Our first time traveling as a family of four was one for the books! I was so nervous about the process, the flying, and being able to get comfortable with both girls in the air.. to my surprise, everything went great! Our flight was scheduled to take off at around 830 am and we arrived at the airport closer to 7am. We are so incredibly lucky that Justin's recruiting co-worker was able to give us a lift so we didn't have to pay a daily fee for our car to be parked at the airport. Once we got into the airport, I think this is the first and last set of anxiousness Justin and I both had. We had SO much stuff with us (two bebes, two carseats, 2 carry on luggage bags, one camera bag, one diaper bag, and two large luggage bags to be checked)!

We weren't able to use our print off boarding passes (at least for me and Olivia) because when you have a lap infant, you always have to go up to a representative to have them print out your boarding pass. We also had to show proof of id for us and the baby, including her immunization records. This required us to stand in the longest line... Once we made our way through the line for checking baggage, printing off boarding tickets, and our load not being quite as heavy - we were golden. The TSA lines were not terrible, though they did require us to wait a little bit. Ava was so adamant about pulling her own ballerina luggage bag, so the pace she had was that of a slug on the way to the line. 

I loved that going through TSA doesn't require your children to take off their shoes, it doesn't require you to stop baby wearing your infants, and they didn't take forever to sift through our baby gear/food/bag. Once our entire family made it through TSA, we were golden. I believe we had almost 20 full minutes before the plane started boarding to use the restroom and to get some breakfast. We were able to do both and before we knew it, it was time to board. Can I just say how much I love Southwest and their seating policy? Definitely a different experience than we had the last time we flew with this airline. Family boarding comes after the "A" list boarding members, so we were able to snag really great seats. 

I sat next to the window, Ava sat in the middle, Justin sat on the isle. I nursed Olivia during take off and she fell right asleep. I also fell asleep, but while we were snoozing - Justin and Ava were chatting up a storm and coloring. The flight to Chicago was less than two hours long, so we weren't in the air for very long at all. We knew we had one more flight to go before NY, so we crossed our fingers for the best! 

♥- Leilani

One Year Ago

I found out I was pregnant with Olivia last year on Mother's day. It was without a doubt one of the best days of my life. Olivia took a second round of fertility assistance to conceive and if i knew then what I know now, I would still have endured a failed first cycle if it meant that this little girl would always end up being apart of our family. She truly is a gem and I know our family wouldn't be complete without her. Being my second child, I didn't think I had a "whole lot" to learn about parenting. I had successfully gone through two years with her older sister, I mean what could be different? Silly naive thinking, right? Yes. Everything about Olivia, her conception, and her personality are different from Ava. Conceiving her took more time, but my pregnancy with her was incredibly easy. She was so healthy, never had any concerns about her in utero. She was perfect and it gave me room to breath and relax. 

Once Olivia arrived, we experienced things we never experienced (crying... twenty whole minutes of it) before. Even though those days have been gone for a long while now (thank you Jesus), I learned so much about myself from those first few weeks with Baby O. I learned that though they may be our children, they will NEVER fit in the same box as the other. While I know I knew this, I don't think I really thought about it. Infants are included in this. I beat myself up for almost eight weeks because I felt like a failure. I felt like I had failed our daughter because I couldn't console her. I even questioned whether we should expand our family (those thoughts are long gone too). There were nights where both of us were crying. Justin was flustered, Ava was confused. Our whole world was shifted and trying to find balance with our new baby. 

I wouldn't change ANY of that for the world. Aside from patience, understanding, and humility... I learned so much more about Olivia in the process. She is a very in due time type of baby. Everything that has occurred in her short three months of life have been on her time. I stopped looking at the timeline of milestones about three weeks ago. I'm following my daughter and her growth pattern. Something I never did with Ava. I was so meticulous and had to make sure she was on track in every way possible and it drove me completely mad. I was far more stressed, I worried more, and turns out, Ava is perfect and thriving. This time around, I want to be less stressed and more relaxed. Olivia gave that to me. She was a huge wake up call for our family. 

A year ago today, I found out I was going to be a mother of two. Boy, was that a good day. 

♥- Leilani

Life With Two... By Myself ( 2month old + 2 year old)

I have been waiting to write this post for 11 weeks now. I have finally reached a place in my *new version of motherhood where I feel like my world isn't constantly being rocked. Justin has been gone for two weeks now and things are actually really good with me and the girls. I never thought we would get to this point (Olivia's three week stretch 6pm witching hour was brutal), but it feels so incredible and I love being able to soak in these tender moments that motherhood has afforded me. I say that a lot, but I do relish in them. Everyday, the girls grow. They change. I don't want to miss a single moment of that with them. I've had a few emails from mama tribes with one kiddo, four kiddos, you name it... basically asking me what my hurdles have been and what has been necessary to resume "the calm" in my life. Here goes nothing! 

