Change is in the air

Here in the Palmer house, things are changing. A lot of things!

Daelynn is completely out of diapers except when she is sleeping. Boy is this Mama happy about that! She has been a complete champ about potty training, and has done phenomenally well. We even braved a trip to the store with her diaperless. No problem.

Blake is in a world of changes right now. We just changed his nap schedule around about a month ago. And a couple weeks ago we began to wean him off using a bottle. He had some experience with sippy cups, so that helped. And yesterday was his first formula free day. Bring on the whole milk! Daelynn had a hard time with that transition, she wasn't sure about milk for about a week. But Blake didn't even seem to notice anything had changed.
He got his very first haircut last Sunday! It makes him look so much more like a big boy (feeling bittersweet about that).
He is up to taking 4-5 steps at a time, and will be toddling everywhere in a blink. Just in time too, all his jeans are getting holes in the knees! He has been great at going up the stairs for a long time, but this week he figured out how to go down the stairs too.
He is learning how to feed himself with a spoon... though still has a long way to go. He is taking the flood of changes in stride, like the good little man he is, without too much complaint.

Jim finally shaved off the goatee that he has had for some months now. And got a haircut to boot, right after Blake. Looks like a whole new man.

As I stated in my previous post, our diet has changed quite a bit. That has been going well. We are finding new foods we never knew we liked, as well as some we never knew we didn't. Everyone is benefiting from the change to healthier food. And I am getting to try new seasonings and recipes, which is a favorite activity of mine. I love being creative in the kitchen.

I found out last night about an unexpected benefit of moving to a bigger house where I use the stairs so many times a day: I am in much better shape! I have not been in good shape for running in a few years. But last night I decided to try a little run... I ran a mile... nonstop, without barely breaking a sweat, and without loosing my breath! The only thing that stopped me after that was my calves threatening to cramp. I was, and remain, stunned and excited! Oh the possibilities...
Between the change in diet, and a slightly increased exercise regime, I have been loosing a fair bit of weight. Just this morning I found out that I have hit a goal I have been working at for nearly a year: my pre-pregnancy weight from Blake! Within 2 months after delivery I was within 2lbs of it, and that was the closest I have been able to get until now. I am so excited!

Lots of positive, healthy changes. And lots to rejoice for. I am so thankful to God; for my beautiful, healthy, growing children. For my amazing husband, who's support and love has been invaluable, especially with so much change occurring. For leading us through these changes, and for being our strength. The Lord has blessed our family so greatly.

But I don't like sweet potatoes...

 Jim and I have began to put more emphasis on "healthy and natural" when it comes to our diet. Cutting out almost all processed foods and mainly taking in meats, fresh or frozen produce, and dairy. And within those healthy categories getting rid of many of the carb-heavy starches. We have wanted to do this so many times before, but we always get caught up on one thing... potatoes. We love potatoes! And it is difficult to get rid of them. (Don't even think about mentioning cauliflower! Yuck!! Been there, tried that, YUCK!) People have said "try substituting sweet potatoes." But I don't really like sweet potatoes.

That is... I didn't. I am not a big fan of the fries, or of having them mashed. I can put them in with a stew and not really notice them. But that doesn't solve my "potatoes as the main side dish" issue. And then I tried them a different way, by suggestion of my husband, I must say. We have a recipe for seasoned cubed potatoes that I got from a friend a long time ago, and he suggested trying the sp's with that recipe. It was fantastic! So, I wanted to share it. The recipe is super simple:

Oven baked seasoned cubed potatoes
Cube potatoes (in this case sweet potatoes)
Put in baking dish (no need to use cooking spray)
Lightly coat in mayo
Season with Cavender's All Purpose Greek Seasoning (found in all supermarkets I have been to)
Bake @ 350 for 45 min or until tender.
Stir before serving
Yum!

The SP's made a wonderful substitute in this recipe. Jim even said he likes them more than the regular spuds. So if you are not so sure you can make the change, or if you simply enjoy sweet potatoes, try these.

I also make my home fries with them now. Which are very similar, but a slightly more healthy recipe.

Basic Sweet Potato Home Fries
Cube potatoes and dice some onion
Warm a frying pan over med heat
Spray pan with cooking spray (if you have a gas stove, do this away from the burner please)
Add onion, and saute a few minutes
Add potatoes
Season with Greek Seasoning
Cook until tender (and slightly crisp on the outside if you want) stirring occasionally.


I can now say that I do indeed like sweet potatoes, I like them a lot!

The healthy food changes have had quite an impact on our lives already. I lost 5lbs the first week!! I was excited and surprised about that. Now I find myself excited to see what week two will bring. I have also noticed that I am sleeping better and feeling better during the day. And I feel better about what I am feeding my family. We still enjoy sweet treats a couple/few times a week. I believe in moderation, not elimination, on things like that. And I see a lot of hope for us to stay on the healthy track, now that we have a solution to our potato conundrum.

Happy cooking!

Re-entering the world of potty training.

