GREAT NEWS!

After finding out a few months back that Kaiser had put an age restriction on visitors, due to the swine flu outbreak, I was so incredibly sad to have to accept the fact that Sophia would not be able to be a part of this long anticipated day! I almost cried the moment I found out I would have to leave my sweet little girl for three days while I sat in the hospital with the newest little member of our family. I stressed over it for quite some time, and then finally began to accept the fact that I couldn't change it and I knew she was going to be well taken care of by both grandparents, and I could see her the moment we left the hospital. Well.... GREAT news! I called the labor and delivery department yesterday because I had heard that they also had a limited number of visitors that you could have in your room at one time and I wanted to get all the facts straight. They told me that there is indeed only a certain amount of people (5 including the spouse) that can be in the room to visit at one time, but what I didn't expect to hear was that Sophia can now come up to the room to see us! I was so thrilled when I heard this! It is so important to me that Sophia be a part of this whole experience and get to see her little sister or brother in the hospital right after I deliver. I had planned on making her a "Big Sister" shirt no matter what, but now I'm so excited because she can actually wear it up to the hospital to come see her little sister or brother! Here's how it turned out:) I can't believe it's only a week away!!!

About to POP!

My tummy at 38 weeks

I can't believe how fast the past 8 1/2 months have flown by and in a little over a week we will be welcoming our second child into this world! I look at my stomach and feel like I'm going to POP! I seriously don't think my stomach can stretch anymore, lol. And I'm beginning to waddle! I have to admit I am both relieved, yet nervous at the same time about having a c-section with this one and have no idea what to expect. I do like the thought, however, of going into the hospital and being able to meet our little one in about a hour's time, and not have to be nervous about the birthing process like I was with Sophia. I find myself thinking what she (or he) will look like or how their personality will be.

Sophia has been such a big help to me lately and I know she will want to be involved once the baby comes home. She comes to me and says, "mom, baby-boop-boop" (which means, mom my baby pooped in her diaper and she needs a clean one), and goes and grabs a diaper and baby wipe and pretends to wipe and change her baby's diaper. She also wraps her baby dolls up in her blankets and rocks them and pats their back. I love seeing her being so nurturing to her dolls. I just hope when we bring the baby home, she realizes it's not one of her dolls, lol.

Jeff and I are so excited to have another child and we find ourselves talking about it at night in bed and wondering what it's going to be like to have two kids. We are excited, nervous, anxious, and curious all at the same time. I am so blessed to have such a wonderful husband to experience this whole journey with. He has been so good to me and will rub my back or bring me home special treats that I'm craving. He also helps so much with Sophia and asks me if he can do anything to take the load off of me. It's such a wonderful experience when you have the love of your life to share it with! I can't wait for what the next few weeks will bring!

God's Good Timing...

I was reading in a Max Lucado devotional the other day and came across a topic that I myself, and many people I know and love are wanting to know the answer to, "When God, when?" When will we have enough money, when will I be healed, when will I be worry-free? I admit, I have a "patience" problem. And the problem being, I have no patience. After having Sophia, I have learned much patience and have felt my trust in the Lord grow because of this. I am slowly learning to let go of control and any agenda I thought I had planned. The funny thing is, I was never in control to begin with. I think the reason the thought of losing control scares me so much is that to let go of control one has to be vulnerable. I have never liked the thought of being vulnerable. I have always been guarded and a "do-it-yourselfer". But I have realized that many times in my life no matter how hard I try to change my circumstances, or make things go away, I simply cannot. I am going through this valley for a reason, and though I may feel that the Lord is not answering me or hearing my cry, He promised that we will never weather the storm alone ("I will be with you always" Matt 28:20) and though He may not come rescue us from our trials, He is right there alongside us and will reveal His purpose and plan to us in His perfect timing.

I am sharing this story that is close to my heart because I think it accurately displays God's heart and how much He loves us.

