Birthday Monster!

So, I survived my child’s first year of life, GO ME! However, that was the easy part compared to the actually first birthday and its ensuing aftermath!

As many parents do, I started planning Nugget’s birthday months in advance. I knew I wanted a Pete’s Dragon theme (for his namesake) ages ago! Well, since the original film was made in the 70’s and the remake came out only a short month ago, dragon memorabilia is hard to come by, but I digress…we made it work with some green and pink streamers and movie decorations. 

However, at the last minute we decided to join my parents and my niece on a cruise for everyone’s birthdays! Unfortunately my husband was not able to make it so my best friend eagerly stepped in. 

So we headed to Mexico just 5 days before Nugget’s birthday and 8 days before his party! 

Before he was even 1, Nugget had become a world traveler! Our 5 day vacation took us to Progresso and Cozumel, Mexico via New Orleans, Louisiana and Carnival Cruises! Needless to say, he was the hit of the party!

We arrived home on his actual birthday to a hot mess of a house! My husband and step dad had built a deck in my yard the weekend prior to us leaving so my husband had definitely done his part in cleaning that up while we were gone, but some ants had decided to make themselves at home in my kitchen! Friday morning we all tackled the cleaning. **Big shout out to my mom, pops, best friend, and my husband** Everyone picked a room and started cleaning! I bleached the entire kitchen to kill those ants! HAHAHA!  After a few hours, I’m pretty sure my house was cleaner than it’s ever been!

Then I headed to Hobby Lobby…kid free!!! It was a happy time! 😆 I proceeded to buy all things green and pink and dragon like. Saturday morning I hit up the grocery store for all the food. Then I went home and started decorating to make sure I had everything before Sunday! I was quite pleased with myself and some of my craftiness!

Sunday came and went in a blur! I would consider it a huge success judging by all the new toys I have to find room for! I did enjoy all the friends and love though. It means the world to me to know that so many people care for my child!

Then, everyone left and my house was left in hurricane mode! And because I hadn’t stopped going for the last week, it remained that way for a couple days – no shame! 

Over the next few days I managed to find my house under all the streamers and cake (there may or may not still be a birthday banner hanging up though)! During this time, Nugget got his 12 month immunizations and everyone in my household was hit by the sickness!

Nugget ran an extremely high fever for almost 3 days, sending me in to panic mode. My husband is coughing up a lung. I can’t sleep to save my life and my allergies are kicking my a$$! Don’t worry, things are finally on the upswing! My husband is actually off for the next two days, so there will be lots of wine and sleep!

If there’s one thing I can take from the last two weeks, it’s to let the little things go (It’s OK if the cupcakes don’t perfectly match the smash cake), AND don’t plan your entire life to happen in the same week. Elliott won’t even remember what has been one of the best/craziest/tiring times in my life, and it was TOTALLY worth it!

Maybe birthdays get easier as they get older…maybe not…one can dream!

Cheers, mommas!

Kristen 

I Noticed…

So I recently removed a post about inappropriate clothing at college tailgates. While I do not rescind my opinion, let’s word things a little differently.

Let’s start by saying that when you leave your house to attend a football game with 100,000+ people, you do not have any reasonable expectation of privacy! Do not get mad at me for commenting on your attire when you probably put multiple hours into getting ready for the shear purpose of… wait for it…being seen!

Now, that being said, wear what you want, I don’t care. I’m not here to dictate what people can and can’t wear. Just remember that some people have different opinions and may not like your clothes.

This past weekend I attended the Alabama/Western Kentucky game here in Tuscaloosa with my mom and a couple of my best friends. We finally got a mom’s day off together and were beyond excited! We have tailgated many times before and have been to even more games.

While approaching campus, we noticed many of the girls wearing extremely short rompers, very low cut dresses, and seriously high heels. Don’t get me wrong, I love high heels as much as anybody, but there’s a time and a place.

I noticed multiple girls who needed to hold the bottom of their dress down so they didn’t show anything while walking. I noticed many girls who’s breasts were just waiting on the chance to pop out. Simply put, I noticed…

I’m assuming that’s what you were going for though. You wanted people to notice you, just not in the way that I did.

