Half birthday!

It is my beautiful, precious baby boy's 6 month birthday. I can't believe how fast he is growing! He has been changing so much, especially over the past month and learning a ton. As of 4:34 AM my gorgeous son has been making our lives so much more fun and exciting for half a year, and causing an awful lot of trouble! Here's a little flashback of his first 6 months:

Here's what our little guy has been up to for the past 6 months:

• Rolling both ways
• Lots of babbling and even more raspberry/bubble blowing
• Sitting up unassisted
• Eating rice cereal, baby food, and the occasional banana or avocado in a mesh feeder
• Smiling and laughing
• Army crawling all over the house

As you can see, we've been busy! Boston is so smart and such a joy. I can't imagine life without him, he's just perfection. Here's our little guy at 6 months!

I am so excited for all of our upcoming milestones, but I need time to slow down! Happy 6 month Boston, we love you so much <3

New England Aquarium

I have been neglecting my blog. We were busy for a few days and then last weekend my husband and I came down with the norovirus (which felt like certain death) over the weekend. He felt better after about 12 hours or so, it took me a solid 48 hours to get it together again. So bad we had to have family come take Boston for us for several hours. But much better now!
Last Friday, we made our first trip to the New England Aquarium with our aunts and Boston. I thought it might be a little early for Boston to enjoy it but boy was I wrong. He loved it! His eyes lit up, his little hands were reaching and touching the glass as often as possible and his little feet were kicking all over the place in excitement. I couldn't be much happier with our experience.
I enjoyed the aquarium, they had a lot of great exhibits including sea lions, a huge penguin section, giant sea turtles, a touch tank with stingrays and sharks, and of course a million kinds of fish. I think Boston's favorite were the tanks considered boring by others. One in particular was the herring exhibit, and he loved how fast the fish swam back and forth. He even got a little upset while leaving that one.
I hate to do this because I feel like I say this about everything, but I do feel like the sea life center in Alaska is better then this aquarium. But only a little! I did love the NE one, but I kept looking at exhibits like the penguin and sea lions and thinking it would be better if they showed an underwater portion so you can see them actually swim and play. Which is something they do at the sea life center in Seward, Alaska and it's amazing! There is an upper floor where you can see the tops of the tank and then a lower floor where you cans see all the seabirds and sea lions swimming around. So I wish that was a little different because as nice as their penguin and sea lion areas were, once they went into the water you couldn't see much.
If you find yourself on your way to visit the New England Aquarium, here are some things to consider:
Admission is high, currently $24.95 per adult. Plan to spend your day there if possible!
There is a cafe inside however it's typical cafeteria type food and since the aquarium is in downtown Boston, there are a ton of other options! If you want to do that, the aquarium staff will give you a hand stamp that gives you admission until closing.
They have a stroller parking area if you choose to use it. They give you a number card to get your stroller back when you're ready. This was great for us because we could park it and carry Boston around and get him much closer to the displays and not have to fight through people with a giant stroller. This is a free service too, btw.
The sea lion exhibit is outside and a little chilly in the spring/winter so bring a coat!

Here are some pictures from our trip.

Homemade baby food

Boston is starting solids and has enjoyed pears so far. Tonight we start veggies, and I thought I'd try carrots first. The pears we bought but I've heard making your own baby food is fairly simple so yesterday I gave it a shot and it was easy! I made him apples and carrots. The apples were really easy because my grandparents had canned some for us, so they had already been cooked in a pressure cooker and were ready to blend. The carrots needed to be cooked. So for anyone who thinks this task may be daunting, I'm here to tell you it is not! Here's step by step what I did for the carrots. First, I bought a bag of the big normal carrots; I've read in several places that the big ones are better then baby carrots because there are more nutrients. Sounded good to me, plus a pound of those are cheaper then the baby carrots. I peeled, washed, and chopped them until they were in small bite size pieces. Then I put them in a steamer bag and microwaved til they were soft. I dumped the whole thing into the blender and pureed them. Now, with the apples I didn't have to add any liquid, they had enough that it was fine but the carrots weren't blending well enough. So I added water, just a couple tablespoons at a time until it had reached a thinner, smooth consistency. Don't add anything else though! Just water, no sugar or spices.

