25 Things - No. 7 (Spend the day as a family having fun.)

     We accomplished another item off our list of 25 Things to Do Before Owen Turns Two. (You can see the complete list by clicking the "25 Things" tab at the top of my blog.) Last Saturday, because we were in town and didn't have any plans, I decided that we would spend the day as a family doing some of the things we love.

     We started the day at the library where I figured we would exchange Owen's books for some new ones and maybe play a little. The children's section at our library is really great because they have tons of books, a performance stage area, computers with games, and a section with puzzles and toys. Owen was acting a little weird that morning so he wasn't too interested in books. Tim did read him one book, which was really cute. 

     He played with the puzzles a bunch and then explored some of the other toys. Finally, Tim and Owen played some of the computer games for a while. 

     The next activity on our list of things to do was to go to the playground, but because it was raining that morning, we had to alter our plans. First we went to Belk to buy a wedding gift for our friends who are getting married this weekend. This wasn't so much fun for Owen, but he did enjoy scaring his mom to death by running amok in the china section. 
    After the trip to Belk we walked a few doors down in the shopping center to Petsmart where they usually have adoptable dogs and cats every Saturday. Unfortunately, they didn't have as many as they normally do (and no dogs), but there were still plenty of cats and kittens and fish and birds for Owen to look at. He ran back and forth between the cages saying "Cat!" and "Maow!" (his way of saying meow) He enjoyed checking out the fish in the aquarium section and scared a stranger by touching her leg as she was looking at the snakes. She screamed and then laughed when she saw that it was just Owen. Haha! What a stinker. 

     Afterwards we went to Chick-Fil-A for lunch where Owen enjoyed munching chicken nuggets and waffle fries. And then he got to have some free ice cream. After lunch, we went home and Owen took a really good nap. The rest of the day was spent at home playing and enjoying some relaxing time as a family. 

Menu Monday: Freezer Meals for a Toddler

      Everyone knows that I love to cook and I particularly love trying new recipes, but sometimes those recipes aren't exactly appropriate dinners for Owen and I am left scrambling to find something for him to eat. And lunchtime is a hassle as well because Owen flat refuses to eat leftovers most days and I am afraid he is about to turn into a peanut butter sandwich if he eats one more. And while sometimes I can get Owen to eat whatever meat we're eating for dinner and sometimes a starchy side, he's not interested in eating most vegetables. So after searching Pinterest for some ideas and inspiration, I decided to make some freezer friendly recipes that I can feed Owen on nights when he refuses what we're eating or to switch up our normal morning breakfast routine of either oatmeal or scrambled eggs with sausage. Surprisingly, I had trouble finding meals that I thought were healthy or included vegetables (the more hidden, the better). This pin below had the best ideas for types of things to freeze, but most of the recipes just seemed so unhealthy, featuring mainly meat and carbs. So I decided to search my favorite cooking blog, Skinny Taste, and find some things that I could make and freeze for the kiddo. And since I'm only cooking two nights this week before going to Georgia for a friend's wedding, I decided that Tim and I will be grilling and eating a bunch of vegetables so that I can focus on making and storing these meals for Owen. 

     I found a lot of my recipes on Skinny Taste, but I have decided to adapt a few of them to make them more suitable for Owen and to add some extra vegetables. I am making breakfast meals and lunch/dinner meals. 

Breakfast:

Chocolate chip banana bread muffins.
This recipe looks really yummy and I'm hoping that by introducing Owen to banana flavor in foods, that one day he'll be able to eat a banana. It's not the healthiest recipe I've included, but breads typically freeze well and I know I won't have to fight Owen to eat this meal. Add some fresh fruit and he's got a great breakfast. 

Broccoli and cheese mini omelets.

I make scrambled eggs for Owen pretty often, but it gets tiring dirtying up a pan every morning with eggs and it would be great to just pull something out of the fridge and heat it up. Owen had eaten quiche before (Sausage and Kale quiche) and liked it, so I have high hopes for these mini quiches with broccoli. Broccoli is one of the vegetables that we have been unable to get Owen to eat most of the time. I'm hoping if I add some turkey sausage to these mini quiches, that he won't even notice the broccoli. 

Green monster smoothie. 

Owen loves smoothies. Anytime we buy one while we're out running errands, he winds up drinking most of it himself. This smoothie is pretty tasty and I've made it before. The reason I picked it is because it contains so much spinach and I'm hoping that Owen will think that its tasty too. I may add some more fruits to it (it already has banana) to see if I can't camouflage the spinach even more. And I have some leftover baggies for freezing baby food purees and I think I can use them to freeze portions of this smoothie for Owen to drink. 