My mother would not have approved of me wearing many outfits that I saw. If I had a daughter, chances are good that I wouldn’t want her wearing them either.  I certainly wouldn’t want my 7 year old niece seeing that and thinking it’s acceptable.  I also don’t want my son seeing it and thinking that’s how all women dress.

In my OPINION, it comes across as classless and shows low self respect. Hence, why I don’t wear them.

**As a response to my previous post, you have a right to think my opinion is lame, but I do still have the right to share it. My brother, and other veterans alike, fought for us all to have that right. However, I am not name calling, I am not pointing fingers, I am purely telling a story.  I also will not allow other people’s harsh words to shut me down.  I deleted my previous post for fear that my friends in the pictures may receive some of the backlash that I was getting and that is not fair to them.

I read another article today about a woman who attended the Alabama/USC game last week and had a similar experience; she was also immediately bashed. I feel for her. She’s not “wrong” because her opinion of those outfits was different than the young girls wearing them.

You’re not a terrible person because of your clothes and I’m not a terrible person for my opinion! I can respect difference of opinion, I can’t respect being rude for the sake of being right.

Cheers, mommas!

Kristen

The Google Trap!

As is with any ailment, the first place we turn when deciding how to treat our issue is Google. Well, newsflash, if Google was the only way of diagnosing our health, we’d all have STDs and cancer! Your initial search will always come back with the most severe cases. 

Another downfall to the Internet, is that everyone seems to be a doctor! Everyday Joes can tell you exactly how to care for bumps and bruises, all while never attending medical school. Now I totally understand that sometimes home remedies do work, and in some cases, work the best, but things can get really mushy when a first time mom Googles remedies for severe diaper rash and the first link alone comes with coinciding opinions. 

Nugget has had a rough weekend. Luckily he was with his grandparents and his great grandmother, so the diaper rash didn’t really seem to bother him because his Greasy (great grandma) kept feeding him everything she had! But as mom, it’s slightly heart breaking to see your little one’s booty get so red and irritated to the point of bleeding. 

No, I’m not a medical professional either, just a mom sharing my personal stories about my real life experiences! Every kid is different and all remedies work differently, this is simply an explanation of what works best in our house. 

I always carry Boudreaux’s Butt Paste in my diaper bag. Elliott has only ever had a few small cases of diaper rash, a small dab of Butt Paste, and he was fine. Well, this weekend a good case of diarrhea led to some pretty severe diaper rash – so much so that it was bleeding. We kept on top of diaper changes and kept reapplying Butt Paste. Eventually I caved and called the doctor to see if the were other remedies for such severe cases. 

My call was eventually returned by a nurse (I.e. a medical professional). She suggested using either Lotrimin athlete’s foot cream or Monistat yeast infection cream (*SHOCKER* – they’re the same thing only marketed differently. If you ever need one, keep in mind that athlete’s foot cream is cheaper!) Then put petroleum jelly on top of the cream to keep the moisture out from the poop. 

**I’M SHARING WHAT THE NURSE TOLD ME IN CASE YOU ARE LOOKING FOR MEDICAL ADVICE! DO NOT HESITATE TO CALL A PHYSICIAN IN CASE YOU NEED ASSISTANCE. MY PERSONAL STORY IS ONLY MY EXPERIENCE.**

We applied the Lotrimin to the affected area and covered it with Vaseline. A few hours later, his booty was bleeding again. I returned to using Butt Paste and it slowly cleared up. 

I have given it as gifts before, I always keep it on hand, but I never knew exactly what it was worth…GOLD! We have tried A&D Ointment, we have tried Aquaphor (both of which have worked on milder cases), but from this day forward, I will swear by Boudreaux’s Butt Paste!

You can pick you some up at your local pharmacy or grocery store. You can also head over to http://www.buttpaste.com and pick up multiple sized containers!

I know mom world is a strange land run entirely on trial and error! So for other moms who have yet to encounter the ugly diaper rash monster, I suggest a supply of Butt Paste! However, please feel free to share your stories with me in the comments. 

