Sweet Tooth Sundays-Lemon Cookies with Citrus Filling

I feel like I haven't posted in forever! This weekend has been so incredibly busy that it feels like just now I'm able to breathe! We went to an awesome wedding on Friday and yesterday was chock full of fun stuff! Today was the day to unwind from it all. And what a perfect way to do so with this delicious treat.

Prepping for Baby, Part II-Nesting

Everyone always talks about the intense urge mothers-to-be get when they are pregnant to "nest"-making a comfy home that's baby-friendly. This can also be a symptom of labor. It seems so random, but it's your psyche's way of finishing up any last minute to-do's before the baby arrives. I can't say it happened to me though. Sure, I organized and put things away but I never had any obsessions with getting the apartment ready. If anything, I put things off as late as I could.

Let's be honest, when your baby comes, you really only have to meet certain needs. The baby doesn't care if the jumperoo is set up. He won't be using it till he's 5 or 6 months anyway! He doesn't care if his 12-month size clothes are washed and folded. Babies eat, sleep, poop and cry-if you meet these certain demands, you don't need much else.

Ladies and Gentlemen, We have a Crawler!

He finally did it! On Friday night, Landon did his first little crawl. It was just across of bed, but it had both of us crying proud little tears. We got it on video Saturday morning.

Go Landy, GO!

Sweet Tooth Sunday-Nutella and Toffee Chocolate Chunk Cookies

Pour a huge glass of milk for these cookies, because boyyyy these cookies are sweet! I adapted the Nestle Toll House Chocolate Chip Cookie recipe with these sweet additions.

Prepping for Baby, Part 1-The Pets

There are so many things you have to do when getting ready to welcome a baby into your home. Over the next few days, I'll explain how we got ready for baby.

Besides the obvious nesting that goes on, you have to mentally prepare the rest of your family. In my household, "family" includes our dog, Bailey. Although he isn't an aggressive dog, Bailey is a bit on the excitable side. He's incredibly playful, in-your-face friendly.

Back to Work Guide for Working Moms

One of the biggest decisions you make as a mother is whether or not you'll go back to work after the baby is born. It is a hard thing to decide and sometimes you don't even have a choice.

I have many reasons for going back, although I question them everyday usually around 3 PM which is when I miss my boy like crazy. I think about him so much during the day that sometimes it's hard to focus but I try to tell myself that it's the best for the both of us.

Here's how you can make this time easier on you and your child...

Like Mother, Like Son

It is so awesome when you see yourself in your own children. This is what I see of myself in Landon....

Sweet Tooth Sunday-Mini Key Lime Pies

I couldn't have had a better weekend. As always, it seems like it went by so fast and now I'm wishing that weekends were three days long, especially since it's going to be even nicer tomorrow. It definitely feels like summer is on it's way. And with summer comes refreshing desserts like today's Sweet Tooth Sunday treat.

In New Brunswick, there's a great Cajun restaurant called Old Bay. We went there a few times while we were in college and I remember discovering on their website a recipe for Key Lime Pie. Bartek Loves (with a capital L) key lime pie and this recipe was so simple, even for lazy, time-crunched college students.

Mom Resources

There are a lot of resources out there for new moms and moms-to-be. Being pregnant is incredibly overwhelming in itself, with the hormones, body changes and huge expectations. When you add in thinking about caring for another human being, it's daunting. While I was pregnant with Little Man, I hadn't the slightest clue about how to take care of babies. I had never changed a diaper before he came. I didn't know that newborns ate every two hours. But when do I get to sleep? And how in the world can I raise a child not knowing where breast milk comes from? Does a magic hole appear once you give birth???

My Favorite Baby Products, Continued!

Over the past few weeks, Landon has actually gone to bed at a (somewhat) normal time! Woohoo!

I owe it mostly to starting a night time routine. I pick up L from daycare. We take Bailey for a walk, during which I try not to let him fall asleep. Then he has some dinner, a little bit of playtime, a bath, and then a "goodnight" bottle. On the nights that the routine just isn't enough, I put him on our bed and play the "aquarium" for him. It's really called a soother, but I like "aquarium" better. It knocks him out in minutes!

