What Catie Wore Wednesday #78

Allrighty, how about some photos of Catie.  She definitely has not been forgotten with our new addition and she's been delightful (though a little sick).

These photos are all old ones, I finally got around to pulling some pictures off Brad's phone.  Catie was sitting beside me as I put the post together and I asked her if we should include some photos of her baby sister and she said no so this week will just be Catie, no Eden.

It's possible I posted this picture and video already but I don't remember so you get it again.  Catie was lucky enough to be able to ride this cute little pony that her aunt owns.  She had a great time and we'll have to be sure to do it again sometime.

This is another photo I may have already shared but I can't remember.  We had a family birthday party and all the cousins ate ice cream cones.  There were more cousins than bench so this isn't all of them but they sure were a sticky, cute mess.

And now for some photos of when Catie and Daddy went out to the lake.  Finally asleep in the car, far later than her nap and much shorter too but at least it was something.

She loves boats, whether it's a canoe or a fast boat ride she loves them both.

Aunt Lisa brought a fun licorice and fruit loop craft that apparently she enjoyed until she decided they were yummy to eat.

Not a very good picture but worth showing anyway.  Home from the lake and out in Magrath watching fireworks.  Grandma bought all sorts of glow sticks and one of them was this lady bug mask with glow sticks around the eyes.  We put it on her and were sure she'd pull it off instantly but she wore it the entire time.  We got a kick out of it.

While in Magrath they had a bouncy house with a slide inside.  We can't get over how funny she is at the end there, just collapses.  It makes us laugh every time.



The Sunday before Eden was born we were looking for a way to beat the heat and came up with a fun park downtown to go to.  They have these cute little fountains that we cooled off in, it was the perfect way to spend a couple hours.  Catie loved it (don't worry, I brought her a change of clothes).

Geoffrey

Let me introduce you to the other newest member of our family.

This is Geoffrey.

Brad and I really tried to do our best to prepare Catie for Eden's coming and one of the things we did before she came was pick up a present that Eden gave to Catie and I also took Catie to the store to choose a present for her baby sister.  We all know about Mr. Brown and how important he is to Catie, I thought it was very fitting that Catie be the one to pick out something that Eden could love.

I explained what we were doing and then we went to the store and I pulled out all sorts of animals, a giraffe, a pig, a bear, there were at least half a dozen.  Catie immediately grabbed the bunny.  I double checked a couple of times just to be sure and she never once doubted her decision.

We made sure to take the bunny to the hospital where Catie gave it to Eden.  Catie has been very sure to make sure that Geoffrey finds his way into Eden's bed and we've often peeked in on Eden to find Mr. Brown nestled in there as well.  We think it's a good sign that she's so willing to share Mr. Brown.

Now if we could just put an end to the rest of the gifts she gives her, like rocks, plastic hot dogs, a snow globe, a rope, perhaps they're slightly less safe.  Baby steps.

Eden Margaret Wiebe

It took me far longer to announce it here than it should have but she's here!

I don't know how you feel about them but I love a good baby story so you're about to get mine in detail.

We'll start at the very beginning... Wednesday morning.  I woke up and was sure my water had broken.  Not a lot just a little trickle like it did with Catie so I was prepared, I know this drill.  Go to the hospital, get checked out and sent home until labour starts or until 24 hits, either way I was having a baby in the next 24 hours, not the next 6 days like I had been preparing for.  You can imagine my surprise and disappointment when they told me I was wrong, my water was still in tact.  Discouraged I headed home and considered the idea that I had 6 crummy days left.

At this point I knew I was in the very earliest stages of labour but who knows how long that can last.  I went throughout my day even if I was super grouchy and miserable.  I had the occasional contraction during the day but they were really minor and super sporadic, nothing to get excited about.

I went to bed like usual and started being woken up by the odd stronger contraction around midnight.  I could still mostly sleep through them at this point so I did my best to do just that.  I moved to the couch eventually where I dozed a little but finally gave up around 1:30 in the morning.  I had a bath and headed back to bed at 3:00 where Brad woke up and started timing things.  I was surprised how quickly things were moving because by 3:30 I was in a ton of pain, they were coming super close together and it was time to go to the hospital.  We called my in-laws and they came over to sleep at our house and be with Catie while we headed off.

