Wednesday, August 5, 2015
Thursday, April 30, 2015
"new" blog, same old me.
i can't believe it has been 8 months since i have written an actual blog post. it sometimes gets hard to sit down at your computer every day (or even once a week) and write about life. since neither of my "babies" are really babies anymore, i wanted to change the title of the blog. of course, i'll still be blogging mostly about our life, the life of the kids, my quest to wear matching clothes with my daughter and not look my mom and i wearing floral rompers in the 90s. that's about it. so stay tuned and maybe i'll blog again in the next couple of days.
Tuesday, August 26, 2014
isla turns 1
the last time i updated was almost 6 months ago (oops). i haven't done very well with blogging, but now that isla is sleeping and i am sleeping, i might actually have a little more time on my hands to sit down at my computer. isla is 14 months old and we celebrated her first birthday with family and some friends. i wasn't really sure what kind of theme i wanted for her- with ian, i had thought of something pretty quickly, but i was just stumped with isla. so i took to my best friends google and pinterest to see what ideas i could work with and i found the idea of doing an alice in wonderland (or onederland) party. i secured invitations, outfits and then got to work with the planning. ian and i watched alice and wonderland while i took notes of things that would be super cute. i ended up not totally running with the theme because she's only 1 and i figured a tea party wouldn't be that interesting to a bunch of adults, but i'm still really pleased with how things turned out. we had a good time!
this was at home on isla's actual birthday
birthday cake and smash cake from piece-a-cake bakery! cake had a fudge filling. mmm!
party favors for the kids. glass jars that they could fill with candy from tea cups. the tea cups belonged to dave's grandma.
cheshire cat cheese ball. aka. the cheese ball that lasts forever.
chips/salsa, layered salad and giant cheese ball. was so nice to have a summer birthday for once, so we grilled out for everyone!
the birthday girl. alice apron dress from lover dovers via etsy.
ready for cake!
nom!
we had pink flamingos lining the walk + croquet and a little this way/that way/go back sign (not pictured)
after cake we changed isla into this adorable dress (it's alice themed!) from Little LePew Apparel & and her birthday crown from mosey
i'm 1!
happy 1st birthday, isla!
Thursday, May 1, 2014
isla's birth story. part 3
part 1
part 2
may is preeclampsia awareness month, and hopefully i am going to get back into the habit of being a good blogger by overloading you with lots of information! i wanted to start by finishing isla's birth story, which is also basically our preeclampsia story.
so where i left off was either sunday or monday... i honestly don't remember. i know monday i was woken up the same way i was on sunday (and to follow until thursday) with a 6 am blood draw. it was pretty much the same as my last few days- new nurses, constant blood pressure checks and contractions!
i went back and checked and i did NOT have my epidural on sunday. early monday (after midnight) is when pitocin was started and i was still only dilated to a 1. my blood pressure was up and down and my energy was zapped. by that morning, i was starving and just exhausted. they allowed me to have the liquid diet tray to get some nutrients in me, but sitting up to eat that pretty much killed any little spurt of energy i had. i was even more swollen from the fluids and my lung capacity was diminishing. my biggest concern was that i wasn't going to have the energy to deliver the baby and that i was going to need a c-section, which was the last thing i wanted.
sometime around lunch the ob came to check me again. i was only a 1.5. during the check i felt a weird gush... water breaking. the ob claims that she accidentally broke it... whether or not it was an accident, i guess i'll never know. when that was happening, the nurse in the room had her hands on my belly and felt baby drop- so we were headed in the right direction. i had been thinking about it, and around 1-1:30 i decided i was going to have an epidural. i was just feeling crappy, and i figured if there was at least one thing that might make me feel better, i might as well have that. the epidural totally changed everything. it was more painful than the one i had with ian (which i later figured out was because with ian i had received iv drugs), but after it was done, i felt awake. dave even said my face changed! however, like with most pain meds, i was having a reaction and needed benedryl to counter that, which wasn't helping. by 2:30 i was a 3, and by 3 i was a 4. when my nurse checked me, she told me she had a meeting to go to, but would be back in a bit. she said i was progressing around a centimeter per hour and at that rate we would have a baby by dinner time. dave sent a text to our family and at that point i decided i was going to rest some- i had been chatting with friends on fb and i put my laptop away and tried to rest.
