Marti Gras?

We had dinner at grandma and grandpa's on Sunday night, and although she's a bit late, Ella was in the mood for marti gras!

She had a little dance party...

And then took a break to pet the bunnies...

Fun Times!

We've instituted a weekly Thursday afternoon playdate to get more baby socialization time (but mostly for mommy chat time!).  This week's St. Patty's Day playdate was at Mason's house...


This the reason I have a hard time getting good photos of Miss E anymore...

The daddies all went out on Thursday night for the start of March Madness and played a little joke on all the mamas, but we got them back at girls' night on Friday. ;)

Cousins Brett and Brice came to visit Ella this weekend. We were so excited to see them and Auntie K! We try to get together more often, but it's difficult with hectic work schedules and not living super close.

Ella and Brice got a ride in the wagon...


Brett showed Ella his cool bike...

Ella had fun trying on Brett's helmet...


Then Ella and Brett shared a little lunch...

Capturing the Essence of Ella

This photo perfectly captures Ella's sleeping style.  One leg through the crib slats.  Footie zipped down all the way.  Bunny on the face.  Rosy red cheeks.  Perfection.

Stomach Update

So my GI called yesterday with my CT Scan results...he said it looks normal except for multiple gallstones (which I already knew about).  So colonoscopy: clear.  Stool samples: clear.  CT Scan: clear.  He has no idea what is wrong with me.  It's getting ridiculous really.  The last thing we are doing is a 24 urine sample to make sure it's not a carcinoid tumor (which should show up on a scan but can be hidden).  I think I just need to give up eating.  It will serve two purposes...stop me from going to the bathroom 35 times a day, and get me back to my normal weight! ;)

I'm also just OVER being gluten free.  Over it.  I'm tired of worrying about whether the sauce has gluten.  Bringing my own soy sauce to a sushi place.  Watching everyone else enjoy "normal" food while I eat one of the five choices that are GF.  Craving a regular peanut butter and jelly sandwich.  Over it.  I know you can't be over a disease, and ignoring it can have serious consequences, but it's even harder when you don't have symptoms.  I will admit, I ate regular soy sauce over the weekend because I forgot to bring my own, and I wasn't going to sit there and not eat (sushi w/o soy is nasty- I tried it).  You know what happened?  Nothing.  Absolutely nothing.  I felt fine.  Now, I know that this no doubt wreaked havoc on my insides, but I didn't feel it.  Blah.

World's Clumsiest Kid?

Seriously, do I have the world's clumsiest kid?  I have never seen another girl that get bumps, bruises and scratches like her!!  We participated in our neighborhood garage sale today (we only made a measly $237, but we got rid of the couch and desk that were taking up half the garage so I'm happy!), and while Ella was running around outside, she walked right off the front step and flat on her nose...AGAIN!  How does this keep happening?????  Why is she so clumsy?  She doesn't even break her fall- just falls flat on her face, and the sound was awful- I would have SWORN that she broke something...or everything.  It looks like she got punched right in the face- her whole nose is swollen and red with a huge gash down the middle, so we now call her Rudolph. ;)  Here are the photos to prove it...

Yeast is Yuck

Ella has had tiny red spots on her private parts for over a week now, and diaper rash cream does nothing to heal it.  I thought it might be a yeast infection so we took her to the ped today, and yup, yeast it is.  The ped said that often when they are teething, their pee changes and causes yeast infections so they gave us a prescription cream.  The best thing she said was that we need to keep an eye on Ella's mouth because if they touch the yeast and then put their hands in their mouth, they will get thrush!  You may remember that Ella had thrush FOREVER when she was a newborn...it was impossible to get rid of, and I don't want to go through that again!!  The ped also said to let her run around diaper-less as much as possible, and I'm thinking, no amount of time is possible for that because literally every single time we have let her be without a diaper (for like 2 minutes before getting in the bath), she instantly pees!  It should teach me to stop leaving my clothes on the bathroom floor. ;)

In speech news, she is now saying "bottle"...not as in ba ba, but actually saying bottle!  Sometimes it's hard to tell because balloon and bottle sound almost identical.

And anyone doing GF, get yourself immediately to PF Changs!!!!!  We went their for girls' night because I'd been dying to try their GF menu (thanks for indulging me girls!), and it was the best GF food I've tasted so far.  I'm slightly embarrassed to admit I've eaten there 2 nights in a row now.  YUM!

