Scotcharoos..and Multi-tasking

As promised, Madeline and I set to work on the Scotcharoos I had seen on Jess's section of Mad in Crafts.
As listed on her page, I picked up all the ingredients close by to avoid the mad rush of last-minute Christmas shoppers and stand a chance of being mauled. With items in hand, and Madeline strapped in the highchair, the following the directions was fairly easy, but warning, this page contains a lot of RECOMMENDATIONS from Me, Myself, and I, so disregard if you think you can wing it.

Because my child is nosy for the sake of being nosy, it absolutely kills her to be sitting still longer than 5 minutes in her chair (can you blame her?) without some compensation. So of course, being the good mother that I am..I gave her some M&M's. My FIRST Recommendation of the day is to occupy your child. Secondly, if it is like mine where food works, make sure you can keep them under supervision when giving things like M&M's to them. Some wouldn't do so, some would, but for me, everything is trial and error. Luckily, there was no choking involved while performing this feat.

With the measurements prepared (because, trust me, you will want to be able to just pour in the items as needed instead of srambling for a bowl), I first got a large pot for my 1 cup of corn startch and 1 cup of sugar. Mix it, put over medium heat until it comes to a boil, and immediately remove from heat.

Second Recommendation: You might want to use a large pot so that you will not have to find a way to fit all the Rice Krispies for later.

Because you have to immediately remove the pot, your next item to mix in will be your 1 cup of peanut butter. (Creamy will be alot better to work with.)

Mix this until smooth, I put mine back on the stove for 1 minute later just so it would all mix nicely.

If you were like me where a baby was added to the preparation, by now they have consumed the few M&M's you have offered them and are squalling for more. I took out my spatula I was using to mix the peanut butter and gave for Madeline to help me clean.



Return to your pot, it is off the stove and add your Rice Krispies to the mixture, sifting and mixing to make sure the peanut butter is thoroughly mixed in.

Because the peanut butter is still hot, and the heat is essential to help hold your rice krispies together, you will want to go ahead and begin to plop the mixture into a 9x13 inch pan and start spreading and packing to maintain cohesiveness.

Okay, at this point I had to clean as I went, because the kitchen begins to feel a little overwhelming with clutter everywhere- so I clear off my station (3rd Recommendation, clean as you go and you won't feel as overwhelmed later!) and wash dishes. If you are lucky, you have a dishwasher, unfortunately for me mine has went out of commission, but you will wish you could put your baby into it if you do, if she/he looks anything  like Madeline did after about 5 minutes:

At least she was content. Okay, so I waited to clean the baby until afterwards..

Now, because you made it a priority to pack your rice krispy and pb together first, you can now go ahead and pour your butterscotch and chocolate semi-sweet chips together and put in microwave to heat up. I didn't use a whole bunch of butterscotch because I am a bigger fan of chocolate, but I will go ahead and suggest to leave it out if you don't like it at all. 4th Recommendation for the day, you should melt your chocolate about 30 seconds at a time in the microwave to avoid burning it, and mix each time. If the chocolate seems pretty stiff, add a little vegetable oil to it while mixing to maintain smoothness.

I had to melt this for about 1 min 30 seconds in intervals and then poured over the rice krispy mixture.

Once you have smoothed and spread this over the mixture, your next step is....adding the M&M's..my favorite part!

I used Christmas colors to maintain the mood, but Jess used red, yellow and green to make a stop light..super cute!

Basically, you are pretty much almost finished, but the chocolate will need to set and cool- and it will eventually harden so you can cut into little bars or do what you may. Some dedicated cookers may wait on this to happen..but I stuck mine in the fridge and dug in our left over Taco Bell Burritos, painted my toes and watched Phineas and Ferb. (In my defense, it is a pretty good show, Madeline was tired and needed to take a nap, and I may never grow up..so what does it hurt?)

The great thing is, my toes looked Merry, Madeline was refreshed and happy, and our Scotcharoo bars turned out great and yummy!

 

Merry Christmas!

Cheap way to add festive touches to the holiday season..

Okay, so I pretty much have designed most of Madeline's headbands with decorative flower pins which are easy as pie to make for any old person with a glue gun. Don't know why it popped into my head, but after I put on Maddie's black dress to look festive for the Christmas Merry-Go-Round in our town, It seemed like the outfit just wouldn't be right without a poinsetta. Of course, my creative juices bubbled at the thought of it and 5 minutes later with a white head band, an aligator clip and a clipping from one of my artificial poinsetta plants, Houston, we were ready for liftoff. Of course, Maddie could practically soar above the high seas with this huge flower over her head, but I personally think the bigger, the cuter.

