jessica and the terrible, horrible, no good, very bad day (week)

i am all for looking at life through rose colored glasses. i consider my glass half full. give me a bag of lemons and i will be sure to give you lemonade. but this week...this week i just wasn't really feelin' it.

i will spare the details of the beginning of the week, because there are some male readers...but i will say it involved my boob + an infection + misdiagnosis = a little surgery. so needless to say i was feeling a little glum by wednesday. as i sat trying to nurse on my injured side trying not to be a baby, i started thinking that it would really cheer me up to put on my big sparkly engagement ring. i love this ring. it is special for lots of reasons, mainly because my husband used this very ring to ask to spend his life with me, and it would be special if only for that...but it also happens to be a diamond that was past down from my great-grandmother, to my grandmother, and then to me. 

as soon as my little hoover vac of a baby stopped nursing i slid (okay...jammed) the ring onto my finger. it was tight. but my golly it went on. for a fleeting moment i was so happy. i felt like my finger was finally clothed after a month of being naked. but then i i thought...this ring is a little too tight, i should try it again in a few weeks. and i went to take it off. the ring wasn't going anywhere. 

i tried real hard for a few minutes to slide the sucker off...but no. so i ignored the problem, thinking if i gave myself a bit of time and came back to it, i could get it. my finger slowly began to swell. i showed justin. he didn't know what to do either. so we went to bed.

i laid in bed trying to bend my finger, it felt hot and swollen like a bee sting. i asked justin to turn the light back on. we both stared down at my finger. was it looking a little purple? we got out of bed and tried a couple of other tactics, involving oil, then tape, then brute force...nada. the sucker didn't budge and my finger was slowly growing to the size of my big toe. it was time to hit the ER. 

so at 2 am i found myself driving towards the ER to see what they could do....

 notice anything?

 this actually hurt because the pressure was so tight as he cut

this is my sad face, and that is my sad stretched apart ring

yummy yummy!

justin turned 30 over the weekend. his birthday looked a little different than usual since our honored guests were a sassy two year old and a gassy new born. i made him a "birthday menu", allowing him to choose throughout the day different things to make his birthday special...for example; sleep in, no diaper duty, breakfast of your choice, open a gift...etc. it ended up being a fabulous day, and was topped off with a awesome birthday dinner supplied by his brother and sister-n-law. 

his birthday breakfast choice was delicious, it came from one of our favorite magazines, ready made. i thought i would share with you all our two favorites from this last issue...seriously you have to try 'em

Berry & Goat Cheese French Toast (birthday breakfast)

• Orange Butter:
• 1 stick unsalted butter, at room temp
• 2 T freshly grated orange zest, divided
• 2 T fresh-squeezed orange juice
• French Toast:
• 4 eggs
• 1 c whole milk
• 1 T freshly grated orange zest
• 1 T honey
• Pinch of salt
• 4 slices French bread, 1 inch thick
• 4 T goat cheese, at room temp
• 1 c mixed berries
• 2 T unsalted butter
• Maple syrup, to serve

Make the butter by combining all ingredients (1 tbsp of zest) in a small bowl. Refrigerate until ready to use.

1. In a shallow glass baking dish, whisk together eggs, milk, remaining orange zest, honey, and salt. Set aside.

2. Cut an opening that extends along the middle of each bread slice. Care-fully spread one-fourth of goat cheese into opening, then fill with berries. Gently press and repeat with remaining slices. Transfer to custard; let sit for 15 seconds on each side.

3.Preheat oven to 200°F. Heat 1 tbsp butter over medium heat in a large sauté pan. Once butter has melted, add two slices of the bread and cook about 2 minutes per side until golden brown. Transfer to a baking sheet and keep warm in the oven while preparing the remaining two servings.

4. Serve with Orange Butter and syrup. Store leftover butter, covered, in the fridge and use within one week.

Variations: Sub cream cheese for the goat cheese; brioche or challah for the French bread; fruit jam for fresh fruit.

Pecan French Toast:

• Pecan Maple Syrup: 
• 1 c pecans, chopped and toasted until just fragrant in a dry skillet
• 2 c pure maple syrup
• Chai Butter: 
• ½ c butter (1 stick) at room temp
• 2 T honey
• ½ t cinnamon
• ½ t ground cardamom
• ¼ t ground cloves
• ¼ t nutmeg
• ¼ t allspice
• French Toast:
• 1¼ cup whole milk
• 3 eggs
• 1 T honey
• ½ t vanilla
• ½ t cinnamon
• 8 thick slices whole grain bread

1. Make the syrup by combining the toasted pecan pieces and maple syrup together in a small saucepan. Simmer over low heat for 10 minutes.

