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Tuesday, January 27, 2015

Work Weekend and Our Weekly Menu

This weekend I had a work meeting Saturday morning, and I had my usual shift on Sunday, so it wasn't our usual relaxing or fun weekend, but it wasn't bad either. Saturday evening we hung out at the house, and after the baby went to bed we tackled our bedroom. We hadn't cleaned in there much more than putting away clothes in a few months (I know!), and it was a good thing we did! Sunday morning I stretched my arms over my head and hit the ceiling fan (neither the hubs or I thought I was even tall enough to do that!?) and the fan threw my hand into the glass bulb over the light, and it hit the floor and shattered. It wasn't hard to clean up because the floor was clean, and surprisingly my hand was ok. Crazy!

Sunday was pretty uneventful, the usual church and work for me. We did go our to breakfast with friends, and another friend made and gifted us the cutest painting for Carter! I will have to share it soon. This morning was the first morning that I brought Carter to my mom's house rather than mom coming over to watch her, and it went pretty well! We ended up with time to spare, so we had a little dance party. Baby girl loves her music!


Please excuse the fuzzy photo. I took this with the front camera on my iPhone and this sucker needs to be upgraded! But I just love her smile :)

Here's our eating plan for the week:

Sunday: Greek takeout
Monday: Grilled pork chops and corn (made by the hubs!)
Tuesday: Beef and a side (hubs meal)
Wednesday: Baked Spaghetti and green beans
Thursday: leftovers
Friday: Breakfast for dinner!
Saturday: celebrating my friend's birthday! We will be eating out at Famous Dave's :)

I will also be making a special dessert on Thursday for my friend's birthday. I'll have to share what I make after the weekend because I don't want to spoil the surprise!

For lunches we have been rocking the mason jar salads. Last week I made them all up on Sunday, but this week I wasn't quite so organized and ended up doing them the night before. Sometime soon I will have to write a post about our favorite mason jar salads!

Linking up with orgjunkie.com

Monday, January 19, 2015

A Full Weekend and a Menu

This weekend was really great- lots of time with friends and also some down time at home. I love when you can hit that balance! Friday evening we went up to our friends to help them set up a computer and watch a movie. Well, the movie never happened, but we had a good night anyway! Their daughter is a few months older than Carter, and the two always have fun together (and the adults love watching them!)



Saturday we hung around the house in the morning. Carter had her first taste of solids! We started with rice cereal, and you would have thought we were feeding her ice cream. She LOVED it! I was really surprised at how well she did. She also played in the snow for the first time since it was fairly warm and we had a lot of snow. She wasn't too sure about the snow itself but she seemed to like being pulled in the sled!







In the evening we went out with some friends for Five Guys and to watch American Sniper. My in-laws watched Carter for us, so it was like a group date night! I had a gift card for Five Guys, and I paid for our tickets online with my Paypal balance, so the only thing we paid for was our gas and movie snacks. Only thing better than a date night is an almost free one!

Sunday we went to church and I didn't have to work, so we had a nice afternoon just hanging out. We didn't have much food in the house, but our favorite pizzeria is closed for vacation right now, so we ordered pizza and wings from another spot in town. It definitely wasn't as good as our favorite, but I didn't have to cook! It was an early night to bed for all of us since we had two late nights in a row!

Today I have off for Martin Luther King Jr. day, so when it was Carter's first nap time I packed her up and we headed for the grocery store. Normally she sleeps for 45 minutes - 1 1/2 hours, so I knew I had enough time to grab what I needed. Wouldn't you know, the little stinker woke up as soon as we got to the grocery store!? She was really good actually, considering she only got 20 minutes of sleep.


She always falls asleep in the car (even when we don't want her to!) so I figured she would go back to sleep for a bit again on the drive home. Nope! She was awake the whole time! As I pulled onto our road she started to fall asleep, so I left her in her car seat and ran the groceries inside.

Our friends that we visited with on Friday have off on Mondays, so I texted to see if they were home and interested in a play date. When I got up there both babies were asleep, so my friends and I got to chat and catch up. Then it was all about the babies! They are so funny to watch.

