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A Four Month Old, a Two Year Old, and a Half Marathon

Post author:Melanie
Post published:January 24, 2017
Post category:Baby / Family
Post comments:0 Comments

Oh my gosh! HIIII!

I have been itching to write a post but have totally been prioritizing holding Benny while he naps instead. I contemplated using my phone to verbally dictate a post but I knew I would just get P.O.’ed and give up on it! Ha ha. Anyway, here I am! How are you guys?

Catching up on life…

Bode turned two years old on October 27th. He is a full-on two-year old now. We never know when his mood will flick a switch and 180 on us but it definitely keeps us on our toes. He is so full of life and a pretty funny kiddo. He loves to learn new magic tricks from grandma and grandpa, is obsessed with his grandparents, loves to go to “school”, do art projects, read books, puzzles, play with trains, cars, Thomas, and play outside. He is totally falling in love with Ben.

Benny is now four months old, TODAY! He is the happiest baby ever!!! He can now roll from tummy to back, giggle, and loves to watch his brother running around. I still can’t believe I have TWO boys. Life is good.

I went back to work a few weeks ago and transitioned fairly easily. Ben and Bode both go to daycare and also have time at grandma and grandpa’s each week. I am part-time and it seems to be the perfect balance for us.

What else?

Dana and I have registered for another half marathon in May! My first half was five years ago which is crazy! It was a rough run for me, mainly because I was in quite a bit of a colitis flare, so I am hoping to redeem myself this time around and really enjoy myself more.

This time I am trying to not stress about time. The race requires a minimum of a 14-minute mile. I know I can manage this. I would be happy with 11-minute miles (or faster).

Having two kiddos definitely makes “training” more challenging. I am still trying to figure out how to balance being a mommy, going to work, and finding time to workout. Ben isn’t into the idea of me running on the treadmill while he chills, so instead I try and do strength exercises when I am home with him. The gym doesn’t allow babies until they are three months old, so last week I finally brought him in after much hesitation. He did great of course and I LOVED having a little mommy time. I even got to shower. Woo woo!

Each week I would ultimately like to get 1-2 short runs (3 miles or so) in during the week days and a longer run on the weekend. Each week I plan to increase the length of my longer runs by a half to one mile, depending on how I feel. So far, so good. I am up to five miles.

I am finding running much more enjoyable these days. I think a big part of it is that it is my time. Also, I am motivated to keep running when the run is outside because I know the fastest way to get back home to my warm house is by running versus walking! Jazzy has been a great little running companion. I look forward to the spring when Ben is old enough to ride in the double running stroller and we can ALL get out and run. It has definitely been strange this time around not being able to run with Dana at all yet.

Lastly, one of my favorite subjects: food.

BTW Ben is starting to suck on my arm so I may need to end this post sooner than later.

I would say I have been doing a fairly good job with meal planning for the fam. Some weeks are obviously better than others. After going on a salmon hiatus during pregnancy, I am starting to dig it again! Yay! We still love our veggie hash, kabobs, tacos, burgers; ya know, the basics. Pinterest continues to inspire me for meal planning and I try and make one meal from Pinterest each week.

I can’t remember the last time I snapped a photo of my food. My phone is FULL of the boys. Go figure. 🙂

OK, speaking of food, Benny is ready for his! I gotta jet. I would love to hear from you all.

What has everyone been up to? Any delicious and quick meal ideas to share?

A Beautiful Surprise!

Post author:Melanie
Post published:October 11, 2016
Post category:Baby / Home Life / Parenting / Pregnancy
Post comments:1 Comment

Not long after I wrote the last post announcing my pregnancy, we had a big surprise!

Benjamin Thomas was born on September 24th, 2016 at 11:41 am. He decided 36 weeks was a long enough wait and he just had to come meet us! His birth weight was 6#1oz and he 19 1/4 inches long.

He is a sweet and healthy rock star and has been from the start.

