Erin, Author at The Sunny Side Up Blog

Food and Cooking...or lack thereof

07.13.10

Making an effort

So I’m making an effort – once again – to cook more. Bought a new frying pan to help motivate me to cook, but all that did was motivate me to take a picture of my new frying pan. :)
(and I know, heating up frozen chicken chow mein doesn’t count as really cooking, but I decided to break the pan and myself in slowly over the weekend)

I know this is a crazy time in my life to set a goal that has so far been completely unattainable for me, but I have got to get my act together. This is the one area in my life that I feel like I am failing miserably as a wife and mother. I’ve mentioned before that we were blessed to have so many meals brought by friends when I was recovering from surgery. Kenny was LOVING having a home cooked meal when he got home from work and my girls were eating more of a variety of food than ever before. We were also eating together as a family more often (when Kole would allow it). When the meals stopped Kenny was so sad – almost depressed! He teases me and we joke a lot about my inability to cook dinner most nights, but all joking aside, I know he would love coming home to a real meal once in awhile. He is having a crazy, busy, stressful year at work for a number of reasons and he has really carried the load around here lately. First he had to deal with his stressful job, the two kids and an extremely hormonal pregnant wife. Then I had the baby, almost died, and he had to deal with his stressful job, the three kids and an even more hormonal injured wife. He has had a lot on his shoulders lately and I feel like this is one thing I can try to do for him. So I made a meal plan for the week. (yes – that’s right – me – a meal plan) I’m cooking Mon. Wed. and Fri. I spent forever at the grocery store this morning getting everything I needed, spent way more on groceries than I usually do, and then cooked during Kole’s afternoon nap while the girls played (the only calm time in my day). Laundry and cleaning didn’t get done and while we did eat together as a family, the girls plugged their noses and only ate a few bites. Bedtime was pushed back, I’m exhausted and the kitchen is a mess.

Is it worth it to me? No. Would I have been happier with a turkey sandwich or Lean Cuisine and a clean kitchen? Yes. But Kenny quite enjoyed the meal and I quite enjoyed seeing him enjoy the meal and so I will press on! And if it takes buying a whole new set of Williams-Sonoma pans and cooking utensils and really cute, stylish dishes and taking pictures of all of them to keep me motivated, well then so be it! Time to take one for the team. :)

xoxo, Erin

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Family

07.12.10

While in Utah

While in Utah…

We celebrated Addison’s 4th birthday. All she wanted was a family party in Cancun like last year. Since we couldn’t quite make it to Cancun, she settled for a family party in Utah at grandma’s house. Just as exciting for this 4 year old. :)

I spent lots of time with my cute dad. We woke up early (well…Kole woke me up early and I then woke my dad up early) and went walking together for a little exercise and one-on-one time. Then we’d come home and make smoothies together. My dad has perfected many smoothie recipes and they tasted so good to me that I went out and bought a blender (no, I didn’t already have one) so that I could make them the exact same at my house. I’ll have to share his recipe sometime. Totally healthy – except for that one scoop of ice cream…and a couple spoonfuls of sugar. Mostly healthy. And really yummy. Because of that one scoop of ice cream…and a couple spoonfuls of sugar.

Life is busy and it’s not very often that my dad and I get to really talk – just the two of us. I cherished this time I was able to spend with him. We covered it all. His career, my kids, his plans for retirement, my plans for his retirement, the horror of his Vietnam war stories and the horror of my realization that I’m going to have to break down and buy a minivan. :) Love you so much dad.

Kole was also able to spend some quality time with my dad…watching TV together. The two of them look quite content, don’t they?

Love that while chillin’ in front of the tube Kole was wearing his “I still live at home” onesie.

We ate a lot of fresh food from the garden. And Addison refused to take off her “bride shoes.”

My parents celebrated their 36th wedding anniversary. What a couple of hippies they were! You can see more of their ‘young and in love’ pictures on my mom’s new blog that I helped her set up. :) Welcome to the wonderful world of blogging mom!

Also while in Utah I of course hit all of my favorite stores. Came home with some fun scrapbook supplies, new reefs for the girls (an essential for every summer)…

and a little something new to spruce up the house.

Spent lots of time with friends and enjoyed good straight hair days. Aside from family, Utah friends and good straight hair days are the two things I miss the most about living there.

