When I got pregnant I was so excited for many many reasons, one being the fact that I was SURELY going to be lounging at home all day during maternity leave, cuddling and snuggling a perfect little baby for 4 months straight.  I mean, what else do babies do or need, right?

Well, let’s just say that I’ve been surprised in the best way possible and that hanging out with this sweet face all day has been a blast.  Here’s a little looksy into our day (these times aren’t always exact, sometimes the naps are longer or shorter, playtimes are varied, etc):

8:00-8:30am – Wes wakes up for his “first” feeding of the day (there’s technically one before this one but it’s in the middle of the night).  His feedings lately are typically 20-30 minutes long, so I usually end up watching a Friends rerun while he eats.  I was never allowed to watch that show when it was actually on the air (well, til I was in high school/college, but at that point I didn’t care) and so now I’m catching up.  It’s kind of an obsession…

8:30-9:30am – We have playtime!  Since Wes is smiling more and is learning so much these days we have a good time singing, dancing, reading, tummy time and playing on the play mat!  He’s usually a little sleepier during this playtime, so we’ll sing and dance and then he actually gets sleepy.  I haven’t eaten yet at this point and am staaaaaaarving! 9:30-11am – Wes takes a nap in his swing and usually falls asleep really quickly.  This is the time that I usually get a lot of blogging, emails, freelance and chores done as well as make and inhale breakfast.  Once he hits the swing it’s a mad rush to get it all done!  The dogs get brushed, the yard gets watered and the kitchen gets cleaned.  90 minutes flies by!

11:00-11:30am – Second feeding time!  More Friends or whatever is on Food Network at the time.  It’s more background noise than anything, and I’ll usually try to finish what I didn’t get done on my phone while he eats.  I’m so thankful that we can do the breastfeeding thing and truly cherish it but it’s nice to have something on TV while I watch my sweet boy eat!

11:30-12:30pm – More play time!  He’s usually more awake at this point and ready to really get rolling on the playing!  We’ll read a few books, dance around, sing songs and do more mat/tummy time.  He’s still not a big fan of tummy time but it gets better and easier for him every day.  I know it won’t be long before he’s spending a lot of time on his stomach!  Toward the end of play time he’ll start to get pretty fussy, so we usually opt for a diaper change and clothes change at this point.

12:30-2:00pm – For this naptime we usually get in the stroller and head out for a long walk or head to the dog park with the pups for some exercise and outdoor time.  As it warms up we’ll likely be making this outdoor time a regular morning or evening thing, but right now is a great time to get in a good walk.  I also try and grab lunch right after we get back since it’ll be another 90 minutes til I’m able to eat!

2:00-2:30pm – Wes is awake and hungry!  More food, more Friends and more chugging water for mom.

2:30-3:30pm – Around this time he usually has no patience for dancing and singing anymore, but the play mat is super awesome!  He’ll play and bat around at the toys while I watch him and do things like laundry folding, dusting or other random chores where I can keep him in my sight.  We also walk around and look at things in the house or outside and he just stares at all the cool new things!

3:30-5:00pm – This is the time that I’ve been trying to get in a high-intensity 20-minute workout and subsequent shower.  It all just depends on how I’m feeling from previous workouts in the week or how far we went on our walk earlier, but I figure I always have 20 minutes to really work hard.  If I’m roasting something or need to prep for dinner I’ll usually do it now before the 5:00 feeding since it will make the cooking part that much easier.  It’s also the time that I make blog-specific things since that’s usually when the light is best.

5:00-5:30pm – Dinner time!  Wes gets in a good feeding before Daddy gets home -  just in time to play!

5:30-6:30pm – Nate is home!  He and Wes spend time together while I cook dinner and feed the dogs.  I’m so glad that they are able to play more now…the first few weeks home we were all getting used to one another and it was hard for Nate to know what to do when the only thing that would console Wes was food.  Now they smile and sing and dance – so much fun to watch!

6:30-8:00pm – Final naptime!  This naptime is actually fairly short because he doesn’t show that he’s tired until a little later.  He hangs out in his swing until his last feeding.

8:00-8:30pm – Final feeding and get ready for bed!  We feed him, wipe down his face, put him in his PJs, read a little book and sing Amazing Grace.  Nate leads us in a little family prayer, and then we kiss him good night and tell him we love him!  Lately he’s been sleeping about 5-6 hours straight, which means that we now have a few hours after he goes down to get stuff done with work or just spend some quality time together!  We usually end up climbing in bed around 10 or 11, a little later than we should, but it’s a good time to unwind.

