Crappy Croup

Maddox was up coughing half the night (thus Mommy got in lots of sit-ups... I sat up with every cough to make sure he wasn’t spitting up). Since he's only three months old and wanted to make sure he isn't coming down with pnemonia or an ear infection, Daddy took him to the doctor this morning. The doctor thinks he has croup. At least we’ve been doing all the right things to ease his symptoms - having the cool mist humidifier in the room at night, bringing him in the bathroom during a steamy shower, having him sleep at an incline, etc. I guess it just needs to run its course at this point. The barking cough is scary! He hasn’t been eating as much and sleeping has been tough. Thanks for sharing germs, daycare buddies!

Comparative Pregnancy Musings

I wasn’t sure what to expect from either pregnancy—other than a baby, of course. My two pregnancies had some differences yet were fairly similar. Smells bothered me a lot with the first; in particular, beer smelled awful (and I usually love beer!) yet didn’t bother me at all during the second. I noticed that my sense of smell was heightened during the second pregnancy but nothing was particularly vomit-inducing. Fortunately, I didn’t really have much for morning sickness either time around. Though I was certainly huge both times; I started out at around the same weight and gained a little over 60lbs with Izaak whereas did a little better at about 45lbs with Maddox (5lbs of that was fluid retention packed on during the last week). I consumed a ridiculous quantity of milkshakes during Izaak’s pregnancy (hello, 60 lb weight gain!) but learned my lesson and tried to stay away from them for Maddox’s. I did give in to my craving for mushroom pizza a couple of times during Maddox’s stay in the womb yet I don’t think I had any inkling towards that while carrying Izaak. My ankles and feet were terribly swollen with Izaak, I didn’t have much of an issue with it while pregnant with Maddox. I carried Maddox a lot lower than Izaak; I didn’t get much for stretch marks until the very end of the first pregnancy but feel like I’m a mess from newly added stretch marks across my belly that were acquired towards the end of the latest pregnancy. There goes my swimsuit modeling career… Ha!

Breastfeeding. Ugh. I really wanted this to work out for both children and sadly, powdered formula ended up being the answer for both babies. I did give it a fierce try for a couple months each and both kiddos did get some of mother’s milk. Besides having some latch issues, my milk production sucked and I had big, hungry babies that needed sustenance!! Rather than beating myself up over this snafu, I choose to just be grateful for what I was able to provide them and give a big shout-out to science and technology for picking up the slack. Izaak tolerated a generic brand of “gentle” formula pretty well but we’ve found that Maddox does much better with the name-brand gentle formula. A $26 tub of formula lasts him about 4-5 days… if I could produce milk instead, believe me - I would!

I’m so very appreciative of my ability to make babies (with a little help from Joe, of course) and carry them to term and I know that creating a new life is really a miraculous capacity not afforded to everyone. I’m also definitely not implying that it wasn’t absolutely and completely worth it but it’s still no secret that I really didn’t enjoy being pregnant. I tried to have a good attitude about it but felt exhausted and crappy most of the time and I strongly detested the attention I received from casual acquaintances and random strangers about how gigantic I was. It’s a means to a very desirable end but 40 weeks can sure feel like a loooong time! My cognitive abilities felt like they’d been dulled (in fact, I’m not sure I’m ever going to quite recover!) and felt achy and uncomfortable during the majority of the time for both. I was convinced that Izaak’s toes were jammed in my ribs for the last couple months of his stay in my womb (ouch) and wow did I have some heartburn, especially with the last one. In general, I felt grumpy, frumpy, and slow! I also felt stressed about trying to make sure I wasn’t too stressed and trying to make sure that I was eating only the right things and not taking any meds that could potentially cause any issues. I had some particularly awful sinus problems during my pregnancy with Maddox and pretty much the only slight relief I could muster was from using a kid’s formula of saline nose spray (grape scented!). After too much time spent on the internet and reading people’s sad stories of pregnancies gone wrong; I was a little scared about miscarriage and/or birth defects especially given my practically geriatric maternal age for the second pregnancy (I was 33 while pregnant with Izaak and 37 with Maddox). So, essentially, I’m thrilled for my beautiful babes and glad to be done with all that goes along with pregnancy!

Maddox is 3 months old!

