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‘My Life’ Category

  1. Wordless Wednesday: This is Happiness

    January 4, 2012 by crystal

    This is Happiness

    Here’s a little peek at Charlotte’s favorite Christmas present. . .

    Category My Life | Tags: | 6 Comments

  2. Baby Audric

    October 28, 2011 by crystal

    AudricTonight, as I was putting Charlotte to sleep, I couldn’t stop thinking about how lucky we are. My heart ached for the parents out there who haven’t been so lucky. For those mommies and daddies who have to watch their children go through test after test. Procedure after procedure. Surgery after surgery.

    This is Audric. Just like Charlotte, he’s 14 months old. I met his mom almost two years ago, through a mommy message board, as we were both beginning our pregnancies.

    Audric was born with biliary atresia, which is a rare liver disease. There is a problem with his bile duct, and so bile can’t pass from his liver to his intestines. This means that, without help, Audric’s body can’t excrete waste, and he could end up with cirrhosis of the liver.

    When little Audric was just two months old, he underwent surgery to connect his small intestines straight to his liver to help drain bile. I cannot imagine how scary it must have been for Audric’s parents to watch their tiny baby go through surgery. Audric’s doctors told his parents that this surgery could last 30 years or fail immediately – There was no way to predict the outcome. This surgery was a bridge to transplant.

    Audric was hospitalized six times during before he was a year old with gastrointestinal bleeding and infections. His doctors decided that it was time for a new liver. Audric turned one in August. He received a transplant on October 6, 2011, after only twelve days on the waiting list!  Audric is holding strong, but he still has a long way to go.

    Please consider donating to a special fund for Audric that has been set up through the Children’s Organ Transplant Association. As I write this, this blog has 378 followers. If each of them donates $5, we can raise $1890 for Audric. The medical expenses are projected to be around $50,000. That’s a lot of money. At the same time, it’s a big, big world, and I am constantly surprised by the kindness of others. So, please give what can, and please share this link with as many people as you can. Every little bit counts.

    Audric

    Category My Life | Tags: , | No Comments

  3. I Am From…

    September 23, 2011 by crystal

     

    I am from blacktop and backroads. From a rusty Ford truck, as old as I was. From crickets and crisp autumn air.

    I am from the tiny house across town, with the low roar of rain on the tin roof.

    I am from the lush green leaves of summer and red-orange bursts of color in the fall; fields of dandelions, dew covered grass under my feet.

    I am from baking cookies at Christmas and long, loud conversations across the kitchen. From Old Grandpa and Little Grandma. From a big, loud, messy family with more cousins than I can count.

    I am from the huggers and the stubborn, hard to forgivers.

    From “I’m gonna count to ten!” and “We don’t watch MTV in this house.”

    I am from “You’re going to college someday.”  I am from a family that made sure that was what I did.

    I am from holy water and a statue of Mary; From cool mornings, scurrying across the playground to church in our plaid uniforms.

    I’m from the Midwest. From Germany, France, and the Netherlands. From the original America, before the settlers came. I am from bratwurst and dumplings. From beer and barbeque.

    From the young man who came across the Atlantic on his mother’s ticket, the old man who everyone loved, and the couple that met, fell in love, and were married within eight months.

    I am from musty boxes of dog-eared photos. From black and whites of plump babies and soldiers staring bravely into the camera. From old, crumbling headstones on the hill. I am from yellowed wedding photos, with girdles cinched and stiff smiles. From the fuzzy image of my parents’ first dance. From a box of Polaroids of an endless summer, our skin golden, squinting into the sun. I am from home. A place I try hard to never forget.

     

    Category My Life | Tags: , | 11 Comments

  4. Wordless Wednesday – Elmo

    September 21, 2011 by crystal

    “Elmo! What are you doing in that book? Come play with me!”

    Elmo

     

    Come check out Amber’s Semi-Wordless Wednesday Blog Hop!

    Wordless Wednesdays

    Category My Life | Tags: | 4 Comments

  5. Wordless Wednesday – First Birthday Shots

    September 13, 2011 by crystal

    I scheduled the appointment on her birthday. Mommy fail!

    First Birthday Shots First Birthday Shots

    Come check out Amber’s Semi-Wordless Wednesday Blog Hop!

    Wordless Wednesdays

    Category My Life | Tags: | 6 Comments

  6. Wordless Wednesday – Summer in a Small Town

    September 7, 2011 by crystal

     

    Homecoming Parade

    Wordless Wednesdays

    Category My Life | Tags: | No Comments

  7. Wordless Wednesday – Stomach Flu Fallout

    August 31, 2011 by crystal

    The stomach flu is making the rounds at our house.

    This monkey was a victim in the latest poopslosion. . .

    Wordless Wednesday

    I *heart* VoiceBoks! Come join us for Wordless Wednesdays!

    Wordless Wednesdays

    Category My Life | Tags: | 1 Comment

  8. Versatile Blogger: And the Award Goes To. . .

    August 29, 2011 by crystal

    As you may have read, MomsMissionUpstream recently gave me the Versatile Blogger Award. The rules say I need to pass on the bloggy love to fifteen other websites.

    Versatile Blogger Award

    Well, I’m done perusing the ‘net! I have found some really unique, interesting blogs. Keep up the awesome work, ladies! And the award goes to. . .

    1. The Gnome’s Mom
    2. Weelicious
    3. Mommypants
    4. Multitasking Mumma
    5. Measuring Flower
    6. Spilled Milkshake
    7. Mama.ie
    8. An Ideal Mother
    9. The More The Merrier
    10. Social Studies Mama
    11. Mommy Adventures
    12. Mommy Mindspa
    13. Divine Secrets of a Domestic Diva
    14. Motherhood, WTF?
    15. The Bloggess

    Stop on by their AWESOME blogs and say hello!

     

    Category My Life | Tags: , | 2 Comments

  9. Versatile Blogger Award

    August 24, 2011 by crystal

    An award? For me? Stop – I’m blushing!

     

    MomsMissionUpstream recently gave me the Versatile Blogger Award. I’m pretty stoked about it!

    Versatile Blogger Award

    Here are the rules:

     

    1. Thank the person who gave you the award and link back to them in your post.
    2.  Tell us seven things about yourself that others may or may not know.
    3.  Award fifteen recently discovered new bloggers.

     

    I’ll be passing along some bloggy love soon. For now, here are. . .

    Seven Things You May Not Know About Me (more…)

    Category My Life | Tags: , | 9 Comments

  10. I’m in the Spotlight!

    August 24, 2011 by crystal

    Measuring Flower has me in the Spotlight! SO exciting!

    Click on the button to check it out!

    Category My Life | Tags: | No Comments

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