Monday, August 30, 2010

The Organization of the Emmys

File these under "Stunning":





And these under "Hot Mess":



all images courtesy of usmagazine.com

Happy Bellies

Here's what we have on our docket for this week's yummies. As always, trying to keep us away from as many processed foods, especially considering the twizzler-fest I was on last week courtesy of the jumbo bag Matt left me before he left town. Speaking of twizzlers if you haven't tried the new CHOCOLATE version you are seriously missing out. They are ridiculous. So good.

This week is a bit of an homage to my favorite TV personality Bethenny. I bought her cookbook for super cheap off of Amazon and I am loving it. It's comprised of very basic meals but each recipe has a chart of variations giving you tons of different options. I also love her emphasis on natural foods as I'm always trying to find ways to make Madelyn healthy food that she'll actually eat.

Monday/Tuesday breakfast: Boo Boo Banana Bread. Delicious healthy banana bread with tiny bits of chocolate in it. I think this little brown treat is becoming a recurring theme in my life. Probably not a good theme for my waistline though. Anyways, we'll also snack on this later on the week, but Madelyn (understandably) doesn't like to eat the same thing for breakfast every day. If I had enough bananas I would have made a few of these so I could freeze them, but I'll probably do that before Matt leaves town again.

For my lunches: Cranberry almond chicken salad. This is really yummy over a bed of mixed greens,. You don't even need dressing.

For dinner tonight and tomorrow we're going to have a mango baked salmon with lightly pan-friend okra, but for the second half of the week we're having baked ziti. And can we just talk for a minute about how Madelyn loves okra? She's such a little southern belle in training.

Other recipes I have on my *coming soon* list:
Easy stuffed peppers
Oatmeal Chocolate Peanut Butter Cookies (woah)

Hope ya'll have a great week!

Tuesday, August 24, 2010

16 months later...


Madelyn,

It's been 16 months since you were born. I should have known that when we had a scheduled c-section and you came on your own just 8 hours early that you were going to keep us on our toes :)
You are the greatest joy to us. You love to throw your arms around my neck and cuddle when you get tired and this is seriously the highlight of every day for me.
You are the sweetest, funniest little monkey I've ever met.
You cry when you don't get your way and I still check on you 3 times every night to make sure you're breathing. I guess we all have our vices.
You eat spinach which makes me happier than you could ever imagine. You point at my nose, my toes, my belly and show off all of your new words.
You are Ob-Sessed with shoes. It's literally your first word every morning when you wake up.
Every. Morning.
You love to "meow" whenever you see a cat and say hi and bye everytime we enter/leave a room. And you really emphasize the long "e" sounds so it's more like "hieeeee" and "byeeeee".
The other day I went into the kitchen to check on dinner and when I came back into the living room you were sitting on the coffee table. I would really prefer you not do that. Thanks.
I love you SO much that I don't even mind that you bring milions of germs home from daycare that give mommy colds (like I have right now).
That's a lot :)
(p.s. not sure why the spacing isn't working on here- sorry!)

Wednesday, August 18, 2010

My Girl

Last night Madelyn had rasberries for the first time. They were a hit.

I think etiquette should be amended to state that children should not wear white after labor day 6 p.m. (i.e. dinner time)


We also played a game of "where is your belly?" She won, but I'm trying to emphasize to her that taking your clothes off is never the answer.



By that point we were getting a little sleepy so she and daddy took a quick break on her new big pink pillow, thanks to her Aunt Lacie.


Which was followed by dress up time. She was a ghost.

And lastly, a little milk on the couch before going nite nite.

Amen!

(source: SemiglossChic)


Lately I find myself reading this every.single.day. It's a much needed reminder.

Saturday, August 7, 2010

Virtual What Not to Wear

I think I've mentioned before that my sister lives in NYC and works in fashion. It's a pretty big job and she's a pretty big deal. Needless to say, we live two very different lives.

While I'm at home in the suburbs playing blocks and making endless peanut butter and jelly sandwiches, she is spending her weekends in the Hamptons, texting celebrities about outfitting them, and prepping for Fashion Week.

To say that she's less than impressed with the percentage of my clothes that come from Target is an understatement.

But, the added benefit is that whenever she comes to visit she plays Clinton from What Not to Wear and I play the pathetic fashion-inept sister. Lots of sarcasm and brutal honesty included. It's fun.

Unfortunately, she doesn't have any plans to visit coming up and I needed help, so I decided to utilize technology and host a virtual WNTW with her via email. I took picture of the things in my closet I hadn't worn in a while/wasn't sure about/couldn't decide if they were cute or heinous (sometimes that's a thin line) and sent them her way. Her comments ranged from:





in response to my button down blue/white striped oxfords "keep them, they're basics and very versatile"

to "God No Throw This Away NOW" when I sent her a picture of a green/white printed cocktail dress. I was hanging on to it because I thought it would be really cute on a cruise or something. Because I go on a lot of those.



