Why a mother with a disability chose to bring a daughter with Down syndrome into the world
Although I’ve had a disability since I was four years old (that we know of anyway), I was mainstreamed at all times. In my family, “disability” was something reserved for people who used wheelchairs. Saying I tried to “pass” and fit in among the non-deaf, non-disabled is like saying the Pope is Catholic. When I found out my daughter would be born with Down syndrome, my world crumbled.
The baby who crashed his mama’s baby shower + a few glowy newborn snaps
Ladies and gents, meet Dexter. This dude was SO STOKED about being born that he decided to give life outside the womb a go five weeks early, and actually attended the baby shower planned for his mom!
Heuristic play: here’s what’s in my infant-friendly treasure basket
Take a minute and think about the toys that we provide for our infants, they are mostly plastic and feel/taste the same. Boring! The Treasure basket allows you to create a base basket full of 20-30 multi-textured, multifaceted, objects for your baby to explore daily for about half an hour to an hour. Eventually the basket can contain up to 60-80 objects as you slowly build more items to keep the baby interested.
7 ways motherhood shocked the hell out of me
Full disclosure: I have been a mother for nearly six weeks now. I didn’t think it’d be easy, but when my pregnancy went extremely smoothly I got to thinking that maybe, just maybe, my baby would be easy and being a Mom wouldn’t be too hard. Lo and behold, there are definitely a few things that shocked the hell out of me in both regards.
How do you successfully share a bed with more than one kid?
I’m wondering how other families have successfully shared a bed with two children — it seems unfair to put our older daughter in a bed on her own so that the younger one can sleep with us. How did your family manage to co-sleep with two kids?
A day in the life: let’s follow this family of four and their dog around for a while
I love love love “day in the life” type family sessions (you guys might remember Ariel’s family photos by Jenny Jimenez last year — the same ones that featured those fab Care Bear suits). You get SO MUCH MORE from your family session when the photographer sticks around for more than an hour.
Take some time and journey to a dreamy sleeping baby land
Chantell and Freddy celebrated the recent birth of daughter Liliana in Chantell’s mother’s home. The trio enlisted the expertise of Laura Isle Photography for their session, which seems like an awesome fit — I’m not usually especially drawn to photos of babies in baskets, but these look like Lily was in the middle of the best sleep ever in the softest bed ever and just fucking loving it.
How can I make my office baby-friendly?
I’m a new mother to a beautiful four-month-old girl. I’m also a contract lecturer and have to take work when I can get it. One of the things I love about my job is that I can work from home and take her to university with me, but I’m not sure how to set up my office to suit us both.