- HELLO -

...FROM THE OTHER SIDE!!!

It's been a pretty boiling hot minute since I've shown face here, and there's so much to catch up on! Blogger's stats show I've made a grand total of *6* posts in 2024 [which is only slightly lagging from my 50 in 2023...64 in 2022...and drumroll...178 all the way back in 2013!]. Truth be told, blogging used to be my "release" from the hustle and bustle life; it was a quiet place where I could just retreat to alone during the kids' nap times and spill thoughts and document memories to look back on and treasure for YEARS to come! And believe me: I LOVE looking back on old posts and pics!

As of late, life as a wife ...and mom of 3 [kids that no longer nap] ...and dog mom of 1 ...and small business owner [!!] has taken a little toll on my "free time" that used to be spent blogging. But! I'm here today, ready to [re]start somewhere...

So, ahem! Rewinding to recap some amazing 2024 life events...................

Lesssgo!

 

 

 

- MAY I change my mind? ...onto MAY: PART II -

After gushing on and on about the first half of May and all there was to celebrate and do cartwheels for, I've reformed my opinion on this month and have to say: I will not be sad to kiss the second half of May 2022 goodbye!  

After celebrating the "holidays" and all the people we love wrapped up in Teacher Appreciation Week, Nurse's Day, and Mother's Day, sh*t hit the fan right away!  The day after Mother's Day, Juliette developed a fairly "severe" case of [what we thought were] allergies.  Watery, itchy, glassy eyes + constant sneezing + thin, clear snot shooting straight out of both nostrils every time she sneezed sureeeeely seemed like a perfect storm of seasonal allergies, #amiright?  After a full day of misery, I sent Brian and Scarlett to Walgreens that evening in hot pursuit of some children's Zyrtec. [Ok, as a side note NOT related to Juliette's symptoms, can we just take a moment to complain about HOW HORRIBLE the tree pollen is this year?! I don't usually have seasonal allergies but am certainly struggling this year! Every time we go outside to sit on the patio furniture, we have to first wipe a fairly thick layer of yellow pollen off the table and cushions... The minivan is also coated in pollen after being parked outside my work building for 8 hours each day. Insanity!!!]

Back on topic!  

The children's Zyrtec seemed to take the edge off initially for Juliette, but within a few days her symptoms had progressed to thick congestion and yucky cough and it was seeming not so much like allergies anymore!  With an alarming increase in fussiness by day 5 of symptoms, I had her evaluated at the pediatrician's office and boom! Double ear infection + amoxicillin x 10 days.  Her first ear infection and first round of antibiotics.  We were thankful to have an answer [to the fussiness at least, who knows what the allergies/virus was!] and a solution.

As an added bonus, the antibiotic cleared up the congestion and cough right away and Super J was feeling "quite super!" again within a couple of days! YAY!  ...But also BOO, because her gut did not enjoy antibiotics, and the constant pooping/wiping gave her the worst diaper rash she's had to date.  With lots of diaper rash ointment, many sessions of allowing her naked booty to "air out" on a puppy pad, and so much diligence in keeping her clean and dry, THE BOOTY RASH FINALLY RESOLVED and we stopped going through new diapers every 10 minutes.  And most importantly, our girl was her smiling, happy self again!

Phew!  After the completion of 5 days of "allergies" and cough/congestion followed by 2 days of unusual fussiness followed by 10 days of antibiotics/diarrhea/diaper changing combined with cutting her very first tooth somewhere in the middle of it all, we [thought we] were finally in the clear! 

But no!

After finishing the antibiotic course on a Sunday evening, the poor girl woke up Monday morning with a 100.2* temp that eventually progressed to a 101.6* fever by the afternoon. This all went on for 3 more days, and juuuust when I was about to take her in for re-evaluation [resistant ear infection?  COVID?  Flu?  RSV?  Something bacterial that could progress to pneumonia?  My nurse brain was going insane!], the fever broke and never returned and halle-hallelujahhhh, AMEN, [I'm scared to say this out loud, but] I think we might actually be on the upswing from a few weeks of hell.

