I am the mama of a miracle. I was at the beginning of my second trimester with our second child when we received a phone call with news that no parent ever wants to hear. The NIPT blood test showed …
A MOPS Story: Lifelong Family
Twenty years ago, we moved from Seattle to Indianapolis for my husband’s job. We had two small children, ages 3 and 1. Our closest family was over 1000 miles away. It was a little overwhelming! Thankfully, a friend suggested I …
6 Gifts to Give Yourself and Your Family This Christmas
The Christmas season is almost upon us, and if you’re like most moms you’re both anticipating it with joy and approaching it with a bit of dread. After all, the weeks from Thanksgiving Day (in the U.S.) through Christmas and …
The Holy Grail of Motherhood
Nothing like becoming fatally anemic to get a heavy dose of “Mom Time Out.” Spending some time in the hospital hooked up to fluids and a blood transfusion gave me plenty of precious minutes I don’t normally have to think …
Family Fall Bucket List
When I’m out and about wearing our newborn daughter and “managing” my two boys (5 and 3 years old), complete strangers will walk up to me and say, “You are so brave.” Really? I think what they really want to …
A Mom’s Story: Why Do I MOPS?
I MOPS because I was a mom with a toddler, a marriage looking at its tomb, and a freshly emptied womb. I was 12 weeks pregnant when I lost my second baby and gained a depression that started on my bathroom …
Boycott Mom-Shaming
Mom-shaming begins as far back as conception of our little people. “Did you conceive naturally? Did you go through fertility treatments? Use a surrogate? Adoption?” It continues through birth. “Did you get an epidural? C-section? Homebirth?” The choices moms are …
Keeping It Cool When It’s Hot: Kids’ Playtime
We’ve had some pretty hot weather recently. I don’t know about your kids, but mine are not big fans of the high heat or humidity. In fact, it kind of makes us all a little cranky (OK, not my husband, …
It Will Be OK
photo credit: Ashley Wright Photography First comes love, then comes marriage, then comes … well, you know the rest. It’s been beat into us as women that there is a natural progression to things: find man, make baby. But it’s …
The Rebellion of Opting Out
Modern family life can feel a lot like a hamster wheel — a constant race you’re never winning. We overschedule our kids and ourselves, wedging some must-do activity into every waking moment of the day, until we’re short on time, …