Birthday Wishes {Mommy Wars, God's Grace, and Other Random Thoughts}

There are dirty towels on my bathroom floor and clean clothes stacked high in my room.  The girl's bins are overflowing and there's two hampers that needed to be folded.  I spent the afternoon drinking coffee and chatting with friends on Facebook and the phone.  I'm not a size 4.  I'm not a size 6.  I haven't done my nails in probably 5 years or more.  My kids don't wear socks, usually (the bigs might but they are always mismatched).  The little girls have been on my iPad WAY too much today.  I served them pre made muffins and fruit for lunch and gave them unlimited suckers for "snack".  All this to say that I guess I'm getting older and my standards have dropped considerably.  Or I'm finally listening to God instead of the world.  I have no aspirations to "have it all".  I don't imagine that I can work out for an hour/day and regain my "pre pregnancy figure".  I'm sick to death of the pressure that other women/moms and society at large puts on mothers.  I'm tired of the "mommy wars" where one person claims to do more/be more/make more money than another.  It's harmful to women, it's harmful to children, it's harmful to marriages. 

About a decade ago I walked away from the shows and pop culture that I *thought* had brought me so much comfort.  I stopped listening to what the world said a mother/wife should be (I mean, really, "REAL Housewives" shows.  What a disgrace!).  I thought what I was doing was a sacrifice and that it would be hard to live without the music and talk shows and dramas.  I was wrong.  The further away I got from that world the more I was able to focus on what I had always claimed to be, a follower of Christ. 

Now, don't get me wrong.  I'm not some really smart theological type.  I wish I was but I'm not.  I'm don't ban all electronics (our five oldest kids have iPods, I have an iPhone and an iPad....).  We don't have cable because mostly it's filth and a waste of money but we do have netflix which we all use regularly.

There tends to be a huge misconception among folks that it was just so easy for us to "decide" to have ten children.  It seems to be a misconception that I'm constantly full of joy and happiness and patience. (I'm sure my husband doesn't think that but what can you do?).  The fact is that I yell at my kids, I get frustrated, sad, and overwhelmed.  Sometimes I yell "really God????!!!!" like when my 20 year old calls at midnight with a problem and I'm suffering from severe "morning" sickness. 

My temperament is melancholic and my personality type A.  So guess what I had to do?  DIE TO SELF.  Not once.  Not a few times but EVERY day.  I don't do it some days.  Some days I say "too bad God" and I bull doze through screaming and yelling, crying and being bitter.  On *those* days I forget to pray.  I forget to ask my friends and family to pray FOR me. 

But what if we forget to ask?  Or we refuse God's Grace?  What if it just seems TOO HARD and what if we look at Jane or Beth or Debbie and think "they don't have these days.".  It's then we have to pray harder and ask for the intercession of St. Michael.  Our world is under severe spiritual attack.  And followers of Christ have it worse.  The closer you get to God the more Satan will come after you.  He might make you think you need to be isolated or that your relationships are your crosses to bear.  But that's not what God intends.  He intends for us to have a "shelter" a community and for those closest to us (our children, parents, and spouses) to be our comfort and our strength.  But if satan can convince us that everyone is against us (even our dearest friends or spouses) then he has won.  It's then that we start blaming other people and things for our hardships or depression or struggles. 

I wish that women (especially mothers) would stop comparing themselves to eachother.  If we were just honest with one another we would know that every mother has doubts.  Every mother has regrets, bad days, and a dirty bathroom.  A dear friend reminded me today that God does not allow evil unless He is going to make good out of it.  That has certainly been true in my teen aged pregnancy, contraception using, near divorce, and so much more life.  He has brought absolute miracles out of the brokenness that was me.  That is me. 

Hannah asked me today what I wanted for my birthday.  I jokingly said "world peace".  But, really, I would love for all mothers to come together and lift eachother up instead of dragging eachother down.  I would love for mothers and fathers/husbands and wives to realize the gift that their fertility is and the blessing that their children are.  A tall order in a broken world but if Jesse and I can change our mindsets I believe others can too. Well, WE didn't change our minds, God did.  Jesus will NEVER force Himself on anyone.  He waits to be invited.  And He wants all of us to invite Him in.  Once we did that in our lives, marriage, and family our whole world changed.  It's not easy, it's not pretty, and it's certainly a chaotic mess some days but His grace is always enough.

Happy 10th Birthday Jackson!!

