My Beautification Stuff...

I was tagged for the Medicine Cabinet Meme by my bloggy ebuddy Growing Up Mo'. Of course I am playing along cause my bloggy folder fodder (say THAT ten times fast!) is either A. Empty or B. too dull for words.

So, here we go. The guidelines for the M.C. Meme:

1. Take a picture of your medicine cabinet.


2. You may clean, organize, dispose of the Preparation H if you'd like.


3. Write a post describing what's in the cabinet. (favorite products, least favorite, expiration dates on old products)


4. Leave a link to said post in this comment form.


5. Tag some friends to play along if you'd like. (make sure they link back to this post)

Let us begin. Because I don't even have a medicine cabinet I did drawer pictures. I have three drawers in my bathroom that I shove all my junk into. And because I've been lazy, I haven't bought those handy dandy doodads to organize my stuff.

Alex, can we see what we have behind drawer #1?

Oh, exciting stuff. The Vaseline body butter is enough to make me celebrate, not to mention my apparent need of not three, but FOUR dark brown cover girl powder compacts. You know the funny thing? They are all different colors. One for winter pastyness, two for summer tan (doesn't a tan sound GLORIOUS right now?) and one for normal. Please tell me I'm not alone in this rationale?

Alex, what do we have behind drawer #2?



Lots of hair care products, hair dryer, blah blah blah. Oh wait, what's that funny white circle container? Anyone have a baby recently? Yep, you know what those are (wink wink). Also, a pink hat, because why not keep a pink hat in your bathroom? Makes sense to me.

See the brownish fabricky things? Those are non-skid hospital socks. I can explain.

I use them for safe storage of my Chi flat iron when it's not sitting out on my counter and for traveling. Gotta protect those ceramic plates. Those babies are expensive to replace. Do try my flatiron storage method, but please wash the socks before you use them.

Ok, Alex, drawer #3 please:



Obviously I mostly keep my jewelry in here. Very neat and clean, huh?

What's making me laugh is that I just noticed I have a blue deodorant in every drawer. Just in case, you know.

And lastly, the pièce de résistance:



My hidden portable medicine "cabinet" in our walk in closet. Yep, because if you need face wash, shaving cream or a good ole Ace bandage while changing your clothes it's right at your fingertips. OR, if your husband is a dentist you can store 8 different electric toothbrushes in there. And I didn't even take a picture of the 3 boxes of toothpaste samples on the shelf. Pity.

As for tagging, are you reading this? Do you have a blog? Consider yourself tagged. AND, there is an incentive! $25.00 to Sephora- but the deadline is today, 1/30. If you do play along, you gotta link back to Supermommy (the hostess giving away the gift card) and this post of hers.

A

Orange Babies...

Lil Chick had some serious jaundice issues. She was Mama's little pumpkin...literally. She was tested daily for 2 weeks to watch her bilirubin levels, but thankfully dodged the lights.

Bubbalu was also quite jaundiced but didn't dodge the lights. So, I guess I can say I make pipsqueak orange children.

Here Bubbalu is in all his phototherapy glory:



He looks like a blue string bean to me. A blue string bean that wears eye protection and a diaper.

Here's my orange daughter at six days old:



Hmmm, that pic really doesn't do her orangeness justice. How bout this one?



See? However, my winter pastyness doesn't help matters any.

Her tinge lasted a good three-ish weeks, and was actually the reason why I suspected she was sick the morning she was admitted to the hospital for a week. Her skin tone looked normal. As in normal for me in January, my winter pastyness. The docs said it was a good thing I caught it early, a few more hours and she could have really been struggling. SO scary for me to think about. Thank the Lord I was watching her closely and noticed something was up.

Ah Lil Chick, despite your color, your Mama sure loves you:



A

The End Of A Season...

Well, I am feeling rather pouty today. In the grand scheme of things it is quite trivial but nevertheless...pouty.

I used my last drop of Coffemate Peppermint Mocha Coffee creamer this morning. As you all know, I am kinda obsessed with this stuff.

I was more excited than one should be when my Mom brought the first creamer of the season to me last November. But hey, I was on bed rest, and you have to celebrate the little victories or you'll go insane. Always looking on the bright side, I am. (Hmm, a little Yoda-ish today, we are.)

With the bright side in mind, I am now looking forward to this November which will once again herald the arrival of my dear old (very) sweet friend :



Goodbye my dear creamer, may you have a wonderful and prosperous year. I will be here waiting (pining) for your return.

Your devoted follower (consumptor)...

