Sick Bentley...

The munchkin has a cough/cold and in his delirium he was rolling around on dog's bed with his new psychadelic St. Patty's Day light...

He's so good even when he's sick!

~E

Happy Babe...

This kid is always so happy...even when he's sick, which he started a fever/cough yesterday...

~E

The Week in Review

So I go to the OB last week and after I'd received a phone call from her nurse clearing me of gestational diabetes saying I "passed" the test...she informs me that 1) My "number" measured 139..."and what's the cutoff?" I asked...140!!!! 2) Every week my glucose is high and last week it was up to 100 when usually it's around 50...SO she wants me to re-do the glucose test.  I went in Friday for a re-do and got the results Monday...I FAILED with a number of 156/140.  {INSERT MULTIPLE PROFANITIES HERE} The nurse on the phone said it's not that high but she didn't sound too convincing.  As far as I know now, the game plan is this: I have to go on Tuesday for a 4 hour glucose screening.  It involves fasting starting at midnight Monday, a 7AM blood draw Tuesday, drink the nasty glucose drink AGAIN, then another 3 blood draws on the hour.  They should have the results fairly quickly so I'll know on Tuesday if I pass or fail.  If I pass, which I don't think I'm going to, I don't have to worry about anything for the rest of my pregnancy - you are allowed to fail 2 tests.  If I fail I am sent off to the gestational diabetes clinic for the res of my pregnancy.  I just read the clinic profile and what my appointments would potentially be and I am not even going to share yet because it sucks SO bad.

Finishing up week 29, BGS is about 2.5 pounds...similar to a butternut squash.  She is about 15 inches long.  Now in week 30 (holy crap, I can't believe it...), she is growing to 15.7 inches long and about 3 pounds..."like" a head of cabbage...by the end of the week.  Only about 8-10 weeks left!!  She is moving like crazy and although I feel big, I know I don't have as big of a belly as I did with Bentley at this point.  I don't know that I'm exactly carrying differently, but I've had several comments on how my budda belly is smaller.  That really shouldn't be too hard seeing as I was a flippin' HOUSE with Bentley.  Bending over for any reason is hard now, even putting on shoes & pants.  I promise I'll keep wearing pants though...at least in public. ;)  I'll share a belly pic soon!

I am in the process of deciding if we'll bank BGS' cord blood, which I did with Bentley.  We probably will do it again. 

Bentley is talking up a storm.  He's my little parrot now.  He looks at the microwave and stove and says "coo coo" for cook; has his version of "club" for his golf clubs ~ even pointing to Hunter Mahan on TV Sunday yelling "ball" and "club" and then picking up his own club; and repeats his version of "peas" and "beans."  A normal ear probably would not be able to understand his baby jibberish but my Mom ears know he's repeating and understanding things.  He opened a book to a picture of a duck the other day and proudly said "duck"; on the next page was a frog which we really haven't seen much of in his books and he did a very good job repeating it.

Let's see what else...we had a fun weekend.  Saturday morning I took Hurley to a refresher obedience class after talking to his trainer about how fresh he's been lately, marking his territory and running away outside.  I plan on taking him to the drop-in classes whenever I can.  Still have to take the best care of my "first born" that I can.  Then Bentley and I visited with Auntie Erin, Uncle Jeff, Maya, and Sophie for awhile - we haven't seen them in an age.  Bentley broke their globe within minutes of arriving because he thought it was a ball and ate them out of every cracker in the house.  My aunt and cousin were down from NH so Bentley and I went to dinner with them, Grammy & Grampy.  Christopher had worked all day and was exhaused so we brought him home some takeout.  Sunday we had a kinda-date to see Wanderlust and then got some shitty appetizers at Friday's after.  Won't go back there again.  It was nice to be out by ourselves for a change though, even though I always miss my B-Man when he's not with me. 


Yesterday Daddy was home for a break in the morning and went swimming with Bentley, I'll share pics.  Today we are going to Playtown Express for some indoor playground fun with Ty and Ava.  Friday is Miss Ava's birthday so we have her partayyy late afternoon.

That's all for now ~ more diabetes reporting next week after my test.  I really suck at being pregnant.

~E

2012 Relay for Life

To my Friends & Family...

It's that time of the year again - no, not baby pool this time - it's time for the 2012 Relay for Life. As in the last few years, my family has a team that will walk in the Natick/Framingham/Sherborn event on May 19th. My ability to actually walk this year will be dictated by Baby Girl Strazz's arrival, but I still plan to help the team and participate as much as I can. That's where you come in ~ I am seeking donations for this year's event. Our team has been the top fundraiser for the last couple of years with between $10K-$12K annually, BUT last year we raised OVER $18,000 ~ $8K more than the second place team. This event is very important to us and your donations are greatly appreciated. The following link should take you directly to my personal page, where you can donate to me/Team Hot to Trot...

DONATE HERE

You should also be able to visit the main event page and click the "Donate" button, then enter my name in the search field and proceed from there. If you have any issues or questions please let me know.

