Category: mommyhood

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Favorite tips for surviving (and enjoying) Disney World with kids

Growing up, we were a Disney World family through and through. I feel so fortunate that our spring break family vacations were spent in Florida each year. I also give my parents a lot of credit for putting up with the crowds and the heat and the excitement all of those years.

Magic Kingdom in its late 80s/early 90s glory

I fancied myself quite an expert in the ways of Disney World, navigating the parks and building itineraries in my head. Other than my self-inflicted obsession with planning, having a Disney trip set in stone before even flying to Florida wasn’t necessary. But that was a simpler time.

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When you’re a stay-at-home mom and the customer complains

Stella said something to me last night that broke my heart. It was during bath time, with both girls splashing around together and playing with plastic cups.

“Mama, sometimes you don’t pay attention to me.”

What did she mean?! Isn’t every waking moment spent answering a litany of questions, fielding requests for snacks or refills of milk, suggesting art projects and cleaning them up, and responding to “mama? Mama? MAMA?” a hundred times a day?

“What do you mean, Stella?”

“Sometimes you pay more attention to Margot.”

Well of course! I was your sister’s main food source for the first several months of her life. Remember how she never took bottles? You can dress and use the bathroom by yourself. Your sister is still light-years from that. Most days are spent realizing that your sister has an uncanny ability to find the tiniest piece of something on the rug and want to promptly put it in her mouth. I need to pay more attention to her sometimes. 

“I’m sorry, sweetie. Your sister is still a baby.”

“Yeah, but sometimes I feel lonely.”

Shit. I am failing as a mom. 

“I’m sorry, Stelly. I will try to do better.” My eyes filled with tears and my throat began to hurt.

“Mama, why are you upset? Do you think I don’t like Margot? I love her!”

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Stella’s ‘Coco’-themed 5th birthday party

Our family fell in love with “Coco” the moment we saw it in the theater last year. Stella talked about it so much that I suggested using it as her birthday party theme, and that’s just what we did. A “Coco” theme meant we could have fun with colorful decorations, yummy Mexican food, and plenty of Disney music on the playlist.

My fabulously talented friend Stephanie designed the invitation for Stella’s party. You can find other designs or ask her to do a commission through her Etsy page, Millstar Creative.

This year was the first year we decided to do a friend party for Stella instead of a party with friends and family at our house. Between her preschool classmates and friends outside of school, a party geared toward the kids seemed like the best idea. Having the party a week after her birthday gave us the chance to celebrate with family closer to her actual birthday, and also spread out the fun.

Here are the details of Stella’s birthday party! Continue reading “Stella’s ‘Coco’-themed 5th birthday party”

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To my first baby, as you are turning five

It’s March 1st, and I just completed Stella’s enrollment for kindergarten. I really can’t believe it. I was already feeling a bittersweet sensation as we’ve been counting down the days to her fifth birthday, so the timing of kindergarten registration is another big reminder that our first baby is growing up so fast.

I feel that my words should be directed to Stella, so here is a little letter from me to her. I’m also going to sprinkle in some of my favorite Stella photos from the last five years.

Dear Stella,

No matter how many times I say that you need to stop growing up, you giggle and insist that you absolutely have to grow up. When I ask why, you say it’s because you have to be a big sister. You also reassure me that you’re never going to leave our house and you’re going to live with me and daddy forever. And also that you are going to marry daddy.

You actually say a lot of hilarious and wonderful things, and that’s why we keep a book of your best quotes. Your most recent one happened when I said that you couldn’t have a sucker before dinner, you said “when I have a daughter, I’m going to let her have suckers before dinner. And I’m going to eat kid food, not grownup food.”

I’m sure I said many of the same things to my mom, too. “When I have a daughter, I’m going to ____.” I certainly had some thought as to what life would be like with you, but as any parent comes to realize, I criminally under-anticipated what I was in for. Continue reading “To my first baby, as you are turning five”

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I vaccinate to protect my winter babies

An F-bomb was dropped in our house last month. No, not that one. I’m talking about the dreaded FLU.

