Today I have found myself wanting to make multiple Facebook status updates about completely insignificant and random stuff. That's why I created a blog, right? I sure think so.
We took the boys to feed the bison and the elk today but they weren't anywhere near the fence to we loaded up the car and headed to Longview Lake to feed the fish. Jackson absolutely loves watching all the fish swim all over each other in a frenzy to get to the food before the other. :) <><
James and I did a bunch of yard work this afternoon. Our poor landscaping in the front yard was so neglected; the bushes were either overgrown or dead. They took a LOT of work. My poor arms hurt so bad that even typing this is using muscles that I forgot were there. Can anybody say wimp?
Cooper will be three months old on the 9th {which so happens to be my wonderful Mother's birthday!}. Its so hard to believe that he is already getting so big. He is an amazing baby; so calm and sleeps SO well. Now if only I could get myself into a better sleep routine... :/. I absolutely love how his face lights up when Jackson talks to him. They are the cutest together and I'm trying especially hard to cherish the cute moments because I know there will be times when I want to banish them from being around each other in order to keep the peace in our house. Okay, so maybe that's a tad over dramatic but they will fight and it won't always be all smiles and sweetness. Right now it is though, so lets focus on that again, shall we? Jackson is the sweetest to his baby brother. He'll talk to him and Cooper will smile and his eyes get so big and wide. If Jackson is playing and starts singing or making fun noises, Cooper will turn his head and look around trying to find him. I love watching them together. They are my world. I love them.
Jackson is also getting to be so big. Hard to believe that my oldest baby is 2 1/2. He is so incredibly smart and his imagination is a killer. I am amazed by his ability to remember events and talk about them months later, like they just happened. He's saying his "ABC's", counting forward to about 15 and backward from 10. Numbers used to be his thing but now he's on the letter kick. Not quite sure where he "should" be on that one, but I love where he's at!!! I know know more about Thomas the Train than ever before. He can name every train and tell you about the Island of Sodor. Whether he is actually able to understand what being "upset" or "angry" actually mean is a mystery because I only seem to be able to get through when I tell him that "I'm going to be cross like Sir Topham Hatt". Cross is a word he understands. Thomas makes Sir Topham Hatt cross often. I love listening to him sing the theme song.
OH, songs. He is definitely into the stage where he's starting to sing catchy lines from songs that he hears on the radio. It slays me every time I hear him singing "I don't care. I love it. I don't care!"
Just imagine a cute little toddler singing it. If he wasn't so stubborn I would probably have it on video. But I don't because he stops whenever my phone is out. Yes, I've tried tricking him. Don't believe me? Why don't YOU come over and try tricking him into singing this song for you. I've even busted out the "M&M" bribe. The kid is not falling for it. He's too clever.
He also just woke up... That ends this. Good night!
I haven't had anything positive to post, and this post is no exception, so I've kept it to myself. Nobody wants to read a bunch of bitching and complaining about how I'm still having contractions, that Cooper is so low that I'm miserable and waddling and that I'm just ready to not be pregnant anymore... All. The. Time. I haven't even felt motivated to post about the few yummy meals I've made. Sadness. But once Cooper is here and I'm happily sleep deprived and not miserably pregnant I should pick back up again!
I guess this post is exciting in the sense that we've agreed on an induction day for Mr. Cooper! We picked a day around our due date so hopefully he'll make his way out on his own, if that's his plan. I can't wait to get it officially scheduled!! It is nice to know when he'll be here at the latest, you know? I have an end in sight!!!
The part that's depressing, upsetting, whatever you want to call it, is the fact that I won't get to experience the whole "going into labor" thing again... I was induced with Jackson so our little trip to the hospital for preterm labor with Cooper got my hopes up thinking that my body would do it again; would go into labor on its own again when Cooper was more developed and ready to come. There's still time for this to happen since our due date isn't until April 11 but I am thinking we'll be waiting until our date to meet our littlest boy.
I shouldn't complain, it's not THAT far away, but I am seriously impatient. Not to mention seriously tired of walking with my feet a foot and a half apart ;). One of James' coworkers told him that I looked like a lemon on tooth picks... Just what I was dying to hear!! TRUST ME, if I could walk normally, I WOULD! That would mean this child's head isn't directly on my pelvis... So low that the doctor was surprised!
I'm just ready to have my littlest mister here! When is a technicality, the sooner would be better though!!
A lot has been going on here lately and I haven't posted anything about food in a while. Time to play catch up :)
I've continued along the path of easy-ish meals around here since our hospital get-away a few weeks ago. Pinterest has played a huge roll in my food-spiration. I love taking other people's recipes and turning them into healthier meals of my own.
Let's start with the Reuben egg rolls that I found the other day. Arby's has been promoting their Reuben all over the Food Network and they were sounding REALLY amazing... then I find the Reuben egg rolls. That was it!! I had to make them and I am SOOO glad that I did. We actually ate them two nights in a row :)
These couldn't be easier to make, I promise. The only gadget(s) you need are either a thermometer, like a candy thermometer, to monitor your oil temperature if you are frying them on the stove or a deep fryer. I have both, but I chose to use the stove. Mostly because my fryer is a little guy and I wanted to be able fry more than one at a time.
Ingredients:
Egg roll wrappers - These are found in the refrigerated section of the produce department usually. If you are unfamiliar, they are the larger ones.
