Post partum has been kicking my butt. I had completely forgot how long it takes after having a baby to get back into the swing of things. And this fifth time has been the hardest one yet…physically and emotionally. The best bandaid though is the sweet newborn cuddles and when Ella is up for it, I am complete mush. She is just the squishiest and softest little kitten ever and I could literally hold her all day every day. Just typing that out makes me want to get her right this second.
my favorite newborn pic by the super talented Jamie Sapp
Speaking of Ella – girlfriend is quite particular at times. I wonder where she gets that 🙂 When she is tired, she likes to be thoroughly burped, swaddled and put in her swing….any deviation of that is not fun…for her or us. She doesn’t love to go outside….which all the boys really did enjoy that so I struggle with stimulating her while being inside. And she likes her paci but still can’t hold it in…so we do a lot of paci assistance. Will & Weston both were paci-babies and Max and LJ were not….so we think Ella is gonna favor her biggest brothers. Also her schedule is a little weird….she likes to sleep her long nap from 1-5pm and then from 10pm-3pm but after that, girl is awake….which means I am awake. Hopefully we can get that sorted out before I go delirious.
Just baring it all here….I have been struggling getting back into my old clothing….I forgot that the ole body doesn’t just pop back into place immediately. It seems like after every baby, the hips and stomach and even my arms are slightly different. It’s like playing with slime….you can never quite get it to the same shape twice. It’s always evolving. So I have tried to embrace that by getting some additional clothing items…a little splurge to make myself a little less insecure as I readjust. And yes, I am a normal human who feels frustrated and insecure about body issues….but the best piece of advice I can give someone else about it is….treat the postpartum stage just as you would the maternity stage. Nobody thinks less of you if you get clothes that fit your new form. Don’t be crazy and try to do unhealthy stuff….just heal and embrace the moment. That’s what I’m telling myself 🙂 Here are some of my favorite purchases so far….
The leopard sweatshirt is actually becoming one of my favorite tops….I do a lot of layering with it…but I always feel a little more put together than my normal sweatshirts. And I have literally waited a year for the drapey long top up there to become available in gray….A YEAR. So I will let you know how that looks when it finally arrives. I also got a long deep red t-shirt tunic….I bought that specifically to go with leggings and this blanket scarf. I have a feeling that outfit will be worn a LOT this fall. And you can see I’m wearing my favorite jeggings (I got them just recently in black!) because they are basically just stretchy pants that pull all the squishy bits in 🙂
I also bought some things for the house….one being a couple new pillows for inside and a couple $4 pillow covers for the front porch…I got the black and white ones! I also ordered Weston a couple things for his birthday. One of them is this Nowhere To Go game. I hope he likes it – I know he loves games and I figured this one would be good for both him and Will to play together. The other thing is a ride-on that our neighbors have and he has been asking about it. We really feel like there is never a bad outdoor toy purchase for our family….they all get used. I’ll let you guys know what he thinks about these ones 🙂
In other news….the blog is getting a makeover! Prepare yourself to see a lot of changes around here. I know. I know. I don’t deal with change well either….but we can hold hands through the process. I personally am super excited….next month, the whole Bower Power site is getting tweaked. Hopefully it will be easier to navigate, easier to find old posts and just look overall so much better. This has been long overdue and I hope that you like it! Stay tuned for that!