Confessions of a First Time Mom - Hello World!

 You know when everyone says its pain like you've never felt? It's totally true. Take the worst menstrual cramps you've ever had and multiply it by 20. That's active labor. Transition brings on the intense urge to push. Nurses start saying to fight the urge? Not going to happen!

 I went in for an induction at 6 am on Monday, April 29th. I was given a couple different things to get contractions going. It took several hours to start feeling any kind of contraction and was progressing very slowly. By 6 p.m. that night, I was in some serious pain so I decided to get an epidural...bad idea. It didn't agree with my body. My blood pressure dropped and the doctor was scurring around trying to get a shot of ephedrine into my IV. Needless to say, it was scary. After it settled down, I was in heaven! I was feeling no pain. This was going to be a breeze...until it stopped working an hour later. After this, I felt everything. I got some sleep inbetween contractions when I could. Hubby was right by my side the whole time but like I'm sure other women's partners are, he really had no idea of the magnitute of what I was feeling! He was helping me through it all the best way he knew how. Around 4 a.m. the next morning, my midwife broke my water.

Just a couple hours later I was 5 centimeters dilated. I wanted to cry! I was already feeling the intense pressure and urge to push but there was nothing yet to push out! More of my water started breaking everytime I had a contraction. By 6 a.m. My midwife came in and told me that I was 7 centimeters! I'm pretty sure I started pushing too early but I just couldn't resist the urge. I pushed for 2 1/2 hours...it seemed like eternity. I have to say I feel like the "pain" of labor comes when you're having contractions during active labor. When it was time to push, I didn't really feel pain. It just was a ton of pressure that came in waves every minute or so. I had this natural instinct to push and grunt making noises I've never made or heard before.

Finally at about 8:35, I was crowning. All of the nuses, my hubby and mom were yelling "push, push!" It turned out that my baby's shoulder was stuck, aka shoulder dystocia. As she sat there with her shoulder stuck and her little head out, the midwife and nurses started yelling "Call a code white!" I was in full blown freak out mode but still oblivious to what was really going on. Nurses were jumping on top of me and started pushing down with all their might on my abdomen. They continued to tell at me to push even though I had nothing left to push...I had zero energy and had already lost the urge to push. After two long minutes of the scariest time of my life, my baby girl came into this world at 8:41 am. They put her on my chest immediately for skin to skin and my life was changed forever. She was a quiet baby, she didn't cry until they put her on the warming table. I turned my head to look at her and she was looking right at me. She was a big baby weighing over 9 lbs. I've spent the last two weeks healing, walking funny, and sitting on a boppy pillow as I recover from the work that my amazing midwife did.

My first child birth was a scary, traumatic one but I would do it all over again in a heartbeat. I do have to say that I miss being pregnant and feeling her kick around. In a weird way I also miss the process of being in labor and knowing that I was going to meet this new person for the first time. I will never forget what she looked like and what it felt like when she came out and laid on my chest but I can't wait to see her grow and learn knowing that I am helping to shape the mind and personality of a brand new person.

I haven't blogged in so long. Towards the end of my pregnancy I was tired, swollen and well...just plain lazy! I'm hoping to get back into the swing of things once it doesn't hurt to walk anymore - lol. Of course along with crafting, baking (trying to atleast), and photography, I'll be posting every now and then about my experiences and adventures as a first time mom.

Welcome 2013!

Here I sit 30 minutes into the new year, blogging, watching Pretty Woman with my wonderful husband and my fur baby, Bo, who thinks he's a human. This year's celebration was a little different than most. We spent the night on the couch watching movies, eating chips and dip, drinking water, and having heartburn. I wouldn't have it any other way. Our lives changed so much in 2012. We bought our first home, got a dog, and created a life (which is kicking up a storm as I type!). I welcome the new year and can't wait to see what it brings for our little family! As I mentioned last year, rather than create a resolution of something I need to do or not do, I'd rather focus on just living life and being happy. I don't think I could be happier having my own little girl in just 4 months! I still love the song Trip Around the Sun by Martina McBride and Jimmy Buffet. This line says it perfectly..."Yes I'll make a resolution that I'll never make another one"...I try to live by this every year and somehow, somewhere in the middle of the year I'm in a hurry to go nowhere and losing my patience. So If I had to say that I will try to resolve to do something in the year of 2013, it will be to slow down and take it in....oh, and to do more scrapbooking :)

So here is the song, Trip Around the Sun....maybe it will inspire you.

