Buckle Up

A pregnant friend recently lamented - on Facebook, naturally - that she couldn't enjoy the thrill of a roller coaster ride now that she's expecting.
Well, there are a lot of things you can't do when you're "with child"... like... drink alcohol, eat sushi, or - at a certain point - see your toes. 
But that all pales in comparison to the many joys of pregnancy... acid reflux, back pain, a perpetual state of tiredness. 
OK... maybe I'm being a little too dramatic honest here. 
The point is that after nine ten months of waddling around feeling like all eyes are on your swollen feet and your protruding belly, out comes a beautiful, innocent baby who just takes your breath away. 
But pregnancy and motherhood are indeed a roller coaster ride in and of themselves. 
THE ROLLER COASTER RIDE OF A LIFETIME.  

A Mommy Is Made Takes Vanity Fair's Proust Questionnaire

What is your idea of perfect happiness?
At 13 - a bag of Smartfood popcorn 
At 20 - you don't want to know
Now - lying in bed with my husband and daughter on a lazy Sunday morning 

What is your greatest fear?

At 13 - middle school

At 20 -  graduation

Now - paying for college, regaining my pregnancy weight, my daughter getting too old to snuggle

Yes, Virginia

There is a Santa Claus.


Sometimes he just wears a different hat. 


Now that the winter has hit us with some fierce temperatures, my stroller workout class has permanently moved to the mall until spring.  This is fine, except for the fact that the mom brigade has had to maneuver around last-minute Christmas shoppers and there's seasonal music blasting from the overhead speakers as we sprint and squat ourselves silly to ward off the effects of sugar cookies and sliced ham. 
We start and end our routine not far from Santa's workshop, which opens shortly after class concludes.  
A few weeks ago a jolly looking fellow sporting a big white beard, regular street clothes, and a small plastic cooler approached our huddle of moms and passed relatively unnoticed through the doors of an out-of-business storefront where he presumably transformed into St. Nick for hordes of children visiting the mall with their parents that day. 

The Ice Queen Cometh

Know what's worse than these frigid temperatures we're having? 
Trying to get out of the house with an infant in these frigid temperatures. (OK, maybe it's worse if you have multiples, I'll give you that.)
But seriously, it's bad enough trying to venture out into the real world with a child on a normal day.

Cute...

And yeah, all those cute, hoody buntings are just to DIE FOR when it's cold outside, but if your kid is anything like mine, trekking out in below-freezing temps is like preparing for war... and my daughter wants nothing more than to jump ship and go AWOL. 

The Simple Things

At this time last year I was three months pregnant and dreading the winter weather.  I feared the dark, dreary days of December, January, and February, when I would have to trudge through snow and sleet all the while worrying that I would slip on an ice patch and go into preterm labor.  I wished I didn't have to spend another six to seven months watching my navel transform into a creepy mess and hoped that I would be able to wear a bathing suit again.  One of the few things that made me feel better was a long, hot bubble bath followed by a few thick layers of anti-stretch mark cream (it works!), followed by an obscene amount of chocolate chip cookies.

Curtain Call

I've always especially loved this time of year...

the time spent with family, the lights, the music, the search for the perfect gift, the joy that beams from a child's face when they see Santa. 

But for me, the holiday season has always been marked by dreams of Snow Queens and Sugar Plum Fairies. 

10 Games to Play With Your Infant

So now that the weather has turned frigid and it gets dark at, like, 3 p.m., I find myself a little bored with this whole stay-at-home mom thing.  I've been trying to think of some fun activities for Mackenzie and I to do around the house.  But seeing as she's only six months old, it's a little tricky.  For example, we can't finger paint, do each other's hair, or play house.  We also can't seem to talk about boys, share a bottle of wine, or get a mani/pedi together.
Since that's the case, here's what I've come up with so far...