9 months Oh My!

Well it only took him a few months longer than most, but our little Colie Polie is finally crawling! He has been getting in the ready position for weeks now and finally last Friday he took the plunge..... and has not stopped since. Of course, we have no baby gates ready, so the ottoman is blocking the entrance and the pack and play is blocking the kitchen. I guess we should think about finding some baby gates.... on freecycle (check my blog - Broke Moms Club for LOTS of money saving tips)

I have never known a baby to be so perfect! He is the most amazing baby in the world! He NEVER cries. When he is wet or dirty he fusses and complains to let me know ... hungry - same thing - tired - SAME THING! When I put him down, if he has a clean diaper and full tummy, he rolls over and goes right to sleep! How could I complain ....

Honestly my only complaint as of now is ..... he has slept TWICE ... yes that is the #2 ... times through the night since his birth. I am so exhaused and my husband does not get it. He says I should nap during the day, you know when I actually have a chance to clean up this crazy messy house..... Then at night he keeps telling me he is going to watch baby so I can sleep ... I have yet to see him do it. Our arrangement has always been, he sleeps in on Sat while I keep kids quiet and out of his hair and I sleep in Sunday ..... I have never been in bed past 8am ............ asleep that it :( After pulling all my resources, I have found he wakes out of habit ... its the things I need to do to change that habit that I can not reconsile with. CIO is not as option for us - ever - under NO circumstances ..... so for now, I will continue on my path doing what he needs above all else.

Since I last blogged I have been very busy! I think I finally found a great hobby; Quilting! I am so in love that I started a little online shop called ... what else ... Colie Polie Quilting! I made a baby clothes quilt over the summer for a customer and it was so much fun I started looking into other projects. I made a potted plant wall hanging for my grandma and the flowers were pictures of the grandkids. I have pictures up on Colie Polie Quilting. I also made a quilted bag with pictures for my mother in law. Its been a lot of fun! Oh course I find this great hobby right before I go back to school ....

Ah school ... I have one semester left; 16 itty bitty weeks and I feel like it is just going to KILL me to go back. Colie needs me more than ever and I have to leave him .... I also have to figure out what I am going to do with the other two after school since I get out after they do. Oh course money is TIGHTER than it ever has been. We are behind on just about everything so squeezing anything more out for daycare is like pulling teeth. I wish I had a normal family that was around to help .... for 16 measly weeks! ugg.... I guess I will find a way. Also the thought of trying to do any homework with a baby and two older children at home is frying my brain. I honestly dont see how it is going to work. I have not slept in 9 1/2 months... how am I going to carve time out to spend every waking moment studying... I jsut need to pull through as this is the semester I finally graduate. 6 years in the making and the rest of my schooling will be done via the fabulous Internet! and I will be at home with my darlings where I belong!!!!

Okay, its dinner time and I smell something yummy i nthe crock pot! Check out what I made tonight here!! :)

Could One More Be Too Much?

