Okay this is a pretty simple tip, but it works for me and that’s the point of Works For Me Wednesday. To keep dust off of your television screen & your blinds wipe them with a bounce sheet. There are so many wonderful, useful tips for bounce sheets, but this is definitely one I love.
For other tips visit Rocks in My Dryer
I used to have a lot of this. I had 1 child for 6 years. I had a job that I went to and sat in an office basically by myself and between you and I spent the majority of my time online…. (If you are from any of my old jobs I wasn’t talking about that job – I was talking about the other job) I felt that I was getting plenty of me time. Then I chose to change my life up a little bit. I moved, started to work at home and the topper on the cake…. I HAD ANOTHER BABY. I decided that I needed to scout out my “Me Time” and find out exactly what it is that I need to involve myself in to keep my sanity. I started out with the whole Mommy Forum thing…. catty, drama and so not enjoyable me time. I’d rather not watch girls attack each other on their parenting skills – to each their own right? Why judge? Then I decided that church would be the perfect me time. Yeah, I love church and am beyond happy that I made the decision to go to church, but let’s face it…. it’s a family thing. I have yet to see the “Me Time” in it. In fact, almost every Sunday I find myself hanging out in the mother’s room. So, that has basically turned into Ella & Me time. I finally figured out recently how to get me some “Me Time” I hand my husband my daugher, I go upstairs so quietly and sneak into my bedroom past Jayden and run to my bathroom, shut & LOCK the door. Then I turn the Ihome on as loud as it can go (to drown out the screaming and crying coming through the crack under the door and the “Mommy, I’m thirsty”) and I run my hot, hot, scolding hot bath and sink in and read. Then when my heart just knows that Ella is on the verge of a breakdown downstairs, I drain the water, get out of the bath, look in the mirror and take a deep breath. I open the door and reality slaps me right in the face. But there’s a smile on it, because for the past 8.7 minutes I was alone, with a book and loud music and there were no children or husband in there to ruin it for me. And that 8.7 minutes will get me through the next 24 hours.
To write about your “Me Time” head over to MamaBlogga for this month’s writing project.
Ella’s cardiologist (well, not hers but one that works w/hers) flew down from Portland to check her out today. She’s gained almost 5lbs since her last visit in Portland 3 months ago. So they only thing that was done was her medication was upped to 1ML instead of .8ML and told me see you in 6 months unless something comes up. We are going to schedule our next appointment w/her EP Cardiologist so we talk about what to expect w/ablation. They did do an EKG and we can definitely see on it that she has Wolf-Parkinson-White Syndrome.
So, uneventful, but it was good.
It’s Tuesday, which means Tammy is hosting another Kitchen Tip Tuesday This week I’m going to let you in on a little trick that I just recently learned about brown sugar and how to make it back into soft sugar after being rock hard. All you do is add a slice of soft bread inside of the bag and close it tightly. After a few hours it will be soft again. For other kitchen tips head over to Tammy’s Blog
Do they really think I’m stupid? I keep hearing this sweet little voice from outside saying, “Mommy we REALLY want our pictures taken out here. I’ll pose for you.” Hmmmm…… I think not! Here is what they’re doing outside and I was smart enough to take the pics b
efore they got the idea in their head to “get me” The last picture on here is what I was driving in earlier – now keep in mind I DO NOT DRIVE IN SNOW. So, basically I cried the whole way home. My wonderful loving husband laughed at me the whole way home. 
I’m only 25 years old and tonight I felt older than I ever have in my life. I went to my sister’s high school’s basketball game so I could watch her cheer. The game was amazing – I swear it felt like we were at a college basketball game. But, as I sat where all the parents sat, across the court from where all the kids from school sit cheering their team on I kinda felt a little depressed. I’m not a kid anymore…holy crap! I swear I thought I was still 16 until tonight… okay, not really, but I sure as hell didn’t feel 25. Now I feel 40. Life sure flies by I tell you.
Now, Miss Ella had a ball at the ball game. I thought she’d be scared, because believe me the fans at this game were giving the Sacramento Kings fans a run for their money (okay not that loud but pretty darn loud!) She was kicking her feet, and smiling and watching the cheerleaders… we had so much fun!
So there’s a picture of Ella at the game (obviously) and I would have one up of Jayden but he was having fun running around w/his aunt Tiona (who is only 2 years older than him) So, I promise to post more pictures of him – I promise I’m not favoring Ella – she’s just so darn cute!
After Ella went through all that heart stuff I swore to myself I would take a CPR class – just in case. I never did. Today I was faced with a situation that scared me more than anything – even more than Ella’s first heart episode. With Ella’s first heart episode I was scared, but she was with her doctor when I found out what was wrong. I knew in my heart that everything was going to be okay. Tonight, I didn’t. Tonight I honestly thought that Ella was going to die. I gave her a teething cookie. She gnaws on them all the time. We’ve given these cookies to her all the time and they’ve NEVER been a problem Tonight was a different story. I was doing dishes and she was sitting in her travel swing eating a cookie. I looked down at her and she was starting to turn blue. I went to grab her and she was buckled in (of course) and nothing I ended up doing was helping. I was screaming “HELP ME!” I panicked. I did not know what else to do. My husband at this point has ran downstairs and has her upside down hitting her back and I’m the phone with 911. Our conversation goes like this:
911 what is the location of your emergency?
