7 Month Update

Two days ago, on the 12^th, Jack turned 7 months old. In what feels like the blink of an eye he is now officially closer to the one year mark than he is a newborn. Boy! Does it really feel like it this week. In the past 5 or so days he has been breaking out all kinds of tricks including: waving to Matt before leaving to go on a stroller run, feeding himself a fourth of a banana, sitting up in his crib to wait for us to come get him, and half-way pulling himself to standing in a laundry basket. He is getting much faster at the army crawling and is working on incorporating his knees. He officially outgrew the laundry basket from the previous monthly photos, plus he doesn’t lay down very long these days. He is BUSY!

He is such a funny and happy boy. He babbles quite a bit now – sometimes very high pitched sounding and sometimes he sounds so much like a gremlin its frightening. He has had two bottom teeth since just after he turned three months and now two top teeth have broken through. He consistently goes to bed and down for naps while awake and usually pretty calm. I love our bedtime routine of nursing or a bottle with lots of songs before Matt and I put him in bed, kiss him and tell him we love him and leave. Watching Jack rub his head after we leave to finalize his own bedtime routine cracks me up.

Likes: Bath time, kisses, music and singing (Itsy Bitsy Spider can make any meltdown disappear), his highchair and eating (he had salmon for the first time last night and loved it), swimming pools

Dislikes: Getting dressed, seeing Mommy or Daddy leave the room, waiting for his morning oatmeal Check him out standing up with his toy! You’ll notice my hand in the background nervously waiting for him to fall. He is amazingly strong!

I thought I would miss him being a “baby” but every month brings so many great new adventures. So happy to have this little boy in my life!

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A Matter of Perspective

The last couple of weeks have been more stressful than I would like to admit. There have been a lot of great things like getting an offer on our house (yay!) but the impending move has me feeling anxious. I know that this change is going to be a great one in the long run, but the uncertainty of leaving a place that has become so comfortable is making me crawl out of my skin. And, when I am feeling overly anxious, I almost always choose this time to be unhappy with me – my body, my abilities, my relationships….and on and on in a horrible spiral.

Last Monday I started feeling these negative thoughts. Matt and I took the rug rat for a run, and I was feeling slow and tired. We got in a short 2 mile run before heading back home for dinner, bath time and the normal night with a baby. When we were changing from the run, I put Jack on our bed. I had a shiny bracelet at the other end of the bed that caught Jack’s attention. I watched as his expression said, “I’m going to get that!” He army crawled to the bracelet pretty slowly, and he was panting! But he was so determined. When he got to his prize he smiled and grabbed. I let him have a few congratulatory seconds before stealing it back. What a mood changer!

While Jack only moved about 2 feet, he gave it his all and accomplished something completely new. I’m going to try to quit whining and just get out there and go for it. Whether the “it” is getting in a slower 2 miler, or moving hundreds of miles away to get closer to achieving a dream. I hope your week gets you closer to an accomplishment, big or small, too! (Now trying to pack with a more mobile baby is another story…)

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Lately

Because we have this going on:

Our routine has been a bit off. Luckily that has meant extra pool time.Dining al fresco every chance we get:Playtime with friends in the park when we take advantage of being gone for open houses:

Neighborhood parties with our Swedish friends and their midsummer’s traditions (see the greens pole in the background of the cuddly baby):Easy dinners that involve very little cooking and very little clean up:Lots of running and walking family time when (again) we need to be out of the house:(This guy never complains about being outside!)

And keeping my sanity with friends who challenge me with hills sprints. (Please note I did not see this smile on any of the sprints because I spent every one trying my hardest to catch this speedy woman).And not nearly enough coffee moments with friends (but I am going to change that with a run and coffee with friends tomorrow).
Doesn’t this cinnamon honey latte make you want to get out of bed in the morning?

