Hello friends!
It has been a hot minute since I've posted anything...I know and to be honest I've missed writing. Life has gotten insane! So within the past 7 or so months...lets see what has been going on.
FIRST thing: we welcomed our newest addition to the Watkins family on July 11th, little Miss Amelia Mae. We found out that we were pregnant on (ironically) World Prematurity Awareness Day, which has a great significance to our family because of our sweet Kaden. Going into this pregnancy, I was slightly terrified at the thought of potentially having another baby so early and going through the NICU life again. But I have had a lot of practice regarding not worrying about things I can't control and do what I can to make sure I had a healthy pregnancy. I made a lot of things for her, re purposed old furniture, hunted for deals left and right, and purged like a mad woman. SO many things to share regarding what I did for her! Also threw in some other crafts, made some sales and started a side small business with a friend. I'll share more on her story and everything else later.
Kaden turned THREE and let me tell you, this kid can go from zero to 100 in .2 seconds flat...and back to himself within seconds. I've said it once and I'll say it again- this is my favorite stage I think because I get to see how his brain is working and constantly learning new things...even if that means asking a million of the same questions over and over. He's adjusting to being a big brother overall pretty well, he sure loves his sister and it melts my heart. The past (almost) three weeks have been a roller coaster of emotions for me and I'm trying to get a grip of them but sometimes a mama's gotta cry, am I right moms?
We found out that we're staying in Virginia for about another year, which makes me happy simply because that means we get to keep John home. I can't tell you the last time that we had a whole year together of him being home...probably because it hasn't ever happened. Not even this past year. We celebrated his home from deployment for a year but also realized he was sent away to different states and different countries for weeks at a time-but he still came home and it was only for a few weeks instead of 7 months-so we will take it. Speaking of celebrating, we also just celebrated 6 whole years of marriage. SIX. I can not believe it has been that long. We've been together for 8 years total and I was just looking at all of our pictures around the house (as I listened to Kaden running around the house and as I was nursing Amelia) and I realized how much we have been through in the past 6 years. Technically 4 deployments, 3 houses, 2 states and now 2 babies later- and I love this guy more and more each day.
I think that pretty sums up the past few months, I know it doesn't seem like much-but time flies when you're having fun :)
Stay tuned-
xox
Showing posts with label parenting. Show all posts
Showing posts with label parenting. Show all posts
Thursday, July 28, 2016
Sunday, January 31, 2016
A long hiatus...
Hi friends! I know its been almost a whole year (yikes) since my last post- and I am so sorry! Life got a little chaotic around our neck of the woods last year but since it is officially a new year, I thought it would be time for a new start! This post might seem like I might be bouncing off the walls, so I hope you stick with me :) If you follow me on Instagram (@mrs_watkins723)
Last year we started the year with John gearing up for our 3rd deployment-which was somewhat of a surprise. But true military nature, always expect surprises :) To be honest, I couldn't tell you everything that we did during those months, simply because we've done so much and I honestly can't remember. But we worked really hard daily on making sure Kaden had dad around everywhere we could bring him-in pictures, books, videos, recordings and his beloved dad-doll I made him. He took that guy with us everywhere! Stores, vacations, appointments-you name it, he came. Eventually I'll share all of our activities with you!
Speaking of vacation- Kaden, Sophie and I took our first road trip! My mom flew out for my birthday and we decided to make a trip to Indiana to visit my brother and stay for the week. It was definitely worth it, I got to see some of my best friends that I haven't seen in literally 5 years and of course spend time with my brother. I was able to bring Kaden to meet his grandpa (my dad) as well as another one of is great grandmas. Truly the visit was amazing, a part of me will always be an Indiana girl at heart.
After 6 long months, we were able to welcome our Marine home with the biggest surprise I could ever pull off. Because he was attached to another unit stationed out of state, he was to arrive there and get someone from his office here to pick him up. There was no way I was going to let him get off an airplane and have the first faces from 'home' he sees be someone from work, nope-not on my watch. So I asked for some help from some of his work friends to help me arrange this, found a last minute photographer (due to last minute changes, thanks USMC ;) ) through the wonderful organization of Operation Love and pulled it off. You guys, even typing about it brings tears to my eyes. Which is funny because I actually didn't cry at this homecoming. I was so consumed with making sure we weren't going to have a toddler meltdown after waiting at the airport for almost 5 hours on no nap, making sure he doesn't have a panic attack after finally seeing his dad after 6 long months and making sure that I find John. He walked out of the airport doors, looked RIGHT at me and waved like you wave to a random stranger...stopped in his tracks and had the biggest smile on his face I have ever ever seen. Totally worth it. We came home, re-adjusted to family life-took a beach vacation...and in true military form had to handle months of out of state (and country) trainings. Man let me tell you, that was hard for our toddler.
Kaden started 'pre-school', adjusted to a big boy bed, transitioned to potty training and we are fully 150% in toddler-world. Including time outs, the endless amounts of macaroni and cheese, meltdowns because you say no, but I wouldn't want it to change in any way, life is an adventure, right? We made it through the holidays, John getting shoulder surgery which had him stay home for recovery for almost a whole month now. I'm not sure when was the last time that he was actually home this long, but we'll take it. It definitely will make for an interesting transition when he's back at work for Kaden. Virginia got the memo that it is winter indeed-apparently all in one weekend where we had over 2 feet of snow and now we're looking at 60 degree weather. But I'll take it!
As we officially dive into 2016 with the start of a new month (and the month that my baby will be THREE) we have a lot of new things coming our way for the Watkins family-and I'm excited to share them with you. I promise I'm going to try to do a better job this year-
until next time
xo
Last year we started the year with John gearing up for our 3rd deployment-which was somewhat of a surprise. But true military nature, always expect surprises :) To be honest, I couldn't tell you everything that we did during those months, simply because we've done so much and I honestly can't remember. But we worked really hard daily on making sure Kaden had dad around everywhere we could bring him-in pictures, books, videos, recordings and his beloved dad-doll I made him. He took that guy with us everywhere! Stores, vacations, appointments-you name it, he came. Eventually I'll share all of our activities with you!
Speaking of vacation- Kaden, Sophie and I took our first road trip! My mom flew out for my birthday and we decided to make a trip to Indiana to visit my brother and stay for the week. It was definitely worth it, I got to see some of my best friends that I haven't seen in literally 5 years and of course spend time with my brother. I was able to bring Kaden to meet his grandpa (my dad) as well as another one of is great grandmas. Truly the visit was amazing, a part of me will always be an Indiana girl at heart.
