Ramblings, Rants and Recipes

I think I might be a bit crazy

2012-01-09T15:25:00.003-05:00

Okay....so bad things happen with I'm being a couch potato with my laptop on my lap and the TV on. Bad things....like, I order really cute stuff from Ideeli. Bad stuff....like I decide that my couch potato self needs a real kick in the butt and I order something call the P.I.N.K Method. Yea...I was watching the doctors and they talked about how much weight you can lose and that you lose the bad weight....that stuff they call visceral belly fat.....and I caved and ordered it.

Today is day one of my P.I.N.K reset. Basically that means that I eat nothing but veggies and a little protein and will become a farting machine in about 12 hours. I'm supposed to lose something like 5-10 pounds in the first two weeks. We'll see.

My church is also doing a Daniel Fast so the start of my diet works beautifully with this....they're very similar. As part of the Daniel Fast, I've also decided I'm going to fast Facebook for 21 days. It's day one and I'm thinking I might have been a bit crazy to do that. I have, however, made a decision to pray for my friends, family, church family and community every time I think of filling time with Facebook nonsense. So far it's working.

I look forward to seeing what the next 14-21 days brings my way!!

Mommy!

2011-10-19T11:14:00.000-04:00

So...the word I always thought I always wanted to hear....

Mommy!

Nope....not anymore....especially not at 12:15am....especially not at 12:15am when it's being screamed by a toddler from across the house...especially not at 12:15am by a screaming toddler who has a diaper full of poo and a husband who's so asleep a hurricane wouldn't wake him.

The Toddler, as I'm now going to refer to him - kinda like when you were a teenager and you were so disgusted with your Mom that you'd rile her on purpose by calling her Mooootherrrr *eye roll* - has decided that when anyone else comes to take care of him, he wants to chant "I need my Mommy, NOOOO, I need my MoooOOOOOooooommmMMMMMmmmmyyyYYYYyyy!"

I remember, many moons ago, when The Toddler was a wee lil babe....so cute, so innocent, so sweet smelling. I would gaze into his beautiful blue eyes and dream of the day he'd call me Mommy.

Yea, boy...if I knew then what I know now. I'd have followed through on that promise of freezing him at his adorable, chubby, 9 month old stage.

But no....here we are....The Toddler is three full months into the 2s and it's allllllllllll about his Mommy. I have to say, I love it....sometimes....other times, I'm like, seriously, kid....can't your Daddy give you a bath? Can't your Daddy change your diaper?

I absolutely love that Toddler with all my heart, though.
He's strong willed and he's a natural comedian..
He's a slave to his schedule and he loves to hop like a bunny.
He loves to snuugle and he loves to run wild.
He loves unconditionally and is a climbing daredevil.
He's all that is good and wonderful wrapped up into a mischievious, nudie time loving Toddler.

Mommy - yea, it's a pretty great word to hear screamed from your Toddler's mouth - as long as it's not in the middle of the night or following a huge thump and cry.

Recipe time!! Pasta with Kale and Italian Sausage

2011-10-17T21:03:00.004-04:00

I've been through 4 weeks now of Phase I of the South Beach diet. Now, I'm starting to introduce some whole wheat back into my diet and came across this amazing sounding recipe at Kalyn's Kitchen. I had some beautiful organic red kale come in my CSA last week that was begging to be cooked. So...it was time to try my hand at something other than Kale Chips.

Pasta with Kale and Italian Sausage

1 pound sweet Italian sausage
2 garlic cloves, minced
2 Tbs olive oil
1 tsp red pepper flakes
1 bunch kale, stems removed, washed and dried
1 pound whole wheat pasta
1 cup chicken broth
1 small can diced tomatoes, drained

In a large pot, bring well salted water to a boil and cook the pasta until desired doneness. Drain and return to the pot.

While pasta is cooking, warm a skillet over medium heat with olive oil, garlic and red pepper flakes. Once hot, add sausage and cook until no longer pink.

While sausage is cooking, take washed and dried kale and slice it into small slivers.

Add chicken broth to the sausage and then add the kale on top. Cover and allow kale to steam for 5 minutes. Stir kale into the sausage until it is well wilted. Pour sausage and kale mixture over pasta and stir to combine. Heat for a few more minutes while pasta absorbs the chicken broth. Add in a 1/3 cup of parmesan cheese and tomatoes and stir well.

Serve and enjoy!

Today's edition of things that annoy me

2011-10-16T16:55:00.000-04:00

Okay...so, I've been dealing with the "crud" that's going around. I was sick two weeks ago before I got my flu shot and then got the shot and then got sick all over again. Then Parker started getting all snotty. Then I noticed that a lot of folks at his daycare were snotty. Well, after a full week of nearly mind blowing headaches, I'm finally back to normal, except for this hacky cough.

Well, guess who's gotten sick now....Shooter. Who, last night before bed, starts in on how bad he feels and oh how he's sooooo sick.

**sidebar - just yesterday, during the day, Shooter's parents and I were having a conversation about how Parker seems to get his flair for the dramatic from him....**

Please, I have been sick for going on three weeks....and worked....and took care of the house, kinda....and cared for our kid....and cooked meals, kinda....

I don't wanna hear it.

Choices

2011-10-12T21:44:00.003-04:00

Is it too early to start teaching my child the benefits/consequences to choices?

He turned 2 in mid July.

Well...tonight we tried a lesson in choices...it didn't go well....

I gave Parker a choice - he could keep playing with his toys in his playroom or watch Cars. He said he wanted to keep playing. I explained that his choice meant that he couldn't watch Cars and he said, "Keeep payin with mah toyeeez". Okay, but explained again, that meant no Cars and milk in his room and then bed.

So of course, comes time to clean up and the fit starts. He won't help clean up and fights me tooth and nail the entire time. He then hysterically wants Cars.

I stick with it though, no Cars, baby, time to have our milk in your room then on to bed. Oh, it was one fit to behold...a masterful one...he's getting good at this terrible 2 thing.

I got him settled...we drank some milk...read a couple of stories....then when Mommy says that it's time to brush teeth and go to bed, the waterworks start again.

He cries through the tooth brushing.

He cries through the prayers.

He even asks for Cars as we're putting him in the crib....the kid is nothing but persistent.

In the end I really felt badly for him...his routine was out of whack, but that was really due to a choice he'd made...to play in his playroom rather than watch his movie.

Sometimes choices are hard - sometimes the consequences are harder.

I guess I did the right thing....what kind of child would I be raising if I don't give him the opportunity to choose and then have to live with that choice. I want my child to understand that he has to make his own decisions, that he's empowered to make his own decisions, but that he has to bear responsibility for those decisions.

This parenting gig isn't an easy one...

You have a coupon for that?

2011-10-07T11:37:00.004-04:00

So, I was suckered into signing up for a couple of those discount coupon sites and now get a bazillion emails into my mailbox every morning.

Mostly, I'm humored by what services are being offered...sometimes, I really wonder if the service being offered should be purchased through a discount coupon....examples:

Liposuction - Do you REALLY want to be THAT person who walks into the office and presents your coupon for a buy one get one Liposuction???? Do you really want to go to a surgeon who takes said coupon??

Dental Cleaning / Whitening - see above

Fishing Trip - aren't you afraid of getting lost on the river or something?

Infrared Body Wrap - I mean, seriously? That sounds dangerous enough on its own....

Photo-to-Metal print - Why yes, turn my sweet, innocent child into a weapon....as that doesn't happen on a daily basis already.

BYOB Glassblowing Experience - sure....molten glass and blow torches aren't dangerous enough on their own...let's throw alcoholic beverages into the mix.

Facial and Dermaplaning - Dermaplaning? Nuff said.

Frozen Yogurt! - I only mention this because apparently Frozen Yogurt without an exclamation isn't nearly as good. :-)

Just call me Iron Chef!

2011-10-06T15:39:00.002-04:00

So, I have started up participation in a CSA at my office. I'm quite excited about it because I get a goodie grab bag of produce and then get to figure out how to cretively use it! It's kinda like Chopped...or Top Chef! Okay...so not really, but in my eyes it is.

So, this week I got a glorious basket of produce including:

Red Kale
Bibb lettuce
Cabbage
Pie Pumpkin
Yellow Delicous Apples
Sweet potatoes
Celery
Sweet Basil
Juicing oranges
Brussell Sprouts
Bananas

I mean, seriously....how awesome is all that?!?!?!

One of my coworkers got the fully organic basket and it had rainbow carrotts and chard and butternut squash. OH YUM!!!!

I have to say, I'm going to really enjoy getting these baskets. We are set for a delivery every two weeks and once we transition into spring and summer...yippee!!

Today's installment of things that annoy me

2011-10-05T15:17:00.000-04:00

So, today on my Facebook news feed, I saw an ad from Huggies for their Christmas themed diapers.....

Really? I do not let my child just run around in his diapers....these things therefore annoy me....but not as badly as these do....

Every time I go to Wal-mart I cringe when I see these diapers.

Recipe time!!! Cuban Ropa Vieja

2011-10-03T21:33:00.003-04:00

Okay....I'm usually pretty good about taking pictures of my recipes....but this week Shooter is working late so it was me and a hungry toddler to feed....so the camera got pushed aside. But here's a good representation of what the delicousness looked like:

This is a really great, tasty recipe that simmers away in the slow cooker all day and waits for you to come home and eat it up!

Cuban Ropa Vieja
1.5 pounds flank steak
1.5 cups beef broth
1/2 cup white vinegar
1/2 cup tomato sauce
3 oz tomato paste
1 medium onion, halved and sliced
1 tablespoon cumin
1 tablespoon garlic powder
1 tablespoon olive oil
chopped cilantro

In your slow cooker, mix together the beef broth, vinegar, tomato sauce, tomato paste, onions, cumin, garlic powder and olive oil until well mixed. Place the flank steak in the mixture and submerge. Cook on low for 8 hours.

NOTE: Flank steak can be added frozen, I did that and it turned out fine. When I got home, I had a lot of thin sauce so I took out the meat and poured the sauce out into a pot and boiled it for about 15 min until reduced and good bit. I then added in a corn starch slurry to thicken a little more (1 tablespoon corn starch with enough water to dissolve). I then added back the shredded meat and a decent handful of cilantro. I served with shredded cheese, tortillas sour cream and more cilantro. I am on the South Beach diet so no rice for me, but it would be delicious with some rice to soak up the delicious sauce.

Nickname: Blackhawk

2011-09-30T21:39:00.003-04:00

So, Shooter had to work late tonight, end of month for his job = he has to close = late night getting home. I decided to go pick up Parker and go on a little dinner date with him. One of our local McDonald's has the only Toddler Playplace in existence so I thought that might be a fun thing to try. Yea, not so much....

First off, I had to travel North from the house and that's something I try to not do too very often. I just prefer the shopping and restaurants and such in the areas South of our house. Secondly, it nearly drove me to drink because people were not following the rules - I like it when people follow rules!

I mean, really....it's a TODDLER Playplace. That means your kid, who is 5 feet tall and weighs 90 pounds and is 8 yrs old, shouldn't be running around all crazy like while my 2 year old is trying to have some fun. Your kid, who insists on pushing my kid off of toys, is about to get a smack down laid on him.

I had a really hard time sitting there and letting Parker play....I had to fight the urge to become one of those hovering Moms....one of those.....helicopter Moms. I want my kid to be safe when he plays with other kids. That means I prefer that kids who are 8-13 not play in the same area with my 2 year old. That means that I prefer that the child who is about to cough up a lung not breathe on my child. That means that I really don't care for another toddler grabbing my son's milk cup from my hand and trying to run with it - and the Mom just sit there.

I want my kid to be socialized....but I'm beginning to think that I can just let day care be that socialization and that we're going to hibernate at our house the rest of the time.

I seriously don't want to be a hovering Mom - I want my kid to experience the world....but can't I just have it on my own terms and at the speed at which I'm most comfortable?

Yank my Mom Card - reason #46349

2011-09-29T22:12:00.001-04:00

Okay....so last Friday I broke down and decided to take Parker to the doctor. He'd had this little rash that was sticking around and I couldn't rid it with cortisone cream so, after a week, I figured I should get the dear pediatrician to take a look at him.

Honestly, I figured he'd gotten into something that irritated him or got some bug bites - he has incredibly sensitive skin after all. I really figured the pediatrician would tell me I was being too cautious and send me on my way.

Oh no......as I go about explaining the various places where I've noticed this "rash", he's nodding his head and looking Parker over. I then mention - very casually because it really meant nothing to me - that he had had a ulcer in his mouth, on the left side where his cheek and gum meet. I figured his gum was irritated because we're due for 2 year molars on the bottom and his 1 year on that side really busted his gum open in a serious way.

Well...at the mention of the mouth sore, the pediatrician's head pops up and he looks at me with this knowing look he has....he asks if he's run any fevers? No. Acted like he felt bad, lethargic? No. Then....he turns his hands over....looks at his feet....then the dreaded words come from his mouth....

Hand. Foot. Mouth.

How could I not have known???? I start apologizing to the doctor...like that's going to make it better. Then I apologize to Parker for not having figured it out.

Seriously though, all other Mom's that I know who've dealt with Hand, Foot and Mouth have had kids who were terribly sick, sores all over their mouths, running fevers, awfully lethargic. My child, who spikes a fever at a mere sniffle - acted completely normal for the entire time he was "sick".

Oh well....chalk up another reason why I should have mom Mom Card yanked.....but you'll have to take it from my cold hand. ;-)

Opinions, everybody's got one!

2011-09-28T16:44:00.002-04:00

So....My toddler is becoming increasingly opinionated. He's suddenly wanting to weigh in on the shirt he wears to school, what pajamas he wears at night......even going so far as to declare opinions about dinner before he's even tasted it.

One night we sat down for dinner and Parker asks, "What dat ting?" I tell him that it's chicken and he'll like it. I get a "Mmm, 'kay" in response. Then we have this exchange:
He points to the next pile on his plate, "What dat ting?"
"That's a bean salad, you'll like it."
"Me uh no like 'em beans, Mommy"
pause
"What dis, Mommy?"
"Those are cucumbers baby, you'll like them."
"Me like 'em."

He tries said cucumbers and decides pretty quickly that he doesn't like them. I'm determining that he has a pretty interesting palate...he's not so into the crunchy stuff, which is what excites me about food. He promptly spits out the cucumber and says, "Mommy, me uh no like 'em cucubers." I explain that I'm happy he tried them and that it's okay if he doesn't like them. From there, however, the toddler who "no like 'em beans", ate most of what was served to him. Yesssss!

Since then, he likes to tell us when he likes or dislikes something. Most funny was the night he declared that he liked cauliflower. This was much to my amazement, as I wasn't aware that he'd had it before. We soon found out that it wasn't the cauliflower he liked, but rather the dip he was licking off the cauliflower.

And just yesterday, when I went to put on his blue sandals (that went with his blue shorts and his yellow/blue shirt) he says, "NO MOMMY! Brown shoes." I reasoned with him for a few min and then gave it up...why bother, it's a little thing and I'm not sweating it! So we put on the brown shoes...with the blue shorts....and he looked cute as a button. :-)

I'm having a pretty fun time finding out who my little man is on the inside.

Today's installment of things that annoy me

2011-09-27T12:21:00.003-04:00

So...wanna know how to get me to roll out of bed on the wrong side? Wanna know how to really throw my day into the crapper before it's even begun?

Decide that you are going to be stupid and not set your alarm.

Better yet.....
Decide that you are going to be stupid and not set your alarm.
Then decide that it is a good idea to call your boss (MY HUSBAND) at 5am to tell him that you'll be late for work even though you're walking out the door and end up at work on time so your boss (MY HUSBAND) can't even write you up for being STUPID.

When you decide you're going to be stupid....it doesn't just affect you...or your boss....it puts your boss' wife in a really crappy mood. I had at least another hour of good sleep waiting of rme...but NOOOOO....you had to be STUPID! I'm fighting off a cold and that hour of sleep would have been so nice.

I know where my brain cells went during pregnancy

2011-09-26T11:32:00.000-04:00

So....shall we talk about how my son's mind is like a steel trap? Shall we? Let's just say you musn't tell the child ANYTHING that you don't want him to remember with absolute clarity. Take for example....

Shooter and I went away this weekend for a delayed anniversary trip, our anniversary is near the beginning of September, and Grandma and Grandpa came to baby/house/dog sit for the weekend. While we were away, we found a neat little gift shop that had some of the same sock monkeys that Parker has at home. We bought a little, tiny one as he's now in this stage of categorizing everything - and I mean EVERYTHING - as Daddy, Mommy, Baby.

Let me take a tangent here....the child categorizes his Mater cars, his Lightning McQueen cars, his french fries, his sock monkeys.....it's a terrible addiction that he has.....

Anyway...so after about 4 hours of having Baby Sock Monkey, one of its arms falls off. No reason why, Parker had barely looked at it. Shooter haphazardly says, "Leah must have gotten him." Leah, our miniature schnauzer, who has a soft spot for stuffed animals - meaning she likes to rip them to shreds. Well, Parker wasn't the least bit happy about it...proclaims that Baby Sock Monkey is "bwoken" and that "Lele got 'em". I tell Parker that Mommy will fix it and take Baby Sock Momkey to the doctor to have him stitched up. After several minutes of the same conversation repeated....and repeated.....we finally got Parker in to his crib. He would then lay down only to pop right back up and repeat the conversation about how Lele got the baby sock monkey and now it's broken. Argh...I'm about to live the book I've heard so much about, I fear. But finally we got Parker settled with no more peeps about baby sock monkey, or Lele or doctors.

