From the House on the Hill

granola, crunchy, earth mama

2012-01-23T13:27:00.000-05:00

yes, i'm granola.

i enjoy the more natural things on and in my body.

i'm not totally crunchy, just a little bit

i don't have all organic foods, nor do i have all organic body products.

heck i slather Ivy in highly processed petrolum products every day.

but i use cloth diapers and mama cloth

i have home births without medication

i think nature has provided us with some great herbs for medicines and i love a wholistic approach to wellness.

so home-made deoderant wasn't a huge leap for me.

(although i didn't tell Christian about it until after about a month of use, just so i could make sure it worked before letting him in on my super-crunchy side)

after Jet was born my whole body chemistry changed and no longer did my antipersperant/deoderant keep the underarm area fresh and odor free. in fact it made everything worse.

now admittedly i am a fairly smelly person, (i blame my dad and his smelly feet), but the new body odor was getting to me.

so i did what any 21st century girl would do: i sought out google.

and i found some great recipes for deoderant.

i thought i would share what works for me in the way of homemade deoderant.

here's what you need and how to do it:

baking soda

corn starch

coconut oil (or arrowroot powder, but i have yet to find it)

a mixing bowl

1/4 cup measuring cup

1 tbs measuring spoon

essential oils--not pictured

measure out 1/4 cup soda and 1/4 cup corn starch

cut in 1 to 2 tablespoons of coconut oil. i

always use somewhere between 1 and 2, but i'm not sure on the exact measurement.

cut it in like you would if you were making pie dough.

(i usually use a fork, but all mine were dirty or in the dishwasher, so i had to use a whisk.)

I usually end up using my fingers to make it into a doughy like substance.

you'll end up with a fairly small deoderant ball

choose your essential oils

for me it's usually tea tree oil and lavender,

but i have no idea what happened to my lavender so i thought i would go all crunchy out and use sandalwood (it's supposed to help with anxiety and stress so...)

mix in about 5 drops of each to your dough ball

find an old deoderant stick and empty it out. be sure to dial the knob all the way to the bottom so you'll have somewhere to put your new deoderant.

slowly shove your deo-ball into the container. i suggest a little at a time so the air can escape and you don't end up with a blob on the end of your deoderant stick like i have here.

and viola, you have deoderant.
i always have a little left over that won't fit into the stick so i put it in a glass bowl and use it for a few days before i break out the stick.

i haven't figured out how long it takes me to use it all, but i use about the same amount as i did with the regular, store-bought deoderant, and it works twice as well!

notes:

*don't leave your new deoderant someplace warm, as cocnut oil has a low melting point.

your new deoderant will turn to liquid if left in a hot bathroom.

i haven't had any problems in our bathroom, but there's no heat in that room so it hasn't been a problem (and it wasn't a problem this summer either).

the only time i've had my deoderant melt was when visiting friends in NY and their thermostat was on the fritz.

i just stuck my melted deoderant in the freezer for a few hours before we packed up to leave and it was as good as new. (although they probably wondered why i was storing my deoderant in the freezer)

*one friend of mine who tried it didn't like how crumbly it was. i think if you add enough coconut oil and apply slowly it should melt on your skin. sometimes i melt it in my hands before applying, especially if it's a cold day. (again, no heat in the bathroom)

* i haven't had any skin irritation from the products in the deoderant, but if i use it right after i shave my underarms i do get some irritation from the gritty-ness of the baking soda.

no one told me about the touching

2012-01-16T20:36:00.000-05:00

when you have a baby people tell you all about

the joys of motherhood: the coos, the cuddles, etc.

the trials: the poo blow-outs, the late nights, etc.

what no one tells you about is the TOUCHING

i swear i am touched by 3 sets of hands, mouths and feet more times each day than i ever thought was humanly possible.

they sit on me, they poke me, they grab at me, they put their mouths on me (especially the littlest one)

it's like some strange form of torture.

by the end of the day i'm full to the brim with the touching.

i know touching is really good for children's development but MAN! by the end of the day i just want to wrap myself in bubble wrap and curl up in a corner with a coke.

my little love affair

2012-01-10T15:27:00.002-05:00

i'm having a love affair.

he's about 2 feet tall,

he's pretty chunky,

and he only has 6 teeth.

and i love the heck out of him.

it's different this time than it was with Archer and Ivy.

i'm not the anxiety ridden mother i was with them.

he's not the first

he's not losing his skin.

i don't have depression this go round either.

he doesn't talk back, heck, he doesn't even talk.

he doesn't whine.

he doesn't cry often.

and when he does, i usually know what to do to make it all better.

i love how he smiles everytime i look at him.

i love how inquisitive he is.

he reminds me of the babies that Archer and Ivy used to be.

and they remind me that Jet's going to be as big as them in no time.

probably bigger, 'cause at 9 months he's bigger than Archer and Ivy were at 12 months.

but i'm trying to cherish these moments.

soon enough he'll learn to roll his eyes and whine all his requests instead of asking.

for now i'll cherish when he spits his peas out

when he eats another ladybug

when he poos every morning right after i change his diaper

when he wakes up in the middle of the night just to nurse

i hope i can remember these moments when he's big and tearing his way through the house.

home again, home again, jiggity-jig

2012-01-05T22:53:00.000-05:00

i decided to withdraw from school this semester.
i'm not sure when i will be going back. i know i will be though.
i wanted to spend more time with my kids, and less time with books that stress me out.

that being said, i hope i can spend my now reading-free nights updating this neglected area once in a while.

the time that has passed between the last time i posted and now was a whirlwind.
one particularly interesting occasion was the marriage of Christian's brother Skye.

his wedding was in Oakland, CA.
(which was a place that i previously had thought was full of thugs and drug dealers, i'm not quite sure where that impression came from)

the wedding was uneventful, which is great, as far as weddings should go.

the "events" surrounding the wedding went something like this:
(in bullet point format)

Dec. 19, 2011
-Christian has a MAJOR back spasm and barely makes it on the plane in one piece.
-Moomie and Boopie get caught in traffic trying to arrange all our vehicles for the return flights and barely make it onto the plane at all.
-we make it to CA but Christian's back is still spasming, so i volunteer to do all the heavy lifting and install of car seats.
-Ivy decides its potty time while i'm installing the car seats in the rental car pickup. we run back to the rental car building (like FOREVER away) and then continue with our quest to get to bed.
-Uncle Mikey-san brings us Japanese take-out...bless his Gyoza bearing soul.

Dec. 20, 2011
-Christian is still having major back pain
-we eat breakfast with Uncle Mikey-san in the hotel lobby, but it was crummy so we decide to go to the house where the rest of the family is staying.
-the kids go crazy
-Christian gets an appointment with a traditional Chinese healer/accupuncturist
-i wait with the kids and Linden while everyone runs around all morning, we had fun, except that my nephew was sick with a stomach bug, and Archer and Ivy were all sorts of mucus-y, with green stuff coming out of their eyes (we were told later that it was back up from the mucus in their noses...fun eh?)
-after lunch we head to Muir Woods and have a lovely walk through the ancient trees.
-while carrying Jet around in the ringsling my shoulder started aching and while nursing him in the warmth of the car my shoulder started spasming and hurting every time i breathed.
-we stop at a Lego store in a mall on the way home and get the kids legos for Christmas, but our debit card won't work (not due to insufficient funds, but because we bank locally and traveling to CA doesn't fly well with them.) we find a national bank credit card and get those darn legos, dang it.
-we returned to the hotel and Uncle Mikey-san got us Japanese take-out again!

Dec. 21, 2011
-Wedding Day!
-we drive to Oakland stopping at Men's Wearhouse on the way to the wedding so that Christian could get some pants that fit.
-on the drive we realize that we left Chris' tie and vest as well as his non-fitting pants in the hotel room 45 min south.
-i drive around a parking deck in downtown Oakland so that i can get cell service enough to know when Christian will return with his tux.
-we show up at the temple 10 minutes before the sealing. we're reprimanded by many sweet old ladies that "everyone is waiting for you guys."
-the sealing was beautiful, as were the participants.
-pictures ensued and the children behaved well enough.
-Christian went back to the Chinese healing lady and was much better.
-later that evening we attend the family dinner at a very cool morrocan restaurant
-Jet won't sleep, even though he's exhausted. the kids are driving me batty, and my shoulder is killing me.
-Uncle Mike-san Shiatsu'd my back, it helped a little.
-we drive the kids to the bride's parent's house where babysitters were waiting. we promise cake and movies at the "kid's party". Archer falls asleep on the way.
-we party down at the reception, and the cake was wonderful. (made by Christian's sister)
-we go to pick up the kids and the battery to the phone with navigation dies. so we try to get back to the house by memory. we made it.
-Archer woke up in the car as we get him ready to leave, wondering if he's at the party yet and what movie he's going to watch. he breaks down.
-we head back to the hotel and need to stop get gas. however, our credit cards didn't work. we tried 5 or 6 and finally one worked. (not due to insufficient funds, but because we bank locally and traveling to CA doesn't fly well with them.)
-we make it to the hotel and let Archer eat cake and watch movies on the ipad.
-everyone falls asleep super late

Dec. 22, 2011
-we arrive at the airport at 5am
-we return the rental car and head to the terminal where Moomie, Boopie and Uncle Nicholas and Aunt Jenna were waiting for us.
-while in line for security Ivy throws up on me.
-security doesn't care.
-i get patted down because i am wearing a full length skirt that was "too big" at the bottom (although it was jersey and very drapey, and i still have vomit on me.)
-Nicholas so kindly gives me a shirt (which I think I still may have, sorry)
-we board the plane, Ivy doesn't throw up again
-we make it home FINALLY!

all in all it was a good trip don't you think?

who you callin' brave?

2011-09-07T15:12:00.000-04:00

it seems that us home birthers get the reputation of being brave.

HA! i say.

i am here to refute that notion.

i am the least brave person in the world when it comes to birth.

see even Ivy's laughing at that notion.

here's a true story of bravery:

Archer was born in Las Vegas at St. Rose Hospital Siena Campus.

it was a beautiful hospital and a place i would have loved to be treated if there had been something wrong with me. but as a pregnant woman i never felt there was anything wrong with me. i had no high blood pressure, no sugar issues, no excessive weight gain, no bleeding, no nothing. i was text-book normal pregnancy. right on at every prenatal visit.

i didn't know i needed to be brave until i went to the hospital for the tour.

basically i stepped one foot onto the maternity ward and started having an anxiety attack.

the scrubs, the fluorescent lights, the little pings and whirs of all the machines just scared the heck out of me.

even now i'm getting a little anxious thinking about it.

also this hospital was a teaching hospital with residents following the attending doc around for everything.

i did not want every tom, dick and harry to be in the delivery room when my son was born.

because of my anxiety my labor stopped the first 3 times i went to the hospital with regular 4 min apart contractions. we would get there and then BAM! a strange lady sticks her hand in my vagina and feels my cervix and you know what? i wasn't far enough along. DUH. your cervix would probably shrink too if someone you've never seen before tried to touch it. so by visit #4 i was probably comfortable enough with the nurses that my contractions remained regular and i was admitted. i started laboring away. i wanted to go drug free. not to get a shiny medal, or anything like that, but so my baby wouldn't have any sort of drowsiness after birth and would get the best start to breastfeeding he could have. i wanted to not have any IV fluids so i hoped for only a hep lock but "hospital policy states..." blah blah blah, you know the run down. i had to have the IV. i had to have the fetal monitoring for 20 minutes out of every 60. i couldn't eat anything other than ice chips (but i snuck starbursts and water, so TAKE THAT!) finally around noon i thought i should ask the nurse for some advice to help me through the labor. the contractions weren't that bad, but she suggested that to speed things up we could break my water. so of course that sounded like a great idea, yeah sure, get this baby outta here! (big mistake #1) so she broke the water and HOLY CRAP all hell broke loose. the contractions before with the amniotic fluid cushioning Archer's head vs. contractions without that cushion were like night and day. they hurt like crazy and i wasn't ready for it. my body hadn't had the gentle work up that it probably needed to have before the waters broke spontaneously. and i had not prepared nearly enough techniques to deal with the pain. neither was i really free to do the things i wanted to do because i had to be strapped to a pinging, whirring monitor for what felt like an hour every 5 minutes. after about 30 minutes of that craziness i said get the drug guy in here and put in the epidural. of course, my dear husband didn't want to see me in pain so he was all on board. (big mistake #2) well while Christian was over in the corner halfway fainting from the giant needle being inserted into my spine i was doing my best to hold still through mountains of contractions. finally the drugs got to work. but you know what? i lost feeling in my arms as well as my legs. but not enough feeling that the contractions didn't hurt. i swear i thought it wasn't working (i found out through Ivy's birth that the epidural had indeed worked a bit!) now the pinging and the whirring were amping up a bit and the baby was descending farther into the birth canal and eventually the nurses couldn't get the external monitor to pick up the heart beat. so instead of just grabbing a doppler for some intermittent fetal monitoring they try 3 times to attach an internal monitor to Archer's delicate little hair covered head. it just wasn't working out. and someone cried "DECREASE IN HEART BEAT!" (just for the record no where in my birth records is it written or recorded that there was an actual decrease in heart tones, but that was what they told me at the time) so Dr. Oliver was called in. he was on call that day and i had never before seen him in my life. ever. plus he brought his student. a tall guy that didn't look much older than myself, and who didn't know what he really wanted to specialize in, he was "just in rotations right now". so because of the fear of the heart beat, and because it's what they do, Dr. Oliver checks my cervix. i'm at 8 cm. then he leaves the room to check on another laboring mother down the hall who is very close to delivery. and comes back within a half an hour. he checks my cervix again. well miraculously or because of some OB fiddling, i was at a 10. fully dialated. the heart tones are still down and Dr. Oliver decides the best course of action is to use a vacuum to assist me in delivering the baby. i sidle up into the stranded beetle position and push with all my might. within 2 pushes Archer is out. because of the vacuum i needed an epsiotomy, because of the fast birth i tore. 4th degree y'all. (that's the worst there is) Archer was whisked away to the warmer, beaten with what i call a "thwacker" (a rounded piece of hard plastic) to "get the fluid out of his lungs" and weighed and measured then handed bundled back to me about an hour later. meanwhile, i'm still stranded on my back with Dr. Oliver and intern taking turns stitching up the multiple layers of skin that they had cut and allowed to tear. and yes i could FEEL IT ALL, because the epidural was not working there and they gave me no shot ner nothin'. the kicker is that i could see everything he was doing because of the reflection in his glasses. it was a mess. it took about 45 minutes to sew me up, and i'm not sure how many stitches i got, other than the "husband stitch" that my midwife with Ivy had to remedy so that she could come out. (if you don't know, just google it)

so because of this trauma on me and the trauma on Archer, and the trauma on Christian (wow, who knew that getting your wife that epidural would actually cause her more pain?!) we all had a hard time bonding. i didn't like men (baby men included) for a good year after that. it's amazing that we got pregnant with Ivy at all! Archer had a horrible time nursing, and never got a proper latch. i finally stopped bleeding after 3 months of pain but nursing was never pain free. (stupid me never even thought about a lactation consultant. do it. they'll help your boobies stay happy.) my bottom took months to heal completely and sneezing and laughing hard caused some major problems.

overall, i was happy the baby was out. but i was oh so unhappy about how it happened.

i was not in control of anything. not even my body. i made some really bad mistakes that may or may not have led to the decrease in heart tones (i have my theories, but i'd love to hear yours).

so yeah, i was brave. i did the brave thing. i gave birth in a hospital. a setting where, across the nation, vacuum assists, forceps deliveries, non-medically indicated inductions and c-section rates are soaring. i took my "natural birth" plan and gave it away to those that are trained in trauma and abnormalities.

i think i deserve a gold medal for that.

the rest of the story:

with Ivy we had just moved to VA and having known Dr. Aamodt since high school I knew his practice was very "crunch" friendly. he employs midwives! (the only practice in the valley that does!) and they're good too. so i was about 7 months pregnant when we moved and i asked if i could get in with his midwives. he said he could pull some strings and get me in. but upon further investigation of our health care plan i found it would be around $5000 dollars to have any sort of hospital birth. (that was yearly deductible at the time). and so i turned to certified professional midwives or CPMs. (they ranged around $2500 for everything) there were a number in the area, but i clicked with one named Trinlie Wood. she was fantastic and a great maternal figure. she set my husband's heart at ease with her many births attended and small transfer rate and 0 maternal/infant death rate. she provided excellent prenatal care and it was a beautiful birth. you can read it here. (plus more details of Archer's birth)

with Jet i knew i was going to do a homebirth again but i wanted a spunkier midwife so i chose my friend Misty Ward who just celebrated the 1st year of her birth center being open. again fabulous prenatal care with each "visit" lasting about an hour. and a wonderful intervention free birth. read about it here.

alright let's define brave.

i tell Archer being brave means that even though you're scared you do what's right.

with Archer's birth i did what was considered right by my insurance company, right by my family, and right by society at large, but it ended up being wrong for me. i was scared but i did it anyways.

with Ivy and Jet, i did what i felt was right and i didn't need nearly as much bravery.

another hardware man

2011-09-04T22:03:00.003-04:00

Jet really enjoys hanging out at the new hardware store.

who am i to judge another...

