Printables and a Recipe (!!)

Hey there, friends of the interwebs. It's Tuesday, which is always exponentially better than Monday, right? Right. And, in case you didn't gather it by the title, there's no rhyme or reason to today's post. I'm a loose cannon like that...

-Free Printables (!!) 
Am I the only dork who gets really, and I mean really excited when I see the words Free Printables? I saw these come across my inbox from Today's Creative Blog and have already printed out several. Rather than keeping a planner this year, I'm keeping a binder.

With two kids and a million different schedules/appointments/etc, it's a better option for us. Anyway, if you're trying to get organized in 2015 like me, print these off and enjoy!

Weekly cleaning schedule printable
Menu planner printable
Password/login printable

-Chicken Cream Cheese Enchiladas
Ladies, this is not Paleo-friendly, Whole 30-friendly, Weight Watchers-friendly or cholesterol-friendly. If you were looking for one of those recipes, you've come to the wrong girl. BUT. Oh, are these tasty. I made these last night and folks - TO DIE FOR. I'd tell you how many I ate, but that'd be embarrassing. I've seen so many variations of this recipe, but my favorite is my momma's : )

Ingredients

2-3 chicken breasts, shredded up

1 {8 oz.} pkg. cream cheese, (Do NOT use low-fat! It makes the mixture too runny!)

1/4 tsp. onion powder

1/4 tsp. garlic powder

1 28 oz. can red enchilada sauce, (We like Old El Paso brand.)

1 can black beans, drained & rinsed

Flour tortillas

1-2 cups shredded monterrey & colby jack cheese

Preheat your oven to 375 degrees. Cook chicken and shred. Mix the shredded chicken, cream cheese, garlic powder, onion powder and 2 cups of the red enchilada sauce together.  Pour 1/3 cup of the enchilada sauce into the bottom of a greased 9 x 13 baking pan. Grab a tortilla and load that puppy full of the chicken mixture and black beans. Roll 'em up and lay them one-by-one into the baking dish in a row, making sure that the enchiladas are seam side down. Top with a thin layer of the remaining enchilada sauce, then pile on the cheese!

Cover the dish with foil and bake for 25 minutes. Take them out, remove the foil, put them back in and turn on your broiler for 3-5 minutes to brown the cheese on top. 

Top with sour cream, avocado, green onions, salsa - whatever the heck you want!

Confessional Friday: {Link Up}

G'day, ladies. It's Friday, it's weekend-Eve and by gosh, it's time to confess. Let's be on with it!

1. I confess that this week nearly kicked my rear. Tuesday night was rough. Real rough. As was Monday and Monday night. Lemme paint you a little picture...

Caroline is getting more teeth, which is always awesomely fun. Poor chica was cranky, in pain and tired. Ainsley hit a growth spurt and wanted to do nothing else but eat, which means a lot of sitting with baby on boob for moi. She was also incredibly fussy and uninterested in sleep. Totally fine - that's just the nature of newbie babes. But...

It also happened that Caroline discovered the carbon monoxide detector this week. (Ours is located about a foot from the floor in our mudroom hallway - definitely at toddler level.)  And when it is tampered with in any way, it automatically calls our home security company.  Not one, not two, but FIVE times, the security company got called.

I may also mention that when said carbon monoxide detector sounds, it creates the most pants-peeingly-loud, shrill, startling sound you've ever heard in your life. Seriously folks, a friggin' cannon going off wouldn't jolt you as much as that blessed alarm. (Again, this is a good thing if actual toxic gas is detected in your house and you need to exit RIGHT NOW.) Not so great if there isn't carbon monoxide and your newborn is finally asleep after an all-night feeding bender.

I was exhausted and so was Stephen. I nearly hit the breaking point on Wednesday morning, so I did the only thing a girl can sometimes do...I called my momma. The woman is a saint. She came up right away, despite living 3.5 hours away from us. And all has been right with the world ever since her arrival. (Thank you, Mom/Nana!)

(Can I just say though, I'm kind of amazed we went three weeks without having to call for any reinforcements? I realize to some this is laughable, but we're new at this whole multiple children schtick.)

