For all those who come to this happy place, Welcome!

This past weekend I unfortunately suffered a miscarriage. It was a rough experience, fortunately I was at the hospital and had my best friend (Jason) with me and it was bearable. For the most part I am doing fine. I feel better everyday physically. I think it's the emotional side that hurts the most and holds you back. My body needed little medication to ease the pain, but I wish I could take a couple Tylenol to make this emotional roller coaster feel more like a nice calm boat ride. There's really not a lot to be done. Your filled with hormones and then dealing with any loss is tough. I cried for 3 days straight and I felt a lot better or maybe my eyes were just too swollen to keep up at that pace. I still get a little sad when I see the ultrasound pictures we had at 7 weeks, we heard it's heart beat and I was optimistic that despite it measuring small, and being put on a medication (progesterone) that made me nauseous, emotional, irritable, and sleepy, and a feeling o...

This was Paige's letter to Santa this year. She had a tall order, and keep in mind this is one of several versions (some as early as September). I think next year we might limit her to the top 3 of her endless lists. James, on the other hand, just wants a dinosaur, easy peasy - this is one boy who won't be disappointed on Christmas morning.

A friend of mine sent this to me, you've probably read it by now, but if not... I thought the moms out there would like to know they are not alone or at least have a good laugh - Maren  p.s. I have video to upload but my parents internet is about as fast as the pony express. Dear Santa , I've been a good mom all year. I've fed, cleaned and cuddled my children on  demand, visited their doctor's office more than my doctor, sold sixty-two cases  of candy bars to raise money to plant a shade tree on the  school playground  I  was hoping you could spread my list out over several Christmases, since I had to  write this letter with my son's red crayon, on the back of a receipt in the  laundry room  between cycles, and who knows when I'll find anymore free time in  the next 18 years. Here are my  Christmas wishes : I'd like a pair of legs that don't ache (in any color, except purple, which I  already have) and arms that don't hur...

It's official - we heard the heartbeat on Wednesday - this is the cause of my nauseated state of being 24/7. There is actually a little peanut causing all this havoc on my body. Everything seems to be going really well. My progesterone levels were low so they put me on a supplement and I'm trying to live with the side effects while Jason claims there are no big changes (I always break out crying, right? - ha, ha, ha) Actually, it does have a slew of side effects, but I seem to be affected by 3: sleepiness, irritability, and anxiety. Serious anxiety over the littlest dumbest things (makes me crazy) and it sucks that my one good quality (patience) is in short supply. Yesterday during preschool my kids were looking at me like 'why does she think she has to bribe us for every little thing?' - please, please, please put your shoes on, I will give you an m&m - come on just help pick up, I will give you and m&m - poor things. Luckily it will just be 'til I reac...

He's such a little rogue. I LOVE this picture - she wanted to wear her tap shoes and I love how her toes are pointed. I never get over how long this baby's hair is. This is my favorite one of James, it's genuine and sweet, but you can still see the mischief in his eyes. This girl just gets prettier every year. She is everything I always wanted to be, but never was. This is my favorite of Abbey. She looks a little pouty, I don't know why she always gets what she wants. He is either bare foot or a flipflop boy, he takes after me - our feet can't breathe in shoes. She didn't want her hair flat ironed but obliged me this once. I love it when she poses. This baby is just pure joy. She has been a blessing to this family, as cheesy as that sounds - she brings out the best in us and we do everything we can to make her smile. The lighting & coloring is not typical in this picture. It reminds me of a picture from my moms yearbook in the 70...