Being Wonder Women

Oh Life.

2012-09-25T07:54:00.003-04:00

Life is busy around our neck of the woods. Busy jobs, busy toddlers, and busy lives. We miss blogging and hope to return soon. In the meantime (if you're still reading - and thank you if you are still reading), check out this post from a momma blog that I just stumbled across this morning, but I already love. She gets real. Be back soon...we promise.

2 Year Anniversary (E + JW)...6/26/12

2012-08-09T04:00:00.000-04:00

We had an awesome anniversary (on June 26th...which explains how on top of our game we are in regard to posting...annnnnyway).

I'm pretty sure the traditional 2nd anniversary gift is cotton, but we didn't want new sheets or socks, so we decided to throw that out the window. I'm also pretty sure that you're supposed to go out for a romantic dinner and buy flowers and cards and all that stuff. Consider that tossed out the window as well. We wanted to do something fun for our anniversary and buy gifts we could use forever. That's why we bought each other....

Because I know you're curious, the orange one is mine; blue = JW's

KAYAKS! Totally what you were going to guess, right? Ok, well let me explain. JW and I wanted something we could use forever and kayaks are seriously that. The early evening of our anniversary we took them up to the lake, dropped them in, and headed north to the sandbar with a few beers and a bottle of bubbly from our wedding in a mini-cooler strapped to the kayak. Did I mention we had no idea whether or not the champagne would even be any good? It was 2 years old. But since I was preggo and we couldn't drink it on our first anniversary, we figured it was worth a shot. {side note: 2 year old champagne = delicious.}

JW & E

The kayak cruise was awesome. The weather was beautiful and the lake was calm enough for us to cruise down to the sandbar and paddle right on back. We had tons of laughs, reminisced about the fun times we had when we lived in Lansing, and enjoyed spending time just the two of us. Therefore, the kayaks were perfect.

Photo taken using the Paper Camera iPhone/iPad app!

We've taken them out a few more times since buying them and one thing is for sure - they are calming. When you step (carefully, mind you) into a kayak, life slows down. It can only move as fast as you can paddle. The physical and rhythmic paddling lets your mind drift off and it's a wonderful feeling.

As a busy working momma, this is key: find time to relax.

Anybody else have totally non-traditional anniversary gifts? Because clearly leather (is that even the gift for 3 years?) is out and we'll be in need of something fun and relaxing :)

Wednesday Loves!

2012-08-08T13:33:00.002-04:00

It's Wednesday and after a rejuvenating lunch, we decided we should throw together a quick post, so here's what we're loving this busy, busy week:

[1] Our babes and hubbies. obvi.

[2] Time to eat lunch. with a bff. outside. with delicious sandwiches. and brownies. always need brownies.

What are you loving this week?

Are you a working momma? What are you loving and can't live without??

p.s. we promise to post more soon and actually host this giveaway. things are crazy-busy in the real-world.

A few favorite wedding pics, 5 years later!

2012-07-29T17:38:00.001-04:00

A happy anniversary to B. We had a great weekend celebrating with friends at the cottage-- 5 babies under 16 months! More on that later, in a meantime a few pics from that special day 5 years ago....

CSA Recipe Day: Chicken Nachos with Garden Salsa

2012-07-27T10:54:00.002-04:00

Whew....we just got done with Operation Weed the Garden. It was getting gross in there. Once we cleared out many of the weeds though, we were excited to see more summer squash and zucchini, plenty of tomatoes, beets, and even a few baby jalapeños!! Between our CSA and our garden we have had a plethora of awesome veggies the past few weeks.

Super-squash & guard dog, Whitney!

Oh hey Jalapeño!

For this week's recipe, I opted to go for a quick meal using some garden salsa I had already whipped up compliments of PW's recipe (PW = Pioneer Woman who I adore). We had onions, cilantro, and jalapeños in our CSA and a few tomatoes from our farmer's market. I zipped it through the food processor for a snack over the weekend and it was still lingering in the fridge.

Then there was the rotisserie chicken. It's been too hot to cook much, so we picked up a chicken at the store the other night. We all loved it - Liza included. Our fridge was also filled with this week's CSA: corn, tomatoes, peppers, onions and more jalapeños (aka toppings). There's no super-secret recipe to these, but they were delicious and I loved that the salsa/sauce was homemade.

