from the heart

This week Elena and I went to a strawberry patch. What fun! We were in good company - a bunch of mommies and kiddos from our church came too. Upon arrival one of the little girls kicked off her shoes... Elena followed suit and spent her time barefoot, eating as many strawberries as she could. I tried motivating her to stop eating and "pick some for Daddy". No sooner did I turn around and she was back at it; she was taking it very seriously, so seriously, she couldn't break to smile for a picture... as you can see below. We picked 4.5 pounds... paid around $7.50 and then on the way out I saw a LARGE box of already picked strawberries that were very ripe. The lady said she'd sell them to me for $2.00. DEAL! By the amount of effort it took me to carry the box to the car, I'm estimating there was about 20-25 pounds of strawberries in there. After sharing them with some friends and family, it still took me a couple hours to clean and freezer pack the ripe on

The last time I wrote, I wasn't able to emotionally divulge the painful trial our family was walking through. I became pregnant last July and in August I miscarried. I've had friends who've gone through this type of loss and I had always tried to imagine what they might be feeling. As I have come to understand now, it brings out every emotion imaginable - shock, sadness, anger and it is unbearable to go through it alone. Despite all the pain, I was eager to try again to become pregnant. We conceived again in October and I was so excited! So excited that little E would have a sibling. It was also very exciting, as tons of my friends were announcing their pregnancies as well. How fun, everyone being pregnant together & having little ones the same age. This time round, I became very sick with morning sickness, unable to get out of bed some days. My first appointment to check on the baby wasn't until nine weeks and at that point I was pretty miserable. When th