Nancy and Sarah hooked me up with a photo session for Karis with Christine Hobson, an amazingly talented photographer. She came over on Sunday and turned our house into a photo studio. She is so good with babies and knows how to keep them sleeping while snapping all kinds of poses. Here is a photo of her doing her thing:And here are some of the results:These are just proofs from her blog, and I can't WAIT to see all of the shots! . . .

Okay, I promise. No placenta talk. But if you really want to throw up in your mouth right now, check this out. Don't say I didn't warn you. It's been a little over a week since Karis' arrival. We sprung out of that hospital as fast as we could and left within 24 hours, which was as soon as they would allow us. I. Hate. Hospitals. We were so happy to come home, and because I have the best in-laws ever, we got to spend our first night home without the two older kids, just enjoying our new baby.We . . .

For those of you who enjoy this kind of thing, here are the [not so] gory details of Karis' big day:I was scheduled to be induced for Monday, April 27th. I've always been a fan of going more natural when it comes to stuff like this, but my belly was already measuring at 44 weeks at my 40 week appointment. I knew I was gonna have a big baby, and it became a question of trying to induce to avoid a c-section, or waiting it out to avoid pitocin. My doctor persuaded me to schedule the induction, but . . .

There are some days as a stay-at-home mom where I wake up and wonder how I'm gonna entertain the kids for the entire day. At 40+ weeks pregnant, that is my dilemma pretty much every day. Enter our dashing UPS guy, who delivered a large box with a lot of bubble wrap (and a breast pump, but I didn't let the kids play with that). The kids spent the first part of the day playing with the bubble wrap. They popped it with their fingers, and then put it on the ground and stomped on it, and then . . .

There is a whole school of therapy based on the premise that people just need empathy for their childhood wounds. The assumption is that most parents are unable to give empathy or apologize to their children for things that are difficult, which leaves them with a gaping hole that a therapist can fix by providing a corrective emotional experience in adulthood. I have seen a lot of people come to therapy with the underlying issue of never feeling understood or validated by their parents. So as I . . .

I know I've been posting a lot of cute pics of the kids, and some of you have asked that I post a picture of myself. I've been avoiding it because I am so, so huge. But then I thought, what the heck. It's not like I'm carrying 8 or something. So here is a little tummy shot of me at 40 weeks pregnant:I told you I was huge. . . .

About a year ago, my friend Ali and I started a "mommy blog" called Mama Manifesto. It's been a fun adventure, a huge learning experience, and a whole lot of work for pretty much no money. The upshot is that often, companies will solicit us for promotional consideration, and we get some fun swag. So when a local beach resort offered us a little getaway, I was like, um . . . . YES. Last weekend we got to stay at a nice hotel that is about 5 minutes from our house and overlooking the beach. We had . . .

I sat out on the Easter celebration this morning. Our church does a big, county-wide service at the Pacific Amphitheater. It is always artistic, always inspirational, and always kind of a zoo getting in and out with that many people. My end-of-pregnancy waddle has morphed into a slow, strained elderly gait, because my pelvis is basically coming apart. So there was no way I was going to be climbing stairs and walking up steep hills and then walking to and from an endless parking lot. Mark decided . . .