EXCITING NEWS!

I don't know about you, but 2015 has been a BUSY year for our family! I've been working almost full time and our weekends always seem packed with family-fun activities. As a result, this blog has had some major neglect! (insert embarrassed face here!)

But, I've got some exciting news that will really impact my blog...

Yes, the rumours are true...

I'm preggo! Due early October!

A huge thanks to Amanda Cosby Photography for these cute announcement photos! We took these YESTERDAY and she had them ready to go for me last night! Be sure to check out her website and see her stunning maternity and newborn photos.

Ahh I am so excited to share each step of this pregnancy journey with my readers...all the fun and weird things pregnancy entails, not to mention the exhaustion and exhilaration that comes when a newborn enters the world! Oh and the transition from one kid to two -- oh my!

Don't miss a single post! Subscribe to my blog or like my facebook page.

Baby, baby, baby-O!

♥ Dion

The Valentine's Tree

OK -- so I’m pretty sure people think I’m certifiably crazy for putting up a Valentine’s tree! When I told some friends and family about my plan, there was a joke or two thrown around...like, what’s next Dion? A St. Patrick’s day tree? An Easter tree? Hahah. My response: don’t. tempt. me.

I guess I just feel that life is too short not to celebrate each holiday to its fullest AND I’ve never been a big fan of Valentine’s haters. You know, those who complain about how Valentine’s day was invented by card companies and that if you really love someone you should demonstrate it every day...blah. blah. blah. I just really don’t see the fault in setting aside a special day to press pause on life’s crazy treadmill and do something extra loving for your loved ones!

So, when I heard that my friend Devon put up a Valentine’s tree each year, I knew I was going to do the same one year--and this year was my year people.

It looks pretty cute, don’t ya think!?

So how’d I do it?  I kept an eye out during the Christmas season for heart ornaments, and found packages of five at Target (RIP Canadian Target!) for super cheap--I stocked up on these. Pier 1 is also a great place to look for Valentine’s decorations, but they are a little pricey, so I bought the cheapest ornaments I could find there and will start looking for deals closer to Feb. 14. And fortunately, the beautiful grey mercury glass heart ornaments I already had on my Christmas tree! I don’t think I spent more than $30 putting this tree together! Not bad if I must say so myself.

Here’s a summary of where I bought everything in this photo:

Heart ornaments & small bulbs - Target

Grey Mercury Glass Heart ornaments - Urban Barn

Light Pink and Dark Red ornaments - Pier 1

Heart Garland (on tree and mantle)- Target

Heart Wreath - Target

Gold “M” - Chapters/Indigo

Another great idea that Devon had was to create an ornament each year for each child with a tracing of their hand. I purchased (from Dollarama) glittery foam hearts, traced Gemma’s hand on the back of one, and let her go to town sticking more glittery hearts to the front. It fits perfectly with the jewel tones on the tree and makes a great sentimental piece!

I’d love to see pics of your Valentine’s decor! Tell me Devon and I are not alone in our Valentine’s day love!

To unashamedly having my tree up from November to February,
♥ Dion

Creating an Enriching Environment: Ba Ba Black Sheep

Gemma’s favourite diaper changing song is ‘Ba Ba Black Sheep’; hardly a day goes by when she doesn’t want me to sing it to her or that I don’t hear her serenading it to her dollies. So when some friends offered to take us to their parents’ sheep farm to meet the new baby lambs, we jumped on the opportunity.

One of the best things about having a two-year old is seeing her face light up at every new experience. And as her parent, I want to make each day meaningful, encouraging her enthusiasm to learn and fully live life! Today was one of those really special days.

At the farm Gemma got to pet the little lambs and see lambs that were not even an hour old! She told us later that she liked how the sheep were “fluffy”! I didn’t even know she had that word in her vocabulary! With toddlers its easy to underestimate what they pick up by osmosis -- all the more reason to enrich their environments whenever possible!

If you’re looking for a similar activity to do with your kids, check out Fort Saskatchewan’s internationally acclaimed sheep grazing program. Our town has a flock of sheep who graze in the city’s parks each summer, keeping the grass trim. It’s always a highlight, bringing in families from all around to watch and interact with these fluffy guys! Click here for more information.

