Every morning David asks me what we’re going to do. Is it a school day? Or a park day? Is someone coming over? Is today a church day? Then he gets down to it. “Mommy, is today a swimming day?” No, son, it’s not. That’s my usual answer. Except when we were on vacation. On vacation every day was
When we go on vacation with Tom’s family, there are six kids and six adults. That sounds like a manageable ratio, perfect for man-to-man defense, but it’s not. Somehow toddlers multiply when they’re together. Several times a day one of us would look around and say, “Are there extra kids here? It feels like there are at
When I wasn’t looking, Thomas outgrew his bassinet. A friend stopped by and when she saw him she said, “Wow, he’s almost out of that thing!” Sure enough, she was right. The same thing happened with 0-3 month clothes. I put on a doggy sleeper that was one of my favorites when David was a baby, and he
We went on vacation with Tom’s family a few weeks ago and it was, um, full. Full, which is a euphemism for crazy, exhausting, hectic. Hectic. That actually nails it. Synonyms for hectic include: frantic, frenzied, feverish, manic, busy, active, fast and furious, fast-paced. But instead of hectic, I’ll get back to that euphemism. It was
David loves holding baby Thomas. He asks to hold him twice as often as Mary Virginia does, and she asks a lot. “Mommy, I wish baby Thomas could be in my belly,” David said to me the other day. He says that, but I don’t think he’s prepared for the stretch marks, heartburn, or nine months without wearing his favorite
For the past ten years, my sister and her family have lived overseas. It’s taken us every bit of those ten years to get used to the distance. I remember, at one point, thinking it was odd that I wasn’t familiar with my sister’s wardrobe. It’s a minor thing, but part of the transition that
Aside from her cameo last November, this is Mary Virginia’s first Semantics post. It surprised me because she makes us laugh all day, every day. There’s something about her tone, her enunciation, her confidence with speech — she talks like an adult but sounds like a two-year old, and it’s all hilarious. This is her first post, but
In some ways, I’m very, very bad at blogging. I really enjoy the photography and writing aspect of blogging, but there’s all this other stuff that people who are really good at blogging do –that I’m either too lazy to do or just don’t understand. Things like promoting their blog through social media, and optimizing SEO. SEO
We planted blackberries four years ago, and every year we watch the plant bloom, grow berries, and then every year birds, squirrels, chipmunks, or some other form of evil gets to them before we can. This year, just like every year before it, we watched the plant bloom, grow glossy red berries, and then, we watched in amazement as
If David and Mary Virginia are both awake, they are bickering. They fight in the car, during meals, in the stroller. Whenever I’m on the verge of making me LOSE MY EVER-LOVING MIND, I try to remember that they’re kids and this is normal kid stuff. Having siblings is just one way we learn to interact,