Happy Birthday Jamie!!

Today is my bestie's birthday! Let's all take a moment and sing please!

Happy Birthday to you,

Happy Birthday to you!

Happy Birthday beautiful Jamie....

Happy Birthday to you!!!!!

I know I talk about her a lot on here but just to give you a little background info. Jamie and I met in 2003...whoa...when I moved back to DFW for school and got a job at a local breakfast joint called The Snooty Pig. I dont know if I have ever told her this but I totally thought she was going to be a bitch. I know...I know. She was a student at TCU and from everything I had heard (isnt that terrible) THOSE girls were awful. I kept my guard up for approximately 5 minutes until I realized she was 100% awesome and we were so freaking alike it was scary! Snooty Pig was a fun job. We had some good times and some good laughs and ate a lot of supposed low fat muffins!

When it was time for us to spread our wings and leave Snooty Pig, I was TERRIFIED we were going to loose touch. We didnt live close. We didnt go to the same school. I just prayed we could keep our friendship going. Many a morning phone call, a lunch date, and a google chat conversation later...we are still going strong and today...in honor of her day...I would like to give you 27 reasons as to why she is so great!

1. She is hilarious.

2. She loves loves LOVES dogs.

 3. She is smart (she is now Dr. Jamie! Like for reals!)

4. She is a ridiculously good listener, especially when I need to vent.

5. She understands my craziness.

6. She is extremely generous in every aspect of her life.

7. She loves...I mean LOVES the shit out of our kid.

8. She is forgiving.

9. She always knows how to make me feel better about a situation.

10. You would never believe some of the stuff that comes out of her mouth.

11. She is an avid crock pot user.

12. Did I mention that she LOVES dogs?

13. She is always up for giving me advice.

14. Despite being gorgeous and skinny...she isnt afraid of cheese.

15. She always has a way of making me feel good about myself.

16. Did I mention she LOVES our kid?

17. Even though it was years and years ago, we can still get to talking about our Snooty Pig days and crack ourselves up! (And yes...if you happen to be a regular anywhere...they talk about you)

18. She is a devoted wife.

19. She is never afraid to try something new.

20. She has AMAZING hair. (I know...superficial...but it really is beautiful)

21. She isnt afraid of discovering new things about her.
22. She threw me the most awesome baby shower EVER.

23. She didnt judge me when I threw up on the way home from dinner and then fell asleep at like 8:30PM the night of my bachlorette party.

24. She writes the most AMAZING blog ever! http://www.avantgardeparenting.com/

25. There is never a lull in our conversations.

26. All of the women in her wedding were red heads.

27. She just gets me. In a way that sometimes I feel like no one else does.

Jamie...I hope you have an amazing day. I love you more than you know and I look forward to our days of growing old and sitting on a porch (we may have to go find one somewhere...hope the owners dont mind) and laughing and chatting about all that we have gone through together. Thank you for being you and thank you for loving me and my family.

Happy Birthday Jamie!

*By the way, I had SO many pictures to include in this post but my blogger is being seriously weird so I apologize.

BBB

*I had pictures but my blog is being finicky...boo!
During the first few weeks after P was born, I dreaded nighttime. Big time. During the day, I seemed to keep it together but once night time came, I was a mess.

P was a good sleeper from the get-go. He just liked his sleep, takes after mom and dad, I suppose. The problem was, is that he would spend most of the DAY sleeping and then at night, he was wide awake. I know having your days and nights mixed up is pretty common for babies but it really is tough. I never listened to anyone and go in the habit of "napping while he was napping" so unfortunately, come night time...I was tired and ready for bed. P on the other hand had been sleeping all
day and was ready to party! (party = stare at nothing while his parents acted a fool)

The swing was our saving grace throughout the first few weeks. Heck we still use it now for naptime but that is another post for another day. P LOVES the swing. We would get him fed, changed, burped, and calmed down and then we would "swing it out". Good times. Anyways, during all this, for some reason, the nights would make me very lonely and depressed. Waking up in the middle of the night. Sitting in a dark house with a crying baby, trying to figure out how to console him was tough. Very tough. As he got older, things did get easier and as I figured out how to comfort him, that depression slowly faded away. A week or so before I started back to work, Hubby and I decided to try and get P into a bedtime routine. Nothing concrete, just paving the way for a consistent schedule. Feeding times were still up in the air, but we knew if nothing else, we could give him a bath at somewhat the same time every evening and just go from there.

This started our nightly routine and is now my absolute favorite time of the day. We call it our BBB.

We start with a bath..

Then "supper". Interrupt that 'B' how you will...

