made in earlysville

Super Bowl Menu

2012-02-05T20:29:00.000-05:00

I'm one of those people who likes the Super Bowl for the food and the commercials, not so much for the football. Since there is way more football on during the Super Bowl than commercials I thought I would take a few minutes (while my husband is talking to/yelling at the TV) to share our menu. Our plans to get together with family were squashed due to never-ending sickness so we were on our own tonight. Since it was just us I didn't really plan much and found myself digging through the pantry and the fridge this afternoon trying to come up with something.

Here's what I came up with:

Sweet Chicken Bacon Wraps
Paula Deen

2 chicken breasts cut into 1" cubes
4-5 slices bacon (use a good kind that you really like)
1/2 cup brown sugar
1 tbsp chili powder

Spray broiler pan with nonstick cooking spray. Mix brown sugar and chili powder in a shallow bowl with a fork. Wrap each cube of chicken with small piece of bacon and secure with a toothpick. Dredge in the brown sugar/chili powder mixture (I used the fork to pat it on). Place on broiler pan. Bake at 350 for about 20 minutes or until chicken is cooked through and bacon is crispy.

This was the hands down favorite. Andy and I loved it and both girls gobbled it up. Paula does not disappoint! I didn't even use half of the brown sugar/chili powder mixture so this was really not too high in calories. And can you believe no butter?

Franks Sweet Chili Cream Cheese Dip

Bottle of Franks Sweet Chili Sauce
8oz block of cream cheese (or whatever you have in the fridge)

Pour chili sauce over the cream cheese, voila! Serve with crackers.

This was beyond easy and I was pretty impressed. I got 2 bottles for free at Harris Teeter this week (on sale for 1.47 eVic and had a .75/1 coupon). I wasn't really sure it was going to be that good, but we really liked it!

Cucumber Sandwiches

Tub of chive and onion cream cheese
Sour dough bread (we used honey wheat since it was what we had)
Cucumbers, thinly sliced

You can be fancy and cut circles in the bread or be lazy (like I was tonight) and just cut it into squares. Spread the cream cheese on and top with a cucumber slice. This is always a family favorite, especially with the kids!

I also had a frozen Paula Deen Shore Is Good Seafood Dip and an Allouette Low Fat Garlic & Herb Dip as well. We served those with crackers and carrots. The seafood dip was good but I know it was crazy high in calories and not to mention salt. I'm sure you could make something better and more healthy. The garlic & herb dip was great and would be a good buy in the future if you didn't feel like making something.

What did you have?

Happy February!

2012-02-01T16:16:00.002-05:00

How is is February already? Today when I picked up Maddie from preschool there was a big pink heart on her class' bulletin board for their upcoming Valentine's Day party. All of the kids are supposed to sign up to bring something and would it surprise you that my daughter ALWAYS wants to bring sweet treats? Always. No matter if Mommy feels like making them or not, ha. Nothing we can't handle and I'm drooling over some of the ideas on Pinterest already...

But that got me thinking about Valentines, so fun! Last year she HAD to have Olivia Valentines to give to her classmates and they were super cute. Being the frugal lady I am, I saved the remaining ones hoping to use them again this year. Unfortunately for me there were 11 left and she has 14 classmates. So much for that idea! So needless to say we'll be buying new ones...

And you know I'm obsessed with Tiny Prints so naturally I swooned when I got an email about their Valentines. I had no idea they made personalized Valentines for kids, how did I miss this?! They're not even that expensive either (wallet excitedly screams "yay!").

How cute are these?

Picture Puzzle

Skunk Friends

Owlways Friends

How cute would this be for both girls to send to their play group friends?

Great Pear

Nutty Squirrel

I think those are hilarious and I love them, hands down the sheep is my favorite. But I already know which one Maddie will insist on me buying...

Little Ballerina

What can I say? The girl is obsessed with dancing!

And do you know what the best part is? Tiny Prints is offering bloggers 50 free classroom Valentine's cards for posting about their awesome Valentine Cards and Valentines Day Greeting Cards. I think they're super cute and am so excited to be participating in this campaign. I know Maddie is going to be thrilled to hand out her ballerina Valentine's :-)

I really love Tiny Prints. They have great, quality products and they are so generous to bloggers. They have super nice people too! If you want to get involved with them you can...

Follow them on Twitter
Like them on Facebook
Or my favorite, follow Tiny Prints Boards on Pinterest

Thanks Tiny Prints!

Family Photos

2011-12-02T19:54:00.001-05:00

I promised to share our family photos when they came back from the photographer so I'm keeping my word (yay me!). They were so good and it was REALLY hard to narrow it down but here are just a few (or like 30) of my favs...

This is by far my MOST favorite of them all. She is so cute I can't stand it!

I guess it's time to change my blog header now! It's on the list :-)

Hope you have a great weekend!

It's Holiday Card Time!

2011-11-22T19:39:00.001-05:00

So it's that time of year again and it makes me so excited! I love getting all of the holiday cards from friends and seeing the sweet pictures of their family and all of their kiddos. Everyone looks so happy and they all have such beautiful families, it's truly awesome. We used to display them on our fridge but since we're high rollers now (ha) and have a non-magnetic stainless steel fridge (the neat-freak in me is squealing with delight, sorry kiddos!) I'll have to come up with something new, maybe like these?

I wish I could show you our last years card from Tiny Prints, it was awesome, but I can't get my scanner to work. And to be honest that bottle of wine in the fridge is calling my name hard tonight so please don't blame me for giving up quickly...

I have narrowed our card down to four (from 52 favorites might I add, so indecisive but can you blame me when they're all SO CUTE!?!). Maybe you can help me decide?

I love the colors and designs on this one, plus like the hubby pointed it out it offers lots of space on the front for multiple pictures. And it has super cute return address labels that are just begging to be purchased...

Christmas Cutout

This one comes in red:

Dazzling Flowers

Or green (which, as no surprise, I think I like better), also with lots of photo space:

Dazzling Flowers

This is Andy's favorite and I love, love, love the return address labels for these too:

Polka Print

And this last one you really have to see the back as well, how cute is that?

Merry Medley

So any thoughts or favorites? I am supposed to be getting the link for our family pictures this evening from our photographer so I'm planning on ordering ASAP to get them in time for the holidays. Oh, and is it tacky to have them addressed and mailed out ? Do holiday cards require handwriting?

Soooo excited!

Money Saving Mom

2011-11-17T20:43:00.001-05:00

Money Saving Mom is a blog that a friend of a friend recommend I check out about 6 month ago. I coupon and so did she and she said it would change my life. I thought I was doing pretty well on my own but I figured why not. Well, let's just say that the girl knew what she was talking about. Money Saving Mom is not just a site for couponers, it's a site for saving money in every aspect of your family life. From freezer cooking to the drugstore game (I love CVS!), I have learned many valuable things over the past few months and have been inspired by many of her posts. I love the recipes that she posts and that she includes instructions on freezing just about all of them. I have recommended her site to just about anyone who would listen. Maybe I'm crazy, maybe not. But I have definitely saved way more money this year than any year before and I'm loving it!

Crystal Paine, the writer behind Money Saving Mom, has written a book called The Money Saving Mom's Budget. I have every intention of reading this book cover to cover and saving even more money this year. I hope you check it out too!

As promised...

2011-11-17T13:26:00.001-05:00

Pictures of the house! I only have interior photos since every time I plan to go outside and take pictures it keeps raining. I'll work on that next, but fair warning, it's not pretty! We still haven't landscaped the yard any further than putting down grass seed so there isn't a large mud pit. It's on the list!

This is the new living/family room. Mostly finished but a few bare walls that really need some love.

The stone fire place is actually not real stone, but a far lighter (an less expensive) material fabricated to look like real stone. The only options for a mantel were a piece of wood matched to either the floor or the shelves on either side or a big piece of stone similar to what is on the raised hearth. Since we didn't like either option (not even remotely), Mrs. 5C helped me find what she knew I would love, no mantel at all! It's hard to see in this picture but all we did is make a step above the fire place and just had the "rock" put on as evenly there as possible so it would be straight and relatively flat. We basically have a non-mantle. If that makes any sense? You can't really put anything on it but we didn't want that always. You know he had to have his big ole TV mounted...

Yet another bare wall needing love. I'm dying to make (or convince Andy to make) this for this space. I think it would be perfect and when you make it yourself you can pick whatever color works for your space. I was thinking a gray/brown tone? Not 100% on that though.

Look, a non-bare wall! I have one... Andy says those are my grandma chairs but I love them! They're actually really comfortable too.

This is the one thing I splurged on. I know I could have made one but really, I had a baby like right before this and I so did not have time. I could not be happier with it. LOVE IT.

