Mama-luia

Or The miscellany of my insomniac mind I will be 35 weeks pregnant tomorrow. 35 weeks! When we moved here, I was about 18 weeks pregnant. My mind had been so wrapped up in selling our home, moving, and settling in, that I felt extremely detached from the reality of being pregnant. So the fact that I am that near my due date is astounding to me.  When it was extremely hot out, each day felt like an eternity. But the last few weeks have sped by, and I really can't fathom holding a brand new little person that I made in a matter of weeks. It's slightly earth-shattering, in a wonderful way of course. What a journey this pregnancy has been. Each time I bring new life into the world, God reveals something to me about myself. It's amazing. This pregnancy has been so different than the first two -- while physically the symptoms have been by far the easiest! Hallelujah! -- the emotional processing of what it means to be a wife and mother is the most intense.  It o...

I was twelve weeks postpartum with my first child when it happened. I had been at Mass with Patrick and Baby Noah when a woman I knew, but hadn't seen in a long time, approached me. She came to admire our sweet baby. She held him, complimented me on how adorable he was, and then asked how I was doing. I had begun to loathe that question, because depending on the day or my mood at that particular moment, it would reduce me to tears. I wasn't doing 'fine' as one is expected to say, but I also didn't feel like sharing that with just any old person. So I said, "Well pretty good, I mean, look how amazing he is!" gesturing to Noah while she held him. She looked relieved, but quickly asked for clarification, "You don't have any of that 'postpartum depression' do you?" Her tone of voice betrayed volumes about her true thoughts on the matter. "Well, I haven't been diagnosed with it..." I faltered. "But one can be al...

I have been asked that question more times than I can count in the past few months. People who know we are interested in homeschooling expect that because we have a four year old, and it's September, it must be time. Those who don't know, but see me traipsing around with a school-aged child during normal school hours assume we are, otherwise we're a truant family. The answer is 'yes, we're homeschooling', sort of . In my overly zealous state last summer, I was determined we were going to begin 'preschool' with Noah. We bought him, two, count em, two entire preschool curriculums because that's what one ought to do with their three year old, right? I was hell-bent on proving something to... someone. Not Patrick, not our extended families. But someone . He was going to learn , by cracky! Imagine my surprise when I opened the 'lesson plan' for Sonlight and it said something like "read 'The Bee Tree' and discuss where honey com...

And... snap, just like that, it's autumn out there. While I know so many people are mourning the loss of summer, I am completely entranced by the beauty of late summer / early autumn. I am a sucker for cardigans, crunchy leaves, tea, and pumpkin-spice muffins (but not pumpkin spice lattes... they're yucky... and too trendy) so I say bring on Fall! Of course, this fall brings the wonderful, miraculous event of having a baby, so I am decidedly eager to say farewell to summer. But what a wonderful summer we had. Trips to the lake almost daily, a visit from the paternal grandparents (where the children got to go white-water rafting ... {they are living a more exciting life at their combined age of 6 than I am at... much older!}), backyard explorations, gardening attempts (we harvested all of three potatoes and adorable dear Noah said "I think this was a good crop! Let's try again next year, too!") and general merriment. Patrick took the last week of August o...