We recently had our 3rd baby.... I always wanted 4, but as the time passes with 3 children in my home I have been torn to pieces wondering if I do want # 4, how do we time it right? and do I really want 4?? I know for sure we have enough love for them, but with what we ran into having #3, I am almost scared to openly admit to anyone other than my husband I still want another. Another thing is I feel guilty that I cant spend as much time as I use to with our older two. Here is a little background on our situation..... We got married in 2002, 2003 on our first anniversary we found out we were pregnant with #1(while on the pill). When #1 was 6 months old (while on a low dose pill and breastfeeding no less) we found out we were expecting #2. Returned to work 7 weeks after he was born and breastfeeding failed miserably and he got formula... not one of my proudest moments, neither was the choice to let him cry it out because of severe colic (which I now know could have been because of the formula ...) FOR 9 MONTHS STRAIGHT! While both of us worked full time and had another little one at home... Honestly to this day I dont know how we survived and cant remember a lot of it.... We were done with having children at that time and I gave up on having the 4 I always wanted. Got an IUD and then decided to be a surrogate (another long story in itself). Got laid off before our #2 turned one and decided to start school. Had 3 surrogate babies while in school full time. After 4 years of general education, I finally got into the nursing program itself. My very first surgical rotation I saw a hysterectomy and immediatly texted my husband I did want #3! It was really the first time I was so upset by thinking I could not have what I had always wanted.... We were in the middle of trying for one more surrogacy and decided that after this one we would have one more baby for us. When that surrogacy fell through and left us with a horrible taste of ever wanting to do it again, we decided after thinking about it for a long time... that we would go ahead and try for #3. We tried for several months and on July 4th weekend of 2010 something told me that this was it! I knew for sure that this was the weekend I was going to get pregnant!! waiting for the stick to change was awful cause I just knew!! So about 10 days after ovulation while on a family vacation in Pismo Beach, I got a stick and tested and it was POSITIVE!! So so so happy!! The whole pregnancy I had been happier than I ever was pregnant, after all this was our very first planned pregnancy. Some of the comments we got from people were very disppointing and made me so sad. Also no one thought that this baby deserved a celebration of his life, but we were more than overjoyed for his arrival. (My nursing friends did throw me a "tea" and that meant so much to me that they cared enough to celebrate him!) My last clinical rotations ended in December and I decided to take the spring off (well the next year) from school since he was due in March. With trying for a VBAC I wanted to give myself the best chance at it and also I did not think breastfeeding would be successful if I had to be at school the day after I gave birth (no extra time off no matter what your situation). It worked out better for us, but I was really sad because I would have graduated in May (2011)..... but my baby will only be a baby once. I only have this one chance to give him the best start in life. I took a leave, so I am to return late January to finish up my LVN and graduate May 2012. I have not worked since I was laid off and every week has been a struggle for us (except while I was a surrogate and we decided that this was something that we are no longer able to do... emotionally). I do have comfort in knowing that once I finish school I have a greater chance at getting a part time job to help with finances but that wont be at least until next summer. So I really need to finish next spring no matter what. I also want to breastfeed #3 for at least two years as recommended by WHO. So here are some PROS and CONS that we have come up with for having # 4:

PROS

• Our #3 will have a sibling close in age (our first 2 are 15 months apart and are GREAT playmates)
• There is an even number of us so when we go places (like Disneyland) every one will have a partner and no one will be left out or be riding a ride alone
  
• The more the merrier! I could not think of a happier place to be than a house full of my kids!
• Our older two want one more baby too!! They love having our newest little one around and have been crazy helpful with him. I expected to see some jealousy because of attention, but really the only one who has had issues is our puppy! lol!
  
• 
  

CONS

• We have basically committed to never having a sedan again and will always have to have a third row.
  
• Money is so tight right now and even though I am breastfeeding and cloth diapering, expenses will start accumulating once the baby gets bigger ... like the grocery bill, going out to eat, the movies.........
  
• It is getting harder to go places with 3 kids. I know when #3 gets older it will be easier, but we use to do everything together when it was just the 4 of us. Now it is hard to get us all to be able to do that and I miss that closeness.
  
• What about sports and after school activities... how do you spread yourself to 4 different things at once?
  
• Who is going to babysit 4 kids???
  

Can you help me grow my list of PROS and CONS? Also, if we should have #4, how far apart should they be? (anything hateful, rude or just flat our mean will be deleted)

4 months! My how the time has flown by

And I am more than thankful to have been a part of every second so far in his life! He has his check up on his 4 month birthday and is 19 pounds 2 ounces and 27 inches long! When I was changing his cute Dippee Dypee, the doctor asked me to take a look at his growth on the chart. His little "X" mark was quite a bit above the standard range for his age group! So literally he is off the charts!! She said she was not too concerned because he is growing proportional with height and weight. I am sure he will slow down once he starts moving and crawling!
Cole is now talking like crazy to us, smiles with the cutest chubby cheeks and is doing mini baby push ups. Soon he will be ready to go! We know the baby proofing is not far off!

Are You Prepared?

As most of you know, I am a nursing student with many passions; one being volunteer and disaster preparedness- I know, I keep amazing you with my awesomeness! lol!!! Anyway, I had to do a speech in one of my pre-req's for nursing school and I decided to do it on CPR and being prepared for a disaster.

Are you prepared? Do you, or would you know where to start to become prepared? It is actually pretty easy. I am disaster ready ... as we live in earthquake country. So, I am sharing with you what I have learned.

