Words words words!

Colin is now talking all the time! I swear everyday he learns at least one new word! Last weekend he learned GO and says it anytime we get in the car! He also learned dip, jump and up (although he adds more sounds to up, it is either upt or ups) I'm working on counting and his favorite number is three. Whenever I start counting he just yells three! Lol This weekend, which will be my next blog he learned the word boat... Or as he says it, boap.

It is so fun to hear him jibber jabber and have it make sense now. My favorite words are of course mama... He says it so very sweet. But I love when he says thank you, especially to other people and my next favorite is Ew... Cause it is funny and he uses it at the most appropriate times. Like this weekend we were hanging out with some friends and he was playing with their puppy. Next second we hear, Ew really loudly and he is pointing at the puppy's butt! Or the other day when we were watching women's softball and they zoomed in to the pitcher who had black paint on her face and Colin looked at me and said Ew! Lol silly kid!

Nightweaning

Well I took the plunge again and decided to do night weaning over the long weekend. Colin hasn't had any milk at night since Thursday night.  He took it really well, maybe cause he is older and understands more. When he wakes up I tell him the milks are sleeping and he can drink milks when it is light out. He still wakes and asks for it, but doesn't cry and tries to fall back asleep. 

The first few nights were rough for me. Mostly because I was getting less sleep. He was sleeping about 4 or 5 hours in his crib. He'd wake and I'd nurse him and put him back in his crib for another few hours. I was getting decent sleep in my bed. Now when he wakes up after 4 hours I can't get him to just go back down in his crib, so I bring him to bed and he tosses and turns cause he has a hard time just falling asleep. I was tired. 

But the past two nights have been better and last night he actually slept about 7 hours in his crib! Glorious! :) 

Hoping without milk as an enticer he will stop waking all together, fingers crossed!!!

Memorial weekend

I Hope you all had a nice long weekend! My parents came up to visit and Ryan's brother stopped by on his way up to Denver with his puppy. We had a few barbecues, but mostly just relaxed. We did take my parents to the towns riverfest  where they had all kinds of activities and Colin ate his first snow cone! Lol. Here are some pics!  

— VISIT NEW MEXICO — - Cibola Beacon: Cibola Living

— VISIT NEW MEXICO — - Cibola Beacon: Cibola Living


My first article as a freelance writer... Holler!

Warm weather Fun

Who wears short shorts - Fashion Post

Apparently I wear short shorts!

I don't think I've worn shorts this short in a few years... but what the hell, right?! Almost all of my summer outfits are dresses. I have a few pairs of shorts and they go right above my knee. So these are like... whoa.

I got these shorts at Old Navy and the shirt at New York and Company (where else). Just like colored jeans, colored shorts are EVERYWHERE this summer. So get a pair if you dare.

Also... Colin has been watching me take pictures every week and always thinks it is really funny. Sooo... this week he decided to join me. He ran over to the wall and smiled at the camera! Lol Silly boy!   So if anyone is wondering... he is wearing a clearance buttoned up top from The Children's Place and a pair of pants from the outlet malls in Texas... not sure what store, but probably either Carters or Baby Gap.

Some Yummy Pins

I've made some scrumptious things lately and I thought I'd share! Thank you Pinterest for changing my life! Lol

First off is this:
http://www.averiecooks.com/2009/10/raw-vegan-chocolate-chip-cookie-dough.html

Umm.... Yum! Can you say an easy cheat to your diet? I always want to eat cookies and occasionally crave oats. Last time I did I made no bake cookies. My husband doesn't like them so I ended up eating the entire batch by myself... Not good. I made these and they are definitely pretty guilt free... Only banana, oats, peanut butter and chocolate chips. Delish! Colin likes them too so I have to share... Unfortunately! Mine of course don't look anything like the pin. Mine look more like oatmeal cookies.

http://www.joypng.com/png/775.html

I made this steak recipe last week for dinner. My steak was a bit thick and tough, I think if I would have gotten a better cut it would have been awesome!


http://kitchenmeetsgirl.com/main-dishes/honey-lime-chicken-skewers/

I've made this dish twice and plan on making it again this weekend! I of course use cilantro from my garden, which makes it even more fun to make! Colin loves biting the chicken off the skewers too! I love it!

http://www.cinnamonspiceandeverythingnice.com/chubby-chicken-and-cream-cheese-taquitos/

These chubby Taquitos are the freaking awesome! I am in love... Also have made these twice... And use spinach from my garden ;)

http://dineanddish.net/2009/01/big-city-living-and-bacon-egg-cups/

Instead of bacon I made these egg breakfast muffins with turkey as a liner and both my boys loved it! I make it Saturday mornings and they are totally cute and yummy!

Still waking at 18 months

Sooo... I haven't done night weaning yet. Why, might you ask? Well... Colin's been sleeping better. And by better i mean only getting up twice every night. I know most people are thinking, twice? That is good? Oh believe me... From getting up every hour or less, every night for months... Only waking twice a night is like heaven. (I can't even imagine sleeping the entire night!) I don't even need naps anymore during the day and usually wake feeling very refreshed. Colin has been sleeping in until 8 or 9 every morning as well, which is super nice!

