Small Things Are Big Things

Me too!!

Here are some awesome things to do in So Cal…

Check out Pretend City on Friday nights from 5-8pm. Click here for a Pretend City buy one get one free coupon! We are for sure going one of the Friday nights and maybe the early Halloween event (details below).

29 Hubble, Irvine, CA 92618 or visit www.pretendcity.org

Halloween A Day Early!

Sunday, October 30 10am-3pm
Dress up in your favorite Halloween costumes and explore the city for all sorts of frightfully fun surprises. Super Why! will be on site to play with the children. Brought to you by PBS SoCal.

Family Autism Event: Safe Trick-or-Treating

Monday, October 31 5:30-7:30pm
This special evening is an opportunity for children and their families to share in some safe "Trick-or-Treating" fun in an autism-friendly environment along with other families. You MUST reserve a place if they want to go! RSVP: Call 949.428.3900 extension 233 or go HERE for tickets. Max 80 families, 5 people
This event is FREE thanks to the OC Register and The Festival of Children’s Season of Caring, Possible Dream Grant

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Every weekend the UltraLuxe theater in Anaheim offers a fun movie (and you can ALWAYS print up free tickets by following the link  at the bottom of my sidebar to the right—>). The October movie is Spookley the Square pumpkin. I know we’ll be going at least once! Click here for tickets! Saturday & Sunday 10:30am through October.

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Have you been to Newport Dunes?

Super fun!!

They are hosting their first family-friendly haunted House. Put on a costume between Oct 27-31 from 5–9 p.m. each night, and do crafts with your kiddos, decorate cookies and carve a pumpkin.
Free admission with parking- $20/car, $30/SUV-Vans and $100/bus. Walkups are welcome for $10.

1131 Back Bay Drive, in Newport Beach visit  www.newportdunes.com

Coming soon (here on the Eli’s Lids blog)…

At least one great Fall craftie…

Tess coming home from the hospital post (that’s for you mom!)…

and…

Two awesome giveaways!!

Everyone loves a good labor story.

Or a bad labor story.

At least I do!

Here is how it (or she) went down…

My due date was September 20th. But since all my babies have come really early or really late, I wasn’t counting on a due date baby. All I knew I wanted was an even number birth date… because all my kiddos were born on an even number. Ideally the 18th or the 20th because my others are 14, 16 & 22 so it would fill in the gaps.

OCD much?

The night of the 20th I started having some contractions. The kind you can’t sleep through. I got up at 2am (on the 21st, darn it!) and fished out What to Expect When You’re Expecting to see if I really was in labor.

Even though I’ve done this 3 times before, I wasn’t sure. The last thing I wanted to do was get all the kiddos to their respective babysitters then not really be in labor.

Darn logistics.

At 3am I realized it was the “real thing” and woke Hot Hubby up to start loading the car and waking the kiddos. Oh, and I did my hair.

Naturally.

The contractions were horrible.

After hearing horror stories of 4th babies coming on the front lawn and because my contractions were so flippin’ painful AND right on top of each other, I was convinced the baby was going to come on the way to the hospital.

Which if everything turns out great, is an awesome story to tell, BUT if it doesn’t then…

I don’t even want to think about it!

Finally we are on the road just after 4 in the morning and my husband stops at the first stoplight and I’m like, “I’m DYING. There is no one around. Just go!!”

We ran like 30 lights.

AND someone made a wrong turn on the way.

Seriously.

We get to the hospital and go into the wrong entrance… oops.

After a bit of trekking, complaining (on my part)  and wheelchair swiping (on hot hubby’s part). We made it to the right floor (yes, floor) and checked in. It’s about 5am.

I just “know” I’m at 9 or 10 centimeters and if I don’t get to the room quick there will be a baby on the gross hospital floor.

They check me (ahem), and I’m 4 centimeters.

“You have got to be freaking kidding me!!!!?!?!?!?!?!???!?!?!”

I cried.

Then they took me to my room and checked me again.

6 centimeters in like 20 minutes.

I was a little more encouraged.

Then I closed my eyes and visualized blooming flowers and all the ridiculous things the tree huggers tell you to think about while my Hot Hubby whispered in my ear that “we will be holding our new baby soon.”

