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As most of you know, Mr. Handsome and I have three children. The age gap between our first and our second is two years and 11 months. We were originally going to have a two year age but ended up having two miscarriages.

At first, I was concerned that a larger age gap would mean that our children would not be as close, but our boys are best friends, and I no longer have this concern. A larger age gap between my first two kids also gave me extra time to gain confidence as a new parent before bringing another life into the world.

My second son and my daughter are two years and one month apart. This was definitely more challenging in the early days because my son was still so dependent on me when my daughter was born. But after the first six months, I started seeing their relationship blossom, and I love it. Littlest Buddy is such a sweet older brother and is always trying to give his sister hugs and take care of her. In turn, Little Lady looks out for him and doesn’t like to be separated from him, even for a short time. The pictures from the Florida trip we took to Santa Rosa Beach last fall show the sweet relationship between these two.

As a mom with three children, I am seeing evidence that God is orchestrating our family the way He sees fit, and there is so much beauty in that. Age gaps are not worth hyper-focusing on because there are so many other variables at play that we cannot control.

Two months ago, we miscarried a baby who would have been two and a half years younger than our daughter. Consequentially, if God gives us a fourth baby, there will be a larger age gap between those two than we had originally “intended.” At first, I found myself worrying that this baby will be “off on their own” and not able to be as close to my other children. But then I realized what silly thinking that is. God’s timing is better than my own. 

While we were on our annual beach trip last year, we walked past a men’s clothing store in Seaside. For the record, we do not stay in Seaside. We find an affordable Vrbo in a nearby town, but we like to walk around Seaside and pretend that we belong there. Mr. Handsome does not like to shop for clothes, but he was surprisingly interested in this particular store, so we stepped inside. After about 30 seconds, I came to the quick realization that my husband has very expensive taste.

The shirts were all in the ballpark of $200, and the pants were around $300, but he kept looking, determined to find something on sale. When I can successfully drag him to Men’s Warehouse (usually every two years), Mr. Handsome caps his spending at about $50 for a pair of jeans, $60 for a pair of dress pants and $40 for a dress shirt, and I knew that this was not the kind of place for those kinds\ of prices.

Then we found a pair of shoes…for $600.

So I have to ask, would you buy a pair of shoes for $600?

I was recently on a short road trip with my two youngest children. We had driven a couple hours to visit a family member and were on our way home. It was the middle of the day, the sun was shining, and I pulled up to one of those massive gas stations that feels more like a shopping mall. The parking lot was full, and there were plenty of people around. I put Little Lady in her stroller, and we walked inside, with Littlest Buddy holding my hand.

As we entered, I immediately got the feeling that I wasn’t safe. Now you have to understand something about me. I can be a bit of a worrier. I’m the kind of person who keeps her guard up and is aware that bad things can and do happen. But this feeling of not being safe was like nothing I had ever felt before.

I’ve heard people say that when you are in a bad situation, you will get a “gut feeling” that something isn’t right. I’ve often wondered what that feels like, and now I know. It really is a “gut” feeling. I felt sick to my stomach and chilled to the bone, and I had an eerie sensation in my chest, combined with a warning deep in my subconscious. I believe it was from the Holy Spirit, and I think God purposefully gives us a combination of signals from various body systems in order to get our attention.

I tried to keep myself calm by attempting to convince my subconscious that it was being silly and over-reactive. There are people everywhere. This is clearly the safest place to be. Nothing could possibly happen. This big gas station is much safer than a rest stop or a smaller gas station. There must have been some sort of children’s sports tournament happening nearby because I saw quite a few families with younger teenage kids in jerseys. All the more reason to feel safe.

The kids and I walked in the direction of the bathrooms, Littlest Buddy still holding onto my hand. He wanted to browse the small toy section, so we stopped for a few minutes. It was then that I noticed a man who made me feel even more uneasy. His behavior was the definition of loitering, and he clearly was not looking at the merchandise. He sported a hat and sunglasses and was alone.

We spent a few short minutes looking at toys and then made our way through the food area. When we arrived at the bathrooms, the same man was standing outside. His back was rested against the wall, and he was very clearly scanning the crowd. There were at least 30 people within 30 feet of me, and there were about two dozen women in the large bathroom, so I still felt like this was a safe place to be.

We went into one of the big stalls, washed our hands, and then walked out. It took about five minutes, but as I came out, the man was still there, standing in the same place. He looked at me as I walked past.

