The Bailey Bunch Blog

Not a Sitcom, Real Life

Pink or Blue, We Welcome You!

Y’all, I’m finally getting to the homestretch of this pregnancy!!! I seriously could not be more excited to hold this little one in my arms instead of in my belly! I’m not the biggest fan of being pregnant, period, and this pregnancy has been rougher than my previous two. First, I found out about this child’s existence at just 3 weeks after conception, so to say it feels like this pregnancy has taken forever is the understatement of this year! Our early detection coupled with being pregnant all summer long has been a recipe for extreme sweaty discomfort, plus this little one hasn’t taken it easy on me. It’s been 34 weeks filled with nausea, sciatic back pain, heartburn, extreme sleepiness, and of course all of the usual side affects like pregnancy brain, restless nights, far too frequent potty breaks and of course that glorious weight gain…see why I’m not the biggest fan of being pregnant?!

Greta graced us with her presence naturally at 37 weeks, so naturally, I’m expecting this little one to do the same, if not quicker! Basically I’m fully expecting and preparing for an October baby 😉 We shall see!

The diapers are bought, the hand-me-downs are washed, I’ve even got the baby bag packed and ready to go! All of the essentials are essentially complete, so now it’s on to the good stuff! I’ve been crafting away making the baby a welcome banner, and the kids personalized shirts — it’s been fun! But another thing I love to do is compile a list of old wives tales to try to “guess” what the gender of the baby will be! I blogged about this with Greta, and thought I would do so with this baby as well 🙂

1.) High VS Low…they say if a pregnant woman is carrying high, it’s a girl, low, it’s a boy.

ME – This baby changes it up on me! One day it feels super low like it’s going to fall out of me, and the next it feels pretty high, like it’s using my ribs as monkey bars. You be the judge…

2.) The Ring Swing – they say if you hold your wedding ring on a string over your belly it will either swing in a circle for a boy or side to side for a girl.

ME – This totally freaked me out! The ring stopped moving, and then the baby started moving, and the ring started swinging crazy fast from side to side! I got up to get my phone to take a video of it, but it didn’t do it like that again, but the first time it was so obviously side to side!

3.) Skin Changes – they say if your skin breaks out during pregnancy, it’s a girl because she’s “stealing your beauty”. They say baby boys will give you smooth skin.

ME – No real acne issues this pregnancy, however I have developed an age spot on my chin…!

4.) Baking Soda Test – they say if you urinate into a cup with baking soda in it, if you’re having a boy, it will foam up and look like a beer. No foam equals a girl.

ME – Mine was super flat this go around! But what is comical is that Greta’s foamed up so high there was more foam than pee!

Above is the Baking Soda Test from this pregnancy. Below is the pregnancy test from Greta’s pregnancy.

5.) Baby’s Heartbeat – it’s said if the baby’s heart rate is under 140, it’s a boy, anything faster, it’s a girl! My Doctor laughed and said “a beating heart only means a healthy baby!”

ME – This baby’s heart rate always jumps around between 140-150…which is the same as both Beau and Greta 😉 At today’s Ultrasound, the heartrate was 144.

6.) Cravings – It’s said if a mom to be is craving sweets it’s a girl, more salty foods, it’s a boy.

ME – I’ve not really had any crazy craving! I’ve really enjoyed going to Jersey Mike’s this pregnancy (I loved SubWay with Greta and Kraft Mac and Cheese and Ooodles of Noodles with Beau lol) I enjoy snacking on Pringles, which I don’t usually eat, and I ALWAYS enjoy ice cream!

7.) Chinese Calendar – Many go off the Chinese Birth Calendar to predict the sex of their baby…try it for yourself with your kiddos 🙂 http://www.babycenter.com/chinese-gender-predictor

ME – It says a girl! It also said that both Beau and Greta were going to be girls…so 50/50 on that one haha!

8.) Spousal Support – It’s said if your spouse gains weight with you, then get ready for a baby girl!

Me – He’s stayed pretty steady with his weight

9.) Morning Sickness – This is a big GIRL sign! No nausea means a boy!

ME – This pregnancy has been my only morning sickness of my 3 pregnancies! I thought for sure I was having twins in the beginning because this one has been SO different than the previous two! Lots of nausea in that first trimester, and even a little bit in my 2nd and 3rd trimesters.

