Gina of All Trades

Better late than never.

2012-01-17T17:11:00.000-08:00

It has been a little longer for this post than I originally intended. As you know, since the beginning of the year I have been counting calories to lose weight. The first week was great with the 6 pounds I lost and the second week seem to be off to a good start as well. Except for Thursday when I was out running errands. I hadn't eaten breakfast yet and started to feel light headed. I got the kids and rushed home, grabbed a granola bar but that did not help. I became nauseous, still light headed, very tired, chest hurt. I swear I thought I was either having a heart attack or a severe panic attack. Well, my nephew-in-law is an EMT and he told me it did not sound like a heart attack but the my sugar level got low and I was causing myself to have an anxiety attack. Jason came home from work to take care of the kids, thank goodness they were out for 2 days. I slept most of the day except for when he forced me to eat something. I slept most of the next two days away too. I just had no energy to do anything. After talking to other people and looking online, and because I have a history of low iron, Jason got some slow release iron supplements that I have been taking the last few days. After eating breakfast, taking the supplement, and getting a little nap, I feel like myself the rest of the day. I will be making an appointment with my doctor soon to get a much needed checkup.

BTW, losing weight has been pushed to the back burner for the moment although I am still tracking my food on MyFitnessPal.

1 Week In...

2012-01-08T17:43:00.000-08:00

And Operation Slimdown is right on track. 6.4 lbs lost in the first week. What What! Now I am NOT a "diet" kind of girl. I cannot be as disciplined as some people and cut out all bad foods and only eat healthy good for you stuff. If I tried, I would certainly fail. I need my chocolate and snack foods to get me through the day. OK, maybe I don't need them that bad but it would be very hard to cut them out, especially with the kids in the house.

I am certainly going to be realistic here, I understand that this was probably a beginner's fluke; but, it definitely makes for an awesome motivator. NOTE: If I can keep this up I will be back to pre-hubby weight in NO TIME! ;) Yes, it is all his fault. I gained 20lb in 3 months because all we did was eat McDonald's, Burger King, Arby's, etc. You get the point.

Jason and I have changed our eating habits by focusing on portion control and counting calories. I thought it would be difficult at first (I did this once before I got pregnant with Peanut) but it is pretty easy, especially with an app on my phone for MyFitnessPal. I even have Jason using it too. PSST...he is down 5 lb this week. WAY TO GO BABE! :)

Here is my motivation pic that is on my refriderator...me right before Jason and I started dating again in 2004.

BUSTED!

2012-01-06T19:17:00.000-08:00

Turn my head for one second, and this is what I find...

Trying to mess with the printer. He is fascinated by EVERYTHING and that little catching his breath sound that he makes when he sees something he likes is the best. I love this age when everything is new and wonderful and they are so full of innocense. I kind of wish the older boys were still this age. BUT, then I come to my senses and realize that 4 boys this age would NOT be fun. ;) They make life so much fun and I just need to learn to go with the flow.

If you notice the website on the laptop, TheFrugalGirls.com, one of a few great sites that I like that tells you of different deals around, expecially FREE e-books, those are my favorite. Anyway, they have this awesome idea on there that I must try. Homemade Oatmeal Packets. I love those things and the fact that they are so easier to make and cheaper too is an added bonus. Publix sells the Quaker Oats in the canister a lot for Buy One Get One Free which will make this an even better for the budget deal. :)

2 Days in...

2012-01-02T20:51:00.000-08:00

So we are two days into the new year and I have to say...so far so good. Both the hubby and I have decided to try and lose a few pounds by watching more of what we eat. I have been using My Fitness Pal periodically for the last few years and I got him on it too now. :) He's upset that he has to count calories. LOL Well, not really upset but now more aware of what he is eating. Two days in and I am proud to say that I (hubby too) have came in under my calorie intake both days. YAY! That is an accomplishment in itself because the other times I have started this, the first week was always the worst.

I have managed to finish Sam's 1 year scrapbook this week which is awesome. It only took me 5 years to do it. Hopefully, it won't take that long to finish Peanut's. I have decided that I am going to try Project12. Seems like a great way to scrapbook my family as the year goes on. I am all about sketches and this site has some great ones. Each month they post a sketch for you to use. Looks fun, so look forward to seeing lots of pics of my kids. :D

Another thing I am thinking of doing, well doing so far, is taking pics everyday. I am going to start toting my camera everywhere just in case. I figure that way, it will be easier to scrapbook our family. It will give me lots to choose from and with this house of nuts I am sure they will give me lots to take pictures of.

