Baby does what?

When I was pregnant with the twins, I did some reading/researching. I didn't read as much as I should have most likely but I locked on to some ideas that I wanted to implement with the kids after they were born. One being Baby Led Weaning (BLW). The premise is, you skip the purees and serve the baby whatever you're having off your plate. And then- let them go at it, exploring the textures and allowing them to feed themselves. That way they become more adventurous eaters and develop their self feeding skills as well as regulate how much they want to eat and when. Sounded good in theory, but in reality what was it like?
I asked a couple of friends who'd attempted BLW and got mixed results. One friend who tried it, said she was scared to death of choking every time her daughter put something in her mouth. In fact, she had to do CPR on several occasions. Whoa.
Another friend said she thought about it but knew their daycare wouldn't be on board so she was forced to do purees during the week and out of convenience just continued it on the weekends as well.
A third friend I asked had an AMAZING experience with it. Her little was gnawing on chicken legs at 7 months old! She mentioned she never once had to do CPR at any point. Babies are equipped with a fabulous gag reflex that pretty much forces them to spit out anything thats too big. This gag reflex starts out in the middle of the tongue in babies and then slowly recedes to the back of the tongue as we get older.
There's a big difference between gagging and choking. Don't get me wrong, gagging is super scary and loud. But its perfectly normal and allows the baby to clear his own airway. You only need to intervene if they're silent and can't breathe. This is an awesome infographic thats really helped me know when to panic or not!

I really wanted to do BLW with my kiddos but I had the first time mom jitters so I started out really slow. Giving them a few strips of things like avocado and sweet potato but also smushing them a little first. Looking back I wish I had more confidence in my babes and allowed them to learn it for themselves. I also did some purees with them and sent those with them to daycare.

First bite of Avocado!

Smushed peas

Now they're 9 months old and are champs! I cook all sorts of stuff for them: quinoa, pancakes, frittata, pasta, toast with peanut butter! 9 months is when they start getting their pincer grasp so I can start cutting things up into smaller pieces and not having to worry about if they can pick it up or not. 

Leave a little bit of the banana peel on so they can pick it up easier!

BLW doesn't mean you can't give them pureed foods. We eat pureed foods every day such as oatmeal,  yogurt, applesauce, etc.! I still offer these foods only I pre-fill spoons for them to feed themselves with. It's messy, but that's life at this point. My word of advice is to strip them down to their diapers to make clean up a little easier. That way you can pretty much hose them off at the end! hah!

blueberry yogurt was a huge hit!

So, thats my experience with a modified BLW. I frequent pinterest for ideas as well as the Wholesome Homemade Baby Food blog. Also, if you're on Facebook, join the group FeedingLittles. Its run by a local dietitian and a speech therapist and its AWESOME. It's really helped me get over my first time mom hesitancies. Let me know if you have any questions on my experience. I'd be happy to oblige. Leave me a comment if you've tried BLW! Until next time!

xoxo,

-Melissa :)

Life as a Trophy Wife

As many of you know, since moving to Arizona, finding the right job has been difficult. So, I’ve spent most of my unemployed months lounging by the pool and eating bon bons….

 …..Bahahahah ok ok I can’t keep a straight face while saying that!

There have been NO bon bons.

Haha! All joking aside, there has been some lounging by the pool but mostly just boredom. After the house was unpacked and set up for the most part, I ran out of things to do. I mean even pinterest gets old after awhile, especially when you don’t have the money to do any of the projects I pinned. So what has this girl been doing to keep herself busy??

Well, I’ve done some cooking. I’ve never been that great of a cook in the past- mostly from lack of experience. So, I took this downtime to practice! I have mastered quite a few amazing recipes as well a few doozies.

Spiral Pasta Vegetable Salad

Summer Vegetable Crepes

Corn Chowder

Gazpacho

Asparagus Frittata

Mango Black Bean Quinoa

Roasted Vegetable Stacked Enchilada Casserole

All of the above I HIGHLY recommend. They were delicious! Let me know if you want the recipe for any of them.

I’ve also been trying to learn the manual setting on my new DSLR Nikon. I took an introduction to photography class to try and get a grasp on all the different manual settings. It’s overwhelming at first but I’m still learning how everything works together to create the best picture!

There are several blogs I’ve stumbled across that have photography tutorials and they’ve helped as well! Click the link below the picture to go to the blog.

Digital Photography School Blog

I heart faces blog

My next plan is to take a creative photography class. Thanks to a groupon, I have that already lined up as soon as I get the hang of the shutter speed, aperture and ISO!!

So that's pretty much been my summer! 

That's all about to change though. I am hanging up my trophy wife shoes because... 

I GOT A JOB! Yep! I have been waiting to tell you all and now I finally can! My first day is Monday. I will be working as the dietitian for a home tube feeding company and I am SUPER pumped! I love tube feeding so I know I am going to love this job. I'll have to keep you posted =)

xoxo,

The best part about May...

