Prize Winner

Today was a little bit of a weird day. It was Saturday and we did not have much to do. Lila woke up at 6:45, so she is getting better with sleeping through the night. Well..the bags under my eyes would say otherwise. So on a whim, David and I decided to go to the state fair. It was pretty fun and Lila was in a great mood all day, which makes everyone happy...I really do not understand the phrase "If mama ain't happy, ain't nobody happy" because really it is.."If child ain't happy, ain't nobody happy". I guess we have to keep that a secret for when she gets older. Mommy and daddy have the upper hand! HA! 

So Lila met some pigs, cows, and even got her own little piglet..(Her dad spoils her!)

We also wanted to get Lila's caricature done (especially when we saw how inexpensive it was)..Now here is the thing. Before you all die of laughter looking at her caricature, I just want to state that anytime the lady would look at Lila, she would smile almost to the point of laughter. Her eyes get tiny, her cheeks get big, and her face just looks different..Now..I still do not understand why the lady thinks that Lila looks like a mouse.....

Oh well! It is still funny!

Lila really had a blast. It was something fun to do on an uneventful day. 

And it all ended in a sleepy car ride, which was nice.

I am sorry if I offend anyone for posting this picture, but it was just a really funny night. David was helping me out with bath tonight because I was making dinner. So while I am in the kitchen, I hear "shoot, my phone!".. then I hear "No, Lila. No! What is that! Why, Lila, why!". I was laughing so hard. I grabbed my camera and ran to the bathroom. David lost his phone in the bathtub (which I am still wondering why it was near the bathtub) and Lila pooped seconds later HAHA! Thankfully he has a phone upgrade next week. Tells you what Lila thinks of his ancient flip phone. 

When we had gotten home, I realized it was either breakfast or hot dogs for dinner. I had forgotten to get something out of the freezer to defrost. So breakfast for dinner! My favorite. 

Gotta go! Church in the AM.

-LS

Jaws, Toys, and Tutus

I'm gonna make this quick! I have been doing loads of laundry (no pun intended :) ) and I have a headache! Yuck! 

David has been back at school and work since yesterday and everything is great! Lila and I have been two peas in a pod. I thought it would be a huge adjustment but it really has not been bad at all. 

Only thing that I am trying to figure out is Lila's schedule... I feel like we are constantly struggling with her sleeping schedule! She is so indecisive (just like her mama). Lila switched her two hour nap to 10am now and said bye bye to 1:00 nap. Oh well. 

Today we went next door and hung out with our friends :) They had gotten all of their old baby toys out for Lila and she is IN LOVE with them. 

We decided to put her in the little you box so that she would stay still for a minute haha. David and I are sooo in trouble. She is already so attached to the phone! 

We also spent some time outside today. It was so nice! I cannot remember the last time we were outside more than 15 min. (Besides at night for our walk). I like to let Lila get some sun without her sunblock. She already has great skin, but she needs to be exposed to the sun! I usually put sunblock on if she is out for awhile but if it's only 10-15 min I let her soak it all in. I mean come on, people back in the day didn't have sunblock and they made it out alive. 

While she took a little afternoon nap I got to tan! It was so nice. It's crazy what an hour of vitamin D can do for you. I felt like a new woman. 

We also discovered tonight that gerber needs to come out with a new baby food... Called watermelon. I cut a bunch of it today and decided to let her gnaw on it. She has been trying to eat her hands all day today, so I thought a new taste would be nice for her. SHE WENT AT IT! So funny hearing/watching her use her gums to try to soak all of the juice in. At one point I took it out of her mouth and there was a huge bite missing. Next thing I know she spits it out at me. It was pretty funny! 

                Jaws likes watermelon

Lastly, I ended my night with making Lila's ravens tutu. I just found a ravens jersey for her on ebay (new with tags!!!) and I decided she HAS to have a tutu to match... So .....  

Looks a little different because of the flash but that's it! Can't wait to see her in it. 

Tomorrow we will be going out to look for some child safety "stuff". When did Lila decide to get so big? I will not allow this to keep happening. She better not even think about walking. 

