kissing 2015 goodbye

Tonight, we kiss 2015 goodbye. So here I am reflecting, remembering and being reminded. Reflecting on a year that was so good to our family. Remebering the good times, the tough times and being reminded that with every hardship comes joy - eventually. Those reminders bring me to a happy place today while reflecting, and I can assure you that while photos and written memories on this little space of mine may portray a perfect life and perfect family, there are times in between that aren't always as joyous.

Residency life, life with 3 little ones 3 and under, and plain ol' every day life in general isn't always easy. There are definitely tears shed on this journey, but without a doubt, staying optimistic throughout the rough times keeps me going. I thrive on celebrating the little things and reflecting on the great things. I remember the good times and bottle them up, and kiss the rough times goodbye (like intern year - big kisses goodbye to that!) For me, life is all about celebrating. Big or little milestones, family life, birthdays, end of 12 hour shifts (that turn into 15 hour shifts) celebrations - yes that is something to celebrate - vacations, and all the little things in between. Today is a happy day as I remember all that 2015 has brought to our family!

Let's reminisce, shall we?

I started 2015 off in South Florida - hubby was back home working an overnight 12 hour shift and I was content with 2 my babies.
A sweet little 3 month old and an energetic, awesome newly 2 year old.








We celebrated the little holidays, even while Daddy worked many of them. We may get sad when we don't get to spend those days together and especially when checking Facebook -- Don't. Check. Facebook. (on holidays when you know you will feel jealous of the families celebrating Father's Day, Mother's Day, Anniversaries, etc. - the number one rule from older resident wives/moms). It's easy to get let down during those times, but when reflecting on days like today, I remember life is good. And all the times we do get to spend together in between totally make up for it. It's just hard to remember on those days!






We got to visit Mickey a few times this year - which excites all of us, big and small!




And then, upon walking out the door to celebrate an amazing wedding weekend of our good friends, we found out we were expecting baby number three! Talk about a crazy, exhilarating feeling!




We celebrated a few weddings this year - The Daugherty's in April!




And the Oguins in May! (In the Keys - woohoo!)






We swam the summer away. And our big girl E, at 2 years old, learned to fully swim on her own!




We celebrated 4 years of marriage and 13 years of dating. And while we didn't get to see each other on our anniversary while hubby worked a 28 hour shift, it just meant lots of time to reminisce, reflect and be grateful for the marriage we have. I am thankful every single day for our marriage.




We celebrated 4th of July with family and E's cousins who she has a blast with every single time. Daddy was working - broken record?! Ha - but he had off for Thanksgiving and Christmas so we were certainly lucky ducks to have him for those holidays!




We had the most amazing family vacation in Mexico following J's crazy summer months filled with Trauma, MICU, and Resus. We loved and took advantage of every single moment of that trip! Intern year came to an end and for that, we celebrated big!




And then, E started pre-school! Big deal around here :)






And, and, then..A turned ONE!! And of course, we celebrated big for that too.




We took a few day trips to St. Augustine, where E loves that "old fort" and runs free with excitement!




We celebrated Halloween as a little Frozen crew.




E turned three and we celebrated at Disney, followed by a princess tea party with little friends!




We enjoyed fall, Thanksgiving, the holiday season, and decorated for Christmas as a family of four.




And then big, huge news! We welcomed our little boy. Baby Brother S made his debut on December 15, 2015, bringing SO. MUCH. JOY. to our lives and our family!!!








We then celebrated the Christmas holiday, with our THREE children, as a new family of five!




Christmas 2015 - Florida style.










And now, here I am, spending New Year's week and New Year's Eve with our kiddies while hubby has been working 12's - with little to complain about and lots to be thankful for! Look at these faces - I am the lucky one making memories with this crew.
Tonight, I get to ring in the New Year with my hubby (providing he is not stuck at work 5 hours late, which could be a total possibility haha), but either way, it's a happy New Year's Eve indeed.




Today, I wish you lots of happy reminiscing and reflecting.
Today, I hope you celebrate and feel all the goodness that life has to offer, despite your hardships.
Today, I hope you remember that life is good. You woke up today, which is your greatest gift, and you're able to celebrate something!

Happy celebrations and Happy New Year!
Wishing you and your loved ones lots of good health and happiness!




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Note to self: If ever feeling discouraged, look back at this post! There is so much joy and love to celebrate every single day.

tis the season

It's the most wonderful time of the year! What an amazing December it's been for our family. The tree trimming, mantle decorating, cookie baking, craft making kind of holiday season I long for the other 11 months of the year! While all of that took place in the first half of December, our most special Christmas gift of all arrived 10 days prior to Christmas. Although baby boy was due Christmas day, he blessed us with his presence on December 15, 2015 -- making this holiday season one of the most special years ever.



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Walk through this amazing, special, memorable, and of course, chaotic December with me in more photos than words - because those are the memories I want to cherish forever between this preggo brain and new mom to 3 who can't remember a dang thing these days...here we go!

