Ethan's Surgery..

So, Monday (the 30th) is Ethan's surgery at UNC.


I am only slightly upset at one thing. They told us at our first appointment they would call us the Friday before with the time and instructions. So I am upset that when I call this morning I am surprised to learn that their offices have been closed since Wednesday for the holidays..meaning I can't reach ANYONE that I need to until they re open the actual date of surgery!


Well, that is too late because we have to drive to Chapel Hill for one, and for two they told us we would have a cut off with food and liquids prior to surgery but that they would call us on that friday to let us know the exact details..so we have NO info!! (ugh)!


So I called around and got the hospital operator who was able to give us his surgery time (8:00 am). GOOD! But I still have no info on how early we need to be for his pre labs and prep.. But now we had her page a urology resident to call us back with instructions on when to cut off feeding (this part will be hard). ::sigh::


Is it me or have we been given the run around by multiple people ALL year in regard to not only Ethan but even my crappy hospital experience at Cape Fear where they lost my paper work the day of my c section, only to have them do it stat the next 2 days later b/c "oops we messed up we need to take the baby RIGHT NOW!".


God help me get through the rest of this year, that's all I ask, it's been beyond stressful, especially dealing with Ethan's issue by myself with out any help. I am pretty sure they said only juice after 12 midnight..so I hope this goes over well and please keep Ethan in your prayers that all goes well for his surgery. I trust the doctor and know that beyond this minor error in calling us and getting us this information that UNC really is one of the best hospitals in the nation and I just pray pray pray for ONE, everything goes well for Ethan and TWO, I can calm my anxiety enough to not be on edge all day/night/weekend until then. :::breaaaath:::

DIY Wreath PHOTO TUTORIAL

Let's make a wreath!! I have seen countless tutorials for these EVERYWHERE! I found the tutorial on eddieross.com on one blog and later on this blog:

gave me the idea. I figured I'd give it a go and on a budget!! So here is the finished project (oops my flash didn't fire so it's dark) I'll take a photo of it on the door tomorrow if it's sunny out! Total Cost? $12..

STEP 1: Go to the dollar tree and collect the following amount of ornaments (more or less pending your taste). They didn't have much of a selection when I went in..and so..I did what I could. Get small and larger ornaments to rotate out! and your pick of wired ribbon (I couldn't decide so I got both).

STEP 2: Find a wire coat hanger and unravel it and try your darnest to make a decent circle out of it..

Step 3: String the ornaments onto the coat hanger, big..small...big..small, or any order you like really.

Step 4: Don't be alarmed when you start out and it looks like this (LOL):

Because eventually as you keep adding ornaments it will start to look like this (and yes KIDS LOVE MAKING THESE, so have at it!)

Step 6: When you are done tie the hanger back up and add a bow..perhaps you actually know how to do a bow (I CAN NOT TO SAVE MY LIFE). So I enlisted the help of Doug.

And again I will take a photo tomorrow at some point to show it better:) ENJOY!!

Random Photo Generator

Sometimes, I catch myself randomly looking through my photo archives. Ever since my computer crashed last year, I lost pretty much EVERYTHING I didn't previously upload to myspace or email to family. I STILL do not have my most cherished memories:( MiMi from newborn to 3 years is pretty much erased. THANK GOD for the sporadic photos I did manage to save.

So now I make it a habit to back up photos occassionally. Not all, but most.

I obviously have way too many since December of 09 (when we got a new computer) to current that I never posted them all. So, I figured on random sporadic days I can open my gallery close my eyes randomly land my hand on one folder and then randomly land my hand on an image and share it.

So today's random photo generator image is:

From 1.05.09

it's my lovely leaf hurricane that I got from k mart, more and likely it was on clearance. I LOVE leafs! If you don't believe me, my dining room chandelier, along with various leaf decor around the kitchen can back that point up;)

I love Adobe <3

Yes, I really do. Love Adobe that is. I have tried a ton of photo editing software in the last 8 years and I have to say Adobe products are my favorite. Sure they can break the bank if you don't exactly have a couple to a few hundred, or in some cases six hundred bucks to fork over. BUT TRUST me when I say Adobe can take one of your BLAH digital photos and turn it into high quality when you learn the program.

My favorite adobe program by far is LIGHT ROOM. It's worth every red cent! I am always able to fix bad lighting and contrasting in this program. It makes overcast days look like bright and sunny, no body's business days;) Take my word for it, I KNOW.

What would I have done had I never discovered adobe?

Some of my photos just wouldn't be so bright and vibrant. That's what!:) Now if you are a penny pincher (like me) you can spot about 80 for my other FAVORITE program. It's called Picture It! and it's by microsoft.

Picture It! is really easy to learn and has EVERYTHING Adobe does, except you have to KNOW it to do the same actions. So when I first purchased Picture it! years ago it was over 100 bucks, but I went and snagged it off amazon.com who made an pricing mistake on their website and listed it for only 19 bucks! YES! and Amazon.com was awesome and let me snag it for 19 bucks, even though it was well over 100!