1 pound sliced corned beef
1/2 pound sliced swiss cheese, cut into thirds
small can of sauerkraut, drained
1 egg, beaten with about a tablespoon of water
bottle of thousand island dressing
vegetable oil for frying, heated to 375 degrees
damp paper towels to keep wrappers and rolls moist while rolling
Directions:
Lay one egg roll wrapper with the corner pointed toward you. Fold/roll one or two slices of corned beef in the center of the wrapper. Place two of your swiss cheese thirds on either side of the corned beef. Top with sauerkraut to your liking, whether it be a little or a lot. Drizzle a little thousand island on the top. Fold corner up over the mixture. Fold left and
right corners toward the center and continue to roll, gently and as tightly as possible. Loose egg rolls will come undone in the fryer. I used my fingers to brush the top corner with the egg wash, about an inch and a half was covered, then continue to roll to seal the egg roll. Set aside on a baking sheet and cover with a damp paper towel while you continue to roll the rest.
Once your oil has come to temp, gently place 2 or 3 egg rolls in the fryer at a time, turning occasionally, or as needed to make sure they are evenly golden brown for 3 minutes. Remove from oil and drain on paper towels or rack.
Serve
with more thousand island dressing.
I didn't follow the recipe so I made a simple sauteed cabbage {of course I added a lot of garlic} and garlic smashed potatoes with leftover swiss cheese on top!
This would be a perfect way to celebrate St. Patrick's Day!!
Today is Day 3 off of the medicine they gave me to keep me from going into labor for these last 2 weeks!!
Day 1 was a great day until that night. I started having contractions so bad that I was doubling over in pain. I ended up having to take more medicine to help stop them. If I go to the hospital for them again & I'm not progressing on my own then the hospital is legally obligated to stop my labor before 36/37 wks. I am really starting to have a difficult time with all the circumstantial aspects of this with no clear direction. My doctor is out because of his hand surgery and nobody seems to be able to tell me what's going to happen from here. Obviously my *ideal* method of delivery is to progress on my own, no pit or epidural, just like I did with Jackson. However, at some point there has to be a line where stopping my labor & pumping me full of magnesium again or the continuous contractions is crossed and its no longer ideal or safe for Cooper or myself. At that point I'm open to other methods (induction and all the fun pit & epidural stuff or a c-section if need be), they just need to say "Look, this is what my knowledge and experience is telling me is best for both of you. Let's go with this method at this time/date". They just have to talk to me & tell me these things.
I'm not a doctor (I don't even play one on TV- thanks Dad!) but I just feel like centuries of delivering babies, all the technology readily available and my doctor's (even the new doctor's) experience should be able to guide them down the correct path for their patients. Unfortunately the reality is that they are just out for the dollahs and not getting sued, as Mel pointed out. We're both right... Why would they risk either unless they HAD to? It's just frustrating and yet another reason why I, we, chose to make better lifestyle and food choices to keep us healthy and out of doctors offices as much as possible!! They're great when you NEED them (my father-in-law for instance, because of his heart) but they are really only there for disaster care; my father-in-law had a heart attack, disaster. Somebody breaks a bone, disaster. Quite honestly, same goes for birth. I'd prefer to deliver my child at the hospital not because I want to be hooked up and drugged up but because its a hospital. If there were to be a disaster (even a minor incident, pardon the slight exaggerations) my child & myself would be right where we needed to be!!
Anymore it seems like they say "OH, there's a medicine for that" rather than coaching & guiding you through lifestyle, food and fitness changes to help their patients feel better. How's that helping us build our immune system & strengthen ourselves? Answer: it's not. It even costs more to do it this way than to find natural & healthy alternatives through food, exercise or what have you. Start making the right choices & soon you'll find that your doctor is lowering, maybe even taking you off of, your medicine. That frees up x-dollars per month!!!
I have my next appointment on Tuesday and I'll be meeting the doctor that could be delivering Cooper. I will be voicing these opinions & concerns to him then. We'll see what he says.
Sorry I'm not sorry for my little off subject rant. Back to my update...
Day 2 was the best day for me, by far!! I had a little energy, I really didn't overdo it and I didn't have killer contractions last night!!!! YES!! I made the Reuben egg rolls that I was seriously craving for dinner and we had the new entry door from the garage & back door replaced... They are going to be so much more energy efficient than what we had before. Not only does it keep the cold from the garage out of the house but it keeps Molly IN the house. The garage door was a quick & easy point of escape for her.
Day 3 looks promising thus far. Jackson & I are headed to the zoo with Mel, Rhett, Sarah and Sam this afternoon. It will be a fun mother/son day for all of us :)!! I love these ladies and its going to be nice to get out & chat it up with friends!!
Being awake long enough to write this has brought hunger to my attention. Off to feed this growing baby of mine!!
I took my last dose of medicine at 5:00pm today!! I deleted the annoying alarms that woke me up or reminded me to take it... That was exciting to me! 1:00 am is now for sleeping, not waking up to take a pill :)
I am still nervous about what is going to happen from here on out. If I go into labor & progress on my own, we'll have a baby. If I go into labor and don't progress then they'll stop my labor again if its before 36 wks. That was no fun so I have decided that I'm not going to go to the hospital again unless my water breaks or I'm extremely uncomfortable & something doesn't feel right. I am pretty in tune with my body so I feel confident that I will be okay in that aspect.
