Perno Pizza Friday

This Friday's Perno Pizza Friday consisted of leftover meatballs from the week, thawed spinach, fresh tomatoes, toasted pine nuts, goat cheese & mozzarella cheese. Mike brushed the dough with olive oil & seasoned the crust with garlic salt & Parmesan cheese & par-baked it so it would have a bit of a crisp to it to hold up to the weight of the ingredients.

I forgot to take a picture of the finished, baked product, but I can assure you that it was delish! Actually, as I type this, we have some of the leftover slices baking in the oven for lunch today. Yum!

Friday Can't Come Soon Enough

This week seems to be endless. Tuesday evening I was absolutely exhausted & seriously felt like it should have been Thursday based off of how I felt. Most weekdays I'm somewhat motivated to get the house straightened up, keep laundry going & make decent dinners. This week I've had a headache & zero energy. And along with that, I've been very emotional & just feeling low.

It hasn't helped my mood that each morning as I ran out the door to get to work on time, Cam reached his arms out to me, crying, "Ma-muh!" I'd start my drive to work with a lump in my throat & a sad feeling in my heart. I'm very relieved that it's Thursday night & the weekend is almost upon us & I'll finally be able to spend some downtime with my family. Plus, Grammy (Mike's mom) is coming into town Saturday evening & staying two weeks which means Cam will get a break from the germs at day care!

This week is also starting to look up as I had some wonderful cuddle time with Cam tonight as he drank his milk & got ready for bed. That is, hands down, my favorite time of day. I get to kiss his soft, fluffy hair & take in his wonderful Cammy smell!

Here's to hoping that my attitude & mood keep on pickin' up!



This is my favorite sleeper that Cam wears; he looks absolutely adorable & so baby-esque whenever he wears it.





And this is the sight I get to see each morning as I get Cam dressed for "school." Of course, he isn't normally wearing navy blue socks pulled up to his knees; that was just me goofing around at his expense! Ahh, he won't mind. At least I don't think he will... only time will tell!

Feeling Better. Hooray, Hooray!

My little love took a visit to the pediatrician today & I'm happy to report that everything came back negative from strep throat to the flu! He had a restful day at home with Daddy & even felt well enough to take a trip to the park this evening after I had gotten home from work. He had an absolute blast; it was a gorgeous evening & he was climbing around the play area like a champ.

Watching him laugh, run around & explore new things turns my heart into a gob of goo! I love that boy with everything & I'm so glad he's feeling better! Let's just hope this sickness stays far, far away. For at least a little while anyway.

Anxiety!

My little dumpling is sick again! This latest illness has us at our wits end since one moment he's fever free, happy-go-lucky & healthy & the next time we turn around, out of nowhere he has a 103 degree fever. My stomach is in absolute knots as I type this & I just want him to feel better.

Saturday morning Cameron was as happy as a clam & his temperature felt completely normal. (It seems that since having a child, our lips are instant thermometers when kissing his head). Anyway, by Saturday night, he seemed a tad warm, but I thought nothing of it. By Sunday evening he was very warm & ended up having a restless night sleep. As I dressed Cam for day care today, I felt in my heart that he would likely not last the day there since he again felt warm. But, he was in good spirits, drank his milk & ate his breakfast, so we decided to send him. By 3pm I was leaving work to get him after the day care called.

Cam has had a follow-up appointment scheduled for this coming Wednesday ever since his doctor noticed that his right ear had a slight infection during his 15 month well visit. We bumped his appointment up to tomorrow since Mike has to take the day off anyway (a baby has to be fever-free for 24 hours before going back to day care). I just feel so anxious right now & want nothing more than for him to feel better. Sometimes when Cam is sick, my mind starts racing & I begin to think the worst.

I'm praying that all goes well at his appointment tomorrow & he begins to feel better very soon!

From Boring to BOLD!!

Just as I love making changes in my appearance by coloring my hair, I absolutely LOVE using color on our walls & changing things up. Recently, I've become bored with our guest bathroom.; the walls are a tan/taupe; a very safe color. I'm not necessarily one who likes to play it safe when it comes to color, so I thought that our bathroom needed a drastic face lift to keep things interesting.

I love the combination of bright green & chocolate brown so I used that as the inspiration for our bathroom makeover. I've never chosen a paint color without Mike's opinion before, so this was a first for me since I hit Home Depot on my way home from work on Friday. Unlike some women, I normally rely on Mike's opinion when it comes to decorating since we have very similar taste & he actually shows interest in how our house is decorated.

Anyway, Mike was a tad surprised when he saw the preview dollop of green on the top of the paint can as I pulled in from Home Depot. Luckily he's easy going & went with my plan!







