My mood is deeply and intrinsically tied to the atmosphere of my household. I never saw the truth in "Happy Wife, Happy Life," until I became a mom. The impact my emotions have on my family is immense. If I'm cranky, short-tempered, anxious, sad-I quite literally see it mirrored in the faces of my family [...]

Last week, I was in the process of scheduling an imaging appointment after seeing my doctor. The office called to discuss financial responsibility in advance and to ask me demographic questions. The typical string of questions were asked, but one in particular surprisingly stumped me. "Are you employed?" she asks, nonchalantly. "Oh, uh..." I stuttered. [...]

Tuesday morning was rough. Long story short-John has been hating diapers lately. He goes potty once and then begs to be changed. He was displaying many signs of potty-training readiness, so I decided I'd start a little potty-training introduction beginning Monday. Well, Monday was a disaster to say the least. But most of the potty [...]

“Wow, I’m amazed you can get them to keep their hats on,” said a mom beside me. I was pushing the boys on the swings and she was swinging with a little girl much younger than my boys. “It’s been a long time comin’,” I laughed. And then I was immediately transported back to the [...]

In our room, there’s a little collection of things that belong to the boys. I keep it on the dresser by the door to remind myself to return them to the nursery or to their play area where they belong. Little socks that find their way into our laundry. Toy cars left behind by constant [...]

April marks one year since I said, “Not no mo,” to breastfeeding. Actually, my birthday was the day I made the selfish decision to take steps toward a mentally healthier me (and if you can’t be selfish on your birthday, when can you?) and stop all breastfeeding and pumping. The second picture is a pretty [...]

Upon finding out I was pregnant, I never thought about a c-section. I never planned that for myself. But I never planned for twins, either. As one might expect, twins changed a lot about my expectations surrounding birth and breastfeeding. Because there is so much risk and unexpected events involved with twins, things always seemed [...]

After the vast amount of renovations the house underwent in 2021, we began to realize that all the newness almost highlighted all the...well, all the dull, faded “oldness.” While the bathrooms were not terrible to look at, it was the cabinets that presented a more structural issue. It was impossible to baby-proof said cabinets because [...]

"The Lord is my rock, my fortress, and my savior; my God is my rock, in whom I find protection. He is my shield, the power that saves me, and my place of safety." Psalm 18:2 I've felt the weight of this verse on my heart lately. Let me tell you-the toddler season is a [...]

During this renovation journey, our patience, our parenting skills and our marriage was tested. It was a never-ending juggling act between Jimmy and me. We were constantly trading and adjusting our roles and responsibilities as husband&wife, mom&dad, shared homeowners, working spouse & stay-at-home mom. But, as is life’s constant reminder, the universe does not operate [...]