We are at the stage where she likes to pull any foreign object off of her body-including socks, headbands, pacifier clips and the list goes on..but after distracting her with Christmas songs, all seemed to go well. A few fun pics later, we had another unique memory to add to our Caldwell Christmas. I would recommend spicing up any headband with a cute present bow also if you aren't into spending the extra effort to go buy a poinsetta- they are just as cute! I think I will be doing this for her birthday next week as well- it will be simple and cute!

Merry Christmas, all! I will be posting my Scotcharoos tomorrow that I got from Jess at Mad In Crafts.  You can go to her blog by clicking her button under the "Blogs I Love to Visit" section.They look tasty and I couldn't resist!

My Ephiphany..A Storm Is Coming

If you have been dealing with a lot..click my babble below this picture.............I took this at my apartments and what I wrote came to mind while looking out the window.

  A Storm Is Coming

Family Craft Moment

Christmas cannot be defined in one single sentence or word. I like that it means different things to different people. Amongst the baked m&m cookies, fun just sitting in the livingroom with family while Christmas shows come on, and a graduation celebration for James, I picked up some foam crafts from Wal-mart that I thought would be easy enough for everyone to participate in. I think it was relatively easy to assembly, but the little adhesive dots that comes in the kit was extremely stubborn and would not let my gingerbread man's buttons stay on.

OK, So I cheated and used a glue-stick..but it ended up great anyway and we decorated the tree with them..poor ornaments didn't stand a chance near them! Kortney would have won if it were a contest, then Amy with her cute Snowman, and then mine, coming in last due to the eyeballs threatning to fall off my gingerbread man..(and what gingerbread man has curly hair?)but besides that I would say this would make a super-fun kid craft..and only 2 bucks..you know I was estatic about that! I wish real gingerbread decor was this easy..then maybe I wouldn't want to throw them against the wall next time and feel like Ebenezer Scrooge. Merry Christmas, all...6 more days!

Newest Project: B'Leggings A.K.A Baby Leggings

Unlike my more artisticly inclined blogger collegues, I seem to shutdown after about 10 steps of trying to learn a new project- I am a simple girl and if it appears complex, I get frustrated easily. However, this is the opposite of what I have to say about the new feat I have finally performed, what I like to call "B'Leggings" or Baby leggings. All I have to say is...It was pretty fun! I had planned to pick up the sewing machine from my mother-in-law's to assist me in the sewing section of this craft project, however, the sewing machine decided to stay out of commission, leaving me to depend upon my crude hand-sewing skills.

Usually at the sound of that- I would cringe, but the God of arts and crafts (the same one who loves me even when I want to throw a wad of knotted up thread in the air after getting tangled up) seemed to smile upon me and much to my surprise- allowed me to finish this quite successfully with my meager skills.

So, let's get down to the nitty gritty. First of all, the materials required were minimal, only a pair of longer socks that have a pattern you would like..in this case, I chose some cute striped socks from Wally-World, only cost me about 3 bucks, some thread, and a needle.

 (Note: Exciting part..You save a good chunk of change on doing this..as most baby leggings run about $15.00+ on the internet!)

Once you have your items before you, the first thing you will want to do is to cut off the section that ends at the heel of the sock. See where my scissors are..you will want to cut about here- but be sure to keep this cut off section..you will need it in a minute.

Now, along with my unprofessional sewing, I was blessed with not being able to cut straight, so as a forenote, if you can trim your edges straight, they will not be jagged and will not be as apt to curl while you are working with them later.

What you will want to cut next will be your toe section from the part you have just set aside. (Please see the placement of the scissors once again..)

So now, you are left with just two pieces- the small square section you have just cut, and the long section of the sock.  For the sake of  future reference purposes, let's call it the longer section and the smaller, square section. You can discard the toe and the heel section now.

 With the smaller, square section, you will be folding half inside-out. (Almost like you are folding in socks but you will only fold halfway where the two sections meet together.) This will leave you with a small section with a raw side where you had cut previously and a folded side.

Your section should look like this...

 Once your edges have met (your result will look like a small wristband) you will be placing your longer section INSIDE this little section. You will end up having all of your layers lined up with one another and will end up with three layers. The raw edges will be facing downward, and the folded section will be facing upwards toward. This little section is going to be the cuff where the ankle goes.

