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Tuesday, November 29, 2011

HANUKKAH!

We are crazy busy getting ready for The Nutcracker performances Dec. 17th and 18th .  Izzy will be a ginger bread chef, and Jacob will be a mouse in the army. Nate and I are again party parents and so ready for this year as costumes are ready (which I need to share with you here), and we know our dance.
After nutcracker we have Hanukkah the celebration of the miracle of lights back during the Maccabees war. Our family has chosen to celebrate this Biblical Feast instead of Christmas for several personal reasons but also for the reasons stated in this podcast I am linking to below. We are not offended if our friends or relatives celebrate or even wish us a merry Christmas. I just would like for  our friends and relatives to understand why we don't and make their own decisions based on the facts listed in this video that can be found in any history books and all over the web. We are excited to spend the time with our friends and family and see the wonder in the children's eyes as they learn more about the Bible.

Truth or Tradition?

I Pray this is informative and helpful and inspires you to dig more into your Bible and truly understand and question what your relationship with Christ is.

Thursday, October 20, 2011

Crazy Busy

Well I did get more projects started over the summer but we have not completed them all so you will have to wait a bit longer for pictures. The kids are doing very well in their schooling and are getting ready for nutcracker again at ballet. I almost have Nate's vest completed and Jacob's vest is ready to be cut out. I have several quilts that I am working on as well as redecorating and organizing my nieces bedrooms.
At the moment I am sick.:( the kids gave me a virus that turned into tonsillitis probably due to all the stress lately. there have been several deaths in the family and then my father-in-law had to be taken to the ER. He was sooo close to a heart attack I am very glad we convinced him to go. YHWY has been working on,in, and through us all lately and we are going to be better off because of it all in the end.
Isaac is learning more and more signing pretty regularly and saying some words. the Therapists are happy with his progress and the Dr appointments are just checkups every 6 months now. It almost feels like we are getting our lives back and can plan things in advance.

Friday, August 26, 2011

Bathroom update

Well its one more thing off my to-do list. I finished the board and batten in the bathroom and even got it painted all in one day! So I am still waiting for the perfect shade of grey paint to scream "BUY ME" so I can paint the rest of the walls and a gorgeous piece of furniture that I can turn into a new vanity and tile the top with the Caribbean blue tiles I fished out of a dumpster in Dallas forever ago. Slowly and and steadily like the tortoise right? 




when it all comes together I will be sure to give you all the before and after pictures this is still a work in progress, but I just had to share it with you all because it makes me feel so good to actually be getting something done in that room

Master Bedroom update

Well I got sidetracked from finishing the trim in my room because the bed just seemed blank wiht the death of some of my favorite sheet sets I am left with white and tan sheet sand needed something other than a blank canvas in the middle of my room. 
unfortunately this is the only before picture I can find
its from 2008 before the headboard had been added to "finish" the bed

The sexy man on the bed was very pleased with himself since he had just finished converting this room ( our old living room) into a bedroom for us. There use to be a door where the headboard is and this room had a big opening into the dining room/kitchen area. He did an excellent job and I am so grateful for a room of our own.

Well the bed was a gift from His parents for our wedding and since I am always changing my design ideas the bed never really got its finishing touches. Originally I wanted a poster bed but soon realized that would not be practical with children. After 7 years I decided on a headboard shape and I later added a coat of black paint and distressed it and here is what it look like now.



I will soon be moving that big silver frame to the living room and the mirror on the other wall will get a redo too! I have a plan for the wall above the bed but will have to wait since I have to get some pictures printed and frame them and that takes money! So what do you guys think?

Tuesday, August 16, 2011

Itching! UGGGG!

 So we are stuck inside due to extreme heat and drought conditions and I am slowly finishing "My List" but keep looking at blogs and reading about everyone else s adventures is driving me crazy. I am Itching for fall weather and a trip to the thrift stores for more easy cheap projects.Well this lady is really inspiring me over at Secondhand or bare bottom I LOVE the yellows and reds together and her closet on her other blog  Five Days...5 ways is amazing and inspiring. I am on a roll filling the house with color and organizing so we are ready for our school year that starts the first of September. We are so excited and can't wait to be able to get outside and learn and play.

Saturday, August 6, 2011

Pantry Reveal!

