Living The Dream

Happy Valentine's Day!

2012-02-17T22:51:00.002-06:00

Just in case you didn't get our card this year, here it is...and my apologies! (Either I don't have your current address and attempts to get it were unsuccessful OR you didn't send us any cards this year and have thus been cut from our list...sorry, I'm not made of money here!)

We were so glad to finally get some family pictures and some really good ones of Leo at 1 year...all the photos are by Lauren Bertoldo of LuLu Photography. I'm not very good at just uploading photos into a pre-made layout- that is the obsessive control freak in me I guess- so I whipped this baby up one night in photoshop and had it printed...easy, fairly cheap, and ready the next day! Wahoo!

We love Valentine's around here- it is definitely in my top 3 holidays! (Haven't you noticed that I haven't changed my blog background since last year? I just hate to change it because I love V-day stuff so much! And it doesn't actually say anything about Valentine's...) I had made some tissue paper pom pom balls that hung from the ceiling with fishing line and a cute felt heart garland I saw on pinterest this year to add to our decor. We started the day with pink, heart-shaped pancakes with banana slices cut into hearts and mini chocolate chips. Nick had lunch at school so Leo and I ate whatever we could find at home...but for dinner we had red and white heart-shaped pasta with red sauce. It wasn't as extravagant as my original ideas, but it had been a long day and this was quick, easy, and super yummy. For dessert we enjoyed pink, heart-shaped rice krispy treats...Nick's was made into an ice cream sandwich with ice cream between 2 treats and the edges rolled in sprinkles. Delish! Other than that we kept it real low key this year- Leo and I enjoyed a walk to Sonic and I opted for a cranberry vanilla sprite instead of my usual Dr. Pepper since it was pink (and a close second I must admit!). Leo got a juice box and loved every minute of sipping on that straw while he pushed the stroller most of the way home- that kid loves anything with wheels!

Hope you had a day filled with love!

One Year Olds Are Exhausting!

2012-02-06T21:46:00.003-06:00

We have sure been busy lately...I would love to catch up on the old blog, but it just hasn't made it very high on the to-do list each day. In any case I thought I would give you a sneak preview of our recent family/1 year old photos. Leo is pretty stinking cute! As for me, well, to be honest I wasn't aware I looked that bad! But it was a good reality check for me and I am seriously going to do whatever it takes to get the rest of my Leo weight off...hopefully.

Leo currently has an ear infection- his first! He likes his medicine and really hadn't been too out of shape about it until tonight...let me tell you that if this is what toddlerhood looks like, I am not a fan. Serious tantrum! Poor guy...I know he just doesn't feel right. We are lucky we went in for his 1 year well-check because they told us then that he had the ear infection- I think it was just starting and his "symptoms" he had thus far I had just attributed to teething. In any case, here are his

1 year stats:

Weight - 25 lbs 2 oz (80th percentile)

Height - 30" (56th percentile)

We sure hope he gets back to normal soon! Nick has been taking finals and I am always too busy with a million projects half-done so it would be really nice to have our sweet baby back!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY LEO!

2012-01-26T20:40:00.000-06:00

HAPPY BIRTHDAY LEO!

(He plays at this window all day...he loves to drive his cars on the ledge. Too cute!)

In so many ways I can not believe my baby is one...it seems like such a big milestone! Yet at the same time I hardly remember life without him in tow. Either way, we are super happy to have Leo in our family! He is a super special little guy that we love to death. Here are some facts about him at 1 year old:

I weighed him on the scale this morning and it said 24.4 pounds...which seems kind of light to me...and is the same he weighed a month ago at Christmas. However he definitely seems a lot taller and leaner to me though- hello, he is walking, nay, running now! We'll get an official weight when we go in for his well-check next week.

(Leo with a birthday gift- a train play tent!)

Leo is so fun to play with now; he is really able to respond and it is so cute. He learns so fast- we show him something once and then that is how he is doing it too. He loves cars and trains and anything with a wheel...and it just melts my heart to watch him push the car along and make noises for it! He is seriously so smart! :) *I'm a proud mom, can't you tell?*

(Leo at McDonald's for his birthday dinner!)

He talks all the time, babbling as he makes laps around our apartment nonstop all day. Although it sounds like he says a lot of things because he imitates our intonation so well, his most recent real word is "cookie". Perhaps that is telling on me as a mother- I love my cookies and so does he!

Eating is still pretty good at our house...and when we go out we have to order him a whole kid's meal for himself or we don't get hardly any of the food we were going to "share".

(He couldn't stop watching the window washer!)

He has started eating the banana whole, instead of in slices, and can take bites off bread and such. He knows the word "bite" for sure! Veggies are still always a hit with him- green beans, peas, carrots, corn, etc. He drinks milk and water sometimes but always prefers apple juice- duh!

As I mentioned, Leo is a full-fledged walker now and is even starting to kind of run a bit. He usually gets going too fast for himself and loves to run to daddy when he gets home. I usually put on Leo's shoes when Nick calls to say he is on his way home and we go get the mail and wait outside...Leo loves to explore outside and play with the wheels on the real cars (and get his hands black in the process...I try to tell myself it isn't worth fighting but I hate it), but his favorite is when Nick comes rolling in. He now says "dada" over and over when we put on his shoes too- it is cute.

Leo is a good sleeper- knock on wood please but he usually sleeps around 7-7! His naps always vary, but as long as he sleeps that well at night I don't mind that much. He loves to play in his crib and has recently gotten in the habit (with our assistance) to throw his nuk down into his bed before he can get out...we are trying to not be that family with the walking, talking toddler that always has a binky. (Although I a not judging...we have those days where his nuk is in his mouth more than it is out for sure!)

(Bad picture I know, he is never still and my phone camera isn't great, but he loves the vacuum!)

For Christmas Leo got some MegaBloks (like giant legos) and he can put them together and take them apart now- perfect timing since he is getting more for his birthday! Another cute thing he does now is lay on the ground, belly down, to play with things...mostly push his cars around. He always kicks his right leg up too when he is in that position. He loves to read too and will turn pages all day if you let him- especially real pages, not board book pages.

Leo claps and waves and gives high-5 on command now- almost always. He is a sucker for peek-a-boo and plays it all the time with anything he can find! He holds his blankets and clothes in front of his face, he ducks behind the table and then springs up, etc. It is too darling...he loves the question "where is Leo?"

Leo has 6 teeth- 2 on bottom and 4 on top- and boy are they sharp! We've made the switch to size 4 diapers...and also switched from Pampers to Huggies- I love Pampers however the Huggies have elastic in the back that keeps it closer to the body. While this doesn't necessarily make much of a difference in keeping things in, it at least prevents him from looking like a plumber when he squats...which is all the time!

(I love him at this window ledge.)

He tries to jump, which is funny and cute, and dances constantly. To be honest I couldn't be more proud of anything than when he hears music and instantly starts waving his arms and rocking back and forth and bending his knees...I feel that same need to respond to music which is why I dance.

(He loves my smoothies...even with spinach in them!)

Unfortunately for me, he can get into almost any cupboard, child lock or not. He is obsessed with the one my makeup and jewelry is in which is always a fun battle. He has figured out to sit down when he doesn't want to be picked up and also to raise his arms straight up so I can pick him up under his arms like normal...that always makes it so much more difficult to pick him up which is definitely his point as he only does it when we are making him stop playing with cars outside and eat my earrings and such...you know, real mean things parents do.

(first chocolate chips!)

For his birthday celebration today Nick and I took him to McDonalds...what kid doesn't love that? But mostly we did it because after I delivered him and was starving (no food all day since he was born at 8:40pm) I requested a Big Mac even though I am pretty sure I had never had one before. It just sounded like the biggest thing I could think of and I knew I was really hungry. Thus we indulged in a BigMac tonight in honor of his actual birth day...such a sweet memory that I would do again in a heartbeat! He is having a little "train" party- family only- on Saturday...pictures of that to come I am sure! *Sidenote: I told Nick later to remind me that I never really want to eat a BigMac again unless I have been in labor. It was definitely not as good as a year ago!*

It is funny because when Leo was born I remember thinking that I couldn't love him any more than I did at that moment...but here I am now, definitely loving him on a whole other level! Brad Paisley says it best I guess..."and I thought I loved you then."

Happy Birthday little man!

Nursing and Weaning Leo

2012-01-23T20:12:00.003-06:00

Warning- if you can't tell by the title...well, then you really didn't read it...but I am blogging about our nursing experience; I'm not going to be gross or anything, but if you'd rather not read about that subject then please pass on this entry :)

On Christmas night, I guess there had just been so much going on or something, I forgot to nurse Leo to go to sleep. We had been slowing down for the last couple of months and really only nursed to go to bed and when he woke up (the morning was more for my relief than his). Anywho, I realized that we hadn't nursed when he was pretty much asleep already so I just skipped it...kind of sad but also so great that he didn't care so much. The next night I decided we'd try again- I mean at this point he was 11 months and I really had only planned to nurse him until he was a year...because I thought that is just what you do plus then every article and doctor and such says that it is the best for your child...so duh, of course that is what we'd do!

Leo didn't seem to mind that we hadn't nursed the second night either. He still cuddled up and wanted me to rock and sing him to sleep, but he didn't miss the nursing. Truth be told I was a bit sad- it is a hard thing to give up that sweet mom-and-baby-only time. Plus it sounds like I had a real easy time with nursing- Leo latched right away and never looked back and although I was definitely uncomfortably full at times, they were pretty few to be honest. I had plenty of milk, however I wasn't soaking through pads or anything. I resumed exercise about 5 weeks after birth and was fine (as long as I nursed right before...at least in the beginning).

Yet there were a lot of parts that I was not going to miss too. I will not miss nursing bras or trying to dress in clothes that I can nurse easily in (at least at the times I knew I was going to be nursing not at home). And I know that there are lots of people that struggle with weaning their child and I consider myself lucky that Leo just lost interest.

After we had gone a day or two without nursing, I was pretty full and in pain- Nick googled what to do for relief (I asked him to) and lots of sites came up with the same result...put cabbage leaves in your bra! I was so desperate that I tried it, although I don't think it did anything other than act as a cool compress...and make me crave stir fry!

So all in all Leo and I had a great nursing experience- I had planned to nurse anyway but I am grateful that it was so easy. Sure there were times I wished that Leo took a bottle- he would take one and we tried it with breast milk a few times, but I just wasn't super in to that- but those times were when I was being selfish...I wanted more sleep or to go out alone for more than an hour at a time, etc. I know that there are a lot of reasons for not nursing your child, however it is my opinion that most of those reasons are fairly selfish; it has been proven to be the best for your child and even formula companies have to state that they know they are second choice. (Notice I said my OPINION and MOST...please save your attacks for somebody else!)

There you go- not really much of a reason for this post other than I felt like it was kind of a big deal to stop nursing (in our world at least) and I had been thinking about it for awhile. The end.

P.S. Even though Leo has quit nursing to go to bed, I still have not let anyone else rock him to bed...naps, yes, but not to bed. I keep thinking one day I will let Nick try, but then I think I'd miss Leo too much...maybe after he turns 1 this week. I'm sure that will be a whole other post!

New Year's Resolutions

2012-01-22T11:41:00.002-06:00

So I made some resolutions and I feel like they may need a little explaining: this year my resolutions are as follows:

1. Act, or act more quickly, on good intentions

I have no shortage of good ideas...it is in my genes after all...however I lack follow through a lot of times. I usually let the fact that it would be a little bit difficult prevent me from doing a lot of things- I mean who really wants to take their walking child to Hobby Lobby? However a lot of my good ideas are about helping others yet I usually find an excuse to not...they might think I am too forward or something. And by the time I talk myself into doing what I originally had thought, someone else has met their need or the need as passed or something like that. I want to try harder this year to actually go out of my comfort zone to do the things I think. Yikes.

2. Be nicer to myself

I think any mom or wife could agree with the fact that it is a lot easier to be nicer to others than yourself sometimes...I mean I would never tell the checker at HEB that she was too chubby or lazy. I would never tell Leo he wasn't able to do something or make him eat junk because I am too tired to prepare something nutritious and healthy or skip lotioning him after his bath because I'm in a hurry. You get the idea. So I want to take a few minutes to be nicer to myself every day, in thought and deed, because a happy momma is a productive and loving momma! Everybody suffers when I am cranky for sure :)

3. Read some

No lofty goal here, just that I want to read some. I have enjoyed reading a few books this past year that in general I probably wouldn't have taken the time to read...you know, just for enjoyment. So I don't have a list of books or a numerical goal or anything, just the fact that I want to try and keep up reading- like have something I am reading at all times, even if it is only for five minutes at a time and every other day. :)

So there you go...my official attempts to become a better person this year. Of course there is always the "lose x pounds" and such, but these are the ones I am actually going to be accountable for this year!

As way of information, Nick's resolutions were to actually read scriptures daily & record progress and to be less sarcastic & make fewer jokes about others. Leo's resolutions were to learn to play nicely with others (so far we haven't had a ton of exposure to other kids...no wonder he is so healthy!) and to peacefully coexist with Koshka (our cat). Nicholas and Leo made a bonus/extra credit resolution together to teach/learn how to throw a spiral with a football...yes it is a lofty goal, but Leo's throws with his right hand currently have a lot of backspin on them so you never know! :)

Happy New Year!

11 months...

2012-01-16T22:23:00.006-06:00

Warning! Most of these pics were taken either 1. on my phone, 2. at Christmas, or 3. both. :)

Okay so I know this post is severely belated, however I still need to write it!

11 months was a huge turning point for Leo! The day before he turned 11 months (Christmas Day) he totally took off walking; up until this point he had taken series of steps by himself before, however on Christmas Day he just walking all over the place! He started standing up all by himself, not pulling up or holding on to anything, and just walking everywhere...and just like that my baby was gone!

He talks all the time- mostly just babbles and gobbles, but he can say "mama", "dada", "ko-kah" (for Koshka), "no no", and a bunch of other "words". One thing is clear, he totally thinks he is talking and mimics our intonation and sounds nonstop.

Leo loves to vacuum...I mean LOVES it! He likes when it gets close enough to blow his hair and he now throws a little fit when I won't let him help...I guess that is a good thing?

Recently he has figured out how to stack big blocks and push the ball down the tube/chute thing on his play table. When he does new little tricks like this he claps for himself which is pretty cute.

He is such a lover and gives hugs and kisses freely...at least to me and Nick. He is such a good boy and happy almost all the time. He loves to smile to strangers at the store or at church and waves on command now...most of the time.

Leo's 4 front teeth (2 on top and 2 on bottom) are getting pretty big which makes his smile look so much more like a little boy than a baby. He has 2 other top teeth that just broke through. And he has started doing this forced smile where he scrunches up his nose and shows his teeth...it is priceless.

He loves Koshka and she tolerates him well, especially considering how loco she is. He likes to chase her. Leo is a total boy- he loves anything with wheels and tools and gears and such. Twisting caps off and on bottles is a favorite and he has even gotten to the point where he wants to put the cap on his sippy cup by himself...he usually takes it on and off many times and claps when he gets it on just right.

He is still nuts about his baths- he loves the water! He isn't phased in the least when we pour water over his head to rinse! He rarely sits in the bath though because standing and playing with the faucet is his favorite. Recently kicking up a huge splash is a ton of fun too.

Leo loves to play with his cousins; he does his best to keep up with Belle and Livi! We are lucky to have at least some of our cousins close by! He is getting more bold with the other kids at church too...taking their toys and running them over. It is so interesting to see him interact with other kids.

We can't believe that soon he will be one year old! We love him so much and can't imagine our life without him...what did we do before him??? (Other than sleep and whatever we want of course...) :) Love you buddy!

I have a lot to blog about!

2012-01-04T21:56:00.003-06:00

Just touching base...too much to do to stop and blog at the moment but I needed to make a list of things I want to blog about so I remember and actually do it someday.

1. Great Montana Christmas

2. Leo's first visit to Urgent Care

3. The worst day of 2011

4. Nursing and weaning Leo

5. Nick's parents' visit

6. New Years Resolutions

That is all I can think of so far...see all you have to look forward to? :)

Today's Top 5

2011-12-12T22:33:00.002-06:00

It was just over a year ago when I called it quits from my "day job". While I enjoyed teaching dance, and maybe more than that making friendships with the students and instructors, I knew that my place was at home once our little boy entered the world. I can remember declaring I would be everything from a veterinarian to a criminal profiler for the FBI...little did I know that what I wanted to be most was a mother!