Happy New Year

21 Week Survey

I'm officially past the halfway mark of my pregnancy! hard to believe I only have 19 more weeks to go. This time has flown by so fast and I'm suddenly finding that I have so much to do before little one arrives. It seems like I scour the Internet daily to see how other women experience pregnancy, since evveryone's experience is different. Incase you've come across my blog searching for some real life pregnancy stories, I'm going to share my 21 week pregnancy survey with you...

(I apologize in advance for the crazy formatting which I can't seem to change!)
1. How far along am I?
    21 weeks

2. How much weight have I gained?
    At my checkup two weeks ago, I had gained 5 lbs. I'm guessing I've put on another 5 since then, mostly bloat and water weight.

 3. Am I wearing maternity clothes?
    Yes, even though I can squeeze into my regular pants. I've learned and read that with a first time
     pregnancy, a lot of women don't show as soon. I'm about 5 months and am just noticing a firm,
     round belly. Maternity clothes are rather expensive so buying second hand or on sale is a very
     good idea. It's also hard to find a pair of full panel jeans that don't sag all day long. Comfortable
     because they'r stretchy, uncomfortable because I'm constantly pulling them up to avoid diaper
     butt!

4. Sleeping much?
     It's amazing how I can't go one night without having to go to the bathroom. Since it's
     recommended that you sleep on your side (preferrably left side), it took some time getting used to
     this since I'm a back sleeper. I usually toss and turn all night long. So to make it short, sleep is not
     like it used to be.

5. Do I feel movement?
    I have these popping bubble sensations. I'm pretty sure I felt something about 15 weeks, but
    assumed it was just gas. Then a couple of weeks later, I felt the same feeling over and over again.
    I feel it a few times a day and about 3-4 times in a five minut time span. Yes, I have also felt
    the same feeling then a sudden pressure on my bladder letting me know that my baby is squirming
    around in my lower abdomen.

6. Any food cravings?
    I haven't craved any specific foods that I just have to have right then and there. One day after work,
    I did however love the sound of walnut chicken and steamed rice from my favoritee Chinese
    restaurant so I indulged alone (eating alone is something I rarely do but for some reason, I didn't
    care!)

7. Pregnancy symptoms
    The first thing I noticed before I even had a positive test was very sore breasts! They're usually
     sore right before my time of the month, but this time I could barely take a shower. That's when I
     knew something was up. I had nausea and heartburn up until about week 15. For a couple of
     I felt fabulous! After week 15, I have been getting heartburn again, although it's managable.
     I've also had sharp shooting pains (also known as round ligament pain) around my lower rib cage
     which are brought on by sudden movements. I've have a few major headaches in th last month or
     so. I've never had a migraine, but I'm pretty sure these would qualify. My extremities haven't
     swelled up yet, but I've noticed my face getting a little plumper (not to excited about this!). No
     matter how crappy I feel, or how bad of a headache I have, it all amounts to nothing when I feel
     those kicks and punches or when I hear the tiny, fast heartbeat at our appointments.

I hope you've enjoyed my pregnancy survey and have found it helpful. Of course, I will be back with another survey, perhaps when I'm closer to my due date. Now it's time for me to start cleaning, crafting, and baking things! With Christmas right around the corner, I'm going to be making a couple of easy desserts to share with my family at Christmas dinner.

Back from Five Month Hiatus...and Bun in the Oven!

It was five months ago when I was writing about our fabuluos beach vacation in Pensacola. I can still taste the salty margaritas at Crabs We Got 'Em. Since then, we've been living and loving life in our new home! Our dog, Bo, has also been loving his life as an inside dog. We can usually find him sleeping under the Christmas tree or on the couch. I haven't done many home improvement or diy projects since around August. I went back to work after a long summer off and things have been kind of crazy around here because...we are expecting our first little one!