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Greek Mason Jar Salad

Life has gotten very busy around here. Having our house on the market has meant less time in the kitchen and more time ensuring the house is in showing shape every time we leave the door. Spending less time at home hasn’t been all bad though. Last weekend we were away from the house most of Saturday and Sunday. We filled those days with 6 month pictures, lots of time at the park, and visiting with friends. After feeling like Matt and I needed to be very productive during every second at home it was so nice to have an excuse to have to be out of the house and to have lots of family time together.

I skipped making salad jars last week. I didn’t know that I would miss them as much as I did! So this weekend I grabbed all of the supplies to re-do my favorite salad in a jar – Greek Salad! If you’re looking for a salad with more of a cohesive feel this is a great one to try.

I’ve made these with chicken or vegetarian with chickpeas. Both are excellent!

Greek Mason Jar Salad

It is really important to make sure your jar and all ingredients are dry before layering so you don’t end up with a soggy salad. I used the wide mouth quart-sized jars.

Ingredients:

Marinated, cooked and chopped chicken breast
Pitted green olives
Cucumber, chopped
Red onion, chopped
Pepperoncini peppers
Grape tomatoes
Greek salad dressing
Feta cheese

Directions:

Place chicken breasts in a baking dish and cover with Greek Salad dressing. Bake in an oven at 350 for 30 minutes or until cooked through. Let cool before dicing into bite-sized pieces.
After all vegetable are washed, cut, chopped and dried layer your salad in this order:
1. Bottom layer – dressing (seriously – put it on in the jar)
2. Second layer – all hearty veggies (olives, cucumber, red onion, peppers and tomatoes)
3. Third layer – chicken (or chickpeas if you are omitting meat)
4. Last layer – greens. I typically use a combination of spinach and romaine.
5. If not eating the salad that day, bring your feta in a separate contatiner to add to the salad before eating. The first time I made these salads, I put the cheese at the top. It was acceptable but the cheese had taken on too much moisture by the end of the week salads.

Jack was my helper this weekend. He kept me company and practiced his percussion skills while I chopped and layered.

If you are meal planning for the upcoming week, make sure to add this to your menu. What a perfect salad for summer!

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6 Month Update

6 months ago we welcomed this little man into our lives. And in such a short amount of time he has made our lives so much more full.

(Matt with his new “Jack Pack”)

I think the biggest change this month is that Jack really feels like a kid now. Whether it is how much older he looks in his clothes or how he “talks” to us like a kid, Matt and I look at each other and ask where our baby went. And I have a feeling I am going to say this every month but this has been my favorite so far. Jack is just so much fun that I can’t believe I got so lucky.

I don’t think I realized before becoming a parent how babies’ little personalities really appear early. He certainly lets us know when he thinks we are funny. He also is not hesitant to let us know what he doesn’t like. Right now the big offenders on his list include: diaper changes, putting on clothes, and having morning snuggle time cut short.

His likes this month include: bath time (still loves kicking around), chewing on tags and his shirt, silly faces and funny voices, and this toy from Grandma and Grandpa

Last week he and a little friend worked on passing a ball back and forth. I love to see his interactions with other little people. This weekend he cracked up as another friend’s dog kept running by him. I think it melted Matt’s heart a little. Maybe a dog (or two) will be in our future?

Sitting is going really well. His only recognizable word right now is baa-baa (directed at nothing in particular), and he rolls all over the place. He still only has the two bottom teeth.

We have our 6 month doctor appointment this week so we will get his height and weight stats then. I feel like he had a big growth spurt in the last couple of weeks though, so I’m pretty interested to see where he falls. We bought some baby cereals over the weekend and plan to start those soon.

Quick comparison of the past monthly shots:I feel like Matt and I have changed a lot over 6 months too…probably in ways that are too deep for me to think about today. But seeing how silly Matt has become (no one can make Jack laugh like Matt) makes me understand why so many friends said they fell even deeper in love with their husbands after children.

Thanks for sharing in the past half year. I’m sure the next half year will be full of lots of adventures.

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Boilermaker Baby

Daddy and Mama said I can officially announce that we are going to be Boilermakers starting this fall. Boiler up! (please don’t mind the drool on my shirt. I’m working on some more teeth!)

