Egg-citing Projects

I recently ran across this lovely Egg Candle project on Pinterest and have been wanting to do it for a while to see how easy it really is to make. (Sometimes people have projects online and claim they are super easy and it turns out that they are more cumbersome than the author lets on).

Well, I got a chance to work on making the eggs and it was actually fun to do and quite easy.  I am now thinking of the next step.

I (of course) made my own adjustments. I used scented, colorful candles (not crayons). I used the wick that came inside the purchased candle for the egg I was creating.

Next time I plan to do four colors simultaneously and alternate the colors throughout for a striped look.  I may not be able to use scented candles for that as all the scents may not blend nicely together.. We will see..

Anyway here is a picture of the first two candles.  Mountain Green and Clean Linen scents.

Life is full of Surprises!

I know it has been quite a while since I have written. It seems like once our camera went kaputs I just kind of gave up on the whole connecting thing. Now that we have a new camera, I feel like I have so much to share.

Well, the funniest story I can start with is that this very day ( Thur 4/5/2012) we found out we were pregnant with our fourth child.

Yup! we were a little shocked as well.

The kicker is that while at the doctor's office I was sent to do a sonogram to see how far along I am since I have been on the pill for the past 6 months (the ones that I thought get rid of your menstrual) and I remembered I had only missed one pill about two months ago.

When the scanner was placed on my belly a big baby face appeared. The tech said, 'Datnee, you're not a little pregnant. You are 19 weeks along.'

Yup! we were a little shocked at that too!

I've been pregnant since December. Wowsers!!!!!!

So the next question was, 'well, do you want to know what you're having?' Sure, might as well since we are just getting a boat load of news today. She searched around a bit and then said it is a girl.

What! How cool! Boy - girl - boy - girl. The exact opposite of my friend Leah. How awesome!

The news that it was a girl actually gave me a great deal of peace. I am really happy to know it is a girl.

At the end of the sonogram we called Kimani in to see the baby and told him I am almost 5 months along and his jaw dropped to the floor. We all laughed because I had warned them he would be very shocked, but I had underestimated his reaction. "How can that be? There is no way!" He said. 'Well, there is a way', the midwife told him.

Over all we are pretty excited to add another family member to our troop though we had actually decided to close up shop and be a happy family of 5. Too late for that.

We are just now in high gear to get our living situation addressed to get a better place to accommodate us all. We'll see how far we get with that. I am thinking we are in this little place one more year and then we will definitely have to move.

At first you think you have about 8 months to have a baby, but then you are told you will meet your bundle in about 4 months and things begin to melt together in your head.

Yeah! 4 months - that is a bit shocking too. Whew!!! Breath in breath out. We can do this.

- - -

As for me I really had no idea I was pregnant. My body was a little sore here and there, but dealing with kids on a daily basis it is easy to ignore that as everyday activity. I had no nausea, no body weight changes - everything still fits, my eating habits have not changed, nothing out of the ordinary at all. I had recently had two blood tests and I assumed if I was pregnant my PCP would have mentioned something from those tests. Well, I guess he did not check for that.

For whatever reason, recently when Kimani got home I was compelled, no driven - literally- to go to the store to get the test. I was not even sure why I was taking the test. It seemed like a bit of a waste of money since I expected a negative result. As a matter of fact, the next morning when I took the test I forgot all about it and it was hours later when I went back to check the results.

And surprise!!!! Two lines.

Snow storm

Bracing ourselves again for another round of bad weather. I saw the cutest picture recently. It was a picture of one of those billboards that churches have in the front with service times and coming events. It read:

WHO EVER IS PRAYING FOR SNOW, PLEASE STOP!

too cute.

Cabin fever here we come.

It's getting crazy here

I finally went to sleep Saturday night and slept for 24 hours. Seriously, even I was shocked. At some point in those 24 hours the virus took over me and I vomited everything I could possibly get out.

We will see what is next.

Friday update

thank goodness that Monique was able to come down and help me out on Thursday night and it was just in time because Kimberlee was up all night throwing up every last piece of food in her stomach. It was along night, but in the morning she felt better.

Off to the doctor again to check on Daniel's progress, and since my regular doctor was not in we had a 'substitute.' He asked me about his treatments and i said Daniel got his last one at 10pm the night before and not another one since. He said that I really need to follow the treatment schedule closely. I said, "well I was up all night with Kimberlee and her throwing up left and right." To this he said, "oh! ok, of all the kids Daniel is in the most critical condition and he needs close attention."

