Hello, let me introduce myself first..
For the first 30 years of my life, everything was smooth and worry-free. I was my parents’ most beloved child, found my true love in college, and happily married him after graduation.
At work, I was my boss’s most valued employee. Whenever I was in charge of a project, colleagues would inevitably say, “Oh, then I’m totally at ease.” I was constantly named “Employee of the Year,” with generous bonuses every year.
Later, I started my own business. Within just three months, I had broken into the market and started making money. By the fifth month, I was earning twice my previous salary. Growth was steady month after month. Right when the business needed more hands, I serendipitously met an amazing partner, and the company reached a whole new level.
Really, it seemed like at every step, whatever I needed, a pair of hands would always place it right in front of me, just in time.
My Two Girls: Ellie & Mia
Meet Ellie, My Firstborn
In 2020, my husband and I decided to have a child. After trying for over a year, we finally got the news in 2021 that a little one was on the way. In 2022, we welcomed our first child, Ellie. She made me a mother.
She is utterly adorable—big eyes, rosy skin, chubby little hands. Every time I look at her, I can’t help but give her a kiss. She is pure joy, and I love her more each day.
But as a first-time mom, I faced unprecedented difficulties. The postpartum tearing wouldn’t heal, and the pain was excruciating. Clogged milk ducts made my breasts hard as rocks. The severe sleep deprivation… And what was even more crushing was that, with zero parenting experience, I was clueless when faced with her unexplained wailing, night terrors, refusal to nurse, constipation, diarrhea, fevers… I desperately searched online, longing for one accurate, truly useful answer!
It was during this time that I thought, once I make it through this “dark” path, I must leave a light on for other new moms.
And Then Came Mia
Ellie had just turned one when I got pregnant again. In 2024, we welcomed our second daughter, Mia.
Completely different from Ellie, Mia is a great eater and sleeper. Although she had her fussy moments in the first two months, starting almost from month three, she became super easygoing. She feeds on schedule, gradually sleeps through the night, loves her solid foods, and adapted quickly when I had to stop breastfeeding due to mastitis.
This made me realize just how vastly different babies can be! It made me even more determined to write about my experiences.
Why I Had to Start This Blog
The Catalyst: A Life Pivoted
After Mia was born, my business also began to decline sharply. I had no choice but to close it and become a full-time mom. My work no longer involves Excel and Word, but instead revolves around changing diapers, washing bottles, making baby food, and managing household chores…
This has been a monumental challenge for me. All my past achievements seem irrelevant now. Managing two young children has brought me a sense of frustration I’ve never known before.
The Daily Reality
They are always fighting over things. When one is in my arms, the other immediately demands to be held too. When I try to cook, Ellie wants me to read her a book. When I attempt to load the washing machine, Mia has a diaper blowout, and I must drop everything to change her…
By the time I finish all that, I see the cup of hot coffee on the table has gone cold again. And it’s not until evening that I remember, “Oh my goodness, the clothes are still in the hamper, unwashed!”
Of course, being a mom is filled with happiness, but that doesn’t negate how hard it is.
My Promise to You
Because I’ve walked this path myself, I won’t just tell you how joyful motherhood is, like many websites do. I want to share my real, unfiltered experiences so every new mom can find a “companion” here.
I want to tell you: you are not alone. What you’re going through, I’ve been there too. Your breakdowns, your helplessness, your moments of losing control—I’ve had them all. You don’t need to feel guilty. This is just a small, necessary stretch of the journey for every mom.
My Hope for This Space
I really want to share my parenting experiences—not just the warm, glowing moments, but to honestly document the pitfalls I’ve stumbled into, the tears I’ve shed, and the “survival wisdom” I’ve scraped together in utter exhaustion.
The Goal: A Mom’s Toolkit
I hope this blog becomes a “mom’s toolkit,” filled not with vague theories, but with:
- Practical Tips: Like how to quickly figure out why a baby is crying, tried-and-true methods for dealing with clogged ducts, or how to efficiently manage the daily grind with twins (or two under two) solo.
- Pitfall Avoidance Guides: Sharing the baby products I regret buying the most, and those “game-changer” parenting hacks. Letting you know which parenting anxieties you can let go of, and which principles are worth holding onto.
- A Community for Moms: I hope my stories connect me with more moms like you. We can cheer each other on in the comments, share our own tricks, turning the storms we face alone into a journey we walk together.
The Bigger Vision
My previous career taught me to analyze data, solve problems, and optimize processes. Now, I’m applying all those skills to this new “position” of Mom. I want to prove that a mom’s value is absolutely not confined to the home. The mindset, resilience, and creativity we built in our careers can shine just as brightly—perhaps even brighter—in this more complex, long-term “project” of raising humans, and can even be transformed into a force that helps others.
