Jackson's 1 year update

My sweet baby boy. How is he one already? I've said it every single month since he was born, this year flew by!

Jack has brought so much joy to all of us. He is sweet and even tempered, sensitive and thoughtful. When he is tempted to do something naughty, like play in the dog's water bowl (his favorite taboo activity), all it takes is a stern "Oh No" and he looks up guiltily and scoots away. I'm sure I'll read back on this in a couple months and laugh but I'm eating it up for now!

He and Ella absolutely adore each other at the moment. Their excitement to see each other when they wake up in the morning and the way Ella takes care of him and when they sit on the floor and share toys..it all just melts my heart. I hope they always have a good friendship, even though I'm sure it will ebb and flow as all relationships do!

Jack is sleeping 12 or so hours each night and still takes a morning and afternoon nap. I thought he was going to drop his morning nap a couple of weeks ago but it was a false alarm. He is almost 23 lbs and eats EVERYTHING. His favorite foods are pancakes, cheese, eggs, and peas.

He's been pulling up on furniture and walking along it for a while now. Just this week he's been letting go for a second or two and today I thought he was going to try to take a step! I'm just hoping he will walk before spring gets underway so we can all walk outside together. No one likes crawling in the dirt!

That's what's going on in Jack's life right now!


Spring, PLEASE HURRY up and get here!

Weekly Goals Recap

I followed the Dr. Oz Holiday Detox on Monday and Tuesday last week as a reset for the terrible eating habits I slipped into over the holidays. The link to more info about the plan is in my previous post but pretty much you are drinking lots of fluids and eating three small meals that added up to about 1100 calories a day. You are eating no sugar (unless your peanut butter has added sugar) and very little starches/grains and hardest of all, NO COFFEE.

Pros- I drank a TON of water and coconut water. Mostly, so I wouldn't feel so hungry. It helped me realize I drink nowhere near enough water on a normal basis. 

        I realized how much I graze throughout the day. I eat so much more than I thought because I pick at the kid's food and make myself extra cups of coffee or hot chocolate throughout the day. Because I was so strict with sticking to only those three meals, I was very aware of how much I want to snack!

      I also became painfully aware of how addicted to sugar I truly am. I don't drink soda or have junk food in the house regularly but my body depends on my morning coffee with cream and sugar. I was shaking by the afternoon on the second day so I did drink a cup of coffee with no sugar. It helped!

       I liked the simplicity of knowing exactly what I was eating and having a very clear plan for a couple days. I didn't mind that the two days repeated themselves. Plus, I had almost everything on the plan already in my house!

Cons-  1000-1200 calories is just too low for my level of activity. I burn an average of 2400 calories a day and the very highest calorie deficit healthy for me is 1000. I was shaky and tired from the combination of not enough calories, and the shock to my body of not drinking coffee, eating sugar, and so few carbs.

           The raw cabbage I was supposed to eat for dinner was my least favorite part of the detox. I like cabbage but not raw and in those amounts. The second night I roasted it with just a sprinkle of olive oil, salt and pepper and it was SO much better.

Overall, would I do it again? I would, as long as I made sure I ate larger portions.


I also tried two new meals off of Pinterest this week. I made these Cheeseburger Wraps which were so good and a huge hit with everyone in my family. I realized I need to break out my panini press more often!  My other meal was this Broccoli Cheddar Quiche. Quiche is a major comfort food for me. Mostly, because I adore pie crust.  I did make it in a whole wheat pie crust  and used half and half instead of heavy cream to make it a little healthier and the kids both loved it.

I did the first workout on the prep plan for the Rugged Maniac race. And almost died. I'm going to completely die in May.

This week my first goal is to walk 10,000 steps every day. That is almost 5 miles. You wouldn't think it'd be that hard but it's actually very hard for me to hit 10,000 on days I don't leave my house or work out! More incentive to do both?

I plan to try out two more recipes from Pinterest again. I really enjoyed having two meals I was especially excited about.


Hope you all are have a great week!

Winter Motivation

Well, the holidays are officially over. They flew by as they always do, leaving behind a dead Christmas tree (that is going to make an huge mess when removed from my house) and me, feeling rather lost. I need some goals to get me through the next couple of dreary, grey, COLD months.

After eating and drinking way too much over the holidays, I also need a reset. I want to feel motivation to cook flavorful and healthy meals. I haven't cooked a good meal in weeks. I'm hoping to cure myself in two ways. 

First, I'm doing Dr. Oz's Holiday Detox. It's very simple; drinking lots of fluids and eating 3 healthy but plain meals for 2 days. I hope it will snap me out of my sweets/fatty foods overload. 

Second, I chose two meals off of Pinterest that look exciting to try this week. 

