Ummmm... Dum Dum!

The other day I was talking to one of my friends at work about Scarlett, time management, etc. She too is a mother and agreed with me that it is a 24/7 job. She also asked me if I ever wondered what I did with all my free time before Scarlett. I told her that I really didn’t know, but I did know that I was much more rested back then!

As usual, we’ve been busy around here, but things are getting more into a routine. Scarlett’s bedtime is at 8:00pm, and she has slept through the night the past 2 nights!! She has done this before, but it usually doesn’t stick. We’re hoping that it does. We also think it may have something to do with us feeding her oatmeal cereal instead of rice cereal before bed. Who knows!

My former life may have provided more rest and free time, but this new one is definitely entertaining. Scarlett is constantly making us laugh with one of her little looks or loud screams. She’s definitely got a set of lungs on her!! She also loves trying new things. Joe bought a big bag of Dum Dum suckers yesterday and let her try one…. Just a couple of licks. She did seem to enjoy the green apple! :)

Scarlett's New Friends

This past Sunday was quite interesting. Our friend Kim came over with her two kids, Jack and Makena. Jack is four, and Makena is about one year older than Scarlett. We loved having them over not only to visit, but also for us to see what we have to look forward to as Scarlett gets older. I took this picture of Joe, Scarlett, and Makena. Aren’t they cute!

Right after I took the picture, Makena reached over and took Scarlett’s pacifier out of her mouth and put it in hers. It was funny.

Jack was more interested in all the animals in the backyard. He was especially interested in the alligator. Here he is looking at it. It's kind of hidden under some ivy under the tree.

I went in to the office yesterday. It was great to get out of the house for a while and get caught up on work and with all of my co-workers. Joe kept Scarlett all day. I came home to them wearing matching outfits. If Joe has anything to do with it, Scarlett will probably shoot her first deer at the age of three.

We had a very relaxing evening and started a fire in our chiminea. The fire mesmerized Scarlett. She’s such a doll and is learning so much every day. I think she’ll be rolling over soon. Crawling will be next… I guess we need to start child-proofing our house!

My Little Aggie

What a week! I feel like Hurricane Ike arrived on Monday instead of making landfall early this morning. Work has been very busy for both of us, and we took Scarlett to the Urologist on Wednesday. We were stressed about that, but we feel a lot better now. Her Urologist is a good friend of her Pediatrician, so I feel really good about the fact that we were referred to someone that her doctor actually knew. I don’t think I would have liked some random referral. The Urologist was really nice and so was the entire staff. As soon as we got there, they put Finding Nemo on the tv in the waiting room. Scarlett loved it! So when we were done, we went to Wal-Mart and bought her the DVD.

Scarlett is back on a preventive antibiotic, and she is feeling much better! She’s also loving all the new foods we’ve been feeding her. So far we tried peaches, apples, green beans, green peas, sweet potatoes, and carrots. She really likes those green beans!! She also enjoys cereal. She definitely does not like to miss a meal as she currently weighs 18 pounds!!

We plan on taking it easy the rest of the weekend. Ike is going to blow through here sometime early this afternoon, so we’re getting ready for that. Luckily it won’t be as bad as originally thought. Hopefully all our friends in the Houston area weathered the storm and are doing ok. Our thoughts and prayers are with all of you!

I didn’t forget to dress Scarlett up in her Aggie gear today!! After her morning bath, I got her all ready and took a few pics. I will give Joe credit with his use of props in the pictures he took last week. Otherwise, I think she looks pretty darn cute in maroon!! Thank you to Regina for sending this fabulous outfit!

Joe did inform me earlier that the Aggies don’t even play today. Oh well…..

A&M vs. Nebraska

Ok, so things have been really busy here. That’s why I haven’t posted in a while. Anyway, I did want to address something as it is becoming an issue with people that have seen it….. Last Saturday I slept in. I had been up with Scarlett a couple of times during the night and really needed the extra rest. I woke up to her being dressed like this:


Well, that was ok… I guess. I mean, A&M wasn’t playing Nebraska that day. SO, it was ok. I honestly think Joe did a GREAT job of dressing Scarlett up like a Husker. He did well.

As usual we had a busy day. Our neighbors babysat for us while we went to watch the Huskers play. Sorry, I can’t remember whom they played… but they did win. It wasn’t that I was so uninterested in the game, I was just TIRED. We both were, and we both ended up leaving early. It had been a crazy week!! BUT, I did do the best I could at correcting her outfit before we took her to the sitter’s.

Doesn't she look so much happier!!! Next weekend’s outfit will be SO MUCH BETTER!!!! Stay tuned…..

Breakfast Pizza

Before I got pregnant and while I was pregnant with Scarlett, the only thing I read was Star Magazine. I mean I did read a book here and there, but I mostly read Star and always anticipated it’s arrival. Honestly, I didn't read much of anything that you should read while you’re pregnant like What to Expect When You’re Expecting. I figured that would just stress me out, so I avoided all of it. Sometime during the course of being pregnant I did order a subscription of Family Circle. I thought that we needed this. Well, it just sat in one of the stacks of magazines I have laying around here. Surprisingly, Joe actually reads some of those articles and found this great recipe for breakfast pizza. We tried it a few weeks ago. It was great, and I thought I’d share.

