Thank You Cristina!

I took this picture and totally forgot to post it!! I'm sorry!! Thank you so much for making these :) I know they weren't all meant for Emilie but I'm so glad she got them anyways ;) My favorite is the white one :) :) :) I can't wait to see her in it! Thank you again!!! Oh and for the blankets that you gave me today! I already put them in the wash so they will be ready for when she comes home in a few days :)

5 Days or less :) !!!

Came home to find another package on our door step. This kiddo is going to be spoiled rotten ;) This one came from an online friend from my PPP group :) THANK YOU SANDY! I hope she is having a blast in Paris :)

Jason and I went garage sailing today. We thought it was a town wide, but it really wasn't :\ But I did get a autumn type snowsuit for 50 cents! So now she is really set for this winter :) Also got a few more hats to donate to Baby Keelan's Memory collection that I started on my IC group board.

We ate a YUMMY diner :) The Plaza Diner on the parkway is very reasonably priced and yummy!! Jason found some power adapter he was looking for. It was a good day over all :) Now while Emilie continues to have the hiccups I'm going to sort through files while watching One Tree Hill :)

No contractions to report about...

Still 6 days left ;)

I wanted to put up the super pretty pink blanket we got in the mail today :) :) Thank you Uncle Zachary, Aunt Lisa, Ashley and Jonathan :) !! It reminds me of the cat Aunt Z got Kaitlin :) Which I won't allow Emilie to play with so this ties in with it really nicely :) And you didn't even know you were doing it :) Thanks!

Jason and I went for a mile walk today on the rail trail. I made it .5 miles with really no problem...then all sorts of pains started hitting me! Worse than during the 1.6 mile walk last weekend! I however did do WAY more today so it might be just catching up with me. I cleaned our bedroom of most of the clothes on the floor. Put a bunch of clothes away. Vacuumed the entire apt. Made a play mat/larger diaper changing pad and turned a receiving blanket into a curtain. I've also been sitting on the exercise ball instead of my computer chair. My back is beginning to protest so soon I will be moving to my comfy recliner :)

Oh I want to toss this question out there to everyone who reads this :) I'm trying to come up with a list of things that have happened since I've been pregnant either in the family, news, world, etc. To do a sort of this is what happened while I was pregnant with you type thing. So anyone can think of anything please either leave a comment or e-mail me :)

6 Days or less :)

Thought I would share the pic of the tea set I got the other day :) So cute isn't it! Plus it's all fabric so i can wash it after Xavier and her play with it and get it all drool, lol. I have books too that are fabric so I can do the same thing :) (not that either can play with ALL the pieces in the this set right off, some are a little too small). I know it will be awhile before she gets to use it, but I bought it for $1.50...how could I NOT get it :)

Nothing going on today. I *think* I might have had a few contractions last night but they were weird. It was like I was getting a cramp but different. Nothing I've felt before with Kaitlin or this one. But obviously nothing came of them.

Daddy gave Emilie permission to be born this morning, lol. Every morning he's been leaving for work saying "No baby today" and then this morning he said "A baby today would be okay :)" and then told her that :) It would be so funny if I were to go into labor today, but I'm not expecting to. Jason also has a feeling she will be coming on the 27th...not sure why but that could mean a possible a kiddo Monday? I guess we'll see.

Plans tonight are to go for a walk, and I've been spending time sitting on our exercise ball which is supposed to help encourage things as well. We were so worried about her coming early, and now we can't get her out, how ironic ;)

ONE WEEK!

(Newest embroidered items for Emilie :) I did a whole other group today but they are going straight into the wash so no pics right now)

I can't believe this day next week we will be heading out to eat then to the hospital to start the induction process :) Some people have told me all they needed was the cervical dilation pill thingies and they went right into labor :) Let's hope for that :)

I also realized last night this weekend will be our last as just the two of us! Wow has it seemed like this pregnancy has flown!

Emilie has been VERY active today. Maybe it's because I actually stayed in a pretty relaxed today. I've been sitting more than normal so she's been bouncing off my uterine walls! I hope this trend continues of her being active during the day and sleepy at night :) She does stay up late (usually moves around 11ish) but then I don't feel her anymore the rest of the night, so either I'm a really sound sleeper (doubt it) or she's a good girl :) I do sometimes feel her at 6 am so I guess we will see soon enough! I have a theory that all my bedrest put her on a normal clock time or sleep when it's dark and not when it's light, since she heard noise all day long and then quiet at night, she's always seemed to move WAY more during the day than in the evening :) So fingers crossed for no night owl baby ;)

I've been a busy bee ;)

My first attempt at doing a design that I got off the inet is the hand above. I also figured out how to back track through a design to fix a flaw :) I thought he was cute :)

So then I got really into it! I found awhole bunch of other free designs and started trying them out :) I also learned how to skip parts in patterns that I didn't want.


