Baby Carriers
Filed Under Family, Maddi, money | 2 Comments
Soooo….
Thanks to the lovely Brianna, I discovered the most AMAZING baby carriers in the world. I seriously love the buckle mei-tai. I went through a LOT of different carriers when I had Maddi, and I hated them all, so finally I just said “Screw it.” and quit using them and just carried her on my hip or whatnot.
However… these buckle mei-tais are fan-freaking-tastic. I love it.
I love it so much I started to research how to make them. I had a hard time finding anything that wasn’t just a square with straps on it. I even emailed the lady who made the one I was given, but she wouldn’t give me the pattern, or even an inkling of an idea on how to assemble it.
So, I spent SEVEN hours drafting a pattern for it. Measuring, remeasuring, and connecting the dots. Who ever thought that I would actually USE the skills I learned in geometry class!
The prototype! Isn't it awesome?
I worked soooo hard on this!
I’ve got enough fabric to make another one. I love the one I made, however, I plan on extending the body piece another inch. I think mine was a little on the short side. Barely, but I want to extend the whole body piece an inch!
God, I love these things.
And god, I love my determination to figure these things out!
Things I’ve Learned About Love…
- Illness is humbling, but you know you’re loved when your partner is up all night taking care of the children so you can rest, holding your hair while you puke, or helping you walk for the first time after surgery, even if you walk slower than a grandma.
- Don’t take the things your partner does for you for granted, no matter how small or trivial it may seem. It dosen’t take much to show appreciation; a kind word, a smile, a kiss.
- Tease each other, playfully of course. Find humor in every day life, even if you’re the one being teased. Don’t take things so seriously, or you may never find anything to smile about.
- Looks don’t last forever. Everyone loses their youth and loses their beauty, however, love can last forever, if you let it.
- Never hold back “I love you,” even when you’re angry, because no matter how mad you get, being upset should never change how you feel about each other. And sometimes, saying “I love you” is all it takes to mend hurt feelings.
- Romance dosen’t have to be fireworks and flowers. Romance can be found in the little things.
- Happiness isn’t something you find; it’s something you create for yourself from your situation.
Finding My Father…
Filed Under Family, Love, Uncategorized | 1 Comment
A lot of people don’t know this, and a lot of people do, but my paternity has been a mystery to me since I was born. They thought I was one man’s child for two years until a test proved them wrong… And then they thought I was another man’s child for twelve years until yet another test proved them wrong. After the second test, my mom refused to tell me who my dad was. Eventually she told me, but not until I had turned eighteen and spent six months in bible bootcamp being forcefed religion and damnation.
When I got back, I looked for the two names she gave me. But there was so many people listed in the white pages by those names… People all over the country. I even went as far as to call some of them. I thought about mailing them all a letter, but postage would have been a few hundred dollars! I gave up for a while.
My husband and I didn’t really agree on the issue. I still think we don’t. He thinks that by searching for my father I’m being inconsiderate to any wife or kids he may have now, and I’m not thinking about how this will affect his life. I know it will affect him, but even if he has other kids, I have just as much of a right know my father as they do.
So, I’ve decided to find him. I’m going through the military to do it this time though. Sometimes the military is able to help locate active duty personnel or former personnel. I found the address to the National Personal Records Center and the U.S. Army Enlisted Records & Evaluation Center. I wrote them both a letter requesting information on the two men, and enclosed a stamped envelope containing a letter for each man in the event that they are able to find them but unable to legally release the information to me. That way, they can address the letter and send it to them.
Now it’s just a matter of waiting. Four to six weeks of waiting.
I’m nervous. I’ve always wanted to find my father… But I’ve always been afraid to. It’s one of those things where you want to do it, however, you’re too afraid to do it. You keep putting it off.
But, I’ve made up my mind this time.
I’m going to do it.
Maddi’s First Hair Cut
Filed Under Family, Love, Maddi, photos | 3 Comments
Getting ready with great-grandpa!
