You know you are a clean freak when...

You literally are so excited about a new cleaning regime that you BLOG about it!:) NERD! Yep, that's me!

But seriously...Im onto something fabulous and I just HAD to share!!!! You people might have already found this amazingness but here it is anyway! It is seriously my new obsession.

So, Im a clean freak and those who know me personally will probably chuckle at that statement. Basically, it's an understatement!:) Im obsessed with CLEAN. Especially now...since my almost one year old just HAS to play in what could potentially be the dirtiest rooms in the house. The KITCHEN and BATHROOM! Ewe yuck!!! Grosses me out just thinking about it. The bathroom is off limits but somehow she finds a way to get in there sometimes. Well, naturally the floor is where she is most of the time being that she is a crawler/almost walker. You talk about nasty. Floors to me have to be one of the most nastiest places. For REAL.

But I digress...my new obsession...Mrs. Meyer's Clean Day cleaner in Lemon and Verbena and the awesome (new to me) Libman refill mop. I have always been a user of Ammonia on my ceramic tile floors. Smelled terrible but stripped away the nastiness like a charm. But, with a baby that is not going to work. It scared me for her to crawl on the floors after they dried and the smell is TOXIC. Can't mop with that stuff and have sweet sassy pants in the house. So...Ive been searching for an alternative. That's when I found my obsession while perusing the cleaning aisles of Target.

The Libman refill mop is like a Clorox ready mop but you can totally use your own cleaners and WASH the mop pad. GENIUS! I filled it with HOT water and my new awesome cleaner and ohmygoodness fabulousness. Smells amazing and so clean. AND most important little lovey can crawl away on the floor at her will. It's a win win my friends.

So, might I suggest that if you are like me and want a fab new cleaning solution. Go get ya some yummy Mrs. Meyer's. Trust me you won't be sorry. AND you can use it anywhere. It's an all surfaces cleaner people.

Nerd post of the day but I had to share. My house smells delish as I write. LOVE!

Have a great day my friends!

Been you know...about a MONTH!:)

Wow, so much for being a fabulous blogger!:) I really need to get on here more often.

I've been super busy this last month. Mainly with planning Kinsleigh's one year party! It's going to be so amazing...at least I hope so!:) I can't wait to see it all come together. I honestly can't believe it's already been almost a year. CRAZY! Love that little lovey.

We FINALLY found a church here in Owasso that we LOVE! Freedom Baptist Church. I love it there. The pastor preaches THE WORD and doesn't just you know TALK about whatever with a mini verse thrown in. This means so much and it was what we have been looking for three years for. SO thankful to the Lord for leading us there. Im so excited to get more involved in whatever the Lord leads! Good stuff let me tell you.

Well, that is really all I have for now. I can't wait to post pics of Sassy Pants' Birthday Bash. We also have her one year/family pics that same week so we are going to be BUSY! It's going to be fabulous!!!!

Til next time,

Ash

Love.

The musings of a Mommy...

Many a night lately, after I have put Kinsleigh to bed and I am picking up her toys for the final time for that day I tend to get an overwhelming feeling of sadness when I see her toys laying in the same spot where she last left them during her playtime. It's like I don't want to move them because she put them there.

This Mommy thing is turning me into a sap!:) It's going by so fast and I don't want to miss a single moment. Like where she left her toys. It won't be long before she won't even be playing with those same toys and I won't see them lying out strewn across the floor (slowly driving me crazy!:)

Im so in love with this child. I miss her every moment when she is not with me (and those moments are only when she is asleep!:) She has stolen my heart and Im not sure she will ever know the love I have for her. My heart is truly overflowing.

We are truly blessed to have been given this amazing miracle of a child. I will forever cherish the little things...like her toys laying on the living room floor just where she left them.

I don't want to forget...

Kinsleigh,

I don't EVER want to forget how soft your wispy blonde hair is, or how sweet your downy head smells snuggled up to my cheek. It's nostalgic and I wish that I could bottle it up to have forever.

You are my heart and the very air I breathe.

Love,

Mommy

Life as it is...

Wow! I NEED to get better at posting more frequently than I am!! A lot goes on from week to week even though the majority is the same tasks repeating themselves over, and over, and over... (you get the picture!:)

Miss K turned four months last Sunday! Really hard to believe it's already been four months! I would have thought that would have been long enough to get the pre-baby body back but NOPE not even close. I like to tell myself it's because I had an almost ten pounder in there!:)

With turning four months Sassy Pants had her shots this week! Poor baby...she was so happy in the Dr's office...she didn't know what was coming. She did very well though and other than being a little cranky that evening she was great! She was 25 1/2 inches long (88 percentile) and 12 lbs. 13 oz. (29 percentile). Lower in weight but the Dr. didn't seem to concerned. She is a long, lean lady with chubby wubby cheekies!:) BIG thing this week is she rolled over for the first time. Just once though...hasn't repeated it yet. It's like she checked that off the list of things to do and hasn't looked back!:)

I know I have said this before but I am still in utter awe of the fact that Kinsleigh is Stewart's and my little girl. I literally look at her everyday and think "I can't believe she's mine"! I literally can't believe that after everything we went through to get pregnant, I actually carried her for nine months and gave birth to a beautiful healthy baby girl (c-section). God is truly doing a number on my heart and faith in HIM! Without HIM it wouldn't have been possible!

