categorically kate

Category: live easy

  • Our Birth “Plan”

    Our Birth “Plan”

    As I sit down to type this post, I wonder if the Fates are already laughing at me for even daring to make a plan. After all, birth is just so unpredictable. You don’t get to pick when you go into labor or even how your labor goes. I do believe however, in having goals and being as prepared as possible. That said, Adam and I have spent a lot of time preparing for the birth of this child. One of our first, and probably smartest decisions, was to hire a doula. Don’t know what a doula is? You aren’t alone. Check out this resource, or this one, or even this one. 
    Our doula is named Tia and I love her. She is so kind, smart, and reassuring. I feel like regardless of what happens, she will be this calm presence in the room that will bring me a lot of comfort and a deep sense of security. We’ve spent the last 4-5 months getting to know each other and she texts me daily to provide me with motivation for the birth process. I absolutely love having her on our “birth team”.

    In addition to having Tia along for the ride, Adam and I have set a few “goals” for birth. I say “goals” mainly because they are what we “want” but I also realize that I’ve never experienced labor or birth before (at least being on this side of it) and I do not want to set any hard and fast rules of things that would be completely unacceptable for me. Why? Because if I do, and then due to circumstances beyond my control I’m forced to go down those paths, I’ll feel like I “failed” at my plan. The last thing I want to feel like on the day I welcome my child into this world is a failure. Hell — I want to feel like Superwoman regardless of how this all goes down. So, I only have “goals” for birth with the complete understanding that shit happens and not everything is within my control.

    1) Labor at home as long as possible — If possible, I’d like to stay in the comfort of my own home for awhile. We have a giant tub with massage jets, a kitchen with a full fridge, and I don’t have to worry about any strangers hearing me making funny sounds. That sounds like a pretty stress free environment if you ask me.

    2) Get to the hospital before transition — Luckily, Adam and I only live about 5-10 minutes from the hospital where I will deliver. I’m hoping the short drive will give us plenty of time to get to the hospital prior to transitioning. I do not want to walk into that place with the baby crowning so there will be a fine line to walk between laboring at home and getting to the hospital in time. Thankfully, Tia is capable of conducting cervical checks and will be able to let us know when things are getting serious.

    3) Use chemical free pain relief — One of the BIG reasons we brought Tia on board is because she has intensive knowledge of pain relief techniques. If I have to have an epidural I will get one but it certainly isn’t my “goal” to have one. I fully believe that women were designed to give birth and in most cases they should be able to naturally if they are fully supported both physically and emotionally. Now, I understand there are an entire host of reasons that drugs, including epidurals, get brought into the process and if those happen to me, I’ll be glad I live in the 21st Century and I’ll accept them. However, I’d really like to use Tia’s vast knowledge and experience and avoid those things if I can.

    4) Have immediate skin to skin with baby — I’m a pretty squeamish person overall but I’m hoping that I’ll be able to look beyond the goo and the blood and get immediate skin to skin with our son or daughter. This also depends on baby’s health at birth obviously so we are keeping our fingers crossed that both Baby “Florken” and I fare well enough in the process for this to happen.

    5) Delayed cord clamping — After doing a lot of research, Adam and I decided that we’d like to delay cord clamping until all pulsing has stopped. This ensures that Baby “Florken” gets all the extra blood and nutrients from the placenta before they cut it loose.

    6) Bonding time before visitors — At our hospital, baby stays with mom and dad in the labor and delivery room for about 1-2 hours before everyone is transferred to recovery. Adam and I have decided that we’d really like to have that time alone with our child for immediate bonding. This decision has not made everyone in our family happy but we honestly feel it is the right decision for us. Everyone will be more than welcome to visit us once we transfer to recovery, but we’d really like to keep those first few hours with our child as quiet and serene as possible.

    So there it is — our birth “plan”. Baby “Florken” is set to arrive one week from today (Eeek!) so we will soon know how much (if any) of our plan translates to reality. I will say that a LOT of time, energy, stress, and even tears have gone into crafting our plan. We’d dealt with some pushback from people who wouldn’t necessarily chose to do it like we are and that’s fine. In the end though, this is our birth and our child so we really have to stick with the decisions that make us the most comfortable. After knowing how much thought we’ve put into this plan, I’ll never again question the in’s and out’s of someone else’s birth plan. It is just SUCH a personal process and I fully believe all decisions should be respected even if they aren’t fully understood or appreciated by the masses. So long as the goal is a healthy baby and a healthy mom, everyone else should just be supportive.

