Life's been busy...

the blog..not so much.

I've been sewing and knitting pretty much every second I get so there hasn't been much time for posing to the blog.
And on top of that Garrett had/has pneumonia so it's been a long couple of weeks. He's finally on the mend but the meds they have him on make him irritable and then super tired.

It was sunny for the first time in several days so we (read: Ben and Bella) were outside most of the day.

We picked up Sea Basket for dinner this evening and drove to the waterfront to eat. Ben loved looking at the big boats. Garrett was happy when the wheels started turning again. The big boys are spending the night at my parents...ahhh peace and quiet.

Billy's New Smile

Billy lost his first tooth today!! He was eating a banana at snack time and swallowed it. He will be writing the tooth fairy a note to explain what has happened so she knows to leave him money.

Our little Billy is growing up.

Booger Man

otherwise known as Garrett




Gotta love spring.

Logan and Ben

The happy news....

I'm 30!! My birthday was this past Tuesday.

The sad news....

My Great Grandmother past away on March 29th. She lived 93 wonderful years and was a huge inspiration to me and everyone in our family. Her strength, kindness, and giving nature will live on in those who were lucky enough to know her.

We visited with her about two weeks before she passed away. She was so excited to see the boys. Garrett was hungry so he laid in her lap sucking on a cup while she sang him lullaby's. Moments like those are priceless. I mean how many children get to be rocked and sung to by their Great Great Grandmothers?!

*I'll add pictures to this post when I get them scanned in.*

Sneak peek.....

...at Laurel Love's new product.



Due to popular demand (well really a handful of requests lol) I've decided to produce a few bibs backed in bamboo velour in honor of Earth Day. They will be stocking at Bitty Fluff on Friday, April 22nd.
Hopefully my new labels will be here in time so I can tag these beauties!

Custom for Erica

Custom for Aubrey

One instock and two custom bibs for Aubrey:

It never fails.

When I have nothing to blog about....I got TONS of time to blog. Then like the past week when I have TONS to blog about I can't find the time to write. I'll be back later today with some sad news, some happy news and a few pics of recent custom orders, knitting projects, and a new product.

Cesarean Awareness Month

April is Cesarean Awareness Month. So for the entire month of April....I will annoy you all with links pertaining to the subject. Here's the first installment:

ATLANTA, Georgia (CNN) -- When Barbara Stratton of Baltimore, Maryland, looks back at the birth of her son, Charlie, now 7, she's angry -- angry she had a surgery she believes she didn't need.

Stratton said her obstetrician induced labor a week before her due date because she feared the baby would be too large to deliver if they waited for Stratton to go into labor spontaneously. But even after being induced, her labor still didn't progress, and Stratton ended up with a Caesarean section. Her baby weighed 8 pounds, 7 ounces -- far smaller than the obstetrician had predicted.

"I never needed the C-section in the first place," said Stratton.

The U.S. government and many obstetrical experts are working hard to reduce the number of women having C-sections. In 2004, 29 percent of babies in the U.S. were born by C-section, an increase of more than 40 percent since 1996. Since it's major surgery, C-sections involve risks to the mother, including infections, bleeding, and pain. Babies born via C-sections have more breathing problems right after birth, according to the Office on Women's Health at the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services.

Many experts think as many as half of all C-sections are unnecessary, the women's health office said.

Stratton said that because of surgical complications she was in pain every day for a year and a half after her son was born. She became depressed. Interactive quiz: Test your pregnancy knowledge »

"I was in pain every time I rolled over, every time I got out of bed, every time I got out of a chair," Stratton said. "It affected the quality of my mothering. I had trouble bonding with my son."

Here's how to avoid having a C-section unless you absolutely need it -- in such medical emergencies as umbilical cord prolapse, which cuts off the baby's oxygen, or placenta previa, when the placenta blocks the cervix so that the baby can't be born naturally.

1. Don't get induced unless medically necessary

Years of study have shown that inducing labor often leads to a C-section.

"If you decide to have an induction because your obstetrician is going out of town, or because your husband is going out of town, that may seem like a bona fide reason, but you'll pay the price with an increased rate in C-sections," said Dr. Michael Klein, emeritus professor of family practice and pediatrics at the University of British Columbia, who's studied C-sections.

Klein says studies of first-time moms show that 44 percent of those who are induced end up with a C-section but that only 8 percent of those who go into labor spontaneously end up with a C-section. Doctors say many times, inducing women way before the cervix is ready can lead to unproductive labor, which then necessitates a C-section.

2. Labor at home until you're approximately 3 centimeters dilated

Dr. Elliott Main, director of obstetric quality at Sutter Health in California, said encouraging moms to stay at home in early labor is one way his hospital has been able to keep C-section rates steady while nationally the rate keeps climbing every year.

Why would laboring at home help fend off a C-section?

Part of it has to do with the way mothers feel. "Anxiety can slow down labor," he said. "And nobody likes being in a hospital. It's a strange room and there are lots of strange people and some of them are coming at you with needles."

Hospitals themselves are often to blame, he said. Too often medical staffs intervene unnecessarily in early laboring with pain medications, monitors, and other techniques, which can slow labor down, according to Main. "Even in the best-meaning hospitals, these kinds of practices happen," Main said.

At Sutter hospitals, "We say it's totally fine to come in and be checked, but that you should understand why it may be safer for you to be at home for a while," he said.

3. Choose your hospital, and your practitioner, carefully

If having a vaginal birth is important to you, shop for a doctor and a hospital with low C-section rates. "Let's say one hospital has an 18 percent C-section rate, and another one is 45 percent. Which door you walk into will have a profound effect on what happens to you," said Carol Sakala, director of programs at Childbirth Connection, a nonprofit group. You can find out the rates by checking with the doctor's office and the hospital.

4. In the delivery room, ask questions if your practitioner says you need a C-section

Some situations are true emergencies, and a C-section is necessary within minutes to save the baby's life. "That's not a time to negotiate," said Dr. Timothy R.B. Johnson, chair of obstetrics at the University of Michigan.

But in other situations, parents should ask questions about whether a C-section is absolutely necessary, he says. For example, if a doctor says the baby is too big to deliver vaginally, "There's a conversation to be had. You can ask, 'Doctor, are you sure the baby's too big? How big?'" Johnson said. "Our ability to guess size is not absolute. I've had babies I thought were 11 pounds that turned out to be 7 pounds. Doctors get humbled on a regular basis."

5. Get a doula

After her own disappointing birth experience, Barbara Stratton became a doula. Doulas, or birth assistants, can help advocate for a mother when she's in labor.

Quoted from: http://www.cnn.com/2007/HEALTH/08/23/ep.csection/

Customs Update 4/1

All bibs are cut out and are just waiting to be sewn. I will be sewing them tomorrow and shipping them asap. My printer is hooked back up so I can ship from my house once again. Woohoo!!