People ask for criticism, but they only want praise.

Hello world! Sorry about the crap blog post yesterday, sometimes I just want to get stuff out for you. And honestly I have been totally into my netflix and not interesting at all. But I did find some time to take some pictures!

















Last night I joined my Mom's campaign team. I'm in charge of her facebook. I'm pretty excited about it, it feels good to help and be involved in something. Everything sounds really exciting to be a part of, like the Sarpy County Fair coming up.

I have a member care meal to deliver tomorrow. I'm doing bread. I'm slowly working my courage up to try a man course. I'm doing rolls with honey butter. I like to pretend people really like my honey butter.

Evelynn met with Nurse Carol today. Evelynn weighed 11 lbs 2 oz! She gained almost a pound from last week! I was so excited. Hopefully she will gain enough that at her doctor's appointment on Friday we won't get yelled at for her being small and skinny. I'm sad because she is going to get more shots. I know how much I hate shots so it makes me feel terrible for making her get them.

Alright that's enough chitter chatter-Mamma's got Netflix to watch while the baby is sleeping!

Love (cool summer days),
Carrie

You can go a long way with a smile. You can go a lot farther with a smile and a gun.

Ladies and Gentlemen,
I have an addiction. It is called Netflix. I am in love and I don't care if it kills me. Netflix is my booze. If I could hug Netflix I would.
We had another exciting development in the world of Evelynn this weekend. She slept by herself overnight in her pack and play. BY HERSELF. She is really growing up entirely too fast. Last week I noticed that she has learned to smile when I hold up the camera. Its kind of amazing to watch her learn.
I sometimes wonder if I will find my second child's development as amazing as I have found Evelynn's...
Anyway she slept by herself, which means I slept like crap because I kept getting up to check on her. But maybe eventually I'll be able to sleep thru the night. Honestly it made me a little sad because I missed her during the night.
This weekend I used the heck out of my kitchen aid mixer, and I have the basic mixer. I can't even imagine what my life would be like with the attachments! I made a ton of ranch dressing, mashed potatoes, and whipped cream. My friend Pam came by Saturday and I made Cowboy Spaghetti and the chocolate sheet cake. For family dinner on Sunday I planned Chicken Friend Steak, mashed potatoes, salad, and open faced apple pie. All weekend I cooked from Pioneer Woman Cooks cookbook. I think I need to lay off it though-its making me fat! It truely is good homecooked food. I need to crack open my Rocco Dispirito cookbook that cooks with less fat.
We don't have big plans for the holiday weekend. We kind of planned it to be low key. Hopefully it stays that way! I'm hoping the fireworks don't scare Evelynn! She isn't bothered too much by loud noises, but who knows, I've seen lots of babies crying during firework shows.
That is about all I'm inspired to write about today. Maybe more later... Hope you all have a great day!
Love (my kitchen aid),
Carrie

She had an unequalled gift... of squeezing big mistakes into small opportunities.

Yesterday I made my first contribution to my Mom's church's member care program. I made the most amazing cupcakes. I was almost sad to give them away! I delivered them today and Evelynn was good the whole car ride so she must of known we were on a good karma mission.

P90X isn't going so well for me. Its just that I can't find an hour to do it. I can barely find half an hour, and the one I want to do, the yoga, is an hour and a half long. So that is sad, but I've come to terms with where I'm at and where my body is at right now. Every time I try to diet or exercise, it takes away from my ability to produce milk or takes away my time with her. And at the end of the day, she is the most important and my job and while I'm still eating healthy, I'm just going to have to suck it up and get over myself. It seems like it only affects me when I have to go out into the world or look nice for an event. Le sigh. Mommyhood is tough sometimes!

I'm very excited because Sunday I'm going to make family dinner and I'm making Chicken Fried Steak, mashed potatoes, salad, and open faced apple pie from my new Pioneer Woman Cooks! cookbook. I'm pretty nervous. My Dad LOVES chicken fried steak so I really want to do a good job and be able to make his favorite dish for him. I'm doing the pie, not because I actually like apple pie, but the concept of a open faced pie, and the fact that I have half a pie crust in the freezer to use up is why I picked it. I should have done it for the member care thing, because I don't think my family will eat it, but I didn't want to send an untested recipe.

So You Think You Can Dance was pretty good last night. I loved Top Chef too. I'm still in love with Kent on SYTYCD but I don't know who I like on Top Chef yet.

Well I'd better get to cleaning because Janet will be here soon and luckily the baby has gone down for a nap, who knows how long she will stay there!