So, here's what we did:

[1] Mix said leftover chicken with salsa and a bit of chicken stock in a saucepan over medium heat. I let it simmer for awhile (maybe 15 minutes) and 'pushed' on the chicken with a spoon to help it breakdown a bit more and absorb some of the flavors from the salsa. For about the last 5 minutes, I tossed in a can of black beans to help the mixture go a little further (I frequently mix this up during the school year and freeze it).

[2] Line a baking sheet with tin foil and preheat the oven to 350. Scatter tortilla chips over top of the tin foil. Then load up with the good stuff - chicken mixture, peppers, tomatoes, jalapeños, corn, olives, and cheese. Bake for 10-15 minutes or until cheese is bubbly.

[3] Top with more goodness - we used avocado, salsa, hot sauce, and some plain yogurt (we ran out of sour cream).

Anybody else have some great recipes to use with all the goodness coming from the garden? We'd love some more ideas!

Wednesday loves.

2012-07-25T16:53:00.000-04:00

Oh hey, Wednesday! It's been another beautiful, sunny week so what's not to love? We're linking up with Jamie to share what we're loving this week.

[1] Our little peanuts. They are happy. They love to smile and laugh. We are blessed.

[2] Cooler weather. While our temps haven't soared nearly as high as some and we do enjoy some warm swimming weather, we're thankful for the relief of rainy and 65 today.

[3] Hiking with Liza. I mentioned before that we had picked up a Kelty backpack. While it was pricy, we used our Cabelas points to help offset the cost! Liza loves hiking with Daddy in the pack. So far, we scoped out a nature preserve nearby and one of our favorite hiking spots near Burt Lake. It's awesome that we can share one of our favorite outdoor activities with Liza (and Whit)!

[4] We're loving that we're hosting our first giveaway this week! Subscribe to us by email or become a follower to make sure you don't miss out!

What are you loving??

Weekend Update + Miscellany Monday

2012-07-23T10:11:00.003-04:00

I started to type Weekend Wrap-Up, but quite frankly Weekend Update just reminds me of SNL and cracks me up....that's a good thing on a Monday morning. Linking up with Carissa here.

Here's how our weekend went down...in short sentences (can they even be considered that?) and very few capital letters:

[Friday Night]
shower prep at courtney's: drink wine. check out horses (tank and sue). pick wildflowers. drink wine. vent about life. drink wine. make egg soufflé. drink wine. enjoy 'girl time'.

[Saturday Morning + Afternoon]
more shower prep: bake scones.

operation distract liza while mom bakes.

get ourselves dressed. get our babies dressed. pack up a few things. drive to court's. do some last minute decorating (aka make poufs). throw a shower for our dear friend, cathy.

cathy and her sister - they're both preggo with baby girls!

watch our crazy babies play and laugh together (priceless, btw).

i melt.

enjoy more 'girl time'.

court and momma-to-be cathy

e and nat - pardon our sleeeeeepy children who are about to have a meltdown.

clean up from shower. put crazy, tired babies down for a nap. put ourselves down for a nap. clean up around the house.

[Saturday Evening]
E + JW's House: buy JW iPhone. get takeout from applebees (hello wonton tacos). play games on iPhones.
Nat + B's House: grocery store marathon (with the rest of town, apparently). roast fresh veggies, grill steak, enjoy a bottle of wine that leads to two on the deck resulting in lots of chatting. guilty pleasure 'american reunion' movie, feel like it's 1999 all over again.

[Sunday]
E + JW: liza and momma waffle-making. liza napping. grocery shopping. burt lake bound. nature preserve hike. cool off with a swim. end-of-the-dock afternoon. snoozing on the pontoon. awesome dinner. dq stop on the way home (ice cream is a must on the way home from the lake). liza sleeping. house cleaning. catching up on life-ing.
Nat + B: bottle in bed = 6AM snuggles, family walk along the waterfront, Mama and Connor errands to Lowe's, Subway, new flowerpots, blowing bubbles outside, daddy golfing, dinner at cottage, dissertation writing.

needless to say, it was a great weekend. time to catch up with friends and with life. what are you all doing to beat the heat?

p.s. we're planning a giveaway of a beautiful handmade wooden cutting board and some other 'up north' goodies this week? become a follower so you don't miss any of the action!

Wednesday Loves.

