• Family & Motherhood

    I Should Be Sleeping…

    Every time Olivia  finally settles down for a nap during the day, the same thought runs through my head: “What should I do?” 1. Get dressed 2. Make my bed, do laundry 3. Wash bottles and dishes 4. Work and send emails 5. Watch one of my re-recorded shows (Scandal needs to be watched uninterrupted) 6. Sleep I know moms out there would tell me the obvious choice would be to take a nap, but let me tell you the problem with that. If I nap, I’ll be thinking about the 5 other things that I should just do so I don’t have to worry about them later. It’s a…

  • Family & Motherhood

    3 months!

    The first 3 months of a baby’s life is no joke. Justin and I had to learn how to keep a tiny, 4 pound, 5 week early preemie baby fed, rested and alive with minimal crying. That was the goal. Keep the baby that we worked so hard to get alive and well. All the while figuring out life as parents, taking naps, dimming lights and speaking softly. Before we had a baby, Justin would come home and turn on the TV and we’d talk about our day while I was in the kitchen making noise and cooking dinner. Now when he comes home we dim the lights, speak softly…

  • Family & Motherhood

    the first mother’s day

    I read this article the other day about how the first mother’s day is the best one. I get it. Aside from the fact that my little one will be mobile and probably talking by the next one, it’s not the reason why I think the first Mother’s Day is the best one. This year is the first one I spend as a mom, hanging out with my mom friends and talking about the best baby carriers, how to travel with a baby and other topics I never thought I’d partake in. Instead of celebrating my mom on her day, I’ll also be celebrated. Although it makes me sad that…

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    Family & Motherhood

    Mama Bear

    “You are Mama Bear”, the pediatrician’s nurse said to me. I used to shake my head at moms who I thought were “extreme” about their babies- washing hands, using hand sanitizer and practicing “cocooning” (sheltering until the baby is old enough to handle visitors and outdoors). I’m talking about that mom that has a specific way of caring for her baby (from diaper changes to bottle feeding) and keeps a close eye on how other people handle her. It’s the mom that stands by their kid through the good, the bad and the ugly. They are the Mama Bears. I’ve heard them roar and I’ve joined their pack. As a…

  • Family & Motherhood

    Our Little One

    Everything happens for a reason. Timing is everything. There was a short 5 weeks left to plan everything. Just having signed a lease to a new place that had an extra bedroom to build a nursery in, we were just starting to get everything together. A short 5 weeks, I would tell myself. 5 weeks can go by so fast. I wasn’t prepared to deliver 5 weeks early due to severe preeclampsia and HELLP syndrome that developed what seemed like overnight. My baby wanted out and my body was tired of playing host. The doctors kept saying that if I was induced it would give my family time to get…

  • Family & Motherhood

    baby thoughts: 3rd trimester

    I finally reached the 3rd trimester, the home stretch, or the time to start freaking out about all the things that still need to get done before the baby comes. I can totally understand and sympathize with pregnant mommys-to-be that just want their baby to be born. Enough of the bloating, heavy feeling, heartburn, GERD, and tiredness that comes with carrying a new life. The one cool thing that has  made the symptoms more tolerable is being able to feel her move. Justin can now feel her and we can see my belly move when she’s “choreographing”. Pregnancy is so weird. 1. How big is the baby? I’m 29 weeks…

  • Family & Motherhood

    Merry Christmas 2014

    Every Christmas we get our fair share of holiday cards from people that we are lucky to have in our lives. A time where friendship and family really shine and come together to celebrate love. This year is especially important for me because my family decided to make the trip up to San Francisco and spend it with me. With a year that’s been a whole lot of adjustment, the fact that they made the trip to be with me brings me so much happiness it brings me to overwhelming tears (in my defense, I’m also hormonal). My sister and I built a gingerbread house (a first for this family),…

  • Family & Motherhood

    baby thoughts: lessons for our little girl

    “What are some of the most important lessons you want to focus on teaching the baby?” I was watching Ellen DeGeneres the other day (as I religiously do) and Ashton Kutcher was on talking about his new baby girl. He said something that really struck a chord with me and made me tear up a bit. He said “people are focused on making the world a better place for our children, but I want to make better children for our world. Having a baby is the greatest opportunity to do just that.” A couple of weeks ago Justin and I casually brought up the subject of what we thought was…

  • Family & Motherhood

    What It Means to Say “I’m Busy”

    In 2011 I was working full time at a job I hated, planning a wedding and finishing up my MBA. I was “busy” in the most logical of terms. With waking up at 8am to be at work by 9, leaving early and hitting rush hour traffic to get to class by 6pm and then coming home to look at flower vendor contracts, I’m surprised I even saw my now husband and fed the dog every night. Although I remember being so busy, what I don’t remember is skipping out on the things I really wanted to do. I went to concerts, dinners, movies and made time to call my…

  • Family & Motherhood

    baby thoughts: halfway through

    I can’t believe I’m halfway through this pregnancy thing. Although not the smoothest pregnancy and isn’t showing signs of getting better (although it’s also not showing signs of getting worse which I am immensely grateful for), it has been cool to listen to her heart beat whenever we want, which was made possible by a family friend who let us borrow her fetal doppler 🙂 I have been a little dissapointed with these supposed “pregnancy cravings”, which I really haven’t had yet. I think my love for cesar salad and kettle chips were because my body didn’t go into complete freak-out mode when I had them. I’m also finding that…