Category: motherhood

  • Jenna

    Sleep + Springtime

    I miss her when she sleeps.  Almost every night before I close my eyes, I lay under the covers with my iPhone in night mode and scroll through the thousands of images and videos of my happy girl. The trips we’ve taken, the simple moments at home, family love fests, her first this and that, smiles with dada. The sleep…

  • Jenna

    A Little Baby Tooth

    Maisley has managed to sprout not one, but two baby teeth in the last month. I can’t even explain my excitement when that first tooth popped through. More than rolling over. More than her first bite of avocado. Even more than crawling. “Ryan, can you see it?!” “No seriously, come feel it, it’s so sharp, it’s right there!” For some…

  • Jenna

    Ideas & Daydreams

    I felt a breeze of Australia today. I was putting Maisley in her car seat and out of nowhere this rush of air came through me like a whisper on a whim. The sun, a smell, the air. It was transporting and invigorating. It filled up my wanderlust tank in a split second. It was Australia, in Carlsbad. I felt…

  • Jenna

    The Motherhood

    Before August 16th, 2016, I thought motherhood was a phase that women entered; a personal journey. I thought it was the experience of becoming and being a mother. {The only thing I really had to compare it to was the journey of entering “womanhood” at age 13 and the cringe-worthy feeling of telling my mom I got my period through…

  • Jenna

    I carry your heart with me

    Here is a letter I wrote Maisley when I was 35 weeks pregnant and she was still “Bean”. i carry your heart with me (i carry it in my heart) i am never without it (anywhere i go you go, my dear; and whatever is done by only me is your doing, my darling) – E.E. Cummings Dear Bean, You…

  • Jenna

    Just as we are now

    :: MaisleyNienhuis@gmail.com :: She won’t need it for a while, considering she’s only five months old, but I wanted her to have an email address just in case {and a clean one without any numbers or silly characters}. Although, around the year 2030, will email even be a thing? Or will she just simply write her note into thin air and it…

  • Jenna

    30 Years Young

    20 wasn’t so long ago, and it was also a lifetime ago. Many days in my early 20’s were marked with independence and freedom. My mid 20’s with uncertainty, exploration and career growth. And my late 20’s were filled with unconditional love, I do’s and a baby. I graduated college at 21, lived in Australia at 23, ran a marathon…

  • Jenna

    Nesting : The Birds & Me

    There’s a Mourning Dove or “Love Dove” nesting right outside my front door. I had been hearing her sweet cooing for a few weeks, and as I walked outside yesterday, she came rushing and flapping toward me in full mama protection mode. I was a little frightened by her to be honest. When I came back and saw her peacefully resting in her loose…