My hope is simple: that every mom who opens this blog can let out a sigh of relief and say, “So it’s not just me.” Then, she can find a bit of practical info, a dose of comforting solidarity, and return to her sweet, chaotic mom-life with a little more confidence and a little less weight on her shoulders.
This road? Let’s walk it together.
Re: Weekend Plans
I actually have a lot planned this weekend- I'm excited!
Friday: Well...nothing?
Saturday: I'm going to a "Make Natural Cleaning Products Party" from 11-2, and then K and I (and a few other friends) are going to another friends house to learn how to make paneer (Indian cheese).
Sunday: I'm spending the afternoon with my dad working on our geneology scrapbook. Then I'll head home and get ready for our V-Day dinner date! I made a reservation at a place we've been wanting to try for years and I'm excited.
Today: the kids are out of school and a friend is babysitting till 1, so I get to leave at 12:30. I am miserably sick with a cold and barely slept last night, so I am hoping to convince the kids to cuddle in bed with me and watch a movie while I nap. If they aren't interested, I am still going to nap while they play downstairs. LOL.
Tomorrow: The kids have swimming lessons and then are getting their haircut by a new person. Fingers crossed it comes out looking nice since the Hair Butchery lived up to their name last month. A good friend and his new boyfriend are coming into town to do the touristy thing, so I think we are going to meet them for lunch or dinner someplace. We had planned on making a staycation of it and getting a hotel room downtown, but with L and I both sick, we decided to stay home in our own bed!
Sunday: L is taking one for the team and taking the kids to see Star Wars. I am going to stay home and tag for consignment. I want to make a crockpot turkey breast for the week.
my wife is working all weekend (I think, I know she's working tomorrow and I think she's working an adjusted schedule on Sunday), and we're all still trying to get over the sickness that invaded our house so I'm guessing we won't really do much of anything tonight. maybe we'll have a movie night on the couch.
tomorrow my plan is to take the boy and go grocery shopping in the morning, then maybe take him to the conservatory or somewhere to wander around and stay out of the house, but it'll kind of depend on how we're feeling and how exhausted I am.
Sunday our church is having the first in a short series of sermons on LGBT issues and the church, so I'll be going to that. should be interesting. after that, who knows!
2brides - do you have a tried and true recipe for the crockpot turkey breast? all of my crockpot recipes have been a bust lately and that one sounds yummy. Does it come out more moist than roasting?
Today: the usual. DW are on a cleaning kick so i'm hopeful that she'll be up to a couple hours of cleaning/organizing once the kids are in bed.
Tomorrow: DW is off to the casino for the day with her friends so I'm solo with the kids. I've got nothing planned (who's up for a visit?? lol). Unfortunately we may get some snow which will keep us home. Thats a nightmare since being home all day will surely undo all of our recent cleaning efforts. The only way I can keep my house clean is to keep my children out of it.
Sunday: Playdate in the morning with SIL, BIL, and our neice. After they leave I have to head into work to prep for a big meeting next week.
Blogs: Our Growing Family - CT Working Moms
No plans tonight. The only thing I might do is get Lucky's crate ready for her trip on Monday. I need to write on it (her name, "Live Animal," etc.), and print out her health info and attach it. I know she's going to be fine in cargo, it just bums me out.
Tomorrow is our shower/going away party in the afternoon. I'm guessing we will be pretty beat afterward, so we'll just hang out with our friend who is staying with us, maybe order pizza and play Nintendo or watch a movie.
Sunday we need to pack Jen's big suitcase and go to Costco to get her a new phone. We might stop by my office and pack up some of my stuff, since most people know that I'm leaving at this point. We're having dinner at Jen's favorite restaurant to celebrate the 12th anniversary of our first date and Jen's last night in DC. The end of an era!
We did this for Thanksgiving and it was awesome. I am not a big turkey fan, but this was super moist with fabulous flavor. We did it with chicken stock because L doesn't like wine, but a friend just made it with the wine for her family and her non-wine drinking husband loved it.
https://crockpot365.blogspot.com/2008/11/crockpot-turkey-breast-recipe.html
I think I'll leave work early today - after three LONG days (11+ hours) and one normal day this week, I think I deserve the time off.
We'll go drop our doggie off at a friend's and may go have fish n' chips on the south shore.
Tomorrow we'll head off to Western Mass at some point to hang out with my BIL, his GF, and her twins. We'll sleep over and come back home on Sunday.
DW got a smiley face today and since I still have not (CD18) we are going to go ahead with her this month....so insem will happen this weekend.
Fri: DW is going to hang out at home with baby sleeping after dinner and I am going to go grocery shopping ALONE. It has been a while since this has happened! Bed early
Sat: I am taking DW to work and meeting all of her new co-workers...yikes! Our friend M is supposed ot be coming into town sometime and hanging out with me during the day and going on a date with our newly single friend A that Ann set her up with at our party last week. All four of us are hanging around the house that night.
