dōTERRA Essential Oils

As part of updating this space more regularly and providing readers with valuable content I wanted to point out some changes I have made to the essential oils page. This page can be found by clicking on the tab in the upper right under the Breaking New Ground title. If you are reading on mobile this may look different to you; try clicking on the arrow next to the word Home and scrolling down to the essential oils option or just click here. There you will find featured posts about essential oils and you can now click straight through to my dōTERRA page to find out more about signing up for a wholesale account of your own (earn points toward free product!!) or to purchase oils through me. dōTERRA just introduced a whole new line of spa products as well as some new essential oils and other products, all available for purchase starting October 3rd, 2016. I can't wait to try them!

As always if you have questions about essential oils that aren't answered here please feel free to contact me directly. Follow my tips on the myriad uses for these amazing oils on Instagram @breakingnewground! 

Summer 2016: Mid-Summer

Two months ago I declared to my husband that I wanted this summer to be as slow and leisurely as possible. He laughed a bit because we were already deep into wedding preparation. It was such a joy and privilege to be part of my sister's big day as she married her high school sweetheart at our good friends' house; but having such a large event behind us definitely felt freeing. It was a bit fleeting though because we just moved on to the next thing and the next thing both mentally and then physically. After Amanda + Kyle got married we started planning for our yearly 4th of July camping trip with my family. We were also mulling over whether or not Malakai's upcoming tonsillectomy was necessary or if we should wait and see (more on that later), and preparing for Malakai's birthday celebrations. Remember the part where I said we were going to have a slow and leisurely summer? Well, that hasn't happened yet and we are more than halfway through! I had the best of intentions but life with littles never seems to slow down. We have made efforts to not overschedule ourselves and despite all the big stuff happening we have had a lot more little moments and relaxing evenings to ourselves than in summers past.

I've written several blog posts over the last couple of months (that I had alluded to in my last post) but none of them are quite done. I keep thinking of photos I need to take (and upload and watermark and position perfectly) to finish off each post and thus they sit unpublished. Again, I had the best of intentions. I do think those posts will be shared some day, but who knows when. It all really depends on what happens next. I'll back track a bit to recap our summer...

Starting with May, even though it's technically spring. I have to say that May is one of THE busiest months we've had over the last couple years. It's so full of end of the year activities at Malakai's Elementary school, at our church for the kids' programs and we started swim lessons at the end of the month. There was Mother's Day, Ben went to a Hillsong concert in Portland with the worship band and a guy's night out with our church life group, Desmond had a gymnastics party, Malakai had a limo ride and choir performance (back to back), a jog-a-thon, a skateworld party and we had 3 kids' birthday parties to attend. Plus the weather here was very warm and dry so we started packing in house projects and I got my garden going. I threw my sister her Bridal shower and then got to planning her bachelorette.

In June we started swim lessons and wrapped up church events with a volunteer BBQ, we went to Kid's Garden Club, I woke up at midnight to get my kids registered for VBS (yes, that's a real thing), took Malakai to the dentist for what we thought was a broken tooth (oh no problem, just part of his jaw bone as his 7 year molars came in...), continued swim lessons twice a week, Malakai went on a very long field trip to Wildlife Safari that Ben was able to attend with him, I threw my sister a Bachelorette party that consisted of laser tag, painting and hot tubbing, We attended more back to back events for graduations, camp opening and Father's day, I took a treat to celebrate Malakai's birthday in his classroom, we gathered together with our huge life group, we had a fairly quiet Father's Day that Ben thoroughly enjoyed, then we went through the whirlwind that was my little sister's beautiful wedding day, Malakai had his first friend sleepover at our house, his pre-op that got us wondering if he still needed surgery, I cut my hair off after having grown it out over the last year for the wedding.

At the beginning of this month we took off camping and we started it with Ben having a day off at home to help prepare and that worked out so nicely that I may insist we do that for every trip we ever go on because preparing on my own is pretty much hectic and no fun, we played at camp and the let the kids get dirty and eat too much junk, we watched fireworks from our culdesac with the neighbors, the next night Malakai had an impromptu first overnight at his friend's house, he also came down with an ear infection so we had to go back to his ENT doctor and ultimately decided to have his surgery, I kept attending a Bible study that had started in February and is wrapping up at the end of the month, Ben and I celebrated 9 years of marriage, we went to a garden party that night which was basically a double date with my parents, the next day I got the stomach flu and the rest of the family went to my nephew's 2nd birthday party, we had birthday party 1 of 2 for Malakai with just his school friends which was the rainiest day in July I can remember, then Desmond and Malakai attended a week of VBS, I prepared our house for Malakai's upcoming surgery and planned out the details of his 2nd party, we celebrated Malakai turning 7, took the boys to their first theater movie (Finding Dory), had 2 doctors appointments, a play date and swim lessons and then Malakai's surgery. The one thing his surgery did for us (besides the health benefits for him of course) was force us to slow down. I have had tunnel vision on my sweet first-born for the past 5 days. All my energy was focused on making sure he was healthy and comfortable, and that brings us to today...whew!

