Styling by the Pacific Ocean, pigtails by Mary, photo by Grammy, Tom’s sunscreen-face by himself, entire week of adventures (including three meals a day for 14 people) planned and executed by my sister and her generous family. A few years ago, Tom mentioned that we should take a big trip to celebrate our tenth anniversary.
Whenever I pack for a trip, there’s always a period of time when I believe that it would be easier to cancel vacation than to continue packing. This vacation! That we have been looking forward to for MONTHS! It’s the peak of stress, the mid-way point of packing when you’ve been working for hours and there’s
During wedding planning: Me, “We’ll get married on July 3 and we can call it Co-dependence Day!” Tom, hesitates then says, “Do you mean…Interdependence?” Tom Krieger, helping me with vocabulary and basic arithmetic since 2009. Our anniversary is July 3, and Tom gave me the only gift I ever want — he took a few
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
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
Eight years ago today Tom and I got married in the Blue Ridge Mountains. To celebrate, instead of following suggested tradition with a bronze gift, my mom and dad took our kids for a few days. We’ve never done this ever, never ever. Not even close. Everyone keeps asking what we plan to do with our
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
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
Recently in the afternoons, while my younger two nap, I’ve been listening to the most popular TED talks of 2015. TED talks are so great, they’re relatively brief but pack in so much new information and perspectives that challenge you to think in new ways. Since I started this new habit, when Tom comes home from
Baby Thomas turned 11 weeks old this week, and in the past 11 weeks I’ve often wondered when life with three kids will feel “normal.” I keep waiting to get used to this new rhythm and pace of life, but I’ll be honest: things haven’t felt normal or manageable for a while. Since Thomas was born, I constantly feel like I’m
It was my idea to name our third baby after his daddy. And, ugh, that sentence is an example of how confusing it can be to have two people in your family with the same name. Saying “…to name Thomas after Tom” sounds convoluted. So far we’re calling the baby “Thomas” or more often “baby Thomas.”
This isn’t the craziest birth story you’ll ever read. It isn’t the most dramatic or fastest or the closest call. But it is my craziest birth story. I’ve already told this story several times, and each time I feel a bit like I’m lying, or at least exaggerating because the timeline just doesn’t feel real. Whenever I tell it, I
It’s hard to know when or where to begin baby Thomas’s birth story. Does it start it when I felt my first, painful contraction? Or a month before that, when I packed my hospital bag and asked several close family and friends to please keep their phones on in the middle of the night just in case.
I’ve been trying to make a real effort to not complain about this pregnancy because I don’t want to lose sight of what a blessing it is to have a complication-free pregnancy and carry a baby to term. But as the days and weeks pass it’s getting harder and harder. I’m achy, I’m tired, I’m getting bigger,
I’ve mentioned before that Tom doesn’t really love dessert. That’s just one way he keeps such a trim frame of mostly sinew and muscle. He does love my homemade blackberry pie, though. I made it for Easter and figured I should share the recipe here since it’s probably the most complicated recipe I use that’s really “mine.” Here’s the
These blankets I knit for my babies take a long time. 130 stitches per row, 238 rows, all on 4.5mm needles. I’ve knitted 93 rows so far, and I just have eight more rows before I’ll need to start purling the initial. That means we need to finalize the name for this baby. I love
My mom once told me that after she had my brother — her third child — she started wearing sneakers every day. Her days started early and ended late, and she spent them gardening, hanging laundry on the clothesline, making pickles, sewing, leading Girl Scouts — oh, and taking care of three kids. To make it through the day she needed support.
My mom mentioned the other day that the leaves were beautiful at home — one of the prettiest falls she can remember. It occurred to me that now that I live in Richmond, a relatively flat city, I miss out on the fall colors in the mountains. When I was growing up I took the
Before I begin this story, I think it’s important to note that it happened on my birthday. There are a lot of other qualifiers I wanted to include, but I decided that was the most important one, because if I’d been at a spa getting a facial and a massage this would have never happened.