2. I confess that I do believe this is the most ingenious idea ever. In the history of ever, actually.

3. I confess that I ate approximately half a jar of Nutella for breakfast Tuesday morning. (Like, I ate it straight out of the jar with a spoon.) Don't worry, I chased it with a banana and a multi-vitamin. #HeartHealthyin2015 #PostBabyDiet

Those are mine. Now tell me yours --



   

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Caped Crusader

Call it a poncho, call it a cape, call it whatever you want - it's the must-have outerwear piece of the season. Frankly, I'm all about it.

Here's why:

1. Capes and ponchos hide post-baby weight. (Golf claps all around.)
2. Superheroes wear capes; ergo, they are awesome.
3. They're comfy. Like, really comfy. A bit like wearing a blanket, only with arm holes.

Here are a few capes that I have my eye on lately. And may have purchased a couple. Oops.

Vintage-Inspired Plaid Cape  - Bought this one and L.O.V.E. it!

Turtleneck Poncho Sweater in Cream

Necessary Clothing Plaid Poncho Sweater in Red/Black (30% off sitewide by entering code 2K15)

Nasty Gal Cool It Cape Sweater in Ivory

Super-Soft Cape in Grey Marl - One of my very favorite pieces I've bought all winter, hands down.

Colour-Block Geometric Print Cape

So next time you find yourself shopping online for another boring old sweater, (okay, sweaters are pretty great), think "cape" or "poncho" instead. 

Now, if you'll excuse me, I'm going to go help a very excited toddler assemble her Minnie Mouse Playhouse Indoor Tent. (Lord, help me...)

Ainsley Catherine: {One Month!}

Our little Ainsley Cate turned one month old this past Saturday, (yes, really.) I'm still in complete shock at how fast this first month has flown. Seriously, didn't we just bring her home from the hospital yesterday?

Ainsley Catherine, you are ONE MONTH old! Let's see what you're up to...

Weight: On January 2nd, I took her to the pediatrician and she weighed 6 lbs. 9 oz. I'll come back and update this when we find out for sure at her one-month appointment this week.

Length/Height: 18.75 in.

Eyes: Blue

Hair: Brown

Clothes: Mostly Newborn and a few Preemie pajamas

Diapers: Newborn size Pampers Swaddlers

Likes: Eating, eating and eating. She also likes to be swaddled tightly. And of course, just like her big sister Caroline, she loves her Wubbanub pacifier.

Dislikes: Getting put into her carseat, being burped, being bathed.

*I could write an entire post (and I likely will) about our feeding routine and the difference in nursing the second baby versus the first. 

Eating: I've been nursing Little Miss pretty much on demand. Ainsley averages 2-3 hours between feedings during the day and every 4 hours at night, (unless she wakes sooner.)

Nursing has been a whole different ballgame this time around - and in the best possible way. My milk came in on the Friday that I was discharged from the hospital, which was much sooner than last time. For the first thirty days, I only nursed her. My lactation consultant said this was the trick to really kicking off your supply to a great start, so I held off on pumping and bottle feeding.

I thought it would be hard, (and it was tiring), but I honestly found it a lot easier than pumping, then trying to transfer to bottles, then washing bottles...you get the drift. I pumped for the first time last week in order to build up a supply of breast milk in our freezer. (For inquiring minds, I'm using the Medela Pump in Style and it is AWESOME.)

Sleeping: Ainsley is sleeping a ton right now because, well, she's a newborn and that's pretty much what they do. I nurse her around 10:30 p.m, then the Mister and I head to bed. She'll generally wake for her first middle-of-the-night feeding around 1:30 or 2:30 a.m, then again around 6:00 a.m. Obviously there are nights when it seems she's up every hour, but thankfully, those have been the minority. She's a pretty good sleeper and we'll happily take four or five hour stretches at night.

Right now, she sleeps in her Rock and Play, then we'll transition her to her crib around three months, just like with Caroline.

Milestones: Well, she's four weeks old, so not really anything too noteworthy; ) Babies' eyesight begins to improve after the third week and she has started to make eye contact with us, which is also really fun.

