Summer Lovin' Snail Mail {NEW Swap! Sign-Up Today!}

It's here!
 It's here!!
Did you hear me?
IT'S HERE!!!

Kelly, from The No Drama Mama, came up with this fabulous Summer Lovin' Snail Mail Swap... and she was kind enough to let me co-host it with her!

This swap is all about Summer!  Summer fun, Summer drinks, Summer weather, 

ALL THINGS SUMMER.

Don't know what a swap is?  Well let me tell you!

A swap works a lot like a pen pal except you're only going to send them something once.  You'll be partnered up with someone else from the great US and get to know them by asking questions, looking at their Pinterest boards, Instagram feed, etc.  After you feel like you have a good idea about what your partner may like, each of you will put together a fabulous package of goodies to send to the other.  Then, you will come back here and link up what you received.

You don't have to be a blogger to enter either!  If you would like to participate and you do not have a blog, you can email me pics of your goodies at kmgenn@gmail.com.

There are a few rules however!!

1. You must be 18 years or older to participate.

2. You must be a resident of the US (including Hawaii and Alaska).

3. You must be commited to shipping your package by May 31st.

This swap is open to the first 100 people to enter so hurry and fill out the form to secure your spot!

Once you've submitted your form, grab a button for your side bar and spread the love!

<div align="center"><a href="http://thenodramama.blogspot.com/2013/04/summer-lovin-snail-mail-swap.html" title="The NO Drama Mama"><img src="http://i1079.photobucket.com/albums/w510/Kelly_Genn/SummerLovinButton_zps2b0d2f38.png" alt="The NO Drama Mama" style="border:none;" /></a></div>

Cara Box Reveal!

For a long time, now, I've seen these little Cara Box posts popping up on the blogosphere. I didn't really know what it was about - I just assumed it was something along the lines of the Influenster Vox Boxes or Birchbox. But nope, turns out I was wrong!

Once I learned that Cara Boxes were, essentially, shipping and receiving little packages of love in the mail, I was totally down. I signed up for the April box, with the theme "Green" in recognition of Earth Day.

I was partnered with Ange from Hairspray and High Heels, and Mrs. Jones from Keeping Up With the Joneses. Head on over to Ange's blog to see what I sent her in her Cara Box - I think she liked it because she sent me the sweetest thank-you email when it arrived at her home.

Mrs. Jones sent me such a fun box! Here's what was in it...

Some good Gud all natural body wash from Burt's Bees - I almost bought some for myself when I was shopping for Ange's box! Haha! So looking forward to trying it.

Homemade hair ties - This is perfect because I'm always losing my hair ties. These bad boys are too pretty to lose, though, so I'll be sure to hold on to them.

Green Revlon nail polish - Such a beautiful shade of green! I've been wanting to paint my nails more and try some fun colors so this is right up my alley.

Julep nail polishes - I've read so much about these polishes and how good they are for not only your nails, but also the environment! Julep is one of the few companies that doesn't include three commonly used and highly toxic chemicals in their polishes.

Mrs. Meyer's Soap - I've seen this line of products all over the place, too, and have wanted to try it forever. So glad I get the chance!

Grow Basil - What a great listener Mrs. Jones is! I think I told her that I was hoping to start an herb garden, so when I saw this in the box I was really touched. Mmm... fresh basil on spaghetti, anyone?

And last but not least, I must point out the card that Mrs. Jones sent.

I just about died laughing when I was looking at the card, thinking to myself, "Oh I love mail and flowers and typewriters and purses and tea and books... they're all my favorite things!" and only then read the writing underneath it. :) This beautiful little note is going in a frame and will hang over my desk as the ultimate inspiration source.

Dear Mrs. Jones,
Thank you so much for the lovely package! As you can tell from above, I was absolutely tickled by everything in it. It was so nicely put together, and I loved how well you stuck to the "green" theme of this month's Cara Box.
Thank you for giving me the chance to try out so many wonderful products, many of which I've wanted to try but never got around to. I hope that the Cara Box you received brought you just as much joy as this brought to me!

Celebrating our wedding anniversary.

Tuesday, April 23rd, was our second wedding anniversary. We were married at a historic farmhouse called French Creek Estates, on an unseasonably warm and sunny day (the days before and after were cold and pouring rain, but we had temps nearing the 70's and nothing but blue skies!). It was a small wedding with only 30 guests, no photo booth or crazy dancing, but it was a wonderful meal and quality time spent with the ones we love.