20 weeks along...and loving every minute of it. Being a first time pregnant lady, i'm relying on other mothers and the Internet to understand what is happening to my body! The first trimester was full of being nauseous, having heartburn all the time, and wanting to sleep all the time. I can't quite remember when the nausea stopped, although the heartburn still persists. Now in Tri-2, I'm experiencing a whole different wave of symptoms. For one, I think my floating ribs are being pushed out and away as we speak. My ever-expanding stomach is starting to feel like a basketball. Firm and round. Atleast I'm finally filling out maternity pants. Of course, none of this matters when I feel tiny movements. At first, it was easy to mistake the feeling of my baby kicking for gas. It feels like a bunch of tiny bubbles being popped several times in a row.

Ever since I was little, I knew I would be a mother some day. God has blessed me enough to be able to experience this with a wonderful man. I can't wait to see what a great father he will be! OK....enough sappy baby stuff for now!

Along with sharing my photography, craftiness, and my many attemps at baking things, I will also be sharing my beautiful (and maybe not so beautiful) experiences of being a first-time mom. Stay tuned!

Some Beach

It's hard to believe I'm back in the heartland after a week on the beautiful Gulf Coast in Florida.  The last time I was at a beach, that wasn't on the Mississippi river, I was 3 years old in South Padre Island. This beach was BEAUTIFUL. Everything I had imagined. The main part of the beach had an awesome atmosphere with people and beach bars/restaurants. Further down the beach, it was more secluded which is where we found ourselves. If you haven't been to a Gulf Coast beach, I highly recommend it. Of course we drove, because we drive everywhere. The road trip is half the fun! Until it's time to come home and you have a 17 hour drive ahead of you. It was worth it!

Of course I have a bunch of beach pics I want to scrap. Here are two layouts I put together so far. I used paper from the Down the Boardwalk line from We R Memory Keepers.

And now I have to let you meet our new friend Bo. He adopted us about 1 month ago from a local shelter. He's a lab mix and we're not sure exactly how old he is, but we think he's around 2. He sleeps all day and enjoys laying in the sun. He also enjoys walks in the park, or rather dragging me through the park (he's learning how to be a good canine citizen). 

Mini-Album: Home

First scrappy project since the move! It's been a long few weeks which is why you haven't heard from me in a while. We rescued a dog from the shelter (more about Bo later), and we just got back from a week-long vacation in Nashville and Florida...the beach was fabulous!!

I finished up a mini-album to display some pictures of our home. I started this book a couple of months ago during a National Scrapbook Day crop. I will share with you now...

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

This chipboard album was pre-cut. Sadly, I lack the appropriate machine to cut several pieces of thick chipboard into the same size and shape for me so I must buy them pre-cut. The vintagey keys on the string are Tim Holtz...love these!

House Goodies

I'm back after a long couple of weeks of settling in, painting (kind of), and getting used to sleeping and living in our very own home. I've managed to finish a couple of projects and buy some things to compliment the home, although I think it's still missing some things. My first project was bringing some eye candy to my front stoop. I found this little bench years ago at a garage sale. I was pretty excited that it matched a tiny rocking chair that I found at a flea market on our honeymoon which also is wood with a little heart on the back (Can't wait to paint that one!). I used a lovely, olive green color from a leftover sample.


I finished it off with some potted flowers. Like I mentioned above, I'm going to be painting the little rocking chair, probably the same color, and put a different colored pot on it.

  Here are a couple more things that I am REALLY excited about:
I found this red sign at Hobby Lobby and it was perfect since Corinthians is one of my go-to passages when I need a little encouragement and it was also a reading during my wedding. Of course, I don't have a proper-sized picture of us from our wedding to put in the picture slot, so I put a picture of the sunset on Green Bay during our honeymoon.





