Foodie Friday: Cream Cheese Buffalo Chicken Taquitos

I found a recipe for something along the lines of cream cheese & buffalo bacon and chicken taquitos. Um... can you say yum? I had high hopes for making these little boogers but in the end decided that I wanted to wing it and make a super simple version of them. I wont even reference where I found the inspiration because a) I can't remember and b) they are nothing like the recipe. That being said, these bad boys were stinkin' amazing (and spicy!) and I definitely plan to make them again.

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Cream Cheese Buffalo Chicken Taquitos

Prep Time: 15 minutes
Cook Time: 15 minutes

Yields: 4 servings

Ingredients:

• 2 pounds chicken breast, shredded
• 1/3 cup Frank's Hot Buffalo sauce
• 8 oz. cream cheese, softened
• Salt & pepper to taste
• 8 tortillas (I used flour)
• Oil for frying (I used vegetable)

Directions:

If you don't use canned chicken, you can do what I did and either boil, or throw your chicken in the crock pot for a few hours and quickly shred with a fork. Combine shredded chicken, buffalo sauce, cream cheese, and s&p into a large bowl and mix together. Spoon mixture into tortillas and wrap, securing with a toothpick. Meanwhile, heat your oil over medium heat. Once hot enough, drop each taquito into oil and fry, turning for an even cook (about 45 seconds-1 minute). Lay on a paper towel to soak excess oil and cool. Serve with desired toppings, dipping sauces and enjoy!

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Meet My Celebrity Friends

If you're here from Ruthie or Britt's blogs, hello & thank you so much for stopping by! I do hope that you want to stick around a while because I like to have fun over here... and well from the evidence of this post my family and I are constantly requested to do photo shoots and we have a lot of celebrity friends. And who doesn't want to know someone that knows someone?? Seriously, just let me know and I'll put in a call to my girl Ellen or my main man Leo. But don't even bother trying to get in touch with Gerard... he's mine.

JT, Me, Ellen

Aunt & Uncle w/ Mad Men Cast

Aunt Amy as Sienna Miller

Aunt Chris as Sienna Miller

Gaga, Cousin Allison

Mom as Cinderella

Grandparents as Elvis & Ann

Me, Mom, Aunt Chris, Cousin Allison, Cousin Ryan, Aunt Amy, Brother Lucas

Clair & Brother Lucas

 

Grandma & Leo

Me & Gerard

Dad as Knight

Entire Family in 'Lost' pose

Cousin Allison as Snow White

Alright... so maybe these aren't really our friends. And maybe (just maybe) we don't really get bombarded for photo shoots... but my mom sure can photoshop can't she? A few years ago she and my father spent countless hours cutting out our faces to make an entire book (I'm talkin' magazine thickness) for Christmas. Every picture is either us with/as celebrities, or us in place of whatever celebrity was posing as a Disney character. The entire book was so freaking awesome and I wish I could share the entire thing with you all, but I've already photo dumped the heck out of this post. Anyway, I hope you all enjoyed meeting my highly attractive family and our friends. Be sure to stop back by sometime!

Just Call Me Katniss

Hello & happy Monday, friends! I hope you all had a fantastic weekend. Our weekend here was filled with a whole lot of... not a lot.

Friday night was the usual for us-- Raymond's softball game. They beat the team they were playing by quite a bit, which made for a happy boy. One bad thing about games at 9:00 pm? No time for dinner between work and game time, so we ended up hightailing it to get some grub (and drinks) at 10:30 at night. So bad, but so so good.



Saturday was spent running a few errands, doing a few things for the blog, and cleaning out our closet and dresser helping R clean his motorcycle. I wasn't in the mood to sit inside the house, so my crazy self marched downstairs to the oh-so-hot garage and polished away on the chrome of his bike. By the end of it all, I was in desperate need of a shower and water! I don't recommend volunteering to clean anything ever if you don't have to.

In other random news, I posted this picture to Facebook and my grandma said "Katniss Sheridan?" (Sheridan is my last name for those of you that don't know, and Katniss is obviously the main character from The Hunger Games.) I didn't even think about it when I braided my hair that morning, but I wont lie and will admit that I am totally digging the comparison. Just call me Katniss! I also got Tomb Raider from an old friend (Hi Kyndal!). I'll let you all decide for yourselves:

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I am not a big fan of Angelina (Team Jen!), so I'll take Katniss over Lora any day of the week, as if it really matters haha.

