Time to play catch up

For those only interested in Carri feel free to skip to the next paragraph :) The first is just my excuse why I haven't posted in FOREVER!

Wow, this is way overdue!! As most of you know this has been a rough summer for my family as we have been dealing with a possible Celiac Disease diagnosis for my first daughter Ayla and now my second daughter Macy. We've had them both test positive on the blood test for Celiac and Ayla has undergone an endoscopy which came back negative. Although the results show that technically she does not have Celiac because they did not find any visible damage in the endoscopy, I'm confident that going gluten free for a few months will prove that she does. The thought of going totally gluten free has taken some getting used to as I know I'm going to spend a lot more time in the kitchen but the outcomes will far outweigh my fears I'm certain. The thought of not having to worry when an attack (whether it be vomiting, diarrhea, or searing screams of stomach pain for minutes on end) will happen sounds heavenly. (I've literally been stuck in a Fred Meyer family bathroom for 40+ min with Ayla screaming because her stomach hurt so bad with absolutely nothing I could do for her.) I'm also hoping that we will see some behavior changes as well as she goes off gluten. I've read and seen first hand that strong willed behavior, inability to focus, and overall irritability can be caused from gluten issues. I know Ayla will always be a strong willed child but there are times it's completely overwhelming and I don't understand it all or know what to do. Anyway I'm currently trying to gather information and recipes so I can get my kitchen ready for this huge adventure. I just want my kids not to feel like they're missing out for the rest of their lives. It's a tall order I know but I've got a lot of awesome people on our side, namely our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ :)

Ok, back to the matter on hand - my Sister!! She's just wonderful. I love love love her!! We just had our annual family reunion last weekend and can I just say she's such a fun aunt. Macy was sad that she couldn't do something (I don't remember what it was) so Carri asked her if she wanted her to go down the water slide with her. Carri fully expected Macy to say no but she said yes so Carri being the wonderful aunt that she is braved it and went down with her. Macy loved it! Way to go Carri :)

Carri and Milo had a little bump in the road earlier in the summer as they had a medical issue to deal with but all is well now and they are preparing to do an IUI in the next couple weeks. So lots and lots of baby prayers are very welcome their way. Aren't they adorable?

Through the summer I had a goal of selling at least one thing on Craigslist per week to go into Carri's fund but that didn't so much happen as I planned. The first 4 weeks I was on a roll and then everything came to a halt. Oh well, I'll get back in the groove. We're having a little family garage sale this next weekend if I can get my act together. I'm hoping to sell all the baby clothes that didn't sell at the Just Between Friends Sale in the spring. Clothes under size 2T don't really sell well there just because of the shear volume everyone brings in.

I am planning on doing the JBF fall sale which is coming up September 13-16. If anyone wants to donate baby/kid/maternity items (clothes, toys, bedding, feeding, etc.) for Carri's fund please let me know. Eugene folks I'll be down there to pick up my kids August 27th after a little vacation so don't count yourself out if you're wanting to help.

The tally for how much has been raised so far is ~ $560. The cost of an IUI is around $300 + the cost of fertility medication, which for them is fairly steep. This will be their 3rd IUI. As always if you want to donate financially just click on the Donate button at the top right to make a payment with Paypal.

Results from the JBF Sale

The results are in and I would say it was a SUCCESS!!!  A little over 50% of my items sold at the sale and I will be getting a check for the Barefoot and Pregnant Fund for a total of $484.89! :)  Off the bat they took $10 out for a consignor fee and then took 35% of all items sold. I know I could have sold things on Craigslist and made a bit more but time is of the essence for me.  As you can see my car was packed to the max (love my Sequoia!).

FYI Mom - I did not sell the wagon it was just my mode of transportation while at the sale :)

I picked up my stuff last night that didn't sale and 95% of it was clothes.  I had a ginormous (is that a word?) box of clothes to begin with and 1/3 of it didn't sale probably because the clothes were for cooler weather and I needed to price things a little differently.  But for my first time doing the sale I think it was totally worth it!  They are having a fall sale in September and I will definitely be doing it again. September 13th is their next sale and they will be taking Fall/Winter related baby, kid, and maternity items so if anyone has things (or will have by the end of the summer) they no longer use and don't want to go through the hassle of selling it yourself please consider donating it to the Barefoot Fund and I will gladly do all the work to get it sold.