She won't look like a sheepdog much longer!!
I had to hold her face still!
And, the finished product!
Today was Dan’s birthday (I won’t tell you how old he is…) and he’s been bugging me for almost a year now to cut Maddi’s hair and I have refused… And I decided it would be his birthday gift. I had my grandpa cut her bangs! I’m broke, and I thought it’d be a “gift” that Dan would appreciate… But instead he tells me she’s got a “mullet.” NO SHE DOSEN’T!
I just can’t win, can I? 
Wisdom Teeth Photos
Filed Under Health | 2 Comments
They just look so gross! They were huge though, that's why they hurt!
Teeth look fine... Until you see the roots!
As promised, here’s a photo of my super-yucky wisdom teeth! They really freaking hurt to come out! I can’t believe I had the reactions to the extractions that I did! Who’d have thought I’d be passing out and puking for two days straight!
I feel sooo much better now. It still hurts, but at least I’m not puking anymore!
Wisdom Teeth…
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(I’m lazy. I copy+pasted this from an email i wrote a friend.)
I got my wisdom teeth yanked yesterday and let me tell you, it was a NIGHTMARE! They used 12 vials of the novacaine on me (I’m hard to numb) and finally did a ligamental on each corner of each tooth and then yanked them. I felt okay the first few hours afterwards, aside from the massive bleeding and having to switch the gauze so much (I can’t stand seeing large amounts of my own blood unless it’s in a vial or something) but as soon as I was able to feel my face again I started passing out and throwing up non-stop. I was JUST able to eat something for the first time a couple hours ago. It sucks. I must have gotten sick at least a dozen times. It’s terrible! I’m still only eating things like Jell-O, applesauce and gatorade. I had a small bowl of potate soup but I didn’t feel so great afterwards. I had to call up my OB doctor and get a prescription for Zofram called in. It’s a REALLY effective anti-nausea medication. Works well. I was in the hospital with a virus for three days in March, and thinking about WATER made me sick. They gave me the zofram and all of a sudden i wanted a cheeseburger! lol It’s pretty strong stuff. You have to remember to take the second dose in time, or you’ll end up puking up everything you ate while the first dose was working, which sucks. I went to my grandma’s afterwards because there was just no way I could take care of Maddi and Danny while I’m on pain meds for the teeth and sleeping so much from the nausea medicine. She’s been an amazing help. I still feel pretty lousy but i think I’ll feel at least decent by tomorrow.
On a lighter note, I got some pretty nasty pictures of my teeth after they were taken out! EWW! I’ll post those later!
Mommy & baby
Filed Under Danny, photos | 4 Comments
He loves his mommy.
I'm his favorite!
Dan and Allie did these for me. 
I <3 them.
Tired…
Filed Under Breastfeeding, Danny, Health, Maddi | Leave a Comment
Wow. So, Danny is getting bigger and bigger by the minute. He’s got better head control now, and he’s even started to smile a little… They aren’t complete smiles, but you can tell they’re getting there! They’re so cute too! I need to figure out where my camera went so I can get some photos of his dorky little smile. <3
Maddi is having issues. She’s acting out and I think it’s because of all of the attention Danny is getting. She’s refusing to wear her diapers! Especially at night! She tears all her clothes off and her diaper and screams her head off, over and over again. Last night we had to redress and re-diaper her FIVE different times. It’s frustrating. We have been starting to toilet train her, because if she’s going to yank off her diaper, she’s going to sit on the potty. We did buy her some tinkerbell underwear, and she LOVES those. She’ll wear them… All of them… at once if we let her… But she pees herself. Whenever she’s in just underwear though, we set a timer and put her on the potty every ten minutes. She has yet to successfully use it… *sigh* One day she’ll use it…
Aside from that, not much else is going on. Dan works. I take care of Maddi and Danny and I pump. Sounds simple, but it’s VERY time consuming. Especially the pumping. I have to pump every two hours, and when I pump it’s usually for about 20 minutes at a time. I pump at the same time Danny is nursing… He nurses on one side and I pump the other for ten minutes. By the time ten minutes hits, and he’s been nursing that long, he usually falls asleep. And then after that, I pump the one he was nursing on for five minutes, and then the one he didn’t nurse on for five minutes.
