tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-50597974936466048462024-03-21T09:33:07.042-07:00Wakeboarding MamaSharing my crazy life as a Mom!Katrinahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16311004804642880183noreply@blogger.comBlogger59125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5059797493646604846.post-62833435637045405352013-04-08T17:33:00.001-07:002013-04-08T17:33:34.853-07:00Just Keep Running...Literally<span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;">After the Disney Princess Half Marathon I will admit to working out less. I was working out 5-7 days a week before and now it is 3-5. Ever since the DPHM my new goal was to run 3 miles in 30 minutes. This was a biggie for me. I trained 2-3 days a week for this and I finally did it. Proof because I like to be able to look at it in disbelief.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Six months ago I could not even run 1 mile in 14 minutes and now look at me. I contribute my ability to do all this working out with minimum to no injuries to my new found dedication for Yoga. I go 2-3 days a week and each time I feel so renewed and full of energy when I leave. I love the 2 yoga teachers I have here at my local YMCA and I truly enjoy going to class especially since it is usually after a vigorous run on the treadmill.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">My kids absolutely love going to the gym daycare room so that makes it feel more guilt free for this Mama for dropping them off in their while I work out for 2 hours.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Right now Violet is in swim class twice a week to teach her strokes and side breathing and she has soccer practice once a week and a game once a week. Somehow out of 16 preschool teams she ends up on the hot pink team...PERFECT. During the first game at the very begining at tip off she ran the ball dribbling and weaving between the other players and scored a goal Her first one EVER. I would love for her to be on the swim team next year. I feel sports are so important at these young ages because it sets them up for a future of learning to work with a team and playing for fun.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Ever since our big move to Orlando I can honestly say I have been so incredibly happy that unicorns and rainbows are literally busting out of me. Before I had to work so that we could pay the bills. Here I am a stay at home mom and I am literally enjoying ever second of it. It gives me the ability to work out several days a week, take the girls to all their activities and still get home in time to make dinner. I am feeling incredibly blessed lately. My husband is so amazing to lets me stay home with the girls while he works. He too is in full agreement that now that Violet is older it is so important to get her into activities throughout the day.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Not to leave Lily out she will be getting back into swim lessons again soon and she sits and watches Violet during her games. I tell her that one day her time will come and she will get to play too.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Lil girl just crawled out of the crib for the first time...at 17 months old mind you. I see us converting that crib to a toddler bed very soon.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"> </span>Katrinahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16311004804642880183noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5059797493646604846.post-56877252145035411822013-02-25T16:11:00.000-08:002013-02-26T15:52:33.783-08:00Everything You Ever Wanted to Know About the Disney Princess Half Marathon<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">When I first contemplated the idea of running the Disney Princess Half Marathon I googled every blog entry I could find to try and learn ever single thing I could about it. There are some really great blog posts out there but I also wanted to include my own detailed post on everything you might want to know about it. I think this would be especially great for the first timers out there that are thinking about attempting their very first Half Marathon...my advice is to do it!</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">This is all my experience with the 2013 race. Since Disney tends to repeat themselves....if it ain't broke don't fix it motto...then you can count on a lot of the information to be relevant for future years.</span><br />
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<strong><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Registration:</span></strong><br />
<span style="font-family: Verdana;">Register early. Like months and months and months early. This magical race sells out months in advance. If you sign up super early you can get a very small discount but every dollar counts.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Verdana;">During the registration process they will ask you what your favorite Disney Princess is with multiple choices. This will denote the color race bib you get. Belle is yellow, Aurora is Pink and so on.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Verdana;">It will also ask what size shirt you want. They are tech shirts (great for working out in). They offer both women and men's sizing. I felt the men's ran true to size to slightly large and the women's sizing to be true to size to maybe a little small...plan accodingly. You will want to wear your shirt to show off your awesomeness.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Verdana;">It will also ask you what your expected finish time will be. THIS IS EXTREMELY IMPORTANT. This will help to place you in your corral for race day. This year there were, A,B,C,D,E,F,G,H. Each one starting 7 minutes apart so that all 25,000 do not start at the same time. Corral A would be the people expected to finish first and then moving on down the line to the slowest.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Verdana;">The reason this is so important is that you must keep a 16 minute mile average pace or you will be swept from the race. This means the minute the last person crosses the start line the sweepers (that are riding bikes from what I have read) follow along. At each mile marker if you are behind them you are swept up and put on a bus to be taken to the finish line. If you plan on doing a lot of walking you do not want to be in that last corral because they only start sweeping when the last person starts the race. Being in an earlier corral will give you additional time to finish.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Verdana;">So when you put in your expected race time do not say you will take the full 3hrs and 30 minutes. You will need proof in the form of another timed race's results if you you want to be in a corral that is expected to finish in 2:45 or less. I hope all that makes sense.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Verdana;">You will get an email about a month before the race so you can print off the waiver. It will also have your bib number that corresponds to your corral placement on it as well.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Verdana;"><strong>Packet Pick Up:</strong></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Verdana;">There is a two day expo to pick up your packet. Friday and Saturday. If you are interested in special race day merchandise then you need to go on Friday. I was literally one of the first ones in on Saturday morning by getting there 30 minutes before it opened and lots of the merchandise was already sold out. Get there early to avoid the lines. About 2 hours after it opens the lines to pick up your race day bib and packet are really long. So my advice would be to go first thing in the day or later in the day after most people have left.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Verdana;">After you pick up your packet with shirt if you want to exchange it for another size you can. I went up and all they had left was Men's Large and whatever each person changed it for. I have no idea if there were more sizes available the day before.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Verdana;">If you want the special New Balance shoes that are RunDisney with Disney adorableness all over it then go early. Saturday morning they were sold out of most sizes. I saw both the men's and women's pair up close and they were adorable.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Verdana;">If you run a timed run and you have proof of time make sure to bring a printed copy with you. You can take it to runner's relations and use it to get you placed in your proper corral. Up until sometime in December you can email your proof of time so this is if you did not do that before hand.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Verdana;">Give yourself at least an hour at the expo. There are so many great booths to check out and people to mingle with. I enjoyed being at the expo.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Verdana;"><strong>Getting to Epcot Race Day:</strong></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Verdana;">I live 20-30 minutes from Disney. I left my house at 3am and got there at the perfect time. No traffic yet and me and the person I was with got a great parking spot. Disney warns you of significant delays but most people did not seem to have to wait in more than 30 minutes of traffic to get in. Of course if you stay on Disney property you can use their shuttles and probably get a few extra winks in the process.</span><br />
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<strong><span style="font-family: Verdana;">Race Day:</span></strong><br />
<span style="font-family: Verdana;">Once you get there make sure to check your bag if you are going to and go ahead and use one of the many port-o-potties to empty out the bladder. There are several port-o-potties along the race course but they all had lines and some were long.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Verdana;">They set off fireworks for each corral start. Waiting for my corral, F, to start actually felt like it went fairly quick. I was anxious to get started.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Verdana;">Wear compression socks or sleeves. Feel free to google around to learn about them. I love that I felt zero pain in my feet and calves other than some tiredness and I attribute that to my compression socks. I have done some 7 mile runs without them and when I did my first 8 mile run with compression socks it made all of difference.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Verdana;">Wear moisture wicking clothes under your costume (if you choose to wear one which more than half did). This is especially important because in the Florida humidity you will sweat a lot. This race was especially humid and I have spent my whole life in Central Florida. If you are coming from up north check our weather. If it says it will be hot wear shorts and a tank top. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Verdana;">I also wore a moisture wicking visor and by the end of the race it was soaked through. It worked great. So a moisture wicking hat or headband is a must. I also wore sunscreen on my face since even through the clouds you can get a sunburn.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Verdana;">This race is all about fun. Throughout the course there was so much to look at and see. There were so many places to stop and get a picture with characters but be prepared....the lines to get photos were very long. My favorite would have to be the one of all the Princess Villians. I did not get a picture because the line was incredibly long. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Every place you see on the map with a W was a water station. There were plenty of them. Most also had Powerade Lemon-lime flavor which totally did not agree with me. It fact the first time I took some I burped it right up if you know what I mean. I stuck to water after that. The F was for a Fuel station and I tried 2 different flavors of the goey stuff. I did not like the taste of it one bit. I much prefer carrying my own small fuel snack.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Verdana;">Disney discourages the use of headphones during the HM but I disagree and most people were wearing them. I used Runkeeper to track my run and I had an awesome Disney playlist going to help inspire me along the way. I really want a GPS watch for my next run so that I can just glance at my wrist to check my pace.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Verdana;"><strong>After Race:</strong></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">When it is all over you get sprinkled with fairy dust on top of your head and then you get the most most amazing medal placed around your neck. Then you get a full sized powerade (yay for flavor offerings at the end), water and a small box with a pretty good selection of foods to help give you some fuel after all that running. You can then stop and get a photo with your medal. They use your bib number throughout the half marathon to tie it to you so you can look them up later for purchase.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Verdana;">They also have a tent with the remainder of official Disney Princess HM merchandise. There was not much left but I thought it was nice.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Verdana;">If you want family to meet you at the end they will have to pay to park at Epcot but then they can hang around to congratulate you. If you want family to chear you on along the way in special areas then you have to pay to be in the ChearSquad which is nice if you have traveled all that way so your family can try and see you as you run by!</span><br />
