When I say I peeled myself out of bed this morning, I mean I literally had to self-talk my way through every body part that braved its departure from the sheets. My head was slow to the game. Somehow I ended up at Target a few hours later, my side-kick walking next to me, miraculously oblivious to the Hello Kitty lipglosses we passed twice.

“Do you want lemons, Mom? ‘Cuz they help you not be sick, right?” I smiled, willing myself not to gag. By the time we made it to the dairy aisle, I was worried. I’ve never thrown up in a public place, and I began scouting out my surroundings, searching for the perfect crime scene like solving the mystery in a game of Clue. I had it all figured out–the gardening aisle, in a rubber rain boot, with a straw hat thrown over my head for concealment.

Thankfully, we made it home and I didn’t have to buy a pair of “used” galoshes after all.

Moral of the story? Dude, I so wish I had something more exciting to share but this is it right now. Complaining kind of bores me, and I will be happy when I’m more on top of my game. It will come, and I will wait patiently. My sickness with Lainey lasted 16 weeks, Nella’ was 14 weeks, so statistically I should be wrapping this up pretty quick now. Inspired writing sessions follow, right?

In the meantime, our big to-do has been a car wash.

It has really nothing to do with getting the car clean and everything to do with two girls who love water and slopping sudsy sponges.

And other happenings…

Visiting our friend Jesse this week.

Nella’s Book Obsession.

She says “book” now every morning when she wakes up and after every nap. She wants five books. And even though we have a stack of five books to read, she only wants the Elmo one read and reread five times.

And sometimes when we reach to pull her out of her crib, she says “No” and sits back down, asking for books in her bed.

She learns it from her sister.

“Teaching” her pupil, Latte

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Congratulations to the Mark Poulin Mother/Child Necklace Set Winner, Comment #9, Nikki: Congratulations!! I don’t know that I’ve ever been this excited for someone I don’t actually know…but of course, I feel like I do know you! I can’t wait to read about your upcoming adventures in pregnancy. I just hope you start feeling better soon! With both of my kids, I was nauseous 24/7 for about the, so I know the feeling! Thanks for sharing your news and your life with us all!

Nikki, please send your contact info to kellehamptonblog@comcast.net with the subject line MARK POULIN GIVEAWAY WINNER, and your gift will soon be on its way.

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This week, new sponsor Rosedale Swing Company joins us. A family-operated business, Rosedale Swing Company provides handcrafted swings that are as beautiful as they are well-made. Committed to sustaining natural resources, Rosedale Swing Company uses renewable products, applies environmentally safe ingredients and supports reforestation of West Coast forests. Their red cedar swings will provide years of entertainment for your family. Have a tree in your front yard begging to be the source of childhood memories? A front porch with an open space? A child’s bedroom calling for indoor adventure (indoor swings are the bomb!)?

Check out Rosedale Swing Company’s collection of handcrafted excellence. Custom engraving available, perfect for a unique Christmas, birthday or anniversary present. Use Code “simplejoy10” for 10% off your swing order.

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I proclaim a wicked comeback tomorrow. I’m going to be on top of my game. It could happen.

Dancing to “Moves Like Jagger” at the froyo shop last night.

I was so touched by a reader’s e-mail last week, I’ve asked her if I can share it. This young woman is such a brilliant example of confidence and tenacity, and she’s brought such beautiful clarity to some of my own challenges. I hope she inspires you too.

Dear Kelle,

My name is Sarah and I am one of your mystery readers. I feel like I am in AA and making a confession. I stumbled on your blog after receiving a link to another blog from a friend. Your blog was listed on the side under “blogs I read”. I was quickly drawn to the title and started reading. Little did I know, I would be reading your blog over the next several weeks, searching for every undiscovered, unread post. I immersed myself in your life, holding on to every word and every picture. I would sit for hours just reading and sobbing. Sobbing sometimes because of the sadness, but mostly because of the joy you exude in the most difficult situations. You take darkness and turn it into light.

