Eilee Leighton is TWO MONTHS OLD!

My mom heart definitely aches. I can't wrap my head around the fact that my baby girl is already 2 months old. I feel like I JUST found out that I was pregnant with her. She has grown and changed greatly in the past 2 months. She's 10 lbs even and 24 1/2 inches long. She is still a big time mama's girl but she has made buddies with her daddy, her grandma Le'Ann, and her Papa Andy. She let's them hold her longer than ever before now. She is finally on a schedule and sleeping well. She nurses twice a night and sometimes I even have to wake her up to eat which is crazy considering that she got up every hour to eat for the first month of her life. She is a wild sleeper. Always moving around and slapping me. Yes, I co sleep with her sometimes and I don't need you nazi moms judging me. I have always swore that I'd never co sleep or sleep without my husband yet here I am 4 kids later co sleeping alone with my baby girl and I don't even care. A herd of kids and almost a decade of being with your husband might do that to ya. Little Miss still loves to eat. She puts her arms around my boob, pinches whatever skin/clothing that she can find, and curls in towards me every single time that she latches. It makes Brian and I laugh. She's like an over protective bear when it comes to meal time. Her personality shines more and more every day. She responds to her name (or names in her case because let's face it she goes by like 10 names). She smiles and giggles regularly. It's the sweetest thing. It sounds like a cough/laugh when she chuckles and she smiles so big that she makes this one sided wink face when she does it. She coos and tries to mimic me when I make noises. She's very curious and studies everything that is going on around her. Her eye color is still getting lighter. I'd love it if she ends up having her daddy's beautiful light blue eyes. We will see in time. Watching her grow is bittersweet as always. I hate how fast time goes but I love to see her learn new things. She's such a joy to our lives and we can't thank God enough for picking us to be her family.

 

 

 

Product Reviews: Boogie Mist, Zarbee's Naturals, & Aveeno Baby Eczema Therapy

Last night I noticed that Leighton was congested. No fever or any other symptoms but she wasn't able to eat well because she couldn't breath through her nose. We have a cool mist humidifier in our bedroom and in our living room but it wasn't helping so of course first thing this morning I took her to the doctor. He checked her over and determined that she just has allergies. He told me to treat her congestion with nasal spray and a bulb suction. To be honest doing the spray scares the shit out of me. I'm always so paranoid that I'll drowned the kids doing it but I sucked it up and did it anyways (after watching a million YouTube videos on how to safely do it). I hadn't ever used either of these products however, I must say that I am officially a fan. The nasal mist was fool proof to use and the rub was very mild. Both of them helped her a ton. The mist is safe for all ages. The rub is safe for 2 plus months. The rub also did not break her out which says a lot because she has very sensitive skin. We deal with major eczema issues which leads me to product review #3, Aveeno Baby Eczema Therapy. It's a little expensive but not awful and so worth the money. We've tried just about everything on Eilee and nothing helped. I tried natural methods as well as medicated ones. This product is what has made the biggest difference. Like, within 2 uses I could tell that it was helping a lot. 

I hope these reviews help y'all out at some point in motherhood. 

 

 

Introducing Solids to an Infant

Yesterday my grandma was telling me that she swears that my brother is picky because my mom wouldn't let my grandma feed him table foods early in life. She says that I am not picky because she snuck me food all of the time. This made me laugh but in all seriousness it brought up the subject of when I'll be introducing other foods or drinks to little Leighton. As a very veteran mom I have strong opinions on this topic. Between personal experience and years of research I will not for any reason be introducing anything new to the baby until she's 6 months old. Cereal in bottle is a choking hazard. I'm ashamed to say that we did this with one of our children. Our pediatrician at the time said that thickening her milk would help her to not vomit constantly. She said that thicker consistencies settle better and tend to not come back up. Now I know how dangerous that was of us to do. Don't make the same mistake that we did. 

Early introduction of solids have proven risks including the risk of sucking food into their airway because they aren't mature enough to know how to chew and swallow. The risk of a baby over eating therefore not getting enough calories and nutrients from breastmilk or formula. There's an increased risk of obesity as well as the risk of simply upsetting the baby's belly for no reason. Also keep in mind that waiting until 6 months of age before introducing solid foods to babies who are exclusively breastfed can help ensure that they get the full health benefits of breastfeeding. Solid foods have been proven to not help young babies sleep better by the way so do not use that as your reason for early introduction. Plus you getting more sleep is never worth risking your baby's health. Babies will show readiness when it's time to start considering food introduction but just because your infant watches you eat does not mean he is ready. Watch for other signs and take things slow. Do not rush it. Does your baby hold his head up steadily and completely controlled? Can he sit up well with a little support? Can he move things from a plate to his mouth? These are much better indicators that your baby might be ready for solids. We always started with bland solids. Rice or oatmeal cereal first then veggies. I did fruits last because I didn't want my kids to reject veggies and meats since they had gotten a taste of more sweet and sugary foods. I did it once a day for a month or so before I increased their solids intake. I also did the same solid for no less than one week to make sure that I caught what caused an allergy if there was one. Our oldest has a carrot allergy so I was thankful to of known right away what caused her allergic reaction.

I'm so not ready for Eilee to be on solids. It'll just be another mile stone that reminds me how much my baby has grown. My conversation yesterday did get me thinking about the future though. I am going to introduce a sippy/water around the same time that I introduce solids. I've decided that I will keep boobs strictly for milk. I will not be sippy serving milk. It will be for water and juice only. I don't want to risk confusing her as we plan to breastfeed for atleast a year. 

