As if

As if sewing, crocheting, crafting, decorating our home and dabbling in the world of photography wasn't enough....I picked up jewelry making AGAIN....yes again, it was something I used to do when Andy and I were first married and once I started sewing and crocheting it went to the way side. The problem with being creative is that when you see something you think "hey I could make that" instead of buying it( I saw something a while ago and dreamed this version up!). The other problem is a slue of unfinished goods laying around the house and yes I do it because I think I will save a TON of money but we all know that isn't the case ;) so enjoy my latest treasure...sweet, simple beaded dainty gold chain necklace with peach bamboo died beads. I have already made a few and they are all soon to be listed @ www.fortheloveboutique.etsy.com also a small tutorial to make your own is in the works :D so check back! And custom orders are always welcome Christmas, bridesmaids, little girls, birthday you name it! Ava and I will be rocking our own matching ones this weekend at the ballet and family dinner @ Pine Tavern. Happy Holidays!

Ava's Army 2012

So we had a lot of fun on our last minute JDRF walk to cure diabetes. But you would not imagine some of the team size's just ONE kid can have at these things. I couldn't help but feel a little down about how I hadn't decided sooner that this is about Ava and NOT me! So Andy and I talked about it and we decided next year we are going to go all out. Reason 1: to make this a good experience for Ava and 2: at four years old I think she will be able to appreciate everyone's love and support! So be prepared for BATTLE we are going to do all we can to raise money and help battle diabetes. We plan to do this by creating...."Ava's Army" it will involve some sort of camo(which if anyone knows,that is a huge sacrifice for me;) and we can't call it "Ava's Army" with out a lot of people so please SHOW YOUR SUPPORT and be "prepared for battle" and join our team....I will keep everyone updated as to when we register for next year so you can sign up!!

It's not bout me...

I decided at the very last minute that the family(just the 4 of us) would go to Portland for the JDRF Walk to Cure Diabetes on Sunday(October 2nd 2011)I did not feel like celebrating diabetes at the moment(it's been a tough year)....however I decided to register Ava as a walker because this is about her not me and about awareness, research and a sense of belonging. Ava may never see a cure but I hope that someday no other parent has to live with this disease in their home.

We called about 6 weeks before the event to get into our Dr while we were there and they had to put us on a cancellation list. Well it all worked out they called us Friday (yes the day before we left) to let us know they had an appointment on Monday at 10! Sign me up! So glad we decided to make the trip.

The walk was fun, cold as usual and a rained at the very end. Ava and Logan had a blast we didn't meet anyone new nor did we get the chance for her to make any friends(she is only 3 after all:) but I would say it was a success....as for next year we have BIG plans....Ava's Army get ready for battle!

Homemade Laundry Soap...Cheap and Easy just the way I like it!!!

We do laundry what seems like all day every day and now we are on an even tighter budget with me staying home. So I decided to do a little research and found out it is totally the thing to make your own laundry soap, and dirt cheap....I had to do some scouting for the products so for those of you in Bend I have done the hard work for you...leaving you no reason NOT to do it!

1/3 bar Fels-Naptha Walmart .97cents
1/2c. Washing Soda Walmart $2.12
1/2c. Borax Fredmeyer's 4.39(this was the tough one to find)

I followed these exact instructions and it was kind of fun:
http://thefrugalgirls.com/2010/08/how-to-make-homemade-laundry-detergent.html

I will warn you that once it sits for the 24hrs it does have an odd gel consistency, I stirred it up and funneled it into my container's and it doesn't seem to be an issue.

It is green(less chemicals, you can use an organic soap if you wish - google that) and affordable, 2 gallons(which is the recipe) cost a little less then a dollar according to my math :O

We used it and no laundry was harmed ;) who can't afford to NOT do this?! Me, me, me... and YOU!

Enjoy!

EXTRA CHEAP TIP: Soak wash cloth's in fabric softener wring out and use as a dryer sheet....one cloth should last 10-20 loads(wash when used up and re-peat!)and a $3 dollar bottle of softener should last almost a year!

Chevron...Yep I jumped on the hot decor trend! DIY curtains...sort of.

Hopefully my kids wont be saying our house looks sooooo 2011 in a few year's ;D right like I won't change the curtains before that!