I’m back to work full-time now and have both kiddos in daycare but I was able to take 12 weeks for maternity leave—it was glorious! Not having paychecks for half of that time wasn’t entirely stellar but we felt that it was valuable time that could never be retrieved and I’m grateful for it. We kept Izaak in preschool for much of that time, we didn’t want his schedule turned completely upside-down and it allowed more one-on-one time for me and kid v2.0. Maddox and I spent a lot of quality time snuggling on the couch with Criminal Minds (via Netflix) or some DIY home fix-it show on in the background, playing a bit of peek-a-boo, and lots of time was spent with him snoozing in my arms while I gazed at his delicious little face. Luckily, Joe’s parents and grandpa had decided to come down, by chance, on the evening that I ended up going into labor and stayed with Izaak while Joe and I were in the hospital. Labor this time around came on very fast and furious so I’m not sure what we would’ve done with him otherwise!! Maddox arrived early on a Thursday morning; we were back home by Friday afternoon. My parents had a trip planned to visit us for a 10 days starting that weekend which worked out great too.

Everything about Maddox’s entrance into the world was quicker than Izaak’s. Izaak’s due date was 4 days prior to his actual arrival, Maddox only waited 2 extra days. I was in labor for about 14 hours with Izaak; we barely got checked in and into a hospital room in time for Maddox’s delivery. Really. The nurses were still doing check-in paperwork while Maddox was curled up on my chest. I’m not exactly sure what time we got to the hospital but my cell phone call log indicates that I dialed my doctor just after 2am and baby was out just after 4am. Besides laboring for what felt like an eternity, I was pushing for hours with Izaak yet Maddox was out in about 3 (excruciatingly-painful-because-there-wasn’t-enough-time-for-an-epidural) pushes! And, we actually had a doctor present this time, I hadn’t met her before as she was a stand-in for whichever of my doctors that was supposed to be on call, but we had a doctor nonetheless!! I refused any pain meds for aftercare this time other than regular Advil due to "the good stuff" not agreeing with my stomach - something I learned from the aftercare of the first pregnancy. Even the getting-pregnant part was quicker with Maddox; it took about a year to become pregnant with Izaak and only around 4 months for Maddox.

 

We’ve had Maddox in the breathing world for 3 months now and what a great baby he is! Such a sweet little butterball!! Izaak loves him to pieces too, it’s adorable when he holds his hand or plants a big, sloppy kiss on his forehead. I was a little worried about how our family dynamic would change with the new addition. Going from no kids to having a newborn in the house was a big adjustment for us but adding a second kid wasn’t as big of a shock to the system I guess! Sure, we’re still getting used to how to juggle our roles and responsibilities but overall things are going really well. I’d be lying if I said that Izaak wasn’t a little jealous here and there because he isn’t the only child anymore however. He was very accustomed to always being the center of attention and now the baby occupies some of the time that used to be devoted solely to him. For the most part, he’s been doing great with the change though and as mentioned, he loves his brother. Joe and I have been having fun with comparing their similarities and differences too. Probably the biggest difference this time around is us. In general, we seem to feel less worried about not knowing what to do with an infant. I don't think that the lower stress level is because we think we know everything, rather our realization and acceptance of “you’re not going to know everything” is huge… ya know?! For the most part, Maddox sleeps through the night too… how lucky are we??! Having two parents that aren’t always completely and utterly sleep deprived is a wonderful thing!!

Izaak has a brother!!

He's here!! Maddox Leo Niedzwecki was born two days past his due date, at around 4am on December 10th. He weighed in at 9lbs 3oz (Izaak was 8lbs 7oz) and 20.5" in length (Izaak was about the same at 20"). Labor was much quicker this time around, so quick in fact that the nurses were still doing paperwork to get me signed into the hospital after his grand entrance and while he was snugling on my chest. A noteable tidbit (to me anyhow): I wasn't able to have the epidural that I had counted on. OUCH! The back labor and intense pain was worth it though, Maddox is absolutley wonderful and the perfect addition to our family. Though he's not quite accustomed to NOT being the center of attention at all times, Izaak is so excited to be a big "brudder". They are almost exactly 3.5 years apart, seems like a good span. I'm really looking forward to them being able to play and interact with each other. Happy family!

Izaak's ABCs

Izaak's ABCs

What I learned while planning a wedding - part 4

The last (I think?!) in the wedding planning series...

