Super Bowl Weekend

It's amazing how things changed! This time last year, Tim was living in College Station while I was finishing up school in Nacogdoches. He was able to come home for the weekend and we actually had snow-almost 6 inches of it- in Nacogdoches. Valentine's Day weekend was a colddd one and we were lucky enough to drive up to Krum to see Nathan for his birthday. 

And here we are a year later, Auggie is 3 months old, we had snow on Friday and Tim & I are finally established in College Station. 

We had about 1.5 inches of snow on Friday. It wasn't much but I was glad we got it. Tim stayed home from work for a little bit so we could get a picture. Yep, that's right one picture. Last year, I woke up at 5 a.m. and spent a couple hours walking around and taking pictures of the snow... This year, I slept late and we ran out and took one family picture. Just one. We didn't want to keep Auggie out too long, even all bundled up. I did take a little time to take a couple pictures outside around the house. There was a yellow-bellied sapsucker pecking away at a pecan tree near our house that I tried to get pictures of. Too bad some of the neighborhood kids scared him away. :( There's a nature photo contest in April that Tim & I are going to enter. My cardinal picture is nothing spectacular but I just love cardinals in the winter.

Cardinal at winter time

Our weekend was pretty uneventful again. Tim took Aussie and Charlie for a walk after his run. I'm sure they enjoyed their walk. I've been slacking in the walking department... I think its the cold weather. Jane, Sherwin, Jacob, Jessica & Ben stopped by Saturday evening. They stayed for about an hour while Ben and Jacob played in the backyard. 

Our big boy has graduated to 3 month + nipples!

I hate having to keep Auggie away from all his cousins. It's a good thing we have been, though. Cole & Drake ended up being sick last week- Cole wanted to meet Auggie while we were in La Porte so I stayed in the house while he stood at the door step. 

Saturday night, Tim & I started to watch The Boondock Saint 2... yeaaa, I couldn't get past 15 minutes and Tim lasted about 30. We ended up watching Lock, Stock & 2 Smoking Barrels. It was good! I was surprised. Tim had already seen it so he wasn't too into it.

and then Sunday, Auggie & I took it easy while Tim went to rugby practice down the road. Hopefully in March, Auggie & I will be able to go with him since its right down the road. We just need to buy a stroller! We've put that off since we don't go anywhere. Who knows, by the time we can go out, Auggie might be able to use the umbrella stroller my grandparents gave us. For the Super Bowl game, we went to our friends' (BIlly & Julie) house. It was nice getting out of the house.

That's about it in the super exciting life of the Siegmunds! Thursday, I'll have Auggie's 3 month pictures and a lot more every day pictures of him. I haven't uploaded my phone pictures yet.

52 Fridays- M-I-C-K-E-Y M-O-U-S-E

Thanks to this nasty cold weather, I didn't make it out to Hobby Lobby or Michael's this week. I have no desire to share the roads with college students who tend to freak out when we have bad weather.

I'll hopefully be making it out later today or maybe tomorrow. I have 10 (yes, 10!) card orders to mail out by next Thursday in time for Valentine's Day.

This week instead of cleaning around the house, I've been working on using the pen tool in Adobe Illustrator. I got used to it when I worked at Campus Rec at SFA but I was able to use a tablet there. Using a mouse is so much different than a pen!

I made a simple 4x6 invitation for Nathan's birthday. He'll be 2 on February 12 so my sister is having a Mickey themed party. You should see him wanting to watch Mickey! Here's a link to a video of him doing his numbers and letters- My nephew is so smart!

So onto the Mickey Invitation. I used a picture of the Mickey Park entrance and used the pen tool to draw it on the computer. Then I used to Live Paint tool to "paint" it.

I'm still working on some designs for my Etsy shop so I've also been getting some practice with that. and speaking of my Etsy shop- I made my first sell! I am very excited about it! Hopefully I'll have a few more designs up soon so I can sell some more!

Are you frozen yet?

Tuesday morning we headed to Austin... yep- that's right... we drove as the front came through central Texas. Luckily, we left just as the rain was leaving the area but the wind was crazy! We had to be in Austin at 8 am for Auggie's genetics appointment. We left College Station with plenty of time but we ended up being 10 minutes late because of traffic.

Test Results: The geneticist said Auggie's tests showed an insertion in his DNA profile. That means there's an extra base pair added into the DNA sequence. In a gene there are certain regions that code for development of features and some areas that are filler. In Auggie's case, an extra base pair caused a shift   in the function of the proteins that help in the development of Auggie's features. This lead to the abnormal growth of his cheek. The insertion of the extra base pair occurred in exon 23 of TCOF1 gene which is located on the 5th chromosome. Currently there are 50 known mutations and Auggie's is one that has been previously documented. There's no link between type of mutation and the physical characteristics of the person affected. They don't know why it is sometimes worse from parents to children when it is inherited even when the mutation is in the same location.


