It’s been nearly three years since my kids have seen my sister’s family. Three years is a long time if you’re (almost) seven. Or five. Or three. Or eight months. Ok, ok, it’s a long time if you’re 35, too. My sister and I both have four kids; two girls and two boys. Hers, ages
One morning after I put Anna down for a nap, the middle two were distracted so I stole a few moments with David. He’s doing big kid stuff — working a 300-piece puzzle, drinking seltzer water, wiggling his two loose front teeth with his tongue. Moments earlier, I’d just peered into Anna’s mouth, checking to
A few days before Easter, as soon as we had nice enough weather to be outside, we dyed Easter eggs. I marched all the kids outside and told them to sit at the table and wait while I made several trips inside to get everything. Asking kids to WAIT and NOT TOUCH is a big
So thankful we finally had a few warm days before Easter, so I could keep up with my six-year tradition of dressing my kids like rabbits and taking pictures in front of our neighbor’s landscaping. I actually had four pairs of bunny ears, even though I am completely realistic about this sort of thing —
I’m slowly coming out of the general malaise of pregnancy and newborn exhaustion. With that, I’m doing everything I can to run a tighter ship at home, and reverse some bad (lazy) habits we’ve fallen into. No, my kids are not wearing matching clothes. Yes, the pumpkins I put on the porch back in October
Last week my mom came for a long visit. She planned to help get David to and from the bus stop, cook lots of delicious food, and spend a lot, lot of time holding her grandbaby. It also happened to be her birthday, so we hung decorations, made cards, and baked her a very mediocre
Picture me watching from the sidelines, wearing a baby, and choking back tears. Because do you see what a NATURAL he is, running out on that court?! I’m so proud! Picture Assistant Coach Tom Krieger on the sidelines, stifling laughter at the amoeba of children, all very enthusiastically running up and down the court with
Our first Christmas as a family of six was exactly as wonderful, memorable, and sleep-deprived as I expected. Reading the Christmas story before opening presents. The first peek at presents. Anna turned six weeks old the day before Christmas. Did you know that baby fussiness peaks at six weeks? Anna knew! We went to Christmas
If you’ve never heard of cord blood banking, click HERE for more information. When you’re expecting a new baby, it is remarkable how many decisions there are to make before the baby is even born. There are things like how to decorate the nursery, narrowing down a name, and figuring out if you’re the
This is part three of Baby Anna’s birth story. If you missed parts one and two, you can find them here: Part One Part Two – – – When I gave birth to David, my water had broken a few hours earlier, and we walked into L&D full of nervous energy and an occasional contraction.
I sat down to write this, fully planning to end at the part where I’m screaming and Tom is asking if he can just go wait outside. But then I started writing and accidentally kept writing and now this is going to be a three-part story. But I promise I won’t drag this out until
First, I need to warn you that this is very long. I’m sorry. Turns out I’m the emotional, creative type that processes with long-winded blog posts. Second, I need to warn you that at the end of this post does not end with a baby. It’s because I could not possibly fit any more words
I am tired and thankful. And I think I brushed my teeth this morning. Today is Thanksgiving, and since our entire world was up-ended last week (in the best possible way), we’re staying home. Instead of making preparations for a Thanksgiving meal, I’m inside with Anna, watching the Macy’s Day Parade while Tom is outside
She’s here! She’s here! We are so pleased to announce the arrival of our baby girl, Anna Leigh Krieger. 8 pounds, 5 ounces, 20 inches. Born Sunday, November 12 at 8:44 p.m., four days before her due date, during a family celebration for Tom’s birthday (In the hospital! We made it to the hospital!) Anna
Way back in May when I found out I was going to have a baby in mid-November, I immediately thought through the calendar. It will affect Tom’s birthday, Thanksgiving, and Christmas. And then there’s Halloween. At 38 weeks, I wasn’t expecting to have a newborn, but I was expecting to be very big, very exhausted, and
Last weekend our family took advantage of the unseasonably warm weather and went to the James River. The only word I can think of to describe Tom and I as we got out of the van is “laden.” We had three kids, plus water bottles and a picnic lunch for five people, two blankets, and
There is a pile of baby clothes on a desk in my bedroom, and I’ve started knitting a pink baby blanket. Other than that, we haven’t done anything to prepare for our fourth baby. But, whether we’re ready or not (we’re not), a baby is coming in November. Recently I commented on a friend’s Instagram
Today is the first day of fall, and I’m celebrating by living in complete denial that summer is over. It is, after all, in the mid-80s for the next week or so; our pool is still open and I still have to water my potted plants every 12 or so hours or they start to
If you ask David if he likes school, find something to hold onto before he answers — YES! YES! YES! YES! — his excitement might knock you over. He comes home smiling and amiable, talking about his new friends. He hasn’t been hungry, moody, or overly tired — something I worried about in the weeks
This is the story of the weekend I cut my thumb. It involves a kidney stone, a block of gouda, and a surprise ending NO ONE saw coming. I’m going to try to make it as short as possible, but you know me… On the weekend of April 22 my parents came for a visit.