View into our bedroom from the hallway. My dad (who did all of our fancy wiring/lighting) insisted that we have the same ceiling in our bedroom that we had in the living room. Me, being the cheap one, said we didn't need it but when it came back cheaper than the normal flat ceiling, who was I to argue? I think we got super lucky because I hear that's not usually the case. But I'll take it!

(Notice the Cozy Coupe peeking out from behind the door...)

And more empty walls...

I have envisioned a faux fireplace between these 2 windows. My plan is to buy a mantle and paint it white to match our existing trim. I was thinking that I'd either get some brick wall paper (maybe this or this) and put that on the back or maybe just paint it? I haven't really full developed this idea. I'd really also like to put a big blown up version of one of our wedding pictures above it. Did I also mention I have no window treatments? Good thing we have no neighbors!

We had some dead space behind what was originally going to be an HVAC chase so Andy decided to make me some built ins. I personally think every room should have built ins. I wonder if he knows what he's started?

Our master bath (sorry, should have turned off the vanity lights). I absolutely love this space but I despise the mirror. Somehow "we" got our measurements wrong and it just looks funky. It was also supposed to be antique silver, not gold. It's way too much for the space and it needs to be replaced. It's on the list too...

Another view into the bath. Don't you love our mismatched rugs? I was supposed to buy new ones months ago, ha. There are more empty walls in here too. And did you notice we have no pulls on the drawers and cabinets? I was supposed to get those too... But boy do I love having a TV in the bathroom! When I get up before the kids do I get to watch big girl shows like the news while I get ready. It's fabulous!

Speaking of the kids... I thought this was MY bathtub?

Our shower was inspired by this one. I wish I could take better pictures of it but it's hard with the angle of the door. I love taking a shower in here every day. Our entire family fits in there with room to spare and they love it! It's usually full of toys too...

The glass tile is from Home Depot, as is the white subway tile. We found it all on a super black Friday sale last year. I stressed for months over what I wanted and looked and looked for glass tile that I liked and found nothing. And randomly we find it in the aisle at Home Depot, it was meant to be! The floor tile is a non-skid version from Lowes. It ended up matching really well and so far it's holding up nicely. I don't think it was marketed as non-skid but it certainly is and it was really inexpensive. If you search for non-skid shower tile online you will be amazed at the prices. I was psyched to find this!

This is a view into the dining room (former living room) from our bedroom as well as some more bare walls...

Here is an area where I am having some issues. This is our dining room and it's very open to our kitchen (to the right) as well as our entry (to the left). You walk directly in here from the front door and it's difficult to create a space that works with an entry like that. Everyone is always in our kitchen (as I'm sure they are at your house too) and what I am trying to accomplish here is a "keeping room" of sorts. I need a space where people can be in the kitchen without actually being in the kitchen. I also need some barstools but that's another story (working on those). So I followed Nate's advice and "shopped my house" to create a new space. I took this couch out of the play room and moved the little table from next to the front door. Since I took this picture I've added pillows and a throw to tie in the wall colors (pretend you see them), also shopped from my house. Can it work? We're living with it for a few weeks to see how it feels and how it works for us. So far it's actually be a really used seat, especially with little kids running laps around the house. I just don't want to have it feel awkward when you walk into our house.

This is the view from the dining room into the new living room. It was also where we entered the new side of the house during construction (can you imagine the dust?), it was crazy! And more bare walls. I'm hoping to get a big buffet/hutch for the wall to the right and then some kind of art or mirror to go over the little dresser to the left. There's also a big window to the right on the front of the house that I forgot to take a picture of, it needs window treatments badly! On the list too...

And our kitchen with the lovely non-painted drywall patch. I guess it's better than hole we were living with for months. That used to be a window before we added on but it's now the back of a closet in our bedroom. Envision an open shelving unit above the sink, staggered height with the cabinets all the way to the ceiling. That's the plan anyhow. We just need to figure out what to do with the light above the sink. We're also planning on ripping off the huge ugly formica backsplash and putting up either white subway tile or white bead board. I have a hate relationship with that backsplash and I've been wanting to kick it out since we moved in. We've toyed around with the idea of replacing our countertops and having a counter height bar but I think we'll shelve that for now. It's hard not to want it all right now!

Our kitchen island is one of those put together 300 pieces yourself islands from Home Depot. It's done the job but it needs a little updating. It came with those ugly black rolling feet which we immediately threw out so the plan is for Andy to build some kid of furniture looking feet to raise it up a bit to counter height. I was thinking of paint it green like these cabinets and cleaning up and sealing the butcher block top. We were going to invest in a new island with actual cabinets but I think this will do in the meantime and will allow us to save for something better.

And then we have the table in the kitchen where the kids eat. This is a crappy old table that has been passed down through many of our family members and has really seen better days. It's on the list of things to refinish. It might just get replaced with something better and end up in my office as a craft table.

So there you have it, all of our new spaces and some of our old. It's still a very big work in progress and it's still keeping us very busy. We have a lot left to do but we are taking our time and trying to spend our money wisely. I'm so not a fan of wasting money on something I don't love. We'll get there eventually!

Tiny Prints Talent Search

2011-11-17T13:12:00.001-05:00

It's that time of year again and I'm thinking about our holiday cards, are you?

We always order our holiday cards from Tiny Prints and have been really happy with them. I even ordered baby shower invites this year for a friend and not only were they super cute, they were really nice quality. AND they even addressed and shipped them for me! How awesome is that? I cannot say enough great things about Tiny Prints.

I love, love, LOVE Tiny Prints and I wanted to let you know about something exciting going on right now. They are having their 3rd annual Tiny Prints Talent Search Contest!

You can enter for a chance to win the grand prize of $1,000 cash, plus a $500 Tiny Prints gift certificate, who wouldn't want that? SO awesome!

Here are the categories in which you can enter:

Cutest Baby (0-24 mo)
Cutest Kid (25 mo - 10 years)
Cutest Family
Cutest Couple
Cutest Pet & Owner

The entry period is going on now through November 21. After that you will have the opportunity to vote on your favorites and help determine the winners! So head on over to Tiny Prints and enter! Make sure you tell everyone you know to vote for you!

Good luck!

Where have I been?

2011-11-08T09:35:00.005-05:00

A lot has changed since I posted last... we've had our 2nd baby, Ellorie, who is turning a year old next month and we've also finished (mostly) and are living in our addition. It's been a crazy busy year for us and I can tell you I definitely don't recommend doing those at the same time or you, too, may fall off of the face of the earth... I'm starting to get the hang of being a Mom of two but really, I have a long way to go. It's been a wild ride so far for sure!

My goal (starting now, screw waiting for New Years) is to spend less time cleaning my house (yes, I can be a bit obsessive in that department...) and more time doing things that make me happy, like blogging! So I'll be changing things up a bit and doing my best to post about what's going on in our life. And I promise to post more pictures of Ellorie, she really does exist, really, as well as our completed addition. Soon, very soon!

My newest love in the morning

2010-10-07T08:18:00.003-04:00

I have been cheating on my white chocolate & french vanilla. I think I've actually become a polygamist.

This creamer is so thick, it actually looks like eggnog (wait, this might be gross if you're not pregnant, ha!). It's AMAZING. I bought it the other day since I had a coupon and I'm cheap like that. I put it in my coffee yesterday along with my white chocolate and YUM. I was in Heaven!

Note: International Delight is not paying me to post this (although I wish they would send me some free creamer b/c I'm a FAN!). Ha, yes, pregnant and dreaming.

Construction Update

2010-10-03T16:51:00.004-04:00

So I apologize that this post has been a little delayed. We have been so busy trying to get everything in motion and I really thought I'd have more to show you by now. We've had a lot of rain here lately and it's really held us up. But here is what we've got so far...

We have foundation walls (with brick)!

As well as a massive pile of mud...

That seems to have taken over the entire right side of our yard...

But we do have the beginnings of a foundation. We've had the walls poured, ground work plumbing and they've prepared for the concrete slab to be poured. We're crossing our fingers that it doesn't rain so they can come tomorrow morning. If that all happens, Andy will be able to start framing the basement walls and I know he's itching to!

So that's about all we've got going on right now. My father-in-law told us last night that he thinks we should be done before Christmas, which made my husband laugh hysterically because he is also working full time at his real job through this process, not to mention we're due to have our second baby on December 15. I'm not counting on it but it sure would be nice if that happened being that we're going to be sharing a room with the baby until he finishes ours!

Hopefully I'll have more to show you real soon. Keep your fingers crossed for no rain!

Maddie is 20 months old and I'm 30 weeks pregnant with our next one and yes, we know we're crazy to be doing all of this right now :-)

Something new is going on at our house...

2010-09-17T19:24:00.002-04:00

We have a new visitor in our yard...

