Yums...Great Recipes!

I am a lover of all things chocolate and chocolate is a lover of my waist line and thighs...so we came to a compromise...something that tastes just like dark chocolate but is all natural and healthy!  Yes Please!

Avocado Pudding! You need avocados, nectar agava (honey), cocoa, a little milk (cocunt milk, almond milk) and vanilla.  I used the Quick Chef to chop and mix all the ingredients together.

And Voila!

Zoe Jane is a lover of chocolate, too.  And I love that she loved this recipe!  A healthy aternative for the both of us!  I served this with strawberries for dipping and then to the kids with sprinkles as dessert one night for making happy plates!

The second recipe I did was cornbread sticks for dipping in hummus, but you can dip them in any dip or salsa really.  I was inspired by the pub I went to in Fairhope so I started searching on pinterest!  So easy and so good!  All yo uhave to do is cook up your normal cornbread in an 8x8 pan.  Once baked and cooled, slice into strips and then half or third the strips.  Place on a cookie sheet and bake on 350, 10 minutes on both sides.  YUM!

1st Big Haircut

Zoe Jane had a Big Day today!  We got Zoe's 1st Haircut!  She has gotten one itty bitty trim a while back...but today we got quite a bit taken off!

 I love Zoe's hair but it was just starting to look ratty and needing a little help!

 Zoe did so great and was so excited to sit in front of a big mirror.  She couldn't stop staring at herself!

 Bye Bye curls....that makes me really sad because I just love her curls and they keep her little in my mind.

 Such a beauty!

Another milestone.  My baby girl is getting so big!

Tank is on Empty

Do you ever just feel spiritually low?  My Faith never waivers, but I feel like my tank is emptying...quickly...and I need to fill back up so badly!  A lot of times finding a great book, having intimate conversations with some friends or just attending a beautiful Mass alongside my hubs fills me up...but lately I just feel under spiritual attack every which way I turn.

I can't turn on the TV, listen to the Radio, open up the Internet without seeing something horrific, people anger at other people (well angry is an understatment) and Facebook....I just want to completely avoid with an upcoming election, differences of opinions on issues in our wourld are just endless and so draining!

And on top of that, I have a husband who works and works and works to the point of complete exhaustion and we just seem stuck!  And we all know when you work so much, you sleep less which means you are more irritable and it just leads to all kinds of nasty when people aren't rested!

Like I said, I just feel under attack! 

So I cling to what I know is true....That God has a plan for Us, that He is always present in the good, the bad and the ugly and that this too shall pass! 

In the meantime....I am going to work on getting filled back up!  Any suggestions!?!?  How do you fill up your tank?

On a positive note....these two make life so worthwhile!  Waking up to them every morning is the greatest gift there is!  Having kids really just helps keep things in perspective and reminds me what is really important!

And on a really positive note...Evan is crawling....slowly....but he is crawling!!!

Time to Cleanse

For awhile now I have been wanting to do a cleanse of my body...rid myself of any toxins...or should I saw the many toxins...in my body.  I researched quite a few and I thought the one called The Master Cleanse sounded perfect.

The cleanse I chose is called the Lemonade Detox or the Lemonade Diet.  I just finished Day 4 and I have to admit....I have turned into a compelete and totally brat!  Yes...I just called myself a brat!

The actual liquid cleanse is going well.  I have not been hunger once nor really cared about food. The dry skin I have on my arms is softening.  I have lost 3 pounds and my body feels good!  But my attitude is just sour.  It might not help that Mother Nature hit right when I decided to start this cleanse.  Opps.

I think I am going to take a day off of the cleanse because tomorrow night is Wine Night with the Ladies I need to be happy!  We will see if I return....

A Weekend Away!

This past weekend, I got to get away for a couple days with the girls!  We had so much fun!  We all meet in Fairhope early afternoon on Friday and took no time at all to put on the bathing suits and head to the pool.  We stayed at the pool until about 5...totally lost track of time...that hasn't happened in a long time!

We had dinner reservations at Camilla's Cafe in Downtown Fairhope on Friday night.  It was amazing!  I love good food and this place did not disappoint!  I got the Pork Chops with a Pear, Pineapple, Apple Chutney drizzled on top....Yum!  And the wine we ordered was delish.

Saturday's weather was a little bit on the stormy side...so we headed into Fairhope to shop and have lunch.  Fairhope has the cutest downtown and some really great boutiques and shops.  We ate lunch at a bar and got a couple appetizers to share among the four of us.  I can't remember the name of the bar, but the Black Bean Hummus was so good...I would have licked the bowl if I was by myself!

After lunch, we headed back to the house to relax....so necessary!  We watch a little reality tv and read gossip magazines....typical girl time!  Saturday night, we headed to Big Daddy's on the water to listen to a live band and eat dinner.  After dinner, we headed to Aurora's for drinks...Cheers to the Ladies!

