my beautiful mundane life

I told you I was going to be better about blogging.
ha! I am even surprising myself by typing right now.

I made a goal (yesterday) to be better at taking pictures.
I have THOUSANDS of pictures of Henry as a babe, Hundreds of Leena, & maybe one hundred of Benny. #3rdchildprobs

So here are some pictures of today's adventures. What some may view as mundane routine- I view as new adventure. Last week Henry was too scared to climb up anything but the stairs... Today he ventured out and climbed the ladder wall. I love watching them gain confidence in themselves!! Such a happy mom moment.

Side Note- Cat & Jack brand from Target gets an A+ in my book!
Inexpensive, Durable, and so dang Cute!

Leena's whole outfit is Cat & Jack... ok ok, 1/4 of her closet is Cat & Jack!

If you are looking for a cute bow- Go visit 

Maddie & Mille Bows

We are obsessed! They are high quality linen bows. Leena loves them so much! I seriously think we own about 12+.

ps. Tomorrow is FRIDAY!!

xoxo - liv 

it's a crazy life

I cannot believe it is September! 

Where did the summer go??

Everything between May and Now was a blurrrrrrrrr.

Between buying a home, working our tails off, trying to soak up every moment of this stage of life, and finding time for sleep... our days, weeks, and years are just flying by. 

It breaks my heart! I was looking at pictures the other night from just 1 year ago- *cue ugly crying*.

My little babies are growing up too fast. haha how cheesy, right?? Motherhood, it changes you. 

I have a love/hate relationship with time.

I have to remind myself to just breath! slow it down! & enjoy these sweet beautiful babes. 

Enjoy the little mess makers, sticky kisses, & the sweet voices saying sill things.

My favorite things they say right are...

Hen- Right as I was about to get in the tub-"I pee pee in mom's tub." this was followed by uncontrollable laughter.

Daddy Coke = Chocolate Milk

"Mom do it." 

"Let's go to Mom's Store" Mom's Store = Target. lol, this should be enough for me to realize I have a problem. 

"i luv you mommy."

Bum Lotion = Baby Powder

I LOVE that Henry knows ALL truck names. 

I was getting him in his pajamas the other night and this was our conversation.

Me- "Henry these are the coolest jammies, they have a big excavator on them."

Hen- "NO MOM! it's a BIGGGG Backhoe." Chase was delighted to know that Henry is teaching me proper truck names.

Leena- First thing in the morning she gives me a list of demands. It usually goes like this.

L "Mom hold you, & blanket, & Flamingo, & Peppa, & Baby. Leena Hungy. Milk &... mmm BACON! Leena need ip stick, and kiss moms cheek. watch Mickey & Einsteins"

I kid you not- every morning she has new demands.

She loves food! That is always her go to for procrastinating bed time. "I'm Hungy!" haha!

"Benny sad Mom, I kiss him."

"Henry hold my Hand!" She loves holding Henrys Hand.

"Wear Henrys Shirt, Benny's pants." lol she LOVES wearing her brothers clothes. She and Benny are just about the same weight. She is a petite fire cracker. Always singing, dancing, and keeping up with Henry. 

Benny- He now laughs ALL the time. Constantly happy. So easy! 

He skipped crawling, and just flings himself across the room. He wants to badly to be up and running with H & L. In due time my child.

He eats ALL. DAY. LONG. 

Almost has a tooth... at least I pray it cuts through any day. ;) 

We just booked our trip to Disneyland in January! We cannot be more excited. Traveling with kids is one way to prove just how real the struggle is... but it's so worth it. We love making memories with our little family! 

My dear friend shared this video with me, and it hits SOO close to home. 

Breathe

"alarm clock screaming

bare feet hit the floor.

it's off to the races,

everybody out the door.

i'm feeling like i'm falling behind,

it's a crazy life.

90 miles an hour,

going fast as i can

trying to push a little harder

trying to get the upper hand.

so much to do, in so little time.

It's a crazy life.

its' ready, set, go

it's another wild day

when the stress is on the rise

in my heart I hear you say,

Breath, just breath....."

Listen to this song, It is amazing!

