let's do this thang

Ya know I miss blogging.

I miss the creative outlet it provides and the platform it gives me to share the beauty tips/new products I come across (y'all know how much I love to blab about that stuff). I like to record things about my family, the projects I'm working on and what I'm doing in general, and I know my momma likes it too. So for her and for me I'm going to post regularly again. When I started this blog I was just a girl with a husband and a ferret. The ferret has long since passed but luckily I've still got the husband, the husband and 3 little people too. I enjoy having parts of my life recorded and want to continue to share what I can. I know posts won't come daily like they did before (remember the 3 little people??) but they will be regular, whatever that happens to be. I enjoy our interactions and invite you to follow along, it's sure to be a ride.

Georgia Jean Forsyth

First of all, how has it been over a year since I last posted. Over a YEAR. That is... ridiculous. So much has happened in that year as well, my land. I'm ashamed. Moving on.

One of the most exciting and monumental things that has happened is the birth of our third little one (why do I keep saying 'little one' - such things don't exist in the Forsyth family) miss Georgia Jean. I don't know why it is but every new mom likes to share their birth story and I am no exception, us women love to hear all the juicy (poor word choice?) details of labor and delivery. If you would like to know the particulars surrounding baby girl's entry into this world then keep reading, but just so you know I may use words like cervix and placenta. 

The due date I calculated for baby #3 was October 26th. When I had my ultrasound in June the technician said I was measuring 2 days farther along so if I wanted to I could change my due date to October 24th. I didn't. What's 2 days, and what's a due date anyway? (My feelings on that could make up a whole other post.) So I stayed with the October 26th target and called it good. For weeks before her due date I kept saying things like, "I'll be surprised if I make it till then..." and "I'm sure this baby's coming early!" and other such nonsense statements I should have known would ensure my going overdue. And sure enough October 24th, which technically could have been her day, came and went, as did October 26th, 27th and 28th. The afternoon of October 29th I was not feeling well at all. I had a lot of cramping and pressure but I had had that for days, ok weeks, so I wasn't getting my hopes up too high. That evening I began to feel nauseous so I put Neil in charge of dinner and went to bed. I got up a couple hours later but still didn't feel well. I ate a little dinner and then laid on the couch for the rest of the evening. By 9 or 10 the cramping I had been feeling on and off throughout the day turned into obvious contractions but as any expectant mother knows that doesn't mean they are "real" contractions or that they will last and develop into anything. Within another hour it was clear they were in fact labor contractions and I hoped they were getting the party started. With my other 2 labors my contractions never regulated, so many minutes long and however many minutes apart. They were very sporadic and random in their strengths. I anticipated that that was just how my body operated and figured there was no point in trying to time these ones and decided I would just go to the hospital when it was obvious I needed to go to the hospital. It worked twice before! Neil and I laid down in bed around 12:30 but by 1am I couldn't lay in pain any longer and decided to get in the bath. As I got in the bath I noticed I had started bleeding which confirmed that this was the real thing. I was able to relax for about an hour and by 2am the contractions had reached an intensity that I knew I had better get on our way. When I was in labor with Rigby I got to the hospital far too late for any kind of pain relief and the thoughts of enduring another natural bush-woman labor terrified, terrified me (sorry to all you older generations reading this that had to do all your labors that way) and I thought I'd rather get to the hospital too early than too late - grab your boots! I called my best friend who lives a block away and she came over to be with the boys. (Thanks Shar!)

