Tips for your hospital stay

These are just a few tips and ideas to keep in mind if your getting ready to have your little bundle of joy.

1. Sleep. You wont be looked at as a bad mother if you ask the nurses to take the baby during the night so you can get a few precious hours of sleep. They will wake you up when she needs fed (if breast feeding) and care for her in any other way they may need.  You have to remember what you just put your body through.  You deserve and need rest.  You have lots of sleepless nights ahead.

2. Speak up to the nurse's. If you feel that something is wrong with either you or your baby you need to tell someone. If its truly bothering you speak up and make sure you are HEARD. Don't let them brush you off just because they are busy.  I wanted to breast feed my child, but was having some trouble. I told the nurse's when I first arrived at the hospital I was going to want to see the lactation lady for help when Paige was born. Thinking this heads up would help them schedule a time for her to see me. The first morning there I again asked to see the lactation expert. I was told she was very busy but she would try.  In the mean time the nurse tried to "help me".  The second day at the hospital I told them again, My breast/nipples were really tender at this point (which I knew meant she wasn't latching on right) and again the nurses "helped" and said they would try to get the lactation lady in to see me.  When I finally did get some time with her (very rushed time) she basically said I was too sore, and yes my child was not latching on correctly. But that I need to take a break for a few days and try when I wasn't so tender.  I never was able to get her to latch on correctly.  And I left the hospital pretty frustrated.  Also make your preferences known too.  If you do not want your child to have a pacifier tell them.

3. Speak up to your friends/family. You want to share your bundle of joy to the world, but you also just want a moment of piece with your new little family. Often people get so caught up in the excitement of the new baby they don't realize that you perhaps too might want to hold your baby! Dont be afraid to kick people out and just take a moment to be with your baby.  I choose to not have anyone in our delivery room except my boyfriend. This was the very first moments of our life together with this baby. We are the people that matter most at the exact moment. I think it helps bond you to go through that together as a family. We allowed everyone in soon enough to see the baby, but that moment was just for us.  We also made sure to have time alone just the 3 of us in the days to come.

4. Take everything. Im not saying to steal everything. And I do recommend asking a nurse first, but most hospitals have a policy where when you leave you can take everything that cant be washed or sanitized.  This means you can take the diapers they have in the changing table, Snot sucker (Guard this with your life! You might even see if they will give you an extra one to take home too, these ones work 100% better than any one you can buy. Trust me) "Diapers/pads" (the ones for you, as gross as it is you will be needing these for at least the first few days)  If your like me and tried breast feeding and borrowed a pump they may even give you the tubes and attachments needed to use the pump. Yep, those are yours to take too (the pump has to be returned of course).  And if bottle feeding, any formula they may have left in the room. Sometimes the bottles can be taken as well- again just ask.  In addition you can also usually take the newborn beany as a memento, but not the blankets.

5. In the weeks leading up to your due date make sure you take the time to strap the base of the carseat into the car so its ready to go. I also put the seat in my trunk so it would be on hand and ready. Pack your over night bag and leave it by the door ( I also just put this in my trunk so it was there waiting)  When packing your bag there are a few things to consider. You will NOT be fitting into your size 2 jeans when you leave the hospital (and if you do, mothers everywhere hate you) many women opt to take sweats to wear home. I took a maternity dress and flip flops. It takes up little space and you dont look like a total bum when leaving.   You also sadly, will not be wearing cute, sassy underwear when you leave. Pack the granny panties.  Entertainment, a book or laptop will come in handy for both you and the daddy. A camera, and of course baby clothes and blanket. The hospital may provide shampoo and such but lets face it, it usually sucks so bring your own bathroom kit.

6. Enjoy, try not to stress too much. there is plenty of time for that later.

Drinking my way to more crafts

So my boyfriend decided the other day to try a new beer. Bud Light Platinum boasts being triple filtered with a smooth finish and having a 'top shelf taste'. Well I could care less about all that junk. Don't get me wrong, I'm a beer girl. Cant stand wine.  But the reason I bring this up is because after having drank before mentioned beer, we set our empty bottle on the counter and went to bed. While I wish I could report I awoke to small cleaning fairies coming out of the bottles and cleaning my kitchen and making breakfast, something else slightly less wonderful happened. As I rounded the corner to my kitchen the sun happened to be streaming in through the window and hitting the beauty that is these glorious cobalt blue bottles.

