Blast from the Past...

I finally uploaded videos from my camera and found this gem from back in May! My dad had her hooked on Irish music. And we thought she was a little firecracker here...we had no idea what was in store for us!

Day 21

day 21. a photo of you standing up

Thought I would find an 'older one'! Remember a few photos back when I was at Lina's 2nd b-day party?? Well...this is her mommy (and her)!

This was also taken at my FAVORITE apartment ever. If we ever moved back to the city (which would probably never happen), I would want to live here again! Whenever anyone starts to talk about this apartment, I tell them to stop so I don't start crying...that is how much I miss it! I don't know why, I just loved that place! So many great friends (one that was walking distance away), a great ice-cream shop nearby, and where Lauren was 'created' and the beginning of my pregnancy took place.

Day 20

day 20. a photo of something you enjoy doingtwo things: babywearing and sleeping

Day 19: Photo Challenge

day 19. a photo of you on a school trip
Spring Break 2006, New York City Mission Trip

Had a blast! Can you find me in the picture, I kind of look like my friend Lauren (thee 'Lauren Page'). So many memories from this trip!

Clean Green Toilet Machine

Looking for a fun, safe, and clean science project??

I am always researching ways to reduce the amount of cleaners that we use in our home. We cut out all toxic chemicals before moving into our house and slowly are incorporating home-made solutions into our cleaning regime versus a store bought plant-based cleaner.

The next stop on our list, toilet bowl cleaner! The goal of cleaning our toilets is mainly for them to sparkle and not stink. All that can be accomplished with the following supplies...
Castile soap, baking soda, vinegar, and essential oils. You can easily skip the castile soap and oils if you do not have them on hand. The recipe I got was from "Easy Green Living" by Loux.

1 tbsp. castile soap or other liquid soap
1/3 cup baking soda
1/3 cup distilled white vinegar
8 drops essential oil of lavender, rosemary, or both (I used a lavender and tea tree oil blend)

Add the soap into the toilet bowl, sprinkle baking soda in, then pour in vinegar and oils. Let it fizz and sizzle for 2-3 minutes then scrub with your toilet brush.

It is that easy and cheap!! So why should you decide to change your cleaning routine and opt for a natural approach? If I was using a traditional toxic, chemical-based, toilet bowl cleaner, there is no way I would let Lauren near it, let alone touch it...so why would I keep it in the house?

The other downside to using chemical-based cleaners is that the fumes can be toxic when combined. For example, if you scrub your toilet with a cleaner that contains chlorine bleach and then clean your sink/tub with an ammonia based cleaner, you can create deadly fumes or cause severe lung damage!

And at the request of my sister, here is a better picture of the date pits that Lauren ate compared to a penny...remember, she ate 3. Opps!

Photo Challenge: Day 18

day 18. a photo of one of your classes

This is one of the grad schools I go to, the Erikson Institute. They moved to this new facility in 2008 and it is amazing!

Day 17: Photo Challenge

day 17. a drunk photo of you

I can't even remember the last time I got drunk...okay, nevermind, maybe I can. We went out to eat with Kyle's sister, Amanda, in Chicago. She was just shy of turning 21 so we decided to go to our favorite Mexican restaurant about a mile from our place. We ordered a pitcher of margarita (a PITCHER) and sure enough, they card Amanda. Are you kidding me? So Kyle and I had a pitcher to split. If you really know me, I don't drink alcohol much, not at all anymore, since I am breastfeeding . I had half a glass and was out. I couldn't even focus or taste my food. If you really know me again, you know how much I like food and how much of a disappointment it was to not be able to taste it.

This picture was taken on our honeymoon right before I got drunk. Kyle did take a picture of me passed out on the bed but our old computer crashed and I haven't been able to retrieve the pictures yet. We made reservations to eat for 9pm and decided to hit up the bar beforehand. No food in tummy + extremely strong Jamaican alcohol = a cheap date! Needless to say...I didn't taste my food that night either, bummer!

Day 16: Photo Challenge

day 16. a photo of you at the last party you went to

First I had to try and remember the last time we went to a "party" and then find a picture with me in it, ugh! This was at our little friend Lina's 2nd Birthday Party in early December. Lauren enjoyed the ballerina themed party and the snacks!

Food...Food...and More Food

A post all about food! We have been eating some of our favorites this week and I thought that I would share them with all of you. Lauren absolutely LOVES dates. If she could, she would eat them all day. Unfortunately, like all fruit, they have a lot of natural sugars in them and we don't like hyper Lauren so we have to restrict her 'date intake'. The other day I was so proud of her in the grocery store when we were walking through the produce section and she was yelling and pointing, 'apple, banana, grapes, booberries'; glad she knows her fruits instead of candy bars. Evidence here...

This is how she responded when she knew she was put on a strict date diet

Now comes the horrible part of the story. I usually get our dates from the bulk section at Whole Foods but haven't made a trip there in quite some time. Jewel had a nice deal on some good-looking, plump, dates and Lauren spotted them in the grocery store and started screaming 'yum'. Anyways, I gave her one and Kyle gave her three. It wasn't until the last one that Kyle gave her that she spit a little something in his hand...a pit!! That means that she ate three of these suckers...

