Random Thoughts on Black Friday

Ok so everyone knows that I get into these moods where I just ramble about stupid stuff. Well today my topic of choice is the black Friday sales. I will admit that I was hooked from a very young age. I think the first year I went I was 12 or 13 and I have gone every year since then. Last year was the first year that I didn't go to the Mall, just to a few little stores. I don't think I am going to go at all this year. As I was perusing the ads online(which you can already view) to see the early a.m. specials, I realized a few things. 1. I do not need to buy an electronics store(almost all the good deals are for electronics). 2. My son is way too old for any of the toys that are on sale, 3. My daughter is too young for any of the toys on sale and 4. Where are all the good sales on like diapers and necessity type items. All of those realizations have me asking myself, Have I turned into an old fogey? or am I just being unrealistic in my expectations of black Friday. It seems when I was younger that I always found much better sales. I finally came to the conclusion that yes, I do have different priorities than I did say ten years ago, but black Friday has gone downhill in those same years as well.

New Pics

Here are some pictures from last Thursday November 13th. We took the kids to have Santa pictures made and my mom-in-law took some snapshots when we got over to her house...Enjoy

Keep CHRIST in CHRISTmas!!!

As most of my friends know, I am a very devoted Christian. I love God with all my heart and base my life around HIM... Me and Randall met at Church, and are very active in ours. It really bothers me that this wonderful time of year is losing meaning. What the heck is Happy Holidays? Hello, the reason for this season is CHRIST who was sent to save us from our sins. Is that not the greatest gift ever? So today I pulled my trusty t-shirt out which says Keep CHRIST in CHRISTmas, so that I may start my shopping. I have worn this shirt for 3 years now while doing my Christmas shopping, sometimes I get glares but mostly I get compliments. My wonderful husband and my father-in-law came up with the idea to get the shirts made 3 years ago and I love mine. So as I say to everyone while I shop.. MERRY CHRISTMAS!!!! May God bless you and your family at this special time of year...

Some pictures of Korey

Here are a few random shots of Korey. One was this summer at the beach and , a few from family portrait day and one of him the first time he ever got to hold Karli...... I can't believe how old he looks...

ROLL TIDE!!!

I got the best picture ever of Karli tonight watching the ALABAMA vs LSU game. BAMA won which makes our record 10-0!!! Anyway here is the picture of her "watching" the game...She even had on some of her game day attire...

Random Pictures

Here are just some random photos of Karli. I got into a "I can do pictures myself mood" and these are a few of the ones that I got that day... I love how the shadow of her profile is showing in the first picture.

Happy Halloween!!

Well I have to admit that I wasn't totally in the Halloween mood. It was cold and I would have much rather stayed at home. Luckily Karli slept the entire time we were gone to the Halloween Carnival and Korey had a blast. It was very funny to see "Darth Vader" holding a bunny rabbit...LOL..and of course we couldn't get the pacifier away for even one picture.. At the carnival a local store was making free harvest scene pictures, so once I pick that up I will post it, but until then here are some at home snapshots of the kids.

Finally over 10 lbs....

Well Karli had her 4 month checkup on Monday Oct. 27th. She weighed in at a whopping 10lbs 6 ounces, that is only 6 oz shy of being double her birth weight. The Dr was very happy. We also got to add rice cereal mixed with breastmilk once a day to be spoon fed. She also had to get her mean old shots plus an additional one to protect her from RSV. She was a real trooper. She cried for a few minutes after shots but then was all smiles. These pictures were taken during and after her spoon feeding.

Beautiful Smiles

Ok so I finally managed to catch a real smile on film. The first picture is today Oct 22nd, the second one is from Sept. 29th. I can't believe Karli is almost 4 months old. Time has really flown.

Ever feel like your sinking?

