Your semi-daily dose...

Bed rest and work

2011-12-11T18:50:00.001-06:00

Now that I'm on bed rest, I have been wondering what in the world I can do to make some extra money. Making 60% of my regular RN income is really a kick in the pants. I am trying to wrap gifts and make quilts 2-3 minutes at a time. This makes for some shoddy wrapping and an incredibly special quilt that these kids better freakin' appreciate one day. :)

I was wondering what to do for stocking stuffers when I remembered that Avon had some pretty cool, fun things for kids. They always have. One of my favorite things when we were little was the roll-on body paint/soap for the bathtub. There are a few other things that I remember but my memory was jogged when I complimented a lady in the grocery store because she smelled so good. I'm not walking around smelling strangers but I'm almost 6 months pregnant and smells still bother me, a lot. She said she got it through her Avon lady. That's when a light went off. People buy make-up, bath and body products all the time so why can't they buy it from me? I'm not doing this to make a ton of money but it can help me focus and stay busy while on bed rest. I placed the first order tonight so it can get here by Christmas. Unfortunately, several items from multiple clients are on back-order. We'll see how soon product arrives and if it ships correctly.

I'm seriously thinking about moving my blog since blogspot won't upload photos for me anymore. It's very frustrating!

Oh, Christmas Tree

2011-12-04T13:04:00.001-06:00

Yesterday was such a great family day and I will tuck it away in my memory forever. We went to buy our first real Christmas tree and it was a beauty. After the guy helped us put it on the roof of the Explorer, John and I realized that neither of us had cash to tip him. He was obviously disappointed. We told him that we would come back and he just walked off. We ended up dropping the tree off at the house and placing it in the den. Harper Anne and I decided to light the tree while daddy ran back to the tree place to tip our helper and then run by the liquor store. What's a day of Christmas decorating without liquor? We didn't hang any decorations until daddy got back so we could all do it together. Harper Anne especially loved the Christmas tree skirt my MeMe made for me several years ago. It was one of the last ones she made and I was explaining to her how very special it was.

I showed Harper Anne how to hang the decorations on the tree and she did an awesome job. The lower portion of our tree is heavily decorated. :)

Last night after a long, first annual tree decorating event we we hongry. That's right. Hongry is far past your average hungry. John said that he wanted chicken spaghetti. I can promise you one thing: my husband did not want chicken spaghetti. Early I mentioned that this was the type of day where my mom would have made that dish and that I thought it sounded good. He's so sweet. Chicken spaghetti takes a while but we wanted something quick. We took out one bag of the cauliflower/cheese sauce. Since John doesn't eat a lot of meat I didn't want to shred the chicken and him decide that he'd eat around the chicken. I pan seared some chicken in Italian bread crumbs and threw some pasta in a pot. Don't worry, I did all of this while sitting down. :) Once the pasta was done I threw the sauce in a bowl and heated it in the microwave. I got Harper Anne to help me stir in two of her tiny hand-fulls of cheese because well, we like cheese. Also I thought if she helped me make it she just might eat it. We stirred in the pasta and topped with the breaded chicken. Best dinner in a very long time! I felt odd not having an extra vegetable but was so tired and convinced myself that it was ok since the sauce was itself a vegetable. HIGHLY recommend this sauce. I still can't get over how excellent this dish was.

Freezer meals and pregnancy

2011-12-02T07:18:00.001-06:00

This is going to be a long post. Brace yourself or just stop reading here.

FREEZER MEALS

If you read the last post you know that I decided to start making some freezer meals. Maybe not full blown meals but everything is complete to the point of actually cooking. I cooked 8 lbs of ground beef with onions, carrots and green bell peppers. I seriously never thought of adding carrots or green peppers but man, does it smell delicious! The carrots are a bonus because you can't really taste them. You see the reason why I can't post pictures? I can't get over the lines. Yuk! I'll do my best to describe what I did and the photos aren't posting in order. Wonderful. Bleh.

Anywho...I went to two stores, Kroger and Food Town. I got most of my produce from Food Town and they didn't have any marked down meat so I stopped by Kroger on the way home and hit the jackpot! I spent a total of $71 at Food Town and $101 at Kroger. If I was a coupon clipper, I'm sure I would have banked but that's ok. It was my first time buying like this so I'm cutting myself some slack. Within these two stores I bought a lot of things that will last our family at least 2-3 months. Flour, sugar, nuts, oatmeal, pasta, butter and cream cheese. I also purchased a new muffin tin and a huge mixing bowl. By my calculations I spent less than $130 (not counting above items) and got at least 2 weeks worth of food. It's probably more like 3-4 weeks according to John. This ground beef is lean and was marked down to $2.59/lb. This 5 lb bag of carrots was on sale for $3.50 so I bought two. The green bell peppers were 5/$1.00 and the onions were $.59/lb. WHAAAAAT! I was so proud of myself. Looking back, I should have loaded up on the onions and bell peppers. I won't bore you with every bit of produce that was purchased but I will say that I got a lot of produce. I bought 2 large heads of cauliflower and pureed it, added a little bit of cheese and viola! I've found that cauliflower is awesome but I have a texture issue. I know this and I'm ok with sneaking it into meals whenever I possibly can. I literally added probably 2 cups of shredded cheese to the entire batch of pureed cauliflower and got a perfect cheese sauce for pasta or any other dish that needs a cream or cheese base. What you're seeing below in quart size freezer bags: 4 bags of the cauliflower/cheese mix, 4 bags of shredded carrots, 2 bags of pasta sauce (with broccoli puree) and finally 2 bags of broccoli puree that can be added very quickly to a casserole, chili or any thing else you may desire. BTW- a five pound bag of carrots makes A LOT of shredded carrots. :)

With the Kroger meat madness, I scored some pork chops, skirt steak, sirloin and a rump roast. I need to figure out what to do with the rump roast but the others are super easy. If you find some meat marked down but you don't want to have it this week, go ahead and buy it. Portion it appropriately and drop in some quart size freezer baggies with your favorite marinade and there ya go. Freeze it and it will marinade as it thaws.