My Silly Girl- Movies

Ella is 17 months old tomorrow- craziness.  Everyone always comments on what a good baby she is and how laid back she is...that is all true...around other people.  Ok, she's generally a good baby at home too, but she is definitely becoming more feisty.  When she gets frustrated, she throws whatever is frustrating her.  If she has something she's not supposed to, and you ask her to give it to you, half the time she politely hands it to you, the other half, she throws it on the ground as hard as she can and runs away.  She's also starting to throw mini-tantrums, which make me laugh, but I'm trying to stay very serious so as not to encourage that type of behavior.

She is finally starting to talk a lot more, and she can say quite a few words.  Mama, dada, ra ra (rylee), button (for belly or belly button), up, down, night night, I love you (she really says this even though she doesn't know what it means), balloon, wa wa (water), moo, meow, roar, wow, no, walmart (I know, weird).  She is clearly trying to say lots more (and probably saying the words in her mind), but we just can't understand it.  The funny thing is that she pretty much only uses words to identify things, but not to express needs.  Like if she wants you to pick her up, she'll just put her arms up and whine.  Yet, when she's going up  the stairs to the slide, she goes, "up, up, up, up". 

She also always drops words as she says new ones.  Like she never says hi, bye, this, that or dog anymore.  Or very rarely at least.

She is very silly, happy and playful, as evidenced in these videos.  The first one is her grooving to her favorite song, "Forget You" by Cee-Lo.  The second one is she and Rylee playing chase- they LOVE doing this- it's so cute.

Still Busy

Between work, LCBB, friends, family, errands, and Miss E, we are always so busy!  We had a fun week meeting up with one of E's boyfriends, Mason, and I did some damage at Citadel when J and I went shopping for a little birthday get together...Happy Birthday J!  I don't know what I'd do without you!

We were all over the place this weekend, but no pictures to show for it.  I did some more sewing and want to share...

I'm obsessed with bird fabric, and I thought this was so cute!


Could you just die for this fabric...it may be my favorite. I'm also loving the jumper style dress right now.

Here is a close-up of the fabric...

And this is the lining- the jumpers are actually reversible, except that the button is only on one side so not really.


This is Gary's favorite fabric. I think it's so summery and happy! I can totally see wearing this to the beach or pool or bbq all summer long...


I love the blue background of this floral- the pink polka dot is actually a really pretty, vibrant hot pink, but I cannot get the color to show up true...I'll have mess with camera settings later.


I forgot to mention in earlier posts, that any of the fabrics can be made in any style...so if you wanted bird and black/white polka dot dress as a pillowcase dress instead of a yoke dress, no problem!

To J and L...your three dresses will be coming soon!

I've discovered that Ella is no longer my dutiful little model. I don't know what I'm going to do to get photos for Etsy! I tried to get some of her in the jumper, but (1) it's too big for her, and (2) she will not sit still!


I have two videos of E coming soon, but I can't get them to upload...grrrrrrr.

Updates- My Beautiful Baby & My Ugly Stomach

I haven't been posting about Ella, the main subject of this blog, at all!  I have been really busy at work (and in pain every other second) if that means anything. ;)  I do have some videos to share when we get a second to upload them, but in the meantime, her new favorite word is "balloon".  We were at a store that had balloons attached to virtually every rack in the store, so the entire trip was, "BALLOON!" "BALLOON!" "BALLOON!".  If they are going to put balloons everywhere, they need to hand them out for free to the kids!!

Gary also taught her to say "WOW!"  But she says it so cute, like, "wooooow".  She is also saying "meow" now, but oh my gosh, it's so adorable coming from her.  She sounds like a little kitty when she says it!

As for my health issues (I'm sorry this is becoming so boring and no one probably cares, but I like to keep it here for my records), yesterday and last night were AWFUL.  I finally felt better yesterday morning (i.e. my stomach didn't kill for a few seconds) so I thought I'd try, oh I don't know, EATING for once?  I made a super healthy white bean and tuna salad (really good if anyone wants the recipe!), and only ate probably 3/4 of a cup of it?  Within in an hour, I was writhing in pain and going to the bathroom every 20 minutes.  What the heck in tuna and beans could make you sick (it did have lemon juice in it though, which may have been too acidic)???  It just kept getting worse, got better, then got horrible around midnight.  I started shivering, even in the scalding hot bath I drew (yes I took a bath at midnight), and the pain would not cease.  I was so desperate that I took a percocet for the pain.  Gary was insisting I go to the ER, but I couldn't drive myself, and there is no way I was going to wake a sleeping baby no matter how much pain I was in!!! After the drugs kicked in, I could finally sleep (from about 4 a.m. to 6 a.m.- tired much?), and the pain was much less when I woke up.