And he's been doing some digging!

Yes, that means we've finally gotten the go-ahead to start construction on our addition. We're signing the paperwork for our loan tomorrow!! We are beyond excited, especially since it's been a year since we started this process. We're building a family room and master suite off of the right side of our house. It won't be done before the new baby comes but hopefully a few months after so we can have our own room and she can have hers. Yay!

I think the hubby and father-in-law had a good bit of fun back here. This is the view off of our deck.

They had to cut up our patio and the retaining wall will apparently have to go as well. The addition will be tucked up against the side of the house and this patio curves out a little too far.

I'm going to be taking pictures and am hoping to be keeping you updated with our weekly progress. It will move pretty fast at first (the yard is being dug up tomorrow, Monday the foundation is being poured, etc.) but once we're all under roof I'm not sure we'll have quite the impressive photos to report. I'm sure we'll have something to report though, since we are having a baby in a few months :-)

Woohoo!!!

Maddie is 20 months old, I'm entering my 3rd trimester at 27/28 weeks pregnant and we're starting week one of our home addition!

Gnocchi with Shrimp, Asparagus, Broccoli, and Pesto

2010-08-22T19:13:00.002-04:00

We had this for dinner tonight and it was yummy and super easy and quick to prepare. It's definitely going to be on my list from now on!

Gnocchi with Shrimp, Asparagus, Broccoli, and Pesto

Adapted from Cooking Light

16oz pkg vacuum-packed gnocchi*

1 lb fresh asparagus (cut into 1 in slices)

Head or 2 of broccoli (cut into smaller pieces)

1 pound peeled and deveined large shrimp**

prepared pesto

Boil water in a large dutch oven. Cook gnocchi for 4-5 minutes or until done (it will rise to the top). Remove with a slotted spoon and place in a large bowl. Boil shrimp, asparagus and broccoli for 5 minutes or until done. Drain and add to gnocchi. Mix with pesto (however much you want, I used a couple spoonfuls). Voila!

*I found this in the pasta section. It's not refrigerated.

**I used a bag of frozen raw shrimp that already had the tails removed. It was WAY cheaper than going fresh and then you can cook it whenever you want to.

Maddie is 19 months old and wasn't very interested in eating anything but the gnocchi, which is OK because she's cute :-)

Lesson Learned

2010-08-14T14:02:00.007-04:00

I learned an important lesson today and I feel I should share it so maybe someone else won't have to go through what I did today? Who am I kidding, you'll probably do the same thing and it'll probably happen to you too. But maybe you can ~~commiserate with~~ laugh at me on my HORRIBLE morning....

Lesson: NEVER take your toddler ~~out in public~~ anywhere less than 24 hours after they've thrown up no matter how "fine" they're acting the next morning. EVER.

And how did I learn this valuable lesson you ask?? We'll start with last night. Andy usually puts Maddie to bed so he took her upstairs and I started on dinner. Not 5 minutes later I hear this "Hunny" scream from upstair. I ran up to see what was the matter and found him with a puke covered baby girl. Apparently it was projectile style and I could see that when I walked in, it was EVERYWHERE. I got her cleaned up in the tub and Andy cleaned up the room and we got her in bed. She actually seemed fine once she was clean, she just didn't like being covered in puke and who would blame her?

She slept all night and seemed totally fine and normal this morning. We fed her the usual breakfast of Cheerios and yogurt and Andy even make pancakes and eggs. She was starving and wanted to sample everything. She was happy and she ate really well. We chalked it all up to the new vitamins he had given her that made her gag the night before. Andy went off to a golf tournament and I decided to go meet a lady at the mall who was selling a bunny costume on Craigslist. Seriously, like a 20 minute errand, nothing big. We go into the mall and she wants a milk from Starbucks so I stop and grab it and then head into Motherhood Maternity to kill some time before the woman calls me. Big mistake. I should have never left the house. She ended up puking all over me and all over the store. It was awful. I had to strip her down to a diaper and attempt to clean myself and then clean up all the puke all over the place. I ended up running out of the mall covered in puke with a nearly naked toddler. It was AWFUL.

Needless to say, I will never do that again and I hope you won't either.

Maddie is 19 months old and I'm 22 weeks pregnant with her baby sister and totally grossed out by all this puke!

Lovers & Players, read it!

2010-07-07T21:18:00.003-04:00

I read a book this week. Did you hear that? I read a book this week! And it wasn't even a toddler/baby book! It was an awesome little trashy novel by Jackie Collins, Lovers & Players. I love a good read as much as the next girl and this one has been sitting on my shelf for over 2 years just begging to be read (sad huh?). Problem is I've had NO time to myself, or maybe I've just felt a tad guilty burying myself in a book for a week? Who knows, but I got over it this week and I'm SO glad I did! I could barely put the book down and loved every minute of it. You can read more about it here. If you like a trashy novel full of gossip and drama like me, this book is for you. Take a week off and read it!

Maddie is almost 18 months old and I'm 17 weeks pregnant (eek!).

All things Peach

2010-07-06T08:00:00.007-04:00

Yes, I realize it's been quite some time (like 4 months) since I last posted. I'm a bad blogger but let's just pretend it's not been that long? Many apologies!

On the 4th, Maddie & I (hubby was working) went with the in-laws up to our local peach orchard in hopes of picking our own peaches. They had been over-picked the day before so no picking but lucky for us they had plenty to choose from inside. I love that place, it just smells like yummy peaches and I swear you start drooling as you pull into the parking lot.

We brought home more peaches than any one human could possibly eat all promising to make yummy treats this week. I started with a tuna salad with white peaches, sounds yummy but the recipe really needs some work so you probably won't be reading about it anytime soon. Then I turned to Paula (Deen), who never lets me down. I can honestly tell you this was the best peach cobbler I've ever had, hands down! It was the perfect combination of peaches and cobbler (not too little like most recipes), I was in HEAVEN! Paula really knows her stuff, which is why I love her!

Food Network

Peach Cobbler

Adapted from Paula Deen & The Food Network

Ingredients

4 cups peeled, sliced peaches*

2 cups sugar, divided

1/2 cup water

1 stick butter

1 1/2 cups self-rising flour

1 1/2 cups milk

ground cinnamon

Directions

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.

Combine peaches, 1 cup of sugar, and water in a saucepan and mix well. Bring to a boil and simmer for 10 minutes. Remove from heat.

Put the butter in a 3-quart baking dish and place in oven to melt.

Whisk remaining 1 cup of sugar, flour and milk slowly to prevent clumping. Pour mixture over melted butter but do not stir. Spoon fruit on top, gently pouring in syrup. Sprinkle top with cinnamon. Batter will rise to top during baking. Bake for 30-45 minutes.

Serve with whipped cream or vanilla ice cream!

*I used 10 smaller peaches and probably could have used 12 - 14. You can adjust the number of peaches depending on how peachy you like your cobbler.

I hope your family enjoys this as much as ours did!

Maddie is almost 18 months old and I'm 16 weeks pregnant with our 2nd baby... crazy!

It's finally done!

2010-03-29T08:44:00.006-04:00

We finally (and by we, I mean Andy) finished the bathroom! I helped, I really did, but with a sick baby this week, I was a little less than helpful towards the end. And here it is (yay!!!):

Our pictures aren't fabulous, it's hard to get all of the space in without the help of a wide-angle lens (we're not quite that fancy in our household yet).

We wanted minimal decor since the trim was so much in a small space, I think it ended up working out pretty well. We removed 2 towel bars (one over the toilet and one on the wall opposite the toilet) to make it more of a powder room. It's not likely that anyone will use the shower unless we have a house full of people and a shower rush (again, not likely). And then in that event, if they need to hang up a bath towel it can go on the back of the door. The towel bars were just kind of ugly and we didn't want to mess up our freshly painted walls. We still might add a painting/picture of some sort but with as indecisive as we were with all of the other decor, that might take a while... maybe a family photo?

I'm working on getting a post together with how-to for the wallpapering with some help from my MIL but that may be a long time coming. We thought it was pretty easy, but then again we had her to help us and she's done a TON of wall paper in her days. Even without the super genius MIL, it was pretty easy and you can totally handle it. The wallpaper turned out really nice and painted really well. We were psyched that it was so easy and cost effective yet looked so fancy!

Breakfast Casserole

2010-03-17T09:08:00.006-04:00

This is one of our family's staple breakfast recipes for gatherings (formerly known as Sausage Squares) and it's really been known for the sausage, hence the name. Until yesterday. I'm renaming it and revamping it! I hosted playgroup yesterday so I thought I'd try a more healthy take on this recipe and let me tell you, it was a hit! The old recipe just called for sausage, eggs, cheese, and crescent rolls so I decided to add some of my favorite veggies (you can really add any you like) and use some lower fat cheeses.

