Happy Birthday Olivia Grace

Hello Ladies and Happy Monday!

If you need me today, you will most likely find me in the fetal position, sobbing due to the fact that my baby is turning 9 today.....I am not even sure how it is even remotely possible that my little baby girl is not a baby anymore, and is just a little girl.

I just love this little girl so much!

I always wanted a big family, but we thought we were done after 4....well God had a bigger plan for us..Olivia was the BEST surprise! 

The absolute most precious bundle of pink there ever was!

The second they placed my sweet, perfect baby girl in my arms I instantly felt complete...she was the missing piece that I didn't even know was missing from our family.  

Of course having a healthy baby was the most important thing to me, but I would be lying if I said I wasn't ridiculously, over the moon happy that I was having a little girl.  After having 3 boys in a row, having all things pink again in my world was perfect!

Being a mother has brought me the absolute greatest joy in life...people often ask me if I regret having so many kids, and having kids at such a young age, if I felt that maybe I missed out on anything, and my answer is ALWAYS NO....there is no job, or anything else I could have ever done in my life that would have brought me as much joy and happiness as being a mother has.

Those of you that know me well, know that I struggle with my babies growing up.  I have two adult children, and I will say it is truly wonderful being able to be done raising them, and be able to be their friend and have a completely different relationship with them...I love it so much...however, I say it all the time, and it is true..the years have gone much quicker than I would have liked.

I have always tried to treasure every minute, every stage with all my kids, but with Olivia it has been so different.  She is growing up to be the absolute sweetest little girl ever, and it has been so much fun watching her grow up, and change and become her own little person.  But at the same time I am just sad.  I feel as though I have blinked my eyes and she just isn't a baby anymore.  I remember like it was yesterday giving birth to her, and now 9 years has gone by..how is that possible?  

Everything with Olivia has been so bittersweet...all of her milestones...all of her firsts...they are my lasts as a mother, and that has been tough for me.  

Olivia brings so much joy to us all every single day.  She is smart, funny and oh so sweet, and we all have a really hard time telling her no!  She has been such a bright light in our lives, and I am so honored to be this little girl's mom.

Happy 9th Birthday my sweet Olivia Grace...you are everything I hoped you would be and so much more.  You are so loved!

Thanks so much for stopping by today!  See you back here soon!

xoxo,

Kimm

Nuggets Link Up...Nurturing Relationships

Happy Monday Ladies!  

I hope y'all had a great weekend and are ready to have an awesome week!

Today I am linking up with The Blended Blog for their "Nuggets" Link up!  Be sure to link up too!

Today we are talking about nurturing relationships.  Having a good, healthy relationship takes work, but like anything else in life, the more you put into something, the more you get out of it.  I wrote a little last week how we keep our marriage strong, you can read it here .

The most important relationships in my life are the relationships I have with my husband, my children, and my ex-husband.  I am sure that last one has some people scratching their head....lol.  

Going through a divorce sucks, and it for sure is never easy, but I see all too often that people let their anger towards their ex just consume them, and I just wasn't going to let that happen.  I have worked VERY hard to keep a healthy relationship with my ex-husband, it hasn't always been easy, but I can tell you 100% that it has totally been worth it.  I have talked many times before about my divorce and the relationship that I have with my ex-husband, and I am very proud of it.  I don't want to go through my life with anger and resentment, so getting to the point of having a healthy relationship with my ex has been wonderful.  We are able to come together, spend time together, with no animosity or anything, and just be parents to our children.  Even though we are no longer married, we spent 20 years of our life together, and that relationship will always mean something to me and be special to me, so it is important for not only my children, but for me to keep it good.

Having a great relationship with my children is very important.  And as most of you know, being parent comes with lots of highs and LOTS of lows.  Lots of doses of tough love are given out, and we all go through those times, when our kids "hate" us, because we are the worst parents EVER!  I have learned in my almost 25 years of being a mom, that tough love is absolutely some of the best love you can give.  I am a firm believer that you don't need to be your child's friend as you're raising them, you just need to be their parent.  And I have found that by being their parent, and sometimes being the mean, strict, bad guy, when they are adults it is very easy to have a friendship with them.  I have now raised two children, and I treasure so much the relationship and friendship I have with both of them.  

The most important relationship is the one I have with my husband.  Being married can be hard sometimes, and making that relationship as strong and good as it can be is very important to both Mark and I.  When we focus on our marriage and put it first, we are satisfied and happy, and it just makes us better at everything else.  We work every single day to make our marriage work.

Nurturing relationships isn't always easy, and sometimes it takes time, but having healthy, fulfilling relationships is the best part of life.  

Thanks so much for stopping by today!  See you guys back here tomorrow for Show and Tell Tuesday!

xoxo,

Kimm

Happy Birthday Harrison

Happy Wednesday Ladies!

 

I don't know how it is even possible...but Harrison is 20!  I swear it feels like just yesterday he was born...and BAM now today he is turning 20!

 

Sweet baby Harrison on his First Christmas!

 

 

Oh how I miss him being little!