This past weekend we went back to Houston for an open house in honor of two of my friends and coworkers at the studio who had wed recently. I had a chance to see many students that I hadn't seen in a long time and show off my new 25 pounds of perfection (no, not my thighs...Leo of course!) Most of them inquired on how I liked being a mom and staying at home. While I immediately could honestly respond that I loved it, it gave me a chance to reflect a bit about my transition.

Staying at home all day has been an adjustment. Sometimes it is hard- in spite of my sociological studies that have taught me otherwise- to feel like my contribution is as worthy as Nick's. Sometimes I feel like I am wasting a perfectly capable brain that could be conducting brain surgery because all I've done that day is laundry. Maybe my parents and teachers did too good of a job because I know that I could do more than sing Old McDonald 800 times a day...and with the world facing one crisis after another I often feel guilty that I am not doing more to help. However in spite of all of those things that run through my head all the time, I am so glad and thankful that I get to be a stay-at-home mother...at least for now!

It takes a lot of energy and organization to run a household and raise a child! And I know that I am doing the most important thing I can be doing; I love Leo to death and am so happy that I get to spend every day with him. Now granted I have and will complain about most of the following, however for today these are, in random order, my top 5 things I love about staying at home with Leo. (That was a lot longer preface than I was intending...maybe Nick's wordiness is rubbing off on me!)

5. We get to play all day! I get to tickle him and roll on the floor with him...he gives me kisses and mimics my words. Granted we have a rough schedule- cleaning on Mondays and Fridays, errands from 11-1, etc.- but really we just get to play all day long. We can take off to the park if we want or go on a walk around the block...we can watch Baby Einstein (again) or read books...we live purely on our whims and it is wonderful!

4. I love watching him develop- as the old adage states, it goes by so fast and I am so happy that I get to see all of his little milestones. I rarely miss an event like his first steps or first words. And it is so exciting to see how he changes every single day! Oh and there is nothing better than seeing his big toothy grin when he laughs!

3. I have no uniform! Some days I don't make it out of sweats, my make up doesn't get done, and my hair is in a wet bun all day long...and it is totally fine! Leo doesn't care! I get to be comfy all day, every day while I make the world go around for two cute boys.

2. I know everything about Leo...and Nick for that matter. I know what they eat, when they sleep, and if they spill on their shirt. It is so great to know how every nap goes and how long his nose has been running; I feel so close to Nicholas and Leo because I know everything about them!

1. I do what I want, when I want...sort of. There are a couple blissful hours each night when Nick is studying and Leo is sleeping that I can do whatever I want. Tonight I made a craft and then took a bath. Some days I watch Friends reruns and crochet. It doesn't really matter- the point is that I am not worrying about an exam or a problem at work. And yes, motherhood is a 24/7 job (hence the "sort of" above) but in general I am my own boss! It doesn't get me out of work, but it allows me to do it on my own terms :)

So there you go. Like I said, I know that I have complained about spending the day in sweats or knowing what is in every diaper, but mostly I really love it. I love my decision to stay at home and am grateful for Nicholas who is supportive of that. I am super grateful that I get to have an absolute doll for a son and that I really get to enjoy every little bit of him each day! :)

He's been longer out than in!

2011-11-30T15:15:00.007-06:00

Leo turned 10 months on Saturday the 26th and has officially been alive outside the womb longer than he was inside...it is hard to believe! I hate that he is growing up, so I guess I am normal; each development is so exciting and depressing. He is growing up so fast and already trying to escape my smothering...he is often found trying to open the front door!

Just to shake things up (and make me eat my words) Leo has decided to be a little more difficult at meal times. He still eats fairly well, but is kind of weird about his eating...one day he will love feeding himself peaches, the next day he will eat them but won't pick them up on his own, the next day he won't eat them at all, and over and over again. It is much more of a guessing game now to see what he wants. And sometimes he eats a ton and others he wants nothing more than a yogurt. Oh and he definitely prefers apple juice to white grape...traces of arsenic or not! (If you don't watch the news and don't get it, don't worry. Just saying that I am not that kind of mother that is super concerned about every little thing...he'll survive.) I was super proud of him at Thanksgiving though- he ate turkey, went to town on the stuffing, enjoyed sweet potatoes and potatoes with gravy, fed himself many green beans and a whole roll. And of course he loved the pumpkin pie and whipped cream...duh!

He has started "dancing". At first I thought it was waving, but I realized it happened every time music was on and I am pretty sure it is his way of dancing at the moment- he puts his arm up by his head and shakes it...looking like he is ready to lasso something. He does it when music comes on the radio or tv or even just when his toys play their little songs. He has one train that he loves to push around as he crawls and then he will pause to dance for a minute...so cute!

Leo is getting really close to walking! He is getting better each day at standing by himself and it seems like it lasts a second longer every time. He likes to hold your hands- sometimes even just one- and walk around. His push toys are new favorites as they let him practice his new skill. Again, we are both excited and dreading this new development.

He now officially has 4 sharp little chompers- two top teeth and two bottom teeth. They all broke through within 10 days of each other and I am hoping we are done with teething for at least a little while...I could use a break! Now when Leo loves you and kisses your face it kind of hurts...but is still so cute that we usually endure a little pain!

There are so many things I could write about him, but I will have to save them for another day...my afternoon nap time is up!!! We love you LEO!!!

Feeling a bit prideful

2011-11-15T20:47:00.002-06:00

So I am definitely feeling a bit prideful at the moment- not the bad I'm-better-than-you kind of pride, just the I-really-did-it good kind. While I will in no way say that we are going to enjoy restful nights forever now, Nicholas and I have sleep trained Leo. It was hard; the crying was terrible and Nick teared up too, but we made it. Leo for the most part is fine to get in his bed and go to sleep and not see us until morning. It is glorious. *Everybody please knock on wood right now for us!!!*

I am proud of Leo- he learned how to go to sleep! (At night...nap time is still not great, but if he sleeps at night can I really complain?) And I am proud of Nick and myself as parents...we stuck it out and it eventually worked- wahoo!

Now if I could only figure out a way to get us to bed earlier so we could actually enjoy more rest ourselves...

9 months and counting...

2011-11-08T08:00:00.000-06:00

Leo turned 9 months old Wednesday, October 26th. We celebrated by flying home from our vacation (more on that later) and seeing Daddy...Leo was thrilled! He really does love Nick and is happy to see him and play with him as often as possible. Friday was our well-check and everything went great! :)

9 month stats

23 lbs 1.5 oz. (85th percentile)

29 inches tall (75th percentile)

He wasn't supposed to have any shots this time, however we got him his flu shot while we were there so he endured one little prick after all. He happily showed off lots of his skills to the doctor and nurses...clapping, waving, saying "mamama" and "dadada", pulling to standing, etc. They were amazed that they hadn't seen him since his last well check back in July and deemed him as healthy as can be; we sure have been lucky up until this point, knock on wood, to have a healthy, strong boy.

His feet are way too fat for most shoes, but I finally found these ones that I can get on. Most of the time if he needs his feet covered he just wears socks! Leo has his two bottom teeth and his two top ones are visible so they won't be long. He doesn't get a fever or anything when he is teething...not even red or swollen gums...so it is hard to tell when his teeth are going to come until you can see little white tops just under the gum.

Leo was getting too big to lug around in his infant seat, especially now that he is mobile and just wants out anyway. After a little research online and such, we picked out a new convertible carseat for him and he likes it so far. It is much easier to get his arms through the straps!

Leo is definitely a good shopper and likes HEB because he gets balloons. He smiles and waves at everyone and we count how many "he looks just like the Gerber baby" comments each trip. It is kind of funny who stops to talk to him or waves as he goes by.

Leo is increasingly mobile...sometimes much to our dismay. It is nearly impossible to get a diaper on him by yourself and it is a bad day if I have to tackle the bath alone. Nearly every week in church I get a comment on how "active" he is...I think that is just a nice way of saying he is pretty cuckoo!

Leo likes to help with chores such as the laundry and unloading the dishwasher, however he hates hats and won't keep one on.

Leo is still an excellent eater; he usually eats just about anything from pumpkin and peas to toast and mangos. He loves to self feed now and really likes to suck the puree out of the on-the-go pouches. One interesting bit about his eating is that while he will self-feed any cracker, puff, basically any grain, he is not interested in picking up grapes, peas, peaches, etc. He gladly eats them if I feed them to him, but he isn't interested in picking them up yet...? He loves a sippy cup too!

He is an excellent crawler, can pull up to anything, and has even started "cruising" along furniture recently. Today he made it from the ottoman to the rocking chair to the changing table all by himself. Occasionally he lets go and is standing alone for a moment...but as soon as he realizes it he plops down.

He loves wheels of all sorts and his stuffed animals. He really loves his non-stuffed animal, Koshka, and gladly chases after her. She isn't as thrilled about him but tolerates him pretty well. He still likes to watch Wheel of Fortune too.

He has started waving...kind of on command...and clapping. And he is learning what "NO" means. Earlier today he was playing with the nightlight plugged into the wall and I told him no a few times- he kept playing with it so I said no one more time as I unplugged it and took it away. He gave me the biggest frowny scowl and let out one big whiney yelp...this definitely confirmed to me that he is now capable of understanding "NO" and I need to use it more often.

We love you buddy!

Attention all Kroger shoppers!

2011-11-05T11:44:00.003-05:00

So I definitely wouldn't call myself an extreme couponer, but I try a little. This week there is a great deal at Kroger so I thought I would share.

Campbell's Cream of Chicken and Cream of Mushroom soup are on sale for $1 each. They are also part of Kroger's $5 off 10 event- buy 10 participating items, get $5 off your total purchase. That makes the soups $.50 each.

Then there is a coupon on Campbell's website for $1 off any 5 "condensed cooking soups". Click HERE for the coupon. You can only print 2 coupons per computer...so you are in luck if you have more than one computer around! You can use 2 coupons since you are buying 10 soups. This makes your total $3 for 10 soups, or $.30 each.

I use these soups so much in cooking and hardly make gravy without it. $.30 is a steal for Campbell's and is even cheaper than the generic brand. The $5 off 10 event ends on Tuesday I believe...so go stock up!

In case you missed it, HERE is the coupon again.

Just kidding

2011-11-03T19:35:00.002-05:00

Leo apparently hates it when I tell the world he is sleeping well. He has cried more than the 5ish minutes as I previously said for the last two nights. Nuts. So here I am...telling everyone he isn't going to sleep so great in the hopes that maybe he will change his mind again. And when he does- I AM NOT TELLING YOU! Not because I am really that superstitious, but better not jinx it right? Especially when it comes to your child sleeping.

Don't Worry

2011-11-02T14:58:00.004-05:00

Leo is still super clingy during the day, however we have gotten into a better sleeping pattern now that we are home. The first night was about 40 minutes of crying...since then it is maybe 5 or so and then he is out for the night.

And really, who can actually be mad when you go in and he looks like this? Just didn't want you to worry about us! :)

What's the word on the street?

2011-10-30T20:44:00.002-05:00

CLINGY!!!

For those of you who don't watch Sesame Street daily, "What's the word on the street" is what Murray says to find the word of the day...and his voice saying it is often in my head throughout the day, hence the title.

Anywho, Leo is definitely going through a clingy phase. I can hardly do anything without him crawling over to me and sitting on my feet while he tries to pull himself up to my legs and whine until I pick him up. And leaving the room he is in??? Forget about it!!!

My mom's theory is that he is going through a clingy phase anyway and then because we have been out of sorts for the last week and a half (vacation...i.e. unfamiliar surroundings and not sleeping at home, etc.) it has been exacerbated. Whatever the reasoning, the boy is seriously clingy right now. In fact he won't even sleep alone! He has been cuddling up with me for way too many nights now. It's not that it isn't cute or that I don't like sleeping next to him...it is awfully cute to hear him breathe and such...but at some point he has to sleep by himself again. Not to mention the fact that I am exhausted. Seriously.

So tonight was the night. We are finally back at home for more than one night (we have a whole 2 weeks before our next night away) and so tonight he was going to sleep in his bed no matter what. During our 9 month well-check last week (more on that to come) our pediatrician told us that it is okay to just let him cry it out...um, surely he has never been a parent, right? Actually he has 2 little boys but any parent knows that it is super hard to listen to your child cry- especially since I have total control over it.

He only cried 40 minutes tonight; it was hard core screaming though the whole time and Nick even got teary after going in once. He is however currently asleep in the fetal position. Ugh- parenting sucks!

Happy Anniversary to us!

2011-10-16T22:02:00.002-05:00

Three years ago today Nicholas and I were married and sealed for eternity in the Salt Lake City temple. As cliche as it sounds, it has been the best three years of life yet :)

Now if you would have told me five years ago that by now I would be married and have a baby, I would have said you were crazy. I was going places...changing the world and looking good doing it. Now my post-baby body lives in an old apartment in College Station, TX where my world revolves around nap times and what to make for dinner...and while that sounds a bit depressing, I couldn't be happier! I know I made the right choice in marrying Nicholas and, more importantly, I am just glad I finally convinced him to marry me. :)

As my sister Tara texted me this morning "3 down, eternity to go!" Happy Anniversary to us!

Apple Week - The Desserts

2011-10-10T19:24:00.004-05:00

Of course the desserts of Apple Week were my favorite; I am pretty sure I will always favor the dessert more than the entree and I'm alright with that...carpe diem and all that. Anywho, there was really only one dessert- caramel apples. However the entree of Saturday morning- Apple Puffed Pancake- is considered a dessert in my book. Yum!

Nick made the Apple Puffed Pancake for us, so while I can't give you any great insights to making it, here is the recipe.

Apple Puffed Pancake

6 eggs

1 1/2 c milk

1 c flour

3 Tbsp sugar

1 tsp vanilla

1/2 tsp salt

1/4 tsp cinnamon

1/4 lb (or 1 stick/8 Tbsp) butter

2 apples, peeled and sliced (thinly)

2-3 Tbsp brown sugar

Heat oven to 425*.

Melt butter in a 9x13 pan.

Add apples and return to oven until butter sizzles.

Mix all other ingredients, except brown sugar, in a blender for a few minutes.

Pour over sizzling butter.

Sprinkle with brown sugar.

Bake for 20 minutes.

We served our pieces with whipped cream and maple syrup...absolutely delightful! It was especially great because 1) I did not have to cook it and 2) because I didn't cook it I didn't fret over how much butter, etc. went in to it, thus I thoroughly enjoyed eating every single bite! I apologize for the pictures...I forgot to snap one until after we had already cut it.

Next up, caramel apples...or as I will refer to them, Gourmet Caramel Apples. As I mentioned previously, my sister Amy had gone to an activity where they gave some tips on how to make them and I was anxious to try them out. Many of these tips are from her.

Gourmet Caramel Apples

First you must remove the wax the grocery stores put on the apples that make them shiny...this will help the caramel to stick. Either scrub them with baking soda water or dip them quickly in boiling water. I dipped mine in boiling water just for a second and then wiped the wax off with a cloth. It is amazing...you wonder how you will know if you got the wax off but you can really just tell. The wax turned whitish when I dipped mine in boiling water so I knew exactly what to wipe off. Afterwards your apples will be obviously more dull than before.

Remove the stems and push your sticks in all the way to the bottom.

I used bamboo skewers (I cut them down a little) that I had on hand instead of

traditional popsicle sticks and they worked fine.

Then you have to get the apples very cold. Refrigerate for a while...I took the wax off during one of Leo's naps and then caramel-fied them when he was in bed,

so mine chilled for many hours.

Melt caramels on low heat in a saucepan with 1 Tbsp of milk for every 7 oz. of caramels

(most "regular" sized bags of caramels are 7 oz.)

Now you are ready to caramel your apples...but you only get to do it one at a time.

The caramel sets quickly and so if you want to put any toppings on your apple...nuts, marshmallows, M&Ms, cookie crumbs, etc...have them ready!

As soon as your caramel is all melted, take it off the heat (but don't turn the heat off). Grab one apple from the fridge and coat with caramel. Hurry and coat with any additional toppings if you want to and then return to the fridge on parchment or wax paper.

Put your caramel back on the heat and stir for a minute until it is perfectly melted again. Then remove from heat again and continue "carameling" apples one by one.

Let them set in the fridge until hard before drizzling with chocolate, if you choose.