Breakfast Casserole

Makes about 16-20 squares depending on who's doing the cutting :-)

8 eggs, beaten

1 lb reduced fat sausage, cooked & drained

2 pkg crescent rolls (leave in fridge until you put them on or they are a pain to work with)

1 cup shredded low fat cheddar cheese

1 cup shredded low fat mozzarella cheese

1/2 cup shredded Parmesan cheese (I didn't have low fat but I'm going to look for it next time I go to the store)

1 zucchini shredded

3/4 lb asparagus chopped into about 1/2 inch pieces

1/2 onion

1/2 red pepper

1/2 yellow pepper

Preheat oven to 375 F. Grease 9x13 casserole dish (I used fat free Pam). Saute onion and peppers in a pan on medium heat until tender, about 3-5 minutes. Put all ingredients in a mixing bowl and stir to combine. Put mixture in pan and spread out evenly. Top with crescent rolls (this works best if you break the roll in half and then use the rectangle shapes instead of tearing them into triangles). Bake for 30 minutes covered and about 5-10 uncovered or until full browned and cooked through. Cut into squares and serve.

I hope your family enjoys this as much as mine has!

What makes for a GREAT St. Patty's Day?

2010-03-17T08:32:00.007-04:00

Beadboard wallpaper!!!

This is just a little snippet as we're only about a quarter of the way to finishing the bathroom but I was so excited I had to share! My husband is a builder and was a little opposed to the idea of wallpapering anything but we read this awesome post and had to try it out. So far the product is totally exceeding our expectations! Let's just say it's kind of amazing!

Here are a few looks at the bathroom in transition:

My fabulous hubby getting out the bubbles and unaware he was posing for a picture...

And here is what will be our new mirror! We've ordered the glass to fit inside this frame the hubby made (what can I say, he rocks!) and hopefully it will be ready this week. And yes, the bathroom was red before we painted it a bright and cheery blue.

More to come soon!

"Un-Fried" Chicken & Lighter Mac & Cheese

2010-03-15T08:34:00.007-04:00

Let me tell you, and some of you I don't have to, I LOOOOOVE Paula Deen. That woman knows how to make a great meal and she never disappoints. I don't think I've ever made anything of hers that I didn't like. She's fabulous. I love to cook and she is almost always my go-to woman for recipes. The only problem is she's not exactly known for her low calorie meals. I am trying to lose the last 20 pounds of baby weight (OK, maybe the pre-baby weight) so I am trying to cut calories in addition to exercising like "they" tell you to do. Paula's son, Bobby Deen, has come up with some lower calorie takes on her recipes and so far they've been great!

Here's what we had for dinner last night:

"Un-Fried Chicken"

Adapted from Bobby Deen

Makes 2 servings (but you can double/triple/whatever the recipe)

2 8oz boneless, skinless chicken breasts trimmed of all fat and cut in half

1/2 tsp Paula Deen House Seasoning (see below)

1/4 cup light mayonnaise

Zest and juice of 1 lemon (I used 2 tbsp bottled and no zest... I know, tisk tisk, but it was fine!)

1 egg white

1/2 tsp hot sauce (I used Tabasco)

1 1/4 cup cornflake crumbs

Preheat oven to 375 F. Grease shallow baking pan (I used Pam and a 9x13 glass casserole dish).

Sprinkle chicken with House Seasoning. Combine mayo, lemon juice (and zest if using), egg white, and hot sauce in medium bowl.* Add the chicken, toss to coat.

Place cornflakes and a small shallow pan and crunch with your hands. Dip chicken in the crumbs and cover all sides. Place in baking pan and spray very lightly with nonstick spray (I used Pam).

Bake until chicken is golden brown and cooked through, about 30 minutes. Do not turn.

*This will give you much more than you will need for 2 chicken breasts but it's far easier than splitting an egg white, trust me, I found out the hard way.

Paula Deen House Seasoning

1 cup salt

1/4 cup ground black pepper

1/4 cup garlic powder

Mix to combine. Keep in an airtight container for up to 6 months.

Lighter Mac & Cheese

Adapted from Bobby Deen

Makes about 4 servings

2 cups cooked multigrain elbow macaroni, drained

1 cup reduced-fat shredded cheddar cheese

1/4 cup fat free milk

1 egg, slightly beaten

1/8 cup reduced-fat sour cream

1/2 tbsp Dijon mustard

1/4 tsp salt

1/8 tsp cayenne pepper

1/8 cup panko (or regular/seasoned/whatever) bread crumbs

1-2 tsp olive oil

Preheat oven to 350 F. Spray 8x8 casserole dish with nonstick spray.

Put boiled & drained macaroni into casserole dish and add cheese while still hot.

Combine milk, egg, sour cream, mustard salt and cayenne in small bowl. Add mixture to casserole dish and stir to combine.

Combine bread crumbs and olive oil in small bowl. Sprinkle crumb mixture over macaroni and lightly spray with nonstick spray.

Bake until macaroni is hot and topping is golden, about 20-30 minutes (just check it).

I promise, none of this even resembled healthy or diet food. It was SO good and I'm making it again Thursday!

I'm back! And updates...

2010-03-14T08:18:00.012-04:00

So I'm kind of a crappy and sporadic blogger and I am determined to change that. Starting today.

And we'll start with our house, which happens to be taking up any free time my daughter doesn't take. To make a long story short, we're buying our house (the one we live in already, weird, I know) from the in-laws and we're currently jumping through hoops with the County in order to be "allowed" to do so. This process has been going on for what seems like forever (maybe 6-7 months now?) and needless to say we're all a little stir crazy. So, the hubby and I have decided to start making small changes now to tide us over until we can start knocking down walls and digging up dirt (did I mention we're doing an addition? We are.).

We've long had a giant gravel parking lot in front of our home, called a driveway by very few, and it's been something we've wanted to change (sorry no pics, imagine extreme ugliness). After the piles of snow we so graciously received (grr) this winter and all of the plowing, that gravel parking lot has been quickly creeping into our yard and growing (think Ghostbusters pink slime). To put it nicely, it looked AWFUL and we had basically no gravel left so it was becoming not only ugly but a huge muddy pit. So last weekend we decided we would get out the rakes and at least bring the gravel out of the yard and put it back in the driveway. If you know my hubby, you would know that he couldn't stop there. No, he got out the tractor and instructed me to order a dump truck full of gravel (did you know you can get that in 1 hour?!?) and this is what we ended up with:

Needless to say, I love my hubby and my new circle driveway! Ignore the stakes and the muddy hole in the center. Imagine instead some darker dyed mulch with a beautiful white dogwood like this:

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and some nice shrubbery that our deer won't eat (still working on that one). We're supposed to be getting a load of dirt next week to fill it in and then will come the mulch & tree. I can't wait for it to be finished!

Another thing I've been wanting since we moved in 3 years ago... are lights for our walkway. I ordered these from Home Depot and they came yesterday, so exciting!

You'll have to ignore our demolished liriope (remember the deer & shrubbery comment?) as well as the fact that all of our mulch has washed away... We haven't put all of the lights out quite yet because one of the boxes was damaged and we're exchanging it, plus we underestimated the length of our walkway so we actually need a 4th box. Apparently, being solar powered, they have to charge in bright sunlight in order to work and it's been raining here for the last few days so we won't have a true test until next week. Some were bright last night and some weren't on at all. Hopefully that's just because of the overcast and rainy weather and not a forecast of things to come.

Note, Mrs. Five C's, you may want to stop reading here...

We're redoing our main floor guest bath. It's been a bright and cheery Lilly Pulitzer bath to match our guest room (which is now in the basement) since we moved in. But I've since grown out of my college Lilly bedding days and am in need of a change (sorry Mrs. Five C's!). This is what we've gotten so far:

This is where we're going:

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How funny that the walls in this pic are exactly the same color as our bath now? Now imagine the top half brown like this (maybe not quite as dark and with higher beadboard, yes I know that isn't beadboard pictured but let's pretend):

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Here's a little inspiration:

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You get the idea. To make a long story short, my Mom is remodeling a house and my hubby put up beautiful board and batten (about 3/4 of the way up) and she had the top half painted a beautiful chocolate brown. I've been in love with it since I saw it and we've decided to try it in our bathroom.

These are the paint colors we came home with:

We were both leaning toward Middlebury Brown (center):

What do you think?

More to come soon!

And can you believe Maddie turned 14 months yesterday???

Had to sneak this one in :-)

Little Maddie Walker

2009-12-07T13:59:00.005-05:00

That's right, I said WALKER! I can't believe it but my little baby is so not a little baby anymore.

