Today marks Jude’s first day in his new Toddler’s class with his new teachers: Ms Luciane, Ms Amy and Miss Hannah. He will officially move to a more formal schedule with his classmates with no morning nap (only one longer afternoon nap now) as well as a set morning snack, lunch and afternoon snack time. We decided to celebrate the occasion by transitioning out of the diaper bag and into a book bag 🙂 I’m pretty sure our little man loves his new REI gear. 🙂
Days away from our little man’s 15 month birthday, we took Jude to get his first haircut. We opted for a place about 20 minutes away called Circus Cuts. Overall we were moderately happy with the experience- liked the hair dresser and loved the haircut itself yet the venue left much be desired (and cleaned!).. not sure the last time it saw a vacuum or a lysol wipe…but we made it! Next time I’ll probably research and ask around a little bit more to try and find a cleaner location that still caters toward young children. But, in the end our boy ended up with a great and much needed haircut just before school tomorrow. So handsome!
(Please excuse his blank stare in 
the picture on the left- he was distracted by an Elmo video during the entire experience!)
This is another great recipe from our friend and neighbor Jenny. She made it as a welcome home treat for her husband after he returned from a long work trip and now I’ve decided to try it on our family. The end of summer is almost here and so the entire family is coming over this weekend for a BBQ and pool party. A cold and tasty treat sounds just perfect for our weekend festivities and should satisfy even our pickiest eaters. This pie is so easy and yummy- perfect to make ahead of time so have one less thing to think about when entertaining guests. I hope you enjoy it!
Ingredients:
Directions:
For the crust: Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Crush the cookies until they’re fine crumbs. Pour the melted butter over the top and stir with a fork to combine. Press into a pie pan and bake until set, 5 to 7 minutes. Remove from the oven and allow to cool completely.
For the filling: Beat the peanut butter with the cream cheese until smooth. Add the powdered sugar and beat until smooth. Add in the thawed Cool Whip and beat until smooth, scraping the sides as needed.
Pour the filling into the crust, evening out the top with a knife or spatula. Chill for at least an hour before serving (best if chilled overnight).
Original recipe available here.
We are headed to my friend Haleigh’s son’s 1st birthday party today! For the first time buying a gift for a child’s birthday party wasn’t an overwhelming task. For years as friends had birthday parties for their kids I was constantly faced with, “What is the world do I buy a “X” year old boy/girl that he/she will absolutely love?!” I was clueless. Now that we have a 1 year old boy (and am around other 1 year old as well) I finally have a grasp on what boys, at least, love to play with at this age and hope this helps out anyone else who might need a tip or toe on what to get a little one..
Gift ideas for 1 year old boys:
Happy Shopping!
I often visit my blog to recall past recipes and previous information- its the original reason I started blogging in the first place, to capture everything I want to remember and have it all in one place. So tonight I came to the blog looking for this recipe and I couldn’t believe I hadn’t posted it yet. This is one of my favorite recipes for traditional chocolate chip cookies that are anything but ordinary. Trust me….your taste buds will thank you! Served best warm with a tall glass of cold milk. 🙂 Enjoy!
Ingredients: (see below before you start measuring! – this makes a TON- save this quantity for a bake sale or a neighborhood block party) 🙂
1. Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Cream butter and sugars in the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment until smooth. Add in eggs and vanilla, and cream on medium high speed.
2. Combine dry ingredients in a separate bowl and slowly add to mixture. Mix until fully incorporated, but do not over mix. Fold in chocolate chips with a wooden spoon.
3. Drop by heaping tablespoonfuls onto baking sheets. Bake for 10-12 minutes, or until starting to brown.
I’ve been doing pretty well sticking to our meal plan for the week. We’ve moved around some of the meals but no emergency pizza calls or cereal nights so that’s a plus! Tonight we tried this recipe for shrimp and grits.. It was so simple to make but has a flavorful and simple taste. It’s the perfect weeknight meal after a busy week when you want something different but don’t want to make an extravagant meal. I hope you enjoy it as much as we did!
Ingredients:
Directions:
Original recipe available here.
So I’ve really been slacking on making dinner lately. Thankfully my husband is amazing and has been saving us and our tummies these past few weeks and taking care of making meals for us. In an effort to try and get on top of things again here is my meal plan for the week for easy weeknight dinners… week 1. Here’s to hoping I can come up with an easy month of meals to make future planning a little easier.
So full recipes and results on how well we stuck with this plan to come!
Soon after we found out we were expecting twins I immediately reached out to one of my friends and co-workers, Ellen, who has 18 month old twin boys, as well as a 4 year old sibling. I figured she would know better than anyone exactly what I was about to experience and what I could expect!
The first thing Ellen recommended was that I read the book, When You’re Expecting Twins,
Triplets, or Quads by Dr. Barbara Luke & Tamara Eberlein. I immediately dove in and have learned A TON already. This book focuses on a nutritionally based prenatal program for women pregnant with multiples. It even includes diet and exercise recommendations for the postpartum mother as well as recipes and step by step guidance for each trimester of your multiple pregnancy. I recently went and visited a nutritionist as well and even though she rolled her eyes at the mention of this book both the nutritionist and the book gave the same advice as to how to successfully nourish your body and your babies to a full term pregnancy.
If you are expecting twins, triplets or quads I HIGHLY recommend this book. But to get you started here is a list of some of my top learnings:
General Facts about Twin Pregnancy:
Nutrition Goals for Twin Pregnancy:
Our little man officially turned ONE on Friday! I can’t believe how fast this year has gone. Our lives forever changed when we welcomed him into our family one year ago. We truly love him more and more every day and are so blessed to have him in our lives. We absolutely love watching him learn and grow!
Jude weighs 19 lb 12 oz and is 29.5 in long. He is currently in the 25 percentile for height and weight. He is no longer a fan of baby food (even though I try to sneak it in there from time to time) but prefers to eat whatever we are eating. He still LOVES playing outside, loves the water and going on walks through the park in his stroller. His new favorite thing is swinging at the park. He is also a big fan of rolling (and throwing) balls and playing with trucks. This kid is all boy!
To celebrate his 1st birthday we had a small party at our home with some close friends and family. Jude mastered the art of cake smashing like a champ. For a list of where we got our decor and my menu for the day check out this post. I’d consider this birthday a success!
Our little man just turned one and here is a list of all of our food and decor for the main event!
Menu: 
Decor:
