Crock Pot Chicken Burritos & Homemade Guacamole {recipe}

Crock Pot Chicken Burritos Recipe
This recipe was inspired by "Crock Pot Chicken Burritos" 
from The Art of Comfort Baking

What You Will Need

2 large chicken breasts
2 cups salsa (your favorite)
1 can corn, drained 

1 can of diced black olives, drained

1 can of beans (black or kidney), drained
1 8oz brick of reduced fat cream cheese

2 cups cooked rice
Large flour tortillas (I use spinach)
1 cup Shredded cheese (type is your preference)


Directions

1. Turn the Crock Pot on high. Add the chicken breasts, beans, black olives, corn, and salsa.

2. Cook for 5-7 hours until the chicken is cooked through and is tender enough to be easily shredded.  

3. Shred the chicken. I do this while it is still in the crock pot; just use two forks to pull it apart. 

4.  Add the cream cheese and continue cooking on low until it is melted, about 30 minutes.  Make sure to stir mixture a few times during the melting process to make sure the cheese is spread throughout.

5. While the cheese it melting, cook the rice according to the package.  

 6. When it is all cooked, lay out the flour tortillas. Layer the chicken mixture, rice, then cheese.

Homemade Guacamole

What You Will Need

3 avocados
1 small onion
1 garlic clove, minced
1 tomato, chopped
1/2 cup black olives, diced
1 tablespoon of fresh cilantro
1 teaspoon lime juice
Salt and pepper to taste 

Directions

1. Peel and de-pit avocados. In a large bowl, mash avocados.

2. Stir in onion, garlic, tomato, black olive, and cilantro.

3. Add lime juice, salt, and pepper to taste. 

4. Chill in refrigerator before eating, at least 30 minutes.  


Add to top of burritos and use for chip dip on the side!

What are some great crock pot recipes you love?

DIY: Halloween Wreath

This is my first DIY post and I am super excited to start sharing more! 

In the spirit of Halloween (my favorite holiday), I am going to show you all what I did for my very first DIY wreath!

What you will need

One wreath 

(I used a straw one, but you can use a Styrofoam or whichever you prefer) 

2 bags of old school Halloween spiderweb with the plastic spiders

(I found mine at the dollar store)

One decorative black crow 

(Also found at the dollar store)

Long Satin Sewing Pins

Directions

1. Get your wreath and place it on your working surface.

2. Get the spider webs and unwrap them until they are all unrolled and flat.

3. Wrap the wreath with the web. Start by placing one end of the web on the wreath (one end should be about 6 inches wide). From there wrap the web around the wreath, going up through the inner hole and then back down around the outer part of the wreath. Keep repeating, moving the web a couple inches over every time you make one wrap of the web. 

You may need another bag of the spider web. If so, just start where you left off and continue wrapping until the wreath is completely covered.  

4. When you are finished wrapping the web, use the sewing pins to secure the web to the wreath. Pull any thicker parts towards the back and pin them. 

5. Add the spiders around the wreath in any pattern you wish. Lastly, add the crow or any other decorations you wish! 

How are you decorating for Halloween around your house?

Monthly Favorites: Month One & Two

When it comes to being a new mom, "free time" no longer exists. And if by some amazing miracle you happen to somehow get a couple of minutes to yourself, I doubt researching baby products is on the top of your list. Whenever my son is coming to a new age and needing new products, I heavily rely on my fellow mommy bloggers' recommendations. No need to waste precious 'you time' trying to navigate through the thousands of products out there only to find out they're poor quality or useless. So I decided to jump on the monthly favorites bandwagon to help out my fellow mommies!

I will also let you in on any deals or money saving tips with each product!

Monthly Favorites: Months One & Two by julia-crystal

1. Lansinoh HPA Lanolin: I obviously bought this brand new. I normally don't buy things I'm not sure I will need, but when mommy after mommy recommended this stuff, I figured I should have it on hand. And thank my tatas I did! Lifesaver for your nipples for sure. No need to go crazy and buy a bunch though, as a little goes a long way with this cream. I never even finished the 1st bottle I bought, as I only needed it for the first few weeks. I don't think it is possible to not get super sore nipples at the start of breastfeeding, so this product is a must!