Wow, look how slow our summer has been... 

Summer always goes by entirely too fast. For August we have a camping trip with Ben's family, then Malakai goes to day camp, we go to Portland for a weekend trip and then Ben has a week of vacation where we have ZERO planned and I am convinced it will be the best week of the summer. No house projects, no long drives, nothing. Just being together and laying low. Then just two weeks of summer before my baby turns 2 and my big kids are starting school again. If I'm not careful to intentionally keep slowing down I'll blink and it'll be mid autumn! 

moving forward

I have been on a bit of a blog hiatus lately. It wasn't intentional at first, but afer some personal reflection as part of a Bible study I'm doing and some recent sermons I decided to take some time to pray about the future of this space. I wanted to make sure I'm updating here for the right reasons, I wanted to give it to the Lord and make sure that He is receiving the glory through what I share here just as much as I want him to in all other areas of my life. If I felt God was leading me to abandon blogging, I would have and with a peace about it. For a while I wasn't sure how I would get an answer or how long it would take but I wanted to remain obedient to the call. It has been a productive time of prayer and decision making and I'm happy to be back. I don't know how frequent my posting will be because something I've always stuck to is that I will not let my blog become a distraction from my family and my household responsibilities as other things have in the past.

Earlier this week I sat down and made a list of "why I blog" and as I went through I felt like my reasons were solid and as long as I am mindful of my time, they can all be ways to give God the glory in my life and share His work in us with the Breaking New Ground community. So here I am, back at it! 

I've also made a list of what I'd like to share with you all in the coming weeks, as time allows. I have some crafts I've been working on that some friends have been curious about so I figured I could easily share them here. I also have some recipes to share, essential oil tips, cloth diapering information, homeschooling, a fun giveaway and a sprinkling of family updates as we have been and continue to be VERY busy! I know for sure I will be taking an extended break in August as we will be doing our best to schedule nothing and just enjoy each others' company as summer winds down and the school year approaches. It seems crazy to plan out that far but I've noticed that our schedule fills ups so effortlessly that we need to protect our down time with some strict "black out" dates! 

While I've been on a break, my best friend Liz over at Bramblefield has been busy with updates to her blog and her shop. She just posted some awesome free calender and phone case printables! 

I've also still been fairly active on Instagram so if you aren't following there come join me @breakingnewground 

I'm so thankful for this creative outlet, the people I've connected with because of blogging and the memories I'm able to look back on over the years of sharing a little bit of our lives online. 

refresh

oh, hi there pretty new blog design...

If you're catching up with me on a reader and you can't see the header, it's worth a click through to my site to check it out. I don't mean to brag, but I will a bit because my husband made this pretty new title for me. I told him what I wanted and he made my vision come to life! He also made a couple mini-versions for instagram and facebook that you should take a look at. 

It's nice to have a simple little refresh as I slowly work on updating this space more frequently. I'm glad you're here! If you haven't already, take a look at the little turquoise buttons on the left to connect with me on social media, and to follow through feedly or your favorite blog reader. 

Happy Friday!

Fall 2015

I keep hoping that time will slow down and I'll get to savor these days with my kids being small, especially Aurelia's baby-ness, but it's flying by faster than ever. We do our best to weed things out of our schedule, even things that we might REALLY want to do, in an effort to keep life at a manageable pace. Even so, we find ourselves feeling pretty busy most days, which I guess is inevitble with small children.

At the beginning of the school year Malakai tried out soccer for the first time. He liked it a lot, but the jury is out as to whether or not he will want to play again next season. Now he's in basketball and he's really enjoying it. He doesn't have much experience with basketball and it really showed his first few practices, it was pretty cute watching him learn new skills and the rules of the game. His coach is so very patient and really great at teaching him techniques for dribbling, shooting, gaurding, and all those other basketball musts. 

