Tuesday's Child: 4 Weeks Old

It's Tuesday!

Here's a look at how we spend these cold, winter days

Read it here

Irish Soda Bread

I'm trying to set a goal to accomplish each week.

I decided that this weeks goal would be to bake something. 

Lo and behold! 

I have baked something!

I was anticipating this taking two days or an entire day to accomplish but I was able to do it within 90 minutes. 

It helped that the bug went down for a nice nap and also that the recipe I decided to bake is about as easy as they come. 

Courtesy of my sister-in-law, here is a quick and delicious recipe for Irish soda bread.

• Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Butter a loaf pan.
• In a bowl, mix 2 cups flour, 1 1/2 cups whole wheat flour, 1/3 cup sugar, 1/2 cup bran, 1 1/8 tsp salt, 1 1/8 tsp baking soda. Mix in 2 cups buttermilk and stir to combine.
• Pour into loaf pan and bake for 1 hour. 
• Let cool slightly then serve and enjoy!

My other goal this week was to start going for walks and so far so good.

My sister came over yesterday and helped walk the dog while I had the stroller. We were out for a solid hour. It also helped that the weather was pretty decent. 

If only the dog was better at walking on her leash... 

Also amazing? I changed the sheets on the bed yesterday. Sleeping on fresh sheets is the best. Plus they had been stored in John's wooden chest for awhile so they kind of smell like camping. 
Small pleasures. 

Tuesday's Child: 3 Weeks Old

It's Tuesday!

You know what that means. 

I have a baby update for you at Tuesday's Child! 

Sausage & Bacon Tortellini Bake

Yesterday, day two of mat leave sans husband, my lovely sister came over to visit.

It gave me a chance to have a shower, play with the dog outside, and prep something for dinner. 

She also brought McDonalds which was highly appreciated. 

You might think that making dinner when you're spending an entire day looking after an infant who doesn't nap for very long at any given time would be the last thing you'd want to think about doing. 

But I actually enjoyed getting into the kitchen and putting a little thought into what we would eat.

It was a nice return to normal life for a bit. 

While browsing Facebook during our early morning feed, I came across a Martha recipe for a bacon tortellini bake. 

Since we had tortellini in the freezer, and since the dish was relatively quick and easy to prepare, I decided that making this would be my goal for the day.

It was, true to its word, quick and easy.

And delicious.

• In a pan, add 3 or 4 sausages to 1/3 cup water and heat, covered, over medium-high until the sausages are cooked through, about 5-10 minutes. Remove sausages and allow to cool. Drain water from pan.
• In the same pan, fry 1/2 onion, diced, with 4 strips of bacon cut into strips. Add in 2 cloves of garlic, diced.  Add sausage back to pan. Cook until the onions are translucent and the bacon and sausage is cooked. 
• Add in 2 tbsp flour and stir to combine. Pour in 1/2 cup milk and stir again to combine. Add salt and pepper to taste. Add in 1 pkg tortellini and 1/4 cup parmesan cheese and allow mixture to thicken over medium heat for about4 minutes. 
• Pour into an oven safe dish and sprinkle top with more cheese (parmesan or whatever you want). Bake at 350 for about 10 minutes, until warm and the cheese is browned. 
• Then serve and enjoy!

Easy enough to make with a newborn (and someone to keep said newborn entertained)!

Tuesday's Child is Full of Grace

As promised, here is my Tuesday baby post! 

Read it here.

Mommy-Daughter Day

Today was John's first day back at work. 

I was dreading this day a little bit, having enjoyed spending almost the last 3 weeks uninterrupted with my husband. It was wonderful.

I fell in love with him on a totally new level watching him in dad mode and seeing how caring he has been with her and with me as I birthed her and recovered from said birthing.

And now I'm home alone with a 2 week old, a dog, and a cat. 

None of whom speak or understand English. 

"Sit", "paw", "lie down", "okay", and "stay" not withstanding. 

Thankfully this little girl is an absolute angel.

She went to sleep at 11:45 last night, was up from 3:30-4:30 for a feeding, then went back down from 4;30-7:30 this morning. 

I feel like one well-rested Mama.