I downloaded two different contraction counters to start helping me keep track of when & how often they're coming. I love the fact that technology makes keeping track of things so easy. I'm a forgetful person anyway and having a toddler can make it worse... Glad I have an app to help me out a lil bit!!
I am so excited to wake up & feel like me again tomorrow!!! Hopefully I'm not contraction city and I can function the way I need/want to...
I am starting to get very anxious. The next few weeks are starting to pick up speed again in the plans department. I'm excited for this because I've felt like the last week and a half have moved at a snail's pace. My sister is due in a few days so my niece will be here soon :)!! I am so very excited to meet her.
On the other hand, I'm scared. I've started having contractions again, even on the medicine. They aren't regular or anything worth keeping track of yet but if I'm having them while taking the medicine, am I going to have more of them off of it? I talked to my doctor a little about this at my last appointment but I wasn't having any contractions other than braxton hicks. I told him how difficult its been trying to keep up with Jackson while trying to move slow enough to not get dizzy or feel light headed. He told me that I was okay to stop taking it at 35 weeks. Luckily, that's this Thursday. However, I have a diaper study meeting Wednesday evening that I need to drive myself to so I'm stopping it a day early. I haven't felt comfortable enough to drive and since quick movements make me feel dizzy its been the best for me not to.
This pregnancy is so different from Jackson's. I know they say that no two pregnancies are the same but I wasn't ready for them to be this different. Losing 20 pounds (I was at my pre-Jackson weight at the beginning of my 2nd trimester) and preterm labor at 33 weeks weren't what I was expecting. I'm probably the only woman in history that's actually upset that she will weigh less after she gives birth than she did before her pregnancy. I won't dwell on this for the sake of anyone who would love to hit me right about now. I don't wish 13 weeks of not being able to eat on anyone though- it was terrible. I love my food. I was unable to bake my cookies because even they made me want to vomit. Wasn't a pretty time, let me tell you.
I feel a little better about the whole "what if I go into labor early" aspect since they gave me two rounds of corticosteroid shots for Cooper's lung development during our little hospital getaway. It doesn't ease my mind 100% and its hard not to let the unknown bother me. This is my baby we're talking about... I don't want him to be anything less than perfectly healthy. The NICU people scared the shit out of me when they came in to talk to us at the hospital just in case they had to deliver Coop while we were there. So many scenarios and things to think about. It was unbelievably and horribly overwhelming. I just want a healthy little man!!!!!
I'm going to try to force myself to go back to sleep now. I've had a rough couple of mornings lately and they're starting to knock me down a little bit. Mel, Teagy & Rhett are coming to visit us in a few hours so I need to rest a little bit before they get here! I'm so excited to see them and I can't wait to see how excited Jackson is going to be too!!! He loves his Teagy!!
Since cooking has been a challenge for me because of the fun side effects of the medicine that I'm on, I have been trying out super simple and healthy recipes. I planned 3 (I'll try to share more on those later!) and have only gotten to 2 of them since I didn't cook or we didn't eat at home a couple nights this week.
Tonight I made a yummy veggie enchilada bake. One of my favorite parts about cooking is not having to follow the "rules" or recipes to a T. I added snap peas to this recipe and used more than the veggies the recipe called for. I didn't increase it by a whole lot, but I had enough to make 2 pans of veggie bake; both will feed us dinner 2 nights. I made the 2nd bake in an aluminum pan so I can easily reheat it and then toss it without using one of my good pans!!
Roasted Veggie 'Enchilada' Bake
Ingredients:
1 poblano chile, cut into matchsticks
1 red pepper
1 yellow pepper
(I added some other colored peppers that I had in the fridge already as well, maybe 1 cup)
1 small head of cauliflower
1 small sweet potato, peeled
Roughly 1 cup chopped snow peas
2 medium onions
1 1/2 cups corn kernels (I had frozen corn)
Olive Oil
3 tsp ground cumin
2 garlic cloves, minced
salt and black pepper
2 cups homemade or store bought salsa/pico de gallo (I used 1 jar of black bean salsa to beef it up a little)
Bag of baby spinach (I left the leaves whole, why cut them if you don't have to?)
9-10 corn tortillas, halved
1 bag shredded cheese (I used cheddar, but you can use Mexican or Monterrey Jack)
sour cream
Directions:
**All veggies without previously listed instructions are cut into about half in pieces.**
Preheat the oven to 425 degrees F. Lightly oil a large shallow roasting pan or rimmed cookie sheet.
Place poblano, peppers, cauliflower, sweet potato, onion,
and corn kernels onto cookie sheet. Drizzle olive oil and sprinkle the
cumin and minced garlic over top. Add a generous pinch or two of salt
and black pepper, then use your hands to mix everything together. After
everything is coated well, spread the vegetables evenly in the pan.
Roast for 30-40 minutes until vegetables are tender and begin to brown
in spots. Stir or shake the pan every 10 minutes for even roasting.
Remove pan from oven and reduce oven temperature to 350 degrees.
In a square baking pan (I used 8x8 glass baking dish), spread 1/4 cup of
salsa into the bottom of the baking pan. Add a layer of tortilla pieces,
to completely cover the salsa. Top with 1/2 of the vegetables, a
heaping handful of spinach and 1/2 of the cheese. Make a second layer of
tortilla, salsa, vegetables, spinach, and cheese. Top with with a layer
of tortillas, salsa and cheese. Cover with aluminum foil.
