alright, you win

that's it, i give up.

it's been at least a year now.

by this time last year i had gained almost all my pregnancy weight.

currently i have lost almost all my pregnancy weight.

so i'm smaller than i was this time last year....yet i still can't get my engagement or wedding rings on my finger. 

so i'm biting the bullet and having the things re-sized.  my fingers are tired of being naked, and i keep thinking everyone thinks i'm teen mom... 

so goodbye size 4.5 rings.  we'll see what new size awaits

mommy cooks: indian summer turkey chili

temperatures are getting colder here in the midwest.  it may be nearly 70 today, but it's not supposed to get over 40 as the week wears on, and i even heard the word "snow."  ::shudders::  to me, a perfect winter meal is a soup or chili- there's just something about the hot liquid that warms you right up.  to me, it's comfort food.  now, i make a mean chili, but we are trying to eat healthier, so we have been making a lot of meals with turkey meat instead of ground beef- turkey is a great replacement for beef in burgers, and it's the perfect meat for this awesome chili that's colorful and full of veggies!  enjoy!

indian summer turkey chili

courtesy of rachael ray's big orange book

3 T extra virgin olive oil

1 package ground turkey (i buy the leanest)

3 T dark chili powder

1 T grill seasoning

1 T cumin

2 T worcestershire sauce

2 T hot sauce

1 medium-large onion, chopped

2 large bell peppers, any color combination (orange, red, green, purple, yellow), ribs and seeds removed, chopped

3/4 cup of beer (alcohol cooks out)

1 28-oz can of tomato sauce

1/2 cup smoky bbq sauce

1 cups corn kernels

heat a pot over medium to medium-high heat.  add  evoo and the turkey.  season meat with chili powder, grill seasoning, cumin, worcestershire and hot sauce.  crumble up meat and let cook about 5 minutes.  chop the bell peppers and onion, reserving 1/4 of onion for topping chili, if desired.  add veggies to meat and cook 10 minutes more.  add beer and deglaze pan, scraping up drippings while the alcohol cooks off.  add tomato and bbq sauce, and bring to a bubble.  add corn.  let simmer for 10 minutes.  adjust to taste.  

chili toppers (use all or some according to what you like)

shredded cheese: white cheddar, colby jack, pepper jack

sliced jalapenos

salsas

sour cream

chopped onion

chopped green olives

chopped cilantro

diced tomato

(i love a little bit of cheese, sour cream, green olives and cilantro on mine)

wean green cubes review

about wean green the company:  founded in canada in 2008 by melissa gunning, wean green is dedicated to providing parents with safe and environmental baby products that fit into every parent's diaper bag.
"we love researching environmentally friendly, modern, and unique baby products. we also love it when our diaper bags match our shoes! with this in mind, we created a company devoted to combining eco and chic in all of our products. our eco-chic designs make it possible for parents to choose environmental products without sacrificing style.  wean green grows with your baby, too. our wean cubes were designed with many secondary uses, including keeping cereal from spilling all over your purse!  our goal is to ensure that your eco-footprint does not grow faster than your baby's sweet little feet. the wean green team continues to design products that will meet the expectations of our weaners and their proud parents."  wean green means it when they say they are keeping their eco-footprint as small as your baby's feet:  their packaging is environmentally friendly and contains NO paper!  all of their invoicing and media kits are done electronically.

about wean green cubes:  wean green cubes are a safe way to store and transport food for your little one- they're bpa, pvc, phthalates and plasticizer free!  they are made from 100% recyclable glass that's durable enough for the dishwasher and to stand the heat of a microwave and the cold of the freezer (from my personal experience, don't accidentally send one flying off your kitchen counter onto your tile floor, b\c i'm pretty sure no glass can handle that).  wean cubes have smart clip lids that lock into place keeping air out of your food, and food out of your bag!

about my experience with wean green:  these cubes have changed our lives in the baby food department.  every night we were taking out our bowls, filling them with baby food, and covering them with plastic wrap that didnt' stick to the bowls.  heating food took forever... and traveling with the bowls, forget it.  we were using food storage containers that i'm sure weren't bpa free.  the wean green cubes eliminate all this mess.  we take the food straight from the freezer, pop 2 servings in the cubes and either go straight to the microwave or the refrigerator to thaw.  the cubes not only heat the food faster and more evenly- they also don't get hot!  i did manage to break one of my cubes by accidentally slinging it off the kitchen counter (there were tears involved), but that was more of a clumsy mommy thing.  they are also extremely easy to travel with- put the food in the cubes, clip the lid- and drop them into the diaper bag (they fit perfectly in the side bottle pockets.  no spills, no worries.  they clean easily and don't stain.  my husband raves about them EVERY TIME he uses them.  his words:  "these are totally awesome, i love them!"  i definitely wouldn't want to go back to life without them.  if you feed your baby, these are a MUST!