*If your caramel sets too quickly and you don't get your whole apple covered with toppings, use the melted caramel in the saucepan as "glue" and place your toppings where you want. That is how I got my marshmallows so even in the last picture!*

To drizzle with chocolate, melt bark or chips in microwave

(30 seconds, stir, 30 seconds, stir, and on and on until it is nice and smooth).

After the chocolate is nice and smooth, add just a little vegetable oil...until the chocolate falls off your spoon in a thin ribbon. Grab your apple from the fridge, hold over wax paper, and drizzle with the chocolate to your liking. This is also a great time to add any toppings, like nuts, that didn't stick to your caramel apple originally...

the chocolate takes a little longer to set than the caramel does.

Mostly have fun! Making Gourmet Caramel Apples totally made it feel like Fall to me...even if it was still hot and humid outside.

So there you have it...all of my apple endeavors. I love apples- Granny Smiths with salt or Galas are my favorites- and trying new recipes or tricks was fun. I really love almost any "seasonal" flavors...maybe I will have to do a Pumpkin Week next?!?

Apple Week - The Entrees

2011-10-04T20:33:00.006-05:00

So last week was an unofficial Apple Week here at the Vernon household. It all started when my October edition of Parents magazine arrived; they had a whole little section about apples, including recipes. I picked out a couple that I really wanted to try...afterall, apples were way on sale at HEB at the time. Then my sister Amy went to an activity about how to make perfect caramel apples and I wanted to try that too!

So first up was Harvest Soup. Unfortunately I forgot to snap a picture of this one, but it was a beautiful pumpkin color and was really quite tasty. Best of all, it was super easy- a bunch of chopping but then the soup did its thing while Leo and I played.

Harvest Soup

1 Tbsp olive oil

1/2 c chopped carrot

1/2 c chopped celery

1/3 c chopped onion

1 1/2 lbs butternut squash, seeded and cut into 1 inch cubes

2 medium apples, cored and cut into 1/2 inch pieces

(I used Gala...supposedly they are easier to puree along with

Golden Delicious and Northern Spy because of their thin skin)

4 c low-sodium chicken broth

ground pepper to taste

croutons

In a big pot, heat oil on medium. Add carrots, celery, and onion.

Cook, stiring occasionally, for 8-10 minutes or until tender and starting to brown.

Add squash, apples, and broth. Bring to a boil.

Reduce heat. Simmer uncovered for 20 minutes or until squash is tender. Cool slightly.

Puree soup, in multiple batches if necessary, in a blender or food processor.

(I just did mine in the pot with a hand blender!)

Add pepper and croutons to serve.

Super delicious and fed us for a few nights! My next apple entree was Savory Sausage Stuffed Apples...what a mouthful, huh? These were a bit more work and while they were yummy, they may have been more work than they were worth to me. Don't get me wrong, they were good- the sweet apple compliments the little zing/spice/whatever of the sausage- they were just more work than I normally do for a random Wednesday night.

Savory Sausage Stuffed Apples

4 large apples

6 oz sweet pork or turkey sausage

1/3 c chopped onion

1/2 c cooked brown rice

1 tsp chopped fresh rosemary (I used dried)

1 tsp chopped fresh thyme (I used dried)

1 Tbsp olive oil

dash of black pepper

3/4 c apple juice

Preheat oven to 375*.

Slice the tops off apples and a thin slice from the bottom to allow them to sit flat. Core apples, starting from the stem end going to but not through the bottom of the apple.

(I used a grapefruit spoon but you could use a small spoon or melon baller.)

Continue scraping leaving a 1/4 inch apple shell. Save the apple flesh. (But not the core part!)

Cook sausage and onion, drain.

Combine in bowl with rice, rosemary, thyme, oil, pepper, and 1/2 c of apple flesh.

Place apples in a square baking dish and fill with mixture. Pour apple juice into baking dish.

Bake uncovered for 30 - 40 minutes.

Serve warm, drizzled with the cooking liquid.

So there you have it! Two very yummy apple recipes for you to try. They both tasted like fall and got me very excited for my favorite time of year. And it was good for me to try new recipes...I so often get burnt out on making dinner and it was a nice way to be excited by the chore. And stay tuned...my next post will be about the desserts of Apple Week- yum!

Off

2011-09-30T22:14:00.002-05:00

Today has been one of those "off" days. You know, for whatever reason you are just...for lack of a better term, off. Ugh.

For one thing- as shallow as it may be- I am having a really difficult time with my hair right now. It totally got this weird kink thing on the right side in the back after pregnancy that I am not sure how to deal with plus it isn't really in a style right now...no layers, no bangs, no anything...just in "grow it out" mode. And not that hair is so important, but when it is pulled up wet there is just no way that I am going to feel fabulous and then everything else in the day is affected. Yes, please notice that I used "affected" and not "effected"...it is one of my biggest grammar pet peeves. Anywho, I tried a center part to shake things up (wild, I know) but plan to get it cut soon...one of these days when I can sneak away from Leo for an hour and hair cutting businesses are still open. Tricky, I know.

Aside from the hair, I'm still adjusting to this new post-baby body (more body that is less toned...ugh) and the fact that the last thing I want to do when Leo goes down for a nap in the morning is take the precious time to "get ready". For what anyway? My seemingly daily trip to HEB? (No it isn't every day, but it feels like it! Oh, and HEB is a great grocery store for those of you not lucky enough to live in Tejas.) It seems pointless to get ready each day when all I do is roll around on the floor with Leo, get a drink at Sonic, or do laundry. However at the same time I can totally tell that I feel better when I am put together...oh the irony.

I'm still adjusting to life as a mom too...I mean how it is possible to be so busy and so bored all at the same time? Life is so monotonous however if it isn't than I wish it was. Again, notice the "than" instead of the "then"...another grammar pet peeve. (If nothing else, you can at least get a grammar lesson out of reading this whiney post.) I crave adult conversation and just want to talk to Nick when he gets home, but he usually has a list longer than mine of things to do and so he hardly has time to shoot the breeze and recap my every epiphany of the day. I know I should break into the mommy circle, but my reason for being a mom naps during the play group times around here and so I am stuck with my moment with the HEB cashiers for adult company.

I'd be aggressive in making friends (even though it is way outside of my comfort zone) and invite someone over...but to do what? Watch House Hunters while I eat Ramen? That is why roommates were great...built-in friends. And it is why husbands are great too...except for that whole making-a-living thing that gets in the way. Plus our apartment is fine but it is small and there isn't much room for company. Sigh.

So today was an "off" day. Boo hoo. Not too much to do about it except try again tomorrow...and complain a little bit on here since it is my blog and I can at least pretend in my head that there are other adults out there reading this that are my "friends". And don't worry...the pity party can't last long when you are the mom and more upbeat posts and pictures of Leo are soon to come! :)

8 months ago...

2011-09-25T20:18:00.008-05:00

...I was anxiously awaiting being done with pregnancy. Pregnancy was fine and mine was fairly easy, but still after that last month you are seriously ready to be done even if it means you have to give birth and then know what to do with a newborn.

Fast forward 8 months and I am trying to figure out how to make Leo shrink and time to reverse. I can't believe he will never get smaller! He seems so grown up all of the sudden!

The boy loves to eat. What can I say? He's his momma's baby! In the last month or so he has discovered the joys of self-feeding and he can't get enough...of anything. It really doesn't matter what we hand him to try, he devours it.
We made the rounds with the normal baby finger foods- puffs, wagon wheels, yogurt melts, etc. and now are on to the good stuff- animal crackers, saltines, graham crackers, etc. Last night he even had some of our smoothie! It is a very messy process, but I am learning to live with a little mess if it means he's happy :)
He has the most beautiful blue eyes...
...and his hair can be combed into a mean mowhawk!
He is super curious and anxious to explore every day. And boy is he wiggly and active! Just try to have him sit still on your lap for more than a minute! Diaper changes and church are really starting to get fun...NOT!
He still loves his toes!
Leo has figured out crawling! Oh no! Now he gets into everything and is everywhere I don't want him to be...like eating my shoes. I rarely get to escape into another room without him because he just follows me now :)
Some of his favorite toys are water bottles and the medal from our last 5k. He of course loves our dvds and must get them out and mess them up multiple times daily. He likes to watch Baby Einstein and Wheel of Fortune.
He is starting to pull up to his knees to play with things...and Nick claims he even made it to his feet a time or two! See how messy he gets? Graham crackers are the worst! He loves them though.
We can't imagine how we lived before Leo...we love him a ton! Happy 8 months buddy!

Leo goes swimming

2011-09-21T22:10:00.002-05:00

So I know I am a little late....yes, it is September. However in my defense these were taken a couple of weeks ago AND it has been hotter than Hades down here this summer.

I really didn't like the idea of taking Leo's fair little skin to the pool unless there was shade or something...I mean I lathered him up with sunscreen but still. He would fry and it would be my fault and he would be in pain- how terrible!

And since our new pool has absolutely no shade until 5:30pm, I finally broke down and bought this great little float. It not only saves me from having to hold him every minute *he is still heavy after a while in water* and provides some great shade.

Leo likes it. We've only used it a few times, but he likes playing with the netting and pictures of sea animals on it. He loves to kick his legs too!

Plus he looks mighty cool hanging out at the pool...

...don't you think? Ahhhh....this is the life!

WHY????

2011-09-19T16:06:00.002-05:00

Why do babies change so fast????

I can't leave Leo alone for 10 seconds now! I was pulling my hair up this morning and when I flipped my head upright he was gone...I found him here in the kitchen trying to get the Halloween decoration off of the dishwasher.

Occasionally we have calm moments where he just sits and reads, however most of the time he is finding trouble....like unplugging the lamp.

Or perhaps knocking over the magazine rack, which always results in crying...I can't help that it doesn't feel good when it falls on you! Our schedule, that was working so well for a few weeks by the way, is apparently out the window and I guess we are going to start over. At least life is never boring right?

Sick

2011-09-16T19:29:00.002-05:00

Aye aye aye. I thought Leo was getting sick last week...he started to have a little runny nose and sounded congested when laying in his bed. We elevated his mattress, turned the humidifier on, and were happier to just hold him to sleep. However it didn't really turn in to anything...the nose still runs a bit here and there but it has always just been clear. So I guess he is over whatever it was...? Maybe teeth?

I was not so lucky though. The other night I had a bit of a sore throat...it was worse in the morning but kind of came and went throughout the day...and today has been terrible :( I can't breathe, I'm coughing and sneezing, and I can't taste or smell much. My throat has been so dry that I had to cough while rocking Leo and I woke him- luckily he went right back to sleep!

Anywho, my energy has vanished and I am not sure how to be sick with a little one around...this is a first for me! Luckily Nick has been able to be home quite a bit today; I am just praying neither of them get whatever I've got. As for today, I folded and put away exactly one load of laundry and that is about all...and I am counting it as a success! :)

New car seat

2011-09-09T11:27:00.003-05:00

We are in the market for a new car seat...Leo is soon to be too big for his infant seat! I am looking for a convertible car seat that can be rear-facing for the next few months, then face forward with a 5 point harness and be a booster with the regular lap belt when he gets big enough.

I also want it to recline, be easy to clean, and if possible not be huge...I swear some seats are bigger than mine and neither of our cars is that big.

Any suggestions?

On a journey to adopt

2011-09-06T21:51:00.002-05:00

Spencer and Whitney were both in my ward at BYU...the ward where I met Nicholas and so many other great things happened. While I wasn't best friends with either of them, I do know that they are both really great people. And perhaps now that I have had a child of my own I am a bit more sensitive to those that can't have children of their own...because I know firsthand how amazing it is to have a little one.

So that is why I am sharing this link; it is a link to their adoption blog and more specifically to a video they made that evoked tears and showed just how wonderful they really are. Please take a look and pass it on to anyone you know that may be able to help them start their family. :)

Click HERE to view their blog & video.

Extreme Couponing

2011-09-03T20:52:00.003-05:00

So I think the idea of getting paid to shop or getting items for free is awesome...who doesn't? And I would love to be better about using coupons and such, especially now that we are back in school.

However...

I don't get why you are buying 218 boxes of pasta in the first place! I know, I know...they are free and so you are stockpiling. Food storage and all that...great. But it just completely overwhelms me when the couponing is done at that level.

And another thing...where are these people getting the coupons for fresh produce and meat and such? I mean I rarely see a coupon to combine with the store offer which makes my grapes free. In fact, this whole issue is addressed in one of my favorite books, Food Politics by Marian Nestle. (Yes, her name is ironic...especially if you read the book!)

With that being said, I would welcome any advice on how to coupon...I'm sure Nick would appreciate a reduced grocery bill! :)

For what it is worth...

2011-09-01T21:55:00.002-05:00

I am struggling to know when it is worth it to deviate from our "schedule". I have tried so hard to get Leo on a schedule- at least a rough one- and so I am having a hard time knowing when to abandon it. For the last week or so (knock on wood) things have been going great: Leo takes a long and a short nap each day, he is learning to eat new things while still nursing a couple times a day, and in general he is a happy baby that loves to play and who is patient with me running errands in this terrible heat. I love the predictability the schedule has given me and I can tell Leo does too.

However...

He currently is going down about 7pm, which is great because I have time to do things I want or need to do in the evening. However this doesn't leave much time to see Daddy...and very minimal time for actually playing with Daddy (which Leo loves!) It also keeps me homebound all night...or Nick or both of us.

Tonight there was a picnic for the MBA families...we decided to go even though it was going to put us off schedule. Leo did really well while we were there and even on the way home...but after we gave him a lightning fast bath, he lost it. He screamed a good hour to go to bed since we were about an hour or so behind schedule. Ugh. I don't want to live under a rock, but I just don't know that a huge fit like that is worth a few minutes out to me. And when I see his sweet little face it is really hard to feel like anything I want should be more important than his comfort...I live and breathe for that kid!

I guess this is just one dimension of parenthood and something everyone struggles with. In the meantime, please only invite me to things that start at like 4pm or 8pm :) I just hope he sleeps well tonight and we can start fresh tomorrow!

Leo is 7 months...where does the time go???

2011-08-28T15:56:00.006-05:00

I could hardly believe it on Friday when I realized that 7 months ago I was in labor all day...and I am amazed that I actually pushed a 9 pound baby out too! Leo is changing so fast and we love every day with him.

He is getting very smart...and not just because his cousin Belle reads to him at the library! They both enjoyed that trip and I was happy to sit at the table and feed Leo puffs and read to Belle because they were both so good. She found a special baby book to read just for Leo...I didn't tell her that it was actually in Spanish and that I made up the words!

Leo loves playing and stuffed animals are definitely a favorite. Dad took him for a ride in his toy bin which he LOVED!

We aren't officially crawling yet, but Leo can often be found on his hands and knees. Sometimes when I go in at night when I hear him fuss he is asleep in this position!

Peekaboo! Like I told you, he is getting smart...

...which often gets him in troublesome situations like being stuck.

He likes to ruin my nice and neat DVD stacks.

Go Broncos!

"Monte" keeps him company on his changing table...

...while Bear (original, I know) gets to greet him from his naps. I told you he loves stuffed animals!

The boy loves to eat and will help you too...

...and he is great at holding on to his sippy by himself! I can hand him his cup when I am jogging and he can hold it and drink from it at his leisure now- it is great for us both!

Sweet potatoes are a favorite; I made them homemade for the first time just this week and he gobbles them up...and I am tempted by them too!

Leo is a great player and so far is pretty good at entertaining himself with a toy for a little while so I can do a little something. One of his favorite tricks right now is holding a toy in each hand and clanking them together. He is such a sweet boy; every time I hear him giggle I can hardly believe he is all mine! :)

Torn

2011-08-18T13:18:00.002-05:00

I'm so torn on what to do when Leo naps. Part of me wants to just lay down next to him and snooze as long as he'll let me...this is a big part of me, especially since our nights haven't exactly been super restful the last little while. But then there is another part of me that wants to do the dishes, fold the laundry, etc. This part of me might not really want to do those chores, but loves it so much when they are done. Then yet another part of me just wants to craft or surf the web or something so frivolous that it is rarely done while Leo is awake...and still rarely done when he is asleep because the first part of me (the sleepy part) usually wins at the end of the day.

Anywho, so there you go. I just wasted ten minutes of Leo's precious nap time trying to figure out what to do and soon he will be awake and it won't be an issue any longer!

On a good note...

