House Hunting

When we bought our last home we thought/hoped we'd never move again. The first day we went looking I was in tears because I didn't like ANY of the houses. When we found one we liked, we didn't like the neighborhood. We thought about building, but couldn't stay at Scotts Grandmas that long (long story). The house we ended up getting, we had tried to see before, but couldn't get in. I had almost forgotten about the place. I knew when I walked in... It was the right place. We negotiated a little and borrowed for some updating. We spent months fixing the place up. The first couple of weeks were brutal. Raiden was a month old at this point and my mom came up to help. I busted my rear, hardly sleeping at all, to take advantage of the time she was there. It ended up being about 3 weeks. That was part of the reason I wanted another baby. I didn't feel like I really got to cherish each moment of his newborness, like you should with your last. It took 6 months to get to a stopping point. We quit for a while, then started finishing up when I got pregnant. 

After God blessed us with another baby, he decided we needed to move again. She was only 4 weeks old. So once again our life got chaotic with a newborn. Thank the lord my mom was already there. I wanted to take 2 full weeks after she was born to rest and just focus on Sierra. Even though Scott got laid off on day 10, I still took that time. 

We first contemplated staying at my moms lakehouse.  Once we found out Scott would be getting his old job back we decided that would be too far of a drive. So we are staying at my parents which is still an hour and a half commute for him. 

We started looking at short sales because unfortunately, it will probably take a long time for our other house to sell. The first one we looked at was horrible. And although it would have been a great location for me, in my best friends neighborhood, it would have been over an hour drive for Scott. 

We started looking in an area that would be 45min to an hour for him. We really liked the first house we saw there, it was plenty big enough. We decided to put in an offer. After we had signed the papers it occurred to me I should check the sex offender registry. There was a pedophile living on the SAME street!!! His victims were ages 7&9. I was devastated. But then I thought to myself... God has a plan... And this house isn't in it. 

The next one was okay. I loved the yard and the area but the house needed a lot of updating. I was going to bring Scott back to look at it but decided to expand our search a bit.  I tried a few smaller towns and didn't find anything then tried Lexington. A lot of houses in our price range showed up. I decided to get in touch with the realtor that was the buying agent when we sold our last house in KY. She is actually the woman who bought our houses sister and we became friends on Facebook. I know she is a Christian and thought God could help guide her. 

I knew big cities had a lot of pervs but it is ridiculous!!! I had asked our realtor about the neighborhoods we were considering. To be tactful she told me which neighborhoods were considered more desirable. I checked the zip code on the less desirable area and found 5 pages of sex offenders. The more desirable area... "only" had a page and a half! I plugged in each address to see how close they were and what they're charges were. The house I liked the best had one a little over a mile so a scratched it off the list. I prayed about it then decided to add it back on at the bottom.  There was a major road dividing the areas and even if you get a house without one for 100 miles, if your in a neighborhood, there's no guarantee one might not move in next week. I thought they couldn't live next to a school or park.  Apparently that's not true because there is one that lives right next door to an elementary school in Lexington. His victim was 11 years old!

We looked at 4 other houses first. Two I didn't like at all, two had potential but needed some work. I really didn't like either of the yards. Then we looked at my internet pick. It's smaller/cozier than ideal but, honestly, we weren't using a lot of the space we had in WV. I grew up in 1000 sqft with 3 siblings. This house is 1600 all on one level. 4 bedrooms, 2 baths. One of the things I was sad to have to leave behind was my whirlpool tub Sierra was born in.  Well this house has one almost just like it! Like the house I grew up in and the house I loved in WV, the master is in an addition. Although it's bigger, it kind of reminds me of the house I grew up in. The main difference will be that I intend to use the front room as a dining room instead of the back room in the addition, which will be the family room. The back yard is already completely fenced in. It had a one car garage that was converted to a workshop that Scott can use for a workout room. Another wired out building. A kids playhouse with a sandbox underneath, swing set, a place for a pool, and room for the trampoline. And... a little garden area, two apple trees and a pear tree.... for me!!!

I had Scott meet me back over there after work to look at it. He really liked it too, so we made an offer and the seller accepted!  Cosmetically, the house doesn't need any immediate work. I do plan to take up the carpet in the front room though, there are hardwood floors underneath. The inspector found some things but the seller has agreed to have it all taken care of before closing. We ordered the appraisal today. We are scheduled to close by the 25th of July, hopefully all the work can be done by then.  Or at least before school starts!

