Mommin' It Up!

December 23, 2010December 26, 2010

Jonah’s Birth Day

Last week, I mentioned my high blood pressure may cause Jonah to be “evicted” from the womb a little early. Thursday I went to the doctor, driving in a raging snowstorm, and I knew the chance of my blood pressure having gone down was ZERO. And I was right! It was high, and as soon as my doctor came into the room she said “I’m gonna do you before I leave.” It was Thursday, December 16th, and I knew she was leaving for Disney World December 18th. So…she said, “How’s tomorrow morning at 6:30?” I had been scheduled for a C-section on December 26th, and she said that 9 extra days with a blood pressure that high was not going to benefit me or the baby.

So! I excitedly agreed that the next morning would be the right time to meet my baby son!

I called or texted everyone who needed to know. (Yes, husband first, then my mother, then Emily!) Then I had to go to the hospital to get some bloodwork done, then home in the snowstorm to finish packing and getting my house ready and my kids prepared! Fortunately my mom was there to help me out.

We had to be at the hospital at 4:30 (yikes!) so Bobby and I got up at THREE to get ready! Oy! Then we headed in to check in, fill out paperwork, answer a million questions and get prepped for surgery. As soon as they got me back into the pre-op room, they started talking about the c-section being at 6 a.m., but we had been told 6:30 previously! So I started sweating that Emily wouldn’t make it in time! I had Bobby text her to get her rear over to the hospital posty-hasty and fortunately she got there in plenty of time to have an awkward conversation with Bobby outside the curtain while they put in my catheter. 🙂 I am sure it was one of the best memories of the day for both of them!

Then Emily and Bobby donned their super-hot surgical suits and they whisked me off to the operating room. They had to wait outside while they did my spinal anesthesia, which is the most nerve-wracking part for me. But it went really well, the team did an awesome job!

Then it was GO time. My wonderful doctor came in with the resident assisting her and they sliced and diced and pushed and pulled until finally it was time for Baby Jonah to come on out and play. I heard him cry and asked “Does he have hair?” and Bobby was like, “Oh yeah, he’s got lots of hair!” They held him up so I could see him and then whisked him over to a table to get checked out. I couldn’t see him from where I was so Bobby and Emily took pictures for me and gave me verbal updates.

I am gonna say he is reaching for Mommy in this one!

I listened to the nurses call out his stats, and say he got an APGAR score of 9.9 and I was very relieved! Then finally they brought him over to me so I could nuzzle him a little bit before they took him off to the nursery. I had to hang out a little while to get my TUBES TIED (sadly, Emily was NOT allowed to perform the procedure, which is a bummer, I am sure she would have done a STELLAR job! I mean, really, she is good at everything!)

After a short while in recovery, and after our pediatrician checked him out, Bobby brought Jonah to me and I got to nurse him for the first time. He did an AMAZING job! I think I was too loopy from anesthesia to remember nursing Joshua and Sophie for the first time (sad, I know) but I was pretty lucid at that point and I totally remember it. He did so well and I was so relieved and excited.

The rest of the day was kind of a blur of visitors, feedings, and my vitals being taken. It was really special when my big kids met Jonah. Sophie wasn’t so sure what to think and was mostly concerned with wanting Mommy and Daddy to come home with her. 🙁 So that made me really sad and was a hard part of the day for me. But Joshua was enthralled with his brother from the first moment and it was so sweet to see!!

All in all, despite the pain (really, I would have babies the old-fashioned way if I could!) of surgery, Jonah’s birth day was a wonderful day for us. I love my baby boy so much, and we already can’t imagine what we ever did without him. My big kids adore him and of course so does his daddy. We are so thankful to God for bringing Jonah to us safe and sound!

December 22, 2010

Ralph Lauren Childrenswear – Baby Layette

Since Baby Jonah made his debut early, it’s the perfect time to post about my latest gear from Ralph Lauren as one of their Mombassadors – baby layette! Ralph Lauren Childrenswear sent a gorgeous cotton coverall suit and a hat and booties for my review.

The coveralls are still too big but the hat and booties are just adorable on my boy! See?

I looove the thick, cabled cotton. They are both beautiful and functional at this time of year.

Ralph Lauren Childrenswear is designed to be classic and timeless, just like the Lauren collections for adults. Childrenswear comes in sizes infant through size 16 for girls and size 20 for boys, so you can keep the whole family clothed in effortless Lauren style.

I’m loving how precious these classics look on Baby Jonah! You can always count on Ralph Lauren for the times when your kiddos need to look sharp.:)

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This post is part of my involvement in the Ralph Lauren Mombassador campaign with Mom Central Consulting. The items were provided to me to review; all opinions about them are solely mine.