Once you have all of these sections lined up (be sure to make sure they are--this will not work correctly if not) you will be sewing around the entire circumference on the top where your fingers are. If it is easier, you can put in some small pins to keep the layers lined up as you sew,

You can either use a sewing machine, or if you are limited such as I, your hands. However, remember that if you use a sewing machine, you will want to sew on the INSIDE, not outside of the smaller section- as it will be hard to keep all the layers together, otherwise. Also, you will want to remove the pins as you sew.

Once, you have finished sewing this section all the way around, you will pull the cuff down. And, ta-da... you are finished!

Repeat the same steps for your other sock, and you have a pair of cute little baby leggings a.k.a..B'Leggings!

Wordle=Addicting!

So Crafty Crystal got me addicted to Wordle! Love it! Can make your own design just through words! Here's mine!

http://www.wordle.net/show/wrdl/2886266/Things_Daphne_Likes

I have been really been thinking of some new projects to start working on and am thinking of baby leggings next!  Got to get me some cute patterns in the next day or so so I can begin..but first I will have to pick up the sewing machine from my mother-in-law's house..so excited! Thank goodness I don't have to search for a million Christmas gifts, I have pretty much all of them except for a small select few- thank goodness for the internet!
-daph

Preparing for the 1st Year Birthday Celebration of Madeline Grace

Not only do I express my undying affection for my daughter through the any means of celebration that I can, but I am thoroughly estatic on any chance of opportunity for me to create, craft or construct something that will not fall apart 5 seconds later with my hands.

This little art escapade has flourished into a cupcake theme, the main colors consisting mostly of bright pink, lavendar and brown. I have already found an awesome tutorial online on how to create a baby tu-tu and happened across a thousand baby boutiques that feature "boutique baby party hats" which I evaluated and summed up that it would be relatively easy to recreate myself.

A trip to Hobby Lobby and a few runs to Wal-mart later, I finished the tu-tu in about a night and half an afternoon (I will remember next time not to wear a sweater when dealing with tulle in the winter as I am not a huge fan of electricity and objects sticking to my bum and pant legs and only to find out I have a large piece still attached after I go to work) and was quite pleased with the turnout.

Lesson- when you are judging the size of the waist band, a smart thing to do before working on it would be to fit the baby first. I used baby head bands and sewed them together because they have the elastic in them- but you can use elastic, adult headbands or ribbon. If you don't want to sew- you may want to stick with headbands!

Basically, from there, I just cut 16" strips of tulle, ( you will want to cut out double the size of how long you want the strip to be...ex: if you want the strip to hang about 8 inches from the waist band- cut 16"). Then you tie knots of the tulle all around- I alternated colors. You can put ribbons on too to add flourishes. If you have a chunky baby like Madeline, you may want a bit more of a scrunchy, poofy tutu like I made- but the longer the strips, the more flatter the tutu will be.

Also, I decided to make the hat match- basically took a regular party had, cut the pattern from scrapbooking paper (polka dots), hot glued feathery boa material around the bottom, glued a little pom to the top and hot glued a number one to the middle. Simple as that- and fun..especially on a day when it was as cold and attempting to snow with half the city out of power like our town was!

I'm going to start working on the highchair kit- pendants or a highchair tutu (that may overdo it..we'll see) and I am working on my first ever cupcake pops!

If you have never heard of them, you can find out what I mean by this link: Cupcake Pops

I will try to remember to come back and post pictures next time!

Adios,

-Daphne 

Every Second Counts

Every second counts
Every minute's deep
Tossed like a wave
Always bittersweet

It will wrap you in it's arms
Take you for a ride
Touch you in a way
Somewhere far away, inside

You hold on longingly
Both hands clasping tight
Afraid of letting go,
You are consumed in all your fright

But the longer you hold on
The wearier you are
You can't look left or right
You can't look very far

Never looking forward
Because you're always looking back
The small joys in life you'd find
They are something that you lack

Don't worry about tomorrow
Don't stress about your past
Hold on to what's good and true
Because nothing ever lasts

Instead of looking backward
Instead of staying still
Look upont  the one who's pierced
Who died upon the hill

Look upon the one who's splintered
Where thorns encrust his head
Look upon the one who gave us life, his body is our bread

Look upon the one whose blood is showered upon our souls
It gives us everlasting life and its cost is more than gold

If you are looking where you should you will find three things of truth
One, you'll never thirst again, or hunger, is number two

And third, your joy will return to you as if it never fled
But none of these things would come to pass if his blood was never shed.

