a long weekend at the lake

We headed out of town early last Friday (5:00am early!).  Earnest did great during our little road trip.  We had a wonderfully long weekend at the cabin spent with Josh's parents.  Ernie Boy enjoyed ranger rides, playing with the pups, wrestling with grandpa and grandma, and dinner cruises on the pontoon.  

 The life jacket was a bit snug with all of his layers of clothing :).

 Ernie couldn't get enough of grandpa beeping the horn.

It's Friday tomorrow!  I hope you all have fun plans.  

I am going to celebrate 6 years of marriage with my guy :).

busyness

Is it just me, or does life seem really busy right now?  Maybe it's  because the end of the school year is in two weeks?  Maybe it's the fact that Ernie is more busy with crawling and teething and other fun things?  Maybe it's Jemimah's graduation coming up in one week (and grad party!).  Maybe it is because we are getting ready to sell our house?  I don't know...all of the above :).  Someday, things will all slow down a little bit.  Until then, I had to take a moment and enjoy these pictures from a few weeks back.

Hope you all have a wonderful week, 

no matter how busy it is :).

so much to celebrate

They spoiled me rotten yesterday.  I got to spend the morning with my absolute favorite guys.  Breakfast was made by my husband, and laundry put away by him too :).  Later, my mother-in-law and sister-in-laws (and grandma too!) came for a visit.  They gave me the cutest mug and colander and brought a delicious latte and lunch!  It is always nice to spend time with these ladies; they spent the rest of the afternoon with Ernie Boy and Josh while I went to photograph a wedding.  It was a gorgeous day to celebrate so much love. I thought the day couldn't get any better when Gemma surprised with me a beautiful handmade headband and Josh with a Keurig when I came home!  The rest of the evening was spent drinking decaf from my new mug as I uploaded wedding photos.  It was a Mother's Day to be remembered, that's for sure. 

This weekend we also went to the Farmer's Market.  I love the market.  Earnest loved it too!  He rode in the Baby Bjorn (thanks for lending it to us Meg!) while we walked around.  At nine months, he's a very busy boy.  His arms are constantly in motion.  I heard a woman at Target yesterday comment to her husband, "Look at that baby.  It looks as if he's trying to fly!" :).  He has been army crawling all over the place and got his first tooth!  He loves chasing Cheerios, playing peek-a-boo, and reading stories.  He loves watching papa come through the door after work.  He's usually eating dinner at that time and will stop eating as soon as he hears the key hit the lock.  It's the cutest thing as his face lights up and he giggles and gives dad a big gummy grin.  My heart melts every time, still.  We are so thankful for these 9 months with our ever-changing boy.  

on mother's day

Wishing all of you lovely mamas an extra special day filled with joy, laughter, hugs, and a quiet moment to take it all in.

the weekend

Hello!  How was your weekend?  It was quite rainy here.  But, I enjoy a good rainy day every in awhile, don't you?  It was perfect weather for finishing up work on an engagement session I photographed a few weekends back.  

Here are a few of my favorites from the session:

 

You can find more from the session here.

Another highlight of the weekend was accompanying my husband on a date to one of our favorite coffee shops.  It was a great place to catch up over a cup of tea.  A big thank you to Uncle Zach and Auntie Justine for watching our little guy while we went out :).

Speaking of our Ernie Boy, he's 9 months old!  

Here he is at 9 months:

{Stay tuned for an Ernie update later this week.}

In other news, this is our last week of the whole 30!  We will be ending a day early because Josh is going to take me out for a little Mother's Day date on Friday evening (that's the only time that worked for a babysitter, a.k.a Jemimah, to watch Earnest).  So far, we've still been feeling pretty good.  I've learned to cook quite a few new recipes and fresh new ways to incorporate more veggies into our diet.  


Here are a few more Paleo friendly recipes that I'd recommend:

1. This "spaghetti" is so good.  I didn't even miss the noodles!  Josh and Jemimah liked it too.  I don't have a mandolin slicer so I just sliced the zucchini into thin round slices. I also used Whole Foods italian pork sausage and added a little thyme to go with the rosemary.  I'll definitely be making this one again.
2. Meatloaf may not make my top ten favorites.  But, I must say, this meatloaf might have just changed my mind.  Josh really loved this dish too.  You have to try it with guacamole.  Carrot cauliflower mash makes an excellent side to accompany it too.
3. Do you like shrimp?  Josh just made excellent coconut shrimp yesterday!  It was so easy too!  He just dipped shrimp in egg and then a mixture of coconut flakes and a little bit of salt.  He then fried the coconut shrimp in a coconut oil.  Once both sides of the shrimp are nice and golden, they are ready to eat.  We had shrimp with a salad of: spinach, blueberries, strawberries, toasted almonds, and a raspberry vinaigrette. 
4. As a breastfeeding mother, I get hungry in between meals.  I've been munching on these snacks lately: Trader Joe's dried unsulfured, unsweetened mango (IT'S SO GOOD!), pistachios, sliced apples with almond butter, Lara Bars (apple pie, cherry pie, and cashew cookie are all whole 30 approved!), raisins, or carrots and celery with guacamole.

