Handmade Gift Exchange 2013

This year I took part in Craftaholics Anonymous' Handmade Gift Exchange! I was paired up with a woman in Portland, Oregon.  The exchange is run through Elfster which allows each participant to start a "wish list."  My partner had an E-Reader case on her wish list so I set out to make her one.  I started early enough that if it didn't come out how I imagined, I still had time to think of something else to make her.  Well, I think it came out pretty darn good!  See for yourself...

My partner said her favorite colors were grey and yellow.

I tested it out with my Kindle.  I am hoping her Nook fits just as nicely!

I couldn't NOT add my label! :) 

So, what do you think?  Hoping she likes it and can actually use it! Now, I'm looking forward to the next gift exchange in June!  

Happy Crafting!!!

We survived!

Ok, so I'm exaggerating, a bit.  Our trip to Nags Head was a success.  We had originally planned on leaving around 1 or 2 am.  Of course, plans don't always go as, er, well....planned.  I woke up a bit before 2 and got all my stuff together before waking Erin up to feed her.  Once she was fed and in her car seat, Matt and I woke the girls up and got them in the car.  We pulled out of our driveway a bit before 3 am and headed to my in-laws house to drop off the dog for the week.  We made it to Newtown in a record 35 minutes!  The ride from PA to Nags Head was pretty uneventful.  We drove for a few hours and then stopped somewhere in VA for breakfast.  

Five hours later, we were pulling into the driveway of our home for the week...Cloud Nine.  The four other families we were vacationing with were there waiting for us.  Got in the house and within 30 mins, Erin was down for her nap...that's what I call "winning"!  We had a good week. Going to the beach, hanging out at the pool and just hanging around was just what we all needed.  The kids were fairly well behaved.  Erin was the best behaved, in my opinion.  The kids played together well all week.  

There weren't any major issues either.  I ended up at the Urgent Care on Wednesday cause I pulled a muscle in my back. Note to everyone...do NOT pull a stroller backwards behind you on a beach alone.  Tuesday night my back started to bother me but when I woke up Wednesday morning, I could barely get out of bed. Walking and breathing were an issue too.  I struggled through till after lunch and then I asked my brother-in-law to take me to Urgent Care.  I met with a Dr.Sanchez (his first name was NOT Dirty) and got a prescription for muscle relaxers and Vicodin.  Let me tell you, I do not like the way I felt taking the Vicodin.  I took one as soon as I got it and then took another 5 hours later before bed.  The first one did not bother me but the second one made me feel yucky!  I was trying to feed Erin and get her to bed and I became nauseous and a bit disoriented.  Handed Erin over to Matt and put myself to bed.  Laying awake but not being able to actually move my body freaked me out.  Needless to say, I did not take any more Vicodin.  It's been a week and I still feel the pain in my back but I can walk, breathe and move around so I am better than I was last Wednesday.   

Back to our trip.  I think it's safe to say everyone enjoyed themselves.  There were limited meltdowns, tantrums and fights among the kids...and adults!  The week went way too fast and none of us wanted to leave. Three of the families chose to leave around 4 or 5 am Saturday.  Matt and I and another family decided to hang around for the morning and leave around lunch.   We cleaned the house and left it the way we found it and headed off to get coffee and play mini golf.  We left the island around 10:30 am and pulled into our driveway at 10:30 pm. I thought we were never going to get out of that car! We had to stop for lunch and dinner and then we stayed at my in-laws for a bit to give Erin some time out of her car seat.  

All in all, it was a great vacation and we would do it again, in a heartbeat!  Plus, I need to continue my reign as half of the KanJam champs!!!  

All Our Bags Are Packed...

Kinda....

We are getting ready to head to Nags Head, NC for a week with 4 other families.  Sounds fun, right?  I am sure it will be...it's getting packed and getting there that concerns me.  We are renting a beautiful 8 bedroom, 3 story home located a block from the beach.  Only downfall to renting a house is having to bring EVERYTHING with you.  I realized last night I won't have any where to bathe Erin, unless I bring her tub with us.  Yet another thing that has to be packed, or does it?  Now that I think about it, I am bringing her Bumbo seat, I can bathe her in there.  Problem solved...well, that one at least.  