2011-08-21T19:33:00.004-04:00

sometimes i judge people.

it's true. please feel free to judge me for judging others.

what really brought this anti-virtue to life was the county fair.
it's really amazing the types of people that come out to the county fair.
you've got a huge cross section of the population in the county.
rednecks
agri-folks
business people
hipsters
angst ridden teens

and the one that gets me: smokers

i guess i've been really lucky in my life that my parents never smoked. i've never been around a lot of people that smoke. (although there was that time in high school when most of my friends thought it was cool to smoke) and now as an adult i make sure that i don't put myself in places where i'll be surrounded by smoke. (thank you VA for passing the law that makes it illegal to smoke in restaurants.)

so i guess this is where the judgement comes in.
i judge smokers.

i especially judge smokers who smoke around their children.

i most especially judge those who have a cigarette in one hand while bottle feeding their baby with the other.

now my sympathetic brain says: "Rachel, don't judge those people, perhaps they're addicted and are trying to quit"

but honestly my brain first says: WHY?
i judge the smokers as uneducated and disrespectful.

i think "doesn't everyone know how bad it is to smoke?"
don't they know that it causes cancer? not just lung cancer for themselves but for those around them.

as a child there was a couple at church that were the sweetest people i knew. mainly because they always gave me those pink wintergreen mints whenever they saw me. but i have it on good authority that they were good people. the husband was a smoker. he died first of lung cancer, and then his wife who had never smoked a day in her life died of lung cancer. i was angered by this. i thought he was so mean for smoking around his wife and giving her a disease that she didn't deserve.

smoking doesn't only cause lung cancer but has been connected to mouth, throat, pancreas and bladder cancer.
other dangers of smoking include: emphysema, chronic bronchitis, heart disease, dry skin, and premature aging.
dangers during pregnancy include: miscarriage, low birth weight babies, premature births, and still births.
plus children of smokers are TWICE as likely to smoke if their parents are smokers.*

the nicotine in cigarettes is a dopamine stimulant. nicotine causes the dopamine in your brain to be released more rapidly giving you that buzz of good feelings.* natural stimulants like running, having adventures and the like also give you that buzz, but when you chemically alter the timing and amount of dopamine that your brain is producing you are setting yourself up for addiction. over time your brain's dopamine receptors will get used to the over abundance of dopamine and will crave more, so you'll need to smoke more, and more, and more. and then you're a pack a day smoker.

so, why? WHY? do people start smoking? and why don't they get help to stop? and why (yes another big WHY) WHY do they smoke around their children?

when we lived in Las Vegas there was a debate about whether or not to make it illegal to smoke in a car with children. i have mixed feelings on the issue. here's why:
pros of the law: protection of children (and that's a big pro)
cons of the law: very hard to enforce unless it's a primary offense for which one can be pulled over. and when the governing bodies start invading private places what will stop them from making other laws that are not so virtuous?
you see, it's a hard line to walk.
it's harder still when i'm walking down the midway at the fair with my three children and surrounded by lots of good families and children and we are all breathing the amazing mixture of gases that makes up the air and we are all assaulted by the few that choose to smoke. i have no idea what to say to those people. if i had the guts for it, i would walk right up to them and tell them that they are performing an act of bio-terrorism. that they're actions are killing us all slowly.

i would like to propose that public events should be smoke free. yes, it is your right to smoke. yes, you have the right to raise your children however you want to. but no, you do not have the right to infringe upon my life, liberty and pursuit of happiness, and you cannot do that to your child either.

Homemaking/Parenting Tip of the Day

2011-08-01T20:45:00.003-04:00

if you plan on vacuuming on the same day as you plan on making crafts with glitter involved then remember this simple rule:
Glitter First, then Vacuum.

also a good rule of note

hide the extra glitter.

the bottom line

2011-07-21T14:42:00.002-04:00

couponing.

i've been seeing things all over recently about the joys of massive savings from massive couponing.

i don't buy it
i don't coupon.
i kind of refuse to.

here are the reasons i won't coupon:

1. it takes a lot of time and effort to cut coupons and match them with the sales that are going on at the grocery store. (don't tell me otherwise, i have other hobbies that take my free time)

2. the coupons are generally for crap processed foods that do your body more harm than good and you'll end up paying more in doctor's bills if you eat that stuff,
or else are for non-food items. (which perhaps i would buy, but which leads me to #3)

3. you have to buy INSANE amounts of these products to really feel the massive savings. which apart from what you need, and food storage and that bit, seems a bit hoarder-ish to me.

4. THE SAVINGS DON'T JUST COME OUT OF THIN AIR. SOMEONE'S BOTTOM LINE IS BEING HURT SOMEWHERE.

having been in and around retail since my conception i know about the bottom line.
i know about margins and how much a company can depend on the fragility of their margins.
i know that the sales every month that we do are planned carefully so that we can still meet the bottom line, and the hits we take on some products are compensated by the full price value of others.

now i know what you're thinking. "don't the manufacturers pay the stores back for the coupons?"
yes they do.
but what i wonder about, and don't know fully, is where is the manufacturer cutting those costs?

i am positively certain that every major manufacturing firm has a team of highly skilled individuals sitting around a table and a giant calculator figuring out the exact cost to produce their good and the exact profit they will make from selling it. i guarantee they assume not every individual in America is using coupons and so by printing them they take the risk that if some of their product is bought at the reduced the margins will be made up by those of us who are willing to pay full price.

and if they don't figure that into the equation, or if we all start purchasing at coupon price, then what? do they start making smaller products at the same price, cutting out a few kernels of corn from the creamed corn can?

bottom line: when it's on sale in the store flyer the store is taking a hit to it's margin. they will have to make up those margins in other areas of the store so that they can keep the lights on and their employees paid.
when it's on sale via coupon, the manufacturer has taken that risk, also banking on paid in full items to keep the lights on and the employees paid. when it's a smaller corporation that risk can be riskier.

All of this doesn't sound so bad does it? They're still making money right? i guess so.

but here's my last and final reason for not couponing:
5. it adds to the already rampant entitlement syndrome Americans have
we believe that we DESERVE to buy things on sale.
we believe that a groupon is the only way to get the things that are out of our reach.
we believe that we must feed ourselves with coupons so that we can buy other things

as with the housing bubble we believed we could get amazing houses for cheap because the banks were offering amazing rates,
(the banks taking the risk that some would pay full price and feed their bottom line)
i wonder if we're going to run into a grocery bubble from all the couponing?

i want to raise my kids to know that everything worth anything was made by hard work and hard work should be valued highly.

that being said i also believe very firmly in what my grandma taught me:
if they're giving it away for free, by all means take it!

Now as a disclaimer i know there are families that struggle to buy food. Despite tightening belts and going without "luxury" items like cable tv, new clothes, dinners out, and cell phones, you still might be in the red. if you need to coupon to survive, by all means do it. i'm not condemning anyone. i'm just telling you why i don't do it myself.

mormon mishap

2011-07-16T13:50:00.005-04:00

we all have bad days.
i get them frequently.

i believe it was one of those days for the girl at hardee's yesterday.

all morning long i was looking forward to my time "alone"
that's when i get to go into the family hardware store and work, doing filing and checking in the order.
i get to talk to grownups. woot woot.

i was also looking forward to a cheeseburger, fries and (specifically) a medium sized Coke with light ice from hardee's.

like i said it must have been a bad day for the hardee's girl as well.

when i got my order i drove up to the hardware store and parked.
put on the radio to NPR to listen to this program about a man who recorded his neighbors near his Salt Lake City suburb home.

i opened my burger first.
it wasn't a cheeseburger.
i was a little put down but i was starving, so i picked off the pickles and went to town.

then i grabbed my giant drink and took a swig swallowing even before tasting it.
it wasn't until the second swig that i noticed the drink was decidedly un-fizzy, and too sweet, even for coke-a-cola.

SWEET TEA!!picture from allrecipes.com

oh my what a mormon dilemma.

i had sworn off of sweet tea about 8 years ago, even before i joined the church.
unlike twinings earl grey with a bit of sugar and cream (i'm getting a craving even as i type), sweet iced tea was easy for me to give up.
water was always an alternative at family dinners.

now you non-members are probably wondering what in the sam-hell is wrong with sweet tea?
nothing's wrong.
unless you've made a commitment to not drink tea and sealed that commitment with a baptismal covenant.
so for you non-members who love a tall glass of sweet tea, enjoy. i'll even watch you do it.
but for me...I can't, I'm Mormon.

you see us Latter-day Saints, the LDS, or los Mormones adhere to a law called the Word of Wisdom.

see here for the official church info on it,
and here for the very well written wiki-article on it,

and here's my lay-version of it: Doctrine and Covenants 89
basically the letter of the law states as follows
you follow these rules:
*no alcohol
*no smoking
*no illegal substances
*meat sparingly or not at all (although a lot of mormons conveniently forget this one)
*no hot drinks (which has been interpreted as coffee and tea, thank you living prophet)
*eat lots of grains and vegetables
you get these blessings:
"And all saints who remember to keep and do these sayings, walking in obedience to the commandments, shall receive health in their navel and marrow to their bones;
And shall find wisdom and great treasures of knowledge, even hidden treasures;
And shall run and not be weary, and shall walk and not faint.
And I, the Lord, give unto them a promise, that the destroying angel shall pass by them, as the children of Israel, and not slay them. Amen."

And the spirit of the law:
*put the good stuff in, don't put the bad crap in.

(and yes i do know coke falls in the bad crap category...i like living the rule of the law right now)

anyways. back to the sweet tea.

it wasn't that my moral brain cried out:
"beware sister, you have drunk the cup of evil one, who has set out to destroy you with this 32 ounces of liquid sin."

but rather that my taste buds cried out:
"holy cow, what is this yuck?!"

and sitting there in the car listening to the opening of The Story and hearing the voice of our recently passed Prophet reciting lines written by a huge historical mormon figure, i couldn't help but laugh at the irony of it all, and cry a little because, darn it, i still wanted a coke and a cheeseburger.

thankfully dad gave me a coke inside the store, and Christian took me out for a cheeseburger later that night!

on accepting my size 10 mom jeans

2011-07-03T14:30:00.004-04:00

yep. i did it. i bought mom jeans.
true i'm only 26, but i'm the mom of 3 kids so mom jeans it was.

i remember i used to be appalled at the little pouch of skin and fat that mothers have around their midsection.
my sister and i would see moms at the beach

and vow it would never happen to us.

well sorry sis, it happened.
(hopefully it won't happen to you)

so in my efforts to contain the aforementioned mommy pouch

i have resorted to high waisted pants.

i spent a full morning with my mother searching for just the right pair.
let me tell you, high waisted jeans that actually look good are hard to find.

it's easy to find high waisted jeans that are tapered, a poor denim wash, with butt pockets hiding up by the waist band, or that in general make me look like a giant ice cream cone. (you know really skinny at the bottom and growing fatter at the top)

i finally settled on these jeans from Eddie Bauer.
(thanks mom for taking me shopping!)

they do a great job of holding in my extra bits, (although at the end of the day they have stretched out like crazy and i feel like i'm hauling them back up every time i stand.)

as i sat at home in my new size 10, high waisted, mom jeans i could not help but feel sorry for myself and my flabby belly.

but then my friends started posting this link on Facebook. it's an article about how to speak to little girls so they aren't so focused on being "pretty" but rather focused on learning and retaining knowledge.

i started reflecting. (and not looking at myself in the mirror)

what sort of messages am i sending to my little girl when i look in the mirror and scowl as i jiggle that mama pouch?
what do i really say when i say i look horrible without mascara?

i know i don't have a "perfect" body.
i know i don't have the super model body.
nor do i even have the body that i had 12 months ago.
i have a mom's body and that means a lot.

motherhood is a sacrifice. of time, and of body.
i spent 9 months growing each of my children and 37 months nursing each one of them (and i'm not going to stop anytime soon)
i grew 3 human beings within my flabby belly.
i let my body house them as they grew bigger and bigger and finally i let my body deliver them.
i feel extremely blessed that i was given the opportunity to have my children.
i have been blessed to have three pregnancies resulting in 3 children.
and if that's not a perfect body i don't know what is.

butterfly farm

2011-06-28T13:41:00.005-04:00

there is a local farm and greenhouse that sets up a butterfly exhibit every year.
the benefits go to a daycare in the area.
this year i took the kids (along with some much needed help from Moomie and Boopie)
they kept referring to it as the butterfly farm.

it happened to be one of the hottest days of the week when we went.
luckily the butterfly enclosure was cool and breezy.
but, the kids wanted to play on the other features of the farm.
they really enjoyed the underground slide, (well Archer did, Ivy wouldn't try it)
Ivy had a blast on the vintage carousel (no i didn't get a picture...drat...but man does she love those things)
but i managed a picture of the "cow train" Boopie barely fit with Ivy in his lap.
and they all enjoyed racing ducks with Boopie, and learning about old timey water pumping in the process!
can you spot the monarch butterfly in this picture?

he's the only one...

2011-06-18T15:15:00.013-04:00

the only one i'd let be the father of my children.

he shows them wildlife.

and teaches them to sleep in.

yeah that's the crazy man I married.

he even buckles the kids up.

and puts the lights on the Christmas tree.

they come to him for help when they have ouchies

he teaches them how to hike and what's edible in the woods.

he's good at reading.

and watching the kids at the park.

i think i made a good choice.
love you hubs. happy father's day. (a day late.)

fun loving family

2011-06-10T08:52:00.004-04:00

in case you're like my family and have very little opportunity to travel outside of a 30 mile radius check out these fabulous blogs from Christian's brothers:

Nickolas Pickolas is spending the summer in Jena, Germany with his brand new bride, Jenna. (anyone else find that ironic?)
they are both working in a research park there.
Nick on optics
Jenna on genetics
you can find their Amblings and Ramblings here.

Skye is spending the summer in Amman, Jordan.
he has an internship with the Jordanian Ministry of Social Development.
right now he's working on cleaning up some community centers
and he's having all sorts of adventures.
you can find out about his Journey to Jordan here.

so there you go. read, live vicariously, enjoy.

the one about the sad stuff

2011-06-07T21:22:00.004-04:00

i have struggled with postpartum depression for over 4 years.
it all started with that unraveling after Archer's birth.

i first knew it was depression when i couldn't get out of bed,
and it wasn't because I was still healing after the 4th degree tear from a vacuum assisted birth.
it was after my mom left, after Christian's mom left.
i was alone and i had no idea what to do.

it was strange because we were moving very soon after Archer was born, so there was very little furniture in the house.
we had one chair, the one Christian found in the middle of the road in remarkably good shape, a table borrowed from church, our mattress, and the bassinet without the frame that lets it rock.
i was totally ripe for depression.
i remember sitting in our chair with Archer in my arms screaming because he didn't want my milk, but he wanted to suckle, i was drenched in breast milk and crying because i smelled like cheetos.

i went to the doctor. i got put on meds.
zoloft 25mg to be exact
i moved out of state and didn't see that doctor ever again.
i stopped taking the zoloft when Archer was probably 9 months old.
i felt better, i didn't need them any more.

but then Ivy was born.
i was having panic attacks daily after she was born.
i did pretty well, i think, in the hospital when she was in the NICU.
but when we were home and she was screaming non-stop and there was nothing i could do to help her
i snapped.
around 4 o'clock every night, just as the sun was setting (this was the end of November) the panic would start.
my heart would race, my body would tense and i couldn't stop telling myself that it was all my fault.
the attacks were lessened by doing laundry, washing dishes, doing normal things.
also rescue remedy, and lots of catnip and chamomile tea were thrown into the mix.
the attacks eventually stopped but then i was left with a very empty feeling.
and the urge to throw my children down stairs, drive cars into lakes, and jump off of high places.
i looked at pregnant women and hated them because they were creating normal children.
they were ugly feelings but very real.

i prayed a lot.

i went to our family doctor, PA actually.
she was very supportive and extremely kind about helping me.
again i got the zoloft 25 mg.
it worked well for about a year and then i had to bump up to 50 mg.

i would talk with Dr. Kris periodically and check in.
the kids were safe, i was getting better.

then i got pregnant with Jet.
there are risks associated with taking antidepressants while pregnant.
i didn't want to have another NICU experience so i cut back to 25 mg a day and by the third trimester i was off them altogether. not that mentally i should have been.
i was a walking shell.
i tried to stay upbeat, but it wasn't working.
i didn't want to bring another child into a family where his mother wouldn't be there 100%, and he would have a greater chance of himself being depressed.

your probably thinking at this point that i'm probably a huge mess.
ready to chuck my kids off the nearest cliff.

but miraculously i'm not.

i was amazed that a week after Jet's birth i still had not had any baby blues.
i had one crying day, but that was it.

