Cale has an Announcement!

Yep, we are so excited to be having Baby #2! Our first ultrasound is tomorrow, and we'll get an exact due date then, but for now I think I'm due sometime between June 25-July 2, 2012.

Exhaustion is my main grievance so far, and Cale takes what little energy I can muster up. I'm queasy sometimes but my morning sickness hasn't really set in too bad yet. I can't wait to see my little babe on the monitor tomorrow and hear that beautiful heartbeat :)

This time around we are keeping some things a secret! We can't decide if we are going to tell people the gender of the baby or not, but if we do then we are definitely keeping the name a secret until (s)he's born. Some surprises are good. :)

If you don't want to hear about my "lady parts" --- stop reading!

The title says it all. This post is going to be about my lady parts. Consider yourself warned.

I'd like to begin by saying that I've had a little miracle this month. That miracle was in the form of removing my IUD. Now don't get me wrong, my IUD was my bestie for 17 months...but it was the kind of bestie that stabs you in the back.

Lemme "esplain" -- I had an IUD placed 6 weeks after having Cale and it was UH-MAZING. No periods? Yes please! I literally had no spotting, bleeding, nada, for a year and a half. I would have kissed my IUD if I could have. It.was.blissful.

Not so blissful was my 100% disinterest in being intimate with my husband since having Cale. And not even just disinterest. It was almost to the point of disgust. I'm so sad to say that, because I love Nate! He's amazing! But something was happening with me and my body, and I was NOT interested...Nothing was working and it was a big source of contention for us. Even a trip to my Gyno and a prescription medication didn't fix the issue. I was made to believe that hormones caused by breastfeeding were causing my body to be out of whack, causing the issue with being intimate. Since I still breastfeed and nothing else seemed to be a good explaination, I eventually believed it.

I finally accepted that until I was ready to wean Cale that I just would have to make a huge effort to seem interested in sex. Ugh. And it really wasn't working. Poor Nate.

Anyway, fast forward to 2 weeks ago. I finally told Nate that I really believed my IUD was causing this problem. He agreed that I should take the IUD out since we want to concieve soon anyway, so about 2 weeks ago I went to the doctor and had it removed. (Side note -- OUCH! It hurt worse coming out than putting it in, geesh!) Anyway, I felt an IMMEDIATE difference in my body. I don't know how to explain it other than that it felt like a foreign object that my body was rejecting for 18 months was finally gone. I was in a good mood, I felt instantly better about myself, I even felt lighter (literally, like I lost 10 lbs in 5 minutes) It was crazy!

Over the last two weeks things have gotten so good. (I don't need to mention that having an IUD removed causes two weeks of HORRIBLE bleeding/clotting/all that nasty stuff) but it's gone now and I am better than ever! I feel like a new woman and I can confidently say that my intimate relationship is back on the fast track. Nate (and I) couldn't be more thrilled.

As happy as I am that removing my IUD fixed my problem, I am sad that the IUD had such an effect on me. It really was the best birth control I had ever used and I'm sad that I'll probably never be able to use it again.

Use my experience as proof that miracles DO happen, and if they can happen to my lady parts then they can happen to YOU!

Woo hoo!

My laptop has been shipped out for repair for 3 weeks and I'm SO happy to have it back! We do have another computer but it's packed away for now. We've had to rely on using our cell phones for the internet for weeks and it SUCKED. Especially for Nate who is in school and needs the internet constantly. Anyway, the computer is back and I'm excited I can finally post a blog, even though not much is happening with us lately.

Nate and I have been married 2.5 months now and it's pretty much back to business as usual. We do our best to spend as much time together as we can, but working opposite shifts for 18 months is really taking it's toll. When I was working part time it wasn't so bad, but my job has stopped allowing part time shifts so I had to go full time. There's a similar job up the road that does allow part time shifts so Nate and I are talking about me quitting and applying up the street. We'll see how that goes. Unfortunately I make a lot of money where I'm at and I think it would be a pay cut to go anywhere else.

In other news, Cale is turning 18 months on tomorrow! I can't believe it. He is truely a toddler these days, and only rarely do I get a glimpse of my little baby still in him. Staying true to tradition, here are some noteworthy things about Cale right now:

*He is obsessed with the movie "Cars" and loves anything with Lightening McQueen.

*He has started to form small sentences, although only once in a while. The other day he stared up at the sky and said, "Sky Airplane...WOAH!" - That made me chuckle!

*His doctor appointment is tomorrow, but since we were just in the doctors office for his dislocated elbow (that's another story!) I know he's roughly 23 pounds. He's still a tall, skinny kid although he eats like a pig.

*We are still nursing, though I'd say we are about 90% weaned. He only nurses when he's tired or hurt, or when he just wants to cuddle.

*He hates being inside. I think it's time to throw out all his toys and get a new set of toys cause he gets bored so easily. Many times he puts on my flip flops, hands me my keys and says, "side? side?" (meaning 'let's go outside')

*I'm obsessed with Cale's teeth. They are big and beautiful and straight! He has no gaps in his teeth at all, it's like the perfect set of baby teeth. He's still missing a couple teeth toward the back, but for the most part they are all there and they look so great. Even strangers comment on his pearly whites :) He is so lucky! I wasn't as lucky as a child. Braces were my only saving grace.

*He still wears a lot of 12 month clothing, but he also has 18 month clothing. The hard thing right now is getting him to fit in jeans. 12 month jeans fit him around the belly but they are way too short. To get pants that are long enough he needs 18 month but they fall down around his waist. :/ ....and I can't find a baby belt anywhere!

