Round Here Lately- birth stories, pee stories, and more…
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A whole lot has been going on lately… I’ll be honest, I’ve been feeling a little more than I would care to admit that I am just spinning and on some kind of treadmill where the belt is going too fast for me to keep up with. Do you ever feel like that?
Nick has been super busy too. He’s in the process of trying to get certified as a chiropractor here in New Hampshire and Maine. Taxes are coming up (I know you’re going through this too). Buildouts for a practice are being discussed. His chiropractic continuing education credits are due soon. And for me, I’m trying to keep our house from completely falling apart, while spending time with the kids, getting them outside each day, working out (which has been falling to the wayside for me far too often lately), potty training two family members, cleaning up pee and poop, writing on my blog, trying to refinish our house with five people always in the house like a bunch of nutters, giving attention to my Beautycounter business and now adding a podcast.
All of these are amazing and feed us (well, maybe except for the taxes and the poop, right?). But it all feels like a lot… and if I’m being honest, some mornings I wake up feeling defeated before I even get out of bed.
That definitely tells me that I need to sit and look at my life, my schedule, and my priorities and make a few adjustments.
But Nick and I are having lots of great conversations because of it, and as Marie Forle says, “everything is figureoutable”.
With all that being out there, let me fill you in on what’s been going on!
Nick and Ayla’s birthday
Tomorrow is Nick AND Ayla’s birthday! My baby girl is going to be 5!
I will be super honest right now, February 25th is the one day I did not want Ayla to decide to join us. I wanted them to have their own separate birthdays. But that morning I knew there was no chance in heck she wasn’t coming that particular day, so I was so happy to hear Nick tell me that he was so psyched to have the best gift of all.
A quick birth story:
When I delivered Bennett, it was a long labor. I’m talking 20 hours of active labor. But it was wonderful. I would be able to fall asleep between contractions. It was great.
My sweet Ayla had a different plan. She came fast and furious.
That morning my water broke (the only time my water broke before labor for any of my children). I literally laughed out loud. It was like a water balloon popped…what a trip. Going back to bed that morning, I told Nick and then tried, with complete failure to go back to sleep because I knew she was coming that day. As I mentioned above, I didn’t want her to come yet. I wanted Nick to have his day, and for her to have her own. But Nick was so happy…
So that morning, I can still remember it so clearly, our little family of three soaked up every little moment knowing it was going to change soon. We danced and sang “Gift for Melody Anne” in bed as the sun came up and saturated the room in a beautiful orange glow. It was idyllic.
Then I got up and started making Nick’s birthday pancakes. I had full plans of going to church that morning, so I was attempting to make breakfast while considering getting ready.
The thing was, I was having regular contractions at this point. So I would flip the pancakes, do a lap around our living room, take a knee, and get back to the damn pancakes.
Again, I was still adamant that I was going to church. While I was in the shower getting ready, Nick called the midwife and my brother-in-law (so he could come to get Bennie). When I got out of the shower, I spoke to the midwife and told her there was no need for her to come yet, I was nowhere near ready. I still hadn’t “left my body”. Yes, this is what I said.
Luckily my midwife knew me better than I did, and knew what she was doing… so she decided to make the 30-minute drive to the valley and just “hang out” until she got a call.
As soon as my brother-in-law came and got Bennie, I was realizing at this point that I wasn’t going to church. Yes, this was still a conversation I was actually having. I think knowing that Bennett was in safe hands, I really allowed myself to relax at this point. And the contractions came fast and furious. We started doing laps around our house, and I was stopping to kneel once on each side of the house.
At one point (and I’m pretty sure this was only 15 minutes after Bennett was picked up- and a half hour after I was supposed to be at church), I was kneeling in the driveway in tears. It was so much more intense than it was with Bennett. The hardest part was that I couldn’t get a break.
Luckily at that very moment, my midwife pulled into the driveway.
The birth was so quick that Ayla was snuggled in my arms less than an hour after she pulled in. From start to finish of the most intense portion of the labor, it was a very brief hour and a half. And the birthday boy got to catch his sweet birthday present.
Update on potty training
There is nothing to update you on here… nothing at all. Pooping and peeing on the floor at all times of the day.
Can you tell I’m a little bitter here? I love that I was so naive to think we could bust this out in a weekend. Ha!
Not only do I have one individual I’m wiping pee off the floor from, but now two. Whose idea was it anyway to potty train them at the same time?
