The rest of the weekend!

For SB's birthday, her daddy and I took her on a clothing shopping spree! She loves clothes, but it is safer, and has been since she was 5, to let her pick them out herself, unless of course you like just throwing money away. She has always had her own sense of style. It's a good one too. The girl can put clothes together. She did not get that from me.

Anyway, after my nap on Saturday, we took the kids to see Nanny McPhee. What a great movie! I was not expecting it to be as good as it was. Then we hit some of SB's favorite stores as well as trying a new one called Justice, Just for Girls.It's a spin off of Limited Too and carries clothing only from about a size 8 to 16. They were a bit on the pricey side, but the Clearance rack was amazing! They have CUTE stuff. We also hit Kohl's and JcPenny and Target. Lots of clothes and a knitting kit for the girl. It was really fun to watch her shop!

Sunday was spent hanging out until church. We were beat. This weekend is not looking any easier with Generations and a family birthday party for SB and my nieces on Saturday night as well as a superbowl party here on Sunday and SB has a school function Friday night. I need a nap already!

Monkey Spa Party...

Where it's all about the bananas...

That's what the poster said that SB and her friend made at school to hang up on the front door for the party. The party was sooo much fun. Really a blast. With the exception of the noise level, I couldn't have asked for anything different.

The caterer arrived at 5:15 to set up. SB and her best friend, who came home from school with us, and the Princess and I put the finishing touches on the goody bags while the set up was happening.



The caterer finished just as the guests started arriving. As the girls began to trickle in, the one who were here started a game of "Hot Monkey", like Hot Potato, but ummm...With a monkey!

After more of the girls arrived, out came the Karaoke machine for some musical fun! The girls were hilarious. They sang and danced for an hour! The Princess graced the crowd with a song as well and the girls LOVED it! I have to say I was a little nervous about having a 4 year old at a party with 14 -11 year olds, but her sister REALLY wanted her to stay and she was magnificent. The girls treated her just like one of them. They danced with her and helped her with everything.It was really awesome. Anyway, back to the party!

I finally called an end to the karaoke as the caterer was standing around doing nothing, so the girls lined up for food. There were chicken and beef tacos, chicken nugget skewers, and macaroni and cheese along with every soda imaginable. The girls all ate at a long table and the noise level was incredible.You would think with all that food in their mouths it might be quieter...ummm...No!

When they were done eating, we cleaned up for a craft. One of the prizes in the sweepstakes was plate kits. The girls each colored, with special markers, a jungle scene on a round piece of paper. Today I will mail these back to the company and in a couple of weeks we will be giving the girls a dishwasher/microwave safe plate they can actually use that has the picture they colored on it!
This really kept them busy for a long time. Quite the perfectionists they were.

SB was ready for presents at this point, so that's what we did. She got lots of fun girly stuff, lots of gift cards and a fish and small aquarium. Hmmm...

After the presents the girls settled in to do nails, hair and makeup. That was fun. I did Princess Crowns on The Princess' nails and helped some of the other girls with the hand they weren't so good with. I did dice and stripes and polka dots and flowers. The girls put on tons of makeup and had multi colored streaks in their hair. They all looked lovely!

Then came the cake and banana split bar. After a rousing rendition of Happy Birthday, the birthday girl made a wish and blew out her candles. The girls then made some of the most disgusting concoctions ever with ice cream and toppings galore. Yum!

It was time to calm down a bit, so they watched a movie, or rather talked through a movie. At this point it was around 11:30 and since I fancy myself Cinderella, it was time for me to go to bed. Mark and I have a system. He stays up late for the slumber parties and I get up with the girls. Works for me! I told him to make the girls lay down around 1 and I heard this happening as I never actually got to sleep because of the noise level. The Princess had actually fallen asleep around 11 and was in bed with me. After I heard the girls getting settled, I fell asleep and woke at 3:30 when the volume was up again. The girls were all still laying down, but they were loud. I told them it was time to sleep and they needed to be quiet. I never heard another peep until 8:30 AM. I have been assured that they didn't actually go to sleep then, they were just quieter!

