Tag Archives: motherhood

It’s okay for Halloween costumes to look homemade.

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When I was a kid, my dad worked as a lineman for the electric company and my mother as an RN. It was the 90s and the economy was strong, so we were pretty firmly middle class… on paper. In actuality, though my parents had to have been making pretty good money for our low cost of living state, they were just terrible with it.

Now, as a Millennial, I feel like I need a disclaimer here, because my generation is absolutely insufferable when it comes to judging Boomers. Sure, they had their faults as parents, but Millennials are not the first group of people to love their children. While my own parents certainly weren’t perfect, their financial irresponsibility doesn’t even make the list of their transgressions. It did, however, result in a pretty contradictory childhood. We lived in a trailer with Astroturf on the porch and Christmas lights hanging down on the Fourth of July, but we also had a speed boat, a couple of jet skis, a motorhome, a four wheeler, a pony, and a ridiculous number of expensive farm animals at different times.

On top of my parents’ financial illiteracy, my Gramma lived next door and worked as a supervisor for the phone company, giving her quite a bit of disposable income. While I don’t really subscribe to the concept of Love Languages, because people are more complex than that, it would be entirely accurate to say that my Gramma shows her love through gift giving. Even today, if I mention I want something for myself or the kids, she’ll buy it 80% of the time. So, as a child, my brother and I had essentially every thing we ever wanted, from the newest game consoles to a literal horse. It should come as no surprise that most of our Halloween costumes were purchased from a store or catalog.

Today, one of the many cycles I hope to break, is that of irresponsible and frivolous spending. Before I met Jake, I almost never ate out, because I couldn’t afford it. I bought my clothes from Goodwill, drove a used car, and did everything I could to stay out of debt. After we married, it was easy enough to continue that behavior. I’ve never been one to get my nails done. I cut everyone in the family’s hair, including my own. While the girls wear new clothes, because they like matching, Thomas and Sullivan mostly wear hand-me-downs from family and friends. Our own clothes come from Sam’s Club, Old Navy, and Amazon, while we save our splurges for new tech. We do have some debt to pay off, but that’s primarily because it cost us $35,000 to have children. Thanks infertility.

I’m not going to lie. It can be difficult to maintain our frugality in a society obsessed with social media. I’ve previously shared my confusion as to where everyone is getting all their money, even without four kids. Every week, it seems a family member is taking their children to Disney World or Florida, showcasing their new car, or sharing the results of expensive facials and eyebrow treatments. This is especially prevalent during the holidays, when my parents take their annual Thanksgiving cruise, my cousin buys her toddler a new iPad or designer dog, and my step-siblings pay $300 to take the family for a one hour ride on a train designed to look like The Polar Express. It all starts with Halloween, though.

For the past week, family, friends, and high school acquaintances long since forgotten have been sharing pictures of store-bought Halloween costumes of varying degrees of quality. Some were clearly purchased from a local Big Box store, others were inflatable and came complete with fans on Amazon, and a few appeared to have been special ordered for their higher quality. Meanwhile, I was putting the finishing touches on our family Ghostbusters costume compiled of a costume tee I bought Jake for his birthday, a $6 beige dress I found on clearance and cut to t-shirt length for myself, clearance uniform dresses for the girls, and temporarily altered pajamas for the boys. The showpiece was their Ectomobile, created from a Little Tikes Cozy Coupe I bought on Facebook Marketplace.

I’ll admit, as I spray painted clearance water guns and cut felt, I became a little insecure. I worried our costumes looked cheap and homemade, that that’s what people would see at the church Trunk or Treat and what our children would see when they looked back at pictures. It took me a bit of fretting to remember that Halloween is comprised of a few fun family events at most. Were it Our Thing and we saved up for elaborate costumes or if we had a lot more discretionary income, it might be fun to splurge and go big… but it’s not and we don’t. We have four children under four, who aren’t even familiar enough with any characters to choose a costume for themselves. We don’t go to fancy Halloween parties. We go to the church carnival, library storytime, and Momo’s house for treats. There is absolutely zero reason for us to dial up our Halloween efforts at this stage of life.

I can tell you several Halloween costumes I wore as a child and the ages I wore them… because I have a freakishly vivid memory. Truly, there’s probably a condition associated with it. Still, what I remember most from my favorite years isn’t the costumes. It’s the fact that, once upon a time, my dad was enthusiastic enough about family life to come trick or treating with us and “test” his favorite candy to make sure it was safe. My mother was once normal enough to bring festive treats to my class. She used grocery store face paint kits to give my brother brutal wounds or blood trails from his vampire fangs, to paint my entire face orange, because that was the only convincing way to dress up as a pumpkin. What I remember more than the costumes was that, even after my dad had lost interest in the holiday, my mother took us trick or treating with my aunts and cousins and eventually by herself. She drove us from house to house as we sat on the back of her Jeep, so we wouldn’t have to walk too far in the cold. I had the fancy store bought costumes, but the memories I cherish are those of family. The ones I mourn are those that came after dysfunction settled over our home life.

Overall, I grew up with all the things I wanted… and I’d have given them all for parents who loved each other, had fun together, and could be silly. Without hesitation, I’d have traded my own room, TV, VCR, cable, and private phone line for more siblings, family game nights, and happier holidays. So, I remind myself and any readers who need it, that it is okay for Halloween costumes to both be and look homemade. It’s okay to save a few thousand dollars and skip that vacation. It’s okay to host that birthday party in the backyard. It’s okay to pass on the pricey Santa photos and expensive train rides. It’s okay to pick and choose your splurges, because those really aren’t the things your children are going to remember. They’ll probably forget most of those fancy costumes and many of those pricey outings… but they won’t forget how they felt spending their holidays with family who loved them. They won’t forget silly traditions like painting pumpkins in their underwear, eating sweet potato pancakes on Black Friday, and their cowboy Daddy’s ridiculous love of A Muppet Christmas Carol. It’s easy to forget in this social media heavy age that our children do not need amazing props to have an amazing childhood… but it’s true. Just look at these guys.

Time Marches On: A Handful of Birthdays and a Blogiversary.

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My baby girls are three.

Four years ago, Jake and I received the devastating news that we might never have children. Three years ago, Violet and Scarlett entered the world after much drama, as miracles of God and science. A little more than a year and a half ago, Thomas entered the world, a miracle of God alone. Five months ago, Sullivan proved that love truly is infinite after an FET. In just four short years, Jake and I went from a family of two, fearful we’d never be more than that, to a family of six… and possibly counting.