i don't know how long i had been laying there (maybe 10-15 minutes) but i remembered being super uncomfortable. like feeling really bad. i looked over at my screen that was monitoring contractions and i could tell i was having them. i just breathed through how bad i was feeling and i kept quiet. around this time dave told me he was going to go into the bathroom and he joked "don't have the baby while i'm in there." while he was in there, i had another painful contraction and decided something wasn't right, so i paged the nurses station. when they answered i just told them that i was in a lot of pain and to come quick! when the nurse came in, it wasn't my regular nurse and i was explaining to her that i was feeling a lot of pain, and she was telling me, "oh, you can just push this button here if you need more from your epidural." well, during that time i had another contraction, and i told her, "no, i don't think that's it, i mean, i feel like i might need to push. she came over and checked me and said, "oh, i can see her head!!" everything went kind of crazy after that as there were people all over my room- 3 or 4 nurses for me, plus nurses and doctors for isla. i remember a really tiny nurse jumping and trying to pull the lights down from the ceiling and my nurse rushing in and telling me, "i wasn't even gone for 20 minutes and you tried to have a baby without me." and then, of course, my doctor comes in and she was furious... "why didn't anyone call me?!" and a nurse replies, "she was a 4 just 15 minutes ago." and poor dave when he came out of the bathroom, the look on his face just said "really?!" it was chaotic, and they didn't have time to get everything in place, but i was ready to push. she needed some vacuum assistance, and i screamed at my doctor, "i AM pushing" when she told me i would have to work harder or i would have to have a csection (which seems to be all the motivation i ever need). i think i pushed maybe 5 times? isla arrived in about 20 minutes i think, and they let me hold her right away for just a quick minute before the team whisked her over to the warmer and checked all her signs, weight etc. she was wrapped up and given back to me for a few short photos and then whisked off to the nicu while i finished delivery. the room was straightened up and dave and i were left a little confused and alone. not long after that, the lc came in so i could start pumping because i was going to be unable to feed. not too long after that the milk was collected and taken to the nicu and i was moved into another room. we had done it though! our sweet little girl had finally arrived.
the rest of my hospital stay is a whole 'nother entry. maybe one day...
isla olive mcfadden. june 17, 2013. 3:48 pm. 4 lbs. 3 oz. 18 inches.
if you don't like pictures of babies being born... now's the time to leave...
part 2
may is preeclampsia awareness month, and hopefully i am going to get back into the habit of being a good blogger by overloading you with lots of information! i wanted to start by finishing isla's birth story, which is also basically our preeclampsia story.
so where i left off was either sunday or monday... i honestly don't remember. i know monday i was woken up the same way i was on sunday (and to follow until thursday) with a 6 am blood draw. it was pretty much the same as my last few days- new nurses, constant blood pressure checks and contractions!
i went back and checked and i did NOT have my epidural on sunday. early monday (after midnight) is when pitocin was started and i was still only dilated to a 1. my blood pressure was up and down and my energy was zapped. by that morning, i was starving and just exhausted. they allowed me to have the liquid diet tray to get some nutrients in me, but sitting up to eat that pretty much killed any little spurt of energy i had. i was even more swollen from the fluids and my lung capacity was diminishing. my biggest concern was that i wasn't going to have the energy to deliver the baby and that i was going to need a c-section, which was the last thing i wanted.
sometime around lunch the ob came to check me again. i was only a 1.5. during the check i felt a weird gush... water breaking. the ob claims that she accidentally broke it... whether or not it was an accident, i guess i'll never know. when that was happening, the nurse in the room had her hands on my belly and felt baby drop- so we were headed in the right direction. i had been thinking about it, and around 1-1:30 i decided i was going to have an epidural. i was just feeling crappy, and i figured if there was at least one thing that might make me feel better, i might as well have that. the epidural totally changed everything. it was more painful than the one i had with ian (which i later figured out was because with ian i had received iv drugs), but after it was done, i felt awake. dave even said my face changed! however, like with most pain meds, i was having a reaction and needed benedryl to counter that, which wasn't helping. by 2:30 i was a 3, and by 3 i was a 4. when my nurse checked me, she told me she had a meeting to go to, but would be back in a bit. she said i was progressing around a centimeter per hour and at that rate we would have a baby by dinner time. dave sent a text to our family and at that point i decided i was going to rest some- i had been chatting with friends on fb and i put my laptop away and tried to rest.
