over the years as my family has grown in size, i’ve tried to find ways to minimize the amount of things i have to haul everywhere despite often having a lot of kids of different ages with me. i’m out for several hours on end at times running errands or hopping playgrounds with the kids, so while i like to be prepared, if i can get away with only bringing with me the absolute necessities, the day feels a whole lot more manageable as i can focus more on my babies and kiddos and less on all the stuff i also need to keep track of....

today, i am 33 years old. it feels good.

this day last year was one of my most vulnerable days on this earth. madalena and beatrice were just a few weeks old, and we were doing test after test at the hospital for one of my baby girls after she’d gotten a high fever in the middle of the night before my birthday (let me insert hear before getting any further that she ended up being totally fine, thank the Lord – but we didn’t know that going into our 2 day hospital stay)....