Hurdles + Biggest Challenges

The fact that there is only ONE me is hard. I find myself being torn on which child to cater to first. I hate when my Livy girl is crying, but I also hate when my Ava bug is crying or in need too. Ultimately, Ava is normally my go to first. Olivia crying (while in a sling, in my arms) is tolerable if Ava needs something that I can provide in a timely manner. Normally, I'll just nurse Olivia in the sling, so that usually resolves 97% of her tears at this point (yay for comfort nursing, i actually absolutely love this). Ava is older, she's smart, and she analyzes everything. My biggest fear with adding another baby was Ava feeling neglected. I try REALLY, REALLY hard to make sure that I provide all that Ava needs and that her routine hasn't change too much with the addition of a sibling. 

Grocery shopping. Hands down. It's really not terrible at this point, it's just harder. I always have Olivia in a carrier and I've resorted to only shopping during her sleep time so she stays asleep the entire time we are in the grocery store. With Ava, you could take her to a store, mall, zoo, etc. at anytime of the day and she was golden. This has been a huge adjustment for me, but I am rolling with Olivia's little personality and needs. I try to only shop for 1/2 a cart per trip. Lifting all those groceries alone is actually a lot of work. I'm holding Olivia's head in one hand, and trying to lift gallons of milk in the other.... like i said, it's harder.

Meltdowns. Oh the unison meltdowns. Those are by far the worst for me. When Ava has a meltdown, it never fails... Olivia will start bawling almost instantly. When both girls are crying, I want to cry too honestly. Ava will cry because she misses daddy, she can't have something she wants, or because I put lotion in her hand to lotion herself (yes, that happened last night). You name it, her toddler freak outs come out of no where sometime. Olivia is now at the point where she will only cry or fuss when she is done with her tummy time mat, she's hungry, or she wants to be held. Normally, I'll grab Olivia and nurse her.. then invite Ava over to cuddle so she can calm down too. This works 99.9% of the time with meltdowns. 

Changes + Adjustments

Routines are everything. Seriously. We have a routine down pat and it is golden. Want me to walk you through it? Okay. We wake up and head down stairs pretty early in the morning (thank you, Ava). I change baby butts, put Olivia down for tummy time, and immediately start making Ava's breakfast. By the time I've gotten Ava a banana and her milk, Olivia has rolled over and is cooing away. Ava likes watching "her shows" in the morning, so she does that while eating. I will then nurse Olivia and she will usually sleep for 1-2 hours solid. I take this time to bond with my Bug. We read, play with puzzles, work on colors, etc.

Afternoon routines are different since my toddler has boycotted nap time. I will put Olivia in the sling if I am not making Ava a hot lunch. If I am making Ava a hot lunch, Olivia sits in the fisher price seat that we purchased for baby Ava. It sits right in the kitchen with me. While Ava eats lunch, I play with Olivia for a bit until she falls asleep. Yes, she actually falls asleep without needing the breast (Ava ALWAYS needed the breast). That's when I get a little me time in. I'll social media it up on my cell phone until Ava is done eating. I'll switch the laundry, fold laundry, etc. 

Evenings are my favorite time of the day for more reasons than one. We head upstairs at around 7pm and I bathe both girls. AT. THE. SAME. TIME. This was the smartest decision I have ever made. I put Olivia in her huge pink baby tub (fits right inside the back of the bath tub) and Ava hangs out around the faucet playing with her toys and water. I bath Livy bean first, then Ava. I take Olivia out and hand Ava bug a towel. We get all ready for bed and then it's story time! After we give kisses, hugs, and get Ava tucked in... I immediately start nursing Olivia... it takes all of five minutes for her to fall asleep. 

From 8pm-5am, both babies are sound asleep. It is seriously the most amazing time of the evening for me. Not only are both of my babies getting great sleep, but it's also the MOST chunk of time I get for myself in a day. I literally clean up the entire downstairs from the toddler toy destruction that happens during the day, I do dishes, I switch laundry, etc. I get to shower, I do homework, I edit photos, I blog.. you get the picture.. lots of "I" in there.

Helper Ava

Having Ava love to help out is seriously a blessing. She will pass diapers, wipes, snot suckers... pretty much anything I need for the baby. While I cook, she will sit and entertain her sister so she doesn't get fussy. She sings for her, gives her infinite kisses, and loves to make her smile. She helps out so much and we are completely thankful for our first born! It also makes me really appreciate the age gap between our kids. If I had gotten pregnant a year earlier, there is no way that Ava would be able to comprehend all that she does now. Definitely feels good to have those moments of reassurance in our lives. Ava has without a doubt made the transition from one to two a lot easier in a lot of ways. Especially in Justin's absence. 

All in all, I think that's pretty much the bulk. I always make sure to have time for myself at the end of a day, I remain flexible because not all of our days will play out the same way, and I remind myself that nothing is more important than having healthy, happy, kiddos.

♥- Leilani

First Family Photos As Four

I've replaced a lot of the photos in my blog tabs with photos from our session. Take a peek at some of the amazing photos Chloe was able to capture:

♥- Leilani