So I think I’ve mentioned that Brian and I are trying to eat cleaner. I’m not saying that we’re going 100% paleo but I do feel like that’s a great mindset when it comes to food: tons of veggies, meat, seeds, fruit, minimal starches, no processed crap. We’ve slowly eased our way into cutting back on carby stuff (breads, pastas, rice, etc.), and I have to admit, I feel way better. ALSO- it’s been almost 3 weeks since I’ve had a Diet Coke, and if you know me you realize that is HUGE. I’m pretty sure our neighborhood Sonic is filing for bankruptcy. I do still allow myself one Sweet N Low with my coffee every morning, but baby steps. Other than that it’s ALL water ALL the time.

The other day I picked up this cookbook, Primal Cravings, and now I’m pretty much in love:

I was reading it on our roadtrip this past weekend and keep gushing over the recipes. Brian was finally like, “OK, just tell me when you find one that doesn’t sound good.”

Tonight I made the Philly Stuffed Peppers. The pepper “shells” were pre-baked and then stuffed with a mixture of ground beef, onions, mushrooms, Worcestershire and hot sauce (I used Frank’s Red Hot).

And then you top them with provolone and put them back in the oven until the cheese melts. I prepped them during naptime and then just threw them in the oven when we got back from swim lessons.

Served over cauliflower rice:

OMG so good. I thought that they might be too spicy for the kids so I didn’t even bother fixing one for Jack, but Isla was still hungry after her dinner so Brian fed her the filling from one of the peppers and she LOVED it.

I have about 50 recipes marked in this cookbook so don’t be surprised if you see it popping up again in the very near future.

Totally unrelated, but I finally tried one of those double rocket ship carts at Whole Foods today. Jack always begs for one but I wasn’t sure that Isla would be able to sit up with just the lap belt… yeah, she did fine.

And it (+ the random samples) kept them happy while I shopped! So of course I ended up buying way more than intended… good thinking, WF.

June is turning out to be a craaazy month. Isla’s birthday/baptism last weekend, next weekend we head to the beach, and then this weekend we had both Father’s Day celebrations and a baby shower for Zach and Laura (and baby Owen).

On Saturday we loaded up and headed to East TX for the shower. Jack is the most amazing traveler ever. He just sat there the whole time, looking out the window and never once complained about the drive:

Isla was another story. Poor thing is still rear-facing, which I’m sure is no fun.

We had a great time at the shower! We were chasing Isla around inside so I didn’t get many pics, but I did snap a few. Jack had a blast petting the horses and he still hasn’t stopped talking about the “sweet, sweet puppy.”

And how amazing is this cake??

So on Saturday afternoon I took Jack with me to buy Brian’s Father’s Day gift. He’d been wanting a grill for our new patio, so I was all excited to surprise him. We got home from Target, I unloaded the (giant, heavy) grill and spent 10 minutes sneakily hiding it under blankets in the garage… and then we walked into the house and Jack immediately yells, “HEY DADDY! WE GOT YOU A GRILL!!!!!!”

(Except he actually said, “WE GOT YOU A GIRL!!!!” But I think Brian figured it out.)

So yeah. Learned my lesson there. Three year olds = loose lips.

But today was fun! We grabbed brunch at Breadwinner’s, then while the kids napped Brian headed out to a movie and I cleaned the house/did laundry/all that fun stuff. Tonight we met my parents, Zach and Laura at a hibachi restaurant near our house. I thought Jack would love watching them cook on the table, but as soon as the first flame went up, both kids lost their sh&%. Whoops. Once all the fire stuff was out of the way, Jack seemed to enjoy it (from the safety of Gia’s lap):

Oh gosh… I love this one:

With my bro and dad:

Happy Father’s Day to all you dads out there! I’m lucky enough to know two of the very best!

