PS

1/31/10

(Me on one of my newly healthy and much happier days this week.

I was even feeling good enough to actually do my hair and makeup that day!)

Just wanted to let you know that after 3 loooong weeks of being sick, I'm finally healthy again and so are the rest of my family! (who all got sick as I was starting to feel better) I am really grateful every morning I wake up and can breathe easily. I have a greater appreciation for all those things I take for granted when I'm healthy, like being able to breathe and taste things! I'm also grateful to finally have more energy to take care of my family. (at least what energy I have left with being pregnant) I pray that we all STAY healthy now.

Still Nesting

1/30/10

I have this list. It's all the things I'd ideally like to get done before this baby comes. It's actually not too large. I'm sure I could find lots of things to add to it! I'm trying to keep it to the biggest things though.

Well one of the things on my list was to get the photography in our home updated. It's just sad how long it's been since I've changed out our photos. So this week I totally updated our picture wall, the few photos we have in our kitchen and finally got our family picture printed and framed.

Because we have such an awesome and colorful family photo this year I decided to get it printed on metallic paper. It gives the picture this really cool metallic sheen to it and really makes the colors pop. I'm sorry you won't be able to see the effect in the picture I took of it on our wall, but it looks amazing. I'm so happy with it and glad to get one more thing crossed off my list of things to do.

One of the other things on my list was to dye this chair cushion cover blue. (the picture is the end result) It use to be cream colored originally and was really hard to keep it looking nice with kids. I thought about getting a new cushion in a different color, but then my friend suggested using RIT dye to dye it the color I want. Genius! I was really nervous to try it because I've never used RIT dye before, but it actually worked great. I did end up trying 2 different blues (first I did royal blue, then I re-dyed it denim blue) before I was satisfied with the color, but I like how it turned out in the end!

Out Sick

1/18/10

Sorry my blogging has been sparse lately, but I've been sick, and lacking in interesting things to share with you. I still am sick and I still don't have much to share other than my woe as me stories about how I, and now all my family, are sick. But just so you know I'm still here, I thought I'd share a glimpse of our day. This was our morning...

It all started with Aiden wanting me to take his picture.

After eating their cereal and OJ the kids wanted to sweep.

I wasn't going to complain!

While they swept I finished my delicious oatmeal. I finally had my husband teach me how he make his. (he eats it every day and has perfected it!) I've never like old fashioned rolled oats because it seems to always come out kinda chewy, not creamy like instant. Well he figured out how to make it creamy and he does it in the microwave. I think it's the peanut butter and milk combo that does it. He also adds honey, cinnamon and a little maple syrup. It's pretty good and I'm happy I finally made it myself this morning. It's much more filling than cereal which usually leaves me hungry an hour later.

Then I spent the rest of the day doing this...

...coughing up a lung!

My head's never hurt so bad, but I have to get rid of all the junk in my lungs. My midwife says all this coughing has made my baby drop. It may be here sooner than I thought! I've got to focus on getting better, because being sick got old a looong time ago!

I love you Grandma

1/17/10

Grandma Baird & my sister Natalie

Yesterday, January 16th, around 4:30pm my Grandma Baird passed away. This picture is the way I remember my Grandma. I don't remember how long ago this was taken (probably a couple years ago) but since then her health has really gone downhill. She's been living with my family back in Virginia for the past several months and her health has deteriorated even more rapidly in that time so we all knew this was coming any day. She's been ready to move on, leave her worn out body, and join her husband for a long time now, so I know she must be so happy to finally be allowed to do just that. I'm sad that she's no longer here with us, but not as happy as I am for her that she's finally able to be where she wanted to be.

The last few times I did see her, despite her failing health, she was still always her same outspoken, loving and spunky self. It's sad to see the ones you love leave but knowing I'll see her again brings me a lot of peace. She was surrounded by most of her children and some of her grandchildren as she took her last breath. I think that's so great that she was able to be with people she loved and cared for, and who loved her, in this life as she left to move on the next. I'm sure there were many other family members waiting to greet her on the other side, including my Grandpa. I love my Grandma and will miss her, but I'm grateful to know where she is and that one day I'll see her again.