December 22, 2010December 29, 2010

What’s Cookin’ Wednesday – The Extended Edition

The “What’s Cookin’ Wednesday” giveaways were supposed to end last week… but I’m adding one more week. I am SUPER excited about it, and I think you will be, too.

A couple weeks ago, I was invited to take part in a webinar with NYC cupcake chef David Arrick. David, who was formerly a Wall Street attorney, founded Butch Bakery, which specializes in unusual cupcakes – specifically, cupcakes made for men. Take a look:

In addition to not looking like your everyday pink fluffy cupcake, they come in really unique flavors. For example, they’ve got The Campout,which is an ode to s’mores, and the Beer Run, described on their website: “Butch meets buttercream in our chocolate beer cake with beer-infused buttercream topped with crushed pretzels.” Think that’s unique? Check out the Home Run – “This peanut butter cake with banana bavarian cream & crumbled bacon is more fun than getting to third base.” Yes, you read that right – bacon on a cupcake.

They also have a rum and coke cupcake, which they may have thought they made for men, but they really made for me. AND according to David, he’s working on a new margarita cupcake. Really – there are no words to describe my thoughts on that.

Anyway… The point of the webinar was to introduce us to the genius that is Butch Bakery, but also for us to get baking tips from David himself. His biggest tip? Use Breville products!

I was introduced to Breville a while ago, when I was asked to review their blender. I love that thing, so I was excited to see what other small appliances they offer. David showed us how he can make his famous cupcakes using two things – the Breville Stand Mixer and Smart Oven.

Aren’t they pretty?

After we all drooled over these for an hour, David told us that the people at Breville were sending us one of each – and a stand mixer to give away! Needless to say, we were all thrilled. Cortney and I pretty much stalked the UPS guy until they were delivered!

I was intrigued by the Smart Oven. I’ve actually never had a toaster oven. I’m a child of the 80s, we love our microwaves! I really never thought about getting one, but now that I have it, I love it! This model comes with a wire rack, a removable crumb tray, a pizza pan, a baking pan, and a broil rack. It can do just about anything! The LCD display has options for baking, toast, pizza, broil, roast, cookies – you name it. It’s big enough to fit a casserole dish as well! The first time I used it, I could not believe how quickly it preheated. My oven preheats really quickly, but still, the Smart Oven caught me off guard with how fast it was ready. There are so many times that I want to bake a few dinner rolls or something and I hate to use the regular oven, so I am looking forward to having the Smart Oven for things like that.

Now, onto the stand mixer!

I was soooooooooo excited about this, because as my interest in baking has developed over the last year or so, I’ve heard time and time again how wonderful stand mixers are. They are an investment, to be sure, and a lot of people I know got one for a wedding present. However, when I got married, I was too clueless to know I needed one, and I hadn’t been able to pull the trigger on buying one myself. But let me tell you.

This. Thing. Is. Amazing.

I’ve had it for about a week, and I’ve tested it out quite a bit in that time. I made buckeyes first. I have been making buckeyes for a few years, and while they are delicious, a problem I always had is that the peanut butter filling turned out very crumbly – so much so that I couldn’t use a good portion of the last batch I made. Not so with the stand mixer – the mixture was creamy and beautiful and I used every last morsel.

I also made three pumpkin rolls. I love making pumpkin rolls and I love eating them even more, but they are rather time consuming. A couple weeks ago I made three of them, and it took me a solid three hours. This time, using the stand mixer, I shaved a half an hour off the total time AND I managed to do the dishes and clean up the kitchen during that time as well. Honestly, I have no idea why the mixer saved me so much time, but it really did. It also made the cream cheese icing super fluffy and smooth – no butter chunks to be found.

The mixer comes with an assortment of attachments – a regular mixing one, a dough hook, a wisk, and my personal favorite, a scraper.

It scrapes the side of the bowl as you go, and it comes standard with the mixer. How cool is that?

As you can see, I could not be happier with either of these products, and I am thrilled that Breville has given me an opportunity to give a mixer away!

Here’s how to enter!

Required entry: Leave a comment on this post and tell us what you like best about the Smart Oven or the Stand Mixer.

Extra entries:
— Tweet about this contest & leave a comment with a link to your tweet. Here’s an example: “Win a @brevilleusa stand mixer from @momminitup & @jennyitup! http://bit.ly/eX8m9k”
— “Like” Breville on Facebook and tell them Mommin’ It Up sent you, and then leave a comment here telling us you did so.

For more information about all Breville products, check them out on Facebook , Twitter, Flickr and YouTube.

This contest will end at 5:00 p.m. on Tuesday, December 29. Good luck!

p.s. You can also enter to win a Breville stand mixer from our good friend Cortney!