Love (to cook),
Carrie

He who praises you for what you lack wishes to take from you what you have.

Nurse Carol came by today and Evie weighs 10 lbs 12 oz! She was 25 1/2 inches long. Way to go baby!
Here are some pictures from our weekend and a couple random ones my cousin Rena just sent to me! Enjoy!

Smiling!

At Great- Grandpa's funeral with Aunt Kathy and Grandma

Mom and I and Evie at Great-Grandpa's funeral

Me marching in Mom's parade

The family with the float


Jesse marching in Mom's parade

My Mom, Jesse, and I on the float

She's posing for the camera now, she smiled on command!

Look at that pretty baby!

Love (Evelynn Ann),
Carrie

It's hard to take over the world when you sleep 20 hours a day.

Before and when I was pregnant, this is how I slept: earplugs, a mask, lots of blankets, on my side with my hips flat on the bed, pillow between my knees and my teddy bear and baby blanket touching my face and in my arms. Now I would have a panic attack if I put earplugs and a mask on. I have a 10 pound 98.5 degree baby on my chest, I'm surrounded by a barricade of just in case pillows, and I'm so hot I can only have on blanket on. I have no idea where my teddy bear is at this moment, somewhere on Seth's side of the bed. My baby blanket is part of the pillow barrier.
How things have changed, I wouldn't want it any other way. Except for maybe a bigger bed. And a memory foam topper.

I went out to my mailbox today to get the mail, fully expecting great things, even though I haven't had personal mail since the cards for Evie's birth stopped coming. I see this plastic wrapped package and I'm all excited-samples! Sometimes when I get bored I google free samples and sign up for them. Then they sit on my kitchen table for about six months before I throw them away, that is, if they aren't totally awesome. This sample said it was for a free stretch band and it was for the "staying active!" campaign. I figured this was something left over from my job at the nuclear power plant that was sent out before my paperwork was processed. You know those health campaigns big companies do. Anyway I get inside and its for Tylenol arthritis. And it's old people. And there is a chart about how to use your free band while sitting in your chair watching TV. I'm officially old now. I'm going to take my free sample of Tylenol arthritis and my stretch band and watch the price is right in my chair today.

Actually today I did thirty minutes of "Core synergy" on the P90X lean program. It was all I could do during Evelynn's nap before she woke up and started crying to be picked up. (to her credit she laid there self soothing for about five minutes). OH MY GOD I AM SO OUT OF SHAPE. I could barely do any of the push ups. And I must have adult ADD because I spent half the time trying to figure out which of the participants Tony was boinking. It was HARD people. I have a long way to go. I am going to take a before picture, which Seth won't do. I'll have to dig out a bikini and do that tonite and then sob quietly into my baby's head and remind myself that I destroyed my body for love and the health of that child.

So marching in the parade was an experience! One I could probably do without ever repeating. Thank GOD I didn't bring the baby. It was so hot and such a long time of standing around waiting. Walking the parade route was actually fun and I had a lot of fun hanging out with my brother most of the day. But during the walk down main street, out of no where this lady in a wheel chair came out of the crowd and started trying to talk to my mom while she was shaking hands and walking. I had no idea who she was or where she came from, but I knew that look on my Mom's face so I had to try and run interference but of course I had been away from the baby for three hours by the time we actually started walking in the parade so my milk jugs had engorged and were out of control and I had to baywatch run to catch up to them. Oh did I mentioned they were recording the parade for TV? So me and my huge bouncing tats trying to catch up to a lady in a wheelchair with my mom in the middle of a parade is out there in TV land somewhere... After the parade my brother and I just got in the back of the truck that was the parade float and my dad drove us home. I hadn't ridden in the back of a truck since God knows when but it was so fun.

Sunday we went to Zum Biergarten for Father's Day and it was delicious as usual. We even got free dessert because we had to wait for a table. I got black forest cake but everyone else got a bee sting and it was to die for so my Mom traded me. Evelynn was pretty well behaved but she knows the place pretty well and the waitresses remember her and love her. I was excited because our waitress works at Capitol Hair School where I get my hair dyed too and I just got these half priced gift certificates and so I'm thinking of going the Wednesday before the family reunion to get my hair done and I'm so happy to have found a stylist, she is super cool too.

