Things are getting so exciting out at the new house! I mean, it has been exciting from the beginning but now it's looking much more like a home instead of a construction project.
The exterior is done with a couple little touch ups needed, the interior has cabinetry, moldings, doors, paint, hardware, fireplace, fireplace surround, mantle, vanities, and as of last Thursday it was being prepped for the tile in the master bathroom.
I'm sure that countertops and plumbing fixtures are not far behind! Although, the kitchen countertops will be ripped back out shortly after we move in, to make way for my pretty new granite!
We will be out of town this coming weekend (can't wait for that!! our first official vacation as a family of 3?!) but I'm hoping to visit the granite yard in a couple of weeks so that we can finalize that selection and get it scheduled.
Also next up on the to-do list:
1. Pick a hardwood for the floor and finalize that with the contractor.
2. Finalize granite selection.
3. Start buying stuff! It's been a lot of window shopping thus far and now we are finally at the point where we can make the purchases of some of the new items we want for the house. Of course, it will be a process over time but mainly in the living room, we are getting a few new items. I'm excited because this house, aside from the obvious differences, is going to look a lot different from our hold house. It makes things fun for this interior designer :)
On the more boring side, we have our interest rate locked in and the paperwork side of things is moving along smoothly!
Monday, August 24, 2015
Monday, August 17, 2015
18 Months of Change
On August 14th, my girl turned 18 months old. Wow has time flown. She has been walking for 7 months already. That seems like a minute and an eternity all at once. Her language and skill development in these last six months have grown tenfold. She makes us laugh and makes us proud every day. I'm sure every parent says that so it seems cliche, but it really is incredible to see something that *we created* change and grow every day.
Weight: 24.9 lbs
Height: 33"?? Not sure because she hates the doctor's office and was screaming & wiggling the hole time.
EATING
Ryleigh still gets a mid-morning/lunchtime milk and a bedtime milk. She will take the lunchtime one from a sippy cup but she still prefers the nighttime one in a bottle.
Breakfasts--some variety of the Eggo kind, along with puffs and sometimes peanut butter crackers or a fruit squeeze pouch.
Lunches--grilled chicken, pulled pork, pizza, hotdog, burger patty...She's not big on ham or sausage but will eat most other meat that we have given her. She refuses to even taste pasta. Still to this day she has never eaten it. I suppose that is a good thing, especially for later in life, but right now it drives me bonkers. She also always eats a veggie squeeze pouch and/or Greek Yogurt pouch, cut up fruit, and some other snack-type food like peanut butter crackers or Lil'Crunchies. She may be a skinny mini but she can throw back some food!
Dinner--Depending on what we are eating (if it doesn't involve pasta or anything containing annatto) she will get some of that, or she will get some mixture of the lunch items listed above.
TEETHING
12?14? She's pretty much got everything possible for her age, although she doesn't let me get my finger in there to count. Everything is either in, or already broken through and coming in.
SLEEPING
Thankfully this is back to normal with the exception of a few days where she's woken up earlier than usual. She still naps for about 2 hours once a day around noon.
ACTIVITY
Still obsessed with coloring and stickers! She will request her "colors" almost every morning before going to daycare. She loves trying to say new words and some of her favorite things to do are counting and singing the ABC's. If she is getting fussy, especially in the car, all we have to do is sing ABC's and she will calm down then start to sing along.
She counted on her own from 1-10 at dinner the other night! Usually if we say the number she repeats them and will sometimes beat us to the next number so we knew that she was learning the pattern of it. But, while we were waiting on food at a restaurant the other night I said "one" and when she repeated it she kept going all the way to 10!! Extremely proud momma moment!
Her language skills continue to grow and she will regularly speak in small sentences to us. She will ask the dogs "Kona, wanna play?" while tossing handfuls of chalk or hairbows to him, will say "I want my daddy" or "me ride in daddy truck". She's also singing along to more and more country songs in the car :) haha!
DIAPERING
Size 4
CLOTHES
Such a mixture. We have been introducing some 24month clothes for added length but she still fits into 18month clothes. She even has a couple of tank tops that she still wears that are only 12month size. We have been putting her in some 2T sleepers that fit her pretty well too, a little bit long through the middle but they are wearable.
Weight: 24.9 lbs
Height: 33"?? Not sure because she hates the doctor's office and was screaming & wiggling the hole time.
EATING
Ryleigh still gets a mid-morning/lunchtime milk and a bedtime milk. She will take the lunchtime one from a sippy cup but she still prefers the nighttime one in a bottle.
