What you have been waiting to see!

Hello!  I bet you never thought you would see a picture again on this blog the way I have been going.  LOL Antonio's friend Edwardo wanted to sell his laptop, and Antonio got it for a real good price so I am back in business again!  I was using Jenna's apple computer but didn't want to be loading or downloading on hers so now that I have my own to work on again, I am a happy camper.  This one is a little jobber, a 12.1 screen, but I like it a lot.  It is a HP Pavillion Entertainment PC and the screen/graphics look beautiful on it.  The first thing I did after I loaded my pics on it was to choose one of Mason as a background.  He looks so cute.  It has tons of memory, 4G and a 500 Hard drive, so I won't need an external hard drive while working with this one.  Or at least for a long time.
I chose these two pictures to put on tonight.  The first one, I was holding Mason at the hospital when he was a day old, and Diana took this picture.  The next one is I took of Jenna and Antonio right before we left for the hospital.  Every time Antonio would come home, or go some where, he always would kiss Jenna and kiss her tummy and say good by or hello to Mason.  Smack, Smack, Smack.  I would tell Jenna that we needed to get a picture of that for Mason's baby book.  Of course she would not be dolled up or something so it ended up getting taken right before we went out the door.  But it sure is a cute picture and will be a nice memory for them all.
Jenna is not feeling so good.  We are not sure if she has a breast infection or the start of one, but she talked to a lactation consultant today and the on call doctor and they told her some things to do that will hopefully help.  She has had the chills, a temp, flu like symptoms, and dry cough.  So she spent most of the day on the couch, as she felt weak and had no energy.  She fed Mason, and I took care of him the rest of the time.  Of course Grandma and Mason didn't mind that.  He is changing so much each day.  He is extremely alert when he is awake, and is very strong.  Antonio and I went to Aldi's after he got off of work and bought some groceries.  He made Empanda's tonight which were delicious.  Quite a long process, it takes several hours to make them.  I told him that he should make something easy if he wanted to cook, as he did not get much sleep last night and had worked all day but he wouldn't hear of it.  He loves to cook, it is his passion (as he says).  He can't comprehend why I don't like to cook any more.  I tried to explain that I would rather be sewing or stamping, those are my passions. 
We were suppose to have 2 batches of company tonight but they decided to cancel both of them because of Jenna not feeling well which I was happy about although I know both sets of people and they are very nice.  It just wasn't the right time today.  I think her dad and Heather are coming tomorrow.  We will see how she is doing tomorrow.
Grandma had her first "real" photo session with Mason today.  I ended up keeping 58 pictures that I took and he did so well during it.  Jenna had just fed him, and after I had got him burped good,  I started shooting.  I got some really cute photo's.
I also wanted to tell you that if you are a stamper, you might want to check out the clearance rack at Stampin' UP! right now as they have some really good deals on retired card stock, etc.  Check it out!
Have a good weekend!  Elaine

A good nights sleep!

Grandma got a good nights sleep last night and so did everyone else.  I was up in the middle of the night to go to the bathroom and all was quiet, and the same thing when I got up again in the early morning hours to see if I needed to help.  When I got up at 10:30, daddy was holding the baby in the living room and Jenna was getting ready.  Everyone said the baby had a good night and that they were going to go shopping with the baby.  They were all smiles and excited about their first family outing with the baby.  I got Mason all decked out in the clothes that Jenna had all picked out for him and he looks adorable.  He wasn't a happy camper during the diaper change and putting all the clothes on, but once Grammy lifted him off the changing table and into her arms, he snuggled right in and fell to sleep.  He is such a good boy.  His eye coloring is changing.  They were grey when he was born, looked blue a few days ago, and were brown this morning so I am guessing he will have brown eyes.  His skin is a beautiful olive color.  He looks just like Antonio according to everyone, but I can see a little bit of Jenna when she was a baby.  I think he has her mouth and the shape of her eyelids when they are closed.  Antonio is so funny, he wants everything of Mason to be just like him, except that he wanted him to have blue eyes.  He was asking me last night when we would know what his eye coloring would be and I told him in a few months.  He thinks the woman will just love Mason with blue eyes and olive skin as that is unusal.  We laugh, you have to know Antonio and his theories!  Someone said at the restaurant the other day that he didn't have his dad's eyelashes and Antonio said that was because he had burnt his (Antonio's) eyelashs on the grill sauteing with a saute pan.  Jenna and I find that quite funny.  Silly guy.
Any who, I'd better go take a shower in case the landlord and plumber decide to come and fix the new plumbing problems.  I am sure they would love to see me in my red hershey kisses pajama bottoms and my WI tshirt!  We currently have a bucket under the kitchen sink, one base cabinet is tore out and is sitting in the middle of the kitchen, and 3 drawers are stacked on the kitchen counter.  Not very good for cooking that is for sure or doing much of anything in there.  Have a great day!  Elaine