Father's Day was pretty lazy for us because it stormed all day so we mostly stayed in bed and cuddled and watched movies. Saturday was Seth's Father's Day. He spent time with Evelynn alone while I was in the parade and did such a good job, only called me three times. Then I came home and later my parents came over and Seth and I went to the movies. We saw Iron Man 2 which was really good. I wish we could have seen Knight and Day, but we only had one set of free tickets left and it was his Father's Day choice. We about crapped in our hands and ate it though when we got a combo at the snack stand and it was SEVENTEEN DOLLARS! What in tarnation? We got two drinks and a large popcorn. I thought Seth was going to pass out. I thought I was going to pass out! I'm the girl that gets refills at the gas station and keeps 64 ounce cups in my car! One that I dug out of the trash! (and washed, of course) So that almost ruined it. But Evelynn was really good for my parents. Of course.

Seth's brother's came over Friday and we had a big meal. This last week Seth and I have been trying to eat at the dinner table and have Evie sit in her high chair with us at the table while we eat so she knows what meal times are and so she knows those are times she has to sit by herself. Seth's brother's were making faces at her though and she giggled for the first time. All of us started freaking out right after it happened though and it scared her so she started crying and hasn't done it again. Seth's Dad came over to see Evelynn while I was in the parade. And Seth's mom is supposed to drop by sometime this week. I just read in my touchpoints book that the four month mark is when she starts to have stranger anxiety and doesn't like to be snatched out Seth or I's hand so I have to find a nice way to tell Janet that without making her cry. I have no idea how to do that. I had to tell my Mom and Dad about it too, but they are pretty good about letting her get used to them before they try to hold her. It just makes it worse when you try to snatch her right when you come into a room.

I need to get professional pictures of Evelynn taken, since I have none, but I really don't want to bring it up to Seth and stress him out about the money, especially since we have a nice camera and he thinks we can do it on our own...sigh.

Seth is home from work early because there are chunks of shingles in our front yard and our gutters are overflowing. I'm sure this will make him very happy. Or not. I'd better get started on the hamburger dip for nachos at Cheeto and Whitney's tonite.

A very special I love you to my Dad, who I don't tell enough that I appreciate him and love him and thank him for raising me and teaching me how to be a stay at home Mom. And for supporting and reading my blog writing. I love you Pop.

And another shout out to my Hubby, who took the time this weekend to tell me that staying at home is not a luxury like he thought and raising our baby is hard work. I'm so happy that you and I made this special little person together, she is lucky to have you for a dad and I'm lucky to have you as a husband.

Alright off to make cat throw-up, I mean hamburger dip!

Tomorrow I'll try to get pictures from our weekend up!


Love (long blog posts),
Carrie

A bore is a man who deprives you of solitude without providing you with company.

Hi All! First off, ya! We got another follower! It always makes me feel more obligated to blog when I know people besides my family are reading it.

I'm currently considering doing the PX90 lean program, I got Seth the PX90 discs for Father's Day and I have been watching him doing it and it seems achievable. Plus because it's so hot I haven't been able to walk with the Princess of air conditioning so I've gotten a little chub back. You can't diet when you are breast feeding because it affects your milk a lot. I tried dieting for a week and could barely make four ounces a day. My kid drinks four ounces on one breast, so I need eight ounces a feeding. But anyway Seth is doing the intense full blown PX90 and he is really enjoying it. He even gets up at 6 am every morning to do it! My husband used to need dynamite to get his butt out of bed. I might start it next week.

This weekend I will be walking in the Papillion Days Parade with my Mom's float. Seth is going to stay home for the baby alone for the first time! To reward him afterwards, because I'm sure he will need a baby break, my parents are coming over to watch the baby and we are going to go see Iron Man 2 at the theater, something we haven't done since Star Trek came out and I was pregnant and missed half the movie peeing. So we stopped going to the movies. Then Sunday we are going to Zum Biergarten with my Dad for Father's Day because they finally started serving beer so he will go try it now.

Next week I'm going to try and turn one of my old t-shirts into a onsie for Evie. I downloaded the instructions from wiki how, and it looks pretty simple, but last time I tried to tackle my sewing machine it defeated me. Maybe I will see if my Mom has some time next week to help me since she is like the sewing machine whisperer.

Alright well Seth is home from work today, so this is going to be a short one since I'm excited for the family to spend time together!

If you are local come out and laugh at me sweating to death in the Papillion Days Parade! I'll give you a sticker!!!

Love (Father's),
Carrie

You don't stop laughing because you grow old. You grow old because you stop laughing.

