I’m so glad that January is almost over, aren’t you? Honestly, though, it’s been a good month for our family, considering it was January. We started off the year with a beautiful 8-or-so inches of snow. A real treat for North Carolina. If you like snow. This means that what was supposed to be our … [Read more…]
A long time ago in a galaxy far, far away… our family had three male birthdays in the course of sixteen days and we decided to celebrate the occasions with a big FAMILY-SIZED Star Wars Party! We kept the party family-only because of the special needs we have in our family. We didn’t want either … [Read more…]
We officially have a toddler in our house – again. Little Brother turned 13 months old a few days ago. His baby year went by so quickly, I’m scrambling to catch up! Having a toddler again is a really joyous experience. I think the age of 12-18 months was one of my sweetest times with … [Read more…]
Hi Baby. You don’t really understand, but today is your FIRST BIRTHDAY. We made it! And of course, we are celebrating in style by waking up at 5 AM! Little Brother, you have taught me so much this year. This past year has radically transformed the way I view the world, and I owe that … [Read more…]
“The boys are both still asleep! You wanna get up and have morning coffee with me?” My sleepy brain tries to wrap itself around the paradoxical words as I roll over in bed to view my half-dressed husband grinning tenderly at me. “No. I just need more sleep. I was up a lot with the … [Read more…]
As I write this, I am in the backseat of our minivan on the way home from our family’s 4th of July Summer vacation. For now, everyone is behaving. My heart is full, but I am unsure quite where to begin. Every patriotic holiday evokes emotion for us, but Independence Day is the happiest. It is … [Read more…]
My house is quiet. My mother-in-law has taken Ezra away to get a 3-day head start on our family vacation and Little Brother is sleeping. The only sound is the air conditioning, the quiet whrrrr of my computer, and my husband in the next room talking with gaming buddies. Ah, this is the life… Scratch … [Read more…]
I’ll get to formula and FODMAPS in a second, but before y’all go up in arms at my use of foul language on my faith-based blog, I have to explain: We play this game in the car sometimes. It’s a game I learned from my mother. It’s played like this: One person thinks of an item and … [Read more…]
This post is an unplanned followup to my post, What I’m doing differently with my second baby (based on 5 years of parenting a special needs first baby). As babies grow, we learn more about how to raise them. With this post, I’d like to share more realizations I’ve had about Little Brother, Ezra, myself, and parenting in … [Read more…]
In contrast to years 2013 and 2014, I didn’t write at all about my one word for 2015 – hope. Partially because I sort of forgot. Partially because I was blogging less. Partially because I was busy. I thought about just leaving it in the archives and letting it die. But yesterday, I was driving … [Read more…]
It’s 2015, so by now I think most people know what a doula is and what they do. I don’t think there’s a right way to pick a doula. Every mom, every family, is going to look for something different…need something different. Which is why it’s so great that there’s so many options out there … [Read more…]
So, my official position is that recovery from birth sucks. But, it’s also sort of amazing. The first ten days of postpartum recovery were hard. Really hard. I do not deal well with anesthesia and definitely felt some postpartum crazy, even though I had a better experience. My limbs were tingly, my heart rate was … [Read more…]
Little Brother arrived Thursday, September 3rd, 2015 at 5:58PM. He weighed in at 10 lb 1 oz, 22 inches long. I plan to share his birth story in a lot more detail with pictures and video (we have over 240 pictures of labor and birth alone!) in the month of October, when I’ll be sharing 31 … [Read more…]
I’ve officially made it to (and past) my due date. I’m thrilled, honestly. This has been a great pregnancy. Such a night and day difference from Ezra’s pregnancy. I look back over my pregnancy photos (which there have been many…not sorry at all!), and see how much I’ve accomplished. Stuff like climbing to the top … [Read more…]
I’m nearly 39 weeks pregnant, and have decided to give another update to help pass the time. (37 Weeks) I’m managing to stay very active, continuing to walk several days each week and attending prenatal yoga class once a week. This is THE thing that is keeping me going. At 37 weeks, my yoga instructor … [Read more…]
