Time Travel Tuesday-Yesterday!

Here is today's travel: If you live in the US, you probably celebrated Labor Day in some way... even if it was just staying home for the day. What did you do yesterday, who did you spend time with? What was the highlight of the day? Were there any disappointments?
~
We really did not have anything special planned yesterday. Dh was home because there was no school, he starts a new job Wednesday. Boy, am I glad he was home! I got sick again Saturday night. I thin I have a stomach virus that I just can not get over. I thought I was getting better Sunday night, but I woke up at 3 am in pain. So, I kind of spent it with my family. The highlight of my day? Well, I guess after a 4 hour nap, waking up and feeling a little better. Were there disappointments? Yes, I would have loved to take my family to the park and have a picnic, maybe another time. I am feeling lots better, but I am still not totally well and if after today I do not get better, I am [planning a trip to the doctor! Hope everyone else's day was lots better than mine!
~
Please if you get a chance read this post, it could save your life or someone you love!

Time Travel Tuesday: 21!

Here's today's time travel: You're 21.What's going on in your life?Who are you spending most of your time with?What's favorite things to do? eat? hobby?
~
Wow! 21? I just for some reason can't remember 21. I know that I was in college. I had just moved to the University of Kentucky, I had gone to a community college before that. I lived in a college owned apartment complex with three other roommates. I guess I spent most of my time with my roommates, but I also spent a lot of time alone too. I was a loner a lot. My favorite thing to do? Probably study. That is about all I remember doing. I do not remember reading much then? Favorite thing to eat? I ate Ramen noodles and hamburger helper because I was a poor college student so getting to go out to eat was probably my favorite, but I do remember that we got this new pizza place called Snappy Tomato Pizza that we loved and would get delivered every now and then. Favorite hobby? Just can't remember anything. Don't know that I had any of any importance. I just can't believe how old this post makes me feel. When I was in my teens I always wanted to be 30. Why? I just don't know. Now that I am in my later 30's, which by the way I do not feel that old lol I just baby! But now I wish I was 20 again sometimes, but I really like how old now even if I am getting old lol!
~
I also have an end of summer giveaway going on!

Time Travel Tuesday-First Day of School

Today's topic is first day of school memories, since Annie's kids started school today. Nicholas, my 7 year old started 2nd grade last Thursday. So, I guess I will start off with my first day of school. I did not go to kindergarten, my first day was 1st grade. I only have a few memories of first grade. My mom has a picture that she always showed me of my first day of school. I have begged her to find it for me, I wanted to show my kids on their first day of school, but unfortunately, my mom can not find it. I guess I have always remembered my first day because of that picture outside of our house with my yellow back pack. I remember riding the school bus. I remember that my class was in a trailer because the school did not have enough room for all the students, we got a new school a couple of years later. The only other thing I remember about the first day is my new teacher, Mrs. Miller, telling me I was writing with the wrong hand. I am still left handed to this day though. When my now 7 year old started his first day of kindergarten, it was not really hard on me because he had been going to daycare and I worked then (it will be harder for me with my other children because I have stayed at home with them.) I made sure I got a new picture of him outside our home with his back pack, just like I had done. My dh then took him to school and he told me that he went in with him. That's about all that I remember about his first day.

For more great first day of school stories go visit My Life as Annie.

Time Travel Tuesday-Baby Edition

I totally kept saying that I was going to do this yesterday and I just forgot! But better late than never. This week we are talking about our birthing experience.

~

I got pregnant with my first child very soon after we got married, like I got married and had a baby in the same year! So, my life really changed that first year of marriage. Anyways, everything was going great with my pregnancy until I reached 31 weeks. I got preclamsia and I had to go on bed rest for the rest of the pregnancy. Now I tell you I have always wanted a big long vacation where all you had to do was lay down watch movies and read alot! Boy was I wrong! I hated it. I guess being used to doing some big project everyday at work left me felling bad when I had nothing to do at home! I started having contractions when I was 33 weeks, I stayed in the hospital for one day and was sent home that night, still on bed rest and a new med for stopping contractions. I asked my mom to come and stay with me to help me at the end, but she would not because she lives far away and takes care of my sisters kids. So, a friend of mine came and asked me if I had packed my bag for the hospital yet. I told her no and she said we are going to do that tomorrow. I stayed in my bed and she packed everything I needed and even some things I never thought to pack since she had a baby. We made a list of the other stuff to put in there and the next day, I was 35 weeks, I woke up at about 6 am and the dog had gotten too close to me and I asked my dh to pull my arm to pull me back in bed and that was when I felt like I was peeing on myself. I ran to the bathroom and my water was breaking like a faucet. I took a shower and got dressed and went to the hospital. They ran a test on me and said the lungs were not underdeveloped but not fully developed so they would not induce labor and we could wait 36 hours until they had to induce. They put me in a room for the night. We watched tv and I remember watching The Wizard of Oz and I would have what I thought were gas pains but they would hurt so bad I would jump out of the bed! The nurse finally came and told me that she thought they were contractions that I should just start timing and sure enough they were. I was moved back into the labor room and was there until the next night when they finally had to send me to the OR for a c-section. When I got back to my room, I was just glad it was over! I did not even care about the baby. They finally brought him in but I did not even want to hold him. The next day, the nurse made me hold him. I do not know if I did not want to hold him because my birth did not go as I wanted it or because I was in so much pain and really did not know how to hold him. I guess it was a little of both. When I held him for the first time though, I remember crying and thinking how stupid it was that I did not want to hold him, it was love at first site! We went home and I had a severe case of PPD that took me a couple of weeks to get over.