I cannot believe our Jackson is TEN years old!  It seems like only yesterday that I cuddled in bed with him on Thanksgiving Eve the year he was born.  When I look at Jackson I thank God for sending him to us.  It's interesting that he's near the middle of our children because he's such a blend of all of them. 

 

Today we had our homeschool co op (and I snuck away with J to get him a Starbuck's hot chocolate).  Then Jesse brought a special lunch home for him and we had a marble cake (complete with lego candles!) this evening. 

Happy Birthday Jackson!  We love, love, love you (and we wish you would grow out your hair again so it would be curly!!)

 

Above is Jackson in one of our favorite hang outs in Toledo.  He was 14 months there.  Below is a picture from when he was 2 at Greenfield Village.

And this sweet shot was around Christmas time 2005.  These kids are growing up WAY too quickly.  No.more.blinking.

 

Reality {And Why We're All The Same}

I was blessed to chat with some women the other day that I've been trying to get together with for quite some time. Women that, from afar, seemed to have it *all*.  Due to the fact that I had such a "rocky" decade in my 20's and often feel out of place in our Church Community (where it *seemed* like everyone was born reciting the Catechism, lol) I haven't reached out to people out of FEAR.  I was afraid they would reject me or judge me or think I wasn't smart.  I was afraid they would pick apart the fact that I still don't know the Act of Contrition even though we do attend reconciliation ALOT (and all of my old enough kids know it by heart so what IS my problem?).  But as I sat with these women I heard something completely different then I would have ever imagined.  As one of my favorite Tenth Avenue North songs says "different faces, different fears, different failures lead us here" (to Jesus) and we're "all the same" We are all desperate for LOVE.  One of the women so eloquently put it that people in our society think they crave sex or money or things but they really crave LOVE.  We are ALL made to know, love, and serve God. Even if we say we don't "believe" or we don't need "religion".  It's just not true.  But back to my original thought on reality.  Just as I was surprised and relieved to hear that these women were just as broken as I am so were THEY surprised to hear our story.  They were surprised at how our marriage started and nearly failed multiple times.  Sometimes I think (in fact I know) that people look at our family from the outside and think it's "perfect" or at least really good but I'm here to tell you (and if you read my blog you know this already) - I'M BROKEN!  We all are.  We weren't meant to be but ever since Adam and Eve ate that apple we.are.all.broken!  We can point fingers and call names and be judgy and nasty and jealous and prideful towards each other but that only serves Satan. That does not serve God. That does NOT build up the Body of Christ which is what we are CALLED to do.  I have consciously worked on this for the last few years - worked on not "assuming" that I know who people are or where they came from or what they think or feel.  I try not to jump to conclusions when people do or say certain things and I'm trying desperately to remember that not EVERYTHING is about ME (shocking but true).  And even though I have consciously worked on these things I realized, after my new friends left, that I'm failing.  I thought they had community already and that I would just be butting in to something that was already great and already there.  I was wrong.  We're all in need of LOVE and are waiting for someone to show it to us.  Again I make a resolution (that I will probably screw up several times) to just be who I am and who HE made me to be even if it's sometimes uncomfortable or puts me "out there" or I get rejected or hurt or whatever.  I will remember that we are ALL THE SAME and no matter what it seems like on the outside on the inside we are all crying out for HIS love.  As a follower of Christ it's my job to be that love to those around me.  I know I fail.  I know I hurt people.  But I am human too so I ask your forgiveness as I get up, dust myself off, and try again.  Feast of Christ the King, New Liturgical Year, new friends, old friends, amazing family and parents.  Today is a good day.  Today I will start again.

Gratitude Sunday

Happy Feast of Christ the King!  Time to rededicate myself, our marriage, and our family to the King of Kings!  Let the new Liturgical Year begin!  The girls (above) are wearing their "Jesus is my King" crowns.

I'm grateful for all sorts of things this week.  For discovering and rediscovering snow. "I'm just going to sit and look at the snow, mom" said Clare early this morning.

For Josie's excitement of the snow the other day.  Fun, fun, fun!  I love how kids are so excited about things that we just accept or take for granted. 

For fields large enough for RUNNING in (and giggling in and playing tag in) and for kids healthy enough to do the running.

It was a great week with so many things to be grateful for.  Our dishwasher broke but our new one is already installed!! (Thanks Jesse!).   The week ahead promises to be a good one filled with a birthday, Advent starting, and so many other things that I probably don't appreciate enough.

