Article on CatholicStand

HAVING CHILDREN IS GOOD FOR COUPLES

Julie Machado | 06-05-AD2014 | [0]

Click here to read on CatholicStand:
http://catholicstand.com/children-good-couples/

Article on IgnitumToday

Just Food Is Not Enough!

[ 0 ] May 28, AD 2014 | Julie Machado

Before my baby was born in April, I had carefully been reading and rereading Gina Ford’s The Contented Little Baby Book. It consists of several routines for feeding and sleeping from newborn to one year. I made little “cheat sheets” of printed out routines, ready to go and ready to follow. However, I started becoming so obsessed when I couldn’t get my baby anywhere close to following the routines in the first month that I had to stop reading the book.

Continue reading at:
http://www.ignitumtoday.com/2014/05/28/just-food-enough/

A break from the world

Hmm... where to begin? This is a picture of my swollen feet as I journaled while waiting to be able to leave the hospital. I didn't know what to write. These days have been surreal. I took a picture looking out the hospital window because I had forgotten there was a world outside. I still feel that way, a month later. And it's nice because the world understands... and gives you a break while you're a little knocked out of your senses. 

Then there is a picture of the sleeping baby with a name tag saying she's my daughter in case anyone gets confused (including myself). And flowers from our neighbors when we got home. Really nice of them. 

A small, but personal, gift

I went to an oratory near our house, stressed out and incredibly impatient to get this childbirth thing started and over with. It really helped to talk to a priest who is one of the nicest, most humble people I know. He is one of those people who emanates goodness and you just feel like they have their priorities in the right place. I only know a few of those people. 

He gave me a book that he wrote about motherhood, saying "I give it to all pregnant women". It was a small, but very personal and thoughtful gift. And thinking about the article I wrote Wednesday and the real motivation behind why we do things (worldly success), I thought "what a good reason to write a book". It really was about people he knew and to help people he knows. And I am happy to read this book, about such an important subject, written by someone I know. 

Lenten article on IgnitumToday

Fast from Success

[ 0 ] April 2, AD 2014 | Julie Machado

If I look deep, I find my inner self hooked up to a drip IV of success. I heard once at a summer retreat that we all look to the three “P”s to wrongly satisfy our inner desires and insecurities: power, prestige or popularity.

...Continue reading at: http://www.ignitumtoday.com/2014/04/02/fast-success/