Last month I had the joy of accompanying Malakai on his first pumpkin patch field trip with all the 1st graders at his school. It was such a fun little trip and I loved seeing him interact with the other children and his teacher. We couldn't have asked for a more beautiful day! We've been trying to get more involved withouot overloading our schedule (as I mentioned before) so we can get to know more families and help Malakai feel a part of the community at his school. I'm chomping at the bit to volunteer on a more regular basis, just waiting on his teacher to need me!

Desmond is getting back into the groove of wanting to do school again. For a stretch he wasn't really into it. He wanted to play superheros all day long and even when he said he wanted to do school he struggled with following directions because he would change his mind or want to rush through to get to something else. Thankfully he's liking it again and is getting into memorizing Bible verses and sounding out letters. We have done just a little name writing practice and he surprised me last week by writing his name at an activity we were attending at Malakai's school. 

Aurelia is fine tuning all sorts of new skills. She's walking all over the place, but still has some sturdiness issues and trips on a regular basis. I love watching her wobbly walk and the look of excitement and pride when she gets going fast for a long stretch. She just stood up from sitting without grabbing something for help for the first time this week.  She is doing a lot of talking, signing and mimicing of noises and behaviours. She said "hi, dada" and waved at him the other day. If she hears Ben come home from work she will toddle down the hallway to greet him, arms up high wanting a hug. She says mama and follows me around all day long. She has been going through a clingy stage, which I think has to do with working on some molars because it's also really messing with her sleep.

Aurelia's newest words are "uh-uh" while shaking her head no, "mm-hm" while nodding yes, "muh" or "num" while signing for more to eat, "hewwo" while putting a toy phone up to her ear and "wook" while pointing for you to look at something. 

Ben + I have not only been busy with the kid's activities but various social events and projects of our own. In the last couple months, with the help of our wonderful families, he has installed a new tub surround (which also required new dry wall, and repainting the bathroom) and added a concrete slab to our side yard. These have been on our to-do list for quite some time so it feels good to have them done and I'm so proud of Ben's hard work as he pressed on to learn new things and get the work done quickly!

In the midst of it all I'm hoping to get back to updating here more. I knew I wouldn't get to or really want to make this space a priority during this past year with so many new things and it felt like a very pivitol year for me as a mother, savoring the baby days of our last child. I'm still savoring the days but also able to find time to do some of my hobbies that I put aside, like blogging, a little more.

oh hey...

Just dropping in to say hi...and that I can't believe this pretty little girl of mine will be turning 1 year old in just over 6 weeks...

...carry on. 

still around...

Hey all... just in case you're wondering, I'm still blogging here. Goodness, it's been a long time. Spring has passed us by all too quickly and I can barely find time to get the regular things done around our home with all the extras going on lately. It all comes on at once!

If you follow along with us on Instagram or Facebook, you may have seen some of what has kept us so busy. Here's more of what we've been up to...

Aside from our normal weekly schedule of getting Kai to and from Kindergarten in the afternoons, visiting with both sets of Grandparents at least once a week, squeezing in play dates, and attending church functions 3 times a week, we've found room to cram some special activities in as well.

Spring is such a busy time all of a sudden with a kiddo in school. It seems they pile on events all at once. Last week Malakai's class had a field trip to Public Works. It was an open house day so there were a LOT of other field trips and families as well. I was able to take Malakai while Ben's mom watched Desmond and Aurelia. It was such a treat to help out with his class and have some time to just focus on him. It was also nice to connect with other parents, since Aurelia was born on the 3rd day of school I haven't been in his classroom as much as I had envisioned.

The following day we had a Jog-a-thon fundraiser for the school so I packed up all 3 kiddos and joined the other Kindergarten parents and students in the rain to help count laps as kiddos dashed around the track. It was such a blessing because although it had been rainy and was pretty wet, the rain let up for the hour that our kiddos ran. Desmond wasn't too into it, which really surprised me. I talked him into doing one lap around with Malakai and they walked huddled together the whole way around. Malakai did 19 laps in one hours, which I think is close to 2 1/2 miles.

We've spent a lot of time at our pediatrician's office lately. Unfortunately all 3 kiddos have been suffering ear infections. Aurelia has had 2 in the last 2 months, Malakai had one and Desmond had a double. Keeping track of medicines has been fun. I've been really thankful for my collection of essential oils right about now for general sickness, ear discomfort and seasonal discomforts alike.

Sadly Malakai will need surgery to have ear tubes put in to keep him from having so many ear infections. I had hoped we would get past this season with no more infections, but he had another right after allergies hit. I'm wishing we had done this last year, but we thought for sure he'd mature out of it. After school is out we'll get it all taken care of and pray that ear infections will be a thing of the past for him!

