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The last few days have not been fun. I’m not saying there haven’t been fun moments, but the last few days have left me feeling as if I had no room to breathe. Full of anxiety. Closing on a home. Trying to manage life. And in the midst of all of that, one of my babies getting injured. (They are fine, now.)

We are buying a home in a few days. We chose this house after a lot of prayer. We want it to…

Have you ever met someone and almost immediately you find yourself thinking, “please be my friend, please be my friend.”

That is how I feel about my daughter.

As a parent you kind of feel like you have to protect your kids from things. Things like being made fun of or embarrassing themselves.

I feel those things too, for sure.

But more often than not I find myself feeling so proud of her for…

An Update: The Monks in 2019

This last year has been difficult.

That is an understatement.

I think what has made this last year so much more difficult is, a lot of what has happened made me realize, being transparent and vulnerable about what is going on in your life, isn’t always a choice you get to make.

When we originally moved to Luling in 2015, we were certain it was long term. The main reason we moved there was that…

The Monks of 2019: An Update

This last year has been difficult.

That is an understatement.

I think what has made this last year so much more difficult is, a lot of what has happened made me realize, being transparent and vulnerable about what is going on in your life, isn’t always a choice you get to make.

When we originally moved to Luling in 2015, we were certain it was long term. The main reason we moved there was that…

The Monks of 2019: An Update

This last year has been difficult.

That is an understatement.

I think what has made this last year so much more difficult is, a lot of what has happened made me realize, being transparent and vulnerable about what is going on in your life, isn’t always a choice you get to make.

When we originally moved to Luling in 2015, we were certain it was long term. The main reason we moved there was that…

The Monks of 2019: An Update

This last year has been difficult.

That is an understatement.

I think what has made this last year so much more difficult is, a lot of what has happened made me realize, being transparent and vulnerable about what is going on in your life, isn’t always a choice you get to make.

When we originally moved to Luling in 2015, we were certain it was long term. The main reason we moved there was that…

The Monks of 2019: An Update

This last year has been difficult.

That is an understatement.

I think what has made this last year so much more difficult is, a lot of what has happened made me realize, being transparent and vulnerable about what is going on in your life, isn’t always a choice you get to make.

When we originally moved to Luling in 2015, we were certain it was long term. The main reason we moved there was that…

I sat down to write this after laying my babies down together for nap. Before getting even opening up a new page, I was separating them because 4 year olds and one year olds are full of mischief. This, is a truth.

Once I realized that this as well as many other things about parenting, are truths, I was able to let some stuff go, and keep my sanity.

My kids will mess up the house. Truth.

My kids…

But I really don’t think O needed that lesson. She loves so purely, it makes me want to do better.

She has a little friend who won’t be able to do all of the things she can. She won’t be able to walk or talk. But all O sees is that they are the same. Or as she says, “we match the same!” To her, they both are girls with feeding tubes.

I have always known her being a “miracle baby” could turn into a burden she carried if we weren’t thoughtful in how we talked to her about it. 

But being a carrier of miracles is easy for her. We do not need to do anything to help her understand this. It is who she is.

Recently, we were waiting for her therapy appointment. A little boy the same age as her brother sat on his older sister’s lap. On this particular day, Mateo wasn’t with us. But Olive still ran up to see the little boy. He wore leg and arm braces and had thick glasses. Olive ran up to him and said, very excitedly, “do you want to come play?!” I started to tell her that he probably couldn’t go play without his mommy, but something happened. The little boy looked her right in the eyes and tried to stand up. The sister held him as he tried to walk to O. I started to tell her again he may be too small to play, and the mother immediately said, “NO NO! Let her play with him!”

I looked up at her and she had tears in her eyes.

She began to tell me how he had never tried to walk. They assumed it was because it was too difficult. He was not strong enough. And this was the first time he had ever tried.

Olive’s speech therapist came to get her, and the mother said, “he tried to walk!” Everyone  in the waiting room became very excited. They asked Olive if she could ask him to walk to her. It was a very joyful moment for everyone. But when It was over, Olive looked up at her therapist and began making requests for the games she wanted to play.

There are days she drives me crazy. She is a pretty typical 4 year old at times.

But I couldn’t be more proud of her. I see how beautiful her little spirit is. And I don’t feel like it’s anything we have done. I think it’s just who she’s made to be.

This year, we planned to visit some family during summer vacation. In addition to that, I have been dreaming of ways to get O to Disney. She is at that point in life when I know it would be the most magical experience. 💖

We have some friends who live near Disney, and last November they invited us to come stay with them so we can take her. So we have been saving for months planning this trip.

To…

And Then There Was FPIES: Mateo Update

I haven’t said much about it, but January was probably one of the most difficult months. Not only did we get a diagnosis for O that finally made sense, but we also received a not-so-fun diagnosis for Mateo. When he was about 7 months old, he had a vomiting episode that scared me to the point of preparing to head to the hospital.

After he seemed fine all day, he began vomiting, and didn’t stop…

Y’all, I can’t believe that 4 years ago I was on what would be my last night of bed rest. One thing i really remember is the night I was admitted, the doctor on call was this frat boy looking guy wearing a hoodie. Yes, you read that correctly. He had just come up because he has to admit me in, and it was pretty late. In the 2 weeks I was there, I actually never saw him again. At almost this exact…

Photography: Piano and Focus

O has been spending a lot of time sitting at her piano lately, and it is absolutely brilliant. She flips through the book as if she can read the music, and has memorized the names of the songs by the corresponding photos. I finally was able to get some photos with my camera few days ago. Something that actually has been a huge challenge for me, as a photographer, is my vision. I have…

In an effort to show once per week, here are some of my favorites this week. While I am ready to branch out some, I am thoroughly enjoying documenting my babies. As always, I appreciate any feedback.