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Tuesday, September 30, 2014

It's A Crumby Life!

Its mealtime at my house and this means crumbs! I don't mean just a few minor bread crumbs scattered about, I'm talking dried macaroni, blobs of sticky yogurt, chunks of scrambled eggs, and sometimes if you're lucky, you can even find an entire pancake!  
I have to be honest, with three little ones it's hard to keep up with all these crumbs. But I do have a few tricks up my sleeve to help my family avoid living like complete slobs and to help keep me from spending all my time scrapping food off the floors...

1. Kid sized broom
It's the perfect size for little hands! After mealtimes, I have the kids help by "sweeping" up under their chairs. Alright, so maybe they aren't exactly 'cleaning', but it's great practice. 

2. iRobot Brava Mop
Mopping is at the top of my list of jobs I despise! So thank goodness they make a mop that can do it for me. At the end of the day I set the mop up and its starts scrubbing...
info.bigbang.si, mikeshouts.com
 3. iRobot Roomba vacuum 
Could it be any easier?! I mean, all you have to do is hit the 'clean' button and off it goes to collect all your dirt, amazing!

robotbg.com, www.allergymatters.com

We want to hear from you, what are your 'crumby' tricks?!



Friday, September 26, 2014

when your plans don't work, but turn out better

Meet Candace.  Candace's story is one that takes I Guess I'm Due to a very literal meaning.  Her and her husband had their 5-10 year plan all laid out.  Things were getting in order and their plan was falling into place.  Things begin to change from here.  Check out Candace's story below!
...

“Your boys look exactly alike!”
It’s a phrase my husband and I hear often.  Although they have nearly three years between their ages, there is no doubt they are brothers with their bright blonde hair, beautiful baby blues, and plump cheeks.  And their hyper, outgoing personalities are almost identical as well.  In fact, my standard response to the question “how are the boys?” is “ornery.”  But, the stories of their entrances into this world probably couldn’t be more different from one another.

Let me start off by noting my husband, Randy, and I had a detailed plan: establish our jobs in the city, buy a house, have one child, wait two full years and have another, then relocate closer to our hometowns to be near family before our oldest child started Kindergarten.  After that, we planned on having two more children because we both have three siblings a piece.  Well, we should have known that plans don’t always work out the way we hope.  We both had steady jobs, but before we were close to being prepared for buying our first home, my maternal clock was ticking and it was time to change our plans.

We certainly didn’t expect the conception of our first child to take quite so long.  After about ten months of daily temperature-taking and charting, I felt like I was hitting a breaking point.  Ten months isn’t long compared to what some couples go through, but it was taking a toll on me emotionally.  We finally decided to take a break from all of that after month eleven, and…

TA-DA!  Pregnant!

The first pregnancy was a breeze.  With the exception of some nausea and back pain, I felt pretty good.  During my routine 37-week checkup, my doctor said my blood pressure had spiked and I needed to be sent to the hospital for more testing.  When I heard her say “We probably won’t induce you today,” I think I went into a state of shock.  I was not planning on having this baby today or any day soon – I was planning to go into work!  The next morning, I was admitted for preeclampsia and the only remedy was birth.  This was a Thursday morning.  I was thinking “Great, I will have my baby later today and welcome all of my family and friends to meet this little guy over the weekend!”  Wrong.

No one told me how long it can take to be induced when your body is not physically ready.  After being poked and prodded for two-and-a-half days straight, with no sleep, no shower and no food (thanks IV), my sanity was running thin.  Late Saturday night, the medical team broke my water and I finally started having contractions through the night.  Things were finally moving along, but in the a.m., two adjustments of the epidural proved to be unsuccessful - I was going to be doing this the natural way.  And the natural way lasted two-and-a-half hours while I pushed, semi-convinced this baby was never coming out.  Around the 73rd hour, Brady was finally born on Sunday, March 8, 2009.


 By this time, the weekend, along with visitors, had come and gone, but I was finally able to sleep due to the magnesium in my system from the preeclampsia (the shower though, wouldn’t happen until Tuesday due to the fact that I was seconds away from fainting during my Monday morning attempt to do anything on my own).  Adjusting to parenthood proved to be a tough one, especially with our family several hours away and a baby who only slept when he was held - literally.  Our plans took another turn and we ended up moving closer to our hometowns when Brady was just 18-months old.  This, of course, meant two new jobs and attempting to buy our first home.  We decided it was best to only have one more child and to put our Baby #2 plans on hold for a while longer.  That’s the funny thing about plans…

TA-DA!  Pregnant!

