A Quick HELLO!

Goals. My goal is to fix the layout of my blog so that it doesn’t drive me nuts every time I view it on a computer! Some day, my friends. Some day.

Hiiiii btw! It’s me, Melanie. It’s been a while. The last time I checked in appears to be when I was 28 weeks pregnant. I had intentions of posting an announcement here but instead went the lazy route and posted on my Instagram page! I also shared the birth story on there but I am still wanting to type that one out so I can reference it in writing too whenever I’m feeling nostalgic.

One of my last pics while pregnant:

pregnancy 4

I am now a mama to three boys and a baby GIRL! Beautiful Ava joined our circus on July 31st, 2020. This was my longest pregnancy. She was born at 38 weeks and 4 days. She made her entrance fast and fierce just like her brothers. She was 6 lbs 15oz and 20 perfect inches. My experience at Willow Birth Center in Minneapolis (shout out!) was beyond amazing. I am so blessed to be able to say my fourth and final birth was everything I dreamt it would be.

Minutes before she was born:

Being surprised by the gender was the best decision. Not that meeting your baby for the very first time isn’t motivating enough when you’re in labor, but not knowing the gender just amplifies the anticipation and excitement! I was, and still am in disbelief that I have a girl. History repeats itself…I am the youngest of four children in my family. I have three older brothers. Now I have a fun fact to share when someone asks!

Adapting to a life with four littles has been a little nuts. Blake is freshly two and definitely acts like it. He adores his baby sis as do all of the boys, but he doesn’t quite understand that he is much bigger than her and that she is so fragile. I have to keep my eye on him more so than I ever did with the boys. But man is he cute.

The boys are all adjusting well to having Ava in the house. When they are away from me and her they tell me that they missed me, but that they missed her the most. Thanks guys. I love that love though so I am okay with it.

We are in the final days before moving into our new home. We are so gracious to my in-laws for letting us stay here, but it’s getting pretty cramped especially now that Bode is distance learning three days a week and Dana home-offices. Ava’s naps have been tricky because there’s a lot of tiny humans interrupting her slumber, so I’m hoping we can get her into a better routine once we move in to the new digs.

Cliff’s notes today but man it feels good to check in. I hope you are all well!

 

xoxoxo

Continue Reading A Quick HELLO!

First Pregnancy Versus Fourth Pregnancy

This will be fun.

First of all, I’m pregnant?! It seems I forget pretty often because there is little time to think about it! The three little people that are dependent on me don’t seem to understand that I am growing a human and expect me to keep up with them as if nothing has changed. The blessing of this is that it keeps me active and it has definitely made this pregnancy fly by.

Symptoms

Throughout this pregnancy I have been dealing with an Ulcerative Colitis flare. With past pregnancies, pregnancy hormones (or something) put my body into remission at about week nine. Not this time. Typically I would dive straight into my supplemental regime and kick this to the curb, but alas, adequate studies have not been conducted with supplements enough to make me feel comfortable with the “risk”. My symptoms have improved but I am still dealing with it today. That being said, this could attribute to some of my exhaustion, but mostly I would attribute it to the little people honestly. I’d say I’m a pretty tough little lady.

At the beginning of pregnancy, I dealt with mild nausea, but nothing that ever sent me to the toilet. I thank God often that I have had four pregnancies without extreme nausea. I experienced fatigue in the first three months, making sure I was tucked into bed by 8 pm at the latest.

Round ligament “discomfort”. I won’t call it pain because it’s nothing compared to labor, but the uterine growth and round ligament stretching has been way more intense this time around. This one doesn’t make sense to me. Doesn’t my body just know what to do? It’s been stretched many a times already so why is it screaming at me so much this time?! Oh yes….I don’t sit still very often. That could be part of it.

Diet

I’m a dietitian as you are all aware. That being said, I can tell you that my diet has been far from optimal lately. The beginning of the pregnancy was mostly white carb focused: gluten free bread, cream of wheat, crackers, cereal, but I was able to get a whole buncha healthy stuff in there too. When the nausea subsided, it was back to the usual nutrient-rich meals. Then COVID-19 hit. I’m at home with all of the boys. As much as I aim to focus on nutrition for myself and my family, we are in a bit of survival mode as we all are. There are a lot of baked goods going down around here, let’s just leave it at that. =) In all fairness, I know I am still doing a heckuva job trying to feed us all with nutrition as BEST as I possibly can given the circumstances. So there’s that.

