No-Bake Banana Split Cheesecake

No-Bake Banana Split Cheesecake (13”x9”) 
*My co-workers LOVED this!

2 slips of cinnamon graham crackers 
1 and 3/8 stick of butter or margarine - melted 
2 packages/cubes of cream cheese – room temperature 
1 can of sweetened condensed milk (new wt 14oz) 
1 tbs . vanilla extract or vanilla bean paste 
1 can pineapple rings 
3 ripe bananas 
12 strawberries 
1 tub whipped cream topping - thawed 
Chocolate Syrup (to taste) 

Using a Ziploc bag, crush both packages of graham cracker. Once the crackers are into crumbs, add all of the melted butter and stir until all crumbs look damp (should not be soaked).

Dump graham cracker crumb mixture into 13”x9” pan and using your fingers press firmly onto the bottom of the pan to create the crust. If you’d like, you can push some of the crust onto the sides of the pan up to a 1/2”. Place in the refrigerator to chill for no less than 10 minutes.

In a large bowl for mixing, combine the cream cheese, condensed milk and vanilla with an electric mixer on medium-high speed. Mix until completely smooth. Pour about 1/3 of the cream cheese mixture into the pan and spread evenly over the crust.

Drain the juice from the can of pineapple rings, and with clean paper towels pat dry each ring (too much juice will make the cheesecake fall apart after cut). Place each ring in the pan, into one layer, and push down into cream cheese mixture (after each ring is in the pan, almost the entire bottom should be covered).

Pour the rest of the cream cheese mixture into the pan and spread evenly over the pineapple rings (the rings should not be showing since you pushed them down).

Slice up the bananas after peeling and strawberries after washing them, and layer them each fruit at a time. For an example, after this step your layers (starting from the bottom) should be: crust, filling, pineapple, filling, bananas, strawberries.

Spread evenly the whipped cream topping over the top of the fruit and drizzle with chocolate syrup.

Refrigerate for 3 hours or overnight before serving.

Enjoy!

The Worst Day of My Life... So Far

So now that Emma’s birthday party is over (expect a later post on that) I decided that I would go ahead and write about the worst day of my life with Emma.

The morning of June 23^rd was a happy one. Gene was home (it was a Sunday) and we had big plans to do some shopping then go to the pool with Holli. Gene showered, I showered, I got Emma dressed, all was going as planned. Once I started to do my hair and make-up, it all went downhill.

I’m sitting at my vanity in our bedroom and I can hear our washing machine in the basement get off-balanced, again, and I call to Gene for him to run down and fix it. He was in the living room playing with Emma. He starts to move her to where I was when I yell “She’ll be fine babe, just hurry up.” So he did. And when he did, he left the basement door open. Can you see where I’m going with this?

I can hear Gene in the basement cussing away as he’s fiddling with the thing, and I’m yelling down to him through the vent to stop. Next thing you know I hear a little thud and screams. I say “Emmmmmmaaaaa, what’s wrong,” as I still sit in the bedroom. Then I pause and notice she sounds far away. My heart sinks. The screams get worse. I get up and head towards the living room thinking “please let her have just bumped her head on the DVD tower or something.” I get into the living room and she’s not there. I round the corner and the basement door is open. I start to panic hoping she just fell onto the landing. I reach the door, but there’s no Emma on the landing. I look to the bottom of the steps and there is Emma at the bottom. Sitting there screaming, staring up at me.

…………… Panic……………

I fly down the stairs screaming “you left the door open” but Gene didn’t hear. I sit on the floor and hold Emma, trying to look her over and console her at the same time. I’m crying and the world is a blur at this point. Gene rounds the corner to find us sitting there and he instantly knows what happened.  Next thing you know he’s screaming and a blubbering mess and I can’t think so I rush her upstairs. Gene calms down and makes his way to us and he holds her and apologizes to her over and over again. She finally takes a binky and then she looks like she’s trying to sleep. So, there it was, possible concussion, we’re going to the ER.

SIDE NOTE - Yes, I blamed Gene. I was so mad at him for hours. Even though the last thing he would ever want is for her to get hurt. Ladies, you will blame your hubs too if this happens, and it's normal, but make sure to apologize later. They feel just as bad, or worse.