Lunches/Dinners:

Baked chicken nuggets.
As a family, we love these chicken nuggets. And Owen loves dipping them in sauces and eating them. They are super easy to make and taste so great. When I serve them to him, I can maybe add some sweet potato fries and maybe a little bit of whatever vegetable we might be eating that night. 

Petite BBQ turkey meatloaves.
This is a fabulous meatloaf recipe. I plan to leave off the bacon, but I think little cupcake sized portions will be great for Owen. He ate this recipe happily the other week when I made it for the first time and the best part is that the recipe contains zucchini, red bell peppers, and onion. I love sneaky vegetables. 

 Zucchini tots.
I have never tried this recipe, but it looks like a great side dish for Owen. It's almost like a little zucchini and cheese quiche, but Gina from Skinny Taste serves them as a side dish.  

Pasta with very veggie sauce.
This recipe packs in tons of vegetables and then purees them so that your baby is none the wiser. I think this will be a fun recipe and I love the tiny star pasta. Owen has been kind-of weird about the texture of pasta, so I'm hoping that the smaller pasta will help with this. This recipe is made on the stove-top so it will help me make this while one of the other recipes is baking in the oven. 

 Taco muffins. 
This is a recipe from Kraft Foods. I will make them as mild as possible for Owen and that way, when we're eating Mexican (which I tend to make pretty spicy the way we like it ) Owen can have these with whatever side dishes we're having with our meal. They don't have tons of vegetables in them, but I thought I could add some black beans to the meat too for some fiber.

Anyway, here is my method for making all these recipes in one day. We'll see how it goes.

Brown ground beef with taco seasoning.

Chop and shred vegetables. 

• zucchini (3 recipes)
• red bell pepper (2 recipes)
• tomatoes
• carrot
• onion (2 recipes)
• broccoli

Prepare banana bread muffins and bake at 325 F.

Set aside to cool and turn oven up to 350 F.

Make mini omelets.

While omelets are baking, make smoothies.

Then mix together meatloaf mixture.

Bake meatloaf and bread chicken nuggets. 

Turn oven up to 425 F.

Make chicken bites.

While those are baking, make pasta on stove.

Set aside chicken bites to cool and turn oven down to 400 F.

Make zucchini tots and taco cupcakes and bake at the same time.

Random Friday

1. It's a mystery!

     I know, I know. "Shut up about the nail polishes, Jessica!" But wait, one of the coolest things about Julep is available right now. A mystery box! Mystery boxes cost $19.99 and contain between $60 and $200 worth of nail polishes and products. You never know what you're going to get and the surprise is so much fun. And this month as a twist, Julep is offering five different types of mystery box based on their style profiles. That way, you know that the polishes in your box will fit your style and you will like them most likely. I think it's a cool idea, but I'm having trouble deciding which one I want to get. 

2. What's on my Nook. 

     I am currently reading "City of Bones" by Cassandra Clare. It is the first book in the Mortal Instruments series and is categorized as an urban fantasy novel. I bought it on a whim when I found it on my Nook for 99 cents. Here the synopsis: "When Clary Fray heads out to the Pandemonium Club in New York City, she hardly expects to witness a murder — much less a murder committed by three teenagers covered with strange tattoos and brandishing bizarre weapons. Clary knows she should call the police, but it's hard to explain a murder when the body disappears into thin air and the murderers are invisible to everyone but Clary. Equally startled by her ability to see them, the murderers explain themselves as Shadowhunters: a secret tribe of warriors dedicated to ridding the earth of demons. Within twenty-four hours, Clary's mother disappears and Clary herself is almost killed by a grotesque demon. But why would demons be interested in ordinary mundanes like Clary and her mother? And how did Clary suddenly get the Sight? The Shadowhunters would like to know...." The book will be made into a movie that releases in 2013. If you're interested in some book recommendations, the last books that I've read - "The Next Best Thing" by Jennifer Weiner and "Where We Belong" by Emily Giffin - were both really good. P.S. Don't mind the cheesy cover of this book, it's actually pretty good. I don't know what the deal is with the glowy half-naked man. 

