I'm really excited for tomorrow (Saturday)! We're moving Chase into his toddler bed! Woot! I'm extra excited because I did a lot of work on his theme -- including making his comforter (love!) as well as a night light and lamp shade. I think it'll be super cute and I can't wait to see how he reacts to it!
Speaking of... I thought I'd post a throw back to the big day when we moved LO into her toddler bed. She was 2 months shy of 2 years old and was STOKED to have her new "big girl" bed! Enjoy!
Saturday, May 23, 2009
Big Day!
Today has been a very big day in our household. For starters, LO slept in her "big girl bed" for the very first time last night! She was absolutely amazing. She played with a little toy piano for about 5 minutes, then quiet. We checked in on her before we went to bed and she was out cold in her crib, snuggled nicely under her blanket. We were SHOCKED! She did wake up around 3AM crying, and hubs went in to check on her. She was standing by the door (closed, of course) like she wasn't sure what to do next. Hubs helped her back into her bed, handed her teddy and a paci, and she was out in no time.
The pic above was taken as she watched daddy carry the front rail of her bed away. She said, "Oh, cooool!"
This is her "fake sleeping" in her new big girl bed! She was SOOOO excited!!!
Here she is striking a pose for mommy!
We celebrated her major milestone accomplishment with breakfast at Cracker Barrel -- usually one of mommy's favorites but very disappointing this morning. I've been feeling nauseous since we ate and haven't been able to eat anything other than a few crackers this afternoon. ((sigh)) I guess I need to remember that I am pregnant, with a BOY, who happens to be my husband's offspring. If you knew what I know about my husband's childhood, you'd know we've got our work cut out for us once TO arrives.
So speaking of TO... I think we've found "the one." You know, the perfect furniture to outfit our son's bedroom (still SO weird to type that!). We had narrowed it down to two options: Munire Majestic or Bonavita Metro.
This is the Munire Majestic convertible lifetime crib (we'd also get the 5-drawer dresser, not pictured here):
And the Bonavita Metro collection:
While I haven't seen the Metro collection in person yet (we're going this afternoon to check out the floor model), I'm leaning heavily towards that option. It's just such a clean and contemporary design and I really am in love with it! Doesn't it look just gorgeous converted into a full-size bed? I think any teenage boy would be grateful to have such a luxury!
There's a pretty good chance we'll be ordering TO's furniture this afternoon, which is a GOOD THING because they say it takes anywhere from 10 to 12 weeks to arrive!
Meet our sweet boy, Chase! He was born on Monday, October 26, 2009 at 3:37 PM. He weighed 8 lbs. 9 oz. and was 20-1/4 inches long!
We are so blessed! More to come soon!
What a miracle and a blessing it is to have this sweet boy in our lives! Not a second goes by that I don't thank the Lord for His hand of health and protection over Chase. Not all parents of children with CHDs are blessed with the opportunity to celebrate their child's 2nd birthday with a party, cake, gifts and hugs & kisses, which is why we cherish even more the fact that God has allowed Chase to be with us for 2 years. What a miracle! And what a blessing he is to us! I can't say it enough!!!
Two years ago today, I was 203 miles away from home and 39 weeks pregnant with my little miracle baby. I was anticipating an induction at MUSC in Charleston, SC and was fearful of what the future held for my precious baby with a special heart. I thought I'd share the blog post I wrote that day -- 2 years ago today -- as I reflect on all that God has brought us through and blessed us with over the past 2 years.
Saturday, October 24, 2009
OhMyGoodness!
I'm truly having a hard time believing the time is almost here!
Today is SATURDAY.
I'm going to be admitted to the hospital TOMORROW.
Chase will be here on MONDAY.
It's all so surreal! I am happy to report that I finally got around to packing my hospital bag today. I guess that's part of what makes an induction so convenient -- I can plan accordingly. And it's no surprise to me that Chase hasn't shown any signs of making an early debut. But now that the bag is packed and I'll be heading to the hospital in less than 24 hours, I think it's time for it to finally settle in that I'm getting ready to have a baby!
