April

Is it just me or is April flying by??!!  It's the 16th today, and hard to believe that this month is half gone.

Hubby is gone traveling for much of this week, son C went with him.  I am going to sew while they are gone, i am feeling the sewing bug biting again, going to make spring dresses for my girls, plus one of these for dd K.  I have the cutest fabric!

It's supposed to be spring but today is the 2nd day in a row that I have woken up to snow on the ground.  According to the KSL 5 Noon news, we actually have another day of potential snow, and definitely more of cold cold wind!

Yesterday during the Boston Marathon, some idiot set off 2 bombs (2 more were later found unexploded), killing 3 people, one of whom was an 8 year old boy who was there to watch his father run in the race.  How sad for this family, especially since the boy's mother is critically injured with a wound to her brain and his sister lost a leg to the same bomb blast that killed her brother.

It is good that there are still people in this world that are willing to come forward to help when the evil ones of the world decide to hurt and maim.  There are so many stories of the kindnesses shown after the bombings, shows there is still hope for mankind.

Ellynn -- 2 months

Yesterday, E turned 2 months old.  I took pics of her today which I will post soon.

Already she is different, she is stretching her footed sleepers to the limit.  She looks around and is awake more.  She coos, gurgles and babbles more.  She even smiles a bit though those are still fleeting and rare.  She also (most nights) sleeps for 5-7 hour stretches at night, and sometimes I even get to sleep for several of those same hours.

Yesterday I also completed her blessing dress, it doesn't look quite how I'd envisioned that it should but it is very close.  Perhaps i shouldn't have ruched it in 4 spots, maybe only three; and maybe I shouldn't have done 2 lines, and only did one.  But it is DONE!! And I do think it is beautiful!  E will be lovely and if I get one compliment on the dress I will be happy -- actually I don't need compliments to make me happy, they are just the icing on the cake (making a good thing even better).

Spring Break & life

It's the first day of Spring Break for my older boys.  It's not even noon yet and already they are driving me crazy with their bickering and picking of fights with their little siblings. Why??  "Well T and K are just getting into our stuff and we don't want them in our room."  Nothing new there. "Well just be nice to them and let them play in your room with you"  says I.  "Wahh.." says they.

Oh my!  I never would have made a good school teacher, so glad I never even tried too.  Because I'd have almost literally pulled my hair out before day's end.  I want to do that now.

Yesterday on Facebook I found a link to this guy's blog, he explains how I feel about fighting children oh so well.  I'd rather just tie & gag mine than hold them under water though.  ;)


So why would i really care about the fighting of my children?  Well this weekend is Easter, but it comes every year so no surprises there.  BUT, this year... it is also the Sunday when we are blessing our little Ellynn.  So... I am trying to get my house cleaned up, plus take care of my now 2 months old newborn, plus keep K out of stuff she doesn't need to be in, plus keep T from having anymore meltdown tantrums (and picking on K And waking up E) and also somehow keep the big boys entertained.  Well actually I've decided that I'm not going to entertain the bigs, they are in fact going to help me get house cleaned and ready to have a bunch of my family descend upon us Saturday and Sunday.  If the bigs don't like or cooperate with this, well I'll revoke their allowances AND electronic rights!!

Perhaps they will work if I promise we can play on Monday, no foolin'.  Its going to be in the 60's, maybe we will do a park day.

I do love my children, I just thoroughly dislike their recent behavior and mouthy attitudes -- I mean my boys here, though they are certainly teaching their younger sister poor behavior too.

On a happier note, I did get E's blessing dress completed last night, it is a white satin dress with a ruched white eyelet overlay.  I think that it looks very pretty, though I think that I got a little too exuberant with my ruching.  However,  I have once again remembered why I don't do zippers!  Ugh,it was supposed to only take me 30 minutes tops to put that thing in.  Nope, 2 hours later I finally finished with the thing and discovered that the outside (on the pretty side of the dress) was sewn crookedly... I stared at it then decided I could live with it as the dress wasn't going into a judged show. E won't care either and if i feel I need to fix it in the future well I can do that on a day when i have nothing else to do!  Haha... 

