DIY Snowman Terracotta Pot

I know, I know.. I'm caving! I told myself I wouldn't do any Christmas crafts until after Thanksgiving but I couldn't help myself! Decorating for Christmas is by far one of my favorite things to do. I'm sure most of you can relate and I have no shame in it, but I am kind of obsessed with Pinterest. As crafty as I can be, I don't mind going through Pinterest to get some new ideas. I saw this one pin of a snowman pot, different from the one I'm about to show you, but it was way too cute to not do. In our new house we have this long fence in the front that I like to hang my terracotta pots throughout the year. Well I figured I would change them out for Christmas! So I did a total of four pots; Snowman, Santa, Reindeer, and Penguin. But here is the tutorial for the Snowman one that I did!

Remember to always get with your creative side and add your own touches. Or maybe I did something that made you think of adding something different to it. Have fun with it! Either way I know it will come out unique and adorable... Super easy in 8 simple steps!

What you'll need

• Terracotta Pot
• Acrylic paint; white, black, orange, beige, and pink
• Snow-Tex (you can find it at Walmart or JoAnns)
• Hot Glue Gun
• Mod Podge
• White/pearl Glitter
• Christmas Kit (Colored balls and pipe cleaners found at Michaels)
• Paint Brushes

Tutorial

1. Make sure to clean your terracotta pot with water and a damp towel. Before beginning make sure it is completely dry.
2. Paint the entire pot white, including the inside. I did about 2-3 coats. Make sure to let it dry between each coats.
3. Add the face! You can either paint on the face that I did as an example or just google cute snowman faces to copy. I decided something very simple.
4. After the face has dried, time to add the fake snow texture to it. This is optional. I personally think it gives it that extra touch. Carefully add random spots around the bottom of the terracotta pot. Wait until fully dried. I honestly waited until the next day to be extra sure.
5. Take your Mod Podge and glitter and go over all of the outside and where you painted in the inside. Make it SPARKLE! 
6. I went back with just plain Mod Podge, no glitter, when it dried and just added a very thin coat for protection.
7. Once all of that has dried it's time to focus on the rim of the pot and add a "hat." I decided to use festive Christmas pipe cleaners and hot glue them around the rim. You can either paint a design or use fabric. 
8. And finally I added the little fuzzy balls to the "hat" part of the snowman. You are finished! Easy, right?!

So I decided to add some faux flowers to my pots. Our local Michaels had a bunch of festive glittered flowers for 50% off, so I snagged a few. So cheap and makes it look more completed. Once I hang all of my Christmas terracotta pots outside, I'll update this post with a picture of what I am fully talking about. 

Be sure to share your experience and photos of your Snowman! 

Third Trimester; Relief

My pregnancies are so much fun *sarcasm*. Getting pregnant and delivery seems to be my specialty when it comes to having a baby, but during pregnancy is extremely hard on my body. Besides feeling my baby move inside of me, pregnancy all around just sucks. So yes, if you are one of those women that LOVE being pregnant maybe for once keep it yourself or be real. On top of the typical acne, hormone changes, weight gain, stretch marks, back pain, swelling, and more, you are supposed to display this image that pregnancy is such a wonderful miraculous thing. Don't get me wrong it is worth every second of it but to get to that little bundle of joy in your arms, flat out sucks. Whether you are having fertility issues or not, pregnancy is no walk in the park for most of us.

I learned with my pregnancy with Olivia that I have a rare blood type of A negative RH negative. To sum up what that means to people who aren't familiar with it, my body thinks pregnancy is a virus and tries to kill my baby. Fun... Right?! I've had a couple miscarriages before Olivia that I'm very open about. I was 19 with the first one and didn't even know I was pregnant until I went in for my dose of the Depo birth control shot. They make you pee in a cup to make sure you aren't, well sure enough I was! Told you getting pregnant is not my problem. Anyways, at the time we had good old Tricare health insurance through the Marines and the Naval hospital said it was from stress. My husband was just about to deploy and it's typical to miscarry in a military household. This may sound so terrible but I was 19! I was no where ready to be a mom and so I always looked at it as if God knew what he was doing.