Lately I've been spending a lot of time gardening. We have quite a bit of green in our little veggie garden! I have 5 different lettuces, 2 tomatoes, onions, carrots, red peppers, cilantro, basil and strawberries clustered in big and small containers. We've already enjoyed a few salads out of our garden, the basil is new within the last few days, and sadly the birds got to the few red berries I had, but I'm hoping to beat them to the next round!

The only thing growing faster than our little veggie garden is our sweet daughter. She is doing so many new things! She's doing this hilarious scoot crawl and she is FAST. She is able to get into a lot of things and I've found myself cleaning the floors much more often. She loves to spit her food, even when she likes it. 

We've also been getting outside and taking advantage of the great weather we've been having as much as possible. Playing at the park or in our own front yard has been a lot of fun. Aurelia loves to watch the big kids play so we will often sit on a blanket together while the boys play on the playground. Her new favorite thing is to pick and try to eat the grass now that she can crawl to it. 

She used to hate the feel of grass but today I set her down so I could carry a watermelon in from the car and she was very excited. 

Hopefully I'll get to updating again here sooner than I have been. I have so much more to share and I still have a few informational posts about essential oils in the works too! 

Desmond Lee: 3 1/2

Desmond is officially halfway through being a three year old. He's sweet, I'll give him that, but I must admit that we are 2 for 2 in the challenging 3-year-olds department. Maybe Aurelia will give us a break when she turns 3- but I won't be placing any bets on it! It seems that 2 year olds get the worst reputation but 3 year olds are more difficult in my opinion. They're bigger, more opinionated and more capable of mischief than 2 year olds for sure. Maybe it's just my boys, but they are quite strong-willed and it seems to culminate at this age.

All that said, we sure do love our Desmond at any age. At his best he is sweet and hysterical and imaginative. He loves to follow around his big brother, but when he feels wronged by Malakai, Desmond doesn't take it lightly. Lately we've been working on getting him to talk about his feelings with Malakai rather than running to Ben or I for help or just to give us a play by play of what's going on. 

Des is still learning how to be gentle with Aurelia, but he really adores his little sister. He has taken to calling her "Sis-tie" which I do not understand, but it's mostly adorable (except when he yells it in her face or when she's trying to sleep). He likes to make her smile (who doesn't) and whenever she cries he will run to her room to find a toy to bring her.

Desmond knows colors and variations on colors. He even problem solved an issue of he and Malakai both having the favorite color green by saying one of them could be dark green and the other light green. He caught on to that and shapes long ago but isn't as interested in numbers and letters yet. He sings about half the alphabet before making up his own words or just ending the song, but to my surprise he knows most of the letters by sight. He counts to 5 easily and to 10 accurately most of the time. He's great with one-to-one correspondence and much to my relief he is great at using his manners when out in public (I've heard this several times from his sweet Sunday school teachers). Just the other day I tried to give him a cuddle and he said "No thank you mama, we keep our hands to ourselves." Who can argue with that?

He sure does love to do whatever Malakai is doing much of the time. We often have to find him something to distract him to get Kai the alone time he craves. It sure is sweet when Malakai reads to him though. I can't help but snap a picture of them huddled up over a book every single time.

The two of them are getting more rough in their play, which I don't mind most of the time except when it becomes one sided and someone stops respecting boundaries. I'm sure that will only get more extreme as they grow, but I hope they always play together.

Desmond loves to play pretend and pulls anyone around into his world of make believe. He will assign you a character and expect you to act accordingly, which can be especially difficult if you aren't familiar with what he wants you to do or say.

The most recently developments have been his ability to completely tune out the entire world around him. I could be in his face saying his name and he's still focused on something else. He's mastered the art of selective hearing.

Desmond is a total bruiser. Literally 5 minutes after I took most of these photos he ran from the grass to the aggregate driveway and tripped, landing on his face. His poor head has endured quite a few dings (including stitches already) and my poor heart has been through the wringer!

He has also started needing less help at bed time over the last few weeks. This has been a LONG time coming. For the past year and a half he has needed Ben to put him to bed and lay with him until he fell asleep. While he was still napping it could take him up to an hour to fall asleep, and if you got up before he was out you'd be starting the process all over. He wouldn't let me put him to sleep except for very rare occasions, which meant that Ben didn't get to go anywhere in the evenings. Whenever we tried Des would just stay up and torture me until Ben came home. Now Ben will lay down with him for 2 minutes, say goodnight and shut the door and Desmond will be fast asleep in a matter of minutes. It's a small miracle that we are thoroughly enjoying.

