Kim Schepperley Blog

So today I was going through the photos on my phone and stumbled on these two photos and it made me so happy!

So much has happened in the past week or so that I decided to stop and reflect on what makes me happy.

1. My kiddos- Even though they love finding new ways to drive me bonkers, I love these two babes so much! My son is just a ball of energy and so much fun! He takes after his dad in so many ways and sure loves to pick on me.  My daughter is a 7 month old fireball! She has a way with keeping me on my toes.
2. My husband- He’s my bestie <3
3. Cooking- Cooking for my family and friends brings me so much joy! I just don’t love to clean up the mess after.
4. Reading a really good book
5. Shopping
6. OrangeTheory & Beach body workouts- These are helping me to get my pre pregnancy body back!
7. Photography- I love documenting my life and my kiddos <3
8. Lipsense- Best lippy EVER!
9. Alone time- Sometimes a little alone time is good for the soul. Especially when every second of my day is surround by my kids… Momma needs a break every now and then!
10. Coffee
11. Nice People are my kind of people
12. Wine
13. Visiting my family in Oklahoma
14. Completing a new renovation project
15. Catching up with my friends
16. A Clean house
17. Giving
18. When my husband does the dishes so that I don’t have to.
19. Peonies
20. Netflix Marathons
21. Mimosas
22. Date Night with my husband
23. A good hair day
24. Warm weather
25. Thinking of all that I am grateful for.

What are some things that make you happy?

You guys! If you are looking for a way to turn your favorite tote into a diaper bag or simply just organize it, look no further! I’ve been using this Totesavvy organizer from Life in play for almost a year now and I can’t imagine a way of life without it!

It literally holds everything you need! You can even fill it to the brim!  As much as I love it for every day use, I especially love it when traveling! I can fit so much in here that I can pack enough diapers, snacks, fit a brand new pack of wipes, spare outfit for a 2 1/2 year old and 6 month old, and so much more!

What I am even more excited about is that I will be able to continue using this organizer in all of my favorite totes after I no longer need to carry baby/toddler items.

I love that it fits so much but here are a few of my staples that are ALWAYS in my bag.

1. Wallet (can’t go anywhere without my id & money!)
2. Larabars – as a nursing mommy, I am always hungry!  These are nice healthy snacks I can grab on the go
3. Hand Sanitizer – With all the germs and viruses that are being spread its nice to have a bit of added protection! Even though we keep getting sick! What the heck is up with that?
4. Baby book- This is V’s favorite toy/book! It can calm her in a second!
5. Sophie- Also V’s favorite teether. Easton didn’t like her so much when he needed a teether.
6. Lipsense – You guys! This stuff is amazing! I’m not just saying that bc I’m a distributor. It truly is one of favorite products. Get in touch if you want to learn more!
7. Evian Facial Mist- I love this stuff for when I need to wake up a bit and it is so refreshing especially when you need a little skin wake up call
8. My phone
9. Sunglasses – Maybe just maybe if I bring them a long we will have some sun! (Michigan)
10. Rejuvinique Oil from Monat- This stuff is amazing! It has so many different uses that I will have to give it it’s own blog post.
11. Diapers
12. Wipes

I love this totesavvy organizer so much I decided to make this my first giveaway item!

*Edited to add* Totesavvy has been so kind as to offering my readers 20% off their purchase! Just use code: kimschepperley

*This is not a sponsored post and the giveaway is from me!

How to enter:
1. Must be following me 🙋🏽 on instagram @kimschepperley
2. “like” my post on instagram
3. Tag a friend
Best of luck! Will announce the winner on Saturday!

You guys! This post has been a LOOOOOONG time coming!

Life has been both amazing and exhausting. Vivienne has made it pretty easy on us by having a good night time sleep routine pretty much since we brought her home. Aside from having to wake her every 2 hrs in the beginning to feed her in the first month. We now get a solid 12-14 hrs of sleep depending on how the day goes. She is going to be 6 months in a few days! I just can’t believe how fast this time with her in our family has gone by!

Easton adores his baby sister and walks around calling her “my baby”. We have to constantly let him know that he doesn’t need to always smother her in kisses, especially when she is napping. He is so great with her and helps me out more than I imagined he would ever do.

We have found that managing two kiddos isn’t so bad. You just roll with it, just like when the first was born. Yes there are new challenges when it comes to caring for both kids and managing time wisely to ensure both get the attention they need. I am learning very quickly sometimes you just have to set the baby down and let her cry so that your oldest doesn’t start to feel left out.

Easton is our first born and the first grandchild for both sides of our family. Therefore, he is very spoiled with attention from everyone. It’s been an adjustment for him having to share the attention with his sister. It doesn’t take his love for her away in the slightest but he does let us know when he’s getting frustrated from the lack of attention.