The girls spent lots of time playing in their princess room. My parents had a little cut out in their house that was a perfect place for little ones. They put up this castle shower curtain and filled the area with books so the girls could have a cozy place to read and play.

They love it!

I organized my mom’s pantry just like I did last summer. Figured I owed her for watching my kids while I tore into my house.

While in Utah the girls swam and swam…

and swam some more.

Some “friends” joined in the fun and were allowed in the pool.

Others had to watch from the sidelines.

Straight out of the pool (that counts as a bath, right?) and into bed with matching jammies for the girls and their dolls. What a rough life these two lead.

While in Utah I continued my love affair with this little guy. A love affair I don’t think will be ending anytime soon. Sorry Kenny. There is definitely another man in my life. And just like his daddy, he has a smile that makes me weak in the knees.

We had a great time this summer – while in Utah.

xoxo, Erin

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Addison

07.08.10

Life with three

About a week ago, June 30th to be exact, Kole turned three months old. YES! I survived the newborn stage. Something magical seems to happen with babies at three months old (at least it has happened with all three of mine). Less fussiness, better sleeping, and more personality. It’s also about the time I start to come out of my “I just had a baby haze” and reclaim my life. Things are starting to calm down around here.

The last three months have been just short of crazy. I’ve had so many “are you kidding me?” moments but the one I’m about to share seems to top them all.

{warning: do not continue reading if you are eating, easily grossed out, or aren’t a mom. If you aren’t a mom you may read this and decide to never become one}

It was toward the end of a long day. Kole had been high maintenance and cried every time I tried to set him down. The girls were bored and fighting. We were all tired. I decided to give the girls a bath so they could play with their mermaids and mix things up a bit. I put them in the tub, got shampoo on their hair and then Kole became extremely fussy. I spent a while walking and bouncing him and then tried feeding him…again…while the girls played. So I’m feeding Kole in his room and all of the sudden Ellie screams “mom come quick!” I run to the bathroom (with Kole spitting up milk all along the way) to find Ellie on the toilet and Addison in the tub…bawling…because she just threw up. I guess Ellie had to use the bathroom and the smell made Addison gag causing her to throw up in the tub. (see…I warned you) At this point Kole is getting madder by the second because his meal time was interrupted and Ellie is also starting to bawl because she feels bad for Addison and is afraid she is in trouble. So I’m standing there – milk all down my shirt – assessing the situation – all three kids bawling – and all I can think is:

Seriously? Seriously. This is my life? This is my life.

I did nothing for at least a minute (had serious thoughts about turning and running straight out of my front door) and then snap. Time to move. I calm the girls, flush the toilet, open the window, empty the tub water, clean the tub out, run clean water, grab a binkie for Kole (who is on the floor still crying during all of this), wash the shampoo out of the girls’ hair, get them out, pick up Kole, finish feeding him, change my clothes, get all three kids in pajamas…just in time for Kenny to walk in the door and ask “how was your day?”

I think the look on my face said it all.

There have been many days like this in the last three months. Days that may not have included as many bodily functions, but that were a circus just the same. It’s the reason my house is so organized right now. Organization is my therapy. If I can’t control my life, I WILL control what my closet looks like. Some people have days that drive them to drink. I have days that drive me to pull everything out of my spice cupboard. And then put it all back – with labels – and color coordinated lids – in order from biggest to smallest.

Today I went to the gym for the first time since I had Kole.

With Ellie, I didn’t take her to the gym until she was over one year old. I didn’t trust anyone but me to take care of my baby. When I did finally leave her, I gave specific instructions on everything about her from what she liked to play with to how she liked to be held. Then I found a treadmill with a direct view into the Kids Klub so I could watch her the whole time I worked out. I took Addison to the gym around six months. I knew and trusted the ladies I was leaving her with by this time, but still gave them specific instructions each time I dropped her off and still tried to workout at least part of the time close by so I could peek in on her. With Kole I was counting down for him to turn three months – old enough to go to the Kids Klub. I dropped all three of my kids off today, handed the ladies a diaper bag, muttered “bless you all!” and headed for the exercise equipment as far away from the Kids Klub as possible.