They checked me in quick and asked about my pain medication wishes, they also discovered I was already 4 cm dilated.  I make no apologies about the fact that I'm no hero.  I don't like physical pain and I like labour even less so I let them know that I wanted drugs and I wanted them ASAP.  I wanted an epidural when I could have it and I'd take anything else they'd give me until I was ready for that.  They loaded me up with fentanol and when they offered me laughing gas as well I jumped at the chance (definitely a good decision).  I laboured for a while and they called the anesthesiologist down.

Now with Catie I had an epidural and while talking to other women after delivery I became more and more convinced that my epidural was no good.  Let me just tell you that I now know with a certainty that my first epidural was no good.  This one turned out to be incredible!  I may have taken a bunch of pokes in the back and the calling of a resident but it was worth the bliss that followed.  I thought the drugs had stopped my contractions, turned out I just couldn't feel them at all anymore.  I had a lovely nap and settled in while my body did just what it should be doing.  Things were right on track.

The doctor came in occasionally to check me and we joked about how I was and would be her easiest patient of the day, everything was going smoothly and it was just a matter of time.  Things continued to progress and we guessed this lady would be born around 11:00 in the morning, an hour from now.  Still super comfortable and relaxed I was enjoying my time so far.

Sadly, 11:00 came and went and I hadn't progressed for a while.  We'd just started thinking it was time to do something else when it was time to push.  After about three pushes I was pretty sure I was in trouble, I had no energy, was starving and I started to fervently pray that this girl would come quickly.  This was not in the plans.

The nurses praised me over and over again for my pushing abilities (apparently I'm a pro pusher).  Each push moved her down a little but after the push was over she inched right back.  Now is when things get worse.  I don't care how well frozen I am, internal exams are always very uncomfortable for me and this is the point where doctors and residents and nurses and interns and janitors (okay, maybe not) all came in and took their turns very roughly examining me, trying to figure out the funny position Eden was in.  Normally when babies are born they come out with the crown of their head first, Eden was trying to come out eyebrow first... not a good thing.  In fact, one doctor as she checked said, "Oops, I think I poked her in the eye".  We'd also, in all this checking stopped paying attention to my epidural and it had really worn off.  I was in a ton of pain, I'd been pushing for an hour and a half, was exhausted and became kind of broken emotionally.  I sort of lost all hope and could not stop crying.  I retreated into myself and let Brad take care of everything while I  thought of nothing but trying to make it through the next contraction.  They topped up my epidural but I was so fragile it didn't do a whole lot for me.

It finally came time to talk about options.  There were three, forcepts, a vacuum and a c-section.  Only the first two weren't actually options as Eden was still too high up for those attempts and it just wasn't safe.  C-section was the choice and while not what I wanted at least things started moving again.  They got Brad ready, they wheeled me in and got started.

This is my favourite photo... a nurse took this right before they wheeled me into surgery and like I mentioned, I wasn't really doing well.  I somehow managed to focus for a second and pull out this smile and I love how completely crazy I look.  I think it captures the moment well.

By this point they had topped up my epidural for the third time and I was finally so frozen I could feel nothing.  I was exhausted and couldn't keep my eyes open so I mostly slept though the surgery as Brad held my hand.  I did however hear those beautiful first cries.

One thing I will forever be grateful for is the conversations Brad and I had about what was important to me before any labour had started.  I wanted three things.  I wanted to hold Eden immediately after labour when she was all disgusting and gross still, I wanted a photo of Eden on the scale when they measured her weight and I wanted a video of her first (or nearly) cries.  Clearly I couldn't hold her right away but because of the conversation I had with Brad I will always have the following photos to look at and some videos of those first few moments.  He captured what I could not be there to see and because of that I think I'm able to feel far more positively about this c-section than I know a lot of women are able to.  He took such beautiful photos that I don't even feel like I missed a thing.

The video needs a little work and that's Brad's area so I'll share it another day.

Here's a much better photo of me, far less crazy.

