Skittles Popcorn

I'm having trouble accessing my pictures from my phone that I took of my skittles popcorn but I found this recipe off of another blogger's page and I was going to link the blog here but I thought some day I might not be able to access it so I just copied and pasted the recipe.  

Courtesy of:
 http://awesomerecipes101.blogspot.ca/2009/06/skittle-popcorn.html

Nicholle's recipe:

2-16 oz. bags Skittles-divided by color

1/2 cup butter for each color

1/4 cup light corn syrup for each color

12 cups popped popcorn for each color

1. Place on batch of popped popcorn into a very large, lightly greased bowl and set aside.

2. In a saucepan, combine one color of Skittles, butter and corn syrup. Bring to a boil over medium heat, stirring constantly. Boil for 5 minutes, stirring frequently. (Skittles will melt close to the end of the 5 minutes.)

3. Pour over popcorn and mix thoroughly with a large greased spoon.

4. Place coated popcorn into a greased 9 x 13 inch or larger baking pan. Bake at 200-250℉ for 30 minutes, stirring every 10 minutes. Remove from pan and place on sheet of aluminum foil to cool. (I skipped this step.)

5. Repeat this process for each color. When all candy popcorn is cool, break apart and store in airtight container. Keeps well for up to two weeks in airtight containers.

I Didn't know I Could ever be THIS Tired!

Life is rough with a newborn.  I'm sooo darn tired that I don't know how my body is still functioning.  People always tell me to sleep when he sleeps but, let's be realistic.  How many things do I need to get done in the day and when can they be done?  While I'm awake and he is asleep!!!  I have to feed myself, clean the house, pump, shower, laundry, coordinate my future work schedule, take care of insurance and bills, call people, etc.  This list goes on forever.

   I have to wait til he is a month old to start giving him bottles.  That leaves 2 more weeks of this no-sleep schedule.  I feel like it's going to be the death of me!  (I'm really mostly writing this to remind my future self of what I had to go through and how long it lasted).

People also tell me that it's difficult but it's so worth it.  Right now, I'm having a hard time seeing the "it's worth it part".  I'm just so tired, nothing matters.  Tomorrow doesn't matter, a candy bar doesn't matter, a good back rub doesn't matter, a cruise to the Caribbean doesn't matter.  Just give me some SLEEP!!!!

Pregnancy Recap

I have a zillion pictures of my belly on my phone from the many weeks of pregnancy.  I want to delete the app I used them for but I want to solidify the pictures on here so I can look back and remember how huge I got.  (Some people thought I was small but I thought I was huge!)

Last Photo before I had Lincoln...our boss took us bowling as a surprise "training".  Best surprise!

All the Cute Things!

I bathed Lincoln this morning and I got his hair spiked.  I can't wait to do it to his hair more often.

Also, last night we tested his ability to sleep through a vacuum sound.  He passed with flying colors. 

I'm Obsessed.

I can't stop staring at my baby and thinking, "I made this!"  I have to give him a thousand kisses a day and touching his toes, his hands, his hair, and his arms (which are also covered with a ton of soft baby hairs).

I am completely exhausted from being up multiple times a night from feeding but somehow, it's SO worth it.

Labor, Delivery, and all the Rest

        On Tuesday, May 13, 2014 I decided I wanted this little guy out of me.  I wanted to hold him and love on him like everyone talks about.  So, I did what my sister swears got her into labor.  I inserted 2 primrose oil capsules up my...hoo-haa right before bed.  I actually thought they would fall out.  To my pleasant surprise they didn't.
       On Wednesday, May 14th I woke up and had no contractions so I was really bummed and thought, "Well, I guess I better go to work then."  At this point I already had had a sub covering my class for the last few days just in case I didn't come in to work.  At work the day before, I was just doing a little bit of this and that so I planned on doing that again today (Wednesday).
        I was at work grading papers at my desk around 9:30 when my contractions started.  I actually didn't know what they were, I just knew they hurt really bad and that they came in waves.  I began texting my mom and sister asking them if they knew what they were.  They believed them to be contractions so I started timing them on my phone app.  They were already approximately 4 and a half minutes apart and about a minute long each.  They were already getting pretty strong and I just couldn't work through them any more.  I packed up my things and told the front office I had to go home.
        The drive home was only like 7 minutes.  I had to pull over because I was having a contraction that hurt incredibly bad and I really couldn't focus on the road at that moment.  When it subsided, I continued home.
        As soon as I got home, I called Jordan and told him the situation.  He was at work too so he had to wrap some things up and come home.  Meanwhile, I was in contact with my mom and sister via text conversations and phone calls.  I tried to work through a contraction or 2 on my stability ball because my sister said that might help.  All of a sudden, my breakfast was coming up and I barely made it to the bathroom in time.  That really made me nervous-I'm not sure why.
          Jordan got home lickety-split and was in serious mode.  He gathered all our things and we headed to the hospital.  We got to triage where they checked me pretty quick.  I knew I had to be at least 4 or 4 1/2 centimeters dilated because that is what my doctor had said that Monday, the 12th.  When they said I was at 8 centimeters I blurted out, "serious?!"  I was definitely surprised especially because I have heard numerous times that your first baby is typically a longer labor.

Jordan took a photo of me in triage...you can tell I was NOT a happy camper...and pretty huge!

         They wheeled me down to the delivery room and got me an epidural right away.  I was really nervous about that because I had seen it performed on YouTube and it looked scary!  Plus, I heard a story of someone's sister having really bad headaches after getting her epidural.  I made Jordan hold my hands and that made everything okay magically! :)
        After that it was literally just a waiting game.  I laid there for a couple hours comfortably and watched some tv.  My doctor's office was just down the street so they called the doctor over around 3:30 pm and that's when Lincoln made his appearance.  The doctor almost didn't make it in time.  The nurses called someone else in and my doctor came in right before I delivered.  I'm talking, within a couple minutes!
        I was sure I would cry when Lincoln was born but I was just in total shock I think.  It was just so strange to see a baby on the other side of me, and the fact that I had grown him.  It was really just so amazing!!!  He hardly cried when he was born.  They had to rub his body quite a bit to make him cry.
        We did skin-to-skin right away afterward and it was so unreal!  I felt like I was having an out of body experience.  It was this amazing happiness and joy I've never felt before.
         So from start to finish my labor was 8 hours.  Lincoln was 6 pounds, 6 ounces, 19 inches long...and I tore.  It is so sad that a baby that small could make me tear.  I'm not sure how bad, but I felt the stitches go in.  Let me just tell you, it hurt!  My epidural didn't cover that I guess.  My doctor gave me some local anesthetic and it still hurt.  I'm just glad it's over with now.  I am betting I could've labored without an epidural but I'm SO glad I got it anyway.  It made the experience so much more tolerable I guess you could say.
         We stayed in the hospital for a total of 2 days.  It was nice to be able to continually call the nurses when I wasn't sure about something or when I didn't feel good.  They were so nice and helpful.  I would definitely have my baby in a hospital next time too.  I highly recommend Banner Gateway also.  Everyone there was great!
        Those first couple nights were SO tiring because I had to figure out how to feed Lincoln and do it every 2 hours.  Long story short-Lincoln was so worth it.  So worth the 5-ish months of sleepless nights, backaches, nausea, weight gain, everything!  I love my new family SO much!

I just received my epidural here.  I was feeling SO much better!

Lincoln's official weight!

The new proud daddy!!!

Adoring my new baby.

A little skin to skin time.

Our first family photo!

Lincoln all bundled up and waiting to go home.

Lincoln's first time in the bassinet!  (Yes, I know his outfit is too big).  I didn't anticipate him being so incredibly small!