tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-30389774200707954402024-02-07T17:43:37.276-08:00. This Really Happens To MeAshleyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03340957236053781612noreply@blogger.comBlogger43125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3038977420070795440.post-20625272141496676612013-10-27T12:34:00.001-07:002013-10-27T12:34:02.324-07:00The Best (Mock) Steak SoupA friend made this mock steak soup recipe for me and ever since then I just can't get enough of it. It's one that we almost always have all of the ingredients on hand (and I mean, actually we have almost all of the ingredients, not like all those other blogs claim 'you have all of these ingredients on hand' and then they call for things like coconut oil, quinoa, and the blood of a virgin...yeah). <br />
<br />
It's so very easy to double and triple (for your especially large crowds). It's also so very easy to substitute other things in place of what the actual recipe calls for. Please enjoy this recipe. I have to give props to my friend Lisa (mom of 6, all of whom love this soup). <br />
<br />
<img height="419" id="irc_mi" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhldvL3VWySL3ADWfnKRloJSq6mxcOhX3slx8HBUWBaaxT1a3aBfg3Sqlx_GbAriXuM-WYVl-FQnxalhHu4sBYkgqWaYcwPRGmSqtcSAIcTlFRXtSEdC9vF1v40l4hcamgc_3qhkhrkPj64/s1600/veg+beef+soup.JPG" style="margin-top: 0px;" width="561" /><br />
<br />
<span data-ft="{"tn":"K"}" data-reactid=".r[5uhlu].[1][4][1]{comment458386930879125_458388897545595}.[0].{right}.[0].{left}.[0].[0].[0][3]"><span data-reactid=".r[5uhlu].[1][4][1]{comment458386930879125_458388897545595}.[0].{right}.[0].{left}.[0].[0].[0][3].[0]"><span data-reactid=".r[5uhlu].[1][4][1]{comment458386930879125_458388897545595}.[0].{right}.[0].{left}.[0].[0].[0][3].[0].[0]">
<u>Soup Ingredients</u> </span></span></span><br />
<span data-ft="{"tn":"K"}" data-reactid=".r[5uhlu].[1][4][1]{comment458386930879125_458388897545595}.[0].{right}.[0].{left}.[0].[0].[0][3]"><span data-reactid=".r[5uhlu].[1][4][1]{comment458386930879125_458388897545595}.[0].{right}.[0].{left}.[0].[0].[0][3].[0]"><span data-reactid=".r[5uhlu].[1][4][1]{comment458386930879125_458388897545595}.[0].{right}.[0].{left}.[0].[0].[0][3].[0].[0]">2 cups water</span></span></span><br />
<span data-ft="{"tn":"K"}" data-reactid=".r[5uhlu].[1][4][1]{comment458386930879125_458388897545595}.[0].{right}.[0].{left}.[0].[0].[0][3]"><span data-reactid=".r[5uhlu].[1][4][1]{comment458386930879125_458388897545595}.[0].{right}.[0].{left}.[0].[0].[0][3].[0]"><span data-reactid=".r[5uhlu].[1][4][1]{comment458386930879125_458388897545595}.[0].{right}.[0].{left}.[0].[0].[0][3].[0].[0]">1 medium chopped onion</span></span></span><br />
<span data-ft="{"tn":"K"}" data-reactid=".r[5uhlu].[1][4][1]{comment458386930879125_458388897545595}.[0].{right}.[0].{left}.[0].[0].[0][3]"><span data-reactid=".r[5uhlu].[1][4][1]{comment458386930879125_458388897545595}.[0].{right}.[0].{left}.[0].[0].[0][3].[0]"><span data-reactid=".r[5uhlu].[1][4][1]{comment458386930879125_458388897545595}.[0].{right}.[0].{left}.[0].[0].[0][3].[0].[0]">2 stalked chopped celery</span></span></span><br />
<span data-ft="{"tn":"K"}" data-reactid=".r[5uhlu].[1][4][1]{comment458386930879125_458388897545595}.[0].{right}.[0].{left}.[0].[0].[0][3]"><span data-reactid=".r[5uhlu].[1][4][1]{comment458386930879125_458388897545595}.[0].{right}.[0].{left}.[0].[0].[0][3].[0]"><span data-reactid=".r[5uhlu].[1][4][1]{comment458386930879125_458388897545595}.[0].{right}.[0].{left}.[0].[0].[0][3].[0].[0]">1/2 cup
chopped carrots</span></span></span><br />
<span data-ft="{"tn":"K"}" data-reactid=".r[5uhlu].[1][4][1]{comment458386930879125_458388897545595}.[0].{right}.[0].{left}.[0].[0].[0][3]"><span data-reactid=".r[5uhlu].[1][4][1]{comment458386930879125_458388897545595}.[0].{right}.[0].{left}.[0].[0].[0][3].[0]"><span data-reactid=".r[5uhlu].[1][4][1]{comment458386930879125_458388897545595}.[0].{right}.[0].{left}.[0].[0].[0][3].[0].[0]">1 lb. can diced tomatoes</span></span></span><br />
<span data-ft="{"tn":"K"}" data-reactid=".r[5uhlu].[1][4][1]{comment458386930879125_458388897545595}.[0].{right}.[0].{left}.[0].[0].[0][3]"><span data-reactid=".r[5uhlu].[1][4][1]{comment458386930879125_458388897545595}.[0].{right}.[0].{left}.[0].[0].[0][3].[0]"><span data-reactid=".r[5uhlu].[1][4][1]{comment458386930879125_458388897545595}.[0].{right}.[0].{left}.[0].[0].[0][3].[0].[0]">1 teaspoon pepper</span></span></span><br />
<span data-ft="{"tn":"K"}" data-reactid=".r[5uhlu].[1][4][1]{comment458386930879125_458388897545595}.[0].{right}.[0].{left}.[0].[0].[0][3]"><span data-reactid=".r[5uhlu].[1][4][1]{comment458386930879125_458388897545595}.[0].{right}.[0].{left}.[0].[0].[0][3].[0]"><span data-reactid=".r[5uhlu].[1][4][1]{comment458386930879125_458388897545595}.[0].{right}.[0].{left}.[0].[0].[0][3].[0].[0]">1 tsp
salt</span></span></span><br />
<span data-ft="{"tn":"K"}" data-reactid=".r[5uhlu].[1][4][1]{comment458386930879125_458388897545595}.[0].{right}.[0].{left}.[0].[0].[0][3]"><span data-reactid=".r[5uhlu].[1][4][1]{comment458386930879125_458388897545595}.[0].{right}.[0].{left}.[0].[0].[0][3].[0]"><span data-reactid=".r[5uhlu].[1][4][1]{comment458386930879125_458388897545595}.[0].{right}.[0].{left}.[0].[0].[0][3].[0].[0]">10 oz package frozen veggies </span></span></span><br />
<span data-ft="{"tn":"K"}" data-reactid=".r[5uhlu].[1][4][1]{comment458386930879125_458388897545595}.[0].{right}.[0].{left}.[0].[0].[0][3]"><span data-reactid=".r[5uhlu].[1][4][1]{comment458386930879125_458388897545595}.[0].{right}.[0].{left}.[0].[0].[0][3].[0]"><span data-reactid=".r[5uhlu].[1][4][1]{comment458386930879125_458388897545595}.[0].{right}.[0].{left}.[0].[0].[0][3].[0].[0]">1 lb ground chuck, browned</span></span></span><br />
<span data-ft="{"tn":"K"}" data-reactid=".r[5uhlu].[1][4][1]{comment458386930879125_458388897545595}.[0].{right}.[0].{left}.[0].[0].[0][3]"><span data-reactid=".r[5uhlu].[1][4][1]{comment458386930879125_458388897545595}.[0].{right}.[0].{left}.[0].[0].[0][3].[0]"><span data-reactid=".r[5uhlu].[1][4][1]{comment458386930879125_458388897545595}.[0].{right}.[0].{left}.[0].[0].[0][3].[0].[0]">4
tablespoons beef base granules or 2 of the bouillon cubes</span></span></span><br />
<span data-ft="{"tn":"K"}" data-reactid=".r[5uhlu].[1][4][1]{comment458386930879125_458388897545595}.[0].{right}.[0].{left}.[0].[0].[0][3]"><span data-reactid=".r[5uhlu].[1][4][1]{comment458386930879125_458388897545595}.[0].{right}.[0].{left}.[0].[0].[0][3].[0]"><span data-reactid=".r[5uhlu].[1][4][1]{comment458386930879125_458388897545595}.[0].{right}.[0].{left}.[0].[0].[0][3].[0].[0]"><br /></span></span></span>
<u><span data-ft="{"tn":"K"}" data-reactid=".r[5uhlu].[1][4][1]{comment458386930879125_458388897545595}.[0].{right}.[0].{left}.[0].[0].[0][3]"><span data-reactid=".r[5uhlu].[1][4][1]{comment458386930879125_458388897545595}.[0].{right}.[0].{left}.[0].[0].[0][3].[0]"><span data-reactid=".r[5uhlu].[1][4][1]{comment458386930879125_458388897545595}.[0].{right}.[0].{left}.[0].[0].[0][3].[0].[0]">Sauce Ingredients</span></span></span></u><br />
<span data-ft="{"tn":"K"}" data-reactid=".r[5uhlu].[1][4][1]{comment458386930879125_458388897545595}.[0].{right}.[0].{left}.[0].[0].[0][3]"><span data-reactid=".r[5uhlu].[1][4][1]{comment458386930879125_458388897545595}.[0].{right}.[0].{left}.[0].[0].[0][3].[0]"><span data-reactid=".r[5uhlu].[1][4][1]{comment458386930879125_458388897545595}.[0].{right}.[0].{left}.[0].[0].[0][3].[0].[0]">1 stick melted butter, plus 1/2 c flour. </span></span></span><br />
<br />
<span data-ft="{"tn":"K"}" data-reactid=".r[5uhlu].[1][4][1]{comment458386930879125_458388897545595}.[0].{right}.[0].{left}.[0].[0].[0][3]"><span data-reactid=".r[5uhlu].[1][4][1]{comment458386930879125_458388897545595}.[0].{right}.[0].{left}.[0].[0].[0][3].[0]"><span data-reactid=".r[5uhlu].[1][4][1]{comment458386930879125_458388897545595}.[0].{right}.[0].{left}.[0].[0].[0][3].[0].[0]"><u>Directions</u> </span></span></span><br />
<span data-ft="{"tn":"K"}" data-reactid=".r[5uhlu].[1][4][1]{comment458386930879125_458388897545595}.[0].{right}.[0].{left}.[0].[0].[0][3]"><span data-reactid=".r[5uhlu].[1][4][1]{comment458386930879125_458388897545595}.[0].{right}.[0].{left}.[0].[0].[0][3].[0]"><span data-reactid=".r[5uhlu].[1][4][1]{comment458386930879125_458388897545595}.[0].{right}.[0].{left}.[0].[0].[0][3].[0].[0]">Cook soup ingredients on low in crock pot for 8
hours. Then make the "sauce" and stir into
soup to thicken. Cook another 30 min-1 hour on high.</span></span></span><br />
<br />
<span data-ft="{"tn":"K"}" data-reactid=".r[5uhlu].[1][4][1]{comment458386930879125_458388897545595}.[0].{right}.[0].{left}.[0].[0].[0][3]"><span data-reactid=".r[5uhlu].[1][4][1]{comment458386930879125_458388897545595}.[0].{right}.[0].{left}.[0].[0].[0][3].[0]"><span data-reactid=".r[5uhlu].[1][4][1]{comment458386930879125_458388897545595}.[0].{right}.[0].{left}.[0].[0].[0][3].[0].[0]"><u>Suggestions for substitutions</u> </span></span></span><br />
<br />
<span data-ft="{"tn":"K"}" data-reactid=".r[5uhlu].[1][4][1]{comment458386930879125_458388897545595}.[0].{right}.[0].{left}.[0].[0].[0][3]"><span data-reactid=".r[5uhlu].[1][4][1]{comment458386930879125_458388897545595}.[0].{right}.[0].{left}.[0].[0].[0][3].[0]"><span data-reactid=".r[5uhlu].[1][4][1]{comment458386930879125_458388897545595}.[0].{right}.[0].{left}.[0].[0].[0][3].[0].[0]">2 cups water (part broth?) </span></span></span><br />
<span data-ft="{"tn":"K"}" data-reactid=".r[5uhlu].[1][4][1]{comment458386930879125_458388897545595}.[0].{right}.[0].{left}.[0].[0].[0][3]"><span data-reactid=".r[5uhlu].[1][4][1]{comment458386930879125_458388897545595}.[0].{right}.[0].{left}.[0].[0].[0][3].[0]"><span data-reactid=".r[5uhlu].[1][4][1]{comment458386930879125_458388897545595}.[0].{right}.[0].{left}.[0].[0].[0][3].[0].[0]">1 medium chopped onion (frozen onion?) </span></span></span><br />
<span data-ft="{"tn":"K"}" data-reactid=".r[5uhlu].[1][4][1]{comment458386930879125_458388897545595}.[0].{right}.[0].{left}.[0].[0].[0][3]"><span data-reactid=".r[5uhlu].[1][4][1]{comment458386930879125_458388897545595}.[0].{right}.[0].{left}.[0].[0].[0][3].[0]"><span data-reactid=".r[5uhlu].[1][4][1]{comment458386930879125_458388897545595}.[0].{right}.[0].{left}.[0].[0].[0][3].[0].[0]">2 stalked chopped celery</span></span></span><br />
<span data-ft="{"tn":"K"}" data-reactid=".r[5uhlu].[1][4][1]{comment458386930879125_458388897545595}.[0].{right}.[0].{left}.[0].[0].[0][3]"><span data-reactid=".r[5uhlu].[1][4][1]{comment458386930879125_458388897545595}.[0].{right}.[0].{left}.[0].[0].[0][3].[0]"><span data-reactid=".r[5uhlu].[1][4][1]{comment458386930879125_458388897545595}.[0].{right}.[0].{left}.[0].[0].[0][3].[0].[0]">1/2 cup
chopped carrots</span></span></span><br />
<span data-ft="{"tn":"K"}" data-reactid=".r[5uhlu].[1][4][1]{comment458386930879125_458388897545595}.[0].{right}.[0].{left}.[0].[0].[0][3]"><span data-reactid=".r[5uhlu].[1][4][1]{comment458386930879125_458388897545595}.[0].{right}.[0].{left}.[0].[0].[0][3].[0]"><span data-reactid=".r[5uhlu].[1][4][1]{comment458386930879125_458388897545595}.[0].{right}.[0].{left}.[0].[0].[0][3].[0].[0]">1 lb. can diced tomatoes (rotel? stewed tomatoes?)</span></span></span><br />
<span data-ft="{"tn":"K"}" data-reactid=".r[5uhlu].[1][4][1]{comment458386930879125_458388897545595}.[0].{right}.[0].{left}.[0].[0].[0][3]"><span data-reactid=".r[5uhlu].[1][4][1]{comment458386930879125_458388897545595}.[0].{right}.[0].{left}.[0].[0].[0][3].[0]"><span data-reactid=".r[5uhlu].[1][4][1]{comment458386930879125_458388897545595}.[0].{right}.[0].{left}.[0].[0].[0][3].[0].[0]">1 teaspoon pepper</span></span></span><br />
<span data-ft="{"tn":"K"}" data-reactid=".r[5uhlu].[1][4][1]{comment458386930879125_458388897545595}.[0].{right}.[0].{left}.[0].[0].[0][3]"><span data-reactid=".r[5uhlu].[1][4][1]{comment458386930879125_458388897545595}.[0].{right}.[0].{left}.[0].[0].[0][3].[0]"><span data-reactid=".r[5uhlu].[1][4][1]{comment458386930879125_458388897545595}.[0].{right}.[0].{left}.[0].[0].[0][3].[0].[0]">1 tsp
salt (garlic salt? seasoning salt? celery salt?) </span></span></span><br />
<span data-ft="{"tn":"K"}" data-reactid=".r[5uhlu].[1][4][1]{comment458386930879125_458388897545595}.[0].{right}.[0].{left}.[0].[0].[0][3]"><span data-reactid=".r[5uhlu].[1][4][1]{comment458386930879125_458388897545595}.[0].{right}.[0].{left}.[0].[0].[0][3].[0]"><span data-reactid=".r[5uhlu].[1][4][1]{comment458386930879125_458388897545595}.[0].{right}.[0].{left}.[0].[0].[0][3].[0].[0]">10 oz package frozen veggies (I especially like half frozen corn, half frozen green beans)</span></span></span><br />
<span data-ft="{"tn":"K"}" data-reactid=".r[5uhlu].[1][4][1]{comment458386930879125_458388897545595}.[0].{right}.[0].{left}.[0].[0].[0][3]"><span data-reactid=".r[5uhlu].[1][4][1]{comment458386930879125_458388897545595}.[0].{right}.[0].{left}.[0].[0].[0][3].[0]"><span data-reactid=".r[5uhlu].[1][4][1]{comment458386930879125_458388897545595}.[0].{right}.[0].{left}.[0].[0].[0][3].[0].[0]">1 lb ground chuck, browned (ground turkey? our favorite is ground pork!) </span></span></span><br />
<span data-ft="{"tn":"K"}" data-reactid=".r[5uhlu].[1][4][1]{comment458386930879125_458388897545595}.[0].{right}.[0].{left}.[0].[0].[0][3]"><span data-reactid=".r[5uhlu].[1][4][1]{comment458386930879125_458388897545595}.[0].{right}.[0].{left}.[0].[0].[0][3].[0]"><span data-reactid=".r[5uhlu].[1][4][1]{comment458386930879125_458388897545595}.[0].{right}.[0].{left}.[0].[0].[0][3].[0].[0]">4
tablespoons beef base granules or 2 of the bouillon cubes (only have chicken bouillon? give it a shot!) </span></span></span><br />
<span data-ft="{"tn":"K"}" data-reactid=".r[5uhlu].[1][4][1]{comment458386930879125_458388897545595}.[0].{right}.[0].{left}.[0].[0].[0][3]"><span data-reactid=".r[5uhlu].[1][4][1]{comment458386930879125_458388897545595}.[0].{right}.[0].{left}.[0].[0].[0][3].[0]"><span data-reactid=".r[5uhlu].[1][4][1]{comment458386930879125_458388897545595}.[0].{right}.[0].{left}.[0].[0].[0][3].[0].[0]"><br /></span></span></span>