Please educate yourselves on the safe introduction of solids to your infant. Don't trust me or anyone else! Every mom out there has their own opinion on this topic but at the end of the day making your own properly educated choice is the best thing to do. 

Officially Living That 'Soccer Mom' Life

Yesterday the girls cheered their first football game and I cheer coached my first game. It was a very anticipated and exciting day. The girls did a wonderful job despite it being very hot. My squad also did good. I was so nervous about coaching with Eilee. It's hot. She's tiny. She eats fairly often and nursing in the heat is hard on us both. Having a blanket over you and your baby on top of already being sweaty isn't ideal so I go to the car and nurse. Thankfully though Eilee is on a schedule so I can nurse her at home right before I leave for cheer practice/games. We've had 5, 1 hour practices and 1, 1 1/2 hour game. She hasn't gotten hungry during any of them so far. I coach for my nieces grade so my mom watches the baby in the shade or in the car while I coach. There's also another lady there that helps coach so if I have to step away she can step in. It's worked out much better than I expected but next year I'll coach 1st grade/my daughters grade. Older girls is what I prefer to coach but it's too long of a day on game day to be there for the 1st-4th grade games. That's why my girls cheer with the 4th graders this year. We love cheerleading. I figured that my luck would be having daughters who hated to cheer but so far they are as obsessed with it as I am. When football season is over we are starting gymnastics. It's easier to learn to tumble when you're younger/a child. I want them to master it now so if they do want to continue to cheer long term they will have the tumbling part down. Life has gotten so busy and it's just going to get busier. On Tuesday's, Thursday's, and Saturday's we have cheerleading. On Wednesday's we have church. Every evening we work with Charlee's show cow. Her first show is in 3 weeks. I knew that it'd be absolutely insane with 4 kids in extra curricular stuff but I didn't realize that it'd be this crazy with just 2 in it. I'm definitely that 'soccer mom' in a big SUV between cheer, church, livestock showing, sleep overs, breastfeeding, having 3 kids in school, and running all over town to do regular errands. Our lives will be totally bonkers in a few years. I honestly don't know how we will do it all and still manage to sleep ha. But honestly, I LOVE IT! This was what I looked forward to when I imagined having a big family. I love craziness and chaos. I love being busy and overly involved. 

 

 

 

The 1st of Many Slumber Parties

Yesterday when I picked the kids up from school the very first thing that Charlee said was that she wanted to have a sleep over with her friend. She informed me that she already asked her friends mom and her mom said to have me text her (the mom). We go to church with this family so the mom happens to be a friend. She's also a kindergarten teacher so the girls see her at school and at church. It was so cute to me how Charlee and her friend set up this little slumber party all on their own. It was the first one that the kids have had aside from my niece staying all night. I can definitely see this being a common thing for us now that it's begun. The evening went great. Brian of course bailed on me. He went out gigging with friends and I honestly couldn't tell you what time he got home. He stayed gone as long as possible he said and he was gone by 8 am this morning. He's such a wimp ha. Anyways the kids and I enjoyed our evening. We colored, made scarecrow crafts, ate cookies, watched cartoons, practiced cheerleading, and they ran literally miles through the house. Back and forth, back and forth, back and forth. It was exhausting just watching them. The girls informed my friend, Ashlie and I that they were pulling an all nighter which made us laugh but that didn't last. They were all fast asleep by 9 pm and up running all over the place again at 7 am. Today we spent the morning making blanket tents, drawing pictures, and having random dance parties. Good thing that Eilee is used to constant noise because it has never been as loud in this house as it has been since Jaeston got here. The squealing by all 4 big kids was insane but they had a blast. Around 1 pm after we had lunch I started getting myself and all 5 kids ready to go to town. The girls had their first football game to cheer at today at 2:30 pm but I had to be there at 2 pm to stretch my squad out and run through motions. I dropped Hudson off at the tire shop with Brian and Perry then took the girls to the football field. It was all in all a great first sleep over. I love being a mom and involved with all of this stuff. Cheering, school, slumber parties, livestock showing, ect. I probably enjoy it as much as the kids do. After all, every healthy adult has a child living inside of them. 

 

 

The Kids 1st Day of School & 2nd Day Drop Off Update

My mom is an intern so she's able to be with Hudson during the day some days and also able to keep a close eye on the girls. She told me that Hudson never once missed a beat and listened super well to the teachers. Shocking ha. He's usually not the best listener. He's onry and does his own thing but he listens great to anyone that isn't me so I know that I must be doing something right. Anyways by 11 am I had gotten not one but TWO phone calls from the school. Hudson threw up during recess and Andlee broke her shoe. Thankfully Hud isn't sick and had just played too hard. Brian and I died laughing after we got the second call. It came about 20 minutes after the first one. That's the beat to our life. Total chaos. It's comical. I had just pulled into Siloam Springs (which is 35 minutes from our house) to pick up my online shopping grocery haul and to get a new cell phone when the school called about Hudson. Brian works 20 minutes from the school so neither of us could get there quickly but my father in law works near the school and my grandma lives a block from the school. My father in law, Perry, is who ended up getting Hudson for us until I could get back to town. I already knew that bub wasn't sick so I didn't need to take him to the doctor because the nurse at the school said that he was just fine when he got to her office and my mom had been with him all morning so she knew that he was feeling fine. We all agreed that it was a heat/activity thing. My father in law also said that he seemed perfectly fine. Once I got back to town and picked up Hudson I asked him a million questions about his day. I teared up listening to him talk about he. He just looked and sounded like such a big kid. It was the first time ever that I looked and him and felt like he wasn't a baby anymore. I mean, they'll all be my babies until the day that I die but this was the first time that he didn't seem so little anymore. He loved school. He told me, "Mommy I had to leave before I got to make you a picture. I'm so sorry but I promise that I'll make you one tomorrow.". Like really?! How freaking sweet is that. He didn't care about getting sick. He only cared about making me a picture. He couldn't wait to go back to school. 

