parenting 101 // links i love

jk. more like we survived the first two months!!!

we are so far from being able to tell anyone how to do anything... and even farther from parenting. right now our job as parents is to love and keep this child alive.

the last few weeks have been so fun! evynn is smiley and talkative and on board to go on any outing with us! we can usually be prepared for any diaper changes or feedings that cause her to be upset before she completely looses it, so most of our trips have been great! although she's not the best sleeper, we're either making bigger leaps or i'm just so delirious at night i can't remember how often i truly am awake. either way, it doesn't seem as bad a few weeks ago.

at this point, even the grossest part of being mom isn't bad. i do find myself doing things i never thought i would (sucking snot out of her nose...). for some reason, i think any kind of spit up or poop accident is still hilarious at this point. for instance the other night we sat in our car in front of our house to watch the blood moon and evynn had just finished eating. i sat her up to burp her and she spit up a ton all down my shirt.... threw me into a full laughter fit. guess that's a better response than to be mad! ...or yesterday when an impromptu nursing sesh in the backseat of my car in the target parking lot reveal evynn's diaper blowout (anyone know why my childs poop is all on one side or the other?! sheesh!). thank goodness for nursing covers that double as a backup top ;)

overall cody and I love this little cuddle buddy and the joy she brings to our lives! i love this sassy, dramatic personality of hers already! and those grins she shows her daddy.. melt my heart.

links i love for your wednesday entertainment:
i just discovered kortni jeane swimsuits this morning on the gram. i am 110% in love with fall right now, but can't help but be excited about these swimsuits for next summer! they're adorable, modest, and cover up all things mom body ;) and even better, they have mini versions. having a daughter totally means matching outfits, right?

this article is great on what to do with a baby all day long. i love these days of cuddling and lounging but some of my most frustrating days have been at home. "it's time for your nap.... it's been 2 hours, you still need a nap..." vs. when we spend a day out running errands, even just walking around target, it helps my mood improve and helps me cherish our days at home more. i do look forward to evynn being little older so i can incorporate activities into our day. i have to tell myself, don't rush this season

these pumpkin marshmallow cookies look delish.

our 2nd anniversary is quickly approaching! time to plan the sappy stuff and watch our wedding video on repeat. mayyyyybe we can use this as an excuse to go on our first date in 2.5 months?!




and because no post is complete without pictures (and evynn is still nursing...) here's some fun over the last few days ;)

...someone found momma's hair... joy.

big smiles in target, like mother like daughter ;)

the perfect weekend

this was the kind of weekend you invasion when you think of fall. cooler weather, fall candles lit, and football on tv. 

friday: cody, evynn, and i spent the morning getting over a nasty cold. for cody and i we drank carrot/apple/kale/mustard green juices like they were going out of style. if they even are in style and alka seltzer. for little evynn it meant sleeping with a humidifier, constant bulb suction of the boogers and long naps. by friday night we all felt 90% better! we went to a friends house and enjoyed pizza and new friends. we came home to our in laws at our house which meant an early bed time for cody and I while they loved on evynn ;)

saturday morning I got up early and started prepping for my brunch with some of my college girlfriends. my friend ashley is always up for a party of some kind so she teamed up with me to make some tasty fall treats. the weather was perfect (even a little too warm!) so we set up outside. it was so much fun to celebrate the start of fall with friends and to catch up with our evolving lives ;)

i made these little breakfast cups by putting a small handful of frozen hash browns and cheese in the bottom of these baking cups, baking them for 15 min at 450, then cracking an egg in each, topping with bacon bits and parsley and cooking for another 15 minutes. 

homeade pumpkin spiced latte and water to drink. it was no starbucks PSL but yummy nonetheless! In the crockpot I combined 6 cups whole milk, 5 cups coffee, 1/2 cup pumpkin puree, 1/2 cup sugar, 1/2 cup vanilla extract, a dash of cinnamon and 3 cinnamon sticks. 