So I purchased the taupe curtain panel's at Target for 8.99ea. Pretty good deal, except they were almost 2 feet too short! So yea I had high water curtains for over a year trying to decide what to do with them :O

Then I found this fabric on the good ol' WWW I knew I HAD to have it! It was a super deal(on sale apparently) and I found a code for first time purchase's cutting the shipping in HALF.

***I cut my panels apart a 12 inches down, seem ripped the side seems on the curtain about 2 inches down or up on the cut sides so I had all raw edges exposed, measured across the whole width of the raw edge cut and added in my fabric(right side together and repeat for lower half of cut panel), pressed and sewed the hemmed sides and tada!***

My total for "custom" curtains(I have 4 panels...2 window's)....about 60 bucks!
P.S. I have enough scraps from the width for a couple of throw pillow's..woot, woot!

I'm new forgive my lack of blogging...Short, Sweet DIY to make up for it!

*****DIY Printed Pillow with Art Links*****

Who needs front porch pillow's?! Me....really, we don't ever sit on the front porch because we live on a corner (traffic) and can't see the kids playing so I usually sit on the step at the end or the walk way :) maybe I will make a "step" pillow next. But with the sun shining and plants being planted I felt our dingy little chairs needed some froofing...so here it goes!

The cost to me NADA...I have a lot of crap...oops I mean craft stuff :O

The cost to you cheap, cheap, cheap assuming you have a functioning printer or a friend with one...and a sewing machine.

Supplies:

Drop cloth or plain fabric of your choice (I have a ton of drop cloth I attempted to sew a chair cover, it got SCRAPPED!)
Iron on transfer paper
Stuffing (I reused some from old pillow's) I hold onto pillows for the very purpose of re-purposing
sewing machine and supplies


Stay with me it's EASY I promise:

1: Cut 2 squares per pillow 15x15
2: Sew right sides together leaving a 4 inch gap along the bottom center
3: Trim corner's and turn right side out and press
4: Print keep calm freebie and summer freebie onto your iron transfer paper.
5: Trim iron transfer, center on front of pillow make sure hole is on the bottom
6: Iron on per manufacture's direction(my keep calm had an iron incident :O)
7: Stuff and sew hole shut(I HATE hand sewing so I ran it under my machine...not as easy as it sounds stuffed full!)
8: Enjoy...sorry no pic's this was purely an after thought!

More great DIY ideas and CHEAP coming soon....This momma's on a BUDGET!

Three Dollar paint!

So I shop at Walmart....A lot! I have done everything in my power to shop there less. Not for any other reason then my safety! Our Walmart is a scary place. I went to exchange a lamp(which took way too long) and the police showed up and set up camp for the day to watch surveillance.So I am finally trying to sever the ties with Walmart when possible. With that said....I got a quart of paint there on clearance for THREE DOLLARS! Which was plenty to do my dining room wall. I picked a random not white but not cream color just so I didn't have to go back, we already had lot's of painting supplies from the kid's rooms(to be blogged soon) and my math genius husband taped off the wall and wa-la, a whole awesome statement wall for 3 dollar's. They still have paint on clearance. I might be going back soon!

***Notes***
The stripes are one foot wide. Tape with a level ALWAYS and press tape down firmly before painting, let paint dry before removing tape.

The light fixture WAS nickel the hubby spray painted with rubbed oil bronze spray paint and replaced the frosty white glass. Highly Recommended!

Furniture and Accessories list:
Table: LL Bean Farm house - Free (hubby used to work at an outlet it was damaged)
Chairs: Bi-mart on clearance 80 bucks or so for the set
Curtains: Lenda ikea 14.99 pair
Curtain Rod: Ikea 9.99
Decorative wood box: 3$ Yard sale(was red, I hate red!)
Clear Plastic floor protector: Free(but a life saver under the kid's side of the table)
Mason Jar: Free (mom in law) Mason jars=love for me ;)

I still need to finish the other curtains and a few decorative items. Not bad considering my little girl with the flu on my hands too ;)

Yick...I did attempt a yellow accent wall month's ago....This was a do over. I had to paint it back to the original interior color before doing the stripes. Well worth the extra work.

Inspire

My goal THIS year has been to finally get our home in order and somewhat decorated to fit our style(still not sure what that is).
We bought our first home in August of 2009 and it's a Very Fine House for a cookie cutter subdivision. I would have loved to have something with character but we didn't have the time or money for "character" so we settled for a newer home with a great lay out and a good sized lot for the money$$.