The girls had great days. They told me all about their new friends and even remembered their friends names. Charlee was reunited with her best friend from last year. She has 3 of my friends kids in her class so that's awesome. It's nice to know your kids friends parents. She also has Ryker in her class which is a kid that she's been around constantly since birth.

Andlee usually makes boy friends but I'm happy to say that she actually made two girl friends yesterday. She's a lot like boys in the sense of being very tough and playing rough but she's extremely girly in the sense of baby dolls and dressing up in pretty clothes. I was happy to hear that she made more girl friends already. I got pictures throughout the day of them from their teachers plus had my mom sending me updates. It definitely gives me peace having so many people that I know caring for my kids plus having my own mom around. 

Today drop off was depressing for me in a different way. Not because they cried. Not because they needed me and wanted me. But because they were excitedly in their rooms so fast that they didn't even tell me 'goodbye'. Literally this is how it went, I walked all 3 of them into the kindergarten building. The girls took of running as soon as we walked into the door. Charlee ran to her class. Andlee ran to hers. They did not look back. They did not hold hands. They did not care that they were in separate rooms. They did not check to see if I was coming. By the time I made it to their room door ways Charlee was hanging her back pack under her cubby and Andlee was telling her teacher 'Good Morning!'. I went into each of their classes and kissed then hugged them bye. This all went down within a 2 minute time frame if that. Then it was Hudson's turn. I stuck my hand out to hold his hand and he grabbed it but as quick as his hand hit mine he jerked his away. I asked him if he was to cool to hold my hand now and he laughed then grabbed it again. We walked to his class. He walked right in and didn't look back. He took his bag to it's spot and I had to tell him bye like 5 times because he was busy with other things. He wasn't paying attention to me. He could of cared less. Drop off today was so fast. I got back to my car and just sat there for a bit crying around about how un needed that I felt. 

However as sad as it is for me to feel like my babies are so independent I'm extremely thankful that they love school and don't cry for me. That makes things a million times easier. 

 

 

 

The 1st Day of School: K-4 for Hudson & Kindergarten for Charlee & Andlee

 Today my bigs all 3 went to school and as much as I thought that I was handling it well, it all hit me hard this morning. I can't believe that we are at this point in life when my babies are in school. I miss them already. I miss the giggles. I miss the crazy stories. I miss the silly games. I miss their noisiness. Hell I even miss the fighting. I'm not empty nest material. Not even a little bit. I know that I still will have Eilee at home but it still doesn't make up for not having ALL of my babes at home. I know that I'll enjoy the days alone with her but it's definitely going to be a huge adjustment going from 4 to 1.

Drop off went really good. My mom and niece were there so they went with us. Charlee was first. She fussed for literally 30 seconds and the teacher was able to distract her. Next we walked Andlee across the hall to her room. She did perfectly. She was ready to stay and didn't miss a beat. Once we were done dropping them off at their rooms we took Hudson to his room. I began to cry walking up the ramp into his building. I can't believe my baby is in school. He walked right into that room like he had done it all of his life. He seriously didn't flinch. He started playing Legos and told us 'good bye'. What a big boy! What big kids! I'm so impressed with them. We passed the girls on their way to breakfast. They were all smiles and very comfortable. I pray that everyday goes smoothly. I text the kids teachers as soon as I got back to the car and checked on them. I'll be texting them all day. I hope that they have a wonderful day. I can't wait to pick them up. Just like last year I'm sure I'll be at the school pathetically early to pick them up. I'll post tonight how everything went. Hopefully I don't cry too much today. 

Open House: K-4 & Kindergarten

Last night the Bigs had open house. They got to see their class rooms and Hudson got to meet his teacher. The girls already knew their teachers. They are both family friends and Charlee's teacher is actually our neighbor. Hudson did not know his teacher but my mom and Brian do. I'm so thankful for living in a small town and for the fact that we know basically everyone ha. It's a huge relief to be able to text my kids teachers whenever I want to to check on them. The kids loved their classrooms. They proudly gave their teachers all of their school supplies and a weeks worth of extra snacks that we bought for each class just in case some children weren't able to bring any. My mom, cousin, and cousin's wife are all teachers/interning to be a teacher so I know first hand the importance of helping teachers. As I've mentioned in my school supply shopping post we did not buy supplies for other children this year like we did last year because there are so many programs that provide supplies for those children. We wanted to spend our money in other ways to help people. Last year we bought extra snacks, paid kids lunch bills, got extras supplies for kids, paid for field trips for the whole class, adopted 3 children at Christmas time, ect. This year money is tighter plus we added another person to our family so I knew that we wouldn't be able to help as much as we have in the past. I was so excited to learn that ALL students lunches would be free this year. That's one donation that we won't need to make anymore and it's absolutely incredible for so many children. All of the programs for school supplies were a wonderful thing to see happening. They've had them in the past but they did things differently this year plus there were several programs added to help. Churches stepped up and funded supplies which helped a ton. We will still be asking each of the kids teachers after school has been going on a week or so if there's any students in their classes who need supplies though. The teachers can't really know the answer to that until after school has started and they are able to observe. Even after open house they'll have to sit down and go through what supplies were brought and by whom. Also some children wait until the first day of school to take supplies. Open house just doesn't give them a clear idea on who needs what do we will check back in later with that. Anyways, Hudson didn't miss a beat being in a new atmosphere. He acted like his normal onry self. I am very nervous about leaving him for the first time ever with someone other than our moms or my grandma. We wanted him to be in the same class as his cousin but were told that cousins can't be in the same class. Come to find out that was a lie which is very frustrating. I just pray that things go easy at drop offs. I can't handle it when they cry. It crushes me. I'm not worried about the girls really because they have a year of school under their belt. They love school and are such big girls about it. They love their new teachers and are pumped to meet new classmates. We on purpose kept our girls in separate classes last year as well as this year. We hope that they will never be in the same class. They are so reliant on each others company and friendship that I didn't want them to be used to being together even at school. I want them to make their own friends and have space from one another. I want to encourage them to be their own person and not lean on each other 24/7. 

