A Sunday of Pinterest!

Since I spend alot of time everyday breastfeeding, I usually "pin" while nursing! I have been pinning so many great things lately, but haven't had a whole lot of time to actually try any of it. So today was designated as a Pinterest Project day.

Of course after very little sleep, I got a late start and decided to do a quick shopping trip before starting any projects.  Headed out with my baby boy, while baby girl went grocery shopping with Daddy.  

First stop...Marshalls! Pretty uneventful trip, other than my baby screaming the whole time and of course parking right next to Kate Gosselin and her twins! Not sure why that was so exciting, but for me it was. I happen to love Kate! :)


Sent a very detailed shopping list with my husband so that I could prep some crock pot meals for dinners the next few days/weeks.  I found the 1 hour, 1 mess = 5 Crock Pot meals on Pinterest. I loved that the recipes had natural ingredients and didn't use a whole lot of canned soups and other packaged stuff.  And they all sounded fabulous! And now we have 5 meals ready to throw in the crock pot! I will admit it took me more than an hour to prep everything.  I didn't have everything real organized when I started and was also not familiar with the recipes, so I had to keep rereading everything to make sure it got into the right bag. I think it will be easier the next time around.  But I now have, Garlic Honey Chicken, Beef Burritos, Chicken Fajitas, Hawaiian Chicken, and Teriyaki Pork chops in the freezer!

While I was prepping these dinners, I decided it was time to clean out our top loading washer.  So using another Pinterest Find, I got to work on that.  Pretty much just use bleach and vinegar. Let the bleach soak in hot water for an hour, then run a cycle.  Then let the vinegar soak for an hour, and run a cycle. Not sure how great it worked, but it definitely needed to be cleaned!

In between all this work, I also found some time for a good laugh! Roller skating with a 3 year old! :)


And we also had fun dancing in a small summer shower that passed through!



And after dinner we made our last Pinterest find, Hawaiian Blizzard. I had some pineapple leftover from the dinner prep, so we created these for dessert:

They were pretty good, but of course I thought they could have been a little sweeter :)

Find me on Pinterest to find these recipes and all the other great ideas I have pinned!

Recipe of the week/month/year: Garlic Lime Fajitas

Ok, let's be honest, I have no idea when I posted my last recipe! But here is a REALLY good one (IMO).  After making these for the first time a few weeks ago, I have been craving them everyday! And they are healthy!

The recipe is a McCormick spice packet recipe, so it is really easy to make! If you don't want to buy the package, here's what you'll need!


Ingredients:
1 1/2 lbs. boneless skinless chicken, cut into thin strips
1 green or red bell pepper ( I use 1/2 of each for more color)
1 medium onion (I used 1/2 of the large onion I had)
8 flour tortillas
1/4 lime juice
1/4 cup orange juice
2 tbsp. olive oil
1/2 tsp. salt
1 tsp. minced garlic
1 tsp. minced onions
3/4 tsp. cumin
3/4 tsp. oregano leaves
1/2 tsp. cilantro leaves
1/2 tsp. black pepper
Directions:
1. Mix juices, oil, all of the spices, and salt in small bowl.  Reserve 1/4 cup of the marinade. Place chicken in large resealable plastic bag.  Add remaining marinade; turn to coat well. Refrigerate 30 minutes or longer for extra flavor.
2. Cook and stir chicken in large heated skillet, 3 minutes or until lightly browned.  Remove from skillet.  Add pepper, onion, and reserved marinade.  Cook and stir 5 minutes or until tender.  Return chicken to skillet until heated through.




3.  Spoon chicken mixture into warmed tortillas.  Serve with assorted toppings if desired. We only used some shredded mozzarella, but cheddar would probably work great too!




These turn out amazing, at least we think so! And we have been using the leftovers to make quesadillas the next day!
- Posted using BlogPress from my iPad

Playdoh Letter Tracing

We've been looking for some new activities to do on these hot summer days, so where better to look than Pinterest!
We found this fun/educational activity the other day and thought we'd try it out!




All you need is playdoh and some straws cut into approximately 1 inch pieces. Use your finger or some other tool to draw a letter in the playdoh and let your little one "trace" it by sticking the straws along the line.
****note: small playdoh pieces get stuck in the bottom of the straws, my idea was to blow them out, which worked fine. Your toddler will probably copy you (mine did) and try the same thing! However, since my daughter is used to sucking on a straw she did that instead which may lead to a not so tasty snack! :) It's non-toxic right???

