For her very special golden birthday, my sweet girl wished for her very own locker to safely keep her very special treasures. Hours of painful locker assembly proved worthwhile when I saw just how surprised she was to wake up to a double-decker locker right there in her room. For breakfast we indulged in the traditional donut plate and when I showed up for lunch at school with Gaga and Mimi she was more than excited! After school we met her dad at the Nature Center for some play time and finally opened gifts at home before hitting up her choice for dinner — Pizza Ranch. It was a great day, and turning 8 really took it...

The beginning of Advent this year was marked by another particularly special event which set our hearts and heads leaping into the Christmas season. Emerson wasn’t baptized as a baby and although we couldn’t come to a consensus on where that should take place when she was born, we finally agreed to have it done in the church she attends with her dad. It’s difficult as a mother to feel like an outsider when it comes to our children’s milestones but I keep reminding myself that parenting is less about control and more about letting go. As it turned out, this baptism couldn’t have come at a better time. The holidays can easily...