Ok so I realize that I was sick last week, but I still managed to work. Somehow through my sickness, our house began to sink into a pile of dirty laundry. How is it possible that a family of four uses so much laundry each week? Me and Randall both wear uniforms to work and usually just lounging clothes around the house, and Korey and Karli generally wear an outfit a day, so why do I feel like I am sinking in the amount of dirty clothes in this house. Well I finally figured it out today. Korey has been changing clothes in the morning before school. When me or Randall finds clothes in his floor we just "assume" they are dirty. Guess what? They aren't always dirty. How you ask did I figure this out. After taking Korey to school this am, I came back home determined to get some laundry done. As I was cleaning up his floor I picked up a shirt I could have sworn I just washed, ironed and hung up on Tuesday of this week, so I put it over his chair so that I would remember to ask him about it this afternoon. His answer, I didn't like the way that shirt felt this morning! So I gently explained that he must return clean clothes to thier correct spots. Hopefully now I can catch up and the house will not be sinking anymore.

Hello October = Hello Sickness!!

Well I should have known it was coming. I mean really every year for the past 25 or so that I can actually remember I have gotten sick in October. Sinus/Ear infections every year always the right side of my head. At least I have a smart doctor who has known me long enough to just call in the antibiotics I need. We always start with amoxicillin, sometimes it works and sometimes it doesn't. I woke up Monday with a mildly irritated throat and my nose was running, thank goodness I have dealt with this so many times before that I knew what was coming. By late that night, I felt miserable and could barely talk. I took my first does of antibiotics that night and went to work as scheduled the next day. Let's just say that by the end of my 8 hour wokr day everyone was telling me how much worse I looked and sounded. Trust me I felt it too.. Anyway I was signed up to work an extra shift today and thank goodness they did not need me. I stayed at home all day, except for Church tonight and pretty much layed around on the couch. So here I am 6 doses of amoxicillin later and I feel so much better. My head no longer feels as if it could explode and I am able to finally clear my sinuses. Yay... The reason I am so happy.. NO SHOT FOR ME!!!

Time on a Broomstick...

I know they say that time flies when your having fun, but seriously where has this year gone? I swear it was just January yesterday. I realize being pregnant took over half of the year, but is Karli really 3 months old already and Korey will be 11 in a few months... YIKES! Halloween is in a few weeks and the election is in 34 days. Thanksgiving and Christmas are right around the corner as well. Is it just me or does each year seem to pass even more quickly? Usually by now I am about halfway done with Christmas shopping and I haven't even started yet. I have NO idea what to get anyone. Im thinking about maybe making those photo books for the grandparents, but other than that I am clueless. Anyway, just more of my ramblings from nowhere. Did I mention Im bored..

Adoption is FINAL!!!

So it is official.as of Thursday afternoon.. Randall is now legally Korey's father. Korey's last name is now Jones. We dropped his middle name and made my maiden name his middle name(all Korey's choice)..New name is
Kortland Hamilton Jones..YOOHOO. I am so relieved. I have been on pins and needles the last few months waiting on everything to be finalized.
Because I had no idea where the "biological donor" was, we had to do what is called publication of the petition for four consecutive weeks in two seperate papers, we also had to send a certified letter to his last known mailing address that I had. Anyway.. All I can say now is too late... You lose and the best part is. The Judge that signed the finalization papers is the same Judge that signed the original petition for child support so many years ago(of which I never got a single payment). I am so relieved and the grin on Korey's face shows it all.. I will post the picture of us with the Judge later this evening as I am at work right now.. Yippee!!!

Laughing like a Hyena!!!!

Ok, so I will fully admit that I LOVE reality TV, well some of it anyway. My new guilty pleasures are the shows- Tabitha's Salon Takeover and The Janice Dickinson Modeling Agency. My reasons for loving these shows and laughing like a hyena while I watch them- I am just like these ladies. I say what I mean and don't care what anyone thinks, basically I am a Bi00tch!!LOL.. Only my true friends know this about me. I love the scarcasm of the lead ladies on both of these shows. One comes on the Bravo channel and the other on the Oxygen channel. The problem with these shows, none of my other friends watch them, so I can't make fun of them with anyone else.