<span data-ft="{"tn":"K"}" data-reactid=".r[5uhlu].[1][4][1]{comment458386930879125_458388897545595}.[0].{right}.[0].{left}.[0].[0].[0][3]"><span data-reactid=".r[5uhlu].[1][4][1]{comment458386930879125_458388897545595}.[0].{right}.[0].{left}.[0].[0].[0][3].[0]"><span data-reactid=".r[5uhlu].[1][4][1]{comment458386930879125_458388897545595}.[0].{right}.[0].{left}.[0].[0].[0][3].[0].[0]"><span style="font-size: xx-small;">Photo from livingwaterhealthandwellness.com. Recipe from the kitchen of Lisa Loewen. </span></span></span></span>Ashleyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03340957236053781612noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3038977420070795440.post-53326672061687654652012-12-31T12:24:00.001-08:002012-12-31T12:24:19.640-08:00Potty Training 101Well it's been a fair time since I've been on this thing, but we had an earth-shattering event in our house recently and I thought it was blog-worthy. <br />
<br />
We are all three POTTY TRAINED!! <br />
<br />
Yeah, it's really something. Here's the long and short of how we went about it. <br />
<br />
First of all, we got the potty chair for Christmas last year. Sometime late summer, Gracie started telling us that she went potty or that she wanted her diaper changed or she would come with us when we went to the restroom and she would watch us and say things like, "Mommy potty?" So we started noticing an interest in certain bodily functions. <br />
<br />
I had planned on potty training over the three day weekend in November for Veteran's Day. Unfortunatly my husband had an untimely surgery. (Seriously, didn't he know I was trying to potty train a toddler?!? Just kidding.) So we bought one more package of diapers and went on about our lives. <br />
<br />
Then the first week of December I noticed the diapers running a little low, so I requested to take Friday, December 14th off to make a nice long three-day weekend to potty train. (Yes, you read that correctly. I am a total fool and took a vacation day to potty train my child.) I had been reading the "<a href="http://www.amazon.com/Potty-Train-Your-Child-Just/dp/B0012F48FU" target="_blank">Potty Train Your Child In Just One Day</a>" book. While I did not follow the book to a "T", I did use some of her ideas - particularly teaching the baby doll in the first part of the first day. (I bought the <a href="http://www.amazon.com/Once-Upon-Potty-Plush-Mini-Potty/dp/B001DZX1HK/ref=pd_sim_sbs_b_1" target="_blank">Once Upon A Potty</a> doll on Amazon because it was the cheapest at the time. It got the job done but it is definietly a cheaply made doll.) <br />
<br />
The night before I wrapped the doll up and put the present in the bathroom. When Gracie woke up I very excitedly told her that I thought she had a present in the bathroom and I took her in there. She opened up the bag and saw the baby and the potty. (She named the doll Potty Gracie, but I decided that might get confusing later so we called it Potty Baby. My daughter is very original.) We spent all morning playing with the baby and teaching it how to potty in the "big girl" potty. When the baby pottied in the potty we would try to give her a treat but since she couldn't eat it, Gracie got it. This was setting up for the afternoon. <br />
<br />
After her nap there was another present in the bathroom - panties. We immediately opened them and put them on. The book suggests using some kind of action figure or princess or somethng that they can relate to. Since really the only children's figure that Gracie knows is Elmo I picked out butterflies and flowers. I often said things like "let's not get those butterflies wet, ok?". She ran around in a t-shirt and underwear all day (a suggestion in the book). We had on her favorite shirt - her <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Emporia_State_Hornets" target="_blank">Corky</a> shirt. We ate super salty snacks all day (potato chips, crackers, cheese, etc.) and drank lots of juice, milk, water, and even tried some juice mixed with club soda and strawberry milk. I constantly asked her if she needed to potty. I would race her to the bathroom and we would sit on the potty for (literally) hours at a time reading books, playing games, singing songs, finding pictures in her look-and-find book....<br />
<br />
I think I cleaned up 12 messes the first day. <br />
<br />
She had gone in the potty one time on Friday. At the end of the day I thought I was crazy and foolish and felt like I'd just run a marathon and lost. Jacob and I even discussed that night if we should stop now and give it some more time and try again later. <br />
<br />
Then Saturday it was like something clicked and for whatever reason she only had 2 accidents. Then Sunday the ONLY accidents she had were at the church nursery where it's like 8 kids to 2 adults. (And while the adults are awesome and wonderful people who are good to my daughter even though she can be a terror sometimes, they probably didn't watch her quite as closely as I would have as far as potty training goes...something to keep in mind.) <br />
<br />
Then Monday she was off to school. One accident. <br />
<br />
Throughout the rest of the week she kept it pretty clean. She would have one accident occasionally and had a number of days with zero accidents. I considered her completely trained by Thursday, one week after we started. She had gone a couple of days with zero accidents and when she came home again Thursday with the same pants she started in, I declared her potty trained in my head. <br />
<br />
The only minor set back we've had was when she went to stay with my parents over Christmas. My dad was watching her for a couple of days by himself and there was one day with 3 accidents. I was a little upset, but I know those things will happen. I was just upset that it happened with someone else; I felt very guilty. <br />
<br />
Here are a few things I suggest if you are going to potty training in the future: <br />
<ul>
<li><u>Go pantsless for the day.</u> The little one, that is. </li>
<li><u>Model</u> (as in, teach them by DOING not just by telling)</li>
<li><u>Join in</u> ("Mommy needs to go potty. I'll race you to the bathroom!") This also means that you should drink lots throughout the day.</li>
<li><u>Have them help as much as possible</u> ("You pull up the front of your panties and I'll get the back," or "Mommy is going to pull her pants down. Can you pull your pants down?") </li>
<li><u>Go through the steps with the doll</u> (run to the bathroom, pull panties down, sit on the potty, check out the potty, celebrate, wipe, dump and flush)</li>
<li>If your kiddo is scared of flushing (or if they aren't) <u>use the phrase "Feed the fishies"</u> when flushing the toilet. We fed the fishies a lot and Gracie loved it. </li>
<li><u>Give something they will LOVE</u> for their reward. This could be anything from frosted animal crackers (Gracie) to little dollar store toys for each time they go, crackers, grapes, or for some kids high-fives. I am all about the bribery, but I don't always think you have to spend big bucks on the bribery. </li>
<li>For bedtimes and naps, if you are nervous for awhile <u>put a diaper on over their panties</u> them. What I heard and read was that they FEEL the panties against their skin and not the diaper. If you put the diaper on over the top then you will have peace of mind, but they feel the panties, not the diaper. </li>
<li><u>Don't use pull-ups.</u> I've heard mixed reviews on this one, and to each their own, but the thing that got me was this - can YOU even figure out if it's ok for them to go in their pull-ups or not? I mean, it's not ok is it?...but it's alright so...should they go? I don't know... See? How confusing would that be for a 2-year old? I've also read from moms with multiple kids who have tried it multiple ways that going cold turkey is by far the easiest and fastest. </li>
<li><u>Give it time</u>. Don't get frustrated if they aren't 100% within 24 hours. About the above book (which is apparently quite <a href="http://www.parentstoolshop.com/HTML/pottytraining.htm" target="_blank">controversial</a>, even with some of our own family members who told us it would never work) I took the approach of, hey, if it takes her 2 or 3 days or even a week to be fully potty trained, I'll consider it a success. It's loads better than the 6 or 8 months or even a year that some kids take. I didn't take the "24 hours or bust" approach. I promised myself that I would at least give it the 3-day weekend. That was a good idea because I was ready to call it quits the first day, but we just plugged away for 2 more days and THAT was the successful time. </li>
</ul>
Now what do I wish I had done differently? Here are a few thoughts: <br />
<ul>
<li><u>Give an extra reward for poo</u>. She got peepee pretty quickly but she had accidents with #2 for longer. I think a little something extra special would have been more incentive. </li>
<li><u>Spent more time on the potty the first day</u>. Even though we spent about half of the day sitting on the potty, I wish I had made her sit there more. The first day she had no idea what the feeling of going potty was until she'd made it in the potty a time or two. A couple of successes on the potty the first day would have been good. We only had one. It was doable, but I think there would have been some leaps and bounds if she had just had a couple of other successes that day. </li>
<li><u>Buy fun things for bathroom time</u>. I didn't have special soap to wash hands with, no bubbles (an excellent time-passing suggestion I had heard), sticker books, etc. All we used were books. </li>
<li><u>Don't have them spend time with ANYONE else</u> for a few days. Skip church. Skip working out. Take a day off so they don't have to go to day care. No one is going to do as good of a teaching job as mommy or daddy. Unfortunately this isn't exactly feasible with me...but I do wish I had been able to do it. </li>
</ul>
Ashleyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03340957236053781612noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3038977420070795440.post-3608808423252768752012-03-14T22:44:00.000-07:002012-03-14T22:44:22.587-07:00"It Makes Them Hard"I went on my first run of the year tonight. I always start out going such short distances and by the end of the summer I can go a couple of miles. You know, a couple of nice, slow miles. :) Tonight, I don't even think I went half a mile and it was VERRRY slow. Probably someone could walk faster than I ran tonight. <br />
<br />
The "parenting fail" of the day was when Gracie fell off her bike. She has a teeny tiny little tikes bike. Observe a similar bike I found online: <br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgixheqEct49xRRE2AYpjEQNARJ0XYF2I36McxuQqO8PhfvhEwyhErvoEskjV4AychfqaS6T6MgvJQeJIJvobOz2GDQXRFg-35SeZ80DpkA5yGk_JpN4-jJaEBJyFPQ-UGcIvb44eNf2Is/s1600/a+similar+bike.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgixheqEct49xRRE2AYpjEQNARJ0XYF2I36McxuQqO8PhfvhEwyhErvoEskjV4AychfqaS6T6MgvJQeJIJvobOz2GDQXRFg-35SeZ80DpkA5yGk_JpN4-jJaEBJyFPQ-UGcIvb44eNf2Is/s1600/a+similar+bike.JPG" /></a></div><br />
Now hers of course, has metal handle bars with ribbons coming out of the ends and a yellow banana seat. You know my kid has to have a bike with a banana seat. The basics are there - plastic, crazy colors, and four wheels. Well, Gracie fell off of it today. And not just a little bit. <br />
<br />
She flipped over the handlebars. And landed on the concrete. Face first. <br />
<br />
Don't worry, her shades broke her fall. (That girl has more pairs of sunglasses than Jacob and I combined!) She must have bit her tongue, because there was a little bit of blood there, and a small (honestly, it was pretty tiny) goose egg on her forehead. The sunglasses escaped with a minor scratch. <br />
<br />
In my line of work there is this civilization that we call "scanner land". "Scanner land" is made up of all the people, many of them with (honestly) nothing better to do than to listen on the radio so that they can call us and ask questions about things that they heard going on in their neighborhood or that their sister's license plate was read over the radio and they want to know why. I'm sure there are citizens of "scanner land" who are perfectly normal, pleasant people who enjoy listening to some occasional radio traffic while reading the newspaper and drinking their morning coffee. I just never talk to any of the normal ones. <br />
<br />
Well tonight, "scanner land" got a treat. I'm not much for sexual innuendos, but tonight they got to hear me say "it makes them hard" over the radio. How. Embarassing. What I <i>MEANT </i>to say was, "it makes IT hard". IT, people. IT. <br />
<br />
No one called in about that one. I guess I made things perfectly clear. Ashleyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03340957236053781612noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3038977420070795440.post-7349756945209657692012-03-12T20:54:00.000-07:002012-03-12T20:54:40.419-07:00I had my gall bladder taken outYeah...<br />
<br />
WHILE MY HUSBAND WAS OUT OF TOWN. <br />
<br />
I mean, he knew about it, but jeez...I might deserve a medal. He even offered to stay and I was all "<i>no honey, I can do it</i>". <br />
<br />
They put me on a 10-pound lifting limit, so my 23-pound Gracie spent the week in her crib. I took her food and milk. And books. She loves books. <i>JUST KIDDING!</i> My mom and sister came over to help, so my child and I were both cared for. I took the week off work. The whole week. In the end, I'm glad I did. I originally was going to take off Tuesday and Wednesday and possibly/probably Thursday. Jacob came back Friday and on the phone Thursday night he was like a puppy dog begging "pleeeeeeease take off tomorrow night!" and since I am a total pushover I did (truth be told, I didn't feel 100% on Thursday anyway). Then, I didn't see the point in going back for ONE STINKING DAY so I took off Saturday too. <br />
<br />
