Hello ....

(indeed i did ..posted a picture of my A$$)

jeans that have no wide elastic to hold a big belly or no real button and a zipper . YEAH a zipper that works . Sad but true though I will miss sliding my pants down without taking the time to undo the button and zipper ,but hello jeans that were in a box in the bottom of my closet for 10 very long months . Now its been three weeks and two days since little man has been in this big world now ,so yeah for being so scared .... I mean brave enough to try on my pre baby Vann day jeans . Loving that one pair actually fit even with a muffin top hanging over the edge and I am not trying on another pair for a while either . Here's to keeping the jeans clean today , so I can get a day 2 out of them for tomorrow on my very first trip to WHY NOT MINOT since little man . Also give me and hubby the thumbs up and wish us luck for taking all 4 kids to Minot for the first time tomorrow .Brave ......maybe but this mama desperately needs a TARGET trip . Any woman would understand that .

I must admit prior to trying on" THE JEANS " I was thinking about a large piece of leftover birthday cake with a scoop of vanilla ice cream , but I did pass after the fact I actually got into them and can breathe too and maybe alittle guilt too.

GOOD CAUSE

I am so flipping excited for the Black Eyed Peas benefit concert @ Minot on Sept 3rd .
Check out the details here

This was one of Addy's first fave bands . She first heard them on Oprah during the flash mob and then we had to watch the UTube video a few hundred times and she had all the words memorized . So looking forward to seeing the concert with hubby and Addy and so glad all the proceeds all going to a good cause too . Still have to figure out where the little kids will go but that is a minor detail .LOL.

LEGO PARTY

HAPPY 8th Birthday Party DMAN !

Hope you had fun as I let this be a little more of little low key party as per other years but all the kids seem to be happy with it any how .

SO when all the kids arrived we had them just have a free play with LEGO on the table they seemed to really really enjoy this because they had others playing with them . For us when Dman plays it usually by himself .

Then we had them each build a Lego car racer . This needed alittle more of dad and moms help doing this one . When they were all done they enjoyed racing them done the hallway and were able to take their own racer home. Then we had a few relay races outside . I had build a few large Lego pieces out of boxes , plastic bowls and spray paint .Then I had bowls of 10 pieces of Lego at one table and empty bowls at the other they had to run and jump over my large home made Lego pieces then grab a straw from me pick up a piece of Lego by sucking it through the straw and carrying it to the empty bowl . Whoever got all there Lego pieces in there bowl ran to the finish line and won . It was really hard I tried before the party I was going to give them the benefit of doubt and let them only pick up half the pieces but they enjoyed the challenge and insisted on doing all . They all did well I was very proud as it was much harder then I thought it would be . We then had cake and ice cream . A Lego cake of course .... but I can take no credit on making my friend Laura came through and insisted she make it for me the day before on her birthday . It turned out great and a much better job then I could of managed I am not the best cake maker . I can bake it but icing is not my strong point . And then opened presents of course .
They snacked through out the party and played . I took a pictures of them all with my Polaroid camera so they each could take a photo home along with their goodie bags .

Love having and putting on parties. I have next years party already planned in my head . The girls as well . I even have little man Vann's party all planned too . Hubby thinks I am crazy but whatever I am the one putting in all the hard work and love hearing the kids talk about which party was their fave . Don't look forward too the day when my kids are too OLD for parties .

Sisters are like friends but way better .

I began my hospital journey on my birthday , but my sister was not going to let it pass by as she made arrangements for her boys and made her way to Brandon for my first hospital visit . With gifts in tote . I really enjoyed these little bundles so much on the passing days . Very nice to have a sister so close , so glad my girls are close in age and already see a great bond between them too .What a crafty girl too ! Look at these great looking cupcakes in a jar and this sweet a$$ card . She also brought me other things as well . Can't wait til I can spoil her for her birthday coming up very soon .

I decided to post a picture of my sweet girls sharing a swing ride together at Banana days this past weekend . I love love how close this two are .

INTRODUCING ...........

Our family of six.

I love having friend that is so talented and she just happened to have a free day open so gave us a shout to say she had a spot for us to get some pictures done . Now what does a mom that just had a baby and did a HUGE clean sweep of her wardrobe during nesting time wearing to a last minute photo shoot plain not too showy clothes but a big bold colorful necklace that will distract the eye from the belly . YUP ... that definely works .

OUR little man

Vann Edward Jones

Weighing 5lbs 9 ozs

19 inches long

Absolutely cute and cuddly !!
Loving the long cuddles !

He does not cry for much but diaper changes and burps . He hangs out , eats , sleeps , poops and pees , and loves to be cuddled or in his swing or .....well ....pretty much any where actually . This little man is giving mom a much deserved break and being one quite content and happy dude .

SURVIVED ....