Because of doing that, my supply has SKYROCKETED. I have 52 bottles in the freezer and two bags in the freezer. Yesterday, I converted how many ml’s I pumped into ounces (I had kept track) and I had pumped 16.74 ounces yesterday! That is a LOT of milk! I haven’t tallied up how much I’ve done today yet, though.
Anyways, I’m exhausted. I’m off to bed for an hour or two before Danny wakes up wanting boobies.
Boobies Galore…
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So, little Danny-boy is a boob-addict. He’s a mad nursing machine, which is a good thing! Even when he was first born, he knew exactly what to do when he was put to the breast, and nursed like a barracuda! The kid loves his boobs. I’m really lucky there, especially considering that some moms have trouble getting their babies to nurse. Danny-boy treats mealtimes as very no-nonsense times, and takes his suckling job very seriously. It’s so cute. He’ll be eating and he’ll have his brow furrowed and look very focused… Almost like he’s glaring at my boobs!
My supply has been steadily increasing, which is GREAT! I was so suprised earlier though, I went to pump because poor danny-boy was asleep and he didn’t look like he wanted to wake up. I got almost seven ounces in ONE pumping session. That’s a LOT of breastmilk. Any woman who has nursed knows that 7 ounces is a lot to get in one pumping session. I was shocked, but hey, it’s great! The more I make, the more I’ll have in the freezer and stored for him!
Right now, I have 35 bottles of milk in the freezer. Each bottle is 2.5 ounces, so thirty-five bottles would be 87.5 ounces! That’s a lot to have stored up! Especially considering he only eats two ounces at a time (well, right now he does..)! It’s a head start! My goal is to get 50 ounces stored in the freezer!
Doctor Updates
Filed Under Danny, Health, Love, Maddi | Leave a Comment
So our doctor’s appointments both went well.
Dr. B checked me out real quick, wrote a note saying that he advised me to deliver my baby in Anchorage due to the lack of resources available locally. I told him about my bleeding and my dizzy spells where my eyes cloud over, and he said it could be due to a lot of blood being lost during the surgery. It started to go down yesterday, so for now, he just wants me to keep an eye on it, and if it gets worse, he’ll check me out again and determine what to do from there. He also gave me a small prescription of pain meds. I do fine for the most part, but nighttime and evening time gets really hard on me. I get really achey and sore by the time night rolls around.
Dr. P, (Maddi and Danny’s doctor) checked Dan out, and said he was a very healthy and very strong little boy. You won’t believe how much weight he’s gained! He was born at 8lbs and 1oz, and he is now 9lbs and 6.5oz! I can’t believe he’s gained that much weight! that’s 1lb and 5.5oz! That’s a lot for a little baby to gain in only fifteen days! Especially considering that he lost a couple ounces the first couple days and gained it back!
Meanwhile, Maddi was incredibly whiney today. It was really stressing Dan out because she was screaming her head off for no reason the whole drive home from the store. She was just throwing a tantrum. Nothing was wrong. You can tell a difference in the cries, and it really irritates me because when Dan gets stressed he can’t just ignore her. He gets really upset and cranky at everyone. Mostly because there’s nothing he can do to fix it. Maddi has just been very trying on the both of us since we brought Danny home. She’s got to put a stop on the tantrums though… They’re driving everyone crazy…
Anyways, I’m exhausted. I fell asleep again while I was nursing Danny around 5pm and didn’t wake up until nearly 8pm. Crazy stuff!
Tomorrow I need to mail off my letter to Dr. L. I forgot to do it today, mostly because I need to find a bigger envelope that the pictures will fit into!
keep looking »