*He makes the cutest kissing noise when he wants something. --- You know how when you see a dog and you want to call it over to you so you make a little kissing noise over and over? That's what he does, but he does it for everything! If he wants his sippy milk, he makes his kissing noise and runs to get it. Ugh, SO cute.

*He calls his cousin "auntie." And I'll tell you why.... my niece (the first grandchild in our family, who is now 5 years old) has always called me Auntie. It's just who I am to her. Cale absolutely ADORES her and has heard her call me Auntie, so he started saying it too. Now he calls HER auntie and we all think it's pretty funny. Whenever I say, "Wanna go see Cheyna?" He says, "Auntie! Auntie!"


Anyway, that's all I can think of right now.

Last story though...Last week Cale was climbing the stairs outside and began to fall backward. Luckily I was holding his arm so I was able to scoop him up to prevent his fall. Unfortunately I dislocated his arm in the process. Poor Cale was screaming and I was a mess. I felt awful. I rushed him to the doctor who promptly popped it back in, and Cale was back to his old self. It was his first real injury but I'm sure there will be many more to come.

I want another one of these.

That is all.

Catching Up

I've posted some random things recently but I realized I never updated about the big wedding!

7/16/11 was wedding day. We were really worried how the weather would hold out but we were so lucky. Not only did the rain hold off until the very end, but there was even a great breeze going through the yard so we weren't sweating to death. The day was beautiful, the flowers were gorgeous, the whole yard was decorated stunningly...I literally couldn't have asked for a better wedding!

It didn't come off without a hitch though...we certainly did have some challenges! First of all, the wind was great for the heat, but not so great for the decorations. 30 minutes before the ceremony, the tablecloths flew off the tables, the curtains on the gazebo fell down, and all the paper lanterns that took hours to hang were flying off left and right! It was kind of awkward, but my helpers were still putting everything back together as the guests were arriving. It wasn't quite the calm, romantic entrance for my guests as I had hoped for, but I was still able to watch from inside the house as my guests arrived and were blown away by the gorgeous ambiance. I remember seeing some of my friends walk in and go crazy at how beautiful it was. They didn't know I was watching from inside, but that was a special moment for me. I worked REALLY hard on this wedding so I was so happy to see people appreciate how well it turned out.

About 1.5 hours after the reception started, the clouds started rolling in and it did sprinkle for a bit. We really thought it was going to pour rain very soon so the wedding ended earlier than we expected. Nate and I didn't get a first dance. :( My dad and I did though, and that was something really special to us.

I, of course, was a teary mess from the second I walked down the aisle, until the ceremony was over. Nate and I wrote our own vows and I was really impressed with the words he wrote. He's such a good man!

Overall, the wedding was amazing and so beautiful, and it was awesome to be surrounded by so many friends and family. We are married!

The last week has been spent waiting for hours in different lines trying to get my name changed. The social security office is downtown, but I was lucky to only have to wait 1 hour once I got there. Cale was a DOLL. I could not believe how good he was while we were there. The DMV line...not so much. 3 1/2 hours total is how long that line took. Ridiculous! Thank goodness Nate was able to stay home with Cale while I braved the DMV cause that would have been a nightmare. But everything has now been changed and I am officially Michelle Carlson.

My 1st attempt at "Extreme Couponing!"

I put "Extreme Couponing" in quotations because we both know I'm no expert when it comes to this stuff...in fact, this was my first attempt, and although I saved a ton of money, I still spent about $20 and I'm sure the pro's could have gotten it all for free! I hope once I get the hang of it all that it will take a lot less of my time and effort. I went to Walgreens first, and just planning that trip alone took like 2 hours. *sigh*

But here's how I did:




These are the products I got today at Walgreens. I started with Walgreens rather than the grocery store because I knew it would be easier.

Basically I matched up items that were already on sale at Walgreens and found coupons that coincide with the sale prices.

For example, Axe Bodywash was $5.49 each, but they were "buy one get one half off," so by purchasing 2 of them, the price was $8.24...BUT I matched that up with a "buy one get one FREE" coupon, which took $5.49 off the price, so I got TWO bottles of Axe for $2.75.
THAT is cool!!!!

I found lots of deals like this today, and eventually only spend $20 at Walgreens....a 73% savings!!!

I continued my shopping to King Soopers for grocery shopping and didn't have AS MUCH success, but I still did well. I saved about $40 on my shopping trip to KS and about $60 at Walgreens, so I saved $100 today!!!

My favorite purchase at King Soopers??

I found a deal where if I bought 4 boxes of cereal I got 2 free gallons of milk...but of course I didn't stop there. I had an online coupon for $.55 off cheerios and $.55 off honey nut cheerios, and also $1 off 2 boxes of cereal (and I used 2 of these coupons since I bought 4 boxes total)....

Final price? $9.00 for 4 boxes of cereal and 2 gallons of milk! AWESOME!!!

I also scored two free packages of dental floss (can't beat free, right?)

Homemade Laundry Detergent!

Recently I've really enjoyed finding ways to save money. My biggest excitement so far (besides starting to coupon) has been finding ways to save money on the expensive household items we regularly buy....like laundry soap!

Here's a little math for you:

Buying a container of Gain liquid detergent at Target costs $14.99 and yields 64 loads. This means for each load of laundry costs about $0.23.

With my homemade recipe, you need the following items:

•Borax: $2.50 for 70 oz. Cost per batch: .28 (8 oz needed for recipe)
•Washing Soda: $2.50 for 55 oz. Cost per batch .18.(4 oz needed for recipe)
•Fels Naptha Soap: $.99 Cost per batch: .33 (1 bar of soap needed for recipe)


Cost to make: .79

Yield: 442 oz.

