Happily a Law Mama

Controversial Thoughts On Being a Working Mom

2012-02-10T08:58:00.000-08:00

I had a planned post about being 16 weeks pregnant and about the fact that I'm already getting excited about decorating a nursery. But then I saw that this week on Kelly's Korner is "Working Moms," and I just had to post.

This is something very near and dear to my heart.

I am a full-time working Mom. I have a 20 month old daughter, another daughter on the way, and a husband who is a surgery resident and works upwards of 80 hours a week.

It is tough at times. It is trying. But it is the way I WANT it to be.

I went to law school and after finishing decided to take my career path in a different direction. I don't currently work at a law firm. Instead, I am the Academic Director for the Middle School and Upper School of a very prestigious school. My hours are manageable compared to my husbands and those of an attorney, but on average, I work about 45 hours a week.

People have often asked me things such as: "don't you want to see your children walk for the first time?" or "why do you work if your husband is a doctor?" (yes I've been asked both of these MULTIPLE times)

I used to get REALLY offended. I think working Moms are usually lumped in to this category of "we only do this because we HAVE to."

Not the case for me. I WANT to work. Personally, I enjoy coming to work everyday, and to be COMPLETELY honest, I think I'm a better Mom and wife because I work.

No the balance isn't easy. Having her in daycare and dealing with dropping off and picking up everyday can be tiring. When the daycare is closed and I have work, we're always in a pickle. If we pay for someone to babysit all day that could be very expensive, but then again, I get very little vacation throughout the year (we're talking 5 days total) so taking one day is a big sacrifice. My husband surely can't cancel a ton of surgeries, so like I said those days are really rough. When she's sick we have to manage and balance. But we find a way. Also, my daughter has the most amazing immune system know to man kind and hasn't had a sickness with a fever since she was about 4 months old. She got Daddy's immune system. I'm very thankful for that!

You just rearrange your schedule and have to live very organized. I HAVE to go grocery shopping on the weekends because by the time I get home from work I wouldn't have time to go grocery shopping. Yes this means we have quick and easy meals often, but it works for us.

The biggest advice I can give for it all:

(1) make sure your husband is supportive of your working or not working. I HATE it when I hear husbands resent their wives working or not working. Fortunately for me, Evan WANTS me to work. He knows it makes me happy, he think it's what fits US as a family, and he realizes that we can balance it all and be happy. I know of couples that the husband automatically thinks the wife will stay home and what if she doesn't want to? I see these things as FAMILY decisions. I don't see why the woman is always the one that has to stay home. What if the husband wants to do it too? I think it's a totally personal decision and I truly support EITHER way of living. Just make sure you and your spouse are on the same page about it.

(2) make sure to still make time for yourself. This is probably the hardest part of it all. Since I do daycare drop off and pick up everyday, this takes another chunk out of my day. And since I HAVE to be at work by 7:45, I don't get to stay up late. We pay $700 a month in daycare and when #2 comes along, that will double. By the time you do the math, my paycheck really isn't helping much. This is very difficult to come to terms with sometimes. But since this is what I WANT to do and since I am still helping a good chunk financially, it works for us. If the baby has a rough night, I can't just come in later. It's easy to feel drained in this regard. BUT, I still make it a point to find me time. Sure this means that the laundry often isn't done or that the kitchen isn't perfectly clean, but for me, my time to exercise is sacred. I go about 3 to 4 times a week and yes, we pay more for a gym with daycare, but it's so worth it. I don't go for long, but while I'm on that treadmill I'm in my zone and by the time I'm done, I am rejuvenated, feeling good about myself, and ready to finish the evening with my lovely girl.

LAST thought on this topic and the most important to me;

DO NOT judge people on whether they stay home or work.

I must admit I am guilty of thinking "what do SAHM's do all day?" before having children. HA! I don't think this anymore. Trust me. NOT AT ALL. I know it's consumed with cleaning, feeding, keeping the kids under control, just hoping that nap time comes faster, etc.

On a different note, don't judge a Mom for wanting to work. If that's her decision, be supportive of it! Let her know that it's a different balance. Let her know you support that. I think people often say "being a stay at home mom is the most difficult job on Earth" and you know what? I AGREE! I couldn't do it! But on the other token, why can't we give credit to Moms that help provide financially and still take on the Mom and cleaning/ cooking etc. role as well?

Every Mom in the long run wants to do what's best for their family. And criticizing others for this decision isn't going to help one bit!

I say ... want to stay at home? GOOD FOR YOU!

... want to work? GOOD FOR YOU!

Let's all come together and rejoice in the fact that we're fortunate for what we have and support each other while we're at it.

It's A ...

2012-02-09T08:53:00.000-08:00

I was nervous that he wouldn't be able to tell us if it was a girl or a boy because I kept remembering that he said "if the baby cooperates I'll let you know."

BUT ... the baby DEFINITELY cooperated because he wasn't looking for more than 30 seconds before he said:

"I'm putting all my eggs in one basket to say..."

We are SO elated and excited to say we're having another baby girl!

Her name will be Gloria Isabel. My grandmother, Tata, was named Gloria. Tata and I were VERY close. She was SUCH a unique and special woman. I wish I could describe the kind of woman she was in words, but needless to say, she was something else. She was the most generous kind hearted woman on Earth and I am so honored to name our baby girl after her.

The middle name is Isabel because that's MY middle name! We debated for a while over what sounded good middle name wise and when I used my middle name we realized "dang that sounds good!" SO, it was set.

Now ... for the not so good part. The revealing of the sex was exciting in and of itself, and he says he's pretty darn sure. I didn't really get any good views, but I think I did see at one time that there was nothing in between those legs. Then though, he started looking closely at ... my placenta.

My placenta is not where he'd like it to be right now. In fact, it looks like placenta previa. Placenta previa is a complication of pregnancy in which the placenta grows in the lowest part of the womb (uterus) and covers all or part of the opening to the cervix. Now he did mention that early in pregnancy this is pretty common and it's also MOST LIKELY that the placenta will move upwards more and we won't have any worries.

That is what I am PRAYING will happen.

If not, it could get really hairy. I will definitely have a c-section and it will be a scheduled one. The one concern with this is that I deliver pre-mature babies (like Liliana was) so we might not have the ability to do that. He can't check my cervix either to see how I'm progressing so this could get tricky. IF this continues and it doesn't move, this means that whenever I bleed, I will have to be hospitalized for a few days. If it happens again, I will have to be on hospital bed rest. YUCK to the maximum. I don't know HOW we would even manage that. What would we do with Liliana? What about work? etc. To say it sounds incredibly stressful is a complete and total understatement.

For now, I will TRY to keep my head up high and relish on the fact that CHANCES ARE it will move up and we will have nothing to worry about. The doctor kept going ON and ON about how active the baby was and saying he never sees babies that active at 16 weeks. I think people thought I was crazy when I said I was feeling movements that early and that Evan felt movements that early, but I made him a total believer!

I am truly so excited it's another girl. I think it will fit our family so perfectly.

Liliana and Gloria = BFF!!! : )

Friday's Little Things

2012-02-03T12:52:00.000-08:00

(1) I am SO freaking glad it's Friday. This week has gone by REALLY slowly for me. Usually the weeks fly by, but time is CRAWLING by this week and I'm guessing next week will be even worse because it'll be closer and closer to finding out if we're having a bambino or bambina.

(2) Speaking of whether we'll have a lady or a gentleman, I'm having SERIOUS panic attacks because we don't know the boy name yet. Seriously. Like, full fledged feeling hot at my desk when I realize I feel kicks and don't know what we'll name them. I have this WEIRD desire to know the name (or at least 2 contenders) when we find out the sex. I want to IMMEDIATELY start calling them by name for some reason. We are SET with the girl - first and middle name. As for the boy, we came changing on nearly a daily basis. By we, I mean I do. Evan's cool as a cucumber about it all. I do think I know what I want, believe it or not, and it isn't even a name that I've mentioned on here before. I don't have a middle name to go with it yet ... we'll see!

(3) Last weeks Glee was brilliant. I am a Michael Jackson fan, but not a huge one by any means. That show, somehow made me a bigger fan. It was cleverly done. I think it's kinda dumb that Rachel and Finn are engaged though. That being said, TRULY, if Evan had proposed to me when I was 18, I would have said yes. Isn't that crazy? I knew he was the one for me even that young. And you want to know something even crazier? I don't think my parents would have been unhappy. They always knew too. Now ... about next week? DUDE! RICKY FREAKING MARTIN! I CAN'T WAIT! A Puerto Rican on Glee? I am SO there.

(4) Over the weekend, Evan and I went on a date and saw the Descendants with George Clooney. I know everybody loves it, but nobody told me the movie was REALLY freaking depressing. Seriously. Like, bawling in the movie theatre. And it isn't only the pregnancy hormones. The movie is about a guy finding out his wife was having an affair on him and she's in a coma now, so how does he recover through this and still raise his two daughters who he has never really been there for. Sounds like a picker-upper huh? I would recommend renting it, because it is brilliantly acted and the story is compelling, but I wouldn't pay $9.00 to need a box of Kleenex.

(5) Since I started my whole "Lacefield Home Renovation" project, I've been pretty addicted to HGTV. I've watched all the Color Splash on my OnDemand and can't get enough. Have you guys discovered houzz.com? It's like pinterest, simply for decorating. ADDICTING. Evan and I have been pinning stuff and just writing messages back and forth to each other. We've had a pretty good time with that.

(6) Liliana fell at daycare yesterday. She is in to this new thing where all she does is RUN. No walking allowed for her anymore. As a result, she's falling more often and she did in the playground. The daycare immediately called me and they were so apologetic. I kept telling them not to stress. Liliana has fallen in front of me at least 5 times this week. We don't have cat like reflexes. They even called me last night because they were wondering how she was doing! She doesn't notice, but her face does look pretty beat up. You can see the bruising underneath her eye and then the main cut under her nose. Poor baby girl!!! : ( Mommy's heart broke for her. She still smiles though ... and those eyes ... dear lord. GORGEOUS.

(7) That's it. I had lots of thoughts ... and none of them were that "little" either. Have I mentioned I'm excited for the weekend? I need sleep!

15 Weeks Pregnant - T-shirt Project

2012-02-02T07:06:00.000-08:00

Today I am 15 weeks pregnant with BITO. This week, symptoms wise, has been GREAT. I have felt really good, my belly isn't growing at the astronomical pace that it was doing previously, and we've just grown more and more excited to see if it is a boy or a girl!

We have the results of asking everyone whether they think it's a girl or boy. Since we took the pictures, we've had more votes ... but I'll give the results in a bit. For now, here is the 15 week T-shirt project. I LOVE the picture with Liliana. When we ask her where the baby is, she lifts up her shirt and points to her belly. It's hilarious.

15 Weeks Pregnant Survey

How Far Along: 15 weeks today

Total Weight Gain: if I had to guess, it's about 2 to 2.5 pounds. I haven't weighed myself in a while. I will know next week when I go to the OB.

Stretch Marks: None. I'm hoping that since I didn't get them with Liliana, I won't get them this go around!

Sleep: Not great. I fall asleep quickly but wake up often. I also have STRANGE and VIVID dreams.

Miss Anything?: This week I didn't miss much! I do miss wearing my contacts full time b/c the pregnancy has given me VERY dry eyes. BUT this week that got a lot better and the opthamologist gave me the green light to wear the contacts a few hours here and there. YAY.

Movement: The last two days I didn't feel ANYTHING. That had me quite worried although Evan assured me that since I was feeling movement so early if the baby moves just a little I could stop feeling movements. While I listened to him, I only sorta did and still had my concerns, but I am glad to report that today I've felt quite a few already and those make me smile.

Food Cravings: CANTALOUPE! The cantaloupe at the cafeteria at work is simply AMAZING. I've also wanted banana pudding and haven't made it. I need to get on that.

Food Aversions: Anything messy looking still doesn't seem safe to me, like stew or chili. I'm sure it also has to do with the fact that this winter in Little Rock has been incredibly mild. I mean, the high is 70 degrees today!

Gender: WHO KNOWS! We find out a week from today! In fact, in exactly one week to the minute, we will probably know because our appointment is first thing in the morning.

Looking Forward To: Hmm ... not much. HAHA! YEAH RIGHT! Finding out if we're having a little girl or a handsome boy! CAN'T WAIT! I was excited with Liliana, but for some reason, I KNEW it was a girl that time. While I still think it is, I just want to know FOR SURE. : )

Now for the results of the tallies. When we took the picture, we hadn't received 5 extra votes that we got. The FINAL tally came to:

BOYS: 29

GIRLS: 20

When we took these pictures, all the tallies weren't in, but Daddy still made his smug face and Mommy still made her "just you wait and see!" face!

Is it a Boy or a Girl?

2012-02-01T07:14:00.000-08:00

It's time to play the gender guessing game!

DO YOU THINK BABY LACEFIELD #2 IS A BOY OR A GIRL?

I can't believe we're already at the stage of the pregnancy where we're asking this! With Liliana, we would have been finding out tomorrow that she was a girl b/c my Mom snuck us in to the ultrasound room. Unfortunately, since I'm states away now, we have to wait until February 9th (16 weeks) to find out. I know that's still early, but I'm not very patient.

Tomorrow morning I will take my "15 week" update pictures and I want to have a paper in the background with everyone's tallies and what they've guessed. As far as I can tell, so far I have 13 votes for boy and 12 votes for girl, but the day is young still!

Let me know what you think by either doing the poll on the left hand side, leaving a comment, or both!

Here's some information I want to keep for memories sake:

(1) I think it's a girl. Don't know why. I have from the second I saw the two lines.

(2) Evan thinks it's a boy. He says my pregnancy has been quite different from the first time around and that's why he guesses boy.

(3) The Chinese calendar says boy.

(4) The "Gender Predictor Quiz" I took on parents.com came out saying boy.

(5) The heart rate at the 11 week visit was 163 which indicates lady.

(6) Everybody keeps asking us "what do you want?" Truth be told, I completely thought I would want a boy since I have a girl. But that's actually not the case! I would love another girl so that Liliana and her could be best friends. Since they would be 2 years and 2 months apart and that's quite close, they would be best friends for life. I think this would be such a special thing to see. That being said, of course we would be delighted with a boy too! We just don't have a name picked out for a boy so maybe I'm also saying girl b/c I'm being lazy and don't want to have to decide on a name! haha.

(6) This pregnancy HAS been different:

- With Liliana, I felt sick 24/7 but threw up only twice. This pregnancy, I've thrown up about 10 times, but in general only feel sick at night time. The mornings and the day, for the most part, aren't bad at all. Also, for the last week, I have barely felt sick even in the evenings. With Liliana, I felt horrible until 20 weeks along.

- My boobs didn't really grow with Liliana. This go around, I had to go buy new bras at 11 weeks b/c they simply didn't fit in to my other bras. They also hurt like CRAZY for weeks on end.

- I started showing much sooner this go around. I can still wear regular pants and only wear the bella band on certain days. I am in maternity tops full time for the most part though. With Liliana, the pants were the first thing to change.

(7) On the other hand, this pregnancy has had its similiarities:

- I don't glow. I get zits on my face, particularly my forehead. Happened (and currently happening as I have 2 huge ones on the forehead and one monstrous one on the chin) with Liliana and I'm hoping this symptom goes away soon.

- With Liliana, my gut instinct from the very beginning was girl as well.

- Just like with Liliana, we have a girl name picked out but not a boy name. We have the boy nursery decor picked out, but have no clue with the girl.

Only a weeks worth of time will tell (if the baby is cooperating that is)! In the mean time, I guess these wives tales and motherly intutition will have to keep me going! ; )

Exercising and Keeping Fit While Pregnant

2012-01-31T09:03:00.000-08:00

When I was pregnant with Liliana I did a horrible job at keeping fit. I felt so sick until I was 20 weeks along that I RARELY exercised. When I got pregnant wiht Liliana, I was doing home workout DVDs about 4 times a week and was pretty fit so it was a huge hit to my happiness that I had to cut out those workouts. Once I started feeling better, I started doing some pregnant workout DVDs (although I must admit, I don't care much for any of them) and before you knew it, I was put on "exercise bedrest" at around 30 weeks because I was having contractions when working out. Moral of the story: not much exercising happened while pregnant with Liliana.

For this pregnancy, I promised myself it would be different. I was adamant my exercising would continue being a big part of my life.

Weeks 6 - 10, I was a shameful act. I rarely made it to our gym and the daycare at the gym looked shocked when they would see Liliana. I was just too sick to get the energy to do anything other than being a Mom, a wife, and having a full-time job. Some days, I barely managed to be honest.

But things turned around and about 5 weeks ago, I started regularly attending the gym once again.

Now that I have the experience with this, I felt compelled to write this post because let me tell you ...

exercise for a pregnant woman is absolutely AMAZING.

I leave feeling SO much better, so rejuvenated, and believe it or not, even though it sounds silly because no matter what your belly is growing ... IT BOOSTS YOUR CONFIDENCE!

Even though I know my belly is bigger this time around at 15 weeks than it was with Liliana, I feel sexier than I did with Liliana. I embrace it more because I know I'm staying physically fit. You feel proud of yourself and that's something a pregnant woman struggles with. Seeing our belly growing is beautiful yes, but that doesn't mean it isn't hard to see the changes.

Now, I should say that they recommend to not start exercising if you didn't really exercise prior to getting pregnant. However, I don't see anything wrong with trying to stay fit. you don't have to train to be in a marathon all of the sudden, but even if you weren't in to working out prior to getting pregnant, I highly doubt that occasionally getting your body moving is going to be bad for it! In my case, I was working out about 4 - 5 times a week when we got pregnant this go around so it hasn't been a big adjustment for my body.

During this post I'm going to try and recommend workouts for each stage of pregnancy because I know I search Google on a regular basis asking what kind of workouts are recommended and don't find real life experiences easily.

I would LOVE to swim since that is probably the best workout for a pregnant belly, but our gym doesn't have a pool. The only gym with a pool in town is $100 more a month and it's just not in the budget. My husband does go every now and then and pays $5 for a good swim. Evan is a swimmer though. An All-American swimmer at that. I am not. I was on student council. So instead I make my workouts apply at the gym.

For starters, I should add that being pregnant at the gym isn't nearly as uncomfortable as I thought it would be. I was scared I would get looks like "why is she walking so slowly?" or "why is she here? She's a big pregnant lady!" Instead, you got comments OFTEN saying "that is so awesome that you're staying fit while pregnant! Good for you!" Other Moms tell me it will be a breeze to take the weight off if I keep exercising throughout. Others have told me the delivery will be easier.

As for recommended workout regimens, here are my experiences so far:

First trimester exercise tips:

- Goal: do what you can do without vomitting. I personally did sit-ups until I was about 12 weeks along and then my belly started growing and it felt like I was pinching some nerves so I stopped. I definitely toned down my workouts from the beginning, both because I am pregnant, because they say to keep your heart rate at 140 or lower (which I never adhere to because all I would be permitted to do at that rate is walk), and because it's what my body could do. I should note about the blood pressure. I spoke to my OB about this and he said "your body will talk to you." And it does. Certain days, I could run all day and feel fine and certain days it just feels exhausted. I listen to it and tweek accordingly.

- First trimester motto: DO WHAT YOUR BODY IS CAPABLE OF.

- Example of a first trimester workout for me: walk/ run 2.5 miles (I would walk half a mile at 4.2 with an incline and then run half a mile around 5.7). This is SIGNIFICANTLY slower than what I do when not pregnant, but it's what I felt comfortable with. After the treadmill, I go lift weights for 2 body parts and do a cardio interval between each. Since I'm pregnant and since your joints are much more sensitive while pregnant, do less weight and add more reps. In other words, when doing biceps, I'll do 10 pounds each arm and do 30 reps straight. After that, I do 40 jumping jacks. Once I work out the biceps and triceps (as an example), if there is time left, I go to the elliptical. The elliptical is a pregnant woman's FRIEND. It's much easier on the belly and on the round ligament pains than the treadmill. I have a feeling I will start switching my time on the treadmill and elliptical as I get further along. I do about 10 minutes on the elliptical after that, varying intensity, and that's it!

- Two ESSENTIAL tips: DRINK LOTS OF WATER! When I don't, I feel incredibly dehydrated the next day which is dangerous when you have fainting spells when pregnant (like I do). ALSO, don't be scared to invest a little money in a bigger sports bra (helped immensely with growing boobs) and maternity t-shirts so that your belly isn't suffocating. I bought both at Target and didn't break the bank. Plus I use them 4 times a week so the way I see it, it's not a waste by any means.

This is exactly the one I have, in this color even. Evan went out and bought it for me because he thinks I'm hurting my boobs when I squish them in to the old ones. He acts seriously concerned for them. I told him the boobs would survive, but men are funny like that. Invest in a good quality one (well, good quality for Target). The boobs will thank you when you're running on the treadmill.

Second trimester exercise tips:

- Side note: I don't feel too confident giving recommendations on this just yet since I've only been in the "second trimester" category for 3 weeks, HOWEVER, at the 12 - 15 week range I can say I've actually done MORE intensity since I've been feeling better. I still do the same routine (treadmill, weights, elliptical), but I walk less and run more. I also run faster. It feels wonderful cutting a couple minutes off my time with a nearly 4 month belly.