MY BABY IS CHOKING!
Ma’am I need to know the location of your emergency.
I DON’T KNOW! MY HOUSE!
Ma’am can you look at some mail and find out your address?
GINO! WHAT’S OUR ADDRESS? OMG OMG OMG OMG I DON’T KNOW MY ADDRESS!!!! (In which case he didn’t know either)
OMG! HE DID IT! HE GOT IT OUT!
So do I need to send paramedics?
NO THANK YOU!! SHE’S GONNA BE OKAY!
End of conversation
Thankfully my husband shoved his finger down her throat and made her throw up and out came the cookie piece that was stuck. I was shaking so badly. When he handed her to me I sat on the couch and cried harder than I think I’ve ever cried in my life.
About 1 minute after hanging up the phone a cop knocked at the door and Ella and I went to greet him. He smiled and rubbed Ella’s tummy (she was just in a diaper) and she was a mess from the cookie. Well, he said “Are you okay little one?” and she took one look at him and flipped her lid. She didn’t like him at all. So he smiled and said, glad all turned out okay. I was pleased with how quickly he responded – that’s a plus on living in such a small little town.
I do know my address, but it’s amazing how when you’re in that situation you lose all knowledge in your head. So I’m going to actually put on the fridge w/her medical information(already on there) our address for myself in times of chaos.
Go here to watch a video on what to do if your infant is choking.
I am so pleased to announce that Ella has gone 3 whole months since having to be rushed off to the hospital. My Cardiac Baby has had not one issue with her heart since 10/23/2007. I actually feel safe leaving the valley and traveling places. For a while there I actually thought I’d never leave here ever again – I didn’t want to travel to far away from her doctor. Now that I feel confidant I just might be taking a trip to Sacramento soon to see all of our family and friends.
I was reading on Kimi’s blog about her daughter Faith and how they lost her due to her heart condition. As I was reading about her story it really hit so close to home. I had mentioned on her blog how it’s amazing how God will come in during the hardest times in your life and he literally will carry you through it. The Footprints poem has so much meaning to me now. Through losing my baby, Mya, and then to go through almost losing Ella I just am amazed at how God carried me through it all and kept me strong.
I am so thankful for the many blessings that I have in my life. I continue to pray that Ella’s heart will correct itself somehow and she won’t require surgery. I pray that every mom out there who has lost a baby or child of theirs finds their strength to go on through God.
Footprints |
One night I had a dream– |
It is Works for Me Wednesday!! This week I want to share my new favorite bottles and the most exciting part about them. I guess I should first say I HATE (YES HATE) Avent bottles. I swear it takes me so many tries to get those lids on right and nothing makes me more mad than going to shake that bottle and having formula spray all over you…yeah, that is what happens w/Avent bottles…so if you’re a new mommy or new mommy to be and you plan on using bottles – I HIGHLY suggest these ones.
Okay…. Soothie bottles have these fun little “snack containers” as you can see in the picture and you actually can pre measure formula, put them in the little containers and then stack the bottle on top of them. You can just keep stacking and stacking too. This works wonders for me because I already have so much crap in the diaper bag and toting around a can of formula is no fun. Now all I have to do is fill 3 of the little “snack containers” with pre-measured formula (1 for each bottle) fill 2 bottles w/water, then stack one bottle on top of one “snack container” and then the second bottle I stack on 2…and even stacking it on 2 my bottles still fit perfectly in the bottle holders on the diaper bag.
So, this is what works for me. For other tips from other’s visit Rocks in My Dryer ~ and Happy Wednesday!!
My heart completely dropped when I heard the news. I just couldn’t believe that you would ever do something like this. You were quite the self destructive one and everyone was always worried about what crazy thing you’d do next, but I must say this definitely wasn’t something I ever expected. I wish that you would have thought before you acted. You always kicked yourself for all the things you did without thinking ~ much like my brother. I’m so sad that you can’t kick yourself this time. Robert, I know that my mom & you loved each other with all of your hearts, and unfortunately you were in a situation that you couldn’t be together. I’m sad for her. I’m sad that she’s lying in bed right now feeling the worst heart ache from you she’s ever had to feel, and I’ve seen her shed many tears over you. I remember your accident and how scared she was when she thought you were dead. Now you are. And you did it yourself. Why? Robert, you were so loved. You had an amazing personality and all you had to do was walk away. There was no reason to do what you did.
I hope you rest in peace. I hope that you finally feel peace with yourself. I will pray every day for your children, my mom, and all of the people out there that love you. Please watch over Tap Tap. I’m not telling Jayden. I don’t want to have to explain. I remember once when Jayden was first understanding family he told me “Auntie is your sister, Uncle Mitch is your brother, Grandma is your mom and Tap Tap is your dad.” It was so cute. And then after a while of you not seeing him he asked “Where’s Tap Tap? Is he dead?” :*( If you see my angel Mya up there tell her that I love her ~ and look for the balloons that I’m sending your way. I’m putting a pink one in there for Mya so give her hers. Watch over my mom. She loves you so much, Robert. And Maria is in my prayers. I hope that she recovers for your children. They need her. I wish you didn’t do this. RIP, Robert!! Much love ~ Tap Tap