Easter Basket Ideas for Baby!!!

IS COMING!!!

Easter is the one holiday that my mom and grandmothers have graciously given me.. apparently I have to wait awhile before I receive the honor of hosting Christmas :) This will be Jax’s very FIRST Easter and I am so excited and grateful for this special and sacred holiday with my baby boy. We are actually going to be keeping it pretty simple this year since my family has an out of town commitment. We plan to have a small breakfast at home while our sweet sugar hunts ( crawls around shaking) his eggs.  Then off to Church and the club for an Easter Brunch. Normally I get WAY excited and prepare everything from scratch, bust out the china and pour the mimosas in crystal but since it is just the three of us we are keeping it low key and simple. Sounds good to me!!!

I have been gathering items for Jax’s easter basket for a few weeks at little here and there places. I have found some great steals at Home Goods, Target, and Walmart! I did get excited and ordered him a PRECIOUS monogrammed Easter basket from Pottery Barn Kids but some of the other stuff I just wanted to be for functional play and things he would enjoy at nine months old. 

You can view a ton of cute Easter baskets HERE

1.  Infantino Sensory Balls 

These are so much fun and easy to hold for little babies. They come in all of these fun colors and are GREAT for sensory development! I found mine at Home Goods but the exact version is linked above!

2. Munchkin Sippy 

My child wants nothing to do with any sort of Sippy cup..this one has a straw so I am thinking it may be something different since he is always trying to take sips from my straws. Also I was reading from some SLP’s that they encourage straw sippy cup use for speech development.

3. The Teething Egg

This is SO cute for Easter for obvious reasons..( hello shaped like an egg!!) and its perfect for a tiny little hand to hold on to and chew. It comes with a clip to clip easily to baby’s shirt, and a variety of fun colors!!

4. Pat the Bunny Book

Does anyone remember this sweet book?? I had it as a child and reading it to Jax still brings back memories. It is so funny what the mind chooses to hold onto. I love seeing his fat chubby fingers touch each picture ( and then chew on it afterwords...board books are the way to go!) 

So thats that! Just a few simple ideas to toss out there.. I can’t wait for our first Easter together!

Grocery * Pantry* Staples for your Baby

Happy Tuesday!!!!

When does everyone do their weekly shopping trips?? I have yet to get a perfect system down- Normally I shop on Satrudays with Brandon
Sometimes on Sundays after Church ( always a bad idea)

and then a lot of times I will shop on a random Tuesday but then find myself going back on a Saturday because we need an extra item or two..

I digress. I ll get it right one day

Anyways I was going through my pantry and found some of the MAIN items that I pretty much buy weekly for baby Jax and decided to share. These are the times that he eats either daily or weekly. Also some fun little tidbits on some homemade fun snacks!!



1. BANANAS - easy to mashup, blend, or cut into chunks. Pairs well with other fruits and is easy to disguise veggies with :) WE LOVE BANANA

2. SWEET POTATO-  Great for mashing, whipping, adding other proteins with.

3. Mini Mangos-  loves this for breakfast, frozen chunks for teething, and for blending with a banana

4. AVOCADO GREAT FOR EVERYTHING!!!

5. HEB BABY APPLEJUICE- I have started giving Jax two five oz diluted bottles of apple juice water to introduce water into his system per Pedi recommendation. I add 1 oz of pure baby organic apple juice and then four oz of water and let him sip on it while we are outside on a run, or playing in the pool, or when he wakes up from his nap and I pair it with some puffs and he will seem to take it. He hates plain water.. so this was about as good as I could get for him.

6. APPLES- for making applesauce and frozen applesauce bites- HIS FAVORITE!

7.  PUFFS- We love the happy baby organic brand and we LOVE ALL OF THE FLAVORS! I love these because they are not only yummy for Jax ( taste like a little soft cheerio) but they are awesome for fine motor skills ( pincer grip) and they entertain him!

