This past weekend Kevin, Brandon and I joined up with my parents and brother for an extended vacation in Vermont. We used to own a house in Southern Vermont, every few years we think it’s fun to rent OUR house and relive old times. It’s peaceful, brisk and (sometimes) electronic free. Although the house has been updated, it still has the same smell and feel and feels like we never left. My brother and I playing video games in the corner and the trips to the Clubhouse to go swimming. We may be older, but somethings never change and now we can share this tradition with our baby and hope to keep it alive as long as we can!

Mom bought a selfie stick….don’t judge us!! Wilmington is a population of 2 – so finding someone to take a picture was a problem.

Brandon absolutely LOVED the pool. I remember home videos of me (a little older than Brandon) jumping around in this same pool! My brother bought the coolest floaty for “baby and me“. I’m absolutely NOT hating it!

Gorgeous views, snow flurries and family dinners. I wouldn’t have it any other way. I hope we can doing this forever with our kids!

 

Age: 7 Months

Stats: Don’t go back to the doctor until 9 months – but he’s probably pushing 20lb!

Clothes/Size: Brandon is going back and forth between 6 and 6-9 month clothes. He has always been right on target size wise. I have put him in 12 month clothes to add layers on these chilly mornings! The only thing that doesn’t fit are one-piece outfits with feet in, his feet are too damn big! Little man is wearing 12-24 month socks. AYE!

Favorite Foods: Brandon eats all of the typical baby food (all made by mama). He really loves his apples, sweet potatoes and carrots. He’s tried some pasta and fish out at restaurants because little man has to literally eat ANYTHING he sees.

Diaper size: Chillin’ in size 3, I think (hope) we’ll be here for a while since we have SO darn many. But really, do we NEED Mickey Mouse stamped ALL over the diaper? Can’t they just make plain white ones?

How much am I eating: This child will eat and eat and eat – he has no off switch. When the bowl is empty, he gets SO upset. He’s eating about 1 cup of solids (mixed with some oatmeal and water), has about 4oz of juice/water in a sippy cup and then about 3oz of milk – this is just breakfast. He has about 2 bottles during the day – about 6 oz each, then has another cup or so of food for dinner and a small bottle – sometimes a mum-mum while we’re eating if he gets antsy and then about 4oz of milk right before bed. We are trying to keep his milk intake up as the doctor say anywhere from 16-30oz is good but to aim for 24oz. He’s a pro with his little sippy cup though, such a big boy now.

Words: No words yet. He understands language and knows “Zoe” (we must yell at her a lot)! The most hilarious thing he does is laugh to imitate us or to get us to laugh. He cracks me up.

Activities: Oh boy, he’s army crawling and rolling ALL over the place. Last night he officially got up on all fours and tried to crawl. I’d say another week or two and we’re in trouuuuuuble!

Sleep: Once he hit 6 months he slept RIGHT through the night. The two weeks later he came down in a cold. ugh. Ever since then he’s been waking 1-2 times and will not settle unless he gets a pacifier. Double-ugh. He’s still sleeping from about 8pm-7am….can’t complain.

Favorite Things: We’re at the point where it’s time to start to put toys away and bring out new ones because he’s getting sick of the same old. His favorite thing is tubby time! Child kicks like nobodies business and loves playing with his toys.

 Signature Moves: Rolling. Sitting. Leaning. Standing with assistance. Pulling himself up. Army Crawl.

Mom’s Proudest Moment: I try to sit back and take in everything because I know at the drop of a hat, he’ll be 15 and want nothing to do with us! I am so proud of how smart little man is and how he just picks things up SO quickly. No learning curve when it came to a sippy cup, he picked it up and drank! He’s starting to hold his own bottle at the dinner table now which means BIG things for us so we can enjoy dinner as well.

Dad’s Proudest Moment: Kevin loves showing Brandon new things. They walk outside together and look at nature and get dirty. Daddy is always there to play and roll around with Brandon and hopefully not let him roll off the couch! 🙂

Little man is SO good out at restaurants too. Love him. <3

With a new season comes a house-full of germs and sicknesses. On top of Brandon finally teething (I think!), he came down with a cold. Poor little man has been waking up a ton at night and even though he feels like poop, he’s been a real trooper. Sadly, we had to cart him all over this weekend so naps in the car were his jam! First stop, the pun-kin patch!

I have made a promise to myself that I will embrace holidays (as much as I like them or hate them) now that we have offspring. I’ll spare you all my negativity directed at Fall and Halloween…just know that I’m not a fan. With that being said….we did the obligatory pumpkin/apple picking – family thing – photo shoot this past weekend.

We’re off for a long weekend getaway to Vermont with my family for some relaxation. Hope you all had a great Columbus Day!

