i was having a sweet fix of a daydream of a boy

I was falling apart by this afternoon: two slips across wet tile, groceries I'd accidentally left in the car. Ethan and I set out in search of something exciting, fun, different -- something to do that wasn't tied to dwelling about the piles of laundry taunting me or the fact that the items off tonight's dinner menu had rotted away in the trunk of my car in the brutal Florida heat. We found a new children's bakery and decided to go decorate some cupcakes. Ethan took this job very seriously. Every once in a while, he'd stop to lick some of the icing off of the spatula and the cupcake itself, but then he'd fill in the spaces with more.

This activity probably came at the best time as just two days ago Ethan began expressing great interest in using utensils to feed himself. Months ago he declared that he planned on eating every meal with his fingers and would clamp his lips together so tight if I dared to attempt feeding him with a spoon or fork. Two days ago, he retired the whole hands-and-fingers routine and decided he'd only eat if I fed him with utensils. That slowly began to morph into him wanting to try it on his own, which I think was his fascination with decorating the cupcakes. He loved holding the utensils and spatulas himself.

In the end, we had two pretty perfect cupcakes that we decided to bring by as a surprise for Grandma and Grandpa...though I did decide that any master chef who can create such beautiful masterpieces deserves a little taste of his creations, no?

blogging for breathing

I've mentioned it here only once before around a month ago but in just two short weeks I will be participating in a 24-hour Blog-A-Thon. I'm getting both excited, anxious, nervous -- how in the world will I be able to stay up for 24 hours?! -- but constantly touched by the generosity of those around me.

I will be blogging once every 30 minutes for 24 hours straight to raise money for Global Links, a worldwide medical relief organization. Specifically, all donations and sponsorships I receive will go towards their nebulizer campaign. If you've been reading my blog for a while, you know all about Ethan's struggle with RSV and the lingering respiratory issues that continue to hang over our heads. It took a while until I realized that in the end, I should be thankful: thankful we have the ability to have an in-home nebulizer, thankful for the medical care we were and are lucky enough to receive for Ethan, thankful that when my son wheezes it only takes a breathing treatment to clear him up. All around the world, so many aren't lucky...especially with asthma being on the rise. Far too often, babies and children are dying from asthma, RSV and other respiratory issues. Through their nebulizer campaign, Global Links will put nebulizers in the communities where they are needed so that no mother has to carry her child for miles, even days, hoping they can keep breathing long enough to make it to a shared community nebulizer -- if there even is one available. It's an honor to be blogging for Global Links and their nebulizer campaign and I am so excited to be a part of this.

What really took my breath away was how many wonderful people stepped in to help. For every $5 donation that I receive during the Blog-A-Thon, people are eligible to win a slew of great prizes. Big name companies -- Peter Rabbit Organics, Food For Life, Lollacup, Episencial -- they all stepped in to offer free prizes for these raffles. Etsy shopowners also offered their support and sent gift baskets. In the end, with two weeks to go until the Blog-A-Thon, there are sixteen amazing prizes to win. Sixteen prizes that I can't even put a value on, hundreds of dollars worth of prizes so generously donated by these wonderful people and companies...and fellow bloggers.

Alright, if you're a blogger, chances are you know Ashley of Under The Sycamore. I've loved her blog for some time now -- and what's not to love?! And chances are you've also heard of Ashley's three week online photography courses, or Snap Shops. I held out a little bit of hope that maybe Ashley would mention my Blog-A-Thon on Facebook or Twitter but she really came through beyond my wildest dreams. Ashley donated a free Snap Shop admission as a prize to be raffled off during the Blog-A-Thon! I can't even wrap my mind around her generosity but let me just put it out there: you know how you read Ashley's blog and think she's the sweetest, kindest, most thoughtful person to exist? You're right. She really is.

Every dollar I raise goes directly to Global Links and their quest to provide nebulizers for those in need. Every $5 you donate puts you in the running for all of the fabulous prizes donated by some pretty awesome sponsors. Helping to spread the word is also invaluable -- which is why I put a button up for everyone to share whenever possible! For a complete list of prizes, more information, how to donate and for the code to share our button, please visit www.aisforalbuterol.com or click the button below:

cute little mini veggie quiches, oh my!

Ethan is an awesome eater and breakfasts and dinners always go off without a hitch. Lunch is another story. I've been complaining to friends for a while about the "lunch rut" I'm in with Ethan and how I feel like I'm always offering either leftovers or the same few foods day in and day out. I put a plea out there for suggestions and my friends delivered. One of the suggestions was for little miniature quiches baked inside muffin tins. I scoured the internet for recipes and ended up mashing a few together to create the cutest little miniature veggie quiches!

To keep myself accountable for spicing up Ethan's lunch menu, I thought I'd share my fresh, new ideas as they are executed. My favorite thing about these perfectly-portioned-for-toddler quiches would be how easy they are to store (or freeze, even!) for easy lunchtime access. They also make a great breakfast idea for mornings on the go! Most of all, they're easy -- which is a must for people like me who aren't exactly good in the kitchen.

What You Need:

Most of the recipes I found called for meat of some kind, which I didn't want. Instead, I added three different types of veggies. I used some of Ethan's favorite veggies: a tomato, carrots and kale. You also have the option at cutting out circles of bread and placing them in the bottom of each muffin tin, but I wanted to keep these gluten-free in the (highly likely) event my husband is running late for work in the morning and needs to grab a bag of these to eat on the go.

