Before I had kids, my father was virtually immobile, aside from being able to click the remote. OK, maybe I’m exaggerrating a bit, but he did prefer his recliner to any other spot on earth… including Wrigley Field, which makes me wonder if he really is my dad. At any rate, enter the grandchildren. [...]

My parents are up visiting. The kids are all excited, of course, to see Nana and Poppy. Mom was changing Evan’s diaper today before we left to go out to lunch. Brady, not wanting to leave Nana’s side yet, patiently watched. When Nana peeled back Evan’s dirty diaper, Brady yelped, “Ewww…. Carmel!”
 If only it smelled [...]

Does anyone know anything about the whole birth order thing and how that translates into personality traits? Our oldest, Andy, has always been thoughtful, cautious and somewhat of a perfectionist. Also a bit pensive. Our second son Brady, however, could rival Evil Canevil. Brayden (his full first name) means “brave.” So true. This is the [...]

In twenty years, will my now 21-month old son still want to give me giant hugs and sloppy kisses and tell me, “I ove you, Momma, fo effa and effa??” This is the same cuddly little guy who tells me without prompting (now) that I’m “go-gus.” (That’s gorgeuous, for all you who don’t have toddlers.)

Connor [...]

To our baby girl Evan,
We know half birthdays aren’t usually such a big deal, but for you, it should be. When you arrived nine weeks early, we weren’t sure what to expect, but I remember…
I remember how you cried when your tiny body first hit air and how I instantly knew you were going to [...]

When you spend your days (and evenings) with four small children (all four and under), you sometimes wonder what “real adults” do with their time. My husband works a LOT, so to create some breaks in our play/fight/school/clean routine, I let the kids watch too much TV. But as any mom of preschoolers knows, those [...]

I went ahead and did it. I started a blog. When your kids are as creative and funny as mine are, you kind of have to. They say things all the time that crack me up and I need to write them down… So that’s what I’m doing. I hope you enjoy this peek into [...]