Taking it easy

Monday morning I woke up bleeding. Not good so off to the ER I went. After an ultrasound to check on the babies and another shot of WinRho they determined that I have a placenta previa and put me on strict pelvic rest. Which essentially means poor Rob has to go without. Then my Dr. at the high risk unit at the Civic hospital decided that because the bleeding also starts up again each time I have a bowel movement that I should be on complete bedrest at least until my next appointment on February 9th.

Here are a few pics of our little Junebugs that I got on Monday.

baby news

So as I am sure most of my followers know me in real life I will officially announce to the blog world, just in case people actually read this blog, that we are expecting again.


If you've read my previous posts you'll know that we have 4 wonderful children already. Cassandra (11), Ryan (9), Cohen (4 - 5 in Jan) and Ashton (2).


With our first two children all Rob had to do was look at me and I was pregnant. It took a fair bit longer to conceive Cohen - partly because I had to convince Rob first and because of extended breastfeeding (17months) it took longer to conceive Ashton.


When we decided last winter for just one more it surprised me how quickly it happened. Apparently I don't ovulate according to the whole 14/28 day cycle, because if I did my hubby may have a few questions since that week he was gone.....


We got to 8 weeks 4 days and then I miscarried that little bean. I can't even begin to describe the feeling of loss. Then it happened twice more this past spring and summer. I had some bloodwork done to try to find out why this was happening. At the end of October I was feeling a bit off and picked up a home pregnancy test. To my surprise/delight/shock it was positive. Within minutes I was on the phone with my dr who prescribed a low dosage of progesterone. So far so good. I am 13 weeks 3 days and have had two ultrasounds. The dr understood my fears and concerns and agreed to an early ultrasound at 8w3d and to my absolute shock the tech found TWO BABIES!!! So we are expecting fraternal twins! I had a second ultrasound 2 weeks later when I had a bit of bleeding and cramping (which apparently is common with progesterone use). Babies heartbeats were great at 149 and 160.


At my last obs appointment I requested a referral to the high risk unit in Ottawa (which I am still waiting on) and the dr listened for the heartbeats. He found the one on my left side right off but couldn't guarantee me that the second one he heard was a different heartbeat. He may have been picking up the first one again but figured it was the other baby since the heart rates had been fairly close in range at the ultrasound too.

A to Z: This is me

Following in the footsteps of Lena over at Mom2Memphis&Ruby.

 

 

A. Age: 31

B. Bed size: Queen
C. Chore that you hate:  sweeping/mopping 

D. Dogs: An english mastiff/st.bernard puppy named Diesel.

E. Essential start to your day: morning chat with my hubby
F. Favorite color: pink (at the moment)
G. Gold or Silver: I always loved gold but have taken a liking to silver lately
H. Height: 5’7 and 3/4"
I. Instruments you play: nada..twinkle little star on the piano

J. Job title: Stay-at-home mom and designer/creator
K. Kids: Cassandra (11), Ryan (9), Cohen (4), Ashton (1)
L. Live: Quebec
M. Mother’s name: Melanie (pronounced like Muhlainie)
N. Nicknames: none really
O. Overnight hospital stays: not many, just childbirth. i did spend a week with Cohen when he had pneumonia, adn 3 days in a hospitl in Toronto with my pregnant sister.
P. Pet peeves: the sound of other people eating
Q. Quote from a movie: "SHOW ME THE MONEY" only one coming to mind right now LOL

R. Right or left handed: Right but I notice I do a lot with my left

S. Siblings: 3 younger sisters
U. Underwear: I have a drawer full of cute/sexy/spunky ones but mostly wear the comfy cotton grannies
V. Vegetable you hate: Brussel sprouts
W. What makes you run late: My kids and husband and even the dog
X. X-Rays you’ve had: teeth, ankle, hand, abdomen, back

Y. Yummy food that you make: fajitas
Z. Zoo animal: love the giraffes

~*~GIVEAWAY~*~

I want more followers!!!

