Busy Week!

Hey everyone! So sorry I have been MIA for awhile. I started a full time job this week and am trying to get used to the hours and new routines. I will be getting back on the blogging horse though and I have lots of exciting things to tell you about.

So PLEASE stay tuned for blogs to come!

Picture This Art Designs

Good evening readers! I know its been a few days since I have posted. This week has been crazy busy.

Tonight I want to tell you about a friend of mine. Her name is Lyndsee and she makes custom art and wearable's for all ages. I ordered a bib and a burp cloth from her and she did a fantastic job. I did pay her for these and have in no way been compensated for this post.

Her prices are very reasonable and she is fast too. I was very pleased with her work and I wanted to share with all of you her information. I try very hard to keep my spending local and although she is not in the same town as me, she is in Iowa so it works. 

You can reach her through her website Picture This Art Designs or on Facebook. Please check her out!  

Gavin's First Words!!!!

Craig, Gavin and I went to Albert Lea, MN yesterday for our Nephew Brett's graduation party! Congrats again Brett! We are very proud of you! On the way home Gavin sat in his car seat babbling away and suddenly he starting saying....... DA DA DA DA DA DA!!!! I got excited but Craig being the level headed guy he is says "Nah hes not looking at me so its just babbling." Not long after this conversation I was talking to Gavin and he kept repeating DA DA DA DA no matter what I did he was in the car yelling this at the top of his lungs! Finally Craig (who was driving) Looked at him and said "What buddy?" And Gavin Smiled from one ear to the other! He was trying to get Daddy's attention I guess. Craig was beaming the whole rest of the drive.

Now, I am sooooo excited that Gavin has said his first words, but I am also a little ticked off by it! LOL! See, if you remember back to my very first blog post on how Gavin was born, you will see that Craig got to see Gavin first. Craig got to hold Gavin first. Gavin started crawling when I wasn't home one day so Craig got that first. I have repeatedly had this talk with Gavin that I request he say Mommy First. Just like his Father, he didn't listen to me. Now, every time I tell Gavin to say Mamma he just smiles, says DA and laughs!

What a Monkey!!!! LOL!

Disney's The Sword in the Stone Movie Review

I am so excited! I just finished watching Disney's The Sword in the Stone. This was a movie that I received from a website called Mommy Bear Media.

I am a Premiere Blogger for Mommy Bear Media, therefore; I received this movie for review purposes and the opinions expressed here are mine and mine only.

The Sword in the Stone is one of the classics from Disney that I watched when I was a kid and one of the few that I still think of fondly. It has lots of hilarious moments which can make one get into uncontrollable fits of laughter. The lyrics of the songs are clever and memorable. I mean who can forget "Hockety Pockety Wockety Whack?"  The characters are also very entertaining. The idea of Merlin as a klutz is unique to this version of the story. Archimedes also offers several laughs. Though there isn't much of a plot, the development of King Arthur’s character makes this film very entertaining and enjoyable for parents as well as kids.

Again, If you would like to order this movie go to Mommy Bear Media and place your order. They have great prices and a very wide selection of family friendly movies, that are also good clean movies, not only for your kids but for the adults too.

Wordless Wednesday - Fires in Colorado

I know this is a WORDLESS Wednesday post, but I just wanted to say that I have family and friends that live in Colorado, and my Cousin Misty posted this on Facebook yesterday. I am praying that everyone is safe!

Wordless Wednesday

Gavin is sick! And so is Mommy!

So my child has his first summer cold. And, now, so do I. It started last week with the runny nose, and turned into a full blown snot fest from both of us (yes he shared with me) all weekend long. As if that's not bad enough, we shared it with Grandma too.

Now, I have seen him sick before with a little cold over the winter, but this one has me very frustrated. He started out fine, with again, just a little runny nose. Then it progressed into a cough and not sleeping well. Then came the decreased appetite. I took him to the doctor and they told me its a viral thing and to give him Tylenol to help make him more comfortable until it runs its course. The thing is this sucks!!! I HATE watching him be miserable! None of us are getting any sleep and I can't fix it! The worst part of all of this is my husband. The poor, poor man. He has been trying so hard to help me, as Gavin shared his illness with me, but the little stinker wants nothing to do with Daddy and cries his fool head off until I get to him. So here I am coughing and sneezing and rocking lil man to sleep, all the while Craig sits by feeling worthless. I have tried to tell him its not his fault and that sometimes a child prefers one parent over another when they are sick. I don't think Craig has taken any comfort in that. Poor guy!

What is he thinking?

