Happy Thursday!

Hello! Did you know Thursdays are my favorite day of the week? I've mentioned this before, but I have a love for holiday eves. To me? The buildup is always better than the actual holiday and Thursday always feels like a Friday eve. I look forward to Fridays and the weekend, so Thursdays just fit.... they are the best day of the week!

If you follow me on Instagram, you saw yesterday, I got a little emotional on my stories talking about reading old blog posts and it was then I decided that while I will add in some stuff like recipes, fashion, how-to's lifestyle, etc etc. I will also just do plain old family stuff. Reading those old blog posts just made my week! I know when I am old and grey I will look back on these blog posts and smile big. I've created our own little time capsule here and what a gift that we can have it forever.

So! Here's a little bit of what we've been up to.....

 

Mother Nature has been all over the place lately! We got a decent sized snowstorm, and the kids had a blast outside sledding down our back hill.

Archie's first "official" snowfall. I'm not counting the dustings we've had. He even got on the sled a couple times with Kamryn. He didn't know what to think. Next year he's going to be flying down that hill on his own! 

This picture gets me. Never ever did I expect to have Archie. Not in a million bazillion years did I think when Kamryn was in high school, she'd be holding her baby brother but here we are. I'm so grateful God tugged on my heart to have one more. Archie truly is the biggest blessing to all of us.

Kamryn was invited to her friend, Alexa's Quinceanera. She had a blast. They both looked beautiful!

Ahhh....Kensington. She is truly my biggest helper. This girl was born with a servant's heart and is always eager to jump in and do whatever. She's the only Sass kid that never needs to be reminded to do her chores.

Kensington loves her Archie.

Before bed snuggles with Smith. He is such a mama's boy. I'm going to miss him in the Fall when he goes to kindergarten.

He's been my little sidekick for the past 5 years. I don't know what I'll do with myself when it's just me and Archie at home for the next few years.

As I said before Mother Nature has been a little wonky lately. Yesterday was 55 and GORGEOUS! When Mike got home from work, we went right outside to get some vitamin D and enjoy our afternoon coffee together. 

Smith and Archie were thrilled to get some much-needed fresh air!

I cannot wait for some consistent warm weather (come on Spring!!!) so we can put our newly renovated back yard to use even more! Stay tuned.... I have SO much to share about that!! Lots of before and after pictures coming your way. It really is wild what it was before and what it is now. It was our biggest project yet and absolutely worth the investment! We love spending time outside as a family. I'm really looking forward to adding some finishing touches and sharing it with you all.

I hope you all have a WONDERFUL day! 

Until next time, xoxo

Our 2024 Family Pictures

 

I've shared some of these throughout my social media but wanted to share some of my favorites here in case you missed it. As per usual, Abbi, our insanely talented friend did a fabulous job. I cannot recommend Abigail Shea Photography enough! Abbi started doing our pictures 5 years ago when I was pregnant with Smith, and we've been back every year since. Yes, family pictures are an investment but there's no better way I know how to stop time right in its tracks than these beautiful photos right here.

I'm just so proud they're mine. 

I changed my baby's name 10 years ago. What I'd tell myself today, if I could go back in time.

 

I made the "announcement" we were changing Kensington's name 10 years ago. You can read that post HERE. I've seen reels and blog posts people make right after changing their child's name but never something 10 years later, so I thought I'd write down all my thoughts. From a mom who kind of regrets it. Maybe someone in my shoes will find this blog post someday and it'll help.

I kind of chuckle at how confident I seem while reading that blogpost back all these years later. Seriously, scroll up and click on the link and come back. I'm sure in the moment I was very confident. Truth is, and I've spoken about this before but never in depth, I've second guessed that big decision majority of Kensington's life. She was just less than 3 weeks old when we told everyone, but we had been calling her Kensington for about 2 weeks at that point. It's so funny to read back that blogpost as I said, "After a long well-thought-out process". Kristen, she was 3 weeks old!! LOL! Such a long time. ::insert eye roll here:: We legit had one or two conversations about it and started calling her Kensington. It was NOT this long thing I dragged out and made sure of. Ohhhh Kristen! 

