Scrap Obsession

Let me just start by saying that I have a love-hate relationship with scrapbooking. I love the idea of having a cute little book with Blake's pictures in it. However, scrapbooking is expensive and messy. I put together a book of his ultrasound pictures and I am pleased with it, but I did it twice before I was happy with the result - not a cheap decision.

I have taken a ton of pictures of my little man and have them all organized on my computer. This weekend I discovered digital scrapbooking but I didn't know how to use any appropriate software nor did I want to pay for digital kits. I got a couple of calls this week about moving on in the hiring process for jobs I had applied for. This made me realize that I am potentially about to have a lot less time on my hands. This got a little bit of a fire under my butt regarding getting Blake's scrapbook going. I can see myself now back to work and planning on scrapbooking on the weekend but wanting to instead spend time with my boys. In short - the baby book would never get finished.

So...I taught myself to use Photoshop 7 and found some free digital scrapbooking kits (which you can waste a whole day searching for). Now I am obsessed! I am only on week 3 of little Blake's life, but it totally consumed my Monday. No, I didn't have the Labrador watching Blake all day, he slept a lot yesterday. I guess that explains our still trying to get him to sleep at midnight last night. The scrapbook is on the blog to the right of this post. It is a work in progress, but hopefully I won't feel the need to do every page twice! Any suggestions on where to have this printed when I'm finished?

Dinner, Flowers & Silk...Not What You Think

So I hear it spring...I don't feel it, but being only a few days shy of April I know it's technically here. The last few days (and apparently the next several as well) have been so wet and dreary here I feel like we'll never get that 70 degree sunny weather. The hubby planted some trees in the yard and we have our first bloom! Pay no attention to the dying sod in the background - this bloom is on a pear tree he planted. This is the only sign of spring I see around here.



The other night I threw together a dinner concoction that was very colorful and I thought I would tell you about it because it was really yummy. Joe was a big fan - taking it to work the next day for lunch. It's kind of hard to get that one to eat left overs.



I had some shrimp in the freezer and some squash and zucchini in the fridge, so I sauteed those up in some light butter (whatever that is). I also seasoned it with some garlic powder, paprika and salt. Truth be told, this combination can make anything taste better and I use it A LOT. I boiled some thin spaghetti and tossed all of it together. I'm not gonna lie - I was really proud of myself.



Blake has discovered that he likes to cuddle with a little silkie. Anytime I leave his burp cloth in his lap he seems to grasp it tightly and hold it to his face.
I thought maybe he'd like to cuddle with something that didn't smell like spoiled milk, so I offered the Winnie the Pooh silkie (thanks Jess). It was certainly a winner!

So we maybe might have taken a few pictures today ;)

Happy 12 Weeks!

I don't know why 12 weeks seems like such a milestone, but it does. Blake is 12 weeks today. I think maybe it seems so special because people tend to count in months after 12 weeks. I now will say he is 3 months. Wow!

We went to the doctor at 1 week, 4 weeks and 8 weeks. This was supposed to be a month we could skip, but we just couldn't stay away. Blake was having some continuing reflux issues (hello Zantac) and I wanted Dr. White to take another look at his torticollis (she is much less concerned than I am), so we went today. My little man was 14lbs with his clothes and a wet diaper on - we'll call it 13lbs 8oz. That diaper made quite a thud when it hit the bottom of that garbage can! Blake is officially twice as heavy as when he was born - isn't that amazing? Oh, and he slept 7.5 hours last night, also amazing!

Mom (that's me) got some good news unrelated to baby today. I heard back from one of my interviews that I am moving on in the hiring process. They called and said they wanted me to fill out some papers and they also wanted to check my references. As excited as I am to get back to paying off those student loans, I get sad when I think about leaving Blake. I just can't help but think about what I will miss. I keep reminding myself that I have gotten to be home with him longer than I ever imagined I would and I have been here to see him do so much. Pray that I can remember this and not freak out when it comes time for me to go to work!

Oh, and I finally met some neighbors yesterday. Yes, we have almost lived here for one year now. While walking Blake I came upon two ladies outside in a driveway with a whole mess of kids (yep, I said "mess"). I could see one of them was TINY. Turns out he was 10 days old - a little boy named Jackson - Blake's future playmate. My neighbors were very nice, a nurse practitioner and a stay at home nurse. One of them even invited me to the Mom's group at her church once a month. The church just so happens to be the one that I've been trying to talk Joe into going to. Now if he is ever off of work on a Sunday morning we are bound for Shelby Christian Church. Anyway, I was very excited to meet some neighborhood Moms! All I had to tell them was that I was the house on the right with the obnoxious dogs and they knew right where I lived - how embarassing! Lilly's bark collar shipped today ;)

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Mom is Getting Lazy

We had a great weekend in Northern Kentucky visiting family and friends. Blake met a lot of new people! This was the first time we had ventured up there since Blake arrived. I realized last night that I had taken my camera on our little trip and didn't use it once...Mom is getting lazy I'm afraid. Before I was snapping pictures of every little thing Blake did - lately I completely forget.

