173 Comments

You all were amazing at encouraging me to join in on the comments, so here I am! Thanks for all of the warm welcomes and positive support.

I am two months post partum with my fourth son and it has been a doozy. Did anyone catch Allyson Felix’s return home video? I’m reminded her post about her struggle with returning to her athletic body after baby and I’m thinking dang, everybody’s postpartum journey is différent but I certainly didn’t win any Olympic gold medals after any of my pregnancies. Amazing.

Do any of you follow Jackie Hill Perry? She’s having some awesome teachings lately. I listened to her podcast 30 min with the Perry’s twice this week in Aliens and cackled both times.

My parents have been visiting us this past month for vacation and will finally leave this coming week. A month seems like a long time for parents but we live really far away and haven’t seen each other in person since 2018! I’ve needed all the hands on help with my kids and am a big anxious to see how I survive when they leave.

My oldest heads into first grade in few weeks and he’s been anxious about it all summer. I don’t recall ever having so much anxiety before starting school. I head praticing your schedule before starting helps but who wants to practice for school before school even starts? <—-not me!

I hope everyone finds some joy in their week this week, I’ll be on the hunt for it myself too.

Cheers!

Expand full comment

It's been a rough season, y'all. I've been a little absent on the comments but the newsletter and the updates from lil swipes has been a sweet treasure during this time. Our sweet grandfather lost his 2.5 year battle with cancer last month (which, for me personally was the third grandparent I've lost in 6 months). We moved - which, as Erin mentioned, is truly exhausting normally, but even more so as I was in summer semester of grad school during the move. My husband works on commission paid two months out and we are in a super tight spot as the result of a bad few months with a terrible manager. I've dealt with chronic pain and fatigue for 10 years and it's gotten so much worse over the last two months. I'm on new meds and have to swap to a gluten free, dairy free diet. While both new meds and a diet change will likely help, it's putting further strain on our finances.

I'm just exhausted, body and soul. I am just so lost and tired and in constant pain. I'm trying not to break down at work everyday but the odds are not so much in my favor. I am deeply grateful for this community and sharing life with y'all - thank you for always listening and supporting a stranger on the internet.

Expand full comment

It is 7:33 pm on Saturday and we have had a surprisingly relaxing weekend so far. I mean, we are still planning and researching and prepping for our move, but for some reason, it is calmer this weekend. Other than that, a lot of staying inside because CA is on fire. Again. The air sucks, but the sun is gorgeous through the smoke. My fun thing for the week was getting to start an email chain with the CA Li'l Swipes! Lovely ladies all. Thanks for the community spreadsheet, Erin. Looking forward to reading everyone's fun stuff.

Expand full comment

I love the Surviving Sarah podcast. Such fun.

Expand full comment

Doing a tiktok drop n run this week due to mentioned exhaustion, but these brightened my day immensely 😂😂

I love her joke setups with Greek mythology and immediate real life application - https://vm.tiktok.com/ZMdwxTtvP/

The dogs at daycare and their ✨problems✨ft my fave song in Elf - https://vm.tiktok.com/ZMdwx7De7/

Me and Adrienne this week - https://vm.tiktok.com/ZMdw44CB7/ (and here’s the swifties who cracked it - https://vm.tiktok.com/ZMdw4bJC5/)

And he doesn’t have TWO FARTHINGS TO SCRAPE TOGETHER - https://vm.tiktok.com/ZMdw4oMTJ/

Look at Michael - https://vm.tiktok.com/ZMdw4bYVf/

HPxLoki - https://vm.tiktok.com/ZMdw4bPUy/

My For You Page didn’t have to come for me like this - https://vm.tiktok.com/ZMdw4Kq6o/

Parent Trap reenactment - https://vm.tiktok.com/ZMdw4bk6U/

Storytime - https://vm.tiktok.com/ZMdw4wC3o/

Olympics corner - https://vm.tiktok.com/ZMdw4Kwfj/

Music corner - https://vm.tiktok.com/ZMdw4o86n/ // https://vm.tiktok.com/ZMdw4Eugj/ // https://vm.tiktok.com/ZMdw4teEs/ // https://vm.tiktok.com/ZMdwV1jGC/ // https://vm.tiktok.com/ZMdw4vFXK/ // https://vm.tiktok.com/ZMdw4WEq1/ // https://vm.tiktok.com/ZMdw4boB6/

