She's Baaaack!

Lauryn is back to normal :)  She didn't have a fever yesterday and it hasn't come back today!  Yay!!!  I am one happy Mama!  Her gums, at least on one side, still seem to be red and swollen but they don't seem to be bothering her at all today.  I will be happy when those darn teeth finally break through.  She didn't have an easy time with any of her teeth breaking through so I'm not surprised that she's having problems this time.

Not a whole lot going on today.  The house has been picked up, dishes are done, bed is made, we went to the bank and the store.  I have two loads of laundry to catch up on but that's about all I have planned for the rest of the day.  I was supposed to have Willow today but the poor girl caught that nasty stomach bug that's been going around.  Hopefully it own't last long!  Lauryn is missing her BFF :)  I still have to figure out what to make for dinner but we have some leftovers to use up so it should be easy :)

Sleepy

It's another one of those days where I just don't feel quite awake.  At least I don't have a lot to do today.  I do have some laundry to get to and I have to figure out what to make for dinner but I did scrub the heck out of the tub and it looks so much better!  When we moved in, it had all these yucky hard water stains all over and we've tried just about every type of cleaner trying to get rid of them.  I googled it today and found a suggestion for a mixture of 1/2 water and 1/2 vinegar in a spray bottle and using a pumice stone to scrub it.  I gave it a try and it worked great!  Our tub finally looks clean!  As long as you keep it wet while you do it, the pumice stone won't scratch the tub.

Lauryn had another tooth break through this morning.  Right next to her top right tooth.  Seems like they're coming pretty fast now!  And it explains why she's been a little extra fussy these past few days.

Last night, mom and Kathye visited and had dinner with us.  Nothing special, just sloppy joes, fries and corn.  Kathye brought some honey wine over a few days ago and we had some with dinner.  I LOVE IT!  When Lloyd got home, he surprised me with a beautiful bouquet of flowers and a card for Sweetest Day.  He had a card for Lauryn too :)  He's such a sweetie and I'm such a lucky girl!  Now I have two bouquets of flowers on my table.  Mom got me one last week, just because :)

A Nice Day

Today was pretty nice....not weather wise, it was too chilly but I got to spend some time chatting with my dear friend Cary, I got a lot done around the house and then Lauryn and I took my mom to Greenville to run an errand.  I ended up getting the invitations for Lauryn's party and more yarn for the blanket I'm making her....this thing will never be finished :)  I also priced the plates, cups, napkins, etc. we'll need for the party.

We had a pretty simple dinner tonight.  Simple but yummy!  I made French bread pizzas and salads.  I made the sauce for the pizza earlier in the day because I've found that it tastes so much better when it has a little time to sit and let the flavors really come together.

We had a really nice weekend too.  My aunt came over for a visit Saturday afternoon, my mom came over for dinner and Lloyd's parents came on Sunday.  They brought a bunch of his books, games and a record player with a ton of records that he had when he was a kid.  It was cute watching him go through everything saying, "Oh, I remember this!"  I've read Lauryn a few of the books at bedtime.

We're back on the fussy train again.  Lauryn's other top front tooth broke through on Saturday.  As soon as Lloyd remembers to bring the camera home I'll take pictures of them.  You can really see the first top tooth now :)

Stuffed

On Sundays, I usually try to make a nice big dinner for us but this past Sunday, I was still really tired from the wedding/reception the night before that I ended up just reheated some leftovers.  Well, I think I made up for it tonight.  We had bbq grilled chicken breasts, corn on the cob on the grill, linguine oil and garlic and ciabatta bread drizzled with extra virgin olive oil, grilled and rubbed with a clove of garlic.  YUMMY!  Rubbing the bread with garlic is my new favorite way of making garlic bread.  It's so easy and so tasty!  I am still stuffed!

Lauryn was a tad fussier than usual today.  My poor girl :(  I wish her teeth would just come in already.  This is how it went with the first two though so I should have expected it to go this way when more started coming in.  It wouldn't be so bad if it didn't take them so long to break through.  Once they've actually started to come through she seems to be a lot happier but until they do, she seems so miserable.

Between yesterday and today I got most of the laundry done.  I still have  a load of whites to put in but it's not much of a load at all so I didn't bother with it today.

I'm making more progress on that blanket.  I so wish I wouldn't have forgotten about it before so I wouldn't have to crochet until my fingers fall every night!  It's turning out really cute though.  I'll have to post a picture of it when I'm done.

