Dishcloths

I needed to veg out a bit this weekend or else I was going to explode. Things have been so stressful the last few weeks....well, months. Anyway, thanks to the wonderful DVR "House" and "Friday Night Lights" have been recording and I didn't even know it. What was that? A snicker...don't you dare laugh at me watching "Friday Night Lights." ;-)

I decided to find my cotton yarn which was packed away in a tote in the garage and try my hand at a dishcloth. I bought the yarn while on bedrest, but never used it. The first wash cloth was a basic dc that I did on a whim. I didn't like how it turned out so decided to search for a pattern on the net.
I found this one. It's simply a sc, alternating front and back loops. I like it much better.

I haven't wet either one and hope I like how they work.

What does your craft room look like?

I will have my very own craft room in our new house and I'm dreaming of how to organize it. Does anyone want to share a photo of your craft room on your blog? I need inspiration!

Holiday Hats

Finally, a crafting post. Can you believe it? These 4 hats have been crocheted over the course of the last month or so. I'll send them to a NICU next month. Should I add a pom-pom?


Here's a little hint as to what will be the very first thing produced out of my new craft room. I can't wait!!

Lastly, Wool Winder's lovely pictures of her hummingbirds inspired me to post an "around the backyard" photo for you. This saddleback caterpillar stung hubby a few weeks ago. We were outside working in the yards in prep for putting the house on the market. He grabbed some lawn furniture and put his hand right on him. It got him 5 or 6 times on a couple of fingers. OUCH!!

Under Contract

Yep, both houses (old and new) are now under contract. We returned yesterday from our whirlwind house hunting trip to Cumming, GA. Even with the downturn in the market, houses are EXPENSIVE. However, we did find a beautiful home in a wonderful kid-friendly neighborhood. I think that we will be happy there. We've already met 2 neighbors, one of which offered to entertain Hannah when we move in. She also has a 4 year old daughter and they, of course, hit it off. Both have purple bicycles. :-) And, if you're wondering...yes, we went house hunting with a 4 year old and 3 month old, a 3 month old that breast feeds at that.


Although our plans seem to change as frequently as the wind...oh, speaking of the wind, the weather was FABULOUS in north GA. We had a nice breeze and it really felt like fall. I can't wait to see the leaves change from our back deck.



Anyway, back to our plans, the kids and I will head to Mom's in Alabama on Sat, Oct 13th. On Tues, she'll drive us to GA. We'll do the final walk-through and close on the new house on Wed. The movers will probably be there on Thurs. Thankfully, GA sells Goody Powders or else I may not make it. ooohhhh, my aching body. I can feel it already and it hasn't even started.


The BEST part is that I'll have my VERY OWN craft room. I cannot wait. It even has a bathroom and walk-in closet.

Mobile Loaves and Fishes

My sister recently emailed me about her experience with Mobile Loaves and Fishes which feeds the homeless. She and some friends travelled with them in Nashville for the first time last Wednesday. She will be going with them every 3rd Wednesday of each month. She was quite moved by the experience and ran into a need that is quite easy to fill. Although they were there providing food, the homeless kept asking for soap and toiletries of which they had none. They need the small containers (much like from a hotel) of soap, shampoo, conditioner, laundry detergent and socks (new or used).

If you'd like to declutter your cabinet of all those little toiletries from hotel stays, let me know and I'll email you her address. Or...if you have a donation for the foundation, just include these items with it. I'll make sure she gets it and in turn those in need.

I have a small tote full of these type items in my cabinet now. I will sort through and give to her the next time I see her.

Candlelight Books

A few of us on a grief forum that I belong to are picking out a random act of kindness to do during October which is Pregancy and Infant Loss Awareness Month. Since things are insanely crazy around here with the move, I have chosen to do this a little early. I'm afraid that October will be a blur and I won't get it done.

So, as my act of kindness (although not very random) I am choosing to support Minotte in her Candlelight Books venture. She is collecting books and shipping them to the Phillipines. Read more about it here.

Books can be mailed to:
Candlelight Books
2036 Tupelo Way
Antioch, CA 94509

In Loving Memory

Emma Grace

"Good Morning"

Date Taken: 9/8/05

On days like this, I want to write an eloquent post about how I feel on this the 2 year anniversary on Emma's death. However, words escape me. Two years later, it's extremely difficult for me to wrap my mind around all that happened. It goes without saying, though, Emma Grace made a profound change in my life.