We absolutely love our creative and rambunctious little Desmond and can hardly believe he'll be 4 in just 6 short months!

Aurelia Ann: 6 months

Aurelia crossed the half year mark earlier this month and I'm being a total sap about it. She's our last baby and I am soaking in every single minute of her babyness. I'm mourning that fact that the little baby days are gone. However, I'm thoroughly enjoying each new stage as it comes.

Right now Aurelia is an expert roller. She loves tummy time except when she's tired- she'll plant her face down into her hands and fuss until she's picked up. Since she started rolling we haven't been sleeping that well as she wakes frequently and is struggling to get back to sleep because she just wants to roll around or if it's in the middle of the night she thinks she needs to nurse. 

She is the smiliest baby I've ever met. She smiles almost immediately when anyone looks her way. My favorite smiles are when she's so happy that her little body can hardly contain the joy and she stiffens up and wiggles all over with excitement. She does this a lot for her daddy and her brothers. She loves to watch Malakai and Desmond play and they love to perform for her. I hope that lasts forever, it's so sweet to witness.

She recently went through a phase where she wouldn't let me put her down without a fuss. It lasted about 2 weeks and I'm so thankful for the Ergo carrier we were gifted a few years ago, total life saver...or at least arm saver. My big girl is growing fast!

We had her well check last week and she is weighing 17 lbs, 8 ounces and is 26 1/4 inches tall and believe it or not, that makes her our smallest baby at this stage. Malakai was 20lbs 28 inches and Desmond was 22lbs, 22 inches tall by 6 months. Sometimes I feel like she outgrows clothing faster than they did, but now I'm just realizing it's probably because she has more clothing than they did at this stage so we end up with outfits that I set aside or forgot about that she'll wear once or not at all. I've since gotten better at breaking out the next size so it's ready and waiting by the time she's grown into it.

Aurelia has been loving her jumper that we just broke out a month ago and she also sits in a high chair at the table with us now. She tasted her first food last week at dinner, mashed up avocado. She made a few questionable faces, but ate it up pretty easily! We gave her pureed carrots this week and she always makes a funny face at first but then eats it up like a pro!

I can hardly believe how quickly she's grown. I miss the tiny baby stage but am loving this interactive stage of watching her learn as well. She's developing such a sweet personality. 

Malakai: 5 1/2

I haven't posted an update on Malakai since he started school (he already looks so much older!). I remember when he was just a baby I would do monthly updates on what he was learning and how he was developing. Obviously additional kiddos and other life changes keep me from blogging as much as I did those days, but I want to be sure to document their milestones as much as I can.

Malakai technically turned 5 1/2 in January. These photos were taken December 30th (by b.lovely photography). Since then he has lost his bottom two front teeth and has another loose one!

The biggest leap Malakai has made in the last few months is in reading. He had some sight words down before starting Kindergarten and as soon as he started school more concepts just started to click. He is so very interested in school that for a while he would do his nightly homework sheet and then make up additional "homework" for himself. At one point he was getting pretty burnt out and frustrated and we had to talk about taking a break from "school work" to make sure he was playing!

A few months ago I grabbed The Mouse and the Motorcycle by Beverley Cleary to read aloud to Malakai and Desmond. Malakai would constantly beg to read it himself, and I would remind him that it's good for him to be read to as well. Plus, there were quite a few longer and more difficult words and concepts in the book so I didn't want to induce any additional frustrations. Once we finished it I handed it to him and said he could read it if he wanted. He devoured the entire book (13 chapeters, 158 pages with a few small pictures here and there) in 2 days time. What surprised me the most was that when he comes to a big word that he doesn't know immediately he sounds it out as best he can and just keeps on going. What truly blew me away was when I handed him the next book, Ralph S. Mouse, without pre-reading it to him and he finished it even faster. Same number of pages, and he could recount the story to me. Words can't express how proud I am that he is reading so fluently and comprehending it all as well! I'm so glad he can read to himself whenever he wants, it's the perfect outlet when he's feeling more introverted.

His social skills are certainly maturing and he's picking up on subtle cues, some good...some not so great. There are moments when he'll say something to me with an impatient attitude and that just does not work for me! We've had more talks recently about how to speak respectfully and make sure that we are kind and treating people how we would want them to treat us. I can hardly believe I'm already into this stage of parenting, it's so fun but it's so much more complicated!