Our menu this week is a little all over the place. I still have to grab a few things at the store near work, so nothing is set in stone yet.

Monday: French dip sandwiches
Tuesday: leftovers
Wednesday: Taco salad
Thursday: Pizza Slab pie (this didn't happen last Friday!)
Friday: TBA!

I also plan to make up a few mason jar salads for lunches and maybe some puppy chow? I am trying to bake something every week and even though that isn't technically baking, it will satisfy my sweet tooth just the same!

Linking up with orgjunkie.com

Friday, January 16, 2015

My "Normal" Day

I see a lot of "A Day in the Life" posts on blogs, so I thought I would try one out! This was my day yesterday, which happens to be my day off. This looks quite different from days I work! I love having a day off during the week to get things done and play with Carter!

12:30am: Carter has scooted around in her crib and is against the rails. I get up and move her and go back to sleep
3am: Carter has moved again and has her head against the corner. She is sleep scooting!
6am: the hubs leaves for work and says goodbye
7am: My alarm goes off, and Carter is still sleeping. I decide to go back to bed for a bit until she wakes up
7:40am: Carter is still not awake, so I go in and wake her up and feed her. Sleepyhead this morning!


8am: Change and dress the baby, then get dressed myself. I try propping her on my bed with pillows, but she isn't having it


8:30am: Put Carter in her high chair with some toys so I can drink my coffee, pump, and get us packed up to run errands
9:15am: Carter loses interest in being in her high chair, and I have to hold her while I finish packaging up some yarn I sold and packing the diaper bag
9:45am: We finally leave to run errands, Carter falls asleep in the car. I grab one of the new Turkey sausage breakfast sandwiches from Tim Hortons
10:30am: I stop at Joanns for some things for work before heading to the mall to walk
10:45am: We get to the mall and Carter eats, we walk, I change her, we walk some more
11:45am: We head to Wegmans for some groceries we can't get at the supermarket near us, and run into my cousin! I actually tried wearing Carter in the Moby wrap instead of carrying in her carseat. It worked ok, but I think it will work better in a few more weeks when it isn't so cold!
12:30pm: We leave Wegmans and Carter falls asleep in the car
12:45pm: I realize I never ate lunch and I'm starving. I'm limited to somewhere with a Drive Thru, so I stop at Wendys. Not very healthy, but it was good!
1:30pm: We get home and I unload the car. Carter is still asleep so I leave her in her carseat and put away groceries
2pm: Carter wakes up and I feed her
2:30pm: I do chores around the house while Carter plays in her high chair and later her jumper
3:30pm: We load up into the car again to drop something off at the post office for the hubs
3:45pm: Carter is still awake so I head up to the Ford dealership to pay our bill and see my Dad. I push my luck, Carter falls asleep. Oh well!
4:15pm: We get back home and Carter is still sleeping, so I start writing this post.
4:45pm: Carter wakes up and I feed her. The hubs walks in from work just as I finish, and he plays with her while I start dinner. She is all about the FEET!


5:15pm: Simple dinner of spaghetti and meatballs, though I added in spinach to try and get more veggies!
5:45pm: I do chores around the house while the hubs takes Carter upstairs in the office to play in her bumbo while he works
6:15pm: Bumbo time is short lived, so I strap her to me with the Moby and we sing and dance around the house
6:45pm: Carter goes down for her last nap of the day. We are trying to transition her to three naps instead of four, but I don't think that will happen until Saturday when we introduce solids! I prep lunches for the next day, and finish cleaning the kitchen from dinner
7:30pm: It's a short nap! Carter is up and I feed her.
7:45pm: I give Carter her Amoxicillin. This kid LOVES to take medicine from the syringe.
8pm: The hubs and I trade off playing with Carter while watching TV- this is always an event because we try not to let Carter watch TV, so you really have to multitask!
9pm: no bath tonight, just pajamas, diaper change, and a bottle
9:30pm: We put Carter down for the night and after 5 minutes she is out!
9:45pm: I pump and set coffee for the morning
10pm: Get into bed and chat with the hubs, then fall asleep

Whew, written all out like that my day looks nuts! Work days are much less eventful, because a huge chunk would just say "work" ;)




Wednesday, January 14, 2015

Vivid Underway

I haven't been knitting on too many different projects lately, which is unusual for me, but good for my 2015 knitting plan! I've been pretty enamored with the Vivid blanket squares I am making for my brother and his fiance for their wedding in June. Here are the first two squares:


Clearly they will benefit from a good blocking :)

Most of the colors are shades of blue, but there's also this lavender and a mint green color. I think it will be lovely and I can't wait to get enough squares finished so I can start laying out the design and putting it together!