Expand full comment

from Half baked harvest photography is soo good and it has been for a long time. She's still pretty young! I think she started the page when she was 14 or something absurdly young and is now in her mid twenties. Fun fact: her brother won gold in snowboarding in the Olympics whenever it last happened. I am in denial about the covid surges happening and also have no opinion on the decision made last night by my school board to make masks optional. I no longer know how to feel about any of it...i don't want to think about it at all! I feel like I've been robbed of the last year and a half and I'm tired. We will take it one step at a time because that's all I can handle anymore.

Expand full comment

Good morning Lil Swipes (well, it is still morning here on the West Coast haha)!

I have attempted to comment/read/interact the last 2 weeks in a row and got a little distracted. But I'm so happy to he here today! 💕

❤️‍🔥 Here's a mix of my treasures & turds lately:

👶 I got distracted because I spent those Fridays with a dear friend from college and her 2 kids (4 months and two years). It's really fun seeing the people you knew at 18 become parents!

🤰 Speaking of babies, I think I'm at the point where most of my friends have kids, and (some are having their second). We know we're going to have kids, (likely natural and definitely adopted), but we're kind of in this weird in-between time. I didn't feel any outside pressure when friends first started having kids, but now it's like I feel this weird internal pressure to fit in with my peers. Have any of ya'll experienced that?

👧🏽 My niece turned three this week and my hubs and I are driving 2 hours down to San Diego to help throw her birthday party tomorrow! She is the cutest thing on the planet, and I am very excited to see her. It also happens to be my dad's birthday, so we will celebrate him with another party at my parents' afterwards. It's going to be a looooong day with a lot of family. Hopefully it will be a fun day, even with all of the (probable) drama.

😻 I came back to work ~in my actual office~ this week! I work at a college in LA County, so we have been WFH since March 2020. It had literally been 502 days! Needless to say, I've been so exhausted all week. 😂 Students won't be on campus for a few weeks, so it's still quiet around here, but it's been so nice to get back into the groove of old routines (like stopping by a co-worker's desk to say hi!).

⚽️ 🎶 Ted Lasso season 2 and Schmigadoon are saving my life right now.

💣 Last summer I had the worst kind of friend break-up. I felt lost, betrayed, and a massive part of my world was turned upside down. I've tried to type out the details today, but it still feels too tender. I know that Jesus is guiding me towards forgiveness, so I could sincerely use some prayer for my heart. ❤️

💩🎢 I feel like my body image has been on a roller coaster lately. I found a great dress at Torrid (first time shopping there and omg I lovvvvve it) ⬆️. But then I went to the doctor's office and confirmed that I actually have gained 20 lbs since September ⬇️. And I realize I have SO MUCH work to do with how I see myself right now. And am trying to dismantle the external and internal message of "thinner-is-always-better". WOOF. (Also, I really appreciate all of the recommendations sent out for work clothing ideas! My betabrand pants have had lots of shipping delays, but will be here eventually 😂. You guys rock.)

🎸 And here is my favorite TikTok of the week. I was personally offended by these lyrics 😂

https://vm.tiktok.com/ZMdwq2khT/

Expand full comment

I can't remember if I've said this before, but truly, having these tweets rounded up is such a service! I feel like I get the best of Twitter without actually *having* to be on Twitter. Thank you!

It's that part of the summer where I feel like we haven't done all the things I want to do, but I'm so ready for the kids to go back to school & me to go back to work, & for it to not be so dang hot, but we still have 3 weeks to go. We haven't gone to the beach enough & I'm wondering how many more beach days we can cram in. No real news to report this week; my husband took the kids camping with his brothers this weekend, so I'm trying to clean the house and do meal prep before school/work starts back up. I've listened to all the old episodes of all my favorite podcasts, so have started The Office Deep Dive with Brian Baumgartner and am really enjoying it. :)

Expand full comment

Good grief I feel that last tweet so hard. Currently nursing and even the mom websites are showing “good nursing dresses” with spaghetti straps. Good grief, do you know how thick the straps are on this nursing bra? Ain’t happenin.

