She did it!!!!

(An unsuccessful attempt at using the potty by the Christmas tree--^)

She peed in the potty!!

Glory Hallelujah! 

We might just have ourselves an early potty-trainer :)

(First attempt at figuring the thing out...)

 (Cheeseball looooooves her potty!) 

Alright then, that's all I've got today. 

Back to your regularly scheduled programming.

We're just doing happy dances & celebrating with raisins & high-fives.

Prayer for future (19 months)

To my Lily Belle,

In 2 short days you'll be 19 months old. 

Last night when you were splish-splashing around the bathtub, it hit me that in 5 little months you'll be 2. 

Just 2 years old. 

No one counts the months anymore after 24.

Which, I guess makes you officially not a baby.

Not that you act like much of a baby these days anyway...

Miss talking up a storm, eating with a spoon all by yourself, fixin' to get a whole outfit picked out & put on all alone!

I love watching you constantly changing & growing. 

But last night in the middle of our squirt-gun induced giggle-fest, I was overwhelmed by the realization that someday you'll be a gorgeous grown woman & you'll fall head-over-heels in love & someone else will make you laugh the way only mama & dada can now.

 

(Always a good idea to keep plenty of distance b/w you & the boy you're watching movies with.)

Someone else will protect, encourage and dance with you. 

It won't be my job anymore. 

Oh Lordy.

If that thought doesn't turn a mama into a melty puddle of emotions, I don't know what will... 

But you're observant & sensitive & you started giving me funny sideways looks as the hot tears streamed down my face. 

So I started to pray.

(Singing Ju-Juuu (Gigi) as you prance around in the tutu she gave you.)

I prayed for the man that you'll share your life with someday. 

I prayed that he's funny because yours, my love, is the most beautiful laugh there ever was. 

I prayed that he's strong & sensitive: that he leads you when you need it but isn't afraid to step back & let you be a leader too. 

I prayed that if you grow up to be anything like your daddy- which I'm about 99% sure you will ;) that he has patience when you need space & time to figure out what's going on on your head & heart. 

(Sleepy eyed little independent woman eating your own yogurt.) 

Mostly I just prayed that he'll love you the best he knows how. 

That you'll be a better woman with him than you ever even thought you could be without him. 

That he makes you want to love Jesus & people better. 

(Oh, and that he's the only guy you ever date, and you don't meet until you're 26... oops.)

I love praying for your future, Lil, but I'm also thankful that you're still only 19 months.

Thankful you're still my baby & that it's still me & dada's turn to: 

• teach you (you're getting pretty good with your words)
• encourage you (sooooo close to buttoning your own coat)
• read books with you (your new fave past time: Dr Seuss, Goodnight Moon, My First Words Book, Sesame Street Colors book "aka shteee")
• sing songs & dance with you (C is for Cookie, Hokey Pokey, ABCs) 
• and make you giggle (by squirting you in the bathtub with the "booger sucker" turned squirt gun I swear it was clean & it was your favorite game ever ;) 

Love you forever & ever, 

Mama

A Creative Collaboration

It's live!!! You can now shop

Bow+Arrow Art: A Creative Collaboration.

(My newest print is this Shakespeare quote I originally did for Lily's room.)

(My favorite Carina print.)

(And our featured artist of the month: Danielle.)

SO EXCITED!!

That's what I am right now.
You know how sometimes you pray & pray for something your heart truly desires, but it never seems to work out & then boom one day it just does?
Yep. That.

(My newest design that you can find in my shop & the new shop)

You see, I love being part of the hand-made community.
I love love having a little shop full of my own creations.
I love being encouraged by the fabulous women I've met through that shop + this blog.
But I do NOT love navigating the ins + outs of business-running... all alone.
I've never loved it & I've always prayed for a partner to discuss marketing strategies & business plans & just dream of new designs with.

(New Bow+Arrow Valentines!)

And then one day my dear friends, Carina, texts me about an idea she has for opening a print shop.
To which I said "um... excuse me can we just have a print shop together?"
And she replied "yes please!"
So we are :)
I'll still have my original store, but Carina & I will be opening "Bow+Arrow Art: a creative collaboration" TOMORROW on etsy!
Carina already has a fabulous shop full of gorgeous jewelry, scarves, headbands, etc but it turns out she's also a crazy talented artist.

(One of Carina's beauties that will be in the shop)

But wait! There's more! 

