My name is Krystal Leonardson and I am an idahoan born and raised. I was quite literally born in a home on 17th Street… not at the hospital and at only 3 years old I decided to ride my tricycle on that very same busy street. Which is a pretty accurate representation for the chaos that life had in store for me. My journey into Motherhood has definitely been an unexpected journey. See I didn’t have the regular cookie cutter childhood, I wasn’t that young girl who wanted to grow up and have the perfect fairytale wedding. I grew up questioning why in the world anyone in their right mind would ever get married. I don’t think there was ever a time my parents actually got along, I went through my parents divorce and watched so many divorces in the years that followed. Marriage and motherhood were not even in the realm of the expectations for my future self.
That was up until I met Randy and fell head over heels in love. He makes everything in my life more meaningful. Right about the time I started to daydream, for the first time, about what it would be like to start a family of our own I was told never to plan on having kids due to several heart complications that would likely make my heart give out during childbirth. I was devastated and wanted answers to the heart complications so I could start living a more normal day to day life. A few years past and I ended up having a stroke. My heart was beating so abnormally blood was pooling in the bottom chambers of my heart, that mixed with an undiagnosed blood clotting disorder (protein S deficiency) lead to blood clots forming and then traveling through a hole in my heart to my brain and lungs. This was by far one of the hardest things health wise I have had to overcome. After more specialists I had my first heart surgery to repair a dime size hole in my heart and started getting the medical attention that was needed for me to be healthy enough to be a mom.
Being a mother with a chronic illness is definitely a lot to sign up for. Motherhood is exhausting. Being in constant pain and with significant heart complications and continually passing out with no end in sight is also exhausting. I might just be crazy for combining the two chaotic worlds. But I adore being a mom. I am beyond lucky and blessed to have not one, not two, but three very rambunctious little ones. I feel like being a mom has given me purpose and something to hold onto while struggling through all of the medical difficulties. I have also learned the key to my family's happiness is through the sanity of their mother. Which for me means having hobbies and being my own person outside of motherhood.
I enjoy lots of creative and crafty outlets to help me stay sane in the day to day craziness. I absolutely love photography and specialize in pets. I mean what’s better than being able to spend the day working with adorable animals while being able to capture their unique personalities! I’ve worked with the Snake River Animal Shelter to help animals that have a harder time getting adopted to find their Fur-ever homes. It’s amazing how much a good quality picture can change the adoption outlook for animals in need. I then took those images and paired them with articles featured in the post register for pet of the week to help each potential pet find their perfect person. I also enjoy scrapbooking, garage selling, and playing video games. All of which are not too physically exerting, the second I start signing up for going 4-wheeling or hiking I get in over my head and end up struggling for weeks in repercussion due to my health limitations. Yet in spite of being physically limited there are still so many ways to enjoy the outdoors and spend quality time together camping as a family.
My husband Randy loves hunting and fishing, which makes for lots of opportunities to enjoy natures’ beauty and fresh air together. We are both musically inclined and love to play both guitar and piano. Our love for outdoors and music has definitely been passed down to all of our sweet kiddos. I am so lucky to have such an awesome man by my side. He pours everything he has into being the best husband and father he can be all while managing so much in addition to those roles.It seems like a lifetime ago that we first met before our little ones became part of our family making our lives whole. I can say for certain that no one else would have signed on board for a lifetime of uncertainty. When I had my stroke we were still only dating and there was no guaranty I would be able to relearn everything so I could take care of myself. He is truly amazing and quite honestly the best thing that has ever happened to me.
Our older daughter Aspen is the most passionate and fierce six year old I have ever seen. I love that she always speaks her mind and never backs down, because as she grows I know that she will stick up for herself and those around her (even if that means I lose my sanity in the meantime.) She has a sweet compassionate girly side too. Aspen loves dresses, jewelry, dancing to her own beat and taking care of her animal stuffies. She has ADHD and has to work super hard to stay focused. In spite of that she is excelling in school and adores homework! (Hopefully we can keep that admiration for school in the future years.) Our younger Daughter Rylee is just as fierce and determined as her sister. At only one year old she is saying full blown sentences, words like ‘Delicious’, and running everywhere. She brings so much laughter into our home and could dance all day so long as there’s music. Rylee is three years old. She is passionate, persistent and loud. She loves to sing at the top of her lungs and wants to do anything big sister is doing. She is high-functioning Autistic and gets easily overstimulated. Rylee likes routine and consistancy. Our youngest little one is Colt. He just turned one year old. He is both our happiest baby and our angriest baby. He adores to jump, be read books, and above all else he loves his big sisters. Colt was 34 Weeks premie and spent 19 days in the NICU. He has struggled learning to crawl and with the help of physical therapy figured it out at 10 months old. We are still working on walking but this mama is in no rush. I know for a fact once he starts walking I will NEVER be able to catch up.
I never anticipated going on this journey of motherhood, yet in a way I think I was always meant to be a mom. I adore being a mom and I am looking forward to sharing my experiences with all of you!
- By Krystal Leonardson
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