My Favorite Time of Day

Funny, isn't it, how even though we love our children more than we can describe, even though we think they're so sweet, funny, clever and delightful, even though we look at them with such awe and wonder as they grow bigger and smarter each day, despite all that... Sometimes "nap time" is still our favorite time of day.

Maybe I don't speak for you, but that's where I am right now. I have a beautiful and smart little girl who is one of my all-time favorite people to be around and I have a cuddly, sweet baby boy who is so sweet and laid back and is starting to smile and interact with me more and more. They are my favorites and I love spending each day with them, but the peace and quiet of nap time is the time of day that I live for. Sometimes I just need an hour to myself.

Embracing Uncertainty

There is so much we can't know or anticipate about the future. We can always make plans, and as a planner, I always do. We can create lists, family goals for how many children we hope to have, financial goals for how much money we hope to make or save or spend on a house, career goals for what we want to do and where we want to live... Plans for how we will raise and educate our children. Plans for what parenting mistakes we will be sure never to make. Plans for where and how our next birth experience will go... The list goes on forever. We all like to plan, and we all like to feel control and autonomy over our future. But the more we plan, the more opportunities we have to learn about what happens when life doesn't go according to our plans.

Boy or Girl? Why We Love Finding Out

"I don't know how people wait to find out. I could never do that!"

"We wanted the birth to be extra special, and I wouldn't change the excitement of that moment in the delivery room for anything!"

"We wanted to be prepared, to paint the nursery and buy the right clothes."

"We didn't want to only get pink or blue gifts, and you never really know until the baby is born anyway. "

"There are so few real surprises left in life!"

"The surprise is the same whether it happens four months earlier or not!"

I think the reasons why some parents wait to find out and some parents want to know as soon as possible are really interesting. This is one area of parenting where I really think there is no right or wrong way to do it. From the reasons people give why they found out or didn't find out I am convinced that most of the time the underlying reason is the same.

Raising Children Without Clutter

I have always been drawn to big, open, clean and simply decorated spaces. I have a strong dislike for knick knacks. If something hasn't been used in a few months I start to daydream about getting rid of it. I don't want to own any kitchen gadgets that have only one special, rare use. I like basics, things that I can use regularly and that can be used for everyday tasks.

Although we have been married for almost five years now, I haven't gotten to really decorate a home yet. We have moved three times already and will move two more times in the next year and a half. That combined with renting means that I live wherever I am placed happily without painting a single wall or buying any new furniture. Our interior design style is currently, "eclectic free stuff that still functions" and we are happy with that for now. So while I don't know what color palette I prefer to decorate in or what furniture style is "me", I do know that my signature design preference is "less is more."

Loving simplicity and open clean spaces typically doesn't mesh well with having kids. Anyone who has children knows that they come with a lot of stuff. And not pretty stuff. Bright, primary colored, loud, plastic, many-tiny-pieces toys, endless stacks of board books, and lots of other useful and necessary essentials like diapers, lotions, soaps, blankets, sippy cups, bibs, and the like. It just goes on and on!

The Gift of Pregnancy

In about five months our family will change in a big way. We will go from a family of three to a family of four. My baby girl will be a big sister, no longer the baby or only child of the family. We will have two precious children to love, care for, get to know, and enjoy. 

Of course, we really are already a family of four, even if most of the changes will come later. Pregnancy is such an interesting time. There  is so much anticipation, so much waiting, so many questions, so many possibilities. I tell my daughter about the baby in my tummy, but I don't think she understands quite yet. I talk to my husband about all the symptoms I have, or if I feel the baby moving, or the puzzle over what to wear in that awkward stage between your regular clothes and maternity clothes. He listens and is genuinely interested and supportive, but so far I am the one experiencing most aspects of this pregnancy.