Here is the list of what you will need for your disaster kit:

• Emergency Blanket’s (1 for each family member)


• Light sticks


• Moist toilettes (package of non-scented baby wipes will work also)


• N95 breathing mask


• Rain Poncho


• Flashlights


• Radio, preferably waterproof


• Batteries for flashlight and radio (double set for each)


• Emergency preparedness booklet


• Work gloves


• Plastic sheeting


• Duct tape


• Whistle


• Any medication family is currently taking


• Multi-purpose tool


• Clothing for each family member


• Personal items


• Sanitary napkins


• Money


• Pet supplies


• Map


• Cell phone


• List of emergency phone numbers for your family, childcare and county phone numbers


• Trash bags


• Sheets of plastic


• Disposable gloves


• Water – 1 gallon per person per day


• Food – 1600 calories per person per day


• Manuel can opener


• Eating utensils


• First Aid Kit (1 per person)

Then I put together my own first aid kit:

• 2 absorbent compress dressings (5 x 9 inches)


• 25 adhesive bandages (assorted sizes)


• 1 adhesive cloth tape (10 yards x 1 inch)


• 5 antibiotic ointment packets (approximately 1 gram)


• 5 antiseptic wipe packets


• 1 blanket (space blanket)


• 1 breathing barrier (with one-way valve)


• 1 instant cold compress


• 2 pair of nonlatex gloves (size: large)


• 2 hydrocortisone ointment packets (approximately 1 gram each)


• Scissors


• 1 roller bandage (3 inches wide)


• 1 roller bandage (4 inches wide)


• 5 sterile gauze pads (3 x 3 inches)


• 5 sterile gauze pads (4 x 4 inches)


• Oral thermometer (non-mercury/nonglass)


• 2 triangular bandages


• Tweezers


• First aid instruction booklet

Costco has a variety of first aid kits and emergency food prep kits online HERE, even vegetarian food kits.

And a few tips to be disaster ready:

1. Run a drill with your family often. You will be amazed how even young children can participate and how much they will retain. Plus doing it every month or so will help reinforce it with them.


2. Know the places to meet in case of a disaster; have a back up plan (keep a copy in your disaster kit)


3. Have the numbers handy for disaster help (Keep a list in the disaster kit)


4. Always try to keep in touch with where your spouse and children are. If something does happen, you have an idea of where they are and do not worry about them being on a bridge or in a building that may have collapsed.


5. The most important thing - Always make sure your family knows how much you love them. Don't go to bed mad. Every moment you have to share with them is special and important. Don't take them or the time with them for granted.

The Red Cross also has many valuable resources online! Go to www.redcross.org. There you can:

• learn how to make a family disaster plan


• purchase pre-made disaster kits and first aid kits


• GET certified for CPR & first aid training


• volunteer


• sign up to give blood at www.givelife.org

Expert Blog Button Creator Overrnight .....?

Not quite, but almost! lol! It is weird to think it was that simple... I have been searching on the internet how to make my own button and header since I started this blog. You look at any mommy blog and they have the cutest headers and buttons... enough to make a new mommy blogger envious...

well, I just did not have the money to fork over to have them made so I kept searching. Everything I read said "You can make your own; simple; at home! With photoshop..." Great- how much is photoshop again? Blah.....

So then I was looking at a mommy blog and came across this "YOU! – Make Your Own Cutest EVER Blog Buttons for FREE" ... well it is worth a read. Then I get into it and this mommy blogger tells you how to find everything you need on the internet to make your FREE blog button! You can read the post HERE!

Well that's wonderful! So I got to work! I made my beautiful little button - all by myself with a little tweaking and some love I came up with this!



Cute, huh? Seriously - all on my own! (Well other than the fantastic directions/tutorial from Welcome to Linneyville.

My next thought: Well I see all these mommy bogs have a place on their page where other bloggers can "steal" their button and put it up on their site......

So back to the internet I went. I came across this post "Tutorial: How to Get Your Own Grab Button" - jackpot! While Shabby Blogs caters mostly to people who use blogger, this worked on wordpress for me!

Awesome! I can't believe that all this time making a button was so easy! Also on Welcome to Linneyville she has a tutorial on how to make your own header - quick and simple!

Once you get the hang of it, the possibilities are endless! I even made my own Facebook and Twitter buttons on my home page!!!

Now all I ask is, if you visit them to let them know who sent ya!:)If you make a button, I would LOVE for you to come back and post it in the comments (or a link to it). Also if you do make one, I would love for you to grab my button and let people know where you learned how to do it:)

Happy blog button creating!!

