Archive for the ‘Me as a Mom’ Category

How He Rolls

Silas has conquered his big boy bike!  For his birthday last week, he got his first bike with peddles.  Prior to that, he rolled European style- with a training bike that’s just like a standard bike – minus the peddles.
Silas grew so tall so fast, that he never comfortably fit on a tricycle or any [...]

Motherhood Compromises

I’m incredibly selfish- and putting aside some of my own wishes for the betterment of my family and kiddos has been no small feat in these 3.5 years that I’ve been a mommy. What I’ve learned- is that sometimes it’s all about compromise, mommy-style:
- sleeping in has become 7am instead of 9:30
- “privacy” for me [...]

No Greater Joy

I was reminded yesterday that there is no greater joy than watching your child filled with delight.
We had decided to go out for pizza as a family… which is no small task given our local options.  So- we committed to the 40 minute drive to get to the Montrose pit-stop… a little slice of somewhat-fast-food [...]

Boys and Blood

I know it is inevitable.  I have a little boy, and he will bleed.  He will fall and his tears will pierce my heart and I will wonder who is hurting more… him or me.  Tonight Silas took the biggest spill of his 2.5 years.  He was in the sun room, moving rather quickly towards [...]

This Moment

There’s no where else I’d rather be… I’ve got my daughter sleeping on my chest… just have a look…

3 Minutes

My heart started pounding when he wasn’t standing there. My eyes scurried around in a frenzy- taking everything in, but not him. I heard my voice yelling his name- but the undercurrent of kids at play was so much louder. Thoughts of what to do next assaulted my brain as rapidly as machine [...]

Go-Go Gadget…

Even with all the extra help I have right now- I’ve frequently found myself wanting one more hand, one more arm, one more lap.  I don’t want to look freaky, I just want to be able to say “go-go gadget (enter whatever the need).”  And I know I’m getting even better at multi-tasking… which I [...]

It Takes a Village

Hmmmm- my first post on parenting two kiddos.  Where do I even begin?  I guess as I sift through my thoughts, there is really only one starting point.  And that is… this thing called parenting… it takes a village. I can say pretty confidently that newborn care is MUCH easier the second time around.  It [...]

happy birth day

Guest Post by a Friend
At 1:20 this afternoon, Alece Sophia Riep was welcomed into the world through c-section. Amy sure knows how to grow ‘em… Alece is 9 pounds, 6 ounces, and 21 inches long. And Dave got his wish… she has a full head of jet-black hair!
She is absolutely beautiful. I couldn’t look at [...]

The Final Countdown

If all goes as scheduled- tomorrow at this time I will be face to face with my baby girl… and yet at this moment she’s still squirming inside of me.  That blows my mind.  Having this delivery “appointment” blows my mind.  In some ways the countdown is excruciating… too much time to think. In other [...]

A Proud Mommy Moment

Spring has been totally different for us this year compared to last year. A year ago, Silas was just learning to walk… and now, he’s Mr. Adventure. Give him a chance to run, and he’s off. Give him a play structure… and he’ll leave no part unconquered. Saturday morning, after strolling through [...]

Pillow Mountain

The last couple of days have been unusually cold- in fact we actually had snow flurries yesterday. This is very traumatic to Silas, who has embraced Spring with such vigor that we’re usually outside walking (or waddling- as I do) around the block by 8am. Being confined once more to inside play space [...]

Leave it to the Pros…

I’ve been cutting my husband’s hair for a decade. It all started when we were newly married, undergraduate students, broke, and really flexible. To save a few bucks, we invested in a pair of Conair clippers from Wal-Mart and decided I would be the family stylist. The first few hair cuts were admittedly [...]

Moments to Remember

Tonight I had one of those parenting moments that I wish I could bottle… and save for a rainy day, or a day when my children are grown… or for any moment that I need reminded of why I am mom. Silas’ bedtime has always been one of my favorite parts of the day. Not [...]

Contemplating Parenthood?

I’ve been chewing on a book since August. I read a chapter… underline, write notes in the margin, take a deep breath, put the book down for a week or two…then pick it up again. It’s meaty. For every parent (physical or spiritual) out there… it is a must read. For everyone contemplating parenthood…it’s a [...]

Two Lines

It was a week ago today. As I stepped into the bathroom, my eyes sought out what they were seeking, and I got my answer. During the three minutes prior… I felt like time was paused. I felt the effort of my breathing… I let my mind wander ahead to a place of joy [...]

Who Knew?

Silas has had a runny tummy the last few days and his bottom is worse for the ware. This afternoon, I broke down and called the nurse-advice line at our pediatrician’s office. I’ll admit, I felt kind of silly calling over something as “simple” as the big D and diaper rash. But it turns out [...]

While He Naps…

Having two hours to myself in the middle of every afternoon might sound like a dream for most people. So… I just wanted to provide a little reality check… here we go:
12:00- Silas goes for his nap12:10- clean up the morning kitchen mess from breakfast, snack, and lunch12:30- Start 1st load of laundry12:35- Start [...]

Kindred Strangers

When we got back home after our summer hiatus, I randomly found a mom’s group in my area through meetup.com. I had never heard of that website before- but just happen to be doing a broad search for “moms clubs” and this site came up. After the rigmarole of “applying” to be part [...]

Behold!! A Sign…

From the time Silas was about 6 months old- I had several people ask me if we were going to teach him sign language. I was skeptical, and never really committed to learning some basic signs myself- let alone trying to teach them to Silas. But, with my increasing desires to be able [...]

Teachable Moments

I had a parenting ah-ha moment today. I finally get why, by the end of the day when I’m putting Silas to bed, I feel so tired – and to be honest quite drained. Because every moment of parenting is a teachable moment. From the moment Silas rises, until he is put to bed [...]

