Oreo Truffles

January 1 is fast approaching, and along with the start of the new year comes New Years Resolutions.

So, in an effort to provide you with one last horrah (or an AWESOME) treat to contribute to your New Year's Eve party, I bring you the most delightful little chunk of chocolatey goodness you've ever sunk your teeth into, the oreo truffle. Ok, maybe that was a bit extreme, but seriously, they're delicious.

These delightful little balls were the highlight of all my holiday parties, and they can easily be modified to fit any occasion! 

Luckily, the process of making them is pretty simple.

Here's what you'll need:

1 Package of REGULAR (not double stuff) oreos

1 8 oz brick of cream cheese at ROOM TEMP

1 bag of chocolate chips (or other melt-able chocolate)

*2 Tbsp Crisco or other thinning agent (optional)

To make them: 

1. Crush the oreos in a blender or food processor. You want them to be crushed nice and fine.

2. Use a spoon to mix the cream cheese and oreo crumbs. It will take a bit of diligence, but if you use a "smashing" motion with the spoon on the bottom of your bowl, it'll work pretty well. You'll end up with a dough-like ball.

3. Put the mix in the refrigerator for an hour to chill, or if you're feeling speedy, pop it in the freezer for 20 minutes or so (until cold, but not frozen).

4. Form little balls with the dough-like mixture and place them back in the refrigerator or freezer to cool (this helps them to not fall apart when you dip them in the chocolate).

5. Melt your chocolate (use whatever method of melting you're most comfortable with. I usually go for a double boiler.) 

6. *If your chocolate is too thick, add some crisco or other thinning agent (you can use coconut oil if you want some coconut flavor to your chocolate and it works pretty well). Add a small amount at a time so you don't over thin your chocolate. 

7. Dip the balls in the chocolate and place them on a cookie sheet lined with parchment paper. If you want to add any sprinkles, do so now. Place them in the refrigerator so the chocolate will harden.

8. If you want to do any icing decorating or drizzle a different type of chocolate, do so once the chocolate covering has hardened.

9. Take them to your next party and let everyone oodle over how delicious they are!!

Enjoy! :)

Merry Christmas from the Kelloggs

Christmas is a beautiful time of the year. We send our warmest wishes to you and your family this Christmas. May your day be full of love, laughter and spirit of the season. Merry Christmas, from our family to yours.

5 Things that Helped me Survive the "Newborn Stage"

Being a new parent is hard. There's no instructions. No rule book. No guarantees. You're guaranteed to be nervous, excited, overwhelmed, scared and excited all at once. So how does one deal with this?

Everyone has their own methods. In the end, we all do whatever we need to do for our babies. That's just what parenting is. There were a few little things that I found really helped me when dealing with the newborn stage.

1. ASK FOR/ACCEPT HELP. This is so important. We all want to be supermom. We want to believe that we are strong/patient/smart/whatever enough to handle everything on our own. In reality, the strongest, most patient, smartest parents I've met are the ones that weren't afraid to ask for and accept help. You are going to be exhausted. Add to that the potential for baby blues/PPD and attach a completely helpless baby to yourself that knows how to do nothing but eat, sleep, poop and cry. It's a lot to take on, and you don't have to do it alone. When Grandma or Aunt Sally offer to watch the baby so you can nap, prepare a meal, assist with laundry, vacuum the house, etc. ACCEPT THE HELP! If no one is offering and you just need a break, don't be afraid to ask. You won't be judged. By addressing your body and mind's cues that you need to take a moment for yourself, you're being a responsible new parent.

2. Pack n' Play with removable bassinet/napper. Our little girl had a hard time keeping food down and she was frequently choking in her sleep because she was spitting up. We ended up putting the pack n' play in our room right next to the bed and she slept in the bassinet attachment in the pack n' play until she was 6 weeks old. The bassinet attachment is slightly inclined so it helped her to not have as much spit-up through the night. The benefit of the removable attachment, is that we could bring the bassinet downstairs and put it next to the couch so I could try to nap while she was sleeping. When we were ready to move her to her crib, we had a SUPER smooth transition, because we just took the bassinet attachment and put it in her crib for the first week to get her used to the new space, new noises and not having us right beside her. When we removed the bassinet and put her right on the crib mattress, she only fussed for part of one night and then went right to sleep. (We also started letting her nap in the crib on the mattress at 4 weeks to get her used to it.)

3. Swaddlers. Lord knows a new mom (and dad) need sleep. With swaddlers, our baby slept so much better through the night. She felt safe and secure and we didn't have to worry about her startling and waking herself up frequently.

