monday night tradition

monday night = pizza night in the hildy house

note: no skimping on the sauce

specifically homemade wheat dough absolutely delicious pizza.

I make the dough once a month and make 4 batches to last us a month. For toppings we usually go with spinach, peppers, onions & tomatoes. Dan isn't a red sauce fan (KILLS me I love marinara) so we usually opt for a pesto or garlic herb sauce.

This is the best recipe for dough I've found from my trusty allrecipies.com:

1 teaspoon white sugar
1 1/2 cups warm water (110 degrees F/45 degrees C)
1 tablespoon active dry yeast
1 tablespoon olive oil
1 teaspoon salt
2 cups whole wheat flour
1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour

Directions
1. In a large bowl, dissolve sugar in warm water. Sprinkle yeast over the top, and let stand for about 10 minutes, until foamy.
2. Stir the olive oil and salt into the yeast mixture, then mix in the whole wheat flour and 1 cup of the all-purpose flour until dough starts to come together. Tip dough out onto a surface floured with the remaining all-purpose flour, and knead until all of the flour has been absorbed, and the ball of dough becomes smooth, about 10 minutes. Place dough in an oiled bowl, and turn to coat the surface. Cover loosely with a towel, and let stand in a warm place until doubled in size, about 1 hour.
3. When the dough is doubled, tip the dough out onto a lightly floured surface, and divide into 2 pieces for 2 thin crust, or leave whole to make one thick crust. Form into a tight ball. 4. Let rise for about 45 minutes, until doubled.
5. Preheat the oven to 425 degrees F (220 degrees C). Roll a ball of dough with a rolling pin until it will not stretch any further. Then, drape it over both of your fists, and gently pull the edges outward, while rotating the crust. When the circle has reached the desired size, place on a well oiled pizza pan. Top pizza with your favorite toppings, such as sauce, cheese, meats, or vegetables.
6. Bake for 16 to 20 minutes (depending on thickness) in the preheated oven, until the crust is crisp and golden at the edges, and cheese is melted on the top.

sweet potato gnocchi

 

I absolutely love love love gnocchi. I'm positive I've sampled the gnocchi at every restaurant we've been to on the island. 

When I found this recipe on Vegan Soul Power, it looked way too yummy not to try. 

I used 2 large sweet potatoes so had to use way more flour than the recipe called for- probably close to 2 1/2 cups of whole wheat flour. I froze my entire batch, it will probably be enough for 3-4 meals. I really like having things in the freezer I can quickly de-thaw, heat & serve.

the finished product complete with a pesto sauce, onions & garlic: 

Next time I'll use an alfredo sauce and skip the onions and garlic, but this was delicious despite having a few too many flavors for my liking (Dan thought it was perfect as is though- and he promised he wasn't just 'saying that'). Definitely a recipe I will make again and much easier than I thought gnocchi would be.

lyla's #1 snuggle spot

holiday traditions

I'm linking up with Becky & Aly again for the Christmas link up- this Tuesday's theme: traditions. 

1. D's family passed down the tradition of ordering pizza the night we decorate the tree. We added on watching each of The Office Christmas episodes last year. 

2. Every December we are going to get Lyla a pair of Christmas PJ's. When I was a little girl we used to get a pair to sleep in on Christmas Eve but I've changed this one to last all month.

3. Every Christmas morning my mother always made monkey bread. its absolutely delicious, full of calories and worth every bite. She also makes a few batches of my great grandmothers amazingly addictive rolls. I haven't tried these on my own yet but they are absolutely to die for. They contain a few secret ingredients, one being a few mashed potatoes.

{sadly this beautiful monkey bread isn't mine but you get the picture}

via

4. This is more a tradition for every holiday, but my great grandmother used to send me a holiday card with a $1 bill inside. My mother and father started it again this year for baby L- she's up to a whopping $3 for Halloween, Thanksgiving & Christmas. 

5. Location ornaments- this is another one passed down from Dan's family. For every place they lived (Army family so A LOT) his mother had an ornament made. These cute little houses are all over our tree. Being a Navy family we plan to do the same. 

6. And finally- the reason for the season, we attend church on Christmas Eve. Although we will be straying from that this year because Dan has duty. I also love the idea of baking a cake on Christmas day when the kids are little and talking about Jesus and the meaning of his birth. We have a few years for that one though.

cut her first tooth

We've been expecting the arrival of L's first tooth for quite sometime now. The constant drooling and gnawing on anything that comes close to her mouth were sure signs. On Thursday I stuck my finger in her mouth and sure enough she cut her first tooth! It's on the bottom left. Her Sophie has become her new best friend (she enjoys chewing on her hoofs the best). Before bed on Thursday night she was especially cranky: 

or perhaps she really didnt appreciate her festive jammies?

a certain little girl

a certain little girl can't wait for Christmas morning...