PREGNANCY #2
If you have ever had a breathing problem then close your eyes, remember what that feels like and that has been my life for the past 2-3 weeks. The shortness of breath and labored breathing have been manageable up to this point. I've had asthma all of my life and these symptoms are no stranger to me. My triggers have always been sudden weather changes, some pet dander and exercise. I'm currently taking weekly progesterone shots for preterm labor and I'm very excited to see if I can take them up to 37 weeks, which is the maximum.

I noticed after each shot for the first two weeks I experienced some shortness of breath but it only lasted a couple of days. I mentioned this to the home health nurse during her Thanksgiving week visit but a cold front had just come through so I told her I wasn't sure if it was the weather changing or the shot causing my symptoms. She told me to just watch it and keep her and my doctor posted. I thought this was reasonable so I got my shot on Tuesday and on Wednesday we drove to Marshall to visit my family for Thanksgiving. Wednesday evening was awful. I was coughing and couldn't catch my breath. It felt like a mild asthma attack. Took some meds and was fine. Since that Wednesday, I have used my rescue inhaler every 3-4 hours consistently. This isn't healthy. I no longer have a primary care physician here in Houston since I went to work for Memorial Hermann. Not that they don't have any, but I wanted to keep my same doctor and he is not affiliated with this hospital. Tuesday of this week I couldn't take it anymore. I cracked my nebulizer and needed a new one and all of my albuterol solution was 8 years expired. After calling my insurance company to see if they would cover the cost of a new one, I went to the RediClinic at our local HEB to get a prescription order for new albuterol vials and an order for the nebulizer. I found a company that carries the specific nebulizer that I truly want and it won't get here for approximately 2 weeks. Ugh. Luckily my neighbor is letting me borrow her son's nebulizer until mine arrives.

If you ever need a nebulizer I highly recommend the OMRON brand. They last forever and their customer service is great. Being a nurse, I've seen many nebulizers which I'm sure are fine and they work (that's all that matters when it comes down to it) but they always tend to fail after repeated use. Here's a photo of the one I want:This sucker is 5 inches tall, 2 inches in depth and uses some sort of fancy ultrasonic technology so that all medicine in the vial is vaporized. WOOHOO! Talk about truly portable. I'll get my mom to send me a photo of the 20 lb machine I used from infancy until about the age of 16. It's funny to see the difference.

See wha ha happened was...

2011-11-28T23:18:00.000-06:00

This will be the third time I started this blog post and for some reason when I start uploading photos the site goes berserk. So...

I know, I know. It's been a really long time since I've updated my blog. It was always something I would get to later. Woops.

Quick updates:
Where are you working now?
I now work at Memorial Hermann Hospital in the Texas Medical Center in the OrthoTrauma service line. It's very busy.

What's going on with your family?
Harper Anne just turned 2 years old last week! If this site will work with me, I'll post a video from her party. I knew she was going to want an Elmo birthday party but leave it to my kid. I asked her what kind of birthday party she wanted and she clearly said, 'football'. Wait, what? Yes, my child asked for a football birthday party. Immediately after she told me this she ran around the house screaming, 'Go Auburn-War Eagle'.

I'm currently trying to upload a picture of her cake but again, this site isn't uploading my photos correctly. Boy do I love the quality of the video...I'm seriously considering moving my blog. Ugh.

We are expecting baby #2 during the first week of April and IT'S A BOY! My due date has been every day of the first week of April which is laughable because it really doesn't matter. Doc says that if I can make it to 34 weeks, the baby will be 'safe'. Uhhhh....how about we set our goals slightly higher?! I'm pushing for 37. Always the optimist I suppose. Honestly making it to the first week of March would be awesome.

This pregnancy has been very different. I wouldn't say difficult but it has been emotionally and physically exhausting. I've had several complications and I was put on bedrest at 17 weeks. Loads of fun. I had a cerclage placed at 14 weeks and began contractions shortly after. We tried the Terbutaline but it just wasn't effective at reducing contractions but was very effective at raising my heart rate to a very unhealthy level. Nifedipine was what I was prescribed with Harper Anne so we tried it and SUCCESS! I'm still having contractions but they are occurring at an acceptable rate and duration. Remember that 2 year old I have? The term 'modified bedrest' gets pushed to the limit.

Tomorrow I will post about my new obsession with getting freezer food prepared and divided into appropriate portions. Hopefully I'll be able to post some photos also.

Wow!

2011-01-14T11:42:00.000-06:00

My last post was on my birthday....LAST YEAR! It is truly amazing how much things have changed since I last updated. :) I know, I know. Harper Anne is 13 months old and is a firecracker to say the least. The pictures included in this post are from her one year photo session.

Harper Anne is a very independent, loving, energetic girl. She absolutely LOVES to dance. I will include a video of her dancing in my next post (which I promise will be this next week not 8 months from now). I'm still nursing which is proving to be awesome when it comes to her being in daycare. Yep. She's in daycare. I still cry when I think about this. I don't like trusting other people with my most precious treasure. I have a very hard time with this. It wouldn't be so bad if she could talk and tell me what happened at her school that day or who her friends were at school. That I could handle a little better. Instead, I'm handing over my child to people I don't know who promise they've done their due diligence in screening their teachers and helpers. With that said, Harper Anne is only there for about 5 hours each day and her teachers are so nice. They really want Harper Anne to adjust well and that's proving to be harder the second week than the first. On her first day of school, I walk in with her on my hip and we are in the lobby when the office manager asks me to sign a form. I put Harper Anne down for a moment and was talking to the office manager when Harper Anne starts digging in her bag on the floor. She pulls out her blanket and walks off. That's not the kicker. She throws her arm up and yells 'Bye'. The office manager looks at me and asks if she heard her correctly. I said 'yes' with a huge lump in my throat. It was at that point, I realized she was not a baby any longer. She had grown up. Where in the world did she get this independence? I blame her daddy. :)

I went back to work but we were fortunate enough for me to be able to stay home with Harper Anne for 13 months. It was awesome! I love being a Registered Nurse. Although there's so much pressure, a experienced a moment last night that made me realize what being a nurse is all about. Last night my shift ended at 10pm. We were filling out some paperwork around 10:45pm when the next shift's CNA came to tell us about the blood pressure of one of the patients. It was seriously elevated. Looking through her chart and the vitals I had taken earlier, we realized that this wasn't normal so I went in and was prepared to take it again. I knocked on her door and tried to open it. The door had no give and wasn't opening at all. I could tell the light was out so I called for her and she quietly told me to give her a minute. I heard the scooting of furniture as the door finally opened. The sweetest, most innocent face of a fearful elderly woman greeted me and apologized. She apologized for putting furniture in front of the door but told me she was scared and isn't used to being alone.