Cravings

I’d say my cravings this pregnancy around are more intensified. As I mentioned, the Pop Tart craving wouldn’t leave me alone. There has been a lot of pizza yearned for and consumed this time around. I was really into fruit at the beginning of pregnancy but that has now normalized. I guess it was most intense in the beginning of pregnancy. I feel pretty normal now. Kind of boring compared to my first pregnancy.

Weekly Bump Pics?!

I was religious about taking weekly bump pics for all three of the boys’ pregnancies. This time around, I’ve gotten maybe five, three of which I took as selfies.

19 week pic. I have seriously BUMPED since this picture was taken.

When will it feel real?

In lieu of our current life situation, my mind is heavily focused on remaining positive, keeping my family and loved ones safe, and making the most of our home life situation. There is nothing that really needs to be done to prepare for the arrival of baby except to buy some super teeny tiny diapers. Because we aren’t finding out the gender, I would like to sort through the newborn baby clothes bin to find some gender neutral clothes to hold us over, JUST in case a little girl decides to join the family. If it is a girl, there will be a whole lot of pink flowing in this house, you better believe it. So I guess there’s that too.

My appointments with the midwives have been every five weeks. Everything is looking perfect. I have my anatomy scan next week. My first one was canceled due to the virus. As of now, Dana will be able to join me for that appointment. My following prenatal appointments will be completed over the phone which is going to be so weird and sad because I won’t be able to hear my favorite little heartbeat noise that I so look forward to at those in-clinic appointments.

I’m thinking that maybe the ultrasound will make this pregnancy feel more real?

When I was pregnant with Bode, I remember spending so much time planning for the nursery. The amount of hours I spent looking for a rug and wall decor seems completely unreal at this point. For goodness sake I even sewed him a baby blanket! I remember sitting in the nursery once it was completed, anxiously awaiting the arrival of my sweet boy.

I am equally as excited about baby number four, there is just less time to think about it. I am planning on diving into the childbirth books in the next couple of months so I can begin to mentally prepare for labor and delivery, something that I seem to keep putting off in my mind.

I think I’m going to wrap this post up although I feel like I could go on and on. It’s becoming a bit of a doozy.

_____________________________________________________________________

I pray that everyone is staying healthy and safe. Take care, friends.

xoxo

 

 

Continue Reading First Pregnancy Versus Fourth Pregnancy

Preggo But I’m Still Doin’ Moves Like Beyonce

If you haven’t seen the baby mama dance, you can check it out at the end of this post (this is where the post title came from btw)! In case you missed it in my last post, yes, I am indeed pregnant with baby number FOUR! Wow, that sure sounds like craziness sometimes when I say it. I know I personally love to read about women’s pregnancies, so I decided I want to share a little bit about mine! Details:
  • Estimated Due Date: August 10, 2020. I am 17.5 weeks pregnant. Fact: all of my boys have made their presence 2-4 weeks early. Also, I have been uber pregnant in the summer for all of them so this will be nothing new! Thank God for AC.
  • I am feeling pretty darn great, all things considered. Minimal symptoms. Energy is starting to come back again. It’s hard to say if I’m actually more tired in this pregnancy or if it’s just the fact that I have three little boys that I am keeping alive on a daily basis? Who knows! Anyway, my bedtime has been around 8:30 pm, wake up around 5 am.
 