4. Bouncer/Vibrating chair.  Our couch was big enough that we could just set the chair on the couch with us and bounce her while we watched tv or ate dinner. Not all babies will like this particular thing, but the main take-away is to find something that will hold and calm your little one, a swing, rock-n-play, bumbo pillow, play mat, anything so you can take a break.

5. Bath Robes. I seriously lived in bathrobes the first 2 weeks. It seemed like Charlotte was eating every hour, I was sore from my C-Section, and I just had no extra energy to pick out an outfit to wear for the day. I bought a few comfy bathrobes, and they were my happy place.

6. If you're reading this before your baby arrives, this is for you: Freezer Meals. This was a life saver. Before Charlotte was born, I made 45 dinners and froze them so I could just pull them out of the freezer and pop them in the oven or dump them in the crockpot and eat them. This way, I was able to eat a variety of delicious meals without having to spend hours preparing and cooking. I'll be sharing recipes for my frozen meals in a later post!

Meringue Christmas Trees

If your facebook or pinterest pages are anything like mine, I'm sure you've seen the super cute meringue Christmas Trees that seem to be trending. They are adorable, and I love meringues, so I thought I'd give them a try!

The good news, is the ingredients are very simple!

All you need is:
4-5 ROOM TEMP egg whites
1 Cup Sugar
1/2 tsp Cream of Tartar
Green Food Coloring


Now, that's the easy part. The rest isn't necessarily "hard", just very VERY time consuming, so have someone else take the kids and make sure you have a good chunk of free time before you take on this project.
Step 1. Preheat your oven to 200 degrees.

Step 2. Combine egg whites, cream of tartar and sugar in a large bowl (preferably a stainless steel one!)

Step 3. Simmer about 2 cups of water. Holding the bowl above the simmering water (don't set it directly on the pot, you don't want to cook the eggs), constantly whisk the mixture until the sugar dissolves into the egg.

Step 4. Turn off the simmering water and begin beating the eggs with a hand mixer on medium low speed. The egg mixture will turn white, at this point, add in the food coloring.  Continue beating as you add the color, and add only a few drops at a time to prevent overloading the egg mix. Add color until you have reached your desired shade of green.

Step 5. Increase the speed on your mixer, and commit to this for the long haul. You'll want to keep beating the eggs until it has stiffened enough that stiff, but curled peaks hold when the beaters or a spoon is dipped and removed (This takes a LONG time! I did a double batch last night and I was beating for 15-20 minutes before it reached the consistency I was looking for). Don't quit early!

Step 6. Spoon the batter into a piping bag with the tip of your choice and pipe the batter onto cookie sheets lined with parchment paper.
Step 7. If you want to add any sprinkles for decoration, do so now.
Step 8. Bake cookies at 200 degrees for 2 hours or until they no longer stick to your finger when touched and they have slightly browned on the bottom.

Step 9. Turn off the oven and crack it open. Leave the cookies in the oven to allow them to cool gradually.

These should be stored in an airtight container, and I'm told they can be frozen and eaten without having to defrost them but I haven't tried that myself yet!

These are definitely a cute treat, and if you like meringues they taste great! Do take note of the time commitment in making them though, and be sure you have the time you'll need to complete all steps!

Happy Beating :) 

Vanilla Brown Sugar Cookies

These are my favorite cookie ever!

When I was young and foolish, I didn't really like chocolate. I know, I know, clearly I was insane. My insanity did deliver one wonderful thing, though, and that is this cookie.

I loved chocolate chip cookies, but I didn't like the chocolate chips. So when I was probably 10, I started asking my Mom if she would make some of the chocolate chip cookies without the chocolate chips.  She did, and it was bliss.

After a couple years of this, she got an idea one day to add a packet of vanilla pudding into the cookies. OH. MY. HEAVENS. It was so good. I've since enhanced the recipe a tiny bit and thus, I bring you Vanilla Brown Sugar cookies.

Here's what you need:

2 1/4 cups flour
1 package vanilla pudding
1 tsp baking soda
1 tsp salt
2 sticks slightly melted butter
3/4 Cups white sugar
3/4 Cups Brown sugar
1 tsp vanilla extract
3 eggs

To make them:
1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
2. Whisk together flour, vanilla pudding, baking soda and salt in a small bowl
3. Use a hand mixer to beat together butter, white sugar, brown sugar and vanilla. Beat this until it turns into a light brown, very creamy mixture.
4. Add in the eggs, one at a time, beating well after each one.
5. Drop tablespoon size balls of dough on a cookie sheet.
6. Bake 8-10 minutes until they begin to turn a light golden brown and they spring back when touched.
7. Cool and enjoy!!