Here is what I learned from my surgery: don't wear contacts or a tampon to surgery. I wasn't allowed to wear my contacts, which they didn't tell me beforehand. So I was totally prepared for that. Riiiight. I ended up putting my contacts in a urine specimen cup. No lie. I was also told that I was required to take a pregnancy test, and I was all "oh, I'm not pregnant. <i>I'm on my period.</i>" after which nurse A said "we're still required to do the test," and nurse B said "you're not wearing a tampon are you?" after which I<b> SHOULD HAVE SAID NO</b>. But I have this horrible moral conscience and I am flipping honest so I said yes. Then she broke the news to me: "You'll have to take it out." ...okay...so what do I do, do you guys supply me with underwear or do I wear my underwear or what? Nurse C: "No. You just stick a pad between your legs." I'm telling you, these nurses know how to throw a party. I'm sure they're a lot of fun on the weekends. The only bright side to that is that I was completely sedated for the surgery. I have zero memory of anyone looking down there and seeing a pad just hanging out sans underwear AND I also have no idea who all knows I was on my period and who doesn't. Other than nurse A, B, and C, that is. <br />
<br />
My anesthesiologist (anytime I need to type that in the future I'm going to put ASO so I don't have to type a word that long again, ok?) was the same guy who did my epidural. He walked up and since I was completely blind because I <i>HAD TO PUT MY CONTACTS IN A URINE SPECIMEN CUP</i> I said, "Who's that?" And nurse A said "Bob, your ASO." (She did not say ASO, she actually said the word that I am using the abbreviation "ASO" for. Just to be clear.) And here's how it played out:<br />
Me: BOB! You gave me my epidural. <br />
Bob: Oh? That's nice... (totally doesn't care)<br />
Me: AND THEN you brought me peanut butter chocolate cookies in the hospital the next day. <br />
Bob: Oh I did? Huh... (slightly interested)<br />
Me: Because I had my baby on Christmas Eve. You brought us cookies on Christmas Day. <br />
Bob: Hmm...I wonder what I was doing around then... (interest is piqued)<br />
Me: You were trying to get out of going to church. <br />
Everyone: *pointing and laughing at Bob because he just got called out by a blind girl with a bum gall bladder who is on her period and now everyone knows it.*<br />
<br />
I mean, it was a good time. I'd do it again. If I had two gall bladders. <br />
<br />
<i><span style="font-size: x-small;">PS - we just got Jacob's bill in the mail from his hospital stays. Holy. Crap. Fun fact: An appendectomy, with NOTHING ELSE (no anesthesia, no recovery room, no hospital stay, no food, no pain medicine afterward, etc.) is $14,000. Yeah. And he was only in there for like, an hour and half. Thank goodness for health insurance. Is it too late for me to go to school to be a surgeon? </span></i>Ashleyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03340957236053781612noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3038977420070795440.post-57889153390574878932012-02-25T20:18:00.000-08:002012-02-25T20:18:04.006-08:00Recipes and whatnotI wanted to share a few recipes that I found off of pinterest that I have loved. <br />
<br />
<a href="http://georgiapellegrini.com/2010/07/23/recipes/homemade-fruit-leather/" target="_blank">Fruit leather</a>. I tried this a few days ago. I used strawberries and blueberries, both frozen. It was fantastic. I baked mine at 170 for about 10 hours. That's a long time for one to use their oven, so next time I'm going to try different flavors and I'm going to make 3-4 pans at once, you know, to make a nice supply of it. ALSO, I did not add any sugar at all to my "stew" mixture. None. Turned out great. <br />
<br />
<a href="http://www.mrshappyhomemaker.com/2011/09/french-vanilla-coffee-creamer.html" target="_blank">Homemade coffee creamer</a>. I have now made 2 batches of the stuff. LOVE it. The first batch, I used a 14 ounce can of sweetened condensed milk, (homemade) vanilla extract, and 14 ounces of cream...on accident. HONESTLY! I meant to fill up the can halfway with cream and halfway with milk...except I didn't. I just kept pouring, so I rationally said to myself, "Self, you might as well just pour the cream in and call it a day with the milk." I am very persuasive. It. Was. Delicious. The second go-round (which was today) I made it with 1 can of sweetened condensed milk, 1 can fat free sweetened condensed milk, 14 oz of almond milk (still creamy but A HUGE cut down on the fat & calories) and then about 8 ounces or so of cream (because I was running out of room) and a splash of (homemade) vanilla extract. It was still delicious, but I must say...using all cream was SOOOO good. Like candy in my coffee.<br />
<br />
<a href="http://www.myrecipes.com/recipe/broccoli-cheese-soup-10000000231619/" target="_blank">Light Broccoli cheese soup</a>. I added carrots and used 1% milk, but this was pretty darn tasty (not to mention cheap and easy). Especially for being light. I had it over a baked potato tonight for dinner. I made half a batch and there are tons of leftovers. <br />
<br />
<a href="http://mycupcakejourney.blogspot.com/2011/06/oreo-layer-dessert.html" target="_blank">Oreo Layer Dessert</a>. This was possibly my favorite food I've made off of Pinterest. It was not too heavy, quite light actually. A little crunch from the oreos, nice and sweet from the cream cheese mixture, and fluffy from the whipped cream. Yummo! TRY THIS. <br />
<br />
<a href="http://realmomkitchen.com/287/ranch-house-crock-pot-pork-chops-with-parmesan-mashed-potatoes/" target="_blank">Ranch House Pork Chops</a>. This is probably going to be a new "normal" recipe in our house. We loved this! I made the rosemary parm mashed potatoes on the website with it. I HIGHLY recommend these together. The "gravy" from the pork chops with the mashed potatoes...yum. So good. Ashleyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03340957236053781612noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3038977420070795440.post-31867214136468852032012-02-16T22:25:00.000-08:002012-02-16T22:25:07.096-08:00Friday Fun Facts<ul><li>There is something big happening in my life. I promise I will share eventually, but I kind of like to stew on things myself, and then share them in my own time. I'll get there, I'm just not there yet. </li>
<li>I counted up the words that Gracie can sign today. It's 10. I'll try to list them. Milk, more, please, eat, baby, banana, water, book, cracker, and I saw her sign "drink" for the first time today. That girl is so stinkin' smart. </li>
<li>She can SAY mama, dad, hi, dog, cat, car, cow, baby, and if you count "ball" (she says "dall"). </li>
<li>I'm starting to hate politics more and more. I got really into the debates and the election back in 2008, but I just hate that no matter what, I'm not going get what I want. I'm not even sure what I want exactly. I WILL say though, that I hate the disputes. I don't mean debates, I mean the nasty disputes between people. Neither side is going to change their mind. Why keep fighting? </li>
<li>I am really frustrated that people think they can make decisions in me and Jacob's life. I'm sorry if this is pushy, but the fact is that there is not a leash on either of us and we are free to make decisions on our own. That's something that you are going to have to come to terms with. Not me. </li>
</ul>Ashleyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03340957236053781612noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3038977420070795440.post-91902621401487926962012-01-17T20:09:00.000-08:002012-01-17T20:09:14.262-08:00Take TwoWell, we're back in the hospital. <br />
<br />
This is night #2 of take two. For starters, yesterday was not a good day. <br />
<br />
We checked into the ER at around 10:30 or 11:00. Jacob had chest pains. His family doctor thought it was the wisest thing for him to go to the ER. They initially treated as a heart patient, since we just didn't know anything other than he'd had an appendectomy 4 days ago and now his chest was tight. <br />
<br />
They ran all sorts of tests. I remember blood tests, x-rays, an ultrasound, and a CT scan. From those, the only abnormal result that they could find was a high white blood cell count. The ER doctor either didn't know what was wrong or just wasn't confident enough to tell us one certain thing. #Annoying<br />
<br />
We were stuck in the ER until around 5:00 when they told us that we were going to the hospital at least for the night. Great. <br />
<br />
You know, I almost wish they would have know what was wrong - good or bad. It was really, really hard to sit there and think the worst. When doctors have no answers it's absolutely frightening. <br />
<br />
We checked in, they ran a couple more tests, and finally this morning they said that his stool sample (sorry) came back positive for a bacterial infection. A couple of hours later they told us it was contagious. Awesome. <br />
<br />
BUT at least we had an answer. And there's been some humor today. For example, when I pushed closed my chair-bed, and said, "See? THAT'S how it's done. Show 'em who's bad!" or something along those crazy awesome lines. Jacob said, "Aaaaaand my wife is a gangster." <br />
<br />
You know. That's how I roll. Ashleyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03340957236053781612noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3038977420070795440.post-65598489226216532262012-01-12T23:14:00.000-08:002012-01-12T23:14:28.807-08:00Friday Fun FactsI'm going to title this version of Friday Fun Facts "T<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="color: magenta;">h</span></span><span style="font-size: x-small;">i</span>n<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="color: cyan;">g</span>s</span> <span style="color: #6fa8dc;">I</span> <span style="color: #45818e;">L</span><span style="font-size: x-large;">e</span>a<span style="color: cyan;">r</span>n<span style="font-size: x-small;">e</span>d <span style="color: #6fa8dc;">W</span>hi<span style="color: magenta;">le</span> <span style="font-size: x-large;">M</span>y <span style="color: magenta;">H</span><span style="font-size: x-small;">u</span><span style="color: #999999; font-size: x-large;">s</span>b<span style="color: #e69138;">a</span><span style="font-size: large;">n</span><span style="font-size: x-small;">d</span> <span style="color: purple;">W</span><span style="font-size: large;">a</span>s <span style="color: #999999;">I</span>n <span style="font-size: large;">T</span><span style="font-size: x-large;"><span style="color: purple;">h</span></span>e H<span style="color: #999999;">o</span>s<span style="font-size: x-large;"><span style="color: magenta;">p</span></span><span style="font-size: x-small;">i</span>t<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="color: cyan;">a</span></span>l". <br />
<br />
1. If you are desperate for a nurse to come in to give your loved one pain medicine, just do something that is <u>INCREDIBLY </u>awkward that you never in a million years would want someone to see you doing. I'll list a few examples: pick your nose, fart (loudly), change your clothes, check out the itchy spot in your armpit, etc. I guarantee you that the nurse will show up at the most inopportune moment for you. <i>Not that I would know.</i> No, I wouldn't know about <i>ANY </i>of those examples. Not one. <br />
<br />
2. The croup sounds very similar to the moose on <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JwqvgizyH-k" target="_blank">this commercial</a>. Except like, 491 times louder. All day. And. All. Night.<br />
<br />
3. Would you like to pull out the chair to make it into a 2x6 bed? Well, you won't be able to. <br />
<br />
4. Number 3 is really okay because once you have it out you won't be able to get it back together. <br />
<br />
5. Once you finally have it back together, you will sit down on the "chair" and start getting kind of comfortable it will somehow <strike>mysteriously</strike> end up falling apart on you and looking like this: <br />
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgoQQfYSmCzFfAYnuyrblHzLwsVAFNCvDID5DzHe5iOHlMH0rbsGq8mCgfsRch0RX788Y9Avls2KI9RH5PoQSFF8rs93f7dh0qsuFM6zpHJVuzgJnZh99dIXwGSjzVe6Hy1s4bkLrFGEZ8/s1600/IMG00831-20120112-2325.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgoQQfYSmCzFfAYnuyrblHzLwsVAFNCvDID5DzHe5iOHlMH0rbsGq8mCgfsRch0RX788Y9Avls2KI9RH5PoQSFF8rs93f7dh0qsuFM6zpHJVuzgJnZh99dIXwGSjzVe6Hy1s4bkLrFGEZ8/s320/IMG00831-20120112-2325.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><br />
Yeah. It's going to be a long night. That is, as SOON AS I FLIPPIN' FIGURE OUT HOW TO MAKE THIS DANG 2X6 BED!! <i>THEN </i>it will be a long night. AFTER that. <br />
<br />
But on the bright side, Jacob is feeling better than he was this morning. He's even made a few jokes today and he's already taking machines off and wandering around without the permission of his nurses. <i>NO JOKE.</i> <br />
<br />
I don't think he has any idea that he should probably get permission to take all this stuff off and go wandering around his room. Lol. He gets tired of walking around and goes to lay back down in bed, pushes his nurse button and someone comes in and asks what he needs and when he says, "Can you put those things back on my leg and hook my IV back up?" they look a LITTLE taken aback. The nurse earlier kind of said, "Um...OH!" and had a look on her face that <strike>silently </strike>screamed, <i>"what in the sam-hill are you doing wandering around without an IV and your leg things hooked up?!?"</i> Haha. <br />
<br />
So that's the bright side. He's moving around and joking around. On the other hand, he's pretty drugged up. They're giving him 2 different pain meds, one of which is morphine and he's getting it every hour. Earlier he said to me, "I can feel my intestines moving all around". Apparently things definitely feel a little off on the insides. He just doesn't care because he doesn't feel a whole lot right now. He'll probably be in plenty of pain when he comes home. Hopefully that will be tomorrow. Ashleyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03340957236053781612noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3038977420070795440.post-41700666314138431082012-01-11T23:12:00.000-08:002012-01-11T23:12:23.898-08:00Hospital Stay for the HubsWell we are in the hospital for the night. I'll give you the short story first and you can decide whether or not you want to read the long story. ;) <br />
