I’m sitting down to write after having dropped off Harrison for his very first day of Kindergarten this morning. He marched into school like a champ with his backpack and lunchbox, and was SO READY.
Wednesday, though, we had to say goodbye to his daycare.
From first day…
To last…
I have a new favorite room of the house. I LOVE Aidan’s nursery. It’s elegant and classic, yet calming, but with the perfect little nods to little boy life and nautical sea adventure. I could spend hours rocking him in his nursery.
The last time I designed a nursery was for Harrison, our oldest baby. When Jonathan was born, we just used the same nursery with no changes at all for Jonathan. So I was really excited at the prospect of getting to design a nursery for the second time for our third boy.
Our Big Boys share connecting rooms through a Jack & Jill bathroom. When we were trying to decide our set-up for baby #3, I chose to keep all of the boys separate in their own rooms. I think there’s lots to be gained from room sharing, but also, I really wanted each of my kids to have a space that was just for them in our house.
Harrison and Jonathan decided together that they wanted to stay in their current rooms, which meant Aidan would get the last room upstairs as his room. It was the room that we used for years as our playroom, and it’s by far the biggest.
As I set out to design his nursery, I happened upon this little sailboat at Target…
And decided to base the entire room on it.
Room details and links at the bottom!
Paint colors: Sherwin Williams Alabaster & Sherwin Williams Cityscape
Curtains: Linen white curtains from Amazon!
Curtain rod: Also from Amazon!
Blackout Blinds: Cordless Blackout Cellular Blinds in Classic White. When they arrived, they had a crease in them, and they replaced them immediately for free
Glider: Has been with us for all three boys, and it’s beyond comfortable
Crib: Our exact style isn’t sold anymore – but the crib is from Pottery Barn Kids
Art: Love her work. This is the fourth piece I’ve bought from her!
Dresser: Price can’t be beat for the quality
Wooden Name Blocks: So cute and we used them for his name announcement as well
Stacking wooden wave toy: Love buying from small shops on Etsy
Rug: From Amazon in color Sky/Stone
Long Live Boyhood flag: Bought a flag from them for Harrison’s room and loved it so much. I’ve had my eye on this one for while!
Whale toy walker: I bought it from Amazon, but it doesn’t look like it’s there anymore!
Side table: Target – old
Blue side table lamp: Target again!
Black Floor lamp: From Target
Blue & white basket: Target – old
Crib sheet: Etsy for the win
Changing table sheet: Also from Amazon!
Whale stuffed animal: Also an impulse buy from Target 🙂
Three whole months with you. My memory feels like a fog of the last three months, only just finally starting to feel like the light is getting brighter. The days and nights are starting to feel shorter. And I’m shocked to have finally started to catch my breath only to realize I’m three whole months into this life with you.
You are such a content little dude. You quietly watch your brothers run and bounce around you.
You are still, most certainly, very attached to Mama. Not ready to be very far from comfort and food. But I love being your person. I love the way you look for me when you hear my voice. When I crouch down and talk to you, the huge smile that creeps across your face.
You are getting a mama who has already walked this road twice before. One that feels a bit more sure of herself. I hope one that is a bit more patient. And a bit more gentle. One that still challenges you enough, but welcomes you into her arms when things are hard.
You are my last little baby. And that in itself makes me cherish it even more. Because I know already that it goes so fast. I’m here to soak it in with you. Every bit of your baby-ness. Every bit of your childhood. Every bit of it.
Love you beyond measure, my sweet Aidan.
Love,
Mommy
(I’m taking next week off from writing to be with my family. Hope you all have a wonderful holiday!)
For months, we had planned on an April 11th induction date. It was a good compromise, we thought. It was exactly at 39 weeks gestation of this baby and it avoided Harrison’s birthday of April 13th. I was concerned as to how my kids would fare it they had to potentially share a birth date.
And so I planned out all of the doctors appointments, hair appointments, grooming appointments and ‘before baby’ brunches and lunches for those two weeks leading up to an expected April 11th induction.