Bake for 20 minutes. Remove the foil and bake another 10 minutes, until cheese is melted and everything is heated through.
Let it sit for 5 minutes and cut into squares. Serve with sour cream
Besides all the chopping, it really is easy. It took me forever to do it, but that's been the name of my game lately. We all loved it! I can't wait to eat the leftovers and I'm excited that I have one that I can pull out of the freezer later on!!
It's been 3 days since Jackson & I have left the house. I have de-cluttered and organized more things than I ever care to do again... The overly clean & organized side of my husband has to be overjoyed at the "what" aspect of this situation! If it hasn't given him a reason to permanently revoke my driving privileges so I'm stuck at home to keep this up then I will be completely surprised {totally kidding, but seriously! He has to secretly be thrilled at the lack of clutter in this place!!!}.
Jackson's room is the first thing on today's agenda. I folded all of his laundry yesterday so I need to put it up as well as organize some more of the toys. I'm trying to figure out the most effective way to divide the toys between both boy's bedrooms. Oh what I could do if we only had 100 more square feet!! Then it's on to finishing up some laundry & organization things in our room. SEE!! I'm going mental!!!
I think Jackson is starting to feel a tad bit confined himself. He asked to go bye-bye twice yesterday, "talked" to Teagy on the phone all day and then cried to play with Abby & Ben at bedtime. At least James is off on Thursday and we're going to my follow up doctor's appointment & maternity coordinators visit... It will get us out of the house for a little bit! :)
The side effects of the Procardia are still getting me... It took me 40 minutes to open 5 cans of beans & diced tomatoes, a package of frozen corn, chop an onion and cut up 3 chicken breasts. That may or may not seem like a huge deal but for me, that's a long time!! We planned this dinner because it had minimal prep and it was all thrown into the crock pot. I didn't anticipate that the crock pot itself would be heavy & awkward to lift out of the cabinet or that even the few things that I had to open, chop & cut would make me light headed and short of breath. It's all definitely worth it, but I'm excited for the medicine to work and me to be off of it in a week and a half-ish... I have only had a small handful of contractions since Thursday but I've had a TON of Braxton hicks, which the medicine won't stop... Woo!
I am getting more and more anxious about Cooper's arrival. Abby is having Audrey tomorrow & I plan on visiting Thursday. Hopefully that will help my baby fever a little bit ;)! I am so super excited for her, Brent and Ben!! I can't wait to meet Audrey! My doctor says that after 35 weeks he is definitely okay with delivering Cooper, so I'm okay with him coming then too. I can't wait to hold him and see Jackson love on him <3.
I guess I'll head off to start my to-do list now while Jackson is playing quietly and contentedly all by himself. Thankfully he is a very wonderful, independent player and doesn't require constant entertainment!!!
Today just so happens to be a very passionate feeling day... There are many things, feelings, life occurrences and opinions that I'm passionate about and I kind of feel like going off on a little spiel about them.
Guess you could say that "passion" is the word of the day in my world.
LOVE
I am very passionate about this word. It encompasses everything whether your referring to a romantic love to the love of your favorite food, item, etc..
I should mention that my cheesiness factor is off the charts today too! I just had to post a little clip from Moulin Rouge, I just HAD to!
Love is passion. No matter who/what you love, love them/it passionately and wholeheartedly.
FAMILY
I absolutely love my family! I am so incredibly lucky to have such strong, highly opinionated and extremely supportive people in my life. To top it off, I married into an equally amazing family. I wouldn't be the person that I am today without any of them and while there have been times that I've contemplated trading them {be honest, you've thought about it too at times!!}, you better not mess with them... I'll mess you up back! Yes, that is a threat! haha
They have taught me so many important lessons in life and I feel as though they have prepared me to be a better woman, wife and mother.
FOOD
Food is my second love. Food is my passion. Food is my hobby. Food is me.
Pregnant or not, the kitchen has always been my "place". Some woman take hot baths, get massages, or whatever and while all those things are wonderful and lovely things to do when you want time to yourself, nothing makes me quite as happy as preparing a wonderful meal, dessert or snack. THE most rewarding part is watching my family or friends enjoy the deliciousness that I've created.
There are fewer things more satisfying, to me, than the feeling of mixing, molding, mashing and combining different flavors together just to taste my creations in the end. I'm assuming it would be the same feeling as climbing to the top of Mount Everest or something... Food is my Everest.
I may not have trained professionally, gotten a degree, or cooked in the finest of restaurants but I know what food is supposed to taste like. I know which flavors will pair well with others. How? I was ALWAYS allowed to watch, learn and experiment in the kitchen and I have been watching TV chefs do it for literally my whole life. I was just lucky enough to have been able to cook all the foods that even I didn't want to eat when I was a lot younger.
I truly hope to instill this passion, or part of it, in my children. This leads me to an opinion that I'm 100% passionate about...
NEVER TELL YOUR CHILDREN "NO, YOU WON'T LIKE THAT" OR "THAT'S YUCKY" WHEN THEY ASK TO TRY SOMETHING!
{unless of course its inedible and they really shouldn't be eating it... I've said these things in those situations too!}
Just because YOU don't like it, doesn't mean they won't like it either!
Open up their worlds to different tastes, textures, flavors and cuisines from the beginning. Setting them up to enjoy food will lead them to make healthy and positive food choices in their own adult lives.
