I just recently learned that a condition, which I have experienced many times, has an actual name, and that many suffer from this psychophilosophy following a stressful event. It is called the Let-Down Effect. Have you ever wondered how you “made it” through a stressful period with ease, only to get sick afterwards, or experience physical and emotional symptoms that affect your everyday life? This has happened to me on multiple occasions. I have had people say to me while going through a stressful time with Sayla, “I don’t know how you do it.” Well, apparently, it’s because of the Almighty, and the hormones he created such as glucocorticoids, catecholamines, and adrenaline.
Is there anything more refreshing than an ice-cold lemonade on a hot summer day? I don’t think so! We were gifted the sweetest lemonade stand by our neighbors next door that they had used fifteen years ago with their daughters in our same neighborhood. I was so excited and grateful for this gift, since I knew it would be a great opportunity to spread some cheer in our neighborhood, and also be a way to teach Pax a little bit about entrepreneurship. He was thrilled about serving lemonade and getting the stand ready for business. We had four different beverage options to serve, and in compliance with precautionary health and safety measures, each item for sale was freshly prepackaged. Unfortunately, our stand signage was a little misleading since nothing was freshly squeezed…maybe next year? I think that Pax may be quite the businessman as he literally chased people walking down the sidewalk to offer them lemonade, and made sure everyone got a straw with their purchase, and of course Pepper followed his every move. Pax had his piggy bank ready, and told everyone he was saving up for Magnatiles. At one point I got pretty thirsty out in the heat and decided I could go for a lemonade myself. I told Pax that I didn’t have any money expecting him to be his sweet usual self and just give me one anyway, but instead he stepped back and said, “Ohhhh, I’m going to leave your drink right here until you go get your money, Mom.” So basically, he learned how it all worked very quickly. It was a big hit and we hope to do it again soon!
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Since moving into our home two years ago, I have taken my time in decorating. My goal has been to design each room individually, finish to completion, and stick to a budget. I absolutely love designing my kids’ rooms. Somehow, we got really lucky, and Pax did not decide to climb out of his crib until after he turned three years old this past January! Once that happened, it was his turn to have his own space with a big boy design.
After our Make-A-Wish Disney World trip for Sayla, in 2016, I said I could never go back due to the royal treatment we received during our stay, and thinking no other trip could compare. Well, here we are four years later, and two more kids later, we decided to go back. This stay at Disney was very different than our last, but still just as wonderful. The hardest part was not having Sayla there to enjoy it with us this time! We found out a few months ago that children under three years old, can go to Disney for free. This is what prompted us to go on this trip now with Pax (2 years old), and Pepper (14 months), instead of waiting until they are a little older. We actually flew home the day before Pax turned three. I had several people message me during, and after our trip asking questions regarding taking toddlers to Disney World. We learned A LOT on our trip, so hopefully this post will be both entertaining, and informative!
Today is our baby’s due date, but we had our scheduled cesarean five days ago! Since we knew the exact date our baby would enter this world, most of our family (including both sets of grandparents) were able to be present for the big day. Our friends and family celebrated with a Birth Day party in the Labor and Delivery lobby, while I was in surgery, as they patiently waited for the gender reveal announcement from Patrick. One of my brothers, who does videography and photography, was able to be present and document this special occasion for us.
Disclaimer: No one was harmed in the making of this video. I promise my mom is okay.
I will spare you the details, but unfortunately my last two cesarean births were somewhat traumatic. My prayer during this whole pregnancy was that I would have a positive birth experience that would be calm and joyful. One of the ways I imagined my birth to be joyful, was by finding out the gender during the surgery. We have kept the baby’s gender a surprise this entire pregnancy, and lovingly referred to this baby as “Pepper” Parker, since it has been extremely active and caused me lots of heartburn.
I have thought the baby was a boy the entire pregnancy, and my husband has guessed girl. As you can see in the video, we had a sign given to us right before delivery. Our girl name did not fit the baby born to us with a head full of dark curly hair, and dark eyes. This baby just looked like a “Pepper.” The nickname stuck and we now have a Pepper Fawn Parker. The delivery was perfect and everything I had hoped and prayed for. We are so thankful to God for blessing us with this angel who is fearfully and wonderfully made, and completes our family.
