bug city and life

Bugs have taken over my bathroom--I killed two spiders, a stink bug and a centipede in my bathroom yesterday. What is up with that!? Where do they come from? seriously--the spider and centipede were in the bathtub--do they crawl up the drain?

Wheeler is doing great--but he still decides every few days to stay up all night. He is so cute and we are totally loving him! He had a Dr. appointment and has grown an inc and gained a pound. He is so big!

The house is going to be tamed today and I am so excited to get it done! The kitchen is almost done and the bathroom is about 70% done. Then the rest of the house--well--moving on.

Sedona is such a wonderful girl and I love her so much--she keeps coming up to me and asking "what else can I do to help you?" wonderful child!

Pepper is a joy--she loves to rhyme all these words and has the cutest smile. She is a great joy to me and with her little smile she can melt hearts!

WHAT would an Amy post be without a TO DO list...

1. Shower
2. Wheeler bath
3. Girls Dresses
4. Lucas's & Wheeler Tie
5. Mow lawn
6. Clean House

Does that seem like a big list? I am hoping to actually accomplish 4 or 5 today!
Here I go!!

Baby Wheeler

I know--way more than you ever wanted to see

So tonight I have a very messy (dirty) house, but I am going to blog.

The Story of Wheeler's Birth

The Doctors office scheduled an appointment for us on May 27th at 4:30 to have an ultrasound. They told us if everything looked good they would induce me, which is what I wanted. So we go in on Friday, only to be told that it would be "rude/unethical" for them to induce me on the start of a holiday weekend--so walk around and see if I could get some contractions going. Like I had any control over that--I was already 4 days past my due date!

Lucas and I were frustrated to say the least. We wanted to have this kid--I was totally uncomfortable, and I think God gave us modern medicine for a reason and I was going to use it!

So we walked around the hospital neighborhood for about 2 hours and went back (Lucas had his first Slushy from 7-11)--by then there had been a shift change and the head nurse had us come in and she checked me and said that she would admit me and "lets have a baby!" She was great after dealing with the less than friendly doctor we had earlier.

So we got checked in and I got the gown, the IV and all that fun stuff. The new Doctor came in and said--"lets get you an epidural and then we will break your water"---Sounded good to me. A few times the fear was starting to get to me, but I just had to ignore it and focus on right then and there...

I was telling the nurse how the guy who gave me an epidural 3 years ago with Pepper was awesome and really relaxed me because he was so at ease--and guess what! Same guy comes walking in. I was really happy and told him so. He was more friendly this time around. We talked about how he had a ferarri, but traded it in for a Subaru because he was so unsure of the Obama health care plan---he had a great (Irish?/Scottish?) accent that I could listen to all day--don't worry, he was older and looked a bit like Albert Einstien to me. The epidural went in great and soon my legs and lower body were warm and tingly and mostly numb. So there we sat with Lucas watching the monitor as I had contractions and the babies heart beat kept right on going.

At one point the nurse was in watching the monitor and Lucas and her noticed something was wrong, and pretty soon here comes another nurse with a big smile on her face and they told me baby wasn't liking something so they had me turn this way and that way until the heart rate when back up---so if you ever have a nurse come in with a bigger than normal smile--be prepared.

We were admitted around 8:00 at night and around 2:30 I started to feel a little uncomfortable. Then I started to feel pain--so I called the nurse in and said "I can feel pain" so she called in the anesthesiologist again and he have me a "booster shot" which is suppose to work with in about 5 minutes, but nope--it didn't take. I have always heard of women having their epidural run out, but I always thought--how could that happen? It goes straight to the brain-I am not sure how it could run out.--BUT I am here to tell you that it CAN! Even with the medicine still in the IV bag (yes I use very technical terms) I was now fully aware of all feeling--NOT the way I wanted to have a baby. So by then my pain was INTENSE so the nurse checked me and low and behold--I was ready to have a baby.

Poor Lucas was not prepared--not that I was either, but--and he was really good--he kept saying "what can I do?" I finally told him--"just be here!" and then he was really good at telling me to try and relax and my body was made to do this--and all those things I had told him before. Most of the time it was really helpful--I only remember once thinking "MY body was not made to do this!"