(i hope i'm not jinxing myself by saying this)

i believe that the completely normal and safe and happy birth of Jet healed my brain.

when i took Jet and Archer in for well-child checks Dr. Kris noted how at peace i looked, and this on a day when i hadn't done my makeup!
she had noticed something was different, and she's a medical professional.

hopefully it will last.
i don't know how optimistic i can be.
after all i do have a history.

and i am scared daily that this boost in energy, the new found joy in playing with my children, the willingness to actually do things that i love is temporary or either a precursor to a deep mental break.

please let it last.
please let me seek help early if it doesn't

lambing time

2011-06-01T21:03:00.008-04:00

it seems like all my friends are having babies.
heck even i had a baby.
and the cat, Stewart, had kittens. (on the day Jet was born nonetheless.)
"look mommy, Stewart laid little cats!" ~Ivy

i'm a minimalist when it comes to babies.
with my first i had a lot of stuff that i just didn't need.
luckily it was either gifted or handed down, so i didn't feel so bad when i got rid of it or let it sit in storage for years.

so here's my top 5 items (i need) for newborns:

5. binkie leashthis was my first binkie leash i made.

yes i give my babies binkies.
Archer disowned his around 3 months old
Ivy still has hers (only at night time)
Jet likes his when he wants to suckle but doesn't want any milk
binkie leashes keep that darn thing near by at all times.
yes this is a shameless plug. (ahem, prettylizzylu.etsy.com)

4. baby carrierperfect for lugging babies to waterfalls.

i have both a moby wrap and a ring sling, (that I made, but these are wonderful)
i love being able to wear my babies around when they're fussy or when the older kids just can't keep their hands to themselves.

3. swaddling blankets
the Aden and Anais blankets are great for swaddling and a perfect weight for summertime.

2.diapersdoesn't Jet look just like Archer? (this is Archer by the way!)

i love cloth diapers.
i've been cloth diapering my babies for 4+ years.
my favorites right now are Fuzzibunz one size, and prefolds with Thirsties duo wrap covers.
(along with diapers you'll need wipes, cloth wipes work best with cloth dipes)

1. breasts
nuff said. (and no you don't get a picture)
that's how i've fed all three of mine.
(even if you don't use them to feed babies with, they make perfect pillows for little baby heads.)

good birthing season everyone!

what's that sound?

2011-05-28T16:05:00.003-04:00

do you know what one of my favorite sounds in the world is?
(how would you?)
so let me tell you.
i love the sound of the vacuum cleaner sucking up little bits of dirt and stuff on the ground.
weird i know. but strangely satisfying.

a few months ago mom let me borrow her new vacuum cleaner.
(nesting instincts and all...)
i haven't given it back yet, and i threw out my old Hoover.
her's is an electrolux.
i remember the day that the electrolux sales lady came to our house when i was a kid.
she brought a canister of dirt and vacuumed the couch!
it was amazing . i had never seen a couch vacuumed before.
i think that was the selling point for my mom.
it was definitely a key component for every vacuum i have ever wanted: it had to have an upholstery nozzle.

needless to say mom bought the vacuum.

that was probably 15 years ago.
and then she bought another about 8 years ago.
well the new one is an electrolux too.

and it's AMAZING!
i swear i use it almost every night after the kids are in bed.
it has some really cool features
like being super quiet
the power button is on the handle
a foot release for the power nozzle so you can let take it off and use the end to get into corners
it has a long enough cord to reach from corner to corner of my little house.
oh, and it has other great features.
the one downside that i have found is that the accessories in the handle don't seem to want to stay put. they keep falling out every time i go to put it away.

i love it.

and just so you know i have no affiliation with electrolux.
i just love this vacuum and how well it sucks.

so...if anyone wants to get me a great gift for no reason at all you can buy one here:
electrolux.com

family

2011-05-23T20:26:00.012-04:00

mom, dad, grandma, grandpa, aunt, uncle, cousin, brother, sister, etc.

Christian with his brood!

i've been thinking a lot about families this weekend.
might have something to do with teaching a lesson on this General Conference Talk in Relief Society on Sunday

we often say: we are knit together.
i would like to say: families are woven together.G.P. (in the hawaiian shirt) and one of my crazy uncles.

if you think about it knits are 1 thread knotted together, quite stretchy, and will unravel with 1 cut.
wovens are many threads, overlapping, strong and will endure holes without falling to pieces, and is easy to mend.
each member of the family is a thread in the fabric. each person touches a multitude of others and strengthens them, holds them in place.Grandma Tootsie and Mom, and a baby Ivy eating her favorite butterfly.

we're in these families to teach us how to live, how to become more Christ-like, and ultimately return to Heavenly Father.Christian helping Archer cut his birthday cake.

here's an example of knitting:

when Archer was born we lived in Las Vegas.
i didn't have very many friends and no close friends. i had had a horrible birth experience and nursing was very hard for me. i cried and cried when my mother and mother in law had to leave.
Moomie and Archer

one very vivid memory of that time was when Christian had left for a weekend with Thunderstruck Dance Competition (he MC'd) and all of our furniture was gone because we were moving to UT, and i was lying on our mattress in the middle of our bare bedroom freaking out that Archer wasn't getting enough to eat. i called my mother in the middle of the night and asked her for advice. it just wasn't the same as calling her and having her run up to my house to help, like she can now.
Mom and Archer on his 1st birthday. (see he survived!)

i had to figure everything out for myself, from changing diapers to feeding schedules to how i was going to feed myself! i was tying myself into knots and stretching out of shape. needless to say i slipped into depression.
one of Christian's crazy uncles and a brother...(gem mine, family vacation 2008)

now a woven story:

when Ivy was born with EHK there was a lot of time spent in the hospital with her. meanwhile grandmas and grandpas looked after Archer. G.P. and Archer with the hardware store's race car!

and even after she was out of the hospital, we had a lot to do to maintain her skin at home everyday, so either a friend from church or a family member would come to help us with the bath or watch Archer. meals were brought nightly for a few weeks. family members would take loads of laundry to wash. my mother disinfected my house before Ivy came home from the hospital so she wouldn't run the risk of infection at home. Christian's job hours were flexible because he worked at the family hardware store. he was able to stay home and help me with dressing changes in the morning.
Boopie and Archer

it was through that experience that we realized we couldn't live without our tribe.
all of our family members rallied around us to support us physically, emotionally and financially.

when i compare those two experiences i realize how lucky i am to live near my parents, my husband's parents and almost every member of my extended family. not to mention a very loving church family. (they brought dinners for me for 2 weeks after Jet was born. amazing)
i get to do laundry at my mom's house.
i get to take my grandmother out shopping for her 81st birthday.my 81 year old grandmother, and mom

i get the joy of seeing my children grow up knowing their grandparents and spending time with them.
i feel so blessed to have so much family around me, woven into my life like a beautiful cloth.

the birth of Jet

2011-05-20T21:42:00.006-04:00

i know some of you have been waiting anxiously for the story of baby #3's birth.
well, here goes...

it was Friday night. Moomie and Boopie said they'd let the kids have a sleep over and Christian and I could go on our date. we were going to a massage class geared toward couples with techniques to use during labor. well we went to that and had a great time learning what types of touch we like, (FYI i'm a "better call Helga in here, this one says the more pressure the better" kinda gal, and Christian is a "light touch" kinda guy. just in case you're booking a couples massage for us!) we also had fun with the instructor Jill Petenbrink-Dieme, who is a massage therapist, acupressurist, and CPM. she would press a spot on my foot and cause contractions to start. she also could tell from a certain spot in my foot if my body was ready for labor. she said it was and it could happen any day! boy was she right!

after the class Christian and i went home and had a relaxing night together without any interruptions in our newly moved in queen bed. (did i tell you about the bunk-bed trial and error...no, well perhaps another time.)

Saturday Christian had to work at the hardware store, so he left. i spent the morning lounging around, and cleaning up the house. i finally got to vacuum and clean the counter tops without some little hand messing it up afterward. it was very peaceful. in the afternoon i returned to Moomie and Boopie's house to gather my children and go home. all throughout the morning i had been having some irregular contractions, but nothing to make me stop and "deal with them." when i got to the grandparent's house Ivy and Moomie were napping and Boopie and Archer were cutting down trees in the back yard. so i sat down with Ina May Gaskin's Guide to Childbirth and started re-reading. i especially liked the sections were she dealt with the mind-body relationship so every time i felt a contraction i would tell my cervix to open up just a little more, and visualize it. i was hoping some early dilation was happening. and every once in a while i could feel my cervix opening, and yes, those contractions were slightly more uncomfortable. they didn't "hurt" per say but it was like stretching your arms after doing 100 reps of curls. it was kinda cool that i could feel that. so Saturday afternoon was spent on a very comfy chair in Moomie's living room with a great book about birth stories and techniques for enjoying labor.

i kept telling my body that "it's okay if the baby comes now. i'm ready." i remember distinctly as i was going up the stairs to bed, after we had all gone home, telling myself "Sunday is a great day to have a baby," and to the baby: "you can come out now." as i tucked Archer and Ivy into bed i told them i might wake them in the middle of the night to go to Nanny's house so not to be scared if that happens. we all fell asleep and slept nicely.

until...

around 2:30 am i woke with contractions. they weren't intense (and this had happened a few weeks before...i woke, timed, showered, then no progression so i went back to bed.) well this time i didn't even wait to time them or shower, i just peed and went back to bed.

at 4:30 am i woke up again. this time i knew i was in labor and i knew i wouldn't be going back to sleep. i didn't bother timing them but i did wake Christian up. around 5 am we went downstairs to start puttering about the house. the contractions were regular and intense but only lasted a short amount of time with about 4 minutes in between each one.

at 5:30 am Christian called my mom and dad to come and get the kids. they live about a 1/4 mile down the hill and were there in a jiffy. mom came blazing in, rearing to go. they gathered the kids and the kids' things that i had laid out the night before, (such foresight, i know i'm good!). my body managed not to have any contractions while the kids were downstairs with me. Archer gave me his moose stuftie and told me Moosie would help me not be afraid. i had Christian put Moosie on the table so i could see him from the couch.

at this point contractions were intense but manageable. it helped to sit on the couch leaning over in between my legs while breathing deeply and doing the wonderful low moans that got me through Ivy's birth.

Christian had called the midwives sometime before my parents arrived. he had asked if i was okay with Jill coming to the birth. (before i had been very anti-anyone but the midwife: Misty, and my preferred assistant/midwife in training/doula: Melaine.) but after having that great class with Jill and having a wonderful connection with her, (it was like i had met her before and known her all my life, i called her my soul mate), i said yes please, let's get Jill here. (after all she's delivered babies in Senegal, Brazil and California...she's probably seen it ALL!)

(I'm getting quite parentheses happy, (I have a lot of asides.))

Christian and i had about 45 minutes together before the midwives showed up. we spent the time on the couch talking, and breathing and walking around with me leaning on things and showering. when the midwives showed up they stood outside the door collecting themselves and entered slowly. they didn't talk to me much for the first 30 minutes. they were setting up their supplies, (getting the hot compresses ready...remember these, they will come in handy in later portions of the story). they talked softly and observed how the labor was going. soon Misty checked my vitals and the baby's heart rate. everything was going extremely well.

the contractions were still about 4 minutes apart but extremely intense during. it was like a giant freight train or a bullet train was speeding through my body for 60 seconds and then it was gone again and everything was peaceful. it didn't seem like there was any gradual rise in the contractions, but that each one started off hard and ended hard, but in between it was a complete calm.

Misty sent Christian and I upstairs to make-out, but i couldn't handle being in the bed, nor could i handle being that far from the 1 bathroom in the house. we were probably up there 15 minutes before Christian helped me back downstairs.someone snapped this while i wasn't looking.

during each contraction it helped me to sway, lean over onto the couch, squat slightly, have someone pressing on my back, (usually Christian). and of course the low moans, always a plus. one thing that felt particularly good was to have pressure on the upper part of my hip bones. i would press on them like a clothes pin, hoping that would open up my lower pelvis and let the baby out, but it did feel great.

i had started out in yoga pants and a thermal top but when i started feeling "pushy" i jumped in the shower and had Christian bring me a nightgown. he happened to bring the hot pink one, so no pictures AT ALL were allowed to be taken after that.

i tried out the birthing stool and gave a few trial pushes. (this was 10 am, i remember because i couldn't stop looking at the clock) the pushes weren't doing much other than getting rid of the giant pasta dinner i had had the night before, (yeah gross i know.)

at this point i'm going to take a giant aside and mention that throughout the entire labor up to this point i had been asking the midwives if this was really labor. i wasn't for sure that the labor would continue and not just stop and everyone would have to go home. i also wasn't sure the baby would ever be born, or even if there was a baby. with the two previous labors i had ultrasounds to confirm that, in fact, there was a baby in there. and their labors were much more text book contractions with the beginning, peak, and end. this time i just wasn't sure what the heck was going on.

alright back to the story: after a while i decided to give up on the pushing because it didn't seem to be helping and i didn't want to be pushing on an un-dilated cervix. so i asked Misty to check me to see how far away from really pushing i was. she told me i had a few more centimeters to go. i resumed my normal contraction management regime, with the sitting on Christian and everything. after a while i just had to ask Misty how many a few centimeters were, (like 2 a few, or 4 a few?) she said closer to 2.

after a while on the birth stool i told the ladies that it would be much easier for me to believe i was in labor if my water would just break. then guess what, yeah, that whole mind-body thing, my water broke. right there as i was sitting very unladylike on the birth stool. pop. pop. gush. i guess i really was in labor.

the birth stool then got very uncomfortable, and chucks pads were thrown everywhere so i moved back to the couch to labor more.

i looked over at Misty sitting against the wall next to Moosie in between contractions once and she was just smiling away over there. i think i channeled my grandma Tootsie as i yelled at her to stop smiling at me.yeah just like that only smiling a big toothy grin.

in fact i channeled Tootsie a lot during this last part of the labor, (i'm beginning to think that was transition) as i got quite mouthy with the ladies and quite loopy as well. i hope someone remembers what i said, 'cause i sure don't.

the contractions were still very freight train-esque, but in between i could completely rest. i was extremely mad that no one knew my neck hurt and that i didn't know what to do with my head. i wished the birth stool had a back with a head rest. i wished Christian, or someone, would hold my head up. i didn't say anything about it so of course nothing happened to help me with that.

(i also kept waiting for someone to tell me how beautiful i looked, but that didn't happen either.)

eventually i got back in the shower, (#3 for the day, if you're counting). i ended up on my hands and knees in the tub with the water pouring down on my back, pushing against the walls of the tub with my knees and toes. i kept thinking the baby was going to be born in the filthy tub, and oh my gosh, we totally need to recaulk the surround!

i hollered for the midwives to come. i was helped out of the tub and wrapped in a towel and i sat down on birth stool for a while, then asked for a t-shirt so i wouldn't be flopping all around naked (i don't like being naked, ask my husband, probably has something to do with my childhood). i managed to put the shirt on and then decided i wanted to sit down on the floor in front of the couch.

i have no idea how long i pushed there, but at one point Misty told me i'd have to lift my bum off the floor if i wanted the baby to come out. so i sat between Christian's legs and pulled myself up with my arms as i braced my feet on Misty and Jill's thighs.

i don't think i was pushing very well, i was quite scared of what was going to come out, and quite scared that i couldn't do it, that i wasn't doing it, that it hurt, and that everything was moving too fast. i kept asking to just rest, (at this point the mind-body thing wasn't working, it was all body now). Melaine was trying to get me to drink some gatorade and i couldn't stand the taste of anything in my mouth, but i managed to take a few swallows. my body kept pushing for me and i felt immense pressure in my pelvis as the baby moved down. i asked, (probably not very politely) Misty and Jill to push on my hips during each contraction. i think i only pushed for 4 really good pushes, because the other ones i tried to help out my body with were just dinky, scaredy pushes. and then the baby started to crown.

so time for another aside: during the entire pregnancy i would get stabbing pains on my cervix. i just knew it was the baby punching straight down onto it. i told Misty about it and joked that the baby was coming out fist first.

well, the baby was crowning with not just the crown, but a little fist as well. at this point Misty mutters: "oh, shit" and Christian starts worrying. there was a flurry of activity around the business end of things, and i was present enough to ask if i needed to flip over to hands and knees to loosen the baby up. but i didn't need too.
but at 12:06 pm the head (and the left hand) was born! Misty did some sort of maneuver where she took the fist and helped it out while guiding the shoulders. needless to say, very, very painful.
after a few more good pushes from me at 12:10 pm the entire baby was born!

(do you remember those compresses, well they were being used on my perineum the entire pushing phase and no tears! NONE! not even with that fist up by his face! gotta love the warm compresses!)
this is my "holy cow" moment.

when the baby was out i had a moment of total disbelief. i remember shouting over and over "it's a baby! it's really a baby! i just had a baby!" you'd think i was one of those moms on the TLC show about being pregnant and not knowing it.

the midwives and Christian helped me to lie down on the couch and laid the baby on me. i tried nursing him right away but he wasn't interested, but he did have a great latch! yay!

oh yeah, i said "he"

i'm not sure who was the first to notice but he came out a boy!see blue blanket, that means boy.

anyways, that the gist of the story of the labor and delivery...and by gist, i mean pretty much every detail that i can remember.

about 3o min later it was placenta birthing time, then an hour later, postpartum examining and baby inspection (i made them tell me over and over again that his skin was normal) and throughout, a general amazed attitude from me and Christian.

we named him Jet Davis.