Think we made it through 4 letters when she decided she wanted to do her own pictures! But it was a quick and easy activity that allowed me a few minutes to feed my baby boy!

- Posted using BlogPress from my iPhone

Transitions

When I was pregnant with my daughter, and for almost 2 years after she was born, I had made up my mind that I was only having 1 baby. Ok, so I did that superstitious "ring game" (where you hang a ring above your wrist and it tells you how many kids and what sex) the day before I found out I was pregnant, and it said "one girl". So, there it was written in stone, one and done! After the rough labor and delivery and a rough transition into Mommyhood, I really decided we were only having one! My daughter rarely slept, breastfeeding was difficult, we had just moved and really had no social/ mommy network close by, and my husband was working crazy hours at his new job! It was really a depressing/trying time for us.
However, close to my daughters 2nd birthday, once we had molded her into well-behaved toddler (haha) we started having second thoughts about another baby. We decided to "pull the goalie" and see what happens. And the rest is history! We have been blessed with the ability to get pregnant very easily and we were announcing our pregnancy by my daughters 2nd birthday.
I will be honest, I had terrible feelings about the pregnancy at first, "what have we done, life was finally calming down, finally had some sort of schedule after 2 years of chaos and now we are starting all over again!?!?" I spent 9 ( I guess 10) months bracing myself for another c-section, a 24/7 screaming baby, sore nipples, no sleep, and a cranky, attention deprived toddler.

Needless to say, I have been completely surprised at how easy the transition from Mommy of 1 to Mommy of 2 has gone. Yes, the first 2 weeks or so were a little difficult, but once we got through those it was smooth sailing (knock on wood). My daughter seems to be adjusting well to having her brother around, and this baby actually SLEEPS!!! He rarely cries, only if he gets really hungry, and the breastfeeding has been easier (after a tough patch in the beginning).

I'm pretty sure I barely left the house for the first almost 3 months of my daughter's life, at least not by myself. When my son was 6 weeks old, I was already lugging both kids to my daughters swim lessons EVERY morning, read and pick storytimes, the library, hour drives to the doctor and to visit my mom, and it has actually been pretty easy...well it's exhausting, but both kids have been really great, so far.

I attribute the easy transition mostly to having 2 really great kids that amaze me everyday, but also to a change in my mindset. With my daughter, I would almost panic when days got rough, screaming In the grocery store, poop/spit up flying everywhere in my house, baby not sleeping. Pretty sure I cried almost as much as my daughter sometimes! Now when I'm in those situations, although they aren't easy, I try to stay calm, "laugh it off", and remind myself they grow up to fast that I need to enjoy EVERY minute with them. 3 years ago when my baby pooped up her back and out very crevice of her diaper I could probably be seen frantically trying to change her and get her in the bath. Now the baby poops up his back and around the corner, and my toddler and I have a good laugh about it, clean him up and move on with our day.

It's amazing how things change with your second child! So thankful for such an easy transition so far and my 2 beautiful happy babies!
- Posted using BlogPress from my iPhone

40% off at Educational Insights

Educational Insights makers of The Sneaky, Snacky Squirrel Game and Hot Dots, is having a great sale! Use the Promo Code 40JULY12 to save 40% already discounted prices! Check out all their great products! And check out the links for more info on some of our favorites! But hurry sale ends today!

4th of July Fun!

Yesterday was our annual 4th of July bash! It is the one time a year that we entertain! (ok we entertain a few other times throughout the year, but not as big as the 4th).  Although the weather (105 degrees and thunderstorms) was not really in our favor, we still had a great time celebrating inside with friends and family! Thanks to everyone who came out for some food, drinks, and fun! 

My little family! Don't mind baby girl's crazy bouncey house hair! 

So much food! 

We had so much great food, and a huge thanks to everyone who pitched in to help! Here are links to some of the recipes for desserts and other treats from the picnic! 

White Strawberry-lemon Sangria (not pictured, but very yummy...Don't recommend using Fresca)

Berry Trifle (shown above, but not nearly as pretty as the one pictured with the recipe..sigh)

Strawberry Icebox Cake (shown above, Thanks Olivia for making this awesome dessert!)

Zesty Slow Cooker Chicken Barbecue (made with fresh, not frozen chicken)