Oh, did I mention that in the meantime of all of Juliette's issues, COVID cases were on the rise [again] in our community and at the kids' school? We were just holding our breath -- literally, like yell/threatening the kids before school, "DON'TCHU DARE TAKE A BREATH AROUND ANY CLASSMATES THAT HAVE A COUGH!" [Jk but for real.]-- trying to make it to the end of the year without another quarantine for the big kids.  Soooo very thankful that we were able to celebrate the last day of school and preschool spring program for Scarlett + Field Day and last day of school with early dismissal for Harper!  IT'S OFFICIALLY SUMMER BREAK!!!

#normalcy

#at

#last

But oh, no! Not a chance. 

On the second night of summer break, we were jolted from a deep sleep at 1:15am when the smoke + carbon monoxide detectors in our home began flashing and alarming off obnoxiously.  As Brian scampered around the house looking for a fire and/or some kind of gas leak, I was furiously searching Google from our bedroom like, "How long does it take to die of carbon monoxide poisoning?"  After a thorough search through the house and Brian being "pretty sure" it was just a false alarm, I remained on the opposite end of the spectrum.  ...Likeeeee, should we wake up the kids and get a hotel just in case?  ...IF we go back to bed, should we at least have every door and window in the house wide open so the outside air can dilute the carbon monoxide fumes?  ...Wait, are the kids already dead since they didn't even emerge from their bunk beds when the fire alarm was blasting off?  ...BRB while I go check pulses. 

After it was confirmed that everyone was, indeed, still breathing and pulsating [pulsing?], I talked Brian into at least calling the fire department to see what they recommended.  Not like the 9-1-1 phone line, but just the regular non-emergency line, you know?  I mean, the writing was on the wall for the next day's newspaper headline: "FAMILY OF 5 DIES IN THEIR HOME AFTER IGNORING CARBON MONOXIDE ALARM AND GOING BACK TO BED."

So grudgingly, he called...

...and eagerly, 3 night-shift firemen and their XL firetruck arrived to our front door 10 minutes later.

[And let it be known that I spent their full 10-minutes-en-route throwing sh*t stuff -- anything out of place I could get my hands on quickly enough -- into closets and under beds because #HOLYMESSYHOUSE which was ever so embarrassing to show off to a group of strangers at 2am.]

After an up-and-down search/assessment of our home and all the smoke detectors on the ceilings, one fireman brought some little nifty handheld carbon monoxide detector inside. After that one didn't alarm off anywhere in the house, he stated he was "99.999% sure that, even though the house was only built two years ago, one of the carbon monoxide detectors is faulty and needs replaced.  This was almost certainly a false alarm, and you may go back to bed, ma'am!"

And the best news??? Brian, Juliette and I were all able to fall back asleep relatively quickly after all the excitement fizzled down...

...AND...

..........drumroll..........

...all 5 of us woke up alive the next morning! [Clarification:  I woke up less than 3 hours later to my alarm for work, but #minordetails.]

Tick tock, tick tock.  I feel like I've been typing this post for an eternity, so where are we now?! 

Resting up for a jam-packed Memorial Day weekend is where we are now!  [Anybody else's offspring nap in the weirdest positions?!]

Family graduation party, Mass, Memorial Day BBQ with friends, flower shopping, sleepovers, and soooo much more...! We have our fingers crossed for lots of sunshine and swimming and zero sickness or senseless 2am drama!  

STAY TUNED TO SEE...

...and let's welcome in a less-obnoxious June in 1...2.........3!!! :D

- May I love on MAY?! -

MAY!  The month we celebrate teachers [and Teacher Appreciation Week], nurses [and Nurse's Day], and Mary and all mothers [and Mother's Day].  <-- As if each one of those categories of fine humans don't deserve their own entire month or year of recognition, whoseeeeee idea was it to jam pack all 3 of them into the very same weekend??!  ...I digress.  

