First of all, did anyone else see that the Senate passed a bill to keep Daylight Savings Time? Yes, please! I’m sure the House will knock it right back down but a girl can dream right? This girl has been dreaming for Spring for months now and here it finally is. So, whether there’s a D in front of ST or not, I’ll take the sunshine…and all the sandals.
It has been a long time since I’ve been around in blogger world because well, I’ve been busy, trying to avoid a nervous breakdown, and busy. Also, we were having blog issues that I couldn’t figure out and my husband was, you guessed it, busy. So before I get too far into new content, let’s do a quick catch up.
I’m the fall of 2020, we found out we were expecting our fifth baby. I spent about eight weeks too sick to get out of bed. I was having misgivings (I remember one night asking a friend if she had a Doppler because something felt off) and right at 14 weeks, I went in to see my doctor for spotting. We all thought it was an infection or something else not serious as my symptoms were almost non-existent. Unfortunately, we couldn’t find a heartbeat and found out our sweet baby EM had passed away at about 11 1/2 weeks. Since then, my will to blog has been less than. In fact, I struggled for a long time to even post regularly on the insta (which is much easier than creating a full post here). A miscarriage is not something I would ever wish on another mama, and it’s not something that I completely understood until it happened to me. Even a year and a half later, I still feel like a little part of me is missing and always will be.
After that, I threw myself in getting my family back on track and I feel a little like I’ve been playing catch up ever since. It didn’t help that in April of 2021, I sprained my ankle while working out. It was so minor I didn’t even stop moving (no fall, no twist that I remember). An urgent care visit, physical therapy, an MRI, and many trips to the orthopedist later, I had surgery to repair my ATFL (that’s the ligament on the outside of your ankle- it’s the one most people sprain). During surgery, we found out I had a cyst and bone spur and a couple other things that were probably delaying my recovery. It is very uncommon for someone to sprain his ankle for the first time and end up in surgery so I figure I’m just really lucky.
Six months and a whole lot of work later, I am finally making progress. I still have quite a bit of pain but it seems to be related more to the weakening of my supporting muscles while I was recovering from surgery and my CRPS (a nerve pain disorder that seems to be triggered by trauma for me as I also had it years ago when I had knee surgery). However, my husband surprised me with a Peloton on Christmas morning- best surprise ever- and I’ve been making great strides (no pun intended) ever since. I’m back to exercising about 5-6 days a week. I have good days and bad days. But, I am finally able to wear cute shoes again and that’s something!
In not so bad news, my kids are thriving at home with me full time. We have adjusted to a new normal homeschooling full time again. With all four of school age, it has been a bit of a challenge but every one of them is excelling in school and able to explore other interests and hobbies in their free time. I can’t say I love homeschooling every single day, but I do love watching my children grow and knowing that I’m doing what is best for our family. A couple of my kids do have social needs that are hard for me to meet as an introvert (yes, I’m an open book over on the gram but please don’t make me stay at a party for more than two hours). Luckily, we have some awesome neighbors and I’m learning that less is more when it comes to friends (see my last post for more on that).
Lastly, my husband and I are coming up on our FIFTEENTH wedding anniversary. I won’t agree to renew our vows because I’m not about to jinx anything. However, after practicing with me for 15+ years, he is finally converting to Catholicism (so exciting for us!). We are busy and exhausted but (mostly) happy.
I think that’s all for now, but I’m sure there are little tidbits that I forgot to throw in. Don’t worry, I’ll be back around with shoes and fashion soon.