My new lens

1/12/10

I was very excited to get my new lens in the mail. Of course the kids became my test subjects while I tried it out. I'm pretty happy with it so far! It does a great job indoors. Here's some of the pictures I took with it today....

I love that cute little face!

This is Aiden's "mean dog face"
(There's a growl that comes with it)

This is Emma trying to do Aiden's mean dog face. Haha!
(I love both of these faces- hilarious!)

While I cooked dinner tonight they did their own playdoh "cooking".

She's laughing because she was pretending that piece of playdoh was a booger!
(I have funny kids! They keep me laughing.)

Aiden making sure his "food" doesn't go bad.

field trip

Come visit me here today!

Getting Ready

1/11/10

I've been blessed to have several photographers as friends and blessed even more because they offer to take maternity pictures of me! I've had the most maternity pictures ever with this pregnancy. I did a session with my first child, and I don't think I ever had any of my 2nd (poor emma!), but this is my 2nd time getting maternity pictures with this baby. Lucky me! These are two of my favorites my friend Rachel took.

The past week I've been getting all my supplies ready for my home birth and today I got some of the last few items. I'm feeling prepared! I need stuff like painters plastic (for my bed), chux pads (absorbent pads like the ones they have you sit on when you deliver in the hospital), hydrogen peroxide, diapers for the baby, diapers for me (seriously. The adult kind. She said its better/easier than using pads for after delivery.), wash cloths, old towels, old sheets, safety pins...and a few more things I can't think of. Some midwives include all this stuff in their price and bring it. Mine doesn't. She's not as expensive as some midwives though, but definitely experienced! And that's ultimately what I care most about. I feel like I'm in good hands with her.

My midwife is into all herbal remedies, so she has me taking this "5 weeks formula". It's a powder made up of a few different ingredients that I put in capsules and take twice a day. It's suppose to help prepare my body to have a shorter/better labor and help with recovery after labor. So I had to stuff pill capsules for the first time ever. It was kinda fun! A little messy though. She gave me a device that holds 50 pill capsules that helps make the process easier. I'll have to take a picture and show you when my new lens finally gets here. I miss my camera!

I've also been reading a couple books. The Bradley Method, and On Becoming Baby Wise. The Bradley method is a birthing method that using relaxation techniques to get through labor and is very husband involved. It has a lot of great illustrations that help explain the birthing process. So far I like it. I read the Hypnobirth book last prenancy and liked that too. It's sort of similar, in that they both focus on relaxing. Hypnobirthing goes even deeper into relaxation techniques though. I want to re-read that one. On Becoming Baby Wise is a book on how to get your baby sleeping through the night by around 7-9 weeks. I'm reading it because I know a few people who swear by it. So far I'm liking that one too. I haven't gotten too far into it yet though.

I'm just working on getting as ready as I can. Taking advantage of these last days with out a newborn and little sleep! The apartment's looking great, but there's still a few organizational things I need to do. At least I have a few more weeks. I hope! You never know I guess.

Tomorrow go check out my post I did for Today's Mama. I'm taking part in her birth stories series. (She's getting birth stories from all different kinds of births.) This is part one of mine. I'll do a follow up after my delivery and let you know when that posts.

Emma's Birthday

1/9/10

I can hardly contain my excitement over finding the CD that I needed to make my digital camera work with my Mac laptop! I haven't been able to upload videos for a LONG time because of it and am excited to be able to do that again. I'll be shooting a lot more video now. This is just in time for the 3rd baby's arrival too!

Well lets start catching you up on some videos I took of Emma's last birthday (Dec. 2nd). Hope you enjoy.

It was a pretty low key birthday.

I made her a crown and strawberry lemonade cupcakes,

which we had over at Kart's parents' house.