                             Sleep tight!

                                   -LS

I am still alive!

Well.. Three days later.. I HAVE BEEN BUSY! 

Nothing really eventful, but getting stuff done! Laundry and cleaning all day.. Oh and that thing called a baby. Yeah, she keeps me a little busy too.

Anyways, I am alive. Went grocery shopping today and got all kinds of yummy stuff for this week. Tomorrow is taco night! Yay! 

Lila has been trying to get her legs up more to "try" to crawl. Eh, it will be a while. She has learned to blow raspberries.. Especially while I try to feed her. That's fun. 

Yes.. That is food on her forehead. It was my fault. She wouldn't stop looking at her bib so I wave the spoon in front of her eyes to get her attention HA! Carrots and mixed berries, yum! 

I have also been trying to make Lila her own headbands. I have bought them since now, and the prices are just ridiculous. I have been into the cloth turban headbands for babies.. If they turn out well I will share!

That's all for now! About to watch a movie. 

                       Ta Ta

                           -LS

   

Who says parents can't have fun!?

OH MY GOODNESS..what a weekend..And I am so excited to be able to stay home for most of the day tomorrow to just clean and get back into the groove of things. 

This past weekend David and I dropped Lila off at my mom's house (Mimi) so that we could go out to celebrate my close friend's 21st birthday! I did not realize how much I needed it! Holy moly, I forgot what fun was..Don't get me wrong, I could not let go of Lila when I got her back today. I missed her a lot :( 

We parents definitely need a break sometimes. We get too used to being caretakers (..changing way too many diapers) everyday that we sometimes forget about ourselves. We had sooooo much fun. We drank a little too much (well me), danced all night and had some great laughs. It was also nice to go out with David as my husband and not Lila's dad..Does that make sense? I think we are so focused on everything Lila is doing/accomplishing and we put our relationship on the back burner. Everything we do revolves around the baby because she is new and relies on us..And she is kinda cute. I am hoping that we can go out one more time alone before our 1st wedding anniversary in October. It is going to be hard to fit it in with David's classes and work starting up this week. 

Anyway, Lila did have a somewhat big accomplish this week! She fed herself Gerber snacks. When I heard that she did it, I was shocked. I can barely get her to swallow half a cheerio, better yet picking it up and putting it in her mouth. 

She also has enough hair for me to put it in a little clip "pebbles style". LOL. I am SO excited. I can finally use all of the little clips I have been waiting to put on her. 

She was watching Barney. 

Lila and I went to a baby shower today, which was so nice! She loved looking at all of the little girls. She can't wait to be just like them! I would like to say I have taught her to always cross her legs, but it just comes natural to her. :)

Mama loves you!!

So after a night out I was soooooo hungry. This morning I woke up, drank some water, and raided the fridge because I was really craving a big breakfast. 

So obviously...

..AND TOMORROW STARTS WORKING OUT! 

XOX, 

-LS

Girls Day!

Sorry in advance for grammar/spelling..My eyes are watering from "no sleep mommy syndrome".

I am not sure how I am going to write my entire day in the blog. I am so so tired. Lila woke me up at 4am, laid in bed next to me until she fell asleep (while playfully smacking my face for 5 min), and fell back asleep until 7:30. We quickly got up to drop David off at work and spent the morning together until our playdate!

Sarah and I have been messaging each other on facebook for quite some time now. We went to the same high school, and Lila and Brielle (her baby girl) are 2 months apart. We compare/suggest things to each other, and we are both new young moms! David would always yell at me while I was writing back and forth with Sarah because our "letters" would be so long! I would tell him not to talk to me for like an hour so that I could focus LOL. ANYWAY, today was the first time we got the girls together for a playdate! I was so excited because Lila is not around a lot of babies, and she is beginning to get interested in children. We met at Patapsco State Park. It was so nice! The girls got to interact and us moms got to talk about our crazy girls. 

Lila was extremely fond of Brielle's hands and feet. She kept trying to eat them. 

 After a long day of play, a few naps, and a long drive home, Lila enjoyed some Barney...mouth open.