After 6 long months, we were able to welcome our Marine home with the biggest surprise I could ever pull off. Because he was attached to another unit stationed out of state, he was to arrive there and get someone from his office here to pick him up. There was no way I was going to let him get off an airplane and have the first faces from 'home' he sees be someone from work, nope-not on my watch. So I asked for some help from some of his work friends to help me arrange this, found a last minute photographer (due to last minute changes, thanks USMC ;) ) through the wonderful organization of Operation Love and pulled it off. You guys, even typing about it brings tears to my eyes. Which is funny because I actually didn't cry at this homecoming. I was so consumed with making sure we weren't going to have a toddler meltdown after waiting at the airport for almost 5 hours on no nap, making sure he doesn't have a panic attack after finally seeing his dad after 6 long months and making sure that I find John. He walked out of the airport doors, looked RIGHT at me and waved like you wave to a random stranger...stopped in his tracks and had the biggest smile on his face I have ever ever seen. Totally worth it. We came home, re-adjusted to family life-took a beach vacation...and in true military form had to handle months of out of state (and country) trainings. Man let me tell you, that was hard for our toddler.
Kaden started 'pre-school', adjusted to a big boy bed, transitioned to potty training and we are fully 150% in toddler-world. Including time outs, the endless amounts of macaroni and cheese, meltdowns because you say no, but I wouldn't want it to change in any way, life is an adventure, right? We made it through the holidays, John getting shoulder surgery which had him stay home for recovery for almost a whole month now. I'm not sure when was the last time that he was actually home this long, but we'll take it. It definitely will make for an interesting transition when he's back at work for Kaden. Virginia got the memo that it is winter indeed-apparently all in one weekend where we had over 2 feet of snow and now we're looking at 60 degree weather. But I'll take it!
As we officially dive into 2016 with the start of a new month (and the month that my baby will be THREE) we have a lot of new things coming our way for the Watkins family-and I'm excited to share them with you. I promise I'm going to try to do a better job this year-
until next time
xo
Friday, March 13, 2015
Friday Faves..and a GIVEAWAY!
Happy FriYAY everyone! I thought I could jump on the 'Friday Favorite" bandwagon to share some things that I am loving with you all! I love reading other posts about what has been going on, what amazing things people have found and what everyone is sharing...after all-sharing is caring right?? So lets get to it...
1. Yoga. I did some yoga when I was pregnant and I've always loved Pilates. I've even loved PiYO, which is a mix of both! I've gone to the yoga studio down the road from us, Stafford House of Yoga a bit last fall and loved it. Unfortunately scheduling has not allowed me to go back to the classes I've liked. Good news though! They now offer childcare during your classes! That's one of the top reasons why we as moms can't make it to some of our workout classes right? Also, if you follow me on Instagram (@mrs_watkins723) you may have seen Kaden with his yoga mat...which is about the same size of him. We started our first 'Mom and Me' yoga class! We only had a couple other moms there since this was the first class and he was much more inquisitive about what was in the room and kept looking at me like 'what are you doing mom' but he did do some stretches and he smiled the whole class...I'd say that was a win for us. If you're interested in joining us, classes are on Thursday mornings at 10:00 am-oh and if you have a Military ID...you can get 10% off the class!
2. Consignment sales. If you know me, you know I LOVE a good deal. I don't even know if there's a stronger word above love...if there is-then apply it to this scenario. This weekend the traveling Weecycled Wardwrobe is in town! Well, in Fredericksburg. So last night (they allowed Military members with their ID in for a pre-sale event) a friend and I packed up our toddlers and we made a trip. It wasn't as crazy as it was the last time I went to this one, but the line...my goodness the line. We were pushing dinner, bath and bedtime (to the max) so our little ones were having a blast exploring the toys. I went in looking for spring and summer gear for Kaden and walked out with some shorts, a whole arm full of Carters PJs, the cutest Elmo rainboots and a wonderful Melissa and Doug lock puzzle. This kid loves his locks-and this puzzle goes for about 20.00 on Amazon and Target. I scored this baby for 6.00. OH and we found the most adorable little bookbag (or backpack...whichever) for our upcoming adventure of PRE-Preschool (as I like to call it..more on that later). Mom wins for sure.
3. Brickyard Buffalo. If you haven't checked them out, you need to. They feature little shops (like mine!) on their site for days at a time for other consumers (like all of you wonderful people) to purchase their items at a sale price! I was featured on their site earlier this month for my 'chosen family' bracelets and I have the pleasure of working with them again on two more designs! I thought that with Mother's Day around the corner each mom has their instincts of being "mama bear" right? (please say I'm not the only one..) SO what better way to affectionately display that than a bracelet? Also sometimes we all need a little reminder (whether you are a mom or not) to "be brave". This sale is going on RIGHT NOW and will end Sunday! So I would like to do a giveaway with you all...ready? Here's how you enter:
1. Go to the Facebook page: Watkins and Co. and make sure you LIKE the page.
2. Share this post (Friday Faves..and a Giveaway) with your friends from the Watkins and Co. Facebook page!
*Winner will be picked Monday morning!*
Keep your eyes peeled on Instagram (@mrs_watkins723) for a possible extra entry...
There you have it my friends! Our first Friday Favorites shared with you all! Now head on over to share away and get yourself (or someone special) a new bracelet!
1. Yoga. I did some yoga when I was pregnant and I've always loved Pilates. I've even loved PiYO, which is a mix of both! I've gone to the yoga studio down the road from us, Stafford House of Yoga a bit last fall and loved it. Unfortunately scheduling has not allowed me to go back to the classes I've liked. Good news though! They now offer childcare during your classes! That's one of the top reasons why we as moms can't make it to some of our workout classes right? Also, if you follow me on Instagram (@mrs_watkins723) you may have seen Kaden with his yoga mat...which is about the same size of him. We started our first 'Mom and Me' yoga class! We only had a couple other moms there since this was the first class and he was much more inquisitive about what was in the room and kept looking at me like 'what are you doing mom' but he did do some stretches and he smiled the whole class...I'd say that was a win for us. If you're interested in joining us, classes are on Thursday mornings at 10:00 am-oh and if you have a Military ID...you can get 10% off the class!
