Ages + Stages

He's 5.  He has brought me more smiles than I ever could have imagined. Entered our world from across an ocean.  I've changed nearly every parenting tactic I had with our older three and have been reminded that even...

I sat on the floor at home, snapping Legos together, not knowing quite what I was building.  My son sat across from me, building as well, and talking away about his day.  As we sat there chatting, my mind...

Tonight was like most weeknights at our house – busy!  Getting kids home from school just in time to get them back out the door; one to volleyball practice and one to jiu jitsu open mat.  With both kids...

How many times have you wished you had an extra set of hands? With 8 members in my family, it is exhausting just thinking about all that I have to get done in a day. I work from home, some...

Change can be big like a new school or a new house or good friends moving away. They can be smaller and more mundane, like the change of today's plans or the transition from school to summer. Or vacation! Some of my biggest challenges as a mother have come when we are in the midst of change. Sometimes I am aware of the change, and other times I realize later that I was clueless.

Having kids changes your relationship. It's as simple as that. For anyone who says it doesn't, I'd love to hear about how having your spouse watch you give birth didn't change how they viewed you. Or how constantly having kids...

When my daughter Karalee was a baby, we used sign language with her and she picked it up pretty quickly! She was able to tell us what her basic needs were, even though she couldn’t verbalize those needs quite...

Though they love when I plan Pinterest-worthy crafts, they are just as happy with simpler art projects. The beginning of the year is a great time to empty out your pantry. A little glue and construction paper can transform leftover pasta, rice and dried beans into beautiful artwork. Budding chefs will enjoy making “soup” with a bowlful of snow and leftover cereal and food coloring.

And then my mind lands on one of the most powerful moments from the first year. I’m sitting in my counselor’s office, eyes wet, nose runny and voice crackly as I recall that first moment, the one where I felt so uprooted just after labor and delivery. We processed through the depression and anxiety tied to that moment. Her words pointed me beyond myself – “You aren’t alone in the experience of being separated from your child…”

One of the best parts of parenthood is learning from our children. Even though they are young and lack a lot of life experience, we can learn so much from them! Here are some of the best things my...