The second pregnancy didn’t go quite as smoothly, as I developed gestational diabetes and had to begin an improved workout regime, closely monitor my diet (every single crumb that entered my body), and test my blood sugar 4x per day.  It probably would’ve been best to stay off the Internet after that diagnosis… yikes!  Because Brady was induced three-weeks early, imagine my frustration when Baby #2 stayed put for the full forty-weeks.  Sure, it doesn’t seem that long in theory, but those weeks seemed like an eternity.

On the due date, I woke up before dawn to use the restroom (again) and my water broke the instant I stood up.  I spent all morning and part of the afternoon lying in the hospital bed, watching television, chatting with family, and texting with friends – so far, much more relaxing and pleasant than the first time.  My contractions started in the afternoon and I asked for an epidural around 1:30pm when I began to get uncomfortable, but still not in a tremendous amount of pain.  Things escalated rapidly and by 2:15pm, the baby was ready to enter the world and I received the epidural about 10-seconds before I was ready to push (and this time, it worked!  Whew!).  Unfortunately, the umbilical cord was wrapped around the baby’s neck three times and he was turning sideways.  The doctor was ready to try one more possible solution, otherwise I was headed for an emergency c-section.  Fortunately, the alternatives worked - two pushes was all it took, which was a monumental improvement from the first time around (or miracle, as I like to call it).  Cooper was born on Monday, January 9, 2012.




Adjusting to life after Baby #2 was much easier than we had anticipated, and it has been amazing to watch our boys growing up.  They are so much alike, but also very different in many ways.  It didn’t take long before we realized we don’t feel “done” creating our family, so our plan is to try again for another baby in the future and see what life brings.  But you know what they say about plans…



**photograh by Rebecca at cloustudio** 
Candace

Tuesday, September 23, 2014

PlanetBox Review: Making Lunchtime Out of This World!

Meet PlanetBox...the smart lunchbox that guides parents and kids in packing a well-balanced meal quickly and easily. This genius system is part bento box, part TV dinner tray. Their segmented containers are a fun way for kids (and grown-ups) to pack delicious, no waste meals for school or on the go. This is not your ordinary metal lunch box, PlanetBox is truly lunch transportation for the green generation that helps eliminate the I Guess Im Due moments of meal planning and creates a mealtime that's out of this world!
Final Thoughts: 

-The Shuttle model is made for small meals or for little ones that may have a smaller appetite. For my big eaters PlanetBox's larger model would probably be more suitable. 

-Super easy and convenient to not only pack, but to clean as well! 

-I loved that if I needed inspiration on things to pack for the kids or if I wanted to share my awesome lunch packing skills with others, PlanetBox offers "Plan-It-Box" or "Share-A-Box" on their website as a great resource or virtual tool!

-Very durable. Our shuttle has already accidentally dropped out of some little hands and it's still holding on strong.

-Only complaint is that I wish we owned more PlanetBox's. The kids LOVE the PlanetBox and fight over whose turn it is to use it. 

To find more about PlanetBox and where they are sold, check out www.PlanetBox.com.  



Friday, September 19, 2014

teething

About a week before Abram turned 7 months old, I noticed that he was drooling like it was going out of style, he was incredibly fussy, and he was just acting off--you know, not his happy little self. So here I am assessing him head to toe (I'm a nurse, it is all I know): color is good, no fever, no vomiting or diarrhea--what could this be?  When I finally got him to flash me a smile, I noticed two little white teeth in his bottom gums, one of them just beginning to pop thru!  I felt bad for the little guy--I mean, can you imagine how uncomfortable teething is?  Not to mention, within a week of the first tooth, his second bottom tooth popped thru, and now--just a month later, his top two teeth are popping thru!  OUCH!  So, today I present you with my top 3 signs/symptoms of teething and my top 3 favorite teething toys!
Top 3 signs/symptoms your baby might be teething:

1. Drooling incessantly--and I mean incessantly.  There is drool everywhere and on everything.  Shirts are soaked with drool and his mouth and chin are always wet!