Saturday she took her first few steps with her Daddy while we (I) were (was) trying to put up the Christmas tree in the basement (note that I said basement, I.E. hopefully the place she can't get to it and pull it down on top of herself... oh the crazy visions!). Of course I was the one decorating the tree so I missed these little steps but Daddy swears they were real. I laughed and kind of rolled my eyes and said OK, that's great and kept decorating (thinking to myself that my 10 month old baby couldn't be walking already, right?). Well, I'll have you know that I was SO wrong. Yesterday I decided to veg out in front of the TV for a bit while she played on the floor. I took my attention off of her for a minute and she's across the room. And then she did it again. She was so proud of herself and now it's all she wants to do. I guess we've got a lot more bumps and bruises coming our way...

Maddie is 10 months, 3 weeks and 3 days old

I want a new vacuum!

2009-12-07T11:06:00.002-05:00

Credit

Jill at Baby Rabies has a contest going on for a new Dyson D25 Vacuum and I SO want one! Check it out and you can enter to win one too!

Pumpkin Picking!

2009-10-27T14:59:00.016-04:00

So I'm a little behind with this post....

We went pumpkin picking at Carter's Mountain with my Mom (in October). We went a bit too close to Halloween so there wasn't much was left, but it was beautiful up there and still fun!

She was in to the pumpkins, big time...

Apparently we must lick the pumpkins?

Love the view from the top of the mountain!

She loved this thing (it's a giant apple in case you couldn't tell)

She was determined to climb through it....

... and eat it, along with everything else!

Happy Halloween!

Said goodbye to an old friend today....

2009-08-05T14:15:00.003-04:00

I finally took down our Christmas Tree today (yes, I know it is August and I should have done this months ago). I packed up all of the ornaments and other trimmings and boxed them all up downstairs in storage where they should have been for the majority of this year. This is just the kind of (OK, one of MANY) thing(s) that happens when you have a baby right after Christmas....

It's been a running joke in our family, especially when we have more people over for dinner than will fit at our breakfast table and we have to dine in what we now refer to as the Christmas room (formerly dining room). I've had quite a few people advise me that at this point I may as well leave it up since it's been up now for so long and it's really only 5ish months til the next Christmas. I had really been leaning that way, but then I started thinking that the tree didn't really go with the wall decor that I've been meaning to have my hubby put up since we moved in over 2 years ago (yes, another thing we did this week, yay!)....

AND to top it off I kept having nightmares about Maddie pulling the tree down on top of her. I mean a Christmas tree looks like a super fun thing to play with, right?

Maddie is 6 months, 3 weeks, and 2 days old.

And the winner is....

2009-07-07T16:38:00.003-04:00

So I decided that I am just going to have to go ahead and make a decision.....ha!

I'm going with kdfamilyblog.

I think that will stick with me regardless of how many kids I have and I think it just works. I think I feel the least silly about this one :-)

Maddie is 5 months, 3 weeks and 3 days old.

Still in need of a new name

2009-07-02T19:51:00.001-04:00

So I just don't think I've found it yet....but here are so ideas that actually ARE available since I didn't bother to check before I made my last list:

charlottesvillechic

kndfamilyblog

kdfamilyblog

cvillemommy

mybabyiseatingmybrain

cvillemama

dofffamilyblog

pinkandgreenmommy

Thoughts?

Maddie is 5 months, 2 weeks and 5 days old.

New Kitchen Stuff

2009-06-29T20:10:00.004-04:00

My kitchen is great but it's a little boring so I've been working on jazzing it up. I started with new towels (I love C&B!!) and plants on top of the cabinets. I'm happy with it so far but I'm still working on finding things to go on top of the rest of the cabinets.

Mom suggested plates or more plants. My Grandmother has lots of fake plants and plates on hers. My sister-in-law has bronze pitchers and such on hers. I like that but bronze wouldn't go with our house.

Ideas?

Living Room Shelves.....Help!!

2009-06-29T19:58:00.005-04:00

So I've been working on re-doing my shelves in my living room and here are some of the things I've come up with. Not sure why blogger won't upload the pics in the order I've selected them but we'll start with these:

Do we like green candles or blue candles on the white tapers? I'm trying to have a balance between blue & green.

Here is what I've done so far with my shelves. The new stuff I picked up is:

Green trio of vases (why aren't there more of these, maybe in blue??)

White candle tapers

Trio of grasses (I'm so in love with these!)

The fake grasses sticking out of the vases

Right side of the shelves:

I'm having a hard time with this side and I'm really not liking it. Any ideas? I can move things around from the other side too.

Left side of the shelves:

Thoughts??

Pretty Flowers

2009-06-29T19:41:00.006-04:00

I'm feeling the need to blog about something non-baby related......

I planted these out on my deck a few weeks ago. They're a mix of trailing vinca, varigated vinca vine and sweet potato vine. I fell in love with the sweet potato vine at Lowes and had to have it! Hopefully it doesn't get too big for my pots :-)

Maddie is 5 months, 2 weeks and 2 days old.

5, almost 6 months late....

2009-06-29T19:34:00.004-04:00

So we got a little carried away with being so in love with our new little one that we forgot to take a picture of her with the doctor who delivered her while we were in the hospital (oops!). Here she is with my OB, Kelly Owens, MD. She was an awesome cheerleader and really kept me motivated after 50+ hours of labor. Thanks Dr. Owens!!

And she looks quite like someone I know all dressed up in her scrubs...... :-)

Maddie is 5 months, 2 weeks and 2 days old.

My Master Bedroom Walls Are Naked!

2009-06-28T07:25:00.004-04:00

So this is the look I'm going for:

But I need it to match our bed linens:

(yes, my husband is wonderful and let me pick fun Lilly Pulitzer prints)

Here are some prints I like:

14x1111x1411x14

I like them but I'm not sure they would work since 2 are vertical and one is horizontal. Not to mention there is NOTHING else that goes with them. Why is that?? Do other people not want 6 prints that go together? Guess not...

These come in 16x20 (they're all the same size, not sure why the one is showing as bigger):

1.2. 3.4. 5.6.7. 8.

Which ones?

I love this but I'm not sure what I would do with it:

I like this too!

Oooooooo, I like this one! ANNNNND it comes in 16x20 too!

What about this (the bigger one is 24x31)?

**it's supposed to show the 2 hostas on either side of the back of the lily***

I really like this too:

16x20

Thoughts?

In need of a new name....

2009-06-16T09:19:00.010-04:00

My blog is in desperate need of a new name and I'm so not the creative one these days. Here are a few ideas/options..... what do you think?

Original Name = My Baby Is Eating My Brain...

Cville Mommy

Charlottesville Chic (thanks Sarah!!)

KD Family Blog

Housewife Life (thanks Rob.....)

Maddie & Me (thanks Jen!)

Baby Brain (thanks Sarah!)

Baby on the Brain

Momnesia (something like that....?)

Some of these are taken on blogspot and of course they're taken by people who haven't blogged in over 5 years.....but I could always alter the address at little right?

Maddie is 5 months, 4 days old

I want a Beco Carrier!!!

2009-06-10T22:17:00.008-04:00

This carrier was suggested by my sister-in-law because you can wear it on your front or back and she says it's way more comfy than the Bjorn. I love my Bjorn but I would also love to be able to put Maddie on my back when I'm cleaning/cooking/anytime I need to see directly in front of me. Plus, this carrier comes in WAY fun patterns! This is the one I really want but even though it's pictured on their website (deceptive, I know) it's apparently not available.....boo!

Here are some that ARE on the website (www.becobabycarrier.com/collections) that I like:

I love this one but for some reason it's only available from some German website of which I can't read half..... why do they do this???

Also from the random German webiste (how come Germany has to get everything good???)

Only available in Japan according to the website....but I bet this one would get dirty easily with all of that white.

Suggestions??? I can't decide which one I like the best!!!! Thanks :-)

Maddie is 4 months, 28 days old

Crying it out

2009-06-10T21:45:00.010-04:00

So about the middle of May my perfect baby who had been sleeping through the night (STTN) or nursing no more than once in 12 hours overnight decided that she was going to start nursing ALL NIGHT LONG. Not sure what happened but I'm guessing that since this coincided with our visit to the pediatrician that we must have brought home the wrong baby, right? Ha! Ok, maybe not but something's definitely going on, maybe teething? To top it off, my husband goes out of town for a bowling/golf tournament and she decides that during this time she won't sleep at all at night. I even tried putting her in bed with me and that went alright the first night. I mean I figured that if I was going to nurse her all night long I might as well be able to sleep through it right? We won't even talk about the second night..... It was a LONG weekend and I decided that I had to do something to get some sleep. So I called my sister-in-law (my baby encyclopedia) for advice and she tells me that she thinks we should go ahead and try to let her cry it out (CIO). Basically we let her cry so that she can learn to soothe herself and fall asleep on her own. We go in every 10-15 minutes and soothe her but don't pick her up or nurse her (we rubbed her back and gave her a pacifier). Here's how it went:

Night 1: She goes down with our normal sleep routine (diaper, jammies, nursing, rocking, bed) and I lay her on her back at 7:oo, no problem. By 10:00, when we go upstairs to go to bed, she wakes up and is screaming to be nursed and has flipped over onto her tummy. I flip her back over and put her pacifier in and walk out. She cries for 10 minutes and I go back in again, same deal and after 10 more minutes she falls asleep. I'm thinking there is NO way we could be this lucky? Our kids is a genius!

