Erin, Author at The Sunny Side Up Blog

Ellie

06.18.10

Yesterday

was a better day.

My sweet Ellie finished up her last day of Kindergarten. Her class celebrated by wearing their pajamas and bringing a favorite toy. Ellie must have tried on over ten different pj’s the night before until finally selecting her watermelon ones to wear (because those are the ones Addison wore for her pajama day). Wonder how long I have until these two don’t want to look alike? She also put her doll Eva in her pajamas the night before so they could go to sleep and wake up ready to go! She had such a great year. Made wonderful friends, had wonderful teachers (pictured above), and grew in so many ways. I’m so proud of my baby – who clearly isn’t a baby anymore.

Yesterday I tried to put my house back together after pulling everything apart in a moment of weakness. While I did that, Kole enjoyed lots of fun time with grandma.

And the girls amused themselves in ways they usually do.

Then I decided I needed a break from organizing so Kole and I caught up on our recorded So You Think You Can Dance episodes. Kole loves So You Think You Can Dance.

Then grandma gave him a bath. Kole also loves pink.

He especially loves his grandma.

And he loves his turtle crib.

and all of us sure love him.

xoxo, Erin

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Mom Adventures

06.16.10

In a funk

I’m in a funk.

Must be the “I just had a baby and am sick of being over weight, over worked, and overly tired” funk.

I’m tired of seeing myself in the mirror in the morning. I’ve been more in the mood to see…I don’t know…Natalie Portman. I doubt Natalie Portman would have her hair in a bun and no make-up on. She probably wouldn’t be wearing maternity clothes that are too big or regular clothes that are too small – neither of which look good. I can’t imagine Natalie Portman covered in milk spit up and she definitely wouldn’t have huge dark circles under her eyes. Yup. Natalie Portman is who I want to see in the mirror right now.

Kole is 11 weeks old today and this is always about the time I get in a post baby funk and want to do something drastic – like cut my hair short and dye it black. Ok – maybe not that drastic, but I’m in the mood for a change. I can’t though. I know better. I did drastic things to my hair when both of my girls were around 11 weeks old and both times came home crying and then called my hair dresser the next day to fix it. I also know better (after reading my letter…again) that retail therapy won’t cure my funk. But I have to admit, knowing that didn’t stop me from buying a new purse, wallet, and shoes the other day. Staying away from clothes since trying on clothes right now will only turn the funk into pure depression.

I have to say that Kole has been the BEST little baby. And I have honestly loved having a baby in the house again. It’s just what having a baby does to ME that I don’t love.

My mom came into town again (cue cheers in the background!) so I decided that while she’s here and I have some extra help with the kids I’d rearrange a few things and do some organizing. Hoping that helps with the funk since chances are, I’m not going to wake up tomorrow and see Natalie Portman in the mirror.

My sister called today and when my mom told her I was organizing again she said that if I did another organizing post she’d stop reading my blog. Hmm. Guess I’m losing one of my favorite followers.

Here are a few pictures of the mess I started making today. When you’re organizing, things always get a lot worse before they get better.

I started pulling so many things off of shelves that I had to line the halls and outsides of the rooms with all of the stuff so we still have room to walk.

Addison, as always, was a huge help.

My little guy is another helper that is always close by. Don’t know if this project will cure my funk, but it’s worth a try.

No “after” pictures yet. Are you still around Carly?

xoxo, Erin

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Food and Cooking...or lack thereof

06.14.10

Taking dinner to a family

After just recovering from having a baby and then having major surgery I have been on the receiving end of a lot of help from others. Last Friday Jessica Turner did a great post on tips for when you’re preparing meals for others. We had meals coming to us for over two months and I learned SO MUCH from my friends. Things that really helped our family that I want to make sure to do when I’m trying to help a family in need. These are some of the kind things people did for us that I want to remember…

-If you’re the person in charge of scheduling meals, schedule them for every other night. People always make such a delicious big meal and there are almost always leftovers. It’s so nice to have the meals spread out so you can enjoy and eat everything.

-Call ahead and let them know about when you’ll be by. Obviously when people are bringing you food you are so appreciative that you don’t care when they bring it, but everyone was so kind to call or e-mail me and ask when a good time for us was or what time did I usually feed my kids. I ended up being so grateful for that because then I wasn’t upstairs bathing the girls or feeding Kole right when they came by. It also allowed me to, ya know, have the spit up wiped off my shirt ahead of time.