I’ve only just begun my mom adventure, but I don’t like diaper rash!

Cheers mommas!

Kristen

Adventures in GISH-ing!

So, last week was a mess – a hot, weird, sweaty, fun, kind, powdered sugar coated mess! (Also known as GISHWHES!)  The Greatest International Scavenger Hunt the World Has Ever Seen is not for the weak!  I may not have the most energy in the world, but I do deal with a 10 month old Nugget on the daily so I have to have some motivation, right? Wrong! When you decide to cram as many scavenger hunt items in one day as possible while the heat index is 100+ everyday will knock you flat on your ass after a week!  But the adventures, laughs, and pictures will keep you rolling and make it all worth it!

Our week began with an interesting trip to the grocery store…hair, make-up, and wardrobe courtesy of my 7 year-old niece, Lana! Needless to say, little girls are attracted to pink like magnets! The 4 inch hot pink stilettos in the back of my closet were no exception, and were greatly appreciated by the staff at our local Publix (probably because the matched so famously with my red dress)!

Next on our list was to dress up the yard, however, since landscaping is so expensive we had to use our own clothes!  Who knew all those scarves and feather boas that I’ve randomly acquired would ever come in so handy?!

A couple items on our list were simply aimed at doing good for others! One day we simply had to make someone happy – so we decided to buy lunch for whoever walked in behind us at Subway.  It makes you feel like a million bucks when people are so grateful for the smallest bit of kindness! Another task was a little more entertaining – we had to dress as dessert fairies to deliver ice cream to our local first-responders.  Luckily my brother is a firefighter so it wasn’t the MOST embarrassing thing in the world to show up at the fire house dressed in glittered and (once again) feather boas!

One of my absolute favorite items on the list was to cover yourself (or your boss in this case) in powdered sugar and discuss a grievance with your employer.  Well, as you know, I am a stay at home mom, my home is my place of employment, and my boss is 10 months old!  My kid acted like it was an everyday occurrence when we dumped an entire bag of powdered sugar over his head.  If you’ve ever met him you also know that is generally a very happy and content baby.  It was quite difficult to make him look mad for this picture – until I told him he couldn’t eat the sugar!

While we got quite sweaty decorating the yard, the next few days would seriously test our tenacity for standing the heat!  Sidenote: GISHWHES also includes a list of commandments (or unofficial rules), one states that you cannot drink water with ice in it for the duration of the week.  That obviously lasted for all of 5 minutes!

In one such case we had to rewrite the Constitution in a more modern and understandable language (not too difficult), then we had to display it in sidewalk chalk art (on one of those 100 degree days – poor timing on our part!).  Chalking is hard, like really hard!  This one took over 2 hours to complete.  Seriously hoping the calligraphy earned us some extra point for creativity!

Another one that I had fun with was to take GISHWHES somewhere famous that it has never been!  Given the fact that many list items in previous years have taken place at many world famous destinations, and even in space, this task seemed fairly daunting to begin with.  Then we realized that we live in a pretty incredible town (at least to those who can respect the dominance of SEC football programs) and we decided to take GISHWHES (and Misha Collins) to Bryant Denny Stadium in Tuscaloosa, Alabama. The home of the Alabama Crimson Tide and 16 National Championships! *Roll Tide*

Once again, we decided to complete a couple more tasks to benefit others!  Over the next couple days we took cookies to my husband and his office staff at work – simple, but who doesn’t love cookies and surprises!!  In another task we volunteered our time to help raise awareness for a semi new veterans’ organization called Operation ReConnect by placing some info flyers on cars.  If you’ve never heard of it, check it out at http://www.operationreconnect.org – They are doing some big things for vets and their families!

Next, we needed Nugget’s help again.  According to GISHWHES children are our future…of robot babies!  Nugget was not as amused with this task as we were – HAHA!  He’s been cutting some more teeth so he was more into eating the cardboard than taking pictures with it!  I also found it humorous that we needed to cut the toilet paper rolls because they would not fit around his chunky rolls!

Our week came to a very tired end with some fun items!

