Family

When I Became a Mom
In a recent blog post, I wrote, "If you see a steady flow of current updates alongside old photos and flashbacks from the kids' childhood, you’ll know that I am processing." So it begins. This [...]
Top FREE College Planning Resources
I've been very vocal about my college search obsession for Z. Some people hire a professional university admissions consultant to guide them through the ins and outs of the process. Me? I’ve unofficially made it [...]
Freedom From Parenting Guilt
Like most parents I fear that I fall short with my children. I worry that I don’t have what it takes as a mom and that I could possibly ruin my one shot at this child rearing [...]

The Final weeks of Pregnancy

By Natalie|2015-10-27T11:39:16+00:00October 27, 2015|Categories: Pregnancy & Birth|Tags: baby number 4, birth, birth center, birth plan, labor, pre term, pregnancy|

Whoa... it's almost baby time! This week is all about preparation because next week I am gong to be full term. Actually that's not true. I used to think that, but turns out that is "outdated" information. Things have already changed since my last baby! As USA Today reports (2 years ago) "Generations of mothers-to-be have heard that babies born any time [...]

When to Introduce Video Games

By Natalie|2015-10-23T10:37:49+00:00October 23, 2015|Categories: Family, Parenting Tips|Tags: boys, computer, father and son, gamer, iPhone, Mario, parenting, programing, robots, video games, Z|

When my son Z was four we were given a Wii. It was a hand-me-down. No exchange of money was involved. The consoles have since been discontinued anyway, so it really shouldn't be too big of a deal. It was a very thoughtful gift and we still enjoy using it so I don't want to come across as ungrateful in anyway. I [...]

Birth Photography

By Natalie|2015-10-22T11:48:26+00:00October 22, 2015|Categories: Babies, Pregnancy & Birth|Tags: babies, birth center, birth photography, delivery, home birth, hospital birth, labor, maternity, newborn, pregnancy, water birth|

I know birth photography isn't for everyone, but for some of us it is such a wonderfully significant milestone it's worth documenting. I am currently working on doing multiple guest post about my natural birth experiences. I had to dig the digital photos out of the archives to get to my pictures for these blogs, but after looking through all of [...]

3 Year Gap

By Natalie|2015-10-19T09:16:41+00:00October 19, 2015|Categories: Pregnancy & Birth|Tags: 35 weeks, 3rd trimester, baby #4, baby or bust, maternity, pregnancy, pregnant|

Tomorrow I am 35 weeks along in this pregnancy! Let's just say that if history repeats itself (as it has consistently done with all of my other pregnancies) then a month from now I will NOT be pregnant. I might still be in the hospital, but more than likely I'll have my baby! So, I am getting so very excited, but also nervous. Even [...]

Mirrored Writing

By Natalie|2015-10-16T14:35:00+00:00October 16, 2015|Categories: Schooling, Special Needs|Tags: academics, dyslexia, hearing loss, kindergarten, left handed, mirrored writing, preschool, reading, school, special needs, writing|

Have you ever seen the servers write their name upside down at Macaroni Grill? I waited tables there for years and really had the backwards cursive signature down pat. It took practice though. It wasn't like I just automatically write in reverse although sometimes it looks like my daughter SJ does. She hasn't been writing for long, but in the past couple [...]

School is Cool

By Natalie|2015-10-15T12:23:05+00:00October 15, 2015|Categories: Schooling|Tags: academics, fossils, geography, kindergarten, learning, private, public, school, second grade, special needs|

I realize I already talked about school yesterday and don't want to bore you all, but I do have more to share and I'll tell you why. 1. I am extremely passionate about education. If we can get our kids to love to learn then the sky is the limits on what they will achieve through self motivation. 2. Public schools get so much [...]

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