Moving forward from my obsession, Sunday was spent grocery shopping, and making phone calls to the surgeon's office. I had my stitches removed over a week ago and I noticed Sunday morning that my wound was starting to re-open. Totally gross, I know, and totally LAME. Now I've got to drive another hour and a a half both ways just to have it looked at. I'm not excited at all and it totally ruined my plans to finally go swimming and get back to working out today.

Luckily my sulking was overshadowed by a Sunday Funday we had planned to meet some of our newer neighbors. We ended up having a blast BBQing, letting the dogs run wild, and chit chatting for hours.

Another great weekend in the books, and now it's time to sail through this short week before we head out of town on Friday for a family reunion!

See you all on Wednesday!

Foodie Friday: Crab & Potato Soup

Over the rainy weekend all I could think about was how excited I was for fall and all of the warm, comforting meals that come along with it. Being the impatient person that I am, when the craving for a warm, heavy soup came along, I had to have it. Turning to my pantry, I pulled out a few ingredients and threw them into a pot. Out of no where-- poof! bam! thank you, ma'am! came this delicious hearty soup that will now be a staple in our household for years to come.

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Crab & Potato Soup

Prep Time: None

Cook Time: 5 minutes

Yields: 2 servings

Ingredients:

• 2 cans Campbell's Cream of Potato Soup
• 1/2 can diced potatoes
• 1 can shredded crab meat (drained)
• 1 cup water
• Salt and pepper to taste

Directions:

Throw all ingredients into a pot, stir, and cook over medium heat until warm. Enjoy!

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The Heart Attack That Wasn't

My family (on my father's side) has a history of heart attacks. His grandmother died when she was 47 of one, and he had one last year at the age of 48. I can happily say that my father is fine, and healthier now than he was before, but it was definitely the scariest thing my family has ever experienced. While my dad was in the hospital, his doctor told my brother and I that we both needed to get ourselves checked out just to be safe, seeing that this type of thing runs in our family. You're never too young to prevent. Naturally, I didn't take his advice. I'm only 23 for Heaven's sake!

Sunday night as we were laying down watching TV before bed, I noticed that my vision started blurring. Everything that I tried focusing on was a blur yet I could see everything to the sides of said thing just fine. I chalked it up to watching too much TV over the rainy weekend. After closing my eyes and vowing to stop looking at the TV, I explained my issue to Raymond and sure enough, while I was looking at him, his mouth and nose were blurry. At that point I insisted that I just needed sleep. So with the beginning stages of a small headache I took some Ibuprofen and drifted off to dreamland.

Just short of an hour later, I woke up with a splitting migraine on the right side of my head that lead into my jaw, neck, and shoulder. Growing up I was used to getting migraines, but I have been lucky enough to not have one in almost a decade. That being said, this pain I was having was not how I remembered a migraine to be, and immediately thought something was a little off. Shortly after, I started feeling shortness of breath, dizziness, and nausea. Once again, something just wasn't right.

After a few trips to the medicine cabinet, I gave up and tried to go back to sleep. The pain on my right side just got worse, and I started to notice a tingling in my fingertips. Within minutes, my entire left hand and arm were numb and that's when I freaked out. After googling heart attack symptoms in women with one eye closed and a noodle-like arm (not easy by the way), I woke Raymond up in tears, sure that I was having a heart attack. He assured me that I wasn't and sat there patiently with me rubbing my arm, and finally calmed me down enough to convince me to take a hot shower. After a long 30 minutes, I had feeling in my arm back and was calm enough to lay down again. Finally around 2 AM I was able to drift off to sleep.

via

Monday morning I called my dad to inform him and get his expert opinion (dad's know all, duh) on the situation, and in the end we concluded that I indeed did not have a heart attack, and it was just an anxiety attack. Apparently my mom started getting anxiety attacks when she was the age that I am now, and my dad also gets them from time to time. Just another thing to thank the 'rents for passing down to me! Thanks, mom and dad!

But really, I am thankful that I am ok, and that I wasn't having a heart attack. Now I need to go make myself an appointment to actually get checked out. And if you read all the way to this point, thank you and I'm sorry.