Emma wearing her new hoodie, skirt and a holding a car aiden was given

(so he didn't feel left out).

2 year old independence

1/8/10

My daughter Emma recently turned 2 and and boy has that independent spirit set in! All I hear now is "I do it myself!" She doesn't want my help getting dressed, brushing her teeth, or even getting in her car seat- to name a few. It's just "I do it myself, I do it myself!" Now, I can appreciate that she wants to learn to do things on her own, and I really should encourage it more because my goal is that before my kids are 18 that they're ready to leave home and be independent. But sometimes it's hard to be patient while they're learning to do things on their own! It's just easier to help her get dressed than to wait while she tries to put things on backwards or on the wrong limb. But I'll try to be more patient. I might just have to give us more time to get ready to go places. I have to keep the end goal in mind and remember that this is an important step in her growing up.

One year ago today...

1/7/10

Image via Urban East Portraits

One year ago today I wrote this post about my sister Natalie. She was in a horrible car accident that took the life of her good friend Shelby and put her in the hospital in critical condition. When I heard the news I was at Target shopping with my kids and thought I might pass out. I had to sit down. I didn't know what this meant for her, and it scared me to death. All I kept thinking was that I wanted to be there, but I couldn't.

Having to be here, several states away, and just wait for phone call updates was painful. I didn't really have a choice but to keep going though. My kids and husband needed me. So I waited, and I would jump every time the phone rang. Updates were DAYS apart sometimes and that was hard. She was in a coma for a few weeks and I started to worry she'd never come out of it. She did though, and made an AMAZING recovery. Even though at the time it felt like forever, she was only in the hospital from January 7th until February - just after Valentines day. (I can't remember the exact date.)

To keep myself from going crazy from not being there I started a website for her right after the accident happened to keep people updated on her status, and that helped me feel more connected to the situation and to her. It was great to hear all the comments from people who know and love her, and from a lot of people who had never even met her but who had heard her story and were cheering her on and praying for her. I know it was through the power of prayer and the faith of us all that helped her recover so quickly.

I love my sister so much and I'm so proud of her and all the hard work it took to recover to the point she's at today. She's back in school finishing her senior year and although she may not be tumbling anymore she's still a cheerleader and is still able to be in choir and on yearbook. She's walking and running and still doing all the things she loves to do. Just to look at her you wouldn't know she'd been in an accident; except for a small scar on her neck.

I did get the chance to visit her in the hospital during her last few weeks there and watched as she relearned how to walk and write and even use a fork or open her mouth all the way (from having jaw surgery). So to see her now, being able to do all those things (and more) with out a problem, is amazing.

This hasn't been an easy year for her by any means, but she's gotten through it and has come a long way in the process. I'm so grateful that Heavenly Father decided to let her finish her journey here with us. I don't know what He has in store for her but I know that she's capable of great things and I'm looking forward to seeing what this next year brings for her.

I love you Natalie!

33 weeks

1/5/10

Wow. I think I've officially turned a corner in my pregnancy. I am REALLY feeling all that extra weight I've put on. If I sit down for a while, when I get up it's hard to walk at first because my bones in my pelvic and tail bone area feel tight and take a minute to readjust as I start walking around again. It's getting pretty crowded inside with this growing baby and doing everything is getting harder. I hate the idea of getting down to pick up things, because that means I have to get back up! It doesn't help that I'm STILL sick and now it's looking like the rest my family is joining me. There's a lot of sneezing and runny noses going on around here. Blast. At least it's not the swine flu!

Last night my husband was mentioning that it would be a good idea to start thinking about what I'm going to do during labor. You know - have a plan! I need to decide what kind of labor techniques I want to use, and then start practicing them. I also need to get all our supplies. (My midwife gave me a list of what we'll need to have) I realize I need to do these things but I've been so focused on getting the house ready I haven't been taking the time to think about getting myself ready. I think it has a lot to do with the fact that I'm going to be giving birth in my home this time so I want to be able to focus on the labor and not the clutter in the corner or the things I never finished organizing. I just want the space I give birth to be in order so I can feel peaceful, but my husband is right. I have to start focusing on preparing myself and getting the things I need ready, because at this point it could be any week now.