Popsicle Paradise

One of Silas’ new-found summer treats is a popsicle… it’s become an almost nightly endeavor, where we head outside just before bath time and he gets filthy gobbling down and making a drip trail of his favorite flavors. Now that he’s gotten the hang of what a Popsicle is…he’s all about holding it himself [...]

"Just" a Mom

I’ve answered the question, “so what do you do” probably a hundred times since becoming a stay-at-home mom and I still find myself baffled at the responses I get… oh, that must be so nice…you’re so lucky to not have to juggle work/family…it must be great to not work…wow- no 9 to 5, I just [...]

BE A HERO- & help me give back

With Silas’ 1st birthday approaching quickly (it’s Sunday!) I’ve found my thoughts sifting back through the events that took place one year ago. I have a renewed gratefulness about my life- about the gift of being Silas’ mom- about being here and experiencing the day by day. It is a good time for me to [...]

Hang in, Hold on, Hug Tight

I have this canvas in my family room- it was a gift from Alece- and in the past 24 hours I’ve found myself looking at it and repeating it often. Silas woke up from his afternoon nap yesterday with explosive diarrhea. He was not himself the rest of the day and after his evening bottle, [...]

Two Peas in a Pod

Inadvertently- I am that mother who has coordinating outerwear with her infant son. It was completely coincidental- but I get a private chuckle when Silas & I are out and about and people look at me like… she dresses her and her son to match! So- here’s the story behind our matching outerwear. For Christmas, [...]

La-La Hysterics

Yesterday, I had a 15-minute stretch of time that ranks among the best times in my life. It was a shared spontaneous combustion of laughter between me and Silas. He was laying on his back, and he had his head turned to face me. I was laying on my side, facing him. He’s been having [...]

A Mother-Bear Moment

I’ve been fortunate enough that I haven’t been in any accidents with Silas before today (but don’t worry- nothing major happened). I always kind of wondered what it would be like to have my “mother-bear” instincts kick in to full gear in a split second. Would my prior 29+ years of self-preservation really take [...]

Show and Tell

Silas has had teeth for about a month now- but Dave and I struggled to see them because Silas would always “hide” them- he would close his lips or stick his tongue out any time we tried to get a good look. Now, they’ve grown up enough that they are visible when he smiles, and [...]

SPLAT!!

If I was going to give the past week of my life a theme- the two leading choices would be ’splat’ and ‘bodily semi-solids.’ No doubt- this is not a post for the faint of stomach, but I’ll start you off easily. So Silas has invented this new game- where he gets a mouth full [...]

Harvest Hysterics

It all started about a month ago. I got a fall issue of a parenting magazine and looked through it with wide eyes- anticipating my favorite season of the year! The magazine had this great fall spread of how to enjoy this time of year with your little ones (okay, the ideas were for children [...]

Let Me Have It

Silas is 7-1/2 months old and he has his first nasty cold. He’s taking it like a champ; after waking up and being vertical for awhile he finds ways to still be cheery and playful. But he also seems a little needier than usual- he wants to be held a lot and he moans a [...]

Johnson & Johnson

I love the Johnson & Johnson commercials that feature various baby products and end with “having a baby changes everything.” I got to thinking today- about how much having Silas has changed me, and I thought you might enjoy some of the less obvious changes that motherhood has fostered in me.

First, I am now a [...]

Single Parenting

Two days a week I tend to feel like a single parent. Dave leaves the house first thing in the morning and arrives home after dark, when Silas is tucked away in bed. On these days- Silas’ care from sunrise to his sunset is my sole responsibility. At times- it feels like an overwhelming responsibility. [...]

Half-Birthday

Is it really possible that Silas is six-months-old? Yesterday, all day, I kept telling Dave that it was Silas’ half-birthday. I can’t believe we’ve crossed the ’rounding up’ digit on our way to the one-year mark. It seems like it is all going by too quickly. I remember when he was a newborn and we’d [...]

Full-Time Mom…and LOVING it!

Can I be honest? Those first 8 weeks I had at home with Silas while on maternity leave were not fun. Don’t get me wrong- they were special in their own way, but adjusting to parenthood was a real challenge for me- it felt like so much work and everything about caring for Silas [...]

From the beginning

It was a year ago today that I found out I was pregnant with Silas. Is that really possible- he’s been ‘with’ me in one capacity or another for a whole year? I’ve uttered prayers from a mother’s heart on his behalf for 365 days!! I remember this anniversary with such overwhelming and exciting anticipation. [...]

8 Weeks

Where have the last 8 weeks gone? Tomorrow it is back to work for me- and I can’t believe it. When I first brought Silas home I thought eight weeks would seem like a long time- two months devoted to nothing but caring for him and bonding with him. Now I feel like “WAIT- we’ve [...]

Moment by Moment

This past week I’ve been surprised at how many lessons parenting holds for me that aren’t necessarily directly related to being a mom. It’s like a whole new deep cavern of my being has been opened and the initial shock of light that has been the adjustment to parenthood is now starting to foster change [...]

Baby Boot Camp

I borrowed the title phrase from my older sister, who has described the first few months of parenting as baby boot camp. Now that I’m a few weeks in to parenting Silas- I am feeling like I’ve jumped in headfirst to an intensive training regimen! There is definitely fatigue and at times physical exhaustion; [...]

Arrival: March 4, 2006

Silas’ arrival was so much different than I ever would have imagined or prepared for. On Thursday, March 2, I had a regular OB appointment scheduled and I left from work around 1:00pm. I had no idea that life was about to change, drastically. At the appointment, my blood pressure was really high and [...]