The Modest Mom

And just like that…18 years have flown by and Israel has graduated! I’m so thankful for all the years I’ve had with him at home together, and for his tender, sweet spirit. He is much more quiet than his older brother, has always just been a happy boy who has grown up into a thoughtful young man who cares about others. Congratulations Israel! Right now he is going to keep working full time at Chick Fil A, and he is praying about if college and a computer degree is what he should do next.

It’s hard for me to find clothes that I like, as I’m not in love with how I look these days. I want feminine, comfortable clothes that I can nurse in. This skirt is from the May @neuflorawardrobe collection. The quality is fantastic! A link is in my stories. I also love my shirt. I get so many compliments whenever I wear it! @createdforgrace makes fantastic shirts for Christian women. #modestfashion

And just like that….we have a college graduate! Mosiah graduated college with an Associates Degree today and we couldn’t be more thankful for all his hard work! He graduated with a 4.0, which was his goal! He starts work at our local CAT dealership on Monday as a diesel mechanic. If you have a child who loves hands on work, I can’t suggest a technical school highly enough. We are so thankful for his experience at @statetech. Mosiah had teased me going into college that I would show up 9 months pregnant at his graduation. Instead, I showed up with a 6 week old baby. I nursed her as Mosiah walked down the aisle in his cap and gown. 😂❤️ Thankful for all our children! (Swipe to see more photos!)

Swipe to see the outfit I’m sad to put away until next fall! This jumpsuit from @super_cute_dresses_by_ringger has been a favorite of mine, I even wore it in my third trimester! Motherhood is learning how to throw on some makeup and change in 5 minutes, postpartum is counting those 5 minutes as a huge blessing that you were able to set the baby down that long. 😃❤️ #motherhood #modestfashion #modestclothing

I honestly can’t remember the last time I was this intensely tired. Because my sleep is so interrupted I’m on the verge of getting a full blown head cold, trying hard to fight against it. I ache all over from being so tired. I don’t share this to complain, but to help other moms in this postpartum season to know they are not alone. There are so many emotions to the postpartum time, and sometimes we moms can feel guilty if we express anything outside of sheer joy over our new baby. I wouldn’t change anything, I am so utterly happy to have Lillian, but it doesn’t change the fact that I’m also bone dead tired right now. Off to go take some immune boosting supplements and drink some more water! #hardisnotthesamethingasbad

One month. 30 days of snuggles that remind me why I have 9 children. 30 days of newborn cries that melt my heart, and also makes me want to join in and cry with her. 30 nights of interrupted sleep, of not getting hardly anything done because I nurse on demand. 30 days of learning once again, to say “less of me Lord, and more of you” as I submit my to do lists to the highest calling of being a mother to this sweet girl. I wouldn’t change anything, and I’m so thankful I get to do this for the 9th time! We all love you so much Lillian. ❤️ #babygirl #largefamily #momofgirls

Home birth story of Lillian - Part 2 Friday night we were up late talking to one of our older sons. I was in bed around 11:30 and a Braxton hicks contraction hit where I squeezed Sean’s hand through it. I didn’t think much of it, but did feel slightly off. Sean told me the next day he had a strong feeling I was going into early labor then, because of how I was acting. I guess by the 9th baby he has gotten really good at figuring out my labor signs. :) Our oldest son had a friend over to help him fix a truck he was working on, and they came inside late to eat (around midnight). I was just falling asleep but they were not super quiet, so I never did fall asleep that night. :) After they went back outside I grabbed my pillow and told Sean I was going to the couch. I like being by myself during super early labor. Around 1:30 I texted my midwife that I might be in early labor, just to give her the heads up. I kept breathing through the contractions, but I managed on my own until 2:30 in the morning, when I called Sean to come downstairs, and he woke Carrianna up to help get everything ready. I stood up and held onto Sean during a few contractions, but then sat down again on the couch when the first really strong contraction hit me. I had been timing the contractions and they were around 9 minutes, but then jumped to coming a whole lot faster. I instantly texted my midwife and told her she needed to come, which was sometime around 3:00 AM. I had a feeling this was going to go quickly, but never dreamed just how quickly it would actually be! I told Sean I wanted to go to the bathroom, I knew sitting on the toilet was a great way to help labor progress, and my intuition of feeling like I could labor in the bathroom was totally correct. Carrianna and Sean took turns sitting with me, holding my hand through each contraction. Sean was trying to get the birth pool blown up, but he told me it was missing the valve to hold the air in the bottom part which would make it cushy. There was no way with my knee that I could kneel on hard wood floors in the pool, and at that point I just wanted him with me during the contractions so I told him to forget it. Read more below!

The homebirth Story of Lillian Ruby Allen - Part one! After a tiring, but very uncomplicated pregnancy of our 9th baby at the age of 40, of course the last week got rather interesting. After discussing it with my midwives, I decided to go ahead and go to a homeschool convention that is 3 1/2 hours away from us when I was 38 weeks pregnant. I don’t have a history of going early, and and just had peace that it would be ok to go. Before we left I had complained of knee pain in my left leg. The day after we arrived at the convention I was in pretty bad pain, and couldn’t figure out what I had done. I had trouble sleeping at night because I was in constant pain, and was limping around the convention. We got home late Saturday night, and I woke up Sean at 4:00 AM on Sunday because my left leg was swollen so bad, and I was still in a lot of pain. After texting back and forth with my midwives I decided to go to the ER to check and see if I had a blood clot. Thankfully I didn’t, but after seeing my MD the next day was told I had Quadriceps tendonitis in that leg. I spent the next week pretty much on the couch or in bed, and had many moments where I had to fight back the tears, wondering how I was going to give birth when I couldn’t bend my leg. I was planning on another water birth (absolutely adore having water births!), but a few days before I went into labor I told Sean several times that I couldn’t stop thinking about having her on the toilet. It sounded crazy to me, but with my knee issues I could actually imagine being able to deliver that way. Most of the toilet home birth stories I’ve heard of were not planned, they just happened to end up that way! I still had my heart set on a water birth, but told myself to be flexible with what might happen…. To be continued! #homebirth #homebirthmama #largefamily #babygirl #sacredsonghomebirth

Today was my official due date with Lillian! We are all so thankful she came a few days early. I’m especially thankful because I didn’t realize my midwife was going to be out of town (she has other midwives who can come) and she made my birth by a few hours! I love all the midwives at @sacredsonghomebirth, if you are local I highly recommend them!

Happy Easter from our family of 11! Easter is so much more special this year! Thankful for my faith, family, friends, and the knowledge that Jesus Christ died, and rose again for all of us. He lives today! ❤️

We are thrilled to welcome Lillian Ruby Allen to our family. Our 9th baby, and 6th daughter! She was born Saturday morning at 3:36 AM after a very fast labor and very quick delivery. My midwife showed up 5 minutes before she was born! She weighed 7 pounds, 14 ounces. We wanted an old fashioned, feminine name for her and both really liked the name Lillian. We were originally going to call her Lillian Abigail, but we both felt a little unsure on the middle name and decided to wait until she was born to decide for sure. She ended up being born on Sean’s Grandma’s birthday, whose first name was Ruby. I wanted a biblical middle name for her, and realized the combination of Proverbs 31 “Who can find a virtuous woman, for her price is far above rubies” and the family name was very sweet and felt right. We are so very thankful and blessed! The children all adore her! I’ll share more birth story details this week. It was so crazy, in a good way!