You Need to Read - August 23 — slackermama . com

God Bless Saturdays. I need a Saturday this week. Not that it’s been terribly restful so far. Both children were up fairly early and though I am sure I could have played the “sick card” and stayed in bed a while longer, I’m not cruel enough as to make Kile take care of both Evie and Liam in the morning alone. I do have a heart, you know. So here I am, struggling along, and pumping out yet another week’s worth of fabulous blog posts for you guys to enjoy. I don’t get a lot of recognition for these posts, so I guess it’s a good thing I don’t do this for recognition. Just a little sharing amongst friends, right? Passing along the linky love? These lists are a way of saying, “Here’s what struck a chord with me this week, maybe you’ll like them too.” So thanks for coming back, week after week, to check it out. It’s nice to feel needed.

Part Two from Flotsam. I have to admit, I’ve kinda been waiting for Alexa to talk about Ames. This week, she went over her birth story and talked about some serious, important things. This was just one of the amazing posts she wrote, but this one spoke to me as her experience with her deceased son reminded me of my own. And when she talked of the heartbreak she would have endured had it been a singleton pregnancy? Well, I rememered all too well what that felt like.
Reviving The Roll from temporarily me. I never did away with my blogroll, but I did neglect it for a while. My blogroll is back and better than ever as it is a DIRECT reflection of the blogs that I read every day. Me and my considerable mojo cobbled together a method where my blogroll displays exactly the blogs I subscribe to in my reader. I rock. Anyhow, I loved this post and what she said about not being afraid to link to other blogs, whether they be “big” or “small”. We should all take heed.
wednesday. august 13th. anniversary from matt, liz and madeline. Oh, this post nearly broke my heart. In fact, it may have indeed broken my heart as I’m still haunted by it days later. The story of Matt, Liz and Madeline resonates with me, since Maddy was born just days after Evie and so near the anniversary of Jackson’s birth and death and… well… His anniversary is also just days after mine and the heartbreak he obviously felt on that day just tore me up. You wanna get torn up? GO READ IT.
Lost Boy from Her Bad Mother. Catherine is just a fantastic writer. She has this amazing ability to craft a post and keep me rivited from the first word to the last. And this post was intensely personal, intensely emotional and intensely hopeful, all at once. I wish her the best luck.
No, Really. I’ll Take a Cab. Thanks Anyway from Whiskey in My Sippy Cup. DEAR GOD. This compilation of mystery stink stories from Mr. Lady’s readers is not for the faint of heart. In fact, I am going to insist that you NOT be eating anything before you read this post. I WARNED YOU. Still, it’s pretty funny.
That’s me in the spotlight losing my religion and The Bloggy Chiropractor, Step 1: Take two weeks off from Seattle Mom Blogs. I have definitely noticed a trend towards shunning blogging in the wake of BlogHer. It seems to happen every year. And so I have to give Jen from Absolutely Bananas props for pointing it out and trying to figure out WHY she and everyone else feels this way. I love her Bloggy Chiropractor idea too, and Step 1 appeals to me enormously. I think that once I get things settled around here, I may give it a go.
Pack ‘n Play doubles as a play fort from Parent Hacks. What a BRILLIANT idea. And I tried it too, just as soon as I read it. Liam LOVED it. I don’t see me doing this every day, but instead saving it for “special occasions” when my sanity is threatening to vacate the premises.
Light Black-and-White for Babies from Pioneer Woman Photography. Miz Booshay has an excellent tutorial for black and white pictures of babies. I’ve been trying this particular technique a lot more lately, as baby pictures are pretty awesome for doing the black and white effect with. Thanks for the awesome tips! I learn SO much from this site, I swear.
Door etiquette from Slackerpapa. When I first met Kile, I thought his chivalrous behaviors were so sweet. And I still do. But there have been a few times when we’ve gone through a door and I’m telling him a story and I keep walking only to turn around and realize I’ve been talking to myself for the last minute or so while he stands there holding the door open for everyone. ARGH.
Out of the Gray and Into the Light from Motherhood Uncensored. Here we have another post about post-partum depression. Are there usually a lot of posts about this and I just haven’t noticed them? Or are there more lately than usual? Either way, there is something in each of these posts that is so familiar to me and this post was like a soothing balm to me, saying, “It’s okay.”
This doesn’t bode well for the integrity of blogging from The Bloggess. I seriously adore The Bloggess. And her assessment of Technorati and the fleeting-ness of blog fame is spot on. Her humor just strikes me just right. And some days I just NEED to read one of her posts and laugh my silly arse off.
Insert title of a Sting song here from Mamalogues®. I’m not sure exactly WHAT it was about this post that spoke to me, but something sure did. I do know this: I cannot sanitize my life for this blog and I can’t and won’t censor myself. If not everything is cool? You’re sure to read about it here, just as you’re sure to hear about all my good times too.
Taking it one emotional bump at a time from Sarcastic Mom. I want to thank Lotus for printing that email because it’s advice and perspective that we could all use. And some of what I read was so close to what I felt after my losses, what I needed to feel and wanted to feel and eventually DID feel. This here, was a good post.

Whew. That’s a lot of good posts for one week. It amazes me that week after week, consistently, this community pumps out some of the most awesome work. You humble me, people. So keep up the fantastic work and I will keep posting links to it here. Because this is what I do.

Have a great weekend everyone. I plan to try to enjoy myself as much as my mucous-ridden body will allow.

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