3. Fail to plan or plan to fail. 

•     I received my Erin Condren planner in the mail the other day and I am so happy with it. I really love the design of the planner, including the thick cover and the wire spiral binding so that the planner can lay flat when I fill it out. I love having the laminated tabs so I can easily find the month that I'm looking for and I also like the labeled stickers in the back that I can use to mark birthdays, weddings, and other events on my monthly calendars. The designs and colors are one of my favorite things about the planner. It is just so pretty and the colorful quotes throughout are great too. The planner portion divides the day into three sections: morning, day and evening, which is nice and I also like that along the side of each week is a place to list Goals and To-Dos. I like being able to keep track of things I want to accomplish during the week and reminders for things I need to do, like pick up a wedding gift or mail a birthday card. If you're interested in buying an Erin Condren planner, I highly recommend them, but make sure you search for a coupon code online before you buy one. I found one and it helped make the price a little more reasonable. Currently, you can use 2012OFF to receive $5 off your order. I have also heard that you can use WELCOME10 to get $10 off your order. 

Even the box is cute. 

My planner also came with bonus personalized adhesive gift tags.  The planner has some inside and they also sent this green envelope with even more. What a great extra!

Here's my personalized cover. I love the gray with the little pops of color. 

Personalization is free!

I love the stickers for events.

A pocket in the back holds extras.

And another pouch can hold even more! (You can see my gift tags too).

4. Thank you, Moms.

    I don't know if you've noticed the Proctor & Gamble commercials during the Olympics, but they are part of the current Thank You, Mom promotion. Proctor & Gamble are the proud sponsors of moms and all the support they give to their Olympic athlete children. I want to cry every time I see one of these commercials imagining Owen as a grown man doing something so amazing. Anyway, I know that there are some people who complain about leaving out dads and other relatives, but honestly I think people are being a bit nit-picky and should just appreciate them for what they are. Plus, I am the one who does most of our grocery shopping anyway. And speaking of, after I paid and got my groceries home on Monday, I realized that I had qualified for the Thank You, Mom promotion with the products that I bought and that after sending in my coupon and receipt, I will be getting a $10 VISA giftcard in the mail. Hooray!

5.  Get crafty.

       I finally got my July For the Makers box. The company was really great though because they sent me a little extra this month because my box arrived so late. Here's the description for the box this month: "July is always about slowing down and this month For the Makers is all about keeping it cool by the shore. The box was Inspired by summer adventures on rocky coasts, ice cream on the boardwalk and the allure of sailing." The supplies in the box are for a camera strap, earrings, a necklace, and a bracelet. I haven't started any of my crafts yet, but they look pretty cool. I really like this subscription box, but I don't think that it is one that I will continue strictly for monetary reasons. I think $29 is a little much to spend each month on craft supplies. I do think that it makes a great gift though or a fun treat every once in a while.

Love this little brown box.

Here's my handwritten note from the founders of the company after my box was late.

The box that the supplies comes in is such a great size. I've already kept one because it's the perfect size to hold thank you cards. 

And here are all my supplies. 

6. My Citrus Lane prize. 

     I received my prize from the Citrus Lane Summer Photo Sweepstakes this week. I am really happy with the box that won. We really love the stainless steel tray shaped like a bus and the book with the finger puppet mouse. The socks are also super cute and look like little old man argyle. The hand sanitizer is great too. The only thing I don't really care about is the squeezie pack of baby food because Owen doesn't eat pureed meat dinners anymore. But considering it was all free, I don't really have anything to complain about. 

7. Ready to decorate!

    We are making progress on the kitchen this week and have finished painting all the wainscoting and trim and the doors in the kitchen (back door and pantry) so that they match the white cabinets. It looks so much better. The difference between the old almost dirty-looking cream color and the bright white is amazing. And we've bought the paint for the walls of the kitchen/dining room (and the hallway) too and just need to tape off the room and get started. I have already begun planning what I'm going to hang on the walls too and I'm really excited. One wall will have family photos, similar to the picture below. The frames that I have are black, but if they don't look good on the wall, I plan to paint them white. The wall next to our dining room table will be a collage of art, plates, and any other goodies that call to me. I have already bought four plates from Belk and Pier 1 Imports and have sketched out a tentative layout for the collage wall. My inspiration is below as well.

Yeah, that's a screen capture from Phil and Claire's house on Modern Family.  

8. A winning manicure. 

      Have you noticed that most of the woman swimmers (and other athletes) are rocking some crazy awesome manicures? I just love trying to see what designs and colors they are sporting. Below is a photo of Britain's Rebecca Adlington (with Union Jack nails), who won the bronze medal in the 400 meter freestyle. It turns out that there is a London-based nail artist named Sophy Robson whose team is doing the nails of all the Olympic athletes. There are a total of 214 different designs for the countries participating in the Olympics and at least 18 nail artists on hand at a time to do manicures. Their pop-up nail salon is available to all the athletes and visitors to the Olympic Village in Stratford. How cool would it be to have your nails done there?