And I just had to snap this picture so I never forget it.  Who says a SAHM can't be a super hero?

Have a blessed week everyone!

Rainbows, Promises, and Christmas Music

Christmas music, it's my favorite.  I start it the day after Thanksgiving (well, sometimes I cheat and start the Monday before Thanksgiving) and listen through Epiphany.  The words fill me with JOY and PEACE and anticipation for the day that God came into the world FOR ME to SAVE ME.  But this year I said "no way".  The thought of Christmas made me cry.  Our lost baby fresh on my mind due 12/31.  All the heart ache of friends and family this year - lost babies, children, my grandma.  How can I feel joy?  How can I feel peace?  Out with Jesse today I scrolled by my "Bing Crosby" Pandora station and stuck with my Third Day Radio instead.  But two RAINBOWS shared with me today reminded me of God's promises and how He always keeps them.

When the bow is in the clouds, I will see it and remember the everlasting covenant between God and every living creature of all flesh that is on the earth.”  Gen. 9:16

 

Who am I to not celebrate the birth of the ONE who saved me?  The ONE who gave me all that I have?  The One Who gives and the One Who takes away?  I must choose joy.  Jesus knows my pain.  And when I feel guilty for feeling pain over something that isn't as bad as another's pain I hear Him tell me that it's OK to mourn.  It's OK if it takes six months or nine months or a year or ten.  He's with me, holding my hand, keeping His promises. 

 

Be strong and courageous. Do not be afraid or terrified because of them, for the LORD your God goes with you; he will never leave you nor forsake you." Deuteronomy 31:6

 

 

I may not start the Christmas music just yet.  Advent doesn't even begin for another 9 days.  I did purchase the album "Advent at Ephesus" and am enjoying that music very much.  My heart can hold JOY and sadness at the same time.  It's a mother's heart.  It's how He made me, made us.  Choosing joy each day doesn't mean forgetting the pain, the losses.  But God doesn't intend for us to be only sorrowful.  He wants us to be happy.  If not in this world then in the next for sure.  As Veronica's due date approaches I will think of her spending the most wonderful day of the Lord's birth with HIM.  What better place for her to be? 

Sunday is the Feast of Christ the King.  A new Liturgical Year is upon us.  A good time for me to re commit myself to Christ and to praise Him more fully for His Love and Mercy.  Even when I don't understand it I know He does what is best.  So bring on the Christmas music, the JOY, laughter, and PEACE. 

 

"Besides this you know what hour it is, how it is full time now for you to wake from sleep. For salvation is nearer to us now than when we first believed." Romans 13:11

 

 

The Word "Thankful" Doesn't Even Begin To Cover It

Happy and Blessed Thanksgiving!
Thankful is just not enough to describe  how I feel on this day (and most days).
We had another great dinner at my parent's house.  This year we were joined by my brother, sister in law, their two kids, and Brandon's girlfriend, Rose.  Everyone was HAPPY and HEALTHY!

The weather was absolutely amazing!  Jesse and I got a nice walk in while Josie slept.  The kids got tons of outside time!  There was laughter and joy filled faces, LOVE, and peaceful conversations.  We have few differences in our family (which is a huge blessing) and we all get along quite well.

I am grateful for our sweet niece, Ellie, who will be 10 in a month!  She's kind and loving and a great play mate for the older and younger kids alike. 

 

Cecilia celebrated the Feast of St Cecilia (today) with her new St. Cecilia tshirt.  Mary had a blast on the rings in the back yard and soaked in some much needed vitamin D!!

 

Our nephew Thomas and the younger boys played football while Owen did some fancy yo yo-ing in the back yard. 

Katie got into the game for a bit and played quite well!

This week Katie worked on these paper dolls for the girls.  I laminated them this morning and the girls had a blast playing with them.

Josie squealed with delight out in the yard for at least an hour.  I'm so grateful that she's happy and healthy and able to use her finger and arm again. God is so good!

One last family photo (different from the one on top - I'm not in it and Brandon's girlfriend, Rose, is.)

I cannot express how grateful I am to have the family that I do.  I don't deserve such wonderful people to share my life with but I do appreciate it. 