We will also be hosting a "Night at the Races" which is a really fun fundraising event at the Natick VFW on April 28th. It's drinking & gambling (what could be better?!) with the proceeds to benefit our fundraising effort. I can send details to anyone interested in attending. Last year we had a great turnout and everyone raved about it. I will be there depending on Baby Girl Strazz ~ the event is 2 weeks before my due date and I'm expecting to go early. But you should consider attending for a good time & a great cause!

Your donations are greatly appreciated ~ this is an incredibly important cause to my family and I!!!

Many thanks!!!
~E

Floral Arrangements

I've been really into Pinterest lately.  If you're not into it yet - get into it.  It's a website where you can upload/share photos to your own "pinboards" to have them neatly filed and available for future reference.  You can categorize however you'd like - clothes, jewelry, entertaining ideas, food, home decor, etc.  I've been using it to collect design inspiration for our next home, home decor in general, recipes, jewelry, entertaining and floral ideas. 

Which brings me to my topic ~ flowers.  I've always loved fresh flowers either in the garden or in the house and fortunately I have a sweet hubby who rather frequently brings me gorgeous flowers.  I've also come to enjoy arranging them myself ~ I did all of the flowers for Bentley's christening as well as his birthday, plus arrangements for our Moms, Chris' cousin for her wedding shower, and whatever I can bring in from outside in the spring & summer.  So I decided after I was down in the dumps a few weeks back I REALLY wanted some fresh flowers in the house because I knew they would cheer me up and smell great ~ my hubby brought me home a couple of my favs just from S&S, lilies and sunflowers, and they looked great for a couple of weeks.  Now I'm on a mission to keep fresh flowers around the house as much as possible ~ they're beautiful, smell great, and make me happy.

On Pinterest I've been collecting ideas for floral arrangements.  I usually just use my simple square vases or mason jars for smaller arrangements, but they have some fun ideas...

Vases wrapped in colored fabric & burlap...

Inexpensive tins & small buckets you can buy at a local craft store...

Vintage ceramic containers or maybe even old tea cups...

Colored glass (I used to save blue Luna de Luna wine bottles for vases)...

A nice bowl for large blooms...

Other vintage glass containers...

These may be a splurge but sometimes you can find similar styles at Target & Homegoods...

So, my mission is not only to keep fresh blooms around my house as much as possible, but since I enjoy actually arranging them myself it is also to find new and inexpensive ways to contain them.  We have an inexpensive thrift store in town that I bet is crawling with inexpensive glass & ceramic options so I'll be hitting them up this week for my first little floral "project" and then I plan to just pick up flowers at Stop & Shop, using their single flower bundles to mix and match (usually their pre-made arrangements are hideous). 

I'll share what I come up with!

All photos are courtesy of Pinterest, I am unsure of the specific users/origin.

~E

The Littlest Golfer

Bentley LOVES golf right now - he's always carrying around or playing with his clubs Daddy got him for Christmas.  Since the weather's been nice the last few days Christopher has been out hitting balls and Bentley goes out with him.  The other day he ran around with Hurl and hit some balls... 

He LOVES the real golf clubs so much that he cries when Christopher puts them away. ;)

Happy Weekend!

~E

VINTAGE Baby Clothes

Mum of course saved a bunch of my baby stuff, including some clothes.  We went through them a couple of weeks ago and pulled some out for BGS...

My fav little blankie that really isn't a blankie at all, I don't know what to call it...

A couple of AMAZINGGG vintage t-shirts...

This adorable outfit...which is still white after 30+ years of storage...

Apparently '81 was a big year for Bo Derek...she was known as a "10" so naturally I was a "10 in Training"...

These two outfits which my husband is horrified at, LOL.  It was the 80's, come ON!!!  Wonder Woman and R2-D2...

And a few cute suits...

Thanks, Ma!

~E

Crockpot Recipes

I found this blog called Six Sisters Stuff through Pinterest and they have TONS of recipes ~ and TONS of crockpot/slow cooker recipes.  Christopher bought me a crockpot for XMas and we've only really done ribs so I'm looking forward to some new recipes to try...
 Crockpot BBQ Ribs
Slow Cooker Lasagna
Slow Cooker French Onion Meatballs
Slow Cooker Sunday Dinner Potroast & Gravy
Crockpot Teryaki Chicken
Slow Cooker Honey Sesame Chicken
Slow Cooker Pork Chops
Slow Cooker Sweet & Tangy Meatballs
Slow Cooker Chicken Cordon Bleu
Slow Cooker Orange Chicken
Slow Cooker Italian Chicken
Slow Cooker Cashew Chicken
Slow Cooker Balsamic Honey Pulled Pork Sliders
Slow Cooker Chipotle's Barbacoa Beef
Slow Cooker Pizza Bake
Slow Cooker Beef Stroganoff 
Slow Cooker Chicken Caesar Sandwiches
Slow Cooker Italian Beef Sandwiches
Slow Cooker Buffalo Chicken Lasagna
Slow Cooker Parmesan Honey Pork Roast
Crockpot Chili
Slow Cooker Bacon Wrapped Apple BBQ Chicken
French Dip Sandwiches
Creamy Potato Bacon Soup

OK, so that is only like HALF of them...if you scroll down their Recipe Index page there is a whole section titled "Slow Cooker" with another bunch of recipes.  Check them out.  I'm trying the Honey Sesame Chicken tomorrow so I'll letcha know...

