Monogramming/Embroidery I have done

New Video of Ceci

Ceci is getting so big now! Here is a link to a video of her from Tuesday night, October 13, 2009. 

This picture is from several weeks ago-right after I made that outfit! It is a reversible John-John that has appliques on both sides. I was trying out a new pattern and it turned out super cute! 

Lessons Learned

Lesson learned: DON'T buy balloons for an adult and present them in the presence of your 18 month old...She was totally obsessed and ran around the house yelling "BO BO" "my BO Bo". It was a disaster trying to take the away so that we could get in the car-needless to say, we made it home with all 12 balloons even though they weren't meant for her! Obsess much?! After making it home, she proceeded to take the bundle of balloons upstairs, crawl into the dog crate and attempt to pull the balloons into the crate with her. This was a site! She was screaming "BO BO", "my BO BO" and pulling the balloons with all of her might. This did not turn out well because the balloons ended up floating to the ceiling, thus increasing her screaming and yelling. Again, obsess much?! I finally distracted her after the balloons had floated to the ceiling and got her out of the room. The balloons are now in the top of my closet, until further notice (or until they are popped). 

Lesson Learned: DON'T try to take away an 18 month old's toothbrush. Ceci is OBSESSED with her toothbrush. She loves to carry it around and "brush her teeth" which is code for suck on the toothbrush. So, yesterday, she was "brushing" and she got bored. She started to brush other things with her toothbrush. I took it away...BAD IDEA! What happened next was a scene out of poltergeist or something to that effect. She screamed and turned purple and threw a fit-laying down in the floor, screaming, snot dripping, etc. She then started to make a growling noise that came from within her toes, of this, I am sure! So, Lesson learned-don't take away the toothbrush unless you are prepared for a tantrum!

Baby Ethan

 (Bonnie with baby Ethan)

(Kerry with baby Ethan)



     (baby Ethan today-9/23/2009)

Lately, I have had a little bit of a hard time, emotionally. Things that are not usually draining are now seeming very laborious to me. I have had a lot on my mind...

On Sunday, September 13, we marked the anniversary of Charlie's death. It has been 3 years now but doesn't seem to be any easier. On the Thursday prior to that anniversary, my cousin, Bonnie, gave birth to a beautiful baby boy. She named him Ethan. Bonnie endured a long and difficult labor but afterwards, things seemed to be ok. About 4 hours after he was born, Ethan began to have problems breathing. It appeared that he needed some assistance with his breathing. Later that night, he was transferred from Dothan to UAB Respiratory NICU via medical jet. Ethan continued to worsen and eventually developed pneumonia. He has been in the NICU for the past 12 days. I am telling you this because I am hoping that you can send some prayers his way. He has made some serious improvements over the past couple of days and we are hoping that he continues to move in a positive direction at the rate that the doctors are wanting. If you want to follow Ethan's story, you can click on this link:

www.kerryandbonnie.blogspot.com

I am hoping and praying that Bonnie and Kerry don't have to deal with the loss of a child like Jesse and I did. Although we lost Charlie in utero, I can still relate to the highs and lows that they are experiencing in praying that they don't lose their precious baby boy. My hope is that they can have a peaceful resolve to the entire situation and that Ethan will be healed and discharged in a speedy fashion!

I am sure that things will get better for me. This is just a difficult time of year. Hopefully, these problems will pass, baby Ethan will get better and we will all go on with our lives. Please, please pray for Ethan-he can use all the prayers he can get.

Store brand versus brand name and other product reviews

I strongly prefer the Target brand Chicken Vegetable and Rice bake to the Stouffer's brand. Target's brand is much creamier, not as dry, has more white meat chicken and more bread crumb topping. Not to mention that it is almost $2 cheaper! Ceci also prefers the Target brand. She won't even touch the Stouffer's brand, although I am not sure why. It actually has less sodium but you don't have to add salt after cooking-it is already seasoned to taste!

