Archive for April 2015

Why I Choose Not To Read Books About Caring For Babies

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Today, something strange happened. I finally opened up two of the baby-raising books I was given as gifts before my baby was born. All of a sudden, my 11 weeks of hands-on experience felt completely wrong. I felt like a failure of a mother. Here I was spoiling my precious baby boy and doing everything the books said not to do. He naps on the sofa, he feeds on demand (even if it's every hour), he gets rocked to sleep, and he breastfeeds for comfort. SO WHAT.

Hundreds of years ago, no one had these books. When a baby was born, the mother had to use trial and error to fend for herself. I wanna go out on a limb and say that I think God meant it that way. If there was truly a step-by-step guide for parenting a newborn, you'd think that God would have included it somewhere in the Bible. Why do certain people think they are the authority on parenting when every baby is different?

Googling my parenting "issues", I found that I'm not the only mommy who feels this way. Someone posted this question on babycenter.com: How can I get my baby to nap? After reading through the answers, I came across this post that was SUPER encouraging to me.


No more stressing myself out, no more driving myself crazy. My baby is happy and healthy and that's all that matters!

Goodbye baby books!

Recipe: Crockpot Beef and Bean Casserole

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Ever since my baby was born, I feel like I've sucked at being a housewife. My poor husband is stuck eating sandwiches most days for dinner. How boring!

This past week, I have been trying to find good crockpot meals to make for dinner. The problem is, I've noticed that most of the pinned crockpot recipes on Pinterest take A LOT of prep work. That just isn't practical for this new momma. I'm sure there are others of you in the same boat I'm in.

Anyways, there have been several go-to crockpot recipes I made quite frequently before I was even pregnant and I realized it wouldn't hurt to resurrect them. I've adapted one of the ones I found online to make it my own and seeing as I made it yesterday for dinner, I'd definitely say it's doable with a newborn in the house! This recipe makes about 4 servings (for big eaters!), but it'd be quite easy to double if you want some leftovers!

Enjoy!

Recipe: Crockpot Beef and Bean Casserole


Ingredients:

  • 1 Tbsp. olive oil
  • 1 cup rice
  • 1 can black beans
  • 1 can kidney beans
  • 500g beef mince
  • 1 can chopped (diced) tomatoes
  • 2 cups water
  • 2 Tbsp. seasoning salt
  • 1 Tbsp. Italian seasoning
  • 1 Tbsp. dried onion flakes
  • 2 Tbsp. soy sauce
  • 1 Tbsp. Worcestershire sauce
  • salt & pepper to taste

Instructions:

  1. Put the Tbsp. of olive oil into the bottom of your crockpot and add the rice. Swirl the rice around in the olive oil until it is coated nicely.
  2. Add the beef mince to the crockpot.
  3. Drain and rinse the beans and add them.
  4. Add the chopped tomatoes, water, and seasonings and stir everything.
  5. Cover and cook on low for 6 hours or high for 3 hours.
  6. Enjoy!

Ethan - 2 Months

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A little late is better than never, right?

This should have been posted on the 3rd, but here it is 10 days late!

I'm 2 months old today!
I can almost completely support my own head.
I usually sleep through the night and that makes Mommy and Daddy happy!
I love being held upright—I’m a big boy!
I love standing and love my walking lessons from Daddy! 
During playtime, Mommy always tells me how much she loves my smile and that makes me smile even more! smile emoticon
I still don’t like getting my nappy changed, but I’m getting more used to it now.
I’ve graduated from my baby bath to the big bath tub and I’m starting to outgrow some of my clothing!
I love cuddles and kisses, especially from my Mommy and Daddy!