I go in to wake the little man up this morning...and his first words were, "MOMMY!!!!!". Well, no, actually, they were "Baby Sock Monkey bwoken, where he go?" "On the shelf sweetie, Mommy has to take him to the doctor today." "He bwoken, arm huuurt, Lele got 'em".

Our poor dog will never live this down and I fully believe she's innocent of all wrong doing.

Again, you can't tell the child anything...he remembers it! Every detail burned into his toddler brain like the plot to his favorite Cars movie. This is going to be a long trek through childhood with him.

:-)

L.

So I'm back....

2011-08-01T15:02:00.003-04:00

I'm baaaaaack!

I have been reflecting lately on how little I've used this blog to document my son and his growth into toddler-hood and my subsequent loss of all sanity.

I'm therefore picking up the proverbial pen again and renewing my desire to dump all the craziness that life is throwing at us into the interwebs.

Look forward to some hysterics.....it's becoming a bumpy ride into toddlerland!

Thought for the day....

2010-10-14T10:13:00.001-04:00

When you're having one of THOSE days....

2010-10-12T10:11:00.004-04:00

A friend of mine on Facebook posted this the other day....I thought it was absolutely hysterical...so, my friends, when you're having one of THOSE days...

On your way home from work, stop at your pharmacy and go to the thermometer section and purchase a rectal Thermometer made by Johnson&Johnson.
Be very sure you get this brand.
When you get home, lock your doors, draw the curtains and disconnect the phone so you will not be disturbed.
Change into very comfortable clothing and sit in your favorite chair.
Open the package and remove the thermometer.
Now, carefully place it on a table or a surface so that it will not become chipped or broken.
Now the fun part begins.
Take out... the literature from the box and read it carefully.
You will notice that in small print there is a statement:
'Every Rectal Thermometer made by Johnson &Johnson is personally tested and then sanitized. '

Now, close your eyes and repeat out loud five times,
'I am so glad I do not work in the thermometer quality control department at Johnson &Johnson.'

Ignorance really is bliss.....

2010-09-16T02:04:00.005-04:00

People, ignorance really is bliss.....

You see.....I have had a revelation......and not the kind of self revealing revelation that is awesome....no, this one pretty much sucks....

Shooter and I tried for many months to have a baby. For a while before that we were not exactly trying but not exactly not trying.

I've never been one of those gals, and I consider myself very lucky, who's had bad PMS or heavy periods or painful cramping. But tonight, as I got up at 1:30am to go to the bathroom, out of the blue, mother nature had thrown me a curve ball. I had a new badge to add to my Girl Scout sash of life.

Well, this sucks, I'm one of those women who's had a miscarriage

You know, when the brain gets going, it's like a train and it takes a long time to stop it. Before I could stop myself, I was thinking that I've probably miscarrried several times in our venture to get pregnant. I remembered several times where I would have the most painful cramping. I mean, hurting so bad I couldn't sit down on the toilet because of the pain, pressure and burning but I knew I had to so I could get rid of the pain. In reflection, I remember wondering why I was having that kind of pain and then be grossed out by what I saw in the toilet. It never occurred to me that I might be losing a baby. That what we were trying so hard for was just rejected by my body. Ignorance is bliss......

I have laid in bed for almost 30 minutes, trying to put my mind at rest so I could go back to sleep, but I can't. My mind has started wandering to the "what might have been" place. I feel sad for the children who might have been. What would they have been like? Would they have been a boy or a girl?

I'm letting myself mourn for the children who might have been. I also have a new found love for those who've lost babies as well. We all know someone. Listen, in no way do I profess to know what it's like to go though the heartache that so many have felt. The elation that comes from a Big Fat Positive, the joy from telling family, and then the ultimate sorrow you see and feel when it all slips away. I can't imagine that! That takes a strength I'm not sure I have.

My friends, those of you who wear the badge of "I've Lost a Baby" on our Girl Scout sash of life...you're in my thoughts tonight. We're a group who's numbers are large and always growing, unfortunately.

L.

I'm now one of THOSE mothers.....

2010-08-31T11:57:00.000-04:00

I really enjoyed the freedom I had when Parker was an infant. He could nap whenever we were in the car and I could simply throw in some jars of baby food and the formula container and some bottles filled with water when we wanted to go out for the day.

Those were the easy days. I didn't realize just how easy I had it when Parker was an infant.

I wore my "I'm not a slave to a schedule" button like a badge of honor. I proudly stated that we were a free flowing kinda family....just did as we pleased without a ton of structure around us. We thrived on that...we enjoyed it.

We did...all of us did....until.....

......the surgery.......

Since "the surgery" a lot of things changed for us, as I've already mentioned in another post. Additionally, Parker has decided that he's a real creature of habit. He thrives on his schedule and if we get thrown off then we're really in for it.

In a way, I like knowing that I need to be back home by a certain time because we need to get him down for his nap. But on the other hand, it's hard if I want to be flexible or if we run behind from an appointment. Luckily he'll usually flex with me about 30-45 min but that's about it.

Now I'm one of THOSE moms. One of the Moms that I always wondered about. It's interesting to see how the other half lives. :-)

My kid is unbelievable!

2010-08-31T10:14:00.001-04:00

Okay...so in the past I've not made any secret about our troubles getting Parker to take more solid foods and even table food. It made getting a root canal seem like fun. It made going to the GYN seem like a picnic. It made 10 months of pregnancy and a c-section seem like a walk in the park!!! You get my drift.

Anyway....my son has now decided that he'll eat just about anything. Of course he has to be in the mood for it, but he'll eat almost anything I put in front of him. Yogurt and string cheese are our go-to snacks. But he's now decided that he loves Cinnamon Graham Crackers I give him those as a treat at the end of his meal. He loves the Gerber Graduates raviolis as they are the perfect size to pick up. This weekend I made a recipe from Weelicious.com called Cilantr "Os" . I thought they tasted really good and Parker gets them tomorrow in his lunch. We'll see how they go over.

Shooter and I went and tried out this new mexican restaurant that I've read about on several Atlanta food blogs and have been dying to try. It's Taco Rancho and it's on the grounds of the State Farmers Market in Forest Park. It's AMAZING!! Well, I should say that the Camarones taco I got was delicious...Parker's Vegetale taco was delish...and the guacamole was ip smacking good eats. My Carne Asada wasn't all that good, to be honest, the meat was overcooked and dry and so tough I couldn't even share any with P. I also got the corn on the cob which was mighty tasty. All in all, we will be going back. If no other reason than Parker LOVED the guacamole.

I first put a snall spoonful down on his placemat. He gave it a suspicious nudging with his pudgy little finger and then licked the foreign stuff on it. After smacking his lips and giving the approving, "Nom Nom Nom", he reached out and grabbed the small pile of guac and crammed it in his mouth...much like he's demonstrating above. He then started reaching for the bowl in front of me. So, like any good sacrificing Mom, I gave him pretty much the entire bowl. It was too much fun watching him snarf it down, to be honest! I ended up mixing in the contents of his vegetale taco with the guac to get some more veggies in him - he never flinched at the addition, just kept snarfing if down like we hadn't fed him in weeks and he didn't know when he'd see another meal. I think the waitresses were giving us the stink eye....

Oh....and the kid has figured out what the cake was all about that he decided not to touch at his birthday parties. Here he is at his Aunt Paige's party this weekend...again, snarfing down food....I SWEAR, we feed this kid!!! I promise!!!

I'm really enjoying watching him discover new tastes and things he enjoys. He gave some fried okra a real tentative taste...but didn't really eat any. He loves cantaloupe and plums and pluots. Oh...and cauliflower and cheese...watch out if you want to try to keep any of that to yourself!!!

GIVEAWAY TIME!!

2010-08-30T15:13:00.003-04:00

Okay folks...Tenille over at Feisty Frugal and Fabulous is giving away a pair of See Kai Run shoes. If you haven't gotten your kiddo a pair, well, then go and register on her blog for a chance to win some! They're awesome shoes and are way better than Pedipeds for my new walker. The soles aren't slick but they're flexible and great for those just learning to walk or those who've been walking a long time.

So...go ahead...go over to Feisty Frugal and Fabulous to register for a free pair of See Kai Run shoes!

It's amazing-wee awesome!

2010-08-25T10:00:00.001-04:00

I had a friend send me a link to a blog/website that was chock full of great ideas for feeding your babies and toddlers. I really didn't give it much thought other than, "Wow, wouldn't it be nice to be a stay-at-home Mom with all the time to devote to trying all these ideas and all the funds necessary to buy all these ingredients and be gorgeous and a former model".

I was looking for some recipes for toddlers and came across the same website again and when I looked at it through new "eyes" I really liked what I saw!

The website is called Weelicious and it's got a ton of really great recipes for not only your toddler/baby but also the entire family.

You must check it out - I know I'm inspired to expand Parker's culinary horizons.

Recipe Time!!! Crustless Spinach Quiche

2010-08-24T10:00:00.001-04:00

Since I'm on this new way of thinking about eating and embarking on my lifestyle change....I've been looking for things I can make for breakfast that are fast and easy and something I can pack ahead of time for work. I found this recipe and it completely fits the bill for me!

It's a crustless quiche, so it fits in with my low carb attitude. It's filled with good stuff so it makes me feel happy and it's also filled with spinach which is yummy and helps keep the inside happy and full!

Crustless Spinach Quiche

5 eggs, beaten
1 10-oz package frozen, chopped spinach, thawed
2 cups reduced fat shredded sharp cheddar cheese
16 oz reduced fat cottage cheese (small curd if you can find it)
1 bunch of green onions (sliced thin, only white and light green parts)

Prehead oven to 350 degrees. Prepare a 9 inch pie plate or cake pan by spraying it with Pam.

Squeeze the spinach in a clean kitchen towel to remove all the water. Add it to a large mixing bowl, separating it into pieces. Add the beaten eggs, cheese, cottage cheese and onions. Also, add salt, pepper and garlic powder to taste. Mix everything well and then pour into prepared pan.

Bake in the oven for about 45 min or until eggs are set.

This is such an awesome recipe. I hope you get a chance to try it soon!

What a weekend...what a month!

2010-08-23T09:37:00.003-04:00

Wow...what a weekend...and what a month!!!!

It never ceases to amaze me how much my little man is changing. I reflected on that this morning on my way into work. It has been 3 weeks since Parker's surgery to put tubes in his ears. In that three weeks we've had the following changes happen in our house:

1) P's begun speaking new words and carrying on conversations (where only he knows what's being said, mind you). It's amazing all the new sounds he's coming up with.

2) His balance has improved exponentially and he's now walking without the "frankenstein" pose. Oh...and here's a video from only a week and a half ago...where he had a full on grasp of the "frankenstein" pose. Now he's walking in what I like to call the "Charlie Chaplin" stage. Hands down and feet pointed out and kinda shuffling along. :-)

3) He's started eating table food. This may not sound like anything major to you folks....but to a Mom who's not made a grocery trip without buying baby food in over 8 months...we're ecstatic!! We were at a trip with my company this weekend and Parker ate nothing but table food all weekend and was awesome! He would eat eggs and cheese and grits and waffles for breakfast and then has squash, pork loin, and potatoes for lunch and have mac n cheese and chicken fingers for dinner. Yesterday he even had mexican for lunch! Some chicken, pork, black beans, rice and masa from my tamales! He's such a champ!! Bonus for Mom and Dad - it feels like we've had a raise!!! :-)

4) He's now taking a sippy cup!! This is momentous for us! We tried for many weeks before his surgery to get him to take a sippy...I tried so many different kinds that I was about to throw my hands up in discouragement. Then I was finally able to get him to take a bottle like sippy that is a trainer for kids 4M old! Argh! Well, last week I bought a Born Free sippy similar to what another kiddo in his daycare class has. Of course Mom forgot the valves at home so we couldn't try them this weekend, but I gave it to him last night and he went to drinking like he'd been using that cup for months. All I can say is H-A-L-L-E-L-U-J-A-H!!!!!!

5) He's now completely off of formula and taking whole milk. Another bonus for Mom and Dad - a double raise now that he's off of formula and baby food!!! Yippee!!!!!!

6) He decided this weekend that he likes juice and water. Thank God!!! After many attempts to get him to drink something other than milk, he just decided that he'd drink some water. Then the next time we presented him with juice, he just drank it without protest. I'm beginning to think my kiddo was swapped out for another in the middle of the night. :-)

7) He's now going down to bed all by himself. It only took us a few nights after our 12-month checkup to get this down. It's a HUGE difference for Mom and Dad. We now have about two hours to ourselves to get some work done and watch TV before bedtime. AND he's sleeping all the way until it's time to go to school in the morning. It's awesome!!!

I just look at all that he's doing now and it makes me so proud....but also kinda sad. My baby boy is growing up on me and the days are flying by. We're not sure yet if we're going to have a second....so I cherish each and every day like we may not have another. I look at Parker with such awe and wonderment. He's such an amazing gift that God gave us. Honestly...I don't remember much about what my days were like before he came along. I do remember they were less hectic...and I got to sleep past 7:30am on weekends.....and it didn't matter if I had popcorn for dinner....but somehow those things seem so insignificant. :-)

Well, I thought it was a good idea....

2010-08-16T09:11:00.006-04:00

I took one of the most hysterical pictures of Parker last week. He is hitting this independent streak where he wants to feed himself and tries grabbing the spoon and makes a huge mess. So, when we were done, well mostly done, with the jar of baby food, I gave it to him to play with. He ended up with it all over his face and in his hair - everywhere. I just had to laugh because he was so stinking cute...oh....and left him looking like that so I could snap some pics. Because that what mommy bloggers do. :-)

I then got to work and put it on my computer as my wallpaper. I thought that was a good idea....until I realized that I saw that cute mug over and over all day and it only made me sad because I missed him so darn much. The booger....why does he have to be so cute?

Anyway....Day 1 down. Not so bad. Usually the first couple of days are the hardest....but we'll get through this!

Here is a breakdown of what I had yesterday:

Day 1
Breakfast:
2 veggie quiche cups (egg substitiute, red pepper, spinach, onion)
decaf coffee with fat free cream and splenda
diet v-8 fusion
Snack:
laughing cow light wedge
3 celery sticks

string cheese
Lunch:
salad with 3 grilled chicken tenders and balsamic vinegar
Snack:
jell-o sugar free pudding cup
Dinner:
Hmm...didn't really feel like dinner so I had 2 pieces of string cheese and a small bowl of All Bran Flakes

As the pastor at our church says.....you just gotta keep taking the next step, and then the next step, and then the next step......

Day 1 - Mission to get healthier and lose weight

2010-08-16T08:58:00.008-04:00

Well...today marks the first day of Phase I of my South Beach Diet. I have had continual issues with my blood pressure since just before Parker was born. We've monitored it and then about 3 months ago my PCP decided to put me on a VERY low dose of a water pill to see if that would help. It did a little, but didn't take care of it completely. My OB/GYN decided she didn't like it where it was so she sent me to a Nephrologist friend of hers who specializes in blood pressure issues. I knew what he was going to tell me.....I knew what I needed to do....had known for a while but had just battled against doing it.

He told me just what I knew he would....Laura, if you lost some weight, your issues would probably go away immediately. You just need to exercise and lose some weight. You need to get healthier.

I KNOW!!!

I don't want my son growing up overweight the way I did. I wouldn't wish that on anyone! Now is the time that I start modeling good behaviors - healthy habits that he can begin following.

So, today I start the South Beach Diet again....I did this diet a few years ago and lost 40 pounds....but then gained it all back when I went back to eating in my familiar way. My goal is to lose 50 pounds....then I'll weigh less than I have.....well....in a LONG, LOOOOOONG time. I can do it...it just takes preparation on my part. I have to plan meals. I have to plan my lunches and snacks. I have to have my breakfast prepared ahead of time so I just grab and go. I have to make it easy on myself to eat healthy or I'll be making it easier to eat bad.

I did a modified version of the diet last week....meaning that I cheated some....and could already feel a change in my pants. But here goes nothing....I have nothing to lose but a bunch of flab! And I have so much to gain - more years with my son, more energy to play with my son, a healthier outlook, and looking positively amazing! ;-)

I'll keep myself documented on here, using this to keep myself accountable.

Oh...and here's a completely fab picture of my little man enjoying some mac and cheese yesterday at lunch:

I mean, seriously! If anyone can find the kid's wrists somewhere, I'd appreciate it! Oh...and how can one not obsess over a baby belly? He has the most amazing round belly!! :-)

The moments you cherish

2010-07-22T11:19:00.003-04:00

Yesterday, when I got home from work, Shooter decided that he didn't want to mess up the kitchen and that we were going out to dinner. P had fallen asleep in the car on the way home from daycare so that worked out just fine - he napped on the way home and then to the restaurant and rejuvenated when we arrived.

We had a great dinner....P having his evening meal and snacking on some crackers, cookies and french fries. I so enjoy that time together.

When we got home, Shooter and I both realized that we HAD NO MORE FORMULA MIX!!!!! Which is enough to strike paralyzing fear in the hearts of the most manly of men. So Shooter ran out to get some more formula and I had some precious alone time with my lil man.

He loves to play chase. He'll crawl a few feet away from you and then roll onto his butt and look at you, grin, then turn and crawl a bit more. He'll keep doing that until you come chasing after him saying, "Ima gonna git youuu!". He keeps cackling and then starts crawling like a man on a mission - his lil but just wiggling back and forth - sticking out his leg in his modified crab crawl. I catch him in my bedroom and we play with our mirror and then the door (the kid has this incomprehensible fascination with doors) and then I go sit at the foot of the bed on the floor with my knees up just watching him.

I'm fascinated by how much he can do now. How tall he has grown. What he notices. How he learns. After a bit...he crawls over to me....crawls up between my knees and leans his head over on me.

Can I tell you that I died a thousand deaths right then and there??????