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<strong><span style="font-family: Verdana;">Final Race Results:</span></strong><br />
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">My final place was 14,673 out of 21,222 finishers and a net time of 3:12:55. Not bad for my first time. Next year I hope to do it in 3 hours or better.</span><br />
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Katrinahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16311004804642880183noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5059797493646604846.post-11160736808443813852013-02-16T16:46:00.000-08:002013-02-16T16:46:01.751-08:00Princess Half Marathon Training Update<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">One one week till the Disney Princess Half Marathon and I am starting to get butterflies in my stomach about it!</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Verdana;">I had an amazing run this morning of 8 miles at a 13:24 mile pace. I honestly was feeling great.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Here I am right after I finished. Do I look tired? I was not super tired but I am super lazy so I have a hard time pushing myself!</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Verdana;">My fitness from the last 2 weeks.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Verdana;">Monday: 2.5 miles running on the treadmill then 1 hour of yoga</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Verdana;">Tuesday: 30 minute cycle class then 2.5 miles on the treadmill</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Verdana;">Wednesday: 2.5 miles running on the treadmill then 1 hour of yoga</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Verdana;">Thursday: 30 minute cycle class then 2.5 miles on the treadmill</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Verdana;">Friday: 2.5 miles on the elliptical then 1 hour yoga</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Verdana;">Saturday: 7 mile run at 13:18 avg pace</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Verdana;">Sunday: 1.5 hours of weights circuit</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Verdana;">Monday: 2.5 miles running on the treadmill then 1 hour of yoga</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Verdana;">Tuesday: 30 minute cycle class then 1 hour weights circuit</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Verdana;">Wednesday: 2.5 miles running on the treadmill then 1 hour of yoga</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Verdana;">Thursday: 30 minute cycle class then 1 hour weights circuit</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Verdana;">Friday: 2.77 miles on teh elliptical then 1 hour yoga</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Verdana;">Saturday: 8 miles at a 13:24 avg pace</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Verdana;"></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Verdana;">Hoping to get a weights workout in tomorrow.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Verdana;"></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Verdana;">I have started my long runs at around 6:30am and I run much better at the earlier time. I like watching the sun rise and it is much cooler in the Florida heat.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Verdana;"></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Verdana;">My next update will be after the race. Here is hoping I finish and don't get swept up by those damn sweepers. I want to earn that medal!</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Verdana;"></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Verdana;"></span>Katrinahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16311004804642880183noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5059797493646604846.post-67817574469967345242013-02-04T13:27:00.000-08:002013-02-04T13:27:14.179-08:00Disney Princess Half Marathon Training UPDATE<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhG8aIuQaHw0iCOxXt-sWKf-2wldHB5TEqS0NaDkV9P0e-HpIePlsR5NakLKEDf4tmOHgLlW7bGVHTz-666eHDsXrKHlpyR9_VbjLD9fTh6sDzJ1FgSYJUua4TRLAQ3M3vLQyFI3GZYarw/s1600/554309_10200608583360898_839127191_n.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="235" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhG8aIuQaHw0iCOxXt-sWKf-2wldHB5TEqS0NaDkV9P0e-HpIePlsR5NakLKEDf4tmOHgLlW7bGVHTz-666eHDsXrKHlpyR9_VbjLD9fTh6sDzJ1FgSYJUua4TRLAQ3M3vLQyFI3GZYarw/s640/554309_10200608583360898_839127191_n.jpg" width="640" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;">This past Saturday I did my first real long run. I ran <b>7 MILES WITHOUT STOPPING</b>. The best part was I felt great!!!! That is the longest I have ever run at one time in my entire life. It made me realize that I can do this half marathon and that hopefully *fingers crossed* I won't get swept up with those that don't keep the minimum pace.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;">I started the week off today with 2.5 miles on the treadmill (which is becoming dare I say easy) at a 13.02 pace followed by an hour of yoga. Yoga is slowly making me a better runner (jogger really). It helps me to better focus my mind on runs since the right state of mind is half the battle.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;">My eye is on the prize....earning that darn finisher medal!</span></div>
Katrinahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16311004804642880183noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5059797493646604846.post-41129504780157723532013-01-31T19:45:00.000-08:002013-01-31T19:58:08.358-08:00Fat Girl Running Update<br />
<span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;">I have been majorly slacking on my personal posts. I post all the time over at <a href="http://www.outnumbered3-1.com/" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Outnumbered 3 to 1</a>. So make sure to check out my product reviews and giveaways over there. I feel like I am living the blogging dream by being a part of their team!</span><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"> </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">I have been slowly but surely working out more and more to try and prepare myself for the Disney Princess Half Marathon. Over the holidays we moved so I took a month off from working out. So I have been really stepping it up lately to make up for it. I normally work out 6-7 days a week right now.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">This week was the most intense yet. I am trying to step it up every week until the half marathon. After which I will probably drop it down to working out 4 days a week and then I will also add in more weights workouts.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Sunday: 2 miles on treadmill then 45 minute step class</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Monday: 2 miles on treadmill then 60 minutes yoga</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Tuesday: 30 minute cycle class then 2 miles on the treadmill</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Wednesday: 2 miles on the treadmill then 60 minutes yoga</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Thursday: 30 minute cycle class then <b>4 miles on the treadmill</b> </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;">Friday: The plan is 4 miles on the treadmill as long as I have no shin splints, if so then 60 minutes yoga</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;">Saturday: Jog with a friend</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;">Sunday: Not a dang thing</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Here is my photographic proof of my best yet on the treadmill. It seems more real with a picture.</span><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi9Dhyphenhyphen1i1EIVCXN9p6udnF3-7Nbch0pJaNZ-JVkVvS7FeobBEHvhF18N1gx8mTp-dg54WUHwqp4sU9evBSURcMoGftmyG1e-HXzQU9a1t4dDjeGKfYWKDnWI0o2OjCRCgl7jfbgAC8JjrM/s1600/photo(2).JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi9Dhyphenhyphen1i1EIVCXN9p6udnF3-7Nbch0pJaNZ-JVkVvS7FeobBEHvhF18N1gx8mTp-dg54WUHwqp4sU9evBSURcMoGftmyG1e-HXzQU9a1t4dDjeGKfYWKDnWI0o2OjCRCgl7jfbgAC8JjrM/s400/photo(2).JPG" width="300" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">For the half marathon the plan is to jog the first 6.5 miles then do walk/jog intervals until the end. The important part is that I stay in front of the sweepers. I really really want to finish without being swept. To be able to open the parks on time Disney sweeps at every mile marker those at a pace of 16/minute mile or slower. Yikes! I will be cutting it seriously close! I wanna earn my princess half marathon finisher medal.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">I am just trying to get healthy. I am not the type to sit and watch the scale. Instead my working out is to feel good in both body and mind. Hence my addition of yoga to my workout schedule. I am feeling great and no number can tell me otherwise. I want to make working out a lifestyle change and not a phase. Which is why I am looking forward to scaling back after the DPHM. I hope to jog the whole thing next year. Super ambitious I know and my inner fatty screams no!!!! No worries, if I accomplish that goal I will surely feed my inner fatty with some candy! I have been eating well but I don't go overboard and crazy like the organic nuts out there. I do a lot of crock pot cooking. Next I want to learn how to make casseroles and bake!</span>Katrinahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16311004804642880183noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5059797493646604846.post-39826916416881838792012-09-28T08:55:00.002-07:002012-10-02T06:58:35.855-07:00Are there Fireworks at the Eiffel Tower on New Years Eve?<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">NO</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">Trust me this is fully based on experience. After ending a 2 week backpacking trip in Europe we found ourselves in Paris waiting for the new year to start 5 years ago. After standing around for hours and waiting...huge disappointment....THERE ARE NO FIREWORKS AT THE EIFFEL TOWER ON NEW YEARS EVE.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">The only exception is for the new millennium and when they were putting in a bid for the Olympics. I truly hope they change this because people expect fireworks.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">I never thought to Google it before we left because I just assumed there would be fireworks.</span> <span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Recently a friend posted on Facebook about how she is excited to see the fireworks at the Eiffel Tower on New Years Eve in a few months and I tried to tell her there wouldn't be any just to warn her. Heck I wish I had been warned!</span> <span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">She brushed me off saying I was wrong. So here is my warning for others. Not a reason not to go as Paris is one of my favorite places to visit just a cautionary note when planning your festivities.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Au Revoir!</span>Katrinahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16311004804642880183noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5059797493646604846.post-9943186721402769972012-08-21T05:31:00.001-07:002012-08-21T05:31:10.218-07:00Guest BloggerI have joined the team over at the blog <a href="http://www.outnumbered3-1.com/" target="_blank">Outnumbered 3 to 1</a> as a guest blogger and reviewer. This blog will still contain my personal rants and raves. I will be blogging over there on a monthly basis about outdoor family fun kinda stuff and posting reviews and giveaways of some great products you might be interested in. My bio can be found on their blog <a href="http://www.outnumbered3-1.com/2009/04/about-me.html" target="_blank">here</a>. Check it out!<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEitg39-SUvpU58mTQUghRe22-lbmFrAmPgojyXbjqtzLTEWNyoNQm6iFN_s_GVieo9cbuQIudQ33ByzxJnayQCFoBfuO7ypHF7A8FPkyx19CHgggYrD2l-m-xzTaJR24TMiMCM4LJmBtrc/s1600/me2.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEitg39-SUvpU58mTQUghRe22-lbmFrAmPgojyXbjqtzLTEWNyoNQm6iFN_s_GVieo9cbuQIudQ33ByzxJnayQCFoBfuO7ypHF7A8FPkyx19CHgggYrD2l-m-xzTaJR24TMiMCM4LJmBtrc/s1600/me2.png" /></a></div>