Cost per oz. = .00178

Cost per ½ cup = .007 or rounded to .01 cent per load


YES! That's 1 PENNY per load! That's over a 99% savings for this laundry detergent. And it works and smells amazing! Read reviews online if you're unsure :)

So I'm ready to share the wealth. Here is how to make homemade laundry detergent!

You'll need:

1 - 5 gallon paint bucket with a lid ($2.99 in the paint section at WalMart)
1 box of borax (laundry aisle, about $2)
1 box of washing soda (not to be confused with baking soda...also in the laundry aisle, about $2)
1 bar of Fels Naptha soap (laundry aisle, $1 per bar)

Put a large pot on the stove with about 6 cups of water in it and turn on low. Then grate your Fels Naptha bar of soap with a cheese grater. (It will actually look like cheese cause the soap is yellow!)
Once grated, pour the soap into the pot. On medium heat, heat soap (stirring constantly) until the soap is fully melted in the pot with the water.

In the meantime, fill your paint bucket with about 4.5 gallons of HOT water. Once the soap is melted, pour it into the bucket with the water and stir well. Then add 1 cup of borax and 1 cup of washing soda. Stir again!

You've just made 5 gallons of detergent! Lucky you! It only cost less than $10 and less than 15 minutes :)

The liquid will firm up slightly over the next day or two but it can be used immediately. Soon it will be a nice gel. If it's too thick you can add some hot water and if it's too thin, that's ok...next time you make a batch just add some more of the Fels Naptha.

Let me know how this works for you!

You'll need about 1/2 cup for a regular load and up to 1 cup for heavily soiled loads.

Healthy Toddler Meals

I hate that I give Cale junk food sometimes. He always wants a sip of my drink or a bite of my food and it's not always "toddler worthy." I'm not going to be a total psycho when it comes to his eating habbits, but it is a goal of mine to make sure I raise him to make healthy eating choices. I've been experimenting with some awesome new toddler meal ideas and I wanted to share! Feel free to put your own spin on these recipes...make them your own!

"Spinach Nuggets"

1 16-oz package frozen chopped spinach, cooked.
1 cup Seasoned bread crumbs - (or 3/4 cup breadcrumbs and 1/4 cup wheat germ or flax meal)
1 ½ cups shredded cheddar cheese
3 Large eggs

Combine all ingredients together and roll into "nuggets."
Add seasonings if you wants, like garlic powder, pepper, etc.
Lightly coat a baking sheet with olive oil.
Bake at 375F for 20-25 minutes, turning half way through baking.

"Pups in a Blanket"

All-Beef or Turkey Dogs (Tofu Dogs work well too)
Pillsbury Ready-to-Bake crescent rolls
Veggies
Cheddar Cheese (shredded)

Wrap the dogs in the dough and add veggies and cheese.
Roll them up like a cigar, until the hot dog is all covered except the ends.
Cut into toddler-friendly sized pieces.
Bake at 375-400F for about 25 minutes or until fluffy and golden brown

"Toddler Quesadillas"

On a flour tortilla or pita bread, put chicken strips or ground turkey, tomato slices, cheese (sliced or shredded) and any other yummy food you want to include.
Top with another tortilla or fold in half. (I like to put corn, beans, and green/red/yellow peppers)
Broil in oven or put in toaster oven until cheese is melted. You can also bake them, but this will cause a crispier tortilla that could be more crumbly. Cut into "pizza" slices and enjoy!

"Chicken Sticks"

*Thinly sliced strips of chicken breast
*Yogurt - plain
*Crushed Cereal - shredded wheat, cheerios, corn flakes, granola, etc...

Roll chicken strips in yogurt then coat with crushed cereal. Bake on lightly greased baking sheet at 400F for 20 minutes or until done. Delicious!
**Tip** You can also put a popsicle stick through the chicken before you bake it so it's easier to eat!

"Cale's Favorite Meatballs"
**These freeze great so I like to make a bunch at a time**

1 pound ground turkey (or ground beef)
1 cup bread crumbs (I use italian or roasted garlic)
1/4 cup wheat germ
1 egg
Spices such as garlic, pepper, basil, thyme, oregano etc

Mix the ground turkey with all the ingredients above. Spice to your liking. You may need more or less bread crumbs depending on the amounts of the other ingredients you use. The goals is to make a good meatball consistency: Sticky, not dry, and able to roll into a ball.
Roll into balls, bake at 375F for about 20-25 minutes or until golden. (They burn easily so watch them closely! You can cover the pan with foil to prevent burning if you'd like.)
**TIP** Use a small baking pan so you can shake and roll the meatballs around to help them cook easily.
Serve or freeze for later!


I hope you try some of these recipes! Notice that none of them have sugar, butter, and very little salt. :)
Let me know which ones you try and how you like them!

<3 Michelle & Cale

This brings me back...

This is the song Nate and I will dance to at our wedding. It's an all-time favorite song of ours and through all the stress, listening to this song brings me right back to where I need to be. ♥

"Mr. & Mrs."