Easter Photobomb

Hope you all had a great Easter! What a spectacular day for Landon's first Easter! Landon and Delainey loved opening their Easter baskets. Then we went outside for an Easter egg hunt. The kids loved every second!

Guest Blog: I am a man and I really liked the Hunger Games

Hello faithful readers,

It's been too long since I hijacked Chrissi's blog for my own selfish purposes but I've found a topic that I want to write about so here goes.  About 2 weeks ago as we were planning out our Easter weekend, we decided that we should take advantage of the fact that we would be surrounded by parents 24/7 for three straight days so we planned a movie day.  We didn't exactly come to the choice of movie in a Democratic way...Chrissi immediately declared: "We're going to see "The Hunger Games".  Now my friends, I don't rollover too easily when it comes to the whims of my wife but I'm also a pragmatist and I knew I had no chance of convincing her to see for example "The Raid-Redemption" so I caved and I agreed to go see it.  Now for 2 weeks I gave her grief that she would definitely owe me one because we were going to see a chick flick.  My suspicions were somewhat reinforced when some of my friends at work shared their opinions of the movie (after similarly being dragged by wives or girlfriends) and the best reviews they gave the movie was in the tepid "meh" range.

So on Friday the big day arrived and we went to go see the movie.  I wasn't exactly psyched when I found out it was going to be 2.5 hrs long, but I promised Chrissi I would get through it.  Well ladies and gents, I got through those 2.5 hours and after I came out, I wanted 2.5 hours more!  The movie was not a chick flick at all  Granted, was the average demographic of the movie theater the 15 year old Justin Bieber loving girl? Yes.  Did my wifey swoon every time they showed Katniss' love interest back in good ole District 12?  Yes.  But that did not stop me from liking the movie.   There were in fact lots of redeeming qualities for those of us who were blessed to be born with a Y chromosome.  The movie undoubtedly features a decent amount of action.  The plot is fast-paced and intricate, and the acting was spot on, especially from the heroine, Ms. Katniss, who I was expecting to be John Rambo.  Instead she was calculating, cunning, strong, but also vulnerable.  She won the game despite all odds being sacked against her and in so doing humiliated the leadership who was opressing her and her fellow District 12'ers..

So go ahead...judge me, mock me, or agree with me.  But I will unfailingly defend my position on this till the bitter end.  The Hunger Games was a great flick and I will now, whenever I get the chance look to read the Trilogy before the next one comes out.

Peace out readers, and may the odds be ever in your favor!

Sweet Tooth Sunday-Easter Carrot Cake

I wanted to make this week's Sweet Tooth Sunday festive in celebration of Easter. For some reason, I think carrot cake when I think of Easter, so why not make it in the shape of a carrot!?

Blink and You'll Miss It, Part II

As promised, here's a comparison of Landon in his bassinet:

At 2 days old

At 8 months old!

Love this!

Blink and You'll Miss It!

Landon's first year seems to be moving so fast. I caught him standing up today! The first time I've seen it and the first time I got it on camera!!

He stood for the first time in daycare on Monday. I was so sad I missed it, but this time, I'm glad the camera was nearby!

When I had him in his crib while he was practicing standing up, I saw him staring at his play gym. I haven't taken it out in a while, so I set it up on the bed for him. I couldn't believe how big he looked in it!

Landon at 2 weeks

Landon at 8 months

And then, I figured I'd see how big he'd look in his bouncer. I stopped putting him in it about 2 or 3 months ago when he started leaning too far forward in it.

Landon at 1.5 weeks

Landon at 8 months

Look at him now! The bottom almost touches the floor!

Tomorrow, I'm going to get a picture of him in his bassinet now compared to him at 2 days old!

Turning Over a New Leaf

It was just six months ago that I had an emotional breakdown in the dressing room of a Banana Republic. I was there with Bartek trying on clothes for the first time since having Landon. I needed new ones since nothing I owned fit anymore and I was returning to work in just a few days. Trying on clothes one or two sizes bigger than before and looking terrible in them was the worst feeling I have ever had. Couldn't I just go to work in yoga pants?