 2 .Pampers Swaddlers Diapers Newborn: I also buy my diapers brand new :) However there are tons of ways to get discounts on diapers. I use diapers.com to buy all my diapers. Free shipping on purchases $30+ and they deliver within 48 hours! You also get cash back rewards to use towards your next purchase. And of course the more you buy the more you save, so I buy the bulk 200 pack which comes out to be .30 cents a diaper. For the first 3 months, we used the Pamper Swaddlers. Mostly because that was what they hospital gave us and they worked good, so we stuck with them. I tried other brands but the Pampers are the best for us. (Also don't forget to take home the rest of the diapers they give you at the hospital! I mean you pay $1,000s to get your baby delivered; at least get some diapers out of it!)

 

3. Gerber Baby Flannel Receiving Blankets: I used these for burp cloths. Traditional burp cloths are not big enough for all the mess a newborn can make. And receiving blankets aren't big enough  to wrap a baby up with, so my solution was to use them as burp cloths. They are the perfect size and can be found super cheap at garage sales, so you can't feel bad when they are all stained and end up in the garbage. I got all my receiving blankets from garage sales and hand me downs.

4. Graco Pack 'N Play Playard with Reversible Napper and Changer: This pack 'n play I brought new. I found it at Burlington Coat Factory (where I bought a majority of my big items). They have 20% off one item coupons all the time. And if you get on their mailing list, they are sent right to your house. I purchased all the big baby needs separately; I would wait until I got a coupon then go buy one of the expensive items. The higher the price, the more money you save, so why not use it for the most expensive items you have to buy. I really liked this Pack 'n Play. It has an attachment that flips back and forth from a napper to a changer. It was so convenient for middle of the night changes as Myles 'slept' in the napper part in the living room with me for the first 6 or 7 weeks. I could just pick him up from sleeping and change him right there. It also has the ability to move the 'mattress' up to be a bassinet. We never used that part for sleeping, but it was perfect for keeping all the daily necessities. I had everything I needed right next to him at all times. I will say that it is not the easiest to pack up for travel. It's pretty bulky and a little time consuming to fold all up, but for newborn house usage, it's perfect.

 

5.Philips AVENT Soothie Pacifier: I received these at my baby shower. I had never seen or heard about this type of pacifier before. When Myles was about 2 weeks old, I decided to introduce a pacifier (read about it on my Breastfeeding Essentials post). I tried several different ones, including the more traditional shaped. Myles really took to the Soothie though. I think they are more akin to breast nipples, so they work well for breastfeeding babies. Sometimes I would even stick my finger in the nipple part so it would feel more real. It would also help to calm him down if he was so upset that he wouldn't suck.

6.Carters All Star Collection Bodysuit Set: Myles was born in August so he mostly lived in oneies for the first two months. We had many different brands from garage sales, gifts, etc. so I was able to try out most of them. Carters was by far my favorite. Myles was born 7 lbs 6 oz and the newborn size fit him perfectly. They are great quality (never had any holes or ripping) and are fairly inexpensive. We had many second hand ones, but I also bought one new 5-pack from the store. I got them at Burlington and they are only $10 for the 5-pack! For $2 a onesie, I definitely got my money's worth out of them. Although sometimes Carters can be a bit hokey, their onesies always have cute patterns and sayings. 

7.Graco Infant Snugride Car Seat Base, Tan: I found two of these on a resale site for $15 a piece, which is a great deal because brand new they are $40-$50 each. With the Graco brand of car seat, you don't need to have the bases to strap the car seat in, but with the infant seats it is very convenient. With the base, all you have to do it pull a lever and the seat pops out. Not having to deal with the seat belt and reaching over the car seat and trying to latch it in every time a lifesaver, especially for the first couple of postpartum weeks. I bought two: one for each vehicle we have. That way it was never an issue as to what car to take or who would be taking Myles. You can find these in great used condition almost anywhere that resells baby items!