PS, I’m going to pause right here to make a strong, passionate plug for this product. This product is saving my sanity and our home from smelling like a toilet.
There are moments when I feel like we’re “getting it”. But what I’ve painfully come to the realization of is that I am dealing with two very stubborn, strong-willed potty trainers.
Beau, my sweet little Texan puppy…is refusing to touch his buns to the snow. So I will stand out there with him for lengthy amounts of time, only to come in (in defeat) and he pees on the floor (or poops). In addition to this, there is nothing telling me at this point at all that he is piecing together that you pee outside. It’s currently only if we put him out there and he decides to go to humor us…
End rant.
Podcasting and all the sweet messages
I just wanted to drop in really quick and let you know that Sammy and my podcast is finnnnnallly on iTunes!! There was some weird snafu that made it take foreverrrrr to get there. But alas, you can find us there now (along with Spotify, Audible and iHeartRadio)
Your messages, texts, and comments about how the podcast is bringing you joy, making you laugh out loud while you’re doing the dishes, relating to things we’re saying (things you may think but don’t feel comfortable saying out loud…I’ll take that bullet for you :-p)…
…it really truly brings us so much joy it’s CRAZY.
One of my absolute favorite comments that we have received from multiple listeners is that they felt like they were sitting around their living room with their buddies (friends were probably their wording), just having a chat with their girlfriends.
Those kinds of comments mean the world (and a half) to us. THAT is exactly what we hoped for this podcast.
That it would make you laugh… that it might plant some seeds of things being able to be done a different way (if you want…)
…and that you would feel like you were right there with us.
So thank you so much for taking the time to actually write those words, or speak those words, and send them out to us. We love love love them.
And if you like the podcast so far, would you mind taking a minute to leave a rating or review? It helps other people find us and hopefully we spread our little chucklehead virus 🙂 (that may be the first and last time those words were written in an email).
“The noblest art is that of making others happy” – P. T. Barnum
I finally got my hair cut and learned how to style it
Hot damn, look at all those sparkly hairs in there :-p I turn 40 in two weeks, and I’m fully leaning in. Sparkles and all.
After being on the road for 4 months this summer, and settling into a new state, town, and home… I admit that I did not take the time to look for a solid hair stylist. I loved what I had going on with my stylist in Santa Barbara… there really is so much to be said for sticking with someone for the long haul. So the thought of starting over in that department felt really hard. I mean, you sit in that chair for a long time! That’s a lot of conversation to be had.
But my hair was looking and feeling super sad. Super damaged. And we had moved beyond the descriptor “blah”.
But the gal I tried last week might just be the gal for me. Not only did she give me a cut that I absolutely loved, but she has a heart of a teacher and taught me how to curl my hair with tips that made it feel very approachable and easy for this mom of three, and sent me a follow-up email with those tips in writing. HECK YES.
She also gave me a super quick and easy tutorial on how to apply eye shadow on the most basic level. It took me almost 40 years. Seriously though, if you know how to apply makeup really well, please come work with me… I need you… desperately.
Schooling
This has been a bit of a struggle for me this year. Being on the road for so long, and not having a ton of consistent friend time for the kids, really got me to a place of feeling like maybe we need to consider a school of some kind.
This year we have Ben in a homeschool group that he goes to two days a week all day. This has been feeding him so much. But I’m really considering a charter school for the fall.
I think the best way to approach homeschooling if that is something that you are considering, is to take it a year at a time. I am so grateful for the time we have had together, and in so many ways we wouldn’t have been able to go for as long in the RV this summer if we weren’t homeschooling. But I also think it’s important to give yourself grace, and if you decide it’s time to do something different, offer that thought to yourself and don’t hold judgment on it. Maybe all you need to do is add a couple of playdates a week…but you also need to look at the whole picture and ask yourself…
- Will that exhaust me to keep my kid happy
- Can I be the best version of myself if I am worn too thin?
- Is it better for me to homeschool and be burnt out than to try out a different school situation?
I just want to offer that thought to you and speak that encouragement into you today if that is resonating with you at all. And feel free to reach out and talk it through with me! I could use it too haha.
But I will keep you updated on what we do since I have had so many of you reach out to me about homeschooling and I was to be as transparent and honest on our journey on my end!
Phew! You made it to the end. Look at you, you little achiever, you. I adore you…thank you for sharing this space and this life with me in any way that you do. I’m super grateful for you!
xo,
Jen
