Wordless Wednesday: Yum-O!

Can you name all of the ingredients in my pasta salad? There aren't many so it is not very hard.

This is a summertime staple at my house.

Happy guessing!

Reminds me of the time I whipped my nipples out.

I do not dream very often.

The other night, I had a nightmare.

A freaking nightmare that sent me into a panic.

I was dreaming that I was asleep in my bed.

We have a big (king size), comfy (1000 thread count sheets), soft (memory foam), bed. I love it.

Anyway, I dreamed that Ryan got in bed with his shoes on!

I flipped. I mean I was kicking and screaming. I was extremely angry.

I can't stand for my sheets to feel dirty. I don't even like for the sheets to be wrinkled. I am that freak that will actually make her bed before she gets in it. My house might be a disaster but rarely do I leave the bed unmade.

ANYWAY...

So, I dream he is in my bed with his shoes on. I'm talking muddy, nasty shoes.

I try to push him off the bed.

No, really. I was REALLY pushing him off of the bed.

I woke up in a sweat, still pushing him. He was yelling, "WHAT THE HELL ARE YOU DOING?! WHAT ARE YOU TALKING ABOUT?"

I've never done anything crazy like that in my sleep. It was kind of embarrassing.

Last time I did something crazy like that, I was all jacked up on magnesium sulfate and I literally whipped my boobs out and made my friend watch my breast pump suck my nipples in and out. I was mortified when she told me.

Please tell me you have done something crazy embarrassing.

Prepared post of pictures, people. (Like the alliteration?)

Rain remembers rainbows.



Toddler, tiny infant, tutus, tea parties, total chaos.


Big baby blues (gorgeous green tint)


Crazy Caroline's costume carnival.


Small sibling sitting so sweet.

Not Me! Monday.

Welcome to Not Me! Monday! This blog carnival was created by MckMama. You can head over to her blog to read what she and everyone else have not been doing this week.

I did not have a date with the hubs Friday night.

I did not fall while walking down the sidewalk.

If I did, I would not have posted about it. Nope, not me!

I did not flip out Saturday night when Caroline came to me and threw up. She did not tell me that she ate a pepperoni. A pepperoni? We did not have pork chops for dinner! Where the heck did a pepperoni come from? I did not start to panic. We did not find a Cascade tablet laying in the middle of the kitchen floor, busted.

Caroline did not try to eat the Cascade dishwashing tablet. She did not get a little bit in her mouth. Like I said, it did not make her throw up.... on my living room carpet. Yum.

I did not stress myself out over it. She is not fine. Thank goodness! I did not drink two glasses of wine when the whole ordeal was over.

Both of my children, were not up until 12 am this morning. Ugh! I did not seriously think about putting them in the car and driving them around. Thank goodness, Ry did not come to the rescue and help me. He did not take Caroline so that I could get Em to sleep.
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This is a short Not Me! Monday.

I am tired and I cannot think.

I'll post again soon.

I also have pictures to post.

I will post them sometime today!

Long road ahead.

"Caroline stop."

"Caroline, don't scream."

"Caroline, I am going to count to three."

"Caroline, this is your warning."

"Caroline, don't pull your sister."

"Caroline, just leave Em alone!"

"Caroline, we are not going outside right now. STOP ASKING!"

Then she says, "Me not like you anymore."

We have a long 15 years ahead of us then, chick.

Nursing Cover giveaway!

Go check out Jo at The A-Priori Mommy for your chance to win a Bebe au Lait nursing cover!

This is a great giveaway!

I know a lot of you are preggers or still nursing so go enter yourself!

You're welcome!

Our date night was trippin'.

Being at home by myself with 2 children all day every day is... challenging.

I insist on one date night every weekend. The past couple of weekends, we haven't gotten those date nights. We have been busy and so have our babysitters (also known as KK/Jay and Grandmom/Papa). We haven't had time for dates.

Our date last night was extremely overdue!

I was so excited. I knew exactly where I wanted to eat, exactly what I wanted to drink, exactly where I wanted to seat... OH, and I knew exactly what I wanted to wear.

I dropped the kids off.

I came home and picked Ryan up (he takes an extremely long time to get ready).

We were on our way.

