We officially have a very busy baby girl on our hands. She's not a crawler, but she's a super speedy roller! Oopsie is into everything! She's lightening fast and cute as can be.

The other day, I looked down to where she was quietly playing at my feet, to discovered she'd fished a red felt pen from some unknowing location, and was chewing on it! Red ink covered her cheeks, tongue, and chubby little hands and arms. She's been into plants, dust pan piles, clean laundry stacks, and loves nothing better then getting into her big sister's things!

Keeping her out of mischief, and her big sister entertained, takes up most of my moments. Which means there's not a lot of time left for chefing up masterpieces in the kitchen these days. And that's a bummer because I have a house full of foodies who love to eat yummy things!

Quick and easy has become my best friend, and we've eaten more Hamburgar Helper and Shake N'Bake over the past few months then I care to admit to!

But, it's been feeling a little like Fall is on the way, which means it's time to pull out the good ole slow cooker again! And this is a good thing because with our big move coming up, and all the finishing work we will be tackling, I have a feeling my kitchen time will be even more limited.

So yesterday I pulled out a recipe I've been hanging onto for over a year! It was quick and easy, and the perfect recipe to have Growly Bear help me with.

Of course I tweaked it, because I'm disobedient and don't follow directions well. But the result was pretty fantastic! So fantastic that my husband said, "I've never tasted anything like this before!" As he shovelled food into his mouth. I apologize for not getting a finished product photo. There just wasn't time once my he got his hands on it!

So clearly I have to share it all with you now! It's officially tried and true and a keeper. And I hope you enjoy as much as we did!

Love and hugs!

Creamy Spinach, Tomato, Sausage and Ravioli

• 2 cups sausage of your choice (I used garlic sausage)
• 1 small onion, minced
• about 2/3 of a 8oz pkg fresh spinach
• 1 28oz can diced tomatoes, drained
• 1 pkg frozen spinach and cheese ravioli
• 1 8oz pkg Herb and Garlic Cream Cheese, cubed
• 2 cups homemade (or no salt added) chicken stock

Sauté sausage and onion. Drain off excess fat if necessary
Layer ingredients in crock pot starting with spinach, followed by tomatoes, ravioli, cream cheese, sautéed sausage and onions, and then pour chicken stock over the top. (I also added a chicken breast on top for my kids to share) Give a gentle stir, cover and cook on low for 6 hours, stirring every couple hours.

***it is important to use the ingredients I listed as being frozen, frozen. If they are thawed, it will significantly reduce your cooking time, and you will end up with soggy pasta, and over cooked chicken if you choose to add that too***

Serve with garlic toast, and enjoy!

So I know most of you have been following our house building process on Faceboook. It's been an awesome ride, and a lot of fun. Things have been going (mostly!) pretty smoothly, and hasn't caused any real inconvenience to us.

My poor Nana, who lives on the property also, has been putting up with the noise and people and construction happening in her front yard, but we've been blissfully oblivious over at our house. Work gets done during the day, and we go over in the evening to check the progress, and things have almost magically happened since the night before!

Now though, we are gearing up to move the trailer over to meet up with the new addition. And I'm needing to remind myself about it being "fun" a lot these days. I'm mostly hitting the "what the *%#$ were we thinking!?" phase. We have to move our little family out of our trailer for about 10 days while my hubby gets it ready to move, does the move, and then gets things hooked back up and safely functioning and livable for us all over at our new location. 

We had planned on doing the move at the end if the month, after the drywall was complete, but we are fast tracking it and aiming for the middle of the month instead now.

My Nana is going on vacation for 10 days, and has graciously offered us her home to stay in while she's away. It solves the problem of " where the heck are we going to go!?" while the move is happening, and makes complete sense seeing as we will now be living side by side. This allows us to be right there working on things that need to be done. 

Right now though, I'm looking around our house, trying to figure out what needs to be moved out, packed up, come down, be braced, etc before we move the trailer over. It's forcing me to do a bit of a purge, which is always a good thing! And I know it will be worth it once we are over there. But for now, all I'm thinking about is the drywall dusty, painty, floor laying, deck building, sawdust infested mess that we will be living in for the next couple months! With two small girls! But this is fun, right!? And it will be worth it in the end. That, I can say with confidence. 