It’s been a while since I posted about recipes, cooking, planning and meal prep so lets jump right in! Some weeks I find myself being completely prepared in the meal area and other weeks everything is done on a whim. This is what we’ve been enjoying lately.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

We’re quickly losing the warm weather here in the Northeast, but that doesn’t mean you can’t still enjoy the grill. We TRY to barbecue all year long (unless the grill is covered by 8754 feet of snow). I picked up these foil grill pans in the clearance aisle of our grocery store and it was the best $1.00 I’ve ever spent! Top left was a random mix of fresh tomatoes, mushrooms, corn off the cob, onions, zucchini and beans with chives. What an easy, healthy side to grilled chicken or burgers! Another super easy, one pan meal was onions, diced tomatoes, spaghetti squash and shrimp (spices of choice but I used crushed red, s+p, olive oil) – can also use rice! Throw this baby on the grill for 10-15 minutes and you have a one dish, delicious, good and good for you meal. Lastly, cube up some boneless, skinless chicken thighs or breasts, sweet potatoes, cover with Sriracha and Mrs. Dash Salt Free Seasoning, grill until everything is cooked through. You’re welcome!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Taco Bake two ways! Unless we are making hamburgers, I always opt for ground turkey or ground chicken and this taco bake is no different! Call it succotash because that’s basically what it looks like. This is the easiest, tastiest one dish meal you can make AND make into so many different entrees. I use some or all of the following:

Corn / Onions / Beans / Edamame / Tomatoes / Jalapenos / Scallions / Cheese / Peppers / Sofrito

To make this waist-line friendly, we’ll use sweet peppers as “tortilla chips”, choose brown rice over white, or bake some pitas (at 400 degrees until crispy) to make chips for scooping up this tasty goodness.

Here’s a family fav, Grandma’s Chicken! You literally, can’t mess this up and it comes out the same every time! I made this and frozen it before my hip surgeries, when I was pregnant in preparation for life with a newborn, I’ve made it for others after a family death, births, surgeries…you name it!!! It freezes SO well and is just such a hearty, cozy meal! Add everything into a casserole dish or foil pan – raw: Chicken Thighs or Drumsticks, potatoes, celery, carrots, peppers and onions – add a splash of water, sprinkle of paprika and s+p, a dallop of butter and bake 350 for 1.5 hours.

Beef Stroganoff in the Crockpot. That’s what happened in our house over the weekend and it took just minutes! In a Crockpot mix: Stew Beef, Chicken/Beef/Veggie stock, Onions, Mushrooms, Cream of Mushroom Soup, Plain Green Yogurt, Worcestershire, s+p, Garlic. I alternated high and low cooking temps for about 6 hours. Just prior to eating, I cooked some egg noodles and topped them with the Beef goodness. The meat was so tender it just fell apart! The cold temps mean cozy one-pot HOT meals.

AND LASTLY…Tofu Stir-fry

Not everyone is a meat eater and that’s okay in my book. We like to enjoy meals that are big on veggies and proteins other than meat. We had an abundance of veggies and greens so why not throw them in with Tofu (Firm)?! Here, I used peppers, onions, bokchoy, organic tofu, s+p, garlic, red curry paste, soy sauce (low sodium) and a dash of worcestershire. Cooked everything down until veggies were soft and the sauce thickened a bit – add cornstarch if it’s too much juice. It looks pretty and tastes good too!

Hope you enjoyed this plethora of recipes and maybe it helped make even ONE night a little easier for you. Have a great recipe? Share it with the class! I love trying new things and putting a spin on oldies.

Happy Tuesday Friends and an even HAPPIER 47th Anniversary to my parental units. Kevin, Brandon and I love you!

 

Grandma and Gran-puh came to visit us for the weekend and for once, we all lived life through our eyes and not our phones and THEREFORE have no pictures to show of it. We still have the memories, right?

After the zoo, Brandon was pretty tuckered out since he didn’t really get any decent naps. Normally, this would backfire on us come nighttime but instead he decided to take a nice snooze on the way to dinner and most of the way through dinner to give us the break we needed to enjoy company and have a cocktail!

…and in case you wanted a close up of this adorable little manly man…

We spent the weekend trying to relax, enjoy our last meals on the patio and catch up on some laundry and shopping. It wouldn’t be a proper weekend without a trip to one of the MANY local Breweries. Brandon drank his weight in booze and it was fun had by all.

Sunday was more grocery shopping, errands and of course, FOOTBALL!

By the time bedtime finally rolled around, we were all maxed and ready to hit the sack – these two are cute enough that they get to crash wherever they want!

Rolling into October we have some busy, busy weekends ahead from baptisms to beer fests to vacations in the mountains of Vermont! Can’t wait!