Crunch Crunch Crunch

While I know that we are not the only people being affected by this piece of crap economy, it sure does suck to worry. It feels extra worry-some that this next month will also bring on a slew of extras with our big move on the forefront. But you know. I hate to say this all the time, but . . . "It is what it is."

So I have decided for today's blog to be a crazy, unrealistic dreamer and think about Christmas. Yes, I said Christmas. For some reason my favorite holiday/season has been on my mind. What am I going to bake? What am I going to get Riley and Joey? It will be a little weird not having my Christmas decorations up, but Joey's mom is a fellow Christmas lover, so I know we'll be set :) Can I also say how amazing it is going to be to have our little peanut during Christmas???!!! Last Christmas I was nice and beefy-pregnant, dreaming of how awesome this Christmas will be. I can't wait to make Riley a Christmas dork like me :) (Can't wait for the Belmont Shore Christmas parade and the amazing lights in Naples! Woo-hoo!)

I've found a few items that are on my wish list; wish being the key word ;)

How awesome is this mini cupcake/scone/quiche maker?!



I also have been craving a stand mixer. Can you believe with all the baking I do that I don't have one yet?!



I also just remembered that back in June, before my birthday, I went to Zappos.com to give Joey ideas for a present for me. He ended up getting everyone to go in on an iPad instead, which was so incredibly amazing. So my wish list is still just chillin' there. There were some gorgeous purses and shoes; still pretty drool worthy.

SANUKS!!!



LUCKY BAG!!!











BETSEY JOHNSON BAG!!!









Ok, I think that's enough silliness for the day. Gotta go figure out dinner and get back to reality. It is fun to be silly and dream every once in awhile. I suggest all of you do a little dreaming today. So excited 'Parenthood' starts back up tonight. And by Amy's suggestion, I am going to give 'Glee' a much overdue watch tonight. Here's a little Riley cuteness as I sign off. I'll try not to lose my noodle again anytime soon, yikes bikes!

6 Month Letter

Dear Riley,

My handsome little baby, you are 6 months old today! I can hardly believe that it has been 6 whole months since you made your 10 day early arrival into this world. You have changed so much in these past few months. When I first saw you I thought your precious little face looked exactly like your Daddy's, which just made my heart smile. I love your Daddy so much and I am so thankful for him in our lives. He loves you more than anything else and to watch his face light up and your face light up when you see each other, almost makes your Mama cry.

Lately I've seen more of me in your face, not to mention your funny little banana toes that are just like mine :). I love that you have truly become a combination of me and your Daddy. I hope you continue to take the best qualities from each of us, along with your own sweet personality, to become the little man we are already so in love with.

You had a big day today! Wearing overalls for the first time and going to the Central Christian Church nursery for the first time; big stuff for a big guy!

When you wake up each morning and greet me with big smiles and laughs as I change your diaper, I know you are truly a gift from God. I feel so lucky to be your Mama. I know you love me when you hold on so tight while you're nursing. I know you love me when you shimmy over to be closer to me while we're laying in bed. I know you love me when you smile at the sound of my voice. I know you love me when you reach your arms up in the air for me to pick you up when I get home from work. And I know you love me when you nuzzle deep into my neck when you're sleepy.

And I want you to know that I will always love you baby boy. I love you when you laugh at my silly noises. I love you when you spit sweet potatoes on my white t-shirt. I love you when you try to crawl toward me. I love you when you're fussy right before you fall asleep. I love you when you suck on my finger, my cheek, and my shoulder trying to get even a drop of milk out. I love you while I'm changing your drooly onesies and poopy diapers to make you feel all clean. And I love you while I'm just staring at your gorgeous face and touching your soft, perfect skin while you sleep.

You are the love of your Mama and Daddy's life. We can't wait to see what tomorrow will bring for our family. Happy 6 month birthday little bug!

Love,
Your Mama


3 Day Old Riley




6 Month Old Riley

Hahahahahaha!

Ok, so I'm kind of addicted to putting Riley on youtube now ;) It is just so much fun to watch him on a video. Here's another one of him laughing that I made yesterday. (Don't mind the dorky noises I'm making to get him to laugh)



I have officially become one of those parents that is always shoving my kid down people's throats. Granted you all already are used to that, being followers of my blog and all :) I just love him so much! And I think he gets cuter everyday! And I am so impressed with how well he moves and wiggles and laughs! He'll be 6 months old on Sunday, crazy right?! Look how big he's getting. He doesn't even fit in his bathtub anymore.



I have a big work day tomorrow, so pretty glad to have today off. Joey's cousin Nathan is in town today, so I think we're going to have lunch or dinner with him later. We just realized that its been 5 years since we've seen him. How lame is that? It will be great to see him, so that's cool.