Now onto the next treat. I really love a good grilled cheese and am looking for fun variations often. My internship supervisor told me about this and I had to try. Here is a fig (similar but not the same as a date)

Put it through the mini-food processor until it was chunky

Put a few slices of brie on my bread (with butter)

Topped the brie with some thin apple slices

Put the fig chunks on top of that

Grilled it up and yummo!

Lauren kept saying 'more please' in sign language. Here she is mid 'more'.

and mid-'please'

Now onto dessert. I am big ice cream lover. I usually have to eat a heaping bowl every night before I go to bed. Since I have been slowly cutting processed foods out of my diet and eating less sugary things, ice cream just hasn't tasted quite the same. So...I made my own! Take about 1 1/2 frozen bananas and plop them into a food processor.

Keep on low and occasionally scrape down the bowl. If you want a 'dippin dot' texture, you can stop here. Otherwise it is a good time to add anything you might like in it.

I added a few carob chips and spoonful of almond maple butter. Cold Stone has a banana ice cream so think about what you would add to that.

Mix it all up on low again until the desired consistency is reached

Because there are no preservatives, you really need to eat it that night otherwise the banana will start to brown up. A yummy, healthy treat that you don't have to worry about your kiddos eating.

Day 15 and other random things

Warning...this is going to be LONG!!

Day 15: a photo of you and someone you love

Of course, Lauren! My friend, Ashley, is having a baby real soon and has been talking about making a wrap for little Miss #2. Because I LOVED my Moby so much, I knew that she needed one compared to making her own. I searched online for a great deal and eventually found this beauty at 50% off because the store was going out of business. Because Ashley isn't a recycling cloth diaper freak like me, I decided to keep it for myself and send her my old one (she was okay with that). I didn't think that Lauren would fit in it anymore because she is SO SQUIRMY. The weight limit is 35 lbs (Lauren is about 21 lbs) but since it is jersey knit, it has some stretch to it and Lauren tends to weasel her way out of it. The minute I pulled it out of the bag though, she was flapping her arms and so excited to get in. I could barely wrap it fast enough!

In other Lauren news...she has been a little difficult to live with lately. I really hate to use that word but those darn molars are going to kill me. Testing Mommy and Daddy have been her favorite things to do and she is definitely trying to figure out what she can and can not get away with. Sleep has been horrible, thanks again to the lovely molars! Last night I got a 5 hour stretch of sleep...my first 5-hr. stretch in ages! I went to work today so refreshed and actually felt competent and enjoyed my job. I guess I forgot how important sleep is to parenting and working competently. I could really get used to that!

For example...here is little Miss climbing on top of the table as she is yelling, "no, no, down, sit!" The chair pulled out is how she got up.

I will take a brief moment to share about my latest joy and to show my dad how it is done! This is my new favorite breakfast: fresh juice, 1-2 bananas, a heaping spoonful of peanut or almond butter, and a large bunch of spinach all blended together.

It looks like this when done. You can barely taste the spinach but it definitely aids to the smoothie and makes it divine. Lauren is quite a fan as well hence the alternative of almond butter. If you do not have a power juicer, you can easily use milk or yogurt. This morning I added coconut milk instead of fresh juice as my time was limited.

Potty training has been moving along well. We are in no rush to make things happen and are moving at her pace. She loves sitting on the potty, especially in the morning, and reading books. I now have to set my alarm clock earlier in order to sit with her and read about 5 books while she 'takes care of business'.

She now loves her 'pretty' and is begging to look through her basket of bows, headbands, and hats. If you didn't notice, Dad decided to put her headband on funny in this picture and she kept it there for quite some time squishing the rest of her face.

The other morning I had MOPS at our local church. Lauren's babysitter, Heather, and I go every other week. Usually we bring the kids along and they go to the nursery during our two hour group. This week, however, Kyle had off from work so he decided to stay back with both of them and play instead of exposing them to the nasty germs that they always seem to bring home after MOPS. We came back to two happy babies playing and about 70 pictures on the camera.

Lauren trying to balance a toy tuna can on her head.

Showing Jax the snow outside

This is a typical Lauren face. I can only imagine her being a bossy little lady one of these days, sorry Jax.

Jax in all his smiley glory. Kyle said several times he forgot that Jax was there because he was so quiet and not as "high-maintenance" as Lauren. He was so impressed that Jax ate his meal in its entirety quickly, played quietly, was easily entertained, and could fall asleep on his own. My response to him...maybe baby #2 will be like that.

They both wanted to play in Lauren's bed. It may look different than what I posted a few posts back. Her mattress is now off the floor and she is in her crib, minus one side rail. We put a bolster under the fitted sheet so she can't roll off but can easily climb out when done sleeping.

She seems to like it and the nice thing is that I can nurse her while she is laying in it by kneeling next to the bed. Before her molars decided to make an appearance she was staying in there until about midnight-2 am so hopefully we can increase that time each night. We are following Jay Gordon's night weaning method between 11pm-6am but had to stop momentarily to get through the molars. Hopefully we can start back up again soon. I was completely shocked when I told her that the na-na's were 'all-gone' in the middle of the night and she rolled back over and fell asleep.

