4 Months

Hey there Logan.. Looks like you are feeling better huh?

Yeah it was tough but it's all good now...

So Buddy - did you realize that today you are 4 months old?

No way! That's the coolest thing I have heard in the last 5 minutes!

Let's see how you do in the jumpy since you are such a big guy

And in this corner, weighing in at a whopping 15 pounds, Logan!

Woah there, what are you doing now?

Well, you see, I wanted to see what it tastes like...

What's wrong with that?

Coming SOON

As of 5 minutes ago, I purchased my domain - so soon you can access my site via:

www.lifeandloveofaparrothead.com

WhohooO! It make take some time for it to migrate over, so be patient.

Don't worry, if you type up the old domain (breivesnash.blogspot.com) it will forward you to the new one, but if you want to update your bookmarks - just wanted you to know!

Also - very very soon my blog will be totally redesigned. There are big changes ahead for you fellow parrotheads!

What I WORE Wednesday....

I at least snapped a photo in the chaos that was yesterday... Logan has been very sick with an ear infection which led to screaming, not sleeping, fever, etc. Man.

I didn't get to work until about 10:30am because I needed to sleep a little, so this is what I pulled on to be safe:

Yes, my feet are this white.

Shoes: Bandolino (I really heart this company's shoes!)
Pants: Gap from a long time ago. Oh yeah, they fit now!Cardigan: J Crew
Tank Top: Target! I have like 5 of these.
Necklace: Pandora.
Scar on chest: Swimming in the lake and something got me!
Hair: Finally getting cut today. It's been 14 weeks! EGADS!

I will post more about Logan being sick later on.

How was last night?

It seems that as you get older and move through phases of your life, the statement "How was last night" changes meaning.

When you are 6 and had your first over night sleepover and your mom picks you up.. "how was last night?!!" Then you cry because that bitch Suzie stole your barbie clothes or made you sleep on the floor.
Or if you are me and called mom at 3am "I wanna go hooooome!! Last night didn't last so long...

When you are 15 or so going on a date, you are on the phone the next day with your best friend (who you secretly hate because she is prettier/skinnier/has cuter clothes than you) asks "OMGeeeee how was last night!!!!" you talk about how the jackhole didn't buy your popcorn and then was a terrible kisser.

Then there is college.. "How was last night!?" is a super dangerous question. What if you are the girl that went to the rave, did a little X, and wound up asleep in the back of a van?
Or the sorority girl who went to the mixer and got in a fight with another "sister" because she was hitting on your boyfriend?
Or the one that has already starting collecting cats.. Last night was fab when Fluffy pounced Snowball and they wrestled!
Or the slut who will tell you way too much info on what/who she did last night...

Right now, the question "how was last night?" is asked by my husband. Since Logan was born, nights have been a struggle. I slept on the couch for the first 8 weeks. I still don't make it through the night most nights.

Lee is oblivious unless something major goes down like puke or screaming (both last night.. Logan puked, I screamed). So most mornings he rolls over and says "how was last night?"
I usually just say "oh fine I got up at 3 and was back asleep by 3:30."
He says "awesome!"
Uh no, not really!
With sick baby in the house, Lee hasn't had to ask the question because he has had to live the nights along with me.

How about you? What does "how was last night?" mean to you these days?

5:30 a.m.

Lee and I are not morning people. We love our sleep.
Before Logan, we would sleep as much as possible on weekends. Even having "Nash Nap time" on Friday afternoons after work. Even the dogs are super sleepers.

To say Logan turned that upside down is an understatement.

However, Logan has been pretty good at the night sleeping. Usually one wake up and it's about 30 minutes max after once his tummy is full.

Today, he decided to start the party at 5:30am.

Imagine how happy this made me...

Here are thoughts from my forced early wake time:

• Ah HAH! This is when music videos are played on MTV.
  
• There are 5 ladies at the local radio station pregnant at the same time. How is one of them NOT the sluttyish traffic girl?
• No shit there isn't traffic at 5:30am. Most people are sleeeeeping. {hear that Logan?}
• Why is Lady Gaga wearing a skull mask?
• What is a Gaga?
• I predict I will be a very grumpy person today.
• Is it normal for your eyes to burn when you are this sleepy?
• I am so going to bed at 8pm tonight.
  
