Our Sisters: Parenting Special Needs Going Green Books

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Family

Co-Sleeping Update
Last week, I posted about my sleep struggles with Olivia. Almost 60 of you wonderful moms chimed in, answering my questions about what sleeping arrangements work for you.
Thank you so much for your valuable input! I love to hear what other families are doing. It helps to learn from others’ experiences and to know [...]

A Perfect Day of Firsts
I never dared dream of such a perfectly pink, sugar and spice, little girl day of independence.

All summer I had been nervously waiting for this day. I thought it a touch of bad luck that my tiny and timid three-year old’s first day of ballet landed on her first day of preschool — a morning [...]

Contemplating Co-Sleeping
I don’t co-sleep with Olivia, but lately i am reconsidering…
Susan, who co-sleeps with her two daughters, Julia and Sophia, is a huge fan of co-sleeping. Ask Susan about her sleeping choice and she will tell you that sleep sharing with her daughters is one of her favorite parts of parenting.
She often tells me, “Janice [...]

Hanging Out in Our Jammies
If you have been keeping count, in the past two months, I have posted three photos of Olivia in her Hatley pajamas from My Baby Pajamas.
The reason is — both Olivia and I LOVE her comfy, cute bunny jammies and so often when I happen to grab the camera, she is in those pj’s! [...]
To My Son, On the First Day of First Grade…
As your Mom, Jackson, I have the bittersweet job of helping you grow up. With each step I cheer, my heart cringes a little. I am preparing you for a world without me.
Today, you took one of life’s huge steps and became a first grader.
You didn’t hold my hand. No - you walked ahead [...]

Wordless Wednesday - Why Walk When I Can Run?
With the low light, I didn’t have the chance to adjust my shutter speed when Olivia decided to take off full speed! “Why walk when I can run, Mom?”
Olivia is doing very well in the walking department. She can take about four timid, wobbly steps on her own. But I imagine before her birthday [...]

It was a perfect evening… if only I can forget the rats
Usually by the end of the summer, I can count a half a dozen evenings when Phil, Jackson and I have treated ourselves to fish and chips at the beach.
But this summer has been so packed with trips, camps and work, I haven’t been even once - until this past weekend.
Phil was away with [...]

Getting the camera turned on us!
Just moments after our production crew packed up at the end of filming our BlogHer interviews, Amber Scott from Capessa grabbed Susan and me and turned her camera on us!
Outside in the San Francisco streets, with blaring buses and raucous street performers, we had a fabulous time chatting with Amber about 5 Minutes for Mom, [...]

If a girl has got to work…
…then this is a great way to do it.

My days may be crazy and way too long, (this week, I am yet to get more than a consecutive few hours of sleep,) but at least in the middle of the madness, I still get hugs from my sweet Olivia.
Wordless Wednesday - Trying to get a shot of all of us…
There is a reason we don’t have more shots of Susan and me with all four of our kids.
Now, I have so much more empathy for my parents when they were trying to get family photos of us growing up. There were four of us kids in our family and we all dreaded the [...]

Learning to do the right thing - the Veggie Tales way…
“Sometimes not helping someone can be just as bad as actually hurting them.”
Trying to teach compassion, empathy and integrity to a six year old boy isn’t always easy.
While Jackson can show surprising emotion in some situations, such as a branch he accidentally severed from a lilac bush, (I currently am nursing a huge branch [...]

Ponchos from Skipping Hippos
From their adorable name to the angelic photos on their website, Skipping Hippos had me enchanted from my first visit. So I was more than happy to see one of their adorable ponchos in person.
My only problem was trying to choose which colorful combinations of fleece and trim I liked best. They are all so [...]

My summer travels are OVER!
I am exhausted. From vacations?!?! No - from packing and traveling with children! LOL
It seems like the last few months have been a season of packing and unpacking and trying to get Olivia to sleep in unfamiliar places.
But now I am back and ready to get back to work - well maybe after I [...]

It is time to join the boys…
This past weekend, Olivia and I stayed home while my husband and Jackson headed out on our family vacation without us! (Every year we go away with my in laws for the weekend and attend a Bocci tournament/huge party at his parent’s friends’ house and then we go to our cabin for a week.)
Partly due [...]

Wordless Wednesday
Sorry, I am 50 minutes late! I couldn’t decide on a photo. This is a shot of Olivia from a few weeks ago. But it is already so dated — she now has seven teeth! Yes - at BlogHer she grew another tooth. So the count is: Olivia seven teeth. Sophia two. Sorry I am [...]

Julia Even Loved BlogHer
My three year old Julia was thrilled with our airplane ride and fancy hotel… but meeting Abby Cadabby from Sesame Street sent her over the top!

This year at BlogHer 08 there was a Sesame Street room packed with tasty treats and the real-life Grover and Abby Cadabby. Can a 3 year old’s life get much [...]

Wordless Wednesday
Yikes, our Wordless Wednesday is late AGAIN! I am back from the island, but scrambling now to pack for BlogHer. It is after 3am and we leave in the morning. So sorry I was late ladies!
Here is Olivia chewing on my mom’s blackberry that I borrowed when I was away last week. But tomorrow she [...]

I’m back - and WOW does this place look fantastic!
I have been on an island. With no internet access. During the very week we launched our new look - and added four fabulous new sister sites. It has been rough. Thankfully, my twin sister and co-blogger Susan was still connected and working day and night. (And apparently long nights.)
While life on the island was [...]