-Take something for the kids. So many people either made “kid friendly” meals for us or if they didn’t, they brought sides that my kids would like…rolls, fruit, some plain pasta with butter, etc. This was so nice. I never would have thought to do that. Little kids are always picky (mine are the worst!) and it was great to feed them with the meal too.

– Take-out is a great option. I had several good friends and neighbors who knew restaurants I liked and picked up take-out for us instead of cooking a meal. This was such a treat! It was also a light bulb moment for me. Why have I not been doing this all along!? Kenny will be bummed because the times I take others meals are some of the few times I actually cook. But let’s be honest here – something I’ve cooked isn’t helping anyone out anyway.

-Team up with a friend. Some of my friends made a meal together. One made the main dish and another did the salad, bread/rolls/rice, and dessert or vise versa. Great way to still take a nice meal even if you don’t have time to make everything yourself.

-Wait until things have calmed down. One thing my friends and I have talked about is how nice it is to have a meal brought by awhile after you have had a baby. (I was REALLY blessed this way because we had meals brought after I had Kole and again after I had surgery.) Right after you have a baby your family is usually in town and you are on a high from meeting your sweet newborn. Then reality check. All of the sudden the baby is 6-8 weeks old and fussy and your family and help are gone and you haven’t slept well for 3 months (because end of pregnancy is so freakin‘ uncomfortable!) and you feel like at any moment you may lose it. This is always a nice time for someone to bring a meal. :)

-If you don’t have time to make a meal, you can still do something to help. So many people sent me flowers or brought by dessert or treats. Friends brought by magazines to read while I was on the couch recovering. One friend sent me my own copy of New Moon. :) Another brought by my favorite lemonade, some cookies, and a Care Bear DVD for my girls to watch. So thoughtful! I turned on the movie for the girls when Kole was sleeping, ate a cookie, drank some lemonade and instantly felt better. Friends brought coloring books for the kids and picked up groceries and things I needed from the grocery store and Target. Another friend dropped off her 12 year old daughter several afternoons to play with and entertain my girls. Such a huge help to me and something my girls really looked forward to. I can’t tell you how many times I got home and found something like this on my doorstep –

some type of treat or little pick me up gift. Everything meant so much to me and was such a huge help. I made a note to myself that if I don’t have time to make a meal for someone, there are lots of ways to help and show you care.

**side note

-Last little lesson I learned…when people are going to be bringing in a lot of meals to your house, teach your family appropriate, appreciative behavior. One night a friend was bringing dinner and had called to tell me she was running late. Kenny got home from work and I said “so and so is bringing us dinner but is running a little late so we can wait to bathe the girls.” Kenny (totally kidding around and being his usual sarcastic self) made some joke about how she really needed to be on time because he was hungry. I rolled my eyes and he laughed at himself and we didn’t think a thing of it. So 20 minutes later my friend arrives and Ellie answers the door and says “Why are you so late!!? We’re hungry!” I could – have – died! As soon as my friend left I pulled the kids aside and reviewed what is and isn’t appropriate to say when someone brings a meal. Then I pulled Kenny aside and reviewed what is and isn’t appropriate to say in front of the kids. Nice.

Taking someone a meal is such a generous thing to do. The meals people brought us seriously saved us over the last two months (and they all tasted so good!). We were beyond grateful and incredibly touched by the kindness that was shown to our family. I can’t wait to return the favor by remembering the tips above and doing the same for someone else. There are a lot of good people in the world and I thank God every day that I’m surrounded by so many of them.

xoxo, Erin

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Addison

06.11.10

Friday Favorites

Just posting a few recent pictures I’m enjoying…

Picking and eating peas with grandpa in his garden – a favorite summer pastime.

My boys – both doing what they do best.

Addie on her way to “pajama day” at preschool – is there anything better than pajama day?

Not in this house.

Since Kole came into the picture the girls have had to help out more around the house. Just the other day Addison unloaded all the toilet paper from Costco into the cupboard for me.

I haven’t opened this cupboard since.

I’m scared of what may happen.

The girls have been a HUGE help.

tummy time

This one can do no wrong.

Hope your weekend is a beautiful one!

xoxo, Erin

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Fun with Friends

06.10.10

Recovery & Friends

Last week I went to see my doctor and had my blood drawn again. She called yesterday with the results and my hematocrit level (a test that measures the percentage of blood that is comprised of red blood cells) is finally around 40 which is considered “normal.” At one point I was as low as 4, I left the hospital (after a transfusion of 5 units of blood) at 12, a few weeks ago I was 31 and now finally my hematocrit level is around 40. (YEA!) I’m finally starting to feel like myself again. I’m also doing a lot better emotionally. I still feel sad sometimes when I think about everything that happened, but for the most part I’m grateful. Grateful that I made it through this experience and grateful that it’s over and I can move on. I’m also incredibly grateful for my friends.