I rode in the backseat with Emma on the way to DePaul. She was acting weird. Not all there. I started panicking more and there was no stopping my sobs. I let her watch Mickey Mouse Clubhouse on my phone, but she couldn’t have cared less. That right there was a big deal because she is infatuated with cell phones and Mickey Mouse Clubhouse. 

Gene drops me off where the ambulances pull in (he didn’t care at the time) and I rushed Emma in. DePaul was better than I could have imagined for this situation. We were checking in within a minute, and by the time Gene got to us, they were taking us back. Mere minutes. I cried the whole time they asked questions, and took Emma’s pulse, and checked her lungs. She just sat there. Stunned. Out of it. We got back to the room and we no sooner than got her gown on and the doctor came in. As the doctor was checking her over, Emma started to perk up. :-)

They said that she was perfectly fine. She had a bruise on her cheek, a scratch on her nose, and we think she may have had a bloody nose for a second when it happened. I asked a lot of questions about possible brain damage and internal bleeding. I feel bad about it now because it almost seemed like I didn’t believe what the doctor was telling me. I mean, they didn’t even run scans or x-rays.

I accepted their diagnosis (nothing basically) and we waited our two hours (a precaution). Within the two hours, we kept Emma awake and she played and played. We felt so guilty that we let her play with anything she wanted really. Then, next thing you know, in the last ten minutes, she tripped over her own two feet and busted her lip open on the hospital bed. Oy. I did my best to keep her quiet and get her calmed down so that they didn’t call child protective services on us. I felt like we looked like the worst parents on Earth. But, once the bleeding stopped, I gave her a bink and she went to sleep.

They finally released us and we changed her and headed home. No shopping. No pool time. We were ordered to take it easy. Well, after her nap and lunch, she started playing at home and it seemed like she just kept hurting herself. So I suggested we go shopping anyway and we did. Best decision because she stayed in the stroller for well over an hour and in the car seat to and from, so she couldn’t hurt herself.

Yes, I did go to the rained-out Cards game with my Mom that night. Yes, Emma was okay. But I wasn’t. I was walking in a guilt-filled fog all day and night long. I was the worst Mom. How could I let that happen? Why didn’t I just go play with her while her Daddy did something for me? I was feeling as low and one could feel. I questioned parenting. Could I really do this? I bet my parents don’t think I can. Maybe they’re right.

It wasn’t until the next day, when I went to work, that I started to feel better. I opened up to the first person I could (who happens to be Suzy, and she's expecting her first born next month). I had to tell someone. And do you know what they said? It happened to all of them too. Either to them or their kids. WHAT?!?!?! I felt like it was a one-in-a-million occurrence! I’ve never heard anyone talk about it before. Why? Why let the other women out there feel like I did?

So, that’s the real reason for this blog. Not to show you the cute pictures of Emma in her hospital gown. Not to explain my erratic behavior towards protecting Emma now. But to let you know that if it happens to you, you’re not alone.

I took Emma in that Monday (the day after) for a check-up with her doctor. It’s a follow-up really. He said she did great. He said that it happens. He said that it’ll happen again. Ummm, no. I forbid it. They always suggest a “watch and wait” measure. When it happens, don’t panic. Go about your day as [almost] normal and watch for signs of lethargy, vomiting, unsteadiness while walking, and any signs of trauma. When they sleep at night, wake them every 3 hours (we did this too). It’s hard though because it’s your baby. Instinct is to take them in right away in case there is anything wrong.

So, there you have it - the worst day of my life so far. I hope that it never happens again, and I hope that it was the worst thing that will ever happen to Emma. Fingers crossed. Now, for the cute pictures!

Preparation

Wow. Next week my child will turn one year old. I will have a one-year-old. I, who would get grossed out by kids in my younger years, who never thought I’d rear a child of my own, will have kept my child alive (God willing) for one whole year (and hopefully each year after as well). Again, wow. I’m trying very hard to not get too emotional about the fact that one day she won't be my sweet, precious, itty-bitty baby.