Being a parent leads you to casually say things that you never would have considered saying if you weren't one. Funny things like: "Don't put your foot in your mouth while you're eating."

Today I got to have a moment like that while comforting my daughter and telling her how proud I was of her, even though she hadn't gotten it exactly right.

"I am so proud of you for going and sitting on the potty like a big girl when you had to go pee pee! But next time you need to pull down your pants and undies first, ok honey?"

She is doing well today as we re-begin potty training. We began first when she was 17 months, she had the interest and the ability. She did great for three days, and then started getting quite anxious about it so we stepped back and decided to wait a bit longer. We have tested her at a few different times along the way to see when she might be ready. She recently has again shown a lot of interest in it, frequently asking to wear her undies. And randomly asking to sit on the potty, which typically has led to nothing. But today, I let her go ahead and wear her big girl undies, and she has worked hard to earn them. Of course there have been a few accidents, and she is not a fan of wet pants, but she is really doing great. And this Mommy sure is proud of her big girl.

Lazy Man's Truffles

For all of you who love chocolate as much as I do, here is a quick and easy recipe for a wonderful chocolate treat. Three ingredients, super easy to make.

Last week I decided I really wanted some chocolate. And as we don't keep candy in the house, I decided to try to make something. And I got the idea of mixing cream cheese and melted chocolate chips. And... Wonderful!

Slowly melt about half a bag of chocolate chips on the stove, and mix them with about half a package of cream cheese. Then spoon drop the mix in little dollops onto wax paper on a cookie sheet and chill it in the fridge overnight.

They are great just like that, but for an extra "truffle-like" addition, form the chilled dollops into balls and roll them in unsweetened bakers cocoa. Keep chilled.

Both Jim and I enjoy these; they don't last long in our house.

What a week!

As many of you know, Jim had this last week off. His company requires you to use all vacation time within the calender year. And we have no complaints with that policy. We chose this past week (12-1 to 12-9 including weekends) because our family has two big events in early December. Our wedding anniversary (3 years now!) was on the 5th, and Daelynn's 2nd birthday was on the 8th.

As many of you also know, this past week has been... well, not what we expected. It has been a difficult week, to say the least. But for all the bad that did occur, there was still joy to be found. And we really did our best to make the most of our time together.

Here is a glimpse into the joys of our week:

I wanted to start our week off with a good note, so I made these delicious Cinnamon Roll Pancakes for breakfast. Thank you pintrest.

This is on the skillet

And this is after they come off, all swirled and covered in cinnamon caramel sauce.

Here is Daelynn's with the glaze on, ready to eat. Yum!

 Next on our list was the Spring Hill Christmas Parade. The weather was incredible! Couldn't have asked for better. And we had wonderful company, sitting with some of our closest friends and some new friends as well.

Waiting for the parade to start.

Daelynn waiting patiently with her cheerios.

Blake had his cheerios too.

And there were candy canes!

Yay!

Bubba had a good seat for the parade

Here are some of the floats we really liked:

This was so cool to see. It was huge.

Mary, Joseph, and baby Jesus.

A sleigh led by... deer heads, Yes! This float was awesome!

Other key events while Jim was home all week included:

Our first Advent Celebration! 

It was a wonderful time to learn about the season of Advent, both at our wonderful church, and at the celebration held at our friends' home. We are learning about the season, about new traditions, and enjoying getting to sing and have great fellowship.

Lots of play time with the kiddos!

Daelynn got in some good work on her somersaults.

pre-somersault

post-somersault

And some fun with our letter blocks!

We made a long tunnel with it that Daelynn loved.

We also made several trips to some local parks. And this being our first December in the south, the warm weather has been both a shock and a treat. But there are some down sides to that wonderful warm weather. One of our trips to the park ended rather suddenly because I got stung by a bee! In December! That is definitely a new one for us. :) But all of our other park excursions were very pleasant. 

Jim and I enjoyed lots of time together on our anniversary. The kids spend a good part of the day with friends, and we got to spend some much needed time together. Included in our time was a dinner date and a nice stroll together in the starlight.

We tackled some of our "honey-do" list. 

Here is Jim with his "helpers" hanging up all the frames for our family photos.

Here is the finished product. What a great job they did! ;)

Also included was baby gate instillation, furniture rearranging, and various odds and ends. Thank you honey. :)

We did crafts. 

We had been wanting to get some stocking holders to put the stocking up on the mantel. We went to the store to find out that the only ones they had were nearly $10 each! So I decided to get creative and see if I could make my own. 

Came up with this one on my own, lol. And it worked out pretty good.

We used cans of tomato sauce, wrapping paper, some spare garland, and butter knifes. And...

Tada! Works for me! 

With Daelynn's birthday party we were planning on making some ornaments. And I had wanted to do a test run on them, which didn't really happen before the original date of the party. But since the party had to be rescheduled, after one batch of dough was already made, our opportunity was upon us. So we made some cookie cutter ornaments.

My big helper stamping out some ornaments.