To little lambs and a little lady,

♥ Dion

How to: Cookie Monster Cupcakes

Excitement cut through the frigid Alberta air last weekend as we celebrated our sweet Gemma’s second birthday! In many ways celebrating her second year of life was more emotional than her first -- it felt like the first of, what will be many, leaps in our little girl’s life journey. We now have a toddler, and with the exception of her being in diapers, it seems as if there is little “baby” left.

Like many toddlers, Gemma is OBSESSED with all things Sesame Street, especially Elmo and Cookie Monster. So, a Sesame Street themed birthday party seemed fitting. I decided to tone things down from Gemma’s first birthday party (a Hawaiian Luau theme which basically took over our Christmas holidays that year!) and keep it simple.

The central component to her birthday were the cupcakes (of course! I LOVE to bake so naturally that’s where my focus was).

I went with these cookie monster cupcakes:

Cute hey!? The best part is, they were very simple.

What you need in addition to the obvious cake mix and liners:

• 
  

  blue gel paste food colouring

• white Merckens wafers
• black decorator’s icing tube
• piping bag with a medium sized star tip
• chocolate chip cookie dough or a box of cookies

Here’s the step by step to making these:

Step 1: Use your favourite recipe/boxed cake mix for the cupcakes (I must admit, I often use boxed mixes...they are pretty good!). Line your tins with greaseproof liners (I always order mine from etsy) so that the colour of the liner stays vibrant.

Step 2: Make your buttercream icing and colour it blue using gel paste food colouring. This is key! The type of food colouring from the grocery store will not give you the vibrant colour you need. I used the Duff brand (found at Michael’s) in electric blue, and toned the colour down a smidge using a TEENY TINY amount of black.

Step 3: When your cupcakes are thoroughly cooled (do not try to ice warm cupcakes or the icing will melt), use a star tip to pipe on Cookie’s fur. You basically plop one star on and another right beside it, going around the whole cupcake. Along the top half of the cupcake I added some more stars to give his face a more three-dimensional look. Be sure your icing is very cool (and not warming up inside the bag from the heat from your hands) so that the icing is firm. We want Cookie’s fur to look furry!

Step 4: Lay out enough white chocolate wafers (you can buy these at Bulk Barn) to make the number of eyes you need. Pipe on small circles using black icing (just buy a small tube from Bulk Barn). Pay attention to where you pipe the pupil so that Cookie will have the ‘googly’ eye effect. When the black icing is dry enough to transfer, place the eyes on the top of the cupcake.

Step 5: For the mouth, bake small cookies using Pillsbury dough. I made sure the cookies were small enough to fit Cookie’s mouth and I made sure they were very chocolate-chipy, sometimes adding extra chips to the dough. I cut ⅓ of the cookie off and placed the remaining ⅔ rds of it in Cookie’s mouth. This was a little tricky, so I ended up piping some icing on the hidden portion of the cookie to keep it in place. You could also buy packaged cookies to save time!

Step 6: Refrigerate or freeze immediately so that cookie stays in place! If you freeze your cupcakes, be sure to take them out of the freezer two hours before serving.

Some other ideas for her birthday were:

• Use the leftover cookie dough to make a giant cookie! I piped ‘Happy Birthday Gemma' since I couldn’t really do that on her cupcakes and it doubled as another centrepiece.

• Use Sesame Street wrapping paper to wrap presents. If the presents are large enough, they actually serve as decor for the party!

• Use your local party store supplies. It’s tempting to go all pinteresty for your kid’s birthday, but let’s be honest, most people don’t have the time to re-create everything they see on pinterest, and the focus should be on your kid anyways. I got balloons, napkins, plates and table confetti for around $30 at the party store, and Gemma just loved seeing all her favourite characters’ faces on everything.

To cupcakes and cookies, and making a little two year old’s day,
♥ Dion

Cultivating Gratitude in your Toddler

My daughter received a beautiful compliment the other day – a family friend was amazed by just how polite my little 21 month old is. Insert proud mama moment here.