i don't know how long i had been laying there (maybe 10-15 minutes) but i remembered being super uncomfortable. like feeling really bad. i looked over at my screen that was monitoring contractions and i could tell i was having them. i just breathed through how bad i was feeling and i kept quiet. around this time dave told me he was going to go into the bathroom and he joked "don't have the baby while i'm in there." while he was in there, i had another painful contraction and decided something wasn't right, so i paged the nurses station. when they answered i just told them that i was in a lot of pain and to come quick! when the nurse came in, it wasn't my regular nurse and i was explaining to her that i was feeling a lot of pain, and she was telling me, "oh, you can just push this button here if you need more from your epidural." well, during that time i had another contraction, and i told her, "no, i don't think that's it, i mean, i feel like i might need to push. she came over and checked me and said, "oh, i can see her head!!" everything went kind of crazy after that as there were people all over my room- 3 or 4 nurses for me, plus nurses and doctors for isla. i remember a really tiny nurse jumping and trying to pull the lights down from the ceiling and my nurse rushing in and telling me, "i wasn't even gone for 20 minutes and you tried to have a baby without me." and then, of course, my doctor comes in and she was furious... "why didn't anyone call me?!" and a nurse replies, "she was a 4 just 15 minutes ago." and poor dave when he came out of the bathroom, the look on his face just said "really?!" it was chaotic, and they didn't have time to get everything in place, but i was ready to push. she needed some vacuum assistance, and i screamed at my doctor, "i AM pushing" when she told me i would have to work harder or i would have to have a csection (which seems to be all the motivation i ever need). i think i pushed maybe 5 times? isla arrived in about 20 minutes i think, and they let me hold her right away for just a quick minute before the team whisked her over to the warmer and checked all her signs, weight etc. she was wrapped up and given back to me for a few short photos and then whisked off to the nicu while i finished delivery. the room was straightened up and dave and i were left a little confused and alone. not long after that, the lc came in so i could start pumping because i was going to be unable to feed. not too long after that the milk was collected and taken to the nicu and i was moved into another room. we had done it though! our sweet little girl had finally arrived.
the rest of my hospital stay is a whole 'nother entry. maybe one day...
isla olive mcfadden. june 17, 2013. 3:48 pm. 4 lbs. 3 oz. 18 inches.
if you don't like pictures of babies being born... now's the time to leave...
poor misshapen head baby!
Friday, March 21, 2014
ian turns 4
it's hard to believe that it's been (over) 4 years since i brought my sweet little boy into this world. he is still sweet, but no longer so little. gah. 4?! well, maybe he is still little... at his 4 year check-up he weighed in at 34 lbs and is 39.5" which put him in the 25-50%. he also had a hearing test- he failed on the right ear 4 times, so we are still waiting to see what the next step will be for that. for his actual birthday he chose to go to super bounce at the mall and then he wanted to eat chinese for dinner while watching turbo. not a bad day for a 4 year old!
it's really amazing to see how much he's grown over the last 4 years... i mean, i can tell how much bigger he's gotten just since isla was born. it makes my heart ache a little bit! he doesn't like to sit still- it's been hard to get him to focus on doing learning activities- i often wonder if i'm putting him at a disadvantage by not working on these things with him, but it's hard to get him to focus. he does know the alphabet, and he can count to 10, and he gets a little mixed up counting to 20. he knows his name, our names, his birthday, where he lives, colors, shapes. i have been working with him on writing his name (it's short, so it shouldn't be that hard)! he loves to read, but usually only wants to read in his room at bedtime. he loves playing sports, and hopefully it will be warm enough to start playing outside soon b\c this kid is dying to have some fresh air! he loves superheroes and ninja turtles, and cars and trains and lots of boy stuff. he loves to sing songs, and i find it amazing that he memorizes them so quickly! he has quite a sense of humor and a kind heart. he is a wonderful big brother and he really loves his sister so much! he is a people pleaser and he is very stubborn. he hates to see you mad at him, but he really just wants to have his way. i love this kid so much!