<br />
Jacob is having his appendix taken out. <br />
<br />
Now the long story: <br />
<br />
Sunday we had an ER run. He had gone to work at 8 a.m. and was back home by 8:30 with lots of abdominal pain, continuing back pain, very constipated, and unable to eat anything. I am young and stupid and after a 3 hour wait in our room at the ER, the doctor came back in the room and said "Well, I think the back pain is related to the abdominal pain and you're constipated," we just left. I am so stupid. That's going to be a huge bill and we got exactly zero answers and wasted 3+ hours of our lives. Ugh. <br />
<br />
Then Monday Jacob went to work. Later that evening he was in more pain. He had an appointment scheduled for Tuesday with a local doctor who is specifically interested in gastroenterology. Tuesday the doctor mentioned "appendix" for the first time. With his age, the symptoms, the pain, the location, everything was adding up to appendix. There were two things that were a little suspicious though. 1. Jacob doesn't have a temperature and 2. his white blood cell count has not gone up at all. The doctor wanted to see a CT scan, so that was scheduled for Wednesday (technically yesterday, but I haven't been to bed yet, so earlier today for me) at 12:00. By 1:30 we still weren't in yet. Jacob only got down about 3/4 of the "beri-water" that they gave him. They went ahead and did his scan and it worked fine. <br />
<br />
Just like the doctor thought, it appeared that appendicitis was beginning to creep up. Something was definitely up with the appendix. Our options at this point were A. check into the hospital, talk to a surgeon this evening and have the surgery in the morning or B. leave, get another prescription, and wait until possibly Friday to have the surgery because of the work schedule of the other surgeon. <br />
<br />
Jacob and I both leaned toward just getting it done, or at the very least talking to a surgeon as soon as possible to see what he thought. So, knowing that we would have the highest chance of having the surgery done on Thursday that we needed, we decided to go ahead and admit him for the night. It's better this way with all the pain he's having anyway. (He's been a bear at home. When he's not feeling well nobody's happy.) <br />
<br />
The surgeon came by the room tonight and explained a lot to us. We were both very appreciative of that. He explained that he agreed - there was something suspicious about the appendix. However, he had seen this before - looks like appendicitis without the fever and without the white blood count. He said that in the past, he'd seen this with appendices that had flipped around backwards. Also, this could explain the constipation. Although it wasn't crazy strange, it's not exactly normal for someone to have constipation with appendicitis. (The first doctor was thinking since his appendix was inflamed, maybe it was cutting something off down there and keeping him from having a bowel movement.) <br />
<br />
Anyway, so basically we all went - DING DING DING!! Finally someone has an answer that adds up. His appendix is backwards. I'm like, 99.9% sure that this is the right answer. <br />
<br />
Which leads us to where we are now. I am sleeping on a chair tonight. Jacob is in a hospital bed. He's asleep...sort of. In and out. I'm wide awake, hoping to fall asleep directly. Surgery is tomorrow mid-morningish. (We weren't given an exact time, just because he wasn't sure when he'd be out of his first surgery/surgeries.) Ashleyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03340957236053781612noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3038977420070795440.post-44012480790316299972012-01-08T22:49:00.000-08:002012-01-08T22:49:55.305-08:00Surprise Baby ShowerI haven't been able to say anything but I've been keeping a secret. I WAS THROWING A BABY SHOWER!! Haha. It was so fun, and really one of the greatest surprises I've ever pulled off.<br />
<br />
My good friend Kristen is pregnant with her third baby. Her third BOY. Man, is she going to be busy. She is originally from about an hour away, which is where all of her family and friends are from also. Of course, she does have some here, but generally, all of her friends live back home.<br />
<br />
She is seriously one of the nicest people I have ever met in my life. Never has a mean word to say about anyone. She SO was not expecting a shower for #3. (They are keeping the name a secret until he's here.)<br />
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhf0xHe47zBi8fuTpqCFt2O1VV_GtCGRw1pDWsyyOrQulgBQcsSpJE5NR_vWUhH0-6q-AnPoZveVb5H6p9EhTxXRPweZhNoTpKDSwUROI4QQeTW_bXfI7l7kdsd2tbXem377s8kDzel65U/s1600/sign+edited.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhf0xHe47zBi8fuTpqCFt2O1VV_GtCGRw1pDWsyyOrQulgBQcsSpJE5NR_vWUhH0-6q-AnPoZveVb5H6p9EhTxXRPweZhNoTpKDSwUROI4QQeTW_bXfI7l7kdsd2tbXem377s8kDzel65U/s320/sign+edited.jpg" width="220" /></a></div><br />
<br />
Oh yeah. I totally got her. There were probably around 15 of her closest friends and family from back home who made the trek up here for her shower. I had the shower in my detached, way far away from my house, 2-car garage. I told her that I wanted to borrow her 2 boys for an activity that I had planned, and that it would be a nice little afternoon that she could run errands, take a nap (you know what pregnancy does to you), or just whatever she needed.<br />
<br />
When she came, I had her oldest boy, Landon, lead her around the house and knock on the garage door. When it opened, all of her family and her close friends were sitting there! She was shocked! She started crying and screaming. It was perfect.<br />
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgOYaKqrl5bc7mK-otnjWH_u8bmgGzgatfDNYPrR1qre3bdRI7qav-b2T7i3Y1JXuu9n13yljC91oA3Y2fXB1-9IneuSW9MmIVEjFDitYgsXUWFMW5-arcQnfZAUcwS5w2QAnknoyghBzE/s1600/banner+edited.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="153" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgOYaKqrl5bc7mK-otnjWH_u8bmgGzgatfDNYPrR1qre3bdRI7qav-b2T7i3Y1JXuu9n13yljC91oA3Y2fXB1-9IneuSW9MmIVEjFDitYgsXUWFMW5-arcQnfZAUcwS5w2QAnknoyghBzE/s320/banner+edited.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><br />
<br />
The first game called Mommy ESP, (a good, cheap, easy game where mommy lists the first 10 things she can think of and everyone else tries to guess the 10 things. The closest wins.) The next game was "Guess the Celebrity Baby Picture". <br />
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg6pOSa9Kz6lOeCuXmG1TXvNhKnd3FeUQERw8zCwEPAYgRaBrrRKOePw_0G6YM28WrQJA3UEahjMTQUFkXG2UFowueijh8q3B_rdW9093P18WUPvmIyiqXwSjlKEsyFJMa7zi8ouIia_c4/s1600/celeb+baby+photos+edited.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="213" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg6pOSa9Kz6lOeCuXmG1TXvNhKnd3FeUQERw8zCwEPAYgRaBrrRKOePw_0G6YM28WrQJA3UEahjMTQUFkXG2UFowueijh8q3B_rdW9093P18WUPvmIyiqXwSjlKEsyFJMa7zi8ouIia_c4/s320/celeb+baby+photos+edited.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><br />
The last "real" game we played was called "Piggy Bank I"ve Never". You know the drinking game I've Never? Yeah, <i>me either</i>. ;) Well, for this one, everyone started out with 10 coins. Then I read off 12 statements, all starting with "I've never". They were pretty innocent statements - things like "I've never ran a red light" or "I've never laughed so hard I've peed my pants". Such a funny game. It was absolutely hilarious. Kristen's Grandma had to move her seat up closer to the piggy. I guess after so many years of life you have to commit a few sins just to keep your spunk. Haha. <br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi7aVGAc0-abgDTUE_d-vKJ0Scop3Rlhjg4LeW_KcvcIS27WHW6OBWO5OmgQ5tI6OWTiap0RSHYUzgnvL43UtbnjhXJMs7mKgWSH7A78Lc-v573bCnZqz3rJLa9_JMhFOf5FKdFbsw80x0/s1600/chalkboar+piggie+edited.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="180" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi7aVGAc0-abgDTUE_d-vKJ0Scop3Rlhjg4LeW_KcvcIS27WHW6OBWO5OmgQ5tI6OWTiap0RSHYUzgnvL43UtbnjhXJMs7mKgWSH7A78Lc-v573bCnZqz3rJLa9_JMhFOf5FKdFbsw80x0/s320/chalkboar+piggie+edited.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><br />
<br />
Now the last "unofficial" game we played was Gift-Opening Bingo. I attached numbers to the gifts, had blank BINGO cards for everyone, and had them fill it in with numbers 1-27 (because that's how many gifts there were). As Kristen opened the gifts, she would announce the number. Then whoever made the BINGO won the prize. <br />
<br />
For prizes, I gave out some $5 gift cards that I got for free from my <a href="http://www.swagbucks.com/refer/ajefferi" target="_blank">swagbucks </a>account. I also did a little bag of popcorn with a $5 Redbox gift certificate. I made some<a href="http://pinterest.com/pin/260153315944524289/" target="_blank"> sugar scrub</a>. I made some cards WITH envelopes from extra scrapbook stuff I had. I think I made about 6 or 7 for the game winner and 6 or 7 for Kristen. For the favors, I made <a href="http://pinterest.com/pin/260153315944485553/" target="_blank">these chocolate covered spoons with marshmallows and peppermints</a>. I even put them all in their own little separate bags and tied them up for everyone. Unfortunately, I forgot to set them out before people left. <br />
<br />
In regards to food, I had a little help. Kristen's sister, Nicole helped me with planning and some veggie cups, and then another friend of mine made some frosting and mints for the awesome CUPCAKE BAR! We also had wraps, and in lieu of punch I decided to go with hot chocolate. Funny story, I had actually taken all my coffee stuff out to the garage to make coffee at some point during the shower. I made the hot chocolate in my house and put it in a crock pot to transport out there. Unfortunately, I had already taken my sugar out to the garage...and after I got out there I just forgot to put it in the hot chocolate. And it wasn't really that bad. Granted, it already had lots of sugar in it from the <a href="http://pinterest.com/pin/260153315944509531/" target="_blank">semi-sweet chocolate chips and the whipped cream</a>. <br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhUrTBILMJzh3vMFICSir9V2qH4yvp61X5S5Yhk6jlUWu2xLabW-Xg-UOgY6XE3GDwlYBtEwB1FriJiYSxfT8MJjHC9fRX6FabRx7YggabPM7pDSbSNED38-lkPt1Q2x5WA1xYJVIgRi-s/s1600/cupcake+bar+and+winner+bags+edited.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="279" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhUrTBILMJzh3vMFICSir9V2qH4yvp61X5S5Yhk6jlUWu2xLabW-Xg-UOgY6XE3GDwlYBtEwB1FriJiYSxfT8MJjHC9fRX6FabRx7YggabPM7pDSbSNED38-lkPt1Q2x5WA1xYJVIgRi-s/s320/cupcake+bar+and+winner+bags+edited.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><br />
<br />
Mark "throw someone a surprise shower" off my bucket list!! I did it! Successfully!Ashleyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03340957236053781612noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3038977420070795440.post-65976530010366220722012-01-05T22:47:00.000-08:002012-01-05T22:47:39.623-08:00One-Year AppointmentGracie's one-year appointment was earlier this week. She is in an odd stage right now. See, she went and stayed with her Nana and Papa for about 4 days. I was very grateful for this because that gave my husband and I a couple of days to ourselves AND it gave me a couple of days to plan a surprise baby shower. :) There was only one problem. <br />
<br />
I missed her. Like, a lot. <br />
<br />
But enough about me, that girl came back with a double chin and an attitude. The first thing I noticed about her was that A. she looked a little bigger (in FOUR days!!!) and B. they hadn't fed her any of her baby food...yeah. <br />
<br />
Thanks, mom. <br />
<br />
The next thing I realized was that when she pointed at the M&Ms and said, "Whassaa?" (her little version of "What's that?" or "I want that") and her daddy told her, "no, you can't have M&Ms" she FLIPPED OUT. That lip grew like Bubba Gump's on a shrimp boat and her little blue eyes were all Niagra Falls up in my garage. Holy cow, my kid is spoiled. <br />
<br />
Thanks, mom. <br />
<br />
Anyway, so I was totally expecting her doctor's appointment to be a bit embarrassing. (Sidenote - my kid went from the 10th percentile when she was born to the 95th at 2 months. THAT, my friends, was embarassing. Needless to say, we overfed her in the first 2 months.) We've been working since then to undo what we did. Not that a higher percentile is BAD per se, it's just that we didn't want her getting any HIGHER on that chart. :) <br />
<br />
At 9 months, she was 22 pounds. At 12 months she was 22 pounds 9 ounces. She was 30 inches long. Both those are the 75th percentile. <br />
<br />
!!!!!<br />
<br />
That's the lowest percentile she's had since she was 2 weeks old. I was so proud. <br />
<br />
Shots. Suck. <br />
<br />
And lastly, since Gracie hadn't walked much (other than a couple of steps on her own) before the appointment, I asked our doctor if it was anything I needed to be worried about or if there was anything I should do that would help her. She said that no, of course there was nothing wrong - every baby walks in their own time. Then she glanced at her hips. She murmured something about, "see if there's anything wrong with her hips here" and my heart totally stopped. <br />
<br />
Well I won't work up your anticipation. She just looked her hips over really well and moved them all around and said that she looked just perfect! (Oh Lord, thank you.) AND just tonight she took 5 steps in a row! Hooray! And yesterday she took one that was totally on her own, no egging on from mom or dad at all. She just decided to take a step all by herself. She's getting brave enough to lift those feet up off the floor. Ashleyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03340957236053781612noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3038977420070795440.post-72750109179326639132011-12-25T18:22:00.000-08:002011-12-25T18:22:32.623-08:00Our ChristmasMy dad is a fireman. They work 24 hours on and then get 48 hours off. (At least around here that's the normal schedule for a commissioned fireman.) When I was young it would kill me a little bit when he worked his 24 hours on Christmas. It seemed he was always doind this, though, because we were just flat broke as a joke when I was growing up. I'm assuming that they get paid extra if they work on Christmas Day, so he always sacrificed the desperation of his children for extra cash. BUT he always had food on the table and kept a roof over our heads. I love my dad and the way he taught me to be financially responsible, even if it means being temporarily unhappy. <br />