Am off to put E in her bed, persuade T & K to nap, and work on my dirty kitchen.  Well, maybe E can watch me clean since her brothers have now woke her up yet again. It is the continual story of my life.

Ellynn - 1 month

Yesterday Ellynn turned one month so I took pctures of her to celebrate.  She didn't really appreciate the idea as you will see.  If my typing is worse than usual, well I'm typing one handed as i NAK (nurse at keyboard).  Left handed this time.

These taken today.  This outfit is one sent to me by my friend Rinty from the Frugaliving.about.com forum, she's so cute in the pink sleeper, though Rinty has a different name for it.

Happy last day of February!!

Ellynn Frances Jackson

Hey Everyone!!

I'm only about 3-1/2 weeks slow in writing this but I've been busy, really busy.

So I had my baby, we got us another girl, so that gives us 3 of a kind plus a pair -- in other words,in poker talk, we got us a full house!  ;)

We named the new baby Ellynn (prounounce it like Ellen) Frances (for my Mom who died over 8 years ago).  She is a dark haired beauty with blue/gray eyes, and is well-loved by her siblings.  In fact her 2 oldest brothers fight over who gets to hold her and they pout when they don't get to hold her enough each day.  Lol, I think if Mom didn't need to breastfeed her and change her diapers (no one wants that job among my males), they'd hold her 24/7.

Anyhow so I was induced into labor with her because of my continued ultra-high blood pressures (several of 170/100 plus 162/97 were the final culprits), starting on January 26th (my Mom's birthday), and she was finally born at 6:11 am on January 27th.  Her stats were:  7 lbs 13.2 oz, 20 inches long; lol, her 2nd oldest brother was 7 lbs 14 oz and 20-1/2 inches long so just slightly bigger than Ellynn.

Because she was born so quickly (2-1/2 pushes & she was out), her lungs didn't have time to empty of the fluid in the birth canal... she had developed an infection in her lungs causing there to be holes in her lungs, the right lung was leaking air bubbles that were preventing her lungs from inflating properly.  Called pneumo thorax I think.

So.... Ellynn got to have her first airplane ride at 7 or 8 hours of age, off she went to the Newborn ICU at University Hospital in Salt Lake City [UT] with her Daddy along for the ride -- thank goodness her Daddy was along to tell that ambulance driver a few things about driving in the snow (there was a massive winter storm happening on that Sunday and it was really really REALLY bad out in the SLC valley, enough that the plane was diverted to another city and they had to drive up).  Mom got to stay behind in Uintah Basin Medical Center to make sure she was going to be okay from having just had a baby and was going to get an infection of her own, Mom was NOT happy about that, oh well.

Ellynn had received a Priesthood Blessing from her Daddy and from Dr Morrill before she left, between that and her own strength, she rallied enough that within a day she was breathing on her own and also off IV fluids -- just had IV's for her antibiotics to help close up the holes and clear up the infection.  Daddy also discovered that this little girl loves to EAT and poop!!  Just formula while she was in the NBICU, but Mom came Wednesday afternoon to teach her how to drink Mom's milk straight from the tap -- it was touchy for a bit but we succeeded fully!

She was released from the NBICU on Wednesday evening, though Mom & Dad stayed in SLC for another 2 days to make sure all was well and to attend a Dr's appt. at the Pediatrician's clinic on Friday.  After 2 more chest scans, her lungs were clear of holes and the bubble[s] were gone! 