I sat Lyla down by the tree and she slowly rolled over to find the glittery packaging (which I later found damp with baby slobber). Some nights I'll put her in her bumbo facing the tree and she will laugh and stare at all the lights. I want to get a string of lights out for her to touch and explore, hopefully I'll get to that this weekend.

We sure are loving the holidays with a baby in the house. I'm really focusing on the traditions our family has passed down to us, I know she wont remember anything from this year but I'd still like to do them (making special cookies from Dan's family, special Christmas Eve PJ's from my family, monkey bread Christmas morning from my mother). To be honest last year we didn't even put up a tree (we were on the mainland) and we didn't give much thought to Christmas traditions. Amazing the difference a year can make. I can't imagine doing that now. I want every Christmas for L to be just as exciting and magical as they were for us as small children.

oh Christmas tree...

I'm linking up with Becky & Aly for their Christmas linkup- today is holiday decorations. I didn't have time to walk around and photograph everything but I did want to snap a shot of the pretty tree :) We've had our tree up since before Thanksgiving (D's family was visiting so we wanted to get a picture of L and her cousin in front of the tree) and I'm still not sick of it. The room will feel so empty when its gone. It is a fake tree but thanks to Scentsy 'festival of trees' it smells like evergreens throughout the house. 

weekend recap

This was right before the ship Christmas party Friday night. She is turning into quite the daddy's girl. She can be the crankiest girl all day long but once D walks in the door its giggles and smiles. She has yet to laugh for me- only grunts and smiles. I love this picture of them and I know it'll be one I love when I look back on her 'baby years'. 

On Saturday we met our good friends at a sports bar and watched the Army/Navy game. L was so sweet and just sat in her seat/on our laps and observed all of the commotion. She was thrilled (as you can see- ps don't you just love the tire around her sweet belly? love my little chunk) to see Navy beat Army for the 10th year in a row :)

holiday dip recipe

Yall. Words cannot explain how good this dip is. A great friend, Chelsea introduced me to this and I've made it 3 times (yes 3) within the past few weeks its to good. But you've been warned, its absolutely addicting. Like forget the crackers, grab the spoon addicting. 

I found the relish at our commissary, but I'm sure they sell them all over and they're cheap cheap cheap- around $2. 

Combine an entire jar of Dickinson's Sweet n Hot Pepper & Onion Relish with a warmed package of cream cheese (I pop it into the microwave for a minute or so). Mix. Devour. I served with Kashi pita chips but wheat thins work great too. 

Today is show us your favorite holiday recipe on Kelly's Korner. Post yours & link up! 

wordless wednesday

baby favorites

I'll be the first to admit I went a little wild when it came to preparing for baby L. Its all part of the excitement process to overstock. But here are the items I really would have had a rough time without: 

BOB Revolution SE jogging stroller-I use this every single day. Absolutely love it and its worth its weight in gold. Handles great on pavement as well as gravel. Make sure to purchase the infant car seat adapter, L is going on 4.5 months and we're still using it. Once she can sit up we will put her directly into the stroller seat. 

Baby Trends Snap N Go Stroller-Another MUST HAVE. Use this all the time. Love it because its light weight (nothing like those crazy bulky travel systems I've seen moms struggle with) and really easy to use (you literally snap and go).

Medela Pump in Style Advanced-A great pump I also use every day. I initially started out with just the Harmony hand pump because L rarely drinks pumped milk but I was SO impressed when I made the switch to an electric pump.

Fisher Price Rock n Play-Another product we use every single day. L likes being slightly elevated so she can see out. She naps and sleeps in here and we love it. Its also really easy to carry around when I'm showering/cooking/etc.

Moby Wrap & Baby Hawk-After Dan was able to come home to meet L he left for a school in Rhode Island for 3 weeks. L and I went with him which meant I had to travel across the country with a newborn. Insert anxiety attack here. I dont think I would have survived without the Moby wrap. She LOVED it. Very calming for her and most of the flights she slept straight through. If you're traveling with an infant I cannot recommend the Moby enough. Now that she is a little older (and heavier) I really like the Baby Hawk which I believe is a Mei Tei style wrap. We also have the Ergo but haven't been able to use that just yet.

Huggies Pure & Natural Diapers-We started cloth diapering at around 3 months, but for the first few months these were our favorites. Much softer than the other ones we had tried (Up&Up, Seventh Generation & Pampers).