What fun! :)

On Daelynn's birthday we let her open the presents from family, and had a small family party for her. Included was a paint set. And she got to enjoy some fun time painting. She really loved it! 

We ended our week with a movie night on Sunday. We threw all the pillows and blankets on the floor, snuggled up together, and watched Brave. :) 

Movie night!

And, although this was on Monday, after Jim went back to work, I included it because it pertained to our week. I decided after such a long and stressful week, and Jim having to go back to work, we all needed something sweet. And I had the best big helpers in the kitchen to help me make some sweet goodies! 

Mommy's big girl!

Yummy, delicious cinnamon rolls before their second rise, then into the oven.

Fresh from the oven

Oh so delicious! 

We had these warm gooey rolls with chili for dinner. And then brought some along with us to our second Advent celebration with friends. And the comfort food and fellowship was a wonderful way to ease our transition back into the work week.

God blessed us with a good week, even though he also put us through trials. We had so much love and support from the people in our lives, and everlasting love and support from our Father in Heaven. 

Our eyes are on our blessings. 

Spicy Food Mood Creations

So today I have been in a spicy food mood. And the main focus of my spicy food day dreams was a wonderful twist on an already delicious treat that was introduced to us a few weeks ago at a friends house. I have shared our taste for the Pioneer Woman's "Jalapeno Thingies." And while at our friends' home for dinner one day, they served these delicious little treats, slightly altered. The cream cheese, we originally thought, was a roasted red bell pepper cream cheese. Later (today for that matter), we realized that it had been a sun dried tomato cream cheese. Either way it was delicious. 

Having been desiring these for several days, and reaching the point of "must have or I might cry" today, I decided to take a swing at it. Thanks has to go out here to my wonderful husband for making the run to the store for me... twice. And shortly after he arrived home from the store, I received word about the mix up in the cream cheese additive. But already having the red pepper, I went ahead with that instead. And the product was wonderful! The whole family loved it, including both kiddos! (The cream cheese, not the jalapenos.)


Here is the recipe:
Roast one red bell pepper.
Remove skins and innards
Place in blending device of choice
Add about 3/4 tsp of minced garlic
And 12oz cream cheese
Blend and enjoy


We used a lot of cream cheese because I didn't anticipate how much the pepper would water it down. So we started with 8oz and then wound up adding more to get a more creamy spread.

We filled 10 jalapenos (halved), wrapped them in bacon, ran them through with a toothpick, and baked them at 375 for about 25-30 minutes.

While they were getting amazingly delicious, Jim, Daelynn, and I snacked on part of the remaining "dip" with crackers and tortilla chips. Blake even got to sample some, and loved it. Jim has decided it should become an addition to my recipe book, both as a dip and for the jalapenos, and has already named several upcoming events where it could be included.

As for the jalapenos: wonderful! Not one survived to become a 'leftover.' And truthfully, I think Jim only had a few of them. They really hit the spot for my spicy craving. I would have posted an image... but none survived long enough for me to think of taking a picture either. But, if you make your own you will get a first hand look at them. ;)

I Am Thankful

What a wonderful year it has been! New job, new state, new baby, new home - all of it wonderful! And today we got to celebrate Thanksgiving together, in our new home, with both our babies, in the wonderful state of Tennessee. Blessings all! 

We had hoped to have some family over, but that wasn't able to happen. Hopefully we will be able to visit with our family another time soon. We also received a couple invitations to spend the holiday with friends. But we chose a calm quiet holiday together. It was a wonderful day!

I started cooking a little after 7... and finished as we sat down to eat. I love cooking, so it is always such a fun holiday for me! 

 And I had so much "help" in the kitchen this year :)

My little veggie tray sampler...  I am talking about Daelynn here, not the tray, lol. 

She loves to play with and eat olives. Before long she had eaten almost half of them!

Including some of Mommy's

Mommy's best little helpers

They were both eager to get to be the sweet potato taste testers.

This creamy goodness was a last minute addition, and a big hit. 

Case in point.

However, after a while, the thrill of helping in the kitchen wears off. But toys cannot hold them away from the wonderful smells and anticipation of all the yummy food. So then there is the waiting...

But, the waiting eventually pays off, and the pay off is delicious!

We ate at noon mainly because of the kids' nap schedule. Plus, why wait for good food. ;)

We had a ton of food! Partially due to the anticipation of guests, and partially because its Thanksgiving! We had both a ham and a turkey, and all the trimmings. 

And tons of food means tons of leftovers and leftover related meals. Yum! I am most excited about ham and bean soup and creamy turkey enchiladas. :)

A few hours after our Thanksgiving dinner... lunch... we had some pie for dinner... dessert. Jim also got to enjoy one of the Sam Adams seasonal brews for his after dessert... dessert. 

Yes chocolate beer. And he really enjoyed it. It is a fantastic "dessert beer." 

A wonderful, warm, fun and food filled day. So much to be thankful for today and every day. I hope everyone had a wonderful holiday, whether it was a calm, quiet day with just a few close people, or a loud, busy day spent with many friends and loved ones. What a treasure, the ones we love.