This week and next week Jack has swimming lessons Monday-Thursday from 5:45-6:15. I love watching him in the pool:

BUT it has made dinner prep a little tricky. I haven’t been able to get my act together enough for a crock pot meal, so all week we’ve either eaten leftovers or gone out. Tonight I actually managed to throw together a super fast stir fry with chicken and basically every veggie in our fridge- broccoli, red peppers, carrots and mushrooms. I threw in some water chestnuts, too.

I heated some coconut oil in our wok, then added 3 diced chicken breasts. Once the chicken was cooked I tossed in the veggies, along with a couple of garlic cloves. Once those were tender I added a little Trader Joe’s stir fry sauce, soy sauce, teriyaki and sesame oil.

I also just now realized that I’m a HUGE idiot because I also made a peanut sauce this afternoon to have with dinner and then totally forgot about it. It’s still in the fridge. Sad! It was really good too- 1/3 cup PB whisked with a little over 1/2 cup of coconut milk, then added rice wine vinegar, a little sugar, a few dashes of fish sauce and some sriracha. That kind of makes me want to cry.

Brian and I had ours over tofu shirataki noodles (y’know, those pesky carbs) and the kids had theirs with brown rice.

Some other randoms from today…

Hope everyone has a great weekend! Full of swimming and watermelon and other fun summery stuff!

One thing I never realized about being a mom is how much of your life revolves around feeding other people. I feel like 90% of my waking hours are spent preparing meals, prodding people to eat the meals, cleaning up meals, preparing snacks (oh dear god, Jack asks for snacks like every 10 minutes… it makes me want to lose my mind), cleaning up snacks, thinking about what snacks to bring when we leave the house to go ANYWHERE, then repeating the entire process 3x every damn day. And if you’re nursing? You’re lucky if you get a bathroom break.

The irony of all of this is that some days it feels impossible for ME to eat anything. Breakfast involves a lot of Luna/Lara/Kind bars, and I’m always looking for something quick to heat up for lunch. My friend Joy tipped me off on this Japanese style fried rice from Trader Joe’s:

I heated up a cup of the rice for lunch today. Can I just say- a cup of rice is such a sad little serving. I know that’s the proper portion size but lordy it looks so tiny. ANYWAY, I topped the rice with some leftover shredded pork and lots of sriracha. Delish! Don’t let the whole seaweed thing scare you- I really didn’t notice it at all.

We grabbed dinner at the pool tonight (after swimming lessons, poor Jack is probably sick of the water). It was the first time for all 4 of us to go- I usually just take Isla or Jack separately, and Brian hadn’t been at all this year. Hopefully all that swimming and splashing will make the babies sleep, sleep, sleep.

I just got this cookbook today so I’m excited to climb in bed and crack it open. What? You don’t read cookbooks in bed?

Night!

Thank you all for the sweet birthday love for Miss Isla Grace! She did have a pretty awesome birthday. Jack started his summer session of Mothers’ Day Out today so we had a little girl time at the pool with Belle and Caroline:

I think that was actually the first time I’ve taken Isla in the pool. Last year she was teeny tiny and this year I’ve been too freaked out to take both kids at the same time. Anyway, she L-O-V-E-D it. Little water baby. She was either really pissed or really tired when it was time to go:

Speaking of swimming, Jack started lessons this week and despite a rocky start (tears, so many tears) before class yesterday, he now loves it and practically sprinted into class today. I can’t get enough of watching him at during his lessons, too. He’s so dang cute and proud of himself.

We met my parents for dinner tonight at Nazca because it’s right around the corner from swim lessons. Have I mentioned these new Brazilian cheese breads they serve? We tried them a few weeks ago and they are ridiculous. SO GOOD… and gluten free, if you’re into that.

My salmon/tilapia fish tacos. Love ‘em.

Then we headed over to my parents’ house for ice cream cake for Isla. Like she needed any more cake after Saturday…

Oh! Brian reminded me that I never announced winners for the Kodiak Cakes giveaway. I skipped the Rafflecopter this time because it’s confusing and annoying and went with the ol’ drawing numbers out of a hat trick:

1. Jenny

10. Valerie

13. Rhett

15. Madeline

Congrats and I’ll be emailing you shortly for your addresses!