One of my favorite photos from our wedding day was taken on the porch swing at this beautiful old home. Dinner was over, the sun was starting to set, and we were glad to have a moment alone together (well, aside from our photographer).

On our first anniversary, I was over 8 months pregnant. We took the weekend to go to Friday Harbor in the San Juan Islands and enjoyed a combination anniversary getaway and baby-moon. On our way home, we stopped by the farmhouse and took our picture again - one year to the day - on that sweet porch swing.

This year, on our second anniversary, we continued with tradition and went back to French Creek for a quick photo on the porch swing. We had our little man this time (and his crazy wind-blown hair), still beautiful weather and tons of love.

I just love the progression of these photos over the last couple of years. It's been a wonderful journey and I'm so thankful for the blessings that God has given through my husband and through our marriage.

I hope we'll continue with this tradition year after year, eventually surrounded by our children and grandchildren, our faces full of wrinkles and smiles, our hearts full of laughter and love. What I wrote last year holds true today...

It's been a long year, in some respects, and in others it seems to have flown right on by without us even knowing it. But through it all, God has been great and gracious. He has grown us closer together in times of hurt, he has refined us through the fire, and he has given our hearts the ability to grow in capacity for care and understanding. We've seen miracles laid before us, and we've danced - sans umbrella - during showers of blessings and love. We haven't been perfect, and we will always fall short of the perfection found in our Savior, but together we know that God is using us for bigger purposes than we could ever have dreamed to fulfill on our own. We have the distinct privilege of waking up next to our best friend every morning, telling them we love them, encouraging them throughout the day, and using the experiences we've had to speak into others lives, all to the glory of God. And that... well that is certainly worth celebrating.

"I love Raisin Bran," and 6 other reasons why I'm an old lady in a 26 year old body.

| it's not very granny-like, but I did enjoy creating this in PicMonkey |

It has come to my attention that I am not, in fact, a 26 year old young woman. I am, however, an 84 year old granny with an affinity for handmade blackberry milkshakes and the occasional Gene Pitney song. For more evidence as to why I believe this, please read on.

I love to knit.

Though I don't do it as often as I used to, I do love to knit. Before I got married, you could find me at home on most Friday nights with a mug of tea, an old movie on, and knitting something that I thought the recipient would absolutely adore when - in fact - it was a hideous monstrosity and would never again see the light of day.

I say words like, "tomfoolery," "youngsters," and "punks."

Really, I do. Just the other day I was describing some teenagers that were messing around outside of our apartment, and I referred to them as "punk kids." They were probably 17, which means I'm only 9 years older than them. If anyone sees a lost and lonely youth walking around, will you please call me and tell me you've found mine?

I love Raisin Bran.

That's right... I love raisin bran. I'm pretty sure their clientele is usually the 70+ crowd, but I just love me some sweet raisins and crunchy bran flakes. Good for taste buds, but also good for bowel regularity! Which leads me to me next point...

I've come to appreciate a good BM.

The fact that I said "BM" should be enough explanation, but because we've already stepped into TMI Territory, I'll continue. This appreciation didn't start until after I had Isaiah (you can read his birth story here). Because of the major abdominal surgery and copious amounts of pain medication, I was all backed up and out of sorts. After two days I was finally able to fart and my nurse and I celebrated by dancing around my post-partum room and laughing hysterically. After a week of high-fiber foods (including good ol' Raisin Bran), lots of water, OTC laxatives, prayers, and finally an enormous prescription bottle of miralax, mama was good to go.

I like old people fashion.

I really do want a pair of those wretched eyeglass chains. And not because it's "hip," but because I actually appreciate the marriage between sparkly and practicality that they exhibit. I also appreciate cardigans no matter the weather, I like floral prints, and I love interesting and sometimes eccentric glasses. I actually chose the frames I have now because they reminded me of a pair I saw a 74 year old woman wearing, though hers were from Tiffany's and mine were from LensCrafters.

Snail mail is the way to go.

It makes me sad to see good ol' fashioned snail mail disappearing. Getting a letter in the mail, or better yet a package, sends such thrills through me! I love the anticipation of carrying it from the mailbox to home, then getting all settled into my favorite comfy spot to slowly open the envelope and read the beautiful handwritten words of a friend or family member. If you feel the same way, you've GOT to read the book For the Love of Letters, by Samara O'Shea.

I like old people food.

