hello?.....anybody there?

Where did all of my blogging time go? No seriously? How is it possible that i have been so absent?

I seriously miss this blogging business, and honestly, blogging aside - i miss having free time.

i'm not complaining.... i am just stating the facts. I honestly have something every minute of the day (and night) to keep me busy.

Ashlyn for real (seriously) does not sleep. She isn't cranky, she rarely even seems tired. She wakes up 42 times a night. We love her...she wakes up again....we let her cry....she never gives up... and i just cant figure it out.

I have a set schedule. She eats tons of food. She has a super cute princess castle projectable nightlight, a snuggly blanket, cool jammies, warm jammies, multiple pacis to pick from if hers falls out - anything a baby could want or need - and yet still - she doesn't sleep.

I am starting to get tired. I lasted a really really long time but i am at the point where she needs to give in or im going to be a full blown crazy person.

I went for a walk yesterday with my friend Amanda. On my way over to her house i had to take a detour to get to a gas station because my gas light had been on way too long and i got lost. So i gave up and drove to her house on fumes. Not smart but i did end up getting to a gas station later. THEN -Somehow i lost my cell phone while we were walking. So i watched her 2 kids and ash at her house while she retraced our walk in her car ( i didn't know my way around) and she magically found my phone.thank god. so i went home...THEN she called me to tell me that i left ashlyns paci on their couch and that she would hold onto it until we met up next time. THEN she called e today to tell me that i ALSO left my sunglasses at her house.

ummmm...... i am worried about me.

i need to get it together.

BUt enought about my shortcomings lets talk about the ohter random stuff i have been wanting to blog about.

1. Pintrest: i love it. Can't get enough

2. I am tired. I am busy, but i still cook some fab dinners. I will post recipes for some new stuff soon.

3. Ashlyn's birthday is december 17th. Of course that means that have started planning details for her "winter wonderland" bash (in august). It is going to be amazing!!! I am determined to make this little chica love her christmas time birthday. It really is the best time of the year.

4. I am turning 28 on Sunday. Pat got tickets to go see the Cleveland Orchestra at this outdoor amphitheater by our house. We are going to pack up the baby, a picnic, a blanket, listen to the gorgeous music and watch the fireworks. I am SOOO excited....about the orchestra....not about being 28. How the efffffff am i 28 already?

5. My bestie Annemarie is coming out from California to visit me at the end of September. I am so excited. She is one of my oldest friends. We used to do all kinds of weird shit together and we shared an undying love for N'Sync. She had the Lance Bass cover of rolling stone framed for me to put in my dorm room. And yes that does mean that i loved lance (she liked joey Fatone) my gaydar was waaaay off apparently - however i did kind of like him because he was sort of chubby and the only one that couldn't dance.

6. I sent my little brother a care package for his apartment. He graduated form college last May and he is living in Salt Lake City Utah. Among the many treasures i sent him was a spice rack. You know you are old when you are sending your little brother a spice rack in the mail. ( weird = yes. He likes to cook though so i thought it was nice).

7. Pat and i booked a family vacay to Florida for 11 days at Christmas. I CANT wait.

8. We are heading to South Bend Indiana for the ND home opener. I have been reallly freaking excited for football season to start. My sister got Ash an ND cheerleader uniform that i am dying to get her in.

9. Pat is working way way too hard. We both are, but he is out of the house more so it seams harder. He is getting his MBA right now and has class three nights a week. On top of a very demanding fancy pants job he is basically working like a crazy person. I miss him.

10. I didn't even post about the awesome vacation we took a few weeks back to Charleston South Carolina and HIlton Head. Ummm if you haven't been to either, i highly suggest both. Charleston is a GREAT place to take an anniversary trip with your hubby or BF. There is so much to see and such amazing restaurants. I am going to post about this next time i get a chance.

so i think thats it for now. iam back. Ashlyn managed to stay asleep while i typed this and i think i might try to actually go to sleep now too.

Hope you all are having fabulous weeks.

Happy end of summer!

KOB

oh my god i'm getting old

so i am being "cool" chillin at home on a saturday night and i'm looking at facebook (don't be jeal). I came across this picture above - it is from the night Pat and I got engaged....I had just turned 22!!! I look so young....i was so young and i can't help but think how fun and easy this time in my life was

and then i saw this picture...which i will admit i thought was a flattering picture (in all of my spray tanned glory)...but Jesus H i look so old. I mean i have wrinkles...and that baby in the purple? oh yeah she is mine!?!?

i can't get over it. How are we 22, drinking beer, having New Years parties one day.... then, what seems like the next day -you are sitting at home on a saturday night looking at m-effing one piece bathing suits online while simultaneously checking the baby monitor and facebook???

i am kind of freaked out by how fast time goes by. This february will be our five year anniversary - the top picture was a little over six years ago. We have been dating for 10 years in October....Our baby is 7 months old already. I mean seriously! Stop! This is all going by way too fast.

groundhog day

Apparently i am a total creature of habit....I have been coming up with all of these "new ideas" for blogs that i should write about things i am currently loving and every time i start, i realize i already wrote about that thing i loved last year.

For instance - whatever those golden cherries are called - I'm seriously obsessed with them. They are like tiny little peaches and the color is just to die for. i wanted to write about those but i have already been there and done that. Ummm i am also in love with my pink hydrangea bushes in my backyard. A friend of mine is having a baby girl any time now (she was due on tuesday) and i am dying to make a big pink bouquet for the new addition - BUT i already wrote about those last year when they bloomed and included pictures.

