It would be so easy to tell you that these past 3 years were just a blur, that I was simply too busy with a new baby to keep up with any new content or posts.   But the truth, is that they've been the absolute hardest, most painful, and lowest points of my life.  My daughter's father and I are no longer together.  I believe, now, it is for the best, and we have moved on, into a place that works well for us and for the effective co-parenting of our daughter.  In the end, it will be another brick that builds the structure of my life, redefines and challenges who I think I am, and helps me identify what is truly important.

So now I am single.  At 39.  It's an interesting place to be, especially when the goal of this whole endeavor literally and existentially is to find contentment, or more accurately to be content.  I have worked hard to rebuild a life, one that includes this new person I'm getting to know; she is neither mom nor wife, but a woman who is resilient, hopeful, and fiercely guarded.  

Come along with me.  Let's see what happens next.

A child's first birthday is a momentous occasion.  With working full-time, I needed to put together a party with all the elements and not alot of time.  So where does a pressed-for-time mom go for ideas?  PINTEREST!  My husband jokes that he is going to start a Pinterest Support group for husbands with wives who are getting married, having a baby, and/or planning an event. 

The theme I came up with was Pretty in Pink.  I found my inspiration here, but this is my take on her fabulous ideas.

I created a dessert and candy table with several apothecary jars filled with various pink and white candies.   I found some cute bedazzled candy scoops on Etsy.com (my favorite vendor site!!).  I will list out where everything came from at the end!

Sparkling Pink Gumballs, and vanilla and strawberry coated pretzels, along with tropical white gummy bears and pink rock candy sticks made up my candy selection.  I made little treat bags for guests to fill and take with them.

Of course the best part of the party were the baked goods.  I have an amazing baker!!  Bredenbecks Bakery in Chestnut Hill (Philadelphia), PA is the master behind the Rose Hombre Smash Cake, Strawberry filled cupcakes, and Red Velvet cake pops.

The cake stand was a find as well!  It was expensive though.  My goal was to find something and up-cycle it, but alas, I ran out of time.  Amazon Prime saved the day with this one, getting it to me the day before the party!!

The cookies were another amazing addition to the dessert table.  My cookieteer (cookie master?) was The Flour Pot in Ambler, PA.  They did the most darling job with these cookies, and they were raved over by guests!!

Here are some other unique design elements.  I used mason jars and paper straws to serve pink lemonade.  And had water bottle labels created with my husband coming up with the fabulous idea of presenting them in the shape of a "1"!

We did LOTS of ballons.  Perhaps my favorite part of these decorations were the HUGE 36" balloons I got from Party City.  I used one behind the dessert table and two outside on the lampost.  Quite the statement!  Ha, looking at this picture...I'm not quite sure what was on TV at that moment.

But more than any decorations, it was the people and the of course my beautiful daughter who made this event sparkle.  I hope that this helps her remember how much she is loved by so many people!!  We love you Madison Rose!!

Vendors:

Smash Cake -- Bredenbecks Bakery ([email protected]), Philadelphia PA
Cupcakes - Bredenbecks Bakery
Red Velvet Cake Pops - Bredenbecks Bakery
Cookies - The Flour Pot , Ambler, PA
Balloons, Plates, Table cloths - PartyCity
Stickers, Buffet Table Cards, Water Bottle Labels, Banner - ChickaBug
Ribbons and Tutu - The Ribbon Retreat
Ruffle Fabric over dessert table - StitchStashDiva
Princess Fabric Crown - Bella's Bunting
Apothecary Jars - Save on Crafts
Candy - Oh! Nuts
Maddie's Hot Pink Dress - Old Navy
Daisy Cut Mason Jar Lids - PartyAwwSweet
8 oz Mason Jars - Amazon
Cake Stand - Amazon
Treat Bags, Cupcake liners, Cake Pop Liners - CakesandKidsToo

I am making my first attempt at homemade baby food! It seemed like a lofty idea, but has actually been quite easy!


My baby's first foods need to be simple and puréed very well. I don't want to buy a peice of equipment until I know this is something I will continue, so I'm using what I have on hand!


With one exception...


The baby food containers.

These are OXO baby food containers. They come in 2oz and 4oz, but I purchased the 2oz option. They are freezer-friendly and BPA free!

OKAY...Now for the fun part...making the food!

My first recipe is:

BANANA PEAR CEREAL

5 ripe pears, peeled and cored
2 ripe bananas
5 scoops of barley single grain cereal (I think a scoop equals about a Tbsp)
6 oz Formula/Breastmilk

I cut the top and bottom off the pears, laid the flat end down, and used a pearing knife to cut off the skin. Then I cut the pear in half, angle cut the core, and put the pears into a medium size mixing bowl. the bananas were then peeled, cut into quarters or fifths, and into the bowl with the pears.

Once in the bowl I used a potato masher to get everything mashed together.

After mashing the bananas and pears, I used my Cuisine Smart Stick to purée the fruit and get all the lumps out.

Next, add the cereal and formula/Breastmilk. Use a whisk to mix well.

Then just pour into your food containers. This recipe makes exactly 12 - 2oz servings. That is about a weeks worth of food (I feed her solids twice a day with a bottle) and it only takes about 30 minutes to do!!