10.) Toddler Test – They say if a toddler shows interest in a pregnant lady, you can expect the opposite gender to be in your belly.

ME – I’ve really not been around too many other toddlers than my own and both have been super loving towards me! Beau typically is more of a Daddy’s boy, but he’s been a little more attached to me than usual, and Greta has always been and continues to be a Mama’s girl.

11.) Older Sibling Test – If the older siblings hairline across the neck naturally goes to a point, it means your next child will be the opposite gender. If the older siblings hairline naturally goes straight across the neck, then the next child will be the same gender.

ME – Greta’s hairline very clearly goes into a point, which would indicate we are having a boy! Beau’s hairline also goes into a point, so this test was correct for him! If we have a boy, I totally buy into this test! If it’s a girl, well, then I think genetically my babies just have hairlines that go into a point!

 

12.) Mom’s Intuition – They say 71% of Mom’s are correct on their guesses.

ME – Well, I thought Beau was a girl, and I thought for sure Greta was a boy so I don’t fall in line with the 71% haha! I’ve felt this baby was a boy for most of the pregnancy but now I am leaning more towards a girl!

13.) Pregnancy Dreams – It is said your gender can be revealed through your dreams…

ME – Of all the crazy pregnancy dreams I’ve had I’ve not had one about the baby! However, Beau recently told me he had a dream the baby was a girl — and was sure to tell me that he didn’t want it to be a girl haha!

14.) Mood Test – A woman in a relatively good mood is said to be carrying a boy, while a cranky woman is believed to be having a girl.

ME –  This has been my most miserable pregnancy yet! I feel I was also miserable with Beau, and a little more pleasant with Greta…

So, of my 14 tests, 4 say boy, 6 say girl and 4 are inconclusive. We seriously have no clue which makes us all the more excited! Part of me totally thinks it’s a boy because Beau has been SO sure it’s a boy and won’t even fancy the thought of it being another sister! I also thought it could be a boy because I only had sciatic back pain with Beau and I was super miserable with his pregnancy and I’m super miserable with this one…I was only semi-miserable with Greta hahaha! Another part of me totally feels like this little one is another girl! I really started feeling this after Beau said he had a dream it was girl! I also strongly felt this baby was a girl when I saw the face in 3D at a recent Ultrasound…my first thought was “My goodness, this baby looks EXACTLY like Greta!” My mom made me laugh when she put the Ultrasound photo next to a recent photo of Greta sleeping!! I mean, there is no denying these two are siblings…am I right?!

So, what do you think? Boy or Girl?! Weigh in below by clicking the link below 🙂

Our Pregnancy Pool

Either way, we couldn’t be more excited to meet our newest little one and welcome him or her into the world and into The Bailey Bunch 🙂

Be Blessed + Be A Blessing

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Under The Stairs Crafting Closet

I’m still trying to wrap my head around baby number three’s impending arrival…baby is growing, moving and grooving inside of me, but it still doesn’t quite feel real! I’ve had a super lazy pregnancy thus far…there isn’t much I feel like doing other than lounging around, but y’all, I’m getting there, and though the days (and nights!) are long, I know in actuality, the time before baby makes his or her grand debut is going to fly!

Thankfully, nesting has set in. I’m slowly but surely preparing for our newest addition, and that all started by making room for this little one! Who would have thought that in just 5 years time we would be starting to outgrow the seemingly huge house we purchased?! When we bought our home, it was just Patrick and I, and I seriously had anxiety about filling all of our empty rooms…now I’m seriously having anxiety about all of the stuff overflowing from our rooms!

We needed to make room for baby, but where?! We have exactly zero family members who live in town, so it’s important to us to keep our guest bedroom since we very frequently host guests. I would very much so like to maintain nap time (AKA my sanity!) in our home, so putting Beau and Greta together is definitely out of the question, and I wouldn’t dare put the baby with either one of them! I knew the only solution was to part ways with my beloved craft room 🙁

While I was okay with giving up this space for our new little one, I was not okay giving up my favorite hobby! Time may be a little more sparse now, but when the itch to create comes on, Mama has to scratch it! I needed to find a way to keep a space in our home that is just mine and with the help of my handy husband, we did just that! In a weekends time, we flipped the scary looking under the stairs closet into a crafter’s little dream nook! Check out this before and after and what is now my crafting closet…

And now, I’m going to fill you in on how you can create your own crafting closet!

