Merry Christmas!
Well, let's call this a big, fat Christmas fail. I planned on showing you all some of the ways we jazzed up our house for Christmas. That didn't happen. I did take pictures, I just didn't have a chance to show them to you. I planned on sending out Christmas cards, and then we couldn't afford to order them or buy stamps. I then planned on showing you that card on here, but never got a chance before we left on the train for Washington. Oh and did I mention that I slept a total of seven hours in three days because I was so busy crafting away on every single homemade gift we are giving this year? There was a lot of them. I am tired, but oh so excited that it's Christmas day! So, since I pretty much just failed at everything, I quickly threw together another Christmas card for your enjoyment. Yes, I pretty much rock my failures.
Being Neighborly...And Other Christmas Goodies
We have the greatest neighbors. Really, we do. We actually have experienced a lot of not so great neighbors, so moving to our current location proved to us that neighbors can be nice. Because we love them so much we like to do a little something for them for Christmas (well and throughout the year too). I didn't have a chance to show you what I did last year...or at least I don't think I did, if I did then just think of this as a reminder. We needed something simple and inexpensive, but cute all at the same time. Here is what we came up with.
Famously Famous
Okay you guys, I have been so anxious to tell you about my little secret and I can finally share it!
Bring On The Fat
Lately we have been adding lots of butter into our diet. We use coconut oil in everything. We strive to only buy products that were made/grown locally. In fact we rarely buy anything that has been pre-made and make most everything in our kitchen. We choose full fat and never low-fat food. We like our eggs to come from chickens that have roamed freely. We even buy milk that is not homogenized. I know it looks like we have lost our minds, but let me assure you...our minds are (mostly) intact.
I used to dream of being a dietitian or personal trainer. I loved food and its relation to our bodies and I just wanted to soak up every bit of knowledge and pass it on. Then, I married a man who gagged at the sight of a vegetable or anything else that resembled "healthy food," I got busy, etc. I just kept making excuses. Well, after 9 months of eating whatever food we could possibly buy (usually cheap food means not so healthy food) or that people gave to us, we are finally done with eating poorly. Literally, we were just eating to survive before and now we want to eat in a way that will help our bodies thrive. Eating good food is the best thing you can do for yourself, and most definitely for your children (whether you have them now or in the future). I think we can all agree that something is wrong with our society...diseases, obesity, etc. I think I am just over it all. I don't want Eden growing up thinking that eating something that resembles meat at a fast food restaurant is actually good for her body. I mean, who else is going to teach her the best foods to eat? Anyone else willing to step in here? As much as I enjoy watching The Biggest Loser, I would rather not have to have my children on the show. Dear Jillian Michaels, don't take this personally, but I don't want to meet you. Well, I want to meet you, but just not because I chose to abuse my body with harmful foods. Is she even on there anymore? I don't even know!
![]() |
| via |
The next blog is new to me, but I fell in love instantly. Monica, who writes Oh Sweet Escape actually commented on one of my posts so I went to check out what her blog was all about. OH.MY.WORD. She is gorgeous and super sweet to top it off. Oh and the best thing? This girl can cook. If you want to be inspired in your cooking, go now. You'll love her.
Looking to "green" up your life in all aspects, this next one is sure to give you a great place to start: Frugal Granola
Greats posts and easy to read. Lots of resources on eating and living healthy lives: The Nourished Life
Loving this blog! Another wonderful resource: Simple Organic
Great tips, especially for you moms: Keeper of the Home
I found this blog via Jamie Oliver and love it for planning out healthy meals for kids. Even if you don't have kids you can find some great inspiration: Healthy Meals and Food for Healthy Kids
Now I need to make a little disclaimer here. I am in no way a nutritionist. I know this may come as a shocker (ha!) to most of you. Technically I am just a wife and a mom who is concerned about the state of health in this generation and am refusing to follow that trend. Also all of these blogs that I have shared are just blogs that I have fallen deeply and madly in love with in recent days. Most don't even know I am writing about them (hope they don't mind!).
Here's the other thing. I don't want you to think that I expect each one of you to choose this lifestyle. I don't. We all make our own choices for ourselves and for our families and I expect you are making the best one. I respect that. I am just so over the moon excited about what we have learned and how much better we are feeling these days that I felt the need to share. I can't imagine that we will ever go back to eating processed food. Yes, we let ourselves eat it while on vacation, and we even have a treat once or twice a week. However, our overall food intake is food that would have been ingested on Little House on the Prairie. It's natural and downright good for you.