Gah! I can't believe in less than 4 days I will be Mrs. Carlson. I'm so excited, but I'd be lying if I didn't say I was a little sad too. Let me explain... When I first started wedding planning I thought, "Who in the world is crazy enough to plan a wedding in 3 months?!" I thought I was nuts. Now that I've been stressed beyond belief for 3 months straight, I worry that I've really lost all of the "fun" that comes with wedding planning because I've been too obsessed with making every little detail as perfect as possible. Where did all the time go and why didn't I have more fun these last few months?
My best advice to brides-to-be: Plan your entire wedding in 2 weeks. Seriously. The fact is, all brides will get stressed during wedding planning, so why not be stressed for 2 weeks instead of months or YEARS? Before I started wedding planning I thought 3 months was not nearly enough time, but now I realize that a lot of brides do this for A YEAR or more! WWHAT?! No way, no sir. I never intend on being married again, so I won't have a chance for a do-over, but next time a friend of mine gets engaged, THAT will be my advice! Plan it all last minute. Then you have less time to be stressed :)

Oh, and not to mention that we've been battling a bad weather forecast too. The past several days we have experienced intense storms in the afternoon and up until 2 days ago the forecast said my wedding day would be no different...PERFECT for a ceremony and reception held outside in the grass. Dammit! Lucky for us, the forecast has changed, and now it seems like my biggest fear should be the sweltering heat. (Which is a real concern when you are wearing a freakin 30 pound dress!) We've always had a church as a back up venue but it's really ugly and although we have the resources to make is beautiful, I'm really not prepared for that kind of work the day before my wedding. So, whoever reads this, please pray for perfect weather for us!

Anyway, another thing to admit: Nate and I have been at each other's throats this past week. Ugh. I know it's just stress over the last minute planning, not to mention the fact that we are both REALLY burned out at work and so desperately need a vacation. But damn, I never thought my last week as a single woman would be this hard. I honestly can't wait for Saturday, but I also can't wait for Saturday to be over so Nate and I can just relax together, alone, to reconnect after such a stressful few months, and to have 10 days off of work together. We both have to work tomorrow and Thursday, but after that we are off until July 25th!

I'm excited for the party, but I'm more excited about leaving the party together, alone, driving downtown to the Ritz Carlton, enjoying the couple's suite with rose petals on the bed and in the bath tub, breakfast in bed...shall I go on?! BLISS!

It will be our first night leaving Cale though. That's going to be hard.
Anyway, I'm praying I can survive 2 more days of work.

15 months old.

Cale turned 15 months old on Thursday! I can't believe how big my little boy is getting. We went for his check up at the doctor where he weighed in at 21 lbs 10 oz, and was 32 inches tall. His height is average but he's still a skinny kid. He's somewhere between the 5th and 10th percentiles for weight, which I don't understand because he's a bottomless pit. He's anything but a picky eater. In fact, I can't think of a single food he's tried that he won't eat. Although, if vegetables are included in his meal he'll eat EVERYTHING else first. Haha, he's not the biggest fan of vegetables, but mommy makes sure he eats them.

Here are some noteworthy things about Cale at 15 months:

He gets more and more handsome every day. People comment on his gorgeous eyes and blonde hair on a daily basis. He's going to be a heartbreaker!

He runs everywhere. He never slows down. I don't know where he gets all his energy!

He's so smart. He has about a 25 word vocabulary and is such a chatter box....except to strangers. He suddenly gets very quiet when strangers try to talk to him.

He amazes me with the way he picks up on everything we do. For instance, the other day he found a bottle of nose spray on the floor and put it up his nose and sniffed, then switched nostrils and did it again. He learned that just by watching daddy use his allergy nose spray a few times.

He watched a kid program once on TV that had sign language on it, and after watching it just once, he knew the sign language for "down" and everytime he wants down or hears someone say the word 'down,' he does the sign for it.

He has a security blanket. He calls it his "Ny Ny" (baby talk for "night night," since it's the blanket he's slept with since birth.) When he is tired, he says, "ny ny mama," and requests his blanket and to be put to bed. <---- this THRILLS me since he was such a terrible sleeper when he was younger.

He finally started sleeping through the night about 1-2 months ago. He sleeps a full 12 hours and it.is.BLISS.

He gives the BEST kisses. I never even have to ask. He kisses me constantly throughout the day and it just melts my heart.

...and speaking of kisses...sometimes when he does something naughty, I do a little "fake cry" so he understands that what he did hurt mommy's feelings, and he immediately comes over to kiss me all better. He looks so concerned when mommy "cries." Then he squishes his little face into a scowl and fake cries until I give him a kiss! It's our favorite little game, and super funny.

He is still nursing. I still love nursing him, but I'm at the point now where I'm fine if he weans anytime. I think I'm ready to have my body back. He only nurses a couple times a day, but I still think it'll be a while before he gives it up completely. I'll let him make that decision.

He has about a million teeth. He's got his 4 front and bottom teeth, plus 4 molars, and a couple others in there somewhere. Teething has started to hurt him though, so he gets tylenol a lot these days.

He's very polite. He says "please" and "thank you" all the time, ESPECIALLY if he wants something that isn't normally allowed, like sweets. He also is very good at saying, "more? more?" :)

He's learning his body parts. He can point to his belly button, eyes, nose, mouth, tongue, ears, toes, and feet.

He LOVES taking a bath. He asks for them all the time. "Baf?"

He's getting very good at telling us what he wants. He says, "all done" when he's done eating, and when he wants to go outside he says, "side? side?" He also requests to go feed the ducks at the park by making duck noises, "whaack whaack whaack" or saying, "poooooool" when he wants to go swimming. It's so cute.

He loves dogs, but instead of imitating a barking sound when he sees one, he pants with his tongue. <3

He is a F.L.I.R.T...ohmygosh. You don't even know. He has a flirty smile that's to die for, and he knows how to use it. He also bats those baby blues and of course he gets what he wants.

Cale is so full of personality. This is my favorite age so far. Sometimes I tear up when he does something that amazes me. It's awesome to see his little brain turning, and so satisfying to watch him figure things out.

Ugh. I LOVE him!