All you need is 1 cup of milk, a few shakes of black pepper, 1 teaspoon of dried mustard, 3/4 cup of your favorite cheese, 4 eggs and your veggies of choice. That's it.

While our days of purees are long since over, I admittedly use my Baby Bullet as a food processor for small jobs like these. Our regular food processor is gigantic and it's a headache trying to assemble all of the pieces. The Baby Bullet does just fine. I used it to dice up the carrots and kale into small pieces. The tomato I simply chopped into bite-size pieces by hand.

Using a little bit of olive oil on a paper towel, grease the muffin tin so your little quiches don't get stuck to the pan. You can also use paper lines if you'd like.

From there, you combine your veggies and place them at the bottom of each well in your muffin tin.

In a medium mixing bowl, mix together your four eggs, one cup of milk, 3/4 cup cheese, a few shakes of black pepper and a teaspoon of ground mustard. Combine the egg mixture so it's evenly mixed.

Pour the egg mixture into each muffin tin, filling almost to the top. They will rise but not too much. Bake at 375 degrees (don't forget to preheat!) for 20-25 minutes until done (and bubbly)! Yummy!

i miss you madly and it's raining on the coast

This past week? What a whirlwind. After months of debating with myself, I finally took the plunge on my first roadtrip all by myself with Ethan. I was mostly concerned about the getting there and getting back in one piece thing. I have the worst sense of direction and complete out-of-this-world anxiety when it comes to driving (especially on highways -- I cringe just thinking about it now!) and when you pair all that with the fact that my kid is the one who spent months crying so hard he'd vomit on just a five minute trip to the grocery store, the idea was daunting. The three-hour each-way trek? Yeah. It ended up being easier than I anticipated. On both trips there and home, a tired out Ethan snoozed for the majority of our time in the car.

Most people heard me mention Orlando and assumed a trip to Disney World was in the works but it most definitely wasn't (and not just because I despise Disney World). Orlando is where my husband and I went to college, where we first started our lives together at just eighteen years old (funny how I recall being such an adult then and now I look back and realize what children we were!). It's where we learned, worked, lived and grew together all those years ago and though I definitely do not like the city of Orlando itself (to put it gently), I do so love so many of the friends who live there, the places we frequented there and -- oh, heck, I'm basically a sucker for nostalgia. I may have even gotten tears in my eyes as I strolled Ethan across the campus where I attended college, pointing out the buildings where I took my first college classes as a freshman. The truth of it all is when I was actually attending college there, it was the last college I ever wanted to end up at and so my time walking those same pathways and halls was usually filled with tears and homesick phonecalls home. It's funny how time erases that sort of thing and fills the void with a whole new take on things and the familiar comfort of nostalgia.

Ethan had a blast save for nighttime when he couldn't really get used to his new surroundings and his travel crib and while nearly five days felt so long, our days were packed full and there were so many people and places I didn't get to see. (After all, how can you expect to fit four years worth of people and places into five measly days?) And of course my camera batteries died when we were at Katie's (from Look, I Can Grow People) house and Ethan was playing adorably with her little girl, Lila. But all in all, it was a great trip and we came back like tourists with t-shirts and postcards from our former alma maters and pictures from the buildings and billboards that we used to see everyday all those years ago. Most importantly, we made it back in one piece.

In case you were wondering how meals are served to toddlers while crashing at a single friend's kid-less (and way, way hip) loft-style apartment, this is how that works out:

A good friend of ours was about to begin her first year teaching and we couldn't wait to stop by and see her very first classroom. Ethan tested everything out, you know, to make sure the kids would like it. (He is certain they will.)

We reconnected with old friends (and new doggies)!

We made new memories at the ceramics studio I spent just about everyday at during college...

We found the time to make new memories at new parks that even I'd never been to before.

It felt good to get away, good to see everyone, good to see old familiar places that I wasn't sure if we'd ever really see again. It's also good to be back in our own beds and home, good to be back with my husband after the longest time we've all spent apart since his business trip when Ethan was six weeks old. Still, I'm glad we went and thankful for all of our new memories.

blazing down that highway on my way to rock star land

Something was missing from our day today. Something felt out of place. That something? Kindermusik! Our session ended last week and as we patiently await late August for our next session to start, we realized our Tuesday was very much lacking music. We tried dancing but Ethan was too grouchy. We tried playing with Ethan's toy drum but he'd been there, done that.

An old Baby Bullet baby food storage container fell from the cabinet when I opened it to look for something. I opened the cabinet and found a second container. I filled one with dry lentils and the other with some water -- pink sugar added for fun -- and we made our own instruments. The next hour was filled with tons of shaking, dancing and epic rockstar vocals. Ethan very well may have been auditioning to take over for Steven Tyler.

Ethan would hand me the shaker with the lentils, showing me how to shake it by demonstrating with the water shaker..and then we'd swap and repeat. Eventually, Ethan was so enamored by the sounds he could make with these shakers that he just kept on walking around the house while shaking them. Why is this worth mentioning? Well, this is the child who doesn't willingly walk across the house without me holding his hand for moral support because his nerves get the best of him. He was a fearless rockstar this afternoon!

When he finished all the songs on his All-Star Living Room Tour repertoire, he decided that placing the shakers onto the cats and listening the sounds they made as they fell from their backs was just as cool. He's an innovative musician. I see a Grammy or two in his future.