Guest post from Tom: When we were dating I used to write Amanda letters all the time. On our five-year anniversary, I wrote her a letter. She always writes blog posts encourage friends and family and tell them how much she appreciates them, so instead of just writing her a letter, I decided to write
Right after Tom and I got married, we went to Costco and stocked up on some things. We bought a big thing of paper towels and a box of Ziploc bags that had several individual boxes of three different sizes of Ziploc bags. Five years, one cat, and two kids later we’ve finally run out
I have so many questions about the idyllic 1950s housewife. Is the Betty Draper housewife a myth? Or when husbands came home from work, did their wives really greet them at the door with a kiss wearing heels and lipstick? And then did they all sit down to dinner in their tidy home, with their
It’s 8:57 p.m. on Saturday night and Tom is trying to rock Mary Virginia to sleep. My best efforts weren’t working, so he’s taking a turn. “I’m done,” I said when I walked out of her room. When I’m tired and I’m frustrated, he takes over, and that’s when I’m most thankful that I’m part
Before I show you Tom’s Father’s Day gift, I want to give you a window into his personality. You know that ice breaker question: what you would do if you won a million dollars? Usually the conversation goes to vacations, big houses, live-in maids, and live-in maids who clean vacation houses. When I ask Tom
Tom and I went to a wedding this weekend. In addition to celebrating with our friends (congrats Emily & Doug!), it was a nice occasion for Tom and me to have a date night, which we never do because I am a giant stick in the mud. I am a giant stick in the mud
I think Valentine’s Day is awesome. What a FUN day. A celebration of those you love with chocolate and flowers. Are you kidding me? Does it get any better? Are you the kind of person who labels Valentine’s Day as a “fake” or “Hallmark” holiday? If so, then I sincerely hope someone gives you a big pink box
This is a picture of the blonde curl on David’s forehead. It is also a picture of a radio head. Get it? Radiohead. This makes me laugh, mostly because it wasn’t Tom’s idea. Tom, who tries to explain the time signatures in Radiohead songs on every car trip we’ve ever taken. Tom, who thinks the song
Last week I celebrated my 31st birthday. 31, for some reason, seems remarkably older than 30. Like I said last year, 30 seems like a fake age. The number is too round, it carries too many implications. 31 is more normal, more settled. Less, “WOW! The big three-oh!” On David’s birthday, we wanted to continue
Recently a few friends a few friends from college came to town for a Fantasy Football League draft. We were hanging out after, and eventually the conversation turned to my blog. They group was mostly guys, they’re in their mid-twenties and early thirties, and none have kids. Basically, they aren’t exactly the mommy blog demographic. So
Four years ago today, Tom and I got married. Happy Interdependence Day. If we could give new couples any advice, it would be this: don’t have a baby four weeks before your anniversary. Not if you want to actually celebrate your anniversary, that is. I’m sure there are plenty of couples with babies younger than
A cardinal recently built a nest in one of the bushes right by our porch. Can you see it? There she is. Since I noticed her, I’ve done a little research. Did you know that male cardinals help the females incubate the eggs? And when the babies hatch, the male cares for the baby birds
I was really looking forward to Easter Sunday. Really, really looking forward to it. But then my son and the rest of my extended family came down with Flu-nami 2013. It hit everyone differently, but it leveled David for six days. It started with vomiting, clinginess and a fever, and ended with diarrhea and grumpiness.
For months now David’s been working on his memoirs. The working title is, “My life with the most boring Mom ever.” Like most toddlers, David is nothing but energy. He loves playing with other kids, especially older kids. He desperately wants an older sibling, four older siblings would be even better. Unfortunately for David, that’s
Today is Tom’s birthday. Tom would probably appreciate it if, instead of using David’s naptime to write this post, I cleaned my house and prepped dinner. Instead of a clean house and dinner simmering on the stove, Tom will come home to Cheerios all over the living room floor and his wife frantically cooking with
My husband is sort of a tech guy. That will come as an understatement for anyone who knows him. Wherever Tom goes, he leaves a trail of various devices, chargers and cords behind him. And when we were on our honeymoon (in a cabin in Montana), he tried to teach me binary. David’s favorite toy
Watching Daddy mow the grass. Then, when Daddy came inside to take a shower, David pressed himself to the floor and tried to look under the door. This boy loves his daddy.
I’ve set an alarm just once in the past year. Every other morning Tom and I wake up when David starts making pterodactyl noises in his crib. Tom is always uncharacteristically optimistic early in the morning and says, “Maybe he’ll go back to sleep.” But David never goes back to sleep. One of us (usually Tom) rises from
Tom and I met in 2001, started dating the last week of 2007, and got married three years ago today. If, the day before Tom asked me out on a date, someone had told me that I was about to go on a date with Tom Krieger I would have laughed in their face. In
When my grandma (my dad’s mom) met David for the first time, she asked if Tom helped change diapers. She told me that her husband, my grandfather, never changed diapers. Are you kidding me? Tom is a diaper-changing specialist. He changed almost all of David’s diapers for the first two weeks of his life, and
It’s almost Father’s Day. I bought Tom’s gifts over a month ago, and I’ve been excited about them since, I dunno? Maybe January? His gift is not at all practical, nothing he asked for and have nothing to do with being a father. And I think he’s going to love it. To give the gift
Last weekend Tom and I embarked on what people fear even before they have babies. That this scares people before their lives implode into a newborn means it should be taken seriously. Before the baby is when people are sure they’ll be laid-back, unencumbered by baby gear and will stay out past their child’s dorkishly
We started giving David some solids. Over the past few days he’s had avocado, potato and banana. He LOVES it. It’s wigged out his digestive system, though. He went from pooping three or so times a day to…zero. I’ve heard this is normal, and that when his system decides to move it will MOVE. I
Perhaps, after all, romance did not come into one’s life with pomp and blare, like a gay knight riding down; perhaps it crept to one’s side like an old friend through quiet ways; perhaps it revealed itself in seeming prose, until some sudden shaft of illumination flung athwart its pages betrayed the rhythm and the
This holiday photo is brought to you by the good people at Spanx.
It’s Thursday and I’m still posting about the weekend. We did a lot: 1. Dawg reunion 2. Learned to roll over 3. Jingle Bell 5k 4. We got a Christmas tree! We had a busy weekend. With so much going on, it helps to be organized, and the Tom and Amanda branch of the Krieger
Unless you count my daily bowl of cereal, this is the first thing I’ve cooked since David was born. Fried potatoes, yummmm… My dad always ate these for breakfast. It’s a good thing, too, because otherwise I wouldn’t know how to make them, and my husband LOVES fried potatoes for breakfast. So Saturday morning I
Yesterday Tom tried to weigh David in a scale at the grocery store. Everyone in the produce department was laughing, including me. I watched the whole thing from behind a display of pears. (Unfortunately it didn’t work. He didn’t fit in the scale. From my method of weighing myself, and then weighing myself holding David,