    Did you have a birth “plan”? If so, go ahead and tell me how far your actual birth deviated from it! I’d love to know.

  • Two Fabulous “Florken” Years

    Two Fabulous “Florken” Years

    Lately, it has felt like Fall in central Arkansas. Everyone has unpacked their football team gear and welcomed tailgating season in all its glory.
    As much as I love the crisp air that often comes with September, I will always have a pleasant fondness for another type of September… a September that was tough and hot, but amazing. You see, a week ago today, Adam and I celebrated being married for two years.

    Same Spot. Same Couple. Two Years Apart.

    It was not the cool, crisp outdoor wedding I had envisioned. It was sweltering. I remember watching Adam standing at the end of the aisle in his all black ensemble. He was handsome as hell but also sweating profusely. Everyone was. As the night wore on and the sun went down, Mother Nature provided some relief but we still swatted at mosquitoes and wiped our brows as we sipped cold wine and beer.

    More than the weather has changed in these two years. We bought a house. We got big kid jobs. We got pregnant. We lost family members we loved. More than once. We’ve had ups and we’ve had downs. We’ve fought and we’ve made up. We’ve struggled and we’ve triumphed.  In short, it’s been two full years and we’ve come out all the better for it.
    Since we had our anniversary off work this year (Thank you Labor Day!) Adam and I stuck to the tradition we created last year by revisiting the spot he proposed and opening the message bottle from our wedding. (At our wedding, we had bottles for Years 1-5 and then Years 10, 15, 20, and 25. People were encouraged to put messages in the bottles that we would open on each anniversary.) As we opened the Year 2 bottle and read messages predicting a little “Florken” or hoping for one, we both laughed and rejoiced in how far we’ve come in only two short years.
    Here’s to a life of goofy looking, off-center selfies, with this handsome man…
    I know that we aren’t in deep enough to really start handing out marriage advice. However, I will say that marriage can be easy (or at least easier) if you marry the right person. Adam is my person in each and every way. It has been an amazing two years and I cannot even describe how fortunate I feel for finding Adam, somehow convincing him I wasn’t the crazy person I am, and then being lucky enough they he chose to love me unconditionally for the rest of our lives. Here’s to another year of “Florken” fun!