So for now, I will sit on the couch with this sweet sleeping baby on my lap, while my big girl naps, and look at paint samples that will go with our beautiful new flooring and furniture! And I will ignore the fact that there are a few weeks of crazy chaos ahead, and I will focus only on the end goal. Because this is fun, and will totally be worth it. 

Love and hugs. 

Hello friends!

It's been a long time. A long, long time. I miss blogging, I really do, but I just haven't had any spare moments to be creative and whitty or sit down without a little person hanging either from my arm or my boob, or both.

But yesterday I noticed that there was a Weebly app! So of course I had to download it and check out. And then of course I had to try it. It seems kinda cool, and pretty user friendly, so maybe I can actually get back into blogging!

Anywho, Turns out being a mommy of two beautiful little girls is a helluva lotta work, and a helluva lotta fun. Baby Oopsie, who is somehow already 7.5 months old, is super laid back and a very happy little person. She's an awesome sleeper, a champion eater, and has the calmest, most content personality imaginable! And Growly Bear, who is my little threenager, is a hilarious little sweetie, who's so wonderful and fun and loving. Except when she's not... Wowza! She can been a queen diva. That girl is a whole lot like her mommy, which means when we have a tiff, I'm pretty much feel like I'm fighting with myself! It's exhausting.

Aside from being a busy mommy, we are also building our dream home. Which I designed. On my iPad. Cuz I'm cool like that. Guess all those years of playing The Sims really paid off.

Turns out designing and building a home is pretty much a full time job. Thank god I'm on maternity leave right now and my coworkers don't have to put up with my bossy, stress ball, hormonal self!

See, me, the control freak that I am, decided it would be "fun" for us to be our own general contractor. We figured, why pay someone to oversee and choreograph everything when I'm just going to be checking in constantly to make sure they are doing it my way anyway! Holy shitballs. What a lot of work. It's been been an amazing process so far! I went into this knowing nothing about anything, and over the past few months have learned about site prep and foundations (thanks to my daddy!), engineers joists and trusses, roof pitch, insulation, window efficiency, etc.

My amazing supportive husband has been incredible through it all. We have this thing where I show him ideas that I've come up with, or items that I like, and ask for his opinion. He asks me if I like it and if it's what I want. I say yes. He says he loves it too. So far it's working extremely well! His only request, a bigger TV and and Recliner once were moved in. I think it's a fair trade.

We also have this super wonderful thing happening where my hubby's BFF is our builder! Talk about huge stress reliever knowing we are in good hands! It's so nice to know things are moving right along the way they should be, are being done properly, and we don't have to be watching over his shoulder.

Anyway, that pretty much gets you up to speed with my life! And this wouldn't be a true blog post without a new recipe. I just happen to have a good one for you! So, enjoy.

And I promise, I will try to be more active on here!

Love and Hugs

Coco Banana Sour Cream Cake with Nutella Cream Cheese Icing

Ingredients:

1/3 cup butter

2 eggs

4 very ripe bananas, mashed

1 sour cream

1 teaspoon real vanilla

1 teaspoon ground cinnamon

1/4 teaspoon salt

2 teaspoons baking soda

2/3 cup unsweetened coco powder

2-1/4 cups all-purpose flour

Directions:

1) Preheat oven to 360 degrees F. Grease a 9x11 pan.

2) In a large bowl, cream butter and sugar. Mix in eggs, mashed bananas, sour cream, vanilla and cinnamon. Mix in salt, baking soda, coco powder and flour.

3) Bake for 35-45 mins, until a toothpick inserted in center comes out clean.

4) cool completely and ice with:

-1 cup Nutella

-1 cup spreadable cream cheese

-1 tsp real vanilla

-mix on high in an electric mixer until light and fluffy.

Hello to all my long lost followers! It's been literally months since I posted anything new. But seeing as we've opened a new and excited chapter in our lives, I figured I better get back at it!
Most of you already know, our newest addition made her grand entrance on Thursday, December 19th, via planned C-Section at 8:34am. She was a whopping 9lbs 4.6oz, and 21 1/4 long. She looks so much like her big sister, but with a mass of beautiful black hair.