We went to a cute little Italian restaurant called Pupetta's. Just typing the name makes me mouth water. Ha!

We sat in the bar area because the atmosphere is great. The bar is beautiful... well, actually the whole building is beautiful.

Anyway, I ordered the famous Michelangelo. It is my absolute favorite drink in the whole world! It is Three Olives Watermelon Vodka, pink lemonade and cranberry juice. Talk about delish! I drank it in about two gulps.

I ordered my usual baked spaghetti and of course, ate a basketful of bread.

By the end of the meal, I was stuffed.

We boxed up our leftovers and decided it was time to leave.

I was looking all cute in my William Rast jeans and Jessica Simpson really HIGH heels. Cute until the spill. No, I didn't spill food on myself.

Picture this...

Cute girl chatting away at her husband, walking down a sidewalk, food in hand. They've been out on a fabulous date. In the middle of a sentence, she steps on a crack in the sidewalk, falls (I mean like completely falls... on all fours), and somewhat lands in a tree.

The husband just keeps walking. He gets in the car. Cranks it up. There was no laugh. No, "Oh my gawd, Hailey! Are you ok?" There was nothing. NOTHING! Jerkface.

I yelled when I got in the car. Well, I laughed and yelled because that is just like me. Tripping and falling.

Bright side of the story... I didn't spill our leftovers!

I have got skills, my friends. Mad skills!

PS- Be sure to click on the shoes link above to see just how tall these shoes were. I was almost as tall as Ry! Not to mention they were super cute!

"That" family.

Today I realized something.

We might be "that" family.

Oh, you know the ones.

Caroline had on her Halloween costume. She was reading a Christmas book. She had on Easter egg socks. Her hair resemble a squirrels nest and her face was disgusting. Her feet may or may not have been the color of soot.

What?

Sound like a redneck much?

I couldn't help but wonder... If someone saw this, would they think I wore wife beaters with rust stains, went barefoot, wore pink sponge curlers 95% of the time, smoked Marlboro Reds, ate Cheetos, drank Natural Light, and could burp my ABCs all while standing in my front yard with Christmas lights still up, with a naked baby on my hip, cussing really loud at Ryan?

After that thought crossed my mind, I was overwhelmed. I hid the Christmas book and the Easter socks. I made Caroline take off her costume and dressed her like a normal person. I fixed her hair, brushed her teeth, and washed her face. Oh... and we scrubbed her feet.

I felt much better. Much, much better. (It's possible that Caroline did too.)

Six-billion-year-old star: Part Three.

Did you miss the first two posts.

Post number one was about me.

Post number two was about Ultraviolet radiation.

This post, post number three, is about sunscreen.
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Ever wonder what SPF really means?

Let's talk about it.

SPF stands for Sun Protection Factor. It is a measure of a sunscreen's ability to prevent UVB from damaging the skin.

There are many SPFs to choose from.

What is best for you?

I'll let you decide once I tell you what I learned about SPF.

Let's say it takes you 30 minutes to start getting red out in the sun. If using an SPF 15, it will take you 15 times longer to get red. Meaning it will take you about 7.5 hours.

I like this explanation too. I found it on the Skin Cancer Foundation website.

"SPF 15 blocks approximately 93 percent of all incoming UVB rays. SPF 30 blocks 97 percent; and SPF 50 blocks 99 percent."

Since SPF only blocks UVB rays, what should we do about the UVA rays? Remember, UVA rays penetrate through TWO layers of skin versus UVB which only penetrates the top layer.

Well, there is something called a broad-spectrum sunscreen.

This type of sunscreen protects against UVA and UVB rays.

I use Ocean Potion Anti-Aging Broad Spectrum sunblock lotion with a SPF 30. It smells absolutely delicious. I love it. It is reasonably priced especially compared to some of the other broad-spectrum suncreens.

I also use Ocean Potion Face Potion for my face. It is made with zinc oxide which is also a broad-spectrum sunscreen by itself.

It is a complete sun blocking system. AND NO, it DOESN'T leave white all over your face. If rubs in and you can't tell you have anything on your face! Ha!

Zinc oxide does not irritate the skin either. The diaper rash creams you use, are mostly made up of zinc oxide! That in itself is proof that it does not irritate the skin.

How about your baby? How do you protect them?