So then I bought our first embroidery pattern from a site which was ofcourse a 1-up :) Since Jason was hoping we could make a 1-up onsie. So I tested it above on a cloth diaper and then put some work behind the onsie :)

(the black dots should go away when I wash it.)

Last I was tired of the blocky fonts that I have to choose from on the machine and looked for some different ones. When I do that I have to treat each letter as a graphic so it's a pain, but after an hour or more of work this is my result:
And just before you think that the cats weren't involved in some way with these pictures:

I have many more things to put words and graphics on. It's a great new little hobby to keep my occupied while I wait :) Better than me shopping...I think Jason would agree ;)

I can't turn my back for a second!

I put it on the floor to put batteries in it and it wasn't there for more than 30 seconds when a unnamed kitty decided it made for a GREAT bed. Turning the lights and vibrating on only seemed to keep her there longer! I'm going to have to just pick my battles I think :\ Or keep stuffed animals in EVERYTHING until I want to use it, lol. Kitties!

Stitched Things

So as I was looking threw my pics I noticed a picture that definitely is long over due in need of being put in the blog! I know I just got it 5 days ago but when someone puts THIS much work into something it should have went up much sooner. Sorry Mom! Although I did hear that pretty much everyone on my side has already seen it, lol :)

Mom made another hand cross stitched blanket for Emilie. Kaitlin's is hanging in the nursery. I picked the pattern out, which I found out mom didn't like it. I love the angel though. The yellow has already grown on me so I can't imagine this blanket any other way :) I still am amazed at the patience she has and still don't know if I can allow Emilie to ever use this blanket out side of a photo shoot. But we will see...

I mean seriously check out this detail:

No I mean REALLY look at the detail!

The whole thing is made of tiny x's...in different colors! NO way do I have the patience, same reason I will probably never knit again...

And now for my pathetic attempt at using a MACHINE to put colorful thread on white fabric :)

Not sure why machines and I don't get along :\ I broke THREE needles already in two days! And the weird thing is that it will do almost the WHOLE thing and then snap. My tension is right according to the video I watched and it's not caught on anything, etc. It doesn't make any weird noise before doing it either, it's like the timing goes off and then WHAM broken. Two broke during the butterfly thing. I wonder if that pattern is messed up for some reason. It would do about 80% of it with no problem and then snap it's needle. Also like in the square going around the v1.0 shirt it just decides to miss spaces a times :\ I even used two sheets of that backing stuff. Since it said you could use up to three and I know my fabric was thin.

Holy Cold Sores Batman!

So I get cold sores on my lips on occasion, and I haven't had any since my first trimester. Then out of no where I got THREE! One on my upper and one on each side of my lower lip. And they aren't small either! Now I think I might be getting on in the middle of my upper lip too. They have come staggered, so as one is on it's way out it seems another is starting :\

I usually get them when I'm worn out, but aside from one night I've been getting my sleep...so I have no idea why so many and why all at once like this.

Oh and now Jason who has never gotten one in the 11 years we've been together has one too! It's so strange!

Look What I did Today :)

Mom let me borrow her embroidery machine. I used one onsie as a test subject and then made this one. Which worked but a few of the letters got kind of messed up :\ So i tried it again and it totally messed up :\ So I still need some serious practice. But I want some purple thread too...and I need more t-shirts or onsies that are solid.

Every picture I took was blurry...so sorry...after 10 tries I just gave up.

ARE YOU KIDDING ME!!

So the crib we picked out for Kaitlin, yes I said for KAITLIN has been recalled for the SECOND time! The first time it was due to the brackets and how some of them were wrong (ours was right) this time it's because it can come off it's hinges.

Jason's solution is lets just screw the side permanently to the rails, my solution get a new fricken crib! Guess who's we are going with. We will return this one. Now we are going to have to put more money into a crib :\ We bought this one during a sweet sale so I guess it didn't pay off in the end, grumble!