<br />
Also, with that being said, another thing I learned as a child is that December 25th is not what makes Christmas Day. Christmas is family, music, smells of the season, happiness, a full belly, good food, and mostly well-wishes and good thoughts of others. What I'm saying is that yes, it's nice to be able to celebrate Christmas on Christmas Day. But if you just can't get together on that day, December 26th is just as good a day. Trust me on that. Presents will stay under the tree. Food will taste just as good on the 26th. <br />
<br />
Or in our case, the 24th. <br />
<br />
My baby was born last year on the 24th. It's a special day to me already. We had our "Welsh" Christmas on the 22nd and it was awesome. We always do chili for their Christmas. I opted for the Frito Chili Pie, myself. <br />
<br />
She got a little cupcake for her birthday there. It was chocolate cake with pink frosting. Holy cow. BRIGHT pink. It turned her bathwater pink, because she promptly got a bath after smushing it to smithereens. In fact, here it is the 25th and I believe her leg is still stained pink. <br />
<br />
The 23rd, we went out to dinner at our classiest restaurant, Applebee's, and no I'm not kidding. She got her first restaurant meal - $4.00 mac and cheese and a side of steamed veggies. I was so proud of her for going crazy for those veggies. She ate the mac and cheese, too. She just kept grabbing the carrots and broccoli and zucchini until there weren't any left on the plate. Good girl. <br />
<br />
The 24th, we went to Bennett's birthday party. It was just lovely. He had a Dr. Seuss theme. Miss Julia made a fantastic cake and cute little green deviled eggs and rolled up ham. Awesome. We followed up with heading home to meet daddy once he got off work. Then at 6:00 we went to candlelight service at a local church. It was wonderful. After the service that really put me in the right place for the holiday, we headed to the local zoo to see the lights that they put up around all of the animals' cages. Things like that are my favorite parts of the Christmas season. Candlelight service and Christmas lights. (As a sidenote, when I went into labor after a peanut butter-chocolate-castor oil shake we drove to the hospital just after midnight. After being on bedrest for the previous 2 weeks, I got to see all the Christmas lights all around town the night before my daughter was born. What a great memory.) Next it was time to head home for dinner. Jacob picked out dinner and I made it - cornish game hens, parmesan mashed potatoes and shells and cheese. (He loves his shells and cheese.) I think cornish game hens might just have to be the new Christmas Eve tradition at our house. They were delicious. <br />
<br />
We opened our gifts. Holy cow, we got Gracie quite a few gifts. And we got each other too much, really. My big gift to Jacob was KU basketball tickets. We are big KU basketball fans at our house. Gracie's big gifts were alphabet blocks that I made for her that were intended to be given to her as a Valentine's Day present along with a rocking horse that we had made for her first Christmas. She's pretty good at rocking it. My favorite gift that he got me was my new purse. I picked out about 15 purses on Etsy, giving myself a limit of $30, showed him all of them, and then I checked my etsy account a few times after that to see which purses had sold. When none of them had, I started to assume I wasn't getting a new purse for Christmas. He ended up getting me a $3 purse off ebay with free shipping! First of all, the purse is cute, and second of all, I especially like it because of the frugality. Way to go, honey. Perfect gift for me. <br />
<br />
She also got a rocking chair for her first birthday from her Grandma and Grandpa Welsh. And for Christmas, she got a "baby grand" piano. (We totally thought this was something you could pick up and play a couple of notes on...oh no. It's something she stands up to and plays with two hands at once. It has five settings, people. And that's not including "off".) <br />
<br />
We had a super fantastic Christmas. Ashleyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03340957236053781612noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3038977420070795440.post-46968884938713556552011-12-22T22:53:00.000-08:002011-12-22T22:53:03.606-08:00Gracie's First Year<h1 class="textXLarge" style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif; font-weight: normal; margin-bottom: 5px;"><i><span style="font-size: large;">"Making the decision to have a child is momentous. It is to decide forever to have your heart go walking around outside your body." </span></i></h1><br />
<br />
Dear Daughter,<br />
<br />
Tonight was your first "Welsh Christmas" (because we had already had it by the time you came around last year). You had so many firsts. It was your first time eating a meal that was entirely chopped up and no blended food. Your first time opening gifts. Your first time having cake. Your first time playing with balloons. <br />
<br />
You weren't the only one who had a first tonight, though. Someone else did something for the first time. Someone like me. <br />
<br />
I broke down tonight. <br />
<br />
And I've done that before, but not like this. This time it wasn't out of frustration at being a working mom or running on less that 12 hours of sleep for the week, or a crying, teething baby that I just can't comfort. It wasn't out of drugged, sleepless, hormonal awe like it was the first week or two that you were around. <br />
<br />
It was out of real, genuine emotion. Happiness. Sadness. Amazement. <br />
<br />
Before you have a baby no one tells you that a year after the child is born you'll then have a toddler and no baby. No one tells you that those absolutely adorable little newborn clothes that babies wear at the very beginning will turn into cute toddler clothes in a matter of months. <br />
<br />
No one tells you that the one person that trusts you most in the world will start doing things on her own and learning and beginning to trust others within months. I wasn't prepared for you to be okay with everyone holding you tonight. You didn't cry for anyone. <br />
<br />
I am so happy for you. I am so happy for our little family. You have had a beautiful life, Gracie. I pray that it continues until long after I'm gone. I am so blessed to have you in my life. You are the best thing about every single day. You are the most beautiful thing I look at. You are the sweetest person I interact with. You are the smartest person I know. I can't believe how lucky we are to have you. That saying is so cliche, but it's how I feel. How different you could have been so easily and you are wonderful. You are perfect. <br />
<br />
I cannot believe how far you've come. I can't even stand that you were my little 6 lb 15 oz girl. I already don't remember what that was like, but I bet it was a lot easier to carry. :) I still am in amazement that a year ago tonight I headed into the hospital with contractions, not knowing what I would leave with. <br />
<br />
I left with someone who held my husband's heart in the palm of her hand and the depth of those little blue eyes. He loves you so much, you know. (And that's saying something because he wanted a boy!) :) He cried like a baby when you joined us in the world. <br />
<br />
Tonight I rocked you to sleep. I rocked you like you were a 1-month old. You're not. Not even close. But you still fell asleep in my arms. That was when the tears started rolling. <br />
<br />
(Thanks, Lord, for waiting until we got home to start that business.) <br />
<br />
I can't believe you're a year old. I can't believe you're climbing out of chairs on your own, eating normal people food, talking (jabbering) to strangers, taking steps.... You were supposed to be a baby for much longer than this. <br />
<br />
Gracie, people say that after you have a kid you can't even remember your life before the baby. Well let me tell you something - I remember. This is so much better. <br />
<br />
Love,<br />
MommyAshleyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03340957236053781612noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3038977420070795440.post-55195093827274962622011-12-17T19:59:00.000-08:002011-12-17T19:59:09.443-08:00Gracie's Song<a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rtOvBOTyX00&ob=av2e" target="_blank">A Thousand Years</a><br />
<br />
Heart beats fast<br />
Colors and promises<br />
How to be brave<br />
How can I love when I'm afraid<br />
To fall<br />
But watching you stand alone<br />
All of my doubt<br />
Suddenly goes away somehow<br />
<br />
One step closer<br />
<br />
I have died everyday<br />
waiting for you<br />
Darlin' don't be afraid<br />
I have loved you for a<br />
Thousand years<br />
I'll love you for a<br />
Thousand more<br />
<br />
Time stands still<br />
Beauty I know she is<br />
I will be brave<br />
I will not let anything <br />
Take away<br />
What's standing in front of me<br />
Every breath, <br />
Every hour has come to this<br />
<br />
One step closer<br />
<br />
I have died everyday<br />
Waiting for you<br />
Darlin' don't be afraid<br />
I have loved you for a<br />
Thousand years<br />
I'll love you for a <br />
Thousand more<br />
<br />
And all along I believed<br />
I would find you<br />
Time has brought<br />
Your heart to me<br />
I have loved you for a <br />
Thousand years<br />
I'll love you for a<br />
Thousand more<br />
<br />
One step closer<br />
One step closer<br />
<br />
I have died everyday<br />
Waiting for you<br />
Darlin' don't be afraid,<br />
I have loved you for a<br />
Thousand years<br />
I'll love you for a<br />
Thousand more<br />
<br />
And all along I believed<br />
I would find you<br />
Time has brought <br />
Your heart to me<br />
I have loved you for a<br />
Thousand years<br />
I'll love you for a <br />
Thousand moreAshleyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03340957236053781612noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3038977420070795440.post-10899721712198878712011-12-08T22:59:00.000-08:002011-12-08T23:01:21.695-08:00She was a HeWelcome to this edition of<br />
<br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="color: #4c1130; font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;">F</span><span style="color: #20124d;">r<span style="color: #073763;"><span style="font-size: x-large;">i</span><span style="color: #741b47;"><span style="font-family: "Courier New",Courier,monospace;">d</span><span style="color: #134f5c;">a<span style="color: purple;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif;">y</span> <span style="font-size: x-large;"><span style="font-family: Times,"Times New Roman",serif;">F</span></span></span>u</span><span style="font-size: x-large;"><span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;">n</span></span> </span><span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue",Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">F</span>a<span style="color: #4c1130;">c</span></span><span style="font-size: x-large;"><span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;">t</span></span>s</span><span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">!</span><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="color: #134f5c;">!</span></span><span style="font-family: "Courier New",Courier,monospace; font-size: x-large;"><span style="color: #351c75;">!</span></span></span> <br />
<br />
1. I am baking some homemade bread. This isn't my first go at it. I have made Hawaiian Sweet Bread, Chocolate Bread, <a href="http://baskersfunfoods.blogspot.com/2008/06/kitchen-klutzes-of-america-unite.html" target="_blank">Focaccia Bread</a>, and biscuits if they count. (I don't bake a lot of bread, so I'm counting them.) This one is called <a href="http://annies-eats.com/2008/07/24/american-sandwich-bread/" target="_blank">American Sandwich Bread</a>. In an attempt to get some nutrients, I modified it by adding about 1/3 cup of wheat germ to the dry ingredients. We'll see if I messed the whole thing up shortly.<br />
<br />
2. I have absolutely no idea where I'm at as far as Christmas gifts go.<br />
<br />
3. I'm pretty sure Gracie said "No" to me the other day.<br />
<br />
4. Speaking of Gracie, she is FINALLY (again) signing "more" on her own with no help from us. She also signs "please" but that's still only with help. (But only a little help.)<br />
<br />
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhi8KPFb9m1z8wRMA1ywXdluoXkWmVmfy9MxNfuUCOz7M4Tb_7vrC1Wse2ZExhUR6sIssEof1GGjxKdSSEIWPqjTpwkCzwxRh3UXBuROTeB4WALSOZs_5_eJDmOGPky7XI42bMLiA0MLCw/s1600/100MEDIA95IMAG0502.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="190" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhi8KPFb9m1z8wRMA1ywXdluoXkWmVmfy9MxNfuUCOz7M4Tb_7vrC1Wse2ZExhUR6sIssEof1GGjxKdSSEIWPqjTpwkCzwxRh3UXBuROTeB4WALSOZs_5_eJDmOGPky7XI42bMLiA0MLCw/s320/100MEDIA95IMAG0502.jpg" width="320" /></a>5. My husband shot his first deer today!! I am so proud of him!! He thought it was a doe, but when he went walking up towards it after the shot, he thought he saw something odd, so he looked through his fancy hunter-man binoculars and saw an antler. Sure enough, she was a he. A he with only one horn.Ashleyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03340957236053781612noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3038977420070795440.post-26828748274533415452011-12-08T00:10:00.000-08:002011-12-08T00:10:11.636-08:00My BirthdayMy most recent birthday was about 2 weeks ago. After much wrestling with my thoughts and <a href="http://thisreallyhappenstome.blogspot.com/2011/11/we-have-half-christmas-tree.html" target="_blank">mourning my car </a>I am now able to write about my birthday. <br />
