Where's Waldo?

So I am relishing every second on my iPad right now because I haven't had wifi in over a month. Man if that isn't a sign of the times; I feel totally out of sorts without wifi, crazy :)

So we've been in California for a month and 2 days now, I feel like I've been counting the days because my cosmetology license hadn't come yet, but then today . . . duhndaduhda!! I have it!!!! After 5 phone calls, 30 minutes on the phone, a drive to Anaheim, and one bad picture later, I have my license in my possession! It feels like now life can start. I feel like I've been on a month long vacation, (albeit a broke vacation ;) ) Tomorrow is salon hunting day. Wish me luck with finding a good salon to start my California hair career. It's exciting to make a new start like this. Can't wait!

Our bug has grown so much this past month! He is officially a crawler, a slow one, but nonetheless, a crawler. He has 2 teeth now and man are they sharp! It feels like he is already a whole different baby then the one we moved here with. He's survived his first rolling off the bed, (scared the crap out of me and made me feel like a horrible mom, but everyone has assured me that it happened to all of their kids too,it actually brought about a ton if terrifying tales of kids heads hitting ceiling fans, kids breaking their arm rolling off the bed, babies choking on bottles and turning blue, and a myriad of other horrifying stories, I guess I'm safe from CPS showing up at my house).

I'm super excited to be going to Vegas next weekend to do a killer 3 day hair weekend. Can't wait to see my clients and salon friends and to just be back in the adult world :) but it is bringing a terrifying experience about . . . I have to leave Riley for 3 days!!!!! I hate to have to do it, and I've been trying to finagle a million different babysitting options, but alas none of them made sense. So I'm leaving my bug with Brooke and Todd. I'm so glad it's coming next weekend so I don't obsess about it for too long. Wish me luck that I don't freak out. More later not just silly updates, pics too, yikes bikes!

On the Move!

So sorry my friends that I haven't blogged in so long :(

We have had just a little bit going on, hahaha! We have officially moved to California!

We are 95% unpacked, just a couple of random boxes that I'm trying to figure out a spot for. Our little bug is adjusting as well as can be expected. He of course started cutting his first tooth just days before we moved, so he's been a combo of tooth cranky/unfamiliar bed cranky/overstimulation cranky/ and just I'm a 7 1/2 month old baby cranky; poor little guy! And he got his first official boy bruise today. He likes to flip over on his changing table the second you put him down, which makes changing diapers and outfits a hoot ;)! But he was flipping over while I was trying to hold him down with one hand and put his dirty diaper in the Diaper Genie with the other hand and WHACK! he hit his little dome on the corner of our plastic changing table organizer; it made an awesome, perfect right angle shaped bruise on his forehead, so sad :( But Joey made light of it, thank goodness because I felt so bad, saying "He's a boy and this is the first of many bruises to come" (good husband :) )

I just have been feeling so discombobulated and so has Joey and I know Riley has too. We have uprooted our whole life as we knew it. Yes for the good of our family, but it has been a tough couple of days. Seeing all of the family on the regular has been an awesome reminder though of why we did this in the first place.

More good news . . . I called the California State Board of Cosmetology for the 100th time today to check on the status of my license and . . . HOORAH!! It has been approved and is being sent to me as we speak. Thank goodness! I know it's been less than 2 weeks that I haven't been working, but I feel crazy! I need to feel productive. I love the time with my bug, especially since I know he's feeling a bit uneasy right now, but I want to make some $ and get our California life going. It's been funny saying I'm a "stay at home mom" (which Amy thought sounded better than unemployed ;) ) I admire the at home mommies, but we are not in the position financially for me to do that. I think if we were, I wouldn't feel so restless about not working, but we're not, so I am :(

More updates to come, including pics. I'm currently without my own internet, so I'm bumming it off of Joey's and Joe's lap tops for now. Love and miss all of my Vegas peeps and am loving seeing and making plans with my California peeps. Pray for me to chill out and continue adjusting, yikes bikes!

7 Month Letter

Dear Riley,

I cannot believe that another month of your life has come and gone! You have grown up so much in this past month. You're trying so hard to crawl and move little bug. It cracks me and your daddy up when you slam your head down and push off with your feet to move; someday we'll figure out how to incorporate those arms of yours :) You're also such a rolly polly! It kinda freaks your mama out when you do "barrell rolls" on your changing table, but I know you're so proud of yourself when you do it.

This past month has been the month of lots of new foods for you baby boy. You're doing so great eating 3 solid meals a day, but still taking bottles and your mama's milk so well :) We are so lucky that you're such an amazing eater! While it grossed mama out to make pureed chicken and turkey, you loved it and ate it up with a vengence! I love seeing my long, skinny peanut getting bigger!

