Connor James

I wanted to get this blog going before Mr. Connor made an appearance but I just kept putting it off. He is a bit over five months old now, and I wanted to get up to speed!


I went to be induced on August 18th, 2011... at 9 in the morning. It was because of my size, and high blood pressure that they were a bit concerned about. I SO thought I'd have my son that day... boy, was I wrong. I had been on pitocin since around 9am, they broke my water at around 1am (going into the 19th now). I had not dilated past 4cm at noon on the 19th, so they gave me an hour break from the pitocin and started over. Mind you, I had been having INTENSE contractions since I got the pitocin the first time... the hour break was nice.


It was around 1am (going onto the 20th) that Doctors were starting to get scared for me... my temperature was getting up around 101F and I had gone no further with my dilation... I was getting sick. My water had been broken for 24 hours now... and they then decided, because of my fever, that emergency surgery was needed. This was what I wanted to avoid... but at this point I was like BRING ON THE SURGERY. The epidural was honestly the worst part of it all... it only took the anesthesiologist on the second poke to get it right. It felt like how rice crispies sound when you pour milk over them... it's the only way I could describe it.  This is a whole 'nother story but, I am allergic to iodine, and while I was getting my catheter, they put it on my lady parts... I was so, so angry and the nurse got scared once I told her what happened. I was already numb from the epi... but she tried to clean me up as good as could (I had bladder pain for weeks later because of this).


Anyway, I finally got to the operating room... it was awesome being numb, I was a floating head basically. The only thing I disliked was the shaking, I couldn't stop shaking. I didn't feel a thing while they were cutting me open, talked to my boyfriend about Harry Potter and other nerdery. Later, my boyfriend, Chris told me I had been going in and out of consciousnesses... I don't remember this, but he kept saying I was 'flat-lining'... I kept telling Chris to take pictures of what was going on. I really, really wanted to see the inside of my body, Chris was too nauseous to even try. haha


At 4:20 AM on August 20, 2011 - Connor James was born; 8lbs 2oz, 21 1/2 inches long. Except... he wasn't breathing.

They showed him to me for a second, but whisked him away. Apparently he wasn't doing too well with breathing on his own, they cleaned him up and brought him back out to me for maybe 2 minutes but they really wanted him back in the NICU. I didn't get to see him for another 2 hours. 

I never thought I could have kids, not really cared it I EVER had kids... any other time if I peed on a stick and it came out positive I would have been horrified. I was okay with being selfish, single and free. This is going to sound really cheesy, but you JUST KNOW. It's true, you just really know when it's time and I am truly lucky to have Connor in my life. I absolutely hated being pregnant though, so I am okay with Connor being my only child ;)

Old School

I don't know about you, but my memory went to complete mush after I had a baby - "Mommy mush brain". I have a cell phone and a tablet that spits out reminders but it's easy to click "dismiss", and I forget completely about it by the time I change a diaper or make a bottle. 

I wanted something that I could hang in my room that I couldn't ignore. Couldn't find any cute dry-erase boards and the chalkboards I am starting to see now at retail stores are just down right cheesy. I ordered a roll of Con-Tact brand chalkboard paper, and picked up an old, but sturdy, wooden picture frame from Goodwill for 4 bucks. Aaand then I made this:

You will need:

• Time: 1 hour +
• Any picture frame, with backing and glass.
• Chalkboard paper (or if you choose to paint your chalkboard on the frame's glass, I am not sure how that works!).
• Craft paint.
• A paint brush or two that you don't mind roughing up.
• Scissors.
• Optional: Cardboard 

I didn't really like the color of the wood, and I wanted to make it look "weathered", so I took Apple Barrel craft pain in Coral and applied it with a large paint brush. Make sure you go in one direction so it goes with the grain of the wood. If you don't want ANY wood grain showing, I suggest using a primer first.

I applied the paint in a sort of rough way to make it look worn down. Let it dry for about an hour, but that is really the manufacturers recommendation... I let it dry for about 20 minutes since it wasn't a thick coating. 

This is where it is important to at least let the first coat dry for a little bit, because if you don't the next coat will just smear around. After I let the coral coat dry, I applied Regency Blue, in the same rough manner I did previously.  Applying it rough will let some of the coral coat to peak through, thus creating the desired look. 

 

Unroll your Chalkboard con-tact paper, mine looked really crinkled... but applied smooth! Place the frame's glass on top of your con-tact paper, cut a tiny bit bigger than the glass just in case...When you are applying the con-tact paper onto the glass, do it a little bit at a time and do it slowly. As you go, smooth out any bumps or wrinkles. 

 I personally couldn't get out a wrinkle or maybe a tiny bump, but it looked pretty darn good to me. Replace your glass, now chalkboard and backing. 

Enjoy your old school chalkboard!

Um, finally!

I've been sitting on my blogger account for years. I had too many ideas, not enough motivation and lacked inspiration. Before I get into anything too lengthy, here is a brief introduction! ;D

I am Jessica Takacs, or Teacakes, if you're like my auto-correct. I am a 23 year old artist, forever student, and a mama bear to my beautiful baby boy, Connor.

My blog doesn't have any one particular direction... just trying not to go insane from the many, many hours I spend at home. I work from home, I attend school online... I really don't do much other than that and hang out with the little love of my life. I will post about my adventures in craftiness... ever since I have had a baby, I have been scouring the internet for quick and fun activities to do that would benefit either myself, baby or both! I paint and draw as well, so expect to see a bunch of that also.


Eeee~ I am excited to finally get this rolling. <3