The good news is that I've lost about 7 pounds in 5 days. ;)

Anyway, I conveniently had my appointment with the new GI this morning.  As for CD, he said there are false positives so I may not even truly have it (oh please let this be the case!), and he needs to review the tests my prior GI did and likely order more.  He does not think this 2 week stomach thing is related to the CD regardless.  The great thing about him is that his son has CD so he takes it very seriously!  If he orders more b/w to test again for CD (meaning I'd have to eat gluten again), I'm so getting a dozen Sprinkles cupcakes and going to town because if it comes back positive again, it means I can never have them again!!!!!

He pretty much ruled out Crohn's disease and ulcerative colitis because those would have shown up in my colonoscopy (I did have those results with me).  So, he ordered a catscan and in not so many words basically said I should have gone to the ER last night because they would have done the scan right there.  Darnit, why I am so stubborn!  He did give me some pain medication that prevents the spasms in the stomach or something, but if what happened last night happens again tonight, I'm heading straight to the ER anyway.  I CANNOT live like this!

So please pray that it's nothing serious...I think I've had enough health issues in the past 4 years to last a lifetime thank you very much!  I've gone to more doctors, had more surgeries and taken more drugs in the past 4 years that I have in the prior 30 years combined!!!!  My health insurer probably hates me at this point!

Gluten Update- The Good, The Bad, The Ugly

The Good

• I'm reading Elisabeth Hasselbeck's book "G Free Diet", and I really like it.  I recommend it if you are going GF.  She has some good and very understandable things to say, such as: 
• "Celiac Disease is a digestive disorder characterized by a toxic reaction to gluten, the protein found in certain grains.  Celiac disease is hereditary, meaning it's in your gene pool; chronic, meaning it won't ever go away; and autoimmune, meaning it causes the body to attack itself."
• Carrying the gene for CD does not necessarily activate the condition, it often develops after you undergo some sort of physical or emotion "trauma" that activates the condition, such as surgery, childbirth, viral infection, physical injury or severe emotional distress.
• Gluten is an all-purpose stabilizer and thickener that manufacturers and restaurants add to tons and tons of different products, which is why it's hard to eat out or even eat processed foods because the ingredient lists are often so vague and confusing.
• The only thing I don't like about her book is that she talks about GF as almost a diet aid in one chapter, which it is certainly NOT.  Sure if you eat all natural, fresh ingredients and exercise portion control, you are going to be healthy/ lose weight whether or not you eat gluten.  On the flip side, if you eat a bunch of GF crap (Cheetos and Reeses PB Cups are GF!!!), you will still gain weight.
• As I mentioned before, eating at home is super easy (aside from cross-contamination), as tons of foods are naturally GF, and there are tons of substitutes for things that aren't.

The Bad

• Eating out is really hard.  You really can't trust restaurants or the people who work there.  Even if they say it's GF, they don't get that they can't cook it on the same grill as g-full items, they can't use the same spatula, etc. as they used on g-full items, etc. (Elisabeth makes it very clear in her book that you need to really be diligent about cross-contamination, which I haven't been).
• After having some girl's nights out where I literally sat there and drank water, which is uncomfortable and embarrassing, I decided to talk to the manager at El Torito Grill prior to our baby brunch for Julie.  The manager says, "oh we don't add gluten to anything".  Uh, really?  You don't add flour to your FLOUR tortillas?  You don't add any thickeners, fillers, etc. to any of your sauces or dressings?  I find that a bit hard to believe.  He clearly didn't know or understand what gluten was so I gave up.  I did eat that day (which I REALLY shouldn't have given the manager's lack of knowledge), and I tried to be really careful, but it made me uncomfortable, and I'm sure I glutened myself somehow.
• Because you can get seriously sick just from cross-contamination (see bullet below), I've already spent $100 buying kitchen items THAT I ALREADY OWN.  Now we have to have 2 sets of many items- 1 for GF foods, 1 for foods with gluten.  I'm not even close to getting everything I need, but I really don't have the space to store multiples of the same thing.