You're home with daddy today while mama is finishing up my last week of work at Body Spa. Can you believe you're going to be a California baby is just a week and a half?? Crazy huh bug?

Riley you have also surprised us how well you've been sleeping in your own crib, in your own room, for the last few weeks. We thought you'd be in our bed until you were in high school, but you transitioned like a pro! (Honestly, your mama and daddy have had a harder time with you not in our bed, but in the long run, it's best for all of us to get some good sleep. Just so you know, daddy really misses you staring him down first thing in the morning :) )

I love every square inch of you little bug! I love watching you roll over and over across the floor. I love listening to your trying out your voice, (you kinda sound like a teradactyl, but it's so adorable)! I love hearing you coo through the baby monitor in the morning. I love changing your soaked bibs, because that means a tooth is on the way. I love pulling up in our driveway and seeing you and daddy on one of your nightly walks. I love hearing your sweet laugh when I do silly ballerina spins in the kitchen. I love hearing you "almost sneeze", (this makes me and your daddy crack up)! I love the sweet, lavendar smell of your skin right after a bath. I love hearing you laugh and "talk" to Mickey Mouse. I love how much I can see that you feel so comfortable with your mama when you're nursing in my lap and you're almost asleep and making the sweetest moans and holding onto me, pure bliss!

You are the light of your mama and daddy's life. We are so blessed by you being in our lives. This month we've been happily married for 6 years and our little bug is 7 months old, wow!!, God has really blessed us with his gifts. When days are stressful and feel overwhelming, your sweet angel face makes everything alright.

I love you forever bug!

Love,
your mama

Pantry cooking and panic attacks

My foray into "pantry cooking" is getting kinda fun. I unearthed a box of pumpkin pancake mix yesterday . . .



with the leftover caramelized apples and egg whites, pretty good breakfast!

I also made green beans for the little peanut yesterday.



He's been needing more green veggies lately.



!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!GROSS MOMMY TALKING ABOUT POO ALERT!!!!!!!!!!!!
Considering we had a record breaking 8 poopy diapers yesterday, (man! prunes really do their job when trying to counteract the "locking up" effect of bananas), one of them being a disturbing florescent orange color, all of the diapers being pretty "full" (yuck!), green veggies were in order.



How gross am I that I just mega over-shared about my son's poo issues and then posted a picture of green beans pureed in trays right after it? I promise it was green beans ;) It's my blog. I guess I can do whatever I want ;)

Enough about Riley's poo, on to other topics. I have 1 week left working at the Body Spa, crazy! This past week has been very hard for me. I feel like my head is full to the brim! With packing lists, worry about my license, sadness about leaving my friends, baby poop, money worries, crying about saying goodbye to and handing over my clients, love of Glee, trying to get all of our bills transferred to CA, making baby food, sadness over leaving BC, anxiety over Joey's studio, excitement to be near family and friends, "Hotdog hotdog hot diggedy dog!", and our 6 year anniversary tomorrow. (Sorry if that insight into my crazy mind scared you! It kinda scares me too sometimes ;0 )

I just need to breathe, make lists, check things off as I do them, and take one day at a time. There's this amazing Bible verse that I've had taped to our fridge for years, but kinda went unnoticed with the dozens of pictures I usually keep on the fridge. Now that I've taken all of the pictures off and put them away, this verse, along with Riley's "good foods" list, is all that is left. It just seems to ring so true right now.



Wish us luck as we enter the "home stretch" for our big move to California :) Pray for me to not get too freaked out and to let myself be okay with today, yikes bikes, I sound nuts!

At least Riley is too little to know how batty his mama really is :)



How precious is this kid??? How bad can life be if I have this perfect angel?

Yummy yummy yummy, I got love in my tummy!

Big News!!! The most amazing, all be it unintentional, thing happened this weekend . . .

Riley slept in his crib all night!!!!

It all was unplanned, but I'm really excited, and if I'm completely honest with myself, a little bit sad. So . . . saturday night Joey had a migrane :( so he decided to lay down for a little bit before he had to leave for work. I nursed Riley to sleep and while I usually lay him down for the night in the middle of our bed surrounded by pillows, (I know I know I know!!! Don't say anything!), I couldn't because Joey was in there. So I put him in his crib and figured I'd move him when he woke up. But guess what??? He didn't wake up until 3:30am!!! :) I put him down at 5:30pm (early, I know) and he slept until 3:30, crazy! I hadn't gotten a chance to set up the baby monitors, so I slept like crap, (checking on him every hour or so), and honestly, I missed him. He's been sleeping with us since he was born. Don't even get me started on how Joey feels. He misses him too; granted he doesn't have to sleep with the boy snuggled up to his side, nursing him every time he stirs. But I think this is great progress! We needed our bed back to ourselves, I've been needing some undisturbed sleep, and the boy has proven the last 3 nights, he sleeps better alone. Now when he stirs, there's no boob there in his face, so he goes back to sleep; it's almost as if it was intended to be that way :)

What a rant! Sorry! This just felt kinda major. Good thing we got him sleeping on his own right before we move and are in the same room again, waka waka waka!