Here's the new recall info: Simplicity Crib

Busy Busy Weekend

Mom and Dad came down this weekend for a spur of the moment visit, lol. We saw an Air Show, which was pretty cool. I had major ligament pain while waiting in line for the shuttle. Mom kept telling me that someone was going to think I was going into labor, lol. After we went to dinner with out buy one get one coupons! I LOVE the lemonades at Ruby Tuesdays :) :) :) Then we went to see fireworks at Highland Park. Where I learned women standing in the bathroom line will comment on how great it is you can hold your pee while pregnant, but not let you cut so you can actually pee! Just because i have bladder control it doesn't mean that it FEELS all that good holding it with a kiddo kicking you at the same time, nor is it good for a pregnant woman to hold it :\

After getting home late we all crashed and then turned around and went to the flea market the next morning. Which I thought I was going to be super sore, but it wasn't that bad. Dad and Mom and left after that and Jason and I went to a store then came home. We found some great things at the fleamarket for the kiddo! Not one but two snow suits for only a $1 each and they are pretty much new and pink ;) (see pics below). I ended up coming home and sleeping since my allergies decided to kick in and heartburn :\ I slept for 1 1/2 hours and then got up took a benadryl and then crashed again in my chair for awhile. But today I feel MUCH better.

Kitty also approves, good thing I haven't washed them yet. I had them on the couch for two seconds before she came to investigate. As you can see by the first pic I took I didn't even have time to lay them down and step back and get a pic without her in it! Her paw is in the upper left.

**sniff sniff **

Fluff, Fluff, Fluff

Until she finally laid down like in the first picture.

Nothing else to report that I can think of. I also received a Bebe Sounds monitor in the mail from an online friend. We got to hear hiccups the other night, but trying to get a heartbeat is tough. I will have to play with it more...but I don't have much more time to actually play.

Appointment today so another update will be soon. The internet has been down here ALOT so it's hard to get on and do everything. And if you try to call you can't get through either :\ But we are having it looked into tomorrow morning.

She's going to be swinging!

So with our trip north we also got another baby shower present :) So excited about it too since I wasn't sure if we wanted to go bouncy seat or swing and now we have both! Plus the swing is a travel one so it's easy to store away if we need the room, etc. I also think it being closer the ground will make it easier to keep the cats at bay, since they won't be wondering "what's up there?" they will just be able to SEE it and probably stay away.

Ofcourse Joshalynn wanted to try it ;) hehehehe. I love the visual of what the baby will look like in it (other than she will be bigger and squirmier!) It's also cool how one is all artic and the other all rainforest, lol. Now we need desert and water life and I think we have everything covered :) Oh wait we have penguins and a whale for the bathtub, so just desert. Especially since the bedroom stuff is just normal woodland animals :) hehehe

Exciting News!!

Jason's manager told him today that instead of one week she will allow him TWO weeks after Emilie comes!! So excited!! He will have all sorts of bonding time AND he can help me out at night for a little while longer! YAY! It definitely put a smile on my face for the day!

A Freezer Full :)

So not that it's great food that we are going to be excited to eat, but we have food that has been premade and will easily be able to be cooked or warmed for meals. I imagine after a child arrives you really just want to eat something and it doesn't matter what it is, since it might be your first meal of the day, lol. It also doesn't mean we won't put Rossi's (local pizza joint) on speed dial, lol.

Thus far I have a meatloaf, skillet lasagna, lasagna, chili, boiled dinner, cooked boneless chicken and about 3lbs of browned hamburger. There is also a skillet dinner and three chinese frozen entree things. Our freezer doesn't have much room left for any food we might want to keep now, but eh I would rather cook fresh. Oh there is also some predone taco meat and we have lots of spaghetti sauces and pasta. I'm going to pick up more mac & cheese, couscous and anything else I think we might be willing to eat that comes from the pantry. I'm trying to do all this with my fussy husband in mind...so it gets hard to try and figure something out.

I also already told Jason that many of our first nights will probably be ordered out. Since not only do we have many places that deliver, but Friendly's and Applebees both do to go things. All the times I didn't send him out while pregnant will be used up I'm sure when I'm not pregnant ;)

Not that I'm expecting it to be too bad. I have talked to a friend who just a little one over a month ago and really other than your place gets a little cluttery and you get VERY tired, you make it. It's an itty bitty baby against Jason and I, I'm pretty sure we will win since so many have done it before us and will do it after us :) I tend to overprepare so I'm guessing I already have everything we could possily need if there were a nuclear explosion the day we brought the baby home and we all had to stay indoors for two weeks. Jason might have to learn to eat things he's not the happiest about, but I know I would live ;) Now if the internet and the tv were to go...that might be a different story :) hehehehe

So now we are just sitting back and waiting for the kiddo to come. Oh also according to Jason I need to stop putting things in the car to take to the hospital. But who wouldn't want to bring thier boppy?

