The most important thing I do for my kids every day

Brian and I were married eight years before we had kids. During those years I would go through Ina Garten’s cookbooks, page by page, and cook a new recipe each night for dinner. I love to cook. There is something about taking ingredients and making them into a delicious meal that just makes me happy. Brian and I always ate our dinner at the table together. This is where we would really talk about our day or dream about our next vacation. Fast forward to today and life's a little more full! Driving three ...

Making the Most of 18 Summers

This past weekend, we went bowling with some friends. One of them said to me, “you know my daughter’s four and we only have 14 summers left with her and it really hit me the other day that we need to make time to create some memories. We need to plan a little vacation. I mean, 14, that’s not many.” I couldn’t agree more! Brian says out loud almost every week “the days are long, but the years are short” mainly to remind us that even though we are exhausted and ready to put the kids to bed and ...

How I make one on one time for each of my kids

I remember so much about my first year with Stella. I remember the way she looked at me when I fed her, making faces at her while I changed her diaper, laying on the floor beside her cheering her on as she learned to crawl, sitting with her for hours as she played with her favorite toy, and I’ll never forget her first effort in trying to talk when she said, “agoo”. I loved oohing and ahhing over her. I loved to just sit and study her facial expressions. I will forever treasure that time. She was 15 months old when I ...