Long Weekend

Easter has always been one of my favourite times of year. It is normally beautiful this time of year in the Vancouver area. Flowers are starting to bloom, and the cold rainy weather is starting to disappear. Though I still don't mind a good day of rain for puddle jumping and I look forward to getting Everly her first pair of rain boots so we can puddle jump together.

Jason's parents are coming down for the weekend from Kelowna. They'll be squishing in visits with us and Jason's brother Braydon. They have not seen Everly since she was a few days old. Though they have seen all the photos, and had Skype visits with her.

We'll also be going for a little picnic, hopefully the weather stays nice through the whole weekend. My family has always gone for a picnic Easter weekend. I have many great memories going to Stanley Park, playing in the playground there, or running on the beach trying to fly a kite. I'm hoping that this tradition of a picnic will continue now that Everly has joined our family. I'm a sucker for family traditions.

For us though, this weekend is also about the true meaning of Easter. I'm sure many have seen churches putting signs up welcoming those in the community to join them for their Easter Sunday church service. We've had a couple invites on our door from churches in our neighborhood. We believe Easter has much less to do about a bunny, and that is has everything to do with Jesus who died on a cross and rose again 3 days later. For us Easter is a Christian celebration.

Hope everyone has a great weekend, relaxing and enjoy the sun!

No Longer VW Owners

If you had asked us 2 weeks ago if we were going to change vehicles any time soon we would have said no, we're fine with the VW Rabbit. If you had asked us this 1 week ago, we would have said we are considering it. What changed? 

My Mom has been carless since the big car accident years ago. Sure there have been other vehicles but none were ever "hers" as all us young drivers laid dibs on them for learning to drive, or going to work, or Dad was driving one to work. You'd think with the number of cars in the drive way surely there would have been one, but no there was not. My Mom is the most patient person I know, I wish I was like that, and she let all us girls drive the cars while she patiently waited or made sure we knew she needed a car for something. 

Now it has been no different. My Dad got himself a car, Taressa (the only one of us girls at home now) has her own SUV, and still it was hard to have a vehicle to get somewhere. Mom had finally had enough and mentioned she wanted to get a small car for bombing around in. She does not need one to get to work, that takes maybe 90 steps to get to each day. She just wanted something that she knew would be available whenever she wanted to be able to go somewhere. 

We randomly, and almost jokingly, put it out there that she should get the VW Rabbit from us so that we could upgrade to something bigger. Sure enough this is exactly what has happened. My Mom is now the owner of our Rabbit. We'll miss that little car it has been a great vehicle to us. We just knew if we ever wanted to go camping, or any sort of road trip with kids it would not work. 

No mini van for us, not yet any ways! We checked out several Honda CRVs and finally found one that just felt right. It had everything we were looking for in it, and really low mileage for the it is too! We both have to get used to driving what feels like a boat to us right now, and we do have to clear out a bit longer space in the garage, because a 2009 CRV is much longer than the Rabbit was. It have the ability for us to put 3 car seats in the back ;)

dear mom who feels like she is failing...

I stumbled across a blog the other day that had a link to a blog post titled "dear mom who feels like she is failing..." this really hit home for me as it is something I have been struggling with. 

If you were to come to our house right now, I'd be mortified as it has exploded to say the least. I haven't been able to tidy up much with having been down for the count with my surgery. I also find it hard to be able to keep the house in order any ways with taking care of Everly and trying to make sure she has been fed, changed, burped, is napping, and repeat toss in laundry because its been spewed all over and there is only one bib and sleeper left and I know that wont last a few hours. Recently it all came crashing into me and I've suddenly been feeling very overwhelmed, and feel like I am failing, even to the point of feeling really depressed. I'm very thankful for the people in my life who are so supportive, I've been blessed with an amazing husband who jumps in to help whenever, and many friends and family are more than willing to come help. Still I feel myself struggling. 