In fact, she's received praise for all her "please's" and "thank you's" a few times now. The hubs and I are by no means perfect parents, but I'm thinking we must be doing something right.

At this stage, Gemma can't grasp gratefulness and politeness -- these qualities are obviously too conceptual for my Elmo and raisin fixated toddler; but what she does understand is that the world isn't at her fingertips, simply a metaphorical snap away. No, she's coming to terms with the fact that as she grows older, her attitude matters.

One of my conscious goals as a parent has been to raise a grateful child. I'm now in my seventh year as a high school teacher and my experiences in the classroom really impact how I parent. Very rarely do I see a grateful teenager walk through my classroom door. The ones who thank you for the fun class planned that day, the ones who thank you for allowing them to re-write a paper they bombed, the ones who thank you for bringing in cupcakes "just because" -- these grateful teens are on the extinct species list. Oh, please don't think I am hating on teenagers: I wouldn't do my job if I didn't love them and think they had great potential. But reality is reality. We have an entitlement generation, and most adults working with kids will tell you that.

Entitlement is a scary thing. It screams "I deserve this because I exist!" And let loose too long, it becomes a cancer, multiplying and seeping into the most critical areas of our children's lives -- like their humility, their relationships and their work ethic.

No, I do not want this for my girl.

So for Thanksgiving--a day where we pause and reflect on all we have to be thankful for: the things we have earned and the things we have been given freely--I want to share my take on how to cultivate gratitude in our toddlers. So that they become the big kids who recognize the gifts and service of others, are grateful for all they've received, and realize the importance of hard work.

A few ways to cultivate gratitude in your toddler:

Expect it of them – I am a firm believer that children meet the expectations set of them. I see it each day in the classroom. Its what explains how one group of students can be complete terrors in one class with one teacher and then in the next period with another teacher become sweet angels. Same students – different expectations.

In the home, it meant that as soon as Gemma could sign or say “please” and “thank you”, we expected nothing less. I don’t give Gemma her drink, her toy, her crayons...unless she asks appropriately, saying please and without whining. It also means that sometimes it takes a few tries on her part to get it right and I have to resist the urge to just give her what she wants to keep her quiet. And when she forgets to say thank you, we remind her, every time. With kids, consistency is key.

"More is caught than taught" – This is one of my favourite Dave Ramsey-isms. Yes, I can teach Gemma to be thankful by expecting nothing less from her, but those lessons certainly won’t stick if we don’t model it in the home. The munchkins are watching, and they love nothing more than to copy exactly what Mommy does -- especially the not-so-good things. Consider whether you express gratefulness for what you've received from others. Consider your dinner table conversations -- are you positive and appreciative of the situations and people you came across that day? Are you thanking your spouse for helping with the laundry or doing the dishes? As long as those little eyes can see and those little ears can hear -- they will copy you!

Serve as a family – Nothing instills gratitude quite like serving. When you give of your time, your talents and your treasure, and feel what blessing others feels like, you feel more appreciative of all you've received. My husband and I were both raised by pastors--who were always serving their congregation--and it's no surprise that we chose careers that had us serving others. It just feels right. It just feels like what we should do.

Jump on whatever opportunity you have to serve in your community. Creating a culture of service in your home will always create a by-product of gratitude. How's that for chemistry?

To turkey and stuffing, and all the other things we are thankful for,

♥ Dion

Making Sense of Baby and Toddler (GIRL) Clothes Sizes

Tell me I’m not the only one -- baby clothes sizes do not make sense.  We’ve all had clothes in the closet go unworn by our littles because we didn’t realize that 6-12 months ACTUALLY MEANT 3-6 months!

How frustrating.

But it’s all good – I’m here to help.

I’ve created this table to break down baby/toddler clothes sizes at some of the most popular children’s retailers. If you’re a new mom trying to organize the mountains of baby clothes you’ve been given at your baby shower...you’re going to need this!

With the exception of the first few months of her life, Gemma has always been in the 50^th percentile for height and weight (literally the picture perfect average sized baby) so all my observations are based on her size. If your little one is smaller or bigger than average, keep that in mind as you read this chart. Also, sizing could be different for boys than girls, so that is another factor I can’t comment on.