By: Daphne Caldwell

Nothing is ever certain in life, but change itself..

Change scares many people. It gives them fear, causes them to do crazy things. They lash out, panic, fight it with both feet dragging in the sand or frown upon it and look down on it from their big nose. But, it can be a good thing. I live in a small town. I have lived in small towns for quite some time now, and one thing  I know is change in such a place can be best described as something bitter you have left in your mouth like a bad aftertaste--lingering and a bit unpleasant. You often find it more obvious in older people, for some reason. Maybe because they lived with so much change in their lives, seen so many things that they think they have earned for once a title of a well-respected know-it-all and everything is a certain way as they see it. Or maybe they are just tired of change by that age and refuse to embrace it. Regardless of the matter, they usually despise change. You will hear a whisper of opposition as a new store is built, a rumor of a different program is soon to be established or the possibility of a large factory coming that will bring many jobs to the area to replace the loss from the previous large industry closing up. "What do they think they will accomplish?" "That will never go over here" or "Humph, that is just ridiculous, do they think we are Atlanta or something?". The harsh response to anything that basically seems like it may bring a new change of pace to a particular topic, place or subject.

An old latin proverb comes to mind when the discussion of change comes up: "People fear what they don't understand".  I could go further and say "What people don't understand, they tend to hate". Which seems to ring true, in most cases.

However, change can be refreshing. It can be enlightening. I once used to greet change with hostility, much like most of the locals here, who are quite content asking every week "How's your mom and dem?" or "Looks like it's going to rain."

However, stagnant waters tend to smell pretty rotten after a while. Fresh water is much more pleasant.

I found myself very unhappy with the way my life has been going, pretty much a rut would be the best description. And what better way to describe it then what my pastor would quote " A rut is nothing more than a grave with the sides kicked out."

Boy was he telling the truth. The same routine gets old quickly. And if you find yourself going nowhere at a hundred miles an hour, you get a bunch of nothing when you finally stop. I wrote a song once that said "Laughter can hide heavy heart, but when the laughter fades, only grief remains, if you're running fast at a million miles, when you finally stop, all you'll feel is pain."

Funny how it is labeled "Everybody's going somewhere". But I don't want to go just anywhere. I want to go SOMEWHERE and with a purpose. We all want to be somebody, and make a difference. What is so fun about just living life only to end up riding in a hearse?

Morbid as that may sound, it is the truth. And it's reality. So I started evaluating myself.I realized I didn't like what I saw in the mirror. The only way my void could be filled is for me to stop running from what  God wants from me and just give in. It makes things so much easier.

It took Jonah the point where he was drowning and being digested in a large fish's belly to realize things weren't looking up. No pun intended.

And I don't want to be that far gone before I realize I only have one escape route. God has really been working in my life, and in small, subtle ways, which is really kind of cool. We all expect these huge flashing fireworks of signs and wonders or a big neon sign pointing "Go here". But, it really makes it worth it to look back and think, Man, he didn't force me at all, he gave me a CHOICE. Best part of it all is if everything was perfect...why would I need Him in the first place?

But the fact is I do. I need him badly. I'm on recall and the only one  to fix the defect of sin in my life is Jesus.

Corny, but true. And we all are scared to death of the change he can bring us. So we end up hating him in our own small little ways. And we don't realize it. We do it by loving other things more than him, turning away from him, or just being ignorant.

We get warped on our views of God, thinking him as the enemy, an unfair God, because we judge him by what we think is fair in our standards, and we only know such a small piece of the puzzle. It's like a movie where you think something about this one character the whole time until a big piece of the plot comes into play and you are stunned because you had no idea really what it was all about.

I think God is just like that.

It has been fulfilling to see him work in my husband's life, seeking after God with excitement in the skating rink that he has placed on my husband's heart. Big dreams, but not impossible. A song I really like says that impossible is just an excuse for those who don't want to try. I believe it 100 percent. Most people would try to say that we dream to big for owning a skating rink, but I say it's all God. How else would it be possible?

They haven't seen the strength in my mom when my grandmother gets worse from cancer. They haven't seen the faith in my grandmother as she tiredly goes back, each time sicker than before. They haven't seen the battles, the tears, and the sweat I have pored over my own endeavors only to seem them be radically changed to something I never thought I would try to do in my life. They haven't seen my beautiful daughter, my angel be born before my eyes and think how that creature grew inside of me when for others it couldn't. They haven't seen how countless times we have been saved from growing bills, chaotic breakdowns from relationships, communication or just appliance parts in our home only to be put back together like they were never broken.

