On April 5th 2022 our beautiful Caroline Beth House came into this world at 7:35pm. The world wind of emotions I felt is undescribable as her little scream belted out and she was placed onto my chest. To say I was speechless was an understatement, I was in awe of her. Every part of her, from her tiny hands and feet to her beautiful head full of hair. She was perfection in its purest form. 💛
Our Story
On April 4th (our two year anniversary💕) I headed to my Dr. for our 38 week check up. We did an ultrasound to measure how baby girl was doing, she had been on the smaller side my whole pregnancy so we checked on her every month. To my surprise though we found out that we were needing to be induced and needed to head to the hospital that night. Apparently she had officially ran out of room in my belly and wasn’t going to have enough fluid to last her the next two weeks! Such a scary moment as in my head I knew this day was coming but to have it happen right then and there, my stomach dropped. We got to the hospital at 6pm and started the process of getting everything set up. I had nurses in and out, pocking and hooking me up for at least an hour and half.😳 My husband and I shared our anniversary meal/last meal just us two and then the fun began! Ha…fun😐
Chick-fil-A to the rescue😂
We started the inducing drip at 7:30 and 24hours, almost exactly, from the start of the inducing we welcomed our beautiful Baby girl Caroline Beth House into this world 🥺 5lbs 10oz and 19in long! She was so perfect in every way and we couldn’t believe how lucky we got.
The whole experience was so crazy and surreal, been expecting baby Girl to come for 9 Months and now she was actually here!!🤯 Our perfect little bundle of joy was here and we couldn’t put her down!
One of my absolutely favorite pictures of them🥺
Delivery overall wasn’t as scary as I thought, definitely not easy, but I had such an amazing team of nurses and my husband that never left my side (besides to go get us food😂) that I felt so relaxed and empowered going into delivering her. We stayed two nights in the hospital just to make sure baby girl was good to go and then we finally got to head home!
Our first Family picture👨👩👧
BEING HOME
We’ve been home almost a month now and adjusting to new parents life has definitely been a learning curve. I believe we got extremely blessed with Caroline as she really is so sweet and not a super fussy baby (right now at least🙃) but we are working on figuring out sleep schedules and our new home life.
Seeing her grow over these last few weeks though has already killed me. I want her to grow and can’t wait to see the beautiful girl she grows into but I also don’t want her to get any bigger! She is my little Care Bear🐻 and I want her to be itty bitty forever!!😭
I am so excited for this next step in our lives, the greatest adventure we could ever go on is going to be raising her and getting to have our family grow.
Here’s to the small moments of having dreams really do come true!💕
Getting into the countdown weeks of baby girls arrival I have gone into full on nesting and preparing mode! From rearranging every kitchen cabinet🤷🏼♀️, washing all baby girls clothes and sheets, and having our car detailed (if you saw the amount of dog hair you’d understand😐), I feel like I can’t stop cleaning and organizing! One thing I wanted to make sure I got done and was 100% prepared for was the packing of our car and hospital bags though!
When To Pack
There’s no right or wrong time to pack, rather your 24 weeks or 38 weeks packing your bag is something you are in complete control of and it should be a fun experience! I was told to go ahead and get mine packed around 34 weeks by my doctor but sometimes it’s nice to just already have it done so your not having to worry, And you can always add too or take away if you pack earlier! If you pack late too that’s totally fine! I know some Mamma’s that dont pack till 38 weeks or sometimes when they are heading out the door!😬 Either way, what you put in your bag should be what counts!
Checking Off The List
If you know me at all, I LOVE LIST! Like obsessed with list, reading them, and making them, and checking things off them! It’s just one thing that calms my very over active OCD mind!😂 With that, I have spent hours… and I mean HOURS going through every other hospital bag list online, and mommy article on Pinterest I could find to put together what I feel is a pretty solid list of items to bring to help Mommy, Daddy and baby all feel comfortable and have what is needed!
What is going in my bag🥰 Sadly my belly band hasn’t come in yet to be able to include in picture but that will also go in my bag!
Now while I know there are some items on here that some may feel aren’t needed and in turn there may be some items that aren’t on here that you feel should be, this is just my list I have made for myself! Every Mommy is different and has different needs and may want certian other items to help feel comfortable! Being comfortable is absolute key and anything you want to bring to help get that BRING IT!
Below is the list, but I will also share links to some of the items that I bought below it so if you want to look into them you can for your own bag!!🥰
ALSO below all the links is the PDF file for this list, so if you would like to download and have you can!