All in all open house was a success and the Bigs are very excited for a new school year. I surprisingly didn't get emotional about school starting in 2 days but you'll have to stay tuned to see how I do on the actual first day ha. 

 

Breastfeeding: Dealing with Issues

Since Eilee was a week old she's thrown up a lot and when I say a lot I mean every single feeding. Andlee and Hudson had sensitivities to the protein in my milk so our breastfeeding journeys were short lived. I feared that the same thing was happening with Eilee but unlike my other two, she was thriving. It broke my heart to imagine not being able to nurse her. Breastfeeding is very important to me. Thankfully that was not the case. I discussed the puking with her pediatrician and during that same conversation I asked the doctor about Eilee choking constantly when she eats and breathing/gulping really loudly. I also mentioned that I leak milk all day long and always have very heavy/achy boobs. It's painful for me. After a few more questions the ped concluded that I definitely was over producing and that's what was causing the throwing up. He gave me some tips such as pumping between feedings. That didn't fix the problem completely. She still throws up and chokes but not as often so that's wonderful. As I've mentioned before baby girl latched within seconds of birth. She's never once fought nursing or gotten confused. She's the best boob feeder ever ha. I'm extremely grateful for that but we still have our struggles. Breastfeeding is hard even if the baby is the ideal nurser or you're the ideal milk producer. There's so many hardships that we can face on our journeys so to all of the moms reading this that haven't breastfed yet but plan to, expect it to be more challenging than you'd think. Do research on it and prepare yourself for potential struggles. Go into it knowing that you'll have to fight for it to work out. You'll have atleast one exhausted moment when you think that it'd be so much easier if someone could help you feed the baby but don't give up in a moment of weakness. You will regret it. To all of the moms who are struggling right now, HANG IN THERE. It'll get easier and you'll be so glad that you didn't quit. You can almost always find solutions to the problem.

Who knows you might even end up thankful for your problem. I am truly thankful for mine. I am able to donate all of my extra milk to a lovely friend and her baby girl. A friend who can not breastfeed because of medication that she has to be on. A friend who breastfed her other daughters and was heartbroken to not be able to do it this time too. It makes me so thankful for my issues to know that I'm able to make her issues a little better. Stick it out Mama and don't be afraid to ask for help or advice. You've got this! 

The spit up struggle is real but she sure does love her milky ha!

 

 

 

Six Weeks Post Partum Update

Today was my 6 week post partum check up. I've felt totally myself for over a month now but my appointment confirmed that all is healed and I'm doing good. I've lost 22 lbs since the day before I had Eilee. I did not get on birth control but we will be using condoms until it's time to try. Part of me wants to be 30-32 when I have our next baby but part of me wants Eilee and baby #5 closer than 4 years in age. For now I'm simply enjoying mom of 4 life and cherishing every second of it. I love having just one baby with 3 older kids. It's so different than it was to raise 3 kids under 20 months old. 

Anyways, my appointment went perfectly. The doctor was straight up proud of me for breastfeeding simply because I have 3 other young children. He went on and on about it. He was also proud of how well I am mentally. That sounds awful I know ha. But really he said that depression was more common with mothers who had several children because things can be very overwhelming. I loath a braggy person. Like seriously can not stand people who do it constantly. It's one thing to be proud of something or someone but it's another to do it for show. However, I am really happy with myself and how great I'm doing adjusting to everything. I'm proud of my weight loss. I'm proud of breastfeeding. I'm proud of being a good mom. I'm proud of still having alone time every day with each of my babies. I'm proud of keeping my house fairly clean and my laundry caught up. I'm proud that I occasionally even make dinner ha. (Brian's the chief). I'm just proud. I know it's my job but that doesn't change the fact that a lot of women couldn't and wouldn't do what I do. Breastfeeding is very hard when you have 3 other children. It's time consuming and it's all on me as a mom to do. No one else can feed her for me. Yet I make it work, cherish the bond, still get my household shit done, and stay fully engaged with my bigs. I feel pretty beastly but I'm done patting myself on the back now. Moving on, It was so nice to see my doctor and his staff. They are all so personal and kind. They gifted me a Willow doll which meant so much to me. My mom bought me the pregnant doll when I was in the hospital in Tulsa for preterm labor so to receive the newborn one was special to me. I will definitely be collecting them from here on. I adore them. 