 

As with all my kids, I remember like it was yesterday the day they were born.  Isn't it amazing that I can forget what I did yesterday, but I can remember every single detail of the day they were each born.  Harrison was born on a coldy, snowy, icy December night! 

 

I remember being so excited, but so scared...I wasn't sure if this girly girl was going to be any good at being a mom to a little boy!  Well, I think I have done a pretty good job! 

 

Watching Harrison grow from a tiny little bundle of blue into a young man has truly been wonderful.  I remember being told that there is just nothing quite like the bond between a mother and her son.  I can first hand say that is absolutely true! 

 

As parents we always wonder if we are doing a good job, raising our kids to be good adults, and I can look at Harrison and Brooke too, and know that though I have made lots of mistakes in my life, I have definitely done something right.  Both of these kids have grown up to be people that I am just so proud of.  I am thankful everyday, that the values and morals I spent YEARS instilling in them, they have, even when I thought they weren't listening to me, they were. 

 

This has been a big year for Harrison, he started working a "real " job and he is on his own, and he is making it in the real world!  I miss this child terribly, every day I am sad he isn't with me, living under my roof.  I talk to him pretty much every day, and it makes my heart smile hearing the happiness in his voice!  As parents all we want is for our children to be happy, and I know he is happy, and that is all that matters to me.  Of course I wish he was down the road instead of 600 miles away, but I am so thankful for the incredibly strong bond we have.  At 20, with his own life in full force, he still takes the time to call all the time, check in on his little brothers.  Family has always been so important to me, and I am so glad to see that it is just as important to him. 

 

Many of you know how much I am always wishing for time to slow down, for my babies to stop growing so darn fast!  And while that is very much how I feel most of the time, I can tell you as a parent there is NOTHING greater than looking at your adult child, knowing that you have raised them right, equipped them with all they need to succeed, and to see them out there living their life!

 

I am definitely a bit weepy today, the first birthday I am not spending with one of my children, yup it's a tough one for sure! 

 

Harrison, happy birthday to you!  My wish for you is that you continue to chase your dreams and make them your reality!  I am so proud of the man you have grown up to be, and being your mom for the past 20 years has been the absolute best!  I am thankful for the person you have grown up to be, thankful for the amazing  brother you are to your sisters and brothers, and thankful that you are not only my son, but my friend!  We are missing you like crazy!  You are so loved my sweet boy!

 

 

 

 

 



ALL ABOUT AJ

Today my sweet little boy turns 12...I am not even sure how that is possible.  It seems like just yesterday AJ was born and now he is turning 12....12 years old...one more year and I will have another teenager in the house!  Yikes!

 

I cannot even put into words how much I love this little boy...and he is my youngest son, so even when he is 21, I will still call him my little boy! 

 

I remember when I was waiting to have my ultrasound while I was pregnant with him, I was secretly hoping they would tell me I was having a girl.  I thought AJ was going to be our last, we had two boys, and I thought another little girl would be just perfect for our family.  My mom was in the waiting room and she said she was able to tell, just from the look on my face that I was having a boy.  I admit it, I am not proud of it, but I was devastated.  It was two days later that I received a phone call from my doctor saying there were some things they were concerned about from the ultrasound...my heart sank.  I was so mad at myself for being upset about having another boy, I mean how selfish, and I felt like I was being punished.  My doctor told me they had found cysts on AJ's brain, and we needed to do a Level 2 ultrasound to look further into this....I swear it felt like an eternity waiting for that appointment.  I spent those days praying like I have never prayed before..I mean how stupid of me to be upset about the gender of my child, a healthy baby is the only thing that matters.  I don't ever remember being so nervous in my entire life as I laid there during that ultrasound.  The doctor did see the cysts on his brain, and had said it isn't unusual to see this, but normally at this stage of the pregnancy they would be gone.  He told us the only way to make sure everything was OK with the baby was to have an amnio...the thought of the amnio flipped me out!  We talked with dr. after the appointment about the odds and such and he felt that everything else looked good, and he felt confident telling us that the risk of miscarriage from the amnio was probably greater than the risk of AJ being born with any type of defect...but again the only way to know for sure was to have the amnio.  Kenny and I decided to not have the amnio.  My ultrasound was in July, AJ was due in December, I remember praying every single night for the rest of my pregnancy that my sweet boy would be born perfectly healthy! 

 

On a cold, snowy Sunday morning, 2 1/2 weeks before my due date, I went into labor...as excited as I was to have this baby, I was scared, scared he would be born and something would be wrong.  At 6:36 pm November 30 I gave birth to a healthy baby boy!  I cannot tell you how happy I was...and what a major lesson I learned! 