Pretzel Melts

Christmas cookies are great, but sometimes it's nice to mix it up a bit. Pretzel melts are delicious, quick, pretty and can be made using just about any kind of chocolate you have hanging out in your cupboard!

All you do to make these glorious little bites of sweet, salty, crunchy deliciousness is lay mini pretzels out on a cookie sheet, top with some kind of chocolate and put in the oven at 250 degrees until the chocolate begins to melt. Then, take them out and either leave them as is, or top them with something to add a little extra element to the party. I usually refrigerate mine or put them outside so they'll cool.

Little Tip: Make sure you don't let the chocolate melt so much that it all falls down in the holes of the pretzels. You want it to stay mostly on top of the pretzel, just melt it enough that it secures to the pretzel and will hold whatever topping you put on it.

Here's some of the varieties I have made.
-Chocolate (or Vanilla flavored) candy meltable wafers topped with M&Ms
-Hershey Kiss topped with Walnut
-Rolo Topped with Pecan Pieces
-Mini Snickers (Cut in half) topped with peanut
-Pretzels drizzled with melted chocolate and peanut butter (these ones are messy, the PB doesn't harden)
-Mini Reese's cup topped with peanut

The options are endless!

Get your creative juices flowing and dream up some delicious melts! They can be anything you want them to be, because it's essentially impossible for chocolate and pretzel to not taste good together!

Enjoy!

Tagalong Cookie Copycat (Kind-of)

Girlscout cookies. I think we can all agree that there's some strangely addictive qualities to these cookies.

My personal favorite- Peanut butter tagalongs. It's like a crunchy, kid version of a Reese cup. These are one of those cookies that last a day (or less) in our house between hubs and me.

At a Christmas party earlier this month, Nick's aunt told me about a recipe that she had heard and wanted to try that supposedly tasted just like these precious peanut butter Girlscout cookies. Of course, I had to try it.

The good news: They are delicious. Cruncy, chocolately, peanut-buttery... yum.
The "not so good" news: They aren't quite how I remember my tagalongs tasting (girlscout cookie season was quite a while ago, though!)

Overall, they're definitely worth a try. They're simple to make and I haven't had anyone dislike them yet!

Here's what you'll need:
Ritz Crackers
Creamy Peanut Butter (You could use crunchy if you want to mix things up a bit!)
Milk Chocolate Chips
Crisco Shortening or Coconut Oil (Optional)

Here's how to make them:
1. Spread peanut butter onto 1/2 of the ritz Crackers.
2. Use the other half of the crackers to top the crackers with peanut butter, forming little cracker sandwiches.
3. Melt your chocolate in a double boiler. (You can melt in a single sauce pan, just do so one medium/low heat and be sure to stir constantly to prevent burning).
4. This is OPTIONAL!!! I don't like my chocolate to be super thick, so you can add crisco, or I used coconut oil (only about a teaspoon of it for 2 cups of chocolate chips- add more as needed). Stir the thinning agent into the melted chocolate until it is not longer clumpy and has completely mixed with the chocolate.
5. Dip each cracker sandwich into the melted chocolate. I used a little pair of tongs to pull them out and a spoon to gently scrape excess chocolate off of the edges.
6. Place on wax/parchment paper and put someplace cold to harden (I put mine in the fridge, if it's cool outside, they could also be put outside).

Ramen Noodle Salad

Ah, Ramen Noodles. The main food group for 90% of college students.

I went through my Ramen stage, when I was young. I LOVED those gross little noodle squares... Then one day I woke up and the smell alone was enough to make me sick. Based on the nutritional benefits (NOT) provided by them, I guess I'm really not all that upset that I have zero desire to eat them.. well at least I didn't until I tried this.

It's so delicious! The perfect blend of sweet and crunch.

Here's what you'll need:
1 Package Slaw Mix (I used a rainbow slaw blend hat had red and green cabbage, broccoli and carrots in it)
2 Packs Ramen Noodles
3/4 Cups Oil (I used canola, you can also use vegetable oil)
1/2 cup Vinegar
1/2 cup Granulated Sugar

To make it:
1. Mix together the Oil, vinegar and sugar.
2. Crush your Ramen Noodles.
3. Combine veggies and noodles in a large bowl.
4. Pour oil mix over the veggies and noodles. Stir to combine.
5. Cover and let sit for an hour (or longer).
6. Stir again right before serving to coat all ingredients with any oil mix that may have fallen to the bottom.

