Window Shopping Extravaganza (for Liliana)

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 ... ; )

Parenting Advice

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.

My Best Marriage Advice

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.

My Mom Thought Somone Had Died.

This week on Show us Your Life is "How did you tell your family and friends you were pregnant?"

Well, as many of you know, our sweet Liliana wasn't what we would call a planned pregnancy.  I have, since forever, had problems with my cycle and even went 100 days without having a period.  In fact, the only reason I had one is because I went to the doctor and he gave me medicine to MAKE me have it.  While there, he told me that getting pregnant with this kind of cycle would be very difficult.  He said "WHEN you guys decide it's baby time, come back to me and we'll probably put you on Clomid."

That month, I really didn't have time to be upset about this news...I was in the middle of law school midterms and was working like a madwoman at the firm hoping they would hire me on as an associate.  I told Evan we'd worry about it when we wanted a kid and for now, let's just save on the money and not use the birth control.  As an extra protection, we would use protection from days 10 - 17 of my cycle just in case this time was crazy.

WELL, at day 23 (as I learned later), we conceived LILIANA! haha.

SOO ... how did we tell our family?

I didn't really have time to do something creative because we were in so much shock ... I had never thought about HOW I would tell family or anything like that.  PLUS, I didn't have TIME to do something cute.

We called my brother almost immediately after finding out and my sister-in-law and him were pretty shocked.  After they realized I would at least graduate from law school before Liliana was born, they seemed more relaxed.  Then Danny said "are you going to call Mom and Dad?"

Here's the problem.

When we found out ...

My parents were in EGYPT.

YES.  They were on a freaking cruise on the Nile River.  I thought about just telling them when they got back in 10 days but my brother insisted that I had to tell them NOW.

SO, I called the emergency number that my parents had left.  The lady answering the phone ASKED me "Is this a family emergency?"

I quickly said NO.  Not at all.  This is just a bit of good news that they really need to hear.

A day goes by with no word from my parents so I figure they never got the message.

Then, one day in my Health Law class, my phone starts going off CONSTANTLY.  Everyone in my family says my Mom is crying because she heard there was a family emergency and death in the family.

WHAT IN THE WORLD was this lady for the cruise ship thinking???

I quickly left class and called my Mom ...

I told my parents, "NO ONE DIED ... IT'S JUST THAT ... WE'RE PREGNANT!!!!"

My Mom started laughing and quickly screamed to the entire cruise ship during their dinner time "MY DAUGHTER IS PREGNANT!"  (Yes, she did this RIGHT AFTER I asked them to keep it on the down low until I was 12 weeks ... so much for that right?)

AND THAT is how I told my parents.

HOW did we tell our friends?

We found out we were pregnant on October 4th and my birthday follows really quickly.  We went out to eat with a few of our best friends and told them to come over to the house for dessert afterwards.

I then put this on our beagle Linda and had her run around the house  and told them "Linda has something to tell you guys!"

There were a few tears shed and then we showed them a picture of ALL our pregnancy tests ...

It was a good day.

And 36 weeks later, it was a GREAT day.

PS  Do you guys like my new blog makeover!!! I had it done by Brea at Utterly Chatoic Designs.  It was FAST, and SUPER reasonable!  I think it's awesome ...

Best Side Dish Recipe: Garlic Mashed Potatoes!

When I saw that this weeks "Show us your life" was Best Side Dishes I have to admit I was stumped.  I mentioned to Evan that I didn't know what I was going to do and he said, "why don't you do my garlic mashed potatoes?" 

Therefore, today ladies and gentleman, you're getting my man's favorite side dish recipe!!

 Someone this handsome can't guide you wrong right?

and let me tell you ... I'm not just saying this because my husband's a hot man, but these mashed potatoes are AWESOME.  We make them often and enjoy every time.

Ingredients:

6 Idaho potatoes, peeled and boiled (we've done Russet as well)

2 tablespoons garlic (we've used anywhere from 3 - 6 cloves before just depending on how garlicy you like it)

1/4 c. grated Parmesan (you can either use the Kraft shredded OR go all out and buy a block ... I must admit, the extra expense makes a huge difference)

1/4 c. Heavy Cream

1/4 lb. butter

Directions:

Thoroughly mash potatoes and then mix together with other ingredients. 

YEP, that's it people!  It's easy!  You tend to have MOST if not ALL of the ingredients already in your refrigerator already ... but I PROMISE you these are WAY better than just your average potato and butter mashers.  These slight changes will make all the difference in the world.  Enjoy!!  

And if you like them, don't thank me, thank Evan! ; )

Father's Day/ Mother's Day Ideas

Over on Kelly's Korner "Show us your life" she is doing Father's Day and Mother's Day ideas.  While we have only been parents for less than a year, I thought I could add a little inspiration hopefully!

Last year, when Father's Day came around, Evan had only been a Daddy for approximately a month.  HOWEVER, he had taken about 45,000 pictures on his cell phone and was showing EVERYBODY pictures of Liliana.  I wish I was kidding, but seriously, he would pass people in a grocery store and start showing pictures.  As if anybody cared!  Anyway, I wanted to do something in this realm and so I bought him a little digital picture keychain and put about 40 of our favorite pictures of Liliana.  It was incredibly inexpensive ($8) and was SO cute.  He said that when he would get bored or when he really missed us while walking through the hospital, he would whip it out and start scrolling through all the shots.

 It looks a little something like this.  I got it off of Amazon.

As for Mother's Day, I wasn't actually a Mommy just yet.  HOWEVER, my husband is of course the sweetest guy ever and bought me a gift anyway.  I'm a BIG fan of Willow Tree and we have the husband and wife statue in our living room.  Therefore, to make our collection more complete, he bought me the family Willow Tree and put it on the shelf right next to the "us" one.  How sweet to see that progression!

 This is called "Our Gift" from Willow Tree. It's gorgeous!

Now, I'd love to tell you what I'm getting for Mother's Day THIS year, but unfortunately Evan won't even give me a hint!  I know he has the gift because he's been taunting me with it.  He's VERY excited about it.

I did come up with a couple of ideas for people though ...

For Daddy:

For Christmas, I bought Evan a necklace like this that says Liliana's name and date of birth.  When he's in surgery, he puts his wedding ring on the necklace.  That way, he has Liliana and I close to his heart all day!

(bought it off Etsy for $20 btw)

For a New Mommy:

I saw this at Target the other day and LOVED it.  I love the Chicken Soup series and I think that one of these stories per day should be required for all Mommy's to realize that they're not alone in this crazy new process.