Easter

We had a fantastic Easter in the new rental. My parents, brother and his girlfriend all came up to celebrate with a simple dinner and just some general hanging out time. It was a year ago this week that we found out that we were pregnant with Camden, so it was pretty surreal and amazing to be celebrating the holiday with two kiddos :)

After a morning of Easter basket fun (and Laila loving Cam's basket more than her own!) we got out of Christmas jammies (because mama didn't plan ahead for pictures) and dressed in our Easter outfits for the rest of the day.

 We had a great and low key Easter which was just what the doctor ordered after the past few weeks we've had.

We are almost all moved in. Its so nice to start to feel settled again :) Hope everyone had a wonderful Easter Sunday!

My Scariest Experience - TIA

One week ago last Sunday night around 9:45pm Chris and I were sitting on the couch trying to decide which movie to watch On Demand when I got a weird tingling feeling in my left arm. I turned to Chris and said, "I feel really weird..." and in the next 3 seconds or so the entire left side of my body became numb and paralyzed. I told Chris, "I think I'm having a stroke" The words came out a slurry mess, and I could feel my face was completely numb and drooping (later Chris told me my face looked like it was melting on the left side). Chris grabbed the phone and called 911 as I sat slumped on the couch just looking at Camden sleeping peacefully beside me. Clear headed, I was trapped in this foreign body for about a minute and a half. I used to work as a medical assistant in a cardiology office so I know stroke symptoms inside and out, and also their lasting effects. In that minute or two, I thought I was going to either die, or never be the same. I really did. It was the absolute worst 2 minutes of my life as I tried telling Chris as best I could that I loved him and the kids.

My speech was the first thing to return, and the paramedics arrived not even 5 minutes after the initial call. My sensation began to improve over the following 20 minutes or so as the paramedics checked me out, but I remained incredibly weak on my left side and I was taken by ambulance to the hospital.

Long story short, after a huge series of testing over 4 days in the hospital, and another episode exactly like the one above the next evening as a new nurse was flushing my IV, it was determined I had a TIA (transient ischemic attack) or otherwise known as a "mini stroke". This was caused by a blood clot that formed due to me starting birth control pills approximately 10 days prior, and a Pulmonary AVM gave that clot a route to my brain.

 

I will have to travel down to the University of Washington Medical Center in the coming months to fix my AVM, and take medicine in the meantime to prevent other clots from forming. Needless to say, my anxiety is through the roof as I am terrified this is going to happen again. I am so incredibly blessed it struck as I was simply sitting on the couch, and not driving my babies.
I am still pretty weak in my left arm but it seems to be improving daily. Talk about a wake up call to live everyday to the fullest and love those around you like there's no tomorrow! So scary. I debated whether to share my experience, but thought what the heck...maybe someone out there would have a similar experience and not feel so alone. To boot, this also complicates things as we always planned to transfer our last frozen embryo at some point, but its looking like that can't happen now. I'm sure we will find out further over the coming months, and speaking with PNW Fertility.

Ok moving on and well...moving OUT! Tonight is the last night in our house. So sad, but so ready. We found a fantastic rental for the next year or two while we build a house! We are so excited for this next chapter, and ready for a fresh start.

In other huge news, look at this big boy!!! He weighs 17 lbs and rolled over today from his tummy to his back!

Wish me luck as we move this week - I'm really looking forward to life slowing down. I like it better when my lack of blog posts means that life is just kind of boring, rather than life being too crazy!

Weigh In Wednesday - Week 3

Another week come and gone and I still didn't make it to the gym. I have so much else going on with the house selling, looking for a rental, and taking care of the kiddos that time just seems to slip away. I will start making time because working out is by far the best stress reliever for me.

Such a true statement! Image found on Pinterest and I do not claim it as my own.

LOSING THE BABY WEIGHT ROUND 2

POUNDS LOST THIS WEEK: 0
TOTAL POUNDS LOST: 3

INCHES LOST
Waist: 2
Hips: 1
Thighs: 0.5
Chest: 1.5
Arms: 0

TOTAL INCHES LOST: 5

Am I disappointed I didn't lose any weight? Sure. Not totally unexpected since I wasn't giving this my all this past week. I am pleased with my measurements though. I know the more I put in, the better results.

I continue to eat better and better everyday. Slow changes are lifelong changes! One thing I'm doing that is completely motivating is a made a shopping list of all the clothes I'm going to get once I reach my goal! It also doesn't hurt that summer is staring me right in the face ;)

Happy Wednesday! Back to the rental search.

Because Life Wasn't Crazy Enough...

