A year ago today

One year ago today, about now in fact, I was getting all prepped for surgery. I remember the girl who checked us into the hospital, and the lady who got me into my hospital gown (ah, hospital gowns) and got my IV in and going. Boy, she did a great job with that IV, I was so impressed! She strapped monitors onto my belly to see how our little guy was doing in there, and I felt kind of bad that we were going to rip him out of that comfy womb he was snuggled up in and drag him into this bright world. DH also got suited up in some scrubs and that cute hat they gave him to wear. Then we waited a little while for our turn. We talked about what we were about to do, the change that was going to come over our little family with the addition of this baby boy.

I remember the lady who helped explain everything to me--the spinal, the anesthesia, what I would feel and that she would be watching me so carefully to make sure I was breathing fine and not freaking out. She was a small woman, older than I would have expected a woman in her job to be, with a smoker's voice. I loved her. At first I was a little worried because I wanted DH with me for all of this, but she was so nice, and I felt completely secure in her care. I leaned on her as the anesthesiologist put that big needle into my back. The spinal went in without a hitch, and I was laid down as I felt my body go warm and numb. I actually like that feeling; warmth spreading over my cold body, relaxation setting in, knowing that they could cut my legs off and I wouldn't feel a thing. No pain, I like that. :) I could tell they began scrubbing my belly, but didn't really feel ANYthing, not even a lot of being moved around or anything. I liked it that way. I was very happy to see my doctor come in. I really like my doctor and I trusted that he would do a good job and take good care of me. Then the sheet went up in front of my face, and DH was brought in. I felt SOOO much better just at the sight of that man. I loved having him talk to me and touch my face and kiss my head. Very reassuring.

There was a little chit chat, and as I looked up at the shiny light fixture above me I could see what was going on. It grossed me out a little (blood and I do not mix), so I quit looking and then all of a sudden it seemed, there was a baby! He was my baby, out of my body now, and giving a good little cry. Oh, he was so adorable! They wrapped him up and I was able to kiss his little face. I'm getting teary just thinking of it. That sweet little face! Those dear little cheeks that had never before seen the light of day and I got to give them their first kisses. He was a little smaller than I thought he'd be, but not by much.

I was cleaned up, sewed up, or stapled or glued or whatever. Then they took DH and I into another room and wheeled our baby in to us in his little clear hospital bassinet. They left us all alone for a little bit, which I had not expected. It was nice. I wanted to hold that baby so badly, but my arms weren't quite back to themselves yet. I held him for a little bit anyway, with things propped up so I wouldn't drop him. DH then took a turn holding him as he called everyone to spread the good news. Our second son, sixth child, last baby of all had arrived.

Baby video

My video camera isn't working, so I am using Teeny Bopper's camera. I don't know where else to keep these clips so they don't get lost. Maybe I'll make a blog just for my video clips. Hmmmm...

Happy customer

Here are the cute toes of a happy pedi customer. You want your toes to be this cute, don't you?? :)

Nap

This is naptime at my house-



Love these sweet boys! (especially when they are sleeping. shhhhhh!) :)

I want to EAT this kid he's so cute!!

This is our little Tail Gunner in the scout uniform a good friend made for Dr. D when he was born.I know mom's are biased, but I just think he's the cutest little thing!!

Love that Potty Trained patch!


He looks like a little boy and not a baby in some of these!! When I went to take the pics, he caught sight of the tricycle and would NOT let it go. I decided it was better to just go with it and have happy pictures. LOL It totally works with the look anyway. :)

shadow puppets

The little kids were making shadow puppets in their room this morning. Little Miss came running in telling us, "I made a bird! I made a bird! When you hear me going Caw! Caw! I'm making my bird!" Dr. D came running in shortly behind her telling us, "I made a garbage!!"
That's great son. I love your garbage and Little Miss' bird.

Where does he come from? :) (I know. The child is his father's son.)

Little Drummer Boy

My baby boy likes to drum and bang on all sorts of things. Here's picture proof:



Goodness, we sure love this little man!!

Oooh! A project!!

So here's what I did with my birthday money. I got inspired at this blog. Well, actually, this is kind of a trend that is everywhere on blogs these days, and I am a sucker for architectural details. Especially wainscoting of all kinds. My house has ZERO architectural detail. No moulding, nothing. That just means I get to add it all myself, right? Yeah!! I finally decided on a faux board and batten treatment for this wall, and I must say I am *in love* with it! It was actually very cheap and easy to do. I followed the instructions from this blog and did the cheap version.

This is my wall before. Just a plain wall, right?


Basically, here's what I did:
I went to home depot and bought a few pieces of 1/4 inch thick mdf. It was 2ft. by 4ft, I think. Then I went to my friend's house and her husband used his table saw to cut it into 2 inch and 3 inch wide strips (4 ft long) for me.Then I used my new baby:

to cut 12 inches off each 2 inch wide strip, since I wanted a 3ft. strip and a 1 ft. strip. Then I just used liquid nails and stuck everything up where I wanted it. I did add a few nails to hold everything in place really well. I had to make a few cuts to go around the outlet and light switch plate. Oh yeah--before I started glueing and such, I did some measuring to see how far apart to make my vertical boards. I decided about 12 inches apart was ideal. I also just went on top of my baseboard. Easy peasy.

This is the 3 foot layer done:

I added the one foot layer on top of that. Then I painted 3 coats of Behr semi gloss Swiss Coffee and voila!!
Hmmm! Now the door looked really bad, so I painted that, too.

Much better!Next it's going to be the table's turn to get a paint job. I'm thinking black would be the best. I would really love white, but TOTALLY not practical for my family. (as I speak, Dr. D is watercoloring and there are drips of black paint all over the table. Yes, I believe black would be best! LOL)

Pedi's for sale!

Hello all my readers out there. I mean, both of you. hehe I am putting in a plug for pedicures. Yes, it is pedi season again! Although, it always is pedicure season around here-let's hear it for year 'round flip flops! Anyway, just a reminder that I offer super affordable pedicures--just $10, and I have lots of available time to do them. Here's what you get: a relaxing salt soak, sugar scrub, lotion massage, cuticle clean-up and polish job. Can't beat that with a stick! Some of my favorite nail designs are flowers, plaid, zebra (or tiger if you go orange instead of white), polka dots, and I'm willing to give any other ideas a try.

I'm trying to get enough money together to get a family pool pass for half-price on Memorial day weekend, so call or email me and book a pedi. It's for a very good cause. ;)

Thanks!

What a funny kid

I should count how many times a day I say "What a funny kid!" about my son, Dr. D. Lunch just now is a good example. I fix a delicious chicken burrito and put it on his plate. It's cut in half, so he can see the insides. Not always a good thing for kids to see the inside, but whatever. He comes whining to me saying he doesn't want that burrito. He wants cereal. I tell him we are having burritos, and that it is so delicious. It even has chicken! He loves chicken, right, so that should be a winner. He goes and takes another look, then comes back whining that there are red things in it. What are those red things in there, he asks? I ignore the question and tell him to just eat the yummy burrito. He comes back whining and says, "But mom, boys just like cereal!" I tell him to go try the burrito. He goes off whining and then comes back a little later with a smile on his face and a bounce in his step. He tells me, "Mom, it tastes very good!! NOW can I have my cereal?"

What a funny kid!!!

BTW, since he ate the burrito all gone, I gave him some cereal. :)

Children's medicine recalled

You may have seen this already, but just in case you haven't-check out this recall of children's medicine. It includes Tylenol, Motrin, Benadryl, and Zyrtec. This website has the specifics.