After 10 Books You Must Read to Your Daughter, I thought the boys were getting rather left out. Having never been a boy, this list didn't come as naturally. But, being the mother of a boy it seems equally important. Basically, I want my son to be a confident, thoughtful, compassionate, strong-minded, and virtuous man like Mr. Knightley, not a weak, desire-driven, selfish cad like Willoughby. So … [Read more...]
10 Books You Must Read to Your Daughter (Or How to Keep Your Daughter From Ending Up Like That Horrid Girl in Twilight)
So now we have a baby daughter. Look how she slumbers. She doesn’t even know that I stay up at night worrying about her self-image. And, oh horrors! What if someday she wants to read Stephanie Meyer’s literary atrocity, the Twilight series? You know the one, the books featuring a non-descript female protagonist who, in addition to having no interests or talents of any kind (other than smelling … [Read more...]
Sleep During the Newborn Stage (Or, How to Survive Exhaustion)
After Benjamin was born I thought I would go mad from lack of sleep. I would sob from sheer exhaustion during the early morning hours when he would inevitably be awake--night after night after night. But this time it's so different. Mostly because Lucy is such a champ at sleeping (up only once or twice a night) and doesn't have the colic and reflux that plagued our boy, but also because I think my … [Read more...]
On the Last Day of Christmas…
(Lucy's Christmas shoes and special Christmas china from Daniel's mom) We are: Listening to Christmas Music Drinking Hot Chocolate (miraculously, Benjamin hasn't spilled it yet) And, by Benjamin's request, watching the Nutcracker This little Christmas elf is enjoying the last day of Christmastide. I think this little man is going to miss the Christmas season. Or perhaps I … [Read more...]
Our Year in Pictures: 2011!
I think Daniel and I both agree that 2011 was our best year to date. Here’s some highlights (which turned out to become a monstrously long post with mostly pregnancy pics, oh well). January Daniel got a new job and we hoped to get pregnant again. Benjamin continued to amaze us with the joy he brought to our world. February In February we celebrated Benjamin's 2nd Birthday … [Read more...]
First Advent: Repost
This is a repost from last year of a piece I wrote for our beloved Landing Literary Society in Waco about what pregnancy taught me about Advent and I'm thinking of sweet friends who are expecting this year during the Advent season (hi, Jen, Jeni, and Emily!) ---------------------------------- I was huge. Not just big—gigantic. Even before I entered my third trimester, well-intentioned old … [Read more...]
My Happiest Memory
Last week at prenatal yoga, we did a pose for an extended period of time and our instructor asked us to think of our happiest memory. “What IS my happiest memory?” I thought. Nothing immediately jumped out at me. I considered the usual: wedding day, engagement, Benjamin’s birth, all days filled with joy, but none of them seemed as if they were hands down the happiest so I kept thinking. Then a … [Read more...]
Pregnancy Update: Week 30
I can't believe that I'm 3/4 done with this pregnancy (if I carry until 40 weeks, that is ). I still feel pretty great, although I start to lose energy by around 8 or 8:30pm. I think the prenatal yoga is helping to keep my lower back from hurting too much as I carry this growing little girl around. All good news from our midwife last week: no gestational diabetes, just need some more iron so … [Read more...]
Benjamin’s Birth Story: Part Three
This is Part Three. You can catch up by reading Part One and Part Two. My water still hadn’t broken so Christy, our midwife, asked if we would like her to break it and we agreed. This was 6pm. By 7pm Benjamin’s head was still tranverse and the contractions were still out of this world but I didn’t have the urge to push yet. But due to being able to labor all around the room and get things … [Read more...]
Benjamin’s Birth Story: Part Two
This is Part Two. If you missed Part One you can read it here. By the time we got to the hospital I was 7 cm and labor was intense. Daniel and I wanted to use the Bradley Method of husband-coached natural childbirth (no drugs). Christy, our midwife, suggested that Daniel and I walk around the halls to keep things progressing. During the next few hours my contractions intensified until they … [Read more...]