May was a crazy, hectic, fun-filled month that ended with a moving trip across the country (see this post for details). I would do it again in a heart beat! Looking back at it all, I have to admit my favorite part of the month was being able to celebrate our one year anniversary with the best husband in the world. =)

On a side note, year old wedding cake really isn't all that bad!! Since I didn't get to eat any of the cake at the actual wedding, this was a real treat! Brown sugar cake with Nutella frosting. Delicious!
I love my husband!
xoxo,

May in Retrospect, part dos

WOW. Where did the time go?? I cannot believe I haven’t posted in so long. Oops. These past couple of months feel a little like summer vacation when I was a kid. I didn’t have anything structured to do and the days just kind of melted away in a blink of an eye! No leads on a job yet. So I have been busying myself with other things like reading (I’m on my 5^th novel), decorating, DIY projects and the stupid internet. I’ve come to find out; I can waste some serious time on the internet.

So here we are again, more about that infamous month: MAY (part dos). I am super excited to show you all my pictures from the cruise but first a shout out to some awesome Atlanta people! Around the middle of May, our small group hosted a baby shower for the expecting members =). The theme was “Little Man” and everything had mustaches on it. It was SO fun!

A snippet of the fun we had in our homemade photo booth!

Don’t we have the best small group ever!? I miss them. (We tried a small group here in Phoenix and it was disastrous. Everyone had at least 30-40 years on us. Sigh)

OK! Now onto our cruise adventure! In honor of our 1 year wedding anniversary, Hubby and I decided to go on a 7 day cruise to the Western Caribbean. It was my first cruise ever and we had a BLAST! The ship stopped 4 times during the trip: Cozumel, Mexico; Belize City, Belize; Roatan Bay, Honduras and Grand Cayman. Only two days at sea.

About to board the ship!

Before dinner on the balcony after our first day at sea.

At our first stop, Cozumel, we decided to hail a cab to take us to a quiet local beach where we could get a drink if we wanted and just lay in the sun. He took us to the awesome tiny little beach with a bar and lounge chairs. It was pretty much empty except for us and an occasional diner. It was awesome! 

Our basically private beach and bar service!

Our next stop was to Belize. We spent our honeymoon in Belize last year and the only thing we didn't do then was go cave tubing. So, we had set up an excursion to go cave tubing when we got there. unfortunately due to heavy rains the river was flooded and the park rangers closed the river. So, we went snorkeling and grilled out lobster and chicken on the beach afterwards! Not to mention free rum punch!

after snorkeling on our tiny private island! Literally: a dock, palm trees, a bathroom and a grill. that's it!

 Once we got back to the ship dock, we had time to kill before the ship was set to sail. So, we stopped off at a local bar and had our local favorite from the honeymoon: Belikin Beers!!

 In Honduras, we had signed up for zip lining and were super excited! There were wires strung up all over the jungle. It was a relatively new set up and everything was very secure (to my relief, especially since this was right after that GA student fell off a homemade zip line and ended up in the hospital).

I highly recommend zip lining! It was exhilarating!! Afterwards they had a little monkey out that could sit on your shoulder.

He really liked my sweaty hair. Honduras is a really beautiful place! Still very natural and underdeveloped.

This is an old boat that got stuck on the coral about 20 years ago.

Roatan Bay, so pretty!

 Later that night, we had a formal dinner. I've come to realize I get a little seasick when the boat is over rough waters. The whole trip we were chasing a storm and this night- we found it. Dramamine is your friend! But don't take too much or you won't be able to keep your eyes open. Just trust me on this one...

 The next and final stop was the Cayman Islands. It was raining most of the day but when the rain finally let up a little we decided to venture out and go shopping since the Caymans are known for their shopping!

 We didn't find anything awesome. Turns out, the Caymans are also expensive! Our last day was a day at sea and we spent most of it enjoying the sun on the deck and reading. I totally understand why people love cruises! There is so much good food, constantly tons of stuff to do, exotic places, the beach, all wrapped up in one cost effective package! I think we might need to try out some more cruises... you know, just to make sure they are all equally as good... ;)

The last big May event that I didn't delve upon was our official 1st anniversary, the day after we got back from the cruise. Just to keep you on your toes, i'll save that for next time =) Until then...

 

Stay classy,

May, in retrospect, part uno

Heyo! I'm here to fill you in on the happenings of MAY. It may have to be in parts, we'll see how long this post gets. I know you all are busy people and don't have time to read long novels about our life- nor do I want to sit here and write you a novel. SO- let me see where we left off... whoops, looks like there is still a little of April left too since the last thing I blogged about was my birthday!

Let's get started. On my Atlanta bucket list, one of the things I wanted to do was hike the Chattahoochee river with Kane. So for part of my birthday celebrations, Hubs and I took the monster down to the river!