2. Consignment sales. If you know me, you know I LOVE a good deal. I don't even know if there's a stronger word above love...if there is-then apply it to this scenario. This weekend the traveling Weecycled Wardwrobe is in town! Well, in Fredericksburg. So last night (they allowed Military members with their ID in for a pre-sale event) a friend and I packed up our toddlers and we made a trip. It wasn't as crazy as it was the last time I went to this one, but the line...my goodness the line. We were pushing dinner, bath and bedtime (to the max) so our little ones were having a blast exploring the toys. I went in looking for spring and summer gear for Kaden and walked out with some shorts, a whole arm full of Carters PJs, the cutest Elmo rainboots and a wonderful Melissa and Doug lock puzzle. This kid loves his locks-and this puzzle goes for about 20.00 on Amazon and Target. I scored this baby for 6.00. OH and we found the most adorable little bookbag (or backpack...whichever) for our upcoming adventure of PRE-Preschool (as I like to call it..more on that later). Mom wins for sure.
3. Brickyard Buffalo. If you haven't checked them out, you need to. They feature little shops (like mine!) on their site for days at a time for other consumers (like all of you wonderful people) to purchase their items at a sale price! I was featured on their site earlier this month for my 'chosen family' bracelets and I have the pleasure of working with them again on two more designs! I thought that with Mother's Day around the corner each mom has their instincts of being "mama bear" right? (please say I'm not the only one..) SO what better way to affectionately display that than a bracelet? Also sometimes we all need a little reminder (whether you are a mom or not) to "be brave". This sale is going on RIGHT NOW and will end Sunday! So I would like to do a giveaway with you all...ready? Here's how you enter:
1. Go to the Facebook page: Watkins and Co. and make sure you LIKE the page.
2. Share this post (Friday Faves..and a Giveaway) with your friends from the Watkins and Co. Facebook page!
*Winner will be picked Monday morning!*
Keep your eyes peeled on Instagram (@mrs_watkins723) for a possible extra entry...
There you have it my friends! Our first Friday Favorites shared with you all! Now head on over to share away and get yourself (or someone special) a new bracelet!
Sunday, February 15, 2015
We have a toddler...
Alright friends. Here we go, I'm going to get my butt going with sharing whats going on! Now that we've had a week for the dust to settle-Kaden had his 2nd birthday party last weekend! I seriously can not believe how time has just flew by already! (You can read about his story here) We didn't have a big party for him last year since we just moved to our new home shortly before his birthday. So I was walking into unchartered territory with a toddler party. How much is TOO much? What do you cook? Do you have a list of activities for a bunch of 2 year olds? Most importantly: do you have mimosas for the moms?! (Spoiler alert: next time we have a toddler party...the answer is YES)
One of his favorite books ever is Little Blue Truck so I perused around looking at ideas for a toddler's party. I came across Kates blog, Nearly Crafty and she had such amazing ideas! Kate created the great invitations that I used for his party and even helped find the same font as what is in the story! And for a perfectionist, that is great news. The thought of having a house full of toddlers slightly terrified me, so one of my good friends suggested that we host the party at the clubhouse on base! Sounds like a fantastic idea to me, she reserved the room for me, the date was set and planning was under way. I used Kate's template for the invites, typed the information and took them to Staples to have them printed! Easy squeasy! Now if you're like me and want things to be 'cohesive' the font used in the book is called P.T. Barnum.
One of his favorite books ever is Little Blue Truck so I perused around looking at ideas for a toddler's party. I came across Kates blog, Nearly Crafty and she had such amazing ideas! Kate created the great invitations that I used for his party and even helped find the same font as what is in the story! And for a perfectionist, that is great news. The thought of having a house full of toddlers slightly terrified me, so one of my good friends suggested that we host the party at the clubhouse on base! Sounds like a fantastic idea to me, she reserved the room for me, the date was set and planning was under way. I used Kate's template for the invites, typed the information and took them to Staples to have them printed! Easy squeasy! Now if you're like me and want things to be 'cohesive' the font used in the book is called P.T. Barnum.
I also followed Kate's idea with some of the activities. I ordered little blue truck foam ornaments from Oriental Trading for the littles to make and to double as their own personalized favors!
I later realized that we did NOT need glue, these bad boys are sticky after you peel the paper off the back! Pleasant surprise! We also had a bunch of blue truck printables for kids to color.
I'm so sad I didn't get a whole picture of our foods! I tried to keep it simple (mainly because I was cooking it all) and thought about what kids would like to eat. We had mini corn-dogs, home made pasta salad (included veggies), homemade roasted red peppers hummus with crackers, rice crispy treats (which I have YET to make a perfect batch of...but I digress) lemonade, juices and most importantly...CUPCAKES. I made a classic white with a vanilla buttercream frosting. I also made party popcorn for extra favors for everyone (because I'm crazy like that-this was a last minute decision) I'll share that recipe with you all another time!
I used the same font for his banner with my super amazing Silhouette machine. I also used the font and the machine with the print and cut feature to make thank you tags for the popcorn bags.
Kids came to play, eat and run around. I think we had an overall good birthday party! We approached nap time...aka melt down time right before everyone left which we all thought would be coming our way. We truly have amazing friends that came to celebrate and help when we needed it. I may or may not have gotten a little teary eyed when we all sang to Kaden. I just can't believe that he is TWO! I can't believe he was once a little 3 pound baby living in an incubator and fighting for his life, I really do believe that you can't even tell. He has grown into such an amazing little person and his personality just surprises me every day. He is such a sweet, loving and compassionate little boy. I know all babies are sweet and loving, but I'm not sure when we will hit the 'rough and tough' stage but this little guy loves his mama and I'm not afraid to share that with the world- I'll take it as long as I can.
Sunday, December 14, 2014
Crazytown- Population: 2
Hi friends! It has been quite a whirlwind around these parts. We are working on getting our Christmas decorations up, getting presents ready, the house ready all while we continue our daily activities. We started our new family tradition of getting our tree! Growing up, we had both fake and real trees-but we mostly had fake ones with my mom. They were easier for us I think so they just stuck. John grew up with real trees, so we decided to carry on that idea with our own family. This year we were able to go and cut down a tree instead of picking it up from Home Depot. Don't get me wrong-those trees were fine-but this was new. We got to hunt for the perfect tree, pick it out and even support local-all wins in my book! We went to Sneads Farm in Fredericksburg and it was wonderful!
They actually were hosting a USO event that we didn't know about but got to check it out. They were providing military families with a free tree, stand, decorations, wrapping paper, lunch all sorts of wonderful things all for free! You enter into a drawing and you get your voucher emailed to you if you were picked-but we were able to still participate. It was amazing! Not to mention the farm had fresh kettle corn...and if you know me-I love my popcorn. Kaden had a blast, we have a perfect tree and all we need is for Santa to come down our chimney!
