The worst birthday present

Tomorrow is Haley's 3rd birthday, and she will be spending it in the hospital.

Earlier in the week, Haley came down with a bug that was a combination fever and cough. Her fever finally broke after 2 days of being miserable, but the cough just hung on and became worse. My normally energetic, happy girl turned lethargic, weepy and somber, and it was so saddening to watch. After keeping her hydrated and giving her what meds we could, we decided last night to make a doctor's appointment for her this morning and promised her if she was brave through her checkup, we would take her to ride the merry-go-round (her favorite thing.)

At 8:45am, we sat in the doctor's office waiting our turn, expecting to hear that it was just a bug that was going around. They went through the normal barrage of tests, and Haley was uncharacteristically good through all of it, even with the finger prick and the nose and throat swabs. Strep, negative. Flu, negative. Oxygen level, low. Too low. Due to her cough and low oxygen, the doctor decided that she probably had pneumonia, but they wouldn't be able to tell without a chest x-ray. They tried several breathing treatments to help her levels, but they each failed to bring her level up to where it needed to be. After 2 1/2 exhausting hours at the pediatrician, they made the decision to call an ambulance to take her to the hospital because she needed to be put on oxygen immediately.

After doing a chest X-ray, she came back negative for pneumonia, but since all of her symptoms point to pneumonia, that's what she's being treated for. While pneumonia is certainly treatable, the feeling of helplessness that you feel when you know that your child is sick and there's nothing you can do to heal her is horrible. As a parent you always want to make it better but this time, mommy's kiss can't heal the boo boo. Poor Haley kept crying and asking to be "all done" but instead of  taking her on a trip to ride the merry-go-round and get a cookie, she was taken to a hospital and hooked her up to some machines to stay overnight in a bed that isn't hers. She will most likely have to stay there all day tomorrow as well, but we're praying otherwise.

My husband is staying with Haley at the hospital tonight since she's a Daddy's girl and also because Connor needs to sleep in his own bed. I've done what I can to distract myself but all I see are the boxes of unopened birthday presents and the pile of birthday cards on the table without a happy, healthy girl to open them tomorrow. We're praying and believing that she'll heal up quickly so she can be home for her birthday tomorrow and if you're the praying kind, we would appreciate your prayers as well.

Spring Flowers Shirt

Spring has come early this year it seems! I'm not complaining. Spring and fall are my favorite seasons. There's something so refreshing about walking outside with the smell of rain in the air and budding flowers everywhere. In fact, we haven't gotten ANY snow yet in my part of Tennessee. My husband, who comes from PA, is not happy about this fact - but I'm pretty darn thrilled with the mild weather. It means more play time outside for the kids, and more outdoor running for me :)

I made this shirt for my daughter as a way to welcome in the pretty spring flowers. The flowers are made using organza and seed beads then hand-sewed to the shirt, so no sewing machine needed - yay! You can find lots of pretty colors of organza at your local fabric store too, so the color combinations are endless.

Supplies:

• Shirt
• 1/4 yard organza
• Fray Check (to keep the edges of your organza from fraying)
• Seed beads
• Needle and thread

Step 1: Make your organza flowers.

First, start by folding a square of organza in half and cutting a little petal shape out (don't cut the fold!)

When you open your petal, it should look like this. Repeat this process to get 6-8 petals per flower. Apply your Fray Check to the edges of your petals and let them dry according to the bottle's instructions.

After all of your petals are cut out, stack them on top of each other (keeping them folded) and fan them out into a flower shape.

Pinch your flower in half and, with your threaded needle, sew through the bottom of your flower. Unfold your flower and pinch it in a different direction and repeat the same process 2 more times. Knot your thread and clip.

You should now have a flower that looks like this! Repeat this process for however many flowers you want. I suggest making at least 3.

Step 2: Stitch your flowers to your shirt.

Now to attach your flower to your shirt. Hand sew your flowers to your shirt with your needle and thread by sewing through the middle of your flower with coordinating thread. On your third stitch, before threading your needle back down through your shirt, add 3 seed beads for the center.

And there you have it, a pretty new spring top!

When laundering your shirt, lay it flat to dry so your flowers aren't crushed and deformed by the dryer. While they're wet, press the flowers open with your fingers some to help keep their shape.

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Make it rain....marshmallows

Hi, my name is Connor McCaffrey and I'm addicted to marshmallows.

