That phrase gets overused a lot, but it really applies right now. This is such a strange time. Some of us are facing terrible difficulties, others are sad about relatively minor inconveniences and none of us are wrong. It's okay to be upset that you had to cancel your birthday celebration, just as it's okay... Continue Reading →
An open letter to the best girl
Dear Sophie, You can't hear me when I tell you I love you anymore, so I try to show you in as many other ways as I can -- by carrying you from room to room, because your legs don't work well anymore and standing outside while you roam around the backyard in the dark,... Continue Reading →
24 weeks + 5 days
We're almost 25 weeks into this pregnancy and I'm feeling incredibly lucky and grateful. I went to the doctor this morning -- the very first appointment I've gone to alone. If that sounds crazy, just know that Russ has tagged along at every appointment because a) he wants to see and hear that she's growing... Continue Reading →
It’s a…
I've never loved a rib cage before, but dammit, I saw the cutest rib cage on an ultrasound today and it belongs to our baby. I cry easily. I cry when I'm sad, of course, but I also cry when I'm angry or when Publix makes a particularly poignant Christmas commercial. It's sort of my... Continue Reading →
Garden update
It's been a strange garden year. Like a lot of you, we had a heat wave in late May that blasted the plants and slowed some growth. Struggles The tomatoes took the hardest hit. They're still growing, but I've yet to have one get red on the vine. They were growing to full size and... Continue Reading →
Book club!
This isn't really a book club, but I thought I'd share a few things I've enjoyed reading lately and what I'm currently reading. Are you reading anything good? Let me know in the comments – or in person next time I see you! Recent reads: Set not too far from here – near Cashiers, NC,... Continue Reading →
I keep trying to sit down to write an update on this experience, but it's hard to know how to write about it without sounding terribly sad. That's been my excuse for not writing, but not writing isn't helping me to feel any better and even if no one on earth sees this but me,... Continue Reading →
April 11
April 11. Four years ago today, Russ tied a dozen or so notes we'd written each other and strings of lights to the trees by the creek at my mom and dad's farm and got down on one knee and asked me, in the sweetest way, to marry him. As obnoxious as it sounds, I'd... Continue Reading →
garden 2019
I have trouble nailing down my true earliest memory. I know there are people who can easily recite them, but I’m not sure I know exactly which memories came first. I remember standing on my tip toes next to a table that was moved out onto Mamaw and Papaw’s driveway with my mouth open wide... Continue Reading →
To you
This one is to you – you who sent us flowers and gifts right after our procedures last summer you who've made us warm meals on down days you who brought over pizza and beer when we just needed time with friends you who mailed us books about coping after miscarriage you who didn't ask... Continue Reading →
To 2019
I don't have much positive to say about 2018, but my hope is that in the years ahead, we'll look back and see the lessons we learned and they'll be valuable. One lesson I'm already learning is how important it is to take care of yourself. I'm not sure I fully understood self-care as a... Continue Reading →
We tried again and it didn’t work
When we bought our house, it came with a swing set. We didn't expect the previous owners to leave it, but I found it kind of charming when I got to the house on closing day. We were, after all, already trying to start a family. I could picture our kids swinging and sliding a... Continue Reading →
Next steps
When we decided to be open about our fertility issues and share our story publicly, we did it for several reasons and we gave it a lot of consideration before pulling the trigger on that first post. I am incredibly glad we did decide to share, for a number of reasons, but mostly because we... Continue Reading →
What’s next?
I've had a lot of people checking in and asking what's next in this whole trying to have a baby process. Thank you, by the way, to everyone who's sent messages, mail, cards, care packages, texts, phone calls -- we truly feel so loved and supported. So here's what's up. Fertility doctors don't like to... Continue Reading →
A week later
Last week when I said I was in the depths of darkness, I wasn’t being dramatic. I didn’t see a way out of what I was feeling. I wanted to burn my life to the ground and disappear. One of the things that scared me the most over the past several weeks was my mental... Continue Reading →