Time is just speeding on by. Well, not all time; my time at work creeps by as if to taunt me. But, my home life and my time with my precious baby Emma just flies on by. It’s sad. Because of the “difference” in time, I feel like I spend double the hours at work over the ones I see Emma awake. When in reality, I see her awake on average 42 hours per week versus my 42.5 at work. Not much difference there… unless I factor in drive time, and time getting ready that would be much better spent in my PJs chasing Emma around the house as a tickle monster. FYI – she’s talking more and more and getting more active, so I may be just a bit bitter about having to work. Also, just to throw out there, her favorite to say is “what’s that?”

With Emma’s impending first birthday approaching rapidly I have really started to dive into party planning. Well, when I say party planning, I mean deep cleaning. While I’m not a neat freak by any means, and I enjoy my time with Emma versus cleaning BEHIND the toilet, I figure that I do have some friends and family (yes, Mom, you’re one) that will notice the little dust bunny that may be at arm’s-reach of one of the visiting children.  So, before my Mom comes over to inspect my house this weekend, I thought I’d make an attempt to get it as clean as hers. And before you ask, yes, Emma has taste-tested a dust bunny or two. I guess I’m a bad Mommy when it comes to that.

With all of the said cleaning and deep-cleaning also comes organizing, rearranging furniture, buying new furniture, buying storage to get us organized, etc. I’m exhausted just thinking about it because my house was apparently so bad that taking care of one task will just open up your eyes to two more. At this point, I honestly have no idea how we will be ready in time, nor do I have any idea how the three of us even managed to live there! You know, because Okie is just fine with the way the house is… considering she’s the one who will roll around in the stinkiest of messes outside. Ugh. Whoa! I’m not saying my house stinks – to point that out.

I have been managing to fit the fun stuff in too. Just this week I got Emma’s party dress in the mail. Long, but super cute. I also received the goodie bag contents in the mail as well, to which I put together right away. I ordered everything online for those and while I was super excited about my decisions when I made them, I’m questioning my judgment now. I always do that though so I hope nobody else thinks they are as lame as I am thinking they might be.

Still left on the agenda are some arts and crafts for decorations, I need to pick up a few more things at the store, I need to coordinate folding tables and chairs for seating, baby-proofing to avoid a hurt visiting baby (and lawsuit) and then lastly I will need to get the food and bake the cake and/or cupcakes the night before.  See? I’m not that behind, right? Or did I forget something?

Now, my biggest fear…. Nobody is coming. I’ve gotten only one confirmed RSVP from family for the party and they will be coming two hours after the start. I’ve gotten one maybe. I did have four friends with kids confirm they are coming, and three friends without kids. Oh, and my parents will be there. That just leaves about 30 (yes, THIRTY) other people pending. If you are reading this and you have not RSVP’d yes (or no), please ease my pain and text me. Otherwise, the party may be a dud.

Well, that’s it in a nutshell. I should see some family tomorrow for the holiday, so I will pester them about coming to the party, and if you’re a friend of mine you can expect a text from me next week. Hopefully I will have all the furniture bought and moved, and the house clean and ready for company. I do love to throw parties so I am very much hoping everything is up to par so that I can relax and actually entertain.

I have to keep reminding myself that everyone is coming for Emma; to celebrate her very first birthday on Earth (and for those of you who know me, for no scars yet, haha). People won’t be judging me for my bathtub being peach, the furniture not in the perfect spot, or my spare bedroom not being completely tidy…

Right?

Before Bed

What is the most talked about thing when it comes to babies? Sleep. When you meet someone new, that’s almost always brought up. “How’s she sleeping for you?” Haha. Well, I want to talk about what happens BEFORE bedtime.

Gene and I spend almost every night chasing Emma back and forth on the couch, getting her to push her walker, or doll stroller around the house, practicing walking (to perfect the art), and much more. Why? Not because it’s fun (although it is), but because we want to wear her out!

On the days my parents watch Emma we are almost guaranteed to have a worn out baby by 7pm. But bedtime is at 8pm so we still have time to keep on wearing because she WILL get a second wind if given the chance. So regardless of her daily activities, we are go-go-go at night.

Every other night is bath night, so those nights are a little easier to get Emma to fall asleep since she gets all warm in the bath, and then with the lavender smell of her shampoo and all. :-) We also lotion her every night too which I think feels good for her unless she gets too hot from it – you ever notice that? How lotion can make you feel hot?

Everything is the same routine as it always has been. The one and only change getting in our way is Emma’s height.