The girls played a game of jump off the couch into the pile of sleeping bags while I heated up the Monkey bread for breakfast. After breakfast they all went outside to jump on the trampoline and ended up out there for over an hour jumping and having little races in our baby cars and wagon. It was so fun! Around 10 Am the parents started arriving, all very cautiously as though they wanted to make sure we were all still living! Finally at 11am all girls except mine were back in the care of their parents. And I went and took a nap!

It was really a fun party and a great experience for SB. It was great to have the help with the food and some of the activities, but I don't think that really made the party. The girls always love to come to our house and hang out anyway, so while I think it was nice to not have to worry about all the details, it was a fun party because we made it fun!

Pictures are up at Flickr. Most are not accessible to people I don't know. If you want access, ask.

A Star is Born

So, there we were, heading to the hospital after a very rough night to arrive by 5 AM. I was so not happy at this point!lol! We arrived and they checked me and I was dilated...To 1 cm, yes, that's correct, 1 cm, after nearly 24 hours of contractions. Did I mention this baby did not want to come out??They started pitocin and we wait and wait and wait...Around noon I think I'm dying and they check me and I'm at 3 cm. After 5 freaking hours on pitocin with strong regular contractions...And I want an epidural because I am done. My doctor is a gem and is in and out all day and calling to check on me and the nurses are awesome. Mark is amazing and wonderful and being perfect but I am done! I am STARVING to death and I can smell this really yummy bread somewhere and the nurse goes and wraps some up for me for when I am done. She didn't realize she wouldn't even be working anymore!lol!

So, this goes on and on...Sometime in the late afternoon they break my water to see if we can move any faster here...This does seem to make things progress a little more but then the nurses are looking concerned because the baby's heartrate is decelerating with each contraction, so they decide to put a monitor in her head. They do and see that her heart rate is dropping drastically. The doctor comes in and decides to basically put a sterile saline solution back inside me to give a cushion to the baby because it appears that she is pressing on the umbilical cord each time I have a contraction. This will make her float. I am trying to remain calm, but my baby's heart rate keeps dropping and they've decided that they want the NICU team in the room when she's born because we don't know what kind of shape she'll be in...The replenishing of fluid seems to work for a bit and we are allowing labor to progress for a bit, but it's been too long on the pitocin, it's stressing the baby and my body, and my doctor comes in to talk about a c-section. He sits with me on the bed, brings me a popsicle and rubs my legs while I cry and say I don't want a c-section, but I do want a healthy baby...

He checks me then and I am at 8 cm. We're going to try one more thing before we call it quits on the vaginal delivery. He wants me to try to push just a bit to see if my cervix will dilate with the pushing...I push once and that's it...My cervix is fully dilated and we're going to have this baby right now.The doctor gets ready, the nurses are ready, the NICU team is in the room and with three, yes only three, pushes, at 10:32 PM, out flies my baby with a huge gush of fluid.

She was purple, the umbilical cord was wrapped around her neck and under her arm...I was terrified. They gave her right to the NICU team after the cord was cut by her daddy. I was so worried, asking "why isn't she crying, is she okay" The doctor and the nurses telling me she'll be fine and then I hear it, the lusty newborn cry. The cry of a healthy baby. My girl. We've been waiting for you...She is declared healthy and given to her daddy to give to me. She calms immediately on hearing my voice as I say to her "welcome baby girl, we've been waiting for you, we're so happy you're here, you are so beautiful" She latches on immediately and nurses like a champ from the first moment. I tell her all about her big brother and how he has been waiting for her. She nurses and nurses and nurses. I try to take her off, she screams, she wants to be attached to mama! They finally tell me how much she weighs. 8 lbs. 5 oz, 20.5 inches long. Daddy holds her for a few minutes, but she is, from the beginning, a mamma's girl.