2011-08-16T22:47:00.002-05:00

The last two days have been long- Nick started school and is gone again all day...nuts. Also, Leo hasn't had the best of nights and has been a bit more demanding than usual. Plus I have a deadline for work this week so I actually have things I need to do. Then there is the normal laundry and meal preparations and cleaning and such that should go on...not to mention we are still trying to set up house around here (yes the boxes are gone, but now I am figuring out where these shelves should really go and where that picture should be hung up, etc.) And if that isn't enough to gripe about, it has been well over 100* every day and my morning jogs are not joyous as they should be. Blah blah blah.

But I have gone to bed smiling...and you know why? It is because I have been corresponding with someone that signs each email with "your bicycle amigo" and it just makes me laugh. In our move I found a card from our tour guide from the mountain biking tour of Mazatlan, Mexico we took two years ago and I remembered him saying he would post pictures on his blog. I knew it was a long shot, but I checked the blog and he hadn't updated in a long time. I thought "why not?" and emailed him and asked if he had any of the pictures. Amazingly he emailed me back and is trying to find some for me...but mostly I just love that he signs each email "your bicycle amigo, Rudy". So on that note I am going to crawl into bed smiling and quickly sink into a deep sleep...that will undoubtedly be interrupted! :)

P.S. If I ever get any pictures I will share them...Nick and I wish for that cruise often! It was so much fun :)

The verdict on the tub

2011-08-15T08:01:00.002-05:00

We left a beautiful, brand new, big garden tub in our old apartment. It was super deep and wide and had a perfect slant for taking a relaxing bath. My only complaint was that our water never seemed to stay hot enough to fill it very far and thus my baths were always a little chilly...not really cold, but I like my baths to be uncomfortably steaming, like where you can tell you have been in the bath because your skin is a different color. I'm pretty sure I got this trait from my dad. Anywho, baths in the big tub were never that hot.

I took a bubble bath in our new tub. To the naked eye it isn't that great- it is far from brand new, it is shallow, and the back slant is practically a 90* angle. However there is one redeeming feature of this bath tub...it gets super hot! My bath definitely turned my skin pink :) So while I can't honestly say I am super thrilled with the new tub, it isn't as bad as I was thinking! Wahoo! I foresee many nights when Leo goes to bed (hopefully) and Nick is studying (hopefully not!) that I will jump into the bath. :)

Leo's official 6 month post

2011-08-08T21:55:00.005-05:00

Please ignore the watermark on these proofs, but they are too cute to wait for the real things to share with you! Isn't he adorable?

6 Month Stats:

20 lbs

27 inches

Leo has a great head of hair; it is often done in a mohawk. Sometimes I try to do a comb over, but it doesn't last long and he ends up looking like Shaggy from Scooby Doo...it doesn't help that his hair hangs over his ears which drives me crazy! When do you cut a baby's hair?

He is also a really great car rider...for the most part he doesn't mind getting in the car and running errands. Sometimes he falls asleep, but lately he has been enjoying looking around a little bit more. We are grateful that we only moved an hour away- that trip to see Grammie and Grandpa is so doable!

Leo is a great eater too. So far he doesn't care for squash (who can blame him) but likes peaches (duh!), green beans, and sweet potatoes. And he LOVES his oatmeal- yummy! He can drink out of a bottle, a sippy, a spouted (but not sippy) cup, and a regular cup (it is a little messy still but he is getting pretty good!) He can't wait to have a drink each night out of the giant cup we use to rinse him off in the bath...what a nut! I just moved him up to 3 meals a day this past week and so far everything seems good.

This is his default pose- sucking that bottom lip. He is definitely getting more mobile. He rolls over both ways now and almost sits without support. He has always been into standing and now is no exception! Often we will try to pull him up to a sitting position but he just goes straight to standing.

His arms are wild- he grabs at everything! Beware if you try and hold him...I will not be held responsible for pulled out hair, missing earrings, broken glasses, etc. He loves to shake anything that he can get his hands on; it is so cute to see him figure out his wrist and twist it from side to side. Spoons (like the picture above) makes some of the best toys...as does paper. He loves to hold paper and I have found a little piece of it in his mouth then and again- oh brother! Going to get the mail with me each day is a highlight. :)

He really is so cute and happy most of the time. We have been having a difficult week or two with him as we are so off any sort of schedule and his ability to sleep through the night and nap in the day have gone out the window...but that is a whole other post! He loves to laugh and I can't help but feel like everything is worth it when I hear him giggle. Playing is so fun with him at this stage! We feel so lucky every day that he is our boy- what a joy he is! :)

*Yes, I know all of these pictures are small but beggars can't be choosers! All of these pics (except the proofs) are off my phone which was the only working camera I had for awhile...*

Leo is 6 months old already!

2011-07-28T20:24:00.002-05:00

It is true, Leo turned 6 months on Tuesday. I can't believe it has been that long and I can't remember life before him all at the same time!

Also, my camera is freaking out on me and I can only take one picture at a time (you know, before downloading it to my computer) and we moved in the last week...so pictures and a better post about him are forthcoming. I just didn't want you to think I had forgotten that he turned 6 months because I definitely did not! (He got the shots to prove it!)

Ironing

2011-07-13T21:52:00.002-05:00

So I just spent over an hour ironing and, while I will not say that it was my first choice of how to spend my time this evening, I am so glad it is done! Wahoo! A big thanks to Ms. Sherrill, my middle-school home ec teacher, who taught me the proper way to iron a shirt. Acutally, I am sure my mom probably taught me before that, but I remember having a test on it back in McKamy Middle School. And while we are on that subject I would just like to say that I think everyone should be required to take home ec. Yes it was kind of a joke for me- learning how to sew on a button, making orange julius, writing a check, ironing shirts- but they are good skills to know and it is sad that not everyone today knows how.

Anywho, back to ironing. I don't mind the chore...it definitely beats doing the dishes or dusting the blinds. I think I like it because I am such a visual person and so it is easy to feel like I accomplished something- here is the big, wrinkly ironing pile and then there are all the nicely pressed clothes hanging in the closet where they belong...beautiful. Not to mention that I can do it while watching Netflix :) Most of our ironing is Nick's dress shirts- occasionally Leo or I have something, but not often. (Why do they make infant clothing that needs to be ironed? I know, it is because most everyone doesn't do it and it looks okay...but it just makes me cringe to look at it knowing that it would look so much better pressed! And yes, I am one of those people who irons the dirty laundry bag...don't judge me.) Tonight I lost count around shirt 9; I like being able to iron Nick's shirts though...it is a quick and easy way to feel like a good wife :)

So there is my tangent on ironing. Those thoughts were a lot more cohesive in my head...ironing is also great because it is a fairly mindless activity and I was thinking about all these things!

*Disclaimer: I would probably rather do the dishes than iron a french-cuff shirt...while I love the look of them on, I hate to iron them!*

We're Alive...just busy!

2011-07-12T08:20:00.002-05:00

Yes we are still alive and I am still planning to blog someday, but we have recently been on vacation and are currently in the process of moving...not to mention trying to get Leo back to some sort of schedule and a million other little things! So for now the blog will have to wait...

Wish us luck...hopefully the next post will be from College Station! :)

It has begun...

2011-06-19T21:27:00.002-05:00

Well I officially started packing this evening. Nick had brought home a few boxes from work and we finally brought them up from the car tonight. I thought I could just start packing up a few of the non-essentials...I mean we aren't really moving for another month or more but I've got to start packing up sometime, right? Especially with Leo occupying most of my daylight hours and a trip planned in just over a week!

I started with some of the books on our bookshelf...we have a lot of books. Then I moved on to the decorations I have above our kitchen cabinets...the real frivolous stuff. It looks so sad and bare now! It isn't like I thought I was going to win any apartment-decorating awards or anything, but it sure feels less like a home and more like a dumb apartment now. I took most of the photos off the wall in the living room too just to fill the box I was working on and so now it is really looking sad in here.

I'm going to need a ton of boxes. Really, you never think you have that much until you try to pack it all up! Then there are going to be all the trips to move all of those millions of boxes (not to mention furniture!) I would say it is depressing except that we are excited for a change, a little bigger space, and we are moving into a first-floor apartment. Plus this apartment (3rd floor) has an elevator! Lucky! Still it will be moving in the July Texas heat. And unlike when we moved in, things aren't tucked in nice and neat in their original boxes. Sigh.

So if it seems that there is less blogging (and by that I mean adorable pictures of Leo) than normal in the next few weeks, it is probably because I am trying to make sense of everything we own...minus a few things that are being stored at our parents' homes...thank goodness for that!

Wish us luck!

FOOD!

2011-06-09T21:20:00.003-05:00

Leo had rice cereal tonight! I got it on video, but didn't snap any pictures...so someday when I figure out how to make my video camera do what I want I will share the video. Basically he was cute as always- he opened up wide when he saw that spoon coming and wanted to eat but was a little confused when it actually got in his mouth. He did really well though and was happy to try it! And although I love nursing him and plan to continue for awhile (everything I read says that it is best if you can do it for 12 months and so that is our plan), I am so happy he is eager to try food out!

He tried a sippy cup out last week and now thinks he can drink out of the cup we have in the bath to rinse him off with...which is pretty funny since it is like half the size of him! That doesn't stop him from trying though. I'm not sure he has really gotten anything out of the sippy cup yet, but he likes to gnaw on it at least for now.

So that is the excitement around these parts for now! Go Leo!

Leo, version 4.0

2011-05-27T15:14:00.006-05:00

Well, it is official- our little Leo is 4 months old! (Or as some others say, "You kept him alive 4 whole months!") We celebrated with a trip to the doctor to get shots- yipee. He did great! The oral vaccine was not nearly as hard for him to swallow this time and the shots (one in each leg) were over quickly and so was his crying. We had to wake him from his nap to get weighed and so it was no surprise that by the time we got to the car he was sound asleep again.

Here are his stats:

4 months old

18 lbs 3 oz

26 inches long

So yes he is big, but at least he is proportionate and as healthy as can be. The doctor even gave us the go-ahead to introduce Leo to baby foods, but I am in no hurry on that. He was as good as can be the rest of the day and you would hardly have known he had gotten shots in the morning. We are grateful for our happy little guy!

Here are some interesting facts about Leo at age 4 months:

- He has recently found his toes! He looks at them when he is in the bath and likes to get a hold of them when he is getting his diaper changed. We haven't resorted to sucking on them yet- whew!

- He loves stuffed animals! My mom brought him a stuffed Simba from DisneyWorld which he adores and can't wait to get his diaper changed so he can talk to him. He holds him by the ears and loves him or sometimes slobbers on his ear. He has a few other animals which he loves too.

- He has recently had his first cases of "stranger danger" where he looks at someone new (or just someone he hasn't seen in a little while) and puts that bottom lip far enough you could step on it and then just wails. Please don't feel bad if he does it to you because he has done it to Grammie and Grandpa too!

- He can't stand enough! He loves to stand and definitely prefers it to sitting. It should be no mystery then that he loves the jumper...and he is actually getting quite good at jumping instead of just stomping and standing and twisting.

- While he has rolled over a few times so far, I would not call it a regular trick. And that is okay...he will get it eventually. Everyone else seems more worried about him reaching this mile stone than I am...

- The words "banana bread" couldn't be funnier to him! It is the source of many giggles.

- He loves being outside and walks are a go-to activity when all else fails...which I am really happy about! :)

- He is very close to sitting. I mean really close. He refuses to sit back in the bath and sometimes in his car seat.

- Clapping is one of his favorite pastimes...either when we make him do it or when we do it ourselves.

- Leo loves his daddy. He loves to play and the rougher the better!

- He is a Christensen! Even though he was born with brown hair, it is getting blonder by the moment! I am betting he will be a little toe-head for sure!

- Much to my dismay, he is a serious finger sucker! At first I thought it was just him figuring them out and I let him suck...then he started to gravitate to the thumb. Oh. No. I am not into thumb sucking and vowed my children would never do it. After much help by me he is losing interest in the thumb but still is stuck on his pointer and middle finger on both hands. I try not be too crazy about pulling his hands out of his mouth- he has to use it to figure things out after all- but it is definitely not my favorite quality of his (even though somehow it doesn't offend me near as much now that it isn't the thumb). Anyway, we are still working on this one.

There are tons of little tidbits I could share, but that will have to suffice for now! Happy 4 months Leo!

The mom chop...and other random thoughts

2011-05-20T13:25:00.002-05:00

I realize I mostly blog about Leo...and as it should be because he is by far the cutest and most exciting thing happening in our home. But occasionally I do have a thought or two that isn't all about him (gasp) so here it goes.

I really don't want to get the mom chop. What is the mom chop you might ask. Well, it is the haircut lots of moms get a few months after they have a baby...you know when they realize that their hair ends up in a ponytail 95% of the time anyway and baby is starting to actually grab (and hold on to) things. There is nothing wrong with the mom chop. There is nothing wrong with short hair. I have had short hair and I liked it. However I have also had long(er) hair and I liked it too...and it has been awhile and I really want to let my hair grow right now.

The problem is that I sweat when I run and thus I have to wash my hair daily. Fine, no big deal...I like to wash it daily. But then comes the problem...do I dry it just so I can pull it up? It seems so dumb and a huge waste of time, however pulling up wet hair just doesn't feel that great and makes me feel like I never really got ready for the day. Plus we live in a hot and humid environment that makes drying hair take forever and the possibility of a ponytail during the day really slim. I thought about bangs- then at least my ponytail would look a little more like a style instead of me just being hot and tired- but I am not really sure that is the answer. So for now I am sticking with what I have but looking for something different.

On an equally vain note, I am just a mere 10 pounds from my pre-pregnancy weight! I know they will be the hardest 10 pounds to loose, but I am feeling optimistic since it has only been about 4 months since Leo was born (4 months next Thursday...can you believe it?) Getting back to jogging right away has been great- and hard of course- and Leo loves his time outdoors in the mornings...he knows that morning stroller ride and always takes a little nap. My old shorts and capris still don't fit though, so I am not sure what I am going to be wearing this summer because I hate to buy shorts that I hope don't fit soon...but it is getting so hot that I might have to give in a buy a bigger size anyway. Woe is me.

I bought some capri leggings and even though I hate them, I love them. I am not a legging fan at all, however they are so comfortable that I can already tell I will be having a little love affair with them this summer. Don't worry, I am not getting a minivan or wearing crocs anytime soon.

And I just have to say that I really have a great husband. Nicholas is a fabulous dad and Leo loves him. And I love that Leo loves him and he loves Leo; Nick is great to rock him to sleep or change his diaper or get up in the night with him. He is a great helper with Leo :) He also never shys away from doing dishes or cleaning up Koshka's litter box or various other chores. And of course he is always funny and fun to be around- we love him so much! Leo and I can't wait for him to get home every day!

The moving bug has hit me and I am already itching to take the pictures off the walls and box up non essentials. Then I wonder if it would really be worth it to live in a land of boxes and no decorations and stuff for over a month...and by then Leo has woken up and my opportunity is gone anyway. But I want to...I could clean out a closet for fun any day of the week and moving is going to be one big party for me. I am sure I will hate it when it comes, but I love going through things and cleaning out and such. So save your moving boxes because we will be needing them soon!

I guess I should go do something more productive while Leo is actually sleeping without being held- he prefers to be held to nap and I prefer to hold him so nothing gets done around here! Oh well, they are only little once, right? He turns 4 months next Thursday and we have a doctor appointment that morning for shots and such. He has been having some diaper issues (anyone else's baby go from multiple dirty diapers a day to once a week? I am concerned but the doctor doesn't seem to be...) that I definitely want to chat about when we are there and I know they are going to talk to us about starting food. Can it be that time already? I am in no hurry to start food...he sleeps through the night (about 10-7, fairly regularly) and is happy and is definitely thriving so I am thinking we won't start until more like 6 months. I am already feeling sad about nursing him less! Sure it is inconvenient sometimes, but I love nursing Leo and dread the day that we are done.

Okay, for real now...adios!

Leo, Anyone?

2011-05-16T16:45:00.004-05:00

I have been so bad about taking and posting pictures of Leo. Here are a few...

Leo loves to fold his arms...

And loves to laugh too...

He enjoys his "babysitter", cousin Belle

He is learning to blow spit bubbles (look super closely!)...

Leo likes to cheer for his Daddy's teams...

He is serious about bathing...

Cousin Livi is showing him the ropes...

He got to snuggle with Aunt Amy over Easter weekend...

Leo loves naps with Grandpa Elmo...

