Giuliana & Bill and The Book Signing

Anyone watch their show? I do, and I must say I love them! They are really an amazing couple and have a fun dynamic relationship. And he's not too bad to look at either if ya know what I mean  ; ) I just feel like they are different than other celebrity couples who have done reality shows. I also commend them for coming out and sharing their struggle to get pregnant. It was hard enough to go through in private, I cant imagine the courage it took for them to be so open about it. And that's what we need more of! People to talk about it. Infertility has this stigma behind it. But with one in eight couples suffering with infertility, people need to know they are not alone. They are not alone in that dark place, they are not alone with trying to decide what they should do next, or if they will ever have a baby of their own. So I really really look up to them for sharing that and for using their celebrity to help raise more awareness about infertility.

They are an amazing couple and I've been watching Giuliana on E! News for years now and loooove her on the red carpet. She always gets it right. Plus she's Italian, and you know how I feel about about Italian people. So when she announced on Twitter that her and Bill were going to be in AZ for a book signing this weekend I just had to go!

I've never been to a book signing before, and had no idea what to expect so I called Borders where they were going to be appearing. I wanted to know if I should come early, if so how early, would I be there for hours and hours, and who they whole thing works. He said it all really depends on how many people they draw in, etc. I have no idea? I love them, but how many other people love them too? How many other people follow her on twitter and know about the signing? Because that's the only place I heard about it!

So I decided to go an hour early. I figured that even if there wasn't a line, I could hang out and browse until it was time. I showed up and much to my surprise there were about 30 chairs set up in front of a table. Oh okay- so we are sitting, great! I had little M with me, so I took a seat (there were about 15 other people there at that point). I hung out and chatted with a few other people that were there. As the minutes went on the seats filled up, and people started standing behind the seats. I was glad I got their early! In total there were about 50-60 people there. Miss M was waiting very patiently too....

I had my book all ready for them to sign- and for those who have never been to a book signing, a lady actually walks around and writes your name on a post it and then you put out it on the page that they will sign, I guess it cuts down on time? Idk....either way I was ready. In case you were wondering, their book is called I Do, Now What? Secrets, Stories, and Advise from Madly-in-Love Couple.

Then the manager walks out and tells us how its all going to go down, and that Giuliana and Bill said its okay to take pictures (I guess some wont allow photos), that they'd be out in a few minutes and that they were jsut the nicest people.

A few minutes later, they walked out! They said hello, grabbed a mic, and started chatting a little bit about the book, and how and why they decided to write it. They both are so cute!

After that they opened up the floor and did a Q & A. People asked all kinds of questions, from financial questions for Bill, to which designers and brands were Giuliana's favorite (she said BCBG, Bebe, H&M, and Forever 21 in case your curious), what their shooting schedule is like with the show...all kinds of questions. They were very open. It was refreshing! They seem like a really normal down to earth kind of couple. And they both have a great sense of humor...just like on the show.

Then came the fun part. Meeting them! They didn't just sign books, and off to the next person, they really took the time made a point to talk to everyone for a few minutes. I was impressed by that.

Then it was my turn! They were so sweet, both shook my hand, we chatted a little about baby M. I told them how much I admired them for sharing their struggle to have a baby so publicly, because I know how hard it is- as I put my hand over my heart. I told them to keep their heads up and know that one day it will all be worth it.

Baby Menu

I get a lot of questions on how and what I feed Miss M and love getting new menu ideas for her, so I thought I would share some of Miss M's eats. Here's a couple days worth of meal plans for baby! 

Breakfast: 1 organic blueberry waffle and a diced banana.
Lunch: Shelled edamamee, diced avocado, tomato, and a whole wheat tortilla.
Snack: A kashi nutragrain bar.
Dinner: What ever we eat- see Meal Planning Monday!

Breakfast: A slice of toast with organic strawberry preserve, diced peaches.
Lunch: Yo Baby 3-in-1 yogurt, it is yogurt with fruit AND veggie puree, like pears and green beans or peaches and squash/ They are hard to find (I buy them at whole foods), but they are awesome and she loves them. Soy chicken nuggets.
Snack: Cheerios!
Dinner: See above.

Breakfast: A Whole Wheat pancake with fresh blueberries cut in half.
Lunch: Turkey, cottage cheese, and some small pasta (macaroni, shells, etc.)
Snack: Puffs, or Bunny grahams.
Dinner: See above.