So when we actually wanted to try for a baby and we were both ready to be parents, I started to spot. Here we go again I thought. Geez, I really need to get my stress level under control. Well with a normal health care provider, Kaiser, they asked if I have ever gotten my blood type checked for the RH factor. Clueless as to what they were talking about, I said no and sure enough I found out the mystery as to why I was miscarrying. They gave me the Rhogam shot and I carried to full term.

Now with this pregnancy, it hasn't been so simple as getting the shot. Normally when you receive this shot isn't until around week 22-26 of your pregnancy. With Olivia I had to get the shot around 16 weeks. The reason is because if you have a miscarriage and you don't receive this Rhogam shot you are most likely to miscarry even earlier with the next pregnancy. Don't ask me the science of it, I just listen to the doctors and do what I am told. Week 13 hit and I had major cramps. They were only getting worse as the day was going on. Finally I caved that evening and told the husband I need to go to the ER. Thinking it was a kidney problem (I recently had a kidney stone), I was in for a very long night.

My vitals were checked, did my ultrasound and finally they gave me something for the nausea (I have Hypermesis Gravidarum). Instead of the doctor giving me my typical nausea medicine he wanted to try and a different brand. Sure enough I found out that I was very allergic to this new medicine and all of a sudden I have nurses running over to me giving me more drugs to counteract what was happening. After that episode calmed down the doctor showed up with my results. He closed off my room and his whole demeanor changed. I was told that my fluids were low and the babies heart beat was barely there. He told me there is nothing they can do and unfortunately let nature run its course. WHAT?! I thought I was just having kidney issues or maybe even a stomach bug, but THIS?! This cannot be happening...

They contacted my OBGYN and he said to administer the Rhogam shot even though it had like a 30% chance of working this early in the pregnancy. I had to switch doctors to a high risk doctor and wanted me to go to his hospital (about 15 miles away from where we live) the next morning to figure out a "game plan." I cannot even explain the emotions. I didn't sleep at all that night and instead researched natural ways to gain more fluids. I drank 8oz of water every 20 minutes and ate so many blueberries. I was desperate. I prayed and prayed.

The next morning my mom watched Olivia and off to the doctors my husband and I went. I drank so much water that I couldn't even make it in the hospital. When we pulled up and I literally peed in the hospital parking lot. Classy I know. They sent in a specialty ultrasound technician and the adrenaline was pumping. I couldn't even look at the ultrasound screen. All of a sudden the technician blasted the volume and all I remember was hearing that baby's heartbeat going strong! I sobbed. And I mean totally ugly sobbing. Whether it was a miracle or that dumb shot, something worked! I seriously wanted to puke from all the emotions I was going through in the past 24 hours.

Strict bed rest and I was bumped to a high risk pregnancy. Which means every two week appointments and boredom. So fast forward to present day, my pregnancy has gotten easier and I got off bed rest.. This past weekend I was washing my car (I know I should be taking it easy) and all of a sudden it felt like someone took a hammer to my lady parts.  I have serious contractions! No, not braxton hicks, full blown contractions! I've been on medication for them on and off but my body is getting used to them. Called my OB and I was scheduled for this last Wednesday. Damn... I thought I was past this. Luckily, I'm not dilating but I needed a different shot (yay) that was going to stop the contractions. Put back on strict bed rest and every two week appointments...

It has been 24 hours and no contractions, just back to braxton hicks. Trying to take it easy with a toddler is nearly impossible, but luckily I have great friends and family to help me. Today I hit the third trimester mark! Some doctors like to call it the "safe zone". It wouldn't be ideal to take the baby out now but if things changed for the worse, the survival rate is high. The goal now is to keep this little girl inside of me for as long as possible! What a relief though to hit the third trimester. I feel like a small part of me can relax now and "enjoy" this pregnancy. I feel like this time around has gone by so fast but yet so long. I'm happy to know that she is very healthy and doing great in there. They don't know if because my body was trying to terminate this pregnancy so early on that it is still fighting to keep her in. Either way, I'm so happy!

My mom and MIL (mother-in-law) are planning my small baby shower/sprinkle, which I thought we would never get to do. Even though pregnancy sucks, sciatic nerve problems, and everything else I cannot wait to meet my little girl. I'm pretty sure this is our last child. Emotionally and physically I don't know if I can even process or think about adding a third child. I just want to get through this one and appreciate that little blessing. I know things aren't 100% until she is in my arms but I have hope that everything will be fine. She kicks me 24/7 and I know I have long nights ahead of me. So for those of you who aren't pregnant and can drink, please have a glass of wine for me! We did it, we made it to the THIRD TRIMESTER!