<br />
Why wrestle with my thoughts, you ask? (Go ahead and ask it. I'll wait.) <br />
<br />
Because - I tell you - my darling friend Julia said to me the other day, "Man! You're on the downhill slope to 30." Holy crap. I am. She told me that on my birthday - November 26th. (This year was my "golden" birthday - 26 on the 26th. Julia is a mere 25.) Since she said that, I haven't been able to get her comment out of my head. <br />
<br />
In fact, I've been thinking about that statement so much that #1 I'm blogging about it for all of the world wide web to see and #2 it got me to thinking - not only am I on the downhill slope to 30, but I'm also on the downhill slope to 40. And 50. <br />
<br />
And I'm ALMOST on the downhill slope to 60. <br />
<br />
I'm basically 60. <br />
<br />
I don't want to die yet. There's a lot that I want to do. I want to skydive. I don't care if you think it's crazy or if you think it's just something that people are required to throw on their bucket lists even if they don't really have an outstanding desire to do it. I really want to. I want to go to Australia. (I picked Australia years ago because I didn't want to have to learn another language. Now I know that lots of places have English as an official language or at least their second language, but I still had sense to know to pick somewhere that I could communicate. Also, Australia has Aborigines. And kangaroos.) I want to visit <a href="http://pinterest.com/pin/260153315944445278/" target="_blank">this place</a>. And <a href="http://pinterest.com/pin/260153315944445607/" target="_blank">this one</a>. I have never been snow skiing. I would like to do that. I want to go to an NFL game. I want to live somewhere other than Kansas. I want to learn how to speak Spanish or maybe Chinese. I want to learn to make things. Like crochet. I am finally making a hat and sort of making a scarf. I want to volunteer. I want to recycle. I want to run for an office of some sort. (And then I want to WIN.) I want to play tricks on my little girl. MAYBE even take her to the haunted houses or on roller coasters! I want to watch some puppies being born. I want to go hunting with my husband (and actually shoot something - <b>DON'T</b> tell him I said that). <br />
<br />
I'm not ready to be 60. That's older than my parents. Ashleyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03340957236053781612noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3038977420070795440.post-51801624524310839272011-11-29T23:30:00.000-08:002011-11-29T23:30:34.659-08:00We have half a Christmas treeWell, we tried. But lately it's just been one step forward, two steps back. <br />
<br />
On Thanksgiving, my whole family came over, right? Well my sister and brother-in-law decided to stay for some fierce Kansas Black Friday Shopping. (Yes, people fight over bikes here too.) Awesome, right? Our adrenaline was pumping. We were rockin' JC Penney's like pros. You would have thought I wasn't even pushing a stroller. But I was. <i>I'm just that good</i>. <br />
<br />
Then after I'd picked out my perfect purchases, I headed up to the counter. (My sister and her husband were still "rockin'" the sales. I had to put quotes around it because her "rockin'" wasn't quite as rockin' as my rockin'.) I put my items on the counter, reach down in my stroller - the same stroller that was so incognito from before because, remember, <i>I'm just that good</i> - pull out my purse and grab my wal-<br />
<br />
Crap. My wallet's missing. Crap. (And in case you're wondering, NO, JC Penney's cannot hold items for you on Black Friday because if they did it for you, then they would have to do it to the other 3,287 people in the store AT ANY GIVEN SECOND. Which brings up the point - has no one heard of fire codes here, people?) <br />
<br />
So my sweet, loving sister offered to take the invisible stroller with my baby girl in it so that I could run home and get my wallet. IN FACT, she even offered to pay for my purchases and I would just write her a check when we got home. <i>But no</i>. I'm stubborn and wanted to pay for them myself. <br />
<br />
So off I go to my car. I got in and sat down, then I glanced around for some chapstick. It was totally necessary. But then I thought to myself, "Self!? Why are you wasting time putting on chapstick at a time like this? You need to get to your wallet! There are deals to be had!" So I threw my car in reverse and very slowly made my way out of the parking lot. <br />
<br />
Slowly my arse. Oh, and by the way, there was a monster flat bed Dodge pick up in the space directly behind me. It totally ate my trunk alive when I accidentally collided with it. <br />
<br />
ON THE BRIGHT SIDE (because that's exactly how I'm looking at this situation, right? Mm hmm.) no one was injured (really though, that is a good thing), there was NO damage on the other vehicle...like, none. At all. And my baby wasn't even in the car for me to have to deal with while I called the police (totally embarrassing because my husband IS one and I work with all of them). <br />
<br />
So today, in an effort to brighten my funk-tastic mood I've been in since the incident that my husband and I are now referring to as "the wreck", we decided to put up the Christmas tree. <br />
<br />
We bought this tree 3 Christmases ago after we got married. It was<strike> a piece of crap</strike> beautiful. We were pretty close to broke when we first got married. We bought this Christmas tree for $20 at Walmart if I remember correctly. Don't get me wrong. I am grateful I have a Christmas tree. Some people don't. And I love seeing the little lights and ornaments on my tree...reminds me of this time last year when I had my beautiful baby. <br />
<br />
The first chunk went on the bottom and looked great. The second chunk...the lights didn't work. The third chunk...the lights didn't work. Ok. We can deal with this. <br />
<br />
The option that I immediately thought of, the obvious option, was to buy a big strand of lights and cover the top two chunks. Since my husband is a perfectionist he said that if we do that option then we had to take down the 7,591 lights that were already on there and not working. Yeah. Like I was going to help him with that. And since he wasn't doing it on his own, we moved on to option #2. <br />
<br />
Buying a real tree. <br />
<br />
(I'm sorry, but did the skies open up and angels just start singing? No?) <br />
<br />
I LOVE real Christmas trees. But Jacob said, "The needles fall off and Gracie will eat them, plus they're so expensive." Not sure what his source was on that one, but I've found some for $12. We would just have to buy "real tree" stand and a <a href="http://forums.arborday.org/forum/viewtopic.php?p=13015" target="_blank">can of beer</a> because we don't have either of those things in our house. :| <br />
<br />
That's pretty fiscally responsible. Not QUITE as responsible as a $20 tree from Walmart but hey, it got the job done. <br />
<br />
He didn't seem to agree with my logic. I'll secede. <br />
<br />
The only problem is that what I seceded to is 1/3 of a lit Christmas tree. <br />
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjUSDBmeH7gFsv3db_tBHFhWEkyK5MilzNItfdSOdLOtLwMPmzoWIgT7NaYwqTtWnTIIV8473kRI-9YBzpMUOBKRIsX9Kme5ysNHRsjTPa5RIHcr4P7Wnk0g4o98JuRWK4MyI1bckuQUkc/s1600/IMG00758-20111130-0046.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjUSDBmeH7gFsv3db_tBHFhWEkyK5MilzNItfdSOdLOtLwMPmzoWIgT7NaYwqTtWnTIIV8473kRI-9YBzpMUOBKRIsX9Kme5ysNHRsjTPa5RIHcr4P7Wnk0g4o98JuRWK4MyI1bckuQUkc/s320/IMG00758-20111130-0046.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><br />
I wish I could tell you that at least we didn't leave it plugged in for the night. I wish. Ashleyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03340957236053781612noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3038977420070795440.post-55884280314875005362011-11-26T23:07:00.000-08:002011-11-26T23:07:33.773-08:00Thanksgiving RecipesMy family came over for Thanksgiving this year. On the one hand I love having holidays at my house because I get all the leftovers that I want :) but on the other hand I hate it because I have to spend the whole day and a half before cleaning my house. It's a fair exchange I'd say. <br />
<br />
Since I have a baby who LOVES sweet potatoes, I was responsible for the sweet potato casserole. Now, my fam has never been huge on sweet potatoes. I was a little nervous about this one because I figured most people would stick their noses up at this. But - BUT! Most people tried it. And everyone who did liked it AAAAND I even had one comment - "These are the best sweet potatoes I've ever had." (That was my sister who always has compliments for something that I do. I love her.) <br />
<br />
Here is the recipe I used. I made it up, so you can't find it anywhere but here! <br />
<br />
Ingredients: <br />
<ul><li>4 large sweet potatoes, cut into 1" cubes, boiled until tender, drained</li>
<li>1/2 cup half and half</li>
<li>1 large egg</li>
<li>1 heaping tsp of cinnamon</li>
<li>1/2 tsp allspice</li>
<li>1/2 cup packed brown sugar</li>
<li>1 bag mini marshmallows </li>
</ul>Take 1/3 of your boiled potatoes, mash with half and half, egg, cinnamon, allspice, and brown sugar. Spread about 12 or so on the bottom of a 9x9 baking dish spoon the OTHER potatoes on top of the mixture in the 9x9 dish, then spread the remaining mixture over the top. Sprinkle the mini marshmallows over the top of the mixture (as few or as many as you want - my casserole was mostly covered with little bits of orange showing through). Bake at 350 for about 30 minutes, until casserole is hot and marshmallows are toasty light brown. <br />
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjIdeO93mHqiUfeSF3qGHo5w2O-vUU4lWYVhJwC4g4X_FuQ1N5UFb7tEDiS_0vvUulFAHtewfEu05VfpU09t2COo0I8_S9cr17vvzQ6BnIDARugddYUt-zA5Y0C3rQ3DGrfkBadRUTkKEU/s1600/IMG00755-20111126-2347.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjIdeO93mHqiUfeSF3qGHo5w2O-vUU4lWYVhJwC4g4X_FuQ1N5UFb7tEDiS_0vvUulFAHtewfEu05VfpU09t2COo0I8_S9cr17vvzQ6BnIDARugddYUt-zA5Y0C3rQ3DGrfkBadRUTkKEU/s320/IMG00755-20111126-2347.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><br />
My other recipe that was a hit was my snickerdoodle bars. The story behind this one was that I sent my husband out the day before Thanksgiving to get the groceries I needed. WITH a baby. <i>I know</i>. Bless his heart. He did great. On my list I had "fruit", thinking that I would get a whole plethora of mixed fresh fruits. Instead of "fruit" he bought "apples". So...the fruit pizza idea that I was going for was a lost cause. Especially because I don't like apples. <i>Thanks, honey</i>. (But seriously, he rocked the grocery shopping. I'm sure the store was packed.) <br />
<br />
I searched and searched the internet for an hour and a half for some sort of "bar" that I could make with a sugar cookie mix and ingredients that I had handy. (I already had made peanut butter kiss cookies, so I was looking for something OTHER than cookies to make...I thought cookie bars would work.) <br />
<br />
In a flash of genius, I decided on snickerdoodle bars not because I found a recipe, but because I was tired and thought it would work. So I made up a recipe: <br />
<br />
Ingredients: <br />
<br />
<ul><li>Betty Crocker Sugar Cookie Mix, prepared</li>
<li>1/2 Tbsp cinnamon</li>
<li>1 stick butter, softened</li>
<li>1/4 cup packed brown sugar</li>
<li>1 tsp cinnamon</li>
<li>2 cups powdered sugar</li>
<li>1 tsp vanilla</li>
<li>1/8 cup half and half, plus more if needed</li>
</ul><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiV4FabpQRIHqy71vC77ByrHGQw1q2Bu-9bbJf3MgtamKDMl_2sFdIw1XeHkQce8q0y96PR-UKH2NWaCb3EoTcBbFihvhGwVRAeIubIVIAtnFGLP5JRqctGU32vZMMNI9noBBUqvhW88qw/s1600/IMG00756-20111126-2348.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiV4FabpQRIHqy71vC77ByrHGQw1q2Bu-9bbJf3MgtamKDMl_2sFdIw1XeHkQce8q0y96PR-UKH2NWaCb3EoTcBbFihvhGwVRAeIubIVIAtnFGLP5JRqctGU32vZMMNI9noBBUqvhW88qw/s320/IMG00756-20111126-2348.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><br />
Add 1/2 Tbsp cinnamon to sugar cookie dough. Mix well. Spread in a greased oven-safe pan. Bake at 325 for 20-25 minutes - NOT AS DIRECTED ON PACKAGE (the outsides will be crispy but the insides will still be gooey if you do it their way). Meanwhile, in a separate bowl, beat butter and powdered sugar until smooth. Add brown sugar, cinnamon, vanilla. Mix well. Add half and half as needed. After the cookies are done, remove from oven. <u>Wait for them to cool</u>. I know it's tempting to just dig in. Don't do it. It's important. Once it's good and cool (like, GOOD and cool - I waited until the next morning), spread the frosting over the top of the cookies. You won't need a thick layer. People will think they're very sweet if it's too thick. Enjoy! Ashleyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03340957236053781612noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3038977420070795440.post-1915581939922509012011-11-22T18:54:00.000-08:002011-11-22T18:54:42.006-08:00Cheesey PotatoesThis is a recipe from my bestie Kristen. You know those yummy-licious cheesy potatoes that people make that have the Corn Flakes on top? The ones that people bring to family renions or pot luck dinners? Those awesome ones? <br />
<br />
They don't hold a candle to these cheesy potatoes. <br />
<br />
(P.S. - How do you spell cheesy? Is it cheesy? Or cheesey?) <br />
<br />
SO WITH NO FURTHER ADO - May I introduce "Cheesy (or maybe Cheesey) Potatoes"<br />
<br />
Ingredients: <br />
6-8 medium potatoes, peeled, COOKED, cubed<br />
2 cups sharp shredded cheese<br />
1 tsp salt<br />
1/4 tsp pepper<br />
1 cup sour cream<br />
1/4 - 1/2 cup minced onion (my hubs hates onions so I use <strike>tons of them in everything</strike> them sparingly)<br />
1 can cream of celery soup<br />
1/4 cup MELTED butter<br />
<br />
Stir together all ingredients and place in 9x13 pan (or another oven-safe dish). Bake at 350 for 30 minutes. <br />
<br />
