Find Your Happiness

Nathaniel, 7 Amelia, 3 Eleanor, 1

May 30, 2017 I never imagined we would be stationed in one place long enough to bring two girls to get their ears pierced at the same place. Unlike her Ate Amelia , Eleanor had her ears pierced a lot later. She had hers done at 11 months old because... third kid. 😆 I promise I wasn't putting it off this time. Life with three children is just a lot different compared to two. Eleanor cried a little longer compared to Amelia. But by longer, I mean she cried for maybe a minute. She was happy once Daddy was holding her and away from the mean lady. As expected, Eleanor also has pearl earrings to match Mommy and Ate.

Nathaniel has a new school this year! It is a law in Maryland that schools cannot start before Labor Day. So while everyone has been in school for almost a month, Nathaniel is just now starting second grade. We live less than a mile from the school so we are "walkers" for the first time. It also doesn't start until 9:25am so we get to sleep in! Lots of changes this year (from DODEA to public school) but Nathaniel is ready to start and make new friends. Side note: I made his shirt! And he picked the fabric, of course. ;)

It is hard to believe a year has passed and our Eleanor is a year old! We celebrated her first year of growth with a Farmers' Market theme birthday (see what I did there?). She wasn't a fan of the balloons or getting her hands messy. But once we gave her a fork and she got a taste of the sweet icing, she stopped being sad. I know first birthdays are really for the parents and this was just so much fun. It is also perfect for our only summer baby! I made Georgia sweet tea (think diabetes) and homemade fresh lemonade. The lemonade were definitely labor of love! Makes up for the fact that I didn't make Eleanor's first birthday cake (I did with the older two). And since we had the party at the community center, the kids played in the splash park after. There aren't any picture because we all needed to cool off especially with the high humidity and 90s temperature.  Our sweet baby is not a baby anymore!

In a true St. Louis baby fashion, Eleanor was not going to enter this world without first making a statement. Because just like the two older ones before her, Eleanor arrived on her terms coupled with a few twists in her birth story. From our very first OB visit, I made my desire known to do Trial of Labor after Cesarean ( TOLAC ) and hopefully have a successful Vaginal Birth after Cesarean ( VBAC ) delivery. My case was a bit tricky considering I already had two prior c-sections and was also diagnosed with gestational diabetes ( GDM ) and chronic hypertension ( HTN ). However, Dr. Jenkins and Dr. Sexton, the two OBs we saw regularly at the Naval Hospital in Camp Lejeune, were very supportive as long as: 1. My GDM and HTN stay relatively managed and under control. 2. Eleanor continues to grow and is not in any type of distress. 3. I go into labor on my own. Number 1  was "easy." I was taking medication for my GDM to control my fasting numbers but it was o