Ron and I have always enjoyed traveling and exploring the world, even before we met each other. In fact, our shared love of travel was one of the things that drew us to each other nearly 13 years ago. I actually didn’t grow up flying and traveling internationally. I am from a small town in Oklahoma, and the first time I ever flew on an airplane was when I was 19 (all the way to Germany!). This ignited something in me though, and I quickly found a passion for traveling the world.
Read MoreIt is no secret that every one of my family members is an avid reader. So much so, that recently we decided to track how many books our family read in one single week, and we surprised even ourselves. We read a whopping 468 childrens books in one week (plus another 876 pages between Ron and I!)
First of all, why is reading so important with children? Well, I think we all know that children need to be able to read at certain levels to thrive in school, but it goes beyond that.
Read MoreIt’s Mother’s Day today. For most of my Mother’s Days, I’ve found it to be more of a sad day than a happy one. Of course, I am grateful for the kids I have and this life of motherhood. But days like today tend to remind me more of the one who I don’t get to mother my son Roman. I’ve only held him once, for just a few short hours. When I held him, it felt like he was with us, just asleep in my arms, just as any newborn would be. But as the hours went on, and he never cried out for me, never yawned and stretched, and his body became noticebly colder in my arms, reality quickly settled back in, and the pain would wash over me again. I desperately wished to be able to mother him in those moments (and every moment since). The truth is, while I am forever Roman’s mom, I will never have the opportunity to mother Roman.
Read MoreDid you know that 65 million people around the world have epilepsy?
Did you know that 1 in 26 people in the United States will develop epilepsy at some point in their lifetime?
Did you know that for 6 out of 10 people with epilepsy, the cause is unknown?
If you had asked me a year ago, I certainly wouldn’t have known. I wouldn’t have given much thought to this disorder. I wouldn’t have noticed that there seem to be bright flashing lights everywhere we go. I wouldn’t have thought twice about letting my child swim in the water, while I watched from the sidelines. And I wouldn’t have known how to help someone having a seizure.
But that all changed for us in 2021.
Read MoreFor each child we’ve brought home, I have written a weekly blog post for their first year of life. So of course I intend to do the same for Anders…even if I am already late on his first post!
For this first blog post, I’ll share Anders’ birth story! My pregnancy with Anders was completely smooth and uneventful for the majority of the time. Then as I started hitting the 30’s weeks of this pregnancy my blood pressure slowly started creeping up.
A couple of years ago, I wrote this blog post, sharing some tips and tricks for traveling with little ones. Pandemic aside, we travel a lot. In the last 7 years, we’ve traveled to 20 states, and 5 countries with our four children (and a couple international trips without kids!). Ron & I both loved to travel before ever meeting each other, and we didn’t want to stop once we had children. Of course travel looks very different now than it did 10 years ago. I’ll be honest, it’s a lot of work, it’s stressful at times, and not always restful. (Am I selling you on traveling with kids yet?) But at the end of the day, it’s so worth it. The memories we’ve shared with our children, the cultures they’ve experienced, the sheer beauty of this world, are all indescribably worth it.
Read MoreA month ago I wrote a blog post entitled “Goodbye NYC…” where we officially shared that we were moving, and I shared memories from the past decade of living in New York. Now it’s time for me to share the other side of this story—where we moved to!
Read Moreork.
It is a place unlike any other, and I have had the privilege to call it home for the past 9 years. I’ve eaten “mad” bagels and ordered countless “pies.” So many trips to the bodega. Killed too many roaches to count. Schlepped my groceries and stroller (sometimes at the same time) up endless flights of subway stairs. Mastered folding up a stroller, while holding children and bags to get on the bus.endless flights of subway stairs. Mastered folding up a stroller, while holding children and bags to get on the bus.
Read MoreOur sweet little Jackson, who is not quite 7 months has joined some of the youngest in history to have performed on Broadway!
Read MoreHi Everyone! So as many of you know, we just got back from a week long vacation in Martinique. I’ve had so many questions circling around this trip, so I thought I’d write a post to answer some questions specific to Martinique, as well as some tips on traveling with kids while on a budget!
Read MoreOn November 26, 2017, at 38 weeks and 3 days, I felt Roman move inside my womb for what would be the last time. Every night around 11:00pm, Roman would get the hiccups and perform a circus routine, and that night was no different. So just like any other night, I fell asleep to the peaceful lull of his hiccups.
Read MoreNovember 27th, 2017 is a day that will forever remain etched on my mind and my heart and physically on my body. That was the day that we had to say goodbye to our third child Roman. In the 365 days since I have grieved, some days more than others. My grief remains even as I write these words. What an interesting emotion to experience. We all have experienced it at some point in our lives and at varying degrees. One of my favorite authors Joan Didion explains her grief after the sudden loss of her husband of four decades. She writes:
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