Being a young mom means we met a little early, but I get to love them longer.


Here are some links to helpful posts I have done in the past :)

Learn about car seat safety HERE!

Need breastfeeding advice? Click HERE for lots of helpful tips!

Lilypie Fourth Birthday tickers

Lilypie Second Birthday tickers

Lilypie Breastfeeding tickers

Friday, December 30, 2011

Preparing to return to school...

Tomorrow is the last day in 2011. I cannot believe it is already the end of the year.
The day I have been dreading is almost here... January 9th I start school again. There is not one bit of me that WANTS to go back, but every bit of me knows that I NEED to go back for my family, so here I am, registered for five classes. The most I have ever taken at once, so that I can stay on track.

Tuesday, Brentley has a doctor's appointment (his four month check-up), and after that I have to go spend over $500 on my text books :( My dad said that we can probably get that money back through my college fund. That would be great! Then, I am going to Wal-Mart to buy paper, binders, pencils, etc. And then, depending on how Brentley is behaving, I may go shopping for the rest of my clothes. I need sweat pants for sure before I start school back because I am taking weight training.

I have also planned to get up about 30 minutes earlier than I normally would, so that I can feed him before I leave. He hates bottles, so I am terrified that he is not going to eat anything the whole time I am gone. If I feed him before I leave, I will at least know he had something. He usually sleeps for five hours at a time. If he had been asleep for five hours and I didn't feed him, then he refused to eat while I was gone, he would go ten hours without eating :( So, I'm not going to let that happen.

Another thing I have to do is organize my breastmilk. I have over 70 bags of breastmilk in the freezer. They all have dates on them, so I want to organize them by date. That way Chris can use the oldest ones first (because they are only good for 6 months, and the oldest ones have already been in there for three months). I believe that I have about 200 oz of breastmilk stored, which is better than I thought, and I still have 11 days to add to that. And I am going to continue to pump everyday after I start school. I decided that for the first couple of days of school I'm not going to try to pump at school. I want to figure out the best place to pump along whatever path I take to my classes. Plus, Brentley can eat baby food in February. Technically, he can eat it now, but I want to hold him off until he's six months old. Once we add baby food he won't need as much milk while I am gone because we can set his schedule up, so that he eats his baby food while I'm at school.

I know I talk about this all the time, but this is literally what is always on my mind. It takes me forever to fall asleep at night because I can't stop thinking about going back to school. What cute thing is Grace going to say while I'm gone? What if Brentley won't eat? What Brentley rolls over, sits up, crawls, says a word, or something while I'm gone? What if I can't handle school and two kids? How well will Chris handle two kids on his own? How are we going to manage to potty train Grace (which we are going to start doing in January)?
I lay awake laying out plans. Like, waking up early to feed Brentley. I also think of things I need to tell Chris. Like how to handle Brentley if he has a poo-explosion (Chris hates poo). Or how much Brentley should eat while I'm gone, and when Grace should eat while I'm gone. It just all seems so overwhelming right now. I know we will make it work, but until we are in the process of making it work, I am driving myself crazy lol.

Luckly we have both babies going to sleep by 11pm now. We are going to try to get them going to sleep at 10pm because I'm going to have to get up around 6am (I am so not a morning person). But at least Grace doesn't have her nights and days mixed up anymore like she did for the longest time after we came home from the hospital.

Okay, I know I'm rambling. I'll stop now lol. I have just a little over 10 days left until I start back. We can do this!

Wednesday, December 28, 2011

Got a jump start on one of my resolutions...

I went out to spend some of my Christmas money today. I went with the intention of trying on things I would normally try on, and I have to say, I am very proud of myself because I went out of my shell :)... for the most part lol.

I did stay in my shell a bit because I bought some jeans, but I needed them bad! I only had one pair that fit...
I got these.
(And no that is not me. I wish, but no. My legs are like half as long as hers lol.)

 $45 jeans for $15! That is my kind of sale!

I also got this purple dress from Target.

It was the last one left... originally $35, marked down to $13, and when I got to the register it rang up $7! I was in heaven lol.

I also got a shirt from Hollister. I normally don't shop there because they are crazy expensive, but I had a gift card, so I went for it.
I got this shirt.
It was originally like $50! I cannot imagine paying that for a shirt. I paid $27 for it, and that was still way too high for me! But hey, I had to use the gift card somehow.

And lastly, I bought these.

(except mine are black)

They are $40 boots that were on sale for $15!

All together I spent just under $70.
I still have money left on all the gift cards I used today, and I have two gift cards that I haven't even touched yet. I am on the lookout for some leggings, more dresses and cute tops, at least one more pair of jeans, some cute flats, some pants that are either navy or khaki, and some sweat pants (for the weight training class I am going to be taking this semester). 

I am determined to not be plain jane anymore!

Resolutions... do you have any?

I don't usually do the whole resolution thing, but this year I am. I have three.

1. Do not procrastinate!
I am the queen of procrastination, especially when it comes to school. Honestly, I'm not entirely sure it faults me. I can still crank out A grade work, but it does stress me out beyond belief. The longer I procrastinate, the more stressed out I get. I am done doing that to myself.