Since we are now house poor(which is a good thing) I have been challenged to decorate/redecorate on a tight budget. I am learning a lot about resources, craftiness and DIY and I hope to be able to share those wisdom's with you. Or at least inspire some creativity and save you a few dollars along the way.

-Rachel

Our First Home

I'll light the fire
You put the flowers in the vase
That you bought today

Staring at the fire
For hours and hours
While I listen to you
Play your love songs
All night long for me
Only for me

Come to me now
And rest your head for just five minutes
Everything is good
Such a cozy room
The windows are illuminated
By the sunshine through them
Fiery gems for you
Only for you

Our house is a very, very fine house
With two cats in the yard
Life used to be so hard
Now everything is easy
'Cause of you
And our la,la,la, la,la, la, la, la, la, la, la.....

Our house is a very, very fine house
With two cats in the yard
Life used to be so hard
Now everything is easy
'Cause of you
And Our

I'll light the fire
And you place the flowers in the jar
That you bought today

Pay it Forward

Came across this today. Ava has been a lucky girl thus far(no major diabetic emergencies or hospitalization since diagnoses!) and I think it is time we make another little girl feel special some where around the world. I will be making and donating a dress Asap! I hope you can do the same :D Happy Sewing!

Bath Time Body Paints

I think it is time for some fun (updates will have to wait;)

My kids love bath crayons, paints etc but they always leave a weird residue or don't always work as planned. So in a usual me sort of way I decided to make my own it was EASY,Cheap and FUN....so Enjoy!

You will need:
Baby Soap (or whatever body wash you use for you little ones) I used a generic all over baby wash.
Corn Starch
Food Coloring
Measuring cup
Measuring Spoons
Small Containers (Baby food jars would be awesome for this) I got little plastic containers at the dollar store!

I mixed my colors batch by batch it seemed to work well :)

Mix in measuring cup:
1/4 cup baby soap
2 TBS Corn Starch
1/2 TBS Warm Water
4-5 drops of food color

Mix well and poor into containers THAT'S IT!

We used a paint brush to paint ourselves and the bath it didn't seem to stain and washed right off I did read vinegar will remove it from your bath IF it does stain(I would assume you would have to leave it on there for a while)

The kids loved this stuff!

Team Ava Rocks walking for a cure October 3rd 2010

May 28^th 2010 Ava was diagnosed with Type 1 diabetes leaving her insulin dependent. Andy and I have decided if ANYTHING we would like to raise awareness of Type 1 diabetes and the challenges that we are faced with every day. We have also decided to support the search for a cure (which Ava's Dr believes we will see in her lifetime!) by walking in the Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation Walk for a Cure Saturday October 3rd 2010 @ Oaks Park in Portland, Oregon. We have a donation account set up at Bank of the Cascades under" Donation account for Ava Grace Morris" from this account we will be allocating funds to be donated directly to JDRF on behalf of Ava's team and some will be used for travel to Portland (she also has a Dr's appointment at Legacy Emanuel the Monday following the event) any additional funds will be used to help with Ava's daily diabetic supply needs and travel to and from Portland every 3 months for her appointments at Legacy Emanuel(which is where her care is being managed). We are asking every one to help us by spreading awareness of Type 1 Diabetes and if you can, join our JDRF team and Walk for a Cure. A BIG warm THANK YOU to everyone who has been so supportive and helpful already, many of you have already learned a lot and have been able to get the word out there about Type 1 Diabetes and JDRF on Ava’s behalf, Thank You!

-Rachel

Team “Ava Rock’s” walking for a cure! (**click here for Ava's team page**)

At Least

My mother spoke a few words this morning that I thought I would never hear her say “At least Ava only has diabetes”. Don’t get me wrong it is a life we didn’t expect or feel like we deserved and I have always believed that god will give us what we can handle, so this we can handle, that I am sure of.

I was telling my mom about the Hales family and what they are battling and how I can’t even imagine how hard it must be. Then she says to me while looking at Ava “At least Ava only has diabetes”, those words made me feel so thankful to have our daughter home and that soon (hopefully) we will be managing her disease. It is amazing how God can put things so simple like a facebook/blog update in front of us to humble us and be thankful for what we are given. My heart goes out to the Hales and I hope they have some answers this week. Thanks Mom for the positive thought and thank you Hales for the updates as hard as it must be, it is greatly appreciated in so many ways.