On another note, I was given "your baby can read" for my birthday (at my request) and Ceci recognizes almost 20 words off of the introductory video! She is a genius! We will watch it for 3 more weeks and then move on to the first level video. I have been showing her the Leap Frog Letter Factory videos as well. She will watch them for a few minutes but not like she will the "your baby can read" dvd's. I think the infomercial was right when it said the dvd's would captivate children's attention! I am very happy with this gift!! Totally worth it in my opinion!

two recipes-easy and cheap

Fried Chicken Potato Soup recipe: 

Add to large stock pot: 2 boxes of Chicken broth cut up 8 large red potatoes 1/2 white onion to mixture add 2 cups of milk add cut up 10 chicken fingers (from grocery store deli) dissolve 1 tsp of cornstarch in 1 cup of milk and add to mixture (it thickens the mixture) simmer mixture for about 25 minutes serve w/cheese sprinkled on top salt/pepper and italian seasoning to taste

Dinner tonight: 

saute the following: 1/2 green bell pepper 1/2 red bell pepper 1/2 yellow bell pepper 1/2 white onion 2 tbsp olive oil 1 lb lean ground beef 2 cans of mexicorn add 3/4 cup water and 1 packet of taco seasoning boil water and cook 1 box of mini penne pasta Mix in the pasta with the meat mixture from above Cook down until the water is gone (about 10 minutes) serve with Mexican Mixed Cheese on top

Labor Day

Today, we haven't really done anything special. In fact, we haven't really done much all weekend. It has been kind of nice to be able to sit around and not have to worry about being on a schedule or where I have to be and when. We have watched a lot of TV this weekend. I have been sewing up a storm. I even picked my smocking projects back up and finished a couple of unmade outfits that I hadn't put together yet. Relaxation has been they key to this weekend. I am now ready to go back to work tomorrow and finish getting my lists ready for the AHSGE (Alabama High School Graduation Exam) that will be administered in 2 weeks. This is a short week and Friday, I won't be in the office-Fall Counselor Workshop for all JEFCOED counselors! I can't wait to see my other counselor friends and catch up with them. It has been too long.

Hoping to post some pictures of my embroidery and sewing projects later. If you need any gifts or cute kids clothing, just let me know! I can also do other things like make headboards for your bed, make pillows, bedding or curtains.

Videos of my baby girl

I am going to try to post some videos of Ceci that I took this summer.

Ceci playing in the condo at the beach

Ceci feeding herself with a fork

Ceci playing on the porch-PART 1

Ceci playing on the porch-PART 2

I guess it's time...

This is a picture from the evening following her first birthday celebration. More photos later.

so, I guess it is time for me to update this blog since I haven't done so in almost a year. Things are good with us. Jesse and I are still working at our same jobs, stock broker with Ameriprise Financial and Guidance Counselor at Minor High School, respectively. Ceci is going to be 17 months old next week, just 2 days before my 31 year old birthday. We are still living in the same old house in Roebuck. We put contracts on 3 different houses this summer, only to lose them for various reasons. We took our house off the market a few weeks ago to kind of take a break from the whole thing. Having your house on the market is VERY stressful. School started back for me and things are going pretty well. Much better than they were last year. I did get to move my office to a different part of the building, so that has helped a great deal. No longer around such negative influences/attitudes. This move has made getting up and going to work much easier as well.