In other related news, I am destashing a lot of my yarn. I have some up right now, but more will be going up in the next few days as I get to it. If you are in the market for some new yarn at a good price, check it out here! Also, I have a lot of acrylic that I'm planning on giving away. If you could use it and wouldn't mind paying shipping, I will send it to you! Some of it is nicer, soft acrylic and some is mystery yarn. Not all of it is in my stash on Ravelry, so that's why I'm not listing it there.

Hope wherever you are you are staying warm and getting in some knitting time!


I'm linking up with Ginny's Yarn Along

Monday, January 12, 2015

Sleepy Day and Weekly Menu

Last night was probably one of the hardest nights since having Carter. Not because I only got 4 hours of sleep (I did) and not because I got a headache from being awake so long and her crying (also true) but because she was so upset for so much of the evening. She is an awesome sleeper, and even being sick this past week she has pretty much slept 9-10 hours straight at night. Last night, anytime we laid her down she screamed, and did so until 3am when I called the doctors. After a dose of Tylenol and a car ride we did get her to sleep for an hour, then she woke up again. I fed her to calm her down then we all snuggled into our bed for another 2-3 hours of sleep.

I never thought I would co-sleep with Carter as I didn't really feel comfortable doing it, but when she fell asleep after eating you better believe there was no way I was going to move her. Turns out after a visit to the doctors that she has an ear infection on top of her cold. Hopefully the antibiotic helps clear that up quick! I want my healthy baby back :/

All that aside, I did plan our menu for the week. I really enjoy menu planning. Even though half the time things get moved around and changed by the end of the week, it definitely makes grocery shopping a lot easier and helps keep me from buying things we don't get a chance to eat. Here's what I'm thinking for this week:

Tuesday: broiled fish and green beans
Wednesday: spaghetti and meatballs
Thursday: leftovers
Friday: pizza slab pie and salads

Baked goods: I made brownies over the weekend, and there are still a few of those left. I've got my eye on Cookies and Cream puppy chow though, so that might be Thursday's project :)


Linking up with orgjunkie.com today!

Sunday, January 11, 2015

Sick Baby

Baby Carter came down with the cold I had last Sunday, and I'm pretty sure a sick baby is one of the worst things in the world. Thankfully she doesn't have the flu or something more serious, but its still hard to watch her being all stuffed up and coughing. We've been trying to get her to sleep as much as possible, and even sick she has slept through the night all but one night.


Carter normally sleeps in her crib (she has since about 10 weeks old) but with being sick the incline of the Rock n Sleeper helps her sleep better. The vibrate doesn't hurt either! We have a humidifier going in her room and I think that helps, and been trying to get her to eat as much as possible. Other than saline drops there's not a whole lot more that we can do.

A sick baby coupled with a snow day on Friday means not a whole lot has been happening here. The hubs and I escaped for a few hours on Saturday while my dad watched Carter, and I got Chipotle for lunch (but of course forgot to take a photo).

Here's hoping this week everyone gets over this awful cold. I have our menu almost ready to go for tomorrow and I have actually gotten some knitting done this weekend, so I can't wait to share it!

Wednesday, January 7, 2015

Socks for Baby Feet

My child has long skinny feet, which she gets from me. All the baby socks seems to be made for kids with short, fatter feet, therefore not only are they too small lengthwise, Carter doesn't have any bulk to hold them on. If they are long socks they are usually ok, but short ones don't work at all. As a knitter I felt it was my duty to fix this problem, but I didn't want to knit socks she would outgrow in 3 weeks. Enter the tube sock!