Breakfast: Scrambled eggs, an english muffin, and  peeled/sliced pears.
Lunch: Cheese quesidilla made with a whole wheat tortilla with black beans or organic mac and cheese.
Snack: Kashi nurtigrain bar, cheerios, puffs, or bunny grahams.
Dinner: See above.

I got very lucky with this one, she is such a great eater! We have not found one thing (besides cilantro) that she doesn't like. She would eat a bumper off a car if you put in on her high chair! It's really important to me to raise a very healthy eater and only feed her the best things possible. I feel like I am doing a pretty good job with that. Kay on the other hand suffers from "First Child Syndrome" and is much more picky. Very picky actually. I know exactly how that happened. Once she started eating and self feeding, if she didn't eat what I gave her, I would make and give her something I knew she would eat. Because she was a baby and had to eat something or else she will starve to death. That is a evil evil thing to start. But hind sight is 20/20 and these are the mommy mistakes you make the first time around. Hence why I call it the "First Child Syndrome". That's why I vow to be different this time around and really I haven't had to be yet, because M is the complete opposite of Kay in the eating department- she eats EVERYTHING and so well too!

Have a great Halloween weekend everyone- be safe out there! xoxo

Pumpkin Patch

Since Kay had a half day at school yesterday, I decided to take the girls to the pumpkin patch at  MacDonald's Ranch!

Its much more than a pumpkin patch; they have a petting zoo, pony rides, food, a hay stack maze, and then the hay ride, and the pumpkin patch of course. You actually had to take the hay ride to get to the pumpkin patch, it was so much fun! Miss M was totally in awe of the hay and the animals at the petting zoo, especially the donkey and the ducks they had there. Kay had her first pony ride too! In the years past, she has always been to scared to try it, but this year she hopped right on. I was so proud of her!! Here are some pics of our perfect day!

This is an AZ pumpkin patch...out in the desert ; )



Wordless Wednesday

My Girls!

 From left to right:

Jenni, Katie (& baby Hunter), Kirstin, Me, Ambie, Mya, Kim (& baby Maddi), Jaye, and Lisa!

At Ambie's Halloween themed baby shower this past Sunday!

Baby Steps

Miss M has been taking steps for over a week now, but because kids know when you are video taping them, every time I pulled out my phone to record her she'd plop down like she weighed 100 pounds. But today, I finally captured her walking!!

She walks like a little peguin, it's so funny. Thats because I tell her she's too little to be walking!! She's not even 10 month old yet. But she is determined this one! She melts my heart.

Skin Care

I am going to share my skin regimen with you; especially since I've notice a change in my skin since changing up my routine! Up until recently, I was one of those girls who went to bed with their makeup on. Yes, I know how bad that is. It totally dawned on me one day (after a nice microdermabrasion when my skin was glowing and clean) that going to sleep with all that makeup must be part of the reason why I start looking dull. I mean really yucky and just so dull looking. Its because my face is getting clogged up every night and night and not being hydrated like it should be! Duh. I used to wash my face every morning, use my moisturizer before putting on my makeup, and I exfoliated twice a week, and that was my routine. Not bad, but not great. I still use most of the same products that I have been using for years, I've just added in some new serums and added a cleaning and WOW what a difference!
 
Now I wash my face twice a day (morning and night) using my Rhonda Allison Pumpkin Cleanser that I have been using for years. Love this cleanser and it smells SO good! Like a pumpkin pie  :) The lactic acid in pumpkin is wonderful for your skin.

A few months ago, I started using Lancome Genifique Youth Activating Serum under my moisturizer after each wash.

After I wash; I use my serum and the Genifique Eye cream 

Then I apply my moisturizer. Lancome's High Resolution Moisturizer. I have been using this for years also. I love this stuff, and it also smells so good! (I use this moring and night). What I also like is that it has a SPF 15. Which we all know is the # 1 thing we can do to prevent aging- sunscreen!

2-3x per week after my nightly washing, I exfoliate using Rhonda Allison's Brightening Scrub. This scrub is amazing! I cant live without it!

I got a very generous sample of the Renergie Microlift R.A.R.E. serum , so after I exfoliate I apply that, my eye cream, and then my moisturizer. I would normally buy this serum yet- but since I only use it 2-3 x per week, the sample jar has lasted me a few months!

