Our Little Walker

Brayden is finally walking! He started walking on Mother's Day...what a great gift! He is all over the place. He falls a lot but I know that is part of it!

Tasty Tuesday: Healthy Recipes (from Cooking Light)

Those of you who know me, know I work at Blue Cross & Blue Shield of Mississippi. We pride ourselves on being a health and wellness company. In fact, if it wasn't this company....I would still look like a beach whale. Let me clarify, I kind of let myself go during my pregnancy. I took the saying "I am feeding two people" to the extreme. I would eat Oreos and Samoas before and after dinner. Needless to say, I ended up gaining 47 pounds. Although I am still not to my desired weight (it takes time people...I know my child is almost 14 months but those last few pounds are VERY difficult to shed), BCBSMS allows me to workout while I am at work and educates me on ways to eat/live healthy.

With that said....the editor of Cooking Light and my recipes presented at one of our nutrition classes called "Breakfast in a Bolt." Here is one of the recipes she provided us:

Breakfast: Blueberry Power Muffins with Almond Streusel

Ingredients:
Muffins:

• 1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour, divided
• 1 cup whole wheat flour
• 1 cup quick-cooking oats
• 1 cup granulated sugar
• 1 tablespoon baking powder
• 1 teaspoon baking soda
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 2 cups vanilla low-fat yogurt (Greek yogurt has more protein and other healthier ingredients)
• 1/2 cup 2% reduced-fat milk
• 3 tablespoons canola oil (this is the healthier option of oils without flavor...Olive Oil is healthy but has an added flavor)
• 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
• 1 large egg
• 1 1/2 cups fresh blueberries
• Cooking spray

Streusel:

• 1/4 cup all-purpose flour
• 1/4 cup slivered almonds, chopped
• 1 tablespoon brown sugar
• 1 tablespoon butter, melted

Preperation:

Preheat oven to 400°.

To prepare muffins, lightly spoon flours into dry measuring cups; level with a knife. Combine 1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour, whole wheat flour, oats, granulated sugar, baking powder, baking soda, and salt in a large bowl, stirring with a whisk. Make a well in center of mixture. Combine yogurt, milk, oil, vanilla, and egg, stirring with a whisk. Add yogurt mixture to flour mixture; stir just until moist. Fold in blueberries. Spoon 2 rounded tablespoons batter into each of 30 muffin cups coated with cooking spray.

To prepare streusel, combine 1/4 cup all-purpose flour, almonds, brown sugar, and butter. Sprinkle evenly over batter. Bake at 400° for 15 minutes or until muffins spring back when touched lightly in center. Cool in pans 10 minutes on a wire rack; remove from pans. Serve warm or at room temperature.

(This recipe was borrowed from myrecipes.com)

***I love this recipe because you can make the muffins ahead of time and freeze them.

Wordless Wednesday: Shubuta/Easter Weekend

I know Wordless Wednesday is supposed to be pictures only but I have to blog a little bit about our weekend. We had a great weekend in Shubuta at Justin's parents' house. Brayden loves being outside! When we have to go inside, he pitches a fit. Well, Mimi and Pawpaw have a lot of land and tractors, four wheelers, bulldozers, etc. It is an adventurous boy's fun fest! We found out this weekend that our little boy is very adventurous and isn't scared of anything. He rode on everything and when it came time for him to get off the equipment....well let's just say he was not a happy camper. Anyways, he had a blast and loved being at his Mimi and Pawpaw's house!

Here are pictures from the weekend. Enjoy!














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Tasty Tuesday: Brooke's Spaghetti Recipe

Ingredients:
• 1 lb. of ground chuck or ground turkey
•1/2 or less of a small chopped (use more or less depending on how much you like onions)
•1 can (15 oz) tomato sauce
•1 can (6 oz) tomato paste
•1 package of McCormick spaghetti seasoning (my family prefers Thick and Zesty kind but they make one with mushrooms that is good if you like mushrooms)
•Water
•16 oz bag of noodles (you won't use all of the noodles....I usually do half or a little more than half the bag)

Directions:
Brown onion and meet in a sauce pan and drain grease. Add all other ingredients (you need to add water to the sauce or it will be too thick...I usually fill my tomato sauce can with water and add it to my sauce). Cover and simmer on low medium, occasionally stirring for 30 minutes to an hour (the longer it simmers the better but if you are in a hurry, you can simmer for 20 to 30 and it will be fine). Serve over cooked noodles.

