Dec 31, 2010

Goodbye 2010

2010...what an AMAZING year. I think it was so amazing that it deserves a recap. Happy New Year!
  
 
jan 2010: my kitchen looked like this...



   

...and I was 20+ weeks pregnant.
 
feb 2010: I celebrated my 30th birthday pregnant and sober...

...and we moved stuff into our house that wasn't finished (crazy!).

  

mar 2010: my kitchen looked like this...

 

...but we managed to pull it off and host Corinne's bridal shower.





 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 

april 2010: our house was finished...




 
 

...and I was SUPER pregnant.

 
may 2010: our little peanut was born...beautiful Madelyn Rose.



june 2010: Corinne & Kris got married...



...and we celebrated Grandma's 90th birthday.



july 2010: Madelyn started to smile.



aug 2010: Madelyn slept in Times Square.




sept 2010: Mason started warming up to Madelyn.
oct 2010: Madelyn celebrated her first Halloween.
nov 2010: Madelyn swam in the ocean in Cuba...
...and we celebrated our 2nd Anniversary.
dec 2010: Madelyn met Santa for the first time.

Dec 27, 2010

Proof I finished my baking this Christmas

This post is a little late, but, since I'm the type that likes to cross things off my list, here is proof that I actually got around to doing my Christmas baking this year. Thank you Epicurious for all of the easy to make recipes.

double butter pie crust
Apple Berry Pie (thanks for the filling Steff)
Gingerbread People (made with Nona for extra love)
Banana Nut Chocolate Chip Muffins
4 Layer Lemon Cake (Happy Birthday Aunt Teresa)

Dec 25, 2010

MERRY CHRISTMAS EVERYONE!!!

From our family (hm3) to yours, MERRY CHRISTMAS!!!




We feel so blessed to be celebrating with our baby girl in our new home this year. I hope everyone has a wonderful day also.

Thank you Jesus for blessing our world, our lives :)

Dec 21, 2010

Christmas week to do list

1. Finish wrapping gifts
2. Bake x3
3. Walk dog
4. Buy turkey
5. Clean house
6. Finish mailing cards
7. Play with baby
8. buy canned goods to donate
9. Rest so I don't get sick for Xmas
10. Do a real blog post (sorry fans, you're at the bottom)

Merry Christmas Week! Only 4 more sleeps!

Dec 17, 2010

Baby Essentials: 6 months

Want to know what we were crazy about at 6 months?

Eating:
-Skip Hop Divided Feeding Tray: Developing a good palatte starts with introducing lots of new flavors. Keep them separate with a divided feeding dish.
-Sippy Cup: Along with food introduction, water can be offered in a sippy cup. It's a good time for baby to start learning the skill of drinking from a cup.
-Carters feeding bibs: Just as awesome as the teething bibs but BIGGER. Keep food off baby's cute clothes with these.
-Boon Grass Countertop Drying Rack: Functional and looks cool on your counter top.

Teething:
-Razbaby RaZberry Teether (soother): Provides great gum stimulation; enjoyable even for a baby who doesn't like a regular soother.
-Ringly Natural Teething Toys: Dip it in water, freeze it & suck on it. How easy is that?
-Boiron Camilia Teething homeopathic: An alternative solution to pain relief.

Pooping:
-Desitin Bum Cream: Recommended by our GP to help fix bum rash issues due to food introduction (i.e. when baby's poop changes from watery to firm).

Playing:
-Apple Park Picnic Pal: Such a cute toy to play with - Thanks Auntie Corinne!

Reading:
-On Becoming Baby Wise: 2 (Parenting Your Pretoddler 5 to 15 Months), by Gary Ezzo and Robert Bucknam: A continuation from Baby Wise 1...This book helped me revise our schedule so that Madelyn is sleeping 12 hours at night with two 1 1/2 hour naps during the day! I HIGHLY recommend this series.

Dec 16, 2010

The PERFECT Gift for a New Mom

Product: mabel's labels
Price Range: $10-$30
Rating: Awesome (dishwasher & microwave safe!)

Gift ideas include classic sticky labels, clothing labels, teeny bag tags, household labels....and....MAMA CARDS!!! Yes, that's a business card for FTM's! I am so ordering some for myself.


Thank you Aunt Paula for introducting me to this awesome Canadian company. I LOVE my classic sticky labels!

