Our Impossible Adoption Story
If you're looking for the unbelievable account of how "impossible" became "done" in 5 business days, start here.
Good Reads
They tell you, “It gets easier.” They lie. {Nothing By The Book}
So there she is. The new mom, the first-time mom, and she’s so exhausted and she so clearly needs—what? A hug, help, empathy, reassurance. And you—you’re a good person, and so you want to give it to her. So there you go. Run up to her. Smile. And you want to say, you’re going to say: “It gets easier.” Don’t. Just f***ing don’t.
Baked Apples and Blood-Letting
Photo Credit: Eat Healthy
About ten minutes after returning home, I realized how ridiculous was the scene I got to play that day.
(I tried to recreate it in stick figures, but it just couldn’t be done.)
I sat on the floor, leaning up against the edge of the chalkboard wall that guards one side of our refrigerator, applying pressure – over my head – to my right pinky finger. A little light-headed from hunger and an aversion to my own blood, I sang, “You are my sunshine,” with all the gusto I could manage … because the Meatball was trapped in his carseat atop a kitchen chair, and starting to get fussy.
I paused between repetitions, closed my eyes, and exhaled through my nostrils at what was happening. Read more…
Look At Me! I LOVE The Bandwagon! Weee!
Photo Credit: Shannon Ritter
Bad news, guys.
Gluten hates me.
Which makes me sad, because I’ve always been great to gluten. Always favored it. Always given it more than its due.
I’ve mocked the gluten-free fad (because diet fads, as a rule, are ridiculous anyway). I’ve bragged about my love of all things doughy.
Mmm … bread.
And I don’t even just mean dessert bread. Sugar-y bread. Special bread with cheese baked onto the top, or zucchini shredded on the inside, or butter gently melting into the plush, steaming slice.
Those are all good, of course, but even a little whole-wheat roll, fresh out of the oven with a thin, crisp crust and a fluffy, grain-y inside, is heavenly.
Heavenly
But it’s been five months and every night I go to bed frustrated at the leftover belly under my nursing bra. Read more…
Good Reads
20 Things Every Parent Should Hear {HuffPost}
7. At the end of organization, at the end of patience, at the end of perfection, we die to ourselves. And then love rises from the ashes. It sucks. And then it gets better. And then it sucks again. Still, love rises.
The Neuroscience of Calming a Baby {Psychology Today}
This study is the first to show that the infant calming response to carrying is a coordinated set of central, motor, and cardiac regulations that is an evolutionarily preserved aspect of mother-infant interactions, the researchers say.
Five Month Outtakes
The Meatball is five months old already!
It doesn’t matter how many times someone says, “It goes so fast,” I’ve decided it’s impossible to brace for.
At five months old he’s humongous and he weighs a ton. Those are the basics.
He’s in 3-6 and 6-month clothes. We’ve actually had to purchase clothes finally, because most of the stuff we have that he fits into is for babies in Alaska to sleep in. Here in northern Illinois we’ve skipped spring (or it just rained the WHOLE time), and moved right into 80/90-degrees and full-on humidity. So we met the nice ladies at our local baby consignment shop. (Super cute)
No teeth yet, but if he’s not cutting them as we speak … he’s adjusting poorly to the hot humidity. IDK which it is. Or if it’s a growth spurt. Or sleep regression. Or some new way that I’m traumatizing him for life as a new mommy who has quit reading the advice columns.
He’s been a little cranky the past couple of days.
Not that you’d know it from these pictures. The only problem we have with these now is that he’s so used to being photographed, he mostly just sits patiently until it’s over. Which is nice, but also makes for less hilarious outtakes. But here they are anyway: Read more…
Spits and Wiggles 