<?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8"?><rss xmlns:dc="http://purl.org/dc/elements/1.1/" xmlns:content="http://purl.org/rss/1.0/modules/content/" xmlns:atom="http://www.w3.org/2005/Atom" version="2.0"><channel><title><![CDATA[Love You More]]></title><description><![CDATA[Love You More is a personal blog where one mom shares honest stories about motherhood, grief, and caregiving, offering gentle reflections for anyone walking through hard seasons.]]></description><link>https://www.loveyoumore.blog/blog</link><generator>RSS for Node</generator><lastBuildDate>Sat, 17 Oct 2026 09:04:01 GMT</lastBuildDate><atom:link href="https://www.loveyoumore.blog/blog-feed.xml" rel="self" type="application/rss+xml"/><item><title><![CDATA[This Season I'm In]]></title><description><![CDATA[Reflections on a different summer]]></description><link>https://www.loveyoumore.blog/post/this-season-i-m-in</link><guid isPermaLink="false">6aa61554f448a9cd17b777c0</guid><pubDate>Sun, 13 Sep 2026 03:26:13 GMT</pubDate><enclosure url="https://static.wixstatic.com/media/a8157d_1b41534c990f4f6abf1535002e3cf18a~mv2.jpg/v1/fit/w_1000,h_1000,al_c,q_80/file.png" length="0" type="image/png"/><dc:creator>Kristen Belanger</dc:creator></item><item><title><![CDATA[Lost Americana, Found in Each Other]]></title><description><![CDATA[This week, I went to the Lost Americana Tour with one of my best friends. And somewhere between the music, the crowds, the people watching, and the conversations that only happen when history exists between two people, I found myself thinking less about the concert itself and more about the idea behind it. MGK’s creative direction for Lost Americana is raw and unapologetic. Cigarettes. Weed. Drugs. Rebellion. Old cars. Highways. Motels. Denim. Flags. Noise.  The rougher edges of American...]]></description><link>https://www.loveyoumore.blog/post/lost-americana-found-in-each-other</link><guid isPermaLink="false">6a9c73aad055a51adf17410e</guid><pubDate>Fri, 29 May 2026 21:13:52 GMT</pubDate><enclosure url="https://static.wixstatic.com/media/nsplsh_506e764656566b53397655~mv2_d_5184_3456_s_4_2.jpg/v1/fit/w_1000,h_1000,al_c,q_80/file.png" length="0" type="image/png"/><dc:creator>Kristen Belanger</dc:creator></item><item><title><![CDATA[Mother in Me]]></title><description><![CDATA[There is something about spring that always changes the way I see the world. As the air softens, the light stretches a little longer, and the first flowers begin to bloom, I find myself noticing life differently. Not because the season itself has changed, but because I have. Each year seems to uncover a new perspective — a deeper appreciation for growth, for evolution, and for the quiet beauty of what continues to bloom even after difficult seasons. Mother’s Day arrives in the middle of all...]]></description><link>https://www.loveyoumore.blog/post/mother-in-me</link><guid isPermaLink="false">6aa5bc4e571318e8c9e7df1e</guid><pubDate>Sun, 10 May 2026 20:56:44 GMT</pubDate><enclosure url="https://static.wixstatic.com/media/a8157d_4fef782be7f248f2aabd84ace3e84935~mv2.jpg/v1/fit/w_1000,h_1000,al_c,q_80/file.png" length="0" type="image/png"/><dc:creator>Kristen Belanger</dc:creator></item><item><title><![CDATA[The Decisions You Don't Want to Leave Behind]]></title><description><![CDATA[There are some conversations we avoid because they feel too heavy. Too final. Too uncomfortable to say out loud. Talking about a will is one of them. For a long time, it was for me too. But after losing both of my parents - and walking through everything that came after - I see it differently now. Not as something morbid or pessimistic, but as one of the most important acts of care we can offer the people we love. Because what's left behind isn't just memories. It's decisions. When the...]]></description><link>https://www.loveyoumore.blog/post/the-decisions-you-don-t-want-to-leave-behind</link><guid isPermaLink="false">69f7a3fd7b1c42fb24f8ad71</guid><pubDate>Sun, 03 May 2026 21:25:24 GMT</pubDate><enclosure url="https://static.wixstatic.com/media/nsplsh_5426deca9c1b438f9c884cb5cf158eb7~mv2.jpg/v1/fit/w_1000,h_1000,al_c,q_80/file.png" length="0" type="image/png"/><dc:creator>Kristen Belanger</dc:creator></item><item><title><![CDATA[Top 5 Real Tips Every First-time Mom Should Know]]></title><description><![CDATA[Inspired by a Conversation with a Stranger There I was, standing in a pizza shop—waiting… and waiting… and waiting some more. I had tried one of those “schedule your pickup time” features (which, for the record, did not work), and found myself with an unexpected 30 minutes on my hands. I wasn’t angry that it wasn’t ready. I reassured them I was fine. I joked about the idea of a fresh pizza—not cold or greasy. All is good. But in reality, I was just glad to enjoy the moment…  I had left my...]]