Emma Kaye's Days

New Name. New Face.

Emmy's Mom — Mon, 20 Sep 2010 02:03:03 +0000

Had to make a few changes in the blogging world. Emma Kaye’s Days was not longer appropriate for this family of four, so check out my new blog Merit Badge Mom. Be sure to change your bookmarks. Because I KNOW you all have it bookmarked

May I present . . . Winn Bender Slaton

Emmy's Mom — Sat, 31 Jul 2010 03:20:23 +0000

Ok, so I’ve been putting this off partly because I haven’t had much chance to sit down and write AND because I’ve had a hard time writing about Winn on a blog named “Emma Kaye’s Days.” We’re working on merging things to a more family friendly blog, but until then, bear with me.

He’s here. Our much anticipated son arrived early last Thursday morning, July 22nd. It all happened SO fast that we’ve had a hard time wrapping our mind around the fact that the tiny guy that was in my belly just over a week ago has now joined us for good! If you’ve been around me much the past month or so, you know that I’ve had crazy contractions A LOT. Apparently I take after my mom I’m pretty sure that a few ladies at a baby shower I was at three weeks ago thought I was going to go into labor any minute. Lots of contractions are great in that when the “real deal” comes, you’re further along than most. But they also make it a little more difficult to tell when it’s actually the “real deal”. I went to bed last Tuesday and had pretty strong contractions sporadically all night, strong enough to wake me up but not really painful. They continued the next morning and felt a little different. Stronger, a little more intense. Em and I met up with friends to see Jonah: A Veggie Tales Movie at the theater. Emma’s first real movie! We came home, had some lunch, took a nap, and then decided to go to the pool before having dinner with Jacob’s parents. I remember telling Jacob, “This could be our last trip to the pool.” We had a great time as usual and then headed across the street for dinner with the in-laws. All this time I had still been having random contractions. During dinner, though, things changed a little. They started coming closer together and I remember having to take a deep breath a few times. We started timing them and they were a consistent ten minutes apart. We left their house around 8pm and the contractions stayed ten minutes apart until about 9:30pm. Then they slowed down again. Twenty minutes. Then thirty. We decided to go to bed. Jacob dropped off to sleep right away, but of course as soon as I laid down and got comfortable, they started up again. Ten minutes, eight, then seven minutes apart. I think I dozed off a few times in between contractions, but finally about 1am, I woke Jacob up. They were coming quicker and were definitely more intense. I couldn’t keep lying down. Jacob kept asking me if I thought this was it, and it’s in that moment that you just don’t know. My water hadn’t broken, they had slowed down once before, and here it was the middle of the night. We both finally decided to call Cora, my doula, and she said she’d come on over. At that point, we were pretty sure active labor had begun. I mean, I was on all fours at times, breathing through contractions. So Jacob called his mom to tell her to come over and stay with Em. By the time Cora got to the house, contractions were about seven minutes apart. She helped me labor for 15-20 minutes and then decided she should check me. I was 6-7 cm and we decided to go ahead and leave for the hospital as soon as Linda got there. I had four contractions on the way to Baptist and three more on the walk in. AND, I was having the urge to push. I kind of freaked out at one point thinking I was going to have that baby in the car! By the time they got me in the room (2:50 am) the contractions were practically coming on top of each other. They got me settled in and called the doctor. All the while, I was fighting the urge to push. I don’t think the nurse took me seriously until she checked me and I was complete!! That was when they realized it was go time. We weren’t sure if the doc was going to make it or not but he did. He broke my water and I began really pushing. It took a while to find a position that was comfortable. I ended up on my knees with my arms draped over the head of the bed. After twenty minutes of intense pushing, baby Winn came into this world! The time was 3:43 am. And all I could think about at first was the pure relief of having birthed my baby boy – and once again, totally naturally – no epidural, no drugs, no painkillers! I finally managed to turn around and there he was, all purple and perfect! He weighed 6 lbs. 12 oz. and was 20 inches long (the exact same weight and length as Em!) What a roller coaster. What a blessing!

Emmy in a Puddle

Emmy's Mom — Thu, 15 Jul 2010 01:31:51 +0000

Thank you Jacob Slaton Photography

Trolley ride, here we come!

Emmy's Mom — Sun, 11 Jul 2010 00:22:38 +0000

I bet that most of you don’t know that Emma LOVES trolleys. And buses, trucks, tractors, airplanes, trains. You get the picture. I don’t really know where her affection for modes of transportation came from, but I guess she’s got one thing going for getting ready to have a little brother! Trolleys definitely top the list. Every time we go downtown, we look for the trolley. And we’ve even gotten lucky enough to ride one around the neighborhood a time or two.

Enter the potty training challenge. We’ve had a major regression in that department the past few weeks. Chalk it up to lazy parents, temper tantrums over sitting on the potty, and the fact that I’m on the verge of giving birth (did you forget?!). It was suddenly taking a backseat to everything else that’s been going on. Until a few days ago. The awesome discipline class we’re taking re-energized Jacob and I to get the job done. So I came home, made a sticker chart with the final reward being . . . a trolley ride downtown!! Guess who IMMEDIATELY got on board (pardon the pun)?! Here’s a shot of our progress since Wednesday.

She’s even gotten a few bonus stickers for staying dry overnight and going potty while we’re out. The biggest problem we’ve had is deciding which sticker to pick! I’d say that’s a pretty good problem to have

Kids say the darndest things

Emmy's Mom — Tue, 08 Jun 2010 03:01:41 +0000

Mommy: “You know Em, Winn is going to be here before long. We’re going to get to hold him and kiss him. He’s going to come out of Mommy’s belly in just a few weeks.”