Home again, and just weekly visits to her Pediatrician for weight check-ups, she was 7 lbs 9-1/2 ounces at the first one on Feb. 5th.  Then 7 lbs 8-1/2 ounces at the Feb 12th one which had her Dr concerned and talking to me about supplementing, he said he'd give her another week to get her weight up at least back to her birth weight (oh come'on, anyone with a rough start to life deserves awhile to get back to normal, right?) -- during that week this Mom drank more fluids, pumped & nursed more, and researched greater-milk-producing tips to try out.  So on Feb. 19th, back again, guess what?!  She weighed more!!  Above her birth weight even!  She was 8 lbs 4-1/2 ounces... lol, some of that was no doubt due to her very wet diaper, but I wasn't taking an chances.  ;)

So many thanks to those of you who were joining me in praying for her still, I really appreciate it more than mere words can express.

Anyhow this is all well and  good, but I know that y'all really want to see her!  So without further ado, here are some pictures.  The ones of her in pink (a newborn outfit that is practically falling off her skinny frame) are oldest, the other was taken just a few minutes ago.  So.... I give you Ellynn Frances Jackson!!

Isn't she just the prettiest little pink thing you've seen in a couple of days???!!!  Of course, I am rather prejudiced too!

Lactation tips were to take any of all of the following: lots of fluids 2-4 quarts a day, Mother's milk tea,  fenugreek (or fennel) capsules, Blessed Thistle capsules (didn't do that one), Brewer's yeast tablets, and lactation cookies (with oatmeal, ground flaxseed meal, and powdered brewer's yeast).  Am going to go mix up my Lactation cookies right now -- hoping to increase my milk supply enough to have several days' worth pumped for emergencies.  Lol, an emergency to Ell's Daddy is when Mommy is out grocery shopping and she is awake & demanding food -- our sweet little baby gets ferocious when she's hungry & food doesn't show up immediately... she likes to nurse for 1-2 hours (or longer) at a time, then sleep for (sometimes) 3-4 hours.

Oh yeah, for any Peels/Jacksons reading this, we are blessing E on March 31st, that is our Ward's Fast Sunday for April because of General Conference.  Maeser 3rd Ward meets at 9 am, street address is 2575 North 1500 West, Maeser [Vernal] UT.  Send me an email if you want to come, please let me know by March 20th if you are coming... maeserquilter[at]gmail[dot]com, thanks & love to all!

Happy New Year to you!

Well okay so I'm several days into the new month and new year, but I could have waited longer I reckon.

We had us a quiet New Year's Eve, by 10:30 pm everyone was asleep except for me (and maybe ds10 in his basement lair, but as long as he is quiet I don't mind him staying up late to read).  So New Year's Day we had our treats and snack foods all afternoon, maybe because this Mom was tired of cooking and just wanted a break.

Plans for the new year

I don't like to do resolutions, because I can't seem to keep them, however, I do like to make plans (maybe not always write them down, but definitely little ones that I keep in my mind from time to time).

So plans for 2013 include:

• Make 1 whole complete Quilt -- not very optimistic am I, huh?  But I know my track record, I have lots of half-finished or completely finished quilt tops but very few quilts to my credit that have been completely finished.  Most of these completed quilts have been for gifts for friends or family members, like wedding gifts.
• Actually it should be make 2 quilts, I need to sew the blocks together and complete the Peel Family Reunion quilt.
• Need to watch my spending more carefully -- friends of mine on the FL forum (frugalliving.about.com/mpboards.htm) have been talking about tracking their monthly expenses on spreadsheets.  This is a pretty good idea, and I need to think about doing this too -- plus maybe make up a 
• Price book.  I think that I could do this at about the same time, or along the same lines, as the track spending worksheet.
• Spend less time on the internet and/or on the computer.  Of course when baby #5 comes, there won't be as much time to do stuff, but then I'll want to sit and admire my cute new baby too.
• Refashion some of my shirts into tops or dresses for Dd2.
• Work on making stuff to sell in my Etsy shop again.  Dd2 has some cute little tops that were given to us, I've been thinking about taking patterns from them and making some to sell.
• Make a new blessing outfit for Baby #5 -- just been thinking of making one of each, and trying to sell the other one in my Etsy shop.  Now you may notice that I'm not putting a link to my Etsy shop, well that is because I have it on vacation mode as I've been so sick and out of sorts with this pregnancy.
• Oh yeah, and I need to clean my house (it's not filthy, just doesn't get a thorough cleaning as often as it should).  Maybe I'll even
• Hang some pictures on the walls.  Not to mention, get Dh to
• put shelves in my linen closet, so that everything isn't piled up on the floor -- which offers Dd2 excellent access to everything!
• I would also like to have a nice-looking shelf that I can use to display some cute stuff that I've got hanging around -- it would also come in very handy next Christmas to put my nativity on.
• Did I mention that I've been feeling a hankering to sew again?  I have lots of fabric, I should either make clothes for my 4 beautiful children (yes even for the boys though is more fun to sew for Dd2) or make some quilts.  The very first technique I ever learned from my Quilting Guild friends was string piecing (go here for a great tutorial), just the same thing as shown on the tute except I used 6 inch foundation blocks (5-1/2 completed blocks) of plain muslin -- I have lots of ugly fabric, some of which is outdated stuff I inherited from my Mom's fabric stash, have been thinking about making some quilts (yes more tops) out of it, because ugly quilts can be just as warm.
• Oh yeah, I should hang more clothes to dry on my drying racks, and even on hangers in the spare bedroom closet. Ya'know, save some electricity and all that.

Well I know there were more things that I've been thinking on, but I should think that is plenty for now.  I can certainly add more later.

Have a good evening, y'all.  Dh and Ds10 are busy playing the new hunting game from Cabella's that was Dh's Christmas gift to the family, and I need to get Ds4 and Dd ready for bed (plus check on the clothes in the dryer).

=) Gayle

Corduroy toddler dresses & patterns

I like to sew and have tried to include as much as I can in making in Christmas presents.  Now I already have a cute little dress picked out for Miss K's Christmas but i really want her to have a nicer long-sleeved dress as well.. but such things are in short supply around here.  So I've been thinking about making her a dress with long sleeves.  I will use the corduroy that I bought for this purpose last year, several pieces to choose from. I thought I had a picture of them but guess not.

Anyhow, I have been looking for possibilities for dress patterns.  I  think this one is cute, but would have to figure out how to make it long sleeved.  I love the tutorial that she gives for making the dress though, it's very detailed.

I really like the dresses from Leila and Ben, but I kind of want to not make this dress a peasant-style dress; though I may yet use their pattern if I don't find the kind of pattern I'm looking for.

I also like the long-sleeved dress shown here on this pattern: http://www.simplicity.com/p-4480-toddlers-dresses.asp; cute little pinafore pattern that is included too.

This pattern too, the dress in darker turquoise green/blue and I know how to extend the sleeves.

I think that I could combine the jumper with the shirt in this pattern as well to make a dress like I am thinking of.  This one comes with the added bonus of a leggings pattern too.

Oh, just found this one too.  From McCalls instead of Simplicity.  ;)  Here again, I'd adjust the length of the sleeve.

And here are dozens more patterns just waiting to be discovered... but that will be for another day when I'm not feeling droopy because I want sleep.

Anyhow, these are just some ideas to help me along.  Someday when I get my camera out again, I'll post pics of my latest projects.

=) Gayle

Enveloping a quilt

Never before have i done this, though a few friends have told me time and again how easy it it is.  So when I decided a couple of weeks ago that I wanted to make quilts for my boys for Christmas (I've still got bit over two months), well I knew I needed to find an easier way to do them.  And I remembered about the quilt enveloping technique (some people call it "bagging a quilt").  After much hunting, I found this tutorial and I think the author did a fairly good  job of explaining.

Someday I will have pictures to post on here of the quilts I make for my boys.  If I get really ambitious, maybe I will make quilts for Miss K as well as for the new baby.  I really ought to make a couple of blessing outfits for the new baby, one of each and then either give away or sell the one that doesn't get used.

