Tuesday, August 10, 2010

I hate rest areas.....



Yesterday we returned from a quick vacation to Rhode Island for a small family reunion. It was a great time, and oh so nice to just relax. Harper slept wonderfully and Landon loved the pool and all of his family!

Along the way I learned/observed a few things that I will share with everyone:

1.) I strongly dislike rest areas. I don't really know why, but I will try to elaborate. I have a weird fear that my children will be abducted. I wore Harper in the baby born and Aaron carried Landon. The place we stopped at both way was directly on the Mass turnpike and it was full of tourists and families just like us, but still I always think there is some creepy lurker waiting to steal my kids. Also, we almost got hit by a car in the parking lot, which leads me to...

2.) Elderly drivers REALLY scare me. We parked the jeep and headed inside, looking both ways as we did. All of the sudden a car started pulling out as I am directly behind it! Aaron yelled to "watch out!" and quickly jumped out of the way so that I could too. Still the driver continued to back out, all the while staring forward!!!! I easily could have reached out and given the shiny Camery a kick or punch (I really should have!) Finally, the car stopped and we rounded to the passenger side, and found that the windows were both down, revealing an elderly couple who were both quite shocked. I yelled something about the rearview mirror and we moved on. (I should state that I am no saint on the road, but I ALWAYS look when backing up!) Seriously people!!! I see this a lot with older drivers. Why on earth would you look in the opposite direction that your car is going in?!?!?!? When driving down the road do you look out your back window and hope to God that there is nothing in your way? Then WTF would you do that while backing out. Simply stated: look where you're going!!

3.) I picked up a few "women's" magazines this weekend. I enjoy looking through them at the recipes and clothing and such, but really that's all they are. Woman in the US are defined by these few things: cooking/eating, clothing, and working out (According to the people who produce these magazines.) I enjoyed looking at the clothing, but honestly, I cannot afford a $239 Jersey dress or the $599 handbag. Let me know if you can ;)

4.) Snooki from the Jersey Shore sounds just like she looks-extremely annoying. We don't have cable at home, so I had never seen the actual show before, just gossip about it. I'm not missing anything....

**Warning**

Avert your eyes, here comes another offensive, eye gouging moment....


**I have to giggle, because when I googled this image the caption said, "MTV's Snooki, my newest and bestest style icon." Really?!?!?! For real?!?!?! Icon?!?!?!!? I hope that was a joke.

I think that sums it all up.

:)

Thursday, August 5, 2010

RETRACTION!!!

I stand corrected!

Please disregard my previous post.

I NEED this bag.....



It's the same bag, only this one is the medium size. Early Christmas gift anyone???

It can be found here:

http://www.etsy.com/listing/49181985/mocca-emma-medium-hot-mama-handbag-with

I NEED this bag!!!

I have a new obsession......


Don't worry people, it is still internet machine related.

I am in LOVE with this fabric- it is Alexander Henry Moca. I would love just about anything made from it. BUT, currently I am pining over this diaper bag from an etsy seller. Hmmmm.....can I get my paypal account up to $60???? We shall see...

Feast your eyes on this......


Etsy you are the DEVIL!!!

Tuesday, August 3, 2010

Me Time

I am currently in the middle of "Me Time."

I wish I could say it happens more, but frankly, it just doesn't. I would love to be out with friends getting a pedicure or grabbing a drink, but I am definitely happy with a few quiet hours after the kids are in bed. It's peaceful and it works. I can count the times I have left Harper alone, twice. Once with Aaron while his mother and I went to lunch (I thought of her just about every two seconds and sent about a dozen texts) And another when Landon had to go to the ER. She has never had an overnight, and right now I'm ok with that. I'm sure in a few months I will be offering her to anyone willing, but not right now.

So what exactly does "me time" include? Anything to do with the "internet machine" as Aaron calls it. How very 1950's of him. It is my escape, my home-away-from-home, but-still-at-home. Mostly stalking and *gasp* purchasing! My current addiction is blog stalking and of course, Facebook stalking. How else would I know what people are up to at any random moment of the day, or night in my case. I also post on some mommy friendly message boards.

I truly am addicted. I just got up to use the bathroom and took my blackberry with me to facebook on the way up the stairs. I check emails on my phone while pages load on my laptop. Hello. My name is Jenelle and I am an addict. Intervention NOW please!!!


I really should be doing laundry and dragging out the suitcase for our upcoming trip to Rhode Island this weekend, but that doesn't sound like fun!




Harper is now two months! I cannot believe how much she has grown!!