Emma: “Owwww, Mommy, that hurts!”

Mommy: “Emma, put your hand here. You can feel Winn’s foot. Oh, and look, there’s Winn’s booty. Feel Winn’s booty!”

Emma: “Eeewwwww! Winn’s booty is stanky, stanky!”

The “Doss” Clan

Emmy's Mom — Fri, 04 Jun 2010 01:53:50 +0000

I just know my readership has been wondering where I’ve been the last two weeks. Ha! I’m feeling a little overwhelmed these days about all that needs to be done before Winn makes an appearance. If you walked in to our house, there is very little evidence that we will be having a baby next month! Yikes! And in the midst of that, my sister got married this last weekend. So Em and I were on the road for a week, doing fun wedding stuff. I’m so glad we got to be there in the days leading up to the big event. There was so much to be done and lots of fun to be had. And it goes without saying that Misha nabbed herself a pretty great guy! We managed to get a family picture before we left, and it really hit me that my parents’ family is growing! Five has become eight, almost nine. And that makes me happy

You’re lucky I still like you

Emmy's Mom — Mon, 17 May 2010 13:27:03 +0000

So that was a bust. The recipe roundup did not come through for me like I had hoped. Thanks to Amy for providing me with at least one new idea that I will be trying after our next trip to the farmer’s market. In the meantime, I am feeling forgiving this morning and thought I’d let you in on a secret yummy muffin recipe. Emma and I have been eating a TON of strawberries lately. Fresh from the farmer’s market strawberries are really hard to beat and we’ve been flying through them. I pulled the remains out of the fridge this morning trying to decide what to do with the slightly bruised ones on the bottom and remembered a recipe I haven’t made in a while. Perfect for such a time as this! So folks, may I present to you . . .

Melt In Your Mouth Strawberry Muffins

1 c flour

1 c whole wheat flour

1/2 c sugar

1 1/2 tsp baking soda

2 eggs

1 c organic yogurt

1/4 c melted butter, cooled

1 tsp vanilla

1 c chopped strawberries

Preheat oven to 375. In bowl, mix flours, sugar and baking soda. In another bowl mix egss, yogurt, butter and vanilla. Toss strawberries in flour mixture. Then add yogurt mixture and stir just until combined. Spoon batter into greased muffin tin and bake for 20-25 minutes or until golden brown.

As Emma would say, “Mmm, mmm, goooed!”

Recipe Roundup

Emmy's Mom — Fri, 14 May 2010 02:25:13 +0000

I’m in a funk folks. A food funk, at least. The last thing I’ve wanted to do lately is cook, and this coming from someone who loves to cook I’m blaming half of it on pregnancy and the other half on that fact that Jacob and I seem to be running in opposite directions most evenings of the week. So help a girl out please! I need some new, easy, weeknight recipes. Leave a comment with your ideas!!

In the meantime, I’ll share one of my favorite summertime meals with you:

Mediterranean Couscous (I’m typing this from memory so . . .)

1 box pine nut Far East couscous

1 1/4 c chicken broth

1-2 Tbsp chopped fresh basil

1/4 c feta cheese

freshly squeezed lemon juice to taste

1/2 c halved grape tomatoes

cooked chopped chicken

Heat chicken broth and seasoning packet from couscous in the microwave until boiling. In a large heatproof bowl, combine couscous and boiling broth. Cover bowl and let stand for five minutes. After couscous has absorbed all the liquid, fluff it with a fork and add remaining ingredients. And that’s it. Delicious served with a good salad and some crusty bread. Good for you too!

Sneak Peek

Emmy's Mom — Wed, 05 May 2010 03:24:12 +0000

That’s right. I’ve hit my third trimester, and along with the full-time heartburn and return of the sleepies, I am suddenly feeling the urgency to get the kiddo’s rooms squared away. “Kiddos.” Wow, we are soon to have multiples! And it’s the multiples thing that’s making it a little harder this time around. When you’re pregnant with your first child, you have the freedom to run around making plans. It’s easy to store hop and spend an entire Saturday getting ideas. Not quite as easy when you have a toddler in tow. Not to mention TWO rooms to decorate! So I’ve resorted to spending endless hours in the evenings looking for the perfect bedding online. And were I able (or even wanted to) spend $300-$500 a pop, I could have had this decided some time ago. But I’ve had it in my head that I wanted to make a quilt and bed skirt for Emma using scraps from an awesome old coverlet I found at a flea market a few months ago. This prompted the search for the perfect coordinating fabrics. Of course, if I’m going to make Emma’s bedding, I would have to make something for Winn, and just like that, hours of my life have disappeared searching Fabricworm and the likes. Thank goodness that has all ended because I just bought a fabric bundle that I LOVE for Emma’s room and will be doing the same for Winn’s shortly. You’ll have to wait a bit to see the finished products, but here’s a sneak peek…

For Emma ...

For Winn ...

And again ...

From the mouth of babes

Emmy's Mom — Sat, 01 May 2010 01:43:12 +0000

Em and I were on our way home from the grocery store yesterday when she started talking about the flowers we had stopped to smell on our way to the car. “Oooooh, flowers! Eat them Mommy!” I responded by telling her that flowers are fun to smell and pretty to look at, but, “Ewwww, yucky! We don’t eat flowers!” Well, Emma really ran with that one. “Eat flowers?! Ewwww yucky!” I laughed and that only egged her on. “Eat doodoo?! Ewwww, yucky!” Where did that come from?! “Eat armpit?! Ewwww, yucky!” That must have been the last of the gross things she could think about eating, because she just started repeating them over and over, and completely cracking up at herself. And how could I not join her . . . hilarious!!