Missing Pieces by Heather Gudenkauf

I am totally loving NetGalley lately!  If you haven't joined already, seriously, go join..NOW!  Last week I was approved for 5 more reviews and all of the books look SO good.  This is so awesome for people who love reading and want opportunities to check out new books before they are released.  I rounded out 2015 with Missing Pieces by Heather Gudenkauf.  I have read several of her books before and loved them all so I was super excited when I had the opportunity to read an advanced reader copy in exchange for my honest review.

Missing Pieces takes off with a bang and never slows down!!  It is the story of Sarah and Jack Quinlan who travel to Penny Gate, Iowa after an unfortunate accident with his Aunt Julia.  Upon arriving Sarah learns of many secrets her husband has kept from her and gets drawn in fast trying to uncover the stories of his past.  I was sucked in from the very start and never wanted to put the book down.  It was extremely fast paced and full of suspense, keeping me on my toes the entire time.  I finished the book while in bed and was so on edge by what was happening I found myself constantly looking over my shoulder with a huge knot in my stomach.  I don't think I've ever felt so emotionally present in a book ever!!  I thought from about halfway through the book that I had it all figured out...and then the ending happened.  I was completely wrong!!  Unlike other books by Gudenkauf I've read, Missing Pieces is told 100% from Sarah's point of view.  I often found myself wondering what the book would be like had we been inside Dean or Celia's head but the lack of other viewpoints didn't take anything away from the story.  Mrs. Gudenkauf really knocked this one out of the park!!

Missing Pieces will be available to the public on February 2nd, 2016 and I highly recommend everyone checks it out!

Review of Oasis (The Last Humans Book One)

Long time no post!!  I am checking in to tell you all about a great book I just had the opportunity to read before it's release in exchange for my honest review.  The book, Oasis, is by Dima Zales is about Theo one of Oasis' residents.

I am a huge fan of dystopian novels such as The Hunger Games and Divergent so I was very excited when I had the opportunity to review an advanced copy of this book.  It got off to a slow start and through the first four or so chapters I wasn't sure that I liked it.  While there are many elements to dystopian novels that are obviously far fetched, I tend to steer towards the more believable story lies since they are scenarios that I can actually visualize happening.  Right off the bat, I could tell that the likeliness of this story line actually taking place is slim to none.  However, I kept on reading and I am so glad that I did.  By the forth or fifth chapter I thought I was into it but by the middle, I was REALLY into it and did not want to put it down.  I found Theo to be very liable and I loved all of the questions he asked (even though Phoe didn't always answer them!!).  I do wish we got to see him interact more with his peers and get a more detailed picture of how other youth view Oasis, especially since Theo's mind was changed back.  The book wasn't super suspenseful however there was enough action to keep me interested in what was going to happen next.  The conclusion of the book was one I did not see coming at all and left me with many unanswered questions.  Thankfully, there is a sequel to this book that I am very much looking forward to reading.

If you are a fan of dystopian novels, #Oasis is not one to miss!!

Ringing in the New Year!!

I have got to say, I am so happy 2014 is over and I can start fresh with 2015.  Don't get me wrong, 2014 has been an amazing year.  Almost one year ago we found out we were expecting Eliza, and although my pregnancy was considered high risk, it was remarkably easy, and now we have a precious 3.5 month old baby girl!  Samantha turned 3 in April and I turned 30...THIRTY!!  Surprisingly that went a lot smoother than I thought it would.  We had an amazing July in St. Louis for our family reunion and Chicago visiting my dad.  Of course in September, we had Eliza.

The month of December was quite the whirlwind and now I feel like I am SO behind with blogging.  I missed Zach's 2 year update and Eliza's 3 month update.  I will do them though, I promise!  Between Zach's birthday and Christmas I feel like my body was tied to a rope on the back of a speeding train and I was just being dragged along so fast I could never catch my footing.  I swear every day there was something to do, presents to wrap, and people to see.  I couldn't even think straight!  Now that the holidays are over, I feel like I have a grip on things again and my stress level has gone down remarkably.  Although the decorations are mostly still up, the toys are almost all put away and the house is somewhat returning to normal.  Hooray!!

I have big goals for 2015 including losing weight and getting back in shape.  Organizing all my junk and selling/donating/tossing what I don't want.  I also plan to work more with Samantha on school work and teaching her to read and write.  We may even purchase a pre-k curriculum to homeschool in the fall.  So many things to look forward to!