Olivia's Choking Episodes

So I didn't write about Olivia's procedure as promised yesterday. I've been very emotional and dealing with my own medical stuff. A little past history as to why we are getting all of this done now. When Olivia was around 1 year of age we were at Target doing our normal errands. I turned around for a second to grab a box of cereal and next thing I knew Olivia fell over in the cart. For whatever reason I had her in the large basket, not the spot where they are supposed to be sitting. Anyways, I played it off when she fell and said "Opps, this is why we need to stay seated." Well she didn't respond to me... All of a sudden I realized her lips were turning purple and I screamed for help.

Thankfully we were in the grocery department where two EMT's were on their lunch break. They ran over, cleared her airways and got her breathing. She found the gold fish crackers in my purse and had a snack. Around this age I wouldn't think twice to let her have gold fish. They dissolve and easy to eat for little ones. Extremely shaken up, crying, and holding Olivia I couldn't stop thanking those men. After an hour of them keeping an eye on her and me calming down I drove us home, and I signed up for CPR classes. Must have been a freak accident.

Fast forward to now, Olivia has a hard time eating. Not that she doesn't have an appetite but that sometimes she chokes when she eats or drinks anything. One day it could be fries and the next day she won't struggle eating them. The incident that happened at Target was the worst time but she has had 3 other times where it could have gotten that bad if it wasn't for the CPR training I have had. So even with being paranoid, cutting her food up to the point where it looks like a smoothy, she still chokes. Besides Blake and my friend Alyssa (who is a RN) who have witnessed these episodes, including our parents think I'm being overly protective and paranoid. Which I am paranoid! Could you blame me?! Try going through this all the time with your child and tell me how you feel.

Finally, after over a year of this I looked at her pediatrician and said I demand to see a specialist. Enough is enough! We saw a specialist and for once I didn't feel like a crazy person when it came to talking about this. He knew EXACTLY what I was explaining and even suggested some test to run to get this figured out and solved! What a relief! First exam was to make sure it wasn't a neuro thing. I guess other kids with this problem, normally have a neuro learning curve, which thank God is not our case. So onto the next step. Xray of the Esophagus. Which was yesterday.

Olivia did SO great! I'm so proud of her! Being two and not understanding what is going on and not to mention not being able to eat or drink anything until after her exam. Blake had to be in the room with her since I am pregnant and can't be exposed to the radiation.  They had her drink this white thick liquid and watched what happened to her Esophagus. Of course, right after she chugged so much water and ate everything! I couldn't blame her. Interesting fact though. That stuff made her poop white!

So today the specialist called me for her test results. Thank God again there is nothing major wrong with her Esophagus and looked normal, but as much as that is great news we still are back to square one with no answers. Onto the next and it step. Now we have an appointment set up for a swallow exam. So same concept as the last one except they feed her all types of different textured food and liquid. They watch to see if she is just struggling with swallowing. The specialist wasn't exactly up for this exam just because it's more of a liquid issue that this study works for and Olivia chokes on liquid and solid. But the reason we decided to do this one before the next step is because the next step they have to put her under!

I'm praying one of these smaller exams will catch whatever is happening and that we don't have to result into doing the scope procedure. The point of the scope is to dilate the Esophagus and to get a biopsy for possibly an allergy that triggers it. Which frightens me putting my two year old under. I know this is the doctor's specialty and I feel very comfortable with him but she is still my baby. Of course I want answers but that's why I am doing every little step first before the big one. It's so hard being the parent. I just want this issue fixed but I hate going through all the procedures and steps to get there. I hope this next Xray study finds what is going on. I would love to not feel so paranoid anymore whenever my child eats. Keep my little girl in your prayers as we travel down this road to finding a solution!

Freedom At Last!