<br />Katrinahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16311004804642880183noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5059797493646604846.post-62917112382175690472012-08-16T10:19:00.001-07:002012-08-16T11:50:42.057-07:00Exciting News....I am super excited about what lies ahead for my family. Big changes. After living in our current city for 4 years we will be moving back home to where I grew up. Move on over Mickey you are getting some new neighbors, Orlando here we come! This coming January we will find ourselves starting a new journey for our family.<br />
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I say new journey because ever since we had kids this is the only place we have lived. It is a small coastal community and although I am use to a much faster paced city it has become home. Well at least home for my girls. I am not one for change. Living here has become comfortable. Like an old sweater. Everything is in its place. The idea of finding new pediatricians, dentists, pediatric dentist, hair stylist, optometrist, family physicians, preschools and a place to live is a bit daunting. Husband's current employer is letting him transfer offices so he still gets to stay working with a group that he likes. Not to mention that every single provider of services we have here I absolutely love. Right down to the local donut shop and how they know us even though we don't go very often.<br />
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I never wanted to move away from home. Life had other plans. We found ourselves pregnant with our first baby and my husband was fresh out of law school in a horrible job market. Eight months later a great job offer came along but it required us to move. It was a no brainer. Less than two months at his first job as a lawyer and we were first time parents to an extremely difficult baby. Transitioning to small town life was difficult for me. Add in the fact I didn't have a single friend within 100 miles and I became extremely lonely.<br />
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Slowly things started falling into place. This city started out as a not so comfortable itchy sweater, after lots of wash and wear it has become quite comfortable.<br />
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As slow and easy as small town life is I have always craved something more. I crave theme parks and outlet malls. Heck, my first job ever was working at a roller coaster. I love that I will be living in the same city as my parents....free babysitting...score! Another huge benefit of the move is that the school system we currently live in is horrible. Like worst in the state kind of horrible. I am all about public school but those around here are bottom of the barrel. Leaving our current house will be hard. We got it in foreclosure and gutted it and fixed it up right down to the oil rubbed bronze doorknobs. The house really is too big for us so we are hoping for something smaller.<br />
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I am writing all this out because the hubs has prevented me from sharing it on facebook....just yet. I am just so excited and nervous at the same time. I'm ready though. I really feel that in the long run Orlando is where we belong.Katrinahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16311004804642880183noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5059797493646604846.post-41841238450610319882012-08-01T05:31:00.001-07:002012-08-01T05:31:36.501-07:00What's That Sound....Oh right that is the sound of my thighs scraping together. It has finally happened, the husband and I are officially members of our local gym. The important thing to remember here is we are both lazy. Like sit in front of the TV and veg out kind of lazy. Like watch yet another House Hunters International kind of lazy.<br />
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In high school my husband played football and was on the weightlifting team. So he was in the gym 5+ times a week. He worked out hardcore. After high school he called it quits.<br />
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In high school I was an athlete. I was on the soccer team, rowed crew for a year and for a few years was on the...ahem....bowling team (that is still exercise!!!).<br />
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All of that was over 11 years ago for us. Seven years of marriage and 2 beautiful baby girls later and it is time.<br />
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Of course there will always be the issue of our mutual love of laziness. Hopefully trying to remain fit (notice I did not say skinny) will prevail. The gym is 2 minutes from the house. Locally owned by a family for over 30 years. Nothing fancy about it. But hopefully we will be there. Making ourselves healthier for ourselves and our family.<br />
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Let's face it, we will never give up McDonald's tasty salty fries. Exercise is healthy for the mind and soul as well as the body. So I raise my sugar free vanilla iced coffee in the air and toast myself....You can do this Katrina!Katrinahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16311004804642880183noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5059797493646604846.post-27417918294547018452012-07-30T10:13:00.000-07:002012-08-01T10:13:42.165-07:00Super Undies - Review<br />
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<a href="http://www.superundies.com/skins/skin_4/images/Banner5.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="164" src="http://www.superundies.com/skins/skin_4/images/Banner5.jpg" width="640" /></a></div>
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As a cloth diapering mama cloth trainers can be just as important as cloth diapers. The sad thing is there does not seem to be a lot of cloth trainers out there that can be easily pulled on and pulled off by my toddler yet still be big kid looking enough for her to want to wear them. That is where I found <a href="http://www.superundies.com/" target="_blank">super undies</a> to excel. With a name like super undies what big kid wouldn't want to wear them. No diapers for these big kids!<br />
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I opted to try the <a href="http://www.superundies.com/p-38-pull-on-potty-training-pants.aspx#page=desc" target="_blank">pull-on potty training pants</a> on my oldest daughter since we are towards the end of our potty training journey and they offer an easy on/off with some padding for small accidents. When I opened the package I was actually surprised with how soft the material on the sides were. Like super soft. When I showed them to my 3 year old and told her they were super undies she wanted to wear them right then and there. They were so trim! Of course the pocket version or the overnight version would be much bulkier. It came with an extra insert that was simple to tuck into the flap on the inside. I love that you can adjust the absorbancy to fit my daughter's needs.<br />
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I found these are great for my toddler since she has very few accidents. She can wear these on long car trips where we might not be able to pull over right away and at night to keep the bed from getting totally soaked in the case of an accident. These are way nicer than disposable pull ups that cost a fortune and are more filler for our landfills (see how I inserted my somewhat crunchy mama-ness into this review).<br />
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The pull on potty training pants are made from the following materials (taken straight from their website): <br />
<table align="middle" border="0"><tbody>
<tr><td>Inner fabric - Touching skin:</td><td>A smooth poly-Lycra blend</td></tr>
<tr><td>Absorbency inner:</td><td>Microfiber Terry Cloth</td></tr>
<tr><td>Colored outer fabric:</td><td>Waterproof PUL</td></tr>
<tr><td>Tabs:</td><td>Lycra
</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
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The inner fabric reminded me of a stretchy bathing suit layer and it is actually quite soft and not irritating at all. My daughter hates tags or itchy fabrics and she did not complain once about the super undies' materials.<br />
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The only con I found is that even though my 3.5 year old is completely average in size she told me that the leg holes were too tight on her. I got her the medium that said it fits 2-5 years of age and I wish I had gotten her the large that is suppose to be for ages 5+. The elastic around her stomach fit great. They obviously need a tight fit to hold in pee but they did leave little red marks on her legs after using them overnight. This would not dissuade me from using them though. I would just get her the next size up. Of course I would also love it if they added some cute prints to their designs.<br />
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I wish I had known about super undies months ago when we started this whole potty training process. When it comes time to potty train my youngest I will definitely want several of these on hand. It took overnight for them to line dry (which is how I dry most of my cloth diapers) so I will need several on hand. When it is really hot around the house I will let her just wear these. They are cute enough that they don't need shorts over them when we are all just hanging around the house. In fact super undies should make matching shirts with capes so that toddlers can run around screaming "super undies."<br />
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Check out their <a href="http://www.superundies.com/t-videos.aspx" target="_blank">videos</a> to learn what will work best for your kiddo. Sure the videos are cheesy but I like to view videos because it gives you a better idea on how they work besides just looking at cute pictures. <br />
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As quite the super hero fan I find that super undies are indeed super!!! Completely off topic but the Incredible hulk is my favorite super hero.<br />
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<div style="text-align: center;">
<b>Buy It:</b><br />
Visit the <a href="http://www.superundies.com/default.aspx" target="_blank">Super Undies</a> website to find some cloth trainers for your big kid.</div>
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<b>Connect:</b><br />