Enjoy!

My Child, the Vampire Monkey

When Charlotte was a completely helpless infant, I remember thinking on many occasions "I just can't wait until she can move around and do some things for herself". It felt warranted at the time. She couldn't play with any toys on her own, couldn't roll over, couldn't move anywhere, couldn't do anything that she wanted besides cry, sleep and poop.

Well... turns out my kiddo is one of  those "fast track developers".. and has now, at 6 months, perfected crawling (I'm talking crawling up on all 4, not just the army crawl- that lasted about a week before the real deal set in) and she has learned to pull herself up on EVERYTHING. If she can reach it, she will use it to stand.

This is what I asked for right? I thought it would be wonderful. Until she developed these skills prior to developing any fear or "graceful falling" skills... So while I used to have to occasionally roll her over, replace her pacifier or move her from the rock & play to the floor, I had NO reason to EVER wish for her independence.

Yesterday was MADNESS. She was all over. I put a baby gate at the entrance to the living room, closed the bathroom door and put a gate at the bottom of the stairs... Much to my chagrin, she decided that the baby gates are PERFECT for climbing up... We have a fireplace in our living room, she learned to pull herself up on that. She learned to climb the couches, and she learned to climb my legs, back and arms. She pulls herself up using the curtains and piles of pillows... I swear, nothing is safe. So since she can stand using basically anything and has no sense of fear of falling or ability to fall on her bum instead of her head, I spent all day chasing her and putting her back on the ground, in her jumper, on my lap or in her swing all while trying to get her to be interested in her toys instead of climbing back up. Surprise, surprise.. It didn't work.

So to add to the climbing spree she is on, she also is in a teething phase. We already have the two front bottom ones, and they are like little razor blades. Now, it certainly doesn't sound appealing to me, but to her, she is willing to sink her teeth into anything. Today, the new favorites are my legs, arms, feet and cheeks. This wouldn't have been as big of an issue a month ago, or even a week ago, as I could have just sat on the couch and given her teethers to fill her need to chew.. Now that she can climb, there's no safe zone.

Needless to say, I went shopping today for new teethers for her and extra thick socks and sweaters for me. As with all things, we will just weather the vampire monkey storm and do our best to divert her interest to chewing on her teethers and toys, but OYE does this girl have some fangs!

How have you dealt with a biting baby??

Oreo Snowman Pops

I love the holidays. Cookies, parties, eggnog, family, presents- I love it all.

I also love Pinterest, especially around the holidays. So, in true pinner-fashion, I just had to take a shot at making these adorable snowman pops.

I have to be honest, this wasn't my first attempt. I had tried this last year, and it didn't quite go so well. Luckily, I tried again and this time I found a few little tips and tricks that made all the difference!

All you need is:
1 Package of Double Stuff oreos
1 Bag white chocolate chips  (Or vanilla meltable wafers)
Chocolate chips to melt for decoration (or you can use gel icing, meltable wafers, sugar cookie frosting made of 10x sugar and milk, sprinkles, etc.)
Something to use for nose (I used sugar cookie frosting, but you can use anything you'd like!)
1 package lollipop sticks

To make them:
1. Pull apart the cookie and press your lollipop stick into the cream filling.
2. Melt your white chocolate chips.
3. Cover the cream and lollipop stick with melted chocolate and put the cookie back together.
4. Allow the chocolate a moment to dry and harden. This is important, as the chocolate will be your only hope for holding the cookie together when you dip it into the melted chocolate to coat the outside.
5. Dip the Oreo into the melted white chocolate, gently scrape excess melted chocolate to prevent drips. Stand oreo pop up in a holder (can make one out of cardboard by poking holes if you don't have one) and allow chocolate to dry.
6. Repeat step 5 until pops are thoroughly coated (I did mine twice each)
7. Decorate! I melted a small amount of chocolate chips and then dipped the end of a lollipop stick and dabbed it on the snowman face. For the nose, I mixed 3 Tbsp powdered sugar with 1 tsp milk and used food coloring to make it orange. I used a lollipop stick to draw the nose on. I've seen these done with candy as the face or sprinkles, so the options are endless.

Everyone at the party LOVED these and they were a visual hit of the night! They are a bit tedious and you have to work semi-quickly to prevent your chocolate from hardening or burning, but they're worth it!

Sparkling Christmas Berries

Cranberries... What does one actually do with Cranberries? Have you ever eaten a plain, raw cranberry? So gross. But then when they're cooked, they explode and you end up with super dense cranberry soup. So how do you take advantage of the infamous holiday berry?

