Nutella White Chip Cookies

Thanks to a friend for posting on FB how Nutella is her new go to comfort food, I immediately started craving it.  Forget putting it on toast, eating it by the spoonful is just so much better!  So, while Jacob and I were out and about for the afternoon, I swung into the little grocer/deli shop in town and picked up some Nutella.

After eating some from the spoon, I wanted to bake something with Nutella in it.  I haven't baked in forever, and luckily I had the neighbor girl over entertaining Jacob, which gave me time to experiment with out someone trying to pull himself up on my pant legs.   By the way, best $8 I have ever spent for 2 hours of time!!

First, I went to Pinterest, knowing I had pinned some Nutella recipes for that day I would bake again.  And I didnt find quite what I was looking for.  I had brownies and mug cake, but I wanted cookies.  So then I tried the internet, and I could find cookies, but a lot had the description of "crunchy" in their info.  I don't like crunchy cookies, I love soft, chewy cookies.  Finally, I found a recipe that sounded chewy, but still wasn't quite what I had in mind. 

So, I took part of that recipe, and modified it to fit what I wanted.

OMG, these cookies are decadently rich!!  And sinfully good.  They are amazing.   I even took a fancy picture like the other food bloggers do.  see....

Anyways, here is the recipe, I hope you enjoy them as much as I do!!  (adapted from here)

Ingredients
2 cups all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/4 cup cocoa
1/2 cup butter (1 stick)
1/2 cup sugar
1/2 cup + 2 tbsp brown sugar
2 eggs
1 teaspoon vanilla
1/4 cup + 2 tbsp Nutella
1 cup white chocolate chips

Directions
1. Preheat the oven to 375 degrees
2. In a bowl, cream the butter, the sugar and the brown sugar. Add the eggs and the vanilla until combined.
3. Gradually add the flour, salt, soda, and cocoa until the mixture is combined.
4. Mix in the nutella until it is combined with the dough.  Then add in the chocolate chips.
5. Make small balls, and flatten slightly on the pan.  (I made mine too big, these cookies are rich and small are the way to go!)

Bake for approximately 8 - 10 minutes.

8 month Update

I can't believe how big Jacob has gotten in the past 8 monts.  Started at 7'6, and now we are at 20'2...

Here are 8 facts about the past month:

1.He crawls and is getting pretty quick at it.  Favorite things to crawl after include our legs, Selby, Little Bit, and the green frog ball.  He "looks" for us if one of us leaves the room.  He gets rocking back and forth (which he does before he crawls), launches himself into the crawling position, and heads out to find us will complaining and whining. 

2.  He has a tooth!! still not quite able to get a pic of it, since it/s just tiny and on the top

3.  Meal time may now beat bath time for fav time of day.  He also "rocks" in the highchair, and loves to eat.  THe best part is when he gets puffs.  We have to only do one at a time, otherwise he grabs as many as possible to shove in his mouth.  He also launches out of chair when you unbuckle him, so you have to be ready for him. 

4.  He's also had watermelon chunks.  I LOVED watermelon when i was preggers with him, so that's really no surprise

5.  New faces.  He scrunches up his face, mainly nose and eyes and GRINS just huge.  He loves to make this face, and i laugh every time.


6.  We have battled MANY illnesses this past month.  Hand foot mouth, two ear infections, and a double ear infection.  He had the case of HFM where he had blisters in the mouth.  It was 3 days of pure hell...

7.  Must have toys:  the fisher price rings that stack on the cone, nesting cups, the ride on dune buggy (a xmas present from Uncle DJ and Bailey), and the activity table given from Colby.  Frog ball.

8.  Has gone camping twice now.  It was much easier over Memorial wkend when he wasn't crawling than it was this past wkend in Two Harbors. 

Slow Cooker Philly Cheese Steak Sandwiches

As a working girl who's been picking up more hours, I have realized a few things:

1. I may love my crockpot more than I like some people
2. If I dont have a freezer meal or crockpot meal, dinner will not be done until Jacob is in bed
3. Even though something smells REALLY good, doesn't mean it will taste that way (some of the previous freezer meals where a little lacking in seasoning)
4. Jacob gets his crabbiness if he is not fed NOW when he wants to be, from me.  If i'm hungry, and there is a wait or delay, watch out.  My baby takes after me on that one...

Happy fed baby!

Also, i can't get cooking done with Jacob up.  He "helps" by sitting under foot, yelling at me, and grabbing me as I walk by.  Or crawling to me and demanding attention.

Yep, he's cute, but no help at dinner

This morning I threw another new recipe into the crockpot, slow cooker philly sandwiches.  I'm so excited to try them when I get home.  Jacob is home playing with Gramma Posey while i get some work done, and she said the house is smelling good, so hopefully it's a success tonight!