Labor and delivery was just like with Bode’s in a sense: quick. I woke up with back pain from what I thought was just a bad sleep position but then started noticing contractions fairly frequently. I was thinking these were Braxton Hicks contractions and began to time them out; about 10 minutes apart. I called the midwife and gave her the low-down. My options were to go into the hospital and have baby monitored for a couple of hours to see what was going on, or to first try to sit down and relax with a cup of water to see if the contractions and back pain would subside. Since I hadn’t had anything to eat that morning and had been on my feet since I woke up, I wanted to try to relax with a big cup of water first, and see if I was just dehydrated. As some time passed, the back pain was progressively getting worse and the brunt of it was coinciding with the contractions. Dana and I decided that it was time to go in to the hospital.

Backing it up a bit…

My plan was to deliver at a small birth center with two beautiful suites, and my hope was to try for a water birth again. Because I was potentially going in to labor at 36 weeks, which is considered premature, I was not going to be able to deliver at the birth center. The good news was, my midwives could still deliver the baby at two local hospitals. I chose one of the two (one that we hadn’t toured) and that was that. It wasn’t what I had planned but such is life.

Again with our “plan,” the plan was to pack for the birth center/hospital that particular weekend. As a couple who likes to be prepared, this whole surprise threw us off our rockers a bit!

Okay back to the story…

We tossed a suitcase together. We hustled and rounded up my neighbor and then my parents to take care of Bode so we could head to the hospital. The drive there wasn’t so bad. I made a couple of phone calls and had a snack since I hadn’t eaten breakfast.

When we got to the hospital, we spent a good 10-15 minutes just trying to figure out where to park and where their labor and delivery floor was. By the time we got there and got into triage, I was having contractions 3-4 minutes apart and I was 3-4 centimeters dilated. At that point, the nurse told me I wasn’t going anywhere. The flood gates opened and my emotions drowned me. I was ready, I wasn’t ready, is Bode going to be okay?, am I going to be a good mom to two kids?, am I mentally prepared?. It didn’t matter if I was ready or not, because this baby had an entrance to make! I pulled myself together and started getting into my “place” so that I could mentally prepare myself to get this baby into our arms.

After the midwife arrived, I walked myself to the labor and delivery room. Just as with Bode, Benjamin was in the “sunny-side-up” position which equals terrible back labor. And just like his brother, he turned himself just enough before making his way down the birth canal. To speed things up a bit with the story, I transitioned very quickly and had that baby about an hour and a half after arriving into that room. People were serious when they said the second time pushing baby out tends to be easier! The pushing part lasted all of about five minutes. Not complaining about that.

When baby was placed on my belly, I looked down and saw a head of thick dark hair! Dana got his mini me! All of his screenings came back perfect. We got to go home 48 hours later.

I am so blessed to have two beautiful and healthy boys. Bode is adjusting and we are beginning to notice some behavioral changes with him. I know this is all normal and we are all learning how to be a family of four.

That is the birth story in a nutshell! Life is so good.

And just for fun, a couple of my last pregnancy pics:

A quick little BIG update

Post author:Melanie
Post published:September 18, 2016
Post category:Uncategorized
Post comments:2 Comments

Oh, hey! Man alive I have been completely MIA! How is everybody?!

This post is all over the place, so bear with me. Also, I am having serious issues with my photos on the blog. All of my old posts have random photos and they are all in wrong places. There is no way I am going to back and fix them all so it’s just going to have to stay that way. On this post, chances are you will be looking at sideways and upside down photos until I can figure out what’s going on. Yikes.

We are great over here. Bode will be two years old next month! He is talking a TON now, running around with endless energy, making us laugh, and impressing us everyday. It’s amazing how such a small person can brighten your day so much and be so funny!

Jasmine went through two months of puppy training and is doing great! We still have a bit of training to do but we are getting there. She is a very sweet girl and puts up with a lot from Mr. Bode man.

This summer was awesome. I’m not even going to try and sum it up in a nutshell; it was fab!

Dana and I took a trip to Lake Tahoe just the two of us about a month ago now. If you’ve never been to Lake Tahoe, book a trip now (book through my husband of course). It is one of the most breathtaking places I have been.

We had such a relaxing time. We ate tons of great food, walked around, drove around the whole lake, went on a boat ride on Lake Tahoe, and were in bed between 8-9:30 every night. How’s that for crazy?

(Dana had shoulder surgery a few days before our trip. He’s all good now and was a total champ the whole weekend.)