One of the great things about the Marine Corps is the friendships that we get to make. Granted we only get to stay (geographically) close for a few years at a time but with all the jobs stationed around the world (literally) you're bound to come across one another again-but if you're lucky enough to become friends with a few of these amazing people-then you get to plan a get together! One of my good friends from Twentynine Palms was here visiting family while her husband was training and we were so lucky that we got to have her and her wonderful daughter over! Kaden and Aleyna are 4 days apart and Laura and I were working together and pregnant together at the same time. It was amazing to see her and her little one. We joke that we already have our kids' marriage arranged so we'll see each other all the time. Kaden and Aleyna truly had the best time together- these pictures are about a year apart (exactly) look how big they are now!
I had some of our kickball ladies over with their little ones to decorate salt dough ornaments last week. We had lots of baked goods, coffee, kids running around playing and adult conversation-all amazing things in my book! We also had a holiday get together and bunco night the other night with the same ladies-a much needed 'mom's night out'! I'm so glad I joined this team of ladies-we all have different stories but we all have things in common and having our lifestyle- we usually have family far away so we get to 'make' our own family and that is an amazing feeling.
We have a crazy week ahead of us with Christmas fast approaching. Kaden has his LAST developmental NICU follow up!! (insert happy dance here) I can honestly say I'm not as worried about this appointment as I was the last rounds-this kid is a parrot and repeats (or tries to) every word out of your mouth. He is learning new things every day and he's growing and getting through every stage of toddler-hood we can have-all while I'm pulling my hair. But I wouldn't change it for anything-he's doing what he needs to do and I am truly grateful for it.
My mom is coming to visit! I haven't seen her since last Christmas! This is the longest gap that we've gone not seeing each other, which is weird-but I know she's excited to come and see Kaden (and me too maybe...) She's coming from the warm weather of Arizona-and we're expecting snow soon-she's in for a surprise.
So between a big appointment, my mom coming and a few play dates scattered throughout the week. We have our hands full. One thing I do want to share with you is I just received this amazing new cookbook from the Birchbox Book Club that I am a part of- Homemade Decadence by Joy the Baker. Let me tell you-it looks amazing. I can't wait to share the recipes with you! I hope to share them on a regular basis with you all because I want to make everything. SO if you're local, get in touch with me because I need to share all of these baked goods with you.
I'm going to make it my mission to be better with my posts with you all-probably starting with a delicious baked good. Until then, I'm going to go enjoy watching "The Holiday" on Lifetime and mentally prepare myself for the crazy week we have ahead of us!
They actually were hosting a USO event that we didn't know about but got to check it out. They were providing military families with a free tree, stand, decorations, wrapping paper, lunch all sorts of wonderful things all for free! You enter into a drawing and you get your voucher emailed to you if you were picked-but we were able to still participate. It was amazing! Not to mention the farm had fresh kettle corn...and if you know me-I love my popcorn. Kaden had a blast, we have a perfect tree and all we need is for Santa to come down our chimney!
One of the great things about the Marine Corps is the friendships that we get to make. Granted we only get to stay (geographically) close for a few years at a time but with all the jobs stationed around the world (literally) you're bound to come across one another again-but if you're lucky enough to become friends with a few of these amazing people-then you get to plan a get together! One of my good friends from Twentynine Palms was here visiting family while her husband was training and we were so lucky that we got to have her and her wonderful daughter over! Kaden and Aleyna are 4 days apart and Laura and I were working together and pregnant together at the same time. It was amazing to see her and her little one. We joke that we already have our kids' marriage arranged so we'll see each other all the time. Kaden and Aleyna truly had the best time together- these pictures are about a year apart (exactly) look how big they are now!
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I had some of our kickball ladies over with their little ones to decorate salt dough ornaments last week. We had lots of baked goods, coffee, kids running around playing and adult conversation-all amazing things in my book! We also had a holiday get together and bunco night the other night with the same ladies-a much needed 'mom's night out'! I'm so glad I joined this team of ladies-we all have different stories but we all have things in common and having our lifestyle- we usually have family far away so we get to 'make' our own family and that is an amazing feeling.
My mom is coming to visit! I haven't seen her since last Christmas! This is the longest gap that we've gone not seeing each other, which is weird-but I know she's excited to come and see Kaden (and me too maybe...) She's coming from the warm weather of Arizona-and we're expecting snow soon-she's in for a surprise.
So between a big appointment, my mom coming and a few play dates scattered throughout the week. We have our hands full. One thing I do want to share with you is I just received this amazing new cookbook from the Birchbox Book Club that I am a part of- Homemade Decadence by Joy the Baker. Let me tell you-it looks amazing. I can't wait to share the recipes with you! I hope to share them on a regular basis with you all because I want to make everything. SO if you're local, get in touch with me because I need to share all of these baked goods with you.
I'm going to make it my mission to be better with my posts with you all-probably starting with a delicious baked good. Until then, I'm going to go enjoy watching "The Holiday" on Lifetime and mentally prepare myself for the crazy week we have ahead of us!
Friday, October 24, 2014
Cinnamon Roll French Toast Bake
Every other Friday, Kaden and I head over to our local MOPS group that we joined this past late summer. If you're a mom with little ones, I highly recommend checking your local chapter out. There has been a lot of negative social media about 'mom' life and there has been a lot of moms tearing each other down. This group comes together to build each other up and provide words of encouragement to each other. Our table had to bring our breakfast/brunch items for this week's meeting and what I made turned out to be a hit (yay!) and I want to share it with all of you! I made this delicious Cinnamon Roll French Toast Bake. It's as good as it sounds, I promise. The last time I made this, I was fighting off contractions right before Kaden was born, which makes me chuckle now. Well shall we get started?
To make this, you'll need:
9x13 pan (I used a foil pan since I was worried I would possibly drop this while chasing/carrying a toddler and didn't want to shatter my glass pan-but either works!)
1/4 cup margarine, melted (I used butter)
2 cans of cinnamon rolls with icing
4 eggs
1/2 cup heavy whipping cream (I used milk instead)
2 teaspoons vanilla
2 teaspoons cinnamon
1. Gather all of your ingredients and preheat the oven to 350.
2. Melt your butter and pour it in the pan.
3. Open and chop up the cinnamon rolls. The recipe I used said to cut them into 4 pieces, but I made them smaller.
4. Once both cans are chopped up and spread out evenly in the pan, combine the eggs, milk, cinnamon and vanilla together in a bowl and pour them over the chopped rolls.
5. Pop the tray into the oven for 25-30 minutes.
6. Once they're done (resist the urge to take a bite) melt the icing that came with the rolls a little bit so it is easier to pour- and pour that sugary delicious treat over the rolls.