Memorial Day Weekend!

I am so excited for this weekend. I got to leave work really early this morning, and I have Monday off, so it's almost a 4 day weekend and we have lots planned!

Tomorrow morning Nate and I are going to our wedding cake tasting. We are excited to be able to design our cake and I can't wait to taste a bunch of samples :) We are planning on doing a different flavor for each tier of the cake, and we definitely want chocolate and red velvet as two of the flavors. I can't wait to see how it all turns out.

After the cake tasting we will probably take Cale to the park or Monkey Bizness. Nate and I have been really busy lately with work and wedding planning and we feel like we haven't done something really fun with Cale in a while. We have been wanting to take him to the Children's Museum, so maybe we'll do that!

After that we have an appointment downtown to get our engagement pictures done! I am really excited. Nate and I haven't done a photo shoot with just the two of us since we were 17 years old! We've done lots of pictures of Cale, and we had family pictures done last year, but I am really excited to have some good pictures of just the two of us. (Don't worry -- we'll sneak Cale into a few of them too :)

Sunday and Monday don't have any major plans, but I'm craving some BBQ so I'm going to see if the fam wants to get together for some grilling. That.sounds.delicious!!!

I can't wait for our great weekend ahead!

DISASTER!

This week has been SO frustrating!

Let me give you a little background:

I have naturally blonde, curly hair which I have straightened for around 10 years. Sometimes I still wear it curly but you have to be a pretty special person for me to let you see it curly. ;) Although I am naturally blonde I have been a brunette for many years now, only going blonde once in a while. I always color my hair myself because for some reason my hair doesn't react well to professional coloring. It always ruins my hair, which is actually okay with me because coloring it myself looks good and is way cheaper!

As for the straightening...The problem with straightening curly hair is the breakage that comes with it. Ugh. My hair is usually pretty healthy but for some reason in the last few months it has gotten really bad. (Probably cause Cale isn't breastfeeding as much but THAT'S a whole other story FML.)...

Anyway, I have these little "baby hairs" in the front that broke a few months ago and WILL.NOT.GROW.OUT! Not kidding, they are like 1 inch long and totally look like horns cause they stick straight up. They are seriously the bane of my existance.

Fast forward to this week. I decided that since the wedding is coming up that I wanted to go back to my natural blonde color so I made the decision to go ahead and make the change. I bought a new kind of dye (one specially for turning a brunette into a blonde) and F...M...L... that shit burned my hair! The color came out okay, but it seriously made my hair feel like straw. And you know those baby hairs I was talking about?!? It made them 10 times worse!!! They now look like I took a lighter and burned them. DAMMIT! I literally had to take scissors and cut them. Now they are soooo short and look awful.

*Imagine having little curly pubes next to your eyes?!*

My hair is a disaster and it's less than 2 months before my wedding! I have a friend who is a cosmotologist who swears by this shampoo system called "Wen" and so I purchased it right away. I cannot wait for it to get here. I need hair CPR immediately.

I also decided I hate the blonde, so now I need to dye it again. GAH!

"Mukkkkk"

"Muk" used to be his favorite thing in the world. This is a sad post for me! I think Cale is starting to wean himself after 13 months of breastfeeding. I've loved every single second of this time I've had with him and it's slowly going away. He still wants to nurse when he needs comfort, and if he wakes up in the middle of the night, and two or three times a day to actually eat, but other than that, he couldn't care less.

The saddest part was last night when I was nursing him, I reached over and grabbed his sippy cup of milk and handed it to him and he actually stopped nursing to suck on the sippy! WHAT THE HECK! I almost cried.

I love that he still wants his mommy for comfort, and at least he still nurses a couple times a day, but I am more than just sad about this whole thing.... I'm gutted.

For those who don't care to see my boobs, don't scroll any further. But for those mama's who know what it feels like to nurse a baby...here are some memories of our favorite bonding experience!

^^This one was right after he was done eating...he used my boob as a pillow! ♥ ♥

I hope he decides to keep going for just a while longer!

The 'C' Word.

Is it really that naughty to call someone the 'C' word? Cause I reallllllllllly want to call Nate's sister that right now. This week has been so insane and exhausting and I'm just ready to get it over with and move on with my life!

In December, Nate and I moved into his sister's tiny little basement when she asked us to help her with her mortgage because she was going through a divorce. The agreement was that we would pay her $500 a month flat rate (I know, AWESOME right?!) and we would stay for 1 year. As cheap as $500 sounds, her basement is tiny...like 500 sq ft at the most, so it's really barely worth the $500, but it's still been nice to have cheap rent. Between Nate's uncle and us, we put in over $3,000 worth of money into this basement to make it liveable, and now that money is going out the window. Today marks exactly 5 months since we moved in and it has been hell. Corra is a disgusting pig. Her house is always filthy, and I mean filthy. She didn't own a vacuum, disinfectant spray, or even a broom when we moved in. It was that nasty. She has a son who is 7 months older than Cale and when he throws his food on the kitchen floor she just leaves it there for days, and eventually Cale picks it up and tries to eat it. SICK. So I went out and bought her a new broom, all new cleaning supplies etc and I have spent hours cleaning up her filth over the last 5 months, only to have her gross it up the same day. I'm so over it! OH - and the nastiest part of all of it, is that when she changes her son's dirty diaper, rather than putting the diaper in the trash outside, she puts it on our front door step until about 10 of them accumulate over the week, and then she throws them out. VOMIT!

She has the audacity to complain about things we do around the house though! It's "okay" when she leaves her filthy stuff all over, but if Cale leaves a toy upstairs she goes ape shit. On more than one occasion I have opened a window to let the house air out on a pretty day and she went NUTS that the windows were open. (Although she leaves them open all the time.)