Beathe- Jonny Diaz

ps. we totally thought we were pregnant again - we are NOT. 

anytime we think we are pregnant it is all the feels. 

my heart was pounding waiting those 3 minutes. i don't know how i would've handled another babe right now... but then again i said that the past 3 pregnancies. ;).  we want more babes, just not anytime soon. give us a couple years!

those of you who know us, know we are extremely fertile. i mean- we've gotten pregnant twice while on birth control. BUT i am so grateful! i don't discuss it much because I have soo many friends dealing with infertility. it breaks my heart, but I have to remember that God has a plan for everyone. Everyone has their own trials, & everything happens for a reason. 

Know that I have all the good intentions to start blogging weekly, maybe even a few times a week.

xoxo- liv 

the tired momma

I am a mom to 3 under 3.  

Henry is 3.

Leena is almost 2.

& Benny 4 months.

I work full time from home doing Medical Billing.

I also have all my womanly duties. ;) 

jk, I don't view them as that, but I like to have the house clean, dishes done, laundry folded and put away by the time Chase (my husband) walks through the door.

We are in the middle of buying a townhome in PG, and the thought of packing right now is sending my BP through the roof

Today was Henrys Birthday. 

Today I lost my cool too many times to count.
My husband may have received a snap that looked like this... with the caption of
"this is what your children get to deal with today"

I was "that mom" or what I call "Monster Mom".

I was Monster Mom on Henry's 3rd birthday. 

I got mad when Henry threw fits, I got mad when Leena wanted snuggles.

I was bugged that Benny wanted to eat every hour, on the hour. (babies, right?)

It wasn't until I had 3 tiny humans screaming at me, that I realized I was the problem.

That is when I put work on hold, and decided to be a mom.

Fed Benny, and put him down for a nice nap.

Snuggled Leena, and put her down for a nice nap.

Build choo choo tracks with Hen.

They turned me back into normal, fun, nice mom.

Needless to say, I am EXHAUSTED.  Today was a day where I felt as though someone had drained the life out of me. 

I am running on empty and just don't have much more to give. 

Now, I am not saying this to get pity, or "woe as me".

Motherhood can be draining, It can be hard, who am I kidding... It is always hard! 

with that being said...

IT IS SO WORTH IT!

Keep pushing through. You are doing just fine. 

To the Mama who is up at 2am feeding her baby- It gets easier. Your babe will sleep through the night, and you'll feel like a new woman.  

To the Mama who is pumping/breastfeeding and feels like a slave to her boob... - good luck, I feel your pain. haha! I wish I could say it gets easier.. maybe I should say your child will thank you. yadda yadda yadda..  just keep swimming, just keep swimming.

To the Mama at the grocery store with a few kids in tow, trying to keep a smile on her face despite what her children are doing.- It gets better, hang in there.

To the Mama who is literally drained- You are a rockstar, take some ZZZQuil tonight- you earned it. 

To the Mama who is self conscience- STOP IT! Your body is gorgeous and perfect just the way it is. You grew a tiny human... MIRACLE!  Now stop beating up on yourself for having tiger stripes and a few extra squishy areas.

To the Mama who is yelling at her kids for being kids- Tomorrow brings a new day. A clean slate. A day to react differently.

To the Mama who has it all together, clean house, happy kids, etc... - Way to go!! You deserve to feel like a freaking Godess... you are! 

Just remember to soak up the good moments, and the not so good. It does get easier. 

h.e.double.hockey.sticks,  I blinked and Henry is now 3. 

Embrace that chaos and keep going!

xoxo-the tired momma

Benny's Birth Story

Where to even begin??
Benny's pregnancy was miserable.... enough for me to not want to be pregnant ever again...(half joking).

The round ligament pain/ hip pain/ lightening crotch/ heart burn from hell/ need I go on?
oh ya... High Blood Pressure... surprise!

I felt like the crankiest/worst mom to Hank and L.

My BP spiked around 18-20 weeks, and I was doing 24 hour urine tests/blood tests/NST's round the clock.  My lab work would come back borderline each time.

My Dr's had told me to plan on delivering around 37 weeks due to possible preeclampsia. I was not too happy about this because I did NOT want a Christmas baby.