Another day in baby paradise

Good evening or should I say morning...as it is five minutes to twelve right now and I should be in bed.  I am very tired although I had an hour nap late this afternoon.  But have been helping out with the baby the past couple of nights so the kids could get some sleep.  So I am short a bunch of hours.  He is growing fast, eating so good and sleeping better.  My little angel. 
We had a good report at the doctor's office yesterday.  Mason has almost gained back his birth weight and they normally don't do that until they are two weeks old when they are being breastfed.  So we were happy to hear that.  He is doing everything else that he is suppose to be doing and did not have to have another Bilirubin test so mama was happy about that!  We went to Antonio's Olive Garden yesterday to take in some paper work that Jenna needed to turn in about her hospital stay, and so that the staff there could see Mason, and  soTammy could too, the boss over the region.  She adored Mason along with everyone else and he was quiet as a mouse again.  He wasn't too thrilled about being undressed etc at the doctor's appointment but was great the rest of the day.  After Antonio was off work, we went to Red Lobster for dinner.  Antonio really wanted to go there and to celebrate Mason's being one week old.  We had a really nice dinner, and then headed home.  Tonight, Antonio's brother, wife and 2 children were here to see Mason.  Mason slept in Marta's arms most of the night, and of course charmed them.  I taught little Belinda, here is the church, here is the steeple, open the door and see all the people, with her hands and she thought that was pretty cool.  Sorry I haven't been on the computer much, it has been nutso.  And tomorrow we are expecting two batches of company, so it shall be busy again.  I will probably sleep for days after I get home.  I plan on coming home on Tuesday.  It makes me cry already to think of leaving Mason.  When I talked to Jenna about this tonight, she said "Mom, this isn't the last time you are going to get to see Mason".  Then she told me how Hanna, who had her little girl this past week, lives in Florida.  Think how they must feel mom to have Hanna that far away.  So in comparison, Milwaukee is only a stones throw away.
Well, I'd better scat!  Elaine

Babyland

Hello-  I am going to try to get a quick post in before I watch Mason so Jenna can get a nap in.  He is such a little joy, and really keeps us hopping.  He is very alert at times and we are all just loving that.  His face making just fascinates us.  I am loving having this special time with him.  Last night was the first night that Mommy would let me help in the middle of the night.  Funny how when they get exhausted enough, they let you help!  Hee hee!  So the calvary arrived at 2 am.  He is breast feeding and she is letting him have an occasional bottle so Grandma fed him and got him to sleep a few hours.  I read one of Jenna's baby books while sitting in there watching him sleep and he is doing everything he is suppose to be doing in the first month which I thought already but it was a good review.  I tried to go to Aldi's and Walgreens early in the morning but neither  were open yet so I came home, helped with baby cakes a bit and then hit the hay and slept till about noon.  Two hours of sleep just wasn't cutting it and Grandma was zombie like by the time she hit the hay.  This afternoon I watched him so Jenna could take a shower and Diana and I got some things done around here and also played with Mason.  We also took a bunch of pictures of him.  I headed out around 3 and went to Walgreens to pick up one of my prescriptions, put gas in the van, and went grocery shopping at Aldi's for Jenna.  After I got all the groceries put away, and had helped some with Mason, I made us some peanut butter and jelly sandwiches while Mommy fed him, and then I took another nap as I was dragging.  Diana has went home for the week, and will be back next Monday.  Yesterday, Mason and Mommy had their first outing.  He needed his bilirubin checked, and we went to the doctor's office to do that around noon.  Then we headed over to Jenna's Olive Garden for lunch, and Mason was adored by all of the help.  I fed Mason a bottle there and he was good to go for the rest of the afternoon.  We went to BabysRus and Jenna picked up a bunch of things that she needed.  Diana was in one of her playful moods and Jenna threatened to separate us.  LOL   Mason was good as gold and slept in his car seat through the whole store, and again in the car while we were waiting for Jenna when she ran into Mommyhood.  We got home around 4:30.  He sleeps wonderfully in the car, so that was great.  Some friends of there's were here for supper.  Antonio cooked, and I took care of Mason so they could eat together.  He was kind of fussy but that was to be expected after being good all day.  Antonio is watching him now I guess and they are going to take turns tonight as he doesn't have to work until 11 tomorrow.  So it sounds like I will get to sleep tonight.  He has been very good about helping in the night and when he is home.  Antonio told me the other morning.  I never knew I could be so happy, feel such joy in my heart.  He loves his family dearly.  He didn't see Diana be born or get all this special time with her when she was a baby so this is all new for him.  Jenna is totally in love with Mason too, and calls him her little prince.  And of course Grandma thinks he is the best baby in the whole world.  He knows our voices and turns to look at us when we talk.  I just love that.  We also swear that he is smiling at us already, and Diana thought that Mason was trying to talk back to me when I was talking to him this afternoon.  She was teaching him to stick out his tongue and thought it was awesome that he would imitate her.  The baby book does say to do that as it helps with the breast feeding and making face at them is good bonding.  Well, gotta go, here comes the troops!  Elaine