Ok so we all know I go overboard when I dust and end up rearranging furniture. Well I did it again! I went to make pizza dough last night and well I found bugs in my pantry UGGGG! I can't stand bugs in my house let alone where I store my food so I ripped everything out! Literally my hubby helped me rip out t the shelving and we re did them for more storage because the old ones we falling apart and well it just needed to be done. so here is what my my house looked like for 24 hours 



and here is our almost empty pantry
it has matching shelves on the opposite side of the  2x5 closet


Well my sweet hubby worked till midnight then called it quits till morning and by lunchtime I was putting things back in hurray! One more thing to check off my list. here are the after pictures.


you can't tell but he installed hooks to keep the broom and mop off the floor so maybe they won't fall over and hit me every time I go in there to get something.



Thursday, August 4, 2011

THE LIST!

Ok so I have this list on my phone of things to get done around the house. Well I did get a few things marked off in the last two weeks but well as I was doing those projects I found new ones to add and well its bigger than ever and most of them I cannot do by myself let alone while kids are running around. So I am thinking I need to borrow a teenager for a weekend to watch the kids while Nate and I work on said projects, too bad he is building a storage shed so I can have my laundry room back!
SOOO in case you are wondering here is my list and in no particular order either.

1) Redo pantry shelves (they are falling off the walls)
2) Organize cabnets
3) Take down and repair and paint hallway shelf
4) Hang hallway shelf in entryway
5) Make piano bench cover
6) Finish painting bricks in kitchen
7) Finish putting tin on walls in boys room
8) Kitchen floors ( they are horrid linoleum and falling apart)
9) Batton Board in bathroom
10) Paint bathroom
11) Batton Board in entryway 
12) Finish hanging trim in bedroom
13) Finish Nate's desk
14) Organize and Clean Laundry room
15) Paint laundry room
16) Finish school work
17) Paint entry way
Not to mention all my stacks of unfinished sewing projects! So I think I have plenty to do this fall on top of schooling the kids M/W/F and Ballet on T/W.

Thursday, July 28, 2011

Boys room re-do!

I started out with an idea of how we could use our old furniture given to us by friends to make the room my son picked out of a magazine. it had cube shelves two high attached to the wall about halfway up with twin beds end to end so it seemed to be one long bed the length of this wall with throw pillows leaned against the wall in greens, blues, and oranges. the inside of the cube shelves mirrored these colors as the outside of the shelves were brown stained to match the bed frame. Well Papa made it work but the boys felt it necessary to flip over the headboard in between the two beds, so it wasn't going to be safe. When Isaac was big enough to be in a separate room we stacked the beds back into a bunk bed and moved the pack-n-play in to accommodate the 3 boys adn I painted the room with the help of a friend which you can see here and that satisfied me for a bit longer. Unfortunately the itch came back sooner that I wanted. I STILL need to finish putting the tin and chair rail up to protect the walls maybe that will happen this fall once its not in the 100s all day long. SO until then We have replaced the old worn out beds with this beauty from koala kids beds Way better than anything I could find locally and OH SO BEAUTIFUL when we opened the box, and look the boys are happy too! Here they are putting it together

worked too hard

took 2 days but they got it finished
I also got busy last week and repainted and altered their old book shelf since the two shelves jutting out were being used to sit on and totally going to break.
Sooo as I keep toiling away at their room I will post and update of the completed room hopefully before the end of the year.

Getting Crafty

ok so last week we got alot of stuff done around the house. little projects that had stacked up and big projects that we had just been putting off. The first thing I did was get rid of the clutter things I knew I would never use again and the kids had just outgrown. Second I pulled out the child size table my kids use for tents and standing on to reach things they shouldn't. I then sanded it down filled the areas damaged by water and repainted and sealed it it is now waiting for the new owner to come pick it up. Here is the finished product.

Wednesday, July 6, 2011

Isaac's story

I was asked to write a blog post recently that told Isaac's story and update everyone on whats happened since he has been home. So here is a simplified version of what has happened in his life for the past 2 years.   

