Chef Audrey

Confession: I DO NOT EAT VEGETABLES. period. Unless you consider a white potato, mixed with a bunch of fillers, deep fried, and served in a cardboard box next to a "mystery meat" hamburger and a high fructose corn syrup filled soda a vegetable, I just don't eat them. One of my biggest goals as a mother is to raise Brady to eat a healthier diet than I do. As I was browsing my favorite "baby meal" website (wholesomebabyfood.com) I came across a recipe for broccoli cheese nuggets. Brady seems to like broccoli, so I gave it a try. Only I turned them into "pancakes" instead because I knew I would still have to cut them up into small bites. As they were baking in the oven Rob commented that they didn't smell too bad. I thought they smelled pretty good too. So we tried a few nibbles and, lo and behold, they were good! I think we may have found a new side dish! I can now say I'm a veggie eater (kinda).

But wait there's more! One of my favorite blogs to read is Lindsay's blog, Passionate Homemaking. She writes on a lot of topics, but mostly on healthy living/lifestyle type stuff. She's always talking about cooking with whole grains and "soaking" and about something called phytates. Anyway, I've always been lost. I didn't have a clue what she was talking about, but she recommended Sue Gregg's website. Let me just tell you...the website is a mess. Typos and broken links are all over the place. And don't you dare look at the picture of the old lady. I'm sure she's really sweet and all, but someone needs to update that picture. She looks like my 2nd grade teacher from 1988.... But I did find a lot of information! One of the "free" recipes she gives away is for blender batter pancakes. I really expected them to taste like cardboard. Really. But we had them this morning and they were so good! And easy to make too. I don't normally cook pancakes, but when I do I reach for the closet box of Bisquick or Hungry Jack I can find. This recipe has NO flour in it. Amazing I tell ya. I even did the 2-step process by starting the batter the night before. That crazy phytate word kept coming up again. I still don't know what the heck they are, but starting it the night before really simplified the process and made it so fast to finish in the morning. I used a combo of 1/2 oats & 1/2 brown rice like suggested. Sounds gross, I know. But it was yummy. I will definitely be making these again. Now I want to try some of her other recipes too.

Brady's Costume...

This is a repost of a picture I took last month for Kelly's Show Us Your Life tour. Brady hasn't worn his costume since this day and I'm praying it will still fit him. It is a size 18month and he is currently wearing 2T. Hopefully we can squeeze him in it for a few pictures!

An Award!!!

I am honored to accept this award from my sweet bloggy friend, Ginger. Thank you so much for your kindness!!!

Here are the rules:

-use only 1 word

-pass along to 6 favorite bloggers

-tell them you did so!

1. Where is your cell phone? Purse

2. Your Hair? Brown

3. Your Mother? Love

4. Your Father? Smart

5. Your favorite food? Pasta

6. Your dream last night? None

7. Your favorite drink? SweetTea

8. Your dream/goal? Family

9. What room are you in? Living

10. Your hobby? Reading

11. Your fear? Loss

12. Where do you want to be in six years? Ohio

13. Where were you lastnight? Home

14. Something you aren't? Weak

15. Favorite Muffin? Chocolate

16. Wish List Item? Clothes

17. Where did you grow up? Milford

18. Last thing you did? Grocery

19. What are you wearing? Lounge

20. Your TV? HGTV

21. Your Pets? Daschund

22. Friends? Wonderful

23. Your Life? Blessed

24. Your Mood? Content

25. Missing Someone? Family

26. Vehicle? Acadia

27. Something your not wearing? Shoes

28. Your favorite store? J.Crew

29. Your favorite color? Green

30. When was the last time you laughed? Today

31. Last time you cried? Awhile

32. Your best friend(s)? Kind

33. One place I could go over and over? Nature

34. Favorite place to eat? Felix's

6 bloggers that I am tagging:

*Britni - yes, I know her blog is private, but she LOVES new readers - so send her an email and ask for the login info!

*Sarah - hopefully this will bring her back from her blogging hiatus!

*Jessica

*Stephanie

hmmm.....4 will have to do!