9. Honest Company. 

     Co-founded by Christopher Gavigan, former CEO of Healthy Child, Healthy World and actress Jessica Alba, The Honest Company is a company that equips customers with the essentials needed to care for baby and home. The products are all organic, hypoallergenic, non-animal tested, environmentally friendly, and, as if that wasn’t enough, the company even donates baby essentials to families in need every time someone makes a purchase. I recently ordered a free trial pack (called a discovery pack) of their diapers and wipes along with five household products from hand soap to laundry detergent. I am excited to try the diapers on Owen because they are free of chemicals, 100% non-toxic, chlorine-free, sustainable, and made of plant-based materials. Plus they have super cute patterns. The company offers a monthly delivery service to receive a month's supply of diapers and wipes and also a family essentials subscription where you can choose five beauty and household products to get each month. I will post a review after I've tried the products to let you know what I think. 

10. You're invited...

    Well, now that I've sent out invitations and they have been received by the guests to my cousin's bridal shower (plus Johanna peeked), I can post the design on here. I worked with a designer on Etsy to make the invitations, tweaking the colors and design a bit here and there. The designer (whose name is Victoria) has a shop called Something Printable on Etsy. She was really great to work with and e-mailed me my designs within 24 hours of my ordering them. She was super fast. And she even designed an insert for my invitation for just a few dollars extra. I highly recommend working with her if you are in the market for invitations for a bridal or baby shower or a wedding. 

11. It's in the bag.

     So in my last Citrus Lane box I received a Baggu nylon reusable shopping bag. It comes in a tiny five by five inch pouch, but unfolds into a giant bag that can hold up to 50 pounds. I used it the other day when Owen and I went to the library and loved it. So when Citrus Lane offered some of their favorite items from the past box for sale on their site at discounted prices, I decided to buy a few more and use them for everything. I am particularly hopeful that I can use them when I'm grocery shopping because I hate coming home with a ton of plastic bags that I then have to throw away. (Recycling isn't offered out where we live.) I ordered two of each of the different styles they had available: navy sailor stripe and neon fox. 

12. 25 Things - No. 13 (Go to storytime at the library)

      Owen and I went to the library here on Wednesday morning for babies and tots storytime. We sang songs, played lap games, and read stories. Owen seemed a bit overwhelmed due the huge number of babies and parents in such a small room, but he seemed to have a fun time. My favorite part was when the lady leading the group was reading one of those books with the flaps and Owen was practically trying to crawl on top of her trying to turn the pages. Then they had an open playtime, but it was just a little too crazy with the number of babies in there (particularly the older babies that were pushing the little babies out of the way and stomping on top of them and stuff) so Owen and I left and went to find some books in the children's section to check out. It's great to have some new books to read. I'm about to tear my hair out if I have to read Fox in Socks one more time. I don't have any pictures from the library because it just seemed weird to take pictures during the event and because I was trying to wrangle Owen the whole time. He's not much for sitting still. The library is taking a three week break from babies and tots storytime, but I think we will go again when they start back up at the end of August. 

August Julep Maven Review (ft. Boho Glam box)

     My July Julep Maven box arrived yesterday. I chose the Boho Glam box again this month because I really liked both the colors whereas I only liked one of the colors in most of the other boxes. I definitely loved the July colors better, but the metallics and chromes are still pretty cool. The box this month also celebrated Julep's first anniversary/birthday and was a cute pink color. 

    The inside of the top of the box had this message from Jane Park, the founder of the company. It was a sweet way to thank us Mavens and the box also included a free extra in celebration of their anniversary.

    My card insert this month detailed the items in my box on one side and an example of an outfit that was inspired by my nail polish on the opposite side. It was a cute idea, but I was kind-of hoping for another manicure idea like the one in last month's box. 

   The theme this month was Metallic and Chrome nail polishes inspired by current jewelry trends. You can see a photo below showing the jewelry that inspired the colors I received in my box this month. Julep describes the month's theme: "Our gorgeous, fast-drying metallics and chromes were inspired by this season's jewelry trends. Make your nails the perfect accessory for every celebration!" 

These are the products I received in my box.

The products that came in my box were:

• Piper nail polish - mint teal metallic chrome. This color is really pretty and the primary reason why I switched from the Classic With A Twist box to the Boho Glam box. I really love the color. My only real complaint with it is that it takes two to three coats to get a nice opaque color and then because my polish is so thick, I have had it smudge a couple times in the few hours since I tried it out. This may be because I don't let the coats dry enough in between, but it's still pretty annoying. (I went back and repainted those nails and they've done fine since).
• Isla nail polish - soft, milky-white metallic. I haven't tried this color yet, but it looks really pretty. 
• Julep Acetone Free  Conditioning Nail Polish Remover - This professional quality acetone-free remover comes in a pump bottle for easy single hand use. I used it to take off my previous manicure and I think the pump bottle is cool. I probably won't order this again because $14 for a 4 oz. bottle is expensive, but it does have a nice scent and did the job pretty well (even with removing glitter polish).
• Free Julep tote bag

I love both of these colors and want to figure out a way to use both of them at the same time. 