=)  Gayle

Thinking about CD-ing

No it's probably not what you were thinking about, Cd means cloth diapering.  As much as I've spent in disposable diapers over the past 10 years I really think that I could have kept one or two CD companies very healthy.

Anyhow, after some  looking around, I really like the Alvas cloth diapers, go here to see what I mean.  I really like these.  For example, if I can make it work, here's one of their diapers:


I really like the orange one too: 



They are quite reasonably priced too, these are just under $6 each, that's way better than the $10 or $12 each I've paid in the past for AIO's.

Anyhow, just something I've been thinking about.

Now i need to get my boys to give me their church clothes so I can make sure they are clean before we go to Stake Conference tomorrow.  Maeser Stake is getting a new Stake President and I'm going to see who it is.  The current stake president along with one of his counselors lives in my ward (Maeser 3rd ward), I'm sure that his wife will be more than happy to have him sitting by her in Sacrament meeting now; he's been in for 9 years.

Ciao....

=) Gayle

Jackson Baby #5

So yesterday I finally had my ultrasound, ya'know the main big one that [if you want to know] tells you the gender of your baby.

But of course, we Jacksons, we aren't interested in such superficial stuff as that!  LOL!  No really it's as my dearest hubby says, "By the time you're an adult, Christmas & birthdays are pretty well spoiled for you because you already know pretty much what you're getting.  But with a baby now, well just because you CAN figure out your baby's gender doesn't mean you Should!  So I don't want to know!  Our parents never knew with us..."

So at this point, well i tell myself that Baby #5 is a boy, and since we now have a girl, well it doesn't matter too much since this baby will have clothes no matter which he/she is.  I will pack an outfit for each gender, something for baby to look cute in for the hospital's photo shoot, and sort out the appropriate clothes at home.

But of course, i know you're really reading this post just to see any pictures that I might be posting, yes?  Well, not to disappoint you then.  I have a CD with 13 pictures on it, have uploaded them to my computer and am now in process of selecting just which ones I want to show.  Well maybe I'll just make it easy for myself and put them all up!  ;)

So here they are:

So....  I hope you enjoyed these views of Jackson Baby #5!

 I'm off to do laundry, wash dishes, clean house and/or take a nap... I need a nap, baby has me tired!

=) Gayle

ETA:  Oh yeah I forgot a few other choice details that I found out from the ultrasound.

Baby is measuring a bit big so my "new"  EDD is Feb. 10 (not that will mean much to me because baby will come whenever he/she wants to); measured in at 22 weeks 1 day, about 4 days ahead of the calendar.  Also, according to the measurements, baby now weighs 1 pound 1 ounce!

Remembering September 11, 2001

Do you remember where you were on Sept. 11, 2001?

I think that most adult Americans alive at that time do.

I was using my sister-in-law's internet to do some research on a job I was trying to get when her sister-in-law called to tell her about the plane crashing into the World Trade Center.  Then of course I couldn't get back onto the internet as the phone lines were jammed from all the people trying to get through.  I was stunned, couldn't think of what to do.  My sister-in-law didn't have TV and I just couldn't think of where to go to see what was going on.

My husband later told me that I should have gone to Walmart or Radio Shack, some place that had TV's set up so I could have watched some of the footage -- though in later days we did see plenty.

That night we went with our Ward to the Temple, our session was packed with people, of course we were all there to do work for deceased people but we also wanted the spiritual comfort that one feels only in the Temple.

I have watched a few clips today from that day, here's a link to one collection:  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1lKZqqSI9-s&playnext=1&list=PLF6D49686A8D03DC9&feature=results_main

This link is one that my cousin posted on his Facebook page today:  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NvHy4aIoQXU&feature=plcp

For all those who have given their lives for freedom's cause, and for the ones who yet  fight for our Nation's Freedoms, this day I fly my flag for you!!!  I pray for you too!