For tonight, we did the Netflix ball drop with the kids and now Chris and I are watching Gilmore Girls in memory of Edward Herrmann.  We will hopefully make it until the real ball drops at midnight. ;-)

Those times when you REALLY shouldn't laugh...but you do anyways

Sometime within the past year, my cousin's wife gave Samantha a giant rubbermaid container full of barbies.  It was Samantha's first introduction to barbies.  I was never super into barbies as a kid so I wasn't sure what Samantha would think of them.  Well...she LOVES them.  Seriously.  She plays with the things constantly, by herself, with Zach, with me, with Chris, with the neighbor, you name it.  One of the sweetest parts of my day is Samantha's bed time.  Now I know you might be thinking "YES!!!  That's my favorite part too.  It's been a long day with an energetic 3.5 year old and now I can finally relax!"  But no, that's not why I like bedtime.  I like it because every night Samantha drags Chris upstairs to bed and begs to play barbies with him.  I love listening to the dialog (well what I can hear of it anyways) over the baby monitor and hearing Samantha's excited giggles as she shares this special one on one time with her daddy.

Tonight though it was a different story.  I heard her laughing and playing and then all of a sudden I heard her little footsteps thundering down the stairs while she is crying and screaming.  "I'm scared, I'm so scared" was all I could hear through her tears.  She raced up to me sobbing uncontrollably, so loud that she woke up Eliza who I had just gotten to sleep in my arms.  All I could make out was something about a head.  I had NO idea what was going on until Chris comes down the stairs barely able to contain his laughter.  One of Samantha's favorite Barbies is a Rapunzel doll.  She is super into princesses right now so this Rapunzel doll is one of the ones she plays with the most.  Right behind Anna and Elsa, of course!  Apparently Samantha picked up the Rapunzel doll and started her dialog, "Hello, what's your name?" like she always does so they can do their introductions.  Chris looked at the doll and realized her head was missing.  So, he replied "Oh Samantha, where is Rapunzel's head?"  Samantha looked down, did a nervous giggle, tried to be brave...really she did, and then raced out of the room screaming.  She wouldn't even look at the doll!!  My poor Samantha.  Chris and I couldn't control our laughter, I had to also control my bladder (thanks kids!), all while Samantha is still completely hysterical.

Chris told Samantha that Rapunzel was going to the hospital for the night as he tried to super glue her head back on.  Unfortunately it seems that she is permanently decapitated.  Guess I'll need to go shopping for a new Rapunzel barbie.  The last thing we'd need is for her to be playing with post hospital Rapunzel and have her head fall off again!!  I would say I wish that she would wake up in the morning with no recollection of this traumatizing event, but who are we kidding?  This is Samantha and she remembers everything!

RIP Rapunzel!!

Annual Leaf Day!

Every year I look forward to our annual leaf day because I get to take such adorable pictures!!  Our lot hardly has any trees on it so we really don't have a ton of leaves and only get one good leaf raking day each year.  Chris decided today was the day!  Sadly, I think I was the most excited out of everyone because Sam and Zach weren't too into jumping and playing in the leaves.  Rather disappointing!!

Samantha was a little bit into it and didn't mind walking around in the leaves.  Unfortunately Chris made the pile backwards with the big mound facing the sun so the pictures turned out pretty crummy.  It was a little chilly out so I didn't waste time moving around the leaves to get better pictures.  Oh well!

Yeah...Zach was barely into it.  He was screaming!  It probably didn't help that it was already past lunch AND nap time so he was pretty unhappy with everything.  I seem to remember him acting like this last year too!!

Finally at the end, the both got a little more into it.  Zach actually cried when he had to come inside, though he loves being outside so I'm not sure it was leaving the leaves that he was upset about.

Eliza however "loved" the leaves!  I mean, she didn't cry so that's practically loving them in my book since she cries for everything!  She looked so cute hanging out in the leaves and it makes me happy that I was able to get halfway decent pictures of at least one kid!!

Adios leaves!!  Until we meet again next year.

Eliza is TWO months old!!!

Eliza - Two Months Old

Little Miss Eliza turned two months old yesterday!!  I waited until today to make her post since she had her 2 month check up with the pediatrician this morning and I wanted to have her official stats on hand.  Her checkup went great although yesterday she was extremely cranky and had a few poopy diapers so I could tell her little tummy must be bothering her.  At the doctors she got very upset and was crying so hard she had a massive poop which resulted in a leaking diaper and her getting poop all over my pants...right before the doctor walked into the room!  Thanks Eliza!!

Weight: 11.4 lbs (47%)

Length:  23 1/4in (82%)

Eliza is growing right on track which is great!  She is still significantly bigger than Samantha and Zachary were at this age.  It is so weird to have a baby that has rolls.  One day I was holding her and she turned her head just right and I could smell all the sour milk in her neck.  So gross!!  We never experienced that with Sam and Zach since there were no crevices for it to get stuck in.