MY VENTING
I'm sorry dude, did the medical field finalize the cloning process? Do you see that there is only one of me and three of them? Was i supposed to leave my daughter to attend to herself while she threw up to give Daniel a 20 minute treatment. And after she threw up, was I supposed to leave all of that mess right there for about 20 minutes while I gave Daniel his treatment. Obviously you are a man, who will never understand how sick children CLING unto you for comfort and you are not a mother of three children, which in itself will make you have to make in-the-moment decisions based of the most pressing need and a 7 month old infant who is breathing effortlessly and sleeping through the entire night is actually a blessing and not a pressing need. I know you don't 'know' me and you are filling in for the regular doctor, but you making me feel like a crappy mother is not helping the situation. I am not a crappy mother dude. yes i will follow the treatment schedule, but how about you help me out with Kimberlee's puking as it has been two days now.

Whew! now I fell better. Ok so, we walked out of there with medicine for Daniel's asthma and Kimberlee's vomiting.

After all of that Kimani arrived from his business trip and hopefully everything will be back to normal soon.

Part Two

today I took Daniel and Kimberlee to their pediatrician and Kimberlee has Strep throat and RSV and Daniel has RSV (of course) and also his lungs are a big congested so he is borderline pneumonia.

I have been giving them their medicine all through the day and hopefully this will all end soon. My sister in law Monique came over from NY to help me with all the sickness in the house as Nehemiah will be staying home and going to the Doctor's office tomorrow with the same RSV symptoms Daniel and Kimberlee had. Well, some of the symptoms anyway.

Oh! What a night!

Since Sunday Daniel had been showing signs of having a cold with his runny nose and fever. We got for him the Infant Tylenol for his fever and a nebulizer treatment to help him breath better because he began to cough. With the history of asthma in the family coughing usually means the first stages of an asthma episode.

Fast forward to Tuesday night and Daniel is looking worst than ever and I end up running him to the ER - at 1 in the morning - in the middle of a blizzard - with two other kids in tow.

I called some neighbors and they were not available to come over and watch Nemi and Kimberlee, so I called our friends, Pam and Brian, who live the closest and though at first I was gonna go to their house to drop off the kids, the storm did not allow for all that driving and Daniel seemed to be getting worst. I did not want to risk getting stuck in snow with all three kids in the car and Daniel not being able to breath.

Off to the ER we went-all three kids and I. We were a sight to see. The snow was so high I was actually dragging Kimberlee through it and Nehemiah was jumping with every step he took almost having a ball in all that snow and Daniel was all wrapped up in his car seat.

Two hours later they admitted Daniel at 3am with a diagnosis of RSV (Respiratory Syncytial Virus). Brian, who had made it to the hospital soon after we arrived, took Nemi and Kimberlee over to their place to rest. No easy feat as Kimberlee was displaying feelings of obvious dissatisfaction with the whole situation.

About an hour later I had to call over to the Wheelock's home to inform them the latest news, which was that RSV is highly contagious. I told them to keep my kids away from their two girls. Thank God it was the middle of the night and everyone was asleep and they did not have the chance to play together. With that piece of information a new plan was put into action - Pam went over to my house with Nemi and Kimberlee so that they would be comfy in their own environment and quarantined keeping their girls safe.

Well, several more hours later and basically the RSV is a virus that has to run its course and there is not much more they can do for him except to just send him home. Great!! Thanks!!

Daniel in his crib - the quarantine crib - my bed to sleep in

Quite a night in deed! Though we are not out of the woods we are all safely at home letting this run it course.

Room Makeover

Ok so Kimani and I had been wanting to give our bedroom a little make over. I was hoping to do it in the summer, but we did not get a chance. However, i did not want to wait until next spring and there is no way to get that done in the winter. So while he was away at a business trip I decided to surprise him with a room make over. Here are the results.

Before










After

Before











After

Three Years and no tattoo!

I cannot believe I have had this blog for three years now. I am so finicky about things and move on from one thing to the next at the drop of a hat that I am shocked at myself that I have been contributing to this blog for three years.

That is actually one of the reasons I have never gotten a tattoo. I always wanted one, but never could decide on one long enough to have it permanently on my body. I would change my mind about every six months. There you go.