It was perfect weather and we all had a blast. We even packed a picnic! I just wish we had done this more often while we were in Atlanta. I am sure there will be times like this in Phoenix too, as soon as it cools off some.

Derby marks the first Saturday in May, every year. I usually host a Derby party a my house but since Hubby was gone, our friends Laura and Matt volunteered to host it. AND since it was also Cinco de Mayo, we had a Cinco de Derby (Derby de Mayo?) party! Actually, we had such a good time at the party, I didn't remember to take many pictures!! oops. But luckily, I did snap a few before I had any margaritas!

half Cinco de Mayo, half Derby!

My hand painted Derby plate is adorable, but looks even better with my made from scratch horse cookies on it!

Laura was in charge of Cinco de Mayo decorations. Didn't she do an awesome job!? LOVE!

We had an awesome time, a bunch of people came over and we informally bet on the ponies by drawing horse names out of a bucket. The son of our small group leaders won it all! I think he thought he was rich! The pot was worth almost $40!! Hopefully we'll be able to make some cool friends in Phoenix that we can invite to next years party. Otherwise, all of our friends in Atlanta are going to have to fly to Phoenix for the first Saturday in May 2013 ;)

The next significant even in May was Hubby's 30th birthday!! I made him a special little carrot cake with cream cheese frosting and may have gone a little overboard with the presents. What can I say? I really love to see people open gifts!!!

Kane likes to help open presents too. He is eagerly awaiting present opening time in this picture. You should have seen him when we were unpacking from the move. He was ripping paper off everything!

Even Kane got to have some ice cream! Frosty Paws!! Nose lickin' good!

Overall it was a success! The night prior to his actual birthday, we went out with a bunch of our friends to a great little Indian restaurant on Buford Highway. If you know Buford Highway, you KNOW it was good! But, like my milestone birthday, it was slightly overshadowed by the impending move and the fact Hubby was already in Phoenix =(

MAN! May was an eventful month! Lots of pictures and events to share! I think I'm going to break here and leave you in anticipation for part dos! heh heh heh

On a side note, there are NO squirrels in Phoenix. I'm talking zero, zippo not-a-one that I've seen in the 3 weeks that we've been here. Kane has noticed too. His new favorite animal to hate is the pigeon. They come and sit on the telephone wires behind out house and he goes nuts. Barks and barks at them. But they never fly away so eventually he gets bored (or hot) and gives up. ...until he notices them again and the whole scene starts all over again. sigh.

That's all I got! Over and out until next time =)

xoxo,

Birthday Extravaganza!

This year, my birthday fell on Easter Sunday. So, Hubby and I decided to celebrate it the Saturday before! We jam packed the day with fun things to do...
First, we started the day with brunch at one of my favorite Atlanta restaurants: The Flying Biscuit.

I had an out of this world egg white omelet with all my favorites in it and a to die for fluffy biscuit. The biscuits are simply amazing. If you haven't had one, stop what you're doing and go there right now.

You can get a 1/2 dozen to go.
You won't be sorry.
seriously.

After that, I had to get my car's emissions checked. Stupid Dekalb county requires it. That's the only depressing thing about your birthday- your car taxes are due!

Hey! Happy Birthday! Pay $200 in car taxes! Baloney.

Next Hubby and I signed up for a Wine Class as part of a groupon I bought a few months back.  It was meant to be April's date in Hubby's monthly date present.

The wine class was at a little wine boutique in Midtown. The lady teaching the class was very knowledgeable but she was also a little intense. Still, we learned a lot! For instance, did you know you are supposed to store all left over wine in the fridge? Even red wine!

Once the wine class ended, we headed over to Buckhead Church for a Saturday night Easter service with some of our friends from small group. It was a good message, you should check it out!

After church, we all drove over to The Sound Table for a birthday dinner! It was delicious. It was one of those eclectic places in the middle of Old Forth Ward which should tell you something right there. There were some interesting painting on the wall outside the restaurant...

 

Right across the street from the Sound Table is this funky little bar called Sister Louisa's Church. I've heard that it's definitely a place you need to go to at least once, just to say you've been. So, after dinner everyone decided to see what it was all about.

Let me tell you, this place is CRAZY. Once you get inside, there are pictures of Jesus and Jesus memorabilia EVERYWHERE. Some of the things were funny and others pretty offensive. They had pews to sit in and choir robes to wear around. They have pipe organ karaoke once a week. It was overwhelming! Hubby and I decided to try out the choir robes...

We had a pretty fun time! We love our small group! I'm really going to miss all of them =( Hopefully we'll make some good friends like them in Phoenix too. Chances are slim any Phoenix friends will be as cool as our Atlanta friends though...

Disclaimer: I know I am like a month or more behind on posting this stuff but I WILL catch up! I promise. Its been pretty hectic around here with our impending move and vacation (woohoo!) So keep checking back as I will update the blog as I can! Stay tuned for pictures of the derby and Hubby's big 3-0 birthday par-tay coming soon!!