- as I continue more in to the second trimester, I will update this and give more advice.

I hope this helps some pregnant women out there! Stay fit if you can! It can only do good!

PLUS, another point of incentive: the men notice! My husband always liked my belly, even with Liliana, but this go around he is even more complimentary and keeps saying "you look so stinking hot!" While I think he's crazy (I am by no means hot people ... but it's kinda the husband's job to think we are right?) it sure does put a smile on my face every time I hear something sweet.

HECK, if that kind of compliment doesn't get a woman to the gym, I don't know what will! : )

Living Room Transformation for $32.50!

2012-01-30T07:10:00.000-08:00

You might remember that I found myself in a home funk on Friday. I went home and the funk continued. I walked through the home feeling unhappy with it. Some sweet blog readers hit the nail on the head:

I AM NESTING.

And apparently, it's a big time kind of nesting.

I didn't go through this with Liliana so I'm really weirded out by this feeling of panic and "I'm not prepared to bring another life in to the world in a few short months when my whole house feels out of place!"

I realize I'm being ENTIRELY overdramatic. Really and truly, our house is gorgeous and most would be happy with it. But apparently this nesting bug takes over you and makes you see CRAZY things.

Fortunately for me, instead of Evan saying "woman, you're crazy!" he was just patient. PATIENT. That is Evan's word. He is the most patient husband you could imagine.

This weekend we started the "One Room at a Time Lacefield Home Renovation Project." This will be done on OUR budget (which equals CHEAP) and in OUR time frame (which equals, probably over a couple years).

I want to have a PLAN for each area instead of just jumping in to it. It's easy to get sucked in to the renovating bug and not really thinking "what do I want out of this space."

We started on the living room ... and our living room, while no means done, is in the "in progress" stage and looks SO much better for just $30 dollars!

In July, after we had lived in the home for about 6 weeks, the livingroom looked like this:

BEFORE

Truly, this isn't a BEFORE picture like it says. I had already made some changes by this point: those cushions were new and I absolutely love them (still do). The rug is also new from Overstock (not my favorite purchase b/c it's not very soft and we like laying on the floor in our home).

The wall color still got to me. It looked like mud. The ENTIRE house was this color when we moved in. I wish I was kidding. The ENTIRE thing. Ugh.

So on Father's Day, Evan and I worked (sorry honey!).

We lightened up the walls. You don't realize how dark your walls are until you take a picture like this. The color we chose is "Oat Straw" from Behr. It's a pretty safe neutral and goes really well with the red couches.

Once those walls were painted the living room stayed in that state until, oh, Friday night when my "nesting" commenced.

Before you knew it, I was up off the couches and moving them. Moving the couches, moving the media console, moving the rug, etc. Fortunately, the husband NEVER laughed at me or called me crazy. He just helped me move things! And we tried one thing, and then tried another until we got ...

SEMI-AFTER

Here is the living room today. We moved the couches out and realized that we had things to tightly spaced in the room. This freed up room for a chair, table, and lamp which looks like it's own reading nook. LOVELY.

How did this all cost $30 you ask?

Well the paint was $30.

The chair? Do you see it in this picture?

I took the chair from our master bedroom, I took the lamp from our study, I took the table from the future baby nursery because it has been sitting in that room all by itself for over 6 months. I took the little decor from shelves I had in the living room but took down once the reading nook area was made. As for that gorgeous mirro above the fire place? Our realtor got us a giftcard to a store called IO Metro and we bought it with that. FREE mirror? Yes please!

We are still in PROGRESS though...our next plans for the room?

When I zoom out you can see that the trim looks well ... unfinished. That's another one of the kicks I got on this weekend. Our trim needed to look like, well, a trim! So off we went to Home Depot. We spent $2.50 buying a sample and I started trying out how it would look. The verdict is in and we LOVE it.

Slowly and surely, over time, we are going to pain this trim. Sure it will take time since I'm pregnant and Evan doesn't like the idea of my standing on a ladder. And since Evan's always working, the two of us don't exactly have time on our hands. But it will get done.

We also plan on putting up curtains to the side of the big window. They'll be light to help brighten the room even more. I don't want to cover the windows AT ALL because the best part of our house is the view in to our backyard (tons of TALL and GORGEOUS trees). We would still like to do something on the fireplace wall, but we're not too sure where to move with that just yet. For now, our plan for this room is aobut 33% achieved, and 75% planned. But, I'm happy with that.

This nesting pregnant Momma is more than happy with that. For $32.50, I think we're doing pretty darn good!

Linking to:

http://evolutionofstyleblog.blogspot.com/search/label/Room%20Evolutions

Unhappy Home

2012-01-27T13:46:00.000-08:00

I made a big mistake today.

I found betterafter.blogspot.com.

BIG mistake.

I now feel like my house looks like crap, like I'm the most unproductive and uncreative person on earth, and worst of all, I have officially confirmed to myself that our home is flat out uninspiring.

I don't know what it was about the old home, but I liked it. I thought it had our personality. I think it's because I bought EVERYTHING for that home. Evan and I didn't have a darn thing before we moved to Lubbock and I surely wasn't keeping things from college, so I worked through college and saved up to buy things for it. The things that I didn't save up for, we got PLENTY and MORE for wedding gifts (my family is full of the most generous people you've ever met). And, I have lots of family so it worked in our favor.

But ever since we've moved here, I've been unhappy with how the home looks. I TRULY would say EVERY SINGLE NOOK of the house is "in progress." I HATE that feeling.

That feeling of "ehh."

And I know we can't really afford to change much. I know Evan and I don't have the budget to do major renovations. Although, if I had my way, some major renovations would happen in a couple areas ... mainly our master bath. The tiny tiny master bath. It actually isn't the SIZE that bothers me. It's the UGLY puke green colored tile ALL OVER the tiny bath.

I just can't shake the feeling of disliking the home though. And it's not the HOME I dislike, it's just the way that I haven't put my spin on it. I don't have any of our personality in it just yet. I think that's what it boils down to. It looks like we just moved our stuff in to the old owners home. 7 months ago. I want it to look like OUR home.

And it sounds silly to say it, but it brings me down nearly every day when I get home. Having our home looking the way I don't want it makes me feel like a failure of a wife and more importantly, failure as a person! I want to be PROUD of this home that Evan and I purchased together. And right now, I'm simply not.

I think I'm going to try and tackle an affordable project each month to try and get me out of this funk. This upcoming weekend we were going to tackle some curtain issues in the master bedroom, but I think that might be a mistake. I think we quite literally need to start from SQUARE ONE in each room. What vision do I have for each room? What could we realistically do to change the room? etc.

Oh boy, my husband is sure going to wish he was working more this weekend! ; )

14 Weeks Pregnant - T-Shirt Project

2012-01-26T09:16:00.000-08:00

I am 14 weeks pregnant with BITO today! This week had some tough days as I blogged about earlier this week, but now that the medicine is in my system once again, we're right as rain.

In TWO short weeks we will try to see if BITO is a he or a she! I put a poll on the sidebar (left) for people to vote and take a guess! Should be fun to see what you guys are thinking and who ends up being right! For the record: my parents think boy and so does Evan. I think girl. But the woman is always right, so ... my vote should count times a million at this stage. ; )

How Far Along: 14 weeks today

Total Weight Gain: about 1.5 to 2 pounds I think. I think it's all belly and boobs so far. But we know that will change soon!

Maternity Clothes: I am unbuttoning my pants and using my bella band so use normal pants still. However, I need most maternity tops! This belly is VERY different from my last one shape wise b/c with Liliana it was the bottoms that changed drastically first.

Stretch Marks: NO, but I can see my veins more in the breast area. It's strange and quite unattratctive if you ask me.

Sleep: The pregnancy pillow found its way in to our bed 2 times this week and it really helps. I like it especially when Evan is out of the door and I still have some sleeping left to do. It's like my sleeping buddy.

Best Moment this Week: EVAN FELT BITO MOVE LAST NIGHT! Isn't that CRAZY? I was psyched out of my mind that I felt some movements around week 12 or so, but last night BITO was going to town and I thought "maybe, just maybe" even though I truly thought it woulnd't be until I was at least 16 weeks for Evan to feel it. I told Evan to try and within seconds he said "I felt one there! and there!" and they were EXACTLY when I was feeling kicks so I know we were right on page. We've got another big and strong baby in there it seems!

Miss Anything: I'm pretty sick of constantly having to eat something to make me feel good. I carry snacks around just in case and I miss the days of not worrying about nausea. Hopefully those will come again soon.

Movement: Look at "best moment this week." We seem to make babies that kick early and hard b/c Liliana was a constant mover. I don't tend to feel BITO move too much during the day but at night I feel it lots more. I'm chalking this up to the fact that I feel more when I'm lying down and relaxed for the first time in the day. Also I'm only 14 stinking weeks! haha.

Food Cravings: FRUIT! I love oranges, cantaloupes, &grapes. This is an awesome craving considering with Liliana it was candy. I fully expect this will change soon, but for now, I'll take it.

Food aversions: Anything that has a strong odor. I don't like seafood, but I can't imagine being around somebody that would want to be eating it. No thank you!

Gender: Only the man upstairs knows for now! My gut says girl, but it's hard to tell. This pregnancy has been different in a lot of ways, but we'll just have to see.

Labor Signs: I've had some round ligament pains, especially while working out. I've also had a couple braxton hicks already, but nothing too painful or out of the ordinary. They're very short lived.

Wedding rings on or off: they're still on! YAY for that. With Liliana they did come off, but later. I'm thinking the same will happen this go around. YAY for getting swollen. NOT.

Looking Forward To: Finding out the gender in 2 weeks! I know there's a chance we won't see and then I'll just have to be even more patient. However, patience IS NOT my biggest strength so here's hoping! ; )

Top 10 Pins

2012-01-25T13:35:00.000-08:00

A few ~~months~~ weeks ago I said I would post my favorite 10 pins that I had seen on pinterest that month. I did one lame post and never did it again. But today, I felt like revisiting some pins. I think pinterest is a great website. Yes, I rarely do the "crafts" or "home renovations" that I pin. But one day darn it, when we have the money and time to do it, I'll get on that handy dandy website and make it happen! Just like Tim Gunn.

In no particular order then, here are the top 10 things that have been on my mind lately:

1. Banana Pudding: The baby made me put this one. I think some banana pudding sounds out of this world right now. YUM. And this it the good 'ol classic Nabisco recipe. I think I'll have to make this this weekend.

Recipe found HERE.

2. Boy Bedding: IF we have a boy (Mommy's gut tells her another girl), Evan said he wanted a space theme. And guys, we have the bedding already picked out and have since BEFORE we even started trying. It's freaking CHEAP at Target and totally cute. I'll be ordering it the same day if we find out it's a boy b/c it's been on the website forever and I'm scared they're going to discontinue it.

Out of this world bedding found HERE.

3. Funfetti Cupcakes: I already posted this recipe on my blog, but these cupcakes are probably in my top 2 pinterest finds. I make them regularly and they are so very delicious so I wanted to remind others to make them! Your heart will be happy you did.

I posted the recipe HERE.

4. Master Bedroom Curtains: Right now we have ugly blinds in our master bedroom and it's quite uninspiring. I think adding these bamboo shades and the curtains to the side looks so classy and adds SO much to the room. And I think it would be a room changer without breaking the bank.

5. Feminine Nails: In the good 'ol days (college) I used to get my nails painted once a month. I did it as a treat to myself and it was a great way to spend the paychecks I made at the law firm I clerked for. It was $20 (not $25 or $30 like most now) and it made me feel great. Now, I don't go b/c I use paychecks for my mortgage (boo) and to save up to pay the 6 figure student loan debt that we have accrued through medical school and law school. BUT, if I were to go get a manicure tomorrow, I'd get it this color.

6. The Pottery Barn Knock Off: I saw this desk on Pottery Barn for $1,000 and thought "MAN that's nice but GOOD GOLLY it's pricey." And then on another blog, I saw someone that did the same looks BY HERSELF for CHEAP. I think we'll be doing this in our study some time within the next year (maybe not before baby but I think this one will actually get done and that's a start!).

Here is the pricey one:

And the knock-off:

Brilliant way to save money found HERE.

7. For my Texas wall: We have a "Texas" wall in our home. Even though we live in Arkansas and love it, we're still Texans at heart and don't want to leave our roots too far behind. For Christmas, I had Evan's Mom buy him this Texas print. The nice people on Etsy even added College Station to the print, b/c you can't have Texas without the home of Texas A&M University! WHOOP! It looks WONDERFUL on our wall.

Cute (and VERY affordable print) found HERE.

8. He and She: Like I said, our master bedroom decor is very uninspiring. The room just isn't quite there yet. I think making these and hanging them above, or next to our nightstands would be so unique. Each spouse puts 20 things that they love about each other and that's what scrolls in the background.

9. Guest Bedroom possibility: Our guest bedroom is also uninspired. I don't know what it is about the bedrooms in our new home, but I can't get them where I'd like them. I also haven't put much effort and definitely ZERO cash in to doing so, so I can only complain SO much! ; ) BUT, these wall decals are pretty and look perfect for a guest bedroom. I like the grey/ yellow theme for a guest bedroom.

Wall decals found HERE.

10. What if Mommy's instinct is right? Don't worry, if it's a girl, I don't have the bedding, but I'm pretty settled on a color scheme. I LOVE the blue and pink combo and have for a while. I think that's maybe why I keep saying "gut says girl" because I want an excuse to make a bedroom these colors ... so feminine, fun, and relaxing. LOVE.

FOUND: Liliana's 2nd birthday party theme!

2012-01-24T11:31:00.000-08:00

I wrote a post a few months ago about desparately needing to find a party theme for Liliana's 2nd birthday. They were all cute ideas, but even as I hit publish on that post, I knew I hadn't found "the one." For Liliana's first birthday party, we had a "cupcake" themed party and it was a total hit.

This year, we will be celebrating her birthday party a week early in San Antonio because we'll be there to see her Padrino graduate from college. While we'll miss her celebrating with our family here in Little Rock too, I figure the Little Rock family gets to see her a couple times every month while the San Antonio family misses her moments more often due to distance.

I have been seriously FREAKING OUT because I haven't had this birthday party theme resolved.

The other night, I was complaining about this to Evan for about the 90th time that hour and he said something that for some reason my apparently closed-minded brain hadn't thought about: "why not have a Liliana and friends birthday party? That way her two favorite people (Elmo and Dora) can attend!"

It was BRILLIANT! This whole time I couldn't decide what to do theme wise because I couldn't come up with one theme, so instead I was inventing other themes. When the reality is, you can do whatever the heck you want for them! ; )

THEREFORE, it is official:

The theme for Liliana's 2nd birthday party: LILIANA AND FRIENDS!

I've already been finding some inspiration. I think I will try to have a "Dora" station and an "Elmo" station to appease both sides of the crazy sides of Liliana ... she likes some girly things (mainly bracelets), she LOVES food (so that will be involved in every regard), and she's definitely not a girly girl, so we'll have to have things for her to play with and have a good time with.

So here, in a HUGE nutshell is what I have in mind:

Definitely BRIGHT and FUN colors. Liliana isn't a girly girl. Maybe baby #2 will be, but that's not Liliana, so I don't want to conform to that.

I love this idea of having the bracelets, b/c this is the ONE thing that Liliana does that's girly and she LOVES having bracelets on. She holds her hands straight up in the air so that they won't fall off.

I like the idea of printing off Elmo and Dora printables and having crayons for the kiddos to play with. Liliana likes coloring, enough that I thought of having an Art themed party for her, so at least this way I get to involve that a little bit. Maybe we can do the art theme in a later year when I won't have to be so scared of her also eating the crayons ...

LOVE the decor here! The 2's on the back of the chairs nad the lanterns! OMG! My parents have the same kind of trellis above their deck so we could TOTALLY make it work! (Evan might have to do that since I'll be a bajillion weeks pregnant when this party is happening)

At the Dora station, we can easily have some animal crackers since Dora is always teaming up with her cousin Diego to save animals.

Dora's always catching "estrellas" (or as Liliana calls them "strela"). These brownies would be easy to make and add a cute pop of color.

These printables are free off of nickjr.com and the older kiddos (if Liliana doesn't get it) would have fun pinning the tail on Swiper.

Gotta have "we did it" and Dora's greatest hits playing in the background right? Wouldn't be a party without her tunes!

So those are my thoughts for now! I will probably buy little things here and there and will do all of it on a budget like I did Liliana's 1st birthday.

But oh, the possibilities!!! ; )

A LAME Couple

2012-01-23T07:32:00.000-08:00

Since Evan started residency and since I got pregnant, we have become the definition of LAME on Friday nights. This last Friday was no exception. Evan RARELY gets a Saturday morning off. In fact, this was the first Saturday morning he has had off since ... geesh ... early December? At least 6 weeks. You would think that as a result, we would party it up on Friday nights, since they're a rare gem in our household.

We always have FUN plans. Sometimes it involves getting a babysitter, but more often than not (since we want to spend time with Liliana since Evan doesn't usually get to see her as much as he'd like and since we want to save on money and dates cost money), we end up planning something to stay at home. This Friday, I got off work, ran to Kroger, rented a movie (Hangover Part II for silly laughs), and bought some popcorn. The evening was set.

After we had dinner and played with Liliana for a good while, we put her to bed around nine (something we often do on weekends to ensure we get to sleep in the next day and like always, she delivered and didn't wake up until 9:40 on Saturday morning. We are lucky parents I know). Anyway, after we put her to bed around nine, we went to our bedroom to change in to PJs and get comfy to watch the movie.

After spending some time together talking about our day, next thing I know, SERIOUSLY it is 5 am in the morning. We fell asleep around 9:45! Like total LAME-O's! Evan got up to put the dogs in the garage (poor babies, we NEVER do this to them). Then, he came back upstairs and I slept until 8:30. Yes I slept nearly 11 hours. I'm pregnant. Sue me. Evan didn't wake up until Liliana did. He slept 12 hours. He's a surgery resident. Don't sue him, please.

This makes for an entertaining story (NOT) but one part of this set the precedent for the ENTIRE weekend. Since we feel asleep without intentionally doing so, this means I didn't take my anti-nausea medications at night. One of my anti-nausea meds is a sleeping aid so I couldn't take this at 5 am when we woke up. Instead, I was HOPING that I wouldn't need it anymore.

WRONG.

SO WRONG.

Saturday I didn't feel TOO bad during the day. We spent time together, went out with family, went to Cold Stone, and came back home. We finally did watch the Hangover Part II (NOT recommended, but you're probably saying DUH!) ... and by we, I mean I watched the first hour then fell asleep and Evan finished it all. He says it only got worse after I fell asleep. When we went upstairs, I really started dreading not having that anti-nausea medication in my system.

Evan gets these barf bags from the hospital that we have in every room in the home just in case pregnancy gets the better of me. Suddenly I told him "I need one of those." Within a minute, I was throwing up ALL my dinner and ice cream. 12 oz. to be exact (these barf bags measure it, just in case I wanted to be even more grossed out). My AMAZING husband cleaned me all up (I was pretty unconscious and miserable at this point), he cleaned up all the throw up, he told me I looked beautiful and how much he loved me, and we fell asleep.

I've noticed it takes TWO days of the anti-nausea medications to be in my system so Sunday was kinda a blur. It was throw-up free but I was quite out of it, took a 45 minute nap in the evening and slept like a baby last night.

I can thankfully say the LAME weekend of the century is over and I'm feeling much better and back to normal today. I feel horrible that on Evan's RARE weekends off, he ended up doing everything throughout the house. Moral of the story: NO MATTER WHAT don't forget my pills! It makes me a totally different person! Evan, of course, did it all with a smile on his face, but I tell you what: I won't mind it ONE BIT when I'm through, completely (pills or no pills) with this stage of pregnancy.

NOW, I can't complain TOO much. With Liliana, whether I was on medications or not, I felt sick. If the medications (and these 2 that do the trick are natural ones so not harmful in the slightest to the baby) do the trick, I shouldn't complain. But when I do forget them? I think I earn the right to complain, at least for 12 minutes ... 1 minute for each ounce.

YUCK.

A Romantic Blast from the Past

2012-01-20T10:59:00.000-08:00

Back in the day I used to have a hotmail account that I used on a regular basis. I've been a gmail girl for years now, but hotmail used to be my domain.

Yesterday I started browsing some of these emails (that thanks to junk mail have accumulated to thousands). On the left I saw a tab entitled "My Evan."

I had completely forgotten about it. And I pressed it. And the tears flowed.

My husband and I have been together for 10 years. We still occasionally email each other sweet nothings or "I love you because" emails.

Yesterday, I found the FIRST email he ever sent me. We had started dating FIVE DAYS before he wrote this. We were SEVENTEEN, so excuse the use of "u" instead of "you" and the awkward parts where he acted ... well ... 17.