  • The Skirt that Inspired Me

    The Skirt that Inspired Me

    When I got pregnant I realized that a lot was going to change. My body. My life. And yes, my wardrobe. For the most part, I’ve dressed the bump in any way possible. At first, my mom was great about picking up secondhand maternity finds in thrift shops and sending them my way. Between her finds and my clearance buys, I managed to have several work appropriate pieces and even some fun weekend ones. 
    Now that my pregnancy is drawing to a close though (and I’m steadily outgrowing those maternity clothes I worked so hard at gathering) my mind is lingering to what I may be wearing in my post-baby days. In my immediate post-baby days I fully understand that I will be wearing maxi skirts, yoga pants, and Adam’s t-shirts. I’m fine with that. I’m way more excited though about the prospect of entirely changing my wardrobe, and my style, after baby’s arrival. For weeks I’ve been scouring Pinterest for ideas of how to rebuild a wardrobe to be both work appropriate, stylish, and versatile. In my lurking, I’ve discovered several things about my typical clothes buying habits.
    1) I buy without a plan: I’m an impulse shopper. I sometimes go to the store with a goal to get a pair of jeans but then find myself with no jeans but four tops that I found on clearance that are just “too cheap and cute” to pass up. I never pause and try to figure out how those four tops are going to play in my wardrobe. Do they only go with jeans? Can I wear them to work? What about weekends? Would they work with a skirt too? How is the quality? Is it too trendy? I don’t ask myself any of these questions. I just buy the tops. As a result, I end up with a closet full of clothes and nothing to wear.
    2) I am attracted to clearance: There is nothing wrong per se with buying clearance items. The problem is that when I go into a store, it is usually the only place I look. If I’m shopping online, it is the only tab I click on. If I can’t find a coupon code or a discount, I don’t purchase. This alone probably isn’t the worst shopping habit to have but it starts to take its toll when I look at my wardrobe overall. By only picking up extreme bargains, my closet is devoid of some “wardrobe basics.” I don’t have a plain white button up shirt that I love (or even a plain white tee). Similarly, I don’t own a single pair of non-distressed jeans. That’s a problem. 
    3) I don’t think about accessories: While I have some necklaces and scarves that I’ve picked up on clearance here and there, overall, I never think twice about accessories. I’ve always considered money on accessories as wasted money. But when I scroll through some of my favorite Pinterest looks, I can clearly see how an accessory alone can sometimes completely change an outfit. I need to learn skills for picking proper (versatile) accessories and come to terms with spending some money on them.
    4) My Shoe Problem: First let me say that I’ve always loved being a 6.5 in shoes. If this pregnancy ups my shoe size permanently I’ll be so sad. Now that I have that out of the way, let’s discuss my problem with shoes. I love shoes. Love, love, love, love! Pretty heels (and even flats) make me so happy. Because they make me so happy, I tend to buy way too many of them. (Gasp! Can a girl even HAVE too many shoes? Yes. She can.) Like with most of my other clothing choices, I go for quantity over quality in shoes. When I go shoe shopping, I rationalize that dropping $100 on THREE pairs of mediocre shoes is way better than spending $100 on a quality pair of wardrobe staples. So I buy three, wear the crap out of them, and then in three months they are falling apart. I can’t tell you how many shoes in my closet are just worn out. Then, instead of chunking them, I hold onto them forever with plans to get them repaired. But I never do because what’s the point in repairing shoes that the repair would cost MORE than the shoe? In short, I need to weed down my shoe collection, buy some QUALITY staples, and learn that less is more.
    _____________________________________________
    After really mapping out why my closet is currently stuffed yet useless, I made a decision to go on a rather large purge soon and toss and/or sell many items. Then, as my body recovers from this pregnancy, I will slowly rebuild my entire wardrobe. I hope to end up with waaaaayyyy less clothes in my closet but many, many more options overall on what to wear each day. In addition, I’m hoping to up my style a bit and add a touch more sophistication. That’s where The Skirt comes in. I bet you were wondering when I’d get around the talking about the skirt that this post is named for huh?
    Well, the other night while shopping at Target’s clearance section (old habits die hard right?) I ran across the most perfect pencil skirt. All my recent Pinterest wardrobe checklists have told me that a young professional needs a black/white patterned pencil skirt. Low and behold, I saw this beauty — in my pre-pregnancy size — and I started to see my new wardrobe fall into place in my brain. I realized that it would be a long time before I could comfortably wear this skirt but I knew that hanging it in my closet would give me motivation on two fronts: 1) Get back to my pre-baby size; 2) Clear out the clutter, add in some quality pieces, and build the wardrobe I’ve always wanted. It was pure skirt inspiration!
    So, I bought it. It’s hanging in my closet and I feel really good about it. So now the countdown is on to my new and improved wardrobe. Oh yeah — and the kid that should be here in like four weeks! Eeek! 
    PS: If you have any good resources for rebuilding wardrobes please let me know. I’m really interested in anything that gives me solid guidance on how to pick out new pieces once I’ve purged all the crap. 

  • Baby “Florken” – Maternity Pictures (Round 2)

    Baby “Florken” – Maternity Pictures (Round 2)

    For someone once initially opposed to maternity pictures at all, I sure changed my tune. So much so in fact, that I’m back for a second day of maternity photos. I know, I know. It seems rather vain and I’m the first to admit that it toooottalllly is. But when a photographer sends you tons of photos that you love, you can’t help but share them (at least you can’t if you have a blog and no self control like me). 

    I mentioned in yesterday’s post that the outdoor images were taken when it was SUPER hot outside. So, it was nice to head back to our own home and cool down for the second batch of photos. I really wanted to emulate some of the in-home, intimate photoshoots I saw on Pinterest. I think that our photographer, Niki Zimmerman, did a fantastic job of capturing the laid-back and relaxed vibe I really wanted.  So without further adieu, here’s a second (and final, I promise) round of “Florken” maternity photos. Enjoy!

    All images © Niki Zimmerman Images

    All images © Niki Zimmerman Images


    I’m dying to know — which set of images did you guys like more? The outdoor photos or these? 