We got to the hospital and checked in. Because my contractions aren't regular it's hard to gage where I'm at on the labor scale so the nurse took me in a testing room and watched them for a while and then did an internal check. My cervix was dilated about 3 cm which isn't enough to book a delivery suite but she didn't want to send me home. She told me to walk the halls for 2 hours and come back at 5:30am and she would check me again. Neil and I walked the halls while I stopped to breathe through the contractions which were getting noticeably stronger. I unashamedly planned on getting an epidural and knew that I had better eat something as when I had one with Porter it made me throw up and I currently had nothing in my belly to get rid of. Strange to eat something with the intention of throwing it up, right? One of the nurses made me 2 pieces of toast and gave me a fruit cup. I would later be grateful I had planned ahead. We went back at 5:30 and when the nurse checked me I was dilated to 5 cm and she moved me to a delivery suite. I told her I wanted an epidural and within 20 minutes the dude with the drugs walked in. Everyone's best friend! I teased him about how young he looked and asked how many of these he had done. He said he appreciated a funny woman in labor (I do what I can...) and teased me back which created a really pleasant atmosphere among those in the room. Our nurses were one young girl who was extremely competent and fun and friendly and her student side kick who was extremely nervous and was later sent home with crazy shakes from anxiety. (Ha ha! I was only her second delivery.) The doctor asked Neil to hold me while he put the needle in my back but that was a bit much for Neil and as I felt his grip loosen I immediately told him to go sit down and asked the nurse to hold me instead. Neil had to breathe it out for a while before he was whole again. Thanks for the support babe! Once the epidural took I immediately started to feel numbness overcome my body. I could still feel the pressure of the contractions but not the pain. Within a few minutes my chest started to feel really heavy and I was having difficulty breathing. I told the nurse and she sat the bed up as to help me catch my breath. Apparently this was the wrong thing to do and it immediately made me light headed and everything started closing in on me. If you have ever fainted you know the feeling - your vision tunnels, your hearing gets fuzzy and you start sweating profusely - at least that's how it happened for me. I remember the nurse saying, "Michelle, stay with us! Michelle are you there?" and I was hardly able to mutter an audible "barely" when she called to bring the anaesthetist back in to help. I lay there barely in consciousness and wondered if something really bad was happening to me (oh great, I'm going to be the statistic..) when he came over and turned the epidural off. I was soon fully awake and fully nauseous and proceeded to upchuck the toast and fruit I had eaten earlier on. See, I knew I'd need that! After I was done heaving (2 episodes worth) Neil got a cold cloth and placed it on my sweaty forehead while the doctor explained to us that the freezing block had risen too high in my chest and dropped my heart rate and then my brain couldn't tell that my lungs were still breathing and started the whole shut down mode on my body. He told me to place my hand on my chest which helped my brain feel that my chest was in fact raising and lowering with breaths and started the whole system functioning properly again. Crazy. He put a drug in my IV to raise my heart rate and then when he turned the epidural back on he lowered the dose. I'm just little. He stayed and cracked jokes with us for another half an hour to make sure that I was ok and that everything was going well. I really appreciated him. And his drugs.

With the epidural in and the fainting and puking over Neil and I were able to both rest a little bit. He had slept an hour or two and I hadn't slept at all yet so closing our eyes felt really good. I didn't actually sleep but dozed for an hour or so when the nurse wanted to check my cervix. I was eventually at 8 cm and just like with Porter seemed to stay there for quite some time. They gave me some oxytocin to increase the contractions and speed up the dilation. We all chatted and laughed for quite a while and waited for me to feel the urge to push. I kept turning to Neil, saying what an incredible labor I was having a what an enjoyable experience it was. I am grateful I brought Rigby into this world but compared to the moaning and bed biting I had done with him, this was a dream. I had really been worried about labor and delivery and this was going better than I had imagined it could. Drugs may not be for everyone but I was grateful for them and the opportunity they gave me to relax, calm down and enjoy delivering my baby girl. I told the nurse I was starting to feel some pressure in my behind area and that I wasn't ready to push but it wouldn't be long. She called for the doctor to make his way to the hospital and we all teased her that she could just do it, we didn't need him. She was adamant that I may NOT start pushing until he walked in the door. Because I had an epidural I wasn't able to get up to pee but needed an empty bladder so it didn't get in the way of pushing so she stuck a catheter in quickly to drain my bladder and no sooner had she pulled it out then I was feeling the urge to push. She kept telling me to breathe through the contractions and NOT PUSH because the doctor wasn't there yet. The staff had all the tools out on the bed, the spotlight up and ready for the show, and the little tiny bed and warmer ready for my dolly - we just had to wait for the doc. The second he walked in the door I said "finally!" and told him he had barely made it. He gave me permission (thanks) to push during the next contraction and I did. It took one more contraction and her head was all the way out. Often times when you deliver the head and shoulders the rest of the body just kind of slips out but not with this baby - the doctor kind of tugged on her but she wouldn't come. I pushed through one more contraction and delivered the rest of her chubby body and she was here! She arrived at 10:14am on October 30, 2013. I hadn't heard her cry or see her take a breath yet so I said, "She needs to breathe!!" but everyone assured me that she had already breathed and she was fine. I was grateful to see her start to turn pink from the bluish shade she had been. The doctor asked Neil if he would like to cut the umbilical cord but he politely declined, as he's a bit of a queezy guy. The nurse took her to the little bed to check her over while the doctor helped me deliver the placenta and check me over. I had a clean delivery and did not require any stitching (Porter really paved the way for any future siblings, what a champ) and I was glad to hear that, it makes for a nice recovery. I was very anxious to hear the stats on this little girl. Her brothers were both big babies, with big heads (ok, ginormous heads) and I wanted to hear how she measured up. I was in complete shock when they told me she was my biggest baby yet - 9 pounds, 3 ounces and 22 inches long. Her head was smaller than Porter's but bigger than Rigby's at 36 1/2 cm. Geez girl! Once they counted all 10 fingers and 10 toes they handed her back to me and said the only thing they could find was that she had one more fat wrinkle on one leg than the other and that she was absolutely perfect - which of course I already knew.

