Happy Birthday to You!

I finally got a chance to stamp the other day!!! (Thanks to my mum staying with us to help out.) I didn't get to make Dad's birthday card before his actual birthday, due to a certain someone deciding to arrive early and then us ending up back in hospital, so I thought that the first thing I stamped after having Jack should be dad's birthday card.
I'm a bit rusty but I'm happy with how it turned out.
Stamps: Birthday Wish
Ink: Kiwi Kiss, Pacific Point
Cardstock: Good Morning Sunshine DSP, Kraft, Kiwi Kiss, Chocolate Chip, Whisper White
Accessories: Ice Rhinestone Brads, Button Latte, Kiwi Kiss Corduroy Brads, Scallop Edge Punch

Images © Stampin' Up!, Designs © Zarna Gould

All the gory details...

Ok, so not ALL the gory details, but you know, more info than Justin gave you :)
I started typing this post up last week, but we've had a bit of drama this week so I'll start again, sorry if this gets a bit long but I want this written up so I remember... There are photos at the end as a reward for those who make it to the end lol
The day Jack was born (7/9/09) I woke up with a contraction about 4am but being half asleep I didn't realise what was going on straight away (just thought it was just more aches and pains so I got up and went to the toilet for a stretch) and it was only when I woke up about 7 and had another "ache" then remembered waking up and going back to sleep a few times in between 4 and 7.
I wasn't due for another 10 days and decided that I would go on time or overdue so I wasn't ready (as opposed to when I was pregnant with Charlotte and my bag etc was mostly packed with about 8 weeks to go), I rang my mum who had to come over from Orange, sent Justin to work (no point in wasting a day of leave if nothing happened until that night), took Charlotte to preschool and went out and did a few jobs that I had to do before I went into hospital while I waited for her to get here. (I can tell you I was so nervous walking around Target... I spent the whole time mentally willing my waters to stay in tact lol).
When Mum got here we started packing my bag and then she took my to my dr's appointment (I had a normal check up booked in so I decided to go anyway), at that stage my contractions were still so irregular that Dr Morris basically just said you could have the baby today or you could have it next week, just go to the hospital if the pain gets bad or they get down to a few minutes apart.
By about 4.30 the contractions were starting to get really painful but still not very close together (about 5 mins or so apart), so we called Justin's mum to come and pick up Charlotte (it was getting hard to hide the contractions from her and I didn't want to scare her) and told Justin to be ready to come straight home from work at 5.30. Mum had already cooked dinner since we didn't know how long it would take and we wanted some energy to get us through the night, and when Justin got home we scoffed it down and headed up to the hospital at 6.15.
I was really looking forward to having a bath for the pain (Parkes Maternity have this awesome big bath that you can stretch out almost completely in and it was the only thing that helped with the pain when I was having Charlotte) and that was the only reason I wanted to go up when I did, anyway, I got my bath after much demanding on my part to the poor midwife who had to just check that I wasn't too far along to have one, (since it's not set up for waterbirths they won't let you use it if you're too close to the main event) and I think by the time she went to run the bath she said something along the lines of "I'm going to go do it now miss bossy boots" lol. Anyway I hung out in the bath for the next hour and a half or so until I felt my waters break, (I even heard them pop, how cool is that? sorry TMI???) followed by the insane need to push. There was heaps of scrambling by the midwives and trying to get me out of the bath, I was refusing to budge but like I said before it wasn't the right type of bath for waterbirths. They basically had to drag me out of the bath. They realised that I wasn't planning on moving very far so they dragged in a mat & birthing ball and I had Jack on the bathroom floor. Because of how I sort of landed on the mat (I really wasn't moving any further than I had to lol) I was actually blocking the door way so Mum and 1 midwife were standing in the doorway and Justin and the other midwife were in the room with me, so they handed Justin a pair of gloves and told him to put them on in case Pat needed an extra pair of hands. He didn't get to use them but he said it was pretty cool that it was even a possibility.
Anyway, you already know the rest of that part of the story, Jack was born at 8.10pm and was a huge 9lb 7.5oz (4290g), but here comes the rest of the drama...
While we were in Hospital Jack wasn't feeding heaps but they kept an eye on his blood sugar levels and they were perfect, so they decided he must just be an efficient feeder, getting what he needed in very little time. When we came home on Thursday he'd lost about 400g off his birth weight but because they knew he was healthy and he was a big boy they weren't concerned, by Monday when the family health nurses came to do the follow up check up with us at home he'd lost a total of 770g. They decided that it couldn't be right and asked us to go back up to maternity to get him weighed on the same scales as his last weight check in case one of the sets of scales was wrong. We turned up at the hospital expecting that the scales would say close to what he weighed when we'd left the week before and we'd be there for half an hour and could go home again. They weighed him and he was down to 3520g (roughly 7lb 12oz) the exact same weight as earlier in the day.
It was a huge shock (and I'll admit to bursting into tears quite a few times) and over the next hour or so we were presented with our options, all of which involved us being admitted back into hospital until we got him to put on weight, at first I was under the impression that it would only be a day or 2, but later they told me that they were considering keeping us in until he gained back all the weight he had lost (which caused more tears lol).
What basically happened is, that Jack is such a placid (he had to be for the sake of getting along with his sister lol) and sleepy baby that he would fall asleep really early while feeding before he got to the "full cream" equivalent of the milk so he wasn't getting enough energy out of it, then because of his lack of energy he would feed for even less time before falling asleep the next time and get even less energy out of the milk and the vicious cycle would continue. The reason he went so long before we realised what was happening was because he is so laid back that he wouldn't cry even though he was hungry. Even now after we have built up his appetite again he will cry because he's hungry then as soon as you pick him up he quiets and is happy because you've acknowledged he's upset.
The options we were given were to switch to formula, or for me to keep feeding him and then topping him up with bottles and then having me pump to build my milk supply up. We decided to go to straight formula for 2 reasons, 1) I can see exactly how much he has eaten so I don't have to worry for no reason and 2) the process of building my milk supply back up would be so tedious and time consuming that it would leave no time for Charlotte, and we had to make her a high priority in the decision.
Anyway, 4 (very long) nights in hospital, bucketfuls of tears and 400g later we are finally back home again and Jack is more awake, actually staying awake between feeds occasionally and I can't quite describe it but just more like a normal baby.
We'll have another weigh in on Monday morning to check he is still improving and gaining weight, so hopefully we won't end up back in hospital.