I pulled the lil guy up to give him a big hug and he puts his arms on my shoulders and rests his cheek on my shoulder.

Does life get much better than that? I think not.

He then wanted down and play some more and then would crawl back over and we'd snuggle a little more. He was getting tired and each time would linger on my shoulder a little longer. By then Shooter had gotten back home and it was time to get him in bed. Shooter's time with P is the snuggle time right before we put him in bed. P seems to do better when Shooter puts him to bed than when I do it.

Oh....and the kid went from hysterical to silent in 90 seconds. Amazing!

This motherhood gig is hard. Every day I feel like I make choices and decisions that are HUGE. I feel like everything has the potential to either benefit or hurt P. I know that's not really the case....but I have a heavier sense of responsibility now.

All in all, it's been a wonderful, crazy, tearful, joyous, funny, messy ride and I can't wait to enjoy many many more years of it!

Well...I stand corrected....

2010-07-21T09:44:00.004-04:00

Well, ladies and gentlemen....I stand corrected.

In my last post I mentioned that my son was a vomiter. And he was. Up until the day or two after I wrote that post.

**rolls eyes**

At P's one year check-up the pediatrician told me that I had to start putting him down before he was fully asleep so that he could learn to put himself down. Yes, I'd been putting off doing that because I KNEW my kid. I KNEW what he'd do. I KNEW he'd throw up everywhere and well, I just didn't want to deal with it. Also, he's in this very clingy phase and just wants to hug on me and put his head on my shoulder....and....well, crap, I KNOW!! I know what I had to do....

So that night, we tried it....but he went to sleep on Shooter and we had no drama. He woke up, however at 2am and would not go back down. At 5am I laid him in his crib and walked out of his room...I was done...this kid was going to get the hang of this one way or another....

He cried....hysterically cried....sobbed....gagged.....but didn't vomit.

He cried...hysterically.....for over 45 minutes before the sobs got farther apart and he began to lose steam.

Ya know...I didn't think it was physically possible for a kid to cry so long....I am exhausted after 10 minutes of crying...anyway, I digress...

Night #2 - the crying went on for about 20-25 minutes...and I made Shooter be the bad guy and go put P down. After 10 min Shooter went back in to make sure he had his paci and try to settle him down...that just made things worse! Finally about 15 min later he crashed.

Night #3 - attended a birthday party and the kid was so exhausted that he put up no fight and was out almost instantly.

Night #4 - The decision was made to not keep going in his room unless it sounded like he had vomited everything he'd eaten that day or fell out of the crib. Amazingly enough...he cried for less time....only 15 min!

Night #5 - I was making Shooter and I some hot dogs in the kitchen. As soon as I finished them and had dressed my dogs, Shooter went to go put P in bed. I sat down, Shooter dressed his dogs and then sat down......and then we realized.....no crying! It had to have been only 5 min and he was completely spent like a couple of nights ago!! A-MAZ-ING!! This might actually be working after all!

Night #6 - The poor kid was so tired after day care. Got him home, played with him for a bit, fed him a little dinner, got him a bath, played a little more, then bottle. He zonked out on me before i knew it! BUT - as Shooter was taking him to bed he woke up and started wailing as soon as his butt hit the bed. We had bout 15 min of sporadic bursts of crying...like he'd figure out he was alone in his room in the dark and get really mad....then pass out.....then wake up and be mad again....then pass out....rinse and repeat....

Tonight marks the one week mark and I think we've made significant progress! It's definitely nicer for me because I'm not tethered to the couch with the munchkin curled up on my chest. Now granted...I LOVE that....but every so often I'd like to surf the net, or fold laundry, or bake cupcakes.....something....anything.....

There is hope.....

Now....if we can just conquer the sippy cup.......

What do those books say?

2010-07-12T16:41:00.002-04:00

Okay....I have FINALLY come to the place where I fully believe that my child isn't like any of the children that the authors of the parenting books based their theories from.

You see.....my son is a vomiter.

I have tried the Ferber method...or the cry it out...or the let them soothe themselves and put themselves to sleep strategy. He HATES being left alone in his crib and will cry - well, let me be more descriptive - he will scream and sob and work himself up into such a tizzy that he ends up projectile vomiting all down the front of the crib. In the process he ruins his sheets, the rail cover, the mesh bumper and the dust ruffle.

Can I tell you just how much I HATE changing the sheets on his crib? I work up more of a sweat doing that than I do when I actually work out....and I hardly remember what that's like.

I have basically determined that my son is one who has a hard time putting himself to sleep. He needs help. Maybe I created that monster....but it's where we are now. Ever since he was little he'd cry himself into vomiting so we assisted him in getting to sleep.

Now, you just have to let him go for 3-4 min and he'll be technicolor yawning all over the place. I'm not looking forward to the terrible two's....because if he can do this now....without really trying....what if he realizes that he can make himself do it and does it on purpose.

Have I mentioned that I have a SERIOUS aversion to vomit?

I'm really at a loss....I had a bit of a breakdown this morning....after we'd been fighting with him for 3 hours - he'd fall asleep in your arms - then as soon as you got up from the chair he'd wake up crying. I'm not proud of it....I'm very ashamed of it....but honestly...I'm at my wits end. We're a bit sleep deprived....he's tired....we're all a bit cranky....we're just not all that pleasant to be around honestly.

Here's to hoping that this rough patch is merely a speed bump in our road of blissful sleep....we've been doing well until the last week....but oh what a week it's been....

I should blog about that.

2010-07-01T11:40:00.003-04:00

Can I just say that it feels pretty awesome to be feeling like I want to blog again.

For most of the last 6 months I haven't even thought of blogging....I read others' blogs....posted on some....but just couldn't bring myself to write anything.

Lately...like in the last week....I've caught myself thinking, "Now I should blog about that!". I consider that a kind of breakthrough of sorts.

Perhaps I will start blogging again....random stuff....kid stuff....embarrassing stuff...ya know, the typical blog material.

Until I can compose my next masterpiece....Ciao!

There are days....and then there are DAYS

2010-01-17T07:57:00.004-05:00

There are days I wake up and love being a Mom!

Then there are the other days.....

There are days like the week before Christmas....my last week before my two week Christmas vacation...when Parker came down with RSV and I had to miss several days of work and had to make emergency arrangements with his Nana to watch him at home so I could work a little bit.

There are days like last week when Parker came down with a stomach bug....and I was called no more than 10 minutes after I'd dropped him off that he'd vomited and needed to be picked up. It was the week that our office was moving and it was a short week...I didn't have time for this!

Those are the days where I'm pretty sure I didn't sign up for this. Those are the days where you have to make the hard decisions as a working Mom. Those are the days where you have to pick your child over your job. After a few of those days it makes me worry about being able to keep my job.

I know it's not the case...but I feel like I've missed more days from my job than I've actually worked. Deep down I know that's not the case...but I feel guilty every time I have to choose my son over my job. But when I ask someone else to help, I feel even guiltier.

Is guilt the working mother's dilemma? Will I be cursed with this as long as I'm working and he's living at home? Do I have 18 more years of this?

Some days it's so hard I just sit and cry...not knowing what to do...wishing I could make everyone understand that this is a hard decision and that I don't make it lightly. I want people at my job to know that it's not like I want to be out...nursing a sick baby at home. I'd rather be at work, doing something fulfilling and having him enjoying his day care. I'd choose that scenario a million times over.

But when I have one of those days....and I get that call from day care that he's not well....and I get frustrated and upset....I go pick him up and see that face....that face that lights up my world...

And I remember that he was once a tiny little boy who's grown way too fast....

And I know choosing him is the only right thing. He won't be this small forever although I'd like to freeze him just where he is. He's perfect and happy and just the sweetest boy.

When I have one of THOSE days....I look back at his pictures from the last 6 months and everything makes sense again.

Dear Parker - Month 6

2010-01-11T12:07:00.008-05:00

Dear Sweet Baby Parker,

Mommy's sorry for not writing to you last month.

The last two months have been full of new discoveries for you. You've changed so much and see the world so much differently than you used to.

We celebrated Thanksgiving at you Nana and Pop's house. We had such a great time! Next year you will be able to sit at the table with us and eat from your own plate. That will be so much fun!

We discovered you could roll over both ways. We also discovered you like to sleep on your side. We took this picture one day after you and Daddy were playing. You got tired and rolled over and went to sleep!

Mommy and Daddy also started feeding you solid foods. We soon found out that you love squash the most! So far you've had: sweet potatoes, carrots, squash, green peas, green beans, applesauce, pears, peaches and bananas. Mommy usually makes up funny songs when she feeds you and sometimes she makes you laugh so hard you spit food at her. We always have a fun time when we're eating!

One afternoon you, Mommy and Daddy went to Sam's Club to get you some diapers and to do a little Christmas shopping - you got unhappy in your stroller so Mommy carried you around until she thought her arms would fall off! At that point I decided to see if you could sit in the stroller by yourself and what do you know! You could!! We were so proud we had to snap a picture of you from our camera phone!

You also had your first visit to Santa this year! Our friends at The Grove Church held an event where you could visit Santa for free...and unfortunately he looked like a "free" Santa. You don't look like you're all that excited either...hopefully next year we can get a smile out of you (and Santa)!

Right before Christmas this year you got really sick. You started coughing really bad and Mommy took you to see your doctor. He listened to you breathe and said the letters Mommy dreaded hearing...he said he thought you had RSV. He went and got a swab and got a sample from your nose and came back to tell me that it was positive. I cried and cried. I didn't want my baby to be so sick! (A funny side story - When I called to tell your Grandma that you had RSV, she misunderstood me. She thought I had said that you had H1N1, or the flu, and she just went to pieces with me on the phone. She was crying hysterically and so was I. Finally she asked if I was going to get sick and were they going to put you in the hospital. I said no, I can't get sick from this, it's just a sniffle to me. Then we realized she had misunderstood me and we laughed!!) Luckily your breathing treatments and your steroid worked and by the day before we left for Tennessee you were all better! The doctor told Mommy that everything sounded good and we could travel with you!

So off we went to Tennessee this year for Christmas and stayed with Grandma and Grandpa for 10 whole days!!! We had so much fun seeing family and enjoying being spoiled. Grandma and Grandpa's friends Jim and Brenda let them have a megasaucer while you were there and boy did you love it! It took you about two days to figure out what everything did and once you had that down you figured out you could make the thing bounce and you'd jump and laugh! We had such a fun time watching you play in it. You particularly loved chewing on the puppy's ears!!

We went and spend Christmas Eve at Granny's house - all 20 something of us. It was so hot in there! Mommy wanted to show you off in your Santa outfit...but only made you wear it for just a few minutes. You were so sweaty when I took your hat off! I ended up just having you in your socks and your onesie and rolling up your sleeves because it was so warm in the house.

Grandma made you a playmat in front of the TVin their living room and you'd play there for hours. One night Mommy put you in your babylegs so you could play with your toes easier. We laughed at you because you'd grab them and roll over and squeal. At this point you were rolling to your belly but didn't really know what to do once you got there. Grandma laughed at the skulls on your babylegs...I told her not to laugh, that you were HARDCORE! :-)

Mommy found this really cool seat one day while on the Babies R Us website. You like to sit up like a big boy so I thought it would be something you'd enjoy. We went to dinner one night and we put you in the seat and you loved it! You played with your feet and kicked around. We could even attach your favorite rings to the straps so they wouldn't drop to the floor. That same night Mommy discovered that you like to gnaw on celery sticks...it's just enough resistance...you're teething something fierce right now too. Mommy expects to wake up one morning to find you have 4 new teeth!

You've finally figured out what to do once you've rolled over. Usually this is where we find you. You like to sleep on your side and sometimes rolled more onto your belly - just like your Mommy! Grandma found you this baby sized sock monkey and you love it so much. You almost always take a nap with it at home! Your Aunt Kate got you a full sized sock monkey for Christmas and you love it too!!

Feeding time is always fun! You are getting so independent now and wanting to grab at the spoon and inspect it. Mommy's started giving you a bowl to distract you so that she can feed you without getting food all over both of us! You also decided that you didn't like laying back so much in your high chair so now you're sitting up more like a big boy. You amaze me every day with how independent and strong you are!

Yesterday was your 6 month birthday and we went to eat lunch with Nana and Pop and spend the afternoon with them. You sat in your new chair and then also sat in the restaurant's high chair so Mommy could feed you. You ate a whole container of baby food while we ate!

We went back to Nana and Pop's house and played - Aunt Paige had brought over some toys that cousins Andrew and Katherine had played with and you loved this one. It had a sun and moon and astronaut that all spun around. You knew exactly what to do to get them to spin. You loved chewing on it and playing with it.

Parker, I can't believe how fast the last 6 months have flown by. You are becoming your own little person and amazing me every day. It is music to my ears when you laugh...I'd jump over a thousand buildings to hear that laugh. I'd swim a thousand oceans to see your gummy grin. We have a minor hurdle to jump in the next couple of weeks. Your surgery is coming up fast and although Mommy dreads it, I know it's for the best. I am sure that I will see your beautiful smile shortly after the surgery is over and that laugh no long after.

Mommy loves you, dear one! You are the light of my life and all that is right with this world.

Christmas baking is under way!!!!!

2009-12-05T11:38:00.003-05:00

Whoa...is it really time for me to fire up the oven again?!?!?

I am gearing up for my holiday baking marathon by starting with my Toffee Chocolate Chip Cookies. The oven is on and the ingredients prepared....just have to wait for the butter to soften. Why is it that I always get the urge to bake but am then stopped in my tracks by having to wait for butter to soften?????

Once Shooter gets back from his errands, he'll have the ingredients for me to make some Angel Whispers, which are lightly lemon sandwich cookies with a lemon curd filling. I'm making two batches, one in lemon and one in lime. I'll definitely post pictures and the recipe!

I'm also going to bake my favorite spritz cookie and make all kinds of great shapes using my cookie press. Once they're cool I use royal icing to decorate them. I will share this recipe as well for you.

Candies will be made too, so don't despair!! I have chocolate peppermint truffles on the menu and also peppermint bark. Also hanging out in the freezer are several pounds of pecans just waiting to be made into cinnamon spiced nuts!

I promise to keep you guys updated on my adventures and make sure you get the recipes and pictures so that you can add them to your holiday baking menu if you desire! Or...make them all year round!

Dear Parker - Month 4

2009-11-10T08:50:00.001-05:00

Dear Parker,

You have to know that Mommy has tears in her eyes as she types this. I have a hard time figuring out how you got so big so fast! This month has been one of a lot of changes for us.

During the last month Mommy went back to work. It was hard for me to imagine leaving you every day and letting someone else feed you and play with you. I cried a lot in those few days leading up to my return to the office. But, you know what? We have done okay! You love your day care and you have such a good time there. They take care of you and call me whenever they're concerned about you. I have also enjoyed being back at the office. It has helped me be a better Mom to you. One day you'll understand, I hope. It's hard to explain, but when I spend the days away from you, I cherish our time at night and on the weekends. I am more patient and easy going with you.

You learned to love the jumperoo at day care and started playing in the one we have for you at home. You laugh and play in it and just have a blast. Mommy and Daddy even video taped you in it and sent it to Grandma and Grandpa so they could see you playing. We have also discovered that you like to watch football while in your jumperoo - you watched the Tennessee vs. Alabama game with Mommy in your jumperoo.

Mommy has watched your fine motor skills develop this month too. You went from just staring at the rings hanging from your carrier to seeing them and grabbing them. One week later you went from just grabbing them to being able to grab with both hands and move them toward you. One week later you were grabbing them and putting them in your mouth. This was so amazing to watch. Mommy can't believe how much you're developing and how much you can do on your own!

Speaking of putting things in your mouth, you are full on teething now and the drool is flowing! You have to wear bibs a lot of the time because of the water works. Your two little bottom teeth are slowly working their way through and you're chewing on anything you can get your hands on...including your hands! You love to grab your blankets and try to chew on those, although you are starting to learn that they aren't as good as your rings or your froggie.

You started taking some cereal in your last bottle of the day this month too. At first it really upset your belly, so we're trying again but taking it slowly - adding a little at a time until you're used to it. At our 4 month check up we'll talk to the pediatrician about adding in more cereal and when to start you on baby food. That should be fun!

You're really trying to roll over from your tummy to your back. Mommy was playing with you last weekend and you pushed off of her hand and just about rolled over. I think you'll be able to roll over in about a week or two - I can't wait!!! You really enjoy your tummy time when we put you on your Boppy pillow. I'm trying anything I can to get you to like tummy time, because you really don't like no being able to see things around you.

You really started laughing this last month. Mommy can make faces at you and you laugh! Daddy tickles your sides and you laugh! You can say something funny and you laugh! It's so cute and you usually send Mommy into fits of laughter too. You really started "talking" this month too. I call it chattering because I can't understand a word you're saying but apparently you're really telling me a story. You will "talk" to Mommy for a long time and then I'll "talk" back to you. Apparently you understand because we will have a big conversation!

This last month was Halloween! Your very first!! You dressed up like a Tootsie Roll and you were so cute. We went to your school to go to their "Trunk n Treat" but the weather turned so cold and rainy that we only got out long enough to take a few pictures of you. You also went to a pumpkin patch with Mommy, Daddy, Grandma and Grandpa. We had such a fun time and tried to take pictures of you propped up with some pumpkins. They didn't turn out so great but we got a lot of other good pictures to remember the trip.

This has been a month where you've grown and developed so much. Mommy is so proud of you and how much you're changing. I love going to your nursery in the mornings and seeing you grinning at me from your crib. When you reach out to grab my hand, you grab my heart and don't let go. You are my heart, Parker. You are the best thing I've done and my legacy in this world.

I love you,
Mommy

Where was I this time last year?

