One Painful Accident

As parents, we all know one day
our little baby is going to get
injured, bruised, && broken
at least a couple times in their life.

It was a day like any other
went to work,
          came home for lunch,
went back to work,
                      and came home again.
{that's my little round-a-bout everyday, crazy huh?!}

I pulled into the driveway August 24th
opened the garage door,
parked my clean car.
             {Yes I said, clean.}
&& walked into my house.

Baby Bella was so upset
&& looked like she had been fussing
bad. not like normal.
Her auntie was holding her
&& trying to calm her little heart down
but nothing was working.

My Momma instincts kicked in
& I immediately took her into my arms.
... but she was still crying.
What. the. heck.

After talking with my sitter that day
& problem solving the situation quickly,
I decided I needed to get her to the doctor.

It had been a long day at work
& as I walked through those doors
of the doctors office
I knew it was going to be an
even longer day.

Obviously I had to status as a
"walk in" and accept urgent-care
waits, but this was getting ridiculous.

Thirty minutes into my wait
with little girl tearing up in my arms
I knew I had to be patient for
just a little bit longer
& stay strong for her sake.

Every bone in my body wanted to me to cry
I felt so bad for Baby Bella
tears flowing down her pretty face
but not screaming or fussing at all.
&& what was even harder...
not knowing what was even wrong.

My Mommy powers couldn't fix this one.

We finally got called back into the special room
& Baby Bella got assessed by a nurse
The nurse didn't want to hurt her
anymore than I did
... so she waited for the Doctor.

After an hour wait {total so far}
we were moved into the x-ray waiting room.
We got one x-ray out of Baby Bella
before her pain set in even worse.

She started screaming loudly
crying. squirming. the whole nine yards.
A nurse made a little sticker stick
& started playing with her.
It was a good enough distraction for
five minutes...

I got her a strong dose of baby ibuprofen
{given to me by the doctor}
& waited anxiously for that pink liquid to kick in.

A second doctor came to examine Baby Bella
{at this point it had been 90 minutes
& we still hadn't reached a conclusion}
She toyed with my baby girl's shoulder,
wrist & lastly her elbow.

With one little tweak
she felt a pop in her elbow.
Baby Bella immediately began screaming
{this was the most painful experience for me
during this whole doctors visit}
she quickly started moving her arm again.

Myself,
along with the two doctors
& three nurses
decide to take one last x-ray
to make sure she is okay

At this point
we're all thinking it was a dislocation
& hopefully the second doctor
took care of business.

Twenty minutes later
Baby Bella is asleep.
exhausted from her pain
& with the medicine setting in
she finally got relief...
along with me.

We both fell asleep in the x-ray room
her little head on my heart. 
&& at that moment
I knew I wouldn't go home till she was fixed.

She is what matters to me
my whole world.
& my reason everyday
to be a better person
work hard
&& always stay positive.

Two more x-rays were taken
{while she was sleeping}
& after a phone call to a radiologist,
another talk with a doctor, and x-rays.
I am finally given the news:

"She had a dislocated elbow"

Apparently this happens frequently
with our little babies & will heal quickly.
Thank the Lord.

Baby Bella is okay
no fracture to the growth plate,
no broken bone,
no ligament or muscle damage.
{sigh}

How did she do that?
I guess it's a good question
& is still a mystery.

Maybe a lift the wrong way,
a hand held too high,
or a twist during play.

As our children age
people forget how little they really are
because they are so
wild, rambunctious & tough.

Their bones are still fragile
bodies still small.

Please don't go through
what I did.
Be gentle. Always.
No matter if it's your child,
or someone elses.

I am not mad,
nor upset.
I understand accidents happen
even with the best intentions.

Luckily,
Baby Bella bounced right back.
An hour later she was playing
like it never happened.

Such a strong little lady
...& I admire that.
I love her so, so much 
and will...
          forever & always.

Crayon Art: A Tutorial

So as you may or may not know
I do a lot of internet
browsing.
stumbling.
&& pinning.

One day I came across a picture of this project
   on Pinterest 
        {my new favorite site}
&& decided I needed to re-create it.

This project was so fun to do
because I {love} creating art
especially when its not super messy
and looks rad when it's done.

Who knew melting crayons on canvas
could be so awesome.

Here is the tutorial for all of you curious ones
have fun & send me a pic when you finish.
I'd love to see your results!

MATERIALS:
* 1 wrap around canvas- I used 22x28'' {I wanted lots of color}

* 1 box crayons- I got the "Jumbo" 120 ct. {didn't use them all but loved the selection}

* hot glue gun -with a couple spare glue sticks

* hair dryer

First unwrap your canvas and crack open your crayons.

then lay them out in the order you want.