Twelve years ago, when I was just twenty one years old, I was involved in a horseback riding accident that left me paralyzed from the waist down. Immediately, my life changed and everyone around me changed. Nothing was the same anymore and I was faced with not only the cluelessness of my twenties, but the overwhelmingly difficult challenge of doing this while newly paralyzed. After waking up in the ICU and learning my fate, I decided I would jump in with fervor and gusto. I was going to be the toughest, strongest, coolest paraplegic there ever was. I powered through therapy and insisted on covering my enormous back brace with chic pieces like a sweater around the neck or a scarf. I returned to college, after only missing a semester to recover. I was living as if I was going to beat the prognosis. As time went on, I learned this idea was not going to work. I began to have a tremendous amount of difficulty with the insurance company and obtaining what I needed, wheeling across a college campus seemed like so much work and took so much time. I started getting sick more and more often and was spending more and more time alone in my dorm room. I didn’t want to go places because I didn’t want people to see my wheelchair. I would have people over and insist I had to stay in bed just so I didn’t have to sit in the chair. I was losing and changing friends so rapidly because I had no idea who I was and anger and resentment were taking permanent residence in my mind.

I left Miami University, started a new job, and moved in with a high school friend. I continued to have higher and higher fevers every single day. I was vomiting every day, sometimes three or four times a day. I was trying to do my job as a tutor for children with autism and give them my presence and devotion and the attention they deserved, but I was slowly slipping away. My health problems increased and so did my insurance problems. My wheelchair was repossessed because of my insurance company’s failure to make payment! The issues went on and on and I fell deeper and darker into depression.

The doctors finally discovered that I was carrying a blood infection for at least nine years. I had to fight a number of doctors until I found one that actually felt there was something huge going on and didn’t dismiss my symptoms as just a UTI or a stomach bug. I had three years of treatments, of various kinds, to heal this infection.

I am now recovering rapidly and look forward to a future. Last year, when I discovered your blog, I was having a particularly difficult time in my life. I was terrified about moving forward, wasn’t all the way healed, and was just generally frightened about life. When I started reading your words, reading the fear you have, seeing how you keep going despite wanting to shut down, and feeling the positive energy that exudes from your blog, I started believing that I may have the life I’ve always wanted after all. Your honesty about wanting to hide the disability spoke volumes to me. I was always trying to live in spite of my injury instead of embracing it and living with it. I wanted to hide from everyone. I check your blog constantly because a simple picture of your girls or a story of a moment you’ve had, good or bad, can make my day seem bearable or better. Your stories, love of life, parties, simplicity, courage to just be present are all addicting. I want to create the feeling that comes through your blog in my life.

I, like you, always had a baby on my hip or kids in my life. I was the super nanny of my neighborhood and babysat all through high school and college until my accident. I can not wait to have a husband and babies. I can taste it, it is so real for me. I began thinking my dream life wasn’t possible because I couldn’t picture myself caring for my children they way I babysat. Water parks, ocean visits, hikes, and even playgrounds seemed impossible. I thought my children would be the unluckiest children and wish their mom could do something besides play scrabble. But then I found your blog. I see that Nella’s life is Nella’s life. Whatever modifications or changes have to be made, in comparison to Laney’s life, are made seamlessly. No one is suffering from a lack of anything. A disability does not mean dreams are over or are even comprimised. Working hard and making life what we want it to be is what we all have to do. Nella and I may have to work a bit harder, but we will still can have the life we desire.

Thank you for inspiring me to live the life I want and for making it look possible. I am plowing full steam ahead to grab what I want and to quote someone I admire, “suck the marrow out of life.”

Some people like to tell me that my injury, my paralysis, my illness, they are all a part of a plan, particularly God’s plan. That everything in my life has a reason and only He knows why. Well, I tend to find that a ridiculous thing to say. I find it very difficult to believe that hurt, pain, rape, murder, disability, war, and many other awful things are all a part of a plan. As far as I know and understand, God is love. Whenever love is present, so is God. God is inside of us all. When our hearts expand and more love blossoms, we are finding and experiencing God. When something tragic happens instead of being a part of a master plan, I believe it is just one more way we can expand our hearts. We are all a part of the human experience and with this experience comes many, many things we can not control…some good and some bad. Instead of analyzing them and figuring out why they occur, we would be much better off expanding our hearts and realizing all of the other people who share similar circumstances. We would be better off being a little bit easier on people we are frustrated with because who knows what he or she is going through or has been through. We must become more gentle and less tough. You have mastered this idea of opening your heart and sharing love.

Every child has known God-Not the God of names-Not the God of don’ts-Not the God who never does anything weird-But the God who knows only four words and keeps repeating them, saying: “Come Dance with Me.” Hafiz

Our life is a dance and we are the choreographers. You have taught me this through your blog and book and I am forever grateful. Because of you, I am starting my own blog to try to reach out to people who are suffering and in a similar condition or situation to mine. I hope it helps everyone, but want to focus on the disabled. A friend’s son jumped into a pool and is now paralyzed. He is at the beginning of the journey and I want to help him with my honesty, just as you have helped me with yours. If I reach out to only one person, it is worth it. I also need a place to tell these ridicouls stories that have happened throughout this journey! Please know I think of you often and am touched by your words constantly.