He has been doing this for quite a few weeks and honestly I'm scared to jinx it by starting to night wean. He now sleeps about 7 hours in his crib every night, getting up once and then I bring him to bed with me for the rest of the night or about another 4ish hours.

Maybe I will give it another week and then try... But boy am I getting sceeered!

Change

I'm starting for realize that I'm loosing my old life from my old town.

When we first left I was very much still involved with it all. I still talked to everyone all the time and even checked my work email, even though I was no longer employed. I knew everything that was happening. Then when we got into our house I was so involved with getting settled that I stopped. Now we are set into our routine here and I barely think about work... Although today I was wondering how it was going in our old town and my old life and then i realized how disconnected I am now.

It is surreal how you can just pick up and change everything you know. We get so caught up in our everyday routines, it is just crazy to think about changing it all. Then you do and that becomes your new normal. I can't even imagine going back to working full time. Although I'm sure I'd get used to it, just hard to imagine now.

I have no idea what my old coworkers are up to or how my old job is. I miss my friends, but honestly that is about it. I love our new house and our new life. I love being home with Colin. I feel like I am less stressed and can be a better wife and mommy. I cook a lot more than I ever have and it is awesome. I make healthy foods (so much so, Ryan had lost almost 10 lbs since we moved into our house... Wish I could say the same). I do one or two chores a day around the house instead do trying to cram in all my cleaning on my weekends. Overall I just feel much more at peace. My poor hubby I think is working much more, which sucks, but makes me feel even better about being home and being able to keep things stable.

This kinda wandered in this blog, but I guess I just realized that my life has changed so much from the past few months.

Sorry for my lack of blogging!

I'll do a quick update!

We returned from Mother's Day weekend to a sweltering hot house. We somehow bumped the temperature up to 90 degrees on the radiant heating in the living room before we left... Not good. FYI it takes about 3 days for radiant heating to cool off. Lol sooo... We've been living outside this week. Of course we also needed a new air conditioner and my hubby had been working so much he hadn't gotten one, but the heat in our house put that in high gear! He's been on the roof every night after work working on the air conditioning. Unfortunately the old unit was in such bad shape it is giving him a really hard time, but hopefully tonight or tomorrow morning we should have cool air blowing! For now we have all the windows open and ceiling fans blowing. I was totally bummed because I had gotten some beautiful flowers for Mother's Day and they were all dead from our hot house! :(

Colin and I stay outside all day. I set up his baby pool and he's been enjoying that as well as playing with his garden hose constantly. I've also been busy tending to my garden. Things are growing really well. I've been able use cilantro in our meals a few times and spinach! Pretty cool!

Colin has said a few new words this week. My favorite being EW! Lol he does it when he gets dirty or even last night at dinner when he took a bite of a bell pepper and decided he didn't like it! Ha!

We have a play date this morning I'm hoping will go well and that's about it! Also Hoping for a nice weekend with my hubby who had previously worked 20 days straight and hasn't gotten a weekend in quite awhile!

Happy Late Mother's Day!!!

What are you wearing for Mother's Day?

I ordered a few things from NY and Company (I'm thinking they should pay me... ;)) awhile back and they came in just in time for Mother's Day weekend.  I'm always a little nervous about buying a dress online because you never know how it will fit you... BUT the second I tried this dress on... I was in LOVE. I literally didn't want to take it off! Now lets just hope my hubby's work schedule cooperates and we can actually celebrate Mother's Day with our family! Poor guy has worked 19 days straight! YUCK!

Oh yes... and if you are still in need of the a dress for Mother's Day.... NY&Company is having a sale today!! 50% off everything!  If you don't live near one you can always just shop and pamper yourself online! We deserve it! Lol

http://www.nyandcompany.com/nyco/

Colin's 18 month apt and breastfeeding past 1

Overall Colin had a good doctor apt today. He didn't gain any weight from his last visit, but he did grow an inch so at least he is still growing!

He was 21 lbs and 31 1/2 inches. He is in the 10th percentile, my tiny boy. He screamed anytime the nurse or doctor came near him and wouldn't even sit on the scale! I had to hold him and get weighed and then let the nurse hold him while he screamed and then I got weighed individually! Lol aye! Stranger danger at its finest.

Anyway she said he is growing well and was a healthy boy. However I am thinking we may need a new doctor. She is not very up on the most recent breastfeeding information. She was very concerned with how many times a day we nurse and asked me several times. To which i kept responding, it depends upon the day. She said I needed to cut back and only nurse him twice a day and was worried when I said he also got some whole milk saying that with breast milk that may be too much calcium.... So I should cut back breastfeeding. If anything it should be the other way around.