2:30am – A midnight feeding!  He wakes me up, we do a quick diaper change and the fastest feeding of the day.  He’s usually back in bed after 30 minutes or so and so am I, hopefully for another few hours!

Like I said this isn’t an exact schedule and it changes literally every day but it’s a decent rough idea of what it’s like for us in this stage of Wes’s life!

This is probably the most dangerous thing I’ve made in a loooooooooong time.  See, the reason I never make bread is because it’s always so involved.  It actually requires work.  And I kind of really love the whole romantic aspect of kneading the dough and making a starter and so on, but the reality is that I don’t want to take the time to do all of that.

It’s a good thing that I was born when I was.  My laziness is totally warranted, right?

http://www.simplyscratch.com/2012/05/easy-homemade-french-bread.html

All this to say that I have now found my kryptonite.  Bread.  That has 4 ingredients (3 if you don’t count water).  That you don’t have to knead.  Oh, and you only have to let it rise ONCE.  Seriously.

Laurie, what are you doing to me?  I have no chance of not eating a loaf a day for the rest of my life.  Forever and ever AMEN.

I really can’t recommend this recipe enough; it’s the simplest one EVER for bread that tastes amazing.  And now there’s no excuse to not make French bread pizzas, panini, fancy sandwiches and toast all from scratch.

I promise you guys will NOT be sorry!  Check out the original recipe here – and a big fat thanks to Laurie for being a rockstar in the kitchen!

For someone who doesn’t even like popcorn that much this little bowl of wonder sure has changed my tone!

Super simple and using ingredients you probably already have – check it out!

Remember that one time when I made a coffee cake in a jar for one person and told you that it was a pain?  Well, I have a new little something for one and it’s SOOOOOOO easy.  Get ready to have your scone world rocked!

See, my go-to scone recipe is awesome but it makes 6 large scones and truth be told I’m more than tempted to eat alllllllllll of them in one sitting.  But one?  Well, one scone I can handle.  One scone.

One.

The awesome thing about this is that you can make annnnnnnny scone you want.  How about chocolate and orange?  Or blueberry?  Or cherry pecan?  The possibilities are insane and endless and you get to have a new scone every day of the week.

I’ll just put it this way:  you’re welcome

A SCONE FOR ONE RECIPE

• 1/3 cup flour
• 1/2 tsp baking powder
• 1/4 tsp salt
• 1 Tbsp sugar
• 1 Tbsp cold butter, cut into small cubes
• 2 1/2 Tbsp milk (I used nonfat)
• 2 Tbsp mix-in of choice (this particular scone is cranberry walnut!)

Preheat oven to 450.  It’s good to note that I have a small food processor (I think a 1-cup capacity?) which worked perfectly for this, but you can certainly use your fingers to break up the butter into the flour.

In a food processor combine the flour, baking powder, salt and sugar.  Pulse the butter into the dry ingredients until it breaks up and resembles crumbs.  Next add in the mix-ins and milk and pulse until the dough pulls away from the side of the mixer, which should only take a moment.  Carefully pull the dough away from the blade and shape into a circle, patting it to about 1/2 inch in thickness.  Bake at 450 on a Silpat or a piece of parchment paper for 8-10 minutes until golden brown.  Let cool slightly before digging in!

I’m telling you guys, I don’t even know what to do with myself now that I can have a different scone every day.  For the rest of my life.  Awesome!

OHEMGEE.

I really have no words to describe these, unless “go make them immediately and devour them all ASAP” counts as a way to describe them.  Seriously, I’ve been making these every week for the past month and keeping them in the freezer for a quick little sweet bite and I can’t even begin to describe how much I LOOOVE them.

Think dense fudgy brownie meets refreshing cool mint meets delicious chocolate coating.  AKA heaven.

Check out the recipe on ChefMom!

Anything that starts off with a photo of garlic and red pepper flakes frying…well, let’s just say there’s no chance it could be bad.

Let’s be honest – garlic is the best.  Always and forever.  Amen.

The way I see it garlic is the glue that holds all food together.  I mean, I love me some sugar, butter and bacon…but as far as I’m concerned food without garlic is hardly food.

You know, besides baked goods.  Whatevs.

Anyway, I loooooooooove Israeli couscous and yet never took the chance to actually make it.  That is til now thanks in HUGE part to the awesome Blend Retreat and the fact that Bob’s Red Mill donated some in our awesome swag bags.  Y’all, I’ll never go back to regular couscous…it’s Israeli all the way!

