afternoon delight

I love market square!  Even better that I work on it's doorstep.  I usually work out during lunch - TVA has great classes during lunch hour (toning, Zumba, RIPPED, Pilates, Yoga, etc).  Today I worked out, and then proceed to Cafe 4 for a cupcake and Diet Coke (how cute are the aluminum bottles?!).  I ate every calorie I burned +, for this heavenly treat (lemon coconut gooness).  It was totally worth it.

be-bopping!

This about sums up how fun my weekend was with my sweet family!  Brandon played in a golf tournament this weekend, so I had lots of sweet girl time with Hadley :)

Pork Chops with Apples & Creamy Bacon Cheese Grits

I'm so making this recipe soon! 

If you haven't heard of The Pioneer Woman, you better check this site out for some seriously yummy, indulgent recipes! 

11 months!

I can't believe a whole month has passed since I wrote one of these posts....and that in just one short month my baby will be ONE!  So many mixed emotions about that - but that is another post for another day :)

• Hadley is 20 pounds but I'm not sure of her length. I do know that she is tall!  We don't go back to the doctor till her 1 year check-up so I'll know her official stats then.
• Wearing 9-12 month clothes and size 3 diapers.
• Drinking a bottle in the morning and at night, and 2 sippy cups during the day.  She is hardly interested in drinking from the sippy cup during the day as she is much more into her solid food!  I've tried many different sippy cups (Avent, Dr. Brown, and Playtex), but she still doesn't seem to drink properly out of any of them (she sucks, and then the liquid dribbles down her chin).  She is getting around 12 or so oz of formula throughout the day + water/juice at one feeding.
• Still napping 2 times a day at 10 and 2. She sleeps about 1 hour each time (at daycare), but takes a much longer morning nap on the weekends when she is home.
• The girl LOVES to eat. The only thing she isn't crazy about seems to be plain tomatoes.  I put them in several dishes I make for her, but doesn't really love them plain.  I would say yogurt is her favorite food.  She goes crazy when she sees me get it out of the fridge!  At her daycare (Nanny's), they serve breakfast, lunch, and a snack during the day.  We are starting to let her eat the food at school and she has done awesome so far.  They have an 11 day menu that rotates for half the year, and then a new 11 day menu will come out.  We love all the healthy options!
• I think Hadley is definitely going to be more into shoes than her mommy is.  Whenever she sees shoes in the floor, she makes a beeline for them!
• Sleeps about 11 hours at night (usually 7:30p to 6:30a, give or take a few).  She will lay in her crib a good 20 minutes in the morning before she really needs me or Brandon to get her.  She rolls around and talks - it's adorable!  And it gives me extra time to hurry and get ready in the mornings!
• Giggles a lot and definitely notices when we start laughing at something she's done...she'll usually do it again to get more attention.
• Pulling up on EVERYTHING!  She'll "walk" around her Laugh and Learn table while holding on and cruises while holding onto the furniture.
• She can stand up by herself for just a few seconds.
• When she gets sleepy, she plays with her hair. I think this is so sweet.
• Still uses her pacifier at naps and during the night. Although she would be content to suck on it all day long if I'd let her. I'm scared to wean her from her pacifier!
• "Loves" on me and Brandon now.  She will lay her little head on our shoulders and will cuddle too.  This was the first month we both noticed this sweet little change - and I am loving every minute of it!  
• She doesn't give us kisses yet, but when Brandon lets her drink out of his cup, she will open her mouth and lean towards his check after she takes a sip. It's like a kiss!
• Really likes bath time every night - it amazes me how it calms her down so much.  I bought a toy caddy for the tub - it suctions on the wall of the tub.  Every night, I put her toys back in the caddy before we let the water out.  Last week, she started putting the toys in the caddy.  Me and Brandon couldn't believe it!  She is so smart!
• Has 7-8 teeth
• Says ma-ma, ba-ba, and da-da.  She has some other random jibber-jabber, but these are the only recognizable "words."
• She loves being a ham!  

A few other recent pictures from this past week...

Reading some mail

My bud, Sophie, at her birthday!

Playing with my cousin, Kylie

Shoppin' fool

Some cute things I recently purchased today.  Happy Friday!

