We are moms. We talk about a lot of stuff. Every day.

ReadySetMom is an active online community where moms can share and learn everything related to raising children in the Portland-metro area. We talk about everything -- Portland preschools, events for kids and families, local kid-friendly restaurants and businesses, and any issue, problem or success story that comes along. We encourage you to send us questions, events, comments or issues you'd like to see discussed here: readysetmom [at] gmail [dot] com.

Renee Limon and Heather Hawkins, both of us stay-at-home moms, founded ReadySetMom in September 2006 over a cup of coffee and a lot of whining about our lack of identities beyond head diaper-changer and cook. We thought it would be more fun to whine online. Marianne Chin joined the chorus a few months later. Our mission is to help moms connect with and learn from one another. And have fun!

Renee Limon was born in Maryland, raised in the Midwest, and graduated from the University of Wisconsin at Madison with a double major in Journalism and French. Hoping to find a way to employ both her majors, she headed to Walt Disney World in Orlando, Florida – which was supposed to be a stepping-stone to Disneyland Paris. Fate intervened and she met her husband at Disney World. Marriage took her away from Mickey Mouse and led to a stint in high-tech in Silicon Valley, California. When she and her husband decided to start a family, California no longer felt like a good fit. Portland beckoned, and has been “home” to the Limons since spring 2000. They are happily raising two daughters – a 6-year old and a 4-year old – in the Hillsdale neighborhood of SW Portland.

In a past life Heather Hawkins worked in orchestra management and owned her own public relations firm. A Midwest transplant, she moved to Portland in 1992 after spying it on a map. (She also double majored in journalism and French at a Big Ten university, but it just sounds like she's trying to mock Renee by admitting it, mais non?) She married the love of her life in 2000, and they have a six-year old daughter and four-year old son. Heather also lives in Hillsdale, just down the street from Renee. Her turn-ons include good fiction, winning at Scrabble, red wine and Jon Stewart.

Marianne Chin grew up in Northeast Portland, majored in journalism at the University of Oregon and hightailed it to San Francisco after graduation. A career at the San Francisco Chronicle followed, then marriage to a fellow journalist. She traded deadlines for diapers almost 10 years ago and has been a stay-at-home mom since. Marianne and her family – husband, 9-year-old son and 5-year-old daughter -- moved back to her native Portland two years ago to be closer to family. They occasionally pine for California (especially on gray, wet days), but most of the time they marvel at how family-friendly it is here. They live in Forest Heights in NW Portland.