I once read a birth story by a woman who had seven home births. The first six were by the book, but then there were complications during the seventh. Even though everything — mom and baby — was ultimately fine, she was so shaken by the experience that she elected to have her eighth child
I’ve never given advice on potty training on this blog for the same reason I’ve never given sleep training advice or hair tutorials. Because those things are not in my skill set. I’ve potty trained two children and that sample size is big enough that I can confidently say that each kid is different, and
Last week my younger two started preschool. I know what you’re thinking. You’re thinking, “Isn’t that the same shirt David wore on his first day of preschool!?” Yes, you are right, discerning reader. To say that Mary Virginia has grown and matured is an understatement. She’s so excited for preschool, so ready to be the
This morning at the bus stop, one of the kids looked at me and said, “WHAT is in your belly?” Me and my belly have been at the bus stop every morning and afternoon for two weeks, but for some reason he JUST NOW realized that I’m a dead ringer for Humpty Dumpty. My first
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
At kindergarten orientation last week, David’s teacher gave us a sheet of questions to answer about David; something to help her get to know him. The first question was, “What three words would you use to describe your child?” I thought for a while. He’s kind, a good friend. Really silly and funny. He loves
This post part of a partnership with JOHNSON’S® Last week Tom and I went to a special event and guess what I learned? I learned that it takes longer for me to straighten my hair and find my mascara than it does for me to pack lunch, locate six shoes, three water bottles, back-up sunscreen,
At my most recent prenatal check-up, my doctor was asking me how I’d been feeling, and I told her what I tell everyone — mostly fine but super duper, all-the-time exhausted. We talked about my iron levels and a few other things and then she asked, “Are you getting enough sleep?” Yes. I’m mostly sleeping
Nearly a year ago, after our vacation to Lake Anna, I mentioned that our trip started with a 9-1-1 call, and that I’d tell the story later. My plan was that I’d make a few appointments with specialists, and after a few weeks I’d have the space and information I needed to feel comfortable telling
I love summer. It is, by far, my favorite season. I love the long days, bare feet, pool parties. I love Popsicles on the porch and burgers on the grill. I love not having to keep track of my kids’ coats. This summer started out with a giant WHOMP WHOMP otherwise known as orthopedic surgery coupled with
Today I’m twenty-one weeks, two days pregnant, meaning (even if the baby is born after my due date) I’m past the pregnancy halfway point. Except that this is my fourth pregnancy and I know that the second twenty weeks packs a very serious wallop. Thirty weeks should be considered the halfway point. At least. Except
Since she was 15 months old, every time we go to the doctor for a well-check everyone comments on how verbal she is. It’s true, she is, and I take no credit. She could speak in complete, articulate paragraphs by 24 months and by three we were actively trying to discourage her language development. Just kidding. Kind
Last week we celebrated the kids’ last day of school and David’s preschool graduation. Look at those excited faces! Those faces say WE CAN’T WAIT FOR SUMMER! We can’t wait to explore and go to the park and swim all day! And I’m like, AHA! JK KIDS! Mom only has one working arm so we
It’s Mother’s Day, and I’m going to talk about appreciation. Now that I’m a mom I’ve learned that appreciation something I really crave. My kids are small and we’re still working the word “thank you” into their vocabularies, so it’s an ongoing struggle. But kids have their own way of saying it, right? The way the
I never planned to nurse Thomas as long as I did. Actually, I take that back. I never really planned any sort of timeline. David self-weaned abruptly at 12 months. I was eight weeks pregnant and in the throes of first trimester exhaustion when I weaned Mary Virginia at 16 months. Neither of those things happened
I became a stay-at-home mom almost six years ago, and one thing (among many) I’ve struggled with for that entire six years is taking time for myself. It’s one aspect of parenting that doesn’t change. Kids go through all kinds of stages and phases, so my days and routines have changed drastically throughout the past
