Emergency Supply Kit

This pic is copyrighted from thehealthsite.com.

Thanks to Shepard Smith, we now know that we don't have to be afraid of ebola.  Thanks Shepard!  Your firm, authoritative and slightly condescending tone has set me at ease!  

I don't know about you but I don't like to be told how to think and feel.  Ebola scares me. And the government's lack of preparation and control over this issue pisses me off frankly. So when the director of the CDC says that "it's going to get worse before it gets better", I feel the need to take action to protect my family.

I spent the better part of last week going through our Emergency Survival Kit and purchasing supplies.  I have four lists:

1) Detailed Disaster Supply Kit - This is our main supply kit that we keep at home.

2) 72 Hour Kit - This kit contains supplies in backpacks that will get us by for 72 hours.  If we cannot stay in our home, we can carry / wheel our supplies to another location.

3) Emergency Car Kit - In case an emergency occurs when we are away from home, we have supply kits in all our cars.

4) Pandemic Disease Kit - I keep this supply kit with our main supply kit (#1 above) in a separate bag.

In addition to a lot of the medicine and food expiring (it tasted terrible!), we did not have sufficient water supply.  Previously we had been storing water in three of these Aqua-Tainers that I bought at Walmart for $18 each:

Each Aqua-Tainer holds 7 gallons of water.  Typically, a person consumes 3/4 gallons of water/liquids a day.  In an emergency situation, it is recommended that you store at least 1 gallon of water per person per day.  Children, nursing mothers and sick people may need more.  It is also recommended that you store a 2 week supply for each member of your family.  So my family of 5 would need at least 70 gallons of water (5 gallons per day x 14 days) for a 2 week supply.  Our 3 Aqua-Tainers only held 21 gallons of water, which would only last us about 4 days!

We were having problems at our house one day and they had to shut off our water. I don't know if you have ever been stuck in a house with 3 kids and no water before, but it was tough.  You can't use the toilets, wash your hands, brush your teeth, rinse dirty dishes, wash clothes, etc.  Now, every time I have the water running in the sink or let the girls play in the shower or bath tub I'm very aware of the luxury of having clean running water.

So we decided to buy this Augason Farms Emergency Water Storage Tank that holds 55 gallons of water.  It cost $150 (including shipping).

This, combined with our 3 Aqua-Tainers, will provide 2 weeks of water for our family.  I know it seems costly and excessive.  We debated it for quite a while.  We are not Doomsday Preppers (although I'd feel a lot safer if someone in my immediate family was!!!).  We just feel that it is our responsibility to protect our family in a crisis situation.

The lists I created above include supplies that I felt my family needed.  Your family may require less (or more).  To create the lists, I did a bunch of online research and read two online manuals by FEMA:

1. Are You Ready?
2. Basic Preparedness

FEMA also has guides for specific types of emergencies and disasters that affect specific geographic areas (click here for more info).

I have a Pinterest board with helpful articles and blog posts that I have found related to survival kits.  Click here if you'd like to see my board.

The best case scenario is that all this preparation is a big waste of time and money. But I will rest better at night knowing that we are prepared.

Sick and Tired of being Sick and Tired

Oh. My. Goodness.  If my family does not start feeling better soon I'm going to go bananas.  Ava and Sidney have been sick every month since Clara was born in October 2012.  Then we had a 4 week streak of good health (with an important event occurring during each of those 4 weeks).  I think the last time we had 4 straight weeks of good health was last summer.  So I knew we were due for something big and bad.  God was good to us for those 4 important weeks of birthdays and baptisms and Easter parties and confirmations.  So I knew we had it coming.  

But this is getting ridiculous now.

Ava got sick first.  Then Sidney got sick.  Then Clara got sick.  And just when I started to think that we were getting better, Ava got sick AGAIN!  And now I'm sick.  I took Clara to the doctor and she has an ear infection and 3 new teeth coming in so she's a real gem right now.  And today Sidney told me that her nose is stuffy.  That means she'll wake up full-on sick tomorrow.  Ugh...

It's bad enough when your kids get sick, but when Momma gets sick, who takes care of Momma!?!?  It's been rough over here.  I'm really ready for summer to start.  Please!

Here is a trick that I found on Pinterest for keeping track of medicine doses:

Clara is taking an antibiotic for her ear infection - her first time on antibiotics.  I have to give it to her twice a day for 10 days so I made this little chart on the medicine bottle to help me keep track of when I gave her medicine.  My mind is in a Robitussin fog so I need all the help I can get right now!

