15 Months!

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IMG_7606 Our sweet boy is 15 months today! He is growing and changing so much its hard to capture it all! He currently weighs 21 pounds and is about 30 inches tall. Despite his dad’s 6’3″ height our little man is hanging in right around the 25th percentile for his size. He is finally growing out of his 12 month clothes and now wears 12-18 month (Old Navy and Gap) and 18 month clothes (Carters).

Jude is running all over the place and prefers to walk into school instead of being carried. Still no definite words but the closest is when he holds a phone, remote or anything else up to his ear and says “hi!” 🙂 He can say please, more and all done in sign language and also waves bye and night night.

He still loves his paci and also enjoys playing outside with his Little Tikes car, as well as playing with balls, cars, trucks, books, Little People playsets and any boxes, bags or anything else random laying around the house.

This boy is keeping us running around and on our toys but we are loving every minute. He’s a handful and tons of fun all at the same time 🙂

His current schedule during the day is..

  • 7AM: Wake and Breakfast with Milk
  • 9:30AM: Snack at school
  • 12:00PM: Lunch and Milk at school
  • 1:30PM-3:30PM: NAP
  • 3:30PM: Snack at school
  • 6:00PM: Dinner and Milk
  • 6:30PM: Bath
  • 7:00PM: Bed

Showers for the Twins

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This month we were blessed by two wonderful showers for our baby girls. The first one was hosted by my mother-in-law and was a diaper and gift card shower and the second one was hosted by 6 dear friends from work. Both of them were so special and so thoughtfully planned and I thoroughly enjoyed them both so much. Kyle and I feel so blessed by the love and support of so many who are helping us prepare and celebrate as we await the arrival of our daughters!

Some favorite gifts for our twins if you’re looking for items to add to your own registry or give to someone having twins (remember these aren’t our first children so our needs are different than someone having twins as their first and second children as opposed to their second and third).

  • DIAPERS (its not fun for the person who buys it but its so so helpful!)
  • WIPES (same as above- the big boxes from Costco are awesome!)
  • More bottles, bibs, blankets, pacis and swaddles
  • A second bouncy seat, pack n play, carseat, and camera for our monitor
  • A double stroller and double snap n go with accessories
  • Another changing pad and cover
  • Sound machine for the bedroom and for travel
  • Sheets and bedding for two cribs
  • Bath sponges, towels and toys
  • Coordinating outfits (and/or matching outfits)
  • Lovies and toys
  • A git for the big brother! (My sis got our little man a Little People playset which he loves)

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First Day of Toddlers!

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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. 🙂

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First Haircut

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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 IMG_7287the picture on the left- he was distracted by an Elmo video during the entire experience!)

Peanut Butter Pie

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IMG_6850This 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:

  • 25 Oreos (a little less than one package)
  • 4 tablespoons butter, melted
  • 1 cup creamy peanut butter
  • One 8-ounce package cream cheese, softened
  • 1 1/4 cups powdered sugar
  • One 8-ounce package Cool Whip, thawed

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.

Gift Ideas for 1 year old Boys

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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:

  • Fisher Price Little People playsets
  • Trucks/cars that he can push around- big chunky ones that are easy for him to crawl or walk and push as opposed to little cars
  • Balls
  • Board books
  • Water table
  • Little Tikes car
  • Swim suits and personalized and/or matching beach towels (more for the parents – but my bestie got our little guy this for his 1st and I absolutely love it)
  • If they are still learning to walk then anything they can stand and push to walk with like this.

Happy Shopping!

 

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Chocolate Chip Cookies

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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!