More pictures

Also want to post more pictures of dresses that I've made for Katelynn, these were mainly made in the Spring 2012.  May you enjoy.

 Another fun summery dress I made for Katelynn.

 This dress was one I made as a baby shower gift, the new Mom was thrilled.

I made this dress actually to sell in my Etsy shop, but it didn't, so I've been putting it on Katelynn recently for a church dress.  Lol, have been getting plenty of compliments on it there.

This fun little sundress i made for Katelynn, mostly because I fell in love with the fabric, now it is more or a tunic rather than a dress.

WOW

Just realized that it's been a heap long time since i last posted anything on my blog, gee I'm sorry about that.  LOL, Actually my brother-in-law did comment a week or so ago that I've not put anything on here in months, but I think it took this long for it to sink in.

So....

A slight catch-up is in order.  Of course, i have lots of pictures that I've taken but just not posted, for example, the skirts I tried to make in time for my ward's annual Spaghetti dinner (but then my machine died on me, wahhhh).  These cute little skirts are lined with white muslin, the lining doesn't have the ruffle though.    The orange skirt is size 4-5, the orange/turquoise striped one is 6-7 and the pink skirt is 8-10.

 

I made these skirts in May I think.  I'd also posted them on my Etsy shop, which I have put in vacation mode until I feel better. But more about that later.

Actually all my big news at once, because I'm feeling awee bit dizzy, and want to go lay down for a bit after I change K's bum.

In june I discovered I am pregnant with baby #5, we will keep baby#5's gender a secret, even from us.  I am only at 16 weeks so we haven't a clue yet either, but like with Katelynn, we don't plan to find out.  Baby #5 EDD is Valentine's Day 2013, I never get to my due dates, so baby will likely come early Feb. or late January -- I'd take his/her arrival on my Mom's birthday!

Also in June we bought a new-to-us, travel trailer.  WE bought it in Idaho Falls, ID, it's big,maybe bigger than we need but it's nice to fit in one spot when it starts raining while we are camping.

Kids are now back in school.  For a whole week now!  Last Wednesday, right after I'd dropped older boys off at school, I went to Walmart to acquire a few needed things.  Well,  I'd wandered all over that store, and got to the check-out stand, then without warning I fainted.  Store managers say that I had a seizure, but the ER doc we talked to at UBMC said it is likely that I was just shaking & jerking from having fainted -- until I know for sure what happened (and will likely never know because all my tests came back normal & no, no brain scan was done), I will maybe just say it was a seizure.  So my OB told me to go to bed & rest for at least a week to 10 days, well that time ends come Sunday morning.  I've tried to rest, but it's difficult.  You see....

Cole (boy #2) is getting baptized on this coming Saturday, September 1st and I kind of want my house looking cleaner than it is for that occasion.  Especially since my Daddy and maybe one of my brothers & his family will be coming this weekend.

Well, I will do what I can, and then hope they understand anyhow.

=)  Gayle

Muffins and knitting and such

Forgot to post about how it all has gone.

About the Banana Blueberry Lemon/lime yogurt muffins.  Well they tasted nasty at first fresh from the oven, but when 1 to 2 days old, they tasted wonderful!!!  I guess there really is some truth to letting your quick breads rest overnight before eating!

And the knitting... well I have 2 cotton dishcloths in the works, I did have another but it was almost 13 inches wide and that's just way too big for a dishcloth, so I ripped it out... that was actually kinds satisfying.  Then I got more practice of casting on.  My biggest dishcloth is probably no more than 2 inches long, but it comes along quite quickly when I'm not dropping then picking up said dropped stitches.  And I think that for now, I'm going to stick to knitting dishcloths because they are quick and easy projects, plus I just don't think I can handle anything bigger right now.

Good night y'all!  I think I will skip the bookmarks until tomorrow morning, I keep dozing off.  Plus the wind is blowing hard enough that the lights keep flickering so I think I will just take my chances with the potential for power loss.