 

We sold our house! We are now pending inspection, but the buyers want a quick closing. Like as of April 6th. Which is less than a month. OMG. Where are we going to live? I'm typing this as I'm taking a break from my frantic search for a rental so we aren't homeless. I cannot even believe we will be packing up the house over the next couple of weeks. I have such mixed feelings about selling the house. We brought Paisley home to that house. We went through years of infertility and IVF in that house. We brought our babies home to that house. We became a family in that house. I keep reminding myself that a house doesn't make a home. Its the people in the house that make a home. But still. I'm a little sad.

On the flip side, I cannot WAIT to start this new chapter! We plan on building a new home in Anacortes, starting construction next Spring. We are having a blast looking at house plans and dreaming of what we want to do for interior finishings. We became a family in our old house, but we will raise our babies in the new house.

So if I'm a little absent over the next couple of weeks, I've probably lost my mind and the kids have put me in a moving box and taped it shut ;)

The Honest Company - An Honest Review

I am a big fan of Jessica Alba, so when I saw that she started The Honest Company  offering safe non-toxic eco-friendly baby products, home products, and healthcare supplements, I was more than a little curious and excited. I snatched up her book The Honest Life and was immediately inspired.

As someone who had never been too concerned about toxic chemicals before, my eyes were opened to say the least! I didn't have a little one at the time, but I signed up and bought my first Essentials Bundle. I'm a total sucker for packaging, and I was beyond impressed. Everything looked as clean and fresh on the outside as the products were promised to be on the inside. I received the laundry detergent, dryer sheets, multi surface cleaner, dish soap, hand soap and shampoo/bodywash.

Here's the Honest part. I was really happy with most of the products. The laundry detergent left my clothes feeling super soft, but it didn't clean as well as other detergents I had been using. I know this is probably because it doesn't have the harsh chemicals to scrub my clothes but I was a little disappointed. I do however continue to use it for Laila and Camden's clothes even though it doesn't clean as well, because its so comforting to know that the things closest to them aren't steaming with harsh chemicals. I loved all the other products, but the homerun in my book was the Shampoo + Body Wash! It smells so insanely good! This is the one and only product I use on my babes, and my husband and I use it as well! We were thrilled when we saw it at Target and Costco because we go through it so quickly.

I was excited to try the Diaper and Wipes Bundle when I finally had my littles and was very happy with their diapers (the prints are insanely cute). I found the wipes to be a little on the dry side and I was going through twice as many getting newborn baby poo off my little ones bum cheeks. Again, they are available now at Target in limited prints and we go back and forth between those and Pampers because of the cost.

As I embark on my Get Healthy life changes, I fully plan on ordering the Health and Wellness Bundle.

Overall...The Honest Company products and the company are simply fantastic. I have called customer service a few times and the person on the other end of the phone is always friendly and helpful. Even when the opportunity came up to work with them on the blog (I think I jumped up and down I was so excited) the help I received with the technical side of things was great. This opportunity came about after I had written to them to thank them for their awesome diapers because they helped Camden's diaper rash so much and was approached to feature them on the blog. So I said HELL YES because they HONESTLY ROCK.

Disclosure: This is an HONEST review of products that I love. However, a small commission may be made via affiliate links.

 

Weigh In Wednesday - Week 2

Good morning and Happy Humpday! Its weigh in Wednesday, and I've dreaded this day because I thought without a doubt I was going to have terrible results because I really slacked off this week. I know. Its only week 2 and I'm slacking off. I have a diet overhaul in the works, and need to get my butt back in the gym 5 days a week like I have been doing but life just sort of got in the way this week. Lots of showings on our house, and just...stuff. I only went to the gym twice.
Anywho, I was pleasantly surprised when I stepped on the scale this morning and did my measurements! It definitely gave me the motivation I need to try harder and see even bigger results!

LOSING THE BABY WEIGHT ROUND 2

POUNDS LOST THIS WEEK: 1
TOTAL POUNDS LOST: 3

INCHES LOST
Waist: 1.5"
Hips: 0.5"
Thighs: 0.5"
Chest: 1"
Arms: 0

TOTAL INCHES LOST: 4

We are also gearing up for the Easter bunny to come for a visit around here, and couldn't resist posting these pics of my grumpy little bunny! But then he had a change of heart, and of course Laila was loving her ears! Sorry for the blurry pics!

Have a wonderful day!!!

A Day in the Life with a 12 week old, and 19 month old

I have seen posts like this floating around the blogosphere and wanted to take part and make sure I document this crazy time in our lives because it's amazing how fast time is flying by and how quickly you forget the little details of what life was like at certain stages of baby/toddlerhood!

