Rainy Days

As I have mentioned before I work part time so I was only home for a one full day a week with Jackson. That day we spent running errands, going to My Gym, and hanging out with Mimi. Now I am working two full days and I'm home three (not counting weekends) which is a big change! Of course the first week of this it RAINED. My idea this summer was to spend a lot of time in the pool, going to the park, doing play dates but the rained really messed that up. I had to pull out all my great ideas to make it through the day.

1. Throw the mattress on the floor. Yep this happened totally by chance (obviously). I was changing Jackson's sheets and put his mattress on the floor.. who knew this could be so much fun? This is great for building his core :) Also put all of his "baby" toys in a bucket and wow when he finds them they are like new!

I swear he did have clothes on.. most of the day. We went through a lot of outfits and I just gave up.

2. Build a tent/fort. Best idea ever. Cats loved it/ he loves it. We still have it up and he goes in there all the time. Of course the house looks really weird but whatever.

 

Chasing kitty cats!! Oscar loves the fort also. Everyday Jackson goes in there and hides. If I say, "where is Jackson?" he peaks his head out and looks at me! So cute!

I did manage to put some clothes on him..




3. Rocket rides. Use a fitted sheet (left over from your fort), put baby on his BELLY (this is key to not hurting your child- hello common sense) and pull him all over the house. Great times. His face was so freaking cute! Of course I couldn't capture being the pilot.

See he did have clothes on that actually fit :) 

4. Finger paint: Make your father's day gift :) I'm in the process of making edible paint so that will be more fun.

5. Bubbles in the house. We have a bubble machine (it's super messy but worth the fun) and it's fantastic.

6. Ball pit in the pack n play. We just got a bunch of balls and threw them in the pack n play- best idea ever Pinterest. I wish we would have had this for our rainy because I can't get the kid out of there. I'm not complaining because this is key in me getting ready for work.

7. Baby Einstein. I do NOT recommend babies watching tv, especially under the age of one. There is absolutely no purpose or benefit to them watching tv besides rotting their brain.. ok it's not that bad but really they should be playing and exploring! However, there do come times when you might need a break or you have to get ready for work. I'm pretty sure your employer would not approve of coming to work unshowered and in your PJs. If you get to that point I do really like Baby Einstein. We have the animal DVDs and they are great. Just video of real animals with music. Jackson loves watching the animals! Maybe it's because he so rarely gets to watch it? But we only use the DVD player for traveling, when he's sick, and the occasional morning when he won't stop whining because I'm getting ready. Half the time he just listens to the music and plays. But back to the rainy day.. about 4 (when we usually take a walk) he was super fussy (heck I was fussy) and he was sick of the toys, I was out of ideas, we needed a timeout. It recharged both of us to make it through the day.

Now that I am out of ideas, anyone have any others?

Jambalaya Recipe

Jambalaya Crook Pot Style

Last week I had a disappointing recipe adventure.. I tried Philly Cheese Steaks, Stir Fried Rice, and Hot Cocoa Cookies... ehhh not fantastic. Everything was good but not great. Not good enough to make again so I will not be sharing those recipes. I'm the guinea pig see! A few weeks ago I did make this Jambalaya recipe and it was great!! I know it's a winter recipe but whatever.

Slow Cooker Jambalaya
adapted from AllRecipes.com
(Printable Recipe)
approximately 5-6 servings

1 pound skinless, boneless chicken breast halves - cut into 1 inch cubes
1 pound smoked turkey sausage, sliced 
1 (28 ounce) can diced tomatoes with juice
3 Tbsp dried minced onion flakes
1 cup chicken broth
2 teaspoons dried oregano
2 teaspoons dried parsley
2 tsp minced garlic
2 teaspoons Cajun seasoning
1 teaspoon cayenne pepper
1/2 teaspoon dried thyme
white rice or instant rice (I used 2 packs of Uncle Ben's Ready Rice - Garlic & Butter flavor)

In a slow cooker, mix the chicken, sausage, tomatoes with juice, onion, garlic, celery, and broth. Season with oregano, parsley, Cajun seasoning, cayenne pepper, and thyme.  (I do this the night before and put it in the fridge.  I put it in the slow cooker before I leave in the morning.)

Cover, and cook 7 to 8 hours on Low, or 3 to 4 hours on High. Mix in cooked rice cook for about 15 minutes to warm through.

Homemade Coffee Creamer

It's coffee time!! Who doesn't love coffee? Freaks! Just kidding. I know a lot of people don't. In fact I used to never drink coffee, until I had to be at the hospital at 7am in grad school and study at night, I needed a caffeine boost. My mom's advice was to add a ton of creamer or sugar. She's always right!

