washington birthday party!

bowie is one lucky lil lady, she had 2 birthday parties!  her first one, which i still need to blog about was a few days after her real birthday and we celebrated in california.  her 2nd party was at home in washington and we had lots of friends and also her "mimi & papa."  same as her first party, we went with a rainbow theme, although i got more carried away with the food than the decorations (sorry baby!).  but it was a great party and she definitely loves the happy birthday song and cake!

the menu was sandwiches (turkey, ham and roast beef) chips, veggies and hummus, and a few different salads.

corn, endumame and black bean salad with tomato and vinaigrette

cheese tortellini with spinach, tomato and pesto sauce

roasted carrot with avocado, almonds and asain dressing

and what party would be complete without a dessert bar???

plenty of cupcakes, brownies and a smores mix for the kiddos!

organic graham crackers, mini marshmallows and M&M's

here are a few candids...i remember telling jarad how sad it would be to have a party here since we don't know a lot of people.  but with 40 people in attendance (25 adults and 15 kids), it made me realize how over the last 15 months we have created some wonderful friendships here!

and bowie's favrotie part of the day was singing and cake!

happy birthday (again) to our sweet bowie rae!  we love you so very much!

wash your hands...

i caught her trying to wash her hands while playing.  it is so fun to watch them imitate the things they are soaking in all day...

hallway...

i've said it before and i'll say it again, there is nothing my amazing husband can't do!  i am loving our new tiled entryway! 

this project was one i don't think he would want to tackle again!  from jack hammering out the old tile, to fixing the sub floor to cutting the new tile...oh yah and me changing my mind about the first tile we picked out.  but i love the end result and he did a great job!

13 months!!!

wow, how the first year flew by and now she is a toddler!  there is so much new stuff going on in her world and everyday she adds to that growing list...

bowie milestones...

~still not walking, but close.  she is working on her confidence.
~wordss we have heard her say in the right context "chicken, mo (elmo), cat, socks, dog, doll"
~likes to brush her teeth
~points to head, ears, nose
~loves music, especially kings of leon "sex on fire" and our new favorite "ophelia" by the lumineers
~18 month size pants, 2t or 3t shirt size, size 4 diapers
~eyes are a dark hazel, hair is golden dark blonde/light brown
~eats 3 meals a day and still is not eating any meat.  new favorite food is mac n cheese
~sleeps through the night most of time.  about 11-12 hours a night
~loves other babies and children
~adores wilfred and going to petco to see the animals and fish
~loves her 100 word books
~likes to play with her pretend food and use a plastic bowl and spoon to pretend to eat and feed others
~starting to figure out shapes and puzzles
~loves to feed herself with a spoon.
~can climb up on the sofa by herself
~favorite toy is her ball pit.  she loves to go inside of it and roll around and climb it until it falls down
~uses brush to pretend to brush her hair
~can give kisses and hugs
~knows how to say "moo" for a cow
~says "no" and shakes her head
~8 teeth (just got 2 molars on left side of mouth) 4 top, 2 bottom, 2 molars

mommy milestones...

~continuing to grow my social circle and making play dates
~had a lot of company
~starting to garden
~getting the apartment ready to rent
~planning my next house project
~in general feeling run down, tired, out of shape and like i am not eating well.  i think the rain and dreary weather is to partially to blame, but i have to get back on the wagon with taking care of myself and my health. 

making food fun...

lately bowie has been a very picky eater and i think i discovered why.  she just got 2 molars in.  after they broke through her appetite and interest in food has slowly been getting better.  but i also have been trying some new things at meal time.  i got her a silicone suction food tray which i think she enjoys.  she gets excited to see what is on it and i think the presentation makes it more intriguing as well.  also i give her a spoon.  it makes for a big mess, but she is learning how to feed herself and when she plays with the spoon she is more willing to let me feed her.  in my desperation to get her to eat, i introduced trader joes organic white shell macaroni (think a nicer version of kraft mac n cheese).  i was hoping to stay away from this kind of stuff as long as i could, but just like most kids, she loves it.

brushing your teeth...

bowie has been into brushing her teeth lately.  she watches me do it and has her own tooth brush and knows exactly what to do.  i found an elmo video about brushing your teeth and let her practice...

coconut poke cake...

i was one of a few who brought dessert for easter dinner.  i wanted to try something new and for some reason coconut seemed like an easter appropriate kind of dessert.  i looked online and found a recipe for a poke cake, which i had never done, but wanted to try.  so i gave it a go and it was delicious.