 It was like seeing them with new eyes. My little crafter's heart screamed out "I must use these!" I promptly washed them and removed the labels, and set them in my kitchen window... Where they sat for a month. What?!  Iv been busy! and I wasn't quite sure what I even wanted to do with them. I thought about breaking them and using the glass for something. I also thought about cutting them and using them as candle holders (which may still be the fate of a chosen few).  But neither ideas seemed to fit my life right now. I need a fast, simple, nap time craft.  I want a craft that can be completed in the time it takes for my beautify little girl to take a nap.

So I have my inspiration. Without a clue what to do with them. As pretty as they are I didn't really want them to scream "I'm a beer bottle" at me every time I looked at them. I also happened to have a wine bottle (not sure how or why). I clustered this all together and...TA DA!

Pretty great right?!  You dont have to lie, its far from great.  Technically it could even be called trash. But it will be great. I promise. It just needs a little...something.  I dug through my mountain of crafting supplies for my trusty glue gun and some twine, called a friend over with some bottles of her own and we got to work.

I started at the top of my wine bottle and glued the twine around the bottle so it was fully covered.  I recommend using a lot of glue at the start so its secured good.  As you go you can use just a dot or two of glue after every 3-4 wraps around the bottle. Then use more glue again towards the bottom to make sure it wont come undone there too. After covering my wine bottle I realized I needed another bottle of a different size/shape to cover in twine.  Off to the Man Cave I go to see what I can find. Hmmm, beer while crafting? Don't mind if I do.  After drinking and cleaning the bottle ( I don't bother to remove the label since it will be covered anyway) I continue the same process as with the wine bottle.


Finally a cluster them all together, tie them with some more twine and, TA DA! Ok, NOW their pretty. :-)

Time needed for this craft? about 45 minutes.

Pregnancy, Holy Crap here we go

As many of you know I'm a new mommy, and as every new Mommy likes to brag, I thought I would dedicate a page of my blog to the little girl that holds my heart. I will try to update this at least once a month with her accomplishments, new baby product reviews, and my successes and flops as a new mother :-). So with that in mind I thought I better go back to the beginning and get you all up to speed.

I actually had the joy of finding out I was pregnant for my birthday. I went out to dinner with friends and had a drink, not knowing at this point I was pregnant mind you.  Everything was fine until I went home that night, it felt like a had several drinks.  I thought it was odd but didn't think too much about it right away. The next day I was laying in bed still feeling like hell and it dawned on me. I did a mental count in my head and sure enough I was late by a few weeks!

After taking an at home test and going to the Dr. for confirmation sure enough, I was preggers.  I was both excited and unsure. We hadn't planned this, it wasn't even really on our radar for the near future. So I was unsure what my other half would have to say.  I knew he wanted kids. I just didn't know if he was ready right now.  I sat down with him and basically said something along the lines of, " Hey baby, so ummm, well, I think, well no, I know that I'm pregnant."...long pause...He just looks at me with this shocked face and can only muster out a "Really?" I was a little unsure how to continue until he busted out in a rather cute grin and just jumped up and hugged me.

By the end of our conversation it was clear we were equally freaked out and excited.  I feel like this is the one true thing that will change your life forever. I mean if you think about it, everything else you do practically can be changed. Get a tattoo and don't like it? Cover it up or remove it. Buy a house? You can sell it. Get a puppy and realize you cant handle it? Find it a new home. Choosing to have a baby changes everything you'v ever known in your life, not just for a little while. Forever. And in 9 months we were going to jump on that parenting roller coaster and hold on for dear life.
H o l y C r a p.

My pregnancy went well, I gained weight, I grew a belly, then I grew a bigger belly. I cant say I had any crazy cravings or weird prego dreams that I can remember.  I was torn between wanting a boy or a girl. I grew up with an older brother so I liked the idea of hopefully having a boy then a girl. Big brothers are the best thing a little girl can have I think. But part of me also wanted a little girl pretty bad. My boyfriend of course wanted a boy. Don't all guys want a boy?!  Anyway As you now know we had a little girl so I cant kill you with suspense and drag it out before telling you . My pregnancy was really pretty easy. I didn't have much for morning sickness or any unusual swelling or pain. Really what I remember more than anything was the point when I hit the wall.