A

My Toddler Sleep Solution...

Remember my post about Bubbalu starting to escape from his room instead of sleeping?

Well, Lance woke up Saturday morning to find him standing in the laundry room, blankie and all, looking at the door to the garage saying, "where's Mommy where's Daddy?" over and over again.

Hmmm. We have no idea how long he was downstairs by himself.

I'm not too thrilled with the idea of him wandering all over the house completely unsupervised. Especially since he can get into the garage...and because he should be sleeping and isn't getting the rest he needs...and because Mommy might lose her sanity.

All valid reasons to remedy the problem posthaste.

Saturday afternoon he jumped right out of bed during nap time to come and explore. Over and over again, despite repeat 'punishments' and stern lectures from Mommy about the merits of staying in the truck bed and following our sleep rules:

1. We stay in our bed


2. We close our eyes


3. We are quiet


4. We do not jump or kick the walls


5. We go to sleep

Apparently the sleep rules aren't that fun to follow. I don't know why he doesn't like them, I LOVE the sleep rules. Sometime I have to remind myself to not to jump or kick the walls instead of sleeping, but usually I remember.

So, my solution. First I jumped into the car and zipped over to my in-laws to borrow their gate which (at the suggestion of my MIL) we put on his outside doorjamb. We put him to bed as usual that evening, reciting the sleep rules and tucking him in.

He was none too thrilled to find a gate blocking his escape when he opened his bedroom door one minute later. Much crying and gnashing of teeth. He was one ticked-off little dude. He ended up falling asleep that night lying against the gate clutching his blankie.

However, I decided that, despite the gate introduction, he was still getting to sleep 2 hours late and we needed another something.

Enter the Pack 'n Play. Every mother's tool for ensconcing their child safely whilst you go about your day.

I set it up in his room for Sunday nap time and told him that he needed to stay in bed or he would be put in the Pack 'n Play. He didn't believe me.

Oh my dear Son, have you not learned anything about your Mommy? Do NOT test me.

More crying and gnashing of teeth. But only 5 minutes, not 2 hours of singing, crying and yelling by the gate. And he had a super nap.

Sunday bedtime? Same deal. Only 3 minutes of crying and gnashing of teeth.

So there you have it. I am hoping it will only take a few days of Pack 'n Play enforcement before he just stays in his truck bed. I'll be leaving the gate up for his safety and my sanity though.

I'll keep you updated...

A

- Ok, I wrote this Sunday night, and now, Tuesday morning, we are still sleeping in the Pack N Play. Hmmm. I'll update yall bout the situation in a week or so...

It's Just A REALLLLY Long Scarf..

While on bed rest I really didn't panic about the whole labor and delivery aspect of having a baby. What really caused me to break out in a glistening cold sweat was the thought of having another colicky infant.

Unless you have had a colicky child you have NO idea what those babies are like. What the parents go through. There should be some sort of public recognition for surviving a colicky infant. Maybe a nice local newspaper article? :

Lance and Amanda have survived the colic phase of their son, Bubbalu, who is now 6 months old. We extend our sincere sympathies as well as applaud their extraordinary parenting skills, superb psychological steadfastness and tremendous infant intuition. We praise them for not going completely insane and thank them for withholding extraneous complaints regarding this chapter of their lives. Donations may be made at any local bank to the 'Amanda Believes In Shopping Therapy' Fund.

I think it has a nice ring to it.

Bubbalu was the colic king for quite a few months, so I consider myself an authority on soothing and coping with colicky/extremely fussy babies.

My favorite soothing tool I used for Bubbalu was the Moby Wrap. It's basically a really long piece of fabric (like a scarf) that you can wrap around your body in different configurations so your baby can be carried around hands-free in a snug and ergonomic fashion. It's kinda confusing to put it on the first few times but once you have it down, you're golden.

It's a huge relief to have your hands free to do dishes, fold laundry, clean the house....hee hee hee, who am I kidding!? It makes blogging with a newborn easy and possible. Lil Chick is snuggled in the Moby as we speak...write...type...whatever.

Lil Chick does not have colic. Her personality falls in between the normal and mellow category. I consider it a HUGE gift from God that she is a calm baby, especially after dealing with our month of chaos in which I hit rock bottom.

I actually kind of feel I am now getting my postpartum rest. However, I laughed out loud after reading in a pregnancy book, 'during the first two to three weeks postpartum you should be resting more often than not'.

Uh huh. Right.