Ceci is growing and is such a big girl now. She had her most recent checkup about 2 weeks ago and she got 4 shots. If you know me at all, you know I am not a fan of mandatory immunizations. I only make her get the ones that are absolutely required and we have delayed them as long as possible to try to minimize the possible side effects of them. She was sick for about 2 weeks following the administration of these shots. Again, The only reason she got them was so that she could go to Mother's Day Out 2 days a week, giving my mother-in-law a bit of a break. She was weighed at this visit and she was somewhere in the 80th percentile for weight-25 lbs 12 ounces and was in the 50 something percentile for height-30 1/2 inches. She is wearing 2T clothing now and is running and playing and talking up a storm. She has about 20 words that she can say that we understand. She loves to watch The Wiggles, Blue's Clues and pretty much anything on Noggin. She has a great attention span and can watch an entire 30 minute show without flinching. She loves to dance and I can't wait until she is big enough to take a dance class. I think that it will definitely help to get out some of her energy. Personality is developing and she is a very happy little girl most of the time. She gets along with other kids and enjoys playing with anyone who will give her the time of day. She has white blonde hair that is starting to curl and now has 10 teeth (with 2 more about to emerge). She loves to cuddle and is a true momma's girl.

So, I guess that is the big update. I am hoping to start updating more regularly, especially since we are finally in a routine. I will also post some pictures so that you can all see what we have been doing over the past year.

Chaio

Finally-An update!

Finally, I am updating the blog. I have lots of pictures but to upload them all would take FOREVER! Hopefully, I can get some links to the Kodak Gallery I have set up. Currently, Ceci is sick with her first virus. She is pitiful. She has slept a lot today but has also been pretty fussy. We started her on a round of antibiotics today, so we are hoping that this will all be cleared up within the next few days.

She is sitting up on her own now and today, she has started to stand up when she is supported. This is new considering she still won't lay on her tummy or roll over, unless she is forced to do so (literally left there screaming and then gets ticked and does it). She talks a lot now and is always making some kind of new noise. The most recent thing she can do is shake her head like she is saying "no". This is cute now, but I am sure it won't be after she gets older.

As of now, we are also planning her Christening, which is a big deal. We are keeping it VERY small so that immediate family and some VERY close friends will be in attendance. She will be wearing a Christening dress that has been in our family for over 100 years. Basically, all of us (in my family) wore it and now, she will wear it too. I am hoping that a friend of mine will be able to take some professional shots of her in the gown since it is such a momentus occasion.

Portrait Innovations!

Today, we took Ceci to Portrait Innovations for the first time. She was great. She got a little fussy around the end but we were able to get 111 shots of her and I chose 7 poses to get copies printed of. I can't wait to get them all uploaded. I will put several here so that y'all can see just how big she is getting!

11 weeks old today!

I can't believe that it has been 11 weeks since Ceci was born! The time seems to have flown by and she is getting bigger and bigger every day. I am amazed at how quickly she is developing and meeting her milestones. I think that we are about to have to move up to a larger size diaper too (finally out of the newborn size into the size 1). She is holding her head up like a champ and is sitting in her Bumbo chair to eat most meals. Yesterday, she had a meal of apricots with mixed fruit and rice cereal. She is eating 4-6 ounces of formula when she takes a bottle and is putting on weight like a normal baby now. At night, she is sleeping in her crib (most of the time) and is only waking 1 time (on most nights). She is playing independently and is loving her new floor mat that is "perfectly pink". I even caught her watching Sesame Street the other morning! Her smiles are more meaningful and she is much more interactive during play time. I can't believe that she will be 3 months old next week. We will be going to Ashford for the annual McArthur reunion and she will meet the rest of the extended family (many many cousins)for the first time. I know that they will all be glad to see how well she is doing now. We go back to the doctor on July 9 and she will likely be starting her shots at that time. We have delayed giving them for several reasons, but now, have few excuses left to keep us from doing it. I am not looking forward to that day because I know that she will be in pain and probably not feel good. I hate seeing her hurt. I guess that is what mom's do though. I have been bad about not uploading pictures but hopefully soon I will get a chance to do so. I know that there are a lot of people who want to see my little peanut grow up!

Lots of stuff is happening!

