The Nesting Mama

This blog is owned by Maegan Barranco (née Jenkins), a 34-year-old photographer, wife and proud mother of 8 children!

[thenestingmama]

Happy Birthday, Xochitl!

Oh, hello there. Remember us? It’s been a while. Three months, to be exact. How are you all doing? We’re doing well, thank you. As you know, the blog hasn’t been updated for months, and as much as I’d like to talk about that at some point, right now is not the time. We’re a couple of days late with this post, but our sweet chilli pepper child is now FIVE years old. Her birthday was on April 2nd, and I really wanted to post this on that day, but as you can imagine, that didn’t go as planned.

Xochitl Mireya Barranco. Our sweet and bright little girl, and still the sassiest of the bunch in the absolute best way possible. She’s got the biggest heart, is such a wonderful, loving and caring daughter and sister, and is truly always a joy to be around. She's loves to make everyone around her smile and laugh, and has teamed up with her big brothers as the comedians of the household. Not sure who they got that talent from, as Sam and I are both pretty boring in that department, though we never fail to make at least one of the children laugh by simply existing, so that’s a plus.

Oh, and before I forget, and I'm aware I do mention this every time one of the kids have a birthday, but Xochitl has grown a lot this past year, to the point it’s insane. Not only has she grown as a person, with her beautiful soul and all, but she has gotten tall. Well, I mean, as someone who has inherited my small stature, she's obviously not the tallest person out there, but similar to her sister, Kele, one concern has always been her small size. Not to me, personally, but you know how people can be. Close to her birthday last year, she was estimated to be around the size of an average 2-year-old, but over the past few months (starting in the Fall last year, I believe) she has caught up pretty close to her peers. She's 40 inches tall, which I'd say is a big jump from last year.

Happy 5th Birthday to our sweetest Xochitl Mireya. We love you so much! ❤️

[thenestingmama]

𝐻𝒶𝓅𝓅𝓎 𝒩𝑒𝓌 𝒴𝑒𝒶𝓇. 𝒲𝑒𝓁𝒸𝑜𝓂𝒾𝓃𝑔 𝟤𝟢𝟤𝟤 ✨

Hello everyone. How are you all doing? Yes, I know I haven’t posted on here in a very long time, or on anywhere for that matter. Even my instagram account have been inactive, with my last picture being posted in mid November. The last time I posted on here was for the quadruplets’ birthday. We even missed posting for Christmas, and speaking of Christmas, I hope you all had a good time. Now we have stepped into a new year, and I’m sure that 2022 will be an exciting one. Our oldest, Eliana, has been busy with performing all through December. After the 2021 “The Sound of Music” ended, she was invited to play a role in the original Christmas show, and of course she said yes! The last performance was on December 30, and now she is ready to take on a new project. We’re so happy to see her follow her dreams in acting and theater, though her dance studio’s competition team do miss her a lot. They’re so sweet and supportive, and she still takes dance classes there—but her competitive dance career will be put on hold for all of 2022, to focus on theater. How about the other kids? Well, I’m sure that 2022 will be an exciting year for everyone, so not all the focus will be on Ellie. The twins still have school and their soccer team, and I’m sure there will be a few games to attend. I’m personally not good with sports, but I find these games enjoyable. And what mother wouldn’t want to support her kids? On another note, Tomás is doing exceptionally well in school, and is far ahead of his classmates. Not saying that his brother is doing bad—they are both very clever kids, and are often praised by their teachers and other school staff. Xochitl has been accepted into Ellie’s dance studio, and will be joining her older siblings at Rosewood Park School as a kindergartener in August, which she is very excited about. She will be five years old in April ❤️

