We are now “those people.” A sentiment thousands of people across the Carolinas have shared since Hurricane Florence hit. “Those people” who lost their homes. “Those people” whose businesses went underwater. “Those people” who are sleeping in tents in their neighborhood soccer fields because their houses are filled with mold and sewage water. We have seen “those people” before on TV–on the news, in the documentaries–and we have seen the sorrowtell me the rest!
To the ones who are now “those people” after Hurricane Florence
The uncertainty is the hardest part. Pictures are flooding in. Pictures of destruction, of sorrow. Pictures of caved in roofs and overturned cars, flooded highways and massive trees on their sides. Pictures of rescues and exhausted first responders and collapsed roads. Most of you have no idea what condition your home is in. Topsail is completely closed off, Wilmington has become an island, and it’s being recommended to completely bypasstell me the rest!
Hurricane Florence is coming: wise advice from a local
It’s Sunday night at 10:46pm. Three days from now we are told to expect catastrophic flooding, life threatening winds, and a hurricane that could take everything we own. It’s kind of making it hard to sleep, and so I write. This isn’t the first time we’ve been through this. We had Matthew in 2016—just a few trees downed, Irma came through last year with nothing but heavy rain. Both weretell me the rest!
That time I traveled across the country alone with two kids and moved in the same week
Oh, it feels so good to breathe again. Or should I say stop to breathe again. I’ve been mostly absent for a while, I know. In March, this beautiful baby girl was born and then when she was three weeks old I arbitrarily, without thinking about what I would do if I actually got it, applied for a job as a barista in the middle of the night and was offered ittell me the rest!
Twenty things I learned from having two in two years
When the number of children in your family doubles, life changes. Like, a lot. Hello, perpetual chaos! You had better believe I read the mommy blogs when my daughter (#2) was on the way–I wanted to know how to juggle schedules, if tandem nursing was the thing, if I should potty train before or after my daughter arrived, what the transition would be like for my toddler. Most of them basicallytell me the rest!
After 3+ years of marriage, I found myself jealous of the newlyweds
A few days after my best friend’s wedding, I saw one of her Instagram posts. She’s on her honeymoon, paddle boarding with her best friend, crazy excited about the adventures her new life will bring. If there was ever a perfect couple, it’s these two. But all I could feel was the sharp stab of jealousy. What was that even like? Newlyweds, enjoying the first few days of being one,tell me the rest!
I was scared, too. Here’s what you can learn from my adjustment to two kids
Nine hours before I delivered my daughter, I lay in the reclined hospital bed, the beeping heart monitor the only noise in the dark, silent labor and delivery room. Sobbing. It felt like saying goodbye to part of my little boy, my sweet 22 month old only child. It had only ever been me and him–he was my buddy and I wasn’t sure if either of us was ready totell me the rest!
“Are you sure you don’t want a mirror?”: my daughter’s birth story part 2
7:30am The first contraction washed over me so slightly I might not have noticed if not for the climbing line on the monitor beside me. Breathing deeply, I counted the seconds as the line slowly dropped back down to zero. The room was dark, silent except for the steady thumping of my daughter’s heart over the monitor and the rustle of sheets as my husband stirred slightly in the corner,tell me the rest!
Too much spicy food and an unwanted induction: my daughter’s birth story part 1
When 37 weeks hit, I came to a crossroad. I desperately ached to meet my daughter, the tiny human who had been cooking for the past nine months, but simultaneously I longed to enjoy the snuggles and undivided attention I could give my 22 month old son while he remained the only child. My doctor had told me that after months of painful and consistent Braxton-hicks and all sorts oftell me the rest!
My secret pregnancy
Nine days after I arrived in Malaysia, I did the math in my head. Again. Three pregnancy tests, and they had all been negative. But my math couldn’t be that far off, could it? So I finally stopped waiting and took another test, my heart pounding. The second pink line appeared in seconds and instantly heart rejoiced while my body screamed why are you doing this to me again???? (My pregnancy withtell me the rest!