Now I will have a separate bag for baby girl, her diaper bag, and a bag for her Daddy. So really we will have three bags going to the hospital with us. I know, too much right?? Welll what can I say, I am a huge, “rather have and not need then need and not have” person! 🙃 I will have all baby girls stuff in hers and then my husband’s will have his things along with the bathroom essentials and extras in his.
Everything going in baby girls diaper bag👶🏼🎀
FYI TIP🤫
One thing I did get told by other moms is while the hospital does have everything you need for baby; wipes, swaddles, pacifiers, creams, and everything else, to make sure to also bring an empty bag with you for all the hospital stuff when you get ready to leave! All that extra stuff in the room is for you and all that is 100% yours to take home so make sure to take an extra little sack to grab all the goodies!!😁
Again, this list is just one I have made for myself that I feel will help make me more comfortable while going through the most vulnerable moment in my life. Please make sure you bring whatever makes you comfy and remember that on that day the greatest blessing of your life is on their way! 👶🏼
Over the last few weeks we have got and received so many wonderful gift from our baby shower, friends and family surprising us, and we ourselves stocking up on wanted items. I wanted to share a list of some of our favorite gifts we have received as I know I have a few expecting mommy friends, and if your anything like me, having a list is always helpful! These are great baby shower gifts or if you know a Mamma that would love one of these share this with her! All items below will have links to where to buy as well🥰
First Gift:
Changing Station Diaper Bag – Hands down best Diaper Bag out there😍 No more having to change baby on those nasty restaurant stations, or worrying if your at someone’s house not having a spot! This bag is perfect for any Mamma! It is super easy carrier, has so much space and sooo many pockets to help keep organized! Insulated bottle pockets, four deep pockets on the inside, and even a pocket on the back for wallets and other important items! Also, it can charge your phone🤯 it has a built in outlet to plug straight into your phone and charge on the go! But the absolute best part… it’s a changing station!!! 😍 It has a pop out station that is super easy to put together! If your a Mamma looking for a diaper bag or know one that needs one definitely look into this one!! Ours was a gift off Amazon and hands down one of my top favorite gifts!!💛
Second Gift
Baby Brew Bottle Warmer – This product was seriously mind blowing! It’s a portable bottle warmer that can heat breast milk or formula bottles anywhere anytime! 🍼 It is so small and compact that it fits perfectly in virtually any diaper bag! It has an 8 hour charge life and can heat a bottle in about 5-7 minutes! 😆 That is huge for any Mamma on the go trying to hurry and get baby that yummy foods! It has temperature settings specifically for breast milk, formula, and other liquids too! 🌡 While I only got the warmer, Baby Brew also has a formula dispenser that puts the perfect amount of formula in your bottle with just one little push! One thing to keep in mind though is the warmer only fits certian bottle brands buy itself, like I have found it fits Avent bottles just fine but if you use a different brand you will need to get an adapter. Their site has a list of all the adapters they currently have in stock, most are all common bottle brands but definitely want to check that before purchasing!!😘
Third Gift
Medline Thermometer – I know a thermometer doesn’t sound like an exciting gift but this was so cool to me. It is a head and ear thermometer that talks out loud to you, buuuut it also reads food!!🤯 You can put it up to any bottle and it will let you know how hot it is. This is amazing for trying to heat those bottles in the middle of the night, being half asleep, and then worrying if it’s too hot or cold for baby. Definitely a great baby shower gift!
Fourth Gift
Travel Highchair – Not goingto lie, this was probably one of the first gifts I added to our registry and we wound up getting it ourselves cause I wanted it sooo bad!😂 It is a travel highchair that you can take to restaurants, friends or family members houses, or just use at your table. It latches onto almost any table and tightens to keep it in place. Definitely make sure you check the tables before you use and put baby in, some round tables they advised against using it and the table itself needs to be thick enough to really get a good grib. Of course always make sure it is latched and secure before baby goes in as well! 👶🏼 We tried it on our counter and it worked perfectly though and seriously would not budge at all!!
Fifth Gift
Nanobebe Bottle Starter Set – This was the first and only bottle set we had on our registry. It comes with so many great goodies and I love that it is specially designed for breast milk! The bottles themselves are so small and compacted that they are great for travel and great for storage. This set also comes with a bottle warming bowl so you can set the bottles in it to heat up instead of having to run under a faucet! The starter set comes with a few breast milk storage bags but we also purchased the Breast milk storage container. Its a shelve that goes in the freezer and is amazing too to help to stay organized and keep all your packs together. If your looking for a great little bottle starter set I definitely recommend checking them out! ☺️
Sixth Gift
Mommy Hospital Bag – So this was definitely something I bought myself😬 what can I say I needed a little spoilness, but this would also be an amazing baby shower gift! A lot of people don’t think to get the Mommy anything for the actual hospital trip or for postpartum but I promise she would absolutely die to have something just for her on the side💛 This bag was my top choice as I have seen other moms pack and use it and the amount of items it holds is absolutely insane! Now while we will have baby girls clothes separate in her own bag this thing definitely could hold all mine and her’s, plus more, no problem! Highly recommend getting you one cause it’s not only perfect for the hospital delivery, it makes for an amazing vacation bag!