After my mom remarried a wonderful man, and me and my brother were a bit older, they decided they wanted to try to have kids together. Excited like every married couple is when they decide they want to have more kids, they had high hopes and many expectations. Well, as the months passed and no little pink lines appeared on the pregnancy tests, they started to get concerned. They bought fertility tests, fertility medications and my mom was constantly charting her temperature and such to predict ovulation. As the years went on I saw my parent's excitement dwindle and doubt set in. My mom even had surgery and both my parents underwent many tests. Except for a little scar tissue from her previous pregnancies, they couldn't find anything wrong with my mom or dad. Frustrated and defeated they began to think maybe they just weren't meant to have kids together. I remember praying to God every night asking Him and begging Him to let my parents have a baby because I knew that was the only thing they wanted more then anything. After 7 or so years of trying and many tears, they learned of invitro. They decided to check it out and set up a meeting with a doctor. The fact that nothing was physically wrong with my mom or dad, led the doctors to believe that the egg and sperm were just having problems meeting so the egg could be fertilized. My parents decided this would be there last attempt and if this didn't work, then maybe they were meant to adopt rather then have their own biologically. After the first session, they put four fertilized eggs in my mom and said they would have her come back to see if any of the eggs implanted and if she were pregnant. I remember the night before her doctor appointment, my dad was so excited he couldn't wait and begged my mom to take a pregnancy test. I was thirteen at the time and was so excited about the thought of having a little brother or sister! My mom ended up taking the test, and when she came out with a negative test, we were all pretty bummed. However, the next morning when she came back from the doctors she had wonderful news to tell us! She was in fact pregnant! I couldn't believe it! After so many years of trying, they had finally be blessed with a baby and I was going to be a big sister. They had also told her at her appointment that because they had put four eggs in, they would have her come back in a month to see if there was more than one baby. They checked her HCG levels and they were pretty low, so they said there probably wasn't more than one, but they would have her come back for a follow up appointment just as procedure. That afternoon my brother, Shawn, and I got home from school and my mom and dad were no where to be found. We were so anxious to know the results! On the fridge they had left the ultrasound photo hanging in clear view. It was almost comical because no matter how long or how hard we stared at that picture, we could not figure out the results. I was 13 at the time and my brother was 17. We had never seen one of these things before. The picture revealed a dark area (my mom's stomach), and three oval shaped white spots. When they finally got home, we ran up to them asking what they found out and what the ultrasound picture showed. They smiled and looked at each other and then at us and said, "we're having triplets!" My jaw dropped to the floor and I felt like I was dreaming! First we didn't even think she was pregnant, then the doctors tell us there's probably only one baby, and now I am going to be the big sister of triplets!? As we look back now, we realize how perfect the Lord's timing is and His plan for our family all along. Though we thought He wasn't hearing our cry, He was just preparing our family for the three blessings He was going to give to us. When I prayed for one baby and asked, "Lord why can't my parents have a baby?" He wasn't ignoring our prayers, nor was He saying no to their desire for another child. Rather He was preparing our family for the multiple babies He was going to bless us with.

God was in control and knew all along what was best for our family. Had my parents become pregnant with triplets sooner, they would have not been able to afford the enormous medical bills. The triplets were 3 months early and had to be in the hospital for 2 months. For each baby, it cost 1,000's of dollars a day to have them in the NICU. Our entire extended family joined together and prayed daily for the triplets to grow strong and healthy. My parents also had so much help and support from family and friends at this time in their lives and my mom was able to take all the time she needed off of work to rest and heal and my dad had some money saved up just because that helped pay the medical bills. I was also at the age where I could really help my parents and would take night shifts so that they could try to get some sleep.

My 11 year old sister Cassidy (one of the triplets)

My two 11 year old brothers, Cole and Cameron

When my parents first began trying to get pregnant, they never thought they'd see the light at the end of the tunnel. But now we all look back and see that the Lord was in control and paving the way for His numerous blessings He was going to give to our family the entire time. And my parents had to be patient for almost 8 years! Don't lose hope! Our God is a good God and He knows our needs and the desires of our heart. He is always in control and wants to bless us. We just have to let go of the reins and hand them over to Him.

I love how Max Lucado puts it:

"Though you hear nothing, he is speaking. Though you see nothing, he is acting. With God there are no accidents. Every incident is intended to bring us closer to him."

ON SALE NOW!

I have just recently added some new original designs to my Etsy store Glass Cocoon as my high end line. These designs include higher end elements such as Sterling Silver, 14k Gold fill, silk, freshwater pearls, and swarovski crystal. They are high quality and carefully designed pieces. Be sure to check them out and let me know what you think! Click the link on the right to go directly to my store.

I also extended my shipping special through January 31st! Purchase one item and the shipping on the second item is FREE! You only pay $2.00 for both!

Just for fun...

I have enjoyed cooking and trying new recipes much more since I have been a stay at home mom. Last night just for fun, I thought I would make some elephant ears. Whenever we go to the Sandy Mountain Festival or the County Fair, I absolutely have to get an elephant ear! I enjoyed making them and eating them too! Because it's a treat you can usually only find in summer, it was fun to get to enjoy the flavor of summer during this drab winter time.

Little Mommy...

Sophia has really become quite the "baby doll" girl lately. For Christmas we got her a baby doll that came with a stroller, highchair, and bassinet. Every since then, she carries this baby around with her everywhere and has to sleep with her at nap and bed time. We were wanting to teach her how to help take care of her baby sister/brother when they are here, so we thought this little set would help. Last night after her dinner, she came to me and said, "mommy, eat", and grabbed my hand to take me over to her highchair. I assumed she was still hungry so I pulled out her highchair to put her in it, when I saw her baby doll already sitting in the high chair. Then I realized she was saying her baby was hungry and wanted to feed her. She then asked me for a bowl and "moon" (spoon) to feed her baby. I was able to quickly grab my camera and snap a few shots while she was doing this. I just thought it was so cute that she wanted to feed and take care of her baby's needs. She is going to be such a wonderful big sister and know she will be such a big help to us when the baby arrives!

