My husband is a smart guy. He holds a Masters degree, he’s a CPA, and he’s currently a Senior Tax Manager for a large multi-national corporation. He knows a ton about accounting, international tax, and the Marvel Universe. He’s an amazing dad and an almost-perfect husband. Almost.
But there are a few things that he is just not good at. And for a smart guy like him, I wonder sometimes how he can’t figure these simple things out.
10 years! I still can’t believe we’ve been married that long.
Josh and I went back and forth about what we wanted to do for our anniversary. Years ago we decided we’d go back to Italy to celebrate, but with two young children, that was out of the question. We also talked about going to Disney World. (We’re both big Disney nerds and we honeymooned at Disney.) But Disney is best when you have at least 4 or 5 days to explore, and again, with the kids being so little, we knew childcare wouldn’t work out for us to be gone that long.
So we narrowed it down to places we could visit that were driving distance from our house. Asheville came up in conversation, and we both agreed it would be beautiful this time of year. I remembered reading about The Grove Park Inn a while ago in a Southern Living magazine, so I checked out the website. It looked gorgeous and after I saw pictures of the spa, I was sold!
We booked a two night stay, but I wish we’d been able to stay longer. The hotel was absolutely beautiful. From the huge fireplaces in the great hall, to the breathtaking views of the mountains from the restaurants and from our room, to the spa that was basically my personal version of paradise, everywhere we turned in the historic resort was another area of opulence.
Our lives are so busy and it can be hard to keep in touch with elderly relatives. Here are some of the ways you can stay in close contact with your elderly loved ones, and show them you care.
Motherhood is tough. Motherhood is messy. Motherhood has kicked my booty. The first few years are some of the hardest. So much crying (both me and the babies!) and the never ending cycle of feed, burp, change diaper, rock to sleep, over and over and over and over. Then there’s the whining, the tantrums, the constant questions, the potty training, the messes…it’s enough to drive a person completely crazy or send them into a dark depression!
So what gets us through it? (Besides lots of coffee and wine.) What is the light, the breath of fresh air, the hope for all the lonely, tired, lost mamas out there?
It’s our village – the group of women and men surrounding us, lifting us up, encouraging us, and helping out during some of the most difficult years of our life. Every mom needs her village, and I’ve been so blessed with mine. There have been so many people over the years who’ve been a rock, a shoulder to cry on, an inspiration, a light.
He was 4 weeks early and I never made enough milk after trying countless strategies to increase my supply. I wanted to breastfeed so badly and although I knew how blessed I was to have a beautiful, healthy son, I couldn’t get over the emotional aspect of not being able to exclusively breastfeed. He was supplemented from the beginning in the NICU and eventually quit breastfeeding at 5 months after he realized the bottle was faster and easier.
Looking back, I really believe now that my low supply was the entire reason I ended up with postpartum depression. I felt like such a failure – my body let me down. I also felt judged by others and felt like I had to defend myself every time I pulled out a bottle for Graham. (In hindsight, no one cared how I fed my son. During Graham’s entire first year of life, I only had one instance of someone judging me and making me feel guilty about not breastfeeding.)
But even with a low milk supply, Maddie nursed until she was 17 months old. And I couldn’t be more proud of what we accomplished.
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