Vintage Pizza Parties

When I was growing up, my parents had "date night" every Friday night. I think they went out to dinner or something, I don't really know, but for us? It was  PIZZA PARTY NIGHT!! 

Sometimes we would order pizza, but most times we would make what we called "little pizzas" - they're those premade buttermilk biscuits that you buy in the refrigerated dough section at the store, with some sauce and whatever toppings we wanted to go on them. Pepperoni, onions, olives, pinapple, barbecue chicken pizza, or macaroni and cheese pizza - anything we could think up! It was fabulously fun when I was like, 8. (Actually I still make them every now and then - it's still pretty fun!)

And with those pizza parties we always got to have soda - usually Coke or Barq's root beer. Normally root beer though, because obviously my parents didn't want to return home to 4 kiddos hopped up on caffeine. Now they have caffeine-free Coke - that would have been the best of both worlds! We never, ever got to drink soda with meals (or anytime, really, unless we were going out to dinner or something) except on date night, so it was a big deal.  

We'd make our little pizzas, hunker down with a glass of Coke or Barq's, and watch TGIF on channel 3? Or 4? I don't remember. But they played Boy Meets World and Sabrina the Teenage Witch. Lol! Does anyone else remember that? Just me? We really loved, loved, loved TGIF. 

Those are some of the best memories I have with my siblings. Hanging out at home, being "responsible" enough to be left home alone for an hour or two, and enjoying some of our favorite foods and drinks that my mom was awesome enough to allow us to have in only in moderation. 

Now, my parents still go out on Friday nights :) Even though I'm allowed to have soda whenever I want (I'm an adult after all, and I have a terrible awful addiction to diet soda), it always seems particularly festive on Friday night. I still make pizza for myself, my brother, and now Eli - and I even let Eli take a little sip of the soda. He just loves Barq's root beer -  but he's only allowed to have it on Friday nights! TGIF is no longer on, but we watch other silly, family friendly programming, and it's just a fabulous way to wind up the week and start the weekend. 

I wrote this blog post while participating in the SocialMoms and Coca-Cola® blogging program. If I am one of the first 100 blogs received by SocialsMoms, I will receive a $25 gift card. For more information on the program,click here.

Hanging Up the Horns

I've decided.

I'm going to quit pumping - or "I'm going to hang up the horns (HUTH)" as they say in EP'er circles.

I feel fabulous that I've been able to pump for E as long as I have. 20 months! That's a long time. That's almost 2 years of my life pumping every.single.day. Half of high school. Woah.

I'm a little sad that I'm not going to make it to two years, but I just can't. I mean I technically could, but I need my body back for my own health and sanity. I was pregnant for almost 16 months straight (pregnant - early miscarriage; pregnant at next ovulation - lost B at 26 weeks; pregnant at 12 weeks postpartum for 29 weeks with E) and now I've been pumping for 20 months. That's exactly 3 years that my body has been a home, a food source, or recovering from childbirth. That's a long time.

I'm ramping up my domperidone dosage to try to add a little to my freezer stash before I quit - and to make it so it (the domperidone) is gone faster. I'll be done pumping in a little less than two weeks. I have enough freezer stash for a month? Maybe two? I'm not sure. But when the freezer stash is gone.. we'll be done. I'm a little sick that I don't have the milk I pumped in NICU - I had over 3,000 oz stockpiled; that would have taken us well into two years. Stupid ex husbands who throw liquid gold away. But oh well. No use crying over spilled breast milk ;)

Every time I give E a bottle of freshly pumped milk I'm a little sad. I feel a little guilty that his breast milk bottles are numbered. But he drinks water out of his bottle like it's no big thing (for naptime), so I really don't think he'll even notice. I've started giving him smoothies at lunch with different fruits, some protein powder and either avocado or coconut milk/coconut oil for some good fats for him. He's drinking them pretty well. When he gets a little better at drinking them I'll sneak some greens in there. That way I'll know he's getting lots of good nutrients still. (He's on a multivitamin too - but I'm extremely paranoid about his nutrition and weight gain. I blame it on NICU.)

I've shed tears over this decision, but ultimately I'm happy with it. My goal was 6 months, and then a year, and after a year I had no defined goals - I just knew I was okay with doing it until he turned two, but I was okay with stopping anytime after I had reached a year, too.

