me want some cookies

my big family cookie exchange is saturday

and i'm so excited!

i haven't participated in the actual

exchanging of cookies in a couple years

because i don't really need 8 dozen cookies at my house.

normally i just take home the candies we make that day

and call it a year.

but with two girls and a pending party at my house

i thought i should actually partake this year.

my family is graciously letting me do the exchange,

but cut in half.

instead of baking a dozen cookies for everyone,

i'm only doing half dozens and that's what i'll get in return.

its a lot more manageable for me and it will

help me avoid eating a few dozen cookies over the next month.

added all up i'll need to get three dozen cookies pounded out.

i'm gonna be one baking son of a bitch on thursday.

hopefully the girls cooperate.

last time i did the exchange i made monster cookies.

they are seriously good.

and the time before that i did crappy sugar cookies,

but with good cause.

this year i had an idea to do s'more cookies.

i found a recipe that seems pretty easy,

so i'm going to try it out.

i'm hoping they're a hit.

 

here's the recipe:

make your normal chocolate chip cookie dough.

crumble up a cup of graham cracker.

cut 6 marshmallows in half.

add 3/4 cup of your graham cracker to your cookie dough.

take your 1/2 marshmallow and roll your dough around it.

then roll your ball in the remaining graham cracker crumbles.

bake at 350 for 12 - 15 minutes.

now i just have to do this times three.

wish me luck!

christmas shopping

shopping with a four month old and

a two year old doesn't work.

well, it works, but i hate it.

brette wants to touch everything

and reid doesn't like to sit in her carseat for that long.

just the other day i had to let brette pick out something to hold

while i held reid as we walked around wal-mart's toy aisle.

oh what fun.

so i did something i hate.

i bought almost everyone i know gift cards.

wah wah.

it's not fun for me.

it's not personal.

and it's lame to wrap.

BUT it gets me in and out of the store in less than 5 minutes

and that is most important these days.

now i only have three people left.

except for what i need to finish up brette and reid's gifts.

when it comes to shopping for the girls,

gift cards won't work and i don't want brette to see what she's getting

so i've done a lot of online shopping.

in fact, a lot of deals i found were better online than in stores anyway.

i'm all about the convenience and the fact that

it's delivered straight to my door can't be beat.

 

 

i'm sticking to my little rhyme from a few years back...

something you want,

something you need,

something to wear,

something to read.

 

we got brette:

a big wheel

a table and chairs set

to be determined, but right now we're looking into cowboy boots.

and this book.

 

we got reid:

a toy,

to be determined

a swimsuit

and this book.

 

this does not include their ornament, pj's and xmas books

their elf on the shelf, tootie, brought them their christmas pj's,

they will get their ornament on christmas eve

and we're having a breakfast party with all my girlfriend where

"santa" brings them their christmas book.

then i have a bunch of small stuff for their stocking.

whew.

 

now who wants to pay my credit card bill?

please?

anyone?

hello?

it's beginning to look...

...a lot like christmas.

unfortunately it doesn't look exactly like

what i had pictured in my head.

my old house had a very different decorative vibe:

black, white, green, birds, leaf patterns.

so when it came to decorating for christmas

i used a lot of red, silver and sequins. 

oh yes, there was lots of sparkle.

and it looked great.

but in THIS house

it looks weird and out of place.

last year we lived with my parents over the holidays

so i hadn't seen my decorations in two years.

when we i got them out, i was sorely disappointed.

this house needs wood, plaid, cotton sprigs,

pinecones, cranberries, gold and deep red.

so basically i need a lot of new stuff.

that's not great news when i don't have the budget

to go out re-buy all my christmas décor.  

i mean hello, i'm busy shopping for gifts!

 

so i scrounged up what i could,

and made do.

i plan on borrowing a few more things

my mom found that she doesn't use.

maybe i can go out at the end of the season and

get some more on sale and have it for next year.

until then, this is it.

notice my tree has no topper?

it used to be a big silver sparkly bow and

it totally doesn't go anymore.

i actually bought this because i just

had to have one more thing of garland.

my old table runner was black velvet.

it's heinous.

i remember i had this scarf hanging in my closet and since

i wanted to incorporate plaid, i thought

this was a good cheap option.

i'd like to replace the big sequined ornament with a wooden sleigh

and add a few cotton sprigs,

but obviously that will have to wait.

i hate everything about my island décor,

but i have no ideas and nothing left to use,

so this will do for now.

my mantle needs work too.

it needs height.

i'd love to find some reindeer or trees to add.

i'd also like to fill my wooden toolbox with poinsettias.

ps- my mantle garland has lights but one must have

burned out because they wouldn't turn on today.

sounds like a job for ronaldo.

i love my wrapped columns.

basically i just loved lit garland.

