Happy Halloween Weekend!

Ella had fun with her friends over Halloween weekend.  She went to a Halloween party with our mommy group and actually kept her headband on for about 15 minutes.


Reese, Reagan and Ella...


This is what happens almost every time that we try to get a group shot of the kids...


Even the giant group shot of all the kids in attendance was a disaster...


Daddy took her to Pretend City's Halloween party where she got to play with Ryan...


On Halloween night, we had a little pre-party at our friends' house, and then Ella got to trick or treat with her besties...Ryan, Reese, Mason, Hannah (Logan was a little under the weather). She LOVED TOTing- it was so fun watching her run from house to house, squealing with delight! She got over it fairly quickly and wanted to be held, but I cannot wait for next year!

This is just funny...Reese is crying, Ella looks drunk, Ryan is about to fall off the stairs and we are all worried about Ryan!

There is not coffee in those coffee cups they are holding. ;)





My Halloween costume. :)

Pumpkin Cookies!

My obsession with frosted sugar cookies continues...Ella and I made these for her friends.  :)

Ready for friends...

Since cupcakes are kind of yesterday, is there any way that I can make sugar cookies the new cupcakes and have my very own cookie store?! ;)~

A Better Update

Since I was bored on bedrest, I of course decided to do some research on preeclampsia (never a good idea), and I found out about HELLP Syndrome, which is related to but more serious than pre-e.  I convinced myself that I definitely had it last time, and that I'm probably getting it this time since I have most of the symptoms already AND it doesn't require high blood pressure and protein in your urine like pre-e does.  So naturally, I'm totally freaked out all day yesterday!

BUT, my OB's office called me late yesterday and said all my labs came back good!  I specifically asked her if they tested for low platelet count and elevated liver enzymes (which are present with HELLP), and she said, "they look good- that is what Dr. K was most concerned with".  Phew!  And I so love my OB.  Clearly, she was aware I'm showing symptoms of HELLP and is on top of it.  Love her!

So, I think we're still on a good path to keeping this baby in past November!  Yay!  Now, if I can just figure out a way to get off bedrest, I'll be good to go.  :)

[Not so Great] Pregnancy Update...

I had an OB appointment today (I'm 28w4d), and I was put on strict bedrest because she is VERY concerned about my excessive swelling.  That means I am only allowed to get up to go the bathroom and shower (she specifically said I can't even cook or do laundry!).  She also said I will not make it January (she set the c/s for 1-9-12, but it is a "fake" date)...I'm SO upset.  I cried on the way home. 

If my swelling does not go down, I will be hospitalized.  I'm not sure how long she will give it to go down, but I now have to see her every week so she'll be monitoring it closely.

I'm trying not be so upset, but (1) I absolutely CANNOT deal with having another preemie- it is way too stressful; (2) I do not want another nightmare delivery, especially one involving magnesium sulfate- the most evil drug in the world; and (3) these are the last months (weeks?) I have with just me and Ella, and *I* want to take care of her and spend every second I can with her- it makes me so sad to think that I will be stuck in bed during this time.

Don't even get me started on the fact that it is holiday time, and I want to sew, bake, have parties, etc.

To end on a positive note, I passed my gestational diabetes test- hurray!  There is currently no protein in my urine and my BP was 100 over 80 (although this doesn't mean much since pre-e hits hard and very suddenly).  Also, my OB did say that she has had patients with eclampsia at 25 weeks that she has hospitalized and kept the baby in for much longer.  This really makes me feel better since hopefully even if I do take a turn for the worse, she may be able to keep the baby in past 33 1/2 weeks like last time.

Craft & Sewing Extravaganza!

Thanks to pinterest, I've been feeling very inspired lately. Some recent projects...

This is so easy- I bought a pack of make your foam jack-o-lanterns at Joann. There were 25 or 30 in the pack. Then I bought the black foam letters, which have sticky on the back and the black ribbon, which I glue-gunned to the pumpkins. Since I had leftover, I made one for Ella's door.


I decided to try sewing with jersey knit...which is actually more difficult than you'd think, especially when you aren't using the right type of needle and you pick a VERY stretchy jersey! In any event, I think this jersey peasant dress turned out really cute...and it's SUPER soft.


Ella's Thanksgiving shirt.

Probably medium difficulty? More time consuming than difficult. I just cut out 2 circles on my Cricut to make the turkey shape in brown minky dot. I also traced that shape onto the location of the shirt where I wanted it using a sewing pen. Hand-sewed the face on (I don't have an embroidery machine). I made the each "feather" by just putting a dab of glue gun glue at the bottom and then affixed them where I wanted them on the shirt with double sided sewing tape. I then used the sticky paper to iron the turkey body on the shirt. Then used my zig zag stitch around the turkey body (again, this would be WAY easier if I had an embroidery machine- or even an embroidery stitch, which my machine doesn't have).

And finally, daddy's shirt dress. What baby girl doesn't want to wear her daddy's shirt?! Love it!

I think Gary is most excited about this dress since this was his favorite shirt, and he was SO sad when he got a big hole in it. Apparently so sad that he's been keeping it in his closet for months and months...usually he just throws them in the trash!

I'm thinking of maybe selling these for $25 (since I don't have to use my fabric), but then that would involve people sending me their shirts, and it's probably more trouble than it's worth.

Railroad and Pumpkins

Today we went to the "Pumpkin Run" at Goat Hill Junction Railroad with Mason, Hannah, Logan, Gigi, and Ryan.  It's a non-profit organization that has a huge area of mini railroad tracks and little trains you can ride like this:

The kids all had a great time riding the trains, but Ella especially loved picking out pumpkins- it was a really fun family day with friends!

This is how we roll at home...bunny sitting at the top of the slide on a blankie waiting to ride, no shirt, no shoes, handbags on each arm.  Yup.

Ella-isms

First of all, do you just love this face?!  That's the smile I get when I say, "you have to smile for mommy if you want another gummy". ;)

I just wanted to post a few "ella-isms".  We've been working on saying "you're welcome", but she just couldn't quite grasp that one despite her love for "please" and "thank you".  However, recently when she says "thank you", she goes, "thank you mommy welcome".  Ha!  I think today she *finally* started to get it because a couple times when I said "thank you" to her, she actually said, "you're welcome!".

She also just started to say "ewww".  Where in the world could she have gotten that one from?  She saw a little pile of wet grass today that apparently she thought was dog poop, and she goes, "ewww, poop!"  She also says ewww about bugs, which is not good- I need to stop saying that!

I think she is just starting to not always refer to herself in the third person...I wondered when they stop doing that.  She still says "Ella house" or "Ella eat", but when she wants something, she is starting to say "I want".  Since Thursday night, she has been saying, "I want daddy home".  And it seems like now she'll say "I want" for anything she wants.  Now we just need to teach her "my".

Finally, how about this mad face...

Zoomars

Today we went to Zoomars with Mason, Reagan and Reese.  Ella is STILL afraid of the bunnies and guinea pigs!  I'm so surprised because she loves animals...apparently from a distance.  You'll note she was reaching for me and then sat Indian style on a log so as to ensure that no animal touched her leg. ;)


She did seem to like the llamas, which I kept telling her were from the books.


I think I mentioned how she HATES taking pictures now? Well, this is what happened when we tried to get a cute group shot...


She did love the slide...


And playing with Mason...


They rode the train...



And once I gave her food, she agreed to take a few photos. ;)