Sophia putting her baby's bib on

Her baby doll all ready to be fed

Sophia feeding her baby

Best Buds...

Elle giving Sophia a kiss on the forehead and leaving a little frosting behind as evidence

Elle and Sophia giving each other kisses

Sophia feeding Elle a bite of her cake with her finger (Mmmmm...fingerlickin' good!)

Yesterday, we went over to visit my close friend Courtney and her daughter Elle. We had tried before Christmas to get Sophia and Elle together to do a Christmas tree cake decorating kit I had bought, but due to both our families catching different bugs throughout the holidays we had to postpone it. Finally, we are all healthy again and were so excited to get to go over to their house to visit with them, since it had been forever since the girls had got the chance to play together. While Courtney and I visited, the girls played with play dough and Elle's new kitchen set she got for Christmas. It was so cute to see them having so much fun together! Once we got the cakes baked, the girls couldn't wait to decorate them (well, more so eat them). The cake icing didn't quite end up turning out how we had thought, so we kind of just let the girls play with the edible paint palettes and their paint brushes and then just let them dig in. They both seemed to really enjoy eating their cakes and were also feeding it to each other. They seemed to have a lot of fun despite the frosting mishap and Sophia was one tired cookie on the ride home. I feel so blessed to have Courtney and Elle in our lives and for Sophia to have such a sweet little friend to play with. They truly are two peas in a pod:)


The video below is a small clip of Sophia and Elle eating their cakes
(sorry it's not very good quality).
Don't forget to pause the music at the bottom
before watching:)

Back on Track...

Now that the holidays are over and Sophia and I are finally healthy again, I figured it is time to get back on track with our regular routines. When I say routines, I mean getting Sophia back on her nap time and bed time routines. Before Thanksgiving we had Sophia going to bed completely on her own at 8:00pm. She would say goodnight, give hugs and kisses and crawl into her big girl bed and close her eyes and fall right asleep. Well, when we went up to visit my dad's relatives up in Washington for Thanksgiving, they didn't have enough bed's and Sophia ended up sleeping with us the entire time. So when we got back home she didn't understand why she had to sleep all by herself after getting to sleep in bed with us for four nights. Well, I once again began the tough process of standing at her door, letting her cry and telling her she is a big girl and needs to sleep in her own bed. By the time she was almost to the point of going to bed completely on her own again, I came down with quite a cold and felt too crummy to finish to the end, thus resulted in Sophia sleeping upstairs in the guest bed with me for a week and a half. Unfortunately, Sophia caught my cold and had a hard time sleeping and was very uncomfortable, so she continued to sleep in the guest bed with me until Christmas.

Sophia when she wasn't feeling well :(

Little sickly couch potato

By Christmas she was well again so I started rocking her to sleep and putting her in her own bed. Well, two nights after Christmas she woke up burning up and had caught an even worse bug! This cold consisted of a medium to high temp, her refusing food and liquids and pretty much just wanting to lay on the couch and watch cartoons. So once again I put her in bed with me upstairs in the guest bed so that I could keep a close eye on her and monitor her cough and temperature. It has now been a little over a week since she got the nasty cold and is finally better. She still has a little congested cough that will wake her up through out the night every so often. But for the most part I am hoping we have had our share of colds this season and will be able to stay healthy for a long time! Which brings me to the purpose of this post. Now that Sophia is finally better, I would like to get her back on track with going down for a nap and to bed by herself and sleeping through the night before the baby comes in February. My goal was to have Sophia fairly self sufficient at bedtime so that we could focus most of our energy on the babies many needs when we first bring her (or him?) home. Plus the fact that Sophia is almost 2 years old and is at the point where she should be able to achieve this. Jeff is fairly strong when it comes to putting Sophia to bed and making her stay in her bed and go to sleep. I, on the other hand either get exhausted and give in, or hear her crying and saying "mommy, up please", and it breaks my heart and I give in. However, I know that once again I have to go through a week or so of being consistent and strong when it comes to her bedtime routine. I am just keeping my fingers crossed it's a week and not a month of this. It is so incredibly hard to hear her cry for me and put her arms out and make me think she's going to die if I don't go in and pick her up! I think a tag-team of me and Jeff taking turns putting her to bed will help to make the process a bit more bearable (I'm hoping). I also would like to get her back on track with potting training. She has done very well with going poop in the toilet and hasn't gone in her diaper since before Thanksgiving. However, she still goes pee-pee in her diaper and will go a few times in the toilet. And when she got pretty sick and was really uncomfortable, I didn't push trying to go on the potty, so she has kind of fell out of sync with the whole thing. I may sound like a control freak or an over uptight mom, but I have always believed that children need consistency and a schedule in their lives. I feel this is important because it gives them security and stability. And it also helps them to mature by knowing what they need to do at what times of the day and what comes next in their routine. Now, I just pray that I can have the energy (especially with being in the last few weeks of my second pregnancy), to stick with these two processes, so that it can benefit both Jeff and I, and Sophia in the long run.