Life with three. The last few months have been a challenge and I know there will continue to be crazy days in our future, but I look at these three faces and smile. Because I love them so much. And I know I wouldn’t want it any other way.

xoxo, Erin

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Family

07.06.10

Our 4th

We had a great 4th and were able to spend lots of time with our families. Kenny flew in just in time for our annual parade in Parowan with his family and then we met my family in Cedar for a reunion…

At the parade:

Our crew at the reunion:

My girls had so much fun with all of their cousins! They reminded me so much of me and Carly when we were little girls at this same park. Running around with cousins, climbing trees and wading in the creek.

On the drive home.

Ellie has been so sweet with Kole. I love to see them bonding.

Kole and grandpa – worn out from our busy day!

It was such a nice break. We spent lots of time in the pool and with friends. I also enjoyed a little break from my computer which felt good. Now we’re back in San Diego and I’m ready to plug back in. :) Lots to catch up on around here and lots to post.

Hope you had a happy 4th too!

xoxo, Erin

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Ellie

06.30.10

One of the dolls

This morning I fed Kole and propped him up on the couch while I fixed breakfast for the girls. I told Ellie to keep an eye on him. Five minutes later I went to pick him up and found this…

She told me she was getting the babies ready for a movie. I’ll have to save this one for Kole’s future wife. :)

At my mom’s again (wish Kenny could have come). I’m having a great time so far and and it goes without saying that so are my girls. Aside from dragging out all of my old Cabbage Patch Dolls they are spending lots of time with family and in the pool. Love being in Utah for the 4th. Love this picture.

xoxo, Erin

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organization2

06.28.10

Summer organizing

Last week I mentioned being in a funk and going on an organizing rampage. Since my mom was here to help with the kids I was able to get so much done! (thanks mom!) Here are some of the before and after pics.

I’ve been wanting to use my bedroom hutch to house all of the educational workbooks, flashcards, etc. for the girls. Beginning of summer seemed like the perfect time to get this mess in order.

Everything is categorized – bottom shelf is stuff on Addison’s level, middle shelf for Ellie, and the top shelf for educational stuff that they aren’t quite ready for. Now when we have down time over the summer it will be so easy to pull out something to work on with them.

Love being able to close the cupboards and have it put away so the girls aren’t getting into it without me.

Next I attacked the games. Our games were spread out all over my house. Some were in the girls’ closet, some were in the hutch, some were in a cupboard downstairs – none of them were getting played with much.

I rounded them all up and put them in this big drawer below the girls’ bunk beds (these big storage drawers were the reason I fell in love with their bunk beds in the first place). Now they are all together and in a location that the girls can get to easily. Ready for summer afternoons when we need a little down time.

On to closets! Here’s another mid-mess picture. Kole loves to stare at the light coming through the window almost as much as I love to stare at him.

I went through all of the girls’ clothes (I do this every six months) and got rid of the stuff they aren’t wearing and organized all of their summer clothes.

Warmer clothes that will still fit them next year are on the other side of the closet.

Then I organized all of their drawers. One for ballet clothes/shoes, one for summer nightgowns, one for swimsuits, etc.

Since I had so many bags already going to Goodwill I decided it was a good time to go through the baby toys and get rid of stuff I didn’t think I’d use for Kole.

Fun to see all of these toys out again. :)

Since the girls’ closet and games were organized I decided to complete their room by going through all of their books. Kole is an organizing maniac!

I got rid of A LOT of books. We had too many and there were quite a few the girls weren’t reading anymore.

Love it! Now we have room for new books. I put all of the leveled books for Ellie to read this summer on the bottom shelf (along with a few for Kole) and then just straightened the rest.

Done! Everything on my to-do list checked off. Such a good feeling! Did I cure my funk? I don’t know, but I’m definitely feeling more ready for summer. :)

xoxo, Erin

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Giveaway

06.28.10

BPS Giveaway Winner!

So instead of using the ‘Random Integer Generator’ to pick a winner, I decided to do things the old fashioned way. I wrote all of your names down on slips of paper and had Ellie draw a winner. We did a drum roll and everything. It was just more fun that way. :)

The winner of Jessica’s “Don’t Blink: Scrapbooking Your Baby’s First Year” class is –

lettersfromsouthbeach who said:

“I would love the opportunity to win! I have a 5 and 3 year old and have yet to make their baby books! Thanks!”

Congrats! E-mail me at [email protected] so I can send you the class code.

