Happy Halloween!

Our town's Trick-or-Treat night was actually last night, which means our Christmas tree is up in full force! Well, half force I guess. I'm short two strands of lights and Menards is a solid 55 minutes away. It still is cozy having the half-lit tree up! Has anyone else noticed how you can't mix and match lights from different stores? Once you commit to a brand of lights, you have to keep getting that same brand. Colored lights at Walmart don't match the colored lights at Menards, and no two white lights are the same anywhere, unless you can find the same brand!

I was super bummed this year that the boys actually wanted to decide what they were going to be. Ryne has told me for quite awhile that he wanted to be Superman, which led Reed to being Batman. He has wanted to be Batman for months, but you betcha when Trick-or-Treat night rolls around, he 100% does not want to be Batman. After bribing forcing his Batman outfit on him, he refused to wear his mask. Ryne begged and cried and begged Reed to put on the mask but he wouldn't budge. Luckily you can't tell any of that in these pictures. :)

Sometimes it is so hard being a parent. I literally was tackling Reed on the ground trying to put his costume on. Pretty sure I even broke out in a good sweat from it. These are supposed to be nights that are enjoyable so I try not to lose my shit, but the energy that it took for me to not lose it made me exhausted. But look at the pictures I got for keeping myself together. Mom 1 Lost Shit 0. 

They seriously are both so sweet and ornery. I'm always exhausted by 10 in the morning, but I feel so lucky to be their mom. Sometimes it's a blessing that I'm tired by 10, because then the rest of the day I'm just too exhausted to break up fights, care that they've eaten pop-tarts for lunch for the third day in a row, or that they've been walking around in their underwear.

I had bought Rhett a Flash costume to go along with the superhero theme, but we decided to have Derek got as The Man in the Yellow Hat and Rhett go as his little monkey, Curious George. Apparently newborn in monkey size is completely different than newborn in baby size, because the newborn costume was huge on him! I ended up just being able to use the monkey mask, but I think he still made such a cute little monkey! I also think Derek made a perfect Man in the Yellow Hat since he is so tall, is a man, and wore a yellow hat. :) 

Since they didn't have Trick-or-Treating today, I let them hang out in their Halloween jammies all afternoon! I'm obsessed with Peanuts and love Hanna Andersson's Charlie Brown pajamas! They didn't have them in Rhett's size, so he got to be a cute little pumpkin instead!

 This is usually how pictures turn out. I am pretty sure I take 50 pictures before I maybe get one decent picture! Sometimes these are the best ones though. Rhett crying because Ryne gets all up in his face, Reed begging me to let him have his binky back..this is reality!

Not pictured: five more binkies in a stash that Reed is waiting to grab. Note: Santa is taking Reed's binkies this Christmas. Important note: I will be in hiding for a couple weeks after!

I love this time of year because of all the holidays. I can't wait to indulge in some delicious meals in November as we give thanks for so many things in our life. All my Christmas decor is up, Christmas music has been playing, and Christmas candles are burning. I swear I saw a few snowflakes over the weekend and the cold makes me so excited for this holiday season! 

If anyone is doing any early Christmas shopping, Target has a great deal where you can text TOYS to 827-438. They will send you a link with a coupon code for 25% off a toy online or in store! I texted so many people to ask them to send me the code so I could buy multiple toys! Ryne has been asking for the kid-sized Paw Patrol tower for forever. It was on sale for $84.99 (had been $99.99) With 25% off I ended up getting it for $63.74 WHAT!? I also used my Redcard and saved 5% more and got free shipping! So exciting! I love deals. :) 

What was everyone for Halloween this year? Does anyone else have their Christmas tree up yet?!

xoxo

J

Philips, Party of 5!

I can't believe we are a family of five! It sounds so weird even saying that. I honestly can't believe that I've birthed three little babes into this world! I never realized that once we became a family of five that our booth status at restaurants would be gone. It's no longer "do you want a booth or a table?" it's, "does this table work for you?" No, no, no! It doesn't! I will squeeze my family of five into that booth because I need to trap my kids in from running around!

