An Introduction

I am very excited to have this opportunity to author a blog on The News-Herald's website about parenting. I plan to cover anything and everything about raising kids, the activities I do with my kids, and anything else you'd like to talk about.

Let me start with a little of my story. My name is Shelley and I am in my (eek!) late 30's. I have lived in the Lake & Cuyahoga County area my whole life, and am happy to be raising my kids in the same area I grew up in.

I married my best friend, Bill, in 2003 and we set out to start a family fairly quickly. You see, we had sowed plenty of oats while we were dating for the five years prior. Things weren't happening for us and we sought medical help. When that didn't work, we called in the big guns. Ultimately we decided to do ONE round of invtiro fertilization and, voila, the "twinadoes" were conceived. I'm sure there will be some blog posts about that journey as it was not a simple one. It is also one, that once you have gone through it, it leaves a mark on your soul. Being infertile, no matter how many children you are finally able to bear, becomes a huge part of the fabric of your being. It is, for me, feeling like failing at one of the very things a woman is supposed to be able to just do. Well, not on ones own, but you get my point.

But, on to simpler, happy things for now. When the doctor called with the blood work results a couple of weeks after the procedure, we were over the moon. Normal hcG level for pregnancy is 25 and mine was 439, so we knew early on that we were having twins, possibly triplets. At 38 weeks gestation, after a text book pregnancy, I gave birth to boy/girl twins; Nolan and Reagan.

Now they are almost three and livin' it up everyday. We worked hard to maintain the things we enjoy while incorporating them into those things as well. We have lots of fun together and I am so fortunate to be able to be a stay-at-home-mom. Don't call me a homemaker though! That will be a rant for another day.

I started a blog a couple of years ago when my son had to have a serious surgery at 9 months old. It was mainly for family and friends to keep up with us during those crucial couple of weeks. Little did I know they had shared it with other friends and it grew its own little following. I stopped blogging after everything was back to normal and I started getting emails about why I hadn't updated my blog, so I started it back up. It serves two purposes now, it is a record for my kids of their life and it is an outlet for the thoughts that roam around my head in the middle of night. It is good to know there is something going on up there!

I'd like this blog to serve two purposes as well. One, it will be a place for me to dump more of the thoughts that roam around my head. Maybe those thoughts will help some of you or spur you into action. I also want it to be a place for dialog. A place where judgment is not passed, but advice and support is given.

So, tell me, what do you want to talk about today?