1.) We first put up some drywall on the sides to give the area a more polished look. What a world of a difference it made!

2.) We wanted this project to be as cost effective as possible, so we used a lot of what I already had in my craft room 🙂 We used the Recollections Cubes (Found at any Michael’s Stores!) that my crafting table once sat upon, for the back of the closet. This provided me with tons of storage options! We stacked two sets of four cubes side-by-side. The possibilities are truly endless with this fantastic craft organizing system!

3.) Hubby installed more drywall around the cubes to assure that nothing could fall and get lost behind them. This little area allowed the perfect place to store rolls of my wrapping paper!

4.) My hubby then created more storage by creating shelves out of the remaining reachable stairs 🙂

5.) I painted my new space with glitter paint! Keep reading…you know I’ll share how you can easily glitter your paint too!

6.) We installed a simple but pretty crystal light fixture!

When I showed the before and after photos, friends and family were truly amazed at the outcome, and the quick turn around time! We hustled to get it done, but this was truly just a weekend project. It wasn’t terribly difficult, and the Recollections Cubes made our work so much simpler!

 I installed more storage on the door thanks to the amazing Elfa System from the Container Store! I chose to make this my wrapping station, since I realized during my big craft room clean out that I have a SERIOUS problem when it comes to buying wrapping paper – lol! The number of rolls of gift wrap I have is a little embarrassing…Home Goods makes it way too easy with their seriously low prices for thick paper with super cute prints!!

Now, the glitter paint!!! Y’all, so stinking simple! I just added a pack of Valspar Paint Crystals to a little bit of paint and did a light top coat with it. The entire closet just sparkles thanks to it! It made for the perfect finishing touch!

Instead of installing a table in this super small space, I decided to utilize the rolling paper organizer I already had. Now I just roll it out to where I’m going to craft instead of having to go back and continually grab more paper 🙂

So glad to have this pre-baby project complete! Now, on to the nursery…!

Be Blessed + Be A Blessing

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Cuts And Contracts

Three years ago today, Patrick’s NFL career ended when he was cut from the Tennessee Titans. I’ll never forget that day, nor the spot where I was when I got that crushing news. I was driving and had to pull over from the shock of it. We thought he had made the team, we thought he was safe. Patrick made the initial 53-man roster, but we waited the weekend to share this good fortune, knowing that last minute cuts and shuffles were likely. After a few hours in the building on that Monday, without being summoned to the coaches office, Patrick gave me the go-ahead to share the news with our family and friends, that he would be spending another year in the two-toned blue. He spent the morning in meetings and voted on team captains. It wasn’t until he was taped up and ready to head out to practice that he was summoned by “the undertaker”, the man you didn’t want to see coming your direction during cuts.

The announcement of our “good fortune” was posted to my Facebook account not even an hour before I had to reiterate the news to our friends and family. It was a perfect example of just how fast the NFL moves. One minute you’re in it, the next, you’re not. It was the real reality of the NFL lifestyle.

I remember both of us being strangely okay that day. I think we were both in a bit of shock. The days, weeks and months after got harder though. Waiting to find out what was “next” for us seemed unbearable. At the time I thought our “next” would be another team, but it wasn’t. Little did I know that it would take God almost three years to the day to reveal our next…!

After a year of “waiting”, two years spent in Graduate School and months of interning and interviewing, Patrick has finally accepted his newest job position! We are so excited to share that Patrick has signed a contract with a company called Asurion, and will be a Senior Strategic Pricing Analyst there! Asurion is a worldwide company based in Nashville and provides insurance and extended warranties for electronics, appliances and other goods. This local company wasn’t initially on Patrick’s radar, but a recruiter paired the two and it really seems to be a good match for him! We are excited for this opportunity and overjoyed that we get to stay in Nashville!