I picked this hurricane vase up at Kohl's. The rim and base color goes perfectly with my dark wood furniture and chocolate brown couches. I also have to mention, the pillar candle inside is also from Kohl's. It's Chesapeake Bay's Cottonwood Blossom fragrance and it smells fantastic. Florally, fresh and clean.

Up and Running!

Our new household is officially up and running. Internet is back (hence this post), cable is up and running so I can finally catch up on my Foodnetwork and HGTV shows, and only a few random unpacked boxes remain. I have the incredible urge to keep my new home spotless and clutter-free. I've been doing a pretty good job, thanks to Time Warp Wife's cleaning schedule, but need to get a few more things done. I've been doing a few things around the house and made a few purchases. One thing that is REALLY bugging me is that my camera cable is missing! I was so excited to show you pictures of the things I've done/purchased so far and I can't find the cable to upload pics. If I don't find it soon, I will be ordering a replacement. I may have to revert to "Instagraming" post photos. My projects this week include making a poster board picture montage for my niece's graduation party, painting a few rescued pieces of furniture from flea-markets/yardsales, and taking photos of my home for a my "Our First Home" mini album. That's all for now!

Pack Up and Head Out

Eleven days until we close on our house and I'm quickly learning that packing is not as much fun as I thought! It's not that we have a ton of stuff, it's just that most of what we do have is stuff I don't want to use up the energy and boxes to move. So far, we have about 7 boxes packed, labeled and ready to go.

Despite the headache and stress of the home buying process, I am
Ecstatic to be moving into our very own home! So as I'm going through the cleaning and packing process, I'll hopefully be learning and using packing and organizing tips, since my goal is to not reclutter our new home with useless things.

Here are some of the things I've done so far to make the transition into the new home easy and clutter-free:

1. Visit the dollar store.

I am a big fan of the "everything's $1" store. At my last visit, I got a about 6 fun, colorful organizing baskets with handles and plan to put them in our new bathroom closet in rows of 3. One for lotions/body sprays, 1 for bath soaps and washes, 1 for dental care stuff, 2 for my and Hubby's toiletries and hygiene products, and 1 for misc. items.

2. Label, label, label!

Pack one area at a time and put only that stuff in a box. Today, I packed up all my shoes and accessories ( bags and scarves). Since I want them all to go in my new closet, I put them all in one box labeled "shoes, bags and scarves...master bedroom." This way, the box makes it directly to the place where it needs to be on moving day.

I want to apologize in advance for the lack of pictures on my posts for the next few weeks. We have ended our Internet service to prepare for the move, and I have become an iPhone blogger. I love the handy little Blogger app, but can't for the life of me figure out how to place my pictures anywhere else than at the end of my post. As soon as I am able, you will have never seen so many blog pics in your time as a blog reader. Thank you.

Vee



Vee

The Horror That Has Become My Craft Room

My craft room hasn't always been the most organized. When I went in today to finally get it together, I practically screamed and ran the other way closing the door, vowing never to return. How did it get so bad! I haven't done any kind of crafting for a few months, but somehow managed to create a disaster area. Moving day is exactly 4 weeks away! My goal this weekend is to pack my rolling tote with everything I will need for National Scrapbooking Day (first weekend in May), and pack up everything else. I will need to go through and organize all my paper, embellishments, paper stacks, adhesives, buttons, ribbon, stamping stuff, ahhh! It will happen. I will have pictures to prove.

Things I Love About Summer

1. Heat (Yes, I love weather so hot, a haze raises from the sidewalks) 2. Shorts 3. Tanktops 4. Flip-flops 5. Being a school employee (summers off!) 6. Vacations 7. Wearing funky-colored nailpolish (Wait, I do this all year long) 8. Watermelon 9. Cookouts 10. Being able to spend my first summer in our very own first home!