We live in a town of 4200, so our restaurant choices are limited, but apparently that didn’t stop us from eating out three times in the past week. Can someone tell me how I tell people I’m a stay-at-home mom when we still find a way to eat out all the time? Or is it just an expectation set for stay-at-home moms that we should cook delicious meals every night for supper? I’ve made nice meals before and no one eats it. I find myself forcing my kids to eat it. “Don't you know how much time I spent on that?!” But apparently when we go out to eat and they don’t eat their $5 meal off the kids menu it’s no big deal to me. Shouldn’t I care about the $5?!

If you’re not into birth stories you can stop here. :) I will leave out all the gross parts or even PG-13 details..and yes, there’s so much gross when having a baby, just ask Derek. When I was pregnant with Ryne someone told Derek that he wouldn’t need to record the birth because it would be an image that would never leave his mind. He said that’s been true for all three kids now. Hahahaha!

I knew I was going to have Rhett on August 22nd a few weeks prior to him being born that day. I had a scheduled induction just like I had with Ryne and Reed. I was 39 weeks pregnant this time with no health concerns so that was great! I had tried eating some spicy Mexican food with one of my friends the week before to put me into labor. I swear I ended up having more contractions but it never put me into labor which was super disappointing! When the 22nd came along, the boys stayed at my mom's house and Derek and I were at the hospital by 6 am. Not long after we got there, another lady was giving birth so we only saw our nurse once. Nothing makes you seem more selfish than being upset that your induction is delayed because someone else is giving birth! 

It was over an hour before a nurse could get me all hooked up to start the induction. I'm not sure if my anxiety was worse because I knew what to expect or if it was worse because I'm older and not as naive. There was something nice about that first baby and having zero clue what was going on! The nurse did a great job putting in my IV, which is saying a lot because I hate needles. I think I hate them more now because it was soon after she had put the IV in that my body started going numb and I felt like I was going to pass out. I started not feeling well and my blood pressure dropped to 58/30. Pretty soon there were multiple nurses in my room, I had an oxygen mask on etc. I tried not passing out because I didn’t want them to think I was a baby! I know they tell you not to eat before, but honestly I think I wouldn’t have felt so crappy if I wasn’t so hungry! I mean, doesn’t every mom deserve a McDonald’s breakfast sandwich and a large Dr Pepper before she gives birth? I feel like this is energy food here! Even Derek told me later that my face was so white and that it was a little scary! Somehow this made me feel better..like I needed his affirmation to tell me it was scary to make it scary..not the fact that I couldn’t feel my whole body!  I was so bummed that it had happened because they couldn't start my pitocin until I had a "healthy" sheet showing his little heartbeat. Once they could finally start it (around 9:30 am by this point) I knew it wouldn't be long until the little guy would be here since Ryne & Reed both were short labors. It wasn’t much later when the  doctor came in and broke my water and that I received an epidural..OH YEAH! (Props to all you mamas who birthed without an epidural because it is still the worst pain I’ve ever felt even WITH an epidural..totally worth it, but..ouch!)

This might be the most important part you read. Derek went and got food from the cafeteria AND ate it in front of me. I tell you what, I had no idea I could be even more hormonal, crazy pregnant lady, but having my husband eat food in front of me when I hadn't eat since the night before ended up with him getting THE GLARE. The I want to kill you but I love you and I'm about ready to give birth to your child GLARE. He had gotten his food around 12:30 and when I had the nurses check me at 12:45, I was only dilated 4-5 cm. It was only ten minutes later that I told Derek that I was feeling pain now with my contractions and I felt like he was going to come out. Literally ten minutes was all it took for me to go from 5 cm to 10 cm! EEK! If I'm being honest, I really wasn't "EEK" when they told me. I started crying because I was scared. You literally spend nine months waiting for this sweet little baby to be born and now all of a sudden I wanted him to stay in! The words, "I don't want him to come out yet!" came out of my mouth. 

The nurses had me do a practice push at 1:02 pm and he started coming out! They were both saying "stop pushing, stop pushing!" Since the doctor wasn't in the room yet, they didn't want me to push him out. He had a meeting at 1 pm that he had to come up to the OB floor from. Once he arrived he got dressed, handed me a towel and said "you're going to push out his head and shoulders..when I tell you to grab him you grab him and pull him out". (Derek thought this was so weird. I have tried convincing him that it wasn't but to no avail! This was a Kourtney Kardashian style birth and he was not even impressed. So disappointing!)