I think I have a new friend

A year ago (almost to the day) TLC aired the delivery of Kimberlee. Today they re-aired the episode. I found out only because my friend send me a note via Facebook.

Well, some time later I got a beautiful note from a viewer and I think I just made a new friend. Below is our interaction via Facebook Email....

Kymmi Warner March 30 at 3:40pm

Okay so I was watching baby story which I usually catch in the morning, but anyway, I watched your family welcome Kimberlee Ann Smith into the family. I was so emotional as if you were my family. I cried and cried when you were in all that pain and when the baby finally came and I saw that you named her Kimberlee, I was totally a mess cuz thats my name and there arent many people that use that beautiful name anymore, but anyway, I just wanted to tell you that your story really touched me more than any other episode that I have seen and I hope that you, your hubby, son and daughter have a blessed, exciting and wonderful life...

Datnee Smith March 30 at 4:56pm

Oh! Kymmi, this is beautiful! I am crying over here as I read this. Thank you so much for reaching out to me. One never knows how our lives may touch others. Kimberlee has truly been a gift from God himself. We had so many trial and obstacles to get our little girl, and now she is on the constant move.

And what is best is that she is having a little brother in June. Crazy right?!

sincerely,
Datnee

Kymmi Warner March 30 at 8:41pm

Giiirl I am delighted for you! Now 2 boys and Princess Kimmee! I KNOW you are going to have medication. That pain hit you like crazy with Kim, I felt so sad and happy for you because I knew it would all be over soon and you would see your little girl. I taped the show when I saw it was coming on and my husband just watched it, he said "you know I dont watch that stuff but I liked that family, they are cool and their baby has a pretty name" lolol I just fell in love with your family. Hope we can keep in touch, oh by the way, are you puerto rican/dominican? My dad is puerto rican but sadly i dont know that side. Anyway I will type on and on and on. lol

Always, Kymmi

I was so touched by this note. It is so beautiful. I hope we keep in touch.

Lamaze - Not!

I went to my OBGYN appointment today and told Dr Garfinkel I was considering going to Lamaze class or something. He scoffed it off and said, "you do not need Lamaze you did so well with the last delivery, but you may benefit from Calm Birth (http://www.calmbirth.com.au/)."

Hmmm! Is he trying to tell me something?

hello

Yesterday was my second OBGYN appointment. It went well. I lost 6 pounds since my last visit, putting my at 153. The baby's heartbeat was hard to find at first, but once Dr. G found it it sounded really good.

Besides that, we are getting ready to go to Florida for Christmas. My brother got us tickets to go to Disney world and I think Nehemiah is gonna have a good time there. Last time he went he had no clue where we were since he was so young, but now he know who is Mickey and Minnie and I think he will have a blast.

I am trying to upload a bunch of pictures from my camera, but my computer is not making the connections, so hopefully soon I will be able to get those posted... most likely on the other site.

anyway, tada for now.

Can you hear me now!

Wow! I suddenly felt old when I wrote the title. Anyway, so how hard is it to get in touch with my hubby. He tells me to call him at work, so I do. Then he tells me, 'if you do not reach me there call my cell,' Uh! I did. I hate not being able to talk to him when I have to download... empty my brain... and all those things.

Do you know that the past few times I have had to take the kids to the doctor's office or ER it was the Lord himself who put it in his heart to call the house. I had been trying to reach him for several minutes and had it not been for the Lord I would have never been able to talk to him. I love my God, he is awesome.

Now, back to the phone to try and reach Kimani.

Herbs today - gone tomorrow

Well, you knew this was coming. Sooner of later I had to tell you all about how my plants are doing.

Not too long ago they were in critical condition. I attempted to move the plants from the kitchen to the front window to give them more sun and half way there.... they fell.

Ahhh!!!!

Oh goodness! that was the end of them - or so I thought. I left them in the kitchen in hopes to reviving them and I think they may have a chance. Just in case the first batch does not make it out of intensive care, I purchased more seeds for round two.

Brother and Sister

My children are really the joy of my life.

Nemi brought me to tears recently when he grabbed Kimberlee's hands and told her, "up, up up" the way daddy does it to get her to lift her head. Since she was on my lap I actually lifter her up on her feet. She was loving it. The more she smiled the more he did it. It was such a sweet moment, just the two of them interacting with each other.