Neil and I had a few names picked out for our baby girl before she was born. We knew for certain we were going to use the middle name Jean as that is my very special granny's name and Neil's wonderful grandma's name as well - it was a must. We couldn't decide on a first name and had a couple options. The last few weeks of my pregnancy Neil had really favored the name Georgia while I was keen on Ivy. When she was born and was such a big girl I knew she needed a good strong name and thought perhaps we'd call her Georgia. When we got settled in our room I asked Neil what he was thinking and he said he really liked the name Ivy. I laughed and said that I had been thinking Georgia - which I had thought would make him happy! He said he was trying to make me happy with Ivy but would like either. We sat for a while longer with her and went between the 2 before finally deciding on Georgia. It was the only first name that had significance. My best friend Sharlee has been called George by her family for as long as I can remember and we liked that it would pay homage to her. My maternal grandmother's name was also Georgia although she didn't go by that name, it is in fact a family name as well. We loved the way Georgia and Jean sounded together and thought it made for such a cute name. Georgia Jean it was.

Georgia Jean (Photo by Mandy Baker)

We have had Georgia for over a month now and I have enjoyed every minute with her, honestly. She is really a wonderful baby and I am now enough of an experienced mother that it allows me to relax and enjoy more than I was able to with the boys. Porter and Rigby adore her and that is something that has brought me more joy than I have ever known - seeing all my babies loving eachother, especially 2 sweet and caring gentleman. One thing I hated during my pregnancy was how many times people said they hoped our little girl would be strong and tough to be able to put up with her brothers, but they are kind and gentle and loving with her, just as I knew they would be.

We are finally the Fivesyth family. :)

The day we brought Georgia home. Because of the measles outbreak  in town the boys were not able to visit her in the hospital, they got to meet her the day after she was born. (We didn't have a photographer to take the obligatory first family photo, lol)

working the system {Flowerbomb at Sephora}

Sephora is a makeup/frangrance/skin care/hair care lovers paradise. We don’t have one where I live so this summer I took advantage of being close to a couple of Calgary’s locations. My favorite thing about Sephora is their willingness to let you sample anything before you buy it. As someone who purchases something, goes home and agonizes whether I bought the right color, the right style, the right size, if I could have bought it somewhere for a better price – you name it, I really appreciate a store that offers this service. I can do all my humming and hawing there and go home feeling confident that I did in fact try on all 9 shades, smelled all 12 varieties and compared every size/price ratio and that I am getting what I really want. Whew, I bet I’m such a pleasure to help. (I’m not that bad… kinda.) The sales assistants that work there are always super helpful and super willing to hand out sample after sample to take home. And take home I did!

I have loved Flowerbomb by Viktor & Rolf for about a year now after seeing Vivianna talk about it on her blog. I am not usually drawn to floral fragrances but this has just enough warmth to make it feel sexy, not grandma-y. This is probably the nicest fragrance I have come across yet, I love it. It’s what angels wear, I know it.

