Glamping themed birthday party

My oldest child is turning 8 this week :( say it isn't so! I can hardly believe it. In honor of her birthday, we had a "glamping" themed party last night. It was all her idea and I thought it was a pretty darn cute one. This was seriously the easiest party I've ever thrown. All I did was set up a vintage-glam teepee, built a fake campfire that we played camp themed games around, and ordered the cutest s'mores treats.

Happy birthday, sweet girl. Don't get any older!

The Red Brick Blondie

Back To School Series

I cannot believe that school starts in less than a month, can you? This summer is flying by. One of my favorite things about back to school is shopping for new clothes. So I thought I would do a back to school series and show all the outfits I get for my kids. And the best part is, I shop on a budget so all of these things will be wallet friendly!

Today's look is from Target's brand new line Cat and Jack. It just barely came out and it is so cute and affordable. The shoes are from Payless. And the headband is from Crazy 8. The whole look was under $40. Right now, Target has a coupon for $5 off any purchase of $25 or more of the new Cat and Jack line. Just text KIDS to 827438. And last but not least, the adorable model is from me ;)

I love how the pink and army green look so good together and I think the pop of cheetah print completes the outfit. Up next will be a cute little boy's ensemble. See ya soon.

The Red Brick Blondie

Mini Banana Cream Pies

Today is Chance's 30th birthday, YAY!! Happy birthday, Babe! His favorite dessert in the whole wide world is banana cream pie. My mom makes an amazing one with a homemade crust that he devours every time she makes it. But I'm not cut out to make a homemade pie crust so I did the next best thing. AND, I made them mini and we all know that everything is better when it's mini! These took me ten minutes to make, fast and easy, double win. To make these you will need:

• Keebler ready mini graham cracker pie crust (6 count)
• One banana
• JELL-O banana cream pudding (3.4 oz packet)
• Milk
• Canned whip cream

Slice the banana and put 3 slices in each crust.

Mix the milk and pudding according to package directions and pour over the bananas immediately.

Add the whipped cream right before serving.

Now the really sad ending to the post: So I've had really, really terrible heartburn lately and have been randomly violently throwing up for no reason. I got a scope last Thursday and the Dr told me he was doing biopsies for food intolerances. I convinced myself that I was going to find out I had celiac's and was already sad because #carbsareBAE lol. I got the call today and I have lactose intolerance (insert all the sad emoticons here)!!!! I am still in shock that I got diagnosed with this at 28 years old. Now that I look back, it makes sense because every time I threw up I had eaten something with dairy in it. I'm mourning all the pizza, chocolate, ice cream, sour cream, cream cheese (need I go on?), that will now be missing from my life! I was going to have this last dessert tonight but if I do, I'll just keep saying "just one more thing and then I'll stop". So, I'm kicking the lactose cold-turkey. 

Now I need all of my lactose intolerant and vegan friends to send me all of your yummy recipes because this is going to be a hard one for me. You all know anything covered in chocolate or heavy cream has my heart!

Now that you've listened to me ramble on, I'm going to go get cute for the birthday boy's night out on the town! Have a good rest of your week.

The red Brick blondie.

Our 1st kiss to our 13,457th kiss

In honor of National Kissing Day, I thought I'd tell you all about the first time Chance kissed me and why I think it's important to kiss and show affection in front of your kids!

So waaaay back when we started dating, we were both shy little things so it took quite a while for our first kiss! After about 7 dates, when he said goodnight at my door, under falling snow, Chance kissed me on the forehead and I thought it was the cutest, sweetest thing. I think he wanted to really kiss me but was too scared. I on the other hand, was impatiently waiting for it. I mean, 7 dates had already happened. After 6 more dates, count 'em up, that's 13 dates, he FINALLY did it. How did this romantic event happen? At my cousin's house with her and her boyfriend in the room while watching School of Rock! Why Jack Black was the one to boost his courage is still a mystery to me. But that's how it went down. Precious, I know.

Almost 12 years, marriage, and 3 kids later, I still love a kiss from that boy everyday. And now I think it's more important than ever. It's so easy to let time pass without a hug, holding hands, or kissing your spouse. There are days when Chance and I don't see each other til 7 or later at night. At that time, we're rushing to get the kids ready for bed and prepping for our next day. But I think it's so important to show affection in front of your kids. The first reason is that it shows a good model of what a healthy, happy marriage should be. If we aren't ever affectionate to our spouses in front of our kids, they'll grow up not knowing what they should expect out of a healthy marriage. We always get the "ewwwwww" followed by lots of giggles when we give each other a hug or kiss but then it's usually followed by "kiss again!". Our kids know we love each other because we show it. The next reason I think it's important is that I believe kids feel safe and secure when they know their parents have a happy marriage. When you are affectionate, your kids know you're happy and they know there's stability.