These are the BEFORE pictures of our bathroom; like I said, very safe & somewhat dull.



And this is the absolutely, positively hideous light fixture I've been living with for years. I despise it & I'm thrilled to see it where it belongs -- in the trash.



And here is our new light fixture! And the very BOLD shade of green I chose!



We also painted the vanity a dark chocolate color & added hardware to freshen things up. This also happens to be the same color we painted our kitchen cabinets about two years ago.





All the accessories were purchased at Target. I had to keep the towel with the monkey on it since Cam loves it. He typically sits in his bath, notices it & starts saying, "ahh, ahh!" which is his interpretation of a monkey.



And that's our new bathroom! I'm sure many won't like the color I chose; I can only imagine what my mom will say. I'm guessing, wow, this is an interesting color.... And by interesting, she'll be thinking, Holy hell, this is hideous!

But, that's okay! We love it & we're the ones who live here, after all!

Are You Kidding Me?

So why is it that Monday through Friday when my alarm goes off, I feel like I would give my right arm to just sleep a little longer, yet this Saturday morning, POOF! I'm up & ready to go at 6:30 a.m. sans alarm?! I was up before my alarm would even be set to go off during the week!

So, I got up, went to the bathroom & told myself, Self, you WILL go back to sleep until Cam wakes up!! But there I laid, wide awake until I surrendered to my brain & just decided to get up. So, as I sit here in the still of the morning, I hear the last sputters of the brewing coffee & the soothing sounds of lullabies. Yep, that little bugger must have just woken up because I started to hear some very faint scuffling over the baby monitor & now I'm hearing the music of his little rain forest machine. So darn cute! I guess I'll mosey on over there to get my big sack of potatoes & get our day started. Although, you never do know with that boy; he may just fall back to sleep** unlike his old ma!

And speaking of getting our day started, we'll be redecorating our guest bathroom today!!! I've been kind of bored with our current design, so I thought it was time to spice things up a bit! I'll be sure to post before & after pics!

**Sure enough, all is quiet over the baby monitor; the little stinker has fallen back to sleep! Ahh, guess I'll just be forced to grab a cup of coffee & sip it in peace & quiet before the craziness ensues!!****

****About 15 minutes after I posted that, I again hear faint scuffling & the sound of the rain forest machine! We'll see if he's up for good this time, or just faking me out again!! That boy is a character!



Here's your answer!

"This is just a moment; it's not the rest of your life"

While flipping through the November issue of O Magazine tonight, I read an article written by Julianna Margulies about an AHA! moment she experienced. I felt like I could really relate to this particular article, so I wanted to share.

On the night of a particularly long and exhausting day, she came home to put her five & a half month old son to bed. And like most anyone, when you're exhausted, you're likely more emotional. I know when I haven't slept enough and I'm coming home from a stressful day at work, the most insignificant thing can send me into hysterics. The cat can puke on a freshly vacuumed rug & I'll act like the world is coming to an end. After a much needed sleep, I'll realize just how ridiculous my reaction was. So, when Julianna had finally gone to bed, it was only hours later when her son woke her up at 2a.m. As she tried to calm him, her anxiety grew & grew as thoughts raced through her head about how she wasn't going to get enough sleep, how tired she would be the next day, how hard it would be to get through the day, etc.

Suddenly in the midst of her anxiety, a saying that her mother had said time & time again, popped into her head. "This is only a moment; it's not the rest of your life." Though she had heard it a million times, it had never meant anything to her until that moment. And it calmed & grounded her as she realized, What's the worst that can happen? So, I'll wake up with bags under my eyes; that's what make-up is for.

I could really relate to this story since I'm constantly getting caught up with what needs to be done next instead of being present in the moment. I often blog about this problem, but that saying really made sense to me & gave me a lot of perspective. This is just a moment; it's not the rest of your life. It's something to remember when you're caught up in a stressful moment. Because just as wonderful moments pass quickly, so do the bad.



I took this picture of Cameron last night when it was only the two of us at home since Mike was out playing poker. It had been a long day at work & I'd had a headache all day, so I was hoping for a smooth evening with Cam. We ate our dinner in front of the TV, laughed, and read books. Even though I could have fretted over the fifty things I could have been getting done in the house, I would not let myself. In my moments of clarity, I realize how ridiculous it is to sweat the small stuff when I am given the chance to enjoy the moment I could be having with my son. I know that I am so incredibly blessed to have him. I thank God every single night for giving me the chance to be his mom. I know that so many families would give anything in the world to have a healthy child, so I refuse to take him for granted.

Unfortunately that doesn't mean I won't ever worry ahead or stress about meaningless details, but I will try to limit them. I'll continue to tell myself, this is just a moment; it's not the rest of your life.