I would love to hear your feedback on any of these products!! Please feel free to message me anytime on here or on any of my social media sites! I put links to them below so you can follow along with us on this beautiful journey🥰
There is nothing more ever mother wants than for their babies to be happy and healthy, specially while in the womb. The not being able to physically see them for those nine months is agonizing, there is constant worry and hoping that everything is ok and baby is growing the way they are supposed too be. Of course we have check ups but if your anything like me then the knot in your chest before the doctor says, “everything looks great”, is always there right before those appointments.
I can’t help it, I’m a worry wart! I’ve always been that way but specially since this is my first pregancy and EVERYTHING I am going through is completely new to me and honestly a little overwhelming at times. I don’t just worry, I overthink. I know, not a good combination to have for a new Mom. Thankfully, I haven’t reached the googling every symptom yet so there’s a relief there, but I do think about everything I do, everything I don’t do, everything I eat or drink, everything I haven’t planned ahead for, just all of it!
I try really hard to make sure to calm myself down and know that, one, everything I’m feeling is normal. Two, the more I stress, the more baby stresses so breath. And three, ITS OK! I don’t have to be 100% perfect for this pregancy. If I slip and eat a deli sandwich, which I do try to make sure is fresh at least, its okay. If I wind up drinking two cups of coffee and then some sweet tea all in the same day, it’s okay! I don’t have to constantly keep track of every single thing, and you shouldn’t either! We will drive ourselves mad trying too!
Now, yes it’s important to know what you do and put into your body! It’s important to make sure you are giving baby all the good nutrition they need to grow healthy and happy. They may not be here yet but our jobs as mother’s starts the day we find out about them. So with that I do try and make sure I am eating good proteins, vegetables, and fats. I try to make sure I stay active throughout the week, cause as much as I love my job, I sit and stare at a screen all day for five days a week, so definitely not the best for you in the being active department. Every week is different and it doesn’t always go according to how I want, but I try, everyday I try, cause it’s not just me it’s our baby girl that I have to be healthy for. It’s knowing that if I can push myself now and do this for her there’s nothing stopping me for making this a life style and being better for her when she does get here.
I wanted to include the link to my favorite online workouts, its completely free, and the instructor is seriously amazing! She is my goals for keeping healthy and happy while having little ones.
Her channel, which is on YouTube, has a variety of different workouts for prenatal, pregancy, and postpartum Moms. She has fitness workouts, yoga classes, and a whole lot of tips and tricks on delivery! She even has a nutrition guide to help for meals. Her workouts aren’t crazy either, there are different ones for each stage of pregancy and most with little to no difficulty!
I would highly recommend checking her out and seeing all the different ways to stay active during your pregancy. Rather it being getting a good class in once or twice a week or even just taking some time for yourself to go on a walk each day. Staying active is key to keeping yourself and baby healthy and happy!
Below are a few of the videos thats are my go to for reference!
Officially half way there with the pregancy game! Today marks 20 weeks for me and oh my gosh I am so already ready for this little one to be here!
20 Weeks
Just getting through with Thanksgiving and getting to see all our friends and family really makes me so grateful to be pregant now. I love the holiday season but getting to be pregant for the holidays is just so special to me! Of course I can’t wait for next the holidays when little girl gets to be here and we take her to all the fun and she gets to meet and see all her family though!
So far the progression of my belly has not been all I thought it would be but I know it’s only a matter of time before I just wake up with a basketball in front of me! I am secretly hoping I have a good pop by Christmas so we get to do all the cute photos together but even so, Im all for little bump photos too!!
5 Weeks – The day after we found out!10 Weeks15 Weeks – She was the size of an Avocado😳
Keeping up with everything now has definitely been a challenge, I mean you have your normal work and life, on top of planning for holiday get togethers and dinners, and now on top of being pregnant. Managing my energy has been something new to learn the last few weeks but it’s been nice to see the growth of not only little one but myself as well transitioning into “mom mode”. I know the craziness has just begun!
So here’s to the holidays and to all your beautiful prego mommies out there going through life, work, this season and growing your little ones!! 💛 You got this Mom!
