Claire Bidwell Smith

I know I haven’t written here in a while. There are a lot of reasons for that. Mostly I’m just overwhelmed, and nurturing this place has fallen to the bottom of my list of obligations. I keep a pretty active daily photo diary on Instagram, but carving out time for lengthy posts just hasn’t been Read more…

Almost the very moment Juliette was born, I realized that my relationship with Veronica had changed. I think I knew it in the days leading up to giving birth for the second time. Each night in those last days of pregnancy, I crawled into Vera’s bed with her and kept my arms around her until Read more…

This morning Greg let me sleep in a bit while he got up with the baby. Then around 7:30 Vera woke up and crawled in bed with me. It’s so rare that the baby isn’t with me that we had a few moments of special time together. She was cold from having kicked off her Read more…

It’s Wednesday morning in Santa Monica. Jules just went down for a nap and Vera is in school. I’m unshowered in a sweatshirt, battling a case of mastitis. Life is not glamorous these days. I think having a second kid is going to go down in the books as one of the hardest things I’ve Read more…

Juliette is a month old. Everyone says that time moves faster with the second, and they’re right. The first month of Vera’s life felt like a year, each day its own kaleidoscope of new beginnings for each of us. In contrast, Juliette has slid into the motion of our family the way the second hand Read more…

Well, it’s Monday and I’m still pregnant. We made it through Veronica’s third birthday party yesterday — a gathering of over 50 (!) friends with their kids at the park yesterday. You can see all the photos here, although this one pretty much sums it up. Vera is out with Greg and her grandparents right Read more…

It’s early on Sunday morning and Greg and Vera are still sleeping. I’m clearly not in labor, nor do we have a new baby. Rather, today is Veronica’s 3rd birthday and things are proceeding as planned with her little party this afternoon at the park. I’m excited for her to wake up, and thankful that Read more…

Being a mother is never something I imagined for myself. Inside all the things I’ve dreamed of becoming in my life (a veterinarian, a marine biologist, a poet, a nurse, a therapist, an author), mother was never among them. When I made the decision a few years ago that I did, in fact, want a baby Read more…

So far, one of my favorite things about becoming a real author has been getting to meet other real authors. I’ve actually met tons of writers in the last ten years, through various jobs and events and persistence, but getting to meet them on this level is a different experience. I’m meeting writers whom I’ve Read more…

Yesterday I chased Vera around the back yard, taking pictures of her. Sometimes this feeling wells up in me and I am suddenly desperate to capture how beautiful she is in this moment. Her looks are ever-shifting these days and I know that each day will differ from the last. She laughed and ran all Read more…