Author Archives: shannon2818

Earlier this week, my cousin, AK, shared a guest post about first Mother’s Day. In the second installment in this two-part series, I’m going to share my own perspective on being a mother. Before you read my post, read about AK’s quest to become a mother at Living is Easy with Eyes Closed. ________________________________________________________ ThisContinue reading “I’m a mother – part 2”

My cousin, AK, writes about her quest to become a mother at Living is Easy with Eyes Closed. Because of our different experiences, AK and I both feel differently about our status as mothers. In honor of Mother’s Day, AK and I are doing a two-part post explaining our journey into motherhood. Here’s AK’s installment:Continue reading “Guest post: I’m a mother – part 1”

When I hear yelling or whining, which is a lot at our house, I start to shut down. As I’ve mentioned before, there’s nothing that irritates me more than the sound of children yelling and whining. I know that, especially for my children, this is the time to engage with them, not pull away. I’veContinue reading “The dead look (writing reject #3)”

Today I was with BE and BC at the store when I saw an old high school friend. We hadn’t seen each other in about four years – the last time was after I got married, but before we had children. I introduced her to the kids and had them tell her their names andContinue reading “Whose story is it?”

Actually, this week was not very eventful. The title of this post refers to one particular week in February 2005. J and I were married on a Saturday and three days later our daughter, BE, was born. Since BE is adopted, naturally I wasn’t there. But sometimes I wonder about BE’s first mom (FM) andContinue reading “An eventful week”

We went out to eat earlier this week, and the kids were given paper place mats and crayons. BC asked me what he should draw on the back of his place mat, and I suggested a dog, since he loves “doggies.” He proceeded to draw his first masterpiece as a young artist. Can you seeContinue reading “BC: the budding artist”

Book Review: Susan and Gordon Adopt a Baby When I recently read “The Family of Adoption,” the author, Joyce Maguire Pavao, recommended a book called “Susan and Gordon Adopt a Baby.” She wrote that this book would help to introduce the concept of adoption to young children. The book was published in 1986 and as youContinue reading “Susan and Gordon adopt a baby”

I rarely cry. Even though we’ve had some tough times as a family, I’ve only broken down twice. The second time was just a few days ago. BE was awake at about 10 p.m., and when this happens she seems to be in a weird place between awake and asleep. In this state, she getsContinue reading “Big girls don’t cry”

After we celebrated adoption day on June 25, J and I wanted to send announcements to our family friends. We used moo.com to design our own postcards. We were able to select an image for the front and customize the text on the back. The company printed them and then sent them to us. Here’sContinue reading “Our adoption announcements”

Last week, J and I took the kids to visit his grandparents in Florida. J has always been close to his grandparents and since they don’t travel anymore, they had never met the kids. More than anything, I was very nervous about taking the kids on an airplane for the first time. Both of them areContinue reading “To Florida and back”