As a new mother, it’s impossible not to watch more experienced moms (read: any mom with a baby at least 6 weeks older than your baby) and feel a tinge of envy. How is she doing that {insert whatever random and not very impressive task she is doing} with such ease!?? Why do I look like such a rank…
Celebrating Easter for Fun and Profit
Since having baby Nolan I’ve often thought about the traditions that I want to make a part of our growing family. And naturally, the source of my knowledge regarding family traditions is my own family. Drawing on your own family experiences when thinking about the traditions you want for your new baby will work in…
Does Having a Baby Make You a Woman?
Photo credit: Christina McPherson Photography We are coming upon Easter, that time of year when we celebrate the greatest miracle of the Lord by dressing middle aged men up as creepy bunnies and letting them loose at our malls. It is also the time of year when a new mom can really shine, as she…
The #1 Way to be a Thrifty Stay-At-Home Mom
Being a stay at home mom comes with many challenges, like how to explain that even though you don’t have a job anymore you still cannot find a way to clean the bathtub. Another major challenge is how to maintain a social life on your diminished finances. I cannot help you with an answer to the…
The Secret Danger of Day Care: How Competent Providers Highlight Your Glaring Parental Incompetence
A question that many of us face with a new baby, beyond the obvious one of where in God’s name did the belly button stump disappear to, is the question of who will watch your child if you’re planning to go back to work. Grandparents? Day Care? A nanny? A friendly but unkempt pack of…
8 Signs Your Baby is Having a Mid-Year Crisis
Today is Nolan’s 6-month birthday, and I think we all know what that means. That’s right, we have come upon the infamous Mid-Year Crisis plaguing baby boys everywhere. It’s that time when babies grapple with the passage of time, re-evaluate their priorities, and, in more extreme cases, start behaving like Charlie Sheen. Actually, the Charlie…
Sleep Training Our 7 Month Old: What Were We Waiting For?
For the past two months, Brian and I have been well aware that we’re overdue to sleep train Nolan (age 7 months). This awareness came not because we are particularly observant parents, but because Nolan’s ability to wedge his baby/man-thighs into his swing (which he enjoys sleeping in) was lessening with each new fat…
Infant Safety Training
Brian and I recently attended an Infant Safety Training course, and I was feeling pretty proud of myself for signing us up, despite being completely unenthusiastic about actually going. This is a hallmark of good parenting. Whatever sense of pride we felt upon enrolling was stifled when we realized we were joining a new mom and…
Advanced Maternal Age Here I Come!
Sometime around the middle of my pregnancy with Nolan, my dad sought me out to offer the following consolation: “Liz, I have a very interesting article for you on getting pregnant as an older women. It’s very promising. Hopeful even.” “Ahh, thanks Dad, I’ll check it out.” “I already went ahead and checked it out…
The Mommy Forums (alternatively titled ‘WTF’)
Becoming a new mom is many things. It is unparalleled exhaustion. It is indescribable tenderness. It is incomprehensible freakin’ acronyms at every turn. A typical post on a pregnancy forum goes a little something like this: DH and I are TTC and have been doing the BD for two months, no results yet! I can’t…