• Oh but United States of Tara and Nurse Jackie come back tonight. Dang.
• Why do they still even make music videos? The type who are up this early {unless forced} don't watch MTV anyway.
• I am really bad at changing a diaper this early.
  

There you have it. I think this qualifies for Manic Monday eh?

Braised Short Ribs

Try these!

Hungry for lunch?

Head on over to Sticks To Your Ribs for my favorite lunch item in the entire world...

Logan has a story..

So mom... did you know I could roll onto my side?
Oh wait.. something is on tv that is cool...What's the weather like this weekend huh? Hey frog, move outta they way! *shake shake*Man I am a handsome guy... Where is that tooth I am trying to cut?
Gotta do my push ups to get big and strong!
I prefer them with one arm you know...

Cake

I now possess a copy of Adobe CS5 Mastersuite and while Logan is snoozing, I wanted to mess with some photos.

First - I downloaded Pioneer Woman's Actions Here

Then I looked through some photos to find some candidates. The photos that stick out first that need help are our wedding photos..

Lee and I were BROKE when we got married. In fact if you take zero and subtract money from that... that is how broke we were.

So when it came to photos, we didn't have much to spend on a fancy photographer. So what did I do? I scanned all the proofs.
(For my friends that read this that are photographers, please don't hate me!)
But she also gave us a disk of the photos she took off her digital. This is back when some digital cameras still took a floppy disk..

Oh Hi - I am old.

All these digital ones are yellow... why????

So here we will look at the cakes.

Here is a before of my cake:Wow.. fugly huh? Even more so when yellow and crooked.
So here is my attempt at fixing it...Still ugly but not yellow!

I asked for a simple white cake with very very light pink piping and pearl strands..

I was given a cake meant for a quinceanera..

But the little ladies watching me pick it up were all misty and super proud so I just took it, shoved it in the jeep, and drove off.

Asking Donald a million times "How bad is it, REALLY?"
I think he had thoughts of jumping out of the car...

Now here is Lee's cake:
Cute huh? A real baker made it.. not Randall's...
Here is my attempt to fix...

Now I am hungry....

But ugly cake and all... we are living happily ever after!

Fill in the Blank Friday!

I snagged this from Chloe - who snagged it before me. Play along!

1. My most prized possession is Obviously Lee and Logan, but I am still in love with my wedding ring, even after nearly 6 years!

2. If I could be one age for the rest of my life, I would want to be 30. It's not 29 and it's not 31 and my goodness am I happy at this age!

3. The best way to spend a weekend is In the backyard with Lee, Logan, and the puppies. Pure bliss.

4. My outlook on life is "everything happens for a reason."


5. If you want to annoy me, complain about everything without a solution on how you will change it. Not productive!

6. I am completely defenseless when it comes to brownies. or cookies.


7. When dressing for the day one should put on whatever makes you feel comfortable and pretty. :) --- I agree with Chloe!

Whatcha Wearin Wednesday part duex

Logan was offended that I didn't tell everyone what HE was wearing today...

Geeze.

So here you go!Hiya Ladies!

Drama avoided. Now Daddy is taking us to TIA's (Hi Jessica! That's what you get for that apple comment.....) for dinner!

Whatcha Wearin Wednesday?!

I saw this on Chloe's Blog and LOVED IT! So I am participating...

Excuse the photos, I am at work - obviously working hard huh?
I cannot get the above photo to rotate, even though it's oriented correctly on the computer...
Shoes: Audrey Brooke (from DSW I think)
Pants: Everyday Chinos from J Crew (my favorite things on earth!)
Jacket: Banana Republic
Shirt: Ann Taylor Loft
Scarf: Target
Freckles on my chest: thanks mom.

What about you? Whatcha Wearin? (leave me a link in a comment!)

Living Room Spruce Up

Awhile back, while still on leave, I hit up Target wanting new lamps for the living room. We had the same lamps since we bought the house 5 years ago and I wanted something different. I bought lamps and shades and was so excited when I got home to spruce up the living room.