I also made the easiest pumpkin cinnamon rolls. I used 1 pkg of seamless crescent rolls, spread pumpkin butter all over, sprinkled brown sugar and cinnamon and rolled it up. cut them into inch slices and set in pan. I topped it with 1 pkg of cream cheese, 1/2 cup butter and a 1/4 cup sugar all mixed. (i made this x2 for the amount i wanted)

 ashley made pumpkin donuts and brought fruit and fruit dip, yum!

so fun!

saturday afternoon, cody, evynn and I lounged around and watched the Tech game which was so close! 

excuse the blurry picture but this was the last few minutes of the game, cody had to get up close and personal. what.a.game.

sunday: we went to church then to torches for lunch then home for naps and lounging and blogging! 

our life | what we eat

Cody and I both have a love for some good, healthy food. It also helps that I'm trying to reshape our diet to get off these baby pounds. Here are a few ideas for some healthy snacks and meals!

chia seed "pudding"

ingredients:

some fruit: bananas, peaches, berries, etc. any kind works!

coconut milk (fill bowl about half way)

chia seeds (about 1/4 cup)

coconut shavings (about 1/4 cup)

vanilla extract (a dash)

cinnamon (a dash)

mix them all together and let it sit for a minute to allow the chia seeds plump up :)

this is a great breakfast or snack!

dinner:

spaghetti squash pad thai

ingredients: 

spaghetti squash

meat (we used shrimp)

veggies (mushrooms, carrot shavings, broccoli)

eggs

sauce (I used lettuce wrap sauce from the store)

Cook the spaghetti squash first, cut the squash in half, sprinkle with oil and cook at 350 degrees for 40 minutes. Meanwhile, put broccoli, carrots and mushrooms in a skillet to simmer. Once they are soft, add shrimp in for a few minutes. If theres room in that skillet (or else get a separate one) to cook and scramble an egg. Add the egg and veggies together and top with sauce. Once the spaghetti squash is done cooking, you should be able to scrap the "pasta" out of the squash shell with a fork and it have  a spaghetti appearance. Put squash "noodles" in a bowl and top with the veggie mixture. 

it is so delicious and so nice to know it is essentially all veggies!!

cauliflower crust pizza

i was skeptical about this because how could cauliflower possibly replace pizza crust but it actually turned out great!

first, I cut off the cauliflower florets and put them in a food processor where I chopped them to a "rice consistency". I made about 6 cups worth (about 3/4 of the cauliflower). then i microwaved that (no water added) for 7 minutes to soften the pieces. meanwhile, preheat the oven to 450 degrees. once the cauliflower was cooked, i added one egg, a sprinkle of basil, a sprinkle of garlic powder,  a sprinkle of parsley, and black pepper. (i never measure spices in these situations). mix it all together then spread it out on a greased pizza pan. I didn't make it too thin and i bunched up the edges to be a crust. then add your toppings. i used what we had on hand: pizza sauce, sliced tomatoes, green peppers, mushrooms, and cheese. we had to eat it with a fork but it was great! and so nice to know it was all veggies and not all greasy. 

fall squash salad

for this salad, I cut an acorn squash into thin slices, then cut the slices into smaller pieces about 4 inches long. I sautéed that on a skillet with brown sugar until soft.  i added pecans and pumpkin pie spice  to one part of the skillet to brown those. meanwhile, i chopped up a cucumber and avocado. i made a vinaigrette with vinegar, olive oil and black pepper. put all on top of a spinach mix and ta-da! 

evynn claire | two months

two months!!

this month has been much less overwhelming and a lot more fun! evynn is full of smiles and chatter and is the perfect companion in our little family!

psst. we totally had to get daddy in the room to talk to evynn to get this grin. such a daddys girl!

How many months old? 2 months

Weight? she weighs 10 lb 14 oz (50^th percentile)/ length is 22.8inches (68^th percentile)/head is 14.9in (25^th percentile)

Doctor check-up? All looks good! Naturally I got a cold two days ago so miss Evynn hasn’t been feeling her best either. Just congestion, no fever so we’re not too worried. But for this first time mom, I feel helpless and so anxious!