She has been a resident for almost 4 months and has dementia. On her bedside table was a small shrine to her husband who had passed away a few months before she was admitted and a couple of seriously old magazines. As I walked her back over to her bed, she began to get teary eyed telling me over and over that she was sorry. She said that she couldn't lay down because she was so nervous. I explained to her that we needed to take some slow, deep breaths. She asked if I would sit with her and hold her hand. It was at that point, I couldn't deny the similarities between her and my Meme. My Meme had dementia, previously moved some furniture in front of her room door and was fearful at one point towards the end. I immediately went in to granddaughter mode. I wasn't just her nurse. I was someone who she hoped would calm her fears and help her.

In nursing school they always tell you that your presence is therapeutic. I'm sure I understood this at the time but not in the capacity that I did last night. Yes we called the doctor and yes we kept taking it to make sure that it had gone down from 216/171. That 'stuff' got done because it's nursing 'stuff'. The 'stuff' that I was happy to do: pray with her, share a kind word with her and give her the reassurance (along with some Ativan) that everything was going to be alright. That kind of 'stuff' is what tells me that I'm doing exactly what I need to be doing in my life right now.

I drove home crying. When I got in bed to find my wonderful husband and munchkin asleep, I started to wonder if someone did those things for my Meme. I prayed for the first time on my own last night. Not for the very first time but for the first time in a long time. I'm crying as I write this knowing that it probably doesn't make sense. That's ok. I know that up in Heaven all of my grandparents are looking down at me smiling.

So long...

2010-05-03T12:05:00.000-05:00

I can't believe it's been so long since I've posted. A lot has gone on. Harper's 5 month birthday on the 24th, we visited my family this past weekend and my birthday is today. Harper is becoming so active but still remains my little 'sleep-fighter'. I'm really surprised how her personality is really starting to show.

I've got more pictures on the camera but am too tired to look through my bag and find my camera-to-computer cord.

Exam

2010-04-19T15:37:00.000-05:00

The end of this week I'm scheduled to take my Exit Exam for school. I only have a few more days of studying left and I'm thoroughly enjoying taking breaks with my early birthday present. Harper and I are walking several miles a day (almost every day) weather permitting. I'm not a big jogger but would like to be. Jogging stroller manufacturers recommend that you not jog with an infant under six months old. That's my excuse for walking just a little while longer. When she turns six months old, I'll have to come up with something else. :) In reality, I'll keep walking with my neighbor because I really enjoy walking with her - she's too much fun!

I mentioned that we went to the hairbow place last week and took some pictures. Harper had such a great time!

Speaking of Harper having fun...she got a new toy. She absolutely loves it!

I should really get back to studying. I took a short break to run some errands for school, worked on my special project and if the weather were better, I can guarantee you that I would procrastinate more by taking Harper for a walk but I must get back to studying! I told John that I was starting to get really nervous and he had a great point: if for some reason I don't pass, I can take it up to three times and I'll know what to study for next time. That's actually been my motto for months but I only have a few more days...

Picture Day!

2010-04-14T23:15:00.001-05:00

Today was picture day. We drove to Katy for some pictures at JC Penney and a photo shoot at a hairbow store. We had such a wonderful time!

Harper is teething. If you've ever been around a child that's teething, you know what we're going through. The greatest part about her teething today? She was an absolute angel while we were taking pictures at Penney's AND at the hairbow place! While at Penney's she got fussy towards the end but she was hungry. At the hairbow place, she was so calm. We were there for at least 2 hours and she was just hanging out like a big girl. They were having a photo shoot and needed some kids to model their merchandise. She was so well behaved - she was acting better than other girls much older than her. She was hammin' it up and cooing, laughing and talking to the owners and photographer. I can't wait to see how some of them turned out!

Below are some pictures from Penney's. They are copyrighted but it explicitly says on their web page to 'click here' to download the photos. Go figure. Since they give you instructions on how to download them, I assume that it's ok to put them on my blog. If not, I'm sure I'll get a letter. :)

Loving this weather!

2010-04-12T11:31:00.000-05:00

Harper and I couldn't be happier that the weather is finally great! It's been beautiful with the exception of Saturday when we had decided at the last minute to go to the Texas Bluebonnet Festival. We woke up early Saturday morning to rain and the weather map proved that there was more to come. Oh well.

We've been really great about staying outside and getting some sun. Taking as many precautions as possible, Harper loves being outside. Yes, I realize that I have the whitest child on earth but we still get out and have a good time. We try to walk with our neighbor as often as both of our schedules permit. At first, we walked around the neighborhood. Then we got a hair-brained idea to walk to CVS which is a little over 2 miles from our homes. Then we decided to walk to Walgreens which is a little further because of the sidewalk (I try to acknowledge EVERY step we take). We walked to HEB which we thought was a lot further than it actually was. Even though we were disappointed in the mileage (it's roughly the same distance as CVS), a small treck doesn't have a sidewalk which makes it slightly tougher. It also gives us the opportunity to change up our routine if we need to go to the grocery store. Our next big hike will be to Kroger which will be 7 miles round trip.

I'm looking for a jogging stroller. My neighbor loves hers and takes it on our walks. I'm looking for a gently used one solely because I don't want to spend $300+ on something I don't need but simply want. Doesn't make sense to me. Hopefully I can find one on Craigslist or in a resale shop.

I have a ton of pictures of Harper that I'm going to post. These were taken over the last 2 weeks. Some of them I've emailed and others I just haven't had the time to send out.

Harper is the greatest baby ever!

2010-04-05T21:25:00.000-05:00

Harper's first Easter. Above are pictures of our very busy but fun weekend! We got the chance to hang out with family and old friends. It was great catching up and introducing Harper to everyone. Thanks Anne for the blog entry title!

FOOD!

2010-04-01T22:52:00.000-05:00

Tonight Harper had her first bite of food which was avocado. It was so cute. She already knows where the camera is. Oh Lord, we've created a monster - a very cute, messy monster!