Here is a pic from yesterday...

Thank you to Paint The Moon for the awesome watermarking tool. :) ♥

Third Times the Charm

2012-01-01T17:37:00.000-08:00

Hopefully. If I can't keep up this time then I quit.

2012 is upon us and time to recollect on the past year. I realize that 1. blogs are easier for some people than they are for others and 2. resolutions NEVER seem to be fulfilled.

I looked back on my resolutions from 2011:

My 2011 Resolutions

1. To lose 35 pounds (preferably by May) No :(

2. To scrapbook 5-7 pages a week (Goes with #3) No :(
3. Catch up on scrapbooking. Almost, but No :(
4. Keep up with Blog Big NO!!
5. Create and stick to budget I created a budget then worked with a different one so I guess that counts as a yes
6. Enter receipts immediately after grocery shopping so I do not have a pile to do at once. :) Sometimes but not always
7. Coupon, Coupon, Coupon. ;) This one is the only one that I really adhered to.

So no actual resolutions this year. Instead, I am making a list of things that I would like to do but won't be too disappointed if some do not happen. OK, they still would technically be resolutions wouldn't they. ;)

1. Eat healthy and exercise
2. Find a job using my degree
3. Scrapbook some (no goals here, just want to find time for me)
4. Continue to coupon and get my savings above 40%

Like last year, I will add to this list as I need to. Until then, I hope everyone has a great 2012!

Calling All Colors

2011-03-18T21:18:00.000-07:00

You are being warned. I now have a way to use you to your full potential and I can't wait to get started.
I bought a color wheel the other day because I thought it would help with the whole process of scrapbooking. My main issue is that I second guess the layout over and over again. I lack the ability to truely visualize something in my head and make it happen in real life.

I googled how to use the color wheel because I obviously was not paying much attention in Art class in school. And to my surprise found an awesome site. Let me rephrase that, I saw an awesome portion of a site I frequent often that I never even knew existed. It is called Scrap By Color!. Basically it is the exact same thing as my color wheel I bought except 1) it is online. 2) I can upload the pic I plan to scrapbook and it will give me color ideas based on the colors in the pic. And 3) it tells me which colors would look best based on the color wheel. Did I mention it was online :D I love that I am able to plan the page, the color scheme at least, online so that it leaves less to figure out and hopefully help me scrapbook more pages.

Check it out yourself here.

I know what I plan on doing tomorrow. :)

Happy St. Patrick's Day

2011-03-17T22:00:00.000-07:00

So today was not as cool for me as it used to be. But hopefully it was for the kids. :D

We started out the morning with a fun twist to breakfast. For one I got up early enough to cook for them which is amazing all by itself. I fixed them Green Eggs and Bacon. They look really nasty when you put the food coloring in it.

It looked a lot better once they were done and the kids liked it. Sam did not like that his milk was Green, even though it is his favorite color, and wouldn't drink it.

I
Based on info I researched online about giving babies eggs, I fed some to Gabe as well (there are no known egg allergies in our families). He gave his approval as well.

For their afterschool snack I found a recipe for Easy 1-2-3 Shamrock Milk Shake that I thought they would enjoy. Served with extra chocolate cookies. I don't think they really liked it at all, except for the cookies. Alex and Sam said they liked it but didn't drink much and TJ said he didn't like it at all. So I think next year I find a different fun drink to share with the kiddos.

The boys had a baseball scrimmage tonight. I love baseball season and can't wait for the games to start.

For dinner I wanted to make an authentic Irish meal but had to find one that I thought the family would enjoy as well as not take forever to make. So I made Crockpot Corned Beef and Cabbage. It was DELICIOUS. And definitely something I will make again.

Overall the day was pretty good. Can't wait until next year.

Sooo Happy!!!

2011-03-10T20:35:00.000-08:00

All the pics that I thought I lost back in May, I found. Well they weren't lost so to speak but I couldn't access them. I had all the pics on a disc that for whatever reason I am no longer able to see on my computer. I decided to try the boys' computer again just to try it and was so exstatic that all the pics were there. Now I just need to get a new CD so that I can view them on my PC too.