(attempt to hide my pregnancy weight behind my skinny friends – it worked!). :)

When I was in Utah a couple of weeks ago I went to a baby shower for a good friend. Many of my good friends were at the shower and this was the first time I had seen them since my incident. When I walked in the room they all surrounded me – and hugged me – and told me told me how happy they were to have me there – and I cried – and I thought about all of the love and support I had during this experience from so many friends. Friends from my childhood, friends from high school and college, friends from Utah, Virginia, and California, friends from my neighborhood, friends from Ellie’s Elementary, friends from Addison’s preschool, friends from church, friends from blogging. All of my amazing friends were there for me in one way or another. I just wanted to say thanks. Thank you so much. You all mean the world to me and I couldn’t have survived this without all of you.

I love you all.

xoxo, Erin

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Blogging

06.07.10

Blog Headers

Ok – I’m going to attempt to explain how I create my blog headers, but let me first warn you that I don’t know “blog tutorial etiquette” so stick with me and I’ll do the best I can. I use Photoshop 7.0 to make my headers, but you can use any Photoshop program. If I’m doing one with several pictures (like the summer header above) I also use Picasa. Picasa is a free editing system that you can download for your pictures. If you aren’t using Picasa at all you should be! It’s SO easy to use. I used to make a lot of my collages in Photoshop, but Picasa is so much easier and faster that I use it instead now. I could type a long tutorial on how to use Picasa to make collages, but Sarah from Clover Lane (love her and love her blog) has already explained it so click here to learn the first step. You can create your whole header in Picasa if you want to. I prefer to make the collage in Picasa and then jazz it up in Photoshop because I have so many digital scrapbook supplies to work with. So here we go…

After I’ve used Picasa to create this:

then I save it as a jpeg – just like a regular picture. Creating the rest is just digital scrapbooking.

1 – Buy and download a digital scrapbook kit you like. I always use the kits because they come with coordinating paper, embellishments, and usually alphabet letters (those are what I use for my blog sidebars). Two of my favorite digital sites are Little Dreamer Designs, and The Shabby Shoppe.

2 – After you’ve chosen what parts of the kit you want to use for your blog, open them all up in Photoshop along with the picture collage you made in Picasa. Then I just play around with everything – (click, drag, crop, etc.) until it looks the way I want it to. (I’m assuming if you have a Photoshop program you know how to do this, but if you don’t, it’s easy to learn by just playing around with your sidebar tools – trial and error).

3- Once you’ve created your header, save it in Photoshop (in case you ever want to change or edit it) and then save it again as a jpeg. Once it is saved as a jpeg you can upload it to blogger just like you would with any header.

4- I also use Photoshop to make the words for my sidebars. First open up each letter (just like you did with the paper, etc. from your digital scrapbook kit) and open up a blank file (which is just a white background). Drag each letter for your word onto the white background and when you’re done, crop it.

Save it in Photoshop and as a jpeg just like you did with your header.

5- Now that it is saved as a jpeg you can put it on your blog sidebar the same way you add a picture. (“Customize”, then “Add a Gadget”, then choose “Picture”) Then you can move it where you want it to be located on your sidebar. (Example: the word “Topics” above your list of topics, etc.)

Here is a look at all of my headers (before and after jazzing them up in Photoshop) and sidebars in the order I created them…

So did any of that make sense? Creating the headers and sidebars is easy, explaining how to do it is a little tricky. Plus it probably didn’t help that I was typing this post while I was watching the season finale of LOST (I know – I’m probably the only person left on the planet who hasn’t seen it yet. Been a little preoccupied lately with the new baby and well…recovering from almost dying) ;) So now none of us are satisfied. I’m left with all sorts of questions about the show…still. And you’re probably still wondering what in the world I do to make my headers. If you have specific questions left unanswered about how I make my headers, ask me in the comments and I’ll try to answer them for you. If you have specific questions about LOST, join the club.

———————————————– (added later….)

(Had to start making my headers smaller because of the Blogher Ads from here on out…)

(Summer 2011)

(Fall 2011)

(December 2011)

(Winter 2012)

(Spring 2012)

xoxo, Erin

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Kole

06.04.10

TGIF

Hope your weekend is a happy one!

xoxo, Erin

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Ellie

06.02.10

A note for me

First, I have to share my happy news. Kole only woke up ONCE last night. What? What’s that I hear? Angels singing? Isn’t that simply the best when you wake up in the morning and look at the clock and realize your newborn has slept longer than ever before? Such a great feeling. Of course he won’t do it again for a few days because now I expect it and newborns thrive on unpredictability. I actually think he’s sleeping better because I’ve recently enrolled him in my “baby boot camp” – but that’s a post for another day.