Clothes: 0-3 and 3 months

Diapers: size 1 disposables, small cloth

Here we are pretty much the same as last month, with the exception of adding in some 3 month clothes.  The three month onesies are perfect since they fit just right over her cloth diapers.  Three month pants however are pretty big and come about halfway up her chest.  Big sister Samantha was born in April so the seasons aren't quite matching up, but I am trying not to buy too many clothes so we don't go overboard as I have a tendency to do.  I am buying her SOME stuff as just hers because I'd hate for her to only have hand-me-downs.  I know she is young so it doesn't matter as much now, but it is important to me that she has some things that are just hers as well.

Eating: Eliza is still exclusively breast fed.  We took her to a pediatric ENT when she was 13 days old at Georgetown University Hospital where we found out she is tongue tied as well as upper lip tied.  We had her tongue tie clipped and she has been doing much better at eating.  She loves her mama milk!

Likes:

• being wrapped
• having her diaper changed
• her big sister Samantha

Dislikes:

• having a wet diaper
• when her big brother Zach smacks her on the head
• pacifiers
• being put down
• tummy time

Milestones:  Eliza still has a decent startle reflex.  Even if she sees me coming her hands jump out when I touch her.  I feel bad but I can't help but smile when she does it.  It's so cute!  She hates being put down and therefore hates tummy time.  She pretty much screams every time we set her down.  She does spend a lot of time being wrapped and gets practice holding her head up that way.  She is still a tiny bit floppy but overall, she does an amazing job of keeping it up.  She started smiling at 6 weeks and really hasn't stopped.  She is still colicky and cries a ton, but when she is happy, she lets you know it!!  I love all the smiles I get out of her.  I love taking pictures and she's learned what the camera looks like.  The second I put it up to my eye she bursts out in smiles!  She has also started tracking this month.  If I get up to do something her eyes follow me to where I am going.  She will also follow toys or other objects that are close by to her.  She is very focused and likes people watching and sometimes watching TV.  Once she finds something interesting going on, her gaze doesn't break.  She has learned so much this month!

Siblings:  Samantha is still in love with having a little sister.  She asks to hold her all the time and is very helpful with bringing me clothes and diapers.  She will randomly come over and give Eliza hugs and kisses and say how much she loves having a baby sister.  Zach is about the same as last month.  He still enjoys smacking her on the head which of course, Eliza doesn't care for very much.  He does enjoy helping out though and throws away diapers and brings me clean ones when I ask him to.  He's also loves to mimic what Samantha is doing.  For example, if Sam comes over and gives Eliza a hug and kiss, Zach will race over and do the same.  He also will pat her belly when she is crying.  I think she is starting to grow on him just a little bit.  ;-)

Even though Eliza only gained a pound since last month, her look has definitely changed.  I put up all her monthly pictures in comparison shots, which I plan to do each month.

We rounded out our check up by getting 3 shots plus an oral vaccine.  We also left with a prescription for Zantac since Eliza seems to be showing some symptoms of acid reflux.  Samantha and Zach also had reflux so it's nothing new for us, but still sad to know your baby is hurting.  She was doing good but the past few days she has been refluxing quite a bit.  Our doctor said we don't have to fill the prescription if we don't want to so we plan on waiting it out a few days to see if yesterday was just a fluke or if it is, indeed, getting worse.  Hopefully it was just a fluke and we won't need the medicine.  Overall a great checkup and we're thrilled to know our girl is thriving!

Busy Bag Sensory Bin

Last year our playgroup did a Sensory Bin rotation that was a HUGE hit.  We had 15 families participating and we enjoyed it SO much.  There was a huge variety in the bins and Samantha and Zach just loved playing with them.  They both cried every time we had to pass on a bin.  Apparently we weren't alone in our love for the train and the group decided to do it again this year.  We are already on our 3rd rotation and it has gone great so far.  Samantha and Zach are constantly asking to bring out the bins and they have been great at giving Sam and Zach an activity to play while I tend to Eliza.

This rotation we have a bin full of busy bags!!  These are awesome little bags that you can pull out and take anywhere...the car, doctors offices, church (wish I would have thought to bring some on Sunday!)  The maker of this bin did all sorts of things and I have to say, Sam and Zach have gone crazy for them.

The first bag we pulled out was full of matchbox cars.  Actually Zach saw this bag and of course went nuts!!  He asks to play with this one all the time.

Another bag included mini magnadoodles.  These have also been a huge hit!