Better yet, I just need to invest in an external hard drive. :P

New Theme Sets

2011-03-09T19:55:00.000-08:00

So the MemoryWorks Spring catalog will be coming out soon and I just received some emails today about three (3) new theme sets that are coming out from My Mind's Eye, Echo Park, and Cosmo Cricket. They are all so super cute. Of course having all boys I have my eyes on the "manly" papers. LOL

Here are the links to the new sets, contact me if you have any questions or would like to place an order...

My Mind's Eye ... https://www.memory-works.com/admin/images/site/Spring11Catalog_MME.pdf My favorite is the Hattie Theme Set with the blue and yellow.

Cosmo Cricket ... https://www.memory-works.com/admin/images/site/Spring11Catalog_cc.pdf Really hard to pick a favorite with this one as the colors are wonderful with each set.

Echo Park ... https://www.memory-works.com/admin/images/site/Spring11Catalog_EP.pdf Hard to pick a foavorite here as well. These sets look like so much fun. Although the Playground and Summertime sets are very vibrant.

Don't forget, if you would like to just place an order online, you can do it directly HERE

Scrapbooking Made Easy

2011-03-08T14:00:00.000-08:00

If you are an avid scrapbooker or new to the whole thing, this line is pretty awesome. MemoryWorks has come out with their own line of scrapbooking supplies, Simple Stories, introduced back in January 2010.

What is Simple Stories you might ask? Well for one, check out their blog http://simplestories.typepad.com/simple-stories/about-simple-stories.html to get the complete run down. But basically it is a system of scrapbooking that allows you to concentrate on your photos and memories than on the complete layot. Each full kit comes with everything you will need (minus the albums and of course the photos) to create a beautiful album of cherished memories. 12x12 albums in both Leather and Linen as well as full and divided Page Protectors are available for purchase as well. Click HERE to check out these and all the other great products MemoryWorks has to offer.

There are currently three (3) different collections currently with the Simple Stories line.

1) Life Documented

2) Destinations

And my personal favorite. 3) ele.ment.ary

Almost 2 months!!!

2011-03-01T17:34:00.000-08:00

Since I last posted. That is not good. What is also not good is that not only am I slacing off with the blog but I have slacked off with the coupons too. I plan to get those in order tonight while catching up on some TV shows.

Gabe is 8 months now and started to crawl. Well, not really crawling but more like a military style commando crawl. It is too cute and he is pretty darned fast. We have kind of hit a small speed bump because he has stopped eating baby food. He doesn't seem to show an interest in it anymore, at least not with me. He did eat pretty good for my sis today so I think he just doesn't want me to feed him. He would rather nurse. I don't blame him though, I enjoy the bonding we get. He is an awesome little Peanut in the mixed nuts that I call my family. :D

So much for blogging everyday

2011-01-07T20:18:00.000-08:00

I have been having issues with my Internet service for about a year now. It is off and on issues but within the last few months it had gotten progressively worse that about every 15-20 minutes I would get this error message about rebooting the system.

Can I tell you how annoying that is? I am just glad that I made it through the semester of school before it started to get worse. I finally got fed up with it and called the company. After troubleshooting over the phone, AGAIN, the nice young lady said that I needed a new modem but unfortunately it was going to cost me. OF course it was.

I got the new modem yesterday and finally got around to installing it today. I am in l♥ve!!! After getting it installed and setup I went and started messing with our home network. Don't worry nothing major, just putting names to the correct IP addresses. Tomorrow I plan to fix it to share files throughout hte computers. I guess I am a slight nerd at heart. :)

Crossing my fingers that this really was the cause of the connectivity issue. If not, we are going to be out more than $60.

Holy TP Batman

2011-01-04T19:28:00.000-08:00

Sooo...thanks to my new love of We Use Coupons I am trying my hand at the whole CVS game again. I had tried it once before but never able to do as well as others I knew.

The whole idea is to go in and spend as little out of pocket (OOP) as possible. It is also important to try and get more ECB's (extra care bucks) to use towards future purchases which help to reduce total OOP.

So with this being said, there was a deal on toilet paper and a few other items that if you purchased $25 of product you get back $10 ECB. For a "first time" I think I did pretty good.

1st Transaction
1 Quilted Northern 12 double rolls - $7
2 Angel Soft 24 rolls - $9.99 ea
- $0.50 Northern
- (2) $0.50 Angel Soft
OOP = $27.64 ($0.38 per roll --where double roll is counted as 2 rolls)
ECB received = $10

2nd Transactions
(2) Huggies jumbo diapers 36ct - $8.99 ea
- $10 ECB
- $3 manufacturer coupon
- $2.50 manu. q
- $1 ECB
OOP = $2.84
ECB received = $1

Although I did need TP,I now have a mini stockpile, the diapers are the real score here... $0.04 per diaper :)

Looking forward to more CVS deals.