Sarah and Zach

Sarah and Zach came today around 5 and we spent a few nice hours with them.  It was so good to see them both.  Sarah brought us supper which was really nice.  BBQ, buns, strawberry/banana fruit salad, and sun chips.  Yummy.  I got some nice pictures of the girls together with Sarah holding the baby and then some of just Sarah with the baby.  They brought my mail with them and I spent the last couple of hours going through that and ditching stuff after they left.  I have a nice stack of magazines to read and I plan on looking at a few of them when I go to bed which will be shortly.  Antonio went to bed around an hour ago which is the very earliest I have ever seen him go to bed.  But he said he needs to get up around 2 or so to help with the baby.  He also has to work at 10 tomorrow.  He sure is a trooper with helping Jenna with Mason.  Lots of big changes in this household.  Speaking of Mason, he is being a little chow hound tonight.  He doesn't want to stop to burp, just eat!  I am sure that he will be happy when her milk comes in, which may be tomorrow, hopefully.  I just checked and mother and baby are down for the night, Diana is getting her jammies on under protest.....lol...and I made her turn off the TV, so she put George Lopez on record.  I said she could read for awhile before going to sleep.  She just grabbed Jenna's copy of Eat, Pray, Love and is going to start reading that.  I just heard Mason yelling.  Maybe I should see if she wants me to hold him awhile so she can get some sleep!  Chow!  Me

Bringing the baby home!

Hello-  We just got back to the house from bringing the baby home.  Sarah and Zach are on their way to visit.  Mason has had a tough day today.  He had his circumscion this morning plus 5 pokes in the bottom of his foot for blood work.  He was doing real well when we got to the hospital but had a crying jag before we left.  His very first which alarmed his parents.  It is so fun to watch them.  The world definitely revolves around Mason now.  Ha ha!  I got a good nights sleep last night so am feeling much better today.  Antonio goes back to work tomorrow, and it sounds like we are going to have company both days of the weekend.  The baby has a doctor's appointment on Monday, and Jenna on Wednesday so it sounds like it will be a busy week.  We are all in love with the little guy.  He is just precious!

Mason Antonio Dominguez

Mason Antonio Dominguez arrived Wednesday, August 18th at 10:35pm.  He weighed 7 lbs 14 oz. and is 20 1/2 long.  Both mother and baby are doing fine.  He is absolutely beautiful and we all are joyful!  He has a full head of dark hair, and looks a lot like his daddy.  His skin is very light right now, but that could change.  He has very long fingers and feet, just like Sarah did.  Auntie Sarah is turning inside out and can't wait to come and see him tomorrow after work.

I got home last night about 2;30 am and was exhausted.  I had been up almost 24 hours.  It was a very long day, and very hard to watch my daughter in pain, but everything went well, and the baby did good all day long.  They had Jenna wait while she was at 10 to push for the doctor to come and she told me when I checked on her then that she didn't care as she was exhausted.  She only had to do 4 pushes and he was out so that was great.  Lennard and Heather were here all day too and stayed till it was over, saw everyone for a few minutes after it was done to make sure they were all okay and then they headed home.  Mason is such a little bundle of joy and a very good baby so far.  He lets you know when he doesn't like something but when you stop, he quiets right down by himself.  We all love him so, but as you know, he was very loved before he even arrived.  He is starting to stir right now and mom and dad are both trying to nap a little bit before their celebration dinner so it is more Grandma and Mason time!  He will have his circumcision in the morning tomorrow, and then I will bring them home in the afternoon.   Love, and miss you all!  Elaine

Tomorrow is the big day!

