Mama G + Three: September 2012

Sunday, September 30, 2012

Football Sunday

It's Football Sunday - and that means we need some tasty football food.

And seeing the New England Patriots are playing the Buffalo Bills, it only made sense to make a buffalo chicken dip, right?

Oh, and did you all notice anything different? Yes, my new header. I created it on Friday and once I started - I just couldn't stop. I'm in love with it. So fun!

And once this little blog hits 100 fans - I'm going to give away a header to one of my readers. So if you are reading and not "following" - go ahead and do so now that we can get this give-a-way going!

Thanks, friends! Happy Sunday.

Friday, September 28, 2012

There was this one day...

...when clearly I didn't care about the mess.

It was 4:30 in the afternoon - which is normally witching hour around these parts. We I'm prepping dinner and my sweet, little IV is running around - in what lately, is a t-shirt and diaper, only because he wouldn't lay long enough for me to put his pants back on. And there is the constant sound of "mama mama mama mama" - and me, responding "yeah, buddy?"

Well, I happened to have prepared an ~~easy~~ low-prep dinner {we don't use the word easy in our house...my Husband likes to refer to IV as "easy" to people...not the case} and had the time to pull out a quick toddler project.

Finger Painting! Yaaaaay, Mama! {insert sarcasm here}

And yes, there was a nice card stock, paintable paper on the floor as well - but clearly that wasn't nearly as fun to paint compared to the tile floor.

Oh, and the best part of finger painting? Getting to run around all nakey after!

And one more thing - if you know me and follow my roll on IG, you've seen this insanely adorable photo - but for those that haven't...here is IV dancing it out to No Doubt on Ellen after finishing his masterpiece.

Thursday, September 27, 2012

My body...after a baby.

I'm going to be honest...after having IV, my body seemed to bounced back. I was a breastfeeding and pumping machine which really helped. I didn't do anything to lose weight. My Dad brought me medium ice coffees - extra cream, extra sugar EVERY. SINGLE. DAY...oh, and with that, a double chocolate frosted, chocolate sprinkles donut...sometimes two.

After about 6 weeks I was just 4 pounds away from my pre-pregnancy weight. I didn't do much over the last year to lose those 4 pounds. I didn't really care and those 4 pounds didn't bother me.

But...

My body wasn't the same.

Things were different. My hips felt wider and skin a little looser. And we won't even discuss my belly button - that thing will never be the same.

So when I decided to help my Husband lose some weight - everything changed.

My body became stronger each day and I started toning up.

I have lost a total of 8 pounds since starting the 30 day shred with my Husband. Being below my pre-pregnancy weight isn't what I'm happy about - being stronger and healthier is what makes me happy.

Clean eating and the 30 Day Shred just make me feel better. Physically, mentally and emotionally.

So here you have it: two pics my Husband snapped last night after our workout:

We will continue to live a healthy lifestyle of eating clean and working out. I will say though - that I don't want to lose anymore weight or get too "big"...I know that sounds crazy.

Wednesday, September 26, 2012

Pumpkin Spice Cupcakes | The recipe

I feel like I keep saying this - but I'm pumpkin spice obsessed.

I did a little baking during IV's afternoon nap...which overall these, didn't take very long to prepare. And they are amazingly delicious.

Pumpkin Cupcakes (no frosting)
Servings: 24 • Serving Size: 1 cupcake • Calories: 84.2

Pumpkin Cupcakes with Frosting
Servings: 24 • Serving Size: 1 cupcake • Calories: 121.1

Ingredients:

18.25 oz Betty Crocker Golden Vanilla Super Moist Cake Mix
2 tsp pumpkin pie spice
1 cup canned 100% pure pumpkin
1 cup water

For the Pumpkin Cream Cheese Frosting:

8 oz Philadelphia 1/3 fat cream cheese
1/2 cup pureed pumpkin (canned)
1 tsp vanilla extract
1 tsp cinnamon
1 tsp pumpkin pie spice
5 tbsp packed brown sugar (I probably added about 3 and thought it tasted fine)

Directions:

Preheat oven to 350°. Line a cupcake tin with cupcake wrappers.

