Finding Joy in the Mess

When Colt and I decided to make the transition to being a one income, working dad, stay-at-home mom family, we had a long conversation about our expectations of each other. I won't bore you with all the little details of our discussion but the one thing I decided on for myself was that I would be in charge of the cleaning and care of our household. Somedays, that's way easier said then done. There are days when my husband comes home from work and the house is a mess and I don't even have a plan for dinner. Since I feel it's my "only real job" in life right now it's easy to feel like a failure. My husband never once complains. He looks around, kisses both of us, and tells me to go take a break while he catches up with his baby. That man sure knows how to make me feel loved!!! I dread the days the house is messy, though, and have worked really hard to make even the mundane chores fun for both of us! I've learned to make almost any mood Cwyn might face work into my plan to clean up for the day. My girl does best when she's kept busy (unless it's a half hour before or after nap time) and usually just needs a new activity! She thrives on challenges and could spend hours figuring things out. She may only be one but she sure does like to help! Her need for new activities and her love of "hepin" her momma pushed me to really make it a priority to work her into my daily chores. A little pan of bubbly water and some of her spoons to "wash" keeps her entertained while momma washes the dishes. She "matches" all her socks while I fold laundry. She holds the dustpan for me when I sweep, "heps" me clean up all her toys, and LOVES cleaning out my cupboards ;) It's so hard to spend every day fighting the different moods this little girl throws my way so instead we're learning to find joy in the mess!

Toddler Recipes [One]

Cwyn is an eater.. And a good one at that. While she tends to be a bit skeptical of some things when I first put them on her plate she always tries them and (almost always) finishes them. She has her moments just like every kid where she doesn't want to eat a certain food and we don't push her to. We always wait and give her other options, usually something that isn't her favorite, until she realizes that what's on her plate isn't so bad. I try to take her favorite things and vary the way I make them so that she doesn't get bored. One example is eggs... She loves them and could eat them for every meal. We do scrambled eggs, hard boiled eggs, omelets, and her new fav, deviled eggs. She also loves avocados and will usually eat them plain or blended with something else to make an applesauce type of concoction. They're both really easy to make and require nothing more than the ingredients and a food processor.

 The first recipe is "applesauce"

For Cwyn's applesauce I used things we had on hand so it looked something like this...

1/2 a banana

Almost a whole avocado

1/4 of an apple

Cinnamon to taste

A few leaves of spinach

Milk to get desired texture (we used almond milk)

All I did was put the avocado in the food processor until it was smooth and creamy. Then I added in the banana and spinach leaves and blended it again. Next came the apples and a little bit of milk. I just kept adding milk or apples until it was a texture my (texture picky) girl would tolerate. Then you just add a little bit of cinnamon (or any other flavor) to it and try it out. I tasted this concoction and it tasted almost exactly like a cinnamon applesauce. Cwyn loved this stuff.. I made about 1 1/2 - 2 cups worth and between her morning snack and afternoon snack she ate almost all of it. 

The second recipe is easy deviled eggs (also with hidden good for you stuff in them). 

4 eggs (hard boiled)

A little bit of mustard

Avocado (I used the leftover from the above recipe)

Paprika

First I hard boiled my eggs and when they were done I peeled them and cut them all in half. Remove the yolk and throw it into the food processor. I added a little squirt of mustard to flavor it, threw in the avocado (it's best to do this first so that it's already smooth when you throw it in with the eggs), and blended it up. I also decided to add a dab or ranch dressing because the flavor wasn't quite what I wanted it to be but you can skip this part. Once it's blended to a creamy texture, spoon it into the eggs and throw a dash of paprika over them. We sometimes dice up pickles to add in there but we didn't have any this time so if you have them and want to add them go for it! These were a huge hit and between Cwyn and daddy they didn't last more than an hour. 

Hopefully these will come in handy for you or your toddlers. I am always trying to find fun, new ways to make her favorite foods so hopefully I'll be sharing more as we find some! Enjoy!!

Life Lately

I've been MIA for awhile and I'm not sorry. We've had lots going on and I've been spending more time trying to entertain my toddler in this madness that is winter. Blah! So ready for Spring and Summer! 

We've been making more progress on our house and it's been so nice to see everything (SLOWWWWLY) coming together. We are finishing the upstairs and then all that will be left are some putsy little things (trim in some rooms, counter updating, etc.) to finish up as we have time and money. It's becoming such a cute little place and we all love it!

Our new blinds in the living room which are a BIG improvement from the camo curtains we had up temporarily before ;)

In other news, Colt has been hired on directly at Pierce and we are so grateful that he got in. He will be moving to second shift and getting a raise, all of which we are looking forward to.

I'm still loving being home with my baby, even though most days are the same, we've been making the most of this yucky weather and have spent lots of time cuddling and watching movies! I'm not ashamed to admit that we've watched a lot of tv this winter, but we've also taken lots of baths (with paint, bubbles and toys), found new things to play with that aren't necessarily toys, and even made forts/obstacle courses out of our living room & kitchen. Being a mom is literally the best job I've ever had but this winter has challenged my skills... We're alive and happy still though so that counts as a success! :)

I will be trying to blog more regularly and sharing more of our fun winter activities! For now, I'll leave you with some pics!!!

Sister loves super early this morning!

Some days call for donuts!!!

Painting in the bathtub.. Thanks to Oma for the fun paint/soap!!

Kisses and giggles with daddy before bed

Just chilling with her buddies while watching Bubble Guppies