The time has come...

I've started a new blog. I have every intention of updating this one at least once or twice per week, but I will no longer be updating here! I've had a lot change in my life lately, and I feel like starting a fresh blog from scratch is the way to go. Feel free to hop over there and join Piper and I on our continuing journey!!

http://vlittlebirds.blogspot.com

XOXO

-V

3 Years

Dear Scott,

It's been 3 years already, can you believe it?? I can't believe how much has changed. It started off us, the 2 cats and the dog. Now we're one cat, one dog, us, and Piper. She is the most precious and amazing gift. Im looking forward to continuing to move forward with you. Who knows what the future will hold.

I love you.

Ch-Ch-Ch-Ch-Chaaaaanges

Have you heard of Pinterest?

Its AMAZING! When I first heard of it, I wasnt so sure. How could that POSSIBLY be fun? A site that basically bookmarks things into inspiration boards. Do you really need a website to do that? 

YES. Yes you do. I signed up and became obsessed with pinning all the things.

 No, this whole post is not directly about Pinterest, but it does play a major role in the point of this post. I've always been into couponing and MY version of stockpiling which does NOt involve 500 packages of Yakisoba noodles because they are free. this led me to think, how else can I save more money? Scott and I are looking to buy a home, and we are almost completely out of credit card debt that we stupidly wracked up. I'm down to one card and it is paid off monthly, I just use it to earn amazon.com points that I'm saving up for christmas shopping. 

On pinterest I came across a whole bunch of "recipes" and ideas for making your own cleaning products, body scrubs, bath bombs, makeup remover wipes, laundry detergent, febreze. I was enamored. this is how we can save EVEN MORE. We tried out a few of the carpet cleaning pins and it actually worked pretty well on doggie stains! It was a combination of peroxide and Dawn dish soap. the ones for laundry detergent you can spend $0.01 PER LOAD on making it. How brilliant is that? Especially with a new baby who likes to puke on all the things, and a dog and a cat who shed like crazy. I've been saving all of my empty baby formula cans, and plastic coffee tubs, and baby wipes containers so we can make this as close to the real thing as possible. Bonus points since I can decorate the packages to my tastes.

So thats it. Our new plan is to MAKE almost all of our cleaning and household products. 

Now if only I could get Scott over his lust for paper towels.

What are your money saving methods? Even if it only saves a few bucks :)

Little Character

disneybaby.com is having a Little Character contest! The prizes are fantastical. SO many cute pictures of babies at their finest! I spent hours browsing pictures before I decided to submit my own! 

Feel free to vote for Piper while you go to check it out for yourselves! Or perhaps you want to enter your own photo into the ring!  :)

My favorite are the surprised babies. Surprised faces on babies crack me up :)

What is your favorite baby expression?

Dear Scott

Dear Scott,

Happy birthday! You are 34 years old, and this is your first birthday as a parent! You are a wonderful daddy, and as much as we may argue about petty things, a great husband. It's great to know Piper has such a laid back, calming influence from your end, to combat my high energy/high-strung influence from my part.

We love you so much!

<3

Mommy & Piper

Super Fun Sunday

Piper has 2 new favorite things!

1 - her jumperoo!

A $30 craigslist score!

And 2 - RILEY

Every time she sees the dog she is beyond excited, huge smile on her face and lots of pterodactyl sounds. She is a maniac in her bouncer, and I adore watching her play in it!

She recently had her first bout of giggles that were instigated by something. And it melted my heart. 

She loves her jumperoo so much that when you try to take her out, she screams BLOODY MURDER. Even if she is exhausted. Then she winds up like this:

 And mommy and daddy crack up so hard that mommy almost pees her pants.

Parenthood = wonderful.

4 Months!

I've fallen into bad updating habits again! 

Piper is 4 months old now!!

Her pediatrician appointment was earlier, and she is 25.25 inches long, and a whopping 15 lbs 4 oz! 80th percentile! 

