I DID IT!! CHRISTMAS GIFTS COMPLETE!! YAAAAAY!

You have no idea how happy I am that Christmas is over...Ha! That sounds terrible...but I've been hibernating all winter long, spending every spare second in front of my sewing machine with stacks and stacks of fabric, thread, ribbon, and buttons just swallowing me up!! When I decided to pursue this ambition to make everyone's gifts this year I did not realize how tedious of a process it would become. BUT, it was so much fun as well! I am really glad I have become so acquainted with my sewing machine--I have lots of ideas for myself, Ava, and our house now! Bring It On!! :o) There is no project too big!! Ha!! Eric even got in on the fun! He helped snip my mom's quilt and poured some of the candles. Too much snipping will make a lady wanna snip her eyeballs out if you know what I mean, so I had to divie up the duties!! Hehe!

I'm finishing up Ava & I's stockings this week. I know, Christmas is over--and I really don't even feel like finishing them...I'm kind of suffering from a minor sewing burn-out right now...but, I found some super cute Christmas patterned fabric for 70% off the other day so I might as well finish them up!

All-in-all, I had a lot of fun making everyone's Christmas gifts and will do it again in a heartbeat! I learned so much (amazing what you can learn from a sewing machine and a few patterns!) and am pretty proud that I pulled it off!! However, I also learned that I mustn't wait until November 25th to start the sewing...maybe make it an all year long endeavor. :o)

3 Inside-Out-Quilts (aka 'Rag' Quilts)

1 Pair of Kiddo's PJ's

1 Apron

1 Hat & Scarf Set

2 Memory Boards

1 Pair of Lounge Pants

2 Tins of Cranberry White Chocolate Biscotti

2 Tins of Peppermint Bark

10 Candles

+      2 Photo Ornaments

------------------------------------------------------------------

1 Busy Woman!!

Inside-out-quilt for my mom. This was before I snipped around all of the squares and washed it to give it the rag look These were 8x8 inch squares. I used patterned fabric for the front, a layer of batting in the middle, and warm & snuggly fleece for the back.

My sister's quilt. Pre-snipped. I used patterned fabric on the front, then a layer of flannel in the middle and flannel for the back as well. It looked way cooler once it was snipped and washed/dried. I like the smaller squares like these because they really 'rag' up. These were 6x6inch squares. I used 8x8inch squares on my mom's.

My mom-in-law's quilt. Similar to my mom's quilt. I added the initials to the bottom by cutting out felt and stitching the felt letters to the quilt by hand using a blanket stitch. Umm...tedious process. ;o)

Neice's PJ's. Made from flannel. I added a little yellow rick-rack around the sleeves. Actually, it was called Jumbo rick-rack.

Memory board for my sister. I just used the canvas that you buy from the store that is already framed and ready to be painted on or whatever and threw some batting and fabric over it and added some ribbon and buttons to pull it all together.

My sister's apron. I'll be making one of these for myself soon...but not too soon ;o)

My mom had a good idea of attaching a towel ring to an apron because she always carries her towel in the kitchen and needs it close by. I just used this plastic ring that I saved from one of the scarves that I bought this winter and used it as a towel ring on the apron. It works! I guess I'll wait and see if Tammy thinks it works. ;o)

The apron pocket. I cut out a cupcake using scraps of felt that I had and blanket stitched it onto the glittery pink pocket! So fun. That blanket stitch looks really cool when you use felt. I have lots of ideas brewing. ;o)

Flannel lounge pants for my step-dad. Can't go wrong with flannel bottoms. :o)

Hat & scarf set for my neice. This fabric was sooo snuggly and warm! I lined the hat with fleece and the outer flowery fabric was even snugglier (if that's a word) than fleece. I can't really expain it other than super-soft and squishy and snuggly. You know what I mean, right? :o) I'd like to make one of these for myself!

Cranberry White Chocolate Biscotti. A treat for many this holiday season. One of my favorite biscotti recipes ever!

Aaaaand Candles...you knew there'd be candles! :) Oatmeal Raisin Cookies, O Christmas Tree, Holiday Pomegranate, and Vanilla Macadamia Nut Coffee. I had FUN!

Monkey See, Monkey Do ...

Our little monkey has been copying everything we do lately. I mean everything...she wants to do it. She has had one serious snotty nose lately...one that can only be relieved with the nose plunger. She had to do it herself....ridiculously cute...snotty-faced and all. ;o)

"Is this right, Mom?"

"How 'bout now?"

"Ahh, forget it...I'll just eat it!"

Decking the Halls!!