View from our boat cruise…

******************

I’ve been trying to get myself back in the kitchen after a bit of a hiatus this summer. Some of our dinners as of late:

Paleomg’s spaghetti squash pizza pie:

Skinny Taste’s Bang Bang Shrimp:

There hasn’t been much, if any, recipe creation over here, but I am sure good at following recipes!

Let’s see, what else is new…

We have been busy rearranging rooms in our house to make room for a BABY BOY!

This post is obviously long over-due because I am due next month! October 22nd is my guess date. This pregnancy has been so smooth just as my pregnancy with Bode was. I have felt great, stayed active, and am blown away as each week passes by so quickly. We are talking to Bode about having a baby brother but pretty sure he doesn’t quite get it. He will soon enough! We unsure of names but think we have it narrowed down to two.

My “cravings” this pregnancy have been:

Pickles
Bagels and cream cheese
Caesar salad (hold the anchovies in the dressing)
Fruit gummies

How’s that for random? I haven’t really had any aversions this pregnancy. All safe food is fair game really.

That about does it for this quick little BIG update. Next time I check in, we will more than likely be a family of four!

Hello, it’s me!

Post author:Melanie
Post published:March 1, 2016
Post category:Dinners / Home Life / Product Reviews
Post comments:0 Comments

Hello, it’s me!

Whoaaaa I’ve got the itch. The itch to write a post on good ol’ Beautifully Nutty! It has been sooooo long! How have you all been? Great over here! We are starting to feel settled into our beautiful new home. Bode is now 16 months and is a little ham. He started swim lessons again and is doing pretty well with those! He is going through a bit of a picky eating phase but I know it’s just that, a phase. He loves eggs, hummus, fruit and veggie pouches, fruit, and bean and cheese quesadillas. He eats other foods too but these are ones he will rarely say no to. He isn’t speaking English per say except for a few words, but he sure is babbling a lot! He makes me laugh everyday. I love him to pieces.

Jazzy pup is doing well! We did decide to keep Jasmine’s name but we mostly like to call her Jazz or Jazzy. She is a good little girl but definitely can use a little training. She is timid in random situations and she likes to chase after cars. We will start training in May. Bode is obsessed with her and loves throwing balls for her, resting his head on her back, and pulling her tail. When she’s not around he looks all around the room and puts his hands up wondering where she is. It’s just adorable.

So since you all know I love food and talking about food, I actually thought it would be fun to post a “What I’ve Been Eating” post since I’ve been eating some DELICIOUS things and trying to remember to take pictures. You ready for some? Unfortunately, I haven’t been writing down recipes, I definitely need to work on this again!

HERE.WE.GO.

Homemade pizza with quinoa crust. This was my first time making quinoa crust and I was totally a fan! It tasted like quinoa a little bit which I didn’t mind and the texture was great! I could even hold it in my hand without it collapsing! Win.

Quinoa sushi rolls on Valentine’s day!

Chickpea tacos smothered with guacamole! I just season the chickpeas like I season ground turkey, chicken, or ground beef and serve them up in hard taco shells. So so yum!

Boulder Organic Tomato Basil Soup. This soup is legit! Organic, gluten-free, non-GMO, no crazy ingredients and so delicious! Plus it’s based out of Boulder and LOVE Boulder. If I would have been more ambitious I would have made a grilled cheese or cheese quesadilla to dip in this soup but I had cheesy crackers and that was great too!

Ants on a log. Celery, peanut butter, and raisins. Suddenly I am five years old again.

Pork carnitas in the slow cooker. I’m having a heck of a time trying to rotate this picture for some reason so please do me a favor and cock your head to the left to see the beauty of this meal. I am really into pork carnitas. I topped them with lime juice, cilantro, avocado, tomato, and devoured.

How’s that for a taste of what I’ve been up to and what I’ve been eating? Gosh I sure hope I start writing on here again more often. It feels good!

Happy day to you, to you! Muah!

The Newest Addition

Post author:Melanie
Post published:January 27, 2016
Post category:Uncategorized
Post comments:2 Comments

Meet our new one year old pup, name to be determined! We got her last night as a rescue! As of now her name is Jasmine and we’ve been calling her Jazz, but we think we might rename her and give her a fresh start. I’ll have to keep you posted on that one!

She is part German Shepherd, part collie, and potentially part lab and chow.