2012-07-18T13:21:00.000-04:00

Holy hotness. What is up with this 90 degree weather in Northern Michigan? Good thing we both have family cottages nearby and can escape to the lake on the weekends!

Anyway, we're linking up with Jamie today (a momma-to-be) to share our loves!

[1] The lake. Like we mentioned earlier there are tons of lakes nearby. We're lucky enough to have family places within 45 minutes that we really do use as an escape on the weekend. Cool breezes, campfires, lots of family time, and even some swimming time have made this heat bearable.

[2] As always during the summer months we're loving fresh, local produce from our CSA and our garden. Being able to feed our peanuts and hubbies good food always puts a smile on our faces! Recipe for zucchini brownies coming TOMORROW. So awesomely delicious and pretty good for you!

[3] A momma-only, baby-free half day of shopping...even though I bought a bunch of clothing for Liza-lou.

[4] Nuk sippy cups. Liza and Connor both love these guys. They're great for transitioning from a bottle to a sippy cup (especially since L used Nuk bottles). Check out Liza's new ladybug cup!

[5] Wedding Season. Two weekends, two weddings. Natalie is working hard to perfect her role of bridesmaid this summer. It's a tough job, but somebody's got to do it! Two words: Dancing machine.

[6] Of course, we're loving our husbands and littles ones, too!

C rocking the sunnies!

Happy L!

Nat & B

Liza and JW

A Business Trip....

2012-07-16T12:23:00.000-04:00

...at an indoor waterpark?!?! Yes, please! (Check it out: http://www.greatwolf.com/) A definite perk of the working mama role, and many thanks to my sister, who drove 3 hours to meet us and volunteered to watch C while I presented.

The hotel was GREAT, and I can't wait to go back for a family vacation in the near future. I called ahead of time to reserve a pack and play, and it was in the room waiting for me when we checked in. Each room has a fridge and microwave, which was so helpful. Not only for leftover pizza, as shown below, but for C's milk, yogurt, fruit, etc. I had packed a little cooler, but the fridge made it so much easier. We were so busy having fun at the pools, we forgot to snap any pictures of the actual waterpark---the sign of a good getaway!

When Auntie M babysits, we eat leftover pizza for breakfast!

C LOVED all of the animals, especially this bear!

Swimming and splashing makes for one tired little guy---snoozing on Mama's bed after a busy day.

Raspberries.

2012-07-13T00:00:00.000-04:00

First local raspberries of the season.

Liza's dinner...in a diaper.

Love.

Happy Friday!

CSA Recipe Day: Roasted Tomato Sauce

2012-07-12T15:25:00.002-04:00

We belong to a CSA(Community Supported Agriculture) through a local farm that's over 100 years old! We love Coveyou Scenic Farms for a couple reasons: 1) they're local, 2) it's a family operation, 3) they are a very 'natural' farm. Now I know 'natural' means next to nothing (if not nothing) on many food packages, but what I mean is that they use very organic methods, even though they are not certified organic. As a momma, I love knowing that my family is eating good food that is grown locally and sustainably.

Anyway, each week we get a box full of goodness. Lately it's been filled with greens, but after our experience last year, I know that we'll start getting a wealth of tomatoes, onions and peppers as the summer goes on. This is a recipe that we discovered last year when we didn't know what else to do with all these veggies! You can use large vine ripe tomatoes, romas, or even cherries. I also discovered a little bit of basil olive oil from Fustini's a local gourmet oil and vinegar shop, and so I used that too!

Roasted Tomato Sauce
Recipe adapted from here
8 tomatoes, quartered (or halved if using smaller tomatoes)
1/2 onion, cut into chunks
1 pepper, cut into chunks
6-8 cloves of garlic
Drizzle olive oil
1 teaspoon dried oregano (or fresh if you have it)
1 teaspoon dried basil (or fresh)
S & P

[1] Heat oven to 400.

[2] On a lightly greased baking sheet or on top of a silpat, place tomatoes, onions, peppers, and garlic cloves. Drizzle with olive oil and then toss with your fingers so all ingredients are coated.

[3] Sprinkle with herbs.

[4] Bake for 45 minutes - 1 hour. Cool on the pan.

[5] Once cooled, puree in a blender using olive oil, chicken stock, or water to thin slightly.

