Ready for 2014

As those of you who follow my blog probably know, I am not that great at keeping up with my posts. I would make that a new years resolution, but why set myself up for failure so early in the year?!?

What you may not know is that I have started a vlog on youtube My Vlog and I do keep up with it pretty well usually a monthly update on my stitching and basic life things. I have also added a preview on my left hand side bar of some of my videos. I guess it is easier for me to talk than type LoL I have always been a talker.

I  kept up with my stitching pretty well this year, in fact I had five finishes. I am hoping to do as well this year. Starry night is still a daunting shadow. It keeps getting pushed back for things that have a deadline.

My son is an ever growing 2 year old and at almost 3 feet tall and 34 pounds you would never know he went through the obstacles that he went through unless you know him or catch a glimpse of his scar while he is running around playing.

My hubby gifted me several large stitchy items last year for various holidays and because of that I am limiting my self to a stitchy budget this year, he laughed btw and said we will see. I did however find a nice blog Epic Stitching who is hosting a "group" of stitchers that are doing just that. There is a $25 per month allowance and we are entered in drawings for prizes along the way a a grand prize of a gift card if we stick it out 11 of of 12 months.  click the image Stitch from stash 2014 on the right to go to the direct page about the group. It adds a bit of incentive plus several of the members from my forum are joining in as well!!

I will probably do a small blurb on here or just post a link to a video if I do a video in my vlog, I am not sure how it will work. I guess I will figure it out as I go and see which works best. Hubby has also since stated that I am looking to buy stash just to meet the budget LoL.  I do tend to buy stash in weird patterns I will go a while without getting anything an then find 10 things that I "must have".

Hope you and yours are doing well, thanks for reading!! Stay safe!

"That" Mom

Ugh, I drive myself crazy trying to be the perfect mom, to make sure my kid is eating perfect, he is on the exact path every other kid his age is and that he is safe, happy and knows he is loved. Really all that matters in those is safe, happy and loved.

But why do we all strive so hard to be, or not to be...(sounds like a famous quote I once heard) "that, Mom". Either we compare ourselves attempting to make ourselves feel better "well at least I don't  fill in  your blank like that mom" or "I should fill in the blank like that mom." I find myself pinning crazy toddler recipes that I know IF I am able to get around to making them that more than likely C will take one bit and say "no" or maybe even not take a bite.

With that said, my son is not a picky eater. When it comes to fruits and veggies he will eat anything put in front on him. He would live on carrots and sweet potatoes and green beans if I would let him. He even likes beans and brussel sprouts. The issues is meat/protein items. Yes I know all you vegan mommies are blanching that I am trying to get my kid to eat meat. The beans he will eat are few and far between. He does love eggs, sausage and the Hebrew International hotdogs. I don't use these because of the kosher label except that I know they aren't by products they are 100% beef and probably the best option for hotdogs.

We do fast foods but try not to let C do a lot of fried or sugary foods. So chicken nuggets ARE NOT something I want my kid to learn to love...no offense to anyone whose kids only eat them...I get it now...you feed your kid what they will eat..

At what point does doing that becoming spoiling your kid, at what point does making your kid try a little bit of everything become being to strict and going to cause food issues and eating disorders as and adult. Every time  you turn around there is new research..;"making your kid clean up after themselves causes their feet to be to big as an adult and they won't get a good job and end up a depressed adult" okay so maybe not that extreme but still...

As if us mom's don't put enough pressure on ourselves to be perfect now the collective "they" have to point out the things we do let slip that seem like a non issue now are causing life long ill effects.

I guess the point to all this babble is I am trying here and the more I try the more I feel like I am messing up...I know that when I look at other mom's I think wow she has it all together...is she inside freaking out like I am, is there someone out there looking at me thinking.."Wow she has it all together." And if this is constantly happening...why are we voicing this to each other more....what is the matter with me saying "hey" you doing this is really cool etc

Instead it is as though we feel if we compliment said mom...it proves that we weren't doing that ourselves and didn't think of it ourselves so that will make us be a bad mom. People think moms as a whole are judgemental but I think we are truly only judging ourselves against others but it comes as a catty comment against the other...it is really directed at ourselves...

*steps off of soap box*

thanks for reading!

A year already?

I can't believe it has been this long since I have posted I guess 2012 was so busy that I just didn't have time for anything but keeping little man healthy and strong. He is feeding tube free and bottle free and walking and getting into everything!! So since this year is hopefully a lot less stressful than the last, I made a resolution to stitch more in 2013. So far I have been doing really well and stitching at least every week if not almost every day except when I work, if even just for five or so minutes. I have way too many projects going. The enablers over at Crossstitchforum have corrupted me..I am currently actively working on Starry Night (yes still :( ) a sampler by The Frosted Pumpkin Stitchery called Woodland Sampler, and a custom chart which was made for me by a member of the forum mentioned earlier. I have two more projects ready to start once I finish one of these, and then another that I know for sure I am going to do...its just choosing the colors and purchasing the items. See I am being bad very bad.

We have also been working on the house repainting etc and are thinking of adding on a bedroom, but we got our first estimate back this week and it is just scary how much these things cost. So we will see I don't know if we are both willing to spend that kind of money for an extra room. They say it will pay for itself in adding on the home value but still whew. For such a basic room, it is pretty pricey.

I am going to try and be more attentive to my blog as well. Most of my followers though are from the forum and that is why I don't always post so much I don't want to bore with the same updates everywhere LoL.

My birthday is this month and I am supposed to be getting a floor stand from the hubby and son but can't quite decide on which one to get, I am leaning towards the Ergo from artisans designs but I can't find any stitcher reviews online. If it is as good as it looks I am super excited, but really wish I could find someone who uses the stand. 

I am trying out the pages function on here but not sure how it works. Going to try out the What's in a name reading challenge. And going to keep a list of my 2013 finishes. We shall see how this goes!!

Two days of appointments!

Well, we had a total of three appointments in the last few days. The surgeon was very optimistic and said that he isn't really concerned with the incisional hernia that C has in fact said that he would rather wait until we take out his g-tube (mic-key) to do the procedure. Sometimes the g-tube sites don't heal the way they want them to and that can mean a surgery to close the stoma, so he said we would wait that way IF he has to do a surgical closure, he can do the hernia then too and it will be only one procedure.

We also had an appointment we the Nurse Practitioner to learn how to change the mic-key ourselves. Now if it comes out we can change it without having to go to the ER for a GI study yay!

We then had an appointment with his GI doctor the surgeon had recommended a new feeding schedule and the GI doctor approved. We are now only feeding from 9pm to 9a with the feeding pump during the day he get bolus feedings of 2 ounces we try to give it all orally and whatever he doesn't take orally we do as a gravity bolus feed via the mic-key. So far he has taken all of the feeds by mouth with no spit up. Says a prayer it will continue this way.

The surgeon said he was surprised that we did not have more issues with the mic-key coming out since the balloon isn't completely filled d/t his smaller stomach size. He told us that we were "doing a great job"

OH and he weighs 10 pound 5 ounces now so he is def gaining weight!! So no need to fortify my breast milk as of yet. Although I may have to supplement some formula since he is eating so much now!

Baby C is here!

Long overdue update, and a long update....

Okay, wow where to start?! First off hello again, hope everyone had a wonderful holiday season and a Happy New Year!

Our baby boy  has arrived he was born Dec 4th.

I started having issues with my blood pressure and ended up being admitted to the hospital the day after Thanksgiving. While there they were doing once a shift fetal heart tone monitoring, baby boy had what they call a decel where his heart rate dropped into the 70's he recovered fine but this put me in the labor and delivery unit for 24 hour fetal and contraction monitoring where I was told I would stay until he was born.

At midnight on Dec 4th they started the process of inducing, using a med called cytotec not the main IV med that they use to induce this is only supposed to "thin your cervix". I started having contractions and he started having decels again so while I rested my DH stayed awake pacing and watching the heart tone monitors. The next day when I woke up he was sleeping and my in laws were there visiting. I was having pretty regular contractions but they weren't what I expected. By the time they would start hurting they would go away. I did however have a horrible earache so the nurse gave me some IV pain medication. We were waiting for the doctor that we had requested to deliver us to be available (he wasn't on call and this was a sunday, he was doing stuff with family and was coming in to start the pitocin at 2) I rolled over in bed and felt what I thought was my water breaking we called the nurse in and at this point my FIL woke up my DH (he had wanted to all morning but I told him to let him rest b/c they had said it would be three days until I delivered, there was no point in him seeing every contraction.) when the nurse came in she told me that my water had not broke, but that she needed to check me anyways b/c they were about to start the pitocin, she did her thing and then said..."Oh my God, you are at an 8, did you want an epidural b/c we need to get it now!" so things progressed pretty quickly. After the epidural my BP dropped (back to normal but low for what it had been) so I felt a little off and C's heart rate started dropping again so they started doing internal stimulation which then broke my water. AT this point his heart rate dropped and did not return to normal so my doc decided we needed a C-section.

Well when the doctor started cutting I could feel everything, and they gave me more anesthesia but I was still having crazy pain and they ended up having to "twilight" sleep me...that is the weirdest thing I don't remember a lot but my DH says C did not cry right off and that his cord was loosely around his neck. Everything seemed perfect.

That night I was still so out of it from the meds we decided to let him stay in the nursery, during the night his blood sugar was dropping and the next day they ended up having to put him in NICU to get IV sugar fluids to help maintain his blood sugar. That Thursday they d/c'd me but kept him, we went home to finish up nursery stuff...organization mainly and I got ready to take a nap, we had been home for about 3ish hours.

Then we get a call that we had 45 minutes to make it the hospital that our son was going to be transferred to a hospital 2 hours away for emergency surgery he had a bowel perforation and they did not know the prognosis.

When we finally arrived at the specialty hospital many hours later he was on a vent and very sedated the surgeon was awesome and put off so much confidence that the family and I relaxed. Well what was supposed to be a 2 hour procedure ended up being a 4.5 hour instead. Yet it didn't seem like that long because he had kept us so informed having a staff member call to the waiting room each hour to give us updates.
When the surgery was finally finished the  surgeon came out it turned out that our son, had not had a bowel perf instead his stomach had essentially ruptured they had to remove what was thought at this point 2/3s of his stomach and he had a feeding tube in place he was also septic, he explained that this is a surgery he had only done twice (he is a surgery prof at Emory here in GA.)  He also said that we may never have a cause to the reason of the surgery and that our son would be in the hospital at LEAST a week and that he understood we both had jobs and not to feel guilty if we had to go back to work and leave our Son there alone eventually. That is how long he was expecting C to be in the hospital.
Many days and tests later our DS came off the vent and we even had answers apparently he was missing the muscular layer of his stomach and the doctor explained that it was like a weak spot in a tire when he ate it just ruptured. He asked permission to do a formal write up of the case and said that this is only the third case they have seen in the last ten years. He then assured us that C would not have a permanent disability due to this although he would have to be on tube feedings for a long while to help stretch out his stomach at this point he told us a year.
We are now home, we have a tube called a "mic-key" in place that the doctor told us we would not be able to go home with, we were only in the hospital for a month and 3 days. they are already letting him consolidate his tube feedings and are now saying he may only be on the tube feedings for 6 months. The doctors have all told us how impressed they are with his progress how they all expected him to reach this point but not this fast.
The doctor also told us that our son almost died, he would have died had we been at home instead of the hospital and if the staff at our birth hospital hadn't acted appropriately. He then survived sepsis at 5 days old and also a condition called DIC that only about 10-50% of people survive (adults). He is our miracle child and I am very lucky to have him home he is my world!
I am trying to get in the habit of stitching some when he is napping if I'm not cleaning or napping myself! If I can get 30mins in a day I will feel very happy!

Just Some Updates!!

Here is a picture of my Starry Night, it is a mobile picture so the quality isn't the best.  I am almost finished with (my page one) I make working copies because I abuse my charts highlighters big X's when I finish a square etc, plus I increase the size some too so my page one isn't necessarily a page according to the kit. I am loving this but glad to be taking a break working on Connor's birth announcement. I didn't realize how the color changes were slowing me down so much.

Picture update # 4

Again sorry about the quality.

Here is my birth announcement for Connor. Oh my the frog has visited so much and there are a few permanent mistakes but I have been able to "fix" them can you tell where they are?? Seriously if you can please let me know I'd rather know now than people point them out once it is finished and framed and hanging in his room haha.
I have realized that gridding is a life saver for me, I still do the counting like normal but...its more of a "okay I should be hitting a grid line" and if I am I know I am safe and if I'm not I know I need to recount. I know a lot of stitchers think its cheating...but it saves me heartache :)

I can't believe I will be 31 weeks this Sunday, time is flying by yet crawling so slow. I am so excited to meet my little boy, but so scared at the same time. I mean my choices can affect this child forever!!!
Whew. Alot is resting on our shoulders.


We got the pack 'n play, play yard put together LOL that was fun and then the stroller too. I just have to say the only word on the English instructions were "SNAP" with a digital drawing of the item but for the other languages there were like 30 words each diagram. Makes you wonder how many words it takes to say "snap" in french LOL

I have joined a yahoo group called "The stitch specialists" I am so excited. A designer "Abi" not sure of her last name or is she wants it posted on the internet so will refrain at this time. Has made a project- they used it as a SAL but I'm a little behind and will be working on it late but its called "tree of stitches" Its all about specialty and stitching on linen. The instructions provided are GREAT and the chart beautiful! I am so excited to start this! Going to finish the birth sampler before I start the TOS and gotta get some fabric too and maybe some new thread. We will see! I may just use some threads from my current collection.

I think this is all for now, hope you all are doing great!

Pictures!

Okay so I now have two posts today, I wrote the other one the other day...but it went to drafts instead of posting?! I am sure it was a user error *slaps forhead* anyways....here are some picture updates!

This is one of the face plate covers that I made thanks to a pin on pinterest. Pretty simple actually, it's just scrapbook paper modpodged onto the face plate and then covered to protected the paper.

These were a little more tedious. Wood letters covered with fabric. Took a while but love the finished look!!

A close up of the fabric! This time we had to trace the letters onto the back of the fabric...then cut them out along the lines and then use spray fabric adhesive to attach. Just a FYI fabric stretches LOL There are some imperfections if you look closely but to me that makes it more personal. Again I am pleased with the results. I am sure a bunch of you guys could do much better LOL.

I am now working on the "baby row" from bent creek designs- This picture is from 123stitch.com although I purchased from a local needle shop! A fellow cross stitcher and the shop owner helped me tweek the colors just a little to match my nursery more...but I am pretty excited. The chart is GREAT easy to read and pretty simple to stitch as well! I will def be doing more Bent Creek items!!


Enough pictures for you guys? LOL! Hope you all have a great week!