My YouTube Obsession and Vlogs

People usually think that Youtube is just a bunch of random videos and nothing you really would get too attached to. I've learned that YouTube is a little community where people share their lives and interests on daily videos. I have come to find that it is better than TV. Only one "commercial" at the begining of the video and you don't have to wait a whole week for the next episode because most of these people vlog daily.

This past year I have gotten closer to a friend, Ashely, who has introduced me to vlogs on YouTube. I had watched videos on YouTube in the past and had a few channels I followed but never regularly watched. One day when Ashley and I were getting ice cream at Menchies she mentioned that she noticed that I followed Karen Alloy on twitter. She was the first real person I followed and became a subscriber of on YouTube. That led to her suggesting a few other vlogs for me to follow.

Shaytards: This is a man, Shay Carl, and his family (Collette, Sontard, Princesstard, Babytard and Rocktard) who have been vlogging their daily lives for nearly 4 years now. They started in Idaho but have since moved to California and made vlogging into a real buisness. Thay have even co-started at production company named Maker Studios. This family is so fun to watch because they are genuin. They have an amazing family dynamic and they just raise your spirits.



CTFxC: This is a vlog about a newly married couple and how they go about thier daily lives. They have been vlogging for over 4 years now. These two people are so fun to watch, their relationship is so adorable. Charles became the base player in a band called We the Kings the past year and the vlogs have taken you on tour with him in Europe as well as on tour with Warped Tour in the US.






 It's Judy's Life: This is a vlog I just recently started following. It is a couple who lives in the Seattle area and have had a baby girl right around Sloane's age. They are so fun to watch because they both have great personalities. Judy has a beauty channel and her husband has a food/cooking channel. It is also fun to watch a vlog with a baby around Sloane's age to see how their child compares to mine.

A fun part of YouTube and the vloggers is that it is a community. All these vloggers I mentioned also link you to many other vloggers or channels that are fun to watch. The Shaytards and CTFxC have family members that have vlogs and other special interest channels. The possiblity of what I can watch videos of is endless, giving me hours of entertainment while I nurse and pump.

So what kind of YouTube videos do you watch? I am always looking for new vlogs and tutorials or what not to subscribe to.

Sloane's birth story Part 2

This is the second half of my birth story. If you want to read the first half click HERE.

The nurse arrived to take me to my room and we slowly followed her back, stopping once to let a contraction pass. Once we arrived to the room it seemed like everything was flying by. We were asked a bunch of questions, my vital signs were checked and I was hooked up to monitors for my baby's heart rate. While checking in, lunch arrived and the tray looked so good with an amazing looking lemon bar calling my name. I had only eaten a pack of peanut butter crackers so far that day. I so badly wanted to eat it but the nurse strongly suggested I didn't because it was likely I could get nauseous during labor. I sadly agreed not to eat. Once we were checked in I decided I wanted to labor in the tub.