These three years haven’t been the easiest, but we’ve learned so much from them. I’m thankful for the lessons learned, but I’m even more so thankful to see our chapter of “waiting” come to a close finally. At times I doubted we would get here, but God is faithful, and God is good! We’ve always trusted His plan for our lives, and are excited to see those plans unfold with Asurion. Patrick officially starts his new job on September 11th, so we will be soaking up his last 10 days of “unemployment” with lots of time spent together as a family! I will miss having my mans helping hands around the house 24/7, but I know he is excited to be promoted from Stay At Home Dad 😉 Please keep us in your prayers during this new transition as I knew the kids are going to miss having their Daddy around all the time!

Be Blessed + Be A Blessing

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Blitz Your Life

My husband, Patrick, met our friend, Tim Shaw, when they both became Tennessee Titans on the same exact day. Patrick had just been cut by the Pittsburgh Steelers, while Tim had just been released from the Chicago Bears. Both men were Linebackers who were brought in by Tennessee to beef up the Titans Special Teams unit.

Less than 24 hours prior to the quick move to Nashville, Patrick had asked me to marry him. I worried about my new fiance as I said goodbye to him at the airport that morning, but when we chatted at night he assured me he was okay saying “I made a new friend today, his name is Tim.” I would come to hear a lot about Tim over the next few months. The two became fast friends off the field, roommates even, while on the road. On the field, they made quite the impactful pair! There are few photos we have of a tackle that Patrick made that Tim isn’t also in – whether in on the hit or congratulating after, Tim was just always nearby.

Patrick and Tim together put the “Special” in the Titans Special Teams 🙂 The two really helped to turn the struggling unit around for the Titans!

Though I visited Patrick in Nashville a few times that season, I didn’t meet Tim until Patrick and I’s wedding day. He was Patrick’s only Titan teammate who was able to make the trip into Pittsburgh for our special day. I know it meant a lot to Patrick having him there! One memory I have of him from that day is when our DJ played Boston’s “More Than A Feeling”, a song I had requested be played for Patrick, and it was literally the ONLY song that the dance floor was relatively clear for. I remember asking Tim to get Patrick out on the dance floor because I had this song played for him and he immediately did so. I smile at the memory of the two rocking out on their air guitars! That’s Tim for you, a good-time having, just plain and simple good guy who would do absolutely anything you ask of him!

Tim has blown me away numerous times in our friendship with him. From organizing volunteer opportunities, inviting us to church with him, to showing up at the hospital to visit us when our son, Beau, was born, Tim has always just been a good guy! A guy you don’t mind your husband bringing around…a guy you want to set your single girlfriends up with…a guy you want your son to grow up to be like…

 

He’s a good guy who doesn’t deserve his fate at hand, yet he’s never blown me away more than now, watching him fight for his life and inspire millions along the way.

In 2014, Tim was diagnosed with ALS, a disease that attacks the entire body while leaving the brain unscathed. I’ll never forget the day I learned this news. I was walking Radnor Lake when a friend questioned me about Tim’s diagnosis. Shock and disbelief filled me to my core. After a call to another friend, the fear that filled me was confirmed, the awful rumor was indeed true. My heart felt like it was the recipient of one of Tim and Patrick’s tag-team tackles, because I knew I now had to break this devastating news to Patrick. It was a difficult day for both of us.

I don’t think you truly believe a diagnosis like ALS to a man like Tim until you start to see it take it’s toll. Watching Tim’s large football player muscles start to disintegrate and hearing his always confident speech begin to slur — it’s heartbreaking. But the contradiction in Tim’s fight is that for a disease that robs you of your body and coordination and turns you into a klutz, for lack of a better word, Tim has handled his diagnosis and his fight with nothing but grace.

Tim recently documented his diagnosis, what he’s learned through it, and life in general, in a book called “Blitz Your Life”. Much like the man that Tim is, this isn’t a book about “him” — but rather about people he knows who have inspired him throughout his life. It is a must read, pick me up book that will give you a fresh perspective on life. You can easily purchase your copy from Amazon or pick it up at a nearby bookstore, but today I’m going to give away a copy to one of my readers 🙂 Just drop some words of encouragement for Tim to read in the comments section to be entered into a drawing for the book.

If you feel inclined to do so, please feel free to donate to the ALS Foundation to honor Tim and support his team, TShawstronG. While you’re on the site, please consider walking with us on September 23rd, 2017 if you are in the Nashville area!