I still have TONS of photos to upload from our trip. Please don't give up on me. It will take me a while. I am currently suffocating under piles of Laundry & new toys that need to be organized. Also, we are still working on our home improvement projects, so I will post pictures of those as soon as they are finished and everything gets put back in it's place!

Thank you Justin & Britni!!!

Brady is the proud new owner of a Radio Flyer All-Terrain Wagon! Our sweet friends Justin & Britni generously gave this to him for his birthday. THANK YOU SO MUCH!!! I can see Brady (and any future babies) having fun with this for years to come. They brought it over this evening and Justin took Brady & Frank for a test drive around the house. They were both super excited. Brady had the cutest look on his face when Justin first started pulling the wagon. I can tell he really liked it. I think we'll be taking him on a walk in it tomorrow when the sun is shining.

Just last night I told Rob that we really needed to buy a wagon for Brady now that he is a toddler. Then this morning I was looking on Radio Flyer's website when Britni sent me a text message asking if Brady had a wagon. I couldn't believe it! She must be telepathic. Thank you again - ya'll really outdid yourself and we are so appreciative!

Back Home!

We we survived our trip. We decided to drive the whole way (12 hours) yesterday so we could get Brady back on a normal schedule today. It went pretty well. Brady had a screaming melt down while we were stuck in standstill rush hour traffic in Nashville, but we expected it to happen at some point. We got home around 12:30 am last night and have been busy unpacking this morning. Brady is entertaining himself with all of his new birthday presents. Thank you everyone for your generosity.

I will post more about our trip later, but right now I wanted to post this. We had family pictures taken while we were in Cincy and I couldn't be happier with how our "sneak peak" turned out. I can't wait to see the rest of them. Please check them out!

Having fun with Family!

We made it! The trip actually went very well. Brady did so good. He barely cried at all and he slept almost the entire way. Brady is napping so I just wanted to do a quick update. Otherwise I'll be so tired and overwhelmed when I get home that these will never make it on the blog. These were taken within the first 20 minutes after we arrived yesterday. Enjoy!

It's Coming!

He hasn't taken any steps on his own without assistance yet, but I have a feeling it won't be very long till he does!

We have been so busy around here. We're leaving for Ohio on Tuesday when Rob gets home from work. I've been busy making lists, cleaning, doing laundry, making lists, organizing, packing, and did I mention making lists? Yeah, I'm kinda OCD like that. Otherwise I'll forget something really important. This trip is even harder to pack for since I've got all our birthday party supplies to pack. Also we are having our 1st "real" family pictures taken while we're on our trip, so I've been deciding on outfits and shopping for the finishing touches. I've been busy hemming all of Brady's pants too. He's a chunky monkey and wears a size 2T, but the problem is that they are too long for him, so I have to hem them up for him. I also made some adorable party hats for him & his friends to wear at his party next Saturday. Pray that the weather warms up some. Right now they are calling for a high of 51 degrees! Ouch. I don't know if we'll be having the party at the pumpkin patch if that really happens!

Feeling So Blessed

Did anyone watch Oprah this past Wednesday? Unfortunately I didn't get to see it. I rarely watch Oprah anymore (she really annoys me), but I really wish I had seen this episode. A while back I heard about a fellow blogger, Nie Nie (Stephanie Nielson), who had been in a terrible plane crash along with her husband. I try to stay away from sad stories because they make me cry, so I didn't visit her blog or bother learning more about her story. Well, Oprah's show was about her and everyone in the blogging world seems to have posted about it. Here is a link to an article about the episode. So, I have spent the last two days devouring her archives. And I have cried, and cried, and cried. Her spirit and love for her children & Mr. Nielson (her husband) is amazing and beautiful, and inspiring. Reading her words has definitely touched my life and had an impact on my attitude. Please check her blog out here.

We are still working on our projects. Pictures will come soon, I promise. Rob has been working so hard. I don't think he sat down once today and now he's at work till 10 tonight. Something tells me he's going to be grumpy when he gets home. I'm baking him chocolate chip cookies as we speak to sugar him up. OK, I lie - I'm baking MYSELF chocolate chip cookies. But I might let him have one:)

Still Here

Sorry about the lack of updating this week. We've been busy working on some home improvement projects. I will post pictures when they are all finished!