The above photo was taken by her NICU nurse. It's a polaroid with "Good Morning" written on it and was taped to her isolette. I arrived within minutes of that photo being taken. As soon as her nurse saw me, you motioned for me to hurry over. She said she was afraid that I would miss seeing her beautiful eyes. Em looked so healthy that day, even sucked a pacifier for a few moments. I did not get to spend but a few minutes with her at that visit. A new baby was being admitted and parents were forced to leave. Within 36 hours of this photo, she was deathly ill. It happened so quickly.

Shop Online to the EGF

I know a lot of us shop online! :-) I just discovered that GoodSearch (many of you already use it as a search tool to benefit the EGF) now has GoodSHOP to help non-profits.

Here is the link:http://www.goodsearch.com/goodshopping.aspx
Many online stores are listed like ebay, target, gap, etc. Amazon is coming soon.

Check out the link and make sure you put in Emmazing Grace Foundation in the charity blank. Then, follow the links to the online stores. Each store donates a different percentage.
How cool is this?!?!

Fun in the Sun!!

We just returned from a week long trip to Navarre Beach, FL. We have a condo down there and haven't been since July 4, 2006. As usual, it was breathtakenly beautiful and since the beach renourishment post Ivan and Dennis there were beautiful sandbars for the kids to play on.

I love the utter excitement in Hannah as she plays in the water.

And, Little Man as he soaks up some rays. Actually this photo was taken at about 8:30am and he still wouldn't open his eyes.
Lastly and always....remembering Emma Grace

Happy 2nd Birthday Emma Grace

I love and miss you!!!!

Drumroll Please..........

The final total to the 2nd Annual Donation Drive is:

528 items + $503 in cash and gift cards to craft stores


And the winners to the "thank you" drawing are:


Kathy
Sarah B.
Frauntene


I will be getting in touch with you in the next few days regarding your prizes. I still have a couple of details to work out. :-)


Just for fun, here are a few photos of the drawing in progress....

Hannah helping me cut the names apart

Mixing....

Drawing the names with her eyes closed.... LOL!! Not that Hannah can read or anything.

Baby Announcement

Another thing I've been wanting to do for a while is post Austin's baby announcement. I love the way it turned out. My friend Suzanne made it for me. She has an on-line store if you want to check it out. Ok, I'm done posting for the day. LOL!!!

Austin's Gifts

I just wanted to take a moment to thank everyone for Austin's gifts and to show off some of the handmade items he has received. They are all just BEAUTIFUL and I appreciate so much that you took the time to do something for us that is so very special!!

This one is from Sue in Alabama. It was taken on the Fourth of July when Austin was just a few days old. I think we'll do an annual Fourth photo on it each year. Ms. Sue crochets a lot of wraps, pouches, and hats for the foundation. She was the first to volunteer to donate on a regular basis. She's such a sweetheart!

This one is from Minotte. It's an adorable granny square afghan. I LOVE all the bright colors.

Team work made this one. Knit-A-Little and her 2 daughters, Wool Winder, Pink Dandelion, and Mama Bear. Isn't it GORGEOUS?!?!?!?


I just noticed that Knit-a-little has the full story on her blog. Check it out. Who made what?
Lindsay, Knit-a-Little's daughter, made the 4 corners.
Mama Bear and Pink Dandelion, made the turtle, footprints, and others made in the same yarn.
Woolwinder made the heart and the others in the matching yarn.
Knit-a-Little crocheted the border and her other daughter, Kathryn, helped finish it up. Even hubby got in on the action helping to arrange the squares and taking care of the kids while she worked.

And, lastly....Knit-a-Little sent this handmade sweater. I was soooo excited to get it. Austin's gonna need it in Atlanta....yep, it's official. We'll be moving in the next couple of months.

Everyone - I absolutely treasure all of the handmade gifts. I truly do not have the words to thank you enough. I love the cyberworld. It has opened doors for me to meet so many wonderful women!! Many hugs!

Time's Up!

ETA: I know it's not Aug 15th just yet. I meant to press "save as draft" and post this tomorrow. Oh Well!! Just goes to show you how crazy my life (or shall I say...how crazy I am) is these days. ha! ha!

Is it really Aug 15th already? Where did the summer go? If you have something in the mail for the foundation, please let me know and I'll add your name to the drawing. LadyM, I have you, so don't worry. Other than that, I think there's only one other package that I know of that is outstanding.

In the next couple of days, I will get the drawing winners posted and a final total for the donation drive. It's been a huge success and I can't thank everyone enough.