I'll tell you how. 

Soak them, coat them and make those babies sparkle! 

It's such an easy process, but it does involve a "waiting period" so this is a recipe you'll have to plan ahead of time. 

Here's what you need: 

1 bag fresh cranberries

2 Cups+ 1/2 Cup Granulated Sugar

2 Cups Water

1/4 Cup 10x sugar

How to make them:

1. Combine 2 cups sugar and water in a sauce pan. Heat the mixture and stir frequently to dissolve the sugar into the water (it's not necessary to boil it)

2. Pour the cranberries into a bowl or jar with a lid. 

3. Pour the water/sugar mixture over the cranberries. (If you let the mixture boil, allow it to cool 5-10 minutes before pouring over the berries to prevent the berries from popping.)

4. Cover the berries and water mixture, refrigerate and allow them to soak overnight (12 hours or longer if possible)

5. Drain the liquid off the berries. 

6. Spread paper towels over a cookie sheet and pour the berries onto the towels. Allow the berries to dry for an hour. 

7. Pour the berries into a dry bowl and pour the 1/2 granulated sugar and 10x sugar over them.

8. Stir to coat the berries (add more granulated sugar if needed).

9. Use a slotted spoon to place the berries into the serving container of your choice. 

10. Keep refrigerated until time for service to maintain freshness

As a side note: You can also get even more festive with the presentation and use red sugar crystal sprinkles or a combination of the sprinkles with granulated sugar. 

Enjoy!!

Baby Does No Wrong

Must be it's a part of the package that comes with being a Mom.. There's no other way I can think of to legitimize it.

The things that drive me CRAZY when someone does them (especially my hubby, sorry dear) seem to have the total opposite effect when my daughter does them. What the?  Let's review.

1. Feet. Oh my Lord, I HATE feet. Now don't get me wrong, I will totally go to a nail salon, get a nice foot massage and a pedicure and have nothing bad to say about it.. but when it comes to me touching someone else's feet, someone touching me with their feet, sometimes even just seeing someone's gross feet, it is about enough to make me gag. But with Charlotte, I seriously think her feet are adorable. She gets a foot rub every night before bed. I play the "little piggies" game with her toes, I've even kissed her foot.. What the heck comes over me?!? I guess the whole "her genes are half mine" thing makes her feet acceptable. So weird.

2. Breathing. Yep, I'm one of those. If I hear you breathe, I'm probably secretly wishing you'd stop. The notorious "fat person breathing" makes me insane. You can be a mouth breather, that's fine, but if I hear your breathing, that's when a problem develops. Some things are intended for only you to know that you're doing. Breathing is one of those. Now with Charlotte, I could sit and listen to her breathe for hours. There's something so calming to me about hearing her breathe, especially when she gets a little vocal sigh going with every exhale.. Ah, I melt. Anyone else tries that around me, that audible breath may be their last. 

3. Burping/Farting.  So gross. Yes, I know "everybody does it" but as I said in #2, some things just should NOT be shared with those around you. With my baby girl, you'd swear she just scored the game winning point in the final seconds of the match based on the way I cheer when she burps after a bottle. 

4, Lip Smacking/Slurping. I'm pretty sure this is a fairly common annoyance, so there's no need to elaborate. I will say that Charlotte is 100% a lip smacker- especially now that we are introducing solid foods and for some reason it is so cute to me. The second my husband tried to imitate her I seriously contemplate returning to my MMA days and going for the 6 second knock-out, but for Char, so so cute.

5. Staring. If someone is filling their time by giving me or anyone else an intense stare, it gets awkward. I am not even into the romantic stares. It's weird. I don't want you eyes taking in every single slight movement I make. If you are watching hard enough that you can see me swallow, we've got issues. Now when Charlotte stares at me, it is just the sweetest thing ever and I never want anything to interrupt it. Those pretty little eyes can stare at me as awkwardly as she wants and I will soak in every single second of it.

Why do we do this? I guess it's all just part of the ever-strong "motherly love" that takes over us all when our little ones enter the world. So for now, I'm going to cherish every time Charlotte does these little things, as I'm sure once she gets older, it won't be quite so cute when she belches loud enough for the neighbors to hear after a meal.   

Tall Rustic Scarecrow

We had a very scarecrow fall this year, and I LOVED it!

Here's another rendition of the barnboard scarecrows that my crafty mom made this year.

This one is tall, the tallest point measuring around 5' tall.

For this, she used a very rough piece of barnboard to give an extra rustic appearance to the hat, but you could use as rough or as straight a piece as you have available.