Wrong Mindsets {Children Are Gifts Not Cancers}

I was saddened to log on to Facebook this morning and find this picture making the rounds :

I read it and re read it and asked for some friend's input.  I don't get it.  What does this mean?  What is she saying? Where did it come from?  Is it saying that having children (four - specifically) is like having non threatening cancer forever?  I mean - I see that it SAYS that but does the writer actually mean that?  Someone on a friend's wall commented on this and said that kids were "more like a fungus".   I don't even have proper words to describe how that made me feel.  Me, blessed with TEN children on earth, 8 in Heaven, and praying REALLY HARD to be blessed with more.  Me, sitting at this computer nursing baby number 10 while my littles play, run, and scream around me.  Fungus?  Cancer?  How about JOY.  All the time joy?  Nope.  Sometimes they fight, yell, talk back, make me cry.  I have to feed them THREE times a day, do their laundry, wipe their tears, and change their diapers.  I teach them to walk, talk, read, and to LOVE God.  They are GIFTS not cancers or fungus' or burdens. They ARE NOT MINE.  They belong to God and He has entrusted them to Jesse and I for a while.  For how long?  We don't know.  Sometimes it's 5 weeks in the womb.  But I cherish those 5 weeks the same as the 20 years I've had with Brandon.  Jesse and I feel that having children brings extra responsibility to give and give and give until it hurts.  Give to the kids, give to the community, give to the Church, and give to each other.  I think if we want to rebuild the culture of LIFE then we cannot use our children as an excuse for not being able to give or love or look beyond ourselves.  There are certainly things I cannot or choose not to do because of our state in life.  Four kids 5 and under and 6 older ones besides does keep me busy on the home front.  But I spend too much time online and reading so perhaps THAT is the reason why I "don't have time" for certain things.  Either way my children are NOT a cancer.  They are not a fungus. They are precious and blessings and I'm grateful for each or them in a way that I can never fully describe. 

I'm thinking today about my friend who's baby died in utero at 16ish weeks.  Today I mourn with her.  I'm thinking today about my friend who's foster baby was taken away because our foster care system doesn't think of these children as people but as numbers.  I'm thinking today about the many people that I know that have lost babies and children this year and a friend who has carried her baby to term knowing full well that baby will not survive for more than a few hours (if that) outside of her womb.  I'm thinking today of all of my dear friends (and those I don't know) who long desperately for a baby or child to call their own.  These people surely don't think of children as cancers.  Perhaps this all struck me hard as I updated my Google Calendar last night only to see "baby due" on 12/31 highlighted in red and ending with and exclamation point. 

I hope my children know that there can never be too many of them and that we love them all individually.  I hope my children never read something like this and the comments underneath and think that is how I feel or have ever felt.  I didn't feel it as a 17 year old single mother and I don't feel it now.  I do get overwhelmed, frustrated, and sometimes I scream but that's MY issue. That's because of ME and not them. They are always a gift. Perhaps *I* needed to read this to remind myself.

As it happens this excerpt was taking from THIS BOOK which I have not read so I have no idea what the actual context is.  I only know what I'm seeing on Facebook which is really rattling me so I should probably sign off and go embrace my blessings. 

"Children are a gift from the Lord" Psalm 127:3

Gratitude Sunday

For brunch with friends, strawberry pie, generous family, LOVE,
forgiveness, a movie night with Jesse, for finding JOY and embracing sorrow,
For Thanksgiving week and all the fun we will have, turkey, pie, board games, laughter,
for finally being able to look back as a means of going forward (and for all the friends, family, love, and understanding that got me there!), for the unseasonably warm weather and nighttime walks with Jesse,
for all this and so much more I am truly GRATEFUL!!

 