~

My second pregnancy came after many years of trying to get pregnant. I did not go get any help though, I just told myself that if all I had was one healthy child, I'd be happy! Anyways, I went to the doctor because my periods were so irregular for two months I had spotting, he gave me some meds that was suppose to start my period back. Well, I took them and nothing. I was feeling kind of weird, so I just decided to try another pregnancy test and this time, it was positive! I was so mad at the doctor though because that meds was like so bad to take while you were pregnant. So, I started looking for another doctor. I was like 6 weeks pregnant and went to a different doctor and they sent me to ultrasound first. My dh was with me and the ultrasound lady asked, "Do you have twins in your family?" I looked at her really funny and I said yes, but you are not telling me I am having twins. She said okay I won't. I think I was more asking a question than telling her not to tell me, but I saw the two dots. My dh and I were in shock! Actually my dh did not talk to me or anyone until the next night when he told me he was sorry, he just had to take it in. Since I had been on blood pressure meds with my last pregnancy, my doctor put me right back on them, my blood pressure was already going up. I did fine until 30 weeks when I told my dh that I felt like I was in labor. We went to the clinic and sure enough I was. They sent me to the hospital and tried to stop labor, when finally they put me on mag, it is awful stuff! You can not eat or get out of the bed. But at least it was keeping my babies in a little longer! They sent me home after a week. When I got home, I was on bed rest, but I could not stay down because I was having pains again! By the time I got Nicholas to his grannies and to the hospital, my contractions were like 1 minute apart. Once again they tried to stop my labor, but it just seemed to not be working and there were no doctors or midwifes there. They kept telling me that they were going to send me to a bigger hospital, when the day nurses came in and she showed me how to make myself comfortable, she gave me several pillows and my contractions finally stopped, but I was dilated 1cm. They sent me home and I woke up on Christmas day throwing up and crying. I told my dh to go to his mom's house without me, I just felt so bad. That afternoon, after not keeping my bp meds down, dh took one look at my face and legs and told me we were going to the hospital. My doctor must have not wanted to come in and the nurses started tring to stop the contractions again. This time, I could feel them but they did not hurt. The pressure down there hurt worse! I had a lot of pressure down there this pregnancy because I was having twins, at least that is what my doctor said. I forgot to tell you that I really wanted to have a VBAC, but as soon as my doctor found out that I was having twins he said he did not recommend it. So finally the night of the 26th at 11 pm the nurse decides to check me and I was 3 cm. She told me she was going to call the doctor. Things went really fast after that and at 34 weeks I had my twins by c-section. I knew I was having a boy since my first big ultrasound, but had just found out about baby b being a girl two weeks before! The big difference this time was that even if I wanted to see my babies, I was not allowed. They finally brought my boy in and I got to be with him, but my little girl had a lot of breathing problems when she was born and I did not get to hold her until two days later. Once I was allowed to get out of bed, I visited her but they would not let me hold her. She stated doing really well. The weird thing was when they brought me the babies, they would not suck there bottles. The doctor told me that there sucking reflex was not working, but they soon did better on that although even after I got home, it was still frustrating! I ended up taking my little girl home when I went but they kept my little boy to stay under the lights for his jaundice. It was the hardest thing I ever had to do to leave him there. I picked him up at 9pm the next night. It was really nice to have both of them home! I had a hard time with breast feeding and my iron going so low that I would just about pass out, but I finally got better and learned how to deal with twins.

~

My last child was born about 6 months ago. I had a very uneventful pregnancy, I believe because my doctor had learned to up my dose of bp meds sooner. As soon as I have had my baby my bp always goes down. Anyways, this time I had a planned c-section. We were set for Feb 6th. That is our anniversary, what better to do on your anniversary than have a baby, right! Well, it was so nice to not be in labor and having a c-section! Everything seemed easier. This baby got to 371/2 weeks. My doctor told me from the beginning that he did not think I would go past 35 weeks, but I did really well this time. As soon as I got to the room, I was dying to see my baby! My baby had some gas problems that come with being a c-section baby and he had some problems going to the bathroom, but they worked on that and did lots better. Here is a picture of my whole family after his birth. This is our last baby!