Went to the library yesterday :) Yes, even with my ipad I still crave "real" books. I also needed to print something out. How lame is this? After installing our $55.00 ink cartridge replacement pack, our laptops are both telling us that the ink is still empty, so it won't let us print anything. The printer is saying the ink is full, but our laptops won't adjust. Lame-sauce! Joey can create web sites and I can learn how to put videos on youtube, but we can't figure out how to reset our printer's ink levels; ironic! So I had to foray into the library computer lab to print a cosmetology license transfer form. (This whole license transfer business is so annoying!) I also picked up a Jodi Picoult book while I was there. Libraries are still free ya'll!



I'm also officially an old lady now, I got the LARGE PRINT version of the book. It was the only copy they had and it is actually way easier to read, so there!

More to come soon. Freddy is moving out in 2 weeks, crazy! He has lived with us for over a year now, but I'm so happy for him that he's off of probation and moving into his first place that he's had by himself. He watched Riley for a couple of hours for us yesterday, and this is what I came home to.



Uncle Freddy has been dying to put Riley in his packers jersey since he bought it for him (before Riley was born :)) No matter that it hasn't been washed yet and is size 12 months, (Riley wears 6 months ;)). It was pretty cute!



Stay tuned for my new blog design. Joey is designing me a custom banner and background, so exciting, yikes bikes!

FYI

I'm editing and updating past blog posts with pics and fixing some content. Just wanted to let you all know in case it keeps sending my updated past posts to your e-mails.

Getting myself and my blog ready to go public!!!!!!

Want to keep in better touch with people here in Nevada after we move. Wish me luck!

B-O-O-H-O-O!!!

So it's official . . . Kelly May has left the building.



We went over to the May's house last night to get one more night of hanging out in before Kelly left for Austin today. It felt like old times. We had burgers and talked and laughed; it was definitely bittersweet. Luckily they needed help packing their U-haul, so it distracted all of us from getting too emotional. Here are Joey and Kelly "prom-posing."



And Christa and I "hiding" in the bushes in their front yard. I wasn't even drinking, I promise. We were just being a little silly ;)



While I know that we're all taking the next steps in our lives for the good, it is getting sad to think about leaving here. It didn't help that one of my clients, who is also a great friend of mine from when I first moved here and was working at Lucille's, literally sobbed when I told here I was moving. She and I always have major "therapy sessions" when she comes in to get here hair done. It made me feel awful, but of course on the other hand, made my heart feel so warm. To know that people love me and are so upset to have me move; makes me feel special.

It's gettin' real ya'll!

I was so glad to spend the day with Mr. Riley today to take my mind off of Kelly leaving, us leaving, low fundage, and the realization, (after helping the Mays pack and load boxes), that we have to pack up our entire house. He is freaking me out how much he is on the move! He literally rolled from one end of our king size bed to the other end. He is also a scooting fool! He rolls onto his belly then uses his feet to move forward. That kid wants to crawl so bad. My baby is growing up and getting so big; freaky! But so thrilling to watch him be so active and healthy :)



So be honest . . . how proud are you all of me that I not only have pictures, but I created a youtube account and added a video of Riley shimmying???? I am pretty proud if I do say so myself. Joey is so great at all things technology based, so I'm trying to get better too. Riley did actually roll from belly to back over and over, but I didn't get that on video, maybe tomorrow??

Well, gonna hang with my husband. I love you all, (in case you didn't know or I don't say it enough)! More pics and hopefully videos to come, yikes bikes!

Pictures Fool! I got mad pictures fool!

So I Finally Did It!

I have pictures attached to my blog! Yeah! Happy now Amy Lynn?!

Here was me feeding Riley a bottle at Lake Mead yesterday. They Mays were nice enough to take us out for probably our last lake trip. (Had to do a bottle because I couldn't get him close enough to nurse with his life jacket on, heehee!)



Aside from him getting sunblock in his eyes, which really pissed him off, as did wearing a life jacket in general, we had a blast! It was very sad at the same time though. We have spent the last 6 years, our entire married life, here in Boulder City, and it feels almost like the end of an era. We had so many amazingly fun lake trips with all of our friends out here! I'm so glad the weather was so perfect yesterday so we could take the little peanut out. We then followed the lake trip up with a going away party of sorts for our friend Kelly, who's moving to Austin, TX tomorrow to get started on his job hunt. It was awesome to get all of our incredible friends together to say good bye for now, not forever like we all kept joking, not funny :( It felt like a party for us too. Got to see lots of friends, but I didn't cry, how proud are you all of me?!

Riley did great at the party, sleeping in a pack in play in Haley and Avery's bedroom. A few peeps still hadn't seen him yet, so that was cool letting them meet the boy, even though he was in mega fussy-bedtime-mode. He had a big day yesterday. He thinks he's so big! He wants to move so bad! Riley is rolling like a maniac! The second you get him on his back, he flips to his belly and starts the frustrating task of trying to scoot. He even flips on his changing table which totally freaks me out!



