mom, white and scared as the doctor explained what was happening. As for me, I was instantly in action mode.
Calling my three sisters and my aunt to let them know what was happening, getting arrangements made for my son's care, racing to the hospital to meet the ambulance and then the waiting...testing...waiting...admitted to the hospital.
My Mom was beside herself, after be given drugs a plenty, she was upset, confused and as well trying to comfort me. This is what my Mom does. She is the one who comforts us, even as she is in pain and scared.
Two of my three sisters were with me within 12 hours; driving and flying from two different states. My oldest sister had left for Europe and so she was on the phone for the up to the minute status.
And the details are more details, but here is the end of the story.
After 2 plus days in the hospital, tests complete, and the new pharmacuticals ready, my Mom came home.
Life.
As my Mom sleeps upstairs, I am so thankful for one more day with her.
I am grateful for my family as we come together; coordinate, communicate and work as a team. Sisters are amazing!
All the plans in the world do not prepare you for seeing your parents need care. My Mom is timeless, efffortless, every lasting...
Wednesday, September 24, 2008
We are Live and in Living Color!
Today I am 42 years old! It is my birthday!
HeartMommy.com just went live moments ago; what a great birthday present!!
Please visit http://www.heartmommy.com/ and take a look around.
Welcome!
Nancy- HeartMommy to Garrett
HeartMommy.com just went live moments ago; what a great birthday present!!
Please visit http://www.heartmommy.com/ and take a look around.
Welcome!
Nancy- HeartMommy to Garrett
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