My God is everything. Therefore, I am everything. I am a part of a bigger picture, and change is what did it all.

Some think change is a bad thing. But I think it is the definition of my life.

Rainy days..

All is finally silent in the Caldwell home after laying the fussy baby to sleep after an adventurous day, except for the steady drip of the kitchen sink drumming a new song to the throbbing left side of my throat that was pronounced "negative for strep" from my doctor's visit today after enduring almost a week of tear-drawing pain as I attempt to eat or drink anything made for the human mouth.

I had felt somewhat successful this morning for re-scheduling Madeline's fourth month appointment for shots to tomorrow to juggle in my diagnosis for the horrendous pain in my mouth and call up my sister to help watch her while I wait in the office.

Since they couldn't squeeze me in until 3:20pm EST, we decided to go looking around the Auburn/Opelika area after my sister was finished with her finals before graduating in college.


It would appear all was well, and it certainly was---except for the downpour which left a person about as dry as a soggy mop in a bucket of water. It must be funny to see it, for as a new mom I am still learning the multi-tasking concept of balancing an umbrella agains the door, unlatching the baby from the carseat base, snatching up the diaper bag and things important from my purse (don't bring both, it will just leave you with one less hand of the 20 extra you need) and gripping the car keys from my lips while shutting the door with my foot.

My sister was a HUGE help, although we still didn't have it down on how to keep me dry-but, sigh, that is the sacrifice of motherhood. Frizzy, frazzled dripping remains of curly hair, extra large t-shirts from post-pregnancy and smeared eye makeup is now my new costume.

I will never look down upon any mother after this moment.

Usually, based off the feedback of my husband who is in the cell-phone industry and myself, who is in the apartment leasing industry, you would normally conclude that every red-neck in Alabama to Tennessee would be out in this type weather, having a hay-day sweeping  in and out of lanes on the highway, side-swiping innocent bystanders only to pull up at the local Wal-Mart to go grocery shopping or to get new cellphone, because, hey, it's RAINING.

However, I was shocked to find that once we entered a couple of retail stores, there was almost nill to none of consumers to be found. Normally, I would think this to be the best day shopping, as I earlier explained to my sister in Target while another lady from the next row would occasionally intercede in the conversation, much to our perturbed reactions.

It was pretty relaxing, actually, no hassle, no dodging the creaking grandmother in Aisle 2 who can't decide between wheat germ or 5 grain and the pushy 30 year old with a short bob and exercise clothing on in a hurry to grab her some Vitamin Water and the next object you just so happen to be in front of  much to her impatience.


We did this for about an hour or two and followed this up with Moe's South West cuisine, which I enjoyed very much, being my first time and being able to say 'No onions" without feeling like I have upset the whole universe of t particular employee from whichever franchise I normally select.

We still had some time to kill after finally drying off from this mad dash from the car, so we got wet again and went to the mall.

It is definately no fun to the imagination when you go with a man to the mall, because, well, they just don't go together, it's kind of like oil and water- they don't mix well. Trying on clothing and browsing through racks never did excite my husband-so I try to keep it to a minimum while we shop as a family. However, this time around was quite interesting, two females from the same wacky family who love to get into mischief and take pictures, so needless to say, we have a few snapshots of random things...like the wing sunglasses. I realized after puffing a time or two while swinging the baby carrier by my side that malls are not that mother-friendly- dang, why didn't I pull out my stroller? I didn't want a POPEYE the Sailor arm, so I ran back out, got wet again and got the stroller- it is a losing battle, I know. And yes, what they say about being scatter-brained after pregnancy IS true. Although, I probably blame it on that little excuse too much.


Nothing more to say about that.

After some browsing we packed it all up to make it right on time for the doctor's appointment.

9 out of 10 times I usually have to wait an hour for a doctor to finally see me once in the back room, and it has almost become custom after seeing the gyno so much while being preggers, but after reviewing, I think I was maybe in there only 10 minutes before the doctor came. However, waiting, regardless of how short of a time period it is, always does a number on me, and I tend to find my mouth over my jagged fingernails, trying to "even" them out (I know this doesn't make sense-it is a nail-biter's excuse). The result normally is nails bitten to the quick, bloody or close to and fingernails littering the floor of the doctor's office. I think I mark my territory every time and scoot my flip-flop over the debri to scatter them in embarrassment before the nurse comes in- it's disgusting, I know.