Pennington & Bailes TN polo dress a la Zulily today!  I'm so ready for football season!



 I've been wanting a sweet little necklace with Hadley's name. Found this cute necklace at The Vintage Pearl's site.  I can't wait till my UPS man delivers this beauty!

Finally ordered a couple Praise Baby CDs. These get great reviews and Hadley loves some of the worship CDs my sister gave her!  They make our ride to daycare very enjoyable :)

Mud Pie Sip & Munch Cup.  I found this for $5 today on the Totsy website!



I also ordered our Christmas cards today - I've never ordered them this far in advance, but Tiny Prints has 30% off certain cards through August 22nd. Yay for marking something off my to-do list!

 

amen sister!

All moms should read this post. 

I can totally relate to how this mom feels. I've experienced this judgement as a new mom, and I'm sure it will continue.  From how I chose to feed my baby, diaper her, let her sleep, how I dress her, and who cares for her when I'm working....and the list goes on.

I've definitely had to make some tough decisions since Hadley was born. 

The most difficult - returning to work.  I worked in public accounting at KPMG for 4 years before beginning my new life as a mom.  It was challenging, stressful, and wonderful, all at the same time.  I had amazing mentors and clients and worked my tail off for 4 years.  I was so lucky to have 6 months of maternity leave (some paid, some unpaid), but I need to work.  It's part of who I am, plus we like paying our bills.  But working 50-60 hours a week did not appeal to me once Hadley was born.  So I decided to leave the only place I'd known for TVA where more work-life balance was available.  I'm so thankful for better hours and the wonderful people I work with - plus I get to work out at lunch (but I do miss KPMG and my peeps there).  It is hard to leave my baby at daycare - somedays its harder than others - but I'm so thankful that we found such a wonderful daycare for her to attend.  If I can't love on her from 8-5 everyday, we found the next best thing.  She loves her teachers and friends and is always smiling when we drop her off and pick her up.

Formula/Breast feeding.  Ugh.  Hate this one.  I desperately tried to breastfeed Hadley.  It was no easy task for us.  Hadley would get frustrated, and cry, I was frustrated, and I cried. We cried together for 3 weeks.  I read books, did alot of internet research, and contacted a lactation consultant, with little success.  Finally, I started pumping and giving her the milk in a bottle.  It worked for us for 7 more months. It was a ginormous pain, but I did it for her.  Since then, she's had formula, and I'm grateful that is an option for all mothers.

Sleeping. We co-slept with Hadley for about 4-6 weeks (starting when she was about 6 weeks old).  Because this mama needed sleep!  It worked for us at the time.  And them I read a few sleep books and came to the realization, this was really the only thing that was "ours" (mine and Brandon's) and that we needed our bed back.  So we put Hadley in her crib around 11-12 weeks.  We let her "cry it out" based on the "Healthy Sleep Habbits, Happy Child" extinction method.  I wasn't as hardcore as the book method explained, but in a week or two, we were all sleeping.  Hallelujah!

Clothing.  Thank goodness for consignment sales and Carters brand!  I don't feel like I need to dress our baby in $50 smocked outfits everyday.  Don't get me wrong, I love a cute outfit every now and then, but let's be honest, she crawls on the floor, self feeds, and drools all day!  Not to mention, she's growing like a weed!  I'm lucky that we have some great consignment sales around town.

Baby food.  Make your own or store-bought.  Who cares, as long as you feed that baby!  Hadley has had both.  I loved my Babycook from WS, but somedays, I don't feel like peeling, dicing, steaming and pureeing!  I love Sprout and Gerber for store-bought options.

All moms make their own difficult decisions, just as I have.  In most cases, it’s just a guessing game. We survive and we move from one day to the next.  I'm so proud of all my mommy friends.  This is the most rewarding and difficult job in the whole world!

yay, junk mail!

I get alot of "junk" mail at my gmail account. Omaha Steaks, Vistaprint, Target, just to name a few.  Many of them have to do with babies (track development by week, Zulily, kid friendly recipes, etc).  I am so glad I opened one of these emails today - the newborn pictures they took in the hospital when Hadley was born!  What a sweet afternoon treat for this mama!  I'm not gonna lie, I get a little teary-eyed when I look at these....just another reminder of how fast this little one is growing up on me!