Great Day Houston/Lifetime Challenge

2010-03-31T10:06:00.001-05:00

One of my girlfriends is one of four finalists for Lifetime's Clean Start Challenge 2010. Her challenge was to learn to cook and she's doing so well. She even shared some of her tips on a local TV show this morning, Great Day Houston.

She needs a few more votes so follow the link below this post and vote for CRYSTAL everyday. That's right. You can vote everyday. There are only a few days left so it's very important. After looking at some of the other ladies' videos from weeks past, it doesn't seem like they're following the proper format. JMO. When you vote, you fill out an entry form with your name and some other information but you can win $1,000 just for voting. Who couldn't use $1,000 right now? Needless to say, I vote every day.

Visit Lifetime's Sweeps page here.

4 Months Old!

2010-03-29T22:06:00.000-05:00

Harper is officially 4 months old. She turned 4 months on the 24th at 1:56pm. I have plenty of pictures but will only be posting two right now. I'm reading a very good book (I'll let you in on the title later) but should be reading my HESI book.

After Harper's checkup today, she joined me while I tutored Med. Surg. 2. I miss tutoring. I miss talking to someone and helping them figure out a complex idea or learn something new but also, I miss the review that I get by helping someone else. Harper was very well behaved with the exception of about 3 minutes where she had a meltdown because I didn't feed her fast enough.

I have started applying to baccalaureate programs and hope to get accepted into an RN to MSN program. That would be great. Correction. That would be awesome! I think one day I would like to teach...

I have a project that I'm working on and can't wait to share it. I need to get a few things together before I make an official announcement.

Sunday = Family Day

2010-03-23T21:13:00.000-05:00

So I haven't posted in a while and I've been jonesin' for a new post. Sunday we had a family day and it was one of the greatest days we've had as a family thus far. We went to the Houston Arboretum & Nature Center. It's so much fun and the best part - it's FREE! They have a box inside where you can make a donation if you wish but it's free. It's truly a hidden gem!

I foresee many family days at the Arboretum! It's absolutely beautiful.

Harper will be turning 4 months old tomorrow. I can't believe how fast time has flown by. I actually found a picture from St. Patrick's Day when Aunt Jenni came over. I've posted it for your enjoyment. :)

We're having problems with Harper sleeping in her pack'n play. She absolutely HATES sleeping on her back. Hates it to the point where she wakes up and cries. Some say to let her cry it out and we tried that and she just cried. She just kept crying. She'll go to sleep on my chest and that's about it. Oh well. I'm hoping it's related to her teething. Breastfeeding has become much more interesting because she now bites. Fun for mommy! We'll have to nip that ASAP!

No beer for you!

2010-03-17T10:18:00.003-05:00

Today is Harper's first St. Patrick's Day and unfortunately, the extent of our celebration will be the donning of green attire.

We are loving our cloth diapers. I was thinking about how much I loved them yesterday and realized that it helps the environment so much. Once in a while we will use a disposable but now that I've got a good rhythm on washing them, I don't see us using nearly as many as we have in the past.

While cleaning up the house the other day, Harper screamed whenever I turned the vacuum cleaner on. I thought it was because she dropped her binky but after 3 or 4 times of turning it on, I realized it scared the dickens out of her! It was so pitiful. She had the worst cry/scream. After that she wanted to be held - all day. I couldn't leave her or she would scream. This makes it very difficult to clean a house. As long as she could see me she was fine. While doing her cloth diaper laundry I had to put her down to get everything out of the dryer....

Yesterday while watching Wifeswap (stupid but highly addicting) I probably saw the most normal family that they've ever had on the show. They usually find families with extreme views about something and pair them with a family of extreme, opposite opinions. This episode featured a family that I hope to emulate in the future. They were a family of five, both parents worked full time (dad outside the home and mom from her home office), all three children were well behaved, clean house (ha ha ha), they recycled and seemed to be wholesome all-around. The mother homeschooled her children and this is how she got started: she went to her son's kindergarten class one day and sat in the back of the room. She said after a few minutes she realized that this teacher was an idiot and that she could do a better job. She noticed that her son was having to wait on others to answer questions and was reprimanded when he kept answering and not giving other children a chance. She said that it made her so mad she took her son down to the office and withdrew him that afternoon. She started teaching her second child, a girl, very early around the age of 3 and remembers the afternoon that her daughter understood the concept of addition and subtraction. She incorporated her daughter's love of being an 'assistant' in the kitchen to help her understand math by baking a cake. Her daughter was so excited to learn and I want that for Harper. I'm not saying she wouldn't be excited to learn in a school setting but if I can tailor her lesson plan to include things she's good at and teach her things she isn't good at in a non-traditional way so that she does understand them, I owe that to my daughter. Some people think homeschooling isn't fair to the child because they can't socialize with other children. Yes they can. They can still participate in things like music lessons, karate, dance/ballet, 4-H and the list goes on.

I've been playing this scrabble game on my iPhone. Words with Friends and it is so addicting, it's ridiculous. Look me up and start a new game: whitrn

On another note, I'm losing the last bit of pregnancy weight! I weighed almost 200 lbs when discharged (I had multiple issues) and in just a few days, I've lost 3 more pounds. I'm eating all the time and John has eliminated 'some' of our carbs. My neighbor Angel and I are making an effort to walk everyday. Things have happened the last few days and we haven't been able to walk but in two days we covered at least 7 miles! I still eat more than usual because I'm breastfeeding Harper and they tell you you're supposed to weigh 5-10 lbs over your pre-pregnancy weight if you do.

HESI

2010-03-11T15:04:00.000-06:00

With HESI hovering over my head for the next few weeks, I've got a lot to do! Our friends are coming over Monday so I've got to finish cleaning the house, study at night when John is home so he can take care of Harper, oh yeah, and I've taken on more responsibilities at work. Could I possibly put more on my plate? The answer is yes. I can always find something else to eat up my time and this time the winner is OSHA. You read it correctly-I'm going to become a certified OSHA instructor. I've found that I absolutely love teaching people. Especially something safety related like CPR/AED/First Aid. Will I eventually get my master's and start teaching something nursing related? Can't say for sure but that would definitely be quite a ways down the road.