Tip:
You can double the recipe and freeze the extra sauce for a quick meal. The sauce is also great when used to make lasagna!

This recipe has been passed down from my grandma to my mom to me and now to you and your family. Hope you enjoy it as much as my family does!
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Our flowers and ferns

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Must-Have-Monday: The Cozy Coupe

For Must-Have-Monday, I wanted to talk about the cozy coupe. I am sure we all remember memories of us or our siblings riding around in the orange and yellow Flinstone style coupe. I can remember being jealous of my brother because they did not make this cool car when I was that age.

Anyways, Gigi bought Brayden one for Easter. I was not sure about it at first but he loved it! The new style has an extra piece that you can place so if the child is too young to pull a Fred Flinstone, he or she can be pushed by mommy or daddy. I love this new feature! I pushed Brayden all over our neighborhood and he was thrilled! Disclaimer: when it is time for your child to go inside for bed time or to eat or for whatever....your child will not be thrilled. In fact, your child may pitch a fit like my child. Don't say I didn't warn you.

That is all for now. Have a great week!
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Sooooo....

I have majorly neglected our blog. I love blogging. It makes me happy! I was reading Annalee's blog and I love how she has themes for certain days. I think that will help me....plus I now have an app on my phone that helps me write from any location. With that said....since I am writing on a Thursday, the theme is Thoughtful Thursday!

Miss Shelia is who I think of when I think of thoughtful things. She keeps Brayden and she is our gift from God! When Brayden had cradle cap, she worked everyday to grease his hair with oil and pick out the dry pieces with a toothbrush. When he was diagnosed with eczema, she put his creams on him faithfully. She loves him as if he was her own and he loves her too!

Warning (a little graphic): Brayden had his one year shots and he didn't see our normal doctor. He saw a female doctor. Female is important in this story because of what she did. Brayden is circumcised so when he was younger we had to "peel his banana" to keep the skin from growing. Well, I thought we could stop but I was wrong. His skin had reattached so the female doc ripped it apart. Brayden has been in pain from that and his urine irritates it. This is where miss shelia comes back in the story...miss shelia let him sleep at nap time without a diaper. I mean I don't even think I would let him do that and I am his mom! She risked a BIG mess in order to make her lil man comfortable. She is amazing and we are so lucky to have her!

Anyways, have a great weekend!

Pictures

Me and Just before going out for New Year's Eve

Brayden and his Gigi at Amerigo's

Brayden in his outfit from his Mimi

Our Little Mobile Man

Mobile Man
On Christmas Day, Brayden gave Justin and me the best gift ever...he crawled. He had been scooting for the longest time, but couldn't seem to get his leg in the right place to crawl. We had come to the conclusion that he would go from scooting to walking. He proved us wrong!
Now, he is all over the place. We have had to baby proof our home. He will be one place one minute and the opposite end of the house the next. We were warned by others that once your child is mobile, your life becomes a lot more hectic. Boy were those people right. Brayden has fallen off our bed twice (I know this is terrible, but both times were accidents). I think it is taking a little while for Justin and I to get our head around what exactly a mobile child means.
The other night, Brayden was in our living room playing. I went into our bedroom to hang-up some dresses. This took maybe 1 minute. I walked back into the living room and Brayden was no where to be found. I looked everywhere and finally found him in our green room chewing on Belle's raw hide bone. It is scary how fast he can get into something and nine times out of ten it is something he doesn't need to be doing.
Although it can be stressful having a mobile child, it is such a fun thing. Don't get me wrong, I have cherished and enjoyed every moment with Brayden, but the older he gets, the more fun he gets. Justin and I both can't believe how fast he is changing and how much more fun and exciting our life is getting.