The Most Handsome in All of the Land

Happy Monday, friends! I hope you all had a fantastic weekend.

We spent our two work-less days doing a whole lot of nothing, and it was awesome. Saturday morning after making breakfast we took Guero to the lake across the street from us and walked along the trail to give him some exercise. Luckily rain was near-by and kept the skies overcast and the temperatures not too high or in other words-- bearable.

On our way back Raymond insisted that we let Guero ride in the back of the truck. Obviously I was completely against the idea in fear that he would jump out while we were driving. My argument lost and we drove slowly back to the house while the baby had a blast eating wind (and an old piece of bread he found... don't ask me why it was back there). Now, I might be a bit biased, but I cannot lie when I say that our dog is the most handsome in all of the land. I am in awe of these beautiful pictures I snapped of this stud!

For being such a good boy we came home and snacked on popcorn while watching the rain storms on the balcony.

I also got a chance to throw together a new yummy recipe that I think you guys are really going to enjoy, especially for these colder months coming up! You're just going to have to wait until Foodie Friday to catch a glimpse of it, though! Until then you can check out the other two installments here and here to hold you over!

I kid you not when I say the rest of the weekend was spent on the couch watching old western movies and of course non other than The Hunger Games. I love the books and saw the movie in theatres and was so thrilled that I snagged myself a copy of it!

What did you do this weekend?

Foodie Friday: Crockpot Chocolate Cake

Hooray for the second installment of Foodie Friday! I told you all it'd make a return... eventually. A few weeks ago I was browsing none other than ol' trusty Pinterest and came across a recipe for what was pinned as "the most moist cake ever". It's no secret that I'm a cake/cupcake lover, and am all about delicious, moist cake. Bring it on!

I slightly tweaked this recipe and it came out so, so, so good. As for the look of it... we will deem this 'The Cake That Looked Like Booty but Tasted Amazeballs" or "The Ugliest Cake I Ever Ate".

My recommendations are to wait until the cake cools completely before trying to dump it from the crockpot. Obviously I was much too excited about the results of a freakin' cake from a crockpot (!!!!) and couldn't stand to wait. I would also wait to eat it until it cools as well. While it was absolutely delicious piping hot with melted frosting oozing down the slice, I had another piece last night and it was so much better at room temperature.

Normally I am all about completely sealing a cake in tupperware to keep it fresh, but with this cake I just wrapped foil around the plate it was sitting on and left it out. Two days later and it was just as moist as the first day.

Because of the texture of this cake, I think it would be absolutely perfect to use a white cake base and make your own sponge/Angel Food cake with. I think I've got a new idea!

Now for the moment you have all been waiting for...

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Crockpot Chocolate Cake

(Adapted from Mom's With Crockpots)

Prep Time: 5 minutes
Cook Time: 2-4 hours

Yields: 24 servings (or 5 in our household)

Ingredients:

• 1 box chocolate cake mix
• 1 package instant chocolate pudding mix (small box)
• 12 ounces fat free plain Greek yogurt (I love Fage brand)
• 4 eggs
• 3/4 cup unsweetened apple sauce
• 1 cup water

Directions:

Spray crockpot with non-stick cooking spray. Mix all ingredients together and pour into crockpot. Cook on low for 6-8 hours or high for 2-4 hours. (Mine only took 2.5 hours, but my crockpot's 'high' is really hot!)

Enjoy!

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Crash

Every night on my drive home from work, before I get onto the highway (35 for you locals) I take a peek and see what traffic is like. Being that I typically work until 6:30, it isn't too bad. Unfortunately last night... it was bumper to bumper for as far as the eye could see. My first thought? "Dang it, there is a wreck and it's going to cause me to sit here all evening when I could be home with my lovies."

Turns out I was right. There was a wreck... on the OPPOSITE side of the highway. So why was the North bound side of the highway at a stand still? The answer: Because the wreck was so bad that the fire department had to use both sides of the highway to get to the injured people. As I drove past the wreck I couldn't help but see at least 6 cars that were involved crushed to pieces. Some just had the bumper pushed in, others were missing the entire back half.