Like Father Like... Daughter???

OK..tonight's dinner. 

I had gotten chicken out to defrost this morning so that it would be ready when I got home. All day I could not think of what I wanted to make.....

SIDENOTE --> This is what I do every night. I look in the fridge, see what ingredients I want to use in dinner, and go straight to pinterest. I search two of my main ingredients for dinner and find something new! I LOVE PINTEREST. All of the recipes are good and I have yet to have a repeat dinner! 

I had corn on the cob and chicken. Well I love BBQ chicken and corn on the cob together.. Now all I needed was a baked potato. Well all I had were red potatoes....HEY PINTEREST! 

I found loaded sliced "baked potato". 

Now if you have not noticed yet, I rarely have all of the ingredients for every recipe. I usually say "eh, it can do without that" or use a different ingredient. SO BBQ Chicken... I did not have a lot of the ingredients for the sauce, but I just improvised and it tasted great. 

BBQ Chicken

Ingredients: (what i used)

4 Chicken Breasts (pounded)

3 tbsp brown sugar

1/4 c ketchup 

1 tsp paprika

1/4 tsp garlic powder

1/4 c olive oil

1 tbsp melted butter

1/4 c BBQ sauce (I added this after not knowing that there was not any in recipe)

 

It also called for: 1 tbsp Worcestershire sauce, 1/2 c apple cider vinegar

Instructions:

Preheat over 375

Wisk all together and coat 1/3 sauce in baking dish, place chicken in dish, 1/3 of sauce on top of chicken, and after 20-25 min pour rest of sauce on chicken. 

Sliced Loaded Potatoes

I kind of threw this together on my own and used what I had..I would have liked to have sour cream on mine as well!

Ingredients:

Olive oil

3 red potatoes (sliced thinly)

chopped chives

bacon (YUM)

shredded cheese

salt

pepper

Instructions:

preheat 400

brush potato slices with olive oil and add a little salt and pepper.

While in the oven, cook bacon in pan, and chop chives.

bake for 30 min (flipping halfway in between)

Crumble bacon, add chives and cheese! 

Cannot wait until tomorrow. We are home alone so that I can get some cleaning done and we can chill together. YAY for no plans!

Adios

-LS

Happy Baby=Happy Mama

This morning Lila was sitting in her high chair while I was making breakfast, and she started yelling and laughing to get my attention. It was soooo high pitched; my ears were hurting! She thought it was hysterical. This went on at least 10-15 times. I am scared. I tried not to laugh, but it was so funny. 

I am stuffed! Went to dinner tonight with David's family to meet his sister's boyfriend's family (woo!). We had a lot of fun and a great dinner! I then made David take us into the mall to get something sweet. Lila was asleep in the stroller so we waltzed over to the mall and both got a truffle. Yum!

Time out...baby crying. 

OK, I am back! Any moms out there go to the bathroom at night and realize they have not used the bathroom all day!? Yeah, that just happened to me. Probably not healthy. 

I hate going out late at night and having to bring Lila from the car to the house while she is asleep. Almost every time she will wake up. She will also stay awake for awhile after waking up. I was shocked tonight when I brought her in, gave her a bottle and she fell asleep.. only after screaming (happily), petting my face and playing with my hair. Good girl, Lila! She slept from 7pm-8am this morning, so I am hoping we get lucky again tonight. 

Don't let the bedbugs bite!

-LS

Lazy Day

Today was very uneventful..We sat around most of the day watching a movie and doing the normal routine. We said good-bye to Chandler early this morning :( One more year Chan! WOO

I was kinda in a weird mood all day and I just wanted to make something easy for dinner. I looked in the freezer and saw that we had Italian ground sausage, and we also had rigatoni and marinara sauce. It took maybe 30 min? Good and quick!

I warmed the marinara sauce, cooked the sausage in a pan, and boiled the pasta. I had some yellow squash in the fridge, so I cut some of that up and cooked it in the sauce. Once the meat was finished, I drained it and put it all into the sauce and let it warm all together. Once all together I added some fresh mozzarella on top. 

