Welcome back to life!

If you are wondering where I've disappeared to, it's called baby hibernation. My beautiful baby girl was born April 19th at 5:30ish. She was 6lb 14oz and perfect!

I was totally ready to conquer the newborn stage this time around. With her being my third, I felt completely prepared! ....little did I know. My beautiful baby girl had colic. Just thinking the word "colic" makes me shudder. When I would here other moms say their baby had colic I would feel sympathy for them. It must be really hard having a baby that cries a lot- plus the sleeplessness and recovering from pregnancy and birth... It's beyond hard! I had no idea just how hard it would be. There were many nights my husband and I just prayed for her to stop crying and I'd pass out on the bed while she screamed in her crib. We seriously got to the point where we could tune it out and that usually occurred around 2-3am after listening to the crying for hours. (DISCLAIMER: we tried everything, leg peddling, burping, feeding, shushing, swaddling, cutting out dairy, listening to running water, sound machine, walking, holding her while doing lunges, I mean- seriously everything.) Thank goodness for my friends who brought food and words of comfort. Many nights my eyes were glazed over as we'd sit down to dinner and my husband would look at me and I'd just start crying. It's so hard feeling like you can't comfort your baby. You feel like a failure as a mother. All I can say is THANK GOD this wasn't my first child! I did have some perspective that we would get through this. And I'm so grateful that my husband gave 150% and we would switch off dealing with crying sessions so the other could sleep. We were in full blown survival mode. Now that Dillon is 3 months, the colic is gone and I can finally rejoin the world! If your baby has colic- there is hope and it will end! Just tie that knot at the end of your rope and hold on! It will get better- and one day your baby will give you that long awaited smile and you'll breathe a sigh of relief and tell yourself it was all worth it.

With love,

Becca

Re-post: Turkey Wrangling

This year we will be visiting family this Thanksgiving  so I was able to bypass all the crazy planning and prep cooking. But in honor of all of you that have to cook I thought I'd re-post one of my favorite thanksgiving posts. Here is an oldie but a goodie from one of my first thanksgivings.

Here's the issue with the Thanksgiving turkey.... it is THE Thanksgiving turkey. It is the main focus point of the meal. You spend hours on end slaving away in the kitchen over side dishes and deserts all to complement a big chunk of meat. I mean, think about it- if you burn the turkey, that kinda ruins this whole meal that you literally have spent a month preparing and hours prepping for. It's kinda scary to most people to put that much pressure on one piece of meat!

Yes, even after doing this many years, it is still intimidating to me. Not to mention the whole "prepping" the turkey.

Here's what goes through my mind on Thanksgiving morning:

How the heck am I going to rinse this awkard lump of meat that weighs an insane 24 pounds ! Um...o.k. So I'm dangling this in my sink and trying to control where the faucet is hitting the turkey while trying to not drop it. It's freezing too! It's been thawed out in the fridge and happens to be very cold. And it's slippery! Oh crap, totally just dropped it- hope that didn't bruise it or tear the skin. This thing is bigger than a kid! It'd be easier to hug this thing and rinse- but eeew. Well, do I have another shirt? Hmm...no. Ok, bad idea. Ok, got most of it rinsed by this point. Oh darnit, the turkey just hit the faucet- mental note: Disinfect that when I have to disinfect the sink later. And, LIFT. And then try to gently set this monster of an obese bird on a roasting rack. Phew. Now just pat dry.....and thoroughly scrub myself and the sink and possibly floor where water went splashing everywhere. Now yell at the dog to not lick the water on the floor, dangit that's going to make him sick. Kids!

No running in here! Don't come over here!...... When do I get to open the wine?!

Here's the good part- it turned out perfect! After I patted it dry I rubbed it down with a salt/herb mix and slathered with butter and olive oil. It was soooo good. Yay for a successful turkey roasting!

My Week...Written Down

As a mom of two young children I am constantly on the go. My days tend to get very busy, very fast and I don't carry my calendar around with me. So I created a weekly to-do list that I've been keeping in my purse. I named it "My Week...Written Down." It's come in really handy these past few weeks. I find that as I am making plans I can pull it out and jot down a note for myself. Anything that makes my life easier and keeps it better organized is something I love. So I wanted to share it all with you! I hope you enjoy! Click here to download and print your own.

With Love,
Becca

What now?

Can we say...clean up?! My hubby snapped this picture as we were discussing all the toys and clothes to organize and clean up.... oh my! I'm defninitely feeling a little bit overwhelmed today. At least the downstairs is in order, but the upstairs is a whole different ballgame! And I need to get started on thank you cards and my Halloween Carnival booth. Okay, time to take a deep breath and finish the morning coffee. Then I think I'll do a little bit of laudry organizing. Then maybe the thank you cards. I think on days that are overwhelming you have to take one task at a time. I can't think of the large list piled up, just one at a time... And that is my plan for today. One task at a time....

Freak Out Day!

Today has been a crazy day. I woke up and realized I have about a week till my daughter's birthday party. Oh my! And there's so much to do!!! I have to plan a scavenger hunt, bake cookies, decorate cookies, make goody bags that look like Dora and Diego backpacks, figure out what I'm going to do for the cake, plan the menu, buy and create decorations and do all this within a week. ... ... ...um... I'm going to need lots of caffeine... and chocolate... or maybe just some of my espresso bites!

My next big freak out moment today---- My cake was featured on EpiCute. It was my Butterfly and Roses Cake from my bakery... to say the least, I was very proud. If you have a moment click here and give my picture a thumbs up :) Thanks! Lots more freak out moments and crafty updates to come! 

Pumpkin Pie 101- Pie Filling

Pumpkin Pie is really an easy pie to make. There's no tempering of the eggs to worry about. Basically you just mix the ingredients together, pour into the shell and bake. I think the filling of a pie is as unique as the person making it. For instance, I love flavors. I'm a big spice person so I like to go a little heavy with my spices. When I was growing up my mom used to tell me to add "heaping" teaspoons of spice... that means the teaspoon looked like it had a small mountain of spice in it :) That little teaspoon was literally was holding all it possibly could. But a good friend of mine prefers to go light on her spices and add some orange zest to her pies. Feel free to experiment with your fillings. The important thing is having a good base recipe for your pies and then you can play around with the amount of spices and flavors you add. 

Here's my good base recipe (makes 2 pies):

A large can of Libby's Pumpkin (29oz)

2 cans evaporated milk

4 eggs

1 1/2 cups sugar

Add spices to taste.... here's where I can't divulge what spices I use in my own pies :) 

But I gave you an excellent base to begin with. Your pie will be rich and creamy. Follow my cooking instructions on the pie crust post and you're sure to have an award winning pie! 

Have fun baking!