Combine cake mix and pumpkin spice in a large bowl. Add pumpkin puree and water, mix about 2 minutes.

Bake for 20-25 minutes.

For the frosting, combine the cream cheese, pumpkin, vanilla, cinnamon, pumpkin pie spice and brown sugar until smooth.

This recipe said it would make 24, but this made me 18...I may have overfilled my liners.

*I found this recipe via Skinny Taste

Enjoy!

Tuesday, September 25, 2012

17 Months Old

My sweet IV turned 17 months yesterday. I really don't know where the time is going - but it's going fast. I swear he grew just over the weekend while me and Stew were out of town.

He loves birds, airplanes, cars, tractors, trucks, helicopters, and kitties. Yes, kitties. But really he loves all animals.

He is napping once a day around 11:30 and sleeps until about 2:30 or 3pm. I am loving this new schedule because it gives me a good stretch of time to get some work done.

He still loves fruits of all kinds - especially pineapple. Loves milk and the occasional (baby) juice.

He weighs 27 lbs and is solid. He's in 12-18 month clothes.

His vocabulary is unreal. He is saying new words every day. His signing is a lifesaver for when he can't tell us (vocally) what he wants. Some of his every day words are: doggie, mama, dada, car, tractor, bird, ball, owl, apple, keys, Elmo, eat, ta-uuu (thank you) and vodka. Yes, I think he says vodka a lot. Weird.

We have recently started potty training. Not anything we are going crazy with, but I read that if you had a potty around and occasionally introduced him - it helps. Well, the first night after his bath we asked him to sit on his new potty. And bam...he went potty. Every night before we we sit on it and he goes...I'll leave it at that for those that could care less about this subject.

And lastly, he amazing. He's so fun, so smart and such a sweet boy. Can't get enough of him.

Love you sweet boy!

Wednesday, September 19, 2012

Chia Banana Pudding/Smoothie

I'm constantly on the hunt for new recipes - and I found this via My Healthy Dish

I love chia.

I don't {love} bananas...I tolerate them.

But this is AMAZING!

I did attempt to take pictures of all the ingredients, but IV was way too interested in the vanilla extract bottle.

{photo credit: www.mardlemade.com}

*Just a note: This recipe makes 2 servings, so when I made mine - I just split this in 1/2 and it came out perfect.

On a completely different note: Happy 3 Year Anniversary to our sweet friends from PA - we are going to visit this weekend! So psyched.

Tuesday, September 18, 2012

Weight Loss | 30 day Challenge

If you follow me on Instagram, you are aware of the changes that I implemented in the "G" household...and you are probably aware of the weight that my Husband has shed in the last 34 days.

I'll be honest, I knew that my Husband had put on a few extra pounds since IV was born. You just don't have all that much "free" time to work out or go for a jog with a newborn/baby. Did we get out and walk? Yes. Did we eat pretty well? Yes. Did we like our share of beers while laying out by the pool? You bet your ass we did.

So, Summer was coming to an end and I knew I had to help my Husband out. I knew he wouldn't ask on his own and I knew he wouldn't ever want to hit the gym after work - he'd miss out on spending time with IV at night and our nightly family dinners.

After a little research, I knew the route I was going to take. I was up for the challenge and I was going to help my Husband lose some weight.

I decided to use the Jillian Michaels 30 Day Shred. It was intense, fast and would get results.

I also decided to change our diet. I went with a straight and simple eat CLEAN approach.

The 30 Day Shred:

I purchased the DVD on amazon for less than $7.00. After putting IV to bed, we changed into our workout gear and got started. Seeing that the Shred is divided into 3 levels, I thought it'd be best to do each level for 10 days...every day. No breaks.

We started August 15th - Level 1. 10 days into the Shred and my Husband lost 10 pounds.

Onto Level 2 and soon onto Level 3.

On September 15th, my Husband stepped onto the scale and had officially lost 22.4 pounds in 30 days.

Clean Eating:

I found a great website which I've mentioned before - Dashing Dish This website has some great clean eating recipes which include nutritional facts. This was a big help, because we watched our caloric intake each day - tracking it with the iPhone app MyFitnessPal.

