Do you remember?

Do you remember the blog you once read?
You came here for light-hearted tales from the life of a crafty Mom.
Sometimes you got a good laugh.
Or a craft idea.

Well, sorry to say that this blog has recently become a whine-fest for a pregnant Mom and her delinquent toddlers. Yes, someday soon I am sure the old Emilie will be back, but for now, whine on!

Sigh.

For today's whine-fest I present to you....
The Nebulizer.

Yes, this little piece of machinery has become a mainstay in our home ever since we gave birth to our Preemie, Ella. With oxygen tubes for the first 3 months of her life and a lingering case of asthma, this machine saves our lives over and over again. But these days, I wish it would be ready to return to its shelf in the hall closet.

But alas, the entire family (except for The Hubbs) is suffering with an awful, no good, Summer cold. And little Ella suffers the most. Her asthma makes any small cold a BIG cold. And this nebulizer has been working, every four hours, around the clock since Saturday night. To no avail.

Last night Matt went out at around midnight and purchased a hot air humidifier with Vicks medication inside for the girls room and we got the first stretch of semi-decent sleep we have had all week. But this morning heralds more coughing, choking and throat pain from Ella. She has it so bad that I have been completely robbed of the pleasure of complaining about not being able to take cold medicine while pregnant. Sheesh.

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Book Review : Dear Exile

by Hilary Liftin and Kate Montgomery
★ ★ ★ ★ ☆

This book was definitely engaging. The letters between the two friends in Kenya and NYC were witty and insightful, but I had a really hard time believing that they were written in so formal a style. I like a well-written letter, but these letters included descriptive narrative that seems a bit too planned out to be spontaneous.

Having said that, whether the authenticity of the writing is plausible or not, the book is a great read....offering insights into both the world of impoverished Africa and a corrupt school system and, at the same time, into the life of a single woman living in NYC.

The women's banter is overtly affectionate, almost to the point of excess, so it is interesting to note that the book ends at a place where they live in the same city and yet have never taken the opportunity to sit down and really talk after Kate's return from Africa. This also made the letters seem forced.

I enjoyed the insights of their individual lives much more than considering the central them of the book to be their friendship.

To view this title on GoodReads click here.

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Lately....

It was hot hot hot this past week.

And while I lay on the couch, soaking up the air conditioning, the outside world in Lancaster County is buzzing with activity...seemingly oblivious of the wilting heat. Country roads and busy streets alike are lined with farms stands, spilling over with hearty freshly grown produce and signs in every direction point you towards newly ripened corn for sale. Despite my "City Girl" insides, there is a primal surge of appreciation for produce picked from the ground and little Amish children with no shoes walking along the banks of a nearby stream.


I am fearful that this Summer will completely pass me by while I laze about indoors, feeling the misery of being pregnant in such humid heat.

Ella has been suddenly mentioning Utah on an almost daily basis. Missing our old house, visiting Grandma's and making chocolate milk at her side. Picnics in the back yard and visits with her cousins. My recent longing for being near Matt's family has made reassuring her difficult, since I feel the same way.

Ironically, while thoughts of Utah filled my mind this past week, Ella's Kindergarten letter arrived...announcing her teacher's name and when to be ready for school to begin. This letter served as an immediate reminder that we aren't going anywhere. That life is continuing and new beginnings are looming which will more firmly plant our roots here in PA.

In response, I am trying to fill both of the girls' days with Summer fun and playtime with friends. We cannot afford swimming lessons for our girls this Summer ($300 just to JOIN the local pool....lessons NOT included), but we will have plenty of water days in our backyard featuring slip n' slides, a kiddie pool and lots of sunscreen. I hope it will be enough to crowd their minds with joy in the present, instead of constantly remembering joys past.

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Bedrest For All

My poor girls.
They have been so patient during this time.
They had some great play dates with friends this past week,
but are still subjected to a sort of bed rest themselves.


They have been wonderful.
And have ingested FAR too much television.
But we're all doing what we can to get this baby here safely.