{I layed them on my canvas to make sure I had the right amount}

Next glue each one individually onto your canvas

with the name of the color side up

{don't look at how gross my glue gun is...it's been loved}

After you're finished gluing them all on the top of your canvas

Prep your area for some splatter.

{I used plastic garbage bags}

&& plug in your hair dryer

Next take your hairdryer and start melting the wax.

keep the heat on high and the speed on low

so you don't splatter everywhere.

{Like me}

After some trial and error:

I found it best if I put the hairdryer on the paper part

of the crayon and let the wax melt inside

Mold the wax how you want it to look

with the direction of heat

&& let it cool down to finish.

I used my fingers to get the spots that wax wouldn't cover

then melted new wax over my finger spots

{don't worry the wax comes off }

Sweet huh?!

Baby Bella likes Mommy's new painting too

{she's trying to touch it}

Melt Away :)

Three Thirty a.m.

Being a Mommy
sometimes requires a set schedule.
getting up around 8 o'clock every morning
and going to bed just after
Baby Bella shuts her pretty little eyes.
sometimes at a reasonable time {9 o'clock}
other times {11 o'clock} wayy later than expected

Tonight she went down just fine
-- we have had a long week--
             but for some reason
my Mommy brain just doesn't want to
       call it quits.

Do you ever have those nights where
your so amped about life that you can't sleep?

           Or those times when you had so much
            happen today && your mind won't stop running?

It's like Christmas Eve when you were a child
           or the night before you went to Disney World.
     {Those were the good ol' days}

I'm not sure if it's a combination between
                   my eyes not burning
                                && my brain on full throttle
or my overly tired body
       && the amount of sugar flowing in my bloodstream.

But unfortunately
For some strange reason
          {tonight}
the sandman missed my pillow
       or I didn't count enough sheep
because
      I can't seem to close the curtains
              or even adjust the blinds.

So I'm willingly here
             on my computer
writing this blog post to all of you
    who just got a decent nights rest
             or maybe even logged a full nine and a half hours.

Despite my sleep loss,
I always try to be thankful for something
      && tonight
   I'm thankful for concealer
              because I'm really gonna need it today.

I guess it would be inappropriate to say
                               good night,
since most of you are sleeping right now.
         So how about I wish you all a good morning,
 because after all...
             it's three thirty am
                       && gonna be another beautiful day!

Baby Bella's First Huckleberry

Being from Montana
I love huckleberries
&& just about anything with
huckleberry flavor--

    milkshakes. froyo. taffy.
           jam. fudge. pie. mousse.
    jelly beans. syrup. && wine.

Of course all of those ^^
are made in MT ...or close to.

I know I passed huckleberry season already
but one of my good friends
            {Shannon}
said she went hiking && found some!

Ripe. Plump. && Juicy Hucleberries.

At that moment I realized I needed
to get some
                     ASAP.

The next day I decided to take
Baby Bella huckleberry picking
for the first time.

I hiked a quarter of the way up a mountain
&& decided
they all had been picked
...or died.

But I wasn't giving up quite yet.

The next area we tried was
our secret money spot.
My sweet Momma and I
had picked huckleberries there before
so I knew they were there...
&& gave it a shot.

Whaddya know.
HUCKLEBERRIES!

Of course some had
fallen off, died or got eaten by
a bear... but there were some left!

MMM...look at my huck hands! :)

We picked for about 20 minutes
before Baby Bella got tired of picking
she was hungry and it was now close
to 8:45 pm. {Yes we went late}

Once we got home
                     I put some in a small bowl
                                           --Baby Bella size-- 

                                                          && she tore them up!

                              Absolutely loved them,
                                                  {just like her Momma} <3 



   

Nooo Gabba Gabba!

Baby Bella likes to watch Nick Jr. Television
quite a bit
&& I feel that she's learning
so I let her.

Of course there are some shows
I don't mind to watch with her...
Miss Spider's Sunnypatch
or Franklin.

Unfortunately,
there are also shows I
{hate} strongly dislike.
                Yo Gabba Gabba is one of them.


A little wiki-history on Yo Gabba Gabba:

 {This storyborad wasn't written by educational executives, but instead the show was developed by two Southern California fathers with no previous experience writing for television let alone children’s broadcasting. They simply shared a mutual disappointment in kids’ television. They both wanted to design a kids' show that was both educational and entertaining while featuring real artists and real performers.

The pair first started working together as teenagers, producing and directing skateboarding videos. After doing some odd jobs here and there, Jacobs and Schultz decided to try something different.