December 17- I woke up with a dull persistent headache, and my BP was hovering around 160/100 all day.  I had left a message for my OB and they had called back saying head to L&D just to be safe.
I waited for Chase to get home, so he could be with the kiddies, and I headed in. I was there for a good 5-6 hours.  Benny was looking great, my lab work came back borderline yet again. Dr. Wolsey wanted me to come back in tomorrow for a NST at Maternal Fetal Medicine, do another 24 hour urine test on Sunday, labwork Monday, Office visit Tuesday, & NST at Maternal Fetal Medicine Thursday.

HOLY COW! Little Ben was already taking over my schedule.  Thank heavens for my mom who loves watching my kids, right? What on earth would I do without her?

December 18- NST looked great
December 21- Lab work came back fine.
December 22- Dr. apt with Dr. Wolsey. My BP was back down to 115/66. He said we will set up an induction for Jan 8 (39 weeks).  I may have shed a few tears on the way home for reasons stated below.
December 23- STRESSFUL day for preggo me.  Chase's company switched Insurance Companies Jan 1.  The new Insurance company is not contracted with IHC.  IF I didn't deliver Benny by Dec 31, I would have to transfer my care up to Valley OB in Lehi, and deliver at The Medical Point Hospital.

December 24 (Christmas Eve)- NST with Maternal Fetal Medicine at 8am.  I woke up with a dull headache, super nauseous (so I didn't eat), took a warm tub (shaved my legs!!), and headed in.  My BP was up and Benny was having decels.  Dr. Schemmer came in and said, hang tight, I am going to have Dr Rees (who was on call) come down and come up with a plan.  A few moment later, Dr. Rees came down, and said pick a day and we will get you induced. I said what's the earliest? & He said lets go upstairs and get things going!

I never wanted a Christmas baby... but man was I done being pregnant! & I really didn't want to chance something go wrong and not be able to have the baby at UVRMC.  I called Chase, he dropped the kids off at my parents, and dropped our car off at the dealership (our power steering went out the day before.) Chase's parents dropped him off at the hospital.

9:45- admitted, iv put in (first iv blew my vein, so I ended up with a hand iv)
10am-started pitocin/antibiotics.
12pm- Dr. Rees broke my water
1pm- got epi (if i'm paying for it, I will be in no pain ;) )
2pm- got some zofran due to nausea from epi
4pm- spiked a 104.3 fever. put on oxygen & 2 other antibiotics (they think the amniotic fluid caught an infection)
5:20 pm- dialated to a 10! Benny was posterior (face up)
5:21pm- Dr. Rees turned Benny, and out he came.... NO PUSHING, NO TEARING, NO STITCHES! 3rd time's a charm... right? ;) haha!

He was 7lbs 11 oz, 20.5 inches long. born at 36.6 weeks.

Merry Christmas to us! I was no longer pregnant!! wahoo!

Benny's sugars would not stay up the first couple days. Poor kid was poked every hour.  They need to be above 40, and he hung around 40, then dropped to 28, 36, back up to 40.  Had he had one more drop, he would've been put in the NICU. I wouldn't change a thing about how/when he came. So so happy.  He is such a sweet/happy boy! We are all so in love with him!

 this is from the first iv that blew my vein... this is my arm today. 10 days postpartum. ouchie!

Now to adjust to having 3 kiddos... I think we're up for the challenge! having a work from home job is a HUGE plus!  Tomorrow Jan 4, is the first day Chase will be going back to work.  wish me luck! Fingers crossed my baby blues are done with.  That first week after giving birth, I cry at absolutely nothing, and yet everything at all.  I feel like a crazy person.  I literally give Chase a warning and then cry it out.  GAH! I hate feeling like a crazy women.  Babies... they're worth it! & now to lose the weight. When I went in to have him, I was 285 (yikes!), 1.5 weeks postpartum I am down to 262. (I swell real bad when pregnant, and lose the swelling pretty quick!)

& Benny is a little yellow.  His bili levels were normal when we left the hospital, and then spiked a few days later.  He has already become a lot less yellow.  His Dr. is keeping an eye on it, and we will recheck Friday.

Happy New Year to you all!