amallicoat

My SIL Stacia woke up around 2am last night, got up and her water broke.  She was due March 18, so baby Stroud will be coming sometime today!  S/he will be 6 weeks early.  I am excited to be an Aunt, technically I am but we don't ever see the kids (Chris's sister), but wasn't expecting it so soon.

Stacia was dialated to a 3 when she got to the hospital, and is contracting, but drs didn't do the steroid shot because they didn't think she would be in labor for the 24 hrs to get the second shot.  She also is on antibiotics because she hadn't had her strep B test yet.  I hope that they are able to nurse, but her attitude was we will try it and hopefully it will work out, so adding in premie issues really concerns me.

A friend of mine orders much of her organic stuffs from a company called Azure Standard www.azurestandard.com. I looked up your city and you are on the route! And since it is on the route map, I am pretty sure there is a drop point for you. She said that the quality is fabulous and has been very satisfied and it is about 1/2 the price of the local organic stores. Her daughter has severe food allergies/sensitivities and without this company she doesn't know how they would do it financially.

I am bummed that we are about 90 miles off the route, but I may have to figure out a way to get some things anyways.

If you go to the site, you can order a free catalog.

Emma's new trick for Christmas...is crawling! She won't go very far, but when she wants something she has figured out how to get it. A video will be coming soon!

There is sleet and rain coming down right now. The roads are not looking good. I need to go to Target and get a couple more things for the kids and I need to go to the grocery to get food for Christmas morning.

So the choices are to either take the kids out now and get it over with while it is still raining or to wait and go after Chris gets home but then it will be ice coming down and the roads will be terrible!

The other issue is that although we don't do Santa here, the kids still like to go see him at the mall, and Reagan hasn't had the chance to do that this year. So I might have to take him with me anyways, and he is one that I have to get something for.

Ugh, why do I let things get to the last minute like this? Money being tight doesn't help, and I don't like taking Emma out when the weather is crappy, but this is just so frustrating to be dealing with this so close to Christmas again this year.

The kids are outside playing in the snow, Emma is in the swing, maybe taking a nap and I need to go take a shower!

Today I am going to make Chocolate Covered Cherries! They are my dad's favorite and I haven't ever made them, so I am sure this will be an adventure!

Laundry, Laundry, Laundry to do today. It's the folding and putting away that we struggle with. But to have it all done before Christmas will be my gift to myself ;)

My sil Stacia is coming over tomorrow to help me sort through all the clothes that have taken over my bedroom. All the kids things that are too small will be packed away. What a relief that will be.

My other goal for the day is to get the kitchen counter cleaned off. I want things to be all neat and tidy for Christmas morning. And I need to start wrapping presents.

The first five people to respond to this post will get something made by me.
This offer does have some restrictions so please read:
- I make no guarantees that you will like what I make.
- What I create will be just for YOU & you are allowed to make requests (and I will try to honor them).
- It will be done before 2011.
- It might be cookies, a mix cd, a necklace, an original haiku, a scarf, who knows!
- You'll need to PM me your mailing address if you're one of the first 5.

In return, all you need to do is repost this on your LJ and offer to make 5 things for 5 other people.

We love these gloves http://www.leapsandbounds.com/catalog/product.jsp?productId=535137&cm_ven=Froogle&cm_cat=NA&cm_pla=NA&cm_ite=14654#products

Abby needs a new pair, Eli's mittens are in good shape from last year, Reagan's are eh, so both A and R will probably be getting a new pair.

Woke up several times with Emma, finally got her to go to sleep around 5am, laid there awake until 7ish, fell asleep. Woke up with Eli curled up next to me moaning at 7:40, then what every mom wants to hear, "mom, I need a bowl!" right as the throwing up starts. He got a tiny bit on the sheets and got the rest in the trash (I really needed to wash the sheets anyways so Chris will be happy;) ). I then put Eli in the shower, when he got out, he puked all over himself, at least he was still naked, so back to the shower he went. He got out, got dressed in clean jammies, threw up again, getting it all in the bucket, and has been fine the rest of the day.

So I didn't watch Michael today, still haven't gotten the cookies and candy done for tomorrow, and Chris is out at the mall shopping with Abby and Reagan. Fun times for him:P but at least some more of the shopping will be done. I told him that it all MUST be done by Sunday, I am sick of worrying about it. I will take the kids to the mall early next week to see Santa, we don't 'do' Santa, but they still like to go see him anyways and get the candy cane.

Tomorrow we are going to my parents house to have Christmas with my grandma and aunt. Lots of kiddos being spoiled. Mom is cooking brunch. We might run to a few stores there that aren't here and finish while they watch the kids, depends on when the festivities end.

Yay - we are back online!

Virus on the desktop and the internet we had been "borrowing" was locked down on the laptop. Finally got things going again on the laptop, the desk top is another story. It is fixable, but it has to go to Mike. Yay for computer fixing friends!

Things have been crazy here. It has been refreshing to be off the computer for the last several weeks and I am going to have to really monitor the time I spend on it.