When our kids were babies, we always sang the song “Sanctuary” before bedtime. Now that they’re older we’ve switched gears a bit to a version of, “IF YOU ASK FOR ONE MORE THING…” Nap times have always been a little different, especially Mary Virginia’s nap. For her nap I tell a story, then sing a
Two weekends ago Tom took David to Washington, D.C. for a father-son adventure. They rode the train, and the subway. They visited the zoo, the Museum of Natural History, and the National Air and Space Museum. A post shared by Tom Krieger (@thomas_c_krieger) on Feb 26, 2017 at 1:04pm PST If you ask David about the
Mary Virginia likes to play house, and whenever she does, she assigns everyone a character. For example, last weekend she was playing house at the beach. She was the mommy, David was the daddy, Tom was the grandpa, and I was the mermaid statue. One morning before playing house we were ironing out the details: Mary
If you know Mary Virginia at all you know that she is very, very aware of her wardrobe. She prefers dresses. Skirts are ok. Pants are intolerable. She also loves anytime I wear a dress or a skirt, which actually isn’t very often. The first time she saw me in my bathrobe she exclaimed, “OH MOMMY! I
This morning, before 8 o’clock, my kids dismantled the playroom. When I say “dismantled” I don’t mean they made a typically giant toddler mess, disproportionate to their small size. What I mean is they took apart their toy bins and moved around furniture. Thomas spent the morning wondering how we fit all of Disney World into our
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
It’s true. Since I had kids, certain things have fallen to the wayside. Things like trips to the doctor and dentist and shopping for a pair of warm boots for the fall. Of course I’m talking about appointments for me. Don’t worry, my kids are set in the appropriate-shoe department. I’m the cookie-cutter, stereotypical mom you see
A few days ago I was doing some yard work, and instead of putting the nozzle on the hose I let it run so the kids could play with it while I worked. At our old house, the kids played in the hose all the time. Sometimes with the sprinkler, sometimes with the slip ‘n
It has been unreasonably hot here for the past few weeks — we’ve spent all of our time in the air conditioning or the pool or wishing that’s where we were. But don’t misunderstand me — even when I’m sweating through my shorts at the park, chasing the shade and praying for a breeze? Just a small one? Is a breeze be too
Mary Virginia loves to play doctor. Usually I’m the doctor and the game starts out by me telling her that I can’t play doctor because I’m cleaning up the mess from painting and, remember Mary Virginia? When you were painting 15 seconds ago? Can we have even a little bit of transition time? She now
When we bought our last house, it never occurred to me to ask if there were kids in the neighborhood. I was 7 months pregnant, and that just wasn’t on my radar. I didn’t know how important it would be to have friends for my children, and friends for me just a few doors down.
This is not a political post. This is a post about the fact that, regardless of your politics, it’s a big deal that a woman was just nominated for president. This morning I pulled Mary Virginia into my lap and told her that the first female was nominated as a candidate for president last night. I knew
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
A few days ago a good friend asked me for tips on how to baby proof a house. I told her, you have to prioritize. Stop what you’re doing right now and put your Cheetos out of reach. After that it all sort of falls into place. For us, baby proofing has happened naturally. They sort
If Thomas could talk and you asked him about his family, he would probably tell you that he has a brother, a father, and two mothers. These two mothers are mysteriously, constantly at odds. One is best described as a doting bully. Very attentive, but also, quite frankly, dangerous. The second mother spends most of
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 fall I took the kids to get new shoes before school. I went to a particular store in Richmond, one that has a reputation for how well they measure and fit shoes for children. Because of this reputation, I consciously ignore their high prices and the 47 other shoe stores I pass while driving
Last weekend Thomas’s bottom teeth finally poked through. They took forever. I’m not exaggerating, I could SEE them just under his gums for a month. A MONTH. I don’t know what happened. Maybe they forgot something and had to go back? Maybe they ran out of gas on the way? I have no idea. I just hope