Emergency Survival Kit

I'm sure everyone can remember exactly what they were doing on September 11, 2001.  I had just moved to San Francisco after graduating from college and was days away from starting my first professional job.  Being on the West coast, I felt so far away from everything unfolding on the East coast.  The only thing I felt like I could do to help was donate blood.  It was hard to forget that day.  Especially when Tim and I lived in NYC.  Ground Zero was under construction the entire time we lived there.  These are pictures of Ground Zero from 2007.  It was mostly a hole in the ground - impossible to tell what it would look like today.

My mom and I went back to NYC this past April.  I was amazed at how much had changed.  The 9/11 Memorial was nearly complete and it was beautiful.

 The North Pool and the South Pool reside where the Twin Towers once stood.

 The names of the 9/11 victims are engraved around the North and South Pools.

The 9/11 Museum is complete on the outside.  The interior should be done this year.

A couple years ago, I decided we should have an Emergency Survival Kit.  I was at home alone with the girls one afternoon and the tornado siren went off.  Fortunately, nothing happened in our area, but I started to question how prepared we were.  I did a bunch of online research to figure out how to prepare for an emergency.  I started by reading two online manuals by FEMA (Federal Emergency Management Agency): 

1) Are You Ready? 
2) Basic Preparedness

FEMA also has guides for specific types of emergencies and disasters that affect specific geographic areas (click here for more info).

I have a Pinterest board with helpful articles and blog posts that I have found related to survival kits.  Click here if you'd like to see my board.

Next I created four supply kit checklists in Excel:

1) Detailed Disaster Supply Kit - This is our main supply kit that we keep at home in our storage area.

2) 72 Hour Kit - This kit contains supplies in backpacks that will get us by for 72 hours.  If we cannot stay in our home, we can carry / wheel our supplies to another location.

3) Emergency Car Kit - In case an emergency occurs when we are away from home, we have supply kits in all our cars.

4) Pandemic Disease Kit - I keep this supply kit with our main supply kit (#1 above) in a separate bag.

You can click on the links above to view and download my lists.  All of the lists are color coded and the colors indicate when the supplies need to be replaced.  I set a reminder in my calendar every 6 months to review the list and determine if anything needs to be replaced.  Here's what our kit looks like:

 We are storing our kit in the dining room while the basement is being finished.  Normally it would be in the storage area of the basement.  Pictured: Bottled water, 2 large storage bins, 3 back packs (2 of which can be rolled), blankets in a sealed plastic bag that could be secured to our back packs if necessary, a large paint bucket (to be used for washing or as a toilet if necessary) and our personal documents are sitting on top the paint bucket in a sealed plastic bag.  Not Pictured: Giant plastic water storage tank filled with water, emergency car kits, which stay in the trunks of our cars. 

 Here is a top view of the supplies.  The 3 back packs contain the 72 Hour Kit supplies.

 In one of the large storage bins we have all our food and drinks.

The other large storage bin contains all other supplies in the Detailed Disaster Supply Kit.

There are a few things (like current prescriptions, tennis shoes, etc.) that are not packed that are listed at the bottom of the 72 Hour Kit spreadsheet in a section titled "Items Not Packed".  I keep a print out of this list in my desk in case we have to leave in a hurry.

Have you read the book "One Second After" by William Forstchen?  Tim and my parents have all read the book and talked in length about it so I feel like I've read it too.  It's a fiction book but the threat of an electromagnetic pulse attack on the US is possible.  Pretty scary.  This book takes emergency preparedness to a whole new level!

Baby Prep List

I found a great blog post through Pinterest detailing all the things you should do before your newborn baby arrives.  Even though this is my third baby, I thought I'd check it out and see if there was anything I hadn't considered.  The best part of the blog post was the hundreds of comments from other moms about the things most important to them.  As I read through the comments (all 200+), I found myself copying and pasting ideas into a Word document.  Then I thought to myself, "I should share this information with other soon-to-be-moms!"  So here you go.  And if you have more helpful hints to add, please comment!

Baby Prep List

For the Hospital

• Make a list of things to pack in your hospital bag.  Click here for a list of ideas.
• Put together a folder with all your important information to take to the hospital.
• Buy nice card stock.  Bring it to the hospital and ask the nurse for extra copies of the baby’s foot prints for framing in the nursery or a baby book keepsake.

