I have finally returrrrrned! 😀 & it feels so good! I have missed writing so much. Was it difficult for me to stay away? Well, let’s just say I’ve stashed enough Blog prompts to last me until March of next year.

First things first (I’ve been waiting for this) I would like to introduce the newest member of our ohana to Deep Sea Parenting, Oliver! My first born son & little brother to Pepper. Here is a short video of Jason bringing Oliver into our home for the very first time. 😀

On September 25th, 2017 @ Hilo Hopsital, we welcomed a healthy baby boy into this world. Oliver Pearce Janado Elliott came in at a healthy 7 lb. & 13 oz. with the length of 21 inches. As of today he is 2 months old and looking a lot chubbier than he did in that video:

It’s really hard to stop bragging, but now that the introduction has been made official, let’s move on. Second on today’s blog, a short read on why I up & left Deep Sea Parenting without notice. Let’s dive right in, shall we?

Before maternity leave even came to mind, I was under the impression that I would be working all the way up until the day I gave birth. Lol, let’s just take a moment to laugh at my naiveté. I made such a huge mistake in thinking that this pregnancy would be like my last one. I could not have been more wrong.

Pepper was so incredibly easy! Barely any nausea, little to no heartburn & I worked all the way until the day I gave birth to her. Oliver however, challenged me. Ongoing backpain, swollen feet, 24 hour heartburn, you name it. I was definitely feeling this pregnancy. As I started to reach the end of the 8th month is when I made my personal decision to stop everything. I left work about 3 weeks early and also decided that I would not be posting to my blog during maternity leave. It was in my best interest to take advantage of all the rest I could possibly get before the baby came. When Oli finally arrived, I took my recovery seriously & allowed myself to adjust to becoming a family of 4.

But now that I am back, I have a few of updates to share:

1. Pepper is no longer a sweet little 5 year old. She has leveled up & is now 6 years old! Pepper is a proud & helpful big sister, just like we knew she’d be.
   
2. My fiance, Jason (far right), started a new job in the beginning of November. He is now the Sous Chef for one of the island’s best restaurants, & he absolutely loves it. He comes  home every night just raving about how much he loves his new job. We’re happy if you’re happy, Chef! 
3. Lastly, Oliver has already had his first few holidays. Halloween & Thanksgiving came and went. Pepper wantd to  be Starfire for Halloween so we dressed Oli to match. & Of course I took the opportunity to dress my kids up for Thanksgiving:
   
   

   

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As for me, nothing new. I’ve just been trying to balance being a supportive Mom and Fiance with staying healthy (mentally, physically, emotionally) All while mastering the art of making milk with one hand, baby in the other hand, and helping Pepper with her homework.

I feel like this may be an overload of information for one blog post, so I’ll wrap it up. As of today I will be resuming my Monday schedules (trying my best to anyway) I’ll be going over topics such as my experience with Postpartum Depression, a minor PTSD episode I went through recently, etc. Not only will I be talking about the hard stuff, but I’m going to try and squeeze in some fun stuff too.

I am literally drenched in my son’s spit up as I am typing this and I can no longer tolerate the feeling of it soaking through my clothes, so I’m going to head out and clean up while Oliver is asleep…

shit, he’s up. I’ll be back next week.