The best part about this dish is that the veggies are interchangeable and the lemon juice adds a perfect amount of acidity to keep it light and clean.  Plus you can eat it with a big plate of fried chicken and it basically cancels it out.  YES.  PLEASE.

GARLIC ISRAELI COUSCOUS

• 1 1/2 cups whole wheat Israeli couscous
• 3 cups water or chicken stock (or vegetable stock)
• 3-4 cloves garlic, minced (more if you like…I know I do!)
• 2 Tbsp olive oil
• 1 tsp crushed red pepper flakes
• 1 tsp salt
• 1/2 tsp black pepper
• juice from two large lemons
• 4 cups veggies of choice (I liked the combo of asparagus and spinach)

Bring the water/stock to boil and add the couscous.  Cook for 10-15 minutes until al dente, then drain.  Meanwhile heat the olive oil, garlic and red pepper flakes over medium low heat for 3-4 minutes until the garlic starts to turn brown and fragrant.  Add in the veggies of choice and cook for the appropriate amount of time.  I added the asparagus first and cooked for 10 minutes over medium low heat, then removed from the heat and stirred in the spinach.  Stir in the couscous and lemon juice, then season with salt and pepper.  Serve hot, room temperature or cold!

I want to bury my face in that bowl.  Too bad I ate it all already…

As you guys know, this is my first Mother’s Day and I am so blessed.  Not only do I have a sweet little boy with the love of my life:

But I have the best mother in the ENTIRE world!  The woman who raised me to love the Lord, to treat others the way I want to be treated, who taught me to cook, laugh, and push myself to reach my full potential.  The woman who was patient with me even when I sent my sister to the hospital doing something stupid (even though it’s actually funny now) and who hugged me when I cried.  The woman who has taught me what it means to be a loving wife, an incredible mother and an even better friend.

Mommy, I love you so much and am so thankful for you!

And to all of you mothers out there, thank you for what you do…I don’t think I ever realized the extent of what it means to be a mom and now I am so thankful for the effort and love you all exhibit every day!

Much love,

Heather

It’s cold here.  Cloudy.  Probably going to rain a little later on.

And you know what that means?  Movie night!  I’ve never been the biggest popcorn fan, although Nate LOVES it, so I’m going to celebrate by whipping up a big fat batch of toasted ranch chickpeas.

Oh, what’s that?  You want some too?  Well hop on over to ChefMom and check out the recipe!  Promise you won’t be disappointed…unless you don’t make them.  Then you will be fo sho!

This little boy steals my heart about 50 times a day:

He’s officially over 2 months old now, and/or 9 weeks, and was quite the little trooper at his doctor’s appointment earlier this week.  Wes is now over 2 feet long and weighed in at a little over 12.5 lbs!  He’s obviously growing since he’s quickly OUTgrowing many of his 3-month onsies, but it’s always nice to know that he’s gaining weight by seeing the actual number.  I just can’t believe he’s grown 5 lbs in a matter of 8 weeks!  I mean it’s easy enough for ME to put on that kind of weight, but with a baby that makes a huge difference!

P.S. Check out the awesome onsie my friend Emma made for him – it says “baby on board”   Too cute!  I’m kind of obsessed with it…

So I’m guessing that earlier this week I was a little caught up in the close-up pictures.  His little face is just so cute and expressive, not to mention that I didn’t feel like changing lenses and just stuck with the 50mm.  Cuteness and laziness go hand in hand, right?

Right!

Something new this week is that Wes has started to find his hands.  At first I thought it was the universal sign that he was hungry, but even after full feedings he would start bringing his hands to his face and chewing or sucking on them.  It cracks me up when he’s pushing his face around and gets a little frustrated, and last night he made this sour face but couldn’t stop chewing his fingers.  I was doubled over!

Tuesday we had his 2-month check-up and as I said before, he was so strong.  The hardest part was the first round of vaccinations, and honestly the hardest part was me crying.  Nate held him and it was over and done with in just a few seconds.  The rest of the day he pretty much ate and then slept and didn’t really want to have any sort of playtime at all.  I figured that was fine since the shots were fairly traumatic for him, but I’d be lying if I said I wasn’t hovering over him all.day.long.

Other than the grumpiness the biggest change has been in the color of his poop, which is slowly going back to normal.  Since this is a food blog I won’t go into details on this, but I was terrified at first until I re-read the potential changes that would come in the first few days after his first round of immunizations.