Lil Chick does well in the Moby and I can even go out for a nice long walk. See? Here's Lil Chick in the Moby wrap on a jaunt to the park:



See Bubbalu in the top right of the pic? He loves playing at the park and Mommy loves how tired he gets after the park.

I'm no math whiz, but check THIS problem out:

Trip to the park + eating a big lunch after we get home = LOOONNNGG nap.

Priceless.

Anyone else have/had colicky infants? Any favorite infant survival tips?

A

Check out more ways to carry a baby from other Mamas at Adventures In Babywearing.

And Then Bubbalu Turns 2...

Or 2 years and 29 days, but whatever.

We decided to celebrate Bubbalu's birthday a bit late because:

• we had Lil Chick 4 days before his birthday
  
• his Mama is neurotic and can't have a birthday party for her boy without making him a truck cake
• half the family was in Winthrop for Shane and Joanie's wedding (which we actually made it to!)
  
• he wouldn't know any different or care as long as he got to tear into presents and nosh on cake
  

So, after I made his truck cake we invited the fam over for coffee, presents and cake.

Opening an alphabet puzzle (which he has almost mastered!) :



A 'TEEE-RUCK!' rug:



Hmmm, what's in here:



Nice look, Daddy. Your head looks HUGE:



The cowboy hat is for Bubbalu to wear when riding the stick horse he got for Christmas. Here he is a week ago tearing up the living room on his horse:



I love my little cowboy. I almost bought him cowboy boots, but Lance vetoed that notion. Apparently they weren't "necessary" and there was mention of some ridiculous fact that we don't live on a farm or ranch.

Once again, WHATEVER. I still think he looks adorable:



Little People stuff always a BIG hit, provided you can untie all those arthritic-inducing twisties:



And yes, the picture is blurry, but Auntie Beppa and Uncle Dusta gave him another Little People Police car a few days later to add to his collection:



And Mama and Papa bought Bubbalu his first official Radio Flyer tricycle, since his scuttle bug scooter is now way too small for him:



Hello nostalgia.

He's our own little LIFE photo come to, well, life.

It was (of course) raining, so on with his rain coat and Daddy helped him on his inaugural ride down the front path:



Happy Birthday darlin, we love you...

A

And It's Begun...

So far Bubbalu has been spoiling me.

Bubbalu loves his truck bed. He is a good sleeper most of the time, taking 2ish hour naps every afternoon and in bed for 12 hours at night. He often talks and plays in bed but never gets out of bed. He ALWAYS waits for me. I do realize how good I have it. Um...I mean had.

Until yesterday.

Yesterday morning he must have heard us up and about downstairs and decided to get out by himself, "hi Mommy, hi Daddy!".

And a good hour before he should be up from his afternoon nap he came sauntering down the stairs holding 2 pieces of his nightlight, "hi Mommy, hi Daddy!".

Oh crap...

A

One Year Ago...

Bubbalu one year ago:



It is SHOCKING how much they change in one short year. It reminds me to treasure these days of Lil Chick's infancy. To enjoy every second, including the 3AM wake-up calls.

A

A Cake With Wheels...

Did anybody else's Mom make themed birthday cakes for you growing up? My Mom always made us a special theme cake for our birthday. Some of the themes over the years were dolls, teddy bears, trucks (for my brother), a barbie cake and 3-D candy house.

Last year for Bubbalu's first birthday I made a monkey face cake to fit his monkey party:



Bubbalu turned 2 in December and because he is obsessed with anything truck, car, or motorcycle (AKA "Lululululu" in Bubbalu language, NO idea where that came from!) Mama made a truck cake.

I used a 9x13 sheet cake cut into thirds, stacked and 'glued' them with frosting then trimmed the sides:



Next a shaved down mini-loaf pan cake became the cab and an extra cake piece (one that I actually didn't eat during the shaving process) became the hood:



Next up, make blue frosting:



ALWAYS let the youngun lick the spoon! It's a rite of passage and provides cute pictures, see?



Lil Chick was kinda crabby, so Mama threw her in the Moby and went right back to work painting the truck:



Finished product, with mini bundt pan cake "wheels" and pretzel wipers, grill and door handle:



Notice where the door handle is? Yeah, I moved it to the correct spot after Lance pointed it out. He thought that was funny.

Hint: use chocolate donuts for the wheels, cause mini bundt pan cake wheels are annoying.

I used red hots for the tail lights and a hershey bar for the license plate.