So there you have it! And like I said before, I really have noticed a difference in my skin over the last few weeks. It's brighter, plumper, and much more radiant! That's enough to make me keep it going- because I can actually see a difference. And listen, I don't think you have to buy expensive products to have great skin. I think the cleaning and hydrating at night with whatever skin care system you are using, a good weekly exfoliating scrub, and using a moisturizer with SPF is what every girl needs- no matter what the cost/brand. Because now since hitting the 28 year curse...a girl's gotta keep it right ;)

I Came Out Of The Closet

The I want another baby closet that is :(

I honestly felt like I was harboring a secret for the last couple months, and really I was. I have had these thoughts and feelings for a long time and was too afraid to talk to my husband about it for fear that the first words out of his mouth would be NO way! But instead I got a smirk. Not a no, or your crazy, or absolutely hell no, I got a smirk. My husband is a entrepreneur, and acts like one to the core- so I feel like if it was a NO, he would have said no right out the gate. It wasn't a serious conversation, but rather "She's so cute, we have to have another,  and " Little M really wants a little sister" (I know yall think I'm crazy wanting to fill my house with girls!), and light hearted comments like that. I didn't want to come out swinging just yet- but rather warm him up to the idea.

But see we had an agreement while TTC her that we would only have 1 child, and that would be it. He has 2 from a previous (they are grown) I had Kay, and we would have one together. I vividly remember standing our bedroom at the end of my rope and in the midst of a treatment cycle, and my husband saying to me "After all this, this is it right?" and in pure desperation, I said yes. I wanted a baby so badly at that moment that I wasn't even thinking about the future, or how I would feel later on, or if I would ever want more children. I mean, I couldn't even get pregnant with one baby, how in the world could I be thinking about trying for another in the future when I didn't know what the turn out was going to be with this.

I see the joy that our girls bring to my husband. I see his eyes light up when he looks at them, and I know deep down inside that we wouldn't mind having another. But I honestly think its hard for him to come to terms with those feelings. He's never been into kids, never wanted a big family, didn't care to have anymore kids when we met. But he is different person now. He loves them and you can see it! They make him so happy! He's Daddy!

So yesterday was our anniversary, we decided not to do gifts this year. Usually the hubs will buy me a new bag, or something else I've been eying on, but this year we decided to just go have a nice dinner. I had to go pick Kay up from school and he asked me to stop and get him a Dr. Pepper at the store.

::::Back story here: before we went to Italy, he was hooked on Dr. Pepper, he had to drink it everyday. Well in Italy there was no DP, so he detoxed and agreed that when we came back to the states, that he wouldn't start back up again. I told him I would no longer support his habit, and would not buy it at the grocery store either. About a week after we got home he started buying and hiding it in the fridge. So he's back on the crack! But I still wont buy it!::::

He told me that could be my anniversary gift to him- a Dr. Pepper. I told him "Fine, give me a baby and I'll get you a Dr. Pepper" Now I don't know, but he must have wanted that Dr. Pepper really badly because he laughed and said "Someday" and smiled at me!

HE SAID SOMEDAY PEOPLE!!!!!!!!!

Which of course in my book, is a YES! I said, "Someday, what does that mean?" he said "she's too little, maybe in another year, year and a half." Then he followed that with "You don't really want another one do you?" "It will take away from M and she'll have competition" You don't really want to do that do you...? I said "Well I don't exactly see it that way, and yes I want another! M wants a sister, she told me!"

And I left to pick up Kay from school.

The joy I felt driving to her school was incredible. Because to me, it meant I had a shot. That this could really happen. I was in bliss for about 20 minutes until I got home. Then I realized...wait, how exactly would we even do this? If you've been following this blog, you know it's not that easy for us. It's even less easy now because DH is on male birth control (aka testosterone shots). I don't think either of us would be willing to another 12 months + experimenting to try and get new sperm producing again- and who's to say it would even work this time? I just don't think that's an option anymore. We do have 2 crappy frozen sperm samples, and I think that would be our only hope. But atleast we have something....

I haven't even wrapped my head around how it would be to put myself back there again. It is such a dark dark place. What if it didn't work? What if we used all the sperm and still got no baby? All the emotions and bitterness and let downs...I just don't know how I would handle all that again. And lets not forget about the money!

I still have resentment and jealously about our infertility issues. I'm still bitter when I hear pregnancy announcements- its still hurts. One of the biggest misconceptions about having a successful pregnancy after dealing with infertility is that all those feelings go away, and because you've had a baby, its all better now. But the reality is that- its not. We are still infertile and we still cant build a family "the old fashion way". Its still a open wound for me.