8. Organic Rotisserie Chicken- I am all about cooking our own chicken so that I can control the salt content, ingredients and ect. HOWEVER when I am in a pinch and need to make baby food or casserole or whatever that may call for large quantities of chicken I buy the organic rotisserie chicken and it works great! I can shred it easily and pair it with avocado for an easy lunch for J.  I can blend it and add a ton of veggies and serve it for dinner.. the sky is the limit and we love these.

9. Veggies of choice right now- Asparagus, Spinach, Zuchinni, and Butternut Squash. These are all of our favorites right now and ALL OF them cook easily and soft. The spinach I do have to mix in with something sneaky because he won’t tolerate it on its own.

10. Berries- Blueberries, Rasberries, and Strawberries are all fun easy to cut up ( for finger foods) and also make great purees. Alone they are very tart but mixed with a banana they are fantastic!

** EGG MUFFIN RECIPE**
Shopping List:
4 eggs, 2 bananas, and a handful of fresh blackberries ( blueberries or raspberries will work too)
mash everything together and pour in to a greased muffin pan. Bake at 375 for 15 minutes.
These make GREAT breakfasts for baby.. soft and easy to chew. They can hold the little muffins in their hands too!

Banana Papaya & Banana Mango Mashup

Each week I am constantly thinking of new fruits to introduce to Jax or ways to mix them with his old favorites like banana. As of the past month I have been doing both a  combo of chunky purees and baby led weaning in order to allow Jax to have more independence in feeding himself. 

I will blog more on Baby Led Weaning at another date!

anyways... I LOVE exotic fruit.. and now so does Jax! 

Papaya and Mango were definitely a win for us 

** as with each food test it separately to make sure there are no allergies before combining.

Shopping List

2 small yellow mangoes chunked

1 banana

blend or mash into the puree consistency you like

1 papaya and 1 banana chunked

blend or mash into the puree consistency that you prefer!!!

Happy Eating!!!

A Few Favorite Things....

Beautiful weather over here in San Antonio! I have been loving every bit of it ( except the allergies that have been attacking my husband and baby!) lots of time spent outside and in the stroller thats for sure!!! These are some of my absolute FAVORITE things right now!!

 Our #PROJECTHANDPRINT for April happened a little earlier just because it was a slow and easy day and we needed something fun.. and crafty to do! I LOVE how these are turning out :):)

We had family pictures the other day and I am in love with how sweet they all were! I love my little family so so so much. Definitely a favorite

A mommy and her baby boy

Like I said, beautiful weather has been lingering here in San Antonio and we are loving it!!! On this beautiful day we went to the club with daddy to watch him hit balls. 

Aunt Joanne came and stayed the weekend with us! She had her wine and I gave her a tour of our new property and homesite

Visit from Aunt Joanne

Definitley a favorite : ACAI bowls. Has anyone else tried them?? Our yummy juice spot #URTHJUICE sells these amazing healthy bowls and I could eat them ALL DAY!

I started a fun project literally LAST NIGHT. I got a wild hair around 4 PM and ran to Target and Home goods and then POOF. Project began. I am Kind of crazy like that but lucky for me my husband rolls with it...and also plugs all of my holes I make in the wall :)

Looking SO SO cute

Ta - Da!!! 

I made Jaxie his own little playroom upstairs. Since we are most likely going to be able to STAY in our current home while our new home is being built ( SOOO EXCITED ABOUT THIS)  I wanted to make him a space where his toys could go and we could play together

I got the print from Home Goods and I made the letters myself

SO CUTE! Perfect Space

Found these cute little Car themed Tubs to match the picture at Home goods 

Notice my millions of holes :)!!! haha!! Above the couch I play on hanging all of his artwork

I also plan on making a big book shelf once we get rid of the entertainment center that is blocking the wall on the other side 

I know I have posted about Kate Somerville’s products on here before, but her mega-c serum is literally life changing!! I started wearing it literally 1 week ago and my face is radiant! The collagen is plumper and my face holds more of a glow to it. I am in love! You can shop this exact product HERE or all of her products  HERE

These are a few of my favorites right now!!!