Harper has been really funny lately. She cracks up all the time and has the greatest personality. She loves bath time! She really loves her lotion massage afterwards. I think I'm creating a monster. At this very moment she's sitting in her bouncy chair laughing up a storm. This is a picture of her the other night after her bath. She watched NFL Network with daddy for a little bit.

I know the picture isn't of the best quality but this is Harper after she wakes up. This was after one of her 20 minute naps that she's starting to take in the afternoon. She was laughing so much and was so funny that I had to quickly find my phone and snap what I could!

Softbums Cloth Diapers

2010-03-08T23:37:00.001-06:00

This is Rastafarian Harper. This was taken on her 2 month birthday. She looks so darn cute in these and now mommy's wishing she would have gotten a pink one! That's ok because Softbums is having a crazy giveaway this month. When I say crazy I mean C-R-A-Z-Y! She's not just giving away one diaper, she's giving away multiple packages so I've got to blog about it so I can get that extra entry. I gotta get my baby a pink diaper! ;)

Houston Livestock Show & Rodeo

2010-03-08T00:27:00.001-06:00

Saturday we took Harper to her first rodeo. She looked so cute but her hat was too large and she was not a fan of her boots! Here are some pictures from our very long day.

This is a picture for my Papaw: Elsie the cow. He worked at Borden's back in the day and I remember Elsie as a prominent figure in their home growing up.

We finally got Harper's pictures back from her January photo session. They really turned out well!

Learn'em young...

2010-03-02T15:34:00.001-06:00

Today Harper and I voted. After pulling up at what I thought was the correct location, we ended up voting at a location in our neighborhood! I felt quite silly. While voting, a man gave me a very confused look. I asked him if everything was ok and he said that he had never seen a baby in a pouch before. He then looked at me and said that taking a baby to a polling place was probably one of the strangest things he'd seen. Really? A baby at a polling place, strange? I thought that comment was strange. As I walked off, he shouted "Learn'em young!" I'm assuming that he was talking about voting. I didn't particularly want to engage in anymore conversation.

Harper isn't sleeping well for some reason. I guess she's going through a growth spurt. That's what I tell myself and it makes me feel better so that's what I'm sticking with. On Saturday she ate every 1.5-2 hours! I was exhausted and to top it off, we were out all day at a baby shower and then to her Nana and Grimpy's. She looked so stinkin' adorable! Luckily my good friend Jennifer made me a nursing cover that I use ALL THE TIME. BTW: she is currently taking custom orders and she is awesome! Her shop is SimplisticMom. Turns out we were both so exhausted after Saturday we slept all day Sunday.

Speaking of ETSY, I've been thinking of starting my own ETSY shop as well. I'm making so many slings that it's unbelievable. When people see me carrying Harper, they ask questions, get my info and ask how they can buy one for someone they know. I also make these really cute burp cloths and pacifier clips. I'm currently finishing up a sling for a good friend, about to make another sling for my friend who's about to have a baby and will make another one in a few weeks. Add on some burp cloths made with some really cute dairy cow material. I'm really excited and think by typing this, I have convinced myself to open an ETSY shop! First I need to clean my house! Check back soon and maybe I'll be "Open for Business". :)

I'll finish with another picture of Harper. This was taken after she woke up and was talking up a storm!

3 Months

2010-02-24T23:30:00.000-06:00

Harper is officially 3 months today. I can't believe it. I really can't believe it. As for our little girl, Harper Anne is doing something relatively new and I noticed that it started a couple of weeks ago when she wasn't feeling well. She screams before sleeping. She'll fight sleep until she just flat out gives up. She'll cry until she just sounds pitiful. It upsets me and I know for a fact it upsets John. It just plain sucks that she's obviously trying to tell us something and we just don't know what it is or how to help her.

Tomorrow morning we have an appointment with an ENT in the medical center. Hopefully we can identify the origin of her continuous snoring. I'm starting to wonder if her screaming/crying before bedtime isn't a direct correlation to her snoring and not sleeping well. I think it's obvious I'm grasping at straws. :)

Too Long...

2010-02-23T18:24:00.001-06:00

We have been very busy. Harper and I went to Marshall to surprise my Mom for her birthday. Harper has started doing this thing where she fights naptime. She screams and screams...it's wonderful. Tylenol has become my best friend. :) Harper enjoys playing with her new piano courtesy of Landon/Meme & Pop. She's our little prodigy.

This morning, I jumped out of the shower to find Harper sound asleep making lots of noise. It was cute. She was laughing, smiling and cooing. I snapped this picture before she woke up hungry. I swear she can smell me from the next room and not because I stink. Babies are so funny that way.

My new position with the CPR company is going well but I find myself getting overwhelmed. I tell myself that I can only do one thing at a time so that's what I do. In the morning I'll return phone calls, leave messages, eat lunch, answer phone calls from previous messages I've left, coordinate new classes for people needing certification and somewhere in there, hopefully I will have showered and fed Harper a few times. Yesterday I was on the phone for 5 hours without a break! Literally, 5 hours! Recently I've been trying to recruit new CPR instructors with no success. I'm going to have to change my gameplan but not sure right now how I'm going to go about it - especially in the other states.

Here is a picture of Harper with Evie. I like to call Harper by her first and middle name, Harper Anne and it's funny that Evie's parents like to call her Evie Sue. I'm going to post several photos of their playdate because they are just too cute! I'm sure Crystal took some better photos with her fancy camera but all I had was my iPhone. :)

Really? Really?

2010-02-17T23:09:00.001-06:00

This is the question I keep asking myself (sometimes aloud) because I'm still feeling under the weather. Neither Harper nor I have a fever but our sinuses are going crazy! I'm so leery to take anything since I'm breastfeeding but I think in this situation, medication is warranted. I was even told that trace amounts of medication in my milk could help Harper. We'll see. We drove up to Marshall today to surprise my mom. We were going to stop by her office and brighten her day but she wasn't feeling well either so she stayed home.

Harper had her Upper GI Contrast yesterday and the doctor stated, "she's perfect". We could have told him that! :) She did so well at Texas Children's - John and I were so proud of her. She slept the entire 1.5 hours we waited for her appointment and although she wasn't happy, she didn't put up too much of a fight when it came time to do the test. They told me to be 15 minutes early to the appointment or else they would reschedule. We showed up about 30 minutes early and then had to wait about 1 hour. We did this test to make sure that her esophagus and stomach/intestines were functioning properly and not contributing to her vomiting/spitting up. Since we've increased her Prevacid to twice each day, she has been better. Her pediatrician mentioned that some babies simply produce more stomach acid than others and she may have to be on medication for a while. As much as I hate to pump her full of drugs at such a young age, it does help her.