OTHER (SOMETIMES COSTLY) DETAILS

Day-of Wedding Planner. Hired the lady that was affiliated with the venue. She was worth her weight in gold. She had suggestions for vendors, she knew the venue like the back of her hand, helped get the tables and decor setup the day of, met with us for the rehearsal, and most importantly, she kept the flow of the event moving and made sure everything and everyone was where they were intended to be. She also helped with clean up, who wants to make their loved ones take out garbage after a fun event like this?!

Officiant. Hired someone through a coworker’s suggestion. At the last minute, she couldn’t do the ceremony because she had to be out-of-town for her day job but she hooked me up with someone else she knew. The situation felt a little stressful, but the stand-in lady did a great job (walking cast and all!) and we lucked out that her fee was small too.

Photographer. We loved our photographer (Alyona Photography)! I found her portfolio online and loved the style of her photos. We had her do our engagement pics earlier in the year to make sure she was a good fit (yes!) and we were thrilled that she was available to do our wedding too. Not cheap, but totally worth it!! The “you get what you pay for” mantra is very true here.

Videographer. This was a somewhat last minute decision. I’m glad we have some video of the event but didn’t feel the final output was as good of quality as I’d have hoped for and I felt like the videographer have more in the way of interviewing guests in regard to “advice for the newlyweds”. We went with a lower budget on this and I guess “you get what you pay for” is apt here too.

Photobooth. While fun, it was an expense that we could’ve passed on. Maybe if we had a larger, younger crowd and/or the attendant encouraged more photos it would’ve been more worth it. Leaving out a Polaroid camera with instructions to take selfies would’ve worked just as well and saved a bunch!

Food. We had our favorite BBQ restaurant cater (Home Team BBQ). So tasty. I don’t care if anyone else was jazzed about the food, I loved it! They brought shrimp and grits appetizers, smoked pulled pork and chicken, mac n cheese… yum! There were some other sides too but I think that I’ve covered the important things. The cost wasn’t cheap but not over the top either. Totally happy with our choice on this detail.

Cake. Rather than getting a huge, expensive cake that we’d have to have someone cut and put on plates (that we’d have to either buy or rent), we opted for cupcakes and a small cake for the bride and groom to cut into. I purchased a special cake knife and had it engraved with our wedding date and names. I’m not a huge fan of cheesy things but I like to have some mementos of special occasions! We hired someone I found locally (via Craigslist) to make the cupcakes. She made a couple of different flavors and they were so tasty! She was also much more affordable than the boutique cupcake stores around town and totally open to suggestions on flavors. I ordered some chevron covered cupcake tier stands online to display them on. A couple of my coworkers helped out with the small cake, one made the cake (it was made to look like a birch tree stump, plus it was delicious!!) and the other sculpted a set of super adorable owls as the cake topper. I keep the owl family on display at home and absolutely love them!! I had originally planned to make the owl family cake toppers myself but was running out of time to do the task well. Luckily, I have talented work buddies! We were very pleased about how all of the “cake” details turned out.

 

Drinks. Joe made 4 different kegs of homebrew and we bought wine, liquor, and mixers. I bought some glass jugs with serving spouts to hold sweet tea and “wedding brew” (a mixture of lemonade and blue Hawaiian Punch). We hired a bartender to serve all the tasty adult beverages. I think she did ok, I didn’t interact with her much but it seemed like everyone who wanted drinks had them and I don’t think anyone complained. We purchased mason jars that we had personalized (as mentioned in a previous post) for everyone to drink out of but had back up plastic cups too, for the kids and people who wanted to taste test the homebrew. Joe built a chalkboard and I decorated it with the drink menu.

DJ. Our friend had a friend who DJs weddings on the weekends and we asked him to be our DJ because we were looking to cut corners on costs and he was willing to “cut us a deal”. I had requested that he not be totally cheesy for our event and his solution was to be mono-toned and not friendly to the guests… or maybe that’s just how he is? Either way, hindsight says that we should have found a moderately priced DJ with decent online reviews since we didn’t really know him to begin with and still ended up having to pay him a large enough sum.