Tube socks are basically socks without a heel, so they can be worn for a long time before they don't fit. I'm knitting some that are ribbed all the way down on one side and only at the cuff on the other. I know some people do ribbing all the way around, but I was worried it wouldn't be comfortable once Carter started walking. Maybe I will do another pair all ribbed once I finish this pair.



These are being knit out of Sunshine Yarns Classic sock in the Magic colorway on size two needles. These are my "easy" knitting, so they travel with me or get worked on late at night :)

I'm also still working on Carter's stocking. Even though I didn't get it finished for Christmas, I wanted to keep working on it so I wasn't rushing next Christmas to finish it. I'm just starting the last colorwork chart.


This is the New Ancestral Stocking pattern and I'm knitting it out of Knit Picks Wool of the Andes.

Lastly, I started my January knit (according to my 2015 knitting) which is the blanket for my brother and soon-to-be sister-in-law. I was concerned about the pinhole cast on, but the tutorial linked to in the pattern was really clear and I got it right away.


I'm knitting them the Vivid pattern out of several shades of Berocco Vintage. I'll post a good shot of all the colors when I get a little further.

That's my knitting for this week! What are you working on?

Sunday, January 4, 2015

My Favorite Cookies

Until a year or two ago, my favorite cookies were chocolate chip. Pretty boring huh? I love cookies and often bake different kinds to take to various parties and events, but if I was just making them for me, chocolate chip was where it was at. Then I ran across a recipe on a favorite blog of mine, and happened to make them. I didn't have all the ingredients on hand, so I omitted a few things and changed up a few amounts. The result became the hands down the favorite in our house (the hubs is also a big fan) and I have a few friends who will request these too! Best part is they're flourless, so I like to think they are healthier than other cookies!

I originally founds the recipe on Courtney's blog, Sweet Tooth Sweet Life. If you haven't read her blog before, go check it out! I love how down to earth she is and I feel like I'm catching up with a friend when I read her posts. You can find her recipe here, but this is how I change it up.

Peanut Butter Oatmeal Chocolate Chip Cookies

1 cup sugar
1 stick (1/2 cup) butter
1 cup brown sugar
1 1/4 cups peanut butter (my personal fave is Peter Pan Honey Roast!)
3 eggs
2 tbsp vanilla
2 tsp baking soda
1 bag chocolate chips (if you like a lot of chocolate chips, add more!)
4.25-4.5 cups of quick cooking oats (sometimes 4.5 cups seems like too many!) start with 4 cups and see how it mixes

Start by beating the butter and sugars together, then add ingredients in order. Bake for 9-11 minutes on a cookie sheets in a 350 degree oven. Cool and transfer to a cooling rack or plate. EAT!

These easy to make and always go over well. The hubs actually likes them better the next day, so they definitely keep well too.

Friday, January 2, 2015

Reading Goals

While my knitting time has certainly decreased since I had Carter, my reading time has increased! I'm able to read on my phone while feeding her, and also while pumping, so I'm all about the ebooks right now. Thankfully I can borrow them through the library I work at and also the New York Public Library, so I have a lot of (FREE!) options.

I use Goodreads to keep track of what books I've read and when, and what books I'd like to read. I can use their app on my phone so I don't even have to wait until I'm sitting down at the computer to update my progress or add new books to me "to read" list. One of my favorite features of Goodreads in their yearly reading challenge. I had hoped to read 52 books in 2014, and I only made it to 42. Even though I didn't quite reach my goal, I feel pretty good about my result! Here are the books I read:



This year I hope to read 45 books. I know once I'm not breastfeeding and pumping anymore that my reading time will taper way off, so I didn't want to set it too much higher than last year's result. Here are some of the books on my "to read" list I'm excited to get to this year:

The Serpent's Shadow (Kane Chronicles, #3) Neverwhere The Chase (Fox and O'Hare #2) Home (Gilead, #2) The Pillars of the Earth A Feast for Crows (A Song of Ice and Fire, #4)

Any stand out books you read last year? What books are you looking forward to this year?