This is the apples once they were pureed

You may think you need a food processor or one of those fancy Baby Bullets to make baby food, but you don't! Any decent blender can do it too. I have a hard time making a good margarita in mine and it did just fine with baby food. 

After it was blended, I ran it through a strainer to make sure there were no chunks. This is extremely important! It may be a bit of a hassle because it took quite a bit of time to shake the food all the way through, but you don't want little one to choke. After straining, I divided it into smaller portions. I used ice cube trays and spooned the food into the cubes, filling it to the brim. Then I covered the trays with saran wrap and put them in the freezer. 

Here are the carrots, portioned in ice cube trays

Once they are frozen through, I dumped them into a quart size freezer bag, labeled the contents and dated! When you're ready to use them, take a cube out and either let it thaw in the fridge or I heated mine in the microwave for about 10-15 seconds, then let it cool til it was okay for Boston to eat. From what I've read, the amount of time they food stays good for while frozen, but it seems to be pretty consistent that you should try to use it within 3 months. As far as what type of food or using a deep freezer, I'm not sure but we're just going to stick with 3 months or less to be safe. 

Labeled and ready to go!

It was ridiculously easy. Depending on what you're making and if it requires cooking will decide how long it takes but even with the prep work for the carrots it took about an hour or less from start to freeze time. It's also very budget friendly! With a little less then 1lb of carrots, I got 18 servings of baby food. Freezing is also a great option if you prefer to purchase your food but your little one can't finish a whole jar. We bought a pouch of pears to start with, which needed to be eaten in 2 days. There was no way Boston could eat that much since we're just starting solids, so I poured the rest of it into the trays and froze for later. No waste! I am excited to make his food now and look forward to trying new foods and cooking methods. 

If you're still unsure, check this site out: wholesomebabyfood.momtastic.com It's a great resource in preparing and storage, and also what kinds of food to consider depending on your baby's age and stage. Don't forget to give your little one 4 days or more to adjust to each new food and make sure they don't have any allergies or sensitivities before introducing something new!

I'm excited for food, are you?!

3rd Anniversary and 5 months old!

Happy 3 year anniversary to my wonderful husband!

And happy 5 month birthday to my little guy!

And happy birthday to my late grandaddy <3 I love and miss you.
What a big day today is for us!

Top 5 Selfish Reasons to Breastfeed

I am very committed to breastfeeding my son for a lot of different reasons. The American Pediatric Association can give you a million scientific and health related reasons to breastfeed which are of course the key reasons I choose to do so, but there are also plenty of selfish reasons to just for mamas! Here are my top 5 reasons breastfeeding is awesome for me:

5. I find it much easier. No bottles to clean (and I hate cleaning bottles!), no mixing, no actually getting out of bed to feed him at night, and no worries about packing a bottle or what if I didn't pack enough to last him, etc. Hell, I don't even have to be awake to feed him, half the time I just wake up enough to get him situated and fall back asleep. And I never have to worry about temperature, how long it will stay good, different brands, or recalls. It's always healthy and always ready to go. 

4. It gives moms extra protection from certain cancers; breast, ovarian and endometrial. Anything I can do to fight cancer is cool with me!

3. It helped me lose my baby weight faster then I would have otherwise. For the first 6 weeks after having him, I wasn't allowed to work out and could just to light walking but I could burn so many extra calories breastfeeding and the first 10 pounds practically fell off. In fact, I can say that breastfeeding (with a side of light exercise) got me below my pre-pregnancy weight!

2. I love the bonding it provides. I am not trying to say that people who formula feed don't bond with their babies because obviously there are so many great and valuable ways to bond with your baby, but Boston isn't a big cuddler so feeding time is my extra bit of bonding each day. Having him curled up in my arms to eat is so wonderful, and half the time he falls asleep right there while being cradled. Otherwise, I only get big baby hugs and snuggles when he's sick or tired and I need to get all the hugs I can before he gets older and too cool for mom!