2. Make the butter by combining all ingredients well in a small bowl. Cover and refrigerate until ready to use.

3. Preheat oven to 400°F and line a baking sheet pan with parchment.

4. In a shallow glass 3-quart baking dish, whisk together milk, eggs, honey, vanilla, and cinnamon. Add bread, flip several times, and let stand for 20 minutes. Transfer to lined baking sheets and bake for about 20 minutes, flipping halfway through. Serve with Chai Butter and Pecan Maple Syrup.

It Goes So Fast...

how many times have you heard that before? i swear, when mackenzie was born every other person (specifically mothers) i talked to said those words to me. and no wonder. as mackenzie pranced around the other night in her new bathing suit, i found myself picturing her all rolly and polly in her very first red swim suit. and the words echoed in my heart, it goes so fast. so here's to treasuring every fleeting moment, all the stages we swear are the best, the sleepless nights and the first steps...i'm so excited to do it again with miss addison!

 mackenzie, 6 months, zihuatanejo mexico

mackenzie, 2 years

Scott, party of four!

addison joy has made her debut. all of us, including big sister, are in love. my labor was fantastic, if labor can be called that.

my favorite moment was when the doctor handed her over to justin saying, "would you like to do the honors, dad?" and justin checked the parts, smiled down at me and stated, "looks like a girl to me!" SURPRISE!! 

and here are some pictures of our little sweet pea:

big sister meeting her new best friend

oh my, i have kissed this face a million times already and it still is not nearly enough!

her rockin' hair was the talk of the birthing unit

 happy happy happy

 M checking things out

 the girls...

 welcome to the world, addison joy!

nursery reveal

we are ready...

the nursery turned out just right. the best part is we did it on such a small budget (kinda helps that we weren't starting from scratch). there are a few finishing touches that have to wait until we meet baby and find out its gender!!!

let me give you the tour:

view from the door, colors are yellow, brown, orange and cream... my favorites

i recovered the pillow and fell in love with the fabric, so i made the curtains out of the same print

remember the sheets i have that were my grandfather's? well, a dear friend, who is a much better seamstress than i, made the bumper out of one of them, it turned out perfect!

 i bought a plain cream dust ruffle, and then added a little spunk to go with the rest of the room...ignore the wrinkles, i plan on steaming  it

the new diaper bag is actually not a real diaper bag. it is made by a local designer and with waterproof fabric, not to mention it is a fraction of the price of the other diaper bag i was spying.

 my sweet friend gina knit this, no joke! it was one of our first gifts for this little bean and i love love love them!

just a little close up of the no sew curtains i mentioned before, turned out pretty great right?

thanks to my pals who helped! now to get this baby here...

full term

today marks the 37th week of this pregnancy....if baby decided to come now, we are in the clear. the doctor says the baby is about 6 lb to 6.5 lbs ---i am thinking more like 10-12 lbs, at least that is what my lower back and displaced hip sockets think.

this weekend is "operation baby wrap up". a few of my favorite gals are meeting me to wrap up those last details before i can go willingly to the hospital. i am one of those worriers who likes to not just have my ducks in a row, but color coordinated and ordered by size if possible....so this weekend is necessary. 

here's the to-do list:

•  complete nursery decorations

•  wash and fold baby clothes (if it is a girl, she will have more clothes than paris hilton--however, a boy will be mostly naked or dressed in pink princess jammies...the beauty of hand-me-downs)

• no sew curtains (check out my pal kir's blog on the "how to" for this little ditty)

• pack hospital bag

• have car seat installed

• pick up last few baby items at store

i promise to post the completed baby nursery and lil' curly's big girl room next week! (unless i've just given birth, in which case my next post may not be for six months.)

guess who's two!

what surprises me the most about mackenzie turning two is my mixture of emotions. understandably on her first birthday i was a bit melancholy....but i thought by now i'd be over the bitter sweet truth that her baby days are fleeting fast, but i am not -- and yet, i love the little gal she is and is becoming.

this year, i've learned a few of mackenzie's favorite things. chances are if you've spent time with the little miss, you've encountered a handful of the following:

tunnels
airplanes
elmo
hats
her family
books
clifford
praying for everyone and everything
watching herself in the mirror
helping cook
snow
her best friend, ellie
visiting the library
stickers
eggs
pretending to drive the car
nemo
swings
playing in the dirt
being chased
raisins
animals
dressing herself

greeting people (repetitively)
kitty
going to the park