On another note, my friend Crystal is one of four finalists in Lifetime's Clean Start Challenge Sweepstakes. Be sure and vote for her. She could win $10,000! Her little girl, Evie Sue, is adorable and 3 months older than Harper. Crystal is on a mission to learn how to cook and I am excited to help her with that very soon.
VOTE FOR CRYSTAL HERE!

2010-02-15T14:35:00.001-06:00

Although Harper and I are still sick, we had a great weekend. My mom and nephew, Landon came down for the weekend and we got to celebrate her birthday since we won't be able to visit them in Marshall on Sunday which is actually her birthday. We were going to venture out on Saturday and pick up a few things but as it turns out, Harper had other ideas for us. She absolutely loves her little coat. Once again, thank you Aunt Ashley and Miss Sissy! I have given myself a deadline of Tuesday night to do something about this laundry bomb. When it comes to Harper's room, I've given myself a more reasonable deadline of February 28th. I've found that I can't study with all of this stuff that still needs to be done around me! Hopefully next week Harper and I will feel better and we can have our friends Eric, Crystal and Evie over for dinner. I'm going to show Crystal how to make a few recipes - I can't wait!

Right now I'm making several slings. I made a black one so I can wear Harper and still be stylish if we go somewhere nice. I used it Saturday night when we went out to eat with John's parents for my mom's birthday. I'm also making pacifier clips. I know it's inevitable that the one we have for Harper will either get lost or will be covered in either vomit, poo or pee eventually and then we'll be S.O.L. The one we have was given to us as a baby shower gift. A lady made it out of some Auburn material and we've thoroughly enjoyed showing our Auburn pride every chance we get!

I finally finished her bow holder last week. Her Nana got her a pink, wooden Princess plaque. I wasn't too happy with the colors so I decided to paint some of the letters a hot pink, added some ribbon and attached some wooden cutesy designs that I also painted the same hot pink as the letters. Here is the finished product. I was really happy with the way it turned out. I took back the shelves that were in her room. Lowe's wasn't too happy with taking them back but after a short explanation, they were slightly more accommodating. We installed floating shelves in her room that looked great. The only problem with them is that they leaned down - even when nothing was on them! In the middle of the night, I heard things falling and crashing on the floor. Not going to cut it. I got some shelves with some L-brackets and they seem to be fairing much better. It's not the look I was going for but safety is much more important.

John and I just found out that we have family that are opening up their home and their hearts by adopting two children from Ethiopia. I am very excited for them. Adoption is something that is very special and important to me. John and I have talked about adoption before - when we were told that kids weren't an option for us. It's still very important to me but we'll see where our family is in the next few years. They have two children and will definitely have their hands full with two more! They just started on their journey and we couldn't be happier for them. They have a long road ahead with paperwork and all things that go along with international adoptions so please send lots of positive energy and prayers their way!

John and I have some great news. We've decided that I will stay home with Harper. I'm going to finish getting my nursing license but will work as the new Business Development Manager for Therapeutic Professionals. I will coordinate and manage all things related to CPR. This job will allow me to work from home and be with my little Harper. Look at this face. How could I not want to be with her every minute of every day? I never would have thought I would want to stay at home but that's what it looks like. I haven't worked for almost one year and we've somehow managed to tighten our purse-strings and make it work. Now I will be working from home and that will take some of the added pressure off of John and I both. When you want something bad enough, you do what you have to do to make it work and that's what we are going to do. I'm very happy and relieved about our decision. I'm so lucky that I have such a supportive husband! I can't wait to see what the next year brings with this company. Harper is taking a nap so I'm going to try to catch a few Zzzs myself.

Winter

2010-02-11T22:04:00.000-06:00

It's February and while we usually have weather in the 50's, we are having weather in the 30's-40's. Everyone is sick. John and I are feeling better but our little Harper isn't fairing as well. I took her to the doctor this evening and he said she had viral bronchitis. Her temperature was down from 99.9 this morning to 98.5. The 'crud' hasn't moved into her chest so we're going to keep doing everything we can to keep it that way. The interventions for this illness are so similar to those we do all day, everyday for her reflux which makes me feel like I need to be doing more or at least something different. This is a picture I took at her most pitiful point today. Thanks Aunt Ashley and Ms. Sissy for the outfit. It's too adorable!

I have so many adorable pictures that I would like to post but I'm exhausted and still have some CPR paperwork to get out of the way. Mom is coming tomorrow so I need to do some laundry. John would laugh at that last sentence. :)

National Wear Red Day / Go Red for Women

2010-02-05T23:05:00.002-06:00

If you ever wear the color red, today was the day to wear it. In an effort to raise awareness that heart disease is the #1 killer of women in the US, the American Heart Association encouraged everyone in the US to wear red today. Here's a tidbit of history for ya about February and American Heart Month. The following information is courtesy of the American Heart Association. Check out their website for more info. To urge Americans to join the battle against cardiovascular diseases, since 1963 Congress has required the president to proclaim February "American Heart Month." The American Heart Association works with the administration to draft and sign this annual proclamation. As we work toward that goal, we're working hard to change the perception that heart disease is a "man's disease." And it's working! Today, our near-term goal is nothing less than a 25% reduction in coronary heart disease and stroke risk by the year 2010.

Unfortunately, mommy had nothing red to wear because nothing fits - still. I think I would have lost more weight if the weather had been nicer outside the past two months. The forecast for February doesn't look any better. Harper, on the other hand, had some red that she just had to show off. As I was taking pictures, she was smiling and laughing. She was laughing so hard that she was turning her head back and forth and waving her arms. It was adorable!

We went to our playdate this morning and met some of our new friends. It's so great to meet moms who have little ones the same age. I've already learned so much and can't wait for Harper to grow and play with her new pals. Every time we go to a playdate, I always take my camera but somehow forget to take pictures. Figures!

