The only breaking news I have to share is only breaking news to me and maybe 2 friends with babies that need this..HA!!!
Chris’ top recommendations for friends having a baby are always our chiro and a doc-a-tot. Well, ADD THE DREAMLAND BABY SWADDLE to that list. There’s a few influencers on the gram with discount codes sometimes…Maybe one day I’ll make it big and have one for y’all but today is not that day. 😆
Honestly, sleep is worth ALL the rubies. Any mom will agree.
Sidenote: this is why my kids need a chiro. Who sleeps like that?! 🥴😂 (before I get attacked – he was fine and breathing and only like this for maybe 60 seconds and we moved him.)
We really cannot complain about Mav’s sleep because he does great and has since day 1 – we were just WAY spoiled with how peacefully and long our girls slept. 😆 Maverick never. stops. moving. so he wakes himself up and if you swaddle his arms down homie gets PISSED.
He sleeps with his arms crossed on his chest 100% of the time.
There were several nights I had wrapped him in his Little Sleepies blanket instead of the normal muslin swaddles – it’s bamboo and a heavier fabric. I noticed the nights we used that one he slept the longest and moved the least; so, when I saw the weighted sleep sack, I read at least 100 reviews 🤣 then I bit the bullet. 100% worth it!! Those targeted ads really did me a favor this time. Lol!!
We’ve gotten 4 consistent nights of 12+ hours of sleep! He wakes to eat 2x and goes right back to bed on his own, no pacifier or rocking needed. 👏🏼 (**knocking on wood and praying that telling y’all doesn’t jinx it**)
Oh, I guess I do have more breaking news that’s applicable to a broader audience…
Don’t walk – RUN to Publix and get these grapes. 🤤
They’re DELICIOUS and perfect for satisfying my sweet tooth when I’d like to house 86lb of chocolate at night. Okay, I think my product reviews are done for the day. 😆
I guess I have 2 other kids I should mention, mainly since this blog is literally named after them. 😂😂😂
This weekend we went to the “Taste of Oviedo” event, mainly because the weather was AMAZING and we needed to be outside – but I had no clue how huge it was and how awesome it would be for the kiddos! The girls had a blast on the coolest blow ups and rides! I’m currently scouring the internet for these bumper boats so hit me up if you find them. 😜
I’ll leave you with my kids in their purest form – Kensie the performer, who also changed her outfit no less than 10 times today…
…and the most perfect example of Elle’s Maverick obsession.
I was trying to take a picture of Mav’s outfit and she walked in, saw him on the floor and immediately ran to lay by his side.
Peep that shadow…INCOMINGGGBut they’re SO sweet 😍🥰
I hope someone loves you this week as hard as Elle loves her baby brudder. 🤍
Oh, HEY!! We’re back! Because what kind of mom would I be if Mav never got a blog post?!
I guess we can start with the most popular question I’m asked…How’s life with 3?
It’s chaos. Pure chaos. 😂 I’m not going to lie. BUT, we’re adjusting! Every day is a new adventure.
Looks so blissful here though. 😆
The other question I’ve been asked a few times is “does it feel different to have a boy?” Umm, not yet? Other than diaper changes (0/10 like the boy diaper situation) it’s pretty much just like having a baby? So far. 😆
I would say Mav surprised us with his early entrance, but surprise isn’t really the word I would use. “Scared the shit out of us” is more accurate. 🙃
Both girls were almost a week late. Maverick was due Feb 28th. A friend told me both the girls are “air signs” (a Libra and a Gemini) and if he came by the 18th he’d be the third air sign, which is Aquarius! I said welp, no way he’s coming that early. Jokes on me y’all. On February 16th we welcomed Maverick to the world! 🥳
The cliff note version of his birth story: I was at my 38 week check up. His heart rate was 114. 110-160 is “normal” and the last few check ups he hovered right around that 110 mark. They put me on monitors to make sure he was okay. It’s called an non-stress test (NST). The week before we passed. Apparently this time, we failed. They sent us for an ultrasound for a Biophysical Exam (BPP). They take 30 minutes to find 4 things (movement, breathing, etc) and you get a score out of 8. We got a 2/8.
The doctor basically said “do not pass go, do not collect $200, get yo ass to the hospital.” So, I did.