So Saturday I put my foot down and looked at the husband and told him "We are not staying in this house any longer!" Besides a cough, Olivia and I are pretty much 100% again. After almost two weeks of being cooped up, I couldn't take it anymore. Let me out! I'm pretty sure Olivia was on the exact same page as me. We headed to our local mall for a little shopping spree. It finally is cooling off here in Southern California and it is time for some "winter" clothes for little miss. I still can't get over how fast kids grow! I won't complain though, more excuses to shop. It's so weird to think that I normally hate shopping (unless it is for make up or hair products), but after having a girl, I can shop for her 24/7. Plus, she doesn't complain when we go shopping because she knows if she is well behaved she gets to have some mall fun. As in, the train ride, playground and carousel. 

In all honestly, it is ins't like she is complaining about the shopping part either. Not because she gets a treat but this girl LOVES clothes and shoes! Shoes, shoes and more SHOES! She has full on melt down some days because she can't wear more than one shoe at a time on each foot. Girl problems at its finest. Oh well, at least I'm having fun with it now. 

Well we ended up getting Blake a new pair of work shoes, I got two new Steve Madden boots, Olivia hauled out with a new pair of vans and 15 pieces of clothing! Ya, I can say we went a little nuts this time around but I blame it on being stir crazy and kept inside. No, this is NOT normal shopping adventures for us. 

Next morning I was crrrraving some cinnamon rolls! This pregnancy this time around has really shown it's true colors when it comes to cravings. I think the only thing I craved with Olivia was green olives (no that is not how we decided on Olivia's name.) It was so bad with the green olives that I was banned from them towards the end of my pregnancy, due to high sodium levels. Besides that, some food tasted better than others but I wouldn't call it cravings. So this time if I seriously don't get what I am craving, I become... well... bitchy. Luckily, I have an awesome hubby and he took Olivia with him to go get us some cinnamon rolls. Pajama's and all! After that we just did small household chores and relaxed while watching some football! Love this time of year!

Now onto the important, scary stuff. I developed anxiety a couple years ago and today my panic attacks are back. Full force too! I haven't taken anxiety medicine in two years and have gone the natural way to handle them. It isn't like I could take anything right now anyways. What brought this all on? Well tomorrow my daughter is getting put under to have a scope down her throat, to see why she chokes all the time and to get a biopsy for allergies. I'll write more about it tomorrow and explain what is going on with that... I'm just on freak out mode but at least we are on the right path to getting answers! 

Give Thanks Turkeys

The other day we decided to do a strictly craft day. I saw this neat thing on my dear old friend Pinterest about making your own light up sign. Instead of running to the store I knew I had some tools to accomplish this turkey Give Thanks light up sign. Not exactly my neatest craft I have done but that is what makes it so special. The turkeys are made out of Olivia's hands and she even helped paint the background of the canvas. 

Instead of doing traditional brown for the turkeys, I decided to spruce things up a bit. Olivia picked out the purple sparkle construction foam paper and I couldn't protest! Who doesn't need some extra glitter in their lives?!

Definitely her favorite part of the craft. Gluing on the feathers to the turkeys. I love it! Makes it so unique and all about her creative mind.

I added the finished touches and wa-la! Turkeys! 

After we painted the sign and added some of our own touches to it, it was time to add the lights. Seriously so simple! Get some mini lights that don't have an end plug. Poke small holes in the back and then weave the lights through. Easy!

Here is our finished Give Thanks Turkey Light Up Sign!!! Easy, creative, and kept our sick butts busy. Oh, and FESTIVE! 

Top 10 Toddler Activities For Sick Days

After two weeks of Olivia and I being sick, I was starting to run out of ideas to keep us busy. Normally I'm really good about coming up with activities, but with my pregnancy brain and being sick myself, I absolutely had no motivation for anything. Let alone brainstorming ideas.

The first week wasn't so bad with Olivia because it was just me sick. Going to the park, letting Olivia play with her water/sand table, running around outside, or even going to the local play places was entertaining enough for her. While I could just sit there and try to rest. As the saying goes... "No such thing as a sick day for moms.."

Now (this week) I'm at the end of this chest cold, but it's Olivia's week of the ickies. Her croup has turned into a typical chest cold like mine, and we are FINALLY seeing the light at the end of the tunnel!

Only Problem now.

Boredom.