And Nick and Leo love to nap together too...

Leo has started to use the jumper and loves it...he always loves to stand!

Leo is getting very good at grabbing and holding on to things...especially in his car seat.

I love it when Leo cuddles with me the most :)

Happy Mother's Day!!!

2011-05-08T14:20:00.002-05:00

Nicholas and Leo bought me beautiful flowers...tulips and irises you can see in the picture above.

Leo was a stud today with a cute hat from Aunt Tara and a sweet hand knit sweater vest from our life-long bff, Toni Perkins. He got more "oohs" and "ahhs" than even the baby girls at church today! (And can you blame him? That face is so sweet!!!)

It has been a great first mother's day! I love my little Leo!

Happy 3 Months Leo!

2011-04-26T20:40:00.001-05:00

He has been going through his three month growth spurt, which I would have never believed in except through experience...growing really is hard work!

We love our little lion!

Seriously???

2011-04-15T17:45:00.003-05:00

We share a life-changing decision and all we get is 2 little comments? Come on! I know we don't usually get that many comments and it isn't as great as Leo's birth, but it has got to be more exciting than the post about the doctor telling me I was gaining too much weight which got a whopping 4 comments...right?

In any case this is our blog's 200th post- yipee!

Whoop!

2011-04-09T09:55:00.003-05:00

Well, it is official...Nick and I have some news to share with the world. (Don't worry, we aren't having another baby! Can you even imagine?) Ever since we got married the plan was for Nicholas to go back to school to get an MBA someday. We had thought about starting a program in the fall of 2011 for a while and decided to still go for it even though we now had Leo to add in to the equation...one thing is for sure, it will never get easier to go back to school! Nick applied to a handful of programs and got accepted to them all, however when it came down to it we were stuck deciding between two excellent programs- BYU and Texas A&M.

Who wouldn't want to go back to their alma mater? A place that we know we like and is comfortable to us, not to mention a great MBA program...BYU had a lot going in the "pro" column. Texas A&M has a great program too and they offered Nick a scholarship, but it never would have been our initial first choice...but it just kept lingering around. For whatever reason we just couldn't count it out and whether we wanted to accept it or not, it just felt like the right decision. So there you go...

WE ARE GOING TO BE AGGIES!

Now we are very excited about the decision :) College Station isn't the most glamorous place in the world and I have already shed tears about our housing options there, but we are really excited for Nick to start this program. Plus it is only an hour away from Grammie & Grandpa in Houston and a few hours away from the Cosbys, which includes Leo's "babysitter"...Belle!

We will be moving sometime in July so Nicholas can start orientation on August 1st. It is a condensed, therefore very rigorous and intense, MBA program; it is only 16 months! I am grateful that Nick wants to go back to school and that he is willing to do so for our family. Plus I am excited for Leo to be able to embrace his Texas roots!

Gig 'em Aggies!

Product Review: Noxzema Deep Cleansing Cream

2011-04-08T16:28:00.002-05:00

One thing I have decided for sure is that good skin is essential for motherhood as I have neither time or desire to put forth the effort of doing much for my makeup (or hair for that matter). I was not one of those lucky souls who was blessed with clear skin and I have worn makeup since 5th grade...and I have tried just about every face wash known to man, prescription and not. Now I am not saying that my skin has been perfect since using this cleanser and I am not throwing out my makeup yet, but this wash has really been great...once I got over smelling like I was a teenager again (come on, you know that Noxzema smell). It takes off my makeup at night, is creamy and gentle, and leaves my face feeling clean; and my complexion is definitely clearer. :)

(Now I know everyone's skin is different and I am not guaranteeing that it will work for you, but I have already bought my sister a bottle because I liked it so much...so it may be worth a try if you are in the market for a new facial cleanser.)

2 MONTHS OLD

2011-03-26T19:52:00.000-05:00

Happy 2 month birthday to our little native Texan! Yee haw!

8 Weeks!

2011-03-23T15:53:00.004-05:00

That is right folks, he is almost 2 months old! And boy oh boy how he has changed! He changes daily...one day needing me to rock him to sleep and the other wanting to lay there alone to drift off. Some days I think we are getting on a schedule and then others are completely cuckoo. He does pretty well to sleep at night though- usually we are up once somewhere around 2-4am to feed and get changed and then he goes back to sleep without too much trouble. Napping during the day definitely helps him to sleep at night and we are working hard to make sure we get some good naps in during the day, even if it means I have to hold him the whole time.

Leo is growing so much and I can't wait to go to his 2 month well-check and see just exactly how long and fat he is...although I'm not that excited about the shots. Leo is growing out of some of his 0-3 month clothing already and I am sad that he wears a size 2 diaper, but it was definitely time to make that switch.

He still loves getting his diaper changed and will smile and talk to you when he is on his changing table...even if it is at 3am! He has definitely become more aware of his hands and tries to put them in his mouth and rub his eyes. The cutest thing is when he giggles in his sleep- I wonder what an 8 week old dreams about that is funny? :)

Bath time is a high light and becoming more and more necessary...it is common these days (for the first time since he was born) to wear 2 or more outfits in a day. Nick likes to call him a "prolific pooper"; I just say that he is like his dad :) Last Sunday he came home in just a onesie and a blanket as he pooped on everything else! Welcome to motherhood...

Leo is starting to put a bit of weight on his legs and will "stand" with your assistance for a few seconds at a time. His hair is getting lighter and lighter while he chubby folds are getting deeper and deeper! He still loves his tummy and laying up on mommy's chest and you can never go wrong with a walk in his stroller!

We love our little boy!

Happy St. Patrick's Day

2011-03-17T18:51:00.002-05:00

Leo got some cute green stuff today...and I am sad that this is a 3-6 month onesie and it fits! Leo always loves to get his diaper changed but recently it has become even more of a highlight of his day since we do patty-cake and a few other things like that which he really loves. Here is proof!

7 Weeks!

2011-03-16T13:26:00.003-05:00

Ah! My baby is almost two months old...no! Please turn back the clock!

Today Leo and I are having a lazy, stay at home day in an effort to try and get him back on some sort of schedule. I am fine if he isn't on a strict schedule yet- he is still so tiny- but it would be nice to have at least some idea of what time of day would be the best to schedule doctor appointments and such. Plus my mom and dad are out of town and Nick is at work all day and there isn't anything too important that I need to leave the house for, thus we are staying put today.

So far Leo has eaten "on schedule" (every 4 hours) and had a short morning and longer afternoon nap. He is getting to that point where I actually need to rock him to sleep instead of him just drifting in and out by himself like when he was a newborn, which he still does sometimes but not enough. I can tell when he is overly tired and then it is way too hard to get him to close those little eyes...but I just forget that I need to put him down for naps and such.

Anywho, that is what we will be doing today. Nicholas helped me make a spreadsheet last night so I could easily keep track of when he sleeps and for how long and such- that "mommy brain" is catching up to me and I am more and more losing my memory and thinking about way too many things at a time :) Wish us luck!

Product Review : Trail Mix

2011-03-13T19:52:00.003-05:00

I interupt the constant Leo-ness on this blog to bring you another product review...I know, it has been awhile. Anywho, this is the best trail mix from Costco...the best! It has walnuts, almonds, pistachios, dried cranberries, and dried cherries (my favorite of all the of dried fruits!).

I was at Costco with my mom back in January and saw this mix and said it looked good. She bought it to have as a snack for a thing she was hosting at their house and I got to steal a little- yum! There was some left over and when I was in labor and hadn't eaten anything all day I requested that my dad bring it when he came so I could snack on something as soon as Leo was born...I ate some in the delivery room! I finished the bag during my stay at the hospital- it was really great for snacking on when I was up in the night.

I just got a bag of it this week when I went to Costco and it is seriously almost gone already. It is especially great now since I am not eating chocolate while I nurse and so many treats contain chocolate! If you are in the neighborhood of your local Costco, pick up a bag!

6 weeks old!

2011-03-09T20:35:00.002-06:00

For my own sake...

2011-03-07T09:58:00.002-06:00

I have failed miserably at one thing so far in motherhood- documenting Leo's every move! I have managed to snap many pictures (lots of them on my phone so they aren't the best quality) but haven't really written down a lot yet. So in an effort to appease that nagging feeling inside, and because Leo is sleeping at the moment, here are a few things about our little boy.

Leo is beginning to smile! He hasn't perfected it, but he is definitely working on it as you can see in the photos below. He smiles the most when we lay him on his changing table- I think he is so excited about a clean diaper that he just can't contain his joy! He definitely responds to mom and dad and looks distinctly at each of us when we talk to him.

Leo loves being outside; consequently, he also loves his walks...which I am glad for since I tend to be a bit more on the move anyway! Sometimes he falls asleep in his stroller, but sometimes he just stays wide-eyed and looks at every passing thing. He does seem to prefer being on the go...if we have been lazy at home too long and he starts to fuss, all I have to do is get him in the carseat and he is happy as can be to be moving again- this makes him an excellent helper for shopping and such! Wahoo!

Leo also loves his bath. Just last night we moved him into the next phase of his little bath tub that allows him to actually sit in a tiny bit of the water and he loved it! Hardly made a peep the entire time! He loves to nap with his daddy too...and I have many pictures to prove it!

Leo loves to lay on his tummy, either on my lap or on the bed. I give him regular tummy time each day and it is always the position to try if he is fussing. He also loves laying up on my shoulder...I can almost always get him to sleep if I put him up in this position on me. Leo is a great eater too; he only nurses maybe 5-10 minutes a side, but it seems to be doing him well as he continues to grow and regularly goes 3-5 hours between feedings!

Leo isn't the biggest fan of getting dressed, however he does really well and usually doesn't fuss too much unless we are taking forever. We are getting wiser and usually have a wipe ready to lay over him when we change his diaper so we don't get squirted...which has happened more times than I can count!

Someday I will get around to writing these down in a book for him, but at least for now there is some record. Plus we bought a video camera this past weekend so we can capture those first smiles, rolls, coos, etc. We love you little Leo!

5 Weeks Old

2011-03-04T11:41:00.003-06:00

Well, welcome to motherhood! Although we are a day and a half late, here are a couple of pictures I snapped on Wednesday when Leo turned 5 weeks.

He was fresh out of the bath! Doesn't he look so long?!? I am excited to see how big he is at his 2 month appointment at the end of the month...and already so sad that he is growing up. We love you little Leo!

Just in case you are hungry for more pics...

2011-02-28T17:02:00.002-06:00

No time to blog today, but wanted to share one of my favorite recent photos. Leo loves to sprawl out for naps in the day (what I call the touchdown position) and be swaddled up tight at night. Don't you love his converse sneaker socks? And those chubby legs and belly?

4 Weeks Old

2011-02-23T22:02:00.002-06:00

Happy 4 weeks Leo!

Today was a truly busy day- I didn't shower until after noon and it is 10pm and I still haven't checked facebook...gasp. So sorry, no picture tonight but a guarantee of one on Saturday when Leo will be ONE MONTH OLD! Yikes. Get ready...he is such a chunk; soon he will be in his 3-6 month clothing!

Success!

2011-02-21T11:54:00.002-06:00

I put him in his swing like this...

and after a few wiggles, grunts, cries, songs, and drags on the nuk...
...he was sleeping in his swing- by himself! No mom, no nuk (pacifier, binkie, whatever you call it)...just some country music playing and me vacuuming in the other room. Way to go Leo!

3 Weeks Old!

2011-02-16T20:40:00.000-06:00

Seriously, time is going by too fast! I can not believe Leo is already three weeks old- and if it is possible, he just keeps getting cuter! He is definitely filling out more and already looks different to me than when he was born.

This past week we were lucky enough to have Nick's parents visit and meet Leo; they left last night and now for the first time since birth we are kind of alone and going to start resuming real life (I have a deadline for work this Friday!) The house really needs cleaning and I have no idea how I used to prepare meals for us every single day, but we are looking forward to figuring out a new routine :) However, our routine won't be set for long as we are expecting to make a decision on grad school for the fall in the next few weeks- wish us luck!

This year for Valentines...

2011-02-15T18:11:00.004-06:00

...I had a bath with these two studs! Leo is still learning to love his bath, and we are still learning how and when to give them. He is super cute though and I am very grateful to have such a healthy baby. :)

Happy Two Weeks Leo!

2011-02-09T20:40:00.000-06:00

I love you buddy! I am so glad that you joined our family :)

Leo - Part 2

2011-02-09T13:46:00.004-06:00

The Epidural

So we finished our card game and I asked for some pain medication. The nurse checked and made sure I was dilated enough for the epidural (I was...barely). They called in Dr. Mark Christopher Simon to give me the epidural...why do I remember his full name you ask? Well once he found out we were having a boy and weren't set on a name yet, he offered any of his three names. I told him that I would have to wait and see how much the epidural helped; if we were going by that alone, Leo would definitely be a Mark...the epidural was great! Getting the epidural didn't hurt nearly as much as I had thought it might and it made receiving the cathedar completely painless.

My legs got pretty heavy and so it was tricky to turn on my sides- I kept switching from one side to the other for Leo's monitoring- but it made it possible for me to rest and almost nap while we were waiting for Leo. Kudos to those women that can or want to go through childbirth without an epidural, but I am a big fan and won't be attempting it without one! :)

Pushing

Nick had been at my side all day and my parents and been in and out. My doctor was going to come by after her regular office hours and hopefully finish the job. She arrived and we started pushing about 7:30pm. I had a great nurse name Kris that coached me well and Nick dove right in to help! At the beginning I couldn't feel too much when to push because of the epidural, however it wasn't long before I could tell- the doctor and nurses would look at the monitor and each other and confer if we should push this contraction or not and I could beat them to it by the end. We pushed 3 sets of 10 seconds each. There were only a few times by the third set, count 7 or so that I thought I couldn't push any longer...for the most part it really wasn't that bad.

Birth

They asked if I wanted a mirror to see the head...are you kidding me? No way! Just get him out! They kept saying they could see the head and finally with one big push his head was out, I felt the doctor kind of twist him or something to get his shoulder out, and then the rest of his little body just slipped out! What a miracle! We looked at the clock- 8:40pm. They weighed him immediately- 9 lbs .07 oz (rounded up to 1 oz). His head was so long from being in the birth canal for so long, but it only took a day or so to get to its nice round shape.

Recovery

After that, it was kind of a blur...I laid there and the doctor finished up with me and the nurses were taking care of our baby boy right next to my bed. Everyone was taking pictures and texting and such, myself included! We called my dad back in from the waiting room and ooh-ed and ahh-ed over the perfect little being that just joined the world. We tried to feed immediately and then baby and Nick headed off to the nursery!

The doctor and nurse finished me up and I got into a wheelchair to be wheeled down to our new room. We passed Nick on the way and sent him to gather up all of our belongings- he joined us shortly in our nice private room and my parents headed out to McDonalds to get me a Big Mac...after a long day with only ice I was dreaming of a Big Mac (which is weird because I have only ever had one in my life and it was a few months ago...I figure being pregnant I had a good excuse to eat one!)

It was getting late, already 10pm or so, and so my parents headed home and my nurse for the night - Stephanie - came in and helped me figure out what was going on and how to make it through the night...both for my sake and little Leo's! There was a pull-out couch for Nick to make a bed on and we soon settled in for night one as a family of three! :)

LEO - Part 1

2011-02-07T11:06:00.004-06:00

Well, I really have been wanting to blog, i.e. document for myself, all about Leo's entrance into the world, but I have been finding that what everyone tells you is true...time flies when you have a little one to attend to! So at least when I have a few moments where he is sleeping and the dishes are done, etc. I am going to start my record. Read it at your own risk!

Tuesday, January 25th

Still waiting for Leo to come on his own. When I tell people that I am to be induced Wednesday morning they all tell me he will come on Tuesday...not true. I made a Walmart run and got one of my last chocolate fixes for a while, a Frosty at Wendy's- a medium! It kind of feels like I am going on a trip or something...I am cleaning the house, cleaning out the fridge, doing our laundry, etc.

(Yes, right before we left the hospital I let Nick take a picture of my huge belly to document that I was indeed carrying a porker for nine months!)

Wednesday, January 26th

I actually slept! We wake up early and get dressed to go to Willowbrook Methodist Hospital; when we get there we park, grab our bag for labor with snacks for Nick and cards and reading material for me, climb the stairs to the 2nd floor, make one last trip to the bathroom, and check in. I fill out one little form and then they take us back to our room- our nurse's name is Rosalind. She gives me a hospital gown and I change and get in bed. She starts the IV of pitocin at about 7:30am. We take a picture and text people that we are starting.

