Scarlett - 3 months old

Dear Scarlett-





Wow, this month has been quite a ride. Right after your growth spurt, you had your first physical checkup with your doctor...but that checkup also came with shots. You were SO not a happy camper, but you took things like a trooper. You are one tough little cookie; speaking of which...


You have quite the temper. I think it's the Portuguese, Irish and German in you. When you are uncomfortable, or hungry and not getting your way when you want it, you put up quite a fuss. On one hand, I should've seen it coming because I'm stubborn as well. On the other, I didn't expect that aspect of your personality to pop up so soon. It's OK though, it just means you're more like your namesake than ever.


You're getting more into the groove of tummy time vs. before when you would just scream the whole time. Now you actually hold your head up for a few minutes and look at Daddy or I when we're down on the floor with you. You L-O-V-E your Daddy. You and he have this special bond that I'm so grateful for. You definitely have your father wrapped around your tiny finger, and it shows. That being said, it's the same with your Grandpa and Grandma. They LOVE you too, and it shows. Grandma is making sure your addiction to Hello Kitty is as deep as mine. :)


By the Grace of God, you've been sleeping through the night lately. I know now that I've said that out loud, those days will be gone for a while. You're currently on the down slope of your first cold and you've handled it like a true champ. It could've been a whole lot worse than it is, but I'm grateful that you got a "light" cold that seemed to only give you the sniffles.


You continue to amaze and surprise me every day with how much you're growing and how much the person that you are/will become is peeking out every day. I can't wait to find out what tomorrow will bring!


We love you our gorgeous girl!



Love,
Mommy

Sorry to be absent...

Things are crazy busy right now. Here's a quick update and I will elaborate later...

1. I got a new job...a part time one after maternity leave was over. I still have my old job, but that has also been transitioned into part time. More to come later.

2. Scarlett's 3 month "birthday" post is coming, I promise.

3. Scarlett is also battling her first cold...well it's more like the sniffles but it still sucks. She's a little trooper though.

4. True Blood season 4 started...need I say more?

5. Jake starts school in August, so we're trying to gear up for that with scheduling and the baby.

6. I have come to some personal revelations and epiphanies that I'm not comfortable sharing on this blog at the moment, but maybe soon I will be able to come out with what's on my mind.

Whew...yeah...I truly apologize for my lax in blogging, but I promise to check in again and elaborate on some items here. Stay with me people...I am alive. :)

Martha Stewart took over!

I can't believe the weekend is already over, yet again! Like most people, I am an avid fan of the 3-day weekend. Who isn't?

Between Jake and I, we got so much done this weekend around the house. Just to wrap my own head around the volume of tasks/stuff that got done, I need to list it.

Saturday:

-Errands to Target for baby stuff, OSH for new flowers and potting soil, Petsmart for cat food
-Goodwill run
-Potted the new flowers I bought from OSH for our front porch
-Baked Peanut Butter and Chocolate Chip cookies
-Cleaned the bathroom and kitchen
-Organized Scarlett's clothes so the larger sizes are more accessible than being in the other drawers of her dresser

Sunday:
- Went to the Farmer's Market in San Rafael with Jake, and our friends Cara and Colin
- Had lunch with Jake and Scarlett at the Marin Brewing Company on the way home
- Baked blueberry muffins from scratch with the fresh blueberries from the Farmers Market
- Jake organized his closet, I organized my closet
-Folded the gigantic pile of clean laundry
-Vacuumed the entire house
- Sterilized Scarlett's binkies and nipples

Whew!
All the tasks at home really needed to be done and I have been itching to bake for a while. The house is really the cleanest it's been since before Scarlett was born.

I also have to give a shout out to one of the vendors at the Farmers Market. It's The Golden Waffle which makes Belgian waffles with pearl sugar. I had one on Sunday morning with Nutella smeared on the top...YUMMY!!!! It was soooo good. HERE is their website.

PCOS to Parenthood - Part 3

...