On Pinterest I saw This website on how to make your homemade creamer so I thought I would give it a try. I did make a slight change to it the recipe but it's pretty fantastic!

Homemade Coffee Creamers

4- 8oz canning jars

Sweetened Condensed Milk

Half and Half

see below for flavor combos

Add equal parts sweetened condensed milk and half and half to each jar. (I used up the whole can of milk and left about an inch of room at the top of each jar for flavorings and shaking space.)

Flavors

Maple Almond - 1 tbsp maple syrup and 1 tsp pure almond extract

Cinnamon Vanilla - 1 tsp cinnamon extract and 1 tsp vanilla bean paste (or vanilla extract)

Mocha - 2 tbsp cocoa powder and 1 tsp espresso powder

Coffee - 1/2 tbsp espresso powder

Once the flavors are added, screw on the lids and shake them well before refrigerating. Label each jar lid with a sharpie!

Chill them for at least one hour, brew some coffee, and enjoy.

Note: If you're working with powders like cocoa and espresso, shaking won't be enough to get everything fully incorporated, so you'll want to use a blender or food processor, mix, and then pour the creamer into your jar. If you prefer a rich creamer, you can substitute heavy cream for half and half.

© Around My Family Table

I tried the maple almond one, however, I added sugar to mine and it was MUCH better. Enjoy :)

Egg, Soy, Dairy Free Waffles

After my initial panic/freakout of Jackson's allergy diagnosis, I decided I was going to figure out how to make everything  I wanted him to eat without egg, soy, dairy, etc. I have googled, searched Pinterest, tried writing on allergy boards (no luck), and final found this Fantastic Website

My first recipe was waffles. This was the closest thing to a puff I could come up with and most kids love waffles. Ok I really love waffles so naturally Jackson should love them too.

I downloaded the babycakes app and it's well worth the $4.00.

Getting started: Jackson napping (ok he was screaming but he did nap in about 4 minutes), Starbucks (a treat... sometimes an everyday treat if I'm being completely honest), IPAD

The crazy ingredients. I went to Native Sun to buy them but I did see a few of these items at Target. Next time I'm going to try to buy them all from Target and see if it's cheaper. The ingredients are $$$. Good news I had plenty left over to make a least another batch.

Mix all the dry ingredients:

Add wet ingredients:

Time for the waffle iron! This waffle iron is seriously the best. It's the kind that flips- like the ones at hotels. 

Looks like a waffle! It tastes much better than expected! I think if I could add butter and syrup I wouldn't be able to taste the difference. The waffle isn't sweet so for Jackson I put a little agave nectar on top. He loves it!

To freeze them like frozen waffles: 1. Let them completely cool. I cut mine in pieces because I know my 9 month old isn't going to eat an entire waffle 2. Then put them on wax paper in the freezer for 6 hours 3. Put them in a freezer bag and freeze 

To reheat just pop them in the toaster.

And there you have it! It can be done and it was relatively simple. 

Sleep Post 100000

Is anyone sick of this constant chatter about sleep? Too bad :) I swear this is the number one question I ask other parents- is your child sleeping/how much/how did you do it? Although no one asks me these questions... Maybe they don't need sleep like I do? I.need.sleep. I just do. I can't function on not enough sleep unless I drink about a million cups of coffee- it's just the way my body works. Now Jamie on the other hand can function with hardly any sleep, never gets tired, and NEVER drinks caffeine. I blame that on his ADHD... I should mention that I run around this house like a chicken with it's head cut off trying to get everything done all day. Sit and watch tv who has time for that?

Jackson has always been a really good sleeper comparatively to other nonsleeping babies. I really can't complain but he could be better. The pediatrician said he should be sleeping 12 hours at night. Ha. We get 10 consistently (never less than 10) sometimes more. I think I finally hit the jack pot of sleep "helpers" only after I don't know 7 months of trying everything?

1. Sleep Sack: I had mentioned before that I thought a big reason Jackson woke up in the middle of the night was because he was cold. Yep. Sleep sack solved that problem. I was initially worried that he wouldn't be able to move much in the sleep sack but it's no problem. The kid could back stroke in a swimming pool with it on (do not try that it was totally a joke).

2. Blanket: A small little tiny blanket. I read that about 8 months they should have a comforting object and since we don't do pacifiers I thought he would like a soft blankie. He's not huge into stuffed animals- I mean he likes them to play but he's not obsessed by any means. He has always enjoyed cuddling with blankets but you can't have blankets in the crib SIDS. These small little blankets are perfect! He holds them and loves on them! In fact one fell over the side of the crib and he spent all morning trying to fetch it.. I couldn't figure out what he was doing until I went in there. I feel 100% comfortable with them being the crib but don't risk your kids life on my account!