BUT – I can’t leave out the most relaxing part of the story. To set the stage, I was just told by a doctor, with clear concern all over her face, that they will check me in triage and are possibly going to rush me in to the OR for a C-Section. As I’m crying, half terrified of walking into the hospital about to get my stomach severed open and a baby pulled out, CHRIS HALL WAS NOT ANSWERING HIS PHONE. I called him 10 times. TEN. I am not exaggerating. And his office 4 times. And his coworker. All on my 3 minute drive across the street…I was 603% sure Chris was going to miss the birth of his son. 😅
On my TENTHHHHH call, he answered. I told him we’re having the baby and he needed to come to the hospital. Clearly I caught him way off guard because he asked me twice “which hospital”. Oh idk, maybe THE ONE WE HAVE HAD 2 OTHER BABIES AT?! 😂😂 Bless this man. Anyway, I hope you enjoyed your bro date lunch in winter park, darling…
Spoiler alert: he made the birth. 😉
Anyway, I got put on a monitor immediately and Mav decided he’d cooperate so luckily they didn’t have to cut me open. Since I was full term and they didn’t want to take any risks (you know, liability CYA type stuff) they told me they’re going to induce me. They did. He came. I didn’t get surgery. All is well. 👏🏼
(I said that was the cliff notes. Could y’all imagine if I typed out the whole thing? 😆)
Phew.
Fresh out the womb!!
In other news, during our 36 week growth scan, they found that Mav had an enlarged kidney. It was essentially “not a concern and they’d follow up after birth”.
Since he was born 2 weeks later, it did shrink some but was still enlarged; which led to 2 extra days in the hospital waiting on ultrasound results and a catheter procedure to make sure his bladder wasn’t back flowing to his kidney and there wasn’t an internal issue with his urethra. Woof!
The good news? He passed the dye test and there was no concern for infection!! The not good news? We have to keep doing follow up ultrasounds until he gets 2 back to back with “normal” results and LAWD THEY ARE NOT CHEAP. 💰
We had his first follow up today and it showed that both kidneys are now slightly enlarged. 😥 Apparently this is very “mild” and “common” and it’s something we just have to keep monitoring. Something about kinks in tubes and how they outgrow it naturally…a bunch of medical jargon that makes sense when the doctor explains it to me but I can’t correctly relay the information afterward. 😂 Long story long – he’s okay and prayers up that it resolves itself before our next appointment. If not, you can find me over on gofundme. 🤷🏼♀️
On to the good good:
Kens and Elle LOVE their little brother. And while they may drive me crazy with loving him a little too hard, they are the BEST big sisters.
Elle (almost 3) – Mav (12 days) – Kensie (5 1/2)
Elle is hyper focused on him. He’s the first thing she wants when she comes home or wakes up. “Brudder! Brudder? Where’s brudder? Awww. Hi baby brudder. Chupa? Yeah? *kiss*” <— every. Time. 😆 She will also try to shove his chupa (Spanish for pacifier…) down his dang throat when he’s completely asleep. 🤦🏼♀️
Best depiction of her love: she walked inside 30 sec before this. Asked to hold Mav. I said “yes as soon as he finishes eating”. Boom. Tantrum. 😂
Kensie loves to hold him and she’s truly the BEST helper. She will do anything for me, if it’s for him. 👏🏼 She kisses him good morning first thing when she wakes up and she’s so gentle and endlessly patient when he wails at the top of his lungs…a personality trait I wish I could inherit. 😂
The girls also so used to me taking their picture when they’re with him that now they just request photos with him. 🤷🏼♀️😅
K & L have this super power of tuning him out when he cries. You guys…it’s not like a cute “wah wah feed me” kind of cry the girls had. It is level 10, wake the whole neighborhood, find shelter, a tornado is coming level HOLLERING. 🥴 My ears ring for at least an hour after he stops. I wish I were kidding.
My ears hurt looking at this.
To cap off our day, it was Mav’s initiation to being an official Hall baby. If you followed our blog with K, you know my kids like to have 💩 explosions in their car seats. At 5 weeks old, he had his first full on car seat blow out. But y’all – third time is a charm and THIS MAMA WAS PREPARED. I found car seat covers and now I won’t have to wash shit out of the car seat liner anymore! 🙌🏼
Kim & Michelle, y’all the real MVPs for getting these off my registry 🤍
What I was not prepared for was him peeing all over the wall while I was trying to clean his shit off his leg and the changing pad and his clothes and my arm and literally everywhere. I look up. A stream. Through the thin air. Onto the wall. (Luckily at a restaurant. Not my wall. But I promise I cleaned it up. 😂😂😂)
In summary:
✔️ changing boy diapers sucks
✔️ I’ll never be on time for anything again
✔️ Kidneys are expensive
✔️ 3 kids is chaos
✔️ we are alive
✔️ changing boy diapers sucks
My family and a few close friends have given me a hard time for stopping the daily blogs…you know, all 5 of you that cared, but I’m going to TRYYYY to bring them back more frequently. I mean, I probably need to do something since it costs $300 to renew this site annually. That’s like a whole tank of gas nowadays. Or a third of a kidney appointment.
Bows of KB & Elle 