2009-11-07T11:02:00.001-05:00

I woke up yesterday morning to the chattering sounds of my sweet little boy in his crib. I thought about how awesome life is now and wondered how we filled our days before him. As I lay there in a drowsy state kinda wishing Parker would settle back off to sleep, it hit me I was doing on that morning one year earlier.

On November 5th, 2008 - I woke up very early....around 5am-ish I think....unable to sleep because I had something very important to do that morning and I was a little worried. I tiptoed into the bathroom, closed the door and quietly went about my business. I had prepped everything the night before so all was ready for me.

By 5:15am I had taken two pregnancy tests and both read "PREGNANT". I remember being flabbergasted. Shocked. I sat down on the bathroom floor and couldn't believe it.

One year ago, yesterday morning, I found out Parker was on his way. It was surreal to realize that and hear my little boy chattering in his crib on the other side of our house. Surreal and awesome at the same time.

November 5th was a day that my life changed forever...in the best way possible!

L.

Sleep Disorder Central

2009-11-06T10:29:00.004-05:00

Oh lord help us! Our house was once a place of quiet nights and peaceful sleep....about 4 weeks ago anyway. Right before I went back to work Parker decided he wanted to stop sleeping through the night and start waking up repeatedly. Sometimes it would be to eat...sometimes simply to play. That got old REALLY fast!

Yesterday, I had to take Parker to the pediatrician because the day care called to say they were concerned because he hadn't been taking his bottles well. I added it up and he'd only taken 9 ounces of formula in a 12 hour period....very unlike him! I called the pediatrician's office and the nurse said that sometimes they'll quit taking a bottle when their ears are hurting them and he could be getting an ear infection without running a fever. So of course I immediately make an appointment for that afternoon because I'm not going to get caught with a little one and an ear infection over the weekend!

Turns our Parker's as healthy as a horse. Ears? Clear. Nose? Clear. Chest? Clear. Throat? Fine. He was playing on the examination table, chattering and laughing and squealing. Oh well...call me the neurotic first time Mom. As I was talking to the doctor...I mention how his sleep habits had changed and we discussed how I was putting him to bed. As it turns out I had changed up his routine at night and this probably changed how he was sleeping. Before I went to work I had established a good evening routine and put him down before he was fully asleep so he would work to pacify and soothe himself to sleep. Once I started working our nighttime routine started changing and I, wanting to spend more time with him, would rock him until he was fully asleep and then put him down. The doctor said this wasn't a good routine to be in and that I needed to get back into putting him down when he was drowsy but not fully asleep so that he could put himself to sleep. He said we'd be better off down the road if I did this now.

So last night I did as he said...went back to our routine before I went to work and what do you know....he went to bed around 8:30pm and slept until 4am and then took a bottle and slept until 7:40am. Pretty darn good for a 4 month old. Now...if I can work on him taking his bottle a little later and hold him off until about 5:30pm or so...we'll be cooking with Crisco! :-)

I'm pretty glad that he and I both have managed to deal with this disruption in our schedule/sleep routine and not gotten sick. **knock on wood** Here's to hoping that the next few days get us back in a good sleeping routine....and we'll add some cereal into his nighttime bottle in a few days to see if that helps too. :-)

L.

Halloween Fun!!

2009-11-05T08:57:00.001-05:00

Well, Halloween at our house wasn't exactly what I'd planned for my lil munchkin. The weather turned for the worse and we ended up not being able to do the Trunk or Treat at Parker's school like we'd hoped. It was just too drizzly and cold.

We did get there and took some pictures of him in his costume. Isn't he the sweetest lil Tootsie Roll you've ever seen???

After our morning excursions we went home and took some pictures of him in the Halloween outfit that his Grandma got him. Okay...he's too stinking cute for words.

And look at those chubber thighs....I can't stand it....I have to give 'em kisses every chance I get.

Oh...and this hat...it slays me....everyone at his day care loved it and his outfit.

The socks....geez...I can't stand this cuteness anymore....

Teething sucks....

2009-11-04T08:52:00.002-05:00

Okay...so my boy is not quite 4 months old yet...we have a week to go....and he's teething like a maniac. He's actually had these two teeth since he was about 12 weeks old but now they're really working their way through. He's drooling like a madman and a cranky-potamous. Don't get me wrong, he's an incredibly happy boy but his nighttime sleep habits are killing us. I think what's happening is that he's drooling so much that he's causing himself to gag a little when he lays on his back - therefore he wakes up about every 20 min or so. He sleeps well when he is laying on our chest or in his swing....so swing sleeping it will be until these teeth come in.

Pray for us....sleep deprivation is setting in....we're walking zombies....I'm not sure I'm safe to operate heavy machinery....

L.

New Vlog from Parker

2009-10-24T19:14:00.003-04:00

Hey all!! We recently found out that Parker loves playing in his jumperoo at day care so we decided to put him in the one we have here at home. To say he loves it is an understatement! Here is a little clip of him playing in it today.

Hope you all are having a great weekend!

Laura

Recipe time!!! Toffee Chocolate Chip Cookies

2009-10-13T18:38:00.005-04:00

I was online looking for a good cookie recipe and this seemed to fit the bill. I modified the original recipe a little bit and it resulted in a chewy yet crispy cookie that is just perfect!!!

Here is your cast of characters, ultimately I did end up using 1/2 cup butter and 1/2 cup shortening :

Toffee Chocolate Chip Cookies

1 cup packed dark brown sugar
1 cup butter, softened (or you can use 1/2 C butter and 1/2 C shortening)
1/4 cup white sugar
1 egg
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
2 cups all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1/4 teaspoon salt
3 cups semi-sweet chocolate chips
1 (8 ounce) package heath bar chips

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C).

Mix sugars, margarine and shortening until light and fluffy.

Mix in egg and vanilla. Stir in flour, baking soda, baking powder and salt. Stir in chocolate chips and heath bar chips.

Drop dough by rounded teaspoons onto ungreased cookie sheet. Make 9-10 minutes until lightly brown.

These are some of the best cookies I've ever tasted. I hope that you make them soon and enjoy them with an ice cold glass of milk!

Laura

Dear Parker - Month 3

2009-10-12T13:55:00.005-04:00

Dear Parker,

This last month has been filled with great changes! You now enjoy spending time on your belly and can push up on your arms and look around some. Your movements are so much more intentional now and not as jerky as they had been. You've discovered your hands and love to chew on your fists. You probably chew on your fists a lot because you're cutting two teeth!!! Mommy couldn't believe it when she first felt them, but sure enough - there they were! Grandma asked if it was normal to cut them so early and I told her that whether it was normal or not, they were coming in! ha! Parker, you now look at Mommy so focused and intent - we laugh together now and you smile when Mommy blows raspberries on your belly. You wake up so happy and talkative. You usually spending 10 minutes stretching out on your changing pad in the morning - stretching and talking to us.

We have spent lots of time with family over the last month - we spent two different weeks with Grandma and Grandpa in Tennessee. They enjoy spending time with you so much. We also made lots of trips to see Nana and Pop and they love seeing you grow and change.

We took you to a pumpkin patch on your three month birthday and took some pictures of you with the pumpkins. Unfortunately you're not sitting up so well yet and they looked kinda funny. But we had several other pictures that looked great and we'll cherish them always.

You are Mommy's sweet boy and I love you so much. Everyday you do something that amazes me and makes me so proud to be your Mommy. Just don't grow so fast!! :-)

Love you always!

Mommy

The best moment of being a Mommy....so far!

2009-10-02T21:31:00.004-04:00

The last three months have been filled with momentous times in my life. So many firsts that I cannot count them all. However, yesterday there was a moment that caused me to stop in my tracks. Caused me to lose my breath. Caused me to cry. Caused me to completely understand why I became a Mother.

I was rocking Parker to sleep in his nursery yesterday afternoon. I had neglected to turn on his lullabies so I started humming a lullaby - only it was more like a La La La lullaby. Anyway, La is one of the sounds he makes a lot these days. He stopped sucking on the paci, looked up at me, grinned so hugely and said "LA!" I couldn't catch my breath. He recognized the sound and spontaneously interacted with me! It was a huge first in his development and a huge step in our bonding. For the first time I really understood that he knows me, knows my voice, and remembers our interactions.

I go back to work in two weeks and I really wish I had another 12 weeks off with him. Honestly, I wish I could have gone back to work and worked for the first 10 weeks and then started my leave - he's reaching such a cute stage that I'm relishing every moment with him!

Also, here are a few new pictures of the precious puddin' cup!

This motherhood thing is pretty darned awesome!

:0)

Vlog - Parker's first video!!

2009-09-30T20:58:00.003-04:00

Well, here is my very first video blog. I decided to video Parker doing his famous high stepping routine. This isn't his very best routine but we get a good look at his potential as well as some of his talking.

Enjoy!

Dear Parker - Month 2

2009-09-10T22:12:00.003-04:00

Dear Parker,

It's incredible to me how things have changed since I wrote your last letter. You've grown in weight and length and filled out and are just an amazing little boy.

At 5 weeks you started sleeping through the night. This is mostly because we went to the pediatrician for your check up and Mommy found out that she could feed you more formula because you were HUNGRY!! Once you started eating more you started sleeping better. Also, we put you in your crib to sleep and swaddled you and you LOVED IT! We were so proud of you after that first night and to our amazement you kept sleeping like that.

We had your photo taken for your birth annoucements around 5 weeks as well. You were the sweetest little subject and posed beautifully. Your announcement was the most talked about topic among the family over Labor Day weekend!

Around 6 weeks you found your tongue. Grandma and I have had a ball laughing at your funny faces and sticking our tongues out with you. You grin and stick your tongue our and smack your lips and you can even curl your tongue! You are certainly your Mommy's boy!

Around 7 weeks you started cooing and talking a lot to Mommy and Daddy. You'd laugh and smile and talk to us every morning when you'd wake up. Mommy loves that time with you and talks back to you.

We spent the week before Labor Day in Tennessee visiting family, you were so great and charmed everyone we met. Everyone loved meeting you and they couldn't get enough of your sweet smiles or your cute belly. Mommy and Daddy spent their first night away from you when we went to a bed and breakfast in the mountains. You were pretty fussy on Grandma and Grandpa and we think it's because you missed Mommy. I came back to you the next day and we were all happier!

You have made so many changes over the last 4 weeks, I can hardly believe how you're growing and changing. You are Mommy's handsome boy and the bestest boy in the whole world - never forget that my special son.

I love you with all my heart,
Mommy

Dear Parker - Month 1

2009-08-10T08:51:00.001-04:00

Dear Parker,

Today marks exactly one month since you were born. On one hand it feels like time has creeped by and you've been around forever. On the other hand time has flown and I feel like I can hardly catch my breath.

Our time in the hospital was like a fairy tale. All our needs were quickly taken care of and our wishes were granted. Once we arrived home, the fairy tale continued as your Grandma stayed with us for 4 weeks - as I couldn't drive due to my surgery. She helped me clean and cook and take care of you. Mostly she loved you and hugged you and fed you and couldn't get enough of you.

I will tell you that we had a very interesting first night home. You didn't feel good at all and cried most all of the night. We had no idea that there existed a magical cure and me, Daddy, Grandma and Grandpa all took turns staying up with you and rocking you and trying to comfort you. The next day the doctor told us of the magical cure and we've relied on it often during your first month. Since that first night you've been a complete angel. You hardly cry and you sleep so well.

Parker, there have been so many times when I have just watched you sleep in my arms and cried until the tears wouldn't flow any longer. I find it terribly hard to put into words just how much you mean to me. My mind has a hard time fathoming just how I can love you so much in such a short period of time. From the moment I held you I would have done anything for you. You are an answered prayer and an angel sent from above - a true blessing to your father and I. You have helped me open my heart to a size I never knew possible.

You are making me a better person, Parker. I never could quite grasp the concept of "don't sweat the small stuff". Now I understand. I hope that as long as we are on this Earth together that we make each other better people.

I promise to you now, I will do everything I can to help you be a man of good character, high integrity and much compassion.

Oh....and I don't think I'll ever be able to get the songs from your swing or Pack N Play out of my head....it's a blessing and a curse....

Parker, my boy, Happy (1 month) Birthday!

Hypo What?!?!?

2009-08-04T17:43:00.003-04:00

Well, Parker is growing like a weed folks! I know this because my arm falls asleep when I feed him, he's grown out of his newborn onesies and he's almost grown out of his newborn diapers.

I also know this because we had a doctor's appointment last week and he was weighed for the first time since we got home from the hospital...he weighed 10 pounds 2 ounces!!!! He's just remarkable! He's trying to be as big as his Daddy as quickly as he can!

We had to go to a specialist last week...a pediatric urologist...in regards to a small birth defect that Parker has which is call hypospadias. It basically means that his urethra doesn't exit his guy part at the very end like it should. His urethra exits just a little bit south of where it should and it's incredibly minor as far as that kind of defect goes. Apparently it's caused by the mother taking progesterone early in the pregnancy which I did. Our urologist basically gave us two options: 1 - Don't circumsize Parker and leave the minor hypospadias as it is or; 2 - Wait until he's 6 months old and have the surgery to correct the hypospadias and circumsize him. We feel strongly about circumscision so we'll be electing to have the surgery done to correct his defect and circumsize him once he's six months old.

Anyway...at least I have a while to prepare myself for his procedure....

We also go in on Monday for our one month checkup with the pediatrician! I can't believe he'll be four weeks old on Friday! I am already compiling my list of questions for the pediatrician. One of them is if I can start giving Parker some Pedialyte. A good friend of mine said that her pediatrician said she could give her son Pedialyte during the day to keep him full without extra calories. I am worried because Parker is already taking 4 ounce bottles every three hours and sometimes wakes up at 2 or 2.5 hours between feedings so hungry. If I could give him an ounce or two of Pedialyte then that could satiate him until feeding time. We'll see what our pediatrician says. Also, I'm going to ask him about the possibility of giving Parker some cereal before bedtime. My same friend said her pediatrician allowed her to give her son a bit of cereal at the 9/10pm feeding when he was one month old. We'll see...I'd love to get the boy sleeping a little longer than 3 hours at a time.

We're hoping to get our pictures made soon for our announcements...I promise to post them soon!

Gratuitious Cuteness!

2009-07-24T12:24:00.003-04:00

Okay....I'm warning you now...there's more cuteness on this page than most people can handle in one day. It's overwhelming and could cause adverse effects on your fallopian tubes if you're a woman. Scroll at your own risk, that's all I'm saying. :-)

Okay...Here's baby Parker dressed to impress on the day we left the hospital.

Isn't the cuteness just jumping off the page at you? Those fingers...those cheeks...ugh, it's more than I can handle for sure. How I'm ever going to say no to this boy is beyond me.

Also, this cute bundle doesn't even come close to revealing the not so cute behavior that plagued us the night he came home. We were insulated in our nice warm hospital room. We were lulled into a false sense of security. We weren't exactly prepared for our first night home with this 8 pound munchkin. The night this boy came home with us was a night from hell. I won't sugar coat it, it was one of the hardest nights of my entire life. He had been through so much change that he was all out of sorts....and gassy....and just didn't feel good. Did I know how to soothe him, heck no! Did Grandma or Grandpa? No way....well, Grandma finally did get him hugged up to her so that his belly was up against hers and he seemed to like that....but mostly he just cried, and cried, and cried and couldn't be soothed. I cried and fought back the desire to drive back to the hospital and return him. No...I wouldn't have done that....well, maybe....no seriously, I wouldn't have ever done that. I was thinking irrationally from lack of sleep, we all were. Luckily we went to see the pediatrician the next day and he was all like, "Give him some infant Mylicon drops and he'll be fine." Well thanks doc...where were you like 12 hours ago? :-) Anyway, Mylicon is the next best thing since sliced bread and Parker's cheeks. If you're a new Mom or about-to-be Mom, stock up. Trust me!

And now....for my little ducky....

Now those cheeks...they slay me....those blue eyes, oh Lordy be I'm in trouble. What else is there to say? He's just too cute for words. Of course, he's mine so I can be that blatantly biased. :-)

Hugs to you all!
L.

My sweetest boy!

2009-07-21T13:09:00.004-04:00

Here are the first pictures of me, Shooter and Parker from the OR delivery room. As you can see in the first pic, I have an ice pack on my chest. Apparently most women end up vomiting during a cesearean delivery, I lasted longer than most....I didn't get sick until the surgeons were sewing me up. That made spending time with Parker a little difficult, but we managed some first family pictures thanks to the wonderful anesthesia nurse, Barbara.

Here is the first picture of Mommy and Parker:

Here's the first picture of Daddy and Parker:

Here's our first family picture:

Here's Parker after his first bath while he was being worked on in the transition nursery. He inhaled some meconium during delivery and had to spend 4 hours in the transitional nursery being monitored. He was born at 5:11pm and I didn't get to hold him until a little after 9pm.

But once I got to hold him, I didn't let go for a while. This munchkin grabbed my heart and hasn't let go. Methinks it'll be that way for a long, long, long, long time. :0)

He's a little yellow here...we fought off jaundice and we won, but he looks a little like he's been in a tanning bed. :-)

Look at those cheeks will you? They slay me. I kiss and smooch and snuggle to them daily. I can't help it. They're addictive....like Cheetos only better for you!

Labor....wherefore art thou labor?

2009-07-19T16:06:00.004-04:00

Well....now it's time to talk a little about my delivery of Baby Parker. As I mentioned in my earlier post, I was on Pitocin for several hours with no progression of my labor. As you can see by the picture below, I was in so much pain.... ;-)

Since I knew the day before that I was being induced, my parents had time to make it down from Tennessee. Here are me and my Dad in the labor room.

