Sunday, July 24, 2016

Sensitive skin.

So, let me tell you something about redheads. We have sensitive skin! Every person in my house has sensitive skin, especially my husband and my 2 month old. 


So what do you do when temps are over 100+ this week? We use honest sunscreen & lotion and have for a few years now. 

I like that it isn't greasy and doesn't have any synthetic chemicals! Don't worry, Ellie has never had sunscreen on her sweet little sensitive skin! She either goes out after the sun has set, uses an umbrella/ shaded stroller & car seat combo or I dampen a swaddle blanket and wrap her up so she stays cool! 
Ellie enjoys relaxing outside and it really wore her out & thankfully she slept 6 hours last night! 



One of our favorite things to do is stay cool swimming and in this house of red heads we try to be as cautious as possible with our skin & this hot summer sun! 



Thursday, July 21, 2016

Ellie Mae's Birth Story

This time around we decided to not find out the gender, which was fun and I highly recommend it! My due date was April 28th. I had an appointment that day. I was 4.5 cm dilated, almost halfway there. I must have been contracting, but I didn't really feel it. My in-laws came and picked up our 4 year old to spend the night with them. 

We were all getting anxious and excited to meet our new baby! The next day my parents came and picked up Hadley from my in-laws. They ended up taking Hadley to town & Nolan stayed with me at the house. We started timing my contractions. Once they hit every 5-7 minutes I called the on-call nurse to see what she advised. She of course said to head to the hospital, so we did. 

Once we got there they put me on a monitor and, since I was 5cm dilated and contracting, they admitted me! Wahoo! I knew I would hold that baby soon! 


My nurse that night was really sweet. I told her once they broke my water with Hadley I was in immense pain, so if it all possible I wanted the epidural before they broke my water. She said she would get my room ready and we could do that. Once I got settled in my room the Dr. came in and said, "Let's break your water and have this baby!" I said, "Sure but can I have the epidural first." I think he though I was crazy, but I knew what my body would do. I got my epidural and then he came back and broke my water and it was fine. I had more hip labor than anything. Just constant pain in my hip. About an hour after he broke my water, I was fully dilated and ready to push at about 1:30AM. After pushing for about 25 minutes. I heard the doctor say, " It's a GIRL!" 

Ellie Mae Benge entered the world on April 30th, 2016. She weighed 8 pounds, 15.6 oz and was 21.5 inches long! 




Nolan cut her cord & they placed her on my chest! 

She was another red head.
Apparently, my body makes red haired girls! 😍 I couldn't believe it was a girl! She is our Rainbow baby and I feel so blessed to be her mama! God knew what he was doing when he blessed me with this healthy, beautiful, calm baby girl! She is the sweetest, cutest baby girl & we are all so in Love with her sweet little self! Big sister  is so excited to have a sister! She wanted mommy to have a girl really bad! 

After going through a miscarriage in September 2014, and trying to get pregnant again for almost a year, and 10 months of being pregnant my dream of having another baby was here! She was perfect with 10 fingers, 10 toes she was here. That baby that God designed for our family to love & cherish! 2 days later we took her home!!! 

I thank God for her everyday! Ellie Mae is my rainbow baby and I am forever thankful God choose me to be her mom! ❤️ 







Tuesday, July 19, 2016

rain

Thanks to my friend Shannon, I have fallen in Love with Cantata Learning books! It's not just me but my own students and my daughter LOVES them! 

Today, is the perfect day for Rain, Rain Go Away! 


Each book for me brings back memories from my childhood and on this rainy summer day it's perfect for grabbing a blanket and snuggling up on the couch with your sweet kiddos! It helps young kids and readers correlate reading and love together so at a young age they develop a love for reading! ❤️ 

Each book has a code you can scan and also CD you can use to listen to the music as you go through the book as well as beautiful illustrations from various talented artists! 

One of my favorite things Cantata does is include 3 Guided Reading activities at the end of each book! 

Visit WWW.CANTATALEARNING.COM for many more books and titles that promote early literacy skills! 


Wednesday, July 6, 2016

Procrastination at it's finest!

Alright friends! Whose with me? Please tell me I'm not the only one out there that starts a project and takes months to finish! In March, Nolan started painting he laundry room.


Than, the trim never was finished and now it's July!!!! What how did that happen!?!? Today I painted the trim in the laundry room!

Then I put up some curtains I got for $8 bucks & a $12 rug. 

Finally, the grand finale the chevron grey stickers I've had just laying around the house and never used! I think this was a perfect spot for them and thanks to my hubby for helping me put them up they were super easy! 

Happy Wednesday!! This is the room in our house that hasn't seen much attention in the last 7 years and lots of stuff gets put in this room. 

What is your project you want to finish and haven't yet?