we decided to have a ninja turtles party for his 4th birthday. i used my dear friend pinterest for ideas and i think we put together a pretty good party, there was pizza, and hamburger cupcakes and all sorts of ninja fun!
and to make me cry:
it's really amazing to see how much he's grown over the last 4 years... i mean, i can tell how much bigger he's gotten just since isla was born. it makes my heart ache a little bit! he doesn't like to sit still- it's been hard to get him to focus on doing learning activities- i often wonder if i'm putting him at a disadvantage by not working on these things with him, but it's hard to get him to focus. he does know the alphabet, and he can count to 10, and he gets a little mixed up counting to 20. he knows his name, our names, his birthday, where he lives, colors, shapes. i have been working with him on writing his name (it's short, so it shouldn't be that hard)! he loves to read, but usually only wants to read in his room at bedtime. he loves playing sports, and hopefully it will be warm enough to start playing outside soon b\c this kid is dying to have some fresh air! he loves superheroes and ninja turtles, and cars and trains and lots of boy stuff. he loves to sing songs, and i find it amazing that he memorizes them so quickly! he has quite a sense of humor and a kind heart. he is a wonderful big brother and he really loves his sister so much! he is a people pleaser and he is very stubborn. he hates to see you mad at him, but he really just wants to have his way. i love this kid so much!
we decided to have a ninja turtles party for his 4th birthday. i used my dear friend pinterest for ideas and i think we put together a pretty good party, there was pizza, and hamburger cupcakes and all sorts of ninja fun!
party favors!
turtle lanterns
ooze
ninja turtle fruit/veggie trays (we had one for all the turtles)
hamburger cupcakes
the birthday boy's cupcake
cousins!
captain america
pictures from his actual birthday
turtle power!
isla looks like she's wondering if ian is going to shank her
and to make me cry:
a day old
1st birthday
2nd birthday
3rd birthday!
sigh!
Thursday, March 13, 2014
isla - 7 months & 8 months
now that isla is back to a normal sleeping schedule, dave & i are sleeping again too. everyone is happy. this girl still refuses to nap- i don't know how an almost 9 month old can stay awake from anywhere from 7-10am all the way until 10pm, but this girl has mastered that skill. isla turned 7 months old on january 17 and 8 months old february 17. here's what she's been up to.
isla celebrated her first christmas- it was pretty non-eventful as she was just 6 months old. she got plenty of books, clothes and toys- but she was more concerned about being held and loved on. check. we left the the warmness of atlanta once again to return to the frozen wasteland we now call our home. for the love... it is now mid-march and we are still facing sub-freezing temperatures and snow. we're only 10" away from the all-time snow record, and we are not going to get a repeat of the 80 degree st. patty's day from 2012. i really just want to leave my house, but it's too cold. while we were in atlanta, both of the kids were sick and a call to our dr. was asking us to take them to urgent care. of course, none of the urgent care facilities around there would see isla, so we were able to find a dr to see them that afternoon. that was an unusual experience as we left with no explanations and a bunch of prescriptions. after seeing dr. nick, we decided to schedule an appt. to see our regular dr. a few hours after arriving home- the kids had just caught colds and we were able to toss the prescriptions. sigh.
