A Day in the Life…
Inspired by this “Day in the House” series, and as a follow-up to my day in the life post from a couple years ago, I figured it was time for a new post about what life looks like for us in the McCarthy household most days… 6:00am Cormac is in my face asking for “eggs and toast”. He is the early riser in our household and he is ready for breakfast right away. Occasionally, he will crawl into bed with me, Patrick and Moira (who joined us around 4am for an early morning nursing session), making us a rather reluctant but cozy co-sleeping bunch. 6:30am We’re up and downstairs, I plop Moira (7mos) into the high chair with a few finger snacks, while Cormac (2.5 yrs)…
Two, Too Wonderful
My little Moira is 6 months old today, and I suppose that warrants an update. The last 6 months have been wonderfully busy as we’ve learned to operate as a family of four. It’s funny to think that she was born only 6 months ago — I feel like I’ve had two children for much longer. The minute I discovered I was pregnant, I started trying to wrap my mind around the idea that I would be a mother of two. Parenthood is a magical thing, in that it pushes you beyond the limits of self, expanding your heart and mind to accommodate the physical, emotional and spiritual needs of another little soul. It is daunting to approach this task of a lifetime all at…
Putting on My Face
As a work-from-home mom, not every day requires dressing up and “putting on my face” (i.e. makeup). But most days, I try to put myself together even if I’m not leaving the house, because it makes all the difference in how you feel the rest of the day! Schlepping around in PJs with messy hair and no make-up most likely means a less productive day. Even throwing on a pair of jeans and a cute top or t-shirt makes me feel more ready to face the day. Now, I’ve never really been a natural with makeup. I didn’t even start wearing it until I went to college (except for special occasions, like high school dances). And even in college, I had a lot to learn…
Magnificat for Moira
Every once in a while, I feel inspired enough to write poetry. It hasn’t been much lately (my creative inspiration goes to other worthy outlets), but after Moira was born, I found several lines running through my head. A song from preschool days kept popping into my thoughts (which, as it turns out, is a Disney song! https://youtu.be/V_IrdS-zu48) and the tune was infectious. I couldn’t remember any more than the first verse, but it rang so true in those early days after welcoming little Moira. It still does weeks later, of course, but it was that song being stuck in my head that was the seed of this poem. It is a little bit of a creative re-telling of her birth story, as well as…
Moira Kenley
Moira’s naming process started out very similar to Cormac’s. We started bouncing around picks from the moment I knew I was pregnant, but didn’t get serious until around 23 weeks after we had found out we were expecting a girl. We knew we wanted to continue the theme of traditional Irish names, and we found that our picks started a trend similar to what happened with Cormac. They all seemed to start with the same letter! This time, it was M. After a few months of coming up with various options, we settled on our top three. Moira was Patrick’s favorite pick from the beginning, but I was not yet convinced — it didn’t have the meaning I was looking for. I wanted something obvious…