Welcome to my little corner of the blog world. It's mainly a way for me to document our life, it may be exciting and sometimes not. Mainly what you will find here is my journey in motherhood, the good and the bad. What I am learning along the way and all the crazy, mundane, or excitement that comes with it.
Wednesday, November 20, 2019
Morning ramblings
We got home after 10, and while I snuggled Edison, the other kids played legos again, like it wasn’t 10:30 at night and way past their normal bedtimeπAnd given the late time , I could have said no to bedtime stories (and I totally have) but tonight I still said yes. Saying yes to those simple little things, no matter what, is something I need to improve upon. Having Henry drift to sleep while reading a bedtime story is something I will never regret. Hearing Owen say “ I love you toots” one last time for the day, will always make me smile. It for sure ended our day on a good note yesterday π₯° It’s Wednesday now, and I am snuggling Edison and Evelyn while the bigs still are asleep π Thankful for new beginnings and mercies every day. Excited to see what our day brings. Hopefully it involves finishing cleaning out a closet I started way to late last night π¬ and lots of joy. Happy day friends!
Saturday, November 16, 2019
Happy birthday to me.
It’s a lovely thing to be reminded that there are so many people out there who know you and love you π
My crew of course gave me birthday well wishes throughout the day. Hearing Edison sing happy birthday is super duper adorable. He’s heard it a lot the last month or so, and sings it often π
Our morning plans to get breakfast and do some shopping was derailed due to SO MANY road closures..... thank you Richmond Marathon runner :) But seriously, it was encouraging to see so many people running , and enjoying it! I wish I could someday get there!
When we finally made it back home, successful in at least getting my free birthday Starbucks ☕️, we ordered some really yummy Italian food from a place in our neighborhood and we all walked there. Which by the way is one of my favorite things about our new home π₯°
As we sat at home eating our lunch, I started to think about the births of all my kids and their birthdays. How it feels like such a huge deal, not just because they are another year older , but it grew me also. It opened my heart more, to give and feel more love. It grew me in confidence, that I could care for another tiny human, and it started a new journey, a new relationship with this tiny human being that I love so so much. Birthdays remind me that I was the very first touch they had earth side. That Shane and I had the honor of holding a baby, moments after they took their first breath on this earth... all their squish, warmth, and softness was shared with us. I thought of my parents , how my mom sent me a video this morning and she sang happy birthday to meπ₯° I may not be tiny or fresh anymore, but I am still her child. Still my parents child. I wondered if they also had all those memories flood back to them on their kids birthdays. I hope they do. I hope they can close their eyes and see me, my sister and brother, moments old, and safe in their arms. I hope it fills their heart to have such sweet memories, while also finding joy in all our new memories. What a gift that will be, when my oldest turns 33, if I can still recall back and remember. I hope it is so, and we hold on to thatπ
This birthday was really pretty fantastic. Free coffee, lunch I didn’t have to make, a cake choosen with love, dinner I didn’t have to make, a clean house, easy and sweet bedtimes... I mean, I really got everything in my list! Shane is hard on himself and never thinks he does enough, but it’s always enough. We spent the rest of the afternoon rearranging bedrooms.... which for me, that’s like such a fun thing!! I love to rearrange rooms. It’s not Shane’s favorite, at all, but he did it for me, because he loves me π₯°π₯°☺️ And that is the best way to give a gift, with love. Also, 12 years ago on this day, Shane asked me if I would be his wife! How has it been 12 years and I love having that memory on my birthday. What was a great one!!
Thank you again for all the birthday wishes, it made me feel so so loved. Here’s to 33!! May it be my best year yet!
Sunday, November 10, 2019
6th time around and labor story.
That first trimester seemed so long this time. We didn’t tell anyone , not even the kids, until about week 12?! We were packing up and moving out. Life was about to change big time, so we kept it a little secret. The day Shane had to leave Michigan and start working in the Virginia market, we decided to tell the kids. In a hotel room, with way to much of our stuff in it, the kids found out that their wish had come true, another baby would be joining our family. They were so so happy. Then we told them we already knew the baby was a girl!!! Ellanore and Posey were beyond thrilled and the boys seemed perfectly tickled by it ❤️ We didn’t yet officially know you Evelyn, but we were in love π₯°.