I found that the majority of the things that sold actually sold on the pre-sale day that is only open to consignors and volunteers.  They have an online section for consignors that shows you what has sold by the end of the night on each sale day and I could hardly wait to see my numbers each night :)  On the pre-sale day I made $224 and then the first day of the sale open to the public I made $120. Those were my best days and things that sold like hotcakes were: toys, books, bouncers, strollers, large baby equipment, nursing supplies (covers, Boppy's, breast pumps), bedding, receiving blankets, diaper bags, bath items and kids clothes 2T and up (infant clothing didn't sell too well).

All of this was just from me and one other person. Imagine just imagine what might be hiding in your closets or garages :)

Forgot to thank some people here - A big thank you to Lindsay for donating your goods and the idea to do it, thanks to my husband for scoring all the free hangers for me, and thank you Bethany & Josh for watching my kids while I dropped everything off!! I love you all :)

Here's my sweet helper (not really, she just got into everything) while I was tagging my items and no there was nothing in that pop can!!

Ever wonder what to say

Last week I came across this blog via a friend commenting about it on Facebook. I recognized her name and then the name of her blog "Still not pregnant" was enough for me to want to read about her journey. I went to high school with Molly and if you read about her you'll find that she has sadly suffered through 3 miscarriages and 5 failed IUI attempts (Carri has had 2 failed IUI's). As I was reading through some of her posts late one night this particular post resonated with me as I have often wondered what to say, what not to say to Carri.

This is an excerpt from her post, part of it is written by a friend of hers and the other part is her own words:

{So if you have a friend going through infertility, whether they are being treated or not, here is a great guideline for how to be a better friend to them. It's a hard (and thin) rope to walk on, and I know (those with infertility) don't always make it easy (I am especially guilty).

So in the answer to the question, "how to do you want people to treat you or what do you want people to say to you" - within the regards of infertility (before you find success and have kids) -  here are some ideas....... 

Here's what NOT to do/say:

    don't try to hide things to "protect" her

    don't mention how lucky she is that she gets to sleep in or not get woken up in the night, deal with tantrums, etc.

    don't tell her how great it is that she gets to travel (if she does)

    don't tell her that pregnancy is horrible and she's lucky she doesn't have to experience it

    no unsolicited advice is necessary, i.e.:  don't think about it & it will happen; just relax; don't drink/eat _______; try acupuncture; try this position; do a cleanse; maybe you should lose some weight, etc.

    have you thought about adoption?

You CAN say things projecting into the future with a positive spin like when she gets pregnant

    You're going to be the best mom/best parents

    you'll be so appreciative

    you'll know not to take them for granted

You can say things like "it's not fair," etc.  But it's not fair for anyone.  You wouldn't wish infertility on anyone, except teenage drug users.  :)  You can tell her that you have another dear friend that struggled for years with infertility, and now she has 3 kids... that's at least hopeful. :)

It's just a bum deal, and don't feel the pressure of coming up with the perfect thing to say to her, because there isn't one.  Honestly, there's not much to say, except be honest and be brief, and follow her lead.  If she wants to talk, let her talk.  If she doesn't, best not to bring it up.  Often just the mention of the issue can bring tears, and sometimes, all you want to do is have a moment when you're not thinking about it.  Church is hard, baby showers are hard, kids' birthday party invites are hard, sometimes driving in the car and hearing a song on the radio is hard--she probably fights back tears daily.  She just needs honest, empathetic friends.  The only thing that will really heal her sadness is a baby, and you have no control over that.

There isn't one thing that I remember being that special "aha" that made me feel better.  But people who hugged me, let me cry, and told me that they knew God had kids waiting to be mine, somehow, someway, helped comfort me.  It wasn't until I lost Wyatt (at 20 weeks along) that I didn't care how babies came to me.  That usually takes some serious soul-searching and heartache to come to that conclusion.  But my own advice, that I came to on my own, was that God had a plan of happiness for me and my family, and that no matter how babies came to me, I would love them, and cherish them, and I would be happy. 

