Let's Get Physical

So as every new mom knows, your post pregnancy body is somewhat different from you pre-pregnancy body. Don't get me wrong, every pound and extra inch around the waist is totally worth it, but I gotta say I'm not the biggest fan of my stomach resting on top of my thighs when I sit down. And while dimples are cute on your cheeks (facial that is), they are somewhat less than appealing on your thighs. Once again, it is all worth it, but I don't want these extra pounds to be around forever.

Now I use to love working out...and by love I mean I was in the gym 6 days a week for at least an hour and a half. Crazy as that sounds, it was my stress relief and I had lots of free time. Now with a new baby and working 2 jobs that are 45 minutes away, free time is something I know nothing about. I've been trying to motivate myself for a few weeks to at least start walking again but I keep coming up with reasons to not exercise.

5. 20 extra pounds isn't that bad, is it??
4. French fries and burgers have some nutritional value. I'm sure of it!
3. I'm tall so I will carry the extra weight well.
2. I'd rather cuddle with my girl on the couch.
1. I just don't feel like it.

Ok, so those are crappy reasons which is why starting this week, I'm finally going to put them away and do something good for my body. I'm pulling out my P90x videos from last summer and am going to give it a try. I know I'm totally out of shape and will need to start slow, but I'm determined to at least try it 4 days a week and hopefully build up to do the full program. I figure you gotta start somewhere and something is better than nothing so we'll see how the next 90 days go.

Wish me luck!!

5 weeks old!

The past five weeks with Blakely have been amazing and in a way, very surreal. My entire life, I've known that I wanted to be a mother and sometimes I cannot believe that time has come for me. Kevin and I have really enjoyed our little girl and are soaking up every moment with her. I love being a mother and cannot wait to see how our beautiful girl continues to grow.

She loves bath time and completely relaxes every night when it's time to take a bath!

with cousin Lexie Kate

 

 

 

 

"Excuse me. Can you please wake up so we can play?"

They are 12 weeks apart but I think that Blakely will soon catch up to Lexie in length.

Auntie Amy came to visit me!!

I am mesmerized by my Auntie!

I love when Auntie Amy talks to me!

One month highlights

• Blakely still spends the majority of her day sleeping, although she is starting to become more alert during the day.
• She is a really great sleeper and typically goes 4-5 hours between feedings at night...which makes mommy happy. :)
• She sleeps in a swing next to our bed but sometimes has a hard time going back to sleep after a nighttime feeding. At those times, I put her in the bed with me and she falls right to sleep. She just loves to be near her mommy!
• She started smiling at 4 weeks but only does it every now and then. The first person to make her smile was her daddy!

As American as Apple Pie

Happy July 4th everybody!! 

Last night, my sister-in-law Karen hosted a cookout for our group of friends at my in-laws house. I was in charge of dessert so I decided to get a little creative and make my favorite apple pie recipe but with a few changes. I've made the same Paula Deen recipe several times, so this time I decided to start taking some creative liberties in the kitchen and it really paid off. I think this is the best one yet! Unfortunately, I didn't take any pictures so you'll just have to use your imagination.

Crunch Topping Lattice Apple Pie

Ingredients

• Dough for a double crust 9-inch pie (I use Pillsbury)
• 1/2 cup sugar 
• 1/4 cup brown sugar
• 1 tablespoon all-purpose flour 
• 1/4 tsp. nutmeg
• 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
• Dash salt
• 3 1/2 apples (peeled and chopped)
• 10 oz. applesauce 
• 1 tablespoon lemon juice
• 2 tablespoons butter, chopped into small pieces

Crunch Topping

• 3 tablespoons all-purpose flour
• 1 tablespoon sugar
• dash of salt
• 1 tablespoon butter, at room temperature

Directions

Preheat oven to 425 degrees F.

Line a 9-inch pie pan with one roll of dough. Combine the sugars, flour, cinnamon, nutmeg, and salt in a bowl. Stir in apples, applesauce, and lemon juice. Spoon apple mixture into pie pan and dot with butter. Cut remaining crust into strips; arrange in a lattice design over top of pie. For crunch topping, combine flour, sugar, and salt in a bowl. Using a fork, cut in butter until mixture is crumbly. Sprinkle over top of crust. Bake for about 45 minutes, or until crust and topping are golden brown. 

I also decided to make some yummy cake balls for all the chocolate lovers at the cookout! I have a few pictures of this super, simple recipe.
Cake Balls

Ingredients

• box of cake of your choice
• can of icing
• baker's chocolate

Directions
1. Make the cake according to recipe on the box. For this recipe, I used Funfetti cake.

2. Crumble the cake and put in a mixing bowl.

3. Add the can of frosting to the crumbled cake. I used Rainbow Chip icing.

4. Form the mixture into balls. Place on wax paper and refrigerate for at least one hour.

5. Melt several bars of baking chocolate or chocolate chips and dip the balls into the chocolate. Allow them to sit at room temperature until the chocolate hardens. Then place back into the refrigerator until you are ready to eat them.

**A few hints**
1. I used both white chocolate and semi-sweet chocolate to cover these cake balls. The white chocolate was much better b/c the semi-sweet was not quite sweet enough. I personally would use milk chocolate or white chocolate in the future (unless you really like semi-sweet).
2. I didn't use toothpicks or sticks to dip the balls and they got really messy. I would definitely put some kind of stick in them to make them easier to dip.
3. Make them really small. I made mine too big and they were super rich.