This isn’t all of them either... whoops

I have absolutely every intention of purchasing this fragrance in full size but until I’m feeling rich enough to shell out the cash for the bottle I’m totally satisfied with taking home the little samples that Sephora offers. It’s not my fault that every time a sales associate sees me standing by the fragrances with my eyes closed and a bottle of Flowerbomb half way huffed that they offer to make me up a sample, right? What am I going to do, say no? I am a makeup purchaser often enough that I don’t feel like a total freeloader and as I said, some day I’ll purchase my very own bottle. But I’ll definitely still accept the samples, I’m no dummy.

Have you ever experienced Flowerbomb?

An AMAZING discount

I have come across an insane, let me say it again - INSANE deal and you know me, I had to share!

Two of my favorite beauty gods are Michelle Money of Bachelor fame and her trusty sidekick Laura (I’m sure Laura also has a last name, I just don’t know it). They have a YouTube channel called the MMandL Show and not only are these ladies hilarious and hot, they totally know their stuff. They recently posted a tutorial of how Laura does her hair and since I love their unkempt curls I was thrilled to see how they achieved the look. In the tutorial Laura raves about the tool she uses – a reverse tapered curling wand by NuMe. Never being a hard one to sell I was convinced I must have one. Here is the video tutorial where Laura shows you how to get the look.

I really am going to get to the discount part, hold on. Now enter another favorite YouTuber, Carlibel55, who coincidently also recently posted a hair tutorial using a NuMe wand (here comes the exciting part....) and included a coupon code for 60% off anything on the NuMe site. SIXTY PERCENT friends. That’s some frick frackin' discount! Bald people should be buying things. In this tutorial Carli uses a different NuMe curling wand and you can watch that tutorial here. Details of the discount code are in the information box under the video (on the YouTube page.)

NuMe has many different styling tools as well as products and from everything I have watched and read they are great quality. I am most interested in the reverse tapered curling wand because as Michelle says, "it just makes sense" and obviously, obviously I want the exact one that Laura has. The wand was originally $225 already marked down to $145 (why? I dunno), add a 60% discount to that (THANK YOU CARLI!) and BAM you are getting a $225 curling wand for $58! I don’t  believe my eyes, folks. Want some more good news? NuMe ships to Canada. Thank your international shipping stars.

Tell me, have you ever used a curling wand? Have you ever used the reverse wand? Are you going to take advantage of this crazy deal?! Do you have hair? Then do it!

pressing shattered powders {don’t throw your makeup away}

I don’t think there is a lady out there that hasn’t had a powder cosmetic break or shatter on her. We’ve all had them slip out of our hands and crash to the floor as we gasp and yell, nooooooooooooo! It’s possible to continue to use them in their broken state but it makes application a trick and leaves a powdery mess in our makeup cases. I honestly don’t remember where I first came upon this fix but I knew it was inevitable that one day I’d be needing to try it.

I have been storing this shattered MAC Mineralized Skin Finish (in Petticoat) in a ziploc bag a long while and finally got it out the other day to see if this method really worked. All you need is some rubbing alcohol and a few little tools.




In this case only half of the blush was shattered so even though it seems a sin to do so, I took a little fork (a toothpick or any small tool will do) and broke up the rest of the product. You want to make sure the powder is fine with no chunks or pieces.




When all the blush was broken up I spread the powder around to fill the entire compact. You want to press it down to make it set. You could use a little dropper but since I didn’t have one I just poured some rubbing alcohol onto a teaspoon and carefully dripped it onto the broken powder until the entire compact was moist. I then took the back of the spoon to press the mixture and smooth out any bumps.




*Tip* If you are re-pressing a potted eyeshadow you can use a quarter to press the powder down and get a very smooth, flat finish to the top of the product. I did not have anything the size of this compact so I did the best I could with the spoon. Not very smooth, ah well.




Once I had all the dry powder moistened and pressed into the compact I put it aside and let it dry overnight. When I came  back to it the rubbing alcohol had evaporated and dried leaving a (almost) good as new compact of pressed powder. I cleaned up the edges, top and bottom and snapped the lid closed. It’s not the prettiest thing but it’s a lot better than having a messy shattered, rarely-used compact lying in my makeup case.




It works! I hope that I don’t have to use this method again soon but I’m glad to know that in the event of another crash I do have an easy fix.

the moment you’ve all been waiting for {whether you know it or not}

Funny how I just wrote a post about loving ourselves no matter what we look like and now I’m about to share this. Thankfully I am confident enough to laugh at this and post it on the world wide web for others to see. What am I thinking? It’s really just too good not to share and if you can laugh as hard as I have over this photo then I’m happy to have it out there.