Time Travel Tuesday-Summer Camps

Today we are looking back at camp memories. I went to 4-H every year as a child. I hated it and all I wanted to be was teen leader. I got to be a teen leader several years in high school. When I graduated from high school, I applied to be on the camp staff, but I did not get selected, so I ended up working at a Girl Scout Camp, Camp Judy Layne. Wow! this sure was different from 4-H camp! We lived in platform tents all summer and had a latrine(try cleaning one of those, yuck!) and cold showers(even yuckier!)! We went hiking LOTS! I enjoyed it but it was really not something I wanted to spend a whole summer doing again so the next summer, I applied for 4-H camp again and got hired as crafts instructor at one of the 4-H camps in my state. I worked there for two years. The next two years, I worked at another 4-H camp again as crafts instructor. I learned so much working at a camp. I think it was a life changing adventure for me. I would never give up those years working at a camp. You really learn how to get along with people that are so different than you! (Believe me you were not there for the money, $650 a month for LOTS of hours!, but meals and boarding was included in your salary!) Some of my memories include boating races, free swim, teaching my camp crafts, special events (snake man came and brought really bad snakes, bird lady came and brought birds that were endangered, we got to go in a helium balloon, just to name a few), camp songs that will forever be planted in my head. The biggest memory that I have working at camp was when the kids had left and the staff was going back to there cabins and it had been so calm and all of a sudden a storm brewed in. Another staff member had pushed us girls in the cabin, I remember looking back out there and a huge tree would have hit us. It was a tornado. All the power lines were down, lots of trees down all over camp, including a huge well known tree to the camp. We had a tornado, it was over really fast, but the camp was closed the next week and the staff stayed, with no electricity and cleaned up. Talk about some HARD work. I will never forget that storm! After I graduated from college, I got a job in Extension (which 4-h is part of) and attended camp as an extension agent for many years. I really miss camp and will probably go back as an adult leader when my kids get old enough!
To read about more camp memories, go to My Life as Annie.

Time Travel Tuesday-First Cooking Experience

So, okay this week we are going back to our first cooking experience. I guess I probably cooked some things before this, but this was my first REAL meal that I cooked. I took a Home Economics Class in High School. It was called Adult Living and for our final project, we had a list of things that we could do and one of them was to cook a whole meal for our family and write a report on it. We had to have pictures, recipes, our plan, etc in this notebook. I wish I still had that book. I made a Lasagna dinner for my family. It included. Lasagna, salad, garlic bread, and a banana pudding. (These were all my favorite things that my mom cooked and this was the first meal that I made for my soon to be husband an sometimes I joke that my lasagna won me my husband because he liked it so much!)I really had a great time and I guess that really that was the start of my love with cooking.

Do you have a first cooking experience? Why not post it today or go read some others at My Life as Annie.

Time Travel Tuesday-First Date Edition

I have been wanting to join this for a long time, so here goes my first time. Time travel Tuesday is sponsored by Annie. So go check out others comments as they travel back in time and tell about an event. The event for this Tuesday is "YOUR FIRST DATE."
~
So you all are going to think I am crazy but I had never really had any dates until I was 28 years old and my first date was with my dh! I remember being so sad in high school because I never went to ANY dances, not even my prom! I never even went on one date in college. No I am not joking! After college, I moved to where I live now for a job. It is about 3 hours from where my parents and family lives. I was single, young, and alone. I tried many times after working my current job for a year to find another job to go to to move closer to my family so I could be happier. Everyone of them turned out to be a dead end. I would not know until later why I was suppose to stay here. That later came in September of that same year I had been trying to leave this area. I met this guy at church through single activities we had through our church. He was a really shy guy, but I felt something every time I went around him, so one day in the parking lot of the church, (I) asked if if he would like to go out sometime. We exchanged numbers and I thought nothing would come from it. Well, he did call and we went out on my first date to a Chinese restaurant. We talked and ate, but that was about it. We had both driven to the restaurant, so afterwards, we just went on our way. I remember writing in my journal that night that I knew he was the person I was suppose to marry. Ironically enough, we never really had another date that we went anywhere. He would come to my apartment and we would watch movies and stuff like that, but we always had serious talks. So in December, yes you read that right after only "seeing" each other for about 2 months in all, (I) asked him to marry me. Well, I did tell him afterwards that he would have to ask me. We were married in early February of the next year and had our first child at the end of that year. So, as you can see, I never really experienced "dating" very much, but my first one led me to the right person. We have been together for 8 years now and we have since had our first child which I talked about, twins and almost four months ago we had our last child. So, I think my first date turned out pretty good! What do you think?