So is this our forever home Lord? I guess only time will tell. Am I still sure Sierra will be our last baby?... You'll have to ask Him about that too!!!

Sewing Project: Kimono Christening Gown and Bonnet

Before Sierra was born and before Scott got laid off we were planning a trip to the beach. I had all these wonderful shots planned out in my head for taking family photos and pics of the new baby. I bought a few props and started looking for an old fashion christening gown. I searched eBay and found some gorgeous ones but they were either too expensive or too fancy and girly. At that time we didn't know what we were having and back in the day even boys wore long gowns. I wanted something kind of peasant looking. I decided I would make something! 

When I got the material to make Summers dress I picked up some muslin fabric. It had the old look and feel I was looking for. At first I was going to just do one little button in the back with a loop of elastic but I thought that it would be too plain in the front. I didn't have enough confidence in myself, especially since I was doing it by hand, to do button holes. I then considered faux buttons on the front. I still didn't like the vision though so I started looking around online for ideas. I came across patterns for kimono style dresses. One even had a variation for a christening gown. I wanted it long! The pattern I choose was very basic. I made my own bias tape and adjusted the length and the length of the arms to suit me and be within my one yard of fabric. It ended up being about 27 inches and the sleeves are 3/4 length (I think). I had two pieces left that were 10x12 to make a bonnet. I was going to make two, one girly with crocheted trim and one plain for a boy. I stitched the entire gown by hand! I had a little trouble around the back of the neck but it turned out beautifully.

The last couple weeks of my pregnancy were a little rough and I didn't get the bonnets done. Then 10 days after she was born Scott got laid off and we had to cancel or vacation plans. We got busy with packing, moving, and unpacking. Finally, yesterday with the help of Granny and her sewing machine, we made the girly bonnet and added some of the trim to the gown.

I had bought a Moses basket that I wanted to take her picture in at the beach. Now I need to figure out where to do the pics and I need to do it before she out grows it all!!!!

God is Good!!!

Those who have been following my blog know that we started doing bible time every evening back in January. We have been using a guide called Character Building for Families. During multiple lessons there have been scripture references about being joyful and content during times of trouble. On Tuesday, May 10th, when Sierra was just 10 days  old, Scott was laid off from his job. I know that God had been preparing us for this in many ways and is with us now guiding us. I'll admit that I did get a little emotional at first. I just experienced a life changing, awe inspiring moment in this house, the birth of Sierra. I knew we weren't going to be able to stay here. I love my house, it's perfect for my family, but apparently God has other plans for us. It's just a house, home is where we make it. I have not been the least bit concerned about our future though. I have faith that God will see us through. I recently posted a verse on FB:

Philippians 4:11 (NIV)
"...for I have learned to be content whatever the circumstances."

Having these lessons have made what would be a stressful time an opportunity to see God work in our lives. We were having a conversation with the kids about the situation and Summer, who just turned nine, said "God has a plan, He knows what He is doing!" How comforting is that!?

Starting in January as well, I thought my nesting had gone into overdrive! I attributed to having a home birth this time. I made a home maintenance list for Scott and became very obsessed with getting the house clean and organized. I told Scott at one point, I couldn't help it, I had this drive inside me, that said, we NEEDED to get all this stuff done before Sierra was born. Little did I know, that it was God talking to me!!!

God comes to us in all sorts of ways. Every Friday night we have Family Movie Friday. We had already received our movie for that Friday when Scott got laid off. I knew what movie it was, but not what it was about. It was Ramona and Beezus. It was about their dad getting laid off. Our circumstances are a bit different and so will our ending be, but it was still good for the kids. They know that we don't believe in coincidences or luck... Just Gods hand and blessings. 

Wednesday, the day after the lay off, Scott called a friend from his old job. It was late in the evening, that friend just happened to be out with two of his old bosses!!!! A week later and he has a tentative start back date of 6/1, given all the details are ironed out. That evening our concluding statement, that was in our book at bible time was, "Thank God for supplying our needs through Dad or Moms job, and also for other ways He has supplied." My eyes filled with tears and my heart filled with joy!! 

