Food for your Itty Bitty: Baked Apple

Delilah was napping and I was wondering what she was going to have for snack. I just finished reading this book, which I really enjoyed. I will be making the yogurt cake very soon! Of course when she got to the part about eating and food I was completely interested. The author stated that for snack her daughter would sometimes have a baked apple. They also had chocolate sandwiches, but that is for another time. 

I decided to try it out since Delilah loves applesauce. She woke up before it was done cooking, so dessert it is!

Peel the apple and core, but not all the way through. I just made sure I got out all of the seeds.

I cut up 1 tablespoon of butter and packed 1/2 in the core.

Fill it up with brown sugar.

Pack on the rest of the butter and sprinkle it with cinnamon.

Bake at 350 for 30 minutes or so.

It smells really good. Really. Good.

Baked Apple

1 apple

1 tablespoon butter

1 tablespoon brown sugar

sprinkle of cinnamon

Preheat oven 350.

Core the apple and make sure to get the seeds out, but do not go all the way through. Pile in 1/2 tablespoon butter and brown sugar. Ad the rest of the butter and sprinkle with cinnamon. Bake for 30 or until tender. 

**Next time I make this I will not peel the apple. The outside was a little dry. No worries, it was still delicious! 

This is her face after I put a piece of baked apple in her mouth!

Life Happened, again!

Wow, it has been about three weeks since my last post, but Im back! 

My last post consisted of Delilah being extremely sick. I thought we were out of the woods, but a couple days later, she developed a rash all over her body. I thought it was an allergic reaction to penicillin, but ends up she had another virus. The doctor said she had what looked like roseola, or Sixth Disease. Basically, you start with a fever and then develop a rash. My poor baby had an ear infection, Hand foot and mouth, and roseola. 

Holy shit.

On top of everything, we were out of town and traveling lately has really been a pain in the ass. I am open to any advice on traveling with a baby, I can take all the help I can get! I am blaming all of our problems on the fact she has to sleep in a pack and play, so I told asked my husband about getting this travel crib. I have done a ton of research and this is it. So, next time we travel, we are going to get it and I will let you know how it works. I am banking on the fact that it is life changing and will solve all of our traveling problems ;)

Coming home!

Once we got home, she was almost completely better. Her Dad was so excited to see her and she was so excited to see him. I love watching her face the moment she sees him! Its amazing! 

What isn't amazing? Delilah's sleep schedule being all f*ed up. She went back to the old days, you know, the days of waking up every 3 hours. So, we have had to go back to letting her cry a bit. But I am happy to report, after only 2 days, she slept from 8 to 5 last night! I fed her and then she went back to bed until 8. Oh hi sleep, it has been a while since we last met.

My mom stayed a bit and we went shopping and ate at the same Italian restaurant 2 days in a row. They have this salted caramel, butterscotch mousse dessert that knocks your socks off. Not to mention, Delilah's appetite was back in full force and she loved their meatballs!

Leaning over to get kisses :)

Two things happened while we were out of town, Delilah got extremely close to Granny and her blanket. I washed her blanket yesterday and tried giving her a backup, it failed! She knew it was an imposter blanket! She is officially a blankie baby!

Delilah isn't walking just yet, but she is definitely cruising. I have been a little weird about getting her shoes, only because it doesn't make sense. Yeah, they are cute, but I honestly would rather buy something else. Well how quickly things have changed! Now that she is standing up more and literally, this close to walking, I am more excited than ever about little itty bitty baby shoes! We got her first pair and I love them!

Sorry about the blurry picture. Since we live in Texas, socks are completely not necessary, but just add a little a ton of cuteness. Looks like we need to go get some sandals ;)

To end the month, we had one last trip to make. A great friend has a son 2 months older than Delilah, and he was celebrating his first birthday! We decided we wanted to give traveling another whirl and yeah, that was a small disaster. We ended up only staying one night, but we had a blast at the party. All of the dads watched the kiddos and us mommas got some much needed girl time, it was a blast! I got Jack a little backpack and a magnetic train set, and I picked up this cute little bow for Delilah.

Look at that face! Story of my life! And not sure what that is on her car seat, there is really no telling but you better bet it is clean now after looking at this picture ;)

All in all, it has been a pretty crazy month. Scary times, frustrating times, happy and hilarious times. Living in a glass case of emotions ;)

I hope everyone has had a great week and most importantly, Happy Memorial Day!