She followed the same concept she used with the reversible snowmen, but this time she only decorated one side. She used a piece of pallet wood for the hat brim, painted the face and then glued/stapled on the decorations! Very easy and so cute!

Reversible Scarecrow/Snowman

How cute is this?!?

My mom and I had seen different renditions thrown around on facebook and pinterest, so we had to take a crack at it. Luckily, I have a super artsy Momma, so she was able to make the faces extra cute.


One awesome thing about these is that you can make 100 of them and have each one be unique! Scarecrow and snowman faces are so easy to modify and display unique personalities.

All we used was a piece of barn board and a piece of pallet wood.

Mom painted on the faces and then we hot glued the decorations on! Very easy and you can use any odds and ends flowers, broaches, bows, etc. that you have laying around at home! They make a great gift, as they can be displayed all through fall and winter!

Brown Sugar Bourbon Salmon

Confession: I am NOT a salmon person. I want to be. I envy those people who can get excited over going out to eat and getting a piece of plain salmon and enjoy it. I am a salmon doctorer.. The less salmon I taste, the more I enjoy it. And this recipe, I must say, does one heck of a doctor job!

It's actually way easier than I imagined and twice as delicious!

Here's what you need:

2 Tablespoons butter
1/4 Cup Dark Brown Sugar
2 Salmon Steaks
1/5 Cup Bourbon
1/4 tsp Cayenne pepper (optional)

That's all you need! Told you this was going to be easy.

1. Melt the butter in a saute pan over medium heat.
2. Add the brown sugar and cayenne, whisk until combined and let cook for a bit to start to melt down the sugar
3. Place the salmon steaks in the pan on top of the brown sugar/butter mix.
4. Let the salmon cook 3-5 minutes, until about halfway done.
5. Flip the salmon, remove from heat and add bourbon.
6. Return to heat and cook 3-5 minutes longer.
7. If you're like me and want the salmon thoroughly coated, flip the salmon a few more times in the mixture while it thickens.
8. Enjoy!

Irish Cream Mousse Cups

Who doesn't love edible booze?!

Now that the college days are over, jello shots are not quite so acceptable after dinner on a Monday.

So, keeping it classy, I tried my hand at spiked mousse cups and they were AWESOME! Luckily, they're super easy too! They also can be set up to look absolutely stunning and put the perfect cap on a dinner party.

As an extra added perk, this can be super easily modified for the holidays to be a "peppermint mocha mousse" or "chocolate almond".

Here's the ingredients you'll need:
1/4 cup booze (I used Irish Cream)
3/4 cup cold milk
1 Pack instant mousse
Optional whipped cream topping

Prepare according to the directions on the mousse mix- for this brand, I just mixed all ingredients and used the electric beaters on the highest speed for about 5 minutes. Split the mousse into dishes and, if you're super impatient like me, just pop the cups in the freezer for 15 minutes.

Presto! Top with whipped cream if you like and Enjoy!

Shots, Shots, Shots!!

SHOTS DAY IS THE WORST!!!!

I'm sure all parents who have ever taken their baby to a vaccination appointment can agree.. They stink!

Our little girl had her third round of shots today... Perhaps a bit of background is needed..

When she was 2 months old, my hubby couldn't get time off of work to come with me to her first shots appointment. My mother-in-law took his place and bravely stood by my side as we held our little girls' arms down. I swear the nurse no more than cleaned Charlotte's leg with the alcohol swab and I was in tears... Yep I was that mom. After the shots were over, my baby started crying in a way I had never heard her do before AND her tear ducts decided to start producing tears for the first time, so there's me.. Bawling in the corner, attempting to console my poor little girl.. In an effort to pull myself together, I asked Grandma to hold her so I could get a Kleenex... She turned around to grab her and low and behold she was a blubbery mess too!!!

Finally, we got a grip of ourselves and made our grand exit with mascara streaks all the way to our chins. Two days later my cousin took her baby for her first shots and when she started to get teary-eyed the nurse told her "don't worry. You can't be any worse than the mom AND grandma that were in here bawling a couple days ago"!.. Not quite what I had imagined my legacy as a mom would be..

At 4 months we went back for round 2. I made darn certain that my husband could be there this time, thinking for sure he would see how hard it is to not sob. Nope- it was all me. Again.
I think the anticipation is what got me. I'm not even sure if the nurse was in the room before I started to get upset. Argh... Tis little girl had better not get any injuries ever because there's no way I'm making it through that one with my makeup still in tact!

