He's here....finally!

I went into labor Monday morning, and I didn't even know it, lol. I guess I was getting used to contractions and pain. I had an appointment Monday morning and mentioned to the doctor that I was having some pain. After being on the monitors for about 10 min. and getting checked...I was sent straight to the hospital for an emergency c-section. I was supposed to be taking my maternity pics that day....so was bummed about that, lol. Other than that, woohoo!!! So glad for the pregnancy to be over and to have my baby out and in my arms. So, for now I'm resting....drugged on wonderful pain medication...and enjoying my sweet lil' boy, Liam Rey Rodriguez. God is great, and life is good. :)

Hangin'in there....

still. They scheduled me for Sept 2nd...ughh...still another week and a half...I've been trying to stay a bit busy. Cleaning my craftroom, organizing scrap and sewing stuff. I'm trying to clear out some inventory from my etsy shop, so for any blog readers I'm having a 20% off sale (includes shipping). Use code "Blog" in message to seller at checkout. I'll promptly refund the discount via paypal or you can convo me for a custom listing with the sale price. :)

I was able to get some scrap time in this past week cropping at Noel Mignon. Here's a few of the challenges. Lots of fun and great prizes. The school kit debuts Monday, and I'm jumpin on it. I need to get 5 school albums going.....holy crap...5!!! That's insane, lol. Anyway, I'm off to do some more organizing. Peace. :)

Here he comes.....

I'm super excited and nervous about the new baby coming. I have an appt. Monday to give me the exact date....seems like it'll be next week sometime...yay!! I initially wanted a girl, so my only girl would have a playmate, but once we found out it was a boy...I wrapped my mind around that idea and loved the idea of having 4 boys....BUT now...hubby and a few others have said they think it's a girl....so we'll see. I'll have to get girl things, make a new quilt and baby album..but it doesn't matter as long as he/she is happy and healthy. :) Anyway, I had a baby shower last weekend with an animal theme. I think it turned out pretty cute. I made these cupcake toppers and favor boxes. I got the template for the favor boxes here.

I've also started on the baby's first year album. I'm using the Creative Cafe planner for it. I still need to add the months and stuff. I LOVE that it comes with with 4x6 photo slots so I can just add a couple pics a month and voila, yay!!


I knew I wasn't gonna want to scrap my baby shower pics, maybe just one....so I bought one of those $1 photo albums from Wal-Mart with the ugly paper cover and made a lil' mini album for all those pics. I'm pretty happy with how it came out.

School's starting in about a week, so I made one of these for Jace's 1st grade teacher. Thought it'd be a neat lil' gift to start off the new year. I posted some in my etsy shop as well.

Well, that's all for now...I'm off to scrap and do some challenges for Noel Mignon's Summer Crop. Come join the fun if you get a chance. She also has some sneak peeks for the Sept. kit called Core Curriculum. I'm soo getting it. I'm a sucker for school kits. Anyway, I'm out. Peace and love. :)

Enough Drama for the year....

What an exhausting, confusing, and absolutely crazy weekend we had. So, let me tell you about the drama. So..we're at the hospital...we're told that Jakey's x-rays show that he has an enlarged heart..an EKG is also done that comes up abnormal.....myocarditis is what they say. Three ER doctors decide that he needs to be in the ICU. We're told to make necessary arrangements...because the time we'll be there is uncertain....the next step is to take a biopsy of his heart. Depending of the severity medication will be required or even a heart transplant. To parents....that sounds EXTREMELY scary. The next day, the doctor in charge of the PED ICU comes in and tells us she saw the x-rays and agrees with the other doctors on the myocarditis. She then proceeds to question us on why we hadn't brought him sooner and how we could not have known that he had a weak heart. She really just left us feeling like the worst parents in the world. We spent hours thinking back and trying to see if maybe we did miss signs of something being amiss......but there was nothing.NOTHING.We requested for another cardiologist to see him before anything else was done. He came in...listened to his heart...touched his chest...checked the chambers of his heart and looked baffled....extremely confused. He tells us he NEEDS to see the x-rays and talk to the other doctor. Mars and I are wondering what is going on as we hear arguing, yes...arguing. After awhile, he comes in and tells us our baby's heart is fine. He doesn't know what the other doctors saw, but it may have been the thymus gland. Either way..his heart is fine....he doesn't have any fever...it may have been a simple stomach virus that he was too dehydated to fight off...but since he's been hydrated with the IV fluids and no longer has fever or looks ill...take your baby and GO HOME. We look at each other and are like ...what in the world??????? Sooo confused....How can 4 doctors have gotten it wrong?? 4 DOCTORS???? He walks out and in comes the horrible PED ICU doctor...tells us she's STILL going to put him on medication..and STILL going to run tests...and walks out. How can I trust anything they say now??? My mother instinct kicks in and I say I don't think so. I'm taking my baby home. She begins to argue and get loud. I tell the nurse to call security 'cause someone is gonna get knocked out...seriously. I proceed to take off all his monitors, IV...everything. She refuses to give us discharge papers, and we leave anyway. We monitor him on Sun. and he's doing absolutely fine. No fever...just back to normal. We took him to his reg. pediatrician today, so that he can examine him and to let him know what happened. He agrees with our decision and has recommended us to another cardiologist he trusts...just to make sure his heart is fine. Two things could've happened.....maybe a miracle happened....or maybe those doctors were all idiots and God sent the last cardiologist to us. Either way...we're so thankful. Thankful for prayers, thankful for HIS comfort, and thankful for HIS love. Extremely thankful.

My Jakey......

I come to you with a request for prayers for my lil' one. He'd had fever for 4 days, and after dr. appointments that didn't provide us with answers; we brought him to the hospital. After tests, drama, and tears we're told it may have something to do with his heart. We don't have a definite diagnosis as of yet, but the scenarios don't look good. Horrible testing to come...and a true test of my faith awaits. As of now, we wait...in the Ped. ICU...tired, hurting, and grasping for hope. We'll get through this....we have to.




I leave you with some cards made this week for some challenges on 2peas. Just trying to use some supplies and get back into the scrapping rhythm. Peace and love. :)

Willow Traders Blog Hop

Okay..so I know I've kinda fallen off bloggerworld..but I'm back. :) I've been in a scrapping rut...and have been going sew crazy. :)

Busy making quilts, stuff for the baby coming, stuff for the etsy shop..and just have been neglecting my albums. I placed a really nice order of yummy scrap goodies today though, so hopefully that'll get me out of this funk. I'm hoping that joining the WT blog hop will motivate me to keep up the blog and the scrappy goodness. Anyway....here's a quick layout I did today. I thought I was really gonna struggle but it actually came together pretty quickly...maybe 10 min tops, lol. I love these OA papers...now considered "oldies" but still goodies, IMO. Enjoy hopping guys!!

Happiness....

is seeing my oldest graduate kindergarten. He was soo adorable..singing and dancing. He's so smart, and I'm proud of him, but at the same time my heart hurts at the thought that he's growing up so fast.


is seeing my nephew graduate high school. I'm so proud of him.


is seeing this smile everyday. I LOVE him like crazy. My lil' Jakey pie. He's soo cute I just wanna gobble him up, lol.



is getting yummy fabric in the mail. I just wanna hold them all day, lol. :)


Until next time, peace and love.

I'm Back!

I know...it's been forever and a day, but I have a good excuse this time,lol. I'm prego with our 5th lil' monkey, and even though we're soo happy and thankful...pregnancies are really hard on me. I'm trying to take it easy, but I just love crafting soo much. I've resurrected my etsy, and am working on all sorts of good stuff. I've been adding new stuff daily, so take a looksie.
Tis' the season for end of school year teacher gifts, and I have a few cool things. I have some apple canvas totes, notecard sets, tissue holders, scrabble tile pendants, etc. I still haven't decided which of those I'm giving Jace's teacher. :P Other than that, not much else going on..just taking it day by day and enjoying the craziness of my life. I'm still semi-sane and have been able to stay out of the loony bin, and that's something to be thankful for. I WILL be updating more often, so stay tuned for some giveaways and other rabling blah-blah posts. I gotta go get some cute things finished that will be listed tomorrow.Talk to you soon. Peace.