We were really hoping that Parker (and I) had progressed so that we could get the delivery show on the road. Here is Shooter giving Parker the what's what on how he needed to come on out and greet us. Unfortunately it didn't work!

Once the doctor came in and evaluated me, it was determined that we were off to surgery. Here I am prepped and ready to go!

I also had to give Shooter's head a good rub for luck....here we both are dressed, prepped and ready to head off to surgery so that we could meet our precious Parker.

Here is a picture of me with my L&D nurse DeAnna. She was the sweetest nurse and really made the time I spent in L&D a good experience. She accompanied me to the OR and then was there through my surgery as well.

More to come......

Baby Parker has arrived!!!

2009-07-18T09:48:00.003-04:00

Well, as I posted Wednesday a week ago, I had been having issues with my blood pressure. After being observed on Tuesday I went back on Thursday just to be checked out and found out that my blood pressure was still as high and my doctor was very nervous about things.

She sent me back over to the hospital to be observed and see what happened after a few hours of rest. Well, the OB on call came to see me after an hour and said, "Well, I think we need to get you ready for a delivery. I'm ordering Cervadil for the night and then we'll start Pitocin in the morning to get your labor going." I nearly freaked out! Shooter comes to the hospital to stay with me and then I get on the phone with my parents so they can begin the drive from Tennessee to Hotlanta for the birth of their grandson.

On Friday morning they pulled the Cervadil and then started the Pitocin at 9am. At about 2:30pm I started having these horribly strong contractions that had me crying and writhing in bed. I then found out that they were so strong because I had a full bladder. Once I went to the bathroom they subsided to the non-existent point they were before. At 4pm the OB on call came in and checked me and I was barely, and I mean BARELY, 1 cm dilated after 7 hours on Pitocin. Also, Parker's heartbeat was starting to drop with each of my contractions so the OB on call was justifiably concerned. She decided at 4pm to do a c-section and Parker was born at 5:11pm on Friday, July 10th. He weighed in at a healthy 8 pounds 3 ounces and was 20.5 inches long. I found out later that I wouldn't have been able to deliver him anyway due to a huge kink in his cord, about the size of Shooter's fist. He had somehow somersaulted and knotted his cord in a big way!

I owe a huge debt of thanks to the OB who delivered Parker because she made a decision that saved me a lot of pain and saved Parker pain as well. I have recovered remarkably from my c-section and we're all doing amazingly well.

My parents have been here all week with me and have been a godsend. I do not know what I would have done had they not been here...especially Mom...whew....she's an angel for sure, peeps!

Anyway. I'm slowly working on getting photos in order and such and I'll be posting them soon!

Hugs to all of you!
L.

I would SO not make a good bedrest patient

2009-07-08T15:57:00.003-04:00

Yesterday I had a bit of a scare during my doctor's visit. I went in, a little earlier than my scheduled appointment because I'd been having contractions, and discovered that my blood pressure was pretty high. Higher than it's been all through my pregnancy. I've been kinda worried that this day might come but had figured I was past the point where I'd really have to worry about it.

Well, after resting, my blood pressure still didn't go down far enough to please the doctor so she sent me over to the hospital for observation and blood work. Well, it took about an hour to just get in there, get settled, answer their questions, get hooked to monitors and have my blood drawn. Ugh! Then they said it would take another hour to get the results from my blood work. I hadn't had breakfast and it was lunch time...I was about to die! Luckily my nurse took pity on me and brought me a lunch menu so I ordered some lunch. Lunch came about 1pm, I'd arrived around 11:40am, and I didn't get the results from my blood work until between 3 and 3:30pm. I was so freakin' bored out of my mind that I thought I was going to go batty! The only thing on TV was the Michael Jackson memorial and I am so oversaturated with MJ coverage that I couldn't stand watching it. Also, I discovered that watching "A Baby Story" on TLC really isn't as entertaining when you're in the hospital hooked to monitors in a labor and delivery room! Thankfully my blood work results were all good and my observation went well so nothing further was needed to be done.

The doctor did send me home with strict instructions - no more work, rest, stay off my feet as much as possible and stay out of the heat. Not too hard...I can handle that!

I have to say that not having to worry about work has been one of the greatest gifts. I slept really well last night have abided by her orders to the letter!

I will keep everyone updated for when Parker arrives...he's being stubborn and slow so we might be waiting for a while. :-D

Recipe Time!! Mediterranean Couscous Salad

2009-07-07T09:35:00.001-04:00

One Sunday evening I got really industrious and worked away in the kitchen making three salads/salsas for the week's dinners and lunches. One was a brand new one for me and one I completely made up on the fly. I have since worked with the dressing element of the salad and feel that it's now perfecto! I hope you enjoy trying this out!

Mediterranean Couscous Salad

1 cup dried couscous prepared according to package directions and cooled
3 Roma/plum tomatoes, seeded and diced
1 medium red onion, diced
2 english cucumbers, quartered, seeds removed and diced
1 bunch flat leaf parsley, chopped well
1 8oz container feta cheese crumbles

In a large mixing bowl stir all of the ingredients above together until mixed well.

Dressing:
Juice of three lemons
Zest of one lemon
1 tsp minced garlic (I use the jarred kind)
1 tsp kosher salt
1/2 tsp black pepper
1/3 cup olive oil

Whisk all these ingredients until thoroughly combined and then pour over the couscous mixture. Stir well until the vinaigrette is well incorporated. Cover and refrigerate for an hour before serving.

No news - the waiting game continues

2009-07-06T15:38:00.003-04:00

Well....we're one week away from my due date. 7 measley days. I'm actually hoping that tonight or tomorrow will be the magical time. It's a full moon tomorrow and we all know that full moons bring out the crazy people and cause preggos to go into labor. I don't wanna jinx myself, but I just haven't felt right today. My tummy is really tight, my lower back hurts and the baby is really, really low!

I've been having some stern conversations with my son this weekend about how his father and I are very ready for him to come and that we can't wait to see his little face. His father has had conversations with him urging him to come out of the womb and into the room! This weekend didn't see much activity - only random Braxton Hicks contractions. Today....today feels different somehow. We'll see if it means anything. I have an OB appt tomorrow late in the day so we'll see what she says and see if I've made any progress.

In other news....can I tell you how oversaturated I am with all this Michael Jackson stuff? I mean, seriously....I've had enough of it. Shooter and I pulled into our local pharmacy yesterday and discovered that the sign out front was rigged to stay on the message, "We'll miss you, Michael J!!!!!!!" I nearly gagged. I've contemplated going to the pharmacy website and emailing them a complaint. Eh, it's probably my grouchy pregnancy hormones taking over my otherwise easy going self.

Okay....since I've been writing this....I'm feeling more and more uncomfortable and weird. Maybe it was my sandwich for lunch....then again, maybe it's labor. Let's all pray that it's the latter!

Hopefully the next time I return it'll be with pictures of baby Parker!

I'm not exactly surprised....

2009-06-22T21:45:00.003-04:00

So I'm sitting here watching the Jon and Kate "Annoucement" episode.

I can't say that I'm surprised, but I am sad for them.

They're apparently going to keep filming the show. Kate sat there crying and looking like the martyr and I could only keep thinking that she made her bed and now she's having to lie in it. Jon just seemed so darned ambivalent about it all.

I would have had much more respect for them had they said that they were going to take a break from filming and that they were going to work on their marriage and take themselves and the children out of the limelight.

I don't know how I would have handled it if I were in their shoes, but above all I would like to think that I'd put my marriage first. My faith has taught me that God comes first and then our spouse and then our children. Something tells me that their faith isn't what they have portrayed to the media or they'd be coming to a different conclusion.

I am sad for the children. As Kate said, they're now another statistic. It didn't have to be that way.

July 7th??????

2009-06-22T09:45:00.003-04:00

I just looked up the next full moon and it happens to be on July 7th....Could that be the day??!!??!

Personally, I don't care. I'm not one of those hyper pregnant women who've planned out their birthing experience to the letter. I figure things will go awry and we'll have bumps along the way. I only have three things I'm particular about -
1 - GIVE ME DRUGS!
2 - I really don't want to be induced.
3 - I really don't want a C-section.

Other than those three - I'm flexible and willing to go with what the doctor says.

Oh....this weekend we did get the car seat installed...I think. It was a painful process. One that caused many tears and gnashing of teeth. We have a compact car, even though it's a sedan, and the seat barely fits in the backseat and barely allows room for the adult passengers up front. I think Shooter finally figured it out but I think we'll have to be shopping for a bigger replacement car here soon. I vote for a Honda CRV! :-)

I am 37 weeks along today - Parker is considered full-term and can come any day! I'm ready for him to come on the personal, emotional and physical front however not so ready on the professional/work front. I need this week to get things in order and ready to go. We'll see what tomorrow brings. I have another sonogram to confirm that he has migrated heads down (I really think he has) and see how big he is. After that I go see my OB and my guess is we'll create our battle plan depending on where he is and his size.

Whew! Let's get this show on the road!!!

Still waiting....

2009-06-19T14:43:00.003-04:00

Ha!

Have I ever mentioned that I'm not a really patient person? During the 10 months that it took Shooter and I to get pregnant with Parker I was one of the most impatient people ever. Every month I was filled with "whys" and "why nots". Questioning and wondering.

Once we finally got pregnant I was so super excited but impatient for each new milestone in my pregnancy. Now I'm impatient for the arrival of my little boy. I'm anxious to see his face and nibble his little baby toes and kiss on his round baby belly.

Apparently he's not as impatient to see me. Ha!

I'll be 37 weeks on Monday and finally considered full term. He, according to my doctor today, seems to have turned head down and is in position. So now he holds all the cards! It's in God's timing and Parker's need to come visit us.

I'm actually thinking it might be next weekend. Not sure why but I have that in my head for some reason. We'll see, my mother's intuition so far has been pretty spot on.

I'll have to get some photos taken because this baby belly is OUT OF CONTROL!

Also, I owe you more pics of the jungle that my tomato plants have become. It's crazy! I've started harvesting them and oh they're so tasty!!!!!!

Later!
L.

Starting the waiting game!

2009-06-14T19:16:00.006-04:00

I know I've been a bad blogger....almost another two weeks has passed without a post from me. I do apologize...it just seems to me like I don't really have anything new to post. The heartburn remains....the thank yous remain unwritten...the doctors appointments keep coming...work is winding down...I'm still tired...blah blah blah. See nothing interesting to write!

BUT...today...we went and purchased our infant car seat carrier and stroller. We, as in Shooter and I, have been debating the merits of full sized strollers, lightweight strollers, travel systems and such until we just can't take it anymore. Finally we just decided that we'd get a nice lightweight stroller and a separate infant carrier rather than a bulky travel system. We ended up with this:

We decided on getting the Maxi-Cosi Mico Infant Car Seat and the Maxi-Cosi Perle stroller. I have a coworker who has this and she just LOVES it...I can see why...the thing turns on a dime and is lightweight and folds up into nothing. The carrier is not the lightest on the market but it's also way lighter than some others out there.

We have it put together and sitting in Parker's room...no we're just waiting. We need to install the base into my car and then we're all systems go.

I have felt like he's turned and settled down a lot in the last few days. I'm feeling him all out in front of me and his movements are more rolling than the punches and kicks from a few days ago. I feel the little swirls down low and the kick like feelings up high, which leads me to believe that he has decided to head south. I hope so...I DO NOT want a cesearean delivery.

I am having to eat super small meals about 2-3 hours apart because I just have no room in my stomach anymore. Part of it is that I am fighting morning sickness again which is a pain in the butt. I woke up the other night, nauseaous, couldn't go back to sleep and went to the nursery to just sit and sip on a Coke until it passed. I figured it won't be long until I'm doing that but nursing the baby instead of a Coke. :-)

I hope everyone is doing well...I know we're hanging out and just waiting for the "I think it's time" go signal. :-)

Later!
L.

Doctors, jury duty and heartburn....

2009-06-03T19:28:00.000-04:00

Okay...so I'm going to address three things that are conspiring against me these days.

#1 - Heartburn!!!!

I have never in my life experienced such horrific, terrible, noxious, unbelievable heartburn as I have been experiencing over the last week. One day it'll be fine and then then next it'll be so bad I feel like I'm about to vomit all the time. Last night it was so bad that after downing about 9 tums in a 3 hour period, I had to prop myself up in bed in order to get 4.5 hours of uninterrupted sleep. If this is preparation for sleep deprivation...I'd rather it wait another few weeks until I can get my work life situated, please! It's always nice when your boss comes in, takes a look at you, and says, "Boy, you look tired today." *sigh*

#2 - Jury Duty

I got called in for jury duty in the Superior Court of the county I live in. Can I just say that they are pretty unorganized as far as courts go. I have always been called to serve where you just call a number the night before and find out if you need to go in or if you're dismissed, etc. Well not in my county! They call in all 300 or so of us and then choose 40-50 to go to jury selection then release us - but we have to be back the next day. The next day they call in 40-50 more folks...same process over again. I think anyway....I had been pestering the poor ladies at the court because I had a doctor's appointment yesterday and another one today and would have to be let go early to get to them. They finally took pity on me yesterday and made the executive decision to excuse me for the week. Woo Hoo!

#3 - Doctors
Okay...so I completely freaked out about my regular OB calling me and her being concerned about my amniotic fluid level. Well....turns out that my Perinatologist wasn't concerned at all about my original level number and it was even higher today. Both readings well in the normal range although on the high end. She was not concerned....so therefore I am not concerned. My perinatologist is amazing and I love her to death. She could say the world was flat and I think I'd believe her. Ha! Anyway, all looks great with Baby Parker. He's about 5 pounds 11 ounces and has peach fuzz on his round little head! He was also breech today, but that could change at any time as he has so much room to wiggle around in. I think my placenta decided to give him a suite. We have a follow up with my perinatologist in three weeks to do another set of measurements and get a fluid level measurement and also check and see where the boy has decided to orient himself in his cozy little home. I do not want to go through the process of trying to turn him so if he's still breech at 37 weeks we'll likely be scheduling a C section delivery of the bubs. Amazing!!!

L.

Did a green thumb come along with my pregnancy???

2009-06-02T09:14:00.001-04:00

Okay...several weeks ago I wrote THIS BLOG POST talking about mine and Shooter's weekend of gardening. Well, let me show you what's been happening to our tomatoes, basil and petunias since the end of April.

This is one of the window boxes. If you remember, this had three scrawny little plants in it and didn't look like it would ever amount to much. Well, it's proven me wrong. :-)

This is the silver bucket planter that had 6 scrawny plants in it about a month ago. It didn't take this planter long to get full to the max. It's so packed in there with blooms, I can hardly get in there to dead-head the petunias so they keep blooming!!

This planter had two SAD little red cherry tomato plants in it a few weeks ago. We already had to put one cage around them and now we're trying to figure out what to do with the stragglers who are blooming and will likely break off when the tomatoes start coming on if we don't do something about them.

This planter is in the same shape as the other one...it's going BANANAS!!!!!

Here's a close up of just a few of the tomatoes growing on the plants. We're going to be overrun here in about 4-6 weeks.

I just thought a picture of the blooms was pretty....

Oh...and here is the basil....it may not look like much now...but this is AFTER it got a pruning....

Here's the first harvest of basil for the year. Now...I just have to find some takers for it.... :-) Actually, I may make a batch of pesto and freeze it. I'll have to do some investigating on uses for basil. :-)

Later!
L.

I didn't even realize I was stinky!

2009-06-01T09:15:00.001-04:00

:-)

Over the Memorial Day weekend my family in Tennessee threw me and Parker a baby shower. It was so fun to be with everyone...and also a good friend of mine from childhood.

The food was spectacular! My Granny's pimento cheese is to die for!!!!

Here I am posing with the plate from the baby shower.

Here is the obscene display of gifts.

My cousin Amanda is so crafty. She made this cute as pie diaper cake for us!

This is my Aunt Jane. She's my Mom's oldest sister and hosted the shower at her house. I cannot thank her enough for all the hard work she put into the event. It was so perfect!

The faces you can see are my Aunt Mary, my Mom's youngest sister, and my Cousin Lori, she's married to one of my cousins. The face you can't see is my, hmmm, well it's my Mom's cousin Jenny, I suppose that makes her my second cousin?

In this shot from left to right is my Aunt Carol, my cousin Paula, Jenny, Mary and Lori.

Here's the other side of the room - my friend Kelly, my cousin Kate, my Aunt Dana, my Mom, and my Granny.

Here's me with the baby bedding.

My cousin Amanda had this cute outfit made for baby Parker. I can't wait to see him in it!!!

Amanda also had this gorgeous diaper bag monogrammed for him too. It's perfect and I can't wait to use it either.

Cousin Lori got Parker this snuggly little bear and the basket that matches the baby bedding. Her son Nick got Parker the piggy bank, it's positively adorable!!

After I had wrecked havoc on the gifts, my cousin Amanda brings out these huge bags for my Mom to open, so Mom will be "the coolest grandma on the block". Amanda is a garage sale queen and picked up all kinds of toys and books for Mom to keep at her house for when Parker comes to visit!

A good time was had by all and I have to thank all my aunts, cousins and my sister-in-law for all the hard work they put into making the shower perfect!

Later!
L.

The nursery - nearing completion!

2009-05-31T16:33:00.004-04:00

This last week my Mom has been staying with us and helping me get the nursery in order. After day two, this is where we stood.

Mom and I found this great side table at Target and it matches the furniture that we had purchased perfectly!

We got all the bedding out and decided that we would use the blanket as a wall hanging so that it can be displayed.

Here's the crib with the bedding all in it. I'll have to snap some better pics of it.

I added some of my wall decals to the wall too. They are so darn cute and really make a difference to the room.

