Tea Time with Mama!

I am from the south and we love our ice sweet tea! Never and I mean never in my life did I think I would ever be a hot tea drinker. It wasn't going to happen- snub my nose in the air and purse my lips shut keep it away from me. Yuck! Then I started to get a cold and my husband convinced me to let him make me a cup of hot tea to soothe my throat and open up my nose. I agreed and with my heels dug into the ground ready to run the other way I took a sip of chamomile tea with honey and sugar. It was like a cloud that slowly and warmly surrounded my body from head to toe. AMAZING! I fell in love and we stocked up on all kinds of different teas. Now as a new tea drinker I was boiling water in a pot on the stove and pouring it into my mug over the sink so the water didn't splash anywhere else. It was a hassle and took up so much time! Especially if I got busy and couldn't get to it in time all of my water would be gone and with an infant who has her own schedule it was not working out for the tea. Thanks to Chefs Limited for sending me this gift of their Chefs Limited Tea Kettle I can now have my tea all day everyday. Purchase yours here - Amazon #Chefslimitedteakettle

The handle is special so you can just pick it up and the whistle is not loud or annoying and helps with that therapeutic feeling during tea time. I can easily pour it into my mug with one hand!

Now I just need to focus on organizing my tea to make it easier to choose one. With the day I have had out and about with pediatrician appt, shots, cats at the vet, Christmas shopping, and homeschool meetings I need Peppermint Tea with a tiny drop of honey.

The kids are napping so I will relax and read "Love That Boy.".

Enjoy the holidays and feel free to leave your favorite tea and book in the comments!

Laser Christmas Lights

Happy Holidays and Merry Christmas!
I am so ecstatic for this season as it is my favorite. There is nothing like snow on the ground, hot cocoa in your hand, family surrounding you, a Christmas tree, lights on the house, and lastly our elf on the shelf, Jose. We are getting there to complete the list. We do not have any snow yet; despite having cold weather it is not cold enough for snow. Without snow and needing the weather to be colder we are waiting for hot cocoa at that time. For now we do have our Christmas tree. lights outside, and Jose the elf.

This is our Wondershop 6ft prelit tree from Target. Of course decorated by my wonderful 8 and 9 yr old boys while my 1 month old daughter watched from her swing. I had the tree on blinking lights so that is why it only looks like 1 part is lit up. #tistheseason #Wondershop Buy yours here- Target

 The lights on our house came as a gift from Baima Club. It is Blue/Green lights and has a 25 foot reach. They really set the mood as they make the grass, house, trees, and sky twinkle! The ones I have do not blink or change, but you can turn it so it can sit at a different angle as needed. Another thing I love about the lights is you can see them in the windows of your house on the inside. As I sit typing this from my living room I can see the lights in the kitchen window and it just puts a smile on my face. It took less than 2 minutes to put it together and stake it in the ground outside. #laserchristmaslights  Buy yours here- Amazon

Our family Elf on the Shelf is Jose. He generally comes the day after Thanksgiving and delivers a fill in the blank letter to carry back to Santa on what they did good this year and what they want for Christmas. To prevent the kids from going overboard he leaves 2 to 4 blanks for things they want. So far he has reminded us to hang the lights which I have not done yet..laziness and glad I didn't since we received the laser Christmas lights. Then he stole some of our cake mix and hid in the closet with a letter asking my 8 yr old what he wanted for a Birthday cake. #elfontheshelf #Josetheelf Adopt your elf here- Amazon

I hope you enjoy your holidays and would love to see any of your holiday pictures. Share them here on my facebook page - Mander Rocha
 

Decorating the Belly Cast

I know it's a late posting of how we decorated the belly cast. Unfortunately with the pregnancy complications and the early birth of our daughter we did not get it fully decorated in time. I am very very grateful for Brushes with Karma for taking her time to help us decorate the belly cast and fixing my many artistic mistakes. Ignore the background as we were remodeling and adding a walk in closet to our home, but here is a picture of me holding the cast ready to start decorating.

We had to sand it down so the paint would go on smoothly.

Once we had it sanded down we then began painting the chest area gray to match my daughters nursery of gray and pink. Kat with Brushes with Karma came to my home and did the painting for me. We used the same gray and pink as we did on our walls in the nursery to make sure it was an exact match.

After the gray dried we then cut circles from construction paper and traced them onto the gray.

We then took white paint and traced the circles then filled them in.