In February 2005, I had a profile on Yahoo Personals. In the past, I hadn’t really pursued relationships with anyone I had met, and most had become either friendly acquaintances, or just friends. I was in a very toxic relationship that was off-and-on for a couple of years (not the same as my high school relationship), and was looking for an out. I was lonely and felt used by that person and I knew I wanted to find someone that would hold a level of respect for me that didn’t include using my family and me for money and other luxuries. I had decided to spruce up my profile and just let it be for a little while. I met some good people, but wasn’t really looking for a serious relationship (hey, I’m being honest). All of a sudden, there was an “ice breaker” in my email, which was a free pre-worded sentence that you could send to someone you wanted to talk to more after viewing their profile. It was from a person who didn’t have a picture in his profile, which to me was a HUGE no-no. But, for some reason I’ll never know, I decided to read his interests and what he was looking for. He had mentioned movies, which was a HUGE plus in my book since I’m an avid moviegoer myself. He sounded intelligent and he had my four requirements – taller than me, older than me, a job (so I wouldn’t have to give him money all the time) and a car (so I didn’t have to drive him everywhere). I sent him an ice-breaker back, and then got an actual message from him. I decided to fork over the $20 to get the ability to message him back. Pretty soon, we were talking online in real time and 3 weeks later, he asked me out on my first real date…ever. His name was Jake and it was the best date I could’ve ever asked for as my first. He even brought me purple carnations (my favorite color, and because he couldn’t find purple roses after calling all the florists he could think of).

After 6 months of dating, Jake and I decided to take a weekend and go down to Monterey for our 6 month anniversary. We both love the beach and he hadn’t been to the Monterey Bay Aquarium in a really long time. We had talked about marriage and looked at rings, and I knew a proposal was coming, but didn’t know when. We walked to the beach after checking into our B&B and ended up at a park called Lovers Point with a rock formation that shoots out into the ocean. He decided he wanted to “hike” the rocks and I decided “Hey why not”. By the time we got to the end, I had twisted my ankle a tiny bit and needed to sit down. He sat next to me, put his arm around me and said “Do you know how much I love you?” I said “I’m sure I have an idea, but you can tell me again if you want” ;) He began to tell me how lost he was before we met and how I brought him such happiness and love that he never knew he could have with someone. As he was talking, he pulled out a small black box from his camera bag and opened it. All I could do was cry. Finally he said “Will you marry me?” and through my tears and disbelief that this was actually happening, I said “yes”. As we walked the trail from the park to the aquarium, I began to realize that in the 6 months Jake had been in my life, I had eliminated the toxic people in my life, I had a stable job, was going back to college, we were in the process of moving in together with 3 kittens we had just adopted/rescued, and my relationship with my parents was vastly improving. He was the one who was there for me while I rebuilt my life, but wasn’t willing to solve my problems or rebuild my life for me. He allowed me to be the person I wanted to without doing anything but being there. I was going to marry Jake, the first MAN I had ever loved.

Balsamic Roasted Pork Loin

Wow...how long has it been since I've posted a recipe!? Holy cow! Or in this case, Holy Pig!

I've been making more of an effort to post on the blog, and try new recipes. My goal is to try a new recipe at least once every two week, then get more ambitious and try a new one at least once a week. It could be a main dish, a side dish, dessert, or baked goodies (because we all know how great those are!)

I'm not a fan of the pork chop. I used to be until I saw a video on YouTube that changed everything (long story, don't ask). For some reason, though, pork loin doesn't bother me. So while on allrecipes.com, my go-to place for new ideas for meals, I stumbled across this recipe and thought I would share. It was dee-lish! :)

Balsamic Roasted Pork Tenderloin
Recipe by Melissa S. of allrecipes.com and photo by Lori L. of allrecipes.com

Prep Time: 5 mins (2 hours to marinade), Cook Time: 1 hour, TOTAL: 3 hrs. 5 mins.
Serves 4

1 lb pork tenderloin or roast
1 tablespoon steak seasoning rub
1/4 cup balsamic vinegar
1/4 cup EVOO

1. Dissolve steak rub in balsamic vinegar, then stir in EVOO. Put pork into Ziploc bag and add marinade into bag with pork. Make sure the marinade covers the pork. Refridgerate for 2 hours (or overnight if you'd like).

