Friday, November 8, 2013

We're home, thank you, and other updates #7QT




To all the people who have been praying for us, who have written words of comfort, or shared with me your own painful stories, thank you so, so very much.  Your kindness has meant so much to me.  The first three weeks were very up and down for me emotionally, but after spending three days in a row last week bawling my eyes out practically all day, I woke up the next day feeling so much better.  I know that there will always be a little empty spot in my heart and in our family, and I will continue to have some rough days (not really looking forward to the month of May) and triggers (it wasn't fun to go to the birth center for my follow up appointment and be surrounded by pregnant women and new babies), but I do feel like the cloud I was living in has lifted.  Physically, I'm feeling completely "back to normal" and have been for quite some time.


Lucia and I just got home from visiting family for 2.5 weeks.  It was a long trip and we missed David very much.  We came home to a clean house, a stocked fridge, an empty hamper, and a lonely husband/daddy.  Oh, and roses and balloons!  It was nice to see family, especially my newborn niece, and the trip reminded me just how much we are missing out on by living so far away, but it's good to be home.  The things I missed most while gone (other than David, of course): cloth diapers, access to internet (most of the time we were staying with my grandparents who are terrified by technology), and humidity.  My hands and lips were so, so chapped after only a few days away!

Oh, and in case you're wondering, the plane rides alone with my toddler were atrocious.  I will NOT be doing it alone ever again (at least not until I forget just how terrifying it was).


Can I share a few pictures of our Halloween? 



 
Trying out the "man eating plant" face. It was even scarier in person.

 We took her to a trick or treat activity put on by the city the weekend before Halloween.  She got the knocking on the little doors and holding out her bag thing down super quick, but refused to say "trick or treat". My parents were in heaven taking her.


If you want to write a facebook post that gets over 10x more views than the average post, include a link to an article about American GirlsThere are apparently many women out there that once loved American Girls and lament with me that American Girls have become less about historical heroine and more about spa days.  I had (well, my mom still has) a Samantha doll - she looked nothing like me, but I loved the Victorian era.  I'm so sad that Kirsten is not longer around, or at least that sweet Santa Lucia costume for my little Lucia.

Did you love American girl dolls?  Did you have any?  Just read the books?  What drew you to them?  Which was your favorite?  Josephina came out when I was a little too old, but she is my absolute favorite.  (I will try not to project my love of Josephina on Lucia and make her get that one if she gets a doll someday.)


I could totally write a whole post on American Girl dolls and their current decline and my own history with them, yadda, yadda, yadda.  But for an undetermined amount of time, I'm going to be taking a step back from blogging.  I'll still post semi-regularly (maybe one a week or so) and I have a few upcoming giveaways, but I'm not going to focus on it.  When the posts come, they come, you know?  The holidays are coming and I just want to focus on my family.  (I would be happy to post any guest posts, so if you have an idea, email me!)


Do you have a charity or small/family business? Advertise for free!  I'm not taking any new paid sponsors for the time being, but I will help promote your business for the months of November and December because I just love supporting small business.  Ad space is limited, so get your ad space up now.  Oh, and if you are looking for Christmas gifts, please check out my sidebar for some small business ideas!


23 months going on 23 years:   




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9 comments:

  1. Mandi, so great to hear from you! My sister just lost her baby late in her pregnancy (33 weeks) and I have thought of you often and your sharing what not to say and how I could try to help her with her grief. Thank you for sharing your feelings in your blog--and thank you for the update. Your daughter is so beautiful! She looks like such fun. (And I would never fly with toddlers again if I could avoid it too.)

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    1. I'm sure I will fly again with toddlers, but not by myself - must have David!

      I'm so sorry to hear about your sister's loss (and I'm sure you feel it as well). Is she Catholic? If so, perhaps you could send her After Miscarriage by Karen Edmisten. I am hoping to write some blog posts in the future about what not to say/what TO say, things you can DO to help, what it feels like (for me, it's different for everyone), etc. I feel like there is some information out there, but not a ton of it, so if I can get more out there, it can only help.

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    2. Yes, Mandy, she is Catholic. Thank you for the recommendation. I am on my way to take a look at that book. Thank you! I wrote about her loss--and ours as a family--here, but it may be too soon for you to read it yourself. (http://catholicreview.org/blogs/open-window/2013/11/07/missing-baby-georgie) You and your family are in my prayers.

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  2. Didn't have an American Girl doll but now, I don't want one.

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  3. I had Samantha and my sister had Kirsten and Addie. Soooo right now we have one for each of the girls when they get older, and they'll just get certain dolls assigned to them I guess! It just really bothers me how hey, Kirsten was an immigrant and Addie fought slavery and Samantha fought child labor and Saige... Wants veggie burgers in the cafeteria?

    Also that man-eating plant face? Hilarious! Love it :)

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  4. I'm so happy to hear that the prayers for peace and healing have been working on your heart!

    I'll bet you could find the Lucia costume on eBay...(actually, I just checked because I was curious myself. Some of them are ridiculously expensive, but there are some replicas that seem fairly reasonable..oh! and a handmade one currently for $6.99!) And I'm sure you could get a hold of the books somewhere, too, and maintain the historical perspective. Although, I do agree that it's such a shame that they've switched their focus.

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    1. I checked the American Girl website and it looks like all the books from all the historical dolls, even the retired ones, are still available!

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  5. This makes me really sad about Kirsten as I had her and LOVED her story. I don't even know why I liked her over the other dolls..sadly it might have been b/c she had braids and I was obsessed with braids as kid.

    But I also remember reading her books right around when I was learning about immigrants in school and Kirsten and her family were immigrants so it was cool to see the correlation from school to fiction.

    And I totally agree about the "spa days" some of the stuff they sell is just ridiculous..I had some of the "today" outfits but I liked the historical stuff better.

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  6. Hi Mandi, I had trouble commenting on FL&P today, so I've been browsing your blog. . . . I'm so disappointed about American Girls, too! My two sisters and I each had one. Molly and her outfits and accessories are in a box under my bed, waiting for my daughters to be old enough to play with her. One of my daughters has the same name as one of the now-cancelled AG dolls, and I was so looking forward to getting it for her. :-(

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