Speaking of other posts, I’ll start working on one that explains how I do my blog header and sidebars (since several of you asked so nicely). But for now I just wanted to share a little story behind this photo shoot –

(the girls insisted on getting a picture with Lexie – a favorite doll that was once my favorite doll when I was their age)

One morning last week when I was doing Ellie’s hair I decided I was so sick of ponytails (which is all I’ve had time for lately) that it was time to mix things up. So instead I did her hair in a side ponytail. Because I’m wild and crazy like that. Anyway, Ellie was not impressed. She didn’t like her hair and wasn’t shy about letting me know it. I told her to leave it alone because we were heading to see some friends and after we came home she could take it out. She stomped off into the other room mad and a few minutes later while I was doing Addison’s hair, she slipped this note under the bathroom door –

Translation: I do not like the new hair style. I hate it. But I do love you mom.

Made me smile. Glad to know that even when I’ve made her mad she still loves me.

No matter how hideous I do her hair.

xoxo, Erin

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San Diego fun

06.02.10

Summer Time!

Summer’s here! Lounging in my mom’s pool all last week was a great way to kick off the season. I love going to Utah. It always means help with my kiddos (both grandparents are nearby) and great hair days (no humidity). Now it’s back to reality. Housework, laundry, sleepless nights, end of the school year activities, and harder to control hair. I can’t complain – I’m happy to be back in San Diego. It’s always so nice to get away for awhile and then it always feels good to be back home.

Finally got my new summer header up. And after two years of blogging I also finally gave my blog a name. Sunny Side Up! Once Kole came into the picture our title felt a bit long. Plus I’ve always preferred the sunny side of life…and of the weather. Speaking of sunshine and summer, here are some of our favorite pics from last summer. Looking forward to making new memories this year (although I’m not too thrilled about getting into a swim suit anytime soon).

p.s. I was recently asked to be on the Power of Moms ‘best of the blogs’ list. The Power of Moms is a great website full of articles and other information that helps enrich the lives of mothers. It’s such a great resource to turn to and I feel honored to be included. You can check out their website here and their ‘best of the blogs’ list here.

Bring on Summer!!!

xoxo, Erin

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Family

05.27.10

Last Weekend Randomness

I’m tired. My chubby little boyfriend is wearing me out. He just turned 8 weeks old today and is starting to wear 3-6 month clothes. He’s also starting to smile. Mostly at trees and lights and the fan, but still – he’s smiling.

I love this little guy so much. Love his sweet little feet, love his fat rolls, love his head that’s always smothered in baby lotion but FOR THE LOVE I’ve got to get some sleep. Kole is usually up only a couple of times in the night, but it seems like each time we’re up, we’re up for awhile. You know how it goes – feed the baby, burp the baby, change the baby’s diaper, finish feeding the baby, baby spits up all over sleeper, change the sleeper, baby is now alert and awake, walk/bounce/rock the baby back to sleep, crash in bed, baby is up and ready to start over again all too soon. Gotta love a newborn. Good thing he’s so adorable – with those sweet little feet, fat rolls, and head that’s always smothered in baby lotion.

On another note…

my brother and his wife blessed their sweet newborn in church last weekend because both families were in town. Love this picture of the three of them. Dayna doesn’t look like she was ever pregnant only ten days later. Her full term belly looked like me at three months. I thought it would be so fun being pregnant at the same time. Yeah…not so much. I told her I really wanted to like her, but she was making it awfully hard.

We took our first family picture with Kole just before heading to the blessing. What a morning that was getting all five of us dressed and hair done and ready to go! It’s always funny to me how completely crazy Sunday morning is trying to get ready for church. I’m usually shouting out orders from my bathroom – “Ellie! get your shoes on…Addie! why are you changing your dress AGAIN!? Kenny! Round up some snacks and coloring books.” All while curling my hair, putting on my earrings, and brushing my teeth at the same time. Adding a newborn to the mix makes things even more interesting. Then you get to church and quietly sit down and everyone looks so calm and put together. And the hymns are so peaceful and soothing. And I spend the rest of the meeting trying to unwind from the hectic morning. I do have to say though, that there is nothing like holding a sleeping baby in church. Watching Kole’s little newborn faces while he slept made it much easier for me to unwind from the hectic morning on this particular Sunday. And my brother gave his son a beautiful blessing. And I cried (not that crying is anything new for me these days).