So the reason why I have so much produce all of the time is because I live with a produce salesman (Tyler). Every week he brings home a box of random produce! So I added a side salad because I need to use up the produce from last week before tomorrow's new box arrives! 

No homemade dessert tonight..but what is better than a juicy cantaloupe on a summer night!?

-LS

  

Christmas Pajamas and a Robbed Car

What a night! Holy cow. Chandler (my bestfriend) and I came back from picking up dinner when we received a call from her sister. We found out that her car was broken into at her field hockey practice and needed us to come get her. Someone busted her window open and stole her wallet/purse. 

Before all of the mahem, Lila and I enjoyed a long day with Chandler and her sister Carson. We went to the mall to finish their last minute shopping before school. Lila met Tiffany and Co. Yes little boy babies, she has standards. Beware. 

I was not going to shop, but we went to Janie and Jack. I love that baby store but it is so expensive! I found Lila Christmas PJ's though! I love them! They were half off and from last years collection. I had also gotten a food grinder for Lila. I am going to start making her own baby food. Watch out Lila.. You are getting gourmet now too! 

Gotta run! We are about to watch a movie! 

Here is Lila and chan heading off to college! Bye Aunt Chan! We will miss you :( 

Xo!

                        -LS

Coupon NERD

Ahhhhhh. Today was a good day. Just relaxed and played with the baby. She was really good today! YAY! 7:00 on the dot and she is in bed!

I started off the day with The Sun! David brought me the newspaper for coupons! I officially feel nerdy.. I bought a coupon binder. BUT hey, I am saving money! I am excited for this coming up week! I think I will actually be getting free shampoo, baggies, batteries, and razors! Can't beat that! I get my coupons from coupons.com, The Sun newspaper, my plus card coupons from Shoprite online, and then I look through the circular at Shoprite. Not only do I get all of those coupons, but Shoprite also doubles coupons up to a dollar! It is a lot of work, but we are a young family still in school, and need to save money where we can! I now feel organized with this binder! It was so hard for me to match up every coupon and make sure that they will work together. Now they are in their own sleeve! 

Not only am I getting involved with coupons, but Lila has been loving it! She sits next to me and flips through whatever products she is trying to save for.. Lila loves helping me save on Pampers diapers and wipes! LOL

Today, David had gotten nominated for the Ice Bucket Challenge for ALS. Of course he nominated me, so we did it together! I think that the challenge is a great way to spread the word for the disease and raise money! We could not afford to give $100 so we did the challenge, and will be sending $20 for the charity! It was very cold. VERY. Lila even came out to hang out with us after her nap. 

Tonight we had grilled chicken Caesar salad for dinner! It was quick and easy. I chopped Romaine lettuce, grilled the chicken on the stove, chopped onion, added some croutons, and drizzled the dressing! Simple!

While Lila had fresh garden veggies and apple sauce :)

I am so excited for tonight! Anyone that knows me knows that I love Real Housewives of NJ. YAY! I have to quickly finish the blog so I can watch at 8! We also rented Endless Love from Red Box. I have been wanting to see it for a while now, so I am a happy girl. 

This week is going to be crazy/fun! Lila and I will be spending the day with my bff/Lila's Godmama tomorrow before she leaves for school on Tuesday, we will be having dinner with David's family on Wed, Lila has an appt. and then baby playdate on Thur, and then Dave and I have a night out on Saturday for my close friend's 21st birthday! WOOOOO! Cant wait!

Gotta run! Nothing else to write about! 

-LS

Home, Home on the Range

Oh, the world of teething! Please, baby Jesus, let there be a tooth in the very near future. If there is not a tooth coming through Lila's gums soon, I am going to lose my mind! She has been in such a funky mood for about a month...and NO tooth yet. At first we thought a growth spurt..She would wake up at 2-4 AM every morning and drink a 6-7 oz bottle! A normal bottle for her is a 5 oz bottle. So after a month of Lila doing this..I am guessing it is something she is now expecting to do every night!? 