As for Samuel and myself, I plan on continuing to be a stay-at-home mom for another year, and then maybe find a job, or at least something to do while the kids are at school and daycare, etc. The quadruplets will be 3 years old in November, so around the age our older kids started to get serious about their hobbies. Eliana had her dance and gymnastics, and the twins started soccer. Xochitl have been taking dance lessons from her older sister over the past couple of years for fun, and though she seems to be more interested in her gymnastics, has been accepted into the dance studio, so we'll see how that goes for her. That said, I'm curious to see what interests the little ones will take on. They are all very creative and good at using their hands, but also active and sporty like their older siblings. Chenoa and Kele love to play soccer with the twins, so maybe we'll see a future with two more soccer-players in the family? But I'm rambling at this point. I came on here to wish you a Happy New Year, but so many things have happened, and so much is planned. To end this post, however, as was planned, we wish you a Happy New Year. Hope that 2022 will be good to you.

[thenestingmama]

Our quadruplets are 2 years old!

Hello everyone, and so the day has finally come. Our quadruplets are now TWO YEARS OLD! It’s crazy how fast the time has passed, and how big these four little “babies” are now. Well, they aren’t little babies anymore, but I’m probably not going to stop calling them that anytime soon, haha. But they have grown so much this past year, and look at those gorgeous curls! I apologize for the lack of updates—it’s been a very busy year, as should be expected with eight children. Seven under the age of ten, and five under the age of five. Plus, moving to Rosewood Park has also taken up much of our time. So, yeah, we are quite busy. But the quadruplets are all doing well. We took them to our Pediatrician for their check-up this Monday, and they're all healthy and developing well. They have also become quite talkative compared to last time, and some will even start conversations with pretty much anyone, so it was quite the experience, haha. Kele is still considered “small,” but they are all pretty average in weight and height, weighing between 24-27 pounds, and being 33-34 inches tall. And they are just the sweetest! They all have very different personalities, and it will be hard to cover all that in one post, but despite their differences, they definitely make a good “team.” But I think that’s it. However, I might do a Q&A on Instagram at some point. As always, take care.

[thenestingmama]

Happy Halloween 🎃

Good morning everyone, and I hope you all had a fun and safe Halloween. We sure had, even despite the fact my younger sister had to sit out of it to take care of her sick toddler. We were minus two children, but we still had a wonderful time with the remaining fourteen, my younger brother, his husband, and our sister’s husband. And of course we would never forget to bring back some candy for the those staying at home with @growing-wonders, so nobody was left out. Last year, we were all together (us and my siblings’ families), and the year before that, I was in a hospital waiting to have quadruplets. That’s TWO years now, and in just four days, we will be celebrating Chenoa, Isla, Leo and Kele’s birthday. But moving on. Halloween. Yes. So, the oldest child, Eliana, was so kind to take over the “give out candy”-watch before she went to go trick or treat with her friends. She was so happy about her costume this year, she wanted to show it to everyone—and despite being a little worried about people’s reactions, no kids got scared. They all thought she looked really cool, so she was one very happy bloody ballerina for one spoopy night. And yes, she did change her shoes before going anywhere, she only did pointe for this one photo. She’s been focused on Theater and her acting, but is happy we decided to keep her in ballet class.

But I think that’s going to be it for now. If I find more good pics on our camera, I might be posting those to my Instagram, but since we obviously don’t hunt the kids around like paparazzis, we often don’t get a lot of pictures, and the ones we do have are often too blurry to post. Take care 🦇

[thenestingmama]