And there you go! It smells amazing, tastes amazing, looks amazing and is perfect with a hot cup of coffee. This doesn't take much to get together and would be perfect for the upcoming holiday with family! Happy weekend friends!
To make this, you'll need:
9x13 pan (I used a foil pan since I was worried I would possibly drop this while chasing/carrying a toddler and didn't want to shatter my glass pan-but either works!)
1/4 cup margarine, melted (I used butter)
2 cans of cinnamon rolls with icing
4 eggs
1/2 cup heavy whipping cream (I used milk instead)
2 teaspoons vanilla
2 teaspoons cinnamon
1. Gather all of your ingredients and preheat the oven to 350.
2. Melt your butter and pour it in the pan.
3. Open and chop up the cinnamon rolls. The recipe I used said to cut them into 4 pieces, but I made them smaller.
4. Once both cans are chopped up and spread out evenly in the pan, combine the eggs, milk, cinnamon and vanilla together in a bowl and pour them over the chopped rolls.
6. Once they're done (resist the urge to take a bite) melt the icing that came with the rolls a little bit so it is easier to pour- and pour that sugary delicious treat over the rolls.
And there you go! It smells amazing, tastes amazing, looks amazing and is perfect with a hot cup of coffee. This doesn't take much to get together and would be perfect for the upcoming holiday with family! Happy weekend friends!
Tuesday, October 21, 2014
Kids bounce back...like rubber bands.
Now that it has been some time and I'm over the traumatizing injuries we have encountered, I wanted to share some thoughts with you all. I have always been told that babies (kids, rather) are incredibly resilient. I've had encounters to prove that saying to be true, but never really thought too much about it until recently.
During Kaden's 18 month wellness check, his pediatrician was concerned about his lack of weight gain. He didn't gain any weight from 15 months to 18 months and he didn't measure on any of the percentiles. So she wanted us to adjust his diet to cut out all processed foods, all sugars (unless natural) and he can only have whole wheat. Side note: we eat pretty healthy as it is now. Yes he would have juice occasionally, organic granola bars, kids yogurt, the occasional treat. So this didn't seem like a huge change for us. We were told to come back after 6 weeks to see if he gained any weight and if not we were going to have to get blood work done to possibly rule out any thyroid issues and or celiac disease issues.
So we went back, and he's still a little guy. He also started walking in between his two wellness visits, so he has been burning calories left and right, but he has a good appetite. She still wanted to do blood work and I agreed to make sure we don't have to worry about anything. Well, it took 5 people, 3 and different attempts to try to draw enough blood for 4 vials. Have you tried to wrangle a 1 1/2 year old to have a needle shoved in his hand? I don't recommend it. We had to try his hand because his veins are so small they couldn't find any in his arms and his hand had the only 'big enough' one. I say this with all seriousness- I was more traumatized than he was. I literally had tears in my eyes throughout this process and I finally said enough and hugged the bajeezes out of him. By the time we got home a few hours later (after a play date in between) he seemed to have forgotten all about that morning- but I didn't.
Fast forward to two days later. I brought Kaden with me to my kickball game since we have all moms on our team and we help each other with our kids while we all play. There was an accident where Kaden was leaning on the fence and fell forward and ended up biting down on his bottom lip, hard. Our first busted lip. After we sat and waited for it to stop bleeding (and praying it does so we didn't have to get a stitch) he got up and walked around, saw a slide, pointed at it and said "weeeeeee" (aka slide) so who was I to tell him no after that incident? He took a little longer for this boo boo to be forgotten, only because certain foods would burn when he ate them-which I totally understand. I've busted my lip quite a few times.
Earlier this week, our new friends Rachel and her son (from Stickers for Mommy) invited us over for dinner and for us to take a look at her consignment sale preparations. Kaden and Callum played, ran around and laughed together. Kaden ends up falling (my kid is still learning the world of balance) onto his lip (again) and we have a small busted lip. Tears and blood came, hugs were given, few minutes passed and all was right in the world.
This kid is entering a whole new world of injuries. As he should be. He is climbing on everything, and it will only be a matter of time until he starts jumping off things. I just can't believe how much this kid has been through already from being poked and prodded every day in the hospital, his shots, falling, swallowing a penny and who knows what else will be coming our way. But he wakes up the next morning with a smile on his face every day and is ready to take on the day, every day. I truly believe that kids are so resilient, I see this every day and I think that these little people are sometimes stronger than us as adults.
During Kaden's 18 month wellness check, his pediatrician was concerned about his lack of weight gain. He didn't gain any weight from 15 months to 18 months and he didn't measure on any of the percentiles. So she wanted us to adjust his diet to cut out all processed foods, all sugars (unless natural) and he can only have whole wheat. Side note: we eat pretty healthy as it is now. Yes he would have juice occasionally, organic granola bars, kids yogurt, the occasional treat. So this didn't seem like a huge change for us. We were told to come back after 6 weeks to see if he gained any weight and if not we were going to have to get blood work done to possibly rule out any thyroid issues and or celiac disease issues.
So we went back, and he's still a little guy. He also started walking in between his two wellness visits, so he has been burning calories left and right, but he has a good appetite. She still wanted to do blood work and I agreed to make sure we don't have to worry about anything. Well, it took 5 people, 3 and different attempts to try to draw enough blood for 4 vials. Have you tried to wrangle a 1 1/2 year old to have a needle shoved in his hand? I don't recommend it. We had to try his hand because his veins are so small they couldn't find any in his arms and his hand had the only 'big enough' one. I say this with all seriousness- I was more traumatized than he was. I literally had tears in my eyes throughout this process and I finally said enough and hugged the bajeezes out of him. By the time we got home a few hours later (after a play date in between) he seemed to have forgotten all about that morning- but I didn't.
Fast forward to two days later. I brought Kaden with me to my kickball game since we have all moms on our team and we help each other with our kids while we all play. There was an accident where Kaden was leaning on the fence and fell forward and ended up biting down on his bottom lip, hard. Our first busted lip. After we sat and waited for it to stop bleeding (and praying it does so we didn't have to get a stitch) he got up and walked around, saw a slide, pointed at it and said "weeeeeee" (aka slide) so who was I to tell him no after that incident? He took a little longer for this boo boo to be forgotten, only because certain foods would burn when he ate them-which I totally understand. I've busted my lip quite a few times.
Earlier this week, our new friends Rachel and her son (from Stickers for Mommy) invited us over for dinner and for us to take a look at her consignment sale preparations. Kaden and Callum played, ran around and laughed together. Kaden ends up falling (my kid is still learning the world of balance) onto his lip (again) and we have a small busted lip. Tears and blood came, hugs were given, few minutes passed and all was right in the world.