First up was the tree and mantle decorating. And while E simply couldn't wait to put the train around the tree and probably asked when it was time for that 456 times, she was a trooper through the tree decorating. It's so special seeing the girls pick our ornaments out of the storage bins and ask about certain ones or just seeing their eyes simply light up because it's the coolest looking ornament in the world to them!

I've always loved looking back at ornaments and crafts every year and reflecting on past Christmases. Getting to do that with my children now is 10x more special. Can't even describe it!

This was only one year ago....and already those teeny tiny hands have grown.



Bittersweet reminders everywhere of how wonderful our previous Christmases have been, yet how our babies are already growing up and changing! Somehow, this is already E's 4th Christmas. And her first where she truly understands and believes in all the magic. And oh my goodness, does that make it magical for me!! Tonight she sat up in bed to look out her window up at the sky. Her eyes lit up as she asked "what's that I see up in the sky?! Maybeeee it's him Mommy!!!!"







These lucky babes didn't have to ask Daddy twice; one mention of wanting their own baby tree and Daddy couldn't say no (and niether could I...)



Can you tell they're sisters based on this photo?! ha



These babies fill my heart with so much love. They make our days brighter and especially during the Christmas season, they remind me what life is all about!



I'm so lucky to spend my days with this family of mine. I'm so lucky to decorate with them, bake with them, and make all my memories with them.













These kids have turned our hearts to mush. They melt us. And we're okay with that! ;)

Can you blame us? These faces.. the excitement.. the innocence.. the pure joy that being a child at Christmas time brings. It's all just wonderful.




Who knew that the $25 spent on this train set would bring such joyous memories to our family? It's E's favorite part of decorating for Christmas. She waits patiently for Daddy to get home to play with the 'Polar Express.'



I even made her promise that she would never get too old to love playing with our Christmas train! Girlfriend better keep that promise!

...and then, when baby boy arrived on December 15, the love in our home multiplied tenfold. Never even knew how possible it was to love yet another human being as much as I do.





Between our new baby boy, our sweet girls, Christmas time, postpartum hormones, and a heart already made of mush, this momma's heart is just about ready to burst! So, so in love!



This one below just cracks me up..we all look pretty terrible, but it's one I want to remember! The beautiful chaos of a one week old, 1 year old and newly 3 year old. It'll certainly be a Christmas to remember and one I will likely always wish we could redo over and over and over again, just to feel the insane love and happiness and even the chaos we feel now. It all makes up a beautiful memory, no matter how not-so-beautiful we look.



As I sit here on Christmas Eve (our very first Christmas Eve in our own home!), I'm listening to Christmas music and reflecting on this Christmas season. We've set out our stockings on the chimney with care, Santa has arrived and devoured his cookies, and our babies are sound asleep. I'm looking through these photos, most of when I was still pregnant and soaking up the last few days as a family of four, and thinking of how I am now the mom to 3 amazing babies...SO much joy and gratefulness fill my heart tonight!

This Christmas is pretty magical for our family.



Tonight on Christmas, and every other night of the year, in between the craziness that ensues each day, I am reminding myself of this...

I am one lucky and thankful wife and momma.

Merry Christmas to you and yours!

E turns 3! Princess Tea for Turning 3

My first baby's first birthday was a big milestone. Real big. That first year of parenthood flew by. It was a milestone for our baby turning the big o.n.e. and a milestone for us as parents and myself as a mom. Life became different that year, you know. But in one of those unimaginable ways that made us love life even more. We threw her a pretty party to celebrate the big milestone that it was to us.





Her second birthday seemed just as big a milestone! She had become a big sister and we wanted her to feel special on the big t.w.o. And it was, after all, the last year she may still have that sweet innocent personality where she couldn't contain any excitement whatsoever and maybe the last year she would still have that cute little baby face. So we had to do something, you know. Disney it was. And my goodness, it was amazing all thanks to that sweet and innocent personality I mentioned before!

And when it was little sister's first birthday, well it was a big milestone, too. So we had to do it big, you know. A themed birthday party with all her dear family back home to celebrate our youngest baby turning the big o.n.e. before becoming a big sister.







Most recently came E's third birthday. What to do, what to do?! Disney was the obvious choice thanks to her huge excitement last year. But then when all she talked about was a party like little sister's with all her friends, we had to do a little something with friends too because she was just too excited for her birthday this year.

My point? Well, apparently milestones are big to us. We'll make any excuse to celebrate our babies! I don't see each year passing by getting less significant to us, but who knows! We love our celebrations and we love our fun. Seeing those faces light up, even over something simple makes it all worth it! As long as we are able to, we'll celebrate each year in whatever way we can. Whether big or small, with friends or family, or on a trip. Whether hanging at home with a simple cake and pizza or a big bash, we will celebrate indeed!

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Her actual birthday week (when we were about to head to Disney), E came down with the stomach bug. As did her (almost) entire school. Low and behold, it spread throughout our house like wildfire. Twas not very fun. Luckily we all felt better, minus the tiredness and semi-weakness we felt on the Disney trip, but overall I am still so glad we went. We were right, though -- I don't think anything will beat that 2nd year birthday Disney trip innocence and excitement! She had her moments of hit or miss in terms of excitement and I'm just going to blame it on the sickness (or the 'threenager' in her).