I'll post an update on how those two ventures go! 

As far as longer term goals go, Nick and I are planning on running the Rugged Maniac race on May 5th. It's in Petersburg, Virginia so we are going to make a weekend of it. They provide you with a handy 5 week training regimen that I plan to do a couple of times through before May 5th rolls around. It's very similar to the workouts I already do, except I don't do it in between sets of running. I'm excited to see how it goes!

Jack and Ella Update

I wanted to write down what my children are doing these days because I know I'll love looking back and reading it. Plus, there are a few family members and friends far away who I know would love to hear what's new with them!

Is it just me or do firstborn children take FOREVER to go through each stage and subsequent children fly through them? I felt like Ella was a baby for so long and now Jack is nearing his first birthday already and it feels like he was born 5 hours ago.
Jack is actually nine months old now and officially crawling! He is slow and steady but getting stronger each day. He prefers standing up to crawling and attempts to pull himself up on everything. He also has mastered the sitting from a crawl position, as I found out when I went to get him up from his nap the other day and he was sitting up in his crib.
He wants to be put down more than held but he has stipulations. I must remain within eyesight, preferably sitting next to him on the floor. I spend a lot of time on the floor these days.
He absolutely adores Ella. Anytime she comes in the room his eyes light up and he starts kicking his legs and smiling ear to ear. Ella loves him too and always makes a big fuss over him. She will sit on the floor and hand him toys. If he starts crying she says, "No tears, baby Jack" in the sweetest voice. They definitely have their moments...Jack does this little screech when Ella takes his toys and she yells heartily when he does the same, but for the most part their relationship is harmonious.
Jack is eating everything he can get his hands on, i.e. small pieces of whatever I made for the rest of us. He weighs 21 pounds. Enough said.
I loved his baby look but his hair was getting a little crazy. I was in denial but while I was visiting my mom one day, she begged me to let her cut his hair. She did a great job and he now looks so much older.
















Ella is 3 years old. She is in preschool this fall and loves it. She is always surprising me with what she knows (and understands)! She was in my dear friends' wedding this fall as a flower girl and since that day has not stopped talking about "gettin' married". If she sees someone in what could remotely be viewed as wedding attire,she asks if they are getting married. She tries to remove my wedding rings every day and when I say no, she asks if Daddy will get her a wedding ring. I tell her that in 20 or 30 years someone special will get her a wedding ring.
Ella is in a princess phase. It's bad. The minute she can strip out of normal clothes and get into one of her princess costumes she does. She would wear her costumes 24/7 if I let her. She also discovered she can put a dress on Jack and have a dress up buddy!

Jack is not a fan. 

She loves painting and coloring, playing outside in any weather, playing hide and seek, dancing with Jack and Mommy, telling stories, watching all the old Disney movies, and reading books.
 She has a special love for her Daddy. If I make her sad (usually when she is being naughty..) she will say "I miss my Daddy, I need him." through her sobs. It's terribly cute (and manipulative). Every morning when he leaves for work, she makes sure everyone gets a hug and kiss and then insists she gets an extra one.

Her stubbornness, independence and energy are her greatest strengths and her greatest weaknesses. We joke that she is a Sour Patch kid, so incredibly sweet and then the next minute...but she is a blessing,even in the more trying times, because we know God uses her to stretch and grow Nick and I as parents.

Ella is very excited about Christmas this year. She took great interest in cutting down and decorating the tree and wants to read all our books about Christmas over and over again. White Christmas is literally stuck in our VHS player.. so that's on repeat until after Christmas, when I guess we will have to figure out how to remove it. I told her the other day while we were talking about presents, "Mommy and Daddy got you lots of presents you get to open on Christmas day.". Her eyes got big and she clasped her hands and said "O thank you Mommy, I so excited!".

I hope you all have a very Merry Christmas!

Amazing gingerbread cookies

When I am pregnant, I love cookies even more than I do usually....in other words, a lot. Baking is a comfort thing for me, and something I enjoy doing with my kids. Of course I enjoy eating them too, but that goes without saying. When Brett is not home until late, which has been almost every night recently, cookies are sometimes the result!

These gingerbread cookies are a recipe I adapted slightly from allrecipes, under the name Molasses Sugar Cookies 

This is now one of my new favoritest cookies....and that is not something I say lightly. Cookies are taken seriously around here. Soft and chewy on the inside, with a bit of crunch to the outside. Lots of gingerbread flavor, but not overwhelmingly sweet. (The downside to all of this is that I ate almost the entire dozen the first night, while they were still warm. The children helped some. Please don't tell anyone!!)

I also love that this recipe makes a large batch because these are perfect for giving to neighbors during the holidays. That is my plan anyway!! They will love me forever and possibly forget that my chickens sometimes stray into their yard...and possibly even their porch. 