Weight Loss battles

Ok, so does anyone else remember being told that "breastfeeding makes you lose tons of weight". Well maybe for some, but not for all. I ended my pregnancy at 12 lbs BELOW my prepreggo weight(thanks to a little thing known as all-day sickness) and lost another 19lbs within the first week of having little Karli. I am now down a total of 39 lbs. I was so stuck at 36 lbs for over a month. Finally this week, after strictly following weight watchers for over 2 weeks I have lost another 3 lbs. Now I was told that I shouldn't lose more than 1 lb a week, so is the 3 something to be proud of or is that bad. Can I count that as the last 3 weeks worth of weight loss? LOL.. Anyway I am very proud of myself, but just want it to be known that the weight doesn't just fall off with breastfeeding.

New Off Days

So Randall did his semi-annual shift bid on Wednesday and....drumroll please.... He got nights(again)...He actually wanted to remain on nights, it just works well for us right now. The upside is that his off days are changing. Beginning Oct 1, he will be off on Sunday and Monday nights. This kinda throws a hitch in my working, as I already work every other weekend, but it will all work out.
Since I have to work 8 days a pay period, I am going to work 3 days one week, and 5 the next week. The 5 days will be on the week with my weekend, that way at least one of mine and Randall's off days will be together for us time. I am very thankful that I was able to go back to work part-time. Our hope is that by the first of the year, I will be able to drop down to 5 days a pay period. I never thought I would want to be a stay at home mom, but with 2 kids now, I really want to be at home more.

The Lactation Center at my work

Let me just say. Thank God!! I am so glad that I work somewhere that is so pro-breastfeeding. I am able to leave and go pump during my shift as many times as needed with no questions asked. How many people get that freedom. The Lactation Center is very nice, although it is small. It is equipped with 5 seperate "stations" which include a pump, a comfy chair, and a table. There is also one private room ( which I had to use today since I left my nursing cover at home). I am so blessed because they have the Medela Lactina and Symphony pumps there for your use and also give you a nifty cubby hole to keep your "dry parts" (the parts of the pump that never touch your milk).
Although I use an Avent Isis Duo Electric pump at home( which I LOVE!!) I am using the Medela Symphony at work which does the job, but isn't nearly as comfortable as my pump. It also cannot be used as just a single pump, whereas mine can be. Also I can hook up to an 11 oz bottle onto my pump and use that same bottle for storage, but with the Medela the biggest bottle is a 5 oz, and I only have 2 of those. So after pumping I have to transfer my milk into storage bottles, which is a hassle. With the Medela pump you can buy storage bottles that hold 80mL which is almost 2.5 oz. My problem is, I pump more than that at once, so I can't pump directly into those. I would definitely suggest the Avent pump to anyone.http://www.consumer.philips.com/consumer/en/us/consumer/cc/_productid_SCF294_99_US_CONSUMER/Twin-electronic-breast-pump+SCF294-02 Another good thing about the Avent pump, they sell sippy cup nipples that fit the bottles as well, so you really can use this system the entire time.

First 2 days back at work

Well I must admit. I did not turn into the blubbering fool that I thought I would when I left Karli to go to work yesterday. It might have been because Randall was keeping her. I did good. He called me to check on me before I was able to call him to check on her. My day was okay. I fell right back into the routine of things, however I was kicked out of everything. All of our charting software, the medication and supply pyxis. So I spent over half the morning on the phone with tech support getting myself put back into everything.
Today went just as good. I was a little nervous because of having to get myself and Karli going this morning and dropping her off at my Mom's but all went well. I was actually early to work yesterday and today...(that doesn't happen often) Karli did really well both days. She is totally on schedule and eating 3 oz of ebm(expressed breastmilk) by bottle without any issues. Since she hardly ever gets a bottle, I was not sure of what volume to leave, so for now we are set.

Back to Work this week..YUCK!! and possible changes

Well my maternity leave is officially over this Thursday. What stinks is while it has been 12 weeks, Karli won't be 3 months old until the 26th.
I am very Blessed that I won't have to put Karli into daycare. Randall will keep her 2 days a week, and the grandmothers will take the other 2 days. I feel very lucky to only have to work 4 days a week, the downside, as a nurse I have to work every other weekend, the upside, I get longer stretches off without missing time and I still accrue sick and vacation time.
Randall also has to do shift bid this week(every 6 months they have the option of changing shifts based on senority). There is a possibiliy that he may end up on DAYS!!! I cannot even begin to tell you how great that would be. He has been on nights since we got married, so it would be so nice to sleep like a normal couple. Plus I have lived the sleeping like a vampire life and once you get on days, it is so much better.