I saw a man just sitting in the driver's seat with his head back, waiting for the whole thing to end. Another woman whose brand-spankin' new car had done a complete 90 degree turn into the concrete wall dividing the North and South lanes sitting in her seat talking to an officer balling her eyes out. Another woman behind her, laying on a stretcher with her neck stabilized. And then at least 3 more cars behind them... all involved.

My heart immediately sank and I felt tears well up in my eyes. Right then I said a prayer and asked God that he take care of every single person involved. The next thought I had was that I was the biggest B alive. How could I complain about getting home later than usual while these people aren't getting to go home now at all. So there I sat comfortably in my car, thanking Him that I was on my way home to my loved ones while these people were being hauled off to the hospital.

I quickly then reminded myself that driving is a privilege that we all take for granted and think we are the best at. I don't care who you are, how well you think you can drive, one small mistake and you could be crushed to pieces. I will be the first to admit that when I find out there is a wreck up ahead I curse the thought of it.

In February of 2011, I got in a wreck (my first and only). I was going 70 mph on the same highway and while I had enough time to slow down enough to where I didn't get hurt, I was still going fast enough for my car to be considered totalled and the air bags to deploy. If you have never been in a wreck, know that it is one of the scariest things to have to deal with. I was balling my eyes out and was so shaken up I wasn't sleeping well for a week. Thoughts of it just kept running through my head and kept me tossing and turning wondering "what if I would have been paying better attention?"

The whole point of this post is to just remind us all that car accidents are called accidents for a reason. Nobody wants to get in one, nobody means to get in one, and nobody wants to be stuck behind one. Just remember the next time you're waiting in traffic due to one, say a little prayer for the people involved rather than curse them. I know that's what I'll be doing.

Never Don't Give Up

"When you think about giving up, remember why you started."

There are times when we all get into ruts. Well, I can't speak for us all... but I'm pretty positive we all do at some point or another. Today I'm talking blogging ruts. I've seen many blogs where people are "taking a break" or just don't have anything to say that day so they just pull something out of their tookus. It's no secret that I have done this on way more than one occasion.

When I first started blogging well over a year ago I actually had a completely different name (Living With Grace). I'm not sure why I changed the name because now thinking back I really really love it! I think my issue was that I wasn't sure what I wanted to write about. I wanted to write about food and healthy living and style and beauty and well, just everything under the sun. So, I changed my name to Fat Girl at Heart. That was a bust... I totally realized that I did not want my entire blog to be devoted to food and healthy living. Believe me, I was beyond frustrated and finally after struggling with figuring out my blogging identity, I just threw in the towel. Nobody read my blog anyway (supportive family and select friends only).

After taking a pretty long break from not blogging at all... I noticed I really was missing it. I don't think my life is more significant than any other, but there is something about sharing personal things with the world... I mean let's be real, everyone likes to talk about themselves.

Finally after hopping back on the blog-train and finally figuring out who I was and what I wanted to write about (for the most part), I started this ol' thing and really got back in to the swing of things, and it felt good. A few months later, low and behold, I once again got really frustrated. I felt like I was writing for nobody. I mean don't get me wrong... having a "popular" (or whatever you want to call it) was and is still not my main goal. But there is something about seeing my stats jump from 12 to 100 over night, and something about reading comments from people I don't even know saying how wonderful they think I am. It just feels good to have positive support and reinforcement from people that aren't obligated to give it to me!

Basically, the whole point of this post is to say that if you love something enough, don't give up. What you're looking for will find a way to get to you, as long as you stay on the right path and have a positive outlook. No, not everyone is going to like me and my blog. That's ok... there are a billion other people out there that will. Just when you think nobody gives a rat's ass, you get 2 comments back to back with the most kind words. Yes, that happened to me just last night! It honestly was one of the greatest feelings and I went to sleep beaming!

With all of that being said, thank you thank you thank you! to everyone that has ever read any of my posts, left comments, sent me emails, or supported me in any way possible. You are the ones that give people the courage and will to keep going, whether you know it or not!

Thanks, friends!