So then there's today. The great big here and now. I had been prepping. I told myself I wouldn't cry. I swore I would be tough as nails. Well... One thing led to another, a night of 45 minutes of sleep plus the stress of approaching deadlines to meet for work. Add to that the lack of preparations that I've done for Christmas and I stood no chance.

I didn't even make it into the parking lot! "Mary Did You Know" came on the radio and I was done. I have heard that song 8 million times, but today, hearing it while my little angel was asleep in her car seat, knowing what lied ahead of her.. I didn't stand a chance.

I met Nick and warned him that it was going to be a tough one. He squeezed my hand and flashed that nick-smile at me and I DID IT!

I didn't cry. Not one tear. I calmed my girl down, treated myself to a peppermint mocha latte and carried on... Of course by "carried on" I came home and put a shot of peppemint schnapps in my latte!

The way I see it, if she gets shots, mommy should get to have one too!

Dry Your Breast Milk ALMOST Painlessly

Breast milk is awesome, right?! It's super healthy for your baby, all natural, provides tons of health benefits. Not to mention the huge money savings you'll experience if you use breast milk instead of formula!

Breastfeeding, like all good things, must at some point come to an end. For some, your milk supply will just gradually run out and you'll just transition into the next phase of feeding. For others, you'll decide to quit breastfeeding while your supply is still being produced at full force.

For me, I had to quit way sooner than I wanted because of an incompatibility between my milk and by little one. After reading loads of articles about different methods of how to dry up supply, I finally decided to try a combination that I thought would be best for me.

Some articles tell you to just quit cold turkey, some give you a strict gradual reduction schedule for pumping, but all of them warn of the intense pain you'll likely experience and how uncomfortable you'll be.

I was really not game for pain, so I decided to combine the methods I had read about. It took me about 2 months to completely stop pumping, but I never had the throbbing, leaking, uncomfortable experience that so many women talk about. For those of you wondering, yes, I had a huge supply.. I was pumping 10-12oz every 3-4 hours.. So this isn't one of those "miracle stories" from someone who was only producing an ounce a day.

Here's what I did:
The first two weeks, I tried to reduce how often I was pumping. I had been pumping every 3-4 hours, so I limited my pumping to every 4-5 hours.

(This was the pump I used and loved it! Many hospitals will offer a "rental" service for breast pumps so you can try one different kinds and find the one that works best for you! )

The third week, I continued reducing pumping frequency and pumped only every 5-6 hours. The fourth week, I limited to every 6-8 hours.  By the end of the first month, I had myself down to pumping only 3 times/day. At any point if I felt I could go longer between pumping, I would do so! On the flip side, If I started to experience pain or discomfort sooner than my "goal" pump time was here, I'd pump. The main idea, is that the first step is to reduce how often you're pumping.

In the second month, I reduced how long I was pumping for. It had been taking me anywhere from 10-15 minutes to pump. In week 5, I started timing my pump sessions and cut them off at 10 minutes. Starting week 6 I cut off my sessions at 8 minutes, and by the second half of the week I was ending all sessions at 6 minutes and I eliminated my third pump session each day. I found it easiest to eliminate the middle of the night session so I was only pumping in the morning and before bed. Again, throughout this whole time, if I felt I could quit pumping sooner, I did and if I needed to go longer, I did so.

In week 7, I reduced pump sessions to 5 minutes each and eliminated my evening pump session. The second half of week 7, I limited my sessions to 3 minutes (basically just enough to take the edge off).

In week 8, I pumped only every other day for 2-3 minutes. By week 9, I was done!

I did wear pads in my bra for about 2 weeks after I quit pumping. My supply was not completely eliminated, as there would still be production if there was pressure on my breasts. However, there was no longer any swelling my in breasts and I was not feeling any need to pump.

Every woman is going to be different, but I hope that this will help you to find a method that works for you!

10 Reasons to GO FOR IT- Becoming a WAHM

I have to admit, when I talk with my girlfriends and see that little pang of jealousy wash over them as we discuss our jobs, there is a little part of me that just wants to shake them and ask why in the world they're not doing what they WANT!

Is it scary not having an actual "contract"? At times, sure.

Is it fairly unknown territory? Yes, I suppose.. but it's growing with a vengeance!

Is it completely awesome to set your own schedule, decide whether or not to put pants on and only have to brush your hair when you want to? ABSOLUTELY!

Here's a list of reasons I put together for a dear friend of mine who was struggling with getting out of bed in the morning because she had become so frustrated with her employment situation. It killed me to see her so upset knowing that she could be earning comparable income without having to deal with any of the frustrations of her workplace!