Excuse the mess in my craft room, but here's a sneak peak of how successful things were! :-) Everything in the cardboard boxes are donations.

Home Sweet Home

I just returned from a last minute trip to Alabama. We got last minute cheap tickets and stayed a week. I will tell you all about it later, but wanted to shoot off a quick post to let you know that if you've mailed a package I've probably gotten it. There are NINE here. I haven't even looked at the return addresses, but made a quick count. I'll be emailing and/or posting to let you know that it arrived safely. I got chills when I saw all the wonderful donations! THANKS YA'LL!!

One Month Left

Just letting all of you in "Blogland" know that there's only a month (well, technically less than a month now) left in the 2nd Annual Remembering Emma Grace Donation Drive. Of course, we'll always accept donations, but if you want in on the drawing you'll need to enter now. I've come up with a few more ideas for prizes, too, but I'll keep them secret for now.

My sister met with her local hospital today. A week or so ago the florist that she works for donated flowers for a baby that was stillborn. She found out through the funeral home that they had nothing to dress the baby in. I sent 4 outfits home with Mom last week and suggested that she contact the local hospital. She did so today and I look forward to hearing from the hospital personnel regarding their needs. They currently have no bereavement clothing.

I've put about 10 donation receipts in the mail in the last couple of days. If you're due for one and don't receive it, please let me know. With the chaos of life at the moment, I've accidently skipped over you.

Thank you all.....Kathy, Nancy, Allyson, Sharon, Denise, and Amy....for recently donating. Photos of their donations are in the slide on the right. Please forgive me for not uploading pictures here. I'm running short on time these days. If you see anything and want links to patterns, just let me know and I'll track them down for your. :-)

Hope everyone is doing well!

Friday's Fruit

I had to join in...well, kind of join in....Wool Winder's "Friday's Flowers" posts. LOL! Apparently, my banana trees have loved all the rain we've gotten. They are the only things that look half decent around here. Do you think they'll make?

What A Scare!!

Getting ready for the EKG
It's been a rough few days, but thankfully all is just fine! We've spent 3 days in a children's hospital downtown. Here's what happened:

I fed Austin at 3:30am on Saturday morning. At 5:30am, Jason and I both lept to our feet after hearing a horrible noise coming from Austin's cradle. To be honest, I have no idea how to describe it. Jason says he thought it was a "blow out" diaper. I disagree since a "blow out" wouldn't have scared me to death.

Anyway, I made it to the cradle before Jason and scooped Austin up. He was rigid with his back arched and head thrown backwards. I sat down with him and noticed a bit of mucous coming out of his mouth. I grabbed the bulb suctioner and went to work, but made no progress. I then flipped him over on his belly across my legs and patted his back. Still no progress. Back to the bulb suction, back across my legs. Somewhere during this time I ripped his sleeper off of him. He wasn't blue, just BRIGHT RED all over. Finally, after probably only a minute, he loosened up. However, he did not perk up. We decided to make a run to the ER. It wasn't until they put the blood pressure cuff on his leg at the ER did he decide to make a noise and act squirmy again.

The ER here did a CT scan and bloodwork. Neither showed anything. The ER doctor called his ped's office and the dr covering on the weekend wanted him transferred to the children's hospital.

There they ran an EKG, EEG, MRI, upper GI series, a chest x-ray....and, well, I think that's it. So far nothing has showns up!!! The EEG results still aren't back, but we have no reason to think it will show anything.

The team of pediatricians said that often times these things happen and we just never know why. They also said it could have been something called Sandifer's Syndrome. I lean toward the latter. With Sandifer's, when a baby spits up he will mimic a seizure with the rigid body. At the 3:30 feeding, I distinctly remember laying Austin on his back. He had pee'd out his diaper and wet everything. Typically, I lay him on his side with a receiving blanket behind his back. But, I had moved it because he had wet it.

So, after a scare and a bunch of tests, all seems to be completely normal with "Little Man."

And, on the way home with Big Sister on her BEST behavior - NOT!

Happy Fourth

Just a little something to brighten our day between all the rain and mosquitos around here.....

Introducing

Austin Hunter born at 6:57pm on June 25, 2007. He weighed 6 lbs 5 oz and was 19.5" long. He spent the night in the Level II NICU due to a little bit of breathing difficulties, but is a-ok now. He also has a little bit of jaundice, but after a quick trip to the pediatrician this morning we found it to be under control.
Proud Big Sister


We feel incredibly blessed to be given this miracle!