See, Gene and I don’t put Emma down awake. It never works. She’s too old now. It’s my fault… I should have gotten into that routine when she was just an itty bitty babe. But, alas, it is what it is and she falls asleep in my arms every night. Hey, if that’s the worst thing then so be it.

But, now that Emma is getting taller, the issue at hand is that I can’t hold her snug and now while she’s trying to fall asleep she starts kicking her legs and then since that wakes her up more, she will start feeling around with her hands. It’s frustrating because after just a few minutes I’ve got a baby who is wide awake again.

What do I do then? I can’t put her in bed awake bc all she does is chew on her bed. She cries and cries if I continue to hold her. Ugh. Gene’s solution is to give her another 2oz of formula to fill her up more, and it works like a charm actually, but I feel like I’m doing something bad when we do that. I normally just hold her really tight and let her cry off and on for a few minutes before she gives in. But, as she gets even bigger, and stronger, I feel like I’m in dire need of a change-up.

What do you do?

11 Months and Going Strong

Emma is 11 months old!

She turned 11 months yesterday actually, and just this week alone she has taken her first steps unaided, and shown us that she can throw a ball, chase it down, and throw it again. I’m amazed at how much she is learning!

It’s funny how you can sit down with a child and repeat something over and over again with no immediate signs that they understood until they wake up the next morning and can do it like a pro. It happens all the time with Emma. For instance, we spent about 30 minutes one night showing Emma the “fish face” thinking she’d be able to do it easily. Well after that amount of time I stopped us by saying that she’s still too small to make her lips do that. Well low and behold it wasn’t even 10:00 am the next morning and she was doing it like crazy! My Mom was holding her and said “where did you learn that?” Haha.

So yeah, Emma started walking two days before she turned 11 months. She still isn’t doing it all the time, but she’s getting there. It seems like she is still very cautious and wobbly so she takes her time with it for the most part. It’s so cute to watch though! Everyone always tells me that once they start walking they get into everything, but Emma gets into everything already and let’s face it, I’m looking forward to hand-holding. All-in-all she probably walks the length of the livingroom about 5 or 6 times a day. The rest of the time she holds onto something to walk around or she will crawl as a last resort.

We’ve visited the park a couple times now and she absolutely loves it. We normally start with the swings so that she can look around and take it all in, and then we move to the little kids’ play area so she can walk around and interact with other kids. This last time she even climbed up on things! She doesn’t even do that at home where there’s cushioning! It makes me want to look into helmets. I plan to make as many trips to the park as possible once it quits raining each and every weekend.

I’ve got party-planning going on in full force now. We’ve got one month from today to get a lot of stuff done around the house. And I mean A LOT. I wanted to even paint the inside and outside of the house, but I don’t see that happening now. Oh well. I’m still going to power wash, and move furniture around. I’m making some decorations by hand, and using lots of Pinterest ideas. While I will probably go too far over the top, I’m having fun planning it all.

Oh! Emma’s eating has improved some. I’ve been focusing a lot on dinner time and her options of what to eat that she can feed herself. Feeding herself is key now because she spits out almost anything we try to feed her. Sample dinner menus:

-          Chicken strip (peel the breading off) cubed, canned carrots rinsed and quartered, french fries cubed.

-          Turkey lunch meat in little pieces, canned carrots rinsed and quartered, frozen peas.

-          Hot dog sliced and quartered, cheese chunks (string cheese cut in half length-wise and then cut into little cubes), frozen peas.

Then for dessert we will do blueberries, fruit cocktail, applesauce or canned mandarin oranges. Speaking of canned oranges, I just read today that they shouldn’t have those until they are over one year old. I have no idea why and I haven’t even tried to look it up yet. Anyone have any ideas?

I also noticed that she will eat one thing at a time and save the worst for last. She’s so funny. But, if she sits there long enough she will eat it all. I’m also trying to get her used to the concept that she doesn’t get dessert until she has finished all of her meal (or the majority of it since she squishes a lot of it).