Sweet Potato Cauliflower Mash

Sweet Potato Cauliflower Mash

Sweet potatoes were one of the very first foods I introduced to Jax. He was a BIG fan...since he loves them so much I usually try to incorporate ( AKA SNEAK) other veggies in with them so that he will just gobble them right up! A lot of times when I do a combo meal I will add some protein like chicken or turkey to a veggie to disguise it and it seems to work really well:) 

I love that you can make cauliflower the consistency of potato so these two really mix well together!!!

Shopping List:

1 head of cauliflower cut into florets

2 sweet potatoes peeled and chunked

Procedure:

Steam ( or BOIL) both sets of veggies until soft and tender

add about 2 tablespoons of butter, a little S&P and blend in the baby bullet 

If you baby likes cheese or you have introduced dairy go ahead and add some organic skim mozzarella cheese

ENJOY! :)

Jax’s Favorite Applesauce

Every Baby loves applesauce..and whether it is store bought or made from scratch it will for sure make your little baby smile! I also love to freeze my applesauce in ice cube trays to make for a fun teething snack! 

Here is our recipe 

Jax’s Applesauce

2 Gala Apples ** Yellow bakes well too if you want to try another kind**

1 freshly squeezed lemon

a pinch of lemon zest

1/4 cup water

cinnamon

Procedure

Peel your apples and chunk them into small chunks

place them in a baking safe dish 

pour the water and lemon juice over the apples 

toss with cinnamon and the lemon zest

coat well

Bake at 350 for 35 minutes

let them cool for 15 minutes or until cool enough to handle and blend them in either a food processor or baby bullet.

freeze them for fun applesauce bites or save and serve cold!!!

ENJOY!

Springtime/Summer Fun ideas for Babies!!

Today is a typical Friday at our house..we have already done our early morning workout with Fit4mom ..gone to the grocery store, ate lunch, and now Jax is down for his nap. Here in Texas is has already reached a whopping 85 and 90 degrees during the days.. it is HOT and its only March. That is scary! I have been deciding how we are going to beat the heat this summer.. and with a baby in tow it can prove to be challenging. Today after Jax wakes up from his nap I have a fun little water play activity that he HOPEFULLY will like.. 

Below I have listed a few fun activities to do during the warmer months with your baby!!!

1. FROZEN APPLESAUCE BITES

These are not only a fun little snack for a hot day but GREAT for teething babes too! Simply make your applesauce ( my exact recipe ) and you can either freeze them in ice cube trays or find a fun little pop out cut out to make fun shapes with! 

2. TURTLE SANDBOX

Now my baby is to little for a sandbox ( I am not a fan of sand anyways) but I bought this at Wal-mart the other day and plan to use it for water play! I like that it has a cover ( so pollen and dirt can’t find its way inside and make it dusty) I filled it with a little bit of water and threw some bath toys in there. I blew bubbles and it was a MAJOR hit! I also like that I can put it where I want to ( like my shady porch) This can also be filled with a sensory object to mix it up a bit.

3. FUBBLES

My baby LOVES bubbles.. this is a NO SPILL can of bubbles. They come in a variety of different shapes, sizes, colors, some are battery operated and some you can blow yourself. This is just a simple activity that will entertain Jax. 

4. THIS sunblock is great. 

There are no tears involved while slathering it on, it is gentle on baby skin, and it rubs in really well. I have found that my child has VERY sensitive skin so I am careful what I try on him.. this stuff is great for outdoor play.

5. Home made Popsicles

Hot outside AND a teething baby.. this would be great. Sort of like the Applesauce bites except these come in neat little trays and you can  use a ton of different fruit combos. These would be fun! I ordered mine off Amazon HERE

Thats all.. just a few ideas.. there are tons out there but these are what I have tried thus far!!!