So I will be hosting a giveaway once I reach 100 followers.

I haven't quite decided what exactly the prize will be but I hope to announce it later this evening. What would you like to see offerred as a prize??

Repurposed Purse

I took one of many pairs of Ryan's jeans that had holes in the knees and turned it into a cute little purse.

You can't really see but the inside is lined with the same fabric that the tie belt is made of.

What I love most about this purse is the fact that I actually get to use something I made! Usually my creations are for Cassie or a customer. The feature that most makes this a great bag is all the pockets on the outside of the bag. The actual pockets from the jeans remained completely intact. So I have great storage for the little things I may want to reach quickly, like my inhaler or my cell phone, or keys.

I should be fair to my handiwork and point out that I did not square off the bottom corners, but I did on the one I just made for Cassie. Also, the stitching is pretty wonky as I was getting useed to sewing through the denim layers and I did not get a straight cut across the bottom, mostly because I wanted to make sure to keep the back pockets.

Next on the agenda is to take some of Ashton's cast offs and turn them into a makeup bag, or a pencil case.

(If anyone has any denim to offload I would gladly take it!!)

How to be a Good Wife circa 1955

An excerpt from Housekeeping Monthly, 13 May, 1955.

• Have dinner ready. Plan ahead, even the night before, to have a delicious meal ready on time for his return. This is a way of letting him know that you have be thinking about him and are concerned about his needs. Most men are hungry when they get home and the prospect of a good meal is part of the warm welcome needed



Prepare yourself. Take 15 minutes to rest so you'll be refreshed when he arrives. Touch up your make-up, put a ribbon in your hair and be fresh-looking. He has just been with a lot of work-weary people.  



Be a little gay and a little more interesting for him. His boring day may need a lift and one of your duties is to provide it.

Clear away the clutter. Make one last trip through the main part of the house just before your husband arrives. Run a dustcloth over the tables.

During the cooler months of the year you should prepare and light a fire for him to unwind by. Your husband will feel he has reached a haven of rest and order, and it will give you a lift too. After all, catering to his comfort will provide you with immense personal satisfaction.

Minimize all noise. At the time of his arrival, eliminate all noise of the washer, dryer or vacuum. Encourage the children to be quiet.

Be happy to see him.

Greet him with a warm smile and show sincerity in your desire to please him.

Listen to him. You may have a dozen important things to tell him, but the moment of his arrival is not the time. Let him talk first - remember, his topics of conversation are more important than yours.

Don't greet him with complaints and problems.

Don't complain if he's late for dinner or even if he stays out all night. Count this as minor compared to what he might have gone through at work.

Make him comfortable. Have him lean back in a comfortable chair or lie him down in the bedroom. Have a cool or warm drink ready for him.



Arrange his pillow and offer to take off his shoes. Speak in a low, soothing and pleasant voice.

Don't ask him questions about his actions or question his judgment or integrity. Remember, he is the master of the house and as such will always exercise his will with fairness and truthfulness. You have no right to question him.

A good wife always knows her place.

I have very mixed feelings about these rules. while googling images I came across several blogs referring to this article. What I found most interesting were the reader's comments. Someone would comment about equality and how no woman should cater to a man and someone else would comment about how it should be this way still.

My feelings when it comes to gender equality is that while we are equal as people we are not the same. Men can do certain things better than women. Women can do certain things better than men. And just because we can do things equally as good doesn't mean we have to.

I like being a stay-at-home mom and housewife. I wish we lived in a society/economy that all women and mothers could do the same *if they wanted to*. That being said, some women would rather work than be at home and I believe that's an individual decision and value the right to make that decision.

One day, for shits and giggles, I may try to implement these rules suggestions. Just to see the look on Rob's face when he walks through the door to an actual meal with a clean house, quiet kids and a wife not wearing pjs.

