Life with B & A (&D)

Radio Silence

2012-02-01T15:53:00.001-06:00

It's been so nice here in the normally frozen tundra, and we've been taking advantage!

In other news, we moved Drew to his BIG boy bed this weekend and he's been doing awesome! More pics to come!

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27 weeks

2012-01-27T09:53:00.001-06:00

Hello third trimester! This past weekend I hit 27 weeks, which enters me into the third trimester.

No huge changes this week, I'm feeling pretty good, and can now feel parts of Peanut move. Peanut now weighs close to two pounds if not over that. I was supposed to go in for my 1 hour glucose test today actually but Drew is home sick with a nasty cold and fever so I've rescheduled for next week.

We are still trucking along on the nursery and Drew's big boy room. I found some great wall decor on Etsy for the nursery.

You can find it here

I am loving gray and yellow together these days! Now I just need wall hanging for Drew's room and one for over the crib. So much to do and so little time!
Have a great weekend!

Dress: Banana Republic
Scarf: H&M
Tights: Target
Boots: Steve Madden

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I know I'm bias

2012-01-24T15:31:00.001-06:00

But how stinking cute is he?

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26 weeks

2012-01-22T14:41:00.001-06:00

This past Saturday I actually hit 27 weeks, hello third trimester! Where have these weeks gone? I'm seriously in awe that I'm rounding 3rd base and on the home stretch.

Everything is going well, my heart is staying in check and has been on its best behavior. I'm starting to feel like I'm moving a little slower than normal, but that's to be expected.

Drew is now starting to understand what's going on, well maybe. I'll point to my belly and ask "Drew what's in here"? He'll say "baby". He also got a little boy baby for Christmas and he's a whizz at walking the baby and stroller around, well that is until an unforeseen wall jumps out at him.

Other than that, not much going
on around these parts in regards to pregnancy and Peanut.

In the Drew front lately he's developed quite the hilarious personality. Whenever he's in his chair he sits in to eat, he puts his arms on the back of the chair and just talks like he's chatting about the days events. It's his suave demeanor.

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Headboard re-do

2012-01-18T15:06:00.001-06:00

On Tuesday night our headboard got a makeover. We recently got new bedding from West Elm, it's the exact same bedding we used to have, just a different color, the new color
Is called Sea Spray. The old material was OK, bit not great so a makeover was in order.

My mom found this material at a local fabric store, text me pictures and that was that. That evening Brendan and I got out our trusty staple gun and went to town. We simply put the new fabric over the old. We are pleased with the outcome.

Now we just need to paint our bedroom. It it currently a lovely beige or latte as Restoration Hardware called it, but far too yellow with our oak trim. We are moving to a lovely gray or Ponder by Sherwin Williams.

And one picture in keeping it real; this is where Ruby lays daily and yep that's her blanket.

She seems really impressed with the headboard makeover don't ya think?

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24/25 weeks

2012-01-16T09:51:00.000-06:00

I thought I would smash these two weeks together because I'm way behind on my weekly updates and there's honestly not much to update. Over Christmas I surpassed viability day which is an awesome feeling, but knowing the risks of pre-term birth obviously we want Peanut to stay cooking. Peanut's hands and legs are starting to grow to birth weight these two weeks and I have to say I can tell, this child may very well come out ready to hit the soccer field, Peanut has one mean kick.

These past few weeks I feel like I'm starting to slow down a bit, it takes me a little longer to get up from a sitting position and my sleep is more disrupted because I'm uncomfortable. I did expect all of this, just forgot what it really feels like. I also feel like my face, hands and feet have started to swell. This makes me a little nervous as this was the first sign of my heart issues when I was pregnant with Drew. If it gets worse I'll be visiting my cardiologist in a quick minute.

We are also starting to move Drew's room to our guest room, which means we are starting to think about the nursery. I found this beautiful bumper on Etsy, but was not digging the price so my mom is making me one. We went shopping last week and found some material that I think will be awesome! I'm going with gray, white and yellow for the nursery this time around. Drew's nursery was very neutral, I loved it but just wanted a bit of change this time around.

Etsy link

As far as Drew's room, we've decided on a gray color, medium gray is how I would describe it. Then we'll be doing this plaid bedding I ordered from Amazon with red accents. We've painted his twin bed black and his dresser is black as well, surprise, surprise more black furniture in our house.

In other DIY news, our dry wall for the basement is being delivered today. We're getting closer! I hope everyone had a great weekend.

Hide your daughters

2012-01-12T15:28:00.001-06:00

Because Mr. Cool has entered the building...

What up ladies?

You're diggin the shades, aren't ya?

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Texting across the pond

2012-01-09T09:46:00.000-06:00

My little sister Karin and her fiance Nick moved to London in September of 2011. They moved for grad school and Nick's job and will be there for 2 years. I was so excited for them, what an adventure, who wouldn't want to jump the pond for a few years and explore.

When they left we set up Skype accounts to keep in touch, as well as email and Facebook. However, I still felt disconnected and Skyping was tough because we had to set up a time, then with the time difference of 6 hours we had to Skype when we were both free, you get the point.

Karin and Nick were back in Iowa for Christmas and she told about this application for our smart phones that's called What's app.

WhatsApp Messenger is a cross-platform mobile messaging app which allows you to exchange messages without having to pay for SMS. WhatsApp Messenger is available for iPhone, BlackBerry, Android and Nokia and yes, those phones can all message each other! Because WhatsApp Messenger uses the same Internet data plan that you use for email and web browsing, there is no cost to message and stay in touch with your friends.

In addition to basic messaging iPhone, Android, Nokia and BlackBerry WhatsApp Messenger users can send each other unlimited images, video and audio media messages. (taken from whatsapp.com)

It has allowed Karin and I to text daily with no extra charges for international texts, we can text when each of of is by our phones, not when we are both available at the same time. I've been able to send pictures of Drew to her and she even gave me what sounds like a yummy recipe over What's App today. If you don't have texting, I would highly recommend getting What's app and sending invites to your friends and family. We love it and it allows me to keep in contact with my little sister as she explores London.

Spaghetti and carrots

2012-01-07T13:43:00.001-06:00

Our toddler Drew is one picky eater. He has about 6 foods that he will eat no problem, everything else is a bit of a toss up. Sometimes he'll eat it but most times it's a no go. Drew loves fruit and will eat any piece of fruit no problema. However, set a veggie in front of this child and it's basically a waste of your time. We've literally tried every veggie on this planet and all have been turned down.
Being the sneaky mom that I am I was reading the Deceptively Delicious cookbook to get some ideas as to how to incorporate veggies in this child's diet. Well, although the cookbook is great, most of the food in the book Drew won't touch. I needed to get veggies in his go to foods. That evening we were dining on spaghetti with ground turkey and red sauce. I use whole wheat pasta as well because apparently Drew doesn't mind whole wheat anything, just every veggie. I steamed carrots and blend them in our food processor then added the carrot purée to the red sauce. It was a hit! Brendan tried the sauce first and couldn't taste the carrot, then Drew was up next and devoured his pasta and sauce. Score, he finally ate a veggie. He was unaware but that's beside the point. We are on our way to having this picky eater eat veggies!

What carrots?

Me likey

Now I'm trying to find other purees I can incorporate into his diet. Up next; banana bread with cauliflower.

If any one has any good recipes that incorporate pureed veggies, I'm all ears.

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Moving from 1 to 2

2012-01-04T10:13:00.000-06:00

With Peanut's arrival fast approaching my fear of having a second child is starting to creep up in my mind. Of course we planned for this child, we love this baby and I know we will be fine and adjust to life with two kiddos, however my fear of doing the balancing act is very apparent and as each day of my pregnancy moves along the fear doesn't seem to simmer down.

Please do not get me wrong, there is absolutely nothing we want more than to have another child, it's the unknown that scares the living day lights out of me. Will I be able to balance two kids? What if Drew is needing something and baby is needing fed. I know it sounds so silly and it probably is. I truly hope the transition is very smooth, but I fear finding a good balance. I fear that Drew will resent Brendan and I for bringing his sibling into the world. When Peanut arrive Drew will be 25 months old, he won't know that someday his sibling will be his dear friend, he will just realize mommy is now splitting her time between him and the baby.

I've tried to read everything I absolutely can on acclimating Drew with the new baby, and not turning his world upside down, but I can't help but wonder and be a little fearful that he will feel abandoned. That honestly is my worst fear, that my baby will resent me, that thought alone breaks my heart.

I'm reaching out to all those mom's of two or more, or just anyone who has any advice, how did the transition go? How did you make your older child still feel special and not resent your new addition? I'd appreciate and literature, or personal experience you've had. Give me anything you've got!

A look back

2012-01-03T09:42:00.001-06:00

2011 was a great year for all of us, so I thought we'd take a look back.

In January Drew melted my heart by watching his daddy leave for work each day. He also started walking, and went directly to running in a matter of days.

In February we received the good news that we would be welcoming two miracles into the family. My older sister who went through infertility treatments was expecting identical twin boys. Drew also was the proud new owner of an awesome hat from Lindsey's Loops.

In March we celebrated making it through the first year of Drew's life and everyone was still alive! We held a little shindig for Drew that was all about primary colors.

In April I told you about the kitchen island Brendan built to help the wide open yonder that was our great room.

May brought some beautiful weather and me finding myself two new doctors in preparation for someday trying to have a second baby.

June rolled around and we were preparing to depart to Grand Cayman, and we asked you to Ask US anything.

In July sadly we lost our dear friend and neighbor to a motorcycle accident, I was the recipient of a stranger so kind paying it forward and challenged you to pay it forward and we answered your burning questions and we went on vacation!

In August we welcomed Charlie Robert and Max William to the family. Our nephews were born on August 15th, 2011. Drew got his first big boy haircut, and looked like a little man instead of a baby.

September brought fall in Iowa and Drew's first plane ride to see his grandparents. Brendan and I also celebrated 5 years of wedded bliss on September 30th.

October we were elated to share our good news that our family would be expanding by 2 feet in April 2012.

November brought our Halloween recap, the end of the first trimester and unseasonably warm temperatures for Iowa.

December marked the half way point with Peanut, Drew's first hospital stay for croup, and a very Merry Christmas.

2011 was full of blessing and happiness for all of us here at Life with B&A. We are looking forward to many happy times and a year full of new adventures in 2012. Happy New Year!

23 weeks

2011-12-28T14:58:00.001-06:00

Christmas Eve I crossed the 23 week mark of brewing this little peanut. This week I'm still feeling pretty darn good and can't complain. I have noticed it's starting to get a little tough to put on and take off my tall boots. It feels like there's a wedge in the way of me bending over, oh wait... There's a big ole bump of baby and Christmas cookies in the way. By the way, I swear I've gained 5 pounds this week alone due to the awesomeness of Christmas cookies and goodies. I'm a glutton when it comes to sweets.
We received a couple of adorable gifts this week for Peanut, one in which is so tiny I can't imagine Drew being that small, but he sure was. We'll take that teeny tiny outfit to the hospital for Peanut to wear.
As for my bump I can tell it's really starting to round out and look more full. I *think* I may have popped, but I'll let you be the judge.

I'm now in all of my maternity pants, but still use my Bella band to hold the hip area up. I'm pretty darn sure I had gained more weight when I was pregnant with Drew than with Peanut. I started 10lbs. heavier with Drew than I did with this pregnancy so I'm assuming that's where the Bella band comes in handy. No sense in buying all new maternity jeans just for a short period of time. Speaking of maternity jeans I did get one new pair this pregnancy when I used my gift card to Pea in a pod/Destination maternity/Motherhood Maternity. I didn't know that all three stores were connected and that online you can shop all three stores and the items go to the same cart, same check out. You get the idea. I purchased some jeans with their secret belly fit and I love them! The panel is extremely comfy and will fit throughout this entire pregnancy, the legs are straight with a boot cut to them and the top where the waist band should be is smooth so there's no clumping or bumping when your shirt is over them. I highly recommend these jeans. The jeans

I hope everyone had a lovely holiday!

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22 weeks

2011-12-22T09:40:00.000-06:00

My lovely self-portrait.

Shirt: Target

Jeans: Motherhood Maternity

I've now hit the 22 week mark, and again I know I say this each and every week, but hitting these weekly milestones again is so surreal to me. When I first found out I was pregnant with Peanut I believed it, but I was constantly waiting for the other shoe to drop. We went through hell and back to losing to babies prior to Drew and I thought there was no way my body could know what to do again so perfectly as it did with Drew. I didn't have the faith in God that he has my back in every and all circumstances and will carry me through even my darkest of days. Once again his grace and glory have amazed me by giving Brendan and I this baby that is growing each daily becoming stronger and healthier each waking moment to prepare for his/her arrival in April. Back in August I lost sight of my faith and my hope, yet he did not waiver. That's the glorious thing about God, he will never falter.

As I have come across the 22 week mark this little Peanut has started his/her career as a soccer player. You can now see my belly jump and move every so often. It still is astonishing to me that there's a little human in my belly. We go back for our first growth ultra sound next week to check the cord insertion measurement that was a bit questionable at our anatomy scan. Then two weeks after that I get to have the lovely glucose test, I don't mind the test itself, the sugary drink I have to choke down makes me want to gag. I've now gained a total of 12 pounds, I swear most of it is in my chest. I am still wearing most of my regular shirts with a tank under, but I have made the switch to maternity pants. I would love to hear if anyone has found an awesome pair of maternity tights, I have some from Target and they are huge! I bought my regular size medium and yet the top is enormous, I obviously know why, but I wonder if anyone had adjustable tights?

All in all a pretty low key update but I like it that way. I'm still feeling good, my heart is cooperating and seems to be doing really well thus far, so I can't be anything but ecstatic.

Transitioning

2011-12-20T10:50:00.000-06:00

In the next few months our house is going to be full of transitions. Sunday night we took one large step out into the wide blue yonder, we transitioned Drew to his toddler bed. Sunday morning I walked into his room and he had one leg up over his crib rail and his bum smack dab on the rail, ready for the great fall to the floor. As you can imagine I was stunned and amazed, but I shouldn't have been, he is almost 21 months old and it's bound to happen.

Sunday night we converted his crib to the toddler bed with the rail up, and he was so excited! He was more than content just playing in his bed. My mom brought him an Elmo book called Big enough for a Bed. This is now the book that must go to bed with him after we've read it and I do think Drew is pretty proud of his new big boy bed. Sunday night he did wonderfully, Brendan put him to bed at 7:30 and he woke up once at 3:30 after he lost his paci, I went in gave it back to him and he was down for the count until 6:45am. I was so proud of my little boy, it's the small things in life...

Monday afternoon at nap time Brendan and I got some comedic relief from Drew. He was all about exploring his room at this point, which we expected. He would go over to his end table get one book, take it back to his bed, read it, then return it to the table. This went on for 3 different books, then he got his huge sheep pillow, took that into his bed and proceeded to have a conversation with her. It consisted of Hi! I want some! It was absolutely adorable and Brendan and and I sure got a kick out of it. He then fell asleep and slept for close to two hours.

Last night we had another great result, Drew went right to sleep at 7:30 and slept until 6am this morning. Have we mastered the transition, absolutely not, I know there will be nights that we have to put him back in his bed or he will fall asleep on the floor, but so far so good. This transition has been pretty smooth for us, and I think for Drew too.

My Christmas list

2011-12-19T10:00:00.001-06:00

My Christmas list this year is a bit all over. With not needing or wanting many clothes due to the ever growing belly I had to really think of some things I wanted. Usually clothes are my go to, I can send my parents or Brendan links, easy peasy to click on the link and order online! This year, not so much, but I was able to find some things that will be useful and much appreciated.

The second seat to our City Select stroller by Baby Jogger

A new makeup bag, mine broke. I'd love one that has the brush storage on it as well.

New baking pans, I'm really exciting...

An Ergo carrier

A prenatal massage

What's on your Christmas list this year?

Festive food

2011-12-16T09:40:00.000-06:00

With Christmas being just a little over a week away, I wanted to share some yummy recipes for festive food, or just darn good eats with all of you.

On Christmas morning we will again this year be at our house, and have Drew open his gifts most likely before 7am, he's an early bird! Last year we then fixed a big breakfast and I absolutely loved it, so we will do it again this year. I found this Cinnamon French Toast Bake recipe on where else, but Pinterest and I'm going to give it a shot.

photo: Oh my sugar high

What you'll need:

1/4 cup melted butter

2 cans (12.4 oz each) Pillsbury® refrigerated cinnamon rolls with icing

5 eggs

1/2 cup heavy whipping cream

2 teaspoons ground cinnamon

2 teaspoons vanilla

1 cup chopped pecans

3/4 cup maple syrup

Garnish:

Icing from cinnamon rolls

Powdered sugar

Maple syrup, if desired

Directions:

Melt butter and pour on ungreased 13×9 inch glass dish. Separate cans of dough into 16 rolls reserving the icing for later use. Cut each roll into 8 pieces and add to buttered baking dish.

Beat eggs in medium bowl. Add cream, cinnamon and vanilla and beat until well blended. Pour over cut pieces of cinnamon roll pieces.

Sprinkle with pecans and drizzle 3/4 cup syrup over the top. Bake at 375 for 20 to 28 minutes or until golden brown. Cool 15 minutes.

Remove the covers from icing and microwave on medium or 50% power for 10 to 15 seconds. (Should be thin enough to drizzle.) Drizzle icing over the top. Sprinkle with powdered sugar. Serve with syrup if desired. Yum!

I'm going to opt out of the nuts so that Drew will be able to eat this. Most likely he won't, he's a bit picky and prefers Raisin Bran cereal every morning, but maybe.

Go Check out Oh My Sugar for more delicious recipes as well!

I found this next recipe of awesomeness a while back and I am so excited to try it! This was originally found on Better Homes and Gardens, but I found it again on Pinterest.

Photo: BHG

This recipe on Better Homes and Gardens calls for eggnog, in which I am highly not a fan of, however on Pinterest the recipe calls for peppermint ice cream, ginger ale and Bailey's Irish Cream. Brendan will be enjoying the Bailey's, I however think mine will be just as tasty with just the ice cream and ginger ale. Doesn't it look nummy?

