new mom

Ode to My (Postpartum) Hair (A Poem)

/ Katie / 12 Comments

Here, there, and everywhere you are,
my hair –
in the shower drain and on the rocking chair,
fistfuls in my hands,
landing all around in tangles, clumps, and pairs.
You and me,
we were really something, weren’t we?
One day you’ll come back,
I know –
or, at least, I hope it’s so.
Until then,
my old familiar friend,
we’ll weather the (thinning) clouds together.

Lucy Blue’s Big Debut

/ Katie / 6 Comments

How’s this for some Monday cuteness:

It’s a blurry photo, I know, but too good a (new) memory to not share.

Our sweet Lucy Blue-Eyes made her big debut over the weekend, and we’re so excited to start getting her out and about to meet out friends and see our community. She had a good time, I think, and was very relaxed about the whole thing.

Mama, on the other hand, was an absolute mess. I know she can’t live in three rooms of our house her whole life, but going out where the people and the germs are makes me so nervous. I want her to know the world, but I also want to keep her safe from the bad things. This, I’m sure, is a parent’s ultimate dilemma.

At any rate, we went to one of our favorite places, and Lucy got to show off a shirt from one of my very best friends, and we had a chance to catch up with a few people, and Lucy took a big nap in the middle of all of it, and it was good. We’ll do it again, I’m sure.

For now, snuggles.

My 2024 Word of the Year

/ Katie / 4 Comments

Okay, so I’m a little late on this. I’ve been busy, you know?

Normally, every year, I set very specific goals and make plans for how I’m going to accomplish them. This year, things are a little different and my only goal is to be a good mom to Lucy while I figure everything else out. So, I’m trying something new. A lot of my friends choose a “word of the year” every year, and I’ve never done it. But new year, new things to try. So, here we go. My word this year is:

EMBRACE

Embrace this new life. Embrace these new challenges. Embrace the joys and the hardships and the highs and lows. Embrace myself, and Graham, and most especially, baby Lucy, who is so fun to cuddle. Embrace all the changes and embrace every moment, and hold these precious, brief days with both arms.

I shall try.

Two Months of Motherhood (Or, What Is Time?)

/ Katie / 6 Comments

Our sweet Lucy Blue-Eyes is two months (and two days) old!

She surprises me every day. Every day, something is new and fascinating. She’s learning to hold up her head, making lots of new noises, and looking more and more like her daddy. She is beautiful and strong, and I’m the luckiest. I love being her mom. It’s the best thing I’ve ever done.

BUT…

With Graham back at work and his work being about as busy as one would expect after several weeks away, being Lucy’s mom leaves me very little time for much of anything else.

(And what is time anyway? Wasn’t it midnight two hours ago?)

Anyway, I haven’t even had a minute every day to brush my teeth. We’re doing well, all of us, and we’re figuring things out, but we have no set routine at the moment. It’s not quite chaos, but it is very different from how life was before. That’s not a bad thing, I think. Just new.

So what does that mean for this blog?

I don’t know.

I’m planning to keep writing, at least once a week. I haven’t been keeping up with everyone’s posts, and I’d like to do that, too, because y’all inspire me to create and push myself and enjoy the process. But for now, I’m doing what I can.

And that’s enough.

Six Weeks of Lucy

/ Katie / 73 Comments

Y’all. This baby.

She’s incredible.

Wednesday marked six weeks since my sweet Lady Lucy’s arrival, and we are in love and elated and tired and busy and just so, so happy.

And tired. So tired. Very tired.

But she’s worth it. Every exhausted minute of it.

Honestly, it’s so much more easy than I worried it would be. And also more challenging. And just amazing.

One of these days, I will sit down and write about this whole experience – birth and postpartum, being a new mom, learning how to care for a tiny, perfect human. But right now, I’m all about the baby snuggles.

She’s growing and changing every day. She’s making eye contact, lifting her head, grasping at our fingers, staring at Merlin (who is patiently trying to teach her exactly what human hands are for, which is petting him, of course!), listening, watching, stretching, wiggling, and just being the most fascinating little creature I have ever encountered.

I won’t overshare about her here, because I’m sure you’d all get tired of it and wonder where all the poems and short stories went. And I will get back to writing those! Soon, I hope.

But for now, more snuggles. And coffee.

This is the life.