wean green cubes in action:

wean green cubes come in 4 delicious colors:  blueberry, raspberry, carrot & peas

up close and personal- tight fitting lids prevent spills and keep food fresh!

ian's food for the lunch & dinner- easy as can be!  (ian was eating plums & pumpkin for one meal, and mango & cauliflower for the other)

from the microwave, straight to the table!

interested in buying wean green cubes for your little weaner?  go to their website and during checkout enter the promo code "ohbaby"

disclaimer:  the opinions stated here are mine and mine only.  i was not compensated for this review, however, i did receive a sample of the product to try and review. 

she's here!

my newest niece, madison eloise "ellie" roberts was born @ 8:30 this morning weighing 8 lbs, 8 oz & 21" long.  proud parents willie & shannon roberts and big sisters grace & annabella

10 months

ian turned 10 months old on november 20.  it's scary to think that my baby is in double digit months.  where has the time gone precious boy?

ian now has  2 teeth on the bottom.  they're really cute, and really sharp- and he does bite fingers.  biting while nursing hasn't been a problem yet though- it's the top teeth i'm worried about- and i think he's working on one!

there isn't much new going on.  ian is still army crawling, although he is trying to work on a regular baby crawl- he usually just rocks back & forth and then plops back down on his belly.  he's still not really pulling up- he'll pull on us, and can crawl over our legs, but that's about it.  a friend gave us her baby jumper, so we have been putting him in there and trying to strengthen his core.  he's also not interested much in standing, but has stood up a couple times with us on the bed or couch. 

he is still eating well, as always.  he should be a poster child for an "eat your vegetables and fruits" campaign.  he nurses 4 times a day, has 1 bottle a day, and 3 meals a day.  we've introduced a lot more fruits and veggies including pineapple, pinto beans, brussels sprouts, beets, eggplant, cauliflower, sugar snap peas, spinach, potatoes.  he's also started eating finger foods: cheerios, puffs, rice, barley, edamame, grapes, banana, and turkey.  this kid can put it away! 

we celebrated halloween.  ian dressed as a pickle.  we were going to go trick or treating, but he had his first accident and was inconsolable for quite a while.  next year it will probably be a little more enjoyable, but mommy was pretty sad. 

he loves to laugh- he thinks the dogs are hilarious, he loves being tickled, he's working on clapping his hands- if you say "yay" he will clasp his hands together, he loves to blow raspberries and makes the "sucking in your breath" sound (i don't know what else to call it), he imitates you- ie: you cough, he coughs.  still more interested in books than toys, but likes his musical toys.  oh, and he's totally working on a mullet.  blech.

::sigh:: he's really growing up...  ha.  i say this at 10 months...

and pictures...

 socks?  we don't need no stinkin' socks

comfy casual.

they keep putting me on their shoulders

sock monkey boy

halloween pickle

10 months old!!

in decent order: my fridge!

i love people who are creative and craft- because i am neither of those things!  my friend tara runs a blog called in decent order (or indecent order) where she talks about what it's like to actually be organized and crafty!  a little more background on tara: we were camp counselors and roommates at camp skyline (go nightriders) nearly 10 years ago.  not only is she my favorite former camp roomie, she's a mother of 2 boys, funny, a southerner turned northerner who is now a southerner, always has something wise to say, and she does a mean michael jackson dance impersonation! 

anywho, a couple days ago tara opened the doors of her fridge for all to see, and she asked for her readers to do the same!  so, i took to my fridge with a camera, and shared a peek inside! 

you can view what's going on in the mcfridge here

what's your always stocked fridge item(s)?

nappy roots pt. 2

so remember here where i talked about doing this (again)?  it has now been 11 weeks (nearly 3 months!!) since i have last shampooed my hair.  how's it going?  it.  still.  sucks.

the oily stage is over.  my hair is now no longer completely greasy, and that is a relief... but...  it just still seems so.. dirty.  my hair has the consistency of straw- it feels like i could twist it into dreadlocks at any second and that they'd stick.  it seems like it's full of build up (of what, i don't know).  when i straighten it, it straightens well, but needs to constantly be brushed.  when i wear it curly, i have more springy curls, but it hangs so limp and the crown gets frizzy!  i don't know what's going wrong.

i started doing the baking soda wash once it got too oily, and it seemed to help, but now doesn't seem like it's working as well.  the simple mom article recommends washing daily with baking soda, while the mother nature network article says not to use it more than once every few WEEKS.   i've also started doing a once weekly "wash" with my conditioner.  since i color my hair, i'm supposed to use the conditioner once weekly anyway, so this has been a big help as far as making my hair a little more manageable.  and on the hair coloring front- i know these two aren't related, but it seems like my grays have multiplied!  aaaaah. 

i hate that i feel relegated to wearing a pony tail almost EVERY day.  especially with the holidays around the corner, but i don't know what else to do.  i don't want to give up.  i've come this far- i can't give in! 