 

Eilee is also doing wonderful. She's the cutest little thing. She's almost 9 lbs now and 23" long. She smiles and makes coo noises. Her eyes are lightening around her pupils and will continue to lighten I'm sure. She can no longer wear 90% of her newborn sleepers because she's too long which hit this mama in a soft spot. I may or may not hold off on packing those away to avoid that milestone. She is finally on a schedule and sleeps longer periods at night. Praise Jesus ha. I feel like a new lady. She eats her siblings up and gets so cracked up at them. I adore watching them all four interact and I know that it will just get even more exciting as Eilee grows. 

 

Life with the Lane's: Our Summer Schedule

Our daily lives right now are definitely in a big adjustment period. The older kids are on summer break so that changed up the schedule in itself plus we moved into our new house as well as welcomed a newborn into the mix of things. Our first few weeks as a family of 6 were interesting but we are all adjusting to it and life has fallen into a normal schedule again.

Something that I've always been big on when it comes to the kids is strict schedules. As a mom of multiple young children we need that structure and it has truly been a life saver. People always ask what it's like around our house because they assume it's a mad house constantly. They've even made comments on how we need our own reality series which I think is comical because our life isn't really that different than anyone else's. Yes, it's busy and can get a bit like a circus between the little people and the pets but you're about to get a good idea of what a day in our life is actually like. This blog post will be a detailed look into life with the Lane's. It's for anyone who is simply curious or for fellow moms/expecting women who wonder what kind of schedule works best for us. It'll be a blend of yesterday's actual activities and what our normal routine is. Each day changes a bit and things don't always pan out down to the minute but this is definitely a clear look into average life for us. 

Our Summer Schedule when we are home:

7 am- Brian and I get up and take our showers. 

7:30 am- Brian leaves for work after having his coffee. He's not big on eating breakfast but he has to have his morning dose of caffeine ha. Eilee gets up to nurse. We spend this time cuddled up in bed and simply cherishing our 'us' time. 

8:30 am- I rock Eilee back to sleep, put her in her bed or swing, make breakfast, then get the older kids up. Breakfast for us ranges from cereal/oatmeal and fresh fruit with toast to eggs, pancakes, and sausage to frozen jimmy dean breaskfast sandwiches depending on how lazy I feel that morning. Just keeping it real there. 

10 am- The kids do their chores while I clean the kitchen up from breakfast

10:30- If she's not woken up yet on her own I wake up the baby and nurse her. After she's done eating the kids have their 'Eilee Lou' time. We all either pile up in my bed or in the living room and they take turns holding the baby. 

11:30- Eilee goes down for a nap while the older kids get dressed and I make their lunch. Lunch ranges from sandwiches, chips, and veggies to chicken nuggets, Mac and cheese, and fruit to left overs from dinner the night before. I always make sure to include fruit and/or veggies with our meals and with snack time. Let's face it, pizza pockets and fish sticks aren't the healthiest but they sure are easy to make on those crazier than normal days. 

12 pm- The bigs and I eat lunch together

**On days when I have a lot to get done I put all of the kids down at the same time to sleep and just adjust our one on one time at some other point in the day but usually I stagger nap times. I occasionally have to nurse the baby during one on one time but that doesn't take long. It'll go back to true one on one time when she goes longer between feedings. 

12:30 pm- Two of the bigs get laid down in their beds for a nap time and one of them stays up. I alternate which one stays up first just to keep things 'fair'. I get alone time every day with each of them but of course kids are all about life not being fair so who gets the first turn changes every day. Today it was Andlee's turn so Hudson and Charlee went to their rooms and Andee stayed up. During alone time what we do varies from day to day and from kid to kid. Andlee loves helping me. She seriously enjoys being like momma so sometimes we fold clothes or clean the kitchen during our special time. Sometimes she wants to watch 'her shows' so we will do that. I always let the kids pick what we do. It is their special time of the day after all. Today she wanted to bake some cookies so that's what we did. 

1:30- Andlee went down for a nap and I woke Charlee up. Today Charlee wanted to work on writing the alphabet so we spent most of our time doing that. She's also big into reading and learning new words but if we aren't 'having school', we are painting her nails or doing her hair during our alone time. 

2:05- Hudson woke up. My time wasn't up with Char which usually happens with whoever goes 2nd during nap time. I turn the TV on to a show of that kids choice (today it was Hudson and he picked Paw Patrols). He watched cartoons while Charlee and I spent more time together. 

2:30- Andlee woke up and Eilee got up to nurse again. While I nursed her the bigs ate their snacks. Snack time ranges from fresh fruit to veggie sticks with dip to cookies. Sometimes it's a random mix of things depending on if it's nearing grocery shopping day.  

3 pm- I put the baby into her swing while the kids and I went out back to play. We have a sliding door with a screen to the back yard that I keep open and the baby's swing is in the living room so I can hear anything that she does. Plus there's a monitor on her. When she's older I will take her outside too but right now I worry about the heat and her being a newborn. We never stay out long on hot days.

4 pm- We came inside and I finished up the household cleaning that needed done while the kids played.

4:30-5 pm- I start dinner. The kids normally help me. It can be messy but they love it and I like to include them in preparing meals. I think that it's a great learning experience for them.

5:30 pm- Brian gets home from work. He plays with the kids while I finish cooking/preparing everyone's plates. 

6 pm- Eilee nurses while the rest of us eat dinner. Yes, I nurse and eat at the same time ha. You gotta do what you gotta do. 