3. Humidifier: We had to buy a new one because our other one got moldy (our fault completely not the humidifiers- we stored it without making sure it was completely dry). And we started it when he was sick... and he slept so well I'm afraid to get rid of it. So we keep it going every night. I really think he likes the little light on it. It also makes noise, kind of like white noise. The review on this one isn't good... but so far we haven't had any problems!

http://www.buybuybaby.com/product.asp?SKU=40614816&

4. Teething Necklace: He has gotten one tooth and is sprouting more with the necklace and his night time sleeping has been great. His naps are also pretty good (not the the best) but we haven't used any tylenol or sleeping tablets! And like I said before, it can't hurt!

Teething Necklace

5. Glass of wine: Whew when the day is done and it's time for them to go to bed, you deserve one nice big glass of wine! And then if your like me, you will pass out on the couch at 7:30 from exhaustion. Not to mention if your baby still insists on crying for a few minutes before they go to sleep, the wine will calm those nerves :)

9 months in, 9 months out

Now that it has officially been 9 months, I should be back to normal right? Ehh maybe we should really go with 10 months since you are technically pregnant for 10 months? But I'll play along, here is my post baby check up.

Weight gained during pregnancy: 34 pounds                    Weight lost: 35 pounds (consistently)

Here is the before/during/after picture:

So close! My stomach is getting there. I still have that extra skin at the very bottom that hasn't tighten up yet. But for only working out 1-2 days a week, I'll take it! All of my clothes fit from before, if not better (which is weird right?). 

I feel 100% back to normal. I have finally quit loosing hair, thank god. The hair I did loose around my forehead is growing back in. My back no longer hurts from the epidural spot. And I can finally do sit-ups! My feet did grow about a half an inch. My fingers grew too! My ring was originally a 3.75 and it's now a 5..but I did combine the two together and they are a bit loose now.

Overall, I'm content with my post baby body. Of course I would always like to be more toned but I would have probably said that prior to getting prego too :)

9 Months!

Jackson, 

      Aw you are nine months old today!! I can't believe it's been nine months in, nine months out. It keeps going so fast! This was another one of my favorite months (aren't they all) because you are moving like crazy! You have figured out how to crawl the right way, pull to stand on everything, and you are playing independently. I can actually wash some dishes while you play- woah! Of course now I am missing our snuggles but you still do love to be held, especially right when you wake up. Your sleep is 100% better than ever before- you go down at 7:15/7:30 and wake up anywhere between 5:15 and 6:45 (the 6:45 was only once but I can dream right). You take 2 naps a day which I am trying to make 9 and 1 but so far you still get really sleepy at 8/8:30 and 12ish. Just last night you started pretending to talk on the phone!! It is ridiculously cute. You are trying to stack blocks too. You are carrying on full conversations, of course we don't know what you are saying but that's ok. You are also starting to sign!!! And you imitate our actions. You are a really fast learner and have an insane attention span (maybe I think that because all of my kiddos at work have poor attention spans?). I showed you how to work your tool bench the other day (1x) and you immediately got it and continued to use what I taught you. You also are starting to figure out the shape sorter. So smart!!  You are starting to prefer both me and your dad now which is so cute. You will stand at the window and look for daddy by the pool all the time (melts my heart).

Milestones:

• Regular crawling
• Cruising around furniture.
• Pushing cars- it's your favorite thing to do.
• Imitating signs- occasionally doing them on your own.
• Babbling with intonation- it sounds like you are telling stories!
• Sounds- m,n,d,b,h,y and some vowels
• Drinking your formula out of the straw cup for most meals
• First Family Vacation!
• Loves: bananas, avocado, puffs, pears, peaches, sweet potatoes, yams, teething biscuite
• Hates: broccoli
• Indifferent: chicken, green beans, waffles

Health: You had your first stomach bug. It was terrible! My heart broke for you a million times that week. I probably cried 15+ times, it was really awful. I couldn't get you to eat or drink anything. And you got the worst diaper rash. I really hope you never get one again! You are officially allergic to EGG and soy. We now have an Epipen just in case you have a reaction. Next month we get to go to the allergist and try dairy. I am determined to make you everything a typical baby would eat minus the egg/soy.
You really are just the best baby! Although you wear us out with the whole hating the car thing and not sleeping on vacation, we love you like crazy! We totally think you are the BEST, we have officially became "those" people but we don't care. Jackson we love watching you discover and meet new milestones everyday! We can't wait to see what next month brings!