Back~to~School

I am very much looking forward to back to school. Not because I am sick of having my two oldest children tell me how bored they are or anything like that.....but because I like the structure and routine I have when they get up at a decent time EVERYDAY.

This year is one of those milestone years for us. Cassie is going into her last year in elementary school GASP!! She is growing up (and that makes me OLD) and I am NOT ready for her to grow up!

And my little devil, Cohen, is starting preK this year. I am quite nervous about this. He no longer poops in his pants, thank God! But he makes it quite well known when he does have to go. So while I am not worried about that -anymore- I worry about his temper now. If he feels "wronged" or is hurt by another child he will retaliate and it's never pretty. And he's very hard to calm down/reason with until he has exacted his revenge. This is a new behaviour and I've been working on it with him but it's hard to correct this type of behaviour because we really don't want our other kids to pick on him either just to get a reaction, know what I mean?!

And he won't be going to the same school as Cassie and Ryan. We chose to send him to a French school about 15 minutes from here in another small town. We made this decision because I didn't feel it would be fair to any school to have two of my boys at the same time. Just kidding!!

We had originally sent Cassie to this school but chose to switch her back to English after a year and a half. She was very shy and would not participate at all and we felt she wasn't really learning. In retrospect we should have left her there. We figured with Ryan, who has a speech issue, that making him learn a second language would be too hard on him. Bad choice as he has excelled in learning French. So, now you see why having more than one or two kids is good, you can screw up a few times but get it right for at least one child hehehe.

I'm very much looking forward to those 2 days a week when 3 of my monsters will be gone and I get to spend a little one on one time with the mini-monster.

I am a bad blogger.

I do mean to blog but I get so preoccupied reading other blogs that I don't get around to my own. And I have tons of things I'd love to blog about.

I also would like to get more followers. Any suggestions for that?

Aaannnd, I have been super busy trying to create new products and then mass produce them so I have inventory for the fair. As well as keep up with customer orders. I swear if I have to assemble another Minnie Mouse head clippie it will be too soon!!

NKOTBSB

This might be THE. BEST. CONCERT.

9 sexy men strutting their stuff for almost 3 hours ... it's a good thing our seats weren't closer to the stage or we may have *seriously* considered becoming groupies...maybe in our younger (single) days, eh girls?!?!

And surprise to us,

Matthew Morrison from GLEE.



I'm not a die hard Glee fan - I'll usually only watch if nothing else on tv catches my interest. But man can this guy perform. I may watch Glee a little more now, I'll be checking Netflix for previous episodes now for sure.

And their opening act:

A really talented band from Toronto!!

All in all, an amazing concert, great performances and uber-sexy man-candy. It was definitely a great thursday night that's for sure!

Paranormal Activity

Have you seen Paranormal Activity 1 & 2 yet? And now there's a third coming out?

I just finished watching the first one. We watched the 2nd one about 2 weeks ago because it was on Netflix. As far as movies go it wasn't the greatest but I didn't not like it, know what I mean?!

I really didn't care much for the first one but I kind of attribute that to having watched them out of order so I knew the backstory to it and knew what to expect. Also I had googled it and seen a spoof trailer for it so it was really NOT scary.

Rob really didn't like it. Halfway through he went outside for a smoke. I took that opportunity to pause the movie and grab a piece of banana bread. I scared myself more than the movie. The entire time I was in the kitchen I was anticipating Rob doind something to try to scare the shit out of me (which really doesn't take much) I can scare myself just by stepping outside in the dark. I was *almost* disappointed that he didn't try anything. It showed just how much he wasn't feeling the movie.

So, if you saw either of these, do you look forward to the third one?

supersize my drink

and my straw!!!!

How sick is this straw? The kids bought a pack of them at Dollarama. 50 of them for $1.

You know the best thing about a straw this monstrous?!?! If you use it while driving you don't actually have to pick up your cup to take a sip!!!