Well, Landon is eight months old now and I feel like I look worse than I did then. I'm not burning the calories I was when I was breastfeeding, but I still have the same appetite as when I was. I went to H&M today to look for something Springy for this weekend and had that same terrible feeling I had six months ago, only now, there's really no excuse for it.

Time to turn over a new leaf. This beautiful gem arrived yesterday:

The Joovy 360 Jogging Stroller (in black). I ordered it from Buy Buy Baby when I conveniently had a 20% off coupon! Sweet deal!

So I'm getting back into it! Since I have no time whatsoever (which is why I don't go to the gym, and hence, why I'm so overweight) I have to multitask to get some exercise in. I take Landon and Bailey on a 30-45 minute walk every night after work. Now, it's going to be a run. And Hoboken just opened a waterfront walkway that connects to Weehawken! It's a wide walkway that runs (I believe) for miles all the way up to Edgewater, so plenty of space for me to run with a baby and a dog.

I'm so excited to start running again! Now I just need to find myself a good 5K to have something to train for.

Eight Months Old!

Wow this month has flown by! I swear I just posted Landon's Seventh Month pictures! Landon has done so much in the past month. He now has four teeth. He says "mama" all the time, although it isn't really with purpose yet, more like he wants something. He's attempting to crawl. And today, for the first time, he stood up all by himself! He pulled himself up in his crib at daycare! My little man is growing so fast every day!

And this is my little man today doing his first successful attempt at forward motion/almost-crawling. He dragged himself forward a little on the floor! Usually he goes in circles or backwards

I can't believe how fast he's growing!

Seven Months Old

Birth to Six Months Old

Fun Sunday

Today was a big day for Landon. It was his first time going on a slide by himself! He had only been on a slide once before, at Delainey's birthday party, and was not a fan! But he loved it this time around

Mommy needs to let her baby boy grow up!

Weeeeeee!

Safe in Daddy's arms!

Since Bailey is a (human) child at heart, he had to get some slide action too

I love this action shot!

 All in all, it was such a great day with the family. The kids went on the swings, we played a April Fools joke on my mom and we all enjoyed some hot cocoa when we got inside. No better way to spend a Sunday.

Sweet Tooth Sunday-Chocolate Peanut Butter Balls

Happy Sunday to you all. Hope you had a marvelous weekend. It seems like lately we've been doing a lot of fruity desserts, so this weekend we decided to go for something chocolaty. I had a co-worker a few years ago that would give us Chocolate-covered peanut butter balls every year around Christmas. These were the most delicious gift ever and I've always wanted to figure out how to make them. Then I came across this recipe on Pinterest.

Chocolate Peanut Butter Balls
Creamy Peanut Butter-1 jar (16.3 ounces)
Powdered Sugar-3 1/2 c.
Butter, melted-1 c (2 sticks)
Milk Chocolate Chips- 2-11.5 ounce bags
White Chocolate Bar -1 -4 ounce bar

Using a hand mixer, blend together peanut butter, powdered sugar and butter until well mixed. Chill the mixture in the freezer for about 30 minutes until it firms up.

Roll into balls and chill for another 10 minutes.

Meanwhile, melt the milk chocolate chips in the microwave (for 60-90 seconds). Dip the peanut butter balls in  the melted chocolate using a toothpick or your fingers.

Drizzle with melted white chocolate and let harden on a cookie sheet topped with wax paper.

Landon and Kayla enjoying some peanut butter goodness (not really Landon, he was just watching).

Check out past Sweet Tooth Sundays:
Baked Alaska
Lemon Blueberry Cheesecake
Bite Sized Apple Pies
Rolo Peanut Butter Brownies
Blackberry Mille-Feuille
Raspberry Thumbprint Cookies with Lemon Glaze
Banana Pudding
Caramel Apple Cookie Ice Cream Sandwiches
Sea Salt Caramels
Rainbow Cake
Mini Oreo Cheesecakes