 But!  Sending all the love in the entire world to my kids' beautiful teachers...

...and a set of wonderful nurses I am blessed to work alongside... 

...and the nurse at our pediatrician's office who talks me through so many things over the phone...

...and a handful of mothers, grandmothers, aunts, and godmothers that we are SO LUCKY TO LOVE! 
{ H A P P Y   M O T H E R ' S    DAY ! ! ! }

Still May!  The month of long-awaited spring and new life and warm sunshine.  The month of graduations and goodbyes and new beginnings.

May, we're only 18 days deep into you, and you've certainly taken us for a ride around the block -- and a fast ride on two wheels with no seatbelts, at that!  So much to celebrate!  So much to still look forward to! 

Spring is here...

...summer is on the way...

...and the best is yet to come!  

I can't wait! 

 

- Muffins with Munchkins -

Muffins [and coffee] and time with my middle munchkin?! 

YES, PLEASE!

Scarlett's teachers hosted a Muffins with Munchkins event at the Pre-K this past week, and I was honored to be able to attend!  She was so excited to show me around her classroom and point out all the things she plays with at school and all the craft/arts projects she's made, though I believe she was MOST excited to make me a cup of coffee in her teachers' Keurig and mix "just the right amount" of creamer in! :)  After finishing muffins and coffee, we made a flower craft together.   

As 1:1 time can be hard to come by with the middle child, it goes without saying that I thoroughly enjoyed the morning! I absolutely loved seeing Scarlett in her element and interacting with all of her friends; it was also nice to put a name to a face of kiddos that we've been hearing stories about since the first day of school. Grateful more than ever that our children are blessed with wonderful teachers, great friends, and an amazing school!  Thank you, again, so much to the teachers for hosting such a memorable morning!  This momma's heart is full. <3

- Because TIME FLIES... -

Wow!  I just scrolled back through months' worth of posts, and I FOR REAL cannot even wrap my mind around how time just   f l i e s   right on by! Blink for 0.03 of a second, and *POOF*, it's Friday; blink again for another 0.03 of a second and *POOF*, it's April.  Oh!, you have a newborn baby that you want to snuggle every tiny inch of?  Blink and *POOF*, she's seven months old and sitting up and playing in a pile of toys all by herself.  Your oldest daughter went into 1st grade knowing about 50 sight words and so eager to learn more?  Blink and *POOF*, she's snuggled up in her top bunk bed reading Junie B. Jones chapter books all by herself.  You have a 4-going-on-14-year-old daughter who was juuuust learning to use scissors and glue not that long ago?  Blink and *POOF*, she's spotted at the dining room table with scissors, glitter glue pens, pipe cleaners, pom poms, and a random stash of other craft supplies that she's molded into the perfect masterpiece all by herself.  

A very large part of my momma heart loves seeing my babies learn and grow and become more accomplished and independent each day; but, another -- probably equally as large -- part just aches at the way time continues to *POOF* on by in the blink of an eye!  While my brain tells me to teach them more so they can survive without me, my heart tells me to cling to these special days when they truly do still need me!  ...Whiiiiiiiich is the reason why I absolutely love to use this blog as archive for even the smallest things that we do!  The days can be long, but the years are OH SO short; and when the days turn to years and the years turn to decades, these beautiful babies of ours will grow their wings and fly the nest and I just know I'll LOVE having a collection of little memories waiting here in this safe space to look back on and smile at.

...But therein lies the next problem!  After scrolling back through pages and pages of posts, I see a birthday memoir here ...a month-by-month milestone there ...a Scarlett-isms blurb here ...and a rare holiday chronicle there.  And it kind of makes me sad, because I know these fun events are just small drops in the large bucket of joys we share inside our home from day-to-day life.

And, TBH, I want to remember all the joys.  The smallest of joys, the biggest of joys, and even the mediocre and in-between and not-all-THAT-special of joys.