I am a somewhat older mom for the South, having had my girls at 33 and their brothers at 35 and 36. While I’d love to be 10 years younger, physically, becoming a mother in my 30s meant I got the chance to live for myself for a few years first. I got married. I got a bachelor’s degree. I got divorced. I started my master’s degree, began working out and had my own little glow-up. I spent years staying up all night having Vampire Diaries and Roswell marathons, eating popcorn and frozen yogurt for dinner. I hung out with friends whenever I wanted. I lay by my apartment’s pool. Not really one for travel, I visited Alaska and New Mexico regardless. I dated… a lot. I worked as substitute teacher, a circulation clerk, a half-time librarian once I got my degree, a full time manager, and then a teen librarian for five years. II got engaged and married, bought a house, took a trip to Colorado Springs with my husband, before Covid-19 hit. I loved my career and even went to the YALSA conference in Memphis, Tennessee. I had an entire life before my children were born. Still, I can honestly say, the most fulfilling and rewarding thing I have ever done was to be a mother.

I turned 37 last month, on the same day my blog turned 12. We celebrated by spoiling the kids with ice cream cake and donuts, taking them to the zoo, and spending all the money my dad gave me on Disney on Ice tickets. There was something for me. I personally repainted and redecorated the entire house with my farmers market earnings. Jake also bought me the full length mirror I’ve wanted for years. My Gramma and Grandpa came out to eat pizza and cake and play with the kids. The highlight of my birthday, though, was the expression on Thomas’s face the moment he saw Woody from Toy Story in real life.

Don’t get me wrong. I have my own hobbies, as evidenced by the neglect this blog has gotten over the summer. I’ve been selling baked goods and hand made crafts at the farmers market, sometimes for weeks in a row. I’m working to catch up on my family photo albums, while taking surveys and playing cell phone games to earn the money to print them. I’m trying to teach myself photography and even took a class and bought a fancy camera. I am way too into politics and have read about virtually any mainstream national and international news story you can name. It’s been a bit since I’ve played the Harry Potter Legacy game on XBOX, but I do enjoy it. I cross stitch, sew, crochet, and am currently working on a homemade family Ghostbusters Halloween costume. I also still host not one, but two, DnD games every other week. I am not a woman who neglects herself for her children. Still, they are my greatest adventure. After all those years spent reading romance novels with marriage and babies epilogues, here I am, in my Good Ol’ Days. I could not be happier.

Jake is turning 40 this weekend. At times I’ve felt mournful over the passing of time and “getting old.” Then, I talk to my grandma and grandpa and realize that this is the best time in our lives. We’re in our prime, me still in my 30s and Jake just beginning his 40s. We’re young. We’re healthy. Our kids are still young. Our older relatives are still alive. Life is crazy right now, even when I’m not painting an entire house with four under four. It’s also beautiful and I intend to spend the next twelve years chronicling it here, as well.

I don’t know if my family is whole.

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On August 16th of 2023, I watched the screen as a little white dot descended into my uterine lining, hoping and praying that my $5,000 embryo transfer would take. I took the envelope from the nurse, containing the photo of my embryo, refusing to look at it until I knew whether or not I’d ever hold that little life in my arms. Just 10 days later, I received the news that, indeed, I was pregnant. I continued my progesterone shots for another six weeks, before I saw and heard confirmation that my baby had a beating heart on my final ultrasound with the fertility clinic. The pregnancy was viable. As I readied to leave, I jokingly told my doctor that I hoped I’d never see him again. Just a few short weeks later, the blood test came back. My baby was a healthy little boy. I would finally have the two girls and two boys I had always wanted. After this third pregnancy and fourth child in three years, we were done… which was exactly how the announcements were worded over the next few months. #fourthandfinalgranger

I spent my pregnancy with my Sullivan cherishing every milestone as the last. Jake vetoed every name for the last time. I made my last Christmas stocking and baby blanket. I felt my last first kick. I saw my last ultrasounds. Every moment was precious, right up to point when they stuck me with that needle to administer the spinal for my C-section. As the doctor opened me up, she affirmed all these sentiments, announcing that she didn’t recommend another pregnancy, because my uterus was so thin. That was quite alright with me, because I’d accepted that this was the last time I’d feel that tug and hear that first cry. It was the last time I’d hold my brand new baby on my chest, whispering how I loved him despite how very gross he was at that moment. This was my last hospital stay and my last recovery.

My Sully was and is perfect, y’all, utterly and completely. He was my largest baby, at 8 pounds, 12 ounces and his birth was the second time in my life that I’ve loved a boy at first sight. Though exhausted from the drugs, I’ll never forget the feeling of knowing his heart was racing until he lay on my chest as I snuggled him. I hardly put him down in the following hours, despite the pain of my surgerical wound. I watched and recorded as the nurse gave him his first bath. I dressed him in his going home outfit and took photos of his first car ride. The next day, I introduced him to his sisters and brother, joking that he was the last one.

Over the next few weeks, I was perfectly content knowing that Sully was my final baby, as I soaked up all of the newborn snuggles. Four years after finding out Jake and I might never have children, I had everything I ever wanted. I could donate my remaining embryos with the peace of mind that I’d had the children I could have without risking their mother. My family was whole.

Four weeks after giving birth, I returned for my follow-up appointment and simply asked for verification that I couldn’t safely carry more children. This time, however, there was a significant shift to my doctor’s tone. What had previously been a recommendation not to get pregnant again had turned to a casual note that I would be fine, as long as we delivered at 36 weeks, to avoid labor. Having had the girls at 35 weeks, I know firsthand that this isn’t a big deal. With that one conversation, my world turned on a dime. Just an hour earlier, I’d been absolutely content with the knowledge that my five remaining embryos would be donated to a couple of my choosing when I was ready. Suddenly, I wasn’t so sure.

When Jake and I started our IVF journey, we only spoke briefly about what we’d do with leftover embryos. Having been assured by the doctor that we’d be lucky to get three, maybe four, we weren’t especially concerned, particularly since our previous cycle had been a complete failure. When I found out we had eight embryos I figured that, with the odds being 50/50 for each, we could possibly even have all of them ourselves. Then, both embryos took and we had the Violet and Scarlett. Then, Thomas came naturally, despite all odds. Then, my first FET took and gave me Sully. I’m beyond fortunate to have my family, but I’m not sure I can give up more of my children than I’ve even had, knowing I could carry them. It’s been four months since my Sully came into my life and I’m no longer sure my family is whole. I look at his little face and see such a stark resemblance to his sisters. I can’t help but imagine other babies with the same fat cheeks and plump lips. I don’t particularly want more children, but I also feel a responsibility to have as many of the embryos I created as I safely can.

There are a lot of moral objections to IVF. As a practicing Catholic, who simply was not strong enough to trust in God to give her children, I am well aware of the arguments against it. While I won’t debate those here, I am starting to feel that there’s not enough education surrounding the topic of leftover embryos. Sure, you’re told it’s a possibility and given a couple of options, but every single couple experiencing that stage of infertility is lost in a fog of fear that they’ll never have children. Jake and I, quite literally, ended the discussion with the agreement to think about it after we were actually able to have a family. That would be Future Belle’s and Future Jake’s problem. Well, here I am, Future Belle and I… don’t think I can do it.