Everything went smooth sailing once I had the doctor tell me I DID NOT have strep throat--are you sure?

I walk out to sign the bill to hear howling- praying it isn't Madeline. Of course it is, and once the nurse opens the door from the waiting room I find some random woman holding her, my sister looking helpless and about 4 other people surrounding her. The baby sure has everyone wrapped around her finger.

After calming her down because she just wouldn't have it- we take a sigh of relief and venture home.

And that, my friends, is where I find myself, now, baby now crying, breaking the peaceful reverie and a husband now home who does not like to shop.

We Don't Realize What We Take Advantage Of Until We Are Grateful When It is Back

A comfortable environment and electricity are two of the most needed "necessities" in the modern time since the Dark Ages...some may not find that to be a fact but I find that to be my new motto. THEY always say you never really knew how much you loved someone until they are gone, but I realize how true that really is and it isn't even about a particular being!

How much I appreciate you, O' Heating and Electricity! Today seemed like something out of a book where you get attacked by appliances and a tornado comes..but my adventure was less exciting. Since about the middle of December we had been dealing with heating problems and were fine up until the moment we decided to put our entire trust in a particular heating and air company which I will choose to remain unnamed.

We had noticed our heat only got up to about 62 degrees and remained there and due to my overprotectiveness of being a new mother and all, I pestered the crap out of my dear husband until we called someone out. Now, I will take the blame and say I got too impatient and jumped the gun and just called someone without really checking up on recommendations and everything because I just HAD to get some warmer air for my little "shwee-shwee" as I have now decided to nick-name her..(poor child).

After about 3 visits, a home about to burn down, and air that now only stayed to the temperature of about 49 degrees, I had about enough- so we got some good recommendations from my in-laws about a reliable company and I had decided to hurry up and get ready about 3 hours in advance and look somewhat presentable before the baby cried at the perfect timing when they came...she is good at that!

So I decided to make myself useful before they came and to clean up around the house while the child was asleep and actually got to a good start BUT... (don't you love that word?) I noticed the light over the stove and everything else around it stopped working as I was boiling some noodles.  Not only in the kitchen, but apparently the livingroom and the baby's room. So, no space heaters to work and no present heat at that moment...yikes. I figured it was the breaker- since everything in our home is rigged up from the previous tenant and it seems like you can't have more than three things going at the same time.

It would have been no problem at all and really an easy fix for a simple chick like me but go figure it looked like the breaker wasn't tripped! What the ?? And go figure the fridge wasn't on!

So, like the ever so non-stressed woman that I am (don't laugh) I call my husband at work, explain and he gets his wondetful dad to come and help me diagnose this particular issue that decided to pile up on top of the other 88 million things that are wrong with this mill home.

Go figure at that time the baby wakes up and is crying her head off, the heating guy shows up and I'm in the middle of my breast feeding..uggh!

So..the heating guy is patient, listens to my story (of course I finished feeding before I opened the door! What kind of girl do you think I am?) and goes to look at the hunk of junk I have officially decided to name our a/c unit.

My father-in law shows up at the perfect time, and begins to check it all out and come to find out the breaker had tripped but due to it being a.. (guess) rigged up breaker it didn't look like it was tripped from the outside, you had to open up the panel to force it back into place.

But no worries, the whole right side of my kitchen comes back to life along with my handy space heaters and the smile on my face I thought had long disappeared.

The heating guy shows up to inform us it is a part that our previous heating guys said we DIDN'T need (thanks guys!) and it ends up being a whole heck of a lot cheaper than I think.

If there wasn't a god and great family and friends out there, I think I would be bald and gnawing on my arm by now..but whose not to say I haven't considered it?

I can officially say I appreciate heating and electricity as of this moment!

-Daph

Smoke and the Falling Away of Some Things..

Phew..today was an adventure! More than I usually care to have- but it seems like life would be boring otherwise. It was just me and Maddie today, it marks the close of her 3rd week and the beginning of the 4th, which leaves me slightly sad, knowing with a foreboding feeling that I only have a few short weeks left before I have to return to work. However, as the day progressed, other things took my mind off of this worry.

 Madeline had slept in with me that day and was relatively placid, until about 3:00pm, perhaps her hunger pains are carefully synchronized with thunderstorms, because Eric calls me to warn me to be careful and make sure we are home and there is a tornado watch and warning for our region.