In about 9 hours we will be leaving for the hospital.  We have to be there at 6 am tomorrow.  Jenna is planning on getting up at 4:30.  I told her that I wanted to take a shower too and she told me I could get up before that.  With my new hair cut, it takes me a little over 20 minutes to shower, get dressed, and get hair and makeup done, I love it!  I told her I didn't want to be up for 2 hours waiting for everyone so she said I could take one after her.  Antonio is not a morning person (like me) and he probably won't get up till after 5 I am sure, especially since he is still at work and the restaurant is still crazy, as he just called Jenna.  We are all very excited.  When we dropped Diana off late this afternoon at her mom's, I said to her, next time we see you, you will have a little brother.  She can't wait.
Diana and I worked on the baby's room last night and we put up 2 walls of wall paper border.  Neither one of us had done it before, and they left us unsupervised to do what we wanted.  Much to my surprised we did a pretty good job.  It was prepasted and we dipped it in the bathtub to get it wet.  The directions said we were suppose to have some sort of brush to smooth it out with which we didn't have, and to have a sponge to wipe off excess paste.  So Diana just smoothed it out with a sponge as we were going along.  Our favorite part of the job was putting up the animal decals and making little scenes with them.  We loved that.  And we asked Jenna if she would get more of them, and she agreed to.  So we did the little wall by the changing table and the large wall that you see when you walk into the room.  Before I come home, I will take some pictures.  We will have to work on the other walls another day.  An hour or so after we quit last night, Antonio came into the living room, just a giggling, with his hand over his mouth.  You would have to know him to know how animated he is, he is just contagious.  Everyone loves him.  Anyways, he was giggling away, and said those monkeys are just so cute hanging there.  We didn't know he had been in the room so he took us by surprise.  Jen likes it too but right now she is pretty quiet and doesn't feel much like talking.
Today, I sewed a nursing cover for Jenna and it turned out nice.  It has boning in the front so that it curves outward and you can tilt your head down to see the baby, but you are entirely covered up.  I made it out of a pretty turquoise color with some swirls on it that Jenna picked out.  I will probably make a couple more before I leave but I decided that she should try this one out first and see if she wants any changes made to it.  One thing I am going to change on the next one is that one of the straps for around your neck is way too long.  It doesn't really hurt anything, but it is kind of a waste of fabric, and unnecessary to have something that long hanging down your back.  I also pieced together a birthday bag tonight that I am going to do the embroidery work on while sitting at the hospital tomorrow, that is if I am not sleeping in a chair.  Ha ha.  Many times when Melissa had early doctor's appointments in Madison, I would fall asleep in the waiting room.  I would catch a nice little cat nap and then be good for the rest of the day.  Right now I am waiting for a load of laundry to get done that Jenna started.  She asked me to put them in the dryer when they get done.  Hopefully that won't be that much longer.  I swear that washing machine takes an hour to wash a load of clothes and I am not exgerating!  It does get them really clean though.  Jenna said that they have Wi fi at the hospital so she is bring the laptop along, much to my happiness.  That will make the time go faster for sure.  And I will be able to shoot a blog post and email when baby cakes decides to enter the world.  I sure know that his mother will be happy to have it all over with.  I'd better try and get a little sleep before we leave!  Keep us all in your thoughts and prayers!  Hugs!  Elaine

The official due date

Today is Jenna's official due date but we don't have any signs of labor yet.  I am beginning to think that we may not be going till Wednesday to the hospital.  Little stinker.  Maybe he wants to keep Grammy in Milwaukee as long as he can!

We went to Kmart in the afternoon yesterday so Jenna could pick up a few things.  In the evening we went to Pick n Save and got some groceries.  They will double up to 5 coupons on Saturdays and Wednesday so we each did that.  One of the things I got was a bottle of Pert Plus which was on sale for $2.00 and with the $1.00 coupon doubled, I got it for free!  Yippee!  So I was happy about that.

I have started sewing on another Rag quilt, and Jenna (with glee) found another pair of pants with the hem fallen out, this time they were Antonio's.  So I sewed the hem back up in them while watching an episode of Law and Order.  That is what they watch around here mainly.  Criminal shows or the food network.  They love that too, and sometimes they rent movies.  Antonio would be good on the Food Network as he puts such passion into his cooking and loves to talk about it.  And he is a wonderful cook, and so is Jenna.  I will definitely miss the food when I go back home.

One of Jenna's friends from the Dells is suppose to stop over later this evening.  I am glad.  That will be nice for her.  She doesn't really feel much like going places now so this will be a good distraction.  Di asked me how things were going here yesterday and I said very good, we haven't gotten into any fights.  I asked Jenna later how she felt about it and she thought it was going good too and was glad that I was here.  She said the only thing that is hard is that she is used to being alone more and that I am always "bubbly" and have something to say, and want to talk.  Hee hee....does that sound familiar?  I am used to so much more commotion at home, with the phone ringing, and people stopping over that sometimes it is too quiet around here for me if Diana is with her mother, and Antonio is at work.  Jen and I have done a ton of talking and that is great but right now we are kind of caught up on things, and she has been more tired out.  So I try and give her space.  Any whoo...I am rambling...and might as well ramble my way back to the sewing machine!  Have a good night!  Me

Eat, Pray, Love

Good Morning!  Last night, Jenna and I went to see the movie Eat, Sleep, Love at the Rosebud Theater near  Cranky Al's bakery.  I have never seen anything like this theater.  It was a really cool experience.  Can you tell I love new adventures in the city?  They had a collection of old lunch boxes and Batman items in the lobby.  You can also order meals and they deliver them to your seat!   Plus you can order drinks, Margarita's, beers, etc.  And guess what the seats are???? Love seats with little tables in between them!  Pretty cool!  We had soda and popcorn and you can choose what kind of topper you wish to put on it and Jenna chose to put a Parmesan Garlic topping on it which was yummy.  The movie was fantastic.  We loved it.  I cried through half of it, but I am such a mush.  I told Jenna that I am kind of like a sponge and I can feel other people's emotions, joy and pain,  so I had a wet face most of the time.  I could also relate to a lot of the movie.  It shares a lot of life lessons, too many for me to all list, but a big one is the need to forgive one's self for mistakes you have made in the past, let them go, start over, and let love in your heart so you can give love to others.  That is all I am going to tell you...don't want to spoil it for you, just in case you want to go see it!  We decided that we needed to buy the book and read that after we got out of the movie, so we buzzed over to Barnes and Noble to get that.  We had supper after we got home and Jenna started reading her copy but I was kind of emotionally exhausted and went to bed.  Being gone for a month has been like a sabbatical for me from my life and I have been doing a lot of thinking.  So I went to bed to pray, and zonked out!  Have a great weekend!  Love, Elaine

