Category Archives: Blog

Up and Doing

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Let us, then, be up and doing
With a heart for any fate;
Still achieving, still pursuing,
Learn to labor and to wait.  
–Henry Wadsworth Longfellow

I didn’t intend to let this little blog languish for almost a whole month, but, well…things got busy around here! We have been “up and doing,” which has taken every ounce of energy I can muster.

I had (somewhat) perfected the art of juggling a toddler, a freelance career and a household. Adding baby girl into the mix has meant I needed to adjust my stance and find my footing again. It is important to know how many balls you can juggle at once and which ones you can sit down from time to time. The blog is one I had to sit down. Now that I’m finding my stride, I’m ready to pick it back up again. 

Regular posts will resume again next week. I have lots of ideas and can’t wait to share a few stories. Thanks for reading! 

Living: Things I Love

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In addition to adoring my newborn baby girl, there are several things I am loving this week. Here are just a few:

All the spoiling my little guy received from his grandma. Tic Tacs, new toys and some extra love have helped ease the pain of sharing his mama’s time.

Hearing my guy sing to his sister.

Feeling like this is the exact place in my life that I am supposed to be right now and savoring the moments–even when both kids are crying.

The Vascular Birthmark Institute in New York and Dr. Milton Waner. Dr. Waner gave us answers and comfort when we treated my little guy’s hemangioma three years ago and we are turning to him again now that baby girl has one too. If you want to learn about a truly amazing person, watch the segment on Dr. Waner on MSNBC’s documentary Changing Face:

 

Baby girl’s new tutu courtesy of her Uncle Duane and Aunt Maria. 


 

I also loved getting to spend some time with my big brother and I am grateful he didn’t share any "big brother horror stories" with my little guy. 

My mini Kenney Chesney and the happiness bubbles can bring.

 

 

Living: Baby Madelyn

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Wow! Almost two weeks have gone by since Miss Madelyn Elise was born. All of the feeding, burping, changing, rocking, and oohing and aahing have kept us busy. Throw in a day my hubby spent in the ER with kidney stones and a baby girl who often thinks she needs to eat every hour and I’ve been hard pressed even to find time to snap pictures. Here are a few of the favorites I have captured:

One last picture of my guy, me and the baby bump. We took this as we were dropping him off at a friend’s house so baby girl could be born.

In hindsight, we probably should have moved a little quicker to get to the hospital. I’d heard stories about there not being time for the epidural to work, but I didn’t think it would happen to me. Luckily, it takes less than five seconds to forget how much work labor is.




My little guy couldn’t wait to meet his sister. Next up, he wants to carry her. By himself. Like a grown up. This is one of many things that is keeping me up at night.  


 

For now we’re able to keep him happy with just holding her. 


 

 

And entertaining her. 

All in all, things are going well here–even if a bit hectic. I have so many thank you cards to write, e-mails to send and phone calls to return! Thank you to everyone for all your nice wishes. I love hearing from you and I will be in touch soon, I promise! Now, I think Madelyn wants to eat again. 

Living: MS Bike Ride

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Each year my hubby takes part in the Bike MS: Beyond the Beltway bike ride. This year, there is a good change (fingers crossed) that we will have a newborn by the time the ride arrives, so Bryan may not actually ride. However, he still has fundraising responsibilities. I checked in on his progress today and realized he has yet to secure any funds. So, I thought I’d help him spread the word. It is such a great cause! If you’d like to donate, you can make a contribution online here.  

Living: So Much To Do, So Little Time

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Whew! This weekend went by in the blink of an eye. Somehow I’m still recovering from it. I have so many things I want to talk about! Finding the time to get it all out of my head and onto the screen is my problem. Here are some quick updates:

Family: 

We took my little guy to the Baltimore Aquarium on Saturday. He commandeered the camera, leaving us with great shots like these: 

My baby bump:


 

Our lower legs:


My hubby’s wedding ring: 


 
The lower halves of people we don’t know: 

True gems, I tell ya. We finally had to put the camera away and didn’t get it out to capture any images of us as a family. Don’t worry, though, the memories will live on in my head. 

Baby Girl Long is still staying put and hasn’t shown much interest in joining us. If she was awake to hear the tone of my voice when putting my little guy in a time out yesterday, she just might stay put for a few more weeks. Since my guy came early, I’ve been ready for weeks now, but I’m trying to remain patient. I keep reminding myself that she’ll come when she is ready. 

Freelancing: 

I’m using these last few days/weeks/hopefully not a whole month to get a jump start on a couple of projects I have in the works. It is nice not to have a crunch right now and working ahead feels great. I have about 15 freelancing blog posts floating around in my head and even made a list so I don’t forget them. I hope to get them written up this week. 

Reading: 

I’ve been using every spare minute to squeeze in as much reading as I can. I know I won’t have much time for novels after Baby Girl arrives, so I want to pack it in now. I’ve finished some great books over the past few weeks and can’t wait to tell you about them. The problem is, the books are keeping me away from the computer! It is quite the Catch 22. But, I do plan to share the details on my latest favorites soon! 

Thanks for catching up with us! I hope you all had a great Memorial Day.