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