Emergency Room, Etsy and Halloween Cuties

I will start with the ER. On friday evening my sister came to visit and was staying at my parent's house. Aaron was planning on working on Saturday. So I decided to take the kids and go out and spend the night out there as well. Around 8pm, my mom and Finley decided to make some Tea. My mom set Finley up on the counter per usual so she could put the honey in the cups. As my mom was pouring the boiling water into the cups, Finley pulled the cup away. The water poured all over the counter and went all over Finley's left leg. I heard her scream and knew exactly what happened. I ran over and pulled of her pajama pants to find her skin blistering and peeling off. I knew I needed to take her to the Hospital. I tried calling Aaron a few times and couldn't get ahold of him. So I jumped in my mom's car and had my sister hold Finley and we drove into the Hospital. I finally got ahold of Aaron on our way and he met us at the hospital. They got Fin back to a room right away, though it took a while for the Doctor to actually come in. When he finally came in our room he said she has a second degree burn, and that he would give her some pain meds then they would come back to clean and bandage her leg. The pain meds they gave her made her so loopy and goofy, she kept saying over and over to us "I love you guys" and kept trying to tickle me. The Doctor said it would make her sleepy. Um...not quite. It was horrible while the nurses cleaned up the burn. Finley was in hysterics and Aaron and I both had trouble fighting back the tears. They finally released us and then right before we were about to get in the car, Finley started puking all over herself. The pain meds were too much for her stomach to handle. She threw up a few more times that night until she finally crashed in our bed.

Her Leg this evening while getting it cleaned up.
This weekend has been an interesting one. It is so hard to watch your baby be in so much pain, and have such an awful burn. Burns and scars are one of my biggest fears for the kids, but the Doctor did say that she wouldn't have a scar for longer than two years. So that is good. Aaron and I have been spoiling this little cutie rotten. Ice cream, Hello Kitty band-aids, and all the yummy snacks and juices she loves.
Since I will be dealing with this for the next couple of weeks, nursing her leg back to health and makig sure she has her meds and her leg stays bandaged and cleaned. I will be featuring a few Etsy shops and running a couple of giveways. Please be patient with me as I will try to get them up and running in a timely manner. And I will try to get back to some normal blogging in a couple weeks.
Halloween went well this evening. We dressed the kids up and took them to a trunk or treat carnival event at a local church, It was insanely packed but the kids had a great time!


Fin and Aunt Jaime

Winter Peach Etsy Shop {Giveaway}

I have been on Etsy a lot lately. Looking for christmas gift ideas, stocking stuffers and just plain ole cute stuff. Purses, wallets, Laptop covers,pottery and cute baby items. I'm a sucker for handmade, especially when it's handmade by other busy mommies. I love to buy from etsy shops whose sellers are mom's, I feel like I can relate a bit, but I also love that they are super moms and make the most amazing handmade items. I'm actually a bit jealous. While purusing Etsy I came across Winter Peach. She sells patterns for the cutest slipper shoes, backpack pals and treat bags. I contacted her and asked her if she wanted to participate in a giveaway on my blog. She was thrilled as was I, so I present to you Winter Peach A Stay at home mom of two children who says " I have always loved using my hands to create. I was taught by a very talented mother to create, explore, invent, design, and enjoy the beauties of the earth." Here is some of her beautiful work.





I love the slipper shoes, how adorable? And those Halloween treat bags (Theres easter ones too!!!) TOO STINKIN CUTE!!!! Any of these patterns would make great projects and also be great and thoughtful gifts from you to your friends and family. The thing I love about the pattern idea is that you, yourself can personalize it with the fabrics and colors you use for that special person. What could make a better more special gift than that? Especially with the Holidays approaching quickly. Christmas is now less than two months away...Eeeek! Better get started on those handmade goodies!
Giveaway:
A pattern of your choice from Winter Peach.

To enter Head on over to Winter Peach and tell me in a comment to this post which Pattern you would choose if you won.
For extra entries blog, facebook or twitter about this giveaway and Link back here in a seperate comment.
Follow H is for Hillman, leave a comment saying you did so or are already a follower.
Winner will be chosen by random and annouced Sat. Nov 6th. ***Extending until Nov 12th *** winner will be announced Nov 13th

Finley's Photos

Finley had a Photo shoot with Art Pinney Photography a couple days ago. Art just gave me a little sneak peak on his blog of some of the photos and I'm so pleased and so impressed. They turned out beautiful! Art was great to work with and is very good with kids, he lets them be kids and run around, do what they want to do, all while capturing every moment perfectly. Enjoy these beautiful Photos of my girl. If you love them, and love Art's work check out his blog Here There is also a referral program. The way it works is you contact Art and set up a photo shoot, tell him I sent you. I get a $25 credit towards prints and you do too, how awesome is that?
I'm so in love with these photos and Im so excited to see the rest!

Do You Ever Wonder?