Maybe the first and second day of my toddler being sick we can get away with cuddling and watching movies all day. But now on day 5 the stir crazy is settling in! Luckily, I'm in a couple local mom groups on Facebook (ladies find some if you haven't already), I even started one myself. Anyways, I asked the ladies "What do you all do to keep your little one entertained when sick?" Most of the list they came up with we already have done, but others were surprisingly fun, not to mention creative.

Even for me!

1. Chef Toddler- Whether it be sweets, a new recipe, or something typical. Baking always holds us over for about an hour to two.
2. Painting/Drawing- Set up a station where your toddler can get full on messy but have tons of fun. At one point Olivia painted her own face! Even sick, she couldn't help but laugh at herself.
3. Build A Fort- We build a big enough fort with blankets and pillows so that I could fit under it too. I brought out some of her favorite books and had a perfect cuddle story time.
4. Movie Time- I go all out for this one. I even bring out the air mattress, set a bunch of pillows and blankets. Make some popcorn, snacks and chocolate milk. Plus it's calming.
5. Glam It Up- My daughters favorite for sure! She has her own dress up clothes and heals, but I will bring out my clothes and some toddler friendly jewelry she can play with. You can do this with boys too. If you don't have costumes for him, get creative with your clothes or use your husbands.
6. Sensory Activity- This could be anything from building blocks, counting games, memory cards, etc. 
7. Take A Bath- This one I must admit caught me off guard. They have "paint" for the bath and that was a HUGE hit and easy clean up! 
8. Get Your Craft On- This one is my favorite (since I obviously love anything made from her). Even if you don't have a lot, just pull out the most simplest stuff. Paper, glue and something she can glue onto the paper. I always have fun stuff like feathers but you can even find an old magazine or newspaper and cut it up into large pieces for them to paste onto the paper.
9. Spa Day- This isn't exactly the cleanest activity. Set up a big enough station that you aren't afraid of getting wet or ruined. I get a large old Tupperware container, fill it with warm soap water and a scrubby of your choice. Olivia loves "cleaning" my feet and I do the same to her. Then we put on lotion. I paint her nails and I even let her paint MINE! Be sure to always use non-toxic kid safe nail polish if you do decide this because it can and will get everywhere.
10. Book About Me- This one is so cute! Find a bunch of old photos of your toddler. You can cut their head off or cut the whole body. Get a few pages of printer paper, fold in half and staple. Then take the cut out of your child and make a book about them! They love it and can relate.

There you go parents, your top 10 sick day activities asked and answered by REAL parents. If you have something even more creative that you would like to add, be sure to add a comment below what you guys do on your "sick" days! 

Lysol And Steriods

First let me start by saying... HOLY COW! Okay, now I can begin... So almost 8 years ago when my husband left for USMC bootcamp and they loaded him up with who knows what vaccines (no I'm not an anti-vaxer), he never gets sick. And I mean NEVER gets sick! I've even had strep around him, full on had a make out session and he still was Mr. Perfect. Ridiculous right?! Anyways, last week he came home with a cold and I was so shocked. I probably rubbed it in his face a thousand times saying "See you are human!" Of course, as a typical man getting sick was like the most pathetic thing ever. You would have thought he was dying the way how he was acting. Either way he kicked that bug within 48 hours. Oh well, I had my fun while it lasted!

So fast forward to present day and I'm ready to kill (not literally) my husband! Why, you might ask? Because it has been a full week and I'm so sick AND so is Olivia! I know what you are thinking... Karma. Yup! Karma bit me in the ass with this one. Mine kept getting worse and worse. It started to burn in my chest and Tylenol wasn't doing anything for this pregnant lady. Finally the doctor gave the okay for Robitussin for every 4 hours. It has helped tremendously but this cough and having the icky feeling will not go away. To top it off I still have to be a mom. No playing dead for me husband! 

Well for Halloween we took Olivia Trick or Treating. Yes, I sucked it up and brought my child door to door to strangers houses to get candy. Don't worry I charged a fee of Reeses and Snickers for hustling my sick pregnant butt around. I must admit it was way too much fun to see her face light up every time someone handed her candy, and when she would say Trick or Treat. Melted my heart and made all the suffering worth it! Which leads me to that night... 2am rolls around and my child is trying to call for me, struggling to breath. I run to her room in full panic, get the cool mist humidifier on, and stick her head in it. After a good hour she finally calmed down and I moved her into my room to keep an eye on things. If you think I went back to bed you must be crazy! After seeing your child struggle to breath, the last thing I was going to do was sleep. Sick or not I was on high alert! 