Day 14: Photo Challenge

Day 14: A photo of you and one of your favorite family members

This was a tough one! I didn't want to make anyone jealous so I decided to do the most OBVIOUS choice! This is my "sister" Mindy. She is such a joy for our family and we are truly blessed to have her in it! Mindy is a very special lady that had some medical complications when she was first born. After a heart surgery when she was a wee baby, she suffered a stroke and left the hospital with some life-long cognitive and medical issues. My mom was her paraprofessional when she was in elementary school and knew the in's and out's of her life and medical condition. Unfortunately, Mindy's mom was abruptly diagnosed with leukemia and what was supposed to be a one or two night stay at our house while she was getting some medical attention turned into one year and her passing to be with Jesus. At the time, Mindy's parents were divorced but after her death, she went to live with her dad in another town. We are very fortunate to still be able to hang out with her over school breaks and her and her sister (Jaimie) are extra siblings in our family. I can't believe she is graduating High School this year too!!

Day 13: Photo Challenge

Day 13: A photo of your friendsWe don't have many friends out in our new town yet but have many back in the city and in Iowa. It is always great to have friends that are married and we are lucky to be friends with Andy and Stacy! The top picture is Stacy and I in the summer of 2008 at Gino's East Pizza. The second picture is Kyle and Andy playing Rock Band REALLY late at night in the summer of 2009. I remember being so tired and laying on the floor in the living room because I was pregnant and never stay up past 11, I think this picture was taken around 2am.

And while perusing pictures, I came across this one and had to post it! During their stay in the summer of 2008, Andy and Kyle went to a Cubs game. It just so happened that was the same game that we had tornado warnings and the weather was horrendous. The wind whipped off Kyle's new hat and later he found one of the ushers wearing it and got it back!! Pretty funny! While Kyle and Andy were enjoying their drunken stormy disaster, Stacy and I were hanging out in the deep dark basement of Macy's in downtown Chicago with the rest of the patrons because of the tornado warning. It was an interesting and rainy weekend!

Day 12: Photo Challenge

Day 12: A photo of youIt was kind of hard to find just a picture of me. Although this isn't the 'best' picture in the world, I really had fun this night! This was my birthday (Feb. 2009). I was pregnant with Lauren and not really feeling the best. My great friend Kelsey (her middle name is Lauren) and Kyle took me to my favorite places to eat: El Gallo Bravo #5 and Margies for dessert. This picture was taken at Margies; just so understand the amount of deliciousness that went into this night...

Here is the Turtle Sundae with homemade Hot Chocolate Syrup that I ate (all of it!)This is the Rootbeer Float that Kyle had

This Week's Festivities

For Christmas I got some nifty food contraptions. The one above is from my MIL and is a homemade baking dish that you can use for bread, casseroles, beans, etc. I decided to whip up some bread in it and really liked the shape that it produced instead of a loaf pan. The other really cool one that I mentioned in my post below is the power juicer! This thing is amazing!! We all enjoy getting up in the morning now and having some fresh juice. For example, below is what we juiced the other morning: two oranges, apple, pear, and half a sweet potato.

This was the final delicious product! Since your body doesn't have to digest all the fruit skin/pulp, it absorbs much quicker into your body giving you the nutrients and antioxidants that you need.

Lauren sucked it down! She really doesn't drink much other than breast milk and occasionally Almond Milk and water so it is nice to have her drinking something. We give her a powder probiotic too, so it mixes up nicely in her juice.

The juicer sucks out all the liquid from the fruit and leaves behind the pulp. We have been saving that for recipes like these scrumptious harvest blend muffins below that had all the pulp from the juice above, coconut, raisins, pecans, and carob chips. Lauren thinks they are cookies. We made a green smoothie the other day and saved the spinach and fruit pulp to add to meatloaf.

This week has also been 'BedTime Boot-Camp'. We decided to use our Christmas funds to buy a new mattress...finally! We contemplated getting a king-sized bed for us all to fit or get another queen and kick Lauren out. Well...Kyle won! We bought another queen bed and it is coming TODAY! I have been slowly working on transitioning Lauren into her own space. I knew she wasn't going to sleep in her crib because it is so difficult getting her in there without waking her up and she enjoys nursing to sleep so I just laid her crib mattress on the floor. She has been napping in there REALLY well this past week! We have a few toys, some pillows so she doesn't hit the wall, and her favorite bedtime books. She is always pointing to her mattress when we wake by her room and saying 'ni-ni' so we know she is starting to understand that it is her own space. For night, I have been nursing her down in there around 7ish and then when she wakes up for the first time bringing her back into our bed. I did that for two nights and noticed she was getting up around midnight each time so last night I went back in and nursed her down hoping we could go another stretch in her room but she woke up about 20 minutes later. I think I will try again tonight to nurse her down in her room for the first time and bring her in our room the second time (if she wakes up). Obviously there have been a lot of patterns in our room for the past 16 months and they are not going to change overnight so we are taking it slow. Plus, I still enjoy her snuggled next to me and couldn't stop cold-turkey either!