When I was recovering from heart failure, after the girls were born, my cardiologist told me about a woman who continually played Russian roulette, regardless of being advised against more pregnancies. After her sixth, she ended up in permanent, life-altering heart failure. I am not that woman. If and when I’m told that I can no longer safely carry a child, I will be done. Having had three C-sections already, I know the number of children I can carry is finitem. However many embroys remain, I will donate to a childless couple and hope they have a beautiful life. While it might be difficult, I’m comfortable with explaining to an adult biological child that I couldn’t risk my own life when I had other children. What I’m not comfortable with, however, is explaining that I gave them up because I just wasn’t up for it. Furthermore, I don’t think I can tell my existing children that, had a different embryologist been working that day, they might not have made the cut for my vision of a perfect family.

While Jake hasn’t ruled out the possibility of more children, I do think he’s waiting for me to change my mind. I am so tired of being pregnant. I want to get my body back and feel strong, once again. I want to enjoy the family I have and move on to the next stage of life. He knows that. Personally, I think he’s waiting in vain. I have another six months or so before I’d want to do a transfer, to see if I can come to terms with donating my embryos. I have no desire to put this off, only to panic at 40 and insist it’s not too late. In the meantime, I just don’t know that my family is whole.

Farmers Markets & Funerals

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It’s been a busy season… so busy in fact, that I haven’t written in a few months. The last time I took such a hiatus was in 2020, when I didn’t want to share my battle with infertility. Nothing so personally tragic has occurred this time, but I did have a baby (post forth-coming), mark seven years of marriage (post also forth-coming), celebrate my girls’ third birthday (yes, forth-coming), and throw a combination “three-rex” dinosaur party and baptism reception. To top it off, Six Months Pregnant Belle had the brilliant idea to sign Eight Weeks Post-Partum Belle up for her first farmers market. Yes. That’s right. I spent a week straight wrangling four under three (one of whom still eats every three to four hours) while I crafted handmade earrings, buttons, stickers, and mugs, tightly wrapped in my post C-section binder.

As with many of my life ventures, I have jumped into these farmers market shenanigans with little know-how or experience. While I won’t say it’s been a total disaster, that first Friday was particularly disheartening, as I watched the lady across from me sell loaf after loaf of sourdough, while I held a naked two-month-old whose daddy dressed him in sleeper jams in 90° plus weather, and sold a whopping $13 worth of merchandise.

I learned from this experience, though, and added baked goods to the next week’s haul, none of which moved until Jake suggested I give out samples. Ill-prepared, I cut up a couple of brownies with a plastic takeout knife from the car and lay them out on a paper sack. I still can’t believe anyone tried them, with Jake waving another sack to keep the flies away. Nearly everyone who did bought one for $3 or two for $5, though. This time, I went home with $53 in my pocket, a substantial improvement. In the days since, I’ve been to Hobby Lobby and purchased a cheap cake carrier for next week’s samples. I plan to add banana bread and chocolate chip cookies to my wares for even greater success, both of which I ruined last week by undercooking and overcooking, respectively.

Truly, it has been an exhausting time of life, but blessedly so. I’ve been so fortunate to safely have these babies after infertility, care for them in a comfortable home on one income, and kiss my healthy husband each evening when he walks through the door… or pick an only half insane, exhausted, and overwhelmed, post-partum fight. As tough as these last few… well, years, have been, I am reminded to be grateful for this chaos, because my sweetest of cousins buried her own 36-year old husband this past week, after a brief, but vicious battle with cancer.

I won’t pretend to have been close to Patrick, but Kayla and I were good friends as kids. Two years younger, she was the cousin with whom I had sleepovers after every family gathering. I was the bossy older cousin always trying to convince her to do things that were forbidden. Kayla was the sweet, innocent younger cousin I envied for her popularity with grown-ups and other kids alike. As adults, we weren’t especially close until we seemed to mirror each other’s milestones. While Kayla skipped the Lifetime Original Movie marriage, she did spend several years with a man her family didn’t like for a multitude of reasons, before finally getting shot of him. A couple of years later, just as I met Jake on Plenty of Fish, Kayla met Patrick on Tinder. Together, we defended online dating to our Boomer aunts and uncles, explaining that it wasn’t You’ve Got Mail, anymore. Even in 2015, it was ubiquitous. People just weren’t talking about it. Eventually, Jake and I married in 2017 and Kayla and Patrick about a year later. In 2020, I began IVF and Kayla announced that they were facing their own fertility problems.

Both having married men from wealthy families, Kayla and I fielded comments together, about how we could “just” pursue treatment. This advice was well-intended, but lacked the understanding that “comes from money” and “has money” are not equivalent. Regardless, just as Jake and I announced our miracle conception with Thomas, Kayla announced that she and Patrick were pregnant with Cillian. It was a joyous few months, in which Kayla and I bonded via text… until Patrick’s diagnosis with stage four colon cancer.

I only met Patrick two or three times, but I was shocked at how similar he was to Jake. Also a Texan, he enjoyed hunting and fishing. He was the life of every party, loud and funny. While Kayla and I were close as kids, I can’t say we’ve ever been especially similar. Kayla is… sweet. She’s the kind of person who doesn’t have to try to think kind thoughts, avoid gossip, word things carefully, and/or bite her tongue. She’s just naturally loving and gentle. I am nothing if not self-aware and would never say these things about myself. I try to be a good person, a loving wife, mother, granddaughter, friend… but I do have to try. More than once this week, I’ve told Jake that, as infuriating as he is in his nearly robotic stoicism, I could not have married a sensitive man. I’m too opinionated, honest, and assertive. It surprises me that Kayla and I would choose men so alike… and it breaks my heart to know that, at 34 years old, with a son two months younger than Thomas, she’s lost hers.

Last week, Jake and I did everything we could to secure childcare for the funeral. However, on very short notice, we were only able to attend the viewing. A more social, less somber, affair, it was still awful to see this vibrant, young father and husband in an open casket. It’s my understanding that, once the inoperable tumors developed, chemo ceased. This meant that Patrick looked exactly like the man Jake and I joked and laughed with at Christmas just before Covid-19 put a stop to all family gatherings. With the cancer diagnosis, I’d never met Cillian, who looks exactly like the father he won’t remember, just as my Thomas is the mirror image of Jake.

I’ve said before that Jake is my best friend and the only man I’ve ever loved. I mean it, every single day. However, the last few months, with four under four, one of them brand new, have not been entirely harmonious. No one has done or said anything too egregious, but life has been somewhat rocky, with so many stressors and transitions. The fourth trimester has bested me after every single pregnancy and this time has been no different… except now I’ve also had three under three to contend with, in addition to a newborn. There has been more than one crying jag in the shower, as well as more than one comment that a stoic and an asshole are not one in the same. I’m sensitive. Jake’s stressed. We’re both exhausted. It has, admittedly, resulted in something of a rough patch.