Let me give you some info from KellyMom (aka the breastfeeding bible online) :

"There is not any particular “recommended number of times per day” that a toddler should be nursing. Some are only nursing once or twice a day, while others continue to enjoy lots of time at their mother’s breast. As baby slowly moves into eating more solids, your milk will fill any nutritional gaps nicely.

Many nursing moms are told that they must introduce cow’s milk at a year. Your nursing toddler is already getting the best milk he can get – mother’s milk! Breastmilk has a higher fat content than whole cow’s milk (needed for baby’s brain growth), and all the nutrients of human milk are significantly more bioavailable than those of cow’s milk because it is species specific (not to mention all the components of mother’s milk that are not present in cow’s milk).

There is no need to add cow’s milk to your toddler’s diet (or the equivalent nutrients from other milks or foods) as long as your baby is nursing at least 3-4 times per day. Cow’s milk is really just a convenient source of calcium, protein, fats, vitamin D, etc. – it’s not required. There are many people in many parts of the world who do not drink milk and still manage to get all the calcium, protein, fats, vitamin D, etc. that they need."


Anyway, when she was telling me I needed to cut back I just held my tongue and in my head said, no way lady! Lol Now that I know some more people here I will see if anyone can recommend a pro breastfeeding doctor... One that knows breast is best even after 1.

I have to say nursing past 1 has its moments. I wish more people were aware of its benefits it is hard to feel like people don't support you. Luckily I have a small group of people who I know support me in this, but even my family thinks I'm crazy! Lol as long as I know I'm doing the best i can for my family and what feels right I'm going to stick with it and try my darnedest to ignore all the haters!

Also, I'd like to add that I nurse because I love it and so does Colin and it still works for us. That in itself is enough reason to continue, in my opinion.

18 months

Colin has really started speaking more this past month. He says: mama, daddy, papa, uh oh, hi, bye, ball, bubbles, thank you, brrrrr. He pants and barks like a dog and makes monkey noises too. He signs milk and all gone or all done.

He knows all his body parts and has added elbows, knees, chin, and bottom. Lol

He loves playing with his trucks, tries to carry them all at once, which never works out like he plans. He is obsessed with monster trucks and jeeps and can point out all the jeeps when we go for a walk. He also loves water and could play outside with the garden hose for hours everyday.

His favorite foods are (everything): berries, oatmeal, yogurt, pepperoni, turkey, ham, pasta, chips, hummus, cheese, spinach. He loves to eat chips and dip them in things like salsa and guacamole.  He is not afraid of hot salsa and it amazes me that he can eat it!

He is starting to sleep a bit better with longer stretches at night in his crib. We are still nursing, in case anyone was wondering! Lol

We are in size 4 diapers and 18 month clothes. We go in tomorrow for his 18 month check up, so i will update his measurements then!!

Colin, my sweet, silly boy... Happy 18 months!

Pasta Broccoli

Sounds simple enough, but there is a trick!

My Italian grandmother used to make this for me when I was a kid. Maybe this was her trick in getting her grand kids to eat veggies?! But it worked and everyone loved it!


I don't know exact measurements, but add things to your taste!

The trick is to cook the pasta with the broccoli in the same water so it picks up the flavor.

I gave the broccoli a head start and then added in the pasta and let them cook together.

After I drained them I added a little bit of milk (optional), butter, and cheese. I also added shredded chicken for some protein and a spoonful of pesto... Cause I love pesto, but those two are not traditional to my grandmas recipe.

Serve and add more cheese to taste! Oh and the cheese is grated cheese, like Parmesan or I do a Parmesan and asiago mixture.

Yum yum!

My mid dinner pictures:

Target Fashion...

I've been wanting a maxi skirt for quite awhile. I have maxi dresses... but not a skirt. I've been casually looking whenever I go to a store and always come up empty handed. So when I was perusing Target the other day and happened to see a maxi skirt... I jumped at the chance to get it! Lol Of Course I Sometimes I worry that I am too short for a maxi, but comfort outweighs any of those worries... and I just ignore that little voice!

 

Reasons I love maxis:   They are comfy.  They are in style. You don't have to shave your legs. You don't have to worry about having white legs. Most of them you can dress up or down and wear with flip flops (my fav) or wedges and heels. Lastly, they are awesome.

 

 

Also I thought I'd throw in Colin in my fashion posts... his outfit was also from Target! Wouldn't you know?  I am in love with kid rompers. They don't make many for boys, but when I see them I have to get them! Carters tend to make most of the rompers I find, this one in particular is a Just One You, by Carters.  It is a little big on him... but that just means he'll wear it longer. Also my shirt and shoes (not that you can see my shoes) are from Target. The shoes are a few season old flip flops from Target, but I happened to see that they had the same updated style back this year (Score... still in fashion!).  I love the cute lace cuff sleeves on this shirt... it will be a favorite in my wardrobe for awhile! :)  Also I think it is clear I am better at taking pictures of my kid than myself. The end.

 

Oh yes and we wore these outfits to a 3rd bday party! :)