This is the free tote bag. It's actually kind-of small and I'm not sure what I'll use it for.

Here's a look at Piper on my nails. I really love it. 

      If you're interested in signing up for Julep Maven, start by taking a style quiz [here] (my referral link) so the company can best tailor your monthly boxes to your preferences. When you complete the quiz there are five styles that you could fall under - Classic with a Twist, Boho Glam, American Beauty, Bombshell, and It Girl. 

     If you use the code COLOR2012, you can get your first box for just one cent. If you decide to sign up, leave a message telling me what style profile you received. What colors are you getting? If you're already a Maven, what box did you get and what do you think of the colors?

     To see my original post on my introductory box and to read some more information about how Julep Maven works, click here. Or check out my review of last month's box.

Owen is sixteen months old!

     
     It's hard to believe, but Owen another month older. I weighed him on our home scale the other day and he weighted 23.5 pounds. I'm not sure how tall he is, but he is still a pretty normal-sized looking guy, maybe a bit small for his age. Above is a picture of Owen making his "sour" face. He hasn't eaten anything sour, he just makes that face when we ask him to. 

Eating:

     Owen is eating so much better now. He typically eats a huge breakfast and a pretty good lunch and dinner is either hit or miss as far as him eating a lot or a little. We have stopped having to read him books and entertain him while he eats, thank goodness. And he is actually a pretty adventurous eater now, having eaten fish tacos, black bean burgers, stuffed zucchini, meatloaf, and several other recipes that we've made. He drinks whole milk with every meal and has water anytime in between. For snacks he loves Ella's Kitchen Nibbly Fingers bars and squeezy pouches of fruit purees or applesauce. He also loves most any kind of fruit. Except for banana. Though he did eat a little of one the other day. But then a few days later, he refused it. 

Sleeping:

     Owen is a great sleeper still. He does so well at night and we are so proud of him. During the day, he still takes a pretty good morning nap and his afternoon nap is still unpredictable. 

Other Things I Want To Remember:

     Owen wears size 12 months and size 12-18 months clothing. Size 18 months is a little too big for him still in most brands. He wears a size 5 shoes and size 3 diapers. 

     Owen has 11 teeth now: four in front on top and bottom, two top molars, and a bottom molar. We think he is about to get in his second bottom molar because he's been drooling a ton lately. 

     Owen still loves being read to. He spends most of the day bringing me books to read to him. He loves The Belly Button Book and Fox in Socks. Owen likes playing with his shapes sorter, Poppity Pop Dino, occasionally his musical table, his Dr. Suess blocks, his puppy pull toy, and balls. He loves to throw balls and say, "Boom!"

     Owen is big on the sign language now and can sign: more, please, all done, eat, and milk.

     His vocabulary has really exploded this month and he will attempt to say most words if we ask him to. In addition to Mama, Dada, cookie, girl, boy, book, ball, and boo, he can now say: vacuum, bye, cat, hello, and many others. If you ask him to say any word, he will at least attempt it. He can also tell you the noises that several animals make, such as a cow, dog, cat, sheep, and owl. He has also starting making really cute squeal-y noises. He loves to "sneak" up behind me while I'm cooking and hug my legs and squeal. It is super cute. And sometimes I pretend that I can't see him and turn away just so that he will do it.   

     When he's not using his words, he babbles constantly as if he thinks we know exactly what he's saying. He can also point to most of his body parts when we ask him to tell us where his nose, eyes, ears, hair, feet, etc. are. 

     He still high fives, blows kisses, gives kisses, waves, and can "praise Jesus" by lifting up his hands in the air.

     He loves music and will bounce up and down or rock side to side when its playing. He will sometimes clap if there is a performer on the TV. He's already primed for his first concert. 

     He still has no problem with separation anxiety and is happy to "talk" to most people we encounter. And when we leave, he always waves happily and says, "Byyyee!"
     He loves when daddy comes home from work every day and when he hears the keys in the door, he runs to it shouting "Da! Da!" 


     Here are some recent pictures of our sweet boy.

"Driving" our box around.

Super Owen!

Owen watching the love of his life (Joss Stone) sing. He will watch her sing for the entire song and has done so during every morning news show I have watched for the past three days. She's promoting a new album.