All in all, be a friend. Share. Be happy. Be joyful - especially when your own family is experiencing joy. But try, just try to be mindful. We don't expect people to get it right all the time. Heck, it's a lot to ask of people, and for that, we apologize. I know I don't intend to be difficult or push people away. It's a defense mechanism. I am protecting myself from the hurt, the want, the desire to have what others have. I have always been happy for those around me, those who have gotten pregnant and had babies - I don't wish my hardships on anyone else. It breaks my heart when others have to experience what I have had to experience. I don't want a medal for my trials. I just want support. We (any who have been in my shoes) just want to know we are supported, thought of and loved.  In the end, we just want what you already have. And until we get it, we will always be a little extra sensitive to the fact that we don't have it - yet.

So, if you have a friend that might be struggling. Wrap your arms around them and just be there. It means the world to us.}

Admittedly I am guilty of committing at least one of the no-no's. When I got pregnant with Macy I didn't tell her for a week that I was pregnant because I just didn't want to cause her sadness. It really hurt her that I wasn't honest with her and of course she was really happy for me. Infertility is a delicate subject and I can't really begin to understand what Carri and others are going through. The only glimpse I have had into it is a very small period of 3 months between having a miscarriage and getting pregnant with Ayla. All I could think about (literally every second) after having my miscarriage was wanting a baby. I can't imagine that feeling multiplied by even a little because it was so awful. I wish there was a way to take all that pain away for people but that's why we have the Father, He can take it away and give hope, comfort, and love.

The good news is that Molly just underwent IVF and has just found out that she is pregnant! She may have one or two little ones in there. We'll be praying that the pregnancy continues to be a success!

As for Carri and Milo, they are preparing to undergo another IUI treatment soon. What this means is that medication will have to be taken for several weeks beforehand. So that's where they are right now. They have been busy with their house that they bought at the beginning of the year and an exchange student from Yemen that is living with them through June. I need to get down there and see them and their new place but first I need to start pricing and tagging my garage full of stuff for the Just Between Friends sale that's coming up very soon :) All the money made from this will go into the Barefoot and Pregnant Fund for Carri. I'm still taking donations for the sale up through Friday if you're interested (for more information read more about it here).

Thanks everyone! Have a good night :)

*If you'd like to make a cash donation for Carri just click on the "Donate" button on the upper right side of this blog or contact me.

A new way to help out!!

Sitting in my garage is a huge tub of baby clothes along with several other pieces of baby gear that I had originally thought that I would hold on to and just give Carri when the time came that she either got pregnant or had a foster child lined up. Partly I did also just want to hold on to those teeny tiny precious little tangible things that I could pick up and picture how my girls looked in them those first few months of their life. Oh how I miss those days.... Anyway, it was a great sentiment I thought but just recently a friend of mine offered to give me a bunch of her baby items that I could either give to Carri or sell and give the money to her. After thinking about it I realized that obviously having the money would be a much better option. This way she can put it towards having a child which is the whole point! Duh!!

Anyway my friend mentioned that the JBF (Just Between Friends) Sale in Portland that is at the end of April would be a good venue to try and sell everything. I had no clue what it was so I googled it and found out that it is an enormous consignment sale for all things child and maternity related. SO I thought that there might be a few other people that have some stuff laying around that they might want to give away. If this is you and you would like to give your items for Carri's cause please let me know as soon as possible. Also if anyone wants to help out with the tagging process or watch my kids on April 25th between 12pm and 5pm when I have to drop everything off at the sale that would be AMAZING!!! :)

Here is some ideas of what you can give but for a full list please go here:

- Baby/kids/Maternity clothes **Nothing older than 5 years, must be Spring/Summer related (no winter clothing), and I'm limited to 20 pieces of maternity clothes

- Baby gear: bouncers, high chairs, monitors, baby carriers/slings, etc.

