Violet Mary

We are overjoyed to announce the arrival of our sweet daughter, Violet Mary.  She was born Thursday evening, September 25th at 7:22pm.   With the help of my amazing midwife; who also happens to be my beautifully talented and patient cousin Megan, the start of our journey with our baby girl was calm, beautiful, and peaceful; a reflection of what we have already seen as characteristics of our darling girl.

I can't wait to share more details about the day and how we have all been adjusting to our bigger hearts that we each are carrying around in our chests since the addition of our little Lettie-Bug.

Thank you so much for keeping us in your thoughts and sending well wishes for an easy arrival.  We have all felt your love and support surrounding us as we make this step into a new life as a family of five.  We are beside ourselves with all of the love.

"A heart is not a box you fill up; it expands in size the more you love. "

The Mom Next Door Series: Allison H

It is my pleasure today to introduce you to our Mom Next Door, Allison.  I met Al in college and we discovered that we have a common passion for kids and education.  Allison is a teacher for nine months of the year and a stay-at-home-mom for the three summer months; a balance that allows her to feed her passion for education and gives her a few months of full-time sahmhood.

After overcoming learning disabilities herself, Allison now has found herself navigating the world of Early Intervention for her son who has exhibited delayed speech and high activity levels.  She relies on her husband, her own experiences, and her mom to help her find the strength and confidence to give her son opportunities and the create the structure that helps the both of them thrive in day to day life.  Please read on to learn more about my friend and an inspiring momma; Allison.

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Who are you? Hi! My name is Allison and I am living in Acton, MA, about 40 min west of Boston. It's an adorable, up and coming suburb, with a GREAT school system (one of the main reasons we moved here). My husband and I lived closer to the city before we bought our house but realized we were definitely more of the quiet suburb type than the bustling city type.

Who is in your family? I am the mom to an adorable and very active 2 year old named Liam and am the wife of my amazing hubby, Keith, who is there when I need him (especially when I'm having an anxious mom moment). We also have a very fluffy 5 year old golden retriever who is basically our second "child"...or should I say "first child"....who's name is Berklee but is referred to as "Ber-Ber" by Liam.

What do you do for work? I am a full-time working mom from September to June; I am a special education teacher where I work with elementary school children who have severe learning disabilities. I recently switched jobs last year due to the fact that my commute was 40 min long going with traffic and I wanted to spend more time with my family instead of spending it in "grid lock" traffic. It was the right decision and it came at the right time...I am now incredibly happy where I work. In the summer, I am a stay-at-home-mom and I have LOVED spending the summer with my little guy so I is hard to go back to work in September when the school year begins.

What has become (at least for now) you're parenting mantra or guiding principle? Don't compare your child to other children! I have really had to keep repeating this to myself. Liam has delayed speech and is a very busy and active child. He has been doing Early Intervention for the past 4 months and it's going really well. I've seen so much progress BUT when we are with other kids his age, and he isn't talking as much as other kids or he is running from one activity to another every 15 seconds; it's hard to not say to myself "Why can't he talk or why can't he play like the other kids." So I have almost had to put "blinders" on and say to myself "every kid is different and every kid develops differently." Which is so true...Liam is who he is and I now embrace how active he is and the fact that he doesn't like t.v. and would rather be running around outside.  And every day he is getting more words and I'm so proud to be his mama.

What was the most difficult Mom moment you've had (so far)? Finding out Liam had some delays. Like I said before, I had speech delays which led to severe learning disabilities and ADHD and I worry so much that since Liam has delays now then he will have learning disabilities later on in life. But we are getting him the help he needs now and he's made unbelievable progress in the past few months.  Another piece of wisdom from my mother has been her confirming that having the challenges I did early on in life, helped me figure out how to work hard to accomplish anything and I know Liam will experience the same thing because he wants to learn and he is interested in working hard.

What would your pre-mom self be surprised to know about motherhood? How fast it goes...when Liam was an infant, people would say to me, cherish every moment because it goes by so fast. I really didn't understand it until I was living it...when Liam turned 2 in June, it was so crazy to me how fast those 2 years went by. How he went from a tiny little baby who was sleeping and eating all the time, to this incredible little boy who has such an engaging personality. As a mom, I have really had to learn to live in the moment (which has always been hard for me to do) because those people were right! Enjoy every moment because before you know it they will be graduating from college (yikes, I don't even want to think about that!) 

What would your pre-mom self be proud to know about you in motherhood? How incredibly patient I've become. I've never been one to have a lot of patience, but toddlerhood has really tested my patience. As I said before, Liam is a very active kid and he is an "envelope pusher," and because he tests the limits, I am having to tell him "no" more often than not. But getting upset won't make the situation better so what's the point? I just use a very calm voice and sometimes the end result is the time-out chair and sometimes it's not. 

How do you unwind or re-charge? Mom's Nights Out, Date Nights, and working out. As a mom, it's so important to make time for myself and for my marriage. Keith is so good at understanding that I need time to be with my friends and how important it is for me to work out. Even on my summer vacation, I get up at 6:15 to workout before Keith goes to work. I know, many people think I'm crazy but working out helps me feel good and helps me be a better mom. Keith and I also try to do a date night once a month, whether it is just the two of us or with other couples. It's nice to go out and have a conversation without having to race through a meal or worry about food being thrown. In February, Keith and I are taking our first long solo trip since becoming parents...maybe to Jamaica...I'm so excited! 