This week, we used this with whole wheat penne pasta, sliced kale and grilled chicken. I simply mixed it all together and threw it in a baking dish with some parmesan cheese on top!

What We're Loving Wednesday...

2012-07-11T09:26:00.000-04:00

It's Wednesday already? Here's what we're loving for our sweet little ones this week...

[1] Summer Time. It's so nice to be able to play outside with our kiddos, take them swimming and boating, and just enjoy some sunshine with them. Plus our babies are getting bigger (can we even call them babies anymore???) which means actually romping around in the grass (or putting it in their mouth).

Liza snoozing on Grandpa Patty's lap on the pontoon

[2] Gardening & our CSA. We are health-conscious mommas so knowing that we're putting good food in our families' bellies is such a good feeling, especially since our kiddos are eating more and more real food (even though Liza has ZERO teeth still!!). Recipe coming tomorrow from some CSA goodness.

Our CSA box from Coveyou Scenic Farms

[3] Floppy sun hats. Both Connor and Liza have ones from Patagonia that we got at Bear Cub Outfitters, but you can also find them HERE. We love them because they keep the suns off our little ones, but they're also reversible and have velcro to keep the hat on. Liza quickly discovered how to untie other hats that I had for her. Even my peanut of a nephew, Reed has one and the little guy's only 7 weeks old!

What are you loving this week??

Linking up with Jamie!

Working Momma iPhone Apps

2012-07-10T05:30:00.000-04:00

We love our iPhones. Quite simply, they're handy little buggers when you're busy as all get out...which we just happen to be. We both work full-time and go to school on the side (Nat's getting her doctorate, teaching courses, and becoming one of the most educated people I know, while I'm completing my second master's). On top of that we're trying to be great mommas to our little ones, great wives to our handsome husbands, making our houses homes, and making sure our families eat the best food available (and within our budget). Keeping all of that in mind, here are ten of our favorite iPhone apps.

POSTAGRAM/SINCERELY INK. These are LIFESAVERS. Need to send a thank you but run out of stamps? Need to send a birthday card that you don't have time to pick up? Postagram and Sincerely Ink (same companies) allow you to do just that. They actually send the postcard or card directly to your recipient for $0.99 (postcard) or $1.99-$2.99 (cards). Pure awesomeness. Oh, and if you have addresses saved in your contact book on your phone, it's a breeze to import that info!

BABY SIGN. Connor and Liza go to the same daycare where they work on signing with the babies and toddlers. In an effort to reinforce this at home, we picked up Baby Sign. I believe we bought the additional pack (which may have been like $4.99) but it's well worth it.

WEE SING. I'm not a huge fan of giving Liza my phone or having her watch videos, but when she is beyond fussy in the car and we can't get her to settle down, this app works like a charm. It sings the alphabet song or you can go through the alphabet where they have sentences like "Benny the bear plays the banjo" and little jingles to go with them.

NIKE+. We try to stay healthy and so when you're trying to squeeze in a quick walk at lunch or a run in the morning before you head to work, it's nice to keep tabs on how far and how long you've gone for. It's motivation and it works.

FOODUCATE. This app is great and scary all at the same time. Trying to choose between different cereal bars? Fooducate allows you to scan the bar code for a certain grocery. If the item is in the database (and most name brands are), you'll get a 'grade' for that item and some reasons it was given that grade. Fooducate also offers better suggestions. Although we don't use it for every single item, it's a great way to check in on the food you're eating.

DIRTY DOZEN. You've probably heard of the 'dirty dozen' and 'clean fifteen' in regard to when to buy organic or non-organic produce. Despite many attempts, I can never seem to keep it all straight. This app does just that.

DROPBOX. As a momma on the run, I'm frequently using different computers/devices. Between iPads and a MacBook at home, an iPhone, and a desktop and MacBook at work, it's SO helpful to use Dropbox to help sync documents, videos, pictures, and presentations so I can access them anywhere. I can even use Dropbox's website if I'm not on a device I own. Added bonus? It's a great way to share pictures with friends and not worry about overloading their email.

BUY ME A PIE. Despite its name, this is actually a grocery shopping app. Its layout is simple and easy to navigate. Items are color-coded based on the section of the store you'd find them in. Unlike other apps, this one isn't FULL of sponsors which I definitely liked. Another bonus? You can sync across multiple phones as long as you have the same account - no more texting my husband a list, we simply create ours as the week goes on and then either of us can go to the store with the complete list.