So after the birth they asked if I wanted to see my placenta and that's something I had really felt I missed out on with Catie so I was excited at the opportunity.  I had no way of knowing that the drugs they gave me happened to give me incredible nausea and so it was barely in time that they got me a bucket to throw up in. I didn't really get to see the placenta as well as I wanted and I'm pretty sure I seemed like a pansy but it's such a small detail I'm okay with it.  I spent the next 12 hours fighting the urge to throw up and itchier than I've ever been but I'm still grateful for all my drugs.

So she didn't come at all like we imagined she would, we thought she'd be born at 11:00 in the morning with very little effort and it wasn't until 2:44 on August 9 th that they finally pulled her out.  She weighed 8 lbs 6 ounces and was 20 inches long.  She's perfect, pudgy, adorable and didn't settle until they gave her to me (that's a way to make a new momma feel good).

We're home from the hospital and enjoying our time together.  Big sister Catie has handled everything even better than I could have hoped but that's a post for another day though as I'm sure no one wants this one to be any longer.

Second Annual Deep Fried Goodies

Last year, during our yearly Magrath celebration weekend we plugged in the deep fryer and ate battered and deep fried Twinkies, Peanut Butter Cups and Twix bars.  They were so delicious that we put a limit on our consumption, we're only allowed these deep fried treats once a year, I'm pretty sure that's all our bodies can handle so when this weekend rolled around we were excited to repeat the experience.  We made a few changes and added a couple rules.  Not only are we only allowed to eat them once a year we're also only allowed three treats per evening.  If we want to add something we need to subtract.

Everything we made we deep fried in funnel cake batter and since we knew they were delicious we started with Reese's Peanut Butter cups, only we used the mini ones.  They're awesome and will make a third appearance next year.


While looking for a good funnel cake recipe (which I found here and highly recommend) I stumbled on the most amazing idea... Deep Fried Chocolate Chip Cookie Dough.  She gives an egg-less recipe and this was hands down our favourite treat.  We did make the usual Twinkies but they were so overshadowed  by the cookie dough we don't even need to make them next year, we all wanted more cookie dough.


Next year we're going to try some deep fried cheesecake.
We also enjoyed some funnel cake with strawberries and cream.  It was a good evening and I already look forward to next year.

*None of these photos are mine, I borrowed them.

Bassinet Re-Cover

It's been a long time since I've done a good re-covering project.  While I enjoyed this particular one I would have enjoyed it a little more had I not been so pregnant, that belly sure gets in the way.  A friend of mine (whose even more pregnant than I am) has this baby coming and there was no where for it to sleep so it was time to get cracking.

Turned out this bassinet is exactly like the previous one I worked on which made this extra easy.  The bed was for a baby boy which meant there was no need for pleats or ruffles so again, extra easy.

Here's the final product.

And let me show you how this lovely bed started.

Nice hey?  I particularly like how floppy the canopy is and how much excess fabric there is there, and what's with the random gingham on the canopy?

Noah's Ark ruffle?  Really?  Clearly that had to go.

I went with a really simple design here using some piping to add a little interest yet still keep it masculine.  She didn't bring me the stand or the cushion cover so you'll have to imagine it but the cushion has been re-covered in cream minky.

And one more before and after

I love how this turned out and I can't wait to see the cute boy sleeping inside it.

  Linking To Monday - C.R.A.F.T., Making The World Cuter, Polly Want a Crafter, Simpsonized Crafts, Sugar Bee Crafts, Sumo's Sweet Stuff, The Girl Creative   Tuesday - All Things Related, Creative Itch, Domestically Speaking, It's Sew for You,  Ladybug Blessings, Sassy Sites, Today's Creative Blog, This & That, Topsy Turvy    Wednesday - Blue Cricket Design, Me and My Bucket   Thursday - A Glimpse Inside,  House of Hepworth, It's Sew Stinkin Cute, Lemon Tree Creations,  Somewhat Simple, The Train to Crazy, What Allie's Making Now   Friday - Creation Corner, Finding Fabulous, Tatertots & Jello, The CrEaTiVe CraTe

What Catie Wore Wednesday #77

Allright, sadly I was supposed to grab some cute photos off Brad's phone for this post but I forgot so perhaps next week you'll have some extras.  In the meantime the ones I have will have to do.