Counting Down

Good Morning!  Not much new here.  We are still waiting for babycakes.  Yesterday we made a second run to Cranky Al's Bakery around 8am and we were able to get the famous "Crawlers".  The day before we had went around 11 and they were out already but we enjoyed the donuts!  It is a cute place and I took a bunch of pictures of it.  I will load them up when I get home and on my own computer.  I love old buildings and was observing the window sill as it had cool slants in the front windows and the building had great windows that would be good for displaying although they were pretty narrow.  I do miss doing window displays.  I loved doing them when I was in a remission, but when I was in a flare, I hated having to ask other people to carry and move everything for me.  That is one thing I have problems with on good days or bad days, it is really painful to walk and carry anything any distance.  I always take a shopping cart if they are available because walking and carrying a purse around is too much.  Any who....the Crawlers are like a cake donut and they over fry them a bit they told us and they have buttercream in them.  I had a bite of Jenna's and it was good.  Really unusual.  I chose an apple fritter yesterday and it was delish!  We tried to go to a beautiful historical home that the historical society has in Wauwatosa.  There were a couple of ladies there working but we missed the tours, I guess they were open last weekend.  It is going to be open again October 2nd, and again at Christmas time so we are hoping to go to see it then.  I took some pictures from the outside and it is amazing.  I can't wait to see the inside.  Otherwise we have been home pretty much the last few days.  I hemmed a curtain in the kitchen, and the last pair (I hope!) of Jenna's pants.  I need to make her nursing covers yet, I haven't got that done.  She was very uncomfortable in the evening last night, we finally got enough pillows around her back and feet up on a chair.  She was crabby before she went to bed and was mad at herself for being so.  She has been in such a good mood, and good natured about it all.  I almost expected that we would go in the night, but as you can see, we are still here.  They are still sleeping and I am up.  Yesterday was the only day that her doctor wasn't going to be there, and another doctor was on call so I am glad that she will now have her regular doctor when we do go.  Her doctor thought she would go into labor by the weekend if she kept doing what she was.  So hopefully soon.  I am getting really antsy the past few days.  I am ready to hold that baby for a few weeks and then get home.  I am missing it, everyone, and stamping.  But once the baby get's here, I probably won't want to come home.  Right now I am just restless.  I told Jenna last night that today we need to get out for awhile so that she has a distraction.  So we may do a little shopping today.  Have a good one!  Me

My little witch doctor.....

The water in the bathroom is hooked up again.  They got the drain in and will be back on Thursday to do the tub faucets.  Meanwhile, Jenna and Antonio got back from the doctor's office and grocery shopping.  To back up a bit, yesterday one of Jenna's friends sent her some recipes that she received at a birthing class that are suppose to induce labor.  One of them is an Eggplant Parmesan dish.  Jenna talked to her doctor about this and her doctor told her that when she was pregnant she had ate this, finished up the left overs the next day and went into labor.  Also that Cranky Al from Cranky Al's bakery claims that women go into labor after eating his Crawlers (some sort of donut).  I guess that quite a few of her patients have ate them and went into labor with in 24 to 48 hours, she did not know if they really worked or not but that is what some of them had told her.  Other doctor news is that she is back to being dilated a 1 for real, the baby is in the negative one position (crowning is a 5), the baby is in normal weight range, 7 to 8 1/2 pounds, there is some protein now in her urine that hasn't been there before but her doctor doesn't seem to be concerned about it, and if she doesn't go into labor naturally, she will be induced on Wednesday the 18th at 6:30 in the morning.  In the mean time....my little witch doctor had headed straight for the bakery but it had already closed for the day, so I have been informed that we are going there for breakfast tomorrow.  She is in the kitchen brewing up the Eggplant dish and is also going to bake the Spicy Ginger cookies that are suppose to help too.  I was out there helping until there wasn't anything more for me to do.  The eggplant is layered on paper towels and I put a cutting board on top of it per Jenna's request so that it gets the excess moisture out.  She was putting fresh rosemary and basil in the pot of sauce and adding "extra" for good measure.  She said she felt like she was a little witch, brewing up a magic potion.  I said I was just thinking the same thing!  I told her that when he comes out looking like a Hot Tamali....that I was going to take a picture and tell him that his mother did this to him.  LOL  Keep your finger's crossed (and prayers up) that this works.  She wants to have him naturally and not be induced.  I like the idea of knowing "when" we will go, but I was induced with her and it was terrible so I really don't want her to have to go through that.
Until more happens on As the World,  I mean Baby turns.......!!!!!!!

Party Hearty Card

This is a card I made as a sample for last months party with the stamp set Party Hearty.  As you can see it is a very versatile set.

