+J.M.J.+ God has blessed Ethan and I with our fourth child. It is actually quite surreal just 7 weeks since losing baby Andrew Mary to be expecting again. I had no warning something was wrong during Andrew's pregnancy until he was gone, so I wanted to make sure that I didn't have some sort of [...]
+J.M.J.+ Once Ethan had a surprise waiting for me when I returned home with Philomena from a visit to see my parents. He had secretly commissioned a friend to build us a custom home altar. It's simple but perfect for our current stage in life. We had utilized a bookshelf for this purpose in the [...]
+J.M.J.+ When I shared about our general daily routine and my rule of life in this post earlier this month, a lot of you wanted to know what a day in the life looked like with a bit more detail. Every day with a family has lots of variation, but the following is what a [...]
+J.M.J.+ I feel more than slightly under-qualified after just 5.5 years of marriage to be giving tips on the topic. However, since I was asked about it and do think that since this is one of Ethan and I's strong points, I'm presenting 3 ways you can better communicate with your spouse. Know Each Other [...]
+J.M.J.+ In confession a few months ago, the priest asked me if I knew what a mother's rule of life was. I had brought before him the sin of wasting time online and thereby neglecting some of my duties as a wife and mother. I wish I could have told him that the idea was [...]
+J.M.J.+ I will always love and miss my little baby, Andrew Mary, whom we have had to give back to the loving care of Jesus. This post will share about our loss, how we are honoring our baby, a conversation on miscarriage, and some resources for people dealing with miscarriage or stillbirth. When I started [...]
+J.M.J.+ If lights and carols, trimming trees and decorating cookies bring us joy and excitement, why wait? Why not enjoy the festive glow for all of December and even November if we want? Our family waiting is not about pride, looking down on people diving headfirst into Christmas festivities from Thanksgiving, or even earlier. This [...]
+J.M.J.+ Questions on my prayer life as a stay at home mom are some of the most frequent I receive. I am sharing this to hopefully help other moms who reach out to me wanting ideas for their own prayer life or how to pray with kids. {I know when I post this there are [...]
+J.M.J.+ The feast of All Saints can be panic-inducing for parents needing to hurriedly put together a saint costume for their kids. Here are a few quick ideas and links for some costumes that you might be able to throw together easily and most with little expense! (I also have a whole post with tips [...]
+J.M.J.+ This past week our family received two signs from our friend in Heaven, Fr. Kenneth Walker, F.S.S.P.+. If you don't know of this holy young priest who was tragically killed during a church burglary in 2014, I have a whole post here on his story. In the comment section of that post you will see [...]
The Natural Catholic Mom 