But seeing what he wrote? Seeing that he KNEW we were meant to be together only five days in to our relationship, and at 17? (a junior in high school) I think we give a new meaning to the word soulmates. Behold:

ok, i'm not sure u understand how i feel about u, and it's my fault because i'm awful at these kinds of things. . honestly(this probably sounds cliched) i've never felt so strongly about anyone before. i know this is right for me, i've finally found the girl of my dreams. i've always thought teenage relationships were just something u did because u might as well, they didn't mean anything. .. well that has changed, this means soo much to me. i would give every moment to u if u would let me.

remember saturday i got "dressed up" and combed my hair to go see u? well my friends were wondering what the occasion was when i got to the swim meet, and i told them i just went to sit with u at work, u should have seen their faces, they were asking me if i was alright, it was pretty funny... anyways

sorry it was so jumbled, i just typed as things came in to my head, i didn't come close to describing how special u r to me

Isn't this one of the most adorable things you've ever read? The beautiful part of it? I have PAGES of these love notes ... PAGES and PAGES.

Fast forward to when we were a long distance couple while he lived in Ohio and I was already at Texas A&M (mind you, we were only EIGHTEEN when he wrote this one):

You alone hold the key to my heart. You have opened it up and now all I feel is our love. We are truly meant for eachother. Nothing else will suffice. We are stronger than ever now and more in love. But just wait until next semester. Then we will come to understand what it is to be true companions.

Yours always and forever,

Evan (your future husband)

study well my scholar, hold me in your heart always.

He always calls me his scholar because he says I'm the most studious person he knows. He ended up transfering that semester, just as his email suggested. But even when we lived one building away from each other, the emails didn't stop ... He wrote me this after my Grandmother (Tata) passed away and I couldn't go to the funeral because I had 3 midterms that day. My Grandma was a very special woman to the two of us (that's why if we have a girl, her name will be Gloria after my Grandma):

I know today will be tough for you, but try to remember that as soon
as I'm out of lab I will be by your side to hold you and comfort you.
I miss Tata too, she was a very special woman to me and she always
treated me with such love. I know she loved you and continues to do
so and she would only want you to be happy. I love you and don't
hesitate to ask me for anything.

Could he have texted me this? Could he have waited an hour to tell me this in person? Of course. But that's not my husband. My husband always wants me smiling. And, this email? It made me smile on a tough day. While we were engaged, the romantic emails flowed even more!

It's hard to believe, but I have spent the last four years falling in love with you and yet I continue to be amazed by the depth of my love for you every day. It is such an incredible feeling to look at you and see what a beautiful woman you are and what a beautiful person you are. I love every last thing about you. From your toes to your hair, I find all of you wondrous. Beyond your physical beauty though I have come to find your strength and intelligence a crutch to lean on when I'm not as strong as I'd like to be. I love you more than ever.

Happy First Anniversary as an engaged couple,

Your Fiancee, Evan

And finally, as a married couple I still get emails that make me smile. He always lets me know how much our love means to him. And although I try to do the same, I don't think I'll ever catch up with him. He is my true, one and only, and reading through these old emails? It's just about the best hour I've spent in a LONG LONG time.

Bacon, Egg, and Cheese Breakfast Wreath Recipe

2012-01-19T10:47:00.000-08:00

On Monday since I was off work I had these ideas to cook a nice gourmet meal. The last few weeks I haven't felt like cooking much since I usually felt like vomiting quickly after. However, since I actually had the desire to get up and move around versus making macaroni and sausage like I've been doing more often than I'd like to admit lately, I was psyched.

Then, Liliana dropped my phone in the toilet and I thought we had wasted $200 on another phone.

So instead of making a 5 course decadent meal for the husband, I searched pinterest with three criteria: FAST, CHEAP, and YUMMY.

And this recipe DELIVERED.

Ingredients:
1 can Pillsbury crescent rolls (8 count)
5 large eggs
2 cups cheese of your choice (I used colby jack)
8 slices cooked bacon

(1) Preheat your oven to 375 (I did 360 b/c I have a dark coated pan). Arrange the crescent rolls as shown in the picture below. I have a Silpat (BEST cooking/ baking gadget ever), but if you don't, parchment paper does the trick too to put underneath this cheesy goodness.

(2) Add the bacon (as shown above) and then 1/3 of the cheese on top of the bacon.

(3) Put the cooked scrambled eggs on top of that as shown below.

(4) Looks good already right? Well now, since it's too healthy, add ANOTHER few handfuls of cheese.

(5) Fold up all the crescent rolls to make a wreath. It should look something like this:

(6) If you have time and the patience (which I didn't) try to stretch out the crescent rolls so that it will cover more of the eggs. Add ANOTHER handful of cheese (in other words, you used 1/3 each time).

(7) Bake for approximately 17 minutes (mine took 16) until it's golden brown.

(8) Marvel after taking out of oven and enjoy! We had a couple crescents as leftovers, so it would definitely be enough for a family of 4 if you had a little side of fruit to go along with it.

The T-Shirt Project

2012-01-18T13:00:00.000-08:00

With Liliana, I took a picture of my belly every week and then for Christmas Evan made a video of my progressing belly.

It was definitely a success.

With this pregnancy, I wanted to do something a little different. After all, each baby is different! I haven't taken a picture every week like I did with Liliana, but I do think I got a little more creative.

I saw a t-shirt project on pinterest that was really adorable. So, I decided to be a copy-cat and to take matters in to my own hands a little as well:

Pretty soon, I want to order either a chalk board or dry erase board where I can make notes in the background. I was waiting until I was showing more to do that and since I started showing earlier this time, it's time to order that sucker!

To make the t-shirt, I took a piece of cardboard and put it underneath one of Evan's old t-shirts. Then I just started writing with permanent marker!

So far, I've only taken two pictures with it, but as you can see, I was pretty happy to take this first one:

funny side note: That belly video has nearly 1,000 hits. You would think that would be the most popular video I've posted to youtube. You'd be wrong. When Liliana was about 4 1/2 months, we took a video of her when we played with the nasal aspirator. She LOVED the thing. NEVER fussed when we used it (most babies detest it). Watch for a fun time if you'd like:

My Scary, "Not Again!", and Exciting Morning

2012-01-17T08:29:00.000-08:00

The second the alarm went off this morning (my OLD SCHOOL alarm clock b/c my cell phone was in the crappers after the daughter dropped it in the toilet yesterday) I felt kinda weird. I felt quite nauseated, which is rare for me these days. I've been feeling significantly better the last few weeks and a little pop of Zofran makes me feel good for the VAST majority of the day.

I took a shower and got ready without noticing too much being strange. I woke Liliana up and after we said good bye to Elmo 8 times and after she sang row row row your boat (well, in her words it goes ROW ROW ROW ... BOAT ... MERRILY MERRILY MERRILY! YAY!!!! and she gives herself a huge clapping and scream ovation after that) we went downstairs. I decided, hey let's see if this stupid phone works (knowing full well that after sitting in a toilet for 20 minutes it wouldn't).

And ... guess what ...

The stupid thing works!

The husband came home and told me to dry it out over nigh and I guess it did the trick! Don't you just HATE when they're right?

Amazon already told me I could return the one I ordered yesterday for full price, so YAY! $200 back in the bank account!

As soon as it started working though, I started feeling 'weird' again.

Then I realized I was BURNING up. I immediately took my jacket off (note: it wasn't warm in the house). I started sweating a ton, felt EXTREMELY light headed, and sat down. While sitting down, my vision and hearing slowly went away for what I'm guessing was about 45 seconds (hard to tell since I was so out of it).

This isn't the first time this has ever happened to me. This happened to me while I was pregnant with Liliana. That time I was about 19 weeks pregnant and in the grocery store. This time, I'm only 13 weeks along.

I immediately called my favorite sexy doctor (aka Evan) and told him what happened. After he got over the fact that my phone was working, he told me to stay seated and drink gatorade. He said I have to stay hydrated. Here's the problem: I drank 72 oz of water the previous day! I've been staying quite hyrdated this pregnancy! I did tell my husband that I only peed twice yesterday after drinking all that, so I'm thinking I wasn't well hydrated before then and maybe that's what did this again.

I called my OB just to talk with another doctor about it and they repeated the same things to me.

SO for now, I'm sitting here at work with a huge water jug and a gatorade next to me. I don't know necessarily WHY this happens to me when I'm pregnant and as long as I stay prepared, it isn't too much of a pain. But when I feel like I'm passing out, and when my vision is slowly going away, it's a really terrifying helpless feeling ... especially since Liliana was around today and I wouldn't want her to see Mommy fall down or something like that.

Needless to say, it wasn't even 7:30 and we had quite a morning: a possible freak out moment, a phone that miraculously came back from the dead, and a feeling of "gosh darn it, not THIS again!"

Sometimes you can't help what happens to the budget ...

2012-01-16T13:08:00.000-08:00

So I'm sitting here watching the Ellen show. I'm pretty obsessed with her show. She's SO kind. I think she sends such a wonderful message. At the end of each episode she says "be kind to one another." That's about the #1 thing I would want others to try and do and it's something that I've been trying to get BETTER and BETTER at everyday: just being KIND to people. It's even something as small as saying "hello, how are you?" to someone if they look lonely, or complimenting a student that I can tell is having a rough day.

Anyway, I'm sitting here watching the show while Liliana takes a nap because truth be told, i needed a BREAK.

I got a great workout in this morning and rushed home to shower so that Liliana and I could bring Daddy lunch while he was at the hospital.

While in the shower, I noticed Liliana messing around the bathroom, like she usually does.

And when I got out, I was going to text Evan that we were nearly leaving the home. I couldn't find my phone! I asked Liliana if she had been playing with it and she said "yes." I asked her where it was and she said "I don't know." Hmmm ...

I emailed Evan (from the computer) and told him to call so I could find it.

10 minutes later, I couldn't hear it and couldn't find it.

Suddenly I thought "oooo dear ... no .... "

I lift up the toilet seat. Lo and behold, there is the phone. Sitting in the toilet.

I rushed to Sprint. I don't have insurance on the phone. Turns out, i'm screwed.

SO, $200 later I ordered a refurbished one on Amazon.

Sometime's you just can't control what happens to the budget!!!

I decided I was done spending money for weeks. We'll eat PBJ for 2 weeks to make up the difference of my Mommy stupid moment.

But, like I said ... I was watching the ellen show.

And she had on these guests that slid in to a frozen river and the Dad got out and was trying to get his children out of the car. 10 STRANGERS ended up saving 3 lives! THREE children! It had me in tears (c'mon, I'm 13 weeks pregnant, I cry lots).

SO, not 5 minutes after I had promised not to spend money, I spent $30 buying two of these:

Here is the link. I STRONGLY encourage others to buy this! Even if you dont' regularly drive over water. You NEVER know what might happen and it's worth $14.95 to save your life and anyone elses.

This is a hammer to break the window of the car and a knife to break your seat belt off. In two days, these will be in our glove boxes and god forbid we ever have to use them, but at least it will let me know that we did what we could BEFOREHAND.

Like I said ... sometimes you just can't help what happens to the budget.

The Road of TTC #2

2012-01-13T11:09:00.000-08:00

On my "private blog" I had about 30 posts over TTC #2. Truth be told, they're just too darn personal to put on this blog. They were very detailed and like I said, personal! However, since the private blog will soon be no more, I wanted to write a post to summarize it all so I can have a place to collect my memories.

I want to start this post off by saying I know Evan and I are VERY VERY fortunate that we have been able to conceive our children so easily (both were conceived first month off the pill). We REALIZE we are blessed and we know that people struggle with infertility. I do not want to come off sounding selfish. I am just rejoicing in the fortune and blessings we've been given.

SO ... this post might be long ... and there is DEFINITELY TMI, but here goes:

I remember sometime in October, Evan and I went on a date night to our favorite burger joint in town. While we were sitting there, I looked up at him and said, "you know, i've been thinking." I really wouldn't have had to say more. I think Evan wanted to start trying that day! Evan LOVES being a Dad and I could convince him to have 5 kiddos without a problem. But, we did talk it through. A LOT. I told him Liliana was getting to an age where I was handling her without issues even without his help because he works so much. I told him that if we had one THEN, I would be due at the end of June (that ends up changing, but read more to discover why). that would be WONDERFUL for my job because we wouldn't have to lose out on 6 weeks of pay! Another factor: if we had the second before September they would be 2 school years apart which is GREAT. That way, we only have MIDDLE SCHOOL games to go to while they're in 6th and 8th instead of dealing with middle school AND upper school events. Sure, the next year it won't be as easy, but this way, we give ourselves one more year of less activities. Being in the school environment this year has taught me that a parent can literally live at the school with all the crap your kids get in to, so I'm just trying to think about making life more manageable. We agreed, however, we didn't go off the pill until a week later (after we had given each other more time to mull it over).

If you recall, conceiving the daughter wasn't intentional. We were told I had PCOS and would need fertility to conceive so we thought we'd just save the birth control pill money and deal with that when the time was right. Turns out, I could conceive just fine and we were pregnant a month later. However, I have historically had VERY long cycles in my life (we're talking about 100 day cycles). With Liliana, I ovulated it turns out, on day 23. This time, since we KNEW we were TTC, I started charting AND I bought OPKs (stands for ovulation predictor kits).

I peed on those dumb things every darn day. And sure enough, 28 days in to my cycle, no positive. I thought it was another of those 100 day cycles.

I saw an OB/GYN and he reconfirmed the PCOS diagnosis. He told us the chances of conceiving with this are MUCH more difficult and it takes couples on average 18 months.

I left the office DEFEATED thinking we got our lucky break with Liliana and this time wouldn't be lucky.

that night, as I cried and peed on to the OPK at the same time, a miraculous thing happened: it was positive! I was ovulating!

I sent Evan a picture (b/c he was at the hospital of course) and we were excited to let the baby making begin! Since we didn't know we were making Liliana, Evan was quite adamant about not timing everything and making it stressful. He said "it worked with Liliana so we know we're ok."

9 days later, I took a pregnancy test with one that was supposed to tell me 6 days past ovulation.

It was negative.

I remained defeated.

But, the saving grace? My boobs.

They hurt so much that I actually SCREAMED a few times. SCREAMED I tell you.

Evan was CONVINCED I was pregnant.

And, damn it if he wasn't right.

11 days past ovulation, I tested and the rest is history!

I do want to add a story that I will NEVER forget. At our first appointment, the nurse and doctor were in the room and the nurse turned around and told me "I have to tell you something. I think you're the first patient I've ever heard of with PCOS that gets pregnant on the first month two times in a row. You are SO lucky." And at that moment, I felt SO incredibly blessed. SO SO blessed. We are so fortunate to have Liliana and are SO fortunate to have BITO in our lives.

It was a happy day and I've been smiling (aside from the puking of course) ever since.

12 Weeks Pregnant!

2012-01-12T09:03:00.000-08:00

Today, I am 12 weeks pregnant with BITO. I can't believe it's already nearing the 2nd semester. This pregnancy has FLOWN FLOWN FLOWN by! While many parts of me are sad that it's flying by, I'm also looking forward to the more glorious weeks that usually follow in the 2nd trimester. In my first pregnancy, weeks 20 - 30 were the best. They were AWESOME and fun. Let's see which weeks I like now. In my first pregnancy weeks 4 - 20 were HORRIBLE, and while this one has had it's fair share of me puking in to a toilet (or on the floor like last week because I didn't make it in time!), it has been MUCH better overall. Instead of CONSTANTLY feeling sick, I just feel sick for a few hours at a time. One thing I've noticed: SLEEP HELPS! Over Christmas break I thought my morning sickness was done for the most part. Now that I'm back at work all the time, I've felt significantly worse. I think it's because I'm not sleeping as much. I was sleeping in until 9 every day over the break (so lucky to have a baby that sleeps in!). Now, I wake up at 6:00 for work and losing those 3 hours = puking. It's a very strong correlation for me. I just need a job that would let me nap some time during the day! Do those exist? Any body wanna hook me up with one of those? ; )

SO, I probably won't do these surveys every week during this pregnancy like I did with my first, but since 12 weeks is a big milestone, I'll do it today. I've attached a couple poorly taken belly pics. I've taken them myself, sorry. And, the lighting sucks. But, the point is: I AM HUUUUGE for 12 weeks!! It's almost embarassing.

How far along are you? 12 weeks today.

Total weight gain: Haven't weighed myself in a while but the Doctor said I had lost a few pounds at my visit last week. He wasn't too concerned but said I better gain it all back PLUS some by next visit.

How big is baby: Dude, I NEVER know these. I am horrible about keeping up with this. Most pregnant women get emails telling them this information. I get emails ALL DAY at work so I don't like adding to them. Let me look it up (this is what I will do EVERY TIME, I promise): the size of a lime!

Maternity clothes: I still haven't worn any, but I did already tell my sister-in-law that I need ALL my clothes back. She's 30 weeks and I feel bad asking for my clothes back, but my sweaters are TIGHT and I'm using the bella band FULL TIME now. I got SO much bigger SO much faster this time! It amazes me.

Stretch marks: None. None from Liliana either. Lucky lady right here! HOWEVER, my boobs have grown SIGNIFICANTLY this pregnancy so I wouldn't be surprised if I had some because of that.

Sleep: I get up EVERY MORNING between 3:50 and 4:20 to pee. It is SO weird. It's like my body has an alarm for that time period. The problem with this is that it takes me FOREVER to fall back asleep. It almost feels like I wake up at 4 every morning as a result because by the time I fall back asleep it's basically 6 and I have to wake up to head to work. Considering I'm getting to sleep around 11, I doubt that is enough sleep for a pregnant lady.

Best Moment this Week: I have had THE WORST eye pains for the last 6 weeks and I went to this Optometrist (that I THOUGHT was an Opthamologist but was wrong). Today, the Opthmalogist called me and said she's concerned that the Optometrist hasn't figured out what's going on and she wants to see me TODAY. So honestly, that is the best part of my day ... just trying to fix this eye pain that WILL NOT go away!

Movement: I felt some last week! Isn't that INSANE? At 11 weeks? But I know they were flutters. I felt Liliana around 16 weeks and I know they say you feel it sooner with the second, but this is EARLY. I haven't felt any this week so maybe baby has moved, but that's ok ... I'm looking forward to feeling them again in a few weeks.

Food Cravings: I've enjoyed bagels this pregnancy. Other than that, I haven't had cravings, just mainly aversions. I am still at the "force yourself to eat" stage. I've noticed that water, and a good amount of it, helps with nausea so I'm trying to convince myself to crave that.

Labor Signs: No, but I have had some round ligament pains! Dr. said that since I'm popping out already that's to be expected.

Belly button in or out: In still, but I swear it's becoming less of an innie already.

What I Miss: I miss not feeling sick. Whether it has been a cold, or nausea, or my eye pain, SOMETHING has been nagging at me for 6 weeks. I just want to feel HEALTHY! I guess I just have to give it time (and sleep).

What I'm Looking Forward To: I have a FUN weekend planned: girl night on Friday (those are always a BLAST), hubby time on Saturday, and family time Saturday night.

Milestone: hitting the 12 week mark with NO scares! With Liliana, we had already had 2 ultrasounds, a few times that I spotted, etc. This pregnancy, aside from having some cysts that hurt at first, has been DRAMA FREE! LOVING IT! Hoping that doesn't change! (knocking on wood as I type)

Belly Pic? Sure, why not:

Here I am this morning before work! Belly is where I was at 16 weeks the first time! EEK!

Here is Liliana's reaction when you say "Liliana do you love the baby?" She LOVES pointing at my belly and saying baby over and over again. I think she's understanding that I'm looking bigger lately, and she knows what a baby is, but I don't think she can even BEGIN to comprehend how much her life is going to change in about 25 weeks! : )

The Name Game for Baby #2!

2012-01-11T08:18:00.000-08:00

Originally Written: December 20th, 2011

I know I'm only 8 weeks 5 days pregnant. I know that I still have a TON of time to think of a name. In fact, I know that I don't even NEED a name until some time in July. But it is driving me absolutely NUTTY that we don't have a name for baby #2!

I have the EXACT same dilemma that I had with baby #1. We are pretty set with a girl name, have NO boy name, and know the boy bedding but have no clue about the girl bedding. What to do what to do?

I think we're pretty set on the name GLORIA if it is a girl. This DEFINITELY fits within my "no top 100 rule" because it's something like #400, but there are a few things we like about the name. (1) My grandma, whom I was VERY VERY VERY close to was named Gloria. Evan adored her as well. (2) It it a Spanish name that people who speak English won't mess up. (3) It's unique. (4) It's the only name that Evan and I can truly agree on. SO, for now (and that's TOTALLY subjec to change), I think we're set on Gloria.

If it's a boy? Well this is where it gets tricky. We still like the names Marshall and Graham, but for some reason, I'm not yet 100% sold on them. Our favorite boy name is GABRIEL. BUT ... here's the ONLY issue with it ... it's in the top 100. NOOOOOOOO!!! I know this is the STUPIDEST thing to hold me back, but for some reason, I don't want a name in the top 100. If it was number 103, I swear we'd be set on Gabriel. SO, what do to what do to? I'm guessing the boy name we settle on will be one of these 3, but in the mean time, I find myself SO uninspired by boy names. None of them "wow" me. Well, other than Gabriel. Our boy could TOTALLY look like a Gabriel. Or a Graham. Or a Marshall. I would LIKE the idea of something Hispanic for the first name of all our children since they get the English last name, but I'm not 100% set on that happening. It's simply a preference.