ingredients:

white box cake mix (and all ingredients to make it)
1 can sweetened condensed milk
1 can coconut cream
1 container of cool whip topping
1 cup toasted coconut

how to:

follow the cake mix instructions and bake in a 9 x 13 inch pan.  when the cake is done and still hot, with a chop stick poke holes all over the cake.  in a mixing cup combine the sweetened and condensed milk and coconut cream and then pour all over the hot cake.  allow it all to soak in and cool completely in the fridge.  i did this the day before and then right before serving i topped the cake with the cool whip and toasted coconut.  sorry i didn't remember to take a picture of the cake all pretty, but you get the picture. 

happy easter!

this is bowie's 2nd easter, but she was only days old when she celebrated her first one.  so this year she was excited over her easter basket and we had a fun day at our neighbors house complete with an egg hunt and ham dinner!

dance party!

friday night is for bench presses at the gym, papa murphy's pizza and a dance party before bed!  this lil miss has some moves!

dinner time...

lately every meal has been a struggle to get bowie to eat, she even turns her nose up at some of her favorite foods.  she is very interested in feeding herself, so the other night i stripped her down, gave her a spoon and fork and a spaghetti dinner!  to my surprise she only played with the pasta but she did enjoy feeding herself yogurt! 

cowboy chicken...

i bake chicken tenderloins a few times a week for part of jarad's lunch and for chicken salads for dinner.  lately he has been telling me the chicken is "hard to eat,"  and it is very dry.  i know that lately i have forgotten about the chicken in the oven and have over cooked it, which is not hard to do with the tenderloins anyways.  so i decided to bring back one of my favorite and easy ways to cook chicken.  i call it cowboy chicken, because i think these are all the favorite ingredients a cowboy would use to cook meat.

how to:

defrost chicken, and in a fry pan put a T of butter and let the chicken start to cook.  about half way through add a few dashes of worchestershire sauce, pepper and red pepper flakes (optional).  flip over and cook through.  thats it!  super easy and quick.  comes out moist and is great on salads, served with veggies or on a sandwich!

indian veggie burgers...

last weekend i leisurely strolled through trader joes, up and down every aisle on my quest to find some new foods to get bowie excited about eating again.  she really wants to feed herself so i was focusing on finger foods and things with bold flavors.  i thought that i found some interesting things, but when we tried them at home she didn't like any of them!  but i found one that i really enjoyed!  it is an masala flavored veggie burger.  pan fry it for a few minutes on each side and it is really good!  tastes like an indian inspired potato pancake.  not the healthiest veggie burger option, but one of the tastiest i have had!  they would also make a great appetizer, cut into quarters and served with a yogurt sauce or chutney. 

moroccan inspired salad...

i recently took a moroccan cooking class and the chef made this great salad.  i am sure i have made salads similar, nothing special or fancy, but so good!  i realized i had most of the ingredients to replicate it, so i gave it a shot.

how to:

grab a couple of handfuls of spinach and lightly saute, so they still have a bite and not completely wilted.  cook 1/4 cous cous.  add 1/2 small avocade, add a few T feta cheese and dress with olive oil, lemon and greek seasoning.  in class he added pomegranate seeds and pistachios, but i didn't have those on hand.  it's light, refreshing and healthy!

happy birthday alix!!!

happiest birthday to this special one!  it was very short into dating jarad that i met alix and her husband RJ (who would marry us), and from that day i knew i gained a friend for life.  wishing you the best year yet!

farm fresh beauties...

got these from the neighbor today.  they are getting on average 4 eggs a day, and we go through lots of eggs around here!  i hard boil them for jarad's lunch and i make them into egg cups for an easy breakfast! 

avocado toast...

i've been eating this before it was "cool."  great breakfast!

hummus...

bowie is getting to be a pickier eater by the day, ugh!  but she is really enjoying feeding herself and making a mess!

new baby gift...

one of jarad's coworkers just had their 2nd baby and it was so nice of his department to start a food drop off for the family.  i don't know them but of course we want to participate! 

i gave it some thought and decided to go in a different direction.  this is her 2nd child and her mom is there to help.  sometimes when lots of people make meals it is hard to find freezer space!  so i decided to make her "energy bites" (recipe posted on here a long time ago) and some mommy pampering items. 

i don't know if she is nursing, but these energy bites are great for milk supply if she is and if not they make a great snack!  then i took a extra wet wipe container and filled it with some goodies for her!  i included: socks, lotion, soap, tea and a onsie for the baby.  i hope she enjoys it, i know i would! 

s town...

a while back i posted about a podcast that i loved called serial.  there is a spin off of it that just got released in march called "s town."  it starts out about a murder in alabama but turns into a wild, crazy, twisted set of events completely unrelated .  i am on episode 3 but i am enjoying this as much as i did with the first season of serial.  i have been spinning on our new spin bike while listening and i get so engaged in the story that it makes the time fly by!

check it out here