I'm not quite sure yet what He has planned for our next home. We are planning to stay with my parents until our house sells or another opportunity becomes more clear. I decided to look online even though I didn't think we could buy anything yet. I found a house in my best friends neighborhood that is listed below market value. That, combined with some other blessings, may allow us to buy our next home before this one sells. I'm assuming the seller is going for a short sale so it's no guarantee and will take time but we will see. It's in His hands... If it's meant to be, it will be, if not, it won't. We are just along for the ride. 

Some may wonder if I regret ever moving here. After all, we didn't even end up being here two years. Things didn't turn out the way we thought they would with Scotts family. The kids weren't crazy about the school or their lunches... Lol. They were starting to find other ways to occupy their time, but they missed being in a neighborhood and having a place to ride bikes. I, on the other hand, loved the break from small town suburbia! Did I mention I love my house here?! And the view is amazing. We tried to sell our old house before to move within Kentucky with no luck. Then when we put it on the market to move here, it sold in six weeks. I think it was part of His plan for us to come here. Who knows, if we hadn't, maybe I wouldn't have even gotten pregnant with Sierra and had my homebirth. For me, it was like an extended, mountainous, vacation. I'm ready to come home now. 

Prodromal/Precipitous Unplanned Unassisted Home Waterbirth

It started on Friday, April 29th. My mom and I took two laps around the block. When we got back I started having a lot of Braxton Hicks. We always watch a movie with our kids on Friday nights so we started watching Inception. I started thinking maybe this was the beginning of labor although the contractions weren't very strong at all yet. I went upstairs and ran my straightened through my hair and put on a little make up... Just in case. I sent my Midwife a text to give her a heads up. While I was up on my feet is stopped though. So I retired to the couch and movie. They started up again. After the movie I cleaned up the house a bit and it stopped again. I went to bed and slept better than I had in weeks!

My wonderful hubby and daughter brought me breakfast in bed at about 9:30. We went for another walk at about noon but only once around. Then at 2 twice around.... Then we went to Walmart and Tractor Supply. I was having Braxton Hicks.... Or I guess pre labor contraction all day but nothing significant. My wonderful friend Ferne brought me some baby girl clothes just in case, at about 6. We sat around chatting until 7:30. After she left we took 2 more laps!  I bounced a little on my exercise ball I had picked up earlier. Played on my phone and went up to go to bed around 10.

I sent my Midwife a text at 10:55 to tell her I was contracting again but that it would probably go away again. I mostly was giving her an update on another little issue I had been having. We shot a few back and forth. I told her I was going to time the contractions for a bit even though they weren't very strong still. This was 11:19. They started coming every couple of minutes so I sent her another text. She told me to get up and walk around or get in the bath to see if they stopped. I stood up at 11:25... Had a pretty strong one and felt a pop. At first there was no fluid but another came a minute later with just a small gush. Told my Midwife and she headed out the door. I woke Scott... He asked if he could lay there until she got there. I said, "No you have to get everything ready!" I started the bath while he attempted to make the bed up. I told him to get the cameras. First he got the video camera but forgot that I had told him.... And written in the birth plan... That it needs to be plugged in to work bc the battery is shot! So he went to get the charger. I had another contraction, they were right on top of each other, I felt the urge to push this time. I yelled to Scott to get back in there or he was going to miss it. He got in there in time for the next one and the head emerged. I told him to grab the other camera. I reassured him that everything was fine, one more push and we'd have a baby. Then the rest of her was born!!! The time stamp on the picture was 11:44!!! I got my April baby!

We tried to stay calm while Scott fumbled with cell phones. She made a few short cries but I really couldn't tell if she was breathing in between or not and seemed gunky. Scott got my Midwife on the phone. She said to lift her bottom higher than her head a little and sure enough the gunk came rolling out! I looked then to see she was a girl. Of course this was a very short amount of time and the cord was still attached, pulsing, and giving her oxygen. I had Scott go wake my mom to tell her.

She started rooting so I started to try to nurse, then Joshua came up so I covered up. She started rooting again while he went to get Summer and Jacob. I offered again and she latched right on! This was at 11:55. My midwife arrived at 12:15. She stayed latch until 12:30! 15 minutes later the placenta was delivered and I cut the cord.

We moved to my bed, everyone got to hold her and her newborn assessment was done. AMAZING!!!!!