I dislike kiwi, but I don't keep Jackson from trying it. He's allowed to taste anything and everything, within reason- nothing raw or anything, when I'm cooking. If he spits it out because I doesn't like it, I don't get mad at him. He has started this crazy little habit of spiting out one bite of food because he'd rather eat another at dinner time and THAT irritates the snot out of me, but I don't punish him for not liking something from the very first time he tries it.
Just because they didn't like it the FIRST time, doesn't mean they won't like it after 10, 20, 100 times!
Allow them to taste things again. What is the absolute worst thing that could happen? They spit it out again? woo hoo... WHO CARES! Let them taste it again. YOUR taste buds change occasionally don't they? YEP, theirs do too!!
Let your children experiment in the kitchen too!
Bake with them. Cook with them. Let them play in a small bowl of flour. Give them another small bowl full of water and watch them make dough. Let them dip their carrots in ketchup if that's whats going to make them happy.
There is a time and a place for "no" when it comes to the kitchen and food, for sure. Pick your battles and let them have fun too!! The last thing you'd want to do, even by accident, is to let your child grow up thinking that they aren't allowed to safely be in the kitchen. Those thoughts and feelings will stick with them forever and could negatively effect their opinions... maybe even for the rest of their lives.
A little mess today may seem like just another inconvenience in an already busy life but it isn't even a speed bump in the grand scheme of things!
OH!! And you don't have to have a lot of money {because we sure don't} and you don't have to be a stay-at-home mom to broaden your child's horizons. You just have to be OPEN MINDED and WILLING to do so!!
FRIENDS
One would think that this is self explanatory, but is it? How many TRUE friends do you REALLY have? I have hundreds of acquaintances and I know a lot of people but would they be there when I really needed them? Honestly, NO, probably not.
I have a small handful of great friends. Friends that would be there for me any time that I needed them, without question and regardless of why I needed them. My life wouldn't be the same without them either. I love that some of them have children that my kiddos are close in age to and can grow up playing together. I love that one of them doesn't have children so I can leave Jackson at home and have "grown up" time if I want to, but she's totally okay with hanging out with him as well!
I think its important that James and I are friends too... we are polar opposites in social settings. I thrive and he hides lol. I'm working on opening him up a little bit, but he just takes a while to warm up to people... If you were to see him with his friends though, you'd never believe me!! BOY can they get loud and rowdy at times! We balance each other though. He makes me laugh and he laughs at my stupid jokes too. We do silly things together {Ninja James, anyone?} and always try to have fun. Just because we're married adults and he's 10 years older than me doesn't mean we have to be a boring married couple. Hopefully our boys see that we always tried to have fun when they grow up and get married.
That seems to be all I have for now. I was clearly side tracked from my to do list by my little spiel, so I better get back to it!
Live your life with passion and you will love your life!
This week should be my last ridiculously crazy week/weekend until D-day {Delivery Day}...
Alysha's baby shower is on Saturday :). I have had SOOO much fun planning a girly little party and I can't wait to officially post about it. Until then you only get to view sneak peeks since I'm trying very hard to make it as big of a surprise as possible for my sister.
Yay!! It's going to be super girly and cutesy for sure but Miss Marley
is totally worth it. I have a few other decorations and activities
planned as well as a super adorable cake up my sleeve!! I'm super duper
thankful for Ashley, Crystin and Jessica's help with my projects...
Sisters and best friends, what would a girl do without 'em?
As if
I'm not already crazy enough, I've been crafting and sewing up a storm.
I made a few wonderful things for Abby and Alysha but my most favorite
projects have been for my Littlest Mister!!
It all started with the little pillow for the rocking chair:
I've made pillows before but I tried to get all "fancy" and make it like the pillow shams from our bedding set.
The only problem is the fact that I didn't account for the "displacement" (not sure what the technical term is) that the pillow would cause... so instead of the fabric overlapping, it gapes a little. I'm not worried about it, its in the back!
So then I tackled what I thought was going to be my most complicated project to date.
See that ^? Yeah, that up there ^!! That's a gray and white striped crib sheet... I MADE THAT. In fact, I made two!!! It was beyond, BEYOND easy. I followed this tutorial and didn't have a problem.
Unfortunately, it wasn't until after I started my next project that I finally asked for help with my sewing machine settings. It was all sorts of wacky and it was causing all of the issues that I had been/was having with sewing. Regardless, I followed this tutorial to make a crib skirt. I made it into 3 separate panels for a
few reasons; 1- I would have had to piece my fabric together and because of the
pattern it would have been a pain in the butt 2- The location of the hooks that
adjust the mattress height are in a weird location 3- This way was just easier
for me J. I’m very happy with the way that it turned
out. I found a gray and white checkered cotton fabric at Joann's the other day and I think that I want to make 1 or 2 sheets out of it as well.
Crib sheet after I cut it from the pattern that I made.
Please excuse the toys under the crib... Jackson has been playing in Cooper's room :)
Soo cute! I'm going to take the two shades of blue/teal and possibly the orange to make curtains with... If I decide to make them.