I did a bit more "pantry clearing cooking" today, with very yummy results! I've been obsessed with IHOP's Cream of Wheat pancakes for years, but everyone I know hates IHOP, so I never get to have them :( But I found the IHOP recipe online today, and I have a whole box of Cream of Wheat to plow through, so we had pancakes . . .



They were so yummy, with great, gritty texture :) I also made delicious caramelized apples to put on top of said gritty pancakes . . .



Tyler Florence was making them the other day on his show, so I had to give them a try. So sticky, sweet, yummy, amazing! We also had egg whites scrambled with turkey bacon and scallions. Healthy, but yummy-nummy!



Great way to start the day!

Riley and I also had a sleepover at Aunt Jackie's house on Friday night :) It was so fun! Jackie made her famous Bubble Up Pizza, so yummy! Even with a gimpy hand, she was still an amazing hostess :) And we watched "Get Him To The Greek" (super lame-o, don't waste your $), read magazines, and just talked. I will miss her more than words can say, but that girlie comes to California all the time, so we'll still be seeing her.



Tried Riley's Halloween costume on today . . .



a giraffe in honor of his true love Sophie :) Hand-me-down costumes are awesome! He was annoyed that I was trying it on him, but I wanted to make sure it still fit. Halloween falls the day after we move back, so it's the least of my worries.

It's getting close ya'll! Had to say goodbye to one of my favorite clients in the world today, Michelle Sidor :( I cried after she left, but only for a minute. It feels scary to say goodbye to such great clients, and hello to job uncertainty. I am hopeful, but nervous. Wish me luck! Less than 2 weeks left at Body Spa, yikes bikes!

Hey good lookin', whatcha got cookin'?

So my foray into the baby food making "business" has taken a kind of yucky turn.

PUREED MEAT!!!!!

The doc said that Riley is ready for protein, so I baked a few chicken breasts, let them cool, and then . . . pureed them with baby apple juice, (as directed by the baby food cookbooks that I've been consulting and of course Beth Masciave).



It deceivingly looked like pudding when I put it in the ice cube trays to freeze.



It actually tasted really good and Joey said Riley dug it. I always want to be here when Riley tries something for the first time, but alas, work had to happen today; Daddy giving him a first food is just as good anyway. Joey said he looked like he was thinking about it for about 3 bites, then he was liking it. Mixed with pears and butternut squash it probably wasn't too strong a flavor anyhow. Our little bubba is growing up so fast!!

I also came across a great recipe at annies-eats.com for peanut butter banana oatmeal muffins this morning; a mouthful I know! (Pun intended :)) We're trying to use up all of our pantry food before we move, I also had overripe bananas that I didn't want to throw away, and rogue mismatched cupcake liners to use up, so thus the muffins. Here's the recipe if you want to try them:

Peanut Butter Banana Oatmeal Muffins

Yield: about 18 muffins *(I got 20 muffins out of the batter)
Ingredients:
1½ cups all-purpose flour
1 cup old-fashioned oats
1 tsp. baking powder
½ tsp. baking soda
½ tsp. salt
2 tbsp. applesauce *(I used baby food pear puree :))
¾ cup light brown sugar
2 large eggs
1 cup mashed banana (about 3 bananas)
6 tbsp. creamy peanut butter *(I used 1/3 cup of chunky peanut butter)
1 cup low-fat buttermilk *(I used 1 cup 1% milk)
Directions:
Preheat the oven to 350˚ F. Line 18 muffin cups with paper liners. In a medium mixing bowl, combine the flour, oats, baking powder, baking soda and salt. Stir together with a fork to blend. In a large mixing bowl, whisk together the applesauce, brown sugar, eggs, banana, peanut butter and buttermilk until smooth. Pour the dry ingredients into the bowl with the wet ingredients and mix just until incorporated and fully blended. Divide the batter between the prepared muffin cups. Bake 18-20 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean. Allow to cool in the pan5-10 minutes, then transfer to a wire rack to cool completely.