OH and since it seems I haven't used on these in awhile...for your enjoyment :) Which has totally been how I've been feeling the past few days!

And after trying to find a cute anniversary outfit...I can relate to this cartoon!

Look What We Did Today!

Jason installed the car seat before he went on his hike with Tom :) Thankfully since I forgot to bring my camera downstairs Tom was there with his iPhone :) So he snapped a few pics. Thanks Tom! We don't have any of the actual car seat going in since we had a little trouble with it. It seems like the car seat goes in awful hard. The base is nice and tight, which you want...but then to get the seat in you have to really wedge it down in there...so getting it out is tricky. But I imagine with time we will get the hang of it. Also trying to lean in and get a seat out oa hot car with a preggo belly is hard...so it might get easier for me after the kiddo comes. I don't see me lugging the seat up the stairs to often. But we will see. The seat is actually fairly light when it's not connected to the base. It's in and ready to go. Thats the important part ;) All my bags for L&D and are also in the car. As you can see some of them on the floor in the next pic. Actually they take up the space of both floors, but one bag is for the baby. I also have clothes and snacks packed for Jason. I have to say it was a little weird seeing a car seat in the car when I was driving today...but I'm sure it will be even weirder when there is a baby in it :)

Now we just need to to install the mirror, the window shades , and the baby on board sign and we are ready to go :)

Tour of the Nursery....

Welcome to Emilie's Room :)
Of course this won't be her real room until she's older, since she will be sleeping in Mommy and Daddy's room for the first few months in a bassinet.

(remember you can click on the pictures to make them bigger)





This is the far wall of the room. You can see it starts with the changing station. Which won't work for too long since I'm sure she is bound quickly out grow it. But it should get daddy comfy with changing diapers. We already have a little stash of preemie and newborn sized diapers. It was recommended to me to have a few preemie sized on hand since they tend to fit a tinier newborn better than newborns. of course the other essential things, a place to throw the dirty diapers, a "hamper" and a basket of wipes and lotions.

The clothes in the dresser are arranged by size. Newborn and 0-3 months are in the top drawer. Then all her dresses and special outfits are hung up. In the bins below there are sleep gowns, receiving blankets, sleep sacks, hats and socks. There also are bottles and teething rings stored on one of those shelves. The lowest shelf has toys. They are more for when she is older (crawling or walking) They are my buys from when I was working at the daycare center, things that I got for the different themes etc. Continuing along that wall is another set of shelves where you will find all sorts of blankets, books, and up top all the nursing things like a pump. Her bath tub is under the shelves on the floor. In one of the diaper bags there are all of Kaitlin's things and stuff for her memorial that I will put out next year.

This the wall across the room from the door. It has my toy box from when I was little (the bassinet is on it) which it also has toys in it along with stuffed animals and misc other baby things. The stroller won't be in the kiddos room forever. It's just there to keep is nice, it will eventually make it's home in the trunk of my car or the garage. I didn't want it smelling all yucky from sitting in the garage for a year so we kept it in the apt. The drawer tote thingy and blue thing on top are not baby things, but yarn.



Above the window we hung a ceramic piece up that a friend of mine gave me. She knows I'm not religious but its very fitting since we both have angels, and I'm sure they both will watch over Emilie ;) So it is sweet to have :)


Then we have the wall when you first walk in. Which of course is sporting the crib. The car seat will soon be installed in the car. There are still misc baby items in the crib that need homes. Like my birth - one year picture frame, etc. There also is a car mirror in there which will be installed when the car seat is.
The different stuffed items on the wall came from a fellow IC sufferer. She and I are due close to the same time and swapped gifts awhile back :) She sent me the sweet wall decorations and a light switch cover we have yet to install.



This is something from Kaitlin's days. My mom embroidered this. I REFUSE to use it! Way to much time has been put into it for it to get stained etc. It's in reality Kaitlin's blanket which she had no idea Kaitlin wouldn't be making it when she choose the angel. It's even one a kind since the little angel was supposed to be blue but she made her purple for me. Nope this blanket is a decoration and not to be dragged on the floor ;)

Not sure what I will do with the second one she's been working on...lol.









As you can see we are back at the door, so the room isn't all that big, but it will work :) The rocking chair is from my early years. My grandmother used to rock me in it and I'm fairly certain it was around before I came into the picure. It does need to be worked on, but for now it will work. It's not splintering or anything. I originally thought this would be where I would always feed the baby. Not sure now. But I have cushions on the chair and burp clothes and bibs beside it in arms reach.