Please let me know if you have any questions or anything! I love this subject and would love to chat more on it if you would like to hear. Maybe another post will be in order?
Update Schmupdate.
I've been making some changes to the blog. I'm pretty excited about it. Nothing too fancy, just a little facelift of sorts. It needed it in a big way and I finally had a chance to make it happen. There is still so much for me to learn when it comes to coding and all that fancy stuff, but I'll learn one of these days.
My brother and sister-in-law hosted this year. The food was DELICIOUS. I definitely enjoyed a couple portions. Also, I loved what Stephanie did with the napkin, such a cute little detail. Eden, being the picky eater she is, decided to just be a grump. Thankfully her aunt Brooke is always willing to jump to her rescue and entertain her for countless hours. We actually accomplished a family photo thanks to the tripod the besties gifted me for my birthday. I'm spoiled. Also, look how everyone looks at me in that last photo. Yep, they were all like, "Mallory is so pretty...ooh look at her!" In reality everyone is looking because every single time the camera snapped a photo Eden thought it was a good time to elbow me in the face. I am being completely serious. She just knew. She really does love me.
14 Months
*I took the photo and wrote this post when she actually had just turned 14 months and then never finished it. That was November 17th. Mommy fail.
Well, here we are at yet another month gone by in our child's life. This month was quite exciting because she started truly understanding us. Sadly, because of this, that also meant we also started doing timeouts. This girl definitely learned how to throw tantrums just like the best of them. Thankfully we quickly learned to just let her throw them and just walk away. I usually stand in the same room, but only acknowledge her in the beginning to give her a rundown of what's going to happen. "Eden, I'm sorry you are upset. Mommy will be right here when you are ready to ________." Usually she is throwing a fit because she wants me to carry her EVERYWHERE. While I would love to do that, its not always practical, and it certainly is putting a strain on my back. Besides, she should be able to walk around on her own. Oh the life of a toddler.
Eden: YUM!
I am determined to have my child star in her very own Red Robin commercial. I am such a stage mom.
I was planning on having Eden's monthly posts be MUCH simpler than her first year, but that doesn't seem to be happening. Oh well. As always here are some photos of her last month. Oh and of course the disclaimer that my lens is all whacked out so please don't critique them!
| Grandpa Crain took her on her first carousel ride (She was not so happy once the horse started moving..) |
| Holding hands with Beckett (I couldn't upload a video of them kissing, but they did!) |
| No more pictures mommy! |
| She is such a confident walker...and is hard to keep up with! |
| Her newest love, Clifford! |
| This is how she sits when she eats EVERY.SINGLE.DAY without fail. |
We love you Eden!
Pinkalicious First Birthday: Smashing The Cake
Every baby must have a smash cake at their first birthday party right? Well, I thought so. I pondered giving Eden a healthy version of a cake cause you all know I'm kind of crazy and well, I was struggling with the idea of just introducing an entire sugar filled cake just because my child turned one. So, I looked for recipes and came to the conclusion that to make one that was dairy/wheat/orange veggie free was nearly impossible. Yes, I could have figured something out, but at that point I was overwhelmed with party details and just knew I had to let this one slide. So, I made a cake. Out of a box. The frosting? From a can. Tinted with pink food coloring. Not my proudest moment, but sometimes as parents we just have to do what works and I am proud to rock that mantra for today.
Pinkalicious First Birthday: The Eats
I'm back with my favorite part of any party....FOOD! Seriously, I love eating food, cooking food, talking about food. Yes, food is most definitely one of my loves. On to the details.
Also, just a note that any recipes used are linked to the food title, so just click on the name of the food and it will take you to the recipe! If there isn't a link its because we didn't use a recipe or because we bought it :)
I'll be back with more details later! Anyone else feeling like "this is the party that never ends...yes it goes on and on my friends..." What? You don't remember Lamb Chops? I loved that show. Even had the lamb puppet.
Pinkalicious First Birthday Party
When it comes to Eden's first birthday party, all I can say is WOW. It was a lot of planning and even more work, but in the end I was so happy that we decided to go all out for her big day. I know she won't remember it, but it really was a great time with all of her family and friends and a great way to say, "we made it a whole year!" Eden is blessed by so many people that love her and we were so thankful to everyone who made it. We only wished we had a bigger venue so we could have invited the rest of her friends!



">