1. It's one of the very few things I can provide for him that no one else can. Some people have asked why I don't pump more or why I don't use formula occasionally so I can get a break or leave for longer then a couple hours at a time. And the reason for that is that I love that he needs me. Selfish, I know, but my son is very outgoing and social and I joke that the only time he prefers me over others is when he's hungry. And I really kind of love those moments where I can say, "Oh, he wants his mama" :)

And I have to include one bonus reason, and one of my biggest motivators when I do find breastfeeding to be difficult or time consuming: IT'S FREE

*However you feed your baby is okay with me as long as they are fed, and I know a lot of people that want to breastfeed are unable to for a variety of reasons, so I hope this doesn't come off as anything against formula feeders because it is not my intention at all. Just wanted to share some of my favorite selfish perks of breastfeeding!

Wordless Wednesday

Creamy Chicken Taquitos

Boston is feeling a little better today but last night I had the (not so) brilliant idea of letting him sleep in bed with us all night. He's been napping really well as long as I'm holding him or next to him so I thought maybe he'd do better if we co-slept. Wrong. He woke up every 2 hours or so and it wasn't just to eat but he was upset and fussy and blah. Poor pumpkin. So husband and I didn't get very much sleep at all and just as I was about to make Steven go to Dunkin Donuts and get me 2 chocolate frosted doughnuts (comfort food), our grammy called and invited us out for breakfast. So we went to Friendly's and I got strawberry topped french toast, which did the trick also. Grammy was also gracious enough to watch the kiddo while I took a 2 hour nap, bless her heart.

Tonight I tried a recipe I've seen on multiple sites for creamy chicken taquitos. I chose to base mine mostly off of Annie's Eats, who has a wonderful site with amazing looking food. I've made a few things from her site and really enjoyed them. They turned out great! Steven enjoyed it too so I think we'll add them to our menu. The recipe made 8 for me, and we each had 2 and found them to be very filling. These were really easy to put together and I had some shredded chicken ready to go so it was super simple today. I've been trying to make a habit of reserving a couple chicken breasts from the big packs we buy and cooking them in the slow cooker for a few hours, shredding it, and either refrigerating for a day or two or freezing til I need it and it's made a lot of meals much easier on a busy day. I served these taquitos with a side of salsa and refried beans. Also, one change I made was that I used wheat tortillas. I really like Chi-Chis Low Carb tortillas and since we're technically supposed to be starting our "diet" today, I thought that would be a good idea. Speaking of said diet, I'm going to put it off til Monday because I was pretty shocked that my husband wanted to join in on the diet with me, and I have to do some brainstorming on Steven-friendly meals and snacks to prepare.

Creamy Chicken Taquitos
Ingredients
3 oz cream cheese, softened
1/4 cup salsa
2 tbl lime juice
1 tsp chili powder
1/2 tsp cumin
2 cloves garlic, minced
2 green onions, chopped
2 cups shredded, cooked chicken
1 cup Mexican blend cheese
8 tortillas
Cooking Spray
Kosher Salt
-Preheat oven to 425 degrees. In a large bowl, mix cream cheese, salsa, spices, lime juice, cheese, chicken and onion until blended well. Heat tortillas in microwave til easy to handle, about 15 seconds. Spoon 2-3 spoonfuls of chicken mixture into center of the tortilla and roll up tightly. Place seam side down on a baking sheet. Lightly spray the top of the taquitos with cooking spray and sprinkle with kosher salt. Bake for about 15 minutes until golden.
Adapted from Annie's Eats
You may notice my lack of photos when it comes to food. That is because I fail miserably at photography, especially food photography. It always ends up looking not so appetizing and I don't want to deter anyone from trying these recipes because of poor presentation. But if you follow the link to the original recipe, you will see some wonderful photos!

Baby milestones

We hit a couple small milestones today but I can't for the life of me remember where baby's book is so I'll mention and date them here so I don't forget. First, Boston was able to stand up (while holding something) on his own today! He couldn't pull himself up but this was the first time he was able to bear all of the weight on his legs on his own and he even held if for a couple minutes before getting wobbly. Steven had him in his lap while we were parked in the car and he decided he wanted the steering wheel so Steven stood him up and Boston grabbed the wheel and just held up, standing on his own little adorable legs!

