It was time to prepare. There was church to attend, floors to clean, dishes to wash, frosting to make, napkins to fold, and all manner of mess to clear from the floors before guests arrived. There was no time for squandering time. Things had to be done. And so it was that our son was enlisted into the army of cleaners. There was no ceremony or badges (no time for any of that of course), but there was drill sergeant-like orders barked from all sides. “Move, Private!” “Does that look clean to you?” “What do you mean you can’t see … Continue reading →

There are a lot of things that never change. Human relationships are important; we are driven to strive for happiness (but confused by what it is and how to find it); power is corrupting. By their very definition, traditions are supposedly unchangeable. But traditions are one of the things that historically have changed, ever so slowly, over time. Whether through marriage, death, cultural shifts, or other necessities; traditions are generally less stable than we would like to admit. Recently, I had the opportunity to be part of a new Christmas tradition that is trying to take hold. My son recently … Continue reading →

On thanksgiving day, my daughter awoke from her nap to find herself in an unfamiliar house with lots of unfamiliar faces all around her. She was not a fan of this particular situation. Initially when anyone got too close to her she, she would start bawling and would find the fastest route back to me. Realizing that she was not going to put up with me being in a different room, I took up residence on the living room floor while she played with some toys and her cousin (she was fine with the other baby everyone else was terrifying). … Continue reading →

Last year on thanksgiving I was thirty six weeks pregnant with my daughter. I remember going to our family get togethers and feeling quite self conscious of my enormous pregnant belly. My daughter missed out on last year’s thanksgiving by three weeks, but this year she most certainly made her presence known. She began her first thanksgiving giggling and playing on the bed waking me up from my slumber. She very decidedly let me know that she was done sleeping and wanted to go downstairs. Apparently she was really hungry because she ate twice as much egg yolk than she … Continue reading →

Lunch time was a the most hectic part of the girls’ play date. They all wanted to eat at once, which is no great surprise when three infants are involved. This whole situation was slightly stressed by the fact that we only have one high chair and a tableless bumbo. The most upset girl got the high chair. I gave her some bits of cheese and frozen organic cheese to tide her over while I made her peanut butter toast. My daughter seemed to be the least upset (and it is no wonder being in her own house) so I … Continue reading →

After the initial tumbling introductions, the girls begin to play… but not with each other. The girls were all clad in cute girly attire and new shoes. My sister’s daughter, who is the oldest at fourteen months, just got her first pair of sparkly tennis shoes two weeks prior to our playdate. By now she is a very accomplished walker even though she did not start to walk until after her first birthday. With her advanced walking skills she kind of assumed the role of queen bee. My husband’s sister-in-law’s daughter had also recently gotten a new pair of shoes … Continue reading →

After selecting several articles of clothing for my daughter, my mother-in-law and moved on to looking for some clothes for my son, which was surprisingly more difficult than shopping for my daughter. Since jeans were a must, I set my attention on scouring up all the different styles of jeans. The perfect pair was a straight fit jean in a darker wash with a dragon embroidered on the left pant leg (my son is currently fascinated with dragons). Much to my dismay they did not appear to have his size, but the saleswoman was able to track down a pair … Continue reading →

While my daughter, mother-in-law, and I were picking out shoes for my daughter, grandpa and my son were busy finding some dress pants for daddy; grandpa felt that he (daddy) must be in need of some new “khaki” pants to wear to work (my husband typically wears jeans to work without issue). Still grandpa wanted to buy my husband some new pants so he and my son had the sales woman collecting many different options while my son apparently entertained her with his antics. After a quick nursing break for my daughter and after grandma touched base with grandpa; my … Continue reading →

On our shopping excursion with my children’s grandma and grandpa, I selected several pairs of shoes to be retrieved in two different sizes for my son to try. Once I had the first pair of shoes fitted, I asked him to walk around to see how they felt. He walked around and found a play area complete with a large train set. The shoes felt fine to him and he was more interested in playing with trains than trying on shoes; no surprise there! I coaxed him back and quickly tried four more pairs of shoes on him and hastily … Continue reading →