Tag: babies

Elizabeth

LTFP

Kids

(Leave Time for Poop)

Or, “You just can’t make this sh** up.”

I was going to be on time. I really was. Everything was ready, the diaper bag was packed, snacks and waters and wipes. We were actually going to get to the parking lot with enough minutes to unload the car, walk at a 3-year-old’s short legs’ pace, and be where we were supposed to be right on time, without hurrying, rushing, worrying, or needing to pray for green lights.

And then, as I picked up the baby to carry him to his car seat, an unmistakable smell reached my nose….

Elizabeth

Young Baby Plus Sick Toddler

Self-Care

…equals I have been getting absolutely nothing done. For all of February and half of March, I’ve been achieving bare minimums, but barely. We dipped into some freezer meals (which is why I bothered to freeze the freezer meals, so, Thank you, Past Me, for doing that, at least). I like to meal plan and make my grocery lists in [usually two separate] uninterrupted chunks of focus. When I am interrupted, it takes me significantly longer to do these tasks, because I’ll forget where I was and have to redo a few steps. When I don’t have any time when I might not be interrupted, I just….

Elizabeth

Birth Story, #4

Kids

Where has the time gone? At 7 weeks old, my sweet little guy is more than halfway through his “newborn” time. I’m trying to soak up all the snuggles.

But today, I have his birth story for you. 

You know, I never was into birth stories until I wrote my first one (about my third birth experience), and then I got interested in what different details women choose to include when telling theirs, as well as all the very different ways a birth can go. I’ve retrospectively written about births #1 and #2 since then as well. If you’re not a birth story person, feel free to skip. Details are more or less uncensored. FYI.

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This was my shortest full-term pregnancy yet….

Elizabeth

Birth Story, #1

Kids

My oldest is six-and-a-half now. 😱 She’s tall and skinny, but still has baby-face cheeks. That one runs in the family. 🤷‍♀️ For lack of more exciting content, and because it seemed unfair that Cecily’s is posted here but not the other kids’, I thought I’d share her birth story with you this month as she enters first grade. 😭 (Luke’s to come….someday.)

*Usual warning about details about body parts and functions. Keep reading at your own risk.*

I was 41 weeks pregnant. I went to my routine—at that point semi-weekly—appointment with my OB. Everything was fine. She said….

Elizabeth

The Worst Cake I’ve Ever Made

Food

My baby girl turned one last month. She’s my third. We already have everything a one year old could possibly need. And we were about to be moving. So, I didn’t get her a birthday present. And there was a pandemic going on. So, I didn’t throw her a birthday party. I felt kind of guilty about it, because I got my other kids First Birthday Presents, and hosted First Birthday Parties for each of them. But, such is the nature of Baby #3 having her First Birthday in 2020.

I calmed my conscience about it with the intention of making her a cute and delicious First Birthday Cake. “The cake will be the gift,” I kept telling myself….

Elizabeth

Use Your Village

Self-Care

This month, I have taken dinner to two families who have recently welcomed new babies. I love bringing meals to people who need them. It’s a perfect outlet for my charism for hospitality. I didn’t discover my love for cooking for other people until after I had my first baby and got to experience how helpful it was when other people brought us food. It was like a light turned on. What an easy way to “love your neighbor,” for me, who loves baking, likes cooking, and loves babies (the most frequent reason I’m signing up on a Meal Train).

Elizabeth

How to Make a Baby Laugh

Kids

Baby giggles are among the most delicious sounds known to mankind.

Some of my other favorites include tires driving over wet pavement, toddlers singing Jesus Loves Me, and the sound of a child’s breathing just as he falls asleep.

But the baby giggles—I’m pretty sure—universally make humans smile. Once they start, you just want to keep them going. Am I wrong? …

Elizabeth

Birth Story, #3

Kids

Pregnancy is over! My baby is here! I got more than five hours of sleep last night! Hurray! Here’s a picture of my now two week old precious darling baby girl, Cecily Germaine: At risk of oversharing, here is the birth story. If you’re not into body function details, maybe skip it. If you love birth stories, have a listen. Background: With Miryam, I was induced one week overdue. Luke came on his own two days overdue. I had the epidural with both of them. I almost didn’t get the epidural with Luke, because I felt I was managing