Jet because Archer had been calling the baby in my belly Jet for weeks and it kinda grew on us. and Davis after various family members, there were a lot of Davises in our families.
Jill and Misty weighing Jet.

he weighed 8 lbs 7 oz (the largest of the 3 i've birthed 7,1. 7,6. & then wham, 8,7.)
he was 20.5 inches long
and he has a beautiful head of dark (although lightening every day) hair.

he is a great baby and i love him more than words can express.

maternity shots

2011-05-17T12:45:00.001-04:00

(blogger won't let me delete this repeat...weird. at least it's a cute photo.)

before the bundle bundle was born...

'tis the season

2011-05-15T14:20:00.002-04:00

heading to the strawberry fields tomorrow!

trimming the feet

2011-05-13T17:35:00.010-04:00

there are a lot of things around the house that need trimming.

goat hooves
toe nails
my bangs
and Ivy's hands & feet.

pretty much the only thing that gets trimmed easily is my bangs, but Christian would rather i grow them out. (i think they bring out my cheekbones.)

the goats hate to have their hooves trimmed, probably because we don't do it as often as we should. they kick, and bleat, and get moody.
the kids do the same thing when i try to trim their fingernails and toe nails.
Christian also hates to trim his toe nails. i don't quite understand that one. i hate long toe nails. probably comes from my fleeting time as a ballet dancer in high school. long toe nails are killer when you're en pointe. plus i get a strange satisfaction from trimming my nails. it's true i'm a picker. i pick at scabs, i pull stray hairs, i pick at lint on strangers' jackets.

which leads me to Ivy's skin. she hates that i am a picker. i am constantly picking at her skin on her hands and feet. i've tried to stop.
in case you've missed the million other posts about Ivy's EHK go here for more information. (oh and May is also Ichtyosis awareness month...so now you're more aware!)
so as far as the picking goes, and the trimming, Ivy does not like either of those things. i try to trim the excess skin off of her hands and feet after she gets out of the bath in the mornings. she needs her skin to be trimmed because it will get snagged on her clothing. just today her skin on her wrist snagged on her long sleeved shirt, and she freaked out. she actually let me trim off the offending skin. i usually trim the skin with nail clippers. she will sometimes let me bribe her so that i can use the foot file or one of those things that the pedicurist uses in the salon. you know, the callous shaver type. but i usually just trim with nail clippers.
i have no idea what i can do to persuade a moody 2 year old to let me exfoliate and thin off her skin. (did i really just say that?! i mean sometimes i freak out that i have to cut the extra skin off my child.)

still the trimming game sucks.

it seems like everyone in my life hates to trim things. everyone but me, and i'm usually the one that has to do the trimming.

blogging

2011-05-12T16:08:00.000-04:00

blogging has been on my mind today.

Hubs said it might be a good idea for me to divulge into the world of blogging.

up until now i've been blogging for me, for family, for the random google-er who types in EHK in the blog search.

Christian posed the question to me: what would happen if i blogged like NO ONE was reading?

apparently i don't have much of a filter when it comes to facebook and twitter so he thought i could apply that ease into blogging.

i don't know if i have any sort of unique voice, or if i write well enough, or take good enough pictures to have what it takes to compete in this blog world.

but i might as well try.

so here's to a revival of on the hill blogging.

Merry Christmas to you!

2011-01-12T18:47:00.003-05:00

christmas 2010 family photo
taken in front of Nanny and GP's Christmas tree while the family christmas party was going on.
i'm actually quite amazed that the kids are looking at the camera.
don't you love our MacNab tartans? i love wearing them at christmas time.

look how cute Ivy's stockings are!
i wish i could find some in my size.

Archer is so suave at posing for the camera.
he picked out his own christmas sweater.
i probably would not have gotten him the sweater vest with a train on it, but he really liked it in the store and wouldn't let me get something different.

again with the debonare posing. he's such a ham.
oh and Christian doing some test shots for me. got a bit bored i think.
or possibly was starting to get a migraine.
actually it was a migraine. he spent the entire party in my old bedroom.
i don't blame him though. this side of the family only gets together twice a year at most and it's usually very awkward for us younger generations.

ultrasound?

2010-12-14T19:41:00.005-05:00

Archer's ultrasound

One of my friends on Facebook ran across this Midwifery Today article and posted it.

Ultrasound: More Harm than Good? By Marsden Wagner

I read the whole thing and as I was responding on Facebook I realized I could write a whole blog post on my feelings about ultrasounds.

So that's what I'm doing.

My favorite quote from the article is:
"WHO strongly endorses the principle of informed choice with regard to technology use. The health-care providers have the moral responsibility: fully to inform the public about what is known and not known about ultrasound scanning during pregnancy; and fully to inform each woman prior to an ultrasound examination as to the clinical indication for ultrasound, its hoped-for benefit, its potential risk, and alternative available, if any."

I'm pretty sure with both my kids I was never told the risks of ultrasounds nor was I given any information on the use of ultrasound in prenatal care, or given the choice to deny. It was assumed that I wanted one.
And of course not having any doubt in my obstetricians I consented without any questioning.
There was absolutely no need in Archer's case and in Ivy's they thought I was measuring small for my due date so they did a timing ultrasound.
They also did a second ultrasound with Ivy and without my consent did a 3D ultrasound.Ivy's first ultrasound

The usual reason for routine ultrasound that I have been given is to make sure everything is growing normally. Well for me even if it wasn't there wouldn't be anything I would do about it.
The doctors like to know if the brain, kidneys, spine, and heart are all growing well.
WELL what the heck can you do about it if you do find out prenatally that your child has spina bifida? or a congenital heart defect?
I suppose you're thinking that you can prepare for it.
yes, you can prepare.
But after birthing a child with a congenital skin condition I see the whole issue differently.
Ivy's first ultrasound.
Ivy's EHK was really severe at birth with the blistering and abrasions. Had there been a family history of EHK I would have been forced to birth her in the hospital and have her whisked away promptly for observation and fluid intake.

I wasn't prepared for the defect and it wouldn't have shown up on an ultrasound anyways, but we still got the help we needed and adjusted accordingly.

I think the same is true of most congential defects.
I've spoken to my midwife on this issue because I was concerned particularly with heart defects which can be found on a prenatal ultrasound.

She has found that in her experience when a baby is born she can usually tell immediately if there is something wrong with it. There really is something to be said for experienced birthing practitioners. And when there were problems she knew what to do until EMTs could get to the baby.

I agree there are situations that require immediate care and having a team ready for it is optimal.

But knowing the risks and benefits of the ultrasound itself is worth a lot.

If you are concerned about what may happen after the birth of your child then get the ultrasound.

I think every woman should get the option to know why it's needed, what the risks are and how to say no.

This article in the Official Journal of American Academy of Pediatrics is worth a read too.

Role of Pulse Oximetry in Examining Newborns for Congenital Heart Disease: A Scientific Statement from the AHA and AAP

Halloween 2010

2010-11-21T08:45:00.007-05:00

yes, i know it is almost thanksgiving, and for that reason i feel i must post some of the cute pictures from halloween.Archer's preschool had a halloween party. my favorite parts were the costume parade
(Archer had such a hard time sitting! but it was cute.)
and when the kids sang all the songs they had learned from the year so far.

Archer was the cutest caterpillar ever!
Ivy got to stay the whole time and she really enjoyed it all. she wouldn't sit with me and all the other parents, but she had to go over to the rug and watch all the things that were going on. she and Archer especially liked the special "snack" for the day. ice cream. sheesh.

i have issues with this preschool's notion of what a snack is. to me a snack is not oreos and kool-aid. but that's for another post.

being on the activities committee at church we were more than obligated to got to the church halloween party. the kids and i showed up at 3 to help "set up" but since the 2nd ward had their party the night before and they allowed us to use their decor, we really didn't have anything to do. so we sat around until about 4:30 when we realized that we probably didn't have enough chili or any bread for dinner and i got to run to the store for those items, along with cheese and butter (because who has heard of eating chili without cheese?). sometimes we're pretty inadequate as an activities committee. but the kids had a blast running around. Ivy even got almost buck nakie as we were waiting for people to come.
Ivy loved running around in her butterfly costume. she was so CUTE!Archer was a very handsome caterpillar. he also had wings in the back of the costume that unzipped out, but he didn't want them out at this party.
and the best part of the night...the candy of course!

what's up? well...

2010-09-14T09:48:00.005-04:00

well apparently the Farm Chicks have linked to my blog!
HOLY CRAP!
and what was here when they linked?
well an old giveaway, that's what.
sorry about that y'all.
i've been in a bit of a slump lately.

here's some news:
i'm pregnant with #3
about 11 weeks along, due April 12th.
i'm already bloated to the extent that my pants don't fit very well anymore.
i indulged already and bought myself some maternity pants,
but for the life of me i cannot find my maternity clothes from the past 2 pregnancies including all my underpants.

i've also been lucky enough to have 2 vacations recently.
my parents, Nannie and G.P. drove me and the kiddos down to VA Beach to visit my sister and her husband, and more importantly to see her graduate from nursing school!yeah i know this pictures stinks, but she's gorgeous even in really really bad lighting.
*she's graduated twice now and i have yet to graduate from anything other than high school yet!

we spent about 4 days at the beach. the kiddos loved it.i was only able to get pictures of the kids on my phone (my NOT iPhone...tear) and i have no idea how to get them onto the computer.

the other vacation was to the VA Scottish Games with Moomie and Boopie to celebrate Christian's Scottish heritage.
the kids loved the dogsIvy was in love with the bagpipes. when she was walking she would be drawn to where the music was coming from and start dancing!Archer and Chris loved to watch the bands too.

we'll see what happens now that the weather is cooler and Ivy can be outside a lot more often.

Did you hear about the giveaway?

2010-08-10T11:56:00.004-04:00

The Giveaway is now closed.pretty lizzy lu, my baby company, is having a giveaway.
we're giving away 3 neck coolers just for commenting on this blog!
a few months ago Tia from Christopher and Tia approached me about sponsoring their blog, so i said "heck yes, i will"so i sent her some neck coolers to try out for her family and some to give away to her readers.
so just stop on by her blog and check out the great pictures she took and maybe you'll get a neck cooler too!
*btw, she just had her third baby yesterday!

**oh and if you'd like to purchase one for your little one you can buy them online at my etsy shop click here
or call me if you have my number!

the things people say

2010-08-06T22:34:00.005-04:00

there's this blog i read, Tune into Radio Carly
Carly has Ichthyosis
she lives in Austrailia and just tells it like it is.
today she posted about how she deals with having a very visible disability.
and it got me to thinking.
we've had an odd amount of rare diseases in our family.
Moomie has Multiple Sclerosis.
Ivy was born with EHK.
there's more but those are the one's i'm going to talk about tonight.

just by being around these important people in our lives we've run into many different reactions when out in public.
one winter Moomie came to visit us in Provo, UT and we all went to see a football game at LaVell Edwards Stadium. she tires easily so we brought the wheelchair with us so she wouldn't have to walk all over the stadium and tire herself out. it happened to be snowing pretty heavily that day as we left the game. i distinctly remember pushing the wheelchair down the sidewalk and getting the wheels stuck in a bump in the curb on our way back to the handicapped parking area, (which was a joke! a gravel lot for persons in wheelchairs? what were they thinking?)we were stuck there in the middle of the sidewalk, in the falling snow, with people walking all around us, and no one offered to help. no one even looked at us. i can't even imagine what Moomie feels like when she's out on her own in a wheelchair or with her cane.

we've been trained since we were young not to stare at people who are in wheelchairs
along the way we learned that it's better to not even look at people in wheelchairs

we try not to be rude by staring but by not looking at all we are all the ruder, not even acknowledging that that person is in existence.

what touched us almost daily for the first 3-6 months of Ivy's life were comments from people we knew, and people we didn't know.

the thing that hurt me the most was when people would say jokingly "Stop pinching that baby!" when Ivy would be crying because of her blisters.
i would just smile and tend to my child.
but inside i was crying.
believe me if i could keep my child from that pain i would.
(this is the first time i've posted this picture of Ivy's skin, she was approx 3 months when this was taken, and it is actually a lot less blistered than it was in the days prior to this picture)

yes, she cried a lot.
and no, we couldn't stop her from doing it.
she wasn't hungry, she wasn't wet, she wasn't sleepy
she was in pain.
what would you do if you were in pain and couldn't do anything about it?
i think i would cry.
a lot.
we hid her when we were out and she was in her bandages. we didn't actually go out that much while she was still bandaged but when we did she stayed in a baby carrier covered by a blanket or in the moby wrap.

when she started getting skin buildup we started getting the comments.

interestingly enough i don't mind the comments from children as much as i mind the comments from adults who should at least have a little tact.

children ask: "what's wrong with her skin?"
and I just say well her skin is a little different than yours.
then they move on to showing me their matchbox car collection.

(some) adults just assume they know what's wrong.

"oh your baby has been playing in paint. she still has paint on her hands!"
the hyperkeratosis on her hands and feet give her skin a yellowish tint.

and when we meet new families and start explaining Ivy's skin condition they often make strange assumptions.

my favorites have been:
"it must be a toxic buildup."
"i know a guy who's skin was like that and it was cured by this brand of vitamins."

i still don't understand why they can't get that genetic means it's not a toxic buildup, and vitamins won't help.

things like that frustrate me to no end.

Christian and i were talking about how we'd like to have people ask us about Ivy's skin.

i'm not sure. but i think the more willing people are to actually listen to the answer and accept is as true, then it doesn't matter how they started the conversation.

honesty, humility, acceptance.

that's what i ask for when you ask me about my family's disabilities.
and i hope that's what you'll get from me when i approach you about any questions i may have about you.

mama's got a brand new dress

2010-07-19T12:46:00.004-04:00

and i made it all myself!i found this fabric about 2 weeks ago at the local ben franklin's craft store.
you just never know what you'll find there.
it's an Anna Griffin print from her flora line for Windham Fabrics.
in a normal quilt shop it would run $8-$9/yard
at ben franklin's it ran $3.95/yard normally.i got it on the discount wall for $2/yard!
i wasn't exactly sure how it would look as a dress, but $2 was worth it.

i tried it out on a pattern that i've been wanting to make for some time.
but i didn't want to cut up good fabric to try out a dress that i wasn't sure i would like.
so $2 a yard fabric was the perfect option.i made it over the size 14 pattern, (cause my chest and waist are huge!)
i had to alter the shoulder width, and the princess seams.
i should have raised the waist up a bit, but i sort of like it long, and i should take in the darts in the back to make it a perfect fit, but i like the ease the extra room gives me.i ran out of fabric before i could make the matching sash
i think i'll do a coordinating solid instead.

all in all i'm very proud of my $7.95 dress!

photos courtesy of Archer

tractors tractors everywhere...

2010-07-16T08:02:00.004-04:00

and they're all John Deeres.duh.not too long ago, GP ordered a new tractor from the local John Deere dealership.
well that set off a tractor frenzy.Christian got one too, because the lawn needs mowing and the push mower isn't cutting it anymore! (yeah right, we all know men love their machines!)
GP's is the deluxe edition!
Capable of moving large loads, including a chicken coop.
Christian's is the homeowner's edition, capable of mowing grass in 30 min flat! and hauling the remains of a mucked out goat pen!i love my men and their tractors.
Ivy loves tractors too!

pantless wednesday

2010-06-30T17:00:00.000-04:00

you know some bloggers do wordless wednesdays...well around here we do pantless wednesdays. i think that speaks for itself.

my first quilt show EVER!

2010-06-28T10:58:00.004-04:00

i entered my Lucy Log Cabin quilt into the Shenandoah Valley Quilt Guild quilt show. i had never been to a quilt show before, let alone entered a quilt in one before. i was a rookie. and it showed. my description was too descriptive, my quilt wasn't flashy enough, and i certainly didn't bring enough cash to buy from all the vendors that i didn't know were going to be there! but here's my quilt:i kinda like it.
it wasn't a juried show but as you went through you were supposed to write your favorites down on the score card and at the end they gave ribbons to the persons with the 1st 2nd and 3rd place in each category. i got an honorable mention.
but secretly i think they gave that to all the 1st timers so that we'll do it again! it was fun. and i'm already deciding what to enter for the show in 2 years.

ps i started this quilt when i moved to va in 08. i had the entire top pieced before Ivy was born, but it got put on the back burner for quite a while and was finished the day i was to turn it into the show organizers!

How to fold a prefold diaper

2010-06-09T09:59:00.001-04:00

This is for my friend Abby who is having her baby soon! Good luck Abby.

I used a moose to show how I usually diaper. These are indian unbleached newborn prefolds. Don't worry if you don't get it right away. All skills take practice! And really, what does a little poo hurt?

Holding the baby in one arm, lay out the prefold on the changing table and set the baby on the top 3rd of the diaper.