Before long my doctor arrives- they had initally said that they would break my water around lunch if we hadn't progressed enough by then, but my doctor wants to get the show on the road and she breaks my water at about 8:30am...what a weird feeling. We call my mom and let her know she might want to get to the hospital sooner rather than later.

While Nick and I wait, we watch my contractions on the computer screen; one monitor shows my contractions and the other shows the baby's heart rate. I slowly am starting to actually feel the contractions and can tell when one is happening without looking at the screen...but they aren't too painful yet. Nick is a good sport and watches my morning routine of GMA, Regis & Kelly, and The View with me while giving me ice and handing me my phone when I get a text.

Shortly after my mom arrives we decide to play cards...it has been a few hours of laying there and I am getting bored. So Nicholas, my mom, and myself start playing 3-14 (a card game) and I take bathroom breaks every couple of hands; The View is on tv in the background; by the last few hands I am holding my breath during the contractions as they are getting stronger and definitely hurting. I made it a goal to finish the game and then ask for some pain medication...I was pretty cranky the last few hands but I won and we hurried to call the nurse. She asked if I was ready for the epidural...sure! I mean, if now was the time to have it then YES! I will not even pretend to be one of those women who want to do it naturally...and especially after having an epidural I think those women are crazier than ever!

LNV - One Week Old!

2011-02-02T20:40:00.000-06:00

Happy 1 Week Birthday to my little lion. In some ways it is hard to believe it has only been a week- remind me what was life like before you again! In other ways I can not believe that a week has already gone by...please don't grow up!

PRESENTING...

2011-02-01T15:36:00.003-06:00

Leo Nicholas Vernon

January 26, 2011

8:40 pm

9 lbs 1 oz

22 inches

He is perfect in every way and we are so happy to have him home with us! :)

Stay tuned for many more pictures and details on his birth and first week...once I finally get caught up with things enough to justify spending "free time" on blogging.

How do you mend a broken heart?

2011-01-24T20:59:00.003-06:00

With lots of glue and pins of course!

So I mentioned that I had been working on a Valentine craft...a wreath/decoration of sorts. Well I saw the idea on a craft blog and I just couldn't rest until I had gone to Hobby Lobby to get the materials to try and make one of my own. I spent multiple hours cutting out little felt circles and finally had it done...of course immediately I wanted to hang it up so I could take a picture. Well, I wasn't being super careful about hanging it up- it wasn't the final hanging place after all- and as soon as I stepped back to snap the photo the wreath fell to the floor, shattering into 4 pieces. Who knew styrofoam would break like that? I was beyond devastated. (I took a picture of the heart in 4 separate pieces, but it was just too devastating to post!)

Once I had given myself time to get over the tragedy, I decided to try and salvage it. I used a lot of household cement and pins (of course the only ones I had left by this time had yellow balls on the head...at least it is just the back, right?) and managed to get the 4 pieces back together. It is definitely not perfect and will forever bug me, but it is done!

For those of you interested in making one of your own, I followed (kind of...I mean, how well do I ever really follow directions without making my own adjustments?) the tutorial HERE.

By the way, still no baby. If he doesn't decide to show himself tomorrow, we are heading to the hospital at 6:30am on Wednesday to get induced. While being induced is preferable to a c-section, I would ideally love him to come on his own...so say a prayer for us tomorrow!

Still hanging in there...

2011-01-21T18:20:00.003-06:00

Our boy hasn't made an appearance yet, however a little head cold did come to visit :( Nick was starting to show symptoms last week and I was paranoid about making him get his fluids and such so he wouldn't get sick...and he didn't! After just a couple of days he felt fine and none of his symptoms ever really got that bad. Just before doing the victory dance, I woke up with a terrible sore throat...and now a really runny/stuffy nose, plenty of sneezing, and a cough. I have been trying to rest and drink a lot of water, but that plan is made difficult by being restless/hard to get comfortable and having an 8 pound baby sitting on my bladder. I think it is getting a little better though and I hope it is on its way out!

In non-baby related news, I made a cute Valentine wreath/decoration. I saw the idea on a crafty blog that I check in to every once and awhile and couldn't get it off my mind until I headed to Hobby Lobby to get my supplies. It was super easy...just time consuming to cut out so many little felt circles. However when I tried to hang it to take a picture, it fell and broke and is actually quite a sad story...I will post pictures of the whole ordeal later.

Now Nick and I are off to Texas Roadhouse for dinner (thanks Lewis family!) and I am praying that it will be the meal to send me into labor! A girl can dream...

Light at the end of the tunnel!

2011-01-18T12:02:00.002-06:00

Well we had an ultrasound yesterday...and our little boy is still measuring like a giant! Again he measured about two weeks ahead and I stick with my original theory that our due date never should have been changed. Oh well. Everything looked good and they estimated him to weigh about 8 1/2 pounds already...no wonder I feel huge!

Because I am still technically not past my due date of February 1st, inducing is considered "elective" at this point; the first available appointment for an elective induction is January 26th at 6:30am...so if he hasn't come by then, we will be at the hospital that Wednesday morning for a little help to get him going! I am glad to have some sort of plan- even if it is altered, I love having a plan. In the meantime I am still going on lots of walks and am now working to meet this month's deadline at work (from home of course). I had initially thought I might have to pass it off to someone else this month, but it looks like "Tiny" is giving me a little extra time. Now I am hopeful to be able to complete it before he gets here :)

I had a really nice baby shower this past Saturday that I will have to blog about one day when I get my pictures uploaded and such. Tara and Amy & her girls were able to make it and way more people showed up than I anticipated (I knew of two other baby showers going on that day plus a number of other events!)

We are still hoping that baby V decides to come on his own any day now, but if not stay tuned for an update on the 26th!

How low can you go?

2011-01-12T13:31:00.003-06:00

Still waiting on prince charming...

My doctor's appointment this week was not terribly exciting as they told me I was about the same as last week- almost completely effaced but just barely starting to dilate. At least I was only there an hour which seemed really short! She made the comment that his head was so low...no kidding! I have been trying really hard not to waddle- using those good old dance muscles to pull my legs under my body- however this week it has been markedly harder. I can tell that he is way low and when I drive it feels like I am squatting. At least he is getting ready! (I ate a whole pineapple and have been taking the stairs two at a time, but he just isn't ready yet I guess.) I am actually still sleeping quite well- since the baby dropped so has my back pain and I am finding it a lot easier to ease lower back pain than that weird middle back pain I was having. Of course since he is so low I am getting up even more times to go to the bathroom!

I finally figured out (kind of) and made a cushion thing for his car seat handle...someday I will take a picture- even though it isn't that much to look at I am excited to have some extra cushion when carrying that heavy thing! And I have been working on a bunch of "thank you" cards to have on hand for baby gifts. Slowly I keep working on Nick's blanket too and making a meal or two to stick in the freezer...I am trying to keep busy so I don't go crazy just waiting. However Tara's Christmas gift of a Netflix subscription plus this colder weather is making it terribly easy and tempting to just rest. I at least get out and walk a few miles every morning still...and more often than not end up doing some sort of errand with my mom later in the day too.

Nick is trying hard right now not to get sick, however I am fearing a cold in his future- nuts. He got a new coat that he bought with his Christmas money that looks really nice on him and I am glad that he has had it this week- he also got glasses a few weeks ago that make him look very handsome and are great to give his eyes a break from contacts once and awhile...I need to take a picture of that too!

Okay, enough of me trying to spit out random things about our lives in an attempt to avoid cleaning the house...I have done the easy jobs and just have the ones left that require lots of bending and such. Wish me luck!

We are SO past cute!

2011-01-06T19:49:00.002-06:00

I apologize to all of you that want to see the big belly...it really isn't that we have been consciously not taking pictures of me all this time, we just rarely take any pictures at all! I am not one of those people who want to document how big they get, however I am not really opposed to getting my picture taken just because I am pregnant either. But now we are so past cute that I am starting to get to the point where I will avoid a photo; the baby dropped this last week and it isn't pretty. It isn't like the cute pregnant...it is like the "that poor girl is going to pop" pregnant. In fact, so far I haven't found any of my maternity shirts this week that will actually cover my whole belly since it is so low...so I apologize to those of you who happen to see me and undoubtedly will see the ever attractive maternity panel on my pants- yuck. Not only is the dropping not so cute, but my back is definitely feeling it more now and it is harder to get comfortable or sleep...at least it hasn't been like this for very long! I hope he comes soon!

In other news, we can't keep Koshka out of the crib. I don't know what to do- I have tried tin foil and vinegar and all sorts of things that cats are supposed to hate, but she doesn't care. Aye. But on a good note, Nicholas got interviews with BYU, Texas A&M, and UT @ Houston this month...wish him luck! :) Plus year-end closing is done as of yesterday and so there is actually a hope that I may get to see him more than a few minutes a day...not a great chance, but still at least a hope :)

A very Merry Christmas

2011-01-03T18:46:00.002-06:00

Nick and I headed to Denver for Christmas this year! It was the first time we have gotten to spend multiple days with the entire Vernon family and we had a great time :) Nicholas snuck in one day of skiing and I enjoyed a lot of relaxing time. Of course, I carried my camera around the entire time and failed to snap one picture- nuts! Santa found us and was very good to us this year...and it was present enough that our flights/airport experiences went smoothly and all-in-all weren't too bad for me at 8+ months pregnant. (We didn't have to go through any body scanners and got a free cookie on the flight home!)

When we returned we got to spend a couple of days with part of my family here in Houston and celebrate again with them; we also celebrated my dad's 64th birthday :) New Years was fine- I was happy to have a good ham dinner again, however I am not sure about staying up until midnight...I was so tired! We are always lucky to get to see plenty of fireworks from our own home as Texans sure know how to party :)

Now the holidays are over and life is getting back to normal...I have spent the day doing laundry, cleaning, planning meals, etc. All of the decorations are put away and I have even cleaned out the fridge/freezer and under the sink. The Christmas bedding is washed and put away and we are back to our regular bedding (plus a waterproof mattress cover in anticipation of our little one...it goes over the entire mattress and zips and boy was it a feat to get it on by myself!)

We are patiently just waiting now for our little boy to arrive- I go to the doctor weekly and last week I had already started to efface and such. He is very wiggly however I am still able to sleep fairly well between all of my trips to the bathroom so I can't complain too much. Nick is as busy as ever trying to finish up year-end and audit stuff at work. At least all of our grad school applications are done and we are just waiting to hear back from all of them and do interviews...Nick has an interview with Texas A&M in a week or so.

Hope y'all had a great holiday season!

Our boy is growing!

2010-12-20T21:04:00.002-06:00

Well, today I had an ultrasound. Technically I am supposed to be 34 weeks, however our boy was measuring on average at 36 weeks. He is already chubby and they estimate his weight to be a little over 6 pounds already! All things considered, he is looking like more of a mid-January debut after all; today their guess was January 18th. His head is down, smooshed up against my hip bone, with his feet conveniently located in my ribs (I did not need an ultrasound to tell you that one!)

I am still feeling fine....just really pregnant all the sudden. My back aches like crazy and my belly is so tight- it is harder to sleep and he seems a lot heavier to carry around during the day. However, all in all I feel good and I really can't complain too much since he hasn't given me that much grief until now. And I think he is supposed to- I mean it has to get so uncomfortable that you are willing to give birth to get him out, right? So we are hanging in there :)

Merry Christmas!

It won't be long now...

2010-12-17T15:25:00.002-06:00

We are getting close to D-day...Tiny will be arriving in about a month or so! I have had a pretty easy pregnancy up until this point, however I can tell that we are getting close to the end because I am definitely getting more uncomfortable. It isn't really that bad and I can't complain since the other months have been great...still, most mornings around 4am I am pretty ready to be done. Usually 4am is about my third trip to the bathroom during the night- and it is when I am still so tired but can't manage to get comfortable laying down any more- and it is when I am about ready for a snack- and it is when Koshka is ready to wake up and play.

The skin on the upper right side of my belly has been so sensitive lately- it kind of feels like I have a scrape or burn or something on it. It hurts to have anything touching it but it isn't red or anything. The other day I had a sharp pain there for a little bit, but it went away before the doctor's office opened the next morning and so I didn't call. There is also a spot in the middle of my back that aches often...it feels great when I have the heat pad on it or when Nick rubs it, but the pain always returns. At least these are among my biggest ailments so far...but oh what I would give to sleep on my stomach! :)

Other than that, things feel good. I have stopped jogging and started just walking...even though when I walk I wonder why I am not jogging because walking doesn't seem like that much of a workout when I am used to trotting along. But boy oh boy did I get a workout cleaning the house yesterday...as if the regular cleaning routine was not enough to work up a sweat, I cleaned behind the fridge and washing machine & dryer and I broke a mirror that shattered all over the tile in the kitchen. Let me tell you, bending to clean that up was fun.

We, well Nicholas, got accepted to the MBA program at the University of Denver this week (with even the promise of a little scholarship money!) They are the first school we have heard back from, so we definitely haven't made a decision or anything but it was really fun to get accepted :) Hopefully we will hear back from the other schools before too long and then the real fun of making our decision can commence. But in the meantime, congrats to Nick!

We have a busy weekend planned and then an ultrasound on Monday, so hopefully after that we will have a better idea of exactly when baby V is going to arrive (they are planning to set a date to induce if I haven't had the baby by then.) Until then we are trying to enjoy the holiday season that will be over all too quickly. Fa la la la la!

We need your input please...

2010-12-13T19:03:00.002-06:00

A long time ago, before we were expecting Tiny V, I made Nick promise that he would buy me a video camera....at least before we had kids. Well, time is getting short and we are on the lookout to buy a video camera. Any recommendations?

Mostly I want to be able to have something that isn't too cumbersome to throw in my bag, can quickly capture a few minutes of whatever adorable thing our boy is doing, and then easily upload it to my computer or a disc or something.

So, any thoughts?

It's Friday!

2010-12-10T17:28:00.002-06:00

I really should have cleaned out the closets and under the bed and such before there was a big ole' baby in the way. But I was working then and didn't have nearly as much "free" time. One great thing about this apartment is that we have a couple of good sized closets that helps with storage...however, does one ever really have enough closet space? My favorite find today was a Yoda head with a couple of hockey pucks in it...logically stored in the tool box in the entrance closet. Someday Nicholas will have a man-cave where he can display all of his wonderful things for all to see :)

Today was my first day of "retirement" on the jogging front...my parents left early this morning and thus I am short one running partner. I decided this would be the most convenient time to retire from jogging for a couple of months, until I have had our big baby boy and recovered enough to hit the pavement again. I toiled with the idea of not going at all today...in fact I watched all of Good Morning America and ate a cupcake just because. I thought about maybe just walking instead, but I ended up jogging anyway. I only went three miles, instead of the usual five, and stopped mostly because I was hot- I had definitely overdressed for the sunny weather we enjoyed today. I felt better as soon as I had gone...and really great when I was done...so I guess there really is no end to my exercising in sight. Obviously my body was tired though because Koshka and I had a snooze together after my shower- I am finding myself waking up many more times than I plan to in a day!

I wish someone would come over and appreciate the cleanliness that is our front closet. I think I should get a prize for finding a way to make all our weird stuff fit (with hopefully enough room for the stroller that is currently being stored at my parents' home...along with a whole bunch of other stuff I don't even want to think about!) The linen closet still needs some work, but I have cleared off an entire shelf that can be devoted to baby V.

The only other interesting thing that happened today was that Koshka found a ladybug at the window- hiding in between our double panes. I am not sure how it got in, but I opened the first pane so she could play with it...and I do believe I saw her eat it after awhile. So all in all, it has been a grand day for us at home! Happy Friday!

Hey Big Haircut

2010-12-07T18:41:00.002-06:00

(2 points for you if you know what the title is referencing!)

So last week I went to get a haircut. I was just planning on a good trim to keep it healthy...it was time for one and I wanted to make sure I got it done before the holidays and then the baby arrives. When I sat down in the chair the girl asked what we were doing today and I told her my plan of a good, healthy trim. She said that on my account it said that last time we added in some long layers and asked if I wanted to trim and keep them.

"Long layers?" I thought. I don't remember having layers in my hair...but then again I am forgetting more and more things these days so I figured I had just forgotten and agreed. She started cutting and it was definitely a bit more than I would call a trim...but who knows when the next time I would get in for a haircut would be and so I let it go. I mean, after all, once they start cutting what can you do really anyway?