Mama has been thinking about being a professor for a long time and says that seeing me grow is showing her how quickly time is going. The three of us think its time to go for it! She is pursuing her PhD in Engineering Education and our family is making the big move to West Lafayette, Indiana. Daddy is working remotely with his company after the move until October and is looking for good leads for his next gig. If you know of any great companies in the area please let him know. Besides being the funniest person I know, I hear he is really good with computers.

I am so excited to be in a college town! I suggested we all move into a frat house together. They sound like fun, and Mama makes me giggle when she gets home from work and says, “This place looks like a frat house!” about all of my neat toys that we keep throughout the house along with all of their big people things. I love toys and I love their big people things so a frat house sounds perfect to me! I think I could show those college boys a thing about style too.

But Daddy went to check out a house for us over the weekend. He assured me we can take all of my toys and that we can still take a blanket outside to look at the trees and sky together. AND he said there is an extra bedroom so we can have our favorite people come stay with us.

Mama and Daddy said that we will go to lots of football and basketball games. I have been very busy this last month passing a ball back and forth between my hands. I don’t know if they will want me to play on the team but I am going to try to be ready.

I am so excited to live closer to our family! I have 4 grandparents, 5 great-grandparents, 2 of my aunts and uncles and lots of extended family a much shorter drive away. We would love lots of visitors!

I’ll admit I am having some mixed feelings about the move. I have made lots of friends here in my six months and I’ll be very sad not to see them. Plus, I hope it will be ok to sport Illini gear at Purdue because I have quite an extensive collection of orange and blue.

We will be very busy these next couple of months. Classes start in the middle of August, our wonderful Brookside house will be on the market tomorrow, and we are working on enjoying every last precious minute that we can in Kansas City. We’ve had some visitors in the last week to help prep for the move.

Grandpa Dave came last week to play.

Grandma Laura and Grandpa Mark came last weekend to play too.

Thanks for reading my first guest post. I might occasionally contribute to the blog if Mama gets busy with research.

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Weekend Recap

Is Tuesday night too late for a weekend recap? Hopefully you won’t find the pictures too out of date. Our weekend started out great went downhill in a hurry and I am finally feeling like things are returning back to normal.

Jack and I started our 4 day weekend together with a trip to the zoo with our friends, Nina and Meyer. (Isn’t Jack’s little safari hat adorable??)

And Meyer is such a happy guy! I almost don’t believe his mommy when she says nights are a little rough.

And we met up (unpictured) with friends Emily and David for happy hour. Although Jack was a good sport I know our days of having (relatively) easy dinners out are numbered. Once he gets more mobile we will have to have some sitters for sure.

We had family workout time on Saturday and did lots of little home projects. And we played lots of games with Jack like how fast can Jack kick, peek-a-boo, and “this little piggy.” He was also much more interested in books this weekend and likes to help turn the pages, and likes trying to put the book in his mouth.

Sunday morning was a little rough with more wake-ups than usual, but seemed promising when Jack decided to sleep until 8am. He wasn’t super smiley but sometimes he is a little more reserved in the morning (like Matt). Thank goodness not everyone is smiling and talkative at 5am! Jack and I went to the grocery store and when he didn’t get even the littlest bit excited about our pineapple purchase I knew he was really off. Pineapples are really his thing, you see. He can turn his head exorcist-style to check ours out at home (slight exaggeration but you get the point). He had a slight fever and some coughing so we took him into the pediatrician. (How wonderful is it that we can get a last minute appointment on a Sunday afternoon?!) And she diagnosed him with his first ear infection. Matt and I felt so bad for the little guy. He never got to the point of screaming or lots of crying so I’m glad we didn’t wait out the weekend to go see his doctor. So the rest of Sunday and Monday involved lots and lots of cuddling. He didn’t want put down, and his doctor said to make sure to give lots of liquids, which is breastmilk at this stage of his life so he and I spent lots and lots of time together. I think we were both exhausted!