So finally she texted Nate a few weeks ago and told him that we had to start paying for utilities. I told her hell no and we got in this huge argument. Yesterday it got really bad and we had quite the argument. I told her that I didn't want to live in her nasty house any more and that we were leaving. So Nate and I went and found an apartment yesterday and today we packed up the basement. We are moving Saturday! Good riddance!

Cunt.




There. I said it! :)

Feeling Accomplished!

With less than 3 months to go before our wedding, I have been super stressed out. But I have finally made some great headway and I think we will actually be able to pull it off by July 16th. (Cross your fingers!)

Last time I updated, I mentioned that our wedding was going to be up in Breckenridge but we have since changed the location. I was stressed about how I would get all the tables and chairs up to the Breckenridge house, and on top of that, the house was booked on the 16th and we were going to have to change the date. We just decided that it would be easier to do it close to home, and I'm so glad we made that decision. My mom's boss generously offered his home/backyard for us to use and it is so beautiful! Check it out:

The ceremony will take place under the gazebo, and the reception tables will be in the grass under the tree house. I've been to his home in the summer when it's warm out and the grass is fully green and the trees are in bloom, and I couldn't imagine a more romantic place to exchange vows. It's perfect.

So here's what I've done so far: I've secured tables and chairs, and ordered the linens. Our colors are black and white with fuschia accents. (And maybe some orange and green thrown in there to make it look more "summer" like.) Our tables will have black floor-length tablecloths with white overlays and black plates, with fuschia cloth napkins and centerpieces that include lots of fuschia flowers. The chairs are white and will have black and fuschia sashes tied to them.

The aisle will consist of white wedding chairs with the black sashes, except the chairs that line the aisle will have fuschia sashes. Then the aisle will be a white runner that I will walk down...and the best part? The 3,000 fushia rose petals I ordered to line the aisle!

We also have the linens for the gazebo, which are beautiful. Here is a picture of a wedding that took place there last summer. I love the way the gazebo turned out!

Everything is coming together great. My mom and step dad are taking care of the catering, and I have a guitarist lined up for the ceremony music. I'm still deciding what we will do for music during the reception. I sent out the "Save The Date" cards last week, and we also got my dad, Nate, and Cale fitted for their tuxes. This weekend we will try to find Nate a wedding ring.

There is still so many things on the list, but I feel pretty darn accomplished for the amount of work I have done in just 2 weeks!

Natalie.

Oooh sweet Natalie. She is my new personal trainer. And I'm in love. We had our first session yesterday but it wasn't an actual workout, it was just an appointment to work out a plan for me and take down all my embarassing body measurements. But today was the actual first workout with her and she totally kicked my butt. She knows how uncomfortable I am with the way my arms look in my wedding dress, and she promised me she would fix them before the wedding. We worked every muscle in my arms today and I feel great. I finished working out almost 2 hours ago and my arms are still twitching! Love it... Love love love!

And not to sound like a lesbian, but this chick is smoking hot. Perfect teeth, perfect hair, beautiful body. Looking at her 3x a week is enough to make me want to change myself!

So cheers to Natalie. I think I may name my first daughter after you!

The 17 Day Diet

I have 96 days to go until I am going to be photographed to death at the wedding. I hate the way my body looks, especially my arms. And since my wedding gown is strapless (except a tiny, tiny cap sleeve,) I need to lose some weight and get these arms in shape.

Overall I need to lose at least 50 lbs, but I'd be happy if I could just lose 20 before my wedding day. Still, that's a lot to lose in 3 months! I'm not normally a fad dieter, but I've heard so many good things about the super fast results of "The 17 Day Diet," so I've decided to go for it. I can do anything for 3 months, right?!

I was able to find the book at a great price on E-Bay today (since it's not available in stores,) so I ordered it right away. I can't wait to get started. I'll be updating as I go!

Getting Hitched!

So much has changed in the past week. Nathan and I have been planning to get married on the beach in Florida, just the two of us, for months. But I had been starting to stress about going on vacation alone with Cale, on an 8 hour flight, without any help and I started to wonder if we should just do a normal wedding here at home.

We were thrilled when my mom's boss offered their 8,000 sq ft home in Breckenridge for us to use! It was beautiful and I couldn't believe I'd be getting married in this amazing place. Unfortunately, the week that Nate and I both have off work is the ONE weekend the entire summer that the Breckenridge house is booked. FML. We toyed with the idea of changing the date, but I had also become stressed about how I would be able to get the chairs, tables, flowers, etc 2 hours away to the Breckenridge house, and I wasn't sure what to do.

We were blessed once again when her other boss offered us his home, which is just a few miles from our place. It is a beautiful, secluded home with a stone wall backyard, gazebo, picket fences, etc. It's perfect for a wedding! In fact, they have hosted many weddings there before. Nate and I went to look at it yesterday and fell in love!

So July 16, 2011 is the date, and we are so excited!

My mom and I went out and did some wedding shopping this weekend. Since the date is only 3 months away and I didn't have a dress, I was nervous I wouldn't be able to find one. I was thrilled when I went to David's Bridal and found one instantly! I picked out several dresses to try on, but after trying the first one on, I knew it was "the" dress and I never even tried on the rest. It is so beautiful and I'm in love with it! We were also able to choose the invitations so that part is done as well.

Here are some pictures of the dress:




Next weekend we are visiting a wedding rental place downtown to order the chairs and linens for the tables.

This wedding planning is really stressful, but with 96 days to go, I'm sure we can handle it!

