The Beginning of Our Fairy and Gnome Garden

The Fairy Side

My Herb Garden

The Gnome Side

This week has been happily filled with lots of outdoors time. I finally felt peppy enough to get to work on my herb and summer gardens. That also meant Deirdre and Jonas got to work on their part of the gardens too- for the gnomes and fairies of course!

The gnome and fairy part of the garden are works in progress right now, but so far we're off to a great start. Deirdre and Jonas helped paint and seal the wood gnome cabin and fairy house. Deirdre chose the flowers and plants too. 

I wanted their gardens to be incorporated into my gardens as well. First, I did it this way so that we could do our gardening alongside one another. Second, I wanted their play gardens to not only be fun but also productive. So Deirdre chose to grow cucumbers, strawberries, and white squash in her gnome and fairy garden (Jonas was only interested in the pretty orange marigolds and gazania)! 

We also set up a garden journal to track our gardens's development and any wee folk activity. I am going to have to help our local gnomes and fairies stage some interesting garden scenes for DD and Jonas to record (as you can tell I am having lots of fun with this project too!) I can't wait to show you how the garden evolves over the next few weeks. The kids have got big plans I tell you! They're drawing their inspiration from my fairy pinterest board. Once we're done, I will enter the contest going on over at the Magic Onions with Donni. Her blog and work is so inspiring. I just love her! 

We also managed to lose a tree in a thunderstorm this week. But fear not, my husband took to the tree like a giddy school boy with a chainsaw. As a result we not have lots of firewood and the kids got some new log chairs for their mini-wood playground! Also my wonderful husband made from shipping palates some garden boxes, a compost heap, and planters for us. Oh how I love him!

So I hope this post finds you well. We are all well, especially Miss Brynna. I cannot believe that she will be a month old in two days. Ah the passage of time- what a blessing and a curse. 

Until next time!

Cheers, Nicole 

A New Rhythm and Baby Bunnies

Ah hello my long lost friends! It feels like forever since I've been back in this place. I've been blissfully enjoying my newborn baby and soaking in all her sweet goodness. Maybe since she is my third baby and most likely our last, I finally realize how fleeting babyhood is? The newborn stage is so short and really one of my favorite stages- so it is so wonderful to sit back and cut out the rest of life's busyness. 

However really with three children now under five I am finding it is a bit impossible to really get a lot of rest. But I don't mind since my recovery has been fantastic and co-sleeping helps a lot with getting better sleep. While this labor was much longer than my others and Brynna's pregnancy had a lot of ups and downs (primarily my hyperemesis), it is so surprising just how great I feel. I mainly attribute my feeling so well to my lovely OB who really made sure I had a great delivery as well as the placenta encapsulation that I had done. I highly recommend placenta encapsulation and if you're interested in more information this site will answer all your questions. Also if you're local to Hampton Roads I can connect you with my encapsulation specialist- her site is here! Again I could go on and on about how great I think encapsulation but I guess it can be summed up for me by the simple fact that at four days postpartum I did not physically feel like I had a baby at all!


But on to the fun stuff :) Before and after delivery I have still been crafting and sewing. I finished with the help of my mother-in-law Brynna's Beatrix Potter quilt. I also completed knitting the oat fields and baby chicks for the knitted farm swap I am participating in! I also have a bunch of fun sewing projects lined up as well as the beginnings of a fairy garden. 

Baby Brynna continues to just amaze me. She is such a calm sweet baby. Really she is the perfect baby for a Momma with a two year old boy! Jonas and Deirdre are smitten with her and life goes on just as it did before with no jealousy issues that I can see. 


I am just so excited to get back into the swing of things but at the same time I am also happy to embrace a totally new family rhythm for my new family of five. I am so very blessed. 

Always, Nicole 

PS: the day Brynna was born, we woke up to find a litter of baby bunnies in our bunny hutch! Hoppy Peter and Brownie welcomed two babies into our growing home. I think it so neat that they share a birth day with Brynna and that her nursery is bunny themed to boot. 

