Friends, it wasn’t the prettiest day in motherhood today. I’m certain you’d understand my list of excuses and justifications, and really, it wasn’t all that bad…but it didn’t take long after my hopeful day-survival plan was drafted over my morning cup of coffee before the frazzled-mom alter ego showed up. I”ll spare you all the details, but I have to share that I happened to...
When we packed up our little sedan to move to Colorado for a couple of weeks I spent the last few hours picking up messes and cleaning out rooms for some friends who would be staying in our place. By the time we left our house was like a different house – so much cleaner than usual, and it felt great! While picking up...
Ladies and Gentlemen, Today I took my toddlers to the beach by myself. and survived. I’ve been wanting to earn my Motherhood Beach Badge for so long, but it has been a way-too-intimidating hurdle for me. There’s mess, gear, parking, cars…and what about rogue waves? Conquering this feat today was motivated by hot weather reports and sheer desperation: we just can’t repeat the past two...
After much anticipation (and years of jumping on the bed), Whitney has finally reached the JUMP milestone. Yay! For those of you who might not have the opportunity to witness the many little steps that make up something like jumping (since most often a kid hits a certain point and you say “jump” and he just does it, right?) here’s what it looked like...
Me: “Dylan, tell Daddy where we went after nap!” Dylan: “poo poo” Me: “Dylan, which book do you want to read?” Dylan: “poo poo” Whitney: “poo poo” <sigh> The potty talk has begun. I should have seen it coming when a few months ago the ketchup bottle squirted and Dylan started laughing uncontrollably. Is it coincidence that bathroom humor is kicking in shortly after...
She graduated!!! …to another year of preschool, that is. She’ll be in the same classroom with the same teaching team with a few of the same classmates next year. One big change is that Dylan will be doing private preschool at the classroom next door (they share the playground) for two mornings each week. We are very happy with how this year went for...
My apologies for the dead air for the past two weeks. A combination of busy calendar and kids testing my limits with yet another round of nap wars (sprinkled with a heap of general consistent defiance) have buried my blog thoughts a few rungs down on the priority list. But I’m going to survive. There’s hope. Lately…. The kids break through our slider onto...
Whitney has so much joy. She delights in the simple things. She loves people and joining in with whatever the fun is. She really enjoys her life. She has her own ideas of what she wants (and is typically stubborn about getting it). I love hearing her laugh. I’m constantly reminded how worthwhile her life is. It’s worthwhile of her delighted experience of it,...
In response to my post about finding out Whitney’s Down Syndrome diagnosis, I was interviewed by 4Word Women about dealing with unmet expectations in motherhood. The interview came out today – check it out here! Work, Pray, Love. 4Word Women is a site geared toward professional women seeking balance in career, relationships, and faith. ...
Unfortunately, timeliness is not my forte. I’ve been that person sliding into the back seats of the lecture hall and running through the airport terminal carrying my shoes because I didn’t even have time to put them on after the security lines. Each time, I’m kicking myself for letting it happen again. Wrangling kids only amplifies the timeliness challenge – although they also buy...
Lord help us. We have some stubborn kiddos. We are in a stage where they want to do everything by themselves, but can’t quite do it yet…or can’t do it in any reasonable about of time. This is true for everything from getting dressed and buckled in car seats to pulling the wagon and pouring their own milk. Oh that I would be more...
It was March 23, 2010 when they told us our baby would have Down syndrome. I was 4 months pregnant. The news was devastating. It’s very fresh in my mind still, what it felt like. I can go there, my heart wide open. It was a season of mourning – grief for the typical baby I thought I was having, as well as a...