The next two recipes are actually my recipes that I've shared here before, but they are our favs so I'll share again!

First, Hug Pretzels, oh they are easy peasy and super delicious!

The last one is very near and dear to my heart, it's my grandmother's sugar cookie recipe that I am so thankful I learned to make while she was still living. Since her passing in 2009 I have started making these cookies for the family to carry on the tradition. They are amazing and I'm making more this weekend. This picture is from Christmas of 2008 when both my grandma and grandpa came to our old town house to teach us how to make a cereal mix that we've had since I can remember, and these sugar cookies. I'm so thankful we had them over, not even a year later my grandma passed away.

Happy eating everyone!

21 weeks

2011-12-12T16:38:00.001-06:00

This past weekend I passed the 21 week mark. Peanut is now measured from crown to toes instead of crown to rump. No real major changes since my 20
Week post. We had a quad screening done, and everything came back normal. This past week Brendan was able to feel Peanut move on the outside of my belly, and you can now seen my belly jump when Peanut is really moving. Maybe this baby has a future playing soccer like his/her mommy and daddy.

Lately I have caught myself calling Peanut a he or referring to
the baby as him. We by no means have any idea of the sex of Peanut. I personally think it's a boy and Brendan a girl. We have decided on a boy name, again it's a family name as was Andrew(Drew). Girl names on the other hand, we are oh so stumped! So help us out, what are your favorite girl names? We like a bit more traditional names, but maybe something with a modernish nickname, think Drew... I'm so clever...

A few out takes for you, with some guest appearances.

Drew kept looking in the mirror saying " hi Drew".

They didn't want you to
Forget they're around these parts too!

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Our stay in the hospital

2011-12-11T07:46:00.001-06:00

As I said in my last post Drew was diagnosed with croup last Tuesday. He was given a steroid shot and we were sent home to watch him and told him to come back if his condition or breathing worsened. From then on Drew progressively got worse, he wasn't eating but maybe a cracker here or there. He was drinking minimal fluids, I could get him to take a few sips of milk, water or juice every so often. Drew does not like juice and at one point he even drank some orange juice, which I thought was a good sign. We even tried a chocolate milk shake, that was well received, he drank about a half a sippy cup of shake and then was done. We didn't immediately take Drew back to the doctor because the information our pediatrician gave us said that croup worsens, then improves. At this point Drew was not running a fever, breathing fine and sleeping pretty well.

On Thursday Drew woke up and was running a 102 fever. Again all the info I researched said that was totally normal for croup. This entire time Drew was not active, he wanted to lay on the couch or in our bed and watch Elmo aka Sesame Street. He would just snuggle up to either one of us and not want us to leave his side. When he woke up from his afternoon nap on Thursday(he had been taking two naps these past few days) he was visibly in pain from coughing. We had been alternating Tylenol and Motrin for pain and I gave him a dose of Motrin which gave him no relief. He was crying and crying and nothing would soothe him, not a paci not Elmo, not water, milk or even his lovey Mr. Cow. Brendan came home from work and suggested we call our neighbor who is a nurse, she could hear him coughing and suggested we take him back to our local clinic before they closed at 6pm. She thought they would be able to prescribe some cough medicine to help relax his throat and lungs.

We arrived at the clinic and immediately saw the doctor. He took a listen to his lungs and looked in his throat and told us he thought we should admit him to stay in the hospital for the night. Cue the tears from Drew's pregnant hormonal mom. The doctor said he was ordering an IV, a croup tent and breathing treatments with epinephrine. We were escorted over the ER waiting room and as I called my parents I lost it. He's my baby, he's too young to stay in the hospital. I wish I could stay for him. Now, I did and I do realize that I was a bit emotional and that we are very blessed to have a healthy thriving toddler. Many parents face long extended hospital stays with their child. So I understood just how blessed we truly are, I am just pregnant an overly hormonal.

We were taken to our room and Drew was not keen on the hospital. Not to mention about 5 different people rushed in to help with him. Our nurses were fabulous, they could see he was scared and took everything very slowly, letting us take him to the lounge at the end of the hall to look at this huge cat book. Strangest thin I've ever seen, but Drew likes it so we went with it. This CNA didn't quite get the memo as the nurses in going slow with a toddler that is terrified. He was very kind but kept prodding at Drew, cue freak outs 1,2 and 3. Finally one of the nurses told him all those things could be done later. At 8pm my parents brought us dinner and Drew had his first chicken McNuggets. Normally we don't eat McDonalds but considering the circumstances I thought he would eat a McNugget and he did. He ate 1 and a half nuggets which was more than he had in the past day. We also got him to drink a half sippy cup of milk and we asked to hold off on the IV since he was taking some fluids. The nurse that was going to have to put his IV in was more than happy to wait. During a meltdown my stepdad took Drew to the drinking fountain and he loved drinking water out of it. Score!! So no IV it was for the time being.

That night Drew slept in the crib, and both Brendan and I stayed with him. Brendan went home and got Drew his jammies, pillow and blankets. I'm so thankful we live close to the hospital, having those things from home for Drew made him more comfortable and me too. We were able to bring in toys and books and anything he'd eat or drink. Drew slept really well from 12-6am. He only woke up two times coughing and crying. Each time the nurses came in and gave him a dose of Tylenol.

Drew woke up the next morning and was still not feeling well but the croupiness of his cough had improved. The nurses found a wagon and we toted Drew around the floor in that. We put his blanket and pillow in there and he was happy as a clam. He had all the nurses wrapped around his finger and kept getting stickers. We saw the doctor at 10am and he and the respiratory therapist were comfortable with us to take him home and watching him. While waiting for our discharge paperwork Drew fell asleep, he was so tired. We had to document this occurrence because this NEVER happens!!

After we got home we all took a much needed nap. On Saturday morning Drew woke up and for the first time since Monday night he got out his toys!! This may seem like small peanuts but this child has shown no interest in activity most of the week, so for him to want to play, that's huge!!! Yesterday he did great, he still gets tired after playing a bit and wants to lay down on the couch, but his cough has gotten ten times better, he hasn't run a fever since Thursday night and he's eating more and more each day. I'm confident he is on the mend and hopefully this will be our only bout of sickness this winter. This morning he is happily playing and exploring the presents under the Christmas tree.

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Croup has hit our house

2011-12-07T10:42:00.000-06:00

A few days ago Drew started to develop a cough and stuffy nose, I didn't think much of it because he goes to an in home day care every morning while I work and there are so many germs there, I chalked it up to just a little cold and he didn't seem to mind. Then yesterday he woke up and sounded like he was struggling to breathe and his cough resembled that of a seal. It was the most awful sound I've ever heard come out of my child's mouth. You could tell he was in pain because he would cry every time he coughed and was struggling to get anything to come up when coughing.

We had an appointment at the clinic at 9am and after waiting an entire hour with a sick 1 year old (can you tell I am really thrilled about having to wait that long..) We were switched to see another doctor, our neighbor that took one listen to Drew's lungs and said " he most likely has Croup". Umm, excuse me what? That sounds like a bird... He then went on to explain that it's an inflammation of the upper airway, hence causing the seal like coughing. Drew was then given a shot of steroids in his throat, as in they shot the liquid in his mouth to help the inflammation of his airway. Antibiotics are not useful because Croup is a stinky little virus. So now we watch him, treat him with Tylenol for pain, have him inhale steam and cold air and take him back to the doctor if his breathing gets worse. The pediatrician did say that Croup usually lasts about 5-6 days, then the child improves greatly.

Last night Drew woke up screaming at midnight, which is odd, he's normally a 4am kind of dude. The child who never sleeps in our bed then slept on my chest until 6am. I thought there was no way on God's green earth he would sleep in between us, whenever I've done that in the past he thinks it's play time in our room. He crashed out and just wanted mommy and daddy snuggles. It eased my mind a bit having him right there so I could keep an eye on him, instead of having the monitor on full blast. Seeing my child sick is just heart wrenching, I wish there was something more I could do, I wish I could take it away. Thankfully it isn't supposed to last long.

If your child has had Croup, what worked the best for you?

Merry Christmas from our family to yours

2011-12-05T09:46:00.000-06:00

In early November we headed over to our Dear friend Amy Doerring's studio to have a few pictures taken for Drew's 18 month pictures and our family Christmas Card. Last year Brendan so badly wanted Ruby included but the the weather was sour for most of November and December that we had to have Drew by himself in his Christmas jammies. This year we were bound and determined that our first child, Ruby would in fact be on the Christmas card. We honestly feel as though Ruby is the 4th member of our family. We may be a little nuts over that dog, but she's our baby. We had our pictures taken by Amy one evening in November for about and hour and in that short time, she worked her magic! Amy is such a blessing to us and she can get my toddler to sit still, which is a miracle.

Merry Christmas from all of us here at Life with B&A. Many blessings to you and yours this holiday season.

The Working Girl

2011-12-02T09:16:00.000-06:00

Since I'm pregnant I'm obviously not indulging in wine or beer these days. I'm not a big drinker by any means, maybe a glass of wine here and there. When I was pregnant with Drew I did not miss alcohol one bit, this time I'm drooling at the thought of wine, crazy pregnancy hormones!

About 2 months ago my brother suggested a drink to me that is supposed to taste like a mimosa. First, I LOVE mimosas and second I get a little bored of drinking water all.day.long. I drink about 64oz. of water daily and it gets a wee bit boring, so I like to change it up a bit with juice, lemonade and sprite. I do also throw in the occasional Coke or peppermint mocha, those last two, tasty! My brother suggested a drink his fiance drinks that she calls the working girl. She's an attorney and whenever she goes to functions on week nights she prefers to go without alcohol, so she invented the working girl, since alas she's working the next day.

How do you make a working you ask? It's a very simple recipe, it's half Fresca, and half orange juice and it's divine! I've come to the conclusion that the perfect ratios are half and half.

I'm telling you it truly tastes like a mimosa and these days I'm loving the Working Girl! Cheers to the Working Girl!

Have a great weekend!

20 weeks

2011-12-01T10:25:00.000-06:00

Dress: Gap

Shirt: Liz Lange maternity for Target

Tights: J.Crew

Boots: Steve Madden

(I've gotten a few emails in regards to where my clothes come from, so I thought I'd make it easy and just post it under the weekly pic.)

Holy guacamole, I'm 20 weeks pregnant! I seriously can not believe I am half way done. When I was pregnant with Drew I wanted everything to hurry, get the baby here, this time I need time to slow down, way down, we have a lot of projects to complete oh and a little thing called Christmas to celebrate in the mean time. I'm ignoring the fact that my little boy will also turn 2 prior to Peanut's arrival, I'm in denial!

Yesterday we had our 20 week anatomy scan and the perinatal services and Peanut looked great, all the right parts in the right places. Our OB wanted them to check out Peanut's heart due to my heart issues and everything looked spot on. They gave us a CD with a whole slew of pictures on them that I have yet to upload. Peanut was waving the whole time and all the measurements for Peanut were perfect.

There was one little bit of concern about the insertion measurement of the cord. This is where the cord attaches to the placenta, normally it would attach smack dab in the middle, mine however wanted to be an individual and attach very close to the edge of my placenta. From here on out we will have a growth ultra sound each visit. Having the cord so close to the edge could hinder the growth of Peanut, but our OB was very optimistic that there would be no need to worry, they will just monitor Peanut's growth each visit from here on out.

Overall, we had an excellent visit and Peanut is growing just perfectly and developing right on track, what more could we ask for? As for Peanut's sex, we are what you call Team green, we wait until Peanut's birth to find that out. Yesterday the tech said Peanut's knees were together so she would have to go hunting for the sex and there is no reason to do that other than if the parents want to know. So we could be having another little boy or a little girl, we shall see in April.

What Drew's been up to

2011-11-29T14:29:00.001-06:00

Drew hit the 20 month mark recently, so I thought I'd document some of the new things he's been up to.

These past couple of months his language has exploded. He now is consistently putting two or three word phrases together. His fav "I want some" or "what dat". His favorite words have to be Elmo, Ruby, however that sounds a bit like wooby and choo-choo. He's now better able to tell us what he would like in regards to food, drink, toys etc.

Recently we enrolled Drew in a mom and me tot gymnastics class. So far he's having a blast and is loving the trampolines and foam pit. Brendan and I get a kick out of taking him. All the little kiddos in his class are between 18 months and 2 years old. With him going to gymnastics he has now picked u galloping, this is now how we get most places.

Drew is still a bit of a picky eater but us getting better, or so I hope. He's still a huge pasta fan, loves any kind of chicken or meatballs. However, he has now added lunchmeat sandwiches to his rotation. So far we've only tried turkey but maybe we are on to something... We can hope. He's still not a fan of any potato, no mashed, no roasted, grilled, baked, nada. I do think it's a texture thing. He's not a fan of bananas, but loves all other fruit.

This past weekend we put up our Christmas decor, Drew absolutely loves the lights and the tree. Whenever he is home the lights must be on. Holidays with a toddler are a blast! Although as you can see above, he was not a fan of Santa at all!

Drew seems to be getting better with sleeping. Last night he slept from 7:30-6:15am. I'll take that any day! Now if only we could get in a good habit of sleeping until say 6 every morning.

Overall Drew is doing great and growing like a weed. At his latest check up he had grown 3 inches and gained 2lbs.

- Posted using BlogPress from my iPhone

Give Thanks

2011-11-23T10:20:00.000-06:00

With Thanksgiving being tomorrow, I thought I'd wish all of you a very happy and safe Thanksgiving holiday! This year we will be heading to my sister's house to eat some grub and be with family. I've volunteered to make the turkey this year, it was one of my weaker moments. Thankfully my mom is coming over this afternoon to help me cook it, then we will pop it in her roaster and it should be nice and juicy for consumption tomorrow. I'm also taking my AMAZING green bean casserole. Seriously, it's mouth watering. I was going to attempt to make a homemade apple pie, but then I had a reality check and knew, who was I kidding. I found a local store that carried homemade pies from a local gal here in town...PERFECT! I really enjoy when I'm pregnant on Thanksgiving, maternity pants make it so much easier to eat!

What are you doing for the holiday? What is your favorite dish?

This year I give thanks to those who have gone before us, yet watch over us daily. You are missed, but always loved and remembered.

Let's chat about sleep

2011-11-21T09:24:00.000-06:00

We've been here before...Drew is having some issues with sleep, and today I can barely keep my eyes open. Drew is waking up way too early in the morning, I'm talking anywhere from 4-4:45am. That darn daylight savings time screwed our house up big time. I need some suggestions on how to get him to sleep later. Brendan and I both struggling to stay awake these days.

Drew goes to bed around 7:30pm, we moved his bedtime back from 7pm thinking this might help. He did go to bed at 8:30pm this past Friday night and still woke up at 4:45am. We also gave him a big boy pillow in his crib, which he loves. Drew takes about a 2 hour nap each afternoon, from around noon until 2-2:30pm. I will add that when he goes to bed, he's tired, doesn't fight going to bed, most of his naps go the same way. Some days I have to go back in and rock him a bit, but for the most part, he does sleep well at nap time.

Our bedtime routine is bath, Pj's, milk, brush teeth, books and then bed. He sleeps with a fan on in his room for noise, doesn't seem hot or cold, but is still waking up at the butt crack of dawn...or before. When he does wake he is crying, I'm thinking because he's still tired. One of us goes into his room, rocks him, and lays him back down, sometimes this will work, most of the time he seems wide away at 4am. However, by 7am he's dog tired again. If when he woke he was content just playing in his crib, then I'd be just fine, but he literally wakes and screams and cries. We've waited it out a bit to no avail. We've tried a night light, we've tried no night light, and nothing seems to help. We've even tried bringing him into our bed and he thinks that's play time. We've tried giving him some milk while rocking and then back to bed, and still nothing.

We are both at a loss, so that's why I thought maybe just maybe someone would have a suggestion that may help. I am all ears to your suggestions. How do you get your toddler to sleep later? By later I mean 6am, I'm not asking for the world, just for him to sleep past the middle of the night.

I hope everyone had a wonderful weekend!

18 weeks

2011-11-18T10:30:00.000-06:00

Lovely self portrait huh!

I hit the 18 week mark today, I still can not believe how fast this pregnancy is flying by. With Drew I wanted to speed everything up, with this one, I need things to slow down, way down! We have too many projects we want to get done before April. Not to mention Drew's 2nd birthday in March.

Let's talk about 18 weeks, I can tell my bump is getting a bit larger and I can now feel the baby daily. With this pregnancy I felt this peanut much sooner than I did with Drew. It truly is the best feeling ever, I love each little thumb and bump. My chest has also decided it was feeling a little envious of my bump and they have decided to expand exponentially. I'm still feeling pretty darn good, not uncomfortable, just trucking along. The coffee at work still makes my stomach turn every single day, and I can't drink coffee at all. When I was pregnant with Drew I could stomach a decaf mocha here and there, this time no way. It's so strange how little thigs like that happen. My migraines have seem to taper off, I've only had 2 in the past 2 weeks, which is a vast improvement. We go back to the doctor for our anatomy scan in a few weeks, I'm very excited to see the peanut again. We are going to a perinatologist to have the scan done, my OB would like them to check out peanut's heart due to my heart issues, just to make sure everything is a-ok. All in all, doing great, peanut is kicking away! Have a great weekend everyone!

Chicken and dumplings

2011-11-15T09:52:00.000-06:00

It's not secret I LOVE Pinterest, I'm a huge visual person and to get all these ideas and concepts in one place, oh man I'm in heaven! I wanted to share a recipe that I found there. First, let's talk about how I like things simple when cooking. As in 5 ingredients or less on a week night, yes please! I found this recipe and we've now had it twice in our house and both times we've wished I would have made more. It's crock pot chicken and dumplings, it's so easy for a great week night meal. In our house we love anything with chicken in it, add cream of chicken soup and some dumplings, we are happy campers! The recipe for this awesomeness can be found on Bubble Crumb and it gives a step by step tutorial on how to make this. To be honest, anyone can make this, and I mean ANYONE! If I can make it and it tastes good, a monkey can make it and it taste good!