I thought typing out my thoughts would relax me. I think I'm just more stressed. GRRR.

Update on January 11th: we are NO WHERE closer to a name. I am thinking EXACTLY what I was thinking when I wrote this 3 weeks ago. Any thoughts on these names are greatly appreciated!

Pregnancy #2: Chapter 3: "Oh Christmas Puke"

2012-01-10T07:12:00.001-08:00

Originally Written: December 14th

When I got home from work the husband was already there (he took his USLME Step 3 the last 2 days so got off early! It was glorious!). He asked me how my day had gone and I told him "I felt off all day ... just not as good as I have been feeling." So I did my typical lounging and ate dinner even though it didn't settle too well with my stomach.

That isn't surprising. Very little settles well with my stomach these days so I didn't think much of it.

Around 7 the husband suggested that we go drive around with the baby girl looking at Christmas lights. This sounded so fun and the husband is rarely home in time to do this so even though I didn't feel very good, I said yes.

When we got there, I started feeling pretty ... bad.

The husband suggested we drive back home but I am SICK of doing that (we drove back home after having put our name down at a restaurant and I proceeded to throw up RIGHT as we got back home on Friday). I thought this time I could stomach it.

We drove around and found the street where we will buy our next house if we stay here in Arkansas for longer than 5 years. But after about 15 minutes, I told the husband, "we have to get back home. I just feel like shit."

As he got closer to the house, I really felt it coming up. I told him to give me the little throw up bags he stole from the hospital.

I thought I could make it to the toilet. I really thought I could.

But as the tires went OVER our driveway, it came out. ALL OF IT. In the car.

Twenty more seconds and I would have made it to the house, but instead, in our driveway, I puked my guts out.

So instead of singing "Oh Christmas Tree" we were singing "Oh Christmas puke"

UGH. I can't wait to feel better!

This pregnancy has been more severe than my last one for sure by this stage. I have thrown up 6 times in the last 17 days.

I went to bed and took about 10 pills: anti-nausea, fiber pills (because I haven't taken a good poop in who knows how long due to the anti-nausea pills), etc etc. I slept and didn't set my alarm intentionally. I can't miss work right now, and one of the BAD parts of working at a school is that you only get TWO personal days the ENTIRE school year. YEAH, talk about tough. So, these days are precious cargo that I can't go using up. I finally rolled out of bed around 7:30 and got to work at 9 (so about an hour and a half late).

I feel better for now. But who knows by now? Night time car rides and I don't mix. Or rather, I should say, night time car rides and BITO don't mix. Maybe he/ she'll get car sick as a baby? Hope I'm wrong.

Pregnancy #2 Chapter 2: Announcing Our Plus!

2012-01-09T07:33:00.000-08:00

Originally written: November 29, 2011

I have a little story for you:

Once upon a time, on a pretty Monday evening a young lady and her husband were dying with anticipation to tell their family their wonderful news: they were pregnant with their second child!

They flew all the way from Arkansas just to share the news.

Once they arrived, they told everyone that before dinner we should take a "family shot."

The husband said "say cheese!" and everyone complied. Then he said, "say Cristina's pregnant!" and ...

The only one that got it was the brother. He definitely looked shocked. Grandma was just smiling with the baby and had no idea what was going on.

Then the sister-in-law and Dad said "wait ... you're not joking? We thought you guys were joking!"

So the sister-in-law hugged while Grandpa had to tell Grandma what the heck was going on. She was a little out of it.

Grandma: "wait WHAT? SHE is PREGNANT??" And great-grandpa points to Cristina saying "she's the one that's pregnant?"

Then great-grandpa comes over for a hug.

Then Grandpa comes in for a tight squeeze.

And finally .... Grandma figured it out.

The beans were totally spilled. The cat was WAY out of the bag. They all knew. And it was all smiles and giggles and happiness. And the four of them lived happily ever after.

The End

Pregnancy #2 Chapter 1: The Phone Call That Changed Our Lives

2012-01-06T10:36:00.000-08:00

Originally Written: November 14th

The husband got out of work a little later than he's been getting out lately and called on his way home, right before I was going to pee. Instead of going to the restroom, I answered the phone and heard:

"Can we PLEASE just test tonight? I'm getting too anxious!"

I told him it wasn't a very good idea because if it was negative I would simply be bummed all evening instead of having the distraction of work.

He said "well, that's true, but I really really want to!"

We had a compromise. We would try the cheap internet sticks that say to first test the day after you miss your period. They weren't sensitive enough to get it before then apparently. That way I could continue to tell myself "maybe it'll work in a few days."

So, I peed. And after a minute I told him "it looks negative but I'll come back in a minute."

As I said that, I thought I saw a tinge of a line. I looked further and the husband said "there is a line! There is a line!"

It almost seemed strange that the cheapo stick worked so before I knew it, the husband was SPRINTING up the stairs to get the first response. The "real" one.

Well guess what? That one line had come up on this one too!

This gorgeous 18 month old gal prayed and her prayers were answered! She is going to be a big sister!

WE'RE PREGNANT!!!

I've Been Keeping Something From You Guys ...

2012-01-05T08:47:00.000-08:00

That's right ... our family of three is going to be a family of four in July! ; )

I am 11 weeks today and we had a wonderful doctor's appointment this morning telling us everything looks perfect. I felt RIDICULOUSLY sick for about 2 1/2 weeks, but have been much better since about week 9. I still have nausea, but for the most part, I can contain it with medication. With Liliana, I was sick until I was about 20 weeks, so this is a HUGE improvement! I even worked out three times this week and with Liliana that would have been impossible because I was keeled over the toilet full-time.

Believe it or not, that's not the ONLY thing I kept from you guys. Through this whole process (when we decided to TTC for #2, when we found out, how I've been feeling etc), I had ANOTHER blog that only a couple people knew about (my best friend, Evan, me, and that's about it!). Througout the next couple weeks, I'll be pulling some posts from there to consolidate the two blogs in to one.

We are SO excited about this addition to the family and our little BITO (Evan nicknamed this baby BITO for bun in the oven) is already showing!!!

Excuse the tight pants. I took this last night after I came back from the gym.

We got to hear BITO's heartbeat for the first time today and it was 163! Maybe another girl? Who knows! I don't go back to the doctor until February 9th and he is going to TRY to tell us the sex then ... hopefully we'll be successful!

Until then, we'll rejoice in knowing that the cat is out of the bag and everyone can celebrate the good news with us! YIPEE!

New Years Resolution

2012-01-01T18:26:00.000-08:00

Last year, I made three resolutions: (1) read 10 books (check! I read 18 I think), (2) to bake more (check big time! My bakery will definitely open soon!), and (3) to live for today (in other words, stop thinking "what if" about the future ... that one is a KINDA check ... I was still a huge worry wart too often).

THIS YEAR, I didn't come up with three resolutions. This upcoming year is going to be very busy for us. With Evan still in his first year as a surgery resident, I know that we can't plan on much. But, one thing has been on my mind lately: MONEY.

I know that Evan and I are responsible with our money. However, the first four years of our marriage happened while we BOTH were in law school and medical school. There was NO income and TONS of money going out. To make it work, we took out an exorbitant amount of loans. Truth be told, we were actually really reasonable about the amount we took out. We never took out the maximum amount that they offered and never got close. But student loan interest rates are absolutely SHOCKING. And they've already accumulated SO much. Four years of that really added up.

After living in Little Rock for 2 months, Evan and I went through and looked at our bank statements coupled with pay checks. We came up with a plan. We thought we were set.

But for some reason, I still don't feel content enough. I want to make sure we're smart about this all. Yes, we've had a college fund set up for Liliana since she was ONE month old. Yes, we have a savings mutual fund account that we contribute to every single month. But, I'm a Type A Personality and I want to make sure we're doing this the right way.

We don't really waste money...we don't own any "new" technologies (no ipads, touch pads, new ipods), we don't own ANY designer clothing because quite frankly I think that's rather dumb and Evan does as well. Liliana wears Target and Old Navy and I wear whatever store I have major coupons to. But like I said, I want to feel like we're doing our job as parents to make sure we're planning enough for Liliana and future children.

THEREFORE, the Type A in me and the wonderful patience and support of my husband lead me to purchasing this on Amazon tonight:

I know it's kinda corny to buy these books, but I'm hoping this gives us a feeling of "peace" through the next few years while we handle a resident and educators salary.

I'll be sure to do a review of the book once we're getting in to it! For now, I'm glad to feel like I'm well on my way towards accomplishing my new years resolution!

HAPPY NEW YEAR!

What We've Been Up To

2011-12-30T12:48:00.000-08:00

Bad blogger right here. I think December might fall under the worst blogging month I've had since I started this blog about 2 years ago. Busy, under the weather, and a big amount of company for over a week all contributes to that. SO, here's a quick recap of what's been going on for the last week and a half:

(1) Christmas:

Liliana got a copious amount of gifts for Christmas! We had a pretty big amount of company staying with us and they stayed for nearly a week. Let me tell you, I think I need another vacation from that vacation! I took a 2 hour nap the day they left. And honestly, I could have napped for 5 hours. Liliana LOVED Christmas this year. In fact, she wanted to unwrap every one's presents. I don't think she cared as much about the actual gift as opposed to unwrapping things. Her favorite gift? The one Santa brought her! (yes, we're those kinds of parents that only bought her one thing. She won't remember whether we got her anything or not! We're cheap, what can I say?) We got her that little kitchen at a used toy store here in town. It's fabulous.

Look at all the gifts under that tree! Those are pretty much ALL for that little girl. She is SO loved by lots and lots of family members.

Liliana looked awfully cute throughout the holidays too. She had lots of cute outfits, but we unfortunately weren't great at capturing the pictures.

(2) Vacuum:

Last week, THE DAY before the company arrived, my vacuum cleaner started smoking. Literally, smoking. I love vacuum cleaners. I have a slight obsession with cleaning and seeing how powerful they are. Don't know why, but it's by far my favorite household chore. SO, apparently, it was time for a new one. I wrote a facebook status asking people what to buy and the vast majority of people recommended a Dyson. Here's the problem. On the 23rd, Evan and I bought each other our super duper romantic Christmas gift: a new air conditioner unit. $900 later, (thank goodness for home warranty company because otherwise it would have been $4000) we obviously didn't get each other Christmas gifts. And, we obviously don't have $500 to easily dispose of after that $900 payment.

SO, I still needed a vacuum. My main criteria was something that I could easily clean the stairs with. Our old one (I'll refer to the old one as Smokey from now on), Smokey, was HEAVY and ridiculously difficult to carry down the stairs while cleaning (my stairs are carpeted).

I was about to check out at Walmart and had a pretty crappy vacuum in my basket and then I saw this:

The Shark Navigator Life Away Pro. When I saw it in the store, I immediately Amazoned it (something I do with nearly every purchase). It had REALLY high reviews and was $20 cheaper in the store than on Amazon.

The main selling point? You can lift the canister off the bottom and carry it around while vacuuming which only ends up being 8 pounds! That totally works. AND, it has a duster attachment that works wonders too. I definitely approve.

Those two things mainly summarize the last 10 days of my life! Yep, a vacuum cleaner got 50% of the post. What can I say? It was a great purchase!

"Pick a Color"

2011-12-20T06:55:00.000-08:00

I'm not going to lie, the last week at work has been QUITE stressful. I'm not sure I've ever truly explained what I my job details are on this blog ... don't know why. I guess I do it 50 hours a week and don't want to talk about it more than I need to. I know I've mentioned that I love what I do, and that still holds true.

This semester, I was the "Academic Director of Academic Achievement for the Upper School" and I taught Economics to one section of seniors. NEXT semester, I won't be teaching Economics (because it's a one semester course) and I will be promoted to "Academic Director of Academic Achievement for the Upper School & Middle School!"

I am REALLY excited about this promotion. I started hearing that it might happen a couple months ago, but on the first of December, it became official. So what does this mean job wise?

What I do is help students that struggle in school. This can mean learning differences, it can mean organization issues, note-taking issues, test-taking anxiety, whatever it may be. The other big part of my job is to make sure students are receiving accommodations that they should be receiving. In other words, if the medical evaluation says they are permitted to use their lap top to take notes on, I need to ensure all our faculty is compliant with this. This gets really complicated when each individual student has different needs. I know it's tough for the teachers to remember, so that's where I come in. I do a TON of talking with parents, holding parent-teacher conferences when grades are low, etc. Even on days where I think things are going to be slow, I end up being busy. The last part of my job: finals time.

About 30 of our upper school students are permitted to take their final exams in a "quiet testing environment." A few of those are permitted to have scribes, a few are permitted to receive the exam orally, and a few just need some extended time. It all depends on the individual student. The stressful part is ORGANIZING it all. Where will each student be? Who is going to proctor it? How do I let each student know where to be? Who gets and how much extended time do they get? Who is permitted to use a laptop? How do I communicate this to the faculty? Etc etc.

I must admit I was nervous on how it would all go down. I can GLADLY say, I am proctoring the LAST final exam of the semester as I type this and it went PERFECTLY. NO problems. I've only heard GREAT remarks about the organization of it all this semester. Most teachers say "you are the most organized person I've ever met," to which i respond "how can I TEACH organization if I'm not organized myself?"

The last few days I haven't had time to even pee at work. Today though, once these tests are done, the hardest question I'm going to have to answer is "What color do you want?"

After finals, I am going straight to my favorite nail salon and getting a pedicure. I deserve it. I'll read some trashy "People" magazine and will delight in Christmas break.

Yes, I have a ton of company arriving TOMORROW and truly, we're not ready ... but this afternoon? It's me, myself, and my toes. For one hour, I won't be a busy working Mom, I won't be a wife that is married to an incredibly busy surgery resident, and I won't even worry about what Liliana is doing at school.

For one hour, I'm going to be a girl without worries, well other than making sure the color I choose looks just right. : )

Making it SUNNY for him

2011-12-16T08:42:00.000-08:00

Since we've moved to Little Rock, we've been in love with just about every single thing. It turns out we had to find ONE thing we weren't crazy about right?

I mean, the trees are stunning, there is SO much more to do as a family and as a couple, the restaurants are nice, the daycare is stupendous, the housing market is totally affordable but fun, etc. etc.

Well turns out, in order to have those gorgeous trees you need rain. And it also turns out that rain, at this time of year, comes at a drizzly pace a few days every single week.

Evan's hours are pretty miserable as it is, but when you leave the house at 4:30 am (pitch dark) and leave the hospital around 6:30 - 7:00 pm (pitch dark) you never see the sun. And quite a few times, all he sees is rain and black.

Over the last few days, I've noticed this has truly brought his spirits down. I know he's sick of being in that hospital, and I know he's sick of not seeing daylight. He's sick of just cold and dreary. And the fact of the matter is that even during the day, it has been quite dreary. But, at least in my huge massive office at work, I have these big windows where I SEE the dreariness. Evan only sees the black sky.

To make matters worse, since I have been feeling under the weather lately (turns out, I had pink eye and a cold! yuck!) he comes home to a wife that doesn't feel well and hasn't had much home-cooked food. Usually, when he comes home I try to make the house as welcoming as possible. I usually have dinner either ready, or being made, I try to have all the Christmas lights on, and sometimes I even have fun music playing in the background. I want it to be his haven when he arrives.

But since last week opening my eyes was pretty painful, most of this didn't get done. Except the Christmas lights ... that I do the second I get home! ; ) Work has been really busy for me lately because we're smack in the middle of finals. This means I had to write my final and grade my papers, but in addition, I had to organize how 30 students with accomodations were going to get their finals, their extended time, have people reading the tests or writing if needed, etc.

Last night, as Evan flopped on the couch to start folding our Christmas letter, I could sense that he was really down in the dumps. I brought it up and his words completely and utterly BROKE MY HEART:

"With me being gone so much, it just doesn't feel like Christmas."

To you, that probably isn't a big deal. But in our house, this was like a woman saying "I don't care if I ever get another pair of shoes again!"

Christmas is a big deal in the Lacefield home. It is our favorite holiday as a family and we celebrate it and decorate with SO many smiles. We are the opposite of bahumbug. We send out Christmas cards every year, always have lights outside and inside, and decorate TOGETHER while drinking hot chocolate and watching Elf. So the fact that it didn't feel like Christmas really showed me how truly down in the dumps he is!

I think he realized I was concerned because this morning, in his usual perfect husband ways, he sent me a text that said:

"Good morning! I am going to try to be positive and happy. I love you Cristina, YOU ARE my sunshine to make me happy."

And the sad thing about ALL of this, is that I don't have a way of fixing it! It broke my heart when he said "you're my sunshine." In other words, it doesn't matter if it's dreary outside, I have the sun in you. But how do I make it sunny?

How do I make it feel like Christmas when he's working so much and seeing so many families in pain while at the hospital?

The good news is he works Saturday morning but is OFF Saturday night and Sunday all day. Therefore, I have TWO days to show him Christmas. Since I'm feeling much better lately, I will have more energy to convince him of this by:

(1) Singing Christmas songs
(2) Having Christmas songs on constantly
(3) Making my spice Christmas drink
(4) Make and decorate sugar cookies with Liliana
(5) Watching Love Actually
(5) Any other ideas that pop in to your head or mine?

I just can't have my wonderful husband feeling blue. He is Liliana and I's rock! I don't know how he does what he does ... working those hours, seeing so much pain and suffering during the day, and coming home and never complaining for a second of it. We are so thankful for him and it is our turn to give in return!

BRING ON THE CHRISTMAS SPIRIT!!!

Something to Look Forward To ...

2011-12-12T12:14:00.000-08:00

Evan is on a really busy rotation this month. In November, we got spoiled. He had to be at the hospital at 7 most days and was usually home by 6. Sure we had our occasional 5 am calls and late nights, but he saw Liliana everyday but one that month. That is a record for sure!

Then December hit and BAM, back to the life we were accustomed to.

He didn't see Liliana a few days last week because he leaves EVERY SINGLE DAY at 4:30 and was getting home around 8. During the week, Liliana goes to bed around 7:30 since I wake her up around 7 to head to work.

On the days he doesn't see Liliana, my husband is a totally different person. I try my absolute best to be positive for him. I tell him all the new things that she's doing and take videos, but they're not the same.

Last week, Liliana was going through her teething bit and I must admit, it was a tough week at home. I've been feeling under the weather with a really sore throat and painfully dry eyes. Somehow, Liliana hasn't contracted this never-ending cold. She has the world's best immune system I swear ... AND ... she wasn't breastfed, so take that people that made me feel bad about it!

So this weekend, I would be lying if I didn't say I was dreading the weekend. Evan worked over 25 hours and was gone pretty much the entire time. And I knew that dealing with a fussy baby while I was feeling sick was going to be really rough.

I tried to plan lots of things for Liliana and I to do. For instance, we went to the Wonder Place (this BIG play space for kids 3 and under in Little Rock. It is a heaven sent amazing place!), we went to a used toy store, we went to the mall, we bought new towels at TJMaxx, and we even stopped in at Target (no weekend would be complete without a Target run).

And you know what? We totally survived! Liliana must have ended her teething stage around 10 o'clock on Saturday morning because the rest of the weekend she was her glorious normal happy self! She didn't fuss or bother for 1 second, she was happily playing by herself when I needed a break, and she was just a complete and total breeze. It's like she almost KNEW that Mommy didn't have 100% to give.

To make things EVEN BETTER, when at the used toy store, we found EXACTLY what Santa was bringing Liliana. We had bought it for $29 and here it was $6!!!! I already returned the other one and Liliana obviously likes it just as much:

I live in a world of "I need to look forward to something." And what is that?

This upcoming weekend, my husband isn't on call. Sure, he'll probably have to go to the hospital (when does he not?) but he'll be home by noon AT THE LATEST both Saturday and Sunday. We don't have much planned, intentionally. We will relax. We will watch movies. We will sit in our new couches that we're going to pick up today (yipee!) and we will be a family. And it will be fabulous.

Yes, I realize it's only Monday. But sometimes, a girl just has to look forward to something.

What We've Been Up To

2011-12-07T08:42:00.000-08:00

It has been nearly a week and a half since I've written on this blog. WOW. I know I don't write as often as I used to, but that's a long time for me.

It's not that I don't have plenty to write about. It's just that I don't have the TIME to write it!

I have been under the weather lately: red dry eyes, SORE throat, and a stomach bug to boot. It hasn't been pretty. And the last two days, Liliana's molars started coming in.

Let me tell you: those molars are NO joke.

Liliana is pretty much the world's best baby: She's sweet, sleeps like a champ and always has, is so incredibly smart, is potty-training herself, etc. etc. BUT, she sucks at teething. SUCKS at it.

Case in point: on Sunday we put her to sleep and an hour later heard her crying. Evan and I were really perplexed by this. We haven't had an interrupted night for over a year so this is very abnormal. Turns out, those molars were coming in and with a vengence.