 Mini etch-a-sketch!  Samantha has loved drawing "huge cities" on here.  Mostly Chicago!

Dry erase boards and markers.  Also a huge hit!

Spirograph!!!  A favorite from my childhood so I was super excited to see these!

Snack cups with pom poms.  I thought this would be perfect for Zach and a little too young for Samantha but they both love filling up the cups and then getting the pom poms out.

Wooden puzzles

Paper and crayons

Puzzles

Pipe cleaners and beads.  The beads have very tiny holes so this was difficult for Samantha at first, but she soon figured out how to do it!

Clothes pins and index cards.

Spectator Eliza!!

I have to say this bin is amazing!!!  I have an dentist appointment tomorrow that I will be bringing all 3 kids to and I will definitely pick a bag or two to bring so they have something to do in the waiting room and while I'm getting my teeth cleaned.  This bin has also inspired me to make busy bags of my own because, lets face it, I'm tired of being "that mom" with the noisy out of control kids in waiting rooms and church!!

Tiny Hand (and foot!) Prints are ours to Love!!

If you have been readers of my blog for a while, you might remember last year when I did hand print and foot print impressions for Samantha and Zachary.  The plates are beautiful and the ornaments were a huge hit with our family so I knew once Eliza was born we would have her prints made as well.  I decided this time to do them right away once she was born so my friend Dawn from Tiny Prints and Paws came right to my house to do our impressions when Eliza was 4 days old.  I am not sure if she typically offers house visits to do impressions but with a newborn and adjusting to having a new baby plus two older *still little* kids, it was a HUGE help.  We had so much fun getting Eliza's prints and she was a champ at keeping her little fingers and toes straight.  I was actually quite worried since they had to redo her footprints in the hospital since she kept curling her toes!  We got all of our impressions on the first try!  Samantha loved looking at all of the color samples and using the sponge to get them dirty with clay residue.  Sorry Dawn!!

We ended up selecting a sunny yellow color for Eliza's plate.  It's not too bright but not too bland either.  You know I won't do anything dull!!  The finished product, as expected, looks great!

Dawn was also nice enough to offer me a free Baby's First Christmas ornament.  I absolutely love the way this turned out.  I tweaked the words slightly so it says Eliza's First Christmas and rather than the typical two toned options they offer (which have a natural clay background and the print and text colored) I was able to have the background one color and the print another.  It is perfect and I can't wait to hang it up on our tree this year.  Almost makes me wish I didn't give away all of our Samantha and Zachary ornaments as gifts!

With Christmas just around the corner, Tiny Prints and Paws is offering two different deals to get you all set for the holidays.  The first option is buy two ornaments get one free.  This is an awesome option if you want a few gifts, or if you'd like some for yourself and some for gifts.  You can do a hand print and foot print to keep and make an extra to give away!  The second option is a free ornament with the purchase of a larger plate.  I love this option since you get a beautiful plate that can be displayed all year long plus an ornament to bring out seasonally or give as a gift.  You could even get a little hanger and display the ornament all year.  My dad has his hanging on his kitchen cabinets.

If you would like to order plates for yourself you can contact Dawn via e-mail or phone (703.574.0488),  They can also be found on Facebook.  Tiny Prints and Paws will be at the Little Sprouts Fun Fair at Linton Hall School in Bristow, VA this Saturday October 19th from 10am-3pm.  Not a Virginia resident?  Not a problem!!  Tiny Prints and Paws can ship all the materials needed to create the perfect clay impression of your own.  Ship it back and Dawn will paint, fire, and finish the perfect piece for you!  I'm telling you now, you won't regret it!

Eliza is ONE month!

Eliza - One Month Old

I can't believe Eliza is a month old already!  This month has just flown by though it also feels like she has been here forever!!  She has already grown so much, though it's hard for me to notice.

Eliza now weighs 10.2 pounds, 2 pounds bigger than at birth.  I looked through Samantha's baby book tonight and she was 9 pounds at 2 months and 11 pounds at 4 months!!  Eliza really is chunky.  She is pretty much completely out of newborn clothes and into 0-3 months.  She has a few Carters outfits that she can still fit newborn in since they run longer, but the Garanimals and other brands she is too big for.  She is also wearing size 1 diapers (and should have been out of newborn around 10 days old but I wanted to use up the box so she was in them a lot longer).  She is pretty much outgrown the majority of the newborn cloth stash, but OS is still huge on her.  The nb setting fits but they are so bulky!  So I've just been putting her in the newborns still and changing her more often.

