Thursday, March 28, 2013
Aria's Blessing Day
We had a lot of family come to visit to share the experience of this special day (Sunday the 24th).
Aria looked so cute in her blessing dress. My aunt made it out of my wedding dress. Melodie wore it as well. It was so big on Aria that it needed to have a few inches taken in. Huge thank you to Eva!
Wednesday, March 27, 2013
Unusual Baby Shower Theme
Generally I'm not a fan of baby showers for babies after the first one. After all, you probably have most stuff left over from the first. I don't think each baby needs their own new things. I love hand me downs! There are exceptions to my feeling on this like having a different gender or multiples perhaps. Turns out having your second one 6 years after the first is an exception too. I didn't think so, but turns out a lot of stuff just didn't make it through 6 years of storage. It took a little convincing, but I warmed up to the idea of a shower.
And my new thought is that it is just fun to celebrate a new baby.
I'm blessed to have fun friends in my life who threw a shower with a GREAT theme. Cars! Unique to little Aria who arrived in our vehicle.
The cake was my favorite:
Behind the van it says "Welcome Baby Aria". So clever! (And it tasted soooo good.)
The tables were fun too:
The tablecloths looked like streets! Fabulous idea from pinterest.
I was touched by the generosity of everyone.
And my new thought is that it is just fun to celebrate a new baby.
I'm blessed to have fun friends in my life who threw a shower with a GREAT theme. Cars! Unique to little Aria who arrived in our vehicle.
The cake was my favorite:
The tables were fun too:
I was touched by the generosity of everyone.
The happy big sister
The honoree slept through most of the shower
Sunday, March 24, 2013
St. Patrick's Day
Because St. Patrick's Day was on a Sunday this year, Melodie wore her green clothes and shamrock hair to school on Friday. She looked adorable and the hair turned out great! I learned how to do this hairstyle here.
On St. Patrick's Day, we dressed in our green and went to church.
For dinner we had corned beef, colcannon, Irish soda bread and pistachio cake. These are all recipes I got from Sherry Jones (check out her blog here).
We only started eating Irish food on St. Patrick's Day a few years ago, but it is now a fun tradition.
Since it was Aria's first St. Patrick's Day, we had fun taking pictures of her (and one of the puppy just for kicks).
Since it was Aria's first St. Patrick's Day, we had fun taking pictures of her (and one of the puppy just for kicks).
Thursday, February 21, 2013
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:
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
Tuesday, February 19, 2013
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.
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!
Thursday, February 14, 2013
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.
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.
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.
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!
Monday, January 14, 2013
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.
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.
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!
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