Isn’t it funny how you love someone so deeply, someone you haven’t even officially met?! All we knew about her was that she was a she, and her faint little movements she would give us.
Which brings me to the first thing I will really miss about pregnancy, feeling your baby move!! And despite my kids being a good size, I was never bothered by their kicks and rolls, sometimes not even feeling them until the 3rd trimester!! But when we did feel them, man it was wonderful!! Just the other day, Ellanore said, while holding Evelyn mind you, “ I miss feeling her move in your belly”. ❤️ Another soul, another heart, beating close to yours, growing, stretching kicking, it is such a special gift. There wouldn’t be a day that went by where Owen did ask if I had felt the baby move lately, and then proceeded to snuggle my belly. It’s those little moments that really make me enjoy pregnancy. I will miss my kids experiencing that on some level with me. I will hold on to the hope that one day I can experience them having that amazing experience when they are grown and starting a familyπ₯°❤️π
As the weeks went on, the realization of labor drawing nearer, I was increasingly more fearful about it all. Would labor be long? Could i endure it ? Will Shane be close to home? What if it’s super quick and he is gone!? Among all those probably normal concerns, were the extreme ones also: what if something goes wrong?? What if the baby is not ok? Fear likes to sneak in and take your joy.
In the beginning of October, I was able to attend our church’s first women’s conference. I was blessed with hearing amazing women remind us, remind me, of the truth of who I am. Now, who I am, isn’t just human growing machine:) Its so much more, wrapped into this amazing process. This intricate process that I believe only God, creator of the universe, could have designed. Despite my fears, the truth is He designed women to have this wonderful capability. He does not fail. No matter what your outcome is: natural, c-section, emergency, and anything in between, I knew that I would sit will with my soul.
I swear at 37 weeks, everyone starts expecting you to have the baby! I really wish that the 37weeks means full term thing , would just go bye bye! For those of us that have babies that like to stay cozy in there a little bit longer, it makes it really rather annoying ;)
I knew I would go past my due date. It just didn’t seems like I would be having her anytime soon. However, I really wanted to NOT go into 43 weeks again like with Edison!!! I felt wonderful with Edison, all 11 pounds of him, staying put in my womb. This time around I wasn’t as rosey :) My back hurt, that darn siatic started to not want to feel the best! I was ping ponging back and forth between being ready to face labor and wanting to run from it. The hormones shifting, causing havoc in my emotions, good and bad, was a bit stronger than usual. I want to insert something here that I didn’t realize until after labor and birth of Evelyn. Shane one day asked the kids what they thought life would be like if sim hadn’t entered the world, if we were still in Eden. I thought on it also, and thought “what would birth be like?!” Would it be the same? Pain free? Easy?? That then led me to this picture. Within pregnancy and labor, God painted a beautiful picture of our wait for Heaven. Becoming pregnant is like understanding that God sent Jesus as our savior, dying for us, and putting our faith in God that He will come back for us one day. It’s not always an easy walk. Just because we love God and follow him doesn’t mean life is easy! Growing pains, stretching, uncomfortable movements, pain, doubt, questions galore, studying to understand better.....an incredible amount of parallels can be drawn! We are waiting for this amazing end: in pregnancy a baby, and in life, Heaven. Life is all these things I listed and more. Pregnancy and labor is just metaphor for our lives here in this broken world. It can be beautiful, but ultimately it is not our home, we are awaiting heaven. Enter scene : the baby. The moment your baby is earth side, it’s like a joy completely indescribable, sacred, and complete! It all makes sense! Every struggle, pain, tear that was shed, it all was worth it! You understand. The Bible says that Heaven will have no home for tears,sickness, hurt, anger or death! Now I understand that unlike Heaven, after your give birth to your child, life keeps going on and it is still imperfect. But how amazing is it that as a believer, one who knows that that God designed me, as a women, to be distinctly different and have different purpose, He uses that to share what a joy it will be to enter heavens gates. We don’t need to be afraid. For He is good.