BABY BRAIN. This is an awesome app for when you have a newborn baby and are suffering from 'baby brain'. It allows you to track sleep, diapers, bottles or boobs. In fact a common phrase around our house during the first few weeks was 'can you add a boob' (meaning add on another nursing session)? Though I don't use it nearly as much any more, it's great to help you remember 'what side', what time the little peanut ate last and how many wet/soiled diapers they've had.

What are your favorite iPhone apps that you come back to everyday (or almost everyday)? We're always looking for more to add to our list!

Miscellany Monday.

2012-07-09T20:45:00.003-04:00

UNO.
The weather in Northern Michigan has been un-REAL. As in we spent the last week in the upper 80's/low 90's. Because of said weather, JW, Liza-lou and I spent last week at the cottage. JW still had to work but we were able to spend the days in the water and tons of time playing with family.

DOS.
Liza-lou is moving like CRAZY! She LOVES walking holding on to JW or my hands and is getting in to things around the house faster than we can keep her out of them.

TRES.
We ordered one of these bad boys last night. Pricy? Yes. However, after watching some YouTube videos and reading some reviews, we felt like this is something we can use for quite a few years. And since we have Cabela's credit cards, we were able to use a boat-load of points and only pay about $75 for this thing (not bad considering it was listed for $230). JW and I enjoy hiking and snowshoeing and many of the trails we hike just aren't stroller-friendly...even though the BOB is pretty rugged. As for the Bjorn, talk about a sore back when you try to do much more than a basic walk with a 20 pound baby. We'll be sure to include a review as soon as we get it and try it out!

CUATRO.
We're on a mission to do a better job of keeping this blog updated and this time...we're going to hold ourselves to it. Get ready for lots of momma stories and thoughts as we stay on top of our game! Plus, we've recently had a few friends asking us where the new recipes, DIY projects, stories, and thoughts have gone and we clearly can't let them down.

Hope you all had a lovely weekend. Anybody tried out a baby carrier for a 'bigger' baby?

Linking up HERE.

Wednesday Loves.

2012-06-20T13:18:00.004-04:00

It's been while. But it's Wednesday and we're linking up with Jamie to share our loves this week...

[1] Now that I'm off (kinda) for the summer, Liza and I usually start our mornings with this for a view as we run/walk at the waterfront.

[2] We had girls night last night. It was much needed. Connor and Liza got to play and laugh at each other. Us girls got to talk all things baby. The boys got to go fishing (not so much catching).

[3] Our garden and our CSA are in full swing! We've already harvested spinach, peas, and radishes from our garden and our CSA included romaine, kale, swiss chard, kohlrabi, fennel and garlic scopes this week! Stay tuned for a new kale recipe based on a taste of up north dish we got to try this weekend.

[4] Ice cream. It's summer so it's ok to eat it every night, right??

[5] Terra sweet potato chips. I could eat these all day long.

[6] Blueberries. Miss Liza has decided that she prefers to feed herself and right now her food of choice? Blueberries. Preferably eaten in her dad's lap with her feet on the counter.

What are you [or your babies] loving this week??

Friday and Sunshine.

2012-05-18T11:29:00.001-04:00

So we knew we'd be busy with kiddos, working full-time, working on degrees, taking/teaching classes, but we are both SO ready for summertime and a little break to enjoy the smiling faces of our precious kiddos.

We hope to do LOTS more of this...

Happy Friday! Hope the sun is shining were you are, too!

p.s. although we're not ready to say that we're back in full-swing blogging, we hope to be back a little more frequently :)

Dear Lady at the Grocery Store.

2012-05-01T14:02:00.000-04:00

Dear Lady at the Grocery Store,
Thank You. Thank you for saving me in one of those incredibly awkward 'momma' moments. The kind where you want to do what's best for your baby girl, but not seem like a psycho momma. Thank you for telling the little boy who swooped upon my sleepy baby in the cart that we "don't touch, just look with your eyes". Thank you for noticing the trepidation on my face as I noticed his dirty hands getting closer to my sweet girl's cheeks an eyes and helping to stop him. Thank you for acknowledging the fact that I didn't want to make for an awkward situation because his grandma want watching him and certainly wasn't watching Liza. And lastly, thank you for not making a big deal out of it. I hope one day I can be a tactful, trendy, and all-knowing momma like you are.
Sincerely,
A thankful momma