I mentioned before that we were going to start on trunk control. Thanks to Aya and Rusty, we started today. She loves to sit up like a big girl and the bumbo chair allows her to do that without mommy or daddy in her face all the time. She had a great time. We put her in it for a few minutes before bedtime tonight and boy was she exhausted. I'm hoping we'll have another good night. :)

What? Babies shouldn't snore?

2010-02-04T13:19:00.003-06:00

I was asking this question to a dear friend of mine who worked as a NICU nurse several years ago. Harper has been having reflux issues and though they were getting better, she was still having reflux that smelled very acidic, far more often than I thought she should while on this medication. He increased her Prevacid to 15 mg twice each day rather than once a day. He is referring us to a gastroenterologist and an ENT specialist with the possibility of seeing a pulmonologist, depending on the ENT results. We are scheduling an upper GI contrast procedure to be done when they call me back. Her pedi is hoping that her airway inflammation is caused by her reflux but her snoring and occasional gasping for air concerns her pediatrician so a pulmonologist may be in her near future. When I was 5 months pregnant I was interviewing this pediatrician where we spoke very openly and frankly about my history of asthma and how I still struggle with it to this day. He told me to prepare that she may have breathing problems and that they would probably manifest around 18 months of age. We'll see what happens. I'm just trying to stay positive!

On Tuesday we went back down to Kemah to look at Harper's pictures. She is so beautiful and this photographer took some of the best pictures. She's so talented. I can't wait for April when the bluebonnets are blooming - I'm hoping Harper will have at least some trunk control so she can be photographed outside in the field of blue and white. Bluebonnets will forever remind me of my Meme. She always took pictures of bluebonnets in fields and would always order seeds from different companies and plant them all over her yard. I'm thinking if Harper doesn't have trunk control, maybe John can take a half day and we can hold her. We will just have to practice sitting up until then.

Here's a picture of Harper in one of her Lime Green Softbums diapers. She's such a happy baby!

This photo is one of my absolute favorites. She looks so big and I don't even think it really looks like her. She loves it when you turn the lights off and turn the lamp on. Props to daddy for capturing such a great moment!

What a weekend!

2010-02-01T10:04:00.005-06:00

Saturday, Harper and I laid down to take a nap and John woke us up around 7pm. He needed to get some things from the store and so did I so we decided to make it a family affair. I thought I'd take along the new sling I made for her since the one I purchased when I was 6 months pregnant didn't fit. Here's a picture of a very sleepy mommy with an even more sleepy Harper. She slept the whole time we were at the grocery store and I was so proud. I had an overwhelming sense of pride wearing my baby who was also wearing cloth diapers! Friday night was officially the first time she slept through the night. Most of the time she'll wake up once but Friday night she turned a corner and has slept through the night for 3 nights in a row! This, of course, doesn't mean mommy slept- I kept waking up checking to make sure she was still breathing.

Yesterday John's parents came over. We went to lunch and they hung out for a while at the house. While we were out to lunch, Harper ate what was almost a 5 oz bottle. Less than an hour later, she ate a full 5 oz bottle and about an hour or so later, I fed her for about 20 minutes. Then 3 hours later, she ate again for about 30 minutes. I couldn't believe it!

This is a picture of what I think is the cutest little jumper. I'm not sure if you can tell but there are horses, cowboy hats, cowboy boots, lassos, and cowboys riding horses with lace trim.

She was starting to get frustrated because we were taking pictures and moving her around. She typically is only smiley and giggly right after she wakes up for about 15-20 minutes and then you better be ready to feed her. The photo on the left is what happens when you aren't ready to feed her when she's ready to eat. Just getting one more picture is next to impossible! All we wanted to do is see if one of the 3 cowboy hats she has fits. She still has 1.5 months left until the rodeo and we just had to try all of them on!

I finally got the pleasure of experiencing what most cloth diapering moms call 'cloth diaper stank'. I know why they call it stank and not stink-stink doesn't do this smell justice. I'm pretty sure I used too much soap a time or two, or maybe, just maybe, it's the diaper rash cream I used while cd'ing. I ended up stripping them which was much easier than I expected. All I did was wash them like I regularly do, two extra rinses and threw in a cup of vinegar with one of those rinses. They came out bright white and smelling very clean! It's amazing how much money we save by using cloth diapers. And to top it off, they are so much cuter than those disposables! Here's a picture of Harper with her Nuclear Pumpkin Soft Bums cloth diaper and a knit Auburn hat a friend of the family made for her. It's a little big right now but that just means she can wear it when she's older.

What a day...scratch that. What a week!

2010-01-27T21:37:00.001-06:00

Yesterday we went to Kemah to meet Harper's Nana and our friend Diane for Harper's pictures. Everything was going well for the first 15 minutes and then all hell broke loose. Harper had a wall-eyed hissy fit and wouldn't calm down unless she was being held. Needless to say, she took some mommy & me pictures. She showed me one on her camera and I cried. I can't wait to see more of them. I'm always behind the camera with the exception of two pictures - one in the hospital and one the day we came home, neither of them flattering. Those were taken at my heaviest, a whopping 200 lbs. I still can't believe it myself. I was very sick and had plenty of postpartum complications which forced more medications and fluids into my daily medication regimen. I've lost almost 50 pounds but yesterday, I would have been more than willing to have my picture taken at 200 or even 300 pounds. Yesterday was such a special moment. I'm beginning to cry just thinking about it.

Today we hung out with Aunt Tracy. I'm sure Avery will not be happy when she finds out that Harper was at her house while she was at school. This is a picture of Avery and Harper's first meeting. Avery was too cute and so gentle!

While downloading pictures onto my computer, I came across this picture of Papaw with Harper. I took so many pictures with other people's cameras, I forgot that I took a picture with mine! This reminds me that I need to call him. It's too late now but I'll put it on my long list of things to do tomorrow.

Tomorrow is going to be a very busy day. I have a CPR class tomorrow in Katy and then I have to rush back home to Harper. I hope I can make it a few hours without her. :) I have to get some documentation together for my Monday CPR meeting with Mary. Friday morning we have a play-date with some moms on a board I belong to, Bay Area Mommas or BAM for short. Every time John refers to the site, he always ends up saying "Bam" as if he is Emeril Lagasse. :)

Hooray!

