Schedules

I find this to be the most difficult thing about being a mom. Trinity not really being on any kind of schedule yet is definitely throwing a monkey wrench in my routine, especially housework. I know that I need to get a handle on this because Kristi is going to be starting soccer in a few weeks and I've got a few projects coming up as soon as spring hits. Speaking of...

We're so excited to be getting our yard finished this year! We have so many landscaping ideas for our house but haven't been able to start any of them because the yard needs the final grating and top soil (don't ask). The thing I'm most excited about is being able to get my veggie garden going. My goal is to sustain our family year round on the veges I grow. I'm not really sure if this will be feasible this year since I'm very new to this and don't have a very good track record of having a green thumb (right mom?)! I have a feeling this will be a learning year and I'm okay with that.

I've been trying to find ways to not only save our family money but also helping our environment. Growing our own vegetables (and eventually some fruits as well), making my own cleaners and detergents are just a few ways I've been trying to be more green. I recently made my own bathroom cleaner from a post I saw on Pinterest. I have to say that I'm loving not only it's cleaning power but also the price and non-chemical smell. (If you'd like to learn how, check out my Everyday Uses board on Pinterest.) Let's just say that vinegar and Dawn are my new best friends! I also recently made detergent for our dishwasher and am loving it as well! For about $12, we got all the ingredients and one batch should last us between 3-4 months (doing one load of dishes a day). We were paying upwards of $6 for the store bought kind and we were lucky if the container lasted 2 weeks! The dishes get squeaky clean and I'm noticing that we're not getting any kind of spotting on our dishes anymore either--double score! The next DIY project I'm going to tackle is making my own hand soap and laundry detergent. I'm a big fan of scented soaps, especially from Bath & Body Works. but notice they zap all moisture out of my hands (even the moisturizing ones)! On a side note, I think it's a conspiracy because if the soaps dry out your hands, then you'll have to buy their lotions as well. I just love that making things yourself can save a ton of money and let's face it, who doesn't want to save money? Plus, there's a pride factor in knowing exactly what is in your cabinets and where it came from. Moving on...

Baby Kramer (a.k.a. Trinity/Gizmo/Chunky Monkey) is growing like a weed already. She had her first check-up this past week. She weighs 9 pounds 1.4 ounces and is finally starting to fill out her 0-3 months clothing. We've been having some feeding issues since coming home from the hospital but we seem to have them mostly resolved. We've unfortunately had to start supplementing her with formula and rice cereal (as per her doctor's instructions). The breast milk and regular formula are just too thin and she keeps narfing them up so we're adding rice cereal to the breast milk and switched her to the rice starch added formula. I was really hoping we wouldn't have to introduce formula but we just don't see any other choice at the moment. I really think she's starting to look more and more like Andy which is good. (I really think he was starting to get a complex!) I just can't believe that she's 5 weeks old already! Here's one of her more recent photos:

For being a shutterbug most of the time I've been really lax about taking pictures the past few months. I'll have to make a mental note to take my camera with me everywhere.

Last weekend we got to hang out with the Wilt family and it was great spending time with them (we don't get to see them very often). Jill showed us the most hilarious clip that I wanted to share with you because I just died laughing while watching it!

I don't have too much to update on goals yet except for weight loss. I'm not really doing anything special yet but am down 24 pounds since giving birth. I only have 14 more to lose to hit my pre-pregnancy weight! I can't wait to rev that up more with exercise, which I'll be able to introduce in another week or so. I'm going to start Zumba and am totally stoked about it! I'm also going to be trying some new recipes this week that will hopefully aid in my weight loss. One snack I would like to try is homemade potato chips. I love crunchy snacks like celery, carrots, etc. but sometimes would like to have potato chips. I don't really like all the salt and additives they have so I want to see how healthy homemade ones can be. Another snack food I really want to try is spicy roasted chickpeas. I probably won't make them too spicy since it's something I'm hoping Kristi will eat. It would be a great snack food to send in her lunches! This past week I did try a couple of new recipes. I found a recipe for crock pot honey sesame chicken and it's amazing! Although this recipe isn't one that would aid in weight loss (at least I don't think it would), it's one that will be at least a once-a-month dish. My husband really doesn't like honey and he fell IN LOVE with this recipe (as did my 6 year old and we all know how picky she can be!). I also made a crock pot chicken tortilla soup and it was pretty good too. It definitely needs some sour cream and cheese added but other than that, it's simple to make and pretty flavorful. I was hoping to find a recipe that is similar to the kind Smokey Bones used to sell but that hasn't happened yet. I also tried the pumpkin pie smoothies I found on Pinterest (actually all the recipes I tried were from Pinterest). This was the recipe I was most excited about trying and was actually let down. To me, it just didn't taste right. I'm going to try making it again but lessen the amount of pumpkin puree and add more milk. I think the pumpkin puree flavor is too overpowering, even when adding a Truvia packet to sweeten it. I'll let you know how the second batch turns out.

I keep saying this but I really do need to update more so these posts don't get so incredibly long. Until next though, much love and many blessings!


♥Courtney♥