PS have you guys seen this picture? It makes me laugh at how not only did the person getting the tattoo not notice, but the artist didn't either. Never give up, but definitely DON'T get this tattoo! Haha

That Had to Hurt

Ok, I know I deemed Fridays to be "Foodie Friday", but so far it's really not working out, haha oops! I promise as soon as I can get my crap together, the recipe posts will keep coming. For now, I will just continue to load you all with excuses such as:

"I had planned to make dinner on Wednesday night but wasn't feeling well and didn't feel like cooking so we ordered a pizza."

OR

"I was going to make dinner Thursday night but Raymond had a softball game and we didn't get home until after 10pm."

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Like I said, last night we had a softball game and let me tell ya, it sure was one heck of a game. Apparently the team they played were their "arch nemesis" so it was a big deal. Unfortunately our team came out of the gates SUCKING (sorry, guys), and were down 12-5 with 6 minutes left in the game. Somewhere, some how, The Baggs pulled 8 runs out of their you-know-whats and came back with the W! It was actually really awesome and fun to be cheering them on. I am so glad they won because the other team were a bunch of trash-talkers and they are absolutely not 12 runs worthy!

To top of the awesome win, we had a blow out on the way home. Luckily R can change a tire like a champ and we were back on the road in no time (seriously, not even 10 minutes)! I thank the Lord I have a man that is capable of changing a tire... something I believe every man should know how to do.

SOMEBODY thinks he is still small enough to sit on the console!

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All of this softball talk has me reminiscing about 5 years ago when Raymond and I first started dating. I want to say we had been dating for a month (?) when he took me to one of his softball games. Everything was going smoothly, and I'm sure he was trying to play his best to impress me. My first thoughts were that he was really really good and I was definitely impressed!

Raymond was playing short stop and a guy from the other team was up to bat. As soon as he hit the ball Raymond caught it (of course), but he needed to get the ball to 1st base to get out another guy. As soon as he threw it, I heard SMACK! and then a "Ohhhhhhh!!!!!!!!!!!!" from both teams, and all spectators. The ball hit the guy smack dab in the center of his upper back. Holy cow did that have to hurt! R felt like a complete jerk, to say the least and I'm sure he was completely embarrassed. What a way to break in a new girlfriend, huh?

Surely enough, his throwing tactics didn't scare me away and now almost 5 years later I'm catching his balls... (softballs, that is)!

Love you, poo!

Now What?

If you read along regularly (thank you, so so much!), then you know that I am on a journey to finding my faith. Before I could write about my struggles, doubts, and questions, it took me a long time to find the correct words. Heck, I was sharing some of my deepest thoughts with you all... that's scary! Of course, after I hit publish and there was no turning back, the weight of world had been lifted from my shoulders. Then when the texts, messages, comments, tweets, etc. came rolling in, I felt like a new person. Your sweet and thoughtful words brought me to tears (of happiness of course).

Well, now that it has been a few weeks since I wrote that post, I have kind of felt like I am at a stand still. I put so much effort and thought into "how am I going to word this so that I can tell everyone how I feel?" I spent so much time wondering what the best way was to say every thing so that I wouldn't feel judged or looked at like I was crazy. Now that all of the time I would have spent worrying is free, I'm not sure where to go from there. How do I further my journey to finding what I'm looking for?

I don't feel like I am (or if I will ever be) ready to go to church. Is there something I should be reading? How does one learn about their faith without being born into a family with an already solidified religion? I want to find what I am searching for without losing who I am in the process. I don't want anything to be forced upon me, but to just come naturally. Maybe there is nothing I should be doing at all, other than simply just believing. So until I find what I am looking for, I'll just continue on with what I am doing... and that's praying.

I would love to hear any about any struggles/journies any of you have ever faced or are facing now. Inspiration can be found in anyone's story so I am all ears. With that, I will leave you with a song that is one of my favorites right now...

Random Recap

My weekend was completely random and almost completely boring thanks to being unable to move around too much...

Raymond went out Sunday morning to pick up breakfast and brought back tacos... and an extra one just for Guero. I cannot get over how spoiled rotten he is!


Big head, Sitting on daddy's lap, Nap time


Being forced to sit still and move with caution really makes me realize how much just walking to the car can do for a person. I Cannot wait to heal and get back to our usual weekend water volleyball games and working out. I'm weighing the options of canceling my gym membership. I really want to get into running (seriously) again and I don't feel like I can do it on a treadmill. I want to invest in some DVDs such as Brazilian butt lift and some yoga videos.