One little Girl, Pumpkins, and Grandpa

Good afternoon everyone. How are you feeling? Stressed? Me too, haha. Halloween used to be more peaceful when the kids were younger, but now we spend most of the time discussing costumes, even though we’re all free to dress up however we want (no themes in this household.) Then the kids start to get stressed or worried, and that only makes me even more stressed, so it’s a lot right now, haha. It’s still wonderful though. We spend so much time together, making decorations, talking costumes (and candy), and just having fun as a family, and I love it. Every year, we also try to make pumpkin and apple pies—not exactly my strong suit, I must admit. I enjoy cooking a lot, but baking? Meh. That’s more my sister’s thing, haha. Eliana, however, is REALLY good at making pies. But I feel like our kids can do almost everything, they’re like little super humans. The kids also really enjoy the whole pumpkin and apple picking. I mean, the kids will pick apples around Rosewood Park all year, but when it comes to October and pumpkins, it’s like a whole new world for them. My own mother was also a HUGE October “lover,” and all of her time would go to spending time with me and my half-siblings, despite them not being her biological kids, she would treat them as such. This is Xochitl’s favorite thing to do every October, and if you ask her, she’ll tell you that “pumpkins are special,” and she LOVES them. She and her brother, Tomás, are the little “artists” in the household, and they’re both quite good at carving pumpkins into fun little faces. This year is also somewhat “special,” as Sam’s workplace is surprisingly calm this year, and he’s got more time with me and the kids. Due to pain in my lower back, I’ve been taking care of many of the “at home”-activities with the kids, while Sam took on most of the physical, outdoor stuff. Like yesterday when he took Xochitl with him to help at his parents’ “farm,” and I stayed at home with Ellie and the quadruplets (the twins were at a friend’s house.) And yes, she got to take a little pumpkin home with her, haha. Ah, I’m just so glad to see Grandpa Koda looking happy and healthy.

[thenestingmama]

Happy October 2021

Hello everyone. Do you have any idea how hard it is to get a proper family photo with eight children? It’s wild. We were out since 10am in the morning, and didn’t get done and ready to go home until 6pm. That’s one hour per kid, haha. Ah well, it’s October, and as you all should know by now (I mean, the ones who have followed the blog for a very long time), October is my favorite month. Fall is my favorite season of the year, so I’m filled with good emotions right now. Halloween is on October 31, and though we still have no idea what we want to dress up as, I'm extremely excited. We managed to get Sam to dress up the past two years, so I'm hoping we'll be able to convince him to join us again this year. If not for me, then for the kids as they love it when we dress up with them. Eliana will be spending the day with her good friend, Ryoichi, and his family, and a couple more friends from school, so we won’t be seeing much of her on that day. She also spent Halloween with Ryo last year, and she had a wonderful time, so I’m sure this year will be lots of fun for her. The twins have been invited to a small Halloween party as well, so if they agree to join their friends, Sam and I might be alone with all the little ones. We always spend Halloween with my side of the family, and I’m sure it won’t be any different this year. My sister have already invited us all to her house, along with our brother’s family, so it will be a perfect day! It’s going to be a very busy month, honestly. I want to make decorations with the kids, pumpkin carving, and home-made pumpkin pies, and I just hope we will be able to do everything I have planned! 🎃🍂

[thenestingmama]

Happy 7th birthday, Tomás & Miguel

Hello everyone. Ah, yet another birthday. Our sweet twin boys are SEVEN years old, and I feel like this year is flying by way too fast. We will be celebrating the quadruplets’ birthday in November, and then a couple of months later, a new year begins, and we’ll be celebrating their birthdays all over again. Really, where is the pause button when you need it? I just can’t believe my sweet boys are seven years old already. Just as I was about to get passed the whole becoming a mother of a teenager, another birthday comes along and hits me right in the emotions. But enough with being over-dramatic, seven years is a pretty big deal for them. I mean, the kids are always more excited about becoming a year older than their old and emotional mother here, haha. And they’re all starting to look so grown up, too. Tomás and Miguel are still extremely close, but feel much more comfortable being apart than last year. They have their own close group of friends now, while also still having many mutual ones. As much as they love each other, they do dislike being compared to one another, and I find that very understandable. People do that a lot, we’ve noticed. We’ve come up with ways to politely explain to people not to do that, and they are two very different people despite being identical twins. They’ve really matured a lot this year, but I feel like I say that every year. I’m probably not even making any sense by now. Happy birthday to our sweetest Tomás and Miguel! ❤

[thenestingmama]

Rosewood Park, here we come!!

