We hope you’ll make yourself at home on our Web site. Check out our calendar of events, and read up about some of our latest news. Most importantly, learn how you can join us for the next AAMOM meeting!

Have a question? Leave a comment or e-mail an AAMOM board member. We know that being a mom of multiples can be a big challenge, so we’re here to offer our support!

Hope to see you soon at a meeting.

Swing by our free party on August 14, 2010!

Mark your calendars as BUSY from 10 to noon on Saturday, August 14!

If you have multiples in your family, you’ll want to be at Prince of Peace Lutheran Church for AAMOM’s Carnival Celebration in honor of our 40-year anniversary.

Our carnival will include:

• A giant bounce house
• Carnival games
• Booths from local organizations
• Contests with prizes, judged by local celebrities
• Fun food
• And more!

So, dress your twins, triplets and quads in their cutest outfits and head to our carnival for a great time and a chance to win prizes. And be sure to chat with an AAMOM member and learn how you can join in the fellowship we enjoy with other moms of multiples each month.

Prince of Peace Lutheran is located at 6900 Hillside in Amarillo, just east of the Coulter/Hillside intersection.

Mom's Night Out!

Decked out in matching T-shirts, seven Amarillo Area Mothers of Multiples club members descended upon Garland, Texas, April 22 for a weekend of fun during the 2010 Texas Mothers of Multiples Convention.

The Convention theme was “MOMs Night Out,” and Terri, Kentra, Shelli, Jody, Kim, Cary and Linda made the most of it.

Highlights of the trip include:

• Bingo night, where Kim got so many bingos that she quit calling them after the fourth.
• The Mesquite Rodeo. Hundreds of moms of multiples in matching pink T-shirts were plenty of fodder for the clown’s jokes.
• Shopping. Once we found the “normal” wing of North Park Mall, we were good to go! Sorry, Tiffany and Co, Versace and Louis Vuitton… We just weren’t in the mood.
• Eating, eating, eating. We enjoyed delicious meals and deserts all weekend!
• Sales room. We made a decent profit on the sales of our western themed raffle. Thank you, Quarter Horse Outfitters, for your generous donations!
• First-Aid. Kim and Linda brushed up on their life-saving skills.
• Twin panel. We listened to interesting and funny stories from a panel made up of siblings of twins and triplets.
• Sam Moon. We wore ourselves out visiting Sam Moon and its mecca of other stores.
• Dressing up. We got gussied up Saturday night for the Divine Diva Dinner and installation banquet.
• Nertz. Our competitive nature rose to the top during this exciting and frustrating card game.
• Multiples Family Festival. This free event for the community was the culmination of a great weekend away from reality.

We’re eager to share our experiences with the club at the next AAMOM meeting, May 6!

Amarillo Area Mothers of Multiples club prides itself on taking several club members to almost every Texas Mothers of Multiples Convention since our club’s inception.

This year is no exception. Seven ladies will be representing Amarillo at Convention April 22-25, 2010, in Garland, Texas. We’re sure to have a blast as we attend workshops, seminars, banquets, rodeos, shopping adventures and more. If you haven’t attended a TMOM Convention, we encourage you to check it out!

Raffle Items

Each year at Convention, we have the opportunity to raise funds during the booth fair. We are in need of some donated items to raffle off to support AAMOM. Please consider contributing to our western themed gift bag that contains a child guitar and Horseopoly game, generously donated by Quarter Horse Outfitters.  We’ll accept items or cash!

Please contact a board member or bring your donation to the April AAMOM meeting on April 1, 2010!

During the Amarillo Area Mothers of Multiples monthly meeting February 3, 2010, members and guests learned about how the Texas Alcoholic Beverage Commission is working to reduce underage drinking in the state.

Agent II Geoffery E. Weise of the TABC presented some eye-opening facts that any parent will appreciate knowing.

• Most kids get alcohol from parties and friends.
• Alcohol is the most abused of all substances, including tobacco and illegal drugs.
• Alcohol is equally used by girls and boys.
• Every 15 minutes in the United States, someone dies from an alcohol-related automobile crash.
• Penalties for underage drinking include up to $500 fine; 20-40 hours community service; 60-day driver’s license suspension and more for the first offense. Third offenses can result in months of jail time.

Combat Underage Drinking

• Know your kids’ friends!
• Discuss peer pressure issues and the consequences involved with drinking alcohol.

What if They Don’t Wake Up?

According to the TABC, if someone you know has passed out due to alcohol consumption, take these immediate steps:

• Call 911 for help.
• Keep him on his side.
• Perform CPR until medical help arrives if pulse is less than 40 beats per minute or breathing is less than eight breaths per minute.
• Don’t panic.
• Don’t leave him alone to sleep it off.
• Don’t give him food or coffee.
• Don’t try to make him vomit.
• Don’t put him in a cold shower.

TABC Resources

• (888) THE-TABC
• www.tabc.state.tx.us

Amarillo Area Mothers of Multiples Club always offers a program at each monthly meeting aimed at helping us lead better, healthier, safer, happier lives. The November 2009 meeting was no exception.  Corporal Jerry Neufeld of the Amarillo Police Department presented a personal safety program.

Jerry explained our Amarillo police force. There are about 317 police officers, 20-40 of which are on the streets on any given night. The APD responded to 127,000 calls for service last year.

