artsy-crafty babe

4 weeks

Has it been that long already?  Where is the time going?  Things are going well with Ava, though a bit hectic in my household.  I suppose that is to be expected.  Our biggest challenge is trying to tame wild child Alex.  That boy is driving me crazy!  It's not so easy to keep up with him (I can't let him out of my sight) while having a baby attached.  I think we need Super Nanny.  He'd been doing things that I never imagined my child would ever do.  Live and learn.  I'm not going to complain.  Thank goodness we can laugh about it.

Oh crafting buddies, I've missed you so!  For days now I've been trying to make a simple skirt, but Ava is making it difficult.  I did get so far as to trace and cut my pattern.  All day I've been trying to make it upstairs to pick out some fabric, but I haven't made it up there.  I did get many loads of clothes washed and folded, changed the sheets on two beds and swept the floor a million times.  That's where all my non-kid time goes, along with some general hygiene tasks like showering and using the bathroom.

Since I have nothing crafty to show, I'll show you my kids.

A rare moment when they all like each other and no one is crying.

5 years

5 years ago today, I became a mom.  Today is my baby's 5th birthday.  Happy Birthday Lily! I feel honored to be your mom.  You are such a special little girl.  You are beautiful and as smart as can be.  You amaze me daily with your thoughts and actions.  It's hard to believe that it's been 5 years that you've been in our lives.  I can't imagine our lives without you.  I LOVE YOU!!!

Back to the regularly scheduled program...

Well, not really.  I must admit, I've been crafting vicariously through all of your blogs.  Not a bit of crafting going on here.  Just a lot of crying kids/babies, diaper changing, and boob exposure.  I hope to make something soon (other than a ton of milk).  I NEED to craft.  This is my last week without the two older kiddos, so I had better get busy.  I have a feeling once they're home with me all week it will be pure chaos.

I am starting to see some back tack 3 stuff popping up, so I thought I'd share.  Emma, if you're reading this and you don't want to be spoiled, then look away!  Here's a sneak peek:

I am so glad that I finished this project before I had Ava.  All I need to do now is find a few goodies to add to the package, then off it will go!  This was a fun project to complete.

HOORAY!!!

Sorry to bore you with my breastfeeding saga, but I have a nursing baby!!!  Yesterday was our visit with the lactation consultant.  When we got there Ava latched on perfectly and nursed for 20 minutes, like she has NEVER done before in her life.  WTH???  This girl, she's going to give me trouble, I can tell already.  She has been doing fine with nursing ever since.  I still have to use a shield on my left side, but I'm not complaining. 

I did get some pointers on weaning myself off the pump.  I'm producing WAY more that Ava can eat, so I need to work on decreasing my production.  I've been pumping some off before she nurses so that she gets the hind, more fat milk.  She slept so well last night.  I only had to get up once around 3:30 (I didn't go to bed until midnight), I nursed her for about an hour (she's still a lazy eater), then she went right back to sleep until the whole house was up at 6 am.  Hmm, now that I look at it, it wasn't all that much sleep, but it sure felt better than usual.   The good news is that she wasn't wide awake from 1-3 am, like usual.  I'd rather nurse a baby for an hour than try to get one to sleep for a few hours.

Things are finally looking up.  Oh, and I got a HUGE shipment of Amy Butler fabrics in the mail today, stuff I ordered back in the fall from a co-op.  Yep, I'm happy.  It is a good day, indeed.

Is it Wednesday already?

Where has the time gone?  My days and nights blend together.  I have to constantly remind myself what day it is to keep all the Dr. appointments and events straight.  Whew!

We are all doing well, though still getting used to having a baby in the house.  It has not been a smooth ride.  There have been many temper tantrums, lots of tears, and countless wakeless moments (due to an infant and a toddler).  Alex, who for the past few months has wanted nothing to do with his big boy bed decided that he wanted nothing to do with the crib once Ava was home.  This means that he now has the freedom to get out of his bed whenever he wants.  Bedtime is hell.  So much for routines.  All of our routines have been blown out of the water.  Oh well, we'll make it.

Lily has adjusted the best, though she has her moments.  It takes nothing for her to have a meltdown and she isn't listening very well either.  I guess this is to be expected.  At least both Lily and Alex have birthdays coming up, to that's something fun for them to look forward to.

Ava still doesn't have the hang of breastfeeding.  I cancelled my lactation consultant appointment because the three feedings prior to the appointment she was doing great using the breast shield.  As soon as I cancelled she decided to stop all that.  We had one good nursing Monday morning, but it has been pretty hit or miss since then.  I'm going in tomorrow for some help.  It's definitely time to re-evaluate.  She is simply a poor feeder.  She doesn't do all that great with a bottle either.  She still isn't up to her birthweight, but she did gain some weight in the past week.  I have to keep looking at the positives.