On day seven of an 11-day stay at our house, Mary Virginia asked my mom, “Grammy, do you enjoy coming to visit your grandchildren?” I held my breath as I waited to hear her answer. My mom stayed with us for nearly five weeks after my tendon repair surgery. Even after changing all the diapers (diaper tabs
Thomas turned two last week, and we celebrated with the most low-key kids’ birthday celebration our family has ever seen. When David turned two I had an almost-three-month old and I still managed to mail out paper invitations. When Mary Virginia turned two, Thomas wasn’t even a month old, and I still made a cake
What did you do on Valentine’s Day? I know, it’s practically March and it feels like May outside. I’m a little late on the Valentine’s Day thing. In the Krieger household, the stomach bug that seemed to be hitting everyone around us finally got around to us the weekend before Valentine’s Day. One by one
On Christmas morning, before opening presents, Tom sat with the kids and read the Christmas story from the Bible. It’s something he started last year, and when he told me the idea I told him it was horrible. It would make the kids resent the Bible, I said. It would be a wrestling match, I
This morning at preschool drop off, a friend of mine commented that Thomas looks a lot like his dad. I agreed, and I actually hear that a lot. In fact, I hear that about all our kids. They look SO MUCH LIKE TOM. I said, “Yeah, he does. But let me show you something.” And then
The kids had their costumes planned for weeks, maybe even months before Halloween. An octopus for David, a butterfly fairy for Mary Virginia (heavy on the butterfly, light on the fairy), and a hand-me-down dragon for Thomas. Then the day before Halloween, Mary Virginia called an audible and switched to the most terrifying costume of
It was nearly 80 degrees yesterday in Richmond. 80 degrees. 80 degrees and still people were wearing Uggs and beanies because in fall people lose their minds, and the ability to feel the actual temperature is muted by their excitement for the season. I get it. Ok, I actually don’t get it. Because I’m already ready
This morning my kids woke up at 5:30 a.m. because they were SO EXCITED! SO EXCITED FOR THE FIRST DAY OF SCHOOL! Perhaps they knew I was worried about getting out the door on time. Just doing their part to help; I appreciate it. Mary Virginia looks like she’d been crying for the past 15
A few weeks ago we went on our annual summer vacation with Tom’s family. This year we went to Lake Anna for the first time. We had an awesome trip, our house was perfect for little ones — a sandy beach area, shallow water, lots of grass for playing, and even a screened-in eating area so
Last year at preschool, David’s class sang a song that he called the Octopus Song, even though it’s actually called the Butterfly Song. He specifically loved the line, “If I were an octopus, I’d thank you Lord for my good looks.” And because he loved the song so much, and because he related so much to
David is five years old today. FIVE! And he still weighs less than the amount of weight I gained when I was pregnant with him. Everyone knows about the terrible twos, and then you have a three-nager. There is no similar catch-phrase for four-year olds. Or if there is I’ve never heard it. Four was such
Sometime before Thomas’s first birthday, he was standing by the couch and let go, took a few steps, and then plopped down. I watched him and willed the moment to crystalize in my memory. My baby, learning to walk right before my eyes! So beautiful! This moment is why we have children! And then he did the same thing
Tom’s paternal grandparents visited from Pittsburgh last weekend. The trip from Pennsylvania to Virginia is a long one and they aren’t able to visit often, so when they do it’s particularly special. To mark the occasion, I balanced my camera on an up-turned bench and a bunch of encyclopedias and dusted off the self-timer. And also,
Every year as my kids’ birthdays approach, I swear I’m not going to do it. Then, after the birthdays, I swear I’m never going to do it again. The parties, I mean. They’re just too much work. The cleaning, the food, all that prep. And then there’s the small matter that Mary Virginia asked me
The other day “Happy” by Pharrell came on the radio and David and Mary Virginia both started screaming from their carseats, “IS THIS MY SONG? THIS IS MY SONG!! MOMMY!!! MY SONG!” And then they started having a fight about whose song it was, and I rolled my eyes because does this song belong to