 Next morning brought her first thing to urgent care and sure enough my child has Croup! We have never experienced this before and probably the most scariest thing yet. Even with her 103 fever, all I kept thinking was "What if she stopped breathing?" NO parent should ever come across this feeling and this isn't the first time I have had this feeling with her. (But that's a later story of her choking episodes that I will blog about later this week.) So little miss has steroid medicine and an inhaler to help her out for 5 days. This is the third day on this steroid medicine and I'm ready to go find that doctor who prescribed it, and ring his neck! I get this is going to help with Olivia and she needs it... BUT... when he said it will make her a little hyper was a complete understatement!!! This child has been acting as if I pumped her veins with pure sugar and plus some. OMG. Someone save me! When her and I should both be resting, she is having the time of her life!

Her fever is broken, and her barking cough is becoming "wet." Today I even brought out the crafts to help with her outburst of excitement. So maybe there is hope at the end of all of this. Time to bring out the 3 cans of Lysol I made my husband go get and quarantine the crap out of our house! Also, the next time my husband gets a "cold" he will be banned from this house until he is 100% and then maybe, just maybe I will let him back in. Sorry Hubby but that was just RUDE!

Long Time Coming! November Edition.

Geez! Where has the time gone? Well a lot has happened on our side of the computer but instead of getting into crazy details, check out Our Story for the major things you guys missed. 

Great! Now you are pretty much all caught up on the important details. Now back to the slightly, not so important stuff... Blogging...

I cannot believe it is already November! I swear retail companies have a game of who can take down Halloween decor and put up Christmas stuff the fastest. Sorry Thanksgiving, my favorite food holiday, I guess you got the boot AGAIN! This year we are headed to Viva Las Vegas for Thanksgiving, to go visit my extended family. We switch off every other year between our two families, to make it "fair." I swear, no one could of cared if we attended these family events until we started to have children. It's like the second that baby is out of you, family members start competing on who gets you what holiday and for how long. Yikes! Talk about bringing out the crazy in you!

So after the first couple of holidays when Olivia was born, we realized we needed to snip it in the butt and make our own schedule. You know, set some "boundaries." Vegas for Thanksgiving with that side of the family, my husband and I can both agree is our favorite! We watch football, totally chill and SO MUCH FOOD! I'm not saying I don't like the holidays with my in-laws but having both set of grandparents there can be... well... EXHAUSTING! Not only do they pull Olivia in every direction possible, but they also even compete with conversations with us. It is out of pure love, don't get me wrong, but I don't feel like I can relax as much. Either way we love spending time with both of our families, either the craziness or through the calmness. We love them.

For being extremely grateful and mostly a positive person, does anyone else get annoyed of these "Thankful November" post on Facebook? I mean once a week would be cute, but evvverrry day gets old. It's like by the end of the month, people run out of stuff to be thankful for. Like ummm ya "Day 28; I'm thankful for this Tomato. Without it, I wouldn't have been able to make my BLT." I mean it just gets silly in my opinion. I mean at least add fun photos of your post people. Give me something entertaining! So at the end of the month or probably around Thanksgiving time I will make a Thankful Blog post but mostly of the stuff I am most thankful of. 

Speaking of Thanksgiving, I must admit... Gosh I cannot believe I am writing this... I too, will be black Friday shopping. Ugh! I swore I would never do this BUT in my defense more than half of what I want to get Olivia, opps correction, Santa wants to get Olivia are more than half off the cost. I definitely won't be taking time away from my family and waiting in line, but I will be going out in the chaos. It is so stupid retail does this. Takes away from the holiday and valuable time with family. At least my wallet will be happy with me this year. I am so excited (and the husband too) to play Santa this year. Olivia will almost be 3 and this is when she actually somewhat gets the holiday fun. Seriously, being a parent is a blast! Plus it is our first Christmas in our new house, which has its own special meaning in itself. 

You're right Santa... Lets get those Halloween decorations down and put up THANKSGIVING ones and show some gratitude for the biggest blessing of all. LIFE.