Flowers. As mentioned above, we had a florist do the bridal bouquet and the bridesmaid bouquets (OK Florist). My bouquet had blue hydrangeas and blue-purple orchids - loved them!! We didn’t do floral arrangements on the tables (though some tables had the repurposed bridesmaid bouquets) and I think it was a wise decision. I could’ve thrown together some store-bought fresh flowers for our bouquets but already had way too many things to do with my parents and sister staying with us and had already committed to making the rainbow fruit-skewer appetizers too. We also had the florist make corsages for the mothers of the bride and groom. Not a must-have but they were pretty blue-purple orchids that I also had in my bouquet. As mentioned, I ordered Joe’s boutonniere from Etsy, it had hops and grains and was super cute. And I made the groomsmen’s boutonnieres and we also gave them to the fathers of the bride and groom.

Rentals. We had to rent chairs, tables, and tablecloths. Doesn’t sound like much but can still run you a hefty chunk of change! We priced a couple of companies and ultimately went with the one our day-of planner suggested as they had some chevron table runners I was really excited about, they were competitively priced, and our planner assured us everything would be perfect. They forgot to order the chevron table runners. WHAT?! Ok, at this point you are probably thinking, “who cares about table runners?!” but it was part of the overall look I had in mind so it was a disappointment for me!! Otherwise, things went fine (and I eventually got the money refunded for the no show items) but I wouldn’t recommend the company to anyone else.

Transportation. We rented a shuttle to take people back and forth from the hotel to the venue so people could have a good time and not have to worry about drinking and driving. Probably a good idea but maybe not totally necessary. We weren’t in an area where people could easily get a cab. Also rented a “getaway” limo for the bride and groom. The limo was kind of a silly extra as it was just me and Joe and the hotel wasn’t terribly far away.

GENERAL ADVICE:

Get a day-of planner, if nothing else. It’s worth every penny knowing somebody’s got your back to make sure that everything gets taken care of, vendors all arrive, and that the pace of events goes smoothly. If you can afford afull-blown wedding planner, I would imagine that it would be very helpful – especially if you work full-time otherwise and/or have kids!!

Make a list of all the stuff you may possibly need or want to do. Cross off the stuff you don’t care about. Check off "done" items as you go. Keep the visual reminder of progress and the things that still need attention.

Allow people to help you. Dole out some responsibilities to responsible friends and/or family members. I’m so guilty of piling more projects than I can handle because I want to do them or I’m too paranoid about how someone else would complete the task. Prioritize!

People will tell you that it’s YOUR day. It’s really not. You probably have put a lot of blood, sweat, and tears into it but don’t trick yourself into believing that you really can just do whatever you want without consequences!! There are lots of people’s feelings to consider and take comfort in knowing that it is not possible to keep everyone happy all the time. That said, it IS your day to have a great time and to be MARRIED!

Try to have some perspective, it’s a really fabulous, important day – but it’s just a day. Relax! I think that keeping in mind that things don’t always work out perfectly will help you to unwind and roll with the punches. And in the end, you are married!! That’s the end goal, right?! J

What I learned while planning a wedding - part 3

This is the next chapter in the wedding planning saga, enjoy!!

PROJECTS/DECORATIONS.

This was the fun part for me but per usual, I tried to take on too many projects. Right off the bat, I picked mint green and grey for a color scheme, and was specifically excited about using a grey and white chevron pattern for accents. As I was looking at things that were mint green, I found myself more drawn toward aqua/tiffany blue colored things so the color scheme morphed a little, and I hadn’t made anything that had color on it yet anyhow. So I had a specific look in mind and started by assembling a list of things I liked on Pinterest.

 

 

THINGS I MADE.

Invites: I designed and printed the Save-the-Date magnets with custom printed return address envelopes, I designed and printed the 5x7 flat, double-sided invites, the RSVP postcards, and made custom address labels for the envelopes. I had quite a time with tricky yet pretty paper and multiple trips to the store to purchase more printer ink.

Fan programs: Why not? I figured that our wedding day was bound to be hot (yes, it certainly was!) and this was a cute idea procured from Pinterest. I designed and printed the programs on pretty paper and glued them onto tongue depressors, then tied some twine on each in order to fancy them up a bit. Put them in a basket I found at Ross or Marshalls, made a banner for the basket out of pretty paper and twine and called it "good-to-go".