Our tree is up!! Finally!! I looove putting the tree up! Actually, I love the way it looks when it's finished...I could really leave this thing up all year 'round!

I'll let the pictures do most of the talking. Merry Christmas everyone!!! Love this time of year!!

On our way to Cackler Family Farms!! Ava was getting hungry... :)

The petting arena had a sheep, a goat, and a kitty.

Ava says, "brrrrrr!!!"

The perfect tree!! Have you ever noticed that trees look much smaller at the tree farm? We brought this 9 footer into our living room & WOW!!

"Thanks Mom! You got these boxes out for me to climb on!"

"What is that thing, Dad?"

"Ho, ho, ho!" Ava was swimming in this hat last year.

Merry Christmas!!

I love candles & christmas lights this time of year...the warm glow puts me in the mood for peppermint hot cocoa!! Mmm mmmm!

Our big & bushy, sweet & sappy frasier fir Christmas tree. :o)

It took a few days, but she's finally up!

Thanksgiving Lovin'

Just now getting around to my thanksgiving post...yikes!

I only took pictures at my Kandel thanksgiving...somehow I managed to not snap any pics from my mom's house--ahh, too much cooking & visiting going on I guess. :o)

So, here are the few that I snapped from thanksgiving in Walnut Creek.

Alex (baby on the far left) and Keldan (lil guy showing off his abs) had to switch places because Alex was trying to munch on Ava's shoulder...and she did not appreciate his lovin'. Haha!! From left to right Alex, Keldan, Ava, Allie, Addie, Elliott, Lily (the newest addition!).

Last year's thanksgiving babies--Keldan, Allie, & Ava--just wee lil munchkins!

Ohhh, the Kandel family baby-boom...there are a whole bunch of babies not even pictured...and 2 more on the way!!

Ava & Janae were buddies that day. She took Ava with her to feed the doggies...and I'm sure she loved it! These were BIG doggies...the kind Ava is used to. ;0)

Playing with Karina on the couch!

Looking for the sheep in the field. "Here sheepy, sheepy, sheepy."

Here's how Ava felt at the end of that long day of playing with her cousins. ;-)

An Ava-cakes Update ...

Ava just turned 13 months!

I decided that I won't continue doing the official "Happy __ Months Ava" thing that I have done all along, instead I will just post a few pictures and update on her most exciting changes. :)

This month she started walking...cutest thing ever. Thought my head was going to explode with how excited I got when she took her first 8 or so steps in a row! She's so wobbly and concentrated...I just love it. I've never had so much joy in my life :) She has also sprouted a couple more teeth!

Two peas ...

Daddy's newest purchase for Ava ... {sigh} leave it to daddy ... ;o)

Oooh this is her ravioli face!! Ravioli is probably her most favorite food right now ... she gobbles it right up!

Uh, Portia ... Portia ... your head ... is kinda ... heavy ........

Myy, what big paws you have Portia ...

And big teeth!

Dumping her toys out ... that's one way to get her to play with all her toys ... put them away. Works. every. time.

Upset that daddy won't put her up on the couch... sad, sad girl.

Big smiles!! Super happy now because she's sitting on the couch. She looves sitting and playing on the couch!

Her 2nd favorite thing to do...tear apart her diaper bag. Go for it girl...I keep those papers in there just for your enjoyment!! :)

I have no idea what this goofy girl is doing here ... this is the bitter beer face if you ask me! :)

This walking business is hard work! It's a balancing act with all limbs!

Ava looooves brushing her 3 1/2 little teeth!

She still loves her baths too! This picture showcases her newest chompers very well!

She sleeps like this sometimes!?! It looks so uncomfortable, but more often than not we will peek in on her during her naps and she will be laying this way. Ouch! She loves her blankie, too. Notice the tag on the blanket kinda under her right arm...well, it's very worn & dirty looking because she sucks on it all the time!! I sewed about 10 other tags on this blankie but she chooses that tag everytime! She loves sucking on tags...strangest thing to me, but it sure soothes her to sleep!

In her favorite spot, drinking her morning bottle...propped up on her boppy, legs crossed, watching Mickey's Clubhouse...or Handy Manny :)

I had to throw her hair up with a hair-tie...just like Pebbles :)

Look Who's Walking ...

This lil stinker is 13 months old (yesterday) and has been trying out her walking legs since about Wednesday last week! She gets better everyday. It was like one day she flipped a switch and decided to give it a try! So cute. I love coming home from work and seeing her walk her wobbly little self over to meet me at the door!!

One Crazy Week...