It's delicio-so. The. Best. Cheesy. (Cheesey.) Potatoes. Ashleyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03340957236053781612noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3038977420070795440.post-28375317923044778062011-11-21T20:44:00.000-08:002011-11-21T20:45:25.224-08:00We Hit a New MilestoneToday we took a huge step towards becoming a real child rather than a baby. <br />
<br />
Gracie got in trouble. Like, real trouble. <br />
<br />
She was getting into her cranky morning stage - the "I need a nap" stage. She was getting clingy. We were watching <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d-PDXAcUw0s" target="_blank">Sesame Street 2-Headed Monster</a> on YouTube and I really wanted to watch one more before her nap. <br />
<br />
She wasn't really into it. So she got angry, leaned over and got all clingy on me (this is about the time when I was thinking, "Aww...she just wants to cuddle with her mommy when she gets tired and cranky") and then <em>she bit me</em>. With her teeth! And it hurt! <br />
<br />
I pushed her back ("pushed" as in picked her up and sat her on her bottom about 6" away from where she originated from, ok?), got the "mommy look" - you know the one - pointed my finger in her face and said, "Gracie! No! That's naughty!"<br />
<br />
I thought I was pretty darn stern. Thought I said and did the right thing for the situation. <br />
<br />
In return, her face turned red, she got tears in her eyes, and she stuck out her bottom lip at mommy. That was it. I couldn't contain myself. I started giggling. Seriously, this is probably the funniest thing she's ever done. <br />
<br />
I mean, she's gotten in trouble before. Just little things like playing with the trash can when she had been told not to. Spitting her food. Throwing her toys out of her stroller. Nothing crazy like BITING HER MOM. <br />
<br />
She's even had the occasional "spankin'". It wasn't even enough to cause an 8-month old to blink. Seriously. She didn't even blink. It probably was more soothing than painful. But Mommy being stern with her had her in tears. <br />
<br />
Oh Gracie...Ashleyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03340957236053781612noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3038977420070795440.post-34062248942249724732011-11-20T16:57:00.000-08:002011-11-20T16:57:18.601-08:00Things I Don't UnderstandSomething that I do understand is that everyone cares. In some way, shape or form, everyone cares about someone or something. And a lot of people care about my daughter. <br />
<br />
Something else I understand is that God gave me Gracie because for one reason or another we are the best for each other. I will learn from her. She will learn from me. I am meant to be her mom. <br />
<br />
Another thing I understand is that I don't necessarily have the most experience with babies. I get that. This is why I did a LOT of research about certain baby-related things while I was pregnant. I was online all the time looking things up. Another thing I understand is that research and reading aren't quite the same as actual experience with children, but you can learn a whole lot from books. Seriously. A whole lot. <br />
<br />
One thing that I don't understand is why others feel the need to constantly tell me I'm doing things wrong. <br />
<br />
I am a smart, responsible woman with common sense. I love my child more than anything in the world. Except maybe chocolate chip cookie dough ice cream. <em>That's a joke, people. </em><br />
<br />
I know that 26 years ago when I was a baby I slept on my stomach. Yes, I lived. No, nothing is wrong with me. Other than that funny looking nose and the occasional need to interject people's stories and state some sort of "fun fact". But nothing serious. I also know that there was a lot higher rate of SIDS back then and there may have been other babies who had lived if only they had slept on their backs. I am not a crazy free-thinking young whippersnapper for choosing to have my baby sleep on her back. (This doesn't apply so much anymore, but when she was a newborn I would put her on her back and certain people would think I was crazy.) <br />
<br />
I make all of Gracie's baby food. <em>Well, unless we're going to a restaurant or something</em>. Why in the world do people think this is crazy? Quite frankly, I think it's crazy to feed your infant <a href="http://www.cbc.ca/news/pointofview/2010/06/baby-food-too-much-sugar.html" target="_blank">sugary, salty, processed foods</a> from the get-go of their life. Really starting your little one out healthy there, aren't you? Or how about choosing the ones that contain traces of <a href="http://www.news-medical.net/news/20110410/Toxic-substances-including-arsenic-in-baby-food.aspx" target="_blank">arsenic</a>? It almost makes me wonder how anyone who has access to this information could possibly give this food to their baby day in and day out. People say I'm crazy. Well, I guess I'm just a total loon for wanting to not give my baby poison before a year old. <em>Nuts</em>. Was I fed jarred baby foods? Yes. Am I ok? Sure. But maybe - JUST MAYBE - Gracie will be smarter than her mama. Maybe Gracie won't have weight issues like her mama. Maybe she'll live longer than I will. <br />
<br />
Some are concerned because they think my baby will choke on what I feed her. First of all, I blend all of her food right now with very few exceptions. All of the "exceptions" are foods that are perfectly fine for babies to eat. Feeding a 10- *almost 11-month old things like Cheerios, Gerber Puffs, small (<em>small</em>) chunks of cheese, tiny pieces of bread... It's all ok. Feeding them a fair-sized hunk of steak is not. So when I am literally told that feeding my child spinach will cause her to choke I want to scream. Spinach (along with all of the other foods listed) is perfectly fine and normal for a baby to eat. I'm not handing her a string of frozen spinach and telling her to go at it. I use organic spinach, cook it, and <u><em>blend</em></u> it. (I don't always necessarily go organic, just here and there.) <br />
<br />
I wonder why it is that I constantly am finding people sneaking her snacks and saying she's fine. Read the ingredients. Why would I want my baby eating diglycerides and carrageenan? I'm not saying she can NEVER have dessert, I'm just saying let's not feed her those things every single day before she's even able to walk. Ok? <br />
<br />
Here's the deal: I've thought about my baby since I myself was a wee one. I've thought about how I want to raise her. I've dreamed of things we would do together. I get excited to do things for her. know I want to raise her to be smart, respectful, honest, quiet (with an opinion ;) ), loving, healthy, God-fearing... Why is that I make these decisions and choose that I want her to be honest, then I leave her with someone for a day, then find out someone has been feeding her foods that they KNOW I don't want her to have behind my back? Way to teach her honesty. Not to mention - way to make ME trust YOU. I really never want to leave my kid with you again if you're just going to go against my wishes behind my back. <br />
<br />
Don't question me. Don't doubt me. Trust that I'm doing what's best. Ashleyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03340957236053781612noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3038977420070795440.post-83439402176678497322011-11-12T22:11:00.000-08:002011-11-12T22:11:30.125-08:00Pinterest Successes and FailuresI love me some Pinterest. I've recently been able to try a thing or two on there and wanted to put out my opinion on a few things: <br />
<br />
<a href="http://pinterest.com/pin/260153315944392719/" target="_blank">Lemon Crinkle Cookies</a> - This was one of the first things I ever pinned. I love lemon. Hubby says, "Lemon is not dessert!" but I make it anyway. :) These were yummy-licious...the first day...and the second day. But by the 3rd day, they got pretty dry and very "crinkley". I guess I asked for it. I would recommend these for a nice little party or event of some sort. I do not recommend these for the cookies that you bake and then they sit out on a plate and you and your family snack on them for days at a time. They dry out so quickly.<br />
<br />
<a href="http://pinterest.com/pin/260153315944412018/" target="_blank">Crusted Chicken stuffed with Ricotta, Spinach, Tomatoes, and Basil</a> - I had way way high hopes for this one. LOOK AT IT. Seriously. Look. I'll wait.<br />
<br />
Looks delish, right? Well, it tasted very bland. I even added extra salt, PLUS mozzarella and extra Parmesan cheese. It was fine. Hubs even asked to have it again, but "without that green and red stuff" at which I said to myself, "great, he wants me to make it again but take out all the healthy stuff". That's my husband for ya. <3<br />
<br />
<a href="http://pinterest.com/pin/260153315944391873/" target="_blank">Peanut Butter Chocolate Cookie Bars</a> - Oooh...yum. These were rich, gooey, yummy and way unhealthy. But I would remake them. The changes I would make would be to bake the bottom layer before putting the chocolate and top yellow cake mix layer on top. It was sooo gooey and just wasn't cooked at all. I ended up baking it for an extra 15 or 20 minutes and it still wasn't done. Also, I would cut them into smaller pieces. I used a 9x9 and I am almost ashamed to say that I cut 9 pieces from the pan. Almost ashamed. Let's just say I couldn't even eat a whole piece and I've got a sweet tooth like nobody's business. Cut 'em small folks. You won't regret it.<br />
<br />
<a href="http://pinterest.com/pin/500373186/" target="_blank">Cake Mix Cookies</a> - There are many variations to these. My personal recipe that I used most recently was a boxed cake mix, 2 eggs, 1/3 c vegetable oil, 1 bag of candy chips. Mix it all up, bake at 350 for about 8-10 minutes. Easiest. Cookies. Ever. And I'm telling you - there are SO many different variations of mixes/chips, the possibilities are practically endless:<br />
<ul><li>Dark Chocolate and White Chocolate Chips</li>
<li>Milk Chocolate with Reese's Pieces. </li>
<li>Spice Cake with Cinnamon chips</li>
<li>Rainbow with White Chocolate Chips</li>
<li>Red Velvet with White Chocolate Chips</li>
<li>Yellow with Semi-Sweet Chocolate Chips (YUM!)</li>
<li>Devil's Food with Andes Mint Chips</li>
<li>Carrot with Butterscotch Chips</li>
<li>White with M&Ms</li>
<li>Lemon with Powdered Sugar dusting</li>
<li>Cherry cake with Cherry Chip frosting</li>
<li>Strawberry with Lemon Glaze (think strawberry lemonade)</li>
</ul>And you can probably think of like, 80 more than that yourself. I'm telling you - if you're in a bind, needing a quick dessert, give this a try. All you really need is a boxed cake, chips of some sort, eggs and vegetable oil. And a stove. That's it! And those yellow cake/semi-sweet chocolate chips cookies are just like normal chocolate chip cookies. They could pass for cookies that you spent hours slaving over.<br />
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<a href="http://pinterest.com/pin/260153315944396819/" target="_blank">DIY Spray Painted Soap Dispenser</a> - This was my first major pinterest fail. First of all, I think I am just too impatient. I'm sure that's the major problem in this relationship. But second of all, I tried to paint a layer, then put on a sticky letter, then paint the brown like I wanted it on the outside, then peel off the layer, leaving the bottom layer as the "W" (my initial of my last name) but it just peeled off all the paint. And. AND! I have streaks, followed by spots of no pain whatsoever on my bottle. AND! It scrapes off so easily that I did this just over a week ago and it's already peeling in some places. And I'm not exactly rough with my soap dispenser if you know what I mean. Failure.<br />
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I also <a href="http://pinterest.com/pin/260153315944396138/" target="_blank">made my own chalkboard paint</a> and painted a big piece of wood yesterday. I'll let you know how that goes once I give it a shot. I will say I was expecting navy blue, but those Apple Barrel paints aren't quite as accurate as I was thinking they were. :SAshleyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03340957236053781612noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3038977420070795440.post-19967589090476750902011-11-03T23:28:00.000-07:002011-11-03T23:28:47.022-07:00Friday Fun FactsI'm going to do an "injuries" themed Friday Fun Facts blog. I hope you enjoy it. <br />
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<span style="color: orange;">1. </span> I have never broken a bone other than my toes. I broke those by falling (it happens to me) and my foot just happened to kick the corner of a wall...only my foot kind of projectiled into this corner. And I will go ahead and make a diagram here on my blog of how this corner was in relation to me. I am the X: <br />
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I'm not talking corner like this: X> No, no. It was pointing at me like this: X<. <br />
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So my toes split and bruised and swelled up. I never even went to the doctor because my mom knew that they weren't going to put a cast on toes. They were just broken and they would heal eventually. You know, I'm tough. <br />
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<span style="color: orange;">2. </span> I sprained my wrist when I was playing basketball in the 5th grade. <br />
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<span style="color: orange;">3. </span> The words "hip replacement" have actually been mentioned in a doctor's appointment that I've had. And I mean, this was back when I was 21 years old. Luckily, instead of a hip replacement they chose to go with a steroid shot and my hip hasn't had problems since. I'm way thankful that someone out there used their common sense and chose the less-invasive route rather than getting all crazy and replacing my bones at 21 years old. Just sayin'...<br />
<div style="color: orange;"><br />
</div><span style="color: orange;">4. </span> I've had surgery. I had a tumor removed from my lower back when I was 20. It was called a <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lipoma" target="_blank">lipoma </a>which is basically just a fancy word for benign fatty tissue tumor. Which totally made me feel skinny. Ugh...lipomas.... Always bringing on the eating disorders. <br />