Love for electronics

Hadley LOVES electronics.  Remotes, computers, cell phones, oh my!  I bought her a toy cell phone...but of course, her love for 'her own' cell phone does not compare to that of my cell phone or her daddy's cell phone.  She is pulling up on everything now and crawling fast!  She 'helped' do the dishes this week!

Murder Mystery Birthday!

Our friend Cara turned the big 3-0 last week. Her husband planned a big surprise to celebrate - a limo from Knoxville to Chattanooga and then a Murder Mystery Dinner Party.  It was such a great idea and a lot of fun!  They included several people in the show from our group....hilarious!  I laughed the whole time - definitely would love to do one of these dinners again!

Picking up the birthday girl

Our group

Meal Planning Tuesday

Meal Planning Monday Tuesday!  I am so proud of myself.  I planned meals for 5 nights this week, BEFORE going to the grocery store this past weekend.  I've never loved leftovers so much as I do now that I'm a full-time working mom :)

Sunday - Ratatouille Bake (recipe below - this was Hadley friendly too, she loved it)
Monday - leftovers
Tuesday - Chicken Poppy Seed casserole (recipe below)
Wednesday - leftovers
Thursday - Tacos
Friday - Family cookout

Ratatouille Bake

1 tablespoon olive oil

5 cloves garlic, minced

1 onion, chopped

2 cups peeled and diced eggplant

2 cups chopped zucchini

1 green bell pepper, chopped

1 (14.5 ounce) can diced tomatoes (I would use 2 cans, it was a little dry)

1 tablespoon dried basil

1 tablespoon dried parsley

1/2 teaspoon salt

1/8 teaspoon black pepper

1 (8 ounce) package frozen cheese ravioli (I used the kind in the fridge section)

3/4 cup shredded mozzarella cheese

Directions

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C).  Spray a 2 1/2-quart baking dish with cooking spray.

Heat the olive oil in a large skillet over medium heat; cook and stir the garlic, onion, and eggplant with the garlic until the vegetables have begun to soften, about 8 minutes. Stir in the zucchini, bell pepper, tomatoes, basil, parsley, salt, and black pepper; bring the mixture to a boil, stirring frequently. Reduce heat to medium-low and simmer until the vegetables are tender, about 20 minutes.

Cook the frozen ravioli as directed on the package; drain. Spread the cooked ravioli in a layer into the bottom of the prepared baking dish; spoon the hot vegetables over the ravioli. Sprinkle with the cheese.

Bake in the preheated oven until the casserole is bubbling and the cheese is melted, about 20 minutes.



Chicken Poppy Seed Casserole

 

 

6 skinless, boneless chicken breast halves - diced (I used 3 chicken breasts)
1 (10.75 ounce) can condensed cream of chicken soup (I used cream of mushroom and garlic)
1 (8 ounce) container sour cream (I used french onion sour cream based on the reviews)
2 tablespoons dry sherry
Salt and pepper to taste
8 ounces buttery round crackers, crushed
1 1/2 tablespoons poppy seeds
1/2 cup butter, melted

Directions

Preheat to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C).

Place the diced chicken breasts on the bottom of a 9x13 inch baking dish sprayed with a nonstick cooking spray. In a bowl combine the soup, sour cream and sherry. Pour or spoon mixture over the chicken. Sprinkle salt and pepper on top.

Mix the poppy seeds and crushed crackers and sprinkle mixture over the chicken, salt and pepper. Drizzle the melted butter or margarine over the cracker/poppy seed layer and bake covered in the preheated oven for 30 to 45 minutes (take cover off for the last 5 minutes).  Let stand a few minutes before serving.

*Based on the reviews (and because I had some time last night after Hadley went to bed), I mixed the diced chicken breast, sour cream, soup, and poppy seed and refrigerated over night. I'll top with the cracker mixture tonight just before I bake it.  Serving this with fresh broccoli.


I love allrecipes.com.  Check it out if you haven't!

Someone likes spaghetti!

We made spaghetti one night for dinner this week and gave some to Hadley (she's never had it before).  She loved it and totally had a melt down when it was gone!  She literally licked the bowl....messy for sure!

Being sweet one morning this week!