And then he also had solid foods for the first time. We had tried rice cereal which he loves and I decided to try some purees to see what he thought. We tried sweet potatoes and he did not like them. So I think we're going to just wait a few more weeks and try again. Maybe he just isn't ready yet.
But there you have it, 2 major milestones, both on Feb 17th, 2012!

Valentine's and orange scones

We had a great Valentine's day in this house! Boston and I started the morning by getting his daddy his favorite hot chocolate and a couple heart shaped doughnuts. Then I finally got a chance to make some orange scones I've been dying to try. We were lucky enough to have our aunt come babysit so Steven and I could go out to lunch without the kiddo. We went to Longhorn Steakhouse (amazing!) and I had never been there before. I got a delicious ribeye and got to enjoy the company of my husband without a baby whining in the background. We decided to get Boston a Valentine's gift too and got him an exersaucer we had been eyeing for awhile now, which ended up being on sale and turned out to be $17 cheaper then expected!

Testing out the super cool new exersaucer!

Steven had strict instructions this year to just get me some good chocolate and he chose a chocolate covered ice cream cake from Coldstones which is fantastic. And now he's in class while the baby and I cuddle and watch Glee. And the Teen Mom 2 finale is tonight, I mean can it get any better? 

Strawberry ice cream layered with red velvet cake, covered in chocolate ganache! So tasty!

When I was pregnant, Steven and I had a routine of going to Panera after my doctor's appointments for pastries and I almost always got their orange scone. I never thought I'd like scones but I thought I'd give it a shot and it was one of the most divine things I've ever tasted. I've been considering trying to make them myself for quite awhile now but for some reason scones intimidated me. I don't know why, because it was incredibly easy! The only thing I plan on working on is making some kind of orange frosting like they use at Panera or a heavier glaze. Maybe even some orange extract in the glaze because in the Panera version, the glaze is where most of the orange flavor is and that's what I like. 

Orange Scones

Ingredients

1 3/4 cups flour

4 tsp baking powder

1/4 cup sugar

Zest of 1 orange

Pinch of salt

5 tbs cold butter, cut into small cubes

1/2 cup orange juice

1/4 cup sour cream

1 egg

1 tbs milk

Orange Glaze

1 cup powdered sugar

1 tbs orange juice

Preheat oven to 400. In a large mixing bowl, whisk flour, baking soda, salt, and zest together. Add the butter and use either a pastry mixer or your hands to mix until it is crumbly in texture. Stir in the orange juice and sour cream just til blended. 

Seperate into 2 equal sections and shape into about an 8" round disk, about an inch thick. Let rest for about 10 minutes. In a seperate bowl, mix the egg and milk and use as an egg wash over the 2 disks. Bake for 12-14 minutes. Slice rounds into quarters and let them cool to room temp. Brush with orange glaze. 

Adapted from Pastry Affair

So yummy!

Hope you had a great Valentine's Day!

P.S, did I mention Cougartown starts again today too? BEST DAY EVER!

Valentine's

Wordless Wednesday

The Children's Museum of NH

Yesterday the Children's Museum of NH had their monthly free evening, which is the first Friday of each month. We took Boston for the first time, and neither of us had ever been either. One thing to know about the museum is that you cannot bring a stroller through so if you're bringing a baby you will want to bring a carrier. They have a few you can borrow but since I had seen this information online, I brought our Infantino baby carrier. Boston seems to prefer that anyway because he gets to look at everything much easier. They have an area to park the strollers while you check out the museum.

It was pretty busy so we didn't spend much time at each exhibit but it has a lot of great hands on activities for kids. I'm looking forward to bringing Boston back when he's older to try out the dinosaur fossil dig area. Upstairs, there is a section strictly for kids 3 and under. We spent most of our time there but it was pretty busy too. On another day I think Boston would really enjoy it. They had a couple train tables, a small climbing area, hand puppets, books, and even a nursing nook! We let Boston roll around on the mats and look at himself in the mirrors which he really enjoyed. He also seemed to like the sensory tubes with dice and beads inside.

I thought it was worth the trip and I'm excited to bring him back another day!

