“Poor Santa was so nervous he was shaking. I was crying seeing how happy Austin was, feeling included sharing cookies with Santa!”
‘When Santa was pouring milk into my son’s tube, he beamed with pride. ‘You see him give me my milkies mommy?!’
‘We finally got the call. This baby was due in 2 months, and she had a heart defect that would require open-heart surgery. The second I saw her little face, I fell to the ground.’
“I was nervous. I didn’t know if she would understand the baby I was holding is her sister. But when she came to the hospital, she pointed to my belly and said ‘no.’ Then she pointed to Josie and said ‘yes.’ So powerful.”
‘I heard 3 things when he was finally out: ‘He’s here, he’s breathing, and he has a TON of hair!’ What a joyful moment. I say moment – because the joy only lasted that long.’
“My anxiety was high the morning of our 30-week scan, the morning our world was turned upside down. There was a lot of small talk, and then there was silence. I looked at my fiancé with tears in my eyes. ‘I knew it.’”
‘You don’t need to do it all this holiday season. We would try to squeeze it in, feeling rushed. But we weren’t enjoying it. It didn’t make me merry. I wasn’t feeling festive, I was frazzled.’
“We have never gone to take pictures with Santa. Indeed, we never made a big deal about Santa, at all. He only ever brought our kids one gift and filled their stockings.”
‘We had been waiting a long time for this moment. Our doctor shared big news: ‘Congratulations, I see 2 heartbeats!’ She continued the ultrasound. Suddenly, the demeanor in her face changed.’
“The palms of my hands were sweaty as I interlaced my fingers with Ryan’s. It felt like it was taking forever for her to share with us what she was seeing in my womb.”
‘My father was murdered. When Sawyer was 7 months old, I had a dream. He told me he was proud of me. I decided my dad was telling me I needed to do something that made me happy.’
“When people find out, the first thing out of their mouths is ‘why?’ I typically give a throw-away answer like ‘because I’m crazy,’ but that’s not the full truth.”
‘Dear white moms, what I need you to know…’
“You are my friends. You are my sisters. We are the same in more ways than we are different, but there are a few things I need you to know.”
An open letter to anyone who has ever said, ‘Stop taking pictures of your kids and enjoy them.’
“I’m pretty sure if I didn’t use up all 47 seconds of my childrens’ attention spans for photos, I would rest my head on whatever pillows they didn’t steal from my bed each night wondering if I’m doing anything right. But instead, I lay down and open up a camera reel that reminds me that today, there were smiles.”
‘Right after my grandmother died, I found my mom in her bedroom writing down her thoughts. Through her tears she said: ‘You can read this when I’m done.’’
“I remember all the times I left my home on May Avenue, watching momma wave to me as I pulled away. I know how important that last wave is.”
‘Look, I have this REALLY dumb idea’ Wife plans EPIC dinosaur announcement after miscarriage, announces 5th child
“I suffered a total miscarriage at home and we lost the baby. We were heartbroken…. and it took us some time to get past the loss of our baby, but we knew if it were meant to be, we would have another.”