Camden is a champion sleeper! After getting his last bottle around 11pm, then sleeps in a pack n' play in our bedroom all night long, he wakes up around 7am. I get up, make a bottle, change his diaper and feed my hungry little man. This is one of my favorite times of the day because he is SO smiley and happy in the mornings :) I turn on the TODAY show, prop him in his boppy next to me on the couch and we have our little morning coffee date before Laila gets up.

 Depending when Chris's first job is, he gets up shortly after us and gets ready for work. During this time Camden usually falls back to sleep for a little nap around 8:30am or 9am.

We call Laila our teenager sleeper. If she hasn't woken up on her own, I usually go in to wake her up around 9:30am. I know...my girl loves her sleep. If Chris is still home, we usually go in to wake her up together because there is and never will be a happier person in the morning as Laila. When she sees us she instantly stands up, gathers her LaLa, paci, blanket, baby or anything else our little hoarder can fit into her arms and starts saying, "Baby! Baby!" because she wants to see her little brother. Wild haired, she is standing in her crib, half screaming half laughing trying to jump up and down, smiling so big she might just burst she's so happy. We bring her upstairs, get her changed and dressed for the day and she gets a little cup of Cheerios while she plays and gets followed around by the dog picking up her trail of cheerios. This must be Paisley's favorite time of the day for that very reason.

For the next hour or so, Laila plays and Cam sleeps off and on and then its time for breakfast. This is also when Cam gets his second bottle (around 10:30am or 11am) so I cut up some fruit for Laila and either make toast or oatmeal to go with her fruit that she eats in her highchair and I feed Cam while she eats.

Once breakfast is over, and everyone is dressed and has fresh diapers this is usually our easiest time to get out of the house. Some days are better than others but we try to at least get out to go for a walk around the neighborhood, or to a park, or run errands.

Camden has another bottle and Laila has a light snack then it's nap time at 12:30pm-1pm.  The kids have been napping for at least an hour at the same time! Which is amazing. The house is so quiet, and I usually race around during this time cleaning, or taking a shower. Some days when the mornings have been rough I sit and have another cup of coffee and savor the quietness.

Laila wakes up around 3pm and she has a big lunch while Camden has another bottle. After that we usually play at home, and watch the clock waiting for daddy to get off work. During this time, we put Camden on his playmat which he's liking more these days and do we do as much tummy time as he can stand. He has a giant head and is a little behind on being able to really lift it off the ground. Laila LOVES when Camden is on the floor with her and she is constantly bringing him toys and crayons to play with her, or just likes to lay down next to him and pat him. I can't wait for Cam to be big enough to really interact and play with her!

In this pic, Cam fell asleep during tummy time, Laila stole his paci and was having a meltdown because her socks and shoes wouldn't fit on my feet, the house is a disaster, and the dog is lounging on the couch enjoying the view! A typical afternoon.

Laila showing Camden how tummy time is done!

Chris comes home around 5pm or 6pm and if its been a good day, I'm finishing up making dinner. If not, we are figuring out what kind of take-out we are going to have for dinner. There have been many times when its been a crazy day and we tackle a trip to the grocery store or Target together around this time too. He usually takes the kids during this time and I'm able to run off to gym for an hour or so if there's time.

Wild at Heart

Laila's bedtime routine starts around 7pm. Chris is usually on bath duty while I pick up the house/do the dishes and feed Camden another bottle. After bath, he gets her in her jammies and she sits and has her only bottle of the day with me while we snuggle with her 800 stuffed animals, blanket, paci, and watch whatever is on Disney Junior for about a half hour. Then its bedtime at 8pm.

Once Laila goes to bed, we usually eat our dinner that we've picked up or made while Cam hangs out in his swing. After a quick pickup of the house, Chris and I hang out and relax which usually includes watching something on the DVR or putting on a movie.

Camden has a big nap around 8:30pm and will sleep for at least a solid hour in the evening. We start his bedtime routine around 10:30pm and give him a bath, get him in his jams and sleep sack, and he has his final bottle of the night. He is usually sound asleep in his pack n play in our room around 11pm. Chris and I watch the news, and a few minutes of The Tonight Show if we aren't too exhausted then its off to bed.

I'm looking forward to Camden getting on a solid nap schedule because other than his big afternoon nap, he just cat naps throughout the day, sometimes for only 20 minutes at a time.

So there it is...an ordinary crazy day at the Raymor house! Its exhausting, and wonderful all at the same time :)