Still battling the heat, we had to build a landmark or monument out of sticks and get a picture next to the actual monument.  Shout out to Tuscaloosa again for it’s local awesomeness (and the simplicity of Denny Chimes’ construction)! We were hot and exhausted, a tall rectangular building was about all we were willing to tackle!

Since it’s so difficult to gather your family together for holidays, GISHWHES suggests you do them all at once! My family thoroughly enjoyed digging through all their holiday decorations in the middle of summer so that we could have an all-holiday party!  This one turned out to be one of my favorites!  More people should use Christmas lights and giant skeletons to decorate at the same time!

One task had us personify the name of a street sign.  Given the fact that my neighborhood is full of weird mashups of random or made up words, we got a little creative with this one.  I always thought that “Moonlight” sounded like a good hippie name, thus, our hippie Jessica!

I enjoyed the item that insisted we recreate an image of a dog getting sprayed in the face by  a sprinkler (without animals)!  We don’t have a sprinkler, but we do have a water hose, and I have a very trusting cousin! She volunteered like a champ…and I, of course, was willing to spray her in the face!

The final task we decided to accomplish this week was to sell bottled air!  Yes, we chugged bottled water for 2 days to reuse the bottles.  We also enlisted the help of our WONDERFUL graphic designer friend, Natalie to make us some labels.  She is beyond talented and our labels had us in stitches at the fact that they were amazingly done for such and odd (and slightly pointless) use!

Other insightful tidbits we learned from GISHWHES: it’s fun to pour red wine on your best friend from 2 stories up; red wine is hard to get out of your ears; Nugget loves powdered sugar and hates cardboard costumes; strangers are very generous and (in most cases) willing to help you complete hilarious tasks; you have way more clothes in your closet than you think you do; doing good for others makes you feel good!

In the end, I would do it again in a heartbeat! Next year I’m playing to win and you should too!  If you need anymore motivation, GISHWHES raised over $200,000 in just a week to help 4 refugee families in need!  It’s not just fun, it’s beneficial.  For more information you can visit their website at http://www.gishwhes.com and the benefiting charity at http://www.randomacts.org.

Nugget and I are now going to sleep for the next 4 days…

Cheers, mommas!

Kristen

Baby Free Vacation!

Remember when you were in college and spent months preparing for a wild, exciting beach vacation for a spring break filled with alcohol, sun shine, partying, and best friends? It was amazing, right? I remember those days…pre-hangovers! 

I was so ready for this week at the beach with my best friends, my husband, and WITHOUT my son. Don’t get me wrong, I love my nugget more than life itself, but I’m also quite fond of my sanity, which, at the time, was hanging on by a thread! Little did I know, adulthood had other things in store for my vacation! 

Oh, there was plenty of sunshine and beach time – I have the awkward tan lines from a first day sunburn to prove it! There was also wonderful friend time, and good food, and an impressive amount of alcohol for a group of (mostly) parents in their late 20s! (Or early 30s in a particular husband’s case 😉)

The first night there we took a super exciting nap around 6. Hahaha we eventually made it to the bar, even if we did leave shortly after 10…we stayed up hanging out for a couple hours at the condo! The second day saw a lot of beer and an admirable sunburn on my part! I swear I applied sunscreen 3 different times! More people arrived and we proceeded to play at the condo. Over the course of the next few days there was a shrimp boil, swimming, more beaching, another bar adventure (with a great band – if you’ve never done the Flora-Bama, it needs to be added to your bucket list ASAP!), and multiple trips down memory lane. 

However, by about day 4, there was something blatantly missing…the nugget! We were having an incredible vacation but I was missing my little something fierce! The hubs and I have actually decided to cut our anniversary trip short next month so that we can have some family vacation time too! 

I love my friends, and trust me, I NEED them in my life. But I can honestly say that is like a piece of me is missing without Elliott around! Sure, I can drink and play and do things with my friends, but one of my favorite parts is coming home to my chunky monkey! 

That kid can pretty much make anything better! He fell into his dad’s arms as soon as he walked in the door, my heart melted! 