We have a minivan which should allow us plenty of room to pack things, right? WRONG! We have stow and go seats that fold completely into the floor but we also have 3 car seats which doesn't allow us to stow too many seats into the floor. In fact, we can stow one but we also have to remember to allow room for the girls to get out of the car at stops. Sorry, Jenna & Emily, you can't get out to go potty till we get to Nags Head....you can hold it for 8 hours, can't you? That will go over well.

We have one of those car carriers for the top of the car which we have installed on the minivan.  I am hoping we can get a majority of the things we need up there so the car won't be busting at the seams.  

We packed the car last night and I feel so relieved because it all fit.  For those of you who know Matt, he is a wonderful Tetris player. :)  He has many years of experience packing up the car with us having lived in AZ and GA for a few years.  He fit everything in the car perfectly and you can't even tell we are going on vacation.  The girls will be nice and comfortable and there's even room for the dog who we will be dropping off at my in-laws in PA on the way.  

So, for now, the tough part is over.  Now we just have to get there and enjoy our week in North Carolina.  

Wish us luck!

Summer Fun, Here We Come!

School's out for summer!  I'm not gonna lie....it's not my most favorite time of year.  I am not looking forward to the "I'm bored", "It's too hot", "He hit me", "She kicked me", etc. And that's just the first day!  Going from 3 kids to 5 kids isn't really much different to me but it's double the fighting that gets to me.  

My plan is to set up the pool outside, get an assembly line of lathering up with the sunblock and keep them outside till lunchtime/nap time. 

We will take a few day trips here and there.  This afternoon I am going to get the kids together and we are going to make a "Summer Must Do" list.  

Here's MY Summer Must Do list: 

1. Survive!

Seems simple enough, right?  Let's hope the Fab 5 are good to me and help me accomplish my one goal for the summer.  

Enjoy your summer...wherever it takes you or whatever it may bring!

Allergic to Alcohol?!?!?!?

Yes, I am allergic to alcohol.  Another joy of pregnancy, apparently.  If you have ever had a drink with me before, you know that my face gets splotchy red.  I always just kept drinking, red face and all.  No biggie!

Seems to be a bit of a biggie now.  A few weeks postpartum, Matt and I went out to dinner.  I had a good ole Yuengling Lager and even had to chug the last half (the girls were getting restless).  Felt good, end of story.  The next night, hanging out at my sister's, I had a strawberry basil, vodka drink.  Two sips in and my face started to get red, splotchy and felt like it was on fire.  My ears were burning and my head was so super itchy.  No more yummy strawberry, basil, vodka drink for me.  A friend offered me a Benadryl but I just wanted to let it go.  Within minutes, my brother-in-law described me as a "Oompa Loompa" and offered to take me to the ER.  That made me nervous cause he doesn't worry about little things.  I took that Benadryl and downed a few classes of water.  My face was less "Oompa Loompa" like within minutes and that was that.  A weeks later, with Benadryl on hand, I decided to try another beer.  Halfway in, the itching, burning and redness came back.  Took a Benadryl and that was that, again.  My Benadryl and I went to a wedding last week.  Matt got me a vodka a cranberry and told the bartender to go light on the vodka.  One sip and I was done.  Had to take 2 Benadryl and enough water to choke a horse, as Matt put it, before my "raw" face would even change to "rare."  It took quite a while before my face was back to my normal color (well-done).  My table mates, a great group of friends from college, were all kind enough to share their waters with me.  

Needless to say, I will not be trying alcohol again anytime soon.  The symptoms keep getting worse each time and I don't want to risk it.  I go back to the doctor next month but I am pretty sure they are going to tell me to wait till I am 6 months postpartum before I try again.  Not sure I will even try it then. 

This too shall pass....or not.

