hannah ananas

I was bothered that my body must be struggling with balance right now, because I hadn’t menstruated on schedule, and only today, finally, started 17 days late. (And, before you get any ideas, no, there was zero chance of pregnancy, because that requires certain prerequisites to be a possibility. Anyway…) I haven’t skipped or been delayed in menstruation like this more than maybe once or twice in my adult life (aside from pregnancy). So, I was working hard not to be very stressed about what this might mean about my insides. When I mentioned it to my husband, however, his response was that it must have been a birthday present to me for my daughter’s first birthday. God determined that I could have a rest in celebration of her birthday and of my role in that.

(Even writing this now, it still cracks me up.)

It was silly and sweet, and it definitely eased my ebbing stress about it all. Thank you, Husband, for being so wonderful and loving and sweet.

Thank you, God. In your name, I pray. Amen.

Post-a-day 2026

My husband sent me a photo of himself out bowling with coworkers, apparently poorly. He said it was his sad face, and it was specifically a photo of him pointing to his losing score. I responded with a photo of our baby, who was presently fussing, and told him it was her sad face. He replied that it was her ‘I’m tired crying’ face. Fair enough, though it was only partly that.

I later sent him another photo of our baby, this time fiercely crying while sitting on her little toilet, and I asked him what face that was. I sent him a couple photos of it, showing various versions of the intensity of her crying. He simply replied with, “I need to pooooooooop”.

Fair enough, Daddy. She was on the potty because she had just been ripping ’em on the bed. And she hasn’t pooped all day. Though, I hadn’t told him any of that yet! Good job, Daddy. Good job.

Post-a-day 2026

Today, I arrived to Costco and found a great parking spot, in which I proceeded to sit for probably half an hour or more, talking on the phone with my dad while he did his taxes and my baby slept. Whenever I change her environment while she’s sleeping, it always wakes her up within minutes, if not immediately. I wasn’t in a hurry, and I preferred that she get some good rest, so I waited. Plus, it is rare these days that I get to hang with my dad like that, where he’s not already kind of in a rush to get to his next thing. So, it was a really nice time just sitting in the car with my dad on speakerphone and the baby passed out in the back.

Then, once we went into the store, we took our time, and that was really nice, too. Not being in a hurry and enjoying exploring where one is is such a delight, and I am grateful we got to do it twice today.

Thank you, God. Please, keep my family safe and heal our wounds – make us well and whole. Also, feel free to nudge J in your direction, if you will it. I imagine he could use you, if he hasn’t found you again already, as you well know. And thank you for the healing. In your name, I pray. Amen.

Post-a-day 2026

Sometimes, it’s the best for all involved to be informed that and to acknowledge that we are failing at something. Because it is usually only at that point that we can begin to work at it in a new way that can lead to our success.

Seriously, though, this is for real, but people avoid talking about it or acknowledging failure for fear of not being good enough and lovable human beings. And that makes everyone suffer more. Failing at something is not necessarily a bad thing – it is not inherently bad. It is usually just a sign of where we need to make adjustments in life. And discussing failure is a very good and helpful and positive thing. So long as it is in a clear effort to achieve improvement, of course. (We don’t do gossipy criticism. Nope.)

Post-a-day 2026

A priest mentioned today that he was told (by a priest we knew for a very long time) that priests should be exhausted by the end of a Mass. They should be participating so fully and putting such intention and effort into the Mass, that they finish it exhausted.

And I really like that. It is the most powerful thing the priest does for the people, and it is so monumental, it makes sense that it would be exhausting.

And I think that participating in it fully is physically empowering – the energy transfers from the priest, through the Mass, and to those participating in the Mass, right? So cool to think of it this way. Way cool.

Thank you, God. Please, keep my husband and daughter and me safe and well. In your name, I pray. Amen.