Monday afternoon Jack and I went for a run together and he seemed to really turn around. He gave his big smiles again and was excited to play with his toys in the afternoon. I think that run saved my sanity and got us both in better moods.

This weekend was not like Matt and my Memorial Day weekends of the past. No drinks at the pool, no long run at the park, but there was some good food.

Nutella Banana Bread – Gone at the end of the weekend. Very good! I’ll share the recipe soon.

Matt used my rice cooker to make wonderful cinnamon apple steel cut oats. Seriously one of the best breakfasts ever. He put everything in the rice cooker the night before and set the timer to be ready at 7am and we woke up to a wonderful smelling breakfast.

I also used my crockpot to roast a small half turkey breast for turkey quesadillas and turkey sandwiches this week. Very easy – put the turkey breast (bone in) half in the crockpot and add enough water to cover the bottom of the pot. I seasoned the bird with lots of red pepper, black pepper, and some sea salt. Turn the crockpot on high for one hour and then on low for an additional 3 hours. Juicy, perfect turkey breast done! (adjust cooking times if you roast the whole breast)

And, of course, the salad jars for the week:

Layered, in this order starting from the bottom of the jar:
2 Tbsp Italian dressing
A handful of chopped bell peppers
*A new addition* chopped and roasted sweet potatoes (a great addition)
Chickpeas
Spinach and romaine
Grated Swiss cheese

I taught a great spin class tonight and need to get myself to bed to get up for another great spin class early tomorrow morning. Hope your week is off to a great start! Any suggestions of something to use my crockpot for next week? I think crockpots are even better in the summer because you don’t have to heat up your whole kitchen to do some cooking.

Why I Love the Rain and Other Weekend Info

I hope your week is off to a great start and that you feel refreshed after the weekend. Last week was a little draining and made me enjoy my weekend even more than usual. Jack and I spent a lot of time outside on Friday. It was his first time to play on a blanket in the yard and the first time to feel grass on his little tootsies. He was one happy baby!

Saturday started with morning cuddles before heading off to teach spin class. I had a woman stay after class to say she came to my last class before Jack was born and that the class changed her perspective on fitness. She was viewing exercise as just another thing to check off the list, but got a kick out of seeing how much fun I seemed to be having even with a belly full of baby. What a great feeling to be able to have a positive influence on someone! It is easy to take our bodies and our abilities for granted. There are plenty of people side-lined out there who would love to be able to have your capabilities. Being able to move your body is a gift. Get a smile on your face and get going!

The rest of our Saturday involved grocery shopping with my sidekick, HopFest with friends, plenty of laundry and a graduation party. Sunday started with jogging with(out) Jack before Jack’s BFF, Meyer’s, baptism party. What cute boys!

Sunday continued with more picture taking and lots of family time.

During his last nap of the day, Matt and I chatted, chopped and put together these salad jars for the week:

Quinoa/Lentil/Chickpeas Mason Jar Salads

Bottom layer: Italian dressing
Next layer: chopped carrots, chopped celery, chopped bell peppers
Next layer: lentils and quinoa mix
Next layer: chickpeas
Next layer: spinach and romaine lettuce
Final layer: sharp cheddar cheese

This has been my favorite salad so far! I love, love, love cold quinoa and lentils on my salad. It is always my go-to at the salad bar at Whole Foods. I cooked the lentils and quinoa together in my new rice cooker. I think I’m in love with this appliance…after I experiment more I will give some details.

I saved the best for last (at least by my new standards). I am making an effort to live in the moment and slow down to enjoy the little things. Time is going by so quickly, and I am reminded of this fact every time I look at Jack. Sunday was his first big rainstorm. Matt, Jack and I stood in the door and let the wind hit us as we watched the rain together. He kept turning around to look at us with his eyes and his mouth open as if to say, “Do you guys see this?!” I think I was as thrilled to watch Jack’s reaction as he was to see the rain falling.