 

8.Graco Travel System: This was one of the other bigger items that was bought brand new. It was my fathers gift to the baby. I picked this one out at Burlington as it was on clearance for being the last one. This travel system was a godsend when Myles was newborn. I had a tough time getting him to sleep during the day (read Monthly update One and Two for more details), and one of the only things I could always count on to knock him out was a walk in the stroller. It's really nice to have the travel system because you can just take the baby out of the car and put them right in the stroller without having to take them out of the car seat (and trust me if this helps in not waking your baby, it is a beautiful thing!) Although the stroller with this set is pretty big and bulky, it fit the car seat and has lots of room for the diaper bag, drinks, keys, phone, etc. 

What are/were you favorite newborn products?
 

Myles Monthly: 2

As you may know, I didn't decide to start my blog until my son Myles was about 8 months old. And well... now he is 13 months old! So I am focusing on getting caught up with monthly updates and monthly favorites, so I can get, and hopefully stay, up to date with current times. 

September 15th-October 14th, 2012

Statistics:

Born: 7 lbs 6 oz and 19.5 inches
2 months: 13 lbs and 23 inches 

Them thighs..ooowwwee

 Eating: Eating was going quite well. Myles loved (and still does) to breastfeed, I think he would stay nursing all day/night long if I let him. During the second month, I decided to start giving him pumped milk more often. During the day, he mostly got bottles (one bottle of formula and the rest breast milk) and at night, he would drink from the source. I did start giving him a little formula; about one bottle a day. Because I had decided to give bottles during the day, I sometimes didn't have enough milk stored up. On those occasions, I would give him a formula bottle (usually the first bottle of the day or if he was being watched by someone else.) He usually ate about 3 oz about every 2-3 hours. 
I had decided to exclusively pump during the day because I wanted to know how much he was eating. When I breastfed, I could never tell how much milk he was actually getting, so whenever he fussed I just assumed he was hungry. I was desperately trying to get him on a schedule, so I thought that I would start with getting him to eat every certain amount of hours. In the beginning it went pretty well. I got him on a schedule of eating about every 2-3 hours (It wasn't long before I completely gave up on this though... see next month). I also tried giving him formula before bed in an attempt to get him to sleep longer.... FAIL! It literally made no difference how much he ate at night, he still woke up every 1-3 hours.
 But as far as breastfeeding goes, he continued to do great and still took a bottle with no problems as well.

Holding the bottle by himself :)

Sleep: The dreaded sleep topic.. Writing this a year later has definitely softened the blow, but trying to get Myles to sleep almost put me over the edge. (I plan on writing a whole post just about his sleep, so in these updates, I am just over to be brief). From that very first night in our hospital room, Myles was not destined to be a sleeper. 

I couldn't get him to nap during the day unless we went for a ride in his stroller or car seat. And as soon as I stopped, he would wake up. I could hold him while he napped sometimes, but as soon as I moved or tried to move him, he would wake up. A couple of days he was awake for 8-9 hours with no nap.. at 2 months old!! I thought I was about to go crazy... nothing I did helped.. nothing. And night time sleep wasn't any better. I spent countless hours reading tips on how to get him to sleep. I tried all sorts of different things, but he was not having it. On the very rare occasion (maybe two to three times) that he did sleep for an extended amount of time, it was completely random. If I tried to create the same schedule the next night, he would just go back to not sleeping again. 
He had no consistency in his night time sleep either. Even though we had a good night time routine (bath, snuggles, nursing, etc.) and he went to bed at the same time every night, he would always wake up at different intervals all night long, usually anywhere between 6-10 times a night. Throughout the night, he would wake up anywhere from every 30 minutes to 2 hours (a couple times he had a longer first stretch) and it was always different every night.