Babies under 6 months of age should get very little sun exposure.

When exposed, babies should be properly shielded from the sun.

The AAP issued a new recommendation a few years ago which stated that "when adequate clothing and shade are not available, parents can apply a minimal amount of sunscreen to small areas, such as the infant's face and the back of the hands."

Remember though these two very important reasons for not overusing sunscreen in young babies:

1. Infants a high body surface to volume ratio. What this means is that proportionately babies have more skin for the size body as compared to an adult. Obviously, sunscreens are made of chemicals. On the older child and adult, the chemical exposure is relatively minimal because the body surface ratio is smaller than a baby. Therefore, babies get a higher "dose" of sunscreen than older children and adults. While this exposure would most likely not cause any problems, the likelihood of an adverse reaction is greater.

2. Babies have a mildly impaired mechanism to keep cool by sweating. In addition, they have a greater risk of becoming dehydrated due to heat. Sunscreen can somewhat impair effective cooling by perspiration, so placing too much of it on an infant could be detrimental.
(Found at Parenting iVillage)

I also want to mention how to properly use sunscreen.

First, apply your sunscreen 30 minutes before sun exposure.

Then, reapply every two hours.

Typically you should use about 1 oz. of sunscreen per application. 1 oz. is about as much as a shot glass.
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Sources:
Parenting iVillage
Skin Cancer Foundation
Your Baby Today

FuzziBunz.

Dee over at Two of a Kind, Working on a Full House is having a fabulous giveaway!

Here is your chance to try FuzziBunz or add to your collection.

Head over for your chance to win three FuzziBunz One Size Pocket Diapers. They retail for $18.95 a piece.

Great giveaway, huh?

Click here to take you to Dee's blog for your chance to win!

OMG!

EDITED: I'm working on my HTML code to make a three column layout. So far, I have found a code that works but my buttons don't fit. If anyone has a HTML code for a three column layout for minima in blogger.. and you want to share... help a girlfirnd out. I NEED help! Ha!

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UNDER CONSTRUCTION!

I've lost all of my damn buttons.

I can't figure a few things out. This is a work in progress.

Six-billion-year-old star: Part Two.

Day number two of my talk about the sun and skin cancer awareness.

Did you miss yesterday's post?

Read it here.
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Before, there was a lot I did not know about the sun.

I am going to break it down like an elementary school teacher for you.

Ready?

To better understand how to protect yourself, you need to know about the actual sun.

The sun produces ultraviolet radiation.

There are three types of ultraviolet rays.

First, we have UVA.

UVA rays make up 95% of the ultraviolet radiation that reaches the Earth.

UVA is known as the "tanning ray" and the "skin-aging" ray.

Next, is UVB.

UVB rays are responsible for skin reddening/sunburn.

UVB rays peak time is April-October from 10am to 4 pm. Love how those times are when we are always at the pool or beach?

UVC rays are extremely toxic. They are also known as germicidal ultraviolet rays. They are carcinogenic to humans and are thankfully filtered out by the ozone layer. Makes you want to look out for the ozone layer now, huh?

Ok, so do you have all that?

Now, I'm going to talk about them (UVA and UVB) all together. We will not talk about UVC since (thank God) we do not come into contact with them.

Here we go... again.

UVA and UVB both penetrate your skin.

You have three layers of skin.

The epidermis is on top.

Followed by the dermis, in the middle.

Then you have the hypodermis/subcutaneous layer on the bottom.


UVA rays penetrate more deeply than UVB. UVA rays actually penetrate your epidermis and dermis leading to more/deeper damage.

(Remember, UVA is the "tanning" ray.)

UVB rays only damage the superficial layer... the top layer... the epidermis.

If those rays can get through your skin, remember that both rays can get through clouds. So, even on a cloudy day... you can get burned/tanned.

Also know that UVB rays bounce back by 80%. These rays can bounce off of snow, ice, sand, and water. This means you are getting hit TWICE.

I'm sure you are overwhelmed with information right now but let me tell you two more things.

First, I found out that tans aren't as pretty as they appear. It seems nice to be tan/dark. It makes you look pretty.

Well, tanning is actually your skins way of protecting itself.

UVA rays cause damage to your skins DNA. Therefore, your skin darkens to prevent further damage.