Dec 15, 2010

Alderwood Wives Book Club Review: A Long Way Gone

This review is tough. Some of us really liked our December book,  A Long Way Gone, by Ishmael Beah, and some of us weren't too keen on it. A few ladies found it "hard to get into".  However, those of us who read it in 2-3 days (including myself...up until 30 mins before book club :p) were able to really sink into this memoir.

It's a little different reading a Biography. What got me was the author's age. He was born in the same year I was. Everything that happened to him, all of the tragedy and horror of the 90's in Sierra Leone, happened during my life time. While Ishmael was dodging bullets I was having recess with my friends. While Ishmael slept outside exposed to the elements I was playing with barbies in my own bedroom. While Ishmael was eating unripe bananas and oranges I was eating KFC and Doritos at the wavepool with my cousins. You get the point.

I'm not going to lie, the content disturbed me at times and I wanted to pretent it was fiction. But nope, it's a real story and I personally found it very powerful.

Ishmael, your life definitely has a purpose. Thank you for sharing your story with me! Tonight I will pray for everyone struggling in Civil Wars in Africa and around the world.

--------

As always, if you'd like to follow along with our book club, here are our next three picks:

Dec 13, 2010

Boots for a Canadian Winter

Well folks, I have pulled out my Sorels for another Canadian Winter. There really isn't any other sensible way to get around town when ice and snow are at your footstep. I am not in need of a new pair of winter boots...but it is fun looking at what's out there this season :)

The Merrell's (bottom center) are quite cute, aren't they?

Dec 12, 2010

Thinking about...Gingerbread Cookies

It's Sunday night and another year at the NOTL Christmas parade has come and gone. What a fun weekend. I was looking forward to for so long, but, now it's over and the Sunday blues are kicking in :(.  I was reading up on some of my favorite blogs and everyone is buzzing about holiday baking. Two weeks ago I stocked up on all of my baking supplies but my kitchen has yet to produce anything sweet. If it continues to rain tomorrow I am going to stay in doors and get started with some Gingerbread Cookies in attempt to reignite my holiday cheer.

ps. I will post some pictures of the NOTL parade weekend later this week.

Dec 8, 2010

A Hilary Book Review: Mini Shopaholic

OMG, she did it again! If you are a Sophie Kinsella fan (who isn't?) & mommy (or not mommy) I highly recommend adding Mini Shopaholic to your collection.

It has all of the usual Becky Brandon (nee Bloomwood) drama with the perfect dose of motherhood. At times the content scared me, since I can totally see Madelyn as a little Minnie Brandon one day, but not enough that I didn't want to keep reading. Doesn't Luke Brandon always sound so dreamy too?

If you are looking for the perfect gift to get your girly-girl gal friend this Christmas, this is a pretty good option.

Thanks for lending it to me Katie!

Happy reading!

Dec 7, 2010

Baby Food Starters: 6-9 Months

First, I need to caveat this post:  I am not a baby expert, please listen to the advice provided by your Pediatrician, GP or Lactation Nurse. I am only writing from my experiences with Madelyn, hoping to provide insight to other new moms.

Now, we can get down to business :)

It's been almost a month since we started solids and so far it's been SO much fun. I am very blessed with a baby who loves to eat, making the whole process enjoyable. We decided to wait until after Madelyn was 6 months as I wanted to exclusively breastfeed for 6 months. One sign we also looked out for (under the advice of our Lactation Consultant) was Madelyn's heightened interest in the foods we were eating. On our trip to Cuba she was reaching for our food and was totally into drinking water from her sippy cup. We knew she was ready.

I compiled our 6-9 months food starters list by consulting our GP, Naturalpath doctor, Lactation Consultant,  Lila's mom and other moms I know. They all had different opinions (of course) and different good reasons for their items. I highly recommend doing your own research to see what is best for your baby. Every baby has different needs.

