when was the last time you bathed in pond water...

in your own bathroom?
boston's main water line busted,
affecting 30 communities and
leaving 2 million people without water.
clean water, that is.
you see, they are pumping water in from reservoirs.
pond water.
coming through our taps.
we have to boil everything.
i can't even bathe my baby unless i boil the water.
never mind that i already fed him 2 bottles made with that water
before i even knew we were supposed to boil it.
{now i'm supposed to watch out for vomiting and diarrhea. fabulous}
all the grocery stores are cleaned out.
you can't get water anywhere.
{we have 4 gallons of water we've been storing under our bed for 2 years. wahoo!}
and don't even think about buying plastic utensils
because those are gone too.
i just attempted to do the dishes,
but got a little overwhelmed by boiling the wash water,
and then boiling the rinse water.
{that's a lot of water}
and i gave up.

we are eating out for the next week.

photo via boston.com

motherhood #2

by Laura:

The Dr. confirmed my fears. I can’t remember a word of what was said, other than Down syndrome. That’s all I heard. There were several other terms used along with statistics and suggestions. One of the suggestions being “not to worry”, this test produced so many false positives, I shouldn’t be too concerned. They would do a big fancy ultra sound and be able see more then.

My husband drove me to the hospital a couple days later for the big ultra sound. After an extensive search on the monitor, they told us things looked normal as far as they could see. They sent us in to speak with the genetic counselor to discuss our options. OPTIONS?!?  I remember sitting in her office as she asked us question after question. She wanted our family history and then some.
It was when she suggested an amnio test and then “we could decide what to do from there” that I knew our discussion was over.

I was a mother expecting a baby. This wasn’t a batch of dough that I could just throw out because it wasn’t rising properly. In sickness and in health, I had signed up for motherhood. 

A few short months later, I delivered a very healthy 8.5 lb baby boy. My heart expanded and magically I had all the love in the world for another little guy.

This one experience taught me so much about being a Mother.

NO MATTER WHAT THE TEST RESULTS SAY, OUR KIDS WILL EXPERIENCE CHALLENGES.

There will be ER visits -hurt feelings -our favorite dishes will shatter on the floor because of slippery little hands -calls from the Principal –frustration - moments of humiliation as your little one makes an OUT LOUD observation in public.
We’ll yell and pinch and occasionally bite each other.
We will learn together, grow together, fail cry and laugh together.

And then bed time comes, I see them sound a sleep and wonder how on earth you can love someone so unconditionally. A love so strong it almost hurts.

And then if you’re like me, your thoughts will turn to your own mother…
and you’ll want to call her and thank her. For everything.
Because you finally get it!
You finally understand that there is nothing quite like the love of a MOTHER! 

motherhood #1

by Whitney:

I've written in a journal for Owen every single day for the last 8 months. Someday I want him to look back and hopefully have some sort of idea of how much I love him. Here's a recent entry I made for him:

'You are my sunshine. My love bug. My boo boo, sweat pea, best friend. I will never ever be able to describe how much I love you. When I wake up, my first thought is "Owen. Are you okay? I already miss you. Oh how I love that little boy." All day while I'm at work I'm in physical pain because I want to be home with you so bad. Driving home I wonder if you had a good day and I can't wait to see that sweet smile that you always give me the second I walk through that door. At night, I lay awake hoping you're safe and wanting to just cuddle with you. I love you more than anything and would do anything for you. I love you handsome! Love, Mom.'
 

I never imagined that motherhood would be this fantastic. I am so grateful every day for this perfect little boy that I was blessed with. Being a mommy is the best job in the world.

may day!

um, its not an emergency...
its just may.
so i felt like saying, "may day!"
also, my friend, laura, had this cute idea to post about motherhood during the month of may.
it is the month for mother's day!
and i think motherhood is a beautiful thing.
and i heard once that all women are mothers,
because it's just in our nature.
and whether or not we actually have children of our own,
we still take care of each other and love each other and serve each other.
and isn't that what motherhood is all about anyway?

i've asked some friends (some mothers, some not) to guest post on my blog during this month about their experience as a mother, their desire to be a mother, their mothers. so be looking for those! and check out laura's blog too, because she will be doing the same, beautiful thing.  do you feel all warm and fuzzy inside? i do. :) and i'm so excited.

{also, if you would like to share anything and be a guest poster on my blog, shoot me an email at kaliandwade@gmail.com.  i would love to hear your thoughts.}

rockport, ma

we went on a sunday drive last week and discovered the cute little town of rockport.
we loved it! it was super windy and kind of chilly, so we decided we would go back when we could spend more time walking around and exploring. little miles absolutely loves to stare at the water though! we can't wait to take him to the beach this summer!

flowers

when i got back to boston after being in utah for almost a month, my wonderful friends and relief society brought and sent flowers...3 times! just to tell me they loved me and missed me.
i'm so grateful for thoughtful people who are helping to heal my heart.
{tulips and cala lilies...my favorites!}

is this not the coolest arrangement you've ever seen?
i neeeeeed to learn floral design. i love it.

blob

i had to ask my grandma a question.
a question about asparagus {but that is irrelevant to the story}.
i called up her house.
my grandpa answered.
the conversation went as followed:

me: hi grandpa! is grandma there?
grandpa: no. she's over at your mom's house.
              reading your blob.
me: my blob?
grandpa: yeah. your blob. or your glob.
              whatever you call it.


i'm not sure, but i think he meant blog.
i sure love my grandpa.