Then I realized, after getting Logan inside and opening the back of the car..

I left the shades on the bottom of the cart in the Target parking lot.

Shit.

Yesterday I went to Target on my lunch break to buy odds and ends (you know formula, rice, puffs, a bottle, etc) and walked by the lamp shades. The ones I had already purchased once were on sale so I grabbed them up.They look great.
But now... i am starting to look around the room wanting to spruce up everything else.
We have an actual authentic oriental rug in our living room. Lee and his parents lived in Hong Kong for a few years when he was little while his dad worked for a big accounting firm. They had major money and bought all these huge rugs. When we moved into our house, we inherited one. The fringe is all gone (thanks to Lee's childhood dog and Lola...) but it's a traditional red and cream oriental. It goes well with our dark leather furniture and dark wood pieces...
However - with the new lamps/shades... I want something different. I want to lighten up the room a little...
So is it wrong to want to replace a pretty valuable rug with something more natural like this:

West Elm Jute Rug

And new throw pillows like this?

West Elm Pillows

Or These?

Pottery Barn Classic Button Pillows

And even throwing these on the front porch rockers...

Pier One pillow

Maybe I just need some beach time...

Comfy Cozy

Last week I had a meeting in one of the office towers that connects to the Galleria.

Oh Darn!

So on my walk back to my strategically parked car, I stopped in to Victorias Secret. I was tired of the granny panties I had worn through the end of my pregnancy and postpartum. I wanted pretty girly panties!

While filling up my bag, I walked by these t-shirts in the PINK section. Normally I don't even look in the PINK section because I am not 16 and don't like huge words written across my ass. But these shirts grabbed me. Super thin, long, sleep T's.

I grabbed 2 and I am so glad I did. They look similar to this:But they are plain and really really thin. I love them because, with Logan, I can throw these on and be comfortable and they are thin enough to sleep in. On the occasion I have to get up in the middle of the night, I don't want to hunt down pj bottoms.

So a cute, thin sleep T plus cutie panties may have made me parade around the house a little.

Response from Lee? "Why is that night gown bright pink? It is 80's?"

I had a glass of wine....

Mawwage...

Who doesn't love The Princess Bride? "Mawwage..."

Speaking of Marriage, Lee and I had an interesting conversation with another couple (not yet married but they should already, geeze) about it. We are friends with a couple that we all think have a "Power Struggle" marriage. We don't see it as very loving and giving.

I don't want to give the impression that we sit around and gossip about other friends. This was actually a very heartfelt conversation about how we, as outsiders, see this other marriage.
As we were talking, our friend said "I have always thought you guys have one of those rare marriages. It just works."

This blew me away. I mean we all like to think we have THE marriage. The one people envy and want to have. But to hear someone actually say they can see we have a healthy marriage, made me really happy.

Lee and I have sat and talked about marriage before. We believe that when you get married, you aren't in it to change the other person or to hold him/her back. You should only marry that person if you are happy with who they ARE. You can't have these notions that you will mold them into who you really wish they were.

You also can't be a selfish schmoe. Sure, we all have our indulgences... but if you start to see that something you do very often is starting to cause a problem - you need to evaluate if that something is truly worth it.

Bringing Logan into the picture caused a lot of internal conflict for me while I was pregnant. Lee and I are so happy. We know what the other is thinking... we know where they will say they want to go to dinner before you even ask... we are peas and carrots people! So when we decided to have a baby, I freaked a little. This was going to uproot the very thing we have so much ultimate trust in...

In the end, it made us stronger. We saw each other step up to the plate in ways we never had to before. We are watching each other raise this little person who brings us joy every day.

We had to really become less selfish as a couple and as individuals as well.

Lee and I also got married relatively young for today's standards. We were 25, fresh from college, not 2 pennies to rub together. However, we both knew within 2 weeks that this was it for us.

This after I had been with someone for 4.5 years.. I am with Lee 2 weeks and I am sold.
That is a scandalous story for another time...

Weekends

I am loving the weekends with Logan.