Now that I've been pregnant 3 more times and delt with postpartum 3 more times I can look back at that time with a lot more clarity. Perspective will do that for you. I really truly think I had a touch of postpartum anxiety after Kensington was born and maybe even anxiety while I was pregnant. I remember calling my mom bawling my eyes out so badly a week after she was born and my mom thought something happened to the baby. But no, it was over her name. Mike came home from work that day and I cried to him. I reached out to friends crying over this. Big thing was majority of my friends didn't even have kids yet, so they had no idea what postpartum felt like. And IYKYK, you really have no idea unless you've gone through it what a roller coaster it can be. I had never delt with this before. Even at 23 having Kamryn I had never felt more natural than when we brought Kamryn home. It was like this relaxing beautiful experience that just felt so calm and right. With Logan it was really stressful because he had acid reflux so I couldn't really concentrate on anything else aside from making sure he kept some food down. Now with Kensington this name thing loomed over my head my entire pregnancy. With Kamryn and Logan, Mike and I chose their names and never asked anyone their opinions. It was our choice and our choice only. With Kensington I didn't shut up about her name. I have no idea why I had what I'm going to call "naming anxiety" but I did. I had a touch of it with Archie too but nothing like I had when I was pregnant and postpartum with Kensington.

When I try to put myself into my shoes back then I have to remember life was insane. There was so much going on within my life that everything felt out of control. I'm going to tread lightly here as I don't want to offend anyone but with the things that were going on and the way I was being treated by people who were supposed to care for me, I turned into the shell of the person I once was. (I don't need people reading between the lines here, so I'll just say it. Mike and I have always been solid. If there's one constant in my life, is it my husband. What was going on had nothing to do with Mike and my relationship, if anything it brought Mike and I closer and only made our marriage stronger.) The Kristen who named Kamryn was not the same Kamryn who named Elliot/Kensington. Sometimes I feel like I still haven't fully recovered from the trauma I endured for years and years. No one stopped me and said, "Let's give it some time before you change her name." Maybe they did? I honestly cannot remember. And that's not to say it's anyone's "fault" per say, Mike and I decided this together. Well, Mike would've done anything I asked of him so we can't blame him. It was me. But I wish I took more time and really thought long and hard about not using a name I loved for years and years. Now, as I've said before she is definitely "Kensington", but the truth is no matter what name we chose she would've fit that name. I remember finding a blog post on a random blog back right after she was born when I googled about changing your baby's name and I even reached out to the author of the blog. That woman CONVINCED me to change her name. Maybe it's her I can blame? LOL! I'm going with that.

One thing about the name Elliot was all the spelling options. I asked approximately 645 people which spelling they liked best all throughout my pregnancy. All along knowing which one I liked best. The options were Elliot, Eliot, Ellyot and Elliette. My favorite being Ellyot and no one, and I mean NO ONE else liked it. People were actually very vocal to tell me I "couldn't" use that spelling. As someone who cares a lot about what other people think it made me scratch Ellyot off the list completely. Is it trendy? I guess. But I still love it all these years later and I always thought it went nicely with Kamryn. Kamryn, Logan and Ellyot wouldn't have been that crazy if you ask me. Yes, it is a legitimate spelling, I didn't make it up. I found it in our baby-name book. I wonder if we changed the spelling from Elliot to Ellyot would I have felt better? Maybe. In hindsight, we should've called her El or Ellie for a while and then regrouped. I really truly wish we waited a few months and not just 2 weeks. I honestly might have still felt like Elliot wasn't her name and changed it anyways, but time definitely would've been the better option and at least then I don't think I'd still have this unsure feeling of if I made the right choice. It's so funny because when I was pregnant with Tenley, I was convinced she was Eliot, with one l and one t. I even found another old blog post where I proclaimed it! But I remember when we saw her, it didn't fit. Gosh, what is with me and this name?! Honest to God had Archie been a girl, he probably would've been Elliot or Ellyot. (I would've pushed for Ellyot. And after that awful pregnancy and labor Mike probably would've just agreed to it. LOL!)

Over the years I've had people reach out to me about this topic more times than I can count. They want my opinion on if they should change their baby's name. They ask me my advice and what the process looked like for us. I don't think anyone who's reached out actually went through with it and changed their child's name. Probably because I gave them all the same advice. Sit with the name for 6 months. It's not going to matter if you change it at 6 days, 6 weeks or 6 months. Do your best to not care about what others think but definitely don't make a quick irrational decision, especially freshly postpartum and even more so if you've always loved the name you chose. I also let them in on the little secret that as much as I absolutely L O V E Kensington's name, I kind of wish I didn't change it. 

