{Real Talk}: Where Will You Be In 5 Years Part Two

Hey all,

Today my blogpost from five years ago came up on my memories. It was about where do you think you will be in five years? You can read the whole post here, which was funny because it talked about how five years prior to that I thought I would be living a pretty different life. This time I want to look at what I said five years ago: 

“5 years from now hopefully: I will be married to Madi, about to celebrate our four years of marriage anniversary, Nike will be six, Madi will be done with PT school, we will be expecting or have had a child. I hope to still be working as an RN in oncology or obstetrics. Possibly living in Tennessee or North Carolina.”

So this is pretty spot on hah! I married the love of my life May 30, 2015. We are about to celebrate four years of marriage. Nike is six! So crazy! Madi is working now as a physical therapist. I’m still working in oncology as an RN. And we live in North Carolina! So crazy! Five years ago Madi hadn’t been accepted to PT school yet and I hadn’t even graduated quite yet. AND we have had our first baby, Aili Anne. It’s incredible what God does in our lives.

Five years from today, April 29, 2024, I hope Nike is still hanging with us at eleven years old. Aili will be five years old, about to start kindergarten in the fall. I hope to still be working in oncology and for Madi to be in a job that he loves. Madi will also be done with residency. Maybe baby number two will be in our lives then also. We hope to have traveled to Europe and taken Aili to Disney World a time or two. Hopefully about to buy or have bought our first home. 

It’ll be fun to see in another five years where our little family is at. For right now we are just trying to enjoy the ride! 

Thanks for keeping up with us,

- Olivia :)

Aili Update: Month One

 Month One

I can’t believe it’s been one month since this little babe was born. Time is definitely flying (even more so when she has great sleep ;)!). Being a mom is such an amazing experience and honestly mind blowing, exhausting and the hardest thing I have ever done. How am I in charge of a life?! It has been a challenge in more ways than one. My type A personality had a hard time at first justifying not getting things done and not really having a schedule. While it was a nice change for the first week, week two I was going crazy. Not sleeping as much and setting even small goals like getting laundry done and then it not happening was frustrating to me.  I also normally hate auto pay for bills because if something is wrong I don’t like the back track to fix it and my type A likes to have control, but auto pay has been a HUGE importance because I don’t even know what day/time it is. I’m definitely only alert and oriented x 2 hah! We missed a payment for our electric bill by two days this month which has NEVER happened before and that’s when I decided auto pay is a go. But by week three I learned that it’s okay to just snuggle with Aili and the laundry and dishes and budget will get done eventually. These days won’t last forever as I know and have been told and I am trying to soak up all the baby snuggles. Does it still drive me crazy? Yes. Am I adjusting? Kind of. 

Below are some updates from this month including things we have really loved this months and that I highly recommend adding to your registry or purchasing if you are looking for ideas! 

Milestones: 

Aili is doing well with tummy time and one day she even rolled over from her tummy to her back and scared the crap out of me! She was on the floor on her play mat but I was not expecting it! She’s got a lot of neck movement and does turning her head from side to side and holds her head up for a bit now! She has been sleeping pretty good most nights. Getting about 2-3 hour blocks but a few nights we had a ROUGH time. It’s so hard going off of one to two hours TOTAL of good sleep at night when she just wants to be held or is having and upset tummy but we have been blessed with a good baby overall! She is starting to have more awake time between day naps and loves listening to Disney Pandora and snuggling. She smiles a lot while she’s dreaming and has giggled a few times in her sleep. 

Breastfeeding Update

- So far so good with breastfeeding! I have been blessed with an awesome milk supply since day one and Aili has had a good latch also! She has *mostly been sleeping in two to three hour spurts at night which has really helped me get some decent sleep. A few times she slept for four hours and I could actually hear the hallelujah chorus in my dreams. I use the Medela pump and I really like it! I’m still learning all the time about breastfeeding and the process of pumping and milk storage but overall it has gone well for us so far!

- If you’re pregnant and want to breastfeed I suggest either taking a class at your hospital OR if you don’t have time to commit to that (like me) then I highly recommend the online course milkology provides! it’s easy to use and you get to keep the info for life! she had great tips and tricks that worked well for me with Aili! It’s pretty inexpensive and you can keep the login forever so you don’t have to rebuy after a certain time!

Favorite Products

- SwaddleMe Velcro Swaddles

I’m obsessed with these. To me they are easy to use and we use them at nighttime with Aili to help her feel comforted and cozy. She has done really well with them! 

- Boppy Pillow and Lounger

These are must haves. The lounger is like a big portable pillow for her to lay in around the house. The original boppy pillow saves your arms for when you have to breastfeed. Both have been so helpful!

- Nest Hatch Noise Machine

I love our nest! It can be controlled by your phone (winning) and the light and music or white noise level is adjustable. The light provides just enough of a nightlight so that I can see what I’m doing when I do the night feedings without waking Madi up and keeping Aili drowsy. The only con is that I wish you could play your own music on it like a regular speaker. 

- WubbaNub paci, but specifically the giraffe one is a good size that Aili can cuddle and because of the contrast of the spots I feel like she can see it better than her bunny WubbaNub (even though the bunny she also has is so freaking cute)

- Moby wrap, literally so freeing. She falls asleep pretty quick when I’m moving in it and it’s the easiest way for me to walk Nike with her. We love our stroller, but in order to get into the grass and the park for Nike and keep Aili happy, the wrap works great! 

We’re pretty dang blessed by this baby girl and are so proud to be given the role of her mom and dad! We can’t wait for the months and years to come!

Thanks for keeping up with us,

- Olivia :)