Dairy Free Treat

So, you may have read earlier I have cut out most dairy from my diet. This actually proved to be waaayyyy harder than I thought it would be. Not really because I eat lots of cheese or drink lots of milk, but dairy is in almost EVERYTHING prepackaged/prepared/processed these days. I kid not...it's in everything I found once I started reading labels closely.

Something you may not know is that I LOVE sweets. Imagine that, a postpartum sleep-deprived mama craves the sugar! Ha! I could give up the fight and just find something a little more nutritious for my fix, but I don't give up that easily. I scoured the internet for ideas and found lots of recipes for dairy-free sweets, but who has time for extra cooking these days? I'm lucky to get three squares/day made since Maryclaire came along!

BUT, I did come across Peta's list for "Accidentally Vegan" foods, which means no dairy in them. And guess what's on it?
Oh yeah! These babies taste just like thin mints, my fave! Somehow an entire package of these disappeared over the weekend! I could not keep my hands out of the cookie jar! And I wonder why I can only fit into 2 pairs of pre-pregnancy jeans.

Oh well, for now, these apparently make me happier than fitting into all my clothes!

Oh, the things they ask!

Boy, does Asher ask some tough questions! Just last week he asked these three.


1. What does God look like?

While we were driving at my parents house the other day, he asked this one:

2. Why is there a little school bus and a long school bus?

Wow-I was impressed he was so observant. I really didn't answer this one. He then proceeded to tell me he wanted to ride the long bus because he was a big kid.

3. What is hair made out of? Where did Granbuddy's go?

Haha! I love that last one. What a funny boy!

Sunday Cuties

We finally got back to church this morning since Maryclaire was born. I was so thankful it was relatively easy to get out the door with two kids in tow...and we were only running about 10 minutes behind. What a miracle!

I am also super thankful for my hubby who was so much help getting Asher ready so I could focus on Maryclaire and all the gear we now have to take with us.

I am also thankful that Maryclaire was so well behaved during church. We didn't even have to take her out out all (ok, once for a diaper change.) She stayed awake and enjoyed the music and then peacefully drifted off to sleep during the message. What a good girl!

I snapped a few pics after we got home. Maryclaire is reminding me a lot of Asher as a baby in these pics. I'll have to get those off our old computer soon.

I love Maryclaire's smocked dress. It's blue corduroy fabric with cinderalla on the smocking. Best part is I picked it up for nearly nothing at a consignment sale before she was born.

And of course, a picture's not perfect unless Asher has his eyes closed!

Jill of all Trades in Atl.

It's Kelly's Korner: Show us you Life Friday. This weeks topic is "What do you Make?" And me, why I'm a Jill of all trades! I love to dabble in all things crafty. I started making cakes a few years ago. I love to have the opportunity to practice and come up with new designs. I also am trying my hand at cupcake toppers, monogrammed tee's and tutus. Here's just a few of my faves!

Terrific Tuesday

Yesterday we had a small birthday party at my parent's house for my niece, Maddie, who turned 4. My sister and the kids were headed down to Disney for Maddie's birthday and my parent's house was a perfect stop for the night. I was so glad we got to celebrate with this sweet girl on her actual birthday. All the kids (big and small) had a great time!

The boys playing outside...yes, that's a plastic goose!



The birthday girl with a mouthful of pizza!


Jen modeling the tutu and shirt I made for Maddie.

Maddie got a Cinderella costume to wear at Disney. It was the only present she was actually excited about!

Beautiful!


Blowing out her candles!

Happy Birthday, Maddie! We love you!

A few of My Favorite Things

A hope you don't find this post terribly boring, but I wanted to post about a few of my favorites things at the moment. They are almost all appliances...have I reached a new level of domestic bliss? Perhaps! Really though, it seems as though several of our small personal appliances have been on the fritz lately. I really hate spending money on things like that, especially when things are tight.

I posted on facebook the other week about how we needed a new iron, mop and hairdryer all at the same time. My sweet mother in law decided to take care of a couple of our needs for Valentine's day presents. I got this pretty little blow dryer. Sweet! My old one was literally sparking at me!

I can dry my hair in about 5 minutes now! Wow! It sure beats 15...especially when I have no time primp in the morning!

My husband and I have been using the same iron since we got married 7 years ago. It really didn't do the job anymore, but a new iron was low on the totem pole for things we needed to buy. Oddly enough, my husband actually LIKES ironing. He sweet mama got him this for Valentine's Day!I got a super awesome deal on this using my kohl's card 30% off and got $10 back in Kohl's cash. I'll admid I haven't actually used it yet, but I KNOW I'm going to love it and feel better about a certain little person crawling around on my kitchen floor in a few months.

YUM!

Last, I am addicted to coffee creamers. When I was pregnant, out of necessity, I let myself have one cup of coffee in the morning. My tastebuds were all off and one of the ways to make it more appealing was with flavored creamers. I swore I would cut it out once I wasn't preggers anymore. Yeah, right. I am so addicted! We spotted this one the other day and it is my favorite by far. We've already run out and I can't find it at the store anymore. Boo!

And on anothr note, I have to apoligize for all my spelling and grammatical errors in my posts. I am in such a hurry blogging that I most often overlook them!

Weekend Recap

We had a pretty uneventful weekend here on the home front, although it sure did seem to fly by. We spent Saturday outside enjoying the BEAUTIFUL weather we had here. I think it even reached 70 degrees! I totally have spring fever...what a tease the weather was! I don't think I even got in the car to go anywhere on Saturday.

Asher is wallering (you know, rolling around) in the the massive pile of leaves the hubs raked up.

You can't tell it in the picture, but Maryclaire's hair was looking fire RED in the sun. Maybe this means it's lightening up?

On Sunday, we headed to my parents house so I could run some errands, get some crafty projects done and have help with the kiddos. My niece's 4th birthday is Tuesday and they are headed to our side of town for a little celebration. I made this and this for Maddie. I hope she likes them!

Maryclaire with Granbuddy. Asher is Granbuddy's right hand man and rarely lets him love on this sweet girl!

Group pictures with kiddos are always HILARIOUS!!! Thanks, Mom, for actually looking at the camera.

I hate to admit it, but we haven't been back to Sunday church since Maryclaire was born. We had all intentions and plans of going this morning, but I had a rough night with little Miss and her feeding was going to hit right in the middle of the service. There is really no private place for me to nurse her (and I am a very private nurser), so I would have had to go sit in the car hald way through. Vaughn was going to go solo and take Asher, but he decided not to be so agreeable and Vaughn couldn't get both of them ready and out the door in time. I know it isn't easy for any family to get out the door in the morning, and I feel really guilty for letting our obstacles hold us back from such an important part of our lives.