Here's what you'll need:

To make this Chicken & Dumplings Recipe, you will need the following ingredients:

4-6 boneless skinless chicken breasts (I used 2 very large ones)

2 tablespoons butter

2 cans cream of chicken soup

1 can chicken broth

1 onion diced

1 tablespoon dried parsley

4 grands flaky refrigerator biscuits

Here's how to whip up these chicken and dumplings:

In your crock pot put chicken breasts, butter, soup, onion, chicken broth and parsley. Let cook on high for 4-6 hours. After 4-6 hours, break chicken into pieces, I used my tongs and just did this while the chicken was still in the crock pot. Now cut biscuits into small pieces, for this I used my kitchen shears and just cut about 1/4 inch pieces. Stir biscuits into chicken and let cook for an additional 30 minutes. Serve it up!

Photo credit

Some serious deliciousness right there!

Fears

2011-11-10T10:55:00.000-06:00

In April I am scheduled for a second c-section. After having Drew via section and my heart going wonky on me, both my cardiologist and OB said absolutely NO labor for me. All fine and good, I understand that a c-section is the safest way for me to deliver this child. I however will not miss the 40 hours of labor that I went through with Drew.

Knowing that I'll have a scheduled section brings back memories of what I went through during Drew's delivery and I'm going to be honest, fear haunts me from my experience. I know April is a ways away and I know I have the best doctors taking care of me this time, but that fear of the pain I felt when I was in the operating room and after haunts me to the core. I wrote the birth story of Drew right after he was born. I left out a few details because at that time it was still too raw and I was so thankful that I had a healthy little boy.

When it was decided that Drew needed to arrive via c-section I felt relief, finally I was going to have my baby, and in the back of my mind I knew something wasn't right. I felt so odd, not from just the epidural but just off. Come to find out my aortic valve was leaking and dilating. This caused me to become very light headed, my blood pressure to rise rapidly and put my heart under more stress. When we got to the OR I was ready to go, however there was one spot right above the cut line that I still had feeling. After maxing me out with increases in my epi, they decided to go ahead and start. I don't remember how long it was, but I started to feel pinching, and pain, scared the living day lights out of me. Thankfully my doctor recognized that and decided to put me under general anesthesia. After surgery and Drew was healthy, my heart would not cooperate, my resting heart rate was 160. To have my heart racing so fast, was scary and painful, I felt like my chest was going to explode. Thankfully they gave me a drug called adenosine that chemically stops and restarts your heart. After being given that, I felt much better.

When all this happened I was in such a haze with my beautiful new baby that I really didn't have time to reflect on the events that surround Drew's birth. Now that 19 months have passed, I realize that I am very blessed to have a healthy and happy thriving toddler, but as the birth of my next child starts to get closer the fear of repeating the same circumstances haunt me. I don't want to feel that pain during surgery again, I understand there is some discomfort, but feeling someone cutting you, is not what I want. I'm fearful that I won't get the blissful experience I hope for. Going into the OR, being given my spinal and not feeling a thing. I fear for a repeat, I fear what that pain felt like, and I can't get it out of my head.

If you're a mama that had a pleasant c-section experience I would love to hear from you!

16 weeks

2011-11-08T14:07:00.001-06:00

This past week I crossed the 16 week mark. I'm thinking this time around I'll update every two weeks until 20 weeks.

I'm feeling good, can't complain about anything. My migraines are getting less frequent, my energy level is back to somewhat normal and all around doing pretty well.

We are feverishly working on projects to get the house ready for the Peanut. We are finishing our basement. By April we intend to have the living room and bedroom done, along with a finished storage area. Then later on we'll add a third bathroom and office nook. So far Brendan has everything framed up and today the heating company is coming to move duct work, then it's electrical and insulation.

On the main floor of our house we are moving Drew to his new big boy room aka the current guest room and Peanut will go in the nursery. I've picked out the paint color for Drew's new room and now we need to finish his big boy bed my grandpa built for him. We are moving him to a single bed after Christmas. I've been scouting out decor options for a big boy room and a gender neutral nursery. Drew's nursery was very serene and I loved it, this time I'm going to bring more color into the room.

So there you have what we've been up to and a 16 week update. Hope everyone is having a great week!

- Posted using BlogPress from my iPhone

Thankful Thursday

2011-11-04T10:00:00.000-05:00

I know it's Friday, but let's just go with it. I linked up with Kelly at Our Silly Rodriquez family, check out her Thankful Thursday edition! Plus, her little man is too die for! Seriously, I melt!

Ok, so what I am thankful for...This is hard one, I only have 4 Thursdays, yet there is so much I truly am thankful for! Today I'm going with my little family, Brendan, Drew and Ruby, plus this little peanut I'm brewing.

Brendan and I met 8 years ago and I am so very thankful our paths crossed and we ended up together. He is my best friend, my soul mate and the best daddy. Brendan can make me laugh no matter how angry I am, and get me laughing until I'm in tears. He knows how to comfort me at my weakest moments and love me unconditionally so that I feel loved every single day. When Drew came along he didn't miss a beat in becoming a father, it seemed natural to him. I know this is so cliche to say, but he completes me. I honestly don't know where I'd be or what I would do without Brendan.

My little man Drew, I don't even know where to start. This little boy brings such joy to my life. He is at such a fun age right now, but every stage has been a blast. I can only imagine it just keeps getting better from here on out. Drew is such a blessing and a gift from God that each and every day I am so thankful I am his momma. We went through a difficult phase trying to have him, but I've always known everything is in God's plan and now I know why we went through two miscarriages before Drew, otherwise we wouldn't have him. Drew makes me smile each and every day and I can honestly say, I love being his mom, he has made me a better person and a more patient and caring one as well. His hugs can turn my day around in a second, his smile makes my heart warm and his sweet face makes everything we went through completely worth it.

We adopted Ruby almost 4 years ago and man oh man is she still my baby! She is the sweetest little girl, and my snuggle bug. Ruby was abused before we adopted her from the Humane Society and was so sad and scared, it broke my heart. All we know about her previous home was that she was on a farm, had no positive human contact and had never had a bath. This all within her first 3 months of life, so sad! We have trained Ruby ourselves but I have to say, it's been pretty darn easy. She listens so well, will walk with us without a leash, and stays very close by when we are in our front yard. She absolutely loves Drew and gives him kisses all the time. We were nervous when Drew was born how ruby would react, because she's just a little spoiled. She did great, we've had no problems, knock on wood, and Ruby has not missed a beat.

We are so very lucky that our lives crossed Ruby's path, I'm so very thankful we decided to make the jump to adopt a puppy when we did.

Here's what you do now, go to Kelly's blog and link up for Thankful Thursday, and dont' forget to link up every Thursday in November!

Halloween at our house

2011-11-03T10:28:00.001-05:00

This past weekend we had our beggars night and Drew got all dressed up in his Monkey Suit, literally, he was a monkey. I purchased his costume in August, yep I'm that mom! I found it at Crazy 8 and had it shipped to our house. I ended up ordering him a 3T, which was a big big, but still worked out great because it was chilly out that evening. Drew's pumpkin is from Pottery Barn kids, I purchased it last year and it's cloth and should last us for years to come.

Drew didn't actually go trick or treating because let's face it, he doesn't know what's going on and he's never had candy before, and it was very cold. So instead we stopped by my parents house, my sisters house and our neighbors houses to show off the adorable monkey that we had on our hands. We then came home and both Drew and Ruby wore their costumes as we handed out candy to the kiddos that came to our door.

Ruby looks very enthused about her costume, doesn't she?

That Friday night we carved our pumpkins and we decided to go with a combo of things I posted in Pumpkins Galore.

Brendan did the artistic work and I did the small ones with the holes. We ended up using Brendan's drill to make the holes big enough. we also have to cut a hole in the back so that the candle could get enough oxygen.

So there you have, a pretty low-key Halloween but we all enjoyed it! I hope everyone had a wonderful and safe Halloween as well!

Pumpkins Galore

2011-10-25T10:03:00.000-05:00

It's no secret that my new obsession is Pinterest, love that place, could spend hours wasting away on there. The holiday pins are what I've been eyeing lately and I simply can't seem to get enough. The sad thing is, it's not like I'm going to recreate most of these but a girl can always dream!

With Halloween in less than a week, I've been obsessing what we are going to do with our 4 pumpkins we picked up at the pumpkin patch. So far some of the front runners are;

Tutorial can be found on Strawberry Chic, super cute blog by the way!

Simple paint and put the pumpkins on our stairs outside.

Photo courtsey of From House to Cozy Home.

Bedazzled pumpkins

Tutorial can be found at The Finer things

Good ole lighted and carved pumpkins

Photo courtesy of Pinterest

Or carve our initials into each pumpkin, we have 4, so one for each of us

Hmmm, decisions, decisions. What are you doing with your pumpkins this year?

14 weeks

2011-10-21T07:10:00.001-05:00

Not too terribly much to report. My nausea and food aversions have seemed to go away, my sleeping is divine, although I usually am in bed at 8:30pm, no joke! I'm still pretty tired most of the time but I really think it's a combo of pregnancy and chasing after Drew. All in all everything is going very well, I feel very blessed to have has a pretty uneventful pregnancy so far. Here's my lovely self portrait in our guest bath mirror. Tilted and all. A career in photography is not in my near future.

One thing about this pregnancy has been how tired I've been. I swear I've turned into a lazy sloth! The other day I picked Drew up from Day Care at 11:30, we came home like usual, played a bit and then it was time for his nap. I put him down and decide I want Mac n cheese for lunch, however I thought 10 minutes to make a meal would take too much effort.... So I set my sights on Raisin Bran cereal. However, after pouring the cereal I realize that the skim milk wasn't open and yet again would take too much effort, so I opt for Drew's whole milk, because it was open... Seriously what have I turned into?!?!?

- Posted using BlogPress from my iPhone

The first trimester

2011-10-17T10:16:00.000-05:00

Since I waited until I was 13 weeks along to share that I was in fact pregnant with my blog readers, I thought I'd do a little recap for everyone. Brendan and I decided the timing was right in May, however we decided to wait a few months so that the kids would be over 2 years apart, if I were to get pregnant right away.

I found out was pregnant on August 14, I took a home pregnancy test and it was positive. In the next few days I bet I took no less than 10 pregnancy tests to confirm. You'd think I would have gotten the hint after 5, but no I have to pound it into my brain.

The first week I did know that I was pregnant, I started having migraines almost every day. Normally I have great medicine that can somewhat take the pain of the horrific headaches away, but when pregnant it's Tylenol and that's it. To be honest I was miserable, I could barely take care of Drew, I was struggling to function and spent more time with my head in the toilet than I did playing with my toddler. I finally called my OB's office crying asking if there was anything at all I could do and she prescribed me Tylenol with codeine and Zofran. Thank the good lord she did because it helps so much more than regular Tylenol and the Zofran helps with the nausea. If you've never had a migraine before picture the WORST headache you can imagine, then add in nausea, blurred vision and all around feeling like total garbage, then you have your typical migraine for me. So anyway, the new meds helped and allowed me to function. Then at 5 weeks, 4 days I started having some spotting that scared me beyond belief. I went in, had an ultra sound and everything looked great, she thought she saw a little flicker of a heartbeat but couldn't be completely sure since it was so early. I went back two weeks later and everything again looked great and Peanut's heart beat was beating away at 160bpm.

Up until this point we hadn't told a soul I was expecting again. With each of my pregnancies we've chosen to hear the heartbeat prior to telling anyone outside of our parents. This time we literally didn't tell anyone until after my second appointment. We shared the good news with all three sets of our parents and they were over the moon. Some had trouble keeping the secret, which annoyed me, since it is our news to share and we choose not to share until later due to my history of miscarriage.

I went to the doctor again at 10 weeks and once again had an ultra sound, everything looked great, I could watch that little gummy bear all day. between weeks 6 and 10 my migraines became less frequent but were still present. I'm now only getting about 2 per week instead of daily. my OB is optimistic that the further I get along in this pregnancy the less frequent they will be. I've had migraines since the age of two, you'd think I could tolerate them better.

Last week we decided to come out to the world and share that Drew is going to be a big brother. So moving forward Drew will turn 2 in March and I am due April 21st. My OB is planning a scheduled c-section at 39 weeks if all looks good. I had a c-section with Drew after 40 hours of labor, and I developed a heart condition during pregnancy and labor and delivery. Thus, why my OB and cardiologist agree that my body specifically my heart does not do well with labor. When I was pregnant with Drew my aortic valve started to leak and dilate, after delivery it was categorized as a severe leakage and thankfully since then has gone down to a mild leakage, however it's permanent damage to my heart and my cardiologist and OB both fear what labor could do to my heart once again. So scheduled c-section it is, my type A personality will thrive on having a set time and date.

So there you have it folks. Peanut is on the way and will be dubbed Peanut until April because we once again are not finding out the sex before delivery. I hope everyone had a great weekend!

Drew has an announcement

2011-10-13T17:23:00.002-05:00

Drew is going to be a big brother! Peanut is set to arrive in April 2012. I'm currently 13 weeks along.

- Posted using BlogPress from my iPhone

Winner, Winner Chicken Dinner!

2011-10-10T10:19:00.000-05:00

You probably thought I had forgotten about all of you that entered the Real Simple Magazine Giveaway, I promise I didn't forget about you all! I was able to finally get my random.org account back up and working. It was being a little booger lately.

The lucky winner of a one year subscription to Real Simple is.....

SARE, comment number 9!

Sare, I will be emailing you today! Thank you to everyone who entered, I truly appreciate you reading my little ole blog.

What Drew's been up to

2011-10-05T10:19:00.001-05:00

Drew is now 18 months along, I'm in denial! He is now a walking/running toddler, and is into everything. I mean everything. He is so full of energy and loves to climb, roll, tumble and wrestle. This has been such a fun age for Brendan and me as he just keeps us laughing daily and is so fun to be with.

Drew's speech has really taken off these past few months, he talks all the time and is able to tell us what he wants, milk, night night, mr. cow, eat, you get the point. There are some funny moments where Brendan and I do a double take, for instance when Drew says "shoes" it doesn't quite sound like shoes, rather it resembles another 4 letter word that starts with an S and ends in a T. Drew has developed a LOVE for the word "no", I have no idea where he got that from.... I'll say "Drew it's time to go inside". He'll reply "no, no, no". Or just randomly start walking around saying no. I never said my child made sense all the time, he does make me laugh!

These past few weeks Drew no longer prefers to walk, he runs, and frequently runs into things. It's almost as though he isn't looking where he's running. He hasn't hurt himself, or is he putting himself in danger, but man that couch gets in his way a lot. He also loves to try and out run us when we're outside. He takes off and wants us to chase him, all the while he's this belly laugh, it's pretty cute if I may say so.

Drew is still not the hugest eater on the block but he's getting better. He's taken a liking to pork lately, and turkey meatballs. He has liked them for a while now, but just this last time we had them he gobbled them up like they were going out of style. He still loves fruit just will not touch a veggie to save his life. I've started to puree veggies and put them in taco meat, or the turkey meatballs. He never even had a clue that he was eating squash with his meatballs. I also chop up veggies in my food processor and put them in his eggs, he still loves his eggs, even with the little green specks in them.

Drew is still sleeping through the night. He goes to bed around 7pm and gets up each morning at 5:30 or 6am. every now and again he will wake up and need his paci to be replaced. He loses it during the night and it falls out of the crib, we don't have a bumper. So we oblige and go give him another one. Speaking of paci's we are currently trying to ditch them. He now only gets it to sleep, and let me tell you that first day, he was not a happy camper, but from then on, it's been smooth sailing. Now, anyone know how to ditch them at night without him screaming for hours on end. My child is a warrior and will scream for hours if we'd let him.

Other than that, Drew is growing too fast for us to handle. Where did my little wee babe go?

5 years ago today

2011-09-29T20:59:00.002-05:00

I was getting ready to walk down the aisle and marry my best friend.

5 years ago today I had no idea that 5 years from then I would love Brendan more than I ever thought possible.

5 years ago today I had one of the best days of my life. I married my soulmate, my best friend, my partner for life.

5 years ago today we were surrounded by our friends and family, promising to love and honor each other for the rest of our lives.

This very day 5 years ago, we started on the journey of a lifetime together.

I couldn't be happier where we've been in 5 years and where we have yet to go in this journey called life.

It's been 8 years since we've met, 5 years of wedded bliss, each day is a blessing.

Brendan, I love you more each and every day. You are the most wonderful husband and daddy! I thank God every day that you were made for me. Happy Anniversary my love! If these 5 years have been any indication of our future, I can not wait to see what's in store for us.

Posted using BlogPress from my iPhone

It's been brought to my attention

2011-09-29T06:26:00.002-05:00

That apparently I drive at least one of my readers crazy with my writing style. This reader commented that I use too many commas... Oh and they weren't trying to be mean and they pointed out the fact that I work in a high school and have a college degree, gee thanks!
Welp, you don't like my writing style, please feel free to leave and never come back. That little red X at the top right of your screen will be your exit stage left. First, I'm not a talented writer by any means, however this is MY blog, my space to write about what I want. You don't like it, don't read it. Second, no need to point out my job and my degree, I'm pretty sure I already knew both points. Third, if anonymous keep leaving rude comments I know where you're coming from, as most every blog does, I have a stat counter. Your IP address is right there.
So please, if you don't like it here, don't come to my grammatically incorrect blog if it drives you crazy.
I however will keep sharing with my awesome and faithful readers whom I don't drive crazy. Apparently I missed the memo that blogging was an English course and I was being graded, who knew?
Thank to those readers who keep coming back day after day and leave the most awesome feedback and send your love and support, you guys rock!

A sidenote; I've heard from the anonymous commenter that prompted this post. Apparently she thinks I have a lack of knowledge of punctuation and thought I'd like to know for professional reasons... Gee thanks. First you know nothing about documents I write for work, and second don't assume. Third, screw you, get a life! You suggested I tell you that so there you go. Please don't ever comment or visit MY blog again.

And FYI, do have an email listed, under the contact me tab.