When I look at my kids. I realize how blessed I'am. I mean Really Really Blessed. But I can't help but wonder "What if? What if I had made one choice, said yes to one oppurtunity that I turned down, actully moved to California out of High School like I said I wanted. Where would I be?" But the real question is WHO would I be? Would I have kids? Would I be a successful Chef, Fashion Designer, Business Women? I do like who I am now. I'm a mom, but sometimes I feel like that word "Mom" is the only word that defines me. I feel like I have so many things I enjoy to do and never do them anymore. Because I'm so caught up in being a mom, doing everything and all I can for my children. Don't get me wrong here, because I love being a mom, I love my kids and sometimes I think too much Ha! I already feel bad for them when they are teens, I'm such a narotic mom as it is. But I would like to get back to the things I enjoyed doing when I didn't have kids, I feel like "me" is lost inside. I say I'm going to start sewing, going to yoga, baking more, scrapbook. But at the end of the day, there isn't anymore time. I'm exhausted and as sleepy as my babies are. That is another time when I wonder, "what would I be doing now if I hadn't of ever met Aaron?" I would probably be kidless, lonely and until I did meet Aaron and have my beautiful babies I wouldn't be as happy as I am right now. Yes, we have worries, and not a lot of money, and no we don't live in a big house in California and wear insanly expensive clothing. We DO have a nice house over our heads, beautiful and healthy children, all the things we need and most of all we have LOVE. So when I wonder where I would be, I just know that doesn't matter, because I'm where I want to be.

AMAZING

God is so amazing and so is the cutest little fighter Aubrey, because today they got wonderful news. Aubrey is CANCER FREE!!!!!!!! Thank you to all who have prayed and donated for her and her family. God is so good, what an amazing blessing. Please still continue to keep The Deno family in your thoughts and prayers.

Banana Whoopie Pies

I saw a recipe for Pumpkin Whoopie Pies and decided I was going to try them this weekend. But when I went to take something out for dinner the other night I saw the massive amount of Bananas just piling up in my freeze. I instead decided that Banana whoopie pies may be the way to go. So I googled and found this recipe, and let me tell you...YUM! I did change it up a bit and added a few things to my filling, and also used an Icecream scoop for the batter instead of piping it on my parchment paper. It worked much better, and was way less messy. Enjoy.

For the batter

2 cups all-purpose flour
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup mashed ripe banana
1/2 cup sour cream
8 tablespoons unsalted butter, softened
1/2 cup granulated sugar
1/2 cup packed brown sugar
1 large egg
1/2 teaspoon vanilla

For the filling

16 ounces cream cheese, softened
1 cup confectioners' sugar
1/2 teaspoon vanilla
Maple Syrup (as much as you want to get the maple flavor desired)
1 tsp Cinnimon
1/4 cup of Cream

To prepare the batter

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

In a large bowl, whisk together flour, baking powder, baking soda and salt.

In a small bowl, stir together banana and sour cream.

In a large mixing bowl, beat together butter and sugars until light and creamy. Add egg and beat until combined. Mix in vanilla. Alternately mix flour and banana mixture into the creamed butter, beginning and ending with flour mixture, mixing just until combined. Scoop the batter into a pastry bag fitted with a 1/4" round tip. (This is where I used the icecream scoop instead)

Pipe batter into 1 1/4" rounds onto parchment-lined baking sheets. Place into the oven and bake until the edges are a light golden, about 10 to 12 minutes. Remove and transfer sheet of parchment to a wire rack and allow the soft cakes to cool completely.

To prepare the filling

In a large mixing bowl, beat cream cheese, cream and maple syrup and cinnimon until smooth. Add confectioners' sugar and vanilla, mixing until smooth and creamy.. On the flat side of half the cakes, spoon about one tablespoon worth of the filling on top. Top with the unfilled halves to form a sandwich. Put in fridge before serving.

Zutano Winner

Thanks to everyone who entered the Zutano giveaway, The winner of the $75.00 Zutano GC picked by random is #45, Karen Hughes.
Karyn Hughes said...
tweeted!
http://twitter.com/#!/CallasMama/status/26883852431
digobear(at)aol.com

Congrats Karen! You have 48hrs to respond to my e-mail, or I will have to choose a new winner.

Update On Sweet Aubrey

When Aubrey was sent to the ICU two days ago her parents were told it could possibly be a lung infection or brain infection. They ran many tests to see what was going on. All the tests came back negetive. The doctors were completely stumped because they didn't think she would make it through the next 2 days and within hours she had a 70% turn around. They figured out yesterday that she had a nasty reaction to the bladder protection medication they give patients while undergoing chemo. She is the first person it has happend to at Riley since this medication came out 5 years ago.
Thank you for all your prayers, God is amazing. Please continue to pray for Aubrey and her family. She is now undergoing her Chemo treatments for the next 4 days, which will make her weak and sick. Please pray for her strength.