I'll be over there...Rocking.

First of all, I want to say Happy Mother's Day to everyone. I hope you all had a great day!

(Delilah is really into grabbing your lips and then pulling down, I have to say it is one of the more painful games she likes to play. She obviously thinks it's hilarious.)

We have been in Houston all week so I can help out my sister in her office. I decided after my last work experience, that lasted all of 2 weeks, I would start keeping my eyes open and have an open mind when it came to work. My sister needed help and I decided I would make the trip :) I have yet to feel comfortable making the drive, although it is only 3 hours, by myself. So my mom comes and picks us up, that way we can stop if we need to, which we always do at this little diner that has the best little homecooked daily lunch specials, or I can climb in the back if Delilah starts freaking out. I am looking forward to turning her around in the car seat, I have heard that makes a huge difference.

We pulled in and decided to get a rocking chair. The little baby still wakes up a bit and having a rocker really helps out. We then decided to go shopping, because she really needed those extra 4 sets of pajamas ;) Somewhere along the way she must have picked up the horrible Hand, Foot, Mouth disease. Starting Saturday night she was running a fever and by Sunday, any energy that usually came from my baby was gone. She has consistently been running a 103 fever for 3 days now. I have been in the rocker, that we ironically bought to make things easier, for 3 days. I'm pretty sure if we could measure the rocks, I would have rocked my way around the planet 2 times.

Thankfully, UTMB had a pediatric clinic open and we took her in. Not only did she have this virus, but also a double ear infection. I would give my left pinky toe to make her feel better. This. Is. Awful. I have almost cried everyday because of the pitiful little noises she keeps making. Poor thing can't swallow without flinching, and lethargic is an understatement. She will sometimes get a burst of energy, jibber jabber for a bit, then slowly try to play with whatever is in arms reach. I have been trying my hardest to keep her hydrated, since that is a major problem with this illness. Thankfully, she is still nursing. But holy shit, this is hard.

I spent my first Mother's Day in true fashion, trying to nurse my baby back to good health. We cancelled all plans and reservations and all took turns holding her and soothing her. Working is out of the question. I am pretty sure something is telling me to not work, I don't know why, but the last 2 times I have tried to work, Delilah has gotten sick. Nothing is worse than seeing your usually independent, squirmy, big appetite bebe, stuck like glue to you unable to play or eat her favorite foods. Hopefully she will kick this virus soon and get back to ripping off my lips playing her sweet little games.

If you need me, I will be over there...rocking.



Favorite Things: NoseFrida

Delilah thankfully hasn't had too many colds, all though this last one was pretty rough, ending with an antibiotic and an ear infection. We made it through! When she was 2 months old she got her very first runny/stuffy nose. I tried and tried to figure out the aspirator, I even went as far as googling videos, just in case I was doing something wrong. I thought there had to be a better way to get the snot out of a baby's nose. Well everybody, there is! NoseFrida!

I absolutely love this product, and would buy it a million times over again. I will admit, it is a little weird and icky, but like I mentioned before, once you become a mom, you are sort of immune to these things. And if it meant a happier baby, or more importantly a more rested baby, I was in. I gave it an open mind and bought it, under $15 I might add, at this store. (I am now seeing it at every baby store I go into.) I went ahead and bought the filters as well. I am glad I did.

The first handful of times I used NoseFrida, I did not use saline solution with it. I honestly think it works fine if you don't use saline. I didn't notice any more snot in the tube, and honestly it is another step that requires wrangling your baby. When I did use the saline, it made the snot thinner, naturally, and cause it to run all the way up to the filter. Hence, the reason I was glad I had bought more. So, I will not be using saline with the NoseFrida from here on out.

Delilah, surprisingly, does pretty well with the process. When she is super congested, I lay her down on her changing table. I let her look at the NoseFrida and if she wants to hold it, I let her. I think it makes it less scary for her and less intrusive. My husband thinks I am crazy for letting her play with it, but it becomes familiar to her and in return easier for me. 