Days later Kimberlee brought me to tears when we were in the car and she was fussy. Nemi put the pacifier in her mouth and though she cannot fully control the movements of her arms and hands she reached over for him and grabbed his hands. (sob, sob) it was so beautiful to see that. So innocent and loving. The way only a brother and sister could be. The older trying to make the baby smile and the baby saying thank you to her brother with a simple touch.

House For Sale - Again

ok so that house that I have been keeping an eye of for the past two years is back on the market. Crazy, right?

Yeah! so I guess they should have worked with us when we asked them to let us rent it with an option to buy. Oh! well, I guess they really want to just sell it our right, which of course makes sense. One day we will own a home and I cannot wait to finally settle in to a place of our own. I want to have a little garden to grow my herbs.

Speaking of growing herbs I just remembered that I bought the things I need to grow... or should I say ATTEMPT to grow a few herbs this season. I got oregano, cilantro, spearmint (for teas), basil and something else I cannot remember. I should have Nemi help me plant the seeds that would be a fun activity.

Well, let us see if we could get that green thumb this time around. Wish me luck.

Paint Sample

So today I painted a small portion of the living room wall to test out the color we picked out. Elegant Yellow (SW 6666 from Sherwin Williams).

The day is a bit overcast today, but I am glad we get to see the color on the wall with natural light. So far I like it so lets see how Kimani likes it when he gets home.

Hopefully the sun will come out tomorrow and we will get to see the color with the sunlight as well before we do the entire living room.

I am so looking forward to the final look.

Follow up

So yesterday I went for my six-week check up at the OBGYN and it went really good. Everything seems to be back to normal and I have only a few more pounds to lose to be back to my 'regular' weight. By a few I mean a lot more than I expected so, where are my workout tapes?

I am so thankful to have been refered to this OBGYN practice. They are really nice and a fun bunch of girls. The Doctor and the Midwife are really attentive and make it such a personal experience.

Kimberlee was introduced to the Dr. G for the first time since delivery and we had a great laugh reliving the labor and delivery. Dr. G is pretty cool. Kimani did not get to go with me this time and everyone "missed" him. He is usually the one that makes everyone laugh during my check ups, so they notice when he is not around.

Anyway, will chat more later.....

hasta la vista, baby

Just a spoon full of sugar...

I finally got my medicine for my cough. It is about time I got off my lazy butt. I should be a hundred percent by next week. Yeepeee!!!

No more cramps/contractions since I was discharged two days ago, so that is also good news.

talk to you later,
ds

I am not complaining I am just explaining!

Oh! My goodness. This pregnancy is soooooooo different than my “Nemi Belly”. It is unbelievable. I feel sooo sick. I mean not puke sick nor flu sick, but just very icky. My taste buds have completely disguised themselves into grossness and I constantly have this nasty aftertaste in my mouth. I love coffee so much. I cannot have it now. I like to have a ginger ale now and then and after I drink it (or any other sweet/sparkly beverage for that matter) I get this after taste in my mouth. So no I am down to drinking just water. Though I get the after taste in my mouth after I drink water as well it a lot more tolerable than after drinking other things. With Nemi I was fully fine the entire 9 months

What is more, I feel super hungry all the time, but since my taste buds are out of whack I cannot just eat anything. My appetite has been turned off, my olfactory is on full attention, taking in every scent and not liking anything at all, and my taste buds are on strike – rejecting every proposition for a peace treaty with the stomach.

Finally, I am sooo drained all the time. By 2pm everyday I am ready to just fall out and nap anywhere I am. When I was expecting Nemi I was soo energized, maybe the excitement of our first child had me on a constant high, but now I feel drained from within and having Nemi is also an external ‘draining’ factor that I did not have before. The good think is that Nemi is learning to play with me while I lay on the couch or the bed. In the very beginning he wanted me up and on my feet moving around with him and be after him at all times. Now, I guess he resolved to himself, ‘If I cannot beat them – join them’ and he will come on the couch and we play for as long as he wants.

Even though this pregnancy is different than my first one, I am really excited and happy to be expecting a miracle again. I look forward to seeing Nemi play with his sibling. Kimani is already starting to interact with the baby and talk to him/her like he did for Nehemiah. It is fun, and hopefully all of this ends in two weeks when I enter my second trimester.

I will surely keep you posted.
:)