Now, let's be real this cute little girl could've pulled off any name. Kensington is a beautiful name and its who she is. She is our Kensie. But I'm nothing if I'm not honest and as silly as it sounds changing her was a big part of our story. 10 years later, I'm still hit with that ugh feeling, just a little bit. I think it's hitting me more than ever knowing I'll never have the chance to use the name even if I wanted to. Archie is now 7 months old, and that possibility of anymore Sass babies is a thing of the past. Before now there was always that chance that I might have another baby girl someday and now that chance is gone. When I got pregnant with Smith there was still that chance, he might be a girl and same with when we found out we were expecting Archie and then they were both boys. So that chance to use that girl name Ellyot stayed pretty consistent in my head over the past 10 years. We're done having babies. Which is fine, we know our family is complete, I'm not sad about not having another baby, but I'm sad I'll never use that name. I think that's where all these feelings are popping up over this name change all these years later. What you name you child is an important decision and as someone who loves names probably more than the average person, it's a very big deal to me. I know I've met many people over the years who told me they wished they named their kid _____ fill in the blank or how they don't love their kids name for whatever reason. This isn't some crazy out of the box thing. This is normal, we just don't talk about it a lot. 

I kind of feel like the Lauren Conrad of baby names. All my Hills fans will know what I mean with that reference. Lauren will always be known as the girl who didn't go to Paris. I'll always be known as the girl who changed her baby's name and regretted it. 

Well, that's my story 10 years later. If I could go back in time and sit down with freshly postpartum Kristen, I'd pop open my laptop and have her read this blogpost right here and then let her make the decision...6 months from then. LOL! 

Now to my Kensington, when you read this someday, I want you to know you are so much more than a name. You are smart, brave, sweet, loving, empathetic, loyal, a true animal whisperer and I am certain without a shadow of a doubt you that bring a light to this world that no one else ever has. We need more people in the world like you! You'd be that same incredible person whether your name was Ellyot, Kensington or Elizabeth! We love you so so so much and being your mama is one of the greatest blessings of my life. <3

Five on Friday

 

Happy Friday!

one.

My sister took 3/6 of my kids for a couple nights and Mike and I joked that we feel like we are on vacation. He even told his friend at work who has 1 kid that he was excited to come home yesterday and how easy it would be with only 3 kids, and he looked at Mike like he was crazy. LOL! I keep saying that we have our "British crew" at home with us....Kensington, Smith and Archie. Although I don't think Archie is a British name per say but there is a Prince Archie, so it just fits...even if they live in the US. Okay, never mind, you know what I'm saying. HA! I'm sure Kamryn, Logan and Tenley are having a blast. Thank you, Auntie, for taking them!! She certainly upped the chaos at her house while my house is really chill with my 3 go with the flow kids.

two.

Our sweet Archie is 7 months old!!

I know I always call him "sweet Archie" but there's really no other way to describe him. Archie is so sweet and cuddly. He really is my sweet sweet boy. He is officially saying "Dada", "Baba" and "Mama". More like dadadadada, babababababa, and when he's upset we get muuuuumaaaaa. But hey, it counts! Archie is starting to army crawl to get where he wants, and the kids are SO excited about this! Mike and I agree 6 months to 18 months are probably our favorite months with a baby/toddler. They just learn and do so much in that year and it's a lot of fun! We are in it and loving it! Time to soak this up because every first of Archie's is our last. It's bittersweet for sure.

three.

I don't know about you but I'm a vest girl. I cannot stand running errands in a big bulky jacket, so I love a good vest. I've got so many puffer vests, so I wanted to change it up a little bit. I recently bought this fleece vest on amazon, and I really like it. I can wear it with jeans and leggings so very versatile. I liked the Free People dupe on amazon, but it felt bulky and too oversized to me, so I went with this one instead and am definitely pleased. I think this will be perfect to transition into the warmer months. I find myself grabbing for it again and again. I got the color "dark green" but comes in a bunch of colors. I went with my true size medium, and it fits perfectly. 

four.

Four just may be my favorite one of all! I know I mentioned this but.... Last week my sister-in-law Coley gave birth to the most perfect baby boy. Hudson Zachary McCaul. 

Archie and Hudson are almost exactly 7 months apart and whether they like it or not we are forcing them to be the best of friends! I cannot wait to watch these little boys grow up together.

five.