So that's the plan this week; get focused on preparing myself. Hopefully I can still work on the house too, but I'll try to resist the urge to get too involved in organizing and cleaning so I can have time for me. Hey, it's hard to find the balance with my other kids needing me too. I'm working on it. It always comes back to finding the balance in life doesn't it?

PS- I sold my camera lens and am waiting for my new one to come in the mail, so I'm sorry but there will be a lack of pictures until then.

Pie in a Jar

1/4/10

So remember how I said I was doing a handmade Christmas? Well I did, but when you make almost every gift it takes a lot longer to get things done. Especially with 2 small kids. Basically it meant I had to scale back my plans. I just didn't have time to do it all. One of the gifts I wanted to do that got scratched off the list were these fun individual "pie in a jar" pies. I finally got around to making them after Christmas and gave them to my in-laws for watching my kids overnight on New Years Eve. (It was great to have the night to ourselves!) I love how they turned out and I'm happy to say they are just as delicious as they are cute!

I got the idea and recipe here if you want to try making them yourself. They really were pretty easy & they'd make a great Valentines Day gift! I think I'll be making more; with cute labels next time.

Nesting & Neti Pot love

1/2/10

image via here

There comes a time when you're pregnant that you feel this urge to get things in order in your home in preparation for your baby's arrival. They call it "nesting". Like with my first pregnancy when I spent all night reorganizing a bookshelf that probably didn't really need to be reorganized- at least not right then. (I went in to labor the next morning!) It has to be done and done as soon as possible. Well today I was nesting and my wonderful husband was kind enough to help me with my list of projects I had to get done today.

First we took down our christmas decorations and the tree. I love Christmas, but this year I was more than ready to take it all down and get my living room back. We don't have a lot of space and the tree made things more crowded. Plus I was so happy to get rid of what we don't want/need anymore and reduce the amount of Christmas storage we have!

Then, together we reorganized all our kids clothes we're saving and vacuum sealed 6 bags worth; plus we already had 6 small totes organized by size on top of that. Since we don't know if we're having a boy or girl until it's born it felt great to get the clothes in order so we're ready for what ever we end up needing. Then I finally got the crib skirt on Emma's crib so we could stash all those clothes under her crib and they'll be easy to access and hidden from sight.

I also I finished 4 loads of laundry, kept the kitchen clean, got a pile of stuff together to donate, straightened all the rooms in the apartment, vacuumed, and reorganized part of the hall closet (still more to do there). I wanted to vacuum out the car too but never got to it.

It was a very busy day, but so rewarding!

Because of all the cleaning my sinuses have been congested. I'm sure it's from the dust that we stirred up. So I pulled out my Neti Pot. Ever heard of it? It's a pretty interesting experience.

image via here

This is what mine looks like. I got it at Walgreens. Basically you fill it with warm water and this salt solution it comes with and stick the spout in one nostril, tip your head to the side over the sink and the water will pour out the other nostril. Then you repeat on the other side. If you want to see a demonstration you can see a how-to video here. (It's pretty funny looking) It doesn't always work for me. Sometimes I'm too blocked up for it to pour out the other side. Tonight it worked great though! It's a pregnant girl's answer to congestion, since you can't take Sudafed. I would definitely recommend trying it.

2010

1/1/10

2010 couldn't have started any better.

My wonderful in-laws had the kids over night on New Years eve, which meant we got to sleep in and have a leisurely pancake breakfast together and then an early bird showing of "Avatar". (I was VERY skeptical, but it was a great movie! Be sure and see it in 3D though.)

Then sledding we got to take the kids sledding and spend the rest of the night with family.

It was a perfect day.