Yes--Very Busy around here lately!! Working on Christmas projects--measuring, cutting, sewing, embellishing, pattern-hunting, etc., reading up on obstetrics, organizing my Black Friday deals & plan of action for the day, squeezing in time with Eric, and chasing around this lil booger over here--who is now WALKING! I know, excuses, excuses...I've slacked on blogging. Darn it!

The new job is keeping me on my toes...reading text books on obstetrics, learning obstetrics-related assessments (these aren't the head-toe assessments that I'm used to!! Bowel sounds? Apparently, nobody cares about bowel sounds in OB! lol), trying to learn the balance & routine that comes with a new job...it's exhausting in itself!! I'm learning how to get a hold of my emotions on this job as well! Those who know me well know that I wear my emotions on my sleeve...er, on my neck & chest (okay, you don't have to know me that well to know this--just sit next to me while I'm eating an orange...or ketchup...or salad dressing...or skittles...or witness me getting frustrated at someone, or embarrassed, or excited, or sad...any fluctuation from normal really--those big ugly red blotches just smother my chest, neck, arms, and face!) So do you think there is ever a day at work that I don't look like a walking glowing red christmas ornament? Nope. But...it's improving :) It's such a high-risk environment...and I'm learning that anything can happen in the blink of an eye. Take this situation for example...my WORST experience in nursing EVER....

WARNING: Don't read this if you're pregnant...that means you Mrs Andrea Howard and Mrs Kayla Rich!! :) I won't use gruesome details, but still....I don't want to stress anyone out!!

Okay, so, I'm doing way better with happy, uncomplicated births. I've got those down pat. Maybe still a tear-up here or there, but for the most part I try to stay focused on my role as the nurse and I think I'm out of the ooh-my-goodness-I'm-witnessing-a-real-live-birth-right-now mode and into the ooh-my-word-there's-a-million-things-I-need-to-be-charting-right-now mode. Because there are a million things I am responsible for at the time of delivery. Anyhow, this past week I hit a bump in the road...more like a straight-up road block. I'll start by giving a little background on my patient and her husband. This was their first pregnancy & first baby. Her only complication in pregnancy was her diabetes (type I). She was being induced at 37 weeks because she was diabetic and apparently had a narrow pelvis (diabetics typically delivery bigger babies), so to avoid a c-section and to assure that the baby would still be small enough to be delivered vaginally her doctor chose to induce her at 37 weeks if her amnio showed that baby's lungs were developed enough, and obviously they were because they chose to go ahead with the induction. She then labored all day...epidural in place so it wasn't too awful, but we cautioned her to rest & sleep as much as possible, because pushing is very taxing & would require every bit of energy that she could muster up. She disregarded our suggestions. Oh well, maybe her nerves kept her from wanting to rest and instead she called everyone on her cell phone contact list all day. Let me also add that she had a birthplan...a very interesting birthplan at that. She wanted us to withold an epidural even if she was screaming and begging for one... yes, she stated this in writing in her birthplan. The birthplan also stated that she wantetd skin-to-skin after baby was born (great!), to breastfeed quickly after delivery (fantastic!), no male doctors or nurses (um, ok sure!), that if she went into a panic attack it would cause her to bleed more freely so she must be put to sleep immediately (I was so confused at this request, what the heck?), that she wanted her stepmother to cut the baby's cord at delivery (sounds good!), it stated that she had a very strong distrust in medical professionals (uh...yikes?), and many other bizarre requests that I can't recall (two pages worth). But wait Liz, you said she had an epidural all day? Yep, she asked for one...so we gave it to her. Birthplans are not concrete absolutely-must-follow-under-the-law documents...they're simply organized requests that mom would like to share with her obstetrical team. And sometimes birthplans fall through the cracks...you really have to come in focused, determined, mature enough to handle labor pain (with pitocin on board!), and ready to have a baby if you really don't want an epidural with an induction. Let's just skip to the meat & potatoes of the story.... this patient ended up having very poor pushing effort when it came right down to it (perhaps she was worn out from no sleep for 24 hours and chatting it up on the phone all day? We'll never know) and a very large baby...the baby actually got stuck in the birth canal. Her head was out, but her shoulders were stuck behind mom's pubic bone... this is called shoulder dystocia and is the nightmare of ALL nightmares in obstetrics... a stuck baby!!

...Andrea & Kayla, stop reading! I know you're sneaking a read!:).....