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Easy meatball sandwiches

2011-09-26T12:23:00.002-05:00

We all know I'm all about easy cooking. I thought I'd share one of my go to recipes that is a staple in our dinner rotation, Drew even likes this one!

Easy meatball subs;

What you'll need:
Frozen turkey meatballs
( you can use any type that you'd like). I buy 2 small bags.
1regular size jar spaghetti sauce( I use Prego meat flavor)
2 cloves garlic

Put everything in the crockpot and set on low for 6-8 hours.

I then serve these baby's up on hoagie buns and top with mozzarella cheese.

Ta-da! Easiest meatball sub you've ever had. We are dining on these tonight at Casa de B&A!

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A Thank You

2011-09-19T09:06:00.002-05:00

I've now been blogging since 2007. I can't even wrap my head around the fact that I've been blogging for almost 4 years. Some of you have been with me from day 1, well not many but over the past four years my readers have kept me coming back day after day, week after week, year after year. I can not tell you how much each comment has touched me, the friendships I've made through blogging are simply priceless. You have been with me through my lowest of lows and given me encouragement, and prayed for me. You've been with me through some of the greatest moments in my life thus far and I can tell you from the bottom of my heart.....THANK YOU! Every single person who follows and reads my blog has a special place in my heart and life. My little blog is just that, my own little place, and for your following and readership, I am forever grateful!

As a thank you to my readers I am sponsoring a little giveaway for my readers. I've been thinking about doing this for a while now and it finally hit me, a one year subscription to Real Simple Magazine. First, I adore this magazine and have a subscription myself, second this mag encompasses everything I talk about here, food, fashion, organization, family, everything. So there you have it, as a Thank You to all of you, I am going to sponsor this giveaway.

So here's what you need to do to enter:

1. Follow this blog

2. Leave a comment with how long you've been reading and your email

The winner will be chosen by random.org. You must be in the United States to enter, no more than one entry per person.

Because I'm a ninkenpoop I forgot to add that you can enter until 5pm on Friday Septmeber 23, 2011.

I loathe Dish Network

2011-09-15T10:01:00.001-05:00

On a blistering hot day in August of 2010 we had a knock at the door, it was a young college student and he wanted to chat with us about switching our digital cable to a dish. As we are standing at our front door listening to this poor guy talk as he is sweating bullets Brendan and I started to weigh our options of switching to Dish Network. We decided that we wanted to switch, it would save us money, he said the service was great and we could still get a DVR.

Brendan and I don't watch a ton of TV, however I love to DVR shows and watch them later. Now Drew watches Mickey Mouse Clubhouse in the morning while we both get ready for work. We also DVR Sesame Street to watch Elmo's world every once in a while. So we love our DVR, is what I'm getting at.

We've now had our dish for over a year and I absolutely HATE it! I know hate is a strong word but it's AWFUL! Since the day it was installed I've had to call customer service no less than 10 times. Our dish has lost service no less than 10 times as well, this is not including when there is a storm and the dish goes out. That's a whole other bag of worms. We've had the dish realigned, and nothing. I would cancel our service but I'd be charged up the WAZOO. Now you're probably thinking this is a petty thing to be upset about, but I feel like when I'm paying around $90/month the darn thing should work.

The straw that broke the camel's back and made me write this venting post was Tuesday, I was watching Dr. Phil, the George and Cindy Anthony interview while Drew was napping and the dish goes out...It then stays out for 7 hours. at 10pm the dish magically started working again. When it first went out, I tried to restart the box, no luck, I then tried calling customer service, busy, and continued to be busy for the entire 7 hours. Yep, I'm that persistent, I tried about once every hour just to see if it was still busy. I tweeted that I hated Dish Network and I got a response from their customer service saying there was an issue with a satellite, well no kiddin... I then went on to tweet about our poor service and the response from him, check out dishnetwork.com. Really, really Dish Network, it's not just this instance, it's all the darn time! Your service is awful and hardly ever works for us. Let alone the remote in the bedroom works about 1/4 of the time and no one seems to be able to tell how to fix it, other than point the remote at the box in the living room. Again, really????

So my cautionary tail to all of you readers, if you are considering switching from digital cable to Dish Network, DON'T!!! Customer service is poor, the service from the dish is poor as well and even if you hate your service, you're stuck in your 2 year long contract. I for one will be switching back to digital cable the minute my contract is up.

7 Layer Greek Dip

2011-09-13T10:47:00.000-05:00

Last weekend Brendan and I were invited to a couple of different parties that we needed to bring a dish with us. I was stewing around Friday night looking at my favorite cookbooks and kept saying, "I always bring the same things". Then Brendan being the awesome hubby that he is, had a great idea to make a 7 layer Greek dip that we had had previously at another gathering.

We googled the dish, literally "7 layer Greek Dip" and we found the recipe we were both thinking of. We were able to make one dish for each party and it went over famously! I didn't take pictures of our creations but they pretty much looked like what was on Our Best Bites website.

Here's what you will need:

1 8-oz. package cream cheese, softened (I used low-fat)

1 tsp. dill weed or Greek seasoning (salt free–go for a mix that just has herbs)

3 cloves garlic, minced or pressed

2 tsp. lemon juice

1 1/2 c. hummus

1 c. seeded, diced cucumbers

1 c. seeded, diced tomatoes

1/2 c. chopped Kalamata olives

1/3 c. chopped green onions (about 3 green onions completely chopped)

1/2 c. crumbled Feta cheese

Their recipe called for parsley, I did not add parsley. I also used a pie tin instead of a 9x13, but I'm sure either would work.

First start with a layer of cream cheese (light cream cheese works great!) whipped together with lemon juice, garlic, and Italian (or Greek) seasonings. We used basic Greek seasoning we purchased at our local farmers market.

Then add a layer of hummus, any hummus will do, I used plain.

Then add consecutive layers of cucumbers, tomato's and kalmata olives. I diced each pretty small, easier for scooping.

After the olives are in place, add a layer of green onion and finish off with feta cheese. For feta, any will do, I use the Athenos brand. Then let the dish chill for about 2 hours in the fridge. Serve with your favorite pita chips.

It is by far one of the best recipes I've ever come across! My Greek hubby gave his Opa of approval for it as well. Enjoy!

10 years

2011-09-11T10:22:00.002-05:00

We will never forget. We will always remember.

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Flying with our toddler

2011-09-06T10:36:00.001-05:00

This past weekend we used some free vouchers we received from US Airways, or US Scareways as I call it. These came from our lovely flight debacle when we were flying to Hawaii in September of 2010 and our cabin started filling with smoke over the pacific ocean. We were turned around and rerouted to San Fran and delayed us getting to Maui for about 12 hours. You can read my recount of probably the most scary incident in my life HERE.

Anyway, we used the free vouchers to fly to see my dad and step mom over the holiday weekend, and we took Drew. We had two flights there and two flights back and each were about and hour long. Drew was great on all the flights. He loved looking out the window at all the other planes, and the workers on the tarmac. A few things I did learn...You don't need to travel with 30 diapers, airports do sell them. A 17 month old will not wear headphones even if they are the big comfy ones. This actually didn't matter because he watched Baby McDonald and Baby Noah and no one else could hear the sound but him. Planes do not have milk in their beverage service, now some other airlines might but United did not.

So here's what I brought that I thought was oh so helpful: a travel magna doodle, coloring book & crayons, touch and feel books, portable DVD player, snacks and milk. Mostly Drew either wanted to watch his DVD's or color. When we couldn't have the DVD player on, he was perfectly happy reading his books.

A few things that I thought I'd share: you can bring milk and juice through security when traveling with an infant. TSA says that it needs to be a reasonable amount. We brought one sippy cup full of milk and 2 small 4oz. containers of juice in which we carted there and back. Why I brought them I have no clue, Drew doesn't like juice. TSA agents did ask to test the milk and juice in which they tested the vapors of it with a small test strip. They also allowed us to carry Drew through the security screener, he did not have to walk through. He did however have to take his shoes off just like every other passenger, as well as this sweatshirt. We took with us our smaller umbrella stroller and it too had to go on the belt to be scanned. The one thing that was a huge surprise to me was that there are only certain rows that you can sit in with an infant. This is due to that row having an extra air mask. We had originally booked our seats together, however when we arrived they had switched my seat to the designated row and split us up. We just had to ask the person that was next to me and Drew to switch to Brendan's seat, which each one of them did. Who really WANTS to sit next to a toddler?

All in all the trip was great, we had a wonderful time at my parents house. I will do a recap and post pictures later this week. I hope everyone had a wonderful and safe holiday!

We're leaving on a jet plane

2011-09-01T15:43:00.002-05:00

All 3 of us! This will be Drew's first plane ride and although I'm excited, I'm terrified that we will become THAT family with a screaming child.... Lord help he doesn't scream the entire time.

I have my ammo packed; a travel magna doodle, snacks, puzzles, books and his toy tracker. Oh, and of course Mr. Cow, Drew's lovie. He goes everywhere with us. Each of our two flights are just 1 hour in duration so I'm hoping and praying he's so enthralled with everything there will be no issues. I shall report back on Tuesday.

Anything I'm missing? I obviously have our diaper bag going with us as well as an extra outfit, Tylenol, and a couple of juice boxes. Drew's not a fan if juice but I figure it couldn't hurt in case if emergency, ya know?!???
Anything else? I feel like there's something huge I missing....

I hope everyone has a very happy and safe Labor Day weekend!!

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What I'll be wearing this fall

2011-08-29T10:41:00.000-05:00

With fall fast approaching I've already started thinking about what I'm going to be wearing this fall. Yep, I'm that strange, I think about this kind of thing. So I went to my new favorite website Pinterest and started looking around. I used to go to Polyvore and create my own boards, but Pinterest has made it that much easier for me to find looks that I love. Why re-invent the wheel when it already works pretty well?

So anyway I started stashing looks away in oh June for this fall. Then I recently dug them out to see what I had in my closet that would work. Thankfully the trends haven't changed to drastically this year and again I'll be wearing long cardi's, scarves and skinny jeans with boots.

This year there are more pops of color being seen, which I love! Add one statement color piece to a look and it gives it new life.

I'm also loving mixing black and browns this fall. Why not pair a black dress with brown riding boots? I don't see why not!

Layers are huge this fall and I'm loving it! a cardi can do so much for texturing a look. It can also hide my butt in skinny jeans...

I would love to have a bright pea coat like this!

I love having these looks together, it helps me wrap my brain around what look I'm going for. If any of these boards were created by you, please let me know and I'm happy to give credit where credit is due.

Grand Cayman recap

2011-08-24T15:15:00.000-05:00

We arrived in Grand Cayman and instantly I was in love. The air was warm, it smelled of blooming flowers and who wouldn't love a tropical island. Brendan and I went on this vacation sans Drew and he did great while we were away. I swear he looked bigger when we got back.

While in Grand Cayman we stayed on Seven Mile Beach at the Ritz-Carlton. We absolutely loved the resort, couldn't beat the beach or the service. The weather was scorching hot while we were there, so being near the water during the day was a must. We also indulged in a couples massage, which was heavenly. However, we always seem to question why we get couples massages, we don't talk at all during the time we are in there. I guess you could say our love radiates......kidding.

We went into Georgetown to shop for souvenirs one day. A little tip, go when there aren't too many cruise ships docked. Each cruise ship adds about 2000 people to the small town of Georgetown.

On the streets, they have painted Iguanas

Speaking of Iggy, yep these dudes were all over! Just chillin by the pool, or under your lounge chair. Some creeped me out, they were pretty large.

We had the opportunity to go to Sting Ray City and swim with the huge Rays. It was a bit daunting at first, but they were super friendly and even liked being held.

Her name is Bertha...

We also ate at some awesome restaurants! If you ever go to Grand Cayman, we would highly Recommend Agua. I had the mushroom risotto and it was the best risotto I've ever had. Brendan had fish and he too said it was awesome!

One night we ate at Deckers and again Brendan being ever so predictable had fish....I had a stuffed chicken breasts that was tasty.

Our favorite restaurant we ate at was La Dolce Vita. It was a small Italian restaurant and we made reservations so we could watch the sunset. Unfortunately it was a bit cloudy that evening, but the wine was great, food was fabulous and we sat right next to the ocean.

All in all we had a great time. It was so relaxing and we truly enjoyed just being together.

If anyone is looking to go to Grand Cayman, GOOOOO! It was amazing, we loved it!

Let's play catch-up

2011-08-24T11:00:00.000-05:00

I've been in a blog slump lately and it's not intentional, just had a bit going on. So let's play catch up.

-I recently was asked to come back to my old position as an academic advisor at a high school. My current job working for a federally funded grant is ending. This time, the job at the high school is 4 hours a day, a perfect mom job. Let's hope they don't cut it this time.

-I still have yet to post pics from our Grand Cayman trip...I know I'm horrible!

- We are plugging away at our basement renovation and I promise to post pictures of our new e-gress window soon.

-Currently, I feel like life is flying before my eyes and I can't slow it down. I need 28 hours in a day to feel like I can get everything accomplished.

-Drew's language has exploded and now that child is a talking machine.

-This blog post is sooooo not interesting.....I'm boring these days!

-I'm thinking of having Drew be a monkey for Halloween, what do ya think? Yay or Nay?

I will post pics and more interesting topics very soon.

Drew's first big boy haircut

2011-08-19T21:48:00.002-05:00

This past week we decided Drew's locks were looking a big shaggy, we've got to keep things trimmed up and lookin good for the ladies!! I happened to have a hair appointment and my stylist could get Drew in right before me. Drew wasn't fond of the water bottle she used to spray down his hair but a few crackers and a bouncy ball later, he only wiggled a bit so she could trim up those locks. Thankfully she was so patient and could cut his baby curls as he acted like he was dodging a bullet.

The end result, an adorable big boy haircut that makes me tear up. Where did my baby go?

Before:

This was taken about a month ago, so it was a tad longer still.

Not so sure about this people...but I have my handy dandy cheese cracker as my sidekick.

WOAH... Excuse me?!? What are those sharp things near my head?

Oooohhhh, this spray bottle is mighty fun!

Stellar!! A bouncy ball! I could get used to this.

What do ya think? Am I a big boy or what?

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Two miracles entered the world today

2011-08-15T13:53:00.002-05:00

Max William and Charlie Robert arrived this morning at 9:47am. These two handsome little guys join their two big brothers and one big sister at home. If you remember I told you about 6 months ago that I believed in miracles. My sister and her husband went through infertility treatments to conceive the first three children, thought they were done and these two miracles came along. God is good. Max is doing great but Charlie is having a little difficulty, his lungs are working overtime. Please say a prayer his condition improves quickly.

Here are the handsome little guys meeting their momma for the first time.

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My boys

2011-08-07T19:00:00.002-05:00

Is there anything sweeter than a daddy reading bedtime stories to his son? I think not.

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Kids has great taste in shoes

2011-08-05T14:46:00.002-05:00

Drew has taken a liking to shoes, specifically my heels, smart man that Drew!

Have a great weekend!
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Bad things happen in 3's right?

2011-08-03T11:54:00.002-05:00

This week Brendan and I will once again be attending a funeral of someone who was very dear to both of us. My uncle passed away of cancer in the peaceful environment of hospice on Monday. This is now going to be 3 funerals in 1 month. It's not getting any easier. First was my very good friend's father, then our neighbor and now this. I'm starting to have a very hard time going into this same funeral home, all three have been at the same one.
My uncle was a kind and selfless man, he gave the best hugs and he will be greatly missed. He was such gentle man and I can't imagine him not here. He called me on my birthday July 8th and I'm kicking myself that I missed the call, when I called back they were eating dinner, and I only spoke to my aunt.
Death is such a hard thing to deal with, and all three of these have weighed heavily on my heart. I ache for the families and my aunt, I wish they all hadn't been taken from us. All three were very fast and unexpected. My uncle was diagnosed with cancer 5 weeks ago.
It does make me realize that we need to appreciate the blessings we are given daily, and tell those we love, just that always!
Bad things happen in 3's right? I don't know if my heart can handle another death anytime soon.

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Ask US anything...The answers!

2011-07-31T15:41:00.000-05:00

I apologize that this took me so long to do. Time has slipped away from me, but what's new right? So I thought better late than never. Thank you to all of you that asked us questions, it was so fun to read all of them!

So here we go!

How's the house coming? What's your current project?
-The house it coming along great. We are moving along with starting to finish the basement. Our basement is completely unfinished and we are planning on adding another living room, bathroom, storage room, office and bedroom. We would ultimately like the bedroom and living room to be done prior to use having a second child. One of the first steps to finishing the basement was to cut in an egress window. We have one on the south wall of the basement, but we'd like the bedroom on the north side and to sell the house as a 4 bedroom home, we needed another one. So my father in law came down a few weeks ago and he and Brendan cut through our foundation and cut the window in. It turned out great, we installed the window and today Brendan is actually at the home improvement store as I type buying the window surround. I'll post pics of the progress and window when it's all finished. Next we will order all of the drywall and start that project. Brendan has a few walls framed downstairs already. Did I mention we are finishing the basement by ourselves, I say we loosely, because we all know I have no clue how to drywall.

Are you taking a summer vacation?
- We did, to Grand Cayman and it was glorious! We just returned on Thursday evening and we had a wonderful time just the two of us. It was so good to be home and snuggle our little guy. I will post pictures this week!

Will you come decorate my house?
-Absolutely! I love decorating, but I try to do everything on a budget. I shop consignment stores, Hobby Lobby clearance, and we do a ton ourselves of making things. In all seriousness, I would be happy to help you with some idea boards to incorporate all of your ideas, just let me know!

What are favorite online decorating resources?
-Oh where to start! I love decor pad to get ideas, then I try to make them come to life on the cheap! I also and loving Pinterest these days. If you haven't checked out this site and would like an invite, just holler! You can find me there, I'm Abby with Life With B&A, cleaver huh? A few of my favorite blogs that I read almost daily are Bryn Alexandra, DIY showoff, and You paid more than me. With decorating I really try to find and re purpose things that I've used before. I little paint or switching up it's place in the house always breaths new life into our home.