For months you plan and prep and dream of life with your baby. And I did all those things. Then it was like I flipped a switch and I was just done. I did not, repeat, DID NOT want to be pregnant any more. I think it was about the 8 1/2 month mark. I turned into an angry, grumpy, leave me alone or I will hurt you pregnant lady. I was tired of feeling like a blimp. Tired of getting out of my car with a massive belly in the way. Tired of Dr. Appointments every week. I was just done. My poor co works would cringe when they saw me coming. I tried everything I could think of to get my labor going, spicy food, exercise, walking, I even rearrange the whole garage (for the second time during my pregnancy, Nesting is a very real and strong pregnancy urge people). 

Nothing happened.

Nada.

Zilch.

Whoever said that any of those things could bring on labor lied through their teeth. And I was feeling like punching them in those teeth.  It was the day before my Dr. appt and just 4 days before my due date. I had every intention of strapping myself to the exam room chair and refusing to leave until my Dr. agreed to induce me. I was at work, just finishing up my day in fact. When surprisingly my water broke. I was surprised for a few reasons: 1. I had already bought the rope to tie myself to the before mentioned chair. 2. that my water even broke-did you know that only about 15% of women have their water break on its own?  3. It wasnt like in the movies where a giant puddle appeared below me. It felt much more like I had just peed my pants (oh the joy of pregnancy!).  So I told my co worker I was leaving early, called my boyfriend and told him I was on my way home.  I was so excited! Finally it was time. I went home and took a shower, didnt want to go to the hospital feeling like I just peed myself after all.  At this point I wasnt having any painful contractions, the nurse checked my vitals and told me they were going to monitor me and the baby.  She pooped and inside me and they were concerned about Meconium Aspiration.  But all I could do now was sit and wait.  Damn. Not the waiting game again.

Several hours passed with nothing happening so they finally agreed to give me Pitocin to get that baby movin. Again I was told to wait. 

I hate that word.

Finally things started moving. I was giving my epidural (I didnt feel the need to put my pain tolerance to the test.) And....I waited. Again. The nurse told me to relax, get some sleep and she would let me know when it was time to push. Relax?!  Sleep? Who can sleep at a time like this?!  Apparently my boyfriend.  So I laid in that hospital bed til 4 in the morning glaring at my sleeping boyfriend, Listening to the clock tick. 

4 AM, ok now I can push. YA! I think any minute Im going to be holding my baby in my arms and NOT be pregnant anymore.

4:30 AM pushing

5 AM still pushing

5:30 AM Still Pushing

6 AM Visions of Dory from Finding Nemo pop into my head...Just keep Pushing, Just keep Pushing

6:30 AM  Yep. STILL pushing, and getting pretty tired I might add.

6:45 AM I have come to the realization that I will be pregnant forever. Im doomed.

7 AM Dr. decides to have a little chat. Paige is stuck. My epidural is wearing off and they wont be giving me another one. I have 3 options. 1. I can have a c-section (I did not run this marathon just to get almost to the finish and have you tell me sorry, you wore the wrong t-shirt) 2. I can keep pushing through the pain (Did I mention Im also tired?) 3. He can suction the little baby right out (Downside, possible conehead baby).

Suction it is! And at 7:10 on a summer day in August I FINALLY was holding my baby. AND I wasnt pregnant anymore! Added Bonus? No Conehead baby either.And yes, all baby's come out this pretty and clean with pink bows in their hair.

Rock Hot Plate- a nap time craft

I recently came across a super cute idea for making a trivet (hot plate). And what makes it even better is there are only 3 things you need to make it.

• Hot Glue and Gun
• Felt
• River rocks

First you need to decide if you want a circle or square hot plate, as well as what size. And cut your felt accordingly. I made mine a circle, and about the size of an average sauce pan. I also decided to glue two pieces of felt together to hopefully help make it a little sturdier.  It will also help the over all look if you get your felt in a color similar to the stones. I have black stones the I purchased at my local craft store. You can also make it more personal by using stones you and a loved one have collected or even small sea shells from a trip to the beach. The main thing to keep in mind is they need to all be a fairly uniform height. You want to be able to actually set things on this and not have it too wobbly .

Plug in your trusty hot glue gun and let it heat up. In the mean time lay your felt and rocks out on the table. You'll want to take a moment to make sure you have enough to fully cover the felt. There is nothing more frustrating in the crafting world then when you are in the zone and have to stop everything to go to the store for something.

Take your glue and start by putting glue on your felt and sandwiching the two pieces together. Next put a small glob (very technical crafting term) on in small sections. Enough to put on 1-3 stones maybe. You dont want to get too ahead of yourself because the glue will harden before you get a chance to add your rocks.

