Donut Day and DIY DONE!!

This morning I packed up the girls in the truck and took them to Dunkin Donuts…we got some yummy donuts!  Thanks grandma!! (Gift card…)  I, of course, enjoyed a nice cup of Dunkin's coffee.

After we got home and hastily gobbled down our sweet treats, I got to work and finally finished the curtains I've been working on since after Thanksgiving.

I've been desperately wanting to make some new curtains, but we have been trying to watch our spending. So the idea came to me to just recycle, re-use, and re-purpose an old furniture cover I didn't use and curtains that I already owned.

I did the horizontal stripes because it was the best way to incorporate the extension piece of fabric.  The curtains I currently owned were not long enough. I just added more fabric (the old cover) at the end of the curtains and added the tan stripes. I bought some ribbon to finish it.

While doing this project, I didn't realize how hard horizontal stripes would be.  The hardest part was getting the two panels to be level with each other. I spent most of my time measuring and re-measuring the spacing. It's hardly perfect and a professional would surely pick them apart. And if you look close enough you can see…

I've learned a lot doing this project, like: cut all fabric first, and pin base everything, both panels at once.

The problem I encountered was that I did each panel almost 2 months apart. (Small children running about makes it difficult to commit to getting a whole project done in one sitting.)

I started this after we got back from my in-laws at Thanksgiving.  Which probably wasn't the best plan.  I think we had like 5 weeks between that holiday and Christmas.

I was cramming to get things done because Mike's whole family was coming to spend Christmas with us.  So this project was probably the reason we didn't send out Christmas Cards this year.

Well anyway, I got the first panel done and then the next day it seemed like my in-laws were here.  I at least wanted to have one curtain hanging on the bare window.

When I came back to the project I couldn't adjust the lengths of the wide stripes on the first curtain; lesson learned- pin base everything then sew last…. and I didn't think to measure the tan fabric wider in the areas I needed while doing the second which came to the other lesson learned-cut all the fabric at once!!…

But inspire of all the difficulties I finished it and I'm rather proud of them. Not bad for being my first attempt at sewing curtains.

The finished product:

You can't tell in this photo, the lighting is horrible, but the fabric touching the ground is the same color as the stripes, the lining I used behind it wasn't as thick as the lining on the main curtain...

Maddie BO BO BO BO!! Happy 8 months!

Daddy calls our sweet Maddie- Maddie Bo Bo Bo Bo, who turns 8 months today.  I know, I know, cliché, but where has the time gone.  She's rolling over, she's saying Da Da!! and cooing oh so sweetly, she grasps small objects in her cute little tiny hands, she kicks her leg when I'm not fast enough while trying to nurse her, she's eating peas, green beans, banana mash, and rice cereal, when i pick her up she hugs me and wiggles in my arms.

Life is sweeter because she's here!!

Happy 8 months sweet Madeleine Nicole!!

0 months- pure sweetness

6 months- at the doctors with the girls for a well check

8 months- Lizzie playing dress-up with her

Madeleine Nicole: Birth Story and Baby Pictures by Leann

My list of "to-dos" is perpetually growing and it seems like I will never catch up. 

Maddie's Birthday

It was a Wednesday around 6 AM, when I was awakened by some slight contractions that didn't feel like just your usual Braxton hicks, like Bella, my thought was that she would possibly come that day.  Mike and I had the conversation of whether he should go to work or stay; we decided that he should stay.  Luckily, my mommy's day out was scheduled for that same day, so we coordinated it with Jenn  and our friend Patricia, who would pick them up and stay the night with them...this of course was still preliminary because we weren't certain that that day was the day...

Mike and I enjoyed a great day out, we went shopping, had lunch, went to the church; but I could feel the contractions get closer and more intense the whole time.  So around 4 PM we decide to go to the hospital because they were about 5 minutes apart.  Surprisingly, I handled the pain much better this time around.  I think it was my breathing! LOL, really though, it did help...

We checked into the hospital. The pain was getting worse and I was wondering when I would get my epidural. By that time, the nurse said that I was dilated to about a 6 and my pain intensity was through the roof...breath, breath, breath, I kept telling myself...and it was working...finally, I got my epidural. I prayed that as I was sitting there ever so still that another contraction wouldn't come so the doctor could insert the medicine. For me, that is a very scary part of the delivery...  Thankfully every time, my prayers were answered because I was able to sit still till he finished.  Because I was so far along in my labor, the doctor had to really "juice" me. He dosed me pretty high so that I could feel the affects quickly.  Like anyone who gets an epidural I was a new creature after...labor progressed and at 5:43 PM Maddie made her miraculous way into the world. 

The doctor placed her bluish body on mine and I waited ever so intently for her first cry and for her color to turn...she finally did and she started to look more pink, but it seemed like she really took a while...I also noticed that she wasn't as "feisty" as my other babies.  The Baby Nurse Advocate check her with her stethoscope while she lay there on my chest...she then swiped her away and said she wanted to check her vitals....this of course scared me to death. 

Mike and I watch as the NICU nurse was called in because Maddie's heart beat was below 100, her color wasn't where it should be either and her oxygen levels were low.  For the next 13 minutes Mike and I watched them work on  her, giving her oxygen supplements and suctioning her lungs...it was the worst feeling ever...each time they would take off her oxygen mask her heart would go back to below 100....finally(with answered to prayer) they got her to breath normal and her heart finally maintained a healthy level.

I can't tell you what it was like those first moments of Maddie's life. It was like we were hanging by a thread for 13 minutes not knowing what would happen...but there she was, placed back in my arms, just as perfect as she could be.  At that moment both Mike and I were reminded of how fragile and precious life really is. 

Like I said earlier, Maddie is just perfect.  And I am so blessed to have such a healthy beautiful baby girl.  She has already brought so much joy to our family.

Leann was able to take some really great newborn pictures for us.  I just mailed out the baby announcements!! And only 2 months late. Here are the rest. Such a little beauty!!

 

 

 

This picture I think is hilarious!!

 

And this one too!! The girls had a blast with "Uncle Hector"!