Hello Blog World!!!

Wow! My last post was on October 12th...that was 2 weeks before my little Brycen was born. There has been many things to happen in the last 2 months: #1: Brycen Conner McArdle was born and I had an AMAZING delivery #2 "Worst Week Ever" #3 Returning to work 4 weeks early #4 Parties, Parties, and Parties #5 Pinterest was born #6 Halloween & Thanksgiving Activities

Brycen's delivery was so awesome! I loved the nurses and my doctor was so great. No complications at all...much different than Bailey's delivery. One thing that did not go as planned was nursing. Day 4 I realized that I was making hardly anything and we had to start supplementing with formula because Brycen was dehydrated. I nursed for 30 minutes, fed the baby formula, pumped for 30 minutes every time...day 5, day 6, day 7, day 8...nothing. On day 8 I looked up Synthroid side effects and there it was - if your thyroid is really messed up while you are pregnant and they have to give you a lot of thyroid medication it can mess up your metabolism and cause the milk to never come in. So day 8 I washed up all the pump and packed it away and gave away all the stuff I bought for nursing. It was heart breaking. I think I cried from day 4 to day 10 constantly and it still hurts when people see the baby and ask "Are you nursing?". All I can say is "no" because I can't explain it. He is a healthy baby and is doing just great on formula so we are blessed. So one of my new year's resolutions is to find a new thyroid doctor. I wrote this out because it helped when I googled "nursing and thyroid" and found a girl that went through the same thing I did - it helps to know that it isn't your fault and you did everything you could.

So onto the "Worst Week EVER"...It all started the day Blake left for a 2 week trip to Puerto Rico - it was the same day as the Iron Bowl. Bama was beating Auburn by a huge margin and in the 4th quarter my mother went to take the Turkey leftovers to the outside frig and misstepped and landed on her leg causing it to BRAKE! Sheesh! What a nightmare! So dad and the neighbor help mom get into the van, turkey bones and grease are all over the ground, kids are crying, and mom is screaming from pain. Well her leg was definitely broken and she needed help during the day while dad was working. I thought this is so great that I'm on maternity leave because I can come over and help. I had lots of plans for us to do - I've wanted to help her go through all the pictures and categorize them as well as put them in albums and picture frames. Well on Friday I was on my way to pick up Bailey from school after spending the day with my mom and I received a phone call from my neighbor...our house had been burglarized. All I could think of was my dog, work laptop, and camera. She found Meiko locked up in the baby's room scared to death and they left my new camera on the kitchen counter, but everything else was gone. I had been working 5-10 hours a week from home on maternity leave so I had my work laptop on the kitchen table - it has everything on it but it also has a government issued password so there is no way in the world they will figure it out so my files will stay confidential. I miss those files so much and all the pictures I saved on it as well as the new picture CD we just got from having our family pictures done the week before...thank goodness I already uploaded them on facebook! They stole a few big things and went through our bedroom but in the end we are fine - it was overwhelming because I had no time to do anything and I wanted to be with my mom and I didn't have a computer to work on and to find quotes for. They stole my maternity leave from me because instead of being with my baby I had to deal with insurance stuff which was very time consuming. I was very mad that they took my security away, time from work, and time from my new baby...those things will never be replaced.

So life is getting back to normal now that I am back at work but one thing that is very different is that Blake is a stay at home dad. He is off orders with no orders in sight which means he is looking for a civilian job at the moment and the job pool is very shallow at the moment :( Life takes some really weird turns sometimes and hopefully he will find something in January.

Have a fabulous Christmas and I hope to update back soon with new projects!! My next post will be my New Year's Resolution List for 2012!! I love NY's resolutions.

