BCM - How did your life change when you became a mom?

NiCole - I became much more organized.  I also became a more loving person. Everything about my life changed, EVERYTHING. I was prepared for things to be different, but I have to admit I was not prepared for every single aspect of my life to be consumed with when another human eats, sleeps and craps. I hate to sound crude, but let's face it moms that is what we do.

BCM- What has been your most memorable moment as a mom?

NiCole - My most memorable moment as a mom was the moment that Shirley (my daughter) was born. I just remember seeing this head of thick, dark hair with one row of pencil eraser size, circle curls along the back of her neck and then she started screaming, not crying, screaming so hard that all I could think was "Give her to me!".  I wanted to hold her so badly and let her know that everything was o.k. That moment changed my life forever, it was the moment it hit me that I was officially a mom.

BCM- What has been the biggest challenge for you in motherhood?

NiCole - The biggest challenge for me as a mother has been not beating other peoples children when they are mean to my daughter. It is so hard to watch Shirley want to play with some older girls in the sand box and have them ignore her or tell her to go away because she is a "baby". I hate to see the disapointment on her face, it just gets me, but I know that I have to let her experience the good and bad in life. It's just so hard to sit there and watch it I really hate that.

BCM- What activities do you like to do with your kids and why?

NiCole - The main activity that I love to do with Shirley is every morning we go exploring with our dogs. We have explored so much of Central Park and many other park spaces. We usually go for about 2 hours and half way through we spread out a blanket and just sit with the dogs and read, hug, stretch, talk, sing, whatever. It's been fun watching her learn about grass, ants, turtles, clouds, flowers, ducks, birds, dirt, etc and we have a pretty impressive rock collection, too. This is the time that I know I will not get forever, this alone time, it's really special to me. I've already seen a change from when I could just lay her on the blanket and read to her to chasing her and keeping her from falling in water somewhere. I deffinately know that my days of having her undivided attention for hours will not last and this is my way of taking advantage of it while I can.

BCM- How do you manage you work/life balance?   Any advice for new moms?

NiCole - I manage my work life balance with routine and schedule. I do the same things at the same time each day, always. Being an actress is different from most jobs because my work is so sporadic, the only way that I find balance is to make sure that Shirley's day is the same whether I am working or not. If I can't take her for the morning exploring with the dogs then my husband or babysitter does. We have a posted Shirley schedule and we all follow it to the letter so her nap, meals,movie time, park time, etc  are always at the same time. That would be my advice to any mom is to post a schedule and have everyone go by it. I have found that this makes my daughter feel secure whether I am there or not. I can call her from set during her movie time and say "What are you watching today? Did you have fun at the park?"  Instead of "What did you do today?" Like I said, I've learned they do what you do, so if I am unsure of her day, so will she be.

BCM- What are your favorite “Mom Essentials” and why?

NiCole -My favorite mom essentials are #1. A husband who helps with everything AND #2 The book On Becoming Babywise. No amount of gadgets, supplies or tricks can do what these have done for me. Babywise gave me the knowledge and guidance to have peace and order in our home and my husband is the support system that makes it possible. We work together to be on the same page as far as what we want and expect in our family and we agree that being Babywise is how to get it.  I also want to add that being a new mom and new to New York City, Big City Moms has been essential for my navigating the city.

BCM- What is the best advice you received about being a mom?

NiCole - The best advice I received about being a mom was the first advice. It came from the doctor that delivered Shirley. He is a good friend and I admire him as a father so I asked him at my first appointment "Any advice?" and he said "If I've learned anything in 25 years, it's that they do what you do, not what you say." I have seen this over and over with my daughter. She says please and thank you because we say it to her, she eats broccoli because she sees me eat broccoli and I'm finding this is working for her potty training, too.    

BCM- If you could give another mom or expectant mom one piece of advice, what would it be?

NiCole - If I could give an expectant mom advice it would be to consider a C section because I am so happy that I gave birth that way and I am doing the same with my second child on July 20th. For someone who is already a mom, I would STRONGLY suggest background checks, random drug tests and video monitoring of all child care givers. This is done for the person that delivers your mail, trust me you should do it for the person who is caring for your children. FYI I had a really bad experience, so trust me it happens.....

BCM- Do you have a motto you would like to share with other moms?

NiCole - Our family motto is "Train don't re-train", we stole this from Babywise and it's so true!! If you don't want your kid to have a pacifier or suck her thumb outside the bed, don't ever let her do it and then you don't have to break her of it, let her do it once and you will spend forever trying to break her of it. If you don't want your kid to touch your electronics don't ever let them touch them. The key to this is that you have to be consistent.  Our daughter has never thrown food or eaten with her hands like an animal because we never let her. We trained her to eat properly and you should see the amazement of people when we have our 2 year old in a restaurant. Sure it was hard on her first birthday not to let her dig into the cake with her hands to get that "cute" picture, but I didn't want to have to re-train her the next day and the pay off is more valuable than that picture to me. A lot of times I will do something and my attitude is "Well, just this once...." and my husband will look at me and say "Train don't re-train".

BCM- Name your favorite Big City Moms event to date..

NiCole - I have a lot of favorite BCM events like the Harvey Karp seminars because this man is a genius! I also LOVE my family pictures from BCM picture day in Central Park (see photo) But if I have to pick a favorite I would say that the preschool seminar was the most invaluable to me because it gave me the exact advice that I needed to get Shirley into the school that we wanted. Education is so important and getting started on the right foot in the process is key, I know that my daughter is off to a great educational start because of what I learned from this BCM event.