Hi friends,

Today I am sharing a recap of Ella’s third butterfly birthday. I can’t believe my sweet baby girl is three. Where did the time go? I still can remember her birth. It was the most traumatizing and difficult birth experience I’ve had. Thankfully Ella was strong and healthy and she has thrived ever since. The past year was probably the most challenging year for me as a parent. I’ve never experienced terrible two’s with Jayden, so it was a definitely a learning experience as a mom with Ella.

Ella has always been a smart independent girl. She marches at the beat of her own drum, and if she doesn’t want to do something she won’t do it without some convincing. Potty training was a feat on its own. I just remember Jayden being potty trained in one week. Ella took several months. But to my defense I was pregnant and had juggling a newborn. But now we are officially potty trained and my gosh I feel like we just leveled up as parents lol! But really though Ella is so much easier, calmer, listens better now that she is three. Now its her sister’s Daisy turn for the terrible twos lol! Pray for us!

But all jokes aside we are so thankful for our sweet girl! We know those “difficult” times don’t last long, and is all part of growing up and us learning as we go as parents. Ella is my little mini me when it comes to her strong willed personality and I wouldn’t want it any other way. I love that she isn’t easily persuaded and she is so independent. This girl is so smart. She loves singing all of her Jesus songs, and its the cutest! She currently loves cats, Gabby Cat, princess dresses, painting, stickers, lipsticks, and accessories. She is definitely a little fashionista in the making, and I love it! It’s such a fun stage to play dress up!

For her birthday we decided to do a butterfly birthday theme. She loves wearing butterfly wings and accessories. It turned out so cute! Check out more details below!

SHOP POST:

Love celebrating our little Princess Ella. I wish I had taken more pictures but we were so busy getting everything ready I was only able to capture a little bit. You can see more of her party in this video. You can check out her past birthdays here!

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Hi friends,

Hope you are doing well! It’s been a crazy busy couple of weeks. In fact I can’t believe we are already half way to March. Last month on February 19th at 2am our sweet Charlotte Grace made her debut. It was my first natural birth, and I can’t wait to share the full birth story with you. I am so thankful I was able to have this amazing birth experience, especially after having my past two birth experiences with Ella and Daisy. Read more of Charlotte Grace’s birth story below!

Daisy wasn’t too happy about not being the baby anymore!

My sweetest little blessings! How did I get so lucky to be their mama. Love how our lifestyle photoshoot as a family of six turned out in our home. We took this in Charlotte’s future room with all the little antique baby pieces I got her. I am definitely leaning into the vintage classic vibes with this girl. It is just fitting with her name.

SHOP OUTFITS:

Charlotte Grace’s Birth Story

So it was the Tuesday after her scheduled due date and we had tried every labor inducing trick you could think of. By the time we went to the doctor we were 3 cm dilated which was a good sign. We did schedule an induction for that Thursday just in case she didn’t come out on her own for safety precautions.

I remember that night deciding I needed to get my nails done before baby arrived. As I was getting my pedicure I started getting contractions that were eighteen minutes apart. I didn’t want to get my hopes too high because I have been having Braxton hicks contraction for the past two week that would go away after going to bed.

When I got home I decided to go to bed and get some sleep around 10pm. At 10:30 my water broke as I was laying in bed. This was the first time my water broke naturally. Minutes later my contractions started to speed up five minutes apart. Josh called his dad to come over so he could watch the kids while we went to the hospital. He arrived 40 minutes later and we still had an hour drive to the hospital. By then I was 4 minutes apart.

Laboring in the car wasn’t so bad as there was no one on the road, and I could time out when my contractions would hit. I honestly didn’t think the labor pains were that painful. By the time we reached the hospital and admitted into triage at 1am I was already 7 cm dilated. By then the nurse didn’t recommend I get an epidural because the baby was coming fast. At that time I still could endure the labor pain, and I did want to have a natural unmedicated birth so I opted to go without it.

Within the hour my labor pains intensified, and I could feel so much pressure like I was having constipation. I knew she was coming fast. I remember peeing all over the bed and telling the nurse I need to push her out now! They brought in the doctor, and I could feel the ring of fire. And that was when I felt all the pain for that minute I was about to push her out, I looked at Josh and said “I can’t do this” He looked down there and then at me and said “Yes you can, because I see her coming.”  Those words gave me so much strength and in two pushes she flew out of there so fast the doctor had to catch her!

I remember the second she came out I felt a since of relief and euphoria. I couldn’t even feel the pain anymore. I was in literal shock that she came out so fast. They definitely did not have to worry about jaundice or her lungs because this girl was so red and loud! Also with a head full of hair! I was so relieved when she came out so strong and healthy, and getting to hold her in my arms seemed so surreal. Those nine months of carrying her and wondering what she would be like to having her in my arms, as perfect as God made her. The miracle of a child being born never gets old. It’s truly the greatest blessing.

We didn’t have a lot of photos at the hospital because we were their for only a night! It was the quickest hospital stay we had ever had. We were able to get home to our other babies much sooner than expected, and it was nice to be able to be together as a family of six. Honestly could not have asked for a better experience. Maybe next time we will have a home birth!

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Hi friends,

Hope you are doing well! It’s been a crazy couple of months with the holidays and then baby girl made her arrival. I almost forgot to post our holiday maternity photos we took! I love documenting this time, because I always feel so amazed of what my body can do when I am pregnant. Check out our in holiday maternity photos we did over the holidays with our family. I love how they turned out!

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Do you remember this maternity dress from a previous shoot? I wore this same dress in Hawaii when I was pregnant with Ella in this post. I am so glad I got to wear it again for this moody holiday maternity photoshoot. It is definitely harder to get everyone in the same frame when you have two very active toddlers. But we wouldn’t want it any other way. So thankful for another sweet little babe. It is truly a blessing!

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Photos by BanAvenue Photography