May 2020

  

We got a little bit crazy again, and built a deck!

It basically wa the project of "I don't know. We'll figure it out"

There weren't really tutorials online for exactly how we were doing it, so we weren't exactly sure what we were doing. Thankfully, it all ended up working out and the deck turned out pretty darn good.

The kids loved getting to help and were such good sports about the time we spent on the deck.

  

We tilled up about 2/3 of the backyard and layed down new sod, and by we I mean Taylor.

The grass that was there was spotty at best, full of weeds, and just wasn't improving as fast as we would have liked it to or really much at all.

Taylor, his dad, an uncle, and one of his cousins helped us lay the sod.

We loved it so much it made us wish we had spent the money to do the entire yard.

Mother's day

Taylor spoiled me by spending the day doing some big home cleaning projects for me that we had been putting off.

These cute girls learned how to ride their bikes without training wheels!

They just happened to learn about a day apart.

We were really impressed with how fast Ella caught on, and now she zips around on her bike all day every day.

Macey had a birthday!

1 whole year old.

Macey's best friend is Winnie and in that picture is Winnie's mom.

Winnie sent over some birthday treats for crazy Macey.

We paid someone to do the framing on the unfinished side of the basement.

It was totally worth the money because there was so much detail framing that had to be done.

Having it done in 3 nights versus the 3+ weeks it would have taken us was amazing.

  

We went on lots and lots of walk to help with gestational diabetes and also to hopefully give my body a little motivation to get the baby out sooner rather than later.

We got a freak snowstorm late in the month.

Of course, it happened on the day we had planned a Costco trip to stock up on things we needed.

It made for a less than pleasant drive.

And here you see the first time the kids wore masks. Little did we know it would be the first of MANY times they wore masks.

After we finished the deck, I decided it needed a place for the kids to sit and eat at. 

That led to my next project... I built a picnic table for the kids!

It was a fun, simple project.

Popsicles. tons and tons of popsicles.

We had a game night at our house with our little group of friends.

I started doing non stress tests to monitor the baby in the last few weeks of pregnancy.

I really loved getting to hear her heartbeat for so long and see how it coincided with her movements.

12 Months of Oaklee// Month 3

  

Weight: 10.8 pounds  

Diapers: Size 1

Clothes: 0-3 months/3 months

Sleeping: Oaklee is now sleeping in her own room in a Moses basket for both naps and nighttime. She usually sucks on her binky until she falls asleep, and she is still swaddled for sleeping. At night she sleeps 7-7ish. About a third of the time she sleeps straight through the night, and the other 2/3 of the time she wakes up for a bottle. Although she doesn't do it all the time, we've never had a child sleep through the night at this young of an age, so it's been extra nice on the nights that she does. If she wakes up for a bottle, it's usually sometime around 3:30-5 AM. We no longer "dream feed" her, mostly because of laziness but also because she doesn't eat as often at night anymore so it wouldn't really change her night feeding time anyway. She naps 2-3 times a day. Her first nap is always the shortest, and a lot of the time her nap in the afternoon will be 3 hours long.

Eating: She eats 3 ounces of formula every 3ish hours during the day, and she often has a bottle of 3 ounces in the middle of the night.

Milestones: Good head control. First family vacation- camping in Utah for 3 nights. Starting to get some good altitude during tummy time. She has started to drool a lot.

Likes: Eye contact- continues to make her smile every time, sitting up is preferred over laying down, sitting in the bumbo

Dislikes: tummy time still isn't her favorite, her binky when she isn't going to sleep

Overall, Oaklee continues to be pretty easy going. She's content to just be around everyone and only fusses when she is tired or hungry. She is fairly quiet in the fact that she doesn't coo or talk a lot. She lets out a happy squeal and coos a little when you make eye contact with her, but for the most part that's about it right now. She is always willing to offer a smile to anyone who pays attention to her.

    

I left her in her room to play while I got ready for the day, and I came back to her asleep.

The spooky jammies.

Ella was an October baby which meant we had to get her some festive jammies for Halloween.

Oaklee is now the third baby to wear these, and it breaks my heart a little that they won't be worn by our kids again.

cousins

  

   

April 2020

  

I kicked off the month by failing the 3 hour glucose test and being diagnosed with gestational diabetes. It wrecked my world for a little while there until I got the hang of it and gained some confidence in what was going on. The first finger prick was terrifying, but it turns out you get used to it really quick.

The one good thing about it was all of the extra ultrasounds I got.

 

My birthday happened.