  • Baby “Florken” – Maternity Photos (Round 1)

    Baby “Florken” – Maternity Photos (Round 1)

    Last week the maternity pictures that Adam and I took finally came in. When I first got pregnant, I swore I’d never do maternity photos. I’ve always thought that maternity photos were a little vain and weird. I mean, who wants photos capturing them at their biggest and most uncomfortable? Still, as my stomach grew, I started to wonder if our baby would one day want to see photos of me pregnant. Sure — I don’t feel my most beautiful right now, but one day a kid might want to know what it’s mom looked like when she was busy growing them. So, long story short, I caved and decided I’d do maternity photos after all.
    Adam and I are thrilled to be working with the fabulous Niki Zimmerman of Niki Zimmerman Images. Niki not only did our maternity shoot, but she will also be photographing the birth of our sweet little one as well as taking Baby “Florken’s” newborn pictures. We all jived really well during the maternity shoot and I think it shows in the final result. Keep in mind, it was nearly 100 degrees outside while we took these and it was only like 11 a.m. Yikes! That’s what you get when you take outdoor photos in July in Arkansas. Still, we have so many great pictures that I’ll actually be back tomorrow to share another round of them. In the meantime, check these out and let me know if you like them. 
    All Images © Niki Zimmerman Images

    All Images © Niki Zimmerman Images


  • A Letter to Baby “Florken” (from Kate)

    A Letter to Baby “Florken” (from Kate)

    Dear Baby “Florken”,
    I’m your mom. Wow. That feels super weird to say. Sure, I’m nearly 29 years old but I also still get slightly frightened of big thunderstorms and laugh inappropriately at fart humor. It’s strange that, by way of biology, I am now the “mom” of another human being on this planet. 
    I won’t lie, this pregnancy has not been the best time of my life. From the beginning, I was sick. Very sick. And even after the sickness went away, there always seemed to be something — achey back, swollen feet, poor sleep, and indigestion. Still, I’m grateful for it because over these weeks, I’ve grown even closer to your Father. I honestly did not think that was possible — we’re two peas in a pod — but we have. I guess someone can only clean up your vomit so many times before it begins a new era of closeness. 
    I’m nervous about being your mum. (Yeah, sometimes I’ll refer to myself as “mum” because I’m a Harry Potter fan. Don’t worry, you will be too one day.) I worry I won’t know how to comfort you. I worry that I’ll let a cuss word slip in front of you and you’ll be the toddler at day school with a potty mouth. I worry that I won’t be able to provide you with everything that you need — both financially and emotionally. My biggest fear, if I’m being 100% honest, is that I’ll grow weary of my “job duties” as a mom and will want to escape to my pre-baby life. 
    Of course, every mom I know tells me these are crazy fears and that when I finally see your face, when I hold you, when I watch you emerge into this world, everything will change and all those fears will slip away. I hope they are right, but what if I’m the one mom who doesn’t have some sort of revelation? What if there is something wrong with me?
    I might worry about being a bad mom, but I never worry about what kind of Father your Dad will be. He’s amazing. Honestly. I have so many fears about becoming a parent but they usually just slip away when I think about how awesome your Dad is. He is the type of man who is going to fight me to change your diapers and insist on being involved in every bathtime and every bedtime story. As you grow, he will be the Dad who is rolling around with you in the grass and doctoring your scraped knees. One day, he’ll be the Dad who will want to give you the “birds and the bees” talk and will always hold you to high standards while also being understanding that we all falter. There should be one thing in life that you never doubt — you are really lucky to have him as your Dad. 
    There are only about six more weeks until we meet. I’m nervous. I’m excited. I’m terrified. I really hope I don’t disappoint you. I hope that you love me as much as I already love you. I hope that we can grow together, learn together, and become a happy little family of three (well, eight if you count all the dogs and cats). 
    So stay comfy and safe until you are ready to meet us. But know, when that moment comes, time will briefly stand still and your Dad and I will count you among our greatest of blessings. 

  • We’re Still Here!

    We’re Still Here!