During the first month, I slept in the living room on the couch while Myles slept in the bassinet part of his pack n play. I was not getting any sleep that way because of the light and sounds all night/morning long. Some nights I would "sleep" on a rocking chair in his nursery, while holding him, but it didn't help us sleep any better. I tried moving into our bedroom, but it was uncomfortable for me to feed Myles sitting up in bed. Plus Mark is a loud 'sleeper'. Putting Myles in a different room wasn't an option either.  Because he was still getting up so many times a night, it would have been even more exhausting to have to go all the way to another room every time he woke up.
He only wanted to be held; and he would know the moment I set him down because he would start fussing around and making this weird grunting noise. I tried to put him in a swing, thinking maybe the rocking would help him feel like I was holding him. Didn't work.. I eventually was able to get him to sleep by nursing, but if I moved him after that, he would wake up right away again. Then one day I was reading on a mommy forum and I discovered the side-lying position for breastfeeding. It seemed like a good idea because Myles would be able to nurse to sleep like he was but I wouldn't have to move him. And so began my co-sleeping journey! I will say that co-sleeping and side-lay nursing was an overall improvement on our sleeping situation because Myles was getting a little bit better sleep. However, it didn't help with the number of times he woke up at night. That got worse overtime... a LOT worse. 
And so the sleep saga continues on....

But when I could finally get him to sleep... so adorable!

Napping with his Pa

Health: Myles did encounter some health issues this month. At around 5 weeks, I decided to take Myles to the doctor because of his constant crying, restless sleeping, and grunting during sleep. From what I read, I thought it was a reflux problem. He was also gassy and seemed to always have an upset tummy. I saw a different doctor when I went and she couldn't tell me anything. A couple of days go by and I just couldn't handle seeing my baby crying all the time for a reason I could not figure out. I went back to the doctor and requested to see one that I actually knew. He asked me about his poops and until then I hadn't really thought too much about it. By that time, I realized that he hadn't pooped in several days. Upon examining Myles, the doctor discovered he had an anal fissure. 
Umm Hmm... just as bad as it sounds :( Basically it is a little tear in the thin skin around the butt hole. The doctor gathered that since I had started giving Myles one formula bottle a day, he got constipated. The tear most likely occurred because he was pushing to poop and the skin tore. So the doctor suggested we start using a soy based formula because he may have had a milk protein allergy. I also had to give him anal suppositories for a week to heal the fissure. Let's just say that I am glad that is over! Sometimes is was easy and he didn't fuss at all, but other times it just broke my heart seeing him in pain. We went back a week later and it was pretty much healed and over the next couple months his tummy and pooping got better as well. 

Myles also got his first set of shots at his two month appointment. I had been contemplating whether or not to get Myles vaccinated for a long time. I know it is a very controversial subject (one in which I do not want to get into), so I will just say that I did a lot of research and eventually decided to get them. To this day and three rounds of shots later (I delayed his 12 month shots), and I still feel very conflicted about it. I don't know if I am making the right choice; there are so many variables, it just seems impossible to know what is the absolute best route to take. I want my child protected (and the whole population for that matter), but I am very wary of what is actually in the vaccines. 

But anywho, he did get all the 2nd month shots. I did not witness the actual process. Mark was there and he is a lot stronger than I when it comes to things that like that. He was upset but calmed down rather quickly and all seemed fine. A couple of hours later, I noticed he was very warm. He had a temperature of about 101 degrees. This was his first fever so I was freaking out. I ended up giving him Tylenol and letting him nurse and sleep as much as possible. Towards bedtime he threw up, which freaked me out even more. Fortunately, he made it through the night with no more throw up, but he still continued to have a fever. The next day, he was still warm, but his temperature wasn't as high. He was very fussy though. He cried almost all day long it seemed. He also threw up one more time. I continued to give him Tylenol for the fever and pain. By the the next morning, he was pretty much recovered, but I was still very upset with myself for getting his shots. Looking back, it was completely unnecessary for him to go through that at such a young age. I definitely wish I would have waited until he was a lot older to start his vaccines because I don't think his immune system was ready for something like that. I'm not sure why they start vaccines so young, but that is one thing I would change about that whole system. I felt like a bad mom for essentially making him have to go through that. I know he won't remember, but it broke my heart at the time. 