Even though I failed to document it with any pictures, Blake did have an eventful weekend. Our little guy met great aunts and uncles for the first time and a few second cousins too. He also got to see some of our friend's kids that he'll be playing with soon! He met (mostly slept through meeting) Jackson who is 19 months, Preston and Dylan who are almost 3, Olivia who is 4, Max is 4 months. He even got to meet another little boy named Blake who is almost 2. All of this and he was only there for one day! Blake also got to spend his Grandma's birthday with her - entertaining her with lots of smiles and baby babble. See...another picture I didn't take :(

A Story To Warm Your Heart

These are our dogs, Sam (White English Pointer) and Lilly (Chocolate Lab). As you can see they have become really close since Blake came into the world. I suppose they don't get as much attention from us now so they decided they may as well be good friends. Sam is supposed to be Joe's "bird dog" - whatever that really means. Sure, Sam is bred to hunt and Joe says he seems to love it, but he sleeps underneath covers and generally doesn't even like being outside most of the time.



Last Sunday Joe was working on some training with Sam in the back of our neighborhood. Our neighborhood still has several open lots in the back and behind them is nothing but farm land. Sam must have smelled something and ran off. For those who haven't been around this kind of dog before - they are like canine cheetahs. Joe spent all Sunday looking for Sam on the surrounding farms with no luck. Our major concern was the fact that Sam had a rope attached to his collar that would make it easy for him to get caught on something and we all know coyotes like to snack on puppy dogs. All week we called animal shelters, posted ads online and left dog food by the back door. By Friday we both really thought that Sam probably had found a new home or a coyote had found him.



I must tell you how Lilly acted the first few days Sam was missing. Normally we could leave Lil out in the house all day long and she would sleep and never touch anything. However, we had one incident with the garbage can strewn across the dining room - no good. Also, she went into the nursery one night and found two boxes of Blake's outgrown baby clothes and threw them all over the room and shredded a box. As mad as we were (because she knew it was wrong) we felt really sorry for her - her furry brother was missing. I suppose a dogs attention span is not as lengthy as ours - by Wednesday she was over it.



Friday night on the way home from dinner we were kind of reminiscing about Sammy and talking about how we just hoped he was somewhere safe. As we pulled into the driveway that night we didn't see anything unusual. We pulled up the driveway, garage door already opening, and we both froze. Having to always state the obvious I blurted out, "It's Sam, oh my God, it's Sam!" He must have been waiting in the front yard and when he heard the garage door start to open (yes, I like to push the button as soon as we pull on our street) he darted inside.



He was skinny but he was home!!! The rope that had been attached to his collar was now only a foot long. He must have gotten stuck somewhere and chewed through it. Sam was actually clean, but he smelled like straw. I suppose he took shelter in someone's barn. He went right back to being Sam - sleeping on the love seat and trying to steal covers when he gets the chance. I had always heard stories about pets that were missing and after days, weeks or months found their way home, but I didn't think Sam would last out in the world on his own for nearly a week.



Welcome Home Sammy!

Before Elmo Was Cool

Before Elmo was cool....there was Burt & Ernie. Apparently I was a big fan of the duo and they were the theme for my first birthday. That was 25 years ago today. Yep, I'm 26! That sounds a lot younger than it used to.

Are Burt & Ernie even still on Sesame Street? I guess I'll find out in time when Blake starts watching. If so, I feel sorry for these guys. Elmo completely stole the show.

Back to the birthday...Joe & I are going to go to dinner and leave Blake with our friends for a few hours. I am super nervous, but I know he'll be fine. I am not sure where I am going to have Joe take me just yet. I kind of want to go somewhere that I wouldn't go if we had to take Blake. There is a little restaurant around here that is supposed to be good that we haven't been to yet. Or...we could go to Louisville. Cheesecake factory maybe? If you have any suggestions feel free to throw them out there.

Oh, and wish me luck at my interview tomorrow!

Just Sayin'

You've been warned.

~Sabotage~

Yes, I know baking cupcakes is no way to win a weight loss challenge. I have no idea why but I REALLY wanted to bake cupcakes. I am going to blame it on my failed attempt to win the cupcake giveaway from Sweet Tea Diaries this week. No worries, I sent them to work with Joe!

I really like to try new things with recipes - even if they turn out so bad Joe won't let me feed it to the dogs - it's fun. I had a regular Chocolate Fudge cake mix and thought I'd try some things that I had heard make cake mix more moist and more healthy. The box called for 1/2 cup of oil - I substituted that with 1/2 cup of apple sauce. I was supposed to add 1 1/3 cup of water and I instead added 1 cup of water and 1/3 cup of low fat sour cream. Of course I also added the 3 eggs that were called for. I did not tell Joe of my tweaks until he ate one. Joe has never been accused of being an adventurous eater. He does not like sour cream (I don't know if he's actually ever tried it) and so he wouldn't eat anything that contained sour cream. Anyway, I could dedicate a whole post to the odd food preferences and dislikes of my husband. The cake was good, not significantly more moist than normal, but lower in calories anyway.