This kid is entering a whole new world of injuries. As he should be. He is climbing on everything, and it will only be a matter of time until he starts jumping off things. I just can't believe how much this kid has been through already from being poked and prodded every day in the hospital, his shots, falling, swallowing a penny and who knows what else will be coming our way. But he wakes up the next morning with a smile on his face every day and is ready to take on the day, every day. I truly believe that kids are so resilient, I see this every day and I think that these little people are sometimes stronger than us as adults.
Thursday, October 16, 2014
TOMS....TOMS for sale...
Have you ever read the book "Caps for Sale"? Anyone..? Well in my head as I typed the title...all I could think of was the book. We read this book a lot apparently.
Anywho- I have something to share with you all, since the end date is quickly approaching...like by tomorrow. I am sorry to share this on such late notice, but perhaps you already know of it! I just found out. We all know the wonderful world of Toms shoes right? The "one for one" campaign? Well, I am a fan of these shoes because they're cute, comfortable AND they provide shoes to someone in need! Win win all around. What the bargain shopper in me doesn't like is the total price when I pick out a few shoes I want. A friend of mine (hi Kelli!) went to a warehouse sale a few summers ago that Toms has on the West Coast in a few cities- she went to the Arizona one- and told me about the AMAZING deals she got on her Toms! (like paying 15.00 for a pair...but I digress.) I was instantly jealous and literally checked daily for the dates for this years sale and had my mom on board to go for me!
Well....days passed by with no date. We're now in the fall and the sale is a summer thing. So I commented on one of their IG pictures about the sale and whaddya know, they commented back! They told me that they're having a 'warehouse of sorts sale' on http://www.tomssurprisesale.com/ but only for a limited time! I checked out out (of course) and some of the items are up to 45% off, free shipping over 25.00 AND there's a coupon code (we all know I love my coupons) for an extra 5% off with SURPRISEGIFT!
They don't have ALL the fantastic shoes on there, but there are a good amount! If you're a college ball fan, they do have quite a selection of shoes to support your school! Unfortunately, they don't have any Arizona State shoes probably because we're amazing and sold out. But if you're a fan of the University of Arizona...well I'm sorry (just kidding) but they do have a shoe for you!
OR if you can wear kids shoes...you can check out what they have to grab an even better deal! It's totally acceptable for an adult to wear red glitter shoes right?
I hope you find something you like, happy shopping friends!
Oh, by the way- you can sign up to be on the list to be notified of any warehouse sales! Go to http://www.tomswarehousesale.com/ and check it out!
Anywho- I have something to share with you all, since the end date is quickly approaching...like by tomorrow. I am sorry to share this on such late notice, but perhaps you already know of it! I just found out. We all know the wonderful world of Toms shoes right? The "one for one" campaign? Well, I am a fan of these shoes because they're cute, comfortable AND they provide shoes to someone in need! Win win all around. What the bargain shopper in me doesn't like is the total price when I pick out a few shoes I want. A friend of mine (hi Kelli!) went to a warehouse sale a few summers ago that Toms has on the West Coast in a few cities- she went to the Arizona one- and told me about the AMAZING deals she got on her Toms! (like paying 15.00 for a pair...but I digress.) I was instantly jealous and literally checked daily for the dates for this years sale and had my mom on board to go for me!
Well....days passed by with no date. We're now in the fall and the sale is a summer thing. So I commented on one of their IG pictures about the sale and whaddya know, they commented back! They told me that they're having a 'warehouse of sorts sale' on http://www.tomssurprisesale.com/ but only for a limited time! I checked out out (of course) and some of the items are up to 45% off, free shipping over 25.00 AND there's a coupon code (we all know I love my coupons) for an extra 5% off with SURPRISEGIFT!
They don't have ALL the fantastic shoes on there, but there are a good amount! If you're a college ball fan, they do have quite a selection of shoes to support your school! Unfortunately, they don't have any Arizona State shoes probably because we're amazing and sold out. But if you're a fan of the University of Arizona...well I'm sorry (just kidding) but they do have a shoe for you!
OR if you can wear kids shoes...you can check out what they have to grab an even better deal! It's totally acceptable for an adult to wear red glitter shoes right?
I hope you find something you like, happy shopping friends!
Oh, by the way- you can sign up to be on the list to be notified of any warehouse sales! Go to http://www.tomswarehousesale.com/ and check it out!
Monday, September 15, 2014
Happy Neonatal Nurse Day
If you are a Neonatal Nurse- I wish I could hug you-wherever you are. I am forever grateful for every single nurse that we had while Kaden was in the hospital. A part of me still misses some of the nurses that we had because they were such a huge part of our life for so many days and nights. Don't get me wrong, some of the nurses we had were less than friendly-but regardless they still were responsible for taking care of our little man when he needed it the most. Before February 11, I have never met a NICU nurse before. I haven't even been inside of a NICU. Then before we knew it these strangers would turn out to be some of the most important people in our lives whether we were ready or not. I came across a post on a Preemie baby website I've been reading and following and it prompted me to write my own. I just want to take this chance and thank the NICU nurses everywhere, specifically the nurses that we had in our life.
Thank you for remembering us every day and every night.
Thank you for requesting to be Kaden's nurse time and time again.
Thank you for answering every single one of my 384,598,728 questions I had daily.
Thank you for listening to my concerns and advocating for me.
Thank you for missing your child's baseball game to take care of our child.
Thank you for letting me call every hour to check on Kaden when I had to go home for the night.
Thank you for telling me "you will be okay" when I needed it the most.
Thank you for re-swadding Kaden 500 times a day because he broke out-yet again and re-taping his tubes because he pulled them off/out for the 25th time that hour.
Thank you for sitting with me every day and every night when I had to be there without John.
Thank you for picking this profession and kicking ass at it.
There are so many more things that I am so thankful for. But most of all, thank you for keeping our baby alive and thriving when he was most fragile. Being in a hospital can be pretty horrible, but thank you to our nurses for making it a little more bearable.
Thank you for remembering us every day and every night.
Thank you for requesting to be Kaden's nurse time and time again.
Thank you for answering every single one of my 384,598,728 questions I had daily.
Thank you for listening to my concerns and advocating for me.
Thank you for missing your child's baseball game to take care of our child.
Thank you for letting me call every hour to check on Kaden when I had to go home for the night.
Thank you for telling me "you will be okay" when I needed it the most.
Thank you for re-swadding Kaden 500 times a day because he broke out-yet again and re-taping his tubes because he pulled them off/out for the 25th time that hour.