Dear Isla Grace,

When you find out you’re pregnant and people ask you what you hope to have, you’re supposed to say, “It doesn’t matter, as long as it’s a healthy baby!”

Whatever. I’ll tell you right now that I wanted a little girl more than anything. I prayed long and hard for a little sister for Jack. I was so, so very nervous the day of your gender sonogram, and when the tech told us we were having a girl, it was like the best Christmas/birthday/whatever present imaginable (though ask your dad- I wasn’t 100% convinced it could possibly be true until I actually SAW you).

And now we’ve had you for a whole year and you complete our family perfectly. You are such a fun, happy baby. You think your Bubbers hung the moon (and he worships you), you can eat all of us under the table, love to be chased and to pull toys out of baskets just to put them right back in again. You’re starting to pull up and cruise and have just in the past few days gone from army crawling to going on all fours.

What I love most about you is your spirit. You’re definitely a feisty little thing and are already asserting your independence. You want to feed yourself, HATE being restrained (diaper changes are fun!), are on the move constantly, and let us know loudly if you dislike something. You and your brother are so different- we all just sit back and watch you in amazement sometimes. You’re this hilarious little person that is constantly busy and on the GO. You have the greatest laugh. We actually had a stranger come up to us at lunch the other day and ask if we could get you to giggle some more because it was making his day.

One year ago today I was having a crazy, pregnant lady FREAK OUT because your c-section was scheduled for noon and I didn’t feel like your dad was moving fast enough installing car seats, getting Jack ready, etc. I was convinced that we were going to be late to the hospital, they would cancel the surgery, and I would be forced to wait one more day to meet you (ridiculous… especially since I was having contractions 6 minutes apart when I got to the hospital. You were coming June 11th regardless).  SO. Crazy angry pregnant lady got in the car and drove herself to the hospital. In labor. Checked in. Got in my little hospital gown in the pre-surgery room just in time for your poor dad to fly in the door. The anesthesiologist came in and gave me an epidural TWICE. The first one didn’t take properly… your dad held my shoulders as they poked and poked and I think we both thought I was going to end up paralyzed. They wheeled me into the OR and the OBGYN declared the room too quiet and turned on the radio. It was playing LMFAO’s I’m Sexy And I Know It and I was thinking, “Please do not let this be the first thing my baby hears when she enters this world.”

But no. At 12:37 you were born… to Call Me Maybe (TRUE STORY). They held you up and you were this absolutely beautiful, 7lb, 5oz, tiny, screaming bundle of perfection with a head full of dark hair. I fell in love with you immediately and still can’t quite believe that I get to be your mom. You’re the sweetest baby girl I could have ever hoped for and you make me laugh every day. Happy Birthday, Isla Grace! It’s been the best year ever!

Love, Mom

This was officially the Weekend o’ Isla Grace. Holy moly that kiddo is LOVED. Her birthday isn’t until Tuesday but we scheduled both her b-day party and baptism this weekend so that Brian’s parents could come into town for both. If you read my posts last week you’ll know that the pediatrician (not our usual doc- another one who was on call Weds evening) diagnosed Isla with hand, foot and mouth disease last week so we had to make her party adults-only. Welllll… she showed no symptoms after Wednesday so I’m pretty sure (I mean, with my medical degree and all) that her little rash was more like bug bites than HF&M. Oh well, she still had a great party with all of the people she loves… and she went to TOWN on that smash cake. Get ready for pic overload here:

This morning we had Isla baptized at our church, St. Thomas Aquinas. She… was not really a fan. A few screams/tears, but the important thing is that she’s now officially baptized (AND she looked adorable doing it, of course)!