She kept us on our toes right up to the last moment, and I went into "false" (tell my freaking crazy ass contractions that!) labor at about 8pm the night before my C-Section was scheduled. In the end, she was just pretending though, and contractions started to ease off after getting to the hospital at 4:30am, so we went ahead with the C-Section.
Everything went perfectly, and after a nice short stay in the hospital (28 hours!) we were allowed to go home the next morning.
We've been blessed, so far, with another easy baby who enjoys her sleep. Just like her big sister! We were really lucky to have tons of help from family over the past couple weeks, as we were staying with my Auntie and Uncle, who took amazing care of us.
We got home 3 days ago, and yesterday my hubby went back to work. That meant that I was all of a sudden flying solo! Just me and two girls! I was totally outnumbered! And scared! But I did it!
Luckily, we had a perfect day. Cuddles and coffee in bed to start the day. I was allowed to have my shower! Baby Oopsie even napped long enough for Growly Bear and me to make cookies and dinner! Honestly, we got a heck of a lot more done then I thought we would!
We're so happy to be home, and I'm so enjoying basking in the bliss of being a mommy to two beautiful girls.
No idea how much time I'll have, but I do plan on getting back on here and blogging more frequently again. I miss it! And I've got some great new recipes to share.
Love and Hugs

Time seems to be flying! Somehow, tomorrow, I will already be 24 weeks pregnant! I partially feel like I can't believe we only have 16 more weeks until we meet this little girl, but then I think about how big and uncomfortable I feel already, and 16 more weeks sort of feels like a long time away.
But, we gotta make the most of these next few weeks and get some stuff done around here! My busy hubby is going to get started on the nursery pretty quickly. I'm still at my nesting (aka: wanting to paint and freshen up and clean and throw away everything) stage. And we are doing our best to prepare Growly Bear for all the fun that's to come!
But, first things first! It's time to move our busy little toddler from her crib (seeing as Baby Oopsie will be needing it here pretty quickly anyway) and get her moved into her brand new Big Girl bed that her Grampa has custom made, extra special, just for her! He's been putting in long hours and tons of work, and it's a masterpiece! We had the big reveal this evening in his shop.
We've been doing some junking out and reorganizing in Growly Bear's room to make sure things are all ready for the new bed. I've been packing up all her too-small clothes and stashing them away. Usually I find this process sad and get all sentimental about it. This time though, it's been kinda fun! I know I'll be pulling it all out and using it again in about two years, so it's mostly with a "see you later!" kinda attitude.
Tonight though, is bitter sweet. I just tucked Growly Bear into her crib for the last time. Her Big Girl Bed gets moved in tomorrow. Her crib gets moved out. I'm so excited for her, but I also can't believe that my "baby" is big enough for her own real bed already!

I'm hoping the transition goes well for all of us! I'm hoping it doesn't involve too many tears or fights. With any luck it will just be exciting! And with any luck, she will stay in her bed at nap time and bedtime. Wishful thinking? Probably!
As we enter this new phase of unknown territory, and I learn what to do as we go, the one thing I do continue to know, is how to make a delicious dessert! And this particular one I have made three times in the past 2 week. I think I can officially say it's tried and true, and I gotta share it with you all!
So, enjoy!
Love and Hugs

Ingredients:

For the Loaf:
• 1  1/2 cups + 1 tablespoon all-purpose flour, divided
• 2 teaspoons baking powder
• 1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
• 1 cup Vanilla Greek whole-milk yogurt
• 1 cup sugar
• 3 large eggs
• Zest from 2 lemons
• 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
• 1/2 cup vegetable oil
• 1  1/2 cups frozen blueberries

For the Lemon Syrup:
• 1/3 cup freshly squeezed lemon juice
• 1/3 cup sugar

For the Lemon Glaze:
• 1 cup confectioners' sugar, sifted
• 2 to 3 tablespoons fresh lemon juice