Whoozit Baby Activity Toy-I know. A toy. This was given to us by a great friend and L LOVES it. When she was younger she'd stare at the black and white pattern forever, and now she loves chewing on the straps. I'd be so sad if we lost this so thats why it made the list. Also, the Sophie teether is very popular in our house right now too :)

Bright Starts Ingenuity Cradle and Sway Swing- We don't own this swing but MAN I wish we did. L and I went to visit my parents for 3 weeks and they have this lovely contraption. She would sleep for hours and hours in this thing. Absolutely LOVED it. I didn't end up buying it for our house because when we returned here she wouldn't have gotten much more use out of it. L liked swinging from side to side rather then front to back (picky, picky!) which this swing is able to do both.

Thats all I can think of for now- I'm sure I'll be adding to this list as more of my favorites come to mind.

flashback friday

one year ago...

and now for the cliche "my goodness how time flies"

but really. it does. 

4 months

sweet Lyla Grace you are 4 months old! 

You are such a smiley baby- you will flash one of your adorable toothless grins to just about anyone. We are working on laughing but aside from little grunts we haven't heard a giggle yet- maybe this month! 

You love splashing in the bath although get startled every time daddy pours water over your head. You love to play airplane and your bouncer. You like your bumbo seat but can only sit in it for 5-10 minutes before your poor head gets too heavy. 

that heavy noggin of yours

You still hate riding in the car, we think you get lonely because if one of us rides in the back with you you're completely content. 

At your 4 month appointment you weighed 14.4 pounds and measured 24.5 inches long. 

You started sleeping through the night (7:30PM - 4:30AM) earlier this month but had a few rough nights towards the end. We're thinking it might be teeth. You are still nursing throughout the day and taking little cat naps (never longer than 20 minutes). 

your Thanksgiving day nap

You're in a size 2 disposable diaper but we have pretty much fully switched over to cloth in the daytime. The flip covers with regular prefolds fit your chubby little thighs the best :) 


You're wearing size 0-3 clothes but only for another week or so. We're moving onto 3-6 especially with your big fluffy booty thanks to those adorable cloth diapers. 

You are the best thing to ever happen to us and we are so thankful we were blessed with such an easy & happy baby. 

xoxo 

Mama

sweet homecoming

It has been a long 7 months. 

D returned home from his deployment earlier this week. 

You better believe I could not wait to put our sweet baby in his arms. 

the excitement was too much, baby girl slept through the entire thing.

can we not talk about this sunspot? as d said "right in the moneymaker!"

finally home!

baby cub

I know I know. Still need a birth story. I'm in the process of writing it but get teary eyed every few paragraphs. They really do grow up SO FAST. Last night Lyla dressed up as a baby cub. fitting, no? A girlfriend of mine started calling her baby cub while I was still pregnant and the name just stuck. So, when I saw this costume from pottery barn I knew it had to be hers. 

We went trick or treating with my neighbor and her daughter but really Lyla just laid in the stroller and checked out all the big kids. 

and about 10 minutes in, this baby cub was out: 

Too cute.  i am THRILLED we are now into november. November 1st means d comes home VERY soon & the starbucks holiday cups are out :) 

3 months

Lyla Grace sweet girl you are 3 months old! 

You just started rolling over (back to belly) and its your favorite thing to do now. However, you don't like being on your belly for too long and mom usually has to come flip you over after a few minutes. 

You started reaching and grabbing for toys which makes play time a lot more fun :) You're smiling more and more and its so wonderful to see you are such a happy & loving baby.

I started sitting you in your bumbo, but you only last a few minutes before you get too tired holding your head up. 

You absolutely loved the swing at your grandparents house, you would nap for hours and be so content in that thing. You also loved to sit with Papa in the rocking chair while he watched sports.

You're in size one diapers and size 0-3 clothing. Some newborn sizes still fit but not for much longer. 

At your doctor's appointment you weighed in at 13 pounds and 23 inches. You are in the 50th percentile for just about everything.

You're not yet sleeping through the night, but you are an excellent sleeper. Your bedtime is around 7:00 and you wake up once or twice to nurse at night. You're still sleeping in a rock and play beside mom and dad's bed. 

daddy 

(what an adorable chunk!)

mama

(the clueless look started at just 8 weeks)

D swears that by the 3d ultrasound pictures she has my face but I don't know... I always tend to think newborns resemble their fathers most (the NYT also seems to think so). Only time will tell!