Hello!  I decided to write a quick post while the house is quiet.  Well it sort of is....Jenna and Antonio are at her doctor's appointment right now.  The landlord and a plumber are here right now and have the bathroom tub tore apart.  I sure hope they get it put back together soon.

 The kids went to a breast feeding class last night.  She gave Mason his eviction notice again last night but so far he is not listening.   She has loved being pregnant but now wants to hold her baby.  Her due date is this Sunday, so we shouldn't have much longer to wait.  I went to Barnes and Noble last night and got a new planner.  I hope to get better organized (if that is possible).  I got all the stamping events, birthdays, etc wrote in it last night.  It is a very nice one, it has to do lists in it, grocery lists, little stickers, all sorts of places to keep track of information, make plans, and keep notes.  This should eliminate all the different note pads I have going at home I think as to who has RSVP'd to a party,  special orders I need to do, etc.  It will be my "go to" book for everything as I am entering everything in it.  This time I went to the Barnes and Noble at Mayfair Mall.  I was so proud of myself to get their with no wrong turns etc.  I am actually getting so I can navigate by myself around here.  Love it!

I am clipping away on my rag quilt  I only have a row and a half to finish so that will be done shortly.  I folded up a couple of baskets of laundry this morning for Jenna and I tried out the "how to fold a fitted sheet" from the "How to Sew on a Button" book.  Jenna read some more of it this morning and loves the book.  She said she wants one.  They have a whole section in it about cleaning with vinegar and water and she really liked that idea that you wouldn't have to buy so many cleaning products and not having all the chemicals around.

I put together the baby monitor/TV on Sunday and got that all attached to the crib.  I also did some more mending for Jenna, and put a sleeve on the back of the baby quilt that matches the crib bedding as we decided that it would look cute on the wall above the crib.  We also painted wood letters chocolate brown that spell out MASON.  After we pick up some hangers for them, we will be able to get those hung up.  The last of the baby clothes have been washed and put away, and the batteries are in the swing for the mobile.  That still needs to be hauled out to the living room.  I was going to attempt to do it but Diana told me not to as it will need to be taken apart to get it through the bedroom door where it is sitting now.  She says her dad needs to do it.  It sounded like it was quite a project getting it in there.  I was glad for the warning!  It is quiet with out her around.  She spends this week with her mother.  She is actually pretty quiet for a 12 year old most of the time, unless she gets in a silly mood, then look out.  Or if I take her some where and it is just the two of us, then she will talk my arm off.

I talked to Lady Di this afternoon and it sounds like the party went good last night at her house.  I am really starting to miss my stamping stuff and am itching to do some stamping. You probably won't be able to get me out of the stamping cave once I get home!!!  And I am sure that the cats will try and keep me "locked in the house" so I don't go any where for a long time!  Have a great day!  Elaine

Where do the days go?

I just looked and the last time I posted was on Friday.  Where do the days go?  On Saturday, Jenna and Antonio spent all day at a birthing class.  Diana and I hung around here most of the day.  I put up the new light switch in the baby's room.  It is so cute with all the jungle animals on it.  I also was working on my rag quilt and I finished sewing that yesterday.  So now all it needs is to be clipped.  Diana and I went to Michaels and looked around there for awhile.  I found the picket fence punch that I have been looking for, and used a 40% off coupon on it.  So I am happy about that.  We also went to the library and Diana checked out 3 more books in the series she is reading.  I found a Scrapbooking Baby book for Jenna which she has been enjoying and I also found a book that I had seen at Barnes and Nobles one day, so I checked that one out too.  It is called How to Sew a Button, And other nifty things your grandmother knew by Erin Bried.  If you have kids just starting out on their own, or need a shower gift for someone, this would make a great gift.  I read it on Saturday night and now Jenna is reading it and she thinks it is a great book too and would make a good gift.  Saturday night had me a little blue, and homesick for home, but I am okay again. I have not been gone this long from Mayberry for 30 years, so this is a big change for me, but I am enjoying my time here, and will probably be very sad to leave when it is time to go home.  And I am sure I will not want to leave the baby!  I will definitely be back here in October, as my friend Colleen from Oregon will be flying in on October 5th and will fly out again on October 20th.  So I will get lots of baby time in October as I will probably come early and stay a few days and stay again when I take her back to the airport.  That's the plan at this point anyways.
Jenna just blew a fuse and the refrigerator is out so I am headed uptown to find some fuses.  I will write more later!  Love, Elaine

Party Hearty

Hello!  This is a card I made for a sample for last month's stamping party with the stamp set Party Hearty.  I like this set a lot.  It is so versatile.  The pendants are actually the party hats stamped with out the tassle on them, then cut out, and flipped upside down, and hung on some pink crochet cotton.  

