Mini Van Birth

 Disclaimer: I wrote all of this down before I could forget the details. When you are reading this that somethings might not make sense, my spelling is probably terrible, and the grammer is probably even worse. Please remember I just gave birth and delivered a baby.

Our due date was Valentine's Day, February 14th, 2013. I was hoping she would wait until the end of our fun for the day. I had talked to my mom earlier and she was hoping the baby would come on the date or shortly after. My mom could come for a visit over the weekend to help after I had the baby, and this particular weekend would be the best because she could stay an additional day due to President's Day.
 Our Valentine fun concluded and Rocky and I put Melodie to bed. I was talking on the phone with my mom (it was around 8:30pm) who asked a question that I didn't answer. "I think I'm having a contraction," I said. At first my mom thought I was joking, but realizing I wasn't she instructed me to call when we were leaving for the hospital and we hung up. I told Rocky this would be a good time for him to get some sleep because the contractions were not painful, strong or consistant yet. He went to bed and I called Auntie June to put her on standby to watch Melodie. I watched The Big Bang Theory and Project Runway and then at around 9:30the contractions started to get stronger, hurt and slightly more consistant. An hour after that I woke up Rocky to help time them and called June to tell her she would definately be needed tonight. By the time she arrived, Rocky and I finished packing up our last minute things. At about 11:30 we thought we were close enough to the hospital guidelines for admission (Baby #2 or more - 7-10 min. apart, 40-60 seconds long for one hour). We were at 6 min. apart for 30 seconds for one hour. So I called the hospital and I was told they should actually be closer to one minute long and that I should call back in an hour (before if they did get closer to one minute). The conversation was actually longer, with me truly believing it was time to go in, and her telling me that I might not be in true labor. But the problem is, if you go in when you're not suppose to they will just send you home. So we kept timing and hoping they would get longer.
 After about a half an hour they were about 45 seconds long. We started talking about calling back and decided that we would if they stayed that consistant for a little while more. And then 15 min. later (45 min. after my call to the hospital, so it's now after midnight) I doubled over in pain and my water broke. And my pain didn't stop. Rocky called the hospital to tell them my water broke and we were coming in while June helped me get ready to go (clean off a bit). I couldn't believe it, but it seriously sounded like the girl on the phone still wasn't sure we should go in and she wanted to talk to me. The pain still hadn't stopped and I was furious. I grabbed the phone and told her we were coming in because my water broke and I was in constant pain. I was in a state of panic and rushing Rocky. I wasn't feeling an urge to push, but I felt something wasn't right. The fact that there wasn't even a few seconds of relief from the pain really concerned me and I was not handling it well.
 We were in the car and on our way to a hospital that is about 20 min. away (side note: There is a hospital about 1 min. away from my house. There are also several hospitals on the way to the one that our insurance dictates that we go to. Just another reason I'm not a fan of insurance companies). We turned off the street we live on (still in the neighborhood) and I pretty much lost it. I was screaming, "This isn't right! The pain isn't stopping! Something's wrong! Aaaahh!" The pain was much worse now that I was sitting and I was even more concerned. We turned onto Beach Blvd (for those of you who know where we live) and screamed to Rocky, "Pull the car over! Call 911! Something is wrong!" Rocky, thinking this was the pain talking, kept driving and reassuring me. Knowing something was wrong took off my bottoms, reached down...and felt a head.
 I instantly felt calmer. It was strange, but now that I knew what was going on, I really did calm down. It was odd that without pushing I was delivering a baby, and I was still worried, but I wasn't frantic. I said to Rocky (not quite as crazy as before), "Pull over and call 911! The baby's head is out!" At this point he looked over and in a complete emotional role reversal he became the panicy one. He pulled the car over and called 911 as he got out of the car and came over to my side of the van. I was pretty much ignoring him because he was repeating the things the 911 operator was saying, but I just remember thinking that she was saying very obvious things (now that I look back at it, she was saying things that you might not know if you'd never had a baby before and she was probably assuming Rocky was going to have to deliver the baby). I had my hand holding her head and after a few minutes (still not feeling the urge to push) said to Rocky, "The rest of her is coming out!" and caught her by the backside with my other hand. I put her on my stomach and covered her with a towel. She started crying and then I noticed the ambulance coming down the street the other direction. It took them a few minutes to get to us (There's a divider and they turned down another street instead of making a u-turn. In their defense, Rocky wasn't being very clear on where we were. In his defense, he was watching his wife give birth and deliver her own baby in a mini van).
 They arrived at 12:45 (we were told later because we completely didn't think to look at what time she was born). One of the paramedics looked us over and I remember him saying to the others (there was a fire truck and two police cars as well) that I was being very calm. The baby and I were loaded into the ambulance (after some manuvering...we were still attached by umbilical cord) and were on our way to a different hospital. Rocky followed in the van (escorted by police).
 And that is the story of giving birth in our mini van. The only complication caused by this was slight. Because the umbilical cord wasn't clamped and cut right after, our baby had something called polycythemia. Luckily they caught it quickly and it was taken care of just by giving her formula (I was sad about this, but it was better than an IV and taking out blood and switching it with saline) to thin out the blood. I think the birth certificate is funny. For place it says "automobile". The location is the cross streets and the attendant (physician, mid-wife, etc...) is me!
 And here she is! This is our little one who made quite an entrance:

Aria Natalia Adams

 

6 lbs. 14 oz.

19 inches

 

Valentine's Day

Before I start on our Valentine's Day this year, here's some background on how we've spent other Valentine's Day. Before Melodie was born, Rocky and I would spend the evening together, but not go out much. It's too crowded and a lot of time prices go up. Not something I enjoy. Melodie's first Valentine's Day I set up the table so that in the morning there were surprises waiting for her. She didn't really know what was going on, but a tradition was born.

The next year I thought it would be fun to have a little get together (I refused to call them parties) so Melodie could celebrate with friends. Another tradition was born and lasted until Mel started school. This year (and the next Melodie also spent the night with her Nana Raggles and Auntie June where she decorated cookies and was generally spoiled.

In 2010 Valentine's Day was on a Sunday, so we had the get together the Saturday before and I found the cutest heart dress for her to wear to church. 2011 was the first year we didn't have a get together, but Melodie had a blast celebrating at preschool.

I also made these yummy flavored whipped cream filled strawberries. Rocky and Mel loved them. I really should make them again.

In 2012 I found another cute heart dress, so just for fun she wore it the Sunday before Valentine's Day. This year she was in kindergarten. The teachers had the parents make cards that they presented to each kid and then had a little party. She received a lot of Valentines!

 This year was a lot of the same in the morning. The table was set with little gifts, I put together a special lunch for Mel to take to school (only the Valentine's stuff is in the picture), and at school they had a party.

 

Aren't those flowers beautiful? They were from Rocky and Melodie (the chocolates are my gift every year from Rocky - he picks out my favorite See's candies).

 To change things up a little bit, I took Melodie to Knott's Berry Farm after school. She had fun at Camp Snoopy, but she had even more fun at night when we went with Rocky and she went on big rides that I couldn't take her on.

 

You'll have to wait for my next post to find out how our Valentine's Day ended. There was some excitement!

 

 

 

 

 

Heart Hair

Baby is due today, but so far she's been comfy and there's not a sign she's ready to come out. That could all change in an instant, but I'm glad that so far we've done some of our fun Valentine things. Before she makes her appearance I wanted to first share the fun things I did to Melodie's hair. Last year was my first attempt and it turned out pretty cute. I did heart pigtails. The idea and instructions came from my favorite hair blog.

So this is how Mel wore her hair to kindergarten last year. She looked adorable.