Growing up, I only remember thinking that the flu was no fun. As a parent, the flu is downright fearful. What if I get it and can’t take care of my girls? And worse, what if they get it? I’ve seen the conversations in the various mommy groups I belong to on Facebook; moms are scared. Every visit to a public place is wrought with fear of germs. My throat feels scratchy just thinking about grocery carts.

It feels like this flu season has been particularly scary. According to recent reports, the flu is killing up to 4,000 Americans a week. That is staggering. My news feed has been filled with stories about the flu, and it makes me want to stay home and hibernate until the coast is clear.

Despite our entire family getting flu shots at the beginning of the season, Zack was diagnosed with Influenza B a few weeks ago. This kind of thing can happen, even when vaccinated, because of the many different types of flu viruses. After we got the news, he barricaded himself in the basement and the girls and I kept away as much as possible. Thankfully — knock on wood — the girls and I escaped relatively unscathed and Zack was back on his feet a few days later.

Children under the age of five are among those who have a higher risk of developing serious flu complications, which is one of the reasons why making sure the girls both got the flu vaccine this season was very important to me. I can’t imagine how I might have felt about Zack having the flu if Margot was too young to get the vaccine this year. Continue reading “I vaccinate to protect my winter babies”

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The bad days are the longest

I’ve seen a quote about parenthood floating around in mommy groups: “The days are long, but the years are short.” It’s from Gretchen Rubin’s The Happiness Project, and as a mom it rings pretty true. Heck, as a human, it rings true.

However, I would like to make an addendum: The bad days are the longest.

Cue some vintage 2005 Daniel Powter, because yesterday was a really bad day. In the scheme of the things that can happen in a bad day — an accident, a death, losing a job, a major crisis of the mind and/or body — yesterday would barely move the needle on the Worst Days Richter Scale.

And I feel silly even complaining about it. But I also think this feeling is something so many moms (and dads) face and ultimately internalize because, well, not all days can be diamonds. Every parent deals with bad moments; most times, even good days have them. And sometimes bad days have a couple of bright spots.

With everything going on in the world, in our country, heck, right here in mid-Michigan, who cares that some days, I’m not floating on a Valencia-tinted lily pad of motherhood?

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Annmarie Walker is the best newborn photographer in Michigan

In a recent list of the 50 Best Newborn Photographers by State from Bored Panda, Annmarie Walker Photography is featured as the best of Michigan. This comes as no surprise to me, as I’ve admired and enjoyed Annmarie’s beautiful work for years.

Margot, Photography by Annmarie Walker

When two of my cousins had their daughters in 2012, they did newborn sessions with Annmarie, and I fell in love with her photography. The early weeks in a newborn’s life are so precious and fleeting, and Annmarie preserves that time in her gorgeous photos. I knew that whenever I had a baby, I would want to schedule a session with her.

We did just that in 2013 when our daughter Stella was born. In fact, shortly after I found out I was pregnant and due in March, I contacted Annmarie right away to get on her calendar.

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Favorite Costco finds in January

Costco is a magical place. For years, Zack and I have had a membership, but our visits were limited to the location near my parents’ house. Despite great reviews about their freshly prepped foods and prices on staples like eggs and milk, we often stuck with frozen foods and paper products due to the distance from home. That, and treating ourselves to the $1.50 hot dog combo, obviously.

That is, until this past year.

Finally, the Lansing area was blessed with a Costco this past fall, and we’ve been able to enjoy frequent visits ever since. While weekends are very busy, I’ve enjoyed a couple of low-key visits with Margot on weekday afternoons, and it is eerily quiet in there. Margot also doesn’t have to throw elbows when it comes to grabbing samples, so that’s a plus.

Our proximity to the new Costco has opened up a world of possibilities as far as trying out fresh food products, and even venturing into the center aisles of clothing items. Wow there’s a whole new world in there.