Back to this blog post, it just summed everything up so well. I've seen so many negative posts towards Mom's recently. Please be supportive of any Mom out there, doesn't matter if they are a new Mom or it is their third child. Instead see if they need help, maybe they need someone to go over and help out with watching the child so they could even just get a 20 minute power nap, or have a shower for the first time in days, or even offer to fold and put away the munchkins clothing. A little help is a huge blessing!

So Mom's out there if you need a little boost, read this... 

Project High Chair

Jason and I have never been the biggest fans of the high chairs that are for sale now-a-days, they are huge and ugly plastic coloured things. There are the odd wooden high chairs you can find, but they still were not really our style. We found one we sort of liked but the price was insane. 

A friend of mine had found a beautiful one for her son on Kijiji. I had been scouring Craigslist and Kijiji for awhile, basically since we found out that we were expecting Everly, and the odd vintage wooden high chair popped up finally. I loved the looks of these. I showed Jason them and was told to pick one if I felt it was right. 

As you can see in the photo above we did buy one. Isn't it beautiful? I got it from a lovely elderly couple in Burnaby who lived just a few blocks up from where Jason and I used to live. They had bought it used in the states for when their first granddaughter was born almost 22 years ago. They decided to put it on Craigslist and if anyone called and showed interest in it they would sell it. Sure enough I came along! I was able to pick it up after my post operation appointment in Burnaby... try to not cross the bridge now unless we have multiple places to go, stupid toll!    

Now what are we going to do with it? I am torn between painting it a solid colour, or just refinishing it possibly a darker stain. My Nana is putting up a good argument for leaving it the way it is, but I am loving the idea of a bright aqua blue all over. However, I could just restain it darker and make a really funky cushion to go on it.

Help and thoughts please! I've added some inspiration photos. Cannot wait for her first birthday, and having her smash her birthday cake while sitting in this chair.

What have we been up to...

This past week has been all about recovery for me with having had my nose surgery on Monday. The rest of the day when I'm not a zombie I am with Everly or doing stuff connected to her such as laundry. We all skipped church today Jason and I were both feeling out of sorts and on the verge of being under the weather too. The last thing we want is to be sick. It seemed Everly was also in need of some rest, Jason and Everly both had 2+ hour long naps this morning. I have a project I am hoping to start for her really soon, have to pick some things up first. I am also going to be attempting to make myself commit to making baby food for her instead of buying already made stuff. I am getting a Baby Bullet second hand, sure I could use a food processor but I do not have that either, the lady I am buying it from is tossing in extra containers too which is nice. I already feel like time is flying by with her, every now and then I start to panic and wondering what I need to do next. I'm trying to remind myself to take the time and enjoy every precious moment and to make memories, lots of memories.

Jason has been a huge help around the house and with Everly. He always is, right now even more so it seems. I'm a lucky girl to have married a guy who is such a hands on Dad, makes me love him even more. He has thankfully been working from home which has been a huge help, I know I would not have survived this week without that. He is also playing hockey on Friday nights still, yes I may try to guilt trip him to stay home but I never make him because I know this is his get away time and he loves playing hockey.

Everly is still working on the whole spitting up thing. She has her good and bad moments, we got a great one on video the other day. We missed the full on giggles she was giving, but we got the spew moment that happened while I was holding her. She is sure going to love us for that video when she is a teenager. She had 3 appointments this past week at Rai Chiropractic in Langley. This is the chiropractor we were refereed to by the one in Port Moody. We are so thankful that chiropractor was kind enough to refer us to someone closer to us, as our appointments are only about 5 to 10 minutes long. Everly is starting to turn her head both directions much more now, and sit upright in her car seat much more. What's nice to see is her droopy eye lid is doing a lot better too. We had another appointment tomorrow, and we'll see how many she needs this week, we are just continuing along this way as it is helping in several areas for her.

