Stuffed Cabbage

I have always wanted to try Stuffed Cabbage for dinner. I love cabbage (coleslaw especially!), and this recipe looked pretty good. Being a new mom with a 6 month old means I like the quicker recipes now... the ones where I can get dinner prepped and finished within an hour or less. While this recipe is definitely a bit time consuming, the end result is worth the work and wait! Layla decided to have a screaming tantrum (probably that pesky tooth that just broke through her gum!) while I was getting this made, so I did skip a couple things. All in all, it came out very scrumptious, and I will be making them again. I think there are so many ways you could make this. It's pretty versatile. It reminded me of stuffed peppers, minus the extra steps. I may add some sort of small veggie to the filling next time. We sprinkled Parmesan cheese over the top as we were plating. Kyle and I use Parmesan cheese on just about everything. ;-)

Try this out some night when you have a little extra time. It does take 2 hours to bake, so you could even prepare this ahead, refrigerate, then stick it in the oven the next day.

Photo and recipe not mine.

Baby Happenings

I have not been good at all with blogging. I am not going to blame it on life, because it will always be busy! I just actually haven't felt up to doing much, let alone blogging. Hah. ;)

I figured I would write a little about my growing daughter. I remember last year fondly, around this time of year, being so excited to have a baby growing in my belly. I couldn't feel her move yet, but I knew she was there and that alone was exciting! Now I have this little girl in my home who never ceases to amaze me! I think of the verse about being "fearfully and wonderfully made". God made us all so unique, and one of my favorite parts about being a mother is seeing every little detail that he made in my child. Her personality, her facial expressions, her features (love those eyes and eyelashes!), her sin nature, her dependence on me, etc.

Layla will be 6 months next week. I am so excited we are almost to the 1/2 year mark! We started solids a few weeks ago, and it has gone pretty well so far. Some days we skip solids all together, but she is getting familiar with different tastes and textures. Her menus have consisted of avocado, sweet potatoes, pears and bananas. We are going to try out carrots soon!

Her hand coordination has improved so much over the last month. She has purpose when she reaches for things, and a lot more control over what she does with those hands. Everything that she can grab usually goes to her mouth. Haha. She has her first tooth and the other one is on the way! She is not a happy teether, but she is definitely not on the bad end of it either. Just mostly fussy and clingy.

We tried sitting her up on the floor herself this week, and she is able to stay up for the most part with a nursing pillow behind her. She loves the jumpy seat at my parent's house, and because of that she will jump any time you stand her up.

Life with a baby is lots of fun... there can be some really bad days too, but for the most part it is pretty great. We are looking forward to summer with more time spent outside, and trips to the seaside.

My two loves. They are both so adorable!

Sleeping beauty. Wish she was always this peaceful! :P

Lost in the World of Motherhood

I took a look at my last post and realized it has been a month and a half since then. Whew, where does time go? I wish it would hide out in my pocket or something, so I could save it for when I really needed it. Which is like, all the time! :)

I'll admit it, I have been lost away in this place called Motherhood. And to be honest, I do love it. I love being a mommy. The new things that come along with a growing baby can be quite challenging at times, but then you just get past the bump in the road and keep going until the next one comes up.

My little girl is just amazing. I love her to pieces. She makes me smile every morning I go to get her from her crib. I know she can hear my footsteps when I walk into her room... then I take a peek at her and she realizes it's me, and out comes a big smile from her little mouth. Ahh, that is what makes it all worth it, friends! Layla is 5 months old. Can you believe that? Seems like not too long ago I was gigantically pregnant and on "couch-rest", and now I have a beautiful daughter who shares every moment of the day with me. I do enjoy having a little girl, and I know it will only get more and more fun as she gets older. We do everything together. Where I go, she goes. What I do, she does. I think she just might be the mini-me someday. The poor girl. ;)

So while I have been occupied with mommy things, we have also been on a new diet, which takes a little more thought and time each day. About a month ago, we decided to try the Paleo diet. No refined sugars, grains, dairy, gluten, etc. The nice thing about this diet is that you can tailor it to what your body responds best to. So while we may not be 100% Paleo in our eating, we follow the main principle. And that is to cut out a lot of refined, processed, boxed foods and eat more fresh, raw foods. I personally have noticed a huge difference in the way I feel. My skin is finally clearing up and healing (part of that is from using coconut oil on my face), I have lost weight, and I feel less lethargic during the day. Finding enough food to fill us up that isn't a grain, gluten, dairy or full of sugar was hard at first. But we are getting it down now. We bought RAW Meal Replacement powder to make shakes in the morning. That fills us up for quite a while and is extremely good for us. It's plant based and full of live enzymes. We do "cheat" a bit on the weekends, but I feel that is perfectly okay as long as it's not a binge fest. When I say cheat, I mean, we eat some gluten, grains and dairy... we don't eat desserts all weekend or stuff our face with chips. Hehe. Layla will also be practicing the Paleo diet with us until she is a bit older. I'm waiting to introduce grains to her, and am sticking with veggies and fruit. I plan to make all her baby food homemade.

Today is Saturday, and that means we are together as a family. I look forward to this day every week. Hope you all enjoy your weekend! Here's to hoping for some nice, spring weather. :)