Extras:

For an extra kick, Stew and I would run or walk anywhere from 2-5 miles each day (on weekends for Stew). We felt so much stronger just half way through that you almost wanted to run. Which if you know me, I get bored running.

So that's it. The 30 Day Shred and Clean Eating. But as I sit here on day 35...it's far from over. This is not a diet...it's a lifestyle change. Ha. How cliche, but true.

And finally, I'd like to thank my Husband for allowing me to share these before and after photos. He did amazing over the last 30 days. I'm so proud of him.

Feel free to email me allie.gregory{at}gmail{dot}com or comment with any questions, Friends!

Wednesday, September 12, 2012

Wordless Wednesday: Fall Photos

Fall photos of my sweet, IV:

Tuesday, September 11, 2012

Easy Fall Wreath & No Bake Cookies

Ok - my Fall decor is sitting on the dinning room table as I type this - I have yet to set everything up.

I did manage to sneak in a quick Fall wreath over the weekend and some super easy "No bake" cookies.

Up first, Bunting and Burlap wreath:

If you know me, you know that I love all things burlap and I have a strong love for bunting. So after a quick trip to Michaels, I came up with this:

This was super easy to create. I had a small roll of burlap left over from IV's 1st birthday party - so wrapping the styrofoam wreath was very simply. After that part was done, I moved onto hot gluing the flowers and berries that I picked up at Michaels. (99 cent per batch)

And finally I printed out the FALL letters, glued them to my mini bunting that I made and that was it. Very easy and you can pretty much do any season seeing the burlap is so versatile. This wreath was made for less than $12. Not bad.

Ok, up next - No Bake Pumpkin Oatmeal Cookies:

3/4 cup quick oats

1/2 cup oat flour (I made my own in the food processor)

1/4 tsp salt

1/4 tsp baking soda

1/4 cup splenda or sugar (I used Splenda)

1/4 tsp cinnamon (optional: a pinch pumpkin pie spice as well)

1/3 cup canned pumpkin

2 to 2 1/2 tablespoons skim milk

1 tablespoon oil

I combined all ingredients in a mixing bowl, then let the mixture sit in the refrigerator few a 1/2 hour or so. After that, I made into teaspoon size balls.

Note: This recipe made about what you see (minus two). So if you're looking to make a bigger batch, just increase the quantity of each of the ingredients above.

Let me know if any of you give these a try! Enjoy, Friends.

Monday, September 10, 2012

Apple Picking

IV had his first apple picking experience...and he loved it.

The morning was crisp and we stopped to get a much needed Pumpkin Spiced Chai before heading out the farm.

The end.

But check back in tomorrow - I'll be sharing a no bake pumpkin cookie recipe along with a tutorial on the burlap wreath I made this weekend.

Happy Monday, Friends.

Sunday, September 9, 2012

Fall Printable

Stew and I are taking IV apple picking today and I'm pulling out all my Fall decorations.

There will be lots of football food made.

My Fall candles will be lit.

And the Patriots game will be on.

I'm in my glory!

If you need a Fall printable to frame and display in your home - feel free to download mine.

These are just a few of my favorite Fall things.

Printable is 8x10 - but you can print to any size you'd like.

Enjoy and Happy Fall!

Saturday, September 8, 2012

Pumpkin Spice Martini

I have been craving pumpkin spice everything since flipping the calendar to September. Coffee, tea, candles - you name it. But I needed something more...so after quick text to my Husband (who was on his way home from work and close to a liquor store) I had all the ingredients I needed.

I present you with....

A pumpkin Spice Martini.

If you like pumpkin spice - you will love this cocktail. The pumpkin flavored liquor is to. die. for! I would seriously just drink it on ice. It's that good.

Tuesday, September 4, 2012

Labor Day in Photos

I have the post Labor Day blues...so this post is strictly photos.

Friday I received my mini baubles necklace that I ordered from GroopDealz! I'm in love with it. I love the small version of this necklace.

Saturday morning we went downtown to the Farmers Market...

(all photos from my iPhone)

Our sweet IV wasn't feeling well though - he was sneezing and had a runny nose most of the morning...even this huge donut didn't help.

We came home for IV to take a nap and that allowed Stew and I to get our work out in and then get cleaned up. Our after was spent running some errands.