2021 Year In Review

The days are long, the nights are longer, but the years are short.

As I begin to think about Shia’s first birthday, I realize how much has happened in his 10.5 months of life already and I never want to forget it once the memories become distant and fuzzy. The idea to get back to blogging as a means of documenting my everyday ordinary life was inspired by my sister-in-law, Naomi…

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My Pregnancy Journey

I cannot believe I’m in my third trimester already. Some days pregnancy felt like it would never end, yet now that I’m nearing the finish line I feel like it flew by! I wanted to document my answers to 30 questions y’all asked because this is a special time, and also so that if I ever say to E, “I think we should try for another biological baby!” I can come read this before making that decision. ;)

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The Danger of Glamorizing Foster Care

A wise person in my life once told me to pay close attention to the things and people who bother me most because it says more about me more than it does them.

Documenting our foster care journey has made others want to do it too, I know because they tell me. They email, comment, and send me Instagram messages sharing the wonderful news with me. It always makes me light up.

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Unseen

I sit down with a plan to write, but most days I don’t have the energy to recount the day’s memories or retell what we’re in the midst of because that requires reliving it. And right now, living it is hard enough.

I don’t want pity or sympathy, but I refuse to sugarcoat it.

The last two weeks of January were the hardest, most draining and tear-filled days of my life.

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Beginning Again

Over one month ago now, sweet N came into our lives and flipped our house upside down (quite literally). Shakespeare’s, “Though she be little, she is fierce.” couldn’t be more relevant. N has invaded our hearts, which are now as soft and moldable as the play-dough she stomps into my pretty living room rug. She has made us laugh and cry, and panic, and many times – throw our hands in the air.

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A Home Well Lived In

Several months ago I scribbled “I want a home well lived in on a blue sticky note at my kitchen table. I jotted the words down so fast they were hardly legible, but something urged me not to let the thought pass without giving it a permanent place. I stuck it on my desk right next to my desktop computer, which I rarely sit at. Ponder more later, I thought.

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Cranberry Citrus Shortbread Cookies (+ Weekend Recap!)

E and I have been conversing about really tough and complex things over the past few days and (not to toot my own horn or brag but…) I’m really proud of us. We’ve come a long way in our relationship and I love the direction it’s growing.

For one, I am learning to be completely and totally vulnerable. Also, I’m learning to approach things better. Don’t be fooled, I still have a long ways to go in this area.

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No More Jabs, Just Soup [Three Cheese Tortellini, to be exact]

Over the last couple of years I’ve repeatedly made jokes about how I’m “no good in the kitchen.” I’m notorious for using the excuse that my mother never really cooked as justification for my disinterest in fulfilling that role. I’ve admitted that on numerous occasions E and I have had to pitch the meal I attempted to make and order Papa Johns instead. (For the record, no shame here, I love Papa Johns.)

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