Ideals {And Why They Didn't Work For Me}

Maybe it's that I'm getting old(er) or that I'm getting lazy(er) but I'm finding that I have finally let go of some of my ideals.  When I was a young mom and the Internet was new I would peruse websites, chat rooms, and blogs and be inspired.  I wanted my play room to look like the Pottery Barn Kid's one on some one's blog, I wanted my kids to prance joyfully in fields of wild flowers and somehow just "learn" math by counting beans or some such.  I wanted to grind wheat and sprout grains all on my own while keeping up my figure (by working out everyday, of course) and manage to have candles burning on my dust free shelves each night when Jesse would arrive home.  The kids, of course, would be neat, quiet, smart, holy, and would never fight.  They wouldn't want to watch a show or play on the computer because they'd be so busy building with Lego's or figuring out some chemistry equation at the age of 8 that they wouldn't have time.  The more I read and studied and aspired to the more depressed I got.  *My* kids weren't acting like the ones on the blogs.  They didn't pray the entire rosary with their hands in a praying position at the age of 3.  They liked to play outside but they also liked computer games and they had favorite shows.  My house was picked up, sometimes, but it was dusty and often times cluttered.  I couldn't lose that extra "baby" fat and when Jesse came home it was usually chaos.  I felt like a failure.  Here I was a stay at home mom blessed enough to add homeschooling to the mix but everything was a mess.  "Those blog moms can do it" I thought "so why can't I?".  In reality I'm a pretty high energy person.  After I had Jackson (our fifth) I even added coffee into the mix so then I was REALLY high energy.  I like to organize and clean and I love to cook and bake.  I like play dough and coloring and nursing babies until they are sound asleep.  I love reading stories to small and big kids alike.  But I still didn't hold a candle to the blogsphere moms.  Soon after that Facebook came on the scene and the status' of people blew me away.  They were purely awesome people with purely awesome kids and husbands and I was...well, not.  (Of course my husband and kids *are* purely awesome so I bring them down for sure ;) ).   I finally stopped reading the blogs that made me feel the worst.  I know it was about me and not them but I just couldn't take it.  I felt SO horrible about myself because I can't knit or sew and my kids cry and fight.  Now they rarely match their clothing (and sometimes they don't change their clothing). The little girls wear each other's clothes so usually their things are too big or too small or both.  Socks are a joke.  I mean, seriously.  I used to have coordinating socks with their outfits.  Now their socks (if they wear them at all) don't even match.  My kids like to read but they don't really read classics much (except for school).  They *are* talented and very musically inclined but sometimes it takes some pushing to get them going.  I do get that "this is ideal" feeling when the dishwasher is humming, there's a hot cup of coffee in my hand, I'm reading a book, and the kids are playing quietly while the baby naps. But that happens like once per year.  I worked back up to reading some of the blogs that used to make me feel badly.  I figured there was some serenity to be gained by glimpsing into a less chaotic environment for a few minutes.  I realize that different people are reached in different ways.  I'm more of an "all out there" kind of person.  Like I just bribed Clare (2) with the iPad so I could get a few minutes to listen to Al Kresta and finish up this blog.  Jesse does usually come home to dinner on the table and the kids are sometimes quiet but rarely are they neat and tidy. They do greet him with sloppy kisses and hugs that leave peanut butter on his pants but he doesn't seem to mind.  Sometimes I brush my hair before he gets home but sometimes I don't.  I do, however, always try my best everyday.  I don't try to be the "ideal" or what the blogsphere says I should be.  I do try to be what God wants from ME.  Messy, imperfect, chaotic, me.  As Thanksgiving and Christmas approach I'm bracing myself for the perfect Christmas tree photos with the kids singing carols around the tree in their perfect outfits with matching hair bows.  There's nothing wrong with those things, of course, but they are not what I was built to be.  I know people look at our family and think "chaos".  I prefer to think of it as a love that can't be quantified by dust free shelves, freshly baked cookies, or neatly folded clothing.  It is what it is.  And at the end of the day I'm grateful for all that it entails.  I will say that a life like this isn't for the faint of heart.  But it's our life. And it's worth it.

"Therefore, holy brothers, who share in the heavenly calling, fix your thoughts on Jesus, the apostle and high priest whom we confess." Hebrews 3:1

Strength In Suffering {Finding Inspiration From Those Around Me}

I haven't been able to write lately.  It's no surprise, I'm sure, that I was sorely disappointed (but not surprised) at the election results.  I've also had a headache for going on five days, and I have a 15 month old that doesn't sleep.  You may think "sure, right.  She must sleep sometime" well, not really.  She will occasionally sleep for an hour at a time while I'm in bed with her.  Beyond that she doesn't sleep. She "goes to bed" at around midnight every night - sometimes without a crying spell but usually she's mad that I've ruined her fun of staying up all night.  Also, Thanksgiving is approaching and after that Advent and after that Christmas.  The stores are stocked with trees and lights and are blasting Christmas songs.  As hard as I try I cannot forget what this Christmas was supposed to be.  This Christmas was supposed to bring another baby into our family.  Alas God knows what's best and our baby is with Him instead. A way better place for her but a way emptier plan for me.  The intellectual side of me says "hey, lady, you have TEN kids and a million things to be thankful for so shut it" but the mama heart side of me still aches.  I guess I don't bounce back like so many stronger men and women that I know. 

Tomorrow a dear friend leaves for China to meet and bring home a little boy that God put in her path.  She suffered great heartache just a year ago but she persevered and is saving a child's life.  I am thankful for her friendship, her encouragement and her inspiration.