So, essentially, I need my people for my sanity, but I need my kid for the craziness! Lol Now I need to start planning some family vacations with all my friends and their littles! We’ll just drink after bedtime! 

Cheers mommas, 

Kristen 

I Just Want To Sit Down.

So we’re on the move now!  No, not walking, but definitely causing his fair share of destruction! He wants to walk so bad he can’t stand it, I’d be happy if we could hold off for like one more day…mom’s tired!

My days now consist of a lot of “Where are you going?”, “Don’t put that in your mouth!”, and “Come back here!” I cannot keep my house clean enough to avoid all the dirt and random things being eaten.  Props to moms with multiple littles…no clue how you make it happen.

From roaming around the garage at the fire house to the toys all over my living room to dancing for the audience at the Mexican restaurant, my hands are full…he’s all boy!!

It truly does take a village to raise children.  Without my people I would lose my sanity.  I no longer get to go to the bathroom alone, laundry is an every day thing, and showering is almost nonexistent – HAHA!

I’m thankful that he’s definitely a happy baby – his smile is super contagious!  He also gives me a new perspective on life.  I no longer judge the moms with kids hanging off of them at the mall, or the parents who appear half awake while their kids are screaming in the restaurants.  I also ask that you don’t judge me as I go about my daily life in t-shirts that may or may not have bodily fluids on them while my hair sits haphazardly on the top of my head in what I lovingly refer to as my “mom bun.”  I probably haven’t brushed it in 3 days – it is what it is!

While I absolutely adore my Nugget, I am currently looking forward to my first kid-free vacation with some of my closest friends! We’re headed to the beach for a whole week and all I can think about is the possibility of sleeping through an entire night and being able to sit down for more than 2 minutes at a time! It truly is the little things in life!

On that note – the boss is now awake from nap time!

Cheers mommas,

Kristen

A Week Without the Nugget

These last few weeks have been pretty crazy in my household.  I know I’ve been MIA, but with valid reasoning…

Last weekend started with a sick husband.  After arguing with me for a couple hours he finally gave in and let me take him to the hospital.  We thought it was a stomach bug, he’d get a shot and we could go home and get some sleep.  After about 4 hours in the emergency room, he was admitted to the hospital with severe stomach issues.  Luckily my parents were in town for the night and could watch the nugget man.  They met up with my mother in law the next morning and passed him off.  If there is ever a good time to get sick it’s a holiday weekend where no one has to work and we have extra hands to watch the little!  Unfortunately we were in the hospital for 3 days…

Nugget man was happy to stay with his Big Momma for the weekend though!

After arriving home late Sunday night, we decided to let him stay with her one more night so we could get some sleep.

He finally came home Monday afternoon and of course we were all smiles to see him! My parents passed back through town on their way home from their holiday weekend and helped out that night as my husband is still not quite up to par.  The following morning my mom offered to take him home with them for a few more days so we could relax and fully recoup.  After much deliberation we decided it was probably best.

However, many things ran through my head…was I a bad mom for sending my kid off again even though I was fully capable of caring for him? Was I being selfish to want the help because my husband was still sick?

NO!

It took some getting used to, but sending your child with his grandparents who will love him and care for him and play with him DOES NOT make you a bad mom! It keeps your sanity in tact, it leaves you well rested (with a slight hangover feeling from so much sleep – HAHA!).  It can make you a better mom…

I have lived off of pictures and text messages this week.  Pictures that show me that it is, in fact, perfectly ok for Nugget to be with his family.

He is not away from me because I am not capable, he is simply visiting his family.  He got to see most of his grandparents this week, and even his great grandmother.  We are coming up on a weekend where he will even get to see a couple of his great uncles.

While my house may feel a little empty and I may feel a little confused with some free time, Nugget is living it up with people that will let him get away with breaking things (Sorry about your bowl, Greasy!).  He is happy.

When I look at these pictures now, all I see is a kid with a loving family, and it makes my heart happy.  It makes me feel good to know that I can leave him with people when I need to and not worry about him!  These pictures also make me wonder where my baby went and where this little boy came from!!