It was the evening of March 27th. Baby Aidan was 36 weeks and 6 days gestation. We had just completed another marathon Monday evening. Harrison had soccer practice, Jonathan had a teacher educator appointment, we dashed home and hurriedly ate dinner as a family and got the boys off to bed. Nathan had retired to the basement to watch an episode of a show, and I was just getting into bed to read when…my water broke. As I laid down in bed. Yes, I was sure. I knew without a doubt it was my water breaking even though I had never had my water spontaneously breaks with the other two labors before this one.
I carefully walked to the basement stairs and called down to Nathan that I was pretty sure my water broke. He came to the edge of the stairs and looked up at me, “Seriously?”
I had heard enough birth stories by this point that I knew that there was no waiting it out until my planned 39 weeks to have this baby. This baby was coming. And the baby was coming that night.
I had somehow had the foresight to pack my hospital bag literally that afternoon. Nathan had nothing packed and hurriedly shoved clothes into a bag while making calls to my mom (yes, I need you to wake [Papa] up to come stay with the boys. We’re going to he hospital.). His parents, who had literally just landed in Denver also assuming that there was several weeks before baby’s arrival.
I called my OB to get the ok to head to the hospital. And worriedly paced around my bedroom while leaking amniotic fluid and trying to get my brain to remember the “last minute things” I hadn’t packed already.
My dad arrived to stay with the boys, and I snuck into each boys’ room to give them one last kiss and hug. And Nathan and I headed to the hospital to have our very last baby.
Contractions had started by that point. And as I lay in triage while they decided whether I was going to be admitted, the contractions had increased in duration and time in between as well as intensity.
After what always feels like an eternity in triage, we were whisked away to our labor and delivery room. It was about 1:30 in the morning at that point. I had progressed to 5 cm on my own, and the nurse told me that I just needed to let her know when I wanted the epidural. A short time later, fearing that I would be too late to get the epidural and for it to work, I asked to have the anesthesiologist called to place the epidural.
Finally at about 3:30 in the morning, with epidural placed, the doctor said we’d wait and check to see how things were progressing at seven in the morning at shift change.
Nathan and I tried to rest, but neither of us slept much. And then at 5:00 am the OB resident came in to check me, and declared my labor complete and ready to push. He asked me not to push, and hurriedly asked the nurse to notify the attending OB and the rest of the delivery team to get set up immediately.
After three pushes, Aidan was born at 5:21 am, three weeks early at exactly 37 weeks.
He had the meekest little cry. I was overjoyed with love for this little tiny human immediately. Many doctors and nurses checked him over and over again given the concerns they were monitoring with him during my pregnancy, and he was totally normal and healthy.
Given his early (and quick) delivery, his lungs had not expelled all of the liquid from them. He spent one night in the NICU on a breathing machine, and was cleared to come back to us in our mother/baby room by lunch the next day.
After daycare the next day, Nathan brought Jonathan and Harrison to meet their littlest brother. Watching the love and pride they had for baby Aidan was the cherry on top to an easy delivery and healthy little baby.
Sweet little Aidan James.
I’m officially a boy mom. Three little boys. I’m currently sitting at my parents’ cabin in the Black Hills of South Dakota. Aidan and I made the trip to visit my parents for a week because…why not??
It’s been much needed. This week away from the stressors of mom life with a newborn.
I have so much to share. It’s felt like it’s been forever since I’ve been on this little internet space, and I’ve missed you all.
The first ten weeks of Aidan’s life…have been so hard. Maybe it’s the switch from two to three littles. Maybe it’s the fact that I forgot just how tough that first month of a newborn’s life is… Maybe it’s that Aidan hasn’t been as good of a sleeper as his big brothers were. Who knows. But wow. That first month in particular of Aidan’s life was super hard.
I’ve felt most days are a fog, truthfully. I have been caught between two competing truths. The depth of my love for this little boy is immeasurable. I adore him. And at the same time, I’ve felt defeated and exhausted a lot surviving on far too little sleep for what feels like an eternity.
But we’re starting to find our routine now. Aidan’s sleep is improving slowly but surely. And I’m starting to feel more like myself as time goes on. This week at my parents’ cabin has been so, so needed. To have my parents here to take care of me while simultaneously getting me away from my never ending to-do list at home. I miss my big boys, but my mind and body needed the quietness of the cabin.