Keep repeating until the felt is covered. You can try to do a pattern, or simply place them wherever. It might even turn out well to do a pattern with different colored stones.  This was super easy to do and took maybe 45 minutes. Which makes it a perfect Nap Time Craft.

Obviously this is not a spill proof trivet, so some care will be needed when using it. But for the cost (about 3 bucks) I think while it last it will look lovely on my table. 

Cleaning Tips and Tricks

Its SPRING! Don't let the snow on the ground the last few days fool you, the official first day of spring has come and gone. And to many people that means cleaning is in full swing. One of the best things about this time of year is throwing open those windows and letting the fresh spring air flush out all the stale winter air you'v been breathing inside your home. And of course it also means nicer weather, and if your like me, you may want a clean home but don't really want to spend those beautiful spring days cooped up inside cleaning.  Lately Iv been seeing tons of tips for cleaning that I thought I would share with you today. If you have any of your own handy tips please feel free to comment below.

Living room-

• Pet hair on the couch or car seat? Instead of vacuuming it simply get a rubber dish washing glove and a bucket or bowl of warm water. Dunk your gloved hand in the water, remove and gently shake off excess. Then wipe your hand across the couch/chair/car seat.  The pet hair will collect on the glove and off your furniture. Ya! To remove the pet hair from the glove just dunk it in the water again and gently swish around. When done just dump your water outside or down the toilet (I do the toilet because it wont clog like a sink drain due to the hair)
• Clean your baseboards with dryer sheets. This will help repel dust and hair, so you can crawl around less often cleaning them.
• Remove candle wax that has melted onto a wall by pressing tissue against it with an iron set on low. The wax will melt and adhere to the kleenex.

Kitchen-

• Want to make your stove all shiny and new again? Bust out the car wax. After giving your stove a through cleaning apply some car wax. Not only will it make it shine, it will also make messy spills easier to clean up.- just a note, I have a gas range and this works great. I do not recommend for an electric range. 
• Also great for making your gas range look new again. Take the dirty grates off, put in a large ziplock bag (you can probably only fit 1-2 grates per bag) add a few tablespoons ammonia and seal. Resist the urge to add more ammonia. Its not needed, its the fumes off the ammonia, not the liquid its self that holds the power. Set them in a garage or outside overnight. In the morning pull them from the bag and scrub with warm water and scrubbing sponge. Arn't they purdy?! 
• Coffee Pots need a good cleaning every now and then, but lets face it when was the last time you remember'd to put the cleaner for them on your list? Have no fear! All powerful vinegar to the rescue! Pour a solution of vinegar and water ( I use 1/3 vinegar to 2/3 water) into your machine and brew up a pot. When Its done, Dump out the pot, pour another one in of just water and turn on again to filter out any remaining vinegar. 
• Polish your silver using a mixture of 1/4 cup baking soda, 2 teaspoons salt and 1 quart boiling water. Just soak silver and dry. 
• Remove streaks from Stainless steel with olive oil. Wipe on with a towel and buff to a shine with paper towels or newspaper. 

Laundry room-

• Make your dryer work better and last longer. We all know to empty our lint traps regularly but do many of us vacuum it out as well? Give it a try, you might be surprised by how much lint slips past the screen. Speaking of the screen, a few times a year its also a good idea to remove it and scrub it gently with hot soapy water. Dryer sheets tend to leave a waxy buildup that clogs the screen. Its also said that doing both these things on a regular basis could lower gas bills. Who doesnt love that?!
• Washing machines also benefit from a good cleaning every now and then, and it couldnt be easier! Dump in about 1/2 cup vinegar into your machine and turn on the hottest setting. You can either run it empty or add in a load of towels. It wont hurt your towels, in fact its good for them. It can remove odors and buildup in your machine.  It also removes odors from towels or anything you may have left in the washing machine for too long after running it.

Bathroom-

• Polish the chrome on your sinks after you clean them with baby oil. makes them shiny and new! 
• Want your bathroom to smell fresh without spraying air fresheners or lighting candles? Buy some essential oil ( I like lemon, coconut or sweet almond personally but there are tons of great choices). Whenever you put a new roll of toilet paper out put a drop or two of oil on the inside of the cardboard tube. Everytime someone uses the bathroom the scent will fill the room....the good scent not bad.
• Remove soap scum from a shower door by scrubbing with a damp dryer sheet. 
• Toilet stains can be removed with Coke or vinegar. Just pour into the bowl, let sit for an hour, scrub then flush.