She was born on a farm and started out as mostly an outside dog. Down the road she was taken into a shelter. She was then adopted by a nice family in Oklahoma but unfortunately the family soon learned that one of their children was highly allergic. The family brought the dog back to the shelter and the story goes that they were going to have to euthanize her due to limited space. The family with the allergic child absolutely wouldn’t let this happen so they took her back until they could find another suitable home for her. At this time the family had to restrict her time around their child. She wasn’t able socialize with the family much and was limited to her kennel the majority of the time. It was an unfortunate situation for everyone.

Fast-forward to now. We have her. She is so sweet, loving and non-aggressive.

Bode hasn’t had a dog in the house since he was 4 months old (he is 15 months today btw!) so he isn’t totally comfortable with her yet, but he will get there!

She is around 40-45 lbs and will mostly get up to around 60-65 lbs. Also, she is potty trained! Woop woop!

Such a sweet little bundle! We are so excited to have a furry friend around again!

Time to Ring in the New Year and Time for a Quick Update!

Post author:Melanie
Post published:December 30, 2015
Post category:Baby / holidays / Home Life / Misc. / Parenting / Travel / Vacations
Post comments:2 Comments

Oh, heyyyyy! Yes we are still alive and kickin’ over here! Last time I checked in was just after my 30th birthday so over a month ago. Monthly posts are what is happening these days I guess. You know what else? I don’t hardly take any photos (besides of Bode of course!). But ya know, It is what it is!

So, since my last post here this is what has happened…

1.I thoroughly enjoyed my favorite meal day of the year, Thanksgiving, and so did Mr. Bode! I was much too excited to eat therefore no food photo was taken. Before we ate, we ran in our favorite 5k.

2. A couple of days after Thanksgiving, Bode got to hang out with grandma and grandpa for a week while Dana and I went on a Caribbean cruise. The cruise sailed from Miami to Panama and stopped at Cayman Islands, Ocho Rios, Jamaica, and Puerto Limon, Costa Rica. In Cayman Islands we swam with the stingrays and got to hold a big female stingray! In Jamaica we climbed up a bunch of waterfalls and laid by the beach, and in Costa Rica we took a pontoon tour and got to see sloths, monkeys, crocodiles, and other beautiful wild life.

The cruise itself was exquisite. Everything was included so we ate and drank like kings and queens. It was my mission to eat bacon everyday, and mission was completed.

Formal night/Captain’s dinner…

The “elves” decorated the boat while we were there! So pretty!

As fun as the cruise was, I was sooooo excited to get home and snuggle my baby. That is the longest I had ever been away from him!

3. After the cruise we were busy into the holiday season and lots of fun holiday parties! We all got hit with the stomach bug pretty bad, and after that we all got colds. In fact, my whole entire year was this way. Bode gets sick, mom gets sick. Welcome to parenthood, right? Thanks daycare! 😉

4. Christmas was celebrated in Colorado with Dana’s family and then back here in Minnesota with mine. I still can’t believe Christmas is over! We had so much fun with our family and friends.

5. Now here we are about to kick off the New Year! Where on earth did 2015 go? It surely was a great year but as always, I’m excited to see what 2016 has in store for us. I wish you all the best of health and much happiness as we ring in the New Year!

Check in with you all who knows when! 😉

xoxo

Birthdays and Other Updates!

Post author:Melanie
Post published:November 20, 2015
Post category:Baby / holidays / Home Life / Parenting
Post comments:0 Comments

Oh, hi!

Monthly posts seem to be a theme here. So, it’s time to check in again!

Bode Turned 1!

Since we caught up last, Mr. Bode celebrated his first birthday! We celebrated with lots of friends and family.

The party was themed Little Pumpkin/Fall so I had a lot of fun with decorations and the menu! The spread included:

Jack-o-lantern carrots, broccoli, and dip
Sliced apples with yogurt caramel dip
Crackers and cheese
Chicken wild rice soup
Dinner rolls
Homemade cupcakes: pumpkin, chocolate, and vanilla!

Bode demolished his cupcake. He is my boy after all.

He was seriously spoiled by all of the family and friends that came to his party to celebrate, all of the gifts he received, and all of the sweet messages from family and friends! He is loving all of his new toys and I am loving dressing him in all of his new clothes!

Since we last checked in, I turned the BIG 30.