Yesterday at daycare she didn't nap and was apparently much fussier than normal. Last night, we struggled. Evan was at the hospital until really late and with my not feeling so hot, it made for a rough evening. I put her to bed ready to hear cries.

But none came.

And this morning, when I woke her up before work, she was right as rain.

Happy as a clam.

Cute as a button.

She was back to her normal self! I am so glad! I'm sure those molars aren't done causing her pain, but we seem to be done with that phase for now.

As if that didn't already make my day, look what I awoke to:

Our backyard looks GORGEOUS with snow on all the branches!

The drive to work was absoultely wonderful. It snowed a lot in Lubbock, but it's not NEARLY as pretty as this.

Other than trying to get rid of the teeth pain, we decorated for Christmas some and while I need to take pictures of everything, I at least wanted to show a little Christmas preview. We have TWO trees in the house this year: one with our red and green typical ornaments and then one with all the personal meaningful ornaments. Here's our big "red and green" tree:

I really like our tree this year. I'll take pictures with our camera instead of my phone soon, but I wanted to mainly show ... the presents under that tree. Those are ALL for Liliana. We bought ONE of them. The rest are for from other people that adore her. She already opened about 3 bags full in San Antonio when we went for Thanksgiving... those aren't even under the tree. Spoiled you think? ; )

Here's the outside of the house! Even though it was COLD this week, my hubby went out there and did this all while maintaining a positive attitude and smile. He is so wonderful! He knows just how much I love Christmas time and wanted to make the outside of the house look wonderful. It really does. It's the best looking one on the street! : )

The Ol' Switcheroo

2011-11-28T08:55:00.000-08:00

We had a great trip to San Antonio and everyone simply adored spending time with Liliana. Evan and I arrived back home around noon on Friday and thought we would just decorate for Christmas without feeling the stress.

As we got the Thanksgiving decor out and brought the Christmas decor in, we started stressing. And by we, I mean I.

It's like it suddenly hit me: our house, while great, needs some MAJOR work done to it!

For starters, what was I thinking putting the playroom right off the kitchen? At the time, it seemed like a fabulous idea having Liliana right there, but on the other hand, the room is half the size of the completely unused room at the front of the house.

Then, I realized that the ugly paint colors upstairs HAVE to go. I've seen that mud color ENOUGH thank you very much and I am SO sick of it.

THEN, we went over to our next-door neighbors to watch the Arkansas game (which ended up being a big disappointment). In their playroom, she had these FABULOUS couches. They are comfy and Liliana can climb up on them without giving me a heart attack. I wanted them. Evan REALLY wanted them (he likes comfort).

The only dilemma? We didn't have $700 dollars in our back pocket. Darn it.

THEN Evan said "WAIT, we have credit card points!" And indeed we do!

So, guess what's coming to our home? TWO of these babies!

Sorry for the poor picture quality. Walmart won't let me get a decent one!

So, instead of a relaxing weekend, we spent it decorating for Christmas (pictures coming soon) AND switching our old study and playroom.

In other words, this big study is now the playroom. The wall to the right of that baby gate is going to house our two couches and it will be a "sitting area" to relax in.

And this smaller room is now the study.

We still haven't changed the art work, but Liliana is already a BIG fan of the switch. It gives her room to roam and when those couches come in, it'll give us room to lounge while she plays!

As for the other trillion things that I wanted to do, those will have to take a back seat until we can afford them. The credit card points paid for 50% of the couches, but that means we're still paying a decent chunk of change out of pocket. So the rest will wait ...

Except for the mud color walls in my guest room. It simply HAS to go. If I have to look at it ONE MORE TIME, I just might puke.

Thanksgiving Desserts

2011-11-18T11:57:00.000-08:00

The three of us are traveling home for Thanksgiving on Monday afternoon. We're pretty darn excited. This will be Evan's first vacation time in nearly 5 months. He definitely deserves it.

Since we're flying home, I obviously won't be in charge of bringing a big turkey.

Instead ... I am the "Dessert gal."

That's right, I am completely in charge of desserts this Thanksgiving. We have a pretty big number of people coming over for dinner and a big range of ages: 18 months (Liliana dearest) - grandpa (93!). In other words, I have to make desserts that will please all pallets.

I've decided three desserts should be sufficient and don't want all of them to be too darn similar (in other words, no pumpkin pie, pumpkin bread, and pumpkin cake please). I also won't have that much of a time frame to work with because I have to share the kitchen with my Mom who makes about a trillion things throughout the day. Enter pinterest.

My Thanksgiving Dessert Menu will consist of:

(1) Pumpkin Spice Rice Krispie Treats
(2) 4- layer Pumpkin Cake; AND
(3) Brownie Chocolate Pecan Pie

Behold:

(1) Pumpkin Spice Rice Krispite Treats: These are th EASIEST to make. Just go to Walmart and buy some Pumpkin Spice Marshmallows.

Then, put the marshmallows on top of all your melted butter...

And melt those, put in your rice krispies, and VOILA ...

As you can tell by the picture in the background, I made this as a Halloween dessert, but it works for Thanksgiving too!

(2) 4-layer Pumpkin Cake. YUM. LOOK:

This one isn't difficult to make, even though it looks complicated. But it is scrumptious.

Recipe found here.

(3) Chocolate Brownie Pecan Pie

Out of all the recipes, this is the one I'm the most excited for. I have a feeling people will be licking their fingers after eating some of this. To make it even better, I am using FRESH pecans from Evan's grandpa's yard. That will only make it even better!

Recipe found here.

Am I missing an essential item? Should I include something else? This holiday baking stuff is fun but kind of stressful at the same time!

For Christmas, I plan on making LOTS of fudge and cookies, but what am I doing??? We don't talk about Christmas until thanksgiving is done! Hmm ... wonder what I'll be talking about on Friday? ; )

In the mean time, happy thanksgiving!

If you were my DVR ...

2011-11-14T12:54:00.000-08:00

If you were my DVR, you would be pretty busy Monday - Wednesday, and slow on Thursdays. I don't really watch anything on Thursdays (unless of course I'm missing something and a reader lets me know!)

If you were my DVR, you would know these are the five shows I simply can't live without (in no particular order, because that wouldn't be fair to make me do that):

(1) Sunday: The Good Wife

- This is the ONLY legal show I watch. I normally can't stand other ones, just like Evan can't stand Grey's Anatomy. Sometimes being a lawyer or a doctor messes shows up for you. But this show is so brilliantly done. It is absolutley amazing: it's sultry, intelligent, thought provoking, and CLEVER. They NEVER have a repeat legal case and ALWAYS make me go "how did they think of that?"

(2) Tuesday: Glee

- I know I join about 30 billion others when I say I enjoy this show. I have to admit, they have had some episodes that I've felt really lackluster about. Alternatively though, they have had some episodes where I am in amazement. There have been about a handful of episodes that I watched twice ... in a row. NO show has made me do that before. That is why it is still on my top 5. I do wish they'd do more popular songs. I like seeing their interpretation of it. I hate when they do songs that are boring or that I've never heard of before. Also, I'm really in love with Artie. His songs are THE BEST. Mercedes voice is too loud for my taste and Santana has a good voice, but it doesn't compare to Rachel's. Artie though? He's my man!

(3) Wednesday: Modern Family

- This show absoultely CRACKS ME UP. My favorite character is probably Gloria, or Mitch. I love the humor in the show, the way they handle serious issues, and the delivery of everything. It ALWAYS makes my Wednesday's better knowing I get to watch an episode. The husband and I ALWAYS watch this one together and have a great time while doing it. Even if he's working, I wait until some time when we're together. It's one of those shows that you'll find yourself thinking about during the day and you'll randomly let out a chuckle thinking of a joke ... then everyone around you will think you're crazy.

(4) Wednesday: the New Girl

- This is a new show that stars Zooey Deschanel. I'm not sure it would make my top 5 if it weren't for the fact that Evan DIES laughing when watching this show. Hearing someone be THAT happy while watching a show makes you love it too. According to Evan, the relationship between the guys on this show is just how guys act when they're together. I think they act like morons, but funny morons!! ; ) If you don't have a big sense of humor, I don't recommend this one. You have to be silly, be okay with crude humor, and be willing to just go with it.

(5) Monday: How I Met Your Mother

- This is one of those shows that you should follow from the beginning to truly enjoy it. The characters are so well developed. The stories can be serious, but are usually quite silly. You grow to love the characters and rejoice in their happy moments and get truly angry with them when they mess up. You also think it's hilarious when they have to wear a Duck Tie for a year. I am getting SLIGHTLY annoyed that we still have no idea How Ted Met the Kids Mother, but I'm hoping they have a plan. You can't have a 15 season show without letting me have SOME kind of idea! The concept will get annoying if they're not careful, but so far, they're handling it really well.

Honorable Mention: Revenge/ Parenthood

- these are good shows too, but not top 5 in my opinion. Revenge is about a girl that moves to a town just to hurt those that conspired against her father and eventually let to his demise. It's dark and the acting isn't always stupendous, but the story is at least interesting. I can see how this would quickly become horrible if they make it too ridiculous with the story line. So far they've been reasonable and kept you interested. Parenthood can be boring to some. It takes a while to get attached to the characters. It's a very realistic show, which is probably why people don't like it. THIS WEEK though, they have a character cheating on his wife and truthfully? I might stop watching it because of that. I know, I know it's only TV, but I don't even like SEEING it. Plus (ready for stupid comment?) that character would NEVER cheat on his wife in real life!! They're doing it for ratings!! (done with my rant now)

What's on your DVR? Am I missing some gems?

A Happy Baby = Happy Parents!!!!

2011-11-10T08:54:00.000-08:00

Liliana started her new daycare 3 days ago. I thought I would be relieved to find her a new place. Relieved doesn't quite express how I feel.

I am enamored. Completely obsessed. I want to kiss the feet of every single person at this daycare.

In just three days, we have seen the BIGGEST change in our daughter. It is simply amazing.

We have Liliana in a Montessori Daycare. For those that are unaware, Montessori education is a mindset of raising an independent child. For example, in Liliana's classroom each child is in charge of taking thier snack and going around the table giving each student a certain amount of snacks. Their thought is that by her age she shouldn't be given these snacks. She is able to get them herself and give them to other students too. It shows the concept of sharing, of knowing HOW much is a reasonable amount, etc.

All these ideas MIGHT sound silly to you. I have to admit that even to me they seem kinda silly, but let me tell you ... in 3 days our daughter has changed so much, and for the better. This isn't to say that anything was wrong with her before, but she simply seems more content.

Here are some changes we've seen in just THREE days:

(1) she says please and thank you whenever giving her food. We've been trying to teach her this FOREVER but something they did at daycare worked. No idea what it was, but I'm kinda jealous that I didn't think of it. PLUS, it's super cute to hear her say those words.

(2) She is comfortable being by herself and eating on her own. On Tuesday night, Evan and I were making dinner and she got her bowl and pointed to her goldfish. She took her bowl, sat facing the corner, and just ate on her own until she was done. Normally, she would have carried the food around, spilling along the way, and trying to get our attention. She somehow knows to be on her own and that eating is done while sitting down. Again, I could KISS THEIR FEET!!!

(3) She's in love with the potty again. As I've blogged about before, Liliana has been ready for potty training since around 16 months. I haven't tackled it because I was waiting for Christmas break to do so. At her old daycare, I don't know WHAT happened, but she started fearing the potty. Here? Well, let's just say last night she took her diaper and pants off and sat on the toilet. I think she's psyched.

(4) Umm ... no more sippy cups. I didn't even know this was an option. On Tuesday afternoon when we picked her up, she was drinking from a big girl cup. We asked them if she didn't need a sippy cup anymore and they said "no, she's a big girl that knows how to drink from a big girl cup!" So last night, we put this to the test. I was convinced we'd have water EVERYWHERE. We gave her the cup and lo and behold, she put the thing in her mouth and drank. Sure, she got some NASTY backwash in there, but not a drop off water on the floor. She is officially off sippy cups!

I am SO happy about this transition, I can hardly contain myself. I love everything about her new daycare, but mainly, I love seeing our daughter happy. When I go pick her up she says "bye bye" to ME!!!! She used to say bye bye to the other kids in her room, but at this place? She wants me to leave the second I get there! She is having so much fun!

If you have any questions on Montessori education, feel free to ask away. Like I said, I probably would have thought this stuff was a bunch of hogwash, but seeing such a transformation, I am MORE than convinced. Oh and no, her daycare isn't paying me for writing any of this. They have no clue I even have a blog. But I am nearly crying from happiness at this change. It is probably the best thing that has happened to us as parents in a long time and it is surely the best thing that has happened for Lilianan since we left Lubbock.

Like the title says ... a happy baby = happy parents (VERY VERY happy parents).

The Doctor Says "Trick or Treat!"

2011-11-04T07:39:00.000-07:00

Halloween was such a pure blast this year. Evan actually got to go trick-or-treating with us (which is a rare occasion for him to be home that early) and Liliana was just about as adorable as humanly possible.

This year, Liliana was .........

Dr. QT Patootie! (that's really her name ... it was on her whitecoat)

Before Daddy got in to HIS outfit, I snapped a pretty shot of both the doctors in my life ...

Liliana ADORED her stethescope. She was absolutely hilarious playing with it. She holds it up to you and makes a "thump thump" sound mimicking a heart.

Evan snapped some pretty pictures of Mommy and Liliana time too.

After Evan arrived at home, we had to prepare our "family ensemble." As a FAMILY we were ...

A doctor with her patients! ; ) Evan took some patient gowns from the hospital and we walked around comfortable as can be! Don't worry though, our butts weren't hanging out.

After we went around to about 7 houses, we came home so we could give candy to the kiddos. We had about 20 kids come and then turned out the lights around 8:00 so that we could spend some time together relaxing after putting Liliana to bed. Before bedtime though, Liliana had to rejoice in all her candies! She LOVED grabbing candy out of the bowls and putting it in her bucket! She got the hang of it VERY quickly.

After trick-or-treating, it was time for me to cook my "spooooooky" Halloween meal: mummy dogs and pumpkin spice rice krispie treats!

Don't despair though, those recipes are coming up in the next post! Hope everyone had as much fun trick-or-treating as we did!

Eating Paint and Painting Pumpkins

2011-11-02T13:57:00.000-07:00

Normally Evan and I carve our pumpkins a couple weeks before Halloween. However, Evan hasn't had a weekend off in over a month so finding time to do it was rather cumbersome.
Since time had run out, we set out to carve pumpkins together the night before Halloween. The difficult question was ... how were we going to get Liliana involved?

Surely putting a knife in her hand was out of the question. I know she's becoming a big girl and everything, but she's 17 1/2 months old now. I need to wait another month or so before she gets a sharp knife!

Our solution to the problem was putting paint all over her and letting her go to town on one of the pumpkins. She was a FAN ... a BIG fan of this idea ...

OOOOOO ... I get to do what????

So we painted ... and had a GREAT time.

In fact, Liliana was all smiles. (Her Daddy did that work of art on her belly...you like?)

At first she looked at me like "am I really allowed to do this?"

Then she started painting really gingerly and lady like.

Then the entire hand got involved and messy.

And then ... she made a "yuck that tastes gross face."

Reason being ... we got a BIG handfull of paint in our mouth.

Cue immediate sink bath time!

Liliana's work turned out pretty nice though!

After bath time she got cuddled up with Daddy and marveled at the slight makeover I made to "Liliana's pumpkin."

After we put Liliana to bed, it was time for us to carve our pumpkin together. Evan went online and put in "pumpkin carving ideas." Look what came up!

BWAHAHAH!!! Isn't that hilarious? Needless to say, it wasn't exactly family friendly to carve a butt so instead, here are our finished products!

Hope everyone had a wonderful Halloween!

A Long and Exhausting Battle

2011-11-01T13:31:00.000-07:00

I know I said I was going to write about Halloween, but quite frankly, something else is on my mind and I want to write about it. I should make a disclaimer that I probably seem very angry throughout this post ... I am. This has been a long and exhausting battle, but fortunately, there is a very very happy ending.

In Lubbock, we loved our daycare. The most aggregious thing they did was give her juice instead of water for two days. Seriously ... not the end of the world. Otherwise, they were perfect. Quite honestly, Liliana learned more while there than at home. That's just the way it was. She loved being there, would run (well at that time, crawl) AWAY from me when I would go pick her up, and I was at peace when dropping her off.

Once we moved to Little Rock, things were immediately different. We put Liliana in a daycare that wasn't our top choice, but we thought it would suffice until we could get her in to other daycares with mile long waiting lists. When she started at this daycare, my first inclication was that I wasn't thrilled, but I thought it would be good enough. The ladies were ok. They weren't great ... weren't super involved ... but at least from what I could tell, it could be worse.
Then in August she changed to her big girl room and problems started. I haven't spoken about this on the blog because quite truthfully I have felt horrible since then about dropping my daughter off at daycare and if I typed it out that her new daycare wasn't even safe, it would be official that I would be nominated for worst the worst Mother of the year award.

Ok, well ... maybe I'm not THIS bad, but still ... not good.

In August, Liliana got a bite mark on her arm. When the daycare called, I was actually not upset about it. I realize that these things happen. I wasn't per-se happy about it, but I said ok and asked what their plans were to help the problem. They said they'd keep an eye on the biting baby more.
The next day (YES the NEXT day) I got another call. This time, her bite was on her back. I started getting a little bit upset at this point. They also told me the parents of the biting baby would not be contacted (something they refuse to admit that they said now).

THREE DAYS later, I get another injury report saying "a friend scratched Liliana on her back." Weird thing though ... the scratch looked remarkably a lot like teeth and in the shape of a mouth. Hmm.

Through all this, Evan and I stayed pretty mum about the whole thing. And, something I haven't mentioned ... some of these bites drew blood. Yeah, they weren't tiny bites. We weren't happy and we started calling other daycares asking where her wait list status was. I was basically pleading and begging other daycares to have openings.

Things calmed down for 6 weeks though and we started thinking perhaps we overreacted by not giving this daycare enough time.

Then last week I got a call (I'm starting to dread when I see the Caller ID at work show up with her daycare name). "a friend bit Liliana on her face." Here, I finally lost it. The arm is one thing. The face, close to the eye, is another. I was livid and furious. Fortunately for them, they left this as a voicemail because I would have been yelling too loud for the students to hear the bell at school. When I called them back (this time, Evan and I conferenced called them because we were too angry to not say anything) they said "well these things happen and it wouldn't be fair to quarantine the biting baby." What I basically hear with this is "it's not fair to the other baby, so your baby is going to be punished."

Let me get one thing straight here. I know that babies bite! Liliana isn't a biter, but our next child very well may be! HOWEVER, I think that you should do things to try and alter that behavior. And when you tell me "well we're doing the best we can," my answer was "your best IS NOT good enough."

When I saw THIS on her face, I was pretty mortified. After two conference calls, we decided Liliana should move rooms (see how accomodating we are? We were trying different things!). Liliana went to a room with older children (about 4 months older) because supposedly this would decrease chances of biting.

Friday ... guess what call I got? That's right.

She got bit a FIFTH time. That was ENOUGH.

I went to tour another daycare (a Montessori that I am a HUGE fan of). She has been on the waiting list for this Montessori and was supposed to start in January. I explained to them our dilemma and told them that for US, waiting until January could mean 5 more bite marks AT LEAST.

After the FIFTH bite mark call, the Montessori called with AMAZING news. The next person on the waiting list decided to stay home with a Nanny SOOOOO Liliana starts in a week!!!!!

I GLADLY put in Liliana's two week notice at the old place and we are paying double daycare for a week but frankly, I don't care. We tried to argue that we shouldn't have to pay the old daycare because they didn't fulfill their obligations to keep our daughter safe, but they were quite unaccomodating. I could fight it, but that's not what's important to me. To me, what's important is that Liliana is safe, that she's in an environment where she's LEARNING (which she does NONE of right now), and most importantly, that she is happy.

A happy baby makes a happy Mommy and Daddy. And, it took us a few months, but we'll finally be there!

Giveaway Winner!

2011-11-01T11:59:00.000-07:00

Sorry I didn't get around to posting the giveaway winner of the FREE 25 shutterfly cards yesterday! I did just draw the three names right now though and here they are:

(1) Mallorie over at Happy Home!! And guess what guys? She just had a baby YESTERDAY so go send her some well earned Congrats! Mallorie, I am SO glad you won this giveaway! Now you can make some gorgeous Christmas cards to send out to loved ones.

(2) Katie Hale over at Hale Happenings! I'm so glad you won Katie ... in your comment you said you really wanted to win and you did! : ) Yippee!

and the last person is ...

(3) Kristen Hillger over at Baby Hillger! Guys, this one REALLY excites me because Kristen just also happens to be my best friend!!! I PROMISE and SWEAR that these were done by a randomizer, but her number just so happened to pop up (this is the first time that she has ever won any of my giveaways)! Kristen REALLY needs free Christmas cards because she has a 7 month old boy and is 4 months pregnant!! She has TONS of news to share! ; )

SO, to the winners, please email me at lilianateachesus@gmail.com so I can give you your Shutterfly codes. Have a great day!