TIME-SUCKER!!!!

Anyways, we havebeen slowly getting ready for Christmas. I have more shopping to do, but it is slow going. The weather here is frigid, and I hate taking the kids out in it if I don't have to. There will be a late night run to Kohls and WalMart later this week, I am sure.

So many things to be thankful for today.

Family
Health
Warm home
Good Food to Eat
Jesus who loves me and died for me

and so many others.

Hape a happy Thanksgiving and remember Gods blessings.

Emma just tried to grab a bowl next to me, I told her no and she turned and looked at me and laughed! I am not ready for that already!!!!

fgjkhjkjhiucdfuiv vm = love emma!

So Emma has had a rash off and on for the last month. When I took her to the dr last week she said it was excema and just lather the vaseline on it. YUCK! Even if I weren't using cloth diapers, that would still be gross. But I don't really know what to do for it. I am trying to change her every 1-2 hours, she is still peeing on the toilet at most diaper changes, and rarely poops in her diaper. It mostly seems to be where the elastic is along the leg openings. It will spread closer to her girly bits if there is a long time between diaper changes, but now that I know that we are changing her all the time again. Most of her diapers aren't very wet.

For a couple of nights I have put her in disposables and used Triple Paste and it clears up, but by noon the next day when we are back in cloth, she is red again. I have been using flannel liners and cornstarch/zinc oxide powder (Johnson's Medicated) during the day and that seems to help some, but it is still not helping completely.

Any ideas?

MOPS this morning, now we are home and Emma is sleeping (for now).  The other 3 kids are outside playing for a bit.  I need to get lunch for them and then get them working on their school work for today.

I also have 20 lb of ground beef to take care of and some chicken noodle soup to make.

I need to post about Emma's 8 month check-up from yesterday too.

Emma has her 8 month well check today.

Eli just told me both of his ears really hurt.

Reagan has has a stomach ache/pains off and on for the last 2 weeks.

Abby told us last night that her heal hurts when she walks.


At least the visit will all be at the same time.

Abby is at gymnastics.

Emma is almost done nursing, then onto a nap in the swing.

The Eli is "helping" Chris with the shed ;)

Reagan is sitting on the couch reading and watching football.

Chris is working on the shed.

I am going outside to enjoy the beautiful 70* weather and aerate our yard, and 2-3 other neighbors yards.

Have a wonderful day!!!

Woke up @ 7:05 to Eli coughing in my face and his coughing woke Emma up :(.  He is fine now that he got moving around.  Chris wasn't in bed, so I sent Eli to find him.  He came back and said that daddy isn't here, and his Jeep is gone.  So I was up.

Chris called at 8:10, said he was on his way home from Wal Mart - with a TV!  We have been looking at them, and Wal Mart started their early Black Friday sales this morning.  We got a 46" 1020 dpi 120 hz Sanyo for $698, so $750 after tax.  We were going to buy one early this year for arounf $1000, so a pretty good deal.  The prices may be a litte better right after Thanksgiving, but he didn't have to deal with crowds today.  Thay also had a Compac laptop for $298 that we had thought about getting for the kids school work, but he didn't.

Now I am feeding Emma and he is working on the shed.  Framing the doorway, and then getting the doors on and he will be done!  I need to post pics of the progress.

Eli: Mom look!  Emma has a hair-hawk!
Me: A hair-hawk?  Do you mean a mohawk?
Eli: Yeah, a hair mohawk.

I love when Emma is nursing and she gets that drunk love look right before her eyes drift shut.

Emma is napping (in the swing - her only napping spot) and the kids are playing with the neighbors, I have a few minutes to myself.  I need to get cleaning, but first I need to eat.  Chicken quesadilla or leftover chili or leftover oyster soup, hmmm...all are good.

This morning we did some school work and then we took Abby to the dentist to have the first of her cavities taken care of.  He found that it was so early that he was able to clean it really well and just put a sealant on it.  He thinks that he should be able to do the same to the other teeth next week.  Yeah for no shots in her mouth!

We stopped at the library today and got some books.  They were also having a book sale so I got a bag of books for the kids for $1, can't beat that.

I need to start making a list of things I want to get people for Christmas, my plan is to be done shopping ASAP.  I love shopping, but I don't like the pressure and I want December to be a relaxing month this year.

Emma hasn't pooped in 3 days, not like her since she started solids.  I gave her about a tablespoon on prunes last night, she threw them up about 45 minutes later.  It is going to be a big poo when it happens, hopefully I catch her and get it on the toilet.

Emma also has been dealing with a red rash.  I think it is ammonia burn.  I am struggling to deal with it.  I tried using liners at night, but have had to resort to disposables a couple of times due to the massive amounts of cream I am putting on her bum.  I just washed half of her diapers and then ran a long soak with oxiclean and then a million rinses, so I hope that will help.  Otherwise I don't know what to do!  We had no problems for such a long time and then wham, this rash and it just won't seem to go away.  I can get it almost cleared up, and then it flares again.

Coffee shop and Jenga with the kids this morning after the dentist.  It was fun.