The sky was pretty dark, the wind strong and I debated on getting in a closet after checking out the weather channel for awhile, but Madeline by then firmly insisted she better eat and NOW. By the time she was finished, it seemed like the storm had calmed down, the weatherman gave safe clearance and we settled down for our next activity, which was to to watch on hulu.com Conan's last episode of the Tonight Show after NBC kicked him off for Jay Leno.

I figured since it was around 4pm that Eric would be home around 6 pm and we could shortly leave to visit my sister for a late birthday present and for her to see the baby. I noticed that the heater had kicked in and a slight burning smell had began filtering through the room but I automatically assumed it was just because we had the heating and air company come out to fix what they told us was a leak somewhere since our heater had blown cold recently and heaters usually have that burning smell initially--however, it began to progress to a strong acrid smell and I felt like my eyes were burning.

I checked under the computer but couldn't really tell anything and left the room only to return to seeing smoke coming from under the computer and from the other rooms as well. It didn't help Madeline was crying because anytime I leave her sight, it does not make a happy camper. The only thing I can think to do is call Eric. He sounds alarmed and is on his way but tells us to get out of the house. I turn off the heat, unplug a few things and of course walk out to the porch with Maddie in her car seat, crying to find it literally in a downpour outside.

Eric arrived, we get into the car to sit for awhile and he calls the heating company, to our surprise, noone answers and then the fire department. What was pretty amazing was within 5 minutes we are visited by a small firetruck, a large one, three cop cars, an ambulance and the city councilman. Talk about great and speedy service!

After about 45 minutes, and given the "all-clear" we finally go in, Eric soaked and Madeline thoroughly amused by the flashing lights and rain sounds.The smell is still pretty strong in the house but we are pretty much given the information I suspected- hvac unit! These guys are going to be fixing this with no charge I can assure you now!

The night after that was pretty average, had some great chicken fajitas and again, more fussiness from Madeline, and we couldn't for the life of us make her calm. When all else fails, we usually just continue to alternate between changing the diaper and feeding the piggy in the blanket because happiness is sure to follow. As Dad was changing her diaper- another new stepping stone for Madeline occurred today- the shedding of the UMBILICAL CORD! The ghastly little knob had been weeping for some days now, soaking through her cute little outfits, and leaving Daddy proud to take another gross picture. Yay!

There and Back Again...a Tale about Maddie Caldwell........

We were anxious for the big day- the inducing of Maddie Caldwell since she decided to run over on her due date- so we went in on Monday, December 28th at 8 pm with barely any sleep due to excitement and anxiety to prepare for her birth. We got in no problem since I pre-registered, and pretty much started right on the dot.

They put me on Syntocinon  (similar to Pitocin) and a Foley Bulb to dilate me to 4-5 centimeters so I could begin the process and they predicted I would not have Maddie until around 6am-12pm the next day. Boy, did I underestimate the timing of labor!  I started contracting and it was pretty intense, but they could not give me any pain medication except some type of medication to dull the pain which kind of made me dizzy and knocked me out for a couple of minutes, but it made things a lot less painful. Around 4 in the morning I felt the bulb fall out, and the nurse checked me to find that I was 5 cm dilated, and began the Pitocin drip. Things began to automatically grow worse in pain as soon as she put it in, and when I thought things couldn't get any worse, she told me we would have to wait an hour for the anesthesiologist before I could get my epidural. If I could have focused on it more through the pain, I would definately have took a picture of the labor room- it was like a high grade hotel, wooden floors, dvd player, nice tv, spacious! We tried to watch Wolverine to take away some attention from the things at hand, family members came in and out to talk with me, and the last visitors I remember was my mom and mother-in-law. Eric was there the entire time, holding my hand.

Luckily, the delivery of the epidural  showed up around 40 minutes later, it was a little painful,but I immediately began to feel the effects. After that, I was pretty mellow, they put me on oxygen due to the baby's heart rate going down, and probably about two hours later I began to feel some pressure on the left side around my lower abdomen. My mother and mother-in-law requested the nurse to check me and no surprise, I was 9 1/2 centimeters! We had sent Eric downstairs to go get some food, for it was around 12:15pm by that time, and the pressure began to grow heavier. While the nurse went to go prep, the pressure grew steadily more intense as the time grew by and I knew I could not hold it for too long. After about the 20th time of asking Eric to go get the nurse to hurry up, she finally rushed back to apologize since she was waiting on the doctor, and shortly after, Doctor Robinson-White arrived.

