Good Things

This week has been pretty awesome so far. We went to the doctor for Colin on Monday and got an update on our boy. Here it is: he's short and chubby with a huge noggin. He only had to get 2 shots (thanks goodness) and was a total pro, especially when he saw the stickers on the table for him.

The next day was my baby appointment and I was SO excited to see my doctor again. I know, who likes their OBGYN? I DO! She is amazing, smart, calm, funny, sarcastic and completely understands me. I could not be more comfortable with any other doctor. To top it off, the nurse we always have, Marcie, is amazing as well. We email them pictures and updates of Colin and I got a huge hug from both when I came back into the doctor's office.

Shane met me there with a grocery bag of food because I was feeling nauseated all day. I've already gained 5 lbs but if eating makes the sick feeling go away then I'll eat until I feel better!

We had our ultrasound and I was amazed at how far along I was already...10 weeks. I was thinking 8 max. Another awesome part of the visit was how much more detail I got at this early ultrasound than I did with Colin's. His picture was of a peanut, but this one showed feet and that kiddo was wiggling around like crazy! My doctor tried to take a peek at the "private area" but nothing had formed yet so we still have a long wait ahead of us to find out what we're having.

All in all things are great. I'm exhausted, but going to bed early solves that. I'm a little sick, but eating all the time helps that. Plus, I've got this incredible husband that not only has been doing ALL the housework, but after I stumbled into bed last night at 8:50, he came in shortly and without hesitation gave me an amazing full body massage. It was exactly what I needed to relax and slip into a deep sleep. I'm one lucky lady.

In a lame attempt to return the favor, tonight I'm making breakfast for dinner with his favorite: waffles!!

That's all for now...thanks for reading!

PS - if you need a good laugh for the day, then watch this:

Jimmy Fallon - Fake Arms

You'll have to search for Part 2 afterward, but trust me it's worth it!!

Bachelorette Party Time!

This weekend was the Bachelorette Party for my friend Missy who is getting married in 2 weeks. She had this amazing lake house set up with everything you need for a fun weekend with some wild ladies. Being knocked up, I knew I'd be completely exhausted if I went both nights so I ended up only going from Saturday to Sunday. This left my Friday night free to go watch Shane's dad perform with his band at his company picnic.

Here's an amazing video Shane got of Colin freaking out when he sees Grandpa and then dancing up a storm with his cousin Molly:

Link to the video

After some good food and family time, we went back to Eugene and went to bed (I think Shane has sympathy exhaustion).

Saturday I made some cupcakes for the bachelorette party and headed over to Florence to meet up with the girls. We sat on the dock for a few hours just talking and snacking on amazing food (french bread and brie!!). After that, it was time to change into our superhero outfits and compete in an obstacle course that some of the girls had set up. Surrounding neighbors later yelled out that they wanted to make bets on us, but I'm sure they were probably happy enough just watching us run around like idiots for an hour or two.

After we changed back into sweats and swimsuits, it was dinner and hot tub time. Now, being that it was 8:30 p.m., I was already tired enough to go to bed....so I did. :) But I hear the girls got some good use out of some random dance mix CD's and the hot tub.

In the morning, I got out the food I had brought for breakfast (croissants, bagels with cream cheese, apple danishes and fruit) and we started to clean up the mess that had accumulated over the past few days. Afterward, I said my goodbyes and left because I was aching to see my boys and I knew I still had a little over an hours worth of driving ahead of me. Luckily, it went by fast and I came home to find my adorable boys sitting on the couch together with a blanket. Who wouldn't love that?!

Shane's sister and her fam came down a few hours later so we could all partake in the never-ending pasta bowl special at The Olive Garden. After one bowl of fettuccine alfredo, I was completely stuffed but had to get just one more bowl, in case I wanted seconds later at home. :) We spent a good hour at the park just playing around and trying to burn off some calories (unsuccessful as most of us were to stuffed to even move) and then we headed back to our place so we could relax and Shane could make us some cookies. Now, even though I was stuffed, you need to understand that my dessert stomach (totally separate) was still empty. They were pretty darn good and completely satisfied my sweet tooth.

After the Ciaffoni clan left, we ended up just relaxing at home with Colin until he could no longer keep his eyes open.

Overall, it was a great weekend...full of family and friends and food!!

Today we have Colin's 17 month check-up and tomorrow is my first baby appointment to learn our due date so we'll keep you posted once find out!

Until then, thanks for reading!

Peanut Butter Chocolate Chip Cookies

On Sunday night, I felt the need to bake something since I wanted something sweet (apparently my salty cravings had the night off). This usually calls for cookies because I love to eat the dough while they are baking. I decided to make some peanut butter chocolate chip cookies. Now, this recipe is deadly because they ALWAYS turn out amazing and if you use an ice cream scoop like I do to section out the cookies, they taste just like Otis Spunkmeyer cookies!