We also had a nice visit with Aunt Brooke (Joey's sister), Uncle Todd, and cousin Joey this weekend. They just came up to chill, see the Mays before they move, and soak up the little man. Our little nephew is obsessed with firefighters right now, so Freddy was sweet enough to talk "fire business" with Joey. Here are the boys with their helmets on. (Joey is a pants-less firefighter, no big deal :) )




They were so sweet to bring Riley an exersaucer, which he so desperately needed.



Just to quickly address McFatty Monday, which I don't really want to, but after reading Heir to Blair's blog yesterday, I feel like I have to: I am 1 pound away from the 20 pounds lost mark! Yet we totally have pretended like we have never heard of P90X this week. I ate really good still, with the occasional sweet treat slip up, so I still lost. We're back on it this week, but I feel really good about the fact that eventhough we didn't do the workout, we're still in it enough that our eating didn't cause us to gain any weight back. Real life success!

I'll keep you posted on any new California-bound updates. Wish us luck as we say goodbye to Kelly May tonight. Joey is going to be a wreck, but we're all moving forward, it's just hard to say goodbye to the past 6 years, yikes bikes!

Totally Obsessed Thursday!

So as many of you know I am so in love with cooking, baking, reading cookbooks, trying new recipes, cooking reality shows, and obviously eating, (or I wouldn't need P90X :)). My love has taken on a new obsession as of late after my sister Melissa came to visit and shared some awesome baking tricks of the trade. I have submerged myself in online "research." I've been watching you tube tutorials on how to frost, I have about 10 new cooking blogs that I check on regularly, and I've been trying new recipes and planning new recipes to try.

While we have mega slacked on P90X this week, I've still been trying to eat as good as possible, (I'm ignoring my couple ice cream slip-ups while I write that ;)). I stumbled upon an awesome egg white casserole that I tweaked just a bit to appeal more to Joey; if something doesn't have meat, I usually have to find a way to incorporate it. It tasted so awesome with some spicy salsa on top, and bonus, the left overs heated up amazingly well in the microwave! Here it is if you want to give it a go:



Jenni's Egg White Casserole

Cooking spray
1cup egg whites
1/2 tsp black pepper
1/2 tsp oregano
Dash salt
1/2 cup diced onion
1 cup diced mushrooms
6 slices turkey bacon, chopped
1 cup fat free Greek yogurt
1/2 cup low fat shredded cheese (I did half mozzarella and half cheddar)

Preheat oven to 350F
Spray an 8x8 glass baking dish with cooking spray
Over med heat sauté bacon, mush, onions in cooking spray, add salt, pep, oregano
Cook just until bacon is cooked through, remove from heat
Meanwhile, in a bowl stir egg whites, yogurt and cheese together
Add bacon mixture, stir to incorporate
Pour into greased baking dish
Bake for 45 minutes, until top is golden
Serve with fresh salsa and a side of fruit :) yummy!

Here are just some of the blogs and websites I've been following if you want to check them out (most of them involve baking :)):

Theheirtoblair.com (the first blog I followed and still love! Thanks again Amy Lynn!)
Cupcake-decorating-ideas.com
Cakejournal.com
Obsessedwithcupcakes.blogspot.com
Crumbsanddoilies.co.uk
Craveindulgesatisfy.blogspot.com
Bakerella.com
Howtoeatacupcake.net (my fav!!!!!!)
Cakespy.com
Hungry-girl.com
Cakewrecks.blogspot.com (so funny!)
Wholesomebabyfood.com (thanks for telling me about this one Beth :))
Goodreads.com
Cupcakerecipes.com
Justjennrecipes.com

Ok, I think that's about it. Don't worry! I still am paying attention to Riley . . . I promise! The Internet is my S.A.R.G.T.B.B. or Secret-After-Riley-Goes-To-Bed-Behavior. (Well, I guess it's not so secret now :)). I'm also trying to finish up reading book 3 of The Hunger Games trilogy, Mockingjay. It is so awesome! Can't wait to find out how it all ends. Stay tuned, more shenanigans sure to follow, and I promise I will figure out attaching pics to my blog asap, yikes bikes!

McLazy Monday!