You can follow Super undies on <a href="https://www.facebook.com/pages/Super-Undies/139623182742896">Facebook</a> & <a href="http://www.youtube.com/channel/UCrM41izmHZOABDs-0-J9IXg">Youtube</a></div>
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<b>Disclosure:</b> I received the above mentioned product
from Super Undies to facilitate in this review. No other
compensation was received. I was under no obligation to write a
positive review. This is my 100% honest opinion and may differ from yours.Katrinahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16311004804642880183noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5059797493646604846.post-88373893510094680132012-07-25T07:58:00.001-07:002012-07-25T07:58:08.832-07:00First Family Trip - Success!<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjrmD0D_KgbyoFb3iRT71gL-fhWe2Y3ldZ_fBGRCwh5d31bj-r6kyh2FsQwOTg9d1l_ODyiThhv20UjrfYoC-i6dFW16WrtD8h8BL0O-cZpASEbDy2TrhMtbokAdZNyAopLlYEwSHTeicI/s1600/breastfeeding.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="317" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjrmD0D_KgbyoFb3iRT71gL-fhWe2Y3ldZ_fBGRCwh5d31bj-r6kyh2FsQwOTg9d1l_ODyiThhv20UjrfYoC-i6dFW16WrtD8h8BL0O-cZpASEbDy2TrhMtbokAdZNyAopLlYEwSHTeicI/s320/breastfeeding.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Breastfeeding Humor</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
Recently we took our very first family trip since our first was born. Off to Stone Mountain, Georgia with my parents. My baby girl was amazing during the entire car trip from central Florida. My oldest was able to watch movies and play on her itouch so she was as good as a 3 year old that does not want to sit still can be. It was just so much fun to just get out of town. Violet just loved staying in a hotel. The hotel pool was awesome and since it was the hottest day on record in Atlanta since records have been kept everybody was in the pool. Because it was freakin hot!!!!<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEghZEn8mvr_-hTfE3J7eyik9R723eJRKDj4e4kpqJ9fab-o-18TIF2ojL4VxHBCwi2aiDBm-R3iVEP8UjiPSkdp4tk4i_81hxTNR6Hn-WmoIoqfkfplv2lfZoTviuj7-owwQHg8Ubj9-HQ/s1600/cutie.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEghZEn8mvr_-hTfE3J7eyik9R723eJRKDj4e4kpqJ9fab-o-18TIF2ojL4VxHBCwi2aiDBm-R3iVEP8UjiPSkdp4tk4i_81hxTNR6Hn-WmoIoqfkfplv2lfZoTviuj7-owwQHg8Ubj9-HQ/s1600/cutie.jpg" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Ready for the Laser Show</td></tr>
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Lily is now 9 months old (8 months in the picture). Yet again time is flying by. In fact it is flying by even faster than with my first. She is crawling super fast now and likes to pull up on stuff but she is a little timid so walking is several weeks away yet. She will take steps with her push toys but not independently yet. I am constantly saying how did I get this lucky???? Nothing beats being a mom. Lately Violet has been telling me she wants to grow up and be a super hero doctor mommy. I told her that would be just awesome.<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjUaq599rMT6ApuQ3m95wfDX_hJ4oyN6ZGAT-iPUfUcmtfj0gPJYUn6HucWVcxCh4cxbkLk431-kHD9Wcg2-Civ3eEUMOa6f6svWHtyHZwpggbcZT6vbO5mkq8464GdxLF32LRrGQ5rGTk/s1600/cutie2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjUaq599rMT6ApuQ3m95wfDX_hJ4oyN6ZGAT-iPUfUcmtfj0gPJYUn6HucWVcxCh4cxbkLk431-kHD9Wcg2-Civ3eEUMOa6f6svWHtyHZwpggbcZT6vbO5mkq8464GdxLF32LRrGQ5rGTk/s1600/cutie2.jpg" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Sisters on top of Stone Mountain, Georgia</td></tr>
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Getting a picture of them both together without my oldest throwing a tantrum or poking her younger sister is next to impossible. So here you have it. Both are relatively happy. For some reason Lily took to this particular pacifier during this trip so this picture is Maggie Simpson style. Upon return home she will only take a pacifier in the car or in bed.<br />
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Lots of stuff going on in our family lives. Big changes in the future. Right now I will settle for evening swims in our pool and impromptu beach trips on the weekends. Days spent sleeping in as a family (all in the same bed plus a giant dog and a cat). Loving how simple life is right now. I am one lucky mama.<br />
<br />Katrinahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16311004804642880183noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5059797493646604846.post-19710672754224336582012-05-10T06:49:00.000-07:002012-07-31T10:13:16.429-07:00How I Wash Cloth Diapers in My Front Loader HE Washer<br />
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When making the switch to cloth diapers by far my biggest
concern was how am I gonna wash these diapers and keep them clean? I googled
the issue more than humanly necessary. For every blog and/or article I read on
how to wash them I found another one contradicting it. I am writing this post
on how I do it. I will preface this by saying that every mom is going to do it
different. It all depends on your washer/water type and so on.</div>
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I start with a simple rinse and spin cycle with no detergent
on cold/cold. This is to get any loose poop off.</div>
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I then do a normal cycle hot/cold with detergent and I press
the button for an extra rinse. I also set it to heavy soiled to give it maximum
water levels. This gives it a very long wash with hot water to kill bacteria
and get them clean. You want lots of water so that it can get them clean. HE
washers use less water than top loaders so to me this step is key.</div>
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You will read everywhere to use as little detergent as
necessary. I find this to be wrong. I bought and tried a multi pack of many
different all natural detergents. They all work just fine. For me I use
powdered Tide original formula. The enzymes in it keep the whites white and the
bacteria away. We have had zero stink issues and my diapers look like new. I am
well aware that this is the opposite of natural and crunchy but I completely OK
with that. I use a scoop full up to the 1 line.</div>
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I then do an extra rinse and spin cycle on cold/cold to make
sure to get all of the suds out of there. This helps to prevent buildup. Buildup
can make your diapers repel liquids. If there are still suds I will repeat this step.</div>
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I hang all my diapers on a small rack in my laundry room. I
stick all the liners in the dryer with 4 wool dryer balls. The dryer balls are
to help reduce dry time by absorbing liquid and mine have a scent called hint
of baby which makes them smell nice but not overpowering.</div>
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I wash mine every 3-4 days. I use a diaper pail that looks
like a basic kitchen garbage can. I use a reusable diaper pail bag that I wash
along with my diapers and hang dry. I shut my lid after putting each soiled
diaper in but I leave the lid cracked a very small bit (like a millimeter). I
find this keeps the diapers from smelling too bad and I never smell anything
near the changing pad and I am cursed with a very strong sniffer.</div>
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I do use bioliners for a majority of the changes. They are basically
a thin layer of biodegradable material that catches poo. I just wipe and throw
away. I also use a diaper sprayer to get a majority of the poo off for when I
don’t use a liner or when it does not contain all the poo. All the poo does not
need to be removed. Just the big stuff.</div>
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When it is nice and sunny out I line dry my diapers outside.
This is not very often because I am busy and a wee bit lazy. It is important
not to leave your diapers in the sun too long or the strong heat can break down
the laminate in your diapers. It should be 2 hours max unless you live in a
strong heat climate like Florida and then you should leave them in the sun for
no more than an hour. inserts can stay out longer.</div>
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So that is how I wash my diapers. Like I said everyone is
different but this is the method that works for me. There is a lot of
information out there on washing diapers and it can be very confusing. In this
household I do all the laundry and I actually enjoy making my diapers fresh and
clean each time.</div>Katrinahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16311004804642880183noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5059797493646604846.post-7990179119968134782012-04-11T08:34:00.003-07:002012-04-11T08:49:08.423-07:00Hatred of the SquinkiesI despise squinkies. They are small and easy to loose, they are expensive for tiny pieces of plastic and I hate the ball that is so easy to step on and break. If you have no idea what I am talking about then consider yourself blessed. My daughter had asked for them a time or two. I said no that she was not old enough. She accepted this which she always does to the age reason. So of course my Mother in Law bought her a pack. I was absolutely FURIOUS!!! The main reason is they are the perfect choking hazard for my 5 month old soon to be crawling baby girl.<br /><br />So of course having one set my age reasoning went out the window. The only thing in the world she asked of the Easter bunny was squinkies. He of course had to comply. Each plastic egg that was placed in the back yard had a disney squinkie inside. Of course she loved them. But in the next month I will have to take them away until baby sister is much older. Husband and I have actually done really well keeping the choking hazards out of the house.<br /><br />I also hate all things tiny and made from China. When she gets them at school or parties or from mother in law they immediately go in the garbage. I know many might think it is silly but this is one thing that husband agrees and supports me 100% on. We just hate crap!<br /><br />Here are Violet's Easter Funnies:<br /><br />Upon going through her Easter basket she had quite a few funny things to say. When seeing that she got a ballerina umbrella her full of attitude and slowly stated response was "I don't need another umbrella." Upon seeing a package of disney panties she replied with "all I really wanted was squinkies." By far the best was when she picked up a Melissa and Doug sand bucket set to pretend to make sand ice cream cones. She picks up the bucket with one finger cocks her head to the side and says "an ice cream bucket.....really?" Looks like Santa better watch out!Katrinahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16311004804642880183noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5059797493646604846.post-84600856134881767662012-02-22T06:47:00.008-08:002012-02-23T06:23:23.492-08:00Birth Radomness<div>I was reading the blog <a href="http://myobsaidwhat.com/">My OB said what </a> today and it got me thinking about my daughters' births.</div><div><br /></div><div>I was particularly thinking about my 2nd daughter's birth and how the epidural had not yet taken affect for the pushing. After she was born the doctor was down there checking everything out when I started feeling a warm watery sensation. I asked him what that was. Apparently my labor went so fast there was no time to cath me and I had a full bladder so he emptied it for me. I definitely felt everything down there this time around but since I had an epidural I do not get the badge of honor so to speak of a no epidural birth.</div><div><br /></div><div>With my first it was a really large birthing hospital. Like 9 floors large. Right before push time it was my husband holding one leg, labor and delivery nurse holding the other leg, student labor and delivery nurse standing next to her (looking quite nervous), the doctor standing between my legs, pediatrician standing by the incubator and like 5-8 people rushed in last minute to stand behind the doctor and watch. Of course I could reallyy care less at that point. I felt a ton of pressure and wanted her out!