What do you feel like you are really good at as a mom? Structure! I am a very structure-oriented person and Liam is the same way. He thrives on structure. I find that when there isn't structure in his day, that's when he starts misbehaving. During the summer, we try to have things to do every day he's with me (he goes to daycare twice a week during the summer). And he just switched daycares to a toddler program where there are kids his same age and he is just thriving in this environment! One of the reasons I think he is doing so well is because of how structured his day is. Some kids need structure and luckily I'm someone who does too so it's very easy for me to implement it into our daily lives. 

What do you feel like you wish you were better at being a mom? Playing with Liam...it's really hard for me to constantly be playing with Liam. I've gotten better at it since he has gotten older and can sit down and play with a toy or read lots of books. But I'm someone who always likes to be doing something, so being in the house playing all morning is hard for me. 

Who are the moms you look up to? My mom! As a kid, I had delayed speech as well and was exactly like Liam; very active and busy. My mom likes to tell the story of when she found me on the dining room table with a candle stick in my hand, about ready to smash her china bowl. And now I have a child who is exactly like me (although he's never smashed anything valuable (!) I have found him on the dining room table before!) There have been many times where I have expressed to my mom how difficult it can be to have such an active child and she's always the one who helps me put things in perspective. It's so nice having someone, especially my own mother, who went through the same things I'm going through as a mom. I love her for always being there to help me. 

What is the one "Mom Tip or Trick" that you can share that has made your life easier somehow? My mom also taught me how important consistency is in nap time and bedtime. I usually never have a problem with Liam going down for nap time or to bed because it's the same way every day. It's not realistic to think that we will always be home at the same time every day so if he went down late for either his nap time or he ended up napping in the car, I will make sure he is going down for his regular scheduled nap the next day. Again, structure, structure, structure! 

What are the small joys of being a Mom that you treasure most right now? How much Liam is learning. I LOVE watching Liam make connections in his life like seeing a truck outside and then showing me the truck in one of his favorite books. It amazes me how much kids learn at such an early age, and what they learn is from just living in the environment they live in. I'm so glad that this "learning phase" doesn't end for years so I can truly enjoy it. 

What do you miss most from Mom days already gone by? The baby snuggles! Until Liam was about 8-9 months old, he would wake up around 5:30 but then come in bed with us and snuggle with us and fall back asleep. I loved just watching him sleep and having him snuggle up against me. I rarely get those snuggles these days. When Liam gets hurt he comes running to me for some snuggles and although I hate when he gets hurt I have to admit, I LOVE those snuggles and the fact that I am his comfort :).

a belly update

welp, I'm still pregnant.

A current family portrait

It's not really that big of news considering our due date is not officially until this Friday, and yet, it feels like a big deal as I have been feeling (and others have been commenting) that it appears impossible our girl is not out in the world yet (read:  my belly looks huge and hanging impossibly low).

Braxton Hicks are out of control, my friends.  That's the big thing;  I can definitely make it until her official eviction date (by the way, that's this Thursday), but so then, let's just co-exist until Thursday and maybe my girl could just happily cook in there until then. I'd be totally patient and fine with the wait.

But, nah.

It's daily false alarms that get my hopes up that maybe, maybe, maybe it will be today!  Maybe she'll come on her own!  And then I'm left only to be annoyed later when the contractions and pain completely go away and I'm left with only this huge, uncomfortable belly, a very unreliable bladder, and heartburn.  bleh.

Also, I've been sick with a head cold for the past two weeks.  The kids and I all have been blowing our noses and coughing like maniacs which makes for a fairly unhappy mumma.  Yesterday I threw my hands up with tears in my eyes to announce, "Can I just be one, please!  Either sick or pregnant!  I don't want to be both anymore!!"

So, we're hanging in there until Thursday.  I'm taking solace in know that we will have a baby this week, so it's just a matter of distracting ourselves until at the very latest Thursday.

We hit up a local Scarecrow festival this weekend where the kids painted pumpkins and fed baby goats with bottles!  It was a beautiful fall day and seeing our kids enjoy the day made it a great family day.

We've had playdates with friends at the playground, visited grandparents at their home and work, and have taken walks to try to keep all of our mind off of the fact that we are all desperate to celebrate this baby girl's birthday.

I recently read a comment in a thread after some ill-advised googling about natural labor inducing tricks that said, "Remember your baby is much easier to care for while she's on the inside" which I have been holding on to in moments of my sheer frustration.  She is much easier to care for right now considering I need only to remember to take my prenatal vitamins and lay around when I'm tired and manage heartburn.  So, I'm trying to remember that when Thursday feels like a year from now instead of actually only three days.

And Bud.  Always, Brandon, who is like a steady beat in our lives that makes everything feel normal and okay even though life can feel overwhelming and endlessly frustrating.  He brings peace when I feel like everything is spinning.  I am in awe of his patience with all this crazy over here (aka me) and he is the daily dose of sanity that I need to get through these final days.

Plus, we have these two hilarious and sweet kids that make us grateful that we can give our full attention to them...for at least right now.  Their little personalities fill our days with incredibly funny and sweet moments that leave us filled with joy.  They are as anxious as we are to meet their sister and spend their days kissing and whispering to my belly, "please come out baby!" followed by their own personal details of just how excited:  Gemma says "I love you so much!"  and Greyson says, "I'm so excited I'm going to explode!" 

If there is anything I have been fully aware of is the kindness and love that has been pouring in over the last few days.  Friends, family, and blog readers have reached out to me to check in to see how I am doing and offer love and kind thoughts in these last few days.  Honestly, I am overwhelmed with the sweet text messages, phone calls, and facebook messages that have trickled in from people just extending love to me and this sweet, stubborn girl.

thank you, so so much.
I am forever surprised and grateful to be reminded that we are surrounded by kind and loving people who take the time to reach out to us and let us know that we have a place in your thoughts and hearts.

three pumpkin bellies