We Bounce:The wilder my hair, the better I bounce eh?

Then we Sleep:

Thank you Mrs. Tiffanie for the Lovey.

Repeat.

St. Patty's Day

Yesterday we all wore green and I was a huge FAIL as a mom and only snapped one photo of Logan in green:
Then last night we dropped Logan with Grandma and went to the rodeo.
The rodeo is a slightly big deal around here every year. It's the opportune time to put on a short dress and cowboy boots and drink beer and eat bad food.

I missed the memo - I don't own real cowboy boots. I own riding boots to wear over jeans in the winter. I looked out of place big time.

But I didn't really care.
The entertainer was Zac Brown Band, whom I love ever since I saw him do Crossroads with Buffett on CMT.

What's wrong with the dog?

He gave a great show and was totally worth the pain in the ass to park and eat bad food.

Logan slept all night but that's only if you count him being awake at Grandma's from 7pm - 10:30pm, awake in the car ride home, eating at 11pm and then sleeping until 7am.

I blame it on being 150 degrees in her house and the fact that she can't put the boy down.
But I enjoyed 8 hours of uninterrupted sleep...

Man am I ready for the weekend...

Prezzies

Coming back to work was not easy for me at all. It honestly was a financial decision, not a life-happiness decision (other than loving to have money...)

So in order to bribe myself back to work I had to buy myself little prezzies to make it more fun!

First purchase? A new wireless mouse for my desk. My mouse cord gets tangled in my phone cord and I get all persnickety...Then I got myself new pink headphones. We work in an open environment and can hear everything around us. The only way to concentrate is to "plug in" as we say.The awesome thing about these Philips headphones is that the little cone that goes in your ear is very soft - so you don't get that sore ear feeling from hard plastic in your ear off and on all day. I luv em and want to buy some for home to wear when walking Logan around.

Next up is a new coffee mug for my desk. I am shopping around every time I hit Starbucks until I find one that I really like. I drink about 4 cups a day so why not have a super pretty cup?

I love prezzies!

Fun Times

Logan continues to do one thing...

Get Big.

So since he is really kicking his legs and concentrating on kicking things, I wanted to see how he did in this hand me down jumpy before ordering an expensive jumparoo.. Teddy was super interested since Logan isn't on his level all that often...

Hey ma? Are you sure about this?

But after a minute he started to have a good time and coo and gurgle! Last time I put him in he kind of slumped over and didn't look to enthused. This time was exciting!

This is pretty sweet!

This week we also started something new to try and get him sleeping all night. He was fighting those 10pm bottles hard and I usually had to wake him up for them.. so through the help of Missy (whose precious 12 week old sleeps 12 hours) I am now putting more in the day bottles (by about 1/2 ounce for now) and if he wakes up in the middle of the night I am putting less in each bottle each night to try and wean him off. So far we sleeps from about 7pm to 1-2am. Last night was 5 ounces at 2:30am so tonight will just be 4 or 4.5 ounces if he wakes up. He did have way more food tonight than last night so we'll see. He has been asleep since 7:30pm and took 7ounces...

I ordered a fun onesie for him when I was pregnant that he finally fits. and he is 14 weeks!! Holy cow!

Got Schnauzer?

Lee and I talk every single day about how super happy we are. I hope all you reading this have a great feeling of happiness tonight/today.

Oh - I hope you like the blog sprucing I have been doing! I also spruced up my cooking blog, Sticks to your Ribs.. check it out!

Re-do!

Jessica and I are both working together to tweak our blogs. So be patient through background changes and layout differences.
Also - if anyone knows how to make a HTML button that people can display on their blogs to advertise yours, please let me know!!

SLEEP

When I was having trouble with Logan's sleeping, I was told over and over "Put him on a schedule!" So I tried it.
I tried BabyWise, I tried Baby Whisperer, I tried several "schedule" books. I fed him on the dot at certain times even if he was asleep - I just woke him up.

I am sorry but this is nuts. Wake up a baby to feed it? It's SLEEPING. Which is the goal right? Most times, by the time he ate, had awake time, and fell asleep, he was asleep not even an hour and I was waking him up to eat again. Crazy town.