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Moderate Bed Rest

Last weekend when we had our ultrasound and learned of the Placenta Previa, initially they told us I should just take it easy, but today they called back and after reviewing the ultrasounds more carefully, they have decided that I have to go on "moderate bedrest" for the next 6 weeks until we can have the follow-up ultrasound to check on the placenta status (which should really be a name of an Indie punk band...."Give it up for THE PLACENTA STATUS!").
As I understand it my limitations are...

- I'm not supposed to be lifting anything heavy, especially my children.
- I cannot do any "jostling" activities like horse back riding, roller coasters, etc. (What pregnant woman rides horses anyway?)
- No strenuous housework (yay!)
- Try and lay down when I can in a given day while going about my normal activities. (ummm...Mom of 2 lay down? Hmmm.....)

I am keeping myself upbeat by dreaming of all of the crafts I will be doing for each week of the "So You Think You're Crafty" contest and watching inappropriate amounts of reality television.

What would YOU do while on bed rest?

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I Made It!

The audition voting results for the So You Think You're Crafty competition are in and I am in the top three! Now I can reveal which project was mine. I think you may be surprised...

click here to find out which craft was mine!

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Ramblings of a psycho-pregnant worrier...

On Friday when we got the ultrasound and learned of the Placenta Previa, I was feeling rather okay about it. As with most of life's bumps, I feel like we'll just move forward and deal with whatever comes our way to the best of our ability.

Since Friday I have been on an emotional downward spiral of fear, including one very awful dream about my existing kids being ripped away from me and not being able to protect them. (sigh.)

This situation is bringing out the worrying mother in me and I have been kind of down. I just want everything to be okay, you know?

In other trains of thought, even as I typed the above, I felt a calm and wonderful reassurance that in every sentence I typed "we". Matty-cat is the ideal husband for me and the perfect father for our kids. In my heart, worrying aside, I know things really WILL be okay..if for no other reason than I have an eternal companion who is my rock and who will weather any storm we come to (and likely be the one firmly holding the umbrella while I cower underneath).

Under the influence of my own horribly abusive father and in the subsequent train of thought that all men were inherently scummy, Matt Ahern came into my life and proved me wrong. And I will always be grateful that I was able to trick such an amazing man into falling in love with me.

I know we can make it through this with God's help. Hopefully this coming week I will be able to keep those thoughts more in the forefront of my mind and let the worrying fade away.

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It's a....

naughty stubborn baby.

They couldn't see the gender since our baby spent the entirety of the ultrasound face down.

And in other news...
I have placenta previa.
Which means possible bed rest and c-section in my future.

Yes....this ultrasound appointment was not so bueno.

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Predictions?

Friday is our Ultrasound.
So....is this little Ahern a GIRL or a BOY?

I have NO hunches, so guess away!

Cast your vote in the poll in the right hand toolbar.

If it's down...you can try again later.

You have until Friday morning to vote.

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35 pages

makes me feel uncomfortable.

I googled my name last night.
(in parentheses so it's really me)
and there were 35 pages worth of links.

I know I write this blog and all,
but part of me is shy of attention
of that magnitude.

Feeling icky.
Wouldn't that make YOU feel icky?

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So, I think I'm Crafty...

I have the incredibly fun opportunity to compete in the newest session of the online craft competition, SO YOU THINK YOU'RE CRAFTY.

Each week there is a different theme and all participants create a craft around the theme. Then the public votes and the competition gets whittled down until there is one winner. It is fun, but also a GREAT way to get inspiration for your own projects! I watch and vote each time and I am always so inspired!

So drop by and vote in the first round.
Can you guess which craft is mine?

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a Filippino kind of day

Yesterday was Philippines Independence Day and we always celebrate this day. Why? Because my husband lived in Cebu, Philippines for 2 years while serving a mission for our church. So, each year on June 12th, I make the official dish of the Philippines...Adobo Chicken. Oh, it is SO good. It is chicken cooked in a 50/50 mixture of vinegar and soy sauce (and a few spices) and is delightfully sour. We serve it over white rice and Matt made a fresh salad of tomatoes and onions in sour sauce as well.

Another member of our church congregation, Nate, also served a mission in the Philippines so we invited him and his wonderful family as well as our local LDS missionaries. It was such a fun night! The adults ate at the regular table, while the kids sat at our new kids picnic table (built by Matt and I...more pictures to come soon).


