Remember who I am. 

Yep, that is the number one thing I wish I'd done when my kids were tiny. 

Instead, I turned over every part of myself to them. 

Gave until I had nothing left to give, and then, pushed harder.

Of course our job is to meet their needs when they can't, particularly as in...

 I just got back from two weeks on the road. I racked up:

• Three climates
• two time zones
• and a whole lot of amazing adventures.

I was in Colorado, meeting clients, writing, and exploring the Rocky Mountains.

The mornings started at 24 degrees, the afternoons finished at 60 but felt like 8...

Christmas 2011 - Also known as the year we hit the reset button on the holiday.

Christmas is the season of giving and receiving between friends, families, and coworkers, but from the perspective of a little one, it’s all about the ‘getting’.  

The way they give back to us, through their smiles,...

When my kids were one and three, the daily struggles were REAL and honestly, I thought it would never end.  

“Two and four have got to be better, right?” My daily prayer, mantra style. 

When I turned to my village for support they said loving, yet unhelpful, things.  

Don't blink and you...

Motherhood isn’t your identity. Neither is being a wife. They are relationships. And before them, there was you.

You worked hard for years to grow into who you are, to own your sense of self, and step into confidence, clarity, and create a vision for who you wanted to be in this world.

Your ...

I have a love/hate relationship with journaling. As in, I LOVE the idea of it: pick the prettiest one, get my special pen, sit in a quiet space, then climb so far into my head that I don’t know what to write, freeze, and end up reinforcing my belief that I’m bad at journaling. 

I want to do it. ...

“Those pants don't really do you any justice.”

My (then) best friend said this to me as we were getting ready to go out dancing for the night. 

I was 18 years old and had spent adolescence and young adulthood hating my body. I self described as “big-boned” and wondered aloud, so my mom was s...

She did it. This is what my husband says. 

People say, “Oh my gosh, you have such amazing kids”, and he smiles, points his finger at me and says “She did it. It’s because of her” 

He’s right. I did the bulk of the childrearing, adopting the role of mother, safety officer, therapist, goal set...

A conversation for context.

My husband: “What do you want for Christmas?”

Me: “Finish renovating my office?” 

Him: “Ok.” 

He's a contractor by trade so I trust him and he has This Old House type vision for our home updates so I trust him even more.

He also lives by this motto, “If you're going ...

In the first article, Welcome to the World Little One, we explored your baby’s basic survival needs during the newborn phase. 

In the second, What is Self-Soothing, Really? We explored the process of calming ourselves and how it connects to our sense of self. We learned that teaching them this firs...

In the first article of the series, Welcome to the World Little One, we explored your baby’s basic survival needs during the newborn phase. 

Today we tackle self-soothing. 

Google it and you get a lot about babies, kids, and the ability to fall asleep and calm down by themselves. Yes, that is the ...

Do I have everything? A glance at the clock told me to pick up the pace. Apron, pens, wine key, oh- “I’ll be right back. I forgot something in the car” I said, and moved briskly past them to the front door of our house. Pop “Damn” I muttered, knowing this meant the latch hadn’t caught. Irritation ri...