Mother's Day 2.0

This is random...but I think we are each burdened for different causes or things, perhaps based on our own life experiences. One thing that my heart particularly aches for is women who either can't get pregnant or who have problems in their pregnancies. This has not been my particular experience, but I thought a lot about it before I ever got pregnant, probably because I wanted children so badly. And now, hearing of such a thing, especially if I know the woman, is very emotional for me. Four months after Micah was born, a relative of a friend had a stillbirth, and I was in a funk for weeks over that (today, they are the proud parents of a healthy baby yay!). But anyway, I have a friend now who is going through some uncertainty in her pregnancy, and I know she would appreciate your prayers.

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Jamie scores a race each Mother's Day weekend in Burlington, and for the past three years, we have continued on afterward to Charlotte. We always go to Concord Mills and Ikea, and two of the past three years, we have purchased our nursery furniture on this trip. I hope this doesn't become a habit lol. My mom kept Micah this year, and although we missed him, we really enjoyed 1. eating dinner without food flying in all directions and 2. shopping without feeling like a (crying) bomb might go off at any minute. We were so happy to see him on Sunday, though, even though he would have preferred to stay with Mimi and Granddaddy.

We had a great time this year, but I couldn't help but remember the fun we did not have on this trip last year. We took Micah, and he got his first fever and went on an eating strike. He was 8 months old at the time, and we were constantly worried about his weight, which at the time was creating some serious conflict between us and some members of my family. I cried a lot that weekend. It was my first Mother's Day, but I felt like I was failing at parenthood.

So this year was much better, thankfully! I've decided that I don't, in fact, suck at parenting. Tonight, for example, Micah was throwing a fit and so I grabbed an oven mitt, waved it in his face and growled like a bear. He thought it was the funniest thing ever. These are the types of things I do throughout the day, every day to make my child smile.

Book Winner!

Last week I advertised a drawing for a free copy of the book I am reading right now, The Hole In Our Gospel. Well, today is the day! I wrote down everyone's name who entered (there were 9) on a separate sheet of paper. Then I folded each sheet and put all the sheets in one of Jamie's hats. Then I let him blindly reach in and pull out a name. And the winner is...

SHANNON COX

Congrats! I was Shannon's RA in college. Today she is married and has two adorable little boys who are about the same difference in age as my two will be. Shannon, I will get in touch with you asap about getting the book. If you didn't win, I hope you'll still consider purchasing a copy. You won't regret it!