Tag: The boys

Fall 2017 and Looking Toward 2018

December 20, 2017 / Katie L. Carroll

The hustle and bustle of the season is in full swing here at chateau Carroll. The boys have been making out their Christmas lists for Santa, we’ve been baking, and I’ve been fitting in a few words here and there on Elixir Saved.

I’ve been thinking about what I’ll be blogging about next year. I’d like take some time to feature some books and authors I’ve been enjoying, but in a way I haven’t done before on the Observation Desk. I also haven’t officially introduced The Gentleman here on the blog, though he’s now 5 months old (sorry third kiddo!). So I might try and get a feature on his birth story up here, ya know, before his first birthday. 😉 I have some fun news in the works that I’ll be sharing soon. And I think I’d like to talk more about creativity in 2018, particularly as it fits into my life as a writer/mom.

Baby News: Meet The Gentleman!

February 23, 2017 / Katie L. Carroll

One can hardly compete with Beyonce’s Instagram announcement that set the Internet on fire earlier this month, so it is with much humbler origins that I announce my own baby news! Baby boy #3 is on the way, expected delivery in July, though my boys never seem to arrive as expected (see The Boy’s hurricane birth story and The Prince’s precipitous one).

We haven’t decided on a name yet (The Boy has made many suggestions thus far), and we generally don’t share the kiddos’ actual names here, but we do have an Internet nickname: The Gentleman.

So far this pregnancy has consisted of too many days of colds (whose idea was it to get pregnant when your oldest is in kindergarten and being exposed to all those wonderful germs?) and lots of morning sickness. But *knocks on wood* I think we’re finally past the morning sickness at least, and despite the illnesses, everything seems to be going well.

I will definitely not be sharing any bump pictures online, and all those sonogram pretty much look the same.

Author Event Announcement Spring 2016

May 17, 2016 / Katie L. Carroll

A Quiet Moment of Playing Together

May 22, 2015 / Katie L. Carroll

Almost a year since The Prince was born, there is still a lot of lingering resentment from The Boy. I get it; his whole world changed and now he has to share Mommy and Daddy, and his toys.

Growing up, my relationships with my four siblings was one of the best things in my young life. Sure we fought, sometimes a lot, but we were always there for each other. And as I’ve gotten older, I’ve learned how to be better friends with each of my siblings. So I’ve always wanted that for my boys, and was beginning to doubt it was going to happen.

The Prince, of course, loves his older brother, idolizes him. But The Boy has mostly shown annoyance and barely tolerates The Prince. There’s been the rare hug or kiss or concern when The Prince is crying, but not as much as I was hoping for.

Then, the other day the hubby witnessed them playing together with cars The Boy had willingly, with no prompting shared. It lasted about five minutes before a fight, but it was a start. And then yesterday, The Prince reached into The Boy’s car case (where all the fun rescue vehicles are kept) and The Boy didn’t yell. In fact, he said to his little brother, “You can play with that,” and proceeded to give me a selection (of his non-favorite) rescues to play with.

I was one happy mama! There is a light at the end of the tunnel, and I think we may be reaching the end. I’m not expecting peace all the time (or even most of the time), but at least now I know it is a possibility.

Books Are Not Precious

April 6, 2015 / Katie L. Carroll

I never highlight, make notes, or otherwise intentionally mark the pages of my books. Even when I was in college and purchased text books, I never like to take notes in the pages. Books are sacred, precious, not to be marred.

Then I had kids. And if I’ve learned anything from my boys, it’s that my world view is often flawed and certainly not absolute. To kids and babies, books are more than the words and pictures in their pages. They are teethers, drums, they can be stacked to make a tower or stairs.

Not that I don’t discourage them from doing all these things; we try to teach the boys to take care of their belongings. But that doesn’t mean they revere books in the way I do. To them, books are not sacred or precious. They are for reading, of course. And we love reading them. But they are fun in other ways, too. And if that gives them a life-long love affair with books, then I’m all for it!