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My little love, I watch you walk, run, and laugh with that mouth holding two adult teeth and marvel. How did the baby I never stopped holding and staring at become this bounding, bouncing being? They say the years go by so fast, but the days are long. Days with you have always zoomed by with baseball cards, audio stories, narrated baseball one player full field games, and periodic fast tickle laughs. I wouldn’t know any other way. Your little sisters and brother look up at this face of teasing, teaching, and tenderness. Not in any particular order. You can poke and prod like any pest but usually draw them into your world of games with invisible endless twists and turns. You look with an open heart. And share whatever you have in yours with theirs. When your dad and I watch you race your bike or pitch a curve ball, we rejoice at these signs of your growing and reaching toward what brings out that wide mouthed stretched eyes laugh. I also cry a little. Because I’m a mom. And want you to always be my baby at the same time that I want you to become more and more yourself. Our prayer for you this year: that you continue to grow in patience for our shortcomings and your siblings’ purposeful aggravations. May you feel the lightness that only love can bring into your daily mood. May you explore. May you experience God and seek His will in your…
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Wow! Your survey answers were so so helpful. Thank you, my friends. Thank you for being here in this corner of the internet and thank you for your feedback. I resolve to write more frequently this summer about your fav topic: parenting!! and tell you all the things I’m doing wrong and what I’m learning from them. Ha! Quick catch up on the sewing side of things. I’ve been slowly creating small batches of things instead of my usual large orders. It’s more manageable and more swiftly in your hands that way! Three things are happening this summer with my studio. First off, I hung a pegboard! Okay, my dad and husband did but I love the work space so much. I also found a sweet desk off Craigslist and love the size. Limited organic knit swaddles! (And fall pre-order) pic from grace Custom bonnets! Pick your fabric! And forthcoming: bloomers & caps. They’re almost all done but I’m still adding elastic and ties. Those will be available probably next weekend? And a handful of summer bibs. I have a bunch of fabrics that are slaying me with their bold & brightness and I love them. Okay, now you know everything I know. Or probably way more. Mom brain means I’m a little fried! What’s happening this weekend for you?
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I dug up this oldie photo from around the time I started the blog. Who are these babies?? I just don’t even know. Would you help me out? I’m trying to sort through my work here and figure out how to do things better! Two second survey here. And one of you lovelies who takes it will be gifted a $100 amazon card as a token of my appreciation!! Also, a few places to connect with my newsletters: if you want to learn more about the mothering journey journals, the link is here. If you want handmade whole parenting goods discount codes & first peeks, the link is here. If you want to be subscribed to the blog, the link is here. (Tell me you’re subscribed already, people!!) That’s it & that’s all. Happy Saturdaying!
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Eight years ago we were wedding in Holy Matrimony and it was such a great day. I still remember trotting around my front yard at 10pm telling everyone I just don’t want this party to ever end. ALL MY FAVORITE PEOPLE IN THE SAME PLACE! It was over 300 of our nearest and dearest, spanning my horse back riding days to his running days, law school friends, family from all over the country, and more. Looking at our photos, my first thought is wow I look so young! Followed quickly by I didn’t know so much. I didn’t even know what I didn’t know. What I did know was that I was crazy in love with this man, that I wanted to be with him always and forever, and that we would figure it out. Marriage starts to simplify, in a way, over the years. I no longer have hissy fits (is that even still a term?) over inane details. I actually know what kind of gifts he likes and doesn’t like. I actually understand his facial expressions and different intonations of grunts. I know what to expect from both of us when we go through pregnancy together, and that first year of a new baby. Marriage also becomes more thick. The disagreements now have years to fall back on for examples of how *she always does X* or *he never does Y.* We’ve learned and accepted each other’s flaws and failings, but the emotional response to those still shifts like the aftershocks of an earthquake.…
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Oh it’s been a wonderful and wild week. Linking up with the one and only Kelly! 1// we saw friends and friends and no one is sick yet so that is a HUGE WIN! 2// I took the three youngest kids to the grocery store which is a first in my long recovery! It felt so nice to wear the baby (who was happy, thankfully), push the tot in the cart, and be helped in the steering by my big girl. It felt good to be back to some normal activities. 3// Wrapped up your custom legging orders. These ones took me a little longer than expected but I am mailing the last ones out the door tomorrow! On to a special swaddle batch next! My sewing machine is my happy place so thanks for being part of getting me there, friends. 4// Read this. Then laughed and sent to my kid’s teacher. 5// I’ve been burning the midnight oil working on editing a series for Blessed is She for women’s groups. It’s been fantastic to work with seven talented writers and to be part of the process of building community! 6// Eating lots of this. 7// Wishing Madame Secretary wasn’t done for the season but I loved the last episode so very very much.
Read MoreHow do we do this? I just talked to a girlfriend who’s moving for her husband’s job relocation. With kids from college-aged to kinder. How do we make girlfriends as adults? I can tell you how many times I’ve been in a conversation where a woman has revealed that making adult female friends is the WORST. And I mean, worse than a spray poopie diaper or being out of chai tea latte mix at home. Friendships blossom over shared experiences, challenges, and triumphs. Sports team mates. Roommates. New Moms groups. Going to the same church. But as we enter into adulthood and leave the comfort of the easy-to-meet people school environment, it’s rough. For me, I went through a very awkward period of zero friends when we moved home from Vegas and I was looking for a job. My law school friends dispersed around the country, my college friendships were slim and hadn’t been tended to throughout law school, and my new work colleagues lived far away from where we were living. We set up our first home in a little condo in Minneapolis and spent nights cooking, talking, walking along the river. We joked to my brother that we were “couple’s shopping” in looking for friends who were married that we both liked. But in earnest, we were hoping for friendships. I was hoping for women who understood both my work and being pregnant, which seemed to be exactly zero. I slowly met women at church, but only by approaching them after…
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