Chocolate Chip S'more cookies, Day time TV, and crafts

Yes, this title sums up my life lately. I'll start with the chocolate chip S'more cookies and what an amazing thing, I might add too! One of the things that Eric and I love to do in the summer's and have loved since before we got married is roasting marshmallows and making s'mores! We even love making them so much that we have been know to make them over our stove top. :) Anyway, while grocery shopping I discovered the new gigantic marshmallows, perfect for roasting, so naturally I had to buy them along hersheys chocolate and graham crackers. After making s'more last weekend, we wanted to try something a little different. This is when we came across the recipe for chocolate chip s'more cookies. All that needs to be said about these is that they are delicious and definitely worth making!

http://picky-palate.com/2011/02/21/smores-stuffed-chocolate-chip-cookies/

Now on to day-time TV. This is something I have never had to pleasure of watching since prier to now I have either been at school or work; however, now that I am home, I look for something to watch as I feed Mia. I might also add that we only get a few of the local channels so it has become a routine that Mia eats during the Rachael Ray show and Studio 5. These two shows have inspired me with cooking and crafting ideas and have kept me updated on the latest news and gossip ;). Last week on the Rachael Ray show she made Stuffed Turkey club burgers that looked really good so Saturday night I decided to make this for Eric. To my delight they turned out great and surprisingly quite easy to make! It's made me want to be a little more daring and try some more of her recipes. The gist of the all of this...try these!

http://www.rachaelray.com/recipe.php?recipe_id=4070

Crafts: Going back to day-time tv, the local show Studio 5 everyday has different craft ideas they talk about. One time it was on how to make a chevron canvas art piece. I will have to admit that I have jumped on the bandwagon with the chevron design. Also with all of these ideas, it has put me in the crafty mood. Here are just a couple of cute craft projects that are on my "to try" list.

Look this bag, love books, love the chevron design!

I love the baby stats wall art! I think it would be cute to make one of these for Mia!

Mia's baby blessing is this coming Sunday and I dont' have a dress for her...eek! She is still so small that she doesn't quite fit in 0-3 month clothes so I have decided to give myself a challenge and make her dress this week. I'm not the best sewer so I wanted to make something simple and "summery" and found this dress! I'm going to give it a try so we'll so how it goes. I even found the same material.

Mia's Bedroom

So the reason I am able to bring you all these updates is because Mia has graciously gone to sleep so I could do this. Actually she is quite the good little sleeper these days, as are most newborns, so I decided to use this nap time to stay ahead on my blog. I know all my post now are going to be everything Mia, but one last little note on Mia and sleeping was that she slept 5 1/2 hours last night without waking up! Since we have brought her home she wakes up about every 3 hours so last night was a real treat for both Eric and I. I'm hoping it was not just a one night thing :)

Anyway, about the bedroom, I actually have had Mia's room put together for awhile now, but just never got around to taking picture of it or posted about it, as I promised...so here are some pictures of Mia's room. I had so much fun putting her room together and making all the things for it!

A Few of My Favorite Things

These are just a few of my favorite things I love about my baby girl and my life!

1. I love those big curious eyes that are always looking around, even when I walk into her room to check on her when she should be sleeping and she is just looking up at me. :)

2. I love taking naps with Mia and waking up and seeing her cute face by mine.

3. I love how she loves taking baths in the kitchen sink and then being wrapped up tight in her towel and snuggling with mom.

4. I love waking up to this...he's such a great dad!

5. I love how Mia never keeps her feet in the feet of her pajamas and always has them up to her chest.

6. I love being able to dress her in cute outfits everyday! (Even if she ends up pooping all over them by the middle of the day.)

7. I love my amazing family who has been such a big help these last couple of weeks, especially my mom, Sara and Annelise!

8. I love my husband, who makes me feel beautiful everyday and does so much to take care of both of me and Mia.

9. And lastly and most of all, I love my perfect little family! I thank the Lord everyday for blessing me with such a wonderful life and helping me daily as I try to be the best mother I can to such a precious gift He has blessed me with.

A Family of Three Please!

Eric told me I needed to change our blog title since there in no longer just the two of us in this family :) That's right, we finally have our precious little girl with us!

After being about a week over due and nothing happening so far as contractions or dilation I was set on the schedule to be induced Tuesday night. (For those who don't care to know all the details of labor please skip to the end.) Once they gave me a pill to soften my cervix contractions started right away and got steadily more intense. By 1am my water broke and shortly after that I was definitely ready for my epidural! (Just my little plug for epidurals.....they are AMAZING!) Things were moving along faster then the nurses expected and by 7am I was ready to start pushing. Unfortunately the doctor was stuck in two C-sections so I didn't start till 2 hours later but about 15 minutes later at 9:50am Mia Linda Caldwell was born into the world. She was 7lbs 11 oz and was 20 inches long. After everything going so well with the delivery complications started when the placenta wouldn't detach. The doctor had to remove it himself which caused a lot of bleeding and I lost over 1 liter of blood. They were also having trouble getting a second IV in me for a blood transfusion, but luckily the bleeding stopped just short of needing one. Needless to say, since I was already scared of needles, I am now officially traumatized of them after being poked just about in every spot on my arms possible! Anyway, because of the loss of so much blood, without a blood transfusion the recovery has been a slow one. I can honestly say I would have never made it through few these last couple of days without Eric. He was there every second taking care of Mia and me in the hospital.

Now enough about me and on to Mia. Since I was pretty much out the rest of the day after delivering her I barely got to hold her or see her. That night she was taken to the Newborn Intensive Care unit because her blood sugar levels were low and she was having trouble keeping food down. I was discharged from the hospital on Friday and the hardest thing was not being able to bring my baby home with us. Because of this I was really grateful we live across the street from the hospital since Eric would have take me back every 3 hours to feed her as we tried to get her to maintain a good blood sugar level without IVs. Finally we got to take her home Sunday morning. She is doing fantastic now and is perfect!

Becoming a mother has been a more humbling and joyous experience then I thought it would be. Even when I am up in the middle of the night with her I can't help but smile at such a beautiful gift that God has give to Eric and I. There is nothing more eternally fulfilling in life then being blessed with one of Heavenly Fathers sweet spirits. I couldn't be happier or more grateful for the life I have been blessed with; to have an amazing husband who provides and takes care of Mia and I, for a healthy and perfect little girl, and for amazing family and friends who have helped and supported Eric and I through this (especially my Mother who I am eternally grateful to have here with me helping me!)

Oh one last little note that was especially special for us was the Mia was given the middle name Linda after my grandmother who pasted away a couple of weeks ago. Mia was born on my grandma and grandpa's anniversary. What better remembrance of my loving grandmother who I hope Mia got the chance to meet before coming to this earth.