Parents in the Capital: Meet Yumi

Ottawa has some wonderful bloggers and we are lucky that many of them are Kids in the Capital contributors and readers! We want to share some of our favorite Ottawa parent bloggers on a more regular basis so we are introducing a series of posts called Parents in the Capital. Our first Ottawa blogger profiled in Yumi. Hello Yumi!

Tell us about yourself and your family. I live very happily with my husband of 10 years and our little boy "Moe" who was born in February 2010. My mom lives next door, and my mother-in-law lives a block over. It isn't anything like Everybody Loves Raymond - it's great. I work for the National Capital Commission (and love it!) and my husband is a bookstore manager. Our goal is to raise a patriotic reader. ;)

What is your favourite activity to do with your kid(s) in Ottawa? We are both museum junkies and are trying to foster a love of museums in our son.

What is your favourite at home activity to do with your kid(s)? I love watching Moe discover music. We sing, dance and make music together. It's one of the best parts of my day. (Plus, my kid totally has rhythm.)

What was the biggest surprise that parenthood has brought into your life? We are both constantly hit with waves of emotion over how incredibly lucky we are. We knew this would be fun, but we didn't imagine it could ever be THIS much fun. Moe brings new joy into our lives every day.

What parenting tips/advice do you wish you'd known when you first became a parent? People told me this, and I tried really, really hard to do it. I think I succeeded. Here it is: savour every freaking moment of that first year.

Tell us about your blog and how you discovered blogging. My parenting blog is at http://kidsquared.livejournal.com, and I started it in May 2005 with the intention of using it to blog my efforts to conceive, my pregnancy and eventually my journey as a parent. Things didn't go as planned. We became one of the one in six couples who struggle with infertility. My blog became a record of that journey, including a diagnosis of premature ovarian failure at the age of 29, a year of mourning, a very special offer from a friend, and a round of IVF via egg donor. Our story has a happy ending, but I don't ever forget what it took to get here. Now, the blog is a parenting record, including monthly letters to my son. I also keep a photo log at http://www.flickr.com/photos/yumikid.

What do you love best about being a parent in Ottawa? I grew up in Ottawa and so did my husband. We love raising our son here because we can share all the things we love about living in the capital with him - things we enjoyed as kids and new things we discover as a family. All three of us were just so lucky to be born and live in the best city in the world.

Thanks Yumi!