Tuesday, March 29, 2011

Introducing our newest addition: Griffin James

Griffin James Avery
Born March 16th at 6:59pm
7lbs 12oz & 20.75 inches


I am so happy to introduce our newest little bundle to you! Isn't he precious! He is seriously an incredible little newborn! Already sleeping from midnight till 9:30am with a diaper change and dream feed at 5:30am. It's incredible! He rarely cries and LOVES the sound of his mommy and daddy's voices turning his head and opening his eyes really wide to the sound!

Asher couldn't be less impressed with his little brother however! He goes out of his way to avoid him and stares at him out of  the corner of his eye so we "can't see him looking!" Each day he gets a little less annoyed that Griffin is here so fingers crossed! I know when they are older they will be great friends so I'm not to worried. But with Asher only 17 months old, he still wants to be the baby and be held which I understand. Lucky for us Griffin prefers to lay in his bed or on his bean bag for naps vs. be in our arms so Asher gets a lot of snuggles!


Griffin's arrival was pretty uneventful and I feel grateful I don't have a crazy birth story to share with you! It involved a lot of waiting and waiting...and waiting! I was scheduled for induction Monday, March 14th at 5am. Our great friends Tina & Nathan came over Sunday night and we watched a movie, ate some yummy food, took silly pictures of my belly (Ok so that was just me and Tina!) But regardless we had a blast. They spent the night so we could head off to the hospital first thing and not disturb Asher. Then they would take him over to my friend Breanne's where he'd be staying the next night. All went according to plan until we arrived at the hospital and were told they tried to call us and were canceling all scheduled inductions due to lack of nurses. WHAT!!! They said we were first on the call back list and they'd call us once they could fit us in. So back home we went, disappointed and emotional.

We both crashed on the couches with our cell phones in hand waiting for the call. A few hours later Tina, Nathan and Asher were up surprised to see us home! Tina and Nathan headed back to their home and I let Breanne know we were playing the waiting game. The waiting continued all day the 14th and all day the 15th till FINALLY we got the call to come in at 10pm Tuesday the 15th. We scooped Asher out of bed, dropped him at Breanne's and headed back to the hospital. Luckily this time we weren't turned away! The nurses got me all hooked up to the machines, started the pitocin and guess what...more waiting of course!


Progress was slow but steady on the Pitocin and the nurse kept upping the dosage till she couldn't increase it any more! I could feel the contractions but I wasn't in pain or really uncomfortable which was kind of annoying because it confirmed the lack of progress on Griffin's side of things. He apparently was totally content just chillin' in mama's tummy! Once I was finally far enough along my doc.came in to break my water. All the pain I hadn't been feeling hit me like a ton of bricks and the contractions were immediately intolerable. Luckily I didn't have to wait long for an epidural! With the contractions in full force however the monitors were showing that Griffin's heart rate was decreasing each contraction. The nurse had me shifting and moving into so many different positions to see if we could release the pressure on the umbilical cord. Not the easiest of tasks being numb from the waist down! 

Then just like his big brother once he was ready to come...he came quick! I went from a 6 to a 10 in about 5 minutes and Griffin was making his exit! And just like with is big brother my doctor couldn't wait any long and had just left the hospital so the doctor on call delivered him! My doctor's exact words as she left at 5:30pm, "I'm so sorry but I have to go get my daughter from the nanny...you better not have this baby before 6pm!" Official time was 5:59pm - Hahahahah! The doctor on call couldn't believe how fast Griffin was coming and was almost yelling at the nurses since nothing was prepared! All worked out though and with three pushes and a brief pause while the umbilical cord was unwrapped from around Griffin's shoulder he was in my arms! 

Incredible!

He was perfectly healthy and apparently happy! This baby smiles more than I have ever seen, it's so precious! We were moved into a recovery room and where we slept and spend the next day. We enjoyed the company of a few visitors who came to meet Griffin and then we were headed home that night! Since Griffin has been here we have been completely over whelmed with joy and love. I can't imagine our family without him now and am so excited to see him grow and learn! 


Monday, March 28, 2011

Rice Krispies Making Memories Challenge

I am so excited to announce to everyone that I have been selected as one of 16 Rice Krispies Brand ambassadors from all across the country. We will be working in teams of four to participate in the Rice Krispies™ Making Memories Challenge. We will making different themed recipes throughout the course of the year. We will compete against the other teams to determine who has the best recipe.

I want to introduce you to the Phoenix team:
Ashley
Kristynlil luna button
WendyAround My Family Table
Jax

The first challenge is an Easter themed recipe and display. We are already hard at work to make our recipe fantastic!
Each one of us will be giving away a $100 visa gift card to celebrate the Rice Krispies™ Making Memories Challenge. Come back on April 4th to get all the details and enter the giveaway!

Disclosure: I am working with Rice Krispies and TheMotherhood and have received a stipend for participating in this project.
THE MOTHERHOOD MAKING MEMORIES KELLOGG’STM RICE KRISPIESTM BLOGGER GIVEAWAY
Abbreviated Rules. No Purchase Necessary. Begins no earlier than 12:00:00 AM (ET) on 03/28/11 and ends no later than 11:59:59 PM (ET) on 04/12/11. For complete Official Rules, go to http://web.mediacdt.com/docs/EasterGiveawayRules.pdf. Open to legal residents of the fifty (50) United States and District of Columbia who are 18 years of age or older at time of entry. Subject to complete Official Rules. Void where prohibited. Sponsor: The Motherhood; www.TheMotherhood.com.
®, TM, ©2011 Kellogg NA Co.

Tuesday, March 15, 2011

Cards, Cards & More Cards!

My best friend Claire is an incedible card maker and after a phone chat the other day she sent me a picture of a super cute Birthday card she had made. It inspired me for a day of card making and this is what I came up with! 


Asher has a lot of little buddies with birthdays coming up so I decided to make a mini stack of Robot Cards! I made six cards just because that's what I could equally cut the polka-dot paper into! It was a lot of cutting and stamping but so worth it! I love how they came out!

Next I figured I might as well use the circles I had cut out of the card stock to make something else so 5 super easy "Thank You" cards were made! I stuck the Thank You circles on random polka-dots for each card. You can't tell in the pictures but I used sponge stickies to raise the Thank you circle up off the page directly over a polka-dot. Give it a simple but neat effect in person.

This Birthday card came via trial and error. I was originally going to use this stamp for the previous cards but didn't like how it came out with the boarder so I cut it down layered it with a flower, stuck a brad in it and called it good! I think it came out pretty!

Then lastly I made a unique card for my friends Daughter who's birthday party was that night. She is the most adorable tom boy you've ever met and I knew I needed a cool card for her! I used an Amy Butler embellishment with the same circle stamp from the previous card.

And that's it! 13 cards in one day! It's definitely a record for me! I'm excited about having a little stock pile though and think in the future I'll make cards in batches like this again! Once you decide on a design it goes quick to multiply it, I had hardly any scraps of paper left over and now have cards ready for events I forget about making a card for! Perfect!