Never has the difference in my life pre- and post- Quinn been quite so stark as these last few snowy days.
Before Quinn, I would have been stressed at the sight of the snow, knowing it would mean queuing for an overcrowded bus and hoping to leave work early to get a jump on the long commute home. I would only ever see the snow in the darkness. The snowy days of early 2009 were especially miserable for me: pregnant with […]
When Quinn was just a newborn, we brought her out to my parent’s cabin in Lake Chelan. One day, we went to visit a neighbor (and dear family friend) who was having a terrible week: His mother, who lived across the country, was dying, and he was getting painful hourly updates from family members at her bedside.
None of us knew exactly what to say, but we slogged along anyway. At some point in the conversation, he reached out for Quinn. […]
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 […]
Quinn is madly in love with me right now. Randomly, throughout the day, she will grab hold of my arm, or stroke my hair, or touch my face while proudly proclaiming “MY mama.”
It is the cutest, sweetest thing, ever.
She also loves to give me kisses and hugs, to point at my nose and her nose, solemnly informing me “noe.” She is also really into nursing right now, though she’s still only doing it 3-4 times in a 24 hour period. […]
I was in a local consignment shop the other day, checking out the clothes in the 12-18 months size, when I came across a T-shirt that read “Big Sister.” Did I mention that I was in the 12-18 months section?? I was like, Et tu, Carter’s?
It seems like as soon as the fog of new parenthood clears just slightly, I mean just enough so that you can see your hand in front of your face on some days, the entire […]
A few weeks ago, I watched in amusement (and horror) as Quinn reached for our T.V. remote (the one we’d de-batteried and left within her general reach), cupped it to her ear, and said “Hieee?”
Had she really seen me on the phone that much? No, I had been careful about not talking too much, or at least talking when I thought she was otherwise engaged, or at least talking for only very very short conversations. Hadn’t I?
But the reality of […]
I am not just a control freak, I am an I-need-to -stay-alert-every-second-of-the-flight-or-else-the-plane-will-crash control freak. I am also a planner, a list-maker, an organizer and a workaholic.
Or, wait, I mean I was those things. A long time ago. Back before I became a mom. (Just 14 months ago.)
I had approached motherhood the way I had approached all other milestones: with a carefully detailed five-year-plan that I followed to a T. Hubby and I married in 2004, I got my Master’s Degree […]
The other day at the park, I met a mom who told me her little girl was 29 months old. It took me a while to do the math and figure out that she was almost two and a half. I don’t know what the statute of limitations is on counting babies’ ages in months, but I always thought it ended at two years.
I mean, I’m sure that the months still matter, and I will probably want to eat my […]