The Winner and The Warning

And the winner is...

But I must warn you she is one of those adorable pregnant women that is all cute and no chunk. In her pics she is all smiles no queasy frown or dark circles. She's one of those pregnant glow type of women. I had more of a pregnant residue than a glow during my pregnancy. So consider yourself warned. You just might forget the cravings, the gas and the heart burn. You might remember those baby kicks, the internal hiccups and see her rocking her cute maternity clothes and get baby fever. She's also funny and very fabulous so if your blog roll is already busting at the seams and you can't squeeze in one more single wonderful blog then don't visit. Step away from the keyboard or you'll be hooked.

Thank you all for joining in and supporting handmade creations!

Thank you KNEES AND PAWS for letting me share your wonderful and unique creations with my bloggy friends.

Rifle Hunter Ann

Today we hit up Bass Pro Shop, Oklahoma's Disney World, and I found Ann. She is complete with a substantial rack and a deer stand. Who needs rides, Cinderella or Mickey Mouse? At Bass Pro Shop you can snipe a stuffed fox and two armadillos for a mere fifty cents. The big shocker is there are no long lines and you can walk out with your very own Rifle Hunter Ann for less than the cost of Disney World admission.

Oklahoma has a school with cows, sheep and it's very own barn.

I've been away from home so long I hit the brakes in the middle of town, rolled down the windows and started shouting out the window, "Look! Look! A llama!!".

I even forgot their were still places you can pick up flowers, duct tape, Slim Jims and a dozen live baby chicks dyed in various shades of pastel.

This random post was inspired by Random Tuesday...

Before you rush off to book your flight to Oklahoma please enter the Knees and Paws giveaway in the post below!!

Extra Entry Alert

We spent our last days on Oahu taking pictures of our favorite wild animals.

This picture was snapped with the help of a serious zoom lens. Please remember to treat these gentle giants with respect and give them some space.

These monkey ears and hands were too much fun! Enter the giveaway for a chance to

win snow leopard ears with white centers, matching paws, matching knees and a cute leopard adorned tote to store it in.

To Enter:

1. First CLICK HERE to visit her Etsy shop. Don't forget to come back here and let me know your favorite item available at Knees and Paws.

2. Then for five additional entries post about the giveaway and send people my way to share in the fun. Be sure to post the link to your giveaway post in the comment section.
3. Check back often for new ways to score additional entries!

This contest ships within the United States only and ends April 28th. Please make sure I can contact you and let you know if you won! GOOD LUCK!!

For an extra entry comment below to let the designer of KNEES AND PAWS know what you would like to see in her shop. Any ideas? What is your child's favorite animal? I think a panda bear set would be adorable.

Child Taming

How do you subdue over 20 wild children hopped up on sugar and excitement without tranquilizer darts? Call in reinforcements!

Create your own video slideshow at animoto.com.

A very special thank you to Color Whims here on Oahu. They dove into our bit of Chaos head first. They even sent emails to my shy princess to prepare her and build her excitement. They also had a special talent for putting each child at ease. The balloons were out of this world. My only regret was I didn't snag one for myself. He even did giraffes! He made balloons that would literally devour that standard little balloon dog you normally see. I'm still wondering how in the world you get balloons inside of balloons??

The face painter was so gifted! My little wild cat didn't wash her face for TWO DAYS! Notice the sleep smudges on her kitty nose right under her happy eyes?

So thank you Color Whims . Our Princess Kitty was thrilled. We couldn't have asked for more amazing people to share such a special day with. Thank you for a party that will live in her memory forever. If you're looking for birthday party entertainment on Oahu we must say they are puuuuurfect!

Hope to see you over at the other Jen's blog for...

Click it. You know you want to.

Fiercely Feminine

Proving at the tender age of six that a girl really can have it all!! Be free. Be wild. Be fancy.

A very special thank you to the designer of Cheeky Chic Baby . She custom made this bit of fancy for our wild little kitty. It is the kind of quality dress you rarely get these days. It has held up to all the tree climbing, sprinkler jumping and dirt digging our princess twirls it through. If you are in the Southern California area you can visit Flower Fields in Carlsbad the weekend of April 17-18 for the Cheeky Chic Baby spring trunk show!

Pictures are worth a Thousand Words so click below to check out A Thousand Words Thursday!

Let Them Make Cake

Scrap the Easy-Bake Oven and go for the real deal. Just let them make cake. A flour coated, sugar dusted and icing smeared bit of happiness. This is our cake artist in training. I had grand plans we were going to mold, pour and bake together but her Daddy stole my thunder. It turns out he is her official cake buddy and I got stuck with cleaning duty.

The trick to a fun cake is fondant. You can make your own or cheat great cake with boxed cake mix and ready made fondant. We snagged ours at Wal-Mart in the baking/crafting section by the wedding goodies. Rew is a fondant sculpting natural. All the hours she spends hiding play dough in the cracks of the couch finally paid off. They practiced for weeks before her actual birthday. She sketched out her cake design, rolled the fondant and whipped up butter cream icing. On her birthday she was ready to create the ultimate cake and when I saw what they managed my draw dropped. You can't create this kind of magic with an Easy-Bake...

We had a little help from our Fairy Cakemother..
Two Sweet Cakes
She sent us the soft and edible fondant pearls and a pack of sugar cats. They were just the spark Princess Rew needed to fire up her dreams. It made glamming the cake up as easy as squirt and stick!


It's time for Wordful Wednesday!!