Not only are Carina & I opening up a brand new, joint print shop tomorrow... 

We're also having a "featured artist"! 

Our friend Danielle is an uber-talented graphic designer & is in on this party too :) 

So you can also find fabulous prints like this one in the new shop: 

(Created by beautiful Danielle of Take Heart)

Alright then, I think I've gotten you sufficiently excited for a Monday. 

I do hope you'll come back tomorrow for the link to the new shop. 

Clearly I'm looking forward to it ;) 

#alittletoofluffy (+a healthy recipe!)

Remember how I made my word for the year "healthy"?
Well, I truly intend to focus on a holistic view of health... not just a diet.
BUT it was time for a pretty major diet overhaul as well!
I've struggled in the past, yo-yo-ing from much heavier than I am now to quite a bit less, but true-to-self I always seemed to be on one extreme or another.
Either I was eating anything & everything... or I was counting every tiny calorie obsessively.
I don't see either of these lifestyles as healthy.

When I cut gluten & dairy from my diet 4ish years ago, I lost weight and for the most part have maintained a healthy weight that I'm happy with.
No, I'm not teeny tiny, but it's a weight I feel really comfortable and confident in.
The problem? Up until the birth of Lily I worked out fairly regularly.
Ya'll she's EIGHTEEN MONTHS OLD.
That's a year & a half since I've had any kind of regular workout routine.
Yikes.
So... I hopped in on a friendly little contest hosted by Danielle & fittingly named "a little too fluffy".
Best part?
Everyone paid $10 so the winner gets 360 dolla bills!


I'm still not actually counting cals but we've cut waaaay back on the carbs around here.
We've amped up the protein intake & basically cut out sugar.
I've worked out every day but ONE in 2013 :)
And I feel amazing, but there's just this one thing...
I can't stop loving baked goods.
I love to make them & enjoy them & share them.
Enter my new best friend: almond flour.
Literally, it's just ground of almonds that you can make fabulous scones with.
How's that for a transition?
The recipe is from The Gluten-Free Almond Flour Cookbook by Elana Amsterdam.
Plus I tweaked it a bit to make it my own of course ;)

 

  

Chocolate Chip Almond Flour Scones

 

2 cups almond flour/meal
1/2 cup oat flour
1/2 tsp sea salt
1/2 tsp baking soda
1/3 cup grapeseed oil
1/4 agave nectar (or honey)
2 large eggs
1 cup coarsely chopped dark chocolate (or raisins, craisins, apples, blueberries, etc)

• preheat to 350 degrees F
• combine almond flour, oat flour, salt & baking soda
• whisk together oil, agave & eggs
• add wet ingredients to dry and mix it up!
• fold in the chocolate (or what-have-you)
• drop batter by heaping tablespoon onto baking sheet (2 inches apart- they spread)
• bake 12-15 minutes

 *Really the only change I made was to substitute the almond "meal" that you can buy a little cheaper/easier in the bulk section of Whole Foods for the "blanched almond flour" she calls for. If you mix in a bit of oat flour (which is whole grain, very high in fiber & lower in fat than almond meal) it balances out the coarser almond meal and bakes just beautifully!

 

 

Oh & my very favorite part of baking more nutritious baked goods? I get to give this little lady sweet treats & not feel guilty about putting refined flours & sugars into her precious body.
She's a big fan too.

Happy healthy living, friends.

Here's to a little less fluff!

Christmas 2012

Now's as good a time as any right? ;)

Listen, only 2 weeks later is actually on time for me.

I don't know how all ya'll can find time to have your fabulous Christmas posts up next day.

I'm seriously impressed. 

But that's alright. Here it is in all it's glory: 

(First things first... milk, obviously.)

We did our Christmas on Christmas Eve morning this year since we traveled on Christmas day to be with my familia.

Lily rocked her new Chrimstas jammies... complete with tiny Milos (pugs) in pink sweaters. 

1. Milk is still > presents.
2. No wait ripping paper is fun.
3. Oooh! Sparkly tissue paper!
4. Beautiful baby from Aubrey Plays. Seriously perfect.

We just picked one special gift for Lil this year.
Hunter and I are still trying to figure out exactly how we want to celebrate Christmas & create our own family holiday traditions.
But one thing we're sure of is that we want the focus to be on love+fam+Jesus+joy.
Gifts are super fun & we love giving them/getting them :)
But in my humble opinion one super special gift can be a lot more meaningful than piles of new toys.