This year I did three days of heart hair. We started on Tuesday (there wasn't school on Monday) and today was our third day. Here's Tuesday's hair style, again from my favorite hair blog. It's called a twist-braided heart.

Not bad, but next time I'd but the top part closer together. When getting ready for school I don't have a lot of time to fix mistakes like I used to, but I still think it's a pretty style.

 

Here's Wednesday's hair style. I saw a picture of these three interlocking hearts on pinterest, but it didn't link to a website. I figured that making the hearts would be the same as the ones I did last year, and then I just played with it to do the best I could.

It looks good from the side, but I didn't like the look so much from the front. I think if I were to try it again I'd try the interlocking hearts in the back.

And here's the one from today. It's called heart down from this blog. I've been wanting to try this one for a while. Mine didn't turn out as perfect as hers, but I still think it's pretty. When I do it again, I'd make the weave part a little tighter. I think that would help.

 Happy Valentine's Day!

Happy New Year!

You may have noticed I'm a little late in posting things. That's because the day after Christmas I got sick. So now I'm playing catch up.

You may also have noticed I'm doing a lot explaining why we celebrate different holidays the way we do. I feel like we are now in the groove of how our family is going to celebrate holidays for years to come. It took a while to figure out what traditions worked for us and what new things we wanted to add. This is the same for New Year. Melodie's first two New Year's Eve celebrations she was up at midnight.

For her first one, we celebrated, just the three of us, at 9 o'clock PST. That's when the NY ball drops on the east coast. Technology is our friend sometimes. I'll admit it. I wanted those Kodak moments. We had been invited to a friends' house, and decided we would go if she woke up for a feeding around midnight. She did, so we bundled her up and off we went.

                                                      9pm                               Midnight

The next year we were in Northern California with family. There was a huge rain storm and we didn't think Rocky would make it back to my mom's house from family he was visiting a short distance away because streets had flooded. Plus, Melodie was sick. This is probably the sickest she ever was as a baby. But, we celebrated at midnight. I'm not sure if she was awake because she was sick. I do know we didn't wake her up. I don't think we tried to keep her up, although we might have just because we were with family. She still looked pretty sick, but it was fun celebrating with family. Plus Mel had her first taste of Martinelli's. Now she doesn't think we can have a New Year's Eve without it.

 

2008 was the first year we invited people over to celebrate at 9pm. It was a small celebration, but fun. Plus the kids were in bed by 9:30.

 

2008 NYE

 

The next year it actually turned into a party. I know call it our East Coast New Year's Eve Party. One tradition that started this year was throwing those snaps fireworks in the front yard. Another was Martinelli's after the ball dropped. One that was kept from my childhood was turning the Christmas Tree into the New Year Tree. This is accomplished by taking all confetti from off the ground and throwing it on the tree.

2009 NYE

 

2010 NYE

 

By the way, I was pretty proud of this cookie bouquet I made that year.

 

2011's party brought about a new tradition. I found this idea on pinterest, which led me to this website: http://partiesandholidays.blogspot.com/2008/12/new-years-eve-count-down-bags.html. Starting at 7 o'clock there was a bag to open every 1/2 hour. Inside the bag were goodies for all the kids. I remember I put in glow sticks, necklaces, noise makers in three of the bags, but I can't remember what were in the other two. This year I did bubbles, glow sticks, balloons, and noise makers (not doing one for 9pm like I did the year before). I focused more on things that gave them something to do (I was still sick and not really into entertaining). 2011 was also the first year I made jello in little cups. I didn't think about how much they looked like jello shots until just before the party. But the kids loved them, and we had to have them this year too.

2011 NYE

 

2012 NYE

 

And now we are in 2013. We don't make resolutions, but we have a lot to look forward to this year. We'll spend the next month preparing for baby, who will arrive sometime in Feb. My youngest sister graduates from high school this year. My niece turns 8 and will be baptized this year. Who knows what else will come our way?

 

Happy New Year! 

 

 

Congratulations Melodie!