Here's the recipe:

Peanut Butter Chocolate Chip Cookies

1 3/4 cups all purpose flour
2 teaspoons baking soda
1 teaspoon salt
1 cup unsalted butter, softened, cut into 1-inch pieces
1 cup granulated sugar, plus more for sprinkling
1 cup firmly packed dark brown sugar
2 large eggs
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
1 cup creamy peanut butter
6 ounces milk chocolate, coarsely chopped



1. Sift the flour, baking soda, and salt into a medium bowl and set aside.

2. In the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, beat the butter and sugar together until fluffy. Scrape down the bowl and add the eggs, one at a time, beating until each is incorporated. The mixture will look light and fluffy. Add the vanilla and peanut butter until just incorporated.

3. Add half of the flour mixture and mix for 15 seconds. Add the remaining flour mixture and mix until just incorporated.

4. Using a spatula or wooden spoon, fold in the chocolate. Cover the bowl tightly and refrigerate for at least 3 hours (you don’t have to, I only did it for an hour).

5. Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Line 2 baking sheets with parchment paper.

6. Drop the dough by rounded tablespoon onto the prepared baking sheets, at least 2 inches apart. Sprinkle the tops of the cookies with granulated sugar and bake for 9 to 11 minutes, rotating the pan halfway through the baking time, until the tops of the cookies just begin to brown. Remove the pan from the oven and cool on a wire rack for 5 minutes. Use a spatula to transfer the cookies to the rack to cool completely.

I hope you enjoy these cookies as much as my family did!

Just for Megan!

It's been a very, very, VERY long time since I last posted. Life is crazy and I honestly don't know anyone who would be reading this anyway! Well, little did I know that a good friend of mine who sits at her work computer had been checking the blog to see if there would be a new post lately. Whoops!

So this post is for Megan; to not only give her something to look at while she works, but as a thank you for reminding me that I should finish what I started!

I can't recall all the things that have happened since April, but I can fill you in on the most important: I'm pregnant! Shocked, happy, scared and excited are all great ways to describe how I felt when I saw that blue plus sign (actually, two to be exact!).

We're not sure how far along I am, because this came as a total surprise, but we've become increasingly enthusiastic as our first appointment approaches. I'll be very interested to find out my due date and when this little swimmer battled the odds to knock me up (too much?).

In other news, Colin has been growing so fast and learning so much lately. He signs "please", "more" and "eat" and says a hilariously butchered version of "Thank You" that sounds more like "dankgoo". Gotta love it! His next doctor's appointment is Monday and I'm looking forward to seeing how much he's grown physically since our last appointment was around his first birthday.

We've taken him to Amazon Pool a few times this summer and each time he becomes more and more into it. The first time, his death grip around my neck was so tight and any time a kid splashed his face he started to pout and fake cry. (damn you 10 year-olds...are you not thinking of the infants in the pool while you splash about?!) The last time we went, however, for my nephew's 10th birthday party, Colin couldn't get enough of the pool. He laughed at people splashing and was even sticking his face in the water. I know I need to expose him to it more often so he gets used to it, which will probably be a great fall/winter activity for me in an indoor pool while I slowly inflate with baby #2.

In more news, Shane and my 4 year wedding anniversary is in 2 days. I can't believe it's been 4 years since we boogied down to Barry White and the Ying Yang Twins. As a related note, our great friends Joe and Missy are getting married in less than 3 weeks and we could not be more excited!!! Shane is in the wedding party, and I personally am very excited to have an excuse to go out and buy a cute dress. If he's going to be all slick, I gotta look good too, right?? While it kind of stinks that I'll be a DD that night, it might just be for the best so I can fully experience the chaos that I am sure will unfold. Before I found out I was pregnant, I was actually running my very first Half Marathon the day after. I nixed that plan though because I plan on 5+ hours of dancing so my feet will useless for anything other than receiving massages.

There's not much more I have to say, other than: Megan, I vow to be a better blogger!! This one's for you!

I'll leave you now with a link to Shane's YouTube Channel where there are tons of hilarious/adorable video's of Colin laughing.

Adorable Video's of Colin Link!

What weekend?!

This weekend was absolutely crazy. I don't even feel like we had one! Friday night, Shane and I decided to go a U of O Baseball game with Colin. While it was fun to be outside on such a nice night and see the new stadium, it is very difficult to keep control of a 1 year old as all he wanted to do was run around to people who were watching the game. We stayed for about 2 innings (long enough!) and then decided to call it quits and head home.

That night I had made pad thai for dinner from a box (yikes) and it will forever be remembered as a horrible decision. Luckily Shane isn't big on Thai food so he didn't have any, but I woke up feeling slightly sick, like I had drank too much the night before (I had nothing but had eaten about 15 double stuf Oreos...so I assumed that was it). We went to Home Depot and the nausea continued to grow. I was feeling so sick (which is out of character for me) and Shane asked if I could possibly be pregnant. I got freaked out for a second because it could be possible, but at the same time I had a pretty strong sense that pregnancy wasn't the issue. In any case, we decided to get a test just to make sure. One line = relieved Shane and Sarah. So after the short-lived relief, I got even more sick. Full-fledged food poisoning came over me and I was unable to get out of bed all day. Poor Shane was starting to feel sick and had things to do, but instead had to put all that aside to take care of Colin. He is seriously Superman!!