Crying: Most of his crying still came from not being held (put down for sleeping, bath time, tummy time, etc). He also still continued to have his fussy time at night between 5-9pm. He cried a lot then. It would help to hold him and walk around or sit him on my lap while patting his back. If all else failed, I would try to nurse him. But sometimes that didn't even work. The tummy and poop problems contributed to a lot of crying as well. (But that did improve throughout the month.)

A pic I snapped while his daddy was out of town!

Outings: 

• When Myles was 5 weeks, we took him to the apple orchard. My parents also came. It was our first big outing, stroller and all! It was the weekend so the place was packed, but we still had a great time. Myles loved being outside and getting some sunshine and crisp, clean air. And of course, he soaked up lots of grandparent attention :)

Apple orchard with his grandparents

Happy baby boy :)

• Mark had his 29th birthday on October 12. We went out to dinner at JMK (a teppan style Japanese restaurant). We've been to a lot of Japanese restaurants all over and the one in our hometown kills the competition! Other family came as well: Mark's sister Lauren, mom Darlene, nephew Ayson, and sister Jamie. Myles did great throughout the dinner. He slept a bit and then aunt Jamie held him while we ate.

• Myles and I had our first away-from-home overnight this month. Mark had to go out of town for three days, so we packed up and crashed at my parents house for a long weekend. I did not want to stay by myself for three days alone, so my parents graciously let Myles and I take over their living room while Mark was gone. We went on a few walks, to my brother's annual home picnic, watched a couple movies, and did lots of snuggling. My parents helped me with Myles a lot as well. I was glad to be in good company and I even got to take a Sunday morning nap!!

Milestones
  First smile: Myles gave us his first real, intentional smile this month; it wasn't always easy to get it out of him, but his grandpa Dave sure did know his sweet spots!

Smiling while hanging with grandpa

  
First time sitting in his bumbo chair: He was starting to get really good at his head control, so I thought I would give the bumbo a try. I figured he would have loved it because he liked being held in a sitting up position, but of course he wasn't being held, so he was not a fan. He would only stay in it a couple minutes before getting fussy. 

First time "holding" bottle: shown in the picture under 'eating'. He wasn't holding with his hands open, but he could prop it up and keep it in his mouth. I'd say a small milestone!


Interacting with toys: This month Myles began interacting a little bit with objects around him. He really loved this lion rattle (elephant version: Bright Stars Elephant). I would put it on his tummy and let him feel all the different textures. 

Grandpa Jerry time: At around 5 weeks, his grandpa Jerry (my dad) held him for the first time. He was too scared to hold him as a newborn :)

Aww.. this is pure joy right here!

 Likes: 

• Myles loves when his Grandpa Dave came to hang out with him! Because he was going to school, he had time during the day to spend with Myles. I got a little relief and Myles got him some love and attention. He was always able to make Myles happy!

Hanging with his grandpa

• Morning time; when he first woke up for the day, he would be in his best mood. Sometimes he would even be content in his swing long enough for me to eat breakfast and clean up a little (20-25 minutes max).

• Because of his tummy issues, he seemed most comfortable in a sitting position. He liked to be held sitting up while being patted on the back. At night during his fussy time (6-9pm), this was one of the only ways to keep him from crying.  

Dislikes:

•  Still dislikes not being held; not a fan of being put down for anything

• Still having a rough time at night; seemed to be colicky because it was the same time every night and there was no direct cause

• Bath time; although he was getting better, he still didn't like being naked, wet, and/or cold

• SHOTS; as explained above, he did not do well with his first round of shots

• Regular formula; it caused his tummy issues

And some extra bonus pictures just because he was so darn cute!

Getting love from the dada

Going for a ride on the min pin; perfect size!

 Thanks for coming by! I love reading and respond to comments, so let me know what you think of my monthly updates or anything else on my blog!