Surgery

This past Monday I went in for surgery at Burnaby Hospital. My Mom was kind enough to come over and watch Everly for the day, she came over bright and early at 9am. Jason and I did some final preparations to get me ready to head out the door and to make sure everything was available for my Mom. My sister Taressa also stopped by to help later in the day. I had to put the pack and play back downstairs so that my Mom wouldn't need to go up and down the stairs, just makes it easier on someone when they come over to watch munchkin for us. 

We lucked out and got meter parking on the street where someone just pulled out as we were driving up, there was also 7 and a half hours left on the meter, so we just added another dollar to it because we were not sure if we were seeing minutes or hours. This was nice because last time two years ago we got ripped off by hospital pay parking and my canceled surgery.

This time we packed the kindle and my ipod so we'd be entertained if need be. Very thankful we did as Jason did a lot of sitting and waiting, I also remembered to grab some snacks for him at the last minute. I'd been fasting since the night before. 

I was never told what time my surgery would be at exactly, I was only told to be at the hospital for 11:15am. Glad we got there early because there was a long wait to go through admitting, I had to take a number and wait. Fun fun fun! Once through all of the waiting sections I was told my surgery was at 1:50pm. Jason got to stay with me until the room before I entered the surgery room, this was encouraging for me as I was starting to panic and freak out a little in there and second guessing my decision to get the surgery to fix my nose. I got kisses from Jason and we said a quick prayer before they wheeled me off to the surgery room. 

The nurse who pushed my awesome hospital bed to the surgery room was lacking in the height area and managed to wheel the bed into a cart that was in the hall way. I started laughing and so did she. I always picture these beds like race cars, I was laughing because suddenly I had the visual of my race car crashing, kind of like in video games and a game over text pops up.

The nurses were prepping in the surgery room and were blasting up beat pop music, the last song I remember hearing was "Stronger" by Kelly Clarkson, hearing the words "what doesn't kill you, makes you stronger" was not very encouraging in some weird way while in there. 

The anesthesiologist was hilarious and made me laugh and settle down thankfully as I was beginning to freak out again in my mind, not just yet in an outward way. He told me to think of Hawaii and I'd mentioned I'd just been there in October, he told me to focus on that, but I didn't my last thoughts were of Everly and Jason and before I knew it I was waking up after surgery in recovery with a massive ice pack over my head and a bandage over my nose. I did not need my nose broken to fix the deviated septum and other issues, it was just a mater of some how straightening everything out. I'm not going to bother explaining just go research surgeries for the problem and you will figure it out.

If any of you ever need this surgery, go in your pjs, I am so glad I did because by the time we came home in the evening after stopping to pick up my prescriptions I was still exhausted and out of it from everything. 

 That night, and for the first few nights to follow I settled in on the comfy chair in the living room. Thank you Taressa and Mom for buying that it sure has been useful! They tell you to sleep with your head elevated, and crashing in the big brown chair was best, I could recline if needed, and I could still rock while holding Everly. 

I started off feeling like a zombie with being so out of it after surgery, now I feel like I had a really bad cold with a stuffed nose and painful throat from all of the mouth breathing caused by a bandage blocking my nose. The worst part of it all I'd have to say is the allergic reaction I got from the tape used to hold the bandage in place. I should have been smart enough to mention I tend to react to bandages and medical tape... oops! Ended up needing to buy more tape and gauze any ways. 

Thank you everyone for your thoughts and prayers over the past few days. Thanks to those who popped by and helped with Everly. Thanks you Jason for being such an awesome hands on Dad and helping with Everly so much with me being down for the count. Now I just hope and pray I never need a c-section with future child(ren), I will be one grumpy person if I do as I never want to go through recovery again. 