So what else? oh recipes. I'm pretty sure i make all of the same things from season to season, but just in case i haven't already posted on this...try it and you wont be sorry. I can't risk this amazingly blurry cell phone picture going to waste!

I went to our little local farm and bought: avocados, grape tomatoes, english cucumber and a red onion. I had fresh basil, balsamic vinegar, oregano, salt, pepper, olive oil, and parmesan at home. I just chopped everything up and mixed it together in a bowl. I let it sit in the refrigerator for about an hour.....then i grilled chicken (with Lawry's, montreal chicken seasoning, a touch of cayenne, and a drizzle of olive oil.

i chunked up the chicken and mixed everything on my plate. Because i like sauciness and giant heaps of delicious food.... you could easily serve this as chicken with a side though.

it might be a repeat but whatever - pretty sure most people arent checking the archives.....actually i am pretty sure no one is really reading anymore since i hae been so lax with posts - but thats another issue.

and just to make sure that this post is sufficiently random enough.....here is a picture of me making a REALLY stupid face trying to get Ashlyn to smile.

and you are welcome.

6 months!

i started some big time rumors on facebook with this pic...as much as i would like to claim that ash is a baby athlete genius early bloomer (which she kind of is), she definitely can't walk yet. She can however stand when propped up against something and her ballerina form is pretty much amazing :)

here i am trying to be a baby photographer again. I seriously love these little blocks too. They were a gift from my lovely friend amanda and she got them at bbblocks.com if you are interested.

my little ballerina, just loungin'

eating her shoe...

and just being sweet.

:)

just getting back....

We went away to DC for the 4th of july t visit clint and tara (pats brother and his wife) and we had so much fun. I could 1o0% live in DC. We walked around old town, went crab picking, saw some fireworks, hung out at the pool, got tan, the boys golfed....It was an all around super fun weekend.

ash loves her gorgeous aunt tara...

I managed to pull of the "human babyshield" that blocks my humongousness pretty well in this picture. UGGGG - i love this dress but every time i wear it and then see pictures i want to die. I look like a linebacker.

and here we are on the couch just waking up. Ashlyn is totally shakin what her momma gave her. She has one caaaaaute little bubble butt.

and seriously is there anything better than a baby in just a diaper?...Yes.... A baby in a diaper taking a picture with their cute dad!

hope you all had a fabulous 4th of july.

Ashlyn's Baptism Weekend

Life has been so busy lately! the last 3 weekends have been big family events...My brother in-law's high school graduation, my other brother-in-laws wedding reception, and most recently ashlyn's baptism and fathers day. All of the family time has been awesome but i am exhausted.

we had a really nice ceremony at pat's high school. Our regular priest was out of town for like 100 weeks this summer so we opted for a small family mass. Kristen and Jim were the god parents.

Ashlyn wore a baptism dress that my moms grandma made. It was so pretty and very cool that my mom, both my sisters, me and little cousin Amory wore it before her.

Obviously Ashlyn hates being the center of attention.

and one last pic of the 2 of us in church.

BOring post - sorry. i'll come up with something better soon (which probably means in the next 3 weeks).

my ass is back!

okay - i guess all of me is back...not just my toosh but whatevs.

This mom business is time consuming! i've got it down, but now that i am working from home more hours than before the blog has been suffering. It has been way easier to choose cuddle time over recipe updates :)

so anyways, what have i been up to??

Like i mentioned above, i am working from home. I honestly couldn't have a better situation and i'm really thankful for it. I basically set my own schedule and work as many hours as i can doing account work for the clients i had before i left on maternity leave. Most of my work is done over email so it doesn't matter if i happen to have a screaming/teething psycho on my lap. And when a little more face time is required, i am actually able to bring Ash into my office and set her up in her stroller while i have internal meetings. Lots of people volunteer to walk her around the office or hold her...or listen to the wiggles on itunes in their office....She has sort of become the office mascot - its awesome

My co-workers/bosses deserve medals. I want to write into the paper and tell them how fabulously mom friendly they have been. and let me tell you - It makes me want to work so much harder to keep my position and to keep my clients happy knowing how flexible they have been to accomodate my new "situation". I wish more workplaces would do this for people. mom's are pretty freaking amazing multi taskers when given the opportunity.

ummm in other news we have been traveling a ton! By the end of July Ashlyn will have visited 11 states total (maybe 12?) which is not too shabby considering she is less than 6 months old. we have been to Florida, California, Arizona, Ohio, Illinois, Indiana, and Wisconsin so far...and by the end of next month we will have logged trips to DC, North Carolina, South Carolina, maybe Georgia. Thankfully she is a really good traveller. She has a knack for sensing when there is an hour left though and then going completely ape shit.

This weekend, Pats brother and my new Sister-In-Law are having their wedding reception. The little boogers ran away to aruba and had a romantic little wedding ( w/ just the 2 of them) a few weeks ago. Now we are joining in for a friends and fam reception and i cant wait. I got the CUTEST dress ever. Its BCBG....and let me tell you. They are my go-to these days (and always). It is pretty hard to feel hot these days, but their drapey sexy mama dresses do the trick. I don't have any more "baby weight" to lose (which doesnt mean i don't have weight to lose....it just means that i am down 49 pounds from my fat ass pregnant self) but i just cant pull off a lot of what worked before. i'll post some pics from the weekend next week :)

so - i guess i' am back. i havent looked at any blogs recently so im looking forward to catching up with all of you soon!