Although the future is VERY scary to me and I fear for my son's health and survival in the coming days, I know that ultimately we are all in God's hands and that He has a perfect plan for my family. I'm not at all loving that I will have ZERO control over our circumstances. I'm not loving the fact that I most likely will not be able to hold my son for the first time until the night before his surgery, which very well might not be scheduled for 7 or more days after he's born. I'm not loving being 3-1/2 hours from home -- from our friends, our family, the house we call home. It's really weird to prepare to go to the hospital to give birth to a baby that you know you won't be bringing home with you anytime soon. I almost feel like I'm just going in for a "procedure" of some kind, and then a few months later, I'll get to go back and pick up a baby to bring home with me. It's so strange! I've never felt anything like this before. But I'm truly anticipating that God will do wonderful things over the next several weeks and I'm so grateful I get to witness His work first-hand!
On a totally random note... after a bit of a battle with Amazon and FedEx (they showed my package was delivered to Seattle, WA when it actually was delivered across the street by mistake!) we DID get our cellular signal booster thingy today and it DOES seem to have improved our AT&T signal strength inside the house. Praise the Lord! Now I'm just hoping and praying the signal inside the hospital works!
We had a wonderful morning celebrating Chase's 2nd birthday with family and friends! I think our little birthday boy had a wonderful time and he is definitely digging all the new toys, books, DVDs and games he scored. I can't help but thank God for His continued hand of protection and health on our sweet boy. So many families aren't able to celebrate such a big milestone for their CHD child, so while I am incredibly grateful and blessed to celebrate Chase's 2nd birthday, my heart is still overwhelmed at the grief and pain my fellow heart parents are going through as they grieve their child rather than celebrate another birthday. My thoughts and prayers continue to be with those precious families.
So let's take a look at a few party pics from today!
I'll start with the cake (shocker!)... The bottom square tier is a chocolate-chip pumpkin cake with pumpkin spice buttercream filling. The top round tier is a traditional vanilla cake with vanilla buttercream. The cupcakes were just chocolate with vanilla buttercream. I made smaller tiers than I typically do because I didn't want to have any leftover cake. Unfortunately (or fortunately, depending on whether you're trying to avoid sugary desserts or not), we still had plenty left over. Boo.
Another pic of the cake!
Still the cake!
The cupcakes!
Watching Mickey Mouse Clubhouse during the party!
I can't tell what he was eating here, but it's obvious he wasn't a big fan. ;)
Yummy food! Yay for parties!!!
Opening presents! He wasn't too into the process... especially if it was clothes (sorry, Mo!), but he sure was happy to receive lots of fun new toys, books and games!
Dance. Star. Mickey. Enough said!
Mmmmm! Cupcake!
Big sister couldn't be too far from the spotlight or center of attention. Such a silly girl!
And of course, a little party favor to send home with out party guests! Somehow I ended up with two left over... gotta figure out who missed out on the cookie baking fun!
We had a super fun day celebrating our sweet little miracle, Chase!
I'm trying to plan the design of Chase's 2nd birthday cake, and I'm getting super excited about the vision in my head! I've found several cake ideas and I plan to pull a little from each one.
Idea 1: First of all, I'd never attempt the Mickey Mouse ears on the top tier of this cake. I think it looks a little wonky here and I'm sure I couldn't do any better. So I like the simplicity of this one without the ears on top. It captures the basic color scheme I've been using for the party (red, black, white and yellow). I think the only modification I have in mind (besides losing the ears) is making the bottom tier square with the top tier still round. This cake has given me lots of useful inspiration!