I have survived a near month of a hospital stay ,but have made it home . Which is amazing feeling I have so many things that I need and want to share with that I have lived , thought about ,are grateful for , need to get off my chest and have experienced , but most importantly . I am home with our little man .Introducing Vann Edward Jones . So sorry no pictures to post yet as this is my first online experience and still building up my energy from my hospital stay . BUT we are happy to stay we brought home a healthy boy home weighing a 5lbs 9 oz and 19 inches long . My experience I will explain in much more detail at another time was not what we had expected but that just seems as that the way life has been thrown at us these days . I had a perfectly healthy C section the placenta came off the uterus wall as normal and I still have my uterus too !!! But during my recovery time it went for a turn for the worse I lost alot of blood and needed my first blood transfusion . We then went from bad to worse quite quickly and managed to get stable and remain stable to be able to make it home sweet home . I have learned alot during my stay and have grown as a person as a woman and as a mom . I have so much to be grateful for and so so many people to appreciate even more now. I will continue to gain more energy and get back to blogging soon enough in the mean time I just felt I needed to update you all . I have received emails from some of my blog readers and so thrilled that I have so many people following my story and really glad to hear from you . It shocked me to know so many of you were reading but also thinking of me and my family too . It really truly means so very much to me . I did manage to save some of my thoughts and days in a journal and so plan on sharing some of those as future blog posts . Now I must get back to enjoying life with the people I love most as life is way too short and I have so much to catch up on . And too be quite honest with you all my breasts feel like they all ready to explode so better go feed a hungry baby .

Just me .... @ 29 again .........

Just a few things about me .

- list maker
- fave color is green and always has been
-ice cream is a guilty pleasure
-usually have my camera arms length away
-Love adding a piece of crazy or colorful jewellery to any outfit
-crazy party planning mama
- have good intentions
-definitely not afraid to speak my mind
-this is the longest I have had my hair in years
-my escape is a soak in a HOT tub with the doors locked and lights out
-treat myself to a cup of tea daily
-put my kids first
-pattern paper is my thing
-enjoyed playing with some fabric crafty projects
-favorite flower is daisies
-love to garden
-enjoying cutting grass
-dislike doing household chores as I think there should and are other priorities does not mean I am a slob just family comes first
-my mind works overtime most of the time .
-love my hubby a great deal even though I also slid him to second since the kids
-I love creating  crafty and artsy things but definitely have not gave myself much time to do it
-am 35 weeks into pregnancy #3 and its very much different this time around too
-shopping is not my favorite thing but its my organized thing listed by store and by item
-an early morning walks clears my mind and is so very relaxing to me .
- my hubby and I have enjoyed having a glass of wine or two with each other this is nice
-do not enjoy watching television I do do it but its not a need nor a want to me .
-I crank up the music loud in the truck like a teenage boy with new speakers its a guilty pleasure I have and drains out the children too
-reading is a hobby I wish had more time for
-typical a morning gal but also a night owl this can work out to be a disadvantage to me and catches up every now and then .
- love eating  fruit and veggies
-enjoy baking but don't usually eat it (beside when I am pregnant with a sweet tooth little boy )
- dislike chocolate only  have two chocolate favorites
-love to floss everyday
-both my girls have pierced ears and wear earrings every day I do not
-dog lover
- have very few friends but the ones I have are priceless and unconditional and who needs lots of friends when you have a sister anyways
-am the bad cop parent in the house .
-do not drink pop unless its in a mixed drink or there is absolutely nothing else to drink
-did not thing my choice of having another baby would be possibly taken away from me at the age 30

Things to DO in my 30th year ....yes 30 ( and all honesty I think it maybe my best year yet well maybe not starting out all peaches and cream like but I have big hopes for the rest of it  )
-to create a more productive & calm but still fun house hold
-do a online camera class
-journal daily for me
-family trip to Hawaii
-create family memory books
- take a monthly photo of self (full body )
-donate my hair
-date night with hubby monthly (this would be a great time to get that monthly self photo too)
-create a exercise program for self  for me to feel like me again or at least for me to  feel comfortable with (does that make any sense )
-get my craft studio up and running
-girls weekend away

Sad but very true I will be spending my 30th birthday in Brandon hospital . Whats a girl to do but take care of babe and me . I will be admitted first thing this morning and then I will go on to Winnipeg next Tuesday and find out more then . I am sure shortly after that I will be booked for a C section and will have a baby name to announce to you all for our little man . I have had a lot to soak in the last day or two . We were given the worst case scenario of possible delicate  C Section  surgery with a possible hysterectomy to be had at same time ,or to  bleed out and losing enough blood for both babe and me not to make it or possible just a normal placenta previa completely with no complications . Sitting in a hospital til a another picture can be done to rule out any dangers by a specialist seems like the best idea for now . Not ideal as I am a planner I had to scatter to find a home for my children with very busy family and friends but we got everything worked out . I must say we both have amazing families and are very lucky to have everyone live very close to us .As well as kick A$$ best friend that did not hesitate to mother my children until all our families could work out there schedules to be the most help to us . THANK YOU is not enough to all the help we will receiving in the weeks to come .
Happy Birthday to me still hoping to get a slice of cake and ice cream .