Aubrey Deno

Aubrey is the 14 month old daughter of Lacey and Dustin Deno, and little sister of Jillian. I "know" Lacey through an online message board for moms. Lacey and I were pregnant with Aubrey and Ezra at the same time. Belonging to a message board, talking with other moms, sharing stories and pictures makes you feel like you actually know these wonderful women and their adorable childen. Now, more than ever is the time us mommys need to support and be there for eachother. Because on 9-18-2010 just a month after Aubrey's 1st birthday she was diaganosed with a rare form of leukemia. Acute Lymphblastic Leukemia (ALL).

Aubrey is truely one of a kind. Loving and snuggly one minute and the next wrestling and pinching you, a silly little sweety she is. Aubrey is ruthless, strong and she is fighting with everything she has. She has been undergoing intensive treatment at Riley Children's Hospital in Indianapolis. Her treatments make her sick, weak and tired.
This morning Aubrey was checked into the ICU with a lung infection. Aubrey and her family need all the prayers they can get. So I'm asking you to please say a prayer for Aubrey and her family. Please just take one moment out of your day to say a little prayer that Aubrey will fight this, that God will give her the strength and keep the fight in her. If you would like to donate to the Deno family, please click here, Every little bit helps. So if you can please help this beautiful family.

Apple and Fruit Festival

On sunday afternoon we ventured out into the county to the annual Apple and Fruit Festival at Cloud Mountain Farm. It was a perfect day, and the kids really enjoyed climbing in the pumpkins, eating lots of yummy apples, pears, grapes and all different kinds of berries. This was Ezra's first real expierience with pumpkins and he thought they were pretty neat. He even found one just his size and got very upset when I took it away from him before we went home. Finley loved her carmel apple. All in all it was a perfect fall day. The air was fresh and crisp and smelled like apple cider.

ONE

Ezra is now ONE! I can hardly believe it. It is so crazy to think that my baby is now making his way to toddler. Which was displayed this morning with a huge fit on the ground because he wanted to nurse. (we haven't nursed in 3 days) But it's also crazy, because I don't even remember what it was like without him, so it is hard to believe I have only had him for a year. A year of so much joy and love.
The party went great. Ezra had a blast Here are a bunch of photos, they are not in any order, sorry about that. I'm trying to be quick here as I see another fit beginning to spiral out of control. Feel free to ask any questions about anything you see that you like. A lot of my items were purchased off etsy and I'm happy to share the seller's shops with you!

NEW Tea Collection Winner

The first winner that was chosen didn't get back to me in the 48hr time frame. So I picked a new winner by random. The Winner is #45 Emma
Emma Said:
I like the Moto jacket for my brother.
Congrats Emma,You have 48hrs to respond.

Zutano Review and {Giveaway}

Another review and giveaway of another wonderful brand that I absolutley love.
Zutano is a Vermont-based designer of children’s clothing and toys. The prints and colors in these clothes are so bright and vibrant. The prints are fun and friendly, kids love to wear them. Not only are the clothes amazingly adorable They are super soft and comfortable too. Finley lived in Zutano dresses this summer, and the light weight shorts and tees kept Ezra cool and very cute!
Zutano just recently came out with an organic line, and sent us a new fall outfit for Ezra. Zutano Organic features 100% certified organic cotton. I just have to say that I was already impressed with zutano's clothing. But now I have to say I'm more than impressed and really loving this organic line. I can't wait to go buy more for Ezra. This outfit is perfect for play, with it's durability and ability to move easily while baby plays, runs, and even falls. This is really a brand that holds up nicely, and doesn't take a lot to get washed up and looking nice again, especially with those messy eaters.




Ezra wearing his new Zutano Organic Forest Fun Long Sleeve shirt and Organic fern Pant.

What Zutano has to say about their new organic line:
"Featuring Zutano’s unique approach to design, challenging the norm with unusual color and rich allover prints for a contemporary twist, the organic line cotton has the same high-quality feel and texture of all Zutano cotton. It is available in Zutano’s Itzy Bitzy newborn designs and Baby collection up to 24 months. As with all Zutano products it is free of lead, heavy metals, never tested on animals and is CPSIA compliant. All closures such as snaps and zippers are made by YKK and are free of anything that is toxic to human health and to the environment."



Zutano is offering one of my readers a chance to win a $75.00 GC. All you have to do to enter is "Like" Zutano either on Facebook here Or follow them on Twitter Here
For an extra entry spread the word about this giveaway, please post the link to this giveaway via your Facebook status or Twitter.
Please Leave a seperate comment on this post for each entry you complete

Giveaway Ends October 10th at Midnight PST. Winner will be chosen by random and announced Oct 11th. Thank you and Good luck!

And the Winner is....

The winner of the Tea Collection Pajama set chosen by randomorg.com is comment #11. Megan, who said:

meganandnate@me.com said...
I love the whole Modern Opulence collection!

Congrats Megan, Enjoy your Pjs. You have 48hrs to respond to my e-mail or I will have to choose a new winner.
Thanks Everyone for entering, I'm posting a new giveaway in a few moments, so stay tuned!