</div><div><br /></div><div>With my second daughter at a small local hospital it was a labor and delivery nurse holding each leg, my husband holding my hand while standing next to me and the doctor between my legs. That was it. It seemed a little more calm with less people in the room.</div><div><br /></div><div>With my OBGYN practice I recieved nothing but great care from the nurses, doctors and midwife. The nurses at the hospital were amazing and very compassionate. Since my husband and I chatted with the head nursey nurse so much she even came and hugged us goodbye before we left. The discharge nurse sat in my bed with me while we went over discharge paperwork and chatted and it felt so natural.</div><div><br /></div><div>With my first daughter my delivery nurse was AMAZING but other than that the staff was nice but they just went about their business. Maybe it felt that way since it was such a big baby hospital and with my 2nd it was a small local hospital.</div><div><br /> </div><div>With both I also did cord blood banking through <a href="http://www.cordblood.com/infokit/referral.asp?contactid=1-8UW9I4">CBR</a>. Sure it was expensive but thankfully it was a gift from my parents and we pay only the yearly storage fee. The research out there on cord blood banking is amazing and I know in the future it will only get better. I know it is a luxury most cannot afford but it is definitely something worth looking into.</div><div><br /></div><div>I would say around 80% of the time I feel completely done having kids. Then once in a while I think it would be nice to have one more. I was packing up all my pregnancy clothes this past weekend and trying to fold them nice and neat into a big bucket so I could sell them. When I told my husband this he said we should hang onto them...just in case. I was very surprised to hear this. There will be no surprises this time around since I now have an IUD in place. In a year or two we will decide if we will be trying one more time. I am 30 now and if by 34 I am not pregnant then we are more than done. Maybe the husband will get the big snip snip.</div>Katrinahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16311004804642880183noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5059797493646604846.post-68140765314520836822012-02-10T06:54:00.000-08:002012-02-10T07:57:45.415-08:00Each Pregnancy is Different<div><div><div><div>I already wrote the birth story of my two girls. Then I wrote a post on their differences and similarities of the birth itself. Now I want to post on my pregnancies carrying them.</div><div><br /></div><div>With V it took me over a week to realize I was pregnant. I did not really follow my time of the month. Then one day it just hit me. I might be pregnant. My husband was actually out of town for a bachelor party but I called him and let him know that I might be pregnant. As soon as he got back I took a test. It said pregnant almost instantly. I was suprised and a little nervous since this would be my very first baby. After the first visit to the OBGYN and getting that first ultrasound everything was confirmed. One little baby and one little heartbeat. We were excited but nervous.</div><div><br /></div><div>With V that first trimester I just felt full all the time so I never really ate. I did not gain a pound until 14 or 15 weeks. Heck I did not even go maternity clothes shopping until that time too. We announced on facebook at 12 weeks after hearing the heartbeat on the doppler for the first time. During the early 2nd trimester we even flew to DC to visit my brother for a few days. I did throw up in an air sick bag on the way there which was beyond gross. During the late 2nd trimester I gained a hefty 10 pounds in a month. At around 20 weeks I found out it was a girl despite us both thinking boy. The whole family thought she was a girl and they were all right. Cue lots of baby shopping for cute little things. We get some decent 3D images at a just for fun ultrasound place.</div><div><br /></div><div>Here is a picture of me going to a college football game at something like 34 weeks preggo.</div><br /><div> <img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; width: 238px; height: 320px; text-align: center; display: block; cursor: pointer;" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5707523950676464178" border="0" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiHsyrjxhyphenhyphenpiNsi37f5NdwaI0wOLTd9sxczpkBCkH9kYxTU7B7viC7J2dTQqGfYiF0K-50oNn1-3-ZN6F3NXfSx07fD6EeJyUF7VS54scE1KIyUmXFWavQAMJrMzI4QabUR8_XAnYDzsk4/s320/332_800938076531_2024452_50803355_9842_n.jpg" /></div><div>My pregnancy with L was completely different. When V was in the hospital for a concussion the techs were placing her on the CT scanner when the woman asked if I could be pregnant. I was literally about to say no. I mean the n was already being formed in my mouth when I just stopped. My period was due that day or the next and I said something along the lines as it could be possible. After a whirlwind of doctors, overnight stays, and finally getting home I took a home pregnancy test. I did not think much of it and after peeing on it I took it in the shower with me to watch for the results. It took forever so I really did not think I was pregnant. A few minutes later there it was as clear as day...the words Pregnant. I immediately called my husband in. After I told him he just smiled and said it looks like we are going to have another baby.</div><div><br /> </div><div>We told the grandparents right away this time. Then I told some of my closer friends. First OBGYN visit included an ultrasound. One little baby and one little heartbeat. How exciting! This time the first trimester was not so easy. I was nauseas all the time. Threw up several times along the way. This time around I did not gain any weight until the start of the 2nd trimester again but I got out my old maternity clothes by 7 weeks. I started showing much much earlier this time around.</div><div> <br /></div><div>We opted in for extra testing so at our 11 week ultrasound everything looked good except a hematoma that would need to be watched. The 14 week ultrasound looked great. I was surprised to find out at at this appointment we were having a girl. We just knew it was a boy. Our little girls are tricksters they are. At the 17 week ultrasound everything looked good except the hematoma was still there. Around 18 weeks we make the big announcement on facebook. At around 21 weeks it was gone and all still looked good. At the 25 week ultrasound is when when the pregnancy stopped being fun. I had extremely high fluid levels. Of course I was at this appointment all by myself and I left in tears.</div><div><br /> </div><div>The librarian in me means research. I did so. I googled till my eyes hurt. It did nothing but scare me more. At the 27 week ultrasound one of the tubes to her kidney is slightly enlarged. More panic and more googling. More tears. I beg for a echo of her heart from my high risk doc. He said no. My regular OBGYN said yes. So my high risk doc scheduled if for me. In one valve or chamber I can't remember which the blood flow is not as strong as it could be. This leads to a 2 hour echo of her heart from a pediatric cardiologist. Finally some good news...everything looked good.</div><div><br /> </div><div>I do not like the way my high doc talks to me or treats me or basically anything about him so we change high risk docs to another one 2 hours away at a top notch birthing hospital. My OBGYN is behind me 100% with whatever I want to do for my high risk care. Multiple ultrasounds at the hospital show that everything looks really good. We even go to a fun 3D ultrasound place and get some amazing pictures. The rest of the pregnancy is uneventful. I still worried until she actually got here.</div><div><br /> </div><div>This picture is literally days before my 25 week ultrasound. I am extremely happy and excited in this picture. All I could think about was next year at that time I would be able to take both my girls to the beach.</div><div> <img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; width: 200px; height: 320px; text-align: center; display: block; cursor: pointer;" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5707525541174945218" border="0" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhRb3hWXrzBeuLjnCW4e6U2_jYxsQZtBrlLChRTVTGY6yKpQZiloOHqR3YEHYwHo72SbOHF75BdEkfPNvvT9HACUHwQcUYwWaxHmmcDNvREcHBg0THn5bJe_gdJ3VXV-4VIYllG1r2TaJM/s320/269721_10101211911002451_2024452_80380027_8122500_n.jpg" /></div></div></div></div>Katrinahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16311004804642880183noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5059797493646604846.post-16368016237422877272012-01-10T06:50:00.000-08:002012-01-10T07:28:31.727-08:00Each Birth Has A Unique StoryEver since Lily was born I find myself comparing the births of my daughters. As time passes I think about it less but it is something my husband and I enjoy chatting about. Both birth stories are posted below but I wanted to write about the similarities and differences between them.<br /><br />Labor. With V I got to the hospital at 8cm and although at that point I felt every contraction they were tolerable and I would just close my eyes through them. I could not sit so I would stand through them. With V there was no pitocin but since L was an induction there was pitocin from the start. Let me tell you that the word on the street is true...contractions with pitocin are 10 times worse than normal ones!!! I was in pain and with every contraction I would squeeze my husband's hand and would find myself screaming Matt, Matt, Matt very very loudly. They came fast and furious!<br /><br />Pain relief. I got an epidural with V and it was not too bad to get other than my flinch when the catheter was placed. I just breathed through the contractions. Then my last few hours of labor were very peaceful and we just watched tv and chatted. With L getting the epidural was pure hell. I kept flinching and I could not get my back to curl just right and every contraction hurt so very very bad! I was near tears. I thought I was only a few centimers dilated so I seriously wanted some relief. Of course by the time it was push time the epidural was still not in affect and did not start to work until I was pushing and by then it was still only the tingly leg feeling of numbness, not the full blown feel nothing like with V.<br /><br />Push time. With V I felt no contractions so they told me when to push. I did not like this. Pushing those 40 minutes was the hardest part. With L I still felt every contraction so I told them when I wanted to push. I actually liked pushing with L, I had the urge to push and until the doc got there I actually had to not push, no real pain just pushing with the contractions.<br /><br />She is here. With V I screamed once when I pushed her head out and then the doc sort of turned her and she just slide out the rest of the way and I did a mild scream then. With L I did not scream when she came out. I pushed her head was told to then wait a second and then I pushed out her body. Both were placed on my chest immediately.<br /><br />First look. With V my first thought was of pure relief that this human child was now out of me (did I mention I really hated pushing her out). Then I looked at her in pure disbelief that I now had a baby girl. It was very surreal. I just kept looking into her eyes that were looking at everything in the room while she took it all in. With L the first thoughts and feelings were of pure happiness and love. Not that I loved her more it just felt like I was more prepared this time around. I kept kissing her all over even though she was covered in goo.<br /><br />Breastfeeding. With V she immediately latched on like a pirrana. It hurt! Chomped down as hard as she could. She breastfed great but those first few weeks were hard. I was tired, she hardly every slept unless she was nursing. I had the bruised and cracked nipples but I kept going and after that our breastfeeding journey was easy going for 15 months except for thrush around month 14 that was easily fixed. With L she immediately latched on gently and it never hurt. I did suffer from some awful thrush week 2-4 but we worked through it and it has been easy sailing every since. I do have to pump every morning before work so she has something to eat in the mornings but so far so good.