Thank you for sitting with me every day and every night when I had to be there without John.
Thank you for picking this profession and kicking ass at it.
There are so many more things that I am so thankful for. But most of all, thank you for keeping our baby alive and thriving when he was most fragile. Being in a hospital can be pretty horrible, but thank you to our nurses for making it a little more bearable.
xo
you can read about Kaden's story here
Friday, September 12, 2014
Our First Urgent Care Visit
Well it has been some time since I posted-I'm sorry I've been behind (yet again). We've been quite busy over here. If you saw our most recent Facebook status- you would have heard that we had to go to the ER for a penny update. Let me share with you:
I never thought my child swallow a penny. Honestly. I know that all kids get into everything but I guess I thought we wouldn't have to go down that road. Well-I was wrong. Turns out Kaden is continuing to throw surprises my way. (I mean, what kid does that?) Typical Friday afternoon, we were going through his clothes prepping for our upcoming family trip to North Carolina for a wedding. I knew there was a penny in his room, I put it on the shelf towards the back remembering to grab it on our way out. Nope, he wanted it and I didn't see him grab it-put it in his hand and transfer it to his mouth when I was changing his pants. Whaddya know...he starts choking, coughing and I start to panic. He tried to throw up, but it didn't come out which made the penny travel down. I remembered all of the training we had to go through at the hospital for CPR and acted. John raced home and we tried to get him to throw up again-with no luck. We called 911 and the paramedics rushed over (firetruck and ambulance...sirens and all) and by the time they came to check Kaden out-he was acting like nothing happened. What a stinker. They suggested we take him to the ER or Urgent Care to still get him looked at and we of course agreed. After what felt like forever-we finally got his x-ray.
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See that big ol' white spot?? Yep, that would be a penny. A PENNY. All we could do is wait for him to pass it. How you ask? You reach a new level of parenting-that's all I'm going to say. We were told it should pass within 24-48 hours and if it hasn't within a week we need to take him in for another x-ray. Well that doesn't really ease my nerves..what if he doesn't pass it!? What does that mean will happen!? How would I know-we've never had to encounter this issue before. But we decided we'll deal with that when the time comes. We go on our family trip to North Carolina and come back and we have yet to see a penny. So after 9 days (let me add here-he acted completely normal this whole time...) we call and check to see what to do. We were told to go to the military hospital that has an ER which happens to be about 45 minutes away just in-case we have to have surgery. Excuse me? Alright, let me calmly take my child to see if we have to surgically remove this stupid penny. After hours of waiting in a germ infested ER...we had our results.
.jpeg)
I never thought my child swallow a penny. Honestly. I know that all kids get into everything but I guess I thought we wouldn't have to go down that road. Well-I was wrong. Turns out Kaden is continuing to throw surprises my way. (I mean, what kid does that?) Typical Friday afternoon, we were going through his clothes prepping for our upcoming family trip to North Carolina for a wedding. I knew there was a penny in his room, I put it on the shelf towards the back remembering to grab it on our way out. Nope, he wanted it and I didn't see him grab it-put it in his hand and transfer it to his mouth when I was changing his pants. Whaddya know...he starts choking, coughing and I start to panic. He tried to throw up, but it didn't come out which made the penny travel down. I remembered all of the training we had to go through at the hospital for CPR and acted. John raced home and we tried to get him to throw up again-with no luck. We called 911 and the paramedics rushed over (firetruck and ambulance...sirens and all) and by the time they came to check Kaden out-he was acting like nothing happened. What a stinker. They suggested we take him to the ER or Urgent Care to still get him looked at and we of course agreed. After what felt like forever-we finally got his x-ray.
HAPPY DANCE! We are penny free! Somehow we missed that dreaded thing. The doctor chuckled and sent us on our way back home. He also told us that pretty much everything will pass. But I also don't want to experience any of these situations again and I hope other parents won't have to go through this either. BUT if you do-just know that you're not alone. Oh the joys of parenting-you learn something new every day-right?
xo
Sunday, August 24, 2014
Roseola + Essentail Oils = GIVEAWAY
When your baby gets a fever or gets sick, I think it is one of the worst feelings in the world-especially because they can't tell you what is wrong. Over the course of 18 months, Kaden has yet to get a high grade fever...until last weekend. After he woke up from a 3 1/2 hour nap on Saturday, he felt like he was on fire. Normally he is a little warm waking up because he still is a belly sleeper and his room can get warm with the afternoon sun. But on the safe side I took his temperature and it was 100.4 (pretty high for him) and he was really snugly (not his usual behavior) so we were able to have him swallow some Tylenol.
Side note: Kaden hates Tylenol. Refuses to swallow it. So I don't really give him any for teething or shots or any of that unless he really does need it-like for a high fever. However, I do have peppermint essential oil to help with fevers if I need to.
I coughed the fever up to molar teething and didn't think too much of it as long as he was eating and drinking...until 3:30 am on Sunday. He woke up crying which made both of us jump out of bed because he never wakes up unless something is wrong. Turns out he wanted a hug and some snuggles which I was happy to give. Sunday morning, he wakes up with a rash. When we were in California, he had a slightly similar looking rash but it was due to the dryness of the desert. We thought it this was heat rash since he's been so warm sleeping even with no blanket and cotton pj's.
Throughout Sunday, we kept taking his temperature and it had gone up to around 101.4 and hovered around 100-101 throughout the day. But the no-medicine-ninja was on full force and spit out every attempt we gave. I tried disguising it in juice, a smoothie, a slushie, yogurt, no go to all of them and I wasn't about to wrestle him on something that he obviously didn't want nor did he absolutely need. Now you can call me crazy but I know babies are strong and their bodies are working hard on fighting bugs off naturally so I try to let his body do it on his own. I know that if his fever spiked to 102 or higher we needed to take him in, so we watched him and checked every few hours. He seemed to be acting fairly normal, a little more tired than usual though.We kept making sure he was drinking fluids since his appetite has gone
down (again I thought teething) and gave lots of snuggles and hugs when
he wanted them.
I talked with a friend later that day and she mentioned that her daughter had the same thing happen to her when we all were in California and it turns out her daughter had Roseola. My first thought was.."Roseol-a-what-a?!" She said it was a viral thing, so we couldn't really give him anything and it had to run its course. So I hopped online to read up on this and the articles basically said: a fever can occur for about 2-3 days followed by a rash and since it is viral illnesses, it just needs to run its course. Kaden needed to drink a lot of fluids and rest basically.