Logan – Ava’s Natural Born Protector

We were told that Logan has a 1 in 20 chance of developing diabetes. Hopefully this is not the case, if it is he will be well armed with knowledge and experience. He has been an amazing big brother from the day Ava was born. Caring, helpful, patient, and most of all loving. I am pretty sure Logan would take a bullet for Ava, especially now. All of us have an innate need to protect her but at five his want to help her amazes me. He is always asking “how many carbs does blank have” or “can Ava have blank” before he even request to get it for himself. He has graciously given up his previous graze as he pleased life style to help her stay on schedule and patiently waits till nap or bed to indulge in treats that Ava cannot have. To be so understanding of all of this at such a young age is a blessing in itself. We always thought Logan was special in a lot of ways but now he has proven it! I can’t imagine how hard it must be to have so much attention surrounding his little sister but he has handled it well (as I am sure we tried to make it that way). I will always be grateful for Logan and everything he has contributed to this family already and for the protection he will forever provide for Ava . I certainly hope he continues to ask questions (which occurred to me as a child he will ask anything, which most people are afraid to do) and I hope he feels comfortable with Ava’s disease and knows how much his little sissy appreciates all that he has done and will continue to do as her big brother! Logan we love you, think the world of you and couldn’t ask for more! Keep it up buddy!

Our Daily Routine

I think are caught up to present for the most part I know there are lot's of things I missed( I will hopefully be able to get back to those) but the most important and basic details are there :)

Our daily routine at first seemed extreme and over whelming. As with most things it is getting easier with time.

6:30 am check Ava's blood sugar (we use a lancet and the contour glucose monitor)
Feed her breakfast consisting of 30-45 grams of carbs
Give her Novalog (insulin,shot)

9 am feed Ava a 15 gram carb snack (she loves light yogurt!)

12:30 check BS again(Ava's insulin is based on a sliding scale, see below, and diet)
Feed her lunch 30-45 grams of carbs again
Give her Novalog

Nap 1-3pm(ish)

4pm snack 15 grams of carbs

6:30 pm check BS feed her dinner and giver shot

8pm snack and lantus shot

10 pm check BS (this is temporary till we start to see consistency)

Our basic routine includes about 4 to 10 finger pokes depending o our comfort level with her BS and at least 4 shots a day. There is a rare occasion where there is 5(emergencies only)

Andy and I work FULL TIME so Ava spends 8 to 6 at grandma and Papa's during the week so I am constantly calling and checking just for my own sanity. My mom has been a lifesaver in all of this, her comfort level is still building but I trust her with my children and honestly she probably cares for them better then I could :).

As you can imagine a toddler with diabetes learning to talk poses a lot o f issues she doesn't comprehend everything. She doesn't know when or how to tell us how she is feeling. She doesn't understand why she needs to eat all her food. Or what is truly happening to her.All these things are challenging a long with the normal daily challenges. Grocery shopping has taken on a whole new form as we learn what foods she will or won't eat. Reading ALL labels for serving size and carb count. We haven't had to deal with any illness's yet(knock on wood) and we have managed to keep her out of the hospital so our daily routine and common sense must be working ;)

The "Honeymoon"

So there we were finally figuring out Ava's diet and insulin getting into a routine and starting to see consistent blood sugar levels. When for no reason we can figure out her blood sugar starts dropping dramatically overnight. so we call our Dr and they advise us to change her lantus dose (this is her long acting insulin that she gets at night) to the morning to help the drop at night. We did this for a couple of days with NO improvement. Ava was waking up with BS in the 50's or even 40's, luckily she was waking up. I was terrified at night taking her blood sugar at 10 pm (our normal routine) then waiting and taking it again to see if it was going up or down. In the cases where it was dropping we were having to get her up and get her some apple juice to get her BS up again. So we call the Dr again and for the next week or so we start to cut back her insulin to the point of giving her one shot a day. Now from what I understand the honeymoon period it greatly welcomed, but in our case we wanted it to GO AWAY....our daughter was constantly fighting low blood sugar (hypoglycemia) I was not sleeping, fearing she wasn't going to wake up. We spent 2 weeks with out any insulin which really was devastating to the progress we had made. We were so new at giving shots and finally got in to a routine that Ava was OK with so I knew when it was over (however long that would be) that we would have to start over again! We also happened to have our first REAL Dr's appointment in Portland at Legacy Emanuel Children's Hospital in Portland(yes we travel to Portland for Ava's care as there is no pediatric diabetes specialist near where we live). So all seemed to be going well her A1C levels seemed to be improving and again we were so lost we weren't sure what to ask :( This wasn't the honeymoon period that we had hoped for. There was a lot of grief that we had gone through and a part of us had some false hope maybe it was a fluke and there was something else going on NOT DIABETES. But we had done our research and knew better then that. This none insulin lifestyle only lasted 2 weeks and as quick as it came, it left. Ava was spiking up into the 3 and 400's almost over night. Dr Snyder was surprised at how quickly the honeymoon came and went. We were relieved and prepared to start over. We were advised to call every day to adjust her insulin. So far we have been having a lot of inconsistent BS levels and Dr Snyder said that basically it is as if she is newly diagnosed(boy does it feel like it) The good news is we haven't been below 100 but we have seen 435 which prompted and emergency call an a quick fix. I am lucky to say that Ava responds well to insulin(as I am sure most diabetics do) and now that we have been back on for a a few days she seems to be getting better at accepting the fact that this is her life.