I hope to post about our Halloween later today, but wanted to make sure I at least got this post done ... after quite a few votes, I think I'll be choosing the following card from Shutterfly for Christmas this year. We're taking our photos this Saturday and I can't wait! I wanted to say a big thank you to Shutterfly for always treating us so well!!! You guys are the best!!

Liliana at 17 months

2011-10-27T10:19:00.000-07:00

I haven't written on Liliana's milestones for a few months. I wrote letters to her most months for the first year of her life, but unfortunately when I stopped doing that, I stopped documenting her changes. So, I just want to write her a little update letter. Before I forget: don't forget to enter the Shutterfly giveaway below!! I am giving away SEVENTY FIVE FREE Chritmas cards to THREE readers! I'm drawing on Monday and not many have entered, so chances of winning are really high.

Liliana dearest:

I'm not going to lie, months 13 - 15 were pretty difficult in our household. You started walking around 12 1/2 months and somehow, that newfound independence came with difficulties as well because it meant you wanted things done YOUR way (you still do BTW, but know what NO means). The temper tantrums at this time were pretty rough. As you know, Daddy and I run a pretty strict household and while it took a couple months to teach you not to open the DVD cabinet or mess with the potpourri balls on the coffee table, we got it.

As a result, this last month has been my favorite month of being a Mommy since ... well ... quite possibly ever. You are doing SO much and changing on a daily basis in the best ways ever. For example, just last night you learned how to say "cheese" while grinning AND learned where your teeth are (you have 11 so far by the way).

You point to and says where your teeth, hair, ears, eyes, mouth, toes, and nose are. You're saying a HUGE amount of words, many in Spanish and English. For some reason, you really respond best to Spanish words. You say many words in Spanish before figuring them out in English. Last time I counted, you're saying over 55 words already! You're very advanced in this department, which doesn't really surprise me, because they say teaching kids multiple languages has this effect. That being said, you also ... well ... do things such as put a bucket on your head and proceed to walk straight in to the coffee table!! HAHA!! It was the funniest thing I've ever seen. Daddy and I couldn't stop laughing.

Right now, you have two big passions: shoes and climbing. You LOVE to climb on EVERYTHING which has led to quite a few tumbles, but we learn from falling right? You climb on the couch, in to your booster seat, on the bench outside, on my chairs at work ... you get the idea.

Your other love? Shoes.

I'm ok with this. This means LOTS of fun shopping later in life! hee hee. Whenever I'm getting ready to go somewhere on the weekends, you get ALL my shoes and put them on my feet for me. You don't understand why your shoes don't fit my feet just yet, but we'll get there. Your favorite pair of shoes are my tennis shoes which makes me love you EVEN MORE. I don't want you to be super duper girly girl. So you likes shoes but want to run around while wearing them! ; )

Another fun thing you're doing is imitating a ton of animals: monkeys, dogs, cats, horses ... and even more that I can't remember. Your favorite word to say lately is "no." You especially like pointing at the doggies and saying "no doggie!" You point (as indicated in the picture below) which gives even more personality (which by the way, you have A TON of). Lately you've enjoyed telling me when you run out of snacks by saying "no crackers!" with a pouty face.

You're still VERY in love with food. You weigh a little over 26 pounds and have been in 18 month clothing for a couple months. In fact, you're mainly wearing 18 - 24 month stuff. You are absolutely beautiful and your eyes get everyone's attention. I love you. I can't say it enough. Daddy and I are absoultely crazy about you. You have made our lives immensely better. Thank you for being our daughter. We are so privileged to be your parents.

Love always and forver,
your Mommy

Shutterfly Christmas Card Giveaway (for THREE readers!)

2011-10-24T13:20:00.000-07:00

Last year, Shutterfly was kind enough to pay for my Christmas cards. All my family and friends commented on how gorgeous the cards were. This year, they've been kind enough to offer FREE Christmas cards to THREE of my readers! It has been a really long time since I've done a giveaway, but I figured this would save each reader about $40 - 50 bucks so I couldn't !

SO next Monday I will randomly draw THREE winners. Each winner will get a coupon for TWENTY-FIVE FREE Christmas cards of your choosing from Shutterfly.com. To enter the giveaway do the following:

(1) for ONE entry, leave a comment telling me which design you'd order for your Christmas cards.
(2) for TWO entries, leave a comment telling me you started following my blog (or already do).
(3) for THREE entries, blog about this giveaway and leave a link in the comments showing me where you did so.

As you guys know, I love Christmas time, and I LOVE the designs Shutterfly came up with this year for the holiday season. But I've actually used Shutterfly for a TON of other things. I bought Liliana's birth announcements there a year and a half ago and I also make our Lacefield family yearbook on Shutterfly too. In fact, I started our yearbook last night and they've made getting a photo book even cooler. They have a customization feature with the cutest embellishments. SO easy ... I'm in love. Seriously, I know this sounds like an advertisement for them. I'm not saying it because they've forced me to. I'm saying it because I use Shutterfly all the time and time and time again their products come out even prettier than I expected.

This year, I'm trying to narrow down which Christmas card I want to get for us ... which is your favorite?

This one's modern and playful.

This one's simpler, but I like how much it highlights the picture.

My favorite part about this one is the beautiful quote on the right side. That is so true about my life!

SO, which is YOUR favorite? Wouldn't you LOVE to get 25 of these FOR FREE?!?

Then enter the giveaway! I'll draw on Monday for THREE readers.

(disclaimer: Shutterfly is giving me some free holiday cards for hosting the giveaway and doing this post. Honestly though, they're the best website for affordable pretty cards anyway!)

Help Me!! Must Choose a Party Theme!!

2011-10-18T08:50:00.000-07:00

Liliana is nearly 17 months old. I can't believe it! When she was 2 months old, I knew what the theme of her 1st birthday party would be. As a result, we had an incredibly successful and happy Cupcake Themed party.

This year though? With the move, and work, and Evan's residency etc., I truly haven't given it much thought. Today, I decided it was time to start thinking about it. After all, a baby this cute deserves her Mommy to think ahead!

I know I still have 7 months. I am a very organized, obsessive compulsive person. I know that planning ahead is the way to do this in order for me to stay sane. OK? ; )

When I told Liliana we hadn't come up with a theme yet, she pointed her finger at me and said "well start thinking about it Mommy! This is a HUGE event!!" I agree Liliana. I agree. (PS Could she be any more gorgeous? Look at those eyes!)

I have THREE options for this years theme. Note: the party will likely be in Texas (reminder: I live in Arkansas). We will be going to San Antonio in May for Liliana's Godfather's graduation. As a result, it makes sense to have a big 2nd birthday party in San Antonio for everyone to celebrate with Liliana. I will most likely do it in my parents backyard. The reason this is limiting is that I can't prepare TOO many things unless they pack well in a suitcase.

Here are the three options:

Sesame Street Party

I could always go the typical "Sesame Street" way. I know it's common, but Liliana LOVES Elmo. Every night when we put her in her crib, she asks for "Melmo" and the second we give him to her she hugs him real tight and immediately falls asleep. That being said, we're not big TV watchers with her and haven't seen one episode of Sesame Street so I'm not sure it's worthy of the entire theme. It sure does make for a bright and lively party though! Look at some of this amazing stuff I found. These women are creative and talented! I assure you my party won't look nearly this good! (Plus, I don't really have that kind of budget)

Artsy Fartsy Party

Don't ask me WHERE she got it from because neither Evan nor I are artistic, but Liliana ADORES coloring! She actually does a pretty darn good job with it too. She tries to mimic me when I do circles and squares. Her favorite thing? Coloring with a crayon in both hands. She's efficient, what can I say? As a result, I think something like this (including: crayons, frames, and face painting) could be a TON of fun.

Let's Have a Ball Party

Liliana's last obsession? Balls. She LOVES playing with them -- she ~~likes loves~~ FREAKING ADORES when Evan lifts her up to make a basket, she loves throwing the ball to us, she loves playing with her little basketball hoop in her playroom ... you get the idea. SO, why not have a ball party? It would be SO easy to buy for and I think all the invited kids would have a blast.

SO, which one do you like best?

The sooner I know the theme, the sooner I can officially start planning.

This organized, OCD Mommy is kinda freaking out. HELP!

A Week Full of Smiles

2011-10-11T09:39:00.000-07:00

On Saturday, I was baking some snicker cheesecake cookies when I heard a knock. Evan was working and I usually don't answer the door when he's not home. So I walked slowly up to the door and I thought someone sounded remarkably similar to my brother ... it was! My brother, my sister-in-law, and my precoius niece DROVE from San Antonio (11 hours!) to come see me the weekend before my birthday!! Needless to say, I was INCREDIBLY excited to see them. We spent an amazing weekend together.
On Sunday we went to Burns Park. Evan worked overnight Sunday, so he should have taken a nap to prepare, but instead came along and joined in on the fun.

And let me tell you ... Burns Park in Little Rock has the most outstanding playground I have ever seen in my life!

Of course, we had to go down the slides right? Evan and Danny were giddy with excitement to go down the huge slide ... and they even let the kids join in on the fun.

I adore this picture of Liliana and Evan. It just shows how much of a dare devil my little girl is and it shows how much Liliana and Evan adore each other. It is the most beautiful thing in the world seeing a Daddy/ Daughter relationship. It makes me happier than anything on earth to see him loving his girl. I know a ton of women struggle with that relationship and wish they had that connection with their daughters, but not me. It's actually the complete opposite. I feel honored to witness this love on a daily basis.

That being said, Liliana and Mommy still shared a ton of fun moments too! This age, this month in particular, has been the best ever. She is SUCH a complete joy. Not one second of fussy moments, just fun and laughter. I wish I could pause time...but you know what? Maybe not, because who knows what next month will bring!

My sweet, adorable niece Sofia enjoyed the park too!

My favorite part of the weekend was snapping this shot of the two girls together:

It cracks us up how different they look. Sofia is so pale with curly hair, and a skinny gal. Liliana has some color to her skin, straight straight hair, and a chubster! They had the best time playing together. It was such a blast to watch them.

It was also a blast to be a family for a while. Quality time with Evan during residency is definitely treasured time.

A couple parting thoughts from the weekend...my brother thought a slide picture would be a beautiful shot. What do you think?

Isn't that hilarious? It took them a while ... and I actually think I enjoy the candid picture MORE, but they got a pretty shot finally.

This weekend was some of the most fun I've had in a while. To make it even better? My parents are coming tomorrow to spend a few days with us! Birthdays are AWESOME!

The only bad thing about the week? Evan works nights the entire week, so I'm not seeing him for more than the 5 minutes when he drops Liliana off at work. Even when away, he knows how to make me smile though: when I got home from work, Evan had bought me flowers with a sweet note in Spanish, accompanied by an apple martini in the freezer. Man, my husband knows me PERFECTLY.

So blessed. Feeling SO very blessed.

Our Hairy Children

2011-10-07T11:23:00.000-07:00

This week on "Show us your Life" is "Show us your pets." I absolutely LOVE and ADORE our pets. Honestly, when Linda ran away (don't worry, we found her) from the house a month ago, I cried like a freaking baby. I was making "lost" signs while tear drops fell on the paper. I know some think it's stupid to say you "LOVE" your pets, but I do.

We have two doggies: Linda Mujer (pretty woman in Spanish) and she's a 4 1/2 year old beagle. Linda only grew to 14 pounds, so she looks like a puppy which gets her plenty of attention. This dog has more personality than most humans. She absoultely CRACKS US UP. We have had many family members claim her if we die. Isn't that sad that that's all they care about? Not the fact that we died?

I still remember the day we got Linda. We had been married for about a month and went to the mall. I know some people say it's bad to buy them from the mall, but look at how cute she was ...

She was 3 pounds of cuteness. Linda has been with us through it all and has never caused any problems. She doesn't chew on anything, and basically just makes us laugh. Quite honestly? The dog is kinda a bitchy little thing, but we love that about her! She really and truly knows she's cute and if you make her lie on the floor she looks at you like "where's my human blanket?" She has no idea why she must be outside with the other furry thing. We give her a voice and it's so fitting.

Here's Linda currently:

As I've written on the blog lately, we got ANOTHER dog a few weeks ago. His name is Sherman and he's a Golden Retriever puppy. We thought it would be difficult adding another dog to the mix but this guy is SO freaking easy! He is already potty trained and knows how to sit. He has such a strong desire to please us. If he does something wrong, he gets a little pat on the head and you can tell he is so sad about disappointinig you. He's like that dog in "Up!" thinking "Yes master!" He's so freaking cute too ... take a look:

We just took this picture last week. We're taking pictures of him regularly because he's growing so fast! Apparently this little 8 pounder could be 40 pounds in the matter of 2 months! I don't believe that's going to happen though ... no way this little guy could grow so much! ; )

Evan is in love with his new playmate (I think he likes having testosterone around the house, even if Sherman's man bits haven't dropped, haha!).

All in all, we love our pets. Some days we don't play with them enough, I must admit. But overall, I think we're really good pet owners. They get love and attention from us every single day. And they deserve it! : )

Monthly Top 10 Pins

2011-10-06T07:40:00.000-07:00

When I first joined Pinterest, I was pretty obsessed. I pinned a million things that I had favorited in my bookmarks. The last few weeks, I haven't had time to explore pinterest again. Except today ... I was in a rather lackluster meeting and decided to look through people's pins. Dear lord, I got obsessed again!

SO, today I wanted to show you my favorite top 10 pins of all time. I might do a monthly pinterest "top 10." I love when other blogs do this because I see and learn crafty ideas, recipes, interesting photos, funny thoughts, etc. I put FOUND HERE with a link for each one.

Therefore, in no particular order, here we go:

Print from "The Help." I adored the book and ADORE this quote. Want to put this either in Liliana's room or in the next kids room. Beautiful message. Found HERE.

Snickers Caramel Cheesecake Cookies. Don't these look sinful? They LITERALLY make my mouth water. Found HERE.

I like keeping ideas of what I'd like for our eventual dream home. I love this look. So unique.

Found HERE.

My favorite Christmas movie? Elf. Hence, I absolutely adore this print. It's so cute and cheerful. Found HERE. (for FREE btw!)

Crock pot Chicken Enchilada Soup. Looks amazing for a cold fall day. Found HERE.

I have come to the conclusion that I love porches. This porch is gorgeous: comfy, bright, and welcoming. Found HERE.

I plan on printing these and using them as the basis for Liliana's big girl room. They're wonderful. Found HERE.

This idea is adorable: during the month of February, you put something in their envelopes each night saying what you love about them, something you're excited to do with them, etc. The kids get SO excited to see their message every single morning! Found HERE.

Chocolate Chip Cookie Dough Cheesecake Bars. These look really yummy. Found HERE.

This idea is AWESOME. Every five years, you take a picture from your anniversary, holding the picture from the year before, etc. etc. This is just the neatest thing I've seen on pinterest I think. Evan and I have a picture from our first anniversary, so next year, we will definitely be doing this!

Found HERE.

Decorating for Fall and Halloween!! (and Tutus)

2011-10-03T06:58:00.000-07:00

This weekend, while my Aggies gave up an 18 point lead, Evan and I decided to do something that would bring a smile to our face: we decorated our home for fall and halloween! Nothing makes me happier than the start of the holiday season (and yes, I include October and November in that). I love decorating our home for every single holiday: Halloween, Thanksgiving, Christmas, New Years, Valentine's Day, St. Patrick's Day, Easter, and July Fourth. I wish I could decorate all year long.

This year was unique because we've never decorated THIS house before. Turns out, our new house looks pretty darn cute all decorated for the fall:

The tombstones up front were from our old house. Evan made those and the one on the right is his (what a dorky doctor right?) while the cute one on the left is mine. ha. My favorite part of our outdoor decor is the bench though. I went to Hobby Lobby a few weeks ago and bought all those pumpkins at 50% off. They add SO much, I don't think the pictures do it justice as to how pretty it looks.

Since there is a pumpkin shortage this year, I went ahead and bought the ones on the bench as fake pumpkins. Weirdly enough, they're cheaper than the real ones. Plus, these will last me forever. I'm sure we'll carve pumpkins some time later in the month though. It's a family tradition.

We have quite a few decorations throughout the house as well:

Our spookiest decor of all? Look what Evan put up in Liliana's play room!

A close up of these scary creatures:

Seriously, I think these are too scary for a kids room! Eeeeek!! BOOOO!!

The house wasn't the only part of the house that got a fall makeover yesterday ... so did Liliana!

I got this little shirt for $4 at Crazy 8 this weekend and it's so adorable! She is a cute fall girl! AND, this might not seem like a big deal to Moms that have babies with long hair, but this is the FIRST time EVER that I've been able to clip a bow in Liliana's hair! It only took 16 months, but we did it!

While we decorated, we put Liliana to work and had her do some cleaning:

Hey hey, don't get mad. We didn't work her TOO hard, she also got to play:

The fall season is upon us and this evening, to celebrate, I plan on having sandwiches and tomato soup outside while drinking some Apple Cider. Glorious.

Window Shopping Extravaganza (for Liliana)

2011-09-30T11:33:00.000-07:00

I don't do much shopping for Liliana. I have been blessed with a TON of hand me downs. By the time she turned one, we had spent MAYBE $50 total on her clothes and toys combined. We really don't spoil her at all, but her family and our friends definitely do! We get a monthly package from her Madrina (godmother) with at least FIVE or more new outfits!)

But I have to admit, I know why family spoils her! Look at that gorgeous gal!

Since I barely spend any money on her clothes, I figured I would say where my favorite products are when I window shop for her. Yes, I often go online and make imaginary purchases of $200 just to X out of the screen. Let's go window shopping today some shall we?

My favorites to window shop at are:

(1) Crazy 8 - they just put one in Little Rock and I already went on opening weekend!
(2) Carter's - there is one opening in Little Rock in November! We are getting so lucky!
(3) Old Navy - I'm always shocked by how many adorable things they have. PLUS, great sales often too!

Our Trip to Crazy 8

How cute is this little outfit? Liliana already has the skirt (that I bought the weekend it opened for $4.99, can't beat that people!) Now we just need a jean jacket.

I ADORE this outfit. It looks just like something I'd have her wear. A little bit spunky, yet feminine.

On to Children's Place ...

I am in love with the fact that children's Place has these shirts in Spanish. I think I'm going to actually buy these. They tug at my heart strings. This was says "Daddy's little girl." $6 right now. GET SOME!

I've been in love with all things cupcake since Liliana had her cupcake themed 1st birthday. This one, also $6, says "I love you almost as much as cupcakes."

For today, the winner of our Window Shopping Extravaganza is Old Navy. Behold how adorable this outfit would be.

On to Old Navy, our last stop of the day...

A cute little bow top to match sweetly with this cute little ...

Leopard skirt! And as if that wasn't enough, let's top it off with the most adorable...

Baby shoes I have EVER SEEN!

Don't you think she'd look too perfect in all of these things?

Darn it, now I really want to go shopping for her!

I mean, would you be able to say no to that sweet face?

Or to this cute smile?

Yeah definitely going shopping this weekend ... ; )

A lot of little things

2011-09-29T08:49:00.000-07:00

I don't really have one thing to post about today, mainly lots and lots of little things that wouldn't make an entire blog post:

(1) Liliana, Ms. 16 month old baby, has started telling me when she poops. And if I say pee pee, she holds her ... well that area. Yep, I'm in shock that she's doing this. This weekend, we're going to buy a potty seat. This is about 10 months earlier than I expected to be tackling this. I'm not usually the Mom that says "stop growing" but in this case, I wasn't prepared! I wanted to read up on this and how we're supposed to tackle it. Suppose we'll just be winging it ... unless people have advice on potty training kids earlier than usual?

(2) Sherman, the new pup, is doing really great. He is a totally different personality than our other dog Linda. It's funny how they always say each child is different, but I'm starting to see that even in our dogs! Linda was much more refined and quite frankly, bitchy. Sherman is more destructive (although he hasn't done anything bad yet ... he just likes to nibble on feet a LOT!) and yet more sweet natured. He's at that adorable puppy stage where running looks more like leaping.

(3) Evan finishes the worst two months of his entire residency career tomorrow. I am so freaking excited. To celebrate we're getting a babysitter on Saturday night and going to a new restaurant in town that always has long waits. It's a very casual place but they have waffle fries like chick Fil-A, but they're sweet potato. Look, don't you want a bite?

(4) One REALLY bad part of our week? We found out our air conditioner is having MAJOR problems. Like, $1,000 bill problems. And that's WITH a home warranty ... the original bill is $6,000. SO, our trip home to San Antonio for Thanksgiving is kinda not happening now. My car got a brand new transmission in August ($2,500 bill) so these two HUGE expenses make the trip home impossible. We're really upset about it all, but that's what happens when you're both not making big paychecks.

(5) I made this chilly on Sunday night. It was DIVINE and probably the easiest chili recipe I've ever made. Highly recommend. Link found HERE. PS It makes A TON ... we're eating two dinners with it this week and had two more batches that went in to the freezer for future consumption.