Good afternoon. So, we have finally agreed on a house in Rosewood Park. We have signed the contract and it’s now ours. It’s nothing crazy though, as we plan on keeping our beloved beach house in Dreamer’s Bay as well. We might not stay there very often as we start our new life and journey in Rosewood Park, but it will still be “Home.” Especially since neither Sam or I, nor the kids, are able to part ways with our little house at the Beach—it definitely having a very special place in our hearts, and could be useful if we ever want to spend a couple of days at the beach without having to worry about when it’s time to leave.  I’m sure we will all love it at our new home. The kids are definitely excited to be moving into a bigger house, and be able to have bigger rooms. Eliana is especially excited to get her very own bedroom, while the twins will continue to share theirs as they wish to. For now, the quadruplets will continue to share a room, but as the kids get older, they might all want more privacy, and we will have enough bedrooms for all of them in the new house. I, too, am very excited, and I know Samuel is as well. We will then also be able to fit more people in, so it won’t feel as “cramped” whenever we have family or friends over. One thing I’m definitely looking forward to, as I do love when family visits—but with a lack of proper space, it can be more stress than wanted. But that’s pretty much it for this “update.” I do hope to start updating more often, and with the twins’ birthday coming up very soon, there’s at least a post planned for that.

[thenestingmama]

Mother and daughter (with cousin Adalia Grace)

Good morning, it’s been a few crazy couple of days—from Eliana’s birthday this past Sunday, to taking care of sick toddlers, to finally getting some much needed mother and daughter bonding time. It’s been a while since I’ve been able to spend time with my oldest away from the other children with her life being so busy, and fortunately, Sam’s older brother and his wife agreed to look after the quadruplets, while the twins and Xochitl is spending a few days at my brother’s. As a result, Ellie and I grabbed uncle Eddie’s oldest daughter, Adalia, and went out to explore Rosewood Park (we haven’t really been fully able to do that yet, having to look after eight kids and all, so it was nice to get to look around.) It is such a lovely neighborhood, and we were greeted by many wonderful people on our way. As we made our way to one of the smaller parks, we sat down to get hydrated and enjoy our surroundings for a moment, and also taking a few photos, of course, haha.

I don’t like to call myself “old,” but I’m definitely starting to look a little less smooth than in my younger days. Also, can we talk about how tall these two ladies are? Eliana is only thirteen years old and is only a couple of centimeters shorter than me. She’s had a crazy growth spurt this past year, and as she still got a couple more years of growing, it will definitely be interesting to see how tall she’ll end up becoming. I could see her maybe reaching my mom’s height, but I guess time will tell.

As for this beautiful young girl—Adalia Grace. She is Sam’s niece, and his older brother’s oldest child. I’m not sure if we’ve ever talked much about Sam’s family here, but he has four siblings, though one sister passed away back in 2010. His oldest brother is Eduardo, and he has three beautiful children. Adalia was born in May 2006, so she is a couple of years older than Ellie, but the two girls are very close. Adalia, like Ellie, is also very good at taking care of younger kids, and they enjoy many of the same books, movies and tv-series, so they always have a lot to talk about. They are both very active as well, Eliana with her theatre and competitive dancing, and Adalia being a equestrian and owning a horse. Fortunately, I do share a few interests with them, so I wasn’t completely left out of the conversations, haha. Now that all is said, we had a very wonderful time.

[thenestingmama]

Happy 13th birthday, Eliana

Hello everyone, I hope you’re all doing well out there! Can you believe it? We got a teenager in the house now. Today is Eliana's birthday, and she is now THIRTEEN years old. I get emotional every year on her birthday⁠—I guess there's just something special about your first born? She made me a mother, and that is the best thing that has happened to me. We made a post here on the blog last year, and I'm happy to say that she's still the same sweet girl. She has the biggest heart, still loves to dance and do theatre, and she's always willing to lend a hand with, and play with her siblings. But she's growing up way too fast. I mean, in just five years she'll be 18 years old, and who knows what will happen then? Should probably start to prepare myself for when the kids start to fly from the nest—it is definitely going to be very emotional. But happy birthday to the sweetest girl! 💗