Fold in the outer thirds of the diaper in on itself. Keep the portion under the baby flat. (usually you'd hold the baby with the other hand)

Pull the folded portion of the diaper up over baby's bum.

I like to fold over the top inch and a half or so, just so it doesn't go so high up on baby's tummy. Also good practice when baby still has umbelical stump.

Tuck the top diaper corner under the corner that is under the baby.

This is where it can get tricky. Holding the diaper in place, attach one long end of the Snappi to the corner of diaper that is now on top.

Hold snappi taut as you repeat on the opposite side.

Pull lower snappi down and attach to middle of dipe.
Now you have a diaper on your baby! Remember if you want your baby's clothes to stay dry you MUST use a cover!! I prefer Thirsties brand covers or wool knitted covers for use as pants without extra clothes on.
Hope that was helpful!
Comment if you have any questions.

spreading the word

2010-06-05T21:22:00.001-04:00

for a while i've been wanting to make postcard size info sheets to hand people who ask me questions like:
"why does your baby's skin look funny?"
"what is wrong with her?"
and my favorite
"what happened to her?" along with "oh, she'll grow out of it I'm sure."
seriously people, educate yourselves. and i'll help. i typed up this little postcard info sheet this morning and now when someone makes a comment, i'll say: "here, this will teach you more about her condition." and let them read it.

so here, this will teach you more about her condition...Hi, My name is Ivy.
You may have noticed that my skin is different than yours.
I was born with a condition called Epidermolytic Hyper Keratosis (EHK).
Don't worry it's not contagious. It's a genetic condition; that means it's in my DNA
and I'll never grow out of it.
But don't worry, my parents and I take good care of my skin!
Sometimes I get blisters because I get too hot, or my clothes are too tight.
The blisters can be painful, especially if my clothes keep rubbing on them, just like the blisters you get on your feet when your shoes are too tight.
I love hugs and being held, so even if I am crying because my skin hurts, I still want to be comforted.
I get overheated easily so my parents take care to make sure I stay cool, especially in the summer. My skin looks different because it grows really fast, especially on my palms and soles. When I keep lotion on my skin it doesn't hurt me. I'm just a normal girl with skin that's different than yours. If you have any more questions about my condition please ask my parents or visit www.scalyskin.org or www.ichthyosis.com

Some days are harder than others

2010-05-14T20:21:00.001-04:00

Wake up to yelling baby

Feed children

Bathe children and dress them

Feed and water goats

Feed and water chickens

Put baby down for nap and play with big boy.

Story time at the library

Lunch

No I said lunch

Ok. Then nap time and hopefully get some work done.

Yeah right like there's time to sew!

Yeah that's more like it.
Then play some more.

And make dinner.

Then brush teeth, go potty, read scriptures, family prayer, bed time story about Super Archer comin' to the rescue. And Finally they are out!

And then I start to miss them!!

Happy #3 Little Boy!

2010-04-25T19:49:00.004-04:00

can you tell what the theme was?
CARS
CARS
&
CARS

on being underweight

2010-03-11T07:43:00.005-05:00

i always thought i was a small child, you know, back in the day. i would gain 1 inch and 1 lb every year and that was about it. i never had a huge growth spurt and i didn't really care. i idolized my Grandma Easie who is only about 5 feet tall, and i didn't want to be any taller than that, and she's shrinking every year. she never drove, got her ears pierced when she was 50, and always had fresh bread and fresh roses in the kitchen. i wanted to be just like her. but i grew to be 5'2", the tallest woman in my family, and i eventually learned to drive, got my ears pierced at 12 and only make fresh bread occasionally.
well it makes sense then that my children would be small. but monday Ivy was diagnosed with failure to thrive.does this look like a girl who isn't thriving?

we weren't really surprised by the diagnosis. it should have been diagnosed about 6 months ago, but the worst doctors office in the world just didn't want to do anything about it. after switching Ivy from the pediatrician to our family doctor she was diagnosed.
now the issue is getting to the bottom of Ivy's lack of weight gain. she has only gained 4 lbs in the last 6 months. which is pretty abnormal. although she has always grown slowly. from birth to 6 months she gained 6 lbs.
wednesday we all hauled ourselves over to UVA to talk to a pediatrician there about her weight issues.
we have known since day 1 that her caloric needs would be greater due to her EHK and need for calories to sustain the growth of skin. but not all children with EHK have growth issues, so the doctors didn't think that was enough to cause her low weight.
after the doc at UVA looked at her and talked to us, he determined that she is probably just small!
well, duh.
she most certainly is thriving.
she's walking, and talking, and hitting all of her milestone and then some.
i hate that they call it failure to thrive. for Ivy it's not failure to thrive it's "failure to gain weight at the rate that has been determined as normal"
so for the past month we've been really focused on getting her calories.
she eats high caloric foods with good fats, and drinks a pediasure a day. (hopefully 2 if we can get her to drink it)
here are some of the things that we're trying:
coconut oil
peanut butter
butter
nuts
greek yogurt
cottage cheese
cream cheese
avacado
cream
whole milk

hopefully she'll start gaining faster, or at least stay on the growth curve that she has plotted for herself.

Horseradish and honey

2010-02-24T23:49:00.000-05:00

There's this man in our little town that walks from his house into town, at least 7 miles away, every single day.
In the past I was a bit frightened of picking him up. But after visiting with him at Gramma Easie's house a little last summer, I resolved I would offer him a ride whenever I could.
Well yesterday the kids and I were heading home from lunch with Christian in town, when we saw Junior (the walking man) at the stop light. Well the light was red, so I knew we'd be stopping right next to him.
I hollered out the window to ask if he wanted a ride back to the mountain road we both live on. He said sure!
He's not one to pass up a ride.
He's fairly old and I believe he had a stroke at one point in his life because he holds his right arm in an unnatural position and walks with a limp. Not to mention it is very difficult to understand him when he speaks.
Well he hopped in, and off we went.
We talked about the weather, his dog, his buddy who passed not 6 months ago, and my current cold.
He had one of those old timer remedies for a cold.
He promised me that if I took 2 teaspoons of horseradish and 2 teaspoons of honey my cold would clear right up.
Well I didn't try it right away, but I thought, what do I have to lose? I did the whole castor oil thing for labor with Ivy, horseradish has got to taste better than the chapsticky non-flavor of the oil.
So this afternoon I sort of tried his remedy. I ate only one kitchen teaspoon full (cause old timers don't use measuring spoons, the smaller ones are teaspoons) of horseradish. Followed by a large glass of water. And two cups of raspberry zinger with a teaspoon of honey in each!
I can attest to one thing:
I believe that horseradish will cure temporarily anything that ails you. This is true because you have to psyc yourself up to actually eat the horseradish, then it burns and stings and makes your nose and eyes water, then the pain is gone and you are so happy that the whole ordeal is over that you know life is better now. Probably because you don't have horseradish in your mouth anymore.
I'm sorry to say that it didn't work. Perhaps because I only did 1 teaspoon. Perhaps because I took the honey in tea. But I think it was because the only horseradish I could find was store bought and not homemade from Gramma Easie's horseradish garden.

Anyways, thanks for the experience Junior!

fabricating the next generation

2010-02-05T20:44:00.001-05:00

I think Ivy has gotten bitten by the fabric bug. I was laying out my finds and she immediately grabbed them! She likes to lay her head on anything fabric. It's really cute.

I've been playing around with paper piecing, and I think I'm in love!! It's so easy and so fun!

This was my first attempt at paper piecing. (and a miniature too) it wasn't as bad as I thought it would be. Actually not bad at all.
(how's that for coral pastel, Lori?)

The worst part was definitely pulling the paper from the back!
I'm looking forward now to making Christian's storm at sea/mariner's compass quilt. Now I just have to buy all the fabric, oh drat.

hotel adventures

2010-01-20T18:34:00.006-05:00

this past weekend we went on a mini vacation to celebrate Christian making it through the week at the Hardware Store without mom & dad. (and having to deal with a lot of crap)
so we went to visit some knife stores that he wanted to see.
we first went to Sevierville, TN.
we stayed the night at the Holiday Inn Express there. (totally our favorite hotel)
i was a bit concerned about the cost because the cheapest room on their website was $79/night
well Christian being the sales person he was went in and came out with a room for $59/night and far far away from all the other guests, due to our children!
apparently the man behind the desk was gay, and very southern, and apparently Christian is really good at flirting with an accent.

well the kids loved the hotel roomArcher counted pillows, 4 on each bed
Ivy rolled all over the beds
and stood and clapped, that's her new trick

there was a lot of wrestling going on.

Ivy saw the phone
no one fell asleep in a timely manner
but we all ended up having fun!

how the bank stole my money, and told me it was my fault.

2010-01-13T16:53:00.005-05:00

long title, i know.
i was so mad, scratch that, i am so mad!!!
our "local" bank took our money today, and apparently it is not their fault.

if you don't want to take the time to read the whole thing, here's the gist: Don't bank with BB&T, Branch Banking and Trust, they will just steal your money and tell you it's your fault that they took it.

this is the letter that i wrote to the CEO of the bank:

Kelly King, CEO
200 West Second Street
Winston-Salem, NC USA 27101

Mr. King:

I was extremely disappointed in the care and customer service that I received today at a corporate level. I had an issue that could not be resolved by my local branch and so I called the Online Banking Customer Service at 1800-228-6654.

I spoke first with a representative named Monica. I told Monica my issue and asked to speak to a supervisor when she could not resolve my issue for me. Monica informed me that there was nothing that she could do and the supervisor was busy. I had received the same answer earlier in the day, at which I hung up and waited, as the supervisor was to call me back. I was not so docile this time around. I told Monica that I would wait until the supervisor was available. Monica then employed every tactic she knew to get me off the phone. She repeated over and over again that there was nothing she could do and nothing that the supervisor could do either. She then was silent for about the space of 5 minutes, expecting me to hang up during that time. Since I was not going to fall for such delay tactics I remained on the line, persistent in my stance to speak with a supervisor.

When I finally got to speak with someone I spoke with Jamie Wright. Jamie was pleasant but ultimately unhelpful. She also informed me that it was my error that caused the problem and not the banks.

Here is the issue:

I had scheduled on January 12th, 2010 for a bill payment to be made through BB&T Online Banking. This bill was for $228.15
There was a hold placed on this amount in my checking account.
Purchases that were made on January 11th, 2010, which ran on the 12th were then counted as overdrafts because of the hold placed on my account.
Had the hold not been in place there would have been sufficient funds to cover the bills paid and debits made on this date.
Since the hold caused my account to dip below zero I was notified first thing this morning, January 13th, 2010, via email notification.
I immediately called my local branch manager to have the issue resolved. The branch manager helped me by canceling the bill payment, which was to process on the 14th of the month.
I assumed that because the bill that was held had been removed, my account would easily be credited back the money that the bank had taken due to the hold, since the hold was no longer in affect.
The bank, BB&T, and specifically Jamie Wright, told me that since the overdraft fees had already processed there was nothing that they could do.
Jamie said that since I made the choice to initiate the payment that the error was mine.
So now, the overdrafts have been taken out of my account, causing me to lose the money that I had in my account and in essence the bank stole $140.00 from me.

To you, BB&T, and Jamie Wright, I say I may have made the choice to pay my bills, but I also made the choice to rectify this situation as soon as it came to my knowledge. I cancelled the bill that was causing the hold before it was processed, which according to your FAQ’s of OnLine Bill Payment: “All payments can be either modified or deleted up to 7:00 p.m. Eastern Time on the processing date.” The money was no longer a threat to the bank.

I am irate that the bankers of BB&T are not ethical enough to see when they are clearly robbing someone of hard earned money. My husband works up to 50 hours a week to provide for his family of 4, bringing home barely more than $400 a week. You, BB&T, have stolen over 1/3rd of our weekly paycheck. I am furious at your lack of ability to help me “achieve economic success and financial stability”; as your mission statement clearly states.

As I write this letter of discontent, my husband is closing our account with BB&T. I will not recommend BB&T to anyone that I meet and I will tell of the robbery that your, so called, local bank committed.

Sincerely,
Rachel

a rare sisterhood

2010-01-12T13:51:00.005-05:00

last night was birth circle. it's the time i get to go and meet with mothers and mother's-to-be and talk about evidence based birthing and childcare. which means, we are mostly women who advocate the midwifery model of care. every time we meet we go around the circle, introduce ourselves, and tell a little about our family. i was completely surprised when the woman beside me started telling us, with sadness in her voice, that the baby that she is carrying has been diagnosed with a congenital heart disease that is extremely rare. i started up a conversation after the "formal" discussion.
being the mother of a child with a rare condition is indeed a rare sisterhood. there are so many emotions and factors that go into mothering in the first place, but add on top of that the diagnosis of something that no one in your family, doctor's office, or even hospital has ever heard of, and you are in for a doozie of a postpartum period.
after the birth of my daughter we were astounded to find out that there was something "wrong" with her. she was born with epidermalytic hyperkeratosis (EHK). and as a baby born at home we didn't have the pain of having our baby whisked away to have tests run and be put in a NICU bed right after birth. we did take her to the only pediatrician willing to see a newborn the day she was born, who then referred her to the local university hospital. the NICU actually called us because we didn't show up in a timely manner!
when we got there the pediatricians made us feel like our baby was going to die, (luckily i was fairly out of sorts and didn't hear the connotations in the attending's voice as she was telling us her suspected prognosis.) the staff there were fairly familiar with a condition called epidermolysis bullosa and they believed she had a severe case of that disease. but since the dermatologist was not there to perform the necessary tests they couldn't tell us anything conclusive.
eventually they did a biopsy to check for a "lesser" and rarer disease called EHK, which in a day came back positive. after all the research on EB we had to let all of that info go and learn a whole new set of information.
after this diagnosis we were shocked once again.
we had never heard of EHK or any type of Ichthyosis.

parents of children born with rare congenital diseases/conditions know this:
IT IS NOT YOUR FAULT.
in our case Ivy's skin condition was caused by a random mutation. even if it were caused by recessive genes in each of us as her parents, i would hope that i could have that reassurance that nothing i did as a mother caused the culmination of those 2 mutated genes.

for months after Ivy's birth i would see women who were pregnant and envy them and their ignorance of birth defects. i longed for the days when i was pregnant and knew nothing of EHK. i wanted it to be "normal" again.
i hated people asking over and over again "how's the baby? no really, how's her skin?"
i hate random strangers asking what was wrong with her, or why her hands look the way they do.

luckily there is a community for persons with ichthyosis and EHK. i was able to find parents who were facing the same things as i was, and still am. luckily this incredible internet saved my sanity.

so to those of you who have children who are rarer than most, just love them from the first moment you hold them in your arms. there is no going back, only going forward. you will look past the bad parts and get used to your daily routines. it may take a year, or 2, but the rarity will wear off and become your normal.

Oh Dear!

2009-12-26T15:04:00.003-05:00

well it seems that i have lost all blogging ability.
in reality life has been so busy lately and things just kept going wrong.
like the fact that i lost my camera for about a month, and then when i found it, it broke. and when it got fixed i forgot to put the memory card in it for Christmas. so there are no pictures from Ivy's birthday or Christmas! oh nuts!

these pictures are from the Christmas parade. Archer loved seeing the snow plows, the bands, and of course Santa Claus at the end! oh yeah and the candy that they were throwing.
he also got to pee on a building. (the dofus inside wouldn't let the 2 year old use the potty)
Ivy loved it too. she had a perfect perch in her moby wrap.
oh yeah, if you look closely you will see that the flag twirler is actually a boy! i'd never seen that before. way to integrate flag team. the JMU Royal Marching Dukes performed on Court Square after the parade. we almost got clocked by this guy's flag!
Ivy has also begun crawling, so she's been on the move quite a bit lately. she'll put one knee on the floor with her leg under her belly sideways and her other foot on the floor kind of side crawl/walking! it's really cute and she can MOVE!
i'm still waiting on some birthday party pictures from a friend so perhaps maybe one day in the future i might possibly be able to post about that!

happy birthday honey bey!

2009-11-18T13:55:00.004-05:00

this past weekend was both Christian and My birthdays. We celebrated by exchanging gifts, enjoying a community play, and having a great dinner out. As well as a nice homemade dinner on Chris' birthday.

i got him some pens that were called "don't steal my pens" these were a gag gift and HILARIOUS!
he's always complaining that i steal his pens.
this was his real gift. a new bark river knife made with a spalted maple burl handle. he was in love.
this was Chris' homemade dinner on his birthday. (he got the knife on my birthday because i couldn't wait to give it to him!) and no he didn't want to take a normal picture. boo

i got all i wanted for my birthday!
a walking foot for my sewing machine (from Chris...what a good husband)
a beautiful painting
a steam mop
a new pair of shoes
a new sweater
and a lovely chocolate pearl necklace (also from Chris...he's really doing good this year!)
thanks everyone i love you!

Religious Content

2009-11-15T15:23:00.004-05:00

i've recently been called as a Relief Society teacher. this means that i teach the 3rd hour class for the women of the church. i teach on the 3rd Sunday of the month out of what we call the Joseph Smith manual, but it's real name is "Teachings of the Presidents of the Church: Joseph Smith". well this morning i taught. and i thought, since i took all that time and effort to type out my lesson and to get it ready ready for church Ii might as well post it to my blog so that everyone can read and be edified. or if you'd like you don't have to. it's up to you!

