S'mores Life

Dear Second Child, I'm not sorry that I'm just now completing the photo book from the year I was pregnant with you, and haven't even begun your baby photo book. You turn five in less than four months. I'm not sorry that your older sister had her newborn pictures professionally printed within two weeks of her birth, and I just now ordered pictures to fill your "Baby every month" frame. I'm not sorry that in your sister's baby book, I marked the date for every new tooth, and she has a special compartment for hair from her first haircut. All I have for you is the statement I told the dentist "I don't know, she was a late teether because I remember being glad I only worried about being bit while nursing for a few months. I think she 11 months when she got her first tooth?" And I found a baggie with hair I'd saved from when I trimmed your bangs for the first time recently, but when I reached in and my hand unexpectedly came into cont...

Here's a sign that you aren't regularly discussing your body: You have to google "leg muscle above knee" before you write a blog post about self-care,  self-love and your body. Part of my job is running the social media accounts for my employer. I enjoy it and it's great because I post at least 75% of what is posted which means I get to screen almost every picture of me before it goes up. Which means a lot of pictures of me do NOT go up. Another part of this job means people send me pictures from events I may not be at or may be unable to have my phone with me. A few weeks ago someone sent me a bunch of great photos. And one photo of me. I was in front of a crowd, speaking, and holding one of my kids. And I immediately started shaming myself. You look disgusting. You look pregnant. Your hair is so frizzy. Your face is so red. You're gross. Then came the rationalizing... Well your phone is in your pocket. That's why your butt looks huge. Those pan...

If you haven't unfollowed me on social media by now, you're probably aware that I'm well into the 365 Grateful project right now. 324 days in, to be exact. I take a picture a day of something I'm grateful for. I post daily to instagram, and anywhere from 1-10 photos at a time to Facebook. And I'm done. You're likely wondering why. I'm SO close. It's a cool thing, to look back on a picture from every day of this year, and if I kept it up I could make a whole photo book of our year. Even as I type this, I'm wondering if I'm making a mistake. I started this project after a really, really rough 2015 . I thought it would give me something positive to focus on, remember small things to be grateful for, and try and be a glass half full kinda gal. The thing that I've learned is, there are a lot of things that I do struggle with, but being grateful is not one of them. I'm grateful for so many things. Even after the last few difficult years, ...

If you’re reading this, there’s a good chance you’re a parent of small children, or you once were and can look back on these years with rose colored glasses (I’m jealous, when can I get me some of those?!) and so you know exactly what I’m talking about when I say that I’m constantly answering questions. Constantly. Sometimes I even have the answer to those questions. “Mom, are you peeing or pooping?” Always in a public restroom…Always. “What are you eating?” “Why do you like coffee?” BECAUSE SURVIVAL, KID. “Mom, how did I get out of your belly?”  “Will I see Meme again in Heaven?” “When you met Daddy, was I already in your belly?” “Where does God live? I know in our hearts, but where can I see Him?” Always at bedtime…what is it about bedtime that turns our little ones into theologians and philosophers?! And then,  sometimes  a lot of times, I don’t have the answers. “What do hyenas eat?” Thank God for google. “How ...

I have been seeing a lot of and discussion on my message boards and things on pinterest recently about starting family traditions for the holidays (whichever ones your family celebrates) and with Christmas being my FAVORITE time of year, I have decided to blog about what our family traditions are. Some have carried on from our families of origin and some Ian and I have started together, or plan to start this year. I know this is early but 1) I start listening to Christmas music in October and 2) we always try to complete most of our Christmas "errands" before Thanksgiving/December so we can really enjoy the Advent season . That is the main reason, but it's also financial - if we buy a gift or two a month starting in April, our bank account takes less of a hit. Current/Ongoing Family Traditions: Black Friday - On the day after Thanksgiving, my little sister comes over. We decorate the tree, the house, watch Christmas movies, do Christmas crafts and eat leftovers from...

I have been listening to Christmas music for two weeks. It feels really weird to be listening to Christmas music while surrounded by pumpkins, but instead of this making me think I could possibly  be listening to "Breath of Heaven" a bit too early...I am considering taking down the pumpkins and putting up the Christmas Tree a bit earlier. ;) I know people are just trying to make conversation, but it really pisses me off when random strangers give me advice or make negative comments about my parenting/my kid. I know, welcome to the rest of my life. But seriously...no, she does not need her ears pierced just so you can tell she's a girl. No, she does not need sunscreen during Hurricane Sandy. Yesterday in the  Safeway parking lot, it was 60 degrees with a slight breeze. I'm trying to force winter so I was wearing a fleece and sweating to death. Clara and I were walking from the store to our car, so about 30 feet, and her hood wasn't on. She had on a warm outfit a...

One of my favorite cloth diaper vendors had a facebook status of "You should never say ____ to a pregnant woman." the other day. I easily typed out eight  things off the top of my head, all of which were said to me more than once  while pregnant. And I easily continued to think of more but didn't want to turn BumGenuis' facebook into my blog, so I ran here to vent about it. Don't get me wrong, I loved loved loved being pregnant. I loved the anticipation and wondering if the baby was a boy or a girl. I loved feeling her move, and watching my stomach roll like ocean waves. I loved her hiccups, even though when I first found out babies did that in utero it freaked me the F out. I loved the thick, long hair pregnancy gave me and the crazy cravings. I also loved having swollen ankles and swass. Ok, I didn't love those things but now that it's been almost a year (!!!) since I was pregnant I can look at pregnancy through rose-colored glasses. Which is what it s...

My first official blog post! I feel like this should be more exciting than it is. As it is, I am wearing sweat pants that my 5 month old peed on (a few hours ago, and yes, I have yet to take them off. This should tell you a lot about me already), listening to my hubby chuckle to his book in bed behind me, and contemplating whether or not I'll take a shower after this or (more likely) attempt some rare sleep. For a quick intro to all my readers out there (Ha, ha...) My name is Erynne, I am a wife to my loving and kind of strange husband Ian, and a stay at home mommy to my beautiful and funny daughter Clara. We are originally from Alaska but are currently "displaced" (aka permanent residents in denial) in Maryland and have been so for over four years now. I hope writing this blog will provide some much needed "me" time and help me decompress my thoughts about being a new mommy and life in general. If some readers find me along the way, that'd be pretty fun t...