I’ve stuck to the more affordable and available clothing brands.  Because frankly, there’s something wrong about buying your baby Burberry or True Religion jeans. Baby Uggs and Toms...well that's a different story!

	Tops	Bottoms
Joe Fresh (Superstore)	Fit true to size to small	Fit true to size to big
Gap	True to size	True to size
Old Navy	True to size	True to size
Pekkle (sold at Costco)	Baby sleepers – these are notorious for shrinking. Always size up! (i.e. buy 24 months for your 18 month old)
H&M	Fit large	Fit large
Carter’s/Oshkosh	Fit true to size to small	Fit true to size to small
Cherokee (Target)	True to size	True to size
The Children’s Place	True to size	True to size

18-24 (24 months) vs. 2T: 2T tends to be longer in the arms, torso and legs. Whenever possible I skip buying the 18-24 month item and go for the 2T to get more wear out of it.

To buying too many baby clothes ‘cause they’re just so darn cute,

♥ Dion

The Five Best Cookbooks for Healthy Family Cooking

I have a confession: I am a cookbook addict. I don’t know what it is, but whenever I see a beautiful cookbook on a store shelf, I just have to have it! Each Christmas I give my husband some not-so-subtle hints about cookbooks I’d love to own, and I usually find one waiting for me under the tree. A cookbook might be a risky gift for some husbands, kind of like buying your wife a personal clothing shopper (yes, we know a guy who did that!). It might not send the right message. But to me, a thick cookbook with a beautiful cover doesn’t tell me I need to cook more or better, it inspires me to try new things in the kitchen and incorporate even healthier foods into our every day diet.

 When friends come over they often see what cookbook I have on display (yes, I have a display) and thumb through it. They are always a talking point in our home. The other day one of these friends asked for a list of my favourite cookbooks for healthy family cooking, leading me to write this post.  Busy moms like us want to cook healthy, affordable meals for our families, but we don’t have the time to pour over new recipes and figure which one will work. Cooking can be a bit of gamble like that. So to take out the guess work, here are the top five cookbooks for families that I rely on most to serve up delicious, healthy and affordable meals each evening. If you’re really out to save money, check out this post on meal planning.

#1 – Looneyspoons by Janet and Greta Podleski. – This is a VERY popular cookbook in Canada, and for good reason (which I’ll explain in second). I’m serious when I write this -- If you don’t have this cookbook, you need to stop reading, go to your local bookstore and pick it up right NOW. Yup, stop reading. Go to the mall.

What I love about this cookbook is its premise. Two sisters decided that they wanted to eat healthier, but still enjoy all their favourite foods. They made minor adjustments to recipes that decreased the fat, sugar and sodium, while retaining (and even amping up!) all the flavour.

I do probably 80% of my cooking out of this cookbook. The recipes are easy to make and don’t use any fancy shmancy ingredients that you can’t pronounce. I love all the photos so you can visualize exactly what you are going to cook--something I look for whenever I purchase a new cookbook. Don’t be turned off by the “loony” play-on-words titles for each recipe. Although they are actually kinda funny, I always have to read the sub-title to know exactly what I’m making! A huge plus to this cookbook is that it includes all the nutritional information such as calories, fat, sodium, etc for each recipe.

There are hundreds of recipes in this cookbook, and I’ve cooked a lot of them. Some favourites are: Maui Wowie Chicken (chicken with pineapples, peppers and carrots), The Nutcrocker (slow-cooked peanut-ginger chicken thighs), The Six-Million-Dollar Manicotti (chicken and vegetable stuffed manicotti), The Yellow Bows of Texas (turkey and bean chilli on top of pasta), FULLafel Patties (their twist on the mid-Eastern falafel), Lasagne with Mex Appeal (Mexican Lasagne), and the list could go on.

Tonight I made Indian Appleous 500 (coconut-curry chicken with apples). It was a hit with the hubs and the toddler. A home run in my books.

