Last month my daughter turned 5. My BABY turned a whole hand 👋, as we call it at home. Where did the time go?! It’s strange how time seems to go so slow yet warp speed at the same time. It’s true what they say, time goes by really fast after you have kids. Maybe that’s because you cannot concentrate on ANYTHING else other than your kids after that. Attention hogs! This post is about Happy Everleigh After or #happyeverleighafter which is the hashtag I created for her on Instagram.

Pregnancy

I found out I was pregnant like immediately. We went to dinner one night and I was in a mood. Like a really terrible PMS mood. I get PMS like the rest of womanhood but it’s never really that bad. Turns out, that would be my default mood for the next 3-4 months and sporadically through my entire pregnancy. After experiencing that, I believe that when you are pregnant you might take on some personality traits of the child you are carrying. 😅

Not gonna sugar coat it, pregnancy was not my jam. I hated it. Diabetes made everything so complicated. It was hard to enjoy any of it. I will say, I liked feeling her move around in my belly but that’s it. And just like her inception, her entrance was just as complicated. I was induced at 37.5 weeks due to preeclampsia, which is very common in “older” women and not well-controlled diabetics. I’ll save that story for another day. For more on my Diabetes story, check out my post Type 1 Diabetic.

January 6th, 2016

She’s here! The baby girl we had waited for, prayed about & worried for was here! She was so chunky and sleepy and just a complete doll. Poor thing spent 4 scary days in the NICU but we all made it home safe and healthy. Our lives were forever changed.

Colic – AKA the worst thing EVER!

I wouldn’t wish colic on my worst enemy. Colic is when an infant who isn’t sick or hungry cries for more than 3 hours a day. It is characterized as stomach pain and we cried together for hours every day and she hardly slept at all. Everleigh had Colic for a solid 6 months and to this day has lasting effects. It was the worst and hardest part of having an infant. In almost every picture of Everleigh in those early days, she has a scowl on her face. Poor baby! For more info on Colic visit WebMD.

Grow Everleigh Grow

1st Birthday – She’s tutu cute and tons of fun, Everleigh May is turning One

After the year we had dealing with colic and becoming new parents we had a giant celebration at our new home. Ballerina was the theme. 🩰 The invite was so sweet, it said “She’s tutu cute and tons of fun, Everleigh May is turning One!” It felt so good to celebrate! You know first birthday parties are really a celebration of the parents, right? I put so much time and effort into this party. If you know me at all you know that I love party planning so it was right up my alley. See my post about Party Planning for more info.

2nd Birthday – Minnie Mouse

We moved to Wisconsin just before Everleigh’s 2nd birthday. We hadn’t really developed close friendships at that point so we just had a quiet Minnie Mouse-themed party with another family of 3. Since our family in California couldn’t be there, we had a video call. It was just what we needed. Everleigh was pleased which made my mommy heart sing.

3rd Birthday – Wild & Three

Everleigh loves a birthday party. I gave her the choice between Disney on Ice and a party. She chose a party! By this time we had made some deeper connections so we had a “Wild and Three” themed party which totally sums up her personality. I had a cake made and she had a few little friends over. She had the best time. My only goal is to make her feel special. Her birthday is so close to Christmas that I’m fearful that she’ll feel cheated, so I probably overcompensate. 🤷

4th Birthday – Frozen Dreams

For her 4th birthday, we had 2 small parties. One in California before we headed home from spending the holidays and one on her birthday at home, just the 3 of us. The first party was at McDonald’s in Cali. Both were Frozen themed. Of course! Our girl was a Frozen fanatic! ❄️ Complete with Frozen cakes and Frozen gifts.

5th Birthday – Rainbows, Gymnastics and Unicorns, Oh my!

Covid strikes again! Not only were we unable to travel for the holidays but we also couldn’t have a party for our colorful girl. That didn’t stop me from trying my hardest to make Everleigh feel loved and celebrated. She was devastated that she couldn’t have a party. Hopefully I made up for it with all this fanfair.

I made her unicorn 🦄 cake (1st time decorating a cake with piping AND made my own buttercream – I have a lot to learn), bought fun balloons and decorated the house just as if we were having a party. Luckily, she was able to celebrate with her 4K class with unicorn and rainbow 🌈 cupcakes. I think her favorite part though, was joining gymnastics. What a great gift! I’m a big fan of experiences over toys, although she still got some great toys. There I go again…overcompensating.

Personality

My baby girl has a powerful personality. She is fierce. She is strong-willed. She is hilarious and magical and adorable. She is all mine. Parenting is hard, y’all! But parenting Everleigh is on another level. I’ve heard that when your child is strong-willed that they have a better chance of holding strong to their values later in life. Does anyone know how true that is? I’d love some encouragement! 😉

Final Thoughts

This girl is me through and through. I love her so much, my heart is bursting! She also makes me angrier than anyone else in my life. I’m so fortunate to be raising her with an amazing husband and father. He takes her on Thursday nights so I can get some adult time. They have the best tickle fights! He has more patience than any man I’ve ever met and boy do we need it!

Thank you for reading our Everleigh journey, Happy Everleigh After. And no, we don’t plan to birth any more children. Forget it. But maybe God has other plans for us. Only time will tell. Follow me for more whimsical heart stories.