One month Aiden Odell

I'm super late posting this as Aiden is actually over two months now. I suppose I will write that post tomorrow! 

Aiden Odell...Oh my dear Aiden. How mommy loves you. Daddy loves you and your brother and sister just adore your every movement. You are the sunshine in our life. We watch you play and stare at things. Ty and Ember like to play a silly game where we guess what you are thinking about. Your siblings love to tickle and tease you. You have really started to recognize our faces and light up when you see us. I could hold you all day and I sometimes do. I will kiss your cheeks forever because sweet baby, I LOVE YOU!!

Photo drop

What we have been up to in pictures. 

 

Dolls for Days

So you know that year break I took from blogging. Yea, well its not that I woke up one morning and decided not to. I started this little thing, or at the time I thought it was going to be this little thing. I opened up an etsy shop... My dream. Something I had wanted to do for years but was scared and it just never seemed like the right time. 

I made Ember her first doll for her first Christmas. It was so sweet. She just adored it. I started getting a few requests from friends to make them. Then friends of friends. One day after many prayers I decided to open up shop.

I started up on Etsy and Instagram and all the sudden I was getting orders. I  couldn't believe people loved my little creations so much. I felt humbled and blessed beyond belief. Not only was I doing what I loved but also was able to work from home and allow Jayson to focus on his studies and have me help financially.  

Although my dolls and style has changed a lot since that first creation I still love and adore them just as much and am so excited to make each and every one. 

I could upload doll photos all day! I will leave it at this and show you more next time! 

I am truly so excited about this adventure and where I have come so far and so excited to see where it takes me in the future. I am so grateful for everyone who has encouraged me along the way and supported my dream! 

To check out more or see what is currently in the shop click on the Sew Darling link on my sidebar! 

Three kids

I read an article the other day talking about how three kids is easier than two. I couldn't agree more. For me personally at least. I felt it took the words right out of my mouth. First off it mentions that you finally believe "this too shall pass" I have been a mother long enough to know now that kids have phases. If it's a bad one you work through it and know you'll survive, if it's a good one you hold on to them and cherish every moment. The sleepless nights pass, teething, diaper blowouts, sneaking into your bed at night, kicking and screaming in the grocery store aisles, the pushing. It all passes. You teach them and try to find a way to discipline that works for both child and you. But the great things pass to. Holding them swaddled in your arms, the soft coos in the bassinet next to you all night, learning to talk and trying to make out what they say. I could go on forever with all the things the kids do I will miss so much when they stop. I know now how fast it can go and wanting to soak up every second.

Also when I had Ember, Ty wasn't even two yet. He still needed so much of my attention. Don't get me wrong I loved being a mother of two and cherish those memories dearly. They both just needed my 100%. I wanted so badly to give them  both that 100% but I struggled trying to find a way to keep them both happy and keep my sanity. It took a lot out of me physically and emotionally. I just learned to take a lot of deep breaths and hold them close. However with our third, now  Ty is five and Ember is three. They play so well together and can do a few things on their own. They are both potty trained, can get dressed by themselves and Ty can even make his lunch. Now most days I still get Ember dressed but Ty loves to do it himself and I usually always make their lunch but there are those days when we are running late or I need help and ask Ty to make he and Ember lunch. He puts together pb&j sandwiches, crackers, banana and some fruit snacks. It's truly such a help to have both my "big helpers" around. They both love to help bath Aiden, get his diapers, pick out his clothes and snuggle him. Ty often holds Aiden while I vacuum, make dinner or shower. 

I also think once you have a child you can't imagine life with out them. From the first moment you hold them in your arms... that's it, life has changed. You change. That little baby is now apart of you. So no matter how hard things get or how dirty your house is... you can still sit down and hold your sweet baby and watch your big kids play and feel blessed beyond imagination to have them.

I no longer believe that there are "good days and bad" as a mother. Every day has good and bad in it. For me me its "good and bad moments" even if Ty and Ember are screaming or Ember refuses to get dressed and we are late for wherever it is we're suppose to be, they still hug and kiss me through the day and say "love you mama" ❤️ Or even if we're playing a game as a family and they start to fight over who is the winner or who gets what we're still sitting around together playing and making memories. There is also absolutely nothing sweeter to me than tucking my kids in at night, kissing their sweet cheeks and hearing them say goodnight mama. Then sneaking in their room after they have fallen asleep just to watch them breath. 

Delivery

The love in my heart for each of my kids is equal. They all have such a special place there. When baby Aiden came I don't know how we got along with out him. He has truly completed our family. I can't seem to stop holding him.

I was fully planning on having to be induced again. However at 40 weeks to the day I started having contractions. I brushed them off as Braxton hicks. By 10pm I started to hurt so I took a hot shower then walked around assuming they would pass. Then took a warm bath and laid and watched gossip girl for a while. By that time I told Jayson I didn't know what to do. I didn't want to go to the hospital to be sent home. The kids were in bed and I was unsure if this was for real. Finally Jayson said we had to go in to check things out. We called a sweet friend who came to stay with the kids. We arrived at the hospital at 12:30 or 1:00 am I can't really remember. We actually went to the wrong entrance  and were locked out. Some random guy walks out a side door and sees me and Jayson (by this time I could only walk when I wasn't having a contraction and when I was I was on all fours in the parking lot) he sees us, doesn't say a thing and runs back inside. A moment later he is running out with a wheelchair and unlocks all the doors for us and personally pushes me to the ER. Once he knew we were in good hands he said good luck and went on his way. I will forever be grateful for that man and what he did for us that night. 

It took what seems like an hour for them to book me. I sit in the waiting room moaning infront of random people. Then a sweet nurse walks out and take us to OB. They get me in a gown and laid down. Soon another nurse comes to check where I am progressed to. She checks, raised her eyebrow and says let me go get another nurse. She leaves and it's just Jayson and I in the room. I look over at him and tell him if I'm not dilated I was  going to shoot myself in the foot. I sit there scared I'm just being dramatic and they are going to send me home. A new nurse comes in to check me and says "yup, your an 8. Let's do this." After that things happened very fast. Nurses were coming in and out getting me hooked up to IVs and because I'm high risk they ended up having four in me. Two in the hands and two in my forearm. -worst part of the whole experience- I was luckily able to get an epidural although it only worked on one side for the first bit and I was that girl. You know the one in the movies yelling at her husband during a contraction then telling him sorry and how much she loves him when off a contraction. Poor Jayson didn't know what to think but he was right there holding my hand in and out of it all. Once they were able to get the epidural to spread to my opposite side I immediately fell asleep. They woke me up later and said we should try pushing. After two practice pushes I was told to stop because he was crowning. The doctor came in and Aiden was out just after. It was honestly the most amazing experience. I keep joking to Jayson that I would love to relive it. This was the first I had ever went into labor on my own and also not had major complications following. 

Jayson called mom when we arrived at the hospital and were told baby was coming that night. She showed up just after we were wheeled into recovery. She drove an hour to the airport, booked a new flight, flew two hours, rented a car and drove thirty minutes from the airport to the hospital. She is the most amazing woman and mother who would do anything for me and my family. Including not sleep for two days to be able to help me. Later Jayson went and got the kids and they adored baby Aiden from first sight. I just wanted to hold them all at once and remember that feeling for the rest of my life. I kept looking at Jayson and thinking, we did this. We made tiny, beautiful, sweet, perfect humans. My love for him grew even bigger that day. 

Dad flew in a few days later and they both spent Thanksgiving with us. It was simply perfect.