- so it happened -

Last night I let something happen that I swore I would hold off doing for as long as I could...I let Ellie fall asleep in our bed with me. Let me start off by saying as loud as I can...I do not think co-sleeping is bad in any way! As a matter of fact, although when I was pregnant I never planned on it, when Ellie was born she ended up sleeping not only in our bed, but on top of me, for the first three months of her life. That was the only way she would sleep with her colic and her reflux, and everything else that made her cry so much. And I definitely knew that there would eventually be a day as a toddler when she would start crawling into bed with us. All kids do right? But I was holding off as long as I could...because when Ellie develops a sleeping crutch, she holds onto it for dear life and it is so hard for us to get her to break it. I did not want "sleeping with us" to become her new sleeping crutch, because let's just face it...I have a queen size bed, a toddler who is a super light sleeper, and a hubby who moves around and fidgets a lot at night. All of those things combined do not make for a restful night's sleep for momma!

But last night as she was sitting on our bed, she asked me to cover her up so she could snuggle with me. Ummmm, how could I resist? I let her lay down and I covered her, and we snuggled, and we both fell fast asleep. An hour later, I woke up with the most peaceful sleeping toddler in my arms, and the thought of "oh no, what have I done?" racing through my mind!

Matt came into our room and said he had peeked in on us earlier and it was the sweetest thing ever...us sleeping together. And to be totally honest, I know why you co-sleeping momma's do it! Her little body pressed up to mine...her heavy breathing...it was so comforting. She has never ever been one to fall asleep in our arms once she hit four months old or so, and I was definitely jealous of all those other mom's that have been able to hold their sleeping child. But still... holy cow, what did I do?? My little one is now going to ask demand to sleep in our bed all the time, and she will lose.her.mind when I put my foot down and make her fall asleep in her crib.

I figured once we put her in a toddler bed, we couldn't stop the middle of the night visits that would lead to her crawling into our bed. But I thought for sure I could buy us more time. But as Matt reminded me, I made my own bed (ha ha) by letting her lay down with me, and now there might be trouble!

Wish me luck tonight as I put her down in her own crib and try to explain to her that little girls sleep in their own beds and mommies and daddies sleep in their own beds...sigh.

p.s- In case you are wondering, I did transfer her into her crib. The last thing I wanted was for her to wake up and discover that she was still in our bed. I begged Matt to do it, but he didn't want to be the bad guy, so I picked her up as gently as I could, accidentally made her hit herself in the head with her own floppy arm (mommy fail!) and somehow managed to get her into her crib without too much hassle.

p.p.s- There would be a sweet picture of me and my baby sleeping together for me to post, but my hubby failed to grab the camera when he peeked in on us. I did politely remind him that his job as the husband of a blogger, is to document moments like these so I can blog about it later! Always gotta be thinking of the blog right? lol!

- there are no words -

There are absolutely no words to describe how much I love this little girl...

Being her mom is the greatest gift I have ever been given. Nothing can beat it. And no words can describe the joy I feel when I see her little face...there are no words.

- quick recipe of the week -

I hope everyone had as good of a weekend as I did! I was healthy!! And my hubby was "mostly" healthy...and the little one was healthy! Hooray! I spent a good portion of the weekend dedicated to photography (editing pictures, a photo shoot with my very favorite photographer, Nina, and various other camera tinkering)...all in all, it was a good weekend.

Today, I am so, so excited to introduce you to one of my newest blogger friends...I am obsessed with her blog because she always has the coolest posts! I'm telling you, you are going to want to go check it out!

Meet Amanda, from Marshalls Abroad. Amanda is a beautiful Marine wife who is currently living abroad with her husband, Cam. She blogs about the amazing adventures they have, and their day to day life, living abroad. You definitely should read their love story...it's so sweet!

(Image credit Amanda)

Amanda is sharing an amazing recipe with us today! How good does this sound? I love homemade pizza! And the salad is the perfect pairing!

Caprese Pizza & Salad
Pizza
Store bought or homemade pizza dough
2-4 cups shredded mozzarella cheese
Cherry tomatoes
Basil
Olive Oil
Salt

Preheat oven to 500 degrees. Halve the tomatoes and put them on a cookie sheet, drizzled with olive oil and salt. Roast them in the oven for 15-20 minutes. This will prevent your pizza from getting soggy. Place the rolled out dough on a cookie sheet. Drizzle olive oil over it, and cover it with shredded mozzarella & the roasted tomatoes. Bake for 10-15 minutes. Top with basil

Salad
Lettuce
Raspberries
Avocado
Gorgonzola cheese
Grapes
Croutons

Dressing
Olive oil
Balsamic vinegar
honey
lemon juice

Chop the salad ingredients and mix together. Mix the dressing ingredients together in a jar and mix into the salad.