Didn't know that did you? Me either and I thought it was very interesting.

Also, tanning beds let off UVA rays.

Remember these are the rays that penetrate your epidermis and dermis.

In a tanning bed, you are exposed to 12 times the UVA rays than that of the sun. Can you see why tanning beds dramatically increase your risk of cancer? Don't ever let anyone tell you that a tanning bed is just like the sun. WHATEV!

Ok, I hope you guys understood all of that.

Tomorrow, I will be talking about sunscreen! Get ready! I'm excited.

Six-billion-year-old star.

We call this star the Sun.

A few months ago, I told you guys about two spots on my shoulder.

I wanted them checked and removed before going on our cruise in March.

It had been exactly 17 months since my last yearly full body check.

I was suppose to go back in October 2008 but with Emma being born in September, I couldn't make it. I had too much on my plate at the time and never made my appointment.

After calling and begging, they worked me in. It's good to know people that work in a doctors office with a two month wait time.

I hate going to these appointments. I start sweating when I pull into the parking lot. I try to lie to myself, "I am so ready for my facial treatment. Dr. J is going to make me look just like Jamie Pressly." Who am I kidding? It doesn't work. I am a wreck by the time I actually get to the window to check-in.

This visit was no different. I looked like I had been swimming by the time I made it back to the room. I had to apologize to Dr. J for my over abundance of sweat. He laughed.

Long story short... he took off the two spots on my shoulder and found another on my back.

They were exactly what I thought they were... basal cell carcinomas.

Sounds scary, right? He found 3 and in only 17 months?!

Basal cell carcinomas are the most common form of skin cancer. They are commonly found on the face, ears, neck, scalp, shoulders, and back... places with maximum sun exposure. Seldom does it spread, or metastasize.

I was lucky. I caught two of mine early and Dr. J caught the one on my back early.

He just took a razor blade and cut them off.

My reason is bringing this up? The month of May is Skin Cancer Awareness Month. May is over, you say? Why, yes. Today is the first day of June. I meant to write this post all month and didn't think about it until today. Which got me thinking... every month should be skin cancer awareness month.

Get ready my friends. For the next few days, you will be seeing posts about different facts I have learned in my short 24 years. We need to educate ourselves AND our children.

Some of this stuff is interesting! Think of it as a learning experience!

I'm in heaven... Handbag Heaven.

My giveaway addiction is overwhelming.

It may be just as overwhelming as my infomercial addiction.

Here we go...

Baby Loving Mama, Emilie, is having a fabulous giveaway!

You could win ANY handbag from Handbag Heaven. Just looking around their store, I'm in heaven.

Please head over to Baby Loving Mama for your chance to win.

Not Me! Monday.

Welcome to Not Me! Monday! This blog carnival was created by MckMama. You can head over to her blog to read what she and everyone else have not been doing this week.

I did not watch the MTV Movie Awards last night.

I did not regret it.

I was not terrible.

Look at this hot mess.


Converse All-Stars... really? I did not own a pink pair of those in 1987 when I was two.

Anyway, that hot mess of a girl most definitely did not DROP her popcorn award.

Cameron Diaz did not have to go save it AND then have to hand the hot mess a piece of the award that broke off.

I did not think to myself... "idiot."

I also did not tweet about the whole situation on twitter. What? Not me!

If I did tweet, I would not say this.

I did not drool a little over this hunk of a guy...


Hello, hotness.

I did not think to myself, "Why does Kristen Stewart (aka hot mess) get to kiss this beautiful guy?" Life is unfair sometimes. Ha.

I am not done talking about Twilight characters. I will not talk about my children now.

Caroline did not stump her toe last night.

She was not dramatic at all over the whole situation.

She did not cry for at least 30 minutes.

She did not want her Daddy.

She did not yell, "I want my Daddy! I want my Daddy!" one-hundred million times... WHILE he was holding her.

He did not say, "CAROLINE! I AM YOUR DADDY!" Obviously, she never got that memo.

Caroline and Em did not just sit on the floor together and play for about 20. That's a long time for Em.

I do not have to hold Em 90% of the day.

I do not miss the days of tee-teeing alone.

I am not writing a series of posts about the sun and sun exposure. I will not post them throughout the week.