 

 

so when i finally do get to go out shopping for new things i

have a few ideas from either instagram or pinterest

that i thought would work great.

now i just need to find the right items

and recreate something similar.

 

 

 

this was my original inspiration picture.

i took a screen shot so i could keep it.

it basically has everything.

cotton, cranberries, wood, old trucks.

it's perfect.

the rest of these are based off this first idea.

 

very cabin chic.

wish me luck finding all these amazing things for super cheap!

tis the season, right?!

 

 

 

amen

not last weekend,

but the weekend before

(i know, i'm a week behind)

we had miss reid elizabeth baptized.

 

she is now officially part of the catholic church.

i wanted her to have her special day like brette

and get to wear her mimi's gown.

i wanted our family to get together to celebrate

and i wanted her to know that there has always

been so many people looking out for her

and her faith.

 

its kind of hectic to try to get the house clean,

lunch made for 15, both girls dressed, myself ready and

out the door by 10:30.  

in fact, it took me about 2 days just to pull this off.

its a long drawn out process of grocery shopping,

cleaning while kids sleep, cooking soup ahead of time,

baths the night before, ironing the morning of.

then realizing you forgot dessert and whipping up something super fast.

it always ends up in a mad dash to pull everything together at once,

but i want days like this for my girls.

days filled with family.

so even though it basically takes over my life for a couple days,

its well worth it to get memories like these:

 

 

ps- thanks again to my cousin kelly, for these amazing photos!

#thankful

we had a really nice thanksgiving.

a stress-free morning,

a delicious meal at ronnie's sisters.

lots of lounging.

and since brette didn't nap,

she fell asleep on our way home and

we had both girls in bed by 6:30.

s u c c e s s f u l

 

 

 

another success?

my desserts.

seriously. the bomb.

 

 

this year i'm thankful for family:

the little one ronnie and i created.

they're seriously perfection.

my immediate family, that i'm lucky enough

to see and share a meal every monday night.
they would do anything for me and my girls. 
(well, anything except make a special trip to bring me thanksgiving leftovers. ahem, dad.) 

my extended family that makes traditions fun, important and a good time.

and my chosen family. 
the girls that i get to call my best friends and
will be my village while raising our kids together.

 

love you all.

THANK YOU for being a part of our lives.  

 

 

ps -

i have to work tomorrow

so ronnie will spend a full 11 hours

with both his girls and no help.

send your prayers.

pumpkin pie cake

i'm in charge of desserts and rolls for our thanksgiving dinner.

of course, pecan pie is on my list.

it's mandatory and i must admit,

i make a mean pecan pie.

and just in case anyone out there is looking for

another last minute thanksgiving dessert idea,

here's what else i'm making:

 

pumpkin pie cake.

 

 

i've never been a huge fan of pumpkin pie,

but i feel like pumpkin something should be on the table.

so when a co-worker said she had an amazing pumpkin cake recipe

i thought i would give it a try.

 

here's what you'll need:

1 can of pumpkin

1 C evaporated milk

1 1/2 C sugar

1 tsp cinnamon

1/2 tsp nutmeg

1/2 tsp allspice

4 eggs

1 box yellow cake mix

1 stick butter

grated pecans

 

mix the pumpkin, milk, sugar, eggs, and all the spices

together until well blended.

pour into a 9x13 pan and

sprinkle the box of cake mix on top.

melt the stick of butter and

pour over cake mixture.

top with chopped pecans.

bake for 45 minutes at 350

(or until it passes the toothpick test)

 

 

ENJOY!  and have a happy thanksgiving.

now excuse me,

i have some baking to do.

reid: four months

 

these months are going faster and faster.

and just like that she's four months old.

growth:

we actually have her fourth month well-baby visit tomorrow.

