Your life has brought us such delight and joy in many of the same ways your sister’s did, but with one exception: we realize, now, how fast it all goes, and that is powerful. I have no desire to speed your growing up, or to launch you headlong into your next milestone. I know that all too soon you’ll be calling me Mama and tearing through our house on your own two feet. That you won’t lay heavy and soft in my arms, reliant on my comfort, in the wee hours of the morning. Read More
The Gift of Young Marriage
I don’t at all buy into the idea of needing something to compare your relationship to so you “know what you like”. When it is glaringly obvious that you make one another happy, that you compliment one another, and that you value similar things; When you seek the wise counsel of others in your lives who approve; count the gravity of your commitment, and count yourself blessed to have found someone worth pledging yourself to for life. Read More
Three Things I Wasn’t Expecting to Grieve in the Midst of Recurrent Pregnancy Loss
I am incredibly grateful that we live in an age where pregnancy loss is being de-mystified. Although there are many things about it that still aren’t understood, it’s talked about. It’s a discussion. More and more women feel comfortable coming out of the woodwork and saying, “Yes, we have lost children,” or, “We are having trouble getting pregnant.” I know I say this phrase a lot, but it’s healing, and writing about things that are healing is, in a way, my purpose. Read More
When Parenting Feels Like Good Grief
Talk to any mom on a heart-level about parenting and you’ll quickly find this: to raise children is to live in the tension of joy and grief. It’s often between the lines, but it’s there. They are in no way mutually exclusive I’ve come to find, and, as a mother, I see myself swinging between the two on any given day. Read More
Just Walk Out The Door: The Importance of Mom Friends
If there is one survival tip I can relay to new mothers who are struggling, it’s this: find your people. Having mom friends has made me a different mom. I have often called them my lifelines, because I truly don’t know what raising my children up until this point would have looked like without them. Read More
In Defense of Public Flailing and Tantruming
Somewhere along the line it became taboo to take your children out with you in public. As if it were expected that, once a couple has children, they stop wanting and needing to go out together. Moms like staying in their homes all day with their kids….right? Where did the prevailing mindset that public places are only for adults come from? Read More
I Want My Daughter To Be a Beacon and a Light
Before both of our children were born, my husband and I found ourselves in an intentional discussion about who we hoped they would grow to be. We, of course, recognize that some of the things we discussed are out of our hands; but we also realize that many of them we are able to demonstrate and nurture in our time parenting them through their youth. If I could somehow will one thing into my daughter, my first-born, it would be this: a heart that is compassionate. Read More
My New Year’s Resolution is Simply Resolve
I’ve never been big on New Year’s as a celebratory holiday. Sure, it’s nice to know that a new year is coming, that the previous has been completed. I like reflecting; I’m just not for going all out celebrating or making lists of resolutions and goals. Read More
The Unexpected Teacher: What Our Kids Can Teach Us About Living
I knew that I’d gain many things when I became a mom. A greater ability to multi-task. A newfound appreciation and love for my husband. A fierce, protective mother-daughter love. A strong need for coffee. Most obviously of all, I knew I’d gain a little one. The thing I was least of all expecting to gain, though, was a teacher. Read More
The Truth Will Set You Free… But First, It Will Tick You Off
I’ve seen a change in myself. Although I would describe myself, historically, as someone with strong opinions, thoughts, and ideas, I would also describe myself as someone who likes to listen and give feedback more than someone who likes to talk… Read More