2014

I cannot believe it is 2014. In fact, every time I have written the date so far, I have to actually think about whether or not that is the year we are in. It does not seem possible! This year we will be celebrating our 25th birthdays, our daughter's first birthday, 12 years together, 3 years married, 7 years graduated from high school and so many more milestones. 

So--I made a plan to blog once a week (at least) this whole year. By the end, I want to have at least 52 posts. I am already a week late, but that's why I have the overall goal of 52 as well as the weekly goal :)

If you are reading my blog for the first time--thanks for checking it out. I mostly post about our life, but this year I will post other interesting (to me, anyways) tidbits too!

Ryan and I got to go out for a bit on NYE (thanks to our friend, Lisa!). We got onion rings with our meal and they came garnished for the new year :). It will be a great year!

Slacker. Again!

I added a blog app to my phone so I would have no excuse not to blog more...and I still haven't been blogging! 

I vow to blog more in 2014...

My goal is to blog once every week for the whole year---52 blog posts for 2014!

Stay tuned!

ideas...

This blog is names Just Another Crazy Idea not only as a play on my name (JACI) but also because I feel like I have an endless supply of crazy ideas.  They keep getting crazier. Why can I not be happy doing one thing at a time? Currently, I am working on getting an Etsy shop set up (more to come on that later). I would like to make a little extra money for our family.  I have also thrown around the idea of starting a new blog and blogging for extra money.  I will definitely be looking into this as I become a stay-at-home mom! 

Do you ever wish there were twice as many hours in a day? I have so many ideas of things to do and not enough time to try them out!

Sleep?

sleep 
A natural periodic state of rest for the mind and body, in which the eyes usually close and consciousness is completely or partially lost, so that there is a decrease in bodily movement and responsiveness to external stimuli. 

A New Mom's Definition of SLEEP...
A natural VERY PERIODIC state of SEMI-REST for the mind AND/OR body (rarely both at once), in which the eye close and EVERYTHING IS DONE IN A ZOMBIE-LIKE FASHION.

sleep 
A period of this form of rest

Multiple short periods of partial rest mixed with jumping up to a baby crying in the crib across the room

sleep 
A state of inactivity resembling or suggesting sleep; unconsciousness, dormancy, hibernation, or death

Yeah right...death might be coming for this momma!

Everyone warns you about lack of sleep as a parent..but I never took it seriously! Now, I am struggling.  We were doing so great for weeks, but little girl has regressed in sleep patterns and this momma is on her last leg by the end of the week!

Hoping it gets better soon!!  In the meantime, at least she is cute?!

up, up, and away!

We did it! I got to check one more thing of my "25 things before 25" list. Ryan and I went on an awesome hot air balloon ride last week.  It was a blast.  We got to see how the hot air balloon goes from laying down to standing upright.  It was a laid back trip which was just what we needed.  We were celebrating our 11th dating anniversary and it was the first time we were away from Kena together since she was born!  We missed her, but had a great time together.

Life has been pretty routine lately.  We do not have much time during the week to do anything but work and get ready for the next day.  We are both trying to workout a few times a week.  The weekends are spent together running around like crazy! Ryan and I even did a "Color the Town 5k" race a couple weeks ago.

Makena is growing like mad and has new accomplishments almost daily.  She is starting to roll over, babbles constantly, has a little tooth coming in, and giggles when we tickle her! Obviously, we are very entertained by her!

Garden guru

So awhile back (last year), I made a list of "25 Things to Do before 25"...

I have completed a lot of those things and this summer I did even more--but forgot to write about them.  The big one, obviously, was "Have a Baby"!  We also bought (and sold) stock this summer!  We feel so grown up when we do things like that :)

Before I had Makena, I wanted to do one more thing on the list and my coworker, Lisa, suggested planting a garden one weekend.  It was fun for both Ryan and me.  We spent a lot of money because we had no supplies to begin with.  We planted yellow squash, zucchini, bell peppers, eggplant, jalapenos, and cilantro.  We ended up harvesting 3 jalapenos, 3 bell peppers, 1 squash, 1 zucchini, and 1 eggplant!!!  It was a success and I can't wait to plant more next year :)

Now, onto the harder tasks on the lists to complete--like tackling those student loans :(

Birth Story--Makena June!

On June 11th, I went into the doctor because I was not feeling any movement all day and needed to know baby was ok. They checked me and said I was still only 1cm and the ultrasound showed that,while she was not moving a lot, she was still moving her fingers and toes. I decided that I just needed to be more patient--my due date was 2 days away and I knew that didn't mean much anyway.

The next day, I went to work and felt fine until 10am when contractions started but were mild and very inconsistent. I called Ryan when I left work to tell him that I had been having contractions and of course he got super excited. The same pains happened until midnight and I finally fell asleep. I woke up at 7am and realized the contractions stopped. Ryan stayed home from work because we thought this was still going to be the day. We took walks and hung out with my mom all day, but the contractions we very inconsistent and not getting any stronger. At night, they stopped again!
Friday came and Ryan went back to work. My mom and I walked all morning and the contractions started getting more consistent. At about 3:30pm, I called Ryan to tell him they were about 7 minutes apart. He got home from work around 5pm and they were 5.5 minutes apart and getting stronger. I couldn't even eat dinner so we knew it was probably the real thing! We called our doula but by the time she got to town, we had to meet her at the hospital. I checked in at 8pm with contractions about 3 minutes apart. I was 5cm and handling the contractions very well.

They checked me 2 hours later because I wanted to get in the labor tub. The nurse told me I was 9.5cm!!! That felt awesome! I didn't even know anything was happening and I had made so much progress. My doula thought something was wrong because I didn't even go through transition.
Ryan and I got in the tub and labored for a bit. We got out and walked and bounced on the ball until my water broke at midnight. I was having a lot of back pain so my doula rubbed my back forever! The doctor checked me again at 2am. She looked at me and said, "I am sorry but you are only 8.5cm." I was so sad! The nurse earlier told me the wrong thing and I had done all that work for 4 hours thinking I was going to start pushing at any time. My doula and husband were so instrumental in keeping me sane and focused after this setback. They rubbed my back all night nonstop! The doctor checked me again a couple hours later and said I was at 9cm and there was about to be a shift change. My least favorite doctor was coming in. I was very disappointed and extremely exhausted emotionally. I got very quiet and focused all my energy in getting my baby out!

Things got serious around 8am and the nurse started prepping everything and monitoring me more regularly. At 9am, I was 10cm and could start pushing! I started practicing (I thought I was actually pushing at the time). I tried 2 different positions before settling into backwards kneeling on the bed. I pushed that way for about 1.5 hours and couldn't do it anymore. I was pushing 3 times every contraction and felt like I was doing so much, but I wasn't. I laid on my back and they held my legs...the exact position I was trying to avoid...for the rest of the time. I pushed for another 2 hours and the baby was just bobbing in and out. I was frustrated and exhausted so I begged for something to help. My doctor, who ended up being a great labor coach, suggested the vacuum, c-section, or resting and trying again later. I didn't want c-section because there was no need for it. I couldn't rest because the contractions were pushing for me too much. I decided the vacuum was the extra help I needed. It attached the very first time and I pushed only about 5 more times and she was out! Makena was born on June 15th at 12:47pm. The vacuum was the only thing that was not on our birth plan, but I still do not regret it. We were both healthy! After 2 days of random contractions and 25 hours in active labor, I just wanted to meet our baby