Once that was dry Kat painted my daughters name and date of birth onto the belly. Then with a hot glue gun she added the ribbons and stone to the middle. Once all of that was complete and dry we then took my daughters feet and printed them onto the cast.

Now that the casting is complete we can hang them in her nursery with her newborn pictures taken by Dani Feltmeyer!

My Birth Story October 2016

My journey and battle with hyperemesis gravidarum finally came to an end on October 12, 2016. The night before my husband and I made sure the house was completely ready for her and everything was in its place as well as taking our boys to stay with family for the rest of the week. It was very very hard for me to fall asleep! I was battling contractions that had been going on for weeks and getting stronger as well as a lot of acid reflux, vomiting, and the pain from symphisis pubis disfunction. The alarm was set for 4:00 am; however, we woke up at 3am on our own. We took our showers and made sure the bags were completely packed and loaded into the car as well as the carseat. My older sister came to our house at 4:20 to follow us to the hospital and be our support and photographer. We then headed out to the hospital to check in at 5am.

At 39 weeks pregnant we were checked in and waited in the waiting room to be taken back. After 5 am the nurse came to get us and took us back to our labor and delivery room where again we waited for the next step.

The nurses then came back and checked me I was at 4.5cm so they went to get the pitocin to make my contractions longer and closer together. I received that a little after 7am.

The IV was finally in after blowing a vein and I tried to keep myself occupied to make it through the contractions. I didn't last long before I caved and asked for the epidural at this point I was 5.5 cm. A little before 8am they gave me the epidural and then a little after 8am my Dr came in and broke my water which I was at 6cm; from there it was just the waiting game so we went ahead and took a small- very small- nap.

A little after 9am I informed the nurses that I feared the epidural was wearing off as my legs felt different. One of the nurses decided it was time to check me again and she didn't even get to check as she could already see my daughter crowning and called for the other nurse. They told me to lay still and not to push they were going to call my Dr and let him know it was time. We were wide awake then and very excited!

My Dr arrived and it took 2 pushes and my husband cutting the umbilical cord from around her neck and our daughter was born at 9:57am.

We couldn't be happier with our little rainbow baby. Catalina came in at 7lbs 7oz and 19inches long.

 She takes after her Papi not only in looks but sleeping patterns as well.

Blount Organic Soup Tryazon Party

We hosted a party in our home with Blount Organic Soup that we received complimentary for testing purposes. Despite being put on bed rest I was able to get up a little bit to take a few pictures and unfortunately did not get pictures of over half the guests that attended or their soup and I greatly apologize to everyone missed with no pictures.

I had so much fun looking through the different soups Blount Organic offers and they are all truly amazing!

The vegetarian chili was so good they wanted seconds and demanded to have it again one day. This is so perfect for the fall weather coming in this week and football season. "Nacho chili this is mine!" is what they were yelling.

The broccoli cheddar soup was to die for! We added chunks of bread to it and there were lots of people asking for seconds on that one as well. I do plan on making this again inside of bread bowls! They are great for packing your lunch for work or heating up a quick meal. We put them in the microwave for 2 minutes and done in their own container ready to be scooped out. The containers are reusable for leftovers as well.

Let me know what you think about the company and their wonderful soups!

Gestational Diabetes Approved Shakes

Do you have gestational diabetes? I can say I feel your pain and struggle! The diet is no fun and very hard to follow; especially if you are like me and love your chocolate. After some research and discussing with my obgyn as well as my pharmacist I have found a way to enjoy sweets without cheating. There are two shakes brands that are great to drink while pregnant and with GD: Premier Protein and Boost Glucose Control.
Premier Protein: Amazon
Glucose Control: Amazon
 These can be found in the premade shake section by the pharmacy at local stores. They are so easy to make and even better to enjoy.
I will fill a mug with crushed ice and then scoop some lite whip cream onto the ice. Once I feel I have the right amount I will then pour my premade shake onto them.

Once you have your shake ready then sit back, relax, and enjoy without worrying about cheating on your diet. So yummy and addictive! Perfect for holiday season time with all of these no no's around every corner.

Enjoy and feel free to post pics of your shakes!

Belly Casting in Our Home!

Good Morning Readers,

I apologize that I have not been active in some months it has truly been a trying time for my family. We have battled hyperemisis gravidarum, gallbladder surgery, gestational diabetes, symphosis pubis dysfunction, and bed rest not to mention the kids starting school and strep throat going around. We still have a few weeks left to go before our daughter makes her appearance and it is certainly exciting!