We also talked about what our options are when we're ready to have more children. Tim & I can both be tested to see if we're carriers of TCS. If one of us is a carrier, then we'll have a 50% chance of passing TCS onto another child. If neither of us are carriers, then our chances are just a little over 2% of passing it on since we already have a child with TCS. Before we talked with the geneticist, we were sure we were going to get tested. The geneticist said she would be surprised if one of us had TCS because of our features. She pointed out Tim's asymmetry of his face (neither one of us know what she's talking about *shrugs*) so she suggested if we do the test then have Tim get tested before I get tested. Since the geneticist was confident about neither one of us having the test done, we decided not to do the test for right now. If we don't get tested, we have a few options for when we want to get pregnant again.

1. Amniocentesis/ Chorionic Villus sampling (CVS): Analysis of DNA extracted from fetal cells performed at 15-18 weeks' gestation or 10-12 weeks' gestation, respectively. This won't tell the severity of TCS the child will but only identify the TCOF1 gene. This option would just prepare us for the birth of the baby and not leave us wondering for 9 months.
2. Selective in vitro fertilization- Once an egg is fertilized in a lab, it can be tested for the TCOF1 gene. If the test comes back negative, we can choose to implant it. This option is really expensive, though.
3. Testing sex cells- Apparently, they can test the egg and sperm individually to see if they are positive for the TCOF1 gene. The geneticist said sometimes there are bad batches of sex cells that can have mutations but the rest can be fine. 

So there are a few options for us when we decide we want another child. We do know we'll be waiting a lot longer to have another one so we can deal with everything Auggie needs. We originally planned to have kids close together but things do change! I want to be there for Auggie when he goes through certain stages and it'd be a lot easier if my attention didn't have to be divided.

That's about all we learned from the geneticist appointment. Our opinion of her changed significantly with this visit. Maybe it was because she was sick that we didn't think too highly of her during the first consult... or maybe it was the $660 we were charged for a 20 minute visit where we were given the same exact information we looked up on the internet... thank goodness for Tim's insurance!

Auggie has been doing great this week... He rolled over twice Tuesday morning before we left for Austin! He had rolled over for me once but he got his arm trapped under his body so it wasn't a complete roll. Tuesday morning he rolled over in front of Tim and got both arms out! We are so proud of our little Auggie Bear! He's been getting better at cooing at us and keeping his head up and in control more and more. Some times he sounds like he's crying but if you look, he's just making noise. I am so glad he's found his voice. 

Aussie & Charley snoozing on their mats in the living room

Wednesday, Auggie & I stayed warm in the house. It was pretty cold outside! We let Aussie & Charley in Tuesday night since it was supposed to be 0 degrees through the night. When Tim left for work in the morning, he let them out. I woke up to Aussie rolling around their water dish. It was still full of water- frozen water! What a lovely introduction to February!

Here are a few pictures I took Wednesday afternoon. The ladies at ECI recommended letting Auggie get used to having things on his head since he'll be wearing his hearing aid head band in a few months. We let him wear a hat most of the evening Tuesday through last night.

And I'll leave you with some good news- Auggie is 12 weeks old today! I'm sure you're looking forward to his 3 month pictures next week! ;) Tomorrow on my 52 Fridays- I'll have a few scapbook layouts to show you, maybe. I'm still debating what I'll be showing you!

Auggie Meet La Porte... La Porte Meet Auggie!!

August made his first trip to Gramma & Grandpa's house! It was our first trip away from College Station with just the two of us. Tim had to work Saturday morning so he wasn't able to go to La Porte with us.  Auggie was great in the car- he slept the whole 2 hours to and from. He was great the whole time we were in La Porte. My mom babysat him Friday night and Saturday afternoon while I went out to eat and then to a high school friend's baby shower. After the shower, Auggie got to meet a few of my friends- Cynthia, Katrine, and Katrine's mom- and then he was able to see Shannon and Sydelle again. Sunday morning he met a high school soccer friend, Sarah, and then our neighbor, Jeanice, came over. It was so nice being able to show him off! I am so ready for the warm weather!

The diaper cake I made for Katrine

Shannon, Cynthia, Katrine, Sydelle & Me
Katrine only has 4 more weeks until little Liam arrives!

Auggie was great for Gramma while I was at the baby shower

Being a wide-eyed little man

Gramma scared Auggie with the flash on her iPhone.

He was a happy little guy once she turned off the flash!