-Toys

Everything must be in good condition, no holes or stains please. And any extra hangers (child and adult) you don't need I could use as well since I have to hang all clothing items up. I have to admit I'm a little intimidated at this whole process, I've never consigned anything before but it definitely beats Craigslisting everything :)

If you're going to donate your items please plan on getting them to me by April 20th. Thanks Lindsay for the great idea!!

And just for fun I thought I'd dig up some pictures with my sis. I wanted to find some ones of when we were kids but I don't have any that I know of with me. So here's some pics of when my kids were born (or close enough).

Ayla was 3 months old when Carri got to see her for the first time. Carri was living in Florida when I had her.

Carri then moved to California and we got to go see her when Ayla was 8 months old.

 I'm about to have Macy here - could be why I'm forcing the smile ;)

Carri with Macy

And us on Lily's bday

And Carri with Lily

*If you would like to donate money to the Barefoot and Pregnant Fund just click on the "Donate" button on the right upper side of this page.

The word is out ...

The other week I got to have Carri all to myself (with the exception of my 3 little munchkins of course) for a little bit and I couldn't keep it in any longer. I figured that she might be glad to know what I've been scheming. She knew I was up to something when I had to ask her back in December for her driver's license number and original issue date but I begged her just to give it to me without asking any questions. She trusted me and I think she actually forgot about it. As I told her about the donation account and how much I wanted to help her, the tears instantly streamed down her face. She was completely shocked and grateful beyond measure. Even though there isn't much in the account at this point she was thankful to know that people care and it helped her realize just how difficult it has been for her despite her efforts to forget. I want to say thank you to those of you who have helped so far through prayer, financial donations, and craft donations. It gave me so much pleasure to be able to tell her and see her face as I did. Part of why I wanted to tell her was so that I could put my blog links on Facebook so more people could know about it. I'm hoping that this is just the beginning and that she will continue to be blessed by family, friends, and friends of friends.

This past month has been a little insane in my household due to the fact that Aaron has been working on finishing his thesis. His thesis was due this past Monday and I graciously stayed up with him until the wee hours of the morning several nights in a row as he finished. While he worked on his paper one night I decided to get crafty and see what new toddler hair clip I could come up with using some more of my Grandma's antique buttons and a stash of bias tape she had. I really don't know what bias tape is or what it's used for but I think I like the use I made for it here :) I have pretty much any color you can think of in my stash and check out the price on some of those packages! Have you ever been able to buy something for .13??? Crazy. Here are my new creations .... the purple one was my first try so that's why you can see all the glue, I got a little better as I went along I think.

To keep or not to keep ....

A few months ago my mom was going through some of my grandma's things after she passed away and knowing that I had been just getting into making crafts she wondered if I wanted her collection of antique buttons. I said "sure"!!! So I got to bring home this antique can full to the brim of all kinds of old buttons. It's so cool, I'm completely in love with them. I also have another small box of buttons that are still attached to the cardstock from the store she had bought them from (and some still even have the receipts attached). Yes, my grandma kept E V E R Y T H I N G! I remember there being stacks of magazines that lined her hallways.

So from my new found love of antique buttons I decided that there are tons of cool things that I can do with these. I'm pretty certain though my grandma might not be so pleased if she knew what I was doing with her buttons. Oh well, they're mine now :) I got the idea to make button rings and so I went to the store and bought a few plain rings and whipped out some hefty glue and my buttons and viola here is my ring I created yesterday that I just may have to keep for myself! My photos aren't very good so it doesn't quite do it justice. It definitely looks better in person.

Luckily I have 2 more identical buttons to make this exact ring again. I think I'm going to keep it and make another to sell :)

New Etsy items to share!

I'm so excited to share these cute creations that were donated by my friend Brittany. Brittany goes to my church and has 3 little kiddos too. Aren't her girls such cute models? You can check out Brittany's blog at bebealamodedesigns.blogspot.com, where she shares crafts, DIY projects, and recipes. Thanks Brittany!!

Toddler and Infant Rosette Headbands


Bobby Pin Sets