All quotes and the full chapter reading can be found here.

Joseph Smith’s Feelings About His Prophetic Mission

Do you read O?
Well apparently Oprah knows a lot of stuff and wants you to know it too so every month she has an article titled: “What I know for Sure.”
Well some people look at Oprah and see all the power she has and all the wealth and all the people she influences and they think WOW she must be one of the greatest people ever!
But what does she really know?

There was a man who didn’t have power like Oprah has, who didn’t have wealth like Oprah has, but has also influenced millions of people worldwide to do better and to be better.
The greatest difference between these two people is not their race, gender, religion, or time period; it is WHAT THEY KNOW!
Joseph Smith was not able to get Presidential Candidates elected, he was not able to giveaway millions of dollars worth of things every year, but he had the power of GOD and the wealth of knowledge and love that came from diligently serving Heavenly Father and Jesus Christ as their Prophet.
And Joseph Smith KNEW that he was serving God.
Throughout all of his earthly trials Joseph had a firm knowledge that God Exists, because he saw Him, and also that God wanted him to go about as His mouthpiece, teaching the world the restored gospel.
“It is my meditation all the day, and more than my meat and drink, to know how I shall make the Saints of God comprehend the visions that roll like an overflowing surge before my mind. Oh! how I would delight to bring before you things which you never thought of!” pg 520
Joseph KNEW he had to share what he had learned from Heavenly Father.
Have you ever known anything that you so desperately wanted everyone else to know?
Imagine that the knowledge that you have is so essential that it is a matter of life or death. Now Imagine that the people you are telling can’t understand and they don’t even want to understand.

“There has been a great difficulty in getting anything into the heads of this generation. It has been like splitting hemlock knots with a corn-dodger [a piece of corn bread] for a wedge, and a pumpkin for a beetle [a wooden mallet]. Even the Saints are slow to understand. pg 520
Even Joseph with the power and authority of the Lord had a difficult time getting the SAINTS to understand the principles he was revealing.

How have we been slow to understand? What counsel have you been slow to act on because of tradition, pride or just being wrapped up in earthly cares?
When I was first baptized in the Church I had stopped drinking coffee and tea, but about a year after that I fell back into the habit of drinking coffee and tea. I was slow to heed the Word of Wisdom and I would rationalize saying to myself that I needed the coffee to stay awake when I stayed late at work. If I was not going to be faithful in the small matters such as what I drink, would I be faithful in the weightier matters?

“I have tried for a number of years to get the minds of the Saints prepared to receive the things of God; but we frequently see some of them, after suffering all they have for the work of God, will fly to pieces like glass as soon as anything comes that is contrary to their traditions: they cannot stand the fire at all. How many will be able to abide a celestial law, and go through and receive their exaltation, I am unable to say, as many are called, but few are chosen [see D&C 121:40].” pg. 520

I know there have been many revelations concerning the Church and practices that have been changed during many of your lives.
When the Prophet has revealed something new or contrary to tradition (such as the proclamation on universal priesthood), how did you feel?

“The servants of God teach nothing but principles of eternal life, by their works ye shall know them. A good man will speak good things and holy principles, and an evil man evil things. I feel, in the name of the Lord, to rebuke all such bad principles, liars, etc., and I warn all of you to look out whom you are going after. I exhort you to give heed to all the virtue and the teachings which I have given you. …” pg. 521

Joseph Smith KNEW he had been chosen to reveal truth to his generation and to lay the foundation of God’s church for future generations. We can be assured, through the Spirit, that the Prophet now follows in the footsteps of Joseph in proclaiming “nothing but principles of eternal life.”

Sometimes we stumble in our sustaining of Church leaders because of some human frailty on their part.

“Although I do wrong, I do not the wrongs that I am charged with doing: the wrong that I do is through the frailty of human nature, like other men. No man lives without fault. Do you think that even Jesus, if He were here, would be without fault in your eyes? His enemies said all manner of evil against Him—they all watched for iniquity in Him.” pg. 522

Joseph KNEW he was a mortal and accepted that part of himself and begged others to do the same. We are often quick to judge and pick out unrighteousness in others when really it doesn’t matter who does the Lord’s work, because eventually His Work will be done. We can either help our leaders along or hinder them.

“I told them I was but a man, and they must not expect me to be perfect; if they expected perfection from me, I should expect it from them; but if they would bear with my infirmities and the infirmities of the brethren, I would likewise bear with their infirmities.” pg. 522

What counsel would you give someone who refuses to follow a church leader because of a character flaw?

As I read through this chapter I was struck by how assertively and authoritatively Joseph spoke. With his knowledge came an assertiveness that often put others off and caused trials in his life (which was not his fault). But Joseph KNEW who he was working for and where his strength lied.

“I speak boldly and faithfully and with authority. … I know what I say; I understand my mission and business. God Almighty is my shield; and what can man do if God is my friend? I shall not be sacrificed until my time comes; then I shall be offered freely. … I thank God for preserving me from my enemies; I have no enemies but for the truth’s sake. I have no desire but to do all men good. I feel to pray for all men.” pg. 522-523
“When men come out and build upon other men’s foundations, they do it on their own responsibility, without authority from God; and when the floods come and the winds blow, their foundations will be found to be sand, and their whole fabric will crumble to dust.

“Did I build on any other man’s foundation? I have got all the truth which the Christian world possessed, and an independent revelation in the bargain, and God will bear me off triumphant.” pg. 523

Joseph had faith that God would support him until his earthly mission was through.

Have you had any experiences when you have been helped by God to fulfill your responsibilities?

Joseph KNEW what was right and wrong. This knowledge led him to say and do what was best for the followers of Christ, not say and do what he would be most liked for!

“The Saints need not think because I am familiar with them and am playful and cheerful, that I am ignorant of what is going on. Iniquity of any kind cannot be sustained in the Church, and it will not fare well where I am; for I am determined while I do lead the Church, to lead it right.” pg. 524

Just as a good friend would tell you when your haircut really doesn’t suit your face Joseph would tell the Saints when they needed to work harder to get to the place Heavenly Father needed them to be.

“I have intended my remarks for all, both rich and poor, bond and free, great and small. I have no enmity against any man. I love you all; but I hate some of your deeds. I am your best friend, and if persons miss their mark it is their own fault. If I reprove a man, and he hates me, he is a fool; for I love all men, especially these my brethren and sisters.” Pg 525

Go home and read the conference talks and the Relief Society Broadcast talks with an open heart and a renewed dedication to follow the words of the chosen of the Lord. Listen more closely to your local church leaders when they speak, our stake presidency and high council, our bishopric, our relief society presidency,. All of these people have been chosen by the lord and called to a position of authority so that we may draw closer to Heavenly Father through the doctrine and ordinances that our leaders espouse and perform.

I know that Joseph was a Prophet and laid the foundation of this Church so that we may all return to Heavenly Father.
I know there is no other way of living that will bring me closer to heavenly father than through the doctrines and ordinances of this gospel.
I know that current leaders need our support so that they can be strengthened and receive the spiritual guidance necessary to lead us on to salvation.

cheapo shower curtain fix

2009-11-04T11:28:00.001-05:00

You know how your shower curtain liner gets all mungy over time and sometimes will tear through those holes at the top? Well fix it before that ever happens! Our liner was hanging on by a few holes and was in desperate need of replacement. So I went out to my local hardware store and bought a new mildew resistant liner for around $2.50. But before I hung the new liner I employed a tactic that my mother has used for years to elongate the life of her shower curtain liners.
I sewed a premde bias strip to the top of the liner!

Yep. And no the red was not just so you could see it better. It was what I had on hand. I would recommend using a color that coordinates with your bathroom decor so that it doesn't look weird like mine now does.

I think I'm going to have to take down the curtain and press it so that I don't see the red anymore!
Works well though!

halloween party on the hill

2009-11-02T12:14:00.003-05:00

it was halloween. we had a party. we just had too.
it was actually the least stressful party i have ever thrown.
the food was easy to make, and the decorations were fun to make and the guests were people that i knew could interact well together so i didn't have to worry about entertaining people.
i had such a good time. there were people we knew from church, and people we are in young married institute with, and of course family!
my mom and sister helped out a lot with getting the food ready and decor set up.
the best thing they did all day though was take Archer for 3 hours shopping to wear him out and get him out of my hair!
Ivy was a good girl but had to go to bed before the party was over!
people stayed til around 9:30 and conversed like they had known each other from childhood.
i thought it a wild success and i won't hesitate to throw another again.
the only downfall is that we have tons of leftover party food and i'm going to end up eating all of it!
oh yeah, and all the candy that Archer came away from halloween with, that's been fun, real fun.

Archer was a baseball boy so we, the parents, were baseball players as well.
this is Archer and Christian playing ball at the ward halloween party.
and Ivy was the ball!
sorry for the quality of the photos. my camera is still missing, (have you seen it?) so these were taken on my phone.

potty training 101

2009-10-09T21:45:00.002-04:00

i know it's hard to potty train.
but we all need to teach our children to use the bathroom.
but man! trying to teach a 2 year old to do something as complex as using the potty is definitely trying.

now for a disclaimer:
i am no expert on childraising. i'm just a parent who has been there.
also i only know how i've potty trained my son. so suggestions here may not be universal.

now for the tips
1. use cloth diapers!
it's worth the extra work. cloth diapers not only keeps potentially harmful chemicals off of your child's privates, it helps when you are teaching your child about being "wet" and "dry" because they can actually feel the moisture that they create.
2. bring out the potty chair early.
we introduced a potty chair to Archer when he was around 17-18 months old. he would sit on it, play trucks in it, throw balls at it. we put it in the living room so that he would see it for the most part of the day.
3. let your child go naked.
in the early days we'd let him just go diaper free with a cute t-shirt on.
4. don't insult your child.
you probably know those "markers" that your child is supposed to have before you potty train. well throw those out the window. because your child is smarter than that. the only reason to put off potty training is your own preference of changing diapers. (again if you use cloth diapers this preference will be less than if you use paper) your child can learn to recognize and control the urges of his bladder just like they recognize and control the urges of their arms and legs.
5. take your time and expect messes.
we gave Archer 1 week to have a potty training boot camp. be prepared with approximately 100 pairs of underpants and a stack of towels to sop up accidents. (be prepared by setting aside about $100 for carpet cleaning if you have carpets! we have linoleum)
6. use a timer in the beginning.
set a timer for every 30 min and ask your child if they need to go potty. sometimes they will need to sometimes not. let him make the decision.
7. make sure your little boy wears underpants.
if he's not wearing underpants he will shoot everything in sight including you. when he's wearing underpants it will run down his leg instead and make him uncomfortable.
8. use a reward. (only if you want to)
i used stickers. car stickers to be exact. they worked really well. Archer wanted to put his stickers on his chart. i didn't want him to associate food with going to the bathroom at all so candy/treats were out of the question.
9. make sure your little boy points down when sitting down to go potty.
nuff said.
10. make targets.
when your little boy is confident with going to the bathroom regularly and wants to be like a big boy and stand up when he pee's help him aim more accurately by allowing him to have a target.
we made our own by taking a marker and drawing on a single piece of paper.
the target works wonders. it helps to get him to go potty before we leave the house or before bed because he can draw just a little bit and then watch the colors run when he puts it in the water.
11. get a step stool just for the bathroom.
when standing it's needed for those who aren't quite regulation toilet height.
12. get a fold up potty chair.
one that can fit in your diaper bag. i got mine at wal-mart. it had pooh bear on it, and i don't usually like things that have commercial figures on them, but i figured he'd be pooing on it so it didn't really matter. the potty chair works wonders by making your child comfortable when you're out of the house in new bathrooms.
13. hand sanitizer. hand sanitizer. hand sanitizer.
14. the "other"
your child will want to see every single bathroom ever made. now that he's discovered the secret world of bathrooms he'll want to see all of them.
15. it's normal
treat potty training like you treat learning to throw a ball. don't put too much pressure on your child or he'll just rebel. there will be accidents. just say: "i'm sorry you had an accident. next time please use the potty." just clean it up, change his underpants, and keep going through your day.
16. the end.
at the end of the boot camp week we had an outing. a test of sorts. we went and saw a children's play and had dinner. he did great, and went potty at the theatre and the restaurant, but Christian said he peed on the wall of the men's room (hint, let your littleboy use a unrinal it's easier)

i hope this helps someone out there. good luck.

The goings on

2009-10-08T16:44:00.000-04:00

I finally got an app for blogger how cool is that?!

The only thing I don't like is that it capitalizes everything I never capitalize.

Watch: I I I I, drat.

I can't get it to let me do a little i without extra work which defeats the whole purpose of the little I.

So, now my iPhone will never leave my hand and my poor children will think mommy only exists as a body glued to some form of technology.

I must use this device wisely.

- Posted using BlogPress from my iPhone

New Meets C-Old

2009-09-30T08:21:00.004-04:00

first the new:
visit my etsy store to see them in action
also did you know i made a prettylizzylu blog? well i did you better go look at it.

i've been working on my photography skills to make my store more professional looking.

what do you think?
i've been getting tips at pepperberry&co.

i also did a craft fair last week. my first ever with my own handmade items.
i didn't do too well. it rained, and rained, and rained.
and it didn't help that i was stuck between the pork rind man and the welding demonstration.

my good friends and family did make generous purchases though. i love you guys.

Now for the C-old

it is starting to get freezing here!
and our bathroom floor doesn't have insulation, so the potty gets really, really, cold.
i'm just glad i'm not pregnant this winter so i won't be making midnight trips to the freezing bathroom.
although i am glad we have a bathroom.

the house, because it's so old, wasn't built with a bathroom in it. there's an outhouse out back.

(and i'm very glad i don't have to use that! thank you whoever decided
to put in the bathroom!)

but the bathroom was added onto the existing house by building a room onto the porch.

it's my theory that instead of installing proper floor insulation whoever built the bathroom took the existing planked porch and added plywood over top and then linoleum on top of that. it makes for a cold cold bathroom.

(my theory is supported by various shortcuts taken elsewhere in the bathroom)

due to the cold, i broke out the box of sweaters.
i also boxed up all the summer clothes (well at least mine)
there's definitely more room in the closet now.
my sister, Erin, had given me quite a few hand-me-down summer clothes that i just didn't have room for in my closet but definitely room for in my wardrobe. (she has better taste and a better budget than i do!)

so now i just need to find my boots and fall decorations.

oh and i'm working on some halloween decor, i think i may actually like the holiday this year.
(my distaste for halloween is the topic of a different post)

the heat has yet to be turned on.

kitchen renovations in the works, thanks to my crazed mother who thinks we are living in positive squallor. THANKS MOM!!!! (and dad, although i know you're not as gun-ho as she is!)

pretty lizzy lu

2009-09-15T16:17:00.001-04:00

has a new home:

prettylizzylu.blogspot.com

Check it Out!

now I can keep personal life and business life separate!

vacation part 3

2009-09-13T18:19:00.004-04:00

Ithaca's Children's Science Museum.

it is most certainly worth a visit if you are in upstate New York
we spent the morning exploring here.
Archer loved all the water exhibits of course.

and there was a whole area for children under 4. which was GREAT!
they would loan boppies if you needed to nurse your child. how fabulous is that!
Christian even found some lizards there!

Vacation

2009-09-06T10:33:00.005-04:00

since i didn't quite finish my posts on our vacation back in July, i'll finish it now.

the day after we arrived was Saturday.
we took the opportunity to enjoy the Ithaca Farmer's Market.
it was fabulous.
it was by far the best farmer's market i've ever been too.
there were organic farmers, wine makers, clothing and there was a harp player on one end and a mandolin band on the other end.
there was even food stands.
we spent most of the morning there and got some fabulous things there.

i even discovered one of my favorite artists of all time!
check her out on etsy:

MermaidMessenger

i really love wildflower goddess, and washer woman, and sailor hearts mermaid...
oh i just like them all.
i love how her paintings move.
i love how there's very little unused space
it's so unique and different from the way i draw (although i only do figure drawing for clothing/costume design)
i love how folksy it is but so polished at the same time.

the power of the coconut

2009-08-29T15:30:00.005-04:00

Archer has taken to saying "the power of the coconut" at random times and in random places.
i have no idea where he got that saying from.

i can only guess.

and here's my guess.

every saturday i allow Archer to watch cartoons. i loved being able to watch cartoons on saturday mornings and i want my kids to have that same care-free feeling as well. but he usually wakes up around 8 o'clock when there really aren't any cartoons on. the news takes over for an hour and kicks the kids shows to 9.
but there is one.
a very strange cartoon, that i'm not too certain i like Archer watching.
Zodiac Island
it's a very poorly made cartoon/show. there are kids dressed in face paint and animal ears and giant animal costumed people (you know the scary ones like the ones of mickey mouse at disney world)
the kids sing off key songs and talk about things like sand (today's episode)
then the cartoon has a little episode dedicated to what the kids talked about.
like today the cartoon was about a little dog who wanted a house built out of sand but every night he would fall asleep and it wouldn't be there in the morning. the hispanic sand people (with sombreros and everything, i won't even get into the strange profiling that could go along with that choice) built him beautiful houses every night and then every morning it was gone. eventually he learned that the waves (that had little smiley faces on) come and take the sand into the ocean for them to play together.

