Ages & Stages

Every mom knows that mornings + kids = organized (sometimes) chaos. Today, several of our contributors give you a peek into their morning routines. Kristen: I am not good at mornings. At the getting out of bed part that is. I usually have to be forced by either my husband or my son. And while our mornings are never really the same, we have found something of a routine. Our alarm goes off at 5, but we snooze until 5:30—unless our other alarm has gone off and is crying (which is usually between 5 and 6 am).  I get out of bed, put on my robe, and head to Sam’s room.  My husband gets up, feeds the dog and cats, and takes a shower....

While I was pregnant with my now almost-9-month-old son, William, I of course had lots of expectations for what life would be like once he arrived, but I really think that you can’t truly know what it’s like to have a new baby until you experience it. Many of my fellow bloggers have either recently had babies or are currently expecting, and that has me thinking about my own experiences when my son was born. I sat down recently and made a list of some things that I will remember most about being a brand-new mom. Everyone’s experience is different, and these are a few things that I will remember about having my first baby: There was a lot of...

Once I found out I was having a little boy, I was elated.  I heard it from everywhere, "Oh, boys just love their mommas!" I couldn't wait for the kisses, snuggles, and crying for me and only me.  Call me a bit self-absorbed, but after 10 months of carrying the boy and 21 months of nursing, I was ready to sit back and soak up all the admiration. Buuut that never happened. My son is the biggest daddy's boy that ever existed! And I'll be honest, I've let a 2-year-old hurt my feelings from time to time as he scraped his knee and ran past me to reach for daddy and demand his boo-boo kisses.  Or when he wakes up in...

Fun story: my son caught his first cold the other day. He got it from my husband and I, and he woke up with a runny nose and a cough. I kept an eye on him that morning and he seemed to get worse as the day went on. By noon his eyes were glassy and he seemed pretty miserable. I called the pediatrician and the nurse said he had an opening right then if we could come into the office right away. So I quickly loaded my son into the car and sped off to the doctor, only to wait an hour and a half. And what’s worse than waiting forever at the doctor with a sick baby? Waiting...

As a mom to a two-year-old, I am learning very quickly that people aren't kidding when they say a toddler's vocabulary doubles overnight.  Judah is rapidly saying new phrases, sentences, words, and is making our home and car a much louder and interactive place to be.  But with all his new ways of communicating, he can be a little...demanding. Since I live a good 30 minutes from Baton Rouge, the car has become my quiet place to and from work.  I think about things, listen to music (or books!), pray for friends and family, but mainly I just tune out.  That is, until Judah is in the car with me.  When I get Mr. Chatterbox on board, he wants to...