I was also incredibly spoiled with gifts and cards and messages! We went to the Minnesota Zoo over the weekend and to Chanhassen Dinner Theater to see Sister Act. So much fun!

On Monday, my actual birthday, I got my free coffee at Caribou, Bode and I hung out with grandma and grandpa, and Dana and I had a date night dinner at Red Cow. I got the french onion burger and devoured it!

Let’s see…what else is new?

Today is day 4 of being done with breastfeeding. I wasn’t entirely ready to be done but when he started accidentally biting and my health started acting up, I decided it needed to be time to be done. The whole weaning process took about two months for me. I decided to take it very very slow because I am very susceptible to plug milk ducts. It is strange being done with breastfeeding and definitely liberating. I feel like I have more time now! He did such a great job with the weaning process.

He is a fabulous eater with a large appetite. For breakfast today he ate some dry cereal while I got his oatmeal prepared, a bowl of oatmeal made with whole milk, blueberries, cinnamon, and peanut butter, a whole banana, and a little bit of whole milk from a cup. This kid can eat more than me! K, not quite, but close. He has 7 teeth now.

He is now in full walking mode which he thinks is a blast and so do we. Everyone told me that life gets MUCH crazier once he starts walking but honestly, as long as the house is baby-proofed, I actually prefer the walking. I don’t have to carry him as much because he will walk to me!

He just had his one year check up and he was 20 lbs 10 ounces and 29 3/4 inches.

I suppose that is it for now! Always nice checking in with you all! I am getting SUPER excited for Thanksgiving! You can Buy Here if you would like to get some gifts for your loved ones.

What I’ve been up to…

Post author:Melanie
Post published:October 23, 2015
Post category:Uncategorized
Post comments:0 Comments

Oh my goodness it’s been over a month since I’ve been on here. YIKES!

Here’s what I’ve been up to…

We moved into our new house on Friday! We have now been here for a week and are starting to feel semi-organized. There is lots and lots to do still but we have time! We aren’t planning on leaving any time soon! 😉 We absolutely love the open floor plan and everything about this house. Bode is getting used to it too!

Bode is right around the corner from turning one year old. How on earth that is even possible I have no idea. He has taken a few steps but still not ready enough to do it on his own all of the time. I am perfectly okay with this. Considering I am already chasing after him I am just imagining how life will change even more once he is running everywhere! Time for me to lace up my sneaks. He now has six teeth so he is eating pretty much everything with a few exceptions. But that didn’t mean that we stopped getting him checked by our Orlando Family Dentist, because he still had some issues with the teeth. His favorites change on a daily basis as do most kids’, but you can be pretty sure if you give him yogurt, pancakes, grapes, meatballs, pasta or mashed potatoes, that he is going to be a happy camper. He makes me laugh everyday. I love that little munchkin.

Since I love all things fall, I have made it a priority to put at least a couple of my fall decorations out to enjoy before the season passes. We don’t have shelves up so there is limited decorating space, but I have managed to find a few spots! Considering I do love fall so much, I decided that Bode was going to have a lil’ pumpkin/fall themed birthday party. I’m by no means going crazy with decor but it helps me to have a theme in planning. Think pumpkins, soup, apples…it’s going to be fun! But again, still can’t believe he’s turning one.

Let’s see, what else has happened over the last couple of months? I am still loving and becoming more obsessed with my essential oils on a daily basis. I have been diffusing peppermint and lavender in the morning while I get ready for work and it such a nice little pick me up that I look forward to. Love!

Because of the move and trying to get our lives organized in our new house, exercise has been thrown to the curb. This is going to change very soon though because I am starting to feel it. I miss it! We have definitely been active unpacking boxes but it’s just not the same you know? It will happen! I had plans to go for a run today but now it’s raining so we will see. Excuses, excuses.

Okay so I guess this is going to be a post without pictures and I apologize because that is very boring but I realize I haven’t synced my photos to my computer in about a month and baby cakes is about to wake up and I really want to get this published before he does!

I hope you are all well and enjoying this beautiful fall as much as I am!

xoxo

Pinterest Wins

Post author:Melanie
Post published:September 18, 2015
Post category:Dinners / Home Life / Lunch / Recipes / Sweet Treats
Post comments:0 Comments

Oh, HEY! How is everyone doing?