Another friend is carrying a baby that could be gravely ill. We are all praying for a miracle but she is very brave and ready to accept whatever God has in store for her.  I am grateful for the reminder to carry my cross instead of dying under the weight of it.

These are just two examples of the people I am blessed to encounter on a daily basis.  Men and women that have bravely accepted God's plan and deny their own desires to be His servants. 

There are friends that have welcomed new life and those that desire to but are unable to. There are friends with cancer or aging parents to care for. There's my mom who is facing the holidays for the first time in her life without her mother.  All are embracing their suffering with heads held high. 

Yesterday afternoon I was in a fit of a headache trying to figure out life (because that's a good time to figure things out, right?) so I played the "tell me what you want to say, God" game with the Bible and with other Catholic Apps on my iPad.  You know you've played it.  You randomly pick a page and try to decipher what the meaning of that passage is in your life.  I came upon many things but this stuck. From one of my very favorite Saints:

"The greatest greatest honor God can do for a soul is not to give it much, but to ask much of it."
~ St. Therese of Lisieux

"Suffering is the very best gift He has to give us. He gives it only to His chosen friends."
~ St. Therese of Lisieux

 

So I remember "every day with joy" as a young girl that recently passed away (a saint for sure) taught me.  I try to remember to CHOOSE happiness even when I don't feel it.  I don't always succeed so I am asking for your prayers.  I always seem to ask for something, don't I? Thank you, friends. And may God bless your days.

Gratitude Sunday/Happy 16th Birthday Hannah!

For Birthday Celebrations!  My mom's birthday was yesterday and Hannah's is today (16!!). 

 

For the gift of life and all the people in our lives.....

 

 

For family and cousins and coffee and laughter

 

(St. Scholastica is Hannah's Confirmation Saint)
And a new car, of course, because that's what you get when you're 16, right?

For this beautiful spring like day in early November!  Hopefully the fresh air wore the kids out (I know it wore me out!) and they will head to bed early.  Here's to a new week!

 

 

Where A Mom Of Ten Shops For Christmas {Bliss Baby And Kids Review}

Advent is fast approaching with Christmas just four (ish) weeks after that.  My goal each year is to get my Christmas shopping done by the first Sunday in Advent.  I create my google doc spreadsheet in mid September and then my challenge begins.  I'm driven to check off each and every box.  Since we don't have TV my kids aren't subjected to the commercials containing plastic nonsense toys that will scarcely outlive the octave of Christmas.  Not to mention when you have as many children as we do the toys become the "decor" of our home.  I want them to at least look good, right?  I don't strive for toy boxes full of junk that never get played with.  We don't do thousands of presents under the tree.  Each child gets one or two GOOD QUALITY (preferably made in the USA) gifts and a stocking full of fun goodies too.  I try to avoid big box stores as much as possible.  They are busy, flashy, and contain those items that will likely end up in the bottom of that toy box I don't want to own.  For nearly the last decade I have had fun shopping at Bliss Baby And Kids (recently renamed from their old name Baby Bliss).  This small town boutique like shop contains toys, clothes, shoes, games, and gifts for children of all ages (with their family games being among our favorites!). 

When you walk in you are greeted by one of the two owners who have personal experience with all of their products.  They have four children of their own ranging in age from 3 - 18 and are some of the nicest people I've ever had the privilege of knowing.  They are accommodating and helpful and give HONEST opinions (they are not just out to make a buck - they want you to be happy with your purchase).  They provide curbside service, gift wrapping, and they ship their products all over the United States.

If natural parenting is your thing they have a wide range of cloth diapers, baby care essentials, amber necklaces, and baby carriers.  If you're interested in crossing some gifts off of your Christmas lists, supporting local businesses and buying American made products (that are non toxic!!) please consider Bliss Baby and Kids this Christmas season.  I promise you will not be disappointed.  I didn't even list half of what they carry so you'll have to stop in to see for yourself!! (They also have baby and birthday party gift registry available!!)  They are located at:

137 E Main Street

Northville, MI

48167

1-248-344-0001

Hours

Monday - 11-3

Tuesday - Saturday 10 - 5

Please, if you've had a good experience with Bliss Baby and Kids let others know!  Share this blog, like THEIR PAGE on Facebook (where special offers and exciting new products are updated!!)  and help support local businesses!  Thank you and God Bless You!