6:30 pm- Brian takes Eilee and spends time with her and the 2 bigs that got alone time with me already. Today that was the girls. I take the 3rd big for our 'us' time. Today it was Hudson and he wanted to do crafts so we made crafts for basically everyone in our family. He usually wants to build Legos or go outside and play ball. Sometimes he asks to play with the chickens or the dogs. 

7:30 pm- We all spend time together until it's bath time. Sometimes we eat ice cream and watch TV, sometimes we go outside to play or go fishing, sometimes we play board games, whatever it is that we do we do it together. 

8:30- Brian gives the kids their baths while I feed the baby.

9:00- Bed time stories and tuck in time. Brian and I do this together. The kids all sleep in Hudson's room at night. It's the room right beside ours and we just like having them all close plus they like being together at night. It makes bed time a million times better for everyone. We wouldn't be able to sleep at night with the girls at the other end of the house. 

9:30 pm- Brian and I always spend alone time together now. We typically watch a movie in our bed and catch eachother up on how our days went. At some point from 9:30 pm until 11:30 pm Brian goes to sleep so I clean the kitchen and catch up on my shows. 

11:30 pm- I feed Eilee then try to get some rest myself. 

The rest of the night Eilee wakes up to nurse every 2-3 hours

Of course, if we are out and about the schedule is adjusted but if we are home this is what a weekday with us looks like. 

During our outside play time we go to my parents to swim several times a week.

On Saturday's we usually are gone all day. We go to my parents or on a family outing. Brian alternates taking the older kids with him to the tire shop for a few hours on Saturday so he also gets alone time with the kids regularly. On Sunday's we spend the morning together as a family then Brian takes the bigs to his parents for lunch so I spend the afternoon deep cleaning. Dusting, mopping, washing bedding, ect. Occasionally I take a nap with the baby when I'm done cleaning while the house is still empty. Sometimes I go to my in laws with Brian. It just depends on how bad my house needs deep cleaned ha. 

Once school starts things will change. Our school schedule will probably look a lot like this: 

7 am- Brian and I will get up. He will shower while I get the bigs up. They'll get dressed and ready for school. 

7:30-7:45am- Eilee gets up to eat. We will do our 'bye' kisses and Brian will take the big kids to school. The girls were adamant that they want to eat breakfast at school so we will do that again unless they change their minds. 

8 am- Eilee and I will cuddle and have us time. 

9 am- I'll put her to sleep so that I can clean the house. This will be a perk of only having one kiddo at home. Cleaning will be much easier and get done way faster. 

10:30 am- Baby will probably get up to eat if she's still eating so often. When she is a little older we will work on tummy time and motor skills after this feeding. 

12:00 pm- Eilee will go back down for a nap. I'm sure I'll rock her to sleep then hold her for awhile. I might even nap while she does. I'm excited to have this time alone with her while she's a baby. That will be new for me since I had the bigs were so close in age. I had 3 babies at once basically. It was awesome to experience them growing together and part of me wants that again with Eilee but I also haven't gotten to have just one infant at a time without either being pregnant or having other babies so I am happy to get to experience something new. Anyways, I'll work more on the laundry, bill paying, blogging, catching up on my shows, ect during this time as well. 

1:30 pm- Baby will get up to nurse I'm sure. 

2:45 pm- Go pick up the bigs from school. 

3:15 pm- Get home and make snacks. After snacks we will all play outside (weather permitting). Eilee will eat and I'll put her down for a nap at some point during this time frame. 

5 pm- Feed Eils then Start dinner

5:30 pm- Brian gets home. We will all 6 eat dinner. 

6 pm- Brian will take baby and 2 bigs so I can start my alone time with big #1. Sadly when they are gone all day at school getting my alone time and us all 6 getting a lot of family time each day together will be harder but we will make it work. 

7 pm- Alone time with big #2

8 pm- Alone time with big #3

9 pm- Brian will give the older kids a bath while I feed the babe if she hasn't already gotten up to eat.

9:30 pm- Bed time stories and tuck in. 

10 pm- Brian and I's alone time 

11:30 pm- I'll lay out the kids clothes for the next day and get their back packs all packed. 

12 am-7 am- Feed the baby every 2-3 hours 

7 am- Start all over again ha. 

****I totally meant to take pictures of our entire day but let's face it when you have 4 kids shit slips your mind. I will repost our detailed school schedule with pictures after school starts because this was just a guess on how it'd go. It might change. I know that 2 days a week from 5:30-6:30 we have cheer practice and 1 night a week we have church so that will be added in along with whatever else changes. 

My Parents Vow Renewal & 30th Anniversary

{Written on August 6th, 2017}

Most of you know that we almost lost my dad last Fall/Winter. It was the hardest thing that I've ever went through by far. Just the thought of life with out him gave me constant anxiety attacks that were so severe I seriously couldn't breath. We truly feared that we'd be having a funeral before we would ever see my parents make it to the big 3-0 but I praise God endlessly that we saw today and I pray endlessly that we see them make it 30 plus more years. Shortly after my dad came out of a coma my mom realized that their 30th anniversary just happened to be on a Sunday. If you know my parents you know that they are deeply involved with their church. They were the youth pastors for many years and have strong ties to Mt. Hermon's people. My mom knew that she wanted to have a vow renewal in front of their family and friends so for months she's been planning a SURPRISE anniversary celebration for my dad and her. It was such a beautiful service. She got in front of the church and preached a sermon about God using the church family and my dad as a miracle. She talked about their marriage and the influence that God had on it. I seriously saw 4 grown men around me crying during it. I was bawling. She was bawling. The lead singer of the band was bawling when she got up to sing a song that my mom requested. My family members were bawling. It was a very deep and emotional service but it was amazing. My parents are without a doubt true inspiration. They are why Brian and I made it through the hard times of marriage. They refused to let us give up and counseled us through it. We still both turn to them when we need marriage or life advice. My dad will tell you that they adopted Brian when he married me. Brian texts my dad and calls my mom when he can't figure me out ha. They are just an incredible couple. I know many couples who turn to them for help. I'm so thankful to have them and to of been apart of their beautiful wedding redo today. 

