Wednesday, June 25, 2014

short hair, don't care

i had my hair cut and you are only allowed to say nice things about it.
especially since these pictures are sa-weet bathroom selfies.
 i am so crazy about having long hair so
i have no idea how i talked myself into doing this,
but i'm so glad i did.
i think it was time for a change.
the last time i had "short" (for me) hair
was back in college aka 2004.
my inspiration?
a seventeen year old.
and a kardashian jenner.
i know, i know.
but its cute, right?
 
 


so i went to visit my aunt and took kylie's picture.
she did the cut and when i got home,
i did the ombre dye job.
7 inches off and a little more blonde.
love.

 
 
 

Tuesday, June 24, 2014

one year wrap-up

we had brette's doctor appointment
and luckily, ronnie was off early enough
that he got to go too.
she weighs 22lbs 4ozs - 83rd percentile
and is 30 in tall - 80th percentile.
her head was 18cm - 75th percentile.
my big ol' adorable one year old.
i liked it because i got to ask all
my questions i've had for the last 3 months:
how many ounces of milk should she be getting?
is 2% okay or does it need to be whole milk?
is the rash on her arm normal or an allergy?
what do i do about her gross motor skills?

the answers:
between 12 and 18 ozs.
whole milk for the next three months,
then you can do 2%.
totally normal, not an allergy.
meet with a PT for help.

yep, we were referred to a physical therapist at children's mercy,
AND we have someone from first steps coming over.
our pediatrician thought it might be time since
brette hasn't really had any great breakthroughs in the last 3 months.
she is still just sitting and rolling over.
there is some scooting going on,
but nothing to write home about.
i'm so excited to get the help and
to get this baby on her feet.
unfortunately, our PT can't see her for another 6 weeks.
blah.
but the good news is, the lady from first steps
will be here thursday.
i'm so excited to see what she has to say.
 
 
in other news - brette's lip stayed swollen
for a couple more days after my initial post.
i had our family dentist see it and he thought it was infected.
i called our pediatrician and they thought it sounded like a mucocele.
in the end, i just left it alone and it healed itself.
thank god.
but i'm not excited to see the ER bill.
wah wah.
 
 
 


Thursday, June 19, 2014

seafood, kind of

ronnie hates seafood and i love it.
of course.
he'll eat fried catfish and tuna sandwiches,
but that's about it.
imagine my poor life without salmon fillets
and boiled shrimp.
seriously, i'm deprived.
but about once or twice a year i make
tuna noodle casserole and he'll eat that.
it's not his favorite, but he manages.
i thought there has to be a better recipe than
the traditional one i have:
soup, milk, tuna, noodles, peas.  blah.
something that maybe he would enjoy more.
so i went searching on the internet and found this one.
and i think it was seriously good.
i think ronnie kind of, maybe, sort of like it.
hey, i'll take what i can get.
 
recipe:
12 oz egg white noodles
2 5oz cans of tuna
1 can cream of mushroom soup
3/4 C milk
1/4 C mayo
1/4 C sour cream
1/4 C water
1 pkt onion soup mix
1 tbsp worcestershire
1 tsp tabasco
1/2 tsp celery salt
1 tsp pepper
bake at 350 for 30 mins.
 
as i just typed this out i realized i forgot
 to put the mushroom soup in mine. 
whoops. 
it was still good though.
i added crushed chips on the top of it for some crunch
and i didn't have egg noodles so i used fettuccine.
then when there was 10 mins left of cook time
i also added some shredded cheese.
its also an option to add a 1/2 cup of peas or a vegetable medley,
but i prefer my veggies on the side.
 
if you need a fast, easy and CHEAP meal,
try this.
or if your family actually likes seafood,
skip this all together and go straight for some crab legs.
 
 

Wednesday, June 18, 2014

calling all doctors

we had another "first" over here - -
the first trip to the ER.
boo.
brette woke up wednesday morning with the inside
of her top lip swollen. (the frenulum)
it didn't seem to bother her, but it freaked me out.
the way it looked i thought her tooth had actually
gone through it. 
there was a little white part sticking out that looked like her tooth.
it was swollen to where i couldn't see her front two teeth.
i tried getting her lip out from her teeth with a warm
wash cloth and then with a q-tip,
but i didn't make much progress.
and honestly, i was scared to apply much pressure,
plue she was crying so i'm not surprised i didn't get far.
it was about 7:30am and our pediatrician doesn't open
until 9:00 and then i'd have to wait until they have an opening.
soooo - after calling my mom, dad, ronnie's mom and sister
(for back-up opinions)
i decided to take her into the ER to see what they could do.
ronnie was working somewhere out in bfe and had no service,
so i couldn't get a hold of him to let him know what was going on,
so i forged on alone.
i actually didn't have to wait once i got there,
they saw brette right away.
there were two nurses and a doctor.
i laid her down and the two nurses held her
while the doctor tried to get in between her lip and her teeth.
she screamed and cried - - i hated life.
he said that her lip was actually not hung up on her teeth and
her tooth had not gone through her lip.
the white part i saw sticking through was actually
a piece of skin.  (thank god.)
he couldn't really tell me exactly why it was this swollen.
it could either be from an infection or she popped herself in the mouth.
he referred me to the pediatric dental specialist in lee's summit.
he also said that if it was from infection,
they might cut it open to release whatever is in there.
i left with a number for them.
brette passed out in her carseat on the way home and
has been asleep ever since. (2 1/2 hours ago)
i've decided to give her a day or two to see if the
swelling will go down on its own.
i really really don't want to put her through
any sort of procedure if its not necessary.
i'm going to try benadryl and popsicles and hope for the best.
 
i'll keep you posted.
 
i snapped this quick pic after the doctors had left.
i gave B a bottle to help calm her down.
can you tell she was exhausted? 
poor girl.
 