Isla had quite the entourage- parents, grandparents, GREAT grandparents, aunt/uncle, godparents and Deacon Ken:

With her amazing godparents, Lauren and Robert:

There is no greater feeling than realizing that your kids are surrounded by family and friends who love them SO much. We are incredibly blessed and had such a wonderful weekend celebrating our sweet baby girl! Get ready for annual sappy birthday post tomorrow…

Ok so here’s what’s going on in our house:

Last night we made our seemingly weekly trek to the pediatrician. Isla had a low fever and diarrhea, plus I noticed a few spots on her arms. Guess what? Hand Foot and Mouth Disease! What what! And making this episode particularly special is her BIRTHDAY PARTY this weekend. Oh, and her baptism, too. The timing is impeccable.

Since HF&M is highly contagious for kiddos, her b-day party now has to be adults only. Such a bummer, particularly since we’ve spent the last 2 weeks getting stuff ready for the celebration. She seems to be doing great today and the rash has faded considerably (and no new spots)… which makes me second guess the diagnosis, but better safe than sorry I guess.

Does this look like a sick kid to you?

(No, it looks like an ADORABLE kid… says her obnoxious mama.)

I had a return to make so we just grabbed dinner at the mall tonight, in case you couldn’t tell from Isla’s Chick Fil A placemat. Apparently I’m just trying all of the delicious salad restaurants that Dallas has to offer. Salata yesterday:

Snappy Salads today:

Brian took the kids home so I could shop a little without the behemoth double stroller (and its shrieking contents). Of course I made a beeline for Sephora and spent the next half hour covering my hands with makeup swatches. Ohhhh, how I love makeup. It borders on hoarding. Anyway, here’s my haul:

Josie Maran Argan Daily Moisturizer SPF 40- I’ve read about this on several blogs and love her pure argan oil, so giving it a shot.

Bite Beauty High Pigment Matte Pencil in Amarone- I have a few Bite Beauty products already and have been seriously impressed by them. I wore the matte pencil in Rhubarb all fall/winter and this shade is just a bit more bright pinky-berry for summer.

Bite Beauty Luminous Creme Lipstick in Pepper- this was one of the 100 point Beauty Insider bonuses… so FREE. Yay.

Korres Greek Yoghurt Advanced Nourishing Sleeping Facial- another product that I’ve read raves about on blogs so I requested a sample to try. And no, it does NOT smell like yogurt.

Hopefully y’all like makeup/beauty products as much as I do. Any recommendations??

Keep the entries coming for the Kodiak Cakes giveaway!! I’m trying to approve comments as they come in, but it might take me a minute so don’t panic if yours doesn’t show up right away.

I am NOT the pancake maker in our house. Brian holds that spatula. For some reason whenever I make them they turn out either raw inside or borderline charred. But I love to EAT pancakes, so I was thrilled when Kodiak Cakes contacted me about sending some of their products to try.

Monday morning I was all ambitious and decided to make fresh blueberry pancakes for the kids’ breakfast. When I told Jack what he was having, he asked, “Where did these pancakes come from?”

“Me. I just cooked them.”

“No- who brought them to our house??”

Uhhh. Nice vote of confidence there. Anyway, I’m happy to report that the Whole Wheat, Oat & Honey mix was delicious! And apparently fail-proof since my pancakes turned out great! The ingredient list is impressive too- just 100% whole grain flours, milk, honey, leavening, egg whites & sea salt. Isla and Jack both gobbled them up.

Kodiak Cakes was nice enough to offer four readers a free box of their flapjack and waffle mix! So if you want to be entered to win, just comment below with your fave pancake or waffle flavor (or topping) and I will select 4 winners on Monday. Good luck!

Hey heyyyy. I JUST (at 10:30) got home from getting my hair did, and I would post a pic of my dinner for you but you would probably throw up. Let’s just say that it involved Taco Cabana, about three bites of food… and a bug. I guess that’s what you get when you wait until 10 to grab dinner. I’m not eating again for a week.

Oh well, at least the greys are gone. And now my hair is all blown out and pretty just in time for me to go to bed.

Anyway, we had a busy day- park play date, lunch with my parents, Target run. I apologize for not having a better post for you, so I’ll leave you with a Squish shot:

Night night!