2. Preheat oven to 350 degrees Farenheit.

3. Put pork into glass baking dish along with the marinade. Bake in preheated oven for 1 hour, basting occasionally (if you can) until the center of the pork reaches 145 degrees F. Let rest for 10 minutes before slicing.

Enjoy!

PCOS to Parenthood - Part 2

...


Fast forward to my senior year, and things started happening to my body that were not expected. I began growing small patches of facial hair, but nothing that wasn’t remedied by a pair of tweezers. My abdomen was where I was holding most of my weight. I wasn’t a fan of how I looked and it’s where I first began to really have body image issues. When I was diagnosed with PCOS, I was unaware of the long term effects and what havoc it could wreak on my body. That’s when I first started researching possible treatments for PCOS, which at the time, there were none. Being on birth control was my best option, so I kept at it. The pill gave me a monthly cycle, for which I was grateful. It seemed to be working the way it was meant to. I was in a long term relationship at the time and I figured as long as I kept up with the hormone treatment and kept my handy dandy tweezers with me, I was all good. Of course as time wore on and I grew older, the effects of PCOS began to take hold of me. I still grapple with most of the symptoms today. But, in reading and researching this seemingly “phantom” disease I have, I read the one word I didn’t want to…infertility. At the second I read that word, I knew then that I would need medical assistance in becoming a mother. I had always had a dream of being two things in life: A wife and a mother.

A few years ago, I was an avid fan of the HBO show Sex and the City. There’s a character named Charlotte who was trying to get pregnant with her first husband, Trey. She tried for 3 months before diving in head first into IVF treatment. I was unaware of IVF treatment and the invasiveness of the procedures, but was aware of the occurrence of multiple fetuses in such pregnancies. When Charlotte and Trey divorced and Charlotte met her husband Harry, the two (Charlotte and Harry) were having a conversation about having children. When Harry expressed his desire to have children, Charlotte’s face shows the hurt and fear she held before telling him “…it’s not impossible, but it’s difficult”. In watching that scene and how accepting Harry was of Charlotte’s issue, I knew I would have to have that same conversation with my future husband, and I would only hope and pray that he would be as loving and accepting of my issue as Harry.

To be continued...

Scarlett - Two months old

Dear Scarlett-

Well, here we are, another month flown by.

You are growing like a weed babycakes, and I can't believe you're out of newborn clothes and diapers and into some bigger sizes. You're still a little munchkin, but you are growing fast. Many people have commented on how much bigger you are compared to when they first saw you. I wish you could remain my tiny little peanut forever, but I know you have to grow up.

You are smiling more and more each day and you've started "talking" to me when you smile, and when you play in your floor gym. When you get excited, you start to wave your arms and kick your legs all while breathing at an excited pace. I love hearing your little voice, it's a beautiful sound. You're growing more tolerant of tummy time, but you do get a little mad towards the end each time.

You went through a growth spurt which threw us for a loop with a sudden change in your sleep habits, but other than that, you are sleeping more through the night. Daddy and I have noticed that you are like me in that you don't like your feet covered. You could be wrapped up like a little burrito, but your feet will stick out of the bottom of the blanket. You also tend to wiggle your feet and toes when you are relaxed. That's a trait of mine as well. You are proving to be very ticklish and are starting to smile when we tickle you instead of get mad.

Your personality is peeking out more and more. You're still a little camel with being pratically insatiable when it comes to feeding. You love your milk still, there's no doubt about that.

Tomorrow is the big day where we get to see exactly how much you've grown, and also get your first shots. Daddy and I will be there for you baby, always.

We love you our gorgeous girl.

Love, Mommy