2.  Chewing on everything.  Yes, it is true, babies put things in their mouths because that is how they explore their world, BUT, when they are chomping on everything (including their hands and your hands) the odds are they are getting ready to pop a pearly white!

3. Fussiness.  Holy moly, talk about cranky!  Abram is like Dr. Jekyl & Mr. Hyde (that's what Rick likes to say).  One moment he is happy and laughing and then the next moment he is making a grumpy face and fussing over nothing (except that painful object ripping thru his gums)!  While I feel bad for him, the random outbursts of fussiness are frustrating.  So, if there is no other explanation (tired, hungry, or wet) for being fussy and your baby is between the ages of 3-12 months...be on the look out for a little tooth!

As a side note, ear tugging can occur simultaneously with teething because the teeth and ears share nerve pathways.  So, while you may think they may have an ear infection, rule out teething first--chances are they are tugging on their ear because it relieves pressure on their popping-teeth gums.   

Top 3 teething toys at our house:

1. Kiki the elephant.  So while I think that Sophie the Giraffe is adorable, I couldn't swallow paying $25 for an action figure sized giraffe that is going to be drooled and spit on for months to come.  However, at Target--Infantino GaGa has created a teether toy similar to Sophie, but she is an elephant and her name is Kiki.  She is $12.99, super cute, and super easy for little hands to handle! 


2. Fresh Food Feeders by Munchkin.  These little things are so nifty.  It looks like an old school homemade popsicle, except that it has a mesh compartment that you can put ice or fruit into and the baby can suck on the mesh without getting any of the fruit or ice chunks into their mouth.  It is cold on their gums and depending what you put in it, a fun flavor surprise for their little mouths!


3. Good old fashioned teething rings.  The gel filled teething rings that you put into the refrigerator or freezer are quick, easy to clean, and come in all different shapes and sizes!  They also provide significant entertainment after they turn warm...totally worth the investment (which is only a few bucks)! 







Tuesday, September 16, 2014

Our First Pets

Meet our three newest additions to the Kurecki Family:
These three creatures are our family's first pets! What a great way to test out the pet world in our house. The kids couldn't wait to get them home and settled into their new bowls. We tucked them all in their new fish bowls and gave them fishy kisses goodnight. Success! (so we thought)
Unfortunately, less than 12 hours of owning our fishes, we are sad to report that we had our first fish fatality. Poor Lollipop went to be in fishy heaven this morning after breakfast.

I should of known that something would go wrong...When Raina picked out her fish, her response was rather odd, "No Mommy, I don't want to take it home. I want to eat it." I think she mistakenly thought her new goldfish was a Sweedish Fish that she had been snacking on earlier.

The kids and I took the fish outside to the dock where we held a special prayer service for her. We each said our goodbyes and thanked God for giving us a sweet friend.
And even though she only lived with us for 12 hours she will always hold a special place in our hearts.

Lollipop Kurecki
September 13, 2014 - September 14, 2014
I think it's safe to say that we will wait a few years to own a dog.

Friday, September 12, 2014

The longest 5 minutes of my life

Meet Adrienne.  Her pregnancy was pretty typical (as typical as a pregnancy can be!) up until her original due date.  Hear Adrienne's story, in her own words, as she shares her numerous I Guess I'm Due moments that she experienced all at once...
. . .

When my husband and I found out we were having a baby boy we were so excited. My pregnancy seemed pretty typical. Very sick in the beginning, felt okay in the middle, and tough at the end. But one thing that was apparent- everyone commented on how "small" I was. I am super tall (6'2"), and I really didn't show much until 2nd trimester. Even when I felt huge people always said how tiny my belly was. I measured right on track for growth with my OB/GYN and the baby even measured a little big. As my due date approached, I would ask the doctor how big they thought he was or was going to be. Everyone said "Ahhhhh, maybe 7-8 pounds, you're so tall and athletic you will have no problems pushing this baby out!" 