Breakfast Pizza

Makes: 6 servings

Bake: at 350F for 20 minutes

Prep: 15 minutes

Cook: 20 minutes

Ingredients
· 1 package (8 ounces) crescent roll dough
· 6 ounces breakfast sausage patties
· 1 cup frozen hash brown potatoes
· 3 tablespoons butter
· 3 eggs, beaten
· 1/8 teaspoon salt
· 1/8 teaspoon black pepper
· 3/4 cup shredded cheddar cheese

Directions
1. Heat oven to 350°F. Spray a pizza pan with nonstick cooking spray. Spread out crescent roll dough to fit pan.
2. Crumble the sausage and brown in a 10-inch skillet about 6 minutes. Drain and transfer to a plate.
3. In the same skillet, cook hash browns in 2 tablespoons of the butter, 10 to 12 minutes. Transfer to another plate.
4. In same skillet, melt 1 tablespoon of butter, add eggs and scramble over medium heat, about 2 minutes.
5. Sprinkle sausage, potatoes and eggs on dough. Season with the salt and pepper. Top with shredded cheese. 6. Bake at 350°F for about 20 minutes or until cheese is melted and edge of pizza is browned. Cool slightly. Cut into 6 pieces and serve.

Since I am blogging about food today, I thought I’d share a picture of a Sweet Pea!

When it rains it pours

Well, it’s been over a week since I posted last, and so much has happened since then… First and foremost, we took Scarlett in for her 4 month check up last Wednesday. Joe and I were very nervous going in as she had been running a low grade fever for a few days. We were pleased to find out that everything was A-ok! She was even able to start eating. After her appointment, I went to Wal-Mart to pick up some food. Here is the tasty selection that I picked out:

She is supposed to eat one food at a time for three days, so we started with peaches. It was an extremely messy ordeal, but she did great!

I didn’t realize it at the time, but things were about to take a turn for us… Friday went along pretty good. Joe and I decided to take a family trip to Kroger to get food for our weekend at the ranch. I had Joe and Scarlett follow me to drop my Jeep off to get the oil changed while we went shopping. Kroger went great! Scarlett napped, and we got everything except for the broccoli slaw I needed. They had it, but it was all going to expire the next day. I was really irritated as I had just seen this at Wal-Mart the day before. I should have picked it up then…. No big deal. I would just get it the next day after we dropped Scarlett off in Sulphur Springs. She was going to stay with my mom Saturday through Wednesday while we went to the ranch and got some rest.

After our trip to Kroger, I picked up my Jeep. Since I had a few minutes, I was going to go get gas and pick up my dry cleaning. Ok, I’ve been going to this dry cleaner for the past 3 ½ years. They’ve always done a good job, and they should. I go there a lot since I don’t iron. Well, something was obviously wrong. I paid the bill and began waiting on my clothes. After fifteen minutes of this and everyone in line behind me getting their clothes, I was getting a little concerned. Long story short: they lost my clothes! There were only 3 items, but they were all new and worn only once! Of course, they’ve promised me that they will locate them, but I’m not holding my breath….

Saturday arrives. Joe and I get up early and start getting things ready to leave here by 10:00am to meet my mom. He really needed the brakes on his truck repaired, so we dropped it off at Just Brakes at 10:30am. Scarlett and I waited in the car for about 15 minutes for this “drop off” to occur. I was about to start honking the horn. We were meeting my mom, and I do not like being late. Well, that threw us completely off schedule.

I guess I thought it would be a great idea to make up the time by speeding. BIG MISTAKE. Officer Hudson in Lavon, TX clocked me going 67 in a 50. So, we had to sit for 15 minutes and wait on him to write me a ticket. I guess I was due since I hadn’t had a speeding ticket in 16 years!! The only thing that truly irritated me about this was the thought of taking defensive driving. No thank you. Luckily, I called today and took the “pay the ticket without taking defensive driving and don’t get another ticket for one year in Texas” option. I was even able to pay it online. So convenient! :)

Anyway, we met Gran Jan and Papa Larry in Sulphur Springs at Juan Pablo’s (or something like that). We had lunch and said our good-bye’s to Scarlett. We were so excited to take a break from reality and responsibility!!! As soon as I got back on I-30 to come back to Dallas, I started missing her.

So, back to Dallas… Joe called Just Brakes to find out if his truck was ready. It wasn’t. And it still wasn’t after we ran several more errands and did stuff around here. I dropped him back off around 4:45, and he had to stand over the mechanic while they put everything back together. I guess they didn’t have time to look for the warranty paperwork or were too busy. Whatever. We wasted time there which caused me to speed, get a ticket, and be late. You know the commercial that says “At Just Brakes, we really do Care!” Well, they don’t.

Finally, around 6:00pm, we got in the pool. That’s what I had been wanting to do all day!!! It was a relaxing night, and the beginning of college football season. Here we are showing our college spirit:

Sunday rolled around, and off to the ranch we went!! Bill, one of the owners of my company, joined us on the ride down. Randy ended up meeting us down there. We had a party on Sunday night, and the guys got up to dove hunt the next morning. We had a great two days!!

Me & Pat (the lighting wasn't too great on this one...)

Bill holding Scarlett's 22

My dad and Randy

Charles, Juanita & George

Uncle Jim with his new hat

Joe & Randy (I took them riding around the ranch on Sunday night.)

Me and Joe

I ended up riding back with Randy on Monday night. We got home around 1:00am Tuesday morning, and I finally crawled into bed around 2:00am. I was exhausted from the weekend and was so looking forward to sleeping late, getting things done around the house, picking the dogs up from the kennel, etc. Well, plans changed. My mom called around 8:30am to let me know Scarlett had been running a fever since the night before. After a few phone calls and running around to get ready to leave, I met her a day early to get Scarlett back to her doctor. With that high of a fever she needed to have her urine tested ASAP. Unfortunately, she has another UTI. The preventive antibiotics aren’t doing the trick. So, we are in the process of meeting with a Urologist.

Please keep Scarlett in your prayers. Hopefully we’ll get a good diagnosis. That’s what we’re hoping and praying for.

Oh yea, I forgot the icing on the cake…. Joe broke his finger in two places while splitting wood on Tuesday morning. I swear…. When it rains it pours!