Tis the season...

for giving and being thankful. I read about this charity on Noel Mignon's challenge blog and was completely shocked. I absolutely had no idea. I've given to this charity as well as sponsored a few marines as my way of giving back. If everyone just did their part we would truly make this world a better place.
I'm pretty much done with my Christmas shopping, and I've now just finished my cards. This week I gotta wrap, package, and send out those to distant family and friends. Well, I really gotta get to bed if I wanna wake up tomorrow to go to work. I leave you with some cards I made for Noel's Christmas challenge.

Soooo tired.....

I'm like a walking zombie. I don't get enough sleep...maybe 4 hours a night or so. My legs are killing me. Why? I have no freakin' clue. My husband is annoying the hell out of me; and I wanna lock my kids in a soundproof closet. Yeah, it's been one of them days. Well, actually it's been like that the last few days. Just blah...and ewwww...and uugggghhhh. So, what can you do? Nothing much, but suck it up. Take a deep breath, smile, and be thankful.
So, anyway, Thanksgiving was good. Really good. I had family from Houston come over, and we chilled, stuffed our fat faces, played games, and watched movies. The kids had a blast. Good Times. I loved seeing them. Here's a few pics from our Thanksgiving weekend:
This was the best pic I could get of these kids. They just would not sit still.

My brother, Josh, and his daughter Amaya.

Isn't my niece just too cute! LOVE her hair!

Well, I gotta go, these kids are driving me up a wall. Please pray for my sanity. It's hanging by a thread.

Happy Veteran's Day!

To remember, to honor, to be forever grateful. That's what this day is about. To my brother, Josh and my husband, Mars. I love you guys. Thank you for your service.

Our New President

Please pray for the new leaders of this country. May God give them the strength and wisdom to make some good changes for our country.

Halloween pics

Halloween was fun! We got to spend time with the family, eat, and just be. Good times. I wasn't able to get a pic of my kids together. By the time, I'd get one to stay, the other one would wander off disregarding my pleas to stay put, lol. So, that's when a lil' pic editing saves the day.

This was actually the closest I came to getting all 4 in a shot.

Here's Elyse wondering who the kid in the creepy costume is, and then proceeding to cry for Mommy.

After a long day of playing with all her cousins.....this is my lil' princess:

Hope everyone had a really great Halloween.

Happy Halloween!!

So today is gonna be fun and hectic, lol. But I guess everything is hectic when you have to do it with 4 kids either hanging on you, running around, crying or pooping all at once, lol. We'll be going trick-or-treating just for a little while then we'll be having a Halloween party right here in the comfort of our home. I've got the costumes done and I'm hoping I'll be able to get a few decent pics of them together. I'll post some pics tomorrow. For now, I leave you with a layout with a pic from last year.

Hope everyone has an awesome day! Stay safe!

Lovin' her Baby Brother

Elyse is a bit obsessed with Jake.
She force feeds him.
She pats him a lil' too hard.
She slobbers him with kisses.
She almost made him choke by shoving a choc. chip cookie in his mouth.
She pushes him really hard in the swing.
She loves him with all her heart.

Sweets for my sweeties

So, I went to my 6 week postpartum check-up and I've gained 5 pounds in 2 weeks. Yep....it's depressing. I bake like crazy and make all sorts of sweets during the holidays...and of course, I eat them too. I could be more disciplined and blah blah blah...but I don't want to. Maybe once I get a new treadmill, I'll start the whole "eating healthy" thing, lol. Right now, I'm getting a routine going and barely easing into this new life of 4 babies. The last thing I want to be right now is starving and cranky. Here's a few goodies I've been stuffing my face with:


And here's some pics of the munchkins for Joyce, lol. (Love ya girlie!)

Sweet Treats

I'm taking this class by Trish Turay over at Get it Scrapped and I LOVE it!! If you're planning on making goodies for the holidays...this is THE class to sign up for. You won't regret it, trust me. There's lots of really cute ideas! This one is from the class. Simple and sweet. The recipe calls for Halloween oreos but our grocery store was out, so I used the peanut butter ones. The kids loved them! Today, I'm making Monster Munch...yummy!