></description><link>https://www.loveyoumore.blog/post/balancing-career-and-parenting-tips-for-success</link><guid isPermaLink="false">69c07f77f68fa4c22fbce65f</guid><pubDate>Sat, 04 Apr 2026 23:47:03 GMT</pubDate><enclosure url="https://static.wixstatic.com/media/a8157d_e8af50b8b74840b9a41d42cb61737b83~mv2.png/v1/fit/w_1000,h_768,al_c,q_80/file.png" length="0" type="image/png"/><dc:creator>Kristen Belanger</dc:creator></item><item><title><![CDATA[Happy Birthday, Pops!]]></title><description><![CDATA[The first birthday without him...and the quiet ways he's still raising me up. There’s something about the “firsts” that feels impossible to prepare for. The first birthday without you. I’ve been trying to rationalize my way through it—telling myself all the things I know are true:that you’re no longer in pain, that love doesn’t end just because a life does, that I carry you with me. And I do. But there’s still this quiet, aching truth: I just wish you were here.One more call.One more “happy...]]></description><link>https://www.loveyoumore.blog/post/happy-birthday-pops</link><guid isPermaLink="false">69d1a048f7044e6cf7ae62d2</guid><pubDate>Mon, 30 Mar 2026 17:55:53 GMT</pubDate><enclosure url="https://static.wixstatic.com/media/a8157d_e22c32c8616c41339b9da4c67469a9e8~mv2.jpg/v1/fit/w_1000,h_689,al_c,q_80/file.png" length="0" type="image/png"/><dc:creator>Kristen Belanger</dc:creator></item><item><title><![CDATA[Letters at the Threshold: When Your Son Turns 21]]></title><description><![CDATA[What began as a letter to my eldest son on his 21st birthday became a reflection on motherhood, milestones, and the thread of love that carries through it all. Every milestone in my boy’s lives, I write them a letter. It started before they were even born. Then grew into something I wanted them to have long after the moments passed. Words they could return to. A way to hold time still. I save copies of each one in their life boxes, tucked alongside the artifacts of who they were becoming....]]></description><link>https://www.loveyoumore.blog/post/letters-at-the-threshold-when-your-son-letters-at-the-threshold-when-your-son-turns-21</link><guid isPermaLink="false">6aa5beab5462f0629b9f9362</guid><pubDate>Sat, 07 Feb 2026 05:00:00 GMT</pubDate><enclosure url="https://static.wixstatic.com/media/nsplsh_47923352678d45a78c4bb2a889f8e481~mv2.jpg/v1/fit/w_1000,h_1000,al_c,q_80/file.png" length="0" type="image/png"/><dc:creator>Kristen Belanger</dc:creator></item><item><title><![CDATA[Finding Strength After Loss: A New Year Finding Strength After Loss: A New Year Reflection]]></title><description><![CDATA[My new year doesn’t start on January 1. It starts at the end of January, when the house settles back to school. When the noise of the holidays fades and there’s finally space to feel what the past year actually held. That’s when reflection finds me—whether I invite it or not. This year, reflection came heavy. We have lived through a lot of loss. Some of it we knew was coming. Some of it took the wind out of us. Almost two years after losing our mom, we lost our dad. Which meant this past...]]></description><link>https://www.loveyoumore.blog/post/finding-strength-after-loss-a-new-year-finding-strength-after-loss-a-new-year-reflection</link><guid isPermaLink="false">6aa5c6dc1be24c419fd1c052</guid><pubDate>Fri, 30 Jan 2026 05:00:00 GMT</pubDate><enclosure url="https://static.wixstatic.com/media/nsplsh_8daf1fe772b34810a2bec46236ce5d67~mv2.jpg/v1/fit/w_1000,h_1000,al_c,q_80/file.png" length="0" type="image/png"/><dc:creator>Kristen Belanger</dc:creator></item><item><title><![CDATA[“How Are You Holding Up?”]]></title><description><![CDATA[The complicated truth behind the question people ask after you lose a parent. Someone recently asked how I have been holding up since my dad’s passing. I wanted to share my thoughts here—for anyone else in similar situation searching for some sliver of hope. The truth is…I’m not sure I have taken the real time to process the wholeness of this loss. It’s a new, raw journey—this one carries a significant weight of permanence to it. Even after long roads of illnesses and slow goodbyes, we...]]></description><link>https://www.loveyoumore.blog/post/how-are-you-holding-up</link><guid isPermaLink="false">6aa5c7ea571318e8c9e7f61b</guid><pubDate>Wed, 10 Dec 2025 05:00:00 GMT</pubDate><enclosure url="https://static.wixstatic.com/media/nsplsh_2e2c621356cf4e8b81a51fa107f22f08~mv2.jpg/v1/fit/w_1000,h_1000,al_c,q_80/file.png" length="0" type="image/png"/><dc:creator>Kristen Belanger</dc:creator></item><item><title><![CDATA[Birds]]></title><description><![CDATA[The Signs My Mom Sends When I Need Her Most The last time I spoke to my mom, I told her something that felt impossible to say. I told her I was ready to let her go. But, I also told her I wasn’t ready to lose her. Before she passed, I asked—okay, maybe begged—her for something. Come find me in the places we loved. In the gardens, At the beach.In quite the moments when the world slows down—walking, writing or disappearing into a good book.  