Yesterday we spent most of the day running around in the car.  We went to pick up a friend of Antonio's so that he could work on Antonio's car.  We also had to take him to pickup his tool bag out of his wife's car, and then made a couple of trips to salvage yards, he fixed the car, and then we took him back home again.  By that time it was time for Antonio to get off work and we went to Pick and Save and then home for the night.  A busy day.  The State Fair is on now and we are not that far from it so when you go up to Greenfield Ave to go anywhere now, the traffic is pretty busy, as that is the State Fair park exit.  I was up town this morning to pick up a loaf a bread and get gas.  Pretty crazy out there.  I think I will stay in and sew!  I just finished reading a book on how to set up your quilting space and it has a lot of pictures of sewing rooms.  I wrote down a few notes of a few changes that I want to make my room work more efficiently and I wrote down what size plastic rulers to use when folding fabric.  It was an interesting book.  

Jenna's swelling is really starting to come down and her feet are looking more normal all the time.  I think that I forgot to tell you that when she was at her appointment on Tuesday that the doctor did not think that the baby would drop any more based on where his butt and head are located.  The doctor also thinks that she will have an 8lb. baby.  Zach's prediction is on the 12th, and Kelly Madero think it will be on the 9th.  Diana wants it to be before she goes back to her mom's on Monday.  So we will see.  Hopefully it will be soon!  Hugs!   Elaine

I

Still awaiting....

Good Morning,
I thought I would try to get a quick post in before we head out the door.  I just finished my shower.  I love my new wash and wear haircut.  It is so fast and so much cooler.  I have pretty thick hair and when I remember to get a shorter hairdo in the summer, it feels so much better!  Jenna is in the shower now and we are headed to pick up a friend of Antonio's to work on his car today.  Antonio had to start work at 7 this morning, and Diana is trying to wake up.  She sure was in a silly mood last night.  We were fighting and playing around like sisters last night.  I took her for a walk after supper and she chattered all  way and appeared to wind down, but shortly after we were back home she was at it again.  Guess she needed to let off some steam.  I was working on rag quilt squares yesterday and we went to church in the evening.  They have mid week Wed. services in the summer which are casual and quite different but it was very moving and I enjoyed it a lot.  We made a trip to Aldi's afterwards before heading home to have supper.  I definitely want to do some grocery shopping at Aldi's before I come home.  They have some very good deals and Jenna loves the food from there.
Edith talked to Antonio's mother last week on the phone.  She has delivered a lot of babies in Mexico and she told Edith that when the swelling goes down in Jenna's feet for a couple of days, then she will have the baby.  It seems to be going down the last few days, kind of back and forth.  But I just looked at her feet and they look the best they have looked this morning.  Maybe the baby will come soon.  You would not believe the size her feet and calves have been.  I truly believe that her feet have been 4 times her normal size.  She calls her toes little pork sausages.  It amazes me that she can walk on them and that they don't bother her more.  She is tired and uncomfortable now and ready for the baby to arrive.  She gave Mason his eviction notice last night and told him that there is no more room for him in there any more and that he needs to get out.  LOL  Diana also was telling me things "that Mason told her", apparently Mason has a cell phone and they talk, LOL  One of the things she told me that Mason said is that I have to share the brownies, that I live with other people now and not by myself....lol  We had been joking earlier that we would have brownie sundaes last night but we were too full from supper.  I said that I would have just had the brownie sundae for supper.  LOL  Diana laughed at supper when I said that and she said that she likes how I think.  :-)
 Hannah Fritz is due around the same time as Jenna, (the 12th) and she did not get good news at the doctor's this week either.  They always are comparing notes...lol  It is funny that their babies are due around the same time.  As my babies were due the same time as class mates too.  Betty Russell was in my class and we were both due around the 23rd of March.  I think that is when Nick was born, Jenna was early and came the 9th.  Linda Wormet and I were both due the same weekend with Sarah and Brianna.  Brianna was born April 2 and Sarah April 3.  And when Jenna was born, Debbie (Collins) Warren was in the same hospital room as me when she had Danielle, and her sister Pam and I had been friends all growing up.  Weird how things work out.  I am excited about the baby coming but am nervous too and keep praying all will go well.  I really just wish the stork would leave the baby in a basket on the door step, Jenna would just be "unpregnant".  The not knowing "when" it is going to happen is hard.  They are signed up for a birthing class on Saturday and a breastfeeding class on Monday.  It will be interesting to see if she makes it that long.  Keep us all in your thoughts and prayers!!!  Hugs!  Elaine

A good feeling...