I looked like h-e double hockey sticks.

I didn’t do my make-up… big mistake considering all the pictures taken.

I was super quiet and kept thinking I was talking to my family (I have a lot of peeps in the room with me) but I wasn’t.

Odd.

Looking back at pictures I got to see what my death vigil would look like…

(sis and cousin)

Then after only 2 hours in the hospital and 20 seconds of pushing I was indeed holding my sweet new baby.

Pretty surreal.

         

A girl – Tessa Pearl 8 lbs 15.3 oz.

(I just say 9 lbs, that’s OK right? The Dr said if she wouldn’t have pooed right after she came out she would have been at least 9…)

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Tell me you have posted a birth story on your blog too!!

Leave the link to your birth post in the comments because I wanna read it.

REALLY!

I’m nursing all the time and I can’t type while I do it (yet) but I can read.

PS

I’m wearing a BYOG from my beautiful-talented-in-real-life-friend Andrea. Check out the site.

I love linking up with Life Rearranged’s InstaFriday. I just love love love to document my phone pictures. (Don’t you love your phone pix too? We have our phones on us all the time and catch the cutest moments!)

An event reminder came up on my calendar. Baby due… but no baby.I thought I was in for another really late bundle of joy!

Started BSF again!

You should too.

Powerful!!

I bought Halloween costumes for the big kiddos. (Rapunzel & a pirate…year 4 as a pirate!)

Stoked not to make them.

Now I just have to decide on something fun for the wee ones.

Ideas???

I was thinking Bonnie and Clyde!

I did end up going into labor on the evening of my due date (when does that happen?).

A girl.

Tessa Pearl.

With BIG squishy cheeks.

Some new parents love staying at the hospital after baby.

We aren’t those parents.

At 5’10“ I’m too big for hospital beds and I like my own shower and couch and PJs and the chaos of being surrounded by my own kiddos. So we stay about 24 hours and get the heck out of Dodge.

Though this time it was hard to tear away from all that delicious trashy TV. Can we say Millionaire Matchmaker marathon!??!

Almost made me want to get cable again.

Almost.

But the only time I would be able to watch, would be if I was trapped in a hospital.

A new mom’s power pack. (Just missing the pedi spray bottle, those hot hospital issued panties and tucks. Thx IG and twitter friends!!)

Singlehandedly bring back the 80s sweatband!

(Lets get physical… physical. let me hear your body talk…)

One of my favorite things about a new baby is the valid excuse not to cook.

I’m not blessed in the kitchen.

Sushi!

Cy loves it and Cora Jane is a champ with the chopsticks.

“Mom, lets take pictures of ourselves.”

“OK”

Have a great weekend.

I’ll be snogging our new lil’ human!!

(And nursing a lot.)

A healthy 9 pound, 21” baby girl – Tessa Pearl!

She is awesome.

She came out looking like most newborns…

But it didn’t take long for her adorable-ness to shine through…

Eli and Cora Jane are smitten…

       

As far as Cy’s thoughts? I think the jury is still out…

Tess has the most smooshy giant kissable cheeks ever. I dare you to be in her presence and NOT squeeze them! 

More on the birth later.

Side Note:

I was never really into the baby girl headbands because Cora Jane was born with a ponytail (really!), but now I’m totally obsessed. Do you know where I can find fun ones? The bigger the better!!

Another side note:

Something new for Eli’s Lids is one step closer to being finished!

Sometimes after folks buy Lids they send me pictures of their adorable kiddos in wearing them (or post them up on our Facebook page).

I love it.

Like really LOVE it.

Because I really think people who buy Lids are my friends.

Is that weird??

Anyway, each Sunday I’m going to feature one of the Kids in Lids pictures sent to me!

Meet Ethan! He’s 4 years old and his mom says he never takes his Trucker Lid off!

It survives tennis lessons. And his baby sister!!

                   

But Ethan always gets it back in the end!

We REALLY do wear our Lids all the time around here, and of course I’m always snapping pictures. Somehow they just don’t make it to the blog… till now! We’ve added Lid-Tastic Tuesday! Most Tuesdays we’ll do a flashback post of pictures I never got to put on the blog.

