Jade 2 years old!

So this is a little late but, our little princess turned 2 on the 10th of January! I still can't believe she's 2 already,so crazy! These last two years have flown bye and I am so amazed at how much she's changed just in this past year. She wasn't even walking at her first birthday party (she started walking at exactly 13 months old), she was still in a crib, still taking a bottle, was more jabbering than actual talking, there are so many things that have changed I can't even list them all! Our little girl is growing up so fast!

   Jade 2 year old stats:

Height: 37 inches

Weight: 27 lbs

Clothing: 2t pants w/belt (baggy in the waist but need a 2t for the length!), 3t-4t shirts (she has a long torso!) 

Sleep: She sleeps pretty well most of the time, usually 10+ hours at night and 1 nap usually 2-3 hours.

Favorite things:

• Bubble Guppies
• Minnie/Mickey mouse
• Paw patrol
• Doc Mcstuffins
• Animals
• Singing :) She loves jingle bells and twinkle twinkle little star
• Puzzles (especially the wooden ones)
• Drawing (she is such a little artist, she can draw circles like a pro!)
• Bananas, raspberries, pineapple,apples, baby carrots, yogurt, corn and chicken!
• Pretzels are her all time favorite snack
• She loves to jump, on the trampoline or just up and down in general :)
• Blankets, pillows and stuffed animals!

She has such a personality, she can be so stern and serious alot of the time but if she's comfortable around you she is such a little goof ball :)

So proud to be her mommy and I'm so excited to see how much she grows and changes this year!

Healthy zucchini pasta!

This year I have made it a priority to start living a healthier lifestyle. I love pasta and it's one of the things I miss eating the most, so I decided to try this new thing I've been seeing everywhere "zoodles" and I love it! While most of the things I've read on how to make zucchini noodles include using a vegetable spiralizer which I don't have (and can only be ordered online for upwards of $40!) I came up with some other ways to do it. The first is a julienne peeler (like a vegetable peeler but with sharp "teeth") and more recently I found a mandolin that has a julienne slicer attachment, so easy! The peeler worked good but it took quite a bit of time and patience to get the "noodles", the mandolin was super quick and easy less than 2 minutes to do 2 squashes so I'll definitely be using that from now on!

The peeler cost $3 at Wal-Mart and the mandolin cost $10 at Wal-mart both can be found in the kitchen gadgets section :)

On to the recipe!

Zucchini "noodle" pasta!

Ingredients:

1. Zucchini/Squash (2)
2. 3/4 cup of sauce of your choice
3. 1/4 cup lean ground turkey
4. 2 tbsp parm cheese

Method:

1. Brown turkey meat 
2. Prep your veggies
3. Toss veggies and sauce in with turkey meat on medium heat until sauce is warm. (You don't want to cook the veggies just warm it up a little)
4. Plate and top with cheese!

Voila! You're done super quick and easy!

This recipe is for 1 serving, and is only 340 calories! You could leave the veggies all raw (which I also like) but this time I tossed them in with the sauce to warm up just a bit :) Hope you enjoy!

I will be posting more about my weightless journey once I have my monthly weigh in, and will also be sharing healthy recipes :) Here's to a happier healthier 2014!

Cash Alexander 2-4 months old!

I haven't updated on my little man since he was 1 month old! Where has the time gone?! He just turned 4 months old on the 16th and has changed so much. Luckily I have been posting my monthly pictures on Facebook so now I can share them on here!

Cashs 2 month old stats:

Weight - 12 lbs

Length - 23 inches

Diapers - Size 2

Clothes - Mostly 3 months

Month 2 was when he really started to keep focus on things. He also started smiling a lot more! He went through a major crying phase, hint the "mr grumps" nickname LOL! Getting more of a personality <3

Cashs 3 month old stats:

Weight - 15 lbs

Length - 25 inches

Diapers - Size 2

Clothing - 3-6 month sleepers but can still wear 3 month onsies

Started smiling at everything this month! You could just look at him and he would smile :) Also he started cooing a lot! Cooing is one of the cutest things ever, especially when he's just staring at you with his little mouth wide open. It's his way of communicating :) The beginning stages of teething also started this month, wearing a bib almost 24/7!

Cashs 4 month old stats:

Weight - 16.5 lbs

Length - 27 inches

Diapers - Size 3

Clothing - 9 month sleepers! 3-6 month onsies and pants

This little dude is SO long! He has long skinny legs ;) 90% of the time he is so happy, the other 10% man oh man have your earplugs ready! He has a set of lungs LOL ;) He sits so good in the bumbo chair and in his exersaucer.  He has also mastered rolling over so he now sleeps on his tummy most of the time. He still sleeps so good, I swear we are blessed! He'll sleep until 8-9am wake up to eat and go back to sleep for another hour or two and he still naps frequently throughout the day. 

Can't believe our little man is creeping up on 6 months old already! 

Goodbye 2013! Hello 2014!