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Ingredients: (see below before you start measuring! – this makes a TON- save this quantity for a bake sale or a neighborhood block party) 🙂

  • 1 pound unsalted butter, at room temperature
  • 2 cups brown sugar
  • 1 1/2 cups granulated sugar
  • 3 eggs
  • 2 tablespoons pure vanilla extract
  • 6 cups unbleached, all-purpose flour
  • 1 1/2 tablespoons baking soda
  • 1 1/2 teaspoons kosher salt
  • 4-5 cups semisweet chocolate chips (4 cups is 2 bags)
Ingredients: (1/3 the recipe = 3 dozen cookies)
  • 1 stick and 3 tbsp butter
  • 2/3 cup packed brown super
  • 1/2 cup white sugar
  • 2 tsp vanilla
  • 1 egg
  • 2 cups flour
  • 1/2 tbs baking soda
  • 1/2 tsp salt
Directions:

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.

Original recipe available here.

Weeknight Shrimp and Grits

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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:IMG_5669

  • 3/4 cup instant grits
  • Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper
  • 1/4 cup grated parmesan cheese
  • 3 tablespoons unsalted butter
  • 1 1/4 pounds medium shrimp, peeled and deveined
  • 2 large cloves garlic, minced
  • Pinch of cayenne pepper (optional)
  • Juice of 1/2 lemon
  • 2 tablespoons roughly chopped fresh parsley

Directions:

  • Bring 3 cups of water to a boil in a medium saucepan over high heat, covered.
  • Uncover and slowly whisk in the grits, 1 teaspoon salt and 1/2 teaspoon pepper.
  • Reduce the heat to medium low and cook, stirring occasionally, until thickened, about 5 minutes.
  • Stir in the parmesan and 1 tablespoon butter.
  • Remove from the heat and season with salt and pepper. Cover to keep warm.
  • Meanwhile, season the shrimp with salt and pepper.
  • Melt the remaining 2 tablespoons butter in a large skillet over medium-high heat.
  • Add the shrimp, garlic and cayenne and cook, tossing, until the shrimp are pink, 3 to 4 minutes.
  • Remove from heat and add 2 tablespoons water, the lemon juice and parsley, stir to coat the shrimp with the sauce and season with salt and pepper.
  • Divide the grits among shallow bowls and top with the shrimp and sauce. Serve.

Original recipe available here.

Weeknight Dinners 1

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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.

  • Sunday: Food Trucks after church
  • Monday: Filet steaks on the grill and roasted Brussel sprouts
  • Tuesday: Fish tacos with salmon and Mexican corn.  (I’ll have to write a post with the recipe for both of these that night)
  • Wednesday: Ranch chicken club roll-ups
  • Thursday: Homemade pizza
  • Friday: Date night- Dinner out!
  • Saturday: Shrimp and grits

So full recipes and results on how well we stuck with this plan to come!

Twins, Triplets and Quads

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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,Unknown 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:

  • Women age 30 or older are significantly more likely to carry their twins for at least 35 weeks compared to younger women.
  • Adequate maternal weight gain is associated with significantly better fetal growth, longer length of gestation, and higher birth weights, as well as better childhood growths.
  • One third of all twin pairs are identical (that’s our girls!). Identical twins share 100 percent of their genes and always are the same sex and have same basic physical features.

Nutrition Goals for Twin Pregnancy:

  • Weight gain goal (if normal weight pre-pregnancy): 40-45 lb
    • 24 of those pounds by 24 weeks
    • 7-9 lb per week
    • If you lose weight during first trimester due to morning sickness then those pounds you lost and re-gained don’t count. It’s a total of 40-45 lb from your original starting weight
  • Goal is to consume 3,500 calories per day for twin pregnancy
  • Eat often! Daily Meal Pattern should include 7 “meals” per day!
    • Breakfast | Snack | Lunch | Snack | Snack | Dinner | Snack
    • Focus on small, frequent meals as opposed to fewer large meals
    • Always eat protein first, then veggies and fruits and then starches
    • Always eat protein and carbohydrates together in every snack and every meal
  • Goal: 100 grams of protein/day
    • I accomplish that with the help of UNJURY – a medical grade protein powder mixed with milk – 30 grams of protein in one 8 oz glass!
    • Each meal or snack should contain protein
  • Eat a bedtime snack that includes dairy
  • As with any pregnancy avoid: alcohol, deli meats, sushi, more than 6 oz of tuna per week, and unpasteurized cheeses