A trip to the zoo and a ride in a kangaroo.

Catie and I went to Calaway Park last week with her cousin and it turned out to be a miserable trip where it rained on us most of the time.  Most of the kids rides were closed and we stayed for hardly any time so to make it up to the girls we bought them ring pops.  Their first ring pops and they could not have been more pleased, the crummy trip meant nothing to them.

This was the result later in the day, gotta love that blue mouth.

We took a trip downtown to visit Daddy last week and we rode the train. She thought it was such an amazing treat and now every time she sees a bus she calls it a train.

Grandma gave me this caddy to keep cleaning supplies in which I was about to throw out since I never used it when Catie found it and claimed it as her own.  For a couple days she loved to have me put some fruit in it and then she'd carry it around and eat her fruit (don't worry, I washed it).  She thought she was real clever.

We went on our yearly trip down to Magrath for the celebration weekend.  We love Magrath days, the parade doesn't start until 11:00 am so you don't have to get up early, they throw candy for the kids.  Later there's always a bouncy house, petting zoo, free swimming and then later there are fireworks.  There's more activities, those are just the ones we attend.

Here are a couple parade photos.

I'm not sure what this little girl runs on but it's not food.  Getting her to eat anything is a struggle.  I can't remember what she wanted to eat (cookies, snacks, chocolate milk) but I told her she couldn't have anything else until she ate some lunch.  She promptly folded her arms and pouted and I thought it was kind of adorable.

I was working on a bassinet re-cover (which you can check out tomorrow) and Catie loved the bed.  She spent quite a bit of time inside and was really disappointed when it was picked up.

Altered Curtains

Let's talk about curtains.

I've had these two panels of curtains for years, they're full length, brown and gauzy and I like them a lot.  I found them for super cheap and I've used them in our bedroom for years until I finally replaced them with something even nicer which meant these curtains got moved to Catie's room.  Despite being gauzy they actually keep out a surprising amount of light when paired with our cheap blinds and they worked just great until it came time to move around the bed to make room for Eden's crib.

Let's take a brief pause while I tell you another story.  

I grew up in a really small town which meant we drove to the slightly larger town a lot and even when it wasn't even remotely in our path my Mom couldn't help but drive by this one house over and over.  This house had a large living room window with some nice sheer curtains but they then pushed their couch directly against the curtains, squashing them against the window making this horrible bulge.  This drove Mom crazy and we drove by every time hoping that this time they will have fixed the curtains.  This went on for years until finally, one day they got blinds and Mom had some peace.

Back to Catie's curtains... remember how I told you they were full length?  Making room for the crib meant Catie's bed needed to be pushed against the window so the curtains that were once fine now looked like this.

While you couldn't see a horrible bulge from the outside you could imagine how I felt every time I saw these curtains squashed behind the bed and my Mother's voice rang in my ears.  And if they had actually stayed this way I would probably have left them but the bed in this position gave Catie amazing freedom to sit and look out her window so she'd pull back the panel until it all pooled on her bed.  She often sat on the curtain and every morning when I go get her she'd have to pull herself out from the other side of the fabric.  Also, one last story... it's been super hot here so we put Catie to bed in just a t-shirt and diaper but the quality of diapers we buy is clearly lacking because in the morning her diaper was laying on the floor and she'd peed the bed, and the curtains, since they sit on the bed.  Changing sheets is one thing but seriously, I have to wash the curtains too?

Looking out the window also required her to pull aside the slats in the blinds, let me show you what that's done (and this is after I spent some time bending the slats back in place, they look pretty good in this photo).

Leaving the blinds up wasn't really an option because it was too light in the room without them.  So I couldn't just take down the curtain because she's ruining the blinds and I couldn't just shorten the curtains because without the blinds it's too light in there.  Clearly something needed to be done.

I chopped off a bunch of length, re-hemmed the curtains and added some blackout fabric to the back of the panels. Now I've pulled the blinds all the way up, tucked the string out of the way and replaced her now much heavier curtains (which make her room incredibly dark).  Problem solved.

What Catie Wore Wendesday #76

I know I've skipped these posts a lot lately but I find sitting at the computer really uncomfortable for my feet.  Good news though is that I only have 4 weeks until this bun is finished cooking and then we can add a second lady to these posts.

