Framily

A few weekends ago my parent's hosted a bonfire for our big group of people I like to call our framily. You know those people who are friends, but they have been such a large part of your life, they've been by your side for all of the happy times like weddings, birthdays, and births but, have also been there for all the really tough times like deaths, injuries, and money troubles? Yeah, those people, they deserve to be one step up from a friend, and that's why I like to call them "framily"! :)

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It was the perfect weekend to just unplug, enjoy the first day of crisp air, s'mores, fire roasted hot dogs, and most of all friendship. The majority of my memories growing up are with these people. Superbowl parties, 4th of July, New Years, family vacations, mission trips, weekend get-away's...yep, all memories with these fine folks. Our group continually gets bigger as the years go on and all of the "kids" are getting married and having babies...and I LOVE it!



My dad is a "go big or go home" type of guy, can't you tell?!




The big girls helping Poppie set everything up!



They took a break for a little fun in the swing though. These girls are just at the start of a lifetime of friendship. Cousin's make the best friends. I don't have a lot of cousin's (4 total to be exact) and I know that no matter what's going on in life or if it's been six months since we have seen each other I can always count on them to have my back! I know these two are going to be no different!



This is what Wyatt and I were doing :)



Bonfire time!! This is all the kiddo's except Jaxon. He's only 6 months old and I think everyone was a little too busy to hold a baby for the picture! Group photo at its finest!!






S'more's with Poppie and Papa!

Me and my main girls!



Pure childhood bliss! Everyone chase the boy!!




Nope, not one bit of sass in this picture! #yeahright



Wagon ride time! God bless grandma's! :)



Frankie playing in the hay!

It was an amazing Sunday to say the least! Perfect way to kick of the cooler temps and new season!
I love these people with my whole heart and pray that our generation can and will keep this group of friendship's alive for the year's to come.

I am so thankful for my parent's and their dedication to being good friends even when times are tough. Now that I am a parent I often think how lucky I am, to have the parent's that I do. I mean they did a phenomenal job at raising my siblings and I. I just don't mean teaching us how to say please and thank you, or respecting our elders. Yes, that stuff is important, but they also taught us so much by their actions. Taking meals to people in need, being our little league soccer coach, having family work days in the yard and our elderly neighbors yard. They taught us the importance of family dinner, writing thank you notes, and always making our house feel like a home to anyone who entered. It was their choice 30 years ago to decide they were going to get involved in a church and find friends that they knew they would make a lifetime of memories with. I just pray I make friendships a priority and my girls see that friends are some of the most important people in life. They are the ones that will be there for you in the toughest times and the best times.  I want our girls to learn by example how to be a good friend from Pete and I (I could go on and on about this topic, but I will stop so that no one's eye's go crossed from too much reading). Finding a Godly group of friends that we laugh, cry, and just enjoy the simple moments in life with. Those people are what make the memories sweeter. Thank you mom and dad, and all the other "parents" of the framily group. Thank you for making your friendships a priority. I don't think you will ever know what an impact it has made on your children.

The internal roller coaster of a working mama

Pete and I probably have the same conversation once a month. Any other working mama of small kids knows how it goes.. "I hate work, I wish I could just stay home with the kids all day"! Then the next sentence is how much I love my job and I need the adult interaction and staying home is not for me.
So, yesterday was my day off since I work Saturday's, and I really just thought all day about how grateful I am for my job and what it is teaching me, but also, more importantly what it is teaching my children. Zetta is at an age where she understand where I am going and such. She knows my work shirt, and when she has to go to work with me she throws her arms in the air and lets out a big "yahoo" before we even make the turn into the mall parking lot. I had to run into work yesterday morning before we opened because I needed to exchange money to get them smaller change before the day started. Which means we all have to load up, go to the bank(where she also knows that they have suckers), and unload at my work so I could take the money inside. I know I work at a kids entertainment center, so it is obviously a fun place for her to go, but she just kept saying, "mommy's work, yahoo" all morning. It just changed my whole attitude. I need to be grateful that we got to choose when she started any type of outside preschool or daycare. We have family around that takes time out of their lives to come watch my girls and wants to be an influence in their life. I need to be grateful that I am teaching my children that Pete and I go to work so that we can provide for our family. I feel like working moms get a bad wrap sometimes because "someone else is raising our children". I am extremely thankful for the job that I have and the flexibility that I have when we are in a bind, or the fact that I can bring Nora to work and wear her around while I do my job. Not many places allow things like that and it really is a perfect fit for our family. Yes, the job has a few negatives, but what job doesn't? After yesterday, and having to run in on my day off, usually that changes my attitude for the whole day. I get aggravated and let it affect the whole day. But yesterday, I didn't. I usually get stressed out on my day off and run around like a crazy person trying to clean my house, go to the grocery, cook a few meals for the week, laundry, etc. But yesterday, I just set all of those jobs aside and spent the whole day focusing on my girls. We went to the library, lunch, they both took amazing naps and I sat on the couch and watch stupid reality TV the whole time, then we drove down to Sikeston and visited with a few friends. I had the best day. It was like I hit the reset button. I am okay that I have to go to work today, because I know I am doing what is best for ME and MY FAMILY and that is what matters most. I just want to encourage all those working mama's out there that struggle with the same internal battle of guilt. It is okay that you are working. It is okay that your kids are going to a childcare facility. They are learning and playing with other kids and that is just helping them learn to share and be independent people. It is okay that sometimes you eat pizza for dinner and have dirt on the floor. Because you are teaching your children that working is a good thing, and you are doing your best to provide the best life for your family. Don't ever let someone tell you different. Mom wars can get pretty ugly these days but if you focus on your family and whats best for you, that is all that matters.

