Motherhood

Henry's first hair cut

Henry's first hair cut

It has been a couple of days since Henry’s first hair cut and I’ve been able to emotionally process this milestone. (Just kidding, I’m still crying.)

I had been meaning to give Henry a hair cut for a while now because, as much as I adore his little curls and flippy ends, he was having trouble seeing. His hair would fall right in front of his eyes and only let me tie his bangs back some of the time. I was debating going to a professional, but alas, I decided that we would all be less traumatized if I did it at home.

I have been cutting Paul’s hair for our entire marriage and while I am by no means an expert, I thought I could figure it out. Now that we’ve washed it and it’s been a couple days, I see a few areas I want to touch up, but overall it’s okay (I think…).

He was a champ throughout the trim and I’d like to give a big shout out to Daniel Tiger and organic lollipops from Trader Joe’s. You’re the real MVP.

Now that he has this little hair trim, he looks all grown up and like a big kid and not a baby and again, I’m crying. He’s also talking a lot more and while I know that has nothing to do with the hair cut, he suddenly seems like such a big boy now.

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Theo at one month

Theo at one month

Theophilus is one month new today! It has been incredible adding Theo to our family. I remember when Henry was born, that first month felt overwhelming and each new day felt so different as a family of four. I swear I woke up every morning thinking, How are we managing as a family of four?! I don’t know if I’m cut out for this. I was worried all the time and had a pretty terrible bought of postpartum anxiety. But this time around, our family of five feels whole and, although not exactly complete, it feels like we are who we are supposed to be. Even though Theo was our unexpected baby, he’s been a joyous and life-giving addition to our family.

God is funny that way.

Now, let’s talk about Theo, shall we?

As you can see by his lack of neck and multiple chins, he is a chunkster. He’s an excellent eater and we are so grateful my body can keep up with his appetite. However, this has caused me to be a ravenous eating machine so if you plan on being in my vicinity, you better have food ready. I wouldn’t say no to more sleep either. He eats every 2-3 hours throughout the day and night and sometimes a gal just wants to sleep for more than an hour stretch.

It’s a good thing you’re so adorable Mr. Boy. 

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What I wish I'd known

What I wish I'd known

Picture me circa 2013. I was a third-year dental student just starting the clinical part of my education. I had just finished two years of intensive didactic learning. Every facet of my life was organized by folder. I was an expert PDF annotator. I could study for hours upon hours in my little bubble at the local Panera.

So when I found out I was pregnant with my first child, I approached this new experience much in the same way. I studied. I researched article after article on mothering, pregnancy, newborn life, the whole shebang. I had Pinterest boards dedicated to pregnancy and motherhood. I downloaded apps that walked me through each day of pregnancy. I researched monthly developmental milestones to make sure that my daughter was on target.

I had lofty dreams about sleep training and getting my pre-baby body back. I would exclusively breastfeed and only feed her organic food that I made myself. But now that I am four and a half years into motherhood, I can tell you that all the research in the world did not prepare me adequately for what would be the greatest joy, adventure, and challenge of my life.

Here are a few things I wish I’d known before becoming a mom.

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Theo's Birth Story

Theo's Birth Story

Here she goes again.

Throat clear.

So at 38 weeks + 2 days…

Let’s back up. Where to start?

Oh yes, false labor. Or prodromal labor to the medical folks. I call it you suck labor. For days, nay, weeks. It was like that for my first kids, so I don’t know what made me think that I could avoid it this time, but alas, a girl can only dream. For a good fortnight, I had regular contractions, especially during the day while I was working. I’ll tell you, prepping crowns and trying to do exams on squirmy two-year-olds is no fun when you’re contracting.

If I was more of a glass-half-full kind of gal, maybe I’d glean some life lesson from the waiting and wondering and patience and yada yada. Offer it up, Samantha. But nope. Impatience during the last month of pregnancy is sort of my deal.

But I was determined not to go to the hospital unless I was FOR. SURE. IN. ACTIVE. LABOR. Because being sent home with not-so-active labor but still contracting for baby number three would be #embarassing. I was also delaying packing my hospital bag because, although I am not superstitious, apparently 36+ week pregnant Samantha was convinced that packing the hospital bag would delay labor. I know, pregnancy brain is an interesting phenomenon.

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