Anyway here's the real reason you read this far:

Charlotte with her "Jat".
Most of the time she sort of just ignores him, but she insists on kissing him good night and has asked for a cuddle occasionally, so I think she really does like him.

Me & Jack the next day (hence the slightly more presentable appearance)

The big sister supervising Jack's first bath
(don't you love the face? she's started pulling funny faces for photo's)

Jack in his going home (the first time) outfit

The view of Parkes from the maternity ward, all the rooms (except the private room, go figure) open onto a big verandah with this view, You can almost see our house except for the tall trees to the left of the photo...

Images © Stampin' Up!, Designs © Zarna Gould

Just For You Dad

My third father's day card, this time for my dad, again using a non-fathers day sentiment. I've used Mojo Monday #101 as my sketch for this one. I've used Parisian Breeze DSP, I love this stuff, it's so thick and the texture is great!
Stamps: Oval All
Ink: Chocolate Chip, Baja Breeze
Cardstock: Kraft, Baja Breeze, Parisian Breeze DSP, Chocolate Chip
Accessories: 1" Chocolate Chip Stitched Grosgrain, Button Latte, Jumbo Brads

Images © Stampin' Up!, Designs © Zarna Gould

Happy Fathers Day to you from me

Another father's day card, this time for Justin's dad but again using a non-fathers day sentiment. This one uses my favourite set from the Spring mini, I haven't shown it yet because I've been using it on some birth announcement cards which I don't want to show until the baby is born obviously. But this set is so adorable for little boy cards and layouts, I love it! (Imagine it on a scrapbook page pulling the title across the page...)
Stamps: Best Yet, Right on Track, Choo Choo
Ink: Chocolate Chip, Old Olive, Brocade Blue
Cardstock: Chocolate Chip, Old Olive, Brocade Blue, Very Vanilla, Patterns II DSP pack
Accessories: Old Olive Brads, 1 1/4" square punch
Sketch: Mojo Monday #100/7

Images © Stampin' Up!, Designs © Zarna Gould

It's a boy!

No card this time, just a photo of our new baby boy.

As is the custom, here's the usual stats:
Jack Mitchell Gould
Born 20:10 7 September 2009
9 lb 7 1/2 oz (yikes!)
54cm (about 21 1/4")

Mum & bub are both doing well, hopefully both asleep right now.

Justin

Wild About Daddy!