As we weather this season with all its complicated feelings, I’ve felt a kind of survivor’s guilt. Kayla would do anything to argue with Patrick under her breath at a farmers market… or even to yell at him for refusing to fix the bumper he cracked two years ago. As is often the case in life, it’s not fair. It’s not fair that the kindest cousin of my generation has been hit so hard, with infertility and now widowhood just days before her anniversary. It’s not fair that her little boy will grow up only knowing his father from photos, videos, and stories. It’s not fair that such a young, lively, funny, loyal, good man spent his last months knowing he wouldn’t be there for his wife or son. I had to consider that possibility myself, once, after I nearly died during childbirth with the girls. For months, I would burst into tears at random, knowing firsthand the pain of going through life without a mother. I can only imagine the devastation of it being a sure thing. None of it’s fair, so I’ll just count my blessings that my biggest stressors in life are farmers markets and a funeral. As tense as things are at the moment, Jake and I have our children, our home, our health… and no matter what life brings, each other.

Cherish the Fat Photos

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I’m officially on my 30 day countdown for baby number four in three years… and having been pregnant or post-partum since 2020, I am not loving my physical appearance. I don’t recognize myself naked. I can’t wear any of the clothes I enjoyed pre-Covid. Sex is just weird at this point. I’ve spent five years having massive amounts of hormones pumped through my body, either synthetically or naturally. I feel like I’ve been trapped in this strange body since I began my first round of IVF in July of 2020. I am just so ready to reclaim my physical self. I’m ready for shorts, sundresses, and fitted sweaters. A part of me just wants to forget this time, how it makes me feel both physically and emotionally to be this size.

Then, I remember the last time I was happy with my body… and how it felt to be a size 8/10, but wonder if I’d ever be a mom. I looked cute in all those Christmas photos, surrounded by nieces and nephews, fearing that’s all I’d ever know. I could wear a swimsuit without shame, show my legs in cute dresses, wear fitted sweater dresses that skimmed the length of my body, fit my feet into cowboy boots without filling them with blood. I could get out of this recliner on the first try. The sexual positions were contortionism by today’s standards. I felt so good physically, though I never appreciated it… but I wasn’t a mom and the thought of that never happening was absolutely unbearable. I didn’t get out of bed for days at a time. I never slept, staying up to Google adoption and infertility treatment statistics. I thought realistically about how long I’d want to continue my life if there were no little Jakes or Belles and the answer was “not very long.”

When I was working on my 2021 family photo album, there were so many pictures of myself I hated. I was so sick after the girls were born and it shows in every photo. Even then, a part of me rebelled against deleting them, though. Nearly three years later, while I don’t especially love my appearance in that ugly hospital gown, in an ICU bed, I am so glad I have photos of the first time I held my daughters. I looked as bad I felt, having nearly died in childbirth. My hair was limp and unwashed, as there were no showers in the ICU. My skin was pale, my whole body swollen with the fluid retention that caused my heart failure…. and I don’t care anymore. The body I hated was the one that brought my children into the world. I didn’t get to see my girls for two days after they were born and holding them for even just a few minutes, knowing they were real and mine, got me through the next five in the hospital. A few years removed, I will always treasure those photos, fat or not.

By the time I got home, I was 40 pounds lighter, though I wouldn’t say I looked much better. I could barely stand long enough to shave my legs and risked passing out to feel just that much more human. With an ejection fraction in the 40s (normal is 55-60), I was always tired and had dark circles under my eyes. Still, I cherish those pictures of myself, laying on the couch, looking gaunt and exhausted, with my tiny girls on my chest, certainly nowhere near ready to enter a beauty pageant.

Over the next few months, my health improved, but my energy lagged behind. A first-time mom, I had two new babies and a long recovery. While I tried to walk and use the elliptical, I didn’t feel anything close to normal for at least seven months. Two months later, my Thomas was conceived. Just as I was feeling capable of losing those last 10-15 pounds before starting the process for a frozen embryo transfer, my body was hitting reset on its own. By my girls’ first birthday, I was staring in the mirror, reminding myself that this was only temporary, that the end result would truly be a miracle. I was getting the elusive post-IVF miracle baby. Despite being somewhere between not pregnant and showing, I forced myself to stage the first birthday photo with my girls that mirrored the one my own mother took with me on mine. I immediately swiped through them and hated them all. Today, however, the best one sits framed beside the original from 33 years ago. I adore it.

My pregnancy with Thomas saw only slightly less enthusiasm than the first, as I took the weekly belly photos, but shared fewer on Instagram. I rarely wore my maternity dresses, opting for the shorts and jeans. Having never lost the last of my baby weight with the girls, I wasn’t exactly comfortable with my appearance, but I wasn’t miserable either. It was easy enough to pose for the photos, take the selfies, and include myself in videos. In fact, I was far more pleased with the hospital photos this time. Just a few weeks later, I made sure Baby’s First Christmas captured plenty of Mama footage.

Over the following months, it became clear that Thomas was not going to be my last baby. In time, Jake agreed to one more. Knowing a frozen embryo transfer would be difficult, I couldn’t bring myself to lose the weight. I think a part of me knew that, were I to do so, I might just have compelling enough reason not to go through with it. IVF was so unbelievably hard that even the thought of more fertility treatments just left me drained… and I had no idea how difficult it would actually be on me, both physically and emotionally. Still, I took all the photos, be they at the park, the lake, the zoo, a family walk, or just snuggling in the recliner. If the occasion was a special one, I was adamant that no matter how bad the pictures were, I’d make sure Mama got representation. Even after the hormones started last June, I chronicled everything, as I’ve been doing since the ninth grade. This time around, however, I’ve made far fewer attempts at “cute” pregnant” in favor of “I’ve been done with this since before I was pregnant” pregnant. For the last nine months, I’ve lived in my maternity pajama pants and oversized t-shirts… and I’ve still taken photos, including the weekly bump pictures.

With my C-section scheduled, these past few weeks, I’ve been scrambling to meet extraordinarily high expectations set by no one but myself. This includes compiling all of my cell phone videos from the last half of 2022 and all of 2023 into watchable home movies and making sure my family photo albums are current before I bring home another baby. In doing so, I’ve noticed something. Just as I no longer care that water retention made me look chubby in the first photos I took with the girls… or that I definitely look like I just haven’t lost the baby weight in their first birthday videos, I don’t especially care about all of the unappealing pictures and video clips that followed. Sure, Thomas’s first Christmas saw me looking semi-pregnant less than three weeks after giving birth. Those Easter photos didn’t showcase the most pleasing mid-section. I hated my arms in the lake shots. I also just looked so happy to be young, reasonably healthy, and enjoying my ecstatic babies, who will never again be this small. Yes, I despise the pictures I took today, last week, the week before that. The ones of Thomas’s birthday, the girls’ first craft, and our family Wizard of Oz Halloween costume, though? I’m just thrilled I captured those memories. So, though I may never look at all the pictures from my five-years-long pregnancy and consider them #GOALS physically… while I frequently joke that I can’t wait to starve myself after this baby is born… I will continue to take the unflattering pictures. One day, how I looked in these memories just won’t matter. I will, in fact, cherish these fat photos.