 

 

 

School Clothes Shopping

Eilee's 0-3 month haul

 
I have a major online shopping issue when it comes to my kids. I LOVE style and dressing the kids up as well as dressing myself up when I have a reason to leave the house. My love for fashion is a huge reason why I got my cosmetology license and why I'll do hair for a living when my kids are all in school. I thought that women's fashion was my biggest passion but I was so wrong. Child's style is most definitely my greatest addiction. I purchase kids clothes multiple times a week, not even kidding. The biggest question that I get asked is where I get my kids clothes so this post will answer that question. 

1) Etsy! I get most if not all of my kids personalized stuff from etsy shops. 

2) Facebook boutiques! Random Facebook boutiques is where the girls stuff comes from a lot. 

3) The Children's Place! They always have sales and are well priced. 

4) Carters! Also constantly having sales and well priced. 

5) Gap/Baby Gap! Their stuff is more pricey but I'm crazy about it. They do have sales occasionally but not as often as other places. 

6) Crazy 8! I love this store for the kids as they've grown. Carter's and TCP has stuff for the bigs sizes but it's all a little babyish when it comes to school aged kids for my taste.

7) Justice! Another store for the big girls. We adore Justice. 

8) Target! I can't leave Target off of my list. They have some of the cutest stuff and very affordable. I love their clothes for all ages including my own ha.

9) Gymboree! This is a store more for baby's-toddler's. I don't love a lot of their stuff and it's expensive but if I do find stuff that I like it's well made and worth the money. 

I recently went school clothes shopping online for the kids. I got them SO much stuff and couldn't leave Eilee out of course. These outfits are from several stores listed above but mostly from Gap and Children's Place. I'd be terrified to add up what I spent total so I won't but I'm guessing it was well over a grand. For all 4 kids I got this in one days worth of a shopping haul and this isn't even including what my mom and mother in law got them or what still hasn't arrived in the mail. Our kids closets are out of control. It's legit a problem but I can't seem to stop and neither can their grandmas. We need to go to some kind of rehab for it 😅

It's safe to say that I've shopped at most kids places so I hope this brief review helped explain where we get the kids clothes and where you're the most likely to save money. Avoid Gap and Etsy if you're not wanting to pay more for stuff. Watch for sales. Sign up for the email list to stores so you can be notified when there are sales. Also Google coupon codes before you check out. I've gotten codes that way before that weren't advertised on the actual website. If it's possible stock up on off season clothes when they go on sale for the next year. 

Good luck and happy shopping y'all. 

Happy National Breastfeeding Week: Our Nursing Journeys

In honor of national breastfeeding week I thought that I'd share my breastfeeding experiences. Each one has been different. With our oldest I knew that I wanted to breastfeed but I wasn't prepared for what was to come. I wasn't prepared for her to have trouble latching. I assumed it was natural and easy for them. I wasn't prepared for the nurses scaring me into thinking that she needed supplements so I gave her formula along with breastmilk when she was only a few days old. I wasn't prepared for how much nipple confusion due to early bottle introduction would complicate things. I wasn't prepared for my own fear that I wasn't making enough milk or that she was starving. I gave up breastfeeding with her when she was 6 weeks old because she was refusing to nurse. She preferred the bottle. With our 2nd and 3rd I knew better than to roll over on the supplementing thing. I refused to do it but I did pump and bottle feed occasionally with Andlee after she was 2 weeks old. Both Andlee and Hudson had severe gastrointestinal reflux along with a sensitivity to the proteins in my breastmilk. With Andlee our breastfeeding journey was over by the time she was 3 months old. It killed me to give it up but she was failing to thrive. I fought not giving up on breastfeeding as long as I possibly could with her. With Hudson I knew from Andlee's experience that breastfeeding was no longer an option with him once he was showing the same signs that she did. He had an awful struggle to latch on top of the other issues. We tried reflux medicine with them both but it did not help until I stopped breastfeeding which makes me think that there was never a reflux issue at all. It was just my breastmilk that was the problem. I did what was best for them despite my strong desire to breastfeed for the first year. Eilee is 5 weeks old today and has never once had a bottle touch her mouth. I'm not planning to introduce one ever with her. When she is around 8 months old I'll introduce a soft topped sippy cup just to help ease her into being weaned but even then I'll still breast feed 95% of the time until it's time to actually wean her. My goal is to nurse for the first year but I may go longer granted that I haven't had baby #5 by then ha. If I have a newborn before I'm ready to stop nursing Eilee I will tandum feed. I do feel that breast milk is important so I will pump and cup serve it after the first year. I very slowly ease my kids onto animal milk. I did formula with a splash of milk and spent a few months converting them over by modestly increasing the goats or cows milk. I will do that with breastmilk this time. 

