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