I've been meaning to post this, but haven't gotten around to it.  Here is a lovely gift I received from Alicia:

Isn't it all great?  She made two cute burp cloths for the baby, a fabric covered notebook for Lily, a beautiful felt bowl work of art for me, and not pictured was a frog bubble blower for Alex.  We all LOVE our gifts, thank you so much Alicia!  This gift arrived the day I got home from the hospital, so the timing was perfect.  It really brightened my day!

I wish I had come craftiness to show you, but I don't.  Gosh, I can't wait for the days where I can craft again!  My baby weight is falling off (down 35 lbs so far), so it shouldn't be too long before I start cranking out some new skirts for me. 

I hope all the Moms out there had a great Mother's Day.  I sure did.  As much as I dreaded the day because it was also my birthday, it ended up being a nice day.  My day started with breakfast in bed, shared with my kiddos.  They gave me some great, generous gifts, and let me relax most of the day.  We had family over for a late lunch of grilled hamburgers.  A nice time was had by all.  The day reminded me of all the blessings I have been given.  Being a Mom is great, isn't it?

Bye-bye glow in the dark baby

Hooray, the bili-bed is gone!   It was picked up yesterday, so now I am free to cuddle and hold my baby as much as I'd like.  This is what I lived with since we got home from the hospital.  Kind of freaky, huh?

I wish I had good breastfeeding news to share, but I don't.  The girl still won't latch on.  At least she isn't fighting me like she was, but she just can't get the hang of it.  She roots and tries to latch on to my breast, but ends up coming off repeatedly and gets frustrated.  We're going to see a lactation consultant next week tomorrow.  Hopefully we can get this resolved.  Thankfully, my supply is plentiful, so that's one less thing to worry about.  I feel like such a milk cow!  Needless to say, my freezer is getting stocked with frozen breastmilk.  Right now she isn't even consuming half of what I pump.  I'm such a slave to my pump!

Here's a few gratuitous baby photos:

Last night we ventured out as a family of five for the first time.  It wasn't so bad.  We went out to eat then to Lily's preschool graduation.  They put on a cute little program.  Here's the proud graduate:

Next week is my last week alone with Ava.  After that it will be three against one.  Wish me luck!

Back Home!

After spending 5 days in the hospital, we're back home at last!  Thank you Renee for keeping the blog world updated on our status and thank you all for your well wishes.  I'm sure you'll understand if I don't get to reply to all the comments.  They definitely made my day!  We couldn't be more blessed.

Ava is a doll.  I usually don't think my newborns are too cute, but she's a cutie (bad mom!).  This child has a head full of dark hair and the chubbiest cheeks.  Some of you may remember the scare we had earlier about her having club feet.  Well, her feet are turned, but the good news is that it is only positional, as in it was caused by her position in the womb.  With stretching exercises they should turn back the right way. 

One of the reasons for our long stay in the hospital is that Ava didn't know how to suck.  Because of that she wasn't getting any nutrients, so she became jaundice.  After working with an occupational therapist we were able to get her to swallow from a bottle of expressed breast milk.  Breastfeeding isn't happening at the moment, which is very depressing to me.  I am determined to make it work and get her to the breast, but it will be a long road, as she throws a fit every time I try to nurse her.  She likes having the milk pour down her throat from a bottle!  Yesterday and last night we had her under bililights, which was miserable.  Though I was really against giving her a bottle, it was most important for her to start eating.  Today her biliruben levels were much better, but we were still sent home with the lights.  It was either do it at home, or have her admitted and stay with her.  I can't tell you how miserable it is to not be able to cuddle your newborn!  Right now my instinct is to cuddle her as mush as possible and get skin to skin contact in order to work on breastfeeding, but I can't.  We are only supposed to take her out to eat and change her diaper.  We have our fingers crossed that after tonight her levels will be fine and we can try to get back to normal.

I never would have imagined that after successfully breastfeeding two kids that I'd be having this much trouble.  Luckily, I have an ample supply, so my pump is my best friend.  If any of you have any suggestions, I'm open.  Wish us luck.  Here are some pictures from this past week:

Right after delivery.

The kiddos.

Proud big sister.

Poor Ava under those awful blue lights.

Disgusting me going home.  I'm still quite swollen, but no longer pregnant!

Proud big brother.  He loves his baby sister.

Ava Rose - 1 day old

It's a GIRL!

Beki had a baby girl at 8:28 this morning!

She weighed 9 lbs 0.7 oz. and was 21 1/2" long.

Beki and baby are both fine. Name announcement coming soon . .