WHAT DO WE DO!?! 

On a good note-for the most part she is extremely pleasant to be around! So smiley, giggly, and cute! Today David was holding her and she was cooing....and slipped the "D" sound!!! This is very exciting because she has been on the same letters for a while now. 

This weekend we have been at my moms house in PA watching the house, pets and carpooling my younger brothers. To explain where we are....civilization is about 30 minutes away. When you walk outside all you see are cornfields. So of course I get the camera out..because there is nothing else to do :)

I was so excited to get her next to the shed where David and I had our Christmas picture taken. When I had taken the first picture I could not help but see how much Lila looks like my little brother, Dean. There was one picture where they look identical, but I could not find the photo!

Here is Dean:

And this is Lila!

NO TEETH YET!

My mom has an easy menu for me to follow for the boys this weekend because they like simple food. I have nothing to share on what I have been making for dinner. HOWEVER..I made my favorite salad yesterday for lunch and I wanted to share! 

I have been eating this salad since I was about 8-9 when my family and I would go to Friendly's! Whenever I am craving it, I make my own little creation of Buffalo Chicken Salad. It is definitely my favorite meal..and I think it always will be. I do not always have all of the ingredients, so I just improvise with whatever is in the fridge.

Ingredients: 

Lettuce

onion

shredded carrots

crushed tortilla chips

green pepper

buffalo sauce

blue cheese dressing

3 chicken tenders

sliced avocado

Mix it all together! YUM

Anyway, it is about time for me to start making dinner! Meatball subs! Off I go!

-LS

Another Month..

There it goes..another month has gone by in a drop of a hat. How is she 7 months, and why has summer gone by so fast!?

I truly believe that Lila accomplishes something new every month on the 14th. I was looking for something all day because I knew today felt different. She felt so much older to me. Well I decided today her new thing was....Not opening her mouth ON PURPOSE. Several times today I would be feeding her, bottle, food and medicine, and she WOULD NOT open her mouth. Yes, she has closed her mouth before on me, BUT today I could tell she knew what she was doing. She pressed her lips together so tightly and looked at me with "evil" eyes. Great.

"I ate all of my oatmeal, mom!" -Lila's Bib

On second note, she held her bottle a lot longer than usual by herself! Yay Lila! We also slow danced to Barney's "I love you" song. That was our moment for the day. 

Today, David was at work all day, 7-7, and I definitely am going to miss him being around once the school year starts. Usually he does not work that long and he can help me with nights or mornings so that we can both catch a break. 

WELL..by the time dinner rolled around, Lila was having a fit. She was fed and had a clean diaper, so I was lost. I had five different pots going on the stove for dinner and a baby walking into me while in her walker (Of course she finally learned to walk forward at that moment). I ended up having Lila in one arm, a spatula and spoon in the other, while stirring and flipping everything before it burned. SOMEHOW it all worked out and we had a nice dinner with Lila throwing her body into my plate while I tried to eat. What happened to the newborn that slept every hour, and who I wanted to wake up!? Was I crazy!?

Thankfully, I now have this blog to look back at for the second child :)

Now, I was not going to bake anything for dessert today, but then my best friend, and now neighbor (!!!!!), showed up and we had nothing better to do than bake and chit chat! So we came up with a lemon/blueberry bundt cake. It was awesome. I remembered to take a picture of dessert and not the dinner (again-sorry!). 

Here is the picture!

YUM, RIGHT!?

Now here is the recipe:

Ingredients:
1 cup of butter
1 3/4 cup of sugar
zest of one lemon
3 eggs 
1/2 tsp vanilla
3/4 cup buttermilk
3 cups of fresh blueberries
2 1/2 cup flour
2 tsp baking powder
1 tsp salt

Lemon Glaze:
1 1/2 cup powdered sugar 
1 tbsp lemon juice
1 tbsp lemon zest
1 tbsp milk (I had to add another tbsp because it was too thick)
1/4 tsp vanilla

Instructions:

• Preheat 350 degrees
• In large bowl, cream butter, sugar and lemon zest (3-5 min)
• Add eggs one at a time and beat additional minute per egg
• In separate bowl, mix together all dry ingredients
• Add dry ingredients alternatively with the buttermilk to the sugar/zest/butter/eggs
• Fold in blueberries
• Grease and flour baking pan (I used bundt)
• Bake 55-60 min

One more thing! For dinner, I made Cod (seasoned with garlic, lemon, and white wine), peas, and I needed to make the cauliflower that was sitting in the fridge. I am usually not a huge fan of cauliflower, but I eat it because it is good for me! I was trying to find a recipe to hide the taste! Well I did it! When I had asked my husband later in the night what he thought it was, he guessed..."Potatoes, right? No, wait..Corn? No, definitely potato."....To me it tasted like a hash-brown. They were really tasty! 

Cheesy Cauliflower Patties

Here is the recipe:

Ingredients:
1 head of cauliflower
2 large eggs
1/2 cup cheddar cheese, grated
1/2 cup panko
1/2 tsp cayenne pepper
salt 
olive oil

Instructions:

• Cut cauliflower into florets and cook in boiling water for about ten min
• Drain
• Mash cauliflower while still warm
• Stir eggs, panko, cheese, cayenne, and salt together
• Coat bottom of pan with olive oil over medium high
• Form cauliflower mixture into patties about 3 inches across
• Cook until golden brown

Makes 8 patties


Yikes, I need to stop writing these entrees so late at night; my belly is starting to growl! Off to bed so that I can wake up with Sleeping Beauty for night duty! 

-LS

Hello Blogging World.

Well. Here I am. I was on the phone with my mom tonight, and she told me to start a blog. Thought to myself, "hmm with all of my free time, being a mom, wife, cook, maid, and housekeeper" SURE! So tonight is the night. 

I thought this would be a great way to vent (?), and share my new world with others.
Short recap:

• I am a 22-year-old new stay-at-home-mom.
•  In October 2014, I got married to my high school sweetheart (David) of 5 years.

 

• On January 14, 2014, I gave birth (7 weeks early) to a sweet baby girl, Lila Rose. After a little help from the NICU, we were clear to start our life as a family of 3!

• Today, I have a 7 month old baby, who is into everything, a husband, who is way too patient, and me, trying to deal with all things new.

I hope that this new blog will help me relax for 30 minutes a day, and focus on other things besides...poop. 

SO. For today..

Woke up. Did mommy things. Cut coupons. Went to grocery store. Saved $61 from coupons (!!). Went home. Made a yummy dinner. And now having a glass of wine, and writing my blog. Nothing too exciting happened...however..back to our dinner.

IT WAS AMAZING.

I am a very new cook, but I may have found my calling. If I can do it, anyone can! Wish I took a picture of tonight's dinner...but a recipe will have to do!

Yummy Sweet and Spicy Pork Chops

Ingredients: 

4 pork chops (bone-in or out)

1/4 cup brown sugar

1/2 tsp cayenne powder 

1/2 tsp garlic powder

1/2 tsp paprika 

1/2 tsp salt

1/2 tsp pepper

Instructions:

• Preheat oven 350 degrees.
• In a bowl combine brown sugar and all spices.
• Rub sugar/spice mix all over both sides of pork chops. 
• Heat 2 tbsp olive oil in a pan over med high heat. 
• Cook chops for about 5 min on each side until browned.
• If needed, put in oven for additional 5 min to make sure they are cooked through.

Roasted Herbed Veggies/Potatoes

Ingredients:

3 Red Potatoes

1/2 Green Pepper

Carrots

Yellow Squash

lemon juice

olive oil

thyme

parsley

salt

pepper

Instructions:

• Preheat oven 450 degrees
• I cut all of the veggies until it filled my baking dish.
• Poured olive oil and lemon juice over medley. Mixed it all around until coated.
• sprinkled thyme, parsley, salt, and pepper (I eye-balled it-sorry!)
• Roast for 35-45 minutes. 

I better go to bed before I think about running to the fridge, and taking a bite of leftovers! 

Until Tomorrow!

-LS