Eilee and Andlee were both perfect nursers. They both latched within minutes of being born. I think that's a part of the reason that giving up with Andlee was so sad for me. Our journey was going great aside from the puking up all of her feedings. Eilee's journey is going flawlessly right now (aside from my over supply issues that I'll share a post on soon) and I don't want to throw a bump in the road by introducing a bottle. She latches amazingly in all situations. Whether we are at home and not covered or in public and covered. She's seriously the world's best breastfeeder. I love it and am so thankful to have this experience with her. I desired it more than anyone knows. She ate every hour or so the first week. It then spread out to every 1 1/2-2 hours. Now she eats every 2 1/2-3 hours during the day but the past week she's only woken up twice at night to nurse. I had to set my alarm to get me up just in case she went over 3 1/2 hours with out eating. After having 3 of the best sleepers ever I was not prepared for a baby that didn't sleep much. God bless moms who had several kids who didn't/don't sleep well. It's not for the faint of heart especially when you're a mom of 4 who has 3 other young children to care for. I'm basically mom wonder women at this point ha. But really, it's been a rough month so praise Jesus that it's gotten much better. 

Breastfeeding is work. You can find a million reasons to quit when you could of stuck it out and sometimes you truly don't have a choice. I've been in both situations. Formula is thicker and harder to digest so babies usually go longer with out getting hungry. Often they sleep longer and deeper. That's a reason in itself that some people give up and give formula. Lack of sleep can seriously mess with you physically and emotionally. I had days where I cried for no reason. Days when I fell asleep sitting up. Days when I questioned myself as a mom. Take this from a lady who has had 4 different experiences, if you do not HAVE to give up, do not do it! You will regret it. The journey will get better. Persistence is key. Avoid early bottle introduction. Trust your body and that it is making enough unless a medical professional that you trust tells you other wise. Fight through the nipple confusion, lack of sleep, blocked ducts, spitting up, inconvenience of nursing in public, the snide remarks by society, ect. Don't give a shit what any one says or thinks. It's your legal right to nurse in public covered or uncovered. You do you and do what's right for your baby. 

On the other side of my advice having been the girl who had no choice, don't feel like a failure if you can't breastfeed. Don't be hard on yourself like I was. As moms we have to do what's best for our kids and sometimes breastfeeding isn't an option. I do believe that breastmilk is always best. However, it is not always a choice and thankfully there are great formulas like Nutramigen out there for kiddos like 2 of mine. 

Stay strong mama's and feed those babies! 

 

 

 

 

My Tip For Less Stressful School Mornings

Last year with 2 kids in school, a toddler at home, and being an overly tired pregnant gal I realized fast just how stressful/rushed mornings can get. If I had kids who woke up early and ready to start their day that would of been one thing but my kids have always been late sleepers. They've all 3 slept 8-12 hours a night since birth (aside from me waking them to eat as babies). They sleep in late and 2 of them are bears if you wake them up before they are ready. We tried to create a new routine during the summer as school neared by getting them up at 6:45 am but it didn't help create a natural schedule change in their bodies. Mornings were still awful! However, I saw this awesome idea on Facebook to help simplify things a tad. My kids were still buttholes when I got them up but getting them ready went a million times faster after I created our weekly outfits dresser. 

I purchased these plastic dressers at Walmart for $20 each. Each dresser has 3 drawers so you'll need 2 to complete the week. I use the 6th drawer for shoes to match each weeks outfits but you can use it for whatever you'd like. I made the labels myself with card stock and a sharpie. Both of which I already had around the house so that was easy peasy. At our old house I had the dresser set up in our laundry room but at our new house I decided to set it up in my bedroom for now due to me wanting to keep the laundry/mud room clutter free. My kids are all still small enough that their clothes don't take up much space there fore I can use one dresser for all 3 kids and still have a ton of room to spare but yesterday morning I saw plastic dressers online in pretty colors so I ordered 4 more of them for the girls. The kids will each have their own set of weekly outfit dressers in their rooms once the new ones get here. I'll update this post with those pictures by the end of the week. 

 

 

Happy 8th Anniversary to My Person

Today Brian and I have been married for 8 years and together for 9 years. It's mind blowing to me that we've almost spent a decade together. Committed to one another and only one another. Committed to the vow that we made and the family that we created. Committed to making each other happy and loving each other. Despite the hard times, and trust me there have been plenty, we have managed to fall even more in love every single day. I can still see him from across a crowded room and get butterflies. I still want him when he's gone or when my feelings are hurt. I still get all warm inside when he hugs me and kisses my forehead. I love him even when I don't like him and I'd die for him in a heart beat. He still opens doors for me and tells me that I'm beautiful constantly no matter what I look like or weigh. He randomly makes me breakfast and brings me my plate. He sets up pedicure appointments for me when I've had a rough week and tells me to go get pampered. He leaves sweet notes in my car on the back of receipts. He sets up surprise movie dates that I knew nothing about. He is endlessly thoughtful but my favorite quality of all in him is the way that he loves our babies. He's not just someone who helped create them. He's their parent. He takes them all places to give me a little break. He cooks for them and bathes them. He reads them bedtime stories and takes them on one on one dates. Growing up I always said that I wanted to marry someone like my dad because of the way that my dad loved me. He was/is the best dad and I knew that if I found a man that loved his children that deeply, he'd love me that way too. Brian is that person. He loves the kids and I passionately. Everything that he does shows it. There's no one else in the world that I would trust to father my children and to hold my heart. He broke down all of my walls and came crashing it. We have had a rough road at times. I've wanted to give up and 'be alone' but at the end of the day life without Brian in it would be the most miserable life. He's apart of my soul and I know without any doubts that I'm apart of his. Happy anniversary to my forever. It's not always easy but it's always worth it.