A Purposeful Peek

Lillian Cole,  Happy 3 months to our "happiest baby on the block!" Last month, we were thrilled to catch a glimpse of your very first sweet smiles, but this month you completely let loose and started smiling all.the.time. Your happiness is contagious, and it's impossible to look at you without smiling... You continue to be the sweetest snuggler and are an excellent sleeper! Your laid back personality makes it possible for you to go with the flow, wherever and wherever! Your energetic sisters think you're a real life baby doll, and I can only imagine the things you are already learning from watching them... At the end of three months, momma returned to work and left you in the care of our amazing tribe - your Mimi, Aunt Lauren, and a couple of awesome college girls.  It truly takes a village to raise our family, but I love that you are exposed to so many different people who love you! With no problems adj

Over the past year, there has been a palpable shift in our culture. It is a shift of demanding accountability for those who have violated women in unthinkable ways. It is a shift in holding perpetrators accountable for their actions, regardless of their salary or status. It is a long overdue shift that has required much courage from the victims and light shining into the darkest (and often very painful) places of their stories.  The #metoo campaign is a popular social media awareness strategy that has shed light on the vastness of this issue, as everyone from celebrities to my personal friends have come forward with their stories. It is time that I share mine. While my story pales in comparison to the most traumatizing experiences of so many women, it is a story that has marked me profoundly: It was the summer of 2003, and I had just graduated high school in the small town where I had lived my entire life. I had been so fortunate to grow up in a stable home, where I was tau

I am a mom who works. Some may call this a "working mom," but I don't exactly identify with that term. I was a working professional long before I was a mom, and yet my role as mom now comes before my role as a working professional. While neither role individually defines me, they are both inherently embedded in who I am. Being a mom makes me better in my role as a pediatric clinical pharmacist, and having a career outside of my home makes me better in my role as a mom to my own children. I personally need the balance of the two roles to feel like I can really come alive, pursue my dreams, nurture my family, and be myself. The term "working mom" implies that not all moms work. And if you are a mom in any capacity - whether you stay at home with your children full-time, work from home, or have a career outside of the home,  let's all just stop and agree that being a mom in and of itself is a role that is WORK. It is the most rewarding work, but work nonethel

Lillian Cole, Two months into this life, and you are simply a dream baby... towards the end of this month, you started sleeping.through.the.night. We tried not to get our hopes up at first, but this has continued to be the pattern for you. You are such a peaceful and content doll baby! At this point, it seems that just when I memorize every inch of your sweet face, it changes the next day. One day, you look just like your daddy, and then the next day... well, you still look just like your daddy (and your biggest sister Charlotte, who also looked just like your Daddy). But each day brings a little something different, and I love seeing the way you change and grow.  One of your major life milestones this month was that you got to meet the rest of your family... who traveled all the way from Thailand to see you!!! Okay, so maybe they were moving home anyways, but the timing was perfect in that we had already soaked up a month with you as our little family,

Charlotte Ann, Happy 4th Birthday!!! You are so inquisitive, intuitive, and compassionate.  You have a beautiful sense of wonder about the world around you, and your fourth year of life was filled with incredible adventures.. A couple months after you turned 3 years old, you began asking for a "new baby." But you didn't simply want a baby doll, you wanted a real  baby. Then, with your incredible childlike faith, you prayed for that baby. You talk about how you remember laying in bed one night and asking God for a baby sister...and that He gave you a "thumbs up." So, it was no surprise to you when you learned that Momma had a baby in her belly a month later... Your heart inspires us, and we pray that you always keep your sense of wonder and faith! You experienced your first glimpse of the world outside of the U.S. when we traveled to visit your cousins in Thailand last December, and you proved to be a great little traveler. Seeing the world through

There is a postpartum Chinese tradition called "Sitting the Month."  It literally means that after having a baby, women undergo a 30 day confinement period where they stay in pajamas, do not go outside, adhere to a bland but nutritious diet, and have around-the-clock caregivers for themselves and their baby, among many other specific regulations designed to promote recovery from childbirth. Compare that to U.S. culture, where it is almost seen as a badge of honor to return to daily activities of life soon after giving birth. Women are referred to as "super moms" for appearing to bounce back within days to weeks after delivery, aspiring to fit back into their pre-pregnancy wardrobe as soon as possible, toting their other children around, resuming household responsibilities, and even returning to work within only a few weeks. It seems that much thought and discussion surround pregnancy and childbirth in our culture, but postpartum care? Not so much... In hinds