Especially when you make it to yourself…so here is my daily post, however short. The only time I spent with Little Man today was squeezed in between conference calls, but he sure was the highlight of my day.
Sleep Begets Sleep
Sleep Begets Sleep. This is the single most important thing that I have learned since becoming a mom, and it has been the guiding principle that has dictated much of the way I parent. And yet, it still routinely SHOCKS me how true it is. I read “Healthy Sleep Habits, Happy Child” by Marc Weissbluth… Read More
I Did Not Know…
I was all organized. Lists made, priorities noted. I went to bed early and set my alarm for 5am. I was ready to conquer the New Year. The baby had other plans. He did not wish to sleep, and was up several times in the night for hours at a time. He didn’t want to… Read More
We.
It was not the two weeks I planned for, but it was an amazing last two weeks of 2022. We got sidelined by Covid, despite all eligible family members being vaccinated, and it forced us to spend 10 full days together. No one in, no one out. We crafted. We puzzled. We gamed. We rode… Read More
31 Posts in 31 Days
I’m gonna try to breathe some life into this blog. 31 posts in 31 days. I can do it. They can be short or long. Ugly or pretty. Thoughtful or spontaneous. I just need to write something…anything…to get myself in the groove again. Writing…or, at the very least, expressing (or maybe explaining?) myself creatively…for some… Read More
Not All Days Are Pretty
Monday morning took me by surprise. W was, shall we say, “reluctant” in getting out of bed yesterday morning. She took one bite of her breakfast. She was not enthused with the outfit I selected for her, despite the fact that a jean skirt and a fox-print shirt were involved. But she gamely got in… Read More
Avoiding the Daily Grind
Just when we started to get our new routine down, the four-day weekend threw a wrench in it! We had a great few days off, though. On Friday, Don’s mom came and watched R for the day so we could take the girls on the boat one last time. It looked like it was going… Read More
A New Rhythm
Two first days of school under the belt. One was a FIRST-first day…preschool! The other began kindergarten. Both broke my heart. While the pandemic has been so difficult for so many, for me, it was absolutely and undoubtedly the greatest blessing of my life. Never in a million years would I have gotten to spend… Read More
Edited or Filtered?
I got up early yesterday, and yet I didn’t post. With all the sadness on the news and my kids starting back to school, I have a lot of heavy thoughts rolling around. And so, I am somehow once again falling into the trap of thinking that I have to post something profound or at… Read More
Time Passes
It’s amazing how much time has gone by since my last blog post. It was (relatively) easy to write when R was smaller…he slept easily and almost anywhere! Then once he slipped into a nap rhythm, it paradoxically became MORE difficult. He’s a great sleeper at night, but naps are more difficult for him, and… Read More
Dirty Little Secret
We’ve taken an afternoon nap together every day since the day he was born. He listens to my heartbeat, and I listen to his tiny breaths. It’s hard to believe that, while he still fits perfectly under my chin right now, someday he will be a fully grown man that could smush me under his… Read More
PPD or the Baby Blues?
My most vivid memories from when B (my oldest) was born are not pleasant ones. I remember collapsing on the floor of the shower and sobbing uncontrollably the night we got home from the hospital. I remember trying to sing a lullaby to help her sleep, but I couldn’t remember the words to a single… Read More
Indecisive Much?
Last week, I actually had a legit mini social encounter, for the first time in MONTHS. I was walking with Baby R strapped to my chest while W rode her bike. A neighbor popped out to say hi and see the baby, and we chatted for a few minutes. She was SO kind and friendly… Read More
Life Update: Three Weeks Old!
Little Man is Three Weeks Old! Time is flying by. He is starting to look more awake at times and is really checking out his surroundings. He particularly enjoys marveling at ceiling fans, the photos of the girls behind the couch, and my hot pink and white striped bathrobe. R is, thankfully, an AMAZINGLY chill… Read More
And just like that…
Well, folks…a month went by, just like that. And now I have a family of 5. Crazy how time flies and things change in a blink. I was hoping I would make more time to write as maternity leave kicked off, but I went into full-blown CRAZY nesting mode. Every closet in this house is… Read More
Our Birth Story
It’s always crazy to me how, for all the babies born in this world, every birth story is unique and different. I know this might sound bonkers, but I absolutely love the PROCESS of giving birth, as messy and ugly and painful and raw as it is…all three times. Even before I had a blog,… Read More
Who, Me, Fitness?!?
So I actually wrote this a few weeks ago but I’ve hesitated to put it up, for reasons that will immediately become obvious. I am not a fitness blogger nor do I have any desire to EVER be one, but I *DO* really enjoy reading about REAL people and their REAL struggles/successes to manage their… Read More
To Breech or Not to Breech?