But the day she woke up on her 3rd birthday before heading home, she was adorable. A sweet cheerio tea party with her sissy and a big breakfast with her beloved characters. She couldn't hide the excitement there.

And her Fancy Nancy Tea for Two book set the bar for a celebration with her friends. A simple tea party, I thought? Done and done!

The ideas ran through my head a million miles a minute, however finding time with Daddy home and friends available was the problem. Daddy so graciously offered to share his birthday with his baby :) He had the day off and it turned out all 5 of the other second year EM kiddies were finally all in town together that day.

Daddy got to hang with friends and watch football and the kiddies got to play.

Hello, super duper last minute planned Fancy Nancy Princess Tea Party.















E and sissy put on their fancy party clothes and waited patiently for her guests to arrive.





Well, as patiently as a newly 3 year old could be.



With every car that passed came a "..but none of my kids are coming, Mommy!"

Until they did.









They ate, they drank, they sat real pretty for 7 kids under 4.









And then they partied hard. (You know, for 7 kids under 4...)



And when those youngin's couldn't handle the pinata themselves, the birthday man himself stepped in for some action. Leave it to Daddy-O.













It was a simple, low-key celebration for E turning 3 and Daddy turning 29! From a princess tea party for E to pizza, beer, football and dirt cake for J (and a day off!), it was a great celebration before he turns the big 3-0 next year! Thanks to our residency family for helping us celebrate life's little joys :)





Happy Birthday E and Daddy! You are loved so, so much!

Jumping into Fall

Fall: Cool, crisp breeze, apple pies, fall brews, pumpkin spiced lattes, crock pot meals, cookie baking, fall festivals and pumpkin pickin'.





This translates to: My most favorite time of the year!







Fall brews topped with caramel rimmed glasses are out this year. And it turns out I just may be a disappointment in today's society. For the first time this year I tried a pumpkin spiced latte from Starbucks, and what do you know I may just be the only female to dislike the all-too-hyped up beloved fall beverage. What's a girl to do?! Decaf iced coffees it is. Year round, baby! But what I am NOT missing out on is all the Fall meals and treats galore.



Remember last year when I spoke about sticking true to old traditions while creating new ones as a family -- well we are living up to that as much as we can! We've had a few crock pot meals, we've baked and decorated Halloween cookies, crafted up some Halloween art projects, watched some of our favorite Halloween movies/specials, decorated the house and have made our way to a few different pumpkin patches. Multiple times! Our front porch is filled with pumpkins of all sizes - just how I like it! And E too, of course. We're filling our Fall with all the things we're supposed to! And being able to do all of that as a family is just the whipped cream topping on the pumpkin pie!

Our sweet baby A was a brand spankin' new baby last year at the pumpkin patch. Not even a full month old. And this year she was getting in on all the action and excitement, making this momma's heart so content. Our family just keeps on growing. And while it's bittersweet reaching every milestone, it's an amazing feeling knowing they are growing and thriving as happy and healthy kiddies. Watching them play out some of our annual traditions year after year really puts just how much they've grown and changed each year on display.









Our life is so incredibly fast-paced and ever-changing from month to month with J's schedule and our family life that much of our days tend to become a blur. In the midst of prepping for a new baby and parent-teacher conferences and J's insane shift work topped with presentation/teaching point prep work when he's around and trying to squeeze in teaching letter/number recognition to E and body parts to A, I love being able to capture these moments of pure happiness as a family and pause the happy memories to remember them always.











The moments I never want to forget! These are the days I love so much. It's freakin' fall, y'all! And "I am so glad I live in a world where there are Octobers."













Living out these traditions year after year would mean nothing without my favorite people. We are so blessed to be adding another little love to our family. We are about to be outnumbered in little humans and our hands will certainly be full, but that only means our hearts will be even fuller! These moments with my loves are the best.










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Today marks 31 weeks! Not quite sure how we got here so quick, but whew! With A's first birthday party planning behind us, time to move forward with baby boy's nursery prep. I may only have 8-9 weeks left and we have not even started on his nursery, he still doesn't have a name quite yet, and we own about 5 articles of boy clothing + zero newborn diapers, but we got this! We're prepared to love him and give him some amazing big sisters and the rest will come in time! No stress ;)


I am feeling great - aside from the insanely hard time I have bending this time around (I don't remember it ever being this bad..?!) and the fact that he is currently breech which scares me (due to the thought of a c-section), I'm feeling awesome and love having this sweet babe with me day and night. I am one of those 'love being pregnant' types and know I will miss every moment of him in my belly. But having him in our arms will be even better!

Soaking up these last 2 months of pregnancy as a family of 4 before we welcome this little guy are my current goals! Enjoying Fall and all that this season has to offer, while looking forward to the holiday season and baby boy has me feeling all sorts of wonderful!

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Happy, Happy Fall - from us to you!!