Preparing for trips

Happy Friday everyone! We are currently on the way to Atlanta because tomorrow we are going to the beach! You really don't realize how much stuff you need for a week until you have to pack it all... especially with an infant. Y'all should have seen Coreys face when I told him all the baby gear that was mandatory to bring- he thinks I'm insane haha. BUT its better to have it and not need it than to need it and not have it.

About a 3-4 days before our trips I always make a list of what needs to be packed. I make everyone their own section and put the number of the item that I need next to it. Ex: Shirts (7). I start a few days in advance because there's so many of us and if I don't I will forget something. I remember things down to the morning of that need to be added to the list because packing for 6 is A LOT. As I pack I put a * next to the things that have already been packed instead of deleting them/ crossing them off so then I have the same list when we're packing to go back home.

Side note: I make a list for EVERYTHING. Errands for the day, trips, grocery, what I'm getting people for Christmas/ birthdays.

I'm very particular when it comes to packing suit cases. My kids will unfold every last piece of clothing in order to find something then just shove it all back into their bags *insert hand over face emoji*. So, over time I have figured out a way to eliminate that. I first lay everything out on the bed that they are going to need for the trip. Then, I pair all of the outfits together so they will know this shirt goes with these pants etc. I then put them into their bags in the order they will wear them- so the last day will go on the bottom and I work my way up. I put their socks, underwear and the girls bows in the zippered pouch so they don't accidentally get mixed in with the clothes causing their suitcases to look like a tornado came through lol.

Corey and I have separate toiletry bags but in mine I keep all the travel sized necessities such as toothpaste, shampoo & conditioner, a soap container, toothbrush containers, contact solution, body wash, lotion, razors ect. Already having the majority of the stuff we need in there is so nice because its just one less thing that I have to do.

(My little helper is so excited for her first beach trip)

I hope some of my tips help make packing for your trip easier!

xoxo

How to keep your littles busy at home during the summer

Yay for Friday! This week has just flew by and today was Jaiden’s last day of school! Since it’s now officially summer break for us, I wanted to share some of my ways of keeping my kids busy during the LONG summer days :)


Last year I was beyond nervous as summer was approaching. I had no idea how I was going to keep two very busy toddlers and a 6 year old from going stir crazy all by myself. After scouring the internet and getting advice from my mom and mother in law's I was able to come up with a plan that worked.. on most days :)

I went through their toys and separated them into plastic tubs (and freezer bags for the smaller things) and would rotate what I gave them to play with every couple of days. It's so funny how excited kids will get to play with their current toys if they haven't had access to them in a few days. I did this in order to keep things exciting. Playing with the same thing day after day can get boring. Imagine watching the same movie over and over again or reading the same book back to back. Not very interesting.

Our neighborhood has a pool but taking three kids to the pool by myself isn't ideal and honestly gives me anxiety just thinking about it. If the girls could swim without their puddle jumpers it'd be a different story. I bought a blow up pool from Walmart for around $20 and got bunch of pool toys and would also switch those out every couple of days. We also have a water table that the girls LOVE.  I would sit on the back patio as they played for HOURS at a time and when they began to get bored I would give them a popsicle. By the time they were done with their popsicle they were ready to play in the pool or water table again.

We will also play with water balloons from time to time. Corey is VERY particular about the yard and isn't a huge fan of water balloons all in the grass. The solution to this is you keep all of the water balloons in a bucket- when they pop the ones they have they have to bring back the same amount of popped balloons as they want you to give them. That way they are having fun and cleaning up after themselves at the same time.. MOM WIN!

CHALK AND BUBBLES!!! You can never go wrong with either of these. Jaiden and Scarlett would stay outside forever if I let them but Ophelia on the other hand... well she's my little drama queen. She hates getting hot and sweaty. We usually do chalk on the driveway so I will set up a fan in the garage so when she gets hot she can sit in there by the fan to cool off.. literally and figuratively lol.

Since Jaiden is older he doesn't last long with chalk and bubbles but he always ends up getting his sisters to "race" him across the yard. All 3 of them are very competitive so not only do they race each other, they also like to beat their own times.

If you’re okay with your kitchen/ table to get really messy, Publix sells a make your own personal pizza kit in the deli section. It comes with 4 crusts and all of the ingredients needed to make them. My kids love making their own pizza and then they have lunch. It's a win win.

This one is my kids favorite- but who am I kidding... it’s my favorite too lol. I bought cookie cutters  and the writeable icing. The kids get to make the shape cookies they want then decorate them with icing and sprinkles when they're done baking and cooling off. This does tend to also get messy but it keeps them busy and happy.

If its raining out we do a movie day. I let the kids pick out the .99 boxes of candy that they want from the store and I pop some popcorn and we watch a movie that at least 2 out of 3 of them agree on (you can't always please everyone LOL). When they get tired of watching movies we will usually play a board game or pop the pig.