Because I've skipped a couple posts I have lots of fun photos this week.

This is her favourite place to sit, on the overhanging counter.  I probably should have put an end to it but I haven't.

This summer she's discovered her favourite dessert, an ice cream cone.  Not just ice cream, but in a cone.

Grandma came to visit and brought Catie all sorts of treasures.  She knew immediately what to do with them and put on every necklace and ring.  Her favourite treasure though were the shoes.  She loves them and wears them often.  As soon as she put them on she proclaimed herself Cinderella and told us she was on her way to a ball.

We had a week of seriously hot weather so we spent as much time doing water related activities as possible. Our favourite is this wading pool where we've spent hours trying to stay cool.

The other treasure Grandma brought was this Cinderella computer and while she's really too young for it she loves the thing anyway.  She walks around and asks, "Where's my puter?"

Playing with Uncle Rob, who's glasses she later found.  She thought she was super cool.

Enjoying the Popsicle Grandma bought her, though she thought it was really cold and ended up incredible sticky.

I put Catie down for a nap wearing the pink shirt and found her after the nap wearing the polka dot red shirt as well, only she missed a sleeve.  She's trying to put those pants on too.

I had a dream the other night that I went back to school so Catie went to live with my parents for a year.  I missed her so terribly that when I woke up it made me a much better Mother for the day.  We had planned on staying home and doing nothing but instead we impulsively packed up, grabbed some doughnuts for breakfast and went to a Stampede breakfast where we skipped the pancakes and rode ponies.  There was a petting zoo with pigs, chicks, goats and bunnies that she loved.  (You'd think I'd never taken a photo before, yes, that's my finger in the bottom corner).

They also had this saddle that kids could climb up on to take photos, I love her smile these days.
We got her a balloon, called it a morning and she was thrilled.  I'm still grateful for the dream.

Birthday Giveaway Winner

So I gave you an extra day to enter, hope everyone's okay with that.  I just picked random winner and it was lucky Cheryl!  I've sent her an email and will send off her fun package on Monday.

Thanks for playing along.

It's My Birthday (Giveaway)

So technically it was yesterday but really, who has time to blog on their birthday on a Sunday.  I had things to do so this just has to be a day late.  What a difference a year makes, last year on my birthday I was depressed and angry all day.  We were living in my in-laws basement, my husband was unemployed and I turned 30 years old.  It made for a crappy day.

This year though I just wanted to be happy and celebrate and enjoy the day, which I did and I thought I'd enjoy the day with you too.  I've collected a few of my favourite cosmetic products and I'm going to mail them off to one of you lucky ladies.

Let's start with the eyeshadow.  I love these L'Oreal HIP shadows, I own 5 of them but this Wicked duo is my favourite.  HIP stands for High Intensity Pigments and they really mean it, the colour payoff is awesome, long lasting and not chalky at all.  The bronzy colour goes with just about everything and I hit pan on it far earlier than the purple, despite my equal love for it.

I just discovered this Essence brand of make-up and I'm super impressed.  Shoppers Drug Mart just started carrying it here in Canada and I can't believe how cheap it is.  I picked up this pot of gel eye liner in Midnight in Paris for $3.00. It goes on nice and dramatic, is almost a whipped consistency and doesn't budge.  My friend Michelle just reviewed the same product comparing it to a MAC product so if you're interested check it out here.

Last is the Revlon Colourburst Lipbutter in Peach Parfait.  I have three of these lip glosses, they look like a lipstick but feel like a gloss and are pretty long lasting.  Peach Parfait is my favourite colour that I own though, it's a colour you wear every day with everything.

Here are my own products in the same colours, opened up so you can see a little better though my eyeliner is a charcoal grey instead of the black pictured above.

And I did a swatch of them for you too.

So, who wants some free make-up?

Let's have a giveaway.  If you are interested in these products leave a comment telling me about your favourite birthday gift, or maybe your favourite make-up product or you can just tell me you want the product.  Really, any comment will do, just leave a comment.

I'll leave the giveaway open until Friday and then I'll package up the make-up with an edible treat and mail it off.

Good luck!