As I am getting ready to go retrieve my Nugget, I am finally filled with a sense of calm.  A relief in knowing that when the husband and I take our first vacation this summer without him, that he is in perfectly capable hands and I will survive!

That being said, I miss that kid so much and I have to go see him now!!

Cheers mommas!

Kristen

Spaghetti With Your Fingers

Hello mommas!

Story time!

When I was a kid I loved spaghetti (as a lot of kids do!).  I also loved to talk…a lot.  Well I was always in trouble at school for running my mouth and not paying attention.  I was that kid who had to have a notebook that the teacher signed everyday and sent home telling my parents how I behaved.  Knowing the notebook existed was not enough to calm me.  My mother had to set up a reward system to keep me in check (shocker, I know!).

I don’t remember much about all the rewards offered, but I do know a couple things – I could pick a prize out of a small basket if I got a good note one day, you know the ones, stickers, pencils, etc.  The rewards would increase daily if I chose to save up my consecutive good days.  The big prize was after two weeks! If I came home with good remarks from my teacher everyday for two weeks I got to choose between two options – going to Chuck E. Cheese or having the entire family eat spaghetti with their fingers for dinner.  Much to my mother’s chagrin, I always opted for spaghetti.  I believe we went to Chuck E. Cheese maybe once or twice.

My mother is a very clean person.  You could visibly see the discomfort grow as the meal went on.  She would eventually beg for a fork and napkin. HAHA

I do find it odd that eating spaghetti with my fingers was all it took to get me to behave, but now, being a mother myself, I totally understanding figuring out what works!

Well this story has followed me my entire life.  My husband was not too thrilled with the idea of eating spaghetti with his fingers, or allowing Nugget to do so.  Unfortunately for him, babies do as they please, and if he’s not fussing, I’m not going to argue.  So yesterday, Nugget got his first taste of spaghetti.

 

It took a minute to get the hang of it, but once he figured it out it was game over! You could hear him slurping those noodles like a champ!  And only a few spare noodles made their way to the floor for the dog!  My husband kept telling him to enjoy it because once he was able to use a fork he was no longer eating noodles with his fingers. I laughed…

So, during our meal, mostly for the benefit of my niece who seems to eat slower than anyone I have ever met in my entire life, we decided to have a spaghetti party – i.e., eat the spaghetti with our fingers!

My niece and I sat and ate the remainder of our food with our fingers just like Elliott! (Once again – if it works, don’t argue! She really is the slowest eater on the planet!)  My husband was anything but amused; which of course, amused me! HAHAHA 😀

Of course you can’t just wash your hands after you finish.  You have to find a way to share the happiness appropriately.  Like on your step dad’s face…

Notice the red spaghetti sauce on her fingers! (You’re welcome, bro!)  She had to tell him a “secret,” which of course he knew, but happily played along only to end up covered in sauce all over his face!

So in the end (as usual) I won! We thoroughly enjoyed our messy spaghetti and I’m already planning the next attack for my husband.  Maybe a spaghetti fight for E’s birthday??

What tricks help you with your littles?

Cheers mommas!

Kristen

A Foodie Post For the Lazy Mom!

Hello mommas!

I have been seeing a lot of posts recently asking for peoples’ favorite recipes.  Well, I have finally had a chance to actually attempt a few of the thousand food posts I have on Pinterest and I thought I would share.

Anyone who knows me knows I love a quick and easy crock pot meal! Given the fact that I only ever have a total of about 17 minutes a day to prepare anything before Nugget realizes that I have food that he is not eating, being able to throw everything in the slow cooker in the morning makes life so much better!  I have found a few meals that have now made their way into my regular rotation and wanted to send them your way – because if you’re anything like me, wading through the hundreds of online recipes can seem daunting.  I have also included a couple non slow cooker meals that I just really enjoyed! So here’s my favorites. Enjoy!

1. MEATLOAF

YES – meatloaf in the crock pot!!!  And the best meatloaf I have ever had!  I am super picky about meatloaf – either I love it or I hate it, there is no in between.  The first time I made this I actually used buffalo, but on a cheaper budget it’s just as amazing with ground beef!