So I have slacked so much when it comes to posting on here! Having 2 babies is a lot of work! We have been super busy getting into the swing of things since our little man has arrived, things are finally starting to get into a routine and I'm hoping to have a new schedule down within the next couple months! So much to do so little time ;)

2013 was a crazy year for us but I think it was by far one of the best. I finally feel like we have our little family. The one we've always wanted, the one we had prayed for, for so long. While it is a little hectic and I feel like there is always laundry piled up and a list of things to get done I wouldn't trade it for anything! I am so excited for 2014, I have a lot of goals (personal and family oriented) I want to work on. And I plan to make this blog a regular thing again, it's like my own personal get away :)

Here's a roundup of some of my favorite photos from 2013! I hope you all had a wonderful Holiday season and wish you nothing but the best in this new year!

Toddler Eats! (Part 3)

Tonight I'm sharing the third part in my Toddler Eats series, my quest to broadening my daughter taste buds ;)

1- 5 lil smokies (these were the turkey kind and she loved them!) w/ a side of white corn and sweet potato.

2 - 2 slices of deli turkey meat, 1/4 of a banana with a smear of peanut butter, grapefruit segments, and a string cheese cut up. (She loved the cheese cut up for some reason she won't eat it whole, she loved the banana with pb, she loves turkey deli meat, but the grapefruit she wasn't found of!)

3 - Grilled cheese cut into squares, 2 tomatoes halved, blackberry and strawberries. (The tomatoes were a new try she wasn't to fond of them but she did keep trying them so that's a start!)

4 - Spaghetti w/a little butter, peas and chicken. (She loves pasta!)

5 - Hard boiled egg, pineapple spear and 2 sausage links. (Pineapple was a new try she was okay with it, she is still loving hard boiled eggs, and she is obsessed with sausage!)

6 - Baby bell cheese cut up and blackberries (this was a cute little snack, she was asking for "back berries" one day lol!)

7 - Turkey meatballs (cut up), colby jack cheese (diced), and stir fried veggies. (She loved the meatballs , and I'm convinced she'll eat almost any cheese! She also really loved the carrots the other veggies she didn't pay to much attention too.)

8 - Pumpkin spice toast (cut up), banana slices, sausage link (cut up). (Trying to get her to eat toast is a hassle but she seemed to like this one, I'm thinking because it was pumpkin flavored ;) )

(Excuse the bad photographs for #s 7+8!) 

This past month I have been slacking on trying to get Jade to try new things, with our son being born things have been quite hectic and I hate to say it but I've been relying on things I know she likes. I'm hoping now that we're in a good groove with the baby and being a family of 4 that I can get back into actively trying to get her to try new things. I am definitely learning from my mistakes on this one and mister Cash will be trying new foods on a regular basis once he gets into eating solids. I raised a picky eater once, I'm hoping to change that with baby #2 :) As always if you have any ideas or suggestions let me know! Thanks for reading!

Toddler Eats (part1)

Toddler Eats (part2)

Check out my festive Halloween treat ideas!!
Healthy "Candy Corn" Snack
Chocolate Covered Banana Bites
2 Ingredient Pumpkin Brownies

Cash Alexander 1 month old!

Last week our baby boy turned a month old, where has the time gone?! 

Cashs 1 month old stats:

Length - 21 3/4 inches

Weight - 11 lbs

Diapers - Size 1

Clothing size - Mostly newborn still but venturing into some 0-3 months

His legs and feet/toes are so long and skinny! He has the chubbiest little cheeks and he is still a little baldy, although I have noticed his little peach fuzz coming in some more :) He has also started to grin and smile a little bit, I'm looking forward to big smiles and lots of cooing this month! :)

He sleeps so good! For the most part he only wakes up once per night. He is still sleeping in our room but hoping to get him into his crib in the next week or so. Putting him in his crib at night is going to be harder on me than it is him, he already takes a few naps in there during the day ;)

And as for Jade she has taken to being a big sister so well! I am actually surprised at how protective she is of him. She loves to give him kisses and every time she hears him cry she runs over saying "Cash crying, Cash crying" It's literally the cutest thing. 

I still can't believe he is a month old already, but I am so happy and can't wait to watch him grow and learn new things! 

Quick and Healthy Fruit Bowl!

This post is going to be short and sweet! This is one of my favorite healthy snacks, it's so good and it's probably one of the easiest things to whip up.

Ingredients:

• Melon of your choice (I used a small honeydew melon but I've also used cantaloupe before and it was equally delicious!)
• Fruit of your choice (I used blackberries, strawberries and bananas)
• Yogurt (I used greek)
• Seeds/Nuts (I used a mixture of chopped walnuts and sunflower seeds)

Method:

• Cut melon in half and scoop out all the seeds
• Wash and cut your fruit
• Add fruit pieces to your melon
• Top with a tbsp of yogurt
• Sprinkle on your nuts/seeds

And that's it! So quick, so easy and so delicious! 

Quick tip: Wash your melon under warm water with soap and dry before cutting through it! **