Babies and Daily Schedules

I am so thankful that I got Karli on a schedule at an early age. I know that some people say that schedules aren't good for breastfed babies, but when that breastfed baby is forced onto a schedule because of an early arrival, then who am I to try and change it. Well I did change it but only to fit my routine. When Karli came home from the hospital she was eating every 4 hours like clockwork, no keep in mind that once I got her home, I started nursing instead of pumping all the time. Sometimes she would nurse more often, but not everyday.
I am happy to report that we are officially sleeping at least 6 hours if not longer at night. She is a little bit of a night owl, as she doesn't fall asleep till around 10:30, but we always start the nightly routine at 8:30. Sometimes she goes to sleep a little earlier, but very rarely. I have noticed on the nights when daddy is home, she goes to bed a little earlier. I guess it is probably because she knows that I stay up late and therefore wants to stay up with me and my chat friends.. I have noticed this week that she is still asleep when I would normally be getting up for work, so it will be interesting to see how our routine changes once I have to start getting her up to take to the babysitters houses. Well enough of that rambling.

Snapshot of the kids

I was going through the camera today and found the cutest picture of the kids. Just a little snapshot from one day at the house, but it is so cute.

Little Bit of a Rant

Ok, as all of my friends know, I am exclusively breastfeeding our daughter. While she was in NICU, I was deprived of the good bonding time and was forced to use a breastpump instead of just letting my daughter nurse. This caused issues with my milk coming in. However, after working my butt off for the first month, I finally got my supply up to snuff and have been able to store a good little bit away for when I return to work.
But here is my rant, I am sick of the in laws and my parents telling me that I am starving my child. They seem to think that she is always hungry. I have tried to laugh it off and always just say, if I was starving her then she would not be growing and gaining weight! But I swear that if it gets said one more time I am going to go off. I mean do they honestly think that I would purposefully withhold food from my child. The other thing they have been asking is when can we give her real food. Hello, but last time I checked breastmilk was real food, and I am working my butt off to make sure that I have enough milk to continue breastfeeding her. UGH....
My main worry is that when I go back to work, they are going to sneak something into her diet. Luckily Randall will have her 2 days a week, so my mom or his mom will only have her one day a week each...and since we are on such a strict schedule, and I plan on sending just the amount of breastmilk that I know she takes, then hopefully she will be okay and not starve to death...Lord help me to not go off on my parents or in laws....

First Anniversary

Well we made it to a year..LOL..09-08-07. I can actually remember more details of that day than I thought I would. We haven't had a disagreement or anything. I did get a great anniversary present, I got a Wii!!! Yippee.. It is the funnest thing ever. I have to say I was very surprised. I got Randall new bowling shoes, some gloves for work and a couple of movies. I came out the best, but Randall says not really because I have to share my present with the whole family...LOL...

Our stay in NICU

Being a NICU nurse was my calling. I know that God led me there for a reason and a greater purpose. I have been touched so many times in the past by babies I have cared for. I love the feeling of getting a card or picture in the mail of a little preemie that I have taken care of, that got to go home with thier parents. While there are happy times in the NICU, there are also lots of sad times as well. I have seen many infants fight for so long, and then be released from their earthly struggle to go home to be in the arms of Jesus. I never imagined that I could appreciate my job more, but when you have a infant in the NICU your perspective can change really quick.
Karli was born at 34 weeks 0 days on June 26, 2008. She weighed in at 5lbs 6oz. However, she also came out grunting, flaring and retracting, basically meaning that she was having difficulty breathing. Because of her gestational age, she was an automatic admit to NICU, but becuase of her breathing problems she was an automatic infection rule out.. Mandatory 3-5 day stay. Well she was placed on NCPAP(nasal continuos positive airway pressure), started on antibiotics and IV fluids. She stayed on NCPAP until the next afternoon, and they put her on a high flow nasal cannula. She only lasted for about 4 hours before she started breathing too hard, so they put the NCPAP back on, We finally got to hold her for the first time since birth before they put her back on the NCPAP though. She stayed on that until the next afternoon, and they started alternating between the NCPAP and the cannula. By day 3 we were getting breastmilk, only 0.5mL by mouth, and her blood cultures were negative, so they stopped her antibiotics. Day 4 we were totally on cannula and weaning our oxygen. By midnight on Day 4 we were off the oxygen totally, but we were on bili lights. Her jaundice level went skyhigh and she was on triple therapy at one point. Her jaundice level slowly came down. She came off the therapy on Day 6, but went back under it on Day 7. We got to bring her home on The 4th of July, her 8th day in the NICU. They made us stay until that afternoon because she was still under the lights. I was just so glad that she was finally home.