Slow cooker Mondays: Melt in Your Mouth Meatloaf

2. HONEY GARLIC CHICKEN

You definitely need to LOVE garlic for this one! One suggestion – use some super thick chicken thighs. I used breasts one time because that’s all I had in the fridge and it was a little overloaded with flavor.  Also, I would suggest serving it with a starch – rice or pasta works great!

http://diethood.com/crock-pot-honey-garlic-chicken/

3. FIESTA CHICKEN AND RICE BOWLS

These are wonderful, and can be made with substitutions like Greek yogurt to make them healthier.  However, in my house we like all the fat and love some sour cream – HAHA!

Light Crock Pot Fiesta Chicken & Rice Bowls

 

 

**NON SLOW COOKER MEALS**

 

4. CHIPOTLE BLACK BEAN AND CORN STUFFED PEPPERS – this one requires a little more work, but totally worth it!

This one surprised both me and my husband.  We are some meat lovers but these vegetarian peppers WILL be made again and again!  I added some mushrooms in the mix to give it some meaty texture.  Also, if you don’t like spice, be cautious with the chilies and the adobo sauce – they can pack a serious punch!

Chipotle Black Bean & Corn Stuffed Peppers

 

5. FRITO TACO PIE

This is the gem of quick, simple recipes.  If there is anything that will be eaten in my house (and I always keep the ingredients on hand) it is spaghetti and tacos.  Well this puts a wonderful spin on taco salad and Frito pie!  Plus it takes a whopping 10 minutes to brown the meat and put everything together!

http://www.fastforwardfun.com/frito-taco-pie/

 

 

I hope you mommas can find something you enjoy in my list.  If not, feel free to let me know – I’ll continue sharing my finds over time.  Also, let me know your favorites.  I’m always looking for new things to try!

*SIDE NOTE* – These all pair wonderfully with wine!

Cheers mommas,

Kristen

To Those Who Met Him Before We Did…

A letter to the lucky family members who got to meet our Nugget before we did.

I am blessed daily with every little smile and giggle that Elliott gives me. Our little family became whole the day he was born. Only we knew that our precious little would never know the love you gave us; the love that you already had for him.

It is understood – not liked, but understood – that life comes with loss.  Some losses are harder than others, but they are losses just the same.

Tonight as I was rocking Nugget to sleep I had an overwhelming sense of peace.  It is in these moments that I am convinced you are there.  Now I know I’m not a super religious person; I question the existence of a Heaven and a Hell, but I do believe there to be a greater being at work.  I look at Elliott everyday and know that something greater than myself exists because they gave me the greatest give anyone ever could – the unconditional love of a child!

I was not fortunate enough in my life to meet my husband’s father, nor he the chance to meet my grandfather.  I did get the brief pleasure of knowing his great-grandmother, but she too was sent to a better place before our little came to be.

Two of the most important people in our lives were not there to see us wed, but we thought of you!  We felt your presence as we celebrated with those around us – we take you with us everywhere.

Nanny was not able to make the trip, but we honored you in our own special way.

There are days that it hurts; to know that Elliott will never hear your voices, or your horrible jokes, or feel your comforting hugs and the intensity with which you loved your family.  Some days I wish nothing more than for him to be able to know the kind of people you were.  For him to understand why we hold you in such high regards.  Then I remember, you already know him – and undoubtedly love him!

In a way, you are the lucky ones. You got the blessing of knowing our Elliott before we did.  You got the joy of sending him to us with the comfort of your love.  You helped mold him.  You helped mold us.  You helped to build our family and help us feel complete even without you by our side!

So at bedtime when it becomes quiet and peaceful, know that I feel you.  Know that I sleep better with you looking over my Nugget.  Know that we miss you.  We know you love us, even though we cannot see you, we feel you, we carry you with us daily.  It is because of who you helped us become that we will do everything within our power to love and care for Elliott as you loved and cared for us.

If we can impact our family’s lives even a fraction of how you impacted ours, then I know we have done right.  Even if Elliott does not know you, I know you know him – and for that I am grateful.

Cheers Mommas – tonight I raise my glass to family!

Kristen