Good Morning!  I am writing to you in the wee hours of the morning, it seems to be the best time to get a blog post done.  On Sunday morning, I took Antonio to work and he wanted to stop at El Ray's, a mexican grocery store, as on Sunday's he brings in Mexican food to work, which every one loves, and they all chip in to pay for it.  On the way there, I got to see Miller Park, which I had never seen before, quite impressive. I didn't go into El Ray's this time, I just waited in the van as I want to go in there when I have time to look around and Antonio was just making a quick trip in there.  But it was quite interesting sitting outside and watching things.  As I told Jenna, learning about the Mexican community is a whole new world for me at times.  She said she felt like that at first too.  The windows were completely papered with advertisements written in Spanish that were quite colorful.  A police officer was standing outside the door, just like they are outside of so many stores in Milwaukee.  A vendor pulled up with a van and was unloading a food cart and I was watching him set that all up.  I found out later from Jenna that the van on the other side of the parking lot is where Antonio gets these fantastic sandwiches that he brings home for us.  I haven't had one for a long time but they are huge, and very good.  I love them.   I was asking Jenna about the grocery store later and she says their is even a restaurant in there, a place to get cell phones, pay your dish bill, all kinds of stuff like that as she says that the mexican's don't know how or where to go for those things when they first arrive here.  Interesting.  After I dropped him off at work, I went to the USA Family Thrift store and dropped off the stuff in the van that I had tried to get rid of the day before.  That thrift store is interesting as they have sheets of peg board up high all over the store that have Barbie dolls attached to them, and none of them are for sale.  All different kinds of dolls with different outfits on them.  There must be thousands of them as when I was waiting for the store to open, I roughly counted the ones in the front windows and their were almost two hundred just in the front windows.  It would be interesting to know what the total was, but they probably don't even know as you can tell that they keep adding them where their are empty spots, here and there.  I found a real cute Winnie the Pooh puppet there for Mason for a dollar.  It is sitting in the rocking chair in his room awaiting his arrival.  I made a quick stop at Good Will and then headed home to a wonderful lunch that Jenna had prepared.  Between the two of them....they sure can cook!  We headed to Joann Fabrics after lunch and we had a lot of fun poking around in there.  Jenna found a scrapbook and paper for the baby, along with some other stuff, and yesterday I worked on getting some pages started for her so that all she has to do is drop in the pictures.  In the evening Diana and Jenna worked along with me on their own scrapbooks and we finally called it a day around ten pm.  I fell asleep reading Oprah's magazine while they were watching TV.  Oh speaking of TV, Jenna and I watched a funny movie one night called It's Complicated.   And the night before, we caught the tale end of Home Alone 2 and we laughed so hard we thought we were going to pee our pants!  My girls had those videos, in fact, Jenna put them in a box to send home with me as they don't have a VCR any more.  The girls would watch those movies over and over again, and laugh their hearts out.  We are having some very fun times here....times that I will always treasure!  Have a wonderful day!  Elaine

Cookout

Good Morning-
I hope this finds you all well.  Yesterday we kind of had a lazy day.  Jenna and I were to go up town to run some errands, but we ended up talking for hours and finally went up town about three thirty!  We had hoped to drop off the clothes they have been cleaning out of closets at a thrift shop but when we got there, they were no longer accepting donations for the day.  Go figure!  So I guess I will have to go back another day.  ;-)  But the store was open and we spent some time in their.  Jenna thought it was kind of a weird store.  It was my second time there and I kind of like it.  I just found a bag with pink felt in in it and some off white, this trip, but it was a lot of felt for very cheap.  Jenna got a bunch of disney books for the baby, a cute little bag sleeper with ducks on it and a couple of little pair of pants.  She still needs some more crib sheets as she only has two but I have not been able to find any more so far.  Hopefully we will find some in our travels soon.  We did find a boppy cover the other day.  Her friend Kelly is going to let her use hers.  It is a nice fleece that zippers around the pillow.  After we washed it one of the seams had come open so guess who had another mending job, but that was a quick one.  We made a stop at Walgreens so I could pick up my prescription, and we got some other things before heading home to do a quick clean up of the house before the cookout.   I did sew a market bag on Friday that I should take some pictures of to show you all.  It turned out cute, and was fairly easy to make, and I think I will make them to sell as everyone is into using cloth bags so that they don't have to use plastic ones now.  I really saw that a lot at the flea market this summer, and Jenna is really into that.  An attempt that people are making to Go Green.  Any whoo...this one has a tie on the side of the bag and folds up very small so that you can throw it (or several) right in your purse.  Very handy.  I will have to talk to Jen to see if it is okay if I load some pictures on her computer to show you it as I have to use hers these days.  I did call Dell yesterday again, and got a different operator who told me that I will definitely have to replace the motherboard as the DC jack is attached to it.  Quite the rip off I think.  Any way the guy I talked to is going to see if they have any cheaper parts and is suppose to email me today, and call.  I did a hunt on line and have found them much cheaper, and we will see what Edwardo comes up with as he wants the information so that he can look too.  I am not sure if Antonio talked to him last night about it or not.  Antonio tends to have a lot of phone calls so I never know who he is talking to.  He has a lot of friends that like to text or call (kind of like me at home, hee hee!)  Jenna isn't much for talking on the phone (she says, except for me, and I am here).  We had a little cookout here last night with his other brother (do not ask me to spell his name!), sister-in-law Marta, nephew Jordan, niece Belinda, and friend Freddy.  I had a lot of fun with the kids, and even won little Belinda over who is quite shy.  We all had a good time.  Well, I think I will head back to bed for some more zzzzz's!!!  Have a great Sunday!  Me