March Madness {a recap}

It really was "March Madness" in & around the Mejia home, which left me with ZERO time to blog practically all month... blogging really does take time, but I enjoy it & love to capture all our memories in one place!

In addition to Kapri's weekly ballet classes (can't wait for the recital!!), here's a recap of the happenings in our lives during the last 5 weeks:

K's 3rd Dentist visit

She's doing much better now that she's been here 2 other times...still gets a little anxious when the first lay her down, but as long as I am there beside her, holding her little hand - she's all good. Doc says teeth are perfect (with the exception of the 1 she's missing)...so that's good news! I love that they have TV's in the ceilings and headphones, so the kids can just 'zone out' while getting their teeth checked out. My dentist has something like that too now (score for me!), except it's Netflix streaming in a pair of GLASSES!! Crazy how technology has advanced.

K's first train ride!

James, Kapri & I spent an afternoon together the last weekend in February down at Seaport Village. K & I had a mommy-daughter date there once before, which she remembers clearly... but this time we decided to take her down on the Coaster... she loved it! The whole ride down she kept waving & saying 'hi' to all the people OUTside of the train, too funny!

Two 'suspect' moles & stitches

Between Jan/Feb, my dermatologist removed/dug out 2 suspicious looking moles...first 'surgery' was to get one from the upper-most part of my inner thigh (OUCH)...with stitches in for 2 weeks. After that time was up, I went back in for stitch removal and to get the 2nd one removed from the middle of my back...and of course, another set of stitches. It all was brutal and so painful. The scar on my leg is about an inch, and the one on my back is more like 2.5" - so gross, but better safe than sorry.

Since then, I've canceled my tanning membership, which has been on hold for a year anyway, haha...but I only spray tan or use tanner at home now. Too scary to continue to fake'n'bake when you are a bit older, are a mamma, and realize how precious life is.

{{no pics, thank goodness - no one want's to see stitches & scars!}}

Baby Maddie's Baptism

After attending my first baptism for her older brother, Jack back in 2011 - it was baby Maddie's turn, who arrived into this world on Jan. 21st! I was asked to take pictures with the godmother's insanely profesh and by far THE heaviest camera ever, so that was fun!...though I didn't get many pics on my phone to document the occasion. She did wonderfully and slept most of the time....so glad we could be part of her special day!

I realized I didn't post about her arrival back in January...here are some cute pics of little Maddie when I visited her in the hospital...rockin her new Custom from Calista headbands!

And how presh is this... a side by side pic of when I visited each baby in the hospital - like brother, like sister huh?!

Baby Hadley's 1st Birthday!

We love birthdays...and Miss Hadley's 1st party was so adorable and all the kids had so much fun...I mean, how could you not with a jumpy in your backyard all day?? Hadley's outfit was the cutest thing I've ever seen... a full lace romper - I kinda want one for myself, LOL!

I especially loved the streamer/balloon/tissue pom poms hanging outside...it was so pretty!

I made Miss H her own embroidered Crayoll and 2 hair clips:

Our 15-Year Dating Anniversary - which I did actually find time to post about ;-)

St. Paddy's Day

Just hangin with friends, bbq'ing and letting the kids play on a huge greenbelt - love these afternoons!

Easter
Easter was split int two days - one day going to "EGGstravaganza" in Carlsbad - which was INSANELY busy & way too packed to be fun...(at least she got a pic with the Easter bunny, who she was "jumping" for joy to see!)...so we went back to a friends house, had a pot luck and did a mini-egg hunt for the kiddos.

Then on Easter morning, we had my mother-in-law & her hubby over for a little brunch. I stuck with my go-to casserole that is just so easy to make & super yummy...it can't be passed up!

Then we took a few pics outside - so blessed to have such incredible weather!

For Easter dinner... banana pancakes - why not?!

Whew...I'm exhausted just reliving all of that!!

Welcome little Jack!

My girlfriend Nic, who I made the Classic Pooh themed diaper cake for, finally had her little bundle of love... Jack - she chose not to find out the gender & be surprised in the hospital...ahhh, I could never do that! But she did....and he is finally here & adorable as can be.

Of course as soon as I heard she was going to the hospital, I waited on pins & needles to find out if it was a girl or boy. I wanted to bring a more 'gender-specific' gift, seeing as everything she's been gifted with already is either cream, yellow or green. Once I read 'boy' on my text Saturday morning (his actual due date!), I immediately got to work on a special onesie I've been dying to make.

Behold the insanely cute....insanely EASY necktie onesie that was the result of more inspiration from Pintrest (& I'll be adding it to my Custom from Calista collection BTW!) - I love it! He didn't at that moment captured below, because we unwrapped his cozy swaddle - but it'll be cute on him in just a few short months!

