So What! Wednesday

 

This week I am saying SO WHAT if...

• I am now officially OBSESSED with tracking my food on My Fitness Pal? 
• my new favorite Pandora station is 2000's Hip Hop? It. Is. Amazing. Brings back some great Prom party bus memories! 
• I'm overly excited about consignment sale season?
• my kid says RIDICULOUS things thanks to his daddy? Yesterday I heard this: "oh boy! Baby Giffin's dropping a doo doo bomb!" 
• we live out of laundry baskets most of the time? Clean clothes...but still, folded in laundry baskets. See also: I hate putting clothes away.
• I have a usable diaper bag but I still want a new one? Actually, I am OVER diaper bags after 2 1/2 years. I need a really big purse with lots of pockets that costs less that $200. 
• I love my kids but I also love bedtime? 
• I just bought new running shoes for the first time since having kids? Yep. Do the math.
• Every time I read a bedtime book that shows a picture of someone yawning, I yawn?

Griffin's 6 month pictures

Our awesome photographer, Lauren at Images by Studio S, took Griff's 6 month pictures after our beach trip. He was such a ham, as always, and I am SO happy that she captured his personality. Griffin really does smile all day long & I still can't get over his big blue eyes! Lauren is a great photographer and if you're in the Nashville area you need to look her up! 

Menu Monday

It may be a miracle, but we actually stuck to our menu last week! I'm feeling motivated to cook more & eat out less. I am actually going to link up with Rachel today for Menu Monday. Here is what is on our menu this week:

Monday: Quinoa with spinach & cheese - I've had a few people rave about this recipe. It's my first time cooking with quinoa & I hope it turns out!

Tuesday: Marlboro Man sandwiches

Wednesday: Chicken, Broccoli, & Rice bowl

Thursday: Oven Baked Chicken Fajitas

Friday: Leftovers

Saturday: Honey Chicken & Skinny Fried Rice

Sunday: Buffalo Chicken Cups 

humbling

Humbling.

When I was asked last week how I would describe parenting in one word, this was my answer. It came to me in about 3 seconds.

Two years ago I'm pretty sure I would have chosen a different word. You know, two years ago when I thought this gig was easy. Ha!

I was thinking the other day about all my big goals for our precious 2nd child. I really thought I had everything planned out perfectly. Let's take a look at those goals, shall we?

1. Griffin will sleep in his crib from day 1. FAIL. um, he started in his crib at 4 months and then proceeded to cosleep most of the night with us until 6 1/2 months. 
2. Griffin will be swaddled. FAIL. Griffin was just like G and did! not! like! having his body constricted. 
3. Griffin will be breastfed. PASSED! we made it 6 1/2 months--hooray!
4. I didn't blog this one, but definitely thought it: Griffin will be sleep trained and on a great schedule by 12 weeks. Um. big fat FAIL.  I wrote about Griff's awful sleep habits here.

I literally look at that list above and shake my head with laughter. I can't believe I thought I could plan everything perfectly AND that I could base those plans off my first little boy. Grayson was an easy baby & the whole "new mama" thing came really easily to me. I never had any of those "lock yourself in the closet & cry moments" when he was an only child.  Naturally Stupidly, I thought that adding a new baby into our family would be a piece of cake. I honestly thought it would be as easy as it was the first time. 

Then a big, fat smack of reality came when Griffin was born. It was literally like God was smacking me upside the head saying, "you DON'T have it all together, this WILL be challenging, and you WILL learn from this!"  I was brought back down to earth pretty quickly. 

My baby still doesn't sleep through the night.
My 2 year old can throw an epic tantrum.

I am a frazzled mess most days and am always running late.

My house looks like a tornado hit it. 

There are always piles of laundry sitting in hampers. 

I live in yoga pants and t-shirts.

Dry shampoo has become my favorite product.

 Being a mom has humbled me. There are so many times when I feel inadequate and I just have to trust that the Lord knew what he was doing when he gave these boys to us. 

What's your one word??

So What! Wednesday

I took a little unintentional hiatus from my So What! Wednesday posts, but, have no fear...I'm back! This week I am saying SO WHAT if...

