Don’t Let Baby Crowd Your Marriage

When a baby enters your family, the whole world seems to change. There is a lot of joy and happiness to go around. Each new day is beautiful and special, and as a mother, you look at life in a whole new way. It truly is miraculous. But, there is something else that comes along with babies that you have to be careful about. It is letting that baby control the world in which you and your husband now live. There is always an adjustment period that comes along with each new life you bring into your family. For a … Continue reading →

Locked Out Part II

Back to the front door I tried to shake and wiggle it unlocked. No luck. I tried to slip a hand saw from the garage between the screen and door frame. No luck. I tried to push in the screen in order to squeeze my hand in to unlock the lock. No luck. I called my husband to tell him that we were locked out and that he would have to break the door to get us in and he was in the midst of helping a coworker with a flat tire. He headed home. I was freezing but the … Continue reading →

Locked Out Part I

I hate to admit it but it is one of my biggest fears to find myself locked out. I am horrified that I might lock my keys in the car or that I might close our locked front door, only to discover that my keys are still inside, which would prevent me from getting into my car with young children (especially in this cold weather). My three year old son usually does a good job reminding me to make sure that I have important things before we leave the house: “Mom do you have your phone, keys, water, grocery list, … Continue reading →

When Mommy’s Away, Baby Will Play

This weekend, I’m going out of town for the first time and leaving my baby home with my husband. It is an exciting time for me because in the almost 7 years that I’ve been a mom, this is the first time I will leave my kids for an entire weekend and not have another person to look after. It is going to be amazing. And, very weird. In fact, I started thinking about how weird it will be for my baby. He pretty much has not left my side since I popped him out 14 months ago. He is … Continue reading →

A Baby Will Turn You Into Someone Different Than You’ve Ever Imagined

My youngest sister has her first baby now. And, as a result, I think I have become her go-to person when she is wondering anything about motherhood. From breastfeeding, to “what’s that!”, to “should I worry?” questions, it has brought us a little closer as sisters. We are 8 years apart in age, but now it seems like now that she is a Mom, we have plenty to talk about. I look at her reaction to things and smile now that I have have survived 3 newborns. She texted me the other day to let me know that she had … Continue reading →

The Bath Time Circus

Giving my kids baths has always been a fun experience when they are babies. They love to splash and kick, the warm water soothes them, and my babies have all loved bath time. But, recently my little guy has become Trouble with a capital “T” at bath time. It is driving me a little crazy. Gone are the days when he would just lay in the water, kick his legs and smile up at me happily. Now, he is a crazy man all over the place. He wants toys to entertain him (understandable since he sees his older siblings with them) … Continue reading →

A Day in the Life of Your Baby

Sometimes, I look at my baby and wonder what he is thinking. After all, I have so much control over his day to day life, and he has hardly any, and I wonder if he is ever puzzled by what is going on around him. In fact, I don’t really need to wonder, because I know he is. But, if you look at it from his perspective, it has to be kind of strange. He is pulled out of bed and gets to crawl around on the floor for a bit. We hop in the car to take Daddy somewhere, … Continue reading →

Christmas Morning Part II

While I was cooking and baking Christmas breakfast, our son was insistent that we help him find a pair of his “toy” drum sticks. I insisted that he should check under the tree and see if Santa left a long and narrow gift. I told him that if Santa was going to go through all the trouble of getting him a drum, that it would be pretty silly of Santa to not bring him some drum sticks too. Our son searched under the tree but thought that every gift was long and narrow! After I pointed him to the right … Continue reading →

Christmas Morning Part I

After all our frugal preparations for Christmas, I was particularly excited for Christmas morning this year. Our son was really excited about Santa Claus bring presents to put under the tree. Our daughter, who had just turned one, was far more interested in opening presents and listening to Christmas music this year than last year. We were excited and interested to see how she would react to the lit tree with presents beneath. I went to bed on Christmas Eve excited for the morning. Little did I know that it would come sooner than I expected. At four thirty on … Continue reading →

A Very Frugal Christmas Part I

While I try really hard not to get too caught up in the commercialism of Christmas gifting, I absolutely love the magic of Christmas morning with stuffed stockings and a good number of beautifully wrapped presents under the Christmas tree. In years past, I have purchased moderately expensive gifts for my family and thought nothing of it. However, the current economic downturn combined with graduate student loans and a car payment, has changed my ability to buy whatever I deemed to be perfect gifts for my family. This year we are doing something very different. Unlike previous years, we set … Continue reading →