The Ugly

• I have only GAINED weight since being GF!  I thought I was going to lose weight by not eating gluten, but here are the two problems with that theory:  (1) When you have CD, you don't absorb nutrients so once you stop eating gluten and start absorbing your food, you can gain weight (ok, I don't think this was my problem, as I clearly had no problem gaining weight during infertility and pregnancy!); and (2) Because you feel like you are being deprived, you tend to buy EVERYTHING labeled as GF and eat unhealthy things you wouldn't have even eaten before you were diagnosed. For example, I found these delicious GF ginger cookies at Trader Joe's, which I can't stop eating...why am I buying cookies? I never bought cookies BEFORE I had CD. I also started eating more crackers and other snacky things that are labeled GF. I'm trying to control this now.
•  I've read over and over that you can (and mostly likely will) become more and more sensitive to lower levels of gluten the longer you are GF.  I am really starting to believe this and taking cross-contamination seriously.  While we were in SB, my undereyes puffed up like I'd been stung by a bee.  I don't know why, but we did eat out for every meal.  On top of that, I've been getting very sick for the past 2 weeks.  I will spare you the nasty details (but the bathroom & I have become very friendly), but it's gotten to the point where I am scared to eat.  At all.  I've had stomach and back pain (that goes from dull to excruciating at various times) 24 hours a day.  I don't know if this is related to CD or if I just have some sort of bacterial infection or something (I have a GI appointment tomorrow thank goodness), but I'm really thinking I might be getting continuously glutened via cross-contamination.

Dress Update

I did a little more sewing, and I *think* I have the final prices for the 3 dress styles I will be doing (I will have more styles in a bit, but only 3 for now).

The Yoke Dress that I posted before (see another version below...so cute for Easter, right?!) will be $35 for size 0-3 months to 3T.  Sizes 4T and 5T will be an additional $4.

Close-up of the sweet pink and white polka dot fabric...

The lined jumpers will be $30 up to 3T.  $4 extra for 4T and 5T.  The one in this photo (love this retro-ish pattern!  shown with brown lining) is typically for wear with a shirt or turtleneck underneath.  I haven't yet made the other version of the jumper with a higher neckline.

The pillowcase dresses will be $25 through 3T ($3 extra for 4T and 4T).  This photo shows one of my favs- red seersucker with navy blue/white polka dots- it looks black in the photo, but it's navy).

The shipping if you buy through Etsy will be $4.50, and $2 for each additional item.  

The great thing about all these patterns is that you can wear them as tops once they are too short for dresses!  Even at dress length they look so cute with leggings!

So for those of you that asked me about getting that red/blue rose pattern dress, I only have a small amount of that fabric so email me if you'd like to order one (or two!) so I can earmark that fabric for you (M, L and D).  I'll measure out the fabric on a first come first served basis- hopefully I have enough for all 3 of you if you all still want that dress!  If any of you want it shipped instead of picking it up from me, let me know, and I'll make a custom listing for you on Etsy in my store.

I have a lot more ADORABLE fabrics so I'm trying to make 1 dress of each so I can post them all.  I'm still not sure when I'll start listing them on Etsy because I have a craft show coming up so I may want to wait until after that.

It Smells Like Roses...and Brunch

I finally got serious with the dress making, and I whipped up a preview of what will soon be offered at Little Chicken!

I used my old machine so this one is just a sample due to threading issues (and a new member of Ella's extensive dress collection!), but I did finally take the new fancy sewing machine Gary got me out of the box and did some other projects with it- I love it!

Here are some action shots of the dress (you can see that it's a little big for E, as I made the sample a 24 month size).  She's modeling it with one of my favorite felt rose clips in red...



On Sunday, I had a fun day at Fashion Island for brunch with the girls to celebrate the soon-to-be new Baby B! We can't wait to meet her!!!!

I have a few new hair clips and diaper clutches that will hopefully be listed tonight! I'm always getting requests for purple flowers so I have 5 new clips in different shades of purple!


My model was not cooperating, which is why she looks like a ragamuffin in these photos!


I LOVE this new diaper clutch pattern- so cute!


I don't have the right pink color fabric for the lining so I haven't made any yet, but this will be the next diaper clutch pattern. :)