She nurses through much of the night as she rooms with me and her daddy sleeps on the pull out bed in the room with us. Big brother is with Nonnie and cannot come in to the room to see her as the hospital is closed for RSV reasons.after a tiring night, we are released early the next day.Big Brother comes to the hospital waiting room and gets to meet her first. I asked that no one come to the hospital since I wanted her brother to meet her first. He is in awe. He adores her. We all do. We are a happy family.This baby was much wanted and is much loved.

And today, she's 11 years old. It hardly seems possible. Where did the time go? Watching her grow has been amazing. She is such a blessing to us. She's a beautiful, talented, smart and loving girl. She a great sister and a great friend. Every day we are more and more proud of the person she is becoming.

This morning we woke her up with a decorated house, a birthday song and a cake made of Krispy Kremes. I'll be taking her favorite lunch to school and then tonight the house will be filled with the sounds of her friends. 15 laughing giggly girls. What a blessing!

I'm putting some pictures in Flickr of her first year and of this morning. Watch for pictures of the big party sometime this weekend!

11 years ago

Right this minute(it was a Thursday even!), I was in the hospital waiting for my girl. She was due on the 19th and we had waited an extra week. Our first child had been 8 1/2 pounds and 19 hours of induced labor ending with forceps and a vacuum, so my Dr. didn't want to wait any longer. Social Butterfly had a different idea.

We got to the hospital at 6 am for an induction. I had the medication placed to soften my cervix as I was not at all dilated or even soft. This baby was not coming out, ever! This was a theme through 3 of my 4 pregnancies. My babies reallly liked being in the womb! Anyway, I was given this medication 3 times over the course of the day, was having contractions, but nothing regular. Just enough to be painful and piss me off! Mark and I walked and walked the halls of the hospital, to no avail. My Doctor decided we should go home and come back the following morning at 5 AM to start the pitocin. He actually thought my body would kick itself into labor and we would be back in the middle of the night. No such luck. I am telling you, this baby girl was staying put.
So, at 3 in the afternoon we went home...
You, like we did,will have to wait until tomorrow for the rest of the story!lol!

My Husband...

Is amazing...
Remember this post? I had been looking for one of these. They are pretty rare.

Guess what I got for my birthday???

He'd been working on this for quite some time.
What a gem he is. I burst into tears, of course.

Wouldn't you? That man of mine is a treasure and I love him so...





The Princess and I got in some play time this afternoon. Here Jody and her daughter, Cinderella, discuss why Cinderella is twice as tall as her mother and how she got to be so blonde.

I don't get it...

As I was driving yesterday, I saw no less than 5 bumper stickers proclaiming in some way that the female occupant of the car was a bitch. These stickers were very pretty, some with roses on them and beautiful script. I just don't understand what is beautiful about being a bitch? Why would you a) want to be one and b) if you are, want the world to know it?


bitch[1,noun]bitch[2,verb]bitch goddessson of a bitch
1 : the female of the dog or some other carnivorous mammal
2 a : a lewd or immoral woman b : a malicious, spiteful, or domineering woman -- sometimes used as a generalized term of abuse
3 : something that is highly objectionable or unpleasant
4 : complaint

Some of these cars even had children in them. That's what I want my first grader to go to school and say...
"What does your mommy do?"
"she's a bitch!"

is this something some women aspire to? Is this how they want to raise their daughters? I'm all about standing up for yourself and not letting people take advantage of you but I really believe in the old adage about catching more flies with honey and I strive to be kind. I may not always achieve this goal as I would like, but in my heart that's how I want to live my life and what I really want to model for my children. I know I'm not alone. Anyone else disturbed by this?

Trading Spaces Transformation

My hubby worked really hard this weekend to get this done. I just got to play designer!lol!

The before...




And after...

So It Goes

Here for my weekly weigh in. I gained 2.5 pounds. Darn Birthday. If I had only eaten badly on my birthday I would probably be fine, but I used my birthday as an excuse to eat badly all weekend!
So, back on the wagon today. Karin and I are supposed to walk tomorrow, but this morning when I took the kids to school it was 34 degrees. I'm not sure about taking the kids out to walk in that cold...