Ok so back to my story, I sorta went off a little there :)
My due date came and went. As I expected. Physically I was done, ready to have this baby. Emotionally, I was not as much. It’s a tender thing to have this child grow in your womb, only then to bring it into this world and then not have that intense connection anymore. The final weeks of pregnancy have always been emotional for me, whether you see that or not. Inside I am listing all the things we didn’t do before baby, all the pregnancy pictures I didn’t take, all the journaling I didn’t do, how the house is NEVER clean and how can we welcome this perfect baby into a messy house..... just all the things can pile up in your heart and it’s a lot to process. So I am never in a hurry to give birth, for I know that this limbo area is a special, weird time.
Well on Sunday night, the 27th, I was feeling some contractions, but I just assumed it was end of the day tiredness and didn’t think anything of it. However we should have know. Edison was very sad and emotional when we brought up baby sister , and he gave me extra snuggles and love. He must have know it was near.... not sure how, but it seems like he knew π₯° Waking is throughout the night, especially towards the end of pregnancy, is not uncommon. I was up a few times and the second or third time up, I wondered if I was in labor. After a while I just stayed up, it was about 4:30am. I told Shane I think I was in labor but we didn’t need to rush. I started to just pick up things to keep myself busy, and things progressed quickly. Starting to feel transition approach, I called the midwife, we got the kids up, and headed out the door. The kids were a combination of excited and still asleep. Henry and Ellanore were PUMPED. Owen, Posey and Edison were basically sleep walking :)
Que all the tears. I didn’t want to say bye to the kids. I didn’t want to be in labor, but I ultimately knew it was of course all part of the plan. Hard things are sometimes good things. I am so grateful that Shane is calm and collected ( I am sure he would dispute that). He gathered us in prayer, and then efficiently loaded the car and saw the kids into our friends home.
The 15 minute car ride to the hospital was sweet, last moments before sweet Evelyn arrived. I had Shane park in the wrong lot, my bad, I parked there all the time for my midwife appointments and didn’t think anything of it. Shane wheeled me into the hospital, one last time, even though I was still ok with walking and talking. Meghan, our midwife was there and had Christmas lights dimly lighting the room and bathroom. Everything was ready. Really, all they needed was me, it was very calm and quiet.
Labor picked up quickly you could say. We arrived to the room a bit before 6 am and she was born at 7:15. Thank goodness it wasn’t a long labor. I barely wanted to keep going after the maybe 45 mins of active labor. Breathing and focus never has been so helpful!
I was free to do what I needed. It was all up to me. Having that freedom, and also having my body work in sync with the baby, and exactly how it needed to, is such an amazing, empowering feeling. I found my grove. I complained a bit ;) Made some jokes about “never doing this again “ But I knew in my heart that this was good good work. Breathing in, breathing out, rocking, humming, squeezing and beating it all down, I kept reminding my heart that this is all perfectly designed. Part of my purpose was this. That’s not a bad thing. It was empowering in my quiet mind to remember that.
I knew I was close, but something was different. My water hadn’t broke yet. I knew she would be born if it were to break, and a quick memory of Henry’s long labor flashed before me. His water was still intact and i felt that bearing down pressure for sure a long time. I knew I did not want her to break my water, this was the finale and I didn’t want anyone helping my body to its job. She wasn’t born in caul, but it was very close. Having that water intact while my body pushed, felt wildly different and like something was wrong. Let’s me say that after labor I noticed I had something in my throat, well nope it was just my uvula (hangy-Ball in your throatπ) completely swollen from yelling. π¬π±π
She was born at 7:15, into my arms. She was warm and squishy and slippery. Wrinkled , red and swollen, I just quietly held her. Soaking in the last, first moments, of my baby, earth side, and no longer completely in the same location. I remember when it was time for Shane to cut the cord, I welled up with tears, as the last connection our bodies would have in this pregnancy journey, was over. I knew I needed to look for moments like that, to appreciate and store away in my heart.
We sat in quiet, eating really bad hospital food, snapping pictures and resting, for a few hours. She wasn’t even weighed or measured. It was just us, the three of us, soaking her in. Literally watching her change those first few hours as fluids disperse and she coloring normalizes. It’s incredible.