Anyway, here are the instructions for deliciousness!

Molasses Sugar Cookies

3/4 cup butter 

4 tsps baking soda

3/4 cup shortening 

3 tsps cinnamon

1 2/3 cups white sugar 

 1 tsp ground cloves

2/3 cup molasses 

 1 1/2 tsps ground ginger 

2 eggs 

 1 tsp salt 

4 cups flour

1. Melt shortening and butter; cool. Add sugar, eggs, molasses; beat well. 

2. In separate bowl, stir together all dry ingredients (or just dump it all into the original bowl like I did). Mix well and chill for 3 hours or overnight. 

*If you are extremely impatient like someone I know when it comes to devouring cookies, do not be dismayed by these chilling instructions. I have it on good authority that slight chilling, of about 30 mins or so, seems to work just fine. They just aren't as pretty and crackled. So just bake one dozen immediately, eat and satisfy your sweet tooth, and then chill the rest properly and bake them the next day.*

3. Bake at 375 for 8-10 mins. Don't overbake if you like them chewy!! 

Makes 6 dozen

It's a soupy kind of day..

Well, today in good old Delaware,  the weather is decidedly dreary. It is also the first day all week that I've had no plans that involve leaving my house! I am not a homebody for the most part, but when we've had a busy couple of weeks I love a day at home. I like to spend days like these catching up on Mount Neverest (the laundry pile), reading books with the kids, watching a happy movie and cooking comforting food.

Soup on a rainy day is just the best. I love soups because I enjoy getting creative with spices and trying new combinations of vegetables and meats. Here is my favorite yellow split pea soup. It is very similar to the classic green split pea except it looks much more appetizing! I also like this soup because it's incredibly inexpensive to make, yet filling and healthy.

I start by sauteing the onions, carrots, garlic and spices in a touch of olive oil.

I added a splash of white cooking wine when the onions start to be translucent. These are the spices I used. I am having a love affair with smoked paprika. I just adore the taste and depth of flavor it adds to dishes.The cumin and cinnamon in the Moroccan seasoning compliment the natural sweetness of the carrots perfectly. Sage and bay leaves you probably already have.

Don't forget to rinse and sort your yellow peas!

Combine the peas with the vegetables and add some chicken stock and water. Then just let it simmer away on low for a couple hours! It needs to cook at least until the peas are falling apart and very soft. 

Nothing like a simple, healthy, vegetarian soup. My 3 year old and 8 month old joined me in gobbling it down with some cornbread muffins. 

Yellow Split Pea Soup

4-5 medium carrots, diced

1 medium onion, diced

2 cloves of garlic

2 teaspoons Moroccan seasoning

1 teaspoon smoked paprika

1 teaspoon rubbed sage

2 bay leaves

4 cups or 32 ounces of chicken stock

1 cup water

1 bag of yellow split peas, rinsed and sorted

Saute the carrots, onion, garlic, and seasonings in some olive oil for 2-3 minutes. Add a splash of white cooking wine and cook for another minute. Add the sorted and rinsed peas and the chicken stock and water. Put a lid on the pot and simmer on low for at least an hour or until the peas are completely soft and falling apart. 

I prefer my soup to be quite thick but you can always add more water if you would like! Also, I cook without added salt most of the time and the chicken stock was plenty salty for me but you might want to add a bit more. 

Enjoy!

Art with children: Bark rubbings

 We love being outdoors and doing "art projects". When the two can be combined, we get pretty excited around here! Even though my kids are young for this, they still enjoyed it. 

All you need are a couple different kinds of trees, some paper, and crayons. That's my kind of craft...no runs to the store required!! 

We discovered that white copy paper holds up much better than construction paper. Block crayons or chunky ones without the paper work best but any will do.

Simply pick a spot on the tree that is flat enough to hold the paper against it evenly. Hold it down tightly.

Then let a child (or demonstrate for them, as I did most of the time) color vigorously and evenly back and forth. The pattern of the bark from your tree will emerge on the paper. The larger of a section you color, the more obvious the pattern will be. 

Then repeat on a couple different trees, preferably with very different bark, so that you can contrast/compare them. 

We talked about the different kinds of trees in our yard, how bark is to a tree what skin is to us, and how we can distinguish different kinds of trees from their bark and their leaves. One tree had a spot on it, pictured below, where it had oozed some sap. I told Nate that sap was like the tree's blood that flowed through them and kept them alive. This was fascinating to him and he was very concerned about the tree's "boo-boo". 

This is what my sheet of "rubbings" looked like after we did three trees. The red and top right blue were different places on the same tree.

Evelyn was much more interested in going to visit the chickens then in talking about tree bark. 

 And so we did.