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...

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...