While I'm a freak of nature and love cleaning out my closet (almost) more than anything, I've still been hanging on to some things that I don't feel great in, or that aren't really part of my life anymore. Like "going-out shirts". We all have 'em. Back from the days when we used to "go out". Does anyone still go out? Sadly, I think the only going out I do is to Chili's. Fancy. Needless to say, there was no reason to hang on to these no matter how much I loved them.
I took a long sigh and added them to the consignment shop/holy crap my life has really changed pile. It was growing by the second.

I read once that women wear 20% of their closet 80% of the time. I think that is so true. We always go for the pieces we love, feel good in, and make sense for our life. The rest just sits. Yet we have to sift through it every time we go to get dressed. I just got sick of sifting and honestly, I don't have the time. I want to LOVE every item in my closet. I want to feel good in it. And I want to know that no matter what I pull out I'm going to look good.

I read this article in the New York Times about a movement called "sixing" where people choose 6 items of clothing in their wardrobe to wear for an entire month- accessories/jammies/workout clothes excluded. Some of the people are anti-consumerism, some just wanted to see if they could do it. The most interesting part of the experiment? Most people never even noticed they were doing this. I find this fascinating. They wore basic clothes, wardrobed them differently, added cool accessories, and looked professional enough every day that no one took notice to their limited wardrobe.

While I think this is a little extreme, I love the concept. Cute, basic clothes that you feel good in, but creatively mixed with statement accessories to make more outfits than you thought possible.

My plan is to finish my closet revolution by Sunday night and start fresh Monday morning. If nothing else, I'll definitely give my sister some weekend entertainment :)

Wednesday, August 4, 2010

An encounter with poop

I think every mom has a good poop story. Poop is just one of those things you spend a lot of time dealing with as the parent of a small child. If you have a fear of poop I'd suggest not reading this post...and also possibly re-evaluating whether or not you want to have children.

It was a quiet Monday evening. Madelyn and I had enjoyed a nice dinner together and with the gross amounts of food that now resided in her hair and bellybutton it was time for a bath. Bathtime is a highlight of Madelyn's day. Not because of the actual bath, but because she loves to play in the vanity cabinet. Usually I start the bath and take her to her room to undress and de-diaper her, but this night she was SO content playing in the cabinet (read: threw a massive tantrum when I tried to take her out of the bathroom) that I figured I'd just strip her down in there.

I checked her diaper for signs of poop. No signs. No smell, no visual, nothin. So I take her diaper off. I realize there is a light streak on the back of her leg and curse myself for not cleaning her well enough at the last diaper change. Then I realize Madelyn has something in her hand that she seems mystified over. It's POOP. When I took off her diaper it fell on the floor and she proceded to start picking it up.

LORD HAVE MERCY.

It's on the floor, in her hands, on her leg, her arm and she's trying to eat it.

I grab her arms so she can't get it in her mouth, grab every towel in sight trying to wipe it off, and throw her in the tub as a few pieces quietly float around her. Seriously. I'm covered, she's covered, and there is no escape. Score: MOM: 0, POOP:2.

Needless to say it was a messy situation. I'm still not sure how I got it all cleaned up but rest assured we are all safe and sound and I can consider my entire week an accomplishment as no poop was actually ingested by either party. Praise Jesus.

I spared you the pictures in this post. You're welcome :)

Tuesday, August 3, 2010

Grumpy baby


One of our friends just sent me this picture- the only picture I have of me and Madelyn from the wedding. I think it's safe to say she was sick of being held.

Monday, August 2, 2010

Have baby, will travel

This past weekend we trekked it up to the beautiful Blue Ridge mountains so that my brother-in-law Luke could marry his love Lacie and give me a sister-in-law! While the weekend was a bit abbreviated by Matt's work schedule, we had a really nice time and are so excited for Luke and Lacie. Being at a wedding always reminds me how lucky I am to have Matt...and of course, the little monkey :)

Unfortunately, I was so busy chasing said monkey around I didn't get one single picture! Not one! I estimate I probably lost 5lbs from sweating though, so I still consider the day a success ;) Luckily I'm expecting a few pics to pop up on facebook in the next few days so I'll be sure to share those. Madelyn rocked a pink bubble dress with a big bow on the front and gold sandals. She was definitely on the best-dressed list.

We spent Sunday morning cooking and playing with Madelyn and then Matt had to leave us again. Luckily he'll be back on Friday for two weeks. We're definitely counting down.

I made a few yummy treats for Madelyn to take to school (and by school I mean daycare) this week that I thought I'd share. They come from a website called Weelicious which was started by a mom to help show other moms how they can feed their kids better. Needless to say, I love it. She shares my love of cooking local, organic foods, uses agave nectar and honey as her sweeteners, and has some amazing ideas in the "lunch box" section of her facebook page. She's also a gorgeous model, but try not to hate her, I watched a few of her "how to" videos and she seems likable enough ;)

First up: lemon poppyseed muffins. Yum. Second, oatmeal on the go bars. These will be perfect paired with a little fruit for the days that Madelyn has to eat breakfast at "school". I'm pretty sure they're better than the apple jacks and danishes that the daycare center offers up.

I also have a few other recipes on my radar I'm hoping to try shortly:
Blueberry cream cheese french toast
Chinese chicken salad and
Chicken lettuce wraps

Hope ya'll have a great week!
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