Melodie received an award at school today. It was for advanding her grade in math. She sure doesn't get that from me. Rocky is really good at math (he even plays math games on his phone for fun).

We also found out she made it into the school talent show. She tried out with three friends on Tuesday. They posted the names after school today and their group was one of two lower grade acts chosen.

A good day for Mel.

Christmas Hairstyles

I know people who cry when they get their haircut. I'm not sure why. Maybe they don't like their new hairstyle, maybe they were attached to their hair. I don't know. I'm not very emotional that way. I've done things I loved to my hair (I loved when I dyed it black) and things I've hated (spiral perm...I looked like a poodle). But it grows out...it's just hair. I also don't like spending a lot of money on haircuts. Seems like a waste when I don't really do anything with my hair. I like wearing it down. So I trim it (sometimes) in the winter to keep it healthy and cut it right before summer. Cutting my hair once a year seems reasonable and usually there's enough to donate to Locks of Love. My hair is just not that important to me, but it's definately imporant to someone going through chemo.

So wanting to teach Melodie that hair is just hair so she won't be one of those girls that crys over a bad haircut, and wanting to teach her that there are people who need things more than we do, we've never cut her hair. She is growing it for Locks of Love. She used to have bangs, and we did cut those, but she's decided to grow those out. We've also trimmed her hair, but never a major haircut.

I am not very girlie. So when Mel's hair started getting long, I had no idea what to do with it. I could do a half up, half down thing, pigtails and a french braid. The problem with Melodie's hair is I couldn't just brush it and then let it go. 10 min. later it looks like she was running wild through the jungle. So I turned to the internet. I found some great sites with great ideas for hair. My favorite is: http://www.cutegirlshairstyles.com/. The styles are cute and she gives clear direction. I also like: http://shedoeshair.blogspot.com/, http://cute2tryhairdos.blogspot.com/, http://www.girlydohairstyles.com/. And then, of course, I search pinterest.

Melodie is really good when I do her hair. Sometimes she watches youtube videos while I do her hair because then I can easily switch to the instructions. However, if I'm making something up or doing one I've done several times then we do her hair in the bathroom. We've had some of our best conversations while I do her hair.

I know I posted holiday hairstyles before (4th of July Hairstyles), but I thought some background as to why I do this would be nice. I love holidays. I love doing Melodie's hair. Last year on pinterest I happened upon hairstyles that were themed to holidays and I knew I had to try. For Christmas last year I only tried one:

I took inspiration from here: http://millermanes.blogspot.com/2008/12/christmas-tree-and-giveaway.html but really felt the tree needed a trunk. I also wasn't ready to try threading the ribbon criss cross through the tree. Not bad for a first attempt.

This year I went a little crazy. First I did this:

I came up with it on my own. Melodie picked out the ribbon. It's a work in progress. Thank goodness people still got that it was suppose to be a candy cane. It would have been better with a twist instead of a braid, but I'm terrible with twists. I will definately try another one next year.

Next I tried a wreath.

I got my inspiration from here: http://redpunzel.blogspot.com/2009/12/its-beginning-to-look-lot-like.html. I changed it quite a bit. This turned out to be my favorite. I love how the bow looks from the front. Next time I'll work on evening out the wreath. Her hair is so much thicker on top that it made the wreath uneven. Still, I liked it and so did she. Unfortunately it didn't last like because Melodie ran into another kid during recess. The bow and pom poms didn't make it through the visit at the nurses office. You'll also see the lovely black eye in the next picutres.

Then I thought I'd try the tree closer to the inspiration that I used for the one last year.

I still think it needs a single trunk. But I love the beads as ornaments. Melodie loved the pom pom tree topper.

The Rudolph bun came next:

The inspiration came from here: http://princesspiggies.blogspot.com/2011/12/holiday-hairstyles-rudolph.html. This one I actually tried to copy, but I'm not very good at buns. I unsuccessfully tried the sock bun. The I just tried the bun the only way I knew how, but then Rudolph's nose ended up crooked. The kids at Mel's school loved this one. I am going to work on buns this year so it turns out better next time.