 

For the bridesmaids: I made necklaces, made felt rosettes for the girls’ flip-flops, I personalized their welcome bags that held snacks, water, flip-flops, jewelry (also got them matching aqua earrings), aqua nail polish, lip gloss, and antibacterial hand gel. Side note: We had their gorgeous blue hydrangea bouquets made by a florist, thank goodness. It was something I probably could have done but might have lost my mind as result!

For the groomsmen: Boutonnieres. I didn’t actually make the sweetgrass roses but I assembled them into boutonniere form with ribbon, twine and antique buttons I picked up from Ebay. Joe made the guys some beer and we gave them each a pair of grey Converse.

 

Welcome bags (for guests staying in the hotel block): Filled with snacks, water bottles, and a custom printed thank-you note.

For the tables:

Votive jars. I saved up about 60 baby food jars, carefully cleaned up all the label goo, gave each a shot of silver spray paint and quick dip in glitter across the rim of the jars, assembled 5 different strips of pictures from our engagement photos then printed them on vellum and cut to fit inside the jar, then filled with an LED votive and tied twine around the rim.

Vases. We had 6 large and 6 smaller glass, cylinder vases, each was wrapped with a “band of bling” after they had been sprayed with silver spray paint across each of the rims. The smaller vases were used for bridesmaid bouquet receptacles. The larger vases contained “gum balls” from the sweetgum tree in our front yard that Izaak and I spent many afternoons collecting. I painstakingly spray painted each of them silver. I also cut some branches from the tree in the backyard that I think is finally, completely dead. We had replanted it from the front yard when we moved in, in order to make room for a palm tree. I spray painted the branches silver as well and we hung small crystals from some of the branches.

Table Numbers. I designed the numbers spelled out in a banner and printed them, then used spray-tac to adhere them to black foamcore board and cut each out with an Exact-o knife. I then attached Velcro to the back of each and the other side was attached to the band of bling on each vase – voila, table number/vase combos!

Tablesettings: I went out of my way to find and purchase silver plastic silverware. Bought them from Amazon.com. Sounds silly? I felt it looked a little classier than the clear or black plastic silverware that was going to be provided and I wanted to personalize the tablesettings. I wrapped each trio of knife, spoon, fork in a silver napkin, wrapped it with a paper napkin ring that I had printed the grey chevron pattern on one side and a thank you message from Joe and I on the opposite side, then wrapped it together with a piece of twine, tied into a bow. I printed the napkin rings on shimmery, letter-sized cardstock, each sheet had 9 thank you messages and each were hand-cut after printing. Definitely a detail that could’ve been passed on or simplified but I had fun with it and liked the end result.

Other bits and pieces:

Guestbook. I painted two owls on a tree branch that was intended to be our “guest book” of sorts and we had people sign it and have on display at home rather than have an actual book hiding on a shelf. It’s now hanging on the wall in our living room!

Mason jars. I designed the “logo” for the mason jars that Joe and his work buddy sandblasted onto a bunch of mason jars as our guest favor, I also made a sign for the mason jars that I put in a small frame – it referenced the fact that people should take a jar and go to the bar but not drink and drive.

Photobooth prints. I used the design from the mason jar for the photobooth strips logo but fancied it up a bit with a chevron.

Photobooks. I made two photobooks on Shutterfly to display at the event; one of engagement photos and one of photos of Joe and I throughout our 7 years of dating prior to engagement.

Mantle Décor. I spray painted and wrapped twine on the rims of some larger mason jars to decorate the mantle that also held a cutout “Love” sign that I painted in aqua and grey stripes. I made a painting that says “as you wish” in a speech bubble.

Wreath. I bought a grapevine wreath and attached two overlapping wooden letter “N”s on one side (I covered one of the Ns in grey chevron fabric) and made some rosettes from light and dark grey felt and hot-glued them to the opposite side. It is currently is hanging on our front door at home!

Paper lanterns. I didn’t have to make these, I found some on sale at World Market, hung them in the trees for the ceremony.

Pick a Seat Sign. Found a cute idea on Pinterest, duplicated the idea with a wood sign that Joe assembled and I painted the lettering.

Streamers for our exit. Lame! I could’ve totally skipped this detail and we should’ve gone with sparklers instead!! I was afraid of my dress getting burned though. Again, LAME!!!

 

I'll save more for later, stay tuned!!! :)