Can you believe Brady will be a year old in just 10 short days!?! It doesn't seem real. Only 14 days till his party and I still have a lot to do!

Wonderful Sunday

Yesterday was a really great day. It started off with a trip to the Spot of Tea, my favorite brunch place, for a baby shower/birthday party for Carrie, a sweet friend of mine that I met at Kindermusik. She is due with her 2nd in November. I just met her a few months ago and she has been so kind to me. She invited me to join a playgroup with some other moms that she knew and I have enjoyed getting to know those girls as well. It was so nice to get away without Brady for some talking and laughing. I really needed that!

This cheesecake was so delicious. Another girl, Kim, made it from scratch. She said she got the recipe off of Martha Stewart's website. I will definitely be making this in the near future.

We all chipped in and got Carrie a double stroller and a gift card to Posh Salon. She was so grateful. It was adorable.

Another lady gave her a pink cammo dress and embroidered bib for sweet Violet. She made them herself - I was so impressed. I wish I had the skills and proper sewing machine to make stuff like this!

Some of the guests

More of the guests.

Thank you so much BRITNI for babysitting Brady for me so I could attend!!! You are a wonderful babysitter and an even better friend!

Later that day Brady and I were playing in his room. Actually he was playing and I was reading in his glider. He kept pulling up on my knees and laying his head in my lap like he wanted to climb up there with me. So I scooped him up and started rocking him. Probably no one knows this but when I rock him to sleep or put him down for naps I like to sing church hymns to him. My voice is horrible, but the songs are usually nice and slow and it seems to calm him down. So I was singing and rocking away and he fell asleep with his head on my chest. There were a million and one things I needed to get done. But I just couldn't put him down. Tears started welling up in my eyes as I was thinking about how I'm not going to be able to rock him for much longer. So I sat there, with my arm falling asleep, and let him nap in my arms while I sang to him and prayed for him for over an hour. I love little moments like those.

Birth Stories & More

For the past year the doula that I used when I gave birth to Brady has been sending me emails and inviting me to different get togethers, meetings, etc. In the beginning I didn't go because Brady was either constantly nursing, sleeping, or screaming his lungs out because he wanted to be nursing or sleeping. As he got older I never went to any of the functions because I was kind of scared of the people that might attend them. I wholeheartedly believe that an unmedicated natural birth should be a primary goal of a mother and that breastfeeding is the absolute superior choice. Some of my friends also enjoy picking on me and calling me "crunchy" or a "hippie". But my beliefs pale in comparison to many others in the natural birthing/attachment parenting community. To be honest I was nervous about going to any of these meeting because I was scared I'd be surrounded by a bunch of Birkenstock wearing, granola eating, breastfeeding their 10 year old children, women and I wouldn't fit in with any of them. You know, the REAL hippies.

But I got a text message from my doula on Wednesday evening telling me about a meeting of the Birth Stories & More group that was meeting at the library the next morning. I didn't have any plans that day and I figured it would be nice to go and see Colleen (my doula). After all I better keep in touch with her if Rob & I do have another baby while we live down here. So I went, a little apprehensive. But let me tell you...I FREAKIN' LOVED IT! I met some really great women there and I was so excited that most of the other ladies there shared my view about natural birth and wanting to expand the options for this in our area. At the meeting there was a guest speaker who spoke about doulas, what they do, the need for more of them, and training to become a doula. And there may have been a few ladies there that "seemed" a little crunchier than myself, but everyone was so friendly and I enjoyed meeting so many new & like-minded people. And no one was breastfeeding their 10 year old. Score! I am definitely looking forward to going back next month.

Oh and in case your interested, Rob & I finally made it to Butch Cassidy's on Wednesday and they accepted the restaurant.com gift certificate! We got $10 worth of food for only $.80!!! What a deal! Our waitress did say that some local places had stopped accepting them though, so if you're thinking about ordering some (either in Mobile or where you live) you might want to call the restaurant before you buy the gift certificates to confirm that they accept them.