 Sitting here watching my little monkey play in the bathtub giggling, splashing and quacking like a duck is a miracle that most people take for granted. Today I have a happy healthy 2 year old who is just a bit short and does not talk, but with 4 kids this is blessing.  It wasn’t always like this though. It seems like an eternity ago in December ’08 we were grateful for life itself as my mother-in-law had just had a stroke and my father-in-laws health was failing we discovered we would be having another baby. God had blessed us with easy pregnancies and a couple long labors so it wasn’t anything to worry about. I scheduled with the midwife and went about our lives.
  At 13 weeks it all turned into a nightmare. I was miscarrying and as I laid in bed trying to rest I was furious, confused, hurt and determined. I cried and prayed. I prayed that my God, who had blessed us in so many other ways, would bless me again and save my baby. I prayed He would use this pregnancy and this child in his ministry to reach others. That night seemed to go on forever.
The next day I saw the midwife and we wasted no time checking on the baby. To everyone’s surprise there was a heartbeat loud and strong. So we went to a colleague to get a sonogram and see what exactly was causing the bleeding. The sono revealed a clot on the placenta where they believe a second sac holding a twin was attached. We all agreed that I needed to take it easy the rest of the pregnancy. As hard as that is to do with 3 children I did it with lots of help from family and friends.
At 23/24 weeks I started contractions. Little ones here and there so I took it a little easier on light bed rest I stopped doing house work and only played with the kids and watched movies. Then one night the contractions got more regular and by bedtime they were painful so we kept a log and I was in labor. Knowing it was way too early we quickly gathered the herbs to stop labor and within the hour the contractions had completely stopped. The next day (Saturday) we went to the hospital for some tests and observation. I had an UTI so we treated it and went home for complete bed rest till Monday when I would get another sono. Needless to say I dilated over the weekend from a3 to an 8 without ever feeling any contractions. There were clearly contractions showing on the sono monitor but I was feeling nothing. They sent me straight to the hospital where I would remain tilted with my head down until my baby was born. 

24 hours later lying in a bed (remember the angle) I had a headache and not much sleep but I was clearly having a baby and they could not stop it. So with my husband and some wonderful friends Isaac Xavier Finch was born the tiniest little cry 1lb 4oz and 11 ¾ “long. Smaller than a baby doll and about the size of a T bone steak. They wrapped him in a warming blanket and rushed him away as soon as he was freed from the water sac, it happened so fast it’s a blurr. They allowed me to go to the NICU on my way to a regular room. He looked so small and fragile in the incubator/pod. His skin was transparent and I could see his spider web like veins. His little fists were smaller than a quarter but he was real and alive. 
I felt helpless and had so many questions but all I could do was watch and pray. It was going to be a long, hard road.

At 24 hours old the nurses were worried about his jaundice and were trying to put off a blood transfusion. At 48 the respiratory therapist was amazed at his lung strength for his age and weight. It was a roller coaster of good and bad and all we could do was live day to day. The hole in his heart wasn’t closing on its own by day 4 and the Doctors decided to start medications to close it. If that didn’t work it meant surgery. Isaac was breathing very well on the ventilator and they were going to wean him off so we could hold him. Day 5 wasn’t so great Isaac had low blood pressure and they were giving him meds for that but they really needed the valve to close to guarantee his pressure to normalize. Day 6 was great there were no signs of bleeding in Isaac’s brain and he had gained weight. At 7 days old he was doing well enough with his breathing that they started giving him some milk through a tube.  Days 8-11 are a blurr of blood transfusions and back and forth on breathing machines. They were worried about infection from the lines inserting into his belly button they needed consent to do surgery to place a picc line. Isaac’s heart mess was getting worse reopening and blood pressure all over the place so more meds and another surgery to close that hole. How do they do a surgery on a baby that tine and a heart the size of a pecan? The surgeries went very well with the exception of nicking the vocal cord nerve which apparently drops down from the neck and around the heart. The next day I show up at the hospital and freak out my poor baby has ivs in both hands and a tube going in his head and no one had called me to let me know any of this was happening. The broviac line that had been placed during the heart surgery wasn’t working correctly so they had to go in and move it meaning another surgery. His immune system was nonexistent and I was very worried he would get an infection from all these procedures not to mention the communication between hospital staff sucked so no one knew what was going on and couldn’t tell me either. Mothers day was a sad day my little man was very swollen from all the surgeries the blood transfusions and all the different medications. Isaac had gained weight through all this and was recovering very well.
No tests were showing he had an infection but there were growths on his breathing tube. The little stinker pulled the tube out himself to show the nurses where the problem was. Test results showed pneumonia. He was doing well after the surgeries and now he was having to take antibiotics and other medications  that could cause hearing loss and 3 days later still no change. The infectious disease Dr. thinks he could have meningitis so they wanted permission for a spinal tap. I have a hard time giving them permission to do this as there are no signs of meningitis or an infection that would warrant such drastic test in a baby so small but after several phone calls from the Doctors I give in, I understand it is the hospitals liability and they have to eliminate every possibility.