It was then that I noticed a second man who was also wearing a hat and sunglasses, standing about 15 feet away, also scanning the crowd of people walking in and out of the bathrooms. As I walked past, the first guy looked in my direction and then nodded to the second guy, who nodded back. Then the first guy started walking towards the exterior door that I had come in.

When I saw those men nod at each other and look in my direction, my blood ran cold. I was suddenly fully aware that I was the only mom who was alone with young children and that I was an easy, slow-moving target.

There were several different doors to this gas station, and this man chose the one that I had come in. He walked slowly, stopping a few times to pretend to look at merchandise and to turn around and glance in my direction. I knew I needed a plan, and walking back to my car alone was definitely not the right move.

We browsed the snack section while my mind raced. I had no intention of leaving, but I needed to know if these men were focused on me, so the kids and I pretended to walk towards the door. We were still about 80 feet away, it was a large open area, and there were still dozens of people around, so we were safe.

The guy stopped a short distance from the door and waited. He stayed there several minutes as I continued to browse. I decided to make it very obvious that I was looking in his direction. Then I pulled my phone out and called Mr. Handsome and explained the situation. As I talked, the man waiting by the door walked outside, and I lost track of the second man. As I considered my options, I scanned the crowd and observed the employees. They were all about 15 years younger than me and didn’t look happy to be there, so asking an employee for help didn’t seem like a great option.

Mr. Handsome and I agreed that the best course of action would be to do what I always tell our kids to do if they get lost in a public place: Find a woman with kids, and ask for help. And in this case, I knew I needed that woman to have a husband who looked both approachable and intimidating.

I found the perfect family. They had two daughters and were clearly attending the sports tournament. The dad looked like a nice guy who could take someone down if needed, so I approached them. At that point, I was fighting back tears. I explained what was happening and asked if they would walk my kids and me to our car. They were very friendly and more than willing to help.

I didn’t see either of the men as we walked outside, but there were a lot of people and a lot of vehicles. I had my phone in my pocket, and Mr. Handsome was listening. The family walked me to my car, and I asked them if they would wait while I loaded the kids and the stroller. They said they would be happy to.

And that was it, I drove away, and we finished our drive home. Something was going on that day. Whether those guys were looking to traffic women or children, I’ll never know. The gas station was located along the interstate, about five miles from the nearest town, and close to where the interstate split into three different directions, so it would be easy to get away. Perhaps their plan wasn’t that sinister. Maybe they were just average, run-of-the-mill purse snatchers, or at worst, car thieves. But all I know is that walking out of that gas station alone would have been an incredibly naive, and dare I say brainless, decision.

Of course it wasn’t easy to walk up to strangers and ask for help. No one wants to admit that they are helpless and in need of rescuing. But I cannot imagine how I would have felt if something bad had happened and I had to come to the realization that I could have entirely changed the outcome by making a slightly different choice. God protected us that day. From what, I’ll never know, but I do know that those men were planning something.

Our oldest son, Little Buddy, has become quite the athletic little seven-year-old. He plays soccer and basketball, rides his bike, and loves to swim. (He is has also recently started practicing tricks on the yo-yo, but that’s another post for another day.) While we were on our annual trip to to the Florida Panhandle, he spent hours snorkeling, both in the pool and in the ocean.

He stayed in the shallow water, and we stayed close to him. He loved it. He also did some boogie boarding, and I enjoyed doing that with him. What made it all the more memorable was that he was using the same yellow U.S. Divers snorkel and green Morey boogie board that I used as a kid.

Littlest Buddy is three years younger, but he is showing interest in soccer, so we signed him up to play this year. I will report back on how he enjoys it.

Hello! I wanted to jump on a give an update. I hope to hear from some of my faithful followers in the comments section.

I mostly spend my days homeschooling. Mr. Handsome has a day off each week, and I use that day to do some flexible, remote work for a small business. Our children are now seven, four, and two years old. Our little girl is talking nonstop. We recently started the process of weaning her off her pacifier. She was a huge fan of it, so I was nervous, but the weaning process is going surprisingly well. She was already talking nonstop before, and now that her “baba” has a hole in it and she doesn’t have it in her mouth all day, she talks even more. Just this week, she started using the word “actually.” She has a little winter hat with bunnies on it that she wears all day, even inside, and she likes to carry her backpack, or “pack-ack” around with her.