I have to admit, even though most days are great I have moments where I feel very overwhelmed. Jake as been so busy with work that he is often times not getting home till late, leaving me with the kids all day by myself. I’ve had quite a few melt downs that required him coming home from work to help me out. For example, when we were potty training Easton *insert eye roll here* I was so stressed the first few days that we were potty training! Imagine toddler running to you every 2 minutes saying he has to potty while you are trying to feed the baby.

Our potty training experience has it’s own little blog post so I will stop here for now. You gotta come back and find out more!

Our birth story with little miss didn’t go anything like it did with her older brother. In fact, it couldn’t have gone more differently.

You see, with Easton, I went to bed without any sign of impending labor, but woke up to contractions 4 minutes apart.  To keep this long birth story of my son short, we ended up with emergency c-section after 2 1/2 hrs of pushing.

When my husband and I decided we were ready to start trying for Baby 2, I knew right away I needed to discuss with my doctor what my chances at delivering VBAC would be.

Lucky for me Dr. W is absolutely awesome and also honest. He never got my hopes up that VBAC would be successful, but he did support me wanting to try. You see, Easton decided he wanted to arrive while Dr. W was still on vacation instead of waiting one more day for him to be back. So he couldn’t say if he thought it would be successful or not since he didn’t know how the first one went.

So the night before Vivienne decided it was time, contractions had begun at 4-5 minutes apart. I didn’t believe they were real because for weeks prior, bed time meant I was going to have braxton hicks. I would wake up each morning disappointed that I wasn’t truly in labor yet. I was very eager to meet our little princess so every sign that she might be coming, I’d get my hopes up.

I counted contractions for a little over an hour and decided to let Jake know that this could possibly be it but I wasn’t ready to go to the hospital yet so I told him to not worry and go to bed. I went to bed myself and got as much sleep as one could get while contracting every 4-5 minutes through the night. Come 7 am, I had had it. I was still contracting but still not believing it was time.

Of course my husband didn’t want to upset me by telling me he thought we should go to the hospital, he decided to call my dad and have him guilt me into calling the doctor. Of course I still waited another half hour before calling. I knew what they would say, and I wasn’t ready to go to the hospital. I was too afraid it would be a false alarm and we’d be sent home.

As I knew would happen, the doctor on call told me I should at least go get checked out just to be sure so I let my husband know we could start getting ready to go but to take his time. I knew he wouldn’t so after he showered, I took another nice long shower. I drug my feet gathering my bags and anything we needed. Jake wanted to have his parents come to our house to watch our son, but since I was so convinced we were going to be sent home I said no, and that he could go with us and should we need him picked up they can come get him from the hospital.

As we were driving, I told Jake to drive slow and asked if he could take every side street in our neighborhood before heading to the hospital. I wasn’t kidding, but he thought I was so he didn’t do that part.

We walked our way to labor and delivery, and got checked in. I, still convinced kept telling the nurse that I was probably getting sent home. Still, she had me change into a gown and started connecting me to the contraction monitor and heart monitor to see how things were going. Eventually the resident doctor came in.

Let me just say how scared I instantly became when he came in the room, I recognized him from Easton’s birth.

Why was I scared? With Easton, When we were checking in to labor and delivery, as he was walking up to the nurses station, they joked with him that he should stop going into the rooms of patients as each room he seemed to go in, the moms to be would end up with c-section! I was one of them!

So since my goal with Vivienne was to VBAC, I was a little frightened it wouldn’t be so successful.

I even mentioned to him that I recognized him but didn’t tell him why. He probably thought I was crazy.

He checked to see how far dilated I was and I was 4cm! I was staying to have a baby and I was so excited!

We arrived at the hospital 11:35 am. By 1 pm the doctor came and broke by water. I wanted to go natural but i’m a pansy so I asked for an epidural the moment the contractions became to painful. Had I waited another minute it probably would have been too late for one. Even though it only worked on my left side. So I still had to labor with the pain of the contractions and let me just say, only one side working made the contractions that much more painful and excruciating! The anesthesiologist came back in to add something to my epidural. I didn’t think it was working because I still had another 4 very painful contractions. Then I started to feel better. That moment the doctor came back in to see how far I had progressed and I was fully dilated and ready to push. Since I was VBAC they asked if I could hold off pushing because I had to wait for my doctor to arrive. I’m glad I did. The doctor who delivered Viv works in the same practice as mine and she was amazing! As she was getting ready to help me deliver Viv, I noticed V’s heart rate began to drop. I asked Dr. M if she was okay and THANK GOODNESS she lied to me and said everything was fine but we needed to start pushing. So after I pushed twice, she had me stop for a split second and I realized she was unwrapping the cord from around Viv’s neck. OMG I am so surprised I didn’t panic. Then again, It was all happening so fast I don’t think I had the time. After she did unwrap the cord, she told me to push again and that is when our little princess literally blasted her way into this world. I did it! I had a successful VBAC and I got to experience holding my baby the moment she was born and It was the best feeling in the world.

Photo Cred: Janell Raymond Photography