 I often wonder, “Why Tim? How is it that Patrick was spared? Why wasn’t it someone else?” The sad and hard truth is, I don’t think Patrick, or most other men for that matter, could handle this disease in the way that Tim can and does. The platform that he stands upon is far higher than the platform of his NFL career, and far greater than the platform he would have been upon had he become a successful NFL reporter post football as he had wished (Check out his online segment for the Titans called “T-Shaw’s Truth” where he showed fans inside the locker room and behind the scenes with the players!) Tim is changing the world for so many others through his demonstration of hope for a cure, and his will to fight this disease, all while praising the name of Jesus! This man is an inspiration to the world, bringing light to the darkness of this disease. When I think of Tim’s fight, I can’t help but think of Christ. Neither man deserved their fate, but both humbly accepted, and both changed the world in a positive way by doing so.

In closing I’d like to share a recent video that Tim posted of him sharing his truth…TShaw’s Truth.

Be Blessed + Be A Blessing

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Pirate Themed Pregnancy Reveal: We Arrrgh Having Another Baby!

It’s been a LONG time since I’ve posted…I hope you now understand WHY!!! Patrick and I “Arrrgh” expecting our 3rd baby!!

This bambino hasn’t taken it easy on me! Little one has made his or her presence known from the very start with extreme morning sickness and other ailments, to a budding baby bump much earlier than I’ve been accustomed to with my past babies!

The story of this child is as memorable as this pregnancy has been so far 😉 Baby Bailey was conceived on my Birthday! I know this because I happened to run out of birth control and missed my scheduled annual appointment…because it was totally my fault, I felt bad calling and asking for the favor of another prescription without being seen, so I scheduled my appointment for 2-3 weeksish post my last pill. In that time, it happened to be my Birthday…! I’ll never forget us contemplating the situation we were in…

Me: We could use a condom…

Patrick: We can’t use a condom on your Birthday!

Me: That’s true, that’s no fun…I mean I JUST ended my prior packet…I’m in the first week…we should be safe…

Patrick: If it happens then it’s meant to be…

Me: Yes, if it happens then it’s meant to be…

Well, meant to be this baby is! In fact, we got a real good laugh when we saw that this child who was conceived on MY Birthday is actually due on Patrick’s Birthday!!! Guess what Patrick’s NOT getting on his Birthday…! Hahaha!

How I found out is pretty much movie worthy…while at my annual appointment, I chatted with the nurse about how I would love more children in the future, but that for now I’d like a new prescription of birth control. I wish there was a camera catching my surprise when she said “Well, that’s not going to be necessary because you’re pregnant now!” Pure shock! I mean I knew we took a chance, but I didn’t really think we’d conceive…

So there I sat, 14 pounds above the pre-baby weight that I had previously gotten down to and intended to get back down to before conceiving again. Shocked and admittedly a little scared that I was doing this again and not at all in my timing. I wanted Patrick to have graduated from Grad school…I wanted him to have a job nailed down…I wanted to know if we had to pack up our home and move for that said job! There were SO MANY uncertainties in our life, and now we went and added a baby to that mix of maddess! I felt a little reckless to be honest…

I didn’t know how exactly Patrick would handle the news that we were expecting again, but he handled it surprisingly well! In fact, I think his response to this baby was my favorite of all of his responses! I absolutely love the way I shared the news with him 🙂 I let him put the kids down for their naps solo, and when he came downstairs I pressed record on my phone and play on my computer, and as Darrel Worley sang his song “Family Tree”, I asked him to dance with me. The adorable lyrics quickly gave my secret away…

“Come on baby, baby let’s go
Where we get the money honey I don’t know
One more baby’s alright by me
We’ll just add another limb to the family tree…”

Could there be more fitting lyrics for an unemployed Grad school student to find out they are expecting another baby?! I think not!!! I’d like to invite you to share in our sweet moment by watching the recording of it!

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 I love this video so much that I thought about making it our announcement! I had been so sick and so tired that I didn’t really have the energy to think up anything else. My mom is actually the one who came up with our Pirate themed share 🙂 Less than an hour before Beau’s 4th Birthday party, I was making our iron on shirts with the help of my nifty Cricut Machine. My mom said “you should put a baby on your belly!” I literally had one little piece of the iron on material left, so I decided to not let it go to waste! “We Arrrrgh Having Another Baby” came to mind and BAM! Our newsworthy share was complete in similar grandeur fashion as my other babies…3rd baby getting shafted in this house…psh…not yet at least!!!!