I put the red mouthpiece in my mouth, and position myself behind her head. That way if I am by myself, which I usually am, I can hold her head with my forearms and the NoseFrida with my hands. That position also allows me to have one free hand if I need to hold one of her arms down. It sounds a lot more complicated and scary than it actually is. It literally takes all of 2 minutes and you're done! 

Once we are in position, I place the tip of the tube in her nose and start sucking. I will admit, you need a little bit of lung power, but while you're sucking it helps if you move the tube around. You will immediately see snot come up into the tube, don't worry about snot getting into your mouth, I think it is physically impossible. Once you are done with one side, move to the next. You will be amazed at what all comes out of your baby nose. Delilah will immediately be able to breath and is instantly in a better mood. 

I tell everybody about this product, because it is that good. You just have to get over the fact that you are literally sucking snot out, but if by some chance, you get anything in your mouth, I think you will need to come up with a super hero name because you have super human powers. 

After we are finished, Delilah goes and plays and I wash out the NoseFrida. During a cold, I will just wash out the tube with water, making sure I get everything out and let it dry until the next use. At the end of the day I wash it with her bottles and set it on the rack to dry. Once I know we will not be using it for a while, I clean all of the parts with alcohol and replace the filter. Easy peasy.

The NoseFrida has been one of our Favorite Things for 9 months and counting!

 Please note, I am not paid to review any of these items, and that everything I say is my own opinion.

Food for your Itty Bitty: Breakfast Edition

Breakfast during the week is usually pretty much the same, only with a few variations. There is always a banana, a berry, and something with substance. Here are some examples:

Bananas, blueberries, and oatmeal made with milk, swirled with 1/2 a fruit pouch.

(I feed her oatmeal first and then let her feed herself the bananas and blueberries. I will also try and slip in a few spoonfuls of oatmeal while she's feeding herself to make sure she gets enough.)

Cottage cheese with applesauce, blueberries, and bananas.

(Delilah wanted to feed herself this morning, it took forever. Picking up each. And every. Single. One. Of the cheese curds. Ridiculous.)

Blueberry Buckwheat Waffle, blueberries, and YoBaby Yogurt.

(We don't follow a gluten free diet, but I try to go the healthier route when I can. Central Market makes the best buckwheat waffle that happen to be Gluten Free, so good! Delilah probably eats about 2 of these yogurts a day, and they are the only food she lets me feed her with no resistance.)

**Update: Delilah no longer likes having me feed her the yogurt, as you can imagine, this makes for a complete mess, two times a day. 

As you can see, bananas are a staple. You would think having a banana every, single morning would get boring. Nope. Not a chance! 

Depending on the weekends and what we have planned, I will sometimes make french toast or breakfast tacos. I will post recipes on those soon. Watching Delilah try bacon for the first time was probably one of the cutest moments ever! 

Have a good day and may you have the strength to feed your resistant, strong-willed child.

A Wedding Weekend

So this weekend was a wedding of a friend, my husband has known him for 20+ years. It marks the first night away from the baby, well not all night, but a few hours at least. 

It was beautiful and the happy couple exchanged their rings as the sun was setting, to the shrieks and coos of our little darling baby! 

Her grandparents took her home after everyone ate dinner and my husband and I naturally danced the night away. I didn't realize how much we needed that night, if it was for only a few hours. I realized how serious our relationship had gotten. This night not only started a new life for the newly married couple, but also gave us the refresher we needed, as well.

This weekend also marks the first hangover I have had in over a year. Did NOT miss that.

I have been too uptight about letting anyone watch Delilah, and I think it is time to let go a little bit. Out of anyone in the world, her grandparents, all four, love her as much as we do and will take care of her. I would not trade any of the time I have spent with Delilah but I now know how important it is to take time for my relationship. We had so much fun and the only thing we worried about was which drink what song was going to play next and what new, sweet dance move we were going to come up with. We. Cut. A. Rug.

Congratulations Kevin + Lacey!

Whipped Coconut Oil with Lemon and Lavender

I decided when I found out how much I loved coconut oil, I would make it into a easier consistency to handle. I also knew I was going to add some essential oils to the party. I decided on two: lemon and lavender. (The alliteration is a complete coincidence but I think it adds a nice ring.) I wanted to add to the anti-fungal properties of the coconut oil, and after doing my research on cradle cap and yeast, I thought this would be a great combination. And, it was!