Birthday Cupcake via Breastmilk

Sewing Projects: Cloth wipes and swiffer cover

Summer and I also decided that the babies shouldn't be the only ones getting their most delicate parts wiped with soft flannel! I looked into buying some family wipes but decided, Nah, I can make them! I didn't even look up how most people do it. I knew most were made with sergers which I  don't own. I decided to not even fool with the sewing machine at all.  I bought a half yard each of two different, but coordinating fabrics. Instead of deciding ahead of time a size, I divided the fabric in half one way and in thirds the other. After squaring up the fabric, and joining two pieces together, they ended up being roughly 5 1/2 X 8.  We are only using them for #1 so we didn't need them to be big.  Plus they ended up being a good size for the napkin holder I ended up buying to keep them in. I joined three sides together inside out using a running stitch. Flipped it out pressed it, then closed the open end with a blanket stitch. They've been washed and dried several times now and are holding up great! BTW... If your wondering we were already keeping the diaper pail in the bathroom near the toilet so this is not a hard transition. We have switched our regular TP to 100% recycled, White Cloud.

I got some birdseye cotton unpaper towels (napkins). I also bought two packs of microfiber clothes for regular cleaning. It came with one for glass, stainless, bathroom, and wood. I decided to turn one of the wood ones into a cover for my swiffer.

I'm feeling cheaper... I mean greener by the minute!

Sewing Projects: Pillowcase dress

All of thissewing going on prompted Summer to want to learn to sew. After my next prenatal I headed back to the fabric store. I had seen a friends little girl wearing a pillowcase dress and had seen them on etsy. I thought this would be easy. I looked through pattern books and found the easy sew section in simplicity. These were only 2.99. I got one for the pillowcase dress and another that had dresses with short sleeves and a purse. It really was very simple. Summer sewed the front to the back with the machine and used a basting stitch on the contrast band before I attached it.  I could've gotten by without the pattern but if I hadn't I wouldn't have known to get bias tape for the armpits. This was the only semi hard part. And of course my inferior sewing machine kept messing up making it frustrating. I ended up doing the second one by hand and it turned out better! I gave the machine one last shot on the neck casing and then gave up on it and finished the bottom by hand. Of course machine sewing with a good machine would be faster, but I actually ended up enjoying the hand stitching. I could curl up comfortably on the couch. It was quite therapeutic. Scott gave me the green light to buy a new machine but I think I'll pass.

Sewing projects: Wraps

I've already blogged about this wrap once but I wanted to tell the story behind it as well. I went online to buy a gypsymama wrap. I ordered from their outlet which ends up being either a return or demo but saves you $20. I then started talking to a friend about it. She was saying that it was still out of her budget so I suggested she go on Etsy.com and look at the homemade ones. Why didn't I think of this for myself? I started looking too. Then I came across an article about how to make a wrap and found out the type of wrap I was getting (gauze) doesn't fray too much so you don't have to to anything to the hem unless you just want to. About this time I started kicking myself! The next day I got an email from GypsyMama telling me the wrap I ordered is no longer available. It must be a sign... Praise God. So canceled the order and went to the fabric store. They had some gauze 30% off but not a huge selection. Basically it boiled down to solid turquoise or fuchsia. Since I don't know what I'm having, I choose turquoise. Plus I knew I wanted to split the fabric and give one to a friend who is having a boy. I was hoping to find a striped pattern, this seemed really plain and boring. So I started looking at other fabrics that I could use to make a pocket on the wrap. It would mark center and be useful! I decided I would try to put a zipper on the pocket as well. I spent all of $30 and jad enough stuff to make two wraps with pockets. When I got home I started looking at my ring sling that has a zipper pocket on it. Then I started thinking about the pillow blanket my mom made my son. I thought it would be neat to be able to store the wrap inside and make kind of of a pillow out of it. So I had to make sure the inside if the pocket had a finished lining. This was the result.

 I decided I wanted a short wrap too, mostly for doing the Hip Cross Carry later on (when I'm not preggers). It ended up being a tad bit shorter than I wanted. I wanted this color because we are going to Myrtle Beach shortly after the baby is born and I am going to be doing some beach photos. Ive got a lot of ideas for this wraps versatility! I wanted 4 yards but they only has 3 and 5/8ths left. Luckily I'm tiny! I tried to do a regular rucksack with Raiden but he never cooperates for it. I decided to try a Short Cross Carry and then maneuver him onto my back. This was attempt number 2. The first time I tried the knot was too far around my back so I couldn't adjust it. It was also a little hard not to get my shirt all twisted.  Once I got everything situated though, it was quite comfortable for both of us! I should also be able to the Kangaroo Carry with it.