(Plus, we're still at the age where the big boxes are way more fun than the toys!)

Daddy scored snuggles with the Sesame Street (aka: Sheshamee Shmee if you speak Lil) color book he snuck into her stocking.

She wasn't as impressed with the big girl panties I contributed... huh.

Take a hint Lily ;)

(A Christmas miracle! She left her pigtails in for dinner at PF Changs!)

Somehow these are the only pictures I managed to get between chowing on lettuce wraps & chasing Lily around the restaurant.

But I love this one of Hunter and his beautiful sis!

Pretty baby loving her new toys from Mor Mor & Pa Pa before boarding a jet plane for Gigi & Grandpa's.)

Lily+Grandpa Brad= BFF

Mama & Travi in their festive holiday attire.

Apparently Trey & I weren't photo-worthy.

And the 2012 picture of the the year....

 Lily Belle giving smoochies to her 100-year-old great-great-grandad Adams.

Judging by his huge grin, it was just what he needed.

He's a man of very few words, but I would guess that the best comfort when mourning the loss of your bride of 77 years would be smoochies from a sweetheart grandbaby.

The sweetest thing is that Lily Belle has a tendency to be very closed-fisted with her affection.

She's not quick to open up to strangers & it usually takes awhile to earn her love & smooches.

I happen to think that she's also intuitive even at this early of an age.

Grandad needed her love & think she just knew it deep down in her sweet tiny little heart.

Merry Christmas indeed.

Together in the Kitchen: Healthy Inspiration

Welcome back to Together in the Kitchen — our twice monthly encouragement for you to spend quality time in the kitchen making, creating & baking with someone other than yourself! With Christmas over and the New Year finally here, we're focusing this month on healthy recipes!!

We're attempting to cut waaaaaaaay back on our sugar intake around here.
Good for our health & waistlines, no doubt.
But what about my baking addiction?
So we've been together in the kitchen grilling tofu & steaming quinoa.
Boring.
How about a little healthy baking inspiration instead?

                                                                           Source: elanaspantry.com via Ashley on Pinterest

I've been doing some experimenting with almond flour...
which is pricey, but fabulous!
High in protein + fiber.
Barely any carbs :)
Most of her recipes are sugar free too so it's a win win really.

                                                                        Source: nourishedkitchen.com via Ashley on Pinterest

Coconut flour pancakes!
That's all. I'm just really pumped about healthy pancakes.

                                                                        Source: savoringthethyme.com via Ashley on Pinterest

I've actually made this granola before... just never documented it. 

It's super quick + easy + healthy + yum! 

Have any must-make healthy recipes to share? 

I would be forever grateful!! 

Try Aimee's delicious recipe with shrimp+bacon+tons of veggies! --->> HERE

Amy is on a little holiday vacation. But you can find her HERE

{right click & save this button and then load it into your post with a link back to this page!!}

 

1: link up a recipe. any recipe. as many recipes as you want to share.. then add our button or text link to your post!!

2: visit at least the two links before you and either comment and/or pin their recipe to Pinterest

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HEALTHY

(Lily with her great-great-grandad & grandpa Brad) 

I decided to skip the list making this year.

What I struggled with most in 2012 was finding balance.

I could never seem to fit it all in, what with the (relatively) new mama role + the brand new full-time working mama role + ya know just... life. 

Anyway, it seems to me like another great big list of TO DOs would only serve to provide more stress + feelings of inadequacy. 

So I've chosen a word of the year instead. 

H E A L T H Y

• spiritually- more Jesus time, that's all :) I've prayed for a desire & he has answered... Finding/making time for Him is where I've struggled. I think I might just start with Ellen's class on Studying God's Word. I just love her a lot.  

• mentally- read more books + meal plan. Weird combo? Sure, but it's true. I love love reading & just want to make more time for it, but grocery shopping/cooking seems to steal so much of my down time + mental energy. So planning better ought to free up some space for healthier thought.

• emotionally- #1 here.... consistent date nights + quality social time. I am a people person to the core & my soul longs for deep + solid community... This probably means saying no to more "organized get-togethers" & being more intentional about consistent time. Amen. 

• physically- No brainer. I've just got to get a little more active + a lot less hungry for sugar. 

"...when Israel sought for rest, the Lord appeared to him from far away. I have loved you with an everlasting love, therefore I have continued my faithfulness to you. Again I will build you, and again you shall be built!"

 -Jeremiah 31:3-4