 

We had friends over this weekend, and they asked me "When are you going to get your social media going?" You guys, I'm petrified. Just when I think I'll muster up the courage to set up that camera and do a day in the life or a try on, I chicken out. I have new recipes we tried that I can't wait share, new clothes for try ons, just our everyday routines I could film, because I'm always asked, "How do you do it?" But man, am I having a hard time just going for it. It takes a lot to take that step and just post it. I'm sure as you grow it doesn't feel as scary but with only 357 followers on Instagram, I can't help but feel silly. I could really go deeply into this, as to why, but as per usual my biggest downfall is caring what everyone else thinks. Ahhh..... the cycle continues. I'll get there, eventually, I hope. If not...it is fun chatting with the OG's here. :)

I hope you all have a great weekend! Looks like the temps are on the upswing for those of you who are local. At the Sass house we are very excited about that, although not getting our hopes up! The groundhog did say 6 more weeks of winter. 

Until next time...

xoxo,

Kristen

Goals

 

Hey hey! (As my Logan says every day when he gets home from school. LOL!)

Happy Valentines Day!

Today, instead of my five on Friday, I wanted to talk goals. I touched upon this around the new year, but we are a month into 2025, and this is the time most people forget all about those new year's resolutions. I'm still sticking to my goals, so I wanted to talk a little bit more on what those goals are and how I'm implementing them into my every day.

1. Try to grow my social media platform/blog.

This one is slow and steady, but I'm still very much committed. Since last Friday I did grow my following by over 125. I'm working on making some connections with other people who have the same goals as me and it's been really cool and inspiring. I mentioned before but I set up a linktree where I share links to everything you could possibly need, and I worked really hard on that last weekend. This week got away from me. We've had a lot going on "behind the scenes" and I just couldn't get my crap together but I'm not beating myself up over this. It's fine, as always, theres always next week. I made myself what I think is a realistic goal. I'm giving it a year. If things don't take off by January 1st, 2026, I'm going to throw in the towel for good. So, get ready to be sick of me! :)

2. Health and wellness

I'm proud of myself in this regard. I've been using my peloton 2-3 times a week, most weeks, some weeks only once, and I'm practicing portion control, upping my water intake, not picking at snacks throughout the day and making healthier choices. I've already noticed changes in how I feel, and I've lost a few lbs. Trust me when I tell you I've felt tempted to try some sort of weight loss shot prescribed by my doctor after seeing many peoples results. However, the side effects and long-term health problems scare the crap out of me. I know a few people personally who ended up very sick and with issues that will never go away from those shots and while I'm sure there are people who will be totally fine, for me it's not worth the risk. So, I will try and do this the old-fashioned way. No shade, to each their own, but not for me. My motto for this year is consistency, not perfection. I've tried many diets over the last decade of my life, and I know when I get too strict, I always fail. So, if I want a bagel, I'm having a bagel. If I want popcorn before bed, I'm having it. If I want a cookie, I'm having the cookie. But consistently I'm jumping right back into healthier habits. I also will NOT be giving up my coffee and creamer this go around. No one wants that. LOL!

3. Maybe try a different avenue?

I have this idea that keeps popping into my head about a podcast. It's been on my mind for a loooong time, and it just will not go away. I struggle with this idea because I'd hate to go through all the trouble of buying the equipment, recording the podcast, editing it all together only for no one to listen to it. I feel as though my idea is fresh, and I personally have never heard of anything like this (granted there could be something just like this out there but I'm not aware lol) buttttt I don't know. I've had people numerous times tell me to start a podcast but for some reason that feels scarier than sitting here and posting to a blog or social media. I'm not sure why but it does. Stay tuned...

4. Balance

To tie all those together this one is necessary. I always put my family and their needs first and foremost on the priority list. Which is wonderful, and exactly what I want/need to be doing in this stage of life. However, that puts working out, social media and blogging on the back burner. Like wayyy on the back burner and most days totally forgotten about. I need to be better about making myself and my hobbies more of a priority. So, BALANCE is a goal I'm really really wanting to accomplish this year!

I think 4 goals is doable. These are just things I need to try to keep in the forefront of my mind and they all kind of coincide with each other, which I hope will make them more achievable. We shall see!

And I'd be remiss to not mention, we have a new family member!! Just yesterday we became an auntie and uncle for the third time and our FIRST nephew was born! Welcome to the world Hudson Zachary McCaul! We love you so much little buddy!! Congratulations Uncle Zacky and Auntie Coley...and big sister Parker!