#100happydays

I am generally a happy person, but lets face it…we all have our days where we are just not feelin' it! However, I do feel that your attitude affects everyone around you, so why not try to be as happy and positive as you can be?

I feel that it is my responsibility as a daughter, sister, friend, lover and mama to find happiness in everything that I do!  That being said, I have signed up for the #100happydays challenge, and I encourage you to do the same!  I am excited to make a conscious effort to find something each and every day that makes my heart happy.  

day 1:

Eli and Liam. 

I love coming home from work and getting to spend my evenings with these two.  No matter how stressful or tiring my day was, they will always be able to put a smile on my face and my heart!

Follow me on IG (@eliandhaley) to see what is making me happy!

Are YOU up for the challenge?!

Easter Redo

Easter morning, Liam woke up with a pretty bad rash so we decided to stay home from our family Easter get together to avoid getting anyone else sick.  After a very long Sunday, we finally found out that he had Erythema Multiforme Minor, but after several doses of medication and lots of TLC, he is doing much better.

Today, my parent's hosted a little Easter dinner for us since we didn't get to make it last week. 

Liam really wasn't too impressed with the idea of having to walk around to pick up all of the eggs, and when he finally got to one he would just pick it up and shove it in his mouth.  After letting him break two or three (empty) eggs, I tried to show him that you put the eggs in the basket and chew on them later.  He was not having any part of that. ;)

Liam's big cousin, Skye, was such a big help this evening!

I can't believe we actually got a family picture.  Betcha didn't expect my hair to be blonde?! Yeah….me either. Happy (late) Easter to all of my mommy friend's and your beautiful families!! I am so happy that we actually got to celebrate Easter, even though we are a week late.

I'm off to watch HGTV and snuggle with my babes.

xoxo

Haley

Liam's health update

Last Sunday, Liam's rash popped up and it was all downhill from there. 

It started out as just a few spots on his back and 103.6* fever, but the rash quickly spread all over his body.  Two urgent care trips, one six hour long emergency room visit, one visit to his regular pediatrician and one very helpful new blog friend Tawnya and we finally got some answers.  Several weeks back, I was browsing through some of my favorite blogs when I ran up on Tawyna's post about her daughter's illness when I thought to myself….poor baby girl! I have never seen anything like that before! She had been diagnosed with Erythema Multiforme Minor, a hypersensitive reaction usually triggered by an infection or from taking an antibiotic. After 3 trips to the hospital, Eli and I had referred back to her post and it clicked. Liam had EM. He had to. His rash looked just like Scarlett's.  We took the night to rest and went in to his pedi's office as soon as possible. 

By morning, the poor little guy's rash had gotten a hundred times worse.  The nurses at the office were so sweet and took us in right away because they saw how miserable he looked.  Before I could even suggest EM to his doctor, she blurted it out and started treatment (Benadryl) right away.  I told her about my previous hospital experiences and that I wanted to be 100% sure this was it.  She ran a flu test and checked his oxygen, everything was fine.  We were sent home with a prescription and Benadryl around the clock. I kid you not. Within two hours of taking his prescription, the rash started to disappear and his swelling was going down.  I am so thankful for Tawnya and the nurses at Liam's pediatricians office! 

When I got the confirmation that Liam had EM, I immediately commented on one of Tawnya's IG posts to see if she would email me because I had so many questions about her personal experience. I refreshed my email when we got home from the pharmacy and bam! She had taken the time to email me and was so sweet to send encouraging words about what we were going through.  I am so grateful for the blogging world as it provides so many opportunities to offer support to each other.  :)

One week after his rash popped up, and Liam has complete five full days of medication. His rash is now completely gone.  There is a small chance of relapse, however we are looking good so far.  Thank you to everyone who took the time to send well wishes via text messages, email, and Instagram.  Our family felt so overwhelmed with love!!! 

xoxo

Haley

Our new addition

This afternoon, I was scrolling through my IG feed and saw this adorable puppy up for grabs. I texted my friend, Taylor, and asked for details on this 6 week old shih tzu. I immediately texted Eli to see if we could take him home. He couldn't reply fast enough, but I later got the A okay and we made arrangements for us to bring her home tonight!! We have always wanted Liam to grow up with a puppy and when I saw Ellie, I knew we had to have her! 

They had so much fun playing together tonight, and we are so excited to see the two of them bond. 

We have a follow up appointment for Liam's rash in the morning so wish us luck! I hope you ladies had a great day!

Xoxo

Haley

Not-so-happy Easter.

Happy Easter, everyone! We woke up this morning super excited to spend the day with our family for Liam's first Easter. Our plans quickly changed when Eli noticed a rash on Liam's back. 

We didn't think much of it because it was just a few spots, but we took him to an urgent care up the road just to be on the safe side. They told us it was a viral rash, and probably not chicken pox like we originally thought, but we had to follow up with his pedi tomorrow morning. We were totally bummed that we couldn't spend Liam's first Easter with the family, but he needed his rest. A few hours passed and Liam's rash went from a red spot here and there to a baby body full of red spots. 

After much debate, we took him to Texas Children's for a second (or third...or fourth) opinion. Hours later, we were discharged with a negative pnemonia X-ray (he has a cough) and an unexplained rash. The doctor thinks it is either a reaction to the amoxicillin he was on for a double ear infection or a viral rash. 

This was definitely not what I had imagined for Liam's first Easter, but I am thankful that he is home and resting. 

