Greek Pasta Salad

Greek Pasta Salad

Artichoke hearts, sun-dried tomatoes, chopped onion or bell pepper, and/ or roasted red peppers would all be great in here also.  For an Italian pasta salad substitute pepperoni, salami, mozzarella, or your vegetables of choice for the spinach, feta, and zucchini. 

-1 lb whole wheat rotini, cooked to al dente
-4 cloves garlic, minced
-1/2 c olive oil
-1/2 c red wine vinegar
-2 Tbsp lemon juice
-1.5 tsp dried oregano
-1.5 tsp dried basil
-3/4 tsp sugar
-1 tsp salt
-1/2 tsp pepper
-1/4 tsp red pepper flakes
-1/2 c feta cheese
-1 (4 oz) can sliced black olives, drained
-1 zucchini, diced
-1 c cherry, roma, or grape tomatoes, diced
-a few handfuls of baby spinach

Whisk together garlic- red pepper flakes.  Toss with remaining ingredients.  Allow to sit at least 4 hours (but overnight for best flavor) prior to serving.  Serve at room temperature, rather than cold straight from the fridge.

birthday hat

I made this fun birthday hat for Noah loosely based on this tutorial, but with my addition of the pom pom on top, and I used scrapbook paper instead of fabric.  I love that it was constructed from a cereal box!

51 weeks

Here is what is going on with Noah this week according to ivillage.com;

Baby not walking yet? No big deal! Sure, it's great fun to watch a baby toddle around at his birthday party, but many babies don't walk until sometime in the second year—some not until 17 or 18 months! There's not much you can do to hurry up the process; babies' physical development occurs on their timetables, not yours. Holding his arms and walking with him won’t help, unless he's the one initiating the activity. Just give your baby plenty of space and time to explore. He'll figure it out Some babies pick up some, uh, undesirable habits around now. Biting, hitting and toy throwing all are common on the toddler social scene. That's because babies lack verbal skills and self-control. Your baby doesn't know how to say to another toddler, "Excuse me, can I please play with that toy when you're done?" All your baby knows is that someone else has a neat toy—and he wants it! Now! Twelve-month old babies tend to bite, hit or throw things when they're frustrated. If the other child refuses to hand over the boy, your baby may haul off and hit (or bite) him. As horrified as you may be, try to remember that your baby's actions aren't motivated by malice. He simply doesn't have another way of expressing himself. That doesn't mean you should excuse his behavior. Help him see the results of his actions ("See? That baby is crying. He's sad because you hit him.") Apologize to the other baby and parent and encourage your child to apologize as well. (He might not be able to say "sorry," but he may hang his head or give the offended child a hug.) Expect to repeat these steps over and over and over again in the coming months. Teaching proper behavior is definitely a work in progress! Temper tantrums may also appear around this time. If your baby throws himself on the floor, screaming and kicking 'til his face turns red, when you deny his request for a cookie 10 minutes before supper, ignore him. Make sure he's safe—pull back the chair he's about to bump his head on, for instance—and keep a discrete eye on him, but refuse to interact until he calms down. When he does, give him plenty of hugs and reassurance. Tantrums are scary for little ones too! As your baby's language skills develop, the number of hitting and biting episodes (and temper tantrums!) will decrease.

Noah's 1 year birthday party is this coming weekend.  My how time flies!  I think next week will be my last weekly update on Noah, and I may change to once a month, on his actual birthday day (27th).  Now that he's about to be a toddler he won't be changing at quite as aggressive of a rate as he did as a baby, so I'm not thinking that weekly updates will be quite necessary.

Noah has been practicing giving hugs and kisses and it melts my heart!!!!

The last week he has definitely been testing his boundaries.  He has been going to the things that are "no nos" more often and testing us.  I think that behavior is mainly my fault, because I slacked off (again) in consistency of consequences, and after he figured that out he took advantage of it.  So now Jeremy and I are working hard to be consistent, and Noah seems to be responding well. (This parenting thing is hard work!).  Noah is developing a little bit of an attitude also.  Within the last week he hit me after I stopped him from grabbing some items that he wanted off of our table.  I was so shocked I didn't even respond, because I couldn't believe it just happened, and that my sweet boy's sin nature was starting to show through.  (Stinkin' Adam & Eve!).  Noah is also starting to get territorial.  In the past Luke could grab toys from him and Noah would just move on and play with something else.  But now when Luke tries to touch something Noah is playing with Noah growls at him, defending his territory.

Noah has also figured out how to take his velcro diapers off.  Twice this week I went in to get him up from a nap to find him naked from the waist down. (No, I didn't learn the first time, but now I know to put some type of good shorts over his diapers for naps).  So with future children, I think I will refrain from using the velcro cloth diapers and will stick to snaps.

I don't want all of the updates from this week to sound negative or like Noah is a bad kid.  He is still the sweetest, most fun kid that I know, of course I am biased.

Button Earrings

I made these super quick and easy earrings by covering buttons with a few fabrics and then using hot glue to attach the earring post to the back.  Quick.  Easy. Cute.  and the possibilities are endless!

Whole Wheat Pumpkin Muffins

Whole Wheat Pumpkin Muffins

This is my friend Crystin's recipe, that I'm sure she got from somewhere else, but I try to document all of the recipes that I love here, so that I can easily find them again for future use.  I LOVE it when I find a good baked good recipe that calls for 100% whole wheat flour and still ends up moist and tasty.  I didn't use the walnuts or raisins, but I'm sure they would be great with them, or with chocolate chips or dried cranberries.