To serve, just put your food in the fridge the night before and warm slightly in a bowl of hot water before serving.

ENJOY!

You may have heard of the mother who claims to have a photographic memory with sound. She used her skill to decipher the cries her baby made and related them to a specific need the baby had. Her findings were tested to be universal among all babies.

I have used the below sounds to help identify why my own baby is crying and must say that they are spot on! Learning to distinguish these five sounds is key for new mothers like me, or might be revolutionary to experienced ones.

Here are the five sounds:

Neh – The “neh” sound in the secret language of newborn basics means “I’m hungry”. Apparently as a baby’s sucking reflex kicks in and the tongue is pushed to the roof of the mouth the sound that comes out is a “neh” sound.

Owh – The “owh” sound is made in the reflex of a yawn which means, yep, you guessed it, “I’m sleepy”. I've found this is more of a short whine than a cry.

Heh – the “heh” sounds (similar to “neh” so be careful that you hear the beginning /h/ sound) means discomfort. This particular one of the newborn cries is to let you know that the baby is uncomfortable – cold, itchy, need a new diaper, need a new position in which to lie, I'm bored, etc.

Eair – The “eair” sound means lower gas. It’s a deeper sound that comes from the abdomen. The "air" part of this sound is not actually made by voice, but comes from the sound of the baby releasing its breath after making the "e" sound. It is a bit more difficult to distinguish than the rest but is usually accompanied by a newborn pulling his/her knees up or pushing down and out with his/her legs. Baby’s body, not only his/her face, will look uncomfortable.

Eh – The “eh” sound means that a baby needs to burp. It is similar, again, to “neh” and “heh” but remember that you are listening for those beginning sounds, not the ending sounds. When you hear, “Eh, ehhhhh” your newborn is telling you “Burp me, please”.

This is what we had to work with upon move in.  Lovely pistachio color walls, wasted space between the closets, no ceiling light wiring, and dirty dirty dirty.  The previous owners of this house smoked for about 15 years, so there was much cleaning and priming in our future!

Our general project list:  Board & Batten up 60% of the wall, Building a ToyBox/Window Bench in the empty space between the windows, Painting the insides of the closets, and Running wires through the attic so a chandelier could be intalled.  And we had all of 1 1/2 months to complete it before my baby shower, which was being held at our house!! 

The big project in the nursery was the Board & Batten.  This could be a post all it's own, but as I am new to this blog thing, I don't have pictures to show step-by-step.  There are some fabulous sites that helped us do this project correctly.  This is a great one. 

Ok, back to me.  You are able to see in this picture how we set up for the project.  First, we took down the closet doors and painted the walls.  The gray paint color is Route 66 by Dutch Boy.  Both Home Depot and Lowes has this color in their computer, which is where I purchased it from.  The closests we wanted to give a special touch to for our special girl, so we painted just the inside pink, of course!  The paint color is Possibly Pink by Behr.

After many late nights, and expensive trips to Home Depot, this is the finished Board & Batten.  I love how it turned out, thanks so the hard work of my husband, and our devoted friends and family. Pete, Mike, Dad (both!), and Katie...THANK YOU!!

You can also see the beginnings of the Window Box...

Now that the foundation of the room is finished, it's time for the fun part...the Design!!  Here are the finished pictures of our sweet Madison's nursery!!  But first...a little before and after:

Here is the Window box in progress, then finished...

Here are some of the design elements I used when decorating her room.  When possible, I included the link to the product and the price.

Shadow Boxes:  Bed Bath & Beyond $17.99

Lamp:  Marshall's Home Goods $18.00

Pink Heart Crystal Chandelier:  Ebay.com $119

I absolutely LOVE how this looks in the room.  It was probably as difficult to put together as the Board & Batten project was to complete.  Seriously, the instructions are completely useless.  Use the YouTube video on how to put this together.  It's worth it, once it's done!

Cabinent Pulls:  Home Depot  $3.97/ea

Using custom pulls is an easy way to give your own unique look to a more traditional furniture set. 

Decorative Coat Hook:  Home Depot  $6.97/ea

These were my husbands idea, and a terrific one!  They added just the right look to the wall next to her crib.

Toy Box Decor
Wood Monogram - Etsy $22.00
Vinyl Lace Decal - WallPop $14.99
Pink Ruffle Pillow Sham - Land of Nod $19.95
    --This sham matches the pink ruffle curtains on the closet!
White Diamond Round Pillows - Amazon.com  $32.50

Curtain Tie-Backs - Urban Outfitters  $16.00 for 2

These added the perfect touch to the girly closet and matched the other crystal elements of the room!

The Other Stuff: 
Newco Premium Rosie Glider & Ottoman - Babys R Us  $279.99 (Ottoman separate)
Divinci Kalani Furntiture Collection - Babys R Us
8x10 Gray Shag Rug - Amazon.com  $300
White Side Table - Overstock.com  $73.99
Bella & Friends Musical Mobile - BabyAuthority.com  $46.99
"Madison" Wooden Letters - Esty.com  $98.00 (incl shipping)
Heirloom Ladybug Boppy Pillow - Babys R Us  $42.49