Everyday

Everyday I pray for happiness, patience, and kindness. More often then not I end up falling in one of those three areas. And that is when I turn to my Heavenly Father and tell him I am sorry and recommit to do better the following day. And then a new day begins and the process of becoming happy, more patient, and a kind person continues.

I birthed a baby

Stella Fay Bowman

October 29, 2011

6 lbs 1 oz

I finished my last day at the salon on Friday October 28.  It was 3 weeks before our baby girls due date.  That evening we picked up some clothes for the babe and ordered some of the important things like: a pack n play, crib mattress, sheets.  You know those things that are helpful when you have a little one.  

I woke up at about 2 am Saturday morning  feeling a little damp in my nether-regions. I never my entire pregnancy had peed my pants and was pretty sure my water broke.  I laid back down and at about 4 am had Vance up running around (he was more freaked out than me) getting things put together.  

We got to the hospital and checked into triage.  The nurse was pretty sure my water had NOT broke.  So she stuck her hand up me and low and behold I gushed water everywhere, which I profusely apologized for.  The nurse quickly changed her mind and got me officially admitted.  I was given my epidural and Vance and I both fell asleep.  Around 9 am the nurse told me it was time to push.  Vance got up and put his game face on, seriously he was so into this whole birthing thing. At 9:55am Stella Fay Bowman was born.  Vance quickly declared that she was his child, like there was some kind of doubt.  Love him so much.  

There were some complications after the delivery so I got to hold my sweet baby for about 10 seconds.  My body wouldn't clot properly and my uterus wouldn't contract.  I was given a medication that was supposed to help the clotting but instead I almost stroked out.  The pain I experienced from my blood pressure skyrocketing was far worse than having a baby .  When I stabilized they brought us our sweet baby girl and that is when we named her. She had the most beautiful red hair and blue eyes.  She was tiny and perfect. Shortly after the nurse took her back to get checked by the doctor.  They found that her oxygen levels weren't stabilizing, so they admitted her to the NICU.  Upon further testing they found that she had 2 holes in her heart.

We were eventually discharged and sent home.  The first year of Stella's life was chaotic.  One of the two holes in her heart has completely closed. The other will be checked again when she is around 6 years old.  She wasn't really growing or gaining weight.  We realized that she was allergic to milk protein.  But when we eliminated that she was still struggling so we were sent to the GI doctor.  After specialists and tests for things like cystic fibrosis, we discovered that she reacted severely to corn and any byproduct of it. At 10 months she had tubes put in her ears. 

 I was overwhelmed as a new mother.  But luckily I have an amazing husband, family and friends who were there for the entire journey.  They were on the other end of the phone listening to me freak out and cry about the "what if's" that came to mind. 

Stella is now 19 months and the craziest little red head.  She is all muscle, not little fat rolls to be found on her.  She is an insane dancer.  She loves to brush her teeth and hair.  She babbles and runs around everywhere. And she manages to drive me crazy and melt my heart all at the same time.  I love her.  And her daddy loves her.

Testing testing 1,2,3

My last post was roughly 3 years ago and I'm sure many of you have lost hope in me ever blogging again...
But I'm here and alive! And have decided that I need to do a little better. So updates will be coming on hopefully a weekly basis. I'm not promising pictures or long stories, just something. Lets be honest I don't really even know how to work this blog!!!  No biggie though I'm sure I will figure it out OR make someone else figure it out for me. Peace out and good night.

crafting...

I have been a crafting fool latley! I love mod podge and there is a blog dedicated to it! And I am so excited to get some pictures posted of what I have done. My wonderful sister Adrienne gave me the letter "B" for Christmas a while back. After several moves poor "B" got beaten up. So I stripped it of its beauty and re-beautified it! But the wall it is hanging on needed a little more umph. So I was chit chatting with Adrienne brainstorming and she gave me an awesome idea via her sister in law Tori! So drum roll....I now have a "B Wall"...SOSOSO cute and fun. So I spent afternoon with my friend Jeni and collected some "B" s. And then last night I went crazy and stayed up way too late fixing them up.

So next two projects are a door wreath and mod podging my kitchen table with fabric (I did a small test run on one of my letters and works great!)...

In other news we are doing super duper great. Vance is still busy with sports, work, young mens, me...His other best friend is engaged and talking about getting married in October. By that time he will have exhausted all of this time off for the year probably. So we will be having a Texas Thanksgiving and Christmas! Ok I guess I should get back to work...Love you all tons

Guns

Here in Texas it is HUGE, to the point of people canning their ammo. Guns were not a topic in southern California. I remember being told guns are bad. So to my dismay Vance has become friends with some gun lovers. They have tried to sway me to let Vance get a gun. I have ferventley said no, no oh and NO!
Unfortunatley there have been some events that have caused me to question our saftey, especially since we are considering having children. SO...we will be getting a gun as well as installing a security system...

I love my husband

I love that he feels it would be SO funny to put of picture of snot hanging out of my nose on the blog. But it will stay there for all posterity to see, because I promised not to remove it before I saw it! In all fairness he did have to deal with all of the snot coming out of my nose for two weeks...

In other news I have been in a crafty mood! I am in the process of decking out some tanks and making some jewelry inspired by something I saw from Anthro. It is just a matter of assembling it(better yet figuring out HOW to assemble it). Once I am done I will take some pictures. I am REALLY excited for the out come.

At 4:45am we will be heading to the airport via our amazing friend Jeni! Our destination is Portland, Oregon. Vance's best friend is getting married in the Portland Temple on Saturday. Before the wedding festivities begin we are going to Yakima, WA to see Mason and Kim and their cute boys!!! And we are hoping to see little Tessa. This trip is much needed and Vance and I are so excited. It is truly going to be a special week.

On the downside today is going to be crazy busy! Vance and I are both working. After work I have to run some errands, do my cousins hair, mow the lawn, run more errands, having a family over for dinner and the pool (they are watching the pups while we are gone!), pack, clean up, shower! I can do this right? YES I CAN!!!

Cold

So Julianne had a cold. She was blowing her nose in the car. Well, the picture tells the rest of the story.