For dessert we broke from tradition (that tradition being that Filipino desserts are pretty weird) and made an East meets West dessert. Exotic Fruit Shortcake. We cut up fresh pineapple, mangoes and strawberries and served them over cake with the All-American classic whipped cream from a can.

As we finished up dinner a large thunderstorm thundered outside and filled our backyard with water. The kids happily ran outside and frolicked in the rainy backyard pool...causing two of our little guests to take the drive home in their birthday suits and a warm hooded towel.

After giving both of the Elders free haircuts we said goodbye to our fun party and Matt settled down to an evening of DVRed games of World Cup Soccer. I headed downstairs to a relaxing viewing of The Real Housewives of New Jersey, which I am hopelessly addicted to.

Is there anything better than a fun-filled night with good food and friends?
I think not.

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18

weeks pregnant as of today.

Starting to feel little fluttery kicks.
Still have occasional sick days.
Gender ultrasound in a week from this Friday.
Nesting like crazy.
Cried at this week's "Glee" episode.
Craving cheese....lots and lots of cheese.
Getting crazy excited.

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Tuesday Tell All : Is Ignorance Bliss?

Okay, this is not a traditional Tuesday Tell All because I just want to ask a question that has always perplexed me.

When I was in College I was good friends with a guy (we'll call him Stanley). He was interested in dating a girl who lived close to me and who I was friendly with. In his pursuit of her, he went over to her house almost daily. And each time he returned he told me about all of the meaningful moments they had shared and that he felt there was real chemistry building.

Meanwhile, each time I saw this girl she was telling me how annoying he was, how much she hated his visits and what a doofus he was.

I wondered if he would want to know that she was bad-mouthing him to all of her friends. One night, while out to dinner with Stanley and some other friends, I brought up a scenario for discussion in which someone, who you thought was your friend, was bad-mouthing you....would you want to know about it. And Stanley said no. So I never told him what she was saying. But at the same time I was dumbfounded. It had never occurred to me that someone would NOT want to know, because even though there would be initial hurt feelings, it was better to know where you really stood.

So my question to you is....if you had a friend, not a best friend, but not a mere acquaintance either, and they were bad-mouthing you, would you want to know? Or is ignorance bliss?

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Fun Stuff is Coming Soon!

Coming up in the next little while I am gunna share a review with you of a product from the CSNstores.com website.

Have you checked out that site yet? They have TONS of products ranging from home decor, a sleeper sofa you may need, to kids toys and all things in between. If you think of it....they sell it. And I have been pretty impressed by their prices.

Most of you know I am in the process of decorating the girls' bedroom. I spotted some fantastic finds on the CSN website. Like this adorable chandelier for kids' rooms (at only $70 and FREE shipping!) or this bookshelf that lets the books face front, which is so much better for my kids ages.

Go check it out....what would YOU buy?

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My Crazies are HILARIOUS!

Remember this crazy blog commenter from a while back?
Well, her most-crazy status is now being rivaled.

Yesterday evening our internet connection went out (which means our phone did also, since we use Vonage). I called Vonage and Comcast to try and figure out what was wrong, but it remained unfixed until 4 pm today. Well, at some point during that time someone left a very angsty comment on my (clearly comically intentioned) post about Lancaster County.

And then, when a few hours passed without my approving it (because my Internet was out, but of course she didn't know that) she left another comment ranting and babbling about how I was...

wait for it....
wait for it....

violating her first Amendment Rights to freedom of speech by NOT publishing her comment.

When my Internet was finally back up and I read the comments I had a great laugh about it and then called Emily Foley so we could laugh together. If these people were more sane in their approach it would not be nearly as funny as it is. So, by all means, if you want to leave an angry comment, please make sure it is devoid of all reason and logic.

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Have you ever wondered...

What a frazzled, pregnant mom looks like on a bad hair day
after taking the kids to the Children's Museum in the morning
because they would not stop fighting over a doll in a pink dress
and, while at the museum, she painted their faces and her own as well
and THEN drove through Sonic for a much needed Dr. Pepper
and through the pharmacy to pick up a refilled prescription?

Wonder no more...


Just another glamorous day in the life.

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