Maybe it's from my years of working in a retirement and assisted living community, but old people get some good food. Cranberry juice is available at every meal (yay for no more UTI's!), the food is soft so you can be lazy even while eating, and goodness gracious do they love their puddings! Rice pudding, chocolate pudding, vanilla bean pudding, bread pudding... so many puddings! There are also lima beans and brussel sprouts galore. The one old person food I've yet to appreciate? Liver. Yuck.

Isaiah's birth story.

Isaiah is now 11 months old, so I'm guessing that it's about time I share his birth story. :) I actually wrote this post just a couple weeks after he was born, saving it as a draft, and I'm so thankful I did that. I don't think I could've remembered half of the stuff in this post if I'd tried to write it all down now.

What I'll share below is the story of the night before and the night of Isaiah's birth. Though I spent a couple more days in the hospital, and Isaiah was transported to Children's before I could be discharged, this was the story of his birth. God's hand was so completely over, under and throughout this entire process, that there's just no way I can't share! Here it is...

On Wednesday, May 16th, I was scheduled to go into the hospital for a "soft" induction. To celebrate that Isaiah would be coming into the world shortly, Josh and I invited our family out to dinner with us at the Space Needle. We enjoyed gorgeous views, delicious food, and each other's company for a couple of hours before Josh and I finally headed off to the hospital to start the process of meeting our son.

Once we got to the hospital, which was at about 9pm, they immediately started my induction by placing a folley bulb into the cervix to help with dilation. My nurse that evening, Jacqui, was shocked to see how calm and comfortable I was after having the bulb inserted. She said normally women are in a lot of pain. I counted myself lucky... that was, for another 15 minutes until suddenly I was in so much pain I thought someone was slicing me from tail to navel. I screamed at Josh to push the call light and when Jacqui came in she both quickly assured me that I was not dying, and offered me some drugs. I obliged, though with some trepidation, since I've never been one to take drugs - I rarely ever take Tylenol for that matter! Jacqui assured me I'd be fine and even gave me half of the lowest dose they normally give, just to help me "ease into it." But within about 30 seconds of the fentanyl going into my line, the room started swirling and I did what I do best when on pain meds... I started talking. A lot. Non-stop. I was telling Jacqui and Josh about the air, and how it felt like velvet. Next thing I knew, my left hand was in the air and I was petting it, telling them that I felt like I should be laying in a green grassy field, in the sun, under a big leafy tree, with a warm breeze, and a soft gray kitten to pet with my left hand. Yeah.

Nurse Jacqui (pronounced like Jack-weeee as a joke) was a sweet lady. She had the softest, kindest voice, infused with a South African accent. She lives on a house boat during the week, as she works the overnight shift, and on her days off she actually lives right down the street from my dad on an island about an hour or so north of Seattle. Small world!

At about 7am on Thursday, May 17th, Jacqui came in to check my progress and introduce me to my day nurse, Suzanne. Suzanne and I got along famously - we talked all day about how similar our music tastes are, she showed me pictures of her dog, and we even chatted about where our families are from. She said she was from a small town in Canada that no one has ever heard of, mostly because it has a population well below 1000 people. I told her my grandfather was also from a small town in Canada. Guess what, folks? YEP! My grandfather was born in the same crazy-small town in Alberta, Canada that my wonderful L&D nurse was born and raised in! How cool is that? Like I said, God throughout.

I'd gone from 2cm to 4cm dilated overnight but wasn't experiencing any contractions. My doctor came by at 10am to see how I was doing and decided to start me on pitocin to help my contractions. The pain was tolerable at first, but quickly escalated. I finally asked for an epidural around 4pm, then sat there while the resident made 2 attempts without success at getting the epi in. Finally the attending got it on the third try, as I sat hugging a pillow. Suzanne held my left hand, Josh held my right, and my doctor sat next to me with her arm around my shoulder. Even if it took them three (very painful) tries to get the epidural in, I was so thankful in that moment to have three loving individuals surrounding me like that.

Once the epidural went in, things got a little sketchy. Isaiah's heart rate started to decelerate with each contraction. They kept turning me back and forth, side to side, all the while with an oxygen mask strapped to my face. Eventually, with enough movement and enough oxygen, Isaiah's heart rate would bounce back up and he'd be fine for a little while. This lasted for about 3 hours, until my doctor checked me again and noted that I hadn't dilated beyond 7cm for 4 hours. After consulting with a neonatologist, we were told that a c-section needed to be performed to prevent Isaiah's condition from worsening.