I want to freeze time so I can experience each age over and over. Too bad you can't!:) I tell Stewart all the time that I miss her. His practical say it like it is self says well she's asleep in her room. I say I know but I miss her when she was newborn, 6 weeks old, yesterday, etc. I guess I miss the baby she was that day or something. I don't know, I guess it's a mom thing.... She sure has stolen my heart forever!!!!

Well, enough of my ramblings. Must get ready to head out to Target and a few other errands when Miss K wakes up. I am trying to become a Coupon lady (dear Lord help me) and therefore I must go pick up some items at Target that are about to cost me next to nothing. It's fun but really takes a lot of time that I don't have right now. BUT, I am going to try.

Have a fabulous weekend all who may venture to read my ramblings! Hopefully the sun will shine!

Catching up...

So, this blog thing is a little hard to keep up with since having Miss Sassy Pants. I don't usually have ANY free time these days but somehow I found some today so I thought that I would catch everyone up on what's going on the Reed casa.

First of all, Kinsleigh is GROWING!!! She is getting so big and growing so fast. I wish I could make time stand still for a little while. I know that I am going to look back at these days and want each moment back to experience again. There is literally NOTHING like the smell of her sweet hair, her soft cheeks, her smiles, the way she grabs my finger just to hold it, her cuddles...I could just go on and on. She has literally changed Stewart and my life and we can't imagine how life was without her.

What's been on my mind lately...

Motherhood is such a beautiful thing, but I don't think I fully understood or realized how hard it was going to be. I knew there were going to be some tiring days ahead, but I had no idea the sheer exhaustion that would accompany this amazing new member of our family. I have NEVER been more exhausted in my entire life. The sleepless nights, the constant worries "Is she okay", the seemingly never ending feeding schedule, etc. I don't think anyone can truly understand the intensity of it until they are smack dab in the thick of the experience. But... I have to say it is truly worth it. We prayed for so long for the blessing of this sweet baby and I would do ANYTHING for her. The love I have for her is overwhelming. It is truly unlike anything I have ever experienced! She is such a beautiful blessing from the Lord and He is constantly teaching me things about myself through her.

About Miss K...

Kinsleigh is definitely changing daily. She has both her Daddy and me wrapped around her little finger. It is amazing to watch a baby grow and develop right before your eyes! Here is an overview of what she is doing right now:

1. She is almost 4 mons (on the 20th)

2. She is trying to laugh. We have gotten a few out of her and they were the sweetest things that I have ever heard!:)

3. She can roll onto her side.

4. She reaches out and grasps toys, hands, your shirt, etc.

5. She unfortunately is beginning to teeth. I hate this for her and we have suffered some unfortunate sleepless nights already.

6. Speaking of sleep...she started sleeping through the night at 5 1/2 weeks but now she is starting to wake up a few times ( teething is the culprit or a growth spurt we think). She usually is able to go back to sleep fairly quickly thank goodness.

7. She is already easing her way into 6 month clothes. She is a long lady at almost 26 inches. We don't know her weight but if I were to guess she would be about 15ish pounds. We go to her 4 month appt. in a couple of weeks and we will find out then.

8. She smiles ALL THE TIME! She is a very happy girl for most of the day. She does get a little cranky in the evening when she is tired (but who doesn't do that:)

9. She holds her head up very well now and can sit in her Bumbo like a big girl.

That is a quick recap! I hope everyone is staying warm in this crazy weather. We have had an insane amount of snow these last 2 weeks. I can't wait for SPRING!

SO...it's been awhile...

WARNING....This will be a LONG post. If you do not wish to read it I totally understand!:)

Well, the last time I posted I was still enormously pregnant on bed rest and anxiously awaiting Miss K's arrival. Oh how things have changed!!! As many of you know we had her in October. I wanted to chronicle the experience on this blog so that I could look back later and remember.

Here's the story...

The problems with my blood pressure being elevated had me going to the Dr. every few days. This was fun!:) They kept checking everything and I was not progressing to begin any stage of labor. The Dr. said a few times "This baby is getting big!" Well, I didn't think much about it because they are supposed to be big the week of your due date!:) Finally, the Monday before I was due (due date was the 23rd) the Dr. ordered an ultrasound. Low and behold the child was measuring OFF THE CHARTS big and she was breech which explained everything, as well as shot my dream of having a natural childbirth (assisted with an epidural of course). I was severely disappointed about this but at that point I was very ready for her to be here.