We decided to try belly casting as this is our last pregnancy and child, we want to make our own door hanger for the hospital, have an item to use for newborn pictures, and hang it up for decoration above her crib.

The first thing we did was go to Babies R Us and purchase the Pearhead belly casting kit:
Babies R Us
Amazon

The kit contains the vaseline cream to protect your body, the plastic sheet to help with messiness, gloves (that do run small), 5 rolls of wrap, and a sanding sheet. What you will need is scissors and a tub of warm water. That is just to begin with after you sand it you will need to get the protective paint and anything else you want to decorate it with. (Follow me and check back later for another update of us decorating the cast)

Once you have your kit decide where you want to do the casting at and how you want to be in position. Since I am on bedrest we of course chose our bed and to have me laying down. The process took a total of about 2 1/2 hours for us and that was me being completely still the entire time. We started out by laying the plastic sheet over our bed and draped it over onto the floor for any spills.

Now that the sheet is layed out it is time to rub the protective cream everywhere the wrap may touch you as that will protect your skin and make it easier to peel off when done. We found using one glove and one bare hand worked best for getting the wraps in place. The gloves do run small so if you have larger hands you may want to go purchase a pair.

With the cream on you and you in position it is time to start cutting the wraps, dipping in water and placing on the body.

 We started at the middle of my stomach over my belly button went down and then back up to my chest. The wraps need to overlap eachother and by the end you should have 3 to 4 layers of wraps on you. Do not worry about the edges as you can sand that down later; however, try to make it all as smooth as possible to help with sanding later and keep it thick. (I held a mirror up to help my husband see the other side and make it even as possible) This part of the process took about an hour to complete.

When all the wraps are used up the instructions states to let sit for 5-10 min to dry; however, it was about an hour before we pulled the cast off me and we had 2 fans blowing on me. We waited until we could touch the cast and not have any specks on our hands and when we could touch the side of it at the edge and it not cave at our fingertips. Thankfully we had a television in front of us to entertain us during this part of the process.

Once the cast is dry and you pull it off then you need to set it aside for 1 day to make sure it is hardened all the way through. We chose to place our cast in our master bathroom where there is less risk of it getting broken. It is very light and could easily break!

Keep posted for an update of when we sand it and decorate it for our daughter!

Thanks for following,

Mander Rocha

Cute Strawberry 3 Piece Bathing Suit for Little Girls

Finding a bathing suit for a little girl nowadays is hard to do. There are so many cute options out there and for all different types of swimming parties. On top of that as us women know your top and bottom will always be different sizes. I came across this very cute 3 piece bathing suit and fell in love. At first when I received the suit I was kind of iffy on the top being decent for a small child; however, once the suit was on my model it was perfect.

                                                    Model: Aeryn

As you can see it actually covers a good portion of her and did not slide or slip as she moved. The top and bottom both have cute little strawberries hanging from them. They add such character to the suit and fun for the child wearing them! The bathing suit is machine washable; Size 2T-6T,Suggest for age 2-6 year old; 2T:Bust 43cm,suggest weight 9kg, height 90cm; 3T:Bust 46cm,suggest weight 13.5kg, height 100cm; 4T:Bust 49cm,suggest weight 18kg, height 110cm; 5T:Bust 52cm,suggest weight 22.5kg, height 120cm; 6T:Bust 55cm,suggest weight 27kg, height 130cm; NOTE:1 inch=2.54cm. Our Model is height 108cm,weight 17.5kg,5 years old, Size 5T is suitable.

The bathing suit pictured here with our model is size 5t.

You can purchase your #swimwear at: Amazon


I received this product complimentary for testing purposes. All opinions noted are by Mander Rocha alone. 

Fathers Day Letter From Child

Fathers Day is fast approaching and we need to get creative and ready! The kids made cute letters and cards in their classrooms at school for Mothers Day; however, Fathers Day falls in the summer and unless us moms do creative then it won't happen. Here is a cute Dear Dad letter your child can fill out with you to present to their Dads on that special day!

My 7 year old filled this out for his Papi to open on Fathers Day and is so excited! You can print off your or save one to use later here:

Dear Dad Colour

Dear Dad Black


I hope you enjoy your project and feel free to send me pictures of your completed letters with permission I will add them here for others to view as well!