the medication

Among some other obvious things we needed to do to have a baby, we had wanted to be medication free while trying to get and being pregnant.  When Kody passed, my support team and I decided that it was too much to try to taper off my medications.  One of the medications I was taking was an obvious one to stop because a recent study had shown that it was toxic for babies and caused cleft palate/lip.  It was also one that I had not been taking that long when compared to the other one.  The other medication had unknown effects on babies. It was a personal choice and the medication was always something I preferred not to be on if I could.  It was very hard for me to tell whether the medication was helping me or it was the other legwork I was doing. So earlier this year, we started the process of tapering off again.  I didn't go through any significant withdrawal which was great. After the tapering was complete, we had the green light to start trying to conceive.

the recovery

life is all about recovery.  things knock you down and you recover and get back up.

2013 was tough.  There were days when I didn't think I could move on or when I thought moving on might be a sign that I would forget Kody.  I will never forget her.  I won't forget what she taught me and what she stood for.

I journalled.  I went to therapy.  I tried to distract myself with new crafts.  I sketched.   I crocheted.  I felted. I tried unsuccessfully to volunteer with french bulldogs.  I tried again successfully to volunteer with another french bulldog organization. 

Then we adopted Pip from another organization that rescued french bulldogs.  She is such a blessing. Supposedly she was a stray in San Jose.  We often try to guess how she became a stray.  Maybe she escaped?  Or ran away?  Not sure how someone could give a dog up.  She was picked up by a shelter and then by the Bulldog Club of America Rescue Network.  There she was fostered before being adopted by a couple who returned her after some months because they couldn't potty train her.  They also found silica stones in her bladder that she had removed during surgery.  I saw her on petfinder and decided to apply. They came and visited our place and we were approved!  We drove to Folsom/Shingle Springs and met her at her foster mom's work/vet office.    

It has been a year since Pip joined our family and I am so grateful for her presence in my life. 

baby planning

So we are expecting our first child next year 2015!

As with all things, there was planning involved.  I wish I could have documented the planning process real time but we didn't tell family until recently and even now, not all our friends know!

First things first, of course my husband and I were on the same page about wanting children.  We could go for more than two but by three I might be close to 40 years old!  We got married in 2012 and were open to having children soon after but were also open to enjoying married life.  Unfortunately, 2013 started with huge heartache as we I lost my french bulldog, Kody to unknown reasons. I was devastated.  I still think about her everyday and even as we plan for baby, I wish Kody could have been here. We really took 2013 to re-coop and heal.

Bright December wedding

My cousin and her boyfriend of 10+ years from high school got married christmas 2013 in Hong Kong.  She sent me this mood board and asked me to make tassel garlands for the weather balloons.   

Tassel garland in the making.

Shipping the disassembled garland was no small feat itself.  I went to fedex and they wanted to charge me an arm and leg so i went to UPS at more than half the cost.  It arrived fast and in one piece!

 When we arrived in hong kong we got to assembling them.  But we soon realized even this was best done on site.

Most of the tassels ended up being used for other decoration besides the balloons.  The tassels can really weigh down the balloons and we were not totally prepared for that.  We improvised and the outcome was not too bad.  She had another banquet a few days later and we reused the tassels that night as well. 

Camelot 1st Birthday

i helped a friend with her son's first birthday. it was in the outdoor area of a cafe.  the location was perfect but because it was public, there were lots of other people and kids who wanted to be part of the fun!  she wanted a knights and dragons theme because her son was born in the year of the dragon.

i created a candy/snack bar that had dragon food (cheerios), cannonballs (maltesers), swords (pocky and pretz), chessmen (cookies), knight shields (ritz), fish (swedish fish), and dragon nails (bugles).  for the signs i printed them on a sword graphic then adhered it to a shield and then a ribbon

 cricut sign

Coral and Aqua Baby Shower

I helped organize a friend's baby shower and it was a DIY affair from the food to the decor.  the only theme here was that she liked the color scheme of peach, coral, orange and aqua, teal, mint.  we shared pinterest boards to get ideas down.  the invitation had the ideal colors so all materials/graphics matched the invite

the first step was looking for a caterer.  after deciding that they cost too much we decided to do a mixture of food from a restaurant and some easy recipes.

baby shower sugar cookies made by a friend

mini desserts from whole foods

 

we got 3 bloomspots for 2 dozen mini cupcakes from mission minis

oranges were halved and gutted for fruit cups

 my MIL made roast beef and egg salad and cucumbers and we made three kinds of tea sandwiches

a charcuterie plate

 popcorn

 then we worked on decor.  i made two diaper cakes as gifts.  the middle is rolled up swaddle blankets. 

 there were games

 mad lib wishes for the babies

 i used this easy tutorial to make bunting banners.  one says baby baby

 and the other says yay carol

 the favors were mini succulents that we planted into votive holders

 the guest book was alphabet blocks

 for decor we also had pompoms, rosettes and lanterns

 flowers were from trader joes in blue ball jars

 more lanterns

it was a really tiring experience but got so many compliments!

Nijago 6th Birthday

while we were in whistler, we celebrated my cousin's son's sixth birthday with a small party at the fireside lounge inside our hotel.

i made signs by printing out ninjago picture from the internet.  Using my circle cutter, i cut circles out of the pictures and glued them to cardstock circles.