Hello Blog world! Yesterday's cooking went really well thanks to a big help from blog reader and contributor L'ara. Thanks L'ara! We made two different kinds of pin wheels, cinnamon rolls with frosting, corn muffins, butter milk biscuits, and honey butter. Then we made a disgusting amount of nachos and ate them. It only took a long time because my daughter is RIDICULOUS. She refused let L'ara hold her. But L'ara was really good about it and powered thru the ear piercing crying and took her outside and around the house and eventually got her to nap for a little bit so I could finish things up and put everything on the fancy plates I bought and plastic wrap them.
Seth was super impressed. I'm not sure how the food went over though because I haven't heard from him all day. He wanted me to bring Evelynn out to meet his boss and the ladies of his team (he wanted me to take her to one of the classier steakhouses last night to meet everyone but he gave me a half hours notice and because Evelynn had been crying all day that meant that she was vomiting up all the air she took in and bringing lots of lovely curdled vomit with her. So I wasn't about to try to get pretty, get my kid and myself pretty and not smelling like vomit, and out the door in a half hour. HAHAHA Its funny because he seriously thought I could do it)
He got home at a decent time but had to work some more and of course it was bath night so we were up super late. He has been getting up early everyday this week so far and doing his PX90 that I got him for Father's Day. He's really into it and likes it because he can get a work out in and its a good workout. I'm tentatively mulling doing the "lean" version of the program (its a little less intense) myself starting next week if I can find an hour to myself. So far I can get Evie to sit or sleep by herself for thirty minutes tops, I may have to do two thirty minute sessions in a day. Luckily I have that kind of flexible schedule. Perks of being home all day.
I'm super excited because I got three books in the mail from Amazon that Seth ordered for me last week. First of course is Backseat Saints by Josilyn Jackson (YAY!) and the other two are cookbooks. And two cookbooks from opposite ends of the spectrum. One is called "Now Eat This!" by Rocco DiSpirito (of TV's The Resturant-best reality show ever) and the other is by one of my favorite bloggers Ree Drummond of Pioneer Woman called "Pioneer Woman Cooks". Ree's calls for butter, Rocco's calls for NOT BUTTER. I figure I will use Rocco's for my weekly meals with just Seth and I and Ree's for family get togethers to impress them with my mad cooking skills and fill their bellies with greatness. Ree's book is so good and it reads like a story and has great pictures. I found myself welling up when she writes about breastfeeding her first baby, I knew exactly what she was talking about. I also love her sense of humor in the book. I'm seriously considering gifting the book to family and friends for Christmas, but then they would know my cooking secret, but I love it that much!
We have a lot going on this weekend. I'm almost overwhelmed with it. Mostly because Seth's family will be in town and want to see us and have him help his brother move, but because Seth has been uber busy, he hasn't been able to communicate to them that he won't be able to help. Seth's brother called last night to say he was staying here Friday night, but Seth has been saying all week that he will be lucky to come home at a decent hour any night this week, and Evelynn is enough of a handful. Then Saturday I'm marching in the Papillion Day's parade for my Mom's float. Seth has to stay home and take care of Evelynn because she would not do well in a 2 mile parade in 90 degree weather, and you can't just threaten the float driver at gun point to let you drive off in the ac in the float and leave the parade behind because you have a cranky baby. Then Saturday night is kind of Seth and I's father's day celebration, I'm taking him to see Iron Man 2 and my parents are watching the baby. The Sunday we are doing Father's Day with my Dad by going to Zum Biergarten for dinner.
I have no idea what is going on next week besides dinner with Cheeto and Whitney on Monday. I'm hoping that the rest of the week and weekend is pretty calm to recover from this week!

Here are some spoilers tonite for SYTYCD from sytycdism.com
illy & Lauren – Broadway – Tyce Diorio
Alex & Allison – Jazz – Sonya Tayeh
Ashley & Neil – Contemporary – Tyce Diorio
Adéchiké & Kathryn – Contemporary/Jazz – Travis Wall
Cristina & Mark – Jazz – Sonya Tayeh
Lauren & Ade – Contemporary – Mandy Moore
Robert & Courtney – African Jazz? – Sean Cheesman
Jose & Comfort – Hip Hop – NappyTabs
Kent & Anya – Ballroom – Tony Meredith and Melanie LaPatin
Alexie & Twitch – Hip Hop – NappyTabs
Melinda & Pasha – Ballroom – Tony Meredith and Melanie LaPatin

Alright friends I'd better finish the book I'm reading so I can start Backseat Saints!

Love (new books),
Carrie

PS

Sorry about all the site background changes, but do you like this one?
I think this one might stick.
What do you think?

Love (designs),
Carrie

A cynic is not merely one who reads bitter lessons from the past, he is one who is prematurely disappointed in the future.

