Here we are, nearing a year since her passing, and I still don’t regret sharing openly about her and our stillbirth story. Grief still seeps in on big days and ordinary, everyday moments. In honor of what I’m calling her “birth month” (June), I wanted to share the story and meaning of her name.
Read MoreFriends, in case you didn’t know, I’m thrilled to share with you we have moved to the UK! Bristol, England, to be exact. On Monday, March 25th, we boarded a flight with our two boys and kissed Texas goodbye. While, yes, the move is temporary… we packed all we could into our three checked bags and started our travel across the pond. The boys did great, but I’ll share more about traveling with toddlers later. For now, let’s connect some dots. Since this Facebook post and this Instagram reel, questions have poured in. So, I’ve decided to end the post with a Q+A of sorts. But first, I’ll share how we even got to this decision:
Read MoreOn June 14, 2023, I delivered our third child, stillborn.
These past six weeks have held some of the deepest pain I have ever experienced. And while writing, for me, has always been therapeutic, I began to sense God’s leading to share our story. I just hope a mom out there - somewhere, anywhere - feels less alone about miscarriage, pregnancy loss, and/or stillbirth upon reading this.
Read MoreIt’s been ten months since I’ve shared anything on this blog. Ten months, too long. No blogs about Josiah and his cleft journey, no further pregnancy blogs, no baby Abner blogs (though he most certainly is now out of the womb, praise God, and growing like crazy), no ministry-related blogs, travel blogs, or recipe blogs. Nada.
I was on a flight to London in late June and I found myself looking around wondering…
Read MoreOn Wednesday, October 27th, Calvin and I headed to the medical imagining facility my OB/GYN sends all her patients to for their in-depth anatomy scan. Not only would we be finding out the gender of baby #2 during this visit, but also making sure baby was growing well and no cleft lip/cleft palate was detected.
Read MoreHardest secret to keep from y’all but n0w it’s out so let’s TALK about it! I figured a timeline may help break it all down and help keep me on track. (I’m prone to ramble, ha!) But whatever you do, please read until the end. I have something important to share down there.*
Read MoreBe advised, Josiah’s palate repair was the hardest thing we’d done on this journey so far. This read may seem heavy, really heavy. But by the end you, parents to cleft warriors or faithful reader, will find hope. As we have. Because as dark as the night may be, the light always overcomes it. Now, let the hour by hour breakdown of this surgery day begin.
Read MoreI’m just going to get right to it, over the past holiday season our family experienced a big transition. And I’m excited to finally talk about it with you all in this way! Often times we only talk about God “opening doors” in the sense of a new door to walk through. But have you ever considered God may open a door in a way of communicating, “that was it” “you’re done here” “let’s move on to the next thing” “time to go” “walk away” “you’re work here is done”?
Read MoreI sat here not knowing how to come to you all after months of not blogging, writing, creating or speaking while endless thoughts swirl my mind and even greater emotions penetrate my heart. And the truth is, there’s just no other way to say this…
Read MoreSome of us might have grabbed one too many bananas when we stocked up on groceries last. Which I understand, we are trying to avoid needing to go back out to the store during this Coronavirus outbreak and stay home orders.
Your produce may just be on it’s last leg and if that’s the case and you’re looking for ways to salvage those over ripe bananas, you’re in luck! I have three EASY recipes for ripe or in our case, over-ripe, bananas. And the best part is that the other ingredients needed in each of the recipes below you probably already have in your refrigerator and/or pantry.
Read MoreI wanted to share Josiah’s lip surgery a little more in detail for those interested. My hopes with this blog post is to enlighten any of our friends and family or future cleft parents curious about how surgeries go for cleft cuties. I’ve included pictures and video, as well as a packing list and tips for any parent of a cleft baby.
Read MoreHis birth story was nothing like I had imagined or planned. [Disclaimer: I plan to share it ALL. The good, the bad, the unforgettable. You’ve been warned.] And I think I’ve put off writing it out because perhaps it has been haunting me in a way. I mean, when you drive past the hospital you labored and delivered at and you start to get emotional 4 days postpartum, something may be up. And I don’t mean the happy emotional. . .
Read MoreHelloooooo 9 month of pregnancy (and swollen feet)!! We’re in the home stretch.
Odds are that you may be reading this while we’re in labor! We’re scheduled for an appointment with our doctor at 38 weeks, 6 days to see how I’m progressing. For the last two weeks I’ve been dilated 1 CM and we’ve agreed with our doctor to induce if I have not progressed any. So chances are….. we’re inducing TONIGHT! (6/20/19)
Read MoreI am officially in my 8th month of pregnancy and I can’t believe it!! Sometimes just the fact that I’m pregnant and that we’re going to be parents baffles me. But Praise God for His goodness and answered prayers! As promised, a cleft lip and cleft palate Q & A can be found at the end of this post. I am answering your questions regarding baby’s diagnosis.
Read MoreAt 19 weeks pregnant, Calvin and I headed to my doctor’s office for the anatomy scan. This is where we are able to see the baby through an ultrasound and where we’d normally find out the gender of our baby. However, just minutes after our ultrasound, our doctor had other news for us… she told us the ultrasound tech suspected a cleft lip on the right side of baby’s face.
Read MoreHere we are again! Four more weeks have passed and it’s time for the next bumpdate. I’m officially at the 28 week mark, also known as, THE THIRD TRIMESTER! Wowza, time just flies. In this post I’m also sharing YOUR tips and advice for mamas entering their third trimester! I can’t believe we are just 2 months from meeting baby Williams.
Read MoreFriends, I’m going to go ahead and start this off by asking y’all give your girl some grace here because this is my FIRST EVER recipe blog post! It is seriously ridiculously easy. You can go crockpot style and allow everything to slowly cook throughout the day, or if out of nowhere a cold front comes through or the rain begins to pour and you are instantly in the mood for something warm and savory, just throw all of it in a big pot and within minutes the soup will be ready to devour! Trust me, you can make it.
Read MoreIf you know us, it’s no secret that Calvin and I both love God and love His word. With our very first baby on the way, we undoubtably desire to teach our little one about God and look forward to watching his or her knowledge of Him grow.
Read MoreA lot has happened since the halfway mark (20 weeks). Calvin felt the baby kick for the first time! We took maternity photos and I’m including a sneak peek of them in this post! :) We also got a start on our registries and I was able to attend The Mother of All Baby Showers event in Houston with my sweet mama. Now, time for the rest of this bumpdate:
Read MoreMy halfway point #bumpdate is finally here! I can’t believe I’m halfway done with this pregnancy. Sometimes I still can’t believe I’m pregnant to begin with. I’m excited to answer questions I’ve been getting about the pregnancy, baby, Calvin and I and our journey into parenthood, as well as, share products and resources that have been game changers. Here we go!
Read MoreCrystal Williams is a writer, speaker, and mentor focused on delivering honest stories to encourage others in their walks of faith.