Next Dear Daughter post will include a promise to buy her a pony if she doesn't change her sleeping habits for the next few weeks.

This is my plan for today. 

Be warned, it's ambitious:

• Enjoy a hot cup of coffee. Real, caffeinated coffee.
• Watch the premiere of The Bachelor from last Monday.
• Do exercise of some sort. Use baby as weight.
• Do laundry.
• Blog about being a new mom.

___________________________________________________

Coffee - consumed in bed, snuggled with baby & dog while watching Breakfast Television. Coffee remained warm throughout consumption. Do not anticipate this trend lasting.

Bachelor - watched. Will this truly be the most dramatic season yet? I'm glad we can have some Mother-Daughter bonding over trashy TV. John has no interest in it. I need to start Evelyn early so I have a partner in crime. 

Exercise - did 25 squats. Then ate a ziplock bag full of skittles. Plan to continue to do some squats and lunges around the house with the babe. Maybe lay out the yoga mat and do some stretches later.

Laundry - 2 loads! This day has been QUITE a success.

Blog - I've started up a sister blog to keep track of all my parenting adventures so that this blog doesn't just become all about the little baby that I'm currently obsessed with. My goal is to post every Tuesday and I will post the link on this blog for convenience :)

The new blog can be found here at Tuesdayfullofgrace.blogspot.com 

Let's hope tomorrow is as successful as today was! 

Tomorrows goals include take a shower, eat something other than ice cream for lunch, and watch some Sherlock

2014 Hopes & Dreams Recap

At the start of last year I decided that instead of making resolutions that I would inevitably break that I would instead come up with some hopes and dreams to try and guide my year.

So, how did I do with my 10 Hopes & Dreams for 2014?

1. Run at least one of the following distances: 21 km (my 4th half-marathon), 30 km (Around The Bay or A Midsummer's Night Run), or 42 km (my first - and most likely last - full marathon)

Didn't do this one unfortunately. I found out I was pregnant in April, which is usually around the time that I start ramping up my running and to be totally honest, I was usually too tired to go for a run. I even skipped the Sporting Life 10 k last year. 

2. Start a family. (temporarily) Gain 30 + lbs.

Done! And just before timer an out on 2014 too! I might be most proud of this one. 

I have a daughter and I am a mom.

3. Put away $5000-10,000 into savings for a house.

Also accomplished this one! Thank goodness for my tax free savings account! We also moved into a rental house this summer so our urgent desire to buy a house isn't so urgent anymore. We're happy here with our increased space and backyard until we have a solid down payment for a house of our own.

4. Stop telling myself I need to get lean/put on muscle/workout to be healthy. Do it only to be happy. Walk long distances with the dog, swim in cold lakes, get lost on runs, ride my bike to work, hike/canoe/portage through nature.

Done. Except I didn't really go for many runs because of the whole pregnant thing. But I did go on many many long walks with the dog, and I did go on a hiking camping trip this fall.

5. Make a Happy List on the blog once a month and be thankful for all the wonderful things in my life. 

Almost did this one. I did the 100 Happy Days Challenge instead.

6. Learn how to speak French again. A patient at work speaks only Swahili and French. While my French is passable (barely), having her laugh, kindly, at my attempts to communicate with her have made me acutely aware of how badly I wish I was bilingual. 

I took French classes but didn't stick with it. I missed a few classes because of work and other obligations but it was fun to get back into it for a bit. 

7. Appreciate my friends & family more and make sure they know it.

I hope I did this!

8. Become more of an activist for HIV/AIDS. Attend more conferences, correct common misconceptions, become a better nurse. 

I did attend a few conferences and workshops and tried to correct misconceptions when I heard them. This is one of those goals that I will work on throughout my career. It'll never be checked off as completely done. 

9. Knit more. Maybe learn to crochet.

I didn't learn how to crochet but I did knit 2 baby blankets, one with a cable stitch, and 3 hats this year! New skill accomplished.

10. Go on lots of dates. With John, friends, my parents, etc. 

I also think I accomplished this one. Maybe more friend dates could have bee planned but, like number 8, this is one that I continue to work on forever.

So all in all, it looks like 2014 was a successful year!