Rainy season came a few weeks late this year, so it’s July 1st with a forecast of clouds and wet for the foreseeable future. All the fabric in the house has begun to feel a little bit damp to the touch, and our rock-garden yard is exploding with all manner of green. The kids were […]
Recent Posts
No daily rhythm, no problem.
I remember the moment I knew this would be different: sitting on the floor in my room at the midwife clinic, nursing my two-day-old while explaining multiplication tables to my oldest. How far apart these worlds are, I thought. The world of school and homework and navigating friendships, and the world of nursing and night-waking […]
Just the beginning.
Life is busy. It makes it hard to know what to write. Do I talk about the memoir I just finished reading? The books on my nightstand waiting to be opened? (My metaphorical nightstand, anyway. I actually haven’t had one in years.) How about my experiences with language, and my renewed desire to study kanji? […]
margin.
We are in the midst of a string of rainy days. It’s been this way for weeks: three days rain, one day of clouds, two days rain, one day of clouds. Welcome, Spring. (I’m over you, by the way.) Along with incessant rain comes the beginning of the school year. As buckets in the sandbox […]
a real life look at my real life: our bedroom.
I’m sitting in the creaky glide-rocker we bought on sale at Nebraska Furniture Mart when we were newlyweds and found out we were pregnant with Jones. Our duplex was still in boxes, and our first purchases for it were this rocker and a micro-suede loveseat that my kiddos jump on in the playroom next door. […]
lessons from Ivy.
I’m thinking God knew what he was doing when he decided to give me another baby. (Surprise, surprise.) Last night, it occurred to me while I was bathing 3/4 of my children that I’ve been much calmer about Jones’s homework since Ivy arrived on the scene. And also about sibling squabbles. And whether or not […]
all production halts.
I felt so on top of things before the birth of this little lady. Though pregnant and waddling and all that, I had a to-do list that I finished each day. I wrote thank you notes. I called for hair appointments. I attended PTA meetings at the youchien. Now, I breastfeed and I hold a […]
Sacrifice.
It’s taking some adjustment, this new baby in our house. I didn’t realize how much I’d come to enjoy the tiny tastes of independence that children give as they grow: the showers alone, the writing time at my desk, the hour of quiet on the couch while kids busied themselves upstairs. I think perhaps the […]
she’s here!
Ivy Ann O’Donnell made her way into the world at 7:30a on December 17th. 7 pounds, 8 ounces, and blue eyes (we think) to boot. She was adamant on carving her own way and breaking the mold set by her older siblings, who were all born on in the 40th week of pregnancy, 4 days […]
a place i’ve never been.
I can’t stop thinking about birth. I suppose it’s normal for where I am right now: four days past my due date, the magic day in all previous pregnancies during which I met my long-awaited babies. Jones was due on March 16th, and my doc induced my 4cm-dilated-for-weeks body by breaking my waters in the […]