Monday afternoon, our coordinator from ECI (Early Childhood Intervention) came by with a speech therapist to assess Auggie. From their long chart of growth, he seems to be right on track... the only thing lacking is keeping his hands open for more than 50% of the time and of course, hearing things. He was well behaved for them even when he was on his tummy. He proved us wrong after we told them he hated tummy time! He just laid there and even fell asleep. We were assured all the noises Auggie makes are actually him cooing at us. He's been really vocal in the past couple of weeks.

This is from a couple weeks ago but I just love how Auggie's sticking out his tongue

This morning we have our appointment with the geneticist to get Auggie's test results. They already told us he has the Treacher-Collins mutation so we're not too sure what this appointment will be about. We'll let you know all about that on Thursday!

Hope everyone stays safe in all this crazy weather!

52 Fridays- Double Feature!

Like I said in a previous post, I made a diaper cake for my friend, Jamie. I thought it turned out super cute.

What you need:

• a base (a 14" cake platter was used)
• a center pole (a paper towel center is good)
• 60 diapers  (more if you want to make it bigger but use the formula 1x + 2x + 3x = # of diapers used... 1 is the top tier, 2 is the middle and 3 is the base... so for this cake I did 1(10) + 2(10) + 3(10)= 60 diapers
• large rubber bands
• ribbon
• hot glue
• baby goodies

Starting with the base and center pole, hot glue the pole to center of the base and set aside to dry.

Once the glue is dry, you can start with the bottom tier of diapers.Take a few diapers and lay them flat on the table but in a domino/overlapping effect. (Shown below) Make a few sets of the overlapping diapers and set them aside so you can easily grab them. 

All 3 tiers wrapped around the center pole

Take a set of overlapped diapers and wrap them around the center pole. Grab another set of overlapped diapers and continue wrapping around the center until you have a completed circle. As you continue to add diapers, I figured out if you wrap a rubber band around the diapers as you go, the diapers stay in place nicely. Some instructions have you add the rubber band last.

For the middle and top tiers, use the same instructions as above but with 20 diapers (middle tier) and 10 diapers (top tier). 

Once the diapers are nicely spaced around the center pole, you can start to add ribbon. Add the ribbon around the middle of each tier to replace the rubber bands and to keep the diapers in shape. You can hot glue the ribbon ends together but be sure the glue does not come into contact with the diapers.

When you are satisfied with your ribbon placement, you can add your baby goodies. You can use teether, stuffed toys or anything you can think of for the mom-to-be!

Finished product 

Close up of the top tier

Now onto my second project for this week! (Yes, I said second b/c I can't show the other ones I have done yet!) I've been wanting something to decorate the space above our headboard in our room. Since all the vinyl scenes I've liked have been too expensive, I am going to make something. I used the following picture as inspiration along with our duvet.

Our duvet

Picture frame at Target

Canvas with leaves sketched onto it

11x17" canvas with leaves

The leaves will be painted with creme colored paint and the background will be the same green we have on the wall surrounding our window. There will be 2 side by side. I'll post a picture once they're dry and hung up!

Is it Spring yet?

I know, I know... We shouldn't want these days to hurry on by but we can't help looking forward to so many things coming up.

• The appointment with the geneticist
• Auggie's ABR (Auditory Brainstem Response) test in March
• WARM weather! Hopefully we'll be taking Auggie out!
• Auggie getting his hearing aids

I'm sure there are others but I can't think of anything else.. in fact I know Tim & I have our own things we're looking forward to.

Auggie's last RSV vaccination went well. He cried for less than a minute. As soon as he was in his carseat and it was moving, he was asleep. Tuesday night, Billy & Julie came over for dinner. They have had us over so many times for dinner and some Wii fun so we finally had the chance to have them over. I made chicken tetrazzini- it actually turned out great! I was exhausted by the time they left. My nose is all stuffy/runny and my throat has been super sore lately. Where does it come from?? I don't go anywhere or see anyone to get sick from! I just hope it doesn't find Auggie!

Wednesday was pretty uneventful. Auggie slept most of the day, only waking up to eat. Tim stayed home til a little after noon to let me sleep. I've been sleeping terribly the past few days since I've been feeling sick. He was able to do some things for work on the computer and over the phone so at least he was able to get some hours in. When he came home, I took Aussie & Charley for a walk. They were so hyper when we started but luckily, they didn't drag me down the road like the last week! I'm sure I look funny being pulled by a lab mix and an australian shepherd. 