  • My appetite is fab. Three meals, snacks, chugging water.
  • Cravings? Mostly healthy foods—salads, fruit, whole grains, cheese of some sort, but also some totally randoms. Enter: Blueberry Pop Tarts. I couldn’t get them out of my head, so finally after three weeks, I gave in and bought some. They taste as good as I remember from childhood. I ate a half a tart a day until the box was gone and enjoyed every single bite. In a perfect world I would have just made some from scratch at home but guess what? It’s not a perfect world! =)
Image result for blueberry pop tart
  • Feelings of content. I have always wondered how women know when it’s going to be their last pregnancy, their last baby. When I was pregnant with Blake I questioned this all of the time. Well, now that I am pregnant with number four, I most definitely know. This is it. This is the last one. I am trying to soak up this pregnancy with every ounce of my being. I am so excited to have an even numbered family! What a weirdo I know.
 
  • What do my boys think? Bode is 5.5 so he gets it and he is SO excited. Ben is 3.5 and kinda gets it but doesn’t really. He understands that Daniel Tiger’s mom had a baby so he kind of knows what’s going to happen. Blake (19 months) obviously has no clue.
 
  • Not finding out the gender. This girl loves a good surprise and although it’s going to be SO hard for me not to know, not to plan, we are not finding out the gender of this baby. We found out with the other three boys and I told Dana if we were to have a fourth, that it was going to be a surprise. Fourth and final = go big or go home. My little boys think it’s a girl. I can’t imagine that to be honest.
 
  • Planning for natural birth. I birthed all three boys naturally, unmedicated. They were all smooth deliveries minus they were all sunny side up so gave me excruciating back labor. The plan going in is unmedicated again however, I have done my pain management research and want to have that in my back pocket this time around. It will definitely be a game time decision. Also, I always go in to labor and deliveries with an open mind because you just never know what’s going to happen.
  What else do you want to know? I’m an open book for the most part so ask away!   As promised, the Baby Mama Dance with Shay Mitchell (I’m a Pretty Little Liars fan!)… *Beware, the song is super catchy!!  
Continue Reading Preggo But I’m Still Doin’ Moves Like Beyonce

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

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?

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

A Beautiful Surprise!

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:

Continue Reading A Beautiful Surprise!

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

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.

crystal cruise

Formal night/Captain’s dinner…

crystal cruise

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

crystal cruise crystal cruise

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

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

Birthdays and Other Updates!

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!

fall birthday party fall birthday party fall birthday party fall birthday party

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.

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.

Continue Reading Birthdays and Other Updates!

Random Bits…

Oh hey! This little blog o’ mine has been seriously neglected lately. As I write, I have a little one trying to type on the computer. Bode is now 10 months old and is crawling and standing up on furniture. He likes to hold on to whatever he can get his hands on and walk too! We are in for some serious craziness. It is so fun watching him change and develop. Everyday is something new! He is saying “dada” and just recently will blurt out a “mama” too! I obviously got a little too excited about that.

I can’t believe this summer is drawing to a close. I truly mean it when I say that as time goes on and I get older, times just moves faster. I am really doing my best to cherish every moment along the way.

I thought I would share some random bits and updates from my life for something fun today. So, here we go…

1. After aLLLLLL this time I am still drinking my same smoothie for breakfast every day. I guess I have changed it a little.

  • Frozen banana
  • Frozen blueberries or cherries
  • Frozen kale or power greens (costco)
  • Unsweetened vanilla almond milk
  • Powdered peanut butter or peanut butter
  • Cocoa powder
  • I also add in my probiotic powder and glutamine powder     chocolate peanut butter smoothie

It turns out looking like mud and tasting delicious everytime! 😉

2. Ever since having Bode, some chemistry in my body must have changed because I can no longer wear earrings without getting crazy itchy ears. Albeit, I haven’t tried wearing super expensive earrings, but I never had a problem with this in the past! #random

3. We find out today what our closing date is on our new house. Right now we have a “soft” closing date of October 9th but we will find out for sure today at our meeting! It is looking like a real house now. Dry wall goes up this week! I still kind of can’t believe it’s happening! I am so excited to get in there and organize all of our stuff!