Here's one of the shelves that we got at Ikea. Unfortunately we had a bit of a mishap with the other one and shortly after this Shooter got it put back up. Also, you can see the cute sign that we had made for Parker's nursery.

It's coming along and actually looks sooooooo much better today. I will snap a few pics and definitely post them.

Later!
L.

Seriously...where has time gone?

2009-05-28T19:21:00.003-04:00

Okay...I just realized that it's been something like 16 days since my last blog posting and some of
you are probably wondering what has happened to me.

Well, nothing really....life has just happened....

Time seems to have sped up considerably and each day passes at mach speed. I feel like the Millennium Falcon whipping through the universe with the stars streaking past me.

I have honestly been spending much time stressing about this pregnancy, what's going to happen after the baby is born, and just dealing with a lot of stuff.

I am now starting to feel some of the amazingly wonderful symptoms of pregnancy too. My ankles are swelling to phenomenal proportions and I've had to ditch my wedding rings. My belly is poking outward at an alarming pace and the baby is growing and kicking like crazy.

Basically everything is great with the baby...we think....I would have said that unequivocally yesterday however today I received a call from my nurse indicating my OB wasn't happy with the results from my sonogram last week. She said my amniotic fluid level was a little high, 21.62 where 21 is the high end of normal. I go in next week for another sonogram at my high risk doctor's office so hopefully the news will be better.

I did have my first baby shower over the weekend and my second one this afternoon. I'll be posting pictures from this weekend and also the progression of the nursery over the course of the next few days. And I promise to try to be better about posting. :-)

Later!
L.

Recipe Time! Easy Key Lime Pie

2009-05-12T16:17:00.004-04:00

I was over at my sister-in-law's house this weekend to celebrate Mother's Day and Shooter's birthday and of course we indulged in the most amazing food! We had the traditional family burgers which were awesome and this really great black bean salad. My mother-in-law made Shooter's favorite pound cake and then my sister-in-law made this wonderfully light and delicious key lime pie. Immediately I knew I had to have the recipe! And I shall share with each of you. :-)

Butter Crunch Crust

1/2 C softened butter
1/4 C packed brown sugar (light)
1 C all purpose flour
1/2 C chopped almonds

Combine butter, brown sugar, flour and nuts and place in a 9x13 baking pan. Bake at 400 degrees for 12-15 min or until golden brown. Remove from oven and stir at once. Quickly press crumbs against the bottom and sides of a 9 in ch pie plate. Cool. Reserve a few crumbs for top of pie.

Easy Key Lime Pie

Butter Crunch Crust (recipe above)

1 can sweetened condensed milk

1/3 cup + 1 Tbs Nellie and Joe's key lime juice

1 small container Cool-Whip (thawed)

Combine condensed milk, lime juice and whipped topping. Stir until well blended. Pour into cooled pie shell and top with reserved crumbs. Refrigerate for at least two hours before serving.

Now, go forth and enjoy this creamy tart deliciousness!

Customer service....gone the way of the dinosaur....

2009-05-06T08:32:00.000-04:00

Okay...so this saga started on Saturday....and was only reconciled yesterday late afternoon.

(Names have been changed to protect the innocent, and me, but you can figure out who the guilty parties are easily enough...)

It started oh so innocently with me dropping off a prescription for my iron pills at the CraptasticValueShop that is around the corner from my house. I moved all prescriptions to that location because a local WalGreenjeans was horrible. Until now I've been really happy with the local CraptasticValueShop and have had no reason to complain.

Well, I dropped off that scrip and then 15 min later got a call from the pharmacist indicating that they didn't have the name brand in stock and would I settle for the generic - if I get the generic then I can get the scrip filled today. I'm not a generic drug kinda gal, so I said I'd wait for the name brand to come in on Monday.

I stop by the pharmacy on Monday afternoon, after work to pick up my scrip (as well as one for Shooter) and the tech says, "That'll be $80+ because this drug isn't covered by your insurance." I am flabbergasted because I happen to carry some of the world's best insurance and they cover practically everything for practically no co-pay. I shrug and ask the pharmacist, a gentleman who I question whether had any sense about anything, if the generic is covered and if it is I'll just take that. He comes back and tells me it's covered but they have to order it. I don't question at this point, I just tell him I'll come back tomorrow.

So....in the meantime....on Tuesday morning I call my insurance company Ate-nada and they say that they drug is by all means covered and they're not sure why it would come back as not covered. Only reason they could figure is that the pharmacy did something wrong when they submitted it in the system. Argh!

I call CraptasticValueShop back and talk to the tech who answered the phone. She's amazed at my story and puts the original scrip back into the system and says she's not sure what happened initially because it's now coming back with a correct co-pay. She puts the phone down and yells at the pharmacist, "Did you work on XXXX for a patient yesterday?" The pharmacist says, "Yea, why??" Then the tech realizes I'm not really on hold and puts me on hold. She comes back and all she says is that they'll fix the problem and my scrip will be ready that afternoon.

I mean seriously....it took me 4 days to get one prescription filled. Back and forth and back and forth...I'm surprised my filter stayed intact and I didn't go off on anyone. Here lately the baby has been sucking all filters from me and what I think immediately comes out of my mouth. Luckily for me...and for the pharmacy folks....the filter remained intact and I was able to maintain my grace and dignity. :-) ha!

Am I really ready?

2009-05-04T11:00:00.004-04:00

Whew...is it really Monday again? I mean, seriously....where do these weeks keep going....because I'm kinda ready for them to slow down a bit!

Today marks 30 weeks in my pregnancy with Parker. I'm just amazed and flabbergasted to be honest. For the longest time I never saw myself as a mother. I wasn't really the nuturing kind and Shooter and I were dealing with our own issues and trying to keep our rocky marriage afloat. This was for a big majority of our (close to be) 10 year marriage.

Suddenly, however, Christmas 2007 marked a change for both Shooter and I. We felt different and we felt like we were ready to be parents. We have grown up, our marriage had grown up and we were ready for an additional family member. Becoming parents kinda remained an idea we were ready for but seemed so far off as we kept trying....month after month. It was something we wanted but couldn't really grasp.

In November 2008 we found ourselves faced with the reality of becoming parents. There were the first three months where we were scared senseless that we'd lose our precious baby. Then the second three months where we were scared senseless that something would be wrong with our precious son. Now I'm in the last of the three months and reality is seriously hitting me...I'm going to be a mother!!!!

Today begins our 10 week countdown to Parker's due date and I'm beginning to find myself overwhelmed with all that lies ahead of me. I'm a list person but I have avoided making a list when it comes to what we need to do to get the nursery ready. I just don't want to face it...so I'm ignoring it. That's my way. :-) Luckily my Mother isn't and she's devising a plan as we speak for keeping me on track. She's so ready for her grandson to get here she just about can't see straight. She's spurring me on toward making the list that I need to create and then start working it.

So here goes:

* Clean out closet in nursery - donate appropriate items and trash the rest
* Buy shelf liner for drawers in nursery dressers
* Write thank you notes
* Clean out guest room and move appropriate items to sunroom/kitchen/master bedroom
* Organize the top of the linen closet
* Buy shelves for the nursery
* Buy bookcase for the nursery
* Decide if I'm doing Parker's name in wood letters for the wall in nursery
* Organize master bedroom closet - make room for clothes in storage
* Find coordinating tablecloths and valances for kitchen
* Wash sheers in living and dining room
* Clean out the garage - donate appropriate items and trash the rest
* Get my "Go Bag" ready for the hospital

I know this is only scratching the surface. This is just the stuff I need to do AT HOME. This doesn't count all the stuff I have to do at work to get ready to be out for 14 weeks. Okay...I'm getting hysterical just thinking about it.....gotta do some deep breathing and calm down. I have 10 weeks to go...we can get this all accomplished....I can do it! :-)

Am I really ready? I don't know....I'm pretty sure I'm not...but I'm as ready as I can be....as ready as you can ever be.

L.

Something pretty awesome is about to happen...

2009-05-01T09:12:00.001-04:00

Here is a picture of my iris flower bed. I have two flower beds in my front yard and one holds only perennial flowers of various types and one only has irises in it. Can you see all the blooms that are developing there? This bed is about to EXPLODE in color!!!!

Here's one of the lighter purple irises that has already bloomed. The ones above will be a really dark purple color. I just love the ruffles and the color. Something about irises just captivates me!

L.

Tomatoes, Basil and Petunias - OH MY!

2009-04-30T08:55:00.001-04:00

So, as Shooter and I are busy gardening on Sunday afternoon, we decided we'd go ahead and plant our vegetable plants also. We had done some container gardening for a couple of summers and then taken last year off - I missed the juicy sweet tomatoes from a couple of years ago so we bought some more to plant this year.

Shooter got some (hopefully) delicious, red cherry tomato plants and here are two of them.

We also have a yellow pear tomato plant. We had one of these a couple of years ago and they're absolutely delicious!!!!!!

Here are the other two cherry tomato plants.

And what are tomatoes without some basil!!?!?!?!? This year I decided to split the container into two pots, two plants each. Previously I'd planted all four into one pot and I thought splitting them might help them flourish morel

We also bought some Petunias to add some color to the back patio. Some are above and some are in boxes along our patio railing.

The petunias are a gorgeous purple color and I can't wait for them to really get blooming!

L.

The garden project - front flower bed

2009-04-29T08:46:00.001-04:00

As I said earlier this week, Shooter and I worked in our yard for a few hours on Sunday afternoon. Here are some pictures of all that's going on in my perennial flower bed.

Here is one of three hosta plants. When my Mom gave me this plant it was a clump barely bigger than my fist...that was three years ago.

Here are the other two hostas...both were very small when I first got them as divided plants from my Mom. Unbelievable!!!

Here are my daylillies that I planted last year. They're enormous!!!! They are going to have to be split next year for sure!

This is a perennial that I planted last year and honestly I can't remember what it is. I think it might be a Salvia but I'm not sure.

The clump in front of the bench are black eyed susans. They started out as a really small clump the size of my fist. They're spreading like wildfire and I LOVE IT!!!!!

In the foreground are some evening primroses that came from my Mom too. They're spreading like crazy and will make for some beautiful flowers in a few months. Behind them are some of the flower grass and the Salvia that I bought at Lowe's.

I'll keep posting pictures so that you can see the development of the blooms as the summer goes on.

L.

Da Kitchen!

2009-04-28T09:32:00.001-04:00

Well, we've finally moved most of the stuff back into the kitchen and organized most of it.

I say most because it's not completely there but it's definitely a far cry from where it was!

The cabinet straight ahead was a natural wood color - we put it together from Ikea. It definitely looks better painted white like our cabinetry.

Here are the cabinets that Shooter freshly painted and replaced the pulls on. The pictures don't do them justice...they look AWESOME!!!!!

Here's a glimpse at the breakfast area...picture is dark so forgive me for that. I found that tablecloth in the linen closet when I was cleaning it out last week, not sure that I like it in there...I'm searching for something with more white in it but uses the same blues, yellows, and greens. I also need to get some valances for the windows.

We're loving the redo and absolutely cannot imagine living with the ugly wallpaper anymore! I am so glad we did all the work and have our new and clean kitchen!

L.

Whew! Those are miracle pills!

2009-04-27T08:26:00.001-04:00

Ha....gotcha with that title didn't I!

Well, last week was a rough week for me...I had my 1 hour gestational diabetes test scheduled and unfortunately I didn't pass. I have to go back on Thursday for the three hour test. I was really bummed but I have finally decided that it is what it is. If I don't pass the three hour for some reason, then Shooter and I will modify our eating habits and I'll do everything I can to keep my sugars down. Also, I found out that my iron was low...pretty darn low...and I'm now on iron pills. That's actually not bad news because since I've been on them my energy levels have really improved!

The weather this past weekend was unbelievable here in Atlanta so Shooter and I went to the nearby Lowe's and bought up a bunch of plants. I wanted to plant four or five new perennials in my front flower bed and I found some really nice ones to put out....a salvia, some kind of flowering grass, a fuschia, and another day lilly. It's really looking nice out there - my plan of loading up on gorgeous perennials that I can split and multiply is really working out! My hosta are monstrous this year (and will have to be split next year)! My black eyed susans are coming up in a huge bunch and so are my evening primroses. Those are all going to have to be split up next year which will really begin to fill out that bed. Also, my daylillies from last year are enormous! I can't wait to see how they bloom this year. We also bought some vegetable plants too. I decided I wanted to do tomatoes and basil again this year. We got one yellow pear tomato plant and four red grape tomato plants and four basil plants. We're going to have tomatoes coming out of our ears by the time Parker is born! But I'll also be making some darn good tomato basil salads. :-)

We planted all afternoon on Sunday and I actually got some good sun on my vampire pale arms. :-) I made sure that I didn't do too much and stayed hydrated...not even one braxton hicks to indicate I had overdone...I figured that was pretty awesome. Shooter also cleaned off our patio and it looks amazing! He's one of the most awesome peeps I know. Honestly.

I'm going to take some pictures this evening to post tomorrow. By the time I got my shower, I collapsed and then the sun had set. :-(

I'm proud of the progress we made outside in the flower beds and patio this weekend. It'll really be nice once the baby is born and the visitors come...they'll have a welcoming flower reception. :-) And we'll send them home with a bunch of tomatoes. ha!

What did you do this weekend?

Okay....double standard time....

2009-04-23T09:25:00.003-04:00

I rarely allow myself to get caught up in the scandals that rock the beauty pagent world. Those poor girls have enough problems....

HOWEVER, everyone and their uncle in California seems to have jumped on the "Let's hate on Miss California Carrie Prejean" bandwagon and I personally think it's pretty unfair.

Fox News ran this article talking about all the celebrities who've taken to Twitter to voice their displeasure with Ms. Prejean. There's a lot of name calling and use of the word ignorant. It's all very callous and hateful. Even event judge Perez Hilton claims to have given Ms. Prejean a 0 for her answer to his question. Bitter much? Just because an answer isn't to your liking, you call the poor girl a b***h on your blog?

This girl has very strong convictions surrounding her faith and truly doesn't believe in gay marriage. Why is that any different than someone saying they really don't like the fact that the Obamas had a dog purchased for them rather than adopting one from a shelter? Both are politically charged. Both have people who are strong supporters on both sides of the fence. Why is this girl being persecuted so strongly?

I unfortunately find it terribly disconcerting that one cannot voice their opinion without fear of being publically mocked, name called and belittled. Ms. Prejean is not ignorant nor is she speaking for a small percentage of this population. I think it's time that Ms. Prejean is defended.

And no...I do not support gay marriage. I fully believe that marriage was created by God to be between a man and a woman. Period. I do have gay friends. I do believe that they should be able to have certain rights as far as the eligibility for health care from their partner's and so forth. But no, I do not agree that they should have the right to marry.

I hope Miss California continues to weather this storm with the integrity that she has so far. She is not apologetic and stands by her beliefs. For that I commend her.

L.

It's Wednesday and all is well.....

2009-04-22T14:31:00.001-04:00

Whew...where is the time flying to?!??!?!

I know...I need to get pictures of the new kitchen up and I promise I'll do that this week! Shooter proclaimed that it was officially finished this week...and it is...for the most part. ha! We have some touching up to do on the paint and whatnot....and I need to shop for the decorative lady touches to the room...but the hard stuff is complete. And it looks awesome!

Baby Parker has been kicking up a storm here recently. Yesterday he was doing the rolling flips in my belly and I called Shooter over to feel the body part he was sticking out at us. Shooter was pretty freaked out but thought it was cool at the same time. Parker's regularly now sticking something out...either a butt or an elbow or a knee or something. Definitely hard to distinguish but it's definitely him.

I went in for my glucose tolerance test today - I'll know the results on Friday - hopefully it'll come back with good results. I definitely don't want to have to do the three hour ordeal. Ugh! My blood pressure is still great...which is a relief...and my weight gain is still awesome. So far I've only gained 10 pounds and only gained 1 pound over the last 4 weeks. I'm really proud of myself - and I need that confidence as I head into the part of my pregnancy where I'll start gaining more because of the baby growing but also because of water retention. Hopefully I won't swell too badly...I'm not swelling at all so far so hopefully that's a good sign. The PA that I saw today wasn't worried about my lack of weight gain because I'm measure about a 1/2 week ahead...measuring 29 weeks whereas I'm 28 weeks and 2 days today.

I'm really starting to get excited....today we talked about when I have to stop traveling more than an hour away from the hospital...and that begins after Memorial Day weekend! Luckily that's the weekend we have my family shower planned in East Tennessee so I can then stay around the house nesting and getting all that stuff tucked away for our little man.

Can I tell you that looking at the calendar has me really anxious. I realize that my next appointment will be at 30 weeks!!!!!! My next ultrasound will be at 32 weeks!!!!!!! After that I'll only have 8 weeks until Parker's due to arrive. I don't think I can even explain to you just how fast this pregnancy has gone for me. Time has flown and I'm afraid that it'll fly by once he's here too. I wanna hang on to the new baby smell and little baby feet for as long as I can!

*sigh*

I'm just going to take it a day at a time and enjoying everything. Shouldn't that be how you always live?

Later lovelies!
L.

You can make a video too!

2009-04-17T12:46:00.002-04:00

I visited OhMommy's blog today and discovered a wonderful tool for creating online videos. It took no time to make this one and it downloaded pictures I already had on my facebook page. Quite nifty!!! OhMommy has a link to get a free trial for her readers...go visit her at Classy Chaos.

Where in the world did that come from?!?!?!