The nurse filled it up and I quickly climbed in and turned on the jets. This tub is the only thing that got me through my labor is believe. The warm water and the jets really helped to relax me. During this time I was also receiving texts from family and friends letting me know they were on their way, I wasn't really able to concentrate on texting back however but Mat was letting me know what they were saying. Linnea was the first to arrive followed by my Grams and then my parents and Kristin were soon after. They all gathered around me in the tub as my contractions were rapidly getting stronger. I remember getting annoyed that they all kept offering their seats to each other and quickly I made a rule that there would be no talking while I was going through a contraction. While in labor I remember yelling "I don't like this" and "I'm so stupid, why didn't I want drugs?" It was hard for me to remember why I was going for an all natural birth while in pain. I wish I could discribe the pain I was in but it was really just a lot of discomfort. They say you forget how much pain it was and I will agree with that. I know it was a lot of pain but I can't really remember what kind of pain it was and so, in a way, I have forgotten how bad it was.  It was nice because Mat was being so supportive and not letting me give into the pain. I thought for sure once I started saying I should have taken drugs that my nurse would have offered them to me, and I would have given in, but she was didn't really make it seem like drugs were an option which was good. I feel like having my birth plan really helped with the way my nurse treated the experance. The headline was; "I'm just dramatic, I'm sure I'm fine." I also stated to not offer me drugs, that if I wanted them I would ask for them. I hear from friends that my nurse was a bit rude, luckily I don't really remember that. I was brought cranberry juice to drink and it was very tasty but quickly the contractions became so strong that I started puking from the pain and I couldn't even keep down ice chips. I was happy that I hadn't eaten that lemon bar earlier. My Dr arrived and started talking to me about my options. She suggested that we could break my water to get the process moving a bit quicker. I was a bit nervous about that so I decided to wait it out a bit longer. By the time my dilation was checked I think I had been in labor for 4 hours. I was at 7-8cm and it seemed like things were progressing pretty well on their own. I climbed back into the tub to make it through the rest of my labor.
I decided I wanted my water broken a little while later so I got the nurse and let her know. They got me back out of the tub and checked me again, I was 9 and 3/4cm so the Dr broke my water and a few minutes later I was pushing. My mom and grams where holding my right leg while Mat was holding my left. Pushing was the hardest part of labor by far, so exhausting having to push so hard. I pushed for 30 minutes total. The last two pushes were the worst, I felt like I was literally ripping in half, I sat up, screamed and nearly jumped off the bed but my Dr grabbed my attention and very firmly told me that I had to push and that it was almost over. With the last push I felt the most amazing relief I've ever felt. There was suddenly no pain just pure relief. When they broke my water they had noticed that Sloane had pooped while still inside me so they had extra nurses in the room in case she was born with issues. As soon as Sloane was out she cried and we knew she was all right! Sloane Lori-Lee Evans was born November 7th, 2012. She was 8lbs 8oz and 21in long. My labor totaled 6 hours (not including the time I spent at home feeling light contractions.) They quickly placed her on my chest for skin to skin while they worked to get out the after birth. Sloane promptly pooped on me, she is quite a poop machine still.

The first few moments after Sloane was born is a bit of a blur after going through so much pain. There is video of me holding her to my chest talking to the Dr about when she should get her ear pierced. (for the record I vote for her getting them when she is around 10 yrs old, as a right of passage.) After getting me all stitched up it was time to start breast feeding. Sloane took to it quite well, and once I was comfortable at what I was doing I let all the rest of my family and friends gather back in my room. It was amazing how many people came for Sloane's birth. I'm so grateful that she has so many people that love her. I was especially excited that Mat's aunt from California was able to make it up here for the birth.

I'm so proud of myself for making it through an all natural child birth. I hasn't known that is what I wanted until I was pregnant. It just felt right to, I don't know, earn my child. Like people say the best things in life you have to work for. Now onto the best adventure of my life. I can't wait to see who our beautiful daughter will grow up to be.

Sloane's Birth Story Part 1

I had been waiting to go into labor for what seemed like months. I was put on bed rest at 28 weeks for being at risk for going into pre-term labor. It seemed ever since then I had been waiting for our little one to arrive. I wanted her to make her appearance before Halloween because it would have been so much fun to celebrate with her. Well November 6th, 2012 arrived, her due date, and she still was no where to be seen. I felt like I might have been having contractions, I hadn't really felt any during my pregnancy thus far, but being a first time mom I really had no idea what labor felt like. I went to my regularly scheduled Dr appointment at noon. Told my Dr that I thought I had been feeling contractions, hoping that she would just send me to the hospital that day. She checked me and saw that I was dilated to 4cm (I had been dilated this much for about a week or so already). She hooked me up to monitors and saw I was having contractions but they weren't very strong or very regular so she sent me on my way. I was determined to go into labor after trying a bunch of old wives tales already. Mat and I headed straight to our favorite Thai restaurant, Chantanee. We ordered or regular; Heavenly Beef, with the full 5 stars (spicy foods are said to bring on labor). Sadly no real improvement in my contractions so we headed to Bellevue Square Mall to walk around. I think we walked every inch of the mall and I thought my contractions were getting a bit stronger but still no real pain. I wanted to be able to just go back to the Dr's office but it didn't seem like the time so we headed back to our house to rest. I was on edge cause I knew something was happening but it just didn't seem like enough to call the Dr about. Much to my dismay any pain I had been feeling faded as we relaxed at home. Seems it was all just from the exhaustion of walking so much, so we headed to bed. Around 4am I woke up feeling more pressure than before but still no pain. I decided to get up and move to the living room to let Mat sleep and see if it was possible to time the contractions. The first few hours they weren't really regular but as time passed the pressure seemed to come anywhere between every 2 to 4 minutes. I was pretty excited once Mat finally woke up but still pretty sceptical because I wasn't in pain and everyone who had talked to me had said "You will know you are in labor. it will hurt!" but after a full hour of contractions coming every 3 or so minutes I called the Dr's office and they instructed me to come into their office to be monitored.

