Boys

The newest Oppelt and his boy parts

Every woman I know who is having a baby, or who recently gave birth, is having a boy. 

Lorrie & her boy 

As Lorrie DiDomenico put it, they all wanted "cute and snuggly and precious" girls. The second-time mom has a two-and-a-half-year-old princess.

"Audrey has this detailed book logging conception to birth and this time I only have the ultrasound pics." 

But once she found out about her forthcoming boy, she did get excited, and added that her partner Dan is "happy to have an ally in this house of girls." 

Jenn Oppelt & me comparing tummies

Jennifer Oppelt already has Alchemy, and is "a lot less worried" with the second pregnancy than she was with the first. 

She's about midway through, and looks forward to a water birth at Breath of Life. "There's no option there for epidurals," she said, and first-time moms might have "a lot of fear around lack of narcotics." But first time mom-to-be Heidi Kurpiela Bardi ain't scared. 

Her due date is less than a month away, and she's also chosen the au naturel path. 

Heidi with cabbage  

Heidi, a writer with two sisters and no brothers figured a baby girl would just be more familiar. But the tomboy remembered back to her days as a camp counselor and how she got along much better with the boys. 

"All the adventures I planned to take with my daughter," Heidi recently wrote me, "I can absolutely take with my son." 

Cristina with Henry & Carter (or is it Carter & Henry?)

Not to be outdone, Cristina and Dave had two boys. They're first time parents and desperately want music for their offspring that's as hip as they are. (I've recommended Pancake Mountain. Any more suggestions for them?) 

And not to leave out furry babies, Kim Finn Weaver recently adopted Dusty from Hillsborough Animal Services on Faulkenberg Road. 

According to Kim:

Last year they had 22,000 animals in their care (down from 36,000 in prior years). The shelter has had significant budget cuts over the past 3 years and now relies on 85-115 volunteers per week to help with grooming and exercising of the animals, etc. 

Dusty has a home!

Kim & Bear

The good boy, estimated to be two years old, came home with kennel cough and a prescription to heal it, so he'll be better soon.  

Then he'll get to meet his new brother, 9-year-old Bear, also a rescued dog. 


Happy Mom's Day!

Happy Mothering at Alpha House

Tonja Brickhouse and mother Mary Holmes-Graves

 

Decades ago an unwed, pregnant teen was sent out of the state to have her child and then forced to give the baby up for adoption. Upon her return home, the childless mother "Cried and cried. She was unable to get over it," said Tonja Brickhouse, vice president of the Alpha House's Board of Directors. 

Tampa's Alpha House was started in 1981 to provide "safe housing, education and counseling, parenting and life skills training, vocational assistance, and spiritual support to pregnant or parenting women," according to its website. 

Brickhouse was speaking at their annual fundraiser, the New Lives Breakfast, held Friday morning. 400 hundred community members gathered in support.  

Executive Director Pat Langford with donor Machelle Maner 

Though the Alpha House is celebrating its 30th anniversary, Executive Director Pat Langford said the organization is still working on becoming a household name. "We're the only licensed maternal home in Hillsborough County," she said. "We're not a shelter, but a program." 

The Alpha House takes in homeless pregnant women and mothers, including girls under 18 in foster care who often have their children taken away from them and placed into another foster home. "We're the support, guidance and structure missing from their lives," said Langford. 

Brickhouse, a retired U.S. Air Force colonel and current public servant, said the teen's aunt felt her deep sorrow and went against the wishes of her parents to support her. She successfully helped her niece get the child back before the adoption process was finalized. That teen was Brickhouse's mother. 

Alpha's first E.D. Sister Rosalie Hennessey

In 2010, Alpha House took in 110 women but had to turn away 100 more, because, according to Langford, "Some weren't interested in being helped. Some are on the waiting list." 

Currently the Alpha House provides safe housing and services for 39 women and their children. 

Loren Craig, a victim of domestic violence, is one of them. She's lived at the Alpha House for a year and a half with her son Reid, and shared their story during the New Lives Breakfast. 

Unable to support herself during and after her pregnancy, she left for good when her partner's abuse didn't stop. "I became homeless in 15 seconds," Craig said. 

Craig recently graduated from an administrative assistance program at Brewster Tech, and is working and saving for her own apartment. 

To learn more, visit their semimonthly Lunch & Learn sessions, or visit their website to find other ways you can help.