When it comes to his siblings, he is definitely the rule keeper. He surely matches all the tendencies of an oldest child. He and Desmond are the best of friends but can also fight pretty easily...brothers. When it comes to Aurelia he just can't get enough. His face lights up to see her when she wakes up in the morning and when he's home from school. He loves to hold her and play with her and if he finds a way to make her laugh he won't stop performing for her.

Malakai and Ben are such a sweet pair. Malakai loves to help out and beams if he ever gets the chance to work on a project with daddy or spend special one on one time with him. He loves to help in the yard or with putting things together, like a piece of furniture or a new toy.

I'm cherishing that he is still little enough to snuggle up with me on the couch and read together or to needs and want a hug or a kiss when he's hurt, sad, and before bed.

All in all my Malakai has such a sweet heart and is so good natured. I'm totally blessed by him and so proud to be his mama.


>>all photos by the talented b.lovely photography<<

"Instagramming"

In an effort to solve a few problems I've had with social media lately, I've recently decided to split my Instagram feed. This will allow me to maintain privacy when sharing photos of my children with trusted family and friends on my personal account that I had previously been sharing with the public. Creating a new account (@breakingnewground) just for blog related posts will allow me to still share photos of what's coming up on the blog and the occasional (and thoroughly watermarked) photos of myself and my family while keeping it a public account allowing me to interface with all of you and other accounts in a safer way.

Hopefully this doesn't cause any confusion, but as always, feel free to contact me for questions. Comment here, on Facebook, Instagram or shoot me an old school email ;) 

Aurelia Ann: 4 months {w/ a comparison}

{with Gertie, her handmade doll from Mima}

At the risk of becoming redundant, I can't help but try to express just how fast the days are going by. I  honestly feel like Aurelia was born 2 weeks ago, and somehow our lives fast forwarded to today. Our girl is such a sweet and relaxed baby that even at our most difficult moments with her (in terms of fussiness or sleeplessness) it has been a breeze in comparison to how I remember moments when her brothers were babies. Don't get me wrong, I've loved raising all my kids up and the baby stage is one of my favorites (ok, I love all the stages for different reasons) but Aurelia has been...dare I say it...an easy baby. I could attribute some of that to her being the 3rd child; everything is sort of crazy all the time so she just has to go with the flow. Mostly though, I think she just has a pretty chill disposition.

I say all this after over a week of very regular night wakings. Maybe if this was my first time around I'd be singing a different tune. I'm surely used to small chunks of sleep at this point. Des dropped his nap when Aurelia was 2 weeks old so I couldn't do the "sleep when the baby sleeps" thing, but thankfully everyone pretty much goes to bed at 7pm these days. While I'm still wrapping up the day and attempting to spend time with Ben at that point in our evening, it's restful to have a quiet house for an hour or two. 

Aurelia is really developing a sweet and happy little personality. She is smiley and cooing as soon as she wakes for the day. She brightens up when she sees us and giggles easily for her brothers. Malakai and Desmond are always trying to make her laugh, they'll literally do a song and dance just to make her smile. She is ticklish and just started belly laughing when we play peek-a-boo, it's the best sound ever. 

She's been grasping at things for a while now, putting toys and clothes and whatever else is in her reach straight to her mouth. She won't take a pacifier or a bottle yet, but she'll chew or suck on her teethers all day if you let her. She is also in the distractible phase as she's learning more about the world around her, she loves to nurse but will take her time if something catches her eye while she's eating.

{Mima made this dress too!}

Baby girl will often tolerate my "playing dress up" as Malakai calls it. She lets me take her in and out of outfits and accessories pretty regularly while staying fairly happy. I appreciate this about her because at the rate she is outgrowing clothes, I'm constantly trying to figure out what still fits and what bigger clothes I should be getting out before she outgrows them. I made the mistake of saving a couple outfits for special occasions and she's already outgrown them. I snapped a couple pictures of her barely fitting in them and sadly put them away.

{2 weeks, 2 months, 4 months}

Aurelia is a chunky baby but nowhere near as much as Desmond was. Since she's not as heavy she seems taller. She measured 24 1/4 inches (49%) at her well check on Wednesday and 15lbs 3 oz (85%). I was surprised when I found Desmond's 4 month stats and he was 26 1/4 inches (85th %) and nearly 19lbs (over 95%). First I thought Aurelia was our tallest (she was at birth but she's actually the shortest at this point) Second, I was shocked at how much heavier Des was at just 4 months. I knew he was a chunk, but whoah! At 4 months Malakai was 17 lbs 8 oz (88th %) and 24 3/4 inches (43%).

