Mother of the Month - Liz
1.) Tell me a little bit about yourself and your partner Jerel. How you met, how you decided to have kids, what are your hobbies, what you do in your free time, etc.
Jerel and I met in class in grad school, and immediately forgot each other's names. Three years later, we started dating. Another three years later we got married, and three years after that we had our baby girl! We both work in tech, but we tend to have opposite hobbies. I like running and getting outdoors, and Jerel likes gaming and building things. We wanted to have kids because we think we can make the world a little better by raising a child with love, intention, and empathy.
2.) Parenting wisdoms... As you are navigating this journey, what advice have you found useful or have you gleaned as you are becoming parents?
We both agree the best decision we made in becoming parents was to get a dog first. For us, caring for a new puppy was the trial by fire we needed to learn how to communicate and cooperate with each other effectively. If your relationship can survive the whirlwind of shedding and anxiety from two Australian shepherds, a newborn is a cinch!
3.) Please feel free to include anything else you like that is interesting about you or your parenting philosophy. AKA books you read, or like. I am particularly interested in how ultra running has influenced you as a person and a parent.
The biggest difference between running an ultramarathon and parenting a newborn is that in an ultra you can quit at any time. Ultras test your body and mind, but no amount of exercise or sleep deprivation can prepare you for the constant emotional stresses of caring for a baby. The second biggest difference is that, thankfully, parenting is a team sport. I'm grateful every day to have Jerel on my team as we care for our tiny human.
4.) If you want, please tell us why you decided to document this special time in your life and have professional family or maternity photographs, and if you want to, why you trusted me to take these special photos.
We chose Jen to take our maternity and newborn photographs because of how grounded and thoughtful her work is. We wanted images that look like us and feel "real", and that are beautiful to have on our walls for the rest of our lives.