2010-01-23T23:53:00.002-06:00

I took Harper to the doctor the other day and he changed her medicine from Zantac to Prevacid because he thinks her fussiness is caused by a pretty hard-core case of acid reflux and gas. She had been on Zantac for 12 days and it didn't seem like it was helping and he agreed. We're on day 4 of the Prevacid and she's done a complete 180. She's back to our sweet, happy baby.

She had such a severe case of reflux, her gums were swollen and blanched! On top of that, we think she's teething-at two months old. The other day, I broke down and gave her some Orajel while she was screaming in the store and within 10 minutes, she was out like a light. I found out later that you aren't supposed to give Orajel to infants under 4 months old. Woops!

We've got a big week ahead of us. Harper's grandma is meeting us in Kemah to get Harper's pictures taken by a very talented photographer. I can't wait to see watch she does with Harper as far as posing. She's getting so big. She already weighs 10.5 lbs!

My parents were going to come down this weekend but it didn't work out. They had to stay and help out with Landon because he wasn't feeling well. They're planning on coming down next weekend. Mom doesn't know it yet but she's going with me to my CPR Party. She'll find out soon enough! :)

Fussiness

2010-01-18T16:25:00.003-06:00

This past weekend we went to visit my family and Harper finally got to meet almost everyone. Some of my relatives were sick and others were out of town but hopefully we will be able to go back in a few weeks. I'm very close to my family and it's become even more important to me that Harper see them just as often as John's family who live across town.

Over the past week, Harper has been unusually fussy. I've noticed a pattern: after she eats, she will draw her legs up, cry and become inconsolable. I've called her doctor and am waiting on a return phone call. A friend of mine mentioned that I may try to cut out all dairy from my diet. I think I'll give this a try but I don't like milk so I'll have to cut the only other source of dairy in my diet which is cheese. This is unfortunate because I absolutely L-O-V-E cheese! Her symptoms seem to fit all of the protein intolerance symptoms-colicky, reflux, unable to settle and/or sleep, excessive gas, stomach pain, and green stools. She even has a small rash around her neck which I thought was caused by heat. I want to get her checked out to make sure that she doesn't have something more serious. Hopefully when John gets home I can jump in the shower, do some laundry, submit a bid for a large CPR contract and look forward to another night full of crying (for both Harper and I)!

And it begins...

2010-01-13T20:26:00.006-06:00

So the past week or so has been stressful with many appointments (Harper and myself), taking on my new role within the CPR company and most exciting of all, getting ready to take Harper to Marshall to meet my family. Harper's 6 week checkup went well but you wouldn't know it from the picture. She was fussy all afternoon but even then, was only fussy when she would wake up to eat. She actually slept a lot that day which is a blessing.

Now a few days ago, I woke up to an unfamiliar noise. It was Harper and she had found her fingers. She was sound asleep but sucking on that finger! I'm at a loss because she is getting accustomed to sleeping on her tummy on my chest. If she's placed on a pillow, she's out. If she's on her back in her pack 'n play she will only sleep for about 30 minutes and then she wakes up. I feel like the world's worst mom when she falls asleep on her tummy but she likes it and sleeps really well. So tonight I'm going to try to put her in her carseat and see how that goes.

One thing I'm working on is a schedule for Harper in the hopes that will help her sleep at night. I'm going to try to bathe her every other night before bed which is an increase from once each week. The main reason behind the weekly baths is that Harper was blessed with my super sensitive, pastey white skin. Poor baby! It's also been unseasonably cold the past week or so with temps in the low 20's. John told me one morning that it was 19 degrees F when he left to go to work. I may need to inform some that we live in Houston-HOUSTON! That is waaaaaay too cold! I didn't sign up for this weather.

Since I'm in a picture happy mood, I leave you now with a picture of Harper praying. Thanks Anne!

So much to do / So little time

2010-01-02T21:32:00.003-06:00

Here's the deal:
I've made a promise to myself to blog even on days when I don't really feel like it. So as I was sitting here watching Mike Rowe eat lamb's testicles on Dirty Jobs, I suddenly began to feel overwhelmed. Between Harper's room, crafts & projects, studying for my nurse exit exam, both mine & Harper's doctor's appointments and the usual eating & sleeping, I'm starting to feel overwhelmed. Obviously my craft projects aren't a huge priority but I'm starting to grow tired of looking at them on our dining room table. As for Harper's room, I know it can wait since she has been (and will be) sleeping in our room a little while longer. The studying, however, must be dealt with head-on and I better get on it since the exam is the first week in March. Since I haven't been in school for four months I need to totally submerge myself in my books.

During my pregnancy, I was put on bed rest once I hit 20 weeks due to health reasons. I was allowed to 'walk' (roll in a wheelchair) with my graduating class even though I had one more exam to take-that silly exit exam. I would have completed it but was told to avoid any and all stressful situations. Once I complete this I will officially be a graduate nurse and will have to take the state boards (a.k.a. NCLEX) to become a Registered Nurse. I absolutely cannot wait! In the mean time, I will begin to teach CPR and First Aid through the American Heart Association again (something I truly love and miss). I pick up my CPR mannequins tomorrow and have a meeting with my AHA mentor. I have approx. 10 people who need to renew their certification so it promises to be a busy couple of weeks. Yay!

As I type this, I'm looking across my den at my Christmas tree and a few other decorations that need to come down. I guess I'll add that to the list and try to do that tomorrow...

Happy New Year!

2010-01-01T13:49:00.000-06:00

Well 2009 was a crazy year! I finished nursing school (more on that later) and we welcomed a new addition-our little girl, Harper. She was born on 11/24/09 at 1:56pm, 5 lbs 10 oz, 18" long. We knew that children were definitely in our future. We just didn't realize they were in our immediate future! 2010 promises to be a year full of good times, friends & family. I'm sure there will be some trying times but with John by my side and a few other people in my corner, I'm sure I'll make it through.

About my blog:
Since Harper was born, I like to email a picture of Harper to family and close friends and the title is always, "Your Daily Dose...". Unfortunately, between a new baby, sleep and breastfeeding, that email goes out every other day if I'm lucky. My hopes for this blog are simple: update with a picture and add a little more text than I usually do via my iPhone.

Here's to all of my 2009 resolutions, keeping them and everything 2010 has to offer!