New England Patriots Tribute

Football is a big part of our lives because my husband and the majority of his family are super fans; New England Patriots super fans specifically. You may think I'm exaggerating by saying they are super fans but I assure you I am not. His dad even created a very intricate football dice/board game called Roll Bowl, which my husband is currently designing new boards for. Half of what we own is emblazoned with the Patriots logo,  and you don't want to be anywhere near this house when the Patriots lose. You may think we're bandwagoners considering how awesome the Patriots currently are, but his family is all born and raised New Englanders and I just sort of married into it. They have been fans through the good, bad, and the ugly. And if you know anything about the Patriots history, there was plenty of bad and ugly.

I didn't care for football before meeting my husband, or any sport for that matter. However, it really grew on me and I now understand and enjoy the games. I have favorite players, past and present who I cheer for and consider to be my football boyfriends. I love watching the games, especially with the husband because he goes nuts! Yelling, fist pumping, clapping and cheering all over the living room. Our TV is permanently on ESPN and one of our favorite things to do together is watch Sportsnation with Michelle Beadle and Colin Cowherd. He breathes football.

Meet Gronk

What I love most about football now though is seeing my husband share it with our son. He doesn't understand much yet at 4 months, but he is always decked out in baby Patriots gear and has memorabilia all over his room. Yesterday he got his first Build-a-bear who is now donning a Patriots uniform and is affectionately named Gronk. I can't wait for the days that they spend their Sunday afternoons playing Roll Bowl and rooting for their team, jumping all over our living room screaming like madmen.

A fan right from the start

So as a tribute to the NE Patriots and in honor of their trip to Superbowl XLVI this Sunday, here are 5 reasons (though not the only reasons) I love the NE Patriots:

5. Uniforms - I'm a girl, and I like to look at pretty things and before I knew anything about the NFL and it's teams and players, I used to choose winners by their uniforms. What else was I supposed to go off of? And the Patriots have the nicest uniforms in the league! I love the colors, and I love all the uniforms; home, away, throwback, they're all awesome! I love wearing their jerseys to support the team AND because they look damn good. Go ahead and laugh, but you know no one looks good in aqua, not even the Miami Dolphins. And only hip hop dancers can pull off shiny gold pants, sorry San Fran fans. But good ole' red, white and blue is always in fashion. Hello, patriotism!
4. They're Classy - People have given the Patriots a lot of shit for racking up a ton of points against mediocre teams and say that it's poor sportsmanship or whatever crap makes them feel better about their team getting destroyed. I don't know what's wrong with that, but apparently people think they should limit their talent as to not embarrass their opponent. Whatever, I thought that was the point of the game. However I find Patriots players and their organization as a whole to be one of the classiest teams in the NFL. They rarely talk shit about their opponents, even though a good chunk of the league spews nothing but venom their way; especially directed at Belichick and Brady. They take it in stride, and they let their actions speak for themselves. I dig that because nothing looks dumber then writing checks you can't cash.
3. Bill Belichick  - People love to hate him but he is a football genius. Look at his team, look at his stats, look at his rings. The man knows what he's doing. And as my husband loves to say, he's got the biggest balls in the league. He takes chances at the right times, he rehabilitates loser players that have talent but no one wants because of their arrogance or whatever else and they generally become better players (and people) because they want to play for the Patriots. His team is disciplined and it shows on the field. He designs such balanced teams (okay maybe not this year, the defense is pretty rough) that they don't have to solely rely on their quarterback or one receiver or one rusher. If only he'd update his wardrobe a little, I'd like him more.
2. Robert Kraft - I think Robert Kraft seems like one of the kindest, most genuine people. I love how he promotes volunteerism whenever he can and how involved he and his team are. He seems to have a great personal relationship with his coaches and team, and you can tell the players truly respect him, and his community respects him. And hearing him speak about his late wife, Myra, puts tears in my eyes. What a great guy.
1. Hot Players! -  Tedy Bruschi (handsome and loves to knock people out? Awesome), Rob Gronkowski, Tom Brady, Wes Welker, Mike Vrabel, Aaron Hernandez...my list of football boyfriends continues to grow. Belichick, you have excellent taste in men.

Thank you, NE Patriots for bringing so much joy to our lives and for being awesome. No matter the outcome this weekend, we will remain some of your biggest fans. Let's kick some Giant ass this weekend!
Go Pats!