So glad that my first cold, post-baby, is almost gone! Riley and I had a case of the snotty noses this weekend, but we made it out alive. We spent almost our entire Labor Day nursing, napping, and watching a marathon of 'Rehab: Party at the Hard Rock Hotel,' (don't judge :)). But we did have a blast the last few days visiting with my parents and little sisters. They got a room at Green Valley Ranch, which I loved because 1) they have an awesome pool, 2) nice rooms for the fam, 3) close to my house and my salon, and 4) they have a U-Swirl yogurt shop, (which I'll confess my visits there in a bit :)). We also finally got a tour of Freddy's fire station, now that we can't "jeopardize" his career, (he's finally off of probation :) )



After giving the girls their back-to-school haircuts Friday, Joey brought the baby and we all went swimming. Riley took his first pool experience like a champ. He actually seemed very indifferent to the whole experience. Just lots of looking around. He did squeal in delight when we passed him back and forth for a bit, but mostly, he just chilled. He didn't care too much for the wet swim diaper once we got out, but as soon as I got him into a dry diaper and put him under the hooter hider for a snack, he dozed right off to sleep. It was nice and warm out, but not too hot. It felt so nice just chatting with Cindy with my little man asleep on my chest pool side. (A small glimpse of many great pool days to come in California :))

My cold didn't really attack until the next morning, but it was still nice just playing with the fam. Cindy did brave a new Sharon Stone-esque haircut, which we all love.



Fell asleep before I could publish my blog last night, so sorry! Anywho, where were we???

So had a blast with the fam. Everyone got their hair cut. Riley swam and loved it. Ate a lot of froyo, which in and of itself Is not bad, but when a certain someone, maybe me ;), put cubed cheesecake chunks on top of it, it's not so guilt-free. So no, I haven't lost any more weight and we slacked on our workout for the first time this past week, but the mega accomplishment is that I didn't gain any weight. Hooray! Now that I'm feeling better, we're back on it!

It's been fun making food for the little man. He's had: carrots, butternut squash, sweet potatoes, bananas, avocado, apples with cinnamon, peas, rice cereal, and baby oatmeal. It's difficult to know what to give him next because there is so much conflicting information. I have started peeking in the baby food aisle at the grocery store to see what other foods are in the stage 1 jars and going from there. It's surprising how good everything tastes. Joey and Freddy don't seem to agree. They're not too happy being my taste testers. Oh well ;)

So just working on getting my cosmetology license transferred to California and hunting for a great salon to rebuild my clientele. Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated :) Joey is also on the job hunt. We may be making a preliminary trek down to get the job sitch under better control. If you've ever seen the movie 'Grandma's Boy' you'll think it's so funny that Joey's mom called this weekend saying she just wanted to check on her new roommates (us). Hahahahaha! We're so thankful that they're helping us so much by letting us stay with them until we get settled, but it's going to be a big adjustment. Kinda weird to not have our own house and space, but it's all for the greater good. And my in-laws are easy going, sweet people that have always been so great to us, as has the rest of our fam.

More Nevada to California moving shenanigans, Riley updates, and other Adkins updates. (P.S. Hope you all caught 'The Real Housewives of New Jersey' reunion special part 1 & 2; those bitches are crazy!!! Yikes Bikes!)

Lovin' my reality!

I just finished reading my fav blog to follow, Heir to Blair, and I love her last two posts. While I am so excited for our pending move, I think I haven't taken time to "love my reality." Yes times have been tough with Joey working like a maniac, funds being tight, and an unbearably hot summer that kept me locked indoors with a now uber-pale baby, but in reality, we are so so so so very blessed. It always seems like I'm dreaming of more time with my husband, more money (aren't we all right now??), more vacations (or should I say any vacation), better weather, a smaller ass and belly, and just a happier life.

Really?

Really?

I am disappointed in myself that these thoughts even pop into my head, but alas, I guess I am human. It's human to want more. It's human to feel blue. And dang if it isn't down right American to want more out of life. I guess "the grass is always greener on the other side" isn't just a clever phrase. So I have decided to make a list of all the things I am so very thankful for to help me realize how much I actually do . . .

LOVE MY REALITY!

I am thankful for . . .

1. my perfectly healthy son Riley.
2. a hardworking, loving husband.
3. a supportive family that is so excited for us to move to California.
4. friends that make my life happy.
5. the Missy Elliott Pandora station on my iPhone that I rock out to every day.
6. Tony Horton and P90X for helping me lose 17 pounds.
7. Ciao Bella Blood Orange sorbet, yum.
8. Mickey Mouse Clubhouse and it's ability to enrapture my son when he's fussy.
9. our amazingly comfortable bed and how happy I am to be snuggled up to my two boys every night. (Family bed, don't judge me :))
10. how close Riley snuggles me and nestles into me when I hold him.
11. my baby's adorable laugh, that sometimes sounds like a courtesy laugh.
12. Tosh.O.
13. a job that I love, that I can do anywhere, and most days feels like I'm getting paid to chat and play with people's hair.
14. how good my husband smells and when I smell him it makes me feel like I'm safe and I'm home.
15. Redbox; I would never see any movies that are relatively new without its miraculous $1.00 invention.
16. all of the babies that were born so close to Riley and their mommies that I can learn, laugh, cry, and just chill with.
17. my life, just the way it is.

Family in town this weekend, yeah! Riley's first pool time is imminent :) I'll let you know how all of our big move stuff goes, yikes bikes!