Baby Food Starters: 6-9 Months

* Listed in our trial order
  • Squash
  • Steamed Prunes (helps get things moving)
  • Avocado
  • Sweet Potato / Yams
  • Banana
  • Broccoli
  • Peaches
  • My Organic Baby Brown Rice Cereal (fortified with iron)
  • Pear
  • Carrots
  • Cauliflower
  • Pureed Dark Chicken Meat
  • Apple
  • Cherries
  • Blackberries

Some notes:
  • The Red Items are part of the Dirty Dozen. It's better if these foods are Organic.
  • The Blue Items are some of the least contaminated foods. These do not need to be Organic.
  • The order of food was based on what we had available in our kitchen, however, we purposefully started with veggies before fruits so our baby didn't develop a preference for sweeter tasting food.
  • Wait 2-3 days between food introductions to look for allergic reactions, rashes, or changes in mood.
  • All foods with the exception of bananas, peaches and avocado were steamed.
  • All foods with the exception of bananas and avocado were pureed in a food processor before serving.
  • Brown Rice cereal was recommended for it's Iron content. We mix it straight with warmed peaches or pears (rather than water) to boost it's flavor. (Try it on it's own, it tastes like glue - nasty).
  • If you are debating between Brown Rice or White Rice cereal, read this article first.
  • Pumped breast milk can be added to any food to make it taste super yummy for baby.
  • It's a great time saver to make a big batch of one food and freeze it in ice cube trays (1 tbsp serving to start, 1/3 cup as baby progresses) and keep them in a zip lock bag in your freezer for daily serving.
  • We serve 3 flavors per meal and often mix the foods together to create new flavors.
  • We offer water in a sippy cup as a compliment to the meal.
  • Baby Wise II says, "Begin as you mean to go". We say a prayer before our meal and keep baby's hands to her side while we eat. It's a cleaner way to do it and takes less time to clean up after! Honestly, by the second day she knew to keep her hands by her side - babies are amazing!

I'm looking forward to comments about your own food successes!

Dec 5, 2010

Christmas Babies

Don't you just want to cuddle them forever?


Unfortunately their cuteness also makes me want to go on a shopping craze for my little baby doll. Baby Gap has the cutest Christmas stuff right now... maybe I should let Madelyn indulge with a little pocket money?



Dec 2, 2010

Glove Love

It's that time of year again. I have always been faithful to my Mittens, but something tells me Gloves are a little more practical with a baby in tow. White has to be my favorite mitten colour, but they get dirty so darn fast. I would love to get a pair of the purple UGG gloves below and attach my own strings so they never get lost in the shuffle.

Nov 30, 2010

Rainy Day Dinners

So I finally get better after almost 5 weeks of cold bugs and now my poor hubby is sick. On top of that, it's a cold rainy day and we had to trek out for immunizations and my flu shot. Boo hoo.

Luckily, I have lots of Turkey leftovers in the fridge from Thanksgiving. Tonight I'm going to try this super yummy looking recipe for Chicken PotPie (but with Turkey) from my friend Jessica's blog: http://shadesofsunshine.blogspot.com/.

Since J's post was for a recipe exchange, I thought I'd mention one of my favorite rainy day go-to's in return.

Ground Turkey Shepherd's Pie from Rachel Ray


I usually make the following changes to the recipe to make it my own:

- Skip the bacon part (too messy to clean up)
- Add diced mushrooms to onions & carrots
- Substitute Curry & Chili Powder for Poultry Seasoning
- Substitute Milk for Cream in the Mashed Potatos (but make sure to add the egg)
- Create three layers in a baking dish:
1. Onions/Ground Turkey
2. Canned Corn & Frozen Peas
3. Mashed Potatos

Bon Appetit!

Nov 29, 2010

Giving Thanks US Style

Oh, how I love the holidays!!! 

After living in CT for 3 years we have decided to keep up with the southern tradition of Thanksgiving in November. For one, that's when Mr. B gets his Thanksgiving vacay days, but more importantly, it's a great excuse to get the tree up as early as possible.

This is our first Christmas in our new house. I swear I had goose bumps of excitement the entire time we trimmed the tree. It's 10x bigger than our old fake one, and 10x more joyful. However, I'm not sure who is more confused by the new focal point: Mason or Madelyn. Hopefully neither of them knock it down or pee on it!

But back to US Thanksgiving. We had a WONDERFUL 5 day weekend together as a family and finished it off with a 20lb Turkey dinner on Saturday. I have to thank the Kouba's for brining "Things the game" to our Pot Luck. What a FUN game...highly recommended as a fab Christmas present for anyone (see fb for pictures). And Thanks to everyone for bringing such delicious food. We were all stuffed like Turkeys by the end of the night :)

Emily, Preston, Hils & Maddy
Madelyn also thoroughly enjoyed herself as 3 suitors came to profess their love: Tristan, Preston and Hunter (they all have such cutie pie names). She's quite the little flirt so I'm sure she'll keep them on their toes for a few years to come :)

Happy Holiday season to all!

xox 

Madelyn & Hunter

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