Fall Decor 2011

This year I decided to decorate for fall because Christmas is going to be less crafty with a new baby arriving. In fact I have already decided to do the barely 6 foot Charlie Brown Christmas Tree instead of our bigger one. Kind of sad to think that we won't be having any parties at the house this year like usual. I love having an open house, cookie exchange, and decorate your own cookie party for Bailey...this year we will be going to those instead of hosting :) So for fall I decided to do a little yard work at 9 months pregnant with a husband 1,578 miles away (yeah...I googled). So to kick off the fall I hosted a baby shower and a falltastic pumpkin party for Bailey.

I turned my plane vases into fall ones by adding orange and brown glass stones to my clear ones and whipped up a few vinyl pieces in fall colors.

I made a rag wreath for the front door using scraps of orange, brown, and crimson fabric left over from previous projects.

This makes me laugh because I pulled up a dead bush my husband tried very hard to save. It took hardly any effort to pull it up and drag it across the yard...but it left a nice space that needed to be filled so I went and searched for a bail of hay and a cute pumpkin that wouldn't die and could be rained on. I call it "my decoration spot" until he is able to plant another bush. At Christmas I will put my wooden cross in this spot.

Meiko chilling in his hot dog costume :)

My mom and sister came over the night before the baby shower and helped me plant new orange flowers in my pots...these are the only flowers you will ever see me grow. I don't do gardening or flower beds, but I like my two pots. That morning I spread the pine straw in the area in front of the house.

And there it is...my little groomed house ready for fall. I trimmed the bushes, pulled up a bush, spread pine straw, made a "decorating spot", and hung a wreath.


Party Here: https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiyCQvZ4gVf5Sqe4pjgITZkJoC0rAkKgMPvAdN6gGPE4vAXpKb0i9hIJLO8R0KQjtBc9hvS-GGzAad5d2CvEQCUMjS984EC2V-s10D2jTiRUYUSUhr9dEybqndrMFEGki6ZBwYj190OPbI/s1600/wgw+button.jpg

Falltastic Pumpkin Party

I wanted to have one last party for Bailey as an only child...you know before she has to start sharing everything with her new baby brother. I also knew the baby would be born right around Halloween and we would not be able to do much this year. She was so excited about having a pumpkin party and helped me get everything ready. We had 10 little friends come over and the weather was beautiful! I made most of the food but had some help with the pumpkin shaped PB&J's as well as Little Debbie and her fall cakes ;) We played 3 games: Wrap A Mummy in Toilet Paper, Sweep the Pumpkin, and Pop the Balloon by sitting on it. There were 2 tables set up outside. The first table was set for the pumpkin magnet craft and fall themed coloring pages. The second table was set for "Decorate Your Own Cupcake". Target had 5 different kinds of Fall/Halloween themed sprinkles in a pack and I dyed cream cheese frosting orange for them to use.

It was a fun party and Bailey loved having her friends come over for the afternoon.

Yummy fall food! Orange Cupcakes, Popcorn, Chicken Nuggets, Cookies, Cheese Ritz Bits, Marshmallows...

Party Favors with Halloween Gummies and Candy

  

Little Debbie Fall Cakes in White and Chocolate as well as Pumpkin Shaped PB&J's

Pumpkin Shaped Sugar Cookies

Pumpkin Rice Krispy Treats

Everyone dressed up including Meiko

Each child made a Pumpkin Magnet to take home

Party Here: https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiyCQvZ4gVf5Sqe4pjgITZkJoC0rAkKgMPvAdN6gGPE4vAXpKb0i9hIJLO8R0KQjtBc9hvS-GGzAad5d2CvEQCUMjS984EC2V-s10D2jTiRUYUSUhr9dEybqndrMFEGki6ZBwYj190OPbI/s1600/wgw+button.jpg

Flower Girl Bailey

I really need to figure out how to twist the pictures around! Bailey was a flower girl this past weekend in a wedding. She did such a good job and was so pretty. One of my sorority sisters did her hair and we painted her fingernails and toenails to match the bridesmaids. She loves going to weddings and being in them even more! She loves to dance and stays on the dance floor the entire time unless she is taking breaks for punch, cake, and food. The bride was beautiful and Bailey was extremely fond of her as she is her teacher and my sorority sister. She was so proud to be in Miss Jessica's wedding.