{this was just hanging out in my drafts so I'm just picking up where I left it off :)}
So far, we've gotten pretty lucky in the "food allergy" department. I'm the only one that has any food issues and they are only soy related. The world is basically our oyster... :) and we LOVE food. All kinds of food. Meat. Veggies. Fruits. Chinese. Italian. Greek... Sorry... the preggo was daydreaming about food ;). Even though we don't have a medical reason to eat certain things over others, I still like to keep it as healthy as possible. Simple little switches like eating whole grain bread rather than white and fresh fruits and vegetables instead of canned will make a world of difference. Sometimes it is fun to make meatless meals just to switch it up...
I made these AMAZINGLY SPECTACULAR roasted vegetable tostadas last night for dinner.
They were so incredibly easy too!
I didn't alter the recipe itself except for not using the cooking spray since it calls for you to toss the veggies in oil anyway.
Shallow frying the corn tortillas in a little olive oil.
I did make a super simple guacamole {I would even just call it an avocado mash since I only added salt & pepper to it.}and I put black beans on there too {drain and rinse a can of black beans, put in a skillet and heat with a little bit of lime juice so they're nice and warm too}
This was the perfect example of a meal that I initially plan on having leftovers of for another night but its devoured that night. I think I might have had enough to eat a tostada for lunch the next day, but that was it!!!
I highly recommend this recipe. It has to be the best vegetarian meal that I have made to date!!! :)
I warned you... I was a busy bee two weekends ago and I've been recuperating and having fun this past week, but I'm back!
Today has been a kitchen bonding day! I LOVE these days and I don't get them often enough. Cooking is my way of truly relaxing and unwinding... as long as someone else is picking up the kitchen... I get that fun job today :/. It has been especially nice because Jackson hasn't been all that interested in helping so I've gotten a chance to have a little "me" time as well. I do LOVE cooking with him, but some days I just want to do it myself. We're on the same page today!!
I love this awesome chocolate chip & oatmeal quick bread recipe. Its so easy and relatively quick, except for the baking time. As usual, I changed something about it and used almond milk instead of buttermilk. I actually preferred the taste and the texture to this round of bread, compared to the last loaf that I made with buttermilk. It is a lot lighter and the lack of tangy buttermilk lets the chocolate chips and oatmeal shine!
I have also been on a homemade bread kick lately... I kidnapped my parents bread machine and have attempted to use it twice. The first time was an EPIC failure and well, the second time resulted in a literal brick of bread. Today I turned the machine on and watched it do what it does just to find out that it doesn't do anything until it starts to bake. Made me feel better about my two previous unsuccessful loaves of bread. This time, I have mixed the bread dough in my stand mixer, kneaded it by hand and have let it rise in an unheated oven {warmest, dry & most convenient place for me to put it while I continue to cook}. Its currently rising for the 2nd time, so we'll see how this turns out in a little bit. Haven't decided if I'm going to bake it in the machine, since that function seems to work, or in the oven... The machine is the seemingly best option considering the fact that I'd like to make more yummies today!
Posting this for now... I need to run to the store for a few things that I need to make the other things I'd like to munch on today :)
I really think that my day started off exactly this way! Nesting is definitely starting to kick in :)
Pinterest can really get me into trouble sometimes... It gives me all these fun, genius ideas of things to do and ways to clean my house.
Today I used this pin to wash all of our bedroom pillows. Its a GREAT tutorial and I will use it again, HOWEVER, if you plan on trying it I have a couple suggestions:
1) Dry one pillow at a time. I washed and dried 4 pillows, 2 at a time. Drying those 2 pillows took FOREVER! Multiply by 2. Our pillows were in the dryer up until bed time. I sure hope they're really dry :/!
2) Don't try to squeeze this in on laundry day. Pillows need their own special day which is another reason why this process took forever. I washed the sheets and blankets from 2 beds and our clothes too. Just didn't work out so well...
3) Use those tennis balls!! Put them in some old socks to help fluff the fluff and beat out extra moisture. Your house will sound like some funky rock band is practicing in your laundry room but they are super important for any pillow washing!
4) Use this trick to wash your throw pillows too... Unless you have super fancy throw pillows. Ours are from Target, they can go in the washer :).
Besides lots of other boring, tedious household chores I threw together a really yummy side dish to go with our pork chops tonight!
Grilled Veggies and Quinoa
1 zucchini
1 yellow squash
1 red pepepr
1 green pepper
1 1/2 cups cooked quinoa
Olive Oil
Salt
Pepper
Quarter the zucchini and squash and cut into 1 inch pieces. Slice peppers into 1 inch slices and cut into 1 inch pieces. Toss veggies with olive oil, salt and pepper. Grill on an indoor grill until tender. Remove from the grill and toss in a bowl with cooked quinoa. Add more olive oil if needed.
I linked the reversible indoor grill & griddle that I have because I LOVE it!! I cooked the pork chops on it after the veggies. It also makes pancakes or fried eggs a breeze :). James hates cleaning it, but it really isn't difficult since its nonstick.
I can't believe that it has been 2 years since the day Jackson James came into the world! 10:33 am, 7 pounds 13.5 ounces and 20 1/2 inches long!
These have been the most amazing 2 years of my life. The next years are only going to get better :)! He never ceases to amaze me. The things he knows, says and does are so imaginative and intelligent. I'm blown away! I'm such an incredibly lucky mommy!
I look forward to many years of watching him grow, but I do wish he could stay mine forever. Jackson will make an excellent big brother too! I can't wait to watch his loving, nurturing side come out when Cooper gets here. It's nice knowing that I'll have a tiny little helper and boy, he's a great helper!