10 reasons why I'll never be mother of the year

One of the first blogs I stumbled across not written by someone I actually know is Helene's. Her blog, I'm Living Proof that God has a Sense of Humor is a great! I could sit here trying to come up with some really awesome adjectives to describe it but, really, I have so much to do today I can barely type without backspacing every few characters because hand-mind coordination isn't up to par. But check it out, she is a StayAtHomeMom to 2 sets of twins. WOW!!!

Her most recent post prompted me to steal borrow her topic. Her's are the ones in bold.

1)  I lie to my kids. ~ Naturally, but I am such a horrible liar they are the only ones who are gullible trusting enough to believe me.

2)  I encourage them to give one another wedgies.  ~ I don't do this but if one wrongs/harms another I will allow the harmed one to exact revenge.

3)  I curse like a sailor.  ~Anyone who knows me knows I do. To the point where no one but my own mother even notices.

4)  I spend approximately 138 minutes of my day fantasizing that I'm on the beach in Hawaii all by my lonesome. Or, I head to the back room to "do laundry" when actually I am heading out the back door for some peace and quiet without having to take the kids outside with me.

5)  The reason I carry a first aid kit with me at all times, honestly, is because I don't care to listen to my kids cry endlessly about needing a band-aid on a scrape the size of a period or that they can't swim in the pool because of a tiny sliver of nail that's come partially loose.  ~ I actually HATE bandaids, except the fabric-y kinds. And I usually tell the kids to suck it up (also why I never finished nursing)

6)  I'm not exactly a model of class or grace and I'm not above yelling, "What are YOU staring at?" to complete strangers who rudely ogle me while my kids have a tantrum in a store. I couldn't have come up with a better description myself.

7)  If I need a moment of peace and quiet, I'll let them watch something completely age-inappropriate on the television.  Or play the Wii for hours on end.  ~ My kids have/can/do watch The Simpsons and Family Guy. And they have DSi's.

8)   I yell. ~ When we moved here my neighbour warned me that the lady across the road could yell a mean one to her stepson, that I'd hear it from my house with windows closed. I'm pretty sure my voice carried further than that.

 9)  I scare my kids shitless to get them to follow simple directions.  ~ Yup. And guilt them. It's not enough to tell them they could get hit by a car, I let them know how it would hurt ME if they got hurt. Cuz they never want Mommy to be upset (obviously works better when they're younger and haven't learned to hate me yet)

10)   I have no problem with my kids eating food off the floor. ~  I just have to check it first for dog hair LOL.

Do all y'all relate to any of these too?

it's official

Since I *finally* got my butt in gear and sent in my registration in, i can officially announce that ~Cassabella Creations~ will be having a vendor booth at the Shawville Fair this year!!!

I am so excited, scared, nervous. I'm worried I won't have enough stuff and at the same time worried I will make too much and no one will want it. Not quite sure how we're going to manage though. I'll be at the booth from opening to closing and Rob will be on his own with the kids. I've spent quite a few years taking the kids around by mysef while Rob was busy but not with 4 and I'm a little sad I will be missing seeing Ash go one rides for the first time.

I have so much to do between now and then, and of course i am the queen of procrastination. Rob has scolded me suggested that I not post new items on my website or Facebook page. Take a "holiday" of sorts, from customer orders anyways.

Hope to see you there!

~*~GIVEAWAY~*~

Head on over to Lena's blog to enter her great giveaway! An awesome prize of a really cool bottlecap necklace of your choice and $20 shop credit to buy some more great stuff. All from Cassabella Creations!!! Cuz I'm not a bit biased or anything...hehehe

Good Luck!!!!

Giveaway ends tonight!

I confess....

Linking up with Mamarazzi for the first time.

I confess...

I am way more messy and disorganized than I'd like to be.

I confess...

I get sentimentally attached to inanimate objects, like receiving blankets from when Cassie was a baby, or toys they once really liked but haven't looked at in years. Or the pocket calender I used when I was pregnant for Cassie to write all my obs appointments in.

I confess...

I can go days without ever leaving my house.