Then she started adding in the layers. Whoa...there was a lot of hair falling. I am fairly positive that I did not have long layers before- that note must have been from awhile ago or something. But again, what do you do when half of your hair is already cut?

The verdict- I am not a fan. I thought I would give it a few days...after all I have to figure out how I need to tweak my morning routine now and that could take a few days to perfect. But I have tried it a few ways and none of them make me love my hair yet. It seems really short and choppy...at least compared to what it was before. My ponytail seems so short and it is hard to pull it up to run in the mornings like I used to. Nuts.

Oh well...hair grows.

Why do I want to be nomadic?

2010-12-04T13:34:00.003-06:00

This is a question I found myself asking multiple times this week. I have been trying to get ready for our giant of a baby- clearing out space, bringing baby things in, taking lots of stuff to my mom's to store, etc. All the while I was trying to put up a few Christmas decorations as well as shop for Christmas presents. Often I would get frustrated..."Why do we have so much stuff?" I would ask myself. That would lead to me going through things again, trying to figure out how to get rid of anything so it seemed like we didn't live in a land of clutter. You may call this "nesting" or just the "Christensen gene", but the fact remained that I have been bothered by having so much stuff.

Part of the problem is that we need all of that stuff...we use a lot of it fairly regularly or definitely want to keep it for the future...so I am not sure what I can get rid of to make more space. Maybe I just need more space! Obviously we need more space since we are adding to our family, but we are in our current lease for a few more months...plus we aren't sure where grad school will take us in the next year.

Then I got thinking- why does it bother me that we have so much stuff? Isn't that what people dream of? Isn't that what people work for? To get stuff? Then why is it that I feel like we have too much? I didn't always feel that way...for a long time I loved to shop for anything but now even the smallest thing seems more of an inconvenience. I have had an extremely difficult time this year making a Christmas wish list because I don't want anything! And at the same time, of course I want lots of things. But Christmas shopping has not been as joyful as it usually is this year and it is not just because my feel get tired quicker and I have to find a bathroom every three stores.

For so long I was used to moving every semester and making sure that all I owned could fit into and on top of my car; why do I still want to be able to be a nomad? Why am I still in that college state of mind? We are adults now and we own furniture and lots of other things and it is never going to fit in our cars. Face it- when I move, I will need a Uhaul. So what? That is okay, right? But for some reason it bugs me.

So our poor baby doesn't have much of a chance...already I am thinking "oh he can do without that" to many things lots of people would view as a necessity. And maybe, just maybe, he will get some things that I wouldn't normally buy because we will get them from others or on craigslist or something but it won't be because I go and get them for him. (Don't get me started on how painful it is to spend money...dang frugalness!)

Anywho, that is all of my ranting for now because Nick just got home from the dentist. There wasn't a point to this post other than I just needed a place to complain for a minute, so if you made it all the way through to the end, congrats to you.

Big Baby!

2010-11-23T14:29:00.004-06:00

We had an ultrasound this morning; everything is fine :) Baby V is measuring a whole 2 weeks ahead of schedule, putting us due more around January 15th...which was our initial due date before they did the first ultrasound and moved it to February 1st. We have another one in 4 weeks to see if he really is a giant or what.

(The umbilical cord was in front of his face the whole time so we couldn't get a clear shot, but I still think the ones we got are pretty amazing!)

More pictures from today's ultrasound to come!

Peppermint Product Review...Ho Ho Ho

2010-11-22T14:21:00.004-06:00

I have found two fabulous peppermint products already this season.

First, we all know and love these CANDY CANE KISSES, right? Just reminding you...they are yummy.

Second, SUAVE PEPPERMINT BLISS body wash is almost as yummy. As if I did not love the shower enough! The best part is that it was only like $2...take that Bath & Body Works! :)

Dinner #7 - Hodge Podge

2010-11-21T07:49:00.002-06:00

We had random findings for dinner last night...we both had a salad, I had a bagel, and Nick had leftover pot pie from the night before. It was Saturday and neither of us felt like a big planned meal was necessary. (Not to mention we went over to a friend's house and snacked on pizza and chips & salsa and all sorts of things we shouldn't have late at night.)

So there you go- I did it. And it was nice to have a plan and know what our meals were going to be ahead of time, however I don't think that either of us really care for me to cook every day...I don't think either of us crave big "meals" every day. At least I don't- I get burnt out and just want Cheerios. So I think in the future I will be planning a few more days during the week to eat leftovers or find whatever in the fridge, but hopefully the planning of meals will continue for us :)

Did anyone try any of the recipes we had this week?

Dinner #6 - Chicken Pot Pie

2010-11-19T19:00:00.002-06:00

This is one of my favorites...yummy and super simple. :)

1 can cream of chicken soup

1 pkg frozen vegetables (original recipe calls for a 9 oz pkg but I often use the 16 oz pkg of carrots, peas, green beans, etc. because I like mine heavy on the veggies)

1 cup cooked chicken, cubed (I have also used just a can of chicken when I am lazy or any leftover meat from that week I am trying to get rid of)

1/2 cup milk

1 egg

1 cup bisquick baking mix

Mix the first three ingredients in a pie dish; Mix the remaining ingredients in a bowl and pour on top. Bake at 400* for about 30 minutes or until the top is golden brown. Enjoy!

I told you it was simple...and such a great way to get your veggies in (a lot of times I don't even use chicken!) It is a perfect quick meal for those cool winter days!

Only one more night to go to "prepare" dinner and then I am off the hook...plus it will be Thanksgiving and we will want to not eat so well so we can pack it in on Thursday, right? :) It really hasn't been that bad to make dinner every night this week; it took a little bit of prep time in the beginning to figure out what I was going to make and make sure I had all the ingredients, but it has been totally worth it to not wonder every afternoon what we are going to do for dinner. Plus the leftovers have ensured that I have had good lunches this week! This has been a good experiment for us!

Dinner #5 - Find your own!

2010-11-18T19:04:00.002-06:00

I had a dinner planned for tonight - homemade chicken & veggie pot pie - however Nick has a late meeting tonight and I just really wanted Cheerios.

So I will be having some Honey Nut Cheerios and canned peaches for dinner this evening and I will find something for Nicholas when he gets home...maybe leftover 15 Bean Soup and a quesadilla or something. :)

Dinner #4 - Creamy Chicken & Pasta Bake

2010-11-17T20:18:00.002-06:00

I know I should take pictures- I like blogs that have pictures. I did try...the first day. And then I forgot to upload them when I actually blogged so I gave up on the rest of the meals...sorry.

Tonight's dinner was yummy (disclaimer: I really, really love pasta). I was generous on the pasta and broccoli...rarely do I follow a recipe exactly...and it could have used more sauce, but I just sprinkled some parmesan dust on it and called it good anyway. Lesson learned; next time either follow the proportions given or be generous in the sauce too. :)

Creamy Chicken & Pasta Bake

1 1/2 c uncooked multi-grain/whole grain rotini pasta

1 small bunch broccoli, cut into florets (about 3 cups...I just used a frozen package)

1 lb boneless skinless chicken breasts, cut into bite-size pieces

1/2 c fat-free reduced-sodium chicken broth

2 oz cream/neufchatel cheese, cubed

1 c mozzarella cheese

2 Tbsp grated parmesan cheese

1. Heat oven to 375*. Cook pasta in large saucepan as directed on package, adding broccoli for the last 3 minutes.

2. Meanwhile, heat large skillet on medium-high heat. Add chicken; cook 3 minutes or until no longer pink, stirring frequently. Stir in broth; simmer 3 minutes or until chicken is done. Add cream cheese; cook 1 minute until it is melted. Stir in 1/2 c mozzarella cheese.

3. Drain pasta and broccoli. Add to chicken mixture; mix. Spoon into 8x8 baking dish and cover.

4. Bake 15 minutes. Sprinkle with remaining cheeses (1/2 c mozzarella and 2 Tbsp parmesan) and bake 3 minutes uncovered to melt cheese.

5. Make sure all of your burners and oven is turned off and then ENJOY! :)

(Just a side note: Nick's favorite so far has been the lasagna...so I guess if you are only going to make one of our recipes, that would be a good one to start with.)

Dinner #3 - Pizza & Salad

2010-11-16T18:12:00.002-06:00

Day three and I already feel like I have been cooking so much...I needed a break already! So tonight we are just having pizza and salad. I got these pre-made crusts at Costco last week and we are going to try one tonight- I will have to tell you if it is delicious or if I should have made my own crust like I normally do.

I got a fresh pineapple and cut it up today...I can not stop myself from snitching a piece or two every time I open the fridge- it is so good! Fresh pineapple will definitely be on the pizza tonight :) A green salad and tomato sauce will ensure that we get our veggie serving, the cheese on the pizza can count as our dairy, and I think I have some pepperoni and ham lying around for protein. I know it isn't the most nutritious meal, but it is what it is and I am preparing it!

What did you have for dinner tonight?

Dinner #2 - 15 Bean Soup

2010-11-15T21:05:00.003-06:00

I had a 1 lb 15 bean mix that I got at the farmers market awhile back in our "food storage" and decided that this chilly day would be great to use it. I have lots of cookbooks, but ultimately just ended up googling "15 bean soup recipe" and ended up using this one below...my comments are in green.

Ingredients

(1 lb) bag of 15 bean soup mix
1 large red onion, chopped
3 garlic cloves, minced
1 (15-30 ounce) can chopped tomatoes
2 stalks celery, chopped
2 c chopped ham or a 1 lb ham hock with hambones
1/4 cup chopped fresh parsley
1 teaspoon dried thyme
1/2 tsp dill
1 tsp pepper
2 tbs olive oil
4 c chicken stock
5 cups water

Before you do any cooking you want to make sure that you have soaked your beans. (I soaked mine overnight in lots of water - they expand like crazy - and then drained the water off of them and put new water on to boil them...supposedly this helps with the gas factor of beans.)

Now, If you want you can add things to this soup like carrots or potatoes to make your own mixed bean soup. (I did end up chopping some carrots and adding them into the mix in step #6 because it just seemed like the kind of soup that should have carrots.)

1. Put the beans in a large pot and add 4 cups of water. Simmer on medium high heat for 45 minutes. Stir Occasionally. Skim the top with a spoon to remove the foam once in awhile. If at anytime the water gets too low add another cup of water.

2. Put 1 cup of water and 4 cups of broth in another large pot or stock pot, add 2 cups chopped ham or a 1 lb ham hock that has the bone ( if you don't have any ham you can use a pound of bacon for your soup ) and simmer on medium high heat for 30 minutes. (I used bacon because there is a long story about finding the ham at the grocery store...I just used 1/2 lb of bacon though.)

3. In a large frying pan add 2 tablespoons of olive oil and heat it up on medium heat.

4. While the oil is heating up put 2 celery stalks, 1 red onion, 1/4 cup fresh parsley and 3 garlic cloves in a food processor and chop them up. Don't Puree it! (I just chopped them up with my knife...minus the fresh parsley that I forgot to get at the store.)

5. Then add the mix to the frying pan and add 1 teaspoon black pepper, 1/2 teaspoon dill, and 1 teaspoon dried thyme and fry it up for 4 minutes. Stirring Occasionally. (I didn't measure the pepper or thyme and nixed the dill completely because it did not come in my spice rack...)

6. Now add the contents of the frying pan and the can of tomatoes to the pot with the ham and broth in it, stir it well and continue simmering. (My can of tomatoes was a big one...28 oz I believe.)

7. After simmering the ham and broth for 30 minutes pour it into the pot with the beans. If your using a ham hock remove the ham hock and pick the pieces of ham off that you want to add to the soup discarding the fatty pieces , add what you want to keep into the beans and then add the broth to the beans and simmer for 30 minutes.

Voila, it's finished. Now eat a bowl full or 2 and enjoy your new 15 bean soup recipe. (You will definitely want to enjoy more than one bowl full of this soup...it was pretty yummy and this recipe makes A LOT of soup. I think tomorrow I will take some to a friend or something because we have a lot and I am still planning on cooking another meal...but it will be great for lunch!)

All in all I think we liked the soup- like I said, it kind of felt like a soup day and I didn't even mind that I had soup for lunch as well! My parents came over to test it and they seemed to like it as well. It was a nice and hearty meal and we definitely didn't feel guilty about having seconds!

Dinner #1 - Crock Pot Lasagna

2010-11-14T19:36:00.003-06:00

I got this recipe from a Kraft Food & Family magazine awhile back. Since then I have made it a few times, but tonight was my favorite because I didn't really follow the recipe exactly. Below is the recipe as it was in the magazine:

Brown ground beef (1 lb) in large skillet; drain. Stir in spaghetti sauce (1 jar/26 oz) and water (1 c).

In separate bowl, mix ricotta cheese (1 container/15 oz), shredded mozzarella (1 1/2 c), grated parmesan cheese (2 Tbsp), one egg, and fresh chopped parsley (2 Tbsp).

Spoon 1 cup of the meat sauce into your crock pot; top with layers of noodles (about 6 total in the whole recipe...not cooked...broken to fit); top with half of cheese mixture. Cover with 2 cups of the meat sauce, more noodles/noodle pieces, and remaining cheese mixture. Pour leftover meat sauce on top.

Cover with lid and cook for 4-6 hours on low, or until liquid is absorbed.

So that was the basic recipe- however I decided to make it today and did not have ricotta cheese on hand. No big deal...I don't really like cheese a ton anyway! I made my meat sauce as it says above, however the "cheese" mixture was this: about 1/2 a bag of shredded mozzarella, a little shredded parmesan cheese, sprinkle of dried parsley, a small can of sliced olives, 1/2 a package of frozen spinach (thawed of course), a few slices of pepperoni I chopped up, and an egg.

I never measure how many noodles I put in...the original recipe says 6 but I think it depends on the size of your crock pot i.e. how many noodles it takes to make a layer so you can't really see the layer underneath...that is what I go by! (Plus I like it heavy on the noodles as that is my favorite part of lasagna!)

Then I layered as stated above and topped with a handful of shredded mozzarella, let it cook 4 hours on low, and voila! It was definitely my favorite because it didn't seem overly cheesy. And aside from getting a pan dirty to brown the beef and a bowl dirty to make the cheese mixture, it was so easy to prepare and clean up.

We had my parents over for dinner tonight and we all loved it- we had bread and a green salad and orange jello with mandarin oranges too. It was a very yummy and easy meal- I love that I don't have to cook the noodles before hand!

Try it out! :)

Dinner for a week

2010-11-14T13:10:00.002-06:00

I have decided that this week I am going to focus on dinner; most of the time some sort of plan is made regarding this meal, however this week I am really going to focus on making it better. Nick and I have only been able to eat dinner together a night or two during the work week for two years- now I am done with work and can spend a bit more time preparing for this special and not-so-rare-anymore occasion. Plus with my trip to the doctor last week I have decided that, while I might not completely overhaul my diet, there is definite room for improvement in my eating habits and planning in advance and being accountable would be helpful for me.

Thus, I declare that I will make "dinner for a week", meaning that I am going to plan and prepare a meal for us each night this week. I won't guarantee that they will be completely healthy or protein-rich, carb-free, low-fat, or anything like that...but they will be a meal. A meal...not just one item, but a variety of cohesive foods that *hopefully* include all food groups.

Now I know none of you really care what we eat each night, but I will be reporting my menu and recipe each day here on my blog because it will help me to actually follow through with my plan and mostly because this is my blog and I can if I want to! Plus maybe, just maybe, it will give someone out there an idea for dinner someday. :)

Check back tonight for DAY ONE's report on Crock Pot Lasagna!

It's that time of year...

2010-11-10T17:01:00.002-06:00

...no, not when the world falls in love but when people get sick- I am no exception. I had my first flu shot this year so hopefully nothing too serious will come my way, but I woke up with a scratchy sore throat and only breathing out of one nostril. Nuts. I guess it is my turn; I predict a lot of crafting time and water in my future.

On another note- I tried to rearrange our living room furniture today with the hopes of making room for a rocking chair/glider/recliner/etc. Not that we have one of said chairs yet, but I am hopeful that we will be bringing one home soon and I want to be prepared.