She is getting big so fast! I can't believe how quickly Ceci is growing. Since we started to feed her solid foods, she has really started to pack on the pounds (well, not so much pounds but ounces!) Ceci is becoming an expert at eating from a spoon and she will pretty much put anything in her mouth that you give her. Today, she is 10 weeks old. She is holding her head up and is able to sit in her Bumbo chair on a regular basis. Her favorite thing to do is lay on her back on her play mat and make the noises/songs play by hitting the various buttons and hangy-down things. Ceci is smiling at people and even makes a sound that is almost like laughter when you tickle her. She is much better in the bath tub and no longer screams when you try to put lotion on her. Last night, she slept all night long in her own crib in her own room and only got up one time to take a bottle! I am so proud of her!!! It is amazing how quickly she is progressing now that she is getting the right nutrients into her system. I never imagined I would be so excited to see someone eat from a spoon or drink a whole bottle or hold their head up but right now-its the little things that matter the most. I am looking forward to her being able to sit up on her own. I feel like it will probably be a little early since she is doing so well in the Bumbo at such a young age. I have taken a ton of pictures, so hopefully, I can get a little while soon when I can sit down, upload them and add some pictures to the blog.

At this point, I think she has met most of the family too. She has made trips to Oneonta, Ashford and Marietta and many people have made trips to see her. Routine is finally becoming set for us and all three of us are getting into the groove. I went back to work when she was 5 1/2 weeks old and it has been really hard to be away from her for so many hours a day. I have decided that Jesse and I need to become independently wealthy so that I don't have to work anymore. Hopefully, while I am searching for a new job, I can find something that gives me a little more flexibility and time with her.

On a side note...I am having to search for a new job b/c my position is being eliminated by October. Apparently the brilliant Alabama legislature decided that funding for mental health treatment needed to be cut/decreased for the upcoming fiscal year. As a result, the state department of mental health has cut the funding to many of the local community mental health agencies. Being the last one hired, I am being given the opportunity to find a new job. I have had one interview that went really well; however, I have not heard from the company about a 2nd interview. Hopefully, something will come from that. I have decided that after all of this chaos, I am not "married" to the counseling profession and am willing to move into a totally different career if I can find one that suites me. So, if you know of a good paying, flexible job in Birmingham, let me know. I am not above applying for any job at this point, as October is getting closer by the day!

It's been too long!-Update from the past 8 weeks

Ceci is 8 weeks old today! We have had an eventful past 2 months. Many things have happened that I never would have expected-even with the amount of child-care experience I have had in the past. Here is the long and short of what has happened:

When Ceci was about 2 weeks old, we noticed that she cried ALL the time. She would eat, but not very much and she would sleep for 6-7 hours at a time when she could actually achieve sleep. Shortly before she was 3 weeks old, she came down with a case of diarrhea that lasted for 7 days. We took her to the doctor 3 times during that time. On one particular Saturday, she went through more than 20 diapers, just in that one day. We knew that something more was wrong. On the following Monday, we took her back to the doctor for a 4th time. It was then that they weighed her and found that she had lost back down to 5 lbs 7 ozs. She was extremely dehydrated and malnurished. I thought that since she was nursing for long periods of time (sometimes 1.5 hours or more) that she was getting everything she needed. Apparently not! Dr. Latona saw her and immediately told us to go straight to Children's Hospital and that Ceci was being admitted. I cried. I was devistated that she would have to be admitted and that she was now being considered as "failure to thrive". While at Children's Hospital, a 3 day stay, Ceci was started on Hypoallergenic Formula. We also did a little experiment to see how much milk I was producing-it wasn't much...I was drying up so to speak. Also of note, we found out that she was allergic to milk proteins and could not take breastmilk without having diarrhea and colic-like symptoms. It was amazing when they gave us that first bottle of formula. She sucked it down like she hadn't eaten in days! It was obvious that she was more comfortable within about 2 hours. Within the next 24 hours-the screaming and the diarrhea both stopped completely. After the short stay at the hospital, Ceci had gained back to her birth weight of 6 lbs 1 oz. They sent us home with a Home Health Care Nurse and told us that they would be monitoring her progress weekly. We were told to set alarms and to feed her every 2-3 hours, whether she was hungry or not. We followed this regimen to the letter and by the first week, she was finally gaining weight. At her next doctor's appointment, we were told to go ahead and start her on solid foods (rice cereal, oatmeal, mixed grain cereal ,fruits and veggies). Since then, she has consistently been gaining weight! Last week she weighed 8 lbs!!!!! Today, she went to see Dr. Latona for her 8 week checkup and she weighed 8 lbs 9ozs! She was 21 inches long today. Last week was the first week she was on the growth chart for her age. She was in the 5th percentile! I know that this is long, but we have been so preoccupied with trying to help her "thrive" that there has been very little time for blogging. Today, they told us that we no longer have to have the Home Health Nurse! Last week, Ceci finally grew out of the Preemie diapers. She is out of the preemie clothes and is now finally wearing Newborn sized clothes (0-3 month sizes are still a little too big). Since she has come home from the hospital and has been started on solid foods, she has also started to sleep much better (a blessing for us b/c she had only been sleeping for 45 minutes at a time-and no, I am not exaggerating). Now, she only wakes 1 time each night. She is up for about 1-2 hours and then goes back to bed. We are truly thankful that she is finally starting to "thrive". She is holding her head up and is starting to smile! She is absolutely precious!

Ok, so this was long, but it was a rare moment that I had to myself, while Jesse is holding her and she is asleep. Hopefully, as she starts to become more consistent with some kind of schedule, I can update more regularly.

Ceci meets the Vaughans-well at least some of them!

Today, my aunt, Anne, brought my grandparents to Birmingham to visit Dad in the hospital. (long story about that-he is doing better though)Since they were coming to visit-I wanted them to be able to meet Ceci-their first-and only-great grandchild. I got up this morning and dressed Ceci up and took her to St. Vincent's hospital where she met Jackie, Ed and Anne for the first time!!! Since we were on a limited time schedule, I only got a few pictures. But the gist of the story is that they loved her and thought she was precious. Here are a few pictures of the event.

(Dad was hospitalized on Friday for a massive infection that had caused his white cell count to rise above 23,000. He had a very hight temperature-102.7- and was feeling generally terrible. He has been at St. Vincent's ever since. They did a CAT scan and found that a spot of his diverticulitis had ruptured, causing an absess to adhere to his bladder, infecting it from the outside-in. He then got a bad kidney infection from the growing bacteria in the absess. His temperature is around 99 now and they are taking him for another CAT scan this afternoon to see if the absess is still as prominent as it was on Friday. Say your prayers for him because he is never sick like this-much less in the hospital. I will continue to update as I get information.)

Scenes from her first photo shoot

Here are some scenes from Cecilia's first photo shoot that occurred last night. Our friend, Marie, came over and took priceless photos of Cecilia. There were so many to choose from-I only picked 15 to upload because it would have taken hours to upload them all! Without futher ado-here they are!

Oh-and the Home Health people came today and picked up the Billibed!!!!! They didn't weigh her but I can tell that she looks so much better already. Tonight is the real test to see how she sleeps without being restricted. She is beautiful and we are all doing well. I will update more later!

She's Here!

Cecilia Elise Adkinson arrived on Wednesday, April 9, 2008 at 6:31am. She weighed 6lbs and 1oz and was 19 inches at birth. Everyone is home now and is trying to adjust to life as a new family. Cecilia has had some problems maintaining her temperature, eating and she has jaundice. As of today, the home health nurse is encouraged (her name is Nurse Ceci by the way-really-she has the same name!). Today, Ceci's billirubin count has gone down by 2 points and is now at 12.6. She also gained an ounce-weighing in at 5 lbs 8 ozs! We have seen the pediatrician everyday but today and we are supposed to go back to see her tomorrow at 8:30am. Ceci is also starting to eat a little better, which is encouraging. We are having to feed her every 2 hours-we set alarms to stay on schedule. She has also taken her first bottles of breastmilk. We found out at 3am this morning that even the newborn bottles give her too much milk at once, so Papa Vaughan rescued us by getting Preemie Bottles from BabiesRus. She took to it like a champ-he got to do the first feeding by the new bottles! We are all tired and are looking forward to Ceci not having to sleep on the Billibed any more. She looks so uncomfortable and has made it clear to us that she doesn't like being constricted in her pod (she looks like a glow worm baby all zipped up on the light bed). She has improved her temperature as well and has not gone under 97.2 degrees in the past 2 days. We are trying to be encouraged. Say your prayers for us b/c this is definitly stressful. I will try to upload pictures in the next day or so. I know that there are many who are looking forward to seeing them. For now, I will just add this one. More later!

The Big Baby Shower

On Saturday, March 22, I had my big baby shower. It turned out so great! We got a ton of great clothing and were very blessed to have gotten several keepsake items as well. There were several blankets that people had knitted, another dress and cap that my grandmother (Jackie) made and a picture frame with pictures of my grandfather (Papa, who is deceased) and me in it. There were WAY TOO MANY PICTURES TO UPLOAD, so I am choosing to put the link to the Kodak Gallery in this post. You don't have to join it to view the pictures, but it is very easy to upload and order from them if you did choose to join (it is free to join). Without further ado-here is the link-

http://www.kodakgallery.com/I.jsp?c=wktwpr9.30qp5555&x=0&y=204e60&localeid=en_US

If you have problems looking at the pictures, drop me an email or leave a comment on the page and I will see if I can help. Thank you to all who came to the shower and who put so much effort in to making it a beautiful experience for me. I know that Ceci will enjoy all of her gifts!

a nervous father-to-be

During this whole process-really since I was hospitalized on Friday evening-Jesse has been wonderful! He has tried to anticipate my needs and even thought to bring the laptop to the hospital so that I could have access to the outside world. He has been having tummy troubles though-more than his usual. Yesterday, he finally admitted that he was nervous. I thought it was really sweet! He went to the pharmacy yesterday and told them he was having stomach problems-when they asked him what was wrong, he told them we were "having a baby in +/- 7 days". They gave him Pepto, Pepcid, Zantac, Immodium, Emetrol, Tums and Alka Seltzer-of which he has already taken half the box! Hopefully, having this stock of meds will make him feel better. I know that he will be a great dad. I just wish I could convince him that we do have the capabilities to take care of "another human life", like he keeps saying. I am sure that this is totally normal, but I think that it is indearing! He keeps calling and saying "everything ok? how are you feeling right now? are the contractions increasing in intensity or frequency?" It cracks me up, but I love that he is showing such concern. We are on the countdown! 5 days away!!!

Released from the shackles-well partially anyway

I was released from the hospital yesterday around 6pm. Today, I am at home, just "cooling my jets" so to speak. I went back to the doctor today and they did yet another sonogram (my 17th this pregnancy) and did another AFI (amniotic fluid index) and NST (non-stress test). Both were fine. The fluids were back in the normal range and there were no other problems noted. Dr. Brown checked my cervix today too and said that it is still 1-2cm dilated and 40% effaced. She said that it was "very soft" though, which is good considering there is still a lot of stretching to do before Ceci can be born. She said that if I have not gone into spontaneous labor by next Tuesday (April 8th) then I will be admitted that afternoon and induction will start on Wednesday (April 9th). SO.....with any luck, we will have a baby by this time next week! I will continue to update everyone as things happen. Thank you to all have been praying for us. Say some prayers for my sanity since I will not be returning to work prior to the birth, as I have been put on bedrest. I can get up for 1 hour at a time and have been told that I don't need to get "heavily involved" in any activity. So, that is the update. More later!