Karina's 6th Birthday

Karina,

As i sit here writing this, and reflecting back on this day with you, my heart is filled with so much joy. Today, instead of busying ourselves with schoolwork and chores, i took the time to enjoy you.

Your infectious laugh.

Your contagious smile.

Your one of a kind personality.

How i got so lucky as to be your mom, i'll never know.

This is what i posted about you on Facebook/Instagram today..

"My baby girl, I can't believe you are 6 years old today! There are so many words i could use to describe you; sweet, funny, sassy, smart, strong, beautiful, and brave are just the first few that come to mind.

And you have this AMAZING self confidence, although i'm not sure where you get it from, my hope for you is that you never let the world destroy it. 

I love you to the moon and back. Happy Birthday Karina!" 

You truly are one amazing little girl, and i'm so blessed you call me mommy.

Happy Birthday baby!

xoxo-

Mommy

9 months (My Breastfeeding Story)

Well Lincoln we did it. We made it 9 months.

I'll never forget the moment the doctor placed your tiny little warm body on my chest, and how you surprised me by grabbing a hold of my sports bra with such a tight grip.

Shortly after that you were ready for your first feeding.

Although i have breastfed your brothers and sister before, i was still a little nervous.

Because i have never successfully breastfed a baby before.

With your brothers and sister, i only made it a few weeks (with Cruz we made it 2 months i believe).

I really wanted things to go differently with you. I wanted to be successful at it.

You took to feeding like a champ.

The first 2 months were painful and miserable, but we were doing it! I wanted to give up so badly, but i continued to take it day by day.

By months 3 and 4 we were in a wonderful routine, although i was extremely tired and not really enjoying myself. I felt like feeding time was more of a chore to me.

Months 5-7 i actually started to enjoy feeding you. I looked forward to it! It was such a wonderful bonding time with you. If i would look at my phone during this time you would refuse to eat, you wanted my undivided attention. You forced me to slow down and enjoy these moments with you, which i can't thank you enough for that!

Then month 8 hit and you just didn't want to be fed by me that much anymore. I had started my weight loss journey and wasn't making enough milk to keep up with your growing appetite. We started to feed you formula bottles more and more.

Now today you are 9 months old, and i had to make the hard decision (with your help of course) to stop our feedings. My original goal was to make it 6 months with you, so i'm happy i surpassed that. I'm also so proud of myself for making it at all feeding you, something i never did with your brothers and sister.

Today is a hard day, one that is filled with tears.

Happy tears for all the wonderful memories over the last 9 months, and sad tears for the loss of those moments that had become so precious to me.

I love you Lincoln, thank you so much for giving me this experience.

Happy 9 months baby boy!

A Day In Our Family's Life

I don't know about you, but i love getting to peak into other families lives. Some bloggers out there do day in our life videos and i just find it so fascinating.

So i decided to give you all a peak into our life.

Last week i took my camera out and snapped a ton of pictures of everything Our Family does during the day.

Monday -  May 1st, 2017

Alarm went off at 5:30, however Hubby and I didn't get out of bed until 6:10

6:20ish - Coffee Time with Hubby.

6:45 - Hubby has gone off to work and i'm in the office trying to get Hubby's work calendar done for the new month while the little ones are still sleeping.

7:00- As soon as Cruz wakes up he immediately asks for food, so i feed him Breakfast first.

7:10- Time to start my first load of laundry.

7:30 - Dasean and Samuel are up and ready for breakfast.

7:45 - Now it's time for me to eat something. This morning i tried out a new recipe, Oatmeal Blueberry Yogurt Pancakes. It was really yummy.

Cruz plays with his new toy while i eat

8:00 - Karina is still sleeping, while Samuel and Dasean are playing in their room

8:05 - First load of laundry is ready to be moved to dryer and i start my second load.

Cruz plays with Lincoln,who just woke up, while i tidy up the house.

8:10 - Karina's awake and ready for breakfast.

8:10 - I feed Lincoln his breakfast

8:20 - Get Cruz, Lincoln, and myself dressed and ready for the day.

8:30 - 9:30 Group Time - Piano, Literature, and Art.

9:30 - 9:45 Free outside play time. While they are outside playing i take care of dishes.

9:45 - 10:15 The 3 oldest kids play on their Kindle Fire's while i hang out with the 2 small guys (and drink my 2nd cup of coffee).

10:15 - 10:45 I do school work with Karina. Cruz is watching some tv during this time and Lincoln is crawling around next to us, except when his big brother picks him up to give him some lovin.

10:45 - 11:15 Group Science Time - Today we watched an episode of Bill Nye the Science Guy. This is also when we take a snack break.

11:15-12:15 I do school work with Dasean. Samuel and Karina are working independently, Cruz is playing and Lincoln is either crawling around or playing in his bouncer.

12:15-1:15 Lunch break and outside free playtime. While they are playing outside i get Lincoln down for his nap.

1:15-2:15 I do school work with Samuel. Dasean and Karina work independently and Cruz is watching Special Agent Oso on tv. Lincoln is sleeping.

2:15-5:00 Dishes, picking up the house, vacuuming, folding laundry, playing dress up, and Cruz takes a nap in his fireman costume on the couch. The older kids go outside and play with friends once they've come home from school.

5:00-6:00 Kids come inside from playing with friends, i'm working on making dinner, everyone eats dinner. Then the 3 oldest get ready to go play soccer.

6:00-7:30 Hubby and the kids are off playing soccer and i'm hanging out with the 2 little guys. I do more dishes. Cruz wakes up from his nap during this time and i feed him dinner.

7:30ish - 9:00 While I run on the treadmill Samuel and Dasean each take a shower. Once i'm done running on the treadmill i take a shower and then get Cruz cozy and read a few bedtime stories to him.

9:00 It's the kid's bedtime, but of course Cruz wants a snack before bed. So i give him a Yogurt which he spills all over the floor and on himself.

9:20ish - All the kids are in bed, Hubby stays up to watch the news while i'm in bed reading.

10:00 - Hubby and I finally go to sleep. And tomorrow we will wake up to do it all over again...

Hope you all enjoyed spending the day with us!