Denim Daisies

Hello, This week has been very healing and calm for us as a family and I’m so grateful for my beautiful boys, my amazing spouse, and my clingy fur babies. 🥰 Thank you to Andrea from  Momfessionals  and Erika from  A Little Bit of Everything  for hosting this sweet link party every Friday! 💛 This has really helped me on my gratitude goal and also on taking pictures of all these wonderful things to remember and love! #1. Spoonful of Comfort My Aunt and Uncle sent us a “Spoonful of Comfort” box with chicken noodle soup, rolls, and cookie dough. It was AMAZING and so sweet. The interior packaging was soft and cheerful and felt like a warm hug. It also came with a really pretty ladle that matches our silverware and will be a reminder of this beautiful gift for years to come.  #2. Shake Shack We had a bigger follow up appointment this week to review everything that happened and align on a path forward. We are taking six months to emotionally recover so that we are n...

 Hello,  I’ve been told I need to slow down a little again for the next few weeks and so I felt like this was a good time to just give a little reminder to anyone reading this… including future me. It’s ok to do one thing at a time, life is not a race to see who can accomplish the most at once so: - take a few deep belly breaths - relax your jaw and shoulders - drink a little water And press that snooze button for five minutes to start your day snuggling with your spouse, take the extra 30 seconds to give your loved ones an extra long hug good bye, or give into the puppy eyes and sit down on the floor to play with your fur baby even if only for a minute. We can treat ourselves with love and grace. We can be kind to our bodies and if we’re feeling overwhelmed just take a five or ten minute walk outside. It won’t kill our productivity and we will develop habits that let us cherish our lives. Wishing you love and light, 💛Jess

 Hello, The boys had Monday off for a planning/professional development day for the teachers. I’m still not able to move around a lot or lift so with those limitations and the weather still cold, we went to our favorite indoor play gym! We Rock the Spectrum  is an indoor, sensory friendly, play gym. It is designed for children with disabilities, but anyone is welcome! The activities are a fun way to safely get out a lot of energy and everyone there has the understanding that kids might need an extra moment or even physical assistance with something at some point and so the assistance is offered without a second thought and the kids are back to playing as they should.  The concept of a place where you don’t have to apologize for breaking social norms is comforting and encouraging. These gyms are all over and there are three in our area, but we especially love the Cincinnati one! 🥰 They offer open play as a family, hourly child care, parties, and camps.  That’s all fo...

 Hello, I’m up at my normal time today and going to drop the kids and Grant off at school and work then head over to my work at the zoo today! I know I’m probably pushing a little harder than I should but this is making my mind and heart feel so much better so it’s worth it to me as long as I stay cautious about lifting/exertion. It feels like morning routines are a hot topic regularly, but I want to talk about evening routine today. There are some parts of this that we haven’t been able to do as normal over the past couple of weeks, but last night it felt like we were getting back into it and my heart was so happy. 1. Dinner We try to eat dinner together at the table every night and do “favorite things” as a family. The boys like this and it’s easy to conceptualize because there’s a Bluey script for it. 2. Bible Ice Cream We all cuddle on the couch and the boys each get a mini cone from Trader Joe’s while we do a family Bible lesson.  3. Bathtime Leo goes first for bath and t...

 Hello, I’m feeling a lot better physically over the past couple of days and have some follow ups today. Still emotionally numb and we have a lot of hard conversations in the coming weeks about our vision for our family, but we trust that God has a plan and that it is better than anything we could dream up for ourselves. That said, I’m going to pivot to the other things in our life and one of those is how we do time apart as a military family. Every family has to be apart at some point, whether it’s for work trips, family trips, anything. For us it’s just that there is less flexibility on the when and usually less communication for the parent who is gone. We have been fortunate that we’ve done weeks and months apart but not a year or more at a time for which I am grateful. Now that our kids are older, these are some steps we take: 1. We don’t hide it from the kids We are very open with the boys about what is happening and how long each separation is going to be. Jamie’s OT has also...

 Hello, There are so many things and people to be grateful for but I wanted to highlight my counselor through the VA. B is, without a doubt, one of my favorite people and has been through all the highs and lows of the past year. She cheers me on and gives me gentle tough love when I need it. I’m so grateful for her and grateful that this service exists and is available to us through the VA, I honestly don’t think that I would be in a healthy place without her. You’re the best B!!!!!! 💛Jess