I did manage a sock bun for an ugly sweater party we went to:

but it fell out shortly after we got to the party.

And just to show how beautiful her hair is:

Next up will be hair full of hearts. Of course, the baby is due on Valentine's Day, so we'll see. But I hope I'm able to. I have some great ones I want to try.

Christmas Eve Tamales

 I love holiday traditions. It is so much fun to share with Melodie some of the things I was able to do as a child around the holidays. One of my favorites is tamales. It's not the tamale making I like. I really don't like it. I don't like to cook, so tamale making is more like a necessary evil. But I can't imagine Christmas Eve without eating tamales and therefore they have to be made. 
 Have you ever made tamales? It's not extremely difficult, it just takes such a long time. Especially when you make as many as we do. Here's a little history of tamale making for me.
We used to make and eat them on Christmas Eve. But people grew up and moved away and that made it easier to pick a weekend to get together to make them. Then we freeze them and save them for Christmas Eve. I have a terrible memory and don't vividly remember making them with my great-grandma. For some reason what I do remember is that other relatives would bring food to eat with the tamales. My uncle made the best enchiladas. I remember making them after my great-grandma passed away with my grandma, mom and aunt. Kind of. My memory isn't great.
 2006 was monumental. It was Melodie's first Christmas. She couldn't participate yet (she couldn't even eat them), but it was still cute to introduce her to the tradition of making tamales. We met at my mom's house (Bay Area in CA). I came from So Cal, one sister from AZ, and an aunt from WA. Turns out this was monumental for another reason. It was the last time we made tamales with my grandma. Of course, we didn't know it at the time.

We made our tamales, froze them and I brought ours home to So Cal. We invited a family from church over on Christmas Eve and I hosted my first tamale dinner.

 

 My grandma really was the one who knew what she was doing. So the next year, 2007, is when my mom and aunt had to figure it all out. The recipe for the filling wasn't very detailed and they did a good job, especially since my aunt wasn't there so they were figuring it all out over the phone. We met at my mom's house again, but this time we made them on Christmas Eve since we were there for the actual holiday. The filling is something my aunt and mom have been working on since. This year Melodie had her first taste and loved it!

 

From 2008 to 2010 we had tamale weekend at my mom's house. The filling was still being perfected.

 

2008 Tamale Making

 

 2008 Christmas Eve

 

2009 tamale making

 

2009 Christmas Eve

 

2010 tamale making

 

2010 Christmas Eve

 

2011 was the first time we had tamale weekend at my house. I have an appalling lack of kitchen supplies, but we made it work. Also, living in So Cal, there's great places to buy masa.

2011 tamale making

 

2011 Christmas Eve

 

And that brings us to this Christmas. This was the first time I wasn't able to go to tamale weekend. Actually, my sisters couldn't make it either. My first thought was that I would buy tamales for Christmas Eve. There are so many places around us that sell amazing tamales. But my mom suggested I try it. Then I had a friend who said she wanted to give it a try and bought a pot. So, I got a few more friends together and spent an afternoon making tamales. I did have to call my mom a few times, but it was a success. We did burn one batch, but I consider that a success because I didn't really expect any of them to turn out. My filling was a little spicy, but had good flavor. We also made some sweet corn tamales. We enjoyed eating the finished product that night. Melodie didn't like the filling (I think it was too spicy for her), but she loved the corn ones.

I was very excited to serve tamales on Christmas Eve that I was more involved with making.

    2012 tamale making   

 

2012 Christmas Eve

                                         

 Oh yeah, see all those cookies? Another fun tradition...exchanging cookie plates with friends and neighbors.

 

When I called my mom to tell her the tamale making was successful, she responded with how happy she was that the tradition would continue. I agree.