What are your favorite places to shop?
-This one's hard, I love to shop but again, I'm bargain Betty and love a good deal! My go to places to everyday clothes are Gap, J.Crew, Target, Khols and Nordstrom. I get a lot of my clothes from the clearance racks of J.Crew and Nordstrom. When I'm shopping it's most likely with coupons or gift cards. I'm not of fan of paying full price. I will give you a little tip, if you subscribe to the stores email, they send you coupons! I will say that I do invest in good quality staples, a black t-shirt, a khaki trench coat, a white button up shirt. For the more trendy items, it's inexpensive all the way!

What would you say is your next big goal in life?
-I am going to be looking for a new career. Currently, I work for a federally funded grant and it's ending in September. My goal is to find a job/career I can be at for many years. I thought I would have been at my academic advising job for a very long time, but unfortunately they cut my position when I was 30 weeks pregnant. It was a blessing in disguise but I want that feeling again of being in a position I truly enjoy and can be at for many years to come. This isn't going to be easy because I would love to find a position that is part-time and those in social services are hard to come by. But we shall see...

How did you and B meet?
-Well, I thought he was a jerk at first. True story, in college we both worked at Abercromie and Fitch, we were both late for work, but didn't know each other. It's December in Iowa and I'm heading to work, go to pull in a parking space and this jerk steals my spot. So I'm forced to park all the way in Timbuktu, and am late for work. I start talking to my manager Kris, and am begging not to write me up for my tardiness. I keep saying "this jerk stole my parking spot, if he comes in here, don't help him". Brendan comes walking around the corner and I say "Kris, that's the jerk, don't help him"! Kris says to me "Oh Abby, I don't think you've met my younger brother Brendan"... Insert foot in mouth! My manager is now my brother in law. I didn't get written up and Brendan felt so bad that he bought me lunch. Our first date was in the back room of Abercrombie eating Subway. Funny thing is, he's the nicest guy you will ever meet.

What is one re-occurring "fight" you and B have?
-Our disagreement that we've been having since March 2010 is Drew riding in the car. This argument is totally one sided and it's me getting frustrated because Drew is not a good car rider at all. When we travel long distances I sit in back to entertain him and Brendan usually drives. He can barely make it an hour without getting fussy or down right having a meltdown. This stresses me out and in turn I get frustrated with Brendan for no reason at all. He does nothing but be supportive and ask what he can do to help. I have no clue why Drew is such a bad car rider, we have activities, we have a DVD player where he watches Baby Einstein and yet we can't make it to my parents lake house which is 1 hour and 15 minutes without having a meltdown. We've tried stopping, giving him milk, snacks, toys, books, and yet still he melts down. Brendan is so good and when I get frustrated he will offer for me to drive and calm Drew down. This helps me calm down and de-stress. So really it's me and my neurosis that keeps reoccurring. I just want to be able to ride in the car without my child screaming. Anyone have any suggestions? Drew is rear facing and we plan to have him that way until he's 2. He's not crunched for space, he'll ride for 30 minutes just fine, but after that we are on borrowed time. Oh and he will not sleep in the car, I've tried everything, even turning his DVD player off, and he's still bright eyed and bushy tailed!

Since I read your blog and I am from Germany, are you watching the FIFA Women's world cup Germany 2011?
- We did watch it! It was absolutely amazing to watch team USA do what they did! I have watched Abby Wambach since she was in college and to see her lead her team to the finals was awesome! I do have to say that I highly disagree with Rachel Beuhler getting red carded out of the Brazil game. I didn't think it was a flagrant foul, and of course Brendan and I both went nuts when we were watching the game! Brendan too is a soccer buff, he also has coached soccer and played in college. We're a little nutty about soccer around here. It was great to watch the finals come down to penalty kicks, a white knuckler for sure! Germany did an amazing job hosting the world cup!

What's been the most difficult adjustment of being a stay at home mom? Do you foresee yourself working again in the near future?
-I have actually been working since last October for a federally funded grant as a crisis counselor. I absolutely love it and I have a great schedule, I work 3 days a week and am home 2 days a week with Drew. I have found that this schedule has given us great balance, Drew gets to socialize at a small in home daycare and I get to do what I love, work in social services. After my grant ends in September I do foresee myself continuing to work. It's been a great fit for me and for Drew, he loves going to day care. When we go in the door he squiggles to get down and runs to the toys immediately. It was a fluke that I even was offered this position, I was staying home and had been for 7 months. I had looked at a few jobs but none came fruition. We live in a very small town and opportunities in the social services are few and far between. Brendan was at a luncheon and my now bosses sister approached Brendan and asked if I would be interested in going back to work part-time. Brendan said I would but it would have to off set the cost of day care. Thankfully it did, I could work part-time and it's been great ever since. I'm sad that my job is coming to an end.
-The hardest transition for me when I was a stay at home mom was actually 2 things. First, I didn't make the decision to stay at home, although I was so grateful for my time at home, my job as an academic advisor was cut when I was 30 weeks pregnant. Brendan and I made the decision that it was best for me to stay home, move in to our new house and prepare for the baby, rather than strap an employer with me starting and then taking maternity leave. So I have always felt that I resented the fact that someone made that decision for me and I didn't get a say in it. Second, I had a very hard time with not contributing financially to our family. I know I was working my tail off being home with Drew and thankfully financially we could afford for me to do so, but I've worked since I graduated college and it was a huge adjustment and again I think it goes back to the fact that I didn't make the decision, it was made for me. So when my current job arose, it seemed like a perfect fit. Now, if I decide to stay home in the upcoming months or in the future, I'll feel as though I will be able to make the decision.

When do you guys think you'll have baby #2?
-I really have no idea. We've talked about it and recently I got the all clear from my cardiologist that if I do want to have a baby, we surely can! I would say we'd starting trying within a year.

How has your relationship changed with B since having Drew?
-Our relationship has definitely changed, in good and bad ways. I'm not going to lie it's been hard at times not to be resentful with each other for having "me time" or not being able to read my mind. I'm horrible at thinking he should be able to read my mind! We have had to really work to have time together and is used to just be easy, obviously we didn't have a small human depending on us. We've had to work at making time for each other and carve out date nights. I will say that although there have been some pretty big adjustments we've had to make with our relationship, we definitely have much more appreciation for each other as parents. To see Brendan as a daddy has given me a whole new level of love and compassion for him. He amazes me daily at how wonderful of a father and husband he is.

What are your beauty/fashion must haves?
-Oh this is such a fun question! For beauty, I'm actually pretty low key, I do always need a good moisturizer for my face, I use Cetaphil moisturizer and it's been great for my very sensitive skin. I also use Vaseline on my lips every night and I love it, no clue why. I do have to say that I always have to have a razor with me when I travel, so I'll say that's a beauty must have, I shave my legs daily. As for my makeup, I always need to have a good bronzer, I'm a bit pasty most of the time. I really love Bobby Brown's bronzer, it's light and doesn't make your face feel like you have makeup on. My other makeup must have is mascara, those two things and I can call it a day. Just your basic black mascara will do me just fine.
-Fashion, oh hmmm, I love fashion so there are a few must haves that I always travel with or have in my closet:
1. Black flats
2. Boot cut dark jeans
3. Black cardigan sweater
4. Knee length trench coat
5. Floor length maxi dress
6. Printed scarf
7. White button up shirt
8. Black t-shirt
9. Black & Brown slouchy boots
10. Reef flip flops

I'm all about comfort, and if you want the most comfy flip flops, get Reefs! My feet love them. I would say my style is classically chic. I love basics and really do wear everything I listed above very often. Then I like to mix in a few trendy pieces here and there.

Thank you to everyone who submitted questions. If you have any follow-up questions, dont' hesitate to ask!

Pay it forward

2011-07-25T07:32:00.000-05:00

The other day I was very blessed to have a complete stranger go out of his way to help me. Drew and I ventured out to a local home improvement store to return two items that we had decided we would not keep. I'll paint the picture for you, it's over 100 degrees, I'm trying to load Drew, the huge canopy tent I'm returning and weights that go with in a cart. This very kind gentleman sees that I'm struggling because Drew at this point does not want to sit in the cart, rather he wants me to carry him. Ok, fine I'm going to have to make this work. As I'm sweating bullets, trying to push the cart with one hand and wrangle my squirmy worm of a toddler with the other, this gentleman comes up and starts pushing my cart for me. He said "Let me help you with that". I was stunned as this is not that common now a days and I graciously thanked him repeatedly as he walked with Drew and I up to the customer service desk. As he left, I thanked him again and told him to have a great day.

I think my shock from this kind person is a bit saddening, what has this world come to that we are shocked by someone helping another? I was so grateful for this man and how he helped me out. I wish I saw this happen more often in public. This instance makes me think about a show I once saw where they showed people in distressed situations, they showed how many people would just walk by and not help that person out and then commended the person that did show some compassion and help the person out. Now, I wasn't in distress, and could I have made it on my own, yes, but this man went out of his way to help me and my son, and to him I am ever so grateful.

My point of this post is two things, people are truly kind hearted and second to challenge my readers. I challenge you to go out of your way and help another person, or pay it forward. If we all do one small random act of kindness, think how many people's day we can effect in a positive manner!

Have a great week! Now go pay it forward!

Some of my favorite blogs

2011-07-22T08:29:00.002-05:00

While I'm away, I thought I would share a few of my most favorite blogs I read almost daily. Some you may have heard of or already read and maybe not. Check out these awesome blogs and you might find one you absolutely love!

Karen at Home

Do it yourself show off

All things G&D

Marital Bless

Nesting Place

Miracles really do happen

2011-07-18T15:57:00.001-05:00

Remember how I wrote a post about my heart aching? It was about our neighbor and friend being killed in a motorcycle accident. Well, I received a call from his wife the other day, and you'll never believe what she told me.....She's pregnant with their second child. She was overjoyed, but it's so bittersweet for her. How does she go this alone? This is supposed to be such a happy occasion and yet her husband is not here to celebrate the miracle they have made together. As she and I were talking she did tell me that it's something for her to look forward to. She said her husband always wanted their daughter to have a sibling and now she will.

I truly believe that God works miracles and only he knows what plans he has in store for us. Our neighbor was laid to rest on Thursday and his wife found out she was pregnant the very next day. The circle of life is much greater than I can ever fathom. I ask you to please pray for my sweet friend and neighbor, she is going through so many emotions right now and I know she could use all the positive thoughts and prayers we could all offer.

Summer beach reads

2011-07-14T09:21:00.001-05:00

I'm calling all of my faithful blog readers, I need suggestions! I need some recs on what book I just have to read on the beach. I'm not a huge book reader but I love a good one! My book reading has severely dropped off the face of the the earth since Drew's arrival. So, what are your favs?

I hope everyone is having a great week! Thanks for your suggestions!
Also, go check my guest post on Transatlantic Blonde, I shared by Easy Ranch pasta recipe

What Drew's been up to

2011-07-10T23:03:00.002-05:00

I haven't posted about Drew and him growing for a bit now, well since he turned one... So I thought it was time.

Drew is now 15 months old and running around faster than the speed of light. He is literally running these days and currently has one speed for life and that's GO! He's always on the move and we are enjoying every minute of him!

Lately Drew's speech has picked up and it's been so fun teaching him new words. His current favorites are shoes and doggy. He takes after his momma liking shoes!
Drew is loving being outdoors this summer, he's a water baby through and through. This past weekend we were at my parents lake house to celebrate my birthday and he loved the pool, the lake, and the boat. This child can not get enough of the water.

I have to share this one funny picture. I put sunscreen on his head and in his hair, after we were on the boat he went down for his afternoon nap. Apparently it was a good nap and I don't think the sunscreen in the hair helped much.

Drew is now hooked on two things; books and anything with wheels. He will sit and "read" his books while I'm picking up the house or cooking dinner and is simply content. Then there's the wheels, anything that moves, he loves! Trucks, trains, cars, you name it, if it has wheels and moves, he's all about it! He loves to run his cars along our wood floor and see how far they go, it's adorable!

Sleeping for Drew is still pretty consistent. He goes to bed around 7 or 7:30 and wakes up around 5:30 or 6. We can't complain, he's sleeping like a champ now!
On the eating front, Drew is about consistency there as well. He really likes about 10 different foods and then the rest is for the birds. Eggs and watermelon are two of his favs. If it's a veggie you can forget about it! I however try to be sneaky and put them in his eggs or quesadilla. I think I'm going to have to get that cookbook Deceptively Delicious by Jessica Seinfeld. He's also a fan of; cheese, toast, cinnamon Life cereal, roasted chicken, cantelope, apples, peaches, sweet potatos, and squash. As you can see he's consistent in eating the same foods over and over. It's not for a lack of us not offering everything under the sun. He has got to be getting bored of the same old food, I would be! I'm sure someday he will eat green beans!

Drew was in his first parade on the 4th of July and he seemed to like it. He was waving the whole time saying buh-bye.
Drew is growing up so fast, I can't believe my baby is now 15 months old. I feel like it was yesterday I was writing about him being 3,4 and 5 months old. We are very blessed to have a happy and healthy little man!

- Posted using BlogPress from my iPhone

My heart aches

2011-07-07T07:12:00.001-05:00

These past two weeks have been very hard on me emotionally. Last week I had one of my best friend's dad's pass away unexpectedly, he was 58 years old and my friend is getting married in 3 weeks. It was an emotional roller coaster for me, I can't imagine what she went through and still is going through. This is supposed to be one of the happiest times in her life and now she's questioning who should walk her down the aisle.

After we were finished with her dad's funeral this past weekend we received news that our friend and neighbor that was 31 years old was killed in a motorcycle accident when coming home from a nearby lake. We shortened our 4th of July trip to come home and be with his wife. We couldn't stay away and knew that if it were me in the same situation our friend would have done the exact same thing. We've lived next to our neighbors for now a year and a half and have gotten to be very good friends with them, have spent a lot of time together and now it's so surreal that he's gone. I know we are still in shock. I seriously can not fathom what his wife is going through, they have a 3 year old daughter that simply adores Drew and is the sweetest little girl you will ever meet. All I keep thinking is; sometimes life just isn't fair. Why this family?

Saturday night I received a call from a mutual friend of ours and it just so happens that her boyfriend happens to also be a police officer here in town. I thought our house was burning down or someone had broken in, and her boyfriend had responded to the call. I didn't think we would have received this devastating news. I wish our house would have been on fire or broken into. I wish our friend was still here. My heart breaks to see my husband so torn up, he and our neighbor we very good friends and he said to me Sunday night " I haven't made a lot of friends here, he was one of my closest friends".

Death is such a hard thing to deal with and we aren't even the families dealing with it. To know what to say, to do, it's all just so hard. It's been so emotionally draining on both of us.

We could really use an upswing next week, no funeral next week.

I ask that you pray for both of these families, that they are given strength to get through these very difficult times, that God heals their wounds and gives them peace.

Drew's latest pics

2011-07-05T19:09:00.000-05:00

A few weeks ago we made a trip to see our friend Amy Doerring, she's done all of Drew's pictures since he was in utero. She once again made me smile. She snapped all of these pictures in a matter of 45 minutes and would take longer if I wanted, but really she knows how to make me happy and I don't need a ton of pictures, just a few of my little guy. We took one of Brendan's John Deere tractors from when he was a little boy and she captured Drew with it. She also got him with his favorite red shades on, he wears these all the time and really seems to like them. I found them at the Target in the dollar spot! She also did one spur of the moment family picture, as you can see my hair is curly, which means I put mousse in it after showering and she had Brendan take his tie off to take the pic, but I think it's pretty cute.

You can check out the Amy's blog post of our pictures HERE on her blog.

You can also check out my sisters bump of her twin boys in Amy's blog post of

A wonderful Bump in the road.

Our upcoming vacation

2011-06-28T15:41:00.000-05:00

B and I are headed on a little vacation in a few short weeks, we are heading to Grand Cayman and looking for some fun and sun. Neither of us have ever been there before and I would love to hear if any of you have been there and your suggestions on where to go, where to eat, and some fun activities perhaps.

Brendan and I each have a bit of a different idea of our ideal vacation. He loves to do "stuff", my idea vacation is a beach chair, a large sun hat and a drink with an umbrella in it. We do however compromise and do a bit of both. Thus far, we've checked out Stingray City and plan to do a snorkel trip and visit the stingray's. Other than that, we've got nothin... We are staying on Seven Mile Beach if that helps you out. I would love to hear your suggestions! Have a great week!

Ask US anything

2011-06-23T08:54:00.002-05:00

I have a bunch of new followers lately, hi to all of you!! Much love and thanks for following! So I thought I would bring back one of the posts that has gotten the most hits, Ask me anything but this time I'm going to give it a bit of a twist, you can ask US anything. Us meaning me, Brendan, Drew and even Ruby the dog!
This is a no holds bar free for all on all topics, we are pretty much an open book, but please remember my mom reads this blog... Anything from pregnancy, to marriage to toddlerhood, go for it! Fashion, cooking, exersice, it's all fair game.
So have at it, we are all yours, what are your burning questions for all of us here at Life with B&A? I'll leave this post up until Monday and then start answering questions. So come out and say hello, especially if you've just recently started following, if nothing else just to say hello!

Ciao! We can't wait to read your questions!

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Do your parents have a key?

2011-06-22T11:33:00.001-05:00

As I was watching Keeping up with the Kardashians last night, I know, I know, the episode dealt with the mom having a key to her child's home and just using it as she pleased and coming over unannounced. This got me thinking. My parents have a key, have our garage code to the key pad, and could very well come over unannounced and abuse the privilege of living within close proximity if they chose to very easily. Thankfully, they are very respectful, always call before dropping something off or coming over.

A funny story of why we gave them a key. Last year on our trip to Hawaii I received a text message from my mom saying " Do you have a spare key"? I'm thinking why do you need a spare key, but I was sunning my buns and didn't think much of it, except if my child is ok, and my mom isn't frantic, I'm sure everything is a-ok. I responded, no, just use the key pad to the garage. Well, apparently, my mom had locked the door going into the garage as well as the front door. The garage key pad was useless and our dog Ruby was in the house. Drew however, just happy as a clam, my mom, not so much, a frantic mess. We however, were none the wiser, again sunning our buns on the beach. My mom said nothing else to us. Never called, never texted again. She just called the locksmith, who popped the lock to the front door, Ruby was happily watching TV in the bedroom, and they even had replaced the doorknob and lock by the time we got back. So we decided to give them a spare key to our house.