Idea 2: Okay, so let's be honest... this one looks like Mickey's Clubhouse exploded all up on a cake. But I like the idea of placing the #2 on top and/or writing Chase's name at the top, although I haven't used stars anywhere in my party prep so I'd probably have to use a different shape. I like the idea of placing the figurines around the cake just to add a bit of "Clubhouse" to the cake since mine will be much more simple than this.
Idea 3: Okay, so this is super cute, too! Again, I'd lose the Mickey ears on top, mostly because I'm not at all confident in my skills to duplicate them to the level of perfection I'm after. I think this cake is the one that gave me the idea of using a square tier on the bottom with the round on top. Again, I probably won't work in the stars just because I haven't used them anywhere else, but I like the random Mickey silhouettes on the cake board.
I'm getting really excited to start working on Chase's cake! I think the smaller, round tier on top will be a chocolate-pumpkin cake with cream cheese filling, and I'll go more traditional with the larger, square tier on bottom by going with chocolate with buttercream filling. YUM.
I just have to take a moment to say how completely overwhelmed (in a good way!) I am to be planning a 2nd birthday party for my miracle son. God has brought him through so much and words cannot express how blessed I feel to have Chase in our lives! My heart breaks when I think of the many sweet ones with CHDs like Chase who earned their wings waaaaaay too soon. I wish we could celebrate with all of those precious little ones and I'll never understand God's plan (obviously) to take them so soon. I'm especially thinking of sweet Travis, whose birthday was just 3 days before Chase (also diagnosed with HLHS), and lost his battle all too soon on February 19, 2011. My heart and prayers go out to Nicole and Roger as they continue to deal with the pain that no parent should ever experience. Please keep them in your prayers.
Today my darling hubs is celebrating his birthday, so HAPPY BIRTHDAY, HUBS! I have been So. Incredibly. Blessed. with the amazing man God brought into my life and could not be more proud to have him as my husband. He's been a solid foundation for me when the rest of the world was ready to attack, and he is always my voice of reason (whether I like what he has to say or not). He is an amazing father and a wonderful husband and I'm so grateful to share my life with him.
So I realized earlier today that I shared one of my favorite party additions (the custom water bottles), but I hadn't shared the invitation I created for Chase's birthday! So here's what I came up with -- obviously some details have been modified for privacy purposes.
Chase's 2nd birthday party is next weekend, and of course the party planning and prep is well under way! Here's a little glimpse of one of my fave additions to any party: customized water bottles!
Check out the super fun details in the barcode and "nutrition" facts! :)
My blog is in major need of a fresh look for Fall. Anyone interested in busting out a free Fall blog overhaul? Haha! I think I know the answer to that! Grrr... I'll add this to my To Do list and hope it happens... eventually. ;)
Yesterday Chase and I ran to the grocery store to pick up a few things before heading to pick up LO from school. When we were finished shopping, I had a random craving to grab a Fruit n' Yogurt Parfait from McDonald's.
I figured it's somewhat "healthy" (at least considering all the other junk one can get at McDonald's). I've recently started trying to watch my sugar and carbohydrate intake and have been attempting to limit both as much as I possibly can. But I figured I really ought to cut back on my fast food purchases, too, whether healthy or not.
When we got home, I decided to whip up my own version of this parfait, knowing I could control exactly what would go into it. So I busted out the following ingredients, which I happened to have on hand at home, to make my own delicious version:
Oh my word! This tasty little treat was fantastic! I would definitely recommend whipping one of these up as a quick and healthy snack! And maybe, just maybe, I can get one or both of my kids interested in this snack, too! That'd sure be nice...
Since I've started working, I've found myself often tempted to make a beeline to the Starbucks located upstairs from the store where I work during every break opportunity. Since I am NOT a coffee drinker, there is only ONE beverage I drink from Starbucks: Hot Chocolate. And it's the best hot chocolate ever. I always order it "extra hot" -- which seems a bit redundant since it's already a hot beverage, but I like it super-duper, burn-the-taste-buds-off-your-tongue hot. And they're happy to oblige. And it's good. VERY good. Maybe too good, considering the number of trips I've made over there to quench this craving.