<br /><br />Sleep...so far. V has never been a good sleeper. From the beginning things were very HARD and my husband and I were very very very tired. Around month 9 I brought her to bed with us and I nursed her laying down on my side and we finally started getting sleep. L has been a great sleeper from day 1. Slept 5 hours a night from the day she was born and around week 6 she moved it to around 6-10 hours a night. Such a huge difference. We are not tired and feel very refreshed.<br /><br />Overall V was a very difficult baby and a lot has to do with her sensory processing disorder which I did not know about till 18 months. Looking back there were lots and lots of signs (for a different post one day). L is so incredibly easy. She will play with toys, lay on her back and enjoy looking at toys of which V did none of. L is incredibly easy to take out and with V we did not take her many places for over a year...it was just too hard.<br /><br />I still enjoy going over their birth experinces in my head. It is like this specialy memory that only I have and it always makes me feel good when I think about them.Katrinahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16311004804642880183noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5059797493646604846.post-10828810707979250592011-10-23T07:22:00.001-07:002012-02-15T07:02:20.973-08:00I Now Have Two Flowers!!!!<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjwEscgWQH2luM2pKa3tatn1cvOKEP-g9jfhfkqGELtgsi190XijjqjJHRVFXdj7-2hGOW2g3bvVp-gfz_QkaH4NxYwG5qytRiJkxgiewxiu98yKe5tYHFMei_tZ0XaG-q832YXyOoH1PA/s1600/2011+Lily%2527s+Birth+326.JPG"><img style="margin: 0px 0px 10px 10px; width: 212px; height: 320px; float: right; cursor: pointer;" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5667542454426121314" border="0" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjwEscgWQH2luM2pKa3tatn1cvOKEP-g9jfhfkqGELtgsi190XijjqjJHRVFXdj7-2hGOW2g3bvVp-gfz_QkaH4NxYwG5qytRiJkxgiewxiu98yKe5tYHFMei_tZ0XaG-q832YXyOoH1PA/s320/2011+Lily%2527s+Birth+326.JPG" /></a><br />Lily Cora<br />October 20, 2011<br />11:14 am<br />8 pounds 1 ounce<br />20 inches<br />Born at 39 weeks<br /><br />The past few weeks of my pregnancy consisted of daily migraines. For me that includes extreme nausea, mild headaches and extreme auras that make it so I can not even see anything for about an hour. I had gone in several times to my OBGYN practice to get my blood pressure checked and it was always great. So they just began monitoring me closely. I even had a non stress test (NST) at once when she did not move during the appointment. The test ended up just perfect. The migraines were not getting any better and my vision started getting blurry as well. Although migraines for me are not unusual the frequency was what was alarming and more than anything just annoying. When visiting the midwife (whom I just loved) in the practice she told me if I was favorable then we could schedule an induction because they did not want the migraines to turn into anything more serious. I was 2-3cm dilated and effaced (although I don't know how much). Despite wanting to go natural I decided to go ahead with the induction at 39 weeks.<br /><br />My last meal was waffle house because in my small town literally nothing was open at 6am. Then it was off to the hospital at 7am. After waiting in outpatient and doing some paperwork we were called upstairs around 8am. I was immediately put in a room and they started the IV and getting all the paperwork signed and blood drawn. I was still 2-3cm and around 90% effaced. Around 9am Dr. Ross started me on a very low dose of pitocin to start contractions. About 20 minutes later he came in broke my water and hooked the baby up to an internal monitor. He told me he was going back the office and he would check on me later that afternoon. I have heard my share of horror stories with induction so I was mentally prepared for the long haul. Husband was even doing work on his computer. About 40 minutes after he broke my water contractions came out of nowhere and they were strong and powerful. I immediately told my husband if I was in for a day of contractions of that intensity then I needed my epidural and I needed it right now! The two nice nurses started setting my room up for the epidural. I was literally squeezing my husband's hand with all my strength at each contraction. At one point I asked the nurse if I should go to the bathroom and poop before the epidural since I knew I would be unable to get out of bed once it was in place and I had a silly fear of pooping on the delivery table. She told me I was fine and it was probably just the baby's head putting pressure down there. At this point all I could picture was the epidural and how I wanted some relief. I remembered from my first pregnancy how amazing it could be to relax once it was in place (although with my first it was only in place about an hour before push time).<br /><br />The epidural part was the worst part of the whole birth. I was experiencing the most painful contractions I had ever had while he was working on my back. He had to keep re-threading the catheter in my back because he was unable to get it between the bone. Probably because I was not curling my back in the right way because I was seriously struggling through the contractions. It felt like he had to do it a dozen times although my husband said it was more like 5 times. Finally in place I laid down and waited for relief.<br /><br />This is when crazy Katrina decided to come out. I started screaming at the anesthesiologist that he needed to re-do the epidural because it was not working! I was getting contractions about a minute apart and they were so strong. He told me it would take time but I was so very impatient. The nurse and anesthesiologist tried to tell me it was fine and that it just needed time to start working. I started telling the other nurse I needed to poop again. She said she would go ahead and check me. She said I was a 7. I was thinking awesome at least I was getting progress. What she did not tell me was I was actually a 9-10 and that she did not want to scare me since my doc was not at the hospital. She told me she would go call the doctor so he could come back for delivery. While this was going on I was still telling the anesthesiologist it was not working and I needed more meds and I needed them NOW. They upped it in the IV and said relief was coming.<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEih3L46MaQln56M3F4WyMncJMsznJuag1A14GvXZUtUztWXUQ-aUSXi3tvvkLtAq7agMLbqCp2bhVbwGliRZUsz4783_LH927I3Nr_PsWGosTtnlQOrjpgtv9nrClxQpT-Q3S8qgdQtSuw/s1600/2011+Lily%2527s+Birth+584.JPG"><img style="margin: 0px 0px 10px 10px; width: 212px; height: 320px; float: right; cursor: pointer;" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5667542689311184274" border="0" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEih3L46MaQln56M3F4WyMncJMsznJuag1A14GvXZUtUztWXUQ-aUSXi3tvvkLtAq7agMLbqCp2bhVbwGliRZUsz4783_LH927I3Nr_PsWGosTtnlQOrjpgtv9nrClxQpT-Q3S8qgdQtSuw/s320/2011+Lily%2527s+Birth+584.JPG" /></a><br /><br />I heard the two nurses whispering and I asked loudly what they were talking about. She told me that a doctor from another practice had just finished delivering a baby and he was going to wait until my doctor got there just in case he did not make it. Had I been thinking clearly this would have tipped me off. Instead at the time all I could think was I am at a 7 and he is 20 minutes away and that would be plenty of time. At this point the contractions were so painful and I started screaming my husband's name at each contraction saying...Matt Matt Matt Matt over and over through the pain. I was having the most intense urge to push. My doctor got there and he said lets have a baby. I am squeezing my husband's hand and the two nurses help me hold my legs. Finally the epidural started working (in that tingly leg fall asleep way) but at this point it was practically pointless! Dr. Ross told me to just push whenever I felt the urge. I liked being able to push when I was ready instead of being told to. Less than 5 minutes of pushing and out she came! They put her on my chest and I was able to just stare at this little baby girl that had been growing inside of me for 9 months. I just stared while I took it all in. They let me hold her for quite a while until I told them they could take her away to clean her up and check her out. It was no more than 15 minutes later when she was given back to me and I got to breastfeed her for the first time. Latched right on. I was able to just hold her and breastfeed her for as long as I wanted before they took her to the nursery to be officially checked out and cleaned up. Everyone at the hospital told me how lucky I was to have an induction and labor that only about 2 hours and I do feel extremely blessed. No tearing or ripping and no pooping on the table. Recovery has been much easier and quicker this time around. Another birth for me to treasure in my memory for the rest of my life. My heart feels swollen with so much love!<br /><br />She was named Lily because we love the idea of having two girls with flower names. Her middle name Cora is also her Great Great Great Grandmother's name. I have a hard time believing that I actually gave birth to two amazing little girls. I feel like one extremely lucky Mama!Katrinahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16311004804642880183noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5059797493646604846.post-41518411344039471242011-09-06T05:44:00.000-07:002011-09-06T05:50:06.278-07:00Three Years Old<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiOlHArsGzvHg7JklaxPvlHkR6C5EEICaDupri_AIWYjJ4GlD0S1zMnNPDUlPgRpio4iJZZccIpk10XITgczCJ5zQZgXcbrghbEDUiAt4dg8Za5rCfw9BKd8bsQDojjyHttH93H9xKhGDw/s1600/2.jpg"><img style="float:left; margin:0 10px 10px 0;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 238px; height: 320px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiOlHArsGzvHg7JklaxPvlHkR6C5EEICaDupri_AIWYjJ4GlD0S1zMnNPDUlPgRpio4iJZZccIpk10XITgczCJ5zQZgXcbrghbEDUiAt4dg8Za5rCfw9BKd8bsQDojjyHttH93H9xKhGDw/s320/2.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5649227240807789634" border="0" /></a><br />With Violet's 3rd Birthday Coming in just a month and the birth of my 2nd daughter not far behind I reflect on the last 3 years. I can definitely say they have been the best 3 years of my life. Violet amazes me every single day. She also has logic in situations that beats me out all the time. I love every single smile she puts on my face.<br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg06jFerR39mesCIJUc6YixcjQFTQff4bYRmH29eeh7F78PpmOJeWw-aSzKclLbeQypp2UMKLRZa6JbVLapBfZxQXZR7OouXjfr_yRSADfueAUpyN1dUk0z70_G135uMCcxNW6AeDD1slQ/s1600/3.jpg"><img style="float:right; margin:0 0 10px 10px;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 240px; height: 320px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg06jFerR39mesCIJUc6YixcjQFTQff4bYRmH29eeh7F78PpmOJeWw-aSzKclLbeQypp2UMKLRZa6JbVLapBfZxQXZR7OouXjfr_yRSADfueAUpyN1dUk0z70_G135uMCcxNW6AeDD1slQ/s320/3.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5649227640397291810" border="0" /></a><br /><br />The other day she told me "I love you so much Mama that I will not throw you to a pit of snakes or to the big bad wolf." It does not get much better than that.Katrinahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16311004804642880183noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5059797493646604846.post-88998905820895353202011-09-04T06:43:00.000-07:002011-09-04T07:51:43.901-07:00Violet's Birth StoryViolet Kaitlyn
<br />October 14, 2008
<br />12:04pm
<br />7 pounds 14 ounces
<br />20¾ inches long
<br />Born: 37 weeks and 4 days
<br />Apgar scores: 8, 9
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<br />Background: My husband, Matt, got a great attorney position 2 hours from where we had been living in Orlando. Since I was in my last trimester I did not want to leave my OB office or change hospitals since Winnie Palmer is such a great hospital to deliver in (all 11 floors dedicated only to the birthing of babies). Matt moved on down to our new home and I stayed with my parents the last 2 months of my pregnancy. He came to Orlando to stay with me on weekends.