Directions:
1. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Grease bottom and sides of one 9 x 5-inch loaf pans; dust with flour and tap out excess.
2. In a medium bowl, sift together flour, baking powder and salt; set aside.
3. In a large bowl, whisk together the yogurt, sugar, eggs, lemon zest, vanilla and oil. Add the dry ingredients into the wet ingredients, and mix until combined. In a separate bowl, mix the blueberries with the remaining tablespoon of flour, and fold them into the batter.
4. Pour the batter into the prepared pan and bake 50 to 55 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted in the center of the loaf comes out clean. Let cool in the pans for 10 minutes before removing loaf to a wire rack on top of a baking sheet.
5. While the loaf is cooling, make the lemon syrup in a small saucepan over medium heat. Stir together the lemon juice and sugar until the sugar is completely dissolved. Once dissolved, bring to a slow boil, and continue to cook for 3 more minutes - stirring feequently. Remove from the heat and set aside.
6. Use a toothpick to poke holes in the tops and sides of the warm loaf. Brush the top and sides of the loaf with the lemon syrup. Let the syrup soak into the cake and brush again. Let the cake cool completely.
7. To make the lemon glaze, in a small bowl, whisk together the confectioners’ sugar and 2-3 tablespoons of the lemon juice. The mixture should be thick but pourable. Add up to another tablespoon of lemon juice if the mixture is too stiff. Pour the lemon glaze over the top of the loaf and let it drip down the sides. If you have a toddler in the house, or if you need a little pick me up, sprinkle with colourful sprinkles. Let the lemon glaze harden, about 15 minutes, before serving.

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I'd forgotten about the fun little side effect of pregnancy known as Nesting! I had it when I was pregnant Growly Bear, but my hubby built me a new kitchen during my second trimester, so that pretty much took care of that!
This time, we have no major renovations in the works. The nursery needs to be done, but we won't be working on that until the Fall when things slow down for us a little.
So instead, I have this mega desire to paint, and buy new furniture, and change the decorating in our house! It doesn't help that it really DOES need a face lift in here. Between pets, and a hubby with a dirty job, and a sticky toddler running around touching (and sometimes drawing!) on everything, it needs a bit of a makeover. It has that "lived in look", to say the least.
Part of me thinks if I washed the walls and gave the moldings and trim a good scrub, it might slightly help. The other part of me, hates to clean (as you all know!) and thinks painting would be a helluva lot easier and more satisfying. (And yes, to all the kill joys out there who want to point out the obvious, I know I still will need to wash the walls before painting!)
So here I am, on the internet, looking at paint colours and decorating ideas and new end tables and a new area rug and trying to figure out how to de-clutter the living room before all those cute little baby things need to be pulled out of storage.
I can guarantee, whatever I come up with is going to be a nightmare for my poor husband, becasue he will of course be recruited to help me! So in the mean time, I will just keep cooking him delicious treats so that he remembers it's worth it to keep me happy!
I've included my latest delicioso recipe for you all! It's a guaranteed husband pleaser!
Love and Hugs!

Crust
24  Oreo Cookies, finely crushed
1/2 cup melted butter
Filling
4 oz.  Semi-Sweet Chocolate, melted
4 oz.  Unsweetened Chocolate, melted
2 tubs (8 oz. each) Cream Cheese spread (the block is too hard, uses the spread)
1 can  (14 oz.) sweetened condensed milk
1 tub (500ml)  thawed Cool Whip

Instructions

1. Line a 9x13 baking dish with parchment paper, with ends of paper extending over sides. Mix cookie crumbs and butter; press onto bottom of prepared pan.
2. Melt the 8oz of chocolate as directed on package. Beat cream cheese in large bowl with mixer until creamy. Gradually beat in condensed milk, then melted chocolate. Whisk in Cool Whip, and pour over crust.
3. Freeze for 6 hours.
4. Remove from freezer 15 min. before serving; let stand at room temperature to soften slightly. Use foil handles to lift dessert from pan; cut into squares.
5. Enjoy!!!!
   

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Hello my friends!
I knew it had been a while since I posted last, but I didn't realize it's been FOUR months! Time is flying!
Things have been busy, to say the least. We've had visitors from all over. Long lost friends and family coming to catch up. There has been Birthday parties, (Growly Bear turned 2 in May!) and anniversaries, and community events, and fundraisers, and adventures, and fun! And for those of you that don't know.... Growly Bear is going to be a big sister!