~E

Update

Helloooooooo out there.  Enjoying the weather?  I'm practically sweating. 

We had a nice weekend with lots of visiting.  Friday night we had dinner with Uncle Joey, then Saturday morning we went to see DeDe & Dup while Ty and Ava were there for awhile.  The kids ate, played, screamed, and tore apart DeDe & Dup's house.  Auntie Nicole and Uncle Lance came for a visit fresh off a trip from Mexico.  Sunday morning we went to see Grammy & Grampy.  Daddy brought his golf club so since it was so nice out we went up to the first tee to watch him hit some balls.  Grammy has a set of golf clubs for Bentley at her house but he only wanted Daddy's club and tried very hard to swing it even though it's 3x his size.  He had fun watching and chasing balls.  There is a little hill down the first tee box and we all DIED laughing when Bentley went to go fetch a ball and like he does on the stairs, he turned around backwards and inched himself down the hill instead of making any attempts at walking.  It got a little chilly and he CRIED desperately for his Daddy the whole way back to Grammy and Grampy's while Christopher stayed to hit a few more balls.

On the new baby front, I am in week 29 and feeling it.  According to my weekly email update she is about two and a quarter pounds and they say 14.8 inches.  I could feel every inch when she kept me up last night.  On the fetus-to-food comparison she is "like" a Chinese cabbage, whatever that means!  She can open and close her eyes and now has eyelashes.  Hopefully those lashes are her father's and not my short stubby ones.  Do they make baby Latisse? ;) 

I have actually been feeling better the last few days.  Not nearly 100% but slowly feeling better so I am hopeful my new med is the right fit.  I found out from my OB/bloodwork that my iron is low, which is common in third trimester and happened with Bentley, so that may have been contributing to why I've felt so sluggish, too.  I started iron supplements so I'm really hopeful that mixed with my new anxiety med will do the trick. 

This week we don't have too much exciting going on.  I have an OB check-up tomorrow and Tor & Wes are hopefully coming for a visit on Thursday.  Just plugging away through February!

We'd also like to wish Auntie Jo Jo an early birthday!  Bentley sends tongue kisses. 

~E

NINETEEN MONTHS OLD!!

Today Bentley is 19 months old!!!  You aren't going to see his goods today because Mommy is too tired to undress/redress him. ;)

Happy Weekend!

~E

Sick House...

I came down with a cold earlier this week and the hubby came down with a stomach bug.  We were able to enjoy a quiet, low key Valentine's Day though.  We got sushi for dinner (I only ate the veggie kind) and watched a movie.  The hub brought me Cadbury Creme Eggs (YUM), some pretty flowers, and a hyacinth plant, which is probably my fav spring bulb ~ they smell soooooooooooo good...

Yesterday I started puking and am still not feeling well today.  I'm just REALLY hoping Bentley doesn't get sick.  So far, so good.

The B-Man has been his usual happy self, playing up a storm.  He's started "coloring" with crayons but really doesn't understand the concept of only coloring on paper...so we have crayon marks on the coffee table, window, on a picture frame, I found some blue on the staircase beadboard...so we gotta work on that one.  And right now he uses both hands - so we're still not clear if he's a righty or lefty.  He loves giving dog "teets" ~ yes, "teets" not "treats."  He'll stand by the counter and point up to Hurley's treat bowl or go to his dish and take food out to feed him.  Hurley is very gentle - one of the few things he's gentle with.  He's also talking up a storm, today telling dog to sit for his "teets"; and juice is now "deuce" (it sounds like he's saying douche...LOL).  He's loving looking at books but has picked the sameeeeeeeeeeeeee book over and over lately.  It has a hole in the cover and he loves sticking his finger through the hole and having you grab it on the other side.  Cracks him up.  It's also hilarious when he's ready for his nap and I ask him if he's ready for his "nappy" and he excitedly runs to the stairs.  He'll do it for bedtime now, too if he's tired & ready.  Every day I swear he's doing something new and funnier!!

I'll report back when I'm feeling better...

~E

My Funny Valentine...

~E

Good Morning, Daddy...

Happy Valentine's Day!  Thanks for taking such good care of us!  WE LOVE YOU!

ILY
XOXO
Erie, Bentley, BGS, & Hurley

West Elm ~ Jugs, Containers, & Vases

I am a sucker for glass containers, vases, recycled bottles, etc.  The new West Elm catalog just came and they have some GREAT goodies in this department right now...

Recycled Glass Jugs:

Tall Glass Jars:

Hive Vases:

Glass Terrariums:

Shane Powers Glass Wall Planters:

Shane Powers Hanging Glass Bubble Collection:

Pacific Vases:

Clear & Opal Glass Vases:

ALL PHOTOS ARE COURTESY OF WEST ELM.

I love me some West Elm and they have delivered again, as always!

~E