What are some of the things that you do to keep your kids busy and happy?

xoxo

Blakely’s Birth Story

Blakely Loren Hardy

Blakely's onesie Letter Board

Now that life has started to seem some what normal again I wanted to share Blakely’s birth story. I was induced with my other 3 children so I figured that I would need to be again with Blakely. My doctor won’t schedule induction until you reach 40 weeks so at my 40 week appointment he scheduled me to be induced the following Tuesday. At that time I was only 1 cm dilated and about 50% effaced so I wasn’t hopeful I would go into labor before hand but I REALLY wanted to go on my own.

Hawthornes Pizza

My doctor had told me about a pizza that moms swear send them into labor within 48 hrs and lucky for me the restaurant was only 20 min from my house. Corey, the kids, my mother in law, sister in law and I all went there on Wednesday and I ordered the pizza which is nicknamed “the inducer”.  It’s a chicken buffalo wing pizza and the sauce on it is what is supposed to do the trick. While it did give me a lot a heart, it didn’t send me into labor. 

Friday morning I got up and took a quick shower and got the girls ready for school. On the way back home from dropping them off I started having contractions. The weren’t strong but they were a little uncomfortable. When I got home I curled my hair and got ready for the day. When I went to the bathroom I realized I had my bloody show so I called Corey and told him not to be away from his phone because I’ve been having contractions and now this. I decided to go for a walk to see if that helped make the contractions more consistent. I walked for about 45 min just up and down my street (my neighbors prob thought I was crazy lol) until it was time to go pick up the girls. While driving the contractions did start to pick up but they weren’t painful and they stayed this way for the remainder of the day.

I made Corey finally pack his hospital bag that night because I had a feeling we weren’t going to be induced after all and I made sure I had everything ready for my mom and mother in law for when we were at the hospital. We spent our Friday evening like we usually do- dinner, change kids, feed/walk dogs and watching movies. We had tilapia rice and veggies for dinner that night and while t is my absolute favorite, I wish we would’ve had something more filling lol.

Corey and I went to bed around 11:00 pm and I woke up to a painful contraction at 1:50 am. I didn’t think too much of it but it was a little odd to me because contractions had never woke me up before. I closed my eyes and started to go back asleep. 15 min later I was woken by another one, it was about the same strength as the first one so I just laid there for a while. Another 15 min passed and I had another one so at this point I get my phone and open up one of the baby apps that I used and started timing them. By 3:00am they were 10 min apart and really starting to hurt. I tried to be quiet because I wanted Corey to be able to sleep but he heard me and would rub my back through each of them. At 5:30am I was in tears and was crying as each contraction came. I made myself get up and went and got in the shower because I was clearly in labor. I called for Corey to come into the bathroom and told him he needed to start getting ready because I was going to call my doctor when I got out.

I texted my mom and told her she needed to get ready to come to NC bc I was pretty sure I was in labor and was about to call my doctor. I called the doctors office and they asked me questions and took all of my info and said they would have the doctor call me back and to keep my phone on me. The doctor called me in about 10 min and I happened to be in the middle of having a contraction when she called. She told me to go ahead and head down to the hospital. Corey called his mom and she was at the house in about 30 min to watch the kids.

We head for the hospital and I was bawling because I was in so much pain and scared that I was either A) going to have the baby in the car or B) going to be too dilated to get an epidural LOL. Corey sped the whole way there because we live 45 min from the hospital and I think he was a little nervous that I would have her in the car too haha. We had never experienced me going into labor before so we had no idea what to expect and I didn’t know how bad I was supposed to be hurting based on how dilated I was if that makes sense. We arrived at the hospital at 8:28am and were sent to triage. The triage nurses checked me and said I was 4-5 cm and that they were going to admit me. I told her ”good because I wasn’t going anywhere anyways”  lol I was in THAT much pain and would've camped out in the hospital lobby if they had tried to send me home.

Gownie

I got up to labor and delivery and that’s where the waiting game really began. My parents were both still on the way from GA so it was just Corey and I at the hospital. At 11:40 the nurse checked me and I was at 8 cm. My dad arrived around 12 pm and my mom got stuck in traffic- of course. I was stressing out she wouldn’t make it in time- she’d been in the room for my other 3 children’s birth and I really wanted her there again. I mentally kept telling myself I could make it until she got there. She arrived at 3:20 pm.

The epidural kept wearing off on the opposite side that I was laying it which causes excruciating pain (I was 8 cm at this point) so the nurse had me turn on my other side and use a peanut ball. I had never used one before so I wasn’t convinced that it would help relieve the pressure but it did!

Qalo Rings

Around 4:30 they checked me again and said it’s time to have a baby! After several pushes and a very tired momma Blakely Loren was born at 4:48pm weighing 9lbs 9 oz and 21.5 inches long!

I still can’t believe I had a 9lb baby much less pushed her out of me. Ophelia was my biggest before her weighing 7lbs 11oz at birth. Needless to say... I ate good during pregnancy haha. But I had a good idea that she was going to be big just based on how heavy my stomach was when I would try to roll over or get out of bed and the fact that she was 6 days late didn’t help either.

Corey was so supportive through the whole thing and him being calm always helps me be calm. He was on top of everything that day and did such a great job of capturing all of the photos that I wanted captured. He's such a great partner and father and I feel beyond blessed that God chose him for me. Needless to say, we are absolutely in love with our fourth bundle of joy and we cannot imagine life without this sweet angel.