Dear Baby Girl (9)

2012-03-27T13:36:00.002-04:00

Dear Liza,
You were a rockstar when you slept for 7.5 hours straight last night! Even though you were wide-awake at 4:47AM, I didn't mind because your sweet smiles are awesome. But I have to tell you that when you cry as I walk out the door to head to work it makes my heart break a little. I love that you know your momma and you don't like it when I go (a feeling I'm sure I'll wish for when you're a teenager and I'm so not cool anymore), but it sure does make it hard to walk out the door. Anyway kiddo, hang in there for 2 more work days. Then we get to play in sunny Florida for a week. Your dad and I can't wait to show you sandy beaches and an ocean of salt water (though I'm pretty sure you'll like our unsalted Burt Lake water better)!
Love,
Your Momma

p.s. we've been slacking on our 40 posts in 40 days...but hopefully we can make up for that soon when that whole Masters/Doctorate thing slows down.

Snowshoe Sunday (8)

2012-03-05T11:34:00.004-05:00

Doesn't it look like Candy Land with white icing??

Yesterday JW and I had a change to get outside and enjoy the lovely foot of snow that blanketed Northern Michigan late Friday night and early Saturday morning. It was gorgeous and it was nice to have some time to spend together (Liza hung at Grandma and Grandpa's since it was pretty chilly out).

Tunnel of Trees...

My mom wrote this earlier that day when they had hiked the same trail!

Naan naan naan naan (7)

2012-03-01T10:28:00.001-05:00

Yesterday was glorious: a snow day for me and a bonus day for Liza and I. My baby girl is growing up and seems to be doing something new everyday. It's amazing. She's also seemed to kick her cold and was smiley, chatty, and giggling a lot of the day. It made going back to work tough today. The countdown is on to spring break...30 days till Florida. Anyyyyyyway, I wanted to share with you a quick dinner that we frequently fix during the week.

But first let me tell you that weeknight dinners at our houses would be skittles and ice cream if we didn't plan ahead. Ok maybe not skittles, but there's always room for ice cream. In order to keep ourselves healthy and prevent being avid supporters of local takeout, we rely on a meal plan and meal prep on the weekends.

Since I was home yesterday and had time, I threw a frozen bag of chicken in the crockpot with a jar of spicy cherry BBQ sauce and a cup of water. The plan was to make shredded BBQ chicken and freeze it. However, the house smelled too good not to have it for dinner and therefore we pushed our stirfry back a night. I didn't want BBQ chicken sandwiches though.

Thankfully I had picked up some naan at the grocery store earlier in the day. If you haven't tried naan, you should soon...and with butter...and on the grill in the summertime! I digress. Anyway, we've discovered that naan makes a great, quick pizza crust.

Therefore, we made this quick pizza of BBQ chicken, red peppers, bacon and mozzarella cheese. We baked it at 400 for about 5 minutes and had dinner. Anybody else have a great, quick izza recipe out there?

Oh, loves (6)

2012-02-29T13:40:00.001-05:00

It's WEDNESDAY. Half-way through the work week. Heck Yeah! Once again we're linking up with Jamie to tell you what we're loving. So, here goes:

[1] Babies that are on the mend. It's taken about a week, but we're finally starting to see our smiley, happy babies again. There's still some coughing and runny noses, but let's hope that clears up soon.

[2] Great husbands. We've got some pretty great dudes who are great dads and awesome husbands. They've been working over-time lately between sick kiddos and busy mommas.

[3] More Pinterest recipes! With some friends in town earlier this month it was the perfect opportunity to try these hash brown-egg bakes! We altered the original recipe and added a layer of veggies- yum!

Press shredded hash browns into greased muffin tin. Sprinkle with cheese. Bake at 350 for 8-10 minutes until edges start to brown. Remove from oven then....

Sprinkle chopped veggies and more cheese on top of baked hashbrown cups. Crack an egg on top and sprinkle with a bit more cheese. Pop back in oven until egg is desired consistency.

You can see we made one pan of plain cheesy hashbrown cups, and the other with egg and veggies (or just veggies!).

[4] SNOW DAY. Yay for an extra day with my crazy little girl!

What are you loving this week??