Taking care of mama while daddy works


I ended up making a sprinkle cake for our friends' going away party the other week. It actually turned out pretty cute but my crappy cell phone picture just doesn't do it justice. I will say that the entire thing got wolfed down before the other gourmet cake that was there. Homemade for the win!

Here in Austin there are a few bridges that are known for housing bats. A lot of people will go stand on/under the bridges and wait for them to fly out. There are so so many bats all at once and it really is a pretty neat thing to see.We went to dinner with some friends on Friday evening where we sat outside on the patio. The restaurant is close to one of the bridges (old McNeil and I35 for you locals) and we just so happened to catch all of the bats. I just wanted a picture and wasn't expecting anything good because it was on my cell phone, but I ended up with this really amazing picture of R throwing up the Horns.

Obviously I've been having to take pictures with my cell phone and it's because my digital just blows these days, and am in the market for a new one. I don't want anything big and fancy but something that will still take quality pictures without breaking the bank. I would love any recommendations!

Saturday night I was actually able to get out of the house again for a few hours and it was to wish my BFF a happy birthday. She's an old lady now (29) so I had to make sure I could be at her party in support of her last year as a 20-something. Happy birthday again, Val! Love you, ya old hag! ;)

PS My aunt is having foot surgery today, so any prayers and well wishes sent her way would be greatly appreciated!

Road to Recovery

Hello and happy Friday!

I just have to thank everyone that sent me tweets, facebook messages, emails, phone calls, and text messages with well wishes and prayers. They all meant the world to me knowing that there were people out there thinking about me! Thank you all so, so much. :)

My plan was to have another Foodie Friday Recipe post for you guys, but I haven't had a chance to make anything worth sharing. Let's be honest, I haven't been able to make anything at all. My breakfast this morning consisted of Pringles and Snickers Ice Cream. Don't worry... I'm not complaining one bit about it.

Backing up to Wednesday (surgery day), I was up and headed to Temple for a check in time of 10am. After settling in to the waiting room, about 30 minutes went by before we were called up to my pre-surgery room where I would be getting my robe, IV, and things of that sort. We started with a surgery time of 11:30am but didn't actually go until 2:15pm. Yep, you read that right... I was laying in a hospital bed with a creepy IV in my hand and compression gear on my legs, for almost 4 hours waiting, and dreading the moment I would actually have to be separated from my momma and wheeled away to never wake up again. Dramatic much? Maybe just a little.

We passed the time just talking, watching TV (very hard to focus), taking pictures, and me having to pee about 4 times. Whatever they were pumping into me mixed with my nerves and I was a peeing machine. I almost failed to mention that the waiting process left me starving. I had to fast the night before so by the time I was out of surgery, it had been over 20 hours since I had anything to eat.



This looks like a pocket, but it's not. It's a boob hole.

 

After finally saying goodbye to my mom, I was wheeled away into the operating room where I really started to get nervous. Luckily, the nurses and doctors were incredible and kept me talking enough to keep my mind off of what was going on around me. It also helped that the doctor gave me a quick dose of meds straight into my IV and made me feel immediately drunk. Before I knew it... I was out. I don't remember falling asleep at all, just waking up telling the guy that I had a really good dream and I was sad because I couldn't remember it. I really would love to hear what some people have to say right before/after surgery. Some of the stuff has got to be hysterical thanks to the drugs.

So with all of that being said, my surgery went flawlessly, and I am extremely pleased. I wouldn't mind taking another awesome nap like that again... without the surgery part of it, haha!

Now I am home and recovering. Moving slowly, in a bit of pain, but I can handle it. Besides, I have pain pills to help me out. The worst part about the recovery is my throat/jaw/neck are in awful awful pain from the tubes that kept me breathing. Yuk!

I also keep finding monitoring pads on me. So far I have found 3, and I'm thinking I finally got them all!

I feel like a horrible mama to my baby right now. He just lays in my spot on my pillow and stares at me wondering what the heck is wrong with his mama. I can't wait to be back to normal so I can run him ragged!

And something gross for you guys? I cannot wait to shower! I have to wait 48 hours so 5pm today cannot get here fast enough! I'll leave you all with that, you're welcome. ;)