ICU and Beyond

Because of Ava's age we were admitted straight to ICU. It is a scary place to be but once again Ava was able to be the shining light(people came by our room just to see her smile!). We were all terrified, my son was left at my in laws. Our new puppy was home alone and we had no clue about diabetes. So here we are not knowing anything not even what to ask while our daughter is being hooked up to all sorts of tubes and monitors and still NO FOOD. They told us if her BS(blood sugar) is lowered to quickly it can cause brain hemorrhaging! Scary. Luckily she hadn't eaten and when they were about to start the insulin drip her BS level's had already started to drop. So she was given an unknown (to us) amount of insulin and monitored all night long. Andy(the hubby) and I had very little sleep we cried a lot and grieved the loss of our daughters "normal" life. We still had no answers and were told we could be in the hospital for about a week! Ava reacted great to the insulin shots and was fed breakfast the next morning and later that day we were moved up to the pediatric floor. We got to see Logan(our son) that afternoon and he seemed to be ok with all that was happening at this point. We spent all of Memorial weekend in a small hospital room learning the basic care of our daughter, diet, blood monitoring and insulin. We were told we wouldn't leave till all our questions were answered and we were able to care for her at all times. Andy and I picked it all up quickly (we were terrified, but had to do it for Ava) there were a lot of ups and downs as there always is with a newly diagnosed child and for Ava to be so young is considered fairly rare. By Sunday afternoon were were ready to go home after a hefty bill at the pharmacy we had more diabetic supplies then we could have ever imagined and some (emergency insulin) we will hopefully NEVER have to use.
We packed up our little girl her amazing pile of gifts, balloons and bears and took her home. It was good to be home but none the less terrifying. We were ready to get on with our new life and get this under control. It wasn't easy, still isn't and we continued to struggle again once we entered the "honeymoon" period....

How we found out Ava was truly Sweet

It was April 2010 the day of her 2nd Birthday Party that I started to notice something wasn't right with Ava. She doubled over at the window in her sweet Minnie Mouse birthday outfit complaining of tummy pain. I hugged her tight and asked if she was OK, she sat for a moment pondered the question and said "Ava OK". We seemed to get by with bizarre occasional tummy pains and headaches for 2 more weeks(chopping a lot of it up to potty training and to her new sleep schedule). About mid May we noticed some excessive bed wetting, and more sleeping. It started to really bother me that she wasn't being her spunky, sassy self. At this point I started to wonder if it was a food allergy or growth spurt. 10 more days go by, my mom (my mom is our day care provider,luckily!) and I are really bothered by her behavior, excessive thirst, lack of appetite, lethargy, soaking through her diaper,sheets and PJ's at night that I decide to take her in thinking it was a food allergy or perhaps something to do with potty training? May 27th 2010 I decide to stay home with her for the day as she wasn't appearing to feel well at all and her appointment was that afternoon. By noon of that day she had drank a GALLON of fluid(no joke!) and begging for more. I was anxious to get her in and started to Google all of these bizarre happenings and came across the symptoms of toddler diabetes and wouldn't you know she had EVERY one of them. I was taken a back and tried to forget about it and see what her pediatrician had to say. We get there explain what's been happening to the nurse and with out a breath she decides to test her blood sugar and sure enough it was 440 (and that was with out food for about 4 hours) We were sent straight to the hospital and that is where our journey began.