Weekend Open Thread

Thanks again for all your sweet comments and well-wishes when I shared our happy news the other day. I’m excited to share more of my thoughts and experiences with you as the pregnancy progresses and once the baby is here. A big difference I’ve noticed so far this time around vs. when I was pregnant with Jackson is that it’s going by pretty quickly and I feel much more relaxed about things. Maybe all that will change as I get further along and more uncomfortable and the reality of balancing the needs and responsibility of caring for two kids under the age of five starts hitting m———— holy crap, I’m going to have two kids under five!!
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In all the excitement this week, a special day passed without my thinking of it. Last Saturday, this site turned four! Wow. I was re-reading some columns from that first month, like this one from day two, and then later, my pregnancy announcement with Jackson, and realized that a lot has changed, but a lot has remained the same (or gotten better). Many commenters are long gone, but so many of you have been reading and commenting since the very beginning and I can’t tell you how much your loyalty means and what an honor it’s been to watch this community grow and evolve. Think of all the milestones we’ve shared (virtually) with each other — breakups and marriages and moves and new jobs and babies and deaths and divorces and vacations and all the lessons along the way. People tell me they’ve learned a lot from the shared wisdom of experience here, and I feel the same way. I’ve grown up a lot in the last four years and I don’t think the evolution would have been quite the same or quite as intense if I hadn’t been sharing those years with you. So, thank you. Thank you for reading, for sticking around, for supporting each other, and for sharing your stories and experiences. Here’s to many more years together!

Finally, one more birthday I cannot forget: Happy birthday to my sister, Allison, who turns 32 tomorrow. I love you, sis, and am so proud of the woman you’ve become. Here’s a picture of us when we were babies.

Happy weekend, everyone! Enjoy your Super Bowl parties and/or whatever else you have planned.