One crazy concept to me that Iv read online is to get completely dressed (shoes and all) to clean your home. Why? Its said this will help motivate you to get moving.  If this works for you great. Go ahead, put on your heels and makeup and act like a good retro house wife and get to cleaning!  Or you could be like me, I like to clean in the mornings. I roll out of bed in my PJ's and no makeup, and clean the house first thing. I can get sweaty and dirty and having cleaning solution on my hands. Then I go upstairs, take a shower and start my day. That way, I emerge from the shower fresh and clean to a fresh and clean home as well. Its one of life's little pleasures.  Besides how many of you cant help but look at your hands all day after cleaning and wonder  if THEY are clean.  Maybe it is just me but even if my hand never touches the toilet bowl, and I wash my hands after cleaning everything, I still feel... well, dirty.

Spring Cleaning

Hello everyone! Bet you thought I was dead right?!  I know its been a while since my last post. What can I say? Life takes over and Im just along for the ride.  It seems like everything and nothing happened all in the span of a few months. We have been crazy busy, but not so much with anything I felt you all would be interested in reading. I started painting the base boards in our home (hopefully a tutorial with tips coming soon). My little girl was sick for almost a month, then was teething, got a tooth (ya!) and promptly started working on the next tooth (sigh). No rest for the weary I guess.

My next few posts are going to mostly be dedicated to the super exciting, always fun topic of cleaning ( you're laughing right?) Ok, so maybe fun and exciting are not the best word to describe it.  I also apologize in advance that these posts are probably going to be lacking in fun and exciting pictures too. But hey, I didnt think anyone wanted to see my messy house anyway.

Sadly its a fact of life that house's get dirty and we (in my house that's 'I') end up needing to clean. As you know we recently purchased a home. Where we used to live was maybe 1200 square feet of space to clean. Now its almost double that. And while I love our home, I feel like its a constant battle to clean. I felt like I was just running in circles, without a plan. I would clean the same things all the time and then one day look up and realize I hadn't vacuumed the stairs since....well since we moved in. If you have any pets you may have the joy of knowing that their hair loves to accumulate in the carpet of the stairs.  Let's just say, Ewww.  I hate stairs with carpet. When house hunting it was one of the top things on my do not want list. Some how we ended up with them anyway. Its not so much that I hate the stairs, or the carpet. I hate vacuuming the furry creatures that start growing on my stairs.

I needed a plan of attack. I searched the web for cleaning schedule that worked for me and found, nothing. Maybe its just me but so many of the schedule's I found were over kill. I mean who needs to clean their baseboards every week?! While I would agree cleaning your bathroom often is a plus, I also dont think it needs a deep cleaning every week either. Once a month or so seems good enough to me. Besides, who wants their hand shoved in a toilet every time they turn around? Not me. Dont get me wrong, there are things I do almost everyday. I try to clean the kitchen after every meal, sometimes easier said then done though. And I try to walk around and pick up clutter a few times a week too. But I needed a plan for the bigger jobs.I wanted things to be spaced out. A few jobs a week would be perfect, after all I also have a child to take care of (as many of us do) and a dog, and a boyfriend, and cooking, and work and projects to finish and... well you get the idea. I like to live life as it happens.  Not clean constantly.  Also my week nights are already slammed enough with things to do. So the last thing I want to do is break out the toilet scrubber on a Tuesday night.

So I made my own schedule. It goes something like this-

HOUSE CLEANING CHECKLIST
	WEEK 1		WEEK 2
	Laundry		Laundry
	Vacuum upstairs		Sweep/Mop
	Clean Kitchen		Clean bathroom(s)
	Wash bedding		Vacuum downstairs
	WEEK 3		WEEK 4
	Laundry		Laundry
	Dust		Wash Bedding
	Clean Kitchen		Sweep/mop
			Vacuum downstairs
	WEEK 5		EVERY 2-3 MONTHS
	Laundry		Clean oven
	Clean Microwave		Clean windows
	Clean Kitchen		Clean dishwasher
	Clean Fridge		Clean (inside and out) cupboards and drawers
			Vacuum edges and stairs
			Wash throw blankets
			Clean window coverings
			Clean out closet Move Furniture and vacuum