The icing was an interesting process too. I made buttercream icing and decided that it was yummy but that the plain white stuff was too boring. This is no problem if you have food coloring on hand, which I thought I did. I was wrong. I happened to still have the jar of peanut butter, from my morning apple and PB, laying on the counter. Light bulb moment! I took half of the icing and added some peanut butter. I used this to top half of the cupcakes. I still had half of the cupcakes to decorate and went rifling through the cabinets to try to find something else to flavor/color the icing. I found a box of strawberry Jello. I figured it was worth a try...especially since that is my favorite flavor. It didn't take much and I had some very pink, very strawberry icing for my other cupcakes.

Now that the cupcake thing is out of my system I feel much better. Oh, and I must explain the "Sabotage" title of this post. Yes, baking in a house on a diet is potential sabotage. However, peanut butter is my husband's Kryptonite. Even worse - chocolate and peanut butter together. This IS a competition :)

Little Accomplishment

During dinner last night I looked over to see Mr. Blake rolled on to his side! I am not sure when that is supposed to happen, but it took me by suprise. He was looking into the mirror on the play gym. I think it may have to do with him not liking to turn his head to the right - the direction to which to mirror was. I suppose he decided that rolling was easier for him. Maybe it was a fluke - the boy has some strong legs - but I thought it was pretty neat!

Should Arrive Today!

I told you yesterday that Joe's workout DVD that he is using is boring. Any of you who have tried to find something to watch on television on a Saturday or Sunday have seen the infomercial for "10 minute Trainer". Not only is this DVD boring - it is pretty darn cheesy. Not being able to stomach the cheese I decided to look for my own DVD. I found one by the female Biggest Loser trainer. It boasts a possible 20lb loss in 30 days...we'll see. I'll let ya know how it is, but for $8.00 on eBay I won't be able to complain too much!

Small Scale Success

So the hubby and I started a little weight loss challenge just between the two of us last week. We have both gained in excess of 50lbs since we met for various reasons. I'm not going to lie, we single handedly kept Dairy Queen busy making Blizzards at one point...but that's not the point. I suppose other than the Mexican food Monday and the Pizza Hut yesterday I behaved myself this week. My total exercise was a walk with Blake and some serious laundry folding. I was convinced that I had gained weight this week and went to weigh myself this morning thinking I would start better this week....isn't that how diets always go? I stepped on the scale not wanting to look down, but there was no point in just standing there. HA! I lost 3lbs! Of course you are only hearing about this friendly little challenge because I wanted to brag. You'll know how it went if you don't hear anything of it next week. Don't tell Joe that breastfeeding burns ~500 cal a day, ok?

I am off to search for a new workout DVD - Joe's is boring!

Two Month Turkey

Joe says it's too close to turkey season to be calling Blake "my little Turkey." I don't know why I started calling him that, but it's beginning to stick.

Our little man went to the doctor for his two month check up on Friday which included his first series of shots. He was 12lbs 3oz. Daddy won the bet on that one. He guessed he'd be 12lbs - I said 13...oops. He seems really long to me too. We measured him the night before the appointment and thought he was 23.5" long. They said 22.5" at the doctor...I'm pretty sure he didn't shrink over night. He has met all of the developmental milestones that he should have. Blake is cooing, smiling back at us, and trying really hard to hold up his head longer and longer. He was not excited about the shots, but we gave him Tylenol every 4 hours and it wasn't too bad. He slept for hours after the shots and when he woke up his leg was really sore. Everytime he moved his leg he screamed. He slept on Mommy most of Friday night and between us strapped into his Boppy the rest of the night. The next morning he was a new man....smiling and talking up a storm!

Cute As A Cupcake

I am pretty new to the world of bloggers and began this blog with the sole intention of keeping our friends & family informed about our little guy. However, being at home and continuing to grow my blog I have discovered how much fun it is to read the blogs of others. I only knew a few people who had blogs when I began and I would look at the blogs that they read on occasion. I must say..it's kind of a black hole. You go from one blog to another and then you don't remember who's blog you started on, but it's entertaining anyway.

I haven't quite figured out the blogger giveaway phenomenon yet, but I like it. The only thing I can figure is that it is a tool for bringing more attention to the blog - and that it does. I entered in my first giveaway today - it is super cute! The prize is a bunch of cupcake making goodies. And - I love the name of her blog. http://sweetteadiaries.blogspot.com/ Deadline is tomorrow...better hurry!

While my baking habit is not very good for the waistline it is a lot of fun! If I could make any money doing it I would quit my day job...you know, if I had one.