The Official Birth Story

Ok so as all my friends know I had been contracting for weeks. I already had one trip to L&D under my wing. I was sent home after laying on my left side and guzzling water for a little over an hour! I had to attend a class on Tuesday June 24 and Wednesday June 25th. All day long on the 24th I contracted every 7-11 minutes like clockwork. I even joked with a fellow employee that I would probably go into labor that night just so I would have to retake the entire class. Anyway, I went home and kept contracting but nothing ever in any type of pattern. I got up on the 25th(my Dad's birthday) and went to work to take the final test for the class, then left work and went to help at Vacation Bible School at my Church. Felt fine all day long, no contractions for the first time in weeks. I should have known something was up...LOL.. Anyway, when Randall left for work that night at 9:30 I jokingly told him "I'll call you if I go into labor". I got a not so amused look and told him I was just kidding. Well so I came in the bedroom and got on the laptop to check emails and such. Around 11:30, I had to pee, so I went to the restroom, as soon as I got back to the bed and sat down, I felt a gush. I sincerely thought I had just wet the bed..LOL...Well I decided I would do a pad test to see if I had anymore gushes. So after that test was positive, I called my best friend and asked her opinion. She agreed it was probably my water breaking. Now keep in mind I was only 34 weeks 0 days at that point. So together we decided that I should wait at least 2 hours to see if I started having contractions before calling the Dr.. Well when I started thinking about it and realized that I hadn't had my GBS testing yet, I would have to get antibiotics and the more you get the better covered the baby is. So I called Randall at work and said " I think my water just broke but I'm not calling the Dr yet". He went balistic.. He didn't think I was thinking sanely. I pleaded my case, but then he asked me ": If you weren't a nurse what would you be doing right now?" I told him "I would be at the hospital". So I hung up with him and called the Dr on call which so happened to be my Dr. I told her about my pad test and knowing me so well, she just laughed and told me to go to L&D. I arrived at L&D at 1:54am...The nurse had me change into the lovely gown, placed me on external fetal monitors and did a test to see if it was my water that had broken. It was immediately positive, so I was confined to bed and placed on clear liquids only. Keep in mind being trapped in bed was totally not in my birthplan. They kept me on the monitors all nite to see if my body would start labor naturally. Well when the Dr came in at 7:00am, I was still only dialated 1.5cm, thick, high and tight. They decided to start pitocin. YUCK... nasty, nasty drug. Makes natural labor almost impossible. I handled everything really well. I got a dose of nubain and demoral at 12:15, I was dilated to 4cm at that time. I was breathing really well and was actually able to rest fairly well until around 3:30. The nurse checked me and I was at 6cm, I caved and decided to get the epidural.(Kudos to all those that go natural with pitocin). Little did I know what I was in for. It took them four(yes 4) sticks to get my epidural in place. The first three times they hit a blood vessel, and had to start over. I have pictures of the bruises I had after that. Anyway, at 4:30 they were finally done with my epidural and I felt the worst pressure. The nurse checked me agian and I was complete and ready to push. I started pushing at 4:50 and Karli Rebekah Jones was born at 5:00 on the nose. 5lbs 6 oz 18.5" long, 12 3/4" head. Randall got to cut the cord adn held her first. I got to hold her for a split second then she was taken to NICU because of her gestational age and because she was a GFR(grunting, flaring and retracting).