Neither B nor I have ever locked ourselves out of the house. I have now jinxed myself, and will come back to this blog later in the week with a follow-up locked out story.

I want to hear your situations, do your parents or in-laws have a key to your house? Do they abuse the privilege? Do they come over unannounced? I will tell you that if my parents came over unannounced and just came in, that would be spare key revocation immediately!

At the end of the Kardashian episode everyone ended happy, but the mom ended key less, which was probably a good thing in this case.

Things I'm loving lately

2011-06-21T15:34:00.000-05:00

I haven't done one of these posts lately so I thought I would post a few things I've been loving lately!

I purchased these shorts about a month ago at my favorite store, Target, where else. They are the Mossimo Chambray Bermuda Short, and I am in love. They are so comfy, go with just about any top and I can dress them up with a ruffle flowy tank and wedges or dress them down with flip flops and a boyfriend tee. Seriously, perfection in my book!

My camelback water bottle has been an absolute life saver to me over the past few months. I purchased this little guy again at where else, but Target. I purchased before the beginning of soccer season so that I would be sure to have water to drink when I was at practice and games without using a ton of plastic bottles. It worked great for my original purpose but it has also gotten me to drink a ton of extra water throughout the day. I carry it with me to work, in the car, in my purse, everywhere and it's been a great addition to my life, seriously. I've been drinking a huge amount of water and I can really tell a difference in how I feel.

With the weather getting hot and the summer ramping up it's been prime time for evenings on our back deck after Drew hits the hay. Brendan and I enjoy sitting out on our deck and just enjoy chatting about our days, what's going on in the coming days and a nice cold margarita for me and an ice cold beer for him! My favorite margaritas are Skinny Girl Margaritas by Bethanny Frankel.

I have sound these margaritas at our local grocery store and let me tell you, I have had a good margarita before, but this is tasty and has about 1/3 the calories of a regular margarita! So drink up responsibly!

I first tried Mac Zoom Lash at Christmas time and since then I've been hooked. During the summer months my beauty routine for makeup is very simple and low key. A little bronzer, some mascara and lip gloss and I'm off. The zoom lash is fantastic, easy to apply and really makes my long lashes pop without looking caked on.

I hope everyone is having a great week!

We got creative

2011-06-18T11:40:00.002-05:00

We were staying in a hotel these past few days due to a business meeting for Brendan's job. When traveling with a toddler there are certain hurdles one must overcome to continue the trip in a peaceful manner. One being nap time. Our child needs his naps. Now, he can do fine with one longer nap each day but functions 10x better with two naps daily but I'll take what I can get when we are away from home.
As we were traveling to our destination we were thinking how in the world are we going to get this child to nap a. When there's any light in the room and b. If we are in the hotel room?!?!? Well, we fixed hurdle B by getting ajoining rooms with my parents so Drew can nap and we are out of sight. See, if he sees us, play time is on! Nap time is thrown by the wayside! Now to hurdle A... We get to our room and see that even with the shade closed the room is still in fact pretty darn bright, our toddler has slept for all of 2o minutes on the 4 hour drive, it was 2pm and he had woken up at 6am. Someone hand me a cocktail please! So we got creative. The shower and potty are in a separate area from the sink, and it creates a great little nook or closet like space that just fits our pack and play. We shoved it in there, turned on his fan we brought, turned off the lights and my friends my toddler happily napped next to the potty and shower while we were away from home. He couldn't reach either nor was he in any danger, just a couple of parents, getting creative.

Drew got his much needed sleep and Brendan and I chilled out in my parents room ajoining ours catching up on my favorite Bravo TV shows.

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My cardio report

2011-06-13T15:36:00.002-05:00

A few weeks ago I had a repeat echocardiogram. This was for a leakage that developed during my delivery of Drew. After delivery my leakage was categorized as severe and 3 months later it was categorized as mild.

After finding a new OB abd cardiologist a few months ago, I had a repeat echocardiogram. I will continue to have one each year. I recieved the results of the echo and everything looks great, or as good as it can. I will always have a mild leakage because having so much fluid during delivery, along with a few other factors caused permanent damage. However, having a mild leakage of my aortic valve, I can live a healthy normal life and have a very healthy normal pregnancies from here on out.

So the plan from here on out is to have an echo each year and be monitored throughout pregnancy when that time comes. Can't complain about that, right?

It was very refreshing to recieve these results. Knowing I'm my heart is as healthy as it can be was a huge stress relief for me and Brendan. Eventually we do want another child and maybe two. However, we wouldn't ever consider concieving without my health being back to where it needs to be to carry a healthy baby and me be healthy. I've only got one heart, I'd like to make sure it's where it needs to be, because pregnancy can be stressful on your ole ticker.

Neither my cardiologist or my OB both said they would ever recommend me for a VBAC or vaginal birth after c-section, too much stress on my heart was caused due to me being in labor for 40 hours. When we were discussing it, both looked at me like I had a third eyeball. Which, a second c-section is just fine by me, when that time comes. Thankfully modern medicine will allow me to not put my heart in jeopardy. Hopefully we won't have to worry about my heart next time but just in case, I will be having a repeat section. I had a great experience last time with recovery, I hope the next time recovery is as smooth as it was the first time.

So there you have it, my heart is where it should be. So now when we want to try to concieve we shall. It's going to be a while, don't get your hopes up!

Happy Monday, make it a great week!

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My new best friend

2011-06-07T05:15:00.003-05:00

When Drew turned a year we started trying to ditch the bottle. When he hit his first birthday he was then taking 4 bottles a day. One when he woke up in the morning, one before his morning nap, afternoon nap, and before bed. I was not looking forward to this daunting task as I had heard many horror stories about children refusing milk from a sippy cup. We gradually started by offering Drew milk in a sippy during the day, normally before his first birthday he would have been offered a bottle, but we decided let's approach this gradually and see how things work. Things did not work well, and it wasn't that he didn't want milk, he wanted his bottle. We tried so many stinking sippy cups, I now have a large drawer full of them. I then came upon a review about the Born Free training cup, and I ran, literally ran to my local Walgreen's where they carry this thing. From that day on the transition has been smooth sailing. No crying, whining, stomping of the feet due to my new best friend the Born Free Training Cup.

I will tell you that I was not compensated for this rave review of this cup, I'm just a momma in love! I've found that the best price point for this cup is at diapers.com, at $9.47. A bit pricey, yep, but so worth it in my book. We have successfully eliminated all bottles but the night time bottle in our house and the only reason we haven't eliminated that one is because we are going at it gradually. First we started with the morning bottle, then the morning nap, then the afternoon nap and tonight, it's the big test, the night time bottle goes "bye bye". I'm not anticipating a struggle because dropping the other bottles has been very smooth. We shall see.

Out current DIY project

2011-06-05T13:51:00.002-05:00

This summer we are really concentrating on our outdoor projects. Currently, it's our backyard landscaping.

When we purchased our home in December of 2009 the backyard was a fenced in open area, which is great, but it needed, something. So this summer we decided to add a couple of trees and some landscaping areas, if you will to the backyard. We live in a newer development so we have literally no mature trees. We purchased two six foot trees, one a Linden and one a Maple. We then used the dirt from a very large hole we've been digging for an egress window in the basement to fill the areas and planted a bush and a few small pieces of landscaping grass. One area is done and now we are just waiting on the second delivery of mulch to complete the second one.

The unfinished one:

We edged each of the areas with block. I use "we" lightly as I've been saying yay or nay to the look of things and Brendan the handy man has been doing the actual landscaping. Although I have hauled dirt and helped dig the large hole. Brendan's done a great job in my opinion, I love that he can envision these types of things, I have no talent for this type of thing!

The finished area:

I'm very happy with how this one has turned out, we still need to do a couple of touch ups but its 99.8% dine. With these two trees and landscaped areas in our backyard it seems to give it more texture. You know me, always trying to relate it to fashion some how...texture! We still have an abundance of green space for a play area and someday a swingset.

Our next projects are; cut in the egress window in the basement, extend the deck 24 inches and lay a stone patio. Man that looks like a lot but we hope to accomplish all this before September. I have my fingers crossed!

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I may actually enjoy putting on a swimsuit

2011-05-31T05:00:00.001-05:00

Usually I dread putting on a swimsuit in the summer. I mean dread, swear, loathe, and everything in between. I try to avoid baring the whole suit at one time at all costs. I try to always keep a skirt on for the thought of exposing my thighs makes me vomit a little in my mouth. Extreme, yes, but any woman reading this will probably be nodding in a agreement. No one likes to have their butt cheeks exposed, love handles out for all to see. If you do, more power to ya sister! I however, do not, after having a baby, I will say I am back to my pre-pregnancy weight, however, things shift during and after pregnancy. So, as I was browsing through a recent Lands' End magazine I fell in love with a swim bottom that I would marry if I could! No seriously! This little baby might just be my new best friend this summer. Like I said before, my "problem area" is my thighs, hate them, with a passion. Now, in all reality, they are perfectly fine, this is the overly dramatic me coming out. Don't we all have those "areas" we just can't stand? If not, then you're lucky and I applaud you! I do however and after looking at this magazine I think I found a solution other than another skirt. It's called the adjustable swim mini. It's a swim skirt that's adjustable, you can cinch it up to make a little longer bottom, so that the dreaded thigh area is less exposed! I for one am super excited and have order one to try it out!

You can click the link above to see the different ways you are able to wear this lovely little ditty. I shall report back when she arrives in 5-7 business days. I went with black, it's more slimming right! My hope is that I will feel comfortable enough to ditch the cover up and be able to play on the beach or at the pool with Drew in my suit and not be so entirely self conscious. This could be wishful thinking, but I'm hoping this little lady will help me out!

Happy Memorial Day

2011-05-30T10:43:00.000-05:00

Thank you to the brave men and women who have sacrificed so much and believed in something bigger than themselves to preserve our freedoms and liberties. May God always be with you and your families. I hope everyone has a wonderful and safe holiday. Don't forget to thank your service men and women for all they have done and do for us each and everyday!

You like?

2011-05-27T08:39:00.000-05:00

Life with B&A got a bit of a face lift thanks to Designer blogs. I purchased a custom blog design from them a while back and their Designer Emily contacted me a few days ago and was ready to get started. She was absolutely fabulous to work with. It was a quick and painless process, with me being technically challenged I thought for sure this would give a number of headaches and I would utterly confused, but alas, I was not, Emily was awesome and VIOLA, the new look to Life with B&A! I hope you like it!

Water table fun

2011-05-23T20:08:00.002-05:00

This past weekend it was finally nice enough here in the frozen tundra of Iowa to be outside!! We thought it was a great opportunity to get out Drew's birthday gift, a water table. His auntie, uncle and cousins thought he would enjoy the table this summer and this weekend proved that.

We broke out the water table and Drew went to town! He had a blast!

On Sunday we got out his pool and the water was too cold for him to swim, but he played with his water table again. We then went inside and we were playing on the floor. He brings me one tennis shoe, and immediately starts jumping up and down and screaming. So I put his one lone shoe, just one... The child wanted to play in his swim outfit and one shoe?!? Who knows but as soon as that shoe was on, he was happy as a clam.

I always wonder what he's thinking... 1 shoe, swim trunks and swim shirt, why not!

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Easy Ranch Pasta

2011-05-19T11:00:00.002-05:00

This is one of our family favs around here and I thought I would share it with all of you!

So here's what you will need;
1box of bowtie pasta
2 packages dry ranch dressing
Extra virgin olive oil
Cooked diced chicken (I use the Hormel brand I get in the cold section at the grocery store)
1medium bag frozen vegetable mixture ( I use the one with peas, carrots and corn)

Boil water in large pot, enough to sustain the entire box of pasta. In another pot boil enough water to sustain the entire bag of veggies. Cook both pasta and veggies. While they are cooking dice chicken into small pieces.

After pasta is cooked, drain it and put it back in it's original pot. Drain veggies and put in large pot with pasta. Add in chicken and coat mixture with 2-3 tablespoons of olive oil. Then add in ranch dressing and mix together.

If you really like ranch, you can add a bit of ranch dressing from the bottle, I do this because I like it all ranchy and creamy, but you don't have to.

Serve it up and enjoy!!

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Uh-oh mommy

2011-05-15T21:10:00.002-05:00

I found something really fun to play with!

Uh-oh you caught me...

Why can't I keep doing this? It's so much fun!!!

I think I'll take the toilet paper with me.

Man I'm having a blast mommy, why did it take me so long to find this stuff?

The joys if toddlerhood!

One for the road; my cool dude in his new shades.

Have a great day!!

I found myself new docs...Take 2

2011-05-13T14:17:00.000-05:00

This post magically disappeared for some odd reason and is no where to be found in my drafts, so I'm writing it again. If you left a comment on the previous post, thank you very kindly, but I can not seem to figure out how to post them to this post. If you wouldn't mind, I would love for you to leave them again, so that if anyone else is going through something similar, they can see too that they can have support and/or there are others out there that are going through similar situations.

Also, Andrea had asked me in a comment that I can not figure how to publish in this post, if I had had any palpitations since having Drew, and the good news is, I have not. My hope is that it was just pregnancy and that pregnancy only!

Ok, so I recently found myself two new doctors. After having Drew last year I had some pretty major heart issues with my aortic valve leaking and dilating. During my pregnancy at 30 weeks I was diagnosed with SVT or supraventricular tachycardia, or heart palpitations. I would feel like I had just run a marathon my heart would be beating so quickly, yet I was sitting. At my regular appointment I told my then OB, she did and EKG and it came back abnormal and I was referred to a cardiologist. The cardiologist took one look at me and my swelling and knew something was up. He also ran an EKG and again, abnormal. I was then put on a medication to help the palpitations called Labetelol and it worked wonders. My swelling went down, I had so much more energy and overall felt a ton better.

Fast forward to my induction at 39 weeks 5 days. I was induced for a number of reasons, but my heart condition was under control so I was optimistic it would not be an issue during delivery. I was wrong, dead wrong. After 40 hours of labor, around 32 or more on pitocin I had a c-section. During my c-section I was under general anesthesia due to the fact there was a space on my belly I couldn't get numb and I started to feel pinching during the procedure. When I was under, my resting heart rate was 160 and would not go down. I was then given adenosine, a drug that chemically stops and restarts your heart. I was awake for this, and to tell you the truth, it felt like nothing abnormal. When my heart was racing I kept saying, "my heart feels like it's in my throat". As soon as they put in another port in my arm at my middle of my arm, where a larger vein was, I was given the medicine and I couldn't even tell when my heart stopped and restarted. All I felt was relief that I could breath and relax.

The very next day I was given an echo cardiogram, a fancy name for an ultrasound of your heart. At this point I had a severe leakage of my aortic valve and it was dilating. My cardiologist said he was optimistic given my age and health prior to this that it would heal on it's own. Three months later I had a repeat echo and the leakage had downgraded itself to mild. As I kept having to visit these doctors I would always keep asking if the pitocin and the amount of time had anything to do with the leakage of my valve. My then OB would always reassure no. I also felt like this issue was treated as it was no big deal when I would ask what I needed to do for future pregnancies, and my heart in general. How does a seemingly healthy 28 year old have this happen?

This March as my 1 year repeat echo was approaching I started looking for first a new OB. I found a great new one at a larger hospital in a larger city nearby. He was absolutely wonderful and referred me to a cardiologist that he said "was the best". I met with him on Wednesday and I was in heaven. He actually took me seriously, that I was generally concerned. He was too concerned as to why this happened. He did another EKG and all was normal. My repeat echo is next Wednesday and after listening to my heart the murmur that indicates the type of leakage I have is barely detectible. However, he did say that I will always have a mild leakage, it will never heal. He also said that due to my SVT, my enlarged heart and the amount of fluid and pitocin I was given, it most likely caused my aortic valve to leak and dilate. Now, pitocin is normally very safe and helps deliver millions of babies each year, and mom is perfectly healthy. It just so happens I had all the ducks in a row to cause my valve to have a tizzy.

What's frustrating is that fact that in that 40 hours no one ever showed concern for the length of time I was getting pitocin or said "hey this gal has a heart condition, maybe this isn't the best idea". Now, I have no ill will towards any of my previous doctors, quite frankly they are the ones that when push came to shove delivered Drew when his health and mine were both declining at rapid paces. I do have a renewed sense of relief and hope that with these two new doctors taking care of me, I am in the best hands.

The plan of action when that time comes, because we aren't looking at having another baby for a while yet, is to see my cardiologist throughout my pregnancy and if my heart does decide to act up, have him on hand during my repeat c-section. My new OB is optimistic in that I will have a very healthy pregnancy with no complications, we shall see, down the road of course!

Sometimes blogger makes me crazy!

2011-05-13T13:42:00.002-05:00

So today I sign into blogger to try and publish some very nice comments I received on my post about finding new doctors. It's gone...As is POOF, no where to be found. I had it saved and everything. Now, I know I am a bit technically challenged, but the post was posted....Blogger you are on my list!!! I will get the post back up momentarily...

I found myself some new docs

2011-05-12T11:18:00.000-05:00

Doctors that is. After having Drew over a year ago I experienced some pretty in my eyes major heart issues from pregnancy. During my pregnancy I was diagnosed with SVT or Supraventricular Tachycardia. At about 30 weeks along in my pregnancy I started having palpitations where my heart would race and I felt like I had run a marathon, yet I was sitting at my desk. I promptly told my OB about it and she did an EKG and it came back abnormal. I was then referred to a cardiologist who also did another EKG and decided the best course of action was to put me on a medication Labetelol. The medication worked wonders and I felt much, much better.