.....hemorrhaging can be managed, tearing can be managed, a bad fetal monitor tracing can be managed, but shoulder dystocia's are H-E-L-L. You can get 20 people to your room with a simple phone call to the desk stating "We've got a shoulder!" Bam! Within 10 seconds the room is full and time begins to stand still....literally....the worst feeling about something that I've ever had in my life. Honestly, not even 10 seconds after calling the desk nurses & residents came pouring in the room to help. The room suddenly turned to complete organized chaos. The delivering doc was at the foot of the bed doing her best to pull baby out....like, losing her grip on the slippery baby several times while trying to reach in for an elbow or something. But the sickening part to me was witnessing two big male docs rush in the room and get the footstool out so they could get some leverage on the girl's belly and both of them literally pushing with all-their-might just above this girls pubic bone trying to get baby's shoulder under the bone so she could continue through the birth canal. Mom was screaming, "STOP! YOU GUYS ARE HURTING ME!" over and over. I tried to comfort her during the madness...but really how comforting could I get when two men were practically pouncing on her belly? Most likely they broke baby's collar bone....but it was a necessary evil at that point in time. Broken collar bone vs. asphyxiation? The terror in mom & dad's eyes was probably what got me the most. Can you even imagine how scared they were? The room was so quiet while all of this was happening...eerily quiet...or at least I thought it was. Finally, after what seemed like an eternity, the baby was delivered...3 minutes later.

...I warned you prego chicks! Not a happy story here! I better not hear of either of you going into preterm labor from the panicky state that you've just put yourselves in!!... Listen to the L&D nurse...hehehe.

This cute, chubby, full-term baby was completely floppy & lifeless...and grayish blue. The doctor quickly snipped the cord (or one of the nurses or somebody did, I don't even know, at this point my face was probably looking a lot like the dad's...ghostly white with glassy shocked eyes), the limp baby was rushed over to the warmer and the pediatricians began chest compressions. I think it's different when you're expecting something like this to happen. It was harder on me because the baby was full term. A big full term baby--10 lbs big. Sickening. Baby lived...but still sickening to watch the whole thing unfold. I had to leave the room for a few minutes to regain composure...although I did not let one tear leave my eyes....they were just really clouding my view!!! I came back after a few minutes looking like rudolph...worse than rudolph...I would've been fine with just a red nose, but my whole face, chest, and neck were glowing. BUT, I managed to witness the upside of the disaster....if you want to call it an upside...baby was intubated and whisked away to NICU to be put on a ventilator and mom got geared up for her next journey--safe, uncomplicated recovery.

So, as you can see, birthplans mean nothing when it comes to delivering a safe, healthy baby--and that is the ultimate goal. Nothing in this delivery went as desired, which happens many times. Moral of the story is...you can't go into child birth and demand that everything goes your way...because it may not...everything went completely opposite from what she demanded in her birthplan (if you would have read the whole birthplan yourself you would have gathered too, that these were demands and not requests). Do you know how many males ended up in her room at delivery!! Yikes!! I hope she wasn't counting!!! Not to be funny about the serious matter...but, for real!! I will also add that no matter how hard I tried to keep my cool during the disaster, you should know that the minute I got in my car after work that night and shut the door the sprinklers went off & I bawled my eyes out the whole way home. A good cry was absolutely necessary. And it felt wonderful.

So, that was the highlight of my week! There is never a dull moment in L&D ... :)

crap

That's right...crap...our sitter has the swine flu...

Having only one babysitter is like having no money in your savings account...it really kicks you in the butt during times of desperation.

It is during times like these that I really, really wish we lived somewhere surrounded by family...

Okay--I must go now and FRANTICALLY search for a faithful friend who will hopefully come to our rescue and watch Ava on Mon &/or Tues.

Any takers ?

New Job ...

Soooo....for all inquiring minds..... I Love My New Job!!! I'm learning soo much and it's all so very different from what I've spent the past few years doing, but despite the deer-in-headlights feeling I get sometimes from labor & delivery nursing I'm loving my experiences! Really, there is nothing cooler than watching a brand new baby take his first breath of air and let out his first belly wrenching cry!! I mean, wow.... I love it... I can't believe I thought twice about taking the position!! I've seen, ooh I think 4 births now...and don't you know I cried with each one of them. I couldn't help it...it's like, I'm fine until that very moment when baby pops outta mom & it's as if someone opens up the flood gates at that exact moment... the parents are crying, I'm crying, everyone in the room is smiling. :) It's a precious time in life for each person involved...it's life changing for the parents no matter what # child it is, and it's obviously life changing for baby...no more cozy, warm belly to grow in...and it's precious for the nurses and doctors who took part in making it all happen. It's great, I love it. The whole process is a miraculous act of God--pregnancy & labor itself--the more I learn the more miraculous it becomes. :) Granted, I've only seen happy births...I'll have to really really gear myself up for an unhappy delivery. Like the one last week where mom was 20 weeks pregnant with twins and one passed away in utero...so she decided to abort the 2nd baby due to 90% chance that he would pass way as well (I don't know the details as to why 2nd baby would also die). She was induced and had to go through the entire delivery process for both babies...can you imagine? I'm not ready to take on that kind of delivery--I need to get past crying over happy deliveries first!!