Wreaths

So thanks to the invention of Pinterest I have anxiety over getting things done ;) No seriously, I went on for a total of 30 minutes and found two projects that had to be done in a few days for my baby shower. It ended up being 3 things but 2 came from pinintrest. I made the hospital wreath for baby Brycen and a fall rag wreath for my front door. I also painted some canvases and did brown vinyl letters on them to go above the crib. They are now nailed to the wall thanks to my dad coming over to do some handy work while Blake is deployed. I had a few things on the list for him to tackle and my mom helped plant fall flowers in my planters outside to make my home ready for fall and my baby shower that was being held at my home. I will have to do another post soon on just my fall decor...I changed things up this year since we are having a fall party for Bailey next weekend. I wanted to have one last party for her before Brycen makes his debut and steals the show. I'm so excited to get my hands on him and read books laying on my stomach again.

 Ribbon Wreath with wooden "M" - I am going to get a white paint marker to write his weight and height on the "M" after he is born.

 Fall Rag Wreath with 2 different browns, 2 different oranges, and some crimson thrown in.

His initials in vinyl on canvases...the middle canvas took a while to get the borders but it turned out really cute. 

Summer of Cupcakes #8 & #9

Well I didn't get to #10...and really #8 & #9 were the same cake just different icings, but they were still delicious! Very Strawberry Cupcakes with Strawberry Icing and strawberry drizzle or filling. I decided I liked the filling better so that each cupcake received the same amount. These are going over really well that I made them for another occasion and received high remarks about them. I made them with homemade whipped topping the third go around and they were delicious. I still think the strawberry icing tastes the best to get the "very strawberry" taste.

Very Strawberry Cupcakes with Strawberry Filling and Vanilla Buttercream Frosting in Pale Pink and Pale Green with "6" flags for a birthday party

An order of #4 cookies for a birthday party at school for a little girl turning 4.

Life in the past few weeks

This past month had a few big things...school started back, Blake left for his 2 month deployment to Puerto Rico, I kicked off my business using a facebook page (Go like it!), I bought the silhouette vinyl machine (newest obsession), consigned all of Bailey's clothes and shoes from infant to size 5 (tear), Bailey's soccer practice on Thursdays and games on Saturdays, and the nursery is almost ready!

It has been an exciting past few weeks of new things and we have been very busy. It helps to stay fully scheduled while Blake is gone - it makes it feel less lonely when you have so much to do. I have orders to work on at night on days I don't have commitments. On Wednesday night I joined a new Bible study while Bailey is in choir...I can already tell that it's going to be fabulous. Bailey moved into the big kids choir so she has to learn a Bible verse each week - she is so cute trying to memorize her verse so she can get a sticker.

The pregnancy is going...I wish I could figure out how not to gain so much, but I guess it's the thyroid doing what it does best...messing everything up. At night I look down and do not recognise my legs and feet...they look like they belong to someone else large hippopotamus. I try to get off of them but I have to much to do. The pregnancy brain is at its finest. I have done some of the dumbest things ever in the past couple of weeks that I just laugh because I know it's not an all-together-Brittany making those choices/decisions.

One thing we have had to adjust to is the size of our TV screen. Blake took the xbox/only dvd player we have on his trip so if we want to watch a movie we have to do it on Bailey's 19 inch TV/DVD player in one. I have gone to red box on two different occasions to rent movies only to get home and realize we have to watch it on Bailey's single bed from across the room. Thank goodness I DVR'd a bunch of movies on the bigger TV in the living room so we just rewatch Tangled, Toy Story 1-3, Princess and the Frog, Beauty and the Beast, a Barbie Movie, or The Land Before Time.

So yeah, that's what our family has been up to in the past month.