Parenthood

Today, my best friend came to me with all kinds of wonderful ideas about helping out in our community and things my family could get involved in together. Intentions were awesome, and his heart was in an extraordinary place....

It started with a boo-boo. She face-planted off a Costco bottle of laundry detergent. Blood oozed from her lip and tears poured from her eyes as she buried her face in my neck. At 15-months old, it was my...

Before I got pregnant, I assumed I would continue working full time. A friend of mine said, "I'm a better mom when I work," and it made a lot of sense. I figured spending all day, every day with...

  Conversations with mom friends can be insightful and helpful. Actually, I’ve found my mom friends to be instrumental in my survival throughout this first year of raising my first child. Baby product recommendations, translating various cries, encouragement at crazy...

  I'm not a big holiday decorator, but I love children's holiday books. There's no shortage of Halloween books, but it can be tricky to find them for young children. For the little ones, you need Halloween books that are...

Making new friends as a mom can be an awkward experience. It feels a little like being in high school again, fraught with uncertainty and hesitation, which can certainly bring insecurities to the surface -- does she like me?...

October is Down Syndrome Awareness Month and, if you have a friend with a family member who has Down syndrome, your Facebook or Instagram may become flooded with informative posts about what exactly Down syndrome is.  However, you don’t often...

As a military spouse, I’ve been conditioned to expect bumps in the road. Changes are inevitable, everything is taken with a grain of salt, and nothing is official until it’s in the rear view mirror. I’ve come to take...

People often ask me how I do it. How do I survive a deployment with two kids? How can I train for a marathon while my husband is gone? How do I spend quality time with two kids when...

(Disclaimer: If you are one of my friends who live in Wichita Falls, Texas, and you are NOT military, close your eyes and scroll down a bit until you see my first point. I am not interested in losing...

While only seven, four, and two years old, my kids are obsessed with music. My 4-year-old can pick out a beat from a mile away. That kid is always moving to the music. The other two love it as...

Two years after my husband and I were married, we faced our first deployment. We didn't have any children yet, so it was just him and me. At the time, we were living in Chicago with no family nearby.  After...