In 1999, after becoming parents themselves, the pair started playing around with ideas for children television. They later produced a pilot independently financed by small loans from friends and family. Even after producing the pilots, Yo Gabba Gabba did not get much attention until it started circulating on the internet. It happened to get viewed by Jared Hess, the director of Napoleon Dynamite and Nacho Libre, who then phoned Brown Johnson, the executive vice president and executive creative director of Nickelodeon Preschool and told her to check it out.

The show first aired in August of 2007. }

Well no wonder that show makes me feel
like I'm using an illegal substance.
However I must admit,
Baby Bella seems to like it...

Yesterday my father came home from
a shopping trip with my sister in a town
about two hours away.

&& guess what he brought home.
Yes. this stupid little green thing
                {Brobee}
reminded him of Baby Bella.
        What is this world coming to?!

She absolutely loves it.
Plays with it.
               && laughs with it.

My motherly instincts
cringe and my innards
scream at me to change the channel
when "Yoooo Gabba Gabba" comes on.
But somehow.
I cant.

So for now the fact remains,
my daughter,
                       {along with her Yo Gabba Gabba love}
still has my heart.

Chocolate Chip Toffee Bars

As you may already know
{or maybe not}
I like to cook, bake or
whatever you call
'messing around in the kitchen.'

Yes that actually happened.
If you are me... {you might need one two eggs for this recipe}

I typically don't cook just for myself
because I find I don't eat it all
&& it goes in the trash. ugh.

So this leaves me
cooking for others I care about.
--which I don't mind at all.

One of my favorites
really likes toffee.
so after much research online
I found a recipe for
Chocolate Chip Toffee Bars.

C A U T I O N : {These things are deadly}

You will need:

No-Stick Cooking Spray

2 1/2 cups All Purpose Flour

2/3 cup firmly packed light brown sugar

3/4 cup butter or margarine

1 large egg, slightly beaten

2 cups semi-sweet chocolate chips, divided

1 cup coarsely chopped nuts {I left these out}

1 (14 ounce) can Sweetened Condensed Milk

1 (8 ounce) package toffee baking bits, divided {I used almost 2 packages}

A couple Heath bars for toppings. {I only used 1}

                              
                                 First preheat your oven to 350 degrees, &&
                          spray a 9x13'' pan with your non-stick cooking spray.

                        In a large bowl you'll need to mix
                               2 1/2 cups flour + 2/3 cups {packed} brown sugar

                                                   Cut in the 3/4 cup butter

                               Then mix the butter till it resembles coarse crumbs.

                         

                                                         Add your 1 egg & stir

                                           {I used a mixer for this step

                                                 to make sure I got everything mixed up well}

      Stir in 1 1/2 cups of semi-sweet chocolate chips

                             & nuts {if you prefer, I didn't}

                          I added more toffee bits instead

                                      

            Now it's time to make the crust--

                     Reserve 1 1/2 cups mixture for the topping

                && press the remaining crumb coat

                                into the bottom of your pan.

                Bake the crust for 10 minutes

                                  & clean up your mess in the meantime.

                                     When your crust is done

        add the whole 8 oz can of sweetened condensed milk

                    to the top

                               Be sure to spread it around

                                               to get an even coat

            It's time to add your toffee bits

                       && reserve 1/4 cup for the topping

              {I opened my new bag of toffee bits for this part

                       I also added a few more toffee bits from the other bag}

                                        Sprinkle the rest of your
                                crumb mixture on top of the toffee

              Add 1/2 cup chocolate chips on top

                   {I didn't want it super chocolatey so I only added 1/3 cup}

                             Look at these wonderful
              sugary, fattening layers!

              It's oven time!
                    Bake your toffee bars for 25-30 minutes
                               or until golden brown.
                      && use the rest of your 1/4 cup toffee bits to the top
                         when done baking.

                               Let these babies cool before cutting - I put mine in the freezer.

                  && remember try not to eat too much!

                                   They incredibly rich, sweet && yummy.

                    {I also added a mashed up heath bar

                                                        to the top for decoration}

MMMMMMM........

A Noodle Game

Tonight I made pasta for Baby Bella
she's a very picky eater
who most of the time doesn't eat enough
and drinks too many "baba's" aka bottles.

I placed the noodles on her tray
hoping she might dig in.
{normally pasta is a safe choice}
and not very messy.

Baby Bella started off well
eating them bite by bite.
her small hands
working their way towards her mouth.

                                        After a few minutes
her tastebuds could care less about noodles.

Baby Bella's hand gripped the pasta
        lead it towards the side of her tray
    && with the floor in sight
her little fingers let her pasta drop to its unexpected destination.
again.
     again.
         & again.

Untill her dinner,
was no longer dinner
                      ...but a noodle game instead.