Oh gosh…as I look at my last post, from August mind you, I realize I absolutely suck at keeping up with anything! Specially now days when everything seems to be going on at once and when one thing is done another thing pops up.
I told myself I wanted this blog to be my outlit, my go to when I needed to escape from everything else. I wanted this to be an Oasis for others to come and feel understood. I wanted this to be a fun and exciting “just mine” project that I grew one day into something more…Well when you never update anything it’s kinda hard to have that, isn’t it?? 🙃
I suck at keeping things up. I always come up with these awesome plans or creative ideas but my follow through is almost non-existent. I mean, I could sit here and blame it on work, or family, but we all know those are just excuses we tell ourselves to help make ourselves feel better.
I will say though these last few months definitely have been some of the craziest we’ve ever been through…and we just bought a house six months ago…
We are expecting our first little Girl next April!!
This is something we have been wanting for a while now and we found out in August that she will soon be here!! The level of excitement we have is seriously indescribable! From praying and wishing she would come to the day the doctor walked in and said, “well your pregnancy test came back positive,” we haven’t stopped smiling.
We had our gender reveal last month and found out our little pumpkin was going to be a sweet baby girl!! 🥰
So yeah, we’ve been a little busy with all the excitement and the parties and the constant planning of what to do next…which is still a work in progress, and one I’ve been told is never ending, but I know I haven’t taken the time for myself here, for all of you, and I do hope that I can get back to it. I hope that I can squeeze just a little bit more of me into my day and focus on this place of mine that really does bring me joy. So I hope you stay tuned and as always feel free to reach out anytime!
Can’t wait to update you again with all the holiday fun we will have this year!! 🎄 Blessed Be!
It is possible! It’s a process, and a journey but it’s something so Worth it and it doesn’t have to be stressful!
Yeah you heard right!
It doesn’t have to be stressful!
So let me step back real quick, anything you want to do or have requires putting time and work into it! It takes dedication and the persistence to stick with it even if it gets hard! So with that being said you too can do anything you want! Anything you REALLY want! As long as your willing to stick with it and put in the time it takes to get it.
Want to go on vacation? Or start your own business? Or own your own house? You can, but are you willing to put the time and effort to get those things? That is the question you have to answer for yourself.
My husband, Dustin, and I have been married a little over a year now. We have been together 5 years in total and just bought our first home back in April! Looking back it really does seem that long ago, like everything went by so fast, but the road getting here was definitely no open highway drive!
We moved into our first townhouse, six months into our relationship, to this small town in the middle of nowhere. We pretty much became non-existent during that whole year and after the year was up we had to make the tough decision to move back in with Dustin’s parents.
Let me just stop real quick to say, God Bless the whole House family!
You will never met a better family, and I seriously am the luckiest to be blessed to have them as my family now! They took us in when we needed and allowed not only myself but our big ol baby Zowey to stay with them!
It was husband, my both my in-laws, my sister-in-law, two dogs, my other sister-in-law that would come home on the weekends from college, and myself all in this house. Somehow though, we all managed, we all just flowed together every day. Going into it I was so nervous, and honestly, embarrassed, but it went so much more easily then I could have ever thought. They immediately made me feel so welcomed and loved and, like I said, God Bless that family! That year turned out to be one of the biggest blessings too, I got the best job working with my mother-in-law at our insurance firm!
After that year though we were able to get our new rental house that we had for two years! It was a nice starter place. Perfect for my husband and myself and Zowey! Then we got Callie.
Callie is our, now 2 year old, Aussie and she is our little sissy! She is the sweetest thing in the world and her hugs make me melt! We got her the first year at that house and then a short year later we got Mamma. Mamma was my friends dog but her and her family were moving out of the country so they couldn’t take her, so we adopted her! She is our potato!
Zowey is the one on the left, Mamma (Potato) is middle, and Callie is on the right!
Now though, with my husband, me and three dogs, our home was starting to feel a tad cramped! It was time.
It took us exactly 4 months, viewing 22 houses, putting offers in on 8 houses, running and rerunning back to the bank for updated bank statements over and over, and so many “I’m over it!” before we got our home.
Remember when I said it takes dedication for something you want? Remember I said it takes time? Yeah…it takes it all when buying a house, but!
Yes there is a but!
But…I am going to give you a few tips and tricks to help get you started in your house buying process to help make it less of a stress for you!
One:
⁃ Make a list of what you want! – Go crazy with it! You want windows in every room? Put it on the list! You want at least 4 bedrooms? On the list! Put down anything and everything you want in a house! This is your dream, this is your goal! Put it down and read it over and over!