[thenestingmama]

Two precious girls

Hello everyone, and I hope you’re all doing great. It’s only been a couple of days since my last blog update (shocking, I know), but I thought at least this picture was too adorable not to post. Sure, I got Instagram, but just look at them—how can I not post them here? The girl to the left is Xochitl’s new friend, Nyx. Since we’ve been spending more time in Rosewood Park looking at houses, we’ve naturally met new people, and that means new friends and more playdates for the kids. Xochitl is good at making new friends, and despite not really knowing each other for so long, these two precious girls have already become good friends, and they’re excited to be spending more time together. On another note, while we haven’t found the perfect new home in Rosewood Park yet, we have seen a few houses that we like. Sam and I have also decided to keep the house at the Beach, so while we will be moving into something new, we won’t be saying Goodbye to Dreamer’s Bay. I think the kids are happy about that, since some of them have voiced their attachment to the area.

So while we will continue our search for a bigger house, we will also enjoy some lovely family time at the Beach while the weather is good. We also got a few birthdays coming up, but until next time,

[thenestingmama]

Another life update

Hello everyone. So, June is a pretty good month. Summer has joined us. The sun is shining, which is lovely. We plan to spend lots of time down at the Beach. Besides that, we got Pride Month, Father's Day, Juneteenth. We have also celebrated our dearest grandma Lulu, Sam’s mother’s 65th birthday this month. She is no doubt still the most amazing woman I know, and we were happy to spend the day with her. Samuel’s oldest niece, Dorisa, also turned seventeen, so we’ve been busy.

I know we’re not really around much these days, not here or on instagram, but I will still continue to post when time allows it. Next month should be a little less busy, and then we have Eliana’s 13th birthday coming up in August. The month after, the twins will be celebrating their 7th birthday, so we’re probably going to be pretty busy up until after Christmas. The quadruplets will be 2 years old in November, and Ellie’s busy with her theatre performances, so yeah, there’s all that.

Also, if you want the outfit that Leo and Noa are wearing, you can get yours here.

But I hope you’re all doing well out there, and as always, take care. Until next time,

[thenestingmama]

Happy Birthday, Samuel!

Good morning beautiful people, and I hope you’re having a good day. Today, it is this amazing man’s 36th birthday. Ah, yes. We’re starting to get “a little old,” haha. Honestly, I do sometimes forget we’re both in our 30′s. Time is a crazy thing, and is obvious how fast it flies by as we watch our children grow up before our eyes. It's been TWELVE years since we first met, and ten years since we tied the knot and became husband and wife. You’ve been my daughter’s father since she was six months old, and we’re both so grateful that you popped into our lives. Now, twelve years and an additional seven kids later, you’re still the same amazing person that we met back then, and I still love you to the moon and back and beyond. Thank you for everything you’ve done, and still continue to do for us. So to my best friend, my lovely husband, and the best father a child could wish for: Happy birthday. Our children are lucky to have such a wonderful father in their lives! ♡♡♡

[thenestingmama]

One year, six months 🧡💛💙💜

Last week, the babies officially turned 18 months! Wow, I can’t believe how fast the time has gone. They are really turning into little people now and it won’t be much longer before I will have to stop calling them “babies”. They are doing amazingly well—maybe a little busy trying to be like the big kids and do everything that they can do, and will get frustrated when they can’t. Leo is the most determined of the bunch, and doesn’t give up easy. He’s usually the first to learn a new skill. But I don’t think they’ve changed much, personality-wise. Chenoa is still “the leader,” and she will let the others know it. She is very opinionated and determined to get her way. Some of the other babies can be a little scared of her because of the fact. She’s also very smart, sweet and thoughtful. Her twin, Isla, is very sweet and sensitive, and is still my most cuddly baby. She definitely still holds the title of “mama’s girl.” Leo, despite not being very affectionate in general, is quite caring when it comes to his sisters. When one of them starts crying, he will look for their “binky” and try to put it in their mouth. They have all gotten quite chunky, but as you can see, Kele is still petite. She now weighs 19 pounds, which is about the average weight of a 10-month-old girl, while the other three weighs 22-23 pounds. She is the most easy-going, but will get very angry if she feels like she has been wronged (like someone taking her toy). She has the biggest vocabulary of all the babies so far. And about that, their language skills are improving. They don’t say a lot, but I can tell they understand quite a bit of what I say. Some of their favorite words are ball, bath, shoes, please, and uh-oh. A few of the babies have also started saying “Thank you.”

