Meet the Moms: Jo-Lynne from Musings of a Housewife

Jo-Lynne was one of the first blogger's I started to follow and read. I loved her honesty and her approach to life, it was comforting and just wonderful. I am so excited to feature her today on Totsy!


Jo-Lynne, mom to 3 school-aged children, writes at Musings of a Housewife where she discusses everything from motherhood to fashion to nutrition to reality TV and anything else that crosses her mind. She absolutely adores the smart, encouraging community of women who read and laugh and cry along with her. She knows that blogging would be meaningless without them. Let's find out more about Jo-Lynne...

1. What one word best describes your current state of mind?

Muddled. LOL. I just got back from an overnight trip to NYC, and re-entry is always a bit rough.

2. What TV household does your family most resemble?

3. Brady Bunch
4. All in the Family
5. Brothers & Sisters
6. Army Wives
7. The Good Wife
8. Other -- I guess I'll go with F -- maybe Growing Pains? We're a fairly traditional modern family.

3. What term or phrase do you most overuse?

Okay. When I edit my blog posts, I see that I start almost every new paragraph with Okay. I guess you could say I have an issue with transition?

4. What are the five things/items you think that new moms (parents) can’t do without (sanity savers)?

Omigosh, this is hard. I hardly remember being a new mom.
1.Swing. (I didn't use it a lot, but when I needed it, I NEEDED IT.)
2.Lansinoh cream. (No explanation necessary, I hope.)
3.Swaddling blankets. (Swaddling my babies helped them immensely with getting to sleep and staying asleep.)
4.White noise machine. (We used to do a lot of entertaining, and the white noise machine was great for drowning out the noise from downstairs.)
5.Coffee. (Well, DUH.)

5. Family photos – best tips for getting kids to pose vs. fighting, making faces, running away?

Try to plan the photo shoot when they are fresh and in good spirits. Make sure they aren't tired or hungry. Don't spend a lot of time posing and making demands. And when all else fails, bribe them with something fantastic.

6. What songs and/or books have worked best for bedtime?

I used to walk the floors, singing hymns and lullabies to get my babies to sleep. I absolutely love Big Red Barn.

7. How many miles (of driving duty) have you logged in the past week?

Believe it or not, with three kids ages 4, 7, and 10, I actually don't do a lot of driving duty. We try to keep our kids' activities limited, and close to home.

8. One thing you want for yourself this year?

Get a facial!

9. What celebrity best describes your personal style?

a. Jennifer Garner
b. Sarah Jessica Parker
c. Nicole Richie
d. Gwen Stefani
e. Angelina Jolie
f. Victoria Beckham

Maybe Jennifer Garner

10. Best parenting resource you would recommend?

My mother! :)

11. Follow me on Twitter

@dcrmom

12. Current projects that have you engaged and excited:

The Tastemaker competition and my Vlogging Panel at the upcoming Blissdom conference. :-)