I had envisioned everything perfectly in my head, however it didn't go quite as smoothly as planned. Once I got things where I thought they should go I wasn't so sure that it was the best arrangement afterall...and it definitely did not open up a spot for a new chair. I tried a bunch of other configurations, however in the end I moved it back to the original way I had intended it...I was just too tired to keep trying. Like I said, there isn't a clear spot for a chair now like I had hoped and I am not sure things fit as well as they did before...the room doesn't seem as big as it used to...but the bunny ears work well in the new spot and I can now see the tv from the kitchen which means I could sit at the table and craft instead of spreading out on the floor, thereby tempting Koshka to come "help". It will have to do for now! :)

Do these pants make me look big?

2010-11-09T16:36:00.002-06:00

Apparently, yes. I went to the doctor today and did not get great news. DON'T WORRY!!! The baby is fine...his heart rate is steady and we have a routine ultrasound in 2 weeks. But back to me- the doctor is a bit concerned with my weight gain. I joked with her that I was too...nobody really likes to gain a bunch of weight even if it is for a good reason, right?

Basically she said that she was hoping my weight gain would taper off or plateau a bit by this point, but I keep adding a couple of pounds each visit. Currently I am still in the healthy range of weight gain for a pregnancy, however I am only in the first week of my 3rd trimester...which means there is definitely more weight in my future. Nuts.

She recommended I follow a diabetic diet- not "diet" like limiting food intake for weight loss but "diet" like a particular selection of foods. The foods are basically more protein and veggies, fewer carbs and fruits. But I love fruit!!! I eat a can of peaches almost every day...I can't get enough. And a good ole' starchy potato or pasta is always what I fall back on when nothing else sounds good or I am too tired to think of something else to make. It isn't that I hate meat, it is just harder to snack on and such.

My belly keeps measuring right on, so it isn't like I am way too huge I guess...just really heavy. But I am still running 3 mornings a week and walking the other days- I thought that might help a little, but I guess not. I am just frustrated because I thought this was going to be the one time in life when I wouldn't worry too much about my weight and now it seems like it is more the focus than before I was pregnant. And lets not forget that the holidays are coming up- egg nog, pumpkin pie, and peppermint ice cream...oh my!

So I don't know what to do. I don't want to completely ignore my doctor's recommendations, however if my weight isn't affecting the baby and it is just that it is more to loose later, then let me worry about that when that time comes. But it is also silly and selfish of me to continue eating what I want if there is something that is really better for the baby.

Anywho, I haven't come to any conclusions yet...I have just kinda had a bad day and needed to vent about it. My hair was having some major flyaways this morning and I just started breaking out and I didn't feel that fabulous anyway...and then I get told I am a chunk at 9am...not the best way to start out a day! (By the way: I tried to treat myself with a little retail therapy...some new black flats and some tights...because when I wore my regular ones last week and bent over I got a run in the buttocks region. Hmmm...maybe my doctor is right!)

Day One

2010-11-08T17:07:00.003-06:00

Day One of full-time stay-at-home-hood:

Got out of bed about 7am. Made Nicholas a lunch and got my running clothes on after a weather report from my mom. Ran 5 miles with my mom- it was hard today. I got a Diet Dr. Pepper with vanilla from Sonic on the way home :)

Showered, had breakfast, took a nap while "watching" The View.

Got dressed, sent an email out for work (and messed around on the computer a bunch), went to Kroger.

TANGET ON KROGER: I have always preferred Kroger to Randalls, but with our nice HEB so close I hardly go anywhere else...unless I have to go to Walmart for something non-edible. The last few weeks though I have been visiting Kroger because they seem to have such great deals on their ads...and it has really been working for us! Maybe I am just buying the right things or something, but I usually save about as much as I spend. Now I am not one of those people who have figured out how to work the system enough to get the grocery stores to pay me to shop or use coupons like mad or anything, but I have been impressed with Kroger's ability to help me save lately. So for now I am a fan of Kroger.

Carried the groceries up our 3 flights of stairs, stirred up homemade bread and left to rise while I put away the groceries, folded laundry. Had lunch while watching "Lets Make A Deal".

Wrote some "thank yous" for baby gifts we have received lately, read up on insurance plans so I can be informed when Nick and I discus switching plans tonight before open enrollment ends next week, vacuumed up all the liter on the tile.

Now I am going to get the bread in the pans so it can raise another hour...then it is into the oven to bake- yum! Although it isn't really cold like it was last week, thus making homemade bread seem not quite as appropriate, the bread already smells amazing and I am looking forward to having toast for breakfast this week.

And the day isn't over yet! (Plus I didn't even list out all the little things I did like make appointments to register at the hospital and clean out the kitchen cupboards!) In the plans for tonight: eating bread and consequently vacuuming up a lot of crumbs, watching DWTS in real time, discussing high PPOs vs. low PPOs with Nick, and more!

2010-11-04T16:10:00.004-05:00

What good has come to the world today from me? Nothing. Absolutely nothing! I have not gotten one thing "done". My body has been a mere shell for our baby to grow in today because I haven't really done anything...and it has felt wonderful. :) My body is tired and it needed some time to gain strength for tonight- my last night of teaching at the studio!

It has been lovely to live life in my sweats today, but it is now time for me to get ready and be useful- which honestly, even though I know my feet will be tired and probably achey by the end of the night, I am looking forward to...nobody likes to feel like a complete bump on a log! :)

Wish me luck on my last night! :)

I can taste it!

2010-11-03T11:02:00.003-05:00

Two more days. That is it!!! It is so close I can almost taste it!

Now it isn't that my job was the worst thing ever, but I am just getting so excited thinking about all the things I am going to do when I don't have to go in and teach. Of course I will get to spend more time with Nick since I will actually be around in the evenings, but I will also get to do lots of other stuff during the day too. It is hard to get started on projects and such sometimes when I know that I have to go in to work at 5pm- and there were definitely days I just wanted to wear a hat, but couldn't because I knew I would have to re-get ready at like 4pm...which just makes your day feel weird. Plus my mind is always on the studio- how I should have handled something better or how I am going to teach something or on the latest drama (ballroom dancers have lots of drama!). Anywho, I only have two more nights of teaching - and teaching I will be...I am booked solid until 10pm both nights! But here is a small sample of the list of things I am looking forward to doing next week when I am completely free*!!!!

-bake homemade bread

-fix the lights above my kitchen cabinets (half went out a week or so ago and I just haven't gotten up there to fix them yet)

-work on Christmas projects that I want to have done by Thanksgiving

-make more "Thank you" cards

-buy bingo gifts for the annual Thorpe family bingo game

-get Koshka a rabies shot

-actually make dinner every night of the week

-work on a blanket I started crocheting for Nicholas months ago

-get plenty of rest so I can wake up early next Saturday morning for Coles Crossing's huge garage sale and find good baby things :)

-perhaps even get a massage...since I haven't used the gift certificate Nick gave me for Valentine's!

*Disclaimer* I am still going to be working on the paper from home, so it isn't like I won't have any work to do at all. Still though, that work is from home and so flexible usually and really only consumes one week each month and so I am definitely going to be more free than I am currently. :)

Election Day!

2010-11-02T14:20:00.003-05:00

Please go vote today. If you don't vote, you have to at least promise that you will never complain about the government since you forfeited your right to participate in it.

Take a few minutes and research the candidates and propositions in your area and then please GO VOTE!!! It is a terrible product of modernity that we are so apathetic as Americans...don't even get me started on my favorite subject to ramble about- modernity. Just go vote...and if it could be done with just the slightest clue of what you are voting for, that would be even better :)

GO VOTE!

One Week More

2010-10-29T17:41:00.002-05:00

So next week is my last week to work at the studio- that means I have officially been working there 2 years!

Every 6 months we have this big festival- themed parties with lots of decorations and food and costumes and games and, of course, dancing; it goes on for 6 weeks, each week a different theme (that coordinates into an overall theme, naturally). Our festival starts on Monday and we are traveling through time to various periods in history.

Well, my boss thought it would be a great idea for me to throw the first party (i.e. be in charge of all decor and food and such) which could double as my farewell. No problem...I was in charge of the Asian themed party last festival and the Horror themed party the festival before that. This time my theme is Ancient Greece/Rome/Golden Age...think togas.

So today I have been cutting out 7 ft columns out of a big roll of paper, because quite frankly the budget only allows for a couple "real" 4 ft columns and I did not think that would transform the studio nearly enough. And I have been cutting out big, greek-looking letters to spell our name on the wall. And I have been working on our menu...pitas, grapes, feta cheese, olives, baklava (if I can find it), dates (but who would eat them?), etc. Anywho, so when I get it all pulled together I will post pictures- but just know that this is the main reason why I haven't been blogging that much this week.

I am excited to be done with work- I will miss dancing and interacting with the students and the income of course, however I am excited to be at home in the evenings with Nicholas. Plus this ole' gray mare ain't what she used to be! :) My body is getting a bit achey after dancing into the wee hours of the night and so I will be happy to just take it a bit easier for these last few months...and by easy I mean just jogging 5 miles in the mornings! I have been pretty lucky to feel great so far and keep up a lot of my regular activities, like running. Those extra twenty pounds are starting to weigh on me now though and I am ready to slow down just a bit; I am grateful that I have the opportunity to! :)

(On a side note: baby V is doing just great...moving a bunch now, even though it isn't super consistent yet. His heart rate is always around 140 beats/minute, which they tell me is good. I passed the gestational diabetes test and have maintained great blood pressure. It is no secret that I am expecting- my belly is definitely showing off now, but it at least makes getting dressed a bit easier since I can really wear maternity clothes. I am seeing the doctor every 2 weeks now and we have another ultrasound scheduled in a few weeks; we still don't have a name picked out and welcome any suggestions...)

Recommendations???

2010-10-25T10:01:00.002-05:00

Here is the deal- Nicholas and I are starting to buy things for the baby. More than just cute clothes and such...real gear. And the more I look at things, the more confused I get. What is really necessary? Which of these items or features are just frivolous?

So I am following Nick's advice and asking people who would know- you! What are items or features about items that you wouldn't live without? What are things that you wouldn't waste money on if you could do it again? Any recommendations on things to make sure we have or things to stay away from? We want to hear your thoughts and opinions on all things baby!

Lets hear it!!!

Caramel Corn

2010-10-23T14:55:00.002-05:00

What a great treat to ring in the autumn holiday season! And since I have to bring a treat to an activity tonight, I decided to make some this afternoon. I realized while making this delicous treat that not everyone knows the secret to great caramel corn; thus I am going to share the recipe with you :) Actually it is my mom's recipe...

The Great Jeanene's Microwave Caramel Corn

4 qts popped popcorn

1/2 c margarine

1/2 c brown sugar

1/4 c white corn syrup

1/4 -1/2 tsp salt

1/4 tsp baking soda

1 tsp vanilla

In a glass bowl, combine margarine, brown sugar, corn syrup, and salt. Microwave on high for 2 minutes. Stir; cook 2 minutes more. Stir; add soda and vanilla. Stir until foamy. Put the popped popcorn into a large brown paper bag...like you get at the grocery store. Pour the caramel over the popcorn in the bag. Fold the top of the bag down a few times and shake well. Put the bag, fold side down, in the microwave and cook on high for 1 1/2 minutes. Shake well; cook 1 1/2 minutes more. Shake well; cook 30 seconds more. Spread on cookie sheets to cool- then enjoy!

This recipe is so simple and makes clean up a breeze....try it!

2010-10-16T20:29:00.002-05:00

Where were we two years ago today?

Oh yes, that's right.

Happy Anniversary Nicholas!

2010-10-15T15:07:00.003-05:00

Two years ago today...

...we were setting up in the Provo library...
...and having a celebration...
...for our wedding :)

I wanted to blog today...

2010-10-13T18:24:00.007-05:00

...but I have been busy.

Busy taking a nap and watching this.

Busy cleaning the house and doing this.

Busy being an online shopper and buying this.

And busy creating this for work...if you are in the Houston area on November 13th, you should come check it out!

Maybe tomorrow!!!

Product Review: Wallflowers & Sweet Cinnamon Pumpkin

2010-10-06T13:47:00.004-05:00

I love my Wallflowers from Bath & Body Works...I actually have two in my tiny apartment because I love them so much. One looks like the picture above and the other is black and looks more like a flower. For anyone that is unfamiliar with Wallflowers, let me fill you in: they are these amazing things that you plug into a regular outlet and then they make your home smell great.

They always seem to have the right amount of scent...nothing that knocks you over, but it definitely smells pleasant. We keep one right above the litter box :) The bulbs are replaceable and so you can change the scent as often as you like...just remember that for some odd reason these bulbs are lefty-tighty and righty-loosey which doesn't sound like something worth mentioning until you are trying to unscrew one of the bulbs and realize that you have just in fact been tightening it instead of loosening it!
I am also crazy about this scent, also from Bath & Body Works- Sweet Cinnamon Pumpkin. Mostly I am in love with it because it is the scent of the bulbs in my Wallflowers right now, but I love it in any form...we currently have it as our hand soap as well.

This scent is perfect for fall- each time I catch a whiff of it I can't help but smile and be in a good mood that we are entering my favorite season. It isn't too girly either which is perfect since Nick uses the hand soap too! (He is not a fan of when I have Twilight Woods or some other girly fragrance for our hand soap so I try to keep it neutral...at least in the bathroom.)

Anywho, if you are looking for a great and easy option to make your home smell like autumn, grab a Wallflower with a Sweet Cinnamon Pumpkin bulb at Bath & Body Works today! (Well, not today actually...they are regularly about $12 but they go on sale all the time. I rarely pay more than $5/$6 for mine. This week they are only 2 for $20 so wait a few days for a better deal!)

Public Restrooms

2010-10-05T15:53:00.002-05:00

I just want to publicly say how grateful I am for public restrooms. If you haven't noticed, they are available more places than not in America. I know this is not the case in all countries. Plus there are only a few (at least around my parts...I know it is a bit different in some big cities) that actually require you to be a customer to use the restroom.

Now I know they aren't always so clean or smell so great, but next time you are using one think about what you would be doing if they weren't available!

(And doesn't that makes places with really nice public restrooms even more amazing??? That they go through all that trouble when they really don't have to? Gotta love 'em!)

Working like a dog

2010-10-04T21:21:00.002-05:00

I feel so badly. Yes, badly. Not bad. It is an adverb- describing how I do something, in this case how I feel. Not that I am completely guiltless, but I hate that we always forget our -ly endings on adverbs. Anywho, now that you will be paranoid to speak around me, I will proceed.

I feel so badly for Nicholas. He works all the time. ALL the time. It is not unusual for him to go to work in the morning and not return until 7pm...these are regular days. Good days are days I get to see him during the 6pm hour...they are not so common.

However, this last week has been quarter end at work and he hasn't been coming home until 9pm or so. Now that sounds terrible, right? But if it only happened every once and awhile it wouldn't be that bad...we all have those days, right? Poor Nicholas has those days all the time and I feel terribly about it! Yes, terribly.

And even when he isn't actually at work, he is working! He is working on his lesson for his Sunday school class or studying for the GMAT or working on grad school applications or something. At the off chance he has a free moment it is quickly snatched up by our cat who loves him dearly and wants to play...and if he doesn't "play" (which is really just another word for work in this case) she bites him. Aye aye aye!

I don't know what to do to help. I went in to the office with him on Saturday and helped for a few hours, but he is still there tonight and it is 9:30pm. I try to make sure he doesn't have to worry about many household chores or any of his meals, but still I just don't feel like he ever really gets a break!

And then there is me...I get to sleep in, exercise at my leisure in the mornings, take long showers, run any errands I want, read, snack, even take naps...I am so spoiled! Instead of feeling glad that I have such an enjoyable life, I feel guilty that I am not more overwhelmed and busy...not to say that I don't have anything to do, but I just have so much more freedom with my time than he does. And my guilt only multiplies because I want him to spend his free time with me instead of doing other things that he may want to do...like checking ESPN and such.

There isn't really a point to this post- just somewhere for me to whine and dream of the day when I could actually make Nick's life easier and more fun. Not that that day is going to come anytime soon...he is looking at going back to school for his MBA and will soon be supporting another hungry mouth to feed and naked back to clothe.

I think Nick needs a vacation...the only problem is that it is harder to be gone for a day or two and have work pile up for him. Maybe we could share his job and I could just fill in for him for a few days...accounting can't be that hard, could it?

On a lighter note, it has been absolutely gorgeous weather here the last couple of days and we have even started sleeping with the windows open...pure heaven! Well, at least until 4:45 am when the buses start rolling by...