Adventures in Boston

We went to Boston, MA this afternoon to deliver some paperwork. It was sort of an impromptu visit so we  decided to wing it. We stopped by Fenway Park just to walk around and see what it looked like because neither of us had ever been. Unfortunately we missed the tours but we can always go back another time!

We're hoping to actually make a game sometime this season!

We have a huge to-do list of things to see this summer, and now a Fenway tour has been added. Go BoSox!

Wordless Wednesday

A year in pictures, 2011

I can't believe it's already the last day of January and the first month of a new year is already over. Time is flying by at an unreasonable rate. So much in our life has changed in the past year, and I'd like to share my favorite picture from each month of 2011, so I can take a moment to reminisce.

January

One of my best friends, Sarah, and I on new years. This is me at one of my finest, most fun moments. Slightly intoxicated (okay, maybe more then slightly) with a totally uninhibited smile on my face. Little did I know this would be my last big partying hurrah sans-baby. We were still in our home in England and this is hands down one of my most favorite nights while living there. And one of my favorite people of all time. Seriously, my life is pretty sad without her as we have so many similar interests and thoughts, I feel like my long lost twin has become lost once more.
February

My very first ultrasound of Boston. 5 weeks, 6 days and the most amazing flickering heartbeat which gave me the huge sigh of relief I needed. This photo changed our life. 

March

Stella managed to get into some charcoal outside, and wore the shame of the event right on her face. Stella is the most amazing dog on the planet. It's not an exaggeration. If you met her, you'd agree. She is so funny and energetic and loving and full of character and I could continue with one hell of a run on sentence but I won't. This photo still makes me laugh because it fits her to a T. I truly adore her.

April

I have to cheat and post 2 photos because April was a huge month for me. Above is my gender ultrasound and the day we found out we were expecting a boy. It was a great day, and I don't think I have ever seen my husband so excited. 

You may be wondering why I've posted some random photo of the Royal Wedding. Well my friend, this is not a random photo. This is my photo taken with my camera because I was there. I saw this with my own two eyes. History in the making. I was lucky enough to go to London for the royal wedding with a big group of girlfriends and my friend Sarah and I found one of the best spots on the parade field to witness the royal family go by in their carriages. It was one of the coolest things I have ever done in my life. 

May

This is a quilt Sarah made for Boston. Her first quilt ever and she made it especially for him. It's one of the most thoughtful things anyone has ever done for me. Needless to say, I have some truly amazing friends.

June

I was 24 weeks pregnant here and it's the first photo where you can tell I'm pregnant. I was so excited to finally show and I felt great! Plus we had finally made it back to America!

July

This was at our baby shower. My sister-in-law planned the most perfect baby shower for us and everyone went above and beyond for it. Everything was beautiful and everyone pitched in whether it was set up or food or gifts. It was perfect and I loved seeing how excited everyone was for Boston to arrive and could feel so much love for him.
August

Silly, right? But anyone who knows me knows I'm a dessert girl and finally I had a legit reason to indulge in every single craving, even if it meant choosing 3 desserts off the menu in one night. I ate them all and they were all delicious.
September

Boston was born! This was our very first photo we texted and posted to introduce everyone to our little guy. The day is mostly a blur but the important parts shine and he is just so freaking amazing. Nothing in my life compares to this moment. Nothing.
October

My dad and grandparents came to meet Boston and spend time with us. My mom was already here and was there for his birth, but introducing him to my dad and grandparents, and officially making them grand and great-grands was a special moment. I loved sharing him with them and seeing them get to interact. We don't live near so visits will be far between, so these moments are precious.
November

In November, Steven's parents and little brother were able to come for a visit and meet Boston. They loved him just like my family did. And this photo is just adorable.
December

Boston meeting santa! Okay, it was kind of a lame Santa but Boston did so well. I was majorly excited for Christmas, especially with it being our first as a family and a Santa picture was a must.

So there you have it, my year in pictures. There are a few months that I wish I could post multiple photos and write paragraphs about but for blogging purposes I figured I better limit it. It was an eventful year for us though and of course Boston was our highlight.