Irisis

This morning when I returned from taking Sarah to school I spotted the first blooming iris, lit up by the early morning light. Some of the petals are a vibrant violet, so beautiful! Pictures like this inspire me to get back into painting, aahhh. I really need a better camera with a good micro zoom lens to get details like this because you can't see the breath taking petal intricacies in the picture. But, you get the idea! I love the fact that it's October and our garden is still in bloom thanks to my amazing gardener husband.

What are the chances....

that my dryer, dish washer and kitchen sink would all become non functioning at the same time???

Add to this the fact that we don't have the funds to get them fixed for a few weeks....so I have laundry hanging all over the house and I'm bailing water out of the dish washer and kitchen sink every day....what are the chances?? It's starting to become humorous to be honest, and a bit ridiculous I have to admit. I keep thinking, now what else could break at any minute? Please, not the clothes washer God....or the cars! I know I'll look back and this will be really funny at some point in time, but at the moment I feel like I'm bailing water and putting clothes up to dry all day long. This morning I used the hair dryer to dry Sarah's pants for school, and no, I'm not kidding. So if you need some humor in your life you're welcome to come over and watch some pioneer living going on here, and I would be happy to have the company and moral support as well!

"Holly", "Cowboy", and "Plum"

"Holly"- 2-4T Mama's Helper Apron is made from genuine bandannas and has a vintage button on the pocket. The perfect accessory for helping mom bake during the holidays!

"Cowboy" patch pants, (side view) Size 1T. Made from cords, bandannas, and repro vintage prints. These are the cutest boy pants!!! They look even better in real life.

"Plum" Size 3-6 mo. Made from green repro vintage print, and cool Amy Butler fabric.

These are the last 3 pieces I needed to finish! I love how they turned out. I'll be taking them down to the shop this week!

Big Boy Bed

Last night Justin crawled up onto the futon we have in his room, put his head on the pillow and said "night." So, I pulled down the covers, he crawled in, and thus began the first night of the big boy bed. He decided it was time, and we were ready. This morning he still yelled, "Mom!" from his room, not knowing that he could get out of the bed....on his own...any time, ack! I had left the door open and the hall lights on in case he decided to venture out. I'm sure it won't be long until he'll figure out he can come and go from his room as he pleases, but until then I'll stay in blissful denial about that!

"April Diane Designs" Logo

Ron designed my graphic logo for "April Diane Designs", my kids' clothing line. I absolutely love how it came out! Going with the vintage theme, he used a picture of a vintage carousel horse. The picture was taken while we were on vacation in Seattle last summer, so it has sentimental meaning to me. I'm hoping to take my clothes down to Ship Wreck this week, so be looking for my logo soon!

Sarah's Slumber Party

Sarah had 4 girl friends over last night for her birthday slumber party! It was the first time she has had a slumber party here. A great time was had by all! The night started out with eating pizza and watching movies, followed by opening presents. They did manicures later in the evening and watched a few more movies, blew up balloons and made animals out of them, then ate ice cream and candy. Yes, things got quite hyper around here from the sugar highs, but they need to be cut loose once in a while after all! The house got quiet around 1 a.m., but they were up and ready to go by 8. We did the birthday cake this morning, and they played wii games until the parents came to pick them up.
Here are some pics from the festivities:

Happy 10th Birthday Sarah!

Mama and daughter

Sarah's Birth Story

Ten years ago after 12 hours of labor, pitocin, one epidural and many cries of "I can't do this any more, this hurts!", Sarah came into the world. She was born at Redwood Memorial Hospital in Fortuna. After I had her people told me how great I looked considering the fact that I had endured a complicated labor for 12 hours. At the time I thought they were just being nice, but looking at the picture now I can't believe how good I looked!

Sarah's labor started at around 3 in the morning. I was having pretty regular contractions and realized it was time to head to the hospital. We lived a ways from the hospital, so I wanted to make sure to get there on time, ha ha, no worries there! I remembered feeling nauseated, but thinking that everything was normal, I was in labor after all.

When we got to the hospital I was so excited to practice my Lamaze. I was walking all over the place, squatting, doing whatever I wanted to...except for being in pain of course. The nurse did a urine sample, again, a normal procedure. Soon the doctor entered and she had a really serious look on her face. She informed me that I had severe pre-eclampsia. I had a basic idea of what it was - high blood pressure in pregnant women. It can be very dangerous if left untreated and can lead to a condition called eclampsia. Not a pretty diagnosis, it can be fatal. The doctor then told me that I would need to lay flat on my back for the entire labor, no moving around, standing, walking, nada. I was devastated, although I didn't know what I was in for. I was going to be given magnesium sulfate to stop the pre-eclampsia. She asked me if I wanted an epidural since I would be in so much pain. I accepted, I figured she knew what she was doing. Labor continued on and I was able to handle the contractions. It wasn't too long before things started to get going though and I was ready for the pain to be gone. After I had progressed enough (it was mid morning by this time), I got the epidural as promised, and it worked, it was wonderful! No more pain, just a little pressure and I could sit back and rest.

Around 1:oo pm I started to feel the pain returning slowly. I kept asking the nurse to re-up my epidural, please. She kept saying she was waiting for the anesthesiologist. Another half hour would pass and I would ask again, still no epidural. Around this time I realized I wasn't getting any more, and that was when things got scary. Then, the doctor decided that due to my pre-eclampsia my labor needed to be sped up because the baby was in distress. She told me they would need to give me pitocin; little did I know what that meant! Of course my contractions got unnaturally harder and longer; I was in for a wild ride. I panicked when the epidural had worn off. By this time the pitocin had kicked in big time. I didn't get the chance to slowly move into the pain as it intensified. It hit like a ton of bricks, and it was mainly in my back. At this point the nurse, (who was a mid wife as well), was helping me the best she could. Ron was so great, he really tried, but I was in so much pain I had no way to cope. I started feeling like the pain was going to kill me, that I couldn't survive this. I cried and let the whole world know that this was too much pain for any person to endure. I started to see the nurse and doctor's faces look concerned, and I was afraid I was headed for a c-section. A little while after this the nurse told me that I could push, finally! This was the hardest part of the labor. My back was in so much pain I felt like my spine was being snapped in two.

After half an hour of pushing she was finally out! The doctor had warned me that she would be a floppy baby from the epidural and mag sulfate. She didn't cry at all, but she was beautiful. The nurse whisked her off into the hall way as soon as I had seen her. My room was so full of machinery and medical staff there was no room for her to be examined so they had to take her out into the hall. Later Ron told me that she was intubated, but responded quickly. It seemed like forever until they brought her back into the room. She looked perfect in every way and was really pretty for a newborn. Her weight was 6 lbs. 2.5 oz, height - 19 1/2". She was tiny! (We had to put her in preemie clothes for the first week because she floated in the newborn ones.) Within a few hours her color looked good and her apgar scores were fine. The doctor told me later that she was on the verge of doing a c-section when my labor suddenly progressed. I am so grateful that I was able to birth her naturally!

I am so thankful for the ten years we've had with Sarah. We're blessed with a wonderful, smart, strong, and talented girl. I never imagined I would have such a wonderful daughter. I look forward to many more precious years to come!