So Sunday rolls around and after some pepto (sick) and lot's of sleep, I was feeling weak but much better. The tables had turned however for Shane. He was feeling much worse. He had already planned for his parents to come down and help us with our backyard though, so he powered through. We decided to redo our lawn because the people before us had no sense of ownership and let their dogs ruin the grass. We rented a rototiller from Home Depot and Shane spent almost 4 hours going back and forth on our lawn getting all the grass broken up. After that, he was completely spent and had to lay down. I finally was able to eat something, so I had gotten some energy back. I took Colin outside with me and I raked all the huge chunks of grass out of the yard and tried to flatten it. We had rented a big roller to level it, so I filled it with water and did that next.

After rolling and raking for a while, I was finally pleased with the level. I fed Colin dinner, gave him a bath and put the little guy to bed and headed back to Home Depot before they closed at 8. I got fertilizer and grass seed and went back home to finish it before I lost all daylight. Well, I got about 40 minutes into it before it was completely dark, but that didn't stop me! I FINALLY finished laying all fertilzer, spread all the seed and rolled it out before heading in. I was exhausted but I still had to watch the Amazing Race (ahhh priorities...reality tv before sleep).

I slept on the couch so Shane wouldn't get me sick and here we are again; it's Monday. I wouldn't take any of it back though, I'm extremely proud of myself for taking on as much as I did and of Shane for how amazing he was while I was swearing off pad thai for life.

I've got a good fam!!

Here's a picture of the yard after I raked it out...

Team CoCo!

We were among the lucky few to get to attend Conan O'Brien's first live comedy show of his new tour, "The Legally Prohibited from Being Funny on Television Tour". Our good friend Kirsten watched the kid for the night and we met some of our other friends at Eugene City Brewery for some drinks before the show. Before we walked in, we had to pass a swarm of cameras and reporters trying to get interviews from ticket holders. Cam, never one to shy away from the limelight, was immediately intrigued and was interviewed by a reporter for The Early Show while the rest of us stood there and grinned like idiots.

After the interview, the reporter asked us to give them a good sign off. Cam is always quick to plug my floundering/stalled website: Caught In Mid Air, so he said, "Let's do a mid air jump! Caughtinmidair.com!" as we all piled on the stairs. At the count of 3, we all jumped into the air screaming Team CoCo! while passersby judged us. Now, I should have mentioned that I was wearing boots...boots with heels mind you, as I performed this jump. That has never stopped me before, and some might recall a rather famous jump I did at Sweet Cheeks Winery with 4 inch heels from a ledge onto concrete (perfection). This was not the case for this jump. As we came close to landing, I felt my feet pass the point of no return for a safe landing and I promptly fell right on my butt! I laughed pretty hard, as did everyone else, but I PRAYED that we wouldn't make it on the air. Not with that jump!

The show was awesome and filled with old skits, new faces and a huge inflatable bat. After it was over, we walked out the same way we came in and I was bombarded with reporters from Inside Edition asking me about the show. Embarrassed by my previous media interlude and still a little tipsy, I spoke my piece and continued on to our car. The next day I waited with butterflies in my stomach for both shows to air. NOTHING! I have never been so happy to watch Inside Edition or The Early Show...ok, I've never actually watched either, but you get my point!

All in all, Conan put on one hell of a show and I still sing the chorus of this song (censored of course)...F*** S*** Stack <---not for the verbally sensitive.

Team CoCo!

It's been a while...

Life is crazy. Let me just start by saying that much! The past few months have been filled with so much stuff I don't even remember most of it. I know there were birthday parties, baby showers, BBQ's, playdates and so much more than I fear it's all turning to mush inside my head.

I had hoped I'd be a little more proactive when it came to writing on this thing, but it turns out I'm finding no time to get the inspiration to write anything. I'll touch on our more recent/interesting adventures and add pictures as I go along.

Colin had surgery yesterday to have tubes inserted into his ears due to a several month long infection in both ears. The doctor said that he had so much fluid build-up that he wouldn't even be able to conduct a hearing test and it seriously devastated me to think about my sweet little boy being in pain this whole time.

I'm not one for just pumping medicine into our bodies whenever we don't feel well, but I do think it's important to use them in order to be able to get the type of rest our bodies need. This has made it really hard on me to think that Colin may have been suffering through these ear problems with no relief. The problem is that he normally is in high spirits. Unless he has a wet diaper, is hungry or tired the kid is smiling and running around the house. Normal, right?!

I'm hoping this alleviates the problems he has had with his ears as I've heard it has done for so many other kids. Fingers crossed!!