Sunday came way too fast :(  We ate brunch at Tamara's and had unlimited Mimosas...my kind of restaurant!  And then it was back in the car for the drive home.  I so love my time with the girls...I can't wait for our next trip.  But as always...any time I am away....I can't wait to get home to be with my family!  I missed the kids so much! 

I think our next trip is Nashville or Charleston....Any Suggestions on Hotels, Restaurants or Fun things to Do?

Zoe's Spend the Night Party

Zoe and Evan's cousins have been in town most of the summer!  Zoe calls all the cousins "freinds!"  She just loves spending time with all of them and finally knows each of them by their name.  She asks almost every morning is she is going to get to play with freinds that day.  So sweet!

Back in June, Zoe got to go to Grammy and Papa's for a sleep over with her freinds!  She had so much fun!

Zoe got to help make Grammy waffles!

 And clearly she was beyond excited to eat her Grammy waffles when then were done!

She got to do crafts!

 And play fun pom pom games!

 And she even got to go swimming...well kinda!

I forsee many, many more spend the night parties in the future!

11 Months Old

• Evan weighs between 18-19 lbs.
• Evan wears 9 month or 12 month clothes.
• Evan wears size 4 diapers.
• Evan LOVES his pacie...and unfortunately has a rash around his mouth from it.  I thought it was a formula reaction at first, but it is definitely from his pacie.

• Evan has had a crazy month of firsts!
• Evan can pull himself up from sitting to his knees...not quite to his feet yet but oh so close.
• Evan can go from crawling position to sitting and as of this week from laying down to sitting!
• Evan can finally get into the crawling position on his own, but has not made much forward progression...some but not much.
• Evan can stand all day long and is really cruising now.  He takes little baby steps but if you walk away and come back he has moved from one side of the couch to the other.

• Evan got his first tooth this month on the bottom right side...and his bottom left is coming in!
• Evan eats like a crazy person....I mean the kid is a bottomless pit.  We literally have to back him away from the table!  Evan eats 3 meals and countless snacks...I try to limit it to 2 though.
• Evan loves ALL foods!  Not one he has rejected...NOT ONE!
• Evan tried milk for the first time this month....such an easy transition.  We still are heating it a little bit, but slowly we will be phasing that out.
• Evan still breastfeeds in the morning, but has a bottle of milk at night.  We have cut out the middle milk feeding and replaced with food.
• Evan started feeding himself grapes and blueberries today!

• Evan is a great sleeper but has showed some signs of separation anxiety this month...the boy just loves his Mommy...what can I say.
• Evan wakes up between 6:30-7, takes a nap around 8-9, takes another nap between 12-1 and goes to bed around 7.  Sometimes he takes a 3rd nap before bedtime, but this one is getting phased out, too.
• Evan is so vocal!  He sings all the time and mimics the sounds you make.  If I sing a tune to him, he will do his best to repeat it back.
• Evan loves banging things together...I have a feeling he is going to be a little musician and steals the girls hearts :)

• Evan has been more needy this month...but I think it is because he wants to be moving and can't yet.  He is so close and I think he knows it!
• Evan is a great traveler!  You rarely hear him make a peep in the back.  I am going to keep him turned around as long as possible...luckily he has a little entertainer next to him to ride everywhere with!
• Evan loved playing in the pool this month and does great in the floats.
• Evan is such a cuddler and loves to be held...and I could just love on him all day long.
• Evan gives open mouth kisses!
• Evan loves to pick something up and wave it up high to show you what he has.
• Evan goes from standing to sitting with ease now and loves to try to hold on with no hands!  He is getting really brave!

• Evan has had a lot if spills with his new found mobility.  He is getting really curious and just hasn't learned how to prevent the falls yet.
• Evan is a biter...so watch those fingers when feeding.  Poor Zoe found out the hard way and he would not let go. 
• Evan loves to pull Zoe's hair...such a little brother already!
• Evan's favorite toy to play with is this little baseball and the play drumstick.
• Evan sleeps with his train blanket still.
• Evan's crib FINALLY got lowered last week!
• Evan will be completely weaned this week...bittersweet but so proud of how well we did!

God is truly teaching me so many valuable lessons through this baby boy of mine.  To some, Evan's delay might be exhausting, an issue...or something one would fear.  I have learned that Evan is perfect and in his perfect timing he will get things down pact.  God has taught me to rejoice in every baby step and sing praises for every milestone meet.  I am so proud of this little guy and I love that this time around, I am so much more aware of how much he progresses!  Evan is doing AMAZING and I can't believe he will be 1 year old next month!

Look What I Can Do