2. Dress nicely.
I have actually wanted to do this for a long time. I just haven't had the opportuntiy until now. I want dress stylish and girly and professional all in the same. That is what I want to be... A stylish, girly professional woman. I've been gathering tips from What Not To Wear. I know what type of clothes fit my body type, so now I just have to find them. I want more dresses and more accessories to dress-up my outfits. I also want fancy shoes. I want to be that girl with 100 pairs of beautiful shoes in her closet lol.

3. Lose weight.
I am back down to what I weighed when I got pregnant with Grace. Now I want to lose at least ten more pounds, so that I will be back to where I was when Chris and I first started dating. I would really like to lose 20 lbs, so that I would be back to where I was at 15. Not sure if that will ever happen tough. My lowest weight was 110 lbs. Oh how I miss that. Now, I would just be happy at 125 lbs.

Those are my resolutions. Do you guys have any?



Also, we spent the afternoon in the E.R. because Grace slipped and busted her lip on our end table. Blood waas pouring out of her mouth, and she had a hole on both the inside and outside of her lip, so I thought her tooth went through her lip. The doctor said it didn't though, so no stictches or anything. We just have to keep it clean. Once we got home, she was complaining about it hurting, so I gave her some Tylenol to knock out the pain.

Tuesday, December 27, 2011

Christmas is over :(

For us, Christmas is at least a three day affair.

We went to Chris' mom's on Christmas Eve. Chris' step-dad's parents were there also there. The kids got TONS of stuff. Brentley's favorite thing he got was a ball that sings, talks, lights up, and rolls around on it's own. Grace's favorite thing she got was her pink Radio Flyer tricycle. She won't let it out of her site, and she calls it her "bikickle" lol.
Chris' mom gave me $200. I was not expecting that at all!







Christmas day we opened our own presents as a family. I've already talked enough about what the kids got. I got Chris a fish filletting (sp?) set. It had a cutting board, a scaler, two knives, and a glove. I also got him some hand warmers and a That 70's Show dvd. He got me the iPod Touch, a case for it, a charging kit for it, and some screen protectors for it.

(before we touched the presents)





(he was actually helping me open his presents)

(he loves his jumper)

After we opened our presents, we made cinnamon buns. Yum! Later in the day we went to my Aunt's house. I didn't get any pictures there because I didn't get my camera out, but I have one of Grace, who was extremely tired after all the excitement of Christmas.

The day after Christmas (yesterday), my mom and sister came over. Brentley got a nice seat that will supposrt him while he sits up. Grace got a giant foam puzzle with letters and numbers on it. Those were their big presents from my mom. They also got lots of smaller things from my mom too.




After that, we went to eat with my dad, then back to his house for more presents. Grace got a doll house camper that she loves, some clothes, and some other things. Brentley got a Bible, a baby t-ball set, some clothes, and a few other things.


(adorable socks he got from my mom)



(he was trying so hard to roll over)


My dad gave me over $200 in gift cards to several different places (Target, Rue 21, American Eagle, and Hollister). I cannot wait to go shopping! Pretty much all the clothes I have are worn out or no longer fit because they have been through two pregnancies. Plus I started out at 145 lbs, got up to 170 lbs (even bigger during pregnancy), and I am now back down to 145 lbs, which leaves me with few clothes that fit correctly. Now I can finally get some without feeling guilty for spending money on myself because that is the only way these can be spent lol.

Now only 364 days until next Christmas!

I'm going to do a resolution post, maybe later today or maybe tomorrow. Sometime soon.

Monday, December 26, 2011

Brentley's four month update.

My baby boy turned 4 months today! Well, technically yesterday because it's after midnight.

He is getting so big on me! He weighs 21lbs, is in size 3 diapers, size 3 shoes, and mostly 6-9 month clothes.
His hair is now a blondish-brown, and he has a good bit of hair. Much more than Grace did at this age. His eyes are a gray-green color. And he still has the cutest dimples ever.
He is still breast-feeding, and has yet to be sick (knock-on wood), which is a huge relief after all the sickness we went through with Grace.
He is a great sleeper compared to Grace. He sleeps for five hours, sort of wakes up, I feed him laying down, and we both fall back asleep, which he will then sleep for another five hours.

He is also a very happy baby. He loves to try to talk, and he gets the biggest smiles I have ever seen on a baby. He is a HUGE flirt! If a girl starts talking to him, he will instantly start smiling. SO cute!
The only time he ever cries is if he's hungry or wet. He does not like being wet lol.

As far as milestones go. He is reaching for things really well now. And he can grab and hold onto what he wants to. He is also about [ ] <----that close to rolling from his back to his tummy. He was trying so hard today, but he just can't get over his shoulder yet. I think he will do it any day now. And he is also almost sitting up on his own, which leads me to the fact that, if this boy is awake, he refuses to lay down. He literally tries to sit himself up. He strains so hard. He can get his head up off the floor, and he will hold it there until you sit him up lol. If I have him leaning on something like pillows to where he is propped up a little bit, he will flop himself forward (luckly I only do that on a bed, so he lands softly lol).