Going into my induction I was optimistic and thought my heart issues would not be an issue during delivery. I was wrong, dead wrong. During my c-section my resting heart rate was 160, and I was given adenosine, a medication that chemically stopped and restarted my heart. The next day I was given an echo cardiogram, or basically an ultrasound of your heart. Come to find out my aortic valve was leaking and dilating. Mine was categorized as a severe leakage. My then cardiologist said that his hope was that the leak would gradually fix itself and I would be good as new in a few months. I then had a second echo and the leak was much better, categorized as a mild leakage. After having this last echo I was still concerned as to how a seemingly healthy 28 year gets this, what led to this and why. I didn't seem to get any answers from my then OB and felt like I was brushed off. So this March I decided I was going to be proactive and find a new OB first, see what he/she thought and what would be the best course of action in making sure my heart and body was healthy for another pregnancy. We are not trying to concieve or thinking about it right now, but again, just wanting to be proactive, I only have one heart.

I found an OB through a larger hospital in a larger city nearby and I absolutely love him. He reviewed all of my records, answered all of my questions, and was very proactive in ensuring my heart health prior to another pregnancy. He then referred me to a different cardiologist, and said " He's the best". I had my initial appointment with him yesterday and I was relieved. I got the answers I needed. I have a plan of action for my health and I feel like with both of these doctors caring for me, I will indeed have the best care possible.

A few things from my cardio appointment that were very enlightening. First, he said that my leakage will in fact never completely heal. However, many, many people have mild leaks and live a healthy normal life, and have healthy normal pregnancies. Second, after reviewing my records he in fact believes that me being on pitocin for my induction for such a long period of time, nearly 32 hours of pitocin and over 40 hours of fluids, did in fact contribute and cause my valve to leak and dilate. Now, pitocin is very safe and this rarely happens. It just so happens I had a heart condition with the SVT that along with my heart enlarging, and add in the pitocin, equals my valve getting in a tizzy.

What frustrates me is that not one of my doctors at the hospital I delivered ever said anything in regard to this. Or showed concern for me being on pitocin and having that much fluid for that amount of time. Then after the fact, I have asked about a thousand times, did me being on pitocin that long have anything to do with my valve issue. My previous OB reassured no. Now my new cardiologist is saying absolutely, and it's caused permanent damage. Thankfully, with my new cardiologist he assured me that he still thinks my leakage is a mild one, that I can have another healthy pregnancy, and he will be monitoring me throughout when that time comes.

After finding these two new doctors I have such a sense of relief. I feel like they will advocate for my health, and do what's in my best interest. I have no ill will to the previous doctors I worked with, in fact they were great when push came to shove and Drew was in distress, and my health was worsening by the minute. I just can't tell you the weight that has been lifted after finding these two doctors that have given me a new sense of hope and relief that I am in good hands.

How you doin....

2011-05-05T08:29:00.002-05:00

Drew wanted to say hi this morning to all my awesome blog readers! Have a great day!!

- Posted using BlogPress from my iPhone

Today I have no voice

2011-05-03T11:47:00.003-05:00

I'm without a voice today because last night I spent the evening cheering and coaching my soccer teams against one of the strongest teams in our conference. If you haven't been reading my blog long, I should let you know I'm a high school girls soccer coach and currently our season is in full force.

Last night was a must win for our varsity squad and unfortunately, we did not. However, more than the disappointing loss, I was disappointed with the lack of sportsmanship and tact coming from the opposing coaches and parents. We coach children and young adults to educate them and last night my girls learned a valuable lesson in heartache. They learned to fight to the very last second for that ultimate goal and they knew every second without a doubt they were giving their very best they had.

As a coach win or lose I try to look at the larger picture in life. What are these young girls going to take from this expereience, what can we give them as soccer coaches, other than soccer skills that they are able to carry with them for the rest of their lives. In our coaching philiosophy we try to instill character, first, last and always. Bottom line.

Last night, the opposing team lacked character in my opinion. And I blame the coaches. A few examples; one of my players fouled an opposing player, my player tried to shake her hand and apologize, no dice, the opposing player blew her off. On my team that would not fly. Again, I blame the coaching staff for not educating these players on good sportsmanship. It gets better. On of my players was tackled and kicked in the head by an opposing player. After the foul was called the opposing player laughed about my player being a bit shaken up. Lastly, one of my defenders was deliberately kicked in the face by an opposing player. The opposing player was given a yellow card and made leave the field. This player also laughed, and this players parents yells, "it's ok, you're still winning." yes you're winning, the score on the scoreboard is 1-0 but what is your daughter winning? A better sense of good sportmanship or sense of self by kicking someone else in the face, I doubt it. What bothered me the most about last night was not that we were on the losing end of the number of goals scored. It was that the behavior exhibited by the other team was fueled by the coaches and parents, adults... What are we teaching the future of our country, kick people while their down, dont be good sports?!? This concept boggles my mind.

What I do know is that my girls will recover from this lose, knowing that they gave it their all, and although they came away with less goals scored they can surely hold their heads high knowing they were the ones that may have taught the "winners" of the game a lesson or two in life.

- Posted using BlogPress from my iPhone

Drew 12 months

2011-04-26T21:15:00.002-05:00

Again, I'm late with this post, but right now life is going at the pace of a rollercoaster, and my apologises but my blog is suffering. Lately, soccer, work and chasing after our toddler is keeping me pretty darn busy. I promise the blog will be back to normal in less than 6 weeks. Soccer ends then.

This month Drew obviously turned 1 and had a great time at his birthday party. He's now enjoying his new big boy toys. He's also been loving the days we can actually get outside to play. Unfortunately, mother nature has kept the cold temps and a ton of rain around so our outdoor time has been limited. We are excited to get some warmer temps and get a pool for Drew in the backyard.

Drew has really expanded his language this past month. Before now he would say mama and dada, but now he's added up, banana, dog and ball. None of which sound like they're actually supposed to, but we understand nana, and baaw.

Lately, Drew has been digging reading books. Before now he would sit down on our lap to read and stay there for all of 2 seconds, now he will go pick a book, come sit on our lap and let you read the book, over and over and over again. It's too cute not to love! Some of Drew's other favorite toys are his wooden blocks and stacking them and knocking them over, his new Cozy Coupe car, and his play kitchen.

On the movement front, not too much news. Drew has really mastered walking and seems to almost be running. This little man is quick!

So there you have it folks! We leave babyhood and are full steam ahead into toddlerhood! I personally can't wait. This stage is so much fun, I can't imagine it gets any better, but I'm sure it does!

- Posted using BlogPress from my iPhone

Easter

2011-04-25T15:38:00.000-05:00

We had a great Easter weekend and Easter celebration with our family on Sunday. We started out the day by letting Drew dive into his Easter goodies. He got a new puzzle, a couple of books, sidewalk chalk, and a drum with all the instruments in it. Yep, we are nuts! We very well may regret that gift in a few weeks, but so far Drew seems to love it!

We then got all dressed up and headed to my sisters house to take pictures of the cousins. My mom wanted a picture of all the grandkiddos together in their Easter best. We even were able to get a family picture and a sibling picture,minus a few. We then headed off to church.

After Easter dinner the little man was tuckered put so he napped and we didn't get to do his Easter egg hunt until after his bath and right before bed last night. We made it real simple and just put the eggs in the grass. He seemed to like it, although I had put animal crackers in all the eggs, I couldn't think of any candy he could eat with his two teeth, and he loved shaking the eggs. So he would pick up two, then walk around shaking them and not put them in the basket. It was too cute. You'll notice his flannel PJ pants, fleece and hat in these pictures, it's still that cold here, GRRR!!! We had fun though! All in all a great Easter!

We hope everyone has a wonderful Easter!

Living life

2011-04-20T09:38:00.001-05:00

My Grandpa Francis has been a staple in my life, well since I was born. He's been at every birthday, every event, even sat through 3 hours dance recitals when I was younger. He's a trooper. My grandpa has taught me so much and still is to this day.

My grandfather sadly lost his wife of 64 years in October of 2009, she was also my grandmother just in case you were wondering. Anyway, I wanted to tell you about my grandpa, because I think he rocks. He's 86 years old, and after losing my grandmother decided he had two decisions, he could in fact waste away in their home or he could live. He chose to live, and in fact he lives in the 21st century!

21st Century you ask, well Grandpa you see here, owns a cell phone and recently started texting....GASP, who knew an 86 year old could text. That's not all people, he has email and emails me more forwards than one could imagine and I love every email I get from him! Wait, wait a second, last week, after wintering in Arizona with his "friend" (she's his girlfriend, I'll get back to this) he went and purchased a new Mac desktop. Uh, I don't even have a Mac, I would love one, but hey my grandpa does! He's rocking it out in 2011! I'm so impressed with his will to live life after grandma passed away, and his ability to actually understand technology is incredible. Not that I don't think he could understand it, but we are the Y2K generation, he's from the generation of horse and buggy. I'm so thoroughly impressed with my grandpa, he's now even got a girlfriend. She calls herself a cougar because she's 87. She was one of my grandma's dearest friends growing up, and when my grandparents went on their first date, it was a double date. My grandpa's now girlfriend was in the other couple. How crazy is that!

My Grandpa has taught me so much in my life, but over the last year and a half, he's taught me how to enjoy life even after facing adversity. He lost the love of his life and yet he chose to live.

Cheers to living each day, as though it may be your last!

Things I'm loving for my toddler

2011-04-15T16:20:00.000-05:00

Today as Drew and I were heading to the doctor it popped into my head that I wanted to share a few products with my readers that I am loving these days for my toddler. I did a post when Drew was a newborn about newborn essential products I couldn't live without, but he's grown out of most of those and so I thought, it's time. I haven't been paid or asked by any of these companies or products to endorse their product, I just really do like each and every one of them.

First, I'll start with a recent purchase in January of a new diaper bag. I had been using our Skip Hop Dash Deluxe in Charcoal and I really loved it. However, now when we go anywhere with Drew, we don't need as much STUFF! I wanted a diaper bad that looked more like a purse but was still very functionable as a diaper bag. I found one at Nordstrom and snatched it up. It just also happened to be a Skip Hop bag as well, this time it was the Versa.

After this bag arrived in the mail and I looked at it, I was amazed at the space that it had in it. It actually has more space than the Dash Deluxe and I love that it looks like a purse I would carry. I can fit so many things in this bag it's ridiculous! I can fit my stuff as well as the much needed diaper bag essentials. I seriously love this bag. I wish I would have purchased this one from the beginning!

Next is the Nuk sippy cup. We are currently transitioning from bottles to sippy cups in our house and let me tell you, I should take up stock in sippy cups because we've invested in so many. Drew was really having a hard time drinking from any kind of sippy until I found this Nuk easy learner sippy at our local grocery store.

From the first time Drew drank from this, it's been smooth sailing. I have no idea what it is about this cup, but he loves it. I personally love it too, because it has a lid and it's easy to put together, it has an adjuster to determine how much liquid it coming out to make it easier for your child to drink.

Our Fisher Price Space Saver high chair is next on my list. We don't have a large house by any means and our dining room where we eat again is not large. After finding this high chair, it's been absoutely wonderful in saving us space. My worry with a large high chair was that I would constantly be moving it and basically it would just be in the way. This seemed like a great option for our situation, and it has been. I purchased the chair off of Amazon and we've now had it a little over 6 months and have had no complaints.

What I really love about this product is how simple it is to clean. The cover and straps can both be washed and with our messy eater, they are frequently washed. Then the rest of the chair is plastic. A quick wipe down with a wet cloth and it looks brand new. We usually leave it on one chair all the time, but if we have guests over and need the other chair, it's super simple to just unlatch and remove.

For Drew's birthday my parents got him the Little Tykes Swing Along Castle and he absolutely adores this thing! Every morning he wakes up and runs to the sliding glass doors, looks out at it in the back yard, points and smiles, like mommy can we go play? We have spent every nice day thus far outside swining and sliding down the slide. Brendan even taught him to slide down on his own last weekend when I was gone.

This was a great option for us, knowing Drew loves to swing, but we have no trees that we could hang a swing from, my mom found this and so far, he loves it and it has entertained him for hours. He can go down that slide hundreds of times and not get bored, he swings and just giggles, and he loves to push the swing too. Now we just have to master climbing up with the slide.

I don't know if your child is like mine, but he loves buttons, any kind of buttons. He would always, with no fail turn off the cable box in the living room, tv on or not. Brendan went out and found a solution to this problem, a cable box screen. I knew there had to be something out there like this!

Now, our shows still get recorded and Drew still has plenty of buttons on other toys to play with. He's now on to the remotes.

Lastly, I'm going to tell you about our convertible car seat. I love this car seat and I'm sure there are other great ones out there, but my undying love for this one is what you're going to read about. Drew hated the car from day 1. I mean would scream, the entire time. We even bought a DVD player for the car so he could watch Baby Enstein videos. Those helped a bit, but he basically hated his car seat. When Drew was 6 months old and weighed 20lbs, we decided it was time to look into a convertible car seat. I did my research and found one that met the highest standards of safety ratings and the best part, it sold for $150. This car seat scored as well or better than your high end car seats. So we were sold. We went, we purchased, Drew has been a new car rider since. I think it has to do with sitting more upright or something because man oh man, this child is now pretty darn content in that car seat.

This is the Evenflo Triumph LX and this is exact pattern that we purchased and we couldn't be happier. It's very simple to adjust the straps and install the seat itself. It's equipped the latch system and even comes with a nifty little cup holder. I was personally sold on this seat inparticular with the safety ratings and then the price!

I hope these product recommendations can help someone someone looking for something to make their life a bit easier or entertain their toddler. I hope everyone has a great weekend!

Let's talk sleep

2011-04-13T19:30:00.000-05:00

I've talked about how Drew is not a great sleeper and how we were trying to win the sleep war in our house. Well, I have good news to report, Drew is now consistently sleeping through the night with no wakings to eat. After posting about sleep last time, and thinking we may never sleep at one point, Brendan and I read Healthy Sleep Habits Happy Child by Dr. Marc Weissbluth.

I got the suggestion to read this book from a fellow blogging mama and let me tell you, Bear's mom, I owe you one! Both Brendan and I loved the book and how it approached sleep. We then used some what Dr. Weissbluth says and our own plan of decreasing the amount of ounces Drew was eating at one time gradually, and making sure he was actually hungry. Drew cut out his second feeding all by himself. After getting rid of the feeding completely, for 3 nights if Drew woke up and was really awake I would go in a rock to comfort him back to sleep, after those 3 nights, if he woke, then it was rubbing his tummy and giving him his paci back while he was in his crib. As you can see Brendan and I had a very hard time with letting Drew cry for long periods of time and this seemed to fit our family very well. Drew did in fact cry a few times, but it was minimal and when I say minimal I mean under 5 minutes at the very most. The one thing I wish I would have done sooner was read the book and approach Drew's sleep patterns and habits differently. What I didn't realize is that we were creating bad habits for Drew and since stopping those habits, he has been sleeping more soundly, napping better during the day and waking a happy baby. I know this won't be my last post on sleep, because inevitably this post with jinx myself and this pattern will cease. I do know we will have bad nights here and there, he's a child and who doesn't for cripes sakes?!? I do hope that we have established a new pattern and habit with Drew, a good one at that! One that we are all feeling more rested and happier with!

My irrational fear

2011-04-12T10:29:00.000-05:00

I have a lingering irrational fear that creeps up and haunts me daily. It's a fear that I have absolutely no control over, can do nothing to prevent from happening, yet this fear will be triggered by a simple movement in a split second. I fear that my son Drew is going to develop and I'm not sure if develop is the right word, migraine headaches. You may be thinking, eh, no biggie take some Tylenol and he'll be fine, but it's just not that simple.

I was diagnosed with migraine headaches at the age of 5. After visiting multiple doctors and having a slew of tests my team of doctors came to the conclusion that I indeed suffered from migraine headaches. My mom first noticed that they started when I was about 2 years old. I had, had a skull fracture 6 months prior from falling down 3 stairs in my walker. The skull fracture healed but after than fact I would start screaming at the top of my lungs in my crib in the middle of night after being a relatively good sleeper. My parents would try to comfort me to no avail. I would go so far as to banging my head on my crib, after many attempts to comfort me, give me Tylenol, etc. I would vomit and pass out from exhaustion. My parents would talk to my pediatrician and they would brush it off as teething or acting out. Remember this was 1984 and migraines were not regularly diagnosed, especially not in children.

At the age of 4 we went to a neurologist and he took a family history and we discovered that indeed migraines run in our family. To this day, my doctors still can not definitively say if my skull fracture triggered my migraines to start, started them completely or it was a coincidence completely. I've been to so many doctors, fought hard to be given any medicine at all at such a young age, been admitted countless times to the hospital and even have been in a medical study about PFO's( a hole in your heart) in regards to migraine sufferers and nothing. I do have to say that my migraines are manageable, this is due to a few things, I can take a daily medication that has worked wonders to help the number of migraines I have and I can take a pain medication that helps keep the pain manageable. Now, I still get the occasional migraine where I'm in a dark room and need to be left alone for hours on end, I'm vomiting everything that goes in, and there in so end in sight, but those are few and far between. My migraines today as an adult are much different from those I had as a child.

My fear for Drew is the endless years of pain I don't want him to have to suffer, although modern medicine has comes leaps and bounds since I was a child, children still can't be treated like I am in regards to pain, and the memories of the intense pain for hours on end haunts me to no end. The fear that I may not be able to prevent this from happening to my child is like a demon that won't leave.

Drew has showed absolutely no signs of having migraines, hence why I'm calling this an irrational fear, but he does do this one thing with his hands that I'm sure every child does, but it literally stops me in my tracks.

With my migraines, I get what's called an aura, it's a visual disruption and I would describe it best to those who have never had it, it's similar to what you see after to take a picture with flash or look up at the sun. That happens for about an hour each time I get a migraine. When I was little I would move my hands in a circle to see if I could see my entire visual field to see if my aura was gone and my headache was coming. The aura precedes the headache in my case. Drew does the exact same thing with his hands and every time my heart stops, literally stops. I know that if someday we find out that he does have migraines, he will be fine, there are so many worse things out there. Just knowing that it was me that handed this down to him, kills me. As a child I spent so many days crying because my entire body hurt, because I couldn't see, I couldn't move, I hurt all over and I don't want him to go through that. I wish there was something I could do to prevent him from getting migraines, but I've come to the realization that prayer is my only option and God knows my needs and will indeed deliver.