2009-04-15T20:56:00.005-04:00

27 week pregnant belly

Okay...the other day I looked down and couldn't believe my eyes. Sometime in the last few days my belly popped, AGAIN! Parker's growing like crazy and moving all over the place and my belly is sticking out farther and farther. I decided today that I'd wear one of my tighter camis under a sweater and show it off. I'm to the point where I'm like, why not....I'm sticking out there...might as well show it. ;-) I said that to my Mom and she's all like, well, Laura, you're 7 months pregnant...you should be showing! :-)

Things are going well....we're getting the house back in order slowly but surely....Shooter is working on the kitchen cabinets as I type up this post. It's all going to look so great.

Also, I realized on Monday that it was three months exactly until my due date. That was a bit sobering. :-)

I have also decided that I adore being pregnant....except for the indigestion, heartburn and gas. I'm a friggin' gas factory....if I'm not burping, it's coming out the back end. It's nearly unbearable. I do feel sorry for Shooter too. It seems like that it's either been me or Morey with the toxic gas over the last three weeks. I think he secretly sleeps with a gas mask. :-)

I hope all has been well with you!

L.

All I can ask for is that you pray...

2009-04-10T13:01:00.004-04:00

I don't know if you've seen or heard this story about the tornadoes in Arkansas that hit last night...but it's a terrible disaster. It has touched our family in a distant but real way...My cousin lived in this town for a while and her husband is from Mena. His family and a lot of friends live there and we're still waiting word of their safety.

Please pray....

Update: They are all safe...my cousin's husband's brother's house was hit and destroyed but they're all safe and sound. We've been holed up all evening with tornadoes of our own to deal with...crazy weather!!!! I hope you're safe and sound wherever you may be.

Recipe Time! Buttermilk Baked Chicken

2009-04-08T09:18:00.001-04:00

Well, now that the kitchen has started to make it's way back to a normal state, I can get back to cooking.

I didn't realize how much I enjoyed cooking until I had a kitchen that was out of commission and we were forced to go out or get takeout. I feel so much better when I can decompress over the simple tasks of creating a meal.

Last night, I adapted a recipe from Southern Living All-Time Favorite Recipes, Volume I.

Buttermilk Baked Chicken
(adapted from Southern Living All-Time Favorite Recipes, Volume I)

4 skinless, bone in chicken breasts
1 quart buttermilk, divided
5 dashes of hot sauce
2 cans cream of mushroom soup
1 small can of sliced mushrooms
1 cup flour
1 tsp salt, divided
1 tsp pepper, divided
1 tsp garlic powder, divided

Measure 1 1/2 cups of buttermilk and place it to the side. Place the chicken breasts in a ziploc bag and then cover with the rest of the buttermilk and 5 dashes of hot sauce. Allow chicken to marinate in the buttermilk/hot sauce for 6-8 hours.

When ready to bake, preheat oven to 425 degrees. Combine flour, 1/2 tsp salt, 1/2 tsp pepper and 1/2 tsp garlic powder and stir well. Dredge each well drained chicken breast through the flour and then place breast side down in a greased baking dish.

Bake chicken breasts for 25 minutes. Turn chicken over and bake for 15 minutes more. Combine the 1 1/2 cups of buttermilk, the cream of mushroom soup, 1/2 tsp salt, 1/2 tsp pepper and 1/2 tsp garlic powder and stir well to combine. Pour over chicken and then back for 15 minutes more, or until chicken is no longer pink. Cover with aluminum foil if needed to prevent over browning.

Shooter and I had this with some leftover jasmine rice and he had salad and I had sugar snap peas. This was delicous and incredibly easy! I definitely recommend that you try this out!

Honey, could you measure this for me?

2009-04-07T09:15:00.000-04:00

So, Sunday morning Shooter and I decide to take a break and play hookey from church. We had so much to do we just thought it better to stay home and get it done. Well, Shooter had to go to Lowe's and buy more rollers to paint with so he went off while I puttered around the house.

I get a phone call - it's Shooter calling me from Lowe's, and he needs verification on the height of our baseboard molding. Well, I go and hunt down the measuring tape and then try measuring it. I grunt and I huff and I try to read how tall it is....I can't figure it out. The tape measure sticks out about an inch and a half from the wall and I can't read the darn thing!

Shooter keeps asking me to try so I finally yell at him and say, "Fine, I'll lay down here on the floor and try to read this thing. You'll probably find me still laying here like a big old whale when you get home cause I couldn't get back up." After he laughs at me, he said that he'd just buy the 3.25" molding and that should be fine.

I should have just kept laying on the floor......

But it was cold.......

And I was hungry........

Men! Sheesh! I don't think he's figured out yet that my range of motion is highly limited right now. I have to sit on the bed to get my pants on....and that still takes some work. Tying shoes is another activity I have taken for granted all my life. I need to go find me some slip on sneakers for this summer.

L.

Where in the World is Laura, Laura, Laura???

2009-04-06T09:21:00.004-04:00

Wow...I've been away for a while, I know it. I have been suffering from the downers and just didn't have all that much to talk about.

I can say that we're on the downhill slide when it comes to the kitchen re-do. We got the last coats of paint on the walls this weekend and finally finished painting our Ikea cabinet. I should be able to reassemble everything over the next two nights and get some "it's almost finished" pictures up. I, of course, will be shopping for some curtains and a tablecloth and an accent table skirt to finish things up in a stylish way. Not sure what I'm going to do just yet in that arena so I'm keeping my options open.

Once we get the kitchen back together, I can get the sunroom back together and reorganized as Shooter's "man-cave/office". Right now it's still a storehouse.

Once the sunroom is back together we'll be able to move things out of the guest room and get it back into some semblance of order!

Also, I'm looking forward to getting some finishing touches going on the nursery. I was looking for some corner shelving but I can't really find any I like in the color I want. I think what we'll end up doing is something else equally as cool and I can't wait to get that project over.

I'm one of those peeps who has a hard time when things are completely is disorder. Rather than tackle it, I run from it and pretend it doesn't exist.....until one day, "BLAMMO!" I explode and have to clean it all up right then. That kinda happened this weekend in the kitchen. I'd had all I could take of not being able to use my sink or my stove and having my countertops dirty and full of painting tools. Shooter has been a good sport and told me that I had really exceeded his expectations by tolerating it as well as I did for so long. I think we're on a good trajectory to have the house back in shape by the end of this coming weekend. Thank goodness!!!!!!!

We do still have some work to do in the kitchen though. We're going to slowly work on the cabinets in the and get them painted which will make a world of difference. We're also replacing all the pulls which will be amazing!

Anyway....that's the low down on the kitchen re-do. Good times aplenty! ;-)

L.

Mind wanderings...

2009-03-26T09:42:00.003-04:00

Have you ever just sat back and let your mind wander?

I find myself doing that more often...and I think it's because I have no ability to keep myself focused on anything. Any inkling of adult ADHD that I had has been amplified by 1000. Movies can't hold my attention...I will look around and find something else to do. Books don't hold my attention. I have a knitting project that I can't seem to finish. I can really only muster the attention span to flip through a magazine.

When I allow myself to zone out completely I find myself wondering about the craziest things.

I wonder about whether the earth really is round. I mean, seriously...I'm going on faith here and believing that scientists are right when they say we won't fall off somewhere. I've never been on a boat and ridden around the world by sea so how do I REALLY know. It could be a conspiracy.

I wonder about the creation of life....and how in the world it was put together and arranged. I mean, one minute I was without child and the next minute I was with child. I'm sitting here now with this insistent little fellow kicking my belly for his own amusement and in a few months he'll be in my arms. That's something I just can't get my brain around. It's huge...it's awesome...it's beyond words for me.

I wonder about heaven and when I get there whether or not I'll recognize and be recognized by people. Like, will my grandparents will recognize me? I miss my Nannie and my Paw and I feel like I must believe that one day I'll get to heaven and they'll hug me tight and we can talk about all that's gone on since they left the Earth - that they'll know me and I'll know them. Will I know my parents? Like, will Shooter and I know each other as husband and wife or just that we're familiar with each other. Will I know Parker as my son?

I wonder about the galaxies and how far does all that go? It's easy to think about our planet and the planets around us....but how much more is there out there? How far does it go?

What do you wonder about when you let your mind wander?

L.

Da Mess, Da Mess, Da Mess is Outta Control!

2009-03-25T09:18:00.001-04:00

Okay...I can take disorder for only so long...thank God the end is near in the kitchen renovation. Currently, this is the state of my sunroom. It's not only housing our office stuff, but also our kitchen table, our storage hutch, all the contents of the hutch and a bookcase.

Oh my....my room overfloweth....

Does anyone need some brass molds to hang on their wall?

What about some lovely canisters?

I'll be happy to ship them for free to a good home...hehehe....

God...grant me the serenity to outlast this remodel....the patience to understand it's short term...the courage to throw things away....and the wisdom to know the difference between junk and treasure.

L.

The Kitchen Renovation - The Paint Goes On!

2009-03-24T09:05:00.001-04:00

Wow...the nesting continues at our house...and now I have some pictures to show you guys!

I'm absolutely loving this paint color. At first I thought it might be too light, but it darkened up and looks lovely. Let me be the first to tell you that Shooter picked the color out himself!

That light fixture will have to go. I think we're going to replace it with something in a brushed nickel finish. I also think we're going to replace all the outlet covers with something in brushed nickel.

Here's Morey and Leah's favorite spot. They sit here all day and stare out...looking for cats, dogs, squirrels, stray leaves...whatever might trespass onto our property. :-)

See the crazy difference in the flooring...yea, the previous owner laid it down himself and apparently didn't buy enough of one lot and put the last bit in and it doesn't match the rest of the house. Luckily it's just that strip along by the door. I can cover most of it with furniture and a rug. It just irks me everytime I look at it though.

:-)

L.

Monday morning catch up!

2009-03-23T10:05:00.000-04:00

Wow....what a weekend! Unfortunately I have no pictures of the goings on at our house but let me tell you , we've been busy bees. Well....Shooter has been a busy bee! ;-)

Saturday I had a hair appointment so I ran out of the house around 10:30am. Shooter was all ready for a morning of tearing down wallpaper. Let me tell you - we've learned our lesson with using a remover other than DIF. We used this stuff called Piranaha from Lowe's and it sooooooo wasn't worth it. Shooter got the wallpaper down but not without much cursing and gnashing of teeth.

I got home from getting my hairs did around 12:30pm and out we went to run some errands. We went to Lowe's and picked up some more Kilz to prime the kitchen and then grabbed some lunch and then went to Sherwin Williams to get a gallon of our paint. While there we bought our DIF - determined to make getting the wallpaper down a better experience.

I helped Shooter get the remnants of the wallpaper down in the breakfast area and then he went to work priming it. Can I just tell you how nasty Kilz smells? Ugh!!! I holed myself up in the bedroom and watched TV, and napped, and read with the pups.

It didn't take him long to prime everything so then we were off to grab a bite of dinner...ahhh...Mexican!!!! We have a couple of favorite Mexican spots and the one we went to on Saturday has the most amazing dish called Sal's Special. It's strips of chicken simmered in this cheesy, sour creamy sauce with jalepenos cut up in it. It's kinda spicy but not too spicy. They serve it with rice and tortillas and it makes my heart sing!!!! Anyway, Parker had been really quiet and then as soon as I got halfway through my meal he starts kicking away. I took that as a sign that he likes Mexican food. ;-)

On Sunday Shooter got back to work and put a coat of paint on the walls in the kitchen's breakfast area. At first I was afraid it was going to be too light but it started darkening up as it dried and it looks pretty awesome! Shooter gets off work early all this week so he can do painting before I come home which will be nice. When I get home today he should have the ceiling cut in and another coat of paint on the walls. Yippee!!!!!!!

Oh...we also got new blinds up in the Mini Man-Cave and they're beautiful. We are opting for these blinds from Lowe's that are faux wood plantation blinds. They're 2 inch slats and are just so nice!! I think I'm going to replace the blinds in the kitchen with them and ideally we'd like to put them in the sunroom too....but at $28 per window, that's a little steep - we have 6 windows in the sunroom!!! We'll definitely do the kitchen and then work on the sunroom when we get some extra cash....whenever that might be.

I'll try to take some pictures of everything tonight and post them tomorrow.

Take care!!!
L.

Recipe time!! Ricotta Gnocchi

2009-03-20T09:25:00.000-04:00

I have touted the wonderfulness that is Allrecipes.com on this blog before. I adore the website and have found many wonderful recipes on there. I get a daily recipe from them by email and sometimes I don't even give them a second glance and other times they immediately scream, "make this dish!" Such was the reaction to the Ricotta Gnocchi recipe that showed up on Saturday morning.

Here's the recipe and then I'll explain how I adapted it:

Ricotta Gnocchi

1 (8 ounce) container ricotta cheese
2 eggs
1/2 cup freshly grated Parmesan cheese
1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon pepper
1 teaspoon garlic powder
1 cup all-purpose flour, or as needed

Stir together the ricotta cheese, eggs, Parmesan Cheese, salt, pepper, and garlic powder in a large bowl until evenly combined. Mix in 1 cup of flour. Add additional flour if needed to form a soft dough.

Divide the dough into 3 or 4 pieces, and roll into 1/2-inch-thick ropes on a floured surface. Cut each rope into 1-inch pieces, and place on a lightly floured baking sheet. Place in the refrigerator until ready to use.

Bring a large pot of lightly salted water to a boil over high heat. Boil the gnocchi until they float to the surface, 1 to 2 minutes, then drain. Serve with your favorite sauce.

First, I added way more ricotta than I was supposed to. I measured out 1 cup and then looked at my container and ended up adding probably two cups to the two eggs and 1/2 cup parmesan cheese. I also added in about a tablespoon of dried italian seasoning to the gnocchi. I also probably added an additional cup to cup and a half of flour - and I only had 1 cup of regular flour so the rest was whole wheat flour. I essentially doubled the recipe but that's okay because now I have some in the freezer for another time.

Also, we made this with mild italian sausage...I browned the sausages first on all sides and then sliced them and added them back to the pan to finish cooking. Once they were finished I added in the cooked gnocchi to the sausage just to give the gnocchi a little color. Separately I was heating up a jarred vodka sauce I bought from Bertolli and brought it up to temperature. I plated the sausage and gnocchi combo and then topped with the sauce. It was delish, my lovelies! Do try this out...it's easy but kinda labor intensive so making a double batch like I did is better in the long run so that you have some on hand for quick meals.

L.

Keeping it real....real dirty....

2009-03-19T09:41:00.000-04:00

Okay...you all know that we have two dogs in our house. That is no secret. Unfortunately, my dirty little secret is that the two dogs like to treat our sunroom as their indoor potty.

Despite our best scrubbing attempts we could not get this tile and the grout back to the state we knew it started in...white!

So, I called a carpet cleaning company to make an appointment to come clean the carpet in the mini man-cave and found out they also do tile and grout cleaning. Well, I was all over that like white on rice!

Yea, it was nasty...we had mopped and scrubbed the sunroom the night before...

This is one of Morey's favorite spots....apparently he's not a big fan of the fireplace and likes to pee on it regularly.

Here is the same spot post-cleaning! Can you believe it!?!?! It was worth every penny I paid these guys!

Now I'm not ashamed to have anyone step foot in my sunroom...

Oh...and we discovered the grout had never been sealed in the first place, making it crazy susceptible to stains. Shooter promptly sealed it when it was dry. Now...we just have to get those pups to quit peeing in there! (but honestly I'd rather them pee in there than on my laminates where they can do more damage)

L.

Nesting - I think it's officially happening to us!

2009-03-18T09:31:00.000-04:00

Okay....we've just finished updating/painting/furnishing/etc. the nursery. Actually, it's not even really finished yet as we haven't had any showers yet and I still have other whatnots I want to buy - a bookcase and various shelves and stuff.

Several weeks ago when our new fridge was delivered I tore off the wallpaper behind the fridge and it came off so easily. Shooter and I had been talking about re-doing the kitchen for a while but we didn't think we'd get to it before the baby came. Well, we managed to get through the nursery re-do ahead of schedule so we figured that we'd hop right on the kitchen re-do while we were at it.

I saw an opportunity last week as I was looking at the wallpaper and saw a seam coming apart. This time I grabbed hold and started ripping. It came off in this huge sheet...glue backing and all. That evening we got what remained of the glue backing off really quickly. I think the wall took all of 15 minutes to do.

Shooter stopped by Sherwin Williams to get me two sample paint colors and now we just have to figure out what color we want to do!

If you're interested, we've decided to go with Atmospheric from Sherwin Williams. It's a gorgeous light blue color that will change the look of the kitchen dramatically. I cannot wait to get this project finished either!

L.

Recipe time!! Chicken Rollups

2009-03-17T09:38:00.001-04:00

Shooter and I were holed up this weekend with sickness abounding at the house. First me and then he got it. First time it's happened that way in a while. We were laying in bed on Sunday morning watching Food Network, and Robin Miller made this interesting chicken rollup dish. I had to modify her version because I just knew it wouldn't work for us...we're not big goat cheese fans in our house.

Here's my version:

Chicken Rollups

4 boneless, skinless chicken breasts

4-8 pieces of deli ham

1 package of frozen chopped spinach, thawed and drained well

1 container of herb and garlic cheese spread (I used Alouette, 6.5 oz)

salt and pepper to taste

dijon mustard

panko breadcrumbs

Put each chicken breast between a piece of plastic wrap and pound until about 1/2 an inch thick. Once all the chicken is pounded out, top each one with 1-2 slices of ham - depends on how big your chicken is and how big your ham slices are. In a small bowl, combine the spinach and the cheese and mix until thoroughly combined. Spread that mixture over the ham on each chicken breast. Starting at the small end of the breast, roll each piece of chicken up and secure with toothpicks. Once all pieces of chicken are rolled up and secured, paint them with dijon mustard until coated well and then dip into panko bread crumbs until thoroughly coated. Spray the bottom of an 9x13 casserole dish with nonstick cooking spray and place the
rolls seam side down. Spray the tops with a little additional nonstick cooking spray. Bake at 350 degrees for about 30-45 minutes until cooked through.