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Hello again

Why, hello. Long time no see. For the past two months, the hubs and I have been searching high and low for our first home. Finally, our prayers have been answered and a wonderful home in my home town has fallen into our hands! Population of about 23,000. So I'm moving to the big city! Well atleast compared to where we currently reside. Not Chi-town or the Big Apple by any means, but there is more than gas station, grocery store, and chain restaurant. So besides furiously house hunting and dreaming up my future home on Pinterest, what else have I been up to? scrapping and shooting. National Scrapbook day is coming up the weekend of May 4 and I fully intend to complete a "Our First Home" album, along with some minis. I've also been shooting. A lot. Practicing and honing my photography skills. I'm also currently addicted to DrawSomething. I must go for now, but expect to see lots of home decor ideas, stuff in boxes, stuff in closets, before and after pictures, scrapbook layouts, and random Instagram pics comin' at you.

Best Brownies I've Ever Had the Pleasure of Eating

I'm a big fan of the Pioneer Woman and her food. When she recreated these brownies that she received as a gift from a friend, I just knew I had to make them for the Mr. who holds a special place for them in his heart. I must say, they are just as delicious as PW says!

Knock You Naked Brownies

What you will need:

■1 box (18.5 Ounce) German Chocolate Cake Mix (I Used Duncan Hines)
■1 cup Finely Chopped Pecans
■1/3 cup Evaporated Milk
■1/2 cup Evaporated Milk (additional)
■1/2 cup Butter, Melted
■60 whole Caramels, Unwrapped
■1/3 cup Semi-Sweet Chocolate Chips
■1/4 cup Powdered Sugar

Start by finely chopping the pecans.

Combine the cake mix, pecans, evaporated milk (1/3 cup) and butter in large bowl (batter will be thick).

Grease the baking dish you wish to use and put half of the batter into the pan. You will need to form and press the batter. Bake at 350 for 8-10 min.

While tha'ts baking, prepare your double boiler (bowl over a pot with boiling water) to melt the caramel and the rest of the evaporated milk. (I used caramel balls which were super easy for melting)

Pull the first layer out of the oven and drizzle the melted caramel mix over the layer until it's completely covered. This is where the optional semi-sweet chocolate chips go. Place the top layer of the batter over the caramel.

Place in the oven at 350 for 20-25 minutes. The recipe says to NOT eat them right away! This seems difficult. Who doesn't want to eat warm, melty, gooey brownies with melted caramel oozing out from between the layers. Let the brownies sit in the fridge for a few hours to set.

So while I was waiting for my brownies to cool, I had some caramel left over and one little golden delicious apple in the fruit bowl. So I figured, why not?

When they're finally ready to serve, sprinkle with powdered sugar, Enjoy!

One Week...Fast Food Free!

I'm happy to say that I haven't had fast food (except for Subway) for 7 days! In my attempt to be healthier, I've joined My Fitness Pal. At first, I couldn't stand counting and keeping track of calories but it actually isn't as hard or time consuming as I thought! It helped me realize that I was going way over a healthy amount of calories and was getting the calories from all the wrong places. I still indulge once in a while, but try not to go over my planned caloric intake. Along with eating better, I've also started c25k.

So, here's a little about what my day in food looked like today:

Breakfast: Dole smoothie shakers, these are delicious and super convenient! They are in the frozen section and all you do is add 6 oz of any fruit juice and shake. With the juice, this breakfast is 190 calories. Especially since I have about 10 minutes to pack a healthy lunch for myself and the Mr.

Lunch: whole grain tortilla wrap with lunch meat, havarti cheese & fat free mayo, banana, Special K cereal bar

Dinner: SmartOnes mini cheeseburger, one large carrot stick chopped, cottage cheese with peaches

Snacks: I had a slice of pizza with the Mr. before he left for work, but I planned ahead and counted it as part of my daily intake! Today I will also have 2 cups of kettle pops (corn puff snack), string cheese and popcorn (1 serving is 4 cups) for my Monday night shows.

Wow...even typing my food items makes me want to rethink that box of malted milk balls laying on the tv stand. I'm pretty proud of myself for keeping this up for a whole week! Of course, when the weekend came, I over indulged a little and could tell my body was not happy. I felt heavy, bloated and my stomach was making funny noises the morning after Friday night's big steak dinner.

Enough about my slip-ups, I'm back on track!