Sun: Ann wants to see The Vow. It looks like a total tear jerker and we bond over those movies sobbing on each other's shoulders....then she leaves the theatre all tough and trying to not look like a teary mess
Then hang around the house doing pretty much nothing the rest of the day.
Today : WOrking and the Cleaning lady is coming but only because we have an event here tomorrow I love our cleaning lady LOVE her ...she makes the house SPARKLE SPARKLE I TELL YOU !!! We clean but it just never had the same effect as when she does it - how does that work ?
SATURDAY : We are having a SHARE THE LOVE charity Valentines party. Its just a open house form 1-4 with wine and cheese and SWEETS! We just as that people bring an item for a Local Women's shelter. Its the only one in NV that takes women and newborns and their pets. We uses to do a V-day dinner party pre Dos Babies and we wanted to a xmas thing but we always go to CA so here we are SHARING THE LOVE. If you are in town stop by ... really i think we throw get together like this so Melanie can bake her heart out and we can get our house SPARKELING ...ha..
SUNDAY - Day of rest - well M will go test out some beds and then when she find the one I will go . Testing beds with DOS Babies is a JOKE - we tried. We are looking to get a KING.. I was thinking of your post 2 Mommies in OH. I cant wait to get a bigger bed.. that being said even with all the room between us we manage to have some contact.. like a foot or hand occasional cuddle...I NEED WOMENS VERSION OF VIAGRA!!!! anyone
our Blog -http://dosbabies.wordpress.com/
SO I totally broke down and told DW I hated our bed and she was dumbfounded like "WHA? You said you loved our bed it was awesome and..." I explained and she totally understood not that it changed the fact that we wake up on oppoisite sides of the bed but she makes more of an effort to cuddle. But a KING??? Forget it!
Today: E woke up with diarrhea this morning. And she's running a low grade temp, so we are home today. E is missing her 100th day (they have learned to count to 100 and today is the 100th day of school so they are celebrating) and it's not the way I wanted to end my first week at my new job. I was supposed to go to a girls night out with the nurses at my new job so we could all get to know each other better and that won't happen either since E's dad won't be here in time. After E's dad picks her up I may run a few errands.
Tomorrow: Cleaning house and chores and errands.
Sunday: I'm supposed to go skiing with a friend and some of her friends. I haven't been skiing since before E was born, so I'm looking forward to it.
IVF Oct/Nov 2012
Beta #1 = 77, Beta #2 = 190, Beta #3 = 1044
Cautiously optimistic.
My back is STILL a bit wonky so I am taking it easy this weekend.
Tonight- We both have enough HW to last a month so takeout for dinner and nerd time.
Saturday- House type stuff like laundry, grocery shopping, cleaning and more HW. We are going out to dinner with some friends we dont see a lot so that should be fun.
Sunday- My favorite man in the world (my nephew) turns 4 so we are going to his bday party for a few hours. His parents suck instead of taking him to do something he has to sit around the dining room of my Grandmas assisted living facility with 30 adults and one other kid. I feel so bad for my little dude. He doesnt get to do anything ever. The only reason the child knows what a zoo is is because we took him. We got him a small toy and have some dates planned for him ie aquarium, the park, and most excitedly the Day Out With Thomas thing at the Strasburg railroad. His parents tick me off so bad...we offered to get them a zoo membership for xmas and they said no they dont have time to take him. They both only work 40 hours a week. GRRRRRRRRR!!!!!
Done whining now but otherwise we are doing me HW on sunday lol.
Today: I am home with Alexis--celebrating her turning 9 months, with diarrhea and general sick baby-ness. I think tonight I may go out for a drink with a friend.
Saturday: We are going to work as much as possible on our basement. At some point we are heading over to Kel's Aunt and Uncle's house--probably for dinner. They have three kids who are in junior high/high school and are really really good kids.
Sunday: Church in the AM and then heading over to the in-laws for the afternoon/evening. At some point, we will head to Lo.wes to order carpet.
Today: We all slept in late, the bounce house, tables, and chairs were delivered, we ran to Target, and stopped at a Chinese buffet for lunch, Apple had an explosive diarrhea diaper - on J - while we ate, we came home and had the girls get in their swimsuits so I could cool them off with the hose, the weather has been really warm lately. The kids are down for a nap right now, I might try to get in a catnap too. I need to bake cupcakes tonight while the girls play Once Upon A Monster.
Saturday: A's birthday party.
Sunday: We are going to Mass, it's going to be dedicated to J's grandmother, then the cemetary to pay our respects. I'm sure we will be with J's family for the rest of the day.
Two Mommies Healing Hearts