Favorites.

I have lots of favorite things. I even have "favorite favorite" things and "all time favorite" things. Ha.

I have a simple life, so many of my favorites are simple. I suppose I like it that way.


Sushi

Piano Music (could you tell by my Blog music?)

Reality TV

Romantic Movies

Books that I can't put down.

Comfy Socks

Doing a new craft

Cale.

Chocolate

My Dyson Vaccuum

The smell of a rain storm.

Fresh Bed Sheets, especially when they are still warm.

Christmas Season.

The smell of Bounce Dryer Sheets

Vacations

Water Slides

Good Dreams

Memories

Saturday's

Ambitious? Maybe.

First of all, before another word is spoken...
♥HAPPY 1ST BIRTHDAY TO MY LITTLE BOY, CALE! ♥

You are SO loved by so many people. Thank you for blessing my life for 365 days! You will always be my favorite.

Mmmkay, so I may be somewhat ambitious here, but I'm about to embark on a project and I'm not sure if I can do it alone! I've been looking for a unique way to store Cale's books in his room, since at the moment they are in a bucket on my living room floor taking up wayyyy too much space. I found some really cute ideas online, but this is by far my favorite!

It's a book sling that is held up by dowel rods and secured with curtain brackets. I think this is such a cute idea and I am looking forward to making them for Cale's room. I plan on making two of them, one on top of the other like in the first picture so that there are plenty of room for all of his books. I love that he will be able to see the fronts of the books instead of just being able to see the spine of the book from a bookshelf.

I know it seems like an easy sewing project, but I'm not exactly sewing savvy, so we will see how it goes. I think I will enlist my mom or Nate's grandma for help so it doesn't turn out as a major mommy fail.

As soon as Cale wakes up from his nap I am going to head over to JoAnns Fabrics to pick up the materials. I'm not exactly sure what kind of fabric we will use, but I plan on using a versatile fabric that can easily transition in to his "big boy" room in a few years.

Wish me luck! I'll post pictures when it's done and instructions for those that are interested in making one!

Mommy didn't know...

Tonight I put Cale down to bed for the last time as my little baby. Tomorrow he awakes as a toddler and I'm definitely emotional about it. I cannot believe that it's already been a year, and this week my memories of those first days with him have been flooding back into my mind.


It has been the hardest year of my life, and yet exponentially the most rewarding. I couldn't have imagined how little sleep I would still be getting a year later, or how tough of a newborn Cale would be with reflux, colic, and ear infections. I didn't realize how much money it would take to raise him and how difficult it would be to be a working mother. I didn't realize how my priorities would instantly change from wanting to be a professional to having an intense desire to stay home and raise him as a stay-at-home mother. I didn't realize the guilt I would feel for not being there for him every minute of the day. I didn't realize the difficulties that Nate and I would have in our relationship during this first year due to the stresses of parenthood.

I also didn't realize how intense I could love someone. I never knew that a giggle or a smile from someone so tiny could melt my heart. I didn't know that every little milestone he reached would make me so proud. I didn't realize that being called 'mama' could bring tears to my eyes so quickly. I didn't know that a hug could feel so good. I didn't know that things like poop could ever be funny. I didn't realize that I could feel complete if I only had one child. I didn't realize that my love for Nate could ever be stronger than it was....but it's all true -- I now know all of these things. My life is so rich. I really am the luckiest person on Earth.
♥ Happy 1st Birthday tomorrow, Cale.
Mommy and Daddy love you to pieces. ♥

Tubes.

Starting in December 2010 when Cale was around 8 months old he started getting recurring ear infections. He was so miserable and would just scream and scream. We would get him on antibiotics and they would quickly disappear, only to return every 2-3 weeks after that. Finally after ear infection number 4 we decided that enough was enough and we asked our doctor for a referral to an Ear, Nose, & Throat specialist to discuss getting tubes in his ears. The specialist agreed that it was probably time to move forward and have the surgery.


I was a nervous wreck thinking about putting my 11 month old under general anesthesia. What mother wouldn't? I think I finally understand how my own mother felt when my sister and I had surgeries when we were young. (Kristina had one when she was 5, and I had one at age 7, one at age 8, and another at 17.) I was so glad my mom could calm my nerves.


March 9th was surgery day. I was worried that he would be miserable since he wasn't able to have any food or milk for around 8 hours prior to the surgery, but he wasn't too upset. (He did pull my shirt down and ask for milk while we were in the waiting room though. Poor kid.) The surgery was very quick. 10 minutes tops and the doctor was already telling us how well he did. He walked us back to the recovery room and I could hear Cale screaming before we even opened the door. He wasn't in pain, but he was very disoriented from the anesthesia. They had me hold him in a rocking chair and I nursed him. It was seriously the saddest thing ever. He would try to eat but would just scream uncontrollably. He finally stopped crying when the nurse brought him some chocolate pudding! :) We were able to take him home about an hour later.


It has been almost 3 weeks since his surgery and things are going great. He hasn't had any infections and I haven't noticed him tugging at his ears at all. We went for his follow up appointment yesterday where they tested his hearing. The doctor said he wasn't concerned, although the hearing test wasn't quite as good as it was before the surgery. The doctor said he is still within the normal range and we will follow up on it every 6 months until the tubes fall out sometime in the next 6-18 months. Here are some pictures of Cale in his hospital gown before surgery. He was such a champ.

8,736 hours

It was 8,736 hours ago (that's 364 days) that I was sitting in my Labor and Delivery Room at the hospital, so discouraged that my son would never come. I had been in labor for 16 hours and still wasn't dilated more than a fingertip. So many emotions were going through my head: could he stand the contractions for another 12 hours? Could I stand them for another 12 hours? I was sure the answer to both questions was no.