We scheduled the c-section for the 20th which was that Wed. Tuesday, Stewart and I finished getting everything ready for her arrival, he squared things away at work, and we ate a big fatty dinner at Cracker Barrel because I couldn't eat/drink anything past midnight. The hardest part about not eating/drinking was the fact that I was ADDICTED to ice water. Like craved it beyond anything and literally drank gallons a day. I WAS DYING by 1 a.m in the morning. Needless to say we both didn't sleep well.

Wednesday morning we got ready, took a few last pics, packed up the car, and headed to the hospital in Tulsa. At the hospital my mama was waiting on us and my sister got there a little after. My poor Daddy couldn't come because he was on call for work. So, so sad. Stew's mom was on her way as well.

They got me ready, started an i.v., listened to baby, and did all of the paperwork and such that one must do to have a baby...it was alot!:) By this time, the thought of ice water literally made me want to cry! My sis got me 2 cups and I swished with water from one and spit it out in the other. I WAS DESPERATE!

Finally, they brought me back into the c-section room and began the process. For everyone who knows me knows that this was a little surreal for me since I used to work in surgery everyday as a Certified Surgical Tech. Because of this I knew exactly what was going on and it made me even more nervous. To make a long story short I received a spinal (OUCH), they got me ready for surgery, my Dr. came in and started the surgery, and Stew was then able to join me. In mins flat after almost literally pulling me off the table to get her out (the Dr. even made the incision longer to more efficiently pull her out) I heard her cry for the first time. She was whisked away with the nurses with her Daddy by her side. 9lbs. 7oz. and 21 inches long! He brought her to me a few mins later and I was able to give her a kiss while the Dr. was still cleaning and sewing me up. I remember her little chubby cheekies peeking out from the swaddle blanket. Precious! Then, my sweet hubby and baby girl left for the nursery. I was alone with the crew until they took me to recovery where my sister was there and my mom not long after. I was really loopy at this point with pain meds and such but I vividly remember the nurse allowing my sister to feed me ice chips. I ate THREE cups in a VERY short amount of time. My sister even put a little water in it and I drank it. I was in heaven!!!!

The plan was for them to clean Sassy Pants up and do vitals and such and bring her back to me with her Daddy. Well, that didn't happen. Stew came back in briefly to tell me that Kinsleigh's blood sugar was low and they were trying to bring it up. She was born a little before ten in the morning and I didn't get to see her, hold her or touch her again until late that afternoon. Tore me apart! My mom, sister, and mother-in-law took turns sitting with my doped up self in recovery and then when they moved me to my room. I got to see her through the window of the nursery as they wheeled me by in my bed. This aspect of the whole day was so disappointing and sad. Im actually tearing up as I write this. I missed a lot that first day, but luckily Kinsleigh had her sweet Daddy with her the whole time.

I FINALLY got to hold her I think around 4ish that afternoon. Her sweet chubby cheeks were absolutely adorable and I was in love!:) Unfortunately, the next 12 hours or so were filled with worry as we still tried to get her blood sugar up. They let her stay with us in our room but we had to feed her every 2 hours with a supplementary nursing system of formula used while simultaneously breast feeding. They would then prick her tiny heal AGAIN and check her blood sugar. It was a hard, very long night. But it finally came back up!!!

We only stayed two nights (three nights are the usual for a c-section) and went home on Friday afternoon. Poor Stew was more than ready and was happy the Dr. gave us the option. He was about to crawl the walls. Those first nights, days, weeks, at home were stressful to say the least!:) Recovering from a c-section is for the birds!! I really wish I had not had to have one. I feel like I missed out on so much and it truly is MAJOR surgery. But, I guess the important thing is she was delivered safe and sound and was a healthy baby other than the brief blood sugar problem. Im thankful that the Lord has given us the knowledge to do surgeries like that or I don't know where we would be.

Life with Miss Kinsleigh is exhausting, rewarding, and the most amazing blessing Stewart and I could have ever been given. The fact that God blessed us with her after the fertility issues we endured is truly a miracle we do not take lightly. She is a true gift from God and I try and cherish every second with her. It goes by way to fast. I can't believe she is already 11 weeks old as I write this post. Time flies when your changing diapers!!!:)

The responsibility of a child is truly a big one. I pray that Stewart and I will train her up in the way of the Lord in a Christ centered home, and that she sees and understands the love of her heavenly Father. I love her more than words could ever express and look forward to the amazing future God has planned for our little family. God is truly amazing!

That has caught you up on my life in a nutshell. Im going to be better at this blog thing again because I truly enjoy it! I love all you fellow blogsters! Have a blessed day!

LOVE,

ASH