So Craig and I had Gavin outside yesterday. We were sitting in the yard at my parents and Gavin had a leaf that had fallen from the tree out front. I was watching him turn the leaf over and over in his tiny little hands and it got me thinking. I wonder what goes through his mind. I wonder what its like to see things for the first time and to learn the colors and textures and tastes. I wonder what its like to smell a flower for the first time. I know as an adult our lives get so busy and we rush from one thing to another and never really stop to take things in like kids do. I never really wanted to slow time down until I became a mom. Gavin will be 8 months old soon and the time has flown by. I think my goal for the weekend will be to try to take time out each day to try to experiance things through Gavins eyes. Maybe it will make me a better mom. Or just a better person.

Product Review of Evenflo Bebek 3-Handle Trainer Cup

I recently received the Evenflo Bebek 3-Handle Trainer Cup in the mail. I received this cup from the company free of charge for review purposes and the opinions expressed here are mine and mine only.

I will start with what Evenflo says about the cup.

This new Bebek 3 Handle Trainer Cup:

• Promotes smooth transition from bottle to cup
• Soft spout is gentle on teeth and gums
• Unique handle is easy to hold from any angle
• Expertly designed not to leak
• BPA free and is designed for children 4 months and older. 
• This cup is available in blue or pink.
• You can purchase this cup at Buy Buy Baby, and wherever other Evenflo products are sold, for $5.99.

The things I like about the cup;

The colors.  There are two options, blue with a yellow accent and pink with a purple accent.

The spout. My son is teething right now and feels the need to chew on everything. The spout is soft on his teeth and he doesn't cry if he bumps them with it. 

The shape. It is very sleek and stylish.

The parts. Everything comes apart easily and makes for quick clean up.

The price. Very affordable.

The things I dislike about the cup;

The 3 handles. My 7 month old son (who is teething) immediately tried to shove the handles in his mouth and they are long enough that they caused him to gag. I had to keep pulling it away from him and telling him no. I did find that I could remove the handles and that fixed that problem but his tiny hands then had a hard time holding the cup. 

The leaking.  I found that the cup did have a leaking problem. The inner valve makes it not leak. However, what is in the outer spout still leaks. After the first use of the cup my son had the whole top part of his shirt wet and I had to change him. 

Overall:

I feel that this cup would be a good choice for an older child. One which wont be as tempted to eat the handles and tip the cup every which way but loose. I will definitely keep the cup and try it again in a month or two when he's a bit older.


 

Wordless Wednesday

Should I shower today?

I came across this chart on Babycenter.com  the other day and I had to laugh. This is so me lately. I'm not saying I haven't been showering or trying to keep up with any personal grooming but there are days that I pretty much run through this in my head. I'm sure a lot of moms (especially first time moms) can relate. I think we all have days where it is so much more effort than its worth. In the end a shower always wins and feels great. But my days of 20 min showers have long since gone away once my son was born. Now I'm lucky to get 5 min and sometimes I'm not sure if I remembered to wash my hair so I wash it again. Lol

Gavin's first pool outing!

Took Gavin to the pool today! What a disaster that was! Craig and I decided at about 12:30 today to take Gavin to the pool for his very first visit. I called up my brother Chad and his girlfriend Wendy to see if they wanted to join us. By the time we were all ready to go it was 2 pm and Gavin was ready for his afternoon bottle and then a nap. Being the idiot inexperienced mother that I am we headed to the pool anyway. BIG MISTAKE!! Things were good until we got Gavin in the water. As Craig lowered him in so that his toes were just touching the surface, he felt the cold of the water and that was all she wrote! His face curled into this massive frown and then the crying started. Of course I took him from Daddy and made it all better by removing him from the water. Then I tried, thinking OK he just wants his Mommy! WRONG!! My attempt was not any better. He Pulled his legs up outta the water and started squirming and crying and I felt AWFUL!!! This child loves his baths, how in the world could he not love the pool? We packed everything up and came home. Gavin got his tummy full and then took a 2 hour nap. Guess we will leave the pool for another day!

Back online!!

Well, we got all moved and I am back online! Thank goodness! I will be posting again every evening after Gavin goes to bed. As for today, Lil man has a recheck on an ear infection with the doctor today so I am crossing my fingers that this is all cleared up.

Also since I missed the Wordless Wednesday post yesterday I am posting my pic today!!

Moving!

OK people I haven't forgotten about you! We are in the process of moving this week and I will be packing up my computer today! Ugh! No internet for a few days but I promise I will be back up and running ASAP!!

How to train your dragon!!!

So I just finished watching How to train your dragon. This was a movie that I received from a website called Mommy Bear Media.