When the word 'viral' was thrown out, I thought about my good ol'
essential oils. I pulled out my On Guard oil (immune booster) and put a few drops on the soles of his feet and gave them a good rub. Since his fever was hovering, I pulled out my peppermint oil to help with his fever. A couple drops of that as well went on the soles of his feet with a good rub.
We took his temperature before bed and his fever had gone down-happy day! Monday morning I repeated this after he woke up, before nap and before bed and the same thing Tuesday. And by Tuesday evening his rash was gone and he was back to himself.
I can't help but think that my all natural essential oils helped both his fever as well as his rash. Peppermint oils has been used as a solution to fevers as well as a myriad of other health concerns. On Guard is a blend of wild orange essential oil, combined with
clove, cinnamon, eucalyptus and rosemary offer a fragrant, natural and
effective alternative to synthetic options for immune support. We have used On Guard to battle colds for all of us as well as prevent any other bugs coming our way.
John calls my oils 'hippy dippy' oils, which makes me laugh but he quickly follows up with "but they do work!" SO I want to share one of my favorite oil blends with you! I'm giving away a free 15 ml bottle of dōTERRA's Protective Blend: On Guard. It is a must in your medicine cabinet for everyone of all ages, especially with kids heading back to school and germs flying around! Use it topically on the soles of feet, put a few drops of it in your morning coffee or a few drops in a diffuser to inhale! This helps battle germs while fighting bugs (including viral) in an all natural way! All you need to do is enter using the Rafflecopter giveaway below :) If you have any questions about dōTERRA or essential oils, send me an email-I'll be happy to help!
*when you share the blog on Facebook, please make sure you tag either the page or the link to this post so I can see it! Thanks! :)*
a Rafflecopter giveaway
Side note: Kaden hates Tylenol. Refuses to swallow it. So I don't really give him any for teething or shots or any of that unless he really does need it-like for a high fever. However, I do have peppermint essential oil to help with fevers if I need to.
I coughed the fever up to molar teething and didn't think too much of it as long as he was eating and drinking...until 3:30 am on Sunday. He woke up crying which made both of us jump out of bed because he never wakes up unless something is wrong. Turns out he wanted a hug and some snuggles which I was happy to give. Sunday morning, he wakes up with a rash. When we were in California, he had a slightly similar looking rash but it was due to the dryness of the desert. We thought it this was heat rash since he's been so warm sleeping even with no blanket and cotton pj's.
 |
| Sunday's rash |
I talked with a friend later that day and she mentioned that her daughter had the same thing happen to her when we all were in California and it turns out her daughter had Roseola. My first thought was.."Roseol-a-what-a?!" She said it was a viral thing, so we couldn't really give him anything and it had to run its course. So I hopped online to read up on this and the articles basically said: a fever can occur for about 2-3 days followed by a rash and since it is viral illnesses, it just needs to run its course. Kaden needed to drink a lot of fluids and rest basically.
 |
| Monday's rash |
We took his temperature before bed and his fever had gone down-happy day! Monday morning I repeated this after he woke up, before nap and before bed and the same thing Tuesday. And by Tuesday evening his rash was gone and he was back to himself.
 |
| Tuesday's lack of rash (a little pink from the bath) |
John calls my oils 'hippy dippy' oils, which makes me laugh but he quickly follows up with "but they do work!" SO I want to share one of my favorite oil blends with you! I'm giving away a free 15 ml bottle of dōTERRA's Protective Blend: On Guard. It is a must in your medicine cabinet for everyone of all ages, especially with kids heading back to school and germs flying around! Use it topically on the soles of feet, put a few drops of it in your morning coffee or a few drops in a diffuser to inhale! This helps battle germs while fighting bugs (including viral) in an all natural way! All you need to do is enter using the Rafflecopter giveaway below :) If you have any questions about dōTERRA or essential oils, send me an email-I'll be happy to help!
*when you share the blog on Facebook, please make sure you tag either the page or the link to this post so I can see it! Thanks! :)*
a Rafflecopter giveaway
Saturday, July 19, 2014
Walking Watkins
If you're friends with me on Facebook, or Instagram (@mrs_watkins723) you would have seen that our Kaden at 17 months old is now a walker! I'm going to be honest with you all, I was worried about him walking. I know, I know-every baby will do things on their own time-but when you see babies walking and they're around 12 months old or younger and your baby has yet to brave that task-you get worried-even though I knew he would be okay. Since Kaden was born 10 weeks early, we have to adjust his age down to basically track his development across the board. So even though he really is 17 months old, developmentally he is about 14.5 months old which also means he should be doing the things that other babies that age should be doing. He is slowly gaining more confidence on letting go of things (and me) and walking around the room, especially in places other than home! It seems like he has more of an adventure sense now that he can explore so much more at his new eye level.
We also have to be seen by a high risk development clinic with NICU doctors (as well as Physical Therapists and Occupational Therapists) about every 6 months up until he is about 2 years old just to track him and make sure he is doing things 'according to plan'. Having a bunch of doctors evaluate your baby can be a lot to take in. Since we moved from California to Virginia, we were told that we now can possibly qualify for county services to help Kaden. When we were back in CA, I was one of the people that evaluated children and talked with parents to get services as well as provide services to these kids. So being on the flip side of things requires me to take a step back and be the client and not be the worker. Let me tell you, it is hard. Full disclosure here: I feel like when we have professionals coming in and testing him, I'm getting evaluated as well. Or at least my parenting skills are. I feel like being a parent is one of the hardest jobs around. I know I can do the best job that I can and I think that both John and I are doing a pretty darn good job with the cards that we have been dealt. Sometimes I feel like I can do more and maybe having these other services come our way can help with that, but I never know until I try them right?
We also have to be seen by a high risk development clinic with NICU doctors (as well as Physical Therapists and Occupational Therapists) about every 6 months up until he is about 2 years old just to track him and make sure he is doing things 'according to plan'. Having a bunch of doctors evaluate your baby can be a lot to take in. Since we moved from California to Virginia, we were told that we now can possibly qualify for county services to help Kaden. When we were back in CA, I was one of the people that evaluated children and talked with parents to get services as well as provide services to these kids. So being on the flip side of things requires me to take a step back and be the client and not be the worker. Let me tell you, it is hard. Full disclosure here: I feel like when we have professionals coming in and testing him, I'm getting evaluated as well. Or at least my parenting skills are. I feel like being a parent is one of the hardest jobs around. I know I can do the best job that I can and I think that both John and I are doing a pretty darn good job with the cards that we have been dealt. Sometimes I feel like I can do more and maybe having these other services come our way can help with that, but I never know until I try them right?
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