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<br />Monday October 13th I experienced mild cramps all day long. They were not painful and hardly noticeable. By nighttime they had subsided. That night I watched Halloween 2 with my parents (we had planned on watching them all by Halloween). When I went to bed around 11pm I started to experience the cramps again, just enough to be uncomfortable while lying down. I thought they might actually be contractions but by 1am they stopped and I went to sleep. At 4am Tuesday October 14th I woke up to go pee. I tried to go back to sleep but was extremely uncomfortable. About 15 minutes later I had to pee again. I tried again to go back to sleep but was unable to find any position that was comfortable. I began to have what I can only describe as cramps. They were keeping me from finding a comfortable position. I decided to turn on the TV because I knew I would not be able to go back to sleep. Not long after I had to pee yet again and the cramps were becoming slightly more uncomfortable. At 5am I called my husband because I was uncomfortable and I just wanted to talk to him. A few minutes later I heard a very loud noise outside my sliding glass door. My dog, Princess, heard it as well. I could tell Matt was tired so I hung up with him and used my cell phone to call my mother who was upstairs sleeping. I asked her to come down and sit with me since I was uncomfortable, unable to sleep and now slightly scared from the noise outside (after watching scary movies I tend to be jumpy). By 5:15am we got up to watch TV in the family room. Around 5:45am the pain started to get worse. I called Matt and he told me to go get a shower because these could be contractions and the shower could help. I took a shower and washed my hair but while I was in the shower the cramps started getting worse. I had an OB appointment at 10am so I was desperately trying to wait until the appointment to see if what I was feeling were contractions and to see if I had made any progress since last week when I was 3cm, 60% effaced and 0 station. Matt begged me to go in at 8:30am when the office opened instead of waiting. Then he told me I should go to the hospital to get checked out. I was scared of being sent home and told that this was not the real thing. At 6:30am the pain was so bad I could no longer sit or stand and the only way to alleviate the pain was tho keep walking and not sit still. I called Matt and told him I would go to the hospital. I spent a little time getting my things together and then my parents drove me to the hospital that is 15 minutes away. It was in the car that I knew these were actually contractions. My dad timed them and they were about 2 minutes apart.
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<br />At the hospital I checked into triage. By this time I was silently crying from the pain. I was lucky as there was only one family in the triage waiting room. I filled out a brief form (since I pre-registered) and under reason for visit I wrote: PAIN. I waited about 10 minutes all during which I could not sit or stand comfortably so I paced the waiting room. When I was called back my mom came with me and they checked me to see if anything was going on. I was 8cm. Within seconds I had 6 or so nurses in the small triage room hooking me up to monitors, stripping my clothes off and putting in an IV. I could not call my husband as there was no signal in the room. I was wheeled on a gurney to the 2nd floor, which is the labor and delivery floor. The triage nurse said I was by far the best patient she had ever seen that came in at 8cm. I enter my room around 7:30am. Asked if I want an epidural, I say yes (but in hindsight I realized I would have been fine without it). Immediately the anesthesiologist enters the room. I took the giant needle with little problem but when they stuck the catheter in and it touched my spine I jumped because it HURT! It felt like lightening running down my spine. Of course she had to reinsert it but she used more numbing meds and this time it hardly hurt at all. After it took affect the super nice nurse named, Casey checked me and I was still 8cm. At almost 9am Matt arrived after going through the worst traffic to get to me. I was so happy to see him. Not my OB but the more senior OB at the practice is already at the hospital for 2 other births so he would be my doctor. After one C-section and another quick birth he comes in to break my water. He checks me I am 9cm and he breaks my water. It is a massive flood of warm water. I sit for an hour to see what happens. When the hour is up I am checked and I am 10cm and ready to push. I was not a fan of the pressure and I had a hard time holding my breathe for the 10 second counts. I asked for a leather strap to bite down on but being the 21st century I used a rolled up hand towel instead. After 40 minutes of pushing with the nurse the doctor is called in to deliver. This is where I turn absolutely crazy. The pressure is too much for me and I start to flail my legs and grab hold of the bed with a death grip while saying I can’t do it. My husband describes it as I was a crazy person with my head spinning. I nearly kicked the doctor as the nurse and my husband hold my legs back. The doctor is casually putting on his gloves and tells me to do a preliminary push. After this I shut my eyes and push and I feel her head pop out and her shoulders slam against bone. I scream. At 12:04pm I feel the doctor grab her head twist and she just slides on out. Instantly the pain is gone. I lay there in disbelief as they place her on my stomach. I have no rips but I did have a giant bruise down there. Usually after 1 hour, mom and baby are transferred to one of the recovery floors. I had to wait 3 hours because of heavy bleeding. Nothing was wrong it was just more blood than normal so I had to stay on the labor and delivery floor until I was cleared. Overall as a first time mom I feel blessed to have had such an easy birth.
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<br />I get all mushy and happy when I think of her birth story.
<br />Katrinahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16311004804642880183noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5059797493646604846.post-5594900061402160512011-09-02T06:00:00.000-07:002011-09-02T06:30:50.005-07:00Year in Review....We are so Ready for 2012<div>Started the year by cracking my dental bridge. Which meant paying for a new one (usually done every 10 years and it had been 11 so I was due). First bridge replacement broke which meant going through the entire removal and reinsertion process all over again. Complete with dental needles that feel like snake bites with venom coming out!
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<br /></div><div> </div><div>My daughter suffered a severe concussion by tripping on a ball at daycare. This meant an overnight stay in a children's hospital. My heart could hardly take it!
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<br /></div><div> </div><div>When she went in for her CT Scan they asked if I was pregnant. I laughed and said no. Then I said wait. I thought to myself that I was actually due with my period that very day but had not thought much of it. So I said I better wait outside and my dad went in with my daughter during her scan. She did great and it was super quick. He told me that she did not even move!
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<br /></div><div> </div><div>A few days later I decided to take a pregnancy test. Positive!!!!! Complete shocker for us both. Due date 10-27. Note: this is the best thing that has happened this year so far.
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<br /></div><div> </div><div>Leak found in our floor. Rip up very expensive laminate floor. Wait 12 weeks before insurance will let us put in the replacement flooring.
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<br /></div><div> </div><div>My husband's 11 year old truck stops going in reverse. For a month he drives and parks in a way so he does not have to go in reverse. We get him a new car through a lease 2 months before his firm starts paying for a car stipend.
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<br /></div><div> </div><div>I am deemed high risk for a hematoma in my uterus. Goes away by week 21. At week 24 found high fluid levels. Even higher risk and more peri appointments. I have had 2 echos on her heart (everything looks good) a long with at least 10 ultrasounds! I love to see her and to hear her heartbeat but I am tired of doctor appointments. They make me super anxious because I always fear the worse.
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<br />At 28 weeks I switched high risk doctors. First one had no bed side manor and was all doom and gloom. I now see an amazing group of maternal fetal specialists at a baby hospital 2 hours away. They said I am officially a normal pregnancy now but I they will let me see her just one more time to make me feel better.
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<br /></div><div> </div><div>The library I work at has been in complete construction mode for 6 weeks. It is officially done as of today. I can finally put everything in order so that it feels like a library. It is small but I do take pride in my work space!
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<br /></div><div> </div><div>Most current problems. This week we found termites in our custom cabinets that were put in 2 years ago. Next week the house must be tented for 3 days. We are currently eating odds and ends out of the fridge and cabinets since we will have to remove all food from the house.
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<br /></div><div> </div><div>Another upside is that I have won a lot of really amazing baby giveaways. This mama loves free stuff!
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<br />I do have multiple things to look forward to. Violet has a few birthday parties to attend. I have some baby showers to attend, including one for my best friend that I am co-hosting. Then my husband is in a wedding and my daughter will be one of the flower girls. Then the cherry on top is the birth of my 2nd daughter. I can't wait to meet her!