Thank you,
Sarah Berger

You can read more from Sarah’s new blog, Sarah Sitting Down.

Sarah, thank you so much for sharing your story.

I’ll be back tomorrow with a regular post and the Mark Poulin giveaway winner.

It feels liberating to say that I’ve spent a lot of time in bed the last few weeks, I walk around holding a bar of grapefruit guest soap that I randomly sniff to fight nausea, and when I say I want a lemonade, you have about t-minus-five seconds to do something about it (I’ve craved it every pregnancy now).

I kid. Not really.

What I really want to say is thank you so very much for all of your kind words and your heartfelt congratulations. Expanding our family is definitely something we’ve wanted to do, and we’ve had a couple losses in the process.

After both miscarriage and an unexpected birth experience, I am very emotionally aware this pregnancy. Does that mean I worry about silly things? Yes, sometimes, and I think that is natural and okay. It took me until seeing a heartbeat this time to even let excitement in the door (it was waiting outside, knocking). But there is another part of being emotionally aware that is good and comforting, and that is trusting my body, embracing all of the emotions that come with these nine months and letting go of what I can’t control. I’ve learned a lot the past couple years, and with that comes a great deal of peace. And where the peace has holes, there are wonderful people who listen and laugh and say “we all worry about that” and “well, that’s just motherhood.”

So for now, I smile and I sniff soap and I rest. A lot. With both girls, I was sick for 14-16 weeks. And while that seems much more difficult to handle with two kids, they have been so great to play quietly and join me in bed or on the couch for “lay still” games. Like Memory and dentist and hair salon and make-up spa parlor. And honestly, I don’t care how much eye shadow she uses or how far up my face the lipstick goes or how many rubber bands she’s managed to twist into tangles. I can close my eyes, and she’s happy.

Lainey’s Sweet Seat–don’t forget, you can still use Code “KELLE” for 10% off your Sweet Seat order.

The state of rest is recognized by our entire household now. Brandyn slept until noon today, the dogs are suddenly narcoleptic and Nella can randomly be found lying on the carpet, pretending to snore.

In the meantime, necessary routines encourage consistency and push us toward more productivity. I miss it.

Nella stacked a 1o-story high stack of blocks in O.T. this morning


Lainey convinces her brothers to take her swimming


I felt good tonight and actually texted back an “I’m in” to a girlfriend call to Hurricanes. I ate spicy food and laughed at inappropriateness and rolled out humor to match. “You’re on fire tonight,” my friend noticed after dropping me off. The whiney pregnant girl who sniffs soap, spits in sinks and sits in the shower with a Noxzema moustache just because it smells good was on fire. She was funny, and she felt great.

We’re getting there.

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Last week’s Friday Photo Dump:

Friday Phone Dump photos are taken on the Instagram iPhone app (free) and dropped into a 12×12 collage using a photo editing software (Photoshop Elements works). I am @etst (enjoying the small things) on Instagram if you care to follow the feed.

And your #enjoyingthesmallthings photos. (If you use Instagram and have a photo that makes you happy, share it by using the hashtag #enjoyingthesmallthings. Yours may be chosen to be shared in a Friday post.)

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Several of our past sponsors have come back on board this past month, and I’m excited to be reintroducing more this month. Some of you might be familiar with the ever-so-talented metalsmith and enamelist, Mark Poulin. His jewelry creations are unique conversation pieces ranging from simple and modern to fun and colorful.

Monkey Family Glass Necklace

If you like art, giving gifts that win the “cool thing no one else thought of” award, wearing pieces that tell a story or randomly being asked “Oh my God, where did you get those awesome earrings?,” then you’ll love Mark Poulin Jewelry.

My girls and I share a Mother/Daughter Sterling Set.

Mama monkey and her babies.

Mark’s store is full of more characters and inspiration. Check him out, and use Code ENJOY10 for 10% off anything in Mark Poulin Jewelry.

One comment from this post will be randomly selected (generated by random.org) to receive a Mother/Child 2-necklace set, courtesy of Mark Poulin.

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I’m going to go curl up with a bar of grapefruit soap and call it a night.