• I'm still in a state of post-breastfeeding mourning? Not all the way, but I am still a little sad. I mean, Griffin quit just like that. A little warning would have been nice.
• I'm still engorged 7 days later? Who cares? Okay, I care. One can only take so much sudafed and smell so much cabbage. Dear Milk, GO AWAY. 
• my one goal this year is to NOT get pregnant and I am terrible at remembering those little no-baby pills??
• I have an obsession with using wonton wrappers now? Everything is more fun to eat in cup form! 
• sometimes I want to buy girl clothes just in case?
• I've eaten like 27 chocolate covered Oreos since Valentine's Day? Oink. Thanks, Ben.
• I'm blogging in the midst of a toy room that looks like a bomb went off? 
• I take a gazillion pictures of my kids & post them on Instagram? I have to post them to print them..plus? They are easy subjects. Also? I find it funny that the people that unfollow me on IG are people I know in real life. ha! 
• I still have a small Christmas tree sitting in a box in our dining room?
• I get excited (not sentimental) about packing away baby crap? The high chair AND swing are now in our attic. Hallelujah! 
• I stress more now about how much Griffin eats than I did when I was nursing? Oy.

Menu Monday & a recipe

I am REALLY trying hard to plan our menu every week & actually stick to it. Ever since Griffin's arrival (*cough* ALMOST 7 MONTHS AGO *cough*) I have been really bad about cooking. I am so tired by the end of the day & cooking with 2 little people seems like such a chore. BUT, such is life. We waste way too much money on going out to eat...it's time to stick to our menu! Hold me accountable, will ya?!

Monday: Southwest chicken cups (I am totally making up this recipe as I go tonight...I'll share if it's good!)

Tuesday: The Picky Palate's Chicken Peanut Thai Noodles

Wednesday: Leftovers

Thursday: Mama's night out with friends!

Friday: Taco Cups with spanish rice -- these are SO good & got a thumbs up from the husband AND the toddler. That my friends is a big deal.

Saturday: Buffalo chicken grilled cheese & sweet potato fries

Sunday: Pretzel chicken, baked potatoes, & asparagus

******************************************************************

Ever since I made the Taco Cups I've had this weird obsession with wonton wrappers. I keep trying to come up with things to make with them! Last week I made Buffalo Chicken Cups and they were so good! 

 

Here's what you need:

1 package of wonton wrappers

Either shredded, cooked chicken OR about 5 chicken tenders (we bought Chick Fil A tenders)

Your favorite buffalo sauce (we use Moore's)

Mozzarella cheese

Ranch

Here's what you do:

Preheat your oven to 375. Cut your chicken up into small pieces and toss with your buffalo sauce. Spray a muffin pan with cooking spray. Place 2 wontons (overlapping) in each muffin tin. Fill each cup with the chicken & top with a little shredded mozzarella. Bake for about 15 minutes...keep an eye on them so the wontons don't burn! Drizzle with a little bit of ranch & enjoy!

a winter beach trip

Remember that post late last week about us being at the beach? Well, sadly, we returned home on Sunday. I could have stayed another week. That sunshine sure was good for my soul in the middle of our cold winter! 

Ben was in a wedding in Rosemary Beach on Saturday so we just made a long trip out of it! His best friend from college got married and we had SUCH a great time. We had never been to Rosemary Beach before and it was beautiful. We got a house for 5 days and I swear I could have just moved in! Ha! 

This was the house we stayed in. We had a great green area out back & it was a quick walk to the beach. We loved it! 

We drove from Atlanta on Wednesday with my mom & the boys. It was pretty nice having a babysitter so we could get out for the FIRST TIME in 6 1/2 months. I was way too excited about that! As soon as we unpacked Grayson wanted to head to the beach. It was almost time for sunset, but he didn't care!

Grayson had a great time running around in the sand & Griffin didn't mind getting his toes all sandy, either! 

Isn't it beautiful?! 

While Ben played golf (and by played golf I mean lost many golf balls) with the boys on Thursday, my mom & I took the boys down to the beach for a couple hours. Grayson had so much fun playing with his trucks in the sand, splashing in the freezing ocean, & of course, chasing birds.