I confess...

Even though I spend a lot of time at home the kitchen is rarely ever spotless.

I confess...

I would love to have a "show home" but to accomplish that we'd have to move out.

Cassie's sundress

My fave so far

Just one more pillowcase dress...it is by far my favorite fabric. I've been eyeing it up, fondling it, admiring it, wondering what I was going to make with it. This is what I came up with.

I also made a super cute two layered skirt for Cassie but I still have to add the elastic for the waistband. I will definitely post a pic of it once it's done. I also have some really nice shirred fabric to make a sundress for her. Maybe I will do that later today.

All about me...

I saw this over at Ashley's blog and thought it was a great post.

I am... Jennifer...a mom to 3 busy boys and 1 beautiful daughter and wife to my best friend.

I want... one quiet peaceul day that's just all for me.

I have... an addiction to all things crafty.

I wish... all babies could be born healthy, happy and not until their meant to be.

I hate...my neighbour's dogs...a lot...I have even kicked one once for peeing on the playhouse.

I fear...the dark, totally and irrationally. And crowds of people when I am by myself.

I hear...shockingly, nothing, with 3 boys I should go check that out.

I search...etsy at least twice a day.

I wonder... what my kids will be like as teenagers.

I regret...not being more outgoing in high school.

I love...my family.

I never...excercise, or walk places I don't really need to drive to.

I ache...when I sit too long in one position, like driving, my hips hurt like a mother____

I sign...in the van

I dance...only when I'm drinking, which isn;t very often.

I lose...everything, at least once

I need...more hours in a day

I always...procrastinate

I am confused...often

I am not always...as bitchy as I sound

I cry...easily.

I sometimes...what life would be like if I'd made other choices.

I am not...confident.

I usually...have a horribly messy house but happy kids, so it balances out right?!?

I should...keep in touch with friends more, network my business more, clean and organize our home.

From screwed-up to lovin' it

I started sewing another pillowcase dress and had so many issues this time. The first one I did (well) was a breeze. A little on the slow side as I read the tutorial at least 3 times for each step. This time I decided I would check the tutorial only when needed. As it turned out, I didn't need it.

But boy did I have problems. Apparently my (well my sister's but she's NEVER used it) sewing machine is tempermental. The bobbin has to be wound so a specific side is facing up when inserted in it's home. But there is no way to distinguish which way, just a lot of trial and error and wasted thread and trying to hold it a certain way while setting it up to re-wind it.

So after 2 days of effing with the machine to figure this out I got the dress sewn up. I tried it on my model (Cohen) and realized it was a bit on the short side. So I figured I had enough fabric left to add on a ruffle.

Here's where the fun started. I start sewing only to realize 1/3 of the way in that I was mangling up the hem on the dress, oopsie. Started again and got into a good rythm. Finished it off, looking good, or so I thought. When I turned it right side out I realized I now had 2 rows of stitching, quite uneven and not very professional looking at all. I was quite disappointed with the finished product when a little light bulb lit up. So, smarty pants me flipped the original dress hem upwards and sewed a straight stitch across and now it looks GREAT!! Totally as if I meant to do that!!

Cheeky Cherry

I am loving sewing and have so many items planned! I have a little stash of fabric started and have been looking for more suppliers. Anyone know of any good fabric stores?

Newest Addiction

You may have read an earlier post about a pillowcase dress I attempted. Not the best work I admit, however, I have been playing nice with the sewing machine ever since and after a trip to fabricland this past weekend I have something to share.

sorry for the blurry photo, it's late

So, whaddya think? I love, Love, LOVE the fabric on the bottom. I even made the "ribbon" out of it. And check out the cool feature of having it tie on one shoulder instead of two. I can make it in sizes 6 months up to size 6. (This one is 12 months)

I purchased the pattern from a seller on Etsy. I (heart) etsy. I've also ordeedr a whole boatload of supplies for some very chic headbands and a few new items to try out.