Happy New Years

Another year has come and gone so fast...and it's back to the New Years resolutions time.  A few things I've come up with are more goals for the year
1. Simplify life & still be organized, more lists, schedules etc
2. Complete more DIY projects, pinterest bakings, and blogs
3. Drink more water!! I find I get so busy with the dog & Dominik I tend to forget to drink up
4. No more sweatpants/PJ's ;)...this one sounds silly but now as mom on those rainy days its easy to cuddle up by the fireplace and stay in PJ's all day long!  
5. Plan a date night once a month where we go out or do something outside of the house

Photoshoot with Dominik. Disney outfit - Monsters Inc
We rang in the New Year with our little Sally 

2 months

This blog post is a couple weeks late...but here it is. ~ 2 months ~ 

Age: 2 months

Height: 23 inches

Weight: 11lbs 4 oz

Milestones: Dominik smiles all the time! He can recognize when Mommy & Daddy are in the room and look our way. He is able to get a strong grip on our finger. He also has been rolling over, we even caught the first roll over on video! 

Sleep: Dominik slept 8 hours in a row!! I woke up concerned something was wrong and he was sleeping away. I've been lucky to have several more 8 hour sleeps in a row. 

During the day he still likes to fall asleep when he is all snuggled up on someone. I am trying to place him in his crib more so he gets used to nap time in his crib and not on someone. 

Best Moment: Seeing him roll over and smile after he did. Also....I snatched up some parent parking! first time:)

Worst Moment: When we went to our checkup and our doctor suggested we go right to the ER as he was having troubles breathing. He had to have infant x-rays. Was a brave little guy and was sent home and able to fight off what he had. 

Health: Getting over his cold and otherwise back to normal! We just are so grateful he is healthy. 

Tummy time: He is getting so strong and can hold his head up for a long time on tummy time now. When he decides he has had enough he will roll over.

Exercise: Still loving our daily walks and now he stays awake for part of it just looking around. We did have a snowday so we took him out for a walk and watched Cypress play in the snow. 

Puppy love: they are going to be the best of friends! Cypress is very interested in all of Dominik's squeeky toys right now.

Smile: all the time!!! we love it SO much. So many different facial expressions, we love everyone!

 

Starbucks Oat Fudge Bars

I've always wanted to try making a copycat version of the Starbucks Oat Fudge Bars and finally did....they turned out amazing! Great and easy recipe: 

Starbucks Oat Fudge Bars
Crust
-1 cup butter
-2 cups brown sugar
-2 eggs
-2 tsp vanilla
-2.5 cup flour
-1 tsp baking soda
-3 cups oatmeal
Filling
-2 cups chocolate chips
-1 sweetened condensed milk
-2 tbsp butter
-1/2 tsp salt
-1/2 tsp vanilla

(crust first)- cream butter, sugar, eggs and vanilla. Mix well. Sift flour, salt and baking soda, add to batter and mix. Add oatmeal, mix into crumbly texture. Reserve 1/4 of oatmeal mixture for the topping. Pat remainder into bottom of a large cookie sheet (one with sides on it) should be about 3/4 inch thick when cooked.

(filling)- combine ingredients on low in a saucepan, stir continuously until melted. Spread filling in thin layer over crust and sprinkle top with reserved oatmeal mixture.

Bake at 350F for 20 minutes or until golden brown. ENJOY :)

Merry Christmas!

Merry Christmas everyone ~ love the Gray's!

Daddy worked Christmas eve so we started out the day and went for a walk while he slept. 

Then we waited for the festivities to begin :). I figured this would be the only Christmas he could sleep in as i'm sure next Christmas Dominik will be waking up as early as possible for Christmas to start.  Even Cypress was eagerly waiting to chew some wrapping paper.

Loving his first Christmas! Although next year he might be able to understand a little bit of what is going on.  We read "the story of Christmas"[Luke 2:4-19 and 1 John 1:9] to him and will continue to read it to him every year. We want to ensure he understands the true meaning of Christmas and does not get caught up in just the gifts. 

We are SO extremely thankful for our beautiful son, he is the best Christmas present we could ask for. 

Brunch was overnight french toast (recipe on previous blog) with bacon.

Tired after all the festivities 

christmas cards and lights

3. Send Christmas cards out to friends and family

4. Donate to a favourite charity
STAND as one ministry (Website coming in January) 

7. hang Christmas lights around and inside the house

8. Set-up nativity scene and Christmas tree

nativity scene made by Pake 

white Christmas write from Michaels USA

Christmas tree & lights from Canadian Tire

13. Drink hot chocolate and drive around looking at Christmas lights 

target pock-a-dot pajamas | hunter boots

aritzia sweater & mittens

Starbucks peppermint white hot chocolate (size venti split into 2 cups)

picture perfect kind of day

traditional gingerbread cookies

#2 on my Christmas bucket list 

Traditional Gingerbread cookie making is always a hit at my families house! They aren't always the most flattering cookies as we get carried away with lots of icing & decorations but they taste delicious!!  

 Since I had Dominik along for this years cookie decorating my pictures and decorating skills were lacking but here is what I did get.

Gingerbread Recipe

2/3 cup margarine

1 cup sugar

1 egg

1/4 cup molasses

2 cups white flour

1 tsp salt

1 tsp baking soda

1 tsp cinnamon

1/2 tsp ginger

1/2 tsp cloves

mix all together and bake at 350 for 8 minutes

Icing Recipe

1 cup maragine

1 tsp vanilla

4 cups icing sugar

2 tbsp milk

cream butter + margarine together, add vanilla

gradually add sugar at a medium speed.

add milk on high and mix until light and fluffy

cover with damp cloth 

Gingerbread cookies for days...