I blame my husband. Not for the mess, but for what caused the mess: the marshmallow addiction. I can't remember the first day that Patrick gave Connor a mini marshmallow, but from that day forward the boy has had a blood lust for them. He can be in a horrible mood and all he has to see is that bag of Jet-Puffed marshmallows, his drug of choice, and his little face lights up. It's cute really, but not when your floor is covered in marshmallows.

We have a pantry door that had the baby lock broken on it from 3 years of Haley's little fingers attempting to pry it open. Eventually the little plastic lock gave up on life, and we've never bothered to replace it. Enter Connor and his addiction.

Patrick and I recently had a particularly eventful evening with whiny children last week, and we had just sat down to our dinner while the kids played. We heard rustling by the pantry door and knew immediately that Connor had found the bag of marshmallows. Knowing that the bag had a clip on it, we decided to give ourselves another minute to chew until one of us would have to pry the bag out of his little fingers. One minute was all he needed.

As Patrick walked over to Connor, what he saw was a very pleased little boy in the midst of a mini marshmallow feast. Rather than waiting for us to give him a couple marshmallows, Connor had taken matters into his own hands and shaken the contents around the kitchen. If he could talk in full sentences, I imagine him yelling, "Make it rain!" while scattering the contents of the bag around the kitchen.

And unfortunately for Connor, the 5 second rule did not apply to these marshmallows. He had to go several days without his fix until we could buy a new bag. And that new bag now resides in the pantry on lock down.

Push Pack giveaway winner

 
Wow, what a great response to the Push Pack giveaway!! It seems like a lot of mama's out there could use a bag of essentials to have on hand when they have their little ones. Thanks for all of your feedback about which item was your favorite - many people said that the nipple cream was the one item they liked the most. I quickly learned about the need for nipple cream myself after I had baby #1, and you better believe I had a tube of that with me when I had my son!

I really wish I could give a Push Pack to each of you who entered (and I totally wish I had been given one of these myself when I had my kids!) but unfortunately, there has to be only one winner. After plugging all the entries into Random.org the winner is.............

#26, Knit & Purl Mama!

 Congrats!! An email has been sent to the winner. A big thanks to Laura for giving away one of her awesome Push Packs! 

Thank you also for all of my awesome readers, I appreciate each of you and the support you show for me and my little blog :) I have some more fun projects to share with you soon!

Chevron jewelry organizer

My jewelry situation is a sad mess. All of my necklaces are tangled in one giant knot (both from being clumped together and from little hands playing with them). I've been keeping all of my jewelry in an old, standing jewelry case in my bedroom, and I'm tired of looking at that big, clunky thing in the corner of my room everyday. I wanted to make something that would keep all of my jewelry organized, but look cute at the same time. Can you guess what I used?

A bulletin board! (OK, maybe it wasn't that difficult to guess...)

I originally wanted to buy a bunch of mismatched drawer pulls and drill them into my wall, but when I found this bulletin board for $6, I immediately knew what I wanted to do

To make your own chevron jewelry holder, here's what you need:

Supplies:

• Bulletin Board
• Spray paint or acrylic paint - 2 colors
• Clear sealant
• Foam brush
• Nails
• Double fold bias tape
• Vinyl or contact paper for the stencil
• Masking tape

Step 1: Paint your bulletin board.

First, you'll need to paint your bulletin board white. It may take a few coats to cover it completely, but make sure you have good coverage, especially over the wood frame. You'll want to paint the cork board too. Spray paint would probably be best, but it was night time and I was impatient, so I used acrylic paint instead.

Step 2: Apply your stencil.

Now, you'll need to apply your chevron stencil. I used my Silhouette to cut out a chevron design and apply it to my board, but if you don't have a craft cutter, just Google "chevron" images and then trace the pattern onto the paper backing of your contact paper, cut out, and stick to your bulletin board.

Step 3: Apply your second color. 

Next, put tape around the wooden edges of your bulletin board, right up to the cork so that when you apply your other color of paint, none gets on the wood border. Apply your second coat of paint and let dry. You will probably need several coats of your second color as well.
 

After your paint has dried, peel off your masking tape. As you can tell from my picture below, some of my turquoise paint leaked into my white areas. I just took a small brush and touched everything up until it looked good.

Here's what it should look like when you finish painting!

Step 4: Add nails and bias tape to hold your jewelry.