Little Buddy spends his free time reading, playing outside, and playing with Littlest Buddy. They both have little monkey stuffed animals that they love. The monkeys frequently talk to each other and seem to especially enjoy conversing at night after the lights go out.

The two boys got Legos for Christmas, and they think that makes them “big kids.” Little Buddy of course spends a lot of time each day working on his homeschool lessons. It is a joy to watch him learn. Littlest Buddy sees his older brother doing schoolwork and is eager to join in. He likes to trace shapes and designs and knows all of his letters and sounds. He recently started practicing two-letter phonics blends, and I look forward to watching him learn to read. We are part of a co-op, and we keep a busy social calendar with both homeschool and public school friends. The boys also play soccer and basketball.

Eleven days ago, Middle Tennessee was hit with a historic ice storm that caused widespread damage and plunged more than 300,000 homes into darkness. We were out of power for five days, but that was nothing compared to how long some people were out. Today, I read that about 8,000 homes in Nashville are still in the dark. We spent one night with only a fireplace to keep us warm, but the following day we were able to hook our central heating up to a generator. Although we were in the dark, it was a blessing to have heat. Our yard is still a skating rink, and even the snow is frozen. We are hoping for a good melt this weekend.

Before the storm, I had my third miscarriage. Some of you might remember that I had two miscarriages before the birth of my second child. This one has been the most difficult physically, with a lot of pain for nearly two weeks. But emotionally, it has been the least difficult. I have experienced a “peace that surpasses all understanding” that I know is from the Lord, and I am grateful for the reminder that He cares about my pain.

Hi, blog readers! It’s been quite a while since I’ve posted an update. First off, I would like to hear how your summer was. What were some of the highlights? We had a busy spring and a more relaxed summer. We were home most of the summer, which I really enjoyed, and we welcomed a few visitors, which was great. I generally prefer hosting family and friends over traveling to visit them.

In June, we met Mr. Handsome’s side of the family in Gatlinburg for four days. There were 15 adults and 15 children, and we all stayed in one huge lodge. It was well set up, with a large gathering area and a lot of small bedrooms.

We took all the kids on a three-mile hike, and it went surprisingly well. It was pretty flat, so the terrain was easy on the children’s feet. Those with babies brought a hiking carrier. We parked at the Metcalf Trailhead and hiked up to the Little Greenbrier School, a schoolhouse built in 1882 that is open to the public. The kids loved sitting at the original desks and looking at the writing on the chalkboard. They felt like Laura Ingalls Wilder, and honestly, all the adults did, too. We all thoroughly enjoyed this piece of living history.

From there, we hiked to the Walker Sisters’ Place, a cabin built in the 1840s that is also open to the public. There was a three-page document inside the house that detailed the interesting history of the family. The Walker family owned the house before the Great Smoky Mountains National Park was established and were allowed to stay after the park opened, but their activities were limited by park regulations. For a while, the Walker sisters welcomed visitors to their property.

One of the evenings we were in Gatlinburg, after all the other kids had gone to bed, I took six-year-old Little Buddy on a special outing to a mountain coaster. It’s not a typical roller coaster. The car you sit in is self-propelled, so you can control the speed. I don’t love roller coasters, but this was incredibly fun. I enjoyed spending one-on-one time with my oldest child.

All 15 kids did great on the trip, and everyone slept well, which was my biggest prayer. One of the highlights of our time in Gatlinburg was seeing two black bears up close. While Mr. Handsome was on the back deck grilling burgers, they walked out of the woods to investigate the scrumptious smell. They were directly under the grill, just ten feet below the enclosed deck. When they saw Mr. Handsome, one of them walked slowly back into the woods, and the other sauntered out into the parking lot and passed several other lodges before we lost sight of him. There were plenty of people and cars around the complex, but the bear did not seem scared at all.

Hello, blog readers! It has been a few months since my last post. Life has been busy, and it has been hard for me to find time to sit down and blog, but I want to give you all an update on our family.

Little Buddy is six years old and has matured in leaps and bounds over the past several months. He is eager (most of the time) to help me around the house, and he even enjoys doing things for his younger siblings (often without me asking him). He is full of energy and always has been, but he has just recently gotten to the point of being able to sit down with a chapter book and read independently for a short period of time. He and Littlest Buddy are great friends and spend a lot of time playing together. Sometimes things get rough, as is expected with young boys, but for the most part they are kind to each other. I love watching them become best friends.