AND SO!  I'm making a few promises to myself:

...a promise to try harder with blogging...

...a promise to prioritize collecting photos and putting pen to paper more frequently...

...a promise to increase in writing with a little more rawness and detail and emotion so I can always come back here and remember in full detail what are sure to be the very best days of my life.

Time might fly, but I'mma make sure that the memories we've made won't fade!

- Wake me up... -

.....when September endssss!

 OH WAIT!

The entire month has already ended, and we haven't even slept enough yet to be woken up! ;) :) 

Wompity womp womp.  

...I complain about no sleep in the most lovingly of loving ways, of course, but FUR REAL:

  

It's just real glam.

On September 2, we were discharged home from hospital, and life has been a "Haakaa-on-one-boob-and-baby-on-the-other" + "burp-towel-in-one-hand-and-coffee-in-the-other" type of hoppity hop hoppin' good time ever since!  If the first month postpartum isn't THE MOST bittersweet time, I don't know what is!  Despite horrid breast engorgement and severe sleep deprivation and alllll 'da other postpartum funsies, it's still so surreal and pretty perfect to have this tiny miracle in our arms after wishing and waiting for so long!  WE LOVE YOU SO MUCH, J!  You are the .real. .deal. !

The day after we arrived home was Juliette's first pediatrician visit [and what could possibly change and/or go wrong with this tiny human in the <24 hours between her full assessment by the hospital's attending pediatrician and her first visit with our private pediatrician?! 'Tis a mystery.].  She checked out A-OK and had her big sister/body guard just inches from her at all times.

Then!  The day after THAT was Brian's annual family reunion.  I stayed home to steal some snuggles from Juliette but enjoyed a few photo updates sent from aunts and sisters-in-law.  The kids had a great time at the reunion and parade and were thrilled to show me their souvenirs/winnings from the carnival the next day.  What's better than a group of crazy Croatian cousins?!  Nothing!

A horrible night of sleep with Juliette + a rainy Sunday morning followed the family reunion.  I woke up around 6am [after just finishing nursing at 5am!] to some strange crinkling noises coming from kitchen.  Knowing our beloved middle child is the morning rooster AND a clean freak, I considered that maybeeee Scarlett was wadding/cleaning up a tissue paper mess from a baby gift that the kids had opened the night before.  ...But nope!  I forced myself out of bed ~20 minutes later to find that the cherub was watching YouTube + indulging in a yellow bag of her parade candy.  [Can't say the apple falls far from the tree; but how does she learn these horrible habits at the tender age of 3???]

After a legit [non-chocolate] breakfast, Scarlett and I braved the pop-up rain showers to storm around town and shop for clothes for family/newborn pictures.  [...You'd think by the third time around, I'd have this photo wardrobe sitch ironed out BEFORE the baby's arrival; but nope nope nope, that would make things way too easy!]  Scarlett immediately spotted the 'Tarbucks store inside Target and was a great shopping buddy after downing her "hot shocka' milk."

On September 7, we were back to the pediatrician's office for our little pal's weight check...

...and then September 8 was the long-awaited family photo session!  [Sending so much love to EDA Photography and this sweet human right here who made all of it a breeze.  You are wonderful in so many ways, Daven!  Thank you!!!]

^^ Juliette behaved so well for photos that we rewarded her with chips, salsa, and margs [light on the margs]. Cheers to La Casa and J's very first dining out experience!  

.....THEN!  With the first week of postpartum tucked safely under our belly belts, I breathed a deep sigh of relief that we made it through seven full days of busyness and subsequently let the rest of the month slide.  Not sure what happened and when it all went down, BUT!  Sometime in September, Scarlett conned me into giving her her first haircut on the kitchen counter [because she really wanted it trimmed but claimed she was scared of the hair-washing bowl at the salon...]...

 

...annnnnnd we gave Juliette her first real [non-sponge] bath!  She absolutely hated it; luckily the big girls loved it.