    I would say that I’m sorry for disappearing for the last twenty days or so, but I’m really not. Life has been a little hectic. So, I thought I’d play catch up and let you all know what’s been going on for the last month or so. 
    Glucose Testing
    I failed my 1-hour glucose test by 7 points and so had to sit for the dreaded 3-hour test earlier this month. It was probably the worst thing I can recall doing in recent memory. I had to fast after midnight (which, when you have terrible indigestion really means no food after 6pm) the night before my test. Even though I was at the lab by 8 am the following morning to start my test, some weird paperwork and lag time meant that I was not given the kool-aid of death until nearly 9 am. Three hours and four blood draws later, my doctor learned that I did not have gestational diabetes. I did however, have a sugar high (and subsequent crash) like no other and did not feel “right” again for at least another 48 hours. Ugh. 
    Birth Class
    Adam and I have started a birth class and so far, so good. I think I’m still in denial that there is an actual BABY inside of me that has to come out in about ten weeks or so. I mean, how strange is that concept? Our doula is actually helping to teach the class so I’m loving all the “extra” time I’m getting to hang out with her. Each encounter makes me happier that she is on our birth team. 
    First Bench Trial
    Last week I tried a case all by myself for the first time. It was quite the experience. I was nervous and scared obviously but I also had clients there looking to me for support and guidance. In case you are curious, I won… on a directed verdict no less. (That probably won’t mean much to you unless you’re a lawyer.) Still, the experience was nerve wracking enough that I hope I won’t have any more solo trials for quite some time. 
    Sod
    Adam has done some massive work on the outside of our house and last week put the final touches on the laying down some beautiful sod in our backyard. So far, we’ve managed to keep it alive in this horrible heat and have kept it watered enough. If you are a praying person, I wouldn’t say no to prayers that this stuff takes and that soon we can actually run around on it and enjoy it! I’ve dreamed of a lush, green lawn for years and it looks like those dreams have a possibility of coming true so I’m really excited about it!
    The Nursery
    We still have SO much work to do on the nursery. I recently finished redoing a dresser for the space but otherwise everything is still a blank canvas. I finally ordered art for the walls late last week so I’m anxious to get that in and get started putting it all together. Still, I feel like I have a million projects to do and only about 10 weeks to do it! Maybe a bit of a “late” baby wouldn’t be so bad after all. We’ll see. 

    So, now you now why I’ve been absent most of the month. I hope to show you some nursery DIY projects soon but I’ve got to get around to doing them first. I also have some other posts in the works — both pregnancy and non-pregnancy related — so we’ll just see how those shake out. Life may be a little more hectic these days, but I promise I’m still here!

  • A Home Office Revamp: The Reveal

    A Home Office Revamp: The Reveal

    Back in January, I gave you all a sneak peak of my big Home Office Revamp. I promised at the time that I was working diligently on the project and would be sharing soon. Well, then life happened and even though I did continue to work on the room, I never bothered to come back and share the final results with everyone.
    Last Friday night, on a whim, I shared a photo on Instagram of the room’s progress and much to my surprise, everyone loved it. So, I thought that I’d try to take a few more decent photos and share the space officially on the blog. So without further adieu, here’s our guest bedroom/office.

    Bedding: Duvet Cover (Amazon); Coverlet (Overstock); Pillows: Random clearance finds
    Decals: Urban Wall Decals
    “There are some days when I think I’m going to DIE from an overdose of satisfaction.” -Salvador Dali

    A LOT of work went into this pretty little space, including painting the desk and both side tables. I also put together that nifty little CORKboard you see hanging above the desk. I also placed the gold foil decals from Urbanwalls up all by myself and was pretty proud of how they turned out. The trend seems to be to do an entire wall of gold dots, but I found that I really liked the idea of just doing a simple border along one wall.

    So that’s our guest bedroom/office in a nutshell. In case you are wondering what this room looked like before I got my grubby hands on it, check out the before and after below. The before is the listing photo of the room from when we bought the house back in February of 2014.

    So, what do you guys think? I’m in love with this space and now can’t wait to really dive into fixing up that other room in the house… you know, the nursery!

  • He caught me at my “best”

    He caught me at my “best”

