New Products

I don't show my groceries on here anymore because I'm usually trying to juggle a cranky baby, get the perishables into the fridge and I end up leaving the rest to put away during nap-time or after Lyric goes to bed. Instead of a full grocery post, here are a few new-to-me products that I've tried lately:

Snyder's York Peppermint Pretzel Sandwiches

These pretzels are amazing.  I thought regular chocolate covered pretzels were addicting but put some peppermint cream inside??  YUM.  This bag lasted less than 24 hours in my house.

Coconut Oil

I originally bought this to use as a moisturizer for Lyric.  She has some dry patches on her face and in her eyebrows so I figured this would help.  It does help, but it reacts funny with her skin chemistry and she ends up smelling like rotten milk.  Ick.

I'm going to buy either some grapeseed or apricot oil for baby girl but now I'm stuck with a whole jar of ($$) coconut oil.  How should I use it??  I know I can cook with it but is it only up to certain temperatures?  Can I bake with it?  I don't like the flavor of coconut at all so I'm apprehensive.  Any suggestions would be much appreciated!

Blueberry Muffin Larabar

I wanted to try the Cappuccino flavor as well but I couldn't track it down.  This one is pretty good - but Chocolate Chip Cookie Dough still wins out for now.

Squeezable Pizza Sauce

Since we are old fogies parents now, we are home every Friday night so I have officially dubbed it "Pizza Night".  I used to buy the cans of pizza sauce but they always went bad or smelled/tasted like "fridge" but this squeezable bottle is so handy!  Brush your dough with a little olive oil, spread some sauce on and top with a crushed garlic clove and add toppings.  Yum.

In other news, we went to the doctor for Lyric's 4-month appointment yesterday.  She is in the 20th percentile for weight, 40th percentile for height and her head is in the 25th percentile.  My little peanut!

We were also given the go-ahead to start her on rice cereal whenever she seemed "ready" but after doing some research and getting advice with a few experienced moms I think we might skip that step and jump right into baby-led weaning as soon as Lyric seems ready for solids.  I'm excited to introduce this little munchkin to some good, healthy food!

Four. Months. Old.

One. Month. Old.
Two. Months. Old.
Three. Months. Old.

Four Months Old!

 This month Lyric:

• weighs 11 pounds, 10 ounces
• learned how to roll over from tummy to back
• took out her pacifier, yawned, and put it back in three times in a row (I was astonished....hasn't happened since)
• chuckles when I say "Hip? Hip hop? Hip hop anonymous???"
• loves it when I clap her hands to play "Patty Cake" and do "This Little Piggy" with her toes
• sucks on her bottom lip, hands, wrists, fingers and forearms whenever she can - this makes it harder to tell when she's hungry
• took her first long road trip (8 hours) and did pretty well on the drive, the time spent there however, is another story  :(
• turns into a stark raving lunatic when bathtime is over & she's being toweled off
• takes short little cat-naps all day long
• is definitely in the throes of the 4-month sleep regression & growth spurt (I miss sleep....)
• has the softest tuft of fluffy hair all over her head - big difference from when she was one month old!

 

Outtakes from 4 month photo shoot:

 

What's New?

How about some updates??  I haven't been lifecasting much anymore but there are some bits and pieces I want to share.

The neighbor/dog situation - 
I have spoken with another neighbor who also witnessed the whole incident.  In fact, she went over there and spoke with the mom and said that she seemed completely detached from the whole thing.  She also said that those dogs were without food and their water bowls were completely frozen over.  :(  So basically they are fighting because they are just trying to survive.  Needless to say, I have called the Humane Society (so did our other neighbor) and I have been closely watching the dogs and making sure they are being fed and watered.  Our neighbor has also taken to throwing dog treats over the fence just to make sure they get some nourishment.  Hopefully those poor animals will get the attention and love they deserve.

Baby girl - 
Lyric has been a busy little girl these past few weeks.  Last week she rolled over for the first time and has done it a handful of times since.  Unfortunately Dave hasn't seen it yet.  She also laughed for me on Friday!  It was the cutest little chuckle.  I tried to get her to do it all weekend for Dave and on Sunday afternoon she did it again - yay!  Also, she is going through her 4-month growth spurt (and possibly sleep regression).  She has gone from sleeping 8-11 hours straight to waking up to eat every 1-2 hours all night long.  Yikes.  It's like the newborn stage all over again.

Napping as I write this post....

We also took Lyric to the aquarium for the first time this weekend.  She loved it!  I know she won't remember any of it but she certainly paid attention to every exhibit and we made it through the whole aquarium without a meltdown so it was fun for everyone.

I keep telling Dave that he and Lyric have the same head and ears from the back so I finally got a photo just to prove it to him.  Isn't it cute? 

It reminds me of this scene from Forrest Gump. :)

New book -

I have heard a lot of good things about Baby-led Weaning and I can't wait to get started as soon as Lyric is ready for solids.  I know that every parent goes about this (and everything else) in their own way and I think this will work the best for us.  I've always been really hesitant to give my child rice cereal as her first food because it's nutritionally junk food (just my opinion) and I think that there are much better ways for her to get her iron and other necessary nutrients.  Can't wait to see how it goes in a couple months.