• 1 1/2 lbs beef round steak
• 1 green pepper, sliced thin
• 1 medium onion, sliced thin
• 1 (14 oz) can beef broth
• 1 envelope Italian dressing mix
• 1 large loaf French bread, siced into sandwich lengths (or 4-6 hoagie buns)
• Provolone cheese slices

Directions:

• Cut meat into strips, place in slow cooker.  (I did not do this, figured the meat will fall apart anyways, why add more work than needed?)
• Add green pepper, onion, broth, and dressing mix.
• Cover and cook on low 7-8 hours, or high 3-4 hours.
• Spoon meat mixture onto bread, top with a slice(s) of cheese.
• Another option is to toast bread in a 375 degree oven for 5-10 minutes, add meat, cover with cheese, then bake an additional 5 minutes to melt the cheese.

Figure with some fresh veggies and chips, you can't go wrong on a hot day!  And gives me more playtime wiht my baby!

Another Ear Infection

Well, it's official, Jacob has ANOTHER ear infection.  It makes me want to scream.  Loudly.  And kick my feet and fling my arms, and throw myself on the floor all at once.  Basically, I want to give a 2 year old a run for their money in a tantrum throwing contest. 

I've averaged about 4-5 hours of sleep on a GOOD night since Memorial wkend.  When we got back from camping, he had a double ear infection, that was diagnosed on Tuesday.  On Wednesday he was exposed to Hand Foot Mouth, had HFM on Saturday.  I brought him in the beginning of June to make sure the ear infection had cleared, and it had.  Then I realized (or actually was told by daycare) that he had cut a tooth.

First TOOTH!!  His upper left front one.  Yep, my boy doesnt cut teeth in the normal rotation (which would be bottom first).  So it was an unholy trifecta of horribleness for poor Jacob's little head that week.  All that cleared up, and still his sleep has been bad.  Then last week, it got even worse.  He's up about every 60-90 minutes ALL NIGHT, sometimes fully awake, sitting up, sometimes sleep crawling, and others just crying in his sleep (which is heart wrenching).

I can see the other top tooth, so figured it was teething.  He attacks cold teethers with a fieceness that is hilarious.  We did orajel, ibruprofen and tylenol. Nothing made a difference.  He still cried in his sleep.  I brought him in this morning and yep, imagine that another ear infection. 

At least I know the cause, but that doesn't make me less tired or crabby.  I still want to throw a tantrum of epic proportions. 

Camping, Swimming, Crawling, and Illness

It's been a very busy past few weeks, with many firsts, some of which had me pulling my hair out

FIRST:
CAMPING TRIP....Success


Saturday afternoon

 I was surprised at how well it went.  Granted, we weren't dealing with a baby on the move, but packing was an issue.  i felt like i packed half of his wardrobe since one day was in the 60's and the other was supposed to be 90.  Plus, if you factor in poopsplosions, drool, dirt, and acts of God, that's a lot of clothes. 



Showing off my cool glasses and dinosaur hat

 AT THE RIVER to "swim"..... Fail



Lots of tears and frantically turning into dad to pick him back up!

I don't know if it was the cold water or the sand on the feet, but Jacob was NOT a fan of the river.  We filled up the kiddie pool, and he loved that, so it's not water in general.  Will have to work on this one...

HAND FOOT MOUTH disease with a double ear infection....Shoot me now, that was pure you-know-what, and for half the week Mike was gone in Kansas City for work. Single parents, you are AMAZING!  Between no sleep and a screaming baby, I wanted to run away, fast, and find a quiet dark room and hide.  Poor baby had blisters and ulcers in his mouth, so it hurt to eat or drink.  He would slap his pudgy lil hand at us when we came at him.  You would have thought we were torturing someone when we gave him medicine.  B/w giving him pain meds every 6 hours and amox twice a day, it was traumatic for all of us involved.  Sleep was a nightmare. 

Do you know how hard it is to shove medicine down the throat of a baby??  He would clench his jaw shut and whip his head back and forth.  Plus his hands and feet are just shoving and kicking.  It's a good form of torture for parents.  You already feel horrible that they are miserable, and now you are just pissing them off even more and fighting them to try and make them feel better.  It was a week i never want to repeat.

CRAWLING....SCARY!!!
He's mobile.  When he wants to be.  As in every time we try to get him to crawl to us, he sits there. and if he starts to crawl and I try to tape him, he instantly stops.  But he tries like mad to pull himself up and climb on everything in sight.  I went around plugging all outlets last night, now we need to invest in some baby gates.

Needless to say, not a lot of cooking was done in the past week, so used some of the freezer meals and otherwise ate junk.... real healthy...

7 month update

It's hard to believe 7 months has already gone by and in 5 short months, my little baby will be 1!

Here's what Jacob is up to:

1.  Sleeping is getting "better".  We can now put him down on his own at night, and he falls asleep by himself.  we occasionally need to go back in to settle him once, but he will typically sleep now until somewhere b/w 10:30 and 12 before waking up!  Which is amazing for us.  He wakes up in that time, but is able to finally get back to sleep on his own.  He ends up in bed with us anywhere from midnight to 2.  It's just easier with nursing and not going up and down stairs.