She is holding her head up like a champion now. She talks and coos and giggles and screeches like a dinosaur! She rolls over back to front, and front to back. She tries to sit up, but still needs a little help there. 

I love her more every day!

3 Months!

Piper is 3 months old already! How does this happen?

I'm not sure where the time has gone! She is getting so big now. She is rolling over, and giggling, and grabbing things, and putting everything she possibly can in her mouth. Becoming a mother has been so rewarding and taught me a lot about myself. 

No stats this month, as we don't have a pediatrician appointment until 4 months :)

Should Have Bought Stock In Kleenex

Last Monday, April 16th, I started back at work. After being off for FOUR. WHOLE. MONTHS. 1 month of bedrest pre-Piper, and 3 months post partum. I was NOT prepared for how hard it would be to leave the house without her. I cried the entire week leading up to D-Day. She would smile at me, and I would start crying. She would coo, and I would start crying. Someone would mention the W word, and I would start SOBBING. 

I barely slept a wink the night before, which is bad when you have to leave the house at 330 AM to get to work. My alarm went off 3 hours after I went to sleep, and I'm fairly certain I woke up crying. I tried to distract myself, get dressed, get my crap together, make my lunch. Walked back into the bedroom to grab my phone charger, and took one glance at her and started sobbing so hysterically that it woke my husband up, and my dog hid from me. How was I supposed to just leave that precious face? It has been over a year since I really had to do anything without her with me. And not only that, but my work day with commute totaled 13 hours. The longest stretch I'd been away from her for was 4 hours, when Scott and I went to see the Hunger Games movie. Which I also cried through. Stupid hormones.

Work was awful. Everyone was asking about the baby and how I was doing, and every time she was mentioned I started crying. And I had NO. CONTROL over it at all. It was embarrassing really. The day dragged on and on. I didn't eat anything, all I did was pump myself full of coffee, and talk to my mom friends on Facebook when I wasn't with a patient. I must have called my brother and dad, who were both watching the baby for me, around 10 times. She was fine every time. And I was hearing her giggle and coo in the background. She was fine without me. While this was comforting, I also felt like she would forget me, or start to love me less, which I know is ridiculous.

Finally at 3 PM, one of the charge nurses offered to let me leave early, since we had a pretty light patient load. I started crying yet again, and thanked her profusely. 3:30 PM rolled around and I sprinted to my car, and sped all the way home. I walk into the house, and there is my dad laying on the floor, and Piper laying on her playmat. Wearing the most ridiculous looking outfit I'd ever seen. Apparently my father does not know how to dress a child. She was wearing a jersey jacket with 3 buttons near the neckline, tucked into a pair of grey fleece pants, and a pair of pink and black striped socks. There was no onesie under the jacket, so my father had tucked the ends into the pants. She looked adorable, but ridiculous. The key here though? She was giggling, and kicking, and playing. She was happy as a clam.

So, as much as it pained me to not be able to be with her all day, and every day, she didn't NEED me to be with her 24/7. She can be happy without me around all the time. She doesn't get scared when she is left with someone else. It's good for her to get to play with other kids, and family members. 

Tomorrow starts week 2. I work 12 hours on Monday, 11 on Thursday, and 10 on Saturday. This will be my set schedule from here on out, and hopefully it will set my mind more at ease, since every time I work, I have the day before, AND the day after off. 

I wish someone would have warned me how hard it would be to go back. People are right though, it does get easier everyday. I'm hoping by the end of this week I will make it through a full workday without tears.

After all, does this look like a face that should make someone cry?

My good friend babysat for us last Tuesday, and this is the photograph she sent for me 6 hours into my work day. She was clearly having a great time playing with R, and her 1 year old son :)

Ultimate Blog Party 2012! April 13-20

It's that time of year again! I always look forward to it! Wait for it......

CLICK HERE

Ultimate Blog PARTY!!! Hosted by 5 Minutes For Mom. I love this time of year because it's so easy to find new blogs, already sorted by category and everything.