I've finished the invitations I've been designing and took them to the printer last night. Other than a little hiccup with the color (even though I checked it several times), I should have them mailed tomorrow afternoon. I really hope they're liked! I've been trying to get some more designs up on my Etsy shop but my creativity has been lacking the past few weeks. I need it back! I don't know what I'd do if it never came back!!

I guess that's about it! I'll leave you with a few iPhone pictures. Next week (or the week after) will be Auggie's 12 week/ 3 month photo shoot! I can't wait to see what outfits he'll be fitting in then!

He was so sleepy on Sunday

The "Sherber-gular" sleeping on the floor in a comfy blanket

He's starting to keep his thumbs out from under his fingers

Someone wouldn't fall asleep and stay asleep if my finger wasn't on his soothie

Peeking at me to see if I'm still there

Auggie's double chin is really starting to show ;)

3-6 month onesie I ordered from T&T Treasures
I can't wait til he can wear it!

Poor little Auggie Bear... He has bad cradle cap :(
but he's kinda smiling here!

Keeping an eye for those red and blue birds!

Pregnancy Brain? Oh wait, I'm not pregnant anymore!

I apologize for not having a post on Friday. I usually do my "52 Fridays" post some time during the week before it is posted and some how, I thought last Friday was the 28. Don't ask me why I thought it was the 28- I even have a baby shower to go to on the 29 so I knew when it was... at least I thought I did. So to make up for my late on-set pregnancy brain, I will have a double dose for you on Friday!

Late on-set pregnancy brain... hmm.. It has a ring to it. I guess it could be called Mommy brain, too? I never had trouble remembering stuff while I was pregnant (at least not more than usual) so it just amazes me how bad it has gotten since Auggie has been born. I'll go to transfer Auggie's milk from a bottle to a bag but sometimes forget about putting it in the fridge! I've been meaning to call the Milk Bank in Austin to get a blood test done so I can finally donate the milk that is taking up our freezer but I again, keep forgetting. I like making lists, so I should probably start keeping Post Its lists around my desk to keep things straight. ;)

Things are going by.... well, pretty fast, boring and uneventful. I should be thankful for that! Friday and Saturday, the THREE (!!) of us spent our time in Giddings. It was Auggie's first night away from home since we brought him home. Tim wanted to go duck hunting with Sherwin and Jacob one last time this season. They brought home a few ducks. We spent all of Saturday in Giddings. Auggie was able to meet Grandma K and Uncle Darryl for the first time. I am so ready for him to meet everyone! Maybe Eater will be a good time.

One of the ducks had a club foot (the one on the left is club)

Jacob with the ducks of the day

Sunday was another lazy day for us. Tim was supposed to go play rugby Sunday evening but they're unorganized. One of the guys decided to get together 30 minutes before the set time. Who does that? Especially if you're trying to get guys interested in playing rugby in College Station.

Monday, the THREE (!!) of us went to Wal Mart to go shopping. I think all we had in the fridge was condiments and some fruit cups... it was definitely a sad sight. We were going to go around midnight Monday morning but since Auggie was sleeping so well, we waited for the afternoon. It's sad that we wanted to go when no one was around so we could take Auggie. I know, I know, 5 p.m. on a Monday evening is not the time to go when you don't want your little one around people but it was the first time Auggie has been out in public. 

Like I said before, I forget things... and I've been meaning to post about Grey's Anatomy. The episode that was on Thursday, January 13 featured a patient with Treacher-Collins Syndrome. Stefany T. messaged me through Facebook that night telling me about it. (Our antennae doesn't get ABC so I have to watch it on Fridays). My first reaction was "WTH??? It seems to be popping up everywhere!" I just don't get how you can go your whole life not hearing about something and then once it affects your life, you hear about it so much more often. I found a couple sites that explain TCS better than I would- I focus on certain things and often don't explain how it develops. www.diseaseaday.com and the oh-so-relaible www.abc.com. Never thought you'd go to ABC to learn about something, did you? I also found the episode of Grey's from 2 weeks ago. The TCS patient is at 9:30 to (approx.) 10:15

I'll post more pictures of Auggie on Thursday- I haven't uploaded any new ones since last week. Auggie has been doing great! He's starting to keep his hands open a lot more through out the day and he's been more vocal recently, too. He'll have his last RSV vaccination later today. I guess we'll have to see next Fall if he'll need to be careful around germs. He is such a trooper when it comes to getting poked and prodded so I'm sure we won't have a problem. Last night, he slept after he ate at 10 p.m. until 3 a.m! I was surprised about what time it was when I woke up. Maybe that's a sign that he'll be sleeping longer at night. Here's to hoping!

Auggie has changed so much!

Auggie holding onto the Mommy Necklace

He was so comfy laying on my shoulder like this... too bad it is a terrible position for breathing for him!