I realized, not for the first time, but remembered, that this entire motherhood journey, starting from the very moment we learned about Owen, to this very moment, God is growing me in this journey. In the very best way possible. He has used this journey to reveal so much about his heart and character and helping me understand and breathe in the gospel even more.
Pregnancy was over, labor was endured, and now the rest begins.
A beautiful and life changing chapter had ended new exciting adventure was starting. Evelyn Rosalie’s adventure was truly starting. Life as a family of 8 was about to begin!!
If you read all this and still want to be friends, then you get me and I love that :)
Wednesday, November 6, 2019
Starting back up.
Just to name them real quick , without diving into the experience:
1.Shane was offered a new position on Jimmy Johns, which brought on a move.
2. We discovered we would be expecting a 6th child.
3. We moved out of our farm house and into my parents homes for a bit, while Shane was already living in VA.
4. We traveled a lot! NYC, Philly, Orlando, Louisville, Indianapolis for Gen Con! And so many other day travels!!
5. Missed Shane a lot.
6. We finally found a home in Richmond Va!
7. Last week we welcomed our 6th little love, Evelyn, into our family!! I
It’s been such a wild year! Being that it’s now November, and the year is almost over, I have been reflecting on all this year brought us. You know the saying “The days are long but the years are short”?! Well my saying is “the days fly by and the years are short!” Seriously , the days seem to zoom on by, even when we are just at home, nowhere to go, there is always much to do. It just goes by so incredibly quick.
Today we are hanging in my bed, snuggling , watching movies, maybe a board game or so. With baby girl being only 9 days old, I still need to force myself to rest! Not just “not cook or clean” but actually lay and rest:) So that is today’s plan and it still will go back so so fast.
I would love to be able to write a bit more on this blog and make it more into a journal of our days. I am thinking a title change is needed and an explosions of posts :)
So if you want to tag along and read about our lives, life of a family of 8, please stick around :)
It’s Wednesday, middle of the week! Let’s be joyful and find ourselves smiling , more than not ❤️
Saturday, November 18, 2017
Check in
Saturday, November 4, 2017
Edison Theodore Reed
Friday, September 29, 2017
Waiting on baby πΆπΌ
Hey everyone :) I am still here and still pregnant π€°πΌ You can either say I am 41 and 3 or 40 and 6, depending on which due date I give you:) this is what happens when an ob comes in, knowing nothing about you or your pregnancy history, and starts to change things π Seriously though, nothing against obs, they are needed :) people are seeming greatly concerned for me and how uncomfortable I must be. Honestly though, my body is feeling pretty great, just sleeping is tough. A big, round belly is hard to sleep with when you can only lay on your sides!!
Life is still normal around here. Schooling, playing, cleaning, adventuring.... life is still in motion. I think God is trying to remind me that I need to soak in this season, because a new one is coming. I love change, it's so good and refreshing, but a part of my heart still has a hard time of letting the past season go. I analyze my mistakes, all that took place, I think how it could have been better, more meaningful, more intentional.... the list goes on. Maybe that is just part of motherhood, parenthood, but I have always been like that in small ways. So these extra days without baby boy here with us, even though they are far from perfect, I have greatly valued and appreciated. Owen, Henry, Ellanore and Posey are my little crew! They drive me bonkers and I fail them, they fail me, we all mess up, but we love being together. And I know baby boy will only add to that, but it certainly will change a bit. Thankfully they are excited, eager to hold him and impatiently awaiting his arrival!!!
He will arrive and all will be joyous π Now is the hard part anyways, labor and birth!! ππ©ππ¬π that gives me all the crazy feels, for real. Birth is amazing, and after it all done it's like the greatest accomplishment ever.... but seriously... it's no joke! Again, I am thankful I am getting extra
time to prepare for that ππ
P.s. I have an amazing husband who is supporting me, encouraging me, talking and listening to me, reminding me to relax and enjoy and make memories. I am not sure what state I would be in without him. Thank you shane, I know this is just as crazy of a ride for you as it is for me! I love you π