Just give me a sign. Her services at the church were...]]></description><link>https://www.loveyoumore.blog/post/birds</link><guid isPermaLink="false">6aa5c90a571318e8c9e7f8b6</guid><pubDate>Wed, 19 Nov 2025 05:00:00 GMT</pubDate><enclosure url="https://static.wixstatic.com/media/11062b_1307e36bd09b4f06969d128995e0b46c~mv2.jpg/v1/fit/w_1000,h_1000,al_c,q_80/file.png" length="0" type="image/png"/><dc:creator>Kristen Belanger</dc:creator></item><item><title><![CDATA[It’s Not About the Horse: What a Hoof-Pick Taught Me About Carrying Grief]]></title><description><![CDATA[I arrived at Miraval Berkshires Resort and Spa under a quiet, staggering weight. I had been invited there for an event leadership retreat—with strangers who were brought together to share experiences, lessons learned, and open dialogue to move together based on our collective experiences. This invitation was meant to be a reward as well, a time for celebration and unwinding, especially since I had just wrapped up our company’s largest event of the year only seven days prior. But my mind...]]></description><link>https://www.loveyoumore.blog/post/it-s-not-about-the-horse-what-a-hoof-pick-taught-me-about-carrying-grief</link><guid isPermaLink="false">6a9c532ad055a51adf170574</guid><pubDate>Fri, 24 Oct 2025 04:00:00 GMT</pubDate><enclosure url="https://static.wixstatic.com/media/a8157d_33f04498dd5a4503b390cd467aa8c3e4~mv2.jpg/v1/fit/w_1000,h_1000,al_c,q_80/file.png" length="0" type="image/png"/><dc:creator>Kristen Belanger</dc:creator></item><item><title><![CDATA[The Quiet Transitions: On Losing Friends &#38; Finding Perspective]]></title><description><![CDATA[There's a season of life no one really prepares you for. The one where your children are growing up fast—some already out of the house, others close behind. Many of our parents are gone or fading. We’re not quite talking about retirement like it’s tomorrow, but we see it right there on the distant horizon. And somewhere in the midst of all that—something else begins to happen. We start losing our friends. Not acquaintances. Not the casual people we meet along the way. The real ones. The ones...]]></description><link>https://www.loveyoumore.blog/post/the-quiet-transitions-on-losing-friends-finding-perspective</link><guid isPermaLink="false">6aa5c8695462f0629b9fa7b0</guid><pubDate>Thu, 09 Oct 2025 04:00:00 GMT</pubDate><enclosure url="https://static.wixstatic.com/media/nsplsh_ef48dfbad71d47c183109e191df6dcd0~mv2.jpg/v1/fit/w_1000,h_1000,al_c,q_80/file.png" length="0" type="image/png"/><dc:creator>Kristen Belanger</dc:creator></item><item><title><![CDATA[Fifteen Years of Becoming]]></title><description><![CDATA[Fifteen years ago, I made a decision that would change far more than my career. At the time, I already had a career that I was proud of. I wasn't new to ambition, leadership, or hard work. But I was entering a very different season of life.  I was a mom to a six-year-old little boy, and I was deeply intentional about the life I was creating for him. I wanted to give him a childhood filled with opportunity, stability, love, and memories. And I wanted to keep growing myself. At the same time, ...]]></description><link>https://www.loveyoumore.blog/post/fifteen-years-of-becoming</link><guid isPermaLink="false">6a963de810a8aa6957845b51</guid><pubDate>Sun, 06 Jul 2025 04:00:00 GMT</pubDate><enclosure url="https://static.wixstatic.com/media/nsplsh_aa99cd131c4e4a4abaec72525384dacc~mv2.jpg/v1/fit/w_1000,h_1000,al_c,q_80/file.png" length="0" type="image/png"/><dc:creator>Kristen Belanger</dc:creator></item><item><title><![CDATA[Life’s Firsts and Lasts: A Mother’s Reflection]]></title><description><![CDATA[One of the most beautiful things about being a parent is witnessing firsts. The first heartbeat you hear. The first cry when they enter the world. First smiles, first steps, first words. First belly laughs. First loves. Those moments you look upon with pride, amazement, joy… Each one feels like a tiny miracle. Moments you store away carefully in your memory, knowing someday you’ll return to them. As a mom of two boys with a six-year age gap, I’ve lived in a unique overlap of time. While my...]]></description><link>https://www.loveyoumore.blog/post/life-s-firsts-and-lasts-a-mother-s-reflection</link><guid isPermaLink="false">6aa5c9e61be24c419fd1c75a</guid><pubDate>Sat, 23 Dec 2023 05:00:00 GMT</pubDate><enclosure url="https://static.wixstatic.com/media/a8157d_966cd821ca5d404b899581fc7f2dee1a~mv2.jpeg/v1/fit/w_1000,h_1000,al_c,q_80/file.png" length="0" type="image/png"/><dc:creator>Kristen Belanger</dc:creator></item></channel></rss>