love, marriage, baby carriage

03/9/18

How to protect your kids with #saynoandtell

Women everywhere shared brave stories of everything from “putting up with” to surviving sexual abuse with the #metoo campaign in 2017, bringing attention to the severity of a widespread yet “hush hush” problem. You probably saw social media posts of friends, neighbors, teachers, or peers you never would have known suffered through some kind of sexual abuse coming forward to share that, yes…”me, too.” Brave, sad, enraging, despicable, inhumane – these were all words that came to mind as I read these #metoo stories.

It got me thinking about my own passion for humans and feminism, but more importantly after becoming a mom, it got me thinking about my kids. My two girls, specifically. While I applaud all the women for coming forward and appreciate having a platform to share the problem in an explosive way, I just kept coming back to my kids. My girls. Stories I’ve heard. Things that have been said to me. I don’t want them to join a #metoo campaign years from now. I don’t want to applaud their bravery or feel sad and enraged. I want it to stop. I need it to stop for them and all the little innocent boys and girls who grow into vulnerable teens. I need it to stop because it just has to.

02/20/18

How I lost 73 pounds (and 57 inches!)

Thank you to my sister, Lauren, for writing this guest post sharing about her weight loss and healthy venture – feel free to leave a comment below if you have any questions for her.

These photos and this post are extremely hard for me to share, but I’m doing it in hopes I can help one person change their life like I did. ❤️

A couple of years ago, I was pretty unhappy with myself. I knew I needed to lose weight, but it was very daunting to even think about starting to lose the amount that I wanted to. My energy and confidence was at an all-time low, and I knew for my family’s sake I NEEDED to make a change.

I knew I wanted to change, but I had no idea how to get started. I met a mom online in a stay at home mommy group and as I watched her posts, I was so inspired by her.

My body had changed so much from pregnancy and I felt like I had no metabolism.  I aimlessly tried different workouts, but I needed some sort of direction for what I should be doing and a way to be held accountable. I joined an all woman’s gym for a while, but it was not easy to find the time to go while I had a baby and a toddler who was in preschool.  

01/25/18

Happy 1st birthday, Olive

My dearest Olive,

Today you are one, and there’s so much I want to remember about this most incredible year of our lives – I say ours, because it’s not just me who you have this effect on, it’s everyone you meet and even people you’ve never met. You see, you have this uncanny way of making people fall in love with you, even if it’s just through pictures and videos.

Olive, you are the definition of sweetheart – you have THE sweetest heart. In fact, Daddy, Ginny, and I feel so strongly about this that we even call you “Sweetie Olive.”

I couldn’t possibly document your first year with the justice it deserves, but I’ll give you some of the highlights.

For the first few months of your life, you slept like a champ (now Daddy gets special time with you in the night when you wake). No one is more delighted than you to wake up – since you were born, you’d wake up sweetly cooing, then you’d sit up, smile, and babble, and now that you’re older, you “talk” to your baby doll and laugh. Your morning energy and sweetness makes any exhaustion melt away.