So I am in pretty great pain by now and the nurse tells me to push a few times which I do--but what no one told me is that once you start pushing your body wants to keep pushing and there is no stopping it. Try to stop yawning in the middle of a yawn--or stop sneezing in the middle of a sneeze---it just doesn't work. So I push a few times and the nurse tells me "ok, great, now breath through the next few" So I am trying, but the pushing sensation is to great. It is a VERY strange feeling. Lucas asks the nurse "why does she have to stop pushing" and the nurse said "because I don't want to deliver this baby" and then just like in the movies she yells "I need a Dr. in here!" The room comes alive--it was like all the nurses were waiting outside the door for a more dramatic entrance--the bottom of the bed gets pulled off, the baby warming table is prepped, the doctors tools are prepped and in walks the Dr.

I do remember saying things like "Tell the Dr. to hurry, please." and "i am sorry, I am trying not to push, but I can't help it!" and"oh my goodness, oh my goodness, oh my goodness." (I said that a lot) and "I hope I don't wake the women up in the room next to me." Lucas said the nurses thought that was kind of funny and I remember one of them saying "It is OK, don't worry about her" and the one thing I remember saying alot was "I CAN FEEL EVERYTHING!!"

So I pushed and a few minutes (maybe 15) little Wheeler was out--What it is like to have your body open up to deliver a baby?--lets just say I thought that each time I opened up a little more I thought for sure this is it, but nope--it keep right on getting more and more intense. The thing I remember was that opening feeling didn't cause a lot of pain, the contractions caused pain, but the body opening up was more like --hell--ok really--it was more like finally some relief to the pressure. When Wheeler was finally born I just remember relief. anyway--hope that wasn't to much info. Wheeler came out and Lucas said "Amy look down" and plop --Wheeler was on my stomach. I picked him up and held him for a few minutes before the nurses took him to do all the measuring and stuff. Image our surprise when the nurses said "9 pounds 2 ounces"!! After having him I remember saying "that was horrible!" but I will say 2 weeks later and I am forgetting alot of the pain--what a blessing!!

The doctor finished up all his work down there and soon the bed was put back together, and the room got quiet again. I was flipping back and forth between total exhaustion and being super excited about having a new baby!

Lucas and I just sat there amazed. I got up not to much later to go to the bathroom and I walked just fine over to the bathroom--the nurse was worried since I had the epidural, but I tried to tell her, I can feel my legs 100% the epidural is totally gone and has been for a while.

They gave Wheeler a 8-9 Apgar score, which is really good. He was the highest scoring of all my kids so I was happy! He was a big, healthy (mostly except jaundice--which I will write about another night) boy and it was really a great experience over all. The nurse told me later that Wheeler was the biggest baby she had ever delivered. I said "I am not sure I want that 'award'" and she answered back--which helped put things in perspective "it is better than the award for the smallest baby"--VERY TRUE!!

I don't recommend it to anyone, but I will say after his birth I felt the best even thought he was WAY bigger than the other two.

So--if you have any questions about how to deliver a baby or what to expect, I have now had a C-section, a successful Epidural birth (my favorite), and a "natural" birth. I say "natural" because I was able to relax during all the pre-pushing contractions--so take it for what it is worth. so I feel I can talk to all the "mommy crowds" about any type of child birth!

I will say that Breastfeeding is STILL the hardest part about having a kid. I would rather have natural child birth and NOT have painful breastfeeding, then to have no pain child birth and painful breastfeeding, but since we don't get to choose--I just suffer through it, but I will say this one has been better than the other two. (Yes I have talked with a lactation nurse--not much I can do about the pain--)

Anyway--that is the basic story of Wheeler Lucas Larson.

I will post about Jaundice and our extra 4 days in the hospital some other time.

update still on hold!

I still am unpacking the car and getting things put away- (yes three/four days later)-but an update will come soon. I hope!

Life on hold--

everytime I have sat down to blog Wheeler starts screaming--I call him
screamer wheeler

It has taken me about 7 minutes to just type this post--so until life is calmer

bye!

Once a month cooking will return

check in for the updates maybe Monday or Tuesday!

thanks!

Sonic Ice, Once a Month Cooking, & Strawberries

I am quite in love with the ice that you get at Sonic. Did you know you can buy it buy the bag for about $2-3 dollars....TODAY I also found out that the 1st stop this is just 5 miles away (compaired to Sonic which is 20 miles away) has very similar ice! YEAH!! I wonder how much they would sell a bag for?

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So the once a month cooking is going to happen tomorrow!

Today was the grocery shopping day, but I am not sure how much after that I will get done.

so here is what $203.50 bought -- I am NOT a bargin hunter so I am happy-

I was planning on between $150-175 but in the end I bought two packages of diapers..and canning stuff (see below) so that is about $50.00 in those 4 things!