Neil and I were snuggling one morning in bed and I thought 'aw, we’re so cute, let’s take a picture!' So we did. And it came out like this:

Ok, maybe not quite, but it should have cause that’s exactly what I see when I look at it.

This is how it came out. 

(I have built this up so big I hope nobody is disappointed, although I don’t know how you could be.)

WHAT is happening to my face?! Where are my TEETH? What is going on with my nose?
Look it over, take it all in. 

I cherish this picture as much as I would had it come out looking perfectly. More actually. Nothing has made me laugh so hard in a really long time. And it just goes to show that my husband has real, true, deep and unconditional love for me because if I’m capable of making a face like that, he must.

And one more for the road:

Now please, don’t laugh at me, laugh with me. Let me in on the jokes. Comment and let's have a chuckle.

two faced - a pep talk

Am I the only one that thinks this in depth to things? I’ve mentioned it before but I have one side of my face that I like more than the other. I mean, I’m glad I have them both but really, one is not pulling it’s weight. The right side is the ugly step sister of my Cinderella – my cheekbone isn’t as prominent, my jawbone is smaller and my eye not as wide. I haven’t even mentioned the smaller nostril and scars yet. Really, the right side is holding things together for me here. Apparently truly beautiful folks are those that have faces of pure symmetry. I’m not making this stuff up – wikipedia agrees “Studies, in which people's faces were rated for their level of attractiveness and health, found that the highest ratings were given to individuals with symmetrical faces.” That’s not you my girl!

Am I really writing a post to tear apart the features of my face? Of course not, I think I’m a cute enough gal and I am happy with asymmetry, it’s what makes me me.  I just find it interesting that everyone can find something about themselves that they don’t like, or like less. I think what is really most important is to then say, ‘but it’s ok!’ There’s nothing wrong with wanting to change something about yourself but then love yourself despite those things. Saying, hey-I-don’t-really-love-my-totally-ski-jump-toenails-that-wear-holes-through-my-socks-and-shoes-and-I-have-to-trim-them-almost-daily-so-they-don’t-take-over-the-place (too much information? it’s all true friends) but I’m still a good person anyway! Don’t let the things you like less about yourself define yourself.

I think a lot of this comes from comparing ourselves to others, and I’m guilty. She has prettier hair than me. She has straighter (and whiter) teeth than I do. She’s got a better body, and bigger boobs than I’ll ever have. We all do it. I recently read an amazing post written by one of my favorite beauty bloggers Cara, at maskCara. In this post she talks about how instead of comparing ourselves to others and hating them for their ‘flawlessness’ (which we all know isn’t true anyway) we should stop being jealous and start making friends. She gives an awesome example which I’ll let you go read, but as she was telling her story I could think of people in my own life that I think totally have it going on and sometimes feel jealous of. Instead of seeing their pictures on instagram and rolling my eyes at how perfect they are I started commenting on them saying, ‘hey that looks amazing!’ Just because someone is great at something or looks gorgeous doesn’t mean I’m terrible at that thing or look hideous. Does that make sense? Don’t let your self worth have any bearing on what others are doing and don’t sit back and be jealous of them, tell them you think it’s great! (Secret is, they are more than likely thinking the same thing about you in some aspect!)

This is kind of an all-over-the-place post and I'm not really sure where it came from but I hope you’ve followed my thoughts. I think as I get older I just realize that we are all more similar than we think we are. We all have those same insecurities we think we are alone in. Whether it’s the right side of my face that’s kinda bumming me out, or the fact that I will never decorate as cute as that gal on instagram – it doesn’t change who I am and that I’m also awesome, in different ways.



Take the things you don’t love about yourself and say, whatever, it’s part of who I am and if I have one nostril that’s smaller than the other, so be it. We are all different colors, we are all different shapes, we all have different talents, strengths and things we are good at and we need to love ourselves for being unique. There’s not another you out there and YOU matter.

unattended children {a parenting choice}

I am not usually one to pass judgement on parents out in public. Most often my duo and I are a gosh darn spectacle ourselves so I know what it's like. Having said that, I saw something this summer from a set of parents that I did judge. I was appalled and had I not been stunned in shock I would have done something about it.

