I just wanted to pop in for a brief post and to show you that we discovered that Lincoln has curly hair after washing it last night. Look! Tomorrow is St. Nicholas’ Day, our favorite Saint’s Day ever, and since I scheduled Lincoln’s surgery for tomorrow morning I have to spend the afternoon making the most delicious St. Nicholas bread ever and a big dinner that will give us leftovers for a few days. Lincoln’s doctor assured me that the... Read more
There are some things my children do that really test the limits of my love. Sienna, for instance, is a world-class pouter/stomper/door slammer. She can stick out that lip and stomp off to her room and our friends at the end of the street will hear the door slam. It’s really difficult for me not to fly off the handle when she gets going, but the more I practice (which is, unfortunately, a lot) the better I get at remaining... Read more
I have received 130 comments on my Fear, Prayer post, dozens of personal emails, and several facebook messages. I’m honestly overwhelmed by the response that post generated. With very few exceptions, the comments and emails were deeply compassionate. Even those who urged me to reconsider birth control were written with such obvious love and sympathy that I wanted to hug each commenter. I know this is going to sound cheesy, but this is one of those times when the blogsophere... Read more
#7 Thank you all so much for your comments on my post from earlier this week. I honestly appreciated every single one (honestly! Every one!*) And I got several emails and facebook messages that I haven’t had a chance to respond to, but I appreciated those too. I really was so hesitant to write about this because I didn’t think I could handle the “you’re causing scandal, you’re not a good Catholic, you’re only struggling because you’re an awful person”... Read more
Some of you may remember a little Ukranian orphan boy named Henry, whom I blogged about over a year ago. Henry has been home with his adoptive family here in the States for just a year. It’s been a difficult year filled with surgeries, and the “big one” was just three weeks ago. Little Henry developed a massive infection last week and died last night. His mama Carla blogged about their journey to bring Henry home and his final trip... Read more
This weekend I drove into Naples, to a parish I’d never been to before, for an intentionally anonymous confession. I knew it would be a rough confession, and I preferred to seek out the comfort of strangers rather than the well-meaning concern of friends and neighbors here in Ave Maria. It was indeed comforting to walk into a church and not feel obligated to say hello or make small talk. I found my way to the confession line and began... Read more
Our Thanksgiving was lovely, and was capped off with a seriously un-lovely cold that mostly skipped right over the mobile children and felled the Ogre, Lincoln and I like pine trees at Christmastime. I’m actually going on day 2 in the same pajamas, surrounded by tissues, tea and orange juice, and once again thanking God that I have my very own nebulizer to use on just such occasions like this, when breathing is so difficult that putting my hair in... Read more
Crimeney, this day started out on all the wrong notes. First, I accidentally ate a cookie for breakfast, then I missed my run because of rain and a late start, then I read this which linked back to this and then I watched the video and dear God, this song is awful. And because I’m postpartum, I cried. I cried at crass emotional manipulation posing as Christmas music, and now I hate myself. For the record, this is my favorite... Read more
It’s freaking Monday, again. And like all Mondays, this one is exceptional. Just now, a stranger rang the doorbell two seconds after Lincoln fell asleep and not one, but two children streaked past me to open the door. I didn’t notice until they came to a halt with the door wide open how apt the term streaked was, since they were both naked from the waist down. Luckily, it was just a government agent in a full suit and tie... Read more
I’m going to spend the day outside in the sunshine with my husband and kids, but I thought I would put up a re-run of one of my favorite posts. It’s a particularly appropriate way to end this week. Yesterday, my kids and I went with my parents and my sister to the state fair. I haven’t been since I was little and my kids have never been. I was totally pumped to eat fried food, ride dangerous carnival rides,... Read more
Barefoot and Pregnant
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