Since the next couple days are going to be a tad bit busy, I decided to go ahead and plan my menu for next week. I will be grocery shopping early, early, early on Friday, which may seem crazy but I only planned enough dinners to get us through Thursday... not my brightest idea, but whatever!
This week I WILL be going over my goal of $50 for sure. I have a few perishable & last minute things to buy for J's 2nd birthday party on Saturday and we are completely out of fruits for me to make the yummy smoothies that I've been making. All these things add up, you know? I do buy a mix of fresh and frozen fruits, depending on what is on sale and the price of the already frozen fruit. This week, for example, the Vee has fresh, whole pineapple on sale for $2.48 each. I plan on buying two of them, cutting them up and freezing them myself. You can't buy that amount of prepackaged frozen pineapple for $4.96... You can't get the same amount of fresh strawberries for the same price as the large bag of frozen ones though either, so it works itself out. Frozen fruit is still healthy fruit... canned fruit, not so much!!!
One of the things that usually helps me stick to my goal is planning nights to eat the leftovers. It works out in two ways. One, it saves us money. Two, I don't have to cook 2 or 3 nights and some days that's super helpful!
Here's our menu for the week! I will post the recipes as I make the meals; 1 of them I have already posted {I can't help it... I'm craving that beet salad and that marinated feta cheese again!!}, 1 of them is just a hodgepodge that I whipped up in my head, and the other 2 I will do my own variation of the recipe for.
Friday: Quinoa & Black Bean Tacos
Saturday:
lunch: leftover tacos before J's 2nd birthday party!
Roasted Beet and Marinated Feta Salad {I will be making double the previously posted recipe :)}
Sunday:
lunch: leftover salad Chicken & Veggie Pasta
Monday:
Leftover salad
Tuesday:
Leftover pasta
Wednesday: Kale, Mushroom & White Bean Soup
Thursday:
Leftover soup
Friday is grocery shopping day and a new ad comes out on Wednesday, so we'll plan another trip then. James is taking a week off work so we'll probably go over my $50 goal again since I'll have to make sure we have extra things in the house for lunches!!
Don't be upset if you don't see the blog posts for these recipes some time next week!! I forewarned you of the hectic few days ahead of me over here ;)!
{I tried to post this on Monday, when we had our actual appointment but I JUST realized that it said the upload had failed...}
In the grand scheme of things, today has been super uneventful in our world. There isn't much to blog about, but who can go wrong with a super cute kid post?!?
Today was Doctor's appointment day!! I just love hearing the precious heartbeat that powers all the kicks & jabs that sometimes keep me awake for hours on end :)!! Jackson is becoming more & more interested in hearing it too, "Mommy, Cooper's hearbea" {he says them without the "t"s, so I spelled it that way!}
The only concern I've had so far has been the 6 straight days of Braxton Hicks, some so painful that it hurts to breathe through them :(. Doctor Curry suggested that I take 3- 200 mg ibuprofen after I got home from my appointment {3:30ish} and then have a decent sized glass of red wine with dinner to help me relax. I must have missed the parts where everything I've read would have said that these pesky boogers are caused by stress... I have plenty of it so it makes complete sense.
The wine has helped tremendously. I didn't realize how tightly I was wound until I was able to let go of everything. James was just as happy, and a little relieved, to be thanked for putting up with me and loving me through my crankiness. He stepped back tonight & let the wine do its thing. I was on my way to bed almost 2 hours ago when I got super hungry again, or I'd be in bed :)!
The 2nd biggest highlight of my day was Jackson telling his baby brother "nigh nigh"!
I am the luckiest mom in the universe and I can't wait to have both of my boys in my arms!!!
I can officially tell that my second trimester is coming to an end. I'm finding myself with less and less energy and a to-do list the size of Texas. Annnnnd J is cutting 2-year molars... Happy happy joy joy!
SO, what's so pressing in my world?
J's 2nd Birthday Party! I can't believe that my Little Mister turns 2 in four days and we'll be celebrating with a few friends and family on Saturday. It doesn't even feel like a year has gone by since his first birthday party. We had a quite the first birthday celebration. Freshly spun cotton candy, carnival pop corn, yummy Caiti's Cookies Elephant cookies and a photo booth complete with props.
I miss that long, wild man hair!
I had a little too much fun with the props!
This year I haven't had the energy to match the over-the-top extravaganza that this was. I have still put a lot of time into it though and enlisted a little help from the trusty Cricut machine {LOVE that thing}
The "Happy Birthday" Banner.
Mr. Noodle and some crayons from Elmo's World.
Front of J's invitation
Inside, complete with pop-up Elmo.
Thank you notes.
This has definitely been a time consuming process but that Little Mister of ours is worth it! Just need to make his cake, cupcakes and buy snacks :)
Alysha's Baby Shower!
Have I mentioned that 2013 is going to start off pretty darn busy? Right after J's birthday party fun comes to an end, its straight on to crafts and projects for my younger sister's baby shower. I'm very excited to be an Aunt again. Marley will be my 2nd niece and I'm super excited because I will be able to see her WAY more than we get to see my nephew and niece {they live in Girard, which is in the same little area of Kansas that James grew up in so we don't get to see them all that often :(.}
ANYHOO...
Thanks to the help of my co-hosting sisters, Crystin and Ashley, we have finished the invitations!!