Expand full comment

Friday morning coffee is almost like a "gird your loins" we can do this one. more. day... Your newsletter is the highlight of my Friday morning coffee before the kids wake up and changes my mood. I am grateful to you.

Expand full comment

Happy Friday!

I really felt that tweet about book characters being less annoying than people. Because sometimes I just want to hang out with those characters instead.

Treasures:

- I wholeheartedly agree with Erin about Tieghan's recipes. We've made a few recipes of hers so far, including this one that is on repeat around here (made it last night and omgyummmm)

https://www.halfbakedharvest.com/vegetable-burrata-sandwich/

- I've been unashamedly binging my way through Julie and the Phantoms and loving it so much. What is it about plucky kids (and ghosts) belting out anthems like it's nbd. It's not HSM2, but it's still got lots of heart and I'm here for it.

- We're going to the beach in about a week and a half and I have nothing planned whatsoever. Please help me: what does one NEED at the beach for 4 days with 3 small children under 5. Essentials only please (but lots of snack suggestions are WELCOME)

- My son and I got back from CA last week and I realized he's stuck his foot (then most of his body) into the Pacific before the Atlantic, which is wild for me, since I grew up in VA and went to the beach every summer. Life is weird friends.

- Finally, my older two kids are going to school for the first time in about a month and I just DO NOT KNOW HOW TO FEEL. I'm excited, but also terrified, anxious and nervous and filled with joy, all at once. What even.

That's what I've got for this week friends. We're off to see a butterfly garden, eat homemade pizza, and probably catch fireflies, hooray for the weekend!

Expand full comment

My oldest kids starts kindergarten in 6 days and I was excited but now I'm just a mess. I can't sleep and I've had my first pimple in 5 years, like my body thinks I'm going back to school. The uncertainty is killing me, and I want to do some fun things with the kids to celebrate the end of summer but I also want to lock myself in my room. 😊

Expand full comment

I’ve been absent for a while because of our move back to VA and Erin, moving is NO. JOKE. We had the toughest time with movers and a lot of different things, but we are moved in and it is over. Now to figure out where everything goes and figure out which things in this old house need fixing vs. which are just quirks.

- Really not loving the kids going back to school in less than two weeks without any word yet about mask requirements. Especially since we still have to have an IEP meeting and all that goes along with a new school on top of that. Trying to focus on the positive but it is nerve-wracking!

Treasures: One of my closest cousins lives about an hour away! They will move in May because her husband is military, but we get nine months or so of being in close proximity for the first time in our lives and we are going to take advantage.

I knew I missed home but I don’t think I realized how much. Now to juggle all the requests for meetups with Delta cautions, but it’s so nice to have people who actually want to spend time with us who aren’t related.

I’m excited to see what’s been happening with all the Li’l Swipes!

Expand full comment

Another sad week for my family as my cousin’s husband, Jon, passed away from Covid as well. Their 3 kids and grandkids are just heartbroken obviously. Keri and Jon were such good people and the only consolation is that they're both with Jesus now. It just doesn’t seem real and I’ve been in the midst of it with them. Next Tuesday and Wednesday will be the visitation and funeral. Will you please continue to pray for our family?

Expand full comment

My kids go back to school next week, so we’re leaving on Sunday & taking one last trip to San Diego to visit the grandparents and snuggle our brand new nephew!

Also on the agenda for the weekend is telling the family our big news…. I’M PREGNANT!! 😍🥳 We haven’t told our families yet, you’re all sworn to secrecy. 😉 It’s super early, but I’m not holding the joy inside, I just won’t do it. This is my 4th and hubby’s 1st and we’re just over the moon. We’re telling our kiddos tonight when they get home from their dads, and making a surprise visit to my parents tomorrow.

So this week has been crazy joy and a lot of naps. I forgot about that 1st trimester exhaustion. 😅

Can’t wait to see what y’all are up to!

Expand full comment

Weekend plans include a Challenger Little League tournament with just our local league because of Covid. Challenger is the league for kids (and adults) of different abilities. The highlight is the parents vs kids game! Looking forward to having my butt kicked by these adorable special needs kiddos. :)

Expand full comment