Once he told me to push, I pushed as hard as I could and out came baby Rhett! I pulled him out and held him and sobbed. Seriously, if this is an option for anyone I highly suggest it. I think out of all three of my boys, this was the most emotional. There's something about being able to be the first person to touch him, hold him, see him that made the whole experience wonderful. (Derek will still say it's weird. Men!) Also, one push! Yeah baby!

Rhett James Philips. Born 8/22/17 at 1:06 pm weighing 8 lbs 3 oz and 21 inches long. A perfect little baby boy who has completed our family of five. Rhett: because we liked it! James: after my dad who passed away when I was 15, who I miss every day, and who would have been the best papi.

The birth. A miracle and truly a gift. I do not take for granted the life I have been given. I am grateful and all my praise is to Him. 

xoxo

J

Welcome!

I'm so glad you're here! I can't wait to share with you about my life as a stay-at-home mom to our three sweet, ornery, huggable boys Ryne, Reed and Rhett!  My hair is a mess, my house is a mess, and I can't cook, but our house is full of love! I do love a good Ree Drummond recipe and some occasional baking, but otherwise you can find the Schwan's man delivering to our door every other week! I'm in love with the Chicago Cubs, obsessed with Christmas and have no shame admitting I love McDonald's.

I'm married to my husband of five years, Derek. I think he is one handsome fella and I swear only gets better with age! Bring on the gray hairs! We currently are living in our third town and third house together! When we met he was a 5th grade teacher in my home town, then we booked it 30 miles west for him to be an assistant elementary principal, and just this summer we headed 75 miles farther west for him to be a head elementary principal. I can't keep up with this guy! You'd think we would be pros at moving but I decided we are FAR from it. The best advice I could give is to hire a moving company. Third time was a charm with that one! He loves his job and I'm always proud of him! I'm also lucky that he is sugar daddy material for me to be able to stay home with our boys!

We decided Derek can only make boys because we are three for three with that one. Ryne (4.5 yrs), Reed (2.5 yrs) and Rhett (1 month) have blessed us more than we deserve.

Ryne was named after Ryne Sandberg. He is in preschool for three hours a day which is a nice little break for him and Reed to have time away from each other! He is obsessed with trains, loves building and making things, has recently discovered his inner Picasso, isn't afraid to sing out loud and can talk your ear off! Mostly sweet with some attitude. He was the easiest kid until he turned four and I tell you what, four-year olds can be rough stuff! He is so loving and compassionate though and I often catch him giving his baby brother hugs and kisses!

Reed wasn't named after anyone specific. I wanted Ryne to be named Reed actually! Since Derek ended up naming Ryne, we ended up agreeing on Reed for our second! He is definitely our free spirit and can hold a solid conversation with you if you can interpret what he is saying with a binky hanging out of his mouth! He is what we call our sour patch kid, first he is sour, then he is sweet! He is notorious for hitting or throwing, getting in trouble, and then wanting to snuggle with you. He loves drawing and doing crafts. You can also catch him busting a move to music, which he loves!

Rhett's name was chosen when we decided our last baby should have a "R" name since our first two did. We were riding in the van one day and I mentioned the name Rhett and Derek was all for it! He took the least amount of time and discussion to name. (Our second choice was Rizzo!) He is such a sweet little baby. I keep telling Derek he gives me baby fever even though he is only a month old! Derek insists he is our last though! Rhett loves to snuggle and rarely cries! I mean, this kid is around his rough and tough older brothers and just kind of looks at them like they're crazy. He doesn't have a consistent sleep schedule, but lately he has only been getting up twice in the night. Eek! I'm excited to see what little personality he has as he grows!

We have made our life out here in the Midwest and I feel very fortunate. We live in a little town of 4200 people. There's no McDonald's or Walmart here! It was definitely a culture shock when we moved. We also moved into a well-taken care of 1930s home! As soon as we got the keys to our home, we began fixing and updating it. It's definitely a work-in-progress and since Derek is adamant about doing things himself, I can ensure you that we will be fixing it up for a few years! My DIYer does do a great job at his projects though, his wife is just impatient while her house is torn apart!

Meet our family! My cousin snapped a few candid shots for us while she visited this past weekend! We love having her visit! I'm so glad you're here and I can't wait for you to come along on our wild journey with us!

Derek. Reed. Ryne. Jillian. Rhett.

Reed

Rhett. Jillian.

xoxo

J