Finally, I used a ruler to evenly space my nails. I simply used a hammer to gently hammer them in without pushing them completely through the cork. From there, I just hang my necklaces on the nails.

To hold my earrings and bracelets, I folded the ends of a piece of bais tape under and hot glued them. I then placed the looped ends over a couple of nails, that's it! The earrings I just hook onto the bias tape and for the bracelets, I string them onto the bias tape and when I want one, I just take slip the end off the nail and choose the one I want.

This project turned out better than I could have hoped. I'm so glad to have a functional, pretty new jewelry organizer.

I won't even pretend that this is half of my jewelry. I might need to make myself a couple of these...

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Push Pack Giveaway with Small Batch Studio

***This giveaway is now closed***

I have another great giveaway for you this week! If you're a follower of my blog, chances are it's because you found me because you saw my Hospital Survival Kit on Pinterest or another social site. I could have never guessed how popular that little bag of goodies would be! I made the kit for a friend of mine who was due with her first baby last year. Since she had never had a baby before, my friend didn't know what kind of things she would want or need when she went to the hospital. I thought back to my last two births in the hospital and the things I wished I had brought with me, and that became my inspiration to make the kit.

Laura, a mother of 3 girls and owner of Small Batch Studio, had the same inspiration that led her to create the Push Pack, a pre-packed bag of wants and needs for laboring mamas. And the best part? The Push Pack is already assembled for you and can be customized in your choice of pink or blue. 

Laura says, There is nothing like preparing for the birth of your first-born...One thing I struggled with was what to bring to the hospital. There are lists out there, long lists. I know people who brought birthing balls, boom boxes, aromatherapy massage oils, as well as the clothes for themselves and their baby. Now, I am not saying that those things are unnecessary, but I don’t know any mom who brings the same stuff when they’re having #2.

The packing list for the subsequent births are much smaller and more practical. The only problem is now that you have a child or children, when do you have time to pack all of your essentials? Do you want to live out of a travel bag for two weeks? I came up with the idea of the Push Pack. I interviewed a bunch of moms asking them what things they were so glad to have or wished they’d had while they were in labor. The push pack includes the items that were mentioned most often. Call it wisdom and experience, peace of mind, and a gift of love all wrapped into one bag.

The Push Pack includes so many fun and useful goodies for new moms, and all bath and body products are either natural or organic. The pack includes:

• EO® lavender scented shampoo, conditioner and bath gel
• washcloth
• make up remover
• razor and shaving cream lotion
• deodorant
• comb and hair bands
• lip balm
• toothbrush and toothpaste
• breast pads
• maxi pads
• disposable underwear
• comfy socks (your choice of pink or blue)
• playing cards
• Motherlove Organic Nipple Cream®
• notepad
• thank you cards and pen
• gum
• Preggie Pop Drops®
• Bellybar®
• cup of oatmeal and spoon

What new mother wouldn't love to have all the essentials on hand when their new little one is born? The Push Pack would make a great shower gift for a friend (or keep one on hand for yourself!)

Laura is giving one of my lucky readers a chance to win their very own Push Pack! Each pack comes with the items above in your choice of blue or pink.

You can enter 3 different ways to win:

1. Tell me which item in the Push Pack you love the most
2. Like Small Batch Studio on Facebook
3. Follow My Own Road and leave me a comment on this post letting me know

**The giveaway ends February 23rd at midnight CST. The winner of the Push Pack giveaway will be chosen using Random.org, and announced here on February 24th. Please make sure that your email address is linked to your profile when you comment, or include it in your comment.**

I want candy

Valentine's Day is over....which means there are a lot of these on sale.

No matter how old I get, I still love these things. Each year I have to have several boxes of these chalky little hearts candies. They're nothing special really, but I still love them. They're kind of the fruit cake of the Valentine's Day season. You can find them in every store and people give them out because they're a staple of V-Day, but nobody really likes them. Except for me. Maybe it's because I can only get them once a year.

As the years have gone on, the messages have gotten more "high-tech" to reflect the times. Now you can find hearts that say "text me" and "dial my #." I'm going to die the day I get a conversation heart that says "facetime me."

I'm stocking up while I can, but in case your candy heart stash runs out, I found this awesome recipe to make your own at Capitol Hill Cooks so you can get your candy heart fix throughout the year :)

Now onto Cadbury Creme Eggs!