Lavender oil is amazing. It's properties are anti fungal, anti inflammatory, and antiseptic. Not to mention, it smells great and it used for relaxation. Win. Win. Win.

Lemon is also anti fungal, as well as an antioxidant. For these purposes, we will not be ingesting the coconut oil. But the smell, is also, amazing.

** Side note: A tablespoon of coconut oil a day is great for the body ;)

This recipe makes a pretty small batch. I haven't found a good vessel to keep a larger batch in, but you can honestly make as much or little as you need. It may seem like a super small amount, but a little goes a long way. Especially when you are working with itty bitty babies!

Just be careful with certain essential oils, they may need to be diluted for sensitive skin. Since coconut oil makes for a great carrier oil, add what you like. Vitamin E would be great, tea tree would also be good for a healing oil. Use your imagination and think about what you are needing the oil to accomplish.

Do a little research and decided what essential oils you want to use. 

Today: lemon + lavender

Start with 1/2 cup of coconut oil. You want it to be solid, so don't melt it! I used 5 drops of Lavender Oil and 3 drops of Lemon Oil.

Put everything in the Kitchen Aid and start whisking away. I gradually increased the speed and put it on high for about 10 minutes.

 I was going for a lotion like consistency. If you want it to be firmer, whip it a little longer.

There you have it. It is still an oil so take caution with clothing, but it should be a little more pleasant for you to handle now. I love this stuff, it smells amazing, and helped my daughter with cradle cap and the yeast growth. You can read about that here.

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What else have you used coconut oil for? Or do you have another go to, cure all? 

Do tell!

Cradle Cap and the Nook & Crannies: Coconut Oil

There has been a lot of hype around coconut oil these days. And honestly, I feel like it should have started sooner. Without going into too much detail, I came across coconut oil years ago. I was having a recurring problem and was getting prescribed super antibiotics by my then OBGYN. These antibiotics messed with my entire body, made me feel terrible, and only temporarily solved my problem. One the third round, I broke out in hives and decided that I would have to find an alternative way. I stumbled upon this website and it led me to coconut oil. I am one of those people who will try just about anything. Especially if I am in pain and need whatever is ailing me to stop, so I had an open mind. After a week or so of using the coconut oil as a topical ointment, I was just about cured. Along, with probiotics, that I still take daily and feel just as strongly about, and the use of the coconut oil, I was literally cured in a month or so and have not had a problem since. 

I am convinced that drinking water, taking probiotics, and using coconut oil would solve a lot of the problems we are having today. That is just my opinion and I will leave the soap box for another day.

I knew that I was going to use coconut oil in my daily regimens, I just didn't know to what extent. While I was pregnant, I got dandruff for the first time in my life. Not sure what that was about, but there were lots of things that popped up in my pregnancy that I feel like no one seemed to mention, or "forgot" about. Heh. But I slathered my head with coconut oil and took a shower, washed it out, and the dandruff was gone after 2 treatments. I also started getting extremely lazy with my nightly face washing routine, so coconut oil became, and still is, my face wash/make up remover. Just make sure you have a towel you don't mind getting make up on around. It has pretty much found a way into every, EVERY, aspect of our lives. If you catch my drift. 

Moving along. There were little surprises that I was not ready for when I entered motherhood. Getting pooped on, wiping away boogers, the weirdness of the whole belly button, umbilical cord falling off ::shudder:: I had no idea what cradle cap was, or did I know that white yeast would find itself in the nooks and crannies of my daughter. There was no place left unslathered by coconut oil, so I figured we would test it out and let it work it's magic on Delilah.

Let's start with the nook and crannies. I suppose when you think about it, under the neck and armpits would be a great spot for yeast development. It's warm, moist, and dark. I didn't however, think it would show up on my little innocent baby. I read all about it and found out that some babies get it so bad it bleeds. I was going to do my best to make sure that didn't happen with Delilah. As soon as I would see it, I would immediately wipe it away with a wet paper towel. I didn't want to use a wipe, in case it would sting her. I would apply a pea sized amount of coconut oil where it was forming, usually in her armpit and in her neck folds, I even found it in her elbow crease, and rub it in. I would do all of this after her bath, since that is when she would trap the most moisture in those little spots. Thankfully, with preventative measures, she only had a week or so of the yeast growth and it never bled. Yay! Coconut oil to the rescue!

