Having a child changes everything. I was warned about the sleep deprivation and the way my body would never forgive me (though it has), but I was never told how much a baby can change your marriage.

I love a man who I can see a future with, and he loves a woman who is part of a package deal he never imagined wanting.

For me, it's an encouraging nod from above, a vibrant, everyday miracle which reminds me that life is uncertain and messy, but also beautiful. Beautiful in the extraordinary but even more so in the ordinary.

I wonder, sometimes, in the midst of our now familiar, sometimes hurried, sometimes tiring, family routines, does he still prefer to be as close as possible to me?

I choose you. I choose us. This day and everyday, just one day at a time, I am going to pick you on this path.

The less stuff my family owns the less mess there is to clean.

Suddenly I’m living my Mother’s life, but I’m on the other side. I’m Mother.

So am I saying Happiness is inferior to Joy?

Our bedroom is the place where the five of us (dog and cat included) come together in sanctuary and serenity each night—fourteen legs, five beating hearts, one family.

I find myself questioning how to address what is happening around my community—and in our country—to my children.