4. On the subject of the new house, we have been shopping for a new couch for our main living area and let me tell you, that is quite the task. Things to keep in mind when buying a couch: coil versus foam cushions, fabric, style (we know what we want there), easy to clean fabric, warranties, durability, etc. Not to mention, the fact that we aren’t able to see our home completed with paint and carpet and such before placing the order because it takes 1-2 months for custom orders. Of course we know the colors of the house (since we picked them out), but it’s hard just imagining all of it and not seeing it and then having to choose fabric color, it’s challenging. I know, ohhhh the problems we have. 😉

5. I ran in my first running race post-partum a few weeks ago. I ran the Esprit de she 5k with my girlfriend Stacy and Annie (check out Annie’s blog: http://www.maddashannie.com/!!!). My goal was to run it in 30 minutes or less and I was bummed that I didn’t cross the finish line until 30:12. I’m blaming it on the evening run (I’m not used to that) and running in hot weather. I get to have excuses right? Give me a cooler fall morning race and I will definitely be stomping that goal! 🙂

esprit de sheesprit de shemelanie esprit de she

There you have it for some random little bits and updates from me! I hope you are all well and I do hope to write more often. It’s such a fun creative outlet and I do miss it!

xoxo

 

Continue Reading Random Bits…

One Lucky Mama

The perfect Mother’s Day weekend…

On Saturday we went to Bode’s swim lessons and then for a family 3.5 mile run around a nearby lake. The weather was so beautiful which made for a very enjoyable run. I am very excited to get back into running shape. I want to add a half mile on to each week and build up my endurance slowly but surely!

After our run we went and got our BOGO Caribou coffee. They offered BOGO on both May 9th and 10th so of course I had to take them up on that offer both days!

Hubby made us some BLT’s for lunch!

blt

Bode and I watched Dana mow the yard. Bode really liked watching him walk back and forth!

For dinner we grilled up some steaks from our local co-op, red potatoes with onions, and broccoli. Seriously so good. BTW right now I have a little man grabbing at the computer so I need to hurry this post up!

steak

On Mother’s Day (Sunday), Dana got me Caribou and doughnuts in the morning while I was feeding the baby! Have I mentioned how much I now love doughnuts? It all started during pregnancy and it’s a love that hasn’t left. That and burgers!

caribou coffee and doughnut

I was royally spoiled by my family. It’s fun being a mama on Mother’s Day!! Have you all tried the strawberry shortcake Larabars? I am super excited to try them!

Mothers day treats

Sunday night we celebrated my dad’s birthday along with Mother’s Day and I made one of my “famous” ice cream cakes! Caramel chocolate ice cream, Oreos and hot fudge in the center, topped with more ice cream, Oreos and sprinkles of course! So pretty and very tasty! All for under $10!

ice cream cake

The festivities continued into Monday…just how I like it! We celebrated with Dana’s parents and had pizza and pie!

I hope you all had a wonderful weekend! I am one lucky mama.

I am linking up with Becky today!

Continue Reading One Lucky Mama

Friday Favs: Chocolate and Peanut Butter

Happy Friday! Little man could wake up from his nap at any moment but I really wanted to get this post out so I’m making it snappy!! I noticed the theme of this post is chocolate and peanut butter…it doesn’t get much better!

FRIDAY FAVS! Linking up with my lady, Katie!

1. Shrimp, veggie, and black bean noodle fresh spring rolls. Inside the roll: black bean noodles (from Costco), carrots, green onions, cucumber, shrimp and basil. The best part of this whole plate: the peanut sauce! 

shrimp spring rolls

2. This trio of oils to help me fight through seasonal allergies…allergy trio young living

3. Chocolate Peanut Butter Mousse pie made by yours truly for Easter. I used this recipe: Chocolate Bottomed Peanut Butter Pie and used almond milk instead of cow’s milk because that’s what I had on hand. This pie did not disappoint!peanut butter chocolate pie

4. Thieves household cleaner. We use this to clean our entire house! Chemical-free is the way to be. I love love the cinnamon smell!thieves cleaner

5. This snack mix from my Easter basket that I demolished in less than 48 hours. My favorite part was the large M & M eggs of course!snack mix

6. Watching Bode grow and develop such a fun personality! He is giggling so much and snickering and nothing makes me happier than hearing those sweet little sounds!

I hope you all have a wonderful weekend!

Continue Reading Friday Favs: Chocolate and Peanut Butter
Older Posts