Me vs. The Pregnancy (and post pregnancy) Pounds

Cora at 6 weeks

It's been about 7 weeks since I had the baby and my its been a heck of a 7 weeks! After I gave birth to Cora, my body kind of freaked out on me. I had the horrible pregnancy rash called PUPPS that attacked most of my body. I had shingles. The icing on the cake was when I fell down a flight of icy stairs. My body was a wreck! Thank goodness, I still had my easy-going demeanor or I could have had one heck of a postpartum depression. So finally all of those ailments are behind me and now it's time to do some serious battle with the pregnancy pounds. During my pregnancy I gained 32 pounds. After I gave birth, I dropped about 20 of those pounds in 2 weeks! I figured I'd be back on track in no time and even packed away most of my maternity clothes... Well after a lot of late night feedings and sometimes the stress of keeping up with the baby, the house, and my health, I find myself doing some stress eating. I am back to gaining weight, but this time I don't have a baby in me. I'm having to unpack some of those maternity clothes. Yikes! Well enough is enough. I decided it's time to get back to the gym, watch my calories, and reactivate the Bodybugg. I hate being in clothing limbo (too big to get back into most of my normal clothes, but to small to really fit the maternity clothes). So let the battle begin! Tomorrow will be my first day back in the gym. I'll post my progress as I go along.

Wish me luck!

And Baby Makes Three...

On Wednesday, January 19

Will and I welcomed our little bundle of joy....

Meeting the little one for the first time (yes, she was so alert!)...

It was love at first sight!

Our first night home.

Daddy bonding with his little girl :-)

One week old :-)

In the blink of an eye, our lives have changed, but we couldn't be happier!

Thank you for all the well wishes I have received.

The Elephant In The Room

Last summer I watched Bethany Getting Married on Bravo. She was putting her nursery together and came across the adorable stuffed elephant. I totally fell in love with the elephant and decided that I needed one for my baby's room. After a little research on the elephant, my dreams were shattered when I found out that they cost $130 for one stuffed elephant! They also had a mini for $50. Seriously??? I mean they are cute and all, but $130?!?! I decided I needed a backup plan. I'll make my own if I have to! I did more research and found the perfect pattern from Retro Mama for a fab price of $8. I really love how my elephants turned out. So that's what inspired the elephant baby room. I know it's not the pink dolled up room some people expected me to have, but I love the earth tone I chose for her room.

I framed the sign-in sheet and a few of the cute elephant decorations created by my friends for my baby shower.

I found this great wall decal from Byrdie Graphics on Etsy. I love how this looks on the wall!

The crib sheet and crib skirt are Sprout from Serena & Lily and the Breathable Bumper is from Target.

My insomnia has gotten worse, so I sew in the middle of the night... Here are pics of the cute burp cloths I sewed for our little one.

Thanks for stopping by the blog! Time for me to catch some make-up zzzzz's. I hope everyone has a fab week!

~Hillary

Baby Love

A few months ago, I asked my dear friend, Karen (a fab photographer), if she would do a maternity photo session for me. I really wanted to document this incredible time in my life and I knew she would do a beautiful job. As the days got closer to the photo session, I just didn't feel pretty. I was 34 weeks pregnant and I felt huge, clumsy, and frumpy. The thought of having my photo taken was just not appealing. Days before the shoot, Karen called to confirm the time and date of the session and I actually tried to cancel on her. I just wasn't feeling it. Thank goodness she knows me. She knew I would regret not doing these photos....and she was right. We kept the shoot simple. We went to a community garden right around the corner from my house and one outfit. I love how these turned out. Thank you Karen!

My maternity wear of the shoot:

• Purple tank - Liz Lange for Target
• Striped purple cropped jacket - Liz Lange for Target
• Maternity Jean - JCP
• (not pictured) Dr Scholl's gray flats (a great pair of shoes!) - DSW

Since this post is on my baby love, I decided to post this little video I shot of the baby moving the iPhone. Will always likes to feel the baby move, but of course almost every time he puts his hand on my tummy, she stops moving. I started putting an object on my belly so he can see her move.

Only 3 weeks to go! Overall, it's been a good pregnancy. Blood pressure is normal and I have gained a total of 33 lbs so far. I am hoping to make to the end under 40 lbs. I also plan on working till delivery day. I think my boss and co-workers are a little nervous about that, but I feel good and don't see a reason to stay home (other than to clean). I hope to blog again before the baby is born, but if you don't hear from me, you will once the little one makes her debut.

Have a happy, healthy, and fabulous day!

Hillary

The 2010 Christmas Holiday Season

Merry Christmas!