(6) So I have no idea where my daughter got this from, but she's an artistic little girl! At daycare, they say she refuses to give people her crayons because she goes to TOWN on them. She covers the entire page in her scribbles. And she's even trying to mimic me when I draw shapes. Neither Evan nor I are artistic but my Mom is. It must be from her. Anyway, I want to get her this for Christmas. I have a feeling she would never want to let it go!

Have a good weekend! YES, I know it's Thursday, but I like thinking ahead.

Recipe Week Part IV: Homemade Funfetti Cupcakes

2011-09-27T14:26:00.000-07:00

ALRIGHT, you're right. Technically I didn't provide four recipes in one week. It took me a little over a week, but this is still the most I've blogged in MONTHS so throw me a bone mmmmk?

Coincidentally, I'm incredibly behind at work. Weird.

For my last recipe, I think I'll give you the favorite of all four: HOMEMADE FUNFETTI CUPCAKES. This is the third time I've made this recipe in 8 weeks. They are simply delicious. Whenever I'm thinking of making a dessert, I always have this as a contender and Evan and I always go back to the yummy, reliable Homemade Funfetti Cupcake recipe. These TASTE like you've spent hours on them but they're actually quite easy. Also, they taste PHENOMENAL. Truthfully, they taste like you bought them at a fancy cupcake shop when the reality is? You just whipped them up at home!

Have I said enough good things about them yet? Behold ...

Homemade Funfetti Cupcakes

Ingredients: (makes 12 cupcakes)

1/2 c. butter 1/3. cup milk

1 c. sugar 1/3 c. assorted brightly colored sprinkles

2 whole eggs 1 teaspoon baking powder

1 T. vanilla extract 1 1/2 c. flour

Directions:

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

Cream butter and sugar in the bowl of an electric mixer until fluffy, about 3 minutes. Add eggs and vanilla and beat until combined.

Combine dry ingredients in a bowl. Add half of the dry ingredients, mixing until justu combined. Add the milk. Once mixed, add remaining dry ingredients. Fold in assorted sprinkles, like so ...

Pour into cupcake tins and fill 2/3 of the way full. Bake for approximately 18 minutes. Let cool COMPLETELY (at least 20 minutes), then frost.

To make this yummy looking frosting ...

Vanilla Buttercream Frosting

2 sticks of butter, softened 1 T. vanilla extract

2 1/2 c. powdered sugar 1 T. of milk (if needed)

Cream butter in the bowl of an electric mixer until completely smooth and creamy. With the mixer on low speed, add in powdered sugar slowly. Gradually increase mixer speed and add vanilla, then beat for 2-3 minutes, scraping down sides and bottom of the bowl. If frosting is too thick, add milk 1 teaspoon at a time until desired consistency is reached. If it's too thin, add sugar gradually until it thickens. Frost cupcakes and top with sprinkles.

Introducing ...

2011-09-24T21:34:00.000-07:00

Technically I have one more recipe to share with you guys for recipe week, but I just HAD to blog about our day ... we got our golden retriever puppy ... SHERMAN!

Evan is working over night tonight which stinks, but the plus side of that is that we could go during the day to pick up Sherman! We put Liliana in her "I love puppies" t-shirt and drove to Oden, Arkansas (about 2 hours away from Little Rock). The drive wasn't that bad and Liliana was pretty darn good on the trip. When we got there, it was DEFINITELY all worth it because this is the cutie pie we got to bring home:

Isn't he absolutely adorable! We had a pretty tough time choosing which doggie we wanted. There were four adorable boys. One was VERY hyper, so we quickly said no to that one. We want a dog with personality, but not one that jumps all the time. The other two were very dark and we thought that was our #1 criteria, but Sherman just spoke to us. He was BY FAR the cutest and was perfect ... don't ya think?

SO he has settled in really well at home so far. He definitely is different than Linda was as a puppy.
I have to watch him more ... he likes shoes! We need to go buy some doggie toys tomorrow, but we've had so much fun with him so far.

He runs around and plays, and then ... he gets worn out:

I have a feeling he'll fit in PERFECTLY with our little family! Welcome home Sherman!

Recipe Week Part III: Three-Cheese Pasta Bake

2011-09-23T08:54:00.000-07:00

We're on to the THIRD recipe I want to share with everyone. This one was EASY, even easier than the Spaghetti Carbonara and was awesome. The best part of this one? SUPER kid friendly. Liliana LOVED the stuff, I mean seriously, she ate more than we did! : )

This recipe is truly like macaroni and cheese, chicken alfredo, and lasagna in one. And that just sounds awesome doesn't it?

NOTE: I made the recipe without any meat, like the recipe says. HOWEVER it would taste amazing with chicken or shrimp on there as well.

Three-Cheese Pasta Bake

Ingredients:

1 16 oz package ziti pasta (penne works too) 2 large eggs, lightly beaten

20 oz alfredo sauce (from the jar) 1/4 c. grated Parmesan cheese

1 (8 oz) container Sour Cream 1/4 c. chopped parsley (fresh is best)

1 (15 oz) container Ricotta Cheese 1 1/2 c. mozzarella shredded cheese

Directions:

Prepare pasta according to box. Drain and leave out.

Stir together Alfredo sauce and sour cream. Toss with the pasta until evenly coated. Spoon half of the mixture into a lightly greased 13 * 9 cooking dish.

Stir together the Ricotta cheese, eggs, parmesan, and parsley. Spread this evenly over the pasta already in the cooking dish. Spoon the remaining pasta mixture over this layer.

Sprinkle the entire thing with mozzarella cheese. Your dish, at this point should look like this:

Bake at 350 degrees for approximately 30 minutes, or until bubbly.

YUMMY!

This made for nearly 3 dinners and was such a treat.

ENJOY!

PS Look who we're picking up tomorrow!!! I CAN'T WAIT!!! One of these gorgeous babies will be in my arms in 24 hours! EEK!

Recipe Week Part II: Triple-Layer Peanut Butter Brownies

2011-09-21T07:50:00.000-07:00

On Monday I gave you guys the recipe for Spaghetti Carbonara. Since we ate such a healthy dinner (cough cough), let's add a delicious dessert for the big finale shall we?

Behold one of my all-time favorite desserts:

The Triple-Layer Peanut Butter Brownie

These are squishy, delicious, and rich. They have three layers: brownie, a peanut butter mixture, and chocolate on top just for good measure. They turn out perfectly every single time and people will start requesting them when you're showing up to a party because they're that good. What they don't have to know? They're easy and fool proof!

Ingredients:

- 1 pkg. (19 to 21 oz.) brownie mix (for a 13 * 9 pan)

- 1 c. cold milk

- 1 pkg. (3.4 oz) Vanilla Flavor Instant Pudding

- 1 c. creamy Peanut Butter (I use Honey Peanut Butter)

- 1 1/2 c. Cool Whip Whipped Topping (do not thaw)

- 3 sqaures Baker's Semi-sweet Chocolate

- 1/2 c. powdered sugar

Directions:

Prepare and make brownies in a 13 * 9 inch pan as directed on package; cool.

Meanwhile, beat milk and pudding mix with whisk for 2 minutes. Add the peanut butter and powdered sugar and mix well. Refrigerate the mix until the brownies are completely cooled.

Spread the peanut butter mix OVER the brownies, like so:

Microwave the cool whip and chocolate on high for 1 minute, stirring every 30 seconds. Your bowl should look like this before it goes in to the microwave:

It should look like this once it has already melted (approximately 1 minute in the microwave):

Spread this chocolate mixture over the peanut butter mixture, like so:

Refrigerate the entire thing for AT LEAST one hour, and then cut in to it ... enjoy!

YUMMY!

Recipe Week Part I: Spaghetti Carbonara!

2011-09-19T07:43:00.000-07:00

I've decided that this week will be Recipe Week on Is There a Doctor in the House! Through the week I will share four YUMMY recipes with you. Today?

Emeril's Spaghetti Carbonara.

This recipe is VERY easy and isn't nearly as creamy as other Carbonara recipes. It makes it much more enjoyable, and if it's possible to be healthier with Carbonara, then this is definitely better than adding 1 cup of cream (which this recipe has NONE of).

Evan was actually HOME and didn't have to go in to the hospital this weekend. It was such a treat! He insisted that he cook Sunday night since I've been taking care of all the home responsibilities lately. When he told me Spaghetti Carbonara was on the menu, I said ... "ummmmm....OK!" ; )

Emeril's Spaghetti Carbonara Recipe

Ingredients:

1/2 lb. bacon, chopped                                                            salt
1 T. chopped garlic                                                                 1. c. freshly grated Parmesan cheese
ground black pepper                                                               1 T. finely chopped fresh parsley
1 lb. spaghetti, cooked al dente                                              4 large eggs, beaten

Directions:

In a large saute pan, cook bacon over medium heat until crispy (about 6 minutes).
Remove the bacon and drain it on paper towels.
Pour all the bacon grease, except about 3 tablespoons worth.
Add the garlic, bacon fat, and black pepper in to the skillet. Saute for 30 seconds. Add the bacon and pasta to the same skillet and saute for another minute.
Season the eggs with salt. Remove the skillet from the heat and add the eggs whisking quickly. Whisk until the eggs thicken some, but do not let them scramble.
Add the cheese to the pasta. Garnish with parsley.
Say Yummy.

This "oh happy day" picutre in the background is perfect.

When you eat this, it is a HAPPY day! ENJOY!

Marriage Isn't Easy!

2011-09-16T12:03:00.000-07:00

These last two weeks have been very challenging in our house. Evan has been working ridiculously long hours and I have felt stressed doing the rest. It's a challenge to manage everything while keeping smiles on our faces.

I think I should preface this post with saying that I don't really know how I'm going to write it, nor do I want anything to think that Evan and I are having marital problems! We are not! We are simply having to learn how to adjust to this life ... this life where Evan is VERY rarely home, where I am working long hours myself, and where I am quite frankly in charge of EVERYTHING else.

Evan and I have always handled stress brilliantly in our relationship. We tackled both of us in law school and medical school, with my being pregnant, and six figures in debt without a shouting match ever. But this lask week, it has been hard to keep a happy face on when he gets home because I am so unhappy with how little he is home and so unhappy with all the familial responsibilities that fall on my shoulder.  And I feel pretty stupid getting mad at him when he tells me about the day he has had: "well, I spent 3 hours suturing this guys head back together." Seriously? I don't think I have room to complain after that! he is doing SO much good in this world, literally saving lives, and I am complaining because I have to do the grocery shopping every single time? Someone (ME) needs to get off her high horse.

To make matters worse, when Evan DOES get home, he won't let me lift a finger. I know he feels horribly for being gone so long, but when I'm dealing with the stress that a home brings, and with a baby that gets quite fussy in the evenings, I can't help but think "GRRRR, why doesn't HE ever have to deal with any of this? Why is it that I am the one that has to handle all the family and house situations?  Why does that responsibility so often fall to the female?"

Evan is gone EXTREMELY early in the morning (by 4:30 at the latest) and works VERY LONG days. In fact, MOST days, he doesn't even get to see Liliana which has been difficult for the both of us. When he does get home, he tip toes in to her room and watches her sleep which simply breaks my heart. On the days that he has seen her (which has never been for over an hour), he tells me things like "hey, she's saying no no no to everything now!" And I don't MEAN to sound rude, but I tell him "yeah, she's been doing that for almost a week now." When I say it, I don't realize how much that must hurt, but he brought that up the other night. I had never realized how much that must sting. For some fathers, that's not a big deal, but for a dad like Evan that has been beyond outstanding, I know he is missing his family.

Let me give you a play by play of Wednesday night. I have been pretty darn bogged down at work but took an hour out of my work day dealing with a health insurance bill that we got that has mistakes all over it. I called a billion offices, got no where, and was incredibly frustrated. I needed Evan to give me some information that I was unaware of and texted him. I didn't hear back for over four hours, so naturally I was frustrated and he responds saying "I'm sorry, I was in a surgery for a lady that needed her leg cut off in an emergency surgery." What the hell am I supposed to say to that? I realize that when it comes down to it, he does have the more "high stress" and "important" job. I also realize that this general surgery year is only going to be ONE year and we won't see the emergency surgeries nearly as much in Urology, but still, it gets old. He did what he could to give me the information, but I am still, as I type this, no where with handling this bill. And that responsibility, just like all others, fall to me.

After work, I get a quick work out in, go home and wait for an hour when I get the text I'm used to getting now "babe, I am so sorry but I have to stay here longer. We haven't even started rounding on our patients. I won't get to see her again. I miss you two so much. I am miserable. I love you."

Well, I can't get mad at that right? I mean, I know he doesn't WANT to be working this much. I also know that this is how residency goes. This is what EVERY SINGLE general surgery resident is going through.  But I also know that when I'm at home, it isn't easy!

At home, I make dinner, and then Liliana and I eat. She gets extremely tired so I put her to bed, then I go downstairs, clean the kitchen, the house, start doing some laundry and eventually a very exhausted Evan comes home.

I try to do sweet things like make him his favorite brownies (which I did do this week and I plan on posting the recipe soon). But I am so irritable and sad about the way the days have been going that unless he thanks me a trillion times over, I say he's not appreciating everything I do.

The truth of the matter? We both aren't appreciating what the other person does enough. We don't freaking HAVE TIME to appreciate it enough!

Last night, he finally got home at a GREAT hour and only worked a 14 hour day (yes, that's a good day people). He played with Liliana and our night together was fabulous. We for the first time in nearly 2 weeks got a chance to talk about things, our day, and eventually fell asleep at 9:30! Lame right? But it was nice. It was nice just cuddling and falling asleep on the couch. It was nice to get a glimpse of how life will be once again.

I don't really know how to FIX this residency, time, parenting, household responsibility dilemma that we have going here, and lord knows that I have been snappier and more irritable towards my husband in the last two weeks than I should be. I think, quite frankly, it's because I miss him.

PS I should also mention that this entire week I was/ am on my period. TMI? Deal with it people!  I only have my period 3 times a year and it had to come this week, which definitely makes me pissy! Craps and bloating? Yuck.

For now though ... our solution?

Saturday, (as in tomorrow) Evan is off from work! WOO HOO and bless the lord! We are spending the entire day togehter as a FAMILY, going to a family reunion, and then in the late afternoon, Evan's aunt is taking Liliana so we can go to dinner and see a movie (the Help). She's even keeping Liliana over night so we can have a nice night to ourselves. I think it'll do us a world of good. But then, come Monday it's starting ALL over again ... have I mentioned how excited I am for July 1, 2012? We have a countdown on his phone. That's when general surgery is done and Urology begins.

I never thought I would want Evan looking at penises all day so badly! ; )

The Splash Pad and Autumn Smiles

2011-09-08T08:37:00.000-07:00

To say that Liliana ADORES water is a complete understatment, as evidenced in the pictures below.

Over Labor Day weekend, fall settled in to Little Rock. The highs are an incredibly manageable 78 and the lows are around 55. Basically, it's heaven in a city. We have been eating outside, leaving our windows open, and enjoying this change. Somehow, even though life has only gotten more stressful around our house lately, it isn't getting to us. We're just enjoying it all.

The only bad thing about the temperature drop? Our trips to the pool and splash pad have come to an end. On Saturday, we decided to take Liliana to her favorite place in the world for the last time this year ... the Little Rock Splash Pad.

The air and water was actually quite nippy. As a result, most other babies or children weren't getting in the water. Liliana though? I think she thought it was JUUUUST fine.

Seeing her enjoy the water is so much fun. People at the pad keep coming up to us and saying they've never seen a baby love the water so much. While people say love of water isn't a genetic thing, I have to disagree, sorry. If you're Daddy is an All-American swimmer, some of that DID influence Liliana, I mean please:

And how about this one? My favorite of the afternoon. This picture might win for chubbiest baby knees of all time.

Let's hope those legs get slender later in life! ; )

After the splash pad, we were pretty tired and put our robe on to walk around the park a little more. We spent quality time thinking about things to come with Daddy ...

And we spent time just relaxing with Mommy ...

All in all, a great way to say "good bye summer!" and HELLO autumn! : )

What did I wear today? Outfit pictures below!

2011-08-31T09:33:00.000-07:00

This sounds silly ... but I have sent Evan a picture of what I'm wearing to work a few times. See, Evan leaves EARLY EARLY every single morning (ahh ... the life of a resident) and by the time he gets home in the evenings, I'm in my work out clothes looking sweaty and stinking like BO. SO, I want him to occasionally see his wifey looking nice.

Therefore, I take a little poorly lit picture for him to see. He always responds "holy jesus you're beautiful" or something like that (that's the one I got today). It makes me feel nice to hear a compliment at 6:45 in the morning. I think everyone should get a compliment BEFORE even heading to work. Now THAT is a way to start off your day!

Anyway, I thought I would share for you guys what I wear to work lots of days. I've seen "outfit" posts on blogs before and I always like seeing how people dress and what creative yet classy ways they put thier clothes together. My FAVORITE thing about those posts? When people say WHERE they bought stuff because sometimes I want to copy cat and buy it too!

I wore this to work a few weeks ago and had SO many compliments on the dress. My Momma bought it for me at Belks. I'm actually wearing it backwards! It's low cut in the front and not appropriate for work, so my Mom had the idea to simply turn it around. She's a smart woman!

Outfit:

Dress: Belks ($40 on sale)

Shoes: Carlos Santana (bought 5 years ago)

Earrings: gift from Evan from NY & Co ($10)

Even though this shirt is longer, I wore it in August because it was sheer and breathes so well! That's exactly what I need in these hot summer months.

Outfit:

Shirt: The Limited ($30 at a 40% off sale)

Pants: NY & Co (free bc I had a ton of gift cards)

Shoes: NY & Co (free bc I had a ton of gift cards)

This outfit was a little on the boring side, but I really like the necklace and durability of that shirt ... it is TEN years old! Gotta love the Banana Republic Outfit.

Outfit:

Shirt: Banana Republic Outlet ($14)

Pants: NY & Co (again, ton of gift cards)

Necklace: The Limited ($18 bc I had a buy one get one free coupon)

Shoes: TJMaxx ($14 in clearance rack)

Here I am today! I really should take these with a decent camera huh?

Outfit:

Shirt: The Limited ($16 in a 40% off sale ... I did damage that day, even with great prices!)

Pants: Old Navy ($20. They occasionally have some GREAT slacks)

Shoes: NY & Co (same from above pictures)

Bracelet: Park Lane Jewelry (don't know how much it cost, it was a gift)

There ya have it! While getting dressed every morning is a little stressful, it's actually quite fun to plan my outfit out. The only problem? I'm also starting to like shopping! To make matters worse, my husband and I don't have the typical relationship where he says I shop too much. He ALWAYS tells me I worked hard to get back in to my pre-pregnancy clothes and should reward myself. ... well ... if you insist!

Have you guys seen any good sales lately that I have to hit? : )

Our GROWING family! : )

2011-08-26T12:31:00.000-07:00

After much consideration, Evan and I decided it was a good time to expand our family some. I mean, Liliana is already 15 months old and we just felt like it was time.

We even had a name chosen for our growing family ... it was fate ...

In just one short month, I will be holding one of these adorable cutie pies! Isn't this the cutest thing you have ever seen?

We are getting a boy golden retriever and we'll be naming him Sherman! (for those of you that might not know, Coach Sherman is the Texas Aggie Football Coach. Needless to say, since our Aggies are highly ranked, we thought the name was awesome).

The parents? The parents of these puppies? Just take a look people ... holy moly our dog is gonna be a beauty!

The Momma

The handsome Papa.

Did I fool you guys in to thinking that we were having another baby? Are you guys CRAZY? Evan is a RESIDENT people! I just started a NEW SUPER SUPER BUSY job! We BARELY make any money as it is ... nope, not time for that. That is not in the cards for the Lacefield family for a good while longer.

But you know what is ????

Raw Emotion Today

2011-08-23T06:13:00.000-07:00

Last week I realized something. I made the right decision. I've known it for a long time, but I've had to convince myself a few times when people give me looks after I say "I went to law school but decided to get an unconventional job with it." After this week, I say it with pride. I look at people who judge and say "psh, you're probably just jealous."

Making the decision to not practice in a law firm after I was so obnoxious all through law school was a humbling experience. I felt so vulnerable. I knew people would have lots to say under their breath. To be quite honest, I didn't like the person I became through law school. I was constantly bitter, constantly stressed, and frankly unhappy. Looking back on it, I became a very unlikeable person. When all you are is stressed, you just get mad at people around you that seem happy. Don't know if that's common, but that's how I react. I found it hard to be happy for others, which is truly such a shame. I'm ashamed to say I became that for a while.

Even through my pregnancy, my main thought was: "will I get a job as an associate somewhere?" I was unreasonably selfish and frantic about the stupidest thing.

The evening that I finally took the plunge and decided to work in an academic setting, I had a few people not agree with my decision. However, the majority of people, especially my husband, knew it was right. I immediately felt SUCH a relief. I think some people thought I was giving up working. Quite on the contrary. Like I've said many times on this blog, I've always known staying at home isn't the life I want. I think it works wonders for some people, but I just can't give up all the hard work through college and law school. Plus, if I told you my hours this week, you would know that isn't the case. I was at the office about 45 hours this week, not to mention the 15 hours I worked at home. It isn't anywhere near my husband's hours (poor guy) but still not a walk in the park by any means.