Still think it is just more complicated than what you can do? I would be happy to help. Just email me an idea of what you want; maybe a pic you want me to start with, some color ideas, maybe some favorite things you like and I would be happy to give it a go. Just remember that it will be pretty simple as I am just getting my feet wet with this. After I am done, you are welcome to have the code! If you truly LOVE it more than life itself, consider "Buying me a coffee" with the link on my home page and for SURE posting my button to your blog!!:)

More hiccups...

Sometimes when things start to go back I feel like it is just a domino effect.

• Right after I got out of school I did a TON of projects around the house, which lead to contractions. Went to Kaiser and they monitored for a while and saw no cervical change and sent me home; now on modified bed rest.
• Kaiser sets me up on preterm labor monitoring; again emphasising the importance of bed rest and now a twice daily contractions check with kick count
• Last week I did not feel baby move for a while and decided to just go in to make sure hes still okay. Go in it took them almost 10 whole minuted to find him having me change positions and having other staff come in to try.... finally right before they found him I broke down and started crying.... When I heard the first lub-dub I cried even more. Kept me for a while and told me it was his position, but all is still well
• Had a follow up with my MD the next day to find that all is great, but my belly is measuring 2 weeks ahead and I have gained no weight since November. Not a big deal as of now.

Now to present day; I had my check up on Tuesday to find that now my belly is measuring 4 weeks ahead (last week only 2 weeks ahead), still no weight gain, but baby sounds fantastic and is vertex. My CNM gets a little worried and calls in for an urgent u/s in which my OB agrees with.
Today I am a keeping my fingers crossed that it is just his position and not anything that could be more. I was asked "What else could it be"? Well I have one idea why, but I also have all the books and have not even bothered to look because I do not want to worry about all the "what if's" Just staying hopeful that it is his position and he is perfectly fine:)
They wanted me to come in yesterday or today, but Friday was going to work out better so now I am just waiting for a call to let me know what time to be there.
Why does it seem like drama just follows me..... As much as I try to escape it? Promise to post updates here when I know more.

Sharing my wonderful MILESTONE!

Today is a day I want to celebrate. In Feb 09, I was about 30 weeks pregnant with the twins. I had not been feeling "right" for about two weeks and ended up going into preterm labor at only 30 weeks 6 days (which today I am 30 weeks 6 days with our #3). No matter what the doctors did my labor progressed very quickly and I ended up having a c-section as a result.
So far I have been feeling great and taking it easy at home. Tonight at 11:40 PM, I will have officially surpassed that milestone I have been dreading since the day we found out our precious baby was cooking in my oven! Every day from today will just been seen as a blessing to have our little one inside where he should be.
Please keep our little guy in your thoughts and prayers that he continues to bake for another 8 weeks or so!

Want to read more about my birth story with the twins? Read it HERE.

Some Projects I Am Working On

Here are a few of the craft projects I am currently working on:

A bunting/sack thing for baby. Both my older ones lived in these the first few months of life!

Another bunting. This one was more challenging. I am still tying to figure out the hood.

A PUL wet bag for the cloth diapers or wet clothes.

A nursing cover-up with a strap to go around the back.

A boppy I made with stuffing and scraps of material.

UP NEXT.....

A few patterns from Megan Nielsen.

I have already made this one from Megan. It was really easy to follow but I had a difficult time wrapping it and I just gave up. When first wrapped it is really cute. Megan suggests adding a tank under to provide more stability.

And some more nursing shirts and baby stuff is sure to come!

29 weeks

I have been on pre-term labor monitoring for about a week and a half now. Nothing significant to report.... which is good. I get a call on Fridays to check in with me on how everything is going. Well last Friday and I was painfully walking around the fabric store (yes I know - shame on me!) I got the call from them. I told them everything was fine and then asked what treatments I could use to help diarrhea that I had been having for about a week. Yes I was not worried because I was not dehydrated and baby was moving fine.... so I was trying to treat at home. With no success I asked for their help for suggestions. Well they were unbelievably worried and had me go in to see a MD. My MD was also worried so she sent me for some lab work and had me stay for some monitoring and hung a bag since I was there.She measured my belly at 31 weeks! WOW! I am only 29 and so far belly has measured exactly on track. I also found out I had lost 4 pounds since my last appt 3 weeks ago. You would think that since I am on bed rest I would have been gaining weight...
Strapped to a beg all of a sudden the room starts to shake! I tried to move but I was hooked up to stuff! I was thinking "where can I take cover if we continue to shake?" Well the shaking stopped, so I texted my grandma who had the kids to see how they were. She texted back "fine" so I asked if she felt it... which she said no. Then I told her about it. Looked up the news on my phone and found it was a 4.4 pretty close to where I was at. Being higher up off ground level probably made it feel that much worse too.
Finally was let go and found out later all my labs came back fine.....
Then realized what had been making me sick... I felt so dumb! I had been having hot cocoa with a little coffee in it. When I did not have it I was fine. Good going Christy! Well now I get up, heat up some water for tea and look at the coffee maker like it is some hot, hunky, naked guy! lol!! Cant wait to have coffee again and not be sick!
My next appt is in about a week and we will see if I am still loosing weight or if it was just the coffee.
On the name front Scott has decided he no longer cares for Collin, but is stuck on Cole. We will see what finally sticks when he comes. So far I am not setting anything in stone. I think we are probably the worst people when it comes to naming our kids! lol!