The Christmas holiday came in a flash! Even being 7-8 months pregnant and busy with baby preperations, I manged to squeeze a lot of my favorite holiday activities in this month. Here are a few of my holiday activities....

Handmade Christmas Cards

My girlfriends and I have been making handmade Christmas cards for the nursing home for a few years. We get together for an afternoon and bring out all of our scrapbooking and craft supplies. We cranked out aprox 80 cards this year!

The Cookie Exchange

I hosted my 2nd cookie exchange for 10 of my close friends. We each had to make 6 dozen cookies. I am always nervous to try out new cookie recipes for occasions like this so I stuck to a cookie that's always been a hit, I made the Cranberry Pistachio Mexican Wedding Cake Cookie.

Here is the completed tray of cookies after the exchange. Cookies featured this year were: Peppermint Cocoa Kiss Cookies, Triple Ginger (using crystalized ginger, fresh ginger, and powdered ginger), Red Velvet Cookies, with Cream Cheese Icing, Potato Chip Cookies, Lemon Volcanos, Oatmeal Cinnamon, Butterfinger, Snickerdoodles, Pecan Triangles, and Noels. All so good!

Stocking Stuffers

I have a huge family and a lot of cousins. We usually draw names and do a secret Santa gift exchange, but I also like to give each cousin a little stocking stuffer. This year I have sweet treats packed in paper cones for the guys, and a pair of gloves for the girls. I love how these turned out. Simple cuteness!

Well, I am off to celebrate Christmas with the family. I want to wish everyone a very Merry Christmas! I am looking forward to sharing another year with my blogger friends!

Easy No Bake Thin Mints

Tis the season for cookie exchanges, office potlucks, and holiday parties. If you're like me, it can mean you are on a baking overload. So I thought I'd share an easy no bake cookie that's always a hit for the holidays (or if you're craving Girl Scout Thin Mints on the off season).

You only two ingredients:


•Ritz Crackers (I like using the "hint if salt" Ritz Crackers)
•2 pkgs of Andes Creme de Menthe baking chips (I have tried Nestle's mint and chocolate swirl morsels and they don't melt as easily)

Yields aprox 64 cookies (about 1/2 box of Ritz Crackers)

On med-low heat, place your baking baking chips in a double boiler for melting. If you don't have a double boiler (like me), add a couple of cups of water to a pot and place a heat resistant mixing bowl in the pot.



Slowly you chocolate will melt and stir until completely smooth.



Once your chocolate is smooth, dip your Ritz Cracker covering both sides in chocolate.



Place cookies on foil, parchment paper, or even freezer paper and let it cool for about 5-10 minutes.



Once cooled, peel each cookie off the foil and redip the top of the cookie in chocolate. I suggest that you peel all the cookies first, then redip.



These cookies cool really quickly and you can easily make and plate them in 30 minutes. They also freeze beautifully and taste great right out if the freezer.


Enjoy!

- Posted using BlogPress from my iPhone

A Fabulous Baby Shower!

This weekend my sister, cousin, niece, and closest friends threw me the most fabulous baby shower! I love all of the little details that went into the shower. Here are a few of my favorite pics...

The Ultimate Diaper Cake

The diaper cake was made by my Uncle Ron. He's so amazing! He's also the same uncle who does the upside-down Christmas tree (see the previous post). Can you believe this is the first diaper cake he's made? I love the sock monkey and the G ornament (it lights up). The cake also has little rabbits around it since my baby should be born the year of the rabbit.

The Decorations

The decorations were done by my good friend, Holley. She knew I was sewing these cute elephants and using earth tones in the baby's nursery. She made these cute elephant prints and I just love how she pinned them up on a clothes line with the adorable clothes.

The Sign In Sheet

My friend, Erin, created this clever sign in sheet for the guests. Each guest placed their thumb print on the tree and signed their name. I love how this turned out and will be framing this in the baby's room.

The Cake

My friend Melissa picked out this wonderful vanilla cheesecake cake. Delicious!

The Baby Game

I'm not the biggest fan of baby shower games so my friend, Veronica, came up with the celebrity baby name game. She knows I love my celeb gossip! The craziest name on that list...Pilot Inspektor (really?). It was actually a tough game. Good thing I read US Weekly because I actually won the game!

The Party Favors

My sister made these cute rice krispie treat lollipops that spells out Cora (the baby's name). I love how they set them up in the beautiful bassinet. Thank you Tammy for the beautiful bassinet!

The Hostess With The Mostess

Here I am with the talented ladies who threw this beautiful shower for me. I am truly blessed to have such loving people in my life!