we celebrated ian's 4th birthday in january- and isla enjoyed that because it was more time for her to be held and cuddled. i took both of the kids (with dave's help) to the pediatrician and isla had her 6 month check up. the ped told us that she sounded like she had maybe had a touch of rsv at some point, but was sounding really good. she was weighing in at 12 lbs 7 oz, and i am unsure of the length. weight is less than 2% and height was less than 5%. she also had her shots and caught up on some others. i've decided that while i'll probably keep her up to date on them- that i will not do that many shots again. my doctor is willing to let me space them out how i choose. there is no telling what caused the craziness the last 2 months- but a lot of it started shortly after... we decided to start solids shortly after this and that was met with zero success. after the first 10-15 attempts, i was beginning to think she wasn't going to be interested in eating. she was nursing well though, so i wasn't as worried. we had tried oatmeal, avocados and sweet potatoes with no luck! sometime in february, i took her to see the pediatrician again because she kept coughing and throwing up- and although her check up came back as "perfect", it was her weight that had me a little nervous- she weighed in at 12 lbs 10 oz- only 3 oz gained in 3 weeks. the ped told me that i should try a fruit with her, and they would re-check her weight at her 9 month appointment. we decided to try applesauce for her- and she loves it. i have learned that what they say about 2nd children and so on is true. with ian, we tried all the fruits and veggies to schedule and i had made all of them. with isla- we're still eating applesauce- if i remember to feed it to her... oh, boy.
on february 1, isla went from daily yoga to movement! she had been pushing up on her arms, and then her hands and knees since late december... and finally she crawled! it really doesn't take long to really get moving- now she is so fast, you can't turn your back for a minute! later that week she started sitting unassisted as well. the doctor at her sick visit said she though she would be walking by 10 months- we'll see! time has just flown too fast!
isla celebrated her first christmas- it was pretty non-eventful as she was just 6 months old. she got plenty of books, clothes and toys- but she was more concerned about being held and loved on. check. we left the the warmness of atlanta once again to return to the frozen wasteland we now call our home. for the love... it is now mid-march and we are still facing sub-freezing temperatures and snow. we're only 10" away from the all-time snow record, and we are not going to get a repeat of the 80 degree st. patty's day from 2012. i really just want to leave my house, but it's too cold. while we were in atlanta, both of the kids were sick and a call to our dr. was asking us to take them to urgent care. of course, none of the urgent care facilities around there would see isla, so we were able to find a dr to see them that afternoon. that was an unusual experience as we left with no explanations and a bunch of prescriptions. after seeing dr. nick, we decided to schedule an appt. to see our regular dr. a few hours after arriving home- the kids had just caught colds and we were able to toss the prescriptions. sigh.
we celebrated ian's 4th birthday in january- and isla enjoyed that because it was more time for her to be held and cuddled. i took both of the kids (with dave's help) to the pediatrician and isla had her 6 month check up. the ped told us that she sounded like she had maybe had a touch of rsv at some point, but was sounding really good. she was weighing in at 12 lbs 7 oz, and i am unsure of the length. weight is less than 2% and height was less than 5%. she also had her shots and caught up on some others. i've decided that while i'll probably keep her up to date on them- that i will not do that many shots again. my doctor is willing to let me space them out how i choose. there is no telling what caused the craziness the last 2 months- but a lot of it started shortly after... we decided to start solids shortly after this and that was met with zero success. after the first 10-15 attempts, i was beginning to think she wasn't going to be interested in eating. she was nursing well though, so i wasn't as worried. we had tried oatmeal, avocados and sweet potatoes with no luck! sometime in february, i took her to see the pediatrician again because she kept coughing and throwing up- and although her check up came back as "perfect", it was her weight that had me a little nervous- she weighed in at 12 lbs 10 oz- only 3 oz gained in 3 weeks. the ped told me that i should try a fruit with her, and they would re-check her weight at her 9 month appointment. we decided to try applesauce for her- and she loves it. i have learned that what they say about 2nd children and so on is true. with ian, we tried all the fruits and veggies to schedule and i had made all of them. with isla- we're still eating applesauce- if i remember to feed it to her... oh, boy.
on february 1, isla went from daily yoga to movement! she had been pushing up on her arms, and then her hands and knees since late december... and finally she crawled! it really doesn't take long to really get moving- now she is so fast, you can't turn your back for a minute! later that week she started sitting unassisted as well. the doctor at her sick visit said she though she would be walking by 10 months- we'll see! time has just flown too fast!
plank!
celebrating christmas in georgia
giving me the stink eye
opening christmas presents!
christmas planking!
4 generations
my heart = bursting
nap time with gg
ooh, new toys!
with gg & pop
playing nice!
sunday best!
brother's birthday
hanging with dad
all smiles!
valentine's day!
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