10 Great Things Since Getting Pregnant

When I started writing 10 small things I knew that I could have filled all ten spots with stuff just from my child. So I knew that I would have to dedicate one just to him!

• I definitely am a lot closer to both my parents, getting pregnant seems to have mended unsaid issues we were having.
• 10 tiny fingers and 10 tiny toes, even to this day I love kissing his little fingers and toes.
• My friend Candice Ryan making and singing a song for my little man for his baby shower. I still cry whenever I listen to the recording of it. Also so excited because she has recorded it and it will be released on her album coming out this summer!
• I am not going to lie the first 3-4 months were not so great, I struggled with baby blues and being borderline PPD, but what was great was joining momstown and getting myself out of the house and working my way out of my PPD.
• His first smile directed right at me!
• The first time he sat up all on his own and the great look of concentration when he took those first 6 steps all on his own.
• When he finally said mom! And not dad for once
• The first time I watched him share a toy all on his own, I think I almost even teared up a little
• Those tiny slobbery kisses that he gives
• Most recently when I went to go pick him up from day home, this being his first week and me having a really hard day, he crawled up in my lap and just hugged me for almost a minute. Made my hard day instantly melt away from me.

I love my little man and wouldn't change anything!

Your momstown Mama

Kandice

Chronicles Of a Foodie: Part 1

On our message board we have a whats for dinner tonight?? thread. Everyone posts what they're having and if someone is interested in the recipe, the recipes are shared. One of our fantastic moms, (who frequently posts on this thread) with our not so subtle hinting has started a blog of her own encompassing many of her delicious meal ideas and recipe trials. Once a month she will send us a delicious recipe that she has tried and share with us how it went!! This month's is:

Grilled Red Snapper

Ingredients

1/4  cup softened butter
1 tsp grated lime zest
1 tsp lime juice
1/2 tsp coarsely ground pepper 
2 tbsp lime juice
2 tbsp tex mex seasoning
1 tbsp packed brown sugar
1 tbsp olive oil
1 tsp coarse salt
1 1/2lbs Red Snapper fillets

Beat first 4 ingredients until creamy. Spoon onto a sheet of wax paper and form into a 2 inch long cylinder. Wrap tightly and put in freezer for about 1 hour or until firm.

Combine next 5 ingredients and spread over fillets. Chill covered for about 30 minutes. Place fillets on a sheet of greased heavy duty (or double layer of regular) tin foil. Cook on direct medium heat for 8-10 minutes until fish flakes easily when tested with a fork. Serve with sliced lime butter. Serves 6.

1 Serving is only 223 calories! 


Why did I make this?: My kids Love fish, but I usually want something with a lot of flavor. Plus I like recipes that don't have that fishy taste. It seems pretty easy to make, and easy on the diet. 

Was it any good?:   The kids two handed it into their mouths. James was a big fan of the butter slices which really topped off the whole recipe. I can definitely see making this again. This would be good with almost any fish.

What would/did I change: I was STILL out of propane (seems to be the going fad in this household) so I had to broil the recipe. It did cook fine but I think bbq would make it that much better. I forgot to pat dry the fish before spreading on the spread so next time I have to remember to do that. It made it a bit hard to get the spread on and seems a bit too wet while cooking. Tex mex seasoning I wasn't sure what they meant, so I just used low sodium taco seasoning, it tasted just fine! We topped this on a bed of salad with lemon juice squeezed all over it. Really made the meal. 

The Recipe calls for 2 slices of the lime butter on the fish. But really a tiny bit goes a long way, especially if you let it melt a little bit to spread it all over the fish.

We also had to scrape a bit of the spread off of the cooked fish for Samara, she had a hard time with the spice of the spread. 

Thank you Shawn for this delicious recipe!!! Can't wait till next month's edition of Chronicles of a Foodie. For more recipes from Shawn, check out Chronicles of a Foodie.

 

Fantastic Fridge Magnet

The other day we made these really cute fridge magnets. They are fairly easy and super fun to decorate and they're handy for the fridge!

Supplies you will need (I picked up all of it at Walmart and Zellers):

One foam sheet

Scissors

Glue

Piece of paper

Ruler

Magnet strips with one side of adhesive

Anything to decorate your frame

Moms you will have to do the first part of cutting out the frame and gluing the paper to the back side. On one side of the foam sheet you will make 2cm marks all round the corners, like the pictures below. Then cut out the center, this will be your frame. I used an exacto knife and a ruler, however you can just use scissors.