Over a 10-day span in mid-September, Juliette and I made two treks back to the hospital's outpatient lactation services department.  Let's just say:  shallow latch and cracked nipples.  You'd ALSO think I'd have this breastfeeding situation mastered by the third time around, but again, nope nope nope.  As the pain got worse and the wounds got deeper, I swallowed my "third time around the block" pride and admitted it was time to revisit the lactation consultants who had helped me succeed in the past.  Annnnd they did it again!  After assessing us twice in person and offering lots of little tips and tweaks each time, they helped me re-train the barracuda baby so that I slowly but successfully dropped my habit of counting to 3 before holding my breath and allowing her to latch.  God bless those lactation angelssss; I know they will have VERY large crowns in heaven!!! 

...Went off on a little tangent up there ^^ but mostly MEANT TO SAY:  on the way to our first lactation appointment, we detoured up the street to see my co-workers at Veritas!  These ladies loved me through the ups and downs of infertility and a lot of my most vulnerable moments, and it was so perfect to see Juliette here in the flesh and in their arms.  I love you guys!!!

Back on the homefront, people were spewing out of the woodworks with flowers and gifts and dinners, OH MY.  All of it was so so appreciated; I am truly amazed at all the kindness and generosity shown to us during our first several weeks at home!  Thank you all!!!

Amidst all the newness of having a fifth family member and all the disruptions in routine and sleep, the older girls continued to knock it out of the park at school.  Harper is thriving in 1st grade and Scarlett soaring through Pre-K 3.  We are so proud of them and the work they bring home!!!

 

One morning during Community Helpers week, I visited Scarlett's class to talk about being a nurse.  We read a book about nurses helping others and then showed a stethoscope and baby doll to demonstrate some of the things I do at work.  ...I decided to hone in on "care of a newborn" instead of diving into the portions of my job that deal with fertility/infertility/helping women get babies IN the uterus and/or the portions of my job that deal with labor/delivery/helping women get babies OUT of the uterus.  I'm sure the teacher was happy with my decision. ;) :) 

Since Scarlett only goes to school on Tuesdays and Thursdays, I try supa' dupa' hard to keep her creativity flowing at home on her days off!  Crafting and Cricut-ing and chocolate-donut-eating are our favorite days!

 

She's also enjoyed attending Kindermusik at the local children's museum on Monday mornings...

...and dancing the morning away at ballet/tap/tumbling class on Wednesday mornings! 

 

 

But enough about Scarlett; back to Juliette!  Little Miss scored herself some Godparents and has her baptism scheduled for this upcoming weekend.  We cannot wait!

 

And enough about Juliette; back to the family!  All five of us attended our subdivision's annual BBQ in the common space... 

...and also the balloon glow in a town nearby!  We randomly ran into many friends there, and Scarlett was also excited to see her Pre-K teacher working the Cakewalk tent...

...and she even won a cake! LOL!  

During the evenings and on weekends, Brian has been working tirelessly at throwing together these bunk beds for the older girls [and he assures me they'll be done before Christmas...]... 

...and the older girls have done exceptionally well with entertaining themselves while I attend to Juliette and her cluster feeding demands.  If you're looking for a real legit baby-wipe-facial, Scarlett and Harper running a special for the rest of this month.  The little sister on the right received hers; how does her skin look?! ;)

 

Ugh, I'm blabbing on and on.  But LONG STORY SHORT:  we started out this month just hoping to survive, but as the days go on, we're really learning how to thrive!  The big sisters are so in love with the baby sister, and I totally think the feeling is mutual.  My heart just melts into a giant puddle when I see everyone loving each other so well!  We've enjoyed sharing her with the grandparents and a few other select/special visitors so far but are really keeping her tucked under our wings for the time being with all the germs swirling around in the outside world.  We hope you feel the love and can enjoy her through these photos [for now]!

Cheers to September...

...and ON TO OCTOBER!!! :)