This is a plate that was made for my by my mommy when I was little. When they cleaned out the cellar we came across it, and it was sent to me so I thought it was fitting to hang it up here :)














Last but not least, the tiny bit of wall beside the door. This shelf kind of houses all sorts of different things. I have the bank from the shower, lights, frames, stuffed things, bath toys, etc. I think this will surely evolve I'm sure with the kiddo. I might end up moving the books over to it, but for now it's good to go :)

Officially all packed to go

So part of the packing of the hospital bags included our donations in memory of Kaitlin. Which ended up being 4 garbage bags of things. 3 were of everything cloth and one of memory boxes.
Here is our total:

Blankets:
small = 9
medium = 3
larger = 8
burial buntings = 7

Hats = 74
Booties = 11
Dresses = 7
Onsies = 2
Sweaters = 6
Memory boxes = 21

Non homemade (bought):
Blankets = 17
Onsies = 24

For a total of 190 items. I don't think thats too bad :) I might have miscounted some or not counted some but it's a general idea. I feel like I added a bag of things and never wrote them down, but oh well. I can safely say over 150 items are being donated in Kaitlin's memory the day/night/day after her little sister is born. :)

Bekah's Right and Left Story

As promised I now have the story that was part of the Right and Left game from the Baby Shower :)

It was a warm July evening. Tiffi only had a few days left before baby Emilie was due. She was standing right to the left of the kitchen sink with only a few dishes left to be done from the evening’s dinner. Suddenly she felt a strange wetness right in her pants. “Oh no!” said Tiffi “I think my water just broke!” Jason jumped right off of his comfy spot on the couch and promptly left. He jumped in the car and drove right to the hospital. He only had two blocks left to go before he got to there when he realized he had left Tiffi at home. He took a quick Left turn and drove right back home to get his wife.

Jason found Tiffi waiting right where he had left her. She jumped right into the car and they drove right back to the hospital. They took a right turn. And then another right turn before they turned left into the parking lot and found a great parking spot right on their left. Tiffi and Jason jumped right out of the car and walked right into the hospital. They took the elevator on their left right to the labor and delivery floor.

When she got to the labor and delivery Unit, Tiffi was excited to find that her favorite nurse, Bekah had not yet left for the day. “All Right!” she exclaimed. Bekah took Tiffi right into a labor and delivery room. After examining Tiffi, Bekah informed her that she had less than a centimeter left to dilate. “All right!” said Tiffi… “This isn’t bad at all.” “I’ll stay right here with you through the whole thing” Jason told Tiffi. Bekah left the room to call Dr El Kassis and let her know about Tiffi’s progress.

A few moments later Tiffi became a bit more uncomfortable. “It’s time” she yelled. Bekah came right back into the room. “You’re right!” she said. “But Unfortunately Dr El Kassis is right in the middle of another delivery. But don’t worry. Jason and I will get you through this. All right?” At that moment a loud thud caused Tiffi and her nurse to look right over to the left of the room to see that Jason had passed out right onto the floor. Fortunately Jason recovered right away because baby Emilie was ready to be delivered right now.

A few moments later baby Emilie was born and was quickly wrapped up and handed right over to her excited parents. “All right!” said Tiffi “she’s just perfect!” The new baby put her left thumb into her mouth and looked right up into her Mommy’s eyes. “This is just right!” said Tiffi.

Last Milestone Item Bought :)

It wouldn't be a new baby item if Joshalynn didn't try it out right ;) lol. See mom it's alot like what you had when I was a baby, but this one bounces and vibrates, but I doubt I will ever use that feature. :)

This one I originally picked out since I couldn't find a pink one I liked. Better to go with Unisex probably anyways. I really am not a fan of the super bright colors, but I know they are good for baby. I picked this one out for two reasons. One being it had the arch of toys instead of a simple mobile. I wanted the arch since it was WAY more interactive. Second it had penguins to make daddy happy :)

I also picked up a mirror for the car, which I suppose is one of those non needed items, but I HATE the fact that when they are in the rear view position you can't see them, so with a mirror I will be able to :) Plus it lights up and sings to the baby by the push of a button in the front seat. So it will probably come in handy on long car trips.

I did NOT buy any clothes this trip :) Unless wrist rattles count :)

Oh and did I mention how nice it was to get OUT of the same stores I've been going to for the last month. For the record I like Sayres Kmart and Walmart better than ours!