(Image credit Amanda)

(Image credit Amanda)

Printable Recipe

Thank you so much Amanda! Both the pizza and the salad look so good! There's nothing better than homemade pizza!  Don't forget to go say hello to Amanda at Marshalls Abroad. Tell her how good her recipe for homemade pizza and salad sounds!

- being nice -

I'm alive!...or at least I think I am. I think I've survived the worst cold I have ever had! Now that that's over with, I can get on with life! Hooray!

One thing I learned this past week with our entire household being sick, is that sometimes it's very, very important to take the time to be nice to each other, even if you don't feel like it. Let's just say with Matt and I both being sick, and dealing with a sick toddler, we weren't the nicest people to each other. It's easy, isn't it, to forget how to be nice to the people that are the closest to you in your life? Maybe it's because we know they love us unconditionally, and they will always forgive us for our "not so nice" days, but that shouldn't be reason enough. Matt is the person closest to my heart, and yet, he is the first person for me to snap at when I'm not feeling very nice (and vice versa too...this works both ways!). You would think we would treasure those people who are closest to us, but more often than not, those are the people who bear the brunt of our crabby moods.

This past week, Matt and I snapped at each other many times, and we argued...we argued because we were sick...we argued about being sick. It wasn't a fun week at all, and if I could rewind time, I would understand that this week, more than ever, it was important to take the time to be nicer to him, and not to take out my crummy feelings on him. Because when a person is closest to your heart, that's where you want them to stay, for a long, long time.

(Image credit katespadeny.tumblr.com)

- please excuse my absence -

Ugh! We are all sick. It started with Ellie, and it has moved around the house. I have it pretty bad now...and I'm dragging...

So, please excuse my absence on my blog, and on all of your blogs. I promise I will be back soon to catch up on my reading and to post some more posts (whenever I feel human again...)

- quick recipe of the week -

Hi there! Sorry for the late post today! Trusty 'ol Blogger didn't automatically post when scheduled...of course! Anyway, I hope everyone had an outstanding weekend! And now it's Monday...back to  reality (oh, how I love the weekends!).

Today I'd like you to meet Summer from over at the Crosbie Crew. She is married to the lovely, Mr. Crosbie and is the mama of two future heart breakers, Hudson (I love that name!) and Parker. Her blog is all about their daily lives in the OC...but she does mix it up by throwing in a few crafts and recipes along the way.

(Image credit Summer)

Summer's recipe sounds so yummy for a chilly winter evening! I hope you enjoy it...it looks so good!

Black Bean Soup
4 cans of black beans, drained
1 onion chopped
5 slices of bacon, chopped
1.5 Tbs minced garlic
1.5 cups of veggie broth
1 can of Rotel
2 big squirts of ketchup
a few dashes of Worcestershire sauce
1 Tbs chili powder
salt and pepper
cilantro

For garnish (optional)
sour cream
green onion
avocado, sliced
fresh lime
fresh jalapeno, chopped, no seeds

In a large pot, cook the bacon for about 5-7 minutes. Add the onions and cook until they are translucent.  Drain the bacon grease. Add the garlic and cook for another minute. Add the broth, ketchup, Worcestershire sauce, Rotel, and chili powder. Stir in the beans and bring to a boil. Season with salt and pepper. Slow simmer for an hour, stirring occasionally. Chop cilantro and add to the pot, allowing it to simmer an additional ten minutes. Garnish as desired.

(Image credit Summer)

Printable Recipe

Thank you so much Summer! 

Be sure to visit Summer over here and say hello!

- my little addictions -

I'm addicted to my iPhone
I'm addicted to Diet Coke
I'm addicted to Italian food
I'm addicted to photography
I'm addicted to the weekends
I'm addicted to redecorating my house...often
I'm addicted to Pinterest
I'm addicted to TV (but mostly just for background noise...I very rarely actually watch anything)
I'm addicted to a clean, tidy house
I'm addicted to striving for perfection (a big downfall of mine, unfortunately)
I'm addicted to traveling
I'm addicted to her...

BTW, she doesn't have a chipmunk cheek...it happens to be a mouthful of marshmallows that I used to bribe her with to take some pictures of her! lol!