We were ready after she checked, the baby's head was very close and after about 4-5 pushes, out comes 9lb 2 oz 21 inch baby Madeline Grace Caldwell.

When we saw how big the doctor's eyes were and the hugeness of our pink crying ball filling up the baby tray, we were all astounded-co-workers at work had estimated an 8lb'er but never expected 9 lbs!

I would like to take the time to say that without the support and love from my family and friends, I don't know where I would be- but it was amazing to find that one entire waiting room was nearly filled with anxious people waiting to hear Maddie's cry. Although I am sure it was heard from the waiting room, Eric put Maddie up to the phone so everyone could hear her first words to the world. Shortly after, about 10 people came pouring in to pass Maddie along and I got to eat (yay!) All I can say is, she is absolutely beautiful. I immediately fell in love with her. Here is the total  list of people who came by to see her:

Mimi and Grandpa Caldwell
Grammy  and Grampy Smith
Auntie Amber
Auntie Amy and Uncle James
Great Aunt Lisa and Great Uncle Bill
Great Grandma and Great Grandpa Touchton
Aunt Kortney
Great Grandma and Great Grandpa Caldwell
Great Grandma Paschall
"Grand" Pastors John and Natalie Eldridge
"G"
Mechelle Mouriski
Kristian Mouriski
April Barber
Crystal and Joey Alexander
The Etchison Clan (Kathy, Joe, Timmy, Laura, Hannah and Drew)

This does not include all the wonderful people who called and was with us in spirit.


Because I had pushed pretty hard, I suffered a 2 degree tear, was stitched up and whisked away to our room. Eric took some pics and  before long, they were placing me in the bed and taking Maddie away to the nursery for follow-up. 

We got to see Maddie for maybe an hour before she was sent back to the nursery due to some concerns about her heavy breathing, and since it continued, we found out upon two days before we were supposed to leave that Maddie would need to stay 3 more days to finish out some antibiotics and some blood testing to determine the situation. We had a very kind nursing staff and round of Pediatricians- Dr. Fuller being our main man who was very informative about our options: Either it could be a heart problem, fluid in lungs from delivery which was only temporary or some type of infection, thus the treatment of antibiotics just to take precaution.

Because I was in so much pain due to pain from the delivery spot, I was given Percocet and occasional Ibuprofen to reduce intensity. I felt as if no one would take me seriously, but it was labor to get in and out of bed to use the restroom, much less bend over the toilet. Because I had not passed a bowel movement after the third day, we began informing the nurses, which gave me stool softeners, however, no show...

The day after my release we got to have Maddie back in the room with us and  sleeping during the night (or should I say crying) and to make it worse, I woke up to extreme pressure to use the restroom. With no success and extreme pain, we had called the nurses because of me being unable to do anything but cry. Poor Eric was distraught between me and the baby crying, the nurse came in to get Madeline to put in the nursery and Eric left to get ugh..the ugly word ... and Enema according to advice from my OBGYN doctor after calling her. Little success and due to me being discharged- the nurses could do nothing so we ended up going to the ER to see what could be done. We found out I was impacted, and thank God to the nice doctor two floors down, I was given GoLytely....a nice little colon cleanser.There is no need to say much more on the subject but it should be renamed GoHeavily!

With much relief, not only did we get Maddie back and I was in less pain, we were able to settle down some, but because nurses practically came in every other hour, Maddie crying for food every other hour, too many days in a tiny hospital and me no sleep, it began to grow tiresome on my still current pregnancy hormones.

Because Maddie had to continue to be sent to the nursery for IV's and monitoring and put under oxygen, the loneliness and Post-Partum Depression.began to set in. We missed our baby very much and the thought of her  being under a little air tank really affected me. I think I experienced everything but bad feelings toward the baby, but maybe it is a parent's own thinking about how adorable their baby is that made me not feel that way towards her.

I am so thankful for the family and friends who came by to take away the loneliness as well as my husband, offering food, comfort and love when it was very much needed.

We were given on Friday an estimate that if things continued to go well with Maddie's respiratory rate going down, her blood cultures showing up negative for anything bad and no heart problems as well has her increase in appetite, she could go home Monday. We were estatic!

Needless to say, we got to go home today and it has been a huge relief. We dressed her in her little outfit, and although it has been a week later, all I can say is I am happy to be home!

I think all women who go through labor should receive an award for all the strange changes, it is like an extreme shock in change to the body. However, I made it alive, Maddie is well, and Eric has survived.

Thank God for all the blessings in life.

-Daph