May 20th Daddy finally gets to come back and see Isaac. All tests came back negative and he was off all meds they were going to start milk feeds again and he was being weaned off the ventilators again. 
May 25th almost a month old and I got to hold my baby for the first time. It was heavenly till he stretched and moved his breathing tube. It all went downhill from there and he had to go back to bed. Between steroids and me holding him almost daily he improved immensely. He was growing and being a stinker terrorizing the nurses. We got a friend to take pictures and Isaac continued to do well into June. On the 18th I held him for 2 ½ hours and they upped his feedings; he continued to do well breathing more and more on his own. By the 23rd Isaac was 2lbs 15oz. By July they took him off the ventilator and put him on a machine that just blows air into his lungs to keep them from collapsing he went 2 whole days breathing on his own with this machine before they decided to give him a rest and not overdo it. Isaac was doing so well the nurses had nothing to do so they dressed him up. He was up to 3lbs 9oz.
July 14th Isaac is off the respirators and only has a hiflo nasal canula to give him a little oxygen. They also moved him from the pod to a real crib. Late in the month he had a busy day and between eye exams and physical therapy, breathing treatments and trying bottle feeds he got worn out and they had to put him back on a respirator.
August 9th he had several good weeks bottle feeding and breathing more and more on his own. He is a little over 5lbs now.
He had a few days with temp nurses and regressed he stopped eating and just wasn’t behaving so it ruined our chances of taking him home this week. Isaac got moved to an area of the NICU for bigger babies that don’t need as much care and it is a step closer to coming home but we are now waiting on the eye Dr to decide if surgery will be needed for his retinopathy of prematurity which seems to take forever. By the last week in August we convince the eye surgeon that he can follow along with office visits and there is no need for Isaac to stay in the hospital so we get everything ready for him to come home on August 28th.

Over the next few months he fights with what the doctors believe to be reflux but we now know to have been an allergy to the formula he was on. Due to the allergy he has lost a lot of weight and got behind with his growth.
In September Isaac ends up having the eye surgery and we have several good visits with other Doctors. His lungs look great and he no longer needs oxygen, His immune system is great and he is growing and happy.
Over the winter we try and schedule his other surgery that was needed and 3 times it got canceled for irritating reasons the last time an ear infection he probably got from the pre-op apt so in May ’10 he ended up getting tubes placed in both ears and we find out he has growths on his vocal cords which could be keeping him from babbling or making sounds. He finally gets his surgery in December ’10 and we are now fighting with doctors who think Isaac needs hormone therapy because he is not caught in his up growth with most preemies his age. Isaac still doesn’t talk and has had multiple hearing tests done over the past year and all have come back normal so we have started Speech therapy and teaching him sign language He adores Signing Time and I highly suggest it for all babies weather they are special needs or not. As of July 2011 Isaac signs more than 25 signs and says 3 or 4 words.

Saturday, July 2, 2011

BIG REVEAL

We had an amazing time at my nieces sweet 16 unfortunately I did not get to dance with this handsome masked man!

Friday, May 27, 2011

In a Daze!

We spent this last weekend all dressed up with nowhere to go. Jacob dressed as an evil minion and Isabelle as a Diamond Fairy. They are in LOVE with the stage and dancing/performing. They all did a great job and everyone enjoyed the performance.

This weekend is Memorial Day weekend and we are expecting company so this week I have been busy with housework and attempting to understand chemistry in my anatomy class and wow I cannot say how much I appreciate google and wikipedia! I am making progress but am looking into getting an extension because I am just having a really hard time with it. For those of you not in the look I decided last year to finally take some classes and enrolled in The School of Natural Healing because it is one of the best for herbologists and we really do need to go back to our roots the government and the drug companies are not interested in our health they are only interested in money. God gave us plants for a reason and not just to look pretty in our yards but to help heal our bodies that He created to heal itself
 IF WE EAT CORRECTLY AND TAKE CARE OF IT!
I do know that sometimes we NEED modern medicine as Isaac can attest to but for the most part we really don't need intervention or help when we get sick. We really are what we eat so just remember that the next time you go through a drive through or pick up a pizza.

Anyway if you would like to see more pictures of the ballet you can email me and I will send you a link and password to the albums on shutterfly.
My niece is turning 16 in June and we are gearing up for a Masquerade Ball so there is a new sewing project and I will be doing a post on that soon so check back next week.