In order to be someone, you must first be yourself.

Last summer, after Eibhleann was born Walter’s then 8-year-old daughter came to visit and meet her new sister. We took her shopping for school clothes and it was an eye-opening experience for me on many levels. Kids’ clothes are ridiculously expensive. I remember shopping with my mom when I was young and I could get an entire new wardrobe for about $100. We spent soooo much more than that last summer for about the same amount of clothing. Actually, it wasn’t even the same amount of clothi… Continue

I detest being a working mom! Many kudos to all the women out there who can manage it. I have absolutely nothing ill to say about working moms or stay-at-home moms because it’s the MOM part that we all have in common and everyone has a different capacity in which they can raise their kids. There's not always a choice.

I have some self-diagnosed OCD tendencies and have always been a big fan of order, lists, planning, and just generally knowing what the heck is going on in my life on a day-to-day… Continue

I always thought about what I would name my kids long before I ever had one. People accuse me of thinking too hard about things and making them more difficult than they need to be. But, that’s part of what makes me, well…me. I have a fairly common name, but it’s spelled differently. My mom always told me it was an Irish spelling of the name and we’re Irish so that’s why she chose it. When I was growing up I kind of found it annoying that I had a blah name, but it caused me so much trouble with t… Continue

Over the last 14 months I’ve learned a lot about being a parent. They’re not really the kinds of things you read about in parenting books, either. It’s all pretty much no-brainer stuff that you would think is obvious, but probably things you don’t think about until it actually happens to you or someone points it out. I suppose some of these aren’t true for everyone, but they’re definitely true for me.

Showering daily is a luxury.

Poop, vomit, drool and other bodily fluids are not quite as disg… Continue

I have been catching a lot of flack lately about what I feed my daughter and the time I spend looking for better, safer things for her. Seriously? In my opinion, it’s just too weird that anyone would find fault in me trying to do what I think is best for my daughter. I suppose it’s always something, but sometimes it makes me question myself and I really hate that when I feel like I’m doing the right thing.

I don’t believe I’m a paranoid, freaky person who thinks the government is hiding aliens… Continue