updates/pictures- etc etc

soooo we left alex "alone" for the first time this weekend. we went to the fair on Sat for 2 hours & left her with my mother. it's so weird how sad i was to leave her! i knew we'd be back in no time but still- it helped that she was with my mom though. thankfully she'll be watching her when i go back to work so that helps alot.

anyway- we braved the fair, despite the rain, and ate more than can possibly be legal- the highlight? fried twinkies. OMG. want more. good times!

then we ran to pick up my nipple cream- and wow. that stuff is awesome. my nips feel so much better already- i haven't given alex the left nip since friday so i think i'll give it another day or 2 and then go for it. i'm a little gun-shy but meh!

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so- today is my first day home alone with alex- dun dun dun! brandon had to go back to the daily grind so we'll see how mommy does on her own.

it's 8:42am and i've managed to get dressed, eat, brush my teeth, feed alex, give her a bath, bath her, put her on her play mat & watch her pass out, throw in a load of laundry, do dishes, let the dogs out and STOP! and of course, update this thing :) not bad! i do miss having brandon here- it's fun to have him around & watch him hold/play with alex. but tis' life! he has next monday off (Colombus day) so that'll be fun!

anyway- so after going out to beakfast yesterday (with my in-laws & brandon's aunt/uncle) we went & bought a chest freezer so that we have somewhere to store all my milk:

ahhh! that's all from this past week! less than a week! i also bought another box of containers & a box of bags- the containers are getting to be too much so we'll give the bags a shot too.

then i made some pumpkin bread for brandon to take to work:

thank God the shortage has passed- that was rough!

then we watched the new family guy (not as funny- tsk tsk) and put alex down around 10:30ish (after she projectile vommed all over me & the couch- awesome) and i went to bed.

she's been doing fairly well at night. i got up @ 2am to pump & feed/change her. then she was back to sleep by 3:15ish. then brandon got up @ 5 & left for work @ 5:30 & she got up around 6:45. not bad. we'll still need to get a system in place, but it's only been a week. so we've got time :)

aaaand here are some pictures:

i'm going to assume that one day she'll stay awake long enough to appreciate this overpriced playmat...

eyes open for once! gaaah she's so cute! i love her!

<3

Pumpkin Bread

today i made Pumpkin Bread:

Ingredients:
1 (15 ounce) can pumpkin puree
4 eggs
1/2 cup vegetable oil
1/2 applesauce
2/3 cup water
3 cups white sugar
3 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
2 teaspoons baking soda
1 teaspoons salt
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1 teaspoon ground nutmeg
1/2 teaspoon pumpkin pie spice
1/2 teaspoon allspice
1/2 teaspoon ground cloves
1/4 teaspoon ground ginger

Directions:
Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). Grease and flour three 7x3 (or 2 9x5) inch loaf pans.
In a large bowl, mix together pumpkin puree, eggs, oil, applesauce, water and sugar until well blended. In a separate bowl, sift together the flour, baking soda, salt, cinnamon, nutmeg, cloves and ginger. Stir the dry ingredients into the pumpkin mixture until just blended. Pour into the prepared pans. (you can also add a cup or so of chocolate chips)
Bake for about 50 (or 1hour 20min for 9x5) minutes in the preheated oven. Loaves are done when toothpick inserted in center comes out clean. (i also melt about 2 tblsp of butter & throw in a little pumpkin pie spice- then i poke holes in the still hot bread and pour the butter over)

last week i made Cinnamon Buttermilk Muffins:






they were good- nice & fluffy & light. the recipe is from my Williams & Sonoma Muffins cookbook and it's almost perfect. i alway tweak the recipe & add a little of this & that and i'm good to go.





in other news: i'm still on BCP till the 20th- then i'll go in for my suppression check go from there- i'm impatiently waiting!!!
also last night the RED SOX WON! woo-hoo! there was a rather annoying 2 hour rain delay, but they were winning before & just continued to hold off the Yankees- we kick ass. so yeah, that made my night.
hmmm- not much else- back to work tomorrow (ugh) and the countdown to the weekend. amen.

God Bless