-2 c sugar
-½ c canola oil
-3 eggs
-1 ½ c pumpkin (100%, not pie mix)
-½ c water
-3 c whole wheat flour
-1 ½ t baking powder
-1 t baking soda
-1 t salt
-½ t cloves
-¾ t cinnamon
-1 t nutmeg
-1 c raisins (optional)
-1 c walnuts

1. Oven to 400.
2. In Lg bowl: mix sugar, oil, eggs, pumpkin and water.
3. In Sm bowl: mix flour, baking powder and soda, salt and spices.
4. Add dry to wet and blend w/ mixer.
5. Add nuts/raisins.
6. Let stand 1hr at room temp. (I didn't do this and they were fine; mine might have sat 15min)
7. Grease muffin tins or line w/ paper cups.
8. Bake 15min or when toothpick comes out clean. Don't over bake- this will dry them!

Banana Bread Baked Oatmeal

Banana Bread Baked Oatmeal

This is my favorite baked oatmeal yet!  (But I do still love my blueberry baked oatmeal and my pumpkin pie baked oatmeal).  Baked oatmeal is such a healthy, easy meal that tends to be a crowd pleaser.  We have it as a breakfast for dinner often.  The chocolate chips and nuts are optional, but that's how Jeremy and I like our banana bread so that's how I made our oatmeal.  As always, if you're not concerned with calories, a few tablespoons of melted butter stirred into the batter would add even more flavor, but it's still really good without so I don't worry about adding it.  I think my next experiment might be stirring some peanut butter in and making a peanut butter and banana baked oatmeal.  For this (and banana bread) I always use bananas that got super ripe that I stuck in the freezer and then defrosted on the counter the day I am baking with them.  I've heard it makes the texture more moist, plus it's a great way to save those over ripe bananas until you are ready to use them.

-1/2 c sugar
-1 c milk
-2 eggs
-5 mashed bananas (I mashed the defrosted frozen bananas with a fork)
-3 c oats (whole or quick)
-1 Tbsp baking powder
-1/4 tsp salt
-2 tsp vanilla
-optional: 1/2 c chocolate chips and/ or 1/2 c chopped nuts
-2 Tbsp brown sugar

In a medium bowl, whisk together the sugar, milk, eggs, mashed bananas, and vanilla.  Stir in the oats, baking powder, salt, and optional ingredients (if using).  Spread into a greased 9x13 pan.  Sprinkle the top with the brown sugar.  Bake at 350 for 30 minutes.

50 weeks

Here is what is going on with Noah this week according to ivillage.com;

Have you noticed your baby taking care of a doll or stuffed animal? If so, congratulate yourself! Babies learn nurturing behavior from their caregivers, so if your baby gently pats her stuffed dog on the back to reassure him after he falls to the floor, you can be sure she learned from you. Babies this age are excellent mimics, and they're also developing a sense of empathy. Ever notice the distressed look that crosses your baby's face when she hears another baby cry? That’s because she recognizes a cry as a plea for help. Now, she may even toddle over and attempt to comfort the other baby. Sweet, huh? After months of constant, steady weight gain, your little one may begin thinning out. Some of it is simple growth and development. Now that she’s getting older, you baby is taking on the shape of a toddler, not an infant. She’s developing her leg muscles; those pudgy baby thighs are a thing of the past! Some babies even lose a little weight around the 12-month mark. That's because almost-one-year-olds are so incredibly busy! They're constantly moving (do you know any sedentary toddlers?) and reluctant to sit and eat. Give your child plenty of chances to graze during the day—experts say up to six small, nutritious meals a day may be healthier than three large ones anyway—but don’t stress out if the scales show a slight dip this month. She’ll regain it soon enough. If your baby is still nursing, feel free to continue. Breastmilk remains an excellent source of nutrition6 for your baby. (And a good thing for moms as well. Did you know that extended breastfeeding decreases your risk of breast cancer?) When the time comes, drop just one breastfeeding at a time and give your baby and body plenty of time to adjust before dropping another feeding. Most physicians don’t recommend cow's milk until after the first year, but if you're this close, talk to your doctor, who may give you the green light to offer whole milk in a sippy cup.

Noah is definitely one chunky little guy right now.  I blame it all on breastmilk, because cheese and yogurt are about the only fat he eats, most of his food intake comes from fruits and vegetables (which wouldn't put the pounds on).  Over the course of the next month I'm going to be working on getting him from 4 nursings a day, down to 2.  I've been DREADING this, because although the books said not to, I took the easy way out and have easily nursed him to sleep for both naps, and at night.  Now will begin the task of putting him down for a nap without a nursing prior to it.  This will mean new freedom for me, in that I won't need to be present for a nursing before each nap, but I'm not looking forward to listening to him cry in his crib as he fights his way to sleep over the next few weeks.

From the minute Noah wakes up each morning, before we've even gotten him out of his crib, we can already hear him in there saying "walk" to himself.  We go for at least two walks a day, every day, but whenever he is inside he will continuously repeat "walk".  He says duck, and do (dog) now, and also knows to baa for sheep.  The cutest thing is that when he eats he goes "mmmmm, mmmmm".  He definitely says Noah, and walk more than any other word, but mom and dad are repeated frequently as well.

This kid is going to be a year old in two weeks!  Where did the time go?  What happened to that little baby who couldn't move around or talk?  As much as I miss the beginning stages, Noah is at such a fun age right now.  I love watching him learn, explore, and observe!