21 weeks

**sorry no pic this week, will definitely resume next week as i feel like i've grown a ton just in the past week!**

How Far Along: 21 weeks

Total Weight Gain: we're in SD at the moment so don't have a scale, but i'm SURE i've gained a good 5-7 pounds out here. i haven't been running & have been indulging in chipotle, in-n-out, little italy dinners, etc :)

Maternity Clothes: i can still fit into my old jeans, but my tops are definitely fitting tighter these days. i've mostly just been wearing maternity camisoles with sweaters

Movement: moving around a ton! her movements continue to amaze me with their gradually growing strength

Sleep: same as before, still waking up a few times a night but nothing unbearable

Symptoms: nothing new that i can think of

Cravings: um. where to start? mayonnaise. i love mayonnaise. also on the list:

-luna nutz over chocolate bars

-chipotle. more chipotle

-pasta dinners...the bigger the plate the better

Emotions: this has been a rough week, i'll be sure to recap later. we've been doing a lot of praying and a lot of waiting.

Best Moment of the Week: seeing baby lyla during a 3d ultrasound in texas this past weekend. obviously she is the cutest baby in the whole wide world :) also, pretty sure we've decided to name her lyla grace. little things like that make this all feel so much more real!

20 weeks

**bare belly shot about to head to the beach this weekend- no i don't normally walk around like this!**

How Far Along: 20 weeks

Total Weight Gain: still working on it but none as of yet

Maternity Clothes: living in my two for fitness tanks & lululemon speed shorts, also a VS nightie i've had forever thats really loose & comfortable (i need to buy more because i'm washing it 2-3 times a week)

Movement: i love that i can feel her getting stronger and stronger. when i lay in bed and rest my hand on my belly sometimes the power of her movements surprise me, she's a little thing but very strong!

Sleep: okay, i've always slept like a log so its a little weird to me that i'm waking up a few times every night. sometimes it takes awhile to get back to sleep and i'll usually check twitter on my phone, use the rest room, grab some water, etc.

Symptoms: i can definitely feel my uterus stretching (what my dr. refers to as round ligament pain) but other than that not much

Cravings: nothing crazy this week, i'm excited to visit san diego next week and eat at my favorite spots: olive garden (i'm confident i could put down an entire basket of bread sticks right now) and chipotle

Emotions: just really really thrilled to be pregnant

Best Moment of the Week: every morning/night laying in bed feeling her move, its becoming a lot more real to me

newest baby girl purchase:

love the sweet ruffles

19 weeks

Pregnancy Highlights:

How Far Along: 19 weeks

Total Weight Gain: none yet but eating like crazy

Maternity Clothes: still living in my two for fitness tanks & lululemon speed shorts

Movement: movement daily now :) d was able to feel her moving around this weekend which was amazing. i was really worried he wouldn't feel her move before he deployed- luckily she was going crazy saturday morning :)

Sleep: doing alright, i wake up about every 3-4 hours but get enough sleep to feel rested in the mornings

Symptoms: my hunger has gone into overdrive this week, don't put anything near my mouth unless you want it chomped up!

Cravings: nothing new, still loving cold juicy fruit namely pineapple

Emotions: i have my days where i get really emotional, i cry daily to sappy stuff (commercials the majority of the time!)

Best Moment of the Week: d feeling her move last saturday morning! also we sold out guest room bed this weekend to a really sweet couple- it was nice to get that out of the way. unfortunately we live in a really HCOL area and only have 2 bedrooms, so we're making room for the nursery!

crazy for avocados

last night i tried the tastiest recipe from Oh She Glows.

recipe here. it blends my two favorite things: pasta and avocados.

my yummy avocado concoction:

I love love love avocados but D hates them, so when he is out of town I make sure to cook with them as much as I can.

She recommends using spaghetti which I think would work better, however all I had was penne...

absolutely delicious and SO EASY. I'm learning to love my food processor.

my meal (which I ate every last bite of):

this is definitely a keeper!

18 weeks

Pregnancy Highlights:

How Far Along: 18 weeks

Total Weight Gain: back to no weight gain

Maternity Clothes: living in my two for fitness tanks & lululemon speed shorts

Movement: slight movement that i'm just getting used to! its very strange but i can sometimes feel where she is inside (usually when she's way to the left or way to the right) it feels like light pressure. i'm still waiting for one big kick though

Sleep: doing alright, usually in bed by 8:30 or i get lethargic

Symptoms: besides having to use the restroom ALL the time none

Cravings: there was one night last week when d and i were sitting at home and i looked at him and told him i needed lays potato chips immediately. we had chips and dip for dinner :)

Emotions: besides a breakdown yesterday (crying about moving furniture...embarrassing now!) i've been doing pretty good

Best Moment of the Week: had a great checkup last week, baby girls HB was a solid 150

i asked the dr about the no weight gain (since i've somehow lost the 2 i gained) and he didn't seem concerned. just told me to listen to my body and if it continues it'll be come an issue, but right now not so much