Our family of four at Bubbalu's birthday party:



Bubbalu blew out the candle the very first try! Notice how surprised/excited Lance is? Hilarious:



Because he blew the candle out so quickly, we re-lit it a good 3 more times for optimal photographic opportunities:



I think it's safe to say Bubbalu liked his cake:



Inspired? Check out this website or this website for some ideas, techniques and pictures. And be sure to post your creations!

A

It's A WHAT Kind Of Dress?

Because what doesn't invoke thoughts of beauty and poise with the word 'sack' in the description of a dress:

To the Max - Women's Long-Sleeve Jersey Sack Dress:



I'm just sayin...

A

Things You Learn In The Hospital 2...

Children do not enjoy visiting the hospital.

However, if you have a privacy curtain and daddy's slippers you can do this:

If you have a window you can drive your cars up here:



If your Grandma is smart, you can have a snack:

Or you can dance to the song Rockin Around The Christmas Tree:

Guess how much time that takes up? About 10 minutes. Then Grandpa and Grandma have to take me on a walk to see the fish tank ("Nemo!") and get some lunch.

Can you see why Mommy looks tired in this pic?



Oh yeah, and you can visit with Mommy a bit too. Cause Bubbalu is the very best medicine she ever received:



A

Things You Learn In The Hospital...

What's wrong with this picture?

Ummmm yeah, I understand that this is a really uber adjustable labor bed and all, but really? Y'all want to take my LEGS OFF??? I see how that might make a delivery easier on everyone without those pesky legs in the way and all, but don't you think that it might be an overly drastic step? (no pun intended. Actually, strike that, yes that pun was intended. Yep, we're walking on the wild side today....ooops! Punned again! INTENTIONALLY. We're going caaraazy in the terhazzy today. Can you tell it's 6 AM and I haven't slept much? Me too. )

A

A Christmas Tree or Three...

I found this little "gift" under the tree this year and it made me laugh:



Bubbalu actually did not destroy any of our ornaments. I buy all my ornaments at JoAnn's because I figure one way or another they will be crushed/smashed/dented/melted/whathaveyou and I don't want to wig out about it. He was excited to have a tree in our house, but other than that he just kind of ignored it.

Speaking of our Christmas tree, this was the first year we as a married couple had a real tree!



I KNOW. It's shocking.

I actually had 3 trees up this year:

1. Main living room tree as seen above.
2. Prelit undecorated tree in upstairs master bedroom window to be seen from street.
3. Dinky tree above doorway that never got decorated (bed rest got in the way).

I actually wanted a few more trees. I want to put a small tree decorated with kid appropriate ornaments in each child's room. For Bubbalu last year I decorated a dinky tree with his shoes tied on by the laces and his pacifiers. It turned out cute. This year I would have done a truck/car tree for him.

Oh well, there's always next year.

I loved our main tree. It was such a well-behaved tree. It didn't drop needles, it smelled good, it didn't fall over and was still alive and drinking the day my Mom took it down.

Don't know if I said it yet, but thank you Mom.

She took it down and put all my Christmas decor (which was minimal at best) away for me while I was tending to Lil Chick in the hospital. The tree was still in really great shape and I really would have liked to keep it up until it died.

However, common sense got the better of me. I realized taking that massive tree down and the subsequent cleanup of needles and ornaments really didn't fit into my January plans of rest, recuperation and keeping 2 children alive and thriving.

Still, I was sad for it to be gone. I never even got to say goodbye.

Do you all have your trees and Christmas decor down? Or should I send my Mom over to your house?

A

Baby Sithster...

Bubbalu has been great with Lil Chick so far. He has not yet shown signs of aggression or anger towards her. However, that may change, right!?

I've said from the start I expect chaos to ensue the moment she takes a toy away from him. Or touches any of his hot wheels cars or trucks. The whole "MINE!!!" season will no doubt coincide with Lil Chick learning to crawl.

But for now, here's Bubbalu loving on Lil Chick :



He especially loves her toes:



My heart is smiling.

A

Hitting Rock Bottom...

Lil Chick came home from the hospital last week Tuesday.

I cannot describe how great it felt to come home and resettle after spending a week in the hospital. My own bed! My own kitchen! No cords or tubes attached to Lil Chick! Unlimited sleep!

OK, let's get real, there is no such thing as unlimited sleep with a newborn. However, there is a HUGE difference between stumbling groggily to the nursery to feed a starving newborn vs. being awoken by alarms and personnel at all hours of the night. Granted, the alarms and frequent checks were necessary for Lil Chick, but did not promote rest.