When Chance and I give each other a quick hug after not seeing each other for 12 hours, it reassures each other that even though we're busy, we're still each other's top priority.

So, in lieu of National Kissing Day, and every day, make your kids squirm and give your babe a big, fat, kiss!

The Red Brick Blondie

Diesel's Miraculous Recovery

Last June, we had just moved into our house that we are in now and we were going back to clean our townhouse. Diesel kept saying that he needed to pee but then we would take him and nothing came out. His belly was really, really big and he said it hurt. About the fourth time that he said he needed to go, and having not gone all day, it was really alarming when again, nothing came out. Months leading up to this, he had been completely potty trained with pee but not poop. He was really constipated all the time and sometimes would go weeks without going. I didn't worry about it too much because I had heard that it was difficult to potty train boys and I figured he was just constipated because he was holding it in. Eventually he would just go, right?

Well when the scary, no-pee thing happened, I knew something serious was wrong so I took him to the emergency room. The Dr there gave me a mega-strength laxative and assured me he'd be going as soon as he took it. But he said just in case, to take him to Primary Children's Hospital if nothing happened. Sure enough, NOTHING happened. So the next night I took him down. The Dr did a quick exam and knew right away that he needed to have surgery. She told me she had no idea how his bowels hadn't ruptured yet. And about 45 minutes later, he was in the operating room, I was in complete shock, I had Marley and a 5 month baby at home, my life was still in boxes from the move, but I felt peace knowing that Diesel was in the best care and that he wasn't going to be in pain any longer.

After surgery he stayed in the hospital for 3 nights and then they set us up with an appointment to see a gastroenterologist and set us on our way. At that point all I knew is that he had an abnormally enlarged colon and that's why he wouldn't go to the bathroom for so long, it was all being stored in there. 

The next huge shock was when we went to his follow up with the G.I. Dr. We met with her, her nurse practitioner, a psychiatrist, and a nutritionist. At the end, the Dr came back in to tell me that Diesel needed to be on 8 different prescriptions- 2 in the morning and 6 at night. That he would need to come in every 3 months to see all of them for at least a year and a half but probably longer. They gave me a very strict diet that I had no idea how I was going to have a 4 year old stay on. And the worse news, they told me to expect to wait at least a year and a half as well for him to be potty trained. When I heard this, my heart sunk. If that were true, I would be sending him to kindergarten (this coming fall) in diapers. The thought of that killed me knowing the teasing that he would probably have to face. The weeks following were hard. He hated every single one of those medicines and I can't blame him. They stunk! He wanted to eat everything he was used to and it was a fight every single day to tell him no. 

Around August, the LDS missionaries came over to meet us. I'm guessing someone sent them over because we hadn't been to church much yet. Normally, my sassy pants would come out and I'd be bugged that someone assumed that we needed the missionaries. But, I must have known that we needed them too. We had been going through a lot of really hard things leading up to this and I think my testimony was really fragile. The missionaries started coming over once a week. Our family fell in love with them and we looked forward to every Wednesday night when we knew that they were coming. They brought such a special spirit into our home. 

One Sunday, I woke up really sick with strep throat. Chance called the missionaries and asked if they would come assist him in giving me a blessing. After they gave me a blessing, Diesel asked if they would give him a blessing. One of the elder's said he would and asked if there was something specific that he needed help with. I said he could bless him to overcome everything he was going through with his health. At this point, it had been about 6 weeks since Diesel's appointment and he was still in diapers, it was still a fight every single day about what he could and couldn't eat, and he was still (supposed to) be taking all 8 medicines. The elder gave him a really nice blessing and then they left.

Two days after getting his blessing, Diesel told us he wanted to go to the bathroom on the toilet. I didn't think much of it and honestly thought nothing was going to happen. He had done this plenty of times before and by the time we got to the bathroom, he wouldn't even take his diaper off. Or if he did, he was too constipated to do anything. Well, he went in there, he got up, and he went, people!!! 6 weeks after I was told he wouldn't be able to do that for a year and a half, he did it!!

I'm sure a lot of people will read this and say that the Dr's didn't know what they were talking about or that it was just a complete coincidence. But I know. I know with all my heart that it was that priesthood blessing and Diesel's faith that made this happen. When we had his follow up appointment, his medical team couldn't believe it. They too said it was a miracle. He got the OK to eat whatever he wanted and go off all those yucky medicines and he hasn't had to have another visit with them since. 

This was a miraculous recovery for Diesel but it was also a miracle for me. I was going through some really hard things at the time and I know this is something I needed to go through to strengthen my testimony. Do I think Heavenly Father gave Diesel this trial so I could learn something, of course not. Sometimes we just have to go through trials. But I believe that when we go through them we are given tender mercies to help us along the way. I will be forever grateful for those sweet missionaries who made such a lasting impression on our family.

The Red Brick Blondie