Tuesday night (after the vaccinations) Wes was super cranky and then smiled at Nate and I totally lost it.  It felt like it had been forever since I saw that little grin!

Sleep these days is getting better and better, easier and easier to come by, which I love.  We’ve been doing a 2.5-3 hour feeding schedule when he’s awake and putting him down for bed at around 8 every night.  He’ll usually sleep til around 3 and wake up for a feeding, then go back to bed for another 3-4 hours.  I can’t even begin to say what a blessing it is to feel rested and ready to take on the day with a decent amount of sleep!

Another great thing that just keeps getting better and better is watching Nate and Wes together.  I feel like it was hard initially because I’m the one with the milk and Wes knows that, which made it hard for Nate to help when he was upset or hungry.  However, we’ve been trying to feed him one bottle a day to both give me a break and to make sure he actually takes a bottle when needed.

It’s seriously the cutest thing in the world to see him light up when he sees his daddy’s face!

The dogs are doing well, especially now that we’re hitting up the dog park a couple times a week and allowing them to blow off steam by sprinting.  That, and it helps to carry Wes around in the Ergo as much as possible so that he will get used to it.  He’s still a little resistant to it but he gets used to it more and more every day.

Last night we gave the pups some empty peanut butter jars to ease their pain…

Only their very favorite thing in the world next to snuggles and walks.  You should have seen the joy in their eyes when we pulled out the empty jars!

Things are continuing to go well for me in postpartum land.  The hardest/coolest/weirdest thing is just trying to figure out who I am in this new stage of life.  For the first few weeks it was just me trying to get hold of what the heck just happened to me physically and emotionally.  The next few weeks were me trying to get back in shape and grow stronger physically and emotionally.  And now I am stronger and more confident in who I am as a mother, but am still searching for the balance between the woman that I was and the mother that I now am.

I’ll end with this though:  last night I told Nate through tears that I never in a million years would have imagined that I would love being a mom as much as I do.  The changes in my life and my body are 100% worth it, and I truly can’t wait to see how our lives continue to change!

Is anyone else still holding on to apple season for dear life?  I mean really, apples tend to be more of a fall thing but I just can’t get enough of them right now.  And when I say that I think it’s fair to disclose that I can’t get enough cinnamon and sugar either.

The thing that I’ve also become recently super obsessed with is eggroll wrappers.  Those suckers work great for everything and automatically make it suuuuuuuuuuuper fancy.  Ham & cheese sandwich?  Stuff that in an eggroll and take that to the bank!

Or in my case, apple pie?  HOLY YES.  And, you know, why wouldn’t I roll that around in some cinnamon sugar immediately after frying?  Guys, these decisions aren’t hard.  Cinnamon sugar wins every time.

P.S. Wanna know a story?  One of the first times I ever drank I was buzzed after 1 margarita (I’m totally a lightweight) and went home to tell my roommate Kristin that I was starved.  So being the awesome roomie that she was she made me cinnamon sugar toast as a cure for my “drunk munchies.”  The end.

CINNAMON SUGAR APPLE PIE EGGROLLS

• 2 medium apples (I used Gala apples)
• 3 Tbsp sugar, divided
• 2 Tbsp flour
• 4 eggroll wrappers
• 2 tsp cinnamon, divided
• 2 cups vegetable oil (if frying) OR 1 Tbsp vegetable oil (if baking)

Peel and grate both of the apples into a medium bowl.  Toss with 2 Tbsp of flour, 2 Tbsp of sugar, and cinnamon until well combined.  To make the eggrolls, take one eggroll wrapper and place on a cutting board or plate.  Spoon one quarter of the filling into the middle on a diagonal.  Fold one corner over the filling tightly.  Then take the side corners and wrap tightly from the side.  Using your finger brush a bit of water on the remaining corner and roll the eggroll tightly, sealing with the final corner.

To bake:  Preheat oven to 400 and place the eggrolls seam side down on a sheet pan lined with parchment paper or a Silpat.  Lightly brush the eggrolls with the 1 Tbsp of vegetable oil.  Bake at 400 for 15 minutes, until browned and crisp.

To fry:  Gently heat 2 cups of oil over low heat until about 350 degrees.  Fry each eggroll seam side down for 3-4 minutes until golden brown and crisp.  Let drain.

Toss together the remaining 1 Tbsp of sugar and 1 tsp of cinnamon.  Roll the eggrolls in the cinnamon sugar mixture immediately after cooking.  Serve hot!

Now all I need is a margarita…