Mommy and Me Monday

This picture is a great example of the crucial difference a great crop makes. A little further out and you would have caught a better glimpse of our fabulous ears and the hair on my chin. For obvious reasons I prefer the close-up. I like to keep my chin fuzz away from the camera and focus on my daughter's blue eyes and kitty smirk.

Hosted by Krystyn

Dig the ears and paws? You can get your own complete snow leopard set complete with fuzzy knees by entering the giveaway....

To Enter:
1. First CLICK HERE to visit her Etsy shop. Don't forget to come back here and let me know your favorite item available at Knees and Paws.
2. Then for five additional entries post about the giveaway and send people my way to share in the fun. Be sure to post the link to your giveaway post in the comment section.
3. Check back often for new ways to score additional entries!
This contest ships within the United States only and ends April 28th. Please make sure I can contact you and let you know if you won! GOOD LUCK!!

As promised...

Once Rew was out of NICU and in my arms I was your typical neurotic mom. I analyzed feces, weight and sleep problem. I memorized averages and plotted her on the imaginary scale of progress. She grew into a bright, lanky and contemplative baby. I listened to doctors when they said she was failing to thrive. I let myself be convinced her freakish attention span was not a good sign. The bony knees I loved to tickle were a sign of my failure as her mother. As suggested I replaced her carrots, ham and whole grain breads with Pediasure and everything buttered. I charted everything she ate. She ran. She played. She grew taller and started walking on legs engineered more for a runway model than a toddler. We enjoyed life until the scheduled doctor visits. Every tests with a normal result prompted longer and more invasive tests. Finally my sweet toddler had so many tests she began offering up her arm to the needle without being prompted and I put my foot down. I was thin. Her father was thin. She was ours down to the very tips of her sharp little collar bone.

I learned that doctors specialize in medicine and I specialize in my daughter. I started trusting less in books, doctors and people with more experience with children than me. I started trusting in myself and my child. When I was pregnant with our second daughter my doctor was dismissive of my thyroid condition. My oldest daughter had already paid the price for my lack of confidence in myself and I refused to make the same mistakes. I insisted that my fatigue was not just a regular result of my pregnancy. When my doctor continued to ignore my pleas I requested to see a specialist. I made it harder to ignore me than to just fill out the request. The very day I was referred to a specialist her office called and doubled my current dose of Levothyroxine. The nurse urged me to fill the prescription that day because based on the same test results my regular obstetrician had my levels were low enough to put my pregnancy at risk. I was fired as a patient. My doctor dropped me like a hot potato. Our second daughter was born via VBAC (vaginal birth after cesarean) and we were both home healthy within 24 hours after birth. She is dainty just like her sister. I have had pediatricians push for tests because she is not growing at an average weight but I refuse the tests. When she has vaccinations she fights the needle with an unrelenting ferocity that I love. Next time you have to pin your child down for a vaccine treasure the fact that it happens so infrequently they have it in them to fight. I assure you seeing a child's spirit broken by countless testing, poking and prodding is worse than a spirited battle with a healthy child.

There are still amazing and wonderful doctors that consider the health of your family a team effort. A special thank you to those fabulous doctors who realize patients are more than tests results and chicken scratches on a medical chart.

**If you are a pregnant woman with a thyroid condition please know that your needs change with pregnancy. A pregnant woman's targeted levels are different. I have yet to meet a regular obstetrician that was even aware of that. During my second pregnancy I lucked into an endocrinologist very familiar with the impact thyroid conditions have on conception and pregnancy. She worked closely with my new obstetrician to ensure that my second delivery was completely uneventful.

CLICK HERE

to enter the giveaway to win a complete set of your own ears, knees and paws!

A Giveaway!!

Knees and Paws are my daughter's new favorite thing. We're celebrating this great find with a giveaway. The winner receives adorable snow leopard ears with white centers, matching paws, matching knees and a cute leopard adorned tote to store it in. This complete set is small and perfect for younger children. Need a bigger set or another animal?

The designer of KNEES AND PAWS is a talented woman who loves to hear special requests and make dreams come true.

(This puuurfect birthday moment made possible by Knees and Paws)

To Enter:

1. First CLICK HERE to visit her Etsy shop. Don't forget to come back here and let me know your favorite item available at Knees and Paws.

2. Then for five additional entries post about the giveaway and send people my way to share in the fun. Be sure to post the link to your giveaway post in the comment section.
3. Check back often for new ways to score additional entries!

This contest ships within the United States only and ends April 28th. Please make sure I can contact you and let you know if you won! GOOD LUCK!!

Six Little Words..

May I borrow some good Karma?

Dare to sum up your life in six words or less? Click below for the details and link up.

SHAME ON YOU!

To the horrible wicked people who tried to steal my daughter's cat, SHAME ON YOU. Licorice flew ahead of us to Oklahoma. My daughter was anxious but the American Airline Employees in cargo assured her they would take great care of sweet Licorice. My mother and sister went to pick her up and caught two people trying to make off with our cat. They were confrontational and insisted she was their cat despite the kennel marked clearly with our name. My Sis snagged Licorice and the American Airline employee sorted it out. The thieves booked it out of there with a plain black and gray striped tabby cat instead. They tried to pretend like they mistook our striking long haired cream cat with blue eyes marked with our name as their short haired alley cat.

On the flip side a kind man helped me and my wonderful friend find the cargo facility for Delta and American Airlines. Not only did he give us directions he hopped in the car with us to make sure we got it right. He stole nothing, maimed no one and took ten dollars for his trouble only after we insisted. I'm also thankful for my fierce sister who wouldn't let some burly man make off with her little niece's cat. For every two wicked people there really are a million people who would move heaven and earth to help those in need.
WE LOVE YOU ALL!!!