I am a Premiere Blogger for Mommy Bear Media, therefore; I received this movie for review purposes and the opinions expressed here are mine and mine only.

This was a terrific movie and probably now one of my favorites. For those who have not seen this movie, PLEASE get this for your child! What a heartwarming tale of a boy who decided that things are not always what they seem. If you give someone a chance they might just surprise you. Hiccup is the main character in this story and he teaches that not all creatures are bad and that not everything needs to be solved through violence. Something our kids today need to be reminded of. I was very pleased with this movie and I hope that my son will love it as much as I did.

If you would like to order this movie go to Mommy Bear Media and place your order. They have great prices and a very wide selection of family friendly movies, that are also good clean movies, not only for your kids but for the adults too.

Wordless Wednesday

Colic!!!

Colic! What a dreaded word! Gavin had colic for the first 3 months after he was born. The days were bliss and the nights were hell! Every night like clock work, the little hand on the 9 and the big hand on the 12 and it would start. Inconsolable crying!!! Nothing worked! All the same things we would do during the daytime that would soothe him meant squat at night. I would walk the floor until my back was burning and my feet hurt! Nothing!! There were nights I'd throw him in the car and drive until I was almost outta gas and yes he would calm down. Then, I'd pull in the driveway to our house and he would wail!!!!

Grandma!!! Thank god for Grandma! I was about to my wits end and one night, when Gavin was around 2 months of age, I took him to my parents house at 12:30 am. I was in tears right along with him! I told my Mom, "I don't know what to do!!" she turned to my Dad and said "go to the store and bring me back some peppermint extract." IT WORKED!!!!! I was in shock! A little extract in his bottle got him to release all that nasty gas in his tummy! He calmed right down and every bottle after that until he was 4 1/2 months old we added the peppermint extract. He started sleeping through the night. He was more manageable at night. It was like I had a whole different baby!

I know that a lot of moms out there get a lot of unsolicited advice, but take it from me, some of that advice actually works!! Be open to it and you might be surprised to find that your life has gotten a whole lot easier!

The Birth of My Son!

Well here I sit. Gavin is down for the night, the husband is parked in front of the TV and I am on the computer getting ready to write my first blog post. I'm not really sure where I want to start but this is about Gavin and I guess I should start with how he was born.

My due date was 2.5 weeks away when my water broke. I was at home and had just gotten up from a nap. My fluid levels were low during my pregnancy so I was told to lay on my left side twice a day for an hour or so. Basically a doctors excuse for 2 naps a day. Lol. It was 12:10 pm on Thursday October 27th, 2011. I called the doctors office and asked if it would be okay to take a shower and get cleaned up and then head in. I hadn't had any contractions yet. The nurse said that was fine. I called my husband Craig at work and told him it was time and he needed to come home. I got in the shower and shaved my legs.YES, I shaved. I'll be damned if they were going to be looking at hairy legs all the while I was delivering my child!!

We got to the hospital at 1:38 pm and went straight to registration. I was then wheeled upstairs to a room where Craig joined me a few minutes later. We were full of excitement talking nonstop about who we needed to call and that we couldn't believe we were going to be parents. The nurse hooked me up to the fetal heart rate monitor and after a few seconds excused herself from the room. Not thirty seconds later our excitement went to confusion and then to panic.

Nine nurses flooded my room. Craig was pushed out of the way, one nurse was starting an IV, another nurse started trying to put a cath in me, and another was telling me there was something wrong and they needed to get the baby out NOW!!!! I was wheeled on the bed down the hall to the C Section area and put on another bed. A mask was placed over my face and I was told to count to ten.

Awhile later I awoke in recovery. The first words I heard were "the angels were with you today honey!" I groggily looked around having no idea what happened. I thought I was dreaming. A nurse was trying to talk to me but I remember having a searing pain in my belly. Then it all started coming back. I started asking a million questions. Where is my baby? Is he okay? (we already knew we were having a boy) What happened? Where is my husband? Where is my baby?? The nurse started to explain to my horror! Gavin had managed to tie his umbilical cord into not one but two knots and have it wrapped around his waist. As soon as my water broke and I started contracting it started cutting off his oxygen. When he was born he was not breathing and CPR was preformed. The doctors were amazed at how quickly he responded. Within seconds he was pinking up and started crying. I had a very healthy baby boy waiting for me in the nursery.

When I was awake enough to go to my room my husband and my parents were there waiting for me. As soon as I was settled and had another shot of morphine for pain Gavin was brought into my room.

Gavin was born on October 27th, 2011 @ 2:27pm. He weighed 7lbs 8 oz and was 20 inches long.