sweet moments

Have you ever had a "mommy moment"? You stop, get lost in what your child is doing and your heart goes to complete mush. I have them often and they seem to come more frequently the more independent she gets. She will be 17 months on Thursday…my goodness.  I don't why this tugged at my heart strings but it did.  She sat like a big girl, in a big girl chair at the kitchen table playing on PBS kids…like a big girl. She giggled, sang along to songs, clicked buttons & clapped with pure delight in what she was doing.  All the while I stood off to the side in awe of how smart, beautiful & sweet she is and how fast she is growing up.

It was a sweet moment. 

{Paleo} Mexican Chorizo Stuffed Pepper…2 ways

OMG this is packed with sooooo much flavor.  I adapted the recipe from Mark's Daily Apple, one of my favorite paleo food blogs.  I have eaten this so many times & eat time I am wowed.  In fact, the chile paste makes a regular appearance - I use it for a variety of different things…It's amazing. 

What you Need:

4 dried ancho or California chiles

1/4 cup apple cider vinegar

1 lb grass fed extra lean ground beef

1 lb chorizo sausage, casings removed

4 teaspoon chile powder

4 teaspoon paprika

2 teaspoon dried oregano

1 teaspoon ground cumin

1/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon

1 teaspoon salt

4 garlic cloves, finely chopped

4 large bell peppers

Use a paring knife to cut the stem off the dried chiles. Cut the chiles open & scrape out the seeds. In pot heated on high, toast the chiles on each side until they start to puff up a bit, about 25-30 seconds.  Leave the pan on the heat, add a few cups on water & bring to a boil. Once the water begins to boil, turn off the heat, cover the pot & let the chiles soak for approximately 30 minutes. 

Drain the water & combine the chiles & vinegar in a blender.  Blend until a smooth paste forms.

Mix the ground beef, chorizo, chile paste & spices in a bowl until combined.  Cook in skillet over medium heat, breaking the meat into small pieces. 

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Cut off the tops of the bell peppers & take out the seeds. 

Place the peppers evenly in a baking dish.  Fill with seasoned ground beef. Cover pan with foil & bake for approximately 40 minutes or until peppers are soft. 

Serve with sliced avocado, grilled plantains or side salad. 

These are delicious for breakfast as well.  Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Scrap out some of the meat & set aside. Crack egg over pepper with meat.  Cook until egg white is cooked & yoke remains soft/runny.

First Snow Experience

With great anticipation it actually snowed here in NC.  They have been talking about it for weeks & several other areas of the state got snow the last couple of weeks but it never made it to our area. For days they have been talking about "bad weather", making a 3 hour early release for this afternoon the night before, etc.  Well…it snowed! Of course we got mostly ice because that's what it seems to do here in NC but we had REAL snow as well.  Growing up in the North East has given me a great appreciation for the white flaky stuff & some of my fondest childhood memories are building snowmen, snow forts & shoveling driveways for $$.  I was so excited for Addison!

She went outside excited without even knowing what I was taking her to see. She walked around the house all afternoon saying "hat" & putting it on.  Once I bundled her up in her hat & mittens she darted to the door & pranced around the front yard.  So we didn't get enough to build a snow man but we did get enough to see the joy light up on her face.

Mom vs Mom

I was reading my newsfeed on Facebook this morning and a topic I have wanted to blog about for quite some time was starring me right in my face. Competitive Parenting.

My friend Emilee posted :

"Absolutely disgusted at the amount of judgement that occurs from Mothers to Mothers. Seriously people - raise a happy, healthy kid no matter how you see fit - breast milk or formula, attachment or baby wise, baby led weaning or purées, vaccinate or not. Just remember the first time you judge someone else, what are you really teaching your kids??? I promise your example on how you treat others will make a bigger impact on the type of character they grow up to have than when they started eating solid foods."

Comment after comment people shared their own experiences being judged by other mothers.

We've all experienced it (we might even do it ourselves); judgement on whether or not we formula feed or breastfeed, judgment on schedules/routines, when foods are introduced, how foods are introduced, disposable/cloth diapers, co-sleeping, organic/non-organic…the list is endless.

Why do we do that? Why do we criticize one another instead of supporting each other? Being a mom, a new one at that, is emotional, terrifying, confusing & overwhelming as it is. Oh & don't forget about the insecurity we experience, worrying if the job we are doing is good enough. We are on a quest to find balance in a world of constant change.  The bottom line is that through this endless change we learn to adapt to what works best for our individual families. We have our own methods to try an keep a symbiotic balance.  Just because something worked in your household doesn't mean it will work in mine. We are all doing the best we can. Parenting is hard and complicated. We shouldn't make it even harder by clouding it with guilt & judgement. While we are fortunate to have thousands of parenting philosophies at our finger tips (websites, blogs, books) we sometimes become so fixated on a particular method that we start looking down on people who do things differently.

I think sometimes we do it inadvertently. We analyze other mothers, comparing ourselves to them, and then we judge…ourselves. We question whether we live up to the "standards" & we get defensive. We justify our methods while attacking someone else's. I think the root is derived from competitiveness and jealousy.

The next time you find yourself judging another mother, look at the real emotion behind why you are judging them.

10 Things On Tuesday {Shoes I am Crushing On}

Addison has been wearing shoes since the day she was born but now that her feet have grown a little bit the possibilities (and her shoe collection) has grown tremendously. I am totally crushing on these:

1//Juicy Leopard Print Sneakers

2//Mint Mary Janes

3//Tiny Toms: Cordones

4//Mini Boden Boots

5//PePe Sandals

6//Mini Boden Rain Boots

7//T Stap Sparkle Shoe from Target

8//Manimal baby moccasins

9//Le Petit Tom

10//Bensimon Canvas Tennis Shoes

Lately

A lot has been going on around here lately:

• We cheered on friends of ours at the Carolina Fitness Challenge. Several people for our box competed & 2 made it to the finals WOD.  It definitely has given me even more of a push to want to compete
• We got an olympic lifting platform for the garage (for FREE)..score for us
• We had some super nice 70 degree weather 
• Addison has entered a whole new independent phase and refuses to let us help feed her.  I did catch her using her hands during snack time eating kale & blueberries
•  We wound up at the Dr's for a 104 temperature. When this girl gets sick her temp goes through the roof. I monitored it for 24 hours but eventually took her in. It was just a virus. She is totally back to normal now
• We have "organized" play time now.  Lately it's been consisting of coloring. 
• My sister visited from PA and we celebrated my Mum's birthday.
• I finally got olympic weightlifting shoes
• We had a few playdates
• I've been working 1-2 extra shifts a week so our routine has been out of sorts a little
• The chairs we bought on Craigslist are almost finished. I can't wait to share the end result 

The Great Trade In Event

Now is the time to upgrade to a big ticket baby item if you have been holding out. From today, January 18 through Sunday, February 10th Babies R Us and Toys R Us stores allow customers to trade-in used cribs, car seats, bassinets, strollers, travel systems etc. in exchange for 25% savings on the purchase of a new item.

It's the perfect time if you have been eyeballing that BOB stroller or Britax toddler carseat.