Look at that filling...oh my it was delicious!!!! Salty from the ham and all cheesy goodness.

Oh...and look at that crispiness that is that coating. I have about decided that the only breadcrumbs I'm every going to use are panko breadcrumbs. These were so crunchy and yummy!

We had this with some brown/wild rice mix and a salad. It was super yummy! I'll definitely be adding this into my recipe rotation!

Edit: We also used this super awesome yummy deli meat from Hormel that is all natural with no preservatives, artificial ingredients of MSG...also no nitrites or nitrates! Try it out. The ham and the salami are to die for!!

The Mini Man-Cave - now we just need a baby!

2009-03-16T09:32:00.002-04:00

This weekend marked the culmination of the work we had set for ourselves to get done by the end of March. Amazingly we're done ahead of schedule. I have to give my wonderful husband kudos for this. He really worked his booty off getting his man-cave ready to turn into the mini man-cave.

Here's Shooter with the first pieces of the crib. We were mightily impressed with how well the crib was packaged.

It also didn't take all that long to put together - I think maybe an hour from start to finish, if that. It didn't have scads of screws and stuff either...this was it!

We got lots of help from the pups...

As you can see, Morey's very excited and Leah's her usual stern self. :-)

It's coming along!!!

This is the only part of the crib setup that gave Shooter problems. One of the screws was messed up and wouldn't go in smoothly. Luckily we had some extra screws that are to be used in the conversion to the full sized bed. They worked perfectly!

And now for the final product!!

I can't even begin to tell you how impressed we were with the quality of this furniture. It was packaged amazingly well and had not one single scratch on it! It's an amazing crib that we will have for many many years.

Now we're just need a baby to sleep in the bed - but not too soon!!

We also got the dresser/changing table into the room.

Here's an up close shot...

We purchased Simmons Kids furniture from Baby Depot at Burlington Coat Factory. Again, I cannot say enough about the quality of this furniture and the packaging of it. We're so excited!!!

L.

The nursery (aka Mini Man-Cave) - during (Part II)

2009-03-13T14:15:00.000-04:00

Well, the changes keep coming to the Mini Man-Cave! Soon it's going to look like a bonafide nursery, ahem, man-cave suitable for the little mini-Shooter on the way!

Remember that light fixture? Here's the new one that we put up (Thanks Baty!):

We're going to set the changing table/dresser against that far wall.

I have a really nice open bookcase picked out that I want to put along this wall. It's big enough to put baskets on the bottom shelf to store things and also store Parker's books and other odds and ends...like binkies and such.

I think we've decided that the glider will go in this area. See that dresser, I'm hoping that it'll fit perfectly into the back of the closet so that I can use it for hidden storage. :-)

We're going to set the crib up in this area. Very likely crosswise in this corner. I can't wait to see how it looks in there!

Not sure what we'll do here in this area....I'm thinking I may take the quilt that comes with his bedding set and use it as a wall hanging...this would be a pretty good place for it.

Anyway....as you can see, the progress keeps moving along!

The evolution of the "Man Cave"

2009-03-13T10:25:00.005-04:00

I was notified by Shooter that the Man Cave has been officially dismantled. I agreed with him as it's now being turned into a nursery, duh!

Well, Shooter has decided that he doesn't want Parker's room to be called "The Nursery" any longer.

He thinks the room has been, and always should be, a man cave. Only change is that now with Parker it'll be the......

.....wait for it........

Mini Man Cave!

Personally, I love it. I think that's what we'll call it from now on. I have even contracted with a gal on Etsy to have have to have a little sign made to put on the door that says "Parker's Mimi Man Cave". :-) On the other side it says "You wake him, You take him!". hehehe!

L.

Nothing like a little supervision!

2009-03-12T09:32:00.001-04:00

This is where the dogs and I supervised the nursery re-do. We're very helpful and offer lots of decorating advice.

Side note - poor little Morey, the one laying down with floppy ears, was suffering from a "raging" (doctor's words) urinary tract infection in this photo and we didn't know it. Poor dude started peeing some blood late on Saturday and we took him to the vet immediately on Sunday. The doctor said she had never seen so many crystals in a dog's urine sample before. He's doing better now that he's been on his antibiotics and drinking lots of fluids (a mix of chicken broth and water...he's frickin' spoiled rotten).

The nursery - during (Part I)

2009-03-11T10:15:00.002-04:00

Shooter decided that I didn't need to be anywhere near the nursery while he was painting...so he relegated me to house cleaning duty. I didn't mind, really! That meant that I got to clean the kitchen, mop the floors, sweep the rest of the house and then play on Facebook and watch cooking shows. :-) I'm pregnant after all!!!

Shooter plugged in his iPod and went to work. I have to say that it was pretty cute hearing him singing from the living room. :-)

He really worked hard in getting it all done and by the end of the day had trimmed out the ceiling and gotten two good coats of paint on the walls.

While I came in to take pictures, the dogs took a moment to give everything a good sniff test.

Doesn't the taupe give it such a warmer feel? It's going to look so awesome when it's finished!

Shooter has been working on priming the baseboards, trim and doors - and that's finished as well! I helped out by taping the wall by the baseboards and the trim so that we can put the final touches on it. We're getting there!!!!

The nursery - before

2009-03-10T09:15:00.001-04:00

The nursery was previously Shooter's man cave. He ~~reluctantly~~ graciously offered up his room for Baby Parker. Here he is working on the last bits of wallpaper border remaining on the walls. There was a ~~really bad~~ nice mint green floral border that the previous owners had bequeathed us and unfortunately it had to go because it just didn't go with our nursery bedding.

This is the light fixture in the room, it's coming down and will be replaced by a nice new one from Lowe's!

Here's Shooter...preparing to get to work! He's getting some help from Big Ed. Oh...and a side story...if you are ever in the Knoxville/Oak Ridge, Tennessee area you HAVE to go to Big Ed's for some pizza. It's a local landmark and has been around for decades. My parents used to go there when they were in high school.

Here are the blank, drab, oh so minty fresh walls of the nursery before the wonderful, warm paint hit them. You can see that this room is BEGGING for a makeover!

I mean, look at that sad bamboo shade! Shooter had a sheet hanging from parachute cord to cover that window. We're so redneck. Oh...and see the magnanimous outlet on the wall? Yea, the previous owners had a super duper outlet put in so that they could put in a tanning bed. Yea........

Well, you've seen the nursery before....over the course of the next week or so I'll show you the transformation!

Belly shot!

2009-03-09T10:38:00.003-04:00

No...not body shots....you people have your minds in the gutter. hehehe!

I have been really reluctant to post any belly shots, cause honestly I don't have one of those cute little pregnant bellies. I wish I did, but alas, not meant to be.

Here though, is my 21 week belly shot. I am, as of today, 22 weeks pregnant. I figure I'll try taking one every other week and see how it goes.

Also, we did a lot of work in the nursery this weekend, so I can't wait to fill you guys in on that!

L.

Did you hear me vacuuming last night?

2009-03-06T10:15:00.000-05:00

I have told several folks that my sleep patterns have changed dramatically since I got pregnant. Where it used to take me a while to get to sleep, I lay my head down and it seems like I'm immediately OUT!

Night before last Shooter and I were laying in bed watching TV. Well, I was watching "Lie to Me" and he was surfing the internet. After laying there, half sitting up, for a while my tummy started to hurt so I rolled over onto my side. NOT A GOOD CHOICE!! I vaguely remember handing Shooter the remote and then I was OUT!

Apparently, some time after I slipped into my nightly coma, Shooter got up and went about his nightly ritual of letting the dogs out, checking the locks on the doors, and then coming and turning on the vent fan in the bathroom. See, even though I sleep the sleep of the dead, I have to have some kind of ambient noise going on. Well, this night the fan wouldn't come on so Shooter goes to get our vacuum cleaner so he can vacuum out the crud. I remember none of this, mind you! I do, however, VAGUELY remember opening my eyes a wee slit and thinking that perhaps he was in there vacuuming and wondering what the heck he was doing and then immediately fell back into my coma-like state.

The next morning he asks me if I heard him vacuuming the night before. I recount the little bit that I remembered and all he could do was laugh at me. He said that he thought for sure it would wake me up and couldn't believe it when he came out of the bathroom and found me DEAD TO THE WORLD!!

People, I can't even begin to explain how deep my sleep is. When I wake and have to go pee, which mercifully is only about twice a night right now, I am in such a stupor that I stumble like a drunk into the bathroom. Before I climb into bed I make sure my pathway to the bathroom is free from shoes or other obstacles that might cause me to careen out of control into the bed or dresser. I think I might have even fallen back to sleep on the toilet one night. It's completely out of control, I'm telling you!

My biggest worry is that I won't snap out of this craziness when the baby comes and I'll never hear him crying. Wouldn't that be sweet justice though, every time he cries Shooter has to wake first and then wake me up. BWAHAHAHA!!

Well...here's to another coma-like night's sleep!

L.

Judo Chop!

2009-03-05T09:17:00.001-05:00

There are lots of amazing things that happen to you when you get pregnant.

* You completely go bezerk because you got a positive pregnancy test. That's pretty amazing!

* You go for your first ultrasound and see the growing baby and it's heartbeat. That's amazing beyond belief!

* You go in for a regular doctor's appointment and are finally able to hear the heartbeat of your baby. Stuff so amazing you just can't comprehend!

* You have another ultrasound, hear the heartbeat, see the heart beating, and get confirmation that your baby is healthy and growing. You could pass out from amazement!

* You're laying on the couch one night and you feel this tickling in your belly. It's weird, like a feather being run over your skin but way inside. Could it be? Is this what it feels like when the baby moves? Then another night comes and you feel like you have butterflies in your stomach - is this what it feels like when the baby's flipping around in there? Then comes the day when you get a swift kick to the belly and you know for sure! It's the baby moving and kicking and it's one of the most amazing things to ever happen to you!

Feeling the baby moving is like my own little secret. I was in a meeting yesterday and Parker was kicking and moving and I couldn't help but smile and know that I was experiencing something that no one else in the world could know about - it was mine and mine alone! There's something amazingly special about having that bond with the little human growing inside you. I am now 21 weeks along....10 more days or so are left in my 5th month....I'll be in the 3rd trimester in another 6 weeks or so....it's all moving so fast I can't hardly wrap my brain around it! Parker will be here before we know it!

For now...I enjoy the judo chops and the flips and take each day as it comes!

L.

Recipe Time!! Oven Baked Catfish

2009-03-04T09:25:00.001-05:00

My Mom recently came to visit with a Southern Living recipe magazine with her. I am generally infatuated with all things Southern Living like most good Southern Ladies. ;-)

There were so many delicious looking recipes that I had to go and buy it for myself. This weekend Shooter and I decided we'd give several a try for our meals this week and here's my adaptation of one of them.

Oven Baked Catfish
adapted from Southern Living's "Spicy Fried Catfish with Lemon Cream"

4 catfish fillets
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 1/2 cups panko breadcrumbs
1/4 teaspoon garlic powder
1/4 teaspoon ground red pepper
3 egg whites
Vegetable cooking spray

Season the catfish evenly with salt and black pepper. Set aside.
Combine breadcrumbs, salt, garlic powder, and ground red pepper in a shallow bowl.
Whisk egg whites in a shallow bowl until frothy. Dip fillets in egg whites, and dredge in breadcrumb mixture.
Arrange fillets on a wire rack coated with cooking spray in an aluminum foil-lined 15- x 10-inch jellyroll pan. (Do not overlap fillets.) Lightly coat fillets evenly on both sides with cooking spray.
Bake at 375° for 25 to 30 minutes or until fish is golden brown.

Lemon Cream

12 oz light sour cream
2 tablespoons chopped fresh parsley
Grated rind of one lemon
Juice of one lemon
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/4 cup finely minced red onion

Stir together all ingredients until blended. Cover and chill until ready to eat.

I have to tell you that it's worth the specal trip to get the Panko bread crumbs. They make this fish taste so crispy and crunchy!

Also, the leftover fish and sauce make delicious fish tacos the next day for lunch. :-)

This is going into our regular rotation and we also decided that we'd like to try it with tilapia too.

L.

This is how bad colds happen to good people!

2009-03-03T09:31:00.000-05:00

Okay...so on Friday of last week I left work with the temperature nicely up in the 60's.

I was driving around on Saturday afternoon with my sunroof open.

By Sunday went left church at 10am with the temperature at 41 degrees. We stopped at the grocery store and checked the temperature and it was 40 degrees. I got home and started a pot of chili at 11am and it was raining pretty hard.

By 11:45am we were eating chili and watching the rain turn to snow.

By 12:15pm HUGE snowflakes were falling from the sky.

By 1:30pm the grass was covered with this fluffy stuff and the HUGE flakes were still coming down.

By 5:30pm the snow had changed back to rain and was slowly coming to a stop. However the wind was howling outside!

The low this morning was something like 25 degrees with a windchill that I don't even want to think about!

The high today will be in the low 40s.

Tomorrow morning the temperature will be somewhere around 23 degrees.

By Thursday we're expecting a high around 65.

By Friday the high should be around 71.

On Saturday the high should be around 74.

I'm hoping that I can manage to hold back the monster sinus infection that is bound to attack so that I can actually enjoy the beautiful weather!

Here's to crazy Spring weather in the South. :-)

L.

Introducing.....

2009-03-02T10:34:00.001-05:00

I finally got all mess around scanning in our ultrasound pictures figured out and so now I'm ready to show off the little man.

I introduce to you: Mr. Parker Austin Boan

Here he is at 8 weeks - so small we didn't even know he was a boy!

Here's a 3D shot of his back taken at 10 weeks. Yup...he's cooperative like that. This is the picture we gave our relatives in our Christmas present to announce we were preggers.

And here's another shot of the back of his head. We learned at this appointment that he was a boy - it was 13 weeks. He wasn't cooperative at all at this appointment and I had to go back to see the doctor again for additional measurements.

Here's the little booger at 20 weeks - at our appointment last Tuesday. He's facing us and you can see the hollows where his eyes are and see his two hands.

And here's the "money shot" that Shooter wanted to see more than anything. Yup, confirmation that it's a boy. And he wasn't shy or uncooperative about showing us his boy bits. :-)

Well, now you're all on a first name basis with Baby Parker. We'll keep the updates coming. I need to figure out if he's using Morse Code on my belly...he keeps tapping away and I'm determined to make sense of it. ;-)

Is this really happening?

2009-02-28T12:39:00.000-05:00

I have to say that I was beyond scared about our ultrasound this week. I was beyond excited but also scared about what they might find....or rather not find.

I have followed blogs of other pregnancy mommies who have found out that their children are stricken with some horrific condition that makes them unsuitable for life outside the womb or will have some lifelong disability. I admit, I was scared that I would be one of those mommies.

I had a lot of risk factors stacked up against me. My age....my weight....the medication that I decided I would keep taking because it was better for me to be on it than to come off of it. I know the doctor said that I wasn't at any higher risk for birth defects than an unmedicated woman my age but it still lingered in the back of my mind.

I carefully watched the doctor's face. She gave NOTHING away!! But I paid extra close attention to everything she and the tech said. "There's the stomach....looks good." "There are the kidneys....function looks good." "Let's measure his head...good." "Here's his arm, let's measure from wrist to elbow...good." "Here's his leg, we're measuring the humerus now...good." "There's one foot....now the other...and there's a hand....and the other." "Ahh...there's the heart now..." They paid extra close attention to the heart...taking several looks at it from several directions. I finally said, "Wait...I think I see the four chambers, is that right?" The doctor nods but says nothing. We finally got a shot of him from the front but his head is down and we can't see him too awfully well. Also, we couldn't get a good profile shot of him so back I go in 4 weeks for a few additional peeks at him.

I can only say that I am ecastatic that all looks good with the baby. It's literally like a weight was lifted and taken away - a weight that I didn't even really realize was bogging me down.

My baby is healthy. I am healthy. Shooter is healthy. Right now life can not get any better.

L.

No way you're getting pink bedding!

2009-02-27T09:15:00.002-05:00

So, last weekend my parents came in for a visit - my Dad for a short one day and my Mom for several days so that she could go to the ultrasound appointment. On Sunday, after my Dad had headed home, Mom and I went out shopping for baby bedding.

I should say that I had previously picked out a set but had only seen it online. While we were out crib shopping on Saturday I got to actually see it in person and boy was I glad. If I had actually gotten that one I would have been so dissatisfied. We got a dark wood crib and we have decided to paint the walls a neutral khaki color and this bedding would have been so dull in the room. The colors were not as vivid as I had imagined and it just wasn't "right". Here's a picture:

After looking at it in the store for a good long time, I decided that it wasn't going to work. Cute as it was, it just wasn't what I was after. I decided I wanted something more vibrant.

So Mom and I went to Babies R Us and looked around. We added tons of stuff to my baby registry and then went and looked at the bedding. One immediately stood out to me because of it's bold colors and striking patterns. I knew it was what I wanted. Here is a picture:

It's going to be absolutely striking in our nursery with the dark wood crib and neutral walls. I cannot wait to get it all set up! Oh...and when Shooter looked at the picture online he thought the block in the bottom right corner was pink, hence the comment about his son not having pink bedding. After zooming in I showed him that it was a red and white check pattern that just looked pink in the photo. He was noticeably relieved. ;-)

I actually have a timeline for me and dear old Shooter. Our goal is to have the room finally cleared out, painted, carpets cleaned and the crib assembled and furniture in the nursery by the end of March. It's a pretty lofty goal, but I think we can achieve it if we really push ourselves. I'm feeling great these days so I think we'll make it. :-)