Any teeth? nope

Sleep? Ahh.. the dreaded “how is she sleeping?” question.it depends on the night.. we have some nights (mainly those when we were traveling, actually!) where she nurses, I lay her in her bassinet and she’s out and doesn’t even attempt to unswaddle until 5-6 hours later. These days, although I feel terrible about that long stretch, are truly treasured. But, most nights… we bathe, rock, nurse, sound machine, paci… everything. And the kid will.not.sleep. if you lay her down, she cries and we continue the cycle for hours until she finally gives up in the middle of the night. Then she may wake a few more times before morning. I have found that giving a pumped bottle of milk at bedtime helps fill her up quickly then I let her comfort nurse until she “falls asleep”.. we’ll keep trying that. But this is the most frustrating area of newborn life. She also will not nap during the day. How does such a little one survive on 3-4 hours of sleep!?

Feeding? Breastfeeding is going well! There were a few days I exclusively breastfed and she actually seemed full and content and was busting out the diapers. Then last weekend she would nurse for literally an hour and a half and then act hungry an hour later, whew. I am still pumping to help keep supply (and my back to work stash), so in those times if we give her a bottle she finally seems full. I think she just falls asleep so often while nursing that it takes soooooo long to fill her up. Sigh. but such an improvement in breastfeeding over the last few weeks! maybe we're getting the hang of this?!

Eating anything? Mommys milk!

Developmental milestones? She’s all about smiling and cooing at everyone now, such a flirt! She can follow you with her eyes. She hasn’t rolled over yet but definitely thinks about it! And still holds her head up like a champ. In fact, we have to hold her head down to our chest when we’re trying to put her to sleep, she insists on holding it straight up!

Favorite toy? Not really into toys yet.. but she is more interested in her play mat. I’ll also read a few books to her and she’ll smile.

 Speech and language? All about the coo’s. they’re the sweetest little sounds. Aside from her “talking”, she is the noisest baby. She does a 10-15min stretching routine every morning and it sounds like a grown adult’s dramatic stretching noises, ha!

Loves? Nursing, sleeping while nursing, kicking all.the.time (everyone has mentioned how busy she is!), talking and laughing at daddy, walking outside, car ride naps, playing with her hands (constantly interlocking her fingers or twiddling her fingers), cuddling in mom and dads bed!

Dislikes? Lately she’s disliked her paci and tummy time… and sleep. Definitely sleep.

Firsts: illness… she caught a yucky cold and it made her super congested and slightly fussy. This first time mom was a huge worrier and could not sleep hearing her breathe through the night through her stuffy nose. We got a humidifier,  a nose frida (which I totally used to make fun of…), breast fed like crazy and took tons of naps and are already feeling much better!

We love: her crazy loud and d r a m a t I c stretches! Everytime we wake her up she picks her legs up to her belly, arches her back, bends her head all the way backwards, wrinkles her forehead and purses her lips out. It is the goofiest and funniest thing ever! I hope she never grows out of this!

we finally got into our 3 month clothes! but everything is too short, haha! tall and skinny girl ;) 

 evynn loves getting in bed with me/us at about 6 or 7 am and cuddling. she sleeps so well there and just smiles away. 

life lately

(excuse the language in this article) but this is a moms hilarious truth about sleep training.. if that's even a thing. i'm determined it's not. see article for further.

nothing says postpartum workout plan like this mom and baby workout routine.

this clip of ariana grande and jimmy fallon singing songs by other artists.. i can't handle it!

we've been spending our weekdays trying to learn more about each other and figure out some sort of a schedule and the occasional target/francesas browsing to keep my sanity. I also went to a la leche league meeting and it was just wanted I needed.. support and advice! yes!

this past weekend was littlefield's homecoming! thursday night we went to the parade and bonfire (evynn slept through both, ha!) then friday night we had a tailgate at the church before we cody went to the game and evynn and I went to bed :)

...yes i did make evynn a mum. her ribbons were her name, "class of 2032" and "mom & dad" (because we were her date ;))

she is her daddy biggest fan! he can make her talk and laugh more than anyone else. i call on him frequently in the middle of the night when mom doesn't have the answers!

evynn is also all smiles lately! it may take some convincing, but once she's in the mood she has the.cutest.smile

...but she can also be serious hah!

looking forward to the next few days and seizing all fall activities on my last 4 weeks off (tears!).