The Pregnancy from Groundhog Day

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Four hundred years ago, Jake and I did two back-to-back rounds of Pandemic IVF… and I have been pregnant ever since.

I am neither a woman who hates pregnancy nor one who reveres it. After our infertility struggles, I tried my best to enjoy it with the girls. I was so fortunate to be getting not one, but two children. I knew there was a chance it might be my only pregnancy. I wanted so badly to treasure every kick, roll, and hiccup… and I did, to an extent. It was just so stressful, enduring a high risk twin pregnancy during a global pandemic. Every ultrasound had me fearing I’d hear only one heartbeat or none at all. I thought my miracle pregnancy with Thomas would be different, having come the easy way. On the contrary, this one felt like I somehow cheated the system and it could be taken from me at any moment. It had been made clear that Jake could not get me pregnant naturally. Furthermore, I wasn’t exactly given the all clear to proceed with another. I believe the words used were “very cautious green light, more like a yellow light.” Surely, I wouldn’t get through the ordeal safely and with a healthy baby. Now, here I am, having been pregnant for portions of 2020, 2021, 2022, 2023, and 2024. I’m 27 weeks with what appears to be another healthy baby boy… and it’s so much worse.

I read all the time about women feeling lost in motherhood. They don’t know who they are anymore, after having let their hobbies and interests go for babies. I’ve literally never felt that way. I still craft, listen to audiobooks, even read on occasion. I host two bi-weekly DnD games at our home every other weekend, sometimes even changing it up for a random game night. I watch my favorite shows during naptime, while working on my family photo albums. I obsessively read the news and can discuss anything from local politics to which celebrities are related to Queen Elizabeth II. I love being a mom, but it doesn’t make me feel like I’m any less me. Pregnancy, however…

After I had Violet and Scarlett, I was so focused on finding my footing as a twin mom and getting my health back, that getting my physical self back really wasn’t a priority. I was so sick that the girls were seven months old the day I realized I could lift their stroller into the hatchback without becoming short of breath. Two months later, I got pregnant with Thomas. While my pregnancy with him was ideal, I clearly remember holding my new baby in the hospital, less than an hour after my C-section, thinking that I only had to go through this one more time. I knew then that I’d do anything I could to get Jake to agree to a fourth. While that did hinder my motivation, I admit that a part of me didn’t want to physically return to normal before that final pregnancy. I had enough reasons not to go through with an FET and my fourth baby in three years. I feared feeling as though I’d finally reclaimed my physical sense of self… be it through personal style, flexibility and stamina, or just weight loss… only to consider losing it for one more pregnancy, might just be the closing argument.

I feel obligated, especially having gone through infertility, to clarify here that I want this baby. I am so thrilled to be able to have my Four, two girls and two boys. I would not change a thing… except that I feel like I don’t know who I am anymore, outside of pregnancy, not motherhood. It’s been so long since I’ve just been me, as opposed to a vessel for the future. I don’t know if the anxiety I’ve felt for the last five years is because of who I am as a person, as a mother, or just pregnant. Feeling as though everything I’ve wanted is just within my grasp hasn’t offered any clarity. Am I now someone who cries at forgettable movies and TV shows from 10 years ago or is that just wonky hormones? Am I actually this much of a homebody or do I just find it utterly exhausting to leave the house with small children because I’m worn out from pregnancy?

While I cherish every miraculous kick this baby makes, I don’t recognize my own body anymore, nor do I like it. It doesn’t feel the same or move the same. I get sore and out of breath so easily. Is that because of symptoms of pregnancy and post-partum, just the new me after three back-to-back pregnancies, or is it just the difference between being 33 and 36? The clothes I bought during Covid-19 have barely been worn. Are they still in style? Am I too old for them? On that note, should I change my hair or how I do my makeup? Do I need a new skincare regimen? Can I go back to the old me or do I have to create a new Belle? I’m living the pregnancy from Groundhog Day, but I don’t know if I just pick up where I left off or I have to jump ahead five years.

I’ve always excelled with delayed gratification, y’all. It’s what got me through seven years of college… and not the fun kind. It’s how I lost 100 pounds in approximately 18 months in my early twenties. It got me through working two jobs with a master’s degree, desperately awaiting the chance to promote to full time. It saw me through my dating years and the nightmare year I worked as a library manager. My mastery of delayed gratification dragged me through two rounds of pandemic IVF and it’ll get me my Four. As happy as I am for to have this dream realized, though, for the last five years, I’ve only either been pregnant or post-partum. I have a baby or two and before my body can even heal, my emotions can regulate, or I can pull out my favorite pre-pregnancy clothing, I’m at an ultrasound for the next one.

I love being a mom. I don’t hate being pregnant. I still love Cheaper By the Dozen and Yours, Mine, and Ours. I always enjoyed those TLC shows and Instagram accounts following families with 10 plus children… but those women are absolutely bananas, because I’ve woken up pregnant, post-partum, or trying to conceive since July of 2020 and I am so ready for a new song.

A Lenten/New Year’s Renewal… With a Little More Room for Grace

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Nearly every New Year, since I started this blog in 2012, I’ve opened with a New Year’s post, because I love New Year’s!

I know, I know. No one loves New Year’s; New Year’s Eve, maybe, but New Year’s Day is, for most, the beginning of a lot of annoying gym, exercise equipment, and weight loss service ads. For me, however, this is a time of reflection and renewal. I get to look back on how my life changed in the previous year and look ahead with excitement and optimism about what’s to come. This year, however… well, reflection and goal setting have taken a backseat to creating another human and keeping the ones I’m already charged with alive and well.

I started with good intentions. I really did. My New Year’s resolutions were as follows:

  • Swear less
  • Control my emotions better
    • Eat healthy until this baby arrives and then starve myself until normal
    • Attend Mass regularly
    • Listen to Father Mike’s Bible in a Year and Catechism in a Year podcasts every day
    • Actively engage with my children more, instead of doing chores or running errands
    • Catch up on my family albums and have them printed
    • Catch up on my home video editing
    • Spend less time on my phone

I tried, y’all. I really did, but getting ready for this new baby, by making sure I do everything for him that I did for the others…. chasing my twin toddlers and their suddenly very mobile baby brother around the house… potty training, coping with family-wide RSV and Jake’s vasectomy recovery… and now transitioning from cribs to toddler beds… has meant that a good day is one where Mama isn’t crying. I’ll be honest. Those are pretty rare lately.