The only other time he will lay down is when he's eating or really sleepy. He's addicted to rocking in the recliner now. If he's tired, we have to rock or he fights sleep like there is no tomorrow, but as soon as we start rocking he has no problem going to sleep.

Things he loves... me singing to him, talking to his daddy, watching his sissy act crazy, and holding onto my hair lol.

I love my handsome little boy so much, and I cannot believe he is already four months old!



I will do a Christmas post tomorrow, and I will have some updated pictures of him in that post. I just didn't want this post to get lost in my Christmas post since it will be plenty long enough on it's own lol. Also, I got my computer back, finally! Thank goodness! I was going nuts without it. I love my iPod, but it is just not as good as a computer.

Thursday, December 22, 2011

Sorry guys...

My computer got a pretty bad virus. It is at the computer shop being fixed, and I won't have it back until tomorrow at the earliest, maybe not until Monday. The app for blogger is TERRIBLE, and the web version on the iPod is hard to read, so I haven't been on much. I promise I will be more active once I get my computer back.

Sunday, December 18, 2011

Christmas project tutorial: Cocoa mix!

I finished another Christmas project yesterday :) It's a cocoa mix for the gift baskets.

You will need:
  • Cocoa mix
  • Marshmallows
  • Chocolate chips
  • Another topping like sprinkles, M&M's, colored chocolate, etc. (optional)
  • Clear cone shaped treated bags (these are kind of hard to find. I bought a bag of 20 from Walmart.com for $3)
  • Ribbon (color of your choice)
  • Tiny rubber bands (like the kind people put in their hair)
  • Paper or cardstock for instruction tags
  • Construction paper (optional)
  • Scissors
  • Measuring cup
**Makes 10 cocoa cones


Instructions:
  1. Measure 3/4 of a cup of cocoa mix, pour into a cone shaped bag, and tie it off with a rubber band.
  2. Cut the excess bag off the top, leaving about 1/4 of an inch
  3. Place the bag with the mix into another bag.
  4. Mix your chocolate chips and other topping together. I used Ande's peppermint baking chips.
  5. Add the mixture to the bag on top of the cocoa bag.
  6. Add marshmallows to the bag on top of everything else.
  7. Tie it off with another rubberband.
  8. Make your instruction tags... mine read:
    • Warm 1 cup of milk

      Add ½ of the cocoa powder and mix well

      Add toppings

      Either save the rest for later or make enough for 2

      Enjoy!                                                   
    • I chose to type mine, but you could write them if you want.    
  9. I then made a label for the outside and placed some construction paper behind it to make it look nicer.
  10. Punch a hole in your tag and place some ribbon through the hole.
  11. Tie the tag onto your cocoa mix bag                  
  12. Give your gift of yummy chocolatey goodness :)
And just for major cuteness... Meet the newest member of our family. My cousin's baby boy, and one day, Brentley's best buddy :) He's SO tiny!

Friday, December 16, 2011

More Christmas activities, and some good news!

We took Grace to a house that goes all out for Christmas every year. They let you walk around their yard, front porch, and garage. Grace LOVED it! Her favorite parts were inside their garage and all the "choo choos" they had everywhere (one of her new favorite things is trains).









We called my mom because she lives near there, and she brought my sister to check it out.


And Brentley woke up, so he got to check it out too. He was the quietest I have ever seen him while he was awake. He was just looking around, taking it all in.



And the good news, my cousin has her baby yesterday! He weighed 7lbs 13oz. We are going to visit them later today :) She was in labor for 16 hours. I just can't imagine! I was only in labor for 10 and a half hours with Grace start to finish, and 12 hours with Brentley start to finish, and I was worn out both times lol.

Monday, December 12, 2011

Tasty Tuesday :)

Oh my wow! I can't believe I had never thought of this before! When I saw it, I immediately put the ingredients on my grocery list, and then made it last night after we went grocery shopping lol.

I'm not sure what you would call them... I would like to call them pizza rolls, but I am pretty sure that is copy righted by Totino's, and these are much, MUCH better than Totino's pizza rolls. So, ummm pizza poppers? Pizza pockets? Ehh, I don't know for sure, but I do know that they are good!



These are a lot like the pizza recipe I had featured in another Tasty Tuesday post, but these are better, easier, and what I will be fixing instead from now on.

Ingredients:
  • Crescent rolls (1 can)
  • Pepperoni
  • Mozzerella cheese sticks (4)
  • Garlic powder
  • Pizza sauce
Directions:
  1. Preheat oven according to crescent roll instructions
  2. Pull apart your crescent rolls into the triangles
  3. Place 4-5 pepperoni on each triangle
  4. Cut your cheese sticks in half
  5. Place half of a cheese stick on each of the triangles
  6. Roll the crescent rolls up so that the pepperoni and cheese are inside
  7. Sprinkle each roll with garlic powder
  8. Cook for 11-13 minutes
  9. Serve with pizza sauce for dipping (we warmed ours)
  10. Enjoy :)
***This makes eight pizza roll popper pockets (lol), but the recipe can easily be doubled, tripled, etc.