This age is just so fun. Grayson actually remembers going to the beach last summer and was SO excited about going back. I loved watching him run around! Griffin enjoyed the waves crashing...I'm pretty sure he just thought his sound machine was on. Ha! 

 Thursday night we had a bonfire on the beach with a bunch of the out of town wedding guests. It was our first night out minus the kids in WAY too long. Again, thankful my mom could make the trip with us & could watch the boys! 

Friday night was the rehearsal dinner and it was so fun being with all of Ben's Ole Miss guys again. They are a pretty fun group! 

Side note: when you ask an overserved boy to take your picture, you'll probably just get shoulders and up. Oh well! :) 

The wedding was Saturday and it was a gorgeous day. My mom and I walked to a playground with Grayson & then had lunch on the square with the boys outside. 

For a child that hates to sleep, Griffin sure is a happy baby. He loved eating lunch outside & flashed his big smile at anyone who looked at him. Love that gummy grin!

Collin and Betsy Carol's wedding was gorgeous. They got married on a green space right by the beach before sunset and had the reception under a big tent. Everything was beautiful! 

The happy couple! 

We had such a great weekend & it was nice to have some much needed adult/friend time!

 

we did good, kid.

I'll start this off by saying that if you are one of the 4 guys that reads this, you may want to skip today. I never really post about breastfeeding, but today I am. 

My only goal with breastfeeding the second time around was to try harder to make it work. I only made it 4 weeks with Grayson and I was determined to go longer with Griffin. 

From the start, Griffin made that an easy goal. This experience has been SO different than when I nursed Grayson. Griffin has always latched on perfectly, I have never been in pain, & we had a good routine going from the start. I didn't put any pressure on myself to make it to a certain point...I just wanted it to work as long as it could. 

Well, my champion eater started fighting our nursing sessions a few weeks ago. After talking to people & searching the web, I was determined it was just a nursing strike. I thought it may last a week or so. Well, it kept getting worse & Griffin was eating less and less and my supply dropped rapidly. My baby was self-weaning.  Just like that, our breastfeeding days are over. 

I'll be honest and tell you that I've definitely cried over this. I never in a million years thought that I would actually enjoy nursing my 2nd baby. It was so painful & felt like such a stressful chore the first time. I will definitely miss those sweet moments of just Griffin and I, but, I'm glad he seems happier to eat. That skinny boy can't afford to miss any meals!

We made it 6 1/2 months. I'm pretty proud of that. We did good, Griff!

Don't worry...

we're alive.

We're just on a little mid-winter vacation. 

We've been doing some relaxing...

 Lots of bird chasing...

AND, we're going out at night minus the little people! 

I just might stay in this warm weather forever!

 

It's SINGLES day!!

Today is Kelly's Show Us Your Life: SINGLES!

I love this topic! Kelly has had like 9 couples meet, date, & get engaged/married all because of this link-up. That's incredible!

Today I am introducing you people to one of my favorite friends, Kristy.

Isn't she pretty?! Yes. Very. And she has great hair!

Kristy is 31, recently single, and lives in the metro Nashville area. She was married for a few years but has no children. I have known Kristy for about 4 1/2 years...she was actually one of my first friends when we moved to Nashville! I knew we would become fast friends when I discovered she shared the same love of rap music as me. Ha! Here are some things you need to know about Kristy:

• she is the mama to 2 dogs (a boxer named Zane & a chihuahua mix named Izzy) and has a heart for helping animals 
• She teaches first grade & is great at what she does!
• She loves all things home improvement (even going to Lowes & Home Depot! A man's dream come true!) & has a real talent for refurbishing antique furniture. 
• She is a GREAT friend and will do anything for others. 
• She's a movie buff! 
• She loves to travel & has been all over the world!

Kristy is a great girl and deserves someone equally as wonderful! She loves to have a good time, can always make you laugh, AND will cook you an awesome dinner. Does it get any better?!

If you or someone you know would be interested in getting to know Kristy, please leave me a comment & make sure your email address is included!