Hi there blog world!!
We had an interesting weekend. Seth worked most of it so I spent a lot of time at my parents.
Today we had Nurse Carol come over because she is busy on her normal day. Evelynn weighed the same but was 1/2 an inch longer. She was also really cute and active while Carol was here. Then Jesse came over to help me trim the tree in the front yard, or rather, I helped him. Evelynn sat in her stroller and watched and was generally pretty good until the end when she got hot and crabby. Both sets of neighbors came over and chatted with us and her. The one who just had a baby eight months ago told me about this kids clothing that keeps kids three degrees cooler because it is made of bamboo. She also said that her eight month old doesn't sleep thru the night and I really wanted to tell her all about co-sleeping but she already thinks I'm a giant weirdo because when we moved in I drug out my cats to meet her and the cats FREAKED OUT. Plus the only time before "baby" that we talked to them was when Willow would escape into their yard.
So anyway I just kept my opinion to myself and counted my blessings that I have an awesome sleeper.
One thing I did this weekend is go over to the baby consignment store by my parents house because my kid needed some stimulation while she was over there. Lo and behold they had a travel swing for 12 bucks! Now I know that it isn't in the best shape, but it serves its purpose and she doesn't mind it at all. Here are some pictures of her in it-even sleeping!!

I have no idea why she is sitting like that

But it works because she fell asleep

First day we got it!


We also got her this toy piano that she loves, I will have to get a video of that up for you.
Alright well hubby is on his way home, I just wanted to drop in and say hi. I had intended on writing a much longer post, but I got distracted by the contests to enter on parents.com. Oops.

Love (the consignment store),
Carrie

I'm kind of jealous of the life I'm supposedly leading.

Dear TLC, please change your name to "The Look-at-the-Freaks Channel" instead of The Learning Channel. Seriously, accept it. Last night while watching an episode on TLC of "Mall Cops" (by the way, a blogger I read, Ree of Pioneer Woman, was on the show!) I saw a commercial for a "special" about Extreme Poodle competitions. SERIOUSLY. It was people who dress up and dye their poodles outrageously. For a while now I've started to question TLC's programming. I mean they have a solid core of stuff that really is the stuff you can learn from, like a baby story and what not to wear and say yes to the dress. They've even had some specials like "Tree Man" and "Mermaid Girl" that I'll confess to watching. But somewhere along the line there they got obsessed with multiple families. And then fat people, and then little people. They have three shows featuring little people, and I can think of about four shows featuring giant families or families with multiples. What the hell is going on with TLC? Someone please tell me!!
So some thoughts on co-sleeping...
I've never been good at sleeping alone. Ask my parents. I think I slept n there room, after being traumatized by the movie ET, every night they would let me until I was 12. And the nights that they wouldn't let me, or after they finally kicked me out, I convinced my brother to sleep on the bottom bunk of my bed. Then my sister by another mister Kathy moved in with us and we shared a bed, so then I wasn't alone until she moved out. After that I had college where you get a roommate. Somewhere in college I got okay with sleeping alone and became an RA. Long after that I met Seth and I never had to sleep alone again. So because of all of this, I think I'm okay with co-sleeping. I like the idea of having everyone I love in bed. Even if it is hot. It's like I know if something bad happens, like the house starts on fire or something, everyone I need to protect is in that bed and easy to get out. I don't know when I will kick her out, or if I will. The reason I bring it up is the other day my Mother in Law made an off hand comment about it that really bristled my britches. I don't know if it was because I did that normal daughter in law "don't give me advice about raising my kid" thing or because I truly have finally come to accept that we are a co-sleeping family, and I'm ready to defend my decision to do it. I know there are a lot of different camps on it. But from my experience, it has really worked. When I was pregnant, like I said, you couldn't have paid me to co-sleep, I was terrified of it because of a news story about a lady rolling over on her grandkid. Here's something a lot of people can say though-my kid has been sleeping solidly through the night since her third week, which is when we figured out that she didn't want to sleep on her back and she loved to sleep on me. She has transitioned now to sleeping more on my stomach and then waking up for a snack and sleeping on my side, next to me, the rest of the morning. So while I don't recommend everyone does it, if you are out of options and haven't slept with your newborn, I can recommend it, for sure. And I'm not taking any crap about it anymore.

Well we have errands to run since Seth has to work again this weekend so I have to the errands by my lonesome. Luckily my brother is coming over to help me, because no one wants to navigate Sam's Club alone with a baby, trust me on this.
Hope you all have a great weekend!!

Love (my bro),
Carrie