Night 2: She wakes up at 3am and cries for almost 2 hours. Not so much fun as last night but not surprising. I mean was I really thinking she'd just get it after 20 minutes last night? We were tired after going in and flipping her back onto her back every 15 minutes but she ended up falling back asleep for the rest of the night and we can't just stop now right?

Night 3: We've given up on flipping her back over onto her back....she just keeps rolling onto her tummy and she must be happy there because she slept through the night!!! Woohoo!!

Night 4: Woke up again at 3am, cried for about 20 minutes and back to sleep. Not so bad....

Night 5: STTN!

Night 6: Woke up at 3am, cried for about 10 minutes and back to sleep. She's getting the hang of this.....

Night 7 & since: STTN!!!

I can't believe how much easier this was than I thought it would be. I was so worried to do this and I really shouldn't have been. It was rough the first night and I felt so guilty because I knew all she wanted was me. She sounded so pitiful but we had to keep strong and stay with it or this was not going to work. We stuck with it and it's made a HUGE difference. I haven't nursed her at night in over a week now! The thing that surprised me the most was that we went from having a baby who couldn't stand her tummy time to one that prefers to sleep on her stomach. Every time we would go in her room to soothe her she would be flipped over on her tummy and we finally just gave in and let her sleep there and she's been sleeping soundly that way ever since. There's really nothing I can do at this point anyways, she's capable of rolling over (both ways) and even if I put her on her back she just rolls over to her tummy to sleep. Now if we could just get down to 2 solid naps a day......

Maddie is 4 months, 28 days old

Labor...Delivery.....a few months late!

2009-06-10T21:44:00.009-04:00

First of all, I'd like to apologize for being a crappy blogger. Having a baby causes your brain to go through this process of liquification and I've still not quite come back from that.... so the last time I blogged (is that a word???) I was still pregnant so I probably ought to tell you that I had the baby (shock, I know......no I am not pregnant for an additional 5 months, ha!). Here's the story:

I was due on Sunday January 11 and by that day was still very much pregnant and ready to be done. It's funny how everyone tells you that "you'll know" what a contraction is as if you're going to have this made for TV moment where you are doubled over, hand on stomach and yelling "Honey, it's time!" (think Susan on Desperate Housewives with MJ.... along with every other pregnant woman on TV). Well, I'll tell you that had my friend, Tonya, not told me that all she ever felt was something similar to period cramps I would not have "known." There was no moment where clutching my rotund belly I told my hubby it was "time." I was just up from like midnight on with cramps here and there wishing that I had not eaten crab cakes for dinner because I was sure I'd be seeing them again soon. I was exhausted and uncomfortable and so over being pregnant. To top it off, that day our youngest puppy, Daisy, had gastroenteritis and we had to take her into the vet for IV fluids. Let me tell you, our vet (who we were so lucky would come in on a Sunday for us) was not too thrilled that I was in labor in his office but that's a whole other story. I spent the entire day having cramps/contractions but they were spaced out pretty far so I was thinking I was just being tortured and probably wasn't in real labor. After all, I'd been 1 cm and 50% effaced for 4 weeks now.... as if that wasn't torture enough, right?

Well, after a long day and being totally exhausted from not sleeping the night before we go to bed hoping to get some sleep. No such luck because my cramps turned into full blown contractions and by 3am we were on our way to the hospital. I was hurting but I was so excited and so ready to be done being pregnant. We get to the hospital and they offer me a wheel chair but I opt to walk thinking it will help move things along. After all, that's what they tell you to do right? The nurse hooks me up to all of these machines and checks my cervix to find that I'm 2 cm dilated. Not quite the 4 cm I thought I would be after having contractions every 5 minutes for the last few hours (this is what they tell you in class people!) but it's progress and I'll take it! Yay! Things are definitely moving along and she says that I'll need to stay so they can monitor my progression. They tell me to get some sleep (seriously, are they kidding????) and that they'll have my doctor check me when she comes in in the morning. Well, if you've ever stayed in a hospital you know that it's impossible to sleep with all of the commotion and beeping and constant checking so by the time the doc came to check me that morning I was going on 2 nights with no sleep and was exhausted. She checked me and I was still 2 cm......what????!!! She said I was in prodromal labor where your body just stresses out and isn't progressing. At this point my contractions had slowed down and by noon when she checked me again and I was still 2 cm she sent me home. I was bummed but at least we got to stop by Spudnuts on the way home. I was not only exhausted but starving since they don't let you eat much while in labor. I spent the rest of the day (now Monday) eating donuts and watching recorded trashy TV with my hubby & brother (long story) and trying to breathe through my contractions.

By that evening my contractions were much more painful (and by much I mean I definitely could not talk through them, I could barely breathe!) and getting closer together and longer. I tried getting in the bathtub (twice actually) and having my hubby rub my back, all of the positions and breathing (I just can't do the hee hee hee hoo thing, it annoyed me). Nothing was working and they were getting stronger and stronger. By this point my husband is on the phone with the OB asking when we should come back in and what he can do for me. She told us just to wait it out and come in if we absolutely couldn't stand it or if my water broke. He ended up calling a few more times and finally just decided that we were going back. My contractions were back to 4-5 minutes apart and I was dying. It was awful. Once we got in the car they were more like 3 minutes apart and we still had to drop our dogs off at the kennel in town. While waiting in the car for my hubby to take the dogs in (mind you it's 2 am, oh and he owns the kennel which is why that's ok) my contractions jump to every minute and are so intense I'm sure he'll be delivering this baby in the car. We race to the hospital and this time I'm ready to accept the wheelchair however no one offers (lovely huh?) and I waddle up the the maternity floor stopping every minute to grip my hubby's arm and breathe. It was a long walk/elevator ride. They get me into the bed and check my cervix to find that I'm..... still 2 cm! You have GOT to be kidding me! I was dying in pain and I told them they were going to have to do something for me or I wasn't going to make it. At this point I haven't slept in 3 days and I'm having contractions every minute. I'm not going to make it if I have to go back home. There is no way. They ended up giving me a shot of morphine which basically slowed my contractions a bit and allowed me to crash and sleep in between in hopes of getting my body to finally relax so that I could progress past 2 cm.

The OB came in to check me at 10:00 the next morning (now Tuesday) and I was fully prepared to tell him where to put it if he tried to send me home. All of my morphine has worn off and I'm back to dying in pain and am not someone you want to be messing with this morning. But I play nice while he's checking me and low and behold I'm 4 cm!!! Oh thank goodness I think and when he asks me if I'd like him to break my water all of the sudden all of my big and badness disappears and I'm scared. I've been so ready for this and now it's here and I'm just so worried that my contractions are going to be so much worse and I'm worried about how long it will be until I can get my epidural. The poor man is standing there waiting for me to answer him with his hand on my bag of water ready to go and was obviously expecting me to say yes since I was so big and bad just moments earlier. I say yea, go ahead and all of the sudden am now sitting in a puddle of fluids. Fun, yes, but even more fun... you get to keep leaking! I thought it was just one set of fluids and then you were done, oh no, you keep leaking amniotic fluid until the baby is out. Let's just say it was an interesting trip to the bathroom after that one...

After that (around noonish) they hooked me up to an IV and called in the anesthesiologist to prepare my epidural. I know, I'm a wimp... but I had already felt enough pain and there was no way I was going any further without some pain meds. While I was talking to the anesthesiologist the nurse gave me a shot of fentynal and let me tell you it was GREAT. She said it was going to feel like a martini and I'm telling you it felt like 3. I was a little embarrassed when the anesthesiologist got a little blurry but whatever, I felt SO much better and at this point I didn't really care what she was going to do to me so long as it took away the pain I was in. Note, if someone offers you a shot of fentynal, take it! I was honestly more nervous about getting the epidural than I was about the actual childbirth but it really wasn't that bad. She had me sit on the bed and bend over (as far as a pregnant girl really can). She numbed my back and then put in the epidural. I never really felt anything more than a pinch and a little pressure and who can't deal with that for a painless childbirth, right? I even got to sleep for a few hours after that in between being checked every so often.