Onto fun Easter happenings before he got sick....It was so much fun watching Liam "open" his Easter basket's this morning! However, I think I might have had more fun picking up all of his goodies from Target!

His grandma and great-grandma also got him an Easter basket full of goodies. They were super disappointed that we couldn't spend the day with them, but they came by to visit for a few minutes before they were off to our Family Easter. 

 And here are a few from the weekend just because...

I hope you all enjoyed your Easter. Thank you to everyone who reached out to check on my sweet boy. 

Xoxo

Haley

Liam's favs

Liam is pretty easy to please, but he does have a his favs. Whether it's a toy or his dinner, the kid knows what he wants.

Liam's favs

Tommee Tippee Sippy Cups | lil' Crunchies | Yogurt Melts | Touch & Teach Turtle

 Recycling Truck | Circo Tees

MY favorite out of all of these items is the Tommee Tippee Sippy Cup. It really made the transition from bottle to sippy cup really easy.  We had gone through almost every brand, size and shape before trying these (I don't know why I didn't just get these in the first place) but I am so relieved we found something that was easy to hold and drink from! Did I mention this cup is completely spill proof?! LOVE!

What are some of your babe's favs?!

healthy eats

One thing I want to talk about on Laughing With Liam is healthy eats.  In our house, the majority of the food we eat is organic.  Even Liam munches on organic snacks!  A few years ago, I didn't really have an opinion about buying the organic stuff.  I'd pick out the cheapest broccoli and continue my grocery shopping.  After about a year of cooking with Eli, he decided it would be best to eat all organic food items (when possible) because they are loaded with benefits.  Turns out, they are full of nutrients, they have not been given antibiotics or growth hormones, and they are so delicious when they're fresh! 

Two weeks ago, I started the Atkins diet in hopes to help with this last bit of baby weight I was suppose to lose months ago. So far, so good..but limiting myself to 20 net carbs a day has been quite the challenge!

Here are a few healthy eats recipes we are loving lately.

Quick and Easy Cilantro Lime Chicken

3 chicken breast, cubed

a handful of cilantro, chopped (to garnish once the chicken is cooked)

a sprinkle of cayenne, pepper, salt, garlic, and cumin

a squeeze of lime juice

olive oil (to coat the bottom of the pan)

directions:

1. Cube your chicken breast and heat up a little bit of olive oil on medium heat.
2. Toss your chicken into the pan and add the dry seasonings. (For cleaning purposes, I find that it's easier to season the chicken once it was already on the stove)
3. When the chicken is almost done, squeeze the lime juice onto the chicken and let it finish cooking on high heat to get a good crust.
4. Plate the chicken and garnish with cilantro. ENJOY! 

Garlic Shrimp with Avocado Dip

2 hass avocados, pitted and peeled

1 jalapeño, chopped

shrimp, peeled and deveined

olive oil (to coat the bottom of the pan)

garlic powder, cayenne pepper, and salt

directions:

1. Cut up the avocados and place them directly into a blender or food processor. Liam broke our blender, so I did this by hand.
2. Add the chopped jalapeño and salt then puree until smooth.  (To give it a little kick and to help with the blending process, I added a couple tablespoons of Louisiana Hot Sauce)
3. In a bowl, mix the shrimp, oil, garlic powder and cayenne pepper.
4. Toss the shrimp into a medium heated pan and cook for about 3 to 4 minutes on each side.
5. Serve with avocado dip and ENJOY!

This next recipe I got from one of my favorite mommy bloggers! Megan at Hello Newlywed Life always posts simple ingredient and yummy recipes that I am always tempted to try! I was reading her blog one day and I KNEW we had to try this recipe.

Southwestern Avocado Salad

2 ripe avocados, cubed

1 pint cherry tomatoes, halved

5 ounces of white cheddar cheese, cubed

1/4 cup chipotle ranch dressing

splash of lemon juice

salt and pepper

directions:

1. Mix everything in a large bowl and ENJOY!

If that isn't easy, I don't know what is!

Now, Eli doesn't like tomatoes or any type of ranch dressing so I mixed everything that we both liked first and plated the basis of the meal.  I added tomatoes and chipotle ranch dressing to mine, while he left out the tomatoes but added caesar dressing to his.  Both were DELICIOUS! Thank you so much, Megan, for that super easy and tasty recipe!

Follow me on IG (@eliandhaley) to see more of our healthy eats!

Happy Good Friday! I hope all of you lovely ladies are enjoying a day off!

xoxo

Haley

laughing with liam

Well, here I am. I've contemplated whether or not to start a blog for almost two years now and, well...one pregnancy and a million favorite blogs/IG pages later…I decided I'd join and blog about our crazy life.  You can find me on Instagram (@eliandhaley) where I post random pictures of my son almost daily.

That's Liam. My pride and joy.  He turned ONE on April 3rd and I think I'm still shedding tears because he is just too freakin' big. :( Where did my baby go?  This child LOVES to laugh. I tell him good morning…he laughs. I tell him no….he laughs.  I tell him to eat his dinner and guess what…he laughs! 

Just from keeping up with my favorite blogs over the past two years or so (and finding new ones along the way), the blogging world is definitely something I feel is super beneficial! You guys always have SUCH great ideas on all things baby-fashion-food….I could go on forever! Anyway, I hope to keep up with this and I hope that you guys enjoy reading my posts!

xoxo

Haley