With Beau, we hosted a Halloween costume party and during the judging portion, Patrick flagged me for “Holding…A Baby In The Belly” 🙂 Very fitting as he was still playing football at the time with the Tennessee Titans!

And after finding out I was pregnant with Greta at a baby shower (I for real took a pregnancy test in a restaurant bathroom because I couldn’t wait haha!) I went home and crafted this sign while Patrick mowed the grass! And then patiently waited for him to come find Beau and I hiding out in his room 🙂

     

I’m glad this little one had a special share as well 🙂 It makes me feel like I’ve somewhat still have it together…

In regular Bailey fashion, we will not find out the gender! We thought about it, but ultimately decided that not knowing is just too much fun for us! It’s just our thang y’all! We do however have the names selected and will share them 🙂

If we have a boy, his name will be Brooks Preston George Bailey. Brooks was going to be Greta’s name if she was a boy, so this is a fairly firm name, though anything can happen with us, as you can tell from Greta, who was supposed to be Charlotte! I just love the name Brooks Bailey – sounds like a little southern gentleman, am I right?! Brooks is actually a family name. My grandfathers brother was named “William Brooks”. Patrick’s Grandma’s maiden name was Preston, so that is where Preston comes into play. George is a family name, I had a great uncle George who always pulled half dollars out of my ears, but that’s just a bonus. George is sneaking in there because this is likely our last baby, and my favorite movie character is “George Bailey” from “It’s A Wonderful Life” — can you think of a better movie character to be named after?! I can’t! Patrick says I will have to choose between the two middle names, but I suspect I can get my way after birthing another baby 😉

If we have a girl, her name will likely be Lillie-Belle Louise Bailey. Here in Franklin, Tennessee, there is a cute little event space called Lillie-Belle’s. It used to be the cutest little restaurant during the week that celebrated tea-time with a simple but delicious lunch menu! The restaurant has since closed, but it is still a trendy spot to host weddings and showers. When it was open, Patrick said, “Lillie-Belle Bailey would make a pretty cute baby name!” so she would essentially be named because of that conversation while having lunch at Lillie-Belle’s! I had a Great Aunt Lil who was a gem of a lady, just a real fun gal who drove a VW Bug until she died, so I would pray that our little Lillie-Belle would have her Great-Great Aunt Lil’s same spunk for life! Patrick again says I am not going to get 2 middle names with this one, but I don’t think of “Belle” as her middle name as she would be called “Lillie-Belle”. Louise is my Mom’s middle name, and my Dad’s is Louis…so it’s only right, right?! 😉

Patrick thinks we are having a girl, and I think we are having a boy. I’ve been wrong both times with my motherly instinct haha. When we ask Beau what he would like, he say’s he’d like “The Boss Baby” – true story! I think that means he wants a brother 😉 And Greta says she wants a sister! So we are a house divided! Whoever this baby will be, we are honored to have it be a part of our family!

This child wasn’t planned, that is for certain! I cringe at the thought of an entire summer pregnant, and we still have no idea if we will have to move for Patrick’s job when he finds one…it’s been a tough pregnancy so far, and I’m sure it will continue to be in these ways. This child may not have been in “our plans”, but he or she is certainly a part of God’s plan. Though most days I wonder how I’m going to handle 3 under 4, I have to remember that if God finds me worthy and capable, then I am! I have to remind myself through my fear and struggles that many women hope and pray for the blessing of a child. I am so unbelievably lucky to be experiencing this miracle at this moment. At the end of the day, I’m humbled that God has found us worthy to raise up another child, and I place my full trust in Him as He trusts me with another one of His greatest gifts!

Please do keep us in your prayers. Please pray protection over this child as it grows in my womb…please pray energy over me, as I am seriously lacking in that department these days…and please pray provision of a job for Patrick – preferably in the Nashville area so we don’t have to move! We have faith God will provide all of the above, but please pray patience as we wait for his provision of these requests.

Thanks for reading my latest post! Sorry I have been MIA…it’s been a little more crazy than I’m used to but I guess I’ll have to get used to that and find a way to make it my new norm 😉

Be Blessed + Be A Blessing

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