UM WHAT?!

the waves do not come and gently take the sand (all the sand) into the ocean to play with until morning.
that's just a blantent lie.

and they've done it before.
it is my belief that after one of these ill fated episodes, in which the children talked about coconuts (i think it's filmed in Hawaii) and how the coconuts PLAYED MUSIC when you shook them.
now Archer has never seen a real coconut...they're a bit rare in rural Virginia, so i assume that he took what they said at face value.
and thus was born
"THE POWER OF THE COCONUT"

pictures from ZodiacIsland.com
which, by the way, is much better than the actual show.
and i appreciate their attempts, maybe just a bit more tweaking is needed and stop lying to my kid.

to parents of children with EHK

2009-08-25T09:32:00.005-04:00

I've stumbled upon a whole new crew of parents with children affected by EHK as of late. I thought I'd share Ivy's story for those of you who don't know it and want to learn a little bit more about life with a child with a rare genetic condition. (we don't like to say disease...she's not sick.)

Ivy was born in November 2008 at home. When the midwives started cleaning her off they noticed that her skin had some blisters on it and she started getting abrasions on her body. We went to see a pediatrician as soon as they opened and were referred to the local University hospital. At the hospital they prepared us for the worst...one Pediatrician was sure it was EB, but the dermatologists were more optimistic and did a biopsy a few days after admittance. They knew right away it was EHK. She was in the hospital for only 5 days, but that was long enough for us!! We did the whole wrapping in guaze thing...petroleum jelly, petroleum gauze, gauze, and then tube guaze. She had her bandages changed twice a day for probably about a month, until we realized that her skin was getting more abrasions under the guaze than without it. After the initial abrasions healed we only had the blistering to deal with. Synthetic materials and elastics seem to cause her the most blistering. So we use primarily prefold cloth diapers without covers when we're at home, and BumGenius! diapers or the prefolds with wool covers when we're out. The bistering eased up around 4 months, which the derms told us it would. But dealing with a baby in pain everyday til then didn't seem to ever end. Now she only gets blisters if she gets over-heated or has elastic on too long. But sometimes she gets them randomly as well. As for the blisters: I pop them. I keep a safety pin pinned on my pants at all times and an alcohol pad in my pocket. I tried not to change her dipaer in public restrooms for those first few months because I didn't want CPS to be called on the Mother who was sticking her child with pins. But now there are some days when her bottom looks like any normal babies. We're mostly dealing with the skin build up now. Since day one she's gotten a bath a day. I don't do the bleach bath thing, my microbiologist father-in-law says it's not really necessary although the dermatologists have recommended it twice now. Ivy hasn't had any skin infections yet, so I guess I'm doing something right. Since she has palmer-planter EHK (on her palms and soles) I work at trying to get some of the scraggly skin off during the bath. I like to take fingernail clippers and clip off the skin tags so that I don't tear too much off at a time. I did that once and it was horrible for Ivy, and it broke my heart. The rest of her body I just wash normally, but not too hard. She doesn't have any scalp issues so she just gets her hair washed as normal. After her bath I pat her dry and slather her with Cetaphil or Udderly Smooth cream. Sometimes if she's really dry I'll use the petroleum jelly all over, but mainly I reserve that just for her hands and feet. It makes such a horrible mess if it's all over and I haven't noticed a huge difference with vaseline as opposed to cetaphil. After that she gets dressed and put down for a nap...heck I need a nap after that. I try not to give her a bath too close to a time when we have to leave, because if her skin is too moist it blisters under her "going-out" dipe. Over-all she is doing fabulous. She's not crawling yet, or even showing interest in it yet. I know it's not because of her skin because she moves just fine in other ways. But I can't help but wonder... She's very much a drama queen and screams like a banshee when you take something away from her. I've gotten to know her cries and now I can recognize a pain scream and find the cause of it. It takes time to get to know your child, and that is the most frustrating part. All you want is someone to tell you what to do so that your child will be happy and at peace, but it doesn't work that way. Trial and error, and error, and error will happen before you find something that will work for you and your child.

staying cool

2009-08-19T07:57:00.003-04:00

outings are fun, but sometimes difficult when a member of your family cannot tolerate heat.
Ivy doesn't do well in hot weather, neither does Moomie.
(one due to EHK and one to MS)
that made vacation and a recent trip to Six Flags interesting to say the least.

we've discovered that Ivy does really well with physical therapy ice packs under her in the stroller as well as neck coolers that i made for her wrapped around her neck. Moomie does well with her automated scooter and cooling vest, which we'll have to invest in one day.

so here's to all the really hot babes in our life!

baby neck coolers now available in my etsy store

just some cuteness...

2009-08-18T22:54:00.004-04:00

sittin' pretty in the grass.

Temple trip
making sauerkraut with me and Gramma Easie

Six Flags trip.

some vacation pictures...lounging in bed with daddycousins and bubbles

Felipe

2009-08-09T16:14:00.002-04:00

dad has a flamingo.

Felipe

Felipe travels from his house, to the hardware store, to our house, to, i guess, wherever he wants to go.

Felipe was my inspiration for this:

vacation notes 1

2009-08-05T16:00:00.003-04:00

the start of the vacation meant a lot of driving.

there were some tense times.

but nothing that couldn't be relieved by a little "LeRoy's World"

similar to Elmo's World.

only with LeRoy the lyrical dancing monkey and his pet crab.

LeRoy saves the day when there is no portable dvd player.

more info to come when i can get the photos uploaded...

i hate slow internet.

long time

2009-07-29T15:55:00.004-04:00

no see.

we were on vacation.
so sorry blogger, you were neglected.
i totally intend to document the fabulous vacation
...as soon as i find my photo card usb plug in...
(darn you mac for not having one built in)

back at home now and just a few things to do:
1. keep working on etsy store and getting my lovelies into some local stores/craft shows
2. get the house in order and get myself organized
3. make the budget obey...er...obey the budget.
4. try to make more people aware of rare conditions such as ehk like this blog.
5. take time to write down the cute things Archer says and Ivy does:

"i'm going to say a prayer, daddy.
thank you for our house,
thank you for family,
thank you for mommy's dance class."

Ivy likes to bop like she's dancing while seated and will hit her diaper and say "ba, ba, ba, ba"
Moomie thinks she's playing patty-cake. i think not.

Arch also will come up randomly to me and tell me i'm gorgeous and that he missed me and loves me.
it warms my heart everytime.
such cute kids.

Ivy's visit to the derms.

2009-07-15T15:47:00.004-04:00

when you live with a person with a skin condition you refer to the dermatologist as the "derm" or in multiple it's the "derms".
well we made the trek over the mountain to UVa to visit Ivy's derms yesterday.
i love her primary derm, he's so nice and doesn't scare us at all, and usually he wears a bow tie.
but not yesterday. drat.
the derm team that saw her told us she was doing great.
fabulous news, but we knew that.
she has started scaling and building up extra skin on her palms and soles, but it hasn't inhibited her movement in any way or caused her any pain, so we're just treating it the best that we can.
don't you just love it when you go to the doctors just to find out you're doing everything right.

rock on Ivy love.

cephalopod

2009-07-14T16:36:00.003-04:00

new creation for etsy:

the forest lured me in

2009-07-12T16:01:00.006-04:00

we have wineberries growing in our back yard.

wineberries are deep red berries that look similar to raspberries, but they have long vines of very thorny branches.

the thorns aren't that bad unless they're old and dried out.

well i went deep into the forest following the berries.

man! there were so many of them!

whenever i pick berries i think i've gotten them all from one spot and then i turn around and see more. i always have to look at one branch from many directions before i can get all the berries from it...i know there are many metaphors for life in there, but i'm letting it go.

i kept going and going, farther in and farther up.

i was thinking the whole time that i was being lured into some sort of trap.

here was the woods with its beautiful red berries saying: "come in, come in"

it's the stuff of horror films, or at least cautionary children tales.

a young woman wandering into the woods mindlessly venturing off the trail (what trail?) to pick the berries.

dun.dun.dun

find out what happens after the break...

okay. well nothing happened. those woods are tame. i'm actually surprised that no deer have found those berries yet. the worst thing that happened was that i discovered that i'm slightly allergic to the leaves and thorns of the plant. when i came inside my arms were burning and red where i had been scratched by the thorns. the same thing happens when i'm scratched by cats and dogs.
wineberries are so sweet.
i hated to drop any.
i think i dropped maybe 8 in all.
each time i did, my heart groaned.
i didn't want to lose any of those tiny drops of heaven.
and i most certainly was not going to stick my arm down amidst the brambles to find a renegade berry.
utmost care was taken to insure that the most berries possible got into my bucket.
i think i made a quite a nice haul.

domesticity

2009-07-09T12:17:00.004-04:00

some adventures in my quest for ultimate domestic goddess-ness:
home-made baby food
look at the color of those peas!
Ivy didn't really like it. she actually won't eat ANY of the baby food that i made. it must be a textural thing, but she'll only eat the store bought stuff.Archer got peas that day too. but the round unsquashed ones.

i also did the old red barn co. quilt along.
i wanted to get the quilt done before the 4th of July.
it's going to be our picnic quilt
this is the strips before the quilt top was completely assembled.
it's 6 blocks by 7 blocks
and i only used red white and blue fabrics.

i love how it turned out.
Grandma Easie helped me to tie it so it's super fluffy.
there are quite a few blips on it, but it was never supposed to be perfect.
it's great for snuggling under or sitting on.

i also made Ivy a 4th of July dress.
she got to wear it to church last sunday.
she also had a bonnet to match but i couldn't find it when it came to our photo shoot.
she didn't like the photo shoot anyway.

sorry for the quality of pictures: i was trying something new with iphoto and it certainly didn't turn out well.

catching up is hard to do

2009-07-08T21:13:00.005-04:00

i had about 8 different blog posts in my camera.
i suppose i should just start at the beginning.

well you see we ordered some baby chicks about 3 months ago.
they came in. and we got them.
all 10 of them.
and they lived in my kitchen
in a cardboard box.
aren't they cuties.my little cutie loved them.
he was such a good boy around the chicks.
until he realized that they were smaller than him and he could pick them up.
that was probably 2 weeks ago (ish)
now the chickens are bigger, have a bigger box, and because of the smell of said box, spend their days outside and the nights inside.
we don't want any critters to get them

speaking of critters getting them...
a fox ate 3 out of 4 of our mature chickens. the white one, the fat black one (who was sitting on a nest of about 12 eggs) and the rooster...(so no more broth)
the white one was the only one we actually were able to bury.
the other two disappeared in the night and left only feathers in the yard.
we have yet to eliminate the predator. (and it is legal, we checked)

the surviving hen is now barracaded in the coop sitting on a nest of eggs.
i hope they hatch soon
but then we'll have around 20 chickens...
hmm. maybe i don't want them to hatch.
i just want my chicken to start laying eggs again, i'm running out.

slacker

2009-07-01T07:35:00.003-04:00

yep i am.

these are some Father's Day pictures.

we went for a walk

found some of these on the way and stopped to eat them.

met up with some family members visiting Grandma Easie

and pondered the phenomenon of pets and owners looking alike.

i'm a real quilter now

2009-06-26T09:17:00.002-04:00

tomorrow is my first ever quilting class.
yep.
i've been quilting for probably close to 8 years now (not well mind you and not to the extent that i do now, i just recently discovered the world of "quilt shops" and blogs and tutorials and the like.)
anywho.
it is usually like that for me.
i started acting in...2nd grade...no 1st, we did the story with the animal musicians...i can't remember the name now. well our elementary school had a great theatrically minded teacher who happened to be my kindergarten teacher, and we put on a play every spring. only 4th and 5th graders could do the play. i was always a willing participant...well long story short, i think the first real "acting" class i had was in college.
and now i'm rambling so to get back to the point.
i'm going to a cathedral window class tomorrow with my mother in law.
this is my color palette for the windows!
cool right? i'm super excited but i'm afraid i'll be the youngest one there, with all of my wild ideas that are so different from the ladies of the mainly mennonite quilt store!

speaking of being the youngest. last saturday i went to the local quilt guild meeting that aforementioned mother in law and i joined. it was so fun and i'm very excited to be a part of something so guild-y, it does feel a bit mideval, which is cool, i think i'll wear colored tights to our next meeting.
well i didn't take too many pictures of show and tell, again to traditional for my tastes,
oh and yes i was by far the youngest one there, i think we decided that ivy who is under 1 year and i (under 25 barely) dropped the average age to about 50!
but i did snap this picture because the woman was a hoot!
she started out saying: "i've had a mother in law for 49 years 3 months and 9 days and she would never give this to me! but now she's gone and i got it!"
and then she showed us this beautiful 150+ year old quilt that was made by her husband's great grandfather's congregation.
she told us of all the misuses of the quilt and her attempts to preserve it.
it truely is beautiful.
she spread it out on the back tables and we were able to get a close up look. but i felt too new to take pictures of everything!
each block is hand signed by the woman who made it.
and the handwriting is immpeccable.
i'm so grateful that my dear grandma made me practice my handwriting those long snowy winter afternoons.

also the guild is actioning off this beautiful quilt.(sorry for the quality, it's a picture of a picture)
i think i'm going to buy all my tickets...hehe and not even try to sell them, because that is just gorgeous!

wish me luck with my first "real" quilting class with other "real" quilters.

50's diner date

2009-06-23T13:22:00.004-04:00

it was a church activity.
and so cute.
i'm going to let the pictures do the talking.
i just wish i could have gotten someone to take a picture of me with my camera.
i had a nifty fifties style outfit on.
complete with keds.

okay well the pictures are pretty bad quality, but those flourecent lights sure don't help. the other little boy in the picture with the cars is Henry, one of Archer's friends. i especially enjoyed the menu. we had "inspiration ice cream floats" with "repentance root beer" although i really wanted to try the "apostacy apple pie" it must have been really really sinful!

a look at the 'bots

2009-06-22T09:53:00.004-04:00

these are my 'bots.
board bot
dome bot
baby bot
dot bot
soon to be for sale in my etsy store. but with better pictures.

now just to find a suitable place for a photo shot
(unlike my nasty old ironing board)

my buddy and me

2009-06-21T16:32:00.007-04:00

there has been a lot going on in these past weeks. i think i've completely lost track of time/days/weeks/etc. so much has happened. well here goes.

this is my documentation of the volunteer fire fighter's parade and lawn party.

we rode in G.P.'s truck
by the way check out his new blog.G.P. drove. Nanny just loves his Hawaiian shirts!You don't need car seats in a parade (at least that's what everyone told me)
Archer kept asking to see the jugglers, but there weren't any.yes that is the candy that was being thrown to the kiddos, and yes that is Archer's sneaky little hand getting some of it.
oh and there is the float for the strip club over in WV. it added a lot of class to the parade. we were right behind it.these lovely mennonite ladies are giggling at the stripper float.

then there was the lawn party.
there was music and barbeque and RIDES!Archer rode this one with the trucks about 4 times.he did not want to go on the Ferris Wheel.we did ride this one that went round and round and round, but Archer got a little too scared to ride it again. he really liked being in a "crocodile" though, but it really was a dragon.

we had a blast and stayed much later than we should have. i think the kids got to bed around 10 that night.

thanks G.P. and Christian for being great dad's and always taking time to play with us kids!

now in shop

2009-06-17T11:02:00.004-04:00

i'm taking orders for baby bonnets.

like this one.
don't want this color? fine...i have options: like these colors, or white.

add ribbons, add more flowers, it's up to you.
perfect little topper for your little one.

this one is for sale at prettylizzylu

play and peek

2009-06-12T11:26:00.003-04:00

we went to the park for a play group yesterday. Archer loved running around chasing the older kids.
Ivy came home and bounced around a little bit.
plus here's a sneaky peek of what i'm up to for my etsy shop.

musician in the making

2009-06-11T14:50:00.003-04:00

we were playing around at Nanny's house the other day. Auntie Ernie came for a visit. Auntie Ernie sings, really well. she's got the musical genes from Dad (who used to play bluegrass in bars back in the day! and check out his baby brother Mike in Nothin' Fancy) i just get stage fright when i have to sing. ask me to act or dance i'm fine, but darn it, ask me to sing and i freeze up like a mongoose in the freezer.
well it looks like Archer got the Music bug.he was playing and singing into the microphone. for some reason he was saying: "mmm...Californie...mmmm." i don't know what song he thought he was singing!
And here is my beautiful sister, next to my giant non-makeuped head. Ain't she perty?

my konas

2009-06-10T16:12:00.004-04:00

i did it.
i indulged.
don't tell my husband please.
well firstly i went to a quilting bee this morning at the Va Quilt Museum
this is a picture of a quilt they have on exhibit that they did a mini educational seminar on on Saturday at a festival downtown.

i met some fabulous women. apparently more people usually show up, but being summer now and all there were just 2 fabulous ladies. Nita was working on a beautiful reproduction quilt that was orange and blue and white. all solids, all konas. i asked her where she got her konas, and she just affirmed my knowledge that no one around here has konas in store. sadness. she bought hers at Hancock's but i just got these beauties from Fabric Depot. ooh (and 35% off might i add)
and that brings me to my second point. all these lovely konas. now to cut, and use up in a project that is forth-coming.
i'm also working on a new pattern for baby girls. pictures coming of the first draft.

dinner tonight

2009-06-09T14:02:00.002-04:00

is going to be quiche.
are you wondering why?
well just take a look at that HUGE egg.
i'm fairly certain that it's going to be a double yolker.
i found it in the coop today along with 2 other "normal" eggs.
i don't generally cook with eggs.
silly me, have chickens and don't even use their fruit.
every once in a while i bake with them, or make quiche
but i'm not a bacon and eggs for breakfast type girl

really i'm not a morning person at all.
so breakfast is usually cold or hot cereal.
i guess that's one of my major "flaws" as a mother.
yep, i don't make my children a hot breakfast.
and you know what?
i don't care! HA! i don't have any mother's guilt about that at all!
so, i think i'll clean up the egg stash tonight by making that quiche.
plus i think the cheese in the fridge is starting to go bad.

buy me some peanuts and cracker jacks

2009-06-09T09:36:00.001-04:00

a night at the races

2009-06-08T08:03:00.003-04:00

G.P. sponsors a race car.
i guess i should preface that statement by saying he and Mom also own 2 hardware stores.
so Saturday nights are race night.
and if any of you have ever had a little boy you know that if G.P. has a race car, and that race car is racing then the little boys, (and big boys), HAVE to go see the race cars.
Archer loves going. (these photos are a bit old, but we go alot!)

i love it when Archer yells: "Go John Go!!"
(John drives our race car)

Aww Hail.