Ombre pinks and leopard print is a slight variation of the theme that Alysha asked for.
Last but certainly not least, Preparing for our Littlest Mister!
This week, Bok Choy is on sale for $.99/pound. I saw this and decided to give it a try. I had never cooked the stuff before and I had no clue how to even approach it, so I turned to Google! It was as simple as typing "Bok Choy recipes" in the search bar and picking one that looked good to me.
Stir-Fried Bok Choy with Garlic
Ingredients
1 tablespoon olive oil
2 cloves garlic, minced
8 cups chopped fresh bok choy, leafy parts as well as the stalks
2 tablespoons reduced-sodium soy sauce (I had to add more since I needed some for the quinoa too)
Salt and freshly ground black pepper
Roughly 1 to 1 1/2 cups cooked quinoa
Directions
Heat oil in a large skillet over medium heat. Add garlic and cook 1 minute. Add bok choy and soy sauce cook 3 to 5 minutes, until greens are wilted and stalks are crisp-tender. Stir in cooked quinoa and season, to taste, with salt and black pepper.
I had set chicken breasts out so I cooked them up as well. I seasoned them with a little freshly ground black pepper and a little garlic and onion powders. After the chicken had been cooking on its 2nd side for a little bit, I poured a little soy sauce/sesame oil mixture over them to glaze them a little bit.
In hind sight, I should have just left the chicken alone because it ended up being a little soy sauce overkill.
You live and you learn!
Overall, it was pretty delicious! I will be cooking Bok Choy again... and google will be helping me ;).
Let's be honest for a moment. Planning a weekly menu can be a difficult and tedious task. There are many weeks that I'd love to skip it altogether and eat out every night. Unfortunately, this little thing called a "budget" obliterates those ideas.
Being a single-income family means that I have to be as creative as possible with my dinner planning; it has become this really awesome game for me. I've played the "lets stay under $X" game with many different dollar amounts. Each week I try to push myself even harder to make that number as small as possible while planning the most healthy and delicious meals. Now I'm going to try my darnedest to explain this little game I play with myself to you!
My current goal? $50 per week.
Do I always succeed? NO. And I'm okay with this. Some weeks I blow it and others I'm way under... I figure those weeks average themselves out eventually {just keep averaging, just keep averaging... And James says my logic doesn't make sense sometimes. Psssshhh ;)}.
Does this include household necessities, personal hygiene items or pet food? NO. {I do ALWAYS try to buy them when they're on sale though!}
Do we get a discount because James happens to work for the grocery store I shop at? NO. Every store has the option to give their employees discounts. He's worked at 2 different locations in the history of us and neither have given employee discounts.
WHAT YOU NEED:
1- A realistic budget for YOUR family. My menu feeds James, Jackson & myself. Some meals leave enough leftovers for dinner another night, others I expect to have leftovers of but every last bit is devoured that night. You can't expect to feed a family of 2 adults and 2 older children (older than 2 anyway) on my budget using my weekly menu ideas. It's just not going to happen. Don't beat yourself up about it. If it doesn't work for you, the menu-planning-budget-following police aren't going to come arrest you. I promise.
2- The weekly ad from your favorite grocery store. I only plan my menu based on the items that are on sale that week at the Vee. If you're a P.C. fan, sorry bout it... And shame on you ;)! The Vee also has a "Digital Exclusive" ad as well as special sale ads {Columbus Day, Veterans Day, 2-Day, 3-Day, etc}. Make sure you check those too.
3- Knowledge of your store. When a store orders too much of something for a sale, they'll knock it down to an awesome price in order to get it out of their back rooms. Space is money! Pay attention to all those shelf tags as you're shopping. Your store may have marked produce items down because the truck just came in & they have to move the old to bring in the new. When items are close to date they'll be knocked down too. Many items can be kept past their "expiration date". That date is a requirement for the company but it doesn't mean that you have to throw out half a dozen eggs because they "expired" a week ago.
4- A notebook & a pen.
5- A shopping day. Thursday or Friday work best for me because I can look over the ad when it comes out on Wednesday for inspirations. Your menu will be planned accordingly.
HOW YOU DO THIS:
Step one: In your notebook, write the days of the week leaving enough room to write the things you need to make those meals.
Step two: Look through the ad. Pick items on sale that look good to you. Look in your cabinets, do you have something to cook with those items already? Something in the ad look interesting but you have no clue what to do with it? Google it.
Step three: List the meals inspired by those items and list the additional items you'll need below {note: I have a little cheat... Meat isn't listed because we get a meat bundle from the Vee and its chilling in our deep freeze... A slight advantage in this game for sure!}
Step four: Make sure you plan breakfasts and snacks too!! I write those sale items at the top of my weekly menu, along with those things that we need in addition to ingredients for meals.
Step five: Use those items you listed to make your list. I always make my lists in order of the way I shop; produce first, bakery, deli, aisles before the meat department (if I want something other than what I have frozen), frozen aisles, meat department, aisles after the meat department, dairy department, healthy & beauty and last but not least, the health market.
Whew! That's a lot harder to list out these steps than it is to just do it... Puts the once daunting task into a little perspective!
Not sure if I have forgotten anything at this moment in time. If I have, I will add it and share the link to this on Facebook again.
Hope this gives you all a little more insight... If not, thanks for letting me tell you anyway! :)
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