Welcome Brynna Lisette!

Welcome sweet Brynna Lisette Kleemann! 

After a very long prodomal and active labor, Brynna arrived on Sunday night at 9:26pm. She weighs 6lbs and 8oz and is 19 1/4 inches long. She is my smallest baby by far but oh so sweet. 

We've been home since Monday night and we're feeling great. Thank you for all your love and support. I can't wait to introduce you all more to her over the next few weeks. 

Always, 

Nicole

It Begins!

According to my Bradley book, I am a "putterer"! Since this Saturday I have been regular contractions. I am not sleeping well and I know the end is near. I was a "putterer" with Jonas too (not Deirdre). I am also having back labor again (which I had with Deirdre and not Jonas). 

At any rate, I have the perspective this time around to know that this "puttering" is all good progress and that baby will come in their own timing on their own terms. However with that being said, I still hope it is sooner than later. 

So until then I bid you all Adieu! I am going to go into computer silence in order to relax and focus on my last few days before baby. I will be back when baby arrives. Until then have a great week! 

Always, 

Nicole 

A jumble of things!

Sometimes so many things happen in the span of two weeks that I just don't have time or the mental energy to blog and get it all down. I apologize for our absence. Between allergies, a hospital visit, two urgent care visits, a very pregnant mama with bronchitis, a blessingway, and new chicks... we have been busy. 

The funny part is that a baby is coming very very soon, so things won't be getting less busy. But I'd take a newborn any day to the past two weeks. I mean I do love our lives, but I do not like being sick or having to take my kids to the hospital, which thankfully last week was our first time ever with either of the kids.

Deirdre is totally fine now and thankfully the viral meningitis was quick and while very scary- totally benign in the long run. It is bacterial that you need to really worry about. Sadly the only way to tell the two apart is with a spinal tap. Deirdre however was a great patient and is unfazed by the whole experience.  She is convinced that the doctors and Mr. John's prayers    (a dear family friend) made her all better. 

I would however like to encourage all parents to take a look at what meningitis is and how to spot signs of it. We had no warning, no early symptoms (besides a sore neck), and no friend who she could have gotten it from. It blindsided us. She was totally fine in the morning. Then after nap, she would not wake up and I really thought I'd lost our daughter. The great thing is that bacterial meningitis is easily treatable if caught early, and while it is rare- I still prefer knowledge over ignorance. Here is a great article on it at kidshealth.org. 

But in happier news, we have new chicks! Four to be exact, two welsummers and two black copper marans. We also have a turkey chick by the name Thomas (we're really original over here!). We have yet to name the chicks but soon once they get more personality we will pick out some good ones. 

Our ducks have begun a nest and our goose is also laying eggs for us happily. She thinks the nest is hers, but sadly it is not. Their antics crack me up when I come out to find the goose has kicked the duck off her nest! 

Well I will leave you with some fun photos. I'll be back for a post about my Easter swap and some quilting as well as a run down of my blessingway. 

Until then, cheers!

-Nicole 

Thomas! 

Poor Jonas has allergies, but he sure loves the turkey! 

He also doesn't quite get closed mouth kisses yet! 

 

Viral Meningitis Scare

Thank you all for your prayers last night for Deirdre. 

At 12:30 yesterday she complained that her neck her hurt out of the blue. After nap, she would not wake up immediately and it took me about five minute to wake her. She said she could not move and was inconsolable about her neck pain as well as very lethargic. We were advised to take the the ER for a possible case of meningitis. After about 6-7 hours in the ER (with lots of blood draws and a spinal tap later) we were given the clear to go home. 

Today at the pediatrician's office, we were told she most likely had a case of viral meningitis (which can quickly occur and go away). Her neck and symptoms should be all better in two weeks or less and she is not contagious. 

Last night was the most difficult challenge Craig and I have had yet with our kids and seeing them in pain, but God is good and we were covered in prayer. Thank you everyone, 

Now to rest...