By about 4:00 I wasn't progressing as quickly as they'd like so they gave me some pitocin and that really sped things up. I dilated 3 cm in an hour and then my epidural started to wear off on the side I wasn't laying on. So I kept switching side to side to relieve the pain. It was awful and I ended up hovering over a bedpan for about an hour totally nauseous from the pain. I went another 3 cm in the next hour. My hubby was running back and forth to the waiting room to give our family the news and by a little after 7:00 I was ready to push. The nurse assured me that pushing would relieve the pain I was feeling and I thought is she crazy? Does she really think that I am going to believe that pushing a small child out of my hoohaa is going to feel BETTER than this pain? Like she really knows what she's talking about as if she does this for a living (ha, I know but I was in pain and irrational). It did actually feel better to push but I'm a see it to believe it kind of gal. My doctor was awesome and she was such a great cheerleader. She was very motivating and made the experience really great. Plus, she looked just like my friend Sarah with her scrubs on and that helped calm me down. She had me push once to see what we were up against and could immediately see the baby's head. She said we'd be having a baby within the next hour and went off to get her stuff together. I kept pushing with the nurse and my hubby with each contraction. The nurse even let me watch with a mirror but I got so distracted that I couldn't push. No more mirror for me. The doctor came back in and it all went so quickly they almost didn't have time to get a baby nurse in our room. I pushed for about 30 minutes and she was out! I swear it felt like an eternity before she cried but when she did it was the best sound in the world. They put her on my chest and she looked up at me, she was so perfect and so tiny! I actually asked where the rest of her was, ha!

Madison Grace Dofflemyer was born on January 13, 2009 at 7:48pm. She weighed 5 lbs 12 oz and was 18 in long with a full head of brown hair! She looks just like her daddy and she's absolutely perfect. We are so in love!

No longer pregnant!!!

We're getting closer!

2008-12-10T17:20:00.010-05:00

I'm still feeling lots of pressure "down there" so I called the OB again today to ask just how normal this all is. It feels like a really bad period where everything down there is just swollen and uncomfy and honestly what I would imagine feeling like after pushing out a baby, not prior to. It freaks me out a little bit so I felt my call was warranted. The last time I went to the OB they told me that she had dropped down and would continue to push down and that was just my round ligaments that were hurting. Well, unless I have round ligaments in my cervix, I'm thinking it's more than round ligaments and me being sensitive.

We went to the OB today and saw one of my favorite doctors who is just fabulous. Turns out I'm between 0 and -1 and 50% effaced. Woohoo!

35 weeks pregnant

I feel like she might fall out...

2008-11-30T17:44:00.005-05:00

So hopefully not really but I did freak out a little last week. The girls at work threw me a baby shower on Friday 11/21 and that's when it all started. I felt terrible and was feeling a lot of pressure like she was pushing down between my legs. I went home that afternoon and just took it easy and felt much better on Saturday during the day. Saturday night it came back and then I was fine all day Sunday. I went to work on Monday morning thinking all was fine and I had just had a crummy weekend, right? Not quite...I walk a mile uphill to work every day (haha, that makes me sound like my Grandpa except minus the 3 feet of snow, haha!). Anyways, I was walking to work and it started again but it really felt like she was down between my legs. This really freaked me out because I'm thinking it's probably not a good thing to be feeling lots of pressure where the baby is supposed to be coming out, right? I got to work and asked around and pretty much everyone told me that they felt like that in the end of their pregnancy and it sounded normal. I called the doctor and talked to a nurse hoping she would tell me the same thing, that all was fine and normal and I'd just be uncomfortable for a few more weeks until I deliver. Wouldn't that have been nice, but no....I had to go in to be "checked" out. Mind you, I was not preparing to be "checked" down there until 36 weeks and that area is not one I've seen in a few months so obviously I'm not too thrilled to be baring all before I had a chance to get it under control and presentable if you get what I mean...

Being that this is the week of Thanksgiving, my husband is now working crazy hours and cannot come with me to the appointment since it wasn't planned. My Mom comes to the rescue and picks me up and accompanies me to my appointment. I was definitely freaked out and didn't want to go alone, plus walking was making me even more uncomfortable so I certainly didn't want to walk all the way back to the car (downhill this time, but still a mile). We see the doctor and he asked me a million questions, pokes & prods (ouch!), then checks my belly measurements and listens to her heartbeat. All looks good and he takes a look at my cervix, which let me tell you hurt like crazy! Turns out her head is just down in my pelvis and she's getting bigger faster than my ligaments are willing to stretch out which is causing my pain/pressure. Gotta love those round ligaments! He did a fetal fibronectin test as well just to make sure I wasn't in early labor and that all turned out OK as well. So basically, my baby is engaged and ready to go and I just get to suffer until she decides to come out. Good news though, is that I only have 3 more weeks until I'm full term!

34 weeks pregnant

Our crib has FINALLY come in!!

2008-11-12T18:59:00.002-05:00

I'm super excited! My hubby is going down to pick up our crib tomorrow! Woohoo! I was going to try to upload an image so you could see how beautiful it is but it didn't quite happen for me. I'll have to get some lessons from Mrs. 5C for next time :-) We were supposed to have our dresser as well but apparently the guy called from the store and said it was obviously damaged. My hubby is going to go look at it but we'll probably have to wait for another one to come in. I was so ready to finish setting up the nursery! Bummer!

Figured out the pictures all on my own (5 months later...)

31 weeks 4 days pregnant

So it turns out I'm a lazy blogger...

2008-11-11T14:37:00.001-05:00

I know it's been a while since my last post so I thought I'd do one on things you've missed in the midst of my laziness...

My eyelashes fell out! No, not all of them but certainly a significant enough amount that freaked me out. I usually wear glasses so I hadn't really been noticing this going on for a few weeks behind my glasses but once I did I freaked out and called my OB and told the nurse that my baby was causing my eyelids to go bald (obviously I am NOT OK with this!). I had changed nothing else, no new makeup, meds, face wash, nothing...so it had to be my baby, right? She assured me that this was not the case and I needed to call my PCP as this was not obviously not related to my pregnancy. I'm thinking OK, what on earth is he going to do about eyelashes so I disregarded that advice and decided to call my eye doctor. Eyelashes, eye doctor, made sense to me and they thought so too so they set me up an urgent appointment. I went to the eye doctor, who was not my normal doctor (who is fabulous and I love) and I swear she was 12 years old and basically told me she had no idea and figured it was because I was pregnant. She took out some fancy machine and looked at my lashes and said she couldn't see where any were even missing and they looked just like normal eyelashes should. OK, I get where she could say that, but I don't have normal eyelashes, I have GREAT thick & full eyelashes that are usually so long that I can't even open my eyes all the way until after my mascara dries or I get tiny black dots under my brows. I want my fabulous lashes back, not normal people lashes! (Yes, I realize that sounds terrible, please accept my apologies). So she decided to refer me to an eyelid specialist to make sure there wasn't a bigger issue. I'm thinking, great, the 12 year old eye doctor has no idea, thinks I'm crazy and now I have to see someone else...fun! But I follow directions and I go see this other doctor like a good little patient. She, too, basically looks at me with her fancy machine, tells me she can't see where my eyelashes are falling out but offers to write me a prescription for a glaucoma medication (um, NO THANKS!) to help my eyelashes grow. Is she crazy? Basically, another $30 co pay later I am simply the pregnant girl who THINKS her eyelashes are falling out. Fun. I'm sure they had a nice little chat about me afterwards.

Update: my eyelashes have grown back and all is well (without glaucoma medication...).

My 28-week glucose tolerance test & rhogam shot. I took the day off since I would be thoroughly poked & prodded and figured I'd just get this all done in one day. My Mom came for moral support (I really think she just wanted in on the poking & prodding) and we trotted off to the hospital at 7:30am. We show up and fill out loads of fun paperwork and I am handed what looks to be a tiny orange soda in a glass bottle. The lady explains that I should not shake the bottle since it is indeed carbonated. I'm thinking, why on earth would you make a pregnant girl drink a carbonated soda on an empty stomach at 7:30am??? This is pure evil. I take the bottle and we find our seats and I proceed to ingest this carbonated beverage. I had heard horrible rumors that it was this nasty orange syrupy drink that would make me ill so I was fully prepared to just hold my nose and down it. In all honesty, it just tasted like orange soda, which normally is a good thing if you like orange soda, just not at 7:30am on an empty stomach. We waited an hour and then with my now massive case of heartburn (once again, the carbonation, was it really necessary???) go back and have my blood drawn. I will have to admit that the woman was incredible and I barely even felt the needle, I was impressed. Her assistant gave me a my little pony sticker (no, not kidding) and we went upstairs to go have my rhogam shot. By this point I am totally starving and can think of nothing other than grabbing my McDonald's breakfast and rushing to my OB appointment which is in 30 minutes. I'm thinking, rhogam shot, this cannot possibly take that long. Just stick me in the arm and let me go, right? Wrong. We got Mr. McChattyPants who typed with 1 finger and asked me a million questions not related to my shot in between all of the pertinent questions (name, date of birth, etc). I swear it took 20 minutes just to get through his line of questioning before he would give me the shot. And let me tell you, it hurt like crazy! I was thinking it would feel like a typical shot, like the flu shot or something, but oh no, this shot has massive amounts of material in it and took forever! My arm was quite sore afterwards as we ran downstairs to the cafeteria to grab an egg & cheese sandwich which I inhaled as my Mom rushed us across town to my OB appointment. Turns out my glucose levels were fine so I did not have to repeat the test, thank goodness, but I do have to have another rhogam shot at delivery. Fun!