Breakfasts--some variety of the Eggo kind, along with puffs and sometimes peanut butter crackers or a fruit squeeze pouch.
Lunches--grilled chicken, pulled pork, pizza, hotdog, burger patty...She's not big on ham or sausage but will eat most other meat that we have given her. She refuses to even taste pasta. Still to this day she has never eaten it. I suppose that is a good thing, especially for later in life, but right now it drives me bonkers. She also always eats a veggie squeeze pouch and/or Greek Yogurt pouch, cut up fruit, and some other snack-type food like peanut butter crackers or Lil'Crunchies. She may be a skinny mini but she can throw back some food!
Dinner--Depending on what we are eating (if it doesn't involve pasta or anything containing annatto) she will get some of that, or she will get some mixture of the lunch items listed above.
TEETHING
12?14? She's pretty much got everything possible for her age, although she doesn't let me get my finger in there to count. Everything is either in, or already broken through and coming in.
SLEEPING
Thankfully this is back to normal with the exception of a few days where she's woken up earlier than usual. She still naps for about 2 hours once a day around noon.
ACTIVITY
Still obsessed with coloring and stickers! She will request her "colors" almost every morning before going to daycare. She loves trying to say new words and some of her favorite things to do are counting and singing the ABC's. If she is getting fussy, especially in the car, all we have to do is sing ABC's and she will calm down then start to sing along.
She counted on her own from 1-10 at dinner the other night! Usually if we say the number she repeats them and will sometimes beat us to the next number so we knew that she was learning the pattern of it. But, while we were waiting on food at a restaurant the other night I said "one" and when she repeated it she kept going all the way to 10!! Extremely proud momma moment!
Her language skills continue to grow and she will regularly speak in small sentences to us. She will ask the dogs "Kona, wanna play?" while tossing handfuls of chalk or hairbows to him, will say "I want my daddy" or "me ride in daddy truck". She's also singing along to more and more country songs in the car :) haha!
DIAPERING
Size 4
CLOTHES
Such a mixture. We have been introducing some 24month clothes for added length but she still fits into 18month clothes. She even has a couple of tank tops that she still wears that are only 12month size. We have been putting her in some 2T sleepers that fit her pretty well too, a little bit long through the middle but they are wearable.
SPECIAL FIRSTS
--Counting to 10 on her own!!
--Drinking from a straw cup.
--Visiting the zoo!
--Visit to GA
--Passport Photos
--1st ear infection :(
Thursday, August 13, 2015
F I T N E S S
Find more hours in the day. That is what I've told myself I need.
I like getting into a workout routine but with a very active toddler and working during the day, when do I have time to work out?? I already wake up around 6:30-6:45, and I'm not enough of a morning person to move that earlier to work out in the morning & shower, etc. I usually shower at night, and I prefer working out in the evenings. So, I've decided recently to get my lazy bootay moving in the right direction. Not working out over the past 6 months once I stopped breastfeeding (aka burning hundreds of calories a day) has had some effects that I'm not super happy with and if I'm being honest here I have double-digit pounds that I could lose.
So, I decided that I could do some things to move in the right direction...
1... I went out and bought some new workout clothes [hello motivation] from the Under Armour outlet on tax free wkend...see, totally justified! I actually did make out like a bandit! I got a sports bra, two pair of workout capris, two pair of athletic shorts, and package of 5 no-slip headbands (to hold back those lovely post-partem whispy hairs) all for under $95.
2... I stopped buying foods that I don't want to eat. If it's not in the house, there is no temptation to eat it. Therefore, klondike bars have been replaced with extra Greek yogurt to snack on and there are no more oreos in the pantry. Thankfully, I do like the taste of healthy food and I have a Greek yogurt addiction so this is easy to do.
3... I bought some new fitness material. I love, love my Insanity dvd's but living in this apartment wouldn't allow me to do all of the running/jumping/etc that Insanity uses since we are on the 2nd floor. I didn't want to keep pushing off working out 'until we get into the new house' because that's almost two months away. I heard great things about Kayla Itsines Bikini Body Guide and also Tone It Up. I decided to go with Kayla's Bikini Body Guides booklet (a $69 digital download of her 12 week plan) and also ordered Tone It Up's dvd Bikini Series 1 for $19.99.
