I was recently reminded that some milestones are downright painful to reach, even for your third and fourth children. Jonah has for the past eight weeks, since birth been within arms reach of me. I have responded to his cries, read his cues of hunger and been the only person to feed him. But... I View Post
Happiness is an Untouched To-Do- List
Today started off like most days lately, with a long list of things on my “to do” list. We are closing on a new house next week and then moving shortly thereafter. So far, I have three boxes packed and ready to go - three small boxes... The mere thought makes me laugh. View Post
Happiness is a Big Meltdown
This was NOT the original blog post that I meant to write today, but when life hands you blog post material you need to run with it! Mornings can make or break your day. Sometimes the morning can set the tone for the entire rest of the day, color it either a bright cheerful rainbow, or leave you View Post
Happiness is Being the Youngest in the Middle
Dear Jansen, Congratulations on your promotion to “youngest in the middle”. You have worn this badge of honor with great pride now for two weeks. You have truly managed to assert yourself, and proven to us that you are a boy with a very strong will and character. Jansen, you will always be my View Post
Jonah – one week
Hello to a new chapter of our lives! We are now officially a family of four boys, party of six, “almost a basket ball team”, a big family - aka OUR FAMILY! Happy one week to baby, Jonah! You fit seamlessly and perfectly into our family. Without incident, you have brightened our lives, filled our View Post
The Night Before…
Here I am, enjoying my last night of pregnancy insomnia. It is officially “Jonah’s Eve” - the night before Jonah’s big debut into “the real world”. I know that babies have been born since the beginning of time. I realize that most of you reading this have already experienced “the night before” View Post
Happiness is a mis-placed Lego
It was a very normal Sunday evening at our house. The entire family was gathered around the dinner table, eating, talking about what had been “our favorite part of the day” and in general just being the vision of the typical American family in Any Town, USA. View Post
“It is Just a Phase”
“It is just a phase, it is just a phase, it is just a phase” - this seems to be my mantra and my secret to surviving motherhood some days. How can I as a mom get too frustrated with my kids, if I keep in mind that this too shall pass and it’s just a rights of passage for the little boy? Well - I can View Post
Birthday Letter to Jordan
Happy 5th birthday Jordan! Thank you for the best, the hardest, the happiest, the saddest, the toughest and the most incredible five years of my life. You show me every day that life is not just black or white - it is colored with every shade of the rainbow. When you feel, you feel deeply and View Post
Birthday Letter to Jansen
Dearest Baby Jansen, You turned two years old this past week. I am blown away at how fast time has passed, actually zoomed right past us. I have not even had a chance to complete your baby book with all the important dates of when you first rolled over, crawled and walked. I have them written View Post
“Four Boys?! Oh Boy!” – Part 1
“Hi! Yes, I know, my belly is really big. No, I am not about to pop, although it may look like that. Nope, it is not twins, I am certain. Yes, we know what we are having - its our fourth boy!” “Four boys, yep - “Oh boy” is right!”... and that is approximately how every conversation with complete View Post
The Beautiful Spirit of Halloween
Happiness is seeing the spirit of Halloween in full force. That’s right - I said the SPIRIT of Halloween. I am not talking about the blood, gore, and fright. The tomb stones, skeletons and zombies adorning our neighbors’ yards are also not what warms my heart. However, watching our three boys View Post
Childhood Friendships Through the Years
Today’s theme in our household was clearly childhood friendships. All three boys spent time with their friends and had experiences that covered the entire scale from good to bad. I came home from work to find Jansen, our toddler, standing on the sidewalk with his little neighborhood play mate, View Post