For those of you who were interested in the class and didn’t win, remember to use the coupon code and you can take the class for about the price of lunch. Happy Scrapping!

xoxo, Erin

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Giveaway

06.25.10

A giveaway!

Jessica Turner contacted me and asked if I was interested in doing a giveaway on my blog. Fun! This is my first. :) Her timing was perfect because I had just been thinking about how this fall when my girls go back to school I need to make Kole’s baby book a priority. If I don’t make it happen while he is still a baby, chances are it won’t happen at all! Jessica is offering 20% off of her self paced class called “Don’t Blink: Scrapbooking Your Baby’s First Year.” I’m excited to take her class and get some new ideas and a little motivation to do Kole’s book. Who knows…maybe I’ll get motivated to do Addison’s too. That would be my four year old. Nice.

Class Description:
Finding time to scrapbook amidst milestones and diaper changes can be a challenge, but it is possible! In the self-paced class Don’t Blink: Scrapbooking Your Baby’s First Year, you will receive tips, tricks and inspiration to complete your baby’s first year album – while he or she is still a baby. And don’t despair, if your baby is walking and talking, Don’t Blink will still inspire you to complete his album before he graduates high school.

As a new mommy who works full-time, writes The Mom Creative blog and loves to scrapbook, Jessica Turner’s life is a constant juggling act. After not finding any baby scrapbooking resources she loved and with a commitment to completing her son’s first year album while he was still a baby, she developed Don’t Blink: Scrapbooking Your Baby’s First Year.

After taking Don’t Blink, you will be inspired to create dozens of layouts for your baby’s scrapbook. Instead of feeling overwhelmed by the amount of pictures you have taken and the layouts you could make, you will have the tools needed to create a scrapbook that will be cherished for generations by your child. AND, you will be able to get it done during naptimes, at night and whenever else you can squeeze in fifteen to thirty minutes to scrapbook!

Class link:
http://bigpicturescrapbooking.com/dontblink.php

Coupon code for my readers:

Jessica is giving all of my blog readers 20% off Don’t Blink!

(link to: http://www.bigpicturescrapbooking.com/dontblink.php) at BigPictureScrapbooking.com. At checkout use the code: blogblink to redeem your discount. (This makes the class only $8 instead of the normal $10!)

*Disclaimer: This coupon only applies to the Don’t Blink Self-Paced class; coupon does not apply towards other Self-Paced Projects, Workshops or Gift Certificates. Good for one time use, per student. Expires December 20th, 2010 at 10pm PST. Cannot be combined with any other offer. Coupon must be entered in the “Promo Code” box during checkout and press “apply” button; discount will be applied immediately. Not applicable towards previous purchases. Other terms and restrictions may apply.

Aside from the coupon Jessica is giving away one free spot in her class! If you would like to win a spot, leave me a comment on this post before Monday, June 28th and I’ll draw a winner.

{This is fun} :)

xoxo, Erin

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Addison

06.23.10

A quick page

Just sharing a page I put together for Addison’s Project Life book –

It was a quick one. I did it while Kole was sleeping and the girls were watching High School Musical for the first time. Opened a whole new can of worms with that movie!

Felt good to be scrapbooking again.

Happy Wednesday!

xoxo, Erin

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Kole

06.22.10

Blessing Day

We blessed Kole in church this last Sunday. Kenny gave him a beautiful blessing. He mentioned Kole having a long, happy, healthy life. He didn’t mention what he really wanted to include – that Kole would someday become a starting linebacker for the San Diego Chargers. Needless to say, I was happy with the blessing.

Blessing Kole on Father’s Day made it extra special for our family. I was so proud of my two boys.

Glad my mom was there for our special day. Also glad she was there to help us all get out the door and to our early morning church on time. It takes an army these days!

We snapped a few pictures before church but we were in such a rush that I didn’t know if any would turn out so I tried to get everyone together again right after church. Sadly, the picture above is the best of that bunch. I like to call this one “my daughter – the Egyptian.” Pictures never happen for us after church. Kids are too squirly from sitting still for so long and we are all too anxious to get out of our dress-up clothes and back into our pajamas. Kole felt the same and was ready for a nap so I didn’t even get one picture of just him in his little blessing outfit. I’ll have to put him in it another time and snap a few.

Our biggest blessing is having this little guy in our lives. We are so grateful for him. He made our family complete and we couldn’t love him more.

xoxo, Erin

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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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