Last fall we were struggling to get in the flow of the preschool schedule. It’s a lot — getting all three kids and myself fed, dressed, and out the door with all their bickering and necessary bags. Plus, Thomas was still very new, and I was spending much of the night awake with him. The year
David started preschool over two years ago, just a few weeks after his second birthday (Mary Virginia was barely three months old). Back then he wasn’t potty trained, had no hair, and was barely speaking in sentences. And, he didn’t have an opinion about what he wore so I was able to coordinate his clothes with the
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,
When I had David I constantly thought about what it would be like to have more than one child. My day was so full — so consumed. From the moment he woke up in the morning to the time he went to bed at night I was harried and overwhelmed with every step of caring
Recently I wrote age order posts about each of my children (David, Mary Virginia, Thomas) because, when I have time to think, I think a lot about my kids — about who they are and what they need as individuals, and about how they fit into and shape our family. Our kids are pretty close in
Over the weekend Thomas got his first fever. It wasn’t a horrible. It was just a 24-hour thing, flanked on both sides by fussiness and hold-me-all-day-ness. After two doses of acetaminophen and 72 straight hours of snuggling, he was back to his normal self. People often make comments about Thomas, that because he’s my third baby he
Me, talking to Tom: Did we decide we want to have P-I-Z-Z-A for dinner? David: Mommy, did you just say “pizza” in letters?
Do you know any babies who do not want to be held all the time? Cuddled, snuggled, toted around on Mommy’s hip. And babies should be held all the time, especially the giggliest, wiggliest, chubbiest, smiliest ones. But there are chores to do and laundry to be put away. And there’s preschool, a quick stop at the
I don’t often give parenting advice here, but Thomas asked me to tell you about this. Give your babies a chicken bone. A chicken bone, cooked and stripped — it’s nature’s teether. All my babies have loved chicken bones because all babies love chicken bones because, what’s not to love? It has flavor, it’s the perfect shape for holding and
If anything is harder than being the middle child, it’s being two years old. Mary Virginia is both. And only because she hasn’t learned the phrase (yet) I’ll say it for her: IT ISN’T FAIR! At two, she isn’t a baby anymore, but she’s not quite one of the big kids. But, because we do
Most mornings, David asks me how we’re going to spend the day. Often, he asks if we can go to the children’s museum. No, I tell him over and over. We aren’t going to the museum. Inevitably he asks why and I tell him the truth: Because Mommy’s afraid to go to the museum with
This is Thomas’s Halloween costume. I’ve been putting it on him as Halloween approaches for two reasons: 1) Glow-in-the-dark skeleton clothes are completely seasonally appropriate, and this skeleton costume doubles as pajamas! 2) I’m worried he’ll grow out of it by October 31. After every wash I cross my fingers and hold my breath as I
“Mommy, is there Target in heaven?” David asked me one morning. “Um,” I answered. “Well, David. The Bible doesn’t specifically say. But. I don’t think it would be heaven without Target.” We have conversations like that a lot. My kids love Target. Because when we go, they never know what we’ll leave with. And isn’t
Thomas is nearly four months old, which means we’ve been out of the fourth trimester for a while. In the past 16 or so weeks I’ve learned a lot about taking care of three little ones. Here’s one bit of wisdom I can pass on: It’s impossible. If you’re currently pregnant, stop scrolling Pinterest for “unique jewelry
A few weeks after Thomas was born, I got a package in the mail from Alli, a close friend from college. I gasped when I opened it, so David came running to see what was inside. When I held them up, David wrinkled his nose in disgust and disappointment. SHIRTS!? No, David, not just shirts. Shirts with your
Today is my 33rd birthday, and I’m going to spend it doing two of my all-time favorite things: 1) Licking icing off cupcakes 2) Hanging out with my family A few weeks ago Tom and I were taking the kids to the park, and as I was walking out the door he stopped me. Tom: Why are