Along with the onesie, I gifted the new parents with a "Hospital Survival Kit" (thanks again Pinterest - got printables here!!!)

Nature Valley Bars, Goldfish, Chocolate Chip Cookies, Yogurt Pretzels, Face Wipes, Chapstick, Hair band/ties/pins, Tissues & Altoids

Congrats Nic & Ky...I'll be bringin you some homemade "Mejia Style" Chicken Enchiladas soon!!!!! xoxo

Yet another hospital trip...

Phew...what a crazy couple days & sleepless couple nights James, Kapri & I have had to endure. More so what Kapri had to endure, since she was the little sickey...but James & I both suffered while we watched nearly helplessly as she suffered beside us.

**Be warned...long post...

$400 later...hopefully not more

Did you ever think that a nasty case of food poisoning could put a huge hole in your wallet? NO you say? Well read on...

The Tuesday following Father's Day, James called me around 7am while I was at work. He asked me if I was feeling okay, I was...however he was not, he'd thrown up twice since 6am. Great. I chalked it up to some sketchy jalapenos he ate the night before with our leftovers from the food at his dad's BBQ. We still to this day have no idea exactly WHAT it was that made us this sick. We just threw out everything we ate on Monday night. Thank GOD Kapri didn't have any of what we ate. Could you imagine?? geeeezzz

An hour later...major cramps, bubble guts I call em. Right in the middle of a little training with a co-worker. That marked the 1st of too many trips to the bathroom. Finally around 1pm, I called it quits...I wasn't getting better, so I headed home. The nausea continued & worsened. James was able to sleep for a bit. Then around 4:30pm I could barely lift myself off the bathroom floor, I was SO weak & dehydrated. I managed to get up the stairs and into our bedroom where James slept so peacefully. I walked in the door, he woke up and I lost it. I started sobbing & feel to the floor...curled up in the fetal position...WHEN WILL THIS ENDDD?! I told me to get in bed as he went down to be with Kapri. Poor thing was kinda neglected all damn day.

I tried to sleep, couldn't really with how uncomfortable I was. Aches, pains, cramps, nausea - so not fun. I hadn't eaten or drank anything, except Instant Breakfast on the way to work, and a little coffee at work, which all came back up anyway. Oh, and I was able to keep down about 4 saltines. Then around 9:30pm I rolled over, telling James I HAD to go to sleep & get better because I had my review at work the next day. An hour later, my stomach was acting up again. I got up quick & headed to the bathroom...as I did, I felt faint, oh god....I was blacking out. I suddenly had tunnel vision...all I could think was GET TO THE BATHROOM! I sat down & thought "phew, I made it". Then I remember swaying front & back...I was passing out fast, but trying not to. The next thing I knew...James was yelling my name from the bathroom door...He had been downstairs when he heard a loud thud (me falling over & hitting the WALL with my FACE) and ran up to find out what was going on. When I came to, I realized I was no longer sitting on the toilet, but laying face down on the floor...and something weird was in my mouth.

I reached in, picked something off my tongue...HOLY CRAP...my tooooth!! James is calling my name over & over & I can't respond...I'm in shock. What the hell happened, where am I...Finally I opened the door, tell him my tooth was chipped, that I fainted, then I fell back to the floor crying and totally confused. James was trying to take my temp, because I was sweating & looked so pale. He tried to get me to drink water but I couldn't. Finally he got me back to the bed, when all of a sudden my hands started cramping up, like a gnarly 'charley horse'. It got worse & worse...until I told him to call 911 - we were SO scared. James couldn't even say our correct address...we were both frantic.

A few minutes later I was surrounded by 5 EMT's/Firemen, one on the bed with a huge machine, taking my vitals...another to my left, telling me to breath..calm down. I tried. I failed. "Just tell me what's wrong with my hands", I cried. He told me it was due to hyperventilation...and just breatttthe to stop it. I tried. I thought of myself in the labor room...breathing I was good at. However tonight I was incapable of calming down. I had so many thoughts...don't wake up Kapri, I don't want her to see me like this...my TOOTH...omg, how much is that gonna cost?? How much is a trip to the ER, in an ambulance gonna cost?? Are my neighbors seeing this? Holy crap, I don't have a bra on...How embarrassing. It was seriously the worst real nightmare ever. Then the cramping got worse, my feet started cramping, then my mouth, then my chest/rips - that's when they looked at James & said they needed to take me to the ER now. I managed to get down the stairs, as the cramping lessened, then hoped up onto a stretcher. Wow, is this really happening?? Yep.

A short ambulance trip later around 10:45pm, I was chillin out in the ER - an hour goes by, and still no IV drip. So. Thirrrrstyyy. Finally James arrives (with some water thank god) after his mom went to stay with Kapri at our house. Then the nurses/doc finally come in, hook me up, give me some meds to stop the cramping in my stomach & some anti-nausea stuff. We didn't leave til around 2:30am.