I've tried to duplicate Starbucks hot chocolate at home. I bought a milk frother thingy. No dice. I bought a nuggin' espresso machine just to steam the milk. Notsomuch. I've struck out with every attempt to duplicate this deliciousness.
Until now.
Enter the Starbucks Hot Chocolate recipe I found online over the weekend. OhMyGoodness. I never thought it'd actually be possible to duplicate the exact yumminess of Starbucks hot chocolate! But this recipe sure enough does! It is SO good. And SO easy. And SO good.
Without further ado, let me share this recipe with you.
Starbucks Hot Chocolate
Ingredients
1/4 cup water
2 tablespoons unsweetened cocoa powder
2 tablespoons granulated sugar
1 1/2 cups milk
1/4 teaspoon vanilla extract
whipped cream (optional)
Directions
Combine the water, cocoa, and sugar in a 16-ounce microwave-safe pitcher, such as a 2-cup glass measuring cup. Zap the mixture on high for 30 seconds, or until hot. Stir well to create chocolate syrup.
Add the milk to the chocolate syrup and microwave the mixture for 1 to 1 1/2 minutes, or until hot. Add the vanilla and pour the drink into a 16-ounce coffee mug. Serve with whipped cream on top.
Make one 16-ounce (grande size) serving.
Seriously, if you're a hot chocolate connoisseur, you owe it to yourself to make a mug-full of this amazing recipe immediately! You will NOT be disappointed!
It's the little things that make me happy. I finally ditched my massive Otterbox iPhone case for a fun, cute lil new one:
Now, this case really isn't "me," but my girl likes pink/purple and my boy is all about monkeys. So from that perspective, ya, I guess this case really IS "me."
LO had soccer practice again tonight, and this time mommy remembered to bring the good camera! Enjoy!
Such determination!
I just love the way it looks like this little teammate of hers is checking out her mad soccer skills!
Just another day on the soccer field...
Look at her go! She's really getting into this soccer stuff! And she's having fun, too!
Run, LO! Dribble that ball! ((at least I think that's what they call this in soccer))
The team played a scrimmage against each other and they all had to put on these ginormous jerseys. I just love how animated this girl of mine is! Haha!
Finally time to lose those over-sized jerseys!
Whoops! Jerseys back on! Run, LO! Run!
I'm sorry, but I can't help but see an actual soccer player in my daughter's little 4-year-old body. She just looks like she knows what she's doing out there!
Of course this handsome little fella had to get into the soccer action... Love him so!
Okay, so here I am again posting another "update" blog post because I've just been too darn busy to post here more regularly. I'm so sorry! But as it probably is with your busy life, too, things have been non-stop for us lately! I can barely catch my breath! I'm squeezing in a few spare moments to put up this post while also doing laundry, creating a new website, fielding calls about an event I'm planning this weekend for 250 people in Charleston, and 1,200 other things I can't begin to describe at this very moment. My brain cells are running on empty so I'll keep this short n' sweet.
Here's what my lovely kiddos have been up to recently.
Chase and I went to a park to play while LO was at school. It was an epic fail though, because it was about 30 minutes away from our house and, lo and behold, CLOSED for remodeling when we got there. I was totally bummed. But Chase and I wandered the baseball fields and Frisbee golf course for a while so it didn't feel like such a loss. He's so cute. :)
LO starting playing her first ever "organized" team sport: SOCCER! She's super excited about it, and I'm really glad she'll have a chance to run off the overwhelming excess amount of energy she somehow stores up each day. Here she is trying on her soccer stuff.
She had her first practice Monday night. As you can see, Chase wasn't to be left out of the spotlight. He showed us he has some mad soccer skills as well. See?
Now for the fun stuff -- the videos!!! Here's a short clip of LO practicing with her team. If you ask me, she's got a little bit of an athelete in her!