While working at the middle school all last year I felt happy but still felt somewhat unfulfilled. I was so fortunate to land a job within 1 week of having my application out so I didn't complain. The kids at the middle school taught me patience. The staff taught me resilience. But I knew that wasn't my goal. I knew I wanted a position with more autonomy. I really wanted a position that required initiative.

And that's exactly what I have here. Again, I was so lucky to easily get this job. I sent out a blind email looking for any position and the head of school wrote back with a myriad of possibilities for me. For starters, I really enjoy working with the older students (most of them are about 17 or 18). I feel like I can relate to them more and I remember so well what they're going through. I also enjoy that I do get to teach a course. Yes it's time consuming and yes teaching Economics is difficult, but I think the students enjoy our time together. Another part of my job that I love is being the Director of Upper School Academic Achievement. I get the privilege of talking with parents and with students and trying to help them succeed here so they can go to the best college possible. Whether that means organization skills, test accommodations, or test-taking strategies, I am SO very busy handling all of this. Some days I forget that I had to pee!

Funny thing is ... I wouldn't want it any other way. And I know I won't love the job every single day. I know some days will be tough and some days I'll say "uggh I hate this," but every job has their cons.

For the first time since my big decision last summer, I can with 100% certainty say, I made the right choice for myself. And for the first time in a VERY FREAKING LONG time I can say (without sounding too cocky) I am PROUD of myself.

My Office Semi-Makeover, PLUS, some decorating help needed!

2011-08-19T06:32:00.000-07:00

Wow the blog writing is really taking a backseat lately huh? Work has been HECTIC and BUSY to say the least. I leave about an hour later than I thought I would every single day AND then I get home and work a few hours more. It should calm down soon though. I think this is what happens when you're new to a job.

The pluses though? I LOVE the job. I LOVE being busy, and I LOVE my office space.

I'm not done with it though and I need your help to finish it ... I know I need some prints on the wall, but I just don't know what else the space needs.

Wanna see the makeover?

BEFORE

This was my office when I got to work the first day. YIKES right? I mean, it was a little bit stressful to see the mess. SO, instead of dealing with this immediately, I decided I would tackle this on a Saturday with Evan and Liliana by my side.

We went off to Target on Friday night and I shopped. I decided the theme would be black and red and started finding some great deals.

Once I got rid of all the mess, it started looking a little bit better. But, we still had plans and what a difference $80 makes! Well, what do you think?

As you can see, I have a nice couch for students and parents to sit on during conferences. I also have a sink behind my desk! Cool huh? And, another wonderful thing about this ginormous office?

My pretty view. I get to see the kid eating lunch and get to see hills and trees throughout the day. I love natural sunlight and love having my windows open.

I am so thankful for Evan helping to do all of this. He was a trooper while we cleaned this up for 2 hours on a Saturday morning. Also, Liliana was really helpful looking adorable too:

She brushed her hair while we worked ... how helpful right?

SO, I am SO very happy with my office. It is so homey and I love spending time in it.

Now ... what else should I do with it? Advice? Please? ANY?

Working Momma Once Again!!! ... PLUS, I need work fashion advice!

2011-08-09T19:00:00.000-07:00

Last Friday, I started work at my school here in Arkansas. I can't give you guys too much information, because believe it or not I've heard that these little stinkers will google my name incessantly. I can add that I'm fortunate enough to work at the best private school in the state and quite frankly, the place is amazing. They treat their staff and the stuents so well.
Example: I showed up to work on Friday and by 11 I had a BRAND NEW FREE laptop, AND my first paycheck! DANG, talk about a sweet first day.

I will be SO very busy at the school. I am the Academic Director of the upper school and teach economics. I will also do legal work for the head of school whenever they don't want to send things to legal counsel. Basically, I have the best job ever...it's a little bit of everything, I am incredibly busy during the day, and I work with a bunch of wonderful children and with a very hard-working staff.

While my hours don't seem like they'll be horrible, they definitely won't be a cake walk. I leave the house around 7:20, drop Liliana off at daycare, get to work around 7:45 and so far, haven't even had a chance to pee until I get home in the early evening! YIKES! Honestly though, I wouldn't want it any other way. I love a busy job.

On the weekends, the job won't necessarily require I go to too many events but it is "strongly recommended" and even more so, I WANT to go! This school is so impressive and truly cares about the children that attend. So to go to football games, to see the choir concerts, and to go to the student council events will definitely take time, but I'm so very excited to get to know these upper school kids (and hopefully children from the lower and middle school too).

It has definitely been a transition going from staying home for 2 months while we settled in to the house to going back to work full-time without Liliana by my side. I wake up WAY earlier now that I'm back to work and quite honestly, I much prefer working to staying-at-home. It just suits me really well. This is an entirely differnet topic, and I understand it's controversial, but working is what works for our family and I'm happy it's all working so brilliantly!

Liliana, of course, has transitioned without any difficulties. When I drop her off, she just turns around, blows me a kiss, and says "Bye bye Mommy!" .

... and walks off.

No crying. Not a peep. For a 14 month old baby, she is QUITE independent.

ANYWAY, I need some advice from everyone!!! HELP me!!

I have to decorate my Achievement Center room and need your help! It's QUITE ugly right now. Pictures to come soon! We'll have to get our decorating shoes on. Any ideas for a cute office at work?

Second, this job makes me dress all fancy schmancy ... I mean, I can't even wear capri slacks! I just bought gorgeous ones from the Limited and ... nope ... can't wear them! BUMMER. Any advice? Where to shop for clothes, for shoes, for jewelry, what to wear while still being comfortable, etc.?

Evan told me he'd help pick outfits for me on-line and you know what he's looking at right now?

Lingerie.

Don't really think that's what I had in mind! WELL, at least not for work. ; )

Can't Stop Eating: Cinnamon Roll Pulls Recipe

2011-08-04T12:33:00.000-07:00

Lately, I've been a wee-bit addicted to Pinterest. My best friend told me about it and darn her ... I couldn't stop pinning things! Find my boards here.

Anyway, if you read my blog then you know I love cooking and baking. After working out, it is my biggest hobby (ironic I know I know!)

Pinterest has been amazing because I had a word document with all these recipes I would see when browsing the web and now I have it available whenever I want it. A few days ago, while at Kroger, I remembered a recipe for Cinnamon Roll Pulls that I had from this great blog. I HAD to make it. The evil Cinnamon Roll gods made me!

And after I made THIS ... well you see why I had to share the recipe with you guys. It's very similar to the link I put above, but I did make a few adjustments to it ...

Cinnamon Roll Pulls:

Ingredients:

1 UNSLICED round loaf of sourdough bread
1/2 c. butter, softened
1/4 c. powdered sugar
1/3 c. honey
1 1/2 tsp. vanilla extract

3/4 c. sugar
1 1/2 tsp. cinnamon

1 1/4 c. powdered sugar
1 tbsp. milk

Directions:

(1) Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
(2) Make the vanilla honey butter: whip butter and 1/4 c. powdered sugar until smooth. Stir in the vanilla and honey and set it aside while you cut the bread.
(3) Cut the bread in slices (about 1/2" thick) but DO NOT cut all the way through. Turn the bread 90 degrees and cut again. This will start getting a little messy, but it's ok, just keep going.
(4) Spread the vanilla honey butter through the slices. Try and get deep in to those crevices. Put as much as you would like. If you think there's enough, don't use all of the butter, but do remember to get plenty.
(5) Mix the cinnamon and sugar and put this through the slices as well. Again, use as much as you think looks appetizing.
(6) Wrap the loaf in foil, put it on a cookie sheet, and put in the oven for approximately 30 minutes. Trust me you want it nice and warm and gooey.

(7) AFTER it is done in the oven, prepare the glaze that goes on top by combining the milk and powdered sugar. Use more milk or more powdered sugar to get the consistency you would like.

(8) Kick your husband's butt for taking pictures of your butt while baking (that picture not posted here ... don't want to give y'all nightmares now!). Then give him a kiss for having taken a picture of you preparing the glaze.
(9) Drizzle that icing over the loaf.
(10) Devour.

Tour of the New Home: Liliana's Bedroom!

2011-08-03T12:32:00.000-07:00

I'm sorry I've been a crappy blogger lately. I could say I've been too busy, but the truth is that I started a new book and am addicted to it. Have you guys read Unbroken? I highly recommend it.

Amazon link. READ IT!

Anyway, back to the tour. Last time, I showed you the livingroom and today we're moving upstairs ... to the room of the prettiest little girl around! To get upstairs, we go through the hall:

Rug bought on Overstock.com AND got that AWESOME print (What I Love Most About my Home is Who I Share it With) for FREE HERE. I plan on changing it out when the holidays come! LOVE Subway Art.

After the hall, we go up the stairs ...

And finally we have arrived at Liliana's room!

Liliana's room looks actually quite different than in did in Lubbock and I have to admit (I'm ashamed to admit) I like it better in Lubbock. I had a horrible time choosing a paint color that I liked here. In Lubbock, I only painted one wall and we got the same color here ... but with the different lighting, it looked like a chemical spill! So, we went with this color (second gallon of course) and while it does look much better, it still needed something.

SO, off to Amazon I went. I got those dots on the back wall for like $12 and it made a huge difference! I had a LOT of left overs because sometimes less is more.

The BEST part of her room though? Look at the opposite wall:

ADORE these built-ins! LOTS and LOTS of storage which is amazing. Evan is actually using her old dresser to save on money because we don't need more drawers! PLUS, I like having all those shelves so that we can put her plethora of books:

Here are the books that Liliana has in only her room. Any book that has a counting or alphabet theme goes in the playroom downstairs, because that's the theme of her playroom. She has tons of books ... but you know what she has PLENTY of?

Look at the amount of shoes she has! And mind you, these are only size 4 shoes ... she had a full drawer of size 3 shoes, but those are already packed for the next baby girl, if we have one. Also, we have one pair in our diaper bag, another in her playpen downstairs, AND she has a pair on today. I bought the majority of them off of Ebay ... a lot of THIRTEEN shoes for TWENTY-TWO dollars (including shipping). Do the math people, that's about $1.50 per pair. WOWZA. The rest are gifts or hand-me-downs from family members.

Liliana's favorite thing in the room?

Mrs. Bunny. Yes, she likes Mrs. Bunny. She does not carry it around, she knows it stays in her crib, but every night when we put her to bed, she hugs Mrs. Bunny, looks at us and says "awwwww..." while hugging Mrs. Bunny, and then gives us a sweet "bye bye!"

Liliana says "HEEEEY...who is looking at my room...they better not take Mrs. Bunny!!"

There ya have it, Liliana's little palace. I can't believe in a little over a year I will be redoing this entire room for her "big girl" room. Wow time flies!

Next room: guest room and my piano room!

Parenting Advice

2011-07-29T11:50:00.000-07:00

This week at Show us Your Life is Parenting Advice. I'm sure every single blogger is going to say there is no such this as being a perfect parent, and I think that's true. I also think each blogger will say that they're still learning how to parent, and I think that as long as you know that, you're headed in the right direction. My Dad always tells me that when children are born they don't come with a "How to be the world's greatest parent" book. And although Liliana is only 14 months old, I have learned a GREAT DEAL about parenting already.

I've decided to give you guys MY piece of advice, and then my favorite Dr.'s piece of advice to parents (aka Liliana's Daddy).

Cristina's Parenting Advice: TEAMWORK

I HATE the notion that it is the woman's job to get up every night and give the babies their bottle or that women change the majority of diapers, etc. I think parenting is ALL ABOUT TEAMWORK. I think women too often think their husband's can't handle doing these things or don't know how to do them correctly and honestly, I think that's showing so very little faith in your spouse!

When I go see a new baby in a house, I'm astonished at how many Dad's aren't ever waking up in the middle of the night or how many Dad's simply hand the baby over to Mommy when the baby has gone to the restroom. REALLY?

If you MADE the baby, then CHANGE the baby ... that's my motto!

Evan and I are ALL ABOUT TEAMWORK in our household. Since Liliana was born we've made it a big point to do this TOGETHER in every single way possible. If one of us is getting her changed because she got her outfit dirty, the other is washing her bottles, putting the dirty one in the hamper, and choosing a new one.

Do you know what the result of all of this is? Less frustration on either parents part!! When Liliana is fussy, I only have to deal with HALF the fuss because Evan's there to help pick her up half the time.

Now that he has started residency, this has obviously changed some. He works ridiculous hours and quite honestly, he has literally shed tears because he sees her so much less. That being said, when he gets home he tells me to go to the couch, relax for 30 minutes, and just does everything with Liliana. WHENEVER we have a diaper change while he's around, he does it, whether we're at Target or home because he knows that since he's started residency, he owes me! : )

We honestly make parenting a JOYFUL thing not a stressful thing! People always joke with us that they've never seen parents FIGHTING over who gets to bathe her or put her to bed. We switch who gets these honors every night so to us, yes it is a privilege! SO YES, TEAMWORK.

You both made the sweet thing, now both PARENT. Parenting isn't just fun or just discipline. It's a TON of things in between and you BOTH should be involved throughout it all.

ENJOY their smiles.

Dr. Daddy's Advice: They Will be FINE

I told Evan I was going to write this post today and he said "my best parenting advice to parents? The kid is going to be FINE!"

Throughout medical school Evan worked quite a lot in the pediatric clinics and time after time he saw parents concerned about: "the baby isn't eating well, the baby isn't pooping, the baby isn't as mobile as he should be," etc. I am going to say RIGHT NOW that I am NOT AT ALL judging these kinds of mothers ... I become that mother ALL THE TIME!

And do you know what Evan tells me every single time I express concern?

SHE IS GOING TO BE FINE.

And gosh darn it, he has been right every single time.

When Liliana turned one, I was SO concerned because she wasn't walking yet. I fussed about it every single day. Evan kept telling me 'are you serious? She'll walk!'

Well ... guess who was right? I now have a 14 month old that NEVER crawls, and more like RUNS everywhere.

Running at the AWESOME splash pad we have downtown

Dr. Daddy always puts in a caveat and says "we'll keep an eye on this and if EVER we think there's a need to do something, then we'll do it!"

And he has kept his word. If I ever tell him, "no I think she's sick enough to take to the Doctor," he never makes fun of me. We're a TEAM so he's on my side. And I'm on his side, because the majority of the time, I have learned, she is going to be FINE! : )

My sweet girl, Liliana, playing in her tunnel.

A Stolen Life by Jaycee Dugard: Book Review

2011-07-24T22:26:00.000-07:00

I haven't done book reviews in a long time and I met my New Years Resolution goal ... I've read 11 books! Since I last did a review, I've read Baby Proof, Sex and the City, Carrie Diaries, Summer and the City, Freedom, AND most recently, A Stolen Life: A Memoir by Jaycee Dugard.

One of these days, I MIGHT get around to reviewing the other books. I DO want to add... Summer and the City was my overall favorite book out of the above mentioned list. It was cute, whimsical, simple, and yet thought provoking. Really enjoyable.

Right after I read that book, I jumped into A Stolen Life.

I'm sure you all know the story of Jaycee Dugard. She was kidnapped at the age of 11 and held in captivity for 19 years. It's VERY difficult to give this a review because it's the story of her LIFE and so what if I wanted to read less of one area and more of another? This was HER choice and nobody can say what she should have or should not have written. I will try to be as neutral as possible while most importantly stating that this woman is one of the most remarkable women I have ever heard of.

A Stolen Life

By: Jaycee Dugard

Grade: I don't feel right grading this book...she flat out gets an A+ for bravery.

How Long did it Take to Read: I read this book in about a week. It actually isn't THAT short but I just could NOT put it down! I wanted to read how she prevailed through everything that he put her through. I wanted to try to understand what she had been through. Again, she was remarkable.

why I Read it: This is a good question ... it's difficult to WANT to read about how she was sexually abused for 24 hours STRAIGHT sometimes. It's difficult to WANT to read about how she was tied up for DAYS and had to pee in to a bucket that usually was full of feces. But honestly what I wanted to read about? Her role as a mother. I wanted to see how she made it. How did she know to teach her children math, social studies, science, and english? She had a FIFTH grade education! I wanted to read about the legal process and how 60 parole visitors did not catch her. That was a BIG part of it too ... the lawyer and the educator in me wanted to read those things.

Plot: Jaycee starts the book off by writing about her life BEFORE the kidnapping. She mentions things that SEEMED like a big deal BEFORE it happened. How trivial things would seem afterwards huh? After that, she goes through her 19 years of captivity. There are quite a few journal entries from her stay there. The MAIN thing she focuses on? What really helped her through these years? Her pets! She loves kittens and although the Garrido's purposefully kept killing the animals that Jaycee adored, she would get so attached to them...probably because these animals were the only true companions she had for 19 years.

At the end: At the end of the book, I finished it feeling angry with the world. Angry that for some reason we decide the Garrido's should still be alive. We let men like this go out on the streets and do NOTHING about truly checking up on them. I finished this book furious with the legal system. Furious that nobody caught this girl until she had lost so much of her life. Garrido had to wear an ankle monitor for YEARS during her captivity. The monitor shows that he went into the "secret" backyard where Jaycee was multiple times a day ... yet out of the 60 parole visits, they NEVER went to check in the backyard. It's purely disgusting. So yes, that's the way I felt. I was angry and SO upset for this girl and her 2 daughters. By the way... Jaycee? She specifically says she doesn't hate him. She is, like I've said multiple times, remarkable. She doesn't waste her time with those kinds of feelings because she says that would waste time. I could learn things from Jaycee. I think everyone could.

Why no grade: Jaycee wrote what SHE wanted to write. Who am I to say that she should have written about how much of an ass this guy was? She didn't write much about the education lessons that she taught to her daughters, but that's probably because to her that was motherly instinct and nothing interesting to write about (obviously, I disagree. She's fascinatingly intelligent to have had the instinct to look up lessons for her girls until they reached the age of 15). She barely talked about the parole officers reckless disregard for their duty. But like I said, she said it's a waste of time to focus on what "could have been." Therefore, I can simply say this ... i am GLAD I read it. I am GLAD there is someone as strong as her out there talking about what happened. Good for her. Truly inspiring.

My Best Marriage Advice

2011-07-22T06:32:00.000-07:00

This Friday at Kelly's Korner is share your best marriage advice. I have only been married for a little over 4 years so I'm aware I'm not an expert. However, I didn't see a caveat that said we could only contribute if we had been married for over 20, so here goes.

My answers for best marriage advice might be a tad bit unconventional, but the more and more I thought about it, the more I couldn't decide between the two things that came to mind: (1) be silly, and (2) the importance of "cuddling" with your spouse!

Recently, I saw this quote and absolutely fell in love with it:

This quote kind of summarizes BOTH of my marriage advices!

Let's start with #1: BE SILLY

Life is too serious for you to incorporate too much seriousness in your marriage as well! Evan and I make a HUGE point in our life to have fun and be silly. Yes, we obviously accomplish a lot, but we love to sit back and be silly as well. We laugh together... ALL the time. There is NEVER a quiet moment in our household.

I don't think there is EVER a day that we aren't cracking up together over a dorky comment someone made, or because we're rolling around with Liliana all tickling each other. Being silly involves things such as mentioning HOW MUCH we have to do and deciding spontaneously to go out to Target and waste an hour instead.

This? We do this all the time. We'll be on our way to run an errand and one of us will say "yumm...cupcake..." and before you know it, we've gone to our favorite cupcake shop, had a great time, and didn't run our errand. Being silly.

It keeps your love FRESH and at the end of the day, it's simply FUN. Marriage should be FUN!!!

NOW cover your eyes if you don't want to read #2: cuddle time

Now I'm not going to get in to too many details here at all...my main point with this one is that couples need to take the time to be together, just them two and I think this falls to the wayside when children and more stress come in to the picture! I know life gets stressful, trust me, my husband works approximately 95 hours a week...but you surely have 30 minutes to at the VERY LEAST cuddle without distractions getting in the way.

The best part about the intimacy It's truly the ONLY time in the day where it's just YOU TWO. You aren't looking at your cell phone, or checking your email, or worrying about the kids. It's just you two. So when things get stressful later, you can look back at those moments and don't get as upset with each other because you know that you guys do indeed have a true connection. This connection should be SUCH a priority. Sure sometimes you can't just be lying in bed intertwined all day long because you have things to do, but sometimes when you can, cuddle for hours! It's the best!

Like I said earlier, I know I've only been married for over 4 years (together for almost 10) but those 4 years have been filled with things that could break many couples ... we both endured law school and medical school, we had a baby, and we have been in debt our entire marriage, but we are so very happy to be married. We NEVER fight over money, we have fun together, we "cuddle" lots and lots, and we respect each other (we both think the other person is the smarter person in the relationship...something my Dad always says is key to marriage and he's been married for 40 years, so I'll take that advice!).

I can honestly say that marriage, for me, has been the best thing that has ever happened to me. I adore my husband and am so fortunate to have him as my best friend. He is, by far, my favorite person in the world.