 

We brought home our sweet little boy and all was right in the world...until he was 3 days old and was very jaundice, and after a pediatrician visit earlier that day, we got a call at 9:30 at night that he needed to be admitted into the hospital immediately.  So we loaded up the 3 older kids, dropped them to my moms and checked into the hospital an hour from home!  It was awful, my sweet little brand new baby, we had to leave him there for 4 days, we couldn't stay there with him, I couldn't nurse him, it was awful...but I remember sitting in that NICU feeling so awful about my little guy and I looked around at all the babies, hooked up to a million machines, mothers crying at the bassinettes, and I once again realized how truly lucky I was, I was getting to bring my baby home, many of the parents in there with us wouldn't be so lucky. 

 

When AJ was just a few months old, during one of his routine well checks, the doctor told us that AJ had a condition call hypospadias, this is a condition where the opening of the urethra is not located where it is supposed to be.  He needed surgery to correct it, so at 7 months old my sweet baby had surgery...thank God the surgery was a success and AJ is perfectly fine!

 

So right from the start, it was always something with AJ...shortly after he turned a year we noticed he was very bow-legged..after a gazillion dr visits it was decided that it was severe enough that he would need to have both his little legs casted, we casted one leg at a time, and that crazy boy still managed to get around...once the casts came off we couldn't believe how straight his legs were! 

 

As soon as AJ was mobile, he was just into everything, this child has kept me on my toes since day 1.  He manages to push buttons I never knew existed...out of all the kids he has definitely made me the craziest, but good God this boy is sweet, the core of AJ is just amazing!

 

We noticed when AJ was about 3, he really was struggling with his speech, we had him evaluated and he did LOTS of speech therapy, he started kindergarten and could barely speak and be understood..as a mother it broke my heart.  I was so nervous to send him off to school, worried he would be made fun of, nervous he wouldn't talk at all, scared he wouldn't make any friends...boy was I wrong on everything.  Even with his severe speech disability, it never stopped AJ, everyone just likes AJ, this kid has NEVER met a stranger!  And people truly like AJ..he is funny, so darn funny, he makes everyone laugh.  After years of hard work and lots of speech therapy, he has overcome it all, I am so proud of him and how hard he has worked. 

 

I have heard people say that when a child has some type of disability they will really shine in some other area...and well that has been the case for AJ.  AJ is an amazing athlete, I am not just saying that because he is my son, I have two other sons, who I can assure you are not athletes!  There has never been a sport that AJ has not exceled at.  It has truly been amazing watching him grow and mature over the years, in all areas of his life.  My once little boy who could barely speak or be understood, is now a very confident (almost too confident) 12 year old.  He has tons of friends, he is popular and kids of all ages, older and younger, like hanging out with AJ.  He works his butt off in school to bring home all B's, but seeing how hard he works, it is as if he is bringing me home straight A's..I seriously couldn't be prouder of this kid!

 

AJ has brought so much love and even more laughter into our family.  I could be having the absolute worst day and he will just say something so flippin' funny that I immediately smile.  Now don't get me wrong, sometimes he just doesn't know when to stop and he gets himself into trouble because of it, but I don't want him to change a thing..he is so perfect just the way he is.  He is outspoken and has no problem telling you how he feels or what is on his mind, probably his best and worst quality (he gets it from his mama)! 

 

AJ is focused and determined, and because of all the challenges he has had to face, he isn't afraid to work hard to achieve his goals.  He tells us all the time what he is going to do when he grows up, many people laugh it off, but it wouldn't surprise me one bit if this kid is playing in the big leagues one day.  He isn't afraid to work hard, to push himself, to get what he wants.  He is his own biggest critic, and he is hard on himself, but I don't discourage it, at 12 he gets it, he totally gets that hard work, tenacity, practice and dedication can get you far! 

 

AJ has a true heart of gold, and is such a loving boy.  He truly doesn't give a sh*t what anyone thinks, he marches to the beat of his own drum!  He is ALL boy, but has the sweetest soft side, and he loves his mommy...he makes it a point every single day to tell me I am beautiful, and tell me how much he loves me, and how he is going to take care of me when he is rich.  This child puts a smile on my face all the time!

 

I think back to that ultrasound appointment in July 2003, and I cannot even believe I had wished for a little girl.  I couldn't imagine not having AJ...though there is rarely a dull moment with him around, he is such an amazing little man..and to say that I am lucky, blessed and proud to be his mom is a HUGE understatement. 

 

Here are just a few of my favorite pics of my sweet little man...and sorry in advance for the picture overload...

 

The kid could pass out anywhere...anytime...

 

 

He has always loved his little sister....

 

Doesn't everyone leave cookies and beer for Santa>???

 

that face.....

 

These two....TROUBLE

 

I love this boy!

 

PERFECTION

 

My favorite stage...this boy was SERIOUS about being a construction worker.

 

Typical AJ...smashing his face in someone's birthday cake

 

Dora underwear on your head....why not???

 

More cake in the face.

 

That sweet face!

 

Doing what he loves...

 

He LOVES his little sister

 

I mean...what a little stud!

 

 

Happy 12th birthday to my little boy...thank you for 12 years of pure joy.  You make life interesting every single day.  I hope that you never change, I hope you always have the confidence you do right now.  And I am confident that if you continue to work as hard as you always have, anything you dream you will achieve.  You are so loved AJ!