Fast forward to my due date--no baby boy. The doctors stripped my membranes probably 4 times and tried to speed up my labor. No such luck. I had a stubborn boy on my hands. I finally went into labor 1 week late after the gels were placed in my cervix in preparation to be induced. I was in labor for approximately 12 hours before it was time to push. When the doctor felt that I was ready, I pushed. And pushed. And pushed. I pushed for 4 hours (I'm not joking) and nothing happened. His head was right there but he was not making an appearance. I will spare the gory details, but when he finally came out they set him on my chest and I looked down and freaked out. He was not crying, or moving much. They quickly took him from me and got to work. Suddenly there was at least 10 people in the room. That was the LONGEST 5 minutes of my life. I was hysterical and kept asking Austin over and over if he was okay. They had to intubate him because he had such a hard delivery that he came out not breathing. His apgar score at birth was 1. After they intubated him and gave him some assisted breathing they were able to remove the tube and he finally cried! GLORIOUS sound! 


It was then that they FINALLY weighed him. Everyone was shocked when they said 10 pounds! My doctor told me that he was hidden in there and that no one thought he was that big. She also said, “NEXT TIME you are having a PLANNED C-SECTION!” 

Lane went to the NICU immediately after his birth. His NICU nurses loved him! There were literally the tiniest preemie babies down there. Babies weighing only 1-2 pounds. And then there was my little 10 pound hippo. Luckily Lane did great and was sent home 3 days later. After his very intense birth we were very lucky that he did not have any complications...and today, he is a healthy almost 4 year old!

Tuesday, September 9, 2014

Getting Ready For Baby

Lilliana and I had the chance to visit my sister, Ysabel, who's due with baby number one in less than four weeks! Here are some things we checked off her list to make sure she and Marshall are ready for the baby's arrival!

Friday, September 5, 2014

our intro to solid foods

If you happened to read my last post, the nap monster, I mentioned that around four months Abram was definitely not earning a gold star when it came to napping.  Thus, by five months, I figured I hadn't tried everything to help him sleep until I tried feeding him solid foods.  Maybe that was the issue, he wasn't sleeping because he was hungry and needed more than breastmilk--it made total sense!  So, I decided to introduce rice cereal.  

A couple days into his new diet he still wasn't napping, but he seemed to be enjoying this new experience!  I was a little bummed (especially since it didn't help with the sleeping issue) that we didn't wait until six months to start solid foods because that was my goal, but on the other hand I was excited for another fun thing to do with my little man.  I waited a couple of weeks before introducing vegetables to Abram, but when I did he absolutely loved it.  We started with green beans, then worked our way through peas, carrots, sweet potatoes, and avocados.  We then moved onto fruit: apples, bananas, peaches, and pears.  Needless to say, eating took on a whole new level of excitement with all of the new flavors and textures!  There is nothing greater than to watch his facial expressions when introducing him to a new food.  He is so funny!

Abram has now been eating solids for about two months and it is a really fun part of our day.  We typically eat breakfast and lunch together everyday and we have a great time--lots of "yummy yummy" talk and green bean covered smiles! :)



When did you introduce solid foods?  Was it a good or bad experience?  We would love to hear from you! :) 

Tuesday, September 2, 2014

14 reasons...



1. Your car floor is forever covered in smashed cheerios & goldfish, it doesn’t matter how many times you vacuum it.
2The windows in your house have been decorated with beautiful hand, lip, and face prints.
3. When looking for your keys in your purse you find crayons, a diaper, rocks, crumbs, and Happy Meal toys.
4. Your DVR is loaded with Disney Jr. & Nick Jr. shows.
5. Your bedroom seems to have more of your kids things in it than your own personal things.
6. When looking through your phone, you notice that 75% of your apps are for kids.
7. The kitchen is most likely stocked with boxes of mac and cheese, yogurt, cheese, goldfish, and juice boxes.
8. You find endless crumbs under the table, actually you’re pretty sure theres a crumb monster living under your table.
9. Your alarm clock is a child standing by the side of your bed poking you and asking, "Is it time to wake up now?!"
10. When you go into your bathroom, you notice the toilet hasn’t been flushed; you see a pile of toilet paper and some turds floating in it.
11. You find yourself quoting the movie ‘Frozen’ throughout the day.
12. When you have a sitter for the night, you make sure you come home after bedtime, just so you don't have to deal with the bedtime wars.
13. Some days you literally count down the minutes to nap time or bedtime, because let's face it that's your sanctuary.
14. When you go out for a night on the town, it's a struggle to stay out past 10:30 pm, because these days your head hits the pillow by ten.