 

Flashing back to August 2010!

Cy was just a floppy 2 month old, and my mommy friends and I met at the Orange County Zoo for a picnic.

(Boys brought us a dead lizard)

          

Cora Jane was rocking the dirt… and her Trucker Lid!

Thanks for flashing back with me!

I love linking up with Life Rearranged’s InstaFriday. But things happen and I don’t get to do it every week… or even always on Friday (ahem!). But I just love love love to document my phone pictures so I’m posting today! (Don’t you love your phone pix too? We have our phones on us all the time and catch the cutest moments!)

Good Morning 37.5 weeks. (Tomorrow I’m 40 weeks… gotta take a pic!)

          

Eli had his 5th Birthday Pirate Party. I made bday tees for the boys (maybe a preview of a new Eli’s Lids tee?!?!?) and we had a blast that HOT day at the park!

On the actual birth day we have some fun traditions. The kiddos’ fave is getting candles and the birthday song with every meal.

Never left in the dust, our lil’ princess wanted to wear her dress-up stuff to Souplantation.

And we let her.

You’re only 3 once!

I made coming home tees for the kiddos.

You better believe we are all coordinating for that 10 minute car ride and the 1,582 pictures!

I found it pretty hard to find big bro tees for boys that aren’t lame (i.e. I’m not even a fan of the word bro…) and I wanted something a little more custom. (i.e. Eli is a big brother of 3 lil’ ones and Cy is a little brother as well as a big brother…)

How do you think the boy ones turned out?

Would you be (or do you think people would be) interested in custom “big brother” tees?

Eli’s says “BIG Brother (times 3)” and Cy’s says Little “Big Brother.”

For Blackout 2011 we met some friends for pizza and Dippin’ Dots. Their lil’ guy was wearing his Lid and it looked awesome!

I’m so thankful for every Lid we sell.

REALLY!

Thanks for reading my blog and liking my Lids.

REALLY!

Cora Jane was tongue tied.

3 minutes with a laser and now she isn’t.

      

     

Some everyday moments I don’t want to forget.

Waking up from naps.

Falling asleep while having lunch at “Daddy’s Work.”

Movie night while Hot Hubby took Eli on a guys night out.

Reading.

Our 1st Annual Back to School Feast was awesome.

I’m proud of how it turned out so you should read the post and copy everything!!

My friend Kyla (Funky Polkadot Giraffe) hosted a craft night with Jaime (Polkadots on Parade), Nicole (Olive Blue) and me (Eli’s Lids) – I got to organize the crafties. These were my favorite! Tutorial coming soon!

Cora Jane was playing pet shop on my belly and the new baby kept kicking the animals down.

It was very Alien-ish.

AND did you know it’s International Talk Like a Pirate Day?

(I didn’t until my friend Korie let me in on the secret.) Here is Eli teaching Cy how to use a pirate hook. A very necessary skill in our home.

While it is quite fun, don’t you think it’s incredibly ridiculous we have International Talk Like a Pirate Day?? How about Give up your Starbucks and Donate to a Charity Day or Turn Off your TV and Read to your Kiddo Day or Bake Cookies for your Neighbor Day or Take a Walk without your Cell Phone to your Ear Day or… I could go on and on…

What’s a Day you would want the world to celebrate??

Sometimes after folks buy Lids they send me pictures of their adorable kiddos in wearing them (or post them up on our Facebook page).

I love it.

Like really LOVE it.

Because I really think people who buy Lids are my friends.

Is that weird??

Anyway, each Sunday I’m going to feature one of the Kids in Lids pictures sent to me!

Meet Eva, 14 months old, and wearing the Pink Snowboarder Lid she scored from BabySteals! How much do you love that gummy smile!?!?! 

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I may even do some sort of thing where I give the featured kiddos a killer discount or something else fun. I’ll decide that after I’m a bit more settled with baby!

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Baby Update:
Last night I was having crazy contractions from 4am till about 6am but they tapered off. Today I feel great. Maybe I’ll have the baby on Talk Like a Pirate Day tomorrow. But I kinda want the 20th. All my kiddos have even numbered bdays so I wanna keep up the pattern. Isn’t that silly?!?!?!