I’ve been obsessed with the idea that maybe the baby is breech since 26 weeks. At that point, I went into the hospital’s labor and delivery on a Saturday because I had a little bleeding for no good reason and my doctor wanted me to get checked out. Everything looked good, except the resident casually… Read More
On Monday’s We Make Lists: Self-Care Goals Until Baby (16 days at most!)
Prenatal strength 2-3 days per week/Prenatal yoga 2-3 days per week 10k steps per day Nap every day In bed at 9:30pm That’s it. I feel like my actual to do list is longer now that I’m off work than it was while I was on, because all of the sudden there are a million… Read More
And…exhale.
I’ve been MIA from the blog while I tried to wrap up ALL THE THINGS at work. But now… Maternity leave has begun. It was easier walking away this time. Even though my temporary replacement HASN’T been selected yet. Even though I didn’t get a chance to transition someone into the role. Even though our… Read More
On Mondays We Make Lists
Who am I kidding…I make lists ALL THE TIME. I have dozen of lists in dozens of categories in three different notebooks, and I actually DO use/read/update them all frequently. Gift lists, places to travel, habits I want to acquire, posts I want to write, things I need to buy, things I want to stop… Read More
Hangovers
So I didn’t fully realize that St. Patrick’s Day was a THING with kids. I suppose I should have guessed this. My girls go to Catholic school, after all. B came home talking about the mischievous leprechaun they were trying to catch at school for over a week straight! And during a work conference call… Read More
Do You Have a Tell?
Mine is my left eye. When I’m getting rundown, the lower lid starts to twitch. Not super dramatically (you’re probably not going to notice it on a Zoom call) but much more subtly (if we are face-to-face, you will NOT be able to stop glancing at it). Don has taken to calling me Lissa “Left… Read More
Satan is Coming
This is a gross story that I probably shouldn’t put on the internet, but maybe it will help someone. My dogs are a pair of almost-matching Havanese. They are fluffy and soft and adorable. They are happy and secure and well-loved. They are nine years old and totally housetrained. And they clearly recognize my pregnancy as the… Read More
More Instead of Less
Anyone who has known me for a good period of time KNOWS that I struggle with my weight. Constantly. I am always trying to eat healthfully without going overboard. I have hung around the “disordered eating” space most of my life, although I’ve left a lot of those patterns behind since I had my girls…. Read More
Perfect is Overrated
How do I figure out what to write about every day? The short answer: I force myself to write about the first thing that comes into my head. Some days I have a topic picked out already, because it’s something I really want to share or have been thinking about. Most days, I just latch… Read More
1:1 Magic
My kids are entirely different people after I get some alone time with them, and it absolutely amazes me. Don and I have been making some effort to get 1:1 time with each kid more often before the baby comes. So on Saturday morning, I took B on a mommy/daughter hike (much to the chagrin of… Read More
“Wow…Thank You!”
Anyone else look like a deer in headlights EVERY TIME they are on the receiving end of a money discussion at work? <raises hand gingerly> You’d think after almost twenty years of doing this, I’d be better at it. But the sad answer is no, I’m not. Every time my boss approaches me about money,… Read More
Just Don’t Do It
Despite being a prepper and a planner of the HIGHEST order, I never bothered to read, “What to Expect When You’re Expecting.” I kind of had this feeling that the book would set me up for total misery…like reading the fine print on an aspirin label. (This product can cause WHAT?!?) So with all of… Read More
Friends and Grace
Did you ever notice how you have certain friends where you can pick up right where you left off, no matter how much time has passed? I’ve been thinking about this. What IS it that makes these friends so different? Why can rekindling some dormant friendships sometimes be tremendously awkward and awful, and yet others… Read More
Energy is CONTAGIOUS.
I love working with people, but sometimes it tries to eat me alive. I love to listen. I love to help. I love to troubleshoot and problem-solve and fix. I love to strategize with others, I love to create a plan of attack with a team, I love getting people excited to try and win. … Read More
“She failed the one hour.”
I overheard this sentence from the MAs at the desk outside my door as I sat on the table at my last OB appointment. “F*ck,” I thought. “Again?” This is my third time entering the third trimester of pregnancy. This is my third time taking the one hour glucose screening test for gestational diabetes. This… Read More
“Perfectionizing” the Comfortable
Going back to last Monday’s post about comfort versus risk in your career…I’ve been thinking a lot about this. Everyone, including me, *assumes* that comfort is the easier, more beneficial option. Especially as a working/involved mom/dad, there’s a lot to be said for the familiar. You know the schedule, you know the duties, you know… Read More
A Very Covid Pregnancy
So how HAVE we handled a geriatric pregnancy (I just LOVE that phrase!) during a global pandemic? Two words: very carefully! As a mama-to-be again, there are a lot of unknowns in the last year. The CDC has, at the worst of times, considered pregnant Covid risk to be right up there with the elderly,… Read More