Oliver Blue

04.20.21
3
When I was in 4th grade, in addition to thinking that Corey Haim and I would one day meet and fall in love, I considered myself to have a very keen sense of style (as exhibited by that darling get up on your left here). I just knew what was in and I knew what I liked. Luckily for me, the stir-up leggings, pushy socks, and over-sized sweatshirts splattered with neon paint look suited my twice baked potato like figure. Oh, if only the Gen Z fashion dictators of today’s world had any respect for thin-legged-bloated-tummy girls like me… But in 1985, I had the potential to be totally rad. ...Read More
Global Warming is My Fault I used to think that the worst thing I could do for my kids was let them have too much screen time. But the other day, when Oliver let 5 helium balloons “fly to the moon” without any concern, I realized my Fort Nite, Ryan’s Toys, YouTube addicted little monkeys were the least of my worries: I am raising global warming terrorists and they give zero f**s about their carbon footprints (I’m saying those words as if I even know what that means). This past week, I was convinced that a NBC Local news van was going to show up at my house to run a breaking ...Read More
House of Home and Family What do two babies under 2, a new house, a 4mm kidney stone, and a beautiful French Au Pair all have in common? C’est Moi, mes amis! C’est Moi! The good news is life has been anything less than boring. The bad news is that I’ve been so distracted that I haven’t written a blog post since May. And before that since April. And before that since February. That’s 3 blog posts for 2017 for those of you counting at home. For someone that prides herself on feeling productive, this has not been a very productive year on the writing and creativity front. But if you count productivity ...Read More
“No parent should ever have to decide if they can afford to save their child’s life.” – Jimmy Kimmel By now, you have probably seen Jimmy Kimmel’s emotional monologue detailing the birth of his son Billy and the heart condition that he was born with. Within minutes of watching (okay, seconds), Peter and I were in tears. As Jimmy shared the harrowing and terrifying first few hours of Billy’s birth, we were fluttered by the memories of our own terrifying experience during Oliver’s birth. In September of 2015, our son Oliver was born with a very large and undetected (in utero) Lymphatic Malformation-a vascular anomaly that affects roughly 1 in 50,000 children.  (Read ...Read More
Aquaphor Baby: From the First Bath On Oliver’s First Bath, September 2015 Let’s face it: There are very few things in the world that are both as exciting and stressful as bringing home your newborn from the hospital. Even though I had already “been there done that” with Jonah, when we brought Oliver home from the hospital, I still had that feeling that all new moms get that first week at home… terror, joy, exhaustion, and concern… Am I doing this right? Is he okay? Is he hungry? From feeding to sleeping and to everything in between, there is so much information out there it’s hard to know what to trust let ...Read More
11.24.16
0
WE ARE GRATEFUL If I could go back and tell my 12-year old self that life that one day, the real version of “let’s play house” would be a reality, and I would be sitting in a beautiful kitchen preparing to have 30 people at my house for Thanksgiving with a new puppy in my lap, a baby asleep in a crib, a 9-year old kicking a ball outside (okay, playing on the iPad, but dreams are fun), and an amazing partner/husband at work, and I’d be happy, like really, really happy, I wouldn’t believe you. At 12, things suuuuuck. You can’t see past tomorrow. You have no idea how things are ...Read More
Oliver’s Brown Bear, Brown Bear Birthday Party What Oliver wants, Oliver gets. Since day UNO. When he was a newborn…You want my boob at 1am, 4am and 6 times between 5:45 and 8:45pm? Here you go, baby. (Insert cartoon of a woman – hi, that’s me- throwing hoisting her boob over a nursing bra like a large net in the Bering sea). When he started to crawl… You want to push mommy’s new sunglasses around on the floor? Have at it. (They’re knock-offs anyway. Because, you.) When he started eating… You want to eat your weight in puffs and cheerios? Fine. Just, fine. (At least they are loaded with spinach and kale anti-oxidant chia flax omega 3 DHA super green beet juice. Who needs ...Read More
09.15.16
0
For a Year Of course tonight I held him a little extra longer. Because a year ago, at this exact time, I couldn’t. I was on the 3rd floor and he was on the 4th. I was still drugged, shocked and unable to move from the waste down. He – attached to machines and in a glass basinet, unable to sleep against my chest, like I had planned. Like he was supposed to. The truth is though, I didn’t know that night how I would or should hold him anyway. Not just because of all the cords attached to him, and attached to me, and the knives that moved through my ...Read More
When Jonah was born, I had the privilege of being able to stay home with him for a year before returning to work.  Initially, I chose to have a full time nanny come for a short time (an old story about her here). Eventually, however, it made more sense (financially and scheduling wise) to have him go to a local daycare. It ended up being the best decision ever as Jonah thrived in a setting with other children. (I attribute his early talking and social skills- at least the ones he had until he turned 8 and learned how to do an armpit fart- to daycare). While this was the right move, ...Read More
Contradictions and the Baby Weight Loss Struggle Remember that time I said I was going to be kind and forgive myself for all the things that I don’t have a grip on? (No? Then refer to this post). Okay, so that was really nice. Lovely and heartfelt and dripping with completely sincerity. But now my hormones are back to normal are within the realm of norm (insert husband’s eye roll here) and the truth serum I’m serving isn’t holding punches: I’m fat. Like scale fat. Like 20 pounds from this picture fat. Now before you say, “Oh Jenny, I’ve seen you. You look great!” Or, “You JUST had a baby, don’t be so hard on yourself,” or ...Read More