My boys and I were at the mall and we stopped so they could play in the mall centre play place. We walked up to the centre to see a few kids playing and a couple of parents standing around. Of course I didn't know what children belonged to what parents so I didn't think much of it. There was a young boy (probably 10) sitting with his back to the group, playing at a station and another little girl (maybe 5) playing by herself. I was there for just a few minutes when the little girl who had a sticker with her name printed on it stuck to her shirt came over to talk to me. She said she liked my shoes and she asked if I was babysitting. I talked with her for a few minutes and then saw a couple walk down the hall of the mall towards the play centre and stop to talk to the boy who was playing at the station. They asked him if everything was ok (how would he know, he had his nose stuck into his game) and then reminded him that he was in charge of his sister, who I had since deduced was the little girl I was talking to, and then turned to walk away. I assumed they would pop into a store close by and then come back to watch their children, like the rest of us were doing. That unfortunately wasn't the case. I watched them walk the length of the long hallway, just waiting for them to duck into a store that left the play centre visible but they kept walking, eventually turned the corner and were gone. I was there for another good 15 minutes and they didn't return in that time. The little girl, with her name still visible, just played while her brother-in-charge sat playing his game, never turning to look at her.

While I was driving home and the seriousness of what I had just witnessed sunk in I regretted that I had not gone to security and reported that young children had been left at the play place. I mean, I really should have, no? I don't know, to me leaving your 2 young kids at the mall play place (one with their NAME on their shirt) is just completely negligent. When I think of how freely that little girl conversed with me it would not have taken much for someone to walk up to her, call her by name and tell her to come with them. Maybe I have an overly paranoid mind to think things like this but it happens and why make it easier for it to happen! Here's my kids - take them! I regretted not notifying someone that the children were left alone and heaven forbid I ever see something like that again, I definitely will.

Tell me, what would you have done? Notified security? Left it alone? Am I just an overly concerned and protective parent who is making a bigger deal of this than is necessary? At 10 years old is a child responsible enough to watch over himself and a younger sibling in a public place? I just can't see myself leaving my kids, even the oldest at 10, in a mall somewhere while I walk out of sight. What do you think about it all?

bathtub cleaner extraordinaire

I am sure many of you have seen this concoction on pinterest and had I even signed in to pinterest in the last 6 months (there's a twisted story of love and hate for ya) I'm sure I would have too. My sister in law Mandy used this little recipe to clean her bathtub and said that it was magical.  I logged it away as something I would like to try as I've never found a bathtub cleaner I have been happy with. Never. Never ever. Nope.
 
When I got home my bathtub was in need of a deep clean and I remembered this little recipe. After trying three different stores to find BLUE Dawn (should it be that hard?) I finally came home and whipped up my own little potion of this cleaning wonder. All you need is 1 part vinegar and 1 part blue Dawn. Heat the vinegar in the microwave and pour it into a spray bottle. Add the Dawn and give it a shakey shake to mix it up. That’s it. Easy sleazy. And guess what?

It IS magical.
 
Here is a before and after photo and as you can see the after is significantly more spic and span than the before. I would like to do it one more time using a scrub brush as the first time I only used a cloth and I think I could get it even cleaner with a little more elbow grease. I want to eat off this tub when I’m done. Ok, I actually don’t, but I want the option. You never know.

 

I am so completely impressed with this concoction and feel I have definitely finally found a bathroom cleaner I am satisfied with. Hoo-freakin-ray!

Have any of y'alls tried this yet?

Finally feeling 'home'

Even when somebody takes good care of your house in your absence it does take a few days to make it feel yours again. We got home and unpacked enough to be able to pack back up and head out for a week of camping. So when we returned home with more to unpack and put away I really had my work cut out for me. This evening is the first time I can look around and feel comfortable again. Things are unpacked, washed and put away and the house is cleaned, organized and smells just how I like it. We had an amazing family vacation and the boys loved time with dad. Dad loved time with them too, especially when he had company in the bathroom, walking something over to the garbage, putting something back in the tent trailer and you get the picture - shadows. It was adorable.

I am happy to be home and have a laundry list of things to talk about. Hope you're ready.