While we've been enjoying the meals as of late, we still are looking forward to having a piece of bread, a side of rice, or a special dessert every once in awhile.  I can't wait to have a splash of cream in my coffee this coming weekend :)!  

What were a few of your favorite things from the weekend?

A Few Favorites

Hey All,
I wanted to share a few of my favorite Paleo recipes.  These recipes are all tried, tested and true to their deliciousness :).   

1. This "cream" has been amazingly good.  I've already made two big batches thus far!  I use it in my coffee.  Black coffee is pretty good; but I really enjoy cream in my coffee.  This concoction is a very close second to cream.  I also suggest using it as a treat with frozen berries.  Thank you Ann for recommending this! 
2. Ok Folks, this chili is incredible.  Josh even said it may be his favorite chili of all time.  You've got to try it out.  I got this recipe from a friend.                                                                                                         Paleo Chili
   Ingredients:
   6 slices of uncooked bacon, cut into small pieces
   2 celery ribs, chopped
   1 green pepper, chopped
   1 red pepper, chopped
   1 medium spanish (yellow) onion, chopped
   3 14oz cans diced tomatoes (w/ NO sugar)
   1 15oz can tomato sauce
   1 1/2 lbs ground beef
   4 cloves of garlic
   2 teas cumin
   2 T chili powder
   1 teas. smoked paprika (or more to taste)
   1 T unsweetened cocoa powder
   1 teas. oregano
   3/4 c. beef broth
   - cook bacon in a large skillet til crisp
   - Remove cooked bacon from skillet, and reserve bacon fat in a separate container.
   - Toss chopped vegetables with 1 T of bacon fat and cook in separate, large skillet on medium-high
   - start browning your meat along with your garlic in your bacon skillet
   - Remove meat from skillet and mix with bacon pieces in stock pot. add cooked vegetables, tomatoes, sauce, and spices.
   -simmer for a few hrs. Then top with bacon crumbles 
3. Try this chicken marinade tonight.  You'll be happy you did.  It is so flavorful!  It's found under the title "grilled chicken".  It was another recipe Josh claimed to be his "all time favorite" for marinades.

One last favorite I'll leave you with.  Have you tried coconut milk smoothies before?  Oh goodness, they are good!  I just whipped two up this morning for our breakfast.  They are so easy too.  Here's what I did... 

I put all of these ingredients in the blender:

one can of coconut milk

frozen mangos

frozen strawberries

one ripe banana

frozen pineapple

a splash of orange juice

*You can add any type of frozen fruit.  We've even added spinach to make it a "green monster" smoothie.  The possibilities are endless :).

What are a few of your favorite recipes 

that you are always coming back to?

Whole 30 Half Completed

I write to you from the comfort of my living room.  Feet up.  Deep breath in.  It's been a little busy this morning.  All good things of course.  Earnest decided he wanted to get up and stay up at 6am.  So, we've been busy with the babe, making quiches, doing dishes (our dishwasher has been broken for two weeks), grocery shopping, going to bridal/baby showers, and doing more dishes.  Ernie will probably be waking up from his nap soon but I thought I'd attempt to fill you in on life lately.

We have officially completed 2 weeks of the Whole 30 (woohoo!).

Here are some positives:

1. We feel good.  Not only have we been eating healthier, but we've been going to sleep earlier.  Also, Ernie has been sleeping better which means we've all been sleeping better :) (not sure if there is a correlation between Ernie's sleep and my new eating habits?).
2. We have had fun new dates!  Our dates have not included dinner out, so we've had to be creative.  My latest favorite date?  Coconut milk smoothies and the first season of Downton Abbey. Both were SO GOOD!  
3. Josh has been coming home for lunch on most days.  It's been working out to have Josh come home for lunch instead of me packing his lunch.  It's been nice for Ernie and me to see him in the middle of the day.  He sure can brighten the rest of our afternoon!

Now, those are the positives.  There have been some challenges too.  Cravings still come and go.  Today and yesterday were good days for me.  I even resisted delicious looking caramel rolls at the shower today (and the candy dish :) ).  Other days though, I will crave a good piece of bread or a side of rice to accompany dinner.  Josh does too.  I've heard these cravings subside...we'll see :).  For the most part though, we've been quite pleased with meals.  

Another thing, this might sound strange, but I think this meal plan has helped with discipline in other areas of my life, especially Bible reading.  I've had a hard time in this season of life to consistently be reading and spending time in God's word.  But, as of late, God's been helping me to see how important His word is, and how much I need it.  I've been listening to audio scripture as I do the dishes.  I've been studying Hebrews and commentaries for a little bit of Ernie's naps.  I think I just feel plain needy and thirsty for Him.  It feels good to drink it all in again.

I hope to be back later this weekend 

to post a few recipes we've enjoyed.  

Until then, have a great Saturday!