i'm so excited to see how much she weighs and her height.

i think she's grown so much.

her neck strength is very good.

she holds it up on her own all the time.

she's rolling side to side but hasn't completely flipped over yet.

and right now she prefers to be held,

but i think, for good reason.

she's in that in between stage where she can't sit up

on her own yet, but she doesn't want to lay down all the time either.

so basically, she wants someone to sit her up so she can see

what's going on and be a part of the action.

she's in size two diapers and 3-6 month clothing.

her hair is staying red and she has quite a bit of it.

we can actually already put barrettes in it,

but she is getting that bald spot in the back.

wah wah.

hopefully it grows in fast once she's sitting up more.

her eyes are blue and fingers crossed, she keeps them.

she has the cutest little grin and

the highest pitch scream i've ever heard.

i'm hoping that's just how she cries and that she's not in pain, but

we've been messing around a lot with her reflux medicine and

her pediatrician upped her dose. 

i'm anxious to see what she wants to do when we meet tomorrow.

i'm thinking we either need to try something new or

prescribe her more because in the last few weeks i've

noticed the puking has come back and she's arching her back

a lot which is a sign of discomfort.

i just don't want my sweet girl to be in any pain.

 

 

sleeps:

our sleep routine is a joke.
night time is still on point but with the time change
it went from 7:45 to 6:45 and that means
i'm upstairs nursing her by 6:15.
it makes for interesting dinners and has pretty much
put a hold on most social invites.
if its past 5:30, i'm out.
i've tried to slowly push it back,
but i don't think we're ever gonna make it past 7:00-7:30.
she's just too tired.
mostly because her naps are all out of wack.
i can't seem to get on a schedule.
she gets up about 6:46 and is back down for a nap
by 8:30.  that only lasts about an hour.
then she's back down around 11:30,
unless we're out running errands and then i hold her off until 1:00.
but once again that, doesn't last long.
our sweet spot is normally around 2:00.
i can sometimes get a couple hours out of her.
and then she's back down around 5:30,
but only for 30 mins.
(enough time for me to scarf something down for dinner.)
and finally she's out for the night around 6:45.
add brette's nap in there at 1:00 and i literally feel like all i do
is feed kids and put them to sleep...
and somehow its exhausting.

 

 

eats:

she still eats every two hours.
there is no lengthening out this girl
because she doesn't just lay there and eat very often.
brette would nurse a constant 25 minutes.
reid is too busy looking around or messing with her face
so unless she's swaddled, i normally only nurse for 15 minutes.
since she's not getting as much food, she doesn't go as long in between.
i don't mind it because i don't know if brette
would last that long waiting for us to be done anyway.

i nurse her the days i'm here and

on mondays and fridays, she takes a bottle.

she's started eating more: 4-5 oz bottles,
 which means i need to start pumping more.
i was just pumping at work, but i can
see my freezer supply of milk is dwindling, so
i'm probably going to have to start pumping before bed every night.
after i put her down for the night she sleeps until
4:30 - 5:30 - basically 10 hours before needing to nurse again. (such a champ)
recently she's been busting out of her swaddle so i've nursed her a few extra times
this week, but nothing to complain about.
also, at four months i'd like to start giving her some water.
probably once or twice a day i'm going to try to get a few ounces down her.
we'll see if she'll take it.

 

 

plays:

her favorite toy is her pacifier.
she hold on to it and can actually put it in her own mouth,
but she also spends a lot of time messing around with it
which produces a lot of squeals.
she is so loud.
and she talks all the time.
dear lord, i think i got blessed/cursed with two
loud, talkative girls.
sa-weet.
i've been trying to get her to do more tummy time
so she can roll over soon, which will also
help strengthen her abilities to sit up on her own...
something she is dying to do.

 and i'm waiting for her to find her feet.
i remember B was obsessed with her feet,
but i don't think reid has realized they're down there yet.
 

 

firsts:
she was baptized on her 4 month birthday (more on that later)

first holiday! (hello, halloween)
she went to her first sporting event - a football game.
i'm sure there are more, but i can't think of any.
 

 

 she's doing really well and i'm
getting really excited for the holidays.
i can't tell you how amazing its going to be to
watch brette and reid celebrate together.