Oh, and did we mention we'll have our first giveaway coming up sometime soon? Become a follower so you can be in the game!

Nice to meet you (5)

2012-02-28T17:18:00.001-05:00

If you're reading, you may be trying to figure out just who 'we' are.

See, there are two of us because it would be tough to work full time, be a momma, a wife, working on a master's/doctorate and still blog regularly. We're Natalie and Erin and we met on a blind date. True story.

In fact, one of our mutual friends insisted we meet after finding out that Natalie was moving to Erin's hometown (where Erin would soon be returning to). We met for coffee at Roast and Toast (a favorite local establishment) and chatted for a few hours. And that was it. We were instantly buddies.

Soon enough, Natalie got pregnant and 6 months later, Erin got pregnant. Naturally, we talk frequently about babies, family, working, and balance. And since we think that some of what we come up with is pretty good, we figured we'd share it with you. And, sometimes, we know we have none of the answers, we figured you might be able to provide them.

Now, here's a little bit about each of us...

-Erin:
I'm a small town girl who moved back to my hometown almost two years ago. I met my husband when we were both living in East Lansing and talked him into moving to northern Michigan (or simply took him to our cottage where he could boat, jet ski, kayak and then had my dad take him hunting, snowshoeing, etc). Needless to say, my outdoorsy hubs was easy to convince to move to a smaller town where we were surrounded by my family. We are blessed to be parents to our sweet girl, Liza who was born in September. But, she's technically our second 'baby'. Our first is Whitney - our 11 year old black lab. As for work, I'm a teacher...but in a slightly different setting. I teach one hour a day, and spend the rest of my day helping other teachers incorporate technology into their lesson plans. It's pretty fantastic. I get to play on iPads and see the amazing things that teachers and students can do with them! In our down time, we LOVE to be outdoors or playing volleyball. Liza's already been hiking quite a few times and we're training her to be a lefthanded setter...kidding (kind of). In the warmer months (aka June-August), we spend tons of time at my family's cottage, so we're hoping Liza likes to swim and go for boat rides!

-Natalie:
I'm a city girl at heart, although I'm beginning to love life in a small town.We have a house full of love-- in addition to our (almost) 9 month old, Connor, we have two cats, Walter and Stanley, (they're half-brothers), and a 2 year old, very much still acts like a puppy, yellow lab, Harvey. I'm a social worker, and work full-time in addition to working to finish my PhD in the next year. If you re-read that previous sentence, you probably won't be surprised to learn that any hobbies are currently on hold as I try to finish school, and spend as much time with my hubby, C, and our four legged friends. In the summer, this involves a nightly evening walk along the waterfront and weekends at the family cottage. In the winter, it involves snow-shoeing and the continual quest to empty our DVR.

Sick Day (4)

2012-02-27T11:51:00.001-05:00

Happy Monday! I'm home again with a sick kiddo today. RSV hit our daycare hard, and C will be out all week. Thankful for my amazing mother-in-law who is coming to the rescue tomorrow so I don't have to burn through the rest of my time off! I was home with him last week on Thursday, daddy took Friday duty, and he wouldn't let me set him down. Poor little guy needed his mama, and I was happy to provide a day o' snuggles! Today, he is still coughing but seems to be feeling a little better. It's amazing what I was able to get done while he's been napping:
2 loads of laundry
change sheets in guest room
prep 3 dinners this week
answer work emails
balance checkbook

Uber-productivity, all before noon! Not to mention the fact that I get to enjoy extra snuggles with this sweet face all day:

Hello, my name is Erin and I am addicted to Pinterest (3)

2012-02-26T06:30:00.000-05:00

I started drinking the Pinterest koolaid this past summer. I would look up from my computer and realize hours had passed. Now, I wake up to nurse Liza at 3AM and find the latest in overly decadent desserts, the latest fashion trends, and the coolest project that I just have to do. But the worst part? I'm really good at pinning...just not the actual doing part.

Until lately. I can't tell you that I've finally done those sewing projects or taken a bizillion pictures of my child according to expert photogs. But, I'm definitely trying out the recipes.

Enter crockpot buffalo chicken. Three ingredients, no prep work, in the crockpot. Sold.