For those who might be stopping by for the first time, I'll do a short intro post :)

My name is Victoria, and I am 29 years old. This year will be my dirty 30 birthday, and I'm actually not afraid of aging anymore. I've been married to my amazing, though sometimes irritating husband since July of 2009. We became Puppy parents in 2009 as well to our gorgeous yellow lab/white shepherd mix Riley. On January 15th of this year, our lives changed in a huge way with the birth of our first child, a daughter lovingly named Piper Harlowe. She has literally turned my world upside down, and I did not know it was possible to love one person THIS much. It's insane.

Taken when Piper was just 8 weeks old

I work as a PCT at a dialysis center. I'm glad blood does not make me squeamish. I was put on bedrest towards the end of my pregnancy on December 17th, and I return to work this Monday, April 16th. I am terrified that I won't remember how to do my job! And I'm sad just thinking about not being with my precious babe all the time. But 3 long days a week means I get 4 full days off with her, and that is definitely manageable.

On the side I enjoy taking pictures, crafting, and designing invitations and site banners and buttons in Photoshop. I love coming up with a finished product that is unique!

On this blog there is pretty much everything. You will see product reviews, recipes, photos, parties I've thrown, and just posts about life in general! I'm super sarcastic, and an open book :)

Please leave me a comment letting me know you stopped by and I will do my best to return the favor in a timely fashion!

Recipe : Avocado Chicken Parmigiana

We have been bad. Verrrrrrrry bad. It's been it feels like eons since we ate a home-cooked meal at all. And being post-baby and all, I've got a little extra going on in the middle. And the hubby put on a good amount of sympathy weight while I was pregnant. So is eating all those greasy gyros, and pizzas, and burgers really a great idea? Hell no. We decided today to put a stop to it, and I spent the entire morning on Pinterest looking at recipes. There is some delicious looking stuff out there! And even if it's not 100% healthy, it's better than the crap we've been ingesting since being at home with a new baby makes it hard to eat well!

In my super-fun clicking spree I managed to come across a blog called Cuisine Paradise. And on said blog I found a recipe that sounded like a dream! Avocado Chicken Parmigiana. All things I like! So I set out for the store to get the missing ingredients, came back home after spending more than I planned on (as per usual!), and cooked. It turned out DEEEEEEEEEEEE-licious. And I'm definitely not a great cook by any stretch of the imagination, so this makes me quite pleased with myself.

Avocado Chicken Parmigiana

Serves: 4 | Preparation: 10 minutes | Cooking Time: 15 minutes

Ingredients:

2 chicken breast fillets, halved lengthwise

½ cup plain flour

2 tablespoons fresh milk

2 eggs

1 ½ cups dried bread crumbs

2 tablespoons olive oil/cooking spray

½ cup tomato pasta sauce

2 avocados, sliced

½ cup grated mozzarella cheese

Directions:

1. Place chicken breast in a clear plastic bag, or between 2 sheets of plastic wrap. Using a rolling pin or meat mallet pound until 0.5 cm thick. **I highly recommend using a meat mallet, the rolling pin was quite frustrating and took a while. And broke a couple of my chicken breasts**

2. Place flour and bread crumbs on 2 separate plates and lightly whisk milk and egg together in a shallow dish.

   

3. Coat 1 piece of chicken breast in flour (shake off the excess), dip it into the egg/milk mixture and then coat in bread crumbs using your fingertips to press on and secure.

Feel Free To Take Goofy Pictures As Well

4. Place on prepared baking tray (I used nonstick cooking spray on the pan), and repeat the same process with the remaining chicken breasts.

 

5. Lightly spray or brush the prepared chicken with oil. Bake for 8 minutes in a preheated 400° Fahrenheit oven, flipping the chicken after 4 minutes so it cooks evenly.

6. Remove from oven and spread each chicken breast with 1 heaped tablespoon of pasta sauce (I put a little more on mine since I love pasta sauce) and arrange avocado slices over the sauce heaps. Sprinkle with a decent amount of mozzarella cheese.