Anyways- I'm getting way ahead of myself here, but I needed to get it out there. I'm not sure where this road will lead, or where it will end. So for now I'm just going to put it all aside and just hold on to the "Someday"......

Wordless Wednesday- Wedding Edition

Happy 3 Year Anniversary To Us!

Parties and Playdates

October is such a busy month for us! It's just filled with parties, baby showers, birthdays, and anniversaries! Our weekends have been full and we've been pretty busy on the party circuit. Two weekends ago, we celebrated Kay's best friend's 6th birthday! Remember this post about them through the years? Well she had a luau themed party in the evening and all of the girls had so much fun!

Then last weekend we had our good friends Mya and Wyatt over for a little play date with the babies. It's funny because Mya and I always talk about how we think our kids look a lot alike, they are very similar! So I call them Irish Twins, or her brother from another mother :) It is funny though!

Don't you think?! This weekend we are actually going to Wyatt's first birthday party, Miss M is looking forward to her man turning 1! Boy this just seemed like yesterday. Then Sunday I am going to my friend Ambie's Halloween themed baby shower! She's due with her first little girl in December. At the end of the month I am hosting a Halloween party for our play group friends, and then there's pumpkin carving and Halloween of course!

And lastly, I've started the initial process of planning Miss M's birthday party!! Can you believe it??! I'm just really starting to think about it, so you'll hear much more about this as I actually begin the planning :)

Party, Party, Party!

Meal Planning Monday

 Making my shopping list now.  Here's whats for dinner at my house this week!

• Chicken Piccata served with roasted asparagus (toss with s/p, evoo, and lay in a single layer on a baking sheet and bake at 400 for about 15 min, or until tender but still crunchy.) I'm watching my carbs, but if your not you could serve this with some angel hair on the side as well.
• Crock Pot Pasta Fagioli- I'm excited to make this, because I love it at Olive Garden! It's sort of like Italian chili.
• Shrimp and Veggie Fajitas with whole wheat tortilla's (I use more veggies in mine; red bell peppers, green bell peppers, red onions, and sliced whole tomatoes) .
• Easy Chicken Stir-Fry Skillet with brown rice. I use broccoli, mushrooms, baby bok choy, red peppers, carrots, shelled edamame, and green onions.
• Pesto Turkey and Pesto also excited to try this, you just cant find a dinner any simpler than this! Served with sauteed yellow squash.

New Darker Do

So I finally took the plunge and went a little darker! We just added in some low light to create some depth. I love it! I think it was time for a change, even though I love being super blonde. And so far, everyone is telling me it makes me look younger, you think?

Thoughts? You like?

Kindermusik and Fancy Fingers

I have been looking for an activity for me and the baby to do while Kay is at school, to get out and have some fun together. It's also a great way to meet new mommy friends. So when I saw that my gym offered Kindermusik classes, it only made sense to check it out. I mean, we are already there, its part of our routine going there, so it just made sense. We took our first class this week and baby M had a great time! We sang songs, played with the parachute, musical instruments, shaker toys and scarfs, and other babies of course. We sang and danced and learned about our body parts and senses. It was a free trial class, but I went ahead and enrolled because I think it will be a great activity that we can do together! I did the exact same thing with Kay, so it is so very nice that I get to give M the same attention, etc. that she got as a baby. I'm so lucky!

I am still going to look (take free trial classes) at My Gym, and The Little Gym. Gymboree's class times didn't work well with our schedule, they were right during nap time, but I might check it out one day too- because after all her nap schedule wont stay the same forever!

I also have the nanny taking her to story time at the local library one day a week and now that its getting cooler out finally we've been making trips to the park again- YAY!

Kay told me a few weeks ago that she wants to learn how to play the piano, so I've been trying to find someone in our area where she can take lessons. Can I just say how happy I am that she's showing interest in music?! Like I've said before, I have absolutely no musical talents and really wish I did. So it made me very happy when she brought it up. Also, if anyone can play piano its this kid! She has super long fingers and not that it really matters, but she is also doubled jointed in all of them! It's kinda creepy and amazing what she can do with them. We tell her she has Fancy Fingers. So we are going to try to put those Fancy Fingers to good use :)

I'm all about exposing my kids to as much as possible, and letting them chose what they want and love to do. I want them to be well rounded, open minded, creative little beings and I think it is important to us as parents to provide them with a creative platform to try and experience new things!

Wordless Wednesday

At the park

And I've been getting nothing but this from Kay these days...makes me so mad!

My girls!