She's here and has been for 2 months

Erin Grace was born on April 3 @7:40pm. 

Last I wrote I was 31 weeks along and having heart rate issues and protein in my urine.  I had an appointment on April 1st and turned in yet another 24 hr urine sample.  My doctor told me if it comes back with an elevated protein level, they would be sending me in within the week. On April 3rd I got a call from one of the other doctors at the practice.  He informed me my protein levels were the highest they have ever been.  I was waiting for him to tell me to go to the hospital but instead he tells me to start collecting more urine for ANOTHER 24 hr urine sample (my 6th or 7th or 20th...can't remember).  What the what? Feeling defeated, I try to find some Tupperware that I was willing to part with and that would hold all of that pee.  Within minutes Nana calls me to tell me I am scheduled in the OR for 4pm that afternoon and I should be at the hospital for 2pm.  Talk about overwhelming!  Apparently, she spoke with my doctor and when he heard what my protein level was he told her to get me in.  My first phone call was to Matt.  Of course, he doesn't answer his phone or my text so I start freaking out.  It's 1230, if I remember correctly and all I can think is that he is somewhere over an hour away and won't get home in time.  My sister works where he works so I call her panicked.  She goes over to his building and he isn't there but the secretary in his building puts a call out to Matt, which he also doesn't answer.  He calls me back and I tell him to get home cause we are having a baby.  He was in Kearny and, luckily, got home in time to take a shower and get me to the hospital.  My parents came over to take care of Em & Riley, who were napping.  The minute my mother walked in I started crying.  I know I had been so miserable and wanted to meet our newest little lady but I feel like it snuck up on me. ;)  Silly, right? 

When we got to the hospital we spent a lot of time waiting.  Unfortunately, I didn't know that I would be going in for surgery and I had a pretzel (yes, a pretzel) that morning.  The anesthesiologists wanted to wait as long as they could since I did have that pretzel.  We finally went into the OR around 7pm and Erin was born at 7:40pm.  Having had a C-section with Emily I thought I knew what to expect. Apparently, just as each pregnancy is different, so is each delivery/C-section.  I felt like this one took FO-EV-ER!  I think I finally got out of the OR and into recovery at 9:30pm. I didn't get into my room till midnight and that's when I finally got to meet little Miss Erin.  Matt brought her into the room and put her in my arms and I nearly fainted....I was holding Emily!  The resemblance was crazy freaky! I took off her hat and saw she had blonde hair and blue eyes...I was in love!  

I am sure you are all wondering how we are adjusting as a family of 5.  Erin fit right in and it's as if she has been here forever.  She is 2 months old now and beginning to find her voice.  In a house as loud as ours, she knows she needs to be just as loud to be heard.  Needless to say, I have stocked up on Tylenol.  Summer is creeping up on us and I am going to be home with 5 kids all day, every day....Lord give me the strength!  We survived last summer and we will do the same this summer....may even have some fun. :)  

An Unscheduled Visit

Just got back from the doctor for an unscheduled visit.  I have been monitoring my blood pressure and heart rate since last week's visit.  On Friday morning, my heart rate was 124.  I sent a text to Nana (who happens for work at my doctor's office) and she said to keep monitoring it and if it gets that high again, I would have to go in to the office.  Well, this morning my heart rate was 124 and I was seeing flashes of light.  I stopped what I was doing, tried to calm myself down and took my blood pressure.  My blood pressure has been fine, it's just my heart rate that seems elevated at times.  I called Nana and she told me to get into the office NOW and they would check my blood pressure.  All was good while I was there.  In fact, when the doctor took my blood pressure it was 120/60....normal!  The doctor checked the baby's heart rate and said all is great.  My regularly scheduled appointment is on Monday and I have to do a 24 hour urine sample and bring that with me and they will do more blood work then as well.  I'm 31 weeks along and this baby is certainly making her presence known. Matt finished painting the nursery yesterday and I am excited to start decorating.  Pics will be posted when all is done.  Off to rest to I can keep my blood pressure and heart rate down.