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<br /></div><div> </div><div>I think that is it. I am due in less than 8 weeks and I have done absolutely nothing except wash all of Violet's old baby clothes. As soon as the termite tenting is done then I am going into full nesting mode. Husband better watch out!</div>Katrinahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16311004804642880183noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5059797493646604846.post-85642823275858758452011-06-16T05:48:00.000-07:002011-06-16T06:07:31.250-07:00My Little Mermaid<div><div>My daughter is only 31 months old and she rocks at swimming. She can swim all the way across the shallow end of the pool all by herself and just this last weekend she started swimming to the bottom of the shallow end of the pool and retrieving dive sticks all on her own. We call her our little mermaid. People are constantly asking where she learned to swim. It was all through <a href="http://www.infantswim.com/">Infant Swimming Resource</a> which I also did 29 years ago. They really do teach swimming skills that will last a lifetime.<img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; width: 238px; height: 320px; text-align: center; display: block; cursor: pointer;" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5618800169533158210" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiOpJ_Vpu9iTfjjpT0MXW_WJ5h3TJEcP_Jl02vWC3FQ2epid92k0szNj8_Ck8R20zxzHOh0r5OFHJQuX6-EeblXcMKw7q2uqZ-ewucLtwF0pmEVOv8tYpAVg-cfJgCEqC_KGohOHgbjUkU/s320/Swimming.jpg" border="0" /></div><div> </div><div>Please ignore the crappy resolution on the camera. Since I am huge into mommy blog giveaways I of course won a really crappy spongebob underwater camera. It is the only camera we have that can go underwater so these are better than nothing.</div></div>Katrinahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16311004804642880183noreply@blogger.com11tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5059797493646604846.post-30095909027016362062011-06-14T07:04:00.000-07:002011-06-14T07:12:25.967-07:00New Look<div>I recently won a giveaway for a blog makeover and boy did I need it. The template I found online and had been using for over a year was just not cutting it. I just LOVE my new look. Simple and the perfect colors for me. A huge thank you to <a href="http://emilygrace-blog.blogspot.com/">Emily Grace</a> for all the hard work she put into it. Thanks so very much. I just love it.</div>Katrinahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16311004804642880183noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5059797493646604846.post-86085920774507374462011-05-19T07:58:00.000-07:002011-05-19T08:13:41.071-07:00I feel Something!!!<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEji1Jn55jL0bCLv4ndKcezdtjS8gHwYUAZSeZf_eLQ4xfuoBaijNnoRW4wPmM_lMPLF23yhzU-j_4wOqtq-HUAxIMC5i1FjWMQEozPM3wJHhVmc_PlL-gKjcfug3lKvOhpRxAISn0GXB_o/s1600/217563_10100962198343621_2024452_77628337_2172579_n.jpg"><br /></a><br />For the last week I have felt the flutterings of baby girl #2. It is only the beginning of the best part of pregnancy...feeling baby move around in there. It has gotten me super excited!!!!<br /><br />Just finished up father's day cards on shutterfly with new pictures. I am slightly obsessed with shutterfly and all I can do on it. No joke I have at least one annual photo book in progress and I make super cute holiday cards for every little holiday. Just a little something extra when sending pics to family. I ALWAYS have multiple coupons that I use. Heck I even have $20 in credit for baby announcements for when the baby gets here.<br /><br />I decided to add a pic of my awesome husband throwing my daughter up in the air in the pool. My daughter is seriously a mermaid in the water!!!<br /><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEji1Jn55jL0bCLv4ndKcezdtjS8gHwYUAZSeZf_eLQ4xfuoBaijNnoRW4wPmM_lMPLF23yhzU-j_4wOqtq-HUAxIMC5i1FjWMQEozPM3wJHhVmc_PlL-gKjcfug3lKvOhpRxAISn0GXB_o/s1600/217563_10100962198343621_2024452_77628337_2172579_n.jpg"><img style="display: block; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 266px; height: 365px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEji1Jn55jL0bCLv4ndKcezdtjS8gHwYUAZSeZf_eLQ4xfuoBaijNnoRW4wPmM_lMPLF23yhzU-j_4wOqtq-HUAxIMC5i1FjWMQEozPM3wJHhVmc_PlL-gKjcfug3lKvOhpRxAISn0GXB_o/s320/217563_10100962198343621_2024452_77628337_2172579_n.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5608445250671409106" border="0" /></a>Katrinahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16311004804642880183noreply@blogger.com7tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5059797493646604846.post-49255709825021760482011-05-14T17:47:00.000-07:002011-05-16T13:08:37.462-07:00Silver LiningOur family has had one of the toughest years we have ever had. A couple of months ago Violet suffered a severe concussion while at daycare. Just this week my Granny Violet whom my Violet is named after suffered a major concussion complete with passing out in a pool of blood while shopping at the store. She is still in the hospital unable to walk or move much without getting dizzy. I have already made 2 trips across the state to visit her. She is my last living grandparent and she is very special to me so it has been really hard for me.<br /><br />Our house issues include a leak under our wood floors that are only 2 years old. We have been battling insurance for over 12 weeks to fix it. It was only hours ago that it was finally fixed. No more living on concrete floors while waiting for insurance to pay for our new wood floors.<br /><br />My laptop also broke after 2 and a half years so I am currently using my new and really fast pink computer. It is cute and I love it. Happy Mother's Day for me. If it has not been one expense it has been another.<br /><br />The one bright spot is I am pregnant with our 2nd baby!!!!! I am currently 16 weeks and 2 days which puts me due on October 27th. Violet was due October 31st and came all on her own on the 14th. So I really hope this baby chooses any day but that one so they can each have their own day. We are super super excited and this will probably be our last baby. Of course nothing this year comes for this family without difficulties. I have a hematoma in my uterus which puts me at high risk. So that means twice as many doctor appointments for me and one nervous MaMa. An early ultrasound shows that this baby will be a Baby Girl!!!!! I will find out for sure on the 24th. It seems there is no stem on this apple.Katrinahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16311004804642880183noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5059797493646604846.post-4982573004052325162011-02-20T08:36:00.000-08:002011-02-20T09:21:44.714-08:00First Real Injury Complete With Ambulance Ride and Hospital StayLast month I got my first part-time job since having Violet. It is the position of librarian at a small college in the area where I am to build the library from scratch. Wednesday morning I had only been to work 15 minutes when I got the dreaded call from daycare. My daughter had fallen on the back of her head in the playground and had cried for 15 minutes but at that point she was only sniveling and they told me they were watching her closely. I was slightly worried but not too much at this point. Another 15 minutes go by and I get another call. This time the director told me that Violet said she wanted to go back to class with her friends and on the way there she threw up. Instantly I knew it was a concussion and I flew out of work to go and pick her up. When I get there I see her sitting with her sippy cup and her teacher told me she had just thrown up again. Violet told me she fell on her noggin and she tripped on a ball. I scoop her up put her in the car-seat and head out of the parking lot. While all this is going on my parents happen to be in town to help us with another issue with our house. They met me at the daycare and my mom hopped into the car to talk to Violet on our way to the pediatrician.<br /><br />On the way she threw up again. I had my husband call the pediatrician back and ask if we should go to the hospital instead. They said we should and I immediately took her to the ER. When we walk in a triage nurse immediately takes me to the back room without even filling out paperwork. While giving them all the information she vomits again. We get back to an ER room and I lay down with her on the gurney. She vomits 2 more times and she is super lethargic. They order a CT scan and we immediately go back and get it. At this point we have only been at the ER for an hour. Since I am of child rearing age and you just never know I can not go back with her and my dad does instead. She is wrapped in a lead vest and sits perfect still through the whole thing. About an hour later we get the good news that her CT scan shows no internal bleeding or cracked skull. During all the waiting V takes a long nap in my arms. We are then told that they have called her pediatrician team and the trauma team and we will either get to go home while monitoring her, she will be admitted to the hospital for observation or she will be sent to a hospital with a children's ward an hour away. Two long hours later I find out that she is getting transferred to the other hospital. My husband is there at this point so I rush home to get an overnight bag for myself and Violet and I get back to the hospital after picking up a quick lunch for myself. While I was gone V had to get an IV put in for the ambulance ride, multiple tubes of blood taken and she had to have a catheter put in for a urine sample to make sure she was stable for the ride. Thankfully my husband and mother were there for her because she cried so hard. I felt just awful.<br /><br />An hour after that the ambulance transfer team arrives. She is put into a car-seat which is then strapped to the gurney. All of a sudden at this point she starts smiling and she proceeds to chat away on the hour journey to the other hospital. First ambulance ride for her and for myself. I am not a fan of sitting sideways as I tend to get motion sick. We arrive at the other hospital and we go to the pediatric ER where we wait for hours till they decide what to do with us. The trauma team comes in and says that they are going to release us to go home and to monitor her. At this point I am just like why the crap were we transferred all the way down here then. They consult with the trauma attending and he disagrees. We are to be admitted. We wait a couple more hours and finally her room is ready. Complete with crib and bubble top because under 3 they have to be in a crib and the bubble top is so she does not crawl out in the night. Exactly 12 hours after the accident happened at daycare she is admitted to the hospital. Visiting hours are already over so my parents kiss her goodbye and head to my house. I lay her down in the crib after she tells me she is really tired. I had just got in the mail a woogie (which is a stuffed animal to hold an ipod touch with speakers inside) from a giveaway win and she cuddled right up with it while it played rock-a-bye baby music. Only one parent can stay overnight so my husband heads home for the night. I fall asleep right after he leaves. Every 4 hours they wake her and take vitals and check her pupils. It is an uneventful night.<br /><br />In the morning my husband brings me a much needed sugar free vanilla iced coffee from McDonalds. Violet devours the fairly tasty hospital food and we sit and wait. Thankfully at 10 the playroom down the hall opens up and Violet spend her time playing with all the toys and puzzles. Then a nice gentleman comes in and shows her and 2 older kids some sea life. Violet gets to hold a starfish, whelk and poke an anemone. She loved every second of it. The guy let her touch and handle everything. Violet shows no fear. Then my parents show up with balloons. After playing for a while and a quick lunch and she is out for a nap. Matt and I go for lunch in the cafe while my parents watch her sleep. After lunch my husband heads back to work to prepare for a big case he has in the morning. Around 3:30 the trauma team checks on her and she is released. After all the tape that holds the IV is painfully removed and the tears fade away we scoop her and everything up and head out of there.<br /><br />She is already back to her normal self as if nothing happened. I am more concerned with the radiation she received during her CT scan. In fact I cried about it once we got home and all was well. I have to look at it by seeing there is nothing that I can do now and she needed it to check for issues in the brain. It still scares me to think about her major dose of radiation but right now I am just happy to have my baby girl napping in my lap. 2011 is proving to have one surprise after another for our family. Hopefully all future surprises will be happy!Katrinahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16311004804642880183noreply@blogger.com10