7. Return chicken to oven and bake for another 5 to 7 minutes or until golden and chicken is cooked through.

8. Serve with whatever you'd like, we just had a small salad with ours.

Voila!

If it's simple enough for me to make, I'm sure it will be even easier for the rest of the world! I did add a little bit of garlic salt to the marinara for a little flavor boost. All in all, recipe was both easy to make, and easy to devour. Definitely a tasty treat!

Feel free to follow me on Pinterest if you would like! I love finding new people to follow!

A Couple Days Late....

But HAPPY EASTER!!

Piper's first Easter went off without a hitch! She was happy and cozy in her little easter dress, and she got easter baskets from not 1, but 2 Grandma Easter Bunnies! One full of clothes and headbands, and the other toys and books. 

She finally got to meet my cousins, who are still terrified of babies, but it was a lot of fun! It was great to see the whole family again, and not be pregnant and uncomfortable again like I was for Christmas. 

Added bonus, the day after Easter mama managed to score the most precious Easter basket at 60% off. So mama easter bunny will have a cute basket to fill for next year!

Review! - Little Texas Babes on Etsy!

Recently I had the joy of winning an Etsy giveaway from a wonderful little shop called Little Texas Babes. 

Click Here To See The Shop!

 

 Specializing in embroidered gifts, all of the designs you see in her shop can be made on: bibs, burp cloths, bodysuits and even blankets / quilts. They are ADORABLE and fun :)

 

Here is the bib we chose for Miss Piper:

As you can see in the photo above, she absolutely loves it. Despite the fact she has no real opinion voiced. ;)

The design is printed onto a great quality Babies R Us brand white bib. It is extremely professional quality-wise. The design is embroidered to perfection. Not to mention it gets a ton of laughs everytime she wears it. The shop owner was extremely friendly and the item was shipped quickly. I will definitely be using them in the future for baby shower gifts as my friends start to get pregnant one by one!

Thank you very much to Paula at Little Texas Babes!

Please visit her shop and show her some love, and maybe do a little shopping while you're at it!

www.womanfreebies.com

Linking up to:






I came across this website tonight because of advertisements of an easter egg hunt! Basically you go to the site and click through the blog links, and if you find an egg , you win the prize! It's pretty neat, so I thought I would share. I'm totally going to continue playing around with it!

Review: Bravado Designs Essential Nursing Tank

During my pregnancy I did  a lot of research on feeding, both formula and breastfeeding, to try and choose what was right for me. I decided to go with breastfeeding, as I wanted to pass all the antibodies that I could to my sweet little girl. And hey! It's free! Once it was decided, I started looking around at nursing clothing, and came across Bravado Designs website. They had a bunch of bras and tanks to choose from, which was refreshing, as all I could find in the stores was maybe one or two options. 

I decided to order myself The Essential Nursing Tank in Black.

Below pictures come from the Bravado Designs Website:

 

The Essential Nursing Tank comes in a variety of colors, and comfortably fits and supports up to a G cup size! Not only that, but I find it to be the most flattering article of nursing wear I found. 

What Makes It So Special?

1.) It's got a built in bra, but not one of those crazy scrawny shelf bras that generally come in tanks.

2.) It's LONG! I don't know about you, but after my c-section, aside from feeling like death for a few days, I felt FAT. The length on this was perfect to cover everything without exposing any inch of my poor abused skin.

3.) The fabric is able to retain it's shape time and time again.

Mine was a double whammy, as I was able to wear it while I was pregnant as well, and it never got all funky shaped and useless!

Right now at Bravado Designs you can score this tank for $49.00 in the basic original colors (white, black, and chocolate) and the seasonal colors are on sale for $39.00 each. Occasionally it will show up on Baby Steals. I believe I paid $24.99 when it was their daily deal, but they go FAST!

A little on the pricey side? Yes, but it's so worth it. I had to quit breastfeeding about 1 month in, but I still wear this tank if I want to feel slender!