Make these!

Valentine's Day is usually pretty low-key around here. We try and do a nice meal in and a some kind of dessert. This year, with a newborn and a wild two year old, quick and easy works best. I found these peanut butter pretzel treats and thought they fit the bill so gave them a try. Delicious! They remind me of a Hershey take 5 candy bar, salty, sweet, peanut butter and chocolate, a perfect combo! Recipe found here.

image via

A Birth Story

It's hard to believe Owen is 6 weeks old today. Where has the time gone? I thought I would share the story of his arrival.

With no signs of him making an appearance on his due date, I decided to hit the gym for a light workout in hopes of moving things along. I guess it worked because early the next morning I woke up to light cramping. By about 6am, full on contractions had started. Things seemed to be moving along rather quickly. Reese was in daycare that day so Scott got her ready and left to drop her off. By the time he was home, I was in quite a bit of pain, having contractions every 6 or 7 minutes. We called the hospital and they said to try and wait until they were 3 or 4 minutes apart. By 10am, they were almost unbearable and I decided it was time to go. I was having intense contractions every couple minutes on the half hour drive to the hospital.

Once we arrived, Scott was asking me where to park and I think my response was something like, '...just stop the car and let me out anywhere'. I was not in a good place by then! We got in and found out I was dilated to a 6 or 7. I told the midwife I really wanted an epidural and at first she questioned me saying I was already so close. I was not messing around though and said I definitely wanted the epidural. In order to have one, I had to be moved upstairs, out of the midwife unit. At that point, I didn't care where I would be, just wanted the meds! The midwife took about 20 minutes to get my paperwork sorted and call upstairs to advise I would be coming up. When she came in to get me in a wheelchair to head upstairs, I was having the urge to push so she checked me again. In 20 minutes I had gone from 6 or 7cm dilated to fully dilated and ready to push. He was on his way, ready or not. I pushed for around 40 minutes and was holding my sweet baby boy.

One minor hiccup in the delivery process was his cord was loosely wrapped around his neck. The midwife lifted it up and around his neck and it snapped, spraying both midwives and the room with blood! It honestly looked like a crime scene in there. Both midwives said they had never seen anything like it before. No cord cutting for Daddy.

No time for any pain management was not in my birth plan. At all. I was fully intending on having an epidural, gas and air, whatever would help me get through labor and delivery. I never thought I wouldn't even have the option. Even though it wasn't part of the plan, it is amazing to think what your body can endure. Of course, there were times I was begging for something and honestly didn't think I could do it. But in the end, I did, proving myself wrong and reminding me what we're capable of if we really dig deep.

Owen was 8lbs. 5oz. and 20in. long. He looks a lot like his big sis did when she was born. He was due for a check-up at 6 hours of life and if all was well, we were planning on heading home. Unfortunately, the midwife detected a heart murmur when she was checking him over so we had to stay the night for further observation. They explained that it was fairly common for a valve in newborns hearts to close up on its on within the first 24-48 hours of life if it hadn't before birth. We were hoping that was the case with Owen. At his 24 hour check up, the murmur was still there so he needed further testing. The tests all checked out okay and they would listen for the murmur again at 48 hours of life. Luckily, at 48 hours, the murmur could no longer be detected. It was a stressful couple of days, but we're so thankful all was well in the end and have a beautiful and healthy baby boy.

We are busy trying to adjust to life with two kids. Not as easy as it sounds but we're learning as we go!

Spring Lust List: Toddler Style

With Spring around the corner, I've been thinking ahead to warmer weather clothes. Including updating Reese's and now Owen's wardrobes too. Here are a few spring finds from H&M I'm loving for the kiddies.

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From skeptic to believer: Adventures in potty training

Clearly, I'm way behind in blogging. I wrote this post on November 30th and am just now getting around to posting it. Life with two kids has been a little hectic but I'm hoping I'll be making more regular appearances here on the 'ol blog!

The inevitable 'potty training' milestone is something most parents both dread and long for at the same time. Oh how nice it will be when the kids are out of diapers, right? It's the getting there that's the tricky part. Sometimes it's just easier to keep them in diapers a little longer. I know how lazy that sounds but it's a daunting task I assure you. I am a planner by nature so going in blind so to speak usually doesn't work well for me. I would much rather have something to follow with specific steps all laid out. Enter, Lora Jensen's 3 day potty training method. I know, I know, it sounds much too good to be true. What child is actually potty trained after just 3 days? Wishful thinking commence please. But seriously, it made a believer out of me. A friend swore by this method and said her daughter hadn't had one accident after day 1. Day 1?! Are you kidding me? So, I told myself I at least had to give it a try.

It is basically a 3 day period of intense focus on only potty training. That's right, following your child around for 3 straight days without leaving the house until it 'clicks' for them. Meanwhile, throwing out the diapers at the beginning of day 1. There were many times over the 3 days I was about ready to throw in the towel. Yeah right, what a hoax, 3 day blah blah blah. Even the first time Reese told us she had to go and made it to the potty in time, I chalked it up to coincidence. But from that one time, it really did seem to click for her. It's all about doing away with the coincidence factor and rather making them recognize the feeling and then expressing that to you. Reese hasn't had an accident while she's been awake since that one time on day 2. Which brings me to my next point. Nighttime training. Ugh. She does say in her book, most kids should be waking up dry if they are over 22 months of age. Well, Reese rarely woke up dry before we started so I had a feeling this would be the tricky part for us. She also stresses kids can be trained day or night with this 3 day method. I don't think that's the case for us specifically, but I'm happy with where we are after only a few days. We are still working on morning wake up potty trips to avoid the accident in the bed (which is still hit or miss at this point). One day at a time I guess.

Update: Now, 2 1/2 months later, Reese is still doing great with potty training. We're still struggling with nighttime training so she's in pull-ups for the time being. Hopefully, we will tackle that soon. Maybe when we're all getting a bit more sleep around here!