Today, my youngest turns four. As I always do on each of the kids' birthdays, I’m reflecting on the circumstances of his birth: when and how it started (pathetic, infrequent contractions the day after his due date); how long it took (4 hours of active labor); those final moments before we met him (in the …
Usually, by the time I get to this point in December, I’m already starting to feel the letdown of Christmas being over. I know, I know, that’s kind of lame when Christmas is still a week out, but sometimes, I’m so excited about anticipating Christmas that when it gets this close, it almost feels like …
Whether you're giving or receiving, gifts can be one of the sweetest parts of life. Today I'm sharing six gifts that hold happy memories (complete with a few vintage photos!). Snowbabies ornaments. When I was in 8th grade, we took a school field trip to Frankenmuth, MI. I can’t even remember why we went or …
At our house, we go big with sunscreen. For the kids, we use a mineral-based brand. It turns their skin just a little bit white, and they look like little ghost children playing in the pool or on the beach. But I’ll be loyal to this particular brand forever because in 2017, we went to …
Our family has been no stranger to The Unexpected over the past couple of years. And yet, this COVID-19 crisis, and quarantine, and a quarter of the school year left unfinished, and now my 8-week furlough from my still-new job, still took us by surprise. When we found ourselves suddenly in a position of having …
I am the mother of four children under the age of ten, and if I had a dollar for every time someone told me to cherish these moments because the time goes by quickly, I could fund the research to build a time machine so I could actually hold onto these days forever. This is …