This is Justin's fathers day card, I know "wild about you" isn't the usual fathers day greeting, but Charlotte is definitely wild about her daddy so I thought it was appropriate. I wanted to use some Garden Green DSP from the level 1 hostess pack but it's not really a colour that I've ever used so I went to the trusty old Colour Wheel and it suggested this colour combo (it also said Brilliant Blue as another coordinating colour and Rose Red as the complementary colour, but I chose to stick with 3 colours).
Stamps: Wild About You, Weathered
Ink: Bravo Burgundy, Certainly Celery, Garden Green
Cardstock: Kraft, Patterns II DSP pack, Certainly Celery, Very Vanilla, Bravo Burgundy
Accessories: Jumbo Eyelet, Certainly Celery 5/8" & 1/4" grosgrain, Bravo Burgundy 5/8" grosgrain, Crimper, Scallop Edge punch
Sketch: Mojo Monday #100/3

Images © Stampin' Up!, Designs © Zarna Gould

This is the kind of card I hate to make...

A customer (and now friend) of mine lost her father recently and I wanted to send her something to let her know I was thinking of her. I really, really, really hate making this kind of card, and it's about the only time I wish I wasn't a cardmaker so I could just duck to the newsagents and buy something... But I do it because I care, and if it's hard for me to make a card I can only imagine how hard it is to be the person I'm making it for.
To make it easier I used Mojo Monday #100/2 from the other week as my sketch, and good old Heartfelt Thanks as my stamp set.
Stamps: Heartfelt Thanks
Ink: Chocolate Chip, Pink Pirouette, Kiwi Kiss
Cardstock: Kraft, Kiwi Kiss, Pink Pirouette, Bella Rose DSP
Accessories: White Taffeta, Eyelet Border & Corner Rounder punches

Images © Stampin' Up!, Designs © Zarna Gould

Workshop project #2 - You only live once, but if you do it right, once is enough

Apologies for the glare on this one, My printer was out of ink so I had to get the photo printed up at Big W and they only had the Matte option which wreaked havoc with trying to photograph the layout.
Anyway, this was the 2nd project the girls had to choose from at last week's workshop. It's the same basic layout as the other one but I showed them how you could completely change the feel of a layout by changing out the paper and colours. This was also the project that I used to demonstrate how easy it is to make a smaller layout into a 12x12 page.
I've just added some Kiwi Kiss matting around the original layout, a bit of ribbon, a strip of DSP and a stamped image and we're done:
I've since added some journalling to the bottom of the layout that reads "You have mastered the art of living life to the full... don't ever lose that!"
Don't forget to have a guess at bubba's birthday. I have a couple of posts scheduled but not much so if I disappear it doesn't necessarily mean I've had the baby, just not organised enough to get something up here lol. I promise I'll make Justin come and let you all know (and upload a photo or 2) when our bubba decides to make an appearance.
Stamps: 5th Avenue Floral, A Rose is a Rose
Ink: Riding Hood Red, Pink Pirouette, Chocolate Chip
Cardstock: Close to Cocoa, Kiwi Kiss, Pink Pirouette, Riding Hood Red, Bella Rose DSP
Accessories: Brads, Riding Hood Red Taffeta, Distressing Tool (cutter kit)
Punches: Eyelet Border, 1 3/8", 1 1/4", 1", 3/4", 1/2" Circle & Trio Flower

Images © Stampin' Up!, Designs © Zarna Gould

Baby's birthday - Blog Candy without the Candy...

Something I did when I was pregnant with Charlotte was run a little pool on when she would be born and what sex she was going to be(since we didn't find out last time). With the baby due this month I thought it might be fun to do it again. No prizes, just the satisfaction of getting it right (and don't we all love to be right?).

***In interest of full disclosure my official due date is the 17th, and when I was pregnant with Charlotte I was 2 days over by 1 due date and 2 days under by another. And you don't have to guess a sex, since we already know this one is a boy lol***

Leave a comment with your guess and I'll write your name next to the date.
2 Sept -
3 Sept -
4 Sept -
5 Sept -
6 Sept -
7 Sept -
8 Sept -
9 Sept -
10 Sept -
11 Sept -
12 Sept - Marcia
13 Sept -
14 Sept -
15 Sept - Sam
16 Sept -
17 Sept - Sharon & Clare
18 Sept - Deb
19 Sept - Zarna
20 Sept - Robyn
21 Sept - Krista
22 Sept - Nikki Pascoe
23 Sept -
24 Sept -
25 Sept -
26 Sept -
27 Sept -
28 Sept - Meanie Lyndon (I shouldn't even allow this one, I had to add an extra date because Lyndon was so mean lol)
I've only gone 10 days past since that's about a week longer than I would want to go, and I've already said if i'm more than a few days late I'm going to camp up at maternity until they do something about it haha
I put my guess in on the 19th, even though I don't want to go over, that's my dad's birthday so I think that would be kind of cool...

Images © Stampin' Up!, Designs © Zarna Gould