+J.M.J.+ Doulas are not yet mainstream - with only 7% of mother using them there are a lot of misconceptions and confusion surrounding them. Why would you hire a complete stranger to be with you during birth? Why not just rely on your husband? Plus, I’m not a first-time mom anymore - why would I [...]
+J.M.J.+ We have paid off $23,031.00 of student loan debt in two years on an income less than the national average. It was our only debt and it is a relief like no other to have this gone. Ethan graduated with his bachelors degree debt free - this was from a post graduate program. We [...]
+J.M.J.+ I am frequently asked about how I entertain my kids, and there has been a huge surge in these questions since I announced our most recent pregnancy. How do I handle morning sickness with other kids? How am I entertaining them? This title is a bit of a trick because the answer really is [...]
+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.+ A year and a half ago I published one of my most viewed posts ever: My Little Kids Don't Use Screens. Ever. Here's why. (You may enjoy giving that a read then coming back here.) I explained how studies show that the more little kids' brains are hyper stimulated by screens, the more it [...]
+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.+ Nourishing food and tight budgets are really hard to reconcile. I know, because I'm constantly balancing what we're eating with our small income all of the time. People often times want a magical solution to feed their families a beautiful, organic, locally grown diet for "cheap". While my tips below and other ideas out [...]
+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 [...]