I won't lie. I was terrified. I bawled my eyes out and all I could think of, aside from being sliced open, was that I wasn't going to survive. This may sound extreme, but with being overweight and never having had any type of surgery whatsoever, I didn't think I was in a super great position. Luckily, my wonderful husband was there to pray with me. Suzanne stayed past her shift, too, to help calm my nerves and introduce me to my second night nurse, Susan.

Once in the operating room, everything got really fuzzy. I remember throwing up, like a geyser, all over myself and the floor next to me because the anesthesiologist took the little bucket away before I was done. And I remember my face suddenly feeling like it was on fire. I remember being scared because I couldn't feel my ribs, which made me think I couldn't breathe. I remember one of the nurses walking away from the side of the operating table (the surgery hadn't started yet) and my left leg rolled off. Then, the sheet went up and I couldn't see - or feel - anything below my sternum.

It seemed like forever, but finally someone must've said something about the baby almost being out because I told Josh to stand up and take pictures over the curtain. Bless his squeamish little heart... he did! Blood, incisions, naked baby and all! Josh later told me that he got a picture of one doctor pulling Isaiah out, while the other doctor held my intestines in her hand. Upon later review, what he thought were my intestines was actually Isaiah's umbilical cord. :)

It was 8:03pm on Thursday, May 17th. There was no cry. Just a lot of quiet movement with the neonatology staff tending to Isaiah and the surgeons putting my pieces back together. Then, finally, he let out a giant, incredible, heavenly, wonderful, angry wail and everyone laughed. He was 7 lbs. 13 oz., and 19" long.

I still hadn't seen my baby, as he was surrounded by so many specialists. I just stared at the ceiling, feeling the tugging and pressure in some unidentifiable area of my body, assuming I'd see him in a few hours in the NICU. Then a nurse, carrying this tiny bundle of blankets, walked up to me and introduced me to my son. She held his face next to mine, and immediately his crying hushed and his eyes opened, and I breathed him in, gave him a kiss, and told him I loved him. He cooed, I kissed. He blinked, I nuzzled.

They placed him in an isolette and, with Josh in tow, the team took him out of the room. I found out later that they wheeled him right past where my dad, Josh's mom and sister were all sitting, then stopped for a second so they could see him. When they stopped he let out a big squawk and off they went to the NICU.

Inside the O.R. seemed to take forever, laying there by myself and listening to the buzz around me. Trying to reconcile that new baby smell that still lingered near my face, despite there being no baby near. Finally, my amazing doctor leaned over the sheet to tell me everything went beautifully... though, unbeknownst to her, she looked like she'd just stepped out of a horror movie because she had sprays of my blood all over her gown and mask. I apologized to her for the mess, which I think she laughed at before looking at herself in the mirror, at which point she scolded the other surgeon for not telling her she looked so crazy before talking to me - haha!

Back in the hospital room, my nurse Susan started getting me prepared to go to post-partum once I'd met the two-hour recovery requirement. I kept apologizing to her, mostly for being loopy, but also because the adrenaline, medications, and raging hormones were making my entire body shake uncontrollably. We talked about her upcoming vacation to Kauai, which got my mind off of my body and into Aloha Land as I told her all of the great places she needed to go while she was there. Pretty soon, Josh came back from the NICU and told me Isaiah was doing beautifully! He had great oxygen levels, heart rate, etc. and they were performing the echocardiogram to confirm what the prenatal echos had shown. Once in post-partum, the attending cardiologist came by and told us that Dr. K's previous echo's were spot-on. Nothing new had crept up after birth, he was doing great in the NICU. With that, Josh and I tried to get some sleep.

Isaiah and Hannah Mae: The play date we've been waiting for.

For those of you that have been reading this blog for a while, you may recall a frantic post one night where I asked you to pray for a little girl - Hannah Mae - who was in surgery for a heart transplant. The surgery went very well, and after a lengthy stay at the hospital, Hannah's back at home with her family. To learn more about Hannah's story, please visit her website at www.HannahMaeNeedsAHeart.com.

Isaiah and Hannah were born only 8 hours apart, and in hospitals just 30 minutes from each other. Once they were both stable enough to be transported, they were taken in separate ambulances to our local Children's Hospital, where they ended up in NICU rooms right across from each other. Soon, we realized that Josh and I were staying in one of the family sleep rooms right next to the one Hannah's parents were in, and that we had a lot in common - especially our faith in the Lord.