Addison and her real smile… a little better than the one she pulled in the family picture.

Aside from my mom’s surprise party and the blessing Sunday, we spent most of the weekend in the pool (or lounging nearby the pool).

It was such a great weekend that I decided to stay in Utah with the kids for the rest of the week. We have been enjoying family, friends, and the pool every day. Kenny had to head back to San Diego to work. Somebody’s got to support our lifestyle. ;)

xoxo, Erin

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Family

05.25.10

60 and loving it!

Last Friday on May 22, my mom turned 60 years old. She thought she was just going out for a nice dinner with my dad for her birthday and then maybe getting together later with friends. What she didn’t know was that my sister and I were traveling the entire day so that the whole family could be together and surprise her. Our trip from San Diego to my home town in Southern Utah usually takes 6 1/2 hours, but with two little girls – and a newborn – and 5 potty/feeding stops, it took over 8 hours. We all looked a little disheveled when we arrived, but we made it just in time to throw some decorations up and surprise my mom.

Anxious party guests

My sister-in-law just had her baby 10 days ago. It was so fun to see my nephew, Drew, for the first time! He felt like such a light weight compared to Kole (who is getting chubbier by the hour).

When we heard the car pull up we all lined up with balloons and noise makers…

SURPRISE!!! And this was what my mom looked like when she realized her whole family was in town. :) This face was totally worth the 8 hour drive. With two little girls – and a newborn – and 5 potty/feeding stops.

So happy to all be together.

Proud grandma and grandpa with their first two grandsons.

The whole crew (minus Shawn, Carly’s husband, who couldn’t be there and was missed).

My cute mom makes turning 60 look pretty good.

xoxo, Erin

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organization2

05.20.10

In my kitchen (post 2)

A few more things I’m loving in my kitchen right now…

The grocery sacks I keep for garbage liners were completely taking over the space under my kitchen sink. This ten dollar sack holder I bought from Target is perfect! I love having something that keeps them all together and makes them accessible without taking up so much room.

Revolutionary!

So…Kenny and I seem to have the same reoccurring ~~disagreement~~ discussion. It involves “the stack.” We don’t have a home office in our ‘right now’ house (big plans for the home office in my ‘someday house’) so there is no place for Kenny’s miscellaneous papers – receipts, mail, bills, etc. He tends to just leave these papers all over the kitchen/living room area and expects me to leave them all over the kitchen/living room area so he’ll be able to find them when he needs them. It drives me crazy! So I stack. When I’m cleaning during the day I gather all of these miscellaneous papers and put them in a big stack. Then I usually put the stack in my hutch or in a cupboard or drawer – somewhere out of sight because I hate to see clutter. Kenny comes home from work and can’t find something he needs and gets mad at me for stacking and moving all of his stuff around. It’s seriously something we’ve argued about every few nights for the thirteen years we’ve been married.

“The stack” on a good day.

I have this cute red holder for mail, but it’s clearly too small for all of Kenny’s papers.

So the other day I bought this green file folder.

Then I labeled each folder. One for receipts, one for coupons, one for miscellaneous papers, and one “to-do” folder for things that need to be taken care of soon. Kenny is happy that the moving “stack” is gone and I’m happy that there is finally a place for all of his ~~crap~~ important papers.

So simple. Why didn’t I do this years ago? Could have avoided all those ~~disagreements~~ discussions!

On to pantry organization! One of my favorites.

I have a really small pantry in my ‘right now’ house (big plans for the huge pantry in my ‘someday’ house) so I have to make the most of the space I have and the best way to do this is to keep things organized. I basically just try to keep everything compartmentalized. Cans together, pasta together, cracker and cereal boxes together, etc.

Another thing I do is keep all things messy and sticky – honey, olive oil, syrup, etc. together on a small baking sheet. This avoids a sticky mess on the pantry shelf. It also keeps everything together and looking nice. :)

I also always keep a few sandwich bags full of crackers together so I have snacks that are easy to grab when we’re heading out the door. I’ve learned with little ones to never go far without snacks!

I’ve found for me that the key to keeping a pantry organized is to spend five minutes or so each day re-organizing things where you want them. Of course, I’m pretty much the only one in my pantry all day so I’m sure when the girls are old enough to make their own snacks things might not look quite so put together.

p.s. Please don’t judge me by the content of my pantry. I’ve never claimed to be healthy…just organized. ;)

xoxo, Erin

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