Tender Mercies

Dear Mom of the screaming child, Nobody wants to be "that" mom, the mom who receives all the questioning looks from strangers sitting in too close proximity for real comfort. Airplane rides are hard with children, especially when they are crying, but most especially when they are screaming. This is a letter to you, to let you know that you are not alone and that I have been there too.  I sat in the window seat, my seven month old daughter screaming in my arms. She didn't want to nurse. She didn't want her toy. The scene out the window wasn't distracting her either. She was just sad! And so was I. Tears streamed down my face as I thought of the innocent passengers next to, in front of, and behind me. They didn't know they would be stuck next to a mom and her baby when they prepared to board their flight. We all paid the same price for our tickets and we all deserved to have a peaceful flight. But there was nothing I could do to sooth my baby girl...

What would you create with these seemingly random ingredients?  I felt like I had gotten into a rut. Food wasn't exciting anymore and I felt like I just was barley keeping up with putting food on the table and making sure my husband had his lunch and snacks and breakfast for the day. My baby girl has been going through a sleep regression of sorts and so I haven't been feeling 100% either.  Enter my very sweet and thoughtful friend.  She understands me and knows of my real love for cooking. I don't know if she realized I had gotten into a rut or if she just has some intuition that led her to give me a challenge. When I returned home from a weekend trip to the East Coast, I  had several ingredients on my counter with some specific instructions.  Jen- - Noting cold -Both need to be pan cooked, grilled, or oven #1 One meal consist of:  Anise seed/flower buds Hershey bar tea bag cashews #2: 1 bottle saffron 1 bag semoli...

When my husband mentioned that he wanted to run the Army 10-Miler in Washington, DC a few months ago, my immediate thought was, "Well then I want to go with you." Truth be told, I didn't expect him to actually make the team or be healthy enough to run because just four months ago his knees were in pretty bad shape and he couldn't even run a mile without terrible pain. So I just let him do his thing and waited. Flash forward to the beginning of the semester. He tried out for KU's ROTC team and made it. So I bought a plane ticket for Adelai and me to join him on the East Coast in October.  With the CG of ROTC We've been focusing on the important things in our family, and spending $330 for a ticket for me to fly over and spend 48 hours in DC was worth the expense. I wanted Adelai to be there for her daddy when he participated in a big event, and I wanted my husband to know that I supported him. What I really wanted was for this to be a family end...

Dear Adelai, Hello, 7 months! Over the past few weeks I have really been focusing on consistency with you, most especially with your sleep routines. You aren't a newborn babe who can sleep in anyone's arms or in any situation.  We honed in on your bedtime routine this past month and made a point to get you into the bathtub at the same time every evening, going earlier if you showed the obvious signs of sleepiness. We then followed our routine, ending with you being very sleepy and able to drift off to sleep easily, if not already asleep from nursing. This consistency and the results that followed, reaffirmed in my mind the importance of doing small and simple ordinary things. Getting you into the bath at the same time every night may not seem like a big deal, but the consistency has helped teach you about bedtime. We have seen great improvements with your nighttime sleep, though I chuckle as I edit this because we've had some rough nights recently and naps have bee...