I've had 2 just barely teenage patients already...14 &15 years old. Very different to help a laboring adolescent. They revert to about 10 years old and then it becomes nearly impossible to have a decent delivery. It's so sad to me. There are children having babies...and really the babies will be the innocent ones to suffer. 14 year olds don't have the capacity to raise a baby alone. Both girls' boyfriends were at the bedside, but at the first mention of epidural, cervical check, bloody show, or vaginal laceration their eyes glazed over and you would've thought we were speaking Chinese (I guess that's not saying much--many men think we're talking Chinese when these words come up:). They were clueless...as were the girls. All they knew was that they thought they were dying and they wanted to be 'paralyzed from the waist down'. The girl told me "thousands" of girls at her school are pregnant. Thousands? I'm pretty sure there aren't even 1 thousand girls at your high school. It's just scary... apparently girls should be placed on birth control at age 12 these days.

What I have noticed in my short 2 or so weeks on the floor is that nurses and doctors like consistency...meaning, they like every patient to be exactly the same and for everything to go exactly as planned. And they really, really encourage epidurals. Which is fine I suppose, I agree epidurals are miracles, but it seems like if a mom wants anything different, or heaven forbid she brings in a birthplan then the nurses are immediately grumbling that "mom's gonna want to have everything her way" and I'm thinking "well yeah, it's her birthing experience--it should be her choice!" Now granted these nurses have seen it all--like the mom who goes in for an emergency c-section and says, "If anything happens, you save me first not the baby!!" Are You Serious!!?? There are some twisted women out there! OSU happens to serve the highest number of high-risk patients in central Ohio, so consistency is important for safety's sake, but it's nice to get that low-risk mom & baby who can continue to walk the halls & take a hot shower to help progress her labor the natural way rather than relying on oxytocin to do it for her. It's just always interesting in L&D, and I hope to maintain my feelings on pregnancy & childbirth despite the corruption that some oldies (but goodies I'm sure) nurses cast onto me. :)

Bigger IS Better ...

I find that carrying a large handbag these days is a necessity. When I used to carry a diaper bag around everywhere it was easy to throw my little clutch or wristlet purse into the diaper bag & run out the door. However, I found that time after time I didn't have room for the breath-saving pack of gum or the life-saving hand sanitizer in this tiny little 'purse'... or heaven forbid I had to leave behind my planner--I'm lost without that thing!! So, a girl's gotta do what a girl's gotta do...and at this moment in my life there is no room for unpreparedness. Solution? One big purposeful yet fashionable satchel, as I like to call it! Look at all this stuff I can fit in this thing!!

~*~Items on the do-not-leave-home-without list~*~

• A bib
• Baby food--the handy travel kind of course.
• A diaper (or two) & wipes are now permanent fixtures in my purse.
• My bare escentuals for makeup re-touching--Lord knows I get sweaty as all get-out after toting this little one to the car, buckling her into the car seat, loading the hefty stroller into the trunk, shutting the garage door from inside the garage and then running and hopping over the invisible line all while trying to not get smashed!
• Ahh my blackberry--this thing is my addiction--to not check facebook at a seriously long stop light would be unbearable! (yes folks, dangerous, but at least I'm stopped--the worst I'll get is an obnoxious horn blow from the fella behind me ;)
  
• Hand sanitizer--it's flu season people!
• Lip gloss--I. simply. love. lipgloss.
• Burt's bees chapstick--a staple in my life--couldn't live without it!
• Yummy smelling lotion--my hands are a complete wreck in the cold months and nothing is worse than cracked bleeding knuckles...except cracked bleeding lips--those are awful, too!
• Wisp mini toothbrushes with pre-applied toothpaste--for obvious reasons--I like coffee, a lot.
• My wallet & coin purse--can't leave home without the moo-lah!
• Eric's wallet--I should've pictured his cell phone here as well because my purse typically becomes his purse, too.
• Wet Ones--two words, shopping carts!
• My planner--hey, I like organization.
• Gum--one of my favorite things in life...gum is grand. Spearmint, peppermint, wintergreen...bubblegum flavor is out in my book.
• Bottle of water--the drink of champions.
• And yes, also pictured is Starbucks Coffee--that would be a skinny grande hazelnut latte....mmm, mmmm. Nothing gets me through the day like coffee ..... :o)