Then bed. 

I rock P until he is falling asleep and then into the crib he goes. When he is full and happy and just lays on my shoulder, I can't imagine being anywhere else. I often use this time to pray and count my blessings and just relish in the time that I can spend with him when he is willing and able to just lay and snuggle-bug on me because I know, especially with a little boy, those times won't be around for forever. 

Happy Slumber!

Not to brag...

BUT...CHECK ME OUT!!

I am parent of the week on Avant Garde Parenting!

Ummm...what?! I know...I'm excited too! My bestie Jamie runs that blog. If you arent reading it...you should, she is way smart and gives a lot of good tips and advice about being an awesome parent!

Happy Parenting!

Fun Friday - Fuzzy Navel Cake

This is all that was left three days after it was made. When my sister-in-law and brother-in-law came into town last weekend, Hubby and I decided to have bbq. We (when I say we, I mean he) made ribs, grilled corn on the cob, and baked beans*. I decided to also make a dessert, because

a) I love to bake

b) I love dessert

c) I have been wanting to test drive some of the recipes in this cookbook:

(I stole this picture from Amazon so you can try and "click to see inside" but I don't think it will get you anywhere...sorry!)

Anyways...since I cant have chocolate, I tested the Fuzzy Navel Cake. Wow. It was yummy! Here is the recipe...you should go a try it right now. Go ahead...I'll wait!

A post to brighten you day!

Remember when I said there was nothing cuter than a baby sneeze or a baby yawn??

Yeah...I lied.

Happy Smiles!

A day we will never forget...

Happy Birthday Jenilee!

Today is my good friend Jenilee's birthday! YAY! Jenilee and I met 7 years ago...geeze...I can't believe it has been that long. Her and her boyfriend at the time, Scuba Steve, had just moved to Texas for Steve's job as a DJ for The Liz Wilde Show. My Hubby (well of course he wasn't my Hubby at the time...we actually didn't even know each other) was getting his demo together, had given away his cat, had started packing his things, and was ready to hit the road to find a radio job outside the DFW area. He happened to bump into to Steve and Mick (another guy from The Liz Wilde Show) and I'm sure it was more involved but ultimately they offered him a job! (little did I know I would meet him a few months later)

Anywho...Hubby and I started dating and since I was young and reckless and 20...I would go up and hang out at the radio station during their show (I'm sure this was really annoying) but during that time, Jenilee and I began to talk and eventually became friends. We had some good times!

We hung out with Ole' Whiskers!

Introduced them to some Texas BBQ!

Had some fun and interesting times at our boyfriend's boss's house...we won't even begin to discuss Thanksgiving....

Hung out a lot and tried to be helpful at the radio station.

Oh...and yeah...MET TY PENNINGTON! I know...now you are jealous!

She is a one of a kind friend with a generous heart. (She in currently in school working towards nursing school! SO awesome!) I am so lucky to have met her and I am so glad we are still in touch...did I mention that they moved back home to Connecticut only a short time after moving here!?  She is an amazing person and I just love her to death!

I wish her the happiest day possible!

Happy Birthday Jenilee!

Oh and go check out her blog! Cute pictures of pups and stuff!

Exciting News!

P is going to have a cousin! YAY! My brother-in-law and sister-in-law (Hi Amber!) are expecting their first baby! In January! It's a girl! SO exciting!

Our family has been praying for this for a long time so we are so excited that it is finally here! They are going to be AMAZING parents and I am just so happy for that little girl...she is being born into a family filled with love.

Chase and Amber also came for a visit this past weekend to meet P!

I will keep you posted on her progress but keep a healthy baby in your thoughts and prayers!

Happy Baby!

Swim Class!

Last Saturday was P's second swim class, and this time Hubby was able to join us! So fun! You might remember Mr Duck from our first class...

well through trial and error, Grammy was able to figure out the Flip camera and this time we got a video!!

Also thank you to Emler Swim School for featuring P and I on their Facebook page! So neat!

Happy Swimming!

Weekly Menu is Back! (hopefully)

With some encouragement/intimidation from my bestie, the weekly menu is back! I will try and keep it as up to date as possible but I know y'all will understand if I get behind! Enjoy and I would love to hear any comments on recipes you tried and either loved or hated!

Happy Cooking!

Happy Labor Day!

In honor of labor day, I think you should read abouy MY labor...get it?! I will even make it easy for you!

PART ONE

PART TWO

PART THREE

Happy Day Off!

(and just in case you are interested in the origins of Labor Day!)

Since when was I born in a barn??