My doctor wasn't able to break my water until 5pm that night because I wasn't even dilated enough for the hook to fit! I was so relieved when she finally broke my water that I cried and told her "thank you!" about 1,000,000 times. The contractions picked up almost immediately and they also started me on Pitocin which made them even worse. It wasn't more than a couple hours before I asked for the epidural. After that things were marvelous... Until the middle of the night when the epidural wore off in one spot and I was in terrible pain. They call it a "window" I guess...where you lose the numbness in one area. It was as if I never got an epidural at all. The entire night I was crying in pain with every contraction, and it was even worse because I couldn't stand up to try and walk it off.

That night I prayed quite a bit! I prayed that I could endure labor without complications, and that my little boy would be healthy. I prayed that if I ended up with a C-Section that he wouldn't end up in the NICU from having fluid in his lungs. I prayed that he wouldn't be too big...or too little. But mostly I prayed that all of this would just end soon so I could hold my son in my arms after 9 long months of carrying him, singing to him, and telling him stories about his family while he was inside me. I just wanted to meet my little Cale.

Tomorrow Cale Alex turns one. It will be such an emotional day for Nate and I. We are sad about it, but also absolutely excited as well. He is turning into such a handsome, smart young man. We couldn't be more lucky.

Cale's 1st Birthday Party!

I am a HORRIBLE blogger. I was doing so well while I was pregnant, but now that Cale is here (and almost a year old!) I haven't been able to find the time. Apparently my last entry was when I was 35 weeks pregnant. Holy cow that seems like a decade ago...and I'm a little sad that I haven't blogged any of Cale's first year. I won't let that happen during his 2nd year! Here's to a new beginning!

Today we had Cale's 1st Birthday Party. It was such a success and he was so happy and excited the whole time. We did the theme of the popular children's book, "The Very Hungry Caterpillar," by Eric Carle and I literally spent 2 months planning this party. Many of the decorations I made myself and I was so happy that they turned out so well. Here are a few pictures from the big event:

Isn't he so precious!!! This cake took forever to make, but it was all handmade by myself and my mom :) As part of the food that we served, we ate all the fruits that the caterpillar ate in the book: Strawberries, Apples, Pears, Plums, and Oranges...and we dipped them in a chocolate fountain! Yum! The shirt Cale is wearing was made by my mom. It turned out SO cute. He has the best grandma! And......the smash cake!

I think it died....

Cale doesn't turn 1 for 4 more days, but here are some noteworthy things about him at 1 year old:

*He is 20 lbs, and around 30 inches -- tall and lean.

*He has 5 teeth - 2 on bottom, and 3 on top, and they are sooo cute.

*He's got the most adorable toothy smile, but he almost never smiles in pictures.

*He says lots of words: mama, dada, kitty ("key"), fish, please ("peese"), milk ("muh"), more, me, grandpa, grandma ("mah"), tree, ball, and his favorite....cheese.

*He waves "bye-bye" using his entire arm.

*He knows where his belly button is and will point to it and smile when you ask him to.

*He giggles SO hard when tickled.

*He is ticklish EVERYWHERE. (elbows, palms of his hands, hips, and shoulder blades included.)

*When he's hungry, he's starving. And he lets you know.

*He will eat just about anything, although he doesn't like baby food anymore.

*He still loves breastfeeding, and I sometimes think he'll never wean!

*He's not such a great sleeper. Still doesn't sleep all the way through the night.

*He's walking almost full-time and gets into EVERYTHING!

*He loves to empty mommy's purse onto the floor, every chance he gets.

*He blows raspberries with his mouth.

*He loves his kitties, and likes to pull their fur...then cries when he gets scratched.

*In the morning when he wakes up, he will play in his crib for a good half hour making the BEST dinosaur noises to his stuffed animals. This is a riot to watch on the video monitor.

*He's a flirt. Whether she's 8 months or 80 years, he loves him some girls.

*He is not a fan of being in his carseat for too long.

*He loves to play with daddy, but needs his mommy for comfort.

*He loves to brush his own hair and giggles when we brush his teeth.

*He loves balloons.

*He loves foot rubs, and even likes his back massaged with a vibrating massager!

*He hates shoes and socks, and he refuses to leave them on.

*He pinches. Hard.

*He loves to climb the stairs, but doesn't know how to climb down.

*His favorite foods are chicken nuggets, ravioli, chicken nuggets, cheese, cheesy eggs for breakfast, and chicken nuggets!

*I'm pretty sure he thinks he has 10 names. He goes by Cale, chicken, baby man, guero, boo boo, Cale-bear, and many others.

*He got ear infections every few weeks after 9 months and had tubes in his ears at 11 months. So far they have helped tremendously.

*Our favorite Saturday morning activity is to lay in bed, just the three of us, and play together.

*His favorite game is "Where's Cale?" ...our version of Peek-A-Boo.

*He loves to feed the ducks at the park.

*He has beautiful features. He is blonde haired, blue eyed, fair skinned, and he never tires of hearing how cute he is. :)

*We already see his sense of humor at times. He has a great personality.

*He is often methodical. It's neat to watch him as he figures things out while trying new things. He's so smart and learns quickly.

*He loves to go into another room and shut the door. Apparently he likes his "alone" time.

*Cords....if he sees one, he grabs it. It scares mommy but he thinks it's hilarious.

*His giggle is the happiest sound in the entire world.

*He loves to be thrown up in the air over and over.

*He squeaks constantly. It's his signature sound.