That program is my first love! haha.

Anyway, Christmas is coming up and I have yet to purchase the kids their outfits for outdoor portraits I plan to take. I did get a few of baby butterfing.ers though:) I just love his smile, but I am his mother after all..

Taking orders for custom tutu's

It's that time again! I am now taking orders for custom winter/christmas tutus!















size newborn-4T will be $35 up to 3 colors! (

* Includes ribbon & Flower embellishment of your choice that I have in stock!!

** My tutu's are not skimpy I use 60-100 yards on EACH tutu (most tutu makers only use 8, that's a HUGE difference!! - no panties or diapers show!!) hehe.

Anyways, here is some of my work:

7 months already?

This is my youngest, Ethan. Whom you will more and likely hear me refer to as, bubby, butterfingers b aby, bubby monster, etc. etc.

Poor child..

It's the 14th already and it totally slipped my mind that he turned 7 months on the 11th.

I am very fond of bubby, as I think he is just the sweetest smiliest thing I have ever come across (and yes, us mother's tend to be partial)!

Bubby absolutely loves his MiMi (sister). Every day that we go pick her up from school I'll tote him in one arm and the moment he sees his MiMi he quickly smiles and burries his head in my shoulder because he is bashful. He'll then attempt to jump out of my arms by contorting his little body to try and reach her. It really is too cute.

And MiMi? Well she's just as fond of Mr. Handsome! But yes, 7 months! wow, I don't remember time flying this quickly with MiMi.

On November 30th we will be back at UNC where Ethan will have his surgery. And, GOD HELP ME, I am nervous as all get out, I mean, I trust this doctor because he was the only one who would see us when I didn't believe bubby's pediatrician. I just knew she was wrong on her diagnosis, or lack there of. I am glad that my persistence and pushing has paid off. I am so so so nervous though. It's a mommy thing, we all worry about our baby's and I'm almost positive we all try to protect them. Me? Possibly too much. I'm sure I'll be the clingiest mom of all, but they are my life and I wouldn't have it any other way.

So just keep Ethan in your prayers that his surgery on the 30th goes with out incident. And if you have gotten this far, well, THANKS for actually caring enough to read:)

So, every child has that one doll that is there everything early on. For MiMi, it's her first stuffed animal. I had just gotten out of my c section with her in March of 2005 when Doug's mom came into our room and brought us this little one from his Grandmom & Granddad for MiMi. For the longest time MiMi would sleep with 'her' all the time. She's (miss bunny) has seen some rough times. She's been left at the park, she's been spit up on, chewed on, trampled on, anything else you can mention.

We even momentarily lost her for a full year (eek). While I did my spring cleaning I happened to find her again and tried my hardest to clean her up. MiMi insisted I make miss bunny a tutu so that she would feel ''pretty''. Do stuffed animal's feel pretty?

Well, it doesn't matter, to the children that own them they do, after all children like to believe in things we as adults have forgotten. I had my own stuffy who I slept with every night until I was 13. My stuffy? A big giant polar bear that my uncle Mike brought in on one of his flights to visit us when we still lived in Texas. I called him "mr. bear" and my dad hated him. One day I came into my room to find Mr. Bear was gone, and the culprit? My father, who offered the excuse that "he's filthy". hmmph.

Of course years later he'd never remember tossing old mr. bear away while I was at school.

I was crushed, as a child Mr. Bear was my little security blanket of sorts (don't laugh you all had a stuffy also, maybe not as fond and late into child hood as me, but hey, you know you did)! lol.

So, needless to say, miss bunny is special to MiMi and now MiMi thinks she is "pretty and feels good about herself". And, so I vow no matter how filthy miss bunny gets, even with her dirty right ear, I will never ever throw her away.

Sharing a blog I love..

If you love crock potting just as much as I do, than you will TRULY enjoy this blog:

http://crockpot365.blogspot.com/

Imagine cooking in the crock pot for a full year?! HEY I LOVE IT! More importantly I LOVE that the writer shares her recipes, adds photos and then rates them after they are done.

If you have always wanted to try a crock pot recipe but have been unsure of it, VISIT her blog, she gives you the run down on it all,

And, I will be trying the crock pot taco soup tonight, I'll let you know how it turns out;)

My Do It Yourself SNOWGLOBE PHOTO Tutorial!

I've always thought the best crafts to make were the kind you could just rummage and find the materials already in your house. You know, the kind of craft that you say, "I am tight on money today, but want to make something FUN and CUTE with the kids".

Why not do it yourself SNOWGLOBES?! I made one of these in gradeschool and LOVED it! There are TONS of 'tutorials' for these bad boys online but NONE are as easy as mine I PROMISE you;) Not only that but I'm giving you step by step photo instructions to ensure you get it right. Please, if you use my tutorial and/or photos, PLEASE link back to my site. I WILL LOVE YOU forever and appreciate the feed back! Plus it will give me incentive to do TONS more photo blog tutorials.