Other than a little eczema she is a perfectly healthy little girl. She hates her shots though. At 6 weeks it was almost unbearable. I had Ben come this time and she took her first shot like a pro, but then the 2nd (which the nurse said stings) she lost it. Her brothers were so sweetly concerned, they'd never seen her so upset and weren't sure what to do about it. She's been fussy the last few days since and it's obvious her little legs are sore so sleep hasn't been as great as it had been. As usual we're rolling with the punches.

We are waiting to introduce any foods until 6 months. We started at 4 months with Malakai and waited until 6 with Desmond and from their first feeding we noticed a big difference in the ability and interest in eating solids.

So that's our little Raeli in a nutshell. Growing faster than my heart can stand.

Our 3 littles...

With a new baby and my oldest being 5 I'm seeing first hand how fleeting the baby days are. The saying, "babies don't keep" is painfully true. So I'm not only holding on tight to every little moment with Aurelia, but also each small interaction with Malakai and Desmond. They are growing so fast, too fast, and I want to make sure to remember all of it before I'm longing for these days, no matter how hard they seem (and are).

Aurelia is already 2 months old. It blows my mind that it's possible that we've been a family of 5 for 9 weeks. It seems like she just got here. Malakai is in his 3rd month of school, something that also seems impossible. Desmond just turned 3 last month and keeps us all very busy each day. Watching the 3 of them interact with each other is by far the best part of each day. The boys are sweet + gentle with "baby sister" and ask for her all morning until she's awake, then they clamor to see her and be the first one to make her smile.

Aurelia is cooing and gurgling and just making the best baby noises. She started smiling at 5 weeks old and I swear she's going to bless us with a giggle any day now. She's impossibly ticklish, but she just wiggles and grunts in response for now. She is growing like crazy and the number 1 compliment she gets these days is in reference to her sweet chubby cheeks and her little dimples. Her eyes are a bright blue but we would be pretty shocked if they stayed that way. The boys have Ben's hazel eyes (although Des' have a little green in them like Mima) and since her hair color already favors daddy's, I'm guessing her eyes will be the same. Only time will tell. 

Malakai is reading like crazy these days. He devours any book you give him almost immediately. The words he is able to read and the concepts he understands surprise me often. Ben + I are sad to see the days of spelling things to keep secrets in front of the kids go by, but we know Malakai is much too smart for us to get away with that anymore. I got to visit his class for their fall party on October 30th and I loved being a "fly on the wall" so to speak. Watching him interact with his friends and work on activities throughout the afternoon was such a joy. He loves school so much that he can hardly wait to get to his homework and he will make more "school work" for himself regularly. He's constantly writing letters to people and drawing pictures. He loves learning, but we do have to be careful he doesn't get too much of a good thing because he will get frustrated if he doesn't get it right or do it how he wants it done sometimes. 

Desmond is our imaginative little buddy. He is the best at playing pretend and making friends with strangers. He is talking all the time and any willing participant is a perfect playmate. He loves to make forts or pile blankets into "cars" to drive or  "airplanes" to fly. He loved being an astronaut with Malakai for Halloween and continues to play with his costume. Like Malakai he will quote movies and shows and recite books easily. If you aren't familiar with what he's been reading or watching lately his dialogue can be pretty confusing. Three has proved to be the hardest age in this household for the 2nd time around. Desmond has learned how to be defiant and throw a master tantrum, but boy can that kid snuggle!

These three are keeping us on our toes and the days are flying by faster than ever before. Sadly Malakai had a reoccurring double ear infection recently and we are waiting to hear back from insurance on whether they will authorize his getting tubes to prevent having the doozy of a winter we did last year. If they won't authorize it we may have to wait to see if he gets another infection with his next cold (because sickness is inevitable with kids of this age) and perhaps they will then see a need. We are hoping that won't be the case, so we can avoid him having to endure more pain or any hearing loss. 

Other than that and the boys having a mild cold earlier we've been able to stay fairly healthy so far this fall. I'm so thankful that Aurelia hasn't yet gotten sick but I'm sure we won't make it through the season unscathed. I can honestly attribute much of our healthy days to essential oils. I felt a cold (sore throat) coming on and used some On Guard/Shield/Thieves oil right away and felt better the same day. The boys' colds were relatively short lived and Desmond fared better than he ever has, as he's susceptible to breathing issues when he has any type of respiratory symptoms with a cold. I'm honestly so thankful to Amy for getting us started with eo's. If you have any questions about using essential oils, she's a wonderful resource...find here HERE.

So there's our little update, hopefully I'll be back to post sooner rather than later but only time (and my kiddos) will tell. 

Sticking with it...