She is still very much in the newborn phase - eating, sleeping, peeing, and pooping...oh and crying!  No cooing or smiling yet.  She is doing great at learning to hold her head up.  She is rather strong and has been lifting it up great from the start.  She is exclusively breastfed and doing decent at nursing (I'll touch more on that in a different post).  She loves to cuddle and hates being put down.  She also hates having a wet diaper.  She enjoys looking at her big sister and brother, but hates when her brother hits her.  She also loves being outside.

I guess at this point there isn't a whole lot to update on!  I'm sure by her 2 month update there will have been lots of changes though.  They grow so fast!

Ellie's Heart

What a week we've had!  I must apologize for my lack of updates as I was all set to make many posts last week about Eliza and everything we've been doing, and then her two week check up happened.  My mother-in-law and I toted Samantha, Zachary, and Eliza to the pediatrician last Monday for Miss Eliza's two week check up and for Samantha and Zachary to get their flu shots.  The appointment went really well, Eliza was up to 9 pounds 2 ounces, an entire pound above her birth weight, Samantha and Zachary did sort of okay with their flu shots, and at the end the nurse asked if I had any other questions.  I mentioned that Eliza's legs and feet had been turning purple several times a day and asked if it was concerning.  She laid Eliza on the table and checked her legs and feet, as well as her stomach, and felt all her pulse points.  She noted that there was adequate blood flow going to her legs so she wasn't super concerned but decided to consult with a colleague just to be sure.  While she was gone Eliza got hungry and I started to nurse her.  I noticed during her nursing that her legs and feet were turning purple so as the nurse came in I said that it was happening.  She ran out to get the doctor (at least I think it was a doctor) and they both started checking out Eliza.  They asked me to stop feeding and as I sat her up they noticed that her face and lips were turning blue as well.  This really freaked them out and they raced to get a pulse ox monitor to check her.  It all happened so fast!  Thankfully the pulse ox test came back normal and her O2 levels were at 98.  However, they said they wanted us to see a cardiologist ASAP.  We waited a while while they got a referral from our insurance as well as got us a same day appointment with a local pediatric cardiologist.  Then we got to go home where I could dwell on everything until our appointment that afternoon!

I ended up having to go to the appointment solo since it was Chris's "one day off" and he expected to stay home all day.  Thank God I didn't get any bad news that day!  Eliza and I got to the doctor and they immediately did an EKG on her.

The EKG was normal and then we were sent for an echocardiogram to check for heart defects.  The echocardiogram took quite a while and was rather difficult.  Eliza was tired and upset and I don't think she liked all the goop very much so she was crying a ton.  I just kept trying to soothe her but it didn't really work too well.  Finally after what felt like forever the tech let me get up on the table with her and sort of cuddle her and she immediately fell asleep.  I don't know why we couldn't have done it that way from the start!  After the echocardiogram we were able to talk to the doctor.  He said they are watching for three things (they were also looking for more serious defects but nothing immediately serious was found): Atrial Septal Defect (ASD), Patent Foramen Ovale (PFO), and Peripheral Pulmonic Stenosis (PPS).  ASD and PFO have to do with a hole in the top chambers of the heart.  This is present at birth and should close over time.  However sometimes this doesn't happen and the hole remains.  The PPS has to do with the arteries leading to the lungs.  While in utero there is a 3rd artery that goes to the placenta and once the baby is born, the third artery shrinks since the blood now goes through the other two arteries to go to the lungs.  Sometimes when the artery shrinks away it causes the other two arteries to get kinked.  We will be returning in 3 months for another echocardiogram to make sure none of these conditions are present.  Unfortunately though (or fortunately too!) none of these 3 issues could cause her to be turning blue.  We were sent home with a 24 hour Holter monitor to monitor her heart for the next 24 hours.  I had to keep a log and write down every time she had an episode of turning blue or had any other concerning symptoms or behaviors.  They would then compare when I pressed the button (I pressed it every time she had an episode) to the heart's activity to see if her heart was experiencing any changes during the episodes.

Last Friday we made the trek back to the cardiologist to get results.  Again fortunately everything was okay.  Her heart had a few occasional early beats but the doctor said that that is completely normal and nothing to be worried about.  Unfortunately though, we still have no answers as to why she keeps turning colors.  The doctors best guess is that she is just a little behind with learning how to regulate her body temperature.  I am not sure about this because even though she appears blue/purple her skin feels warm.  The doctor is hoping it is something she will eventually outgrow but if she is still having the episodes in a few months, we will reevaluate with our pediatrician.  I am so thankful that it isn't anything serious and I am praying that she outgrows it!!  Although I didn't post about it here, I thank everyone that followed this on facebook for all of your thoughts and prayers!