Changes in our home - 
Well we got another 1/4 of a cow and 1/2 a pig from Nebraska recently.  All hormone free and from a small farm.  I love knowing where my meat comes from and it's just like any other food, buying in bulk saves a ton of $$$.

I've also started repainting our bottom living area in our house.  We decided to move our living room down there, buy a huge sectional couch, and make the upstairs room just a sitting room without a TV.  This means we'll have a ton more room so we can actually use our Kinect without having to move the heavy couch back 3 feet each time.  PLUS, it means we can have a huge baby-proofed area just for Lyric to run around in.  I can't wait. :)

Last but not least - Dave bought an old Pepsi machine and turned it into a kegerator.  He used to keep it at the shop but none of his techs were contributing to the beer fund so he brought it home and now it lives in our garage.

It's currently filled with two kegs, one New Belgium's Sunshine Wheat and the other O'dell's Easy Street Wheat.  I'm a huge fan of wheat beer so I'm excited.  However, until baby girl is done with her growth spurt I'm just admiring it from afar.

What's new with you this week?

Roasted Broccoli

When I first found out I was pregnant, my first thought was how healthy I was going to eat.   I would eat plentiful amounts of every vegetable under the sun.  Ha! Then morning sickness hit.  And I couldn't even look at a veggie let alone eat any.

The worst offender? 

Broccoli.  Especially cooked broccoli.

This aversion still haunts me.  I find that even now, I really have to force myself to choke it down.  I don't want my daughter growing up watching me gag down broccoli so I wanted to come up with a good way to make it palatable again.

I don't know about anyone else but my personal favorite way to eat most veggies is to roast them.  So I took a recipe that I've used for brussels sprouts (courtesy of my cousin) and applied it to my most loathed veggie.

The result?

I can't stop eating this stuff!  Trust me, if I willingly roast a whole pan of broccoli just for myself, this method will make your veggie-hating friends and family change their ways.

Ingredients:
fresh broccoli (I have tried frozen, it's too mushy...use fresh)
a few T olive oil
2 fresh garlic cloves, minced (garlic powder will work in a pinch)
pepper
seasoned salt (just a sprinkle is all you need)
1/4 cup shredded parmesan cheese

1) Preheat oven to 400 degrees & line baking sheet with aluminum foil.

2) Chop all your broccoli into uniform bite sized pieces and mix in a bowl with a couple tablespoons olive oil, pepper, seasoned salt and minced garlic.  Spread onto pan in a single layer.

3) Roast broccoli for 40 minutes, stirring half way through.

4) Broccoli will be crispy and may even break apart at the ends when touched - this is ok!
5) Sprinkle with a handful of parmesan cheese.

6) Wrap foil into a pouch and let sit for about 3-5 minutes to let the cheese melt and broccoli absorb a little more moisture.

7) Enjoy!

(Yes, I really did eat the entire batch in one sitting.  I can't believe how good it is.)

Tonight

Tonight I have some kale chips in the oven, a tuckered out baby girl sleeping upstairs in her crib and a house to myself because my husband is out with the guys.  Which explains why I'm eating kale chips - he thinks they're "weird crunchy rabbit food".

I had an interesting afternoon.  After coming home from my New Motherhood group and the chiropractor, I put Lyric down to play with her toys and heard a ton of commotion from the neighbors in back of us.  Our backyards face each other so I know that this lady either has a ton of kids or runs a daycare.  They also have 4 or 5 dogs who keep us up all night with their barking.  Yeah, not a fan of this neighbor.

Anyway, the commotion sounded louder than just kids playing (plus it was 20 degrees and windy so I thought it was weird they were even outside) so I went upstairs and looked out our bedroom window over the fence.  What I saw horrified me.  Their St. Bernard was attacking and ripping into one of their mid-sized dogs with a vengeance.  Kids were screaming, the smaller dog was howling the worst howl I've ever heard and the mom was trying to break them up and hysterically crying.  It was so bad.  This dog just went all Cujo on the other one and was ripping his floppy ear off (from what I could see) and there was a lot of blood.  Oh god.  I panicked, started looking up numbers for animal control and was running up and down the stairs.  I just couldn't bear to see it but it was like a car wreck - I couldn't look away.

(Crap, I just burned my kale chips...)

Luckily, they were able to break the dogs up and the next thing I see is a man running after the St. Bernard with a metal shovel.  Guys, I had to shut the blinds.  I don't know what to do.  I heard no sounds after that and yes, the dog is fine, I can see him now.  But holy crap what to do.  Do I call animal services?  Do I talk to them and tell them their pet situation has gotten out of hand?  I mean there were at least 6 kids in that house who had to see that.  Poor guys.  Plus, the dog who was the victim is just penned up in an enclosure, hiding!  They didn't even take him to the vet!  I don't like getting into other people's business but I'm torn.  Suggestions?

Ok, so after that horrible note, let me end this short pointless post with some good news - my little girl rolled over today!!  I was so nervous she wouldn't accomplish that milestone by her 4-month checkup.  She hates tummy time so we didn't do it as much as we should.   But now she knows how to roll back on her back so it's so much better.  Yay.  :)