I know that got a little deep at points but I needed to let it out. For myself, and any other mom that struggles with going to work. I feel like I am finally at a place emotionally that I am okay. I know I am doing whats right, and I need to cling to that when others try to put me down. 
Have an awesome day! We are going to cheer on the Redhawks tonight and kick off the start of college football! WoooHoo! The best time of the year!

Welcome to the world Nora Katherine

Daddy with his new baby girl

Getting all checked out

Cousin's headed in to see baby Nora

Nora Katherine Ressler//Born 2:25pm//8pounds 14 ounces//20.5 inches long. My heart is so full

Me with my two precious babies

First family photo

Sister's and cousin's. Those girls are going to be the best of friends.

Proud Eesie and Poppie

Be still my heart!

Is that a baby doll? ;)

Proud Aunt Em

Cousin Wyatt checking it all out. He's going to be the sweetest cousin with all these girls around.

Haha. This was the second day. Zetta was ready to have her parent's home. Sweet girl.

She was worn out!

Heading home!

Can't forget about the girl who made me a mama!

Nora's birth story:
We knew we were going to be getting induced early due to the fact that I have large babies! We headed to the hospital when the clock struck midnight on Monday the 24th. Actually, funny story, we were suppose to be there at midnight, but Pete and I both fell asleep on the couch and woke up about 1am. We scurried around, packed our bags, I ate a sandwich because I knew what was about to come, and then we took off! We live about 3 minutes from the hospital so we got there quick. The check in nurse was so slow, but we finally got checked in and I got hooked up and going about 2 am. We slept on and off until the nurses switched out at 7am. Then, after being bothered every hour all night we decided to just wake up for the day. I went into the hospital dilated to 4cm, but really hadn't progressed much since. Around 10am I really started to feel my contractions, so I went ahead with the epidural. That whole process went smooth, and I tried to take a nap after that. I really started to feel all of my contractions again, so they had the  anesthesiologist come back. She gave me a few different things (honestly, I can't remember what, but it made the pain go away so I didn't care.) and I was ready to go. I could tell when she was in there that my contractions were getting pretty close and painful, and I was scared she was going to numb me too much, then I wouldn't be able to feel when to push. So, while she was getting it all straighten out, when a contraction would come I would just kind of do a little push while I was sitting there. I guess I shouldn't have been doing that though, because the next time the nurse came in, she checked me and I was at a 10. She was like wow, let's have this baby. I got all up and organized  (if you know what I mean) and she wanted me to do a practice push before we started actually pushing. Well, I did one practice push and she made me get out of the stirups and call Dr. Cugini! I couldn't believe I was that close! All those little pushes did more than I thought! Dr. Cugini got there and I did two pushes for her and then we heard that beautiful cry! I could not believe it! I pushed for over two hours with Zetta, so I was expecting it to be a long process again! Praise God it was not! Easiest birth ever and thankful our little girl was here!! My family was in the waiting room, but we told Pete's family that I was going to start pushing so they had about 2 hours before family could come in probably, so they were back at work (15 minutes away) but were there pretty quick. For some reason we didn't get any pictures of them with Nora at the hospital. Kind of bummed about that!! Anyway, Nora is here and doing great, we couldn't be more thankful!