Ready to make your snowglobe? Let's go...!!

STEP 1:

Collect the following materials (I found all of mine around the house):

* EMPTY, DRY & CLEAN GLASS baby food jar with lid

* HOT GLUE GUN w/ glue stick

* KRYLON (or other spray paint) make sure it is for metal/plastic!!

* BABY OIL (clear)

* water bottle cap (I have blue but would prefer clear or white for this project)

* GLITTER (I have fine, but prefer chunky glitter, it's your choice)

* Q TIP or Popsicle stick for stirring purposes

* Optional ribbon for embelishing (I will NOT use this today).

* Optional, CLEAR liquid nails or CLEAR tub caulking

* SMALL figure, I am using a littlest pet shop bobble head figure my daughter has, you can also get creative and pluck the heads/figures off of pez dispensers (they have sooo many different assortments, from tinkerbell, spider man, and everything in between. Trust me, I know, I have a collection of over one thousand).



STEP 2:
Gather your spray paint and baby food jar lid and place over a piece of paper:



STEP 3:

SPRAY that bad boy down and let air dry for 15 or so minutes (this covers the manufacturers logos and other things that makes it less pretty).



STEP 4:
Gather your figure, your bottle cap and your pre heated glue gun



STEP 5:
Load the bottom of the figure up with hot glue



STEP 6:

FIRMLY press the figure smack center atop the bottle cap as shown (allow 10 minutes to dry):



STEP 7:

Place glass jar atop figure to make sure it will fit.
(the reason I put the figure ontop of a bottle cap as opposed to directly on the jar lid is b/c the bottle cap raises the figure agove the jars ringed bottom enabling the entire figure to show not cutting it off at the ''ankles'' so to speak) My figure is tall but that's okay, also when doing this keep in mind glass will make the object appear larger than it is.



STEP 8:

Fill your baby food jar a little past the first ring on the screw on part with baby oil

(optionally if you are short on baby oil fill it 80% baby oil to 20% water).

The reason you are using baby oil instead of plain water is that baby oil enables the glitter to fall much more slowly, where as water will make it sink really fast, defeating the purpose of a snow globe:



STEP 9:

Add a generous amount of glitter to your baby oil, stirring it with a q tip or popsicle stick to seperate. I used fine glitter but think the chunkier kind looks better:

STEP 10:

Collect your DRY spray painted baby food jar lid, your figure and pre heated glue gun



STEP 11:

COMPLETELY HOT GLUE the entire rim of the bottle cap and place DIRECTLY in the center of the baby food jar lid (allow 10 minutes to dry):









STEP 12:

THIS ONE is MESSY FOLKS! Collect a pile of napkins/a towel/or do it over the sink!

Submerge your figure into the water and screw on the lid TIGHTLY!!
IT WILL OVERFLOW..IT IS SUPPOSED TOO! if it doesn't it will have too large an air pocket!!



STEP 13:

RINSE and COMPLETELY DRY off jar, baby oil is ..well..oily;P BAHAHA!



OPTIONAL STEP 14:

**THIS STEP IS OPTIONAL PENDING HOW TIGHT THE JAR LID IS**
If your jar lid seeps, take the liquid nails, OR the clear tub caulking and caulk tight around the base of the jar where it meets the lid. I find that the beech nut brand baby food jars DO NOT spring leaks. But don't take my word for it, if you want to, better safe than having to re do it..personally they never leaked on me;)


FINAL STEP!!!

SHAKE IT UP BABY!! YOU'RE DONE!

Halloween & Photos

How did I almost forget to blog about Halloween? I know, last month was super busy for me, between random job hunting and field trips and school activities for my little MiMi, it's all been a blur. Halloween was fun, we took the kids to the mall to hunt down some candy.

And of course just a couple photos up for sharing today that I took of them. I really need to get back into the blogging bit. ;x Oh time, where have you gone??

A few things:

Today there should be 27 candles on my birthday cake. You know, when you become a mom the years just fly by. Sometimes I still feel like the niave 21 year old I was when I had first become pregnant with my oldest child. Other times I feel that no amount of job experience could have given me the preperation for anything in this world quite like having children has. Having children has made me more aware of everything, it's made me a totally different person..

That's a good thing;)

Aside the fact it is my birthday today..(last year I was pregnant with Ethan, standing in line at the presidential polls in the rain; as election day always happens to fall on my birthday).

This year...??

Well, this year I learned I am going to be an aunt, and I couldn't be more thrilled.

Although, I must say the local bakery really has got one up on me in the bad grammar/spelling department..I suppose it's too hard to proof read a cake? hmm?

Anyway, congrats sis! I look forward to being an auntie:)