These will be made useful when I use all THESE (see below)--and make Jam! Yumm!

This is what happens when Strawberries are $1.00 a pound--

First I cut all the tops off--

wash and dry them--I let them dry really well so I don't have to worry about flash freezing them--I don't think it is worth the time!

Makes a cool pattern on my dish towel--just hope it washes out!
This was the results of round 3 of my massive stawberry buying--I think I bought about 13 pounds overall---I should have bought lots more!!

PS: I do NOT know the difference between Jam and Jelly and even if you tell me I will forget.

These were items I had on had, or bought in prep for once a month cooking. I just placed it all in a big tupperware which will become a packing box after tomorrow---and after the baby is born it will become a clothing/diaper/wipe/catch-all storage bin.

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EVEN THOUGH it says Friday and Saturday

this year I am doing it Thursday and Friday since that is when

my exchange student has time to help me! Yeah again for Yeerah!!

So here is the basic start of Once A Month Cooking

Friday Morning
1. Go shopping early in morning for the groceries. (If you can afford/or find on sale—shredded cheese, buy that—Boneless Skinless Chicken—buy that—Meat already cut into strips—buy that—any little short cut that you can use will help, but stay within budget!)

2. Unload Groceries (but don't put any canned food away-put them on my large counter top--you are using them tomorrow anyway)

3. Put meat and freezer/fridge things where they belong--if possible put everything in fridge possible.

Friday Afternoon
1. Chop all veggies
a. Cut Bell Peppers into Strip (For Fajita’s)
b. Cut green peppers into cubes (for Stroganoff)
2. Shred Cheese (if you don’t buy shredded cheese)
3. Wash and chop Mushrooms (beef stroganoff)
4. Wash potatoes (don’t chop or peel until the next day)


Friday night--IF you don't do anything else do these things
1. Clean the kitchen and ALL the dishes
2. Clean out freezer space
3. Have your Master Plan out and ready to use
4. Put as much chicken in the crock pot as possible on low for all night
5. Make an easy clean up meal tonight, so that you can start with a clean kitchen tomorrow. RUN the dishwasher (even if it is NOT full) and put the dishes away--you will be glad when clean up comes around tomorrow that you did.
6. Empty the trash

(Most of this is NOT going to happen for me since we are having out of town guests tonight and I need to get my house in order---so tomorrow you will see some of this happen!)

Like I have said, each person does Assembly differently. I like to get all the meat cooked first so that I only have to assemble after that and not have to stop and cook in-between meals. SO with that being said---here we go--

Some people label the cheese and place the cheese in baggies in the freezer all together/some tape it to the meal it goes with. In this plan I am putting the cheese with the meal since I haven’t tried that before.

TUNE IT TOMORROW (or the next day)

to see pictures and the WHOLE LONG post!

YEAH!

here fishy fishy fishy....

Pepper and Sedona's school has a fishing trip for them once a year.




I love the proud & excited look on her face in each of these pictures!

SO CUTE!



A private land owner stocks his river/pond area with trout and then has the Department of Wildlife is invited to take the Headstart kids to that pond and fish for the day.

After which they give the kids all free fishing poles---pretty amazing if you ask me.

I normally go, but Lucas was awesome enough to volunteer to take both girls, and I got the house picked up. Yeah Lucas!

THE FISHY STORY

as told by Pepper Larson.

"In the first five minutes then I catched the fish and then dad helped me and he said 'what the heck'. So we put a stick in his mouth and put in back in the water so he could be fresh and yummy. Then I said 'I don't think I can catch anymore' and then dad said 'when you are done fihsing come over here' and then dad carried it to the man and I saw his eyeballs. and then the fish was moving his tail in the water, and then he stopped and I think he was asleep and then we ate it and then it was all gone. We don't eat the little white string things (bones) in there"






SO if you need a little translating.


Lucas, Sedona, and Pepper all got to the stop and set up. Lucas got Pepper set up first and while helping Sedona he heard Pepper's little voice "Umm..dad...I think I got a fish." He looked up and suprise, she had caught a fish! First Sedona helped reel in for a minute, but then dad took over. It was a pretty rainbow trout. It had swallowed the fly so Lucas had to use his pocketknife and pull it out. He put a stick through the gils and placed it in the water to keep it fresh. When they took the fish to the Wildlife department man--he said "wow, this one must have been in since last year." It was a good sized fish. They wrapped it in a plastic bag and brought it home. We cooked it for dinner and the girls ate almost the whole thing, being very careful to look for bones. Quite the adventure for a little 3 year old!