A Very Special Case.

Stop letting your child’s milestones make you sad. Your kids are growing. There are things you’re going to miss. You’ll miss their tiny toes and the way they let you hug them in public. You’ll miss picking out their outfits and the way they said “tickledy” instead of "that tickles". I get it, I do but I also see the other side. You see, I live in a community where moms don’t get all of that or any of that....They don’t get first words and first bites. First holidays aren’t always spent passing their baby around while they beam with pride and joy. Sometimes, there are no words at all and first holidays are spent in hospital rooms. Sometimes, first days of school look different and sleepless nights don’t end. In this world we celebrate milestones and next steps because we didn’t know we were going to get them and some of us never did. So, momma don’t let them growing make you sad. Let it be a reminder that life is short and full of new phases.  They are growing up and that...

Childhood chronic illness does not discriminate. If you have ever walked the halls of any Children's hospital, you have seen this. It doesn't matter your race, religion, background or social status. Chronic illness doesn't care. It comes for you and leaves no one in your family untouched. This, of course is the same for adults, I just happen to be the mother of an 8 year old with a chronic intestinal disorder along with a slew of other illnesses and congenital defects. He was born chronic and is growing up chronic. For us, the reality that we are all in this together despite our differences started while Case was still in my womb. I can vividly remember the faces of other women in the high risk waiting room at a speciality Women's hospital 2 hours from home. Their faces were worn and eyes sad but hopeful. I listened as a mother pleaded with the medical team to let her continue the rest of her pregnancy in peace with out all the high risk inte...

"At least it isn't Sepsis" I whispered to myself a half a dozen times this week when life wasn't going "as planed" and inconveniences popped up at almost every corner. It was one of those weeks where one annoying thing after another happened. A flat tire on Valentines day, A broken heater in the dead of winter, the dash of the car that's not in the garage lighting up like a Christmas tree just to name a few. 15 years ago when we were low on funds and even lower on life experience this week alone would be enough to send us to push us over the edge. Then life happened. We saw real chaos and heart break. We handed our son over for dozens of invasive surgeries including a full scull repair, multiple abdominal surgeries and even surgeries that days afterwards failed, split right at the seems. We've sat bedside during painful intestinal folding and even blockages that wreaked havoc on his gut and took months to heal. We've handed his unresponsive littl...

I have a confession to make...sometimes it's hard to be happy. Right now, actually I'm in a place where happiness isn't coming easily. Honestly, it's embarrassing to write. I should be so full of joy. With a great job, four beautiful kids, a hard working, loving husband and a roof over my head why wouldn't I be happy? Is it that I' ungrateful? No. It's not that.. Is it that I'm depressed. Nope, depression is dark and debilitating and awful and this is just a nagging blah that I wake up in the morning with some days. Don't get me wrong, I find happiness. Happiness is Lainey holding my hand at the end of the day telling me a funny story about school. Happiness is kissing Case's freshly washed face goodnight after he's fallen asleep. Happiness is watching my two oldest help each other navigate Jr. high drama, academics and life in general. Happiness is all around me but sometimes I have to look harder to find it. Sometimes I have to be intention...

You read the title and if you're anything like me you thought, "Oh, here we go....ANOTHER weight loss story. She's probably going to try to sell me something or even worse tell me how she gave up carbs, protein, fast food and showers then BOOM lost 50 pounds". Seriously, that's where my mind would go and I'm not goin to do either of those. I'm not going to go into my past or my childhood relationship with food and tell you that my my overeating and love for all things sweet started in Kindergarten because it didn't. I was naturally thin until I started having kids honestly. During my my pregnancies I gained 40, 50, and 60+ pounds. Sometimes, I held onto half the weight of the pregnancy before and then would gain some. After Case (our fourth and last baby) It was a roller coaster of losses and gains, Simple stresses like on-going insurance issues, prolonged hospital stays and DMES that never kept their promises would cause stress eating. The big, scary ...

In honor of the amazing holiday season that is slipping by us so quickly, I’m going to list out a few of my favorite things! The things that help me keep my head above water, help me stay healthy and save me sacred, sacred time! As a mom, career woman, caregiver, mock nurse to our youngest with many medical complications and the crazy lady in charge of keeping all of this afloat, I need help. I need energy. I needed to find resources to help because, like most every mom, I can not do this alone!  So, without further ado and in no particular order, here are 10 of my favorite things. My time saving, self caring, mom friendly, favorite things! WalMart Grocery Pick Up. Seriously guys, this is a GAME CHANGER! If it’s available in your area and you aren’t using it, start. Now. Close this blog and make your grocery order! An easier life is just a few clicks away.... Amazon Subscribe and Save. Truth: I haven’t bought toilet paper from the store in over a year! I get my paper produ...

Oh, December I have a love-hate relationship with you. I love you because you’re December!  You sprinkle beautiful, white bliss all over the dread grass and bare trees. You bring comfort and joy! You host the holiday that I’ve loved since I was a child and love even more as a mother! You are beautiful and giving. You’re full of cookies and eggnog and all of my favorite foods. I LOVE that about you. But....I struggle with you. Every year, I struggle with you. You bring sadness and painful memories. You remind me of everything that was almost taken away from me. You remind me of how close I was to losing my son. You host memories of unbearable news and long, heart wrenching sonograms. You are the month that held the words, “prepare to bury  your child” and, “your baby’s body is broken. He just wasn’t wired right”. You hold lies. You remind me every year of the scary 24 hours before you marked our son's December 21st birthday. The 24 hours of breath holding, non-stress testing a...