Today Was Nice

After a pretty long night with my teething baby girl, this morning we both got to take a good nap.  She had a much better day today, which means her mama had a much better day :)

Ran a few errands with my mom and then did a TON of grocery shopping.  We are stocked up for a while!  I so love to see my fridge, freezer and cupboards nice and full!  There was some creepy guy at the store though.  Long story, but half the time I was there, he was totally creeping me out!

When we got back, we gave Lauryn her dinner then we had some roast, potatoes and carrots that had been in my crock pot for about 10 hours.  It was so good and so tender!  I think I'm going to use the leftovers to make shredded beef tacos for dinner tomorrow.  Just can't get enough tacos!  Mom visited for a few hours after dinner and then once Lauryn was in bed, which she did not put up a fight about :) , Lloyd and I actually had some time to just sit and talk like we used to do.  It was nice!

Ugh, Tuesday

So far, this day has not been so great.  My sweet little girl has not been so sweet today because she has more teeth coming in and no matter what I do for her, it's doesn't help.  She finally went down for a nap so I am taking this opportunity to crab about things a little bit in hopes that if I get it out here, I will be happier when she wakes up :)  Then, I was trying to clean the tub and when I went to rinse it, the drain clogged.  I unscrewed the trap and checked to see if there was anything I could clear out of it and there wasn't so I went to the basement to get the plunger.  When I got down there, I found the pipe that goes to the shower was leaking :(  Luckily, we have one of those old sinks down in the basement and it was leaking right into it and not all over the floor!  I did manage to unclog the tub after a few tries but we still need to figure out what was causing it to leak in the basement.  GRRRR!

I don't feel like cooking much tonight so I think I'm going to make BLT's for dinner.  I might make a pasta salad to go with it.

Long Night

Lauryn woke up at 1:50 am last night.  I think her teeth were bothering her again.  It didn't take me too long to get her back to sleep though.  I, on the other hand, was up until about 4:30 am.  I felt hot and could not get back to sleep.  I may have to take a nap when she takes hers today :)

I only accomplished some of what I wanted to do yesterday.  I got a little caught up in filling in Lauryn's baby book :)  I still need to weed the garden, sweep and mop the kitchen floor, wash the bedding and since the garbage needs to go out tonight, I have to clean out the fridge, the kitty litter and empty the bathroom trash.  Fun, fun!

"Workout Wednesday" wasn't very productive as far as working out goes.  We pretty much just spent the time putting up her Pack & Play and drinking coffee.

Long Day

It's been such a long day and it's still the afternoon!  My girl has been extremely fussy today.  I can't wait to for those teeth to fully come in!  Even though two have broken through, the one is just peeking out and the other just doesn't seem to be coming up very fast at all.  I feel so bad for her.  I've given up on the baby Orajel and I think I'm going to try those other, all natural tablet things I've heard about.  Maybe those will help her feel better.

The laundry is almost all caught up.  Seems like it's been taking me forever to do it!

I think I'm just going to throw some burgers on the grill for dinner tonight.  That sounds quick and easy.  Not sure what I'm going to make for a side though.

I've also been working on filling out Lauryn's baby book today.  I need to find the bag that I have her hospital bracelet in.  I'm having fun filling it out.

One of these days, I need to go through all of my clothes and find a dress to wear to  my friends wedding.  It's on July 11th so I'd better start looking!

Monday, Monday

Manic Monday #172

What is the last song that was stuck in your head and how did you get rid of it? Right now it's "Manic Monday" from the Bangles :) and it just came when I started this so I haven't gotten rid of it!

If you had to say what one thing in your life best represents your freedom, what would it be? I'm not sure how to answer this one. I guess I'd have to say that being a SAHM gives me lots of freedom to do what I want and live the life I wanted.

If you were invited to the White House for dinner tonight, what would you wear from your current wardrobe? Probably the cocktail dress I bought to wear on our honeymoon cruise...I think it still fits :)

The weekend was so nice, busy but nice! We had a really nice time with Lloyd's parents yesterday. We ate burgers, played with Lauryn and Lloyd and his dad played horseshoes. It was a very nice visit!

Some time this week I'm going to make a lemon bundt cake. I found a recipe for it and it looks so yummy! And, of course, I'll post the recipe for it after I make it.

I've sold another item on eBay. I still have to go through the things in the basement to see what else we can sell. Hopefully going through all of it will inspire to me actually organize everything and get everything put away. Who knew we had so much stuff?

Lauryn's tooth finally started to break through! You can see it sticking out and you can see the one right next to it just under the surface. Yay!!! She's been really fussy the past few days so I hope once the come in completely, she'll have some relief!