We went for our 3D/4D Ultrasound. We went on a Saturday so that our friends & family could join us and let me tell you they did! We had like 10 people in the room with us and I swear we were so loud, thank goodness they only do one appointment at a time. It was great though, we had basically our whole family (which just so happen to all live in this same town, haha) plus a few fabulous friends who love us and couldn't wait to see the baby. I had been drinking massive quantities of water since that was the instruction for a productive session so I had to pee at least twice before we even got started (yay pregnancy!). The room was so nice, there were comfy leather couches and a big screen TV in the corner and one on the wall as well. The table for me to lay on was even comfy and had a big pillow so I didn't have to lay flat down on my back like they make you do at the OB. It was super nice and I was thrilled. I'm thinking this is going to go so well, right? She starts the u/s in 2D and is immediately worried about what we'll be able to see since our oh-so-cooperative child is nicely snuggled face first up into the placenta. She switches to 3D mode and all we get is a gooey looking blob that she says is placenta over the baby's face. She keeps pushing around and prodding my poor belly and gets nothing more than the jawline with placenta over the rest of her face. The only part we really wanted to see! This was supposed to be your glamour shots baby, move away from the placenta & show your face! Well, she kept trying and trying and had me move around and roll over and get up (which was no problem since I had to pee 3 more times during the session, haha) to try to get the back to move a little away from the placenta. She even had me drink sprite & each hershey kisses (I happily obliged, duty calls!). She was remotely successful and we could see a bit more of her face but this time she has her head resting on her arm and then her foot on her cheek & forehead. By this point I'm thinking my child just has no desire to show us her face until she is good & ready. She got some good pictures but she recommended that we come back for another session at a different time of day when the baby may be more active and willing to participate in her glamour shots photo session. We rescheduled for the next week thinking we'd have the pictures in time for my baby shower. Oh, and did I mentioned the technician was due to have her own baby like that next week? She calls me the day of our rescheduled u/s and tells me she's in labor. Yay for her but not so yay for me. I have terrible luck sometimes! So now we're going back this Saturday to see if we can get a better look. I'm assuming there was only one baby in her belly so barring any additional births we should be able to keep our appointment. Think happy thoughts!

31 weeks & promising to be better about remembering to blog

Psychic was WRONG!

2008-09-18T18:14:00.002-04:00

So much for believing in the fancy psychic lady....she was WRONG!

We went for our ultrasound on Sept. 3 (I know, I should have posted this earlier, sorry!) and man were we in for a surprise. The lady was really nice and she asked us if we wanted to find out before she even started. We, of course, said yes. So I got on the super uncomfy flat table they make you lay on, even though you're not supposed to lay on your back when you're pregnant.....doesn't the OB know this??? She looks around and starts telling us what body parts and organs and whatnot she was looking at. She did some measurements of the heart and the head and then moved along to other spots. She said the baby wasn't cooperating very well and would have to start if we were going to find out the sex. I was fully prepared to run laps or do jumping jacks, whatever was necessary as we were not leaving without knowing who was in my belly. She kept looking around at various body parts that all looked like gray/black spots to me. We had no clue what she was looking at and then she asked again if we were sure we really wanted to know. Was she not listening earlier? I offered to do jumping jacks, of course we want to know! We said heck yea, tell us already! She said OK....it's a little GIRL! It's like we didn't get it....I'm sorry, you said what??? A what??? We just kind of laughed in shock because we were so prepared for it to be a boy. It's definitely a girl, she showed us the three little lines and everything. Some psychic!

We're really excited now. We were just a little surprised to begin with. We were so sure it was a boy and I was so prepared for it to be a boy, especially after talking to, what I thought was a legitimate psychic (do they even exist? I'm going with no now, ha ha). I think my husband was just trying to will the baby to be a boy, a little golfer! Well now he'll be golfing with his little girl! We would be happy with whatever we got, as long as the baby is healthy that's all we're concerned with anyways. And we want one of each so maybe the next one will be a boy. We're excited for the little girl, it will be fun! And now I get to shop for PINK! Woohoo!

23 weeks pregnant

Psychic says we're having a boy!

2008-08-31T11:32:00.001-04:00

Ever since we found out that I was pregnant we have been counting down the days until we get to find out just who is in my belly and eating away at my brain. Originally we were told by the OB that we'd get to find out at the 20 week ultrasound, which would have been last week. I had planned to go on August 25th and have the first appointment of the day since I just had to know the first minute I could. Well, they decided earlier this month that no, we would have to wait another week so now we'll get to find out at our 21 week ultrasound on Wednesday next week. We have the last appointment of the day and I've already informed the staff that we will not be leaving without the sex determination so they should be prepared for a long night should our oh-so-cooperative child behave like he/she did at the 13 week ultrasound.

As a result of my impatience (not baby induced, I've always been this way) I've resorted to other methods to tell me who might be in there. The Chinese Gender Predictor says it's a boy, the Old Wives Tales say it's a girl, a lady at work did some crazy mathematical equation which says it's a girl, and most recently a psychic told me she thinks it's a boy. No, I'm not that crazy. I did not go out in search of a psychic to tell me the gender of my child. I met one at work who I swear was the coolest woman ever. She's apparently world famous and has worked with the FBI for 35 years in a "Medium" sort of way. Not like the creepy ones with the crazy clothes and crystal balls, they sort of freak me out and I would worry that my kid would end up with some voodoo kind of wickedness if went within 25 feet of them. No, this lady was normal and totally legit and she was super nice. She took one look at my belly and said, "Oh, you're having a boy aren't you?" I said she was the expert and I wasn't having my ultrasound until Wednesday so she should tell me. She put her hands on my belly and said it was definitely a boy in there. How cool!

I knew my husband would be super excited by this since he's been willing it to be a boy all along so I called to tell him the good news. He's thrilled but says he won't be totally convinced until he sees the little guy on the ultrasound on Wednesday. This was a super cool experience though and I bet she's right! I'll keep you posted!

21 weeks pregnant

I'm sure my baby is eating my brain...

2008-08-31T10:48:00.002-04:00

So I'm currently 5 months pregnant and getting dumber by the minute. It's not like I was dumb to begin with though. I have a Bachelors Degree from VT (Go Hokies!!) and a pretty high IQ, if only I could remember what it was...I like to think of myself as a pretty intelligent person, at least when I don't have a little parasite feeding off of my brain cells. I read somewhere that it is a proven fact that your brain cells diminish faster when you're preggers and I am a firm believer. I don't really think the baby is eating my actual brain but that's what I've been using as my excuse. I mean seriously, I've never forgotten so many things in my life!

Like this weekend for example. My husbands birthday is on Monday (Labor Day) and I was supposed to order a cake from a local bakery that he loves (yes, I can cook, their cake is just so good and doesn't food always taste way better when you didn't slave for hours to cook it yourself???). Anyways, so Friday night comes around and we go to get ice cream (the baby needs loads of calcium right?). He mentions that he'd like some of the ice cream cupcakes in addition to his cake from the bakery and this OMG light goes off in my head....I didn't order the cake. It's almost 9pm on Friday night and I didn't order the cake! You are supposed to order 1 day in advance, and this is especially important on a holiday weekend when they're closed on Sunday & Monday. I'm an idiot! Luckily, I remembered to call the next morning and the lady took pity on me and said if I came by later in the day they could have it ready for me. Crisis averted, but no thanks to my pregnant brain.

It's just amazing the things I'm capable of doing (or not doing) when I'm pregnant. I never thought I'd be one of those women who just became stupid but here I am, pregnant and losing massive amounts of brain cells by the day. I'm doing my best not to complain too much because we did try for 9 months to get here and I am truly blessed to be carrying a child that, so far is super healthy and growing according to schedule. So I guess it's ok as long as the baby is healthy and all is good. Let's just hope I don't forget something really important next time!

21 weeks pregnant