So basically the only time I woke him up after about 8weeks was at 10pm to eat a bottle and then everyone went to bed.

The last 2 weeks, he has been refusing most of the 10pm bottle. He eats half and just crashes or yells because he doesn't want it.

Coming to work today, my neighbor here has a 5 month old baby girl. I asked her what she does. She never used a "schedule." (she has 2 kids) Her baby gets home from daycare, eats about 6:30ish, and sleeps. When she wakes back up, she feeds her again, and that's it. Sometimes it's 11pm. Sometimes it's 1am. But either way it's better than 4am when you are staring at the clock because you know your alarm goes off at 6:15.

So tonight I am trying that. Feed little dude at 6:30-7, let him sleep till he wakes up, feed him again, go to bed. Done. I can't keep waking up at 4 all frustrated because he should be asleep. He isn't going to sleep from 10:30-7 if he only ate 3 ounces. I would rather wake up at 1am and still get 5 more hours of good sleep.

We'll see.

Handmade?

I saw this over at My New Life as a Housewife and thought it looked fun!

Here's how it works:

• Be one of the first five people to comment on this post.
• You will receive something handmade from me within the next few months.
• Post about Pay it Forward on your blog/social media site of choice, and send something handmade to the first five people who comment on your post before 2011 is over. Keep the craftiness going!
• You can send anything, big or small, it just must be handmade.
• If you want; do a follow up post and share what you get! Let’s see all the crafty goodness!!!

We cooked... forever

Last night Lee and I teamed up to make a complicated meal. Because what else are relaxing weekends for?

You can read about it here. Sticks To Your Ribs

Oh and Logan is 14 weeks. How did this happen? Who allowed this? Not ok that he is outgrowing clothes left and right. NOT OK!

We have lunch today at the in laws since Laura is in town. I will take some photos of Mr. 14 weeks.

Then I will cry in the corner.

Good Friends and Beer

Lee started a new obsession when I got pregnant.... BEER.

See when I got pregnant, he lost his wine buddy. So he turned to craft beer and is now obsessed.

Exhibit A: The BEER FRIDGE in the garage:
Which is full of expensive, rare, craft beer:
Exhibit B: He even installed this thing that keeps the fridge at 55 degrees. Some beers can be aged, apparently. Okie Dokie..

So last night, when we were invited by Tony and Tiffanie to go to Petrol, one of Lee's favorite places, he jumped at the chance.
As always we laughed and laughed and had a great time!

We sat outside and enjoyed a cool Texas evening...And enjoyed each others company...
Oh and the babies were there too!

I find it fitting that this onesie, painted by my friend Carlin, fits Logan now:
If you notice by Lee's thumb, there is a beer mug...

Happy Weekend everyone!

Survey Time...

I have 5 minutes before the bottle is warmed for Logan so here goes!
(Stolen from Glamorous Life of a House Wife)

A. Age: 30

B. Bed size: KING.

C. Chore you dislike: The bathroom

D. Dogs: Have 2, love them to pieces!

E. Essential start to your day: A smile from Logan. Then tons of coffee.

F. Favorite color: I really don't have one. I guess I dislike orange...

G. Gold or silver: Silver

H. Height: 5' 1" (confirmed recently by my dr)

I. Instruments you play(ed): Nada

J. Job title: Interior Designer

K. Kids: One awesome little dude, Logan!

L. Live: In a bungalow

M. Mom’s name: Diane, or Madre as I call her.

N. Nicknames: Bre

O. Overnight hospital stays: Appendix and Logan.

P. Pet peeves: Anything involving driving like turn signals, mini vans, coming to a complete stop to turn into a parking lot..

Q. Quote from a movie: "You have a baby! in a bar..." (I recently did that...)

S. Siblings: Nada

T. Time you wake up: Ha. Normal time is 6:30am. But has been preceded lately by 3:30 for a tiny bottle.

U. Underwear: Yep.

V. Vegetables you don’t like: Not really sure...

W. What makes you run late: Honestly? Lee.

X. X-rays you’ve had: Teeth mainly

Y. Yummy food you make: Chocolate Chip Cookies, Pot Roast, Spaghetti.. i love to cook

Z. Zoo animal favorites: Giraffes. Not a fan of the zoo...

Blogs Blogs and more Blogs!