For the Home

• Bring in a cleaning service to do a good deep clean of your home.  Groupon usually has good deals.
• Stock the freezer with meals that you can easily pop in the oven after the baby arrives.  Click here for a list of great freezer meals.
• Buy lots of soap – hand soap, dish washer soap, laundry soap.  There’s tons of washing to do and your guests can wash their hands before holding the baby.
• Put a waterproof crib liner under the sheets on mom’s side of the bed in case your water breaks when you’re sleeping.  Also, you can leave it there after the baby arrives in case breast milk leaks at night.
• Make a “Please Knock” sign for the front door so visitors don’t wake the baby.
• Sterilize bottles, pacifiers and breast pump equipment ahead of time.

For Mom’s Lady Parts

• Load up on giant maxi pads or Depends.  Save your hubby the embarrassment of having to go out and buy them for you after the baby arrives.
• Buy at least 6 pair of granny panties that you won’t mind tossing later. 
• Make a few Padsicles (This was a pure genius Pinterest find)!  Pour witch hazel on some of those monster pads and pop them in the freezer. 
• If you’re nursing or pumping, stock up on breast pads, nipple cream, a comfy nursing bra and breast milk storage bags.
• Stool softener.  Enough said.
• Buy Tucks witch hazel pads and Dermoplast pain relieving spray for stitches.  Sitz bath help too.
• Buy a spouted bottle.  Fill it with 1/3 witch hazel and 2/3 warm water.  If you need stitches, it will help when you go to the bathroom.

General Items

• Prepare a baby announcement email to all the friends and family you want to notify of baby’s arrival.
• If this is not your first child, buy a gift from the baby to the older siblings.  Could be a book or a toy or a big brother/sister t-shirt.
• Make a pre-baby bucket list.  And check everything off!  
• Pay bills in advance.

Did I forget anything???

Bump Watch

I love to document things.  I have 17+ page Microsoft Word documents for each of my girls that documents all of their milestones and funny things that they do and say.  I have an Excel spreadsheet that tracks every medical appointment for my family.  I have baby books for each of my girls.  I made many Shutterfly photo books documenting my pregnancies and the first years of Ava's and Sidney's lives.  I just started doing Birthday Interviews with the girls.   I don't trust my memory so I love to document all of the important things in my life.  


Another thing I have documented is my pregnancy bump.  Every week starting at week 13, I shower and do my hair and put on make up (a big effort) so that Tim can take a picture of my rapidly growing baby bump.  I can remember when I was pregnant with Ava and I was so excited for my bump to grow.  I wanted it to be HUGE and it didn't seem to happen very quickly.  For example, here is a picture of me at 16 week pregnant with Ava.  I look like I had a big lunch:

 And here is me 16 weeks pregnant with baby #3:

Notice the giant bump that I have now?!?!?!  My mom tries to make me feel better by telling me that "I'm like a balloon that has been blown up twice before.  It's much easier to blow up a third time when it's been stretched out twice before."  The balloon analogy makes me feel better for about 5 minutes, but I can't help but wonder how this balloon will ever shrink back to its normal size!  


Regardless of how I feel about my bump, I am super excited about this tiny baby!  I can just picture my little family of five - me, Tim and our 3 girls.....at least that's what I'm picturing.  We won't actually find out if the baby is a girl or boy for a couple more weeks.  Ava just told me that the new baby's name is going to be Andrew so maybe she knows something I don't know...One thing I do know is that this baby loves veggie omelettes, caffeinated (gasp!) lattes and Oreos.  You do what ya gotta do, right ladies?


What are some of the memories that you document for your family?

Barrette Hanger

My girls' have a ton of barrettes and they started taking over my desk drawers.  I made this barrette hanger and now my drawers stay nice and organized and so do their barrettes!  It was very simple to make.

1. All you need is a hanger, ribbon and double stick fabric tape.  Be sure to choose a ribbon that is the correct width for your barrettes.  If you have barrettes for baby girls, you will want to use a more narrow ribbon.
2. Cut a long piece of ribbon that will later be draped over the base of the hanger and taped together with your fabric tape.
3. Using that ribbon, cut the remaining ribbon pieces the same length.  
4. Drape your ribbon pieces over the base of the hanger.  Be sure to space them appropriately.
5. Starting at the base of the hanger, begin to tape the ribbon pieces together and work your way down.

Here's what my ribbon hanger looks like without ribbons.

I used a Command hook and hung our ribbon hanger inside our pantry door (shown in the top picture).  This saves us a lot of time looking for barrettes in the morning when we're getting ready for school.