So, since Bode was born, I haven’t been the most creative cook in the kitchen. The recipe creation has been close to zilch. HOWEVER, this doesn’t mean I haven’t been cooking!

I have been letting Pinterest inspire me to try new recipes. Good ol’ Pinterest. My Pinterest page is stocked full of delicious looking food ideas. I have started to make my way through some of the pinned recipes and I what I want to do today is share with you not Pinterest fails, but Pinterest wins! Here are some of my Pinterest finds that I have successfully made and really enjoyed (I said Pinterest 6 times in this paragraph in case you were wondering…7 including this sentence)!

BLT Lettuce Wraps. I’m not against bread, but this was seriously so good without it! It was definitely messy, but so worth it.

2. Banana Chocolate Almond Squares. This is a clean dessert that seriously fulfills my sweet tooth. It’s been way too long since I’ve made these!

3. Chickpea tacos with guacamole! I used this picture as inspiration but didn’t follow their recipe at all. I made my own taco seasoning and cooked the chickpeas with the homemade seasoning. I LOVED these.

4. Slow cooker Texas BBQ Pulled Pork. I. LOVE. THE. SLOW. COOKER. It is my best friend. I served this pulled pork with coleslaw and baked beans of course. Winner.

5. Broccoli and Cheese Soup. Yum. I recall I went a little heavy on the spiciness when I made this, but it was still very delicious. This will be a must-make this winter.

6. Carmelitas. And now you are all officially drooling, right? You can’t go wrong with these. Bring them to your next get-together, I dare you.

7. Crock Pot Chicken Wild Rice Soup. I just made this last weekend and OMG! I made a few of my own tweaks but it didn’t need much because it was SO good. I added some extra poultry seasoning , a little nutmeg and garlic powder. Salt and pepper to taste. Make this once the weather cools! This competes with Panera’s soup. That’s a bold statement and I said it.

8. Slow Cooker White Bean Chicken Chili. Weird, another slow cooker recipe! I made this for my family and they all loved it and asked for the recipe. This is a super simple to put together recipe. I served this chili with a dollop of sour cream, shredded cheddar cheese, and cilantro.

How about those for Pinterest wins?! I think I need to stop pinning more recipes though so I can make the ones I have already pinned! That won’t happen. I love Pinterest! BTW follow me if you don’t already: https://www.pinterest.com/NuttyMelanie/

What are some of your Pinterest wins or successes?

Fall Recipe Roundup

Post author:Melanie
Post published:September 4, 2015
Post category:Breakfast / Dinners / Sweet Treats
Post comments:2 Comments

Even though it’s balmy and tropical feeling around here these days, I am starting to get anxious to make some comforting fall recipes. Fall is one of my favorite seasons if not my all-time favorite, and it really is just around the corner!!!

The weather is supposed to cool down next week so guess what I’m doing today? I’m putting together a little fall recipe roundup! It’s time to gather some comfort food recipes so that I can get to work in the kitchen once the weather cools!

A couple of these recipe are my very own, and the rest were gathered thanks to Pinterest!

Heerrrrrrre we gooooooooo!

Broccoli White Bean Soup

I haven’t made this soup in forever but absolutely need to. So good!

2. Brown Sugar Butter Syrup

This recipe reminds me of my favorite syrup from a local restaurant! The thought of making it in the comfort of my own home, in my sweatpants and a messy bun, sounds that much more enticing!

3. Poblano Peppers Stuffed with Chicken and Cheddar

Say what?! That savory deliciousness looks beautiful.

4. Chicken Pot Pie Soup

I need this in my belly.

5. Slow Cooker Beef Pot Roast

Let the slow cooker do all of the work for you. Nothing says comfort like beef pot roast.

6. Creamy Four Cheese Garlic Spaghetti

Decadent. Cheesy. Perfection. Hand me a fork.

7. Apple Crisp

Apple crisp WITH oat topping. Because. Just because. Omm yum yum yum.

My mouth has been watering during this entire post! These aren’t all the most “figure-friendly” recipes, but you better believe I’m going to be hitting the streets running to balance out these goodies! 😉

I can’t wait to get COOKING!

What are some foods or recipes you are looking forward to making once cooler weather rolls around?

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