I could go on about this cookbook forever, but to keep it short, if you buy one cookbook from this list, Looneyspoons is the one to go with.

 

#2 – Jamie’s Food Revolution by Jamie Oliver – When I was first married, I cooked from this book A LOT. At the time we were really into watching Jamie Oliver’s Food Revolution tv show and I found this cookbook, inspired by the show, at Chapters. Since it was the first time in my life I really had to cook for someone else day in and day out, I pretty much relied on this cookbook for meal ideas each week.

The meals are packed full of flavour and are healthy, although no nutritional information is given (sad face). And you might think that recipes by a celebrity chef would be tough, but these truly are straightforward. He includes pictures of each step, so its pretty hard to mess up! My favourite part of the cookbook is the “Twenty Minute Meals” section. These are perfect when you need to whip up a quick meal after work. Matt’s favourite is the Quick Salmon Tikka with Cucumber Yogurt and my favourite is the Classic Tomato Spaghetti. And if you love curry dishes, there is a “Quick Curries” section that gets a lot of use in our household (Gemma eats it too!).

#3 – Quinoa 365 by Patricia Green & Carolyn Hemming – I picked up this beautiful cookbook after I decided that I wanted to cook more with quinoa (a super-food you should definitely incorporate into your family’s diet) but I was really lost as to how to use it. After thumbing through the book and stumbling on its baby-food section, the new mom in me was sold. In Quinoa 365 are some of the most yummy baby food recipes that Gemma loved, like Chicken Veggie Mélange; Chicken, Quinoa and Apple Puree; and her absolute favourite, Blueberry Banana Mash.

But there’s much more than baby food in this cookbook. There’s a great introduction section that explains all you need to know about quinoa, its different types and a variety of ways to cook it. I have a tab on the cooking instructions page so that its easily accessible, especially when a recipe in a different cookbook calls for cooked quinoa.

Some favourite recipes are the Black Bean Quinoa Quesadillas, Black Bean Soup, and a recipe that I make and freeze for every new mom, Cheese and Spinach Frittata.

There aren’t as many pictures as I’d like in a cookbook, which is why sometimes I veer towards other cookbooks more, but every recipe I try is awesome and a ‘make-again’. There is no nutiritional information but you can tell the recipes are very healthy, and each recipe is labelled whether it is gluten-free, vegetarian or “kid-approved”, which is really handy!

#4 – The Oh She Glows Cookbook by Angela Liddon – When I first saw this cookbook, I wanted it purely for its gorgeous cover and how nice it would look on my counter. But it’s a vegan cookbook and we are a meat & dairy loving family -- I doubted we’d like it. Then through the power of instagram I saw all these people hash-tagging pictures of these awesome looking meals they’d made with #osg. I did a little digging and saw that it was referring to Oh She Glows! Since other meat & dairy loving friends were cooking from it, I thought I’d give it a chance too! Besides its beauty, this cookbook has so many awesome features: easy ingredients you can find at your local grocery store or costco, a list of what each recipe is free from (i.e. gluten-free, grain-free, dairy-free, oil-free, etc.), and lots of photos.

At a recent party I made the “glowing strawberry-mango guacamole” which was a huge hit. For breakfast I love to make the cover recipe, “effortless vegan overnight oats” that had me fall in love with this cookbook in the first place.

#5 – The Family Cooks by Laurie David and Kirstin Uhrenholdt – This is my newest cookbook (a recent birthday gift) so I haven’t had a lot of opportunity to cook from it. It totally meets my beautiful cookbook requirements and everything I have made has been awesome! This book is all about healthy eating for the whole family, and teaching your family to stop relying on sugar and other detrimental additives to our food. There’s a great smoothie section that I’ve frequented lately and Gemma and I recently made “seedy crackers”, the author’s alternative to goldfish crackers (aka baby crack cocaine) to take on our family holiday to Kelowna (a 10 hour drive!).

I hope one of these cookbooks finds its way into your kitchen soon and inspires you to keep cooking wholesome meals for your whole family!

To cookbook addictions,

♥ Dion

P.S. - Help further my cookbook addiction by commenting on your favourite healthy cookbook for the fam.