Tips for using Favorite Things to Encourage Early Language Development: Rainbows
The first stop in our favorite things series is rainbows. In the world of pregnancy loss and pregnancy after loss, rainbows signify the baby born after a loss: the rainbow after the storm of loss and grief. I didn't really embrace the whole "rainbow baby" thing while we were pregnant with Stitch, but this spring [...]
Parenting Joy: Her First Steps
Hold the presses! Our Halloween Favorite Things series will return tomorrow. Today we need to pause and celebrate. STITCH TOOK HER FIRST STEPS!!!! Ahem. Nope. Let me shout it again: STITCH TOOK HER FIRST STEPS!!!! Our 19.5-month-old little love has lagged in her gross motor development, and we broke down and had her evaluated by [...]
Dear Mama, please don’t put your car seat in the shopping cart seat
Dear Fellow Mama in the Grocery Store, Please know I am coming from a place of love and concern. I don't share this photo lightly, and I definitely don't share it to shame. I tried to make sure to remove as many identifying factors as I could. And I totally wanted to steal your Oreos [...]
Getting Real about Toddler Sleep
The clock on my phone reads 11:18 AM. My daughter just fell asleep for her nap, and I brewed my third cup of coffee so far today. As I sip it, I want to get real with you about toddler sleep, at least in our house. If you can relate, grab a cup of coffee [...]
Hope Floats: Hot Air Balloons as a Symbol of Hope
Things look a little differently around here at Meek Manor. We've had a hot air balloon make-over! When my husband and I met at a coffee shop in 2011, we were drawn to each other through our love of comic books and children's literature. We each identified with a character, and we quickly became known [...]
Documenting Motherhood: I am a Courageous Mama
I take a lot of pictures of my daughter. I'm actually not sure I want to know exactly how many iPhone photos I've taken of her since she was born. I send pictures to Daddy and the grandparents during the day. I take photos of her wearing clothes or playing with toys that were gifted [...]
Shame-Free Screen Time
When my daughter, Stitch, was about six months old, she got sick with a terrible upper-respiratory virus, which was accompanied a horrendous cough. On one of our five trips to the pediatrician's office that week the doctor wanted to try giving her a nebulizer treatment to see if it offered any relief. She was not [...]
10 Ways to Bond with Baby through Books
I just sat my almost 14-month-old daughter on her floor quilt so I could write this blog post. On her floor quilt, I placed a few books and a few toys. The toys haven't been touched; she keeps studying each book. This is not an unusual occurrence. She gravitates towards books. I can't help but [...]
Post-its for Patrick’s Third Birthday
We're excited to announce the return of Post-its for Patrick to celebrate Patrick's third birthday on April 2, 2017. Some may remember that we held our first Post-its for Patrick* to commemorate his due date, August 18, 2014. It was a twist on Random Acts of Kindness, and it brought us and others so much encouragement [...]
Share the Love: Hearts for Valentine’s Day
Tuesday morning, as it snowed, I contemplated keeping Stitch and me in our pajamas all day. But as I sorted through some new-to-us clothes and folded her laundry, I came across several pieces of clothing with hearts on them. I laughed, because a few weeks ago I was worried she wouldn't have anything to wear on [...]
Why I’ve Joined Usborne Books & More
When the Usborne Books & More books arrived for Patrick's Christmas Books, Lloyd and I spent a significant amount of time going through the books and taking a peek at each one. We absolutely fell in love with each book. I had wanted to spend some time looking at them to see if there were [...]
Patrick’s Christmas Books
As we approached Christmas this year, I found myself desperate to do something BIG in memory of Patrick. For his first two Christmases we made donations to one of our favorite charities, First Book. First Book provides books to children who otherwise wouldn't own their own books, and Lloyd and I both believe strongly in that [...]