I had a girls' night with my closest friends

Megan got me this cute little basket complete with sugar free ice cream because diabetes..

Ayancy surprised me with a shirt so I could match the other girls.

Tana got me a candle and some self care supplies like face masks and a scrub.

Megan also made THE BEST cheesecake for my birthday cake.

Taylor gave me a gift card to Sunnyside Gardens- a local nursery, and it was literally the perfect gift because he knew I wanted trees for the yard but I would want to pick them out.

Easter happened!

   

A little Instagram versus reality..

There wasn't any church services this year because of Covid, but I couldn't resist dressing up the kids in the matching outfits I had ordered.

The day before Easter we dyed eggs with the kids.

It actually went pretty well, and I don't think any dye was even spilled.

The Easter bunny came!

  

Hudson asked for those "twin pups" for months.

It was really fun for him to finally get what he wanted so badly.

  

The Easter bunny hid eggs in the basement for the kids to find because it was too cold to do it outside. Avery was very indifferent to the whole thing.

I made us a nice dinner made up of a roast, veggies, green bean casserole, funeral potatoes, and rolls. Taylor's parents came up for a few hours and also ate dinner with us while they were here.

Hudson had to get put under to have some dental work done.

We've been told since his first dentist appointment that his teeth are really close together, and it basically was just a matter of time until cavities in between his teeth got bad enough.

Taylor stayed home with Ella and Avery while I took him in.

The poor kid was so bored waiting to be taken back that he actually fell asleep on me.

Overall, everything went well.

He is pretty proud to be the owner of 6 shiny silver teeth.

Ella was busy fixing a tractor one day.

My friends helped me dye my eyelashes! 

I loved the look and the difference it made to my blonde eye lashes.

For my birthday my parents gave me money to finish the accent wall in our master bedroom.

It was such a fun, relatively easy project, and it totally transformed our bedroom.

Taylor stepped in to paint Ella's nails when I took too long in the shower.

Cutest little friends getting a ride from Ayancy.

12 Months of Oaklee// Month 2

Weight: 10 pounds

Diapers: Size 1

Clothes: Newborn

Sleeping: Oaklee continues to be a pretty good sleeper. She still loves being swaddled for sleep. Her swing is one of her favorite places to sleep. She usually goes to bed at 7ish when all of our other kids do and then she is up for the day around 7-7:30. We feed her when we go to bed and she wakes up one other time to eat around 5 hours later. I think she takes 3 naps a day, but honestly she naps when she's tired and sleeps when she can on days that we have appointments or errands to run so it really depends on if any of her naps have gotten interrupted. She can only handle being awake for about an hour at a time right now, so that is what determines her nap schedule.

Eating: She eats 3 ounces of formula every 3 or so hours during the day. 

Milestones: First night spent camping. She was given her blessing by Taylor. First road trip. She was a great traveler! She slept the whole way there and back besides waking up long enough to eat once each way. Her hair has started to grow, which means she has some peach fuzz on top instead of being completely bald. She is starting to find her voice. She can hold her head up while sitting, but it can still be a little wobbly at times so she hasn't perfected her head control yet.

Likes: itsy ritzy brand binkies- she doesn't like any other brand. She doesn't even take the binky on wubbanubs as well as itsy ritzy even though they're basically the same. white noise. eye contact- makes her smile every time. Sit-me-up chair.

Dislikes: baths- hates being cold in the bath. hiccups. tummy time isn't an absolute dislike, but she doesn't last too long before she starts fussing.

Overall, Oaklee is a pretty easy baby. She has a pretty laid back personality and is usually content to just hang out. Although, it can be hard to let her just hang out since we have to constantly watch her to make sure she doesn't get trampled by her siblings or Macey. She is getting more interactive and smiley every day, and we can't get enough of it! Hudson and Ella are pretty obsessed with her smiles too and we hear lots of "aw she's so cute!" from them. I'm sad to see the newborn stage go, but I'm also ready for her to interact with us even more and be entertained by toys.

   

little workout partner.

I started working out again at 4 weeks with some low impact barre workouts, and it has felt so good to get my body moving again.

Barre workouts aren't my favorite, so now I'm now very happily doing my normal workouts again.

   

   

The yawning picture basically sums up her blessing. She was tired and ready for a nap, so she fussed during the blessing. After the blessing she was passed around to some different family members which led to more fussiness because she really just needed sleep and no one knows her like mom does haha, but oh well. All in all it went pretty well, and it was a special experience to have her blessed in our home.