Littlest Buddy is three years old. He is very perceptive and takes everything in. While we are driving, he will frequently point out places we have been, even if it was a few months ago. And he sometimes even tells me the correct direction to turn when we are going familiar places. His “baby voice” is slowly disappearing, and he has recently figured out how to pronounce more difficult sounds like “th.” He still uses a few of his “baby” words, such as “mook” for milk, and it makes me smile every time because I know it won’t last long. When mook becomes milk, I think both Mr. Handsome and I will cry.

Little Lady is one, and she is enjoying her newfound freedom that comes with being able to walk. Her greatest desires are to get into the bathroom and climb the stairs, so much so that if she is across the room and she sees that the bathroom door or the gate blocking the stairs is open, she bolts over. When we close it, she lets out a scream. She can say a few words, like “mama,” “dada,” “moe” for more, and “nun” for done.” The other day, she was running around holding two of her brother’s Beanie Babies, and she put them in her dollhouse. I said, “Can I please have Brother’s monkeys,” and she grabbed them and handed them to me. We have enjoyed watching her interact with her brothers.

How have all of you been doing?

From Mr. Handsome:

Last weekend, I had an epiphany during breakfast with the family, as I was enjoying my Corn Chex (the only cereal that Ellie buys) with a little bit of Trader Joe’s granola. “You know Ellie,” I said. “I think that as a father, it is very important for me to spend quality time with our children. Wouldn’t you agree?”

“I think that is very important,” replied Ellie.

“Well, I have some free time this afternoon, and I could plan an outing,” I stated. “What do you think?”

“That’s a great idea,” responded Ellie.

“What if I take the kids to Five Daughters Bakery for donuts?” I suggested.

Ellie looked up sharply from her no-sugar-added oatmeal with cinnamon and raisins (what she eats every single morning). “So what you are saying is that Daddy wants donuts,” she stated.

“No, no, no” I replied in total shock. “The donuts are just extra. The focus is family time.” I could tell that Ellie didn’t believe me.

After breakfast, I hosted a men’s Bible study. Throughout the entire study, I could almost taste the creamy deliciousness of Five Daughters 100-layer donuts. And of course, I couldn’t wait to spend quality time with my children.

I excitedly told Little Buddy that we would be going out for donuts after Littlest Buddy’s nap. I was expecting my five-year-old to jump for joy, so you can imagine how shocked I was when he looked back at me and said, in a very mature tone, “That’s okay, Daddy. I don’t need a donut.”

“”Wait, what did you say?” I was confused. I have never known a child to turn down a donut. “”Wait, what did you say?” I was confused. I have never known a child to turn down a donut. One of our friends had brought mini cinnamon rolls to Bible study, and Little Buddy explained that he had eaten a few and that he therefore didn’t need any other treats for the rest of the day.

“But don’t you want a sugary chocolate donut with sprinkles on top?” I asked my son. “And don’t you want to spend quality time with Daddy?”

“Well I would actually rather stay home and wrestle with you, Daddy,” said Little Buddy. “And could you give us horsey back rides, too?” How could I say no to that?

At that moment, Ellie, who had overheard the conversation, came rushing into the room with a huge smile on her face. “I’m so proud of you, Little Buddy!” she exclaimed. “Deciding that you don’t need a treat shows that you are very mature.” Ellie works hard from the time the kids are six months old to give them vegetables at every meal and limit their sugar intake to one small treat on most days. She is the only person I know who genuinely likes the taste of vegetables, and our kids are following in her footsteps.

Ellie turned to me and said, “Mr. Handsome aren’t you proud of Little Buddy and his wise decision to stay away from sugar? Since you’re a mature adult, I’m sure you won’t mind skipping the donuts, right?”

I felt a small tear welling up in my eye as I said, “Yes, Little Buddy, I am very proud of you.”

Hi blog readers! Mr. Handsome heard that I haven’t kept up with my blog this summer (been busy enjoying the weather and making memories with our three kiddos), and he decided to help with posts. I hope this one gives you a good laugh.

