We actually have a pretty big age gap between Clare and Nellie. After having Clare our life turned upside down with long distance visitation so we really didn’t even consider adding to our family for a really long time. There were moments that I felt so overwhelmed with navigating parental alienation that I even considered being done with having more kids, but I still knew deep down that we had more little ones waiting to join our family.
When we decided to let my oldest daughter live with her dad, things got easier in some ways and harder in others but we adjusted to our new normal. Then Clare started kindergarten and I was left with an empty house… it was then when I was really able to consider finishing our family because I knew we weren’t done!
I actually felt really strongly that there was a little boy waiting to join our family. So when Matt suggested trying for another, I just knew this would be him!! Haha!
So when I found out I was pregnant, I was totally shocked to feel this really sweet, soft, girl energy with me. I still remember the moment that I realized that this wasn’t our boy… and also wasn’t our last baby!! When we actually confirmed with the doctor that it was a girl, I was so happy and excited to have her.
Looking back now, this experience totally fits little Nellie’s personality. She is a little timid and I feel like she was a little nervous to come and get a body. But we are so glad that she’s here now and is seriously such a light in our family!
My pregnancies are always really hard because I get SO sick every time. But still, I cherish every second of it! Because our big kids were in school, I was able to go to a lot of yoga classes, take a ton of baths, and really focus on growing a healthy little babe.
At some point during my pregnancy, I realized that Nellie wouldn’t be suited to eating meat. She is so sensitive and I felt like her little soul was telling me that she should be a vegetarian. So I stopped eating meat while I was pregnant and she still hasn’t ever had any to this day! Raising a vegetarian has been so fun, I’ll probably have to do another post about it.
It was actually super fun to have a big age gap between kids! We had gotten rid of all our baby stuff so it felt like we were doing it all over again for the first time. It’s funny but things change so much in 5 years – from strollers, to ultrasounds, to everything pretty much! I really loved being able to get ready for another little one.
My cute friend Kelsey from Cam On Photography snapped some maternity pictures for me and I’m so glad we have them!
For Christmas, we surprised Carter and Clare with a trip to Disney! We were able to spend time with EK and it was so much fun to have one last trip as a family before the baby got here. We went to all the Disney parks and spent a ton of time at the beach! We stayed at the cutest resort that had splash pads, games, a ton of pools and it was so nice to hang out all together.
When we got home from florida, it felt like no time at all before we would have our little babe! I snapped as many belly pics as I could because I knew she would be here any day and I would miss having her in my belly so much.