I'm excited to get my body back. Sad that my baby isn't such a baby anymore. Grateful that I made it this long.

And I can't believe it. I'm hanging up the horns. I'm weaning. In a couple weeks, my life won't revolve around pumping!! How crazy is that?!

Dialect Vlog Revisited

Hey everyone! There's a new dialect vlog started by MamaDweeb, and since everyone else is doing it of course I had to too. Make your own and link up! P.S. I was going to redo it since it looks like my foot is sticking out of the top of my head, but E was too cute in it I just had to post it. Lol! Oh, and I'm from near Las Vegas, and I've lived in Virginia, Florida, and Pennsylvania.

Pillow, Exhausted, Governor, Entrepreneurial, Calm, Milwaukee Wisconsin, Bagel, ambulance, aqua, femoral, address, rural, hypocrisy
What do you call a store where you buy alcohol?
What do you call it when you blow on a baby’s tummy and make them laugh?
What do you call batting your eyelashes on someone’s cheek?
What is another way of saying, “to deceive,” or “swindle?”
What is a funny way to say someone is not smart? (one fry short of a happy meal?)
Another name for butt?
What do you call it when you drive through mud. Lots of it, often fast and pray you don’t get stuck?

Easter Time! Pillow Pets Review and Giveaway

Easter time is HERE! Just in time, Pillow Pets has brought Fluffy Bunny back!! YAY! Fluffy Bunny is one of the Limited Edition Pillow Pets that are only available seasonally, and it is SO CUTE! I was so excited to get a chance to review it.

As you can see, it (he? she? it feels weird calling this cute thing an it) is soft and furry purple with green gingham lining on the bottom and on the insides of its ears. I think this is an adorable combination - bright for spring, and gender-neutral enough to pass for a boy or a girl.

I'm saving Fluffy Bunny to give to E with his Easter basket, but I took a peek in to the package when I first got it because I was dying to see if it was as soft as our Luv Pup Pillow Pet that we got for Valentine's Day. It sure is!! The gingham lining is also made of the ever so soft chenille that all the Pillow Pets have! I could just stroke them forever.

Just like the rest of the Pillow Pets, Fluffy Bunny turns into a pillow when you unhook the velcro.

If for whatever reason you're not into the purple and green combo, there's also pink-and-polka-dot Cuddly Bunny which is super cute too, especially for those of you who have little girls!

Pillow Pets has come out with a lot of new non-seasonal Pillow Pets, too - including the Green Dinosaur which I'm DYING to get my hands on! Isn't he awesome and ferocious looking?!

Okay... so you know how much I love Pillow Pets... now do you want to win your own Fluffy Bunny?!

Of course you do!

Mandatory Entry: Visit Fluffy Bunny's page  and leave a comment here telling me who you would like to give Fluffy Bunny to for an Easter or spring gift! (It's okay to admit you'd keep it for yourself, too!)

Extra Entries: 

• "Like" Pillow Pets on Facebook
• Follow Pillow Pets on Twitter
• Follow my blog publicly via Google Friend Connect (in the right sidebar)
• Tweet the giveaway! "Hop into spring! #win a Limited Edition Fluffy Bunny from @MyPillowPets and @HauteSingleMama! http://bit.ly/gGsa68 Ends 4/13 " (3x day, at least one hour in between, 1 entry per tweet, please leave permalink!) 
• Follow me on Twitter

Each is worth one entry into the giveaway. Leave a comment for each entry you complete! Please be sure that your email address is accessible from your blogger profile, or leave your email or Twitter name in your entry comment so I can for sure get in touch with you if you win.

The winner will be chosen on 4/13/11 via random.org. I will email and/or tweet the winner, who will have 24 hours to respond before another winner is chosen. Good luck!!!

Pillow Pets are intended for use by children aged 3 and over. If children younger than that are playing with them they need to be supervised during that time.


This giveaway is open to US mainland residents only. I was sent Fluffy Bunny to review. I was not otherwise compensated for this post. All opinions are honest and my own! 


This giveaway is now closed!! Thanks for entereding, everyone! 


Congrats to....

kellyr78 said...81

I would give the bunny to my 3 yr old daughter.

April 6, 2011 1:15 PM 

Kellyr78! You won! Happy Easter to you and your 3 year old!