I hope your week brings many happy small moments and the ability to slow down and enjoy them!

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Hi, Again!

Another week gone incredibly fast. I am sitting on the couch drinking decaf cinnamon vanilla coffee right now. We have no sweets in the house (on purpose, I suppose) and I am trying to satisfy my sweet tooth with some good spices in the coffee. Its good, but a cookie would be even better!

Here’s what’s been going on with me this week:

We celebrated our first Mother’s Day together. I was spoiled by my boys all weekend with love and gifts. Jack did his best to wake us up super early on Sunday to make sure we were the at the door when our favorite breakfast spot, Succotash, opened.

I am pretty big into liquids apparently and had water, coffee and my favorite juice, the Lawnmower (cucumber, celery, green apple, spinach and lime) all at the table. I was so inspired that I bought all of the ingredients to make my juice at home this week…still hasn’t happened but hopefully I’ll make the time for juicing tomorrow.

Sunday also included a nice family walk. How cute are Jack’s baby sunglasses?! He tolerates them really well and loves walks. Matt asked me if I think walks are like TV for him. He zones out a little and is very entertained. What do you think?

This week included some good (unpictured) workouts. I subbed a spin class at City Gym tonight and am teaching again Saturday morning. Workouts were a little cardio heavy this week, so my 545am TRX class with Jenny tomorrow will be a needed change for my body.

Eats were a little repetitive but good this week. Jar salads from the week were layers of: raspberry vinaigrette dressing, cucumbers, red peppers, cherry tomatoes, black beans, romaine lettuce, spinach, and sharp cheddar cheese. Two of the jars have a boiled egg in addition to all of the other good stuff. Matt took two days of salads this week too. I made some mini turkey spinach meatloaves and had lots of leftovers for dinners. Good enough dinner but not really recipe worthy. Tomorrow morning I hope to do some menu planning so that I can go grocery shopping early in the weekend. Any suggestions of something that you made recently that was especially good? I need some inspiration!

5 Month Update

Jack was 5 months old yesterday. We are all smiles here in the last month. Jack has grown so much, and his personality is growing along with the rest of him. His squeals light up my day, and I can’t help but smile every.single.time he giggles.

We’ve had some great moments over this past month with Jack’s first non-friend/non-family babysitter (we all survived). Jack also figured out how to get his feet in his mouth. His first experience involved biting his toe so hard he left a mark. No crying from him, but I saw him slowly put his foot down. He also works hard to pull himself up to sitting. He loves to do this in the tub and basically holds a V position with his little abs. I bet he gets sore!!

One of the biggest developments this month is that he plays independently. He is happy to lay on his playmat talking and playing with his toys for a good 20 minute stretch. He entertains himself with squeals, looking at his hands, grabbing for things, and lots of kicking.

Sleep is going so much easier too. We have a nice bedtime routine of feeding, singing and rocking. We put him down in his crib around 8, awake, and tell him goodnight. He usually falls asleep shortly after we leave his room. He has a wakeup somewhere around 3am for another feed and then falls immediately back to sleep before waking for the morning around 6:45 or 7. For his morning wakeup, he likes to slowly wake up and talk to himself before Matt or I go to get him.

Likes:

Kicking in the evening. He likes to spend about 15 minutes bicycling and rapid-fire kicking. He has such focus! Bonus if he can have Matt’s stomach to kick against.

Watching parents eat and drink

Most music, especially if mommy or daddy is singing

Going for walks in his stroller

Putting weight on his legs while “standing.” This always get a huge, open-mouthed smile

Bath time

Funny noises and silly faces

Dislikes:

Bob Marley – I don’t know what it is but we have to get it off the radio immediately because Jack protests whenever his tunes come on.

Having his nose wiped

Crashing noises. Matt got a huge frown and tears after dropping a bowl tonight.

I love looking back at how much he has grown and changed each month:

This next month will bring many more good memories and milestones. I need to do some food research in the very near future. Jack will be starting food soon!!

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