So the past few days I have begun to notice something about myself that frankly I just am not okay with. I have noticed that I am leaving drawers and cabinets open, not picking up after myself, and just leaving things in disarray. Yes...I'm sure some of you are thinking, YOU JUST HAD A BABY...GIVE YOURSELF A BREAK and while yes, that may be true...it is not that hard to close a drawer!

So I make Hubby 2 sandwiches every morning, peanut butter & jelly for breakfast and turkey for lunch....we are exciting, I know. Well the past few mornings, after I'm done I have looked around and realized that the silverware drawer is still open, dishwasher is partially cracked, cabinets where the baggies live is still open, pantry is open...the list goes on and on! What is my deal?! I need to work on this before it becomes a habit and frankly I need P to be on my side when it comes to making the bed.

There is one thing I know I will never compromise on though, and that is the toilet seat lid. I apologize for all of you who leave yours up but that is f-ing disgusting. So this might be just as weird as my being grossed out by getting my feet wet thing (for another post entirely)...but it TOTALLY, ABSOLUTELY, 100% grosses me out when I go into a bathroom and the lid is up. I don't know why, I mean I have to lift it anyways to actually use it...but something about walking in and immediately staring into the abyss that is your personal poop palace just makes me queasy. Oh also...black toilets...I mean ew, just ew.

So I have talked about the bathroom two days in a row...it is just a coincidence, I promise it wont become a habit.

I will leave you with this because I know it will make your day, just like it did mine!

Grumps and P

(special thanks to the videographer Aunt Shirley (my dad's sister) who is in town from NYC)

And speaking of Aunt Shirley, P got all dressed up for her the other day!

Happy Baby!

*So I almost just published this post without spell checking...EEK...y'all would have be embarrassed for me...I am pretty much at a 3rd grade spelling level.

What the baby books dont warn you about...

*Disclaimer. I talk about poop. If that is gross, I wouldnt continue. You have been warned!

If you weren't someone who talked about or even thought about poop before...once you have kids...you will be. P had some poop issues the past few weeks. He would be embarassed for me to be telling everyone but it went from "normal" breastfeed poop (or at least what all the books tell you it looks like) which is pretty much like seedy mustard to green. Shit you not (pun very much intended). Green. And all shades of green. Forest green. Lime green. Yellowish green. I even saw what I believe to be mint green the other day. I pretty much had to bust out my 64 pack of Crayolas to compare colors.

While it was entertaining to say the least...it still, as a new mom, caused me some concern. We brought it up at our 2 month visit and the doc didnt seem to be alarmed so I just rolled with it but of course still googled it, checked in all my baby books, and still sent three emails to friends and texted two people to ask their thoughts and opinions. The explanations were all over the map. Everything from eating to much vegetables to a bacterial infection. Awesome.

I decided to just roll with it and we would see how things progressed until my first day back to work, Grammy texted me that there was blood and mucus in his diaper. WHAT?! Seriously?! My first day back to work and there is blood. Are you freaking kidding me?! So what does any normal person do...I made her take a picture and email it to me. It wasnt a lot but still, blood is blood and every baby book you read says blood is a red flag. I immediately called the doc and spoke with a nurse who said that one diaper with blood isnt too much concern but if the frequency of diapers and amount of blood increases, then I need to call back. Oooookay.

Well I was still worried so I called again and made an appointment for P. Hubby took him to get checked out, with dirty diaper in tow (they told us to bring a poopy one...delicious!). The doc checked for any tears or reasons for the bleeding but couldnt find anything therefore, the reason for the blood and mucus could be a possible dairy allergy therefore...I have to cut out all dairy from my diet. WHAT?! Seriously?! No cheese. No milk. No ice cream. No nothing. Boo! I have been avoiding milk anyways because I have heard that it can cause issues but no cheese...is that even possible?! When Hubby told me I immediately crawled under my desk and wept. But then I pulled myself together, splashed some water on my face and told myself to quit being so selfish. I did ask Hubby (just for curiosity sake) what if I didnt cut it out and he said matter of factly..."formula". And not that there is anything wrong with that but we are cheap people and therefore we are going to try and stay on the boob juice for as long as possible.

So why is our son's poop green you may be asking yourself (or maybe not if you are normal and/or dont have kids) and the doc said that I am not drinking enough water. Awesome. So its pretty much all my fault. No guilt there or anything.

What is the moral of this story? No more dairy for me and lots and lots of water and therefore potty breaks if we want to continue to breast feed. I guess I can handle that...I mean it is for the health and well being of our child so I should probably get on board!

Happy Milking!