So until Thursday....

We have the BEST baby in the world...

... Yes- I think we honestly do have the best baby! He has been SO good the past few days.

I woke up to him sleeping so well on Tuesday and he's been getting more and more active. Wednesday evening he was really vocal. It's nice to see that he starting to hit his milestones.

Sleeping so well!

Tuesday was a fun day- at least for me it was. I got 3 packages in the mail! 1 was a big surprise from my aunt in Florida. She sent me a pair of earrings and a bracelet. SO pretty! It reminds me a lot of my boss, Liz, from Campus Rec.

I also received my first photo prop- a Christmas tutu!! I won a discount during a game held by T&T Treasures on Facebook.. I heard a couple jokes about Auggie wearing a tutu. Sadly, I was really tempted to see what it looked like on a baby when I got it! lol. Don't worry, I didn't put it on Auggie! I told my sister, Jamie, that she better be having a little girl so she can have some awesome tutu pictures for Christmas! [[Oh, yea... Jamie is pregnant! I don't know how I didn't spill the beans on that one!]]

Tutu by T&T Treasures

 I also received the last part of my Christmas present- a custom return address stamp! I love it! Obviously, the wording is different on ours. I bought it on etsy at lovetocreatestamps. I'll definitely be going back once I get my Honeybee Creations logo all worked out.

Return address stamp

and speaking of Etsy! I started my own shop! It's called HBeeCreations. There are only a few items up now but once I am done with these wedding invitations, I'll be posting some cute things! Maybe something even Valentine's Day inspired!

Wednesday was a sleepy day for both Auggie & me. I think we napped in the recliner until 1. I knew I had to get my butt up to work on stuff before Tim got home.

Check back tomorrow for my diaper cake tutorial on My 52 Fridays! YES! I came up with a new (and better) name for my Fridays! ;)

Fun but short weekend

Hope everyone's weekend treated them well... Tim & I had a great Saturday in Dallas.  My friend, Jamie, had a baby shower (she's due at the end of February) and I figured it was a good time to see our Dallas friends. While I was at the shower, Tim went out with Kevin, Marco, Karl, and Big Tim (and possibly other guys). I loved what I gave to Jamie. I really hope she liked it, too... but not too much to not take it apart! (Friday, I'll post a little how to)

The diaper cake topper

While we were there, Jamie & Kevin gave us what they had gotten Auggie- an Australia Wallabies onesie! I'll be getting better pictures later this week- I'll have to do laundry since Auggie spit up right after Tim put the outfit on him. When Tim showed me the onesie, I was excited about the front (with the Wallabies logo) and then he showed me the back! I was super excited about that! I'll have to get pictures of Tim in his Wallabies jersey holding Auggie. Thanks Jamie & Kevin!!

The back of the onesie

Tim playing with Auggie on his play mat

It was so nice doing dinner with Blair, Reagan, Karl, Marco, Jamie, Kevin, Matt & Angela while we were there. It is definitely one thing I miss about most of us being in Nacogdoches. It'll be nice once Jamie has Colin- Colin, Auggie & Reagan will be able to play together at SFA's Alumni game each year! If the stars align themselves correctly, Colin might be exactly 3 months younger than Auggie. Auggie is exactly 3 months younger than Reagan. CUTE!

My mom babysat Auggie while we spent the day in Dallas. She said he did great! She was able to take a couple nice pictures with her new iPhone4 (yea, I know! My mom has an iPhone4). She has another picture of him sticking out his tongue that I'll get from her and I'll post it on Thursday.

He looks as if he's worried we left him with Gramma! ;)

Sleeping great for Gramma!

Sunday was a lazy day for us. My mom and I went to Toys R' Us and Michael's to do a little shopping but since the weather was nasty, we didn't stay out too long.
Monday morning we had an Early Childhood Intervention (ECI) representative come out to get Auggie set up for his weekly weight checks. ECI sounds like a great program. They have different therapists available for home visits to help kids under 3 years old. From what she was saying, ECI will help him with speech and other areas needed until he's 3 and then prep him for the transition into school. It sounds like a great program!

So that was our weekend. Going back to Saturday- I have finally gotten the push I need to get Honeybee Creations up and running... at least the craft side of it. At Jamie's baby shower, one of the girls asked if I had a business card. I could have kicked myself after that! So now, I am in the process of making an Etsy shop (http://www.etsy.com/shop/HBeeCreations) and I will be doing business cards shortly after it is running. I'll be putting my handmade cards (like these) and some graphic design work (like announcements, invitations, etc) up soon. I'll make an announcement when that is all done.

I'll post some more on Thursday! Thanks for stopping by!