I pinned a recipe on Pinterest, homemade coconut oil wipes, maybe you've seen it. I was going to make all of her wipes! But let's not get too crazy, once I realized what little time I had, I was not going to spend it making wipes, enter Pampers Sensitive Wipes! It was a good thought though…

Cradle Cap was such a weird phenomena to me. I had heard of it only briefly when my niece was a little baby, but that was the furthest thing from my mind when I was 20. 10 years later, it made another appearance and I was much more interested. I have googled and searched and guess what? Coconut oil saved the day on this one too! I first noticed a little dime sized spot on Delilah's head, I assumed it was the beginning of cradle cap, and it was. Seeing some of the pictures on Google freaked me out, so I was going to make it my goal to try to get rid of and keep it away. 

After every bath, which is and was every night (used soap every other day), I would put, again, a pea sized bit of coconut oil on her head and message away. My daughter was born without a lot of hair, so if your baby has a full head, you might want to do this before bath, or before bed and just see what you are working with in the morning. I bet coconut oil could make some amazing mohawks! Moving on, after I messaged the oil on her head, I used this brush, that I bought from the Natural Baby Company, to really work it in there. Delilah did not seem to mind ;)

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Luckily, we didn't have a problem with cradle cap. Anytime I would spot the slightest beginning of it, I would quickly do our coconut oil routine and it would just as quickly disappear. I think the trick is catching it before it gets too bad. I did make it a habit to "brush" her two hairs every night regardless, and I still do today.

You don't need a ton of coconut oil and if you have never worked with it before, it starts as a solid and then melts when you touch it. It has a melting point of 76 degrees. Really the stuff is amazing. To make it a little easier to handle, you can whip it like you would whipped cream. Put a couple drops of essential oils and you have a cocktail that no bacteria or yeast can mess with!

Favorite Things: Itzy Ritzy

I am a sucker for anything baby related. Being a mom has put a new spin on shopping. I consider it a hobby, therapeutic if you will, my husband might call it obsessive. In any case, I love finding new products and I love it even more when they work out!

My favorite store is The Natural Baby Company and Austin is lucky enough to have one. If you are a momma and live in the Austin area, you should check it out! If you are shopping for a friend who is about to have a baby, you should check it out! I try my hardest to find my way into that store at least once every couple of months. Their products are thoughtful, interesting, and have purpose. They also keep up with the latest items. If you can't tell, I love that store! On one of our many trips there, I walked away with a cute little snack bag. At the time Delilah was only 4 months old, so we could say it was a little bit of an impulse buy. Regardless, I have now bought two more of the Itzy Ritzy Snack Happens bags, because we use them so much! 

I fell in love with the colors of the Urban Jungle print. I later found the Urban Jungle pink print, but it was too late! I already had the matching set. I still love the colors even though it doesn't scream "girl".

When I bought the "Everything" bag, Delilah was pretty young, but lucky for me, was starting to eat solids. And I quickly became a little obsessed with all of the food pouch choices. And wouldn't you believe, a pouch, a spoon, and a bib, fit perfectly into one of these bags! Anytime we would leave the house, I would put Delilah's food into the bag and off we went!

I still use the bigger bags for her food, only I use tiny tupperware to put leftovers in. Once, she started having a snack time, I decided I wanted needed a smaller bag. They are perfect for the yogurt melts and puffs that she loves to eat!

(On a side note, not sure how it happened, but Delilah has preferred the Happy Baby brand of food, one day I noticed that I was buying everything Happy Baby. I find that very interesting and is also one of our Favorite Things.)

The bags were also, at a time, a lifesaver for when Delilah was having a meltdown in the car. I would hand her a closed Snack Happens bag and she would stare at the print, shake the bag, and manipulate the zipper. She is figuring out that the zipper opens the bag, so I have had to come up with another distractor. 

The best part of these bags is clean up. I will turn the bag inside out and clean with a little soap and water (while I'm doing the dishes for the night), and lay it out to dry. Simple as that! If the outside gets dirty, I just throw it in the washer and dryer. 

The Itzy Ritzy bag is one of our favorite things!

 Please note, I am not paid to review any of these items, and that everything I say is my own opinion.