Emma and I met up with my friend Colleen and her daughter Aven. Oh my goodness Aven is so cute! She has a ton of teeth already (which runs in Colleen’s family) and it makes her even cuter! Anyway, Colleen had little Tupperware bowls filled with little peanut butter crackers (those little Ritz ones) and mini graham cracker squares. Now, her daughter I want to say is 15 months old so she can have honey now – if you were questioning the graham crackers. Back to the point, when Colleen gave Aven a peanut butter cracker, she stuck the whole thing in her mouth. I about had a panic attack. But, Colleen said that she handles it well and they haven’t had any issues yet. Alyssa’s daughter Autumn goes to town too. So why am I so paranoid? Honestly, I think I would have handled it all so much better if I didn’t have my parents filling me with fear as usual – “A blueberry is round and if she ever swallows one whole you’ll never get it out of there!”

Well, that’s about it. I’m sure I’ve missed a few new things that Emma had learned since she learns something new just about every day. While it’s breaking my heart that my baby girl is growing up so fast, I can’t wait for our new adventures together.

Jenni

Vacation 2013

Well, I took a vacation. I haven’t had a full week off in as long as I can remember; I always took a day or two here and there. This year I vowed to take a break.

When I turned in my request for time off to my boss I mentioned how I haven’t had a real vacation in so long. She countered by mentioning that I had 8 weeks off just last year. Well, folks, I did, but until you have a newborn baby yourself you will never understand how that is 100% no-where-near a vacation. Her daughter is 12 so she must not remember. :-\

Anyhoo, I took off the entire week of Memorial Day. So did Gene. So did my Mom. We are a close-knit family who likes to take time off to spend it together.

We had originally planned to head to Panama City, FL for a week of beach lounging. That flew out the window at the realization that Emma hates being in the car for even 30 minutes. We then changed our plan to Denver, CO with many stops in route. That was a no go for the same reason (who were we kidding?). So then it was going to be a 2 day trip to KC followed by a few days at the Four Seasons at the Lake of the Ozarks. Nope, nobody to keep the dogs. One night in KC for the Cards/Royals game then back home right away. No. Staycation? Yes.

Saturday – Unofficial Day 1

Gene had to work so me, my Mom, my Dad and Emma went to a BBQ in Pacific (Ralph’s house). It was a lot of fun! I ate too much and we played some poker. Gene showed up late and it was officially vacation! Yay!

Sunday – Day 1

Gene and I started our day late. Emma slept until about 7am! Wow. We headed out for lunch after showers, playtime and Emma’s first nap. We decided to kick of vacation at Applebee’s. Isnt funny how men seem to let the women feed the baby when they’re out? Needless to say that Emma ate a ton of my food so I wasn’t very full at all. After lunch we did some shopping at Target and then I took Emma to baby Desmond’s 1^st birthday party. It was lots of fun (and exhausting). Also, Day 1 of vacation was our date night of the month. We went to dinner at Cugino’s on Lindbergh (eh, it’s just okay) and then went to see Hangover III (great!). We ended the night with a drink at Tony’s on Top and headed home to get some shut-eye.

Monday – Memorial Day – Day 2

We slept in until 9am. That was the first in a long time as my internal alarm normally goes off by 7. We showered, and then headed out to get some breakfast before picking Emma up. Waffle House. Yum. I hope everyone had been to Waffle House before, but if not, get the hashbrowns [at least] scattered-smothered-covered and a waffle, of course. Afer we ate we picked up Em and headed out for some serious shopping. We went lots of places and eventually bought a new couch too. We made it home around 4pm. We had lots of playtime and dinner and I konked out just a bit after Emma did (8:45pm maybe). FYI – Emma had her first hot dog at the furniture store. She LOVES them.

Tuesday – Day 3

Emma woke around 4:30, but Gene got up with her. This means that he leaves the lights out and gives her a bottle so she falls back asleep, so he can sleep more. Grrrr. She slept until around 8am! We watched some tv and pondered what we would do for the day. We did a little shopping again. Not realy buying anything really, and then we decided to BBQ that afternoon. So we bought some stuff to cook and invited my parents over. We all sat outside and had a great time until it rained. They headed home and we just lounged around the house playing with Emma the rest of the night.

