Sophie and I went to the library together the other day and she got her first library card. I think the last time we went to a library, she was crawling still. It was surreal to hear her conversation with the woman working the desk—her confident “S-O-P-H-I-E,” when asked if she knew how to spell her name. I feel like it was just last week that we were bringing her home from the hospital as a newborn and here she is riding her bike, going to art class, and checking out a very random assortment of books on a Friday afternoon.

We have been a one-car household since 2013 with the exception of one brief, hopeful moment at the beginning of 2020 when we bought a very used Nissan Leaf because we had big plans to be all over the place between Rob’s office, Sophie’s preschool, and Pure Barre Palo Alto. We sold that car before we moved back east and have since been living the single car life, but as things open up and we drag our kids around we finally decided that we do need two cars. It’s nice and everything but the thought of making plans really stresses me out sometimes. I wonder how long we’ll be feeling the effects of COVID-related trauma—it might sound dramatic to you but I often grieve the person I was before all of this.

Gideon is still nursing and I’m in no hurry to wean him but I would love to get a tattoo and/or go on a girls trip when he’s done (maybe both).

Every season that we experience once again in Charlotte and this new house feels so incredibly magical to me. I love putting down roots, painting rooms, finding little corners for plants. An iced coffee in the playroom, watching the sun set on our back patio after the kids go down. Spring especially gives me that “I can’t believe we live here” feeling and I’m so excited to be celebrating our baby boy’s birthday this week with friends and family, here at home.

There’s a running joke that for someone who loves books as much as I do, I’m pretty terrible with libraries. When we lived in Charlotte I think baby Ender destroyed more library books than I ever actually read, and after moving here and having a baby I imagined a life where we go to the library and get books every week. I did it exactly two times and then this week decided to try again, where I learned that I owed $8 in late fees.

After almost a year and a half of pretty much eating whatever we want every day, Rob and I decided to just bite the bullet and do a Whole 30. With the exception of the past few years, I have spent the better part of six years eating Paleo, but never actually did a Whole 30. (This challenge will be put on pause this Sunday, because we’re going to brunch for Mother’s Day and I have to have fried chicken. Or kimchi fried rice. Or maybe both.) I have so many thoughts about food and diets and body image lately and really hope to share them in a post soon.

We have flown to the East Coast with Sophie 5 times in the past 17 months, and while it’s been so fun to see our family and friends so much, it’s been kind of exhausting and definitely expensive. We have one more trip planned in July for a family wedding and then we decided to not go back to Charlotte or Roanoke or Richmond again until 2020. It’s kind of sad but we’re really excited to stay put (especially for the holidays), maybe even taking some time to finally explore Southern California.

I chopped like six inches of my hair back in February and really like it but now I can’t decide if I want to keep the shorter (still very long if you’re looking at pictures scratching your head) length or grow it back out. #firstworldproblems

Rob’s out of town this week and whenever he travels for work I go to bed so incredibly early. It’s really the only thing I like about having him away—I used to be a terrible sleeper when he traveled but with Ender and our security system I really don’t mind it. I know it’s a pretty basic thing, to be able to sleep in your own home on your own but it was something I struggled with for years, even to the point of panic attacks. I still have a lot of anxiety that I struggle with almost daily but I’m so happy that going to bed in an “empty” (a dog and a toddler are pretty good company) house isn’t on the list anymore.

I’m not nursing anymore and so I started intermittent fasting again—I had done it for a while a few years ago but stopped when I got pregnant and decided to wait until I was done breastfeeding to pick it back up. I forgot how much I like it. Someone asked me if I’d be interested in writing a post about my experience with IF and I think I will, so if you have any specific questions about it leave them for me in a comment or send me an email!

I finally have mastered the stroller + dog combo and our lives have gotten so much better. Ender still probably doesn’t get enough exercise, but it is so nice to know that every day we can go out for a nice long walk. I try to take him out on my own early in the mornings before everyone gets up, but sometimes I just want to sleep in a little, especially now that Sophie usually sleeps until 7:30 or even 8:00 AM. What time do you wake up? I’m always so curious about people’s morning routines.

I’m working on a little e-book about blog monetization and I’m pretty excited about it. I loved teaching Blogging Basics and Monetize Your Blog for SkillPop in Charlotte and every time I taught the latter, people would always ask if there was an ebook or video that they could watch if they weren’t able to actually make it to a class, so I’m hoping to have it available soon. I miss teaching—that was one of my favorite things about Charlotte. Stay tuned!