Now, as the babies get older, it is so much fun to watch them interact with each other. They LOVE to make each other laugh, chase each other around the house, and steal each other's toys. They also love hugging. But I think that’s going to be it for now. I don’t know when the next “update” on the babies will be, but probably around their 2nd birthday in November. We’ll see, maybe I can figure something out sooner. But I hope you’re doing well out there, and take care. Until next time,

[thenestingmama]

Mother’s Day

Good morning everyone. Just decided to drop by real quick to wish everyone a lovely Mother’s Day. We are still busy as ever here in the Barranco Household, especially now when we are looking at houses in Rosewood Park. The weather is great, so expect lots of outdoor photos. I haven’t been super active on social media lately, even keeping up with Instagram has been a challenge. The kids are doing wonderful—they’re all busy with school/daycare, friends and hobbies, so we definitely got a lot going on right now. We got Sam’s 36th birthday coming up as well, on May 21st. He’s not big on celebrating his birthday, but the kids and I are very excited, so we hope he is, too.

[thenestingmama]

Theatre and new friends

Good afternoon. Ah, life has gotten pretty hectic for our sweet 12-year-old daughter, Eliana. No dance competitions this year—instead, her schedule is full with costume fittings, acting lessons, theatre rehearsals etc. Ever since she got a role in the 2021 stage production of “The Sound of Music,” she’s been busy, bus, busy. As her mother I do worry sometimes, even though she seems to thrive in her new environment. She's getting along well with the rest of the cast, especially the other teens/children, and is doing amazing on stage. I’m very proud, and also very excited for when the shows will officially begin in June. Eliana is also super excited, and so is the rest of the cast. They've all become good friends since they do spend a lot of time together, and I'm just so happy that everything seems to be going well. This is Eliana’s chance to show the world what she can do.

Miraculously, I did get a chance to snap a few pictures of the young actors and actresses playing the seven von Trapp children. It’s often very crowded, but I was allowed inside the outfit room / make-up room, which I'm very grateful for. The actress who will be playing Liesl von Trapp, however, was not in the room while I was in there, so she's not in any of the pictures, but we do see the other six children: Asher who will be playing Friedrich von Trapp. Amora as Louisa, Jesper as Kurt. Of course, Eliana as Brigitta von Trapp. Saskia will be playing Marta, and little Cora as the youngest von Trapp child, Gretl. The six young talents are between 8 and 14 years old, and all seem very happy to be sharing this great experience. It’s wonderful to see them have fun together.

But I hope you're all doing well, and as always, take care. Until next time,

[thenestingmama]

Happy Birthday, Xochitl!

Good morning! I’m quite emotional today. I can’t believe that it’s already been FOUR years since I gave birth to this sweet little chilli pepper child, and I just can’t get over how fast time flies, and how big she’s gotten. She has grown SO MUCH this past year, but she’s still the same smart, sweet and sassy little girl she’s always been. She’s really embraced her role as “big sister,” and her favorite thing to do right now, is to teach her little siblings new things. She loves playing with them and spending time with them, and it’s obvious they love spending time with her. She’s still small though, only meassuring around 34 inches, which is about the average size of a 2-year-old girl. But that’s okay. I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again: She’s perfect the way she is. Besides, I’m not even the tallest person myself, and even Sam was small as a child even though he’s tall now.

Happy 4th Birthday to our sweetest Xochitl Mireya. We love you so much! ❤️