Two:
⁃ Make a list of what you can live without! – I know, kinda takes away from the first one, but hear me out! Now that you have it all listed out, Everything you want, big or small, you need to narrow down. Heck, if you can get everything on your list Whooo! You go girl! Unfortunately though, more times than not your not going to find a house that has exactly everything you want. Unless you build, and then again, You go girl!!! Narrow down though. If you can live without certain things on your list DONT MARK IT OFF, put a little mark next to it! You don’t have to take away, cause hey you may find it in a house, just mark so you know that’s not necessarily needed!
Three:
⁃ Really look at your budget! – some of you are probably thinking, “what the junk is a budget?” And in that case, honey, bless you. If you are getting ready to buy a house, or really buy anything that is a major purchase you’ve got to have a budget!! You’ve got actually sit down and look at what got, what you don’t, what you want, what you need, and how much you really really can afford! Buying a house takes time right? This is probably the biggest time piece!
*Make sure you budget how much you can go over asking price too! Most houses, specially in todays market, are going $20-$30K over asking! I know, WHAT?! It’s right though! On average your gonna pay about $15K over. THANKFULLY we got blessed and the house we went to purchase, at first we went about 15K over, but appraised for less so whoo hoo!
Four:
⁃ Look at the Neighborhoods and school districts! – I know when you first start to look at houses it gets all, “oh look at the bathrooms!”, “Look at these closest!”, Or “that kitchen!”. It’s so much fun looking! And it should be! This could potentially be your new home! You need to have fun with this! You also need to be safe and find something you actually need! Do you have kids and need to be by a school? Will the commute to work be an easy one? Do you have three crazy pups and need a big yard like us? These are things you need to look at and consider as well in buying your home.
Five:
⁃ Okay here it is the biggest tip I can give! DO NOT GET OVERWHELMED AND DO NOT SETTLE! – just saying this makes me laugh! I say this in hopes that you won’t be like me and you’ll actually understand, you have time! I tend to over do things and if there is something I want I put everything into it till its mine. Not a bad thing, but in this case I was constantly putting in stress and getting stress back. You have time! The first house you see you’ll, 50/50, either be, “Oh my gosh, I need it!”, Or “Oh nooo, not happening!” This is a common feeling! My only advice on this is go into the viewings thinking your this awesome house critique! Like one of those home improvement shows with the people that walk into a house and just start pointing out what they like, what they don’t, and what they want to change and update. Be like this! Go in and find what you love, find what you dont, and find what could be done to make it better! If you do this with every house you’ll start to get a clearer picture of the house you actually want! Don’t get so overwhelmed with the actual process of buying that it takes the fun out of actually shopping! I don’t know about you but I love shopping and this was the biggest purchase we are probably gonna ever make so we wanted to have fun with the actual process! Probably why we saw 22 different houses… I’ll fully take that was all me but hey what can you do!
Biggest thing though, don’t settle either! There are so many houses out there if you’ve been looking for a while and are tired and just want to say screw it, dont! You want to go with that one you saw last week that didn’t have the yard you wanted but it has four bedrooms that you need? Don’t settle. You want that awesome house with the perfect bathrooms and closests but its over an hour from your work? Don’t settle! This process takes time! Sometimes it takes a few weeks, sometimes a few months like ours, but sometimes its takes more! What if you do go with one of those houses then in the next two months another comes up that has all that you want and more! Two more months! Thats all you had to wait to get your dream home? Could you do it?
• Key note – in today’s market, houses are going like crazy! Like seriously crazy! Those 22 we went and viewed, all under contract and gone within three days! Three days y’all! That is insane! Do not stress yourself out trying to get in and see a house and feel obligated to put an offer on one you don’t really like!
No house is going to be perfect! Again, unless you build it. So don’t go into this process thinking it has to be perfect, find something that works for you and has what you want, what you need and what you love!
Another big tip I need to put out there, TALK TO YOUR PARTNER!
If you are married or in a relationship you can not do this by yourself! This is something you both are going in on, something you both will live in together, and I hope, make home together! You need to communicate, you both need to sit and make that list! You both need to sit and redo that list! You both need to find houses you both wanna see! You both need to have an opinion on your future! This is a huge step and going into without full support, and I mean you supporting them and they supporting you, then this process will crush you. It will make you stressed. You need support and you need to give it!
I hope this helps to at least get you started in this process! It’s a lot, I won’t lie to you, but isn’t anything that you actually want? Question is, is it worth it?
If you truly want it, you can have it! It is possible, and the journey can be fun, you just gotta go for it!
Healing House & Home 