I kept in touch with Hannah's mom, Jen, all throughout the ups and downs of both Hannah's and Isaiah's early months. Unfortunately, I was never able to meet Hannah and neither was Isaiah - between hospital regulations and her post-transplant isolation, it just wasn't in Hannah's best interest (although I did get to peek at her through her hospital room door, and she even waved at me! So sweet!). But Jen and I would still talk, still visit, and share about how hopeful we were for that day where we could see our babies side-by-side.

Well, folks, that day came earlier this week. And it was wonderful. I had a hard time holding back the tears, seeing these two sweet babies side-by-side after knowing what they'd both been through and endured, sometimes just a few steps from each other's hospital room doors. I look at them both, deemed "miracles" by their physicians, and I wholeheartedly agree.

Hannah was so chatty, and quite the hostess! After seeing this picture, her mom commented, "Of course a typical girl talking his ear off." I don't think he minded. :) It was shortly after this that Isaiah gave a little tug to Hannah's ng tube, but a quick correction and a new toy to chew on was all that was needed  to make the rest of the play date happy and relatively uneventful.

Hannah is great at sitting up, while Isaiah prefers to be on his tummy/knees to explore. The two shared toys, or rather, Hannah shared and Isaiah swiped. In the picture above, Hannah had caught on to Isaiah's schemes and was able to grab the toy keys just in time.

Isaiah and Hannah had lunch, then resumed their play. Isaiah was very comfortable with Hannah and crawled over her to get to toys... actually, he crawled on her. Kudos to the little lady for being so patient and keeping her balance! If I had a guy I'd just met trying to crawl across my lap, I don't think I would've smiled and shared my toys with him.

Hannah's older brothers came home and were such sweethearts - they both dropped to the floor and started loving and playing with the babies. It made me excited to have more kids someday - something that has recently been causing some anxiety. Seeing the interactions between all the kids, plus seeing these two miracle babies together, reminded me of some truth: God is in control, He loves all of His children, and He can heal the brokenhearted.

Currently.

Isaiah is currently...

entertaining his vocal chords. He's making lots of playful sounds and blowing lots of raspberries. I tried to put together a short video of it, but as soon as he saw the camera was on he decided he didn't want to perform. I should know better by now!

holding his own bottle, even one-handed! His physical therapist came by this week and was so impressed with how strong he's getting and how curious he is, but still cautious. He's just learning to pull himself up into a standing position and, right from the beginning, instinctively knew not to just fall back on his bum.

smiling just about all the time. He really gets to smiling when we play a modified version of peek-a-boo (no hands over the eyes - just us popping out from behind doorways), when he pulls on the chains for the ceiling fan, and anytime a commercial comes on for "Henry Hugglemonster." In the evenings when Josh gets home, Isaiah follows him wherever he goes and smiles anytime they make eye contact - sometimes even bursting into a full belly laugh just at the sight of his "da-da."

frowning a little more than usual. He's been kind of cranky, but I think that may be my doing (I tried switching him to two naps a day instead of three and it didn't go so well). Yesterday he passed right out in his pack-n-play while drinking a bottle, and when he woke up the expressions were just too funny. Here are photos to prove it...

| I swear we didn't put anything in his bottle - he just slept really hard |

I am currently...

entertaining thoughts on Isaiah's first birthday. I think we have a theme in mind, and we have a location we really like, but there are two problems with it: 1. It's more expensive than what we'd like to pay for a site, and 2. It's a covered outdoor area, so though we may not get wet, it'd be raining all around us and would cancel out some of the things we like best about the area (a park, a lake for feeding ducks, a playground).

holding a Pepsi. My husband may be disappointed to read that since I'd recently started drinking diet soda, but I just couldn't help myself while I was in the grocery line this morning. Those checkstands are a death trap.

smiling a HUGE smile because we found out that Isaiah's shot (the one I wrote about here) was approved! After 2 weeks of back-and-forth calls, we finally heard that a physician with the insurance company was able to review the letter sent by Isaiah's cardiologist and he agreed that Isaiah does need the shot. It's being shipped today and the doctor's office will receive it Tuesday morning, and we'll be there that afternoon.

frowning because I can't have Genki Sushi for every meal, every day. That stuff is seriously amazing! Anyone else a big sushi fan? What're some of your favorite rolls?