Rainy Monday

What a dreary day! I don't mind it too much though because I have a few things I need to get around the house anyway. I'm thinking I might make another cinnamon raisin bread because I want to use up the raisins and it was really good bread :) I might make some brown sugar cookies too. I noticed a recipe on the back of the package and it sounded pretty good. If I do end up making them I'll post the recipe.

Still no teeth for Lauryn. Her gums really seemed to be bothering her last night. She slept well but earlier in the evening she was quite fussy. I can't wait to see that first tooth! It's going to look so cute when she gives her great big smiles!

I've been wanting to do something crafty for the last few days but I'm really not in the mood for crocheting. I was given a scrapbook with some stickers as a shower gift and I've been thinking of giving it a try. I've never done any scrap booking but I've seen what other people have done and there are some really neat ones out there. I might have to check into it a little and get some more ideas but I think it would be fun to see what I can come up with.

I want to use up that ham from last night for tonight's dinner but I don't have the right ingredients for my cheesy ham and potato soup so I'm not sure what I'm going to make. I might try a ham and potato bake that one of my coworkers made a few years ago. I don't remember what all she put in it but it was really tasty and it sounds good!

I recently started selling things on eBay again. I had tried it before and had some success but then I kind of lost interest. Now that I have a little more time, and after we moved I realized we have a lot of things that we really don't need or use, I'm going to start up again and see if I have any luck. I did sell some baby bottles and accessories that Lauryn never used. We have a ton of stuff in the basement that we need to go through though so we'll have to see what else we can sell.

My Poor Girl

We had another really long night last night. I hope her teeth come in soon so she can start feeling better...and so we can both sleep again :) They don't seem to bother her too much during the day and usually when they do, a cold teething ring will do the trick but at night it's a totally different ball game. She doesn't sleep much these days and there's isn't much that seems to make her feel better. I'm going to go and get some baby orajel today and hopefully that will help.

I have tonights dinner going in the crock pot. It smells really good already. I seasoned and seared a chuck tender roast in olive oil, then put some onions and freshly minced garlic in the pan for a minute and put it all on top of a bed of potatoes in the crock pot. I also used some broth and worcestershire sauce. That garlic is smelling wonderful!

I think I'm losing my mind. As I sit here and type, I can hear this weird thumping in the basement. I just took Cloz'r down to investigate with me and I can't figure out what it is. When I was in the family room, it sounded like it was coming from the small spare room. When I went in there, it completely stopped. Now that I'm back at the computer, it's started up again. It sounds like someone's hitting something with a hammer or something and I really hope it's not an animal! If I can't figure it out I may have to call Shane to come help. I don't think I can wait until 6-6:30 pm until Lloyd gets home.

Long Night

Lauryn and I had a VERY long night last night. She's teething right now and she's been waking up quite a few times during the night lately. My poor girl! We are both a little wiped out today. I'm glad the sun finally decided to pop up because that always help perk me up a little....that and a few cups of coffee :)

I'm going to try a new cinnamon raisin bread recipe I found. It sounded good and I have everything for it so I thought I'd give it a whirl. If it turns out, I'll post the recipe for it later.

We did get the garden in yesterday and although I so hate getting my hands dirty, I had fun getting it started. Besides the other things I mentioned in the last post, we also planted some marigolds and dahlia's. If it all goes well, I'd like to try expanding it next year and getting more veggies and some herbs in there. I'm hoping that the bunnies that have been hanging around stay out of it.

*UPDATE*



The bread turned out great! Here's the recipe:

1 pkg. active dry yeast

1 1/4 c. warm (105 - 115 degrees

2 tbsp. honey

2 tbsp. butter

1 tsp. salt

3 c. all-purpose flour

1 tbsp. cinnamon

1 c. raisins

In a large bowl, dissolve yeast in water. Stir in honey. Add butter, salt and only 2 cups of flour. Beat on low speed with mixer, until blended. Increase speed to high and beat 1 minute. Scrape bowl and beat 1 minute longer. Add remaining flour with a wooden spoon. Cover and let rise in a warm place until doubled in bulk, about 45 minutes.

Grease an 8 1/2 x 4 1/2 inch loaf pan. "Punch" batter down by stirring 30 strokes with a wooden spoon. Stir in the cinnamon and raisins. Spoon into loaf pan.

Let rise, covered, in a warm place for 30-40 minutes or until batter rises to the edge of the pan (not over). Bake in a preheated 375 degree oven for 40 minutes. Cool on a wire rack.

Glaze:

Mix 1/2 c. confectioners sugar, 1 tbsp. milk and 1/2 tsp. vanilla extract until smooth. Spread on cooled bread.