I like getting into a workout routine but with a very active toddler and working during the day, when do I have time to work out?? I already wake up around 6:30-6:45, and I'm not enough of a morning person to move that earlier to work out in the morning & shower, etc. I usually shower at night, and I prefer working out in the evenings. So, I've decided recently to get my lazy bootay moving in the right direction. Not working out over the past 6 months once I stopped breastfeeding (aka burning hundreds of calories a day) has had some effects that I'm not super happy with and if I'm being honest here I have double-digit pounds that I could lose.
So, I decided that I could do some things to move in the right direction...
1... I went out and bought some new workout clothes [hello motivation] from the Under Armour outlet on tax free wkend...see, totally justified! I actually did make out like a bandit! I got a sports bra, two pair of workout capris, two pair of athletic shorts, and package of 5 no-slip headbands (to hold back those lovely post-partem whispy hairs) all for under $95.
2... I stopped buying foods that I don't want to eat. If it's not in the house, there is no temptation to eat it. Therefore, klondike bars have been replaced with extra Greek yogurt to snack on and there are no more oreos in the pantry. Thankfully, I do like the taste of healthy food and I have a Greek yogurt addiction so this is easy to do.
3... I bought some new fitness material. I love, love my Insanity dvd's but living in this apartment wouldn't allow me to do all of the running/jumping/etc that Insanity uses since we are on the 2nd floor. I didn't want to keep pushing off working out 'until we get into the new house' because that's almost two months away. I heard great things about Kayla Itsines Bikini Body Guide and also Tone It Up. I decided to go with Kayla's Bikini Body Guides booklet (a $69 digital download of her 12 week plan) and also ordered Tone It Up's dvd Bikini Series 1 for $19.99.
4... I made an instagram fitness account [fit_momma_smw] and am connecting with the #tiu and #bbg community, especially #tiumoms and #bbgmoms. Such a great source of accountability and healthy recipe ideas!
5... I've used MyFitnessPal app before, and I'm trying to get back into it. It can be a little much to handle, but I do like seeing the calorie counter.
6... I've never really been a meal prepper on the weekends, but I think I'm going to start trying it. I feel like that will help to cut down on the "well let's just go out to eat tonight" moments because we have those at least once a week due to a hectic day or getting home late because we went to go check out the house. Meal prepping will make everything mostly-ready and there won't be a reason to pick up pizza! This will be especially good once we are in the new house and I have a much bigger kitchen than this tiny little apartment one I'm dealing with now.
So, here we go! Half-way through Week1 and I'm already feeling the burn and loving the changes :)
Thursday, August 6, 2015
Plates of Penrose: Brown Sugar Ham French Toast Roll-Ups
These were so good! Inspired by the French toast roll-ups that I saw swimming around Facebook, I changed it around a little.
We never buy bread in our house. Unless I know we are doing something where we are packing sandwiches (like a day on the lake) or specifically need bread for a recipe, we don't buy it. We never end up eating it or making it more than a couple slices through the loaf, and old, moldy bread grosses me out.
Therefore, in a pinch I decided to use some delicious Pilsbury crescent rolls for the bread (I even had Honey Butter flavor so I chose that!). I smooshed together the seams and made 4 rectangles, then baked them as directed for about 8 minutes.
I cubed a ham steak and simmered on the stove with some brown sugar for flavor.
While still warm (and easier to roll) I took the "bread", put some ham on it near the edge, and carefully rolled them up. Then, I rolled them in a raw egg & cinnamon mixture before putting them in a pan on the stove to toast.
Simple, easy, and ready in about 12-15 minutes. If you are a lover of breakfast for dinner like we are, this is a great weeknight meal! (or anytime meal. They were good!)
You could also modify by stuffing some breakfast sausage or fruit into the middle, but we had a ham steak left-over from another meal so decided to use it!
 |
| Brown Sugar Ham French Toast Roll-ups |
Therefore, in a pinch I decided to use some delicious Pilsbury crescent rolls for the bread (I even had Honey Butter flavor so I chose that!). I smooshed together the seams and made 4 rectangles, then baked them as directed for about 8 minutes.
I cubed a ham steak and simmered on the stove with some brown sugar for flavor.
While still warm (and easier to roll) I took the "bread", put some ham on it near the edge, and carefully rolled them up. Then, I rolled them in a raw egg & cinnamon mixture before putting them in a pan on the stove to toast.
Simple, easy, and ready in about 12-15 minutes. If you are a lover of breakfast for dinner like we are, this is a great weeknight meal! (or anytime meal. They were good!)
You could also modify by stuffing some breakfast sausage or fruit into the middle, but we had a ham steak left-over from another meal so decided to use it!
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)