They came out really yummy, especially fresh from the oven when they were still nice and warm. Annie suggested that you smear about a teaspoon of peanut butter on top of each muffin, which I did and definitely suggest. It made them just a touch more peanut buttery and luscious :)


Having Riley has made me so much more efficient! We got up at about 7am, changed and fed the boy, made "yummy" chicken puree, made muffins, did 3 loads of laundry, nursed Riley and ate my own breakfast, got ready in about 10 minutes, (literally), and was out the door for work at 10:20am. I didn't get this much done in a whole day B.R. (Before Riley).

Well, gotta fold some more laundry, unload the dishwasher, and watch 'The Office' :), more later, stay tuned for more pre-moving shenanigans, 23 days and counting, yikes bikes!

Going . . . going . . . not gone . . . yet!

Well . . . friends it has been an interesting few weeks. I've decided to tell you about it through pictures.

First, we had an awesome visit from Jacob, Beth, and Hannah Masciave. Riley and Hannah played so cute together. They were involved in a "power-struggle" over the chew toys attached to the exer-saucer. A brief window in all of the fun play dates to come.















It's so nice to have a mommy friend whose baby is a little bit older, so they can pass down learned tips, tricks, and advice. Beth is great at letting me think out loud and she has been so helpful during my baby food making adventure, since she also makes Hannah's food. I found a great looking pumpkin at the store, so I roasted it for Riley.















Yummy pumpkin puree! Happy fall!















On the food note, Riley had his 6 month checkup, (can you believe it has been 6 months already!?!?) While his height has shot up to the 83rd percentile at 27.75 inches and his head is in the 62nd percentile at 17.5 inches, his weight has gone down to the 21st percentile at 16.65 pounds. Riley's doctor, (who I am so sad to leave by the way :( ), said it isn't anything to worry about, considering his height shot way up and he's so active. She just wants us to start feeding him solid food 3 times per day and wants us to add protein. Pureed meat, yum! All in all though he's doing great!

Tasted his first apple juice. Wasn't a big fan ;)















Still teething like crazy, but no tooth yet.













Freddy also moved out. This is the first time he's lived on his own, big step for him! His place is really nice. So happy for him; he's a big boy now!












I was hired to make football cupcakes for my friend Amanda's son's 1st birthday. Happy birthday Cayden!



My cousin Natalie, her husband Daniel (and his gorgeous mustache :)), and my little 2nd cousin Tyler were also in town for a hockey game, so we met up for breakfast. They've been joking that Riley must be a CGI baby because he's never crying in the pics I post on facebook, but let's get real, who posts crying pictures; no one ;)






My friend Jackie broke her hand, so I've been helping her with her clients. She only has a week left with her cast, but a broken hand for a hair stylist is pretty much the worst thing that can happen. I'm so glad i've been able to help her. She's always been so great to me!











And Riley's wearing big boy 2-piece jammies! I know it isn't that big a deal, but he just looks like such a big boy in them.



My baby is getting so big. I want to freeze him in time. But then again, every day brings a new fun thing and more love in my heart. I totally cried on Joey during yesterday's episode of 'Parenthood' (which is awesome in case you're looking for a new show!) There was a scene where a mom and dad were being hugged by their little boy, one big group hug, and the little boy said he loved his family. It just made me happy, but in a sad way scared. Being a child of divorce, I always worry about maintaining a stable, loving marriage. Joey and I are doing so great. We have really become a team since having Riley, so I hate that those fears even creep into my mind. But I guess that is natural for people to worry about 'the other shoe dropping.'

Trying to get things organized for the big move that is only 24 days away, crazy wazy! So excited to move, just wish it was already done with. It has been getting kinda sad these last few weeks :( This is where our baby was born. This is where we've lived our entire married life. We've had really good times here and made really good friends. I know for those people who are most special to us this isn't goodbye. It's just been more difficult then we thought. We haven't been working out or necessarily been eating very good; just so much stress and worrying. I keep "Mondaying" myself to death. 'This monday' I'll do better. Ok, next monday. Ok, when we get to California, I'm on it. :) So on and so forth. Gotta push on and 'get 'er done.' So moving day is the day before Halloween, I'm thinking Riley is going to be a giraffe in honor of his "true love" Sophie, (his teething giraffe.) I'm not planning on trick'or'treating with him, but I will subject him to dressing up and lots of pics.

More to come. Hopefully not so much time in between posts. :) Stay tuned for the shenanigans to follow, yikes bikes!

P.S.
I also made a hilarious Halloween JibJab video featuring Joey, Riley, Hannah, McKenzie, and me; so funny! I love JibJab!

Personalize funny videos and birthday eCards at JibJab!