Young Mothers and Choices

Wow things are beginning to move fast here! I can't believe that Saint Patrick's Day has already past and Easter is around the corner (as well as the new baby's arrival). It also has been hot the past few days, as in not Springtime warmth, but summer heat. I thought I'd never be putting on sunscreen in March, but low and behold... this week I did!


I also do not envy other mothers whom have their third trimesters during the summer. Up to this point I've been spoiled by only being largely pregnant during Winter. This heat is no fun, not to mention I really have no warm weather maternity clothes so I just look silly and overexposed shoving myself into my non-maternity summer clothes. But I am enjoying the final weeks of my pregnancy. Despite the aches and heat, I am happy and happy to wait. I guess since this is my third pregnancy I have more perspective on how fleeting this all is. I love being wobbly and round. 

Me, at 21, holding my little Deirdre a few hours after birth. I just couldn't stop staring at her. Everything she did was a little miracle to me. 

On that note, I have been reflecting recently on my motherhood-wifehood-and my pregnancies. I volunteer with a mothers support group and during one discussion two weeks back another mother (who happens to be older than me) was commenting about her mother. She related that even though her mother chose to be a mother when she was young and educated, that she felt her mother resented her (the daughter) for taking away her mother's childhood. Afterwards she said to me, "I hope you don't end up feeling the same way towards your children." 


I have to say her directness took be by surprise, especially since I was the group leader and had never made any indication that I regretted my life's timing. I guess I must be close to her mother's age when she had children. I am also sure that her intentions were pure (I know this particular mother is having a lot of confidence issues herself). So at the time, I brushed off her comment and thanked her for her concern. But it did stick with me and I have been thinking about it. So do I resent my children for taking away my childhood?


The answer is a loud resounding NO! I had a childhood. I don't consider having children and getting married in my early twenties, 21 to be exact, impeding on my childhood (I will be turning 26 this year). Young adulthood, yes. But really, truly, what else would I be doing or want to be doing? 


Working a career- yes probably-but I make a choice even now to not do that and have no regrets. I did finish college and have two degrees to show for it. I traveled before and while I was pregnant and feel I had plenty of good life experiences before then- and I am still having them now! I also had been independent from my parents and taking care of myself for almost five years when I first got pregnant and married. So I'm not really sure what I am supposed to be regretting by choosing to become a mother. I always wanted to have children and Craig and I knew early on in our relationship that our goal was marriage. 

Our wedding, 12-2-07, two weeks before Deirdre was born.

Furthermore, I don't think you have to have gone to college, lived on your own, or traveled in order to not regret becoming a mother, or legitimize your choice. That is just where I happened to be coming from. 


I guess what wanted to say was that I chose to become a mother and a wife, and I did so happily with my eyes wide open. These choices were not forced upon me. Adoption was always an option and for most of my  first pregnancy, it was THE option we were going to choose, until God made it clear that it wasn't the right choice for Craig and I. 


I am not going to lie and say that all of this has been easy, but it certainly has been rewarding. Marriage and motherhood isn't easy period, and I believe going into it at any age presents its own unique challenges. I also am happier, more content, and at peace with who I am and the life I am living now more than ever before. My faith also has a lot to do with that too. 


I respect everyone else's choices and opinions too on the timing of their families, or even the decision to have a family. I just hope people don't think that younger mothers are mothers because they were forced into it and regret it. I am sure mothers of all ages have regrets, and I do too, but not about becoming a mother. It is the best decision Craig and I ever made, next to getting married. 


So there is my two cents for the week. It's been a long time since I have even thought about that time in my life or even remembered that most of society considers still me a young mother at 26. And so what if I am young? I think it is quite empowering to remember we all made a choice to become a mother at the age we did- young or old. Life is too rich and fleeting to get caught up in regrets. I try to live in the here and now. And I like this place a lot. 


Always, 
Nicole 

Marveling at and holding my daughter for the first time!