I don’t know what it is about this pregnancy, but it has been hands down the roughest of my three in the last four to five years. I’m sure my three under three are a contributing factor, but I’m also just so tired of being pregnant and scrambling to get ready for a new baby. About a year ago, I told Jake that I wanted to do an embryo transfer as soon as possible, before I changed my mind. I am nothing if not self aware. There is zero chance we’d be having this baby had we waited six more months… and I’m thrilled we’re so fortunate as to get our two girls and two boys. I’m just ready for this to be over, so I can move forward and feel like myself again. I want to stop crying and feeling like I can’t keep all the balls in the air. I want to get out of a chair on the first try. I want to look at myself in the mirror and like what I see.

Regardless of my current mental state, I firmly believe there’s always time for self-improvement. I tried for a Lenten reset, after I heard my Violet say “bag of dicks” from the backseat during a frustrating traffic moment and vowed to give up swearing entirely. I’m sure I failed by the end of the day. So, here I am, tomorrow being March 1st, pressing reset once again… with perhaps a little less ambition.

  • Don’t swear in front of the kids… even while driving
  • Eat healthy enough not to feel sick during this pregnancy and then starve myself until normal
  • Attend Mass when no one’s hurt/sick/just had an ugly-crying mental breakdown over the Christmas ornaments the girls strung all over their play yard
  • Control my emotions in front of the kids as much as possible and take comfort in the fact that they will not remember this
  • Spend more time with the kids, even if it’s just looking at and naming animals on Instagram, while snuggling in the recliner
  • Reallocate scrolling time to things I enjoy more, like working on family albums and videos and just listening to an audiobook
  • That’s it. Pregnant with my fourth, with three under three, is just not the time to clean up my language when the children are out of earshot. This is, apparently, my largest baby yet, so I’m going to eat what I want, within reason. If I just can’t make it to church, for mental or physical reasons, then I just can’t. Breakdowns are officially allowed. I’ll try my best to limit them to nap time. As much as the girls enjoy trips to the park and being chased around the yard, it’ll have to wait until Daddy can do it or Mama has recovered from her C-section. It is okay to count the low-key moments as quality time. If my mind is fried and scrolling is all I want to do, so be it. Cuz, that’s all I’ve got in me until 2025.

A $5,000 Christmas Stocking

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The year Jake and I got married, we spent approximately $400 on Christmas decorations. At 32, Jake had been a bachelor his entire adult life. His duplex barely had furniture, let alone holiday decor. I, however, made a deliberate effort to enjoy my single girl apartment to the fullest every year, by gleefully putting up the hot pink, six foot Christmas tree I got from Borders when they went out of business. When we married, Jake and I… compromised I suppose, though the process didn’t seem quite so simple at the time. Ultimately, I sold my glorious pink tree on Facebook Marketplace, Jake accepted an agreed upon amount of glitter, and we invested in classic decorations to be used year after year. I bought fabric, sewed a matching tree skirt and his/her stockings, had our names embroidered on the latter, and we celebrated our first Christmas as husband and wife.

The next Christmas was our first in our own home and the only thing we were missing was stocking holders, a purchase I approached with the same long-term intentions as the previous year’s decor. Though Jake would eventually realize my tendency to buy holiday items months in advance was not just out of excitement, but an understanding of availability, in 2018, we were not yet there. So it happened that, as late as December, I hadn’t bought stocking holders for our new mantle. Since Hobby Lobby stops receiving Christmas inventory in October, I couldn’t find a matching set there. Angry at Jake for making me wait so long, I dragged him from city to city, visiting Target after Target, to collect six identical holders. Surprisingly, he humored me, though he couldn’t understand why I needed so many. Though we’d previously talked about having three children, maybe four based on gender, I was holding out for the latter. I’d always wanted two boys and two girls. If I was fortunate enough to get my way, it seemed disproportionately important to me at the time, that we not have to repurchase our stocking holders. If I didn’t get four or we changed our minds, I figured we could always use the extras for the pets.

After two cycles of back-to-back pandemic IVF, Jake and I found out in 2020 that we were having twins. Our difficulty getting pregnant meant that these might be our only children, despite having frozen embryos. Still, when I bought the fabric for their stockings, realizing the dye lot was slightly off from ours, I not only purchased enough for four, but cut the patterns in advance. Just over a year later, I got the news that I’d need one more stocking, having naturally conceived our miracle baby. So it was, last Christmas, I saw five out of my six stocking holders filled above my fireplace. In both the world of infertility and the general public, I had the perfect family with my two girls and one boy… but I still had one more stocking holder.

I thought I’d change my mind, y’all. Everyone said I would. After one child, I’d only want two. After two, I’d be done. After three, I’d realize we were already outnumbered and couldn’t even fathom another. I waited for the feeling that four was an idealistic dream, that my family was indeed whole. It never came. In March, when my Thomas was barely four months old, I broached the topic with Jake, unsure how he felt about the issue. We’d already scheduled an embryo transfer the day I found out I was pregnant. That embryo was a child we had planned to have and raise. Under those circumstances, a fourth was unlikely, if only for financial reasons, but Thomas’s conception didn’t cost us a dime. If we’d once agreed to consider four solely based on gender, how could we give up an embryo that we’d originally planned to have as part of our family? I did try to avoid emotional blackmail while discussing the topic, but as I held my tiny son, I burst into tears at the thought of never meeting the child I might have held had things been different, at the thought of things having been different and not having my Thomas. After a month or so of consideration, Jake agreed. He wasn’t far from the age we’d agreed we’d no longer intentionally get pregnant, so it was now or never. We would proceed with a frozen embryo transfer, or FET, over the summer and find a way to pay for it later. I quietly told myself that if it failed, I would drain my retirement using my remaining embryos until I had my fourth; the max number of children we’d ever planned for or thought we could handle, two more than we were ever recommended to attempt after the complications during the birth of our girls. Only then would I donate my frozen embryos to another heartbroken, yet hopeful couple, who desperately wanted a family.

I shared pieces of my FET story as the process unfolded. It was far more difficult than I ever expected. In fact, had it indeed failed, I’m not so sure I could have gone through it all again. The birth control hormones alone had me completely off-kilter. The estrogen pills made me utterly insane… and possessed my little Scarlett with at least six demons the day she got ahold of one. Poison control assured us she would be fine as her head rotated 360 degrees. The progesterone shots weren’t only painful, but made me unbearably sick and caused nerve damage I still feel today. I went through it all, with three under three at home, who had no understanding of Mama’s sudden short temper or erratic tears. I gambled $5,000 on one modest income for a family of five… all for a 50/50 chance of success… and it worked.