What a day. PS...there's a little dented in hole the size of a pea, just above the baseboard where I think my tooth hit - how crazy is that? How did I even manage to do that? No idea.

The next day I woke up at 7:45am & called my dentist immediately - obviously I wasn't going to work anymore, but this damn tooth had to get fixed that day! They told me to come in right away & they'd squeeze me in. 2 hours & $400 later...a new me! Now these pics I'm bravely posting are totally disgusting, I look beyond haggard, but who wouldn't after the night I went through right?? While I was waiting forever in the ER, all started thinking about how hilarious this blog post would be later, not right at that moment of course, but I knew I'd laugh at this one day. PS...the cost was for the cheaper acrylic based repair. $2400 would've gotten me fancy porcelain veneer repairs (see the screen shot below)...um, I'll pass (for now) thanks.

Kapri has made her debut!!

FINALLY!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

On May 20, 2009 at 9:13 p.m., at Scripps Memorial Hospital in La Jolla, James & I welcomed Kapri Jolie Mejia into the world. She weighed in at 7lbs 14oz, and was 21 inches long...wow! We definitely expected her to be in the mid-8lb range...so her weighing less was a little surprise!

I was scheduled to be induced that morning...bags were packed, car was filled...and I was a ball of nerves. I wanted to film while James drove, just to capture our feeling on soon becoming parents...I also wanted one last 'baby belly' picture...unfortunately I forgot to do both of those things...I blame it on pregnancy brain

We got to the hospital a little after 7am, checked into the cozy L&D room that would soon be filled with one of my favorite memories of all, and changed into that lovely little hospital gown. Relax. Breath.

Then around 8 a.m. that's when they started the pitocin to help get my contractions going. I was so nervous & anxious, and didn't know what to expect...naturally. So a few hours later, I started feeling those contractionsand they progressivly got more & more intense. Every hour or so, our wonderful nurse came to check on me to see if I wanted the epidural or not...the anesthesiologist had numerous c-sections to attend, so she wanted to make sure I had a nice window of oppurtunity to get the epi. Finally around noon, the contractions were starting to take my breath away...I found myself having to stop what I was doing, or stop in mid-conversation to close my eyes & breath through the pain. It pretty much felt like the WORST "time of the month" cramps!!


Then at 12:45 p.m., I gave in & told the nurse to get the epi goin!! I had to wait about 45 min. for the doc to come in, prep me & administer the epidural...ouch! He *conveniently* gave me that shot right along with the worst contraction yet!! That's when I actually let the tears flow...thank goodness James was right there with me every step of the way. Now I don't know if this was just a coincidence or what...but right at that moment, our song (which we had our 1st dance to at our wedding) started playing in the background.... "By Your Side" by Sade. James looked at the nurse & I and said "this is the perfect song...I was by your side then, and I'm by your side now"... needless to say, I lost it! haha

Thankfully, the hours in the hospital literally only felt like minutes to us, it was so weird! I think it helped having lots of visitors to make the time pass. We also brought 2 movies...Finding Nemo (my fav) and Ace Ventura. We were told that it was best to bring funny, lighthearted movies...no drama - just something to keep your mind off the pain that was to come!

Finally....we hit the 12-hour mark and around 7:30 p.m., our nurse told us I was at 10 cm - time to do some practice pushing...

O.M.G. - I can't do this...I'm scared!! I threw up twice - which is normal, haha!

Unfortunately, my contractions slowed down quite a bit...which in turn, delayed the labor and my chances to push (with each one, you have to hold your breath & do 3 large pushes)...so they had to increase my pitocin. Then I mysteriously developed a 102 degree fever - I was so hot & swollen, not fun. My legs & feet especially felt like they were on fire. So the nurse had to put ice packs behind my neck, in my armpits and on my feet. Luckily the fever wasn't passed on to little Kapri.


My doctor told me to look down, a head...hair...a PERSON is coming out of me! Finally, at 9:13 p.m....she arrived perfectly & beautifully...it really was love at first sight - like they always say. Along with James & I, my mom and sisters were in the room during the process, so it was quite the sob-fest in there with all of us combined, haha!! Once she was cleaned off & I was 'cleaned up'...we had the rest of our family & visitors come meet the popular baby Kapri...it was a full house in there! Then about an hour or so later, she had her first meal from mama...yum yum! I'll never forget the sounds she made as she anxiously tried to latch on. That night, I don't think I slept one minute...I still felt like I was in a never-ending dream...and I just could NOT take my eyes of this wonderous little angel.

Thank goodness for James with all his love & support...I don't know how I would've gotten through this day (or this pregnancy for that matter) without him there...by my side :-)

This really was the single most amazing experience of my life. Or like my dad would say "the #1 life changing moment"...so true.