Our solution to the voluminous piles of artwork our kids bring home is right around the corner from our solution to kids’ shoes: the art basket! A solution is necessary not only because of the amount of artwork that comes home (and random scribbles, and folded pieces of paper, and worksheets, and yarn clippings (Montessori life IYKYK)) – if left to my own devices, I could efficiently cull the keepers and toss everything else. But that’s not what happens, because the idea of throwing out a just-created masterpiece of any kind is anathema to my pint-sized artists. Tossing almost anything in front of them is asking for a daily battle over what gets kept. So, we sidestep. Here’s what I do instead… Everything that comes home from school or church goes in the art basket. We ooh and ahh over things as needed, and sometimes they pin items on their bulletin boards. But if it’s not going somewhere else, it goes in the art basket – no matter how lowly or how precious it might be. The art basket is on the shelf of the bench in our front entry, so it’s right at hand when they’re coming in the door after school and emptying their backpacks and lunchboxes. Eventually, the art basket fills up. Once it’s threatening to overflow, I’ll find a time when the kids are not around to go through it. I’ll sort through the stack and pull anything I want to keep in their memory boxes, then recycle the rest. Here’s a very important key: the recycled papers MUST go in the outside recycling bin, NOT the inside one. Trust me, I’ve had plenty of things spotted and removed from the bin in the pantry, but so far they have not started dumpster diving in the

Friends, I have gone back and forth on gift guides this year! On the one hand, they take a lot of time to prepare, they might in the end be only nominally helpful, and the sheer preponderance of gift guides on the internet feels almost distasteful. On the other hand, I genuinely enjoy compiling them, the delight of helping one of you find a perfect gift is intoxicating, and they do contribute to the cost of keeping my internet home online. A conundrum! One gift guide I knew I’d share? What we’re actually giving our kids this Christmas! It’s been a favorite post since 2019, when we had a four-year-old and a one-year-old. Below, I’ve shared what each of our kiddos will be finding under the tree this year, along with a few suggestions I gave to relatives. As a sort of gift guide compromise, I’ve also listed a few of the very favorite kid items we already own at the bottom if you’re looking for a few more suggestions. All three kids will be getting a selection of clothes from my favorite consignment sale. When I shopped earlier this fall, I set aside some of my favorite pieces to place under the tree instead of into their drawers! In addition… June (who is almost seven) will be receiving:— A mama-daughter camp weekend. We have our eye on a particular sleepaway camp for the future (June looooves to watch their promotional video, ha), and thought it might be wise to dip our toe in before committing to a week in the summer. This introvert is a bit nervous, but also thinks it will be SO fun to spend the weekend with just my biggest girl!— The Penderwicks boxed set, because we both fell in love with the first book earlier

In case you missed them… parts one and two! I’m writing this post just a few weeks shy of Shep’s first birthday, and I’m sure my answers are different than they would have been had I answered them after six months, or six weeks. The neat (and challenging) part, of course, is that life with two kids will continue to evolve! Here are a few more answers to your questions about our transition from a family of three to a family of four thus far… What are your ideas for one-on-one time with an older child? Did you deal with jealousy from June right away? Since John and I both work but were home on leave after Shep’s arrival (me for 12 weeks, John for six), June actually got MORE time with us than she usually does, so I can’t remember dealing with any jealousy at all. In general, our focus was and continues to be on fun family time all together, whether that meant all snuggling on the bed while I fed Shep or bringing Shep along to get ice cream as a family. I think that helped June immediately see Shep as part of the family and start to bond with him! In the first month (August – hottttt), June and John did go on a couple of solo outings to the splash pad, which I think was extra fun because it was so unusual. Even before Shep arrived, we very rarely did activities with just June and one parent, instead prioritizing time all together. (She and I spend time together in the afternoon before John gets home, but that’s not by choice.) We do plan to add in more one-on-one experiences as she gets older, starting this summer with a movie date with each of us! She’s

I welcomed your questions about our transition from one to two kids on Instagram, and you gals didn’t hold back – in fact, there were so many that I’m going to break them up into several posts! Today, we’re talking all things pre-arrival and the first few days. As always, remember that this is just one family’s experience, and we certainly don’t have everything figured out. I hope something here might be helpful for you as you navigate growing your own family! How did you know you were ready for a second kiddo? Though it took us awhile to decide we were ready for our first, there was no question about jumping back in a second time – it was more a matter of choosing the right timing. When we decided to have one baby, we were basically deciding to have (at least) two. In terms of timing, I was hoping to be pregnant by June’s second birthday, and I was. I’ve read that 2-3 years is actually the hardest gap for developing sibling relationships (1 year and 4/5 years are statistically better, apparently), but 2-3 felt right for us, and besides, I think there are more salient factors than the number of years in determining the quality of a sibling relationship! I liked that June would be walking and talking by the time a sibling arrived, but not so set in her only child status that a sibling would be an incredibly-jarring adjustment. I was also keeping in mind the cyclical nature of my work and hoping to time a birth for a lighter time of year. Of course, the content of my work changed radically while all of this was happening, so that didn’t end up being much of a factor in the end. Finally, John was hoping