ARGH!!

The Teenager is at a party. Some girl's sweet sixteen. He's bored and wanting to watch football. So he keeps calling me. Every 5 minutes. To find out the score of a game I'm not watching. He's driving me crazy!!! I guess I should be grateful that I know he's safe, right?lol!

White

Cottage White, Antique, Eggshell, White Fur, Snow Fall, Bridal Veil, White Glove, Soft Breeze, Frosty Morning, blah, blah, blah. I do not like white paint as a primary color. I like it as an accent but that's as far as it goes.
My in-laws house? All White. But my FIL will say "It's not plain white, it's cottage white." Dude? It's white! My MIL says he keeps everything white so the house will be easier to sell. Even though they've lived there for 13 years and have no plans to sell...She likes color, he doesn't. He hates my red kitchen!
I'm reallly glad Mark did not inherit his dad's fear of color. He'll go along with whatever colors I choose. Poor Janet, on the other hand, got the fearful brother. He thinks Janet doesn't like his choice of paint color because she wants to repaint a door he painted. When they moved in. 13.5 years ago.

What's really fun?

I'm working on painting the bedroom tonight. Since the new carpet is being installed on Monday? We've put down no dropcloth. I am a messssyyyy painter. There are paint splatters all over the carpet and I don't care!

Public Service Announcement

Wallpaper Border was created by Satan.

I say this because I spent hours today tearing down the horrid border that the previous owners of this house had put up in the master bedroom. I had forgotten that they put it up to go with the charming seafoam green paint that was in the room when we moved in. As I was 6 weeks away from delivering a baby and dealing with a 2 year old, 6 year old and 11 year old as well as trying to get a house put together, we just painted over the seafoam but left the border. It was hell. And don't go giving me the "did you try such and such?" routine because YES I DID. I tried every thing and if I didn't try it I certainly don't need you to tell me about it now because I am finished. It is gone. I have beaten the wallpaper border.

As God is my witness, I'll never have wallpaper border again.

It's my party...

But no crying here. I slept late this morning (6:45, that is late for me) while Mark got the kids ready for school and let in the daycare kiddos. There were flowers and cards and homemade presents waiting for me, along with a giftcard and good dark chocolate candy from some daycare parents.

I'll be out shopping later. I need new sheets for my new bed which is coming on Tuesday! Woohoo! Then I'm meeting Karin for lunch and going to school to judge the spelling bee which I do every year and LOVE!

Tonight, dinner with my inlaws.

The rest of the long weekend will be spent moving furniture and painting. We've got new carpet coming on Monday for my bedroom and the living room. I can't wait!

Sick?Updated

Update:She made it through school, but does not look good. By the time she wanted to go to the nurse, the nurse was gone for the day.She ended up falling asleep under a table in the library. Poor girl. Still no temp though, but I'm sure a dr. visit will be in our plans tomorrow!


The Social Butterfly woke up feeling not so well this morning. A sore throat and upset stomach. My daughter gets strep about once a year and it's never typical. It comes in the form of scarlet fever or an upset stomach, but never does her throat hurt when she has strep, so I wasn't sure what to make of this. No temperature, but she did look pale and her throat is red but not swollen. Was she trying to stay home? I wasn't sure so I had her get up and get ready and eat. I took her to school, but we were late ( an "Oh my gosh, I forgot I needed to get gas this morning" incident) so I walked her in to get a pass and just decided to have the nurse look at her while we were there. The nurse said no fever, but her tongue was coated and she looked pale so she thought I should take her home since I would probably get a call later in the day to pick her up. SB looked very sad at that point and when I asked her what was the matter, she said she wanted to stay because they are beginning to work on their 5th grade research project today and she wanted to be there. So I asked the nurse and she said since there was no fever she could stay. So I let her stay... I felt a bit guilty leaving her though. I don't want anyone else to get sick, but since I don't really know if she's sick it was more of a preventative measure...
Did I do the right thing?

Everyone's doing it...

