The First

I've blogged before. I started a blog when I first found out I was pregnant with my son as a way to show my sisters (who live in exotic far-off places) my ever-expanding belly and pics from my ultrasounds (if you're interested: thekushes.blogspot.com). But the blog ceased when I gave birth and now I just send web albums filled with way too many pictures of the most adorable, cool and fun little boy. I never thought I would be a mommy blogger, but I subscribe to so many mommy blogs and enjoy reading and relating to other people's experiences that I guess I got blog-envy and here I am. I suppose I'll treat this as an on-line diary. There are days where my heart skips a beat as I'm watching my son play and I just want to take a snapshot of my pride and emotions. I'm going to try to capture them here so that I don't forget them. I've always been bad at keeping a diary (thanks to my mom who read my diary when I was thirteen...traumatized!). I just hope I keep this one up.

So who am I: I am 33 (holy cow!), a lawyer, an LA native, a wife and a mommy to an incredible 20 month old. I love to read, knit, travel, debate politics (although I am told I get too heated in such debates), take walks, ride my bike, listen to good music, and eat good food. Most of all, I love love love being a mom. I love going to the park, watching my son run and marvel at just about anything and everything, teaching him words, putting puzzles together, knocking down blocks, having tickle-fests, wrestling, and on and on. I feel like I'm reliving my childhood through him, and it is simply amazing (for lack of better words). My next sentence is such a cliche, but here goes: Having a baby changed my life in ways I couldn't ever imagine. Yes, there is the obvious lack of sleep, the weekend nights that I am more than happy to spend at home doing nothing, the lack of sleep, and - oh, yeah - the lack of sleep (I'm really tired today). But, in addition to all that, I have become a pesticide-phobe, a plastic/bpa/phthalate/pvc-phobe, a toys-made-in-china-phobe, a paraben/sulfate/1,4 dioxane/oxybenzone-phobe, a processed-food-phobe, and a toxic-cleaner-phobe. In other words, I try as hard as I possibly can to lead a natural and organic life (good thing my husband is on board because I often annoy myself with this new take on life). As a result, it now takes me hours to shop for food, cleansers, soaps, and facial products because if there are ingredients on the label, I read them. I thoroughly research everything I buy. And all that takes a long, long time.

So that's me in a nutshell, and below is a picture of my sweet little man.