We arrived at the office around 10:30am November 7th, 2012. Upon seeing me my Dr said "You don't look like your in enough pain to be in labor" I'm pretty sure she had made up her mind then that I wasn't going to the hospital that day. She checked my cervix once again and I was still at 4cm. I was once again hooked up to monitors. While we sat there my contractions were becoming more and more painful to where I had to stop what I was doing till they passed. My Dr still wasn't convinced and was talking about sending me home. I told her the problem with that was I wouldn't be sure when real labor had started if what I was going through wasn't it cause I already felt a good amount of pain and pressure. She said she would check my cervix one more time to see if I had gotten any closer to the 5cm I needed to be sent over to the hospital. As she was checking me she said that I still hadn't gotten all the way to 5cm but if I really felt like I needed to go to the hospital she would "fib" for me when she called the hospital to tell them I was heading over. Her final words as I left to head to the hospital were "make sure to look like your in pain so I don't look bad for sending you over." I was relieved to be finally heading to the hospital. Mat and I slowly walked through the underground tunnel that attached my Dr's office with the hospital. We did have to stop a couple of times to let contractions pass. We arrived at the hospital and they called up a nurse for me. As we waited I was texting all of my friends and family, and calling my mom. This was it, I was finally being admitted to the hospital.

ironing

I come from a family is the blue collar to the max! i like to joke at times that they are white trash (i mean that in a very loving way) Needless to say i never really grew up needing to know the specifics of ironing. I remember my brother would iron his jeans and I'm sure my mom did a bit of ironing from time to time but it was never a regular thing. Growing up i recognized times when i probably should have ironed but didn't figuring it didn't really matter once the shirt was on. But as i get older i am realizing the importance to look sharp and that come by covering all your bases including ironing. I have to be honest i still don't do it as much as i should. I mostly hide my wrinkly white collard shirt for work under a sweater. Today i decided i should iron my shirt and i was so annoyed that i just didn't know what i was doing. I know there MUST be some specific way you should iron a shirt. i tried my best and i guess it turned out OK but it was a frustrating process. i found a article on the REAL SIMPLE website that breaks it down simply. I swear I'll follow this step by step next time i do some ironing. I hope it makes it easier in the future.

Also these white collar shirts are pure torture for a girl of my bust size. They simply always burst at the buttons. (another reason why i hide under sweaters) Yes i realize that i should buy a bigger size, and i do but my damn weight fluctuates so much that i refuse to buy anything bigger than an XL.

Do any of you ladies have any advice on how to iron a white collard shirt made for a women with curves? The slight pleats they put on the shoulders and around the boob area totally confuse me.

I need a toy like this to do my ironing!

Hello 2011

Well the year has begun and i have sat down to write a blog 4 days into it. i don't know how women find time to blog so much! I guess laying on the couch watching a movie with my man comes as a priority over blogging or maybe it is just because i feel so lonely in my little computer room. I seriously need to get a lap top or a TV in my room.

The year hasn't had too many exciting things happen just yet. I started back at work yesterday and it went smoothly b/c there was nothing to get me in trouble for since i had been gone for 9 days... i give it till Thursday till my boss has a list of things I'm not on top of.

Sunday i actually organized a gathering to watch football! Crazy i know since i completely don't understand football, but i wanted to spend time with friends and since football is all important to them and the Seahawks were playing for the playoff it seemed like a grand idea. I even ordered a beer which is even more shocking, but i figured i might as well get into the spirit. I didn't watch more than 5 minutes of the game since my dear friend Kristin was there to keep me occupied. I did however learn about how they score... they get a touch down and it is 6pts and then they kick the ball to get another pt, but if they don't think they have time to get a touchdown (i think it's time... or distance) then they kick the ball to get 3 pts. yeah so i didn't describe that so well but hey i kind of understand better now.

i have also not exactly stuck to my diet for the last 3 days. yesterday was my best day however. I counted my pts all day and even came home and had a low fat dinner... but i didn't calculate my pts for the pizza till this morning and it turns out i had 23pts worth of pizza... damn me for having 5 whole slices! I'll just take them out of my weekly pts and so I'm still good to go! I still need to find a time to weigh in. It seems that nothing seems to be working with my schedule.

Anyways, I'm looking forward to this year and I'm ready to kick it in the ass!
BRING IT ON 2011