I heart blogs. I have at least 20 I read on a regular basis. I posted about this before, but now have some to add...

Still a favorite is I'm Gonna Kill Him. She reached out and helped me a lot when I was hitting the PPD wall and I will always appreciate it.

If you look at my buttons you will see Pineapples and Pickles. LOVE HER. In fact we are all having dinner tonight and I just may have to take my camera.

A good friend of my from college, who had the unfortunate luck to be on teams with me often (I worked full time and had little extra time) is Jessica at Doubling the Dewitts.

Also, a new button I added is Amy's Blam. Between the blog and her tweets, I laugh out loud every day.

This blog is unique because it is 3 different women who contribute. All are hilarious. Ad Hoc Mom.

If you watch the Bachelor, even just to see the crazy, you will love I Hate Greenbeans. Also if you love Dr. Pepper.

Enjoy reading. I guess I should get back to work...

Reports

Everyday when I pick up Logan - I not only look forward to seeing that little guy, I look forward to looking at his daily report! When I drop him off I fill out when he last ate and when he needs to eat again. Then they fill out when he ate, how much, his naps, and his diapers.

Because my scanner is lame and won't work, I took a picture of today's:You will see she circled "Diapers" at the bottom. Man these folks change some diapers! But if it just says "S" or "D" then they don't change it. So it looks like he was changed 5 times today. At least he isn't sitting around wet. So tomorrow I will take a stash of diapers up there for them to put in his bin. I take about 40 at a time.

He took pretty good naps today, for him. I can't believe he slept from 8:10-11. He never sleeps that long in the day! Yesterday he took awful naps and was a terror to get to sleep at 7.

When I pack the bag each morning, I make sure he has 3 bottles, even though he only eats 2. I just want to make sure that if he has a day where he is super hungry or if something happens to a bottle, he has enough. I also have a bottle of "on the go" formula in the bag for a super emergency and because I am a little OCD.
There is a change of clothes in the bag as well. Today was the first day that I picked him up and he was in the change of clothes. Apparently he urped up most his bottle today on himself. He does that now and then with the reflux.

I have mixed feelings on his "teacher." Her name is Lucy and she is an odd little bird. I mean she is nice and everything but she is short and has HUGE glasses and looks a little.... challenged? But Logan seems happy everyday and I have picked him up at random times and he is always doing just fine so I won't worry about it.

And welcome to a mostly pointless post.

Slight Irritation

No, I do not have the kind of irritation you need a cream for...

My irritation is with the same questions you get asked when you have a baby.

Before I went back to work I was irritated when I was asked "Are you still nursing him?" and "Is he on a schedule?"

After I would think "None of your business" I would just politely answer.

Now, back to work, I get "Are you still nursing him?" and "How does it feel coming back to work?!" "Is he sleeping through the night?"

Geemus people. What does it matter to you if I am nursing my baby? And the people asking me are not like close friend/coworkers. It's clients or people I see in the elevator...
How does it feel coming back to work? It sucks ok? Thanks for asking!

Maybe it is more than a slight irritation..

Anyway - on to the next topic: Sleeping.

Logan is doing pretty good on the sleeping thing. More often than not he sleeps from 10:30-7. Sometimes it's a good sleep where I actually wake up and check on him and sometimes he is noisy and wakes up a little and needs a pacifier.

So I am trying to decide when the right time is to try and get him sleeping in his crib... I mean if you were a little sweet baby wouldn't you want to sleep in here?Rather than here?Shoved next to the bed in a little pack and play?
(Yes, I made the bed right before I took the picture.)

Of course his favorite spot is in the swing:

Where he is right now.

Maybe tonight at 7 when he is asleep I will put him in the crib and see how long he makes it. I want him to start sleeping pretty good in his own crib from 7-10 before I try it at night. Up until now he never makes it more than a good 30 minutes in his crib and he wakes up.

Anyone have any ideas?