Happy Two to my Sweet Josephine

-
Happy 2nd Birthday Sweet Josephine!

Happy big two to the two of us!  My daughter just turned two on July 2nd this year.  Truly amazing how fast time goes by. I didn't do much for her first so made it up by hosting not one but two birthday parties this past month.

Two in itself is such a huge milestone (big HELLO to terrible two's)!  Up until recently, in my pre-parent mind, I naively thought that the "terrible twos" were over-hyped and filled with hyperbolic toddler stories. Boy was I ever wrong! Josephine had showed signs of independence and strong determination since birth.  Although I know these next few years will be filled with battles, lots of tears, tantrums and exhaustion, it is deep joy to witness this little human learn, discover and welcome new skills of doing more things on her own.  She is learning to count in German and Vietnamese.  She is forming new sentences everyday, my new favorite is "mommy is preetty!"   And she is even cracking jokes these days.

How can your heart not explode?!

As many can empathize, our journey to this point was not easy.  There were many obstacles and heartache to overcome.  July was a very emotional month as I process and put behind the many low-points of postpartum depression, crippling anxiety and loneliness as a single mom.  (I still do but it's getting easier).  So to some extent, this second trip around the sun also feels like a celebration for me as mom too.  I am just starting to enjoy parenting all over again and feeling ever so grateful to be a mother to such an amazing child.  It's a feeling I will never take for granted.  My love for her multiplies everyday and we are incredibly blessed to be surrounded with so much love and support.

I am so excited what the future holds for her and us as a family.   She starts a co-op preschool this Fall and I feel so lucky to take an active part of her first years of school. So many incredible memories and adventures to be had together in the next coming years.  To add more color to our nontraditional family ---Sneak peak to 2020, Josephine may welcome a younger brother in her life!













Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Happy 3rd Birthday Jojo!

-
Image
It's amazing and crazy how fast this third trip around the sun has been ----even in these slow pandemic days.  These past several months have been particularly challenging and lonely to say the least,  but Jojo and I have proved to be the best team - mommy managing full-time work during peak busy season and Jojo adjusting to life without our sweet nanny, family, and friends. For Jojo's third birthday this year, we weren't able to host a big birthday bash as we did last year and it was A-ok.  She still had an amazing celebration with chocolate cupcakes home-baked by mommy, cheeseboard pizza and a life-size PINK DANCING UNICORN!  She is indeed one lucky kid and knows her life is rich with memories and wonderful people.  Many from near and far submitted their birthday wishes which I then compiled into a video montage.  Personally, they were therapeutic to see all the immense thoughtfulness and love that came with the birthday videos.  This video is a 30 minute commitment s
Read more

Dreams still come true

-
Image
Dreams and miracles still come true even in these wild and seemingly forever pandemic.  We are heading into nearly a full year of this shelter-in place and I've been honestly too overwhelmed to pause and celebrate the birth of Jojo's full biological brother into this world!  There is just no excuse! Brandon, Jojo's younger brother arrived three weeks early in Spring of 2020 weighing in at 7 lbs, 7 oz, and 20.5 inches.  He was born a very big younger brother to say the least.  Comparing newborn photos side by side, one would think they were practically twins! How did this happy ending story begin?  My IVF journey continues with four extra Grade A boy embryos after conceiving my sweet, perfect Josephine in July 2017.  Nearly four years later, while I am still uncertain if I can physically, mentally and financially raise a second child on my own, it was clear that I will NOT need all four embryos at any point of time or pay to keep them frozen forever.  I had several choi
Read more

Doing this Differently

-
Image
In honor of Mother's Day this year, I'm excited to share a conversation I had on the unique topic of  Sharing Embryos .  I sat down with my dear friend Nicole, who's also a solo mom to her wonderful three-year-old, Dylan, here in San Francisco.  She recently launched an inspiring new podcast  Doing This Differently , which opens up discussion about non-traditional family setups, fostering open-mindedness, understanding and inclusion. We were joined by Heidi, who shared her experiences raising Jojo and Henry as full siblings through embryo donation.  She is truly a super warrior mom who had Henry at the start of the pandemic in April 2020.      We touched on several heartfelt topics during our interview: Why someone might consider donating an embryo. The challenges of becoming a solo mom during a pandemic. The right time to tell children about their birth origins. Key learnings from navigating embryo donation. How and when to introduce the concept of half-siblings to your ki
Read more