From Mr. Handsome:

I must make a public service announcement that you might find concerning, shocking, and possibly even disturbing. The sad truth is that there has been a steady decline in the quality of coffee beans over the past several years. The taste is fine and has not changed significantly, but the concentration of caffeine has dropped dramatically. It seems that they are taking the caffeine out of the beans, and I do not know why. Perhaps it is inflation, government regulation, worker shortage, or climate change. I really can’t say for sure. But I have proof that it is happening. Allow me to explain.

I noticed the issue when we had our first child. It literally happened the exact week that Little Buddy was born, specifically the day I returned to work. The timing could not have been worse. I noticed that even after my morning cup of coffee, I still did not have the energy that I used to. I just chalked it up to a bad batch of coffee beans and bought a new bag. Unfortunately, the new bag was just as bad, and I had to switch from 8 ounces of coffee in the morning to about 12 ounces just to feel awake and ready for the day.

“Must be corporate greed,” I said to myself. “The coffee manufacturers are taking some of the caffeine out of the coffee beans to force us to buy more coffee.”

One morning at breakfast, I noticed Ellie looking tired and asked if she was also noticing the low concentration of caffeine in her coffee. “Yes, Mr. Handsome, I think that must be the problem,” she stated, as she bounced a fussy Little Buddy while holding his pacifier in his mouth.

But this drop in caffeine quality was nothing compared to what happened a few years later. This time, it was perfectly timed with the birth of our second child. I noticed that not only did I need a larger cup of coffee in the morning, but by lunch I needed a second cup just to get through the rest of the day.

“Ellie, do you think the Covid supply chain issues have caused coffee companies to have to thin out their coffee beans?” I asked my wife.

“Yes, dear, I think that is the problem,” replied Ellie, who was feeding Littlest Buddy while Little Buddy did somersaults in the living room.

Earlier this year, we had our third baby, and what do you think happened that very week? The worst drop in caffeine quality of them all. At this point, drinking coffee is basically just drinking flavored water. They must have taken all the caffeine out of coffee beans to fight inflation. The other day, I tried a monster drink for the first time, and even that didn’t provide energy. The poor caffeine quality has spread beyond just coffee and is now affecting the entire caffeinated beverage industry. However, the caffeine shortage has had no effect whatsoever on the energy levels of our children.  

If we all band together, perhaps we can can petition the Food and Drug Administration to address this terrible problem. Have any of you noticed a decrease in the effectiveness of caffeine over the past few years?

Hi blog readers! In celebration of the nine-year anniversary of Nashville Wife, I want to take a few minutes to share something with you that is very important to me. That is my faith in Jesus. My testimony in a nutshell is that I began following the Lord in my later elementary years. When I was in 4th grade, my family started going to church, and it was there that I began to understand what it means to live my life for Jesus.

I am eternally grateful to the church’s children’s ministry director, youth pastors, and volunteers who loved Jesus and loved kids. They were dedicated to following God, and they showed it with their selfless service to the kids in our church and the volunteer work that they led us in outside the church walls.

The Bible tells us that a relationship with Jesus gives us a peace that transcends all understanding, and that is something that everyone can experience. God invites anyone to call on the name of the Lord and accept His free gift of salvation. It doesn’t matter what kind of past a person has or even if he or she has committed murder. The Bible says that if we confess with our mouth that Jesus is Lord and believe in our heart that God raised Him from the dead, we will be saved (Romans 10:9).

We are all sinners and fall short of the glory of God, and we deserve eternal punishment and separation from God in hell. But God made a way for us to have a relationship with Him by sending his Son, Jesus, to take our punishment by dying on the cross. That allows us to live in communion with God here on Earth and to spend eternity with Him in heaven.

I am not a perfect person. I still sin and fall short of God’s standard every single day, and because of that, I am reminded daily of my need for Jesus and how grateful I am for His sacrifice on the cross. His blood covers my sins.

I understand that some of you may have been hurt by people claiming to be Christians and that the idea of church and Christianity might give you a bad taste. Let me be the first to tell you that I am deeply sorry for your pain. There are people out there who say they follow Jesus but don’t. Living for God means loving others as we love ourselves, so anyone who hurts people does not understand what it means to be a Christian. The Bible tells us that people who genuinely follow Jesus will show it with their actions and the fruit of their lives.

If you have no interest in a relationship with Jesus, then feel free to disregard this post. But if you have any questions or would like to learn more, feel free to leave a comment or send me an email. I will not begin to pretend that I have all the answers, but God does, and He promises to answer us if we call on Him.