<br />
Anyway, they of course had to run tests on it and make sure that it was benign and it was in fact a "lipoma" as they thought. It took 4 days to get those results back. It may have been 4 of the longest days of my life. I cannot imagine waiting for results from a test in which doctors don't seem sure whether something is malignant or not. Scary stuff, man. <br />
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<span style="color: orange;">5.</span> Probably the best one - my fake "broken finger". I used to wrap a finger in Kleenexes, followed by Scotch tape. I also put Lisa Frank stickers (represent) between the Kleenexes and Scotch tape because, you know, casts have bright purple and pink stickers usually. Mainly because I'm classy, but then I would go and tell kids at school that my finger was broken. I actually did this 2 or 3 times in one school year. I blame my parents for making me the third child and never paying attention to me. (Joking.) But seriously, at least this is how I handled middle-child-ism rather than becoming a <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Harold_Shipman" target="_blank">serial killer</a>. And I also got over it in like, the 3rd grade or something. Definitely the better decision on my part. <br />
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Have a beautiful day and <a href="http://pinterest.com/pin/175001987/" target="_blank">don't forget to be awesome</a>. Ashleyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03340957236053781612noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3038977420070795440.post-5140310228439454112011-11-01T00:29:00.000-07:002011-11-01T00:29:38.221-07:00Halloween and Pomegranate MeltdownWhat a unique title...<br />
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Halloween was SO FUN! I am so blessed that I was able to take the day off work and pretend for a day that I was a stay-at-home mommy and get things done and enjoy my day. I could get used to this. Unfortunately...I cannot live above my means. And I like my lifestyle right now. I like it a lot. <br />
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Back to business here. Can't make this post longer than it already is going to be. (Sorry about that, by the way.) <br />
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I went to Walmart with a baby TWICE today BY MYSELF. <i>I know</i>. I showered, I fed the kiddo, got both of us around, headed out, came home, put the kiddo down for a nap, cleaned my car (what, what!), carved out my pumpkins, separated the seeds from the goo, spray painted them and<a href="http://pinterest.com/pin/353218382/" target="_blank"> carved them out</a>, got the kiddo ready for Halloween, took her to Jacob's work and my work - all by myself! Then after we met up with Daddy-o, we went to a friend's house, then to the mall where they had some games and a kiddie haunted house and whatnot (all activities were very much advanced for Gracie, but we didn't realize that until we were already there, so we just wandered around and checked out everyone else's outfits). Then we came home and made a stop by the neighbors' houses. (One of our neighbors was so sweet - she got Gerber puffs and some yogurt blends for her! So thoughtful!) Then we came home and handed out some candy with our friends the Dotys. Here is a picture of Gracie in her outfit with the Doty boys. <br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi4w0uPrN3M-Qg4jl45t_DDreuD3MlRu2UzKCli1ig5rukU3hjE2uoxnqeQTMdlOGQ6gN5l74yAN0wVKfALBJEy0ZWfK3UnrJ-vRul4OJLg386lL6jpLAtjFVlIRnCsxzM-tXMggRCVSmQ/s1600/halloween1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="190" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi4w0uPrN3M-Qg4jl45t_DDreuD3MlRu2UzKCli1ig5rukU3hjE2uoxnqeQTMdlOGQ6gN5l74yAN0wVKfALBJEy0ZWfK3UnrJ-vRul4OJLg386lL6jpLAtjFVlIRnCsxzM-tXMggRCVSmQ/s320/halloween1.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div>Hudson (red) was Lightning McQueen, Gracie was a sock monkey (her favorite toy for the longest time was her purple polka dot sock monkey) and Landon (blue) was a police officer. We had a fabulous time celebrating G's first Halloween. <br />
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After everyone went home or went to bed I started making baby food...because that's what I do. Make baby food. I was doing very well. Started with lentils, then bananas, then carrot/tofu, green beans, spinach (new!), plum (new!), and pomegranate (<i>new</i>...). <br />
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Now...I've tasted the flavor of pomegranate, but I've never made anything with pomegranate before. I've seen Rachael Ray make some sort of something with pomegranate though, and she's nothing special, so I figured, "piece of cake". All I remembered from that episode was that she rolled the pomegranate on the counter and it made this kind of popping or cracking noise. So I got started rolling and sure enough - this weird sound and sensation of feeling like I just broke something crystal inside of 6 layers of leather. <br />
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I liked it. <br />
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No, I <i>LOVED </i>it. I loved it a little too much, actually. I went and somehow poked a hole in my pomegranate. That's when I learned those things are pressurized. Red juice came shooting out at me. It got everywhere. The counter, the stove, my shirt, the floor, my face. <br />
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Imagine me almost giddy having a great time popping my pomegranate and all of a sudden I get a little too giddy, poke a hole in it's vein and it's shooting it's little pomegranate blood at me. <br />
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Okay, after I realized I hadn't just somehow slit open my own wrist, I <i>almost </i>found it humorous. Almost. So next I find a pot for my mangled pomegranate to go in so I can figure out what to do next. <br />
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In the meantime, like any normal person would do, I google "how to peel a pomegranate" and the first thing to show up was a YouTube video titled "How to Cut Open a Pomegranate - Episode 7". Ha! Any fruit that takes 7 episodes for one to learn how to "cut open" it... Well, let's just say that this was the first point that I actually thought to myself, "maybe I shouldn't have gone for the pomegranate". So a YouTube video was a strike. Plan B. <br />
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Squeeze the crap out of the sucker until things come out. Out came maybe a couple of teaspoons of juice. Awesome. There's got to be more in there. This thing's bigger than my fist. <br />
<br />
So I pull out the kitchen shears. I cut it open. And this was when I realized that not only have I never actually peeled/cut open a pomegranate before, but I really don't think I've ever seen the inside of one, either. What in the sam-hill are these things and what in the heck am I supposed to do with them? To say the least, this is not what I expected. I squeezed. I smushed. I tried to get juice out, but all that was happening was these seed thingies were just falling into the pot. I did the best I could. Which wasn't very good. Then I realized I had two pomegranates. <br />
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Ugh... So...I don't know if I need to or not, but I boil these things. Probably a third of the little amount of juice that I have evaporates. I think about watching Episode 7 at about this time, but let's face it - it's too late. I tried mushing these seed thingies with my potato masher. Didn't do anything. So I strain everything through a colander. That might have been right, but I didn't get any EXTRA juice, no matter how hard I pushed with that spoon. <br />
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When I strained it from the pot that I needlessly evaporated it in, I strained it into a bowl. Then I thought I could just dump it into some ice cube trays and make little cubes of pomegranate juice out of it and that would work just fine. So from the bowl I started pouring it into the ice cube tray. You know when liquid magically decides it owns gravity and doesn't go STRAIGHT down, but it just follows the dish or jug or glass that it's being poured from? Yeah...this liquid kicked gravity's @$$. So instead of going into the ice cube tray that I had carefully lined up the bowl with, it dumped itself at the tail end of the bowl on the countertop. <br />
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So instead of 3 tablespoons, I had 2 to work with. This is totally pathetic, but I even tried to sop up the juice from the counter and sort of "wring" it into the ice cube trays. It just wasn't meant to be. <br />
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One hour later, I learned that Gracie will not be eating anymore pomegranates. Ashleyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03340957236053781612noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3038977420070795440.post-81874624860847843392011-10-29T23:29:00.000-07:002011-10-29T23:33:07.257-07:00Dear Gracie<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjhX1iJr8VkNgTSSnj7GLQL2MGx2TVePy7MZtWXBzCe66dKTQiuQMUEOdQn-0UZGvNijxTQM_Fj1hvTUnp5hpsRkBmi3wynklYRNNmVZqTl5GnzQu_JEtEZKJHrczaTYSjQt68J6l0fFJs/s1600/IMG_0044.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjhX1iJr8VkNgTSSnj7GLQL2MGx2TVePy7MZtWXBzCe66dKTQiuQMUEOdQn-0UZGvNijxTQM_Fj1hvTUnp5hpsRkBmi3wynklYRNNmVZqTl5GnzQu_JEtEZKJHrczaTYSjQt68J6l0fFJs/s320/IMG_0044.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><br />
<br />
Dear Gracie,<br />
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There are some things that I want to say to you before you get too terribly old. You are honestly the most amazing thing in my life. I cannot believe how big you are. I cannot believe how much you know.<br />
<br />
A few things that I love about you -<br />
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How you just can't stand to sit and watch someone make you a bottle. People need to understand that you've got a CRAVING to deal with! You need that formula like stink on a pig.<br />
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Your baby sign language. You're starting to figure out "please". All I have to do is put your hand close to your chest and you'll kind of finish it yourself. Your favorite sign though, is "more". All you do is put your hands together, (which is close, but not QUITE right) and you use that in between bites of food all the time. Finally, for "milk" (which you USED to sign with gusto) you just scream. I blame that on Daddy. All you do is cry and he's all "Okay!" This is why God gave him a girl. :)<br />
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When I squeal you squeal right back at me. It's the cutest darn thing. And when Daddy growls you growl back at him.<br />
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You wave at yourself in the mirror. It's so cute. You should see it. Well, I guess you do see it, but you should see it when you'll be able to remember how CUTE it is.<br />
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Your doggies. I'm telling you what, they love you so darn much. Well, Shelby definitely does. Oakley has his days. And if he's doing something like eating, playing, sleeping, laying down, breathing, and so on, you just can't interrupt him with "baby time". But on occasion he loves playing with you. It's funny that you can crawl all over a 70-pound German Shepherd and she's all "Baby! I love babies! Let's play! You wanna pull my ears?! You wanna eat my tail?! Okay! I love babies!" She gets that from Daddy.<br />
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Me on the other hand...I'm a sucker for those quiet times. When Daddy goes to get you out of your crib and brings you into bed with us and we all just lay around and goo goo and pull each other's hair and hide in our "tent" (as Daddy calls it). You make mornings so much better. And after breakfast when I cozy up on the couch with my little 2-foot tall mini me, just chillin' in our jammies, reading Happy Baby Look, Feel, and Say Bunny and Friends among other of your favorites. You love the shininess of the Green Eggs and Ham book but if I try to read it to you you just close it after about 4 pages because it's just too long for a 10-month-old to read in one sitting. It's okay with me, because I like it when you growl like the tiger and "phffffff" like the elephant in the other book anyway. <br />
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Books? They're your favorite. Used to be your sock monkey (which you still love), then suddenly you just couldn't keep your teeth off of the Baby's First Words book...which isn't really all that chewy but...if that's what you like, hey, whatever lady. <br />
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You amaze me daily. Your smile is so beautiful and your eyes...everyone comments on how blue they are. And it's true. They're not just saying that. You have an attitude and a mind of your own and feel the need to be the center of attention... but we're working on that. :) You must get your attitude from your Daddy because I KNOW you don't get it from me. :| And while both your Mommy and Daddy have blue eyes, you definitely get your shade of blue from that Daddy of yours. They match his eyes perfectly. And that's not a joke. <br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiW3Xy3utD37JLkzJdeSndSYUEDYmxwpeumkzXXV8Ws_cocsF7qXTJVUrSjnwRI7ebxC80YUfXyPAYpIsSy9YNAemV4lnDGYFsFU0xcI8J34JjEHVS37ucfyg4z3n9lrFAmoLnxBV_FgBs/s1600/IMG_0111.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiW3Xy3utD37JLkzJdeSndSYUEDYmxwpeumkzXXV8Ws_cocsF7qXTJVUrSjnwRI7ebxC80YUfXyPAYpIsSy9YNAemV4lnDGYFsFU0xcI8J34JjEHVS37ucfyg4z3n9lrFAmoLnxBV_FgBs/s320/IMG_0111.jpg" width="240" /></a></div>I love you sweet pea,<br />
MamaAshleyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03340957236053781612noreply@blogger.com0