So much has happened since Thomas’s first birthday, it feels like so, so long ago. Because of everything going on, I decided to give myself a month to get all his birthday stuff posted. And I’m giving myself until David’s birthday to write about Mary Virginia‘s birthday. And then until Christmas to write about David’s. Christmas 2020. My
When I told Mary Virginia that I was excited for her birthday and she said, “Mo-o-mmy, excited is only for kids!” Whoops. Perhaps I should work on my enthusiasm. We are celebrating with ducks, purple, Cinderella, and 36 cupcakes. Everything that makes Mary Virginia light up. Three years ago today Tom went to a concert and
Today is Thomas’s birthday. At 12 months, Thomas can eat an entire hotdog by himself. He is nowhere close to walking, weaning, or sleeping through the night, though. He does hold my thumb while not-doing those things, though, so I’m not only complaining. We celebrated by having a party last Sunday. It was almost a week early, but family
Last Sunday, just before his first birthday, Thomas was baptized. Baptism is a practice in which the pastors of a church increase the faith of parents by asking them to stand on stage with their young children. (Picture Tom reading this, looking up at me and saying in a stern voice, “Amanda. Do not make
I get a lot of comments about how similar my kids look. “There’s a Krieger prototype,” I always respond. The truth is, though, I see my kids’ personalities so clearly that I really don’t think David and Mary Virginia look alike at all. And I used to joke that I could interchange the boys’ baby
My niece Psalm turned one a few weeks ago, and I made this countdown calendar for her. I got the pattern from The Sugar House Shop — it works like an Advent calendar, but you countdown to a birthday. I wanted to share it here because I am oh-so-very happy with how it turned out. I at all wasn’t confident when I
Last Thursday I dressed my kids in their Easter clothes, took them out in the front yard, and made them take re-do Easter photos. I did this because Easter was rainy, hectic, and we didn’t get photos. I also did this because, apparently, I’m insane. My kids are going to grow up with stories of
As holiday celebrations go, we had a very low-key Easter this year. Easter baskets on table, hard-boiled eggs and jelly beans for breakfast. Simple, and still, we were positively scrambling out the door to get to church on time. At some point in the chaos of getting seven people dressed and out the door my
Growing up we always dyed Easter eggs on the night before Easter, so I planned to do the same thing with my kids. This year, I had meant to prepare by boiling the eggs and setting aside bowls and food coloring, but the whole thing completely slipped my mind. The whole thing slipped my mind
Last weekend Tom took Mary Virginia to a Father Daughter Dance. As he was getting ready, I encouraged him to put on a suit instead of a sport coat. “Some of the dads will be wearing tuxes, Tom. And come here, look. Elizabeth Phillips has already posted photos. Come look at what Sloan’s wearing.” Tom didn’t even
If you’ve read this website for three or four minutes you might already know that winter is not my favorite season. I’ve been known to shiver uncontrollably as soon as the temperatures dip below 70 degrees. When we started hearing about Snowstorm Jonas I just ignored it because that’s my favorite way to deal with problems. I act
Sometime after Christmas a particular virus hopped on a bulldozer and drove straight into our cozy happy house. The fever and cough started with Mary Virginia, a few days later Thomas got it, then just hours after Thomas’s fever broke, David sidled up to Tom and asked him to put him to bed. The next day, David’s fever climbed,
The Monday before Christmas I drove to Rockville, MD by myself with all three kids. I was very, very nervous. It’s just a 2-hr. drive, and I know, two hours is not a big deal. I have friends who have flown across the country, and across the Atlantic Ocean with kids. My sister flew from Taiwan
I’d call this a photo dump, but I could never be so callous about my Christmas memories. Our family had a fabulous Christmas. The Christmas we had is the reason everyone loves Christmas. We had great visits with family, an abundance of food, presents, laughter. Also, this was the first time it’s been too warm for my kids to wear their
Mary Virginia: Look Mommy! I’m twirling! I look like Cinderella! David: No, Mary. You look like Mary in a dress. Mary Virginia: Mommy, can I wear that alligator shirt? David: Uh, Mary, it’s not an alligator. It’s a dragon. Mommy: David, Mary Virginia is pretending. If she wants to pretend this is an alligator costume she can,