Enough about me for now. How are you all doing?? How is summer going so far? What’s on your reading list this summer and what are you looking forward to most?
I have so much to share – I’m going to share Aidan’s full birth story so very soon! I wrote it down somewhere in the fog of that first month so I wouldn’t forget. Now I just have to go back and read it to see if it makes any sense!
For the first few weeks back here, I’m going to do my best to post once or twice a week and work back up to three times a week. I have garden updates, book reviews, and more to share! Thanks for coming back and hanging with me while I work my way to finding our new normal.
As I’m sure you surmised from my very sudden absence, our THIRD baby boy arrived early last Tuesday, March 28. Aidan James joined us in the very early hours of the morning quite unexpectedly, but healthy and absolutely perfect in every way.
I have so many things to share about Aidan, and I can’t wait to do that once we get our feet under us as a family of five. I’ll see you all in a few weeks when things start to settle down at the Lane house. 🙂
Easter is sneaking up here quickly. April is going to be a particularly busy month at the Lane house. In addition to the holiday, Harrison’s birthday is in April AND we’ll be adding this third little one to our family…all within about two weeks of each other. I have been planning super early to make sure I’m ready for both celebrations in case little one decides they just can’t wait any longer.
I wanted to share how we did our Easter baskets last year because it was the most fun we’d had yet, and made the hunt last even longer. AND, I’m going to share how the Nathan and his family did Easter basket hunting as well, because I think it’s an amazing idea as well!
After the boys went to bed, the Easter Bunny took yarn in a specific color for each boy, and, starting at their bedroom door, thread the yarn all over the house. It went up high, it went down low. They criss-crossed each other all over the house. And the yarn ended at their Easter basket.
It’s also, worth noting, that it’s really hard to take a picture of what this look like….
We helped the boys in the morning each follow their yarn to find their Easter baskets, and they both loved the game!
I equally loved how the Lanes did Easter baskets when they were little, too. They would come up with a scavenger hunt for each kid. Each one had a different color of Easter egg, and they would solve their scavenger hunt clues that would take them all over the house, until the very last clue would lead them to their Easter basket’s hidden spot.
I think that’s the coolest idea ever!
I can’t decide which way we’ll go with this year….yarn maze or scavenger hunt, but I think they both make the Easter basket hunt significantly more fun!
What other cool ideas or traditions do you have in your family for Easter??
I just wrapped up my Week 34 OB visit. By this point in pregnancy, it feels like I spend more time at the doctor’s office than I do working some weeks. And given that we’re only about six-ish, or less, weeks out and I’ve done virtually no documenting of this pregnancy, I thought we’d do a little update.
Baby is growing so well! Given the area of the baby that our high-risk pregnancy doctors are watching closely, we’ve had growth ultrasounds every four weeks. The baby is measuring each scan around the 60th percentile and a few days days ahead of my due date. While the area they are monitoring hasn’t changed to “totally normal and no need to monitor further,” we’ve done all that we can at this point to understand what the remaining risks are for the baby and what it could potentially look for the baby after delivery. We’ve been able to eliminate completely some of the potential issues through additional testing. But now we wait and see…
Nathan and I are, for the most part, at peace with that. Although it was a road for me to get to a place where I could let it go and just trust God and our doctors.
I’ve had people ask what we are having this time. Annnnd. While we know what we are having, we aren’t sharing this time around. We had to do something different for this very last baby!
As far as readying ourselves to welcome this third little one, I have to admit that I feel very behind. We have moved the boys’ playroom from the remainder upstairs unused bedroom down to the basement. And we’ll use the former playroom as this little one’s nursery. And aside from that, I’ve done nothing to the room. I’m anxiously awaiting the painter to come and paint for me so I can start final prep of the room!
Then there’s the old question of how do I feel. I feel like I’m ready to be done with pregnancy. While I can caveat this with disclaimers that I’m absolutely so thankful that my body allows me to be pregnant, and that we have been really blessed to not struggle with conceiving, etc. I am ready to move to the next phase of life of raising our kids. My body certainly feels every bit of this third pregnancy. The aches and pains, the insomnia, the heartburn, the general discomfort from having feet kicking my ribs, the baby hiccups that always seem to happen when I lay down to go to sleep at night. I am very ready to have my body back to myself for forever.