Tips for Staying Safe in Public and Your Car

• Carry your purse away from the flow of traffic when you’re in a parking lot.
• Find your keys before you head to your car. Have them in your hand.
• Don’t hide your purse or other valuable items in your car.
• Be alert with your head up, and trust your instincts.
• Keep your car doors up and your windows locked.
• If you think you’re being followed, acknowledge that you see the person behind you.
• Carry your cell phone close - it’s a valuable self defense tool.
• Don’t overload yourself with packages. Keep one hand free.
• Strength in numbers - don’t go alone!
• If you have car trouble, stay with your car and wait for help.

Defense Tools
Yelling, blowing a whistle, fighting, spraying pepper spray, tasering or using a weapon.

Home Security

• Burglaries happen in the daytime. Make it as hard as possible for a robber to enter your home.
• Strike plates should have four-inch steel screws.
• Use solid wood or metal doors
• Your deadbolt should stick out one inch or more.
• Turn on porch lights, and set timers on lamps.
• Dogs are good deterrents for burglars.
• Use a security system.
• Install a locking garage door.

Additional Info

• Amarillopolice.org
• Sign up for the e-mail alert system
• Records.txdps.state.tx.us — registered sex offenders in Amarillo
• Call crime prevention for a home safety inspected and save on your insurance 378-4257

Amarillo Area Mothers of Multiples Club is hosting another garage sale Saturday, October 24, at 4210 S.W. 3rd Ave. in Amarillo, Texas.

Our garage sale will feature:

• Baby Gear
• Baby Clothes
• Furniture
• Electronics
• Clothing
• Home Decor

All proceeds go to AAMOM, a non-profit organization, to help in our efforts to reach out to our community!

Hope to see you there.

AAMOM is considering devoting a small portion of some upcoming meetings to the discussion of a new book written by a former “60 Minutes” producer and identical twin called “One and the Same.”

It hits newsstands later this month, and it’ll be available on Amazon for $17.79 (a great discount).

AAMOM President Terri Huseman is volunteering to bulk order the books from Amazon for everyone interested, and we can reimburse her when the books come in. Please let her know if you’d like a copy.

We’ve got a good handful of club members interested already.’

Here’s a summary of  “One and the Same.”SUMMARY:

“One and the Same” takes an unvarnished look at what it’s really like to grow up as a twin. As twins club members know better than most, there are so many myths and gimmicks surrounding twinship but the reality of the relationship is much more intense and demanding than has been portrayed or than people realize. There has always been an insatiable curiosity about what it’s like to grow up as a double, especially since the explosion of twin births, which have left so many wondering about the best way to raise twins. “One and the Same” looks at every area of twinship, from competition to separation, from the shock of having twins to the searing loss of one. Pogrebin, whose twin, Robin Pogrebin writes for the New York Times, talks to twins who still live together, twins who have had their own kind of “divorce,” twins who measure every success by the other, twins who admit they prioritize each other above their spouses. There’s a revealing interview with star football twins, Tiki and Ronde Barber, and also with twin survivors of the infamous Nazi doctor, Dr. Josef Mengele. “One and the Same” offers a deeply intimate window into twinship from every angle - what it’s like to have them, raise them, lose one, and most of all, be one. But it also goes beyond twinship to look at the universal challenge of forging one’s own identity in the world. Pogrebin talks to virtually every living twins expert — scientists, psychologists, geneticists, artists — to get deep inside one of the most powerful intimacies that exists.

Join us September 3 for a special presentation on raising multiples. Click for a larger image!

Join us for a special Amarillo Area Mothers of Multiples Club meeting at 7 p.m. Thursday, September 3, at St. Stephen United Methodist.

We are excited about speaker Karen Moise, R.N. from Texas Children’s Hospital in Houston. Her topic will be “The Five Questions All Expecting Moms of Multiples Should Know.”

For 30 years, Karen has dedicated herself both personally and professionally to helping countless women manage pregnancies with multiples and deliver the healthiest babies possible. Karen has also penned educational articles for national outlets including Expectant Mother’s Guide, Twin Parents and The Bump. Regionally, her advocacy has resulted in TTTS features in the Austin-American Statesman, Midland Reporter-Telegram, Fort Worth Star-Telegram and Houston Chronicle.

Learn about staying healthy while carrying twins, triplets or more and be able to share the information with your friends and family! Please join us at 7 p.m. sharp on Thursday, September 3.

This program is open to the public, so please invite friends and family.

The Texas Department of Public Safety has released a statement regarding notable traffic and criminal laws that go into effect on Sept. 1, 2009, for the state of Texas.

Seatbelts: HB 537 requires all occupants of a vehicle, no matter their age, to be secured by a safety belt, no matter where they are seated in the vehicle; changes the definition of a passenger vehicle to include a passenger van designed to transport 15 or fewer passengers including the driver; removes the current exemption for third-party Medicaid transportation provisions regarding the use of child passenger safety seats; and prohibits a motorcycle operator from carrying a passenger under the age of 5 unless the child is seated in a sidecar attached to the motorcycle.

SB 61 amends the existing statute regarding child passenger safety seats. The bill requires that any child younger than 8 years of age be restrained in an approved child passenger safety seat unless the child is at least 4 feet, 9 inches in height. The fine is no more than $25 for a first offense and $250 for a second offense. The law also creates a new court cost for conviction of an offense under this section to be collected and used by TxDOT to buy safety seats for low income families.

The law becomes effective on Sept. 1, 2009, but tickets for this offense cannot be issued until June 1, 2010. Police officers are allowed to issue a warning before that date.

Get more updates by following TxDPS on Twitter.