Poor baby. She wakes up in the morning (be it 4 or 7 a.m…) cooing and crowing at the window, a giant grin spread across her little pink, cherubic face. Her feet are kicking, her arms are pumping, her heart is full of gladness and she turns to me with all of the richness of her angelic little being, eager to bask in the delight of the moment together, and who better to share it with then her mama, the […]
My bosses and colleagues were amazing, but they couldn’t hold a candle to my cooing little being back at the ranch. Too-tight work clothes, pumping my milk in the bathroom, and the million other crazy things working mommies live through every day did not sweeten the deal.
Though staying home with my kids is something I never, ever thought I would do, my new identity is mostly, and surprisingly, a great fit for me. Mostly.
Before I had kids, I spent hours wondering how motherhood would change my sense of self. The mothering part has actually been easy on my ego (relatively speaking). I am wholly a mom. I love being a mom. I don’t care if I have “mom hair” or wear “mom jeans” or any of […]
I know that Washington state law allows a woman to nurse anywhere. And that is wonderful. But it doesn’t mean you’re comfortable whipping out your boob while sitting in a 10-top at Canlis, or behind home base at SafecoField (though more power to you if you do!), especially during the first few months.
We are out at the lake with my parents for one blissful week. In the mornings, Quinn wakes up early and points frantically to the bedroom door.
She knows her grandparents are out there, and she knows mornings out here mean a walk with them through their orchard and down to the dock.
I know that mornings out here mean more sleep for me and my husband. I can’t say which of the five of us is happiest!
The other day, my mom shared some reflections […]
Now that Quinn is well into toddlerhood, and the burgeoning bump of my second baby sometimes edges into my field of vision, I have both the emotional distance and the sense of urgency needed to look back critically on the newborn period. My memories are often sepia-toned, infused with the magic that tiny little being brought into our lives.
But the picture isn’t always pretty. I didn’t realize it at the time (or at least I didn’t acknowledge it to anyone, […]
My whole life, I’ve felt like I was obtaining random skills and taking up random hobbies for just my own pleasure. I am one of these ever-curious people who likes to try new things, learn new languages, make new circles of friends. I like the liberal arts approach to life, reading Gray’s Anatomy one week, a graphic novel the next, and splicing my Paul Krugman/ Malcolm Gladwell with Jane Austin fan fic.
I always thought that my lifestyle put me at […]
I always figured that I would let Quinn decide when it was time to stop nursing. Then I got pregnant again when she was 14 months old, and while I know plenty of mamas nurse two babies at once, I am pretty firmly decided against it. I just foresee that Quinn will want to nurse as much as the new baby, and I know I will not have the energy for two hungry little mouths at once.
I’ve slowly realized that […]
Who knew it would be a bad idea to travel across the country in my first trimester? That it might not be too bright to take a tiring flight with my toddler and then drive up a canyon to a cabin that’s about 8,000 feet above our house in Seattle?
Well, I knew. I knew that my morning sickness, already making me miserable, would most likely get worse. But Todd and I planned this trip to visit his family in Colorado […]
This time around, I will tell who I want, when I want.
This time around, I will not run to the bathroom every five minutes to “just check” my underwear for red.
This time around, I will not Google every little symptom or read the “complications” chapters just to freak myself out.
This time around, I will fight nausea to the death.
This time around, I will breathe more, worry less, and enjoy my growing belly.
This time around, I will be due in “early […]