She her appointment today:
Birth Weight: 7lbs 15oz/ Current Weight: 10lbs 5oz
Birth Height: 19.75in/ Current Height: 24in

The pediatrician said that the she is average for weight, but at the top of the chart in height. Holy beanpole!!

Just to compare I pulled out Landon's baby book to see where he was at 2 months:
Birth Weight: 7lbs 6oz/ 2month Weight: 10lbs 9oz
Birth Height: 20.5in/ 2month Height: 23.5in

Here is a comparison pic of Landon as well:

Tuesday, July 27, 2010

Three Days Alone....

Now for today's real post.

Aaron is out of town working for three days :(

I'm happy and sad all at once. It's great that he's working. I'm sad because he's gone. We haven't been apart in forever. The kids and I had a great day today though. Harper was a breeze, although she has become a velcro baby and needs to be held. Ugh..bad habit!! She is just too adorable to put down!!



Landon is a typical boy. The majority of his day was spent playing in the dirt and running around like a madman. He enjoys being naked, plus it helps with potty training-which is going great!!

Welcome Harper Monroe!



So...... I feel I must turn back time and post Harper's birth story and give this blog a real start.

For all intensive purposes let's pretend that the date of this post says Friday June 4th, 2010:

Short: Harper Monroe born 6/4/10 at 5:53 pm, weighing in at 7lbs 15oz, 19.75in.

Long: I went for my "normal" appointment on Thursday the 3rd. I am using quotes around normal because I was 41 weeks and 5 days pregnant!! It was because of this fact that I was also scheduled for a non-stress test and ultrasound to check on the little miss. Aaron and I were already prepared to talk induction, something I had hoped to avoid this time around.

I left my appointment a bit shaken. I called Aaron from the car and told him that I would be induced the following morning and that I was on my way and we needed to talk. In true hormonal fashion this was followed by me balling in the car alone.

I had found out that I had almost no amniotic fluid left, that my placenta was near expiration,and that the umbilical cord was wrapped around Harper's neck twice. Normally the cord issue is not a problem, but since there was no fluid this could cause compression on the cord- cutting off her blood and oxygen supply. I was instructed to call at 6am to see if a bed was available.

Once home we made all of the necessary phone calls, packed all the bags, went out for one final dinner as a family of three and just tried to keep it low key. I was a nervous wreck, and I'm sure Aaron was too, he just handles it better.

Fast forward to 6am on Friday June 4th. I called L&D promptly at 6am only to be told that there were NO BEDS, sorry try again at 8am.

8am.....no beds, sorry try again at 10am.
10am...no beds, sorry try again at 12pm.

I made it to 11am and demanded to speak to my midwife. I was in full pregzilla mode. I explained that I was having contractions on my own and that I would prefer to be hooked up to the monitors so we could track her heart rate. (I was at risk for fetal distress because of the wrapped cord.) Aaron and I ate quickly and headed over to the hospital. (I later learned that 7 babies were born this day, instead of the usual 2, maybe 3)

I had to wait in triage until a bed was available. It was PACKED!! There were three woman waiting-one who came complete with an orange jumpsuit and two sheriffs, waiting on a c-section. Hey, even jailbirds need to give birth too.

We didn't get a room until about 3pm-in fact it was the same room that Landon was born in. Fifth floor, birthing suite 5. I was immediately hooked up to my IV, given antibiotics. Then the pitocin started....yuck. Pitocin and I have a love/hate relationship. I love the fact that it gets the baby out, but hate the contractions that it gives me.

The rest goes fairly quick.

I did one lap walking around the floor.
I asked for the tub to be filled.
Stood in the shower while it filled.
Got in the tub and lasted about 5 minutes, aka ONE contraction.
The pain was just too much, too fast.

DRUGS!!!!!!!!!!!!! Please, now!!!!

We were thinking that this whole induction thing would take a long time. Landon's labor lasted 36 hours! Nope, I couldn't be more wrong.

The longest part was placing the epidural. Three failed attempts and I wasn't even numb, except for a grapefruit sized patch on my thigh. Enough was enough and I said we needed to move on because it was time to push. Sure enough I was right. The scramble began. One thing a woman in labor never wants to hear is, "Don't push!"

At 5:53pm I was screaming bloody murder while Harper Monroe entered the world and it was the most wonderful feeling :)

Monday, July 12, 2010

The Learning Curve

That's right folks, I'm giving this whole blog thing a shot. I must say, I like it!! (Even if it has only been a mere 15 minutes.)

I'm still in the process of creating and designing, and I MUST upload new pictures-Harper is already 5 weeks old and Landon is growing like a weed! This is serving as a test post. More of the "real" stuff to come.

Goodnight all!