8.15

sorry for the rather quick & sudden disappearance. being a mom to three can sometimes be just a wee bit stressful and overwhelming (but so, totally, totally worth it). so, when life gets crazy & hectic, little things start to drop... the laundry, showering, making dinner, & unfortunately blogging. but i'm back, at least for today.

so, by now, you are probably wondering what today's title means. any guesses? 8.15... is it a date? a measurement of time? perhaps it represents a distance of some sort. actually, it's a measurement of weight: 8 pounds 15 ounces. that's how much charlie weighs today. woot! woot! confused? wondering what all the excitement's about? well, to make a long story short-ish, little baby charlie has what's called "failure to thrive." never heard of it? basically it means that she is having a hard time gaining weight. maybe now, you can better understand, that all-too-sudden & definitely unexpected blog vacay... finding out you're practically starving your baby, tends to leave a mother feeling like a complete & utter failure.

at birth, charlie weighed 7 pounds even. definitely not huge, but she wasn't exactly tiny either. unfortunately, battling an awful case of thrush & taking some heavy-duty antibiotics. (the side effects of which include: nausea, stomach pain, low fever & loss of appetite. all of which charlie experienced on daily basis for about a month, which resulted in one very, very un-happy baby doll.) well, all this drama, caused little charlie to slowly eat less & less, which resulted in me producing less & less milk, unbeknownst to me. so, at 2 1/2 months charlie weighed just 7 pounds, 11 ounces & was taking in only about 1 and 1/2 ounce, of the suggested 4 ounces needed at each feeding. ay crumba! upon learning the news, that not only was charlie teeny tiny for her age, she had completely fallen OFF the growth chart, suddenly we went into survival mode, as you can imagine... feeding her every 2 hours, round the clock (sorry charlie! no more sleeping in for you!), nursing her, & then supplementing her with formula. oh heavens! i feel like all i do is feed this poor child! now, at 3 whole months, charlie weighs a whopping 8 pounds 15 ounces. still really, really small. & i still need to closely monitor her eating & feeding. but, she is once again, back on the growth chart. wahoo! don't believe me? here's the proof.

so, while we aren't completely out of the woods, yet. i can safely say, we are on our way. i hope you don't mind if we celebrate the little weight gains along the way. next week are hoping to cross the 9 pound mark - now that will truly be cause for celebration. one day, i'm sure, little charlie will complain about how hard it is to lose weight. i'll just have to remind her of the days when we were absolutely thrilled to hear she had gained a pound.

devoured.

so, i'm really trying to be good. but, sometimes my diet is so hard, especially when dessert is staring me in the face... at a recent bbq, a friend brought this "cheesecake." at first it was easy to resist, because i don't typically like cheesecake. but then, i took a bite, and then a small slice & i ended up having a second (rather large) helping. when she told me the recipe, i didn't think i'd be able to replicate it. not because it was hard, but because it was one of those play-it-by-ear types of recipes & i'm never good with that. but, i went home & tried it. & amazingly enough it turned out. so i made it again & again. now i'm sharing it with you. it's super-duper easy (even with the play-it-by-ear measurements), although don't be expecting a true cheesecake, because it certainly isn't.

not very cheesecakey, cheesecake
ingredients:
1 graham cracker crust (bought or home-made, there's a great recipe HERE)
3 8-oz packages of cream cheese (i used the lite versions, without a problem)
1 quart of heavy whipping cream
sugar, to taste (i used approximately 2 cups)
fruit (fresh or frozen)

directions:
now, it should be noted that the above ingredients make enough "cheesecake" to fill a 9x13 pan. if you want to make a smaller portion, half the recipe & it will still make enough to fill 2 pie tins.

1. make your crust (or open it) & set aside.
2. using your electric or hand-held mixer, cream the cream cheese & sugar together. (i added sugar about 1/4 cup at a time until i got the sweetness i liked)
3. once the cream cheese & sugar are mixed well, add the whipping cream. continue mixing until the whipping cream "peaks" & is stiff, almost like whipping cream.
4. fold in your fruit by hand (i used frozen raspberries)
5. spread mixture into pan & crust.
6. cover & freeze for about an hour, then store in the refrigerator.

yum! next time i think i might try it in an oreo cookie crust.

spam i am?

for the last few weeks, i've been "taking care of business." swap business that is! for those of you participating in the swappity swap, ALL of the emails have be sent (& hopefully, they have ALL been delivered, & received). i've felt a bit like santa claus... making my list, checking it twice, hoping everyone will play nice. we have a gadzillion people participating this year in the swap. okay, okay - not a gadzillion, but over 500. i've lost count, there are so many emails going back and forth. if you haven't gotten your email yet, please, please, please contact me! (accordingtokelly@gmail.com) i've been having all kinds of crazy email issues, it wouldn't surprise me one bit, if the gmail monster ate a few emails along the way! with over 500 swappers, i've been sending out a ton of emails (as you can imagine). part-way through my email campaign, gmail decided i was a spammer. (what? little 'ole me? never!) in an effort to protect the world from my spamming ways, gmail started limiting the number of emails i could send out in a 24 hour period. which, really delayed many of our swappers receiving their partners information. for that i am so sorry! if i could, i'd send each of you a personal apology - i hate being late, for anything. but there are just way too many of you, so this "blog" apology will have to do! because i was late in getting out all the "particulars", i don't want you to feel rushed. so, i'm going to be extending the swap deadline... please have your swap packages sent by friday, august 14th. hopefully, this will give you enough time to gather your goodies & become the best of besties with your swap partner. oh, & if you are wondering what to send, or looking for a little inspiration, check out last year's flickr pool here. & once you receive your package, be sure to post photos here, for everyone to enjoy!

now that the swap business is slowly wrapping up, at least my end of it (now, it's all up to you folks!), i'm going to be taking a few day off - a blog vacay of sorts. lately, there has been all kinds of drama in my life (technological, personal & everything in between), & i just need a bit of a breather. but don't worry, i'll be back soon. hopefully, completely refreshed, totally inspired, & ready to tackle to world. so check back soon, & check back often. soon, i'll be back "on my feet," rearing to go!

be back soon...

what my boys do, when i'm feeding the baby.

all i want for christmas...

i am currently lusting & drooling over THIS mixer. the candy apple red & clear mixing bowl are calling my name. sure, christmas might be many moons away. but you can be sure THIS baby is going to the top of my list. she's pretty enough, she'd actually earn a continuous resting spot on my counter (my current mixer makes it's home in the cupboard, when it's not in use).

image via williams-sonoma.