1. Life is short. When you look back at your life in 50 years, what do you want to see? I can tell you what I don't want to see- the inside of a cubicle where I spent 8-10 hours a day, 5-6 days a week doing work that I didn't even enjoy doing. When you work online, you have the freedom  to travel, spend time with your children and friends, plan and prepare for house parties, run errands when you want to, take a mid-day walk around the neighborhood, anything you want!

2. Expenses are minimized! It's actually cheaper to work from home! For my area, if I worked in an "on-site" job, I'd be spending approximately $200/week in childcare (and that's just for one child), about $40/week in gas (plus extra wear and tear on my car), money for work clothes (we'll be optimistic and say I'd only spend $20/month) and we all know that I (along with many others) don't have the willpower to resist stopping and grabbing a latte at the coffee shop around the corner on my lunch break at least a couple times a week ($50/month). Add it all up and by working from home, you're saving over $1000/month! That's a hefty chunk of change to keep in your pocket!


3. Your time is YOURS! Aside from increased freedom to do what you want when you want, you'll save so much time over the course of a week, month and year that would have been devoted to work. That hour every morning that you spend doing your hair and makeup, getting dressed, rounding up all your paperwork to throw in your briefcase and getting out the door? Eliminated. The 30 minute commute each way every day? Eliminated. The time you spend at home, off the clock, going over paperwork for your "big presentation" tomorrow? Eliminated. That's a lot of time that is now YOURS.

4. Peace of mind. Yes, peace. Put your mind at ease without having to worry constantly about someone else being responsible for your baby. If you're working from home, you're there with your little one all the time. There's no worrying about whether or not you chose the right daycare or if they're cleaning her teethers after she throws them on the floor.

5. Be there for the big moments. I have been able to be there for all my baby's milestones. Her first giggle, her first smile, the first time she rolled over, the first time she crawled, the first time she held her own bottle... all of it. I can't imagine experiencing the disappointment that so many parents do when the daycare informs them that their baby is growing up without them.

6. Lack of monotony. Working online, I have been able to land multiple part time jobs in widely varying industries. By doing this, I am able to keep myself interested in each job, because I'm not spending 8 hours/day doing the same thing over and over again and looking at the same reports day in and day out. While the underlying job responsibilities tend to be pretty consistent, working in various industries provides a mixture of challenges and plenty of different people to connect with!

7. Enhance your friendships and relationships. By not leaving the house everyday and being face to face with clients all day long, I have gained such an appreciation for the time I spend with family and friends. I feel like I am fully present when I'm talking with people and I can focus on being with them instead of half listening while I silently fume about something someone said or did at work.

8. There's no such thing as "vacation time". When I want to go visit my grandparents in Florida I'm not limited to booking my trip around my co-workers vacations and minimizing the length of my stay to fit my allotted vacation days. I work from my computer. I can take my laptop with me and work from anywhere, anytime as long as I have internet!

9. Under the weather? Don't sweat it! One of the things I hated most about working on site was having to pull it together and make myself look and act like everything was hunky dory to make it through the work day. When you work from home, if you're sick you can stay in your PJs, drink chicken broth and stay on the couch all day! *Side note- since I quit spending all my days in an office around 100's of other people all day, I have not been sick ONCE! Coincidence? Probably not.

10. Control Your Income. If you can land a couple of part time positions, you can control your income. You get out what you put into it. If you are really needing some extra cash, put in a few more hours with each job or even find some one time gigs to do! If you're feeling pretty financially comfortable, don't stress about putting in all the hours. It's as simple as that.

Now don't get me wrong, there are absolutely some cons to consider when it comes to leaving an on-site job to work online.
1. Many online positions do not offer benefits or retirement. We have taken care of this by putting the whole family under my husband's insurance plan (offered through his work) and opening an IRA account as a secondary retirement account (in addition to my husbands 401k).
2. Your kids will, at some point or another, drive you completely crazy! Kids will be kids. They will have days when they are going to cry and scream and want to be held all day. If you don't think you have the patience to tend to their sometimes excessive demands all day every day, working at home may not be for you!
3. Your income is up to you. It takes organization, drive and work ethic to be able to be successful in the online industry. There is no one to micromanage and make sure you're getting your tasks done.
4. Lack of interaction. If you are a real people person, it may be difficult for you to work online from your home everyday. If kids aren't in the picture, you could find a coffee shop or book store with free wifi and spend some time there each week working to get some "people exposure".


There are certainly things to consider, but I strongly encourage anyone who is wishing for something different to think about your options. Life is too short to be unhappy!