Since lots of you are telling about funny searches that bring people to your site...

here's my favorite for the day...

Martha Stewart New Year's Eve Decorations

Ummm...You're either a little late or realllllllly early on this one!

A Week From Saturday...

The teenager will be old enough to get his learner's permit. Oh. My.Gawd. Thank Heaven his high school offers a driver's ed program so he'll be going through that before he drives with us at all. I just can't believe he's old enough for this...

4.5 pounds!

That's how much I lost this week! Only 48.5 more to go!lol!

I am excited. I know there are other methods or "diets" that might help me lose faster, but I really like Weight Watchers because I make the decision about what to eat. I still eat the things I like, just in smaller amounts. Hooray for me!

Birthday Fun!

Back in July, I won a national sweepstakes from Martha Stewart Kids magazine. It was a child's birthday party for 15 kids. Given that the two youngest have summer birthdays that are 12 days apart and that the Teenager doesn't do parties anymore, Social Butterfly was the obvious choice to be the recipient. Her birthday is this month so the party is starting to come together and boy is it fun!
Invitations arrived this week, custom made to fit the monkey/spa theme my girl decided on. Along with the invitations, she got a 15 pound box of extra stationary stuff from the invitation company and a scrapbooking page kit for each girl. Today I got my second phone call from Martha's people who wanted to finalize the catering menu. The caterer is a very good one in these here parts, according to my hubby whose work has used them several times. We'll be having a taco bar with beef and chicken tacos and all the fixings, macaroni and cheese, and chicken nugget skewers with peanut dipping sauce. We'll be having a cake shaped like a monkey head, chocolate, of course, and a make your own banana split bar. They are also bringing the snacks since it is a slumber party. They'll be bringing pretzels and doritos and skittles and reeses candies along with plenty of Dr. Pepper. They are also providing breakfast the next morning which is Monkey bread and fresh fruit! There will be a server here from 6-8 the night of the party as well. They are also sending nail polish kits and lotions, etc for each girl and also, a book for each girl on fun manicure stuff so they can give manicures to each other at the party. They are providing all the decorations, a filled Monkey pinata and the goody bags already filled with monkey themed items. This is amazing, but so much fun!
Along with all the party stuff, we've received several gift cards from Best and Co, Olive Kids and Zutano, along with a box full of activities for the girls from a place called Makit products and a memory album and lots of other stuff from Snapfish! I can't believe that I actually won all of this stuff from filling out one form online!
The party is sure to be lots of fun for my girl and it really couldn't happen to a sweeter kid. This girl is so nice and polite and wonderful in so many respects and while she's excited about it, she's not being obnoxious about the kind of party she's having, just thankful and happy!

Hmmm...

A comment to my New Year's post got me thinking...When my oldest daughter is 15, will I be as lenient as I am with my son? Gut reaction? No freakin' way!! I think the fact that my son is a 6'3", 200 pound BOY has contributed to the amount of freedom he's been allowed. Because really? Call me naive, but I'm not so worried about my kids getting involved in things they shouldn't get involved in. I'm more worried about someone hurting them and that seems far more likely with my girl who is a twig than it does with the Teenager. I trust my kids. It's the rest of the world that freaks me out...

Happy New Year!!

We've had a lovely Christmas and New Year's celebration. We still have today and tomorrow off and then back to the grind, but with new perspective after a long family holiday.

The BEST thing that happened for us on New Years? The Teenager was, of course, out with friends last night. (At someone's house, not on the streets!) I have a hard time letting go, but have given him a lot of freedom, especially on this vacation. I had spoken to him at 10:30 pm and thought that might be it until I pick him up today, but with 10 seconds left in the old year, the phone rang and it was him, calling to count down with us. A midnight he said "Happy New Year, I love you mom" and then spoke to each of the other members of our family to tell them all the same thing. I think we've done the right thing by not keeping too tight of a reign on him. He has the freedom he needs as a teenager, but still knows where his base is. I don't know how many parents of teenagers get a New Year's Eve midnight phone call, but I'm betting it's not a lot.