The early days of parenthood: All I See is You
The following poem on parenthood is one of the most beautiful, raw literary pieces I’ve come across. It’s an excerpt from the All I See is You poetry book by Jessica Urlichs. I’ve returned to it often over the past couple of years, and it makes me sob every single time. For me, nothing has…
We had babies 14 months apart. Here’s how I prepared.
My babies are 14 months apart. When I was pregnant with our second daughter, Camille, I struggled a lot with how such a monumental change would affect her older sister Aurelia. After all, Aurelia was herself still a baby. I had faith that my husband and I would eventually figure out how to raise two…
Holiday gifts for toddlers
My husband and I try to be mindful about the types (and amount) of toys that our daughters have access to at home. We’ve been fairly minimalistic in our approach, particularly regarding how many toys are available at any given time. (I have a toy and book rotation in place so that they only have…
A whimsical nursery edit: part 1
From the very beginning, I never put much thought into our nursery. I think for the same reason that we didn’t name our daughters until a day or more after they were born, I thought we’d always decorate their room once we got a better sense for who they are and what they like. But…
Favorite books for a 9-month old baby
I read to our daughter pretty regularly from the very beginning, but only recently has she started showing a real interest in books. She’s nine and a half months old now, and about a week ago, she actually started “asking” to be read to. (As an avid reader, my heart melted on the spot!) Not…
What I learned from our first trip with baby
My husband and I recently took a short three-day trip to the beach with our daughter, who is nine months old. We stayed in Seagrove, Florida, which is about five and a half hours from where we live in Atlanta. Considering the longest we’ve been in the car at any given time is two hours,…
Reframing your parenting challenges
This week, my husband has been away on a work trip. This marks the first time he and I have been apart since February 2020, and the only time I’ve been home with our daughter for an extended period of time without him. I’m spoiled in a big way. I won’t lie; leading up to…
What’s the origin of your fear?
Yesterday, I had my 15-week prenatal appointment with my midwife. During every appointment, she goes through a checklist of questions related to my physical and emotional wellbeing. This time, when she asked about how I’m doing emotionally, I paused. I told her about the anxiety I’ve felt related to violence in our area, particularly gun…
Parenting as a catalyst for personal growth
Topics related to personal growth and parenting have been on my mind a lot lately: how we’re raised as people pleasers, how to recognize childhood trauma and ways that postpartum healing is as emotional as it is physical. Digging deep to explore your psyche, separate your true self from learned behaviors and heal old wounds…
Learning & development toys for newborn – 7 months
As I’ve written before, I regret not including more learning and development toys on our baby registry before my daughter was born. It wasn’t the end of the world, but as a first-time mom, I was really surprised how quickly she was ready to engage with her environment, and I felt a bit unprepared. The…
Validating your trauma
The term “trauma” gets thrown around a lot in the context of personal growth. When I first started on my journey, I believed that trauma resulted from a catastrophic event or unhealthy environment…that it was reserved for victims of extreme suffering brought on by poverty, physical abuse or being raised by a parent battling addiction.…
Parenting choices and repeating patterns
I’ve been thinking a lot lately about how we show up as parents based on what was modeled for us as children. As I look around at the people closest to me, I see example after example of either parents trying to replicate their own childhood or parents desperately trying to create the exact opposite…
Gift for mom to honor a rainbow baby
I’m not a huge fan of the term “push present,” a gift given by a loved one marking the occasion of “pushing” a baby into the world. But I love the sentiment of honoring the birth of a baby and mom’s transition into motherhood. My husband and I agreed that I would look for something…
2 great resources for your child’s learning & development
Since our daughter was born, I’ve become very interested in how to keep her engaged throughout the day and the best way to support her cognitive growth based on where she is developmentally. I’ve found two really incredibly helpful resources: Busy Toddler – Susie Allison’s parenting philosophy is that you shouldn’t spend all your time…
Thoughts on empowering our daughters
A distinct memory from my childhood came to me yesterday…as often happens now that I’m a parent. I was in a high-school-aged-female Bible study, and the two female teachers were showing us how to respond when men in our church hugged us inappropriately (too closely). Their advice was to aim for a side hug to…
2 tips for navigating colic & a word on tongue ties
Doesn’t that picture just leave a knot in your stomach?! Our daughter was born with a tongue tie, lip tie and cheek ties which basically means that the soft tissues in her mouth restricted her mouth movement and ability to latch. Although it sounds straightforward, it was fairly difficult to diagnose and determine treatment options;…
A case for color
I’ve always been interested in color theory, the notion that colors in your environment can affect your mood, behavior, sleep and memory. Once I got pregnant and started reading more about a baby’s development, I became even more interested in the link between a baby’s eye sight development, cognitive development and color. Each of the…