This one is hilarious! You gotta watch it full screen and keep your eye on LO. The whole team has to run to the pile of balls on the opposite end of their field and bring them back to the coach. The first one back gets to be the "helper" at Wednesday's practice. LO got a late start (she's almost NEVER paying attention), but seems to be making up ground. She grabs her ball, turns to run back and <> she gets knocked down by another avid ball-seeker. But she picks herself up and gallops runs back as instructed. Precious!
I was at our local Costco today picking up some bottled water for our big Palmetto Hearts reunion event this weekend. I had to bring my momma with me because she's a current Costco member. I, however, am a former Costco member. I realized after our 2 hours in Costco why my husband didn't want to renew our membership. That durn store is DANGEROUS! Let's just say a vat o' goldfish, more gummy vitamins than any human should require, a toy storage/organizer, jumbo Mr. Potato Head, 2 books and a 2T monkey outfit later, we were finally ready to leave the store. I now understand that it wasn't the $50 annual membership fee that hubs wasn't wanting to keep paying... it was the minimum $150 Costco shopping sprees he was wanting to eliminate. Ooops!
But let me at least attest to the fact that I didn't go crazy-overboard. Case in point? The most adorable, BIGGEST stuffed Mickey Mouse I've ever seen! Even LO was in love with it at first sight.
In the meantime, Chase was sporting around on a Lightening McQueen ride-on toy.
That is, until he saw his glorious, larger-than-life friend, Mickey Mouse. OhMyWord! This child for whatever reason has fallen head over heels in love with Mickey Mouse! So much, in fact, that I'm 99.9% sure his 2nd birthday next month will have a Mickey Mouse theme. He hugged Mickey. He kissed Mickey. It was unbearably sweet! But did I purchase the almost $40 stuffed animal? Nooooooo! As much as it killed me, I left Mickey there with his other Clubhouse friends... vowing to somehow figure out a way to get that guy to show up at Chase's birthday party in his gift stash! ((ahem... family? friends? anyone?)) :)
Last weekend we surprised the kids with a trip to see Sesame Street Live. We took LO when she was about 1 1/2, so we thought Chase would really enjoy it, too. He LOVES "cookie" and "melmo" so off we went for a fun morning out with the kids!
As you can see, Chase wasn't too sure about those larger-than-life furry monsters.
But he quickly found the show to be quite enjoyable!
LO was having a great time, too1
We were in the 2nd row on the floor in front of the stage, so the view was awesome!
Our Sesame Street friends!
Life is much better with a little Elmo to chew on during the performance...
Yay!
Big Bird!
Wow! This show is even MORE fun when there's FOOD involved! Yum!
Our new friends!
Confetti and streamers after the big finale. LO loved it!
So there. That's a tiny glimpse into what we've been up to over the past few weeks. Of course LO's started K4 a few weeks ago, and I'm the Room Coordinator for her class. Lots of volunteer stuff to organize. And I'm apparently her soccer team's Manager, which really just means the organized person who sends email reminders to parents about games and jersey colors. And I'm working on a new website for Palmetto Hearts. And I'm coordinating our Palmetto Hearts Pediatric Cardiology Reunion in Charleston this weekend. And I started my part-time job a few weeks ago. And I've got Chase's 2nd birthday party to start putting together. And did I mention I'm also forming a CHD Support Group for the families in my area? And somebody is still supposed to do the laundry, cleaning and cooking around the house. Oh, was that supposed to be me? ((sigh)) Our cupboards are so bare it's not even funny. Guess I'd better get back to work!
Thanks for your patience and continued blog support! Sorry I've been so lame lately, but I hope I'll do better soon! :)
The pic above was taken as she watched daddy carry the front rail of her bed away. She said, "Oh, cooool!"
This is her "fake sleeping" in her new big girl bed! She was SOOOO excited!!!
Here she is striking a pose for mommy!