    The other night, as I was getting ready for bed, Adam said something that has stuck with me for days. 
    You see, I was exhausted after a long day at the office being pregnant. That’s pretty much all it takes these days to exhaust me: Work & Pregnancy. But as I stood there in the bathroom, Adam caught me completely off guard by saying, “I really like it when your hair is like this. I know you think that your hair needs more volume or something, but honestly, it’s beautiful to me at this very moment and so are you.” 
    I hurried over to the mirror, convinced that something must have happened to my hair in the last few minutes in order to elicit such a compliment. Nope. It was exactly how I remembered it from my last glance. Nothing “special” about it necessarily — I had fixed it for work earlier in the day and threw it up in a messy bun upon arriving home. I had recently taken it out of the bun to sleep and so it simply hung on either side of my face — still a bit messy and a bit styled. To me, it did not look special. Personally, before being seen in public I would have insisting on either redoing it correctly (i.e., add some volume for goodness sakes) or putting it up in a proper bun. To me, it was tolerable, but to Adam, it was perfect. He liked it like this “best.”
    For days, his random compliment on my flat, lack-luster hair has stuck with me. I think about about it whenever I catch a glance of myself in the mirror and wish I had better skin, better clothes, better hair, better style. Whenever I start to doubt whether I’ve put on too much weight, or fear I haven’t gained enough, I think back to Adam telling me that he liked that version of my “best.”
    He loves me all the time. He always thinks I’m beautiful. But he thinks I’m at my best when I’m not trying. He thinks that I’m at my best when I’m in mismatched sleep clothes with no makeup on with my hair hanging unstyled. He may think I’m beautiful all dolled up, but he likes me best when the last thought on my mind is what I look like. 
    If we have a daughter, I hope he tells her she is beautiful at moments like that. Moments when she is covered with mud from playing outside when she is curled up in PJ’s on his lap with damp hair from her bath. Girls should be told they are beautiful when they least expect it…when they aren’t trying. They should obviously also be told that they are smart, kind, loyal, friendly, and brave. But Adam’s compliment this week has taught me that the word beautiful is often tossed around too lightly and at inopportune moments. After all, throughout the day plenty of people tell me that pregnancy looks good on me or that they like my new dress. But, I’m not still thinking about those compliments, am I?
    The next time you want to tell someone they look fantastic — wait. Wait until they don’t expect it. Wait until perhaps, they won’t even believe it. Wait…because if you do, I promise they will be thinking about it and blushing for days.

  • Why we aren’t sharing our baby names…

    Why we aren’t sharing our baby names…

    Our baby has a name. Well, in theory at least. We have two names picked out — one for a boy, and one for a girl. But we’re not sharing. With anyone. 
    Adam and I have played around with baby names since we got engaged. We’ve had different baby name “lists” and even a “final” list at various points prior to this pregnancy. Spoiler alert: None of those “final” names are going to be “the name”. But, we love the name(s) we’ve picked. It’s different. It’s not too “out-there”. It’s completely our style. 
    So, why not share then?
    Frankly, we aren’t sharing because we don’t want to. 
    As much as I love my friends and family, I don’t really care if they like the name(s) we’ve picked out. I don’t. I know that may sound harsh, but Adam and I love the name and that’s all that matters to us. I know that if we share the name(s) early, we open ourselves to all kinds of opinions on it…
    “That’s a little too weird, don’t you think?”
    “Wouldn’t you prefer something a little more traditional?”
    “I don’t think that flows well with the last name.”
    “Are you sure you want to spell it like that?”
    “Have you thought of all the nicknames?”
    “I don’t like it. Not at all.”
    “Did you even think about family names?”
    “I would prefer something else.”
    “I guess I’ll just have to come up with a pet name I like.”
    While the rest of the world is allowed to have an opinion on our child’s name — Adam and I aren’t required to care about that opinion. I don’t mean to sound rude, but that’s just the truth of the matter. 
    Now, by not sharing the name, plenty of folks are assuming that we’re planning some outrageous name like “Apple” or “Gadget Inspector.” Rest assured – we are not. But we also aren’t Top 100 name type folks so our choices are a bit unconventional in a way. I am very excited to see people’s eyes light up when they get to hold our bundle of joy and get told the name in person. Let’s face it — once you are snuggling up to a tiny baby, who really gives a flip about whether it’s the name you would have chosen or not? Not many people. 
    On a related note, I’m also struggling with what name things to share here on the blog once Baby “Florken” arrives. I’m fairly certain I’ll share the first name but I waiver on whether I should share the middle. Obviously, I’ll refer to the baby as a “Florken” even that that won’t be his or her real last name but I am starting to worry about sharing too much of my child’s life online before they are old enough to have a real say in it. For example, I actually go by my middle name and have since I was born. I hate my first name. It would have sucked if my mom had a blog and shared my full name with the entire world before I was old enough to say, “Hey wait. Let’s just keep it at Kate.” Maybe I’m overthinking this parenting thing too much. Maybe I’m not. Who knows. I’m not sure of a lot these days. 
    But I am certain that I love the name(s) we’ve settled on. They make my heart smile. They make Adam happy. And honestly, they already feel like they are part of the family. 

    What more could a girl want?