So yeah, I've been busy. Between chasing my cheeky toddler, battling bouts of morning (all day!) sickness, and that crazy exhaustion that comes along with the first trimester, there hasn't been a lot of time.
Growly Bear's vocabulary has really grown over the past couple months, and we are learning we have to be very careful what we say around her. She's way too smart for her own good, and the stuff she comes up with is pretty hilarious!
We've been asking her if there is a girl baby or a boy baby in mommy's tummy, and she sometimes tells us it's a girl baby, sometimes a boy baby, and once, a parrot. One thing is consistent though. It's a "cute little baby! Ooooh, so soft!"
This morning as we were waking up and having Sunday morning cuddles in our big bed, she rolled over and said, "Cute little girl baby in Mommy's tummy! Her name is Oopsie!"
Not exactly sure how to take that one, (this baby was very planned!) and if she tells too many people that, they will get the wrong idea! But still, it made me laugh. If it does happen to be a girl baby, the poor child will probably be nicknamed that for the rest of her life!
Hope everyone is having an amazing summer so far!
Love and hugs

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OK, so according to different comments I've seen on Facebook today about this link I'm sharing, I've come the the conclusion that you have to be a mom (or someone who knows little people well) to appreciate this! I saw tons of not-so-nice, snarky, and down right mean comments from people who obviously have never spent a day like this with a little person who they love more then life it's self.
Me, however, I find this @#*&ing HILARIOUS! (Especially seeing as it's not my kid!)
I don't often share other peoples Blog posting, but this one is SO WORTH it!
"Reasons My Son Is Crying"
Pretty sure anyone who has spent time with little people will see the humor in this! And mommies, we've all been there, haven't we?
Hope you enjoy a giggle like I did!
Love and Hugs

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So, little Miss. Growly Bear has been talking like crazy! Her speech seems to be developing at lightening speed. You can have a complete conversation with her, and she knows exactly what you are saying, and usually responds with 3-4 word sentences. She also has a crazy memory, and loves to tell you all about things she's said and done. Like "Pooking (puking) in da tub, in da baf'room (bathroom) blaaah!" We are still talking about that one, 3 weeks later!
I have to keep reminding myself I now need to be reeeeeally careful what I say around her! Chances are, it will be repeated.
The other night was the perfect example.
She came up behind me with a putty spreader while I was working in the kitchen, and was laughing and said "Mommy! Is'a punking stick!"
I said "A what baby?"
She said "a punking stick!" *giggle*giggle*
I said, "I'm sorry sweetie, I don't know what that means?"
She moved around behind me and starting tapping my butt with it, laughing, saying "Punk! Punk! Punk!" with each tap.
I said, "OH! A SPANKING stick?"
She said, "Yeah! A punking stick!" *more giggles*
This is clearly her bad daddy's doing becasue she's certainly never been spanked with a "punking stick". He likes to playfully "spank" me with spoons, spatulas, books, whatever, on his way by me if he has something in his had. So this one is on him.
When she burst out saying she'd "sharted" the other night though, that one was possibly my fault just a little...
Yeah, for sure need to be much more careful now!
Love and Hugs

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I got to go out with some crazy awesome ladies this weekend. I need it! It was good for me. Not so good for my head the next morning, but good for my soul.
I don't go out very often for Girls Night anymore, and when I do go out, the lead up always leaves me with mixed feelings.
I'm excited to get the hell outta the house on a Saturday night. But I also always feel a little guilty for leaving Growly Bear. Especially seeing as I've always just worked and been away from her for the past 3 days.
My hubby is awesome though, and assured me they would be perfectly fine, and to go have some fun. So I did!
I have no idea why things always seem so "cool" in the moment, but after a few drinks and laughs, we decided our night would not be complete without finger mustaches. And we rocked those 'stashes all the way to the bar, and for the entire night.
Pretty sure we thought we were a lot funnier then the rest of the people around us, but we were having and awesome time, and that's all that matters!
Hopefully you all have some fun ladies you can go out and get cray-cray with! Cuz sometimes, it's necessary to blow off a little steam!
Love and Hugs

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