I am no stranger to sleep deprivation. I did 12 hour night shifts and pride myself on being able to stay awake and lucid when need be.

So despite getting up every three to four hours at night to feed Lil Chick, I am feeling SUPER compared to the rest I was getting in the hospital.

I managed to handle spending four days and nights in the hospital with only one quick 2 hour 'run home to shower and grab stuff' break before I cracked.

I hit rock bottom.

Lil Chick was on a 4 hour inconsolable crying spree and I got to the point where I could not cope one minute longer. I was getting angry and was afraid of myself.

The last month has wiped me out. A high risk pregnancy culminating with a week of intensive hospitalization and a scary delivery, five days after delivery driving across the state to a destination wedding, a uncharacteristically sick and crabby 2 yr old, food poisoning (oh yes, I got food poisoning one week postpartum), daily heel pokes for Lil Chick, a sick husband, pest invasion in our brand new home (eww!) forcing our eviction on Christmas Eve Eve and the subsequent laundering of every shred of clothing/bedding/fabric in our entire house, the normal hustle and bustle of celebrating Christmas and then ending with my sweet baby in the hospital.

I called my husband sobbing at 11pm and said I couldn't cope one second longer. Those four days in the hospital I was experiencing intense sleep deprivation and actually losing my mind. The phrase, "I can't think or see straight" is accurate. My mind was jumbled and I couldn't focus my vision. I had flashbacks of Bubbalu screaming for hours on end in colicky bouts and started to panic.

The funny thing is, I couldn't shake the feeling that I was failing somehow, that I was supposed to be able to handle it all by myself and STOP FREAKING OUT ALREADY! I kept thinking to myself, "suck it up princess, think about what parents of terminally ill children have to go through! You're being a complete wimp".

Lil Chick's nurse came in right after I made my call for help and we discovered that her IV was causing her pain. While the nurse was checking her IV she shrieked and dug her heels into the bed and arched her back. She continued shrieking until the IV was taken out and I could hold her. Just thinking about it now makes me cry.

Lance and my Mom came that night to rescue me. They performed a necessary intervention and took me home to get some sleep while my Mom stayed with Lil Chick.

Leaving her was the hardest thing I've ever done.

I am crying as I write this and continue to fight against that feeling of being selfish, of not being able to handle it, of failure. How I left my sweet baby to get some sleep. What kind of mother does that?

I slept for 2 nights and spent a few hours with Bubbalu, who I was missing intensely (and had another ear infection). I spent the last few days with Lil Chick in the hospital before coming home last Tuesday.

Her hospitalization already feels like it happened months ago. That it might have just been a bad dream.

What has this taught me? I've learned that I can't do it all by myself. I CAN'T cope. I DIDN'T cope. Only through God folks, only through God. It is easy to say that you lean on Christ, but when chaos and pain slaps you in the face again and again? Not so easy.

I am writing this because it is real, it happened, it is my life. I know I normally keep my posting on a lighter note, but this was my reality.

Our family is now in a time of healing: mentally, emotionally and physically. We crave pattern and routine and are looking to see what our new definition of 'normal' is.



We are in love with our sweet baby girl. She is growing like a weed and doing great. Her Mama has been pleasantly surprised by how well she sleeps and her lack of fussing and crying. Bubbalu is sweet to her (for now!) and calls her 'baby sithster'.

We are blessed.

A

Psalm 121

I lift up my eyes to the hills -
where does my help come from?

My help comes from the LORD,
the Maker of heaven and earth.

He will not let your foot slip -
He who watches over you will not slumber;

indeed, He who watches over Israel
will neither slumber nor sleep.

The LORD watches over you -
the LORD is your shade at your right hand;

the sun will not harm you by day,
nor the moon by night.

The LORD will keep you from all harm -
He will watch over your life;

the LORD will watch over your coming and going
both now and forever more.

In The Hospital...Again...

Well, we are back in the hospital again; this time I am not the patient. The patient is our lovely little lady, Emmy. I took her in on Tuesday the 30th after noticing some irregular breathing, heart rate and color changes. Not things you want to see in your baby.

She is currently on IV antibiotics and monitoring to make sure her vital signs stay normal. She does NOT have RSV, but the doctors suspect a bacterial infection of some sort.

We rang in the new year sleeping on separate cots under the lights and blinking of monitors. Not quite the way I pictured our New Year's celebration.

Please keep us in your thoughts and prayers. Pray for a quick recovery for Emmy and for strength, patience and rest for her Mommy and Daddy.

A