Here are some of my favorite Costco finds from this month, including a ready-to-make meat Korean BBQ dish that I’ve turned a few friends onto the last couple of weeks.

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Escape to Margot-ritaville: Margot’s first birthday party

I am pretty notorious for planning and dreaming ahead, from Halloween costumes to birthday parties. I’m also a big fan of puns. So at some point last summer, it dawned on me that Margot’s first birthday party would absolutely have to be a Jimmy Buffett-themed extravaganza called Margot-ritaville.

As a lifelong Parrothead thanks to my mom, I’ve seen Jimmy in concert dozens of times. His songs are tied to so many memories made on boats, in the sand, in the pouring rain, under the summer sun, and everywhere in between.

First birthday parties are usually when the parents can get away with something a little more adult-orientated since the guest of honor doesn’t really know what’s going on anyway — hence why Stella’s first birthday party was Academy Awards-themed with a faux red carpet and caramel corn for favors.

As a Michigan-born January baby, Margot is sort of doomed to celebrate her birthday parties in the winter cold. But being able to ignore the freezing cold for just a day made having a Buffett paradise party that much more fun.

Here are some of my favorite details and how things all came together for Margot’s birthday party.  Continue reading “Escape to Margot-ritaville: Margot’s first birthday party”

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Okay, I finally get it. Kroger ClickList is amazing.

It would be obvious to say that it’s been absolutely freezing outside the last week, with little sign of relief anytime soon. And while times like these mean bunkering down at home with the girls and slowly going stir crazy, some things still need to get done. Namely, grocery shopping.

In that time between getting married and having kids, grocery shopping could be an enjoyable adventure. I could adult and stock our pantry and refrigerator with whatever our hearts desired, lingering in the aisles, deciding what to make for dinner.

But with our little gals, it’s like Supermarket Sweep. I’ve gotta get in and out of there quickly before a meltdown or begging for fruit snacks. I prefer our nearby Kroger because I have the layout and the location of all of our usual list items committed to memory. Nothing annoys me more in a shopping trip than forgetting to get something back in produce, and doubling back over my counter-clockwise path.

I’ve been able to conquer the grocery store or just about any other shopping experience with the girls at my side or in my arms, because necessity of the mother of mothers getting stuff done because it’s gotta get done.

But this week, after the holidays depleted our grocery resources and a vacation away from home, I needed reinforcements. There was no way I wanted to deal with taking the girls out into the freezing cold, stocking up a cart with groceries, loading and unloading. Mama needed some help.

Enter Kroger ClickList. I’ve heard about this magical service (as well as Meijer Curbside and Shipt) from so many friends, but I hadn’t indulged until earlier this week. The truth is I still do like going to the grocery store. I know that even with my list of items, I end up remembering something else we need, or decide to get ingredients for dinner on the fly.

But because of my mini shopping partners and the cold, I tried ClickList this week. And it was amazing.

My only complaint is that our Kroger five minutes away doesn’t participate, but it was worth the 20 minute drive to pull up and have bags of groceries stored in the back within minutes.

The first three times with Kroger ClickList, the service fee is waived. And heck, for days when the high is in the single digits, I will pay that five bucks when my free ones are up.

The Meijer near our house does offer Curbside, but I’ve noticed that the same-day pickup times are often much later in the day than what Kroger has been offering. Because even with convenience and time saved, I still need to be considering naps and temperaments.

My friend Tessa has been singing the praises about Shipt, which I admit I am interested in checking out sometime in the future. But really, if I didn’t go pick up my ClickList order the other day or have one scheduled for this afternoon, I wouldn’t be leaving the house at all. I do still need that (bitterly cold) fresh air and some drive time to feel a little bit alive on days like today.

If you’re considering checking out ClickList or another similar service, my advice is DO IT. Don’t hesitate like I did. It’s been amazing so far.