A Chiropractor Visit

I'm sure I probably sound like a broken record player by now. We've been dealing with Everly having bad reflux since day one. I don't mind washing laundry all the time, or having to buy large receiving blankets so that I have more square footage to use in the battle against projectile spit up moments, but its when my daughter is choking because so much is coming out that I become concerned even more. We've talked to the doctor, gone to the hospital, seen a specialist, and repeat. We've tried gripe water, colic calm (which helped for a bit), and ranitidine. I really did not like the idea of using medicine to try and help her when she is so young, but we gave it a shot. I tried cutting things out of my diet, different formulas. We have always returned back to square one eventually, its been two steps forward and three back it seems.

I will be honest I was becoming extremely upset about it, I was feeling helpless in being able to find something to bring some comfort to my daughter. I was even to the point of being upset and jealous over the fact that it seemed like no other parent around me was going through this. Though I know that was not true because so many friends and family members have been such a support to me and have shared their stories and suggestions with me.

I joined a Facebook group for infant reflux a few weeks back. Right away I noticed a huge trend with the parents on there, many had been down the same path as us, and eventually they tried a chiropractor to see if that would help their little ones. Many stated the same thing, apparently there are certain areas of the spine that if it is misaligned the infant could suffer from reflux.

Taking Everly to a chiropractor was something I felt very unsure about because I had the visual of what is done to adults when they go see a chiropractor running through my mind and hearing the sound of cracking over and over again. I was introduced to a family chiropractor in Port Moody, again through Facebook by fluke through a friend "liking" a vaccine information night. I contacted Dr. Gil at Optimum Family Chiropractic he answered a lot of the questions I had about bringing Everly in but I was still not sure. Jason and I attended the vaccine information night this past week, we learned a lot that night but we also decided that taking Everly to a chiropractor was a route we need to try. We booked her an appointment that night.

(Inside Optimum Family Chiropractic, apparently many people mistake it for a day care centre)

Today she had her assessment appointment done with Dr. Gil. He used a state-of-the-art spinal scanning machine to check her spine. He rolled this instrument along her spine (it looks like one of those hand held lazer guns for scanning large items at the check out) and it sent info to the computer where it was displayed on the screen. To Jason and I it looked like her image on the computer had lit up like a Christmas tree, there was red and green popping up all over. You don't want to see colours you want to see it be clear on the screen. Dr Gil also did a hands on check of her, which also involved flipping her upside down in the air. I really wish I had taken a photo of that but was too focused on making sure she did not spit up every where. It was really clear that she has some spinal misalignment. This could be because of several things... being squashed inside for so long, use of a vacuum to aid in extracting her quickly, etc...

(Everly's scan results)

We were supposed to wait til our next appointment on Thursday next week to get full results, but because we ended up staying there longer so that Everly could have a bottle we got to find out right away. Thanks to the people who cancelled today,we don't know you but we appreciate it! We were taken back again and were shown on paper a visual image of the spine, on it it was circled the places she has misalignment. Beside each section were lists of possible symptoms the patient could be suffering from. Guess what was in each box that she is suffering from, reflux. Dr Gil even did Everly's first adjustment today since there was time to do so. He used very light finger pressure, it looked like she was getting a massage.

We will be continuing this route to see if it will aid Everly, in fact Jason and I are now both considering booking appointments for ourselves. Dr Gil had noted we were travelling a distance to get there and he took it upon himself to set us up with a referral to another chiropractor in Langley who he knows and is friends with so that we wont have to drive so far with Everly. Her first appointment with this doctor is next week. I noticed on the drive home after her appointment that her neck was not tilted one direction for the first time. This was nice to see and I hope that continues for her too. She also slept for a nice long nap after which Dr Gil warned us could happen.

(The tool used to roll along Everly's spine is on the shelf under the key board)

If any of you need a chiropractor and you live on the other side of the bridge near Port Moody I highly recommend looking into Optimum Family Chiropractic. We'll keep everyone informed how our appointments for Everly go with the other doctor. We are hoping and praying that this will be a step in the right direction. We're optimistic, but we also come armed with lots of receiving blankets.