•4 min read
Preparations for the new baby
As I type this, I am 38 weeks pregnant. We are definitely in the "waiting for baby's arrival" mood around here. Although I had Finn at just under 38 weeks, that's evidently not the trend for this pregnancy, which is okay by me. (I'm happy to bypass...
Read more•6 min read
Life lately & the advent season
I have a post mostly typed up about all our preparations for the new baby's arrival, and I should publish that soon. But apart from specific labor- and birth- preparations, life has been rather full lately! Here are some things we've been up to...
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Scenes from October 2024
Another month gone by! This time of year always feels very fleeting to me, which in turn, enhances the preciousness of fall, I think. The changing leaves are so beautiful to me, in part because I know it is only a few weeks of vibrant color before...
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Our family is growing again!
It feels like the right time to share some big news for our family: we are expecting another baby this winter! After a history of multiple losses and long, difficult seasons of waiting, I will admit that this news does sometimes feel bittersweet to...
Read more•12 min read
2022: A year in review
Welcome to my annual post of our life in the last year – a review of all the big and little events, travels, habits, heartbreaks, and joys. These posts require a lot of time and energy, in part due to sifting through all the posts I wrote in the...
Read more•9 min read
Finn's birth story
I've been adding bits and pieces to this post for the last several weeks. Birth, and the arrival of a beautiful baby feel so sacred and I want to do it justice with my words. I shared Cooper's birth story back in 2019, and Finn's birth story feels...
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Labor and home birth preparation
I'm 36 weeks into this pregnancy, which is hard for me to believe. The second half of this pregnancy has flown by, and we are fully in the throes of preparing for the arrival of this little boy. I was texting my SIL the other day, telling her about...
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A heart awake to praise
It's a bit difficult for me to articulate, but over the past few years, I've noticed a habitual, or cyclical hardening of my heart. We've experienced loss and grief in ways that were unexpected and deep. Life as mama to a baby and now a toddler is...
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Winter sweetness
It's been a little while since I've done a post about life lately, so I figured I would share some sweetness from life over the last few months.
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Thanksgiving weekend and early December 2021
Per usual, this time of year flies. I've had much of this post saved in a draft for what felt like only a few days, but has in fact, been weeks. Time to catch-up a little on life these last few weeks!
Read more•8 min read
Mourning, moving, turning 30
I want to write about true things. About real things. And in this season, a real thing for me and Nicholas is mourning.
Read more•15 min read
2019: A year in review
Every year, I find it a bit therapeutic to look back on the last year. I know my heart is bent toward nostalgia, and at times, I wonder if that is one of the reasons I find looking back easier than looking forward. That's something for me to mull...
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Cooper's birth story
I wanted to write out the specifics of a very special day, the day we met our little boy, before the details became fuzzy. Labor and delivery are truly incredible things; the way God designed our bodies to go through such an intense and wonderful...
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The sweetness of now
I get a lot of questions about baby boy's arrival. The basics, of course, like when, followed up by comments along the lines of You're so close! And usually there are comments about Aren't you just ready to be done being pregnant by now?
Read more•6 min read
Memorial day & life lately
This past weekend, my parents and brother came to visit for Memorial Day. Before they left, it was a little surreal to say, "Next time I see you, I won't be pregnant!" The reality that we're (at the most) a month(ish) away from meeting Baby DeVries...
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Preparations for Baby DeVries
I was just thinking the other day that I haven't shared all that much about what we're doing to prepare for June (our "due month" as one of the midwives I see referred to it as). Apart from preparing for the reality of being a family of three(!)...
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Abundance
I frequently have nightmares (I always have) and usually, they set a tone for the morning, leaving me feeling unsettled. But today, even after a nightmare, I woke up to baby boy kicking like crazy, and thankfulness in my heart. We're still...
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Moving into a new home
Well, hello!
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Celebrating baby DeVries in Minnesota
This past weekend, Nicholas and I took a whirlwind trip to my hometown in Minnesota to see family and have my third and final baby shower. Friday, I drove to pick up Nicholas from his workplace downtown Chicago, and then we hopped on the road...
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Life lately, late April 2019
It feels like spring in our new home in Northwest Indiana. It is the beginning of a lot of things for us.
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A trip to the mountains
On Friday, we got home (to our new home) from a trip to the Asheville area of North Carolina. We planned this trip back in January or February, before we had even a thought of a new job for Nicholas, and a cross-country move, and other big life...
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We're moving! And life at 26 weeks
The last few weeks have felt like a flurry of activity, in actuality with my calendar, but also mentally and emotionally. I think it's normal to feel that way in the midst of big life changes, right? As of today, it's 93 days until my due date,...
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February self-care
It's that time of the year when typically, as a born-and-raised Northerner, I'd be yearning for spring. That yearning isn't quite so pronounced here in Austin, but nonetheless, February is a month of almosts. Winter is almost over, spring is almost...
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After the waiting, & thoughts at nearly 22 weeks
Last week, we had our anatomy scan for the baby and found out that baby DeVries is a healthy baby boy! Nicholas is an older brother and I have an older brother, so it seems fitting that we would have a little boy as our first. My mom texted me and...
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January sweetness
Life isn't incredibly eventful these last few weeks, but at the same time, uneventful, doesn't mean it hasn't been sweet. We're going about the daily business of living life, with little fun things sprinkled in, lots of sleeping, work days, coffee...
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