And here's to weightloss

2011-01-03T20:57:00.000-08:00

Gabriel is 6 months now and I have not gotten back to my pre-preggy weight. *crys* I have people tell me that I look great and that I look like I am losing the weight, which makes me feel good, but I don't see it. Mainly because that scale is just not budging with the numbers. :( Maybe it is broke ;)

I use MyFitnessPal for their calorie counter and wouldn't you know it, they have an app for my phone that will allow me to track my calorie intake/burned while I am out and about. (Woot Woot) I also found out that because I nurse my son, I am burning up to 500 calories per day. So that means that I get to eat 2080 calories per day versus the 1580 they reccomended for height and weight. Unfortunately, this being the first day of me counting calories, I have went over my limit by 126 calories :( Not too bad but I definitely need to rethink what I am eating. I also need to remember to spread my food intake throughout the day so I don't snack a lot. Oh and drink more water.

Does tea count as water intake? Hmm.

Well it is only day 1 and I have not started adding in exercise yet either so we will see. 35 lb. in 5 months. I think I can do it.

It's Clean!!!

2011-01-02T18:41:00.000-08:00

But for how long? That is the question. After church today I worked on cleaning my office while everyone else took a nap. It only took me about 2 hours so not too bad.

Here are the after shots.
Interesting how less cramped it looks after cleaning up the clutter. LOL

Now that my scroffice is nice and clean I can get started on my layouts. First step, Sam's 1 year album. I already have the pics printed out in 4x6 prints and I found this awesome blog, Got Sketch?, that has a bunch of sketches of layouts using 4x6 photos. She has other sketches too but the 4x6 LO's is how I found her blog.

I will show some pics of finished pages as I go along.

Happy New Year!!!!

2011-01-01T17:09:00.000-08:00

Hope everyone's 2011 has started the New Year off right. We had a good day today. We of course watched the ball drop at midnight then watched a movie. A Man Apart with Vin Diesel and Lorenz Tate. It was a really good movie. Slept in til 10am and then went to celebrate the 40th birthday of a good friend of ours.

Now hubby is watching the college games like he has since we got home and I am playing on the Internet, go figure.

I should straighten my scrapbooking table up so I can get started on Resolution #2: Scrapbook 5-7 pages a week and Resolution #3: Catch up on scrapbooking. Matter of fact I think I will do that.

Here is the before of the clutter.

Resolution #7

2010-12-31T19:16:00.000-08:00

Coupon, Coupon, Coupon

I have been actively couponing for about 3 years now. And honestly, it is kind of addicting. To be able to walk out of the store saving more money than you spent is such an awesome feeling. I remember the first time I saved over 40% on my grocery bill (Actually it was 63% that trip) I wanted to dance out of the store. I immediately called my hubby but he wasn't nearly as excited as I was.

I watched this show the other night on TLC called "Extreme Couponing" and now I am on a major mission. The show followed 4 people on an extreme shopping trip. Two of the people went in and purchased A LOT of groceries, MrCoupon (as he is referred to on his website weusecoupons.com) walked out with 1100 boxes of cereal that he donated to his curch's food bank and only spent around $150. I later found out that they don't normally shop that big but WOW! it was pretty awesome. Now I do not want to go in shopping like that, donating or not, because 1) I simply do not have the room and 2) my hubby would kill me. LOL. Anyway, I am rambling now. My point is that one of the women on the show had 21 bottles of soda and paid very little for them. I want to do THAT! They were still buying meat and veggies and were still able to walk out paying less than 30% of the total bill. So my l♥ve of coupons has grown.

I have been printing coupons for the last 2 days and even found this really awesome grocery tracker app for my phone. Grocery Tracker allows you to have an inventory of your groceries (WHAT!) and you can make grocery lists as well. The really cool part is that you can have different lists for different stores, also you can put in the prices for each item. There is even a spot to enter in your coupons and it calculates the amount you will pay AFTER tax and coupons. I can't wait to try this out. So far I am in LOVE with it. I will let you know how it works when I can fully use it. However, all day today I have been scanning in my whole pantry. Oh yeah, did I mention you scan the barcodes of the items to enter them into the database (WHAT WHAT!) Yeah, hubby was really loving that. haha

So here's to lot's of savings in the New Year!

2011 Here I come.

Budgets Spudgets

2010-12-30T16:20:00.000-08:00

Alrighty! So number 5 on my Resolution list is to create and stick to a budget and I finally sat down and have a workable budget. Woot Woot. Bad news is that I now need to find an extra $800 a month without getting a job. Haha, like that will happen right! Ok maybe I don't really need a job but we at least need to make it to tax time and bonus. The only reason it is that bad is that I have included into the budget a few extra categories. Here is a category view of the budget minus the amounts...

Car Loan
Gas for said car
Insurance
Stamps*
Blow Money (both DH and I)*
Tithing
Clothing*
Dining out*
School lunches and fundraisers for 3 kids*
Entertainment
Gifts (Christmas/Birthdays - including birthdays the kids may get invited to)*
Groceries
Household
Medical (Doctors/Medicines)*
House
Hair Cuts*
Pet Care*
Sports Recreation for 3 kids *
Subscritions*
Utilities

Items with an * are new categories that were not actually budgeted before but just kind of paid as we went if we could. Like haircuts, it has been at least a year if not longer since I have had my hair cut. :( New clothes? What are those?

I swear I am slightly OCD. Why? Because for one thing, I use Quicken for my banking and have to have it exactly right. When DH and I first merged bank accounts he used to round his transactions up to the nearest $$ and that absolutely drove me nuts. I have been handling the accounts ever since :D Because I have to have it exactly right I spent the majority of the day yesterday trying to get the accounts for the house, our car, and my student loan accounts to match the statements online. OMGoodness, I do not understand Wells Fargo's system for applying payments but I will try to tackle that another time. I am pleased that I now can tell you in a split second how much we owe without having to log on to each account. What what!

Next up was to analyze my grocery spending. Last year at this time a friend of mine showed me an Excel spreadsheet to calculate spending vs savings. I was wanting an accurate calulation of the amount of money I save using coupons each month and this spreadsheet is perfect. So today I sat down and entered in the month of receipts I have been meaning to input into the spreadsheet.

Resolution #6: Enter receipts immediately after grocery shopping so I do not have a pile to do at once. :)

The end result...Overall we saved 30% for the year. $975.58 saved in coupons alone. On top of that we saved $1,570.27 by purchasing during store sales. I seriously need to step up my couponing because if I would have been on my game the whole year (a few months we kind of slacked off using coupons) I would have totally made it under my budgeted amount.

Resolution #7: Coupon, Coupon, Coupon. ;)

It Is That Time Again...

2010-12-28T22:16:00.000-08:00

You know the time. The time where we make resolutions to ourselves that we may intend to keep but know all too well may not actually happen. I know I am quilty of that.

And even though I know the odds are against me to complete a resolution I always do so anyway. Probably more out of habit than anything.

My Resolutions

1. To lose 35 pounds (preferably by May)

2. To scrapbook 5-7 pages a week (Goes with #3)

3. Catch up on scrapbooking.

4. Keep up with Blog

5. Create and stick to budget

End of Year Report Card

2010-12-28T20:19:00.000-08:00

So here it is, almost the end of the year. My first year trying out the whole blogging thing. What would my grade be if I were graded on this past year?

F

Saturday, January 2, 2010 Going to try this out

I feel that I am fairly competent with the Internet and computers. I am, after all, taking online classes through the local college to get my associates degree in Administrative Office Technology. Expected date of graduation, May 2011. Woo Hoo. I have Yahoo'd, MySpace'd, and Facebook'd (I am slightly addicted to that one, I love all my "friends"). But I have never really tried the whole blogging thing. So we will see how this works out.

I see lots of other people out there with really cool sites and lots of interesting information and it seems simple enough. It can't really be all that hard...Can it?

So, apparently it is harder than I anticipated. LOL I did pretty good at first but the last 3 months did me in. I am finally done with school. D.O.N.E. I graduate in May. So happy for that. Got caught up on sewing projects that needed to be done, through with the holidays which went well, and I even got my coupon binder organized again. YAY!!! I am caught up on all the TV shows I watch and found a few favorites too. I even went back and watched the whole series of LOST...awesome show.

So here is to the end of 2010 and hopefully a blog-filled 2011. :)

Have You Seen My Post?