If I had to describe our first month in one word, it would be: Survival.

I'm not going to sugar-coat things: being a mom to two babies is tough stuff. My days start before the sun comes up. It has been (and still very much is) a learning experience for the whole family. We just kept saying, "If we can survive this first month, we'll have accomplished something", ha! The first two weeks, I honestly felt like we were treading water.

The week of Christmas is a complete blur. I was literally shopping for gifts at 7 p.m. on Christmas Eve.

Week three was a tiny turning point. Things didn't seem quite as overwhelming.

Caroline is super active, running all over the place and trying to climb on everything : ) She is also really curious about the baby and wants to be involved, understandably. I try my best to include her in things like bathing Ainsley. Poor Caroline would cry and cry at first when I would nurse the baby, but that lasted about a week before she decided that was boring, ha!

Our life right now is diapers, bottles, boobs, burping, rocking, swaddling, soothing, aundry and cleaning. Macaroni in hair, tripping over toys at 3 a.m., take-out dinners, sleeping with our eyes open - all part of our everyday now. And we knew it would be.

But honestly y'all, my heart is so very full. I love those two little girls with all my being. And my husband - dear Lord, that man is my rock. As tiring as it has been, I've been on cloud nine. I said before that the happiest time of my life was after Caroline was born. I just felt this emotional high unlike anything. Same thing this time.

I think Stephen summed it up best one time when he said, "I really like our life."

Me too, husband. Me too.

Confessional Friday: {Link Up}

What's that?? Oh, it's Friday you say?

SPLENDID.

Let's confess!

1) I confess that I ended up buying both the Miracle Blanket and the Woombie swaddles for Ainsley. Both are supposed to arrive this afternoon, so I'll let y'all know the verdict. Cheers to sleeping babies!

2) I confess that it feels great to be back to blogging after taking some time off for the baby's arrival in December! I have missed you girls so much. {Awkward hugs all around!}

3) I confess that the reason this link up didn't get published until 9 a.m. was because I FORGOT that today was link up day. I guess you could say I'm out of practice - whoops.

4) I confess that I tried on a pair of my non-maternity jeans yesterday and it wasn't exactly comfortable, (or attractive). I could button them using the old "lay on the bed and suck in like there's no tomorrow" technique, but I thought I was going to have to call Stephen to extract me from them. And good Lord - they certainly did no favors for my, um, silhouette. Still three weeks away from being released for exercise, so I think I'll stick to leggings and maternity jeans for a bit longer ; ) Or maybe indefinitely. Who knows?

By the end of the whole fiasco, I was beet red and sweating. I've also decided that the oh-so-cumbersome button fly must be the work of the devil. Elastic is where it's at, folks.

5) I confess that, with this second baby, modesty has completely gone out the window when it comes to breastfeeding. Now, I'll probably always use some sort of cover when I feed out in public just because I'm personally more comfortable that way, but there's a strange sense of liberation that comes with the second baby.

6) I confess that we survived our first week without any help here, as Stephen went back to work. I'd say, given the fact that it has been 16 degrees outside and we haven't been able to get out much, things went pretty well. I laugh to myself though because I remember right after we had Caroline and I thought, "Wow, this mom stuff is hard!" (And it is. Even one baby is so challenging. Parenthood is stressful/tiring/amazing no matter how many kiddos there are.) But, I realize now that I didn't know the meaning of tired then. Oh no, folks. I'd like to have told my naive self to try it with a 14 month old and a newborn. Most days, I'm sure we'll be a hot mess trying to get out of the house, but I know we'll settle into a groove eventually.

7) I pulled through the Sonic drive-thru Wednesday to get a coke and when I rolled down my window to order, noticed something in my hair. Upon further inspection, it was a piece of Caroline's macaroni left over from lunch.

If any of you would like a hair tutorial on THAT hairstyle, just let me know. It's an easy and delicious way to tell the world, "I've got my shizz together."

And that's that. Your confessions! (Actually mine.) Now tell me yours. 



   

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