Hi friends, I'm back! I've thought a lot about it and I really don't want to let go of blogging just because of what happened a couple weeks ago. So, I'm here and I'll be posting a little more depending on how often I get a little time to tap something out and throw a few photos in. Speaking of, due to aforementioned incident I will be ramping up security on my page. Annoyingly it means bigger bolder watermarks on all my photos, but I will still post photos. For now my Instagram will remain private, but feel free to request me. This will help me keep track of who has access to what I post there. I will be posting fewer photos on the Facebook page due to it's public nature, but I will still be sharing there so be sure to "like" it to get updates. 

As you can likely imagine, or possibly relate to, life with 3 kids is very busy! We went through a lot of changes all at once over the last couple months with Malakai starting Kindergarten and then Aurelia joining us just 3 days later. Ben had a week off of work and then I felt sort of thrown in to a new and very busy routine. Getting Kai to school daily proves to be exhausting and Desmond decided to stop napping completely a week later. How fun for everyone! 

{there are THREE watermarks on this photo, some are harder to find than others, just one way I'm increasing security here to protect my family from another incident of stolen identity}

Desmond turned 3 earlier this month, so our kiddos are 5, 3 and 8 weeks old as of today. Time is FLYING by us and I feel like all I can do is keep our heads above water. I know things will calm (somewhat) and even out a bit soon, but we are heading into the holidays so it can't last long!

This year I'm participating in a few Christmas Bazaars to make a little extra money and gauge interest in some of my handmade items. I will not be opening a shop anytime soon but I have done a little branding in case I decide to go that route in the future. For now, it's all informal so that I can be protective of my time. I hope to sell pre made items at the bazaars and possibly drum up some custom orders as well. I'll post dates and locations of the Bazaars that I'll have items at on our Facebook page, so keep an eye out there and then come look for my work under "BnG handmade". 

That's it for now. I will be back to share some updates on what we've been up to as a family and how the kiddos have grown. Keep an eye out for more giveaways coming as well. Thanks for taking time to check in with our little corner of the internet. 

Introducing Baby P #3...

Well it's all over Facebook and Instagram by now so it's likely not news to anyone that our sweet baby girl was born this past week. Still, here is the official blog announcement with photos that we haven't yet posted anywhere else.

Our 3rd child and our first girl was born on Friday September 5th at 8:27pm. She weighed in at 7lbs 15.2 ounces, is 21 inches long with a 14 inch head circumference. She has plenty of fuzzy hair that is a light brown/dirty blonde sort of color, and big grey blue eyes. 

Aurelia Ann 

Aurelia is pronounced aw-rey-lee-uh and means golden in latin. Ann means grace and  is a family middle name. It's my mom's middle name and is part of the name's of all the girls on that side of the family (mine is LeAnn, my sister's is LouAnn, etc). 

My mom submitted her birthday to the local news and the anchor pronounced her name correctly so for those of you wanting to hear it pronounced watch this little snippet. (The other birthday is her uncle Cody! )

We were so surprised at how much she resembles Desmond when he was brand new and joked that her name was Desmond 2.0 when the family came to meet her. She is developing her own look as the days go by but is still very reminiscent of her big brothers. 

We came home Saturday afternoon and have been enjoying our time as a family of 5. I feel so complete.  I'll be sure to post more about labor and delivery soon. 

Baby P#3: Due Date

How far along:  40 weeks 

How big is baby: hopefully not too big! I've started to lose weight. 

What have you been up to: getting Malakai ready and off to school

Maternity clothes: I only have a few tops that are long enough anymore!

  

Sleep: I'm convinced it'll get better with a newborn than what little sleep I'm getting now. 

Milestones:  reaching our due date, I've never been pregnant this long! Malakai was born at 39 weeks, 5 days and Desmond was born at 39 weeks. 

Best Moments: Being able to see Malakai off to his first day of school. 

Worst Moment: False labor, I'm so ready for sister to be here!

Food cravings: I don't have much of an appetite lately. 

Food aversions: none

Symptoms: lots of varied discomfort, false labor on the daily

Movement: normal

Gender: girl

What I’m looking forward to: finding out her birth day!

What I’m nervous about/praying for: Facing an induction if we go too far overdue. 

What I miss: sleep. I can't even get comfy enough to take a nap to catch up these days.

Next appointment: I had my 40 week appointment this morning and a non-stress test. Everything looks good. Scheduled an appointment for next week with an ultrasound to check on her growth and fluid levels. 

Weekly wisdom: Trying not to let the constant check-ins from everyone get on my nerves!