Clapping
In addition to crawling, Brayden learned how to clap when others clap. It was the cutest thing. He would get really excited and start clapping. Then, he would look at everyone and wait for all of us to start clapping. He is such a happy baby! The only time he gets fussy is if he is hungry or tired.

Christmas
Christmas was wonderful. We were on the road a lot, but it is worth it to be able to spend time with our family. We are so blessed to have so many people that want to spend Christmas with us and our little one. Brayden got so much stuff! He got bath toys, Laugh and Learn table, scooter, phone, jack-n-the-box, jungle slide, walk & play thing, a 3-in-1 sports toy, books, clothes, and so much more. We had to leave some of the toys at my parents' home because we didn't have room. This year he was more excited about the boxes and wrapping paper rather than the actual toy. We had a wonderful time and I can't wait until Christmases to come.

Eating, Ice Cream, and Sweet Treats
Brayden has gotten so good at eating. I have been putting a little bit of cereal in his vegetables and that seems to do the trick. He is also eating some foods from the table such as beans, fish, potatoes, slaw, and other soft foods.

He loves loves loves Ice Cream! It is crazy how much he loves ice cream. He is constantly making the Mmmmmm noise when he is eating it. He grins from ear to ear every time he sees an ice cream cone or the ice cream box. He likes sweets more than salty items. He also likes Gerber puffs and yogurt melts.

24/7 "Daddy" and "Dada"
I am not sure what is up with the words "daddy" and "dada" but Brayden says them all of the time! Yes, I am complaining because I am jealous. I mean would it hurt him to say "mommy" or "mama" every once in a while? Justin will be no where around and he still says the words constantly. He has said "mama," "gigi," and "baba" a couple of times, but he has "daddy" and "dada" perfected.

Gator Bowl Champs
Justin and I went to Jacksonville to have some mommy and daddy time away from the baby. We had an awesome time. We really enjoyed getting to be with each other with no interruptions. We missed our little boy but we needed the quality time. The game was awesome! We beat Michigan 52 to 14. After our team accepted the trophy, they all lined up on the 36th yard to honor Nick Bell. It was very touching. We had a blast but are so excited to be back home with our little boy.

Brayden's EEG Test and Results

So everyone that knows us, knows that we have been stressing about Brayden's seizures. Justin and I were relieved this week when his EEG test day finally arrived. I had to work, because I still can't use vacation until I have been at BCBSMS for 6 months. Justin took the whole day off to be with Brayden. I got off around 11 and we headed to UMC around 12:15. We had to go to the Outpatient Registration desk to fill-out paper work, and then we were escorted to the neurology department. We waited for a short time in the waiting room until the tech came and got us. Justin seemed calm, Brayden was his normal funny and hyper self, and I was a ball of nerves. The tech took us to our room that had a bed with a device with tons of wires coming out of it laying on it. She started explaining everything to us. I kept getting more nervous. She said that she was going to place the wires all over Brayden's head, face, and chest. She would then wrap them so he couldn't pull them out. She warned us that he will probably scream and cry but assured us that she was not hurting him. I asked where I could sit (hoping it could be on the bed with him) and she said on the bed with him. She needed help holding him down while she got everything on him. She was right....he fussed while she was putting the wires on, but after she finished he fell fast asleep. We loved the tech! She had an 18 month old little boy so we compared stories. She made us feel good, because Brayden is still not crawling and her son didn't crawl until 10 months. She said her son didn't start walking until 15 months. Anyways, after the regular tests, she did a light test. She was not allowed to tell us the results from the tests, but she did say that if Brayden started seizing during the light test she would have turned it off. When it was over, it was a waiting game for us. Our doctor called on Friday to inform us that the test results came back normal. Yay!!! We were so thrilled! We still have to meet with the doctor on Monday to review the test in more details and get answers about what he was doing a few months ago. We are so thankful that we have good news! I really don't know what I would do if anything happened to our precious little boy. He is our world! Thank you to everyone who has prayed for us! We love you!