And now we wait, and hope that the scans of this little one continue to be good. And hopefully get a nursery pulled together before it arrives! I feel all of the excitement and nervousness that comes as the end nears.
It’s almost Nathan’s birthday. We’re celebrating him this weekend, and I had planned a really fun blog post where he’d answer some questions about himself. I sent him the questions, to which he responded, “geez, these are really hard. When do you need these by again?” Always the man to do everything just in time at the last minute, I scrapped the “interview” and decided instead you’re getting Nathan Lane from Lauren’s perspective.
Why is Nathan a Denver Broncos fan? Because he doesn’t like to cheer for a winning team. Kidding! He reminds me constantly that the Broncos have won more Super Bowls in his lifetime than the Chiefs. He’s a Broncos fan because his parents and all extended family are from Colorado. Nathan was born in Colorado, and then moved to Kansas City relatively young. Did a brief stint in Dallas, Texas, and moved back to Kansas City around high school for him. He jokes, I think, that his dad would tell him and all of his siblings growing up that they can cheer for whoever they want, but he only allowed Broncos fans to live in the house. (Maybe that’s not a joke at all…)
What trait of Nathan’s do you wish you possessed more of? His luck. Is that a quality? I swear the man could fall into a pig stye and come out smelling like a rose. He just seems to be naturally lucky. If luck isn’t a trait, I’d say his adaptability. He can easily adapt to change, and I hate change.
Best thing that Nathan cooks? His burgers are the best ever. There are other things that he does really well, but the burgers take the cake for me.
What is always a Nathan job around your house? Mowing the grass. I know there are plenty of women that love mowing the grass, but I have never learned how to do it, and I have no desire to learn. I’ll learn out of necessity or hire somebody.
You’d be surprised to learn that…he has a very large rare bourbon collection. It became his hobby during COVID to collect limited release bourbons and hard to find bourbons. While the collecting has slowed down as he’s honed his taste, it’s really still quite a large stock. Someday, he wants a bourbon tasting room/bar in his basement.
Where did Nathan go to college? He went to K-State (or K-Stake, as the boys pronounce it) in Manhattan, KS. He started off, I believe, as an architecture student and ended it as an accounting major. I’d describe his interest being more broad, macro-level finance based versus accounting based. And truthfully, and we still say this now, he should have probably been an architect. His mind is naturally gifted at envisioning and designing buildings and structures. He designed both his parents backyard deck and our backyard patio. He’s re-designed our house more times than I can count, although, we’ve never gone through with the renovation. Maybe it will be a second career?
Who is more competitive: you or Nathan? Nathan. I hate losing, but Nathan haaaaaates losing. Hates with a lot of a’s. Especially at something that he believes he has the full capability to win. The stories that I hear about Nathan as a kid playing anything competitive, and quite frankly anything that was competitive and the need to make it into a competition, sound very similar to Harrison.
Nathan’s oddly picky about…his hair. Generally speaking, think his hair looks the exact same. Same styling day after day. Same haircut, time after time. But he will pick apart his hair.
I have a note on my calendar today that Kindergarten enrollment opens today. Kindergarten. Have we really already passed the baby, toddler and preschool years with our oldest? Oh my goodness. I’m so excited for him, and he’s so ready. And still, I’d just give anything to go back to one more day with this little boy…
And now I’m casually crying at my computer…He was always Harrison. From the minute he was born. I look back at it now, and I can see it ever so clearly. His contemplative nature and the need to figure things out. His a million miles a minute “Hurricane Harrison” was there from the beginning. The doer, goer, tryer, confident little boy was always there.
Here I am off on a tangent again. But, alas, it feels monumental. Kindergarten.
We had a good week. Started it off with some nicer weather and being able to play outside, and then Chiefs Superbowl spirit week at school! Here’s a look at some things that brought a smile to my face this week.
Speaking of Harrison, Nathan and Harrison got back from their annual boys’ ski trip to Breckenridge. I love that Nathan wants to do this trip. I smile just thinking about these two spending one-on-one time together. And Harrison seems to be a natural picking up another activity…