Fun outdoors

2011-04-07T13:45:00.002-05:00

This past weekend it was absolutely gorgeous outside! We took advantage of the beautiful weather and introduced Drew to grass and played on his new little swing set Pobo and Nanny got him for his birthday. Pobo and Nanny are my mom and stepdad. Drew seemed to love the swing and climbing up the slide. He actually loves climbing up anything these days, I think we have a little monkey on our hands!

What's up?!?

We also took the cool dude for a spin around the block in his cozy coupe.

- Posted using BlogPress from my iPhone

Finished kitchen island

2011-04-04T19:44:00.000-05:00

When Brendan and I purchased our home in January 2010 we knew it needed some TLC. The house was built in 2001 and although we loved it, we did not like the kitchen/living room area. However, we saw the potential. The day we closed we left the bank, and headed over to the house and immediately started demo on the house. We ripped up the nasty, and stained carpet, and the next day I came to the house after I had gotten everyone lunch, remember, I was 32 weeks pregnant at this point, so from a work standpoint, I was pretty useless. I came home to my 85 year old grandpa taking out our kitchen wall.

The box of a kitchen

Kitchen to living room

Entry hall

See, lots of TLC needed!

The kitchen before from the MLS listing

Then the demo.

Grandpa had way too much fun with that crow bar! We ripped up the floor and planned on putting in dark wood floor. After two weeks of non-stop work by my wonderful husband, and amazing family, we had the first reno phase complete. (These pictures are not great by any means. The light in this room is so funky and I'm a horrible photographer and took these with my phone, but you get the idea)

We now have a larger area rug in this room and a storage piece under the TV, so it looks a bit different.

The last two pictures were taken in March 2010, pre Drew. As you can see the kitchen is too open and we knew this would be the case going in. We wanted to build a kitchen island. We got a start on the project in March of 2010 with buying all the materials, and Brendan got to work. Then Drew was born and life as we knew it came to a standstill. We were so overwhelmed as new parents that we couldn't even think about working on house projects. So the island sat in our basement for about 8 months. Then we decided it was time to get it done, and we did. Brendan wanted to make the counter tops out of concrete and they turned out fabulously! Brendan used to build homes in his previous life so he has some idea of building, but had never made concrete counter tops before.

Three weeks before Drew's first birthday party, that was our deadline, Brendan and our neighbor moved the island that was oh so heavy and each of the counter tops up to the kitchen. The small counter top weighs 250lbs. and the large one 300lbs. Brendan then put the finishing touches on it up in the kitchen and we put all new hardware on all the cabinets. We also put in a dark brown granite sink to replace the gnarly stained white one that came with the house, along with a new faucet. The kitchen is now mostly done, we are now just going to do a tile back splash and purchase stainless steel appliances. See what you think.

Don't mind my crock pot, we had french dips tonight for dinner.

We ended up not staining the concrete, we ended up liking how they turned out with just the sealer and when polished.

So there is the transformation of our box of a kitchen, to our great room and kitchen island, that only took oooohhh, about a year or more, but I'm very happy with how it looks now!

I believe in miracles Part II

2011-04-01T13:27:00.000-05:00

About a month ago I posted about my sister being pregnant with identical twins after already having 3 kids, and thinking they were done. She and her husband also struggled with infertility while trying to conceive each of their children. You can read my original post HERE.

This past week, they were very blessed to find out that they are expecting identical twin boys in August. They will then have 4 boys and 1 girl. Noah 7, Estella 5, Henry 2, and then the twinkies. Although Stella didn't get the sisters she wanted, she was overjoyed just at the thought of two new babies. She's at that stage of loving babies and playing what she calls "family". I usually end being the baby, she's the mommy, and poor Brendan gets stuck being the dog...

Either way, boys or girls we were all very happy for my sister and her husband to find out that the boys are measuring right on track, had strong heartbeats and were both sucking their thumbs. I truly do believe in miracles, two of them!

Have a great weekend!

Drew's birthday party

2011-03-30T14:22:00.000-05:00

This past Saturday we hosted Drew's first birthday party at our house. We ended up having 25 people total, all family. We both have large families so we had to keep it just to family since it wasn't nice enough to be outside, and our house is not large enough to accommodate many more than 25 people in our great room.

We went with a primary color theme per say. I use the term theme lightly because I just basically wanted it bright colors and good cake. Cake is the key! We started the party at 3pm so that Drew could get a good nap in before hand and the birthday prince did. He woke up about 2pm, had a snack, got dressed in his birthday outfit and was ready to go.

Drew wore his shirt from Little One Boutique, and his jeans. Guests were greeted at our front door with a sign I made with the help of my momma, and some colorful balloons to get them into the mood for a party!

As they entered our house it was Drew central, I might have gone a wee bit overboard with pictures of him, but it was his birthday!

After entering the house we welcomed them to party central, aka the great room.

We made a big top tent look out of the Martha Stewart Poms. I originally was going to just hang them from the lights, etc. Brendan came up with the idea to string them from the ceiling. I think it turned out pretty well.

We attached each of the poms to twine with floral wire, after we had hung the twine to our ceiling. Brendan hung the twine with a few nails and it stayed the way you see it until yesterday when a mommy friend wanted the poms for her sons party, so I boxed them up and shipped them off!

On to some other decor...

All the plates, napkins, and the personalized Happy Birthday Drew sign you can see at the back above our sliding glass doors I ordered from Party city. Everything else I purchased locally.

I took a onesie from each size that we had and attached each of the monthly stickers we take his pictures in. I attached them all to ribbon using clothes pins and my mom made the 1's you see at the ends. I then displayed Drew's professional pictures taken by Amy Doerring on the fireplace mantel. Amy also made a slide show of all his picture, ours and hers from this past year and put it to music. We had it playing during the party.

The guests munched on a subway sub, a couple of salads, fruits, veggies, and then cupcakes!! Can't forget the cupcakes!

My mom mad the 1's you see in the cupcakes. She is sooo much more crafty than I could ever be!

We also had 6 little kiddos there so I made them some snacks, I had fruits snacks, goldfish, teddy grahams, and yogurt bites. I saw this idea on All Things D&G's blog at her daughter's party and thought it was a genius idea! It was a hit at our party as well!

Then it was time for presents. Drew's cousins were great to help him open all his gifts. He wasn't too interested, but he did like all the new toys!

My father in law made this donkey for him.

Then it was time for the birthday boy to eat his cake!

He was into his cake until his hands got covered with frosting, then not so much, it was back to the toys!

After guests were finished eating and drinking and decided to go we gave them monogrammed cookies as their favors.

All in all it was a great party! Drew had a great time, we had a great time and I still can't believe we now have a toddler! Drew also loves his Cozy Coupe car that Brendan and I got him. The next morning I snapped this picture, I just sends me about 16 years down the road when he's leaving the driveway to go scoop the loop!

Mom, can I have some money for gas?

Happy Birthday Drew

2011-03-27T16:12:00.003-05:00

One year ago today we welcomed the most precious little boy into our lives. That day changed my life forever, and I thank God each and every day for how truly blessed we are.

Happy 1st Birthday Drew!! We love you more than words can ever describe!

You have brought more joy and love to our lives than we ever imagined possible. You are the light of our lives, your smile makes our hearts melt. Your laugh warms our souls and your hugs make us love being your parents. We love you so very much little man!! On your birthday let us stop to thank the heavenly lord above for creating you for us, and wishing you many, many more happy birthdays!

Hugs and kisses,
Daddy & Mommy

- Posted using BlogPress from my iPhone

What a difference a year makes

2011-03-24T11:32:00.001-05:00

One year ago today I was headed in to be induced to deliver the most beautiful and precious baby boy. Little did we know it would take 40 hours, lots pitocin and c-section later, but he was well worth the wait. Today we are very blessed to have a healthy little boy and everyday I think to myself, how this year has flown by, and God has truly blessed us.

It still amazes me how this little peanut

Turned into this big boy

We are readily anticipating Drew's 1st birthday on Sunday, and his party on Saturday! We shall see if he likes his cupcake!

Guilt free Graham Cracker dessert

2011-03-22T09:37:00.002-05:00

A co-worker or mine was chatting with me one day about this great dessert her family loves and she then dropped those infamous little words.... Guilt Free! My ears immediately perked up and said, excuse me, what?!? We all know I love a good dessert. Who am I kidding, I love any dessert and now one with no guilt involved, sign me up! It's a Graham Cracker and pudding dessert and it's fabulous. My critic Brendan gave it two thumbs up, and my belly, well it aching for more.

So here's what you will need:
3 packages sugar free, fat free chocolate pudding

1 tub cool whip

1 box Graham crackers

8x8 pan

To start mix two packages of the pudding with 3 and half cups milk. I used skim milk, but you can use whatever you have in your house. Then fold in the Cool Whip to this mixture and mix well. Set aside.

In the 8x8 pan layer Graham crackers.

On top of the Graham grackers spread pudding and cool whip mixture. Again put another layer of Graham crackers and then another layer of pudding mixture. Repeat until you reach the top of the 8x8 pan and end with a layer of Graham crackers. Set pan aside.

In separate bowl combine 3rd pudding package with 1.5 cups of milk and spread over top of top layer of Graham crackers. This serves as your frosting.

Mine looks a little messy because I have no artistic ability and I added 1 cup of milk instead of 1.5 cups of milk, and it didn't spread all that well.... Oops! It still tasted fab! I then refrigerated the dessert for a few hours, you don't have to. We then gobbled it up! Enjoy, guilt free!

- Posted using BlogPress from my iPhone

Location:S 5th Ave W,Newton,United States

Drew is 11 months old

2011-03-17T21:25:00.002-05:00

Drew hit 11 months two weeks ago. Oy vey, where did my baby go?!? I do have to say that I am loving this stage of his development. He reacts to our emotions in trying to make him laugh, his belly laughs are the best. Drew is still a cuddle bug and now gives hugs, ahhh melt my heart.

On the movement front, Drew is now full on walking as his preferred mode of transportation. He's walking fast too, I see running in a few months, which is scary to think about.

This month Drew has been really into his trucks and making loud noises when he moves the trucks. He still takes his lovey Mr. Cow with him every where, we even purchased a second cow in case Mr. Cow #1 bites the dust.

This month Drew decided baby food was for the birds and is loving feeding himself finger foods. Some of his favs are string cheese, toast, pears and pasta. This child is a pasta hound! I've had to get a bit creative and mix some veggie purees in the pasta sauce, so he gets some veggies. He doesn't even notice!

Other than that this month has been pretty mellow and fun! His birthday is fast approaching. Getting his 11 month picture was a bit of a task. He would sit for 1 second and then he was off. This boy is always on the move now! 11 months has truly been one of bliss for me as a mom. I can't imagine it gets better, but I know it does.

Have a great weekend!

- Posted using BlogPress from my iPhone

Drew's birthday invite

2011-03-15T11:38:00.000-05:00

We are getting ready to have Drew's first birthday party. We will be celebrating with our families and when we went to take his first year photos with Amy Doerring, she suggested doing a birthday invite. Well, sure, why not, I didn't have one in mind! Drew wore his shirt from the Etsy seller Little One Boutique. The shirt is adorable and matches perfectly to the colors we are using for his party. Remember, we don't have a "theme" per say, we're just using primary colors.

On to the invite, they are two sided, the front is Drew's picture and the back has all the party info.

Simple, classic, just like I wanted it!

The back:

I personally LOVE how they turned out, but I'm bias because he's my son and I think he's a handsome little devil! I seriously can not believe I'm planning his first birthday party, or that this post is about his first birthday invites. I know everyone tells you time flies when you have a baby, but geesh, I didn't really believe them! Now I've eaten my words! Time really has flown and my baby is growing up!

You had me at Hello!

2011-03-11T15:17:00.000-06:00

Lately, I've been really into getting out my spring decor, and packing away my winter reds and browns. Hello green, and white. I try and make our home light and airy during the spring and summer months. So during this transition time my usual Pottery Barn and West Elm magazines land on my doorstep and as I was grazing the pages of West Elm this morning, I started to drool at their bedding. We have the West Elm Pin Tuck bedding in the slate color, but apparently I got this bedding a few years too early because the other colors are too die for!

(West Elm pin tuck bedding)

West Elm, I'm loving but hating you today! I want it all! Take a look at a few other options from West Elm, how great would these bed to create a light and airy feel in a master bedroom.

(Solarized Duvet cover)

(Macro Embroidered Duvet)

(Ruffled Circle Quilt)

I'll take one of each please!! I love West Elm because their price point is lower than that of above mentioned competition, yet their quality is very high. I've had nothing but great luck at West Elm and will continue to shop there. Now if only I was filthy rich with a 10 bedroom house and needed all of these bedding options! A girl can always dream! Check out West Elm, I think you'll be pleasantly surprised!

Have a great weekend!

Trying to win the sleep war

2011-03-08T10:22:00.000-06:00

I know I have posted about sleep issues on my blog before, but here we are again, still battling sleep issues with Drew. Well, just one main issue, he doesn't like to sleep, my child in fact hates to sleep longer than 5 hours at a time. If you've ever battled sleep issues in your house you know what a bear they can be, and having other parents comment about how well their children sleep is a knife in your heart. Although, it's completely not their fault, please don't ask me how Drew is sleeping and when I say not well, do not answer with " well you probably don't want to hear that little Jonny slept through the night at 6 weeks." Yeah, nope didn't want to hear that. Sleep issues are not fun and I'm sure those parents that don't have them are battling other issues of their own with their child, so that's neither here nor there. Anyway, I digress, my point is Drew is not a good sleeper, he was still getting up twice a night and a few months back we had decided to try to combat these issues, and we were but then he got sick, was teething and everything came to a screeching halt. Then we got lazy and it just became routine for us each to get up once a night. Brendan would get up first, I would get up second and we alternate who got up with him in the morning. It actually would work pretty well, but we were tired. Drew even went for a stretch of sleeping through the night. I thought our sleep issues may have magically gone away....I was being naive people! That lasted all of maybe 2 weeks! It was glorious when it did last.

Drew has been regularly getting up twice a night and eating 6oz. of formula at each feeding. Our routine would be to change him, feed him and back to bed. Each feeding takes about 20 minutes. Not a big deal right, except he's 11 months old and he was waking up at the SAME EXACT TIME EACH NIGHT. A light bulb finally went off in my head saying, hello Abby, he's doing it out of habit, not hunger, DUH you moron! So Brendan and I chatted and we devised our own sleep training method that I'm sure lots of other parents have used. Combat one feeding at a time. We decided to gradually decrease the amount of ounces during the first feeding. Decreasing 1oz every 3 nights. We feed when he initially wakes up, then if he woke up with in 3 hours of the initial feeding he would have to cry himself back to sleep, an adaptation on the Ferber method of sleep training. If he went longer than 5 hours of sleep, then we would feed him the second feeding. After we eliminate the first feeding, we combat the second feeding. Our hope is that we could gradually wean him and there would be minimal crying periods.

How's it been going you ask? So glad you did, we've been gradually decreasing Drew on his first feeding and it's going very well. Drew goes to bed between 7-7:30pm each night. He takes 6oz. of formula then and he goes to sleep awake but drowsy. We've done this for sometime and it's worked well for us. As for the first feeding we are currently down to 3oz of formula, tonight is going to be our 8th night and Drew has cut his second feeding out all by himself. He still wakes up for his first feeding around midnight, we change him, feed him, and rock for a few minutes, he's usually still awake and then back to bed. He's minimally fussed a few nights but it's been maybe 30 seconds and then back to sleep. As for the second feeding, this has been absolutely a Godsend. Two nights ago has been the only night Drew has woken up within 3 hours of his first feeding, I let him fuss for a couple of minutes to make sure he was awake, I went in gave him his paci and his Mr. Cow, his lovey he sleeps with and he fussed for 10 more minutes and went back to sleep. Last night again the same thing, woke up within 3 hours of his initial feeding, fussed for 30 seconds and went back to sleep. Drew then has been sleeping until 6:30am when he wakes up for the day and wants his morning bottle.

I have no idea what tonight holds, this could very well blow up in our face, who knows. I post this because at one point I had no idea what to do, I wasn't sold on the Ferber method of sleep training, I couldn't listen to my child cry for that long, although it's had amazing results for many, many families, it just wasn't right for us at the time. What we are doing very well may not work in the end for us either, but I post this because if it can help another stressed out mom who's child is having sleep issues to know, she's not alone, then this post was a success. I will report back about how everything ends up. I'm sure every night is not going to be perfect in our house, he's a baby and although we can have the best laid plans, they never seem to work out as we plan. My hope is, that this does give Drew a better nighttime schedule because everything I've ever read says kids who sleep through the night wake up more rested and better equipped to face the day. Who wouldn't want that for their child. So here's to hoping our little plan works, all I can do is say a prayer, and stick with it and have a little faith!

Easy peasy Itailian Beef sandwiches

2011-03-07T15:54:00.000-06:00

This is a household favorite at Casa de B&A. Seriously, if you're a busy mom on the go, or just busy in general, this recipe is easy peasy 123, and delicious beyond belief, or so we think so. I found this recipe on Food.com, and we've had it a favorite of ours ever since!

Here's what you will need:

4lbs. bottom round beef roast

8oz. Balsamic vinaigrette or 8oz. olive oil and vinegar dressing

1 package or dry onion soup mix

Italian seasoning

Place everything in the crock pot and cook on low for 8 hours. You can find the exact recipe HERE. I altered the recipe just slightly because I like the let the meat cook a bit longer to let the juices set in. Brendan loves it and we are actually having it tonight. Currently, my house smells delicious! I serve the meat on wheat hoagie buns and we like our sandwiches topped with mustard and dipped in the Au jus. I'm making baked potatoes and sauteed fresh green beans to top off the Italian beef tonight.

Enjoy your evening, give this recipe a go, it's simple, it's easy and if I can cook it, so can you!