 Once you have the frame cut out, cut a piece of paper 1/2 cm smaller than the frame. You will then glue the piece of paper to the frame. Let it sit for half an hour so it can dry.

 

Flip it over and place the adhesive side of the magnet onto the frame

Now the fun part! Decorate as you see fit. You can colour you name into it like we did or you can put the kids hand prints on them. Or you can decorate the whole frame itself like below. Your imagination is your creation!

 Now your new fridge magnet is ready!

Your momstown Mama

Kandice

How do Dinosaurs Eat Cookies?

Do you know how dinosaurs eat cookies? If not you should definitely read this great smelling book! This months book from Scholasics Canada is How do Dinosaurs Eat Cookies? We all met at Indigo Kids on Saturday morning to dive into this months book.

 

This months momstown theme is the 5 senses! How do Dinosaurs Eat Cookies? covers two of five senses, visual and smell. Smell you may ask? Yup, smell! This book is also a scratch and sniff. We literally had our noses in a book and had some good giggles about dinosaurs shopping and making cookies!

What is also neat about this book is that it has two cookies recipes at the end to make your very own dinosaur cookies!

Congratulations to this months winner Avaya!!!

Your momstown Mama

Kandice

10 Small Things

The other day we went to pick up a few groceries and I got caught in the clothing section. Usually I just walk through, look and touch (I am like one of those kids that have to touch everything!) and then go on my way. However I have started to notice my closet is looking sub-par and what I do find makes me feel self conscious. DH noticed that I was lingering longer than usual in the clothing area, so he told me to pick a few new things, even he'd noticed they were needed. Which made me think, if he is noticing my clothing then others are noticing my clothing :s

I didn't go crazy but I did get two outfits worth of clothing and basic essentials. When I got home I did the usual cut off all the tags and wash everything so that I could wear it all right away! The next day when I was putting on my new clothing it all felt so good! It made me feel just that little bit better. While putting on my new socks, it made me think, that I love new socks, which got me thinking about other small things that put a smile on my face.

• You already know the first one! New socks! I love them don't know what I would do with out them. They make me almost want to strut.
• If you have new socks you need a good pedicure, your feet will just sing with soft skin and pretty painted toes! I will just stare at my toes when they have a nice design on them. Even my son plays with my toes when they are painted.
• Pre baby I loved sleeping in, I did it all the time. Post baby I love sleeping in, though it only happens maybe once a month if daddy lets me.
• Hot showers, not the usual 5 minutes I get now, but the steaming hot 20 minutes that wash away all the worries from a hard day.
• A good cry your heart out romantic comedy, I always feel so much better afterwards. Toss in a little bit of cookie dough ice cream, and you made my ideal Friday night!
• A haircut is a great feeling. Right along with strutting with my new socks, I will be tossing my new locks over my shoulders! LOL
• Dipping food in cheese and chocolate!!! Enough said.
• Watching my child grow and learn. Everyday he is doing something new and it is wonderful to watch.
• Whether we are in the truck or at home, just turning up the music and dancing. We do it as a family and sometimes it is just Logan and I, but I love it and it makes everything better.
• And of course, coming across money in a random coat pocket that I haven't worn in a while.

What is some of your great things?

Your momstown mama

Kandice

National Breakfast Day; Share Your Breakfast Event with momstown!

Our Kellogg's Share Your Breakfast event was a great success! Knowing that so many people, especially children, go without breakfast each day, was a calling for momstown and Kellogg's to raise the roof, and create some awareness around this issue. And so, we shared some breakfast, and had some fun.....all in the name of a good cause of course!

We made Fruit Loop Rainbows in honour of the quickly approaching St. Patrick's Day, and ate banana popsicles dipped in yogurt  for a delicious healthy snack after our Rice Krispies breakfast! 

The dancing and circle time was a fantastic addition, and I think this was the highlight of the morning for the kids! 

Kellogg's provided us with 192 breakfast kits to donate to our community, to spread the love, so we decided to donate our kits to Terra's breakfast program. For those of you that don't know Terra supports Braemar school for parenting teens, helping young moms in many ways, including making sure they get breakfast each day. We donated 150 breakfast kits to Terra, and our event attendees took home many kits to give out to people in their communities that are in need of a full tummy! All in all the awareness created by this event and the full tummies that resulted from it made the day complete.

Thank you to everyone who attended for bringing awareness, and supporting such a great cause! To learn more about Share Your Breakfast Day, go to www.kelloggs.ca/SYB





Your momstown Edmonton North, West, and St. Albert mama

Amanda