So I started with that recipe and threw in 3 pounds of chicken, a bottle of Frank's Red Hot Buffalo Wing Sauce, and a packet of ranch dressing mix. I let it hang out on low for 6 hours, shredded it and then mixed it back in for another hour or so. It was good. But I wasn't sure I wanted to make buffalo chicken sandwiches...which may have partly been due to the fact that I had mixed some of the chicken with some cream cheese and shredded cheese to make our favorite buffalo chicken dip.

Back to pinterest. That's where I saw the recipe for buffalo chicken mac and cheese. Uh hello, yes please.

It was a.w.e.s.o.m.e. AMAZINGLY awesome. Even leftovers were outta this world. And it's healthy because I used whole wheat pasta. Ok...not totally healthy, but better than if I would've used regular pasta, right??

*Warning: this picture does not even come close to doing this dish justice...but it was dark out and we were hungry!*

Here's what you'll need:
1 lb. whole wheat pasta (I used penne)
2 cups buffalo chicken mixture
3 Tablespoons butter
3 Tablespoons Flour
2 1/2 cups milk
1 cup shredded cheddar cheese (grate this before, don't use the pre-packaged stuff...it's horrible for melting)
1/2 teaspoon garlic powder
1/3 cup breadcrumbs
1/4 cup parmesan cheese
Salt & Pepper

Here's what you do:
[1] Preheat oven to 375.
[2] Start water to boil for pasta. Cook pasta 1 minute shy of recommended cooking time.
[3] While doing that, melt butter in a saucepan. Once butter is melted, whisk in the flour. Continue whisking until the mixture turns a golden, almost brown, color.
[4] Pat yourself on the back. You just made a roux. Feeling pretty fancy schmancy, aren't ya?
[5] Then, add milk and continue to stir until sauce thickens. Then add salt and pepper to taste and the garlic powder. Next, mix in the shredded cheese.
[6] Mix the buffalo chicken mixture in with the sauce mixture. Then, add to the pasta.
[7] Spray a 9x13 pan with non-stick cooking spray. Spread pasta and sauce mixture. Top with parmesan cheese and then breadcrumbs.
[8] Bake for 15-20 minutes or until sauce is gooey and delicious!

This recipe wasn't quite spicy enough for JW. So if you like food spiiiiiicy, add some more hot sauce to the cheese sauce mixture before you mix in the shredded cheese.

Anybody else actually following through on something they've pinned?? We'd love to hear about your latest pinterest project or recipe!

Mom Uniform...the "mom-iform"? (2)

2012-02-24T21:40:00.000-05:00

TGIF! Red wine in hand (loving Malbecs lately) + sick kiddo finally asleep = time for post 2 of the 40 in 40!

As a a mom, you can surely relate to this one: You come home from work or wake up on the weekend and browse through your clothing. Sure there are jeans and cute tops, but if you're anything like us, you'll instantly gravitate toward your yoga pants, a cami, and a comfy sweater or sweatshirt. I mean, who would want to put on pants that require zipping, buttoning, or even *gasp* a belt? ESPECIALLY, when those last few pounds of baby weight continue to linger and nursing makes your formerly buxom breasts shift from deflated balloons to porn star wanna-be's, and back again.

We know that moms everywhere are rejoicing over the current "yoga-chic" and leggings trends, we are too! Here are a few of our current "Mom-iform" staples:

Old Navy Yoga Pants: They come LONG, which is perfect for tall gals like us. Have we mentioned we top out the charts at nearly 6 feet? We bonded over talk of inseams, I kid you not. A front seam and fabulous panel to help disguise those lingering baby pounds and we're sold.

An long, open cardigan like this Mossimo Cocoon Sweater is a new mom staple too. Bonus: makes access to mid day nursing sessions even easier. Pair with leggings and some boots and look cute AND comfy.

Speaking of boots, HUNTER boots are p.h.e.n.o.m. Legit. (as in, legitimately phenomenal). Not to mention all of the cute linings you can buy to spice things up. Check them out:

Finally, check out the Patagonia Half Mass bag. We bought this before Connor was born instead of a diaper bag. We're loving all the pockets, including an exterior pocket that's the perfect size for a bottle, and a front zipper pocket to store a spare pacifier (or, as we call them in our house a "goonie". Their return and repair policy is AWESOME, plus it comes in a multitude of fun colors too!

These are just a few key "mom-iform" peices. What can't you live without? What do you throw on after work or on a lazy Saturday?