2009-06-04T12:20:00.004-04:00

last night a terrible storm passed through the valley.
i needed to pick up Archer at his Moomie's house.
i got Ivy and myself into the van, the rain started
we got half way down the lane, the hail started
i stopped, thinking to wait it through.
then i realized that if i was under the trees one could fall on me.
so i drove to my parents house and sat in their driveway waiting for the hail to stop.
i have never seen hail like it before.
it made so much noise when it hit the van.
Ivy didn't seem scared.
we were stuck for about 10 minutes.
the hail was the size of ice cubes (from a freezer tray)
they destroyed all of Mom's flowers and Dad's vegetables.
it even broke an old window from our house (i'm awful glad those windows weren't still in our house to get broken.)
the funny thing is...i thought that our garden would be ruined too. but when i drove up the destroyed lane and made it into the clearing, it looked as if there hadn't been any hail at all. our garden and flowers were safe.
i feel very sad about my parent's and grandma Easie's plants though. they work very hard to have a good harvest every year. i hope that some things survived and will be enough.

wild wild animals

2009-06-01T16:41:00.002-04:00

first it started out with a little jumping spider.
Christian had to catch it so Archer could see.

then there was a tortoise that was in the lane, just begging to be taken home, again so Archer could see.

and finally, a poor opossum mommy fell into the trap we had set for the groundhog and died. however, her litter survived. so now we have 13!!! baby opossums in a shoe box (a large shoe box) on our front porch.

why oh why oh why.

and by the way. the wildlife center has been called for the possums...no way am i going to keep 13 orphaned opossums!

additions

2009-05-28T13:35:00.004-04:00

i added some Binkie Leashes to my etsy store.
now to figure out how to put a widget on my blog.

out in the boondocks

2009-05-28T13:15:00.003-04:00

living life on the outskirts of civilization has its advantages.

+fewer solicitors (although those Kirby folks do come here quite often)
+no nosey neighbors
+no shootings (unlike some places where we've lived)
+no drunken, profanity screaming, italian neighbors
(not that italians are bad, just the ones that get drunk and scream profanities at night at their children)
+no street lights or really any light at night.+the ability to urinate outdoors without anyone seeing

the downsides do happen though.

last night i needed to head down to Mom's house (my laundromat) to pick up some clean baby diapers and Christian asked me to run to town to get some milk as well. now, as i was heading out to the van...which was parked across the lawn to the back of the house, probably 50+ feet away from the house, i heard a rustling in the woods to my south. (which are much closer to me than the van...) there are a lot of deer around here, but there is also a bear that resides nearby. and as you know, cows. this rustling could have been any of those animals. or none of them... so i ask Christian to get his mega-torch (the one that's 1 million candle power) to shine on the woods so i could be sure it wasn't something that would eat me. the torch was in his truck, next to the van. so being the scaredy cat that i am, i asked Christian to walk me to the van.

well it turned out that the rustling was a cow, or 3 cows. i don't know what they were doing so far from their barn so late at night. perhaps they got lost. but sheesh. that was a scary scary moment.

other pitfalls of country living...
-no cable tv, no highspeed internet
-water from a cistern that must be filled regularly or it goes empty.
(we could have a well, but it's pretty expensive to drill one)
-lots and lots of wildlife that want to eat my garden

i like it pretty well though.
we have a great little house and wonderful land-parents...thanks for the new windows, cabinets and whatever else you have in the works for this old house.

i did it!!

2009-05-25T12:28:00.004-04:00

i set up my etsy shop.

pretty lizzy lu

this is a new phase for me.
i've never done crafting for sale before.
i have 2 bunnies and a bird posted for sale.
you can see one of the bunnies in this old post
i'm super excited.

******
i also got Archer's hair cut!beforeduring

he now looks like a little boy and no one calls him her anymore...(except for the woman who was sitting next to us at the salon.)
After
eating his nummy for being such a good boy.

better?

2009-05-22T17:08:00.000-04:00

ok, now which is better:
kona cotton or bella solids?
kauffman or moda?

Kona Cotton Solids

2009-05-22T08:19:00.003-04:00

those are what i'm looking for.
i have a very distinct project in mind.
i cannot find any kona solids in any local quilt stores.
the closest is probably 2 1/2 hours away.

but what i want is a fat quarter pack (or charm size pack) of a rainbow or scale of colors of about 15-30 different colors (depending on size of initial fabric.)

WHERE can i find it?

do you know?
can you point me in the right direction?

pretty cool dragon daddy

2009-05-20T21:53:00.005-04:00

Monday we went to the National Zoo in Washington D.C.

we're pretty close so we could make it a day trip.
we drove up to Manassas and hopped on the Metro to make our way into the city. (no way are we going to try to park in D.C. or pay for parking at the zoo!)Archer had a blast riding on the TRAIN!!!here's the whole crew,
(minus Christian who was taking the picture)
(and that poor fellow behind us wondering if we're tourists or just really corny)oh there's Christian...on our way home...what a day!

we really enjoyed the zoo. it's just so huge! we barely got through half of it.
the plus side is that it was free!!!
look at our awesome new stroller!!!it's a phil & ted's
i felt like i was in such a cool club when we saw 2 other families with the same stroller!
(except we have a cooler version...they upgraded us for free! plug pishposhbaby)
this is Christian in front of the Panda enclosure...but we were too late to see the panda outside. we had to see him inside. where it was packed to the gills with people.

however, we did get to see the primates. i wanted to see the new gorilla baby but i didn't get to see it.
this orang-utan had just thrown up and was slurping it back up...notice the look of shocked disgust from Christian.

Archer slept most of the time.Ivy did not.pretty cool dragon (Christian's favorite..the komodo dragon)sweet anemone

mmm...Ivy got to eat carrots for the first time today. she did great and actually swallowed most of it.

do you ever have THAT day?

2009-05-19T22:44:00.002-04:00

the day when you grab your skinny jeans instead of your regular jeans?
the day when your children go crazy but forget to tell you ahead of time so you can plan for it?
the day after a fabulous adventure when you realize you have to do all that laundry and those dishes?

yeah, that day.

i'm there.

Imogen is a real name

2009-05-19T09:51:00.003-04:00

we thought about a lot of names for Ivy before she was born.
we couldn't decide on a name.
it wasn't until Ivy was at the doctor's office the day she was born that Christian chose the name Ivy, while filling out paperwork.
here's a partial list of the names we were working with:

Ivy
Lucy
Fern
Rain
Bronwyn
...
it was mainly nouns...apparently i like noun names...Archer, Ivy, etc.
Lucy was a front runner for quite a while.
one of my favorite names that made Christian go buh...what? is Imogen
he wouldn't believe me that it was a real name, until we met a baby girl named IMOGEN!!!
her mom is a colleague of Christian's dad. apparently Imogen is a very popular name in Sydney, Australia and that's where her parents are from.

anyways. I know this is random. but that's all there is in my brain most of the time.
Randomness.

is that a rooster on your porch?

2009-05-17T15:28:00.006-04:00

why yes...yes that is. i swear he's out to get me.

Ivy doesn't like to sleep unless she's being held or is very close to me...
there are a few issues with this
1. our full sized bed is barely big enough for Chris and i (he's a leggy man and apparently i kick...just ask my sister)
2. Ivy does have issues with overheating and i like to have lots of covers.
3. Ivy would nurse all night if i let her...meaning i become dehydrated.
4. but Ivy does sleep better and therefore i sleep a little better.

i guess it's just one more fun baby thing to deal with

i think it's been over 2 years that i've had a full nights sleep and i probably won't until i'm done with menopause...so that's what...another 30 years of sleepless nights?

even with the lack of sleep i've been sewing up a storm and managing to keep the house somewhat clean... (it's amazing how quickly a small house becomes cluttered and dirty)

i've been experimenting with making little boy's hats.ahem...i said little boy's hats.

apparently my head is really small or Arch's is really big.
it needs some work but it looks pretty cool to me. a little Amish, but that's just because it's black.

another bunny...i want to call this one stoner bunny...but i don't think that would go over well with the kiddos.

you can only imagine how much bread this made...i won't be doing that again, most of my rolls turned moldy before we could eat them

this is a reusable lunch bag i made

complete with flat felled seams on the bottom and two pockets inside.
the color looks a little off.
oh and do you know...is it wrong to kill a giant wolf spider with the Bhagavad-Gita?
cause i just did.

a variety of giving

2009-05-15T16:57:00.005-04:00

there are a few giveaways going on right now...

an interesting one over at Cloth Diaper Blog

they give something away every week.

2 weeks ago we won the bumgenius! dipes. (Wahoo...Ivy's wearing one right now!)

oh and some baby legs...i'm not sure how the elastic is going to work with those though...

and a christmas-y themed one at Crafty Girls

Anywhoo...
the boys are off camping at the Father and Son's camp. so it's just me and Ivy. i got a little sewing done. i tried a variant of Simplicity's 3835, but i'm too hasty and it didn't turn out the way that i would have liked it to. i'll just rip it out tomorrow and try again.

becoming a mother

2009-05-10T22:18:00.004-04:00

i have 2 children.
1 mother
1 mother in law
and 2 grandmothers
all within 10 miles.
i am blessed.

happy Mother's Day to you all.

i thought for Mother's day i would reflect a bit on the births of my children.
it is amazing how different their births were.

when Archer was born we were living in Las Vegas.
he was the first so of course i was extremely anxious.
i had been seeing Dr. Kyrimis for my entire pregnancy and really hoped that she would be able to deliver Arch, but there were no guarantees because the practice was so large. (11 doctors!) i ended up with a different and very male doctor and his very male intern.
well about a week before my due date i started getting random contractions. they were about 7-5 minutes apart and never increased in intensity or got closer in time. they weren't bad, but they made me think any day i could have the baby! i remember a lot of walking around the park and mall trying to get the contractions to get closer or more intense. plus a lot of counting of minutes. we had taken the hospital's child-birthing class so i knew how to do it properly...not to mention i had read about everything i could get my hands on about birth and labor and EVERYTHING! the birth class teacher called me granola because i wanted a natural birth (sans epideral). and i guess i am a bit granola, (we use cloth diapers...gasp!) but i really wanted to experience the WHOLE birth. well probably around 8 o'clock monday night my contractions started getting closer together and getting stronger. i think it was around 11:30 we went to the hospital...a 15 minute drive, past 3 other hospitals, but that's Vegas for you...my contractions were 4 minutes apart but not "bad" enough yet for the nurses to admit me. so we went back home. we went back to the hospital at 2:00am. still no admittance. (HAH, i was such a first time mom!!!) so the nurses gave me some ambien to get me to relax and sleep a little bit.
IT DID NOT WORK!
i ended up hallucanating for about 2 hours. all of my contractions had a different color and shape. some were green pears and some were purple triangles. and as i laid on the bed i was hallucanating that there were alligators and little people having a picnic on the bed (yes i do remember this vividly) i made christian clear off the bed for me so that the little people would go away.
at 4 we went back to the hospital. this time they admitted me and the nurses actually cheered.
although i was only at 4 cms!
i don't remember a whole lot about the rest of it. my birth plan was thrown out the window. the nurse broke my water...all hell broke loose...i hated being attached to the iv and monitors...they couldn't hear Arch's heartbeat on the external monitor and the one they attach to the baby's head didn't stick, because he had too much hair...so when i was completely dialated the doctor and nurses were freaking out because they thought that he was in distress so i ended up with a vaccum assist and only 10 minutes of pushing.
after Arch was born he was wisked to the other side of the room and whacked by the nurses so that he would scream out all of the fluid out of his lungs! Christian was so torn between his poor wife being stitched up by the doctor and his INTERN!!! (4th degree people, and if you don't know what that means, i'm not telling you, you'll have to find that one out on your own.)
i did end up getting an epideral around 6 cms. neither Christian nor i were prepared for the intensity of it all and how to cope. however, it did not help very much at the very end and afterward.
but we got a beautiful baby boy. he looked just like his daddy.

Ivy's birth was completely different!that was my new trick!! i'm very glad i can't do that anymore.
we had planned a homebirth from the beginning. Christian actually read childbirthing books!!!
with her i had no contractions for weeks. the due date was a week away when i woke up at 3 am to a "pop, pop, gush" my water breaking. i wake Christian, trying hard not to move much so the bed wouldn't get too soaked (we did have a waterproof pad on the bed). he asked "are you sure" i was sure. but contractions didn't start. i tried to go back to sleep because i knew i'd need my strength. i couldn't sleep so when Archer woke super early we all got up. nothing much happened all day!!! if i was walking, there were contractions, if i was sitting, there were not. so i walked outside, (and it was pretty cold) and i walked laps inside (we were having the baby at the in-laws house...main paved road and all...easier for emts in case of emergency). i tried to knit, i tried to play bannana grams, i tried to read, and watch tv. i tried some herbal things. i ate. i drank. i slept a bit more. not much happened. and then i did the castor oil thing...YUCKY! not a good thing to do at all. it tasted like melted chapstick and went to work on me like the $4.95 chinese lunch buffet. well contractions finally started ramping up around 11 pm. my midwife showed up at the house at midnight, luckily she had stayed in town for me. she got there and just let me work. i got in and out of the shower trying to relax. i found some great laboring positions sitting on Christian (who was AWESOME by the way!!!) i couldn't lay down because it hurt and i tried to stay focused on the lacework on the pillow on the bed. it hurt like nothing else and i didn't think i could do it, but i did. they talked me through it all, and i made it out alive and willing to do it again some day (but not anytime soon...like 5 years soon). and ivy was born!
Christian went immediately to the pediatricians (because of her blisters) with Ivy (where he got to name her) and where we were told to go to the university hospital...but that's a different story all together

i love my sweet children. they have brightened my life and taught me to laugh at the crazy things that they do.

i really feel that when i die i won't care about whether all the laundry was done or if the floors were mopped, i'll care if my children knew they were loved, and that they love the Lord.

Archer now

Ivy now

the most disgusting thing EVER

2009-05-08T09:26:00.004-04:00

seriously
if you are easily nauseated, or if you're eating a meal right now...don't read on

Earl...the pet ball python...recently returned from UT
you know him.
the one i talked about a few posts ago.
yeah.
well i never really liked him, but i was the one who introduced him to our family as a birthday present for Christian.
(stupid, stupid, stupid)
i really think he's dying.
i've never seen anything like it before in my life.
and i think if i didn't have such a strong stomach i'd still be throwing up.
you see, Earl likes to eat mice. so we gave him 2 a few days ago. i guess they didn't agree with him because last night
gag..
he,
gag..
threw them up!
along with an unidentifiable mass which may or may not have been a third mouse.
oh my golly! yucky, yuck, yuck-yuck, yuck!
i was sitting in the rocking chair right next to his terrarium when this was all going down. (or should i say out)
he was doing some sort of strange writhing that caught my attention...snakes don't usually writhe.
and then he opens his mouth real wide and stuff just starts to come out!!!!
i should have grabbed the children and ran at that point but horror and sick curiosity got the better of me and i just sat stiff as a board in my chair.

sweet pea...if you're reading this, can you please PLEASE please get those regurgitated mice out of my house as soon as possible...every time i look over there i gag a little bit.