Post-a-day 2026

Literally, poopy time. Thought, just before getting into the shower, as usual, I put my daughter on her potty to go pee. Something seemed very different in her demeanor this time, though. I thought it might be because she was so tired, but it just seemed like she was really upset about something. Then I realized that it seemed more like she was physically straining, not just emotionally. I wondered if she might actually be passing gas, just as I got a whiff of something stinky. Then I thought it was gas. Then I saw the tiny bit of poop in her potty.

I looked at her more closely. Yep, she was very tired, to be sure. But she was also poop straining.

And so, for the next minute or two, my daughter cried and wailed loudly as she sat perfectly on her potty, feet planted (through my guidance), and pooped. A lot. And then she peed, too.

I was sure to have documentation of her first poop in her potty, and sent a photo of her crying on her potty to my mom, explaining it all. When she had clearly finished and ready to get up, it was wildly easy to wipe her butt clean.
My husband had to deal with cleaning the potty itself, because she and I were getting in the shower, and I couldn’t trust her not to get in the way if I’d tried to deal with it on my own. I called my mom, both to tell her and to get her input on how to handle the potty, but she didn’t answer, so I just let him just handle it for this time. I’ll be better prepared next time, to be sure. (Glad I had thought about it at least some already, or I would have been freaking out.)

Anyway, fun times tonight at home!

Thank you, God. Amen.

Post-a-day 2026

Some nights, my husband is home, so I get the pleasure of getting ready for bed all by myself, while our daughter screams her head off in the other room…

😛

Post-a-day 2026

We have tile in our living room. I have always hated that we have tile in our living room, but that is the way all the houses in this area apparently were designed back in the ’50s, and so we just have to deal with it for now. I’m not sure, but there might also be solid concrete under the tile, so it would be a huge undertaking to turn it all into wood that is consistent with the rest of the house.

(That in no way changes that I want to do it, by the way.)

Nonetheless, because we have tile in the living room, it is now very dangerous for our daughter to be in the living room, because she is capable of climbing onto all of the furniture, as of last night. But she isn’t great at not falling off of it all yet. She’s great about it about 80% of the time. And then she acts like she has never safely gotten down from anything ever about 10-20% of the time.

So, I had to scrub and wash four more huge square tiles from the old karate studio today and dry them and put them down in our living room. It looks like a workout studio or something now, red foam puzzle tiles covering the main whole of the living room floor.

But at least I don’t have to be as panicked about my daughter every second I turn away from her now.

God, keep her safe and well and whole, please. In your name, I pray. Amen.

Post-a-day 2026

Well, my daughter cries a lot while I do the absolute bare minimum in order to get us to bed as fast as possible. That’s the usual. Sometimes, she’s in a better mood and only cries a little. Tonight was a somewhere-in-between night. She cried a lot to start, but then chilled a bit just before getting into bed.

What was funny about tonight, though, was that, while she got to wander in our bedroom for a few minutes while I finished getting myself ready for bed, she took my water and her pajamas and went and, after much effort, put them both on her diaper cart. Because that’s a very logical place to put those two things. Obviously.

Post-a-day 2026

I looked over at my daughter as she slid down backwards in the slide, very slowly. A loud, scratching noise was accompanying her sliding. Was she holding something in her left hand? Surely, that had to be making the scratching, it was so loud. It sounded like a screw or something on the wooden slide. As I look more closely, I see lines on the slide. Whatever she is holding truly is scratching the wooden slide, leaving obvious marks. Where did she get something solid enough to leave marks like that? Something that must be dangerous for her to have, if it’s leaving marks at all on the wood…

As I look even more closely, I can see it. And very clearly. What is she holding?

Not a thing.

Sure enough, her nails are digging into the slide and she is letting them scratch the whole time, willingly.

Did that make your ears ache and your skin crawl? Just the memory does it to me, but it was beyond belief in person… it totally freaked me out and had me panicking about her nails and making sure they wouldn’t rip off other fingers. It was both scary for that and disturbing for the sound. Ugh(!).

Post-a-day 2026