Dear 3 Boys

Dear 3 Boys, I bet you will never remember that mom and dad took you to the park pretty much every day of your lives (some days even more than once) throughout all 4 seasons of the year.  Our hope is that you get the time outdoors that you deserve to really explore, make new friends, and even earn a few scrapes and scars to remember your childhood by.  Getting outside was a lot simpler when you weren't all walking and running, but here we are doing it each day and watching you smile. Love, Mommy _____________________________________________________________________________ Staying at home with my 3 boys has not been easy by any means - we have our daily challenges, many of which we've just figured out and made work by trial and error.  As a mother, I am super lucky to have such an involved husband when it comes to our sons and even my own family who is always ready to come over and lend a helping hand.  But, ultimately, I am solo most days with the boys a...

Depending on who you ask and on your actual child, babies tend to drop their second nap, transitioning from 2 naps per day to 1 per day somewhere between 12-15 months of age.  I have 3 kids, and each of them were not ready for the transition at the exact same time frame, so I always advise that moms pay attention to THEIR child's behavior closely over something like a calendar or what one of their child's peers is doing. Moms all know how important sleep is, especially baby's naps.  We're a crazy mess most days, and I've blogged before about how having an actual schedule can be nearly impossible for me, but I have my non-negotiable items for each day:  one thing I hold sacred for my boys is their nap time - seriously, I will not mess with it unless absolutely necessary or no other options are really available. I am sharing 5 Signs to look for and pay attention to that can signal your little one is ready for the 2-to-1 nap transition.  You'll know when...

Dear 3 Boys, One of my fondest memories of my own childhood is being read to by my mother, especially on the nights where she was home from work - and I loved when she would read my favorite books that had probably already been read to me dozens of times before.  And because mommy spent a number of years as an English Language Arts middle school teacher, I have a true love for reading that I hope to inspire among all of you boys.  I was definitely the mom who read to you while in the womb, and have made sure you each have your own public library cards since you were infants.  I hope there's always a book you'll remember with mommy that puts a smile on your face when you remember the days I read aloud to you. xo, Mommy ___________________________________________________ Let's face it - all the present day research out there shows us that children who are read aloud to before the age of 5 for a few minutes a day are showing gains in development and school readine...

Dear 3 Boys, The addition of Adam and Matthew to our family was one of the greatest surprises and joys of my life - making David a big brother to not one, but two brothers.  Carrying twins was a challenge to say the least.  Above everything else, I often worried about the babies health, my own, and how David would transition to sharing his parents with two other new, little people.  But ultimately, I was excited and felt truly blessed to be having twins.  I felt like I knew God chose me to be their mother and entrusted me with something He knew I would be able to handle and bare.  Our birth story was quite an adventure - the doctors and nurses all showed you off proudly to the other staff and visitors on our floor, always adding "and they were born naturally...one breech!"  All those months I went by fearing what the birth would be like, but just like the first time, I just did it and never thought about it afterward again.  When the unexpected happ...

Dear 3 Boys, Before you ever arrived into this world, every other mom's advice to me when hearing I was preparing to become a twin mom was to "keep the babies on schedule!"  And in all honesty, it used to make me cringe and scare me because I thought it'd be impossible to ever really follow a schedule, especially from going to being a mom of 1 to 3 - I wasn't sure a schedule would ever be realistic.  And then you all came along, and Matthew finally came home from the NICU, David was done with his Pre-K3 program, I stopped working, and it became time to really put what I read in all the twin baby books to use, my prior experiences as a first time mom, and set up routines and a schedule of some sort.  I've learned a lot about you AND myself in this process:  having routines are essential for keeping you boys and myself content, but being flexible to accommodate you all as each of you grow is just as, if not more, important! xo, Mommy ____________________...

Dear 3 Boys,  You've given my life purpose and have motivated me to be the best version of myself that I can possibly be.  A lot about me has changed since I became a mom of 3: some of it has been easy and some of it I am still trying to figure out how to manage.  The thing I know for certain is that when mommy takes care of herself and feels less stressed and more positive, then you boys receive and respond to a happier mom that you deserve.  I may not be doing everything right, or even coming close to it, but I do hope my boys remember and realize that mom was happy (and she tried).  This blog post is not about how to make time for yourself as a mother, but rather the essentials that help me feel like a happier, less frazzled mom.  When I look back on this past year of becoming a mom of 3 boys, I think about all the times I forgot to take my contacts out, or the showers I skipped because I opted for sleep, or the ridiculous clothes I wore outside with ...