2.  Taking longer naps, and in the crib!  This is both at home and daycare.  He's never been a good napper, but starting to nap for 45-hour.  The other day he actually napped 2 hours in the crib. 

3.  Still only 2 meals a day.  Rice/Oatmeal only in the morning (2 tblsp) and rice/oatmeal at night w/ about 1/2 package of a fruit or a veggie.  Some nights he eats the entire container, if he really likes the food.  Which tends to be bananas (yuck) or peas.  He isn't eating all of his bottles at daycare, so until he does that, we are not doing a third meal.

4.  Tried puffs last night, they were a fail.  Will try again in a week.

5.  He can pull himself up to standing!  Yea Jacob!

6.  Working on crawling.  He can get on all fours and rocks away, but no moving yet.  I don't think it will be much longer. 

7.  Also tried a sippy cup with water.  Jacob didn't quite get it.  But had fun playing with it.

8.  SOme of his favorites:
      Time of day:  Bathtime or laying in bed talking in morning.
       Food:  LOVES Plum Organics, esp the kinds that have banana in it
       Toys:  Colored rings that stack, Mr. Snail, and the JD tractor i got at a garage sale
       Words:  SPLASH SPLASH SPLASH and Crazy baby
      Songs:  Chilly Willy, Arms Across, and You are my Sunshine

9.  Some random facts:
       Wears size 3 diapers
       Is in 6-12 mo clothing, depending on brand
       Loves being held, talked to, "petting" the cat, watching Selby (she wont get close enough to be pet),
        making raspberries, pulling hair
      Hates:  puffs, not being able to get anywhere when on hands and knees, when we sit him down to get something done around the house

10.  My favorite thing?  he is such a funny little baby.  His expressions, how excited he gets when he sees Mike or I, when he snuggles in and just lays on me.  Mike and I are always showing each other photos we took and videos.  The new fun thing is watching him on the video monitor, and laughing about the sleep positions he's in.  This little baby has definetly captured our hearts.  :)

Part Time Everything, Full Time Nothing

People have pretty strong opinions when it comes to all things having to do with parenting and kids:
Breast vs. bottle
CIO vs no cry
Attachment parenting vs. independence
Co sleeping vs crib sleeping
Stay at home mom (SAHM) vs. Working Mom vs Work at Home mom (WAHM) vs Part time

I'm sure i could keep the list going, but the last one is the one I want to discuss.  Pre baby, I would have said I'm not giving up my career, post baby, I couldn't imagine going back to work during busy season and working 50-65 hours a week with a 3 monthl old baby at home.  So, I went part time.  Mind you, part time during busy season is still 40 hours a wk, done in 4 days.  from 4/16 to 12/31 is true part time, 24 hours a week, but busy season is basically working a "normal" job.

But, it was hard to do 40 hours in 4 days, so I did work from home also.   And it sucked.  Jacob doesnt nap for extended periods of time.  A typical nap is 30-40 minutes.  And at that time, even when he went to bed at 6ish, he would wake up every 60-90 minutes.  I was stressed trying to get work done.

First Mothers Day

In theory, it sounds great.  You get the pros of both a SAHM and a WM:

• Home with baby
• adult interaction
• you are raising child
• additional income
• Get to lounge around house in pjs
• get to leave house baby free
• identity is a momma
• identity also is career

But there is one HUGE drawback to this:

you never feel like you are full time at anything.

When I'm at home, I think about work.  When I'm doing work from home, and if I'm playing with Jacob, all i think is, I REALLY need to do x, y, and z for work.  I'm distracted and not paying full attention to him.  So, I start up my computer to complete x, y, and z, and the whole time, I'm distracted with wanting to play with Jacob.  I feel guilty working when my baby boy is sitting on the floor next to me, playing away. 

I can't seperate the two and it's tiring.  I don't know which is worse, mommy guilt, or workers guilt.  It's hard because I love my job and I dont want to slack off on my career. 

It seemed like the perfect idea, but it is way harder than I thought it would be.  It's easier now that busy season is over.  I'm leaving my computer at work rather than bringing it home with me.  I'm excited for all the fun things I can do with Jacob over the summer. Zoo, parks, playdates, swimming, etc. 

Plus, I LOVE his daycare!!  I got to have breakfast with Jacob last Friday, for Mothers Day.

Instead of looking for the perfect solution, or always feeling guilty, I'm going to try to maximize and enjoy the time i have in each case.  It will only be for a short time.  Besides, I doubt I would be getting much work done at home once Jacob starts crawling.  Boy can that baby wiggle.  And if flapping your arms and kicking chubby little legs while sitting moved you places, he could zoom across a room in no time. 




See those blurry arms and leg?  Thats a baby in motion...