About Experiencing Parenthood {And the Face Behind It}

Leila, Experiencing Parenthood

Email me at leila@experiencingparenthood.com

About Leila

Hiya! My name is Leila, pronounced LEE-la (like Sheila, but you take out the Sh and put an L). I am a Minnesota native who ventured out into the big world right before my 20th birthday. In fact, it was December of 2002, that a friend and I moved to Wisconsin where we survived three months, went back to Minnesota for 10 days, loaded up my car with what we felt were necessities and drove out to the desert where I have been ever since!

I met hubby here in the Arizona desert. We have been inseparable since December 2003 and married since August 2005. We are the proud parents of two girls, a boy, a dog, two cats, and a fish… I think that’s all right now. (It changes frequently with rodents, fish, and even frogs at one point!)

Hubby

You will hear of hubby often, but you likely won’t “see” him. He does attend local events and you can find him on social media as Man Gone Dad, but outside of that – he’s pretty quiet and rarely seen.

He was recently diagnosed with diabetes and while you may be wondering what that has to do with parenting and family – it has actually changed our entire family dynamic by means of eating habits and exercise habits as a family unit!

Blake, Addy, Kadenn

Kadenn

Kadenn is our oldest. She turned 11 right after Christmas. She is the perfect division of Hubby and me. All the things that make me crazy about Hubby are traits she has. All the things that make hubby crazy about me, she has those too. I would say she is hubby’s personality, but my attitude.

She is incredibly smart, loves math and reading, and thinks she’s the mom of the house. She has a big heart for helping others.

Blake

Blake is our middle child. He is almost 9 and is a lot like me. He has his dad’s laid-back attitude, but my anxiety, lack of patience, and all around personality traits. He has always been “Blake” to me. Being his mom, I knew early on that he was different from how Kadenn had grown up and I was right.

We began seeking help for Blake when he was about 6 1/2 years old. I had always noticed anxiety in him. Worries that a child his age shouldn’t have to worry about. We are still on a journey, but as of today, he has been diagnosed with anxiety, Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD), Oppositional Defiance Disorder (ODD) and has sensory issues. His doctor thinks he may also be on the Autism spectrum though he has not been formally tested and or diagnosed.

Blake is incredibly smart, loves math and reading, hates writing, and has a heart of gold. He is very sensitive, caring, and loving.

Addy

Addy is the “baby”. She is almost 4 and is the light of the family. She wakes up happy, she generally goes to sleep happy. She can be crabby, don’t get me wrong; but more often than not, she is happy – and she loves to make everyone else happy.

She is also our girly girl. She loves dolls, babies, and Barbies – things that Kadenn was never really into. She can spend hours playing alone with her dolls while she acts out their lives. She is my thespian and loves to sing and dance. I don’t doubt we won’t see her on stages when she’s older!

Jessie

Lil Stinker, Baby Jax & Jessie

My apologies for the lack of pictures of the cats, but they are not easy to photograph!

Lil Stinker – known as Stinker – is the oldest. She’s even older than Kadenn!

Stinker is a 12 year old, crabby tabby cat.

Baby Jax – known better as Jax – is a 10 1/2 year old black cat. He’s part feral so he’s very tempermental.

Jessie is our pit bull (although if you want to get technical, pit bull is not an actual breed. She would be a American Staffordshire Terrier) and is almost 8 years old (human years.) She is Addy’s best friend.