 Seven months later, my hair has never looked better. It’s shinier and has more body, and my ordinarily flake-prone scalp is noticeably healthier. Plus, I get the self-righteous buzz of having beaten the system: I washed The Man right out of my hair and it stayed clean anyway.

mnn.com

so it's possible that i have 4 more months of crazy hair to put up with, but in the end i have the satisfaction of knowing that i did it. ::sigh::

here is my hair a few weeks ago.  ian seems disgusted, but it's not that bad!

so sorry

i've been so busy lately, i've really been neglecting the blog.  but i've got a lot of things in the pipe.  i'll get to work on that... right now!

cute as pie

besides colder weather, sweaters, great boots, and football... one thing i think of when i think of fall is all of the delicious food and baked goods that come with the holiday season.  one of my favorites: pie.  i am a fan of pie- pumpkin, apple, cherry, etc.  i'm not picky.  when i came across this pie pan at macy's, i just had to have it

image

absolutely adorable.  it's from the martha stewart collection- which always has new and interesting kitchenware, gadgets and accessories (i have her to thank for outfitting my kitchen in "martha stewart blue").  the bottom of the pie pan reveals a recipe for pumpkin pie!  you'll want to start serving pie asap just to cut away and reveal the bottom of your pan!  we went ahead and purchased this for a family member for christmas, but if i accidentally ended up keeping it for myself... oops.  there was also an accompanying apple pie dish, but i can't seem to locate it anywhere, which is really upsetting because macy's has a habit of discontinuing it's msc, and this is a relatively new item (i'm still upset about the kitchenaid mixer discon.).  it sure beats a boring old glass or metal pie pan!  get it now while it's available, and on sale for only $14.99- what a steal!

i also saw this pan, and couldn't resist showing it...

image

happy baking!  what pies (or other goodies) are you looking forward to making this fall?

christmas is coming- shutterfly promotion

every year around this time, things start to get busier and busier.  it's the beginning of what the retail world calls "the holiday season."  yes, it's only november 3rd, but christmas decorations are up in stores (and some have been for weeks), seasonal employees are being hired, and people are getting started on (or finishing) their holiday shopping.  obviously, we have big changes this christmas- we have a sweet baby boy celebrating his first christmas, and then we get to turn around 3 weeks later and celebrate his birthday.  to say i have a lot on my plate is an understatement.  i'm already busy buying gifts, throwing lists together, and getting plans for ian's birthday on paper.  the list grows longer every day, and one of the biggest items on that list- christmas cards- i wish they would address and stamp themselves...

one tradition that started when dave & i got married was to send a holiday photo card.  it's a little cheesy, but it's what we do.

 here we are in 2007, 2008 & 2009.  notice my pregnant face couldn't even fit into the last picture...

i can't wait to add sweet little ian into the mix of things this year.  i've already been busy on shutterfly checking out their huge assortment of christmas cards.  not wasp-y mcwasp (as seth cohen described his mother)?  they also have hanukkah cards, invitations (for that huge holiday bash you're throwing), and if you're really, really into the holidays- thanksgiving cards.  

i'm not sure where we ordered our cards from in '07 or '08, but we chose shutterfly for our photo cards last year, and i was really pleased.  the cards were easy to customize and arrived quickly and to our exact specifications.  i also use shutterfly all the time to make photo books.  i've probably made at least 5 since ian was born, and each time they come out better than i expect them to!  so, being that i'm on the ball already- i've narrowed down my christmas card choices to 5 options, all i've got to do is get the husband's input and take the perfect family photo!

seriously, it could go in any direction right now, but i think i'm leaning toward 2, 3 & 4 right now!  i love the simple designs- nothing too busy and i love cards that aren't just "happy holidays."   i also like that with most cards you can specify the amount of pictures you want.  i will opt for either a one picture card with a family photo or a two picture card with a family photo and photo of ian being all cute.  you're going to want a christmas card from me...

right now shutterfly is offering 20% off all holiday cards- (the promotion ends today, but they do promotions throughout the holidays)- check it out!

disclaimer- i was not compensated for this post.  i did however receive 50 free holiday cards for blogging about shutterfly and passing their promotional information on to you.  all opinions are my own.  want 50 free holiday cards for yourself, just by blogging?  go here

halloween

our halloween didn't exactly turn out as we expected- ian got hurt, and we weren't able to take him trick or treating. 

but, he was the cutest pickle ever.  ever.