Is this normal?

So the twins (surrogate and my last pregnancy) ended at 31 weeks even after they threw everything at me to stop labor.  (You can read more about my birth story here) That was 2009. We are now pregnant with our #3 (total my #6 - 5th pregnancy) and I am having some anxiety as I creep towards the 31 week mark. Friday I turned 28 weeks and every little thing I am jumpy over. I try to relax and know it is not the same, but I am scared to possibly ignore something that could be something I should pay attention to. Sorry - did that make sense....
So my question is... is this normal after a preterm birth? How many people have had preterm birth's and gone on to have a full term baby.
The twins also came by c-section; three previous were beautiful vaginal deliveries and then the section.... I am also having nightmares that he is going to be breech and my VBAC wont be.
If I have to be sectioned I will be sad, but it wont be as bad if I go into labor early.... Is it selfish to want to be able to put my son skin to skin right away; put him to my breast to eat right away; take him home right away? All I can think is how many problems preterm babies have. Even ones that are only a month early..... The baby I cared for in my NICU rotation was 35 weeks and had some terrible feeding issues. I don't want to be told not to breast feed or not to put him skin to skin because LORD knows I will not listen to them and I will do what I think is best for him.... which is to still do those things. I felt sad being in the NICU and watching these MD's tell momma's not to do something that I KNEW would help their babies get better and thrive. Its really hard to keep my mouth shut when I see old MD's with their old school thinking like that......
If my precious boy has to be in the NICU, those nurses and doctors are going to hate me... I already know.

TOP 50 Craft Projects of 2010

Courtesy of FaveCrafts.com

1. Two Hour Pot Holders 2. Four Step Fabric Flowers 3. Pink Flower Water Bottle Bracelets 4. Reversible Table Runner 5. Plastic Bottle Birdfeeder 6. 9 Thanksgiving Decorations to Make eBook 7. Candy Corn Bracelet 8. Canning Jar Lid Snowman 9. 14 Things to Do with Old Jeans 10. Quick and Easy Decoupage eBook from Plaid 11. Cleavage Be Gone 12. T-Shirt Necklace 13. Canning Jar Reindeer 14. Kitchen Towel Hangers 15. Easy Lace Shawl 16. Colorful Windchime Afghan 17. ABC Baby Quilt 18. Casserole Tote Sewing Pattern 19. 32 Pillow Making Crafts 20. Oatmeal Container Yarn Holder 21. Flower Tea Towels 22. Ruffle Dress from Pillowcase 23. Fabulous Crochet Slippers

24. Bottle Cap Coasters 25. Snowman Bead Earrings 26. Placemat Purse 27. 9 Easy Crochet Patterns 28. Fashion Shower Curtains 29. Water Bottle Bracelets 30. Yummy Cupcake Ornaments 31. Flower Slippers Crochet Pattern 32. 21 Free Sewing Patterns 33. Easy Fingerless Gloves 34. Crochet Bangle Bracelet 35. Simple One Skein Wrap 36. Girl's Twirl Dress 37. Crystal Ladder Bracelet 38. Hot Cocoa Ornament 39. T-Shirt Pillow 40. Worry Wood Dolls 41. How to Weave 42. Holiday Tote Crochet Pattern 43. Antique Angel 44. Knit Two Hours or Less Scarf 45. Wooden Spool Ornaments 46. Scrap Yarn Crochet Slippers 47. 11 Free Birdhouse Designs 48. Makin' Bacon Scarf 49. Bramble Cable Afghan 50. Easter Craft and Recipe eBook