 





Monday, June 16, 2014

her day


we had a little shindig over the weekend
to celebrate brette's big first birthday.
it was perfect.
well, not perfect, but pretty freaking great.
i was running around all week preparing.
cooking, baking, decorating, cleaning.
i think brette appreciated all the man-hours.
no, not really.
but she did appreciate the hot air balloon theme.
my girl loves balloons.
 
she ate a little breakfast,
had so much fun opening gifts,
chowed down on some cake,
and hung out with all her favorite people.
she is definitely loved.
thank you to all our framily (near and far) that helped celebrate.
it. was. awesome.
wanna see?

first, some pics of the party: 
the dessert table.
 
 
 cloud cookies i bought from a local bakery.
so good.
 
peanut butter cup hot air balloon cookies.
i stole this recipe from the pioneer woman.
very very easy to make.
 
i made brette's smash cake using my mom's sheet cake recipe
and the icing was leftover from my cousin's bday and she offered up the rest.
um, yes please.
then i just made a hot air balloon out of a reese's cup and a chinese lantern.
 
next stop, the food table.
i made breakfast casserole and french toast casserole.
then i just cut up some fruit, my mom brought mini muffins
and sat out some juice and chocolate milk.
 
 
 
besides the food, the party was outside.
 

 

 

we moved brette's highchair out there
so she could have breakfast and
get crazy with her smash cake without messing up my entire kitchen.
 
i tied huge balloons to her highchair.
it was supposed to be her very own "hot air balloon."
 
  
next it was time to open presents.
 we sat her in the grass so everyone could see.
 

 
 
ronnie and i tagged teamed the gifts so
it went faster to hold her attention.
it seemed to work.






 
and then, the grand finale of a first birthday.
her big ol' cake.
i had no doubt that brette would love it.
she even made sure to get most of it in her mouth
instead of all over.
(even though i stripped her down to save her outfit.)
no way she was going to waste it.
 
 

 
 
 




 
did brette have a good first birthday?
yes, i think so.
 

Sunday, June 15, 2014

brette: 12 months

 
 
growth:
i have no idea what brette weighs
or how tall she is,
but we have our one year check-up this week, so stay tuned.
she went up a size in diapers and is now a size 4.
she is wearing 12 month clothing and a size 2 or 3 in shoes.
she keeps getting more and more teeth.
she has four teeth up top,
three on the bottom and one molar.
i'm pretty sure she's cutting her other molar this week.
her hair is so cute right now.
lots of curls in the back and a little lighter.
still waiting on the front the get some length.
she is not crawling or walking,
but i see lots of improvement.
she is taking steps now if hold her hands,
so we might skip crawling all together.
hopefully, she'll figure it out soon.
she's getting too heavy for me to carry her everywhere.

 
sleeps:
our sleep schedule is like clockwork.
she goes to bed every night at 8:00
and wakes up at 6:30.
her first nap is around 9:30
where she sleeps about 1.5 hours.
her second nap is at 2:00
and sleeps another 1.5 hours.
i love that napping is no longer a battle for us.
i finally feel like we're in an easy stage.
   
  
eats:
brette obviously has no trouble in the food department.
she has quite the little appetite.
although, she is getting a little bit more picky.
she is now throwing what she doesn't like on the ground.
its not fun for me.
if its green, she's not a fan,
so i'm now blending vegetables with fruit to help get all her veggies in.
but she is a huge fan of meat.
she loves turkey, chicken, bbq, fish, hotdogs - - all of it.
she's still a big fan of beans and corn,
but she also loves dill pickles and sausage.
she stopped nursing last month and
she stopped taking formula the day after her birthday.
that week i started mixing formula with milk
and just added a little bit more milk and less formula until it was all milk.
it only took me four days to get her converted.
now she's taking 2% milk and
shows no sign of noticing any change.
i'm so happy that we're not buying formula anymore.

  
talks:
  she talks a lot.
yelling, pointing, babbling.
i wonder what she thinks she's saying.
she does say mama and dada,
but not consistently.
you cannot drink around her.
if you do, she signs that she also needs a drink.
(same with food.)
my mom and i are pretty sure she is also signing "all done."
we've been working on that so its nice that she's picking it up.
we're going to start working on "more" "please" and "eat."

   
plays:
the cutest thing brette does right now is play hide-n-go seek.
if she has a blanket in front of her she'll pull it up over her face,
and i'll say "where's brette?"
then she drops the blanket and smiles.
we do it over and over and over.
she loves it and i think its adorable.
she also loves balloons.
she always points and wants one at the grocery store.
i ended up blowing some up at our house
and put her on the floor with them.
its a good exercise for her to chase the balloons around the floor.
  
 
firsts:
  she had her first BIRTHDAY!
what's more important than that?
 
 
my little one year old.
watch her grow:
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 ONE YEAR
 
 
 
our photo shoot was a little rough.
brette figured out that the chair rocked so
getting her to sit still was impossible.
i have s e v e r a l  pictures that look like this:
 
 
 
she was also distracted by leia
 
but believe me.
she's a cutie.
 



 
happy birthday, brette!