2010-09-08T05:33:00.000-07:00

My sister called me this morning, like she does EVERY morning Monday-Friday, and that is almost always the first thing one of us says to the other. I am sure you all know what we are talking about here. Facebook. I love that site. But it is funny how we communicate mainly through there now.

Like I said, my sis and I talk everyday, just about all day. It all starts around 7am when one will call the other. That initial conversation usually lasts around 2 hours or until she needs to get off the phone. She actually has a paying job whereas I get to stay home and do housework all day. ;) For most people that would be the end of it until the next day, but no, not for us. Because now we have Facebook, and live chatting so our conversation drags on all day. Not constantly all day but periodically we will find ourselves chatting online. The part that is even more funny, maybe even sad to a point, is that we will be on the phone talking and on Facebook posting back and forth.

What do we have to talk about for this long is usually the first question we get asked and really we do not have a good answer for that because we talk about everything. ;)

Who would have thought

2010-09-08T05:24:00.000-07:00

That having a baby would be this much of a deterent to the Internet? LOL I come on here to finally post again and realize it has been almost 2 months. :o For shame!

Peanut, as I call him, is more of a Cashew now but will forever be Peanut to me. Even when he is 30 with a family of his own. Ok, maybe I won't still be calling him Peanut when he is 30 but I can guarantee that it will be in his Senior yearbook. :D You know, the whole full page ad you can buy and put pics and stuff on it. That is if they still do that when he graduates high school in 2027!!!

So anyway, nothing much new other than school for both the older boys' and myself. YAY!! My last semester and then I graduate in May. I am so excited.

My Review of Staples® Roll-On Permanent Glue Tape

2010-09-08T04:12:00.001-07:00

Originally submitted at Staples

Permanent adhesive sticks and stays put Flip Back Cap protects glue tape for easy storage Acid free and photo safe Glue Tape measures 1/3 inches wide by 393 inches long Clean and odorless suitable for all kinds of paper 2/Pack Staples Brand 100% Satisfaction Guaranteed Roll-On Dispenser applies d...

Great for Scrapbooking

By GinaH from SC on 9/8/2010

Pros: Very Adhesive, Works On All Surfaces, Easy Application

Best Uses: Permanent Adhesion

Describe Yourself: Quality Oriented

Primary use: Personal

This product is great for both scrapbooking and cardmaking as well as any other crafting project you may need adhesive for. Very easy to use. Although it says permanent, it also can be removed and placed again before it becomes permanent.

(legalese)

The difference 2 weeks make

2010-07-02T19:10:00.000-07:00

So I was actually due July 23 and my niece was supposedly due on June 2 (we think her dates were wrong. You will see why in a moment). She had her baby girl on June 6th (9lb 10oz) and two weeks and one day later, on June 21st my baby boy decided to arrive (5lb 4oz).

So here is our 2 week difference. LOL

I have a BABY!

2010-06-30T18:31:00.000-07:00

Gabriel Quinn was born on June 21, 2010 at 1:16pm via ceserean section. 5 lb. 4 oz. and 18.5 inches long.

Yes, it was early. And yes, this post is way late. However, you won't actually know the 2nd part as I am going to fudge the date I actually post this LOL.

I got up at 6am on the 21st in order to register for my last two college classes. I graduate in May 2011. After registering I got up to get something to drink when I felt something, wasn't sure what at the moment. Upon inspection it looked like it could have been my water breaking so I called the dr's office which had me come in to the labor and delivery at the hospital. I called my hubby who for whatever reason thought it was funny. He had just gotten to work BTW. Hubby gets home, we are getting the kids ready for some friends of ours who were going to watch them and we left them with the neighbors until the friends show up. Thankfully it was only 2 of our 3 kids as the other was away for the weekend.

We get to the hospital and as I am arriving on L&D I see my doctor. YAY for luck, he is the doctor on call. They do a check to see if it was in fact my water and it was so I was scheduled for a c-section. The surgery went great, I was awake for the whole thing and got to hear my baby cry. That is the most amazing sound ever. I was only 35 weeks 3 days along so he had to go to the nursery because he was having issues breathing.

To keep this post from being extremely long, he had RDS - Respitory Distress Syndrome, basically his lungs weren't quite developed yet so they had to give him some meds to keep his lungs from collapsing. In all, he was in the hospital for 9 days.

Welcome home Peanut!

At Birth

On his way home