Wednesday – Day 4

This is our work day. The big to-do for our vacation as to go through our “basement” to donate any clothing we don’t wear. For those of you unaware of our “basement,” our entire laundry/storage room was covered with clothes. Huge piles of clothes. Everywhere. It was awful and embarrassing. So, we dropped Em off at my Parents’ house, put together her water table so she could play with it, and we got to work (after a quick stop at the donut shop). It took us from 10am until 5pm but we went through each item of clothing. By the end of it, we had 18 trash bags (30-gallon) stuffed with clothes to donate. It took 3 trips to the clothing drop box. I hope the Make-a-wish foundation gets some good money out of them. I still need to buy some more storage and shelving to hold the clothes we kept, but it is so much better now.

Thursday – Day 5

This is another work day. Gene and I dropped Emma off around 9am this time and headed to U-haul. We rented a big truck and drove back home to load up the old couch. It was so heavy. Then we tore up the old carpet and got it ready for bulk pick-up, dropped the old couch off at Goodwill, and then headed to Menards (after some Chinese Buffet). We bought our new carpet and padding and then headed to the furniture store to pick up the new couch. We made a pit stop on the way home at Sonic for a shake and once we got home (around 2pm) it was easy work from there. Or so we thought. It was one thing after another and it took us until 6:30pm to get the carpet down! We then unloaded the couch, took the U-haul back, went home and arranged the couch, put things back in place, and at 8pm we picked up Emma. FYI – I sliced my leg open with a razor blade, pulled up part of my left thumb nail to where it bled, hammered my left index finger (it bled under the nail), sliced open the top of my left thumb and stubbed both big toes multiple times.

Friday – Day 6

This day was a mess. I couldn’t even tell you what I did really. We played at the house, washed some clothes, went out shopping, ate at Dave & Buster’s, and then at 5pm we dropped off Emma so that Gene and I could go to the Cardinals game baby-free. Well, as you all know, the game was cancelled and the storms moved in. When the game was called we had every intention of going to see a movie. Little did we know that we’d be racing home to get inside before the brunt of the storm hit. We were home less than two minutes when it reached us and we headed for the basement. It really didn’t sound that bad, but we lost power and once we left to go get Emma we saw just how bad it was. Our neighborhood was hit hard. Trees down, power lines down, pools collapsed, windows shattered. It was chaos trying to get to Emma and just as bad going back home. We were without power all night.

Saturday – Day 7

I had intended on having my eyes checked on Thursday, but with the lengthy carpet installation it didn’t happen. Instead I went at 9am to have them looked at (yes, I have an Rx again and I’m looking into a lasik enhancement). My parents met us all at the eye doctor so my Dad could look at some new glasses. After we were all said and done we decided to get some breakfast. After we drove to 2 different places and both were extremely packed, we decided to do an early lunch at Culvers. We were the first ones there. Haha. Gene and I didn’t do the make-up game that day. Instead we decided to go see another movie. Well, low and behold, we got to the theater (the Mills) and it was without power. And the Cardinals had a great game. Ugh. We drove to the mall to go to JCPenney again (I wanted some baby-free time to really look through the clearance racks) and then we went home to salvage any food that we could from our powerless fridge. We dropped off the food and picked up Emma and decided to stay at Mom and Dad’s house to BBQ while they went to the Casino with some of Mom’s work friends. We got home right before Emma’s bedtime and I had just enough time to find some things that light up to give us enough light to see. Luckily the weather was pretty cool so we didn’t overheat. Oh, and the power came back on at 11:06pm!

Sunday – Day 8 – Last Day

Sunday was a very good day. We started it off at a book fair at 10am (you know, after showers and such). It was the last day of the event so we could fill up a bag of any size for $5. We left with 2. One just of books and MOVIES for Emma. Yay! After that we headed to Kimmswick to see my 96 year-old Great Aunt Tiny and attend the Strawberry Festival. Just so you know, the festival is a wash and I wouldn’t waste your time. But, they did have some good fair food! On the way home we stopped by Target on the Rock Road to get Emma some prunes and they were still out of power – first time I ever shopped in the dark. When we got to Mom and Dad’s we loaded up our car with the books and all the bags of food we took there and headed home to get ready to go back to normal life.

All in all it was some great, much-needed, well-deserved time off for our family to spend together. The only problem now is that I miss my Emma even more. I’m actually contemplating taking some unpaid time off later on in the fall maybe. Why not? She’s only this little once.

Jenni