Strike a Pose

In the words of Madonna, "strike a pose."  Unless you are a 2 year old who wants to move, move, move and go, go, go.  I had to take an action shot of little man today because I'm loving this affordable outfit.

Get it Carter!  And get it daddy who dressed him today.  Apparently my husband knows a thing or two about fashion.  

In the excitement of having a first child we didn't tend to look at price when shopping.  If my husband or I saw something cute, we HAD to have it for Carter.  And now a days boys clothes are adorable so we want everything.  However, with two kids, and all the costs involved (food, daycare, diapers), we now try to be a little bit more cognizant of the cost of our purchases, especially when it comes to clothing.  Now don't get me wrong, we still splurge every now and then.  The boys are 22 months apart and were born around the same season so we have been lucky to be able to recycle tons of Carter's old clothes.  It's been really fun to see Luke wear the clothes Carter once wore.  Yesterday I hung up all of Carter's former 3-6 month clothes and it gave me all the feels.  It was like taking a walk down memory lane.  I know one day Luke won't want hand me downs, but luckily that day is not today and camo is NEVER going out of style (at least not in my world).  Our go to stores for toddler clothes and great deals are Target, Old Navy, Costco, and Walmart.  Yes I said it, Walmart.  Don't believe me?  The pants he's rocking today...

Wrangler Relaxed Cargo Jogger (Toddler Boys)

Walmart.  And those kicks... 

Athletic Works Boys' Mesh Jogger

Walmart!

Both the Wrangler Camo Pants and Athletic Sneakers were purchased in store at Walmart for a combined total under $15.  They are fashionable and can be worn various ways.  Camo is on trend and the pants seem like they will be great quality.  Plus grey and white sneakers go with everything!  Blue clothes, black clothes?  It don't matter.  It works!  Grey sneakers are the best.  We will see how long the shoes last, but they feel comparable to Champion, which was my go to shoe brand when Payless was still a thing (RIP Payless, RIP!).  Carter is extremely active and growing like a weed so sneakers only last  him a few months.  Every time I blink I feel like his feet have grown again.  He's currently a toddler size 7 and he just turned 2.  I'm  hoping future NBA all star.  With the price of these shoes I don't feel bad tossing them if and when Carter grows out of them or more likely destroys them playing "ball".  They are far cheaper than the majority of the other sneakers he grew out of after a few wears.  And more money in my wallet and not down the drain makes me a happy mama.

How do you save money on kids clothes?  I would love to hear your secrets in the comments below.

Newborn Weight Gain

Today was a big day for me.  I weighed little man Luke and he is up to 8 pounds.  That is more than the suggested ounce of weight gain a day.  This is huge considering Carter's weight gain issues!  But looking back I had a number of issues that, when combined, made the situation worse.   Carter had silent reflux that went undiagnosed for weeks (and yes, I suspected he had reflux and brought it up on multiple visits to the pediatrician). The puking while he slept didn't help with the weight gain, which he needed because he had lost more than 10% of his birth weight early on (probably because he puked every time he was flat on his back).  I was told that I was possibly not producing enough and I needed to supplement with formula.  I saw a lactation consultant so I know I was producing enough thanks to weighted feeds, but the more people told me I was wrong, I wasn't producing enough, or my baby was so skinny he needed formula, the more I began to doubt myself.  I began excessively pumping in addition to breastfeeding to ensure I had enough breast milk for Carter (bad advice again), which lead to oversupply and frequent bouts of mastitis and plugged ducts.  Breastfeeding became painful.  Everything took an emotional toll on me and then my supply began to suffer.  I could go on and on, but I'll digress because despite all the road blocks, I was still able to nurse Carter for 7 months.  And guess what, he was still long and lean (low weight percentile) despite transitioning to formula and then solids and formula.  So surprise, surprise... formula was not the answer.  Today if you were to look at him he looks long and lean, but is solid (90% percentile for weight).  And frankly he is my perfect boy.  While I wish I had known what I know now, and had the confidence in myself and my abilities as a mother, the whole situation taught me a lot.  This time around I won't let others make me think that my body can't produce enough to feed my son what he needs.  And I will trust my gut through and through.  I'm excited for this new adventure with Luke and hope to continue to have breastfeeding success.

Chocolate Covered Coco-Nut Stuffed Dates

I keep saying I’m going to blog more, but life...  Speaking of life, these last two weeks with my new son, Luke, have been amazing and so much easier than with Carter.  But Luke already has a very different temperament than Carter, who had bothersome reflux and colic from earlier on.  Also this isn’t my first rodeo.  Anything is easier when you know what to expect. Like lack of sleep, breast engorgement, nursing every one to three hours with cluster feeding, changing 13-15 diapers a day… But it is all worth it! 

To get this little one into the world I casually tried a few wives tales to help make my cervix favorable.  Like eating date after date after date.  Did it work?  No idea.  But in full disclosure I couldn’t eat dates every day, let alone 6 dates a day, which is the recommendation for softening the cervix.  It’s not that I don’t like dates, I love them, but they are crazy calorie dense and I tried to save my calories for my nightly slice of carrot cake.  Don’t you judge me!  The pregnancy cravings are real.  And flash forward to two weeks postpartum and I’m still craving sweets, specifically those that are both salty and sweet like these stuffed dates.  But it’s all good since breastfeeding burns tons of calories... right?  Treat. Yo. Self.  I always do.  So why don't you take a page from my book and treat yo self to these delicious chocolate covered coconut and nut stuffed dates.

Chocolate Covered Coco-Nut Stuffed Dates

Ingredients:

• 8 Medjool dates*
• 1/4 cup chopped nuts (I used a mix of 1/8 cup walnuts and 1/8 cup pecans)
• 1 tablespoon honey
• 1 tablespoon unsweetened flake coconut
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 50 grams semi sweet chocolate chips or melting chocolate
• 1 teaspoon coconut oil
• Optional: hemp seeds

Directions:

1. Remove pit by slicing the dates lengthwise with a sharp knife to expose pit.  Remove pits and discard.  Set pitted dates aside until step 3

2. In a small bowl combine nuts, honey, coconut, and salt

3. Stuff each date with the nut mixture ensuring to pack the nut mixture into the dates 

4. Pinch the cut edges of the date closed over the nut mixture

5. Place dates on parchment lined baking sheet and place in freezer while preparing the chocolate dipping sauce

6. Melt chocolate for dipping.  I use a double boiler method by bringing 1 inch of water in a small sauce pan to a boil. As water boils add chocolate and oil to a small glass bowl. Once boiling, place glass bowl over sauce pan (the glass bowl should sit above the boiling water, but not touch it)

8. Stir chocolate and oil frequently until melted and incorporated.  Remove melted chocolate from heat and immediately go to step 9

9. Remove dates from freezer and dip stuffed dates halfway into chocolate.  Place dates back on parchment lined baking sheet to harden

Optional: You can stop at step 9 before placing dipped dates in fridge to harden or you can add a few sprinkles of hemp seeds while chocolate is still warm for added crunch and contrast of color (aesthetics people)

10. Place finished dates in fridge until chocolate sets, approximately 10 minutes.  Leave in fridge until ready to serve

And enjoy!  Preferably with a glass of something bubbly and fabulous.  

I dare you to try to eat just one.

* This recipe is best with fresh dates, however, if your dates are starting to dry out you can add life to them again by soaking them in hot water for a minute.  Dry dates thoroughly before stuffing.