Today, few can say that they got the family of their dreams, as they compromise for their partner, who wants fewer children… for their career, because childcare costs are too high… for a poor economy, because they fear they can’t afford it… and of course, due to infertility, because they’re lucky to have children at all. With that in mind, I am so truly fortunate to be able to say that, although we never tested our embryos and couldn’t have known gender, we’ll be getting the two girls and two boys of which I’ve always dreamt. In April, Violet and Scarlett will be thrilled to greet another baby brother, two months before they turn three. Thomas will have his buddy, his teammate, his partner in crime only 16 months his junior. I’ll have been pregnant every year since 2020 to have four under three for a total cost of $35,00 before labor and delivery fees. I already know it will all have been worth it, though, because I’ve already filled those stocking holders with my fourth and final Christmas stocking… which cost me just $5,000.

My Baby Boy is One

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On February 13, 2020, Jake came home from his consultation with a urologist with bad news. In the exact words of a medical doctor, when asked point blank if he could get me pregnant, my husband was told “Miracles happen.” Now, y’all, I might get most of my knowledge of MD’s from random episodes of House and Scrubs, but it’s my understanding that they don’t heavily advocate for miracles.

There was a lot of technical data and explanation involved, of course, but the condensed version was that Jake and I were unlikely to conceive naturally… ever. At 32 and 35, this meant IVF was our only option, unless we wanted to take on the gamble that is adoption in the U.S. We did not.

Exactly one year from that fateful day, after back-to-back rounds of pandemic IVF, Jake and I spent Valentine’s Day weekend iced in, painting one of our spare bedrooms pink. As far as we were concerned, that urologist was right. Miracles do happen. Through the work of God and science, we brought home twin baby girls in June of 2021. Though we’d planned for more children, medical complications suggested it would be unwise, so we spent the next several months trying to come to terms with the possibility that our family might already be whole. Comparatively, we were lucky. Healthy twins are the dream of couples suffering infertility. Still, we hoped for good news from the cardiologist as we tentatively planned to move forward with a frozen embryo transfer. Indeed, we got our “cautious green light”/”yellow light”… exactly four days after finding out that we were already pregnant.

It was on May 5th, 2022 that I begrudgingly took another pregnancy test during the girls’ naptime, knowing the fertility clinic would make me take one the next week regardless. I sat on the toilet lid, Googling uterine cancer and early menopause as possible explanations for a late period, only to glance at the $1 test before trashing it… and receive the news that an entirely unique miracle had happened. I’d spent over a year rolling my eyes at anecdotes about the daughter of a cousin’s neighbor who got pregnant naturally after years of infertility. Now I was that obnoxious anecdote. Two rounds of IVF, $30,000, and an extremely rare postnatal heart condition aside, I was pregnant… and despite all my stress and worry, it would all go smoothly.

After declaring the silver lining of infertility to be the ability to avoid holiday birthdays, December 6th, 2022 saw the scheduled birth of my utterly perfect Thomas. It was night and day compared to the horror that brought the girls into the world. Jake and I woke that morning, dropped the girls off with Gigi and Papa and checked into the hospital. Folks, a scheduled C-section gone right is like having a tooth pulled. I was ushered into a room, given prep instructions, and wheeled into an operating room. An epidural numbed me up and after some anxious moments, I heard the little cry that sounded exactly like the quacking of a duck. My son had arrived and I was not so near death as to barely notice. Jake was asked if he wanted to cut the cord, a privilege he did not have as his wife nearly bled out during the birth of his daughters.

Nurse: “Daddy, would you like to cut the cord?”
Jake: “What? No, that’s okay. You can do it.”
Me: “Yes! He wants to cut the cord. Just cut the damn cord, Jake.”

The nurses handed me my beautiful baby and I held him all the way back to the room, staring into his eyes the whole time. Funnily enough, I’d worried endlessly that I’d struggle to connect with a boy. I’d so desperately wanted a girl, that after a year and a half with two of them, I feared I wouldn’t really know what to do with their brother. I needn’t have even considered it. After years of scoffing at the entire concept of love at first sight, I’d finally discovered it in a 6lb 3oz baby boy.

Though the hospital stay certainly left something to be desired, we were sent home after only three days. The girls stayed with Gigi and Papa for another night, while we enjoyed our first and only night with just one baby. I’ll tell you, having one newborn feels like playing with a Tomagachi in comparison to twins. I got a good night’s sleep while Jake stayed up with Thomas. Then they both slept a good while during the day, while I snuggled my baby. Our girls came home the next evening and it was seemingly love at first sight for them, too, as they both immediately reached to grab their brother’s head. There was never any real jealousy, just adoration. They bring him toys to keep him entertained. They hug and shush him when he cries. Violet would give him every bottle if she could. Scarlett loves to make him belly laugh. They both strip and jump in whenever they realize it’s Bubby’s bath time. In our precious son, Jake has his future gaming, hunting, and fishing buddy. I have my mama’s boy, because despite “Dada” being easier to say, Thomas’s first and only word thus far has been “Mama.” He lights up whenever I enter a room and the feeling is mutual. He is cherished by all.

The first year with Thomas has been full of snuggles, giggles, and the most adorably ineffective tantrums, during which he looks like a cuter version of the Chucky doll. He is just like his dad, even keeled and easily amused. I won’t say Thomas has completed our family, but I will say he’s filled a hole I didn’t even realize had been forming from the day I learned I wouldn’t be able to have a child naturally. I can’t believe I’ve been so fortunate to have the elusive miracle baby after IVF. I wasn’t sure I’d ever have another child at all after the birth of my twins. Today, I have a virtual clone of Jake and it took no drugs, shots, or invasive procedures to bring him into the world. I was able to experience pregnancy and even childbirth, to some degree, just as they were meant. I have the son I could once only theoretically imagine wanting. After one year… even after one minute with him, I could not, nor do I want to, imagine life without my Thomas.

Modern Mom’s Most Thankful Mentions

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Our world today is full of so many stressors and complaints. While one might think a time of year when we emphasize good will and gratitude would dampen that effect, that’s not necessarily the case during the holidays… especially for moms. This is such a busy, expensive, exhausting few months, it’s easy to forget how good we have it. We take for granted so many luxuries for which our foremothers would have happily killed, from dishwashers to Roombas to Baby Brezzas. So, in honor of Thanksgiving, I give you my list of my most loved modern treasures.

Fast Dry Nail Polish
When Jake and I met, he used to comment that my nails were a different color every time he saw me. I’ve never paid for regular manicures, but even working two jobs at the time, I loved painting my nails when I could get a free hour or so. I felt so feminine and put together. After I had my girls, I actually did get my nails done a few times, but found the appointments just took too long and gave them up even before quitting my job would have necessitated it. Until recently, I’ve only managed such a privilege as an at-home manicure for special occasions, if that. I’ve really missed that little thing that was so very me, though. So this summer, I decided to give fast drying polish another go. Surely it had improved since the early 2000s, when it inevitably looked thin, matte, and tacky. Indeed it has, because today I can give myself a decent manicure for $5 a bottle in under five minutes during nap time. Not only that, I’ve already taught my two-year-old daughters this little bit of bougie self-indulgence. At the first sight of a bottle of nail polish, they hop right up onto their little picnic table and hold out their tiny feet, calling ordering me to “Paint!”

Online Shopping
Online shopping is my go-to when adults complain about how difficult life is, today. While we all have our trials, procuring everything from household necessities to custom birthday and Christmas gifts has never been easier in the history of time. I can choose stocking stuffers or restock toothpaste and toilet paper from the comfort of my sofa while Jake and I watch a sitcom after dinner. I can schedule regular deliveries of phthalate-free laundry detergent on Amazon so I never even have to order it myself. I can stock my grocery cart throughout the week and schedule to pick it up without even getting out of my car. No matter our other woes, Samantha Stephens would have given up her magic for the ability to shop online.

Industrial Carpet Cleaner
Long before I met jake, I dreamt of the day I would own a Bissell Green Machine, just like the ones I used to save up to rent at Lowe’s one or twice a year, when I lived in my apartment. Yes. That’s right. While all my twenty-something gal pals were gettin’ some strange, I was fantasizing about an industrial carpet cleaner… and in 2021, my dream came true. Jake’s brother gifted us a $200 eBay gift card he surely won at a rodeo to celebrate our twin girls. After some cajoling and providing a bit of proof that eBay doesn’t actually sell much baby equipment, Jake made me fall in love with him all over again. Folks, there is nothing more disgusting than children, no matter how adored. So this holiday season, as the weather keeps us inside and we host numerous gatherings in our home, I am so very thankful that, unlike my foremothers who scheduled professional carpet cleanings only when budget and time allowed, I can deep clean my rugs and sofa as often as my heart desires. That is, indeed, quite often.

Dungeons and Dragons
Hear me out… in early 2020, I wanted to start a DnD group at the library for my teens, but had no idea where to begin. I knew that my old friend Niki’s husband, Percy, was really into it and he agreed to serve as Dungeon Master. That was almost four years ago and our bi-weekly game night as grown into two separate campaigns led by Percy and Jake. It also now includes three former co-workers I’d never see otherwise. As a somewhat introverted stay-at-home mom, I don’t require a lot of socialization, but these games have been my lifeline to adult interaction that doesn’t center around my children. Every two weeks, I enjoy a weekend of junk food and gaming with friends, without all the hassle of scheduling a get-together, sending invites, collecting R.S.V.P.’s, and planning an engaging evening of fun. The date is set. The activity is set. I might be pretending to be a gorgeous elven sorcerer while doing it, but I get to bask in scheduled grownup time amidst a life of diapers, laundry, and tantrums.

Smartphones
As a millennial, I’ve had a smartphone for most of my adult life. While I’ll admit that they’re often misused and abused, a smartphone makes Mom Life so much easier. I can listen to music and audiobooks all day long. I easily keep up with local, national, and international news. I find recipes online and can reference them while cooking. I’m able to take amazing photos and videos I can post to my family-only Instagram so my Gramma feels like she’s a part of our every day life. I video call Jake at work to show him something cute (or horrible) the kids have done. I can even chat with the women in my romance Discord for some daily adult interaction. Yes, I do utilize blocking apps to keep myself from constantly reading about world events and stressing myself out, but in so many ways, my smartphone is the mother’s assistant previous generations desperately needed.

Photo Album Software
I feel like I have to make it clear here that I am not a paid blogger when I say I’ve been using Mixbook.com to create annual photo albums since 2010. All those pictures I take with my smartphone actually do end up in an album that I work on pretty much constantly throughout the year. I carefully choose my photos and upload them into my project, where I organize them and add captions. The result is a collection of fairly expensive (but totally worth it) photo journals to remember my life… as a single college student, a Girl Boss, a newlywed, and now a wife and mother. Earlier this year, I finally gained possession of my mother’s old boxes of photos. As I’ve been going through them, scanning the pictures to make Mixbooks of them, I’ve struggled to sort the years from the mismatched stacks and albums into any chronological order that makes sense. Though I’m not sure she’d have ever been organized enough to use it, I’m certain my mother would have adored the option to preserve her memories so easily. I can even compile my short phone videos into a longer, more watchable, home movie… when I get the time.

Good Earbuds
Again, not a paid blogger, but earlier this year I searched desperately for good earbuds, comparable to my beloved (but discontinued) Samsung Galaxy Buds +. After trying and returning what had to be half the different options in existence, I found a pretty great alternative (Soundcore Space a40s, if you’re curious). Y’all, if my parents had had the option to turn on “noise cancellation” when I was a kid, I’d probably remember them as being much more tolerant and patient. While this technology only goes so far, it does dampen the sound of non-urgent background whining and fits to a level that makes them far more tolerable. While I’m always aware enough to notice a real emergency, listening to trashy romance novels over the sound of my girls fighting over which identical pink chair they want makes me a kinder, gentler Mama. I’m certain we’d all be much more compassionate toward our boomer parents if we knew what life was like, exclusively at full volume.

Assisted Reproductive Technology
It must be said, as miserable as our infertility journey has been, were it not for science, Jake and I wouldn’t have our family. The stress, tears, debt, awkward appointments, injections, pills, and invasive procedures have all led me here. IVF was always a fear of mine and I’d never wish it on anyone, but my mother having been adopted in 1960 when my grandmother couldn’t conceive, I am so very grateful to have had the options we have today. I’m also thankful for the innovative (though admittedly quite pricey) medical technology living in the U.S. affords us. God, love, and science were in the creation of my precious children, wheras 50 years ago, I’d have had to accept a life without them. I will never forget that.

An Amazing Husband
I will never claim to have the perfect marriage, but I do have a pretty terrific husband. Not only has Jake given me literally everything I’ve ever wanted, he’s done so with little to no complaint. When we got married, he was making $11 an hour, while I made more than half that, because I asked him to leave the oilfield. I’d grown up with a blue collar dad who worked non-stop and simply did not want to be an oil wife. I wanted a family and for my husband to be there to help raise them. I didn’t need luxury clothes or designer purses. I needed Jake and he obliged. He also obliged when it was time to buy a house, pay off my student loans, spend $35,000 to have children, and become the sole bread-winner when I just could not handle being away from my babies. He’s found a way to get us a gently used minivan, decorate cute and comfortable bedrooms for our children, and keep us all clothed, fed, and entertained. He comes home during every lunch break and every night. He’s never, ever, been one to leave everything to me, just because I stay home. He changes diapers, bathes babies, cooks, cleans, and gives me breaks when I need them. He even took on the brunt of twin potty training when it began to overwhelm me. That’s more than any of the women who came before me can say… in fact, it’s more than many of the women in 2023 can say. He’s pushy and overly opinionated and kind of a terrible listener, but Jake is an amazing husband and father. Without him, none of the above would matter, because I wouldn’t be a mom. Those perfect little people wouldn’t exist. This Thanksgiving, I am most thankful for him and the family he’s helped give us.