My Nephew is Here!

My sister and fellow blogger made it official by posting her own blog about this new little addition to our family so now I get to announce it as well!

Very first photo I received!

Gabriel Charles was born on October 12th, 2012 around 9 am! He tipped the scales at 9 pounds and 7 ounces! That is bigger than any of my babies! He was also longer than any of my babies measuring in at 22 inches long! (He MUST take after his extra tall Daddy! LOL) Sadly, the only photos I have are ones that have either been sent to my phone or posted on facebook. I have not yet met this little guy. We are due to go meet him this weekend though! Yippee! I am so excited! Here are some of the photos I have taken from either my sister's facebook or her blog (Diary of a Mad Housegirl click the link to see her post and to catch up on her journey in creating such a sweet little guy!).....

My sister and the new man in her life!

 The first photo is just shortly after he was born. He was born via c-section so my sister was in recovery while his Dad got to cuddle his new son for about 2 hours! My sister had a surgery last October to have a tumor removed from the top of her uterus after they spent several years trying to have a baby and it kept not happening! Now, just one year later.... Look who we have here! Yippee! We were all super excited to find she was going to have a baby. It was a long time coming!

Look at how happy my sister is to have her little baby in her arms! We all love him so much already! He looks so much like both his Mommy and his Daddy! He definitely has his Mama's Blonde hair! I am so glad that he finally made his appearance! He was "scheduled" to be born on October 4th (10/4 would have been perfect since I remember my sister listening to 10-4 Teddy Bear on the record player! LOL, look it up kiddos.... it is a real thing! Ha ha!) However, the amnio test on the 3rd determined that he was not yet "developed" enough to be born. So they unpacked the car and sat down to wait for him to get developed further! The new c-section date was set for the 12th. However, my sister spent much time in and out of the hospital and doctors office for the few days before that. Her blood pressure went up and all sorts of things. She was sent to the hospital several times to have non-stress tests done (which to me were ALWAYS stressful despite their name!) So, on the night of the 11th when they had to medicate her for her high blood pressure she was admitted a night early. So, instead of being there at 5:30 am (the time her other half and our Mom showed up at the hospital) she spent the night! And around 7:30 am she was supposed to go into surgery, but had to wait for a woman to vaginally deliver her baby. So, around 8:30 they finally took her back and got her set up for the surgery! Around 9 am I was informed via our Mother that he had been born but that she had yet to get any information on him yet or a photo! A little while later Garrick(my sister's other half and Gabriel's Daddy) sent me the first photo above along with all of his birth information!

Look at all his hair!
Not only the Longest,
Not only the largest,
But the baby with the most hair! LOL

Look at his little squished face! Too cute!

Needless to say the world was right..... For a few days!

After the 1st trip to the ER!
See the yellow around his eyes?

They were discharged and set off to go about their business of parenting when not more than 6 or so hours of having their family home they were on their way back to the hospital because this cute little guy had become unresponsive. (I swear this situation could have come straight from a lifetime movie.... From when they first started to conceive their sweet baby to the end of this week! LOL) Once they got to the hospital they found his bilirubin levels had gone up and sure enough he was one yellow baby! So they set him up to have his bili light treatments there in the hospital and my sister had "a night from hell"! She didn't sleep, she cried, she did whatever she does on facebook, she tried to distract herself but also ended up with some low blood sugars that needed treating as well while she was there!

They let her go home the next day after his bili levels had come down. Once again that night after have a pretty good day, Gabriel became even more unresponsive and would not wake up for any reason. My sister even thought he had stopped breathing for a few seconds. As a mother I know how scary that can be! I also understand the crying all night while worried about your baby. (Side note: Back in February of this year my 4 year old (it was 2 weeks before he turned 4) was admitted to the hospital for breathing issues and ended up spending a few days in the pediatric unit of the hospital!) 

Daddy holding his son during the 2nd ER trip
They didn't want to put him in the jail
cell crib that is given to babies in the ER!

Once back at the hospital my sister and her other half did everything exactly right (from what I have heard of how everything happened)! Instead of waiting for security to "buzz them in" they shoved passed someone who was on their way out of the hospital and got into the ER where they voiced that they had a completely unresponsive baby with them! The entire staff was on them like white on rice as soon as that was said! 

They spent the next couple of nights with neither of his parents leaving him for very long and my Mom bringing them the things they need. I do believe we were all extra glad that she was up there to help them out during all of this. She was also there to help with the animals. (They have 1 dog, 2 cats and 3 chickens!) I know how much help my Mother can be when it comes to "being a new parent" and I appreciate her help when I need it and I am just glad she was there for my Sister as well!

Sleeping with Mommy at the pediatricians!

Finally, his bilirubin levels came down enough and he was able to "survive" in the hospital off the iv and with nursing, my sister's milk supply came in overnight, (partly with the help of the herbs I told her I use to keep my own supply up I am sure LOL) and she was able to nurse him instead of him having to have an iv in his little arm! He is now nursing like a champ! He proved he is a little fighter and was able to come home and he has been doing loads better at home!

Sleeping on Mommy snug inside his Ring Sling!
(I love the look of these and the fact they are adjustable!)

Sweet Baby Gabriel Charles!

(The marks on his hands are from his iv's
and all the tape and such they felt they
needed to use on the poor little guy!)

Now Little Gabe is home and doing just great! Here are just a few more photos I have of this sweet guy! I am sure I will be photo CRAZY when I go meet him this weekend! Oh, and by the way, Happy Birthday to Garrick! Hope you are having a great day with your new little guy! 

Anyways, here they are and as always....

~TTFN!

A close up!

Even Closer Up! LOL

Attempting to nurse on Daddy's arm!

Craft Materials.....

Blog number 40! Can you believe it? Yeah, me either... On to the good stuff! LOL

Well, I was finally able to upload a bunch of the pictures I have been holding back and found that I have a lot of photos of materials I plan to use on upcoming gifts! My Sister showed my Mother how to make what is called a 1600 Quilt and my Mother in turn showed me! So, with some other materials I have (no photos of those) I am making each child in the family a little quilt! I have the first half of my two middle boys' quilts done and now I need to finish the beginning of my oldest so I can get working on the two babies!

Here are the materials I am using for the front of my oldest!

I cut each fat quarter into 8 stripes that were 21" long each. After that step was complete I put two of each of those together (at the thin end) and then they all get connected to where they make this extremely long length of material that is about 2 inches wide. So far, I really like it and I think it is going to be extra enjoyable! My 6 year old and 4 year old are both getting matching blankets and then the 2 babies in the family will be getting 2 different "pattern combos". One is "Letters to Santa with Reindeer" and the other is "penguins in scarves"! I love all the materials so much!

And, this year seems to be the year of the blankets. Either that or I am showing off how well I can work a sewing machine! I seem to be obsessed with making blankets! What can I say though, I like to keep myself and the ones I love warm!

I also ran across all of my PUL material the other day and the patterns to make diaper covers! Since I have a bunch of cloth diapers (I try to put cloth on the baby at night to save on the cost of paper diapers, plus they are super neat! LOL) and they are not water proof at all! So, I would like to make covers so that, for one, I have more bedtime diaper options (I have a total of maybe 3 all in one or pocket diapers that fit my son) and, for two, I can use the materials I got on sale!

Here are my four PUL material patterns that will someday be on Little Mans booty.... LOL....

Owls! (I have been on a hooter kick recently!)

Monkeys (Every little boy should be slightly bananas for mama!)

Dinos! (RAWR!)

Monsters (for my little monster!)

I also have a solid orange and a solid teal (they did not picture well at all!) that I will also be making into diaper covers. These are probably things that will wait until after my trip to see my sister and meet my Nephew at the end of the month! (Side note: He did not show last week due to under developed lungs, so her surgery was canceled  We were all disappointed  But, New appointment on Friday! Yippee! Can not wait to meet this little guy!) Since I have so much on my plate before that anyhow! We shall see. Maybe my Sister has some more diaper sewing tips she'd like to pass on to her little sis! LOL

Now, I have this other material that I am not sure what on earth I want to make, something I know! LOL But what? I just thought it was neat and had to get it! Plus, it was on sale and I do love a sale!

Isn't it super cute?!

I love it!!!

Finally, a FINISHED piece! I know, it has been so long since I did this that no one thought it would ever happen! But here it is.... 

A Mombo Cover! Remember the Monkey head print and the super duper fuzzy material I showed photos of a while back? Here is what finally became of that! I got the energy and ability to focus on my Mother teaching me the whole zipper thing again and got it done! take a look....

Top with super duper fuzzy goodness!
(yes, I see the ripple too, but it is okay!)

Bottom, all monkey all the time!

Side view to show the two materials together better!

Little man with his pillow that he LOVES!
He cuddles more with that thing than me when he nurses now!

So, that is what I have for everyone at the moment! The only other news I currently have is that Little Man turned 10 months in September! Can we believe it, NOPE! Almost too hard to believe that he turns 1 next month! Yikes! And he already has 8 teeth which the dentist said look great and that he is still a few more months from getting molars in! But here he is to say TTFN from us to you.....

~TTFN!

Happy October Ladies and Gents!

That's right! October already!

Big news in my family coming up in just a few short days! These are really things to get excited about! My new baby nephew will be joining our family by the end of the week! I am so excited for his arrival. Our entire family has waited so long for him it is almost hard to believe he will be here in just a few days. My mother headed up to my Sister's on Saturday. My oldest and youngest boys woke up at 2:30am to go with me to take Grandma to the Airport and hang out with her before she had to go through security. After that we headed to the Super Wal-Mart (I always end up saying that in my head like I am announcing a superhero! Ba-Ba-Ba-Ba it's Superman! LOL) where we purchased our veggies for the week! I had also needed to pick up some bananas for my Hubby since he is official in line for his cholesterol his potassium is of course off! I, being brainy tired me, actually forgot the bananas and had to go back inside and all the way through the store and then back down to register 20 (why they can't have register 1 or 2 open is beyond me!) to check out again after my first trip because, I forgot the bananas! LOL! Once I got home it was back to bed for all of us since it was still before 7 o'clock in the morning and no one else was awake yet! My oldest however opted to stay up and play on the iPod and watch movies in his Grandmother's room so that by the time 8 pm rolled around he was good and ready to pass out!

Now, here we are, Monday, October 1st, 2012. I got to do all of our now normal Monday stuff! Remind the kiddos it is in fact the first day of the week and that means school, yes, school! They got up and moving fairly well today. I am sure it didn't help one bit that I got up, dressed and got sausage patties and waffles cooking for breakfast! LOL! They all ate and then, once I also had eaten, we started pumping out the school work when part way through doing a Language Arts lesson with my 6 year old do I notice his nose has begun to run off his poor little sick boy face! So, box of Kleenex for this kiddo! He understood that he has to do everything he can to get better so that he can go meet his new cousin! I gave him some Multi-Symptom Cold Medicine and then we trucked on through our day! I found out today also that these boys are way ahead in most courses. I thought that at this point they were meant to be at 13% on each course by the end of this week but according to their teachers they are only required to be at 11%! Well, they are super ahead then since they have some courses they are at 19-29% done with. (Yay for my boys!)

These kids are super smart too! Which, this I already knew! I got the test scores back from their beginning of the yea tests and both boys tested above grade level average. My 3rd grader test at the spots he should be in after 3rd grade as he heads into 4th! Where my 1st grader scored some tests at the 8th grade level! Now mind you, they took 2 completely different tests. Not the whole the have the same answers in different spots kind of different but totally different. My 1st grader took what is call DORA and ADAM tests where my 3rd grader took his Scantron tests(the kind that you used to have to sit with a No.2 Pencil and bubble in the letters, they are done online now! LOL) In any case, this is why their scores are so very different! The 1st grader also had a lot of different"subject areas" broken down into sections. Such as Language skills, composition, grammar usage and so on. He ranged on all of them from grade level 0.5 to 7.9 and there where about 25-35 different broken down subjects in all. I just want to point out. These kids would not be succeeding the way they are if they had been left to the Brick and Mortar Schooling System. They have been able to strive and move forward faster than they would have had I left them in their old school. My oldest has done what the school they are in now says should take 25 hours to do in just 5 hours! And he has retained it! Mind you that was in spelling and, well, he got 100% on every spelling test last year and has only had issues with about 4 words in his 5 weeks worth of completed spelling work!

Now, I welcome you all to October and if you didn't notice I did get my Glade Expressions(R) Collection Review up and there were photos! I am not going to over load this post with a ton of photos but I am going to put a bunch up on my Facebook page for anyone who would like to see them. I should be getting that done by the end of tomorrow! I hope you all enjoyed this little tidbit of an update. I can tell by how I continue to ramble that I have missed writing as much as I am sure everyone has missed my oh so naturally witty sarcasm! LOL! Go hit the Like to see the photos!

~TTFN!

BzzAgent Review: Glade Expressions(R) Collection

I hope you have noticed by now that I am a BzzAgent. That means that I get selected to test out products for little to no money. And then I submit my reviews to BzzAgent and then they determine if they want me to review anything else for them based on the reviews I submit. Previously I have done reviews on Dr. Scholl's(R) for Her High Heel Insoles and The Dark Monk (Kindle eBook). Both of which I was pretty happy with as far as the "product" doing what it should! (Keeping my feet comfy-ish and engaging my mind!) I am not a huge High Heel wearer because they hurt my feet and I just could not wrap my head around the story of The Dark Monk. However, this one I love!

In my Kitchen

My most recent campaign was the Glade Expressions(R) Collection. I so far have only been able to try the Pineapple and Mangosteen scent (I was one of "those"customers in Wal-Mart and sprayed the Linen and Italian Mandarin and found I still prefer the Pineapple and Mangosteen) but I look forward to having the other scents in my home in the near future. My next favorite, as far as preferences go would be the Fuji Apple and Cardamom Spice scent. I love Apple Scents. Sadly, I have not been able to find that one in my area.

Pineapple and Mangosteen

All 4 scents are pictured below.

From my Pineapple & Mangosteen I can't remember my house not smelling like to the Lavender & Juniper Berry that I am leery about. (Simply because I can not stand Juniper Berry scented anything.) These have got to be some of Glade's better products and scents in my opinion! Please take the time to stop in your local store (Wal-Mart, Target) and at least sniff the bottle(or box)! The scents are awesome!

Linen and Italian Mandarin

One thing I was told when this campaign first started was that you had to be careful with the Oil Diffuser because it "ruined" someones $300 coffee table! Well, I do not have any of that back story but they are pretty simple to use and I am not sure that the person understood the extra easy directions. The diffuser comes in a box that also has directions on how to assemble it that also has pictures to use as references on how to put this neat, stylish little thing together. Open box, take out parts, snap card into oil base, set in "frame" and you are done! Easy right? I thought so! So how on earth did it "destroy" that coffee table? I have no idea!

Fuji Apple and Cardamom Spice

What scent do you think you would be most willing to try? I am looking forward to finding that Fuji Apple! When it comes to my home smelling good I want it to be a scent that friends and family can enjoy as well. I have found that, even though some people like the scent, I can not stand the scent of Cinnamon! I like the flavor of ground cinnamon but I can not stand the smell! It gives me a headache! It takes a lot for me to smell that scent and not have a headache. So, I am glad that Glade has these "fall-ish" scents for me to enjoy instead of the "normal" cinnamon scent that naturally always comes out this time of the year!

Lavender and Juniper Berry

With all that being said, I give Glade Expressions(R) Collection a giant A++++!! The scents are appealing, they warm your home without being too over powering! (Unless you set your